Basic Trope: All references to Nazi Germany (swastikas, appearances of Adolf Hitler and other members of the Nazi party, etc.) are removed in a toned-down World War II story.
- Straight: A suspiciously Nazi-like army has the red armbands, but in place of a swastika is some other symbol (or no symbol; just the white circle).
- Exaggerated:
- The army doesn't do the Roman salute, but instead does something else to salute its leader. (Possibly something silly, if this is a Those Wacky Nazis with Stupid Jetpack Hitler context.)
- The plot is set during World War II, but this trope still applies.
- The Nazi references, as well as Fascist Italian and Imperial Japanese imageries, were censored out even during World War II settings.
- All references to the Nazis (including the words "Nazi", "Hitler", "Holocaust", etc.) are censored.
- Downplayed: All armies are accounted for in a WWII story, but to avoid making anything too blatant they swap some characteristics of the armies on each side. No army, however, has any of the more extreme Nazi tendencies.
- Justified:
- The Nazis are undercover agents in another country, and exposing any Nazi symbols would blow their cover.
- It actually isn't Nazi Germany, but an Alternate History regime that used a different symbol.
- Inverted:
- Swastikas are seen all over the place, even though this is a non-Nazi Germany setting.
- There are absolutely no American, British or Soviet flags or depictions of Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill or Josef Stalin in a World War II-based story, though the Nazis are depicted correctly.
- Subverted: A magic seal that looks suspiciously swastika-like is seen.
- Double Subverted:
- But it is quickly explained that it's a manji (a Buddhist symbol that looks the same, but actually is a symbol of peace).
- The Nazis use a different ideological symbol, such as twin Sowilo runes, the Totenkopf, the Black Sun, the Rune of Life, or the Strasserist Hammer and Sword.
- Parodied: The Army of "Stop Having Fun" Guys has armbands with frowning faces on them.
- Zig Zagged: In one episode of the series, Nazis are shown with swastikas on their armbands. In another one episode, Nazis are shown without swastikas on their armbands.
- Averted: All Nazis wear swastikas on their armbands, and all Nazi references (including Nazis, Adolf Hitler himself, all swastikas) are shown unedited.
- Enforced:
- The work is a kids' show, and the standards and practices people don't want kids to be exposed to such an atrocity.
- The work is an American TV show or movie that has to be edited in Germany to remove those references.
- The work is made in Russia or Germany, where swastikas are illegal.
- The work is made in a country where the swastika is considered as a sacred symbol. Therefore, swastikas in that work are replaced or censored because depicting it as a Nazi symbol is considered as blasphemous in that country.
- The censors think that exposure to Nazi imagery will turn people into Nazis, no matter the context nor the target audience.
- Lampshaded: "Hey, if we're Nazis, then why aren't there any swastikas on our uniforms?"
- Invoked: "I don't need to see a swastika. I'd recognize (insert Nazi commander's name)'s face anywhere."
- Exploited: The swastika is replaced with a symbol of the person or group enforcing the censorship.
- Defied: The work uses the swastika and other Nazi imagery to spite the censorship laws/rules.
- Discussed: "Did you think that wearing a uniform with a swastika on it wouldn't make you look suspicious?"
- Conversed:
- "Duh, what's with all those Nazis without swastikas all over this place?"
- "This is a World War II documentary. There should be swastikas, but there aren't any."
- Deconstructed: The writers decide that even though it was a shameful point in history, they should not censor history, and were wrong to censor it.
- Reconstructed: They still don't want to expose kids to it, though (see "Enforced #1").
- Played for Laughs: "What? That's what the Germans used in World War II! What else would they use?"
- Played for Drama: A child meets with a group of seemly affable Neo-Nazis, and since he never learned about the atrocities of the original Nazis due to censorship, they have an extremely easy time convincing him to join their "little club".
- Implied: There are both Nazis and swastikas on the show, but they are never seen together.
Back to No Swastikas
