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NGO Superpower: Difference between revisions
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In fiction, we often see terrorist groups and various anti-state groups capable of going toe to toe with a regular army of the state. They may be able to field [[Cool Plane|aircraft]], [[Tank Goodness|tanks]], [[Cool Boat|even battleships]]... almost as if they had billions in tax revenue and massive installed infrastructure themselves. On occasion, these groups are shown fighting battles against modern Great Powers like USA, Russia, the EU, China, or India.
NGO Superpowers usually hold a [[Privately-Owned Society]], and [[Mega Corp]] can be a subtrope. [[The Church]] can be this especially if Catholic and in a medieval society. An [[Ancient Conspiracy]] may be funding it. They can run the gamut from only striking nation-states when provoked to outright initiating large-scale conventional warfare and land grabs. May also be [[Private Military Contractors]]. [[United Nations Is a Super Power]] is a '''specific''' subtrope involving [[Exactly What It Says
Often overlaps with [[Nebulous Evil Organisation]]. Compare to [[Fiction 500]]. Contrast with [[NGO]]. [[State Sec]] is similar, only governmental. May have an [[Omniscient Council of Vagueness]]
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* Mithril in ''[[Full Metal Panic]]'' at first seems like this, but later novels and parts of the story reveals they're little more than a well-funded group of [[Private Military Contractors]] with a permanent UN contract. While more technologically advanced than the U.S. and the USSR, their entire 'Pacific Fleet' consists of a single (very advanced) submarine and they depend on small-scale surgical strikes to get the job done.
* Akatsuki from [[Naruto]]. Especially obvious in the Fourth Shinobi World War. It's an alliance of all five of the major hidden villages, the superpowers, against...two people. Admittedly with a clone army and the ability to resurrect dead badass ninjas, but still.
* Blue Cosmos in [[Mobile Suit Gundam
** [[Mobile Suit Gundam
* The Hunter's Association from ''[[Hunter X Hunter]]''. Understandable considering it's a gathering of the most powerful people on the planet.
* SEELE (who controls NERV) in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' is a small organization, but since they are the only ones who know how to avoid the [[Endofthe World As We Know It]] {{spoiler|or so they claim}}, both the UN and the governments of sovereign countries give them pretty much anything they demand and sacrifice most of their armed forces when NERV requests it. They also control the [[Humongous Mecha|EVAs]], which could wipe out entire armies if they wanted to.
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* The Grail in ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]'' possesses a secret headquarters with a vast private army and many world leaders owe it their positions. At one point they are able to "persuade" a limited nuclear release against the Saint of Killers.
* ''[[G.I. Joe]]'': COOBRAAA! in the Marvel comics series they had their own consulate in New York City at one point.
* Matt Fraction's ''[[Casanova (
* A lot of writers seem forget this aspect of her character, often writing her simply as a hacker and information broker, but [[Birds of Prey|Oracle]] has influence and power on the scale of countries. Many heads of state personally owe her their positions, and she has access to the information and resources of almost every government agency. She has the capability of singlehandedly returning the human race to a pre-industrial society, and could hold the entire internet hostage if she chose to do so. Adding to this the fact that she can count on [[Superman]], [[Batman]] and her own team to flex physical muscle on her behalf if she ever asked, and suddenly Barbara Gordon looms larger than a lot of the supposedly big deal people on the planet.
== Fan Fic ==
* Willard International Consulting from ''[[The Return (
* Team Rocket and Silph Co. both fall under this trope in the ''[[Pokémon]]'' fan fic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5514124/1/The_Mewtwo_Project The Mewtwo Project]''. Team Rocket is apparently able to field an ''entire fleet'' of various warships (including an ''aircraft carrier''), helicopter gunships and apparently several hundred troops to take over an island. In turn, Silph Co. ''owns'' the entire island that Team Rocket is trying to take and they defend the island with autonomous autocannon turrets, helicopter gunships, patrol boats, Humvees, snipers and a shitload of heavily armed soldiers.
* In ''[[Undocumented Featues]]'', the Wedge Defense Force is not a government, but has its own space fleet, as does it arch-nemesis [[Bubblegum Crisis|GENOM]] (which it keeps even after [[Heel Race Turn|it stops being their nemesis]]).
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== Film ==
* ''[[James Bond (
** SPECTRE had enough resources to manipulate the the superpowers going to war, conduct nuclear blackmail, have their own private army, and even create a space program located in a secret volcano base.
