Jump to content

The Fundamentalist: Difference between revisions

update links
(defaultsort)
(update links)
Line 4:
We all know the type. Their beliefs are right, and anyone who does not believe as they do is stupid, crazy, evil or all three. The Fundamentalist is right, you are wrong, and being right is the only thing that matters.
 
A common behavior of The Fundamentalist is a tendency to [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|dehumanize]] or [[Demonization|demonize]] those not [[With Us or Against Us|in line]] with their particular brand of belief, which allows them to lie to, abuse and otherwise mistreat those opposed to their beliefs, often in contravention of their own professed beliefs.
 
The most common Fundamentalists you'll meet in the West are Christian, but there are also breeds of Jewish, Muslim and around the world Shinto and Hindu fundamentalism. Even Buddhism has had its "holy wars," exchanging campaigns of political repression, burning of scriptures, and outright murder with Taoists in [[Romance of the Three Kingdoms|ancient China]].
 
Fundamentalism is also something other than a religious phenomenon. Non-religious ideologies like communism, capitalism, socialism, racism, environmentalism, fascism, democracy, anarchism and yes, even atheism, can all attract their own brands of "fundies" as well.
 
Fundamentalists crop up in [[Fandom]]. If, for example, you see [[The Lord of the Rings|Gollum]] as anything less than a direct agent of the Valar sent to destroy the Ring once and for all, the Tolkien fundamentalist sees you as bad and wrong. The Fundamentalist is pathologically obsessed with being "right," even in subjects that might not have a right answer—art criticism, hermeneutics, straight down to the best flavor of ice cream. Fundamentalism looks a lot like [[Fan Dumb]], as [http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6583358/why-religious-people-are-nerds this College Humor video] points out.
Line 21:
== Anime ==
* In the English [[Gag Dub]] of ''[[Ghost Stories]]'', Momoko is a fundamentalist Christian. At times she objects to the magic used to defeat the ghosts, but most of the time she mentally translates "ghost" to "demon" so it's okay, and she insists that her own channeling powers were a gift from God as a result of her conversion.
* [[Knight Templar|Alexander Anderson]] from [[Hellsing]] is a good example. He is a Vatican priest who works for the Iscariot branch; his job is to kill vampires and other unholy creatures. Alexander compulsively quotes lines from the Holy Bible when he speaks, especially when facing whom he believes to be a heretic or monster that must be slain. He also has an extreme dislike for Protestants (no surprises there), going so far as to call Sir Integra "Babylon" in reference to "The Whore of Babylon". As bad as he is, he has honor which transcends it. [[Sinister Minister|Father Enrico Maxwell]], however, is WORSE.
* Scar in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' tries to pass off his murderous revenge against state alchemists as this, saying that their alchemy is an affront to his god Ishval. [[Subverted Trope|However]], Ed later points out that Scar is deceiving everyone with this excuse, including himself; his real motive is nothing more than simple revenge for the Ishvallan War of Extermination. {{spoiler|After this, Scar starts his transformation into [[The Atoner]], fully admitting the crimes he's committed without using his religion as an excuse.}}
** It helps that his old master (presumably the guy who trained him as a priest) survived the genocide and when Scar runs into him, he takes the Ishvala Is Love approach—or more like, the Revenge Helps Nothing approach. This is one of the few instances of religion having a positive impact in the setting.
Line 53:
** Less sympathetic is the Bear-Cult in the ''[[Belgariad]]'' universe, a group of raging, racist fanatics with a "conversion by sword" mentality and [[He-Man Woman Hater|a misogynist streak a mile wide]].
* [[Terry Pratchett]] parodies the concept of fundamentalism with the Omnians, who cling to their monotheistic beliefs despite being ''demonstrably'' wrong. The majority of them are depicted as basically nice people, however, just irritatingly overzealous at times.
