History Main / DividedWeFall

MaliciousSlander often fans the fire. TheRival may perpetrate it -- or just be extremely gullible, blinded by his dislike for TheHero.

* In Nick Kyme's {{Salamanders}} novel ''Salamander'', although the Marines Malevolent have played TheCavalry, and they and the Salamanders are still on enemy territory, tension and sniping arise almost immediately on their meeting.

* In GrahamMcNeill's ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' {{Ultramarines}} novel ''Nightbringer'', the cartels are deep in in-fighting, despite Dark Eldar {{Pirate}} raids and bomb-setting {{Cult}}s.

** In ''Red Fury'', Ajir is [[ReformedButRejected bitterly resentful]] of two "penitent" Blood Angels allowed to join their squad. And the Flesh Tearers snipe at the Blood Angels, going so far as to [[UnfriendlyFire fire on a location where they know they are]] -- although they know they will survive, they also know they will be caught in the rubble. And [[ThresholdGuardians one]] refuses to let Rafen speak to the Chapter Master [[OnlyTheWorthyMayPass until Rafen insists on being respected]]. While he does agree to come, he openly admits to the other Flesh Tearers that he is looking for something in the BloodAngels' weaknesses that he can exploit. (Along with making his [[TheResenter resentment]] manifest.) And he orders a Flesh Tearer to pick a fight with a Blood Angel, to test them. [[spoiler: [[FireForgedFriends Fortunately, they have to fight a common enemy at the climax.]]]]

* In JamesSwallow's ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' BloodAngels novel ''Deus Sanguinius'', at the climax, a Blood Angel explicitly declares that another Blood Angel ship is more of a danger than a Chaos ship.

* Virtually all crime dramas portraying city-level police portray Federal authorities as authority wielding {{MIB}} who are all too willing to let a horrific crime go unpunished to further what they see as a bigger picture.

* ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'' has its own version, as a good number of the Compacts and Conspiracies are at direct odds with one another. Let's see, [[{{MIB}} Task Force VALKYRIE]] wants to deal with the supernatural in secret, while Network Zero wants to blow open the {{Masquerade}} through new media. The Long Night are premillenialist Christians aimed at "redeeming" monsters who view the Malleus Malificarum, the Catholic Church's black bag group, as followers of "the Great Whore of Babylon." The Philadelphia sample setting takes it a few degrees further, with the general mood of "Not In My Backyard" and an emphasis on how the hunters are more devoted to territorial pissing than, you know, monster hunting.

* Averted in ''DeathNote''- while Mello and Near start out as enemies (at least, from Mello's perspective), and when Mello visits the SPK headquarters he uses a hostage and is held at gunpoint, but instead gives him a vital- if cryptic- piece of information about Kira.

-->--'''Benjamin Franklin'''

* In ''1776'', as well as in real life, Benjamin Franklin says "If we do not hang together, we shall most assuredly hang separately!" Also, until Richard Henry Lee brings Virginia's approval to debate the idea of independence, most of the congressmen refuse to second John Adams' proposal to debate independence. John Dickinson never stops supporting the crown however, even after his cause is lost, although that is not out of pure animosity towards Adams.

* In TerryPratchett's ''{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/NightWatch'' Ned Coates fits this trope, at least in the scene where [[spoiler:he tries to convince the members of the Watch not to follow Vimes, warning them that they'll all be killed. The kicker is that, since Vimes is from the future, he knows that Ned is almost certainly correct. (He can't be 100% sure, because of quantum.)]]
* In William King's ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' SpaceWolf novel ''GreyHunters'', Trainor recounts the infighting between the separate factions on Gram. Among the Space Wolves themselves, political conflict is enough to make Ragnar think of this, though it does not actually affect their ability to fight. (To be just to Ragnar, yes; to fight, no.) And when Ragnar has retrieved Trainor and his men, [[InterserviceRivalry the Inquisition tries to keep them as prisoners; the Space Wolves refuse]].

** In Lee Lightner's ''Sons of Fenris'', Ragnar recognizes Dark Angels and reflects on their Chapters' long hostility. The Dark Angels and Space Wolves fight. [[spoiler:When Ragnar and some others capture some Dark Angels, they both see the Commander attack and kill Dark Angels and Space Wolves. Jeremiah, the Dark Angel leader, [[IGaveMyWord gives his word]] that they will not try to escape, and Ragnar gives back their weapons -- but the fighting still goes on about them while they take out the real foe.]] Later, AbandonedByTheCavalry occurs [[spoiler: but was actually a feint; the Dark Angels could not tell the Space Wolves that, though, because they had only open comm channels.]]

