History Main / ResistanceAsPlanned

The system is so all-powerful that even the spark of resistance has been meticulously organised as a fail-safe. The entire revolution has been orchestrated by TheChessmaster of TheEmpire, since they have calculated that rebellion will occur and allow it to be part of the system in order to keep it running smoothly.

Compare EternalRecurrence, where the world is locked in perpetual circles, but on a cosmic instead of a societal scale.

Compare RunningBothSides and StagedPopulistUprising.

Contrast TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified and FlockOfWolves.

* During the Cold War, Bulgaria (a Warsaw Pact country) caught fugitives from the entire Eastern Bloc (as far as East Germany) from crossing into Turkey (a NATO ally) by having border guards dress up in Turkish uniforms and "greet" fugitives at a mock border (the border ran along a river, but instead the guards would wait at another river a few kilometers to the North, which looked very similar and could be mistaken for the actual border).

* It's all but stated in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' that the Combine could crush the Resistance at any moment[[note]]they know where Black Mesa East is and already shelled its vicinity once with Headcrabs, but doesn't attack the place itself until Gordon's return. Breen also flat out states that the Combine could have stormed the place and captured the leaders at any point in the last 7 years.[[/note]], but chooses not to until they can finish their much-coveted teleportation tech. However, once [[OneManArmy Gordon Freeman]] and the [[TimeMaster G-Man]] get involved, that plan goes off the rail and the Resistance becomes a real threat.

* It's all but stated in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' that the Combine could crush the Resistance at any moment[[note]]they know where Black Mesa East is and already shelled its vicinity once with Headcrabs, but doesn't attack the place itself until Gordon's return[[/note]], but chooses not to until they can finish their much-coveted teleportation tech. However, once [[OneManArmy Gordon Freeman]] and the [[TimeMaster G-Man]] get involved, that plan goes off the rail and the Resistance becomes a real threat.

* ''Series/AlteredCarbon'': Season 2 reveals that the Quellist insurrection was orchestrated by Danita, leader of the establishment, from the start. She found Kemp, someone from a family that was helped by Quell centuries ago, and recruited him as the face of the movement. The "peons" think it's real, but the war is all just playacting allowing for Danita to declare Martial Law.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E3ThePowerOfTheDaleks "The Power of the Daleks"]]: Security Chief Bragen is revealed about halfway through to be the driving force behind the Vulcan colony's rebellion, and that the rebellion is mostly just a tool for him to ascend to the governorship of the colony. His EvilPlan is to kill the sitting Governor and then frame it on the rebels- despite being their leader- and then use this "assassination" to impose martial law and wipe them out, fearing his own position will never be secure if he's dependent on traitors who were willing to turn on his predecessor in the first place. Unfortunately for him, the LadyMacBeth he entrusts this plan to [[EvenEvilHasStandards is aghast]] and another rebel overhears the scheme, and they both agree Bragen [[SelfFulfillingProphecy needs to be overthrown]]; of course, even more unfortunately for all of them, the Daleks are the actual villains of the serial, and they are happy to exploit the whole situation while they rebuild their forces in preparation for their own plan to [[KillEmAll exterminate the lot of them.]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E3ThePowerOfTheDaleks "The Power of the Daleks"]]: Security Chief Bragen is revealed about halfway through to be the driving force behind the Vulcan colony's rebellion, and that the rebellion is mostly just a tool for him to ascend to the governorship of the colony.

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* Every once in a while, Comicbook/{{Darkseid}} sends his minion Amazing Grace to trigger a rebellion on Apokolips. It will inevitably fail, causing the would-be rebels to fall into despair and further cement Darkseid's hold on the planet.

* ''Film/{{Snowpiercer}}'' reveals this trope was in play for the rebellion, as a means to cull the population and restabilize the train's fragile ecosystem, though the unexpected deaths of a number of First Class passengers "necessitated" the further [[KillThePoor culling of some of the surviving Tail Section passengers]].

