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'''Terry McGinnis:''' Too many overdue books?
'''Mad Stan:''' Information overload, man! As a society we're drowning in a quagmire of vid-clips, e-mail, and sound bytes! We can't absorb it all! There's only one sane solution: BLOW IT UP!|''[[Batman Beyond]]''}}
The ''old'' terrorist stereotype.
Anarchism is an umbrella term for a bunch of views that advocate the reduction or elimination of hierarchic power.
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Compare [[Mad Bomber]], [[Dirty Communists]], [[Ludd Was Right]]. See also [[Anarchy Is Chaos]] for an aversion.
{{examples}}
== Anime ==
* ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' had the Teddy Bomber, a character existing only to be a bounty to be chased and fought over by Spike and Andy. He constantly tries to outline his manifesto but the two egomaniac heroes ignore him in their scrap to prove superiority over the (practically identical) other. We discover that in the end, his bombing was an attempt to call attention to, and level, the vast inequalities in society.
* ''
== Comics ==
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*** Given that [[Alan Moore]] is himself an anarchist, albeit of the non-bomb throwing variety, this isn't surprising.
*** [[Word of God]] (the author, not the artist, anyway) is that V is not necessarily [[The Hero]]: readers are supposed to decide for themselves.
* Batman villain (and obvious [[V for Vendetta|V]] [[Expy]]) Anarky is also a subversion. Sure, he's regularly put against Batman, but he's able to explain his motivations clearly and is often painted as more of an [[Anti-Hero]] who just happens to think violent means are okay against certain targets. He even had his own book for a few issues. As of late, however, there seems to be a new guy behind the mask who hews closer to this trope, and the actual Anarky is stuck in a technopathic coma seeking revenge. The original author is apparently not pleased with this development.
** Also, unlike [[V for Vendetta|V]], he was a [[Technical Pacifist]].
* The Trope Image is taken from Larry Gonick's ''Cartoon History of the United States'', part of his ''[[Cartoon History of the Universe]]'' series, humourously lampshaded the common stereotype of anarchists as [[Older Than They Think|mad, bearded bombers]] ("smell like garlic... foreign accent... burning fuse") during the 1880s Red Scare after the Haymarket Bombing.
* Referenced in ''[[Tintin|Tintin: The Scepter of Ottokar]]''. When Tintin sneaks into the palace to warn the king about the plot, he is captured by guards in the middle of a ball. The guests are told that Tintin was an anarchist, causing one of the guests to faint.
** Of course the book was written around the time when anarchists were practically synonymous with terrorists.
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* Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in ''[[The Dark Knight]]'' describes himself as an "[[Anarchy Is Chaos|agent of chaos]]" and talks about anarchy rather a lot - and does love [[Stuff Blowing Up]] - but it's pretty obvious he doesn't have any [[Terrorists Without a Cause|real politics]] apart from doing things [[For the Evulz]].
** The Joker was more of an Illegalist, a type of French anarchism where crime is considered the only true expression of anarchy. Essentially [[For the Evulz]] ''is'' the Joker's political cause, as he thinks everyone should be like that.
** He seems to fashion himself as a sort of dark trickster figure, particularly in opposition to Batman as an upholder of law and
* The [[Vin Diesel]] vehicle ''[[xXx]]'' had a group of these as its villains, who intended to launch a chemical attack against several cities to provoke a world war and cause all order to break down [[Step Three: Profit|leading to global freedom... somehow]]. The hero, on the other hand, has almost exactly the same social philosophy without the "killing people" part.
* ''[[The Weather Underground]]'' (2002)
* ''[[The Baader Meinhof Complex]]'' (2007)
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** ''The Man Who Was Thursday'' is actually a Christian parable of sorts. The "anarchists" are not rebelling against society but against God.
*** And {{spoiler|most of the alleged anarchists are merely disguised as such. The full title is ''The Man Who Was Thursday: [[In Which a Trope Is Described|A Nightmare]]''}}.
