Line #4 Fridge/WolfensteinTheNewOrder


1	[[WMG:[[center:[-'''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein}}''' [[Fridge/{{Wolfenstein}} Fridge pages]]\
2	''[[Fridge/Wolfenstein3D Wolf 3D]] - [[Fridge/{{Wolfenstein 2009}} Wolf (2009)]] - '''The New Order''' - [[Fridge/WolfensteinTheOldBlood The Old Blood]] - [[Fridge/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus The New Colossus]]'' - ''[[Fridge/WolfensteinYoungblood Youngblood]]''-]]]]]
3	!! Fridge pages are Administrivia/SpoilersOff by default, so all spoilers were removed and all examples folderized. Proceed with caution. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned
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8	* So, why did Max try to hide the Project Whisper folder? He knew full well that part of the plan would involve Bobby Bram committing a suicide attack, and took the folder in the hopes it would stop the Kreisau Circle from going through with it.
9	--> '''Klaus Kreutz''': ''Max doesn't speak English very well, but he does know "Project Whisper". It's a risky-business operation, and he knows it'll cost us to pull it out. Max doesn't like violence. He doesn't like to see anyone get hurt.''
10	* Before ''The New Order'', it was hazy as to why Wilhelm Strasse's nickname, "Deathshead", was one word. However, after watching the scene where Deathshead tells Blazkowicz to say it in German (Totenkopf), it becomes clear that it's a literal translation. Totenkopf is one word, so therefore Deathshead is one word as well. German as a language loves compounds. For instance doppelhaus (duplex) is just double and house.
11	* With the [[GiantMecha London Monitor]] destroyed by B.J., said to be the only thing keeping the non-German citizens of London in line following the post-war riots, and the destruction of Deathhead's Compound that was the source of all Nazi robotic technology, what's stopping Londoners from rioting again? Nazi control of London might end up not being secure as it was in the beginning.
12	* Why does Set Roth call B.J. "Shimshon", the biblical hero whose strength came from his hair? Because of the scars on B.J.'s head.
13	* As is appropriate of her {{Determinator}} status, Anya, despite having a very good grasp of English, doesn't know the word for surrender.
14	* Why does B.J. get so mad when J calls him a Nazi (in reference to pre-civil rights America)? His mom, Zofia is Jewish, and we learn in New Colossus that his dad turned her in after the US lost to the Nazis.
15	* In the Wyatt timeline, J dies playing the United States National Anthem on a guitar with a wall full of very loud speakers behind him. The Nazi soldiers who burst into the room say it's "some kind of weapon" before gunning him down. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_machine_kills_fascists Presumably it's for killing fascists]].
16	* Set Roth is Jewish and religious yet he never covers his head. Of course he doesn't, it's become his habit not to advertise his faith in a world ruled by Nazis. Many sects of Judaism teach that you are expected ''not'' to obey God's commandments if doing so would directly result in the loss of life, e.g. if you and your family are starving and the only available food is pork. By breaking the Jewish dress code, Roth is preserving his own life and with it, the secrets of Da'at Yichud.
17	* Keller, the Nazi officer in charge of exterminating the mentally disabled, is tortured in Anya's grandparents' basement; Keller is the German word for Basement.
18	* Keller showing up in the trunk of his car seems a bit random at first, until you think more about how the torture scene makes a point of emphasizing that he's a coward who has no trouble abusing people he sees as weaker than him but panics as soon as he's faced with actual danger. He had no qualms about shooting helpless patients, but as soon as one of them started fighting back he probably panicked and hid in the nearest bit of cover (namely his car) hoping his soldiers would take care of the problem and let him out when they were finished.
19	* Towards the end of the game, B.J is ambushed by Bubi while climbing a ladder and injected with a substance that can "paralyze an elephant". However, B.J shrugs off the poison and proceeds to stab Bubi to death. How was B.J able to resist the poison? According to Bubi the substance acts on the cerebral cortex. Remember what happened to B.J just after escaping the incineration chamber by jumping out the window? The shrapnel in his head must have destroyed or damaged the part of the brain that the poison works on, saving B.J..
