Fuhrer
The Fuhrer is a character featured in the Persona 2 duology by Atlus, consisting of Innocent Sin and its sequel Eternal Punishment. Originally named Adolf Hitler in the Japanese version, he was "censored" in international versions of the game by giving him sunglasses, renaming him "Fuhrer", and changing his boss arena from a Nazi swastika-patterned floor to one filled with magic rune circles.
A failed artist turned dictator of Nazi Germany during World War II, the Fuhrer is best remembered for his beliefs of racial superiority and for orchestrating genocides during the war, making him one of the most evil persons in human history. Although historical records state that the Fuhrer died by suicide, rumors about his apparent survival began to spread, saying that he fled with his elite troops in a submarine to the South Pole. These rumors turned out to be true when the Fuhrer resurfaced as the leader a robotic army called the "Last Battalion".
The Fuhrer is fought as the final boss of Innocent Sin, where he wields the mythical Spear of Destiny. Upon defeat, he reveals himself to be just a disguise by the true main antagonist behind it all: Nyarlathotep, a powerful shapeshifting demon whom the party must defeat once more. Nyarlathotep's entire motivation comes from a bet he made with the deity Philemon, where he wagered that humanity's negative traits will always prevail over their good qualities. To ensure that the bet goes in his favor, he planted rumors in Sumaru City — the game's main setting — which has the ability to turn rumors into reality, like Hitler surviving the war and establishing a robot army base in Antarctica. The demon is also revealed to have disguised himself as Akinari Kashihara, the long-dead father of playable character Jun Kurosu. Nyarlathotep later returns as the final boss of Eternal Punishment where he assumes new forms.
Being the cunning demon that he is, Nyarlathotep prefers to appear in his Fuhrer disguise as he knows that the dictator's reputation in 4chan will help him curry favor among its /v/oters in his quest to take over the King of /v/ tournament, and prove to Philemon that anons will always vote for what will cause the biggest shitstorm on the threads.
Tournament History[edit]
The Fuhrer first appeared in 2020 as the #40 seed, defeating Cuphead and CJ before narrowly losing to Scout by 8 votes. Even though there was an explicit rule banning real-life politicians, he skirted this rule because the actual nominee is Nyarlathotep in disguise.
Fuhrer returned in 2021 under the name "Fuhrer / Nyarlathotep" to emphasize his true character. There, he proved his strength in the tournament by winning against Frog, Coach, Duke, and Kirby by wide margins to cement his place among the Elite Eight, where he was eliminated by the eventual champion, Batter from OFF. He then received the most 8th-place votes in the ensuing consolation match, despite some efforts to place him at 5th in order to pair him with Alice from Black Souls, who is heavily believed to be Nyarlathotep in her game.
Fuhrer's sweet-16 win against Kirby became one of the most controversial moments in the tournament, as the organizers posted a statement where they suspected /pol/ voters to have influenced the result despite not giving conclusive evidence. As a result, many anons called the organizers "massive faggots" because of their perceived bias. In the quarter-finals, Fuhrer's poll picture was changed to his "Great Father" form, which several anons took offense to as that particular form is considered a major spoiler in the game. The whole controversy surrounding Nyarlathotep's Fuhrer persona and his transformation towards the latter rounds is likely the main reason why he placed 8th.
During the quarter-finals, Nyarlathotep's presence in the threads shifted away from his dictator persona and more towards "Rumorposting", wherein anons tell rumors of rigging in favor of a character (alluding to the game's rumormongering mechanic), or claiming responsibility for all the drama and chaos in the threads (reflecting his manipulative personality). These posts are usually accompanied by a picture of the fake Akinari.
To the shock of many anons in 2023, Nyarlathotep not only failed to qualify but received so few votes, only eight, that he landed into the Bottom 128 tournament. The general conclusion about how this happened is due to an error in the qualifiers in which he was originally entered as Nyarlathotep (AKA Fuhrer) instead of Nyarlathotep AKA Fuhrer (Persona 2); this option was altered on the list at some point, causing many of the votes placed for him to be lost.
Nonetheless the Fuhrer's machinations were still felt in the tournament as he schemed from the depths of the Butler of /v/ tournament, dominating matches against the usual Bottom 128 Literally Whos until eventually being voted out in the Quarterfinals, perhaps due to anons feeling it unfair an Elite Eight member was allowed in a tournament reserved for the least popular picks in the first place. Aside from disrupting the Bottom 128 tournament, Nyarlathotep also appeared as usual whenever the threads would be overtaken by shitposters, claiming responsibility for lowering the thread quality and further stoking the fires by spreading rumors about the remaining candidates.
Results[edit]
| King of /v/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 - Seed 40 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round | Opponent | Series | Votes | Pct. For | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 1 | (89)  Cuphead
|
Cuphead | 1139 - 469 | 70.8% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 2 | (25)  CJ
|
Grand Theft Auto | 654 - 508 | 56.3% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 3 | (8)  Scout
|
Team Fortress 2 | 569 - 577 | 49.7% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 - Seed 54 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 1 | (75)  Frog
|
Chrono Trigger | 873 - 286 | 75.3% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 2 | (11)  Coach
|
Left 4 Dead | 782 - 425 | 64.8% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 3 | (43)  Duke Nukem
|
Duke Nukem | 741 - 397 | 65.1% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round 4 | (6)  Kirby
|
Kirby | 870 - 586 | 59.8% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Quarterfinals | (19)  The Batter
|
OFF | 517 - 831 | 38.4% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5th-8th |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gallery[edit]
For more images, visit the booru or booruplus.
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King of /v/ 2021 - Fuhrer vs Kirby
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King of /v/ 2021 - Fuhrer vs Kirby
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King of /v/ 2021 - Fuhrer and Kirby
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King of /v/ 2021 - Fuhrer vs Batter
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King of /v/ 2021 - Fuhrer vs Batter
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King of /v/ 2021 - Fuhrer/Alice Nyarlathotep fusion