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** A little distraction like, lets say... a fullscale alien invasion is not a reason for Nod and GDI to quit fighting each other. This caused some irritaion by the aliens, calling humans "warlike to the extreme". However, neither the GDI nor the aliens knew that it was all acording to Kane's [[XanatosGambit plan]].

** Worse, a civil war starts when [[spoiler: Loghain basically shoves his own daughter and the queen off the throne as her "regent" and more than a few of the nobility take offense to this, as the King of the Ferelden must have the support of the Bannorn and Loghain isn't even in line for the throne]]. It also helps(?) that [[spoiler: Loghain]] doesn't believe that a Blight is occurring and thinks the Wardens (who ''know'' that a Blight is happening) are enemy agents from a country that occupied Ferelden and ruined his childhood. Since [[spoiler: Loghain]] is a war hero that freed Ferelden from said country a lot of his supporters follow him even as he grows increasingly paranoid and commits greater atrocities to protect his nation.

* In ''InfiniteSpace'', [[TheHero Yuri]] points out this is the reason why [[spoiler:the [=SMC=] nations fell into Lugovalos' hand so easily]]. To elaborate, [[spoiler:Elgava was far too confident with its military strength, and both Kalymnos and Nova Nacio were more concerned with their long-running bitter hatred to each other]]. And in Act 2, the [=LMC=] nations ''almost'' made the same mistake...

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* The American military in ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' spends so much time making superweapons to defend against/destroy the Justice League, they completely ignore the fact that relying on Lex Luthor as opposed to the people who are busy saving the world every day might actually be a bad idea.

* A warning against this was attributed to Benjamin Franklin at the signing of the Declaration of Independence: "We must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately."

* Another example, although this time it applies to the bad guys: towards the end of the Second World War, prominent Nazis were tearing each other apart to succeed Hitler, despite the advancing Allied and Soviet armies. This continued until the literal last days of the war.
* The Byzantine Empire indulged in this all too frequently. Internal political squabbling at the Battle of Manzikert ''whilst on the battlefield with the enemy'' was a major cause of the Byzantine defeat there. Their army was almost destroyed, and the Empire never fully recovered. A century or so later, after Constantinople was conquered by the Venetians and their allies during the Fourth Crusade, the three Byzantine kingdoms that formed from the remnants of the Empire spent more time fighting each other over the Imperial title than trying to take their city back. All the squabbling between Christian Balkan states pre-Turkish conquest partially fits this trope.

* In ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Long Feng, the EvilChancellor and default ruler of Ba Sing Se (the capital and last major outpost of the Earth Kingdom) refuses to aid and actively hinders Avatar Aang, TheChosenOne, in the fight against [[ANaziByAnyOtherName the Fire Nation]]. [[spoiler:After his manipulations are exposed and he's jailed, his [[SecretPolice Dai Li]] help him orchestrate a coup from his cell. But he is being played by a greater [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]], Fire Nation [[MagnificentBastard Princess Azula]], who gains the Dai Li's loyalty and uses them to sabotage the city's defenses. End result?]]

->''"We must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately."''

* ''{{Pokemon}} [=HeartGold=] and [=SoulSilver=]'' has your rival. He hates Team Rocket beacause [[spoiler:Giovanni was his father and after Team Rocket was defeated by Red, Giovanni left him and he blames Team Rocket]]. But on the other hand, he absolutely hates the player character, pushing them around, and even [[spoiler:taking off your disguise while you're DressingAsTheEnemy]]. He's actually the worst rival; Kanto's rival says things like [[CatchPhrase "Smell ya later!"]], Hoenn's rival is a pretty good friend, and Sinnoh's rival is your best friend.

* An absolutely PERFECT example is the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arausio Battle of Arausio]] circa 107 BC. Two Roman armies were raised to stop the advance of the Three Germanic Hordes (Teutones, Cimbri, Marcomannii), one lead by a Patrician, and one by a Plebian. The Patrician, Quintus Servilius Caepio, absolutely HATED his counterpart, to such a degree that he refused to go along with his plans to merge the two armies as one and wait for the German attack. Caepio kept his army separated due north of the other army, and when the Germans came, they swarmed over his army and utterly crushed it, then waited a short time before swarming over the other army next. Nearly 100,000 Roman soldiers and camp followers were killed, nearly twice as many as the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cannae Battle of Cannae]].

* The Light Warriors of ''EightBitTheater'' spend lots of time trying to kill each other. WordOfGod has said the monsters and obstacles that they face in the world are nothing compared to the monsters and obstacles within the party.

* In SandyMitchell's ''CiaphasCain'' novel ''The Traitor's Hand'', when Cain is trying to stop a daemon-summoning, Tomas Beije tries to arrest him. Only by deploying KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand does Cain succeeding in getting to the summoning.

