History Main / EnemyCivilWar

* The first level of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' takes place during a battle between rebels and a mercenary army, who will attack anyone who does not belong to their faction. While the mercenaries work for the BigBad, they are only in the city because someone hired them, and the rebels really have no interest in Snake's mission at all.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'': Team Plasma has separated into two forces since the previous game: Old Team Plasma, wearing the classic 'knight' uniform, [[spoiler:following N]], and acting as TheAtoner, and New Team plasma, wearing a new 'pirate' uniform, [[spoiler: following Ghetsis]], and trying to take over Unova the [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue old-]][[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver fash]][[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire ioned]] [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl way]].
* ''VideoGame/MarvelAvengersAlliance'': All of the supervillians banded together in forming the Syndicate to harness the power of iso-8. But when the Red Skull is resurrected, the Syndicate starts falling apart as Skull orders HYDRA into attacking mutants even the ones aligned with the Syndicate, then everyone else. Soon several supervillians started rallying to whoever's the strongest, Dr Doom on the other hand just sat back and watch the fireworks as its all part of his plan.

* ''Fanfic/{{Cenotaph}}'' features this as a facet of [[GuileHero Taylor's]] modus operadi. Due to being a solo operator, lacking tricks that can end a fight decisively (or, at least non-lethaly), and possesing a power best suited to spying and observation. She also takes the time to get to know her targets, and managed to pick up at least one unlikely ally this way: [[spoiler: Purity]].

Subtrope of CivilWar and EvilWillFail. Contrast EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily, where evil gets along arbitrarily well, or RebelliousRebel, where the villain's revealing their treachery plans promptly causes a subordinate to revolt against him. Compare EvilVersusEvil, EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion. WeAREStrugglingTogether is a heroic inversion. See also AsskickingLeadsToLeadership. Can result in TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil. See CivilWarcraft for the RTS version. Not to be mistaken with SetAMookToKillAMook.

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}: The "War of Jokes and Riddles" arc in ''ComicBook/BatmanTomKing'' revolves around a "war" between the Joker and the Riddler, with various other villains picking sides.

** A major plot point in ''ComicBook/TalesOfTheJedi'' is the strife within the Great Sith Empire caused by Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh's battle over ideology; they're actually fighting over what ''kind'' of villainy the Empire should practice, with Sadow wanting [[ChaoticEvil expansionism and brutal warfare]] while Kressh wants to [[LawfulEvil consolidate power and resolve internal matters]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Sadow wins and puts his ideas into effect, but [[TheCassandra Kressh is proven to have been right about everything]], as Sadow's flawed leadership and attempts at expansion wind up destroying the Empire.]]
** This is a central theme in ''ComicBook/StarWarsLegacy'', in which the Empire has split into two factions: Roan Fel's Empire and Darth Krayt's Empire. Something of a downplayed example, as [[BlackAndGreyMorality the Fel Empire isn't really evil anymore, but the Sith very much are]].

* In the {{Fanfic/Uplifted}} series, this how the Allies view the German Civil war.
* ''FanFic/ThousandShinji'':
** During the invasion of the Geofront, [[AntiHero Shinji]] [[PsychicPowers telepatically]] goads the invading soldiers to shoot each other.
--->"This went beyond a simple cluster fuck, this transcended into the realm where future generations of soldiers would refer to a situation this badly screwed up that they would have to call such scenarios... Tokyo-3..."
** Also, the only reason why [[spoiler:the canon!40k gods had to work together]] was because their inter-factional fighting allowed [[spoiler:the C'tan]] to gain a vital advantage.

* ''FanFic/TheFallOfTheFireEmpire'': Turns out that invoking this trope is part of [[BigBad Azula's]] master plan -- [[spoiler: she sends identical messages to every high ranking officer in her military, telling them that after she dies they, and they alone, are to rule as regent until her -- nonexistent -- heir comes forward. She knows that this will lead to a civil war that will tear the empire apart, allowing her to effectively pull TakingYouWithMe on the entire planet.]]
* In ''Fanfic/PokemonTheGreatAdventure'', this is what happens within Team Rocket. As a bit of subversion, at that point, Giovanni's faction isn't really the enemy anymore. They're just evil because criminals.
* In ''Fanfic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', Wily's Robot Masters have a habit of competing with each other, and they sometimes jeopardize changes at victory because of it. This becomes even more pronounced when [[spoiler:Bass and Splash Woman]] are created.

