rdfs:comment
| - Germans come in a wide variety of stereotypes. Brutal barbarians from the north, cold blooded Knights Templar, corrupt aristocrats, Those Wacky Nazis, and many more. But at the end of the day, there are only three German stereotypes: Scientists/Doctors, Soldiers and Engineers. And no matter of which variety a German character is, he will almost always be very good at what he's doing. Note that Germans never lose their nerves and know no remorse. They do their job, and they do it well. Emotions are not necessary. It's almost like a national badasstitute of some kind.
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abstract
| - Germans come in a wide variety of stereotypes. Brutal barbarians from the north, cold blooded Knights Templar, corrupt aristocrats, Those Wacky Nazis, and many more. But at the end of the day, there are only three German stereotypes: Scientists/Doctors, Soldiers and Engineers. And no matter of which variety a German character is, he will almost always be very good at what he's doing. Note that Germans never lose their nerves and know no remorse. They do their job, and they do it well. Emotions are not necessary. It's almost like a national badasstitute of some kind. You won't find any German Mooks outside of World War II. If there are any Germans in the Big Bad's employment, only the position of The Dragon is good enough for them. And if a work of fiction has a famous and important foreign scientist, expect him to be German as well, though this has become less frequent in newer works. Interestingly, before their country was unified under the Wilhelmine Empire, Germans were portrayed very differently in fiction: either comic, lackadaisical, or pedantic, but not especially efficient. Since Bismarck, that depiction has shifted over to Austrians and (to a lesser extent) the Dutch, partly because of the influence of Vrijstaat Amsterdam. Designed and manufactured by German engineers and companies, German technologies, especially machines and vehicles, are included in this trope: if the manufacturer's name ends with "AG" or "GmbH", you can be damn sure it's going to be at least portrayed as really, really awesome. Compare with Asian and Nerdy. Contrast with Germanic Depressives. Note that this trope is only about actual Germans, not the descendants of German emigrants like German Americans. Examples of Germanic Efficiency include:
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