History Main / AncientConspiracy

* The Gatekeepers of ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' have been using their monopoly over the Wormgates to manipulate galactic civilisations for millennia and the Pan'uri have been manipulating them for even longer. Given Petey's new hobby of engaging in social engineering experiments where he can't intervene directly the only thing stopping him from fitting this is that he hasn't been at it all that long.

* ''Anime/TheMysticalLaws'': Implied by Konohana-no-Sakuya-bime in her explanation of the Spirit World. She explains that demons rule Hell through power and fear and emerge on Earth to drag as many humans down there as possible. Furthermore, devils' means of controlling humans range from making them indulge in their base desires, invoking hatred and anger amongst all people throughout countries and ethnicities, and driving them away from faith by telling them that there's nothing beyond their physical bodies and Earth, driving them to deny the existence of God and the Spirit World. In other words, devils are behind every greedy/lustful desire and anything driven by them (entertainment districts and corporations), every war and conflict, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and every atheist philosophy]] throughout human history.

* Nearly all modern-day authoritarian and/or autocratic governments either believe or promote the belief that they are surrounded by organized, powerful enemies on all sides, no matter how much influence they gather. This has the benefit of justifying their existence as well as giving them a solid reason to act outside of established laws and norms. After all, if you're surrounded by enemies, arbitrary actions that break the law are justified by the need for self-preservation. This is how the word "dictatorship" got its negative connotation: it's a government that's run as if it is in a constant state of emergency. Originally, it was an [[EmergencyAuthority emergency government]] appointed by the Roman Senate when things got out of hand enough that they viewed themselves as in some incapable to deal with it. After Sulla then Ceasar made themselves perpetual dictators, it started the current connotation.

%%* The Cabal from ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}''.

* The Secret Monarchy of the World in Ed Brubaker's ''Comicbook/SleeperWildStorm'' is a BigBadWannabe Conspiracy. [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot TAO]] learned of them and became intrigued by their mission (which, predictably, is dominating the world), but upon joining them found them to be riddled by the usual human flaws he had come to disdain.

* With ''ComicBook/WarOfKings,'' Marvel's cosmic title have the Fraternity of Raptors, who used to control the Shi'ar Empire via a mixture of technology and magic, and the occasional acts of murder. They disappeared for centuries, but the aftermath of ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' wakes their tech up again. Then it turns out ComicBook/{{Darkhawk}} is supposed to be one of them.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': The "[[Recap/TheVentureBrosS3E11ORB ORB]]" is an ancient artifact of unknown purpose and power, which has passed through the hands of numerous scientific geniuses throughout history (including Archimedes, UsefulNotes/GalileoGalilei, and UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton) who have all contributed to it. Lloyd Venture, grandfather of Rusty, posits that is some kind [[PerpetualMotionMachine unlimited power source]], while his rival Literature/{{Fantomas}} (and later, his grandson the supervillain Phantom Limb), believe it to be a [[DoomsdayDevice powerful weapon]]. The orders of every Venture family bodyguard have been to ''kill'' their client should he attempt to activate it. [[spoiler:As revealed in "[[Recap/TheVentureBrosS4E5TheRevengeSociety The Revenge Society]]", Lloyd's bodyguard instead breaks the ORB rather than kill Lloyd for trying to activate it. This leads to one of the show's famed {{Anticlimax}}es when Phantom Limb tries to activate it]].