* ''Fanfic/EarthsAlienHistory'': Following the Reaper War, the Space Pirates end up divided between those loyal to Mother Brain, and those corrupted by Dark Samus, with the two factions quickly coming to blows.
* At the climax of ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'', [[spoiler: [[VillainProtagonist Jade]] and [[GreaterScopeVillain Tarakudo]] finally meet and come to blows over control of the Shadowkhan, with their respective Generals also fighting each other]].
* A brief one breaks out in ''Fanfic/GuardiansWizardsAndKungFuFighters'' when [[TheStarscream Daolon Wong]] finally makes his move against Phobos. To keep Phobos isolated while he deals with him, Wong has his allies the Tracker and [[MookLieutenant Roberta]] lead the army of brainwashed Lurdens and Shapeshifters he's been building in secret against the Guards and Lurdens still under Phobos' command.
** An offscreen one happened amongst the ranks of the Dark Hand's North American branch after Valmont's arrest left an EvilPowerVacuum, leaving every officer fighting for control. By the time the story starts, Asian branch leader Chang has stepped in to fill the void as interim leader, bringing the fighting to an end.
** In Chapter 32, [[spoiler: a newly Heart-empowered Phobos decides he [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness doesn't need the Guards anymore]], so transforms the Whisperers into humanoid {{Mooks}} and has them attack Lothar's men]].
* In ''FanFic/PurpleDays'', Renly's massive army disintegrates into infighting after Joffrey's lightning strikes destroy most of the chivalry serving as the commanders, critical supplies and most of the army's morale.
* ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'': One of these starts brewing in the Irken Empire in Season 2, as a masked figure called Miz starts preaching an uprising against the corruption of the height-based hierarchy, in order to bring true equality to the Irken race. [[spoiler: "[[SdrawkcabAlias Miz]]" is actually a [[TheStarscream vengeful Zim]], seeking to stage a coup against the Tallest.]] Despite the Tallest laughing off the situation, it's shown that many Irkens are inspired by Miz's message, and they're organizing to prepare a full rebellion.
* ''[[https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/iron-against-steel-the-first-order-civil-war.481526/ Iron Against Steel]]'' is a ''Franchise/StarWars'' AU that diverges from canon immediately following ''Film/TheLastJedi''. In the aftermath of the Battle of Crait and Kylo Ren [[KlingonPromotion claiming the position of Supreme Leader]], General Hux refuses to let his rival take command, and quickly conspires with other officers to assassinate Ren. When this appears successful, he swiftly takes over the First Order, consolidates their rule of much of the galaxy, and declares himself Emperor... only for the still alive Ren to reveal himself during Hux's inaugural NewEraSpeech. It isn't long before the newly-declared Second Galactic Empire is divided by fighting between their respective loyalists and allies, in what's referred to as the Succession War.
* In ''Fanfic/DekuIThinkHesSomePro'' [[spoiler:Izuku revealing his discovery about Shigaraki's genetic Quirklessness (and, by extent, where his Quirk came from), and how he had been groomed to become a Villain, convinces the League of Villains to turn on and attempt to kill All For One.]]
* In ''Podcast/SporadicPhantoms'', Kyle believes there's one going on in The Sharing between the rich donors and Elizabeth's Be You Now course. As usual, he's RightForTheWrongReasons: [[spoiler: Chapman and Visser Three want to get rid of her and her followers, while Elizabeth claims to be working under direct orders from The Council of Thirteen]].
* PlayedWith in ''Fanfic/DarthVaderHeroOfNaboo'': [[spoiler: While outright infighting hasn't started yet, aside from a couple of failed desertions and mutinies, there are schisms within the time-displaced Death Squadron -- while the Stormtroopers are completely loyal to Vader and the technical staff are willing to go with the flow, many officers are angry about him killing Palpatine and preventing the rise of the Empire as they knew it, and are silently plotting against him for it.]] Vader is aware of all this, but not overly concerned, convinced that he can handle the whole situation.
* ''Fanfic/AManOfIron'': During the climax of the Braavos storyline in ''A Shield of Man'', the Mandarin's Ten Ring cultists and the Sentinels they created to aid them are attacking the city. To try and deal with their greater numbers, Arya takes advantage of the fact that the Mandarin himself is busy fighting Magneto and Tony and tricks some of the cultists into attacking some of the Sentinels; with the Mandarin's focus elsewhere and unable to keep remotely controlling them, the Sentinels lash out at the cultists, triggering an all-out brawl between both groups.
* ''Fanfic/AlongCameASpider'': much like [[TabletopGame/BattleTech canon]], this bites the Clans hard, as a blunder in the Grand Council by the Ghost Bears allows the Homeworld Clans free reign to request trials against the Invading Clans, stirring the pot even more than in canon. This is discussed by the Khans of the Wolves and Goliath Scorpions, the former giving the latter the majority of their homeworld resources in thanks for past service as well as an apology for drawing them into recent trials that savaged the Scorpion forces involved. The Scorpion Khan realizes that the Wolves are not interested in the [[InstantWinCondition race to Terra]] but rather, conquering their own territory and building an empire within the Inner Sphere, and when realizing the other Clans might attack the Wolves once they realize what they're up to, comes to the same conclusion that the Wolf Khan implied, [[NotWhatISignedUpFor "Let someone else go first."]]

