| abstract
| - Those Wacky Nazis covers a variety of Nazi stereotypes. Before we get on with the list, we also suggest you take a look at Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler (closely associated with Nazis), World War II, Ghostapo, and Stupid Jetpack Hitler.
* The "cultured" one who stands around in vest, braces and lederhosen listening to classical music on a gramophone, who says "You see, Herr Captain, ve are not all animals."
* The loud one who is usually on the phone shouting "Get me ze Führer!".
* The kinky, leather-coated Gestapo officer who is typically a Camp Gay; possibly inspired by Ernst Röhm and many of the high-ranking members of the SA, Hitler's original personal guard. By the time of their destruction on Hitler's orders, the SA was populated by numerous homosexuals or suspected homosexuals. Also possibly inspired by Rudolph Hess, known in some circles as "Fraulein Anna" and Hermann Göring, whose appearance was evidently rather campy.
* The tight-assed Obstructive Bureaucrat who goes through the trouble of donning his entire uniform - including jodhpurs and wellington boots - before talking to someone (even if said someone is on the phone and unable to see what he is wearing). Ends every conversation with a "Heil Hitler!" and a loud click of his heels.
* The round-spectacled, black-gloved torture master who emits a shrill giddy laugh after every sentence. May or may not overlap with "Gay Nazi" above.
* A female officer in the mold of The Baroness. In more salacious productions she'll be a sadistic dominatrix who tortures prisoners and forces them to perform sex acts for her own (and presumably, the audience's) amusement.
* The old guy who is constantly saying "This is not the Germany I fought for in the Great War," (pulls out medal from first war)
* A bumbling Luftwaffe sergeant in direct charge of the American prisoners of war. May or may not be more devious than he appears. May have visited one city in America, and claims to have loved it ("I vas in New York, you know. I love America! Vhen ze var is over, ve vill all be friends.")
* The officer with a consience, usually based on Erwin Rommel.
* And the continuation, this being the high-ranking Nazi C.O. or senior civil servant who hates the party's ideology so much that he either just tries to abseil from what is happening around him, or suffers the consequences of persevering. If this guy will be asked by any real tight-assed Obstructive Bureaucrat (see above) about his faith and loyalty to the regime, the answer will merely be along the lines of "I am loyal to my men/country/work/job/principles/shit)" at most times. In short, the most awesome roles that can be accredited to Curt Jürgens, such as in The Devil's General or The Longest Day (as Günther Blumentritt).
* The Nazi who kills because he simply enjoys it. The slightest provocation (or none at all) means certain death for prisoners and civilians. Possibly modeled after real life sadist and Nazi SS Josef Blösche aka "Frankenstein", who killed over 2,000 noncombatants on his own.
* The "Oskar Schindler" type - the guy who really has a heart of gold and works to save the persecuted or works with the Resistance, a la Allo Allo.
* The "I'm just a soldier doing my job" Nazi, either regular military officer or SS, who feels My Country, Right or Wrong.
* The teenaged grunt who often finds himself in way over his head.
* The mindless drone who simply does what he is told out of ignorance and lack of ambition. This stereotype isn't completely unfounded because German soldiers in WWII were trained to be extremely obedient, sometimes to a fault because they would at times not act unless given orders.
* Actually, at the NCO and Officer level, soldiers of the Wehrmacht were very autonomous in how to act out orders, as the Wehrmacht was one of the few professional armies ever to use Mission-type tactics, which required a great deal of creativity and initiative from the troops. Wehrmacht training would train obedience, but also initiative and self-reliance in the absence of orders from higher up.
* Sub-trope: the blond and innocent looking young recruit able to do the worst atrocities without slightest flinching, like a perfect robot. Common in Sven Hassel novels. Possibly inspired by the later war SS recruits subject to Training From Hell, from the 12th SS Division Hitlerjugend.
* The mindless drone who does anything he is told, with a certain lack of ignorance but not ambition.
* The Nazi Nobleman with a fancy aristocratic title and ancestral castle, who may overlap with any of these.