** [[Moonraker
** [[Tomorrow Never Dies
** [[Quantum of Solace
* ''[[Star Wars]]'' offers several different flavors:
** The Sith are all over this, even when one of them is not [[President Evil|Supreme Chancellor or Galactic Emperor]].
** Averted with the [[La Résistance|Rebel Alliance]], who present themselves as a legitimate government -- in fact, the ''only'' legitimate government. For instance, Leia Organa was officially the Alliance Minister of State.
** [[The Syndicate|Jabba's crime empire]] and, in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Expanded Universe]], [[The Syndicate|Black Sun]] whose underworld influence is vast. The Zann Consortium in [[
** The Commerce Guilds probably used to be like this before they acquired enough power to actually ''be'' governments. The Trade Federation even has its own ''Senate representative''.
** The [[Church Militant|Jedi Order]]. Capable of fielding one of the most powerful militaries at extremely short notice, automatically given officer status in the Republic's forces, granted full law enforcement rights and immune from prosecution themselves, they none the less do not feel they answer to the Government and are keen to stress their independence in their internal affairs. Fortunately they are normally savvy enough to keep their shit in order, though Palpatine ultimate plan hinged on the Jedi order's naivety in taking this status for granted. The Jedi feel that they '''do''' serve the Republic - but not necessarily the Republic's current ''government.''
** The Hutt Cartel waver between this and being an actual government (pretty much an argentocracy) but when it all comes down to it they're a group of gangsters and merchants with no clear leader yet capable of fielding significant numbers of troops and warships, and controlling an area of space sometimes large enough to rival the republic.
* The RDA from ''[[Avatar (
* In ''[[
* [[Iron Man (
{{quote| '''Tony Stark''': I have successfully privatized world peace. What more do you want?}}
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* In [[Sergey Lukyanenko]]'s ''[[Line of Delirium]]'', the [[The Mafia|Family]] is a criminal organization masquerading as a legitimate business. Their influence spreads far and wide throughout the [[The Empire|Human Empire]], and they have access to some of the best military hardware available, partly due to them employing the services of one of the best weapons designer in the Empire. In fact, they are so powerful that [[The Emperor]] himself names the Mother (basically, the female [[The Godfather|godfather]]) one of the confidantes in his will. Interestingly enough, the aTan Corporation, which is constantly described as an "empire within the Empire" and holds the key to immortality, has no private army of any kind. The Emperor, however, has to tread carefully with aTan, if he wants to keep his immortality.
* Several Frontier [[Mega Corp|corporations]] in Andrey Livadniy's ''[[The History of the Galaxy]]'' series have their own fleets, which they use to protect their worlds from pirates and rival corporations. One notable conflict involves a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] ambush a [[The Federation|Confederacy of Suns]] fleet in order to capture two prototype ships, after he finds out that he is under investigation. His plan is to use the ships to threaten the entire Confederacy. While his fleet is no match for the full might of the Confederacy, this full might is usually unavailable given the need to protect many other worlds from pirates and the like. This fact is even mentioned in another novel, where the Confederacy leadership is worried that their fleets are spread too thin to reliable protect themselves.
* Manpower, Incorporated of the ''[[
* [[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]: Captain Nemo's organization, the crew of the Nautilus: [[Cool Ship|The Nautilus]] lets him loot enough submarine treasures to put him in [[Fiction 500]], [[Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters|he can finance political insurrections like the Cretan rebellion]], he claims the South Pole in his name, he destroys the ships of an unnamed [[The Empire|Imperialistic Nation]] with total impunity. His crew is composed of men who have not place in earth and they have invented their own language.
* The [[Mega Corp|Mega Corps]] of [[Robert Aspirin]]'s [[Cold Cash Wars]] are this. They take on the world and win! Because money.
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* Veridian Dynamics of ''[[Better Off Ted]]''.
{{quote| ''"And we never part with money unless a more powerful nation forces us to, and there are only three of those left."''}}
* THRUSH of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E" and KAOS of ''[[
** Interestingly subverted in the fact that the first episode of [[The Man
* Massive Dynamic lurks as one of these in ''[[Fringe]]''. In the second episode, Nina Sharp tells Olivia that the corporation is technically one of the ten biggest economic entities in the world. And given its research divisions, it could easily create an army if it so wished.