* In the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' series the armies of the Dragon Highlords instantly dissolve into civil war when [[spoiler:Ariakas]] is assassinated (at the instigation of one of the other Highlords).
* In the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'', besides [[LaResistance the Varden]], there's a tiny country called Surda that broke off from TheEmpire. By the second book, their king is actively funding and housing the Varden.
* A fairly common occurrence in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novels:
** In Creator/JamesSwallow's Literature/BloodAngels novel ''Deus Sanguinius'', the Warmaster and Inquisitor Stele dispute over their plans. [[spoiler:Right up to the Warmaster, to rebuke Stele, tells his forces that Stele's ship is expendable.]]
** At one point, in the Literature/CiaphasCain ('''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!''') book ''The Traitor's Hand'', Ciaphas is trying to stop a group of cultists from completing a Chaos ritual, when suddenly, Chaos Space Marines of a rival faction show up. These evil marines start killing the cultists, which Cain uses to plow a path to the main cultist headquarters.
*** At the end of ''Death or Glory'', Cain manages to trigger one of these among the Orks invading Perlia (which, granted, is about as easy as getting out of bed in the morning) [[spoiler:by personally killing the Warboss]]. As soon as the assembled Nobz get the chance to fight each other, they take it, and the Waagh falls apart.
*** In ''The Greater Good'', Cain manages to pull this on [[spoiler: the ''Tyranids'']].
** In the ''Literature/GreyKnights'' novel ''Hammer of Daemons'', the captive Alaric deduces that the lords of Drakaasi are barely tolerating each other, and instigates conflict between them as part of his escape plan.
** In Creator/BenCounter's story "Words of Blood", Athellenas repeatedly attacks Chaos forces and retreats, despite his subordinates' hatred of the dishonor. By thus stoking their bloodlust and not letting them vent it on his {{Space Marine}}s, he provokes them into fighting each other. When they go to clean up the survivors, the subordinates who preferred a LastStand are fittingly humbled, and Athellanas explains the importance of victory -- and realizes how important it was when he learns no one else could have helped the planet these forces intended to massacre.
** In the second ''Literature/WatchersOfTheThrone'' book, the two enemy factions - the cultists and the high-ranking nobles who hid them from law - come into conflict when it becomes apparent that [[spoiler:Imperium Eterna essentially wishes to use the Splintered cults to become a VillainWithGoodPublicity.]]
* The society of the ChaoticNeutral Kif from Creator/CJCherryh's Literature/ChanurNovels is essentially a perpetual (but mostly cold) civil war. Everyone conspires against everyone. As soon as a leader overreaches, or shows signs of weakness, their alliance will quickly be taken over by a high level subordinate, or simply disintegrate.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' When not engaged in [[EvilVersusEvil The Blood War]], fighting amongst themselves is one of the most common ways for demons and devils to pass the time. For devils are constantly seeking to usurp each other's position and Asmodeus in a recent edition orchestrated a revolution against ''himself'' for the purpose of exposing his enemies and humiliating them, while demons usually forgo the scheming and politicking and go straight into the massive bloodshed.
** The ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' campaign setting also has ([[spoiler:or used to have]]) four other gods of drow that opposed Lolth, and a fifth that was technically subservient to her but had factions of his worshippers that were agitating to break away. All of them except Eilistraee were Chaotic Evil.
** Also in ''Forgotten Realms'', the forces of Zhentil Keep occasionally splintered into various cults of personality--most centered around the wizard Manshoon and the priest Fzoul--that led to frequent infighting. Also, after Manshoon's death, he was resurrected as a number of clones that all had the same memories, leading to a struggle between them known as the Manshoon Wars; this ended with three surviving clones, who managed to find ways to shut off the "Kill all other clones" psychoprogramming and resumed trying to rebuild Manshoon's power base (save for the one that housed Manshoon's real soul, who set about looking for a way to BodySurf between the clones).
** To expand on the story about the revolution in Hell, known as the Reckoning: The King of Hell is Asmodeus; his two most powerful archdukes are Baalzebul and Mephistopheles. These two each wanted to rule Hell, so they gathered the remaining six archdevils into two factions that made war on each other, the winner taking on Asmodeus. When they had done enough damage to each other, one of the archdevils, Geryon, revealed he had been TheMole for Asmodeus the whole time and gave the signal for the legions of Hell to turn against their masters. In the end, all the archdevils were sent back to their domains, except Geryon, whom Asmodeus exiled for being blindly loyal to him--turns out being TheStarscream is what Asmodeus expects of his vassals, and Geryon was the only one who was found wanting.
*** This page is about interesting enemies so one of the suspected reasons Asmodeus did what he did with Geryon is that he replaced him with Levistus (who did not get the usual power boost with the promotion nor get freed from his iceberg prison), a devil who had killed Asmodeus's queen, and the most blatant [[TheStarScream StarScream]] possibly bar Mephistopheles. [[BatmanGambit This was to make the leaders of hell scratch their heads, causing them to completely ignore that he had made a non-devil, the hag countess in charge of the sixth layer]] of hell, that is until the throne warmer was replaced with his daughter, who he was not getting along with previously. Much to Levistus's despair all his plots only furthered to distract the other lords from Asmodeus's throne warmer.
*** Completely off topic for this page, but recent information suggests that exiling Geryon for being loyal was just a front; Asmodeus is playing a BatmanGambit with Geryon to get him to do something that even the King of Hell can't be seen as being connected to.
** Although it is never implied in the books, we must keep in mind these are devils, only a fool would expect one to be truly loyal, therefore Geryon's fate might be a lesson to other subordinates that everyone is disposable.
*** Asmodeus loves this; in a recent book; it was explained that the previous King of Hell; Lucifer; was simply a different avatar of the same Overlord that Asmodeus is ''also'' an avatar of. Asmodeus "rebelled" against Lucifer; in the most elaborate game of puppetry ever; to keep the devils on their toes.
* This is specifically why the world isn't dead yet in the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness and TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness. Most notable is ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'', where the AncientConspiracy known as the Seers of the Throne is constantly trying to keep its own groups from wiping each other out in power struggles and focus on the ''other'' mages - a lesson the Seers learned the hard way early in their history, when a squabble over how best to operate went hot, led to meaningful casualties, and gave the scattered Diamond, fresh from the fall of Atlantis, time to regain its footing.
