History Main / WesternTerrorists

Basically, a group of terrorists who are mostly from the West (typically defined as the continents of UsefulNotes/NorthAmerica and UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}, though UsefulNotes/{{Oceania}} and UsefulNotes/SouthAmerica can also be included), and who are mainly influenced by cultural, political or religious ideas of Western origin. The trope may also cover a single individual. What makes someone "Western" can be rather hazy and difficult to define, since it is not simply a matter of where the person was born or grew up. Many Islamic terrorists, generally regarded as non-Western, lived the majority of their lives in the West, and for that matter many elements of Islamic culture -- coffee, cookies and yogurt, for instance, were originally Arabic, Persian and Turkic foods, respectively -- have profoundly influenced Western society and vice versa, making it tough to ascertain who is "Western" and who is not. Many countries in the Americas, especially in UsefulNotes/TheCaribbean, have notable West and Central African and South Asian influences due to many of the inhabitants of those countries being descendants of African slaves and Indian laborers brought there by European colonists during the Atlantic slave trade, the United Kingdom has South Asian influences in it's culture due to the large amount of diaspora from the Indian subcontinent, and many Southern and Eastern European countries have Islamic influences due to the Moors, Arabs, Ottoman Empire, Persian Empire, notable Turkic minorities and the regions' close proximity to North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, with Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan even being predominately Muslim. Furthermore, several culturally and/or politically European countries (Turkey, Cyprus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Russia) have the majority of or all their land in Asia, and thus terrorists from those countries could be considered either Western or Eastern, depending on what part of the country they are from and/or whether you consider them European or Asian.

* ''Film/InTheNameOfTheFather'': The Irish Republican Army's acts spark the plot of the film. As Gerry explains early on, back in 1974 the IRA were bombing targets on the British mainland. Pubs soldiers' frequented in Guildford, England, were among them. These caused outrage by the British public, and the police had tremendous pressure to find the culprits. Their overzealousness, with a new law which allowed detention of terrorist suspects without charge for seven days, results in the protagonists being coerced into falsely confessing to having done it.

Basically, a group of terrorists who are mostly from the West (typically defined as the continents of UsefulNotes/NorthAmerica and UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}, though UsefulNotes/{{Oceania}} and UsefulNotes/SouthAmerica can also be included), and who are mainly influenced by cultural, political or religious ideas of Western origin. The trope may also cover a single individual. What makes someone "Western" can be rather hazy and difficult to define, since it is not simply a matter of where the person was born or grew up. Many Islamic terrorists, generally regarded as non-Western, lived the majority of their lives in the West, and for that matter many elements of Islamic culture -- coffee, cookies and apples, for instance, were originally Arabic, Persian and Turkic foods, respectively -- have profoundly influenced Western society and vice versa, making it tough to ascertain who is "Western" and who is not. Many countries in the Americas, especially in UsefulNotes/TheCaribbean, have notable West and Central African and South Asian influences due to many of the inhabitants of those countries being descendants of African slaves and Indian laborers brought there by European colonists during the Atlantic slave trade, the United Kingdom has South Asian influences in it's culture due to the large amount of diaspora from the Indian subcontinent, and many Southern and Eastern European countries have Islamic influences due to the Moors, Arabs, Ottoman Empire, Persian Empire, notable Turkic minorities and the regions' close proximity to North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, with Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan even being predominately Muslim. Furthermore, several culturally and/or politically European countries (Turkey, Cyprus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Russia) have the majority of or all their land in Asia, and thus terrorists from those countries could be considered either Western or Eastern, depending on what part of the country they are from and/or whether you consider them European or Asian.

Basically, a group of terrorists who are mostly from the West (typically defined as the continents of UsefulNotes/NorthAmerica and UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}, though UsefulNotes/{{Oceania}} and UsefulNotes/SouthAmerica can also be included), and who are mainly influenced by cultural, political or religious ideas of Western origin. The trope may also cover a single individual. What makes someone "Western" can be rather hazy and difficult to define, since it is not simply a matter of where the person was born or grew up. Many Islamic terrorists, generally regarded as non-Western, lived the majority of their lives in the West, and for that matter many elements of Islamic culture -- coffee, cookies and yogurt, for instance, were originally Arabic, Persian and Turkic foods, respectively -- have profoundly influenced Western society and vice versa, making it tough to ascertain who is "Western" and who is not. Many countries in the Americas, especially in UsefulNotes/TheCaribbean, have notable West and Central African and South Asian influences due to many of the inhabitants of those countries being descendants of African slaves and Indian laborers brought there by European colonists during the Atlantic slave trade, the United Kingdom has South Asian influences in it's culture due to the large amount of diaspora from the Indian subcontinent, and many Southern and Eastern European countries have Islamic influences due to the Moors, Arabs, Ottoman Empire, Persian Empire, notable Turkic minorities and the regions' close proximity to North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, with Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan even being predominately Muslim. Furthermore, several culturally and/or politically European countries (Turkey, Cyprus, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Russia) have the majority of or all their land in Asia, and thus terrorists from those countries could be considered either Western or Eastern, depending on what part of the country they are from and/or whether you consider them European or Asian.

