History Main / TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness

* In ''FanFic/{{Fractured}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]], we have the "Local Cluster Council" and "Federated Cluster Union." They are supposed to be even wider-spanning governments than those that run individual galaxies, but we find out later, in ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', that they're manufactured manifestations created by the [[spoiler:Eridians--who were also known as "Forerunners"]]. ''Origins'' also has the RISE Council, a shadowy group operating the [[StateSec Republic Intelligence Service]].

* The very first people shown in ''LightNovel/TheThirdTheGirlWithTheBlueEye'' are the members of the "Council of the Third". For bonus points, they are initially shown as SinisterSilhouettes.

* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': The Steering Committee are a secular sector (implied to be comprised of former faculty) first mentioned in ''LightNovel/DanganronpaZero'' that are the ones really running Hope's Peak Academy. They engineered the Kamukura Project to artificially create the perfect human being, someone who excelled at every talent known to man. [[spoiler:[[GoneHorriblyRight They succeeded too well in that regard]]; Izuru was so perfect, he's utterly bored with the world and thus has no drive to be its "hope" as they'd intended. And when he is introduced to how unpredictable despair is, that kickstarts The Tragedy]].

** This is arguably intentional, and [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement depending on what school of economics you follow]] might be considered a ''good'' thing - if they were publicly beholden as such, central bank policy like interest-rate setting would become completely ineffective in changing the economy due to "rational expectations" (they're predictable, so all in the market know what the environment looks like and therefore will not act the way a central bank policy change would want them to act).

* In Hesei era of ''Series/KamenRider'' the trope is played straight by most seasons.

** ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'': Yggdrasill Corporation. ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS With 2 Ls]].) Up until the 12th ep, you know just that they rule the Zawame City and plan something sinister with Beat Riders, Inves and Helheim Forest. And possibly with the whole city. They get less vague as time goes on.

* The Priests of the Temples of Syrinx in the song ''Music/TwentyOneTwelve'' by Music/{{Rush}}, a [[StrawmanPolitical strawman communist government]].

* The Website/{{Usenet}} Cabal. Yes, it did exist at one point, and all members had to repeatedly say that ''"There Is No Cabal."'' Of course, ironically, the Cabal's control over Usenet collapsed with the rise of the .alt hierarchy.

* The ''Wiki/RPCAuthority'' Board of Global Directors also known as The Global Directorate is the main executive body of not only the Presidium but the Authority at large, the consist of three global directors that represent the three Authority divisions,and nine that represent the continents of the world.

* 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 “[[UnreliableCanon there is no canon]]” policy, stories that reveal their identities don’t have to agree on who — or what - they truly are.

* Wiki/TVTropes:

* When editing [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} larger Wikis]], the editors who wind up peer-reviewing articles (deletion discussions as a prominent example) are an essentially arbitrary group assembled from such a large pool of motives, goals, and expertise they might as well be an Omniscient Council of Vagueness. You get the impression that a cabal of uncaring, misinformed twits is running the whole show with the sole intention of pissing you off. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Really, there is no cabal.]] It's just the ''universe'' which hates you.

** More plausibly, all that's happening is a combination of [[Franchise/GhostInTheShell stand alone complex]] due to Wiki/ThisVeryWiki being a group of fairly like-minded people and social interactions that no one person can be aware of.

* The Shadow Board in ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob'' is an example of this. They're a council of 5, or sometimes 7 or 10 who are the ones which truly control [[EvilInc Cognito Inc.]] and most other global conspiracies. It's hinted that they uphold TheMasquerade to profit off it.

** In the ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' they've only appeared as monoliths so far, and are, if possible, even more vague about their actions and motives. Then the third movie turns the trope UpToEleven [[spoiler:by revealing that the monoliths are their ''[[BrainUploading actual bodies]]'' and that they are a ''really ancient'' conspiracy, stated to be as old as human civilization.]]

* According to Creator/LittleKuriboh and ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'', [=4Kids=] is this. Turned UpToEleven. They just pop up every now and again, standing up in sync dramatically/observing everyone/making sure that nobody says [[spoiler: Disney]].

* ''Anime/BattleBDaman'' has the Neo Shadow Alliance.

* "The Order" of ''Anime/TowaNoQuon''.

* The original ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel GI Joe: Real American Hero]]'' comic included a secret Pentagon faction that directed the Joes to serve their own ends.

* In the ''[[Film/TheMatrix Matrix Trilogy]]'', the Architect and the Oracle together form an incredibly opaque and confusing two-person 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]].