** Except in Small Gods, that book is how they got past the old fire and brimstone style of fundamentalism.
** An interesting twist is that virtually none of them actually believe in the Great God Om, rather they believe that they don't want to be tortured by the Quisition for expressing their unbelief.
** Vorbis the Exquisitor is perhaps the ultimate fundamentalist. He has no trouble admitting to himself (and a few others) that it is irrelevant if something is empirically found to contradict the teachings of their holy book, because real truth is found within. In other words, even if he's not factually right, he's still right, and right to extinguish those who disagree. And he's not [[Straw Hypocrite|just pretending to believe he is]], either, but really believes he's following his god's will. Supernatural beings see his mind as a steel ball; nothing can get in or out. Of course, when his actual god appears in an admittedly unlikely physical form in front of him, he can't hear him at all, as any believer could. In the end, {{spoiler|after his death, he finds himself in the desert where several of his victims have also found themselves. '''They''' actually found it to be a hopeful new start. '''He''' can't cross the desert because the desert is what you believe, and he finds it horrifyingly empty.}}
Line 65:
** Something similar happens in "The Grand Inquisitor," a [[Show Within a Show|story within a story]] in Dostoievsky's ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]''. The eponymous figure, representing a [[Corrupt Church]], effectively tells Jesus Christ to His face that His teachings are no longer relevant to either the world in general or the Church in particular. Christ isn't condemned to death, but He doesn't seem to have much effect on the Inquisitor either.
* [[Good Omens|Sergeant Shadwell.]] He hates all Southerners, and, "by inference, [is] standing at the North Pole." Thinks Aziraphale is a Russian spy and Crowley, because he wears sunglasses, must be a member of the mafia. Also believes his landlords, the Rajits, practice voodoo, and frequently condemns his neighbor across the hall, who performs seances and entertains gentleman callers as a "Painted Jezebel" or "Whore of Babylon." [[Captain Obvious|He also hates witches.]] And Go- Sa- ''Somebody'' help you if he suspects you don't have [[It Makes Sense in Context|the correct number of nipples.]]
* Rather common in [[V. C. Andrews]] works. Most famous is the Grandmother, Olivia Foxworth in ''Flowers In the Attic''.
* The Masadans in ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' are basically like Wahabbists with a different paint job. The way they treat women doesn't bear thinking on, and they considered the New Testament heretical. They're the [[Evil Counterpart]]s to the Graysons, who were fundamentalists in their own right (though not as bad as Masada), but the Graysons have eased away from this after signing up with the Manticoran Alliance for the most part.
* ''Crusade'', the second of [[David Weber]]'s [[Starfire]] books, featured religious zealots who worshipped the Terran Empire as gods, and denounced the Khanate of Orion as devils. Within their society, religious doubt was absolutely not tolerated.
* The Children of the Light in [[Robert Jordan]]'s [[Wheel of Time]] series.
* Nathan from ''[[The Poisonwood Bible]]'' is this trope incarnate, combined with [[The Missionary]] and a hearty dose of [[Jerkass]].
* ''[[In Death]]'': The murderer in ''Vengeance In Death'' is definitely this. Eve even refers to him as a Bible-thumper close to the end of the book.
Line 89:
* Shirley in ''[[Community]]'' is a Christian fundamentalist who is shown early in the series forcing her beliefs on other members of her study group. Most attempts are rather mild, like mandating wearing "What Would Baby Jesus Do?" bracelets. However there are other instances hinted at that aren't so benign, like inviting Annie to a pool party which turned out to be an involuntary baptism.
** Later episodes have toned this down considerably, and ultimately Shirley is shown to have many good qualities that outweigh the bad.
* For a series with a lot of religious beliefs on display, [[Babylon 5]] largely averts this trope. Political zealots are fairly common, however, and the conflict between the {{spoiler|Vorlons and the Shadows}} boils down to diametrically opposed doctrine.
 