->''"A terrorist is a terrorist even if he wears a green necktie and sings Danny Boy."''

* The Creator/NicolasCage movie ''Film/{{Next}}'' did this, with the bad guys being a group of apparently Francophone Europeans.

** Like with the movie example, the Umbrella Corporation, when they weren't screwing up on their own causing accidental biological disasters, tend to have rogue dissatisfied or just plain crazy researchers cause these problems. ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 6]]'' have since seen Umbrella become "Neo-Umbrella", which isn't so much a revival of the multinational biotech corporation as much as it is a terrorist organization trying to destroy the world ForTheEvulz.

* The console version of ''VideoGame/RainbowSix 3'' had Venezuelan terrorists led by [[spoiler:Juan Crespo, who's plan was to start an oil crisis and use it as a power grab to become the president of Venezuela, and he would then cut off the US oil supply, selling the oil on the black market so he could rake in huge personal profit. A Saudi friend of his in the meantime would then start terrorist attacks against the US and frame the Saudis for it, allowing him to take over in Riyadh once the US steps in]].
* Like with the movie example, ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'''s Umbrella Corporation, when they weren't screwing up on their own causing accidental biological disasters, tended to have rogue dissatisfied or just plain crazy researchers cause these problems. ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 6]]'' have since seen Umbrella become "Neo-Umbrella", which isn't so much a revival of the multinational biotech corporation as much as it is a terrorist organization trying to destroy the world ForTheEvulz.
* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', Leon is set against Los Illuminados, a Spanish cult who kidnapped the President's daughter Ashley Graham for ransom, but simultaneously plan to use her to commit bioterrorism with the goal of world domination. They also have an entire militia with the intention of an armed invasion of the United States, complete with battleships. Leon explicitly calls them terrorists at one point.

* In ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'', COBRA was always referred to as a "terrorist" organization, even though it was closer in every way to James Bond's SPECTRE or Nick Fury's HYDRA than anything resembling modern terrorism (western or otherwise). The comic version of the franchise portrayed COBRA as tapping into the frustrations of lower to middle-class white Americans, even making Cobra Commander into a former used car salesman. COBRA also tended to use [[TownWithADarkSecret ordinary, all-American small towns named Springfield]] as secret headquarters.
* Spoofed in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "The Snuke", a parody of ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'' where Cartman (playing the role of Jack Bauer) is convinced the new Muslim kid in school is a terrorist, and tips off the government. Turns out there ''is'' a terrorist plot going on in South Park, but it involves Russian mercenaries trying to distract the government with a nuclear device planted in Hillary Clinton's crotch while America's oldest enemies (the ''British'') stage a naval assault.

[[AC:Live-Action Tv]]

* Rudy Brewer, one of Max's neighbors back in Hoboken in ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 3'', stocked his apartment with what appears to be nothing but the ingredients for home-made fertilizer bombs. One interactive item in his apartment is a manifesto. His appearance and mannerisms imply that he's a Vietnam vet with PTSD.

* The Anarchiste Libertaire Armee in ''VideoGame/SyphonFilterTheOmegaStrain''.
* The John Brown Army, headed by Emile Dufraisne, from ''Creator/TomClancy's VideoGame/SplinterCell: DoubleAgent''.

* In a ''Series/DoctorWho'' spin-off audio adventure, the villain (who desires to remove non-British from Britain) uses mind control to get people to blow themselves up shouting "THIS IS FOR MY PEOPLE!" Regardless of the nationality, he gets the press to cover it as a Muslim extremist (in the first instance, a Scot blew himself up, and was said on the news to be a Muslim student) or other non-British to cause riots and swell public support for his anti-foreigner agenda.

[[AC:Comicbooks]]

* ''VideoGame/RainbowSix 3: Raven Shield'' had neo-Nazis as bad guys.
* ''VideoGame/RainbowSixVegas'' games have American PrivateMilitaryContractors.
* The Order in the first ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'' game.
* Prometheus in ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'' II: Double Helix, though they have Russian versions.

* ''Film/{{Justice|League 2017}} [[Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague League]]''. The hostage takers at Old Bailey in London that Franchise/WonderWoman takes down in her BatmanColdOpen.
-->Cut to '''Black Clad Alpha:''' ''(opening his suitcase to reveal an IncrediblyObviousBomb)'' This is Man's best hope. Down with the modern world, back to the Dark Ages and the safety of holy fear.