20	* Notice how this is the first and, as far as the franchise is concerned, only time the BadBoss FatBastard couple of tropes aren't involved. Generals which represented these tropes in the franchise ([[VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D Fettgesicht]], [[VideoGame/ReturnToCastleWolfenstein Helga Von Bulow]], [[VideoGame/Wolfenstein2009 Victor Zetta]] and [[VideoGame/WolfensteinTheOldBlood Helga Von Schabbs]]) are deemed unfitting for the regime now that [[TheBadGuyWins the Nazis are in charge of the world]]. Either that or their failures made them scapegoats.
21	** Subtly confirmed in [[VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus the sequel]] when Sigrun is given hell by Frau Engel for being overweight and [[ImpliedDeathThreat being threatened with being sent off to a camp]] for not fitting the Aryan stereotype. The infamous BadBoss trait, on the other hand, is far from gone in the new Nazi regime's numerous commanders.
22	* The statue outside the front of the London Nautica which is destroyed during the suicide attack is of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun Wernher von Braun]], the (in)famous German rocket engineer. Von Braun's contributions to history were both designing the V-1 and V-2 rockets which were used to attack Britain at the end of the Second World War and, later, contributing to the American space program. Obviously it's a riff on both his work for the Nazis and the fact that (in this timeline) he helped put Nazis on the moon instead of Americans, but there's also a bit of a StealthPun going on here. Wernher von Braun was the subject of a biography called ''I Aim for the Stars'', a title which many quipped should have ended with "Except Sometimes I Hit London". His statue holds a rocket which is aimed at the stars... and when it collapses, it hits London.
23	* Friedrich Keller is a French-born Nazi officer from Strasbourg. Strasbourg is the biggest city of Alsace, a French region located at the France-Germany border, and which was German until the end of Louis XIV's reign, and then it was also German-controlled between 1871 and 1919, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gau_Baden then was annexed by the Nazi Reich between 1940 and 1945.]] This cultural connection between Alsace and Germany gives him more reasons to defect to Germany.[[note]]The subject of Alsatian Collaborators was a very touchy subject in France, notably because [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malgr%C3%A9-nous 130,000 Alsatians were forcibly drafted into the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS.]][[/note]]
24	* Just like the sister (cousin?) game ''VideoGame/Prey2017'', the space section of this game uses weapons unlikely to cause a hull breach.
25	** The silenced pistol is lower velocity than normal, and the burst fire is disabled.
26	** The plasma Marksman probably won't penetrate the hull, and has another advantage; it doesn't need ammo, so you can save on shipping weight, and the batteries BJ picks up are presumably rechargeable.
27	* Whilst the Da'at Yichud may be somewhat contentious for undermining the [[StupidJetpackHitler traditional Nazi super-tech]] by making it crudely reverse-engineered ancient Jewish super-tech, it actually makes a lot of sense on multiple levels. Firstly, it's a hugely ironic middle finger to Nazism, reducing them to the same kind of cultural parasites they deride the Jews as by making them dependent upon clumsily aping the technology of the very people they claim are subhuman. Secondly, it's a subtle reference to the fact America won the war in no small part because, whilst Germany retained a lot of brilliant scientific minds, some of its best defected to America due to being persecuted for their Judaism, most famously Albert Einstein.
28	* B.J.'s brain shrapnel is the reason why he lacks the climbing ability he had in ''The Old Blood'' in both this game and ''The New Colossus''. 14 years of catatonia also don't help.
