History Main / TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness

* ''Series/TrueBlood'' gave us The Authority, the highest government in Vampire society, with the power to name the Kings and Queens of territories and bossing them around. However, they're presented in an extremely inconsistent manner that made it difficult to take them seriously. When we first see them early in the series, it's a few people shrouded in shadows with inaudible voices. But when they became a major part of the plot in Season 5, it's an entirely different group. In addition to the main leader The Guardian, there are six Chancellors who are supposed to represent the six continents (even though there doesn't seem to be one from South America or Oceania). Season 5 ended with the entire board being killed and their base in New Orleans destroyed, and it was implied that The Authority itself was destroyed even though one would think there'd be a system in place to replace deceased members. But considering Season 5 was considered by many to be ''True Blood's'' [[SeasonalRot lowest point]], most fans were happy enough that the show moved on without lingering on the political aftermath.

* The 2000s ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' series has two mysterious warriors led by three even-more-mysterious Omniscient Council types who look nothing alike but all speak with the same voice. They turn out to be the good guys, more or less.

* On ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', we have [[LightIsNotGood the Light]], a mysterious group of high-profile villains who are responsible for most of what the team has gone through. As one might guess from the name, they forgo SinisterSilhouettes in favor of being obscuringly glowy. The membership is eventually revealed as [[spoiler:ComicBook/LexLuthor, Ra's al Ghul, Vandal Savage, Queen Bee, The Brain, Klarion the Witch Boy, and Ocean Master (later Black Manta)]].

** The Ethics Committee. Several interpretations put them as even more powerful than the O5s, and even more mysterious. Ironically, they actively want to avoid this trope by being very open about who's who and [[DefiedTrope explicitly]] does not use [[DeadlyEuphemism euphemisms]] (unlike the O5s, we usually know the names of whatever member makes an appearance). Despite this, next to nothing is known about them, since their effect on the foundation is mostly limited to "you can do that, you cannot do that".

* The ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' is run by a group known only as "the O5 Council" (there are actually 13 of them, despite their name; the O stands for Overseer and the 5 is their security clearance level). Every one of them is a total unknown: their names, genders, locations, and occupations are all blank. Their occasional entries on SCP information pages often go so far as to censor even their ID number, so that while it can be seen that an O5 member made the entry, it is unknown ''which one'' made the entry. And due to the wiki’s official “there is no canon” policy, stories that reveal their identities don’t have to agree on who — or what - they truly are.

* ''Webcomic/{{Platformers}}'' has the Galaxy Council, formed by various deities or otherwise people in higher standing from the Platformers' home worlds. Unlike most examples on this list, their identities are known... to the inhabitants of their home worlds and each other. The council consists of [[VideoGame/PaperMario Eldstar]], [[VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape Polokus]], [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Rosalina]], [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooieNutsAndBolts L.O.G.]], [[VideoGame/{{Klonoa}} the High Priestess and the Queen of Cress]].

* ''Webcomic/{{Platformers}} has the Galaxy Council, formed by various deities or otherwise people in higher standing from the Platformers' home worlds. Unlike most examples on this list, their identities are known... to the inhabitants of their home worlds and each other. The council consists of [[VideoGame/PaperMario Eldstar]], [[VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape Polokus]], [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Rosalina]], [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooieNutsAndBolts L.O.G.]], [[VideoGame/{{Klonoa}} the High Priestess and the Queen of Cress]].

* Subverted in the British and Australian political systems with the Shadow Cabinet, who consist of the current government's opposite numbers in the opposition party and exist entirely to criticize and annoy the people trying to do things. However, it makes the news much funnier to imagine that they ARE this trope. Seriously though, how many of the people in the Shadow Cabinet joined just so that they could say that they are a member of the [[RuleOfCool "Shadow Cabinet"?]] This is not helped by their tendency to say one thing and then completely contradict themselves a week later.
** In Australia, people have started to swing back to the belief that the Shadow Cabinet is this trope. It's not helped by the fact that [[https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/284425_204531316261713_2112440_n.jpg they look quite evil when photographed.]] And then they won the 2013 election. Nobody's quite sure what the moral of this story is.