** A crossover between ComicBook/SpiderMan and ComicBook/ThePunisher pitted the two against the People's Liberation Front, described as a left-wing terrorist group. The organization's exact goals were left vague, as the story mainly dealt with the Hitman, a prominent mercenary who they had hired to help them.
** ''Punisher: P.O.V.'' involved a pair of BombThrowingAnarchist [[NewAgeRetroHippie New-Age Retro Hippies]] who used clumsily-assembled homemade explosives to hold banks for ransom, blowing them up if their demands weren't met (and sometimes even when they were). While the duo claimed to be all about power to the people and bringing down The Man, it was clear that they were just a pair of lazy idiot stoners who never spent any of their ill-gotten gains on anything other than booze, drugs, and women.
** Mr. Payback from ''ComicBook/ThePunisherWelcomeBackFrank'' was a self-declared champion of the underclass who decided to declare war on Wall Street and {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s, blowing and shooting them up with a reckless abandon that led the Punisher to kill him after it became obvious that Payback barely cared about collateral damage, at one point shrugging off the fact that his rampages had resulted in the deaths of at least four innocent people with what amounted to "they died for the greater good."
* For ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2011'' (New 52) Doctor Poison was reimagined as an American hating communist Russian terrorist who tried to disperse airborne poison at a G8 summit and assassinate President Obama.

* ''S.W.A.T.:'' [[Series/SWAT1975 1975]]: The New Patriots from "Any Second Now" wanted to tear down the corrupt and ineffectual current establishment and build a new one that would not neglect and cast aside people like women, veterans, the handicapped, and African-Americans. After the group's leader was imprisoned for a bombing that ironically killed six innocent people, his brother tried to orchestrate his release by taking a radio station hostage, which brought him into conflict with S.W.A.T.

* The Vox Populli in ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' has a rather vague ideology that is broadly left wing, and according to WordOfGod are based on the real-life Red Army Faction. In terms of their rhetoric and aesthetic, they draw heavily from a variety of different militant far-left movements historically -- right down to a Communist-inspired red motif -- though in terms of their motivation they're effectively a much larger, much more organized version of several very violent slave revolts that historically took place in the United States: they don't really have a view of society after the revolution, they just desperately want to be free of the heavily nationalistic, theocratic, racist government of The Founders. However, by the time they get around to actually revolting [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized the Vox have become a hostile faction as well.]]

* This is the basic modus operandi of Ras al'Ghul and Poison Ivy in ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''. Ras al'Ghul wants to wipe out the majority of the human race and eradicate most, if not all, human technology in order to let the world recover from the harms humanity has inflicted upon it, vowing he and his family will then rule over the "reborn" Earth as god-emperors and make a new Eden from it. Poison Ivy's entire character revolves around her vendetta against humans harming nature, swinging back and forth between committing "standard" eco-terrorist strikes against polluting corporations and the like and attempting to commit genocide on the entire human race, with occasional dabbling in things like feeding humans to {{Man Eating Plant}}s for her own sick pleasure.

[[folder:Multiple[=/=]Unique Cases]]

* The ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse has doctor Vulter, who has been explicitely convicted on terrorism charges at least once due his attempts at taking over the world and, in his debut, [[SubmarinePirates disrupting the sea routes with a submarine]]. He doesn't seem to have an ideology, he just wants to conquer the world and uses terrorist tactics.

* The ultranationalist movement in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' is a coalition of Russian terrorists and ex-Federation extremists who use many Soviet-era symbols and weaponry, and are intent on restoring Russia to its former status as a feared, international superpower through any means necessary (their [[spoiler: invasion of several European countries]] in ''Modern Warfare 3'' also makes a lot more sense if one assumes there to be numerous pro-Soviet and/or pro-socialist factions within them). That said, they are not explicitly stated to be communist, and whether they ''officially'' hold socialist ideals or are singly fixated on restoring Russian glory at the world stage is never truly elaborated on.

* ''VideoGame/SplinterCell: Blacklist'' has the Engineers, who are mentioned to be borderless and want to force the US to pull out of every country they are stationed in by attacking major US cities. While most of the higher-ups are Arabs, their leader is British, and the regular mercenaries include Americans, British, Mexicans and Russians.

* ''Series/{{Revenge}}'' has the Americon Initiative, who were responsible for blowing up Flight 197, the crime which David Clarke was framed for.

