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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 7 | Some, if not most [[MegaCorp corporations]] in fiction are ObviouslyEvil. Others [[VillainWithGoodPublicity might seem benevolent]] but are actually engaged in unethical business practices. However, some corporations go the extra mile. Not content with mere [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corruption]], they engage in a wide-reaching, [[TheConspiracy secret]] EvilPlan to achieve their goals -- usually, but not always simple greed. This is the Corporate Conspiracy. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | What exactly this plot entails varies. The conspiracy may be [[ArmsDealer selling armaments]] to incite WarForFunAndProfit, they may be manipulating property value to [[VillainousGentrification gentrify the neighborhood]] and KillThePoor, they may be [[PoisonAndCureGambit deliberately spreading diseases while selling the cure/solution to the masses]], or be PlayingWithSyringes to make SuperSoldiers and TakeOverTheWorld, they might be a [[PredatoryBigPharma pharmaceutical company]] doing some combination of both... what counts is that they're evil ([[BenevolentConspiracy again, with exceptions]]) and [[PeaceAndLoveIncorporated they're secret]]. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | A subtrope of TheConspiracy and CapitalismIsBad. May be connected to a GovernmentConspiracy if the writer wants to invoke the "Military-Industrial Complex". For the blue-collar version, see MilkmanConspiracy. See also CorruptCorporateExecutive, EvilInc. Overlaps with IncompetenceInc if the conspiracy backfires in an EpicFail or HoistByTheirOwnPetard. |
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| 13 | ---- |
| 14 | !!Examples of works/series featuring conspiracies of more than one type: |
| 15 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 16 | |
| 17 | [[folder:Alternate Reality Games]] |
| 18 | * ''ARG/OmegaMart'': Dramcorp, whose lust for profits and business puts very real souls and reality at risk. They, of course, hide these from their InUniverse customers. They also have ambitions of world dominance. In particular, they aim to form a cult that worships the corporation and buys everything they produce. Considering the fact they are an extremely branched MegaCorp (they manufacture from engines to dairy an everything in-between), they don't seem that far away from their goal. |
| 19 | [[/folder]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 22 | * ''Anime/BloodPlus'': Cinq Flèches is ostensibly a mere pharmaceutical corporation, but also deals in food production and genetic engineering -- both of which they use to turn humans into [[OurVampiresAreDifferent chiropterans]] via [[MayContainEvil GM food]]. |
| 23 | * ''Anime/BNABrandNewAnimal'': Alan Sylvasta, the CEO of Sylvasta Pharmaceuticals, is actually [[spoiler:a pure-bred beastman who [[FantasticRacism despises the beastman "hybrids"]] who allow their DNA to become mixed, and plans to administer a vaccine that will turn all of the hybrids into humans without their consent]]. |
| 24 | * ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'': Genom Corporation already has tremendous influence over the governments of the world -- they just want to TakeOverTheWorld in the more traditional manner, using the Overmind Control System to take remote control over every ArtificialIntelligence on the planet. |
| 25 | * ''Literature/DateALive'': Deus Ex Machina Industries (DEM), the only corporation to manufacture Realizer Units, is secretly being used by its Managing Director [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Sir Isaac Ray Peram Wescott]] in his plan to seek and harness all Spirit powers, and thus plunge the Earth into chaos and destruction. His ultimate goal is to remake the world so that [[SuperSupremacist humans will be subservient to Mages]]. |
| 26 | * ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'': Though [[TheUnReveal we don't know much about them]], Medical Mechanica ''[[MindScrew apparently]]'' has some sort of plan to use giant irons to smooth out the wrinkles in human brains, thus [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill eliminating free will]]. |
| 27 | * ''Anime/KillLaKill'': [[spoiler:The Kiryuin Conglomerate, parent of the REVOCS clothing company, is secretly selling [[MayContainEvil clothing containing Life Fibers]] to its customers.]] |
| 28 | * ''Anime/SpeedGrapher'' has an interesting example of an ideological Corporate Conspiracy. As part of his plot to take down Japan's upper class, Suitengu uses the Tenogu corporation to [[MayContainEvil contaminate products]] with the [[PsychoSerum Euphoric Virus]], causing the murder rate to skyrocket. |
| 29 | * From the ''Manga/{{Strider}}'' manga is Enterprise, AKA the Syndicate, which has spent 30 years on the Zain Project, an initiative to develop a MindControlDevice and TakeOverTheWorld. |
| 30 | * ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'': [[BitchInSheepsClothing Nobuyuki Sugou]], the director of RECT Inc.'s research institute, hijacks the minds of 300 of the SAO victims (including his then-fiance Asuna) and traps them in his own game [=ALFheim=] Online to [[PlayingWithSyringes conduct experiments on human subjugation via full dive technology]], in addition to attempting to take over RCT Progress Inc. by marrying Asuna while she is unconscious. His ambition is to [[GodhoodSeeker become a god in real life]], [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans just as he is in ALO]]. |
| 31 | * ''Anime/YuGiOh'': Doma is an AncientConspiracy and {{Cult}} devoted to a [[EldritchAbomination soul-devouring god]] that hides its activities and agenda behind Paradius, the [[MegaCorp richest and most powerful company in the world]], which in turn owns a small share in ''every other company in the world''. |
| 32 | [[/folder]] |
| 33 | |
| 34 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 35 | * ''ComicBook/{{Echo}}'': The research labs at Henri have plans for [[{{Unobtanium}} the alloy]] and they are not letting anybody get in their way, all in the pursuit of an advantage over China and a few quick bucks. |
| 36 | * Franchise/MarvelUniverse: |
| 37 | ** The MadScientist organization [[FunWithAcronyms AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics)]] started off as a ResearchInc, hiding its true origins as a division of ComicBook/{{Hydra}}. |
| 38 | ** Roxxon Oil is the source of a lot of these, including a scheme by its {{Brainwashed}} CEO to conquer the world for the [[ArtifactOfDoom Serpent Crown]], a plot to steal [[ComicBook/BlackPanther Wakanda]]'s vibranium, and a plan to banish all of Earth's superhumans to another dimension. |
| 39 | ** ''ComicBook/GhostRider'': Most people know that Contracts Unlimited is a somewhat shady mercenary company. What very few realize is that it is actually an ApocalypseCult run by the madman Deathwatch who wants to [[OmnicidalManiac kill everything in the world while he watches]], [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum then die himself]]. |
| 40 | ** ''ComicBook/IronMan'': [[EvilOldFolks Justin Hammer]] first came to ol' Shell Head's attention as the mastermind of one of these when Tony found that Hammer Industries was secretly [[WelcomeToEvilMart financing and outfitting supervillains]]. |
| 41 | ** ''ComicBook/MsMarvel2016'': In Volume 5, Kamala and the other residents of Jersey City discover that the [[FunWithAcronyms Hope Yards Development and Relocation Association]] plans to [[VillainousGentrification massively renovate the city]]. It's actually a front for ComicBook/{{Hydra}}, who want to TakeOverTheCity. |
| 42 | ** ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': The Life Foundation was basically a corporate CrazySurvivalist group, prepared for the worst-case scenario of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, and willing to do anything to survive said cataclysm. |
| 43 | ** ''Creator/MarvelKnights'' would propose that post WWII corporations would conspire to protect their interests from the rising threat of superheroes by backing the creation of supervillains. Years later ''ComicBook/SpiderManBeyond'' would elaborate on this by revealing that certain corporations cover up white collar crime by engineering flashy public battles that makes evidence and people disappear with little questions asked. There is a cabal of shadowy figures that commission these events. |
| 44 | * ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': Strader Pharmaceuticals is developing a PsychoSerum, by having people sell it as a superpower granting drug to unsuspecting people in Gotham. When their unethical and deadly human experimentation starts gaining attention they hire mercenaries to kill their surviving victims and dispose of the bodies. |
| 45 | * ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesAdventures'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Null]] earned his title as "The Man Who Sold The World" when his company made a deal with a HordeOfAlienLocusts to assist in the smooth and easy conquest of Earth in exchange for the technology to move their business off world. That their [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Maligna]] planned to feast on the human race didn't seem to bother him at all. He later did this again with the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse. Someone should really take his business license away. |
