Cultural depictions of Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, has become a worldwide cultural icon symbolizing strength, genius, and military and political power. Since his death, countless towns, streets, ships, and even cartoon characters have been named after him. At the same time, however, he has become a cliché and a comic figure in popular culture. Today this caricature of Napoleon often overshadows the real historical figure.

The stock character of Napoleon is generally comically short, indignant, and bossy; the literal embodiment of the "petty tyrant." He is often portrayed wearing a comically large bicorne hat, often with a big "N" badge, and shown with one hand tucked inside his coat as in the famous portrait of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David.

Books

 * Sherlock Holmes archenemy Professor Moriarty is described as the "Napoleon of Crime", meaning he is a genius in his particular field.


 * Napoleon is a character in George Orwell's Animal Farm, who strongly resembles Joseph Stalin.

Film and television

 * He appears as a character in the time traveling comedy film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, wherein he discovers a fondness for ice cream


 * Napoleon also appears in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits, where he has an obsession with all things even shorter than himself.


 * Napoleon is a recurring character in Jack of All Trades.


 * The Yu-Gi-Oh! GX character Vice-Chancellor Bonaparte is based on the cliché Napoleon: he is short (a common misconception about Napoleon), pudgy, French, has a short temper, and dresses similar to Napoleon.


 * In the episode "Better Than Life" of the British sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf, Arnold J. Rimmer meets his role model Napoleon in virtual reality.


 * In the popular British sitcom Dad's Army, Captain Mainwaring is nicknamed "Napoleon" due to his short stature and imperious manner.


 * In the film Napoleon Dynamite, Napoleon is a high-school student suffering from extreme social awkwardness. The name 'Napoleon Dynamite' is a pseudonym previously used by Elvis Costello. However, in the series Robot Chicken, Jon Heder (who played Napoleon Dynamite) voiced as Napoleon Bonamite, a cross between Napoleon Dynamite's personality and Bonaparte's outfit.


 * The Tori Amos song "Josephine" from her 1999 album To Venus and Back is sung from the viewpoint of Napoleon during his unsuccessful invasion of Russia.


 * An animated caricature of Napoleon appeared as a semi-regular on the Warner Bros. series Histeria! Here, he spoke like Hervé Villechaize, who also was French and short in stature. Napoleon hates to be reminded of his short stature (in the episode "When Time Collides!", Miss Information mistakes him for a leprechaun), and he also likes to play the tambourine, which he keeps behind his coat (hence why he keeps his hand in it, as he states in "Great Heroes of France").


 * In The Powerpuff Girls episode "Child Fearing", Mojo Jojo, stuck babysitting the titular characters, tells them the story of Napoleon, claiming that, "[u]sing his genius and his loyal army, he conquered all of Europe, then all of Russia, and finally the whole world." The Girls respond by socking him with their pillows as they correct him on what really happened.


 * In an episode of Seinfeld, "The Dinner Party" (1994), at a bakery, Jerry suggests a Napoleon cake, to which Elaine responds, "Napoleon? Who's he to have a cake?  He was a ruthless warmonger!"

Napoleonic delusions of grandeur
Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the most famous men in the Western world. As delusional patients sometimes believe themselves to be an important or grandiose figure (see Delusion), he was a notable object of such delusions. This idea has often been used in popular culture:


 * In the 1925 film Mixed Nuts, Stan Laurel plays a book salesman whose only volume for sale is a biography of Napoleon. When the character receives a blow to the head, he comes to believe is Napoleon and is subsequently admitted to a mental institution.


 * In Asterix and the Big Fight one of the druid Psychoanalytix’s patients has adopted Napoleon typical posture and hat of Napoleon. The nurse comments that no one knows who he thinks he is.


 * In 1966 Napoleon topped the American charts when recording engineer Jerry Samuels renamed himself Napoleon XIV for his record "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!", a song with a theme of mental illness which featured ambulance sirens in the background.


 * In one episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, there is an insane asylum with wards of people organized by delusion--there's the Napoleon Ward, and the King Richard III Ward. In another episode, Napoleon was credited as one of many famous people (including Julius Caesar) who liked to pretend to be mice.


 * In the film Highlander III Connor MacLeod uses a patient who believes himself to be Napoleon to escape a psychiatric ward, MacLeod pretends to be one of Napoleon's soldiers to convince him to help him.


 * In the sci-fi cartoon Futurama, Bender pretends to be a singing, banjo-playing Napoleon in order to fit in at an insane asylum in the episode Insane in the Mainframe.


 * The video game Psychonauts features an inmate in an insane asylum who believes that he is Napoleon.

Parodies of the cliche
This cliché has itself been parodied:


 * In the Bugs Bunny film Napoleon Bunny-part the actual Napoleon is dragged away by psychiatric attendants, who believe he is delusional.


 * In The Emperor's New Clothes Ian Holm plays Napoleon who stumbles into the grounds of an asylum and finds himself surrounded by other "Napoleons" - he cannot reveal his identity for fear of being grouped with the deluded.


 * In the comic strip Maakies, Captain Maak (wearing a large bicorne hat) has the following exchange with his crewmen Uncle Gabby and Drinky Crow:


 * Captain Maak: You are to take this case of exploding cigars to the enemy in order to humiliate them and shatter their morale...This may be considered a suicide mission, gentlemen. To make things easier on yourselves I suggest that you butter up, as the crew of the ship are known sodomites...On the other hand, they are also cannibals, so that may be considered giving aid to the enemy. Any questions?
 * Uncle Gabby: Isn't the Napoleon hat the international symbol for insanity?

Légende napoléonienne