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** It's an open question whether the Tok'ra are the Good Counterpart of the Goa'uld, or the other end of the horseshoe. Like the rest of their species, they take human hosts. Unlike them, the process is voluntary, and they share the human's body in a symbiotic relationship. Many Earthers remain skeptical of them, Jack O'Neill in particular, believing (with some justification) that the Tok'ra still don't treat humans as full equals. It doesn't help that, in extreme circumstances, Tok'ra ''have'' been known to seize control of a human host without their consent in order to stay alive.
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** It's an open question whether the Tok'ra are the Good Counterpart of the Goa'uld, or the other end of the horseshoe. Like the rest of their species, they take human hosts. Unlike them, the process is voluntary, and they share the human's body in a symbiotic relationship. Many Earthers remain skeptical of them, Jack O'Neill in particular, believing (with some justification) that the Tok'ra still don't treat humans as full equals. In fact, when we first meet the Tok'ra leaders, they initially distrust the members of SG-1 because its human members aren't ''immediately'' volunteering to become a new host to a symbiote whose host is dying. It doesn't help that, in extreme circumstances, Tok'ra ''have'' been known to seize control of a human host without their consent in order to stay alive. For the longest time, they're also quite willing to send Jaffa and Human soldiers into battle without committing any of their number to the fight, and while they will get furious if a Tok'ra dies (SG-1 gets bawled out by the Tok'ra council because a Goa'uld battleship they destroyed a year ago that was ''invading earth'' at the time had Tok'ra agents aboard), they care little about the deaths of their allies.
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This trope is when two groups who are ostensibly ideologically opposed to each other actually have a lot of ideology in common.
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This trope is when two groups who are ostensibly ideologically opposed to each other [[NotSoDifferentRemark actually have a lot of ideology in common.
common]].
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Indentation, again
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* The [[TheHashshashin Order of Assassins]] and the [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar Templar Knights]] in ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' are both opposing organizations that have fought for centuries due to their conflicting opinions of how mankind should regulate itself. The Assassins believe that free-will is worth the trial & error and must be protected, while the Templars believe that free-will will destroy mankind and how they must enslave mankind to ensure its survival. Yet both of them have the long-term goal of a world at peace and their means are murder, sabotage, localized control of cities as power bases and income sources, etc. Furthermore, the Assassins follow the creed "nothing is true; everything is permitted", but this creed has led to more than one of their members working against their order's interests, including flat-out joining the Templars.
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* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'':
** The [[TheHashshashin Order of Assassins]] and the [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar Templar Knights]]in ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' are both opposing organizations that have fought for centuries due to their conflicting opinions of how mankind should regulate itself. The Assassins believe that free-will is worth the trial & error and must be protected, while the Templars believe that free-will will destroy mankind and how they must enslave mankind to ensure its survival. Yet both of them have the long-term goal of a world at peace and their means are murder, sabotage, localized control of cities as power bases and income sources, etc. Furthermore, the Assassins follow the creed "nothing is true; everything is permitted", but this creed has led to more than one of their members working against their order's interests, including flat-out joining the Templars.
** The [[TheHashshashin Order of Assassins]] and the [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar Templar Knights]]
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The Rational Wiki page has been cut.
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* Wiki/RationalWiki examines the concept in detail [[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory here.]] Some examples from the page:
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* Wiki/RationalWiki Rational Wiki examines the concept in detail [[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory here.]] Some examples from the page:
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Fixing indentation.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode, "Stan of Arabia", Stan, a right-wing, uber-patriotic American, longs [[TheFifties for the days]] [[StayInTheKitchen when men had the final say in a marriage, and women did as they were told]]. After he and his family are [[ReassignedToAntarctica sent to Saudi Arabia for a shit job]], he realizes that Sharia laws matches his values pretty well, and ends up renouncing his American citizenship to stay there.
** In the same episode, Hayley, a leftist, feminist, American teenager, ends up bonding with a Saudi radical over their shared distaste for American militarism.
** In the same episode, Hayley, a leftist, feminist, American teenager, ends up bonding with a Saudi radical over their shared distaste for American militarism.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode, "Stan of Arabia", Stan, a right-wing, uber-patriotic American, longs [[TheFifties for the days]] [[StayInTheKitchen when men had the final say in a marriage, and women did as they were told]]. After he and his family are [[ReassignedToAntarctica sent to Saudi Arabia for a shit job]], he realizes that Sharia laws matches his values pretty well, and ends up renouncing his American citizenship to stay there. \n** In the same episode, Hayley, a leftist, feminist, American teenager, ends up bonding with a Saudi radical over their shared distaste for American militarism.
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* In ''Film/InherentVice'', Tariq Khalil - a member of [i]The Black Geurrila Family[/i] prison gang - has struck up a friendship with Glen Charlock of the white supremacist [i]Aryan Brotherhood[/i] because "...we found we share some of the similar opinions about the U.S. government".
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* In ''Film/InherentVice'', Tariq Khalil - a member of [i]The ''The Black Geurrila Family[/i] Geurrilla Family'' prison gang - has struck up a friendship with Glen Charlock of the white supremacist [i]Aryan Brotherhood[/i] ''Aryan Brotherhood'' because "...we found we share some of the similar opinions about the U.S. government".
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* In ''Film/InherentVice'', Tariq Khalil - a member of [i]The Black Geurrila Family[/i] prison gang - has struck up a friendship with Glen Charlock of the white supremacist [i]Aryan Brotherhood[/i] because "...we found we share some of the similar opinions about the U.S. government".
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[[caption-width-right:350:Notice that communism and fascism are closer to each other than both of them are to the center.]]
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* ''Film/FourDaysInSeptember'': Fernando is a member of an underground terrorist group fighting against the brutal, authoritarian right-wing government of Brazil. His group, MR-8, elects to take direct action against the government--by kidnapping the American ambassador and threatening to execute him if the government doesn't release political prisoners. Fernando has a friend, Cesar, who shares his left-wing ideals but disapproves of violent action. When the two of them meet after MR-8 kidnaps the ambassador and Cesar has figured out his friend was in on it, Cesar observes that Fernando and his terrorist gang are really no different from the government they're fighting.
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** The Free Jaffa occasionally fall into this. In ''The Warrior'', Katano appears to be a revolutionary leader seeking to free his people from the Goa'uld by any means necessary: SG-1 notes that his extreme and autocratic tactics largely treat his Jaffa followers as expendable pawns, and fears that his victory would ultimately be a FullCircleRevolution after which the Jaffa would serve Katano in much the same way they previously served the Goa'uld. He's proven right, as Katano turns out to be [[spoiler:a Goa'uld in disguise. We never learn whether he was trying to destroy the Jaffa rebellion, or simply co-opt it for his own purposes.]] In Season 9, the Free Jaffa Nation under Gerak's regime also shows some signs of this: when cautioned against using the same torture devices the Goa'uld used to enslave their people, Gerak replies that [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis it's only appropriate that the Jaffa should use them in turn.]]
** It's an open question whether the Tok'ra are the Good Counterpart of the Goa'uld, or the other end of the horseshoe. Like the rest of their species, they take human hosts. Unlike them, the process is voluntary, and they share the human's body in a symbiotic relationship. Many Earthers remain skeptical of them, Jack O'Neill in particular, believing (with some justification) that the Tok'ra still don't treat humans as full equals. It doesn't help that, in extreme circumstances, Tok'ra ''have'' been known to seize control of a human host without their consent.
** The two major factions of ascended beings, the Ori and the Ancients, fit the bill as well. The Ori believe in using their powers to subjugate the beings on the lower planes of existence who they then force to worship them as gods. The Ancients, ostensibly their Good Counterparts, believe strictly in [[AlienNonInterferenceClause non-interference with the lower beings]], who they believe should be allowed to develop and achieve ascension (or not) on their own. The end result, however, is that while the Ancients may not oppress the lower beings as the Ori do, they're just as sociopathically indifferent to whether they live or die. By the end of Season 8, they were willing to watch the entire Milky Way galaxy be purged of all life by the semi-ascended being Anubis, all to teach a lesson to one of their renegade members about the dangers of helping people ascend.