| 46 | * ''ComicBook/Tomboy2015'': Irene Trent is the head of a powerful drug manufacturer. She is peddling a drug called Ambidrex which [[PsychoSerum causes murderous and violent tendencies in its users and is sometimes deadly]], and is also willing to have innocent people killed [[HeKnowsTooMuch in order to hide this fact]]. In addition, [[spoiler:it's hinted that she's deliberately selling Ambidrex as part of a deeper conspiracy to find an entity called the "Scarlet Queen"]]. |
| 47 | * ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': [[spoiler:Veidt Industries is a rare [[BenevolentConspiracy benevolent example]] (though willing to go to extreme means). Their CEO [[HonestCorporateExecutive Ozymandias]] spends all their resources on a plan to [[WellIntentionedExtremist save the world from nuclear annihilation]] by killing all of New York City.]] |
| 48 | * ''ComicBook/WeKillMonsters'': [[spoiler:Tronco, the conglomerate that owns Breakfast Technologies and countless other companies, has a plan to integrate the [=DNA=] of the [[GeneticAbomination genetically modified creatures]] they created into the products of all their companies. The goal is to integrate monster [=DNA=] into the human race through said products in hopes of making humanity stronger and healthier.]] |
| 49 | [[/folder]] |
| 50 | |
| 51 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 52 | * The ''Franchise/StargateVerse''/''Franchise/StarTrek'' crossover “[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13312588/1/Destiny-and-Voyager-Crossroads Destiny and Voyager: Crossroads]]” features [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]] discovering a wormhole that leads into the galaxy where [[Series/StargateUniverse Destiny]] is currently travelling through, beginning a complex plan that allows both crews to get back to their respective Earths. When Destiny takes both crews back to the Star Trek Earth, Doctor Nicholas Rush investigates the location of the Ancient outpost found in Antarctica in his universe of origin and finds an equivalent outpost in the Trek universe, but this version has been stripped of most of its technology. Since the general population of this Earth has no knowledge of the Ancients, Rush concludes that at some point in the past of this Earth the outpost was discovered by an unknown corporation that sold the technology and disguised it as a human creation, others specifically citing humanity’s creation of the transporter as an example of Ancient technology being passed as human. |
| 53 | * [[Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon AbraxasVerse]]: [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonHumans Apex Cybernetics]], similarly to in [[Film/GodzillaVsKong canon]]. They're collaborating with Monarch to build a Titan mech ostensibly to give Godzilla and the other Protector Titans an extra ally on humanity's behalf in defence of the Earth. What Apex aren't telling Monarch or anyone else is that they're secretly building their own bigger, improved mech (Mechagodzilla) the entire time, and they're implicitly planning to take control of both mechs so they can use them against both the good and bad Titans. |
| 54 | [[/folder]] |
| 55 | |
| 56 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 57 | * The company Octan in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'' makes everything from TV shows to music [[BreadMilkEggsSquick to history books to voting machines]], fostering a benevolent public image to hide [[PresidentEvil President]]/[[EvilOverlord Lord Business]]' ambition to create [[OrderIsNotGood a perfectly ordered world under his control]]. |
| 58 | * The conspiracy at the titular ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'' was set into motion by a few bad apples rather than the whole corporation, but it still counts -- [[{{Jerkass}} Randall Boggs]], [[spoiler:along with [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Henry J. Waternoose III]]]], formulates a plan to solve the coming energy crisis by [[WouldHurtAChild kidnapping children and subjecting them to the Scream Extractor]], all while maintaining the superstition that humans are poisonous. |
| 59 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}'': [[VillainousMotherSonDuo Phineas T. Ratchet and Madame Gasket]] plan to use Ratchet's position as head of Bigweld Industries to create a Robot City [[KillThePoor populated exclusively by upgraded robots]]. Their scheme involves conning robots out of their money by convincing them to replace their old bodies in favor of shiny newer ones, and shutting down production of spare parts for older models to make the new parts their only choice... and they're not afraid to [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath melt down]] anyone who gets in their way. |
| 60 | * ''Anime/{{Vexille}}'': Daiwa Heavy Industries already has [[spoiler:complete control over Japan [[UnwillingRoboticisation and its citizens]]]], and plans to [[spoiler:do the same to the entire world so as to fulfill Kisaragi's desire to [[EvilutionaryBiologist move mankind to the next stage in evolution]]]]. |
| 61 | [[/folder]] |
| 62 | |
| 63 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 64 | * ''Film/BatmanReturns'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Max Shreck]] is a [[VillainWithGoodPublicity powerful and respected]] businessman, owns multiple enterprises including department stores and construction companies, and wants to use his electric company to build a power plant in Gotham. The thing is, the power plant is actually meant to steal energy from the citizens of Gotham, leading to the rest of the movie's conflict as Shreck attempts to murder Selina Kyle for [[HeKnowsTooMuch knowing too much]] (turning her into ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}) and tries to make ComicBook/ThePenguin mayor so that Penguin can use his position to approve Shreck's plan. |
| 65 | * ''Film/{{Chinatown}}'': Noah Cross, already the richest man in Los Angeles, [[spoiler:renders vast farmlands arid by illegally dumping their irrigation water into the ocean, thus causing their prices to plummet to next to nothing. After forcing the farmers to sell their land to his cabal of corrupt business partners, Cross intends to develop his newly acquired land by irrigating it with the water supply diverted from the city itself, through a new aqueduct and reservoir built from $8 million of taxpayer money. His only gain from this elaborate swindle is [[VisionaryVillain "The future!"]]]] |
| 66 | * ''Film/Cube2Hypercube'': The Izon organization, which is [[GovernmentConspiracy in cahoots with the government]] and constructs mazes with AlienGeometries for its own unexplained reasons. |
| 67 | * ''Film/Escape2000'': The General Construction Corporation has a ''Franchise/{{Robocop}}''-esque plan to turn [[UrbanHellscape a crime-ridden Bronx]] into [[VillainousGentrification a new planned community]]... which would be good, except they hire a PsychoForHire and a bunch of silver-suited stormtroopers to forcibly evacuate the Bronx, killing anyone who tries to resist and/or investigate their crimes. [[spoiler:And as it turns out, there's an additional conspiracy within the corporation by the vice-president to usurp the company from his boss.]] |
| 68 | * ''Film/TheFugitive'': Dr. Richard Kimble discovers that the pharmaceutical company Devlin-[=MacGregor=] is producing a heart treatment drug, Provasic, which causes liver damage and that [[spoiler:Kimble's friend Dr. Charles Nichols]] not only deliberately switched medical samples to suppress this truth, but [[spoiler:also arranged the attack against him and his wife Helen]]. |
| 69 | * ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': The corporate human antagonists, [[Characters/MonsterVerseApexCybernetics Apex Cybernetics]], have been all but ''deliberately'' provoking [[Characters/MonsterVerseGodzilla Godzilla]]'s recent string of attacks on population centers with Apex bases (including Pensacola, Florida and lastly Hong Kong), all part of an EngineeredHeroics gambit to make Godzilla look bad before they set [[spoiler:[[Characters/MonsterVerseMechagodzilla Mechagodzilla]] -- a cybernetic Titan they've been building in secret within their Hong Kong base --]] on Godzilla. They also have an evidently-secret underground, trans-Pacific maglev tunnel network for transporting resources between their bases around the world. |
| 70 | * ''Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch'': Conal Cochran, who runs the Silver Shamrock Novelties company, plans to [[spoiler:send out a signal on Halloween night via television that will [[WouldHurtAChild kill every child wearing a Silver Shamrock mask]] as a HumanSacrifice for the Celtic Gods]]. [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins And he succeeds]].]] |
| 71 | * ''Film/IFrankenstein'': The Wessex Institute presents itself as a medical research company that studies life-extending therapies, but its CEO is secretly a powerful [[DemonlordsAndArchdevils Demon Prince from Hell]], who's using the company as a front to develop a means of resurrecting the recently dead so he can bring an army of demons to earth [[PossessingADeadBody by having them possess reanimated human corpses]]. |
| 72 | * ''Film/TheInternational'': [[MorallyBankruptBanker The IIBC]] is at the center of one of these, [[WarForFunAndProfit funding wars in the third world as a means of profiting of the debt]]. They even have {{Professional Killer}}s on their payroll. Sadly based on a real institution, the BBCI -- see the Real Life folder below. |
