History Main / TotalitarianUtilitarian

* The Illusive Man of ''MassEffect'' and his organization [[KnightTemplar Cerberus]] are dedicated to the protection, prosperity, and improvement of mankind in the galaxy. Of course that means that he wants to defeat every alien race that could ever possibly be a threat (i.e. ''all of them''), is quite fond of PlayingWithSyringes, and will kill anybody who could conceivably threaten one of his goals (including any of his own employees). [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans History will vindicate him, after all.]] Worst part? ''He may be right.'' The Council and the Alliance are just two steps short of declaring Shepard a criminal. The best that Shepard's [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Reasonable Superiors]] can do is prevent that from happening. [[DealWithTheDevil Cerberus is the only ally Shepard has.]]

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* [[spoiler: Chairman Gilbert Durandel]] from GundamSeedDestiny turns out to be one of these. YourMileageMayVary on whether his problem was the means or the goal.

* TronLegacy: Clu, building his "perfect world".

* StarWars EU treats [[BigBad Jacen Solo]] like this [[RetCon after his demise.]]

* Mr. House of {{Fallout New Vegas}} has a clear vision for uplifting the Mojave and humanity through making Vegas prosperous again, but he also uses his Securitrons to enforce strict order and seems to care very little about the less-fortunate people of Freeside and outer Vegas.

* The Illusive Man of ''MassEffect'' and his organization [[KnightTemplar Cerberus]] are dedicated to the protection, prosperity, and improvement of mankind in the galaxy. [[spoiler: Of course that means that he wants to defeat every alien race that could ever possibly be a threat (i.e. ''all of them''), is quite fond of PlayingWithSyringes, and will kill anybody who could conceivably threaten one of his goals (including any of his own employees).]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans History will vindicate him, after all.]]

* Mr. House of "Fallout New Vegas" has a clear vision for uplifting the Mojave and humanity through making Vegas prosperous again, but he also uses his Securitrons to enforce strict order and seems to care very little about the less-fortunate people of Freeside and outer Vegas.

A Totalitarian Utilitarian character is often a StrawmanPolitical as well as a StrawVulcan and a HollywoodAtheist. However, he's just as likely to simply be a regular villain who the authors tried to make a bit less senseless by adding a grain of StrawManHasAPoint.

He only [[ForHappiness wants everyone to be happy]], and yet he's a villain. Somewhere along the way, he [[UsefulNotes/EthicalHedonism failed ethical hedonism 101]]. At best he's a WellIntentionedExtremist who believes that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans and crossed [[IDidWhatIHadToDo one moral event horizon too many]]. He might be scheduled to soon have his own personal [[HeelRealization "I'm the bad guy?" moment]] or [[AlasPoorVillain die in his struggle for the greater good]]. Or [[IDidWhatIHadToDo maybe]], he's actually [[OnlySaneMan RIGHT]].

** And of course it [[SarcasmMode works great]]. Even the protagonist agrees with the party about everything... [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil eventually]].

* In ''{{Paranoia}}'', Friend Computer maximizes happiness by simply [[DystopianEdict making unhappiness a capital offense]].

He only [[ForHappiness wants everyone to be happy]], and yet he's a villain. Somewhere along the way, he [[UsefulNotes/EthicalHedonism failed ethical hedonism 101]].At best he's a WellIntentionedExtremist who believes that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans and crossed [[IDidWhatIHadToDo one moral event horizon too many]]. He might be scheduled to soon have his own personal [[HeelRealization "I'm the bad guy?" moment]] or [[AlasPoorVillain die in his struggle for the greater good]]. Or [[IDidWhatIHadToDo maybe]], he's actually [[OnlySaneMan RIGHT]].

* Lord Doom from the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' is dedicated to solving the world's problems and making the world a better place so no other child has to watch their family be systematically killed like he did during the Holocaust. To that end, he intends to overthrow every government on the planet and replace them with his own benevolent rule, modify the general behavior of the human race through genetic engineering, drug thereapy, and branwashing, end crime by ending the criminals, permanently, and insuring that the only people who have the capacity to make war are those who have been programmed to be loyal to the cause. Among other things, he is a MadScientist who is all about PlayingWithSyringes when it comes to making people better, and insists that HappinessIsMandatory, and anyone who disagrees with him or gets in his way, even if they are his own children, must be eliminated. Sure, his plan is a bit harsh, but [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans you cannot make omelettes without breaking a few eggs.

* In ''{{Paranoia}}'', the dominant society maximizes happiness by simply [[DystopianEdict making unhappiness a capital offense]].

A pure Totalitarian Utilitarian is a frightening character indeed. He cannot be strayed from his path. Not by [[IDidWhatIHadToDo mercy]], and not by [[TheFettered self-preservation]]. While his EthicalHedonism is very flawed, he lacks the [[TheHedonist childish unetchical hedonism]] that would make him ''less'' of a threat.

* In ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', the one who killed the Comedian has a plan that he thinks will have so good consequences that he's ready to sacrifice anything and anyone for it, fully knowing that it means [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope abandoning all principles]].

He only [[ForHappiness wants everyone to be happy]], and yet he's a villain. Somewhere along the way, he failed [[UsefulNotes/EthicalHedonism ethical hedonism 101]].At best he's a WellIntentionedExtremist who believes that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans and crossed [[IDidWhatIHadToDo one moral event horizon too many]]. He might be scheduled to soon have his own personal [[HeelRealization "I'm the bad guy?" moment]] or [[AlasPoorVillain die in his struggle for the greater good]]. Or [[IDidWhatIHadToDo maybe]], he's actually [[OnlySaneMan RIGHT]].

