History Main / BombThrowingAnarchists

* Infamously, the ''Literature/AnarchistCookbook'' contained amateur recipes for homemade explosives (seriously, it's a ''very'' bad idea to [[DoNotTryThisAtHome try this at home]]). There was no overt connection to anarchism as a serious philosophy except that the author seemed very interested in blowing things up as a form of protest. The "recipes" themselves are actually extremely half-hazard and ill-conceived, which led many people to speculate that the book was intentionally poorly written as a kind of Trojan Horse for would-be anarchists.

The tactics of People's Will attracted the attention of anarchists in the West, especially after the spectacular assassination of Alexander II, and some Western anarchist groups started taking pages from their playbook. The key moment for Western anarchist terrorism was the 1886 Haymarket Square riot in Chicago, where eight anarchists went on trial for a bomb that was thrown at a rally (they were not actually charged with throwing it, as some weren't even at the rally; instead they were charged with inciting the action, being influential anarchist figures in Chicago). Most people in the West had probably never paid much attention to one of the 19th century's many radical social movements before, but the sensationalized spread of the incident left a negative impression in media for a long time. The assassination of several heads of state and government by anarchists during the following twenty years (most notably French President Marie François Sadi Carnot, Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas, Austrian Empress Elisabeth, Italian King Umberto I, and American President UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley) didn't help them either. During this period some anarchists advocated violent acts as "attentats" i.e. a means of drawing attention to their cause to [[SparkOfTheRebellion spark a revolution]] by inspiring others, called "propaganda of the deed". Obviously, this backfired horribly, painting them as entirely depraved terrorists.

* The human villains in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' are radical paramilitary [[Characters/MonsterVerseHumans eco-terrorists]] who seek to release all the {{kaiju}} so they can kill millions of people and replenish the environment, committing [[{{Pun}} explosive]] raids on the heroes' facilities containing the {{kaiju}} and shooting dead anyone who gets in their way.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': Mad Stan basically wants to blow up society. It's eventually revealed that there's some method to his madness -- he chooses his targets based on local news stories that really piss him off.

* Infamously, the ''Literature/AnarchistCookbook'' contained amateur recipes for homemade explosives (seriously, it's a ''very'' bad idea to [[DoNotTryThisAtHome try this at home]]). There was no overt connection to anarchism as a serious philosophy except that the author seemed very interested in blowing things up as a form of protest.

* The VillainProtagonist ''{{Literature/Fantomas}}'' is initially claimed to be a radical French anarchist who commits all sorts of crimes in the hopes of bringing down civilisation. However, in practice he comes across as more of a CardCarryingVillain [[PlayedForDrama played dead straight]], a [[{{Sadist}} sadistic]] [[TheSociopath psychopath]] and SerialKiller with a [[DiabolicalMastermind vast criminal network]] who commits a range of violent crimes ForTheEvulz. He is [[TheBadGuyWins never caught or killed]] in any of the stories and on the occasions that he is, he is either FakingTheDead or even [[FrameUp framing innocent people to be arrested or executed in his place]], and it is likely that his only real goal is simply infamy.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': [[Characters/RickAndMortyRickSanchez Rick Sanchez]] was one in his past with Bird Person and Squanchy, committing atrocities against the Galactic Government, and he continues to be an anti-authoritarian and anti-institutional maverick in the present, mocking school, family, marriage, society, and even the Council of Ricks. In ''The Rickchurian Mortydate'', his condescension and belittling of the POTUS, the man in charge of the country which he is a citizen of in the Multiverse, leads to a major crisis, [[spoiler:with Rick being branded as a terrorist, and having his citizenship removed, and Rick coming close to killing the head of state which he probably would have gone ahead with had Morty not found a safe place for him and his family, forcing Rick to restore the status-quo]].

* Lampshaded by Leslie Fish (a self-proclaimed anarchist) in the song "It's Sister Jenny's Turn to Throw the Bomb". Music/TheGlencoves recorded a more humorous version of this at Fink University, which became a staple of the Radio/DrDementoShow.