| 73 | * A running staple of the villains in the ''Film/JamesBond'' films. Most of them are very rich but sociopathic {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s willing to cut corners and seek profits at the expense of others. |
| 74 | ** [[NebulousEvilOrganisation SPECTRE's]] head and 007's ArchEnemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld runs a [[NebulousCriminalConspiracy large criminal empire]] whose resources rival those of the superpowers, and is behind many of the evil conspiracies in the Sean Connery, George Lazenby and Daniel Craig eras. Some of the front organizations SPECTRE has operated from include [[Film/{{Thunderball}} International Brotherhood for the Assistance of Stateless Persons]], [[Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice Osato Chemicals]], [[Film/QuantumOfSolace Greene Planet]], [[Film/{{Spectre}} Joint Intelligence Service]], among others. SPECTRE even [[PlayingBothSides lends]] its mercenary services to both sides of the Cold War as part of its long-term strategy to weaken NATO and the Warsaw Pact. |
| 75 | *** ''Film/DrNo'': The titular villain sabotages American nuclear tests on behalf of an unnamed country who has paid SPECTRE. He even offered his services to both NATO and the Warsaw Pact, but was rebuffed by both sides and decided to join SPECTRE in revenge. |
| 76 | *** ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'': During the SPECTRE board meeting, one member reports on the French paying 3 million francs for killing a defector to Russia, while another reports on SPECTRE smuggling in Red Chinese drugs into the United States. |
| 77 | *** ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'': SPECTRE has been paid by an unnamed country to instigate WorldWarIII. Mr. Osato, president of Osato Chemicals, is secretly allied with [[NebulousEvilOrganisation SPECTRE]] and allows them to use his company as a front for their EvilPlan. |
| 78 | *** ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'': [[DiabolicalMastermind Blofeld]] kidnaps and impersonates the reclusive billionaire Willard Whyte, using his business empire and space research facility to build and launch a KillSat to destroy nuclear weapons in China, the Soviet Union and the United States, then propose "[[AuctionOfEvil an international auction, with nuclear supremacy going to the highest bidder]]." |
| 79 | *** ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'': Le Chiffre is a terrorist banker affiliated with [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Quantum]] and a mysterious man named Mr. White. Quantum has financed criminal groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Lord's Resistance Army, and has profited from the activities it sponsors, such as when they shorted airline stocks after the 9/11 attacks. Other known Quantum members included a high-ranking advisor to the British Prime Minister, an ex-KGB spy turned mining executive, a former Mossad agent turned telecom tycoon, a Bolivian army general, and a CIA section chief for South America. |
| 80 | *** ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'': Dominic Greene, the president of Greene Planet, has known links to Quantum and is plotting to seize control of Bolivia's water supply and create an artificial drought by [[TheCoup having its government overthrown]]. |
| 81 | *** The titular criminal organization is up to its shenanigans again in ''Film/{{Spectre}}'', as [[spoiler:they're the ones who have bankrolled a joint intelligence-sharing program between the world's leading spy agencies. With the backdoor access they'll have, it would enable them to permanently stay ahead of anyone who is trying to investigate them. Quantum is also revealed to be a sub-unit of SPECTRE, as they were the ones who financed Raoul Silva's cyber-criminal activities in ''Film/{{Skyfall}}''. By this time, SPECTRE has morphed into an Illuminati-esque organization whose tentacles has penetrated the upper echelons of companies, governments, and even not-for-profits]]. |
| 82 | ** The titular ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', a British jeweler and head of Auric Enterprises who allies with some DirtyCommies to create "economic chaos in the West" by irradiating Fort Knox's gold, thus allowing him to corner the gold market and have the value of his holdings go up even more. |
| 83 | ** ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'': Karl Stromberg, head of the Stromberg Shipping Line, hijacks nuclear submarines in a bid to start WorldWarIII and restart civilization in an underwater city. |
| 84 | ** ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'': Hugo Drax, owner of the aerospace company Drax Industries, is secretly plotting to use DeadlyGas to KillAllHumans so that he can restart civilization with those human beings he regards as "superior". |
| 85 | ** ''Film/AViewToAKill'': Microchip tycoon Max Zorin, owner of Zorin Industries and secretly the only survivor of a [[StupidJetpackHitler Nazi]] SuperBreedingProgram, wants to destroy Silicon Valley with a massive man-made earthquake, causing the death of millions just so he can corner the microchip market. |
| 86 | ** ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'': Corrupt [[ImmoralJournalist media mogul]] Elliot Carver, owner of the Carver Media Group Network, plans to foment war between the US and China [[WarForFunAndProfit to boost his ratings]]. [[EvilIsPetty And because China wouldn't give him broadcasting rights, of course]]. |
| 87 | ** ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'': [[spoiler:Elektra King]] is willing to nuke Istanbul so that the British pipeline would get more use, thus becoming the sole transporter of Caspian oil to the West. |
| 88 | ** ''Film/DieAnotherDay'': Gustav Graves, a billionaire diamond magnate who [[spoiler:built his fortune illegally laundering blood diamonds]] in order to fund a huge space project: a [[KillSat solar satellite]] that he can use to [[spoiler:cut a path through the Korean DMZ, allowing North Korea to launch an invasion of South Korea.]]. |
| 89 | * In the 2004 version of ''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'', the DirtyCommies from the book are replaced with Manchurian Global, who creates a {{Brainwashed}} ManchurianAgent to serve as their [[TheMole mole]] in the White House [[spoiler:and another to serve as an assassin to get said mole elected as President]]. |
| 90 | * ''Film/TheParallaxView'': The titular Parallax Corporation secretly looks for recruits with sociopathic tendencies to supply their real business as a MurderInc. They also may or may not be a [[GovernmentConspiracy government front]]. |
| 91 | * ''Film/ThePresidentsAnalyst'': The primary villain turns out to be T.P.C. [[spoiler:([[MilkmanConspiracy The Phone Company]])]], a corporation set on "improving" humanity by implanting a 'cerebrum communicator' into the brain of every newborn child. |
| 92 | * ''Franchise/RoboCop'': Omni Consumer Products [[CorruptCorporateExecutive is not the most ethical of corporations]]. [[Film/RoboCop1987 The original film]] has a vice-president willing to make a deal with a crime boss to start a crime spree so that OCP can step in and offer to [[LawEnforcementInc privatize the police force]] -- and all of this to [[VillainousGentrification demolish Detroit and rebuild it as Delta City]]. By the time of [[Film/RoboCop3 the third movie]], they're even hiring a street gang to drive out the locals. |
| 93 | * ''Film/{{Scanners}}'': Biocarbon Amalgamate is a pharmaceutical corporation producing [[FantasticDrug Ephemerol]] that is actually under the control of Darryl Revok, a [[PsychicPowers psychic]] SuperSupremacist trying to [[spoiler:create a race of psychic supermen by prescribing Ephemerol to pregnant women, [[BizarreBabyBoom causing psychic mutations in the fetuses]]]]. |
| 94 | * ''Film/SorryToBotherYou'': Regal View, the Creator/{{Amazon}} {{Expy}} for which the main character works as a telemarketer, is [[spoiler:plotting to [[{{Animorphisim}} turn its workers into horses]] because it increases their productivity]]. When it's revealed, [[spoiler:the general public applaud them]]. |
| 95 | * ''Film/Venom2018'': The Life Corporation, a multibillion-dollar ResearchInc involved in everything from cancer treatments to space travel, is headed by an EvilutionaryBiologist determined to save humanity from the next global crisis -- no matter how much PlayingWithSyringes he has to do. |
| 96 | * ''Film/{{Videodrome}}'': Spectacular Optical, a corporation that makes everything from cheap glasses to missiles. Under the direction of its CEO, Barry Covex, it tries to use [[BrownNote the Videodrome signal]] to [[MoralGuardians make people fear the evolution of media]]. |
| 97 | * ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'': Judge Doom, being the [[spoiler:sole stockholder of Cloverleaf Industries, murders Marvin Acme, the owner of Toon Town (framing Roger for it in the process) and then tries his hardest to make certain that Acme's will is never discovered so that Cloverleaf can win the bidding war to buy Toon Town, so that he can demolish it and build a freeway. (And as if that weren't enough, his plan involves murdering every toon living there.)]] |
| 98 | * ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': |