* The Volturi in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'':

* The Camberian Council in the ''Literature/{{Deryni}}'' series gradually devolves into this trope. Originally founded to preserve Deryni magic and lore in the face of persecution and to take an active (if behind-the-scenes) role in the affairs of the Eleven Kingdoms, over the centuries it has become tradition-bound and priggish, just as prone to FantasticRacism as the Deryni's human persecutors, and given to endless debates over the actions of the series heroes without taking much at all in the way of action themselves. [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Council of Vagueness]], indeed.

* Pretty much everyone other than the three playable characters in ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'' (known to some of you as ''Indigo Prophecy'') are part of an Omniscient Council of Vagueness. [[spoiler:Yes, including Agatha, the wheelchair bound old woman. And, she's actually a holographic robot computer virus.]] The [[spoiler: Orange Clan]] in particular.

* The LegionOfDoom presented in the [=PS2=] game ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' early on met this way as shadowy figures standard to the trope. However, their distinctive body shapes and iconic voices make easy for anyone familiar with Disney to identify them.
** Forget "distinctive body shapes"; turning up the brightness all the way makes it even more apparent who they are.

* The final scene of PC game ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' shows one of these vaguely debating and deciding on the PlayerCharacter's doom. It's really left to be nothing but a pure OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness, as no group like this ever appears afterwards.\\
\\
WordOfGod is that this was an early concept for the Five, the antagonistic group of Bhaalspawn who appear in the ExpansionPack, but that the developers didn't decide that not all of the Five would be within human physical parameters until ''after'' the cutscene had been made.
* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' the sinister G-man makes passing references to his ''employers''. Said employers are never revealed, but it is heavily implied that they're some sort of dark, omniscient cabal pursuing a mysterious agenda. Or not. We don't know. They didn't like Dr. Breen but the G-Man pulled Gordon out before he dealt the Combine a true deathblow.

* In ''VideoGame/TwoWorlds,'' the player character is tasked by one Omniscient Council of Vagueness to recover an artifact that will bring about the revival of a dead god. These men are invariably represented with sweeping cloaks, hooded faces, and black armor. Throughout the game, the player encounters several opposite types of men in every major city in Antaloor. These men wear white armor, wear helmets, and are all referred to as "Stranger". These fellows mention the player's destiny and the like, and the main character is noticeably disturbed by them. Only after TheReveal does this mysterious group reveal itself to the Player: The Paladins, another Omniscient Council of Vagueness, but a good one. If the player chooses the Evil Choice at the end of the game, they wind up having to fight the entire Paladin council for their final battle, which is MUCH harder than the fight if you choose the Good Choice, in which you kill the remaining member of the Evil council after spending the latter half of the game killing off the other members.

* In ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'' the Circle of Ossus is an antagonistic group out to find the FountainOfYouth and have some powerful connections. Everything else about them is completely unknown.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* [[http://xkcd.com/1224/ This]] ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' strip parodies this trope with the Council of 300[[spoiler:...um...299]]. They...decide which videos go viral.

%%** Not to forget the Nibblonian council.

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', 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:Lex Luthor, Ra's al Ghul, Vandal Savage, Queen Bee, The Brain, Klarion the Witch Boy, and Ocean Master (later Black Manta)]].

* The Shadow Board in ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'' is an example of this trope. They're a council of 5, or sometimes 7 or 10 who are the ones which truly control [[EvilInc Cognito Inc.]] and most other global conspiracies. It's hinted that they uphold TheMasquerade to profit off it.

* According to Creator/LittleKuriboh and ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'', 4kids is this. Turned UpToEleven. They just pop up every now and again, standing up in sync dramatically/observing everyone/making sure that nobody says [[spoiler: Disney]]. Ah! I said it! Noo!

* According to Creator/LittleKuriboh and ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'', 4kids is this. Turned UpToEleven. They just pop up every now and again, standing up in sync dramatically/observing everyone/making sure that nobody says [[spoiler: Disney]]. Ah! I said it! Noo!

* In ''Fanfic/SaviorOfDemons'', The [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Council]] of Arcos is ridiculously obstructive, until you realize that they ''are'' trying to help by reigning in [[WellIntentionedExtremist King Kold's]] tendency to jump feet-first into whatever solution he thinks is best and most expedient. [[VoiceOfReason Queen Isa]] also accuses them of being {{Corrupt Bureaucrat}}s.

