| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/horseshoeeffect.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:Notice that communism and fascism are closer to each other than both of them are to the center.]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | This trope is when two groups who are ostensibly ideologically opposed to each other [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters actually have a lot of ideology in common]]. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Conventional political theory holds that all political ideologies sit on a linear spectrum from left to right: communism on the far left, fascism on the far right, and everything else somewhere in between. This theory implies that the further away an ideology is from the centre, the more different it is from a corresponding ideology on the opposite side of the spectrum: centre-left and centre-right political parties are distinct but still fairly similar, but communist and fascist political parties are ''dramatically'' different from one another, as they sit on opposite extremes of the spectrum. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | In the case of the horseshoe effect, however, this is not so. Rather than a linear spectrum from left to right, political ideologies all sit on a curved, horseshoe-shaped arc, in which the two extremes of the spectrum are closer to each other than they are to the centre of the spectrum, and they have less "space" between them than less-extreme points do (if this sounds like a MindScrew, [[MindScrewdriver look at the page image again]]). This means that the more radical and extreme an individual's political beliefs get, the more they come to resemble the beliefs of individuals on the "opposite" end of the political spectrum. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | 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]] 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.''). |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Although the ideologies of the two governments in the example above are ''ostensibly'' on opposite ends of the political spectrum (such that both states would consider one another mortal enemies), in terms of practical ''de facto'' policies, they end up becoming rather similar. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | 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 some [[ANaziByAnyOtherName far-right]] [[TheKlan white supremacist groups]] and some [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny far-left]] [[MalcolmXerox black supremacist groups]] have been known to collaborate with one another in order to achieve common goals (segregation, for example).[[note]] For example, the American Nazi Party, the Ku Klux Klan, and White Aryan Resistance have tried to establish a working relationship with the Nation of Islam (NOI) based on their shared antisemitism and opposition to the LGBTQ+ community and committment to racial separation. Malcolm X revealed one such attempted collaboration after renouncing and denouncing the NOI.[[/note]] |
| 15 | |
| 16 | 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. There's also a fair degree of overlap with BothSidesHaveAPoint; in this case, both sides don't realize they're making the ''same'' point. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | This trope can also lead people to misguidedly believe in the GoldenMeanFallacy, wherein the correct solution to a problem is assumed to be the middle of two extremes. Among political science circles, this trope can be criticised on the grounds that it presents centrist liberalism as the only option for society to take, which can end up being nothing more than calling for the status quo. Mentioning this trope is also something of a BerserkButton for individuals on either end of the political spectrum, who often resent the suggestion that they have anything ideologically in common with the individuals on the opposite end (as testament to this, [[SelfDemonstratingArticle look no further]] than the numerous Administrivia/{{Justifying Edit}}s this page has undergone since its launch). And also, radicals often have their own versions of the Horseshoe Effect where they claim [[UnwittingPawn that centrists serve to only bolster the side they oppose and are most prone to supporting and being swayed by them]] This is often [[https://www.theweek.co.uk/103810/what-is-fish-hook-theory called]] the [[https://psmag.com/social-justice/an-end-to-horseshoe-theory Fish Hook Effect]] (however, those who are against this idea claim that it's a closed-minded reaction against Horseshoe Theory fueled by bad-faith assumptions & an "if you're not with us, you're against us" mentality). Best practice is not to take the existence of this trope as hard-and-fast evidence that opposing political groups or governments ''always'' end up ideologically similar to each other; after all, it's the Horseshoe ''Effect'', not the Horseshoe ''Law''. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Compare MirroringFactions, which is likely to use this trope. If someone makes this realization in story, they may point it out with a NotSoDifferentRemark. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Compare MirrorCharacter, in which two characters are much more similar than they might appear. Can be related to EnemyMine, wherein two enemies nevertheless realise they have a common goal and decide to work together to achieve it. Conversely, it can be related to YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters, when enemies ''don't'' realise they have a lot in common. It may also explain why people [[CommieNazis tend to lump Communists and Nazis together in the popular imagination]]. See also VillainHasAPoint and JerkassHasAPoint, when characters the heroes and the author represent negatively nevertheless are in the right for once (and StrawmanHasAPoint, when this happens unintentionally). For more information, see [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory this article]] on That Other Wiki. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | !!Note: This page lists examples of works in which two ideologically opposed groups are ''presented'' as having beliefs in common. This page does not pass judgement on whether that presentation is fair, charitable or justified. If you think that a particular presentation is unfair or uncharitable, this page is [[Administrivia/JustifyingEdit not the place to argue the point]]. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | [[noreallife]] |
| 27 | ---- |
| 28 | !!Examples: |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 31 | |
| 32 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 33 | * The ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise really likes this trope. |
