History Wrestling / MinistryOfDarkness

* WhamLine: '''''"IT'S ME [[Wrestling/{{STONECOLDSTEVEAUSTIN}} AUSTIN]]! IT'S ME AUSTIN! IT WAS ME...ALL ALONG, AUSTIN!"'''''

* YouHaveFailedMe: Wrestling/{{Christian}} suffered this from the Undertaker after giving up Stephanie's location. It led to the Brood [[HeelFaceTurn turning against the Ministry]] after the Undertaker tried to force Wrestling/{{Edge}} and Gangrel to flog him themselves. Nobody else ever jumped ship from the Ministry, by the way, before it dissolved.

%%* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Mideon especially.

%%* {{Cult}}

%%* DarkMessiah: The Undertaker.
%%* DiscOneFinalBoss: The Undertaker.

%%* TheDreaded

%%* HijackedByGanon: Or should that be [[{{Pun}} Hijacked by McMahon-on?]]
%%* HollywoodSatanism
%%* HumanSacrifice

%%* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast

%%* OminousFog
%%* OminousLatinChanting
%%* PrimalStance: Mideon.

%%* ReligionOfEvil
%%* TheReveal: Vince [=McMahon=] was the Higher Power.
* {{Satan}}: Vince referred to the Higher Power as an "evil, demonic [=SoB=]". Turns out he was talking about himself.
%%* ScaryBlackMan: Viscera.
%%* SelfMadeOrphan: Wrestling/TheUndertaker.
* SinisterMinister: Wrestling/PaulBearer, when he presided over Undertaker and Stephanie's "wedding".
%%** Wrestling/TheUndertaker himself, obviously.
%%* StalkerWithACrush: Undertaker on Stephanie.

%%* TouchedByVorlons: Mideon, who gains psychic powers.

%%* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Vince [=McMahon=] before TheReveal of him being the Higher Power.

** It's been theorized and/or wondered if Taker raped Stephanie after he kidnapped her. *** When Ken Shammrock saved her, she tearful hugged Vince and said she was fine but we can barely understand her sobbed answers when Vince asks what he did to her. She could've just been roughed up but her later comments indicated if she hadn't been raped yet, it was impending.
*** She says Taker kept touching her and whispering that she was his.
*** During the wedding, Stephanie is screaming & crying the entire time but it doesn't deter anything and her bearing Taker's offspring is mentioned in the wedding vows.
*** Finally, the following ''Raw'', an angry Taker scolds Austin for ruining the wedding, adding that Stephanie was to be his bride and "servant" which drove home the lack of power and consent that would've existed in the relationship -meaning that even if it didn't happen, it was portrayed as the Undertaker's in-universe MoralEventHorizon.

** It's been theorized and/or wondered if Taker raped Stephanie after he kidnapped her. When Shammrock saved her, she tearful hugged Vince and said she was fine but one can barely understand her sobbed answers when Vince asks what he did to her. She could've just been roughed up a bit but her later comments indicated if she hadn't been raped yet, it was impending. She says Taker kept touching her amd whispering that she was his and couldn't do anything about it. When Paul Bearer read their vows during the wedding, Stephanie bearing Taker's offspring is mentioned. Finally, the following ''Raw'', an angry Taker scolds Austin for ruining the wedding and said that Stephanie was to be his bride and "servant", which drove home the lack of power and consent that would've existed in the relationship, meaning that even if it didn't happen, it was portrayed as the Undertaker's in-universe MoralEventHorizon.
** A more questionable case is Ryan Shamrock, whom the Ministry kidnapped, sacrificed, and held captive for a week. Lawler pointedly asks JR what they may have been doing to her all week which JR said he didn't want to think about. There's a point where Taker refers to her as a slut while grabbing her hair & saying it's her fault what happens to Ken. He also taunted Ken earlier that night, saying that Ryan is in the boiler room and from what Viscera told him, she's enjoyed everything that's happened to her.