* The Fans in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached''. Except only Jeft wants to be vague; the others want to be helpful and informative. They call him out on this tendency, but he [[spoiler: seemingly]] always has a rational reason for behaving as he does.
* The Secret Department of Investigation in ''Fanfic/ChallengeOfTheSuperFriendsTheEnd''.

* In ''FanFic/{{Fractured}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]], we have the "Local Cluster Council" and "Federated Cluster Union." They are supposed to be even wider-spanning governments than those that run individual galaxies, but we find out later, in ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', that they're manufactured manifestations created by the [[spoiler:Eridians--who were also known as "Forerunners"]]. ''Origins'' also has the RISE Council, a shadowy group operating the [[StateSec Republic Intelligence Service]].
* [[GratuitousLatin Ordinis Sancti Gladius]] from ''Fanfic/FateZeroSanity'' fit this. The narration only switches to their perspective occasionally, and most of it is spent trying to get permission from the [[TheOrder Magus Association]] and the [[ChurchMilitant Church]] to go investigate the War, which they only do by the end of the fic. Hints and bits are dropped every now and then, but the only things that are really confirmed that they have a connection to [[DimensionalTraveler Zeltrech]] and a problem with the other two main organizations, not to mention taking an interest in [[TheHero Shirou Emiya]]...
** It also helps that most of their named members [[spoiler: happen to be from different dimensions, such as [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Coyote Starrk]], and [[Manga/{{Hellsing}} Alexander Anderson]]]], with no clear explanation yet as to how they got there.
* In ''Fanfic/AManOfIron'', Varys and Nikolas Fury [[spoiler: [[CompositeCharacter aka]] Gerion Lannister]] both work for a group known as "the Council", and are furthering their goals in preparation for conflict with [[GreaterScopeVillain the Others]]. One of Varys' POV chapters notes that in addition to numerous field agents and his own current key position, the Council has always had at least one agent in the Red Keep, along with always having one in the Iron Bank and another among the Dothraki, in order to keep an eye on the world's major players.
* ''FanFic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has [[StealthMentor Stephen]] [[MagnificentBastard Strange]], a one-man version of this trope. Only see glimpses of him at first? Check. Enigmatic? Double check. Has a plan all mapped out and makes the hero (and everyone else) dance on his puppet strings? Oh, yeah.

* ''Fanfic/FreeportVenture'' has the Council of Freeport, a group of ponies (and others, at least one griffon is on the council) who control what little government there is in [[WretchedHive Freeport]], and wear silver masks that magically conceal their identity. They're a blatant {{Expy}} of the [[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms Masked Lords of Waterdeep]].
* Chapter 10 of ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', remastered version, ends with a group of nobles and clergymen scheming in the darkness of an undisclosed location, only lit by the flames of a torch. Whatever they are planning seems to lean towards supporting the Black Dogs' plan to "live like kings" via restarting the slave trade and initiating a [[WarForFunAndProfit War for Fun and Profit]], with the forces in the Black Fortress and Kyril himself as valuable assets. Contrary to usual depictions of this trope, they are [[SubvertedTrope NOT omniscient]], and [[SubvertedTrope NOT]] [[AllAccordingToPlan everything is according to plan]], namely:
** The end of the war between Celestine and Olga is not accounted for, and;
** Vault did successfully take over the Black Fortress. Little do they know [[spoiler:he was KilledOffForReal by Kyril afterwards, which may or may not put a wrench in their plans.]]

* ''Webcomic/MagIsa'' -- [[http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119800 They appear in almost every intro chapter of MAG-ISA.]] Their faces aren't seen. But they're the one pulling the strings. The BigBad is probably among them lurking in the shadows. They cannot be seen but they see all that is happening.
* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'':
** The heads of Hereti-Corp in meet this way on a regular basis. They also parody this all to hell.
** Though the set-up is different, the Fate Spiders discussing the lines of fate getting tangled and leading to potential disaster very much fulfill the role.

* ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' has one of these in the form of the [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_366.php Creature Council.]] Amongst the various ominous silhouettes, a phoenix [[LampshadeHanging complains]] about being the only source of light.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has had a few moments of this, including Lord Shojo's chat with Miko early on, and the three fiends, although [[BlatantLies their objectives are clear enough.]]
* The Rabbit Council in ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'', up until [[spoiler: Kevin was appointed and he convinced the others to hold meetings in full light]].
* ''Webcomic/MSFHigh'': The newest arc as introduces a circle of students in cloaked hoods talking about Donovan's progress after the Lana arc. Time will tell if they remain as this.