** It's an open question whether the Tok'ra are the Good Counterpart of the Goa'uld, or the other end of the horseshoe. Like the rest of their species, they take human hosts. Unlike them, the process is voluntary, and they share the human's body in a symbiotic relationship. Many Earthers remain skeptical of them, Jack O'Neill in particular, believing (with some justification) that the Tok'ra still don't treat humans as full equals. It doesn't help that, in extreme circumstances, Tok'ra ''have'' been known to seize control of a human host without their consent.
** The two major factions of ascended beings, the Ori and the Ancients, fit the bill as well. The Ori believe in using their powers to subjugate the beings on the lower planes of existence who they then force to worship them as gods. The Ancients, ostensibly their Good Counterparts, believe strictly in [[AlienNonInterferenceClause non-interference with the lower beings]], who they believe should be allowed to develop and achieve ascension (or not) on their own. The end result, however, is that while the Ancients may not oppress the lower beings as the Ori do, they're just as sociopathically indifferent to whether they live or die. By the end of Season 8, they were willing to watch the entire Milky Way galaxy be purged of all life by the semi-ascended being Anubis, all to teach a lesson to one of their renegade members about the dangers of helping people ascend.
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** The Free Jaffa occasionally fall into this. In ''The Warrior'', "The Warrior", Katano appears to be a revolutionary leader seeking to free his people from the Goa'uld by any means necessary: SG-1 notes that his extreme and autocratic tactics largely treat his Jaffa followers as expendable pawns, and fears that his victory would ultimately be a FullCircleRevolution after which the Jaffa would serve Katano in much the same way they previously served the Goa'uld. He's proven right, as Katano turns out to be [[spoiler:a Goa'uld in disguise. We never learn whether he was trying to destroy the Jaffa rebellion, or simply co-opt it for his own purposes.]] In Season 9, the Free Jaffa Nation under Gerak's regime also shows some signs of this: when cautioned against using the same torture devices the Goa'uld used to enslave their people, Gerak replies that [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis it's only appropriate that the Jaffa should use them in turn.]]
** It's an open question whether the Tok'ra are the Good Counterpart of the Goa'uld, or the other end of the horseshoe. Like the rest of their species, they take human hosts. Unlike them, the process is voluntary, and they share the human's body in a symbiotic relationship. Many Earthers remain skeptical of them, Jack O'Neill in particular, believing (with some justification) that the Tok'ra still don't treat humans as full equals. It doesn't help that, in extreme circumstances, Tok'ra ''have'' been known to seize control of a human host without theirconsent.consent in order to stay alive.
** The two major factions of ascended beings, the Ori and the Ancients, fit the bill as well. The Ori believe in using their powers to subjugate the beings on the lower planes ofexistence who existence, whom they then force to worship them as gods. The Ancients, ostensibly their Good Counterparts, believe strictly in [[AlienNonInterferenceClause non-interference with the lower beings]], who they believe should be allowed to develop and achieve ascension (or not) on their own. The end result, however, is that while the Ancients may not oppress the lower beings as the Ori do, they're just as sociopathically indifferent to whether they live or die. By the end of Season 8, they were willing to watch the entire Milky Way galaxy Galaxy be purged of all life by the semi-ascended being Anubis, all to teach a lesson to one of their renegade members about the dangers of helping people ascend.
** It's an open question whether the Tok'ra are the Good Counterpart of the Goa'uld, or the other end of the horseshoe. Like the rest of their species, they take human hosts. Unlike them, the process is voluntary, and they share the human's body in a symbiotic relationship. Many Earthers remain skeptical of them, Jack O'Neill in particular, believing (with some justification) that the Tok'ra still don't treat humans as full equals. It doesn't help that, in extreme circumstances, Tok'ra ''have'' been known to seize control of a human host without their
** The two major factions of ascended beings, the Ori and the Ancients, fit the bill as well. The Ori believe in using their powers to subjugate the beings on the lower planes of
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* The video by The Financial Diet, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtDi_z4QhWA&t=1424s Reacting To The Worst Personal Finance Channel On YouTube]]", has host Chelsea and WebVideo/BigJoel reacting to a financial advice channel. The channel has quite pro-capitalist and libertarian views, but it is such that, as the hosts notice, it sounds almost Marxist in its view of capitalism. The channel speaks as if there is only two classes (owner and worker), ignoring the middle class, its views on inflation seem to find that Capitalism is extremely frail and systems are easily inflated by any influx of money (which Big Joel has to say that he feels weird by defending capitalism after the channel says that because even he has to admit that Capitalism is more resistant than what they paint it as), says that billionaires really didn't get their money by working any harder than most people have, etc.
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* A recurring theme in ''WebVideo/TektonTV'' is that anti-theists ("fundie atheists") have much in common with fundamentalist Christians in the way they interpret Literature/TheBible.
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* A recurring theme in ''WebVideo/TektonTV'' ''WebAnimation/TektonTV'' is that anti-theists ("fundie atheists") have much in common with fundamentalist Christians in the way they interpret Literature/TheBible.
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* A recurring theme in ''WebVideo/TektonTV'' is that anti-theists ("fundie atheists") have much in common with fundamentalist Christians in the way they interpret Literature/TheBible.
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For example, far-right fascist or theocratic governments, to advance the national agenda and engender absolute loyalty to God/the state, will interfere with individual rights such as freedom of speech, interfere with individual-institutional rights such as freedom of the press and media, seize property rights for service to God/the state, enact censorship laws, and even try to control the Individual's very own personal life via ThoughtCrime, punishing behavior considered as aberrant such as homosexuality and the like. Meanwhile, in Marxist-Leninism, an ideal communist society would be a classless, stateless one, but the direct transition of a capitalist society into a communist one is held to be impossible, which is where "the Dictatorship of the Proletariat" comes in: the workers seize control of all private property. The Revolutionary Transitional government will engender absolute loyalty to the state among their citizens, interfere with individual rights, maintain rigid, censorious control of the press and media under the grounds that the state will eventually wither away once the reactionary enemy is defeated, eventually enact ThoughtCrime policies ostensibly to ensure that no reactionaries ever emerge, which means taking control of a person's individual life (up to and including their sexuality ''etc.'').
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For example, far-right fascist or theocratic governments, to advance the national agenda and engender absolute loyalty to God/the state, will interfere with individual rights such as freedom of speech, interfere with individual-institutional rights such as freedom of the press and media, seize property rights for service to God/the state, enact censorship laws, and even try to control the Individual's very own personal life via ThoughtCrime, punishing behavior considered as aberrant such as homosexuality and the like. Meanwhile, in Marxist-Leninism, an ideal communist society would be a classless, stateless one, but the direct transition of a capitalist society into a communist one is held to be impossible, which is where "the Dictatorship of the Proletariat" comes in: the workers seize control of all private property. [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny The Revolutionary Transitional government will engender absolute loyalty to the state among their citizens, interfere with individual rights, maintain rigid, censorious control of the press and media media]] under the grounds that the state will eventually wither away once the reactionary enemy is defeated, eventually enact ThoughtCrime policies ostensibly to ensure that no reactionaries ever emerge, which means taking control of a person's individual life (up to and including their sexuality ''etc.'').
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This theory was first observed in comparing far-right and far-left governments, but is also visible when comparing political groups or organisations on each end of the spectrum. Consider how some far-left radical feminists[[note]]In feminist circles, some refer to such people as "trans-excluding radical feminists" ([=TERFs=]) and "sex worker–excluding radical feminists" ([=SWERFs=]).[[/note]] tend to have remarkably similar attitudes towards prostitution, pornography and UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} people as do conservative fundamentalists; or how far-right white supremacist groups and far-left black supremacist groups have in some cases been known to collaborate with one another in order to achieve common goals (segregation, for example).