| 34 | ** In ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'', the Titans were formed as an elite unit meant to wipe out the [[PuttingOnTheReich remnants of the Principality of Zeon]]. Seems straightforward enough, except that the Titans then loop around to the same kind of fascist supremacists as the Zeons, committing identical atrocities right down to using the same illegal nerve gas. This is also the Watsonian explanation for recycling Zeon mecha designs (the actual reason, of course, being that audiences want to watch a Gundam cut up Zakus). |
| 35 | ** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack'', Char forms his Neo Zeon as a direct response to the Principality of Zeon in order to bring the Zeonic movement closer to his father's original ideals, which he claims the Zabi Family and the Principality perverted. However, Char is willing to use the exact same ColonyDrop tactics the Zabis did to fulfill his father's vision, to an arguably far worse degree since Char wants to render the Earth permanently uninhabitable so humanity will be forced to migrate into space. There's also the fact that Char is implied to [[StrawHypocrite not actually buy into his own rhetoric]] and to just be using his father's rhetoric for his own ends, which makes him [[MirrorCharacter not too dissimilar]] to Gihren Zabi, who also used Zeon Zum Deikun's rhetoric as cover for his own takeover of Earth. |
| 36 | ** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'': On one end you've got ZAFT, a paramilitary organization formed in response to the Earth Alliance's aggression which preaches the supremacy of [[DesignerBabies Coordinators]] and seeks to wipe out all [[{{Muggles}} Naturals]]. On the other end you've got Blue Cosmos, an organization which [[MugglePower preaches the supremacy of Naturals]] and seeks to wipe out all Coordinators. It's worth noting that both ZAFT and Blue Cosmos are [[{{Expy}} stand-ins]] for Zeon and the Titans respectively. |
| 37 | ** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE'': The Vagan are essentially Zeon ON MARS as opposed to in colonies and are a totalitarian movement which routinely commits atrocities against the civilians of the Earth Federation in the name of annexing the Earth for their own kind. This leads to a hardened Flit Asuno vowing to exterminate the Vagan once he rises to power in the Earth Federal Forces, viewing it as the only way to end the conflict. |
| 38 | [[/folder]] |
| 39 | |
| 40 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 41 | * ''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 irony of "fascists allied to leftists" is lampshaded. |
| 42 | * ''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 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. |
| 43 | * ''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. |
| 44 | * ''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. |
| 45 | * ''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. |
| 46 | [[/folder]] |
| 47 | |
| 48 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 49 | * 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 do "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]]. |
| 50 | * ''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. |
| 51 | |
| 52 | [[/folder]] |
| 53 | |
| 54 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 55 | * ''Literature/DonCamillo'': Don Camillo and Peppone. One's the town's priest ("reactionary priest" the other side says), the other is the town's communist mayor. At the end of the day, both work for the common good of the village, favor helping the poor and downtrodden and oppose the selfish landowners. |
| 56 | * ''Film/TheEmperorOfParis'': Eugene Vidocq's gang brings together people with monarchist, republican, and Bonapartist backgrounds who've all somehow ended up in the Paris underworld. It's understandable, since whatever their origins, all of them are now criminals with different priorities. However, Joseph Fouché, the secret police chief who comes to rely more and more on Vidocq, darkly suggests that Napoleon's whole French Empire runs on the same principle: |
| 57 | -->'''Fouché''': Napoleon's strength is his ability to make all these people work together: Bonapartists, monarchists, republicans. Without him, we would still be fighting a civil war. ... It's also what I like about you. You have a Vendean trying to recover his property, an old republican drunkard, a Bonapartist whore, and an old convict who desperately wants to buy back his place in society. I like your vision of France very much, Vidocq. |
| 58 | * In ''Film/InherentVice'', Tariq Khalil - a member of ''The Black Geurrilla Family'' prison gang - has struck up a friendship with Glen Charlock of the white supremacist ''Aryan Brotherhood'' because "...we found we share some of the similar opinions about the U.S. government". |
| 59 | * ''Franchise/JamesBond'': |
| 60 | ** [[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." |
| 61 | ** Despite its roots in the Cold War, the 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. |
| 62 | ** For their part, the communist villains, despite their ideology, are often quite prone to corruption and self-enrichment, behaving much like the stereotype of the capitalists they allegedly hate. Lampshaded in ''Film/DieAnotherDay'': |
| 63 | --->'''James Bond''': Few men have the guts to trade in conflict diamonds since the UN embargo. |
| 64 | --->'''Colonel Moon''': I know all about the UN. I studied at Oxford and Harvard. Took a [[MajoredInWesternHypocrisy major in Western hypocrisy]]. |
| 65 | --->'''James Bond''': From your modest little collection of cars, I would never have guessed. |
| 66 | ** 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. |
| 67 | * ''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. |
| 68 | * ''Film/TheMaskOfZorro'' crosses this with FullCircleRevolution. |
| 69 | ** 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. |
| 70 | ** 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.]] |
| 71 | * Franchise/MonsterVerse: |
| 72 | ** Mostly of the hostile [[{{Kaiju}} Titans]] threaten to create ecosystem-destroying conditions on a regional, continental or global scale if they win, speculated by Monarch to be said Titans HostileTerraforming the environment to their liking. However, amongst the BigBad Titans that have had these goals, the [=MUTOs=] in ''Film/Godzilla2014'' are prehistoric creatures which are overall [[NonMaliciousMonster Non-Malicious Monsters]] who merely seek to survive and reproduce according to their instincts -- Ghidorah in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' by contrast, is [[spoiler:extraterrestrial in origin]] and is an unnaturally-{{sadist}}ic OmnicidalManiac, and the {{novelization}}s suggest Ghidorah is attempting to create an ecosphere-destroying extinction event not so much out of environmental necessity as out of malice and hatred for all other life. |
| 73 | ** If there's just two things that all the human {{Contrasting Sequel Antagonist}}s of every film have in common besides being {{Knight Templar}}s, it's these: they don't care how many people have to die to see their plans through, and they're too reckless to care that their actions risk causing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. |