* The Blue Sun Corporation in ''[[
* The Lucian Alliance of ''[[Stargate Verse]]'', a galaxy-spanning criminal organization with enough resources stolen from the Goa'uld after their collapse to make them a dangerous force to even the Tau'ri, ''the'' most powerful race in at least two galaxies (though this is largely attributable to the severely limited scope of the Tau'ri space navy, which is limited to a half-dozen ships). By ''[[
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* The Zhentarim of the ''Dungeons&Dragons'' world ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' are officially a trade organization, but have become effectively the sole government in the area surrounding their headquarters at Zhentil Keep. They have their own private army and for a time the leader of the organization was also the highest ranking priest of Bane, one of, if not ''the'' most powerful evil gods.
** The Harpers are a lose decentralized organization of rangers, bards, and other people who get around a lot, who keep track of the activities of dangerous evil organizations and churches. Their network of spies and informants in the Heartlands and the North is very extensive and they often warn local rulers of any threats that are too big for the agents to handle themselves in a quiet fashion. In addition, they count among their numbers many of the most powerful mages in the entire world and there is quite a number of formerly active agents in the courts and high ranking positions of many nations.
* Most AA and all AAA-rating [[Mega Corp|Mega Corps]] in ''[[
* Comstar in ''[[
== Video Games ==
* Shinra Electric Power Corporation in ''[[Final Fantasy 7]]'' started out as an arms manufacturer, discovered a fantastic new source of energy for an industrial world, and by the time the game begins, it is not only a [[Mega Corp]], but it is also the closest thing the world seems to have to anything resembling government on more than a local scale, complete with a huge and well-provisioned military, public works, and a (defunct) space program.
* Before the events of ''[[Command and Conquer]]: [[Command and Conquer Tiberium|Tiberian Dawn]]'', Interpol viewed the Brotherhood of Nod as just another terrorist organization, until they realized just how widespread that organization was and uncovered secret dealings between Nod and major US defense contractors. When [[Green Rocks|Tiberium]] arrived on Earth, Nod quickly exploited the alien substance to gain the financial and military resources to challenge the Global Defense Initiative in open war, and though Nod suffers major defeats, each time it's able to come back with ever more advanced technology and greater numbers. By the third game, ''Tiberium Wars'', the Brotherhood has grown into an actual state by [[Villain
** The GDI was this trope at ''some'' point, but it is a bit unclear when it entered it (UNGDI was explicitly reliant on Security Council funding and answered to the same during ''Tiberian Dawn'', making it ultimately an arm of government [multiple governments, but still government]) and when it left this trope behind to ''be'' a government that just happened to have descended from [[United Nations Is a Super Power|the military arm of the United Nations]].
* The GLA from ''[[Command and Conquer Generals]]'' also averts this for the most part and justifies it when it occurs. They have no air or naval power at all, while their ground forces are either converted civilian vehicles or obsolete Soviet surplus. But the trope is played straight in ''Zero Hour'' when they kick out the Americans from Europe by capturing and using their own weapons against them, from attack helicopters, spy satellites, heavy tanks to their Particle Cannon.
* The [[Private Military Contractors]] in ''[[Tom Clancy]]'s H.A.W.X.'', who ''invade the USA.'' As Yahtzee of ''[[Zero Punctuation]]'' puts it, "Where were they hiding all this material? The [[Precision F-Strike|fucking]] Moon?"
* ''[[
** ''Mass Effect: Invasion'' ramps it [[Up to Eleven]]: {{spoiler|They invade Omega with a small army of elite soldiers, and a battleship.}}
** They pretty much abandon all subtlety in [[Mass Effect 3]] and deploy a couple of light mechanized infantry regiments to locations they are interested in. You also encounter at least one cruiser and a fleet of shuttles supporting these troops. At first this seems like a strange jump in resources from one game to the next but its revealed that {{spoiler|they are forcibly converting people into Husks and using advanced jamming technology to wrestle control of them from the Reapers. So in essence they can kidnap people and forcibly convert them into loyal mooks.}}
** In ''[[
** The Shadow Broker also has his own personal army and an incredibly advanced warship whose sole purpose is to fly through massive lightning storms to shield its presence. He's described as "more powerful than anyone you've ever faced" by a Spectre as well, and those people ''don't'' exaggerate.
** To a lesser extent, the Nos Astra Stock Exchange, judging from the horrified reaction of the Asari investor talking with the Volus moving his assets callously to profit on a humanitarian disaster.
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** Additionally for the series, the Ultranationalists themselves seem to be able to field the entire Russian military. They have [[Awesome Personnel Carrier|BMPs]], T-72 main battle tanks, Mig-29 fighters, Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters, BM-21 [[Macross Missile Massacre|rocket artillery]] and more Mi-8s than God. Yet rarely do you encounter Loyalist forces more advanced than an infantry platoon.
