History Main / TheGovernment

* In ''TabletopGame/DeltaGreen'' the Player Characters are US government agents, working for various law enforcement, intelligence agencies or military, so a lot of the game is about manipulating, navigating and slipping through the cracks of government bureaucracy. Many real-life agencies are provided as possible employers, from well-known from FBI and the DEA to more obscure [=FinCEN=][[note]]Financial Crimes Enforcement Network[[/note]], NTCT[[note]]National Counterterrorism Center
[[/note]] or the NGA[[note]]National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency[[/note]], or even major and influential private contractors, such as Booz-Allen-Hamilton, RAND Corporation and Lockheed-Martin.

* Up until ''ComicBook/CivilWar,'' when this trope really went to town, the embodiment of this trope in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse was the insufferable Henry Peter Gyrich, the Avengers' official liason in the government. For a short, blissful time in the Busiek/Perez years, the job was filled by Dwayne Freeman, who actually liked the Avengers and wanted to make their lives easier. Of ''course'' Dwayne died making a heroic sacrifice to stop Kang the Conqueror, and the Avengers wound up with ol' Gyrich again.

* Up until ''ComicBook/CivilWar,'' when this trope really went to town, the embodiment of this trope in the MarvelUniverse was the insufferable Henry Peter Gyrich, the Avengers' official liason in the government. For a short, blissful time in the Busiek/Perez years, the job was filled by Dwayne Freeman, who actually liked the Avengers and wanted to make their lives easier. Of ''course'' Dwayne died making a heroic sacrifice to stop Kang the Conqueror, and the Avengers wound up with ol' Gyrich again.

* The U.S. Government in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' franchise started showing some shades of this as far back as ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3''. ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' confirmed it. If at ''best'' they're not out right evil they're still definitely culpable of certain things behind the scenes. [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'', the U.S. National Security Advisor Derek C. Simmons who also ordered the missile strike to destroy Raccoon City is revealed to be corrupt and serves as the main villain of Leon's campaign of the game. Throughout the game, it's also revealed that Simmons is the current leader of [[AncientConspiracy The Family]] and created the C-Virus by experimenting with the G-Virus in Sherry's body and the T-Veronica Virus while using it to turn Carla Ramadeas into a clone of Ada Wong which kickstarts the majority of the game's plot. He also uses his influence to have Helena Harper made part of President Adam Benford's security team and forces her to help him cause his death when he was planning to disclose the truth about Raccoon city to the world after taking her sister hostage.]]

* At the end of ''Film/{{Cube}}'', one character declares that the eponymous deathtrap was built by the government, but no one in the government really knows why; it just sort of organically grew out of too much red tape and "boundless human stupidity".

* ''Film/{{Shooter}}'' portrays the government as full of corruption and conspiracies. The hero, in the end, becomes an anti-government terrorist.

* The U.S. Government in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' franchise started showing some shades of this as far back as ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3''. ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' confirmed it. If at ''best'' they're not out right evil they're still definitely culpable of certain things behind the scenes. [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'', the U.S. National Security Advisor Derek C. Simmons who also ordered the missile strike to destroy Raccoon City is revealed to be corrupt and serves as the main villain of Leon's campaign of the game. Throughout the game, it's also revealed that Simmons is the current leader of [[AncientConspiracy The Family]] and created the C-Virus by experimenting with the G-Virus in Sherry's body and the T-Veronica Virus while using it to turn Carla Ramadeas into a clone of Ada Wong which kickstarts the majority of the game's plot.]]

* The U.S. Government in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' franchise started showing some shades of this as far back as ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3''. ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' confirmed it. If at ''best'' they're not out right evil they're still definitely culpable of certain things behind the scenes.

[[folder:Film]]

** They also allow a group of people called the World Nobles; one of whom, while ''riding'' around on one of his slaves, saw a woman that he liked the look of, and decided to take her as his 13th wife; and he shot the woman's fiancé when he objected. Mind you, that the World Nobles wear bubble helmets with oxygen tanks so that they don't have to breathe the commoners' air; and are '''''completely''''' above the law. In fact, their general portrayal is consistently "worse than it was before".

* The Government in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' franchise started showing some shades of this as far back as ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3''. ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' confirmed it. If at ''best'' they're not out right evil they're still definitely culpable of certain things behind the scenes.

** They also allow a group of people called the World Nobles; one of whom, while ''riding'' around on one of his slaves, saw a woman that he liked the look of, and decided to take her as his 13th wife; and he shot the woman's fiancé when he objected. Mind you, that the World Nobles wear bubble helmets with oxygen tanks so that they don't have to breathe the commoners' air; and are '''''completely''''' above the law. In fact, their general portrayal is consistently "[[UpToEleven worse than it was before]]".

* The government in ''ComicBook/{{Zombo}}'' is basically every stereotype of the Eisenhower, Reagan, and Bush administrations turned UpToEleven. Also, Donald Trump is [[PresidentEvil President]].

See also TheMan, DemocracyIsBad, and PresidentEvil. Compare PoliceState and TheEmpire.