* In ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', Winston's struggle to find like-minded rebels against the Party leads him to O'Brien, who is in fact an Inner Party member who provides Winston with The Book to structure and organise his rebellion. The entire Brotherhood is simply a way for citizens to channel their anger and for dissonant thinkers to be funneled into a Party-controlled subsystem.
* A short story called "Literature/CriminalType" is about a utopian society where one individual is designated as criminal. He is even made to smell offensively to make it impossible for him to befriend others.
* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' universe, Lord Vetinari is stated to have started almost all the revolutionary and seditious groups which oppose him, the better to keep tabs on them.
** In ''Literature/InterestingTimes'', the BigBad Lord Hong is the one responsible for the resistance, mainly because civilisation in the Agatean Empire is so stultified most of the locals are incapable of ''actually'' resisting anything.
* In the last book of ''Literature/LeftBehind'' the resistance to the Millennial Kingdom was prophecied to exist, and is effectively allowed to operate as a designated foil, landing the occasional meager success, by a regime that operates on OmniscientMoralityLicense.
* In ''Literature/TheBeyonders'' novels, TheEmpire uses rebels who are able to find the emperor's FakeWeakness, then asks them to join his inner circle.
* In ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'', the conditioning which removes TheEvilsOfFreeWill is fallible, resulting in the odd citizen experiencing discontent with their lot in life. Far from being punished for their rebellion, they are offered a choice between voluntary exile on an island of free-thinkers, or joining the ruling class.
* In the book, ''Literature/EndersGame'', pertaining to the start of Peter's rise to the Hegemony, he sets up Valentine as the counter-argument to his rule in order to deliberately advance his own agenda. This becomes an AchillesHeel later on though.
* In the final of Creator/HarryHarrison's ''Literature/ToTheStars'' trilogy, Jan Kulozik encounters his brother-in-law Thurgood-Smyth from the first novel, now a powerful [[SecretPolice Security]] official on Earth. Thurgood-Smyth claims that he deliberately foisted resistance in the colonies to bring about the downfall of the corrupt Earth government, and proves decisive in their victory. Jan is convinced he's just an amoral ManipulativeBastard, and quietly asks after their victory if this trope was in play or he just changed sides when he saw which way the wind was blowing. Thurgood-Smyth calmly informs Jan that as he'll [[ConsummateLiar disbelieve any answer he gives]], Jan will simply have to make up his own mind.
* In ''Literature/TheBookOfTheNewSun'', the rebel leader Vodalus is actually working for the Autarch to provide a harmless safety valve for popular discontent.
* ''Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat'': In ''The Stainless Steel Rat for President'', a dictator suggests this trope in a WeCanRuleTogether speech; the dictator will rule the planet, Jim [=diGriz=] will lead the opposition, and they quietly eliminate anyone who's a real threat. Also in one of the prequel novels, Jim discovers that the ruler and the mysterious leader of the resistance are the same person.

* ''Literature/AGiftFromEarth''. The [[LaResistance Sons of Earth]] are allowed to exist purely so they can be used by [[StateSec Implementation]] as a [[HumanResources source of organ transplants]], by providing a constant supply of people who commit death-penalty offenses.
* In ''Literature/TheLicaniusTrilogy'', the revolution that overthrew the Augurs 15 years before the story was planned and secretly orchestrated by the leader of the Augurs, who betrayed his companions for more power.
* In ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' the Lord Ruler has constructed his society so that the slave class sometimes revolts and and has temporary success, despite him being a PhysicalGod capable of crushing the rebellion single-handedly as soon as it starts. He comments that it's good for a bunch of nobles to be slaughtered every so often; it reminds the survivors why they need him.
* ''Literature/{{Gearbreakers}}'': [[RebelLeader Voxter]] made a deal with [[EvilEmpire Godolia]] for the Gearbreaker rebels to only take down nonessential weapons without posing a real threat, giving the people false hope. He later informs Godolia about the Gearbreakers' location when they come up with a plan that has a serious chance of ending their rule.

* ''Series/AlteredCarbon'': Season 2 reveals that the Quellist insurrection was orchestrated by Danita, leader of the establishment, from the start. She found Kemp, someone from a family that was helped by Quell centuries ago, and recruited him as the face of the movement. The "peons" think it's real, but the war is all just playacting allowing for Danita to declare Martial Law.
* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'': Part and parcel of Evolt's play. He loves to tease [[ScienceHero Sento]] and [[IdiotHero Ryuga]] with offers of power, [[WeCanRuleTogether cooperation]] and [[SchmuckBait knowledge]] specifically to spark an opposition that will fit right into his plans. It mostly builds on stirring their emotional turmoil by suggesting that they might accept one day, which drives them to try and prove him (and their doubts) wrong.

