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[[File:illumunati01 8856.png|frame|You can't hide.<ref>Image courtesy of troper Geoduck... who may or may not be one of Them.</ref>]]
{{quote|''"There '''was''' a [[Who Shot JFK?|magic bullet]]! It was forged by Illuminati mystics to prevent us from learning '''the truth!'''"''
|'''[[The Question]]''', [[Justice League (animation)|in all of his glory]]}}
'''The''' [[Ancient Conspiracy]]. '''The''' [[The Omniscient Council of Vagueness|Omniscient Council of Vagueness]]. '''''The''''' [[One World Order]]. Founded at the dawn of human history, if not earlier,
"Illuminati" means "[[Light Is Not Good|the enlightened ones]]" in [[Gratuitous Latin]]. There ''was'' a Masonic-like organization of intellectuals which [[Trope Namer|took this name]] in [[Real Life]] Bavaria in the 1770s, but it was eventually disbanded by the Bavarian government. There are [[Conspiracy Theorist|people]] who fervently believe the Illuminati survived this purge, orchestrated [[The French Revolution]] (as part of their [[One World Order]] efforts), and still exist, very much as described above, but... this really isn't the place to discuss it; go check out [[Wikipedia]]'s [[wikipedia:Illuminati|article]].
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This name is bandied about a ''lot'' over in the [[Wild Mass Guess]] department. See also [[The Knights Templar]].
For similar groups that are not named Illuminati, see [[Ancient Conspiracy]], [[The Omniscient Council of Vagueness]], or [[One World Order]].
{{examples|Examples in popular culture:}}▼
== [[Anime and Manga]] ==▼
▲{{examples|Examples of The Illuminati in popular culture include:}}
▲== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' has [[Big Bad|Father]], the Homunculi, and {{spoiler|[[The Government|Central Command]] actually running Amestris}} in a manner that fashions this trope in every way except without the name. The Homunculi are [[Anthropomorphic Personification]]s of the [[Seven Deadly Sins]] {{spoiler|whose source of life is cultivated from a direct result of human character emotions and vices}}, and their symbol is the Ouroboros. {{spoiler|Central, headed by King Bradley (who's actually [[Unstoppable Rage|Wrath]]), have controlled the economy, media, military, and politics of the nation, cultivated [[Fantastic Racism]], and used war propaganda, all to annex lands at central points to set the stage for Father's [[Ancient Conspiracy|Ancient]] [[Evil Plan]].}} It turns out that {{spoiler|Father even ''founded'' Amestris by teaching a group of people alchemy, which they used to grow into a powerful and prosperous nation - but secretly blocked them from using its true source, the energy released from the earth's movement underground (''[[Manipulative Bastard|which he even included in his teachings!]]''), through a series of underground tubes which ended with him and instead forced them [[Powered by a Forsaken Child|to use the energy of his Philosopher's Stone and all the human souls trapped within]].}} And what is Father's driving purpose, exactly? {{spoiler|[[Satan|To conquer God]].}}
== [[
* In [[Marvel Comics]], this was the name of a secret alliance between influential superheroes - [[Iron Man]], [[Fantastic Four|Reed Richards]], [[X-Men|Professor X]], [[Sub-Mariner]], [[Doctor Strange]], and [[The Inhumans|Black Bolt]] (they tried to recruit the [[Black Panther]], but well, he was able to read the next sentence in this paragraph). They're actually a subversion, however, as their goals were to protect the world, not rule it, and their secretiveness eventually came back to bite them repeatedly (see [[World War Hulk]], [[Secret Invasion]], and even [[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]], all in which [[Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering|the ideological differences between the members end up highlighted by measures taken on by at least the more prominent players]]).
** And during the ''[[Dark Reign]]'' [[Story Arc]], [[Spider-Man|Norman Osborn]] forms an evil version of the Illuminati called the Cabal, composed of himself, [[Doctor Doom]], [[X-Men|Emma Frost]], [[The Mighty Thor|Loki]], [[The Hood]], and the [[Sub-Mariner]] - who, as mentioned above, is also a member of the good Illuminati. ''At the same time''. [[True Neutral|He doesn't see the difference]].