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This theory was first observed in comparing far-right and far-left governments, but is also visible when comparing political groups or organisations on each end of the spectrum. Consider how some far-left radical feminists[[note]]In feminist circles, some refer to such people as "trans-excluding radical feminists" ([=TERFs=]) and "sex worker–excluding radical feminists" ([=SWERFs=]).[[/note]] tend to have remarkably similar attitudes towards prostitution, pornography and UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} people as do conservative fundamentalists; or how far-right [[ANaziByAnyOtherName far-right]] [[TheKlan white supremacist groups groups]] and far-left [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny far-left]] [[MalcolmXerox black supremacist groups groups]] have in some cases been known to collaborate with one another in order to achieve common goals (segregation, for example).
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* ''Series/YesMinister''. Sir Humphrey, arch-conservative, and Agnes Woodhouse, militant socialist, are nominally on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but are united in their utter disdain for the common people and the need for strong, authoritarian government. The only thing they really disagree on is who should do the governing, and over the course of their interaction, they go from shouting to wistfully declaring it a damned shame they are on opposing teams.
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* ''Series/YesMinister''. Sir Humphrey, arch-conservative, and Agnes Woodhouse, militant socialist, are nominally on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but are united in their utter disdain for the common people and belief in the need for strong, authoritarian government. The only thing they really disagree on is who should do the governing, and over the course of their interaction, they go from shouting to wistfully declaring it a damned shame they are on opposing teams.
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* ''Series/YesMinister''. Sir Humphrey, arch-conservative, and Agnes Woodhouse, militant socialist, are nominally on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but are united in their utter disdain for the common people and the need for strong, authoritarian government. The only thing they really disagree on is who should do the governing, and over the course of their interaction, they go from shouting to wistfully declaring it a damned shame they are on opposing teams.
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----> '''Vivec''': ''"Can you, mortal, presume to judge the actions and motives of a god?"''
----> '''Kagrenac''' (per Vivec): ''"But Kagrenac took great offense, and asked whom Nerevar thought he was, that he might presume to judge the affairs of the Dwemer."''
----> '''Kagrenac''' (per Vivec): ''"But Kagrenac took great offense, and asked whom Nerevar thought he was, that he might presume to judge the affairs of the Dwemer."''
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Relocating to animation.
* ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'': The Film Actors Guild, an organization that preaches peace, non-violence, and understanding, aligns itself with Kim Jong Il - a man who believes in none of of these things - in order to take down Team America.
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* ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'': The Film Actors Guild, an organization that preaches peace, non-violence, and understanding, aligns itself with Kim Jong Il - a man who believes in none of of these things - in order to take down Team America.
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* ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'': The Film Actors Guild, an organization that preaches peace, non-violence, and understanding, aligns itself with Kim Jong Il-a person who believes in none of of these things-in order to take down Team America.
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* ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'': The Film Actors Guild, an organization that preaches peace, non-violence, and understanding, aligns itself with Kim Jong Il-a person Il - a man who believes in none of of these things-in things - in order to take down Team America. America.
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* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': The [[ComicBook/CaptainAmericaWinterSoldier Winter Soldier]] and [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfCaptainAmerica Death Of Captain America]] storylines give us an extended horseshoe effect with Alexander Lukin and the Red Skull. The former is a Soviet general who was [[WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell left adrift at the end of the Cold War]], the latter is a Nazi who was once Hitler's personal [[TheDragon Dragon]]. Despite their mutual disdain, both of them hate the United States and the free-market democracy it promotes, and want revenge on it for destroying their respective empires, which is ample reason to work together. The original plan is Lukin's, who hopes to cause a massive economic crisis in the United States to demonstrate the emptiness of the capitalist lifestyle, ultimately with an eye to bringing back socialist Russia. The Skull modifies it to suit his purposes more and more, ultimately culminating in an attempt to help a fascist third-party candidate become President of the United States.
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* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': The [[ComicBook/CaptainAmericaWinterSoldier Winter Soldier]] and [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfCaptainAmerica Death Of Captain America]] storylines give us an extended horseshoe effect with Alexander Lukin and the Red Skull. The former is a Soviet general who was [[WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell left adrift at the end of the Cold War]], the latter is a Nazi who was once Hitler's personal [[TheDragon Dragon]]. Despite their mutual disdain, both of them hate the United States and the free-market democracy it promotes, and want revenge on it for destroying their respective empires, which is ample reason to work together. The original plan is Lukin's, who hopes to cause a massive economic crisis in the United States to demonstrate the emptiness of the capitalist lifestyle, ultimately with an eye to bringing back socialist Russia.the USSR. The Skull modifies it to suit his purposes more and more, ultimately culminating in an attempt to help a fascist third-party candidate become President of the United States.
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* ''Film/TheMaskOfZorro'' crosses this with FullCircleRevolution.
** In theory, the Mexican War of Independence was supposed to replace the colonial and monarchical Spanish administration with an independent liberal Mexican government. In reality, the same elites are able to game both systems to remain at the top, while leaving the ordinary people oppressed and neglected. The movie opens with the last Spanish governor gifting the Crown's lands to the local gentry, ensuring the survival of his social class into the new order. Twenty years later, California is still as poor and class-ridden as ever, and the Mexican government has no presence there other than a handful of corrupt and inept soldiers totally beholden to the local gentry, who in turn behave with complete impunity.
** The villain has his own spin on the Horseshoe Theory. From his point of view, the Spanish and Mexican governments were equally disappointing, because while both of them allowed him privilege and wealth, [[ItsAllAboutMe neither of them allowed him to be the ultimate authority.]] [[spoiler:A situation he plans to remedy by breaking off California into an independent republic, with himself at its head.]]
** In theory, the Mexican War of Independence was supposed to replace the colonial and monarchical Spanish administration with an independent liberal Mexican government. In reality, the same elites are able to game both systems to remain at the top, while leaving the ordinary people oppressed and neglected. The movie opens with the last Spanish governor gifting the Crown's lands to the local gentry, ensuring the survival of his social class into the new order. Twenty years later, California is still as poor and class-ridden as ever, and the Mexican government has no presence there other than a handful of corrupt and inept soldiers totally beholden to the local gentry, who in turn behave with complete impunity.
** The villain has his own spin on the Horseshoe Theory. From his point of view, the Spanish and Mexican governments were equally disappointing, because while both of them allowed him privilege and wealth, [[ItsAllAboutMe neither of them allowed him to be the ultimate authority.]] [[spoiler:A situation he plans to remedy by breaking off California into an independent republic, with himself at its head.]]
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* Creator/FrederickForsyth occasionally indulges in this:
** ''Literature/TheDogsOfWar'' centers around a British industrialist's attempt to overthrow the government of a small West African nation. It's made very clear that this would make no substantive change in the country's fortunes; both the current dictator and his expected successor are violent and power-hungry thugs, both would be largely beholden to a foreign patron (with the Soviet Union switched out for the British industrialist's {{MegaCorp}}), and both would leave the population poor, ignorant, exploited, and lacking in any government services. [[spoiler:The mercenary hired to carry out the coup, thankfully, ultimately chooses to TakeAThirdOption.]]
** ''Literature/TheDayOfTheJackal'' includes a passage describing a controversial French police official. The writer uses the opportunity to take a few swipes at both the extreme-left and the extreme-right (the official's most prominent critics), pointing out the ways in which they're not so different from what they hate:
--->The Communists called him a Fascist, though some of his methods of keeping public order were reminiscent of the means used in the workers' paradises beyond the Iron Curtain. The extreme Right loathed him equally, quoting the same arguments of the suppression of democracy and civil rights, but more probably because the ruthless efficiency of his public order measures had gone a long way towards preventing the complete breakdown of order that would have helped precipitate a Right-wing coup ostensibly aimed at restoring that very order.
** ''Literature/TheDogsOfWar'' centers around a British industrialist's attempt to overthrow the government of a small West African nation. It's made very clear that this would make no substantive change in the country's fortunes; both the current dictator and his expected successor are violent and power-hungry thugs, both would be largely beholden to a foreign patron (with the Soviet Union switched out for the British industrialist's {{MegaCorp}}), and both would leave the population poor, ignorant, exploited, and lacking in any government services. [[spoiler:The mercenary hired to carry out the coup, thankfully, ultimately chooses to TakeAThirdOption.]]