| 99 | ** Essex Corp, a mysterious organization founded by Nathaniel Essex that appears in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' and ''Film/Deadpool2''. They practice research and experiments on {{Mutants}}, and run a genuine torture facility [[CovertGroupWithMundaneFront under the cover of]] an {{orphanage|OfFear}}. They also seem to be connected with Transigen, as the blood sample they took from ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} ended up in the hands of the latter. |
| 100 | ** The aforementioned Transigen, which appears in ''Film/{{Logan}}''. Although they put up a [[VillainWithGoodPublicity benign public front]], they are actually the successor to the Weapon X project, and are directly involved in [[PlayingWithSyringes illegal human experimentation]] on mutant children. They're also responsible for preventing further mutant births via [[MayContainEvil genetically modified crops]], which suppress the X-gene. Their master plan, formulated by Dr. Zander Rice, is to control mutantkind by wiping out the old mutants and replacing it with [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke selectively bred mutants of their own]]. |
| 101 | * ''Film/{{Zoolander}}'': The fashion industry is controlled by a conspiracy that grooms male models into becoming ManchurianAgent assassins and has been responsible for most of the political assassinations of the past 200 years, including Abraham Lincoln and [[WhoShotJFK JFK]] -- the former because he ended slavery, making it more difficult to manufacture cheap cotton, the latter because his trade embargo on Cuba prevented the import of Cuban manufactured Sansabelt slacks. |
| 102 | [[/folder]] |
| 103 | |
| 104 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 105 | * In ''Literature/AgentG'', a group called the Big Twenty use their vast influence to manipulate global politics via {{Cyborg}} assassins operated by a MurderInc named the International Refugee Society. The Big Twenty are the world's largest corporations and eventually become the Big Two Hundred when the setting moves from TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture to a {{Cyberpunk}} dystopia. |
| 106 | * ''Literature/{{Alterien}}'': There are at least three of these. There's NGT (New Genesis Technologies), owned by protagonist Oberon Navarro; Spencer Industries, owned by his [[TheRival rival]] Theseus Spencer; and finally, Sol 3 United, created by Oberon and his girlfriend Helena Velazquez. All three center around the Alterians, a HumanSubspecies that Oberon is a member of -- Oberon wants to [[SuperSupremacist ensure his species' survival by having them replace homo sapiens as the dominant species on Earth]]. |
| 107 | * ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': In the book ''The Arctic Incident'', Koboi Labs has contracts to maintain and upgrade weaponry for the Lower Elements Police, but is also secretly arming the Bwa Kell Triad, a [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblin]]-run mafia, with illegal softnose laser weapons that were supposed to be destroyed. Their CEO, Opal Koboi, and her business partner, DirtyCop Briar Cudgeon, plan to sabotage the LEP's weaponry and incite the goblins into a riot, then manipulate the conflict so that the LEP wins, Opal's rival Foaly is framed for the coup, [[EngineeredHeroics and they get to make themselves look like heroes]]. |
| 108 | * ''Literature/TheCircle2013'': The titular tech company, a combination of Website/{{Facebook}} and Website/{{Google}}, are plotting "full transparency", an attempt to get so many people to "go transparent" ([[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou be filmed and observed at all times]]) that everybody will need to participate. |
| 109 | * ''Literature/TheDarkTower'': Several corporations are involved in unsavory practices, ranging from attempting to use "breakers" to destroy the beams holding up the dark tower to trying to [[{{Magitek}} combine technology with magic]]. Companies mentioned include Trans Corporation, North Central Positronics, and the Sombra Corporation. Tet Corporation is the good counterpart to these corporations, tasked with thwarting the efforts of those corporations, protecting the rose, and protecting [[spoiler:Stephen King]]. |
| 110 | * ''Literature/TheExpanse'': |
| 111 | ** A lot of people die in ''Leviathan Wakes'' thanks to Protogen's plan to test out the Protomolecule by unleashing it on the entire population of Eros. Just their distraction plan of starting a war between Earth, Mars and the Belt kills thousands, and then there's the population of Eros. |
| 112 | ** It continues in ''Caliban's War'' with Mao-Kwikowski (of which Protogen was a subsidiary). In this case they try to weaponize the Protomolecule by creating {{Super Soldier}}s, reigniting hostilities between Earth and Mars. |
| 113 | * ''Literature/HonorHarrington'': [[WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture Manpower, Incorporated]], who are TheManBehindTheMan for the Mesan Alignment, who themselves instigated the war between the Republic of Haven and the Star Kingdom of Manticore. |
| 114 | * ''Literature/TheIlluminaeFiles'': |
| 115 | ** The series kicks off with Beitech's [[{{Pun}} hostile takeover]] of WUC's illegal hermium mine on Kerenza IV, including wholesale slaughter of the Kerenza population. [[FromBadToWorse It gets worse]] -- during the attack they also released an experimental pathogen that causes even more mass death after the evacuation. |
| 116 | ** In Gemina, they're at it again, taking over the Heimdall jump station to prevent the Kerenza survivors from making it back to civilisation to testify against Beitech. Murdering the station commander is only the beginning. |
| 117 | * ''Literature/MaximumRide'': The MegaCorp Itex is secretly running a laboratory of {{Mad Scientist}}s that specializes in [[LegoGenetics animal-human gene-splicing experiments]]. |
| 118 | * ''Literature/RainbowSix'': Horizon Corporation is another example of a Corporate Conspiracy motivated by ideology, as it is [[spoiler:secretly an EcoTerrorist group that plans to mitigate the [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourelves inevitable]] fall of human civilization by quickening it through a [[SyntheticPlague genetically engineered strain of the Ebola virus]] to [[DepopulationBomb wipe out 99% of humanity]]]]. |
| 119 | * ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'': On the surface, IOI is just like any other competitor for Halliday's Egg, and ownership of the [[{{Cyberspace}} OASIS]], albeit with manpower and resources that give them a huge edge in the game. This was apparently not enough for them, though, as they also engaged in stealing user data, attacking Wade Watt's real world home in an attempt to kill him, actually killing another teenaged player by having mercenaries throw him off the balcony of his apartment, buying up people's debts in order to put them in indentured servitude, and grand scale cheating by closing down any area of the OASIS that might contain a clue to Halliday's game. This all ultimately comes to light when [[spoiler:the game ends with Wade in control, and it's hinted that the company's lawyers will be scrambling to prevent IOI from losing all access to the OASIS and thus the internet]]. |
| 120 | * In ''Literature/RedRoom'', Pantheon Corp is the world's largest corporation and allied with TheIlluminati-esque House. Pantheon Corp's CEO, Cassandra Cassidy, wants to bring down the latter by triggering a ZombieApocalypse. ItMakesSenseInContext. |
| 121 | * ''Literature/AScannerDarkly'': New Path, the company that runs the only existing rehab centers for [[FantasticDrug Substance D]] addicts, [[spoiler:is actually the one growing the plants the drug is distilled from, and is ManufacturingVictims to give them a convenient source of patients and slave labor]]. |
| 122 | * ''Literature/ThoseThatWake'': Intellitech, a company that [[spoiler:literally manufactured hopelessness until [[AnthropomorphicPersonification it grew a mind of its own]], becoming [[HumanoidAbomination Man in Suit]]]]. |
| 123 | * ''Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo'': Triumvirate Holdings, a corporation composed of three Roman emporers -- Nero, Commodus and Caligula -- that have served as TheManBehindTheMan for the previous antagonists and are determined to [[GodhoodSeeker become part of the Olympian pantheon]]. |
| 124 | [[/folder]] |
| 125 | |
| 126 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 127 | * ''Series/TwentyFour'': |
| 128 | ** BXJ Technologies is home to a highly secretive corporate cabal controlling [[PresidentEvil Charles Logan]] who, on Day 5, sponsored the Sentox nerve gas conspiracy with the intent to acquire more oil for America from Central Asia and, during Day 6, was involved in a cover-up to hide the damage done by a sub-contractor, the terrorist collaborator Darren [=McCarthy=]. |
| 129 | ** Starkwood from Day 7 is a [[PrivateMilitaryContractors private military company]] owned by Jonas Hodges, who gave weapons to AfricanTerrorists in exchange for a biological weapon. The bioweapon to be used to force the United States to give responsibility of the national security of the country to Starkwood and other private military companies, thus (in Hodges' eyes) [[WellIntentionedExtremist "saving" America]]. |
| 130 | ** Alan Wilson is, like Hodges, a [[PrivateMilitaryContractors private military executive]] who, on Day 7, used bioweapons in terrorist plots against America -- unlike Hodges, however, Wilson is a [[TheSociopath sociopath]] involved in the aforementioned Sentox conspiracy who manipulates world politics for profit. |