* [[http://xkcd.com/1224/ This]] ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' strip parodies this trope with the Council of 300[[spoiler:...um...299]]. They...decide which videos go viral.

* The Conclave from ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'', which is the closest thing to a government the ''Magical People'' have. It is TrueNeutral in flavor with hints of [[BlueAndOrangeMorality bright colors]]. It actually has rules to stop it from becoming a NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering: Every member has the right to [[AHouseDivided go against their rulings]], but it has dire consequences if that member isn't victorious.
* ''Webcomic/AwfulHospital'': At one point, [[http://www.bogleech.com/awfulhospital/191.html Dr. Phage and a gaggle of unnamed, badly-lit colleagues of his convene to examine Ms. Green's son.]] They don't know what to do with the kid any more than Phage does.
--> '''??? #3:''' Just fill its holes in. Or drill it some holes.

* ''Literature/SixOfCrows'' has the Council of Tides, a group of Grishas that oversee the waters of Kerch, manipulating it to manage the maritime transport inside and outside the capital Ketterdam. Because Kerch is an island that heavily relies on commerce (by extension import and export of goods and of people), this gives them massive political power which rivals and often surpasses the Merchant Council's own rule of Ketterdam. They also haven't been seen in public over 2 decades, and each of its members has an identity so well hidden that Inej and Kaz's best efforts can't gather any data on them. [[spoiler:Even when they do appear, they're hidden by mist, long flowing capes and masks.]]

* The Shadow Board in ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob'' is an example of this trope. They're a council of 5, or sometimes 7 or 10 who are the ones which truly control [[EvilInc Cognito Inc.]] and most other global conspiracies. It's hinted that they uphold TheMasquerade to profit off it.

* The closest thing ''Manga/OnePiece'' has is the Five Elder Stars. They're just a bunch of old men who allegedly run the World Government, but between the Council of Kings handling international affairs, and Sengoku controlling the Navy, there's really no telling what they do. The Five Elder Stars really are the heads of government, with authority over everything and everyone under them, including the Kings and Sengoku. They have the larger goals which include ensuring that the government remains in control and continues to grow, dealing with those that seek to topple the government, and covering up their own history. [[spoiler:And it's later revealed they don't quite have that much authority either, as they secretly bow to ''one'' person by the name of Im, who is the true ruler of the World Government]].

* The nameless Time-Space Administration High Council of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', [[spoiler:who are revealed to be the very founders of the Bureau themselves]], complete with audio-only monoliths they're hidden behind whenever they converse with Regius and [[spoiler:Jail]]. This is subverted a little later on in the series when it is revealed that they don't know nearly as much as they think they do, including [[spoiler:that Jail had snuck a cyborg in disguised as the one who took care of them so that she could kill them at the drop of a hat]]. For once, it's perfectly reasonable that they're shown as monoliths only - [[spoiler:seeing as they're brains in jars]]. It's a ShoutOut to ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.

* The Norwegian Labour Party has a CatchPhrase, referring to the party`s inner circles, and beautifully coining this trope: "'''Some of us have had a talk'''". When ''that'' sentence popped up in a party discussion, people knew some serious shit was about to go down.
* Happens when feedback cycles run too far beyond inside jokes into fully self-feeding content. Like [[http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/1200820.html in terminal cases of]] FanWank. "Some people (i don't know who they are) for some reason have something to say to someone. No, if you don't get what the hell i mean, it's not you!". When something becomes ''full'' of these "somethings", this means it's time to apply something... [[KillItWithFire Something incendiary]].