* The story's a bit of a hash, but the Mantel Corporation of ''[[Haze]]'' has apparently replaced the armed forces of every country in the world.
* Armacham Technology Corporation in ''[[
** This gets turned [[Up to Eleven]] in the sequels. In a specific example, the first levels of the DLC of ''F.E.A.R 2'', ''Reborn'' consists of a massive battle between Armacham and Replica forces. This includes dozens of elite operatives on both sides, 5th Generation fighter jets, helicopter gunships and [[Powered Armor]] dropped from orbit. All of it--including the Replica slaughtering them--is the property of the Armacham Corporation.
* [[
* Various evil organizations in both superhero games [[
* ''[[Ace Combat]]'' games have a distressing number of these. In the first game and ''Joint Assault'', the enemies are nominally a terrorist group; in ''2'' they are rebels; in ''3'' and ''Advance'' they are a [[Mega Corp]] and in {{spoiler|the second part of ''Zero''}} they are a mishmash of disgruntled former soldiers, but all feature some mix of WMDs, [[Airborne Aircraft Carrier|Airborne Aircraft Carriers]]/supermassive bombers and entire units of conventional forces.
* While not explicitly stated to be so, the Gas Miners' Guild of ''[[Freelancer]]'' must be one, given that they fought the Eighty Year War with Rhineland... and ''won''.
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* The [[Backstory]] for ''[[Nexus the Jupiter Incident]]'' describes a war between [[One World Order|IASA]] and several [[Mega Corp|Mega Corps]]. The latter win, leaving Earth the only place where IASA has power. The most powerful of these is the [[Japan Takes Over the World|Kissaki Syndicate]], although this is due to them using [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum]]. Several early missions involve the [[Player Character]] in command of a corporation-owned corvette forced to fight much heavier ships of rival corporations. In fact, one of these battles involves saving a sister ship of the player's, which is flying an IASA banner and is openly attacked by two OSEC heavy corvettes.
* The Twilight's Hammer Cult from [[World of Warcraft]] fits this. Other similar entities such as the Shadow Council and the Cult of the Damned are parts of larger organizations and often act as a [[State Sec]] for them. The Twilight Hammer is ''not''. While it is under the control of the [[Eldritch Abomination|Old Gods]], it's structure is otherwise independent from a larger entity. Despite this, Twilight has shown itself to be capable of taking on the armies of the Alliance, the Horde, the Dragonflights (with some support), the Guardians of Hyjal and the Burning Legion.
* Morgan Industries from ''[[Sid
* Any [[Mega Corp]] in ''[[Ground Control]]'', but especially the Crayven Corporation and the [[The Order|Order of the New Dawn]]. Both have their own interstellar warships and huge armies, as well as colonies, but are not considered official governments. The sequel averts this, as the game is about two governments duking it out (well, one being [[Curb Stomp Battle|Curb Stomp Battled]] by another).
* In ''[[
* The original [[Army of Two]] had the mercenary Strategy and Security Corporation, which hired the players and intended to {{spoiler|(through an elaborate plan which involved killing a lot of American troops) take over as the military of the United States (the players eventually stop them)}}.
** And then the sequel introduced the mysterious 40th Day Initiative, which more or less [[Macross Missile Massacre|blew the hell out of Shanghai]] {{spoiler|because their leader [[Omnicidal Maniac|Jonah]] wanted to prove that when all order in society collapses, humans are nothing but animals which will do anything to survive. It didn't work.}} The 40th Day Initiative evidently had literally thousands of troops, some of whom were wearing extremely heavy and advanced armour, along with tanks, jet aircraft and hundreds of cruise missiles. They evidently stood toe-to-toe with the Chinese Military and actually fought them off for several days {{spoiler|(until their leader was killed, anyway)}}.
* In the ''[[
** In the 4-FA continuity, this is taken [[Up to Eleven]], where before the events of the game, these [[Mega Corps]] destroyed the world's governments and ''took over the world'' in under a month using a small number of ''extremely'' advanced mechs. {{spoiler|And they're still in control at the end of FA, unless the ORCA Path is chosen, in which case the revolutionary ORCA Brigade (also an [[NGO Superpower]]) take over the world instead, then let humanity out into space.}}
* The [[Resident Evil|Umbrella Corporation]] has access to what must be billions in research equipment, a highly qualified scientific staff that they can dispose of without a thought, numerous installations all across the globe that they either hide from their host governments or operate with their permission and not just a private army but a private black-ops special forces group with helicopter and fighter jet support. And that is not counting [[The Virus]] that can turn people into zombies or giant clawed monsters. [[Resident Evil (
* In ''[[Culpa Innata]]'' [[NG Os]] have gotten so powerful that they disbanded the UN. That may or may not be a bad thing...