** Also notable in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', where the Sabbat managed to work its way up to ''four'' civil wars and counting. At least two of these civil wars involved a long-running rivalry between the Lasombra and the Tzimisce, two clans viewed as the heart and soul of the Sabbat... and the third involved the other clans, who were sick of getting the short end of the stick, turning on the Lasombra and Tzimisce.
* The factions of ''TabletopGAme/{{Warhammer}}'' can be divided roughly into [[OrderVersusChaos Order and Disorder]], and since even the good races like the elves, dwarfs and Empire have had their share of civil wars, you can imagine what life is like among the others. Followers of Chaos compete violently amongst each other for the attention of their patron deities, the Skaven suffer from racial ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, and the Orcs and Goblins will just as eagerly fight each other than they would the other races - in fact, Greenskin armies have the Animosity rule that gives their troops a chance to ignore orders and shoot at a nearby friendly unit, squabble amongst themselves and do nothing for a turn, or surge ahead and try to get into close combat.
* About the only race in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' that ''isn't'' engaging in infighting are the Tau, and even they are trying to decide what to do with the separatist movement led by the renegade Commander "Farsight" O'Shovah.
** [[TheEmpire The Imperium]] has suffered from numerous civil wars, from the disastrous Literature/HorusHeresy shortly after its founding to the more recent Age of Apostasy. At any given moment there's a dozen systems somewhere fighting a war of succession, especially given the breakdowns in communication and space travel at the close of the 41st millennium.
** The only reason the Orks haven't conquered the galaxy yet (and they almost did, once) is because they, like their ''Warhammer Fantasy'' counterparts, enjoy fighting each other as much as they do outsiders. Occasionally a strong-willed Warlord emerges to browbeat his rivals into following him on a Waaagh!, but such rampages inevitably end in Warbosses breaking off to start their own dreams of conquest - or power struggles over who should be Warlord.
** [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranid]] hive fleets have been observed battling with each other, but a true civil war is impossible as all Tyranids are controlled by the same HiveMind. What's actually going on is that the "rival" fleets are testing the evolutionary upgrades they've accumulated against each other to see which is stronger - the "winner" absorbs the genetic advantages of the "loser" and recycles the dead bio-mass to produce more soldiers, so there is minimal downside to such battles.
** Chaos, as befitting a faction represented by eight arrows going in different directions, is terminally fractious from top to bottom. The [[FourIsDeath four]] Chaos Gods despise each other on a fundamental level and spend most of their efforts on wars in the [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Immaterium]] rather than the material plane. Meanwhile their mortal followers have not only inherited these hatreds but are also battling against rival champions of their patron deity, to prove they're worthy of their favour. Though at times the forces of Chaos have marched in step, like the Ork Waaagh! example above, such Black Crusades are merely temporary alliances between rival Chaos warlords that invariably end when their vicious rivalries resurface.
*** In the first couple of editions[[note]]He was last mentioned by a canonical source in Third, and the latest editions leave no room for extra Gods beyond the Four.[[/note]] there was even a Chaos God that represented this: Malal the Chaos God of paradoxes, justice, and destruction (mostly self-destruction). It's ultimate goal was to completely destroy the Warp-- which as a Chaos God would also kill itself. Malal was completely aware of and undeterred by this.
*** In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''Traitor General'', [[spoiler:Sturm]] realizes that the warlord holding him intends to use him as a pawn in a struggle within Chaos for the post of Archon, after he lost that post in an open conflict. Indeed, Chaos agents attempt to assassinate him. It is also observed that the aforementioned conflict may have caused more casualties among the Chaos forces than the entire Imperial Crusade up to that point.
*** In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's ''Literature/{{Ultramarines}}'' novel ''Dead Sky Black Sun'', there is fighting between two factions of a single Chaos Marine legion where Uriel arrives, and both sides are quite willing to use him against each other rather than stand united against him. Also, two major daemons of Khorne, apparently out of jealousy.
** Even the Inquisition gets in on this, due to having multiple factions having very divergent goals and methods. The main one is the rift between Puritans and Radicals, where Puritans have no truck with fundamentally dangerous methods like psykers and Chaos artifacts, Radicals get better results due to using them but are at a much higher risk of falling to Chaos themselves. The two see each other as willingly blind fools/confirmed heretics and treat each other accordingly.
** While the [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Leagues of Votann]] are for the most part rather friendly between groups, their hyper-competitive nature leads to infighting when it comes to resources or corporate dominance.
* In promotional material for the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' set ''New Phyrexia'', it's suggested that the five Phyrexian factions' differing ideals may be sufficient to bring them down through infighting. Meanwhile, the Mirrans seem to have adopted a "now we are one" stance (a typically Phyrexian ideal), banding together to survive the corruption of their world. Ultimately, [[spoiler:it's not enough. The white-mana faction mostly wipes out the TokenGoodTeammate red-mana faction and beats the ChronicBackstabbingDisorder-suffering black-mana faction into submission, and the other two factions pull together under the white-mana Praetor's leadership to utterly destroy the Mirran resistance. Only a handful - possibly as few as ''one'' - of the Mirrans survive]].
* This is what effectively brings the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Clans]] down as a threat to the Inner Sphere in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. While they claim to have a united front against the Inner Sphere and call for its invasion and the capture of Terra ([[YouKillItYouBoughtIt so that they can rule the Inner Sphere instead]], never you mind that no one save Comstar recognizes this as an InstantWinCondition), the Clans turn out to be so heavily opposed to each other politically that they spend almost as much time fighting themselves as they do fighting the Inner Sphere. This ultimately comes to a head when the Clans' infighting causes them to lose not only massive amounts of material and countless lives, but also what advantages they held over a severely battered Inner Sphere, post-Fedcom Civil War and Jihad. The Clans divided themselves further, as the Home Clans abjured the Clans the moved into the Inner Sphere. This latter followed when Clan Steel Viper started calling in Trials of Reaving in which they would eliminate Clans they deem as tainted. The other Clans used these Trials to their own agenda in attack other Clans, while fighting off The Society a dissenting faction that plans to over throw the Warrior castes.