29	* The game lacks any distinction between members of the German government or military that are ''actually'' members of the Nazi party and soldiers following orders. The game's description of U-boat captains as being highly disciplined and loyal commanders can at first seem jarring to someone familiar with... say... the sympathetic captain in Film/DasBoot. However, it ''does'' make sense when you remember that in this game the Nazis ''won'' World War II, conquered most of if not the entire world (and even started branching into space), have solidified their authority around the world, and crushed the majority of their opposition. Since they no longer have any enemies that pose a serious threat (at least, not until B.J. starts fighting back), the Nazis can now afford to be more finicky in their recruitment. It would actually make total sense for the Nazi Party, after successfully defeating their enemies, to want to ensure that AllGermansAreNazis.
30	** Additionally, the Nazis likely have institutions specifically for indoctrinating children from a young age. In real life they had several such organizations- perhaps most famously the Hitler Youth, which was intended to turn young boys into loyal soldiers. By ''The New Order'' there's certainly been more than enough time for children in the Hitler youth to have grown up with Nazi ideology solidified in their brains- that probably makes up a large portion of the soldiers you face over the course of the game. Furthermore conquering most of the world means more places where similar organizations can be established to indoctrinate and train even ''more'' people while erasing whatever cultural identity they had before.
31	* The Nazis are always talking about strength, and how the strong will prevail. They are always asserting their own strength, but look at B.J.'s character design. The guy is friggin' ''huge'', strong enough to dual-wield weapons that would normally require two hands, routinely takes on whole armies by himself, takes a lot of abuse that would kill most people. Aside from regularly being shot at, B.J. also gets stabbed several times, burned, thrown off of high ledges, exposed to toxic gasses, and faces multiple explosions. It ends up taking a grenade to the face just to ''cripple'' him, and even then he goes on to survive after being ''decapitated''. B.J. is actually physically ''stronger'' than most of the Nazis he encounters in any of the games, making him the very sort of person the Nazis claim to valorize, but he's also from a group the Nazis consider to be subhuman. It makes for a subtle way of exposing just how backwards Nazi ideology is.
32	* Frau Engel conducts her 'race purity' test on BJ on the train, before revealing that she just made the whole thing up and it has no scientific basis. On one level she's just talking about her games, but she's also inadvertently making a point about Nazi race science: it's all made up, has no scientific basis, and is informed more by the personal biases of the powerful than by any objective measurement.
33	* One article showing the attempt to curtail the popularity of Fish and Chips among British citizens may seem like a jab at British cuisine and the extremes of their cultural erasure, but it may also be a nod to the dish's origin from Iberian Jewish immigrants in London.
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37	* Deathshead separated countless brains from their bodies, judging from the corpses you see in his incinerator, and it's not just because of trial and error. It's only made worse by the ending when you see an entire fridge of these brains, with plenty of room for more. Even worse, the sheer number of cyborgs present implies this is how Deathshead is maintaining control. He's turned his enemies into weapons against the people they once loved or were a part of.
38	* The Nazis did not just take over the world, they are actively rendering every unique culture into a mirror image of themselves. There are clips of news articles throughout the game and other little collectible bits where they have absorbed famous music as their own. Even in Britain people have stopped eating as much fish and chips in favor of sauerkraut and sausage. They are not just killing people, they are utterly erasing their identity.
39	* Considering the [[TheEighties 1980]]-[[TheNineties 90s]] feel to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnioYhknoR8&feature=player_embedded#at=88 this in-universe video]], it seems to imply that, despite everything that the Resistance did to oppose the Nazi regime, it will continue to maintain control of the world for at least two to three more decades. Even if the central government falls - and it hasn't, yet - the above cultural imperialism combined with the following years of peace will have (to some extent) normalized Nazi values for many civilians and conquered foreigners (imagine the mindset of the younger generation too young to really remember the horrors of [=WW2=]). Whoever replaces them is certainly going to be brutal, reactionary, and culturally shallow, because the world has ''already been remade'' in the Nazis' image.
