History Main / TakeOverTheWorld

--> 203. "To conquer the earth with [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys an army of flying monkeys]]" is a bad long term goal to give the re-enlistment NCO.

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' Galatea tried to take over the Earth once, and then later tried to take over the interstellar empire that ''includes'' Earth. However, she's the TwistedIdeals sort of would-be conquerer, and both times Bob managed to [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath talk her down from it]] by appealing to her better nature. Deep down she's a nice girl. Really.

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' Galatea tried to take over the Earth once, and then later tried to take over the interstellar empire that ''includes'' Earth. But deep down she's a nice girl. Really.

* Subverted in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', where by the start of the story, the [[MadScientist evil mad genius]] Baron Wulfenbach has ''already'' taken over the world with his [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040806 no-nonsense straightforward plan]]. It is then doubly subverted by the Baron hating being the ruler of Europe, but doing it anyways because he believes [[VetinariJobSecurity the world needs him]] (and it probably ''does''). Indeed, the Baron took over the world largely to stop everyone else from trying to do so and wrecking everything in the process. Because the comic takes place in a world full of {{Mad Scientist}}s, there's ''always'' at least a dozen factions trying to rule the world. Without the Baron stamping them down, the entire continent would probably be aflame with the burnt wreckage of a million war clanks. England still has a queen, and it's implied that France (or at least Paris) is under the control of a powerful spark of its own.

* ''Literature/BazilBroketail'': This is the Masters of Padmasa's goal. In fact, they're just one part of an ''interdimensional'' struggle though, with wars occurring across many worlds and planes of existence.

* ThoseWackyNazis:

** In the aftermath of the ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} Saga, Franklin Richards created an alternate Earth and Doctor Doom conquered THAT before getting bored with the absolute power over it he'd usurped from Franklin Richards' weird computer overseer thing.
** He pulls it off in Doom 2099 (or the United States, anyway, which is not actually the entire world). The twist? He's actually a pretty good leader.

* "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Music/TearsForFears.

* In ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'', the [[TerribleTrio Spacy Brothers]] plot to become the rulers of Tamagotchi Planet and rename it "Spacy Planet". However, any ideas they come up with are [[EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion thrown by the wayside]] due to outside circumstances. Still, their dedication is impressive for [[EnfantTerrible school-going children]].

* Parodied by Creator/{{Disney}} Italy's comics linked to the character of Paperinik:
** In one ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' story, Paperinik guesses that [[spoiler: Leonard Vertighel]] altered a number of the TimePolice's droids to try this. [[spoiler: Vertighel]], who was actually [[spoiler: trying to create the perfect woman to love and be loved]], laughs and replies "Be frank with me: you read a lot of comic books, do you?".
** In one of Angus Fangus' short stories published on ''Paperinik New Adventures'', our reporter has been captured by the mysterious [[YellowPeril Fang-Ho]], and we get this gem:

'''Angus''': "You'll TakeOverTheWorld?"\\

* Ruling the world wasn't enough for classic ''Comicbook/{{Shazam}}'' villain Doctor Sivana, who declared himself "Rightful Ruler of the Universe".

** Parodied: Dr. Doofenshmirtz restricts all his evil schemes to the Tri-State Area for no obvious reason. The first episode even has him seemingly about to announce that he's going to take over the world, only to pull out a magnifying glass and finish with "Tri-State Area!" It's later revealed that [[OneDegreeOfSeparation he used to date Phineas's mother]], who encouraged him to set more realistic goals than "taking over the world," so at her suggestion he scaled back to "the ''entire Tri-State Area!''".

*** According to Doofenshmirtz, taking over the world is crazy.

* Deconstructed in ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}''. The titular character, who is a supervillain, actually ''succeeds'' in taking over the world. However, he quickly becomes bored and decides to create a new enemy, which backfires.

* Since the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the practice of large states attacking their neighbors in order to take territory for themselves has become obsolete. Nuclear warfare between the great powers is enough to keep them down, while small scale versions of this are quickly condemned and undone via international pressure due to the terrors of World War II forcing humanity to come to terms with the fact that modern conquest results in war crimes more than glory. The loophole exploited by the Americans and Soviets in the Cold War however was to instead fight proxy wars and set up an informal empire of puppet states, given that both regimes were officially ideologically anti-imperialist and didn't want to fight a nuclear war with each other. Thus, taking over the world had to be done via cultural and economic hegemony instead of conquest for both sides.

Either way, this ambition will put them in direct conflict with the heroes, whether professional or "[[HeroicNeutral I just want everything to go back to normal]]" types. Usually said villains [[AndYourLittleDogToo fixate on the hero or someone/thing close to them]] as being part of their master EvilPlan. For a villain who has finally acquired [[AGodAmI godlike power]], and did not use it to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence or [[OmnicidalManiac euthanize the universe]], then this is the next logical goal and use for said power.

[[quoteright:350:[[TabletopGame/{{Risk}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/riskalmostwin.JPG]]]]

[[Film/StreetFighter Of course!]] No reputable villain or [[TheEmpire Imperialistic Global Superpower]] would set their sights on anything less than World Domination[[TradeSnark ®]]! As {{Evil Plan}}s go, world domination is [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]], [[PragmaticVillainy more logical]] and sometimes [[EasilyConqueredWorld easier]] than [[OmnicidalManiac wanton destruction of everything]]. They want to be in charge of everything and everyone. Usually the motive is just to feed their lust for power, their [[{{Pride} their massive egos]], and their {{Greed}}, but sometimes they've got somewhat [[DarkMessiah twisted ideals]] that they want everyone else to adhere to and world domination is [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans the Path to a Better Future]]. Or [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans it's just because they are dicks]].

[[Film/StreetFighter Of course!]] No reputable villain or [[TheEmpire Imperialistic Global Superpower]] would set their sights on anything less than World Domination[[TradeSnark ®]]! As {{Evil Plan}}s go, world domination is [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]], [[PragmaticVillainy more logical]] and sometimes [[EasilyConqueredWorld easier]] than [[OmnicidalManiac wanton destruction of everything]]. They want to be in charge of everything and everyone. This could be just to [[{{Pride}} feed their massive egos]] and {{Greed}}, or else they've got somewhat [[DarkMessiah twisted ideals]] that they want everyone else to adhere to. Sometimes it's because world domination is [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans the Path to a Better Future]]. Or [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans it's just because they are dicks]].

* ChinaTakesOverTheWorld, a concept that has gained influence in the 1990s with the rise of the Chinese economy and manufacturing. The economic liberalization and large population which has also made the Chinese an influential target for corporations and movie studios back this claim alongside China's powerful army. With a recession in the 2010s and an increased desire to perpetuate a trade war to avert this trope however, this trope may now be discredited even with China's overall economic growth taken into account.