* It is only ''beginning'' to happen (it's at the 'Enemy Civil Skirmishes' stage, so to speak), but the approach of this trope is one of the few good things for humanity in TabletopGame/GURPSReignOfSteel (a RobotWar setting [[AfterTheEnd where the robots won]]). The supercomputers may have been united when they toppled humanity as rulers of the Earth and carved it into Zones ruled by a single supercomputer each, but ideological differences have led to increasing tensions between the supercomputers, to the point that some of them are starting to consider whether having a 'human zone' as a neighbour wouldn't be better after all (and then there are ticking time-bombs like Zaire's infiltrators provocateur (who are the single reveal of where they come from from starting an open conflict with Washington) and Mexico City's secret plans to exterminate all organic life on Earth (which puts it in direct ideological or dependency conflict with no less than ''six'' (maybe even seven) of the other supercomputers)).
* Among his many other awesome accomplishments, Fanfic/OldManHenderson infamously triggered an Enemy Civil War between the cults of Hastur and Cthulhu by stealing a yacht from a high-ranking Hastur cultist and air-dropping it on top of the penthouse apartment of a high-ranking Cthulhu cultist, who assumed the yacht's owner was responsible. Both cults immediately [[TheUnmasquedWorld abandon the Masquerade]] and start slinging spells and summoned eldritch monsters at each other in the streets in broad daylight, freaking out the police and military who have no idea what to do about it.
* Played with for ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse's'' The Ennead and The Chairman and Operative. Because they share a Nemesis icon, their attacks do extra damage to each other if you can deflect them. WordOfGod is that The Ennead, despite being a team, don't actually get along with each other all that great. For extra fun, The Chairman automatically counter-attacks when he's hit, so if you deflect a strike from The Operative to him, he'll retaliate against her.