| 131 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'': Edgars Industries, "[[MegaCorp the biggest biochemical conglomerate on Mars]]", is involved in a scheme to [[spoiler:commit [[FinalSolution genocide]] on telepaths]]. |
| 132 | * The TV series ''Deep State'' centers around a conspiracy of multiple massive corporations to consulate their power and make enormous profit (the titular deep state). Their efforts include arming terrorists, [[WarForFunAndProfit attempting to create wars]] (to recreate the massive profits they made out of the Afghanistan War) and taking control of other countries mineral resources. |
| 133 | * ''Series/TheBoys2019'': [[Characters/TheBoys2019VoughtInternational Vought International]] are initiating a gradual "coup from the inside" by replacing essential US government figures with Vought toadies. |
| 134 | * The Italian/British series ''Devils'' features a clique of corporate investment bankers called the Thirteenth Floor, who manipulate global finances and situations like the real estate collapse of 2008 or Greece's problems in the 2010s for their own gain. For most of them, this is simply a matter of profit, but in the case of the group's most prominent member, NYL Bank CEO Dominic Morgan, it's a means to an end -- [[PatrioticFervor he views American economic hegemony as the key to world peace and prosperity]], and will sacrifice the economies of entire countries to secure it. |
| 135 | ** In Season 2, the Thirteenth Floor start working closely with Chinese bankers, increasing China's influence over the West in the long-term for the sake of their own short-term financial gain. Dominic, angered by this, goes rogue from the group and starts his own conspiracy to undermine the Thirteenth Floor's resources. However, it turns out that his business partners are working on the behalf of Russian oligarchs who are seeking to get ahold of technology that can manipulate voter data in major elections ([[BeenThereShapedHistory such as the Brexit referendum and 2016 Presidential election]]) so they can get the results that profit them. |
| 136 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 137 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion "The Invasion"]]: Tobias Vaughn, director of International Electromatics, is not only secretly working with the Cybermen to send a hypnotic signal through all IE-made electronics equipment, but also plans to double-cross them and seize control himself. |
| 138 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E1SpearheadFromSpace "Spearhead from Space"]]: A local plastics factory named Auto Plastics is taken over by the Nestene Consciousness, an alien HiveMind that can possess plastic. The Nestene use the factory to produce [[MurderousMannequin Autons]], sending them out to recover meteorites containing individual Nestene, while simultaneously [[CaptureAndReplicate replacing key government and public figures with Auton duplicates]]. |
| 139 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E1TerrorOfTheAutons "Terror of the Autons"]]: The Master uses his hypnotic abilities to take over a plastics firm named Farrel Autoplastics, using it to make [[MayContainEvil products that can be controlled by the Nestene]] in his master plan to summon them back to Earth. |
| 140 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E5TheGreenDeath "The Green Death"]]: Global Chemicals not only [[ToxicInc dumps toxic waste]] into a Welsh mine ([[ToxicWasteCanDoAnything inadvertently creating giant maggots]]), but they're also dabbling in electronics, building a MasterComputer named [[FunWithAcronyms BOSS]] that promptly goes mad (and gay, apparently) and [[AIIsACrapshoot takes control of the corporation]] in a plan to TakeOverTheWorld. |
| 141 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E5RiseOfTheCybermen "Rise of the Cybermen"]]: Cybus Industries from the parallel Earth is actually [[{{Brainwashed}} brainwashing]] Londoners in order to convert them into Cybermen, as per the wishes of CEO [[EvilCripple John Lumic]]. |
| 142 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E1PartnersInCrime "Partners In Crime"]]: Miss Foster, head of Adipose Industries, is actually an alien nanny who intends to use her corporation to turn humans into Adipose for her clients -- at the expense of over a million lives. |
| 143 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E1E2Spyfall "Spyfall"]]: The search engine/data-handling company VOR, headed by Daniel Barton, that's collecting everyone's data for the purpose of [[spoiler:turning most of humanity into {{Wetware CPU}}s]]. |
| 144 | * ''Series/{{Extant}}'': Both ISEA (a private futuristic version of NASA) and its parent company Yasumoto Corporation are engaged in one of these. |
| 145 | * ''Series/{{Helix}}'': Illaria Corporation, the parent company of [[ResearchInc Artic Biosystems]], is actually run by [[spoiler:an AncientConspiracy of immortals dedicated to controlling the human race, either by neutering them or by exterminating them]]. |
| 146 | * ''Series/{{Homecoming}}'': Geist, the company who run Homecoming in private association with the government. Theoretically a recovery place for soldiers, their attempts to use [[spoiler:memory wiping drugs]] appears to be a BenevolentConspiracy, until Heidi learns that they're really trying to [[spoiler:redeploy these soldiers more "efficiently" by removing them of the need to have psychiatric care. In the mid-2020s, their drugs have even gone mainstream]]. |
| 147 | * Spoofed in the ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' episode [[Recap/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphiaS04E10SweetDeeHasAHeartAttack "Sweet Dee Has A Heart Attack"]]. Mac and Charlie get a job at a MegaCorp so they can get health insurance. After several days of working in the mailroom, a stressed-out Charlie believes he's stumbled onto a company conspiracy involving fake employees, a Man In Black-esque figure named Barney, and someone named Pepe Silvia. Turns out [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness Charlie has completely lost his mind]] (and Barney is a hallucination). |
| 148 | * ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' |
| 149 | ** [[Recap/LeverageS03E03TheInsideJob "The Inside Job"]]: Dr. Anne Hannity, vice-president of the Wakefield Agricultural Corporation's R&D division, cost her company 60 million dollars losses studying a rare blight called [=UG99=] with the potential to destroy all known strains of wheat -- except for a GMO variant she created. She plans to release the blight, causing a global famine while Wakefield profits from its monopoly on [=UG99=]-resistant wheat. |
| 150 | ** [[Recap/LeverageS03E05TheDoubleBlindJob "The Double Blind Job"]]: Darren Hoffman is CEO of Pallagen Laboratories, which has just recently bought out the drug company J.R.P. Pharmaceuticals. J.R.P. had previously tested a drug called [=HT1=] that caused lethal liver damage in whoever took it -- Hoffman erased all records of [=HT1=] and tried to launch it under the name Vioplex, knowing that in the time it takes for thousands of patients to die, the company will make billions of dollars selling the drug, minus a 15% fine from the FDA. |
| 151 | * Played with in ''Series/Lodge49'', where ConspiracyTheorist Champ keeps insisting that Long Beach's financial woes are all the fault of a mysterious organization called Parabola, which is ingrained within local company Orbis. [[spoiler:Champ turns out to be partially right; there was in fact a Parabola group within Orbis back in the sixties, and they did play a role in Long Beach's financial woes, but Parabola is long dead, and their role in Long Beach's problems was accidental -- they were conducting an experiment in theoretical currency called the Orbit and the Orbits ended up in the hands of employees, who began converting much of their savings into Orbits. When the Orbit turned out to be unsustainable, lots of families in Long Beach lost all their savings, leaving Long Beach as a DyingTown.]] |
| 152 | * ''Series/MutantX'': The titular {{Mutants}} were created through covert [[GeneticEngineeringisTheNewNuke genetic engineering]] experiments that the company Genomex did on hundreds of unsuspecting people for the government -- when a group of Mutants escape, Genomex sends out some PrivateMilitaryContractors called the [[CapeBusters Genetic Security Agency]] to recapture them. |
| 153 | * In the NBC series ''Odyssey'', a soldier uncovers that a Military-Industrial Complex MegaCorp has been funding jihadists and goes on the run from PrivateMilitaryContractors across the desert, while back stateside, a corporate lawyer and a political activist stumble upon more threads of the conspiracy. |
| 154 | * One of the main antagonists in ''Series/OrphanBlack'' is the Dyad Institute, a ResearchInc focused on researching advancements in biotechnology and promoting the use of genetic and physical alterations on human beings. It's gradually revealed that the Dyad conducted many extremely unethical experiments, the most important being a human cloning conspiracy that created the protagonists, as part of a complex eugenicist plot to [[EvilutionaryBiologist alter the path of human evolution as they see fit]]. |
| 155 | * ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': Decima Technologies is a private technology firm that is stealing data to [[spoiler:[[TheComputerIsYourFriend program an AI to create a new world order]] via [[BigBrotherIsWatching constant surveillance]]]]. |