** A more questionable case is Ryan Shamrock, whom the Ministry kidnapped, sacrificed, and held captive for a week. Lawler pointedly asks JR what they may have been doing to her all week which JR said he didn't want to think about. And at 1 point, Taker grabbed her by the hair while calling her a slut.

* AscendedExtra: A few of the Ministry's {{Mooks}} went on to become stars in their own right, such as Wrestling/{{Edge}}, Wrestling/{{J|ohnBradshawLayfield}}BL, and Wrestling/{{Christian}}.

* BigBadDuumvirate: At first, Shane and Undertaker. At least it seemed this way until TheReveal, where it turned out they were CoDragons to Wrestling/VinceMcMahon.
** Although, one could've called it a ''[[RuleOfThree tri]]''[[RuleofThree umvirate]] by factoring in Triple H, no pun intended. His role in entrances, promos, and fights, not to mention his ambitions, seemingly mirrored Undertaker's.
* BigDamnHeroes: Stone Cold [[InvincibleHero somehow]] rescuing Stephanie despite being outnumbered.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Mideon especially.
* CardCarryingVillain: The Undertaker was this in spades during this era. Right before TheReveal of the Higher Power, Wrestling/VinceMcMahon (via titantron) demanded that the "evil demonic SOB show his face to the world now". Right after this [[spoiler:Vince revealed himself to be the Higher Power in an over-the-top villainous, gloating manner. So he basically called himself evil and demonic and was proud of it.]]

* {{Cult}}
* DamselInDistress: Undertaker was fond of kidnapping women during this era, such as Ryan Shamrock[[note]]The Ken Shamrock's [[UnrelatedBrothers "sister"]][[/note]] and Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon. Mideon was practically a {{Gender Flip}}ped example too until he was sacrificed.

* DarkMessiah: The Undertaker.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: The Undertaker.

* TheDreaded

** GambitRoulette: The reveal of this makes a lot of the logic behind the plan really suspect.

* HijackedByGanon: Or should that be [[{{Pun}} Hijacked by McMahon-on?]]
* HollywoodSatanism
* HumanSacrifice

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast

* OminousFog
* OminousLatinChanting
* PrimalStance: Mideon.
* ReligionOfEvil
* TheReveal: Vince [=McMahon=] was the Higher Power.
* {{Satan}}: Vince referred to the Higher Power as an "evil, demonic [=SoB=]". Turns out he was talking about himself
* ScaryBlackMan: Viscera.
* SelfMadeOrphan: Wrestling/TheUndertaker.
* SinisterMinister: Wrestling/TheUndertaker, obviously.
** Also, Wrestling/PaulBearer when he presided over Undertaker and Stephanie's "wedding".
* StalkerWithACrush: Undertaker on Stephanie.

* TouchedByVorlons: Mideon, who gains psychic powers.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Vince [=McMahon=] before TheReveal of him being the Higher Power.

Undertaker's ultimate opinion of the gimmick when interviewed on his "This is My Yard" DVD was that, while he enjoyed the Ministry of Darkness and was happy that it brought lesser known wrestlers like Wrestling/{{Edge}}, Wrestling/{{Christian}} and Bradshaw into the spotlight, he regarded the Corporate Ministry angle as a low point in his career because his character was a part of something "not derived from The Undertaker".
--------
!!!"Accept the Tropes of Darkness as your saviors":

* DarkerAndEdgier
* DarkIsEvil

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYYjoASNXB8&feature=related During the abduction of Stephanie]] cameraman apparently decided to make his holy mission to invoke this trope and make it looks like Undertaker is receiving a blowjob on the ring.

* YouHaveFailedMe: Wrestling/{{Christian}} suffered this from the Undertaker after giving up Stephanie's location. It led to the Brood [[HeelFaceTurn turning against the Ministry]] after the Undertaker tried to force Wrestling/{{Edge}} and Gangrel to flog him themselves. Nobody else ever jumped ship from the Ministry, by the way, before it dissolved.