* ''Literature/ThePowerOfFive:'' Downplayed with the Nexus (who become the backers of the heroes). In ''Raven's Gate,'' they meet to discuss the signs that the Old Ones are returning. Their conversation, goals, and allegiance are initially cryptic but are established by the end of the scene and are fully explained by the end of the book.

* The Creator/AgathaChristie novel ''The Seven Dials Mystery'' has the titular group, a mysterious septet of people who meet in a secret room in a London gambling house. They all wear masks fashioned like clocks, each with the hands set to a different time from 1:00 to 7:00 (hence the name), and meet in hushed tones to discuss the theft of major scientific discoveries and secrets. [[spoiler: As Christie is wont to do, it ends up being a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]]: the Seven Dials are actually a group of young people determined to ''prevent'' thefts and catch criminals, making them GoodAllAlong. It's explained by Superintendent Battle, their leader, that the members deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoke]] the trappings of an Omniscient Council of Vagueness to seem shadowy and wicked, thus making their targets fearful and likelier to slip up.]]

* If ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' {{Fanon}} has to be believed, there are three kinds of Omniscient Council in the FicDom. One is ROOT ([[WildMassGuessing with some basis of canon theory]]), each time Danzo portrayed as some sort of BigBad. Second is Konoha Council, while often realistically portrayed as WellIntentionedExtremist, treatment put on titular protagonist Naruto making them a bunch of LawfulStupid instead, gaining the FanNickname of "[[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries Council of Doom]]". The Third one is Council of Hyuuga Clan, whenever [[TheUnfavorite Hinata or Neji]] had to face internal conflict, [[KickTheDog its because of them]].[[note]]In ''canon'', on the other hand, the Hyuuga Council enforces some truly nasty things (such as the sealing of the Branch House and arranging for Hiashi's brother to take his place as a HeroicSacrifice), but they are not omniscient, nor are they vague about their intentions. And the existence of the Hyuuga Council and the Konoha Council are not secret at all.[[/note]]

* In the ''[[Film/TheMatrix Matrix Trilogy]]'', the Architect and the Oracle together form an incredibly opaque and confusing two-man Omniscient Councils of Vagueness. They actually spell out the entire plot right there, but its way too confusing for someone like Neo (or most of the audience, for that matter) to understand. [[TheChrisCarterEffect And possibly even the writers]].

Keep in mind that, plotwise, they should [[TheOmniscient know most]] of the details, including {{spoiler}}s that should be kept from the audience or details the writers themselves haven't decided on. This often is the setup for a GambitRoulette. Anything that happens, even unlikely combinations of luck and choices that seem to destroy the Council's plans, are "[[SchrodingersGun just as planned]]".

** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', the {{Beta Baddie}}s of Organization XIII form a similar omniscient council (though are only seen meeting together in the LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition.[[note]]They do avert EvilIsNotWellLit, as their home base and meeting place is the very bright, sterile, and white [[EldritchLocation Castle That Never Was]].[[/note]]) Enhancing the effect was the fact that the members each wore a hooded BlackCloak, which concealed their face until they became part of the story directly.

** The Ethics Committee. Several interpretations put them as even more powerful than the O5s, and even more mysterious. Ironically, they actively want to avoid this trope by being very open about who's who and explicitly does not use euphemisms (unlike the O5s, we usually know the names of whatever member makes an appearance). Despite this, next to nothing is known about them, since their effect on the foundation is mostly limited to "you can do that, you cannot do that".

** The Generals of the Army. Brigadier Generals, Major Generals, Lieutenant Generals, all working under the the Fuhrer towards a [[AGodAmI mysterious goal]] by [[SocialDarwinist sacrificing their own people]].

* There's one such group in ''VideoGame/StriderArcade Strider 2]]'', unofficially called "Light Sword Cypher" by the fans, shown in the Antarctica stage ending cutscene during a meeting to discuss Hiryu's progress, among other things. [[AllThereInTheManual Supplemental material]] states the group is formed by [[GovernmentConspiracy several heads of world governments]], corrupt {{Mega Corp}}s and criminal syndicates, and are behind the actions of each stage's enemy force.