| 74 | * ''Film/{{The Net|2016}}'': The story involves Chul-woo, a humble North Korean fisherman who accidentally defects to the South when his fishing boat his caught by the current, only to be arrested as a spy. The security services of North and South Korea are indistinguishable from each other in behavior. They both arrest Chul-woo, handcuff him, and take him to little interrogation rooms where he is beaten. Both interrogators demand that Chul-woo write down his story, multiple times. |
| 75 | * ''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. |
| 76 | * ''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.]] |
| 77 | * ''[[{{Literature/Valis}} Radio Free Albemuth]]'': In the film, when Nicholas tells Phil that Fremont is a secret Communist, the latter objects that he's a fascist, while Nick says there's no real difference in practice. Fremont in any case is also ''pretending'' to be a right-wing anti-communist, so it's not surprising he'd be called a fascist. Both also used very similar tactics. |
| 78 | * ''Film/WildWildWest'': The "Loveless Alliance" consists of Arliss Loveless and the neo-Confederate remnant under his command, plus the governments of Britain, Spain, France, and Mexico (i.e. every foreign power that once had land in what is now the United States), plus one vaguely defined Native American faction. ... For context, Mexico by this point was a liberal republic, while France was a colonial empire which had very recently tried to impose a conservative monarchical puppet state on Mexico, with the brutal war between both sides only concluding three years before the time of the movie. The alliance also means that the Native American faction trying to recover some land for itself is working alongside three colonial empires who were still in the process of expanding their territory and subjugating various natives (Mexico's record on that front is also less than ideal, but it did have a Native chief of state at the time). All of this is justified by the fact the purpose of the alliance is to destroy and split up the United States amongst its members, an ''enormous'' prize with more than enough land and resources to satisfy everyone... at least for the moment. It also doesn't hurt that despite its name, the "alliance" largely leaves all the work to Loveless, his minions, and his mechanized inventions (even his Confederates get thrown away as soon as their usefulness to him ends). The other powers' involvement is limited to financing him, so it's not like the war requires ordinary French and Mexican soldiers to get along. |
| 79 | * ''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. |
| 80 | * ''Film/YouDontMessWithTheZohan'': The racist hillbillies who [[spoiler:Walbridge hires to force the Middle Eastern immigrants out of their property]] decide to use terrorist attacks, with the main racist [[spoiler:willing to suicide bomb himself out of sheer hatred]]. |
| 81 | [[/folder]] |
| 82 | |
| 83 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 84 | * A recurring theme in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'': |
| 85 | ** The ideology of the totalitarian Party is called Ingsoc (English Socialism), and yet the society it governs has a great deal in common with far-right fascist dictatorships, with a strictly regimented class system based upon a subservient working class and a hierarchical, dictatorial system of rule. [[ShowWithinAShow Goldstein's book]], which describes the society, puts it rather baldly: |
| 86 | -->''...the Party rejects and vilifies every principle for which the Socialist movement originally stood, and it chooses to do this in the name of Socialism.''[[note]]In non-fiction writings, Orwell defined Fascism as "Socialism shorn of all its virtues''[[/note]] |
| 87 | ** The premise of the book postulates an ongoing ForeverWar between three superpowers (Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia), the political ideologies of which are, respectively, Ingsoc, Neo-Bolshevism and Obliteration of the Self. To the extent that the citizens of each superpower are aware of the other superpowers' political ideologies, they deride them as monstrous outrages upon common sense. However, as Goldstein notes, the three ideologies are functionally indistinguishable, as are the societies they support. |
| 88 | * 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 socialist, albeit one that was highly critical of the Soviet Union and highly supportive of democracy. |
| 89 | * Parodied in ''Literature/AConfederacyOfDunces'': |
| 90 | ** Most obviously, this appears when Myrna sends Ignatius a letter describing a folk singer who gave her a pamphlet detailing a conspiracy theory that the Pope was planning to amass a nuclear armory. She assumed that the folk singer was a leftist anti-religious civil rights activist, and only later realized that the pamphlet was actually published by the notoriously anti-Catholic far-right UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan. |
| 91 | ** Less obviously, Ignatius and Myrna themselves are examples. Theoretically, Myrna is a Jewish far-left proto-hippie[[note]]Proto-hippie because the book is set in 1963, when hippies weren't really a thing yet[[/note]] who's all for socialism and thinks sex will solve everything, while Ignatius is an Irish Catholic far-right ''avant-la-lettre'' [[http://www.rationalwiki.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment neoreactionary]] who believes in medieval-style monarchy and holds very conservative beliefs about sex (so conservative that even the contemporary Catholic Church seems liberal by comparison). Under the surface, however, their political views lead them to rather similar critiques of their common enemies (particularly [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant conventional White Protestants]]), and Ignatius and Myrna's political views are basically a product of their difficult relationships with the Establishment. In other words, their obvious [[OppositesAttract mutual attraction]] (despite Ignatius' protestations to the contrary) is clearly less strange than it might appear at first. |
| 92 | * Creator/FrederickForsyth occasionally indulges in this: |
| 93 | ** ''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.]] |
| 94 | ** ''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: |
| 95 | --->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. |
| 96 | * Played to a disturbing degree in ''Literature/FearLoathingAndGumboOnTheCampaignTrailSeventyTwo'': |
| 97 | ** In the first part of the story we see the rise of Mao Yuanxin, Mao Zedong's sociopathic nephew, who pushes an ''extreme'' left-wing ideology that rejects Soviet imperialism, yet copies Stalinist policies, including the mass murder and enslavement of millions of people, and the purging of many leadership roles. |