->-- '''Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness entrance theme'''

The '''Ministry of Darkness''' was a PowerStable in Wrestling/{{WWE}} during the Wrestling/AttitudeEra. It was a cult led by Wrestling/TheUndertaker. The cult abducted people and perform sinister "rituals" on them, and turned a few wrestlers into new followers.

It was then revealed that The Undertaker's goal was to take control of the WWF from Wrestling/VinceMcMahon, [[EvilVersusEvil starting a feud with]] Wrestling/TheCorporation, as well as reveal that he was taking orders from a [[TheManBehindTheMan "Higher Power"]]. The Ministry then threatened Vince's daughter Wrestling/{{Stephanie|McMahon}}, prompting Vince to go into PapaWolf mode and eventually a HeelFaceTurn. The Ministry then abducted Stephanie and The Undertaker [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty attempted to marry her]], but [[BigDamnHeroes this was thwarted by]] Vince's own ArchEnemy, Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin. After this it was revealed that Vince's son Shane (who had taken over the Corporation) was in cahoots with The Undertaker the whole time, and the Corporation merged with the Ministry to become the Corporate Ministry. It was then finally revealed that the "Higher Power" who masterminded the whole thing was none other than....... Vince [=McMahon=], and [[HijackedByGanon it was all part of a plan]] to get the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWF World Heavyweight Title]] off of Austin once more. [[note]] Vince wasn't planned from the beginning to be the Higher Power, as should be obvious. The ShockingSwerve was due to no one else really being able to fill the role at the time ''but'' Vince. One possibility was to have Wrestling/MickFoley be the Higher Power, but he backed out.[[/note]]

The Ministry collapsed after Vince was "banished" from the WWF (he came back), though a few members continued to follow the Undertaker until he took time off to heal injuries, then came back with his Biker gimmick. The Brood ultimately went their separate ways to varying degrees of success, and the Acolytes continued to exist as a tag team in the form of the APA (Acolyte Protection Agency) for a few more years. However, the group briefly resurfaced in 2004, when former member Bradshaw (now called Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield with a {{Rich B|itch}}astard gimmick) hired Gangrel and Viscera to attack the Undertaker. They were simply known as The Ministry. They didn't last long at all, as The Undertaker took both of them out quickly, though Viscera did linger on for a time before changing his gimmick. Undertaker referenced the gimmick again a couple weeks later by [[UnwillingSuspension making a sacrifice of Orlando Jordan on his symbol]] to play mind games with JBL.

* AscendedExtra: A few of the Ministry's Mooks went on to become stars in their own right, such as Wrestling/{{Edge}}, Wrestling/{{J|ohnBradshawLayfield}}BL, and Wrestling/{{Christian}}.
* BecomingTheMask[=/=]BreakingTheFourthWall: Wrestling/KenShamrock accused The Undertaker of letting his character take over who he really was, referring to him by his real name, Mark, in order to try to get him to come back down to Earth.
* BigBad: [[spoiler:Vince [=McMahon=], [[HijackedByGanon aka The Higher Power]].]]
** BiggerBad: Vince originally masterminded everything behind the scenes before revealing himself and playing the BigBad role directly.
* BigBadDuumvirate: At first, Shane and Undertaker. At least it seemed this way until [[spoiler: TheReveal]].
** [[spoiler:CoDragons: To Wrestling/VinceMcMahon.]]

* ChewingTheScenery: [[spoiler: Vince [=McMahon=]]] [[HijackedbyGanon revealing himself as the Higher Power]] is one of the most famous examples in wrestling.
-->[[spoiler:'''Vince [=McMahon=]]]:''' IT'S ME, AUSTIN!!!! IT'S ME, AUSTIN!!!! IT WAS ME ''ALL ALONG'', AUSTIN!!!!
** Followed by Wrestling/JimRoss's PrecisionFStrike:
--->'''Jim Ross:''' Oh, son of a bitch!
* ComplexityAddiction / DisproportionateRetribution: ''The whole reason this page in pro wrestling history exists'' is because [[spoiler:Wrestling/VinceMcMahon completely fell off his rocker in his disdain for Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin]]. The ridiculousness of this is highlighted even more when [[spoiler:Wrestling/TripleH, one of Vince's top minions during this whole scheme, [[{{Kayfabe}} took Austin out for months]] by getting Wrestling/{{Rikishi}} to run him over less than half a year later]].