| 156 | * ''Series/Revenge2011'': The Americon Initiative serves as one in the series. Initially thought to be an independent terrorist cell, they are eventually revealed to just be a cadre of savvy businesspersons who profit off of society's fear. They carry out acts of terrorism and then profit off the reconstruction that follows afterward by investing in the right companies beforehand. They then proceed to pin the blame on various patsies. |
| 157 | * ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Hiram Lodge]], after getting out of jail for WhiteCollarCrime, orchestrates one of these to rebuild his reputation in Riverdale and ensure his family's wealth for years to come. His [=SoDale=] project consists of greatly devaluing the [[TheCityNarrows already impoverished Southside]] to acquire the land cheap, so that he can build a PrivateProfitPrison within Riverdale. And that's only the tip of the iceberg for [[IOwnThisTown his ambitions]]... |
| 158 | * Lumon, the company where the protagonists of ''Series/Severance2022'' work, is a creepy cult-like corporation with offices in its own CompanyTown, and whatever it's up to is so bad / controversial / ominous that employees aren't allowed to remember what they do during work hours. The plot of the show involves the protagonists slowly untangling Lumon's web of lies. |
| 159 | * ''Series/{{Succession}}'' takes the unusual step of having the people perpetuating the conspiracy (the board of Waystar Royco) as the main characters. They've sent their cruise ships out under a non-American flag to save money and avoid legal trouble, which has fostered a culture of institutionalized rape and sexual harassment going on, and their attempts to thwart investigations into it are a huge part of the conflict. |
| 160 | * The Commission from ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy2019'' is certainly run like one, with a Board of Directors, management positions, bureaucratic penny-pinching, boring desk jobs which involve deciding who needs to be assassinated to preserve the timeline... |
| 161 | * ''Series/{{Utopia}}'': Corvadt and Pergus Holdings, massive multinationals spanning dozens of different industries and part of [[NebulousEvilOrganisation the Network]], are working on [[spoiler:a SterilityPlague that is formed of two parts, [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically modified]] corn starch and a flu vaccine, that only activate when [[MayContainEvil combined in a human]]]]. |
| 162 | [[/folder]] |
| 163 | |
| 164 | [[folder:Multiple Media]] |
| 165 | * ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': |
| 166 | ** ''Film/IronMan3'': Aldrich Killian and his [[ResearchInc AIM]] company are the center of a conspiracy involving [[spoiler:an actor impersonating a terrorist, the Vice President of the United States and army veterans augmented with a SuperSerum, all so that he can [[WarForFunAndProfit manipulate both sides of]] UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror]]. |
| 167 | ** ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ian Quinn]], owner of Quinn Worldwide, is a [[VisionaryVillain visionary philanthropist]] who spearheads a movement that champions deregulation of government interference with scientific research so that he can get his hands on advanced tech [[spoiler:and is allied with the Centipede Group]]. |
| 168 | ** The Hand, which features prominently in the ''Series/Daredevil2015'', ''Series/IronFist2017'' and ''Series/TheDefenders2017'' series, are an AncientConspiracy that has wormed its way into dozens of companies like Rand Enterprises and Roxxon Corporation, just to name a few, allowing them access to large amounts of cash and the ability to move their resources and operatives wherever they need to go. |
| 169 | [[/folder]] |
| 170 | |
| 171 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 172 | * This was [=ComStar's=] role in the early years of ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}''. Supposedly just the company that ran the SubspaceAnsible, they were also a religious order who believed that there would be a coming catatrophy that would reduce the Inner Sphere to ruin, and that they would be the ones to pick up the pieces. Because of that, they played the different Successor States against each other (easy to do when you've got a monopoly on interplanetary communications). They were eventually found out after the Clan invasion (notably because [=Comstar's=] leader at the time tried to [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder double-cross the Inner Sphere and the Clans at the same time]]) and after some internal cleaning promised they wouldn't do things like that anymore. Nobody really believes them. On a smaller scale, {{Mega Corp}}s like Defiance Industries, Starcorp, and Irain Battlemechs regularly perform acts of espionage and sabotage against each other, trying to learn or steal new research in order to get a leg up on the competition. |
| 173 | * ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'': New World Incorporated (NWI) from the supplemental ''The Fungi From Yuggoth'' is a MegaCorp secretly controlled by [[EldritchAbomination the Old Ones]], and plots to bring about the Day of the Beast and devastate the Earth for their masters. |
| 174 | * ''TabletopGame/CthulhuTech'': The Chrysalis Corporation, which [[MegaCorp deals in everything from household supplies to military hardware]], is actually controlled by [[HumanoidAbomination Nyarlatothep]] disguised as a mortal man, and secretly strives to TakeOverTheWorld. |
| 175 | * ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'': Pike Industries can fit this bill, especially considering [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Graham Pike]] is an {{Expy}} for ComicBook/TheKingpin and ComicBook/LexLuthor. If there's any dirty deal going on in Rook City, chances are fantastic they're involved. Especially notable is the backstory of the hero Benchmark, who was created by them to be TheMole in the superhero community, winning public trust, and eventually turn SixthRangerTraitor by killing them all, thus allowing Pike to control both sides of the struggle between good and evil. Fortunately the coming of [[OutsideContextProblem Oblivaeon]] forced them to debut Benchmark before they could install all the needed software, but card art does indicate the plan can still move forward. |
| 176 | ** A less seen example is Revo Corp, which was created by Baron Blade both for scientific research and financial support for his evil schemes. It has since struck out on its own, but the Baron made its new CEO AnOfferYouCantRefuse and thus still receives a hefty amount of support from the company. |
| 177 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': It's probably easier to say which companies aren't involved in some vast conspiracy (i.e. none). The worst are Aztechnology (who use BloodMagic, and tend to be CardCarryingVillain sorts to deniable assets like 'runners) and Saeder-Krupp (literally [[CorporateDragon owned by a scheming dragon]], who's rumored to eat employees and shadowrunners who fail him). Even unethical shadowrunners avoid them, simply because of their tendency to invoke YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness when it comes to being paid. It's practically a RunningGag that they have to pretend to be another corporation just to hire deniable assets. |
| 178 | * ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'': The Pentex Coporation, and all of its subsidiaries, are agents of [[EldritchAbomination the Wyrm]], and thus are dedicated to spreading its corruption [[MayContainEvil through their products]] and hastening the end of the world. |
| 179 | [[/folder]] |
| 180 | |
| 181 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 182 | * ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'': Video game developer Abstergo Entertainment combines this with AncientConspiracy by being the current public face of [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade The Knights Templar]]. They use their reputation and wealth to seek out and collect ancient artifacts known as Pieces of Eden with which they can conquer the world. |
| 183 | * ''Videogame/AzureStrikerGunvolt:'' The Sumeragi Group is a forefront for the country's economy, military, and particularly the management of [[PsychicChildren Adepts]]. They also secretly search and capture Adepts (usually hostile, potentially dangerous ones, or those with more interesting powers) [[PlayingWithSyringes and do inhuman experiments on them]]; this causes a LaResistance movement called QUILL, of which our hero Gunvolt is a member, to oppose them. |
| 184 | * Fontaine Futuristics from ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' was a cover for Frank Fontaine's [[spoiler:and later Atlas's]] smuggling ring and plans to [[TakeOverTheCity take over Rapture]]. |
| 185 | * ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare'': Jonathan Irons, founder and CEO of Atlas Corporation, views modern militaries as ineffective at providing global security, and believes that PrivateMilitaryContractors like his company are the real solution. [[spoiler:So he allows the KVA terrorist attacks to happen so that he can fill the power vacuum, at which point he develops a bioweapon that he can use to eliminate any opposition, [[TakeOverTheWorld making Atlas the world's only superpower]] and [[WellIntentionedExtremist putting an end to war]].]] |
