History Main / EnforcedColdWar

* OlderThanSteam: ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' is, [[JustForFun/TheZerothLawOfTropeExamples of course]], the Ur-Example.

** For the record, it was doomed from the start. New Genesis wanted to end the war, but Darkseid just wanted to buy himself some time to make better weapons. From the start, he had a BatmanGambit planned so that his hostage would eventually voluntarily flee Apokolips and the Pact would be null and void.

* In ''Manga/LastExile'', the countries of Anatoray and Disith are engaged in a long and bloody war under the supervision of the mysterious Guild, which directs the official battles which take place in the air between the country's respective air forces. The enforcement comes into play when one side gains too much of an advantage and is stopped forcefully by the forces of the Guild, in order to maintain the {{status quo|IsGod}}.

* Arguably, the ''original'' Cold War was enforced as well, not by God or {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s but by fear of the consequences - best-case scenario was a body count to rival the First World War, worst-case was the extinction of all life on earth. - if [[WorldWarIII it went hot]].

* OlderThanSteam: ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' is, [[JustForFun/ZerothLaw of course]], the Ur-Example.

* On ''WesternAnimation//TheVentureBros'', the Guild of Calamitous Intent (a WeirdTradeUnion for supervillains) and the Office of Secret Intelligence (a government agency charged with protecting those people loosely classified as "heroes") have an incredibly complicated series of treaties and compromises with each other. The gist of these agreements is that the villains get to terrorize their heroic archenemies, but while [[WhatMeasureIsAMook henchmen and sidekicks can be killed by the dozens]], the heroes and villains are mostly prohibited from actually ''killing'' each other or otherwise doing anything that would bring their perpetual conflict to an end. There are also a huge number of health exemptions and other loopholes that let people essentially call a "time out" on the hero vs. villain battles so they can deal with actually important shit.

* In the third season of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', The [[WeirdTradeUnion Guild of Calamitous Intent]] forces AffablyEvil supervillain The Monarch to give up Dr. Venture as his arch-nemesis and find somebody else to antagonize. He doesn't take it well.

* Episode 9 of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' has a cross with this and ChanceMeetingBetweenAntagonists when Nanoha and Fate plan a surprise hospital visit to Hayate on Christmas Eve while the Wolkenritter were there. They're allowed to complete the visit, [[HeKnowsToMuch but as soon as all the Muggles were gone...]]

* Episode 9 of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' has a cross with this and ChanceMeetingBetweenAntagonists when Nanoha and Fate plan a surprise hospital visit to Hayate on Christmas Eve while the Wolkenritter were there. They're allowed to complete the visit, but as soon as all the Muggles were gone...

* Famously used as a tool of control in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. O'Brien more or less says that the three superpowers have an unofficial pact to keep the conflict between them going because the patriotism stirred up is yet another tool to control their citizen's thoughts and behaviour. The war isn't entirely cold but the actual fighting seems to be mostly confined to clashes over territories they don't care that much about and is just an excuse for the governments to announce stirring victories over their opponents and inspiring maps of how much territory was captured in the last offensive (this seems to have led to Africa winding up being traded back and forth in chunks). Of course this being 1984 just because these victories are announced doesn't mean they actually happened.

* Famously used as a tool of control in [[Literature/Nineteen Eighty-Four]]. O'Brien more or less says that the three superpowers have an unofficial pact to keep the conflict between them going because the patriotism stirred up is yet another tool to control their citizen's thoughts and behaviour. The war isn't entirely cold but the actual fighting seems to be mostly confined to clashes over territories they don't care that much about and is just an excuse for the governments to announce stirring victories over their opponents and inspiring maps of how much territory was captured in the last offensive (this seems to have led to Africa winding up being traded back and forth in chunks). Of course this being 1984 just because these victories are announced doesn't mean they actually happened.

* Famously used as a tool of control in [[Literature/1984]]. O'Brien more or less says that the three superpowers have an unofficial pact to keep the conflict between them going because the patriotism encouraged by the conflict is yet another tool to control their citizen's thoughts and behaviour. The war isn't entirely cold but the actual fighting seems to be mostly confined to clashes over territories they don't care that much about and is just an excuse for the governments to announce stirring victories over their opponents and inspiring maps of how much territory was captured in the last offensive (this seems to have led to Africa being traded back and forth in chunks). Of course this being 1984 just because these victories are announced doesn't mean they actually happened.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' revolves around two ostensibly warring factions who rarely attack each other and never do it effectively, with the only medic blatantly working for both armies. This should have been a bigger tip-off that Red and Blue were in fact commanded by the same government, and the war was a construct. Of course, the teams are also idiots.

* OlderThanSteam: ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' is, [[ZerothLaw of course]], the Ur-Example.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': Many of the individual novel plots revolve around some radical person or group trying to upset the balance of power between Magic and Science, often in a rather public manner. This results in both sides dispatching agents to stop them, since while Academy City and the various Churches around the world are at odds with one another, they do not want the conflict to spill over into the public eye. In fact, the one time the conflict actually does get big enough that the public notices it, [[spoiler:it starts WorldWarThree]]. It isn't entirely clear how the Magic side got the {{masquerade}} going again after ''that'' debacle.

* The treaty between Watches in the ''Literature/NightWatch'' 'verse, which is openly inspired (bordering on the {{Anvilicious}} actually) by the actual Cold War. Add two millennia-old [[TheChessmaster Chessmasters]] with magic powers enough to make the most absurd GambitRoulette seem timid. [[spoiler: The Inquisition is the higher power here.]] Technically, the [[spoiler:Inquisition]] doesn't have a ''lot'' of magical power, most of which comes from artifacts and amulets anyway. The idea is that, should either of the sides break the Treaty, the [[spoiler:Inquisition]] would throw their support behind the other side, tipping the balance. Thus, their power is mostly political.

* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', while supervillains and superheroes fight constantly, the existence of the [[OmnicidalManiac Endbringers]] has precipitated the allowance of some basic rules, to avoid weakening humanity as a whole in the face of annihilation. Unless they get caught too many times, cause too much mayhem, or are [[CompleteMonster truly monstrous]], most supervillains are placed in weak custody from which they inevitably break out before their trials, and their identities are not revealed. By the same token, the villains refrain from targeting civilian identities and try to avoid killing superheroes.

* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', while supervillains and superheroes fight constantly, the existence of the [[OmnicidalManiac Endbringers]] has precipitated the allowance of some basic rules, to avoid weakening humanity as a whole in the face of annihilation. Unless they get caught too many times or are truly monstrous, most supervillains are placed in weak custody from which they inevitably break out before their trials, and their identities are not revealed. By the same token, the villains refrain from targeting civilian identities and try to avoid killing superheroes.

* In ''Manga/ToLoveRu'', Rito is forced to go to school with Yami, the infamous alien assassin known throughout the galaxy who wants to kill Rito, but doesn't because she's best friends with his sister. She will however try if he does anything ecchi towards her [[AccidentalPervert which has Rito narrowly escaping death on a daily basis]]

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': many of the individual novel plots revolve around some radical person or group trying to upset the balance of power between Magic and Science, often in a rather public manner. This results in both sides dispatching agents to stop them, since while Academy City and the various Churches around the world are at odds with one another, they do not want the conflict to spill over into the public eye. In fact, the one time the conflict actually does get big enough that the public notices it, [[spoiler:it starts WorldWarThree]]. It isn't entirely clear how the Magic side got the {{masquerade}} going again after ''that'' debacle.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': many of the individual novel plots revolve around some radical person or group trying to upset the balance of power between Magic and Science, often in a rather public manner. This results in both sides dispatching agents to stop them, since while Academy City and the various Churches around the world are at odds with one another, they do not want the conflict to spill over into the public eye. In fact, the one time the conflict actually does get big enough that the public notices it, [[spoiler:it starts WorldWarThree]]. It isn't entirely clear how the Magic side got TheMasquerade going again after ''that'' debacle.

* The planets Apokalips and New Genesis in Franchise/TheDCU. The explanation was given in ''Comicbook/NewGods'' #7 in the story "The Pact", which resulted in the characters of Orion and Mister Miracle.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', the White Council and the vampire Courts start the series in an uneasy peace, enforced by the terms of the Unseelie Accords. Eventually Dresden is forced to choose between letting his lover die and starting the magical equivalent of World War III; this is of course a classic setup for TakeAThirdOption. [[spoiler:Only not in this case. Dresden [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl chooses World War III]], with enormous repercussions in later books. He later says that the vamps were probably just looking for an excuse anyway and all he did was set it off a little earlier]].

* "The Baron's Peace" in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' is one of these, keeping most of Europe's factions and noble houses in line via the principle of "Don't make me come over there." Said Baron is an [[TheUnfettered Unfettered]] WellIntentionedExtremist who will do anything to maintain peace, and he controls an unequaled superpower that lets him do so. He is an old and very experienced mad scientist, in a setting where most of them tend to die quite young. He leads the continent's largest military force, overwhelming air superiority, and the most advanced military hardware/clockwork troops/mutant brigades. After a ZombieApocalypse he was personally responsible for rebuilding European society through willpower and force, and for sectioning off the parts of it which are toxic or infested. He doesn't care how much the nobility squabble over land or ancestry, but if a battle ever breaks out, he shuts down both sides with [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill complete overkill]]. That is ''The Baron's Peace''.

* In the late second season of ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'', the heroines are unable to defeat BigBad Nerissa because she possesses the Heart of Meridian. Only two people can take it from her, and one of them is imprisoned inside of it. The other? [[spoiler:Season one BigBad Phobos, whom the girls must free from imprisonment so he can take the Heart from Nerissa.]] They disguise him as a student at their school, and for a brief time, HilarityEnsues as FishOutOfWater [[spoiler:Phobos]] stumbles through the trials and tribulations of high-school life. However, [[spoiler:the alliance lasts all of one and a half episodes, as Phobos decides to screw over the heroines once getting the Heart away from Nerissa.]]

* UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar was pretty much the culmination of a cold war which the free states and slave states had been waging against each other since about the WarOf1812. The Civil War wasn't even the first time this conflict turned hot (hello Bleeding Kansas). It was enforced by the federal government, which generally tried to maintain peace between the two sides without ever addressing the real issue.

* Arguably, the ''original'' Cold War was enforced as well, not by God or {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s but by fear of the consequences - best-case scenario was a body count to rival the First World War, worst-case was the end of human civilisation - if [[WorldWarIII it went hot]].

* A likely interpretation of the situation in the ''Literature/LandOfOz.'' The King and Queen of Oz died (or disappeared) suddenly, with only an infant heir. The [[TheArchmage four most powerful magic users]] in the land looking to start trouble (the Witches of North and South allied against the Witches of East and West). then in comes Oscar Diggs, a third-rate con artist and MagnificentBastard, who uses a combination of mistaken identity, carnival tricks, stage magic, and technological tricks to trick the four Witches into thinking he's more powerful than they are! He sets himself up as GodEmperor in the Emerald City, makes the infant heir vanish ([[MadeASlave by sending her into slavery]], [[GenderBender bespelled as the wrong gender]]), and things more or less stabilize...[[SpannerIntheWorks until some girl from Kansas shows up]], squishes the East Witch flat on accident, and throws the whole balance off.