* In ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', the Majestic 12 is a Recent Conspiracy that split from its founding organization the Illuminati. There's also UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar.
** ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' [[DeconstructedTrope examines this]]: As it turns out, the reason the Illuminati survived for so long is that [[spoiler:they're only an organization in the loosest sense of the term: they're more like an old boys' network whose members barely know each other.]] One of them even claims that [[spoiler:"'Illuminati' is just a name used to get rich people to invest more money", meaning that at the end of the day, they're just an aspect of "ordinary" economic power.]] Also, ''every'' scheme they've ever done in order to control the world has [[spoiler:backfired in some way or another,]] due to unforeseen factors such as [[spoiler:[[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Eliza]] developing a conscience or due to the differing goals of their members (Darrow hijacking the biochip signal). Ultimately, the real threat of Majestic 12 is that they happen to be ''competent''.]]
** [[spoiler: And, ironically, this turns out to be their downfall.]] As ''Human Revolution'' reveals, [[spoiler:the Illuminati's greatest strengths have always been sticking to the shadows while letting proxies do much of the dirty work and also preselecting fall guys to cover their ass. True, they occasionally failed, but they always had a fallback.]] In the original game, [[spoiler:Bob Page ruined that by forcing the Illuminati to have to work directly with JC because he eliminated their other indirect options when he splintered off from them. And, by the same token, despite Majestic 12's competence, he also eliminated the ability to have a proxy to cover his ass if things went badly, which meant that he essentially undid his victories from ''Human Revolution'' at the same time.]]
** Played with in the first game that suggests the the conspiracy in game is only the latest incarnation of an idea.
--->'''Stanton Dowd''': It's true that our organization stretches back to the Order of the Assassins, or Hashishim, but not in the way you might imagine. The order hasn't so much lasted as been continually revived. Adam Weishaupt started from scratch in Bavaria in 1776. But so did Thomas Jefferson a few years later. It's the IDEA that has lasted. The SYSTEM. Or the DESIRE, every thinking person's desire to give the world some decent organization. Cecil Rhodes, for instance. Absolutely no formal connection to the Illuminati at all, but one of the greatest visionaries of centralized power. Now we have the Rhodes Scholarships, which feed recruits right into the Council on Foreign Relations... A very powerful tool. In my opinion, the history of the human race has been one long succession of conspiracies. To deceive ourselves, we call the successful conspiracies 'governments.'
** ''VideoGame/TheNamelessMod'', a [[PostModernism Post Modern]] GameMod for the original ''Deus Ex'', has a very meta ancient conspiracy where [[spoiler:aliens from the planet [=GameSpy=] are in league with the administrators of [=ForumPlanet=] to control the world ever since the apocalyptic "Planetization" occured, in which they took control]].

* In ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'', all three playable factions are in fact, Ancient Conspiracies: the Templars are {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s dedicated to preserving order ([[KnightTemplar go figure]]); the Dragon pursue order through inducing anarchy and mayhem, destabilizing the world in predictive models reminiscent of chaos mathematics; TheIlluminati are power-hungry [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] with a very polished, corporate image. All three of them are out to protect their interests via [[EvilVersusOblivion saving the world from things much worse than any of them.]]

* [=EXALT=] in [[VideoGame/XComEnemyUnknown X-Com: Enemy Within]] at first appeared as a relatively recent [[LesCollaborateurs alien sympathizers.]] However, a raid on their headquarters recovered many ancient relics and artifacts which were ''not'' imitations, suggesting that they had existed for a '''long''' time.
* Even the Ancient Conspiracies in ''VideoGame/XenoGears'' get caught up in gigantic {{Gambit Pileup}}s. First off, you have [[spoiler: Deus, who engineered the human race to replace his broken parts after the wreck of the Eldridge, and having created Miang, the first woman, to herd mankind towards that purpose. Semi-separately, [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Cain and the Gazelle Ministry]] found Solaris and quietly take control over the surface dwellers. Thirdly, the Wave Existence imprisoned in the Zohar is trying to get out of said artifact and return to its home dimension, using the ''Contact'' that is, Fei -- to do so. Finally, you've got Krellian, who somehow manages to [[OutGambitted out-gambit]] ''everyone'', playing everyone off of everyone else with the intention of [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence following the Wave Existence home]] in a plan that takes 500 years to fulfill. ]]

* The Cabal from ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}''. They become more publicly known in the sequel, reforming after their god's death as [=CabalCo=].

* [=ComStar=] is a pseudo-religious organization from ''TabletopGame/{{BattleTech}}'' that derives a lot of power from its monopoly on the interstellar communications network. However, the organization has also been hoarding [[LostTechnology LosTech]] for the past few centuries, hoping that it will give them an edge after the rest of the Inner Sphere bombs itself back into the Stone Age.
* Take your pick of them in the ''TabletopGame/DarkMatter'' setting. Ancient conspiracy within ancient conspiracy facing off against other conspiracies. Aliens, humans, and odder things all conspiring for or against something or another. It's probably the main focus of the setting.

* As the page quote shows, the Question in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'' believes that a vast conspiracy has ruled the world for thousands of years and are secretly responsible for virtually everything in human history. Given that many of the Question's wild theories [[ProperlyParanoid are proved correct]] and that there are [[Characters/DCComicsVandalSavage several]] [[Characters/BatmanRasAlGhul characters]] in the DCAU that have ''lived'' for thousands of years, [[ParanoiaFuel he might well be right]].

'''The Question:''' Yours too. You just don’t know it.

* Parodied with the Stonecutters in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', a world-wide group who claim to have fought since ancient times to "split the rock of ignorance that obscures the light of knowledge and truth", along with a few other tall claims (robbing cavefish of their sight, rigging every Oscar night). Mostly what they do is just hang out and get drunk.

* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': As ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'', Asuka must fight against giant monsters, alien beings, an evil cult and an ancient secret society comprised of old madmen whose goal consists in killing everybody and merging their souls to give birth a new god. Said secret society is not happy with the unforeseen appearance of a super-powered girl coming along out of nowhere and interfering with their plans.