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Fanaticism has assumed diverse shapes and forms throughout history. Several types of fanatic can be distinguished including the inspired, the possessed and the initiated. In all cases, the ultimate aim of the fanatic is death, that of his enemies as well as his own. The active quest for martyrdom corresponds to the final narcissistic expansion of his group of affiliation. The more spectacular the death, the more the ideological cause for which he is fighting is glorified. The practice of the suicide bomber, at the summit of this sectarian hierarchy, is used to terrorize ideological adversaries. By blowing himself up, the terrorist enacts a veritable self-apocalypse.