| 98 | ** In the second part of the story, [[spoiler:Donald Rumsfeld]] becomes President and pushes strict anti-Communist, pro-capitalist policies, but part of this platform includes [[spoiler:incarceration of political dissidents in asylums, censorship of the media, seizing of intellectual property, restrictions on interstate travel, and the creation of deranged paramilitaries]]. |
| 99 | ** [[spoiler:After Rumsfeld is overthrown, the Christian Values party comes to power in America to impose their version of Evangelical Christianity. Like with the Lesser Mao, they eventually nuke parts of their own country, obliterate America's most valuable historical monuments, and have slaughtered millions of Americans.]] |
| 100 | ** In a more benign example, Ron Dellums (the far-left African American congressman) and George Wallace (the Dixiecrat Governor of Alabama) both campaign for the Democratic nomination. Despite being different, they both touch upon themes of political corruption and bringing power back to the people. [[spoiler:Eventually Dellums endorses Wallace, and later serves in Wallace's cabinet once elected.]] |
| 101 | ** In another benign example Libertarian Party gains a massive political following in the American West, promising economic liberalism and individualistic freedom, [[spoiler:but by the late 1980s, they've created a series of collective communities, called Bozeman communes across the Midwest. Rumsfeld even sees them as Communists]]. |
| 102 | * ''Literature/TheHandmaidsTale'': |
| 103 | ** The book depicts radical feminists as having worked together with far-right religious fundamentalists on at least some issues that helped lead to the foundation of the theocratic state of Gilead (after which, the far-right fundamentalists turned around and slaughtered their former allies). Specifically, both had a similar disdain for things such as pornography and prostitution, among other issues. |
| 104 | ** The earliest mentions and descriptions of Offred's mother make it sound like Offred was raised in a religious household, what with Offred mentioning that she watched ultra-conservative FemaleMisogynist preacher Serena Joy on TV as a child, or her mother's distaste for pornography and delight in burning it. As we later find out, Offred's mother was on the radical feminist side. |
| 105 | * ''Franchise/HarryPotter'': |
| 106 | ** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'': Hermione starts a campaign to give House Elves freedom from servitude and human wages upon finding out that they're a ServantRace who work without payment. Unfortunately for Hermione, she refuses to accept that House Elves have a [[BlueAndOrangeMorality different view of the world]], actually like serving wizards, and don't see the difference between freedom and being sacked in disgrace. Despite claiming that she’s the only one who respects House Elves and wants what’s best for them, the fact that [[CondescendingCompassion Hermione patronizes them by calling "brainwashed and uneducated"]] and [[UnderestimatingIntelligence thinks they can be easily tricked into freeing themselves]] only proves that Hermione also looks down on them, just from the opposite direction. |
| 107 | ** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'': Umbridge pursues [[HangingJudge an insanely harsh and fundamentalist interpretation of law and order]]. [[KnightTemplar Despite her self-proclaimed virtue, she is]] ''[[KnightTemplar incredibly]]'' [[KnightTemplar guilty of numerous sins while trying to carry out "the Ministry’s work", including pride.]] By the end of the novel [[spoiler:she goes so far as to attempt to use the [[AgonyBeam Cruciatus Curse]] on Harry, becoming the very “naughty person” she claimed to oppose, only not following through because Hermione interrupts her]]. |
| 108 | * In the ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'' prequel ''Diuturnity's Dawn'', a [[AbsoluteXenophobe human-supremacist]] group has no problem [[EnemyMine teaming up]] with a [[InsectoidAliens thranx]]-supremacist group to plan a terrorist attack, since they share a mutual hatred, a total disregard for their own people's lives, and an opposition to the formation of TheFederation, and can agree to table the question of whose species is superior. |
| 109 | * ''Literature/JackRyan'': Tom Clancy's novels don't ''usually'' indulge in this, and he especially have no patience for this trope being invoked to equate the two sides of UsefulNotes/TheColdWar. There are times, however: |
| 110 | ** ''Literature/PatriotGames'' is set against the backdrop of UsefulNotes/TheTroubles. While all of the villains featured are on the Catholic/Republican side, none of the CIA or FBI personnel in the book have anything nicer to say about their Protestant/Loyalist enemies, viewing both sides as equally repellent collections of bigots and fanatics. The icing on the cake is that even their British counterparts seem to feel this way; it's stated repeatedly that outside of Northern Ireland, even and especially in the British Army, the sentiment of "let's just leave and let the two crazies sort it out" is a very popular one. |
| 111 | ** Communists are the most common villains in the series. However, similar to the James Bond example above, a lot of them are quite prone to behaving in exactly the ways they attribute to their right-wing enemies, a hypocrisy the author is happy to point out. The ruling classes of communist nations tend to be shot through with corrupt opportunists who constantly abuse their power to satisfy their own greed. Racism is also shown to be a problem endemic throughout communist regimes and movements, regardless of their ethnicity. |
| 112 | ** Invoked and subverted in ''Literature/WithoutRemorse'': |
| 113 | --->'''Georgiy Glazov''': You have adverse political elements in your government. So do we - leftovers from the Stalin era. The key to negotiations such as those which may soon begin is that both sides must be reasonable. We need your help to control the unreasonable elements on our side.[[note]]Subverted because Glazov is a KGB recruiter, talking to a high-ranking American political aide that he's trying to recruit as a spy. He doesn't actually believe a word of this, he's just trying to portray treason in a way that the other man will find flattering.[[/note]] |
| 114 | * An InvokedTrope in ''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'', where the Communist DeepCoverAgent is posing as a fervent anti-communist, plotting to gain dictatorial powers under the guise of a RedScare. In an introduction to a later edition of the novel, the author Richard Condon said he remembered reading an editorial which read something to the effect of, "If UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy were a paid Soviet agent, he could not do more to harm this country than he's doing now," and started to wonder, "What if he really *was*?" |