* This is a staple of the era, so much so that the titular short story of [[H. G. Wells]]' first collection, ''The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents'', mocks the idea of an anarchist committing bioterrorism.<ref
** Again, this is an example of making anarchists in general crazy terrorists who believe in nothing, instead of just the few lone-wolf bombers and gunmen who really existed. They had definite plans, even the few terrorists.
* Former Russian Socialist Revolutionary bombist (see Real Life, below) Boris Savinkov eventually wrote an autobiography that was more or less true to the less nihilistic outlook of his party (which wasn't anarchistic in the first place anyway) and a fictional novel where the protagonist is a [[Blood Knight]] and virtually a Bomb Throwing Anarchist.
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== Live Action TV ==
* Whenever anti-globalization activists or environmentalists (of any stripe) show up on ''[[Law &
* The Anarchist in the ''[[Blackadder]] the Third'' episode "Sense and Senility", who actually throws a [[Cartoon Bomb]] at the Prince Regent, while ranting about such industrial inventions as the "Going-up-and-down-a-bit-and-then-moving-along Gertrude".
* In his acting debut, [[Justin Bieber]] ([[Playing Against Type|of all people]]) plays unhinged anarchist Jason McCann on ''[[CSI]]''. He's a troubled teenager, with personal issues on top of a long list of others. He's appeared in two episodes of the 11th season, {{spoiler|but is unlikely to appear in any more, because in}} the episode
* The 1900s version of ''[[Casualty]]'' had a storyline based on an explosion in London thought to be the work of Russian anarchists/communists, and the police invade the hospital receiving room looking for the perpetrators, subjecting anyone of vaguely Eastern European extraction to intense questioning, one of whom is injured in the conflagration...{{spoiler|before the explosion is revealed to have been due to gas.}}
== Music ==
* Music example: Punk rockers often invoked this trope, posing as Bomb-Throwing Anarchists. The [[Ur Example]] may be the band [[Sex Pistols]], whose famous song "Anarchy in the UK" goes as follows:
{{quote|''I am an Antichrist
''I am an [[Painful Rhyme|anarchist]]
''[[Terrorists Without a Cause|Don't know what I want but I know how to get it]]
''I wanna destroy the passerby
''<nowiki>'</nowiki>Cause I wanna be
''Anarchy!
''In the city!
''[[Evil Laugh|Mwahahahaha!]] }}
** Note that we say The Sex Pistols ''posed'' as this type of anarchist. Later punk bands, such as The Dead Kennedys, do give voice to actual anarchist politics, relying more on snide humor and political activism than shock value.
* Of course, before The Dead Kennedys was Crass, which is likely the ultimate example of an ''actual'' Anarchist Punk Band.
* Fugazi invoked this trope with black humor in the song "No Surprise".
{{quote|''(hey) Lock eyes shared plan / No c.i.a. / could understand
''It comes as no surprise / [[You're Insane!|We're destabilized!]] }}
* Humorously celebrated in "It's Sister Ginny's Turn (To Throw the Bomb)" (also seen as "It's Sister Jenny's Turn"), a folk song which dates back to the early 20th Century and is attributed to [[Joe Hill]], recorded by [[The Glencoves]] in 1963 and [[Leslie Fish]] in 1987:
{{quote|''In an old chemist's attic, so dreary and so mean,
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* The Jammers from ''[[Feng Shui]]'' definitely fit the trope, with a fondness for blowing up Feng Shui sites in order to carry out Battlechimp Potemkin's dream of a world without chi.
* ''[[Paranoia]]'' features the secret society "Death Leopard", a coalition of pseudo-anarchist party-animals.
