History Main / AHouseDivided

* Will Navidson and his significant other Karen move into the [[color:blue:house]] because they are trying to avert this trope, but the [[MindScrew strange happenings]] in ''Literature/HouseOfLeaves'' don't allow for that sort of healing.

** Tensions between the former rebels and the guards are very close to completely boiling over, due to the latter's resentment of how the former are continuing to treat them with contempt despite proving their loyalty, especially with Caleb's stubborn refusal to accept the truth about Jade/Kage (as opposed to the guards, who [[SpottingTheThread figured it out themselves]]) only fanning the flames. Meanwhile, Caleb is also growing frustrated with the Guardians for not agreeing with him.
** During Frost's attack on Cavigor, the Warden and his more fanatical soldiers decide to kill all the prisoners in order to deny Frost the victory of freeing them for Phobos. Vathek, Drake, and other more levelheaded soldiers are horrified by this dishonorable act, and only avoid coming to blows due to the more pressing need of preventing Frost's forces from overwhelming the prison.

*** There has always been tension within House Lannister and they manage TeethClenchedTeamwork throughout the war, but as the war winds down they turn on each other with the events of the Purple Wedding being the spark that sets them off against each other.
*** House Baratheon has two civil wars at the same time. Robert's brothers fight their "nephews" (who they know are not real Baratheons, but claim to be), and they also fight each other.

* This is a big part of the collapse of the Barksdale Organization in Season 3 of ''Series/TheWire''. Avon Barksdale and his longtime [[TheConsigliere Consigliere]] and [[BloodBrothers Blood Brother]] Stringer Bell had turned the group into the most powerful drug empire in Baltimore prior to the start of the show. However, when Avon goes to jail at the end of Season 1 and when Stringer has to guide the group, he comes to believe that Avon's brutal methods of controlling the drug trade by force will no longer work, and turns the organization to more legitimate business and cooperating with other gangs. When Avon gets out of prison he disdains Stringer's goal of going legit and has a JustAGangster attitude, and this conflict of leadership and a MobWar with new, DarkerAndEdgier gang that is more ruthless than Avon ever was results in the most of the organization being arrested or killed.

* '[[Franchise/ASongOfIceAndFire Game of Thrones]]'' universe:

* Happens regularly in ''TabletopGames/{{BattleTech}}''. House Marik, given its realm's disputes between the provinces and federal government, is stereotyped as this, but the other four Great Houses have all had civil strife of some kind in their history, and regional lords or military generals in all states are often at odds with the national leader.
** The Clans - both collectively and within each Clan - also have this a lot. In addition to historical rivalries conflicting views on Kerensky's intentions for them led to the Crusader-Warden ideological divide, with individual Clans either supporting one vision or hosting adherents to both within their ranks.

[[folder:Western Animation]]

* The driving conflict of ''Animation/TheNightTheAnimalsTalked''
[[/folder]]

** The main plot point from ''Film/DayOfTheDead1985'', and also found in the original ''Film/DawnOfTheDead1978'' and [[Film/DawnOfTheDead2004 its remake]], the remake more than the original.

*** House Targaryen starts lurching towards the crisis itself from ''Literature/FireAndBlood'', the Dance of the Dragons, the moment King Viserys chooses to marry Alicent Hightower and has her bear children (even though he never relent on his promise to make Rhaenyra his heir), just as Alicent's power-hungry family (who abide by HeirClubForMen) had plotted. Alicent's children survive into adulthood and start antagonizing those of Rhaenyra while Rhaenyra and Alicent's friendship crumbles, and House Hightower's LongGame is set in motion upon Viserys' death when they contest Rhaenyra's right to the throne. An unfortunate [[DragonRider dragon riding]] accident at the end of Season 1 resulting in the death of one of Rhaenyra's sons demolishes any chance of peace between her Targaryen faction (the Blacks) and the Targaryens-Hightowers (the Greens).

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** The whole realm is at war with one another over the iron throne, while a greater threat of the [[HumanoidAbomination White Walkers]] with a horde of [[ZombieApocalypse wights]] mobilizes in the north.
** There has always been tension within House Lannister and they manage TeethClenchedTeamwork throughout the war, but as the war winds down they turn on each other with the events of the Purple Wedding being the spark that sets them off against each other.
** House Baratheon has two civil wars at the same time. Robert's brothers fight their "nephews" (who they know are not real Baratheons, but claim to be), and they also fight each other.
** A central concern in ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'', as House Targaryen lurches towards the Dance of the Dragons. Notably, Jaehaerys the Conciliator tried to avert a SuccessionCrisis (hence the Great Council of AC 101), yet as reflected upon by Rhaenyra (Creator/EmmaDArcy) in the OpeningMonologue of the first episode, it may have just sown the seeds towards it.
--->'''Rhaenyra:''' Jaehaerys called the Great Council to prevent a war being fought over his succession. For he knew the cold truth: the only thing that could tear down the [[TitleDrop House of the Dragon]] was itself.