| 115 | * Although both German Communists and the Soviet Red Army are among the main enemies of the Freikorps in ''Literature/TheOutlaws'', the protagonist cannot help sympathy and admiration for their attitude, if not for their ideology. After all, he and many of his comrades are revolutionaries themselves and therefore way more eager to respect other revolutionaries rather than a government which they perceive as weak and corrupt. During his imprisonment, the hero even befriends an activist of the German Communist Party. |
| 116 | * ''Literature/ThePoetAndTheLunatics'': In "The House of the Peacock", the antagonist is a man who has built his life around acting directly contrary to every superstition he can think of. Gabriel notes that this man is just as ruled by superstition as the rustic yokel who obeys every superstition he knows. |
| 117 | * In ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters'', the titular demon speaks about how any ideology can be used to turn a human to evil. He encourages creating zealots on both sides, and claims that after death their opposing souls can be blended into a most appetizing wine. |
| 118 | * ''Literature/SmallGods'' features an atheist character of such burning passion that it works just like belief in the gods. This was because he ''very specifically'' didn't believe in Om (in fact, he pointedly refused to believe in Om ''to Om's face''); another character who's a general atheist (in a "they're not real but there's no point thinking about it" way) just gets hit by lightning a lot. |
| 119 | * ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' did this a few times: |
| 120 | ** ''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 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. While their beliefs in democracy versus dictatorship are irreconcilable, both groups share a sense of military honor, as well as a general commitment to and willingness to sacrifice for a cause greater than themselves. This is in contrast to Warlord Zsinj, and even many of his underlings, who are ultimately just bandits loyal only to themselves. |
| 121 | ** 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: |
| 122 | --->'''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. |
| 123 | ** 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: |
| 124 | --->'''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. |
| 125 | ** 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. |
| 126 | --->'''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. |
| 127 | ** ''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. |
| 128 | ** 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). |
| 129 | ** ''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. |
| 130 | * In ''Literature/TheseWordsAreTrueAndFaithful,'' religious-right Pastor Mandeville agrees with Cassilda Saunders or other radical feminist lesbians on pornography, gay men's sexual freedom, and transgender issues. He even works with them in the Anti-Porn League. |
| 131 | [[/folder]] |
| 132 | |
| 133 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 134 | * ''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]]. |
| 135 | * ''Series/Braindead2016'': Jules (an extreme right-winger) and Noah (an extreme leftist) actually get into a road rage incident over their opposing views, but are persuaded to ally later because they both agree on so much (never compromising, going to war in Syria, etc.). |
| 136 | * The two main groups of ScaryDogmaticAliens in ''Series/DoctorWho'' are the Daleks and the Cybermen. The Daleks are {{Absolute Xenophobe}}s who seek to [[CharacterCatchphrase EX-ter-MIN-ate]] all non-Dalek life, while the Cybermen seek to [[TheAssimilator convert all organic life]] into Cybermen. The end result is that both groups effectively seek the annihilation of all beings which differ from them, albeit through vastly different methods. |
| 137 | * ''Series/MacGyver1985'': A recurring trope, appropriately for a show that was fairly patriotic and anticommunist, but also maintained a liberal and activist spirit that often tried to shine a light on the abuses of the U.S. government and injustices of American society. |
| 138 | ** ''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. |
| 139 | ** 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. |
| 140 | ** 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 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. |
| 141 | * ''Series/YearsAndYears'': {{Discussed}} when a far-left party in Spain takes over due to a brief revolution. Daniel laments that they have a policy of repatriating refugees as well. Viktor says far-left meets with far-right in the middle. |
| 142 | * ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': |
| 143 | ** Parodied on the recurring "Black Jeopardy" sketch. Tom Hanks played a stereotypical southern redneck Trump supporter who did surprisingly well playing a game whose questions are intended for urban black stereotypes. |
| 144 | ** Parodied again in the game show sketch "Republican or not", in which people would give a few vague statements describing their political beliefs and contestants would have to guess [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin if the person is a Republican]]. Without context, everything everyone says could indicate that they are conservative or liberal. |
| 145 | * This is a CentralTheme of ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCult''. Notably StrawMisogynist conservative cult leader Kai Anderson had an EvilMentor who was a StrawFeminist belonging to a similar cult in the 60's, in the end it's implied {{Protagonist|JourneyToVillain}} Ally Mayfair-Richards will be bringing this cult back. It's worth noting that Kia's StartOfDarkness began when he killed a fundamentalist priest who spouted the same values Kia would eventually hold. |
| 146 | * ''Series/SleeperCell'': Alex went from a Neo-Nazi who beat up Muslims to a Muslim terrorist (his Muslim wife is horrified by this). He tells some white supremacists about once being like them, and they retort that Alex is even now. |
| 147 | * ''Series/StargateSG1'': |
| 148 | ** [[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. |
| 149 | ** Even before the takeover, the rogue NID and their allies had a great deal in common with the Goa'uld. Both factions are extremely ethnocentric and treat other species with depraved indifference at best and raging bigotry at worst. Both are run by power-hungry sociopaths whose claims to represent higher ideals are a mask for their own greed. And both of them grew to their present strength by following the same MO, pillaging the technologies of living and dead civilizations alike rather than trying to negotiate or trade for them. |