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* Mentioned in ''[[From Hell]]'', along with a number of other secret societies, though the Masons take center stage.
** [[Alan Moore]] used a lot of Illuminati symbolism in ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'' too.
* ''[[Avatar: The Abridged Series
== [[Film]] ==
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* [[Dan Brown]] uses the name in his various books, most prominently, in ''[[Angels & Demons]]''. Here, the Illuminati {{spoiler|are a secret society of scientists founded by Galileo Galilei to spread the Enlightenment (hence the name) and to oppose the reactionary Roman Catholic Church}}. Although they are thought to have been destroyed long ago, Langdon is drawn into a plot aiming to blow up the Vatican City, which he believes is the Illuminati's revenge. It turns out, {{spoiler|the Illuminati really ceased to exist and the whole crisis was orchestrated by a traitorous Church official (who had access to the seized Illuminati artifacts) to bring himself into power}}.
== [[Live
* The Millennium Group became something of an [[Expy]] for this in the last season of ''[[Millennium (TV series)|Millennium]]'', but was some distance from the original concept.
<!-- NOT THIS TROPE - SEE Ancient Conspiracy: * {{spoiler|The Silence}} in ''[[Doctor Who]]'' have been revealed to have been doing this to mankind for centuries. -->
== [[Music]] ==
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* [[Steve Jackson Games]] sells various conspiracy-themed card-games (collectable and otherwise) under the blanket name ''Illuminati'', while their line of ''[[GURPS]]'' role-playing materials has included a couple of Illuminati-related source-books. Some of it is obviously inspired by the ''[[Illuminatus]]'' book trilogy. The company has a trademark on a least one version of the "Eye in the Pyramid" design, and the other companies in this section often get official permission to use it. Particularly [[Wild Mass Guess|WMG]]-worthy is the fact that several world-changing events in recent history seem to have been depicted on these cards in these games ''years'' before they happened.
* [[D20 Modern]]{{context}}<!-- Which rulebook describes the Illuminati? Or should this example be moved to a different Trope page? -->
* One of the secret societies in ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]''. {{spoiler|May or may not be a front for Ultraviolets, spies from another Alpha Complex, bots, aliens...
== [[Video Games]] ==
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** Also featured in the prequel ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution|Human Revolution.]]'' {{spoiler|Taggart describes the Illuminati as "just a name used to get rich people to invest more money," and he's not far off; the organization's every attempt to assert more control over the world goes completely off the rails, often due to internal sabotage. It's no wonder the first game's [[Big Bad]] was able to usurp nearly all of their resources for Majestic 12.}}
** They also have a more direct role in ''[[Deus Ex: Mankind Divided]]''.
* The Illuminati will be one of the three playable factions in the upcoming{{when}} conspiracy-themed MMORPG ''[[The Secret World]]'', along with the Templars (who are not, but have ties to, the historical [[Knights Templar]]) and an Asian-themed "Dragon" society.{{verify}}
* The resident [[Conspiracy Theorist]] Gomez in ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]'' has a particularly convoluted theory about the Illuminati (read it [[Conspiracy Theorist/Quotes|here]]). Of course, this being the [[Old World of Darkness]], that theory has a good chance to be true...
* ''[[Street Fighter]] III'''s antagonist leads an interesting take on this. The Illuminati in these games have a lot of religious symbolism and are more akin to a psychotic cult than an oppressive secret society. Gill himself is a [[Nietzsche Wannabe]] dark savior with obscene doses of [[A God Am I]]. Oh, and then there's the fact that he's red and blue skinned and clad in a thong...
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* ''[[Dominions]]'' has the secretive Illuminated Order, operating in local [[Überwald]].
* Los Illuminados in ''[[Resident Evil]] 4''. Subverted hard by Albert Wesker being a more successful infiltrator behind the scenes than their entire organization.
▲== [[Web Original]] ==
▲* [[Avatar: The Abridged Series|"And then he beat the crap out of him, muttering about Illuminati or something. I'm telling you, this guy is crazy"]]
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', Satan's surveillance invokes it: [
** [
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Historical Domain Character]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Illuminati, The}}
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