* ''Series/TrueBlood'' initially plays this straight with The Authority and later subverts it. They're introduced in season 3 as the shadow government of vampire society, and it's stated they hold the real power. The Authority is responsible for appointing and "retiring" (i.e. killing off) vampire monarchs, they dictate the AVL's agenda (as well as the agendas of all vampire leagues across the globe), and they were the ones who decided to reveal the existence of vampires to humans several years before the start of the series. Their true agenda remains a mystery at first, and oftentimes what they claim to want is at odds with how they implement it. For example, they state they want peaceful co-existence between vampires and humans, yet they actively go out of their way to cover up any atrocities vampires committ against humans. They also claim to want equality, but Bill reveals in season 4 that vampires have had a history of infiltrating different human organizations (Catholic Church, Google, Fox News, etc) to carry out their agendas. All the while, their true motives and methods are vageuly defined. Seasons 4 reveals a few things: Part of the reason the Authority holds control is because they've hired spies and [[DoubleAgent Double Agents]] like [[spoiler: Bill]] to infiltrate and "sow the seeds of discord" within the vampire monarchies to keep them at odds with each other. On top of that, the location of the Authority remains hidden from other vampires (most likely to prevent assassination attempts), and they've accumulated massive wealth over the centuries to finance their goals as well as pay individual vampires to work for them. Season 5 eventually shows the audience what the Authority looks like, and it's revealed that the reason they have conflicting agendas is because there's a war going on between two political factions: Mainstreams (who want peaceful coexistence between vampires and humans) and Sanguinistas (religious vampires who want to enslave and farm humans and view mainstreaming as an abomination). The reason they cover up vampire atrocities against humans is because they're trying to maintain good relationships with them since humans outnumber vampires a thousand to one AND have weapons to annihilate them. [[StupidEvil Of course, the Sanguinistas don't care about this, and want to go back to the way things were]]. We also find out that the Authority consists of Chancellors (and a Guardian) who each oversee and represent certain parts of the globe (just as vampire monarchs do for different territories), and that they also act as the vampire church and hold the blood of Lilith (the first vampire to ever exist) to claim political and religious legitimacy.

* ''Literature/{{Replica}}'': TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness was always plotting insignificant things, such as stealing the heroin a piece of fingernail to make sure she's actually the clone. Because, yes, kidnapping some people and releasing them after cutting fingernails is the best plan not to be spotted. In the end, after being defeated for the zillionth time, they ended every action, because some government organization watched them. Duh.

* 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]]

* ''Series/TrueBlood'' plays this straight with The Authority and subverts it. They're introduced in season 3 as the shadow government of vampire society, and it's stated they hold the real power. The Authority is responsible for appointing and "retiring" (i.e. killing off) vampire monarchs, they dictate the AVL's agenda (as well as the agendas of all vampire leagues across the globe), and they were the ones who decided to reveal the existence of vampires to humans several years before the start of the series. Their true agenda remains a mystery initially, and oftentimes what they claim to want is at odds with how they implement it. For example, they state they want peaceful co-existence between vampires and humans, yet they actively go out of their way to cover up any atrocities vampires committ against humans. They also claim to want equality, but Bill reveals in season 4 that vampires have had a history of infiltrating different human organizations (Catholic Church, Google, Fox News, etc) to carry out their agenda. All the while, their true motives and methods are vageuly defined. Seasons 4 reveals a few things: Part of the reason the Authority holds control is because they've hired spies and [[DoubleAgent Double Agents]] like [[spoiler: Bill]] to infiltrate and "sow the seeds of discord" within the vampire monarchies to keep them at odds with each other. On top of that, the location of the Authority remains hidden from other vampires (most likely to prevent assassination attempts), and they've accumulated massive wealth over the centuries to finance their agenda as well as pay individual vampires to work for them. Season 5 eventually shows the audience what the Authority looks like, and it's revealed that the reason they have conflicting agendas is because there's a war going on between two political factions: Mainstreams (who want peaceful coexistence between vampires and humans) and Sanguinistas (religious vampires who want to enslave and farm humans and view mainstreaming as an abomination). The reason they cover up vampire atrocities against humans is because they're trying to maintain good relationships since humans outnumber vampires a thousand to one AND have weapons to annihilate them. [[StupidEvil Of course, the Sanguinistas don't care about this, and want to go back to the way things were]]. We also find out that the Authority consists of Chancellors (and a Guardian) who each oversee and represent certain parts of the globe (just as vampire monarchs oversee different territories), and that they also act as the vampire church and hold the blood of Lilith (the first vampire to ever exist) to claim political and religious legitimacy.