| 150 | ** Implied with Senator Kinsey and his Russian contact, General Kiselev. Their connection goes back to the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, when they were part of secret talks between their respective governments. Kinsey has previously been shown to be an American nationalist and Christian fundamentalist, while Kiselev is said to have been the same kind of hard-liner on the Soviet side. Given this, one might expect them to hate each other, but Kinsey instead remembers him fondly and says they developed "a mutual respect." (Of course, given what we know of him, it's an open question how much any of Kinsey's beliefs are sincere, and the same is likely true of Kiselev: O'Neill is anything but surprised when he finds that they're friends). |
| 151 | ** 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.]] |
| 152 | ** 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, echoing the System Lord's casual regard for their warriors in favor of their own lives. |
| 153 | ** 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, 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 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. |
| 154 | * ''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. |
| 155 | [[/folder]] |
| 156 | |
| 157 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 158 | * ''Videogame/BioShock2'': Andrew Ryan is an extreme Objectivist whose ultimate goal is to promote EnlightenedSelfInterest, while Sofia Lamb is an extreme Collectivist who wants to suppress individualism for TheNeedsOfTheMany. Both are oppressive, hypocritical despots who lead Rapture down similar paths to ruination. |
| 159 | * Joseph Bertrand III and Brooke Augustine from ''VideoGame/InFAMOUS2'' and ''VideoGame/InfamousSecondSon'' respectively are both BoomerangBigot Conduits with extensive military forces that oppress a city with an iron-fist and encourage anti-conduit bigotry in the populous. However, while Bertrand ''hates'' conduits and plots to have them all destroyed in a grand scheme, Augustine plots in a misguided attempt at ''saving'' conduits. |
| 160 | * In ''VideoGame/KaiserreichLegacyOfTheWeltkrieg'', Huey Long is a right-wing Authoritarian Democrat (without the "democrat" part) and virulent anti-Syndicalist, but his Share Our Wealth plan is nonetheless rather socialist and would give the American people much of what the Syndicalists actually want. |
| 161 | * ''Videogame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' Gives us [[spoiler: [[TheMentor Master Eraqus]]. Master Xehanort warns Terra that Eraqus is so obsessed with the Light that it blinds him. We see this firsthand when Ventus and Terra go to confront Eraqus and, [[PoorCommunicationKills rather than explain his reasoning to his own students]] he instead decides to just kill Terra because his potential to join the Dark is too great and Ventus for having the potential to see Xenahort's dark plans come to fruition]]. [[TooDumbToLive This, of course, leads to his own death]] and his failure to stop both events from occuring anyway. |
| 162 | * ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'': |
| 163 | ** Law and Chaos may be diametrically opposed about the meaning behind their side's actions ("[[KnightTemplar absolute submission to the Greater Good]]" or "[[TheUnfettered freedom is more important than anything]]"), but both are ready and willing to [[ILied deceive]], [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman kill]] ([[AMillionIsAStatistic a lot]]), [[PlayingWithSyringes mutilate]], [[HostileTerraforming play god]] and [[ApocalypseHow break entire worlds]] if it brings them closer to victory. Likewise, a victory for one side will entail [[WhatHaveIBecome humanity losing itself]] [[WorldOfSilence one way]] or [[WasOnceAMan the other]]. |
| 164 | ** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' and ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' reveals that humans [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve subconsciously decide what is real based on their perception]], so YHWH decided to make the OrderVersusChaos conflict so that humans would take sides, and inadvertently doom all the others who didn't believe in gods or demons. The two sides are so similar in nature because they were designed by the same entity for the same purpose -- get humans to believe in order demons and chaos demons, and ultimately reinforce YHWH's existence. This also explains why a demon that was on one side may be on the other in the next game -- whatever gets them more popularity points from the players. |
| 165 | * ''VideoGame/SomaSpirits'': Form and Dissonance are zealots for the emotions of Joy and Sorrow respectively, believing that only their preferred emotions are good while the opposite emotions are evil. [[spoiler:After the world is split into Joy and Sorrow halves, they each want to destroy the half of the world that they disagree with and have the exact same plan of turning their proteges into living weapons who are just as obsessed with their respective emotions as their mentors. In the true ending, both are so dogmatic about their ideals that they decide to team up to destroy Soma when their proteges render their plans impossible.]] |
| 166 | * ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'': |
| 167 | ** The [[TheHashshashin Order of Assassins]] and the [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar Templar Knights]] 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. |
| 168 | ** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'', it is revealed at the end that Al Mualim -- Altaïr's mentor and leader of the Levantine Assassin Order -- was manipulating Altaïr into killing high-ranking members of the Templars so that he could secure the entire Templar Order (and by extension the Apple of Eden) for himself, having worked with both organizations to achieve this. |
| 169 | ** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', Haytham Kenway's arc at the beginning of the game is played just like a regular Assassin in both plot and gameplay. The twist is revealed that the entire time he was working in the interests of the Templars, their motivations so similar to one another that neither Desmond nor the players realized this until it is flat-out stated that Haytham and his friends work for the Templars. Later in the game both factions back the Rebels in the American Revolution for their own reasons, leading to many awkward moments when Haytham and his Assassin opposite Connor are both hanging around with Washington; in one mission they outright team up. |
| 170 | * Demonstrated by ''VideoGame/{{Frostpunk}}'' via the Order and Faith paths. The Order path focuses on keeping people productive by suppressing discontent, while the Faith path keeps people productive by inspiring them with hope. However, as the trees go further on, both begin exercising increasingly brutal and oppressive means to enforce the captain's will, and are functionally identical by the time they hit the final law: New Order/New Faith. |
| 171 | * In ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'', Malady {{discusse|dTrope}}s how there's little practical difference between the {{omnicidal|Maniac}} chaos of the Voidwoken and the {{despoti|smJustifiesTheMeans}}c order of the [[ChurchMilitant Magisters]] -- in game, they both deliberately inflict terror, disarray, and mass death on the greater population, and both even make use of the Black Ring ApocalypseCult. |
