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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''Not "conspiracies". ''Conspiracy''. Singular.''
|'''[[The Question]]''', ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]''}}
The most basic definition of
▲{{quote|''Not "conspiracies". ''Conspiracy''. Singular.''|'''[[The Question]]''', ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]''}}
* '''Secretive'''. The conspirators always [[Hidden Agenda Villain|hide their evil agenda]] or [[He Who Must Not Be Seen|even their very existence]]. They live as far from a [[Card
▲The most basic definition of [[The Conspiracy]] is "a [[Man Behind the Man|secretive]] [[Villain|villainous]] group with an [[Evil Plan]]". Let's break it down:
▲* '''Secretive'''. The conspirators always [[Hidden Agenda Villain|hide their evil agenda]] or [[He Who Must Not Be Seen|even their very existence]]. They live as far from a [[Card Carrying Villain]] as possible. As a result, [[They Look Just Like Everyone Else|most of them appear benevolent or neutral at first]] but are then [[Reveal|revealed]] to have been [[Evil All Along]], creating an [[Paranoia Fuel|atmosphere where neither the protagonist, nor the reader knows whom to trust]].
* '''Villainous'''. The conspiracy always plays an antagonistic role to the heroic protagonists. If a conspiracy isn't evil, it's an [[Ancient Tradition]] and is discussed elsewhere.
* '''Group'''. The number of conspirators ranges from a dozens to thousands. Depending on the scale, the conspiracy may be between individuals or entire organizations. Some of them are obviously evil, some appear benevolent, some don't exist at all in the public eye. There may be an [[Omniscient Council of Vagueness]], [[The Man]], [[The Man Behind the Man]], [[The Dragon]], [[The Mole]], and tons of [[Faceless Goons]] among them. Conspiracy is like the [[Hydra Problem|Lernaean Hydra]]: every time a head is cut off, it [[Sequel Hook|just grows another]].
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* '''[[Ancient Conspiracy]]'''. A secret society consisting of otherwise unrelated individuals who pursue some (possibly esoteric) goals. As the name implies, it is pretty old (likely going back to [[The Knights Templar]], [[The Illuminati]], etc.) and very, very well hidden. Their power comes either from long-term [[The Chessmaster|strategic planning]] or mystical sources.
* '''[[Government Conspiracy]]'''. A secret project uniting a small number of members of a powerful but otherwise benevolent organization, usually but not necessarily [[The Government]] (hence the name). The project can hardly be older than [[The Government]] itself. Their power comes from their [[Front Organization]]'s resources and the trust that [[Normal People]] put into it.
* '''[[Nebulous Criminal Conspiracy]]'''. An informal alliance between [[Villain
* '''[[Conspiracy Theory]]''' is a [[Scrapbook Story]] detailing the progress of Their Plan at different times and places from different perspectives in [[Faux Documentary]] style.
* '''[[Conspiracy Thriller]]''' is a more traditional [[Thriller]] narrative [[Rule of Drama|centering on the conflict]] between [[The Protagonist]] and
For further tips on writing both of the above, see [[So You Want To/Write a Conspiracy Theory|Write a Conspiracy Theory]]. For tropes commonly associated with conspiracies, see [[The Index Is Watching You]].
Multiple concurrent conspiracies form a [[Conspiracy Kitchen Sink]]. A character believing in conspiracies is a [[Conspiracy Theorist]]. See also [[Milkman Conspiracy]] and [[Conspiracy Religion]].