* ''[[Seventh Sea]]'' has an entire Secret Society of [[Bomb Throwing Anarchist]]s with its own splatbook. While the Rilisciare's reasons for being anti-authoritarian (nobles in the setting have access to sorcery that is {{spoiler|causing the barrier between the physical world and Hell to slowly weaken, and non-powered nobles have a history of betraying the Free Thinkers}}) are clearly stated, the society's history includes the point where they extended their enmity to include ''anyone'' with power, even mundane political power. Plus, all the good explosives abilities and equipment are in their splatbook (including the "Arson" and "Bomb-making" skills and a coat with ''hidden explosives in the buttons'').
== Theatre ==
* The play
* The play
▲* The play "Last Meals" has in one of its vignettes a Timothy McVeigh [[Expy]] with a thing for mint chocolate chip ice cream. He is shown making a speech to the camera and does an [[Unflinching Walk]] from a building he has just blown up, while eating his ice cream.
▲* The play "The Just Assassins" by french writer Albert Camus explores the moral issues faced by a group of Russian terrorists plotting to kill the Governor General of Moscow by throwing a bomb at his carriage.
== Video Games ==
* In ''[[Scribblenauts]]'', "terrorist" and "anarchist" are represented by the same character model.
* In ''Urban Chaos: Riot Response'' the main villains are a bunch of anarchist [[Kill It with Fire|pyromaniacs]] called [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"The Burners"]] who [[Complete Monster|kill indiscriminately]], wear [[Faceless Goons|painted hockey masks]], and {{spoiler|are really brainwashed employees of a corporation who want to "burn the city alive" to "make the country pay for its exploitation of 3rd world countries."}}
* ''[[Victoria: An Empire Under The Sun]]'' has a variety of "Crime buildings" that can appear if your crime spending gets too low, one of these is "anarchist bomb-throwers" that greatly increases the chance of a "Political assassination" event.
* The Freakshow in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' are a group of anarchistic cyberpunks who take more than a few hints from [[Fight Club|Project Mayhem]].
* Aversion: Ryan from ''[[The Nameless Mod]]'' ''looks'' like he's just a [[Terrorist Without a Cause]] at first, who happens to be fighting against the [[Big Bad]] of the game. But when you talk to him and learn that he's an anarchist, he explains his motives, he comes off as much more sympathetic, and it makes him into a [[Chaotic Good|different type of character.]]
* The Intellivision game ''Bomb Squad'' uses this as the premise behind the game. One of these has planted a really big bomb under downtown and you're set to disable it. While you and your pal are trying to disable it, he taunts "It won't be easy!" in what ''might'' be an East European accent.
* The Followers of the Apocalypse from ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' are an anarchist faction that averts this trope. Mistrusting organized governments, they provide technological and humanitarian aid equally to all, and urge the player character against actions that would give a government full control over the Mojave Wasteland.
** Played straight by Samuel Cooke of the Powder Gangers. He seems to have no real long-term plans except for making bombs to harass [[The Federation|the NCR]] with aside from joining the Great Khans (who also hate the NCR). He's actually the only member of the gang that shares this mentality, as the ones near the NCR Correctional Facility are just raiders while one of his henchman wants to surrender before Cooke drags them all to their death.
* The villain from a few ''[[Game and Watch]]'' games was named the Wily Bomber, and (due to the monochromatic color scheme) even managed to look much like the above picture.
== Web Comics ==
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* [[The Tick (animation)|"Yeah, baby, yeah!]] [[Department of Redundancy Department|I'm the Evil Midnight Bomber what bombs at midnight!"]]
* Verminous Skum from ''[[Captain Planet]]'' was one of these a lot. Trying to spread panic through inaccurate AIDS information and getting everyone in Washington DC hooked on a drug called Bliss to create his own zombie army are a few examples.
* ''The Blow Out'', a [[Looney Tunes]] cartoon, had [[Cross-Dressing Voices|Lucille]] [[Large Ham|La Verne]] - [[Hey, It's That Voice!|aka]] [[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney film)|The Queen]] - as [[No Name Given|The Bomber]]. He adorably is foiled by [[Characterization Marches On|a child version]] of Porky Pig.
== Real Life ==
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