The Generalissimo: Difference between revisions

A [[Sub Trope]] of [[Evil Overlord]], as well as [[The Caligula]]. The [[General Ripper|militaristic leader]] of a [[Fictional Country|fictional third world state or nation]] (usually [[Bulungi|African]], [[Banana Republic|South American]], [[Ruritania|Eastern European]] or [[Qurac|Middle Eastern]]). Almost invariably rules a [[PeoplesPeople's Republic of Tyranny]].

[[The Caligula|His reign tends to be characterised by human rights abuse, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, and corruption]]. His political viewpoints ([[Strawman Political|if he even has any]]) veer towards [[Dirty Communists|Communism]], [[A Nazi By Any Other Name|Fascism]], or [[Commie Nazis|some combination of the worst aspects of both.]] Of course, none of this will stop him from [[Glorious Leader|proclaiming himself "The People's Liberator"]] or otherwise [[Fake Ultimate Hero|billing himself as a great hero.]] He may have attended a prestigious [[Ivy League]] or [[Oxbridge]] university in his youth, where he [[Majored in Western Hypocrisy]]. He is often the target of American assassination attempts and rebel groups, who may or may not be figments of his own paranoia. A common feature is to have a guerrilla movement training to overthrow them. Once this happens, the general goes into hiding to train his own revolutionaries to overthrow the government, which will be just as corrupt as the old one (as seen in ''[[Tintin (Comic Book)]] and the Picaros'').

Tends to be [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|based on one or more real-life dictators,]] most commonly [[Benito Mussolini]], [[Francisco Franco]] [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Fidel Castro]], [[Mao Ze Dong]], [[Idi Amin]], [[Muammar Gaddafi]] and [[Saddam Hussein]]. This is often used to make an [[Anvilicious]] point about [[What Do You Mean ItsIt's Not Political?|said real-life dictator's policies]]. [[GodwinsGodwin's Law|Surprisingly]], [[Adolf Hitler]] is rarely parodied in this manner, perhaps because the man himself is enough of an [[Acceptable Targets|acceptable target]] (although one of his henchmen, Hermann Goering, did famously dress this way).

{{examples|Examples}}

* [[Tintin (Comic Book)]] has encountered several of these, notably General Alcazar (although he becomes [[Black and Grey Morality|relatively]] more heroic later) and General Tapioca.

* [[Benoit Brisefer (Comic Book)|Benoit Brisefer]], a French comic, has one such island [[Banana Republic]] with three generals (army, navy and air), who are constantly taking and retaking the palace from each other and declaring themselves Arch-Generalissimo or other inflated titles. Meanwhile, the dirt-poor inhabitants have grown used to all this nonsense and carry on life as usual (it helps that the soldiers are all remarkably inept, employing [[A -Team Firing]] to the fullest).

* ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'' had [http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Abdul_Fakkadi Abdul Fakkadi], Supreme Military Commander, President-for-Life, and King of Kings of the [[PeoplesPeople's Republic of Tyranny|Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya]], a not-so-subtle [[Take That]] at [[Muammar Gaddafi]] (with his [[The Magnificent|long list of titles]] a probable reference to Idi Amin).