{{examples|Examples of works/series featuring conspiracies of more than one type:}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* The less known thing about [[Bee Train]]'s ''[[Girls
** ''[[Noir]]'' pits the protagonists against a [[Cult]]-like [[Ancient Conspiracy]] of [[Gratuitous French|Les Soldats]], a secret society formed (probably) by the [[The Heretic|Cathar]] survivors after the [[Kill
** ''[[Madlax]]'' revolves around a [[Nebulous Criminal Conspiracy]] between [[The Syndicate]] of Enfant,
** ''[[El Cazador de la Bruja]]'' deals with the aftermath of a [[Government Conspiracy]] called Project Leviathan, a top-secret [[CIA Evil, FBI Good|CIA]] project to produce [[Psychic Powers|Psychic]] [[Child Soldiers]]. More specifically, CIA attempts to [[Revealing Coverup|cover the whole thing up]], which includes killing the few surviving test subjects, one of whom is the amnesiac protagonist.▼
==
* ''[[The Illuminatus Trilogy]]'', the original [[Conspiracy Kitchen Sink]] novel(s).▼
▲* The less known thing about [[Bee Train]]'s ''[[Girls With Guns]]'' trilogy is that in addition to playing into three distinct action movie genres (see [[Bee Train/Trivia]]), they also each center on a different type of conspiracies:
▲** ''[[Noir]]'' pits the protagonists against a [[Cult]]-like [[Ancient Conspiracy]] of [[Gratuitous French|Les Soldats]], a secret society formed (probably) by the [[The Heretic|Cathar]] survivors after the [[Kill Em All|Albigensian Crusade]] to oppose the rule of the [[The Church|Roman Catholic Church]]. Their ({{spoiler|or rather, Altena's}}) [[Evil Plan]], ''Le Grand Retour'', involves reverting the Western society to [[The Middle Ages|Medieval]] norms.
▲** ''[[Madlax]]'' revolves around a [[Nebulous Criminal Conspiracy]] between [[The Syndicate]] of Enfant, the [[Mega Corp|Bookwald Industries]], [[The Government]] of [[Qurac|Gazth-Sonika]], and the [[La Résistance|Galza]] leadership, who prolong the [[War for Fun And Profit]] indefinitely. Also, said war is only a stepping stone in the [[Big Bad]]'s ''master'' plan, which is far more destructive.
▲** ''[[El Cazador]]'' deals with the aftermath of a [[Government Conspiracy]] called Project Leviathan, a top-secret [[CIA Evil FBI Good|CIA]] project to produce [[Psychic Powers|Psychic]] [[Child Soldiers]]. More specifically, CIA attempts to [[Revealing Coverup|cover the whole thing up]], which includes killing the few surviving test subjects, one of whom is the amnesiac protagonist.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==▼
▲* ''[[The Illuminatus Trilogy]]'', the original [[Conspiracy Kitchen Sink]] novel.
▲== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Eclipse Phase]]'' has Firewall, a "heroic" (well, anti-heroic) conspiracy that does not work for any government or criminal organization, and is devoted to the survival of transhumanity at all costs. Though there's also Project Ozma, {{spoiler|SETI turned MIB}}.
** Oh, and Firewall is descended from a fusion of three real world groups
* ''[[GURPS
* From [[Steve Jackson Games|the same publisher]], ''[[Illuminati (card game)|Illuminati]]'', a light-hearted card game of world domination. Comes in basic, [[Illuminati: New World Order|collectible]] and (eventually) video game versions. Each player is one of the great grand Conspiracies, building webs of influence and control in the unsuspecting world.
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
▲== Video Games ==
* ''[[The Longest Journey]]'' series loves to have conspiracies for villains:
** The original game had the [[Ancient Conspiracy]] of the Vanguard, a twelve thousand years old [[Cult]] led by {{spoiler|a [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|DraicKin]]}} and aiming to forcibly reunite the [[Cyberpunk|technological world]] of Stark and the magical [[Arcadia]], disregarding the enormous risks to both worlds' existence.
** ''[[Dreamfall]]'' had Project Alchera, a [[Government Conspiracy]] (actually, a [[Mega Corp|corporate]] one, but [[One Nation Under Copyright|corporations ARE the world government in the setting]]) by {{spoiler|1=the top executives and researchers of the Japanese toy manufacturer WATIcorp}} to develop and spread [[Mind Control]] technology disguised as lucid dream toys.
* ''[[
* Suburban Redevelopment Fund in ''[[
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', after [
== Other ==
* ''[[The Church Of The Sub Genius]]'' blames pretty much everything wrong with the world on "The CONSPIRACY" (which is apparently [[Fun
{{reflist}}
[[Category:The Index Is Watching You]]
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