* TheDragon: Undertaker was [[DemotedToDragon demoted to this]] in the Corporate Ministry.
** Although it could be argued that the Higher Power [[spoiler:(aka Vince [=McMahon=])]] was the BiggerBad, making Taker the BigBad all along.
*** At the beginning of the storyline, Vince was the BiggerBad behind Taker's BigBad since he gave Taker orders behind-the-scenes. However when Vince revealed himself he played the BigBad role directly while Taker played TheDragon.

* FatBastard: Paul Bearer, of course.

* {{Hijacked by|Ganon}} Wrestling/VinceMcMahon
** [[{{Pun}} Hijacked by McMahon-on?]]

* LightIsNotGood: The Brood, who were blonde [[Film/TheLostBoys Lost Boys-inspired]] vampires in white clothing, in stark contrast with the [[DarkIsEvil all black garb of the rest of the ministry]]. [[spoiler: Later on subverted in that The Brood defected from the group, but they were still blood sucking vampires.]]

* [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal Mistreatment-Induced]] MookFaceTurn: The Brood defected from the Ministry of Darkness for the sake of Wrestling/{{Christian}}, whom Wrestling/{{Edge}} and Gangrel were ordered to help nail to the "symbol" after he [[YouHaveFailedMe failed]] Undertaker.

--> "Where to, Stephanie? [[EvilLaugh Ahahaha!]]"

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Vince [=McMahon=]]] was the Higher Power.
* {{Satan}}[=/=]GodOfEvil: Vince [=McMahon=] as the Higher Power

* {{Take Over the W|orld}}WF: Wrestling/TheUndertaker revealed that his goal was to take control of the WWF from Vince [=McMahon=] ([[spoiler:though it was subverted when it was revealed Vince himself was the Higher Power, whose REAL goal was to get the title off of Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin]]).

* UnwillingSuspension: Their sacrifices usually consisted of tying someone to an Undertaker symbol and hanging them from the rafters.
** The Undertaker also "hung" the Wrestling/BigBossman at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} 15'', at the end of a Hell in the Cell match that most people found very disappointing. Of course, [[UnexplainedRecovery he got better]], and in fact nobody ever mentioned it again.
* VillainousBreakdown: Vince [=McMahon=] after Wrestling/PaulBearer presented him with a teddy bear that was stolen from Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon's bedroom, and Undertaker set it on fire. [[spoiler: This turned out to be an act, though.]]
** The whole Higher Power angle is basically one massive VillainousBreakdown by [[spoiler: Vince [=McMahon=], as his hatred of Austin drove him completely insane to the point he formed an evil cult from behind the scenes with himself as the [[TheManBehindTheMan Higher Power]] that they worshiped and had them stalk and kidnap his own daughter as part of the plan to get revenge on Austin. It reached its peak during TheReveal, SlasherSmile and all.]]
* VillainTeamUp: With their former enemies Wrestling/TheCorporation, probably has to do with the fact that [[spoiler:both {{Power Stable}}s were controlled by Vince [=McMahon=] behind the scenes]].
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: [[spoiler: Vince [=McMahon=] before TheReveal of him being the Higher Power.]]

* TheManBehindTheMan: The Undertaker's "Higher Power" who turns out to be [[spoiler:[[Vince [=McMahon=]]]].

* VillainousBreakdown: Vince [=McMahon=] after Wrestling/PaulBearer presented him with a teddy bear that was stolen from StephanieMcMahon's bedroom, and Undertaker set it on fire. [[spoiler: This turned out to be an act, though.]]

-->[[spoiler:'''Vince {=McMahon=]]]:''' IT'S ME, AUSTIN!!!! IT'S ME, AUSTIN!!!! IT WAS ME ''ALL ALONG'', AUSTIN!!!!