* The [[spoiler: three Titan Shifter [[TheMole spies]]]] from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' are definitely terrorists from the pseudo-Germanic [[spoiler:Kingdom of Marley]], engaging in organized attacks to destabilize their enemy while [[spoiler:infiltrating the ranks of the military to kidnap the royal family and steal their titan-controlling abilities]]. The country is modeled after NaziGermany but in a way that mockingly resembles the west, from diverse servicemen across all castes (usually ''very'' unwillingly) to international diplomatic events. Not helping matters is that [[spoiler:Marley]]'s true rulers are [[TheOneWhoMadeItOut a noble house with explicitly lowest-class origins]], who orchestrated these war crimes on their own race.

!!Usually radical Christians, {{the Klan}}smen or {{Apocalypse Cult}}s, but converted Islamic terrorists of Western origin also qualify

Partially TruthInTelevision, in the United States; you are seven times more likely to be killed by a homegrown political extremist than an Islamic fundamentalist. In fact, the most common form of American terrorism is by environmental extremists, though usually this doesn't harm anyone (since they avoid it).

* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'''s FUZZ activity might have an eco-terrorist attack (with said eco-terrorists attacking people and vehicles with [[KillItWithFire flamethrowers]]) as one of the events that the player has to take care of. Given [[PoliceBrutality the nature of FUZZ]], this can only go [[KillEmAll one way]]...

* The Eco-Villains of ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' are this. One, such as Looten Plunder, crossing over into the realm of WhiteCollarCrime. Three--Plunder, Greedly and Sly Sludge--are just rich, myopic pricks who only really care about money (though they occasionally make quips about loving to pollute.) and Dr. Blight was out-and-out insane and wanted to cash in on dangerous, experimental technology. Exceptions were Verminous Skumm and Duke Nukem, both {{mutant}}s, and Zarm, a GodOfEvil. [[CrapsackWorld Verminous Skumm wants humanity to live in miserable and chaotic conditions]], [[ILoveNuclearPower Duke Nukem wants humanity to be mutated like himself]], and [[ForTheEvulz Zarm wants to destroy the world]].

{{Creators}} may opt to draw from RealLife terrorism cases, from Anders Breivik to the Oklahoma City bombers Timothy [=McVeigh=] and Terry Nichols, to ETA's campaign and the [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles long-running intercommunal strife in Northern Ireland]], instead of the arguably more topical example of [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror Middle Eastern terrorists]]. In works that employs [[MajoredInWesternHypocrisy Western hypocrisy]], including kung-fu movies, the Westerners are often portrayed as [[EvilColonialist colonialist thugs]], They may find Western terrorism more interesting than its counterparts in the rest of the world, simply because it is much more multidimensional in scope. Additionally, using Western villains often seems like an easy way of skirting any racial or ethnic UnfortunateImplications (though many Middle Easterners ''are'' of Caucasian descent, or at least look it). However, there is also danger with this approach: if used in improbable contexts, or to replace non-Western terrorists in an adaptation or update, the use of Western terrorists can start to look like a cheap case of AcceptableTargets or PoliticallyCorrectHistory.

!!Includes Western TerroristsWithoutACause, and {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s.

{{Creators}} may opt to draw from RealLife terrorism cases, from Anders Breivik to the Oklahoma City bombers Timothy [=McVeigh=] and Terry Nichols, to ETA's campaign and the [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles long-running intercommunal strife in Northern Ireland]], instead of the arguably more topical example of [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror Middle Eastern terrorists]]. They may find Western terrorism more interesting than its counterparts in the rest of the world, simply because it is much more multidimensional in scope. Additionally, using Western villains often seems like an easy way of skirting any racial or ethnic UnfortunateImplications (though many Middle Easterners ''are'' of Caucasian descent, or at least look it). However, there is also danger with this approach: if used in improbable contexts, or to replace non-Western terrorists in an adaptation or update, the use of Western terrorists can start to look like a cheap case of AcceptableTargets or PoliticallyCorrectHistory.

* ''Series/Revenge'' has the Americon Initiative, who were responsible for blowing up Flight 197, the crime which David Clarke was framed for.

** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', Leon is set against Los Illuminados, a Spanish cult who kidnapped the President's daughter Ashley Graham for ransom, but simultaneously plan to use her to commit bioterrorism with the goal of world domination. They also have an entire militia with the intention of an armed invasion of the United States, complete with battleships. Leon explicitly calls them terrorists at one point.

This trope should not be confused with ''partisans'' - resistance groups who fight regular military forces (in other words, guerrillas). Unlike terrorists, partisans are perfectly legal under international law - if ''and only if'' they have a chain of command, some means of identification from a distance, and carry their weapons openly. Otherwise, they are unlawful combatants. Note, this doesn't prevent characters from calling their attacks ''terrorism'' despite their legal legitimacy. Partisans are covered here on Wiki/TVTropes as LaResistance. To be a true terrorist, one must both be ideologically motivated and engage in what is widely recognized as violent criminal behavior.