* ''Series/TrueBlood'' plays this straight with The Authority and subverts it. They're introduced in season 3 as the shadow government of vampire society, and it's stated they hold the real power. The Authority is responsible for appointing and "retiring" (i.e. killing off) vampire monarchs, they dictate the AVL's agenda (as well as the agendas of all vampire leagues across the globe), and they were the ones who decided to reveal the existence of vampires to humans several years before the start of the series. Their true agenda remains a mystery however, and oftentimes what they claim to want is at odds with how they implement it. For example, they claim to want peaceful co-existence between vampires and humans, yet they actively go out of their way to cover up any atrocities vampires committ against humans. They also claim to want equality with humans, but Bill reveals in season 4 that vampires have had a history of infiltrating different human organizations (Catholic Church, Google, Fox News, etc) to carry out their agenda, which makes it look like they want a little more than just equality. All the while, their true motives and methods are vageuly defined. Seasons 4 reveals a few things: Part of the reason the Authority holds control is because they've hired spies and [[DoubleAgent Double Agents]] like [[spoiler: Bill]] to infiltrate and "sow the seeds of discord" within the vampire monarchies. On top of that, the location of the Authority remains hidden from other vampires, and they've accumulated massive wealth over the centuries to pay vampires to work for them and to finance their agenda. Season 5 eventually shows the audience what the Authority looks like, and it's revealed that the reason they have conflicting agendas is because there's a political war going on between two factions: Mainstreams (who want peaceful coexistence between vampires and humans) and Sanguinistas (religious vampires who want to enslave and farm humans and see mainstreaming as an abomination). The reason they cover up vampire atrocities against humans is because they're trying to maintain good relationships since the humans outnumber the vampires a thousand to one AND they have weapons that can annihilate vampires. [[StupidEvil Of course, the Sanguinistas don't care and want to go back to the way things were]]. We also find out that the Authority consists of Chancellors who each oversee and represent certain parts of the globe (just as vampire monarchs oversee different territories), and that they also act as the vampire church and hold the blood of Lilith (the first vampire to ever exist) to claim political and religious legitimacy.

* ''Series/TrueBlood'' plays this straight with The Authority and subverts it. They're introduced in season 3 as the shadow government of vampire society, and it's stated they hold the real power. The Authority is responsible for appointing and "retiring" (i.e. killing off) monarchs, they dictate the AVL's agenda (as well as the agendas of all vampire leagues across the globe), and they were the ones who decided to reveal the existence of vampire kind to humans several years before the start of the series. Their true agenda remains a mystery however, and oftentimes what they claim to want is at odds with how they implement it. For example, they claim to want peaceful co-existence between vampires and humans, yet they actively go out of their way to cover up any atrocities vampires committ against humans. They also claim to want equality with humans, but Bill reveals in season 4 that vampires have had a history of infiltrating different human organizations (Catholic Church, Google, Fox News, etc) to carry out their agenda, which makes it look like they want a little more than just equality. All the while, their true motives and methods are vageuly defined. Seasons 4 reveals a few things: Part of the reason the Authority holds control is because they've hired spies and DoubleAgents like [[spoiler: Bill]] to infiltrate and "sow the seeds of discord" within the vampire monarchies. On top of that, the location of the Authority remains hidden from other vampires, and they've accumulated massive wealth over the centuries to pay vampires to work for them and to finance their agenda. Season 5 eventually shows the audience what the Authority looks like, and it's revealed that the reason they have conflicting agendas is because there's a political war going on between two factions: Mainstreams (who want peaceful coexistence between vampires and humans) and Sanguinistas (religious vampires who want to enslave and farm humans and see mainstreaming as an abomination). We also find out that the Authority consists of Chancellors who each oversee and represent certain parts of the globe (just as vampire monarchs oversee different territories), and that they also act as the vampire church and hold the blood of Lilith (the first vampire to ever exist) to claim political and religious legitimacy.

* ''Series/TrueBlood'' plays this straight with The Authority and subverts it. They're introduced in season 3 as the shadow government of vampire society, and it's stated they hold the real power. The Authority is responsible for appointing and "retiring" (i.e. killing off) monarchs, they dictate the AVL's agenda (as well as the agendas of all vampire leagues across the globe), and they were the ones who decided to reveal the existence of vampire kind to humans several years before the start of the series. Their true agenda remains a mystery however, and oftentimes what they claim to want is at odds with how they implement it. For example, they claim to want peaceful co-existence between vampires and humans, yet they actively go out of their way to cover up any atrocities vampires committ against humans. They also claim to want equality with humans, but Bill reveals in season 4 that vampires have had a history of infiltrating different human organizations (Catholic Church, Google, Fox News, etc) to carry out their agenda, which makes it look like they want a little more than just equality. All the while, their true motives and methods are vageuly defined. Seasons 4-5 eventually give some answers: Part of the reason the Authority holds control is because they've hired spies and DoubleAgents like [[spoiler: Bill]] to infiltrate and "sow the seeds of discord" within the vampire monarchies. On top of that, the location of the Authority remains hidden from other vampires