** ''Literature/TheDayOfTheJackal'' includes a passage describing a controversial French police official. The writer uses the opportunity to take a few swipes at both the extreme-left and the extreme-right (the official's most prominent critics), pointing out the ways in which they're not so different from what they hate:
--->The Communists called him a Fascist, though some of his methods of keeping public order were reminiscent of the means used in the workers' paradises beyond the Iron Curtain. The extreme Right loathed him equally, quoting the same arguments of the suppression of democracy and civil rights, but more probably because the ruthless efficiency of his public order measures had gone a long way towards preventing the complete breakdown of order that would have helped precipitate a Right-wing coup ostensibly aimed at restoring that very order.
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** The following book in the series, ''Isard's Revenge'', deconstructs the concept by pointing out that the Horseshoe Theory can be perilously close to the GoldenMeanFallacy:
--->'''Tycho Celchu''': One person says white, another says black, and outside observers assume gray is the truth. The assumption of gray is sloppy, lazy thinking. The fact that one person is diametrically opposed to the truth does not then skew reality so the truth is no longer the truth.
** The one after that, ''Starfighters of Adumar'', does however give us a straight example in the person of Tomer Darpen, a New Republic Intelligence officer who's backing a violent and autocratic regime in order to gain control of a strategically important planet. Wedge refuses to go along with this, pointing out that there's no point in overthrowing the Empire if the New Republic is simply going to sanction identical regimes whenever it's convenient:
--->'''Wedge Antilles''': If we act like the Empire, we ''become'' the Empire. And then, even if we defeat the Empire, we've still lost - because the Empire is once again in control. Just with a new name and with new faces printed on the crednotes.
** The ''Literature/BlackFleetCrisis'' trilogy shows us that at least some of the factions the Empire kept under its boot were every bit as xenophobic and genocidal as the Empire, just rooted in a different species.
--->'''Princess Leia''' I'm beginning to wonder if the greatest indignity that the Empire subjected the Yevetha to wasn't holding them to a higher standard of behavior.
--->'''Tycho Celchu''': One person says white, another says black, and outside observers assume gray is the truth. The assumption of gray is sloppy, lazy thinking. The fact that one person is diametrically opposed to the truth does not then skew reality so the truth is no longer the truth.
** The one after that, ''Starfighters of Adumar'', does however give us a straight example in the person of Tomer Darpen, a New Republic Intelligence officer who's backing a violent and autocratic regime in order to gain control of a strategically important planet. Wedge refuses to go along with this, pointing out that there's no point in overthrowing the Empire if the New Republic is simply going to sanction identical regimes whenever it's convenient:
--->'''Wedge Antilles''': If we act like the Empire, we ''become'' the Empire. And then, even if we defeat the Empire, we've still lost - because the Empire is once again in control. Just with a new name and with new faces printed on the crednotes.
** The ''Literature/BlackFleetCrisis'' trilogy shows us that at least some of the factions the Empire kept under its boot were every bit as xenophobic and genocidal as the Empire, just rooted in a different species.
--->'''Princess Leia''' I'm beginning to wonder if the greatest indignity that the Empire subjected the Yevetha to wasn't holding them to a higher standard of behavior.
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** The Free Jaffa occasionally fall into this. In ''The Warrior'', Katano appears to be a revolutionary leader seeking to free his people from the Goa'uld by any means necessary: SG-1 notes that his extreme and autocratic tactics largely treat his Jaffa followers as expendable pawns, and fears that his victory would ultimately be a FullCircleRevolution after which the Jaffa would serve Katano in much the same way they previous served the Goa'uld. He's proven right, as Katano turns out to be [[spoiler:a Goa'uld in disguise. We never learn whether he was trying to destroy the Jaffa rebellion, or simply co-opt it for his own purposes.]] In Season 9, the Free Jaffa Nation under Gerak's regime also shows some signs of this: when cautioned against using the same torture devices the Goa'uld used to enslave their people, Gerak replies that [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis it's only appropriate that the Jaffa should use them in turn.]]
** It's open question whether the Tok'ra are the Good Counterpart of the Goa'uld, or the other end of the horseshoe. Like the rest of their species, they take human hosts. Unlike them, the process is voluntary, and they share the human's body in a symbiotic relationship. Many Earthers remain skeptical of them, Jack O'Neill in particular, believing (with some justification) that the Tok'ra still don't treat humans as full equals. It doesn't help that in extreme circumstances, Tok'ra ''have'' been known to seize control of a human host without their consent.
** The two major factions of ascended beings, the Ori and the Ancients, fit the bill as well. The Ori believe in using their powers to subjugate the beings on the lower planes of existence who they then force to worship them as gods. The Ancients, ostensibly their Good Counterparts, believe strictly in [[AlienNonInterferenceClause non interference with the lower beings]], who they believe should be allowed to develop and achieve ascension (or not) on their own. The end result, however, is that while the Ancients may not oppress the lower beings as the Ori do, they're just as sociopathically indifferent to whether they live or die. By the end of Season 8, they were willing to watch the entire Milky Way galaxy be purged of all-life by the semi-ascended being Anubis, all to teach a lesson to one of their renegade members about the dangers of helping people ascend.
** It's open question whether the Tok'ra are the Good Counterpart of the Goa'uld, or the other end of the horseshoe. Like the rest of their species, they take human hosts. Unlike them, the process is voluntary, and they share the human's body in a symbiotic relationship. Many Earthers remain skeptical of them, Jack O'Neill in particular, believing (with some justification) that the Tok'ra still don't treat humans as full equals. It doesn't help that in extreme circumstances, Tok'ra ''have'' been known to seize control of a human host without their consent.
** The two major factions of ascended beings, the Ori and the Ancients, fit the bill as well. The Ori believe in using their powers to subjugate the beings on the lower planes of existence who they then force to worship them as gods. The Ancients, ostensibly their Good Counterparts, believe strictly in [[AlienNonInterferenceClause non interference with the lower beings]], who they believe should be allowed to develop and achieve ascension (or not) on their own. The end result, however, is that while the Ancients may not oppress the lower beings as the Ori do, they're just as sociopathically indifferent to whether they live or die. By the end of Season 8, they were willing to watch the entire Milky Way galaxy be purged of all-life by the semi-ascended being Anubis, all to teach a lesson to one of their renegade members about the dangers of helping people ascend.
to:
** The Free Jaffa occasionally fall into this. In ''The Warrior'', Katano appears to be a revolutionary leader seeking to free his people from the Goa'uld by any means necessary: SG-1 notes that his extreme and autocratic tactics largely treat his Jaffa followers as expendable pawns, and fears that his victory would ultimately be a FullCircleRevolution after which the Jaffa would serve Katano in much the same way they previous previously served the Goa'uld. He's proven right, as Katano turns out to be [[spoiler:a Goa'uld in disguise. We never learn whether he was trying to destroy the Jaffa rebellion, or simply co-opt it for his own purposes.]] In Season 9, the Free Jaffa Nation under Gerak's regime also shows some signs of this: when cautioned against using the same torture devices the Goa'uld used to enslave their people, Gerak replies that [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis it's only appropriate that the Jaffa should use them in turn.]]
** It's an open question whether the Tok'ra are the Good Counterpart of the Goa'uld, or the other end of the horseshoe. Like the rest of their species, they take human hosts. Unlike them, the process is voluntary, and they share the human's body in a symbiotic relationship. Many Earthers remain skeptical of them, Jack O'Neill in particular, believing (with some justification) that the Tok'ra still don't treat humans as full equals. It doesn't helpthat that, in extreme circumstances, Tok'ra ''have'' been known to seize control of a human host without their consent.
** The two major factions of ascended beings, the Ori and the Ancients, fit the bill as well. The Ori believe in using their powers to subjugate the beings on the lower planes of existence who they then force to worship them as gods. The Ancients, ostensibly their Good Counterparts, believe strictly in [[AlienNonInterferenceClausenon interference non-interference with the lower beings]], who they believe should be allowed to develop and achieve ascension (or not) on their own. The end result, however, is that while the Ancients may not oppress the lower beings as the Ori do, they're just as sociopathically indifferent to whether they live or die. By the end of Season 8, they were willing to watch the entire Milky Way galaxy be purged of all-life all life by the semi-ascended being Anubis, all to teach a lesson to one of their renegade members about the dangers of helping people ascend.