* Lampshaded by Leslie Fish (a self-proclaimed anarchist) in the song "It's Sister Jenny's Turn to Throw the Bomb".

Anarchism is an umbrella term for a bunch of views that advocate the reduction or elimination (or even simply ignoring) of hierarchic power and its replacement by various forms of voluntary non-hierarchical cooperation. Historically, many anarchists encourage nonviolent means for this goal.

* The Red Lotus from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', who want to "restore balance" by tearing down society and destroying the world's leaders. Notably, while still violent, they seemed to actually understand the ideas of anarchy well enough to not come off as complete [[TheWarOnStraw strawmen]]. [[ActorAllusion Interesting enough]], their leader shares the same [[Music/HenryRollins voice actor]] as Mad Stan.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Rick Sanchez was one in his past with Bird Person and Squanchy, committing atrocities against the Galactic Government, and he continues to be an anti-authoritarian and anti-institutional maverick in the present, mocking school, family, marriage, society, and even the Council of Ricks. In ''The Rickchurian Mortydate'', his condescension and belittling of the POTUS, the man in charge of the country which he is a citizen of in the Multiverse, leads to a major crisis, [[spoiler:with Rick being branded as a terrorist, and having his citizenship removed, and Rick coming close to killing the head of state which he probably would have gone ahead with had Morty not found a safe place for him and his family, forcing Rick to restore the status-quo]].

The "bomb-throwing" image of the anarchist developed in the last quarter of the 19th century. Left-wing terrorism first made a serious mark in UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia during the reign of Emperor Alexander II (r. 1855-1881), who, ironically, was targeted because he was a ''liberal(ish) reformist'' rather than an arch-conservative. The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_reforms_of_Alexander_II_of_Russia "Great Reform"]] of the "Tsar Liberator"[[note]]Which included, among other things, the abolition of serfdom--hence the epithet "Liberator"--plus rationalization of the Russian judiciary and introduction of something resembling due process, introduction of the ''zemstva'' (partly-elected local government councils), educational reforms, and relaxation of censorship. The Tsar himself also indicated this was all just buildup to introduction of full constitutional semi-parliamentary monarchy in Russia, probably on the German and Austro-Hungarian model (in which the monarch wielded substantial but legally limited executive power).[[/note]] scared the pants off Russia's community of agrarian socialists (whose ideology was essentially anarchist, being heavily influenced by Mikhail Bakunin's anarcho-collectivism), who feared that the resultant improvements would sap support for their more radical agenda. In 1879, they established a loose organization called ''Narodnaya Volya'' or "People's Will", which started assassination attempts on various Tsarist officials, including several on the Tsar himself. They eventually succeeding in killing the Tsar in 1881 by literally throwing a bomb at him--well, two bombs.[[note]]The first bomb damaged the Emperor's bulletproof carriage, leaving him unharmed but forcing him to exit; the second, thrown at his feet, tore the lower half of his body to shreds. He was taken back to the Winter Palace, where he died of blood loss.[[/note]] This was highly publicized around the world (not that it did them much good domestically; the organization dissolved in 1884 and the Russian Left went into exile or hibernation for 20 years after the new Emperor Alexander III proved to be an unapologetic absolutist).

* This what the victim in ''Theatre/AccidentalDeathOfAnAnarchist'' is alleged to have been, and what The Maniac might very well be (his exact mortivations are unclear, but he does revel in chaos).

[[folder:Film]]

* Donn Throgg from ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' is a subversion. His M.O. is typical of the trope, but politically he is a right-leaning (relatively speaking, he's still quite socialist by any standards) union activist, who saw violence as the only way to stop the rampant abuse of orcs, half-orcs, and poor humans by Tarantian factory owners. If you can convince him to continue the struggle by peaceful means, Throgg eventually runs for President of Tarant.