| 172 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': |
| 173 | ** The Morag Tong is a legal [[OurElvesAreDifferent Dunmeri]] [[MurderInc assassin's guild]] of {{Professional Killer}}s. They hold Mephala, a Daedric Prince whose sphere is "obscured to mortals", but who is associated with [[ManipulativeBastard manipulation, lies, sex, and secrets]], as their patron deity. The Dark Brotherhood is an ''illegal'' assassin's guild (leaning closer to a PsychoForHire organization) which split off from the Morag Tong long ago. They practice a relative ReligionOfEvil, serving the "Dread Father" Sithis and his wife, the Night Mother, a mysterious entity who leads the Brotherhood and speaks through [[MouthOfSauron the Listener]] of the organization. According to some sources, the Night Mother may very well be an aspect of Mephala, meaning that both groups, despite their differences, are still dedicated to the same deity. |
| 174 | ** The [[OurGodsAreDifferent Aedra and the Daedra]] are typically viewed as opposites, particularly by mortals. Good and Evil. [[OrderVersusChaos Order and Chaos]]. Light and Dark. [[GodIsGood Gods of Good]] and [[GodIsEvil Gods of Evil]]. [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angels]] and [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Demons]]. However, prior to the [[CreationMyth creation of Mundus]], the mortal plane, there was no distinction made between these et'Ada ("original spirits"). The Aedra are simply the et'Ada who participated in creation (which is why their name means "our ancestors" in [[ClassicalTongue Old Aldmeris]], while the Daedra ("not our ancestors") did not. This is why scholars and, in a few cases, the deities themselves, are quick to point out that these are beings truly AboveGoodAndEvil who operate on their own BlueAndOrangeMorality. Anyone trying to classify them as such is simply trying to apply mortal moralities to immortal beings, which is a foolhardy endeavor. |
| 175 | ** Vivec, the [[PhysicalGod Tribunal deity]], clearly was never a big fan of the [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]]. As one of [[FounderOfTheKingdom Nerevar's]] councilors, Vivec believed that peace could not be had between the Chimer and Dwemer. He later urged Nerevar to make war on the Dwemer when evidence was brought forth that showed they were in possession of the [[CosmicKeystone Heart of Lorkhan]] and were attempting to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence tap into its power]]. However, Vivec would later draw his own divine powers from the Heart and the AGodAmI-type response he gives if you question his past actions is ''very'' similar to the one he attributes to the [[MadScientist Dwemer Architect Kagrenac]] when Nerevar originally questioned him about the Heart in ''The Battle of Red Mountain'': |
| 176 | ---> '''Vivec''': ''"Can you, mortal, presume to judge the actions and motives of a god?"'' |
| 177 | ---> '''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."'' |
| 178 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', Mages Guild Archmage Trebonius Artorius is an incredibly skilled [[MagicKnight Battlemage]], which allowed him to rise in the ranks of the Mages Guild. However, he quickly proved utterly incompetent at managing Guild affairs, so he was KickedUpstairs to be in charge of the Guild branch [[ReassignedToAntarctica in the most backwater district of the Empire]], keeping him out of the hair of his mainland superiors. In Morrowind, the Imperial Mages Guild has to compete with the native Dunmer [[TheClan Great House]] Telvanni, a [[TheMagocracy Magocracy]] made up of [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld ancient]] and [[EvilSorcerer rather amoral]] sorcerers, when it comes to the business of magical arts. Trebonius, notorious for assigning his underlings {{Impossible Task}}s, will demand that the PlayerCharacter [[GeneralRipper kill all of the Telvanni councilors]]. His eccentric demands and power without common sense actually make him ''very'' similar to a typical Telvanni mage lord, and his solution for dealing with them is exactly what a Telvanni would do to his rivals. |
| 179 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', take a race that prides themselves for completely shaping modern Tamriel into what it is today, who bull-headedly [[FantasticRacism looks down on other races]] and [[KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect professions]] that are commonly not used in their culture even though history has shown that they were once skilled practitioners of it, follow a religion that is basically a combination of Men and Mer beliefs while a sizable minority still follows their old religion. All of these can easily describe both the rival [[HornyVikings Nords]] and the [[OurElvesAreDifferent Altmer]] as of the 4th Era. |
| 180 | * In full effect in ''VideoGame/NotForBroadcast''. The two major factions, [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Advance]] and [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized Disrupt]] are on complete ends of the political spectrum, Advance being a left-wing authoritarian party that seeks to create equaltiy through totalitarianism and control of the media [[spoiler: and later expansionism and nuclear war]], and Disrupt is a resistance group headed by right-wing libertarian types that care less about Advance taking away civil freedom, and more about the ''economic'' freedoms they lost (which is why several celebrities and formerly rich people are pro-Disrupt). Often you're forced between choosing to support one or the other throughout the game, and while Disrupt might at first seem like the lesser of two evils, not only will they ask you to censor speech much like Advance, the endgame reveals that [[spoiler:Disrupt is secretly funded and directed by a council of oligarchs that are upset that Advance took away their power and forced them to live amongst the 'common people'. Not only are they also wannabe dictators that are arguably worse than the Advance leadership, they're willing to use any depraved methods to gain power and money; from trafficking drugs to sex slavery.]] Ultimately, the only way to get a positive ending is to [[spoiler: force Advance to reinstate democracy and then reveal both Advance and Disrupt's dirty laundry to the nation. This will cause the centrist party Accord to win the election in a crushing victory.]] |