** It's an open question whether the Tok'ra are the Good Counterpart of the Goa'uld, or the other end of the horseshoe. Like the rest of their species, they take human hosts. Unlike them, the process is voluntary, and they share the human's body in a symbiotic relationship. Many Earthers remain skeptical of them, Jack O'Neill in particular, believing (with some justification) that the Tok'ra still don't treat humans as full equals. It doesn't help
** The two major factions of ascended beings, the Ori and the Ancients, fit the bill as well. The Ori believe in using their powers to subjugate the beings on the lower planes of existence who they then force to worship them as gods. The Ancients, ostensibly their Good Counterparts, believe strictly in [[AlienNonInterferenceClause
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* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': The [[ComicBook/CaptainAmericaWinterSoldier Winter Soldier]] and [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfCaptainAmerica Death Of Captain America]] storylines give us an extended horseshoe effect with Alexander Lukin and the Red Skull. The former is a Soviet general who was [[WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell left adrift at the end of the Cold War]], the latter is a Nazi who was once Hitler's personal [[TheDragon Dragon]]. Despite their mutual disdain, both of them hate the United States and the free-market democracy it promotes, and want revenge on it for destroying their respective empires, which is ample reason to work together. The original plan is Lukin's, who hopes to cause a massive economic crisis in the United States to demonstrate the emptiness of the capitalist lifestyle, ultimately with an eye to bringing back socialist Russia. The Skull modifies it to suit his purposes more and more, ultimately culminating in an attempt to help a fascist third-party candidate become President of the United States.
* ''Franchise/GIJoe'': The Baroness hops from one end of the horseshoe to the other. Born to a family of wealthy European aristocrats, her StartOfDarkness was becoming a left-wing radical terrorist as an act of youthful rebellion against her parents. In her present incarnation as a Cobra leader, she combines the revolutionary terrorism of her radical days with the high-end lifestyle and appreciation for the finer things of her noble upbringing (not to mention the title of Baroness). However radical or aristocratic, she remains an autocrat in her politics, an elitist in her attitudes, and generally hostile to the United States.
* ''Franchise/GIJoe'': The Baroness hops from one end of the horseshoe to the other. Born to a family of wealthy European aristocrats, her StartOfDarkness was becoming a left-wing radical terrorist as an act of youthful rebellion against her parents. In her present incarnation as a Cobra leader, she combines the revolutionary terrorism of her radical days with the high-end lifestyle and appreciation for the finer things of her noble upbringing (not to mention the title of Baroness). However radical or aristocratic, she remains an autocrat in her politics, an elitist in her attitudes, and generally hostile to the United States.
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** Despite its roots as a Cold War franchise, the movie gives us quite a few capitalists who are willing to work with or for the communists: [[Film/{{Goldfinger}} Auric Goldfinger]], [[Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun Francisco Scaramanga]], [[Film/ForYourEyesOnly Aris Kristatos]], [[Film/AViewToAKill Max Zorin]], and [[Film/TheLivingDaylights Brad Whitaker]] most notably.
** For their part, the communist villains, despite their ideology, are often quite prone to corruption and self-enrichment in the best tradition of the capitalists they hate. Lampshaded in ''Film/DieAnotherDay'':
** For their part, the communist villains, despite their ideology, are often quite prone to corruption and self-enrichment in the best tradition of the capitalists they hate. Lampshaded in ''Film/DieAnotherDay'':
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** Despite its roots as a in the Cold War franchise, War, the movie franchise gives us quite a few capitalists who are willing to work with or for the communists: [[Film/{{Goldfinger}} Auric Goldfinger]], [[Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun Francisco Scaramanga]], [[Film/ForYourEyesOnly Aris Kristatos]], [[Film/AViewToAKill Max Zorin]], and [[Film/TheLivingDaylights Brad Whitaker]] most notably.
** For their part, the communist villains, despite their ideology, are often quite prone to corruption andself-enrichment in self-enrichment, behaving much like the best tradition stereotype of the capitalists they allegedly hate. Lampshaded in ''Film/DieAnotherDay'':
** For their part, the communist villains, despite their ideology, are often quite prone to corruption and
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': The X-Men want equal rights and peaceful coexistence between mutants and baseline humans. As such, they routinely find themselves caught in the middle between mutant supremacists who believe it's their destiny to overthrow and replace the human race, and human supremacists who fear that this is true and must be stopped by any means necessary. Both sides are violent supremacist bigots, the only difference being which species they hold allegiance to. Best exemplified in Film/X2XMenUnited, whose main villain, Colonel Stryker, is a military scientist who stole and repurposed the X-Men's Cerebro to exterminate all mutants. Magneto helps them stop him in the nick of time... and then promptly retargets Cerebro in an attempt to exterminate all humans.
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** ''Literature/XWingSeries'': A rare benevolent example in Wraith Squadron's collaboration with Imperial Admiral Rogriss. The two sides cheerfully admit that they're ideological opposites and will be shooting at each other again within a year. However, they're willing to put their differences aside [[EnemyMine to bring down Warlord Zsinj]], the renegade Imperial admiral who's been threatening both sides for the past year. Despite their opposing worldviews, both groups share some sense of military honor, as well as a general commitment to a cause greater than themselves, in contrast to Warlord Zsinj and even many of his underlings who are only out for themselves.
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** ''Literature/XWingSeries'': A rare benevolent example in Wraith Squadron's collaboration with Imperial Admiral Rogriss. The two sides cheerfully admit that they're ideological opposites and will be shooting at each other again within a year.very shortly. However, they're willing to put their differences aside [[EnemyMine to bring down Warlord Zsinj]], the renegade Imperial admiral who's been threatening both sides for the past year. Despite While their opposing worldviews, beliefs in democracy versus dictatorship are irreconcilable, both groups share some a sense of military honor, as well as a general commitment to and willingness to sacrifice for a cause greater than themselves, themselves. This is in contrast to Warlord Zsinj Zsinj, and even many of his underlings underlings, who are ultimately just bandits loyal only out for to themselves.
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* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': A recurring trope, appropriately for a show that was fairly patriotic and anticommunist, while nevertheless concerned about the various abuses and injustices of the American government and society.
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* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': A recurring trope, appropriately for a show that was fairly patriotic and anticommunist, while nevertheless concerned about the various abuses and injustices of the American government society and society.abuses of the U.S. government.
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** The second TV movie, ''Trail To Doomsday'', takes the same concept up to eleven. One of the main villains is a high-end ArmsDealer who's built an off-the-books nuclear reactor and is planning to sell H-bombs to various rogue states. His partners and first clients are a RenegadeRussian faction attempting to restore the Soviet Union. [=MacGyver=] lampshades the oddity of a communist ideologue working with a capitalist gun-for-hire. Downplayed in that the communist leader was aware of the irony, and had planned from the beginning to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness eliminate her supplier]] as soon as he'd provided her with the bombs.
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** The second TV movie, ''Trail To Doomsday'', takes the same concept up to eleven. One of the main villains is a high-end ArmsDealer who's built an off-the-books nuclear reactor and is planning to sell H-bombs to various rogue states. His partners and first clients are a RenegadeRussian faction attempting to restore the Soviet Union. [=MacGyver=] lampshades the oddity of a communist ideologue working with a capitalist gun-for-hire. billionaire. Downplayed in that the communist leader was entirely aware of the irony, and had planned from the beginning to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness eliminate her supplier]] as soon as he'd provided her with the bombs.
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** The two major factions of ascended beings, the Ori and the Ancients, fit the bill as well. The Ori believe in using their powers to subjugate the beings on the lower planes of existence who they then force to worship them as gods. The Ancients, ostensibly their Good Counterparts, believe strictly in [[AlienNonInterferenceClause non interference with the lower beings]], who they believe should be allowed to develop and achieve ascension (or not) on their own. The end result, however, is that while the Ancients may not oppress the lower beings as the Ori do, they're just as sociopathically indifferent to whether they live or die. By the end of Season 8, they were willing to watch the entire Milky Way galaxy be purged of all-life by the semi-ascended being Anubis, all to teach a lesson to one of their renegade members about the dangers of helping people ascend.