* Earth Control of ''Martian Gothic Unification'' has literally taken over the world. The company can even punish "disloyalty to the company" with a ''death penalty''.
* The Kurvasz, a [[Private Military Contractors|Hunter]] [[Adventure Guild|Guild]] in ''[[Solatorobo]]'', had ({{spoiler|Red destroyed one}}) four battleships including the [[Cool Airship|Golden Roar]] and used them and legions of infantry with [[Mini-Mecha]] to intimidate local governments.
* In [[Jungle Strike]], the [[Player Character]] (a lone helicopter pilot) takes on a drug lord with enough money to build a private army and purchase top-of-the-line aircraft and nuclear submarines.
* The ''[[X (
* ''Treasures Of The Deep'''s Simon Black. At first, he seems like a pretty run-of-the-mill arms dealer/black marketeer. But as the game progresses, he manages to reveal that he has resources that are outside the bounds of all reason. Along the way, you discover he has built nuclear reactors in the Great Barrier Reef, shot down a space shuttle in orbit and sent a heavily armed recovery team to destroy it before the U.S Navy could recover it. What takes the cake are the final two missions. Simon's military capabilities are such that he can take on a U.S Navy Carrier Battlegroup and has a ''Seawolf-class'' attack sub, which in all likelihood his organization built itself.
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* ''[[G.I. Joe]]'': "[[Crowning Music of Awesome|Cooooooooooooo]][[Large Ham|braaaaaaaaaaaa!]]"
** And who ''funds'' these guys? ''Extensive Enterprises.''
** Cobra Industries in [[G.I. Joe: Renegades]] is a major military contractor and has numerous research and development facilities that the Joes need to break into. One of their subsidiaries is a [[Predatory Business|Wal-Mart expy]].
* In ''[[Metalocalypse]]'', Dethklok has a fleet of helicopters the size of jumbo jets, a bus that easily dwarfs small apartment buildings, an army of fanatically loyal roadies called the Kloketeers who have the authority to use lethal force anywhere in the world, Mordhaus ([[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Which means "murder house"]] [[Bilingual Bonus|in German]]) which is shown being held aloft in the third season by a massive bank of rocket boosters that are active 24/7/365, and in the season two finale {{spoiler|perform a concert in a capsule launched by a multistage rocket very similar to the ones used in the Apollo Program}}. The absurdity of this doesn't go unnoticed, as the band is described as ''the world's seventh-largest economy''.
* In ''[[Justice League]]'', Amanda Waller outright states that the Justice League is easily the most powerful force on the planet. In an alternate universe, [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|they took over]] [[Take Over the World|the world]] after [[Berserk Button|the death of their Flash]].
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* The Roman Catholic Church influences the religious - and sometimes even political - beliefs of people all over the world and its leader also runs [[wikipedia:Vatican city|a tiny country]].
** For centuries it was more powerful than any government in Europe. Starting at around 1050, kings and emperors needed their permission to take the throne, and excommunication would have all your neighbors attacking you along with a good chunk of your nobles rebelling. Serfs often paid as much in tithe to the church as to their lord.
* The [[wikipedia:Knights Templar#Rise|Knights Templar]] were one of the most powerful organizations in Crusades-era Europe. They were the best Christian military force during the Crusades and established a financial empire that stretched across the Christian world. They were exempt from any law in Christian land, which was everywhere they operated and answered only to the Pope himself. They invented one of the earliest forms of modern banking. They had entire fleets of ships, built numerous fortresses in the Middle East and Europe and owned the whole of the island of Cyprus. However, after the Crusades, their influence waned and this came back to bite them in the ass. King Philip IV of France decided to take advantage of this by having their leaders [[Cold-Blooded Torture|tortured into confessing to heresy]] and [[Kill It
* The Rothschild family. With there insane amounts of wealth (one of the France based Rothchilds had 100 million more francs than the REST OF THE BANKERS OF FRANCE COMBINED) funded both sides of several wars, owned huge amounts of government bonds, declared NOBILITY, and were able to fund such actions as the Debeer diamond monopoly, and that is only the stuff we know about. How much power, businesses, or wealth the family had or has is a mystery.
* Serco [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szNLMtgI7hU The Biggest Company You've Never Heard Of] is in control of state schools, prisons and air traffic worldwide. They're also responsible for nuclear weapons in the UK along with other Military contracts.
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