* ChewingTheScenery: [[spoiler: Vince [=McMahon=]]] [[HijackedbyGanon revealing himself as the Higher Power]] is one of the most famous examples in wrestling. "IT'S ME AUSTIN!!!! IT'S ME AUSTIN!!!! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG AUSTIN!!!!"

--> '''JIM ROSS''': "Oh, son of a bitch!"

** The whole Higher Power angle is basically one massive VillainousBreakdown by [[spoiler: Vince [=McMahon=], as his hatred of Austin drove him completely insane to the point he formed an evil cult from behind the scenes with himself as the [[Higher Power]] that they worshiped and had them stalk and kidnap his own daughter as part of the plan to get revenge on Austin. It reached its peak during TheReveal, SlasherSmile and all.]]

* ChewingTheScenery: [[spoiler: Vince [=McMahon=]]] [[HijackedbyGanon revealing himself as the Higher Power]] is one of the most famous examples in wrestling. "IT'S ME AUSTIN!!!! IT'S ME AUSTIN!!!! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG AUSTIN!!!!"]]

->'''—Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness entrance theme'''

* LightIsNotGood: The Brood, who were {{blond|GuysAreEvil}}e [[Film/TheLostBoys Lost Boys-inspired]] vampires in white clothing, in stark contrast with the [[DarkIsEvil all black garb of the rest of the ministry]]. [[spoiler: Later on subverted in that The Brood defected from the group, but they were still blood sucking vampires.]]

* BlondGuysAreEvil: The Brood.

It was then revealed that The Undertaker's goal was to take control of the WWF from Wrestling/VinceMcMahon, [[EvilVersusEvil starting a feud with]] Wrestling/TheCorporation, as well as reveal that he was taking orders from a [[TheManBehindTheMan "Higher Power"]]. The Ministry then threatened Vince's daughter Wrestling/{{Stephanie|McMahon}}, prompting Vince to go into PapaWolf mode and eventually a HeelFaceTurn. The Ministry then abducted Stephanie and The Undertaker [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty attempted to marry her]], but [[BigDamnHeroes this was thwarted by]] Vince's own ArchEnemy, Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin. After this it was revealed that Vince's son Shane (who had taken over the Corporation) was in cahoots with The Undertaker the whole time, and the Corporation merged with the Ministry to become the Corporate Ministry. It was then finally revealed that the "Higher Power" who masterminded the whole thing was none other than....... Vince [=McMahon=], and [[HijackedByGanon it was all part of a plan to get the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWF World Heavyweight Title]] off of Austin once more]]. [[note]] Vince wasn't planned from the beginning to be the Higher Power, as should be obvious. The ShockingSwerve was due to no one else really being able to fill the role at the time ''but'' Vince. One possibility was to have Wrestling/MickFoley be the Higher Power, but he backed out.[[/note]]

* EvilOverlord: The Undertaker and his Higher Power, [[spoiler:Vince [=McMahon=]]]].

* BecomingTheMask: Wrestling/KenShamrock accused The Undertaker of letting his character take over who he really was, referring to him by his real name, Mark, in order to try to get him to come back down to Earth.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Wrestling/MickFoley was supposedly intended to have been the original Higher Power, but backed out at the last minute, leading to the nonsensical ShockingSwerve. It was Mick Foley himself who declined, feeling he was too injured to do a feud with Austin justice. Not to mention he was massively over as a goofy yet badass face and didn't even have a reason to feud with Austin and had been a major enemy of Undertaker for years, so it didn't make sense that WWE thought he would have been a choice for the role.
** Also rumored, [[Wrestling/JakeRoberts Jake "The Snake" Roberts]]. This was briefly considered, but declined - Roberts wasn't even in WWE at the time, nor would they have hired him due to his personal problems (later that year he had his infamous "You wanna play 21?" incident).
** One definite rumor making the rounds at the time was that it would be Stephanie [=McMahon=]. There's no evidence this was ever more than an internet rumor, though.