History Main / TotalitarianUtilitarian

* ''VideoGame/TheTuringTest'': [[spoiler:TOM falls into this, willing to sacrifice the entire crew to avoid risking the alien virus to reach Earth. The implied reason is that it's due to its programming restrictions. TOM says it's not allowed to think laterally (or, as it calls it, "use evolutionary algorithms") because it would create unethical solutions. The implication is that TOM [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity sees everything in black and white]] and lacks the creativity to TakeAThirdOption, thus being only able to take drastic decisions.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': {{Played with}} in surprising nuance and subtlety as [[TheHighQueen Princess Bubblegum's]] FatalFlaw. On the one hand, the Land of Ooo is a CrapsaccharineWorld and the [[MadeOfPlasticine Candy People]] are [[TooDumbToLive not very savvy to its many dangers]]. Caring for her people is a [[{{Workaholic}} full-time job]], as they are [[InherentInTheSystem quick to panic and doubt]], to say nothing of the many dangers that find their way to the kingdom's borders. As such, [[VetinariJobSecurity the Candy Kingdom's all but guaranteed to collapse if/when PB permanently leaves power]] but - to top it all off - she is ''not'' immortal and (being more-or-less the LastOfHerKind) has ''[[YourDaysAreNumbered has no idea how long her life may truly last]]''. On the other hand, her [[IDidWhatIHadToDo methods of peacekeeping]] are... [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans extreme]]. SurveillanceAsThePlotDemands, PlayingWithSyringes, {{Realpolitik}} and other forms of DirtyBusiness are all on the table. Roughly half the hardships that befall the kingdom are her experiments GoneHorriblyWrong, she [[ManipulativeBastard keeps the local]] KidHero [[ManipulativeBastard in her pocket]] and she's caused two [[ZombieApocalypse Zombie outbreaks]] to date.

* ''VideoGame/TheTuringTest'': [[spoiler:TOM falls into this, willing to sacrifice the entire crew to avoid risking the alien virus to reach Earth. The implied reason is that it's due to its programming restrictions. TOM says it's not allowed to think laterally (or, as it calls it, "use evolutionary algorithms") because it would create unethical solutions. The implication is that TOM [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity sees everything in black and white]] and lacks the creativity to TakeAThirdOption, thus being only able to take drastical decisions.]]

* The Pro-registration side in ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' turned out to be this. The goal? Insert some accountability into superheroics. The means? Creating an insane clone of [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], imprisonment without trial in a hellish extradimensional prison for anyone people who didn't go along with it, granting functional pardons and extra powers to supervillains, notably putting ''ComicBook/NormanOsborn'' in charge of a government agency, and the conscription at gunpoint of teenagers with superpowers. Osborn himself qualifies, at least in his own mind. He thinks that the superhero community is likely to usher in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt and wants to save the earth -- too bad he's a psychotic superhuman himself and ''far'' more dangerous than any of the people he's opposing.

What makes the Totalitarian Utilitarian a frightening character is that while their ForHappiness motive is tragically flawed, they are ''ruthlessly efficient'' to those ends and have [[TheHedonist no hobbies, no pastimes, and no friends]] - nothing [[AttackItsWeakPoint that could be]] [[FlawExploitation used against them]], in other words.

* ''Series/BraveNewWorld: The government of New London believes in all citizens being happy, by quite drastic means. Genetic engineering, psychological conditioning, drug use and sex without attachment are mandated for this.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]

* ''LightNovel/FateZero'' has an ''AntiHero'' example with Kiritsugu Emiya. He believes that sacrifices need to be made in order to achieve greater good or to bring peace and justice. He is willing to sacrifice the few for the sake of many, commit acts of evil to defeat a greater evil, and use unorthodox tactics to achieve his goals. He thinks a lost of innocent life is tragic, but as long as ''more'' innocent lives are saved, he is willing to sacrifice his beloved ones to protect the many. [[spoiler:The [[JackassGenie Grail]] brutally [[{{Deconstruction}} tears this world-view apart]] when it shows him the logical conclusion of where that philosophy would get him when applied on a world-wide scale, and when he's ultimately forced to realize that it was AllForNothing, he's nearly DrivenToSuicide...only to find meaning again when he saves one life from the Fuyuki Fire resulting from the Grail's destruction: [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Shirou Emiya]]]].

* ''VideoGame/WeHappyFew'': Set in an alternate timeline dystopian 1960's Britain, the Allies were on the brink of total defeat and did... something... so horrifying and devastating that it may as well have been a PyrrhicVictory; everyone needs a lethal designer drug Joy to feel any sort of happiness, and broadcast leader Uncle Jack directs the masses to murder any individual who doesn't take regular doses of drugs. And the island is going to run out of gas and die in a few days due to lack of maintenance from the happy jolly morons. You play as one of the few survivors who realize that everything on Britain is going to hell.

* In Myth/ClassicalMythology, there's the Golden Age which is identified (at least in some versions) with the reign of Kronos. Now there was a prophecy that one of his children would topple him, like he had toppled his father Uranos. So Kronos ate all his children to avoid this. Not sure whether he did that for concern that the Golden Age should continue or just because he himself didn't want to lose power, but if it was the former, this would be a case.