* In ''TabletopGame/TheGatesOfHell'', Verrier's first attempt to bring the Overlord down was assembling an army of nine million Hellspawn... meaning Lucifer didn't need to hunt them down all over Hell. These days, Verrier is running another resistance, while being hidden by a powerful anti-scrying spell... since Asmodeus is stated to be its source, it can be safely assumed the trope is at work once again.

* ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' shows how the BigBad has laid the foundations of The Rebel Alliance. In a XanatosGambit, this plan made sure that if creating this group failed, the planner benefits because they are weaker as individuals, and if creating this group succeeded than the planner would know who all his remaining enemies are and be able to wipe them all out at once. This way, the BigBad hoped to control the resistance in the galaxy, but in the end was defeated by the heroic actions of LaResistance.

* ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocityNova'': In the Federation storyline, it turns out that Frandall, the head of [[StateSec the Bureau]], created the Rebellion as a way of getting the worst political dissidents out in the open so they could all be taken out at once. (This differs from the other factions' storylines, where Frandall was head of Federation Intelligence and founded the Rebellion due to [[InterserviceRivalry office politics]].)
* In ''Videogame/BreathOfFireDragonQuarter'', it's implied that the leader of the rebel group Trinity, Mebeth, is actually acting on the orders of the Regents.

* Some might consider this to be the case in some Christian movements when Adam and Eve taste the forbidden fruit. God being omniscient would make one wonder why two of his creations taste the forbidden fruit, are expelled from Paradise, have all their offspring cursed with original sin all in order to make sure devout believers can join with God in heaven.

* It's all but stated in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' that the Combine could crush the Resistance at any moment, but chooses not to until they can finish their much-coveted teleportation tech. However, once [[OneManArmy Gordon Freeman]] and the [[TimeMaster G-Man]] get involved, that plan goes off the track and the Resistance becomes the real deal.

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': According to the Queen in volume 3, a lot of the CrapsackWorld elements of the kingdom were set up deliberately by its founders to subtly encourage an eventual revolution that would abolish the aristocracy in favor of a liberal democracy. It doesn't quite go as planned, but by the end of the war with Fanoss, major reforms towards a more benign constitutional monarchy are underway.

* ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' shows how the BigBad has laid the foundations of The Rebel Alliance. In a XanatosGambit, this plan made sure that if creating this group failed, the planner benefits because they are weaker as individuals and if creating this group succeeded than the planner would know who all his remaining enemies are and be able to wipe them all out at once. This way, the BigBad hoped to control the resistance in the galaxy, but in the end was defeated by the heroic actions of LaResistance.

-> ''"Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the Matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly which, despite my sincerest efforts, I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably, here."''

* It's all but stated in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' that the Combine could destroy the Resistance at any time, but chooses not to until they can perfect their teleportation tech. However, once Gordon Freeman and the G-Man get involved, that plan goes completely off the track and crashes straight into them.

* It's all but stated in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' that the Combine could destroy the Resistance at any time, but chooses not to until they can perfect their teleportation tech. However, once Gordon Freeman and the G-Man get involved, that plan goes completely off the track.

* In ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', the anti-surveillance group Vigilance is fighting against those that have destroyed privacy, exposing The Machine (which is a horrendous invasion of privacy, but deliberately shackled and sanitized to avoid being exploited) and forcing the U.S. government to turn to an alternate - Samaritan, provided by Decima Technologies. Except Decima created Vigilance without Vigilance ever being the wiser.

Compare RunningBothSides.

* In the Federation storyline of ''VideoGame/EVNova'', it turns out that Frandall, the head of [[StateSec the Bureau]], created the Rebellion as a way of getting the worst political dissidents out in the open so they could all be taken out at once. (This differs from the other factions' storylines, where Frandall was head of Federation Intelligence and founded the Rebellion due to [[InterserviceRivalry office politics]].)