* The mad doctor obsessed with purifying the race, discovering immortality, etc., through horrifying surgical/robotic/occult means. May also overlap with "Frankenstein", above. Basically Mengele, mixed with the alien vampire robozombie stereotype.
* The aging (but evil) senior officer with cadaverous features, usually an SS member to link his skull-like visage with the death's head motif. Will normally be combined with one of the roles above, or feature in a minor role as a visitor from Berlin here to remind the Big Bad that "Zer Führer is not patient, he expects results". Partially based on SS-Oberführer Dr. Oskar Dirlewanger, whose physical features matched 100% the description and whose job had been anti-partisan combat. The abysmal performance of his unit was the only thing which limited his ability to do even more evil.
* The traitor who wants to overthrow Hitler, either out of conscience, or because he wants to take over himself. Sometimes both. Expect him to fail, unless the story takes place in Alternate History
* The Magnificent Bastard, a variation of the I'm just a soldier doing my job, after the traitor, the most sympathetic of all the Nazi stereotypes (which is why they usually overlap). Will usually be portrayed as a genius who isn't a complete monster, who at some point will befriend one of his enemies, or show admiration for them. This feeling is usually reciprocated. More often than not, is either executed as a traitor, or gets captured by the Soviets and sent to a concentration camp, usually the main character of the story will feel sorry for him. There were many branches of the Nazi military, each associated with the above subtropes to a varying degree. Most of the more evil, sinister Nazi archetypes tend to belong to the SS, the paramilitary wing of the Nazi party (and the ones who ran the Holocaust). SS members are immediately recognizable by their ominous all-black uniforms. More mundane Nazis may belong to the Wehrmacht, the German military, where they are less likely to be members of the Nazi party at all and more likely to be conscripts. If Nazis are out hunting for La Résistance or Jews, you might encounter the Gestapo, the German Secret Police, though they tend to be less of a threat than their rivals in the SS. Last but not least are members of the German spy service, the Abwehr, who are the most likely to secretly be working with the Allies. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, the head of the Abwehr, loathed the Nazis and put much of the Abwehr's energy into feeding them false information, smuggling Jews out from under their noses, and unsuccessfully trying to kill Adolf Hitler. Then there are neo-Nazis. Generally today they tend to be somewhat stereotypical skinhead punks, covered with tattoos, listening to rage rock, with no real agenda besides anger and violence, and generally representing a particularly nasty strain of disaffected youth, often led on by calculating hatemongers with more cynical motives. These are common in cop shows, and are given a particularly chilling representation in the film American History X. Other films, like The 51st State portrays them as asinine thugs, dumber than a box of rocks. It's also important to note that not all skinheads are Neo-Nazis, and making such an association around a traditional or anti-racist skin tends to invite a reaction. On the other hand, during the earlier days of the Cold War, spy shows, such as Mission Impossible or The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the protagonists would occasionally take a break from battling the commies in order to put a stop to someone's attempt to reinstate the "The Fourth Reich." These Nazi wannabes would invariably be vaguely Germanic, paranoid, arrogant, obsessed with "discipline," and usually very morally rigid (such as announcing that in the New Order, women would be limited to making babies, their "proper function"). In short, such characters were little more than broadly drawn cartoons. Given that the entertainment industry was is predominantly Jewish, and World War II was still a recent memory for most people, it's not surprising that any Nazi character would be denied even the tiniest human characteristic. As well, some German or Jewish actors who played Nazis, notably John Banner (Sgt. Schultz) and Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink) on Hogan's Heroes insisted that their character never succeed (in fact neither character was a party member, and Schultz sided with the prisoners on several occasions). Another with some (increasingly small) currency today is the fugitive Nazi war criminal, who may well be hiding out in Latin Land or even the continental United States. Perhaps he's working as a dentist... The sheer use of them as antagonists practically makes them an arguable standout example of The Usual Adversaries. Stock German phrases and words usually associated with Nazis:
* Achtung - "attention!"