 
Line 102:
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In ''[[Exalted]]'', the worst of the [[Path of Inspiration|Immaculate Order]] combine this trope with [[Arrogant Kung Fu Guy]]. Most notable is the signature character Peleps Deled, who once ''killed'' a fellow monk...for suggesting that an old, obscure, hard-to-translate passage of the Immaculate Texts read "from the Dragons" rather than "of the Dragons". This is a ''minor'' instance of [[Kick the Dog|dog-kicking]] for him.
* A ''lot'' of the human characters in ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]''. Presumably, some of the Chaos-worshippers too, but they're less about "proving you're wrong" and more about "tearing your head off and doing something obscene with the neck-stump".
** Of course, given the [[Your Mind Makes It Real|Your Emotions Make It Real]] and [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]] nature of [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|The Warp]] in that setting, willful ignorance and blind faith in [[Crystal Dragon Jesus|The Emperor]] are something of a survival mechanism for humans in that universe.
** Further, even within a church already [[Deliberate Values Dissonance|considered fundamentalist by the standards of most of the audience]], they have their ''own'' set of [[Beyond the Impossible|deranged fundamentalists]] in the form of [[Kill It with Fire|The Redeptionist]] sect, [[Even Evil Has Standards|who are considered dangerous fanatics by the standards of a culture that considers murderous xenophobia a laudable social value.]]
Line 111:
* Sister Miriam Godwinson from ''[[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'' is a fundamentalist when it comes to religion and saving souls, and a ''subversion'' when it comes to technology. She appears to be an anti-tech fanatic, but she's actually calling for restraint, reason and ethics in a scientific field dominated by the [[For Science!|amoral]] University. This is somewhat [[Flanderization|flanderized]] in the novel ''Twilight of the Mind'' by Michael Ely: Miriam thinks that all technology is evil, unless, of course, the "righteous" use the same technology to enact God's will.
* Japanese RPGs in general tend to do this a lot, some notable examples being:
** The Church of Martel in ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' Only in Tethe'alla, where it turns out that {{spoiler|the Pope wanted to [[Take Over the World|take over the kingdom by manipulating the church AND his daughter.]]}} The Sylvaranti Priests are [[Saintly Church|pretty cool guys]].
** Some members of the "Ethos" church in ''[[Xenogears]]''. Exceptions of course including player character [[Knight in Shining Armor|Billy]] [[Guns Akimbo|Lee Black]] and [[Sinister Minister|Bishop]] [[The Mole|Stone/Stein]].
** ''[[God Is Evil|God himself]]'' in ''[[Shin Megami Tensei II]]'', although it could also be viewed as a case of [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] with an utter lack of human perspective. Subverted in ''[[Devil Survivor]]'', where [[God Is Good|He]] ''[[God Is Good|is]]'' [[God Is Good|good]], but there are [[Knight Templar]]s running around.
*** His characterisation in [[Mega Ten]] games started to change after ''[[Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne]]'', when the series began to attract american fans, likely as a result of religion being a much more touchy subject there. A shame, considering one of the underlying metathemes was that YVH's evil was due to something terribly wrong affecting Creation; what it is or was supposed to be will likely be never resolved.
** Several Yevonites in ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' are revealed to be this, after you kill the [[Big Bad]] (one of the church's leaders)... Said villain himself was [[Unwitting Pawn|just manipulating their loyalty]] {{spoiler|and continues to do so after he comes [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]].}}
** The Luminous Church in ''[[Luminous Arc]]'' could also count.
* Claudia Wolf in ''[[Silent Hill]] 3'', to the point where she {{spoiler|murders Vincent, a fellow cult member,}} just for disagreeing with her.
** Before that the series had [[Complete Monster|Dahlia Gillespie]], who was so wholly devoted to the cause that she {{spoiler|turned her own daughter into an [[Apocalypse Maiden]] via a near-deadly ritual and left her trapped in an endless nightmare of physical and psychological pain for ''seven years'' afterwards, all for the sole purpose of strengthening said daughter's inner hate so she could birth God and whisk them all away to Paradise.}}
Line 126:
* The Qunari of ''[[Dragon Age]]'' are fundamentalists by definition. Only those who dogmatically follow the Qun are actally called Qunari. If they deviate from the demands of the Qun then they are declared Tal-Vashoth instead.
** Interestingly, anyone who is not of the Qunari race (i.e., the Kossith) can still become Qunari by following the Qun. The Qunari don't discriminate based on race, only beliefs and magic. Anyone who doesn't follow the Qun is simply ''bas'' ("thing").
* [[StarcraftStarCraft|The Protoss]] are rife with these. In the first game, the Khalai Protoss seem to consist mostly of these until [[Break the Haughty|their homeworld is devastated]] by the Zerg Swarm. Even after they are accepted by the Dark Templar who they had exiled centuries before, many of the more fanatical Khalai still despise them, going as far as to start another war with them. Granted, [[Straw Man Has a Point|Aldaris was right]] about the Dark Templar Matriarch being under [[Manipulative Bitch|Kerrigan's]] [[Mind Control]], [[Poor Communication Kills|but if he had actually said something to the others rather than babbling like a zealot]], [[We Could Have Avoided All This|the protoss could have prevented everything that happened in Brood War]].
** And the sequel gives us the Tal'Darim protoss, an even more fanatical sect of their race.
* [[Pokémon Black and White|Team Plasma]] are a non-religious example. They even regularly chant "we are right, everyone else is wrong!". Explored in that their actual goals are pretty noble (even the protagonists acknowledge this), but their arrogant denial of everyone else's views makes them come off as villainous anyway. (also Lampshaded). {{spoiler|It ultimately turns out the [[Big Bad]] who made the organization doesn't believe in its goals at all and just wanted to [[Take Over the World]].}}
Line 153:
* Rachel Gettys of ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' v4 is your standard Christian fundamentalist along with showing [[Rich Bitch]] traits. She spends a good amount of time on the island hallucinating "visions from God" and trying to convert people. Disagree with her and she'll bash your head in.
* The Fundamentalist is the name of a super villian that was used in flash animation of the MC Hawking song "What we need more of is Science." He speaks just like a Televangelist and [[Hypocritical Humor|creates a ray-gun to turn scientists into actual sheep]] only to be defeated by the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89jt7zJzkNQ Unique powers and skills of] [[Paper-Thin Disguise|Dr. Astro.]]
* Dolly in ''[[Eighties80's Dan]]'' turns out to be like this, but just when it comes to Christmas.
 
 
Line 172:
[[Category:The War On Straw]]
[[Category:Villains]]
[[Category:The Fundamentalist]]
[[Category:No Real Life Examples, Please]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fundamentalist, The}}
[[Category:The Fundamentalist{{PAGENAME}}]]
Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.