1 | '''Basic Trope''': Communist characters used as villains. |
2 | * '''Straight''': {{General|Ripper}} [[PunnyName Khlebosupov]] is a paranoid JerkAss who [[BadBoss mistreats his underlings]] and plots to start WorldWarIII -- and it's up to [[TuxedoAndMartini Agent Bob]] to stop him. |
3 | * '''Exaggerated''': |
4 | ** General Khlebosupov and all his friends are essentially CommieNazis. |
5 | ** Everyone in the Soviet bloc, down to the last man, woman, and child, is a deranged Communist fanatic ready to take and carry out any orders, no matter how terrible. |
6 | * '''Downplayed''': |
7 | ** General Khlebosupov and his colleagues are loyal to the Soviet ideal of better living for the working class, [[WellIntentionedExtremist but believe that armed confrontation over it is inevitable.]] |
8 | ** Despite being portrayed as villains, General Khlebosupov and his clique are at worst, ALighterShadeOfBlack compared to their own enemies like the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive morally bankrupt and tunnel-visioned corporate executives]], [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain deluded and arrogant white supremacists]], [[ThoseWackyNazis the Nazis]], and [[EvilReactionary reactionaries with outdated beliefs willing to kill if it means it keeps the status quo that kept them in power]]. |
9 | * '''Justified''': |
10 | ** General Khlebosupov is a head of the military in a state that's famous for its repressive nature even compared to their Eastern Bloc allies. |
11 | ** General Khlebosupov is in command of one of the [[TheGulag worst Gulags]] in Soviet history. |
12 | ** The story takes place during the reign of Lenin's Red Terror, the Khmer Rouge, [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Stalin]]'s [[ThePurge Purges]], the Holodomor included, the Great Leap Forward, China's modern-day oppression of ethnic minorities, the Hue Massacre, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro's takeover of Cuba, Central/South American left-wing guerilla terrorist attacks, North Korea's totalitarian police state, or [[LongList another real-life Communist atrocity]]. |
13 | ** General Khlebosupov has made a ''lot'' of enemies and he has to be paranoid and be willing to [[MakeAnExampleOfThem make an example]] of his enemies (actual or perceived) just to survive. He is also aware that if [[YouHaveFailedMe if he fucks up EVEN ONCE]], the ''he's'' the one who gets sent to TheGulag or executed. |
14 | * '''Inverted''': |
15 | ** ChummyCommies |
16 | ** [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Dirty Capitalists]] |
17 | ** TheSocialDarwinist |
18 | ** ANaziByAnyOtherName |
19 | ** ThoseWackyNazis |
20 | * '''Subverted''': |
21 | ** Khlebosupov and his colleagues are imagined to be Dirty Communists in the West, but when Agent Bob meets them, they turn out to be okay people. |
22 | ** After a major snafu in the espionage world, Bob's agency immediately suspects Khlebosupov, but when Bob contacts him and demands to know what his scheme is this time, [[NotMeThisTime he proves it wasn't his fault]]. |
23 | ** The Communists are the bad guys, but they are {{Noble Demon}}s and/or WellIntentionedExtremist[=s=], with the entire conflict just being GoodVersusGood as two utopian nations ultimately can't share the same space. |
24 | ** Alice is [[InformedAttribute introduced as a "hardline communist"]], but when the protagonists meet her, she's a [[TheIngenue sweet, innocent, kind]] and [[PerpetualSmiler always smiling]] sweetheart who's maybe a bit of a GranolaGirl but is nothing like the way they described her, even listening to their political views without judging them. |
25 | ** It is explicitly pointed out that Khlebosupov's ideology is actually ''nothing'' like Marxist communism. He's a power-hungry psycho who pretends to support communism because he thinks the communists will win. |
26 | ** "But it wasn't real communism!!!" |
27 | * '''Double Subverted''': |
28 | ** At first, that is. In fact, they are at best AffablyEvil, and will gladly kill and even [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] people in the name of expansion and more power. |
29 | ** However, he is lying, and the disturbance in espionage circles was caused by his FalseFlagOperation. |
30 | ** The Communists with good-alignment morality are killed and/or detained to gulags during political purges. Those lucky enough to escape [[HeelFaceTurn defect to the Capitalist]] UsefulNotes/UnitedStates. |
31 | ** The Communists may have good intentions, and [[NoTrueScotsman deny that Khlebosupov was a true communist]], but when they take power, a similar outcome takes place because of Communism’s failure as an ideology. |
32 | ** Alice then starts talking about her beliefs, denying the Holodomor, praising Stalin and UsefulNotes/{{Mao|Zedong}}, even praising UsefulNotes/NorthKorea and UsefulNotes/{{Serbia}}n leader Slobodan Milosevic, [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon all while speaking in a sweet, gentle voice]] and [[DissonantSerenity never once breaking her smile]], which makes it all the more horrifying. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Though she draws the line at Pol Pot and Ne Win]], [[BaitTheDog she still manages to downplay their atrocities.]] |
33 | ** It's then suggested that this is just the inevitable product of communist ideology. |
34 | ** "...yeah, it was real communism". |
35 | * '''Parodied''': |
36 | ** General Khlebosupov and his cronies have abandoned personal hygiene because of soap shortages, making them {{literal|Metaphor}}ly [[{{Pun}} "Dirty Communists".]] |
37 | ** The Communists attack UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}, UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, and UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC [[AnAsskickingChristmas on Christmas Eve]], with an entire army of {{Snowlems}} under the command of General Winter, and it's Agent Bob's job to stop them. |
38 | ** There's a [[DayOfTheJackboot Communist takeover of the United States]]. To abolish private property, the new regime [[EvilIsPetty steals candy from babies]] and [[ThrewMyBikeOnTheRoof throws kids toys on roofs]]. |
