Basic Trope: The main character is a Nazi.
- Straight: The story is centered on Hans, an ardent follower of the Nazis during World War II.
- Exaggerated:
- Hans is the biggest monster in the SS, and the story follows his entire tour in Auschwitz as he keeps killing prisoners left and right while ranting about how superior he is.
- The protagonist is none other than Adolf Hitler himself.
- Downplayed:
- Hans sympathizes with the Nazis, but never joins them.
- Hans is a German nationalist who joins the Nazi party hoping to strengthen Germany and make trains run on time. When he realizes its more distasteful aspects he becomes a Defector from Decadence.
- Hans' mommy and daddy were Nazis, so he became a Nazi before he was old enough to understand, being a good little German boy. When the war comes he serves heroically in civil defense during air raids. After the war he is shocked to learn what the Nazis really were and becomes The Atoner.
- Hans is a member of the force that looks a lot like the Nazis, but isn't actually related to them.
- Hans is merely a deuteragonist or just a supporting character. The story is centered around Bob, who has no affiliation with the Nazi party, but Hanz, who makes no secret of his alignment, actively contributes to Bob's efforts.
- Justified: Hans is a member of Adolf Hitler's inner circle, so he could only BE a Nazi.
- Inverted: Hans is an opponent of the Nazis, who are the antagonists.
- Subverted: Hans is a Nazi official in the German government, but he's revealed to be a deep-cover Allied operative.
- Double Subverted: It's subsequently revealed that the Nazis recruited him as a Double Agent.
- Parodied:
- Hans is a completely over-the-top Nazi who over the course of the story wins the National Championship in "Heil Hitler", comes up with swastika-shaped shurikens that he sends to his Japanese allies, and kicks French poodles just because he can.
- Hans is a Grammar Nazi Protagonist of a Vlog Series about the people conversing on a particular forum.
- Zig Zagged: Hans has a Multiple-Choice Past where he either fought on the Eastern Front as a soldier and got seriously disillusioned with Nazi regime, worked as a clerk in The Gestapo and supported the regime, plotted to assassinate Hitler alongside Erwin Rommel, or emigrated to America before the Nazis took power. It is never made clear which story is the true one.
- Averted: Hans has no Nazi affiliations whatsoever, even though a lot of his countrymen do.
- Enforced:
- It was a historical work - Hans was a Nazi in real life so doing otherwise would be a major case of Historical Hero Upgrade.
- The author lived in Nazi Germany, and wanted to make propaganda that'd appeal to Hitler himself.
- The Author is a neo-Nazi
- The work is a prequel explaining how Hans became the CENSORED that he is today, and his Nazi sympathies were already established in the main work.
- Lampshaded: "Somehaw, ai feel ze future zhenerations won't look kaindlee on mein successes... ja."
- Invoked: Hans' friends try to get him to join the Nazi party, because they're convinced Germany is going to win the war and joining the party will make him look better in history.
- Exploited:
- After Germany loses, someone tries to blackmail Hans by threatening to reveal that he was a Nazi.
- Despite technically being a party member, Hans does not agree with the Nazis; he uses his position in the party to save people from the Holocaust.
- Defied: Hans refuses to join the Nazi party, because even though he wants the Germany to be strong and powerful, he considers the Nazis' racial hatred and totalitarian policies to be disgustingly vile.
- Discussed:
- "Hans acts like he's the protagonist in a war movie." "Ja, but since he has led our Wehrmacht unit to victory several times, I'm not kicking."
- "I just want to ask something, Hans... are we the baddies?" "Nein, you silly, we're ze protagonists! How can we be ze baddies if we are ze protagonists?"
- Conversed: "This story focuses on a Nazi officer."
- Implied: Hans makes several racist remarks, but he's never identified as a Nazi.
- Deconstructed:
- Hans is a dedicated Nazi, but it's eventually revealed that he only became a Nazi because, just like his führer he wants Germany to become a powerful empire once again after his nationalist pride was wounded because of the settlement of World War I.
- Hans, despite being a Waffen SS officer, is an Anti-Villain with a code of honor belonged to a pre-WWII knight and Would Not Hurt A Child. Unfortunately for him, Colonel Mikhail Sayakov despises all Nazis, innocent or not. Hans has to see everyone he knows dying before him while being completely powerless against Mikhail.
- Reconstructed:
- He eventually fully adopts the Nazi ideology, and becomes a blind fanatic.
- His friends' death has led to his Start of Darkness and making him a full blown Nazi, who vowed to purge the inferior species off the earth.
- Played For Laughs: Hans is a bumbling incompetent surrounded by the most hilariously stereotypical Nazis in the Third Reich. Hilarity Ensues as he tries to blunder through the everday routine of book-burning, country-invading, and puppy-kicking.
- Played For Drama:
- Hans is an exemplary Nazi, adhering perfectly to the Party's ideology and never questioning anything his superiors say... and the story is centered on his life falling apart as Germany starts to lose the war. When he finally realizes that Germany is going to lose, it's already far too late.
- Hans is a Nazi who attempts to be an Internal Reformist from within, unfortunately for him, Mikhail Sayakov, a Knight Templar Nazi Hunter, has vowed to ruin Hans' life by mass-murdering whoever Hans loved, and thus, a Fugitive Arc begins.
Back to Nazi Protagonist, mein heroes.