* In ''VideoGame/MythTheFallenLords'', at some point it is stated that Balor's revived generals continue to bear personal grudges from their living existence centuries before. The Watcher and the Deceiver end up fighting each other in the mission "Seven Gates", and you are tasked with exploiting the mess caused by their clash.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Iconoclasts}}'', Agent Chrome eventually gets a swelled head that he's some sort of savior who needs to displace Mother and rule the One Concern. After the boss fight against Mother, his proselytizing splits the One Concern into two factions: those loyal to Mother, and those loyal to Chrome. When PlayerCharacter Robin reaches Chrome, he gives a MotiveRant about how he believes it is his destiny to usurp even the Starworm (effectively, the god of this settin) and start things over. [[spoiler:This lasts up until Elro injects Chrome with his two-part serum, which causes Chrome to have a VillainousBreakdown when he realizes he's going to die, showing that this thin veneer of charm and religious preaching was all just [[MaskOfSanity an act for a self-serving jerk]].]]

** In ''Diablo III'', this is cited as the main reason why the Burning Hells, despite all its overwhelming power and the bureaucratic arrogance of the High Heavens, kept on failing to win the Eternal Conflict. Tyrael reminisces about one near defeat, when the demons were on the verge of breaking a siege against Heaven's gates, but then the demon lords started bickering over who would receive what spoils, and lost what was supposed to be the final push. The demon lords are their own worst enemies, second in threat only to the adventuring parties. [[spoiler: So when Diablo's master plan is to sacrifice hordes of mooks and assist the adventurers in killing his siblings, all so his mole can betray them at the last moment and merge the souls of all demon lords with him in charge, it works perfectly and all Hell literally breaks loose in Heaven.]]

** A mong the Lords of the Burning Hells, the four Lesser Evils made a pact to overthrow the three Prime Evils in one civil war, and afterward they started another civil war between themselves to rule. [[spoiler: And then it's revealed in ''Diablo II'' that the Prime Evils masterminded the whole thing in order to get themselves exiled to the human world for invasion and conquest.]]

* The ''{{Franchise/Halo}}'' series has a few:
** The big one is the Great Schism (or the Covenant Civil War) which began in ''{{VideoGame/Halo 2}}'', resulting in an EnemyMine situation between the Humans, the Elites, and some of the Grunts and Hunters who joined them.
** In the novel ''Literature/HaloGlasslands'', which takes place after ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'', the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence ''thinks'' they're creating one. Basically, ONI sends a squad of [[BadassNormal ODSTs]], a [[SuperSoldier Spartan]], and a [[AIIsACrapshoot crazy AI]] to Sanghelios (the Elite homeworld) in order to fuel the fires of a civil war in order to keep them unbalanced while the UNSC rebuilds ([[RightHandVersusLeftHand all of this is without the approval or even knowledge of UNSC High Command]]). However, Sanghelios's most prominent leader, the Arbiter, is already trying to get his people to ''not'' attack humanity; all ONI is doing is making his job harder. The sequel ''Literature/HaloTheThursdayWar'' shows that events don't go as planned by ONI. The ONI-backed Elites don't get enough support but still start the fight, but it looks like the Arbiter is going to win. However, the Arbiter then permits the above-mentioned team to enter a Forerunner relic on Sanghelios in order to retrieve a human scientist captured by the rebels. This ends up turning a large portion of the Sangheili against the Arbiter, and it looks like the rebels may win in a very short while. This is also not the result ONI wants, as the rebels are religious fanatics who hate the humans with a passion. Admiral Margaret Parangosky, the head of ONI, convinces Admiral Terrence Hood to bring UNSC ''Infinity'', the fleet's newest flagship and the most powerful vessel in known space, to Sanghelios and rain DeathFromAbove on the fanatics. However, in order to maintain the strife, ONI proceeds to destroy equal numbers of ships both those loyal to the Arbiter and the fanatics. Despite the mess, the Arbiter is eventually able to solidify himself as the main leader of the Elites, and [[spoiler:manages to wipe out all the fanatics on Sanghelios by the end of ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'']].