39 | ** The Communists are mostly composed of left-leaning upper-middle-class college kids that often [[StrawmanPolitical make senseless protests about causes they know nothing about]]. They constantly [[SoapboxSadie lecture others about how they're "part of the system" ]] while buying the [[TheManIsStickingItToTheMan most expensive accessories with communist imagery]] and [[PokeThePoodle ranting on Reddit or Twitter about how random people are fascists]]. They're not evil, just obnoxious and insufferable. |
40 | * '''Zig-Zagged''': |
41 | ** The story concerns a conflict between two Communist powers: the [[TheAlliance Workers of the World Alliance]], which [[ChummyCommies averts this trope]], and the [[TheEmpire Vanguard Socialist State]], which [[VillainWithGoodPublicity tries to hide its nature]] under [[PropagandaMachine cheery propaganda]], but ultimately plays the trope [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans disgustingly straight]]. |
42 | ** Agent Bob shows Alice incontrovertible proof that [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn the Soviet Union]], North Korea, UsefulNotes/EastGermany, RedChina, and the other Communist countries were/are really repressive places with bad living standards. She can't deny the evidence and [[HeelFaceTurn becomes a pro-Capitalist democrat]], but then she becomes a more authoritarian capitalist ... and then she comes back around to more democratic socialism... |
43 | * '''Averted''': |
44 | ** The story uses WesternTerrorists backed by {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s as the primary antagonists, with no Communists in sight. |
45 | ** There is a single supporting character who is a Communist and they do not cause the anti-Communist protagonist any trouble, nor vice versa. |
46 | ** A country is mentioned to have a Communist government, but no more details are offered vis-Ã -vis its human rights record. |
47 | * '''Enforced''': |
48 | ** The story is a SpyDrama written by a citizen of the United States or an allied nation at the peak of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. Who else could be a main villain in this case? |
49 | ** The story is a documentary about any communist dictator, [[ItsPersonal written by a defector whose entire family died in their, so nobody can expect it to paint Communism or Communists in a positive light.]] |
50 | ** The story is told by someone who fled a communist country due to harsh conditions and brutal oppression. [[AuthorTract He's probably not going to have good things to say about his homeland]]. |
51 | * '''Lampshaded''': "Didn't you have enough ideologically motivated wrongdoings for today, General?" "[[GratuitousRussian KONESCHNO NYET!]]"[[note]]"Of course not!"[[/note]] |
52 | * '''Invoked''': General Khlebosupov is a hardliner jerk who honestly believes that [[HobbesWasRight an iron-fisted dictatorship is the best way to run things]], holds up Stalin and Mao as great role models, and thus tries to make the repressive Communist regime [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans even more horrible to keep people in line]]. |
53 | * '''Exploited''': ANaziByAnyOtherName, or some other right-winger who aspires to govern as a totalitarian, uses [[RedScare the fear of communists]] [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany to gain political power and establish their own regime.]] |
54 | * '''Defied''': [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong Bob goes back in time to warn]] Creator/KarlMarx [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong about the suffering and tyranny his]] ''[[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong Communist Manifesto]]'' [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong will inspire some people to create.]] In order to prevent the atrocities of Stalin, Mao, and their ilk, Marx goes out of his way to write in all his AuthorTract[=s=] that the proletariat's uprising [[VelvetRevolution MUST be completely and utterly non-violent]]. |
55 | * '''Discussed''': |
56 | -->'''Spy Chief Ted''': Darn ... these Commies are always up to no good. You teach them a lesson, Agent Bob. |
57 | -->'''Agent Bob''': Will do. |
58 | * '''Conversed''': "And again, we see the Commies as the bad guys. Don't the filmmakers know that the Cold War is over?" |
59 | * '''Implied''': During the story itself, no Communists appear, but Agent Bob makes no secret of his distaste for them, and it's hinted throughout the plot to be wholly justified. |
60 | * '''Deconstructed''': |
61 | ** The work goes out of its way to show that people in Eastern and Western camps are really no different after all. |
62 | ** General Khlebosupov is an unrepentantly evil bigwig in the Soviet military apparatus ... except he's a StrawHypocrite whose sole care is for his own power and who has never thought for a second about anything Karl Marx wrote. Most of his compatriots don't mind if he goes too far in his world domination schemes [[KarmicDeath and Agent Bob offs him]]. |
63 | * '''Reconstructed''': |
64 | ** However, this does not make Communist regimes any less repressive, despite [[PunchClockVillain being staffed by normal people]]. |
65 | ** The villains like Khlebosupov are in fact TheRemnant or a RenegadeSplinterFaction that consistently threatens world stability [[WeAreStrugglingTogether and the reputation, if not outright existence]] [[ChummyCommies of less oppressive Communist countries]], resulting in the entire world gladly teaming up to fight the Dirty Communists no matter how many times they show up. |
66 | * '''Played for Laughs''': The Communists are guilty of nothing more than [[PokeThePoodle tentative and nervous attempts at evil]], but they're still treated like {{Big Bad}}s. |
67 | * '''Played for Drama''': |
68 | ** The Communists killed Bob's family, his LoveInterest Alice, and many of his closest friends. |
69 | ** The Communists have captured Bob and are letting him worry himself sick about [[ColdBloodedTorture what they'll do to him]]... |
70 | * '''Played for Horror''': [[ColdBloodedTorture ...We see what the Communists do to Bob, not to mention their own people, in]] [[TorturePorn excruciating detail.]] |
71 | ---- |
72 | Back to DirtyCommunists |
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