** A central concern in ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'', as House Targaryen lurches towards the Dance of the Dragons. Notably, Jaehaerys the Conciliator tried to avert a SuccessionCrisis (hence the Great Council of AC 101), yet as reflected upon by Rhaenyra in the opening narration of the first episode, it may have just sown the seeds towards it.
--->'''Rhaenyra:''' Jaehaerys called the Great Council to prevent a war being fought over his succession. For he knew the cold truth. The only thing that could tear down the [[TitleDrop House of the Dragon]] was itself.

* ''Film/{{Cube}}''. Although the eponymous Cube is filled with lethal booby traps, they only kill two of the seven characters.

* The Stephen King story and movie, ''Film/TheMist.'' A military project codenamed 'Operation Arrowhead' has gone awry and a quaint Maine town is shrouded in mist that happens to be filled with flesh-eating monsters from another dimension. A lucky few residents are able to barricade themselves in the local supermarket. TheFundamentalist Mrs. Carmody preaches that this is all an act of God for landing people on the moon and homosexuality. Yes, really. Yet as people start getting picked off by the monsters, most of the people in the store let their fear get the better of them and start listening to Mrs. Carmody's sermons, save for a level-headed group that find themselves outcast and fearing for their lives after Mrs. Carmody has her followers sacrifice one of the townspeople to the monsters. When they decide that they would rather face the monsters then face a religious nut, Mrs. Carmody tries to stop them and utters her final words, 'Kill them all!' before she is finally put in her place with a BoomHeadshot.

* A literal example (well actually an apartment complex) in the films ''Film/{{REC}}'', and ''Film/{{Quarantine}}''. The inhabitants never fully reach this level seeing as how the [[TheVirus infection happens so fast]] people rarely get the chance to argue with one another. Although they came DANGEROUSLY close to this trope during the initial panic.

Occasionally, a villain will try to [[DivideAndConquer set this up deliberately]]. [[ThePowerOfFriendship This rarely works]], at least not over the long term ([[LetsYouAndHimFight though it can and often does work splendidly]] [[YouCantThwartStageOne over the short term]]). See also: WeAREStrugglingTogether making this TruthInTelevision... unfortunately.

* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemptionII'', by the time the gang reaches Beaver Hollow, everyone is at each other's throats. Dutch, Bill and Javier are highly mistrustful and hostile to Arthur and John in particular. Micah is quick to spread rumors that they are the traitors. Any friendly banter, festivities or general civility is gone and replaced with arguments and bitterness. Those who aren't outwardly aggressive are either spending their time crying, suffering silently or giving into whatever addictions they have.

* ''LightNovel/{{Schwarzesmarken}}'': This is practically the theme of the entire series. Taking place in an alternate timeline where Asia acquired an army of alien bioweapons (with no context as to whether or not Asia survived), the armies of East and West Germany are still at civil war with each other by the division made from their factions, and are willing to greatly decrease humanity's chances of survival (and even their own) if it means that they can send their rivals' entire armies into a meat grinder of Eldritch Aliens.

* ''Fanfic/ShadowsOverMeridian'': Tensions between the former rebels and the guards are very close to completely boiling over, due to the latter's resentment of how the former are continuing to treat them with contempt despite proving their loyalty, especially with Caleb's stubborn refusal to accept the truth about Jade/Kage (as opposed to the guards, who [[SpottingTheThread figured it out themselves]]) only fanning the flames. Meanwhile, Caleb is also growing frustrated with the Guardians for not agreeing with him.

--> Kido's faction want the destruction of all neighbors.\\
Shinoda's faction wants to protect the town and people only, but will protect any neighbor in need just as much.\\

* This was pretty much the plot of the "Home Schooling" arc of ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}''. Victor Mancha inadvertently causes a drone to crash into the Runaways' house, resulting in Klara and Old Lace getting buried beneath rubble. The rubble gets sorted out relatively quickly, but Old Lace dies and Klara loses control of her powers, burying the house in vines. The team then becomes divided over how to deal with the vines, with Chase and Victor preferring to force Klara to retract them while Karolina, Nico and Molly prefer to wait until she's calmed down enough to retract them of her own free will (eventually, Nico uses a magic spell that tranquilizes Klara, but this angers Molly, who considers forcing someone to sleep against their will to be abusive.) Further complications arise when a paramilitary unit arrives to investigate the attack, causing the Runaways to flee the house while Chase abandons the team. Apparently, the arc was supposed to end with them being reunited by a suddenly-revived Gert Yorkes, but the series was cancelled halfway through the arc...

* So far the group in ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'' comic manages to avoid this...for the most part.

* The story ''Literature/WhoGoesThere'' by Creator/JohnWCampbell, which provided the inspiration for the movie ''Film/TheThing1982''. A FaceStealer alien is thawed out, and proceeds to start killing people in an isolated Antarctic research station. Everybody is understandably paranoid and scared to death. Besides being eaten to death of course.

* In the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS04E06SpinTheBottle Spin the Bottle]]" when the cast were regressed to their 17-year-old versions and trapped in the hotel. They all belong to the types listed in the header: Angel (MartyStu), Gunn (BaldOfAuthority), Fred (DistressedDamsel), Cordelia (DamselScrappy by that time), and Wesley ({{Jerkass}}).