| 181 | * ''VideoGame/TerraInvicta'': [[ChurchMilitant The Servants]] (idealistic and pro-alien) and [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Humanity First]] (cynical and anti-alien) employ similar tactics despite being polar opposites philosophically. These are the two factions most likely to engage in wars of aggression (including [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_first_use nuclear first-strike policy]]), both display {{Cult}}ish language and behaviour, both harshly punish dissent, and both are flagged as "extremist", giving them certain brutal event decisions and possible alliances with international terrorist organisations like Al Qaeda, [[EveryoneHasStandards which other factions do not get]]. [[WorldWarIII Woe to the world if both factions end up in control of countries with nuclear weapons stockpiles.]] |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 185 | * ''WebAnimation/DarkMatter2525'': The ''"Christian VS Muslim"'' video argues that fundamentalist Christians exhibit many ideological similarities with fundamentalist Muslims. |
| 186 | * A recurring theme in ''WebAnimation/TektonTV'' is that anti-theists ("fundie atheists") have much in common with fundamentalist Christians in the way they interpret Literature/TheBible. |
| 187 | [[/folder]] |
| 188 | |
| 189 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 190 | * ''WebVideo/{{Jreg}}'' parodies this in his videos with Horseshoe Centrist, a personification of someone incapable of seeing the difference between literally opposite things. In general, a theme of his videos is that centrism will always be a threat to extremes far more than the extremes will be to each other, which prompts the 4 extremes to do a VillainTeamUp. Otherwise, the series is based on the Political Compass instead of Spectrum, and therefore any similarities between ideologies are explained due to them hugging one axis of the compass together. |
| 191 | ** Commie and Fascist in Centricide 5 end up [[spoiler: summoning [[CommieNazis Nazbol]] to defeat Horseshoe Centrist]] which simultaneously proves his theory right and wrong. |
| 192 | * [[http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/11/trans-exclusive-feminism-looks-like/ This comic]] from Everyday Feminism draws such a comparison between "[=TERFs=]" (UsefulNotes/{{trans|gender}}[=-=][[HeteronormativeCrusader exclusionary]] radical feminists) and conservative Christians. |
| 193 | * Rational Wiki examines the concept in detail [[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory here.]] Some examples from the page: |
| 194 | ** The page argues that, while UsefulNotes/NorthKorea is ostensibly a communist state (although they technically stopped calling themselves that a long time ago), it has a great deal in common with nationalistic, authoritarian fascist regimes. |
| 195 | ** The page argues that, although Creator/AynRand was a virulent opponent of Marxism, UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}} has been criticized on the grounds that it is essentially Marxism turned on its head, to the point of having a cult of personality around her during Rand's life, and purges of dissidents within the philosophy. |
| 196 | ** The page points out that Ted Kaczynski, the "Unabomber", has just as many admirers on the left as on the right. As an aside, in his manifesto ''Industrial Society and its Future'', Kaczynski criticized the left and advocated certain views typically associated with the right. He and fellow terrorist Timothy [=McVeigh=] conversed in prison, and apparently found they had much to agree on. |
| 197 | * Frequently mentioned and discussed on Blog/LessWrong. |
| 198 | * The now-defunct Gamer Jargon website defined "Smoke Nazi" as either one who insists that no-one present smoke, and takes this insistence well beyond bounds of propriety or restraint, or one who insists on smoking, and takes this insistence well beyond bounds of propriety or restraint. It also noted that where there is one, there is likely to also be the other ("Anti-smoke Nazis usually claim some dire medical need to be free of smoke. The general consensus is that such people are better off [[{{Hikikomori}} not leaving their homes]]. Pro-smoke Nazis are usually just libertarian [[JerkAss assholes]]. The general consensus is that such people should throw away their Creator/AynRand books and get a life.") |
| 199 | * [[http://www.politicalcompass.org politicalcompass.org]] averts this, instead pairing the left/right axis with an authoritarian/libertarian axis, splitting economic distribution and moral regulation into two different spectrums. However, this only removes the "horseshoe" shape out from the theory. Then again, it's harder for people to visualize "The Torus Theory" as well. |
| 200 | * [[http://www.forwardprogressives.com/right-wing-christians-radical-islamic-fundamentalists-theyre-pretty-much-exactly/ This article]] argues that, despite the self-professed opposition between fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist Islamists, they share a remarkably large number of beliefs outside of the strictly theological. And then there is [[https://i.imgur.com/0NHUswc.jpg this 4chan post]] comparing the "alt-right" with fundamentalist Islam. |
| 201 | * One Cracked article discussing PETA's [[http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/28/peta.holocaust/ controversial "Holocaust on Your Plate" ad campaign]] that compared the meat industry to the Holocaust pointed out that you could go on Tumblr or Reddit and play a game of "PETA supporter or Neonazi?" They gave the example of this Tumblr post: "Sorry but to me there is no difference between a Jew and a pig."[[labelnote:*]]Answer: PETA supporter[[/labelnote]] |
| 202 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev373c7wSRg This comedy sketch]] highlights perceived ways in which white racists and "woke" anti-racist progressives can end up advocating for similar things: |
| 203 | -->'''Woke''': All I said was that black men who date white women have internalized racism, and white men that date ethnic women are fetishizing them. |
| 204 | -->'''Racist''': Guy's against interracial dating now! Like, am I being pranked? |
| 205 | -->'''Woke''': White people need to stop wearing dreadlocks, and they need to stop appropriating black peoples' music! |
| 206 | -->'''Racist''': Shaved heads and country music, the way God intended! |
| 207 | * 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. |
| 208 | [[/folder]] |
| 209 | |
| 210 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 211 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/BlackDynamite'' episode "Bullhorn Nights" or "Murder She Throats", [[spoiler:the KKK and the Black Pumas]] are revealed to be working together and killing Black porn stars in hopes that it would cancel the interracial porno "Willy Wanker & The Chocolate Factory". |
| 212 | * 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. |
| 213 | * In the final season of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Kuvira's Earth Empire uses methods uncomfortably similar to those of the previous Earth Kingdom, including rule by intimidation and forced conscription. Her plan to take over the United Republic by force had already been planned by the Earth Queen for similar reasons (the Republic was founded on Earth Kingdom land). |
| 214 | [[/folder]] |
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