A pure Totalitarian Utilitarian is a frightening character indeed. He cannot be strayed from his path. Not by [[IDidWhatIHadToDo mercy]], and not by [[TheFettered self-preservation]]. While his EthicalHedonism is very flawed, he lacks the [[TheHedonism childish unetchical hedonism]] that would make him ''less'' of a threat.

He only [[ForHappiness wants everyone to be happy]], and yet he's a villain. At best he's a WellIntentionedExtremist who believes that UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans and crossed one [[IDidWhatIHadToDo moral event horizon]] too many. He might be scheduled to soon have his own personal [[HeelRealization "I'm the bad guy?" moment]] or [[AlasPoorVillain die in his struggle for the greater good]]. Or [[IDidWhatIHadToDo maybe]], he's actually [[OnlySaneMan RIGHT]].

In either case, there are three basic flavors of Totalitarian Utilitarian:

When the problem is the goal itself, the TU is off the deep end. Their idea of "happiness" is simply ''wrong'' - it's not what most people would call happiness, and/or it suffers from a heavy dose of InsaneTrollLogic. In such cases, the TU is doing things that no real utilitarian would ever approve - and the TU is very likely to be a StrawmanPolitical. For example:
* We should maximize the average happiness. This can be done with killing off everyone who's unhappy. (this is like saying that the best way to end your computer problems is to blow up your computer)
* We should maximize the total happiness. Since even starving people are capable of happiness, we should reproduce as much as possible without any sense of sustainable development. (this fails to take into account the long term consequences of unsustainability, which will end up reducing happiness in the long run)
* Negative Utilitarianism: Instead of maximizing happiness, we should only focus on minimizing suffering. However, all living things suffer to some extent, so we should just [[OmnicidalManiac put them out of their misery]]. (this assumes that death is not bad at all, and doesn't count as suffering)

In either case, the totalitarian utilitarian is all about the consequences. This is the difference between him and the other kind of more or less WellIntentionedExtremist - the PrinciplesZealot who cares only about principles and consider the consequences irrelevant.

A Totalitarian Utilitarian character is often a StrawmanPolitical as well as a StrawVulcan and a HollywoodAtheist. However, he's just as likely to simply be a regular villain who the authors tried to make a bit less senseless by adding a grain of StrawManHasAPoint. Sadly, this practice easily turns into Misaimed Strawdom.

A pure Totalitarian Utilitarian is a frightening character indeed.
A true KnightTemplar, he cannot be strayed from his path.
Unlike the softer versions who border on [[ForHappiness Ethical Hedonist]], he can't be swayed by compassion or be convinced that he actually [[NotSoOmniscientAfterAll doesn't know what results his actions will really have in the end]].

Unlike his selfish counterpart the [[TheHedonist Straw Hedonist]], he cannot be swayed by self interest. Unless he turns out to be a hypocrite ([[StrawHypocrite straw]] or otherwise), he will be ready to sacrifice pretty much anyone and anything including himself for The Greater Good.

* [[CodeGeass Charles di Britannia and Schneizel el Britannia]], full stop. [[spoiler:Lelouch can also be considered this when he engages the Zero Requiem, considering there are less bloody ways towards world peace, but is at worst a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds considering what has happened to him, and his intended end result.]]

* Sofia Lamb in ''{{Bioshock}} 2''. Her goal is to [[spoiler:create utopia by using ADAM and mind control to imbue everyone with the entire sum of the knowledge of Rapture's inhabitants, eliminate their free will and instruct them to act only for "the greater good" (pretty much turning everyone into mindless slaves). Starting with her own daughter.]]

--> -The Borg (omnicidal Hivemind) in StarTrek

!!!Examples

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* In {{Watchmen}}, the one who killed the Comedian has a plan that he thinks will have so good consequences that he's ready to sacrifice anything and anyone for it, fully knowing that it means [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope abandoning all principles]].

* George Orwell's 1984 contains a very grim parody of this concept: The ruling party are trying to make sure that the party members are the happiest people in the world - by making their lives hell but making everyone else's life far worse!

* In George Orwell's AnimalFarm, the pigs start out like this. As the story progresses, some pigs are lost, while others are corrupted by their power unless they were really [[StrawHypocrite Straw Hypocrites]] all along. By the end of the story, the remaining pigs have become what they once rebelled against.
* In Wild Swans (see [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Swans the other wiki]], many of the revolutionary communists are portrayed like this, while others are portrayed as [[StrawHypocrite Straw Hypocrites]], [[CompleteMonster Complete Monsters]], or simple cases of PeerPressureMakesYouEvil. The latter includes the main protagonist herself.
* BraveNewWorld takes place in a society where ForHappiness has become such a great cultural obsession that it has become oppressive.

* In {{Warhammer 40000}} It is implied that the Tau Empire's philosophy, "for the greater good", is this in practice.

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* In StarTrek, the HiveMind called The Borg seem to honestly believe that getting assimilated into their collective is the best for everyone.

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* One 2010 arc of ''SluggyFreelance'' centers around an AlternateUniverse, 4U City, which is this sort of society. Happiness is enforced through a [[GovernmentDrugEnforcement mandatory regimen of drugs]], and anyone who shows signs of being the least bit morose is 'judged' (which basically consists of zapping them into a random alternate universe.)

* The Illusive Man of ''MassEffect'' and his organization [[KnightTemplar Cerberus]] are dedicated to the protection, prosperity, and improvement of mankind in the galaxy. [[spoiler: Of course that means that he wants to defeat every alien race that could ever possibly be a threat (i.e. ''all of them''), is quite fond of PlayingWithSyringes, and will kill anybody who could conceivably threaten one of his goals (including any of his own employees).]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans History will vindicate him, after all.]]