* Führer - "leader/guide". In today's German this word on its own is often avoided in its meaning of 'leader', as it has become associated so much with Hitler; the words "Anführer" ('leader') or "Leiter," being not connotated that way, are used instead. In its other meaning of 'guide' and in compound words (eg. Führerschein = driver's license) , "Führer" still is commonly used.
* Hände hoch! - "Hands up!"
* Halt! - "Hold it!/Stop there!" which may be followed by
* Ausweis! - "ID"
* Jawohl!- "Yes, sir/ma'am!" Technically it actually just means emphatic yes (YES!) without the attached "sir" or "ma'am," but translations often include the honorific due to the way the word is used. "Jawohl, mein Fuhrer!" is enough of a Stock Phrase to deserve a specific mention.
* Scheiße! - Shit!
* Kommandant - A commander, regardless of rank.
* Raus!- "Out!" Often used in the context of The Holocaust.
* Schnell!- "Quick/Quickly!" General-purpose exclamation by anyone giving orders.
* Was ist los? - "What's going on?" (or "What's wrong?") Usually uttered by a Nazi trooper after one of his comrades gets knocked out or killed.
* Alarm!- "Alarm!" ("We're under attack!", from French "À l'arme", meaning "To the weapon" / 'to arms'; on U-boats, this is the order to start a crash dive).
* Amerikaner! or Engländer! - "Americans!" or "Englishmen!" Usually followed by the German soldier who yelled the warning getting shot by said Americans or Englishmen.
* Nicht schießen! - "Don't shoot!" (Not to Be Confused With Nicht scheißen! - "Don't shit!")
* Sieg Heil! - "Hail victory!" (Always accompanied by a Nazi salute.)
* Mein Gott in Himmel! - "My God in Heaven!" Expression of shock/surprise/disbelief, often when encountering Allied commandos. "Mein Gott!" "Gott in Himmel!" "Gott!" and "Himmel!" are also common.
* Ach du Lieber! - "Oh dear!" Same usage as above. Yes, in direct translation, meaning, usage and force of utterance, the expression "Ach du Lieber" is pretty much identical to the English "Oh dear". Just what you'd shout while being ambushed. "Oh dear" indeed!
* Ach, der Teufel! - "Oh, the Devil!" General curse. Suitable response to anything from allied attack to overdue library books. "Ach" and "der" are optional.
* Donner und Blitzen! - "Thunder and lightning!" Angry curse or general expression of anger, more common with those who have underlings to rant at. Luckily for English audiences, a lot of the more functional parts of speech are extremely similar-sounding in English and German, so the lines are often blurred between Poirot Speak and Just a Stupid Accent. Along with the list above, you can include "ja", "nein", "mein(e)" (my), "ein(e)" (one/a), "wo/was" (where/what), "das", "ist", "gut", and many others. Das ist gut, ja? Stock slurs:
* Schwein!- Almost-English stock insult, essentially saying Swine. Note: In contemporary German this is about as (in-)offensive as calling someone a "scoundrel".
* Schweinhund - translated "pig dog". Might also be a compliment for especially resilient people.
* Arschloch! - Asshole!
* Ami: American - That is actually a contemporary and neutral shortcut for "US American" and wasn't in use in WW 2.
* Tommy: Brit / Englishman - Also "Tommyboy".
* Franzmann: Frenchman
* Itaka: Italian - It has to be noted that fascist Italy was an ally of Nazi Germany; "Itaka" is short for "Italienischer Kamerad" or Italian comrade. Its true meaning became obscure over time and it was degraded to a slur for Italians. Also "Makaronis" (heard in Das Boot, among others), short for "Makaronifresser". "fressen" literally means "to eat" but is usually reserved for referring to animals or people eating excessively.
* Polacke: Pole
* Iwan (or "Der Iwan!"): Russian Any low-ranking Nazi Mook will have a limited vocabulary, consisting solely of these phrases uttered in rapid succession, also called "voice achtung". In real life, the Wehrmacht did not print phrase books to its troops, essentially because most Germans already know a little English and French, and on the Eastern Front, the only words a German soldier needed to know was "Ruky Vverkh!" ("hands up!"). Examples of Those Wacky Nazis include:
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