* ''ComicBook/DarthVader'' : VillainProtagonist Vader finds himself inadvertently tricked into attacking other Imperial loyalists as part of an insurgency BatmanGambit in ''The Lost Command''.
* {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in ''ComicBook/EarthX''. Mephisto has deliberately created multiple universes full of lesser Devils, precisely so they will fight and plot against one another, creating chaos that spawns disasters while also obfuscating his own plans.

* In Franchise/TheDCU, the mini-series ''ReignInHell'' features a civil war for the control of Hell fought between the demon princes Neron and Lord Satanus.
* Tends to happen a lot with ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' villains. In particular, Bizarro (Superman's EvilKnockoff) [[SelfDuplication created]] his own monstrous version of Superman's RoguesGallery back home on BizarroWorld. Superman often finds himself maintaining the balance of power to [[SaveTheVillain keep the two sides from killing each other]].
* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' actually has a story arc titled ''[[RoguesGallery Rogue]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin War]]'' wherein the Flash has to stop three separate factions of villains from killing each other and a bunch of innocent bystanders. Four if you count [[EvilCounterpart Zoom]] as his own faction. Six if you count Gorilla Grodd and Doctor Alchemy as separate factions.
* Occurs with the New York branch of the Foot after the Shredder's death in ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage'', with several factions fighting each other for control of the city. Among them are the Foot Elite, a group of Shredder loyalists who indiscriminately kill all the other groups. Later stories, such as Tristan Jones' recent issues of ''Tales'' and Volume 3, deal with the war's fallout.

* Dormammu and Umar, two of Comicbook/DoctorStrange's greatest foes, are twin siblings who rule the Dark Dimension. Whichever one is out of power at the moment is constantly scheming to take the throne back, and any alliances are loaded with ulterior motives. This is very fortunate for the rest of us, since if the two of them ever ''actually'' cooperated, they could take over the world with ease.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
** Whenever there are supervillain team ups, this trope is frequently the reason he beats them. In fact, Spidey will often goad the villains into fighting each other or trick them into accidentally hurting each other, which frequently triggers the former.
** Given that most Spider-Man stories take place in New York, organized crime is often an element. Villains like the Kingpin, Silvermane, and Hammerhead have been engaged in turf wars, which sometimes involve supervillains like Doctor Octopus or the Green Goblin.
* This happens in ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' between Robotnik and his Badniks on one side and Brutus and his Badniks on the other side.
* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'':
** ''[[Recap/AsterixAndTheGoths Asterix and the Goths]]'' does this. Getafix gives all sorts of random people a potion, claiming it will make them stronger. Conveniently, they all have a lust for power, so a huge war begins between all of the factions of the Goths.
** In ''[[Recap/AsterixTheLegionary Asterix the Legionary]]'', Asterix and Obelix get involved in the Civil War between Caesar and Pompey, which is certainly an enemy civil war from their point of view.

** The most protracted civil war occurs in the Marvel UK "Earthforce" storyline, where two Decepticon factions led by Megatron and Shockwave are active on Earth and spend most of their time fighting each other. The Autobots are happy to encourage this: When the two factions hold peace talk, the Autobots quickly get them fighting again by making it look like Shockwave set the whole thing up to assassinate Megatron. It eventually ends with their respective lieutenants, Soundwave and (naturally) Starscream, deposing their leaders and uniting the factions themselves.
* The "War of Jokes and Riddles" arc in ''ComicBook/BatmanTomKing'' revolves around a "war" between the Joker and the Riddler, with various other villains picking sides.

* ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' has this factor into John's plot to cure his cancer by selling his soul to two lords of Hell. Because his soul was already desired by the First of the Fallen due to John drowning the bastard in holy water, he would likely go to war with the two other lords of the triumvirate, who each had their own claims of competing strength... and if they did that, Heaven would take advantage of the disruption and stomp all over Hell. John then slits his wrists, forcing the triumvirate to bring him back to life for as long as possible to avoid the power struggle. [[spoiler: At least, until the First gets sick of waiting, ambushes the other two lords and kills them, and sets out to claim John's soul...]]