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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/BuckDanny'': Occurs in the "nuclear alert" story arc. The main villains, the International Federation of Armed Revolutionary Groups, are a movement of extreme-left WesternTerrorists. They ally with a cabal of anticommunist [[TheGeneralissimo Central American generals]] in order to steal a pair of F-14s from the U.S. Navy. Slightly downplayed in that the generals have no idea who they're dealing with: the IFARG approach them by pretending to be a CorporateConspiracy interested in financing their rise to power as a bulwark against communism. When the collusion is discovered, the oddity of "fascists allied to leftists" is lampshaded.
* ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'': ''The Calculus Affair'' satirizes the UsefulNotes/ColdWar by portraying rival Syldavian and Bordurian agents fighting over Professor Calculus' latest invention. The two sides are indistinguishable in every way, both seeking to turn it into a weapon of mass destruction, and both resorting to kidnapping and violence to try to force him to work for them. This is especially notable since Syldavia and Borduria had previously been portrayed as polar opposites, the former a monarchy run by a ReasonableAuthorityFigure and hosting peaceful international scientific programs, the latter an aggressive and dictatorial regime that [[CommieNazis draws alternatively from Nazi and Communist inspirations.]] This was the first time the two sides had been portrayed as morally equivalent.
* ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'': The ''Warrior Princess'' story arc features the Priamsta, the aristocracy of the planet Eiattu VI, and the People's Liberation Battalion, a revolutionary movement locked in a civil war against it. Despite their mutual enmity, the leadership of both factions leads up to the same place, being thoroughly compromised by the local Imperial ruler: Count Labaan of the Priamsta is an Imperial Intelligence agent, while the deposed Prince Harran, who leads the PLB, is in fact an impostor working for Moff Tavira.
[[/folder]]
* ''ComicBook/BuckDanny'': Occurs in the "nuclear alert" story arc. The main villains, the International Federation of Armed Revolutionary Groups, are a movement of extreme-left WesternTerrorists. They ally with a cabal of anticommunist [[TheGeneralissimo Central American generals]] in order to steal a pair of F-14s from the U.S. Navy. Slightly downplayed in that the generals have no idea who they're dealing with: the IFARG approach them by pretending to be a CorporateConspiracy interested in financing their rise to power as a bulwark against communism. When the collusion is discovered, the oddity of "fascists allied to leftists" is lampshaded.
* ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'': ''The Calculus Affair'' satirizes the UsefulNotes/ColdWar by portraying rival Syldavian and Bordurian agents fighting over Professor Calculus' latest invention. The two sides are indistinguishable in every way, both seeking to turn it into a weapon of mass destruction, and both resorting to kidnapping and violence to try to force him to work for them. This is especially notable since Syldavia and Borduria had previously been portrayed as polar opposites, the former a monarchy run by a ReasonableAuthorityFigure and hosting peaceful international scientific programs, the latter an aggressive and dictatorial regime that [[CommieNazis draws alternatively from Nazi and Communist inspirations.]] This was the first time the two sides had been portrayed as morally equivalent.
* ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'': The ''Warrior Princess'' story arc features the Priamsta, the aristocracy of the planet Eiattu VI, and the People's Liberation Battalion, a revolutionary movement locked in a civil war against it. Despite their mutual enmity, the leadership of both factions leads up to the same place, being thoroughly compromised by the local Imperial ruler: Count Labaan of the Priamsta is an Imperial Intelligence agent, while the deposed Prince Harran, who leads the PLB, is in fact an impostor working for Moff Tavira.
[[/folder]]
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* ''Franchise/JamesBond'':
** [[NebulousEvilOrganization SPECTRE]] is a living Horseshoe Effect, as it liberally recruits former Nazis and former Communists alike. Their successor in the Daniel Craig movies, Quantum (which is eventually revealed to be either a branch of or a forerunner to the rebooted SPECTRE), similarly declares that it works "with the left or the right, with dictators or liberators."
** Despite its roots as a Cold War franchise, the movie gives us quite a few capitalists who are willing to work with or for the communists: [[Film/{{Goldfinger}} Auric Goldfinger]], [[Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun Francisco Scaramanga]], [[Film/ForYourEyesOnly Aris Kristatos]], [[Film/AViewToAKill Max Zorin]], and [[Film/TheLivingDaylights Brad Whitaker]] most notably.
** For their part, the communist villains, despite their ideology, are often quite prone to corruption and self-enrichment in the best tradition of the capitalists they hate. Lampshaded in ''Film/DieAnotherDay'':
--->'''James Bond''': Few men have the guts to trade in conflict diamonds since the UN embargo.
--->'''Colonel Moon''': I know all about the UN. I studied at Oxford and Harvard. Took a major in Western hypocrisy.
--->'''James Bond''': From your modest little collection of cars, I would never have guessed.
** The BigBadDuumvirate in ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'' take this up to eleven. General Orlov is a Soviet general, while his partner Kamal Khan is exiled Afghan royalty. This in 1983, when [[UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan Afghanistan was fighting a war against the Soviet occupation]], a few years after its monarchy was overthrown in a left-wing coup.
** [[NebulousEvilOrganization SPECTRE]] is a living Horseshoe Effect, as it liberally recruits former Nazis and former Communists alike. Their successor in the Daniel Craig movies, Quantum (which is eventually revealed to be either a branch of or a forerunner to the rebooted SPECTRE), similarly declares that it works "with the left or the right, with dictators or liberators."
** Despite its roots as a Cold War franchise, the movie gives us quite a few capitalists who are willing to work with or for the communists: [[Film/{{Goldfinger}} Auric Goldfinger]], [[Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun Francisco Scaramanga]], [[Film/ForYourEyesOnly Aris Kristatos]], [[Film/AViewToAKill Max Zorin]], and [[Film/TheLivingDaylights Brad Whitaker]] most notably.
** For their part, the communist villains, despite their ideology, are often quite prone to corruption and self-enrichment in the best tradition of the capitalists they hate. Lampshaded in ''Film/DieAnotherDay'':
--->'''James Bond''': Few men have the guts to trade in conflict diamonds since the UN embargo.
--->'''Colonel Moon''': I know all about the UN. I studied at Oxford and Harvard. Took a major in Western hypocrisy.
--->'''James Bond''': From your modest little collection of cars, I would never have guessed.
** The BigBadDuumvirate in ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'' take this up to eleven. General Orlov is a Soviet general, while his partner Kamal Khan is exiled Afghan royalty. This in 1983, when [[UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan Afghanistan was fighting a war against the Soviet occupation]], a few years after its monarchy was overthrown in a left-wing coup.
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* ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' is a classic example. The villains are Federation nationalists terrified of peace with the Klingon Empire, and Klingon nationalists terrified of peace with the Federation, who conspire together to keep the war between their two factions going.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The Clone Wars of the prequel trilogy can be seen as this. On one side, the Separatists are a movement supporting independence from the galactic government, largely dominated by wealthy merchants who want complete freedom from government regulation. On the other side, the Republic considers itself the legitimate government of the galaxy and is a unitary state that's well on its way to turning into a totalitarian Empire. However, both of them are autocratic regimes led by charismatic leaders, whose elected parliaments are mostly powerless; both view the Republic's traditional values, and especially the Jedi, as outdated and irrelevant and want to replace it with a more modern, materialistic, and technocratic society; both of them fight the wars with entirely manufactured armies (droids for the Separatists, clones for the Republic) rather than try to rally ordinary citizens to their cause. [[spoiler:And both their leaders are secretly Sith Lords, working together to destroy the Jedi and create a new galactic regime under the control of their order.]]
* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The Clone Wars of the prequel trilogy can be seen as this. On one side, the Separatists are a movement supporting independence from the galactic government, largely dominated by wealthy merchants who want complete freedom from government regulation. On the other side, the Republic considers itself the legitimate government of the galaxy and is a unitary state that's well on its way to turning into a totalitarian Empire. However, both of them are autocratic regimes led by charismatic leaders, whose elected parliaments are mostly powerless; both view the Republic's traditional values, and especially the Jedi, as outdated and irrelevant and want to replace it with a more modern, materialistic, and technocratic society; both of them fight the wars with entirely manufactured armies (droids for the Separatists, clones for the Republic) rather than try to rally ordinary citizens to their cause. [[spoiler:And both their leaders are secretly Sith Lords, working together to destroy the Jedi and create a new galactic regime under the control of their order.]]
