History Main / AncientConspiracy

[[folder:Film]]
* The League of Shadows in ''Film/BatmanBegins'' and to an extent, in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' is an example of an Ancient Conspiracy that [[KnightTemplar does evil in service of a "good" goal]].

* [[spoiler:The Bureau, responsible for [[TheMasquerade the constructed, faction-based community in Chicago]] for at least eight generations]] in ''Literature/{{Allegiant}}''.

* Esset (aka Ezsett) in ''Anime/WeissKreuz'' is a cult-like conspiracy that is headed by three psychic Elders. Their goal is to raise a demon that will help them rule the world and grant them immortality.

* In ''Literature/{{Aeon 14}}: Destiny Lost'', the {{terraform}}ers guild, of all people, has become a BenevolentConspiracy aiming to shepherd humanity out of the [[LostTechnology technological dark age]] brought about by the development of FasterThanLightTravel: the sudden relief of resource strains meant humanity gave up on being efficient, and the ability to travel between stars in weeks or months rather than decades meant interstellar warfare was now possible, [[LostTechnology causing some pre-FTL knowledge to become lost]]. The FGT have covert operatives subtly influencing humanity's governments and sometimes provide new planets beyond their reach to allow threatened populations a fresh start.

* As long as we're on the TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness, there are so ''many'' ancient conspiracies in ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'' that it's hard to keep them straight. In fact, the largest possible organization of hunters is commonly called a "conspiracy." Ones that best fit the criteria include: the Aegis Kai Doru, relic hunters who date back to Ancient Greece; the Ascending Ones, Arabic alchemists who use the drug trade to fuel their quest against the darkness; the Cheiron Group, a recent {{megacorp}}oration with some very occluded origins who [[TheydCutYouUp perform medical experiments of supernaturals]] to [[strike:better mankind]] increase their profit margins; the Lucifuge, made up of self-proclaimed children of the Devil who seek to fight against Hell and all its works; and the Malleus Maleficarum, the Catholic Church's black bag group.

** The Mage/Vampire/Whatever conspiracies are so common in the old ''[[TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness World of Darkness]]'' that it often seems like the Holocaust was the ONE event in history that was solely the work of normal humans (since none of the supernaturals want the "credit" for it). However, as these conspiracies oppose and counter each other, they often fail to really control anything.

Since the ancient conspiracy often draws on conspiracy-theorist lore, don't be surprised when certain names keep coming up. UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar are popular, as are UsefulNotes/TheHashshashin. In [[ValuesDissonance older works]], [[OnceAcceptableTargets Jewish]] secret domination of the world through the banks is the norm. The Freemasons might crop up occasionally, but as a real, semi-secret society, they're generally not scary enough, so expect them to be a front for the ''real'' secret society, at best. By far the most common are TheIlluminati, who have been used as an ancient conspiracy so many times that the term has become generic, and need not have anything to do with the historical Bavarian Illuminati at all. Occasionally they might reference [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Weishaupt Adam Weishaupt,]] but don't count on it.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Katanagatari}}'', Kiki Shikizaki [[spoiler:using his power to see into the future]] crafted the Twelve Deviant Blades [[spoiler:and helped found Kyotouryuu, his Thirteenth Deviant Blade]] all for the purpose of [[spoiler:averting the destruction of Japan in the future]]. The power of the Deviant Blades changed the course of history [[spoiler:while Kyotouryuu became stronger with each passing generation]]. The time of the series is the culmination of Shikizaki's plan: [[spoiler:Shichika Yasuri, a Kyotouryuu practitioner stronger than all of the other Deviant Blades put together, one strong enough to avert Japan's destruction]]. The end of the series reveals that [[spoiler:Shikizaki's plan failed for one simple reason: Shichika didn't want to change the future and was content to let the people of the future handle things.]]

* ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'' has Lord Browning's plan, a five-thousand-year long BatmanGambit to [[RageAgainstTheHeavens bring down Providence]]. [[spoiler:Zefiris and Natalie]] keep the scheme on track [[WellIntentionedExtremist whatever it takes]]. [[spoiler:Notable for planning TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt and manipulating the entire cast into doing their bidding ''without'' being evil.]]

* The Inner Circle from ''VideoGame/MaxPayne''. Lampshaded by Max himself; a member of the circle, Alfred Woden, provides an in-depth description of the organization and its activities, following which Max [[DeadpanSnarker snarks]]: "[[YouWatchTooMuchX You've been watching too much]] ''[[Series/TheXFiles X-Files]]''."
** Come the second game, however, the Inner Circle turns out to be a NebulousCriminalConspiracy rather than an ancient conspiracy.
** It's also a GovernmentConspiracy, having senators among their ranks and being connected with top secret SuperSoldier projects like Valhalla.

* The Sonozaki family, from HigurashiWhenTheyCry, appears to be masterminding one of these in the little village of Hinamizawa, [[spoiler:Or at least that's what the actual GovernmentConspiracy wants you to think...]]

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS1E6FearfulSymmetry Fearful Symmetry]]"

* ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'': The Bene Gesserit worked for thousands of years to [[Literature/{{Dune}} produce the Kwisatz Haderach]], meaning they seduced every political leader that showed some talent, however inane, while portraying themselves as being mere servants to those political leaders.

** In the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist first anime]], [[spoiler: Dante runs a conspiracy dating back to a quasi-dark age, which manipulates the highest levels of the nation's government. Her plan is simply to use the philosopher stone and transfer herself to a new body to live forever, starting genocides if she has to.]]

* The Nine Families in ''ComicBook/LeScorpion'' who ruled ancient Rome and seek to control the world by controlling the Catholic Church in the 18th century.

* The [[LovecraftCountry rural New England]] [[TownWithADarkSecret town of]] ''VideoGame/{{Anchorhead}}'' is home to a [[spoiler:town-wide, nearly four-century-old]] {{Cult}} of {{Corrupt Hick}}s that worships and aims to summon an EldritchAbomination.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'', "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS1E6FearfulSymmetry Fearful Symmetry]]"

%%* The Minutemen and The Trust from ''ComicBook/OneHundredBullets''.
%%* The Grail in ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}''.
%%* The villains of ''ComicBook/TheUnwritten''.

* The plot of ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' has the player falling into one for the fate of the world and the First Fire.

* In ''Fanfic/TheDifferenceOneManCanMake'', [[spoiler:The Maesters of Citadel have actively tried to eliminate Magic and its influence from the world for centuries, with the exception of Marwyn the Magician and possibly other Maesters who still try to study Magic.]]

** The ''Literature/DuneEncyclopedia'' takes this UpToEleven, by having the conspiracy go back all the way to ancient Earth, including Jesus and Alexander the Great being failed/proto-Kwisatz Haderachs.