How can I get multiple rows instead of columns after self-joins?

This is my situation (the real table isn't about people but about paths):

[Table: People]
id | name | type    | related_to
----------------------------
 1 |      |         |  0
 2 | Nico | Friend  |  1
 3 | Mika | Wife    |  2
 4 | Olaf | Child   |  3
 5 | Pete | Friend  |  1
 6 | Duke | Friend  |  1

So my query is as followed:

 SELECT * FROM `people` base 
 JOIN `people` related1 ON base.id = related1.related_to
 JOIN `people` related2 ON related1.id = related2.related_to
 JOIN `people` related3 ON related2.id = related3.related_to
 WHERE related1.name = 'Nico' 
 AND  (related2.name = 'Mika' OR related2.type != 'FRIEND') 
 AND  (related3.name = 'Duke' OR related3.type != 'FRIEND');

My problem:
I'm getting a lot of columns back now but I just want a row per related.

1. Is the only solution to seperate each join into query's and use UNION to get one result? Or is there a faster/cleaner/better way?

2. This query can be fired alot, is there a solution to make a view for it? Keep in mind that this query is automaticly created so there may be not 3 relations but also 1 or max. 8.

3. Is there a better term for self-join? Because my google results really sucked while I searched for a solution..

Really thanks for even reading this with my bad grammar! You rock!

Greetings Guido