| 186 | * The driving force of ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' is your PlayerCharacter getting caught in the crossfire of an EnemyCivilWar between two different Corporate Conspiracies; one started by [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Saburo Arasaka]] to [[spoiler:use an artificial ImmortalityInducer to effectively take over the world]], and [[spoiler:an opposing BenevolentConspiracy helmed by Saburo's son Yorinobu, meant to destroy the evil MegaCorp from the inside... [[GoodIsNotSoft no matter how many dead bodies it takes]].]] |
| 187 | * ''VideoGame/DeusEx'': Majestic-12, a RenegadeSplinterFaction of TheIlluminati that controls many {{Mega Corp}}s, most notably Page Industries and its subsidiary Versalife. [[spoiler:They're the ones who [[SyntheticPlague created The Gray Death]], in an attempt to KillThePoor while enslaving the rich.]] |
| 188 | * ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'': Project Alchera, which combines this and GovernmentConspiracy as [[OneNationUnderCopyright corporations act as the world government in the setting]]. [[spoiler:The Japanese toy company [=WATIcorp=]]] is involved in developing and spreading {{Mind Control Device}}s as [[MayContainEvil lucid dream toys]], but accidentally found the MagicWorld, which used the same wavelengths as the project. |
| 189 | * ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'': In the last few decades preceding the Great War in 2077, several of these arose, usually in connection with [[GovernmentConspiracy the Enclave]]. |
| 190 | ** Vault-Tec was supposedly building the Vaults to save American citizens from the inevitable [[WorldWarIII nuclear war]]. In reality, the Vault program was a pretense to gather test subjects into a confined space for various scientific and sociological experiments, with the data to be used by the Enclave to rebuild civilization (with the exception of a dozen or so Control Vaults that did work as advertised). Unfortunately, Vault-Tec was a StupidEvil IncompetenceInc whose corporate culture actively encouraged their {{Mad Scientist}}s to conduct needlessly cruel "experiments" [[ItAmusedMe for their own amusement]]. Post-War, the surviving remnant of Vault-Tec actually considered itself the true legitimate rulers of the U.S, even over both the Enclave or any other government holdouts, though the corporation appears to be completely defunct by the time the actual games begin. |
| 191 | *** The [[Series/{{Fallout2024}} canon TV series]] reveals the conspiracy runs deeper still: [[spoiler:in their own bid to TakeOverTheWorld, they not only planned to intentionally escalate tensions between the United States and other nations, but to actually ''start the Great War, themselves, by '''dropping the first nukes'''''.]] |
| 192 | ** Poseidon Energy, while not as prominent as Vault-Tec, also applies. It was an energy monopoly with close ties to the Enclave (including the construction of their Oil Rig HQ) who engaged in all manner of price gouging, pollution and exploitation during the energy crisis that would eventually lead to World War III, using the PostPeakOil crisis to it's own advantage. They also worked to crush Workers Rights and Unions, financing companies like Hallucigen Inc to produce chemical weapons meant to brainwash and control civilians. Like Vault-Tec, the Great War appears to have put a permanent end to their machinations. |
| 193 | * The short game ''A Hand With Many Fingers'' is about researching the real-world Nugan Hand Bank conspiracy. Although the documents in the game are fictional, the events and people they describe are not. |
| 194 | * Central to ''VideoGame/HiFiRush'' are Vandelay Technologies, Project Armstrong, and SPECTRA. Project Armstrong is ostensibly a philanthropic program by Vandelay, giving robotic limbs to those who need them (such as protagonist Chai). However, SPECTRA is a program, disguised as a firmware update, that allows Vandelay to control the minds of anyone with an Armstrong limb. Everyone assumes Kale Vandelay is planning on using it to TakeOverTheWorld. [[spoiler:Deconstruction ensues when Kale just wants to use it to make people buy more Vandelay products. [[DisappointedByTheMotive Everyone else is disgusted by his motive being so corporate.]]]] |
| 195 | * ''VideoGame/LANoire'': [[spoiler:Officially, the Suburban Redevelopment Fund was a private organization, a cabal of several prominent local officials and citizens, building houses for [=GIs=]. Unbeknownst to the public, the directors intentionally bought up land along the proposed route of the new freeway, burned down the houses of those who refused to sell, then built cheap houses on them to drive up the value when the government offers to buy them out under eminent domain. Oh, and all of this was being partially funded by stolen army-surplus morphine.]] |
| 196 | * ''VideoGame/MasterDetectiveArchivesRainCode'': Amaterasu Corporation’s CEO, [[spoiler:Makoto Kagutsuchi]], turns out to be involved in [[spoiler:a mass kidnapping case involving the catastrophic results of Amaterasu’s prior homunculus research as the BigBad. The kidnapping involves death row inmates who Makoto uses for Kanai Ward’s food supply, converting them into meat buns and feeding them to Kanai Ward’s residents. In the process of this, he tries to hide the truth of Kanai Ward's homunculus populace from the world, shuts down [[MadScientist Dr. Huesca's]] homunculus research project, and blackmails [[OneWorldOrder the Unified Government]] with their ''own'' homunculus research to accomplish the task of isolating the city, and he also brought the Master Detectives to Kanai Ward to use them as mere pawns against [[DirtyCop Yomi Hellsmile, Director of the Peacekeepers,]] as part of his dastardly but well-intentioned plot to keep the city and its truth hidden from the world ''forever''.]] |
| 197 | * ''VideoGame/MaxPayne1'': Nicole Horne was already part of the GovernmentConspiracy Project Valhalla, and when that was discontinued she took the SuperSerum they were working on and sold it on the streets as a FantasticDrug through her company Aesir Pharmaceuticals. Max notes that her computer probably has information on other conspiracies, but by this point in his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, the idea of gathering evidence or intel is a distant memory. |
| 198 | * ''Videogame/MegaManZX:'' Slither, Inc is a huge electric power company that powers the big city that the game is set in, and it also provides security and other basic needs to the people. However, it also secretly enacts "Maverick raids" where supposedly [[AIIsACrapshoot erratic robots]] terrorize the populace in a localized scale, then capture some of the people to turn them into [[EnergyBeing Cyber Elves]] to be used for the leader Serpent's EvilPlan: to power up [[ArtifactOfDoom Model W]] so he can use it to TakeOverTheWorld. |
| 199 | * ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'': The Murkoff Corporation, which is viewed as a charitable corporation by the public, is actually a [[PlayingWithSyringes highly unethical]] ResearchInc, reopening the [[BedlamHouse Mount Massive Asylum]] as a research facility with the inmates serving as guinea pigs for the Walrider Project. |
| 200 | * ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'': Umbrella Corp is publicly [[PeaceAndLoveIncorporated your friendly neighborhood pharmaceuticals and cosmetics firm]], but it's all to cover up their real business -- [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically engineering]] {{Synthetic Plague}}s and {{Bioweapon Beast}}s. In fact, they're less a corporation indulging in a little illegal behavior on the side, and more a criminal organization [[CovertGroupWithMundaneFront with a pharmaceutical corporation as its front]]. [[spoiler:As it turns out, the real conspiracy isn't creating bioweapons, but creating {{Immortality}}, the true goal of CEO [[EvilutionaryBiologist Ozwell E. Spencer]].]] |
| 201 | * ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'': Ultor Corporation turns out to be secretly fueling the MobWar in Stilwater, in order to a) let the gangs wipe each other out, and b) drive down the property values in the hardest-hit neighborhood of Shivington to buy it up wholesale and [[VillainousGentrification gentrify it for massive profit]], like they did with Saint's Row in-between games. |
| 202 | * ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'': |
| 203 | ** The {{Orochi}} Group, a powerful multinational corporate group dating back to 1949 that controls a satellite company in every industry on every continent, is involved in vast political conspiracies and corporate takeovers, and is making forays into magical research for its own ends. Unfortunately, they're [[IncompetenceInc not very good at controlling their experiments]]. |
| 204 | ** TheIlluminati is a much older institution, created centuries ago with the aim of pursuing power in all its forms. They're much more [[BenevolentConspiracy Benevolent]] then Orochi ([[PragmaticVillainy after all, you can't rule the world if there's no world remaining]]), who they regard as a bunch of upstarts who give their {{Mad Scientist}}s far too much freedom. Already modeled after a corporation, they also have influence in several actual business groups, so as to secure their goal of magical, scientific, and financial power. |
| 205 | * ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestVTheNextMutation'': Genetix is the group behind the [[ToxicInc illegal dumping of toxic chemicals]] on inhabited backwater worlds within the Federation, as well as the resulting Pukeoid Mutation Plague. They're getting away with it because [[FakeUltimateHero Captain Quark]], who has been assigned to find and stop the dumpers, is secretly on their payroll and even assisting in the dumping. This backfires spectacularly on him. |