* In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', this is revealed to be Thanos' motive. His comic counterpart was literally in love with Death, and used the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half of all life as a "tribute" to her. Here, he wants to do the same thing... because he believes the universe is headed for the same OverpopulationCrisis that destroyed his home.
-->'''Thanos''': If life is left unchecked, life will cease to exist. It needs correcting.

* Creator/GeorgeOrwell's ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' contains a very grim {{satire|ParodyPastiche}} 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! And of course it [[SarcasmMode works great]]. Even the protagonist [[MoreThanMindControl agrees with the party about everything]]... [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil eventually]].

* ''Webcomic/ExistentialComics'': PlayedForLaughs in the "[[http://existentialcomics.com/comic/325 Utilitarian Dictator]]" which depicts Jeremy Bentham (founder of Utilitarianism) as in charge of society discussing how to create the greatest happiness with John Stuart Mill. They decide to simply bann things which people unhappy, leading to a comically LongList with very little left. At the end though it's {{subverted}} as they decide banning this all would be too difficult, so they go with Mill's idea of maximizing personal liberty instead.

* Lord Doom from the ''Roleplay/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 therapy, and brainwashing, 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 the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/WitchesAbroad'', Genua is run like this. People failing to be happy enough (and stereotypical enough, as the ruler's goal is to make Genua a fairytale-esque city) are dealt with harshly.

** There's onestory about a society which builds an ArtificialIntelligence that has to create the perfect world. The AI does this by building a factory, taking people one by one there, with the promise of a happy place, and noone ever returns from there. Truth is, in the factory people are turned into shiny metal discs, which the AI later arranges in a geometrical pattern. Apparently it's a bit of a LiteralGenie and didn't understand that this wasn't what people had in mind with "the perfect world".

* ''Literature/FromTheNewWorld'' takes this to terrifying level. In order to create a stable society of psychic and avoid repeating [[AfterTheEnd the destruction of the world]], the society has been thoroughly indoctrinated, and anyone who display even a ''potential'' to stray fron the doctrine is silently and quickly terminated-- even (''especially'') if that someone is a kid. Said society has been genetically modified to resolve dissenssion through hot bisexual sex, modeled after bonobo. [[spoiler:Anyone who doesn't have psychic power is downlifted into mole-rat-men.]] [[MarySuetopia You have a society where everyone is sexually satisfied and possesses psychic power, but at what cost?]]

* The Pro-registration side in ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' turned out to be this. The goal? Insert some accountability into superheroics. The means? Creating an insane clone of [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], imprisonment without trial in a hellish extradimensional prison for anyone people who didn't go along with it, granting functional pardons and extra powers to supervillains, notably putting ''ComicBook/NormanOsborn'' in charge of a government agency, and the conscription at gunpoint of teenagers with superpowers.
** Osborn himself qualifies, at least in his own mind. He thinks that the superhero community is likely to usher in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt and wants to save the earth -- too bad he's a psychotic superhuman himself and ''far'' more dangerous than any of the people he's opposing.

* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' there is the Alliance, which tried to create a more peaceful world through chemical testing [[spoiler:leading to untold numbers of deaths and the creation of a breed of rampaging psychopath space pirate]], and their hatchet man, the Operative. Notably, the Operative acknowledges that when they've ''built'' their "perfect" world, [[NoPlaceForMeThere he won't have any place in it]].

A Totalitarian Utilitarian character is often a StrawmanPolitical, but is just as likely to simply be a regular villain whom the authors tried to make a bit less senseless by adding a grain of StrawManHasAPoint. If RomanticismVersusEnlightenment is a theme, he will almost always side with the Enlightenment. Compare HappinessIsMandatory. Contrast PrinciplesZealot. See also TragicDream.

** [[spoiler: Gretchen Kriemhild, Madoka's witch form,]] is a negative utilitarian. [[spoiler: Whereas Madoka cares deeply about making everyone happy through positive means, Gretchen wants to erase suffering by assimilating each and every sentient being into herself, which is a LotusEaterMachine.]]

* The Pro-registration side in ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' turned out to be this. The goal? Insert some accountability into superheroics. The means? Creating an insane clone of [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], imprisonment without trial in a hellish extradimensional prison for anyone people who didn't go along with it, granting functional pardons and extra powers to supervillains, notably putting ''[[{{Spiderman}} Norman]] [[AxCrazy Osborn]]'' in charge of a government agency, and the conscription at gunpoint of teenagers with superpowers.

** Charles di Britannia [[spoiler: and his wife Marianne have a plan to Kill "God" and prevent anyone from lying]].

* [[GodEmperor The Lord Ruler]] of ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'' tried his hardest to be this. [[spoiler: Pity [[OmnicidalManiac Ruin]] was in telepathic contact with him for his whole thousand-year reign, twisting his utopian vision into a postapocalyptic nightmare]].

*** The difference is explained in the MMO. Turns out that [[spoiler:individuals forced to work together means that different viewpoints and resistances act as safeguards and vaccines. The ENTIRE Borg were hacked by psychopaths a LONG time ago.]]

No historical examples '''''[[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease at all]]''''', m'kay? (However, feel free to go around this with examples of how various authors have ''portrayed'' various groups.)