40	* Oskar Schindler and all of the people he saved have most likely been murdered. Not only that, considering how the Nazis now control more then 75% of the world's surface and are on their way to steamroll the the remaining 25%, there is likely no place left for those that are deemed undesirables by the Nazis to flee to. In fact, it is very likely that Blazkowicz and Set Roth are [[LastOfHisKind the last two people with Jewish ancestry left on continental Europe, if not the entire world]]. A small-small-small consolation is that in this reality it seems they are focused more on using slave-labor than outright extermination. After all, the Polish people still exist in Poland. B.J. awoke just in time, though, as it's likely they would have begun something even worse once they finished conquering the world.
41	* Max is terrified and rendered helpless by the sound of B.J. using a circular saw close to him, but isn't fazed in the slightest by loud gunfire or helicopter rotors. Why does only the sound of the saw scare him and not loud noises in general? Take a look at the damage to his skull, and think about what kind of object could have caused such a clean cut through it. Alternatively, it's because he's ''used'' to the sounds of gunfire and helicopters due to the fascist state he's grown up in.
42	* Why does Caroline treat Anya at first like she wouldn't know how to use a typing machine or had difficulties in literary tasks? The Nazi New Order had no need for educated "sub-humans", which Poles were considered by the Nazis.
43	** Or it could be that she didn't know if Anya, a Pole, could read German all that well, and if you aren't trained to use one, writing with a pencil is often faster than using a typewriter, and even before the war plenty of people wouldn't have been trained to use a typewriter. She also only assumes she wouldn't know how to use a typewriter, not that she has trouble reading, and this comes up ''after'' Anya has introduced herself and told Caroline her parents were doctors (we don't actually hear the introduction, but since Caroline assumes Anya's parents had her learn so she could type up notes they dictated, Anya certainly told her).
44	* EnemyChatter implies that the mould infecting the altered super-concrete is poisonous and creates asbestos poisoning and asthma-like symptoms in people who are exposed to it. It's also established that the Nazi hierarchy are intractably convinced of the super-concrete's infallibility to the point where they execute the architect of a project which collapsed due to the concrete's instability... and are building all of their public works and cities out of it. If unchecked, the Nazis might literally end up poisoning the entire human race.
45	* Set Roth was the one who gave the Nazis the modified Uberconcrete recipe, knowing it would develop mold and crumble away. Given that he has been shown to have medical knowledge as well, it's likely he knew what the mold would do to humans and may have even intentionally engineered it to be so. Given that by the time BJ finds him, he's already in his 60's and living in a deathcamp, he's likely made peace with god and made the recipe knowing it would eventually poison what's left of the human race. As far as he knew, he was the last Da'at Yichud left on earth and the world was beyond saving. Might as well take the nazis to the afterlife with him than leave the world in their hands.
46	** Even if the mold were to be discovered and rectified, it would only be delaying the inevitable when you consider the environmental impacts of the Nazis' actions. The Nazis don't exactly have a great track record for environmental awareness to begin with, but they seem to put a lot of emphasis on industry, producing more factories that are likely pumping more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Even assuming this fact is discovered, the Nazis would more likely try to cover it up or deny it than actually address the problem simply because it challenges their assertions of German superiority. Combine that with their only interest in the environment being for exploitation (no doubt destroying who knows how many ecosystems and driving billions of wildlife species to extinction). So if the Nazis remain in power there's zero chance for humanity either way.
47	* In the narrow first hallway at Belica, the Nazis are picking out only a few individuals from the group and splitting them off from the main crowd. When B.J. is split off it's revealed that those they are picking out are being picked out to work in the camp. Which would mean everyone else, the vast majority of the crowd, is going straight to their execution.
48	* Frau Engel's "purity test" on the train is utter nonsense, and she happily admits it as such to BJ after he completes it. She only does so, of course, because she is 100% certain of him having Aryan lineage. However, when BJ is captured in Belica, Bubi recognizes him as the same man from the train; Engel's instant reaction is to order BJ (and the rest of his prison block) executed. He's taken her assumptions on racial purity and completely upended them and she cannot risk that sort of notion being spread, for the sake of the party and her own fragile beliefs.