%% * The Red Dragon Organization vs. The Black Dragon Organization from ''Franchise/MortalKombat''.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' occasionally pits the Team Rocket trio against other members of the team, particularly Cassidy and Butch.

* In ''{{LightNovel/Slayers}}'', the Five Retainers who lead the Mazoku can't ''stand'' one another. Chaos Dragon is openly in rebellion against the others and devotes all his energy to ruining their plans. Hellmaster has lost faith in [[SealedEvilInACan Dark Lord Shabranigdu's]] ability to end the world and wants to do it himself. Dynast, on the other hand, wants to immediately resurrect Shabranigdu for another go at it. Greater Beast loathes Hellmaster for always bossing her around, but also thinks that Dynast's plan is too reckless. Deep Sea has her ''own'' plan, thank you very much, and isn't happy when [[GambitPileup other plans get in the way]]. As a result, the Mazoku spend more time and energy undermining each other than fighting the heroes. Most of ''Slayers: NEXT'' is an EvilPlan by Hellmaster to get rid of Chaos Dragon ([[spoiler:and may have been a {{plan}} by Greater Beast to get rid of ''both'' of them]]). In the final light novel, a full-scale civil war breaks out, with the only ones who seem to have any sort of camaraderie are Greater Beast and Deep Sea (ironic, as {{Fanon}} had speculated that they hated each other up until that point.)

* Another one, and this one a three-way. 2 Chronicles 20:22-23 describe how the Edomites, the Ammonites and the Moabites were marching for Judah, only for them to "rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them" only for them to "helped to destroy one another" right after.

* Twice in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. [[spoiler:Between the end of patch 2.0 (''A Realm Reborn'') and the middle of 3.0 (''Heavensward''), Emperor Solus of Garlemald passes away, leading to various factions trying to take the throne. Ultimately, Solus' son, Varis took over. Later in patch 5.0, [[BloodKnight Zenos]], Varis' son, [[{{Patricide}} murders Varis]] as he was attempted to release a killer virus and [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou that would spoil Zenos' desire to defeat the Warrior of Light his way]], causing another war to erupt. The teaser video for patch 6.0 ''Endwalker'', suggests that this war totally wrecks the empire]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'', among the Lords of the Burning Hells, the four Lesser Evils made a pact to overthrow the three Prime Evils in one civil war, and afterward they started another civil war between themselves to rule. [[spoiler: And then it's revealed in ''Diablo II'' that the Prime Evils masterminded the whole thing in order to get themselves exiled to the human world for invasion and conquest.]]
*** In ''Diablo III'', this is cited as the main reason why Hell, despite all its overwhelming power and the bureaucratic arrogance of Heaven, kept on failing to win the Eternal War. Tyrael reminisces about one near defeat, when the demons were on the verge of breaking a siege against Heaven's gates, but then the demon lords started bickering over who would receive what spoils, and lost what was supposed to be the final push. The demon lords are their own worst enemies, second in threat only to the adventuring parties. [[spoiler: So when Diablo's master plan is to sacrifice hordes of mooks and assist the adventurers in killing his siblings, all so his mole can betray them at the last moment and merge the souls of all demon lords with him in charge, it works perfectly and all Hell literally breaks loose in Heaven.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'', two lesser demon lords made a pact to overthrow the three greatest ones in one civil war, and afterward they started another civil war between them.
** [[spoiler: And then it's revealed in ''Diablo II'' that the three greater demons masterminded the whole thing in order to get themselves exiled to the human world.]]

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' franchise, it's all too common for the lords of the Burning Hells to turn against one another for more power. As Archangel Tyriel says, the Burning Hells have come close to winning the Eternal Conflict against the High Heavens once or twice, but the inherit greed and selfishness of evil drove the lords to fight each other over the spoils of a victory they had not yet achieved. This always gave the forces of Heaven time to rally and push back against the darkness.

-->-- '''Kreia''', ''VideoGame/StarWarsKnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords''

* ''Series/TheSopranos'': Season 5 sees one develop with the Lupertazzi family in New York thanks to a SuccessionCrisis caused by longtime boss Carmine Lupertazzi Sr.'s death from a stroke. Tony Soprano's plan is for the [=DiMeo=] crew to stay neutral and allow the Lupertazzis to weaken themselves in the ensuing conflict so they can take advantage afterwards. Unfortunately, his plan is ruined when his cousin Tony Blundetto goes rogue and gets the family mixed up with the New York factions.