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* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' did this a few times:
** ''Literature/XWingSeries'': A rare benevolent example in Wraith Squadron's collaboration with Imperial Admiral Rogriss. The two sides cheerfully admit that they're ideological opposites and will be shooting at each other again within a year. However, they're willing to put their differences aside [[EnemyMine to bring down Warlord Zsinj]], the renegade Imperial admiral who's been threatening both sides for the past year. Despite their opposing worldviews, both groups share some sense of military honor, as well as a general commitment to a cause greater than themselves, in contrast to Warlord Zsinj and even many of his underlings who are only out for themselves.
** ''Literature/TheCorellianTrilogy'': The Saccorian Triad is an impressive three-way version of this: a crime syndicate that supports human supremacist, Selonian supremacist, and Drall supremacist movements alike (one for each of the three species native to the Corellian system). It helps that all of them hate the New Republic and don't want to find themselves accountable to its (or any) laws.
** Thrackan Sal-Solo, the leader of the human movement, seems incapable of avoiding this trope, despite being a very sincere human supremacist. In the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' era, he ends up becoming leader of the Peace Brigade, the movement [[LesCollaborateurs collaborating with the Yuuzhan Vong,]] the extragalactic alien conquerors trying to take over the galaxy. (To add insult to injury, the Peace Brigade is itself a multi-species movement). As with the Corellian Trilogy example above, it helps that Thrackan and the Yuuzhan Vong share a burning hatred of the same group (the Jedi).
** ''Literature/YoungJediKnights'' gives us the Diversity Alliance, a terrorist organization that claims to be a response to the Empire's abuses against alien species... except that they don't just blame the Empire, but all of humanity. Not only do they share the Empire's general racist mindset, just in the other direction, but their master plan to exterminate humanity is literally based on an Imperial weapon, the Krytos virus, retooled to target humans specifically.
** ''Literature/XWingSeries'': A rare benevolent example in Wraith Squadron's collaboration with Imperial Admiral Rogriss. The two sides cheerfully admit that they're ideological opposites and will be shooting at each other again within a year. However, they're willing to put their differences aside [[EnemyMine to bring down Warlord Zsinj]], the renegade Imperial admiral who's been threatening both sides for the past year. Despite their opposing worldviews, both groups share some sense of military honor, as well as a general commitment to a cause greater than themselves, in contrast to Warlord Zsinj and even many of his underlings who are only out for themselves.
** ''Literature/TheCorellianTrilogy'': The Saccorian Triad is an impressive three-way version of this: a crime syndicate that supports human supremacist, Selonian supremacist, and Drall supremacist movements alike (one for each of the three species native to the Corellian system). It helps that all of them hate the New Republic and don't want to find themselves accountable to its (or any) laws.
** Thrackan Sal-Solo, the leader of the human movement, seems incapable of avoiding this trope, despite being a very sincere human supremacist. In the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' era, he ends up becoming leader of the Peace Brigade, the movement [[LesCollaborateurs collaborating with the Yuuzhan Vong,]] the extragalactic alien conquerors trying to take over the galaxy. (To add insult to injury, the Peace Brigade is itself a multi-species movement). As with the Corellian Trilogy example above, it helps that Thrackan and the Yuuzhan Vong share a burning hatred of the same group (the Jedi).
** ''Literature/YoungJediKnights'' gives us the Diversity Alliance, a terrorist organization that claims to be a response to the Empire's abuses against alien species... except that they don't just blame the Empire, but all of humanity. Not only do they share the Empire's general racist mindset, just in the other direction, but their master plan to exterminate humanity is literally based on an Imperial weapon, the Krytos virus, retooled to target humans specifically.
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* ''Series/TwentyFour'': The villains in Season 2 are an extended application of this trope. Wald, one of the first antagonists we meet, is an American RightWingMilitiaFanatic plotting an act of terrorism. Unknown to Wald, he's being manipulated by Second Wave, a [[MiddleEasternTerrorists jihadist movement]] plotting to set off a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles. Second Wave, in turn, is being enabled by a CorporateConspiracy of Western oil barons and arms manufacturers trying to [[WarForFunAndProfit provoke a war in the Middle East]].
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* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': A recurring trope, appropriately for a show that was fairly patriotic and anticommunist, while nevertheless concerned about the various abuses and injustices of the American government and society.
** ''Early Retirement'' featured Mac's boss and friend Peter Thornton being framed and replaced by a rogue U.S. intelligence officer, who uses his new position to plot the capture and torture of a [[AssholeVictim visiting dictator]] and UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi expy that he suspects of supporting terrorism. After the plot is stopped, the dictator declines to press charges in international courts, candidly admitting that it's exactly the kind of thing he would have done.
** The main villain of ''The Gun'' is a firearms manufacturer and strong Second Amendment advocate who's fond of invoking the U.S. Constitution. He's also dealing arms under the table to Middle Eastern terrorists trying to foment anti-Western violence.
** The second TV movie, ''Trail To Doomsday'', takes the same concept up to eleven. One of the main villains is a high-end ArmsDealer who's built an off-the-books nuclear reactor and is planning to sell H-bombs to various rogue states. His partners and first clients are a RenegadeRussian faction attempting to restore the Soviet Union. [=MacGyver=] lampshades the oddity of a communist ideologue working with a capitalist gun-for-hire. Downplayed in that the communist leader was aware of the irony, and had planned from the beginning to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness eliminate her supplier]] as soon as he'd provided her with the bombs.
** ''Early Retirement'' featured Mac's boss and friend Peter Thornton being framed and replaced by a rogue U.S. intelligence officer, who uses his new position to plot the capture and torture of a [[AssholeVictim visiting dictator]] and UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi expy that he suspects of supporting terrorism. After the plot is stopped, the dictator declines to press charges in international courts, candidly admitting that it's exactly the kind of thing he would have done.
** The main villain of ''The Gun'' is a firearms manufacturer and strong Second Amendment advocate who's fond of invoking the U.S. Constitution. He's also dealing arms under the table to Middle Eastern terrorists trying to foment anti-Western violence.
** The second TV movie, ''Trail To Doomsday'', takes the same concept up to eleven. One of the main villains is a high-end ArmsDealer who's built an off-the-books nuclear reactor and is planning to sell H-bombs to various rogue states. His partners and first clients are a RenegadeRussian faction attempting to restore the Soviet Union. [=MacGyver=] lampshades the oddity of a communist ideologue working with a capitalist gun-for-hire. Downplayed in that the communist leader was aware of the irony, and had planned from the beginning to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness eliminate her supplier]] as soon as he'd provided her with the bombs.
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* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** [[NebulousEvilOrganization The Trust]] essentially flips from one end of the horseshoe to the other. Originally, it was set up by rogue NID agents who claimed to want to protect the United States and Earth from the Goa'uld and other alien threats, and didn't trust Stargate Command to do so. In Season 8, it's completely infiltrated by the remnants of the Goa'uld: not only are they taken over by the same enemy they were supposed to fight, they turn into a lifeline whose resources the almost-extinct Goa'uld use to find refuge on Earth and try to rebuild themselves.
** Even before the takeover, the rogue NID and their allies had a great deal in common with the Goa'uld. Both factions are extremely prejudiced and view other species with suspicion or indifference. Both are run by power-hungry sociopaths whose claims to represent higher ideals are a mask for their own greed. And both of them largely follow the same MO in their development, pillaging the technologies of living and dead civilizations alike rather than trying to negotiate or trade for them.