| 206 | * ''VideoGame/SurvivingMars'': [=EsoCorp=] is secretly testing weapons on Mars behind the colonists' backs. If the colony discovers this they can report back to Earth, but [=EsoCorp=] will retaliate with armed rovers. |
| 207 | * ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'': Blume Corporation, which is [[BigBrotherIsWatching secretly monitering everyone through the ctOS]], and is [[NebulousCriminalConspiracy in cahoots with the Chicago South Club Mob]], covering up the Mob's illegal activities in exchange for their help in [[TakeOverTheCity taking control of Chicago]] through surveillance and advertising. |
| 208 | * Saisho Saikou from ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'', founder of the powerful business conglomerate Saikou Corp, created it with the scope of gaining enough power to start a war against the countries that fought with Japan during War World II, during which several of his friends were killed. However, as Japan's former enemies began to embrace the Japanese culture thanks to his company's influence around the world, combined with the fact that most of his enemies who killed his friends were either dead or very old, he stopped seeing any reason in starting a war. |
| 209 | * {{Deconstructed|Trope}} by ''VideoGame/YouDontKnowJack: [[VideoGame/TheJackboxPartyPack Full Stream]]''. [[spoiler: [[MegaCorp Binjpipe]] is secetly planning to TakeOverTheWorld through an AssimilationPlot where all life on Earth will be "[[InsideAComputerSystem turned into content]]". However, as a result of both that and the fact that their recommendation algorithm is actually an EldritchAbomination, the streaming service that serves as a front for all of this is IncompetenceInc, with programming that Nate Shapiro describes as "sub-public domain". This ultimately hurts the conspiracy arm of the company, with the maximum number of people they could capture being 8 or so.]] |
| 210 | [[/folder]] |
| 211 | |
| 212 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 213 | * ''VisualNovel/BionicHeart'': The MegaCorp Nanotech, under the orders of [[CorruptCorporateExecutive their CEO Richard]], uses [[{{Nanomachines}} nanotechnology]] to illegally manufacture [[ArtificialHuman androids]], [[spoiler:placing the brains of people in the android bodies to do Richard's bidding]]. |
| 214 | * ''VisualNovel/Ever17'': [[spoiler:The accident in the [=LeMU=] park is caused by Leiblich Pharmeceuticals attempting to cover up the fact that a very deadly virus they manufactured, [[SyntheticPlague Tief Blau]], had been released within the park.]] In the epilogue [[spoiler:You has given the go ahead sign for a long planned whistle blower operation, resulting in massive public scrutiny on Leiblich, which is forced to close down]]. |
| 215 | * ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'': [[spoiler:Cradle Pharmaceuticals [[CorruptCorporateExecutive CEO Ace/Hongou]] recreated the Nonary Game to research morphogenetic fields and telepathy, this time using children as the participants.]] |
| 216 | [[/folder]] |
| 217 | |
| 218 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 219 | * ''Webcomic/CrystalHeart'': The heroes are agents of Syn, an organization dedicated to resolving mysterious phenomena and finding [[GemHeart crystals that grant the wearers special powers]]. However, as the heroes find out from chapter four forward, some higher ranking agents seem to have a different agenda... |
| 220 | * ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': It's less the goal of the entire [[MegaCorp Ecosystems Unlimited]] corporation and more the scheme of [[CorruptCorporateExecutive one bad apple]], but still, [[spoiler:Gardener In The Dark]] certainly qualifies: [[{{Narcissist}} Mr. Kornada]]'s plot to [[spoiler:steal the money from planet Jean's robot population -- all 450 million of them -- through mass {{Lobotomy}}]]. |
| 221 | * ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'': In contrast to the protagonists' {{Benevolent|Conspiracy}} GovernmentConspiracy (social services for non-humans), Anasigma is a corporation that's produced a number of Project Skin Horse's clients (and employees) and is plotting to [[spoiler:eliminate {{Mad Scientist}}s and their creations]]. |
| 222 | [[/folder]] |
| 223 | |
| 224 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 225 | * ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'': Charon Industries, headed by Malcolm Hargrove, is perfectly willing to [[spoiler:start a war on Chorus in order to wipe out the entire population and seize the planet for themselves]]. |
| 226 | * ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hi9E7CDpLs there's a Netflix sharing bubble]]'' has a company CEO, Todd, learn from his Board of Directors on the eve of the titular streaming service changing its log-in sharing policy that grandfathers all existing screens (not users) of an account onto its bill. He doesn't see that as much of a problem as he's only shared it with one other member of the board. Everyone else in the room confesses that she shared it with them and that they've done the same with other people they know. They've calculated that there are over a million active log-ins of his account, and if he's charged with all of them, it'll eviscerate the company. By itself, this is embarrassing but easily remedied since all he needs to do is change his password to terminate all these connections. The CEO sighs, shares an anecdote about his family's history with Neflix, calls his secretary to [[spoiler:contact a company intern from two years ago]], and to the dawning horror of those around him, they realize that [[spoiler:the account isn't even his.]] |
| 227 | * ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Goodkind International [[PeaceAndLoveIncorporated claims to be looking out for "the little people"]], but is secretly backing [[FantasticRacism anti-mutant]] organizations "Humanity Now!" and the Knights of Purity for its own ends. |
| 228 | [[/folder]] |
| 229 | |
| 230 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 231 | * ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6TheSeries'' has Sycorax, a company meant to be helping people who were becoming mutants. [[spoiler:In reality, Sycorax was the one creating the mutants, in order to find a cure for Liv Amara, Sycorax's founder.]] |
| 232 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Mom Inc., headed by EvilMatriarch [[OneBadMother Mom]], already [[MegaCorp controls 50% of the Earth]]. She's just trying to [[TakeOverTheWorld get that percentage up to 100]]. |
| 233 | * ''Franchise/GIJoe'': |
| 234 | ** ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'': Extensive Enterprises, run by [[CreepyTwins Tomax and Xamot]], were Cobra's business arm, and presumably how they acquired money when they weren't able to extort, kidnap, steal, blackmail, or run telethons. |
| 235 | ** ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeRenegades'': Cobra is re-imagined as this, hiding their plans for world domination under a facade of benevolence and philanthropy while they create technology and medicine to better the world. Only the titular Joe Team has seen through this and know the dangers Cobra represents. |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
| 237 | |
| 238 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 239 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military-industrial_complex Military-industrial complex]] describes the informal alliance between the military and the defense industry pushing them to influence public policies, for example [[WarForFunAndProfit pushing for war in order to make their factories more profitable]]. |
| 240 | * Nugan Hand Bank, an Australian bank catering to US service members, offered a 16 percent interest rate on deposits. Their secret? Funding heroin runs across Asia with connections to the CIA. The video game ''A Hand With Many Fingers'' allows players to explore the real people and events involved via fictional documents. |
| 241 | * The Business Plot, a conspiracy allegedly formulated by a group of quasi-fascist businessmen in 1934 to attempt a coup against UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt, whose presidency and New Deal program would have harmed their business interests. The conspiracy was reported by Smedley Butler, a retired [[SemperFi U.S. Marines]] Major General turned anti-war activist, who testified before the US Congress that he believed that the conspirators had attempted to tap him to participate in the coup due to his popularity amongst veteran organizations. Historians are divided on whether the allegations were true, though there is some degree of consensus that some sort of "wild scheme" was indeed contemplated and discussed, and the final report of the congressional committee on the subject concluded that "there is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient" -- in any case, no one was prosecuted. |
| 242 | * The BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International), which inspired ''Film/TheInternational'' above; when it was shut down in 1991 by an international law enforcement effort, other banks began to become involved in the same sort of business, most notably HSBC which was "Too Big to Prosecute." |
| 243 | [[/folder]] |
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