** In ''Cain's Last Stand'', Cain acts to forestall this between Adeptus Mechanicus and the Inquisition. When they are disputing who is responsible for the Chaos forces knowing of a relic, Cain puts the blame on a rogue Inquisitor that caused them some problems years earlier -- not knowing whether it's true, but wanting them focused on the forces.

* From ''{{Torchwood}}'': "Children of Earth." Say you're the British government. Say you have an alien problem. You also happen to know of an organisation which fights hostile aliens. It is willing to work with you. What are you going to do? That's right, [[spoiler:put a bomb inside their leader's stomach.]]
* On ''{{Lost}}'', Jack Shepherd's statement that "Either we live together or we die alone" qualifies. Subverted in the Fourth Season Finale when Jack started to say it, only to have Rose interrupt to notify him that if he did so, she would punch him in the face.

** All the Free Peoples (elves, dwarfs, men, hobbits, ents) indulge in WeAREStrugglingTogheter instead of focusing in defeat TheLordOfTheRings

* Yet another ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' example is in the ''DawnOfWar'' series, which contains ''five'' different campaigns (so far) in which everyone would much rather kill everyone else than work together to defeat the [[GoddamnOrks Orks]], [[RobotWar Necrons]], [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]], and/or [[TheLegionsOfHell Chaos]] that are rampaging everywhere. This ranges from ''Winter Assault'', in which the Imperial Guard and Eldar briefly ally before arbitrarily betraying each other, to ''Soulstorm'', in which three different divisions ''of the same faction'' are pounding at each other.

* Virtually all crime dramas portraying city-level police portray Federal authorities as authority wielding {{Men in Black}} who are all too willing to let a horrific crime go unpunished to further what they see as a bigger picture.

* Thanks to an elaborate XanatosGambit by the villain of the SchoolFestival arc in ''MahouSenseiNegima'', lead Negi was being held responsible for TheUnmasquedWorld, with his TrueCompanions being hunted as accomplices. This had the re-grouped friend fighting far better-trained mage teachers and students employed by the school is guards with [[DistressedDude Negi taken prisoner]]. They ultimately succeeded in [[RescueArc rescuing the lead]], though not without tremendous hinderance and generally having life made a little harder.

* Thanks to an elaborate XanatosGambit by the villain of the SchoolFestival arc in ''MahouSenseiNegima'', lead Negi was being held responsible for TheUnmasquedWorld, with his {{Nakama}} being hunted as accomplices. This had the re-grouped Nakama fighting far better-trained mage teachers and students employed by the school is guards with [[DistressedDude Negi taken prisoner]]. They ultimately succeeded in [[RescueArc rescuing the lead]], though not without tremendous hinderance and generally having life made a little harder.

->''"We must all hang together, or assuredly we will all [[TropeNamer hang separately]]."''

MaliciousSlander often fans the fire. TheRival may perpetrate it -- or just be extremely gullible, blinded by his dislike for TheHero.

The EvilOverlord is about to conquer your country, and TheRival is more concerned about his personal feud with the hero.
He often disbelieved either because of his [[GreenEyedMonster resentment]], or honestly, not trusting TheHero . He may [[SelectiveObliviousness not realize in the danger]]. He may even [[WeNeedToGetProof have legitimate reasons not to believe the hero]]. But the damage is real even so.

The EvilOverlord is about to conquer your country, and TheRival is [[TheChamberlain more concerned]] about keeping you from getting command of the army. He's not TheMole, but could hardly be doing more damage if he were. (He may [[SelectiveObliviousness not believe you]]. He may even [[WeNeedToGetProof have legitimate reasons not to believe you]]. But the damage is real even so.)

Heroic counterpart of EnemyCivilWar -- though, obviously, at least TheRival is not usually ''very'' heroic. Enlivens the life of many a hero, though. Indeed, the immense difficulty of telling this trope from TheMole has made many instances of TenLittleMurderVictims difficult.

The Rival may plant [[TheMole a mole]] on the hero's team just as if he were a villain. (And the hero may FeedTheMole in the same manner.) This can even, on occasion, [[FriendOrFoe erupt in violence]], which is worse than fighting the enemy, because the RedShirtArmy doesn't know the truth, and the hero WouldNotShootAGoodGuy.

The better sort of rival will come to his senses with the enemy actually at the gate, but not without doing heavy damage to the cause first. (He often disbelieved either honestly, not trusting TheHero, or because of his [[GreenEyedMonster resentment]].) However, often, RedemptionEqualsDeath. Not always. Sometimes, at that, TheHero learns AnAesop about how people can legitimately suspect him without being evil. Either way, TeethClenchedTeamwork is likely to ensue -- though that may lead to {{Fire Forged Friends}}hip and prevent reoccurrence. The {{Leader}} can sometimes resolve it earlier by trampling objections.

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