49	* In the lore it's stated that the Normandy Beach landings turned into a slaughtering ground, as the Nazis not only completely repelled the invasion, but only suffered casualties ''in the double digits''. In addition, the London Monitor alone was able to completely subdue the London populace even though, as powerful as it is, it's more or less a glorified tank. However during the raid on Deathshead's compound, the Baltic Eye (the Monitor's predecessor) was able to take care of almost the entire invasion by itself and you can only destroy it by using Deathshead's own weapons. It's likely that Deathshead deployed it (or possibly had more than one) during the Normandy landings and the thing singlehandedly crushed the allied forces. As for why the Londoners would be terrified of the thing? This thing basically wiped out their standing forces and has now crossed the sea to finish the job (which the game heavily implies it did just that by killing what little resistance fighters remained). It's mere presence would break the morale of any resistance members left in London.
50	* The Nazis controlling 3/4 of the world becomes worse when you realize how they were planning to colonize their territories. In our world, the goal of Lebensraum was to invade the Soviet Union and annex all territory west of the Urals and north of the Caucasus. Once the territory was nailed down, they would implement what was called the Hunger Plan. They would secure the means of food production in the region for them and ensure the Slavic peoples there would die in a resulting famine. The aim was to ensure that at least ''20-30 million died'' before colonization of the east could take place, followed by the enslavement, deportation, and forced Germanization of the survivors. Now consider, with the advanced Reich here, just how many nations have been subject to these same plans. Just how many ethnic groups have been completely wiped out or are on the verge of extinction?
51	* One must wonder what exactly happened to Max Hauss. The massively unsettling scar on the side of his head suggests some serious physical and probably psychological trauma, and he probably experienced significant brain damage. Given the Nazis' dismissive views of people with mental illness or disabilities (and the implication that he was just discarded after a failed Nazi experiment), there aren't really many options for treating someone with his condition. The fact that the resistance is able to at least give him a home where he is loved is probably the best they can do under the circumstances. But it does make you wonder if there are others like him that weren't so lucky. Are their other failed experiments who were just abandoned wherever convenient with nowhere to go or anyone to turn to?
52	* When confronting the attempted prison break, Engel yells "No one leaves" before firing at the prisoners, despite the fact that throughout the level you can hear speeches by her that seem to imply it is possible, if difficult, to be released. Considering Engel's track record of being extremely cruel even by Nazi standards, and the fact that the staff of Nazi prisons are ''encouraged'' to mistreat the prisoners, one wonders if the speeches that talked about being released were really another one of Engel's mind games. She probably loves tormenting the prisoners by dangling false hope for release in front of them only to yank it away as soon as it's within their reach.
53	* Just after returning to Earth from the moonbase, you can find a newspaper clipping describing a superweapon on the moon capable of firing a death ray that can incinerate cities and boil oceans- basically the Nazis' version of a Death Star. This does provide an amusing inside joke when you consider that the Empire in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy was itself not-so-subtly based on the Nazis, and in fact that Nazis are a common source of inspiration for sci-fi antagonists (so much so it's formed at least two [[ANaziByAnyOtherName different]] [[PuttingOnTheReich tropes]]. But it also becomes a lot more unsettling when you consider the fact that what in our world would be the plot of a science fiction blockbuster could be a terrifying reality in a world where the Nazis rule. The only silver lining is that, unlike the Empire, the Nazis do not appear to be competent enough to get this thing running in any reliable fashion.
54	* All of the staff at the moonbase are incredibly blase when Blazkowicz shows up pretending to be the Chief Scientist, with only one guy commenting about the "replacement". Grasping the IdiotBall with both hands, [[BadBoss or]] [[HighTurnoverRate something]] [[YouHaveFailedMe else?]]
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Context Fridge / WolfensteinTheNewOrder