The Group: Difference between revisions

Basically, a sub-trope of [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]] that applies specifically to a group or organization, as well as the [[Super -Trope]] under which several others fall (such as [[Ancient Conspiracy]] and [[Government Agency of Fiction]]).

[[The Group]] does not have any proper nouns in its name. This is meant to convey just how ancient, mysterious, clannish, secretive, powerful, and connected it is. It is not "The Silford Group". It is simply...''The'' Group. The Group is typically some form of Ancient Conspiracy, [[Government Agency of Fiction|Government Agency]], or [[The Syndicate|Very Powerful Crime Syndicate]]. Even more likely, The Group will be some combination of some or all of the above, such as an ancient and extremely highly-trained order that traces its origins back to the time when it was an [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian mystery religion]], today [[Murder, Inc.|has deadly assassins]] and [[The Men in Black]] counted among its many agents, is technically an ancillary [[The Government|part of the United States government]] and, oh yeah, manages [[The Syndicate|a large underground criminal empire as well]].

If there's a [[Masquerade]] going on in your world, The Group is, ''de rigueur'', the first ones in and the last ones out to deal with anything related to it. If it gets [[Broken Masquerade|broken]], that's on them. Even if The Group is evil, which they may well be, they may often try to cover up [[The Masquerade]] in an attempt to utilize whatever it is for their own ends, and thus do the world some good by keeping it ignorant and safe. Whether it is [[Functional Magic|mystical, supernatural, or horrific beings, creatures, phenomena]] or [[MacGuffin|MacGuffins]]s, [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum|things of alien origin]], [[Differently-Powered Individual|superhumans and related paraphernalia]], [[Applied Phlebotinum|examples of advanced technology]], [[Time Travel|time travelers and the difficulties they create]], [[Monster of the Week|various types of monsters, demons]], or whatever other [[Green Rocks]] or [[Weirdness Magnet|Weirdness Magnets]]s may be around in a world, you can be assured The Group will be there to either [[The Hunter|hunt and destroy them]], try to [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulate and use them]], or [[The Watcher|simply watch and contain them]]. Oh, and it should go without saying that if anyone is in charge of The Group, yes, it will be an [[Omniscient Council of Vagueness]].

It's also entirely possible to have ''two'' Groups in the world. Often, they will be fighting a war in the shadows, this will be the basis for an [[Arc]] (story or myth), typically with one fighting behind the scenes to protect the world, and the other secretly trying to destroy or corrupt it. The Group may be several decades old (for example, formed around [[World War II]] or the [[Cold War]]), several hundred years old (for example, dating from around the time of the [[Steampunk|Industrial Revolution]] and the [[The American Revolution|American]] and [[The French Revolution|French Revolutions]]), several thousand years old (originating in [[Ancient Rome]], [[Ancient Greece]], or [[Ancient Egypt]]), as old as human civilization itself (as soon as one cavemen invented fire, two others got together on the other side of the cave and whispered to eachothereach other that they had better keep an eye on this, and thus The Group was born), or [[Time Abyss|older than time itself]] (humans may serve The Group, but some very definitely ''[[Eldritch Abomination|non-humans]]'' founded, and control, it).

** The Conclave: [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]] foes. A shadow cabinet made up of members of every U.S. government organization.

** The Corporation: Nationwide business-like criminal organization. Foes of [[Captain America (comics)]] and [[The Incredible Hulk]], amongst others.

* The Order from ''[[Sherlock Holmes (Filmfilm)|Sherlock Holmes]]'' are a [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]] version of the Freemasons as they were commonly thought of in Victorian times, being a shadowy group of influential men at the highest reaches of power engaging in mysterious, weird rituals. It's gradually taken over by a powerful and charismatic [[Dark Messiah]] who has returned from the dead and is demonstrating his power to such an extent that almost the entire country is utterly terrified of him. However, it's ultimately a complete deconstruction, as the Order is largely presented as a bunch of superstitious and largely ineffectual old men who are utterly caught up in their own mythology {{spoiler|to the extent that they'll let the so-called [[Dark Messiah]], in fact a complete charlatan, seduce them with a theatrical manner and some admittedly pretty clever conjuring tricks. Hey, this is ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]''; as if he wasn't going to be [[Doing inIn Thethe Wizard]]}}. It's also an excuse for them to have orgies, apparently.

* The Organization from ''[[Fearless (Literaturenovel)|Fearless]]''.

* The Committee from ''[[VR .5]]''.

* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''. The Company.

* ''[[The X -Files]]''. The Syndicate.

* The N.I.D. in ''[[Stargate SG -1]]''. According to [[All There in the Manual|the RPG sourcebook]] it stands for National Intelligence Department.

* Bureau Thirteen in ''[[Babylon Five5]]''. Heard of once in the episode ''Spider In The Web'', then never heard from again.

* ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' had the Alliance and later the Covenant.

* Arguably parodied by the Agency from the [[Sci Fi ChannelSyfy]]'s series ''The Invisible Man''. It's a secret government agency that [[Oddly Small Organization|consists of about five (visible on-screen) people]], and because of this is prone to being transferred around between various departments of the US Government, as well as suffering from budget cuts. About the only thing they have going for them is that the titular invisible man works for them.

* The Order in ''[[Freelancer]]''. {{spoiler|Subverted in that they're actually the good guys, fighting off a race of shapeshifting aliens called the Nomads.}}

* In the [[SCP Foundation (Wiki)|SCP Foundation]] universe, the titular organization is often referred to as simply "The Foundation."

* On ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'', the organization Perry the Platypus works for is known simply as The Agency. [[Word of God]] has it that it's actually called O.W.C.A., the [[Fun Withwith Acronyms|Organization Without a Cool Acronym]].

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