** The Free Jaffa occasionally fall into this. In ''The Warrior'', Katano appears to be a revolutionary leader seeking to free his people from the Goa'uld by any means necessary: SG-1 notes that his extreme and autocratic tactics largely treat his Jaffa followers as expendable pawns, and fears that his victory would ultimately be a FullCircleRevolution after which the Jaffa would serve Katano in much the same way they previous served the Goa'uld. He's proven right, as Katano turns out to be [[spoiler:a Goa'uld in disguise. We never learn whether he was trying to destroy the Jaffa rebellion, or simply co-opt it for his own purposes.]] In Season 9, the Free Jaffa Nation under Gerak's regime also shows some signs of this: when cautioned against using the same torture devices the Goa'uld used to enslave their people, Gerak replies that [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis it's only appropriate that the Jaffa should use them in turn.]]
** It's open question whether the Tok'ra are the Good Counterpart of the Goa'uld, or the other end of the horseshoe. Like the rest of their species, they take human hosts. Unlike them, the process is voluntary, and they share the human's body in a symbiotic relationship. Many Earthers remain skeptical of them, Jack O'Neill in particular, believing (with some justification) that the Tok'ra still don't treat humans as full equals. It doesn't help that in extreme circumstances, Tok'ra ''have'' been known to seize control of a human host without their consent.
** [[NebulousEvilOrganization The Trust]] essentially flips from one end of the horseshoe to the other. Originally, it was set up by rogue NID agents who claimed to want to protect the United States and Earth from the Goa'uld and other alien threats, and didn't trust Stargate Command to do so. In Season 8, it's completely infiltrated by the remnants of the Goa'uld: not only are they taken over by the same enemy they were supposed to fight, they turn into a lifeline whose resources the almost-extinct Goa'uld use to find refuge on Earth and try to rebuild themselves.
** Even before the takeover, the rogue NID and their allies had a great deal in common with the Goa'uld. Both factions are extremely prejudiced and view other species with suspicion or indifference. Both are run by power-hungry sociopaths whose claims to represent higher ideals are a mask for their own greed. And both of them largely follow the same MO in their development, pillaging the technologies of living and dead civilizations alike rather than trying to negotiate or trade for them.
** The Free Jaffa occasionally fall into this. In ''The Warrior'', Katano appears to be a revolutionary leader seeking to free his people from the Goa'uld by any means necessary: SG-1 notes that his extreme and autocratic tactics largely treat his Jaffa followers as expendable pawns, and fears that his victory would ultimately be a FullCircleRevolution after which the Jaffa would serve Katano in much the same way they previous served the Goa'uld. He's proven right, as Katano turns out to be [[spoiler:a Goa'uld in disguise. We never learn whether he was trying to destroy the Jaffa rebellion, or simply co-opt it for his own purposes.]] In Season 9, the Free Jaffa Nation under Gerak's regime also shows some signs of this: when cautioned against using the same torture devices the Goa'uld used to enslave their people, Gerak replies that [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis it's only appropriate that the Jaffa should use them in turn.]]
** It's open question whether the Tok'ra are the Good Counterpart of the Goa'uld, or the other end of the horseshoe. Like the rest of their species, they take human hosts. Unlike them, the process is voluntary, and they share the human's body in a symbiotic relationship. Many Earthers remain skeptical of them, Jack O'Neill in particular, believing (with some justification) that the Tok'ra still don't treat humans as full equals. It doesn't help that in extreme circumstances, Tok'ra ''have'' been known to seize control of a human host without their consent.
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[[folder:Films-Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'',Frollo pursues an insanely harsh and fundamentalist interpretation of Christianity. In the process, he commits numerous sins while trying to "God's work", including pride and wrath. By the end of the movie, [[spoiler: he goes so far as burn the very cathedral he claimed to defend, becoming the Satanic being he claimed to oppose]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'',Frollo pursues an insanely harsh and fundamentalist interpretation of Christianity. In the process, he commits numerous sins while trying to "God's work", including pride and wrath. By the end of the movie, [[spoiler: he goes so far as burn the very cathedral he claimed to defend, becoming the Satanic being he claimed to oppose]].
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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre
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There might be parallels between Jensen's globalist future and the ideal Communist government, but unless those parallels are actually highlighted in the film itself, it's not an example of the trope.
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* [[VisionaryVillain Arthur]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Jensen]] in ''Film/{{Network}}'' describes his ideal globalist future, in which [[OneNationUnderCopyright all governments are taken over]] by [[MegaCorp large corporations]], eventually merging into a benevolent corporate OneWorldGovernment that possesses all authority and fulfills the needs of all people, each of whom owns a single share of the corporation's stock. This is pretty much a capitalist version of the ideal Communist government.
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* [[VisionaryVillain Arthur]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Jensen]] in ''Film/{{Network}}'' describes his ideal globalist future, in which [[OneNationUnderCopyright all governments are taken over]] by [[MegaCorp large corporations]], eventually merging into a benevolent corporate OneWorldGovernment that possesses all authority and fulfills the needs of all people, each of whom owns a single share of the corporation's stock. This is pretty much a capitalist version of the ideal Communist government.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'',Frollo pursues an insanely harsh and fundamentalist interpretation of Christianity. In the process, he commits numerous sins while trying to "God's work", including pride and wrath. By the end of the movie, [[spoiler: he goes so far as burn the very cathedral he claimed to defend, becoming the Satanic being he claimed to oppose]].
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'',Frollo ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'',Frollo pursues an insanely harsh and fundamentalist interpretation of Christianity. In the process, he commits numerous sins while trying to "God's work", including pride and wrath. By the end of the movie, [[spoiler: he goes so far as burn the very cathedral he claimed to defend, becoming the Satanic being he claimed to oppose]].
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Despite serving in the POUM, Orwell was not himself a Trotskyist.
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* By the end of ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', the oppressive pigs running the farm are scarcely distinguishable (in appearance or beliefs) from the oppressive farmers they deposed. Contrary to CommonKnowledge, this was less about communism in general and more about Stalinism in particular -- Orwell was a Trotskyist and the story favors Snowball the Pig (Trotsky).
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* By the end of ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', the oppressive pigs running the farm are scarcely distinguishable (in appearance or beliefs) from the oppressive farmers they deposed. Contrary to CommonKnowledge, this was less about communism in general and more about Stalinism in particular -- Orwell was himself a Trotskyist socialist, albeit one that was highly critical of the Soviet Union and the story favors Snowball the Pig (Trotsky).highly supportive of democracy.
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Syrian girl habing far left and far right fans with no other explanation other than that does not make her an example of thus trope. This is just a plug to promote an alternative media personality.
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* The Website/YouTube news channel [[https://www.youtube.com/user/SyrianGirlpartisan Syrian Partisan Girl]] is this trope personified. She has a lot of fans on both the [[ThoseWackyNazis far-right]] and [[DirtyCommies far-left]] who both think she's one of them. And they're both right and wrong at the same time. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement And that's all that will be said about that.]]
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It is commonly seen in concert with tropes such as HeWhoFightsMonsters, YouAreWhatYouHate, BecameTheirOwnAntithesis or FullCircleRevolution. It is similar in some respects to PoesLaw; in that trope, the more extreme an opinion becomes, the harder it is to tell whether it is intended satirically or not,[[note]]''e.g.'' whether it is a legitimate opinion being expressed by someone on the left, or a satirical opinion expressed by someone on the right to make fun of the left; or ''vice versa''[[/note]] whereas in this trope the more extreme an opinion gets, the harder it can be to tell whether it is coming from the far-left or the far-right. It could also be considered a form of MoralMyopia.
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It is commonly seen in concert with tropes such as HeWhoFightsMonsters, YouAreWhatYouHate, BecameTheirOwnAntithesis or FullCircleRevolution. It is similar in some respects to PoesLaw; in that trope, the more extreme an opinion becomes, the harder it is to tell whether it is intended satirically or not,[[note]]''e.g.'' whether it is a legitimate opinion being expressed by someone on the left, or a satirical opinion expressed by someone on the right to make fun of the left; or ''vice versa''[[/note]] whereas in this trope the more extreme an opinion gets, the harder it can be to tell whether it is coming from the far-left or the far-right. It could also be considered a form of MoralMyopia.
MoralMyopia. There's also a fair degree of overlap with BothSidesHaveAPoint; in this case, both sides don't realize they're making the ''same'' point.
