History Main / RightHandVersusLeftHand

* There's some tragic backstory for a doppleganger in ''TheVisionOfEscaflowne.'' He was impersonating an army soldier during a war, and struck down an enemy soldier, only for the enemy to be revealed as another doppleganger--his brother.

-->-- '''Deety''' in RobertAHeinlein's ''The Number of the Beast''

* NERV versus SEELE in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. Augmented by a lot of personal egos getting in the way and the sheer scale of the project. [[spoiler:Not to mention the ThirtyXanatosPileup]].

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* TheRaj and the MenOfDowningStreet were almost two governments. This messed up foreign policy quite a bit; several times an allied prince could not tell what it was exactly that the British were doing because they had ''two'' foreign policies going on. This could lead to suspicions of treachery in cases where only red tape was to blame.

* The bad guys engaging in this saves the Mariachi's life in ''{{Desperado}}''. [[Danny Trejo Danny Trejo's]] master knife-thrower is seconds away from killing him when a bunch of gunmen drive up, mistake Trejo for the Mariachi, and shoot him full of holes. When they get back to base, their boss is on the phone to ''his'' bosses, who are telling him about their master knife-thrower who they've sent to town.

* [[TeamFortress2 Team Fortress 2's]] [[http://www.teamfortress.com/war/administrator/index.htm War! Update]] has since revealed that [[spoiler: both the RED and BLU team are controlled by the same Administrator. In fact, the whole War! was started just to prevent this fact from getting out]].

** Also on the theme of Nazi Germany, there were ''several'' intelligence agencies - each run by a different high-ranking Nazi Party official - in ''direct competition'' receiving the ''same information''. Hitler's Darwinistic theory as applied to the German intelligence community didn't end well, suffice to say.

* The end of ''TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', where Quasi is madly fighting off the Gypsies who are trying to save Esmeralda, believing them to be bad guys, and helping the guards who are trying to kill Esmeralda, believing them to be good guys? I always loved that tragic, tragic setup.

* In ''In The Line of Fire'', the Secret Service agents are investigating the home of a man planning to kill the President. They wind up getting into a scuffle with CIA agents who, unknown to them, are also investigating the man. Later we find out that the CIA has a complete file on the killer because they trained him. Unfortunately the information is classified, meaning that they are ''legally'' forbidden to share it with the Secret Service agents working alongside them.

* MrAndMrsSmith is all about the title characters working for black ops agencies with such an intense rivalry that they're obligated to try to kill each other, despite both working for the same country.

* Basically, in 358/2 Days, Saix vs any Organization XIII member who was talented in anyway that could threaten his status as Xemnas' right hand man. And just who does he use to do this? His friend, Axel. He does this so much that Axel gives him a nice little warning:
->Axel: "Just remember: I helped you get to the top. Just don't fall on the way down."

Axel: "Just remember: I helped you get to the top. Just don't fall on the way down."

*** These factors were inserted in all the American governmental systems from the get-go quite deliberately, since the counry's founders reasoned that a too effective government would be bound to become tyrannical. Thus they created a system based on checks and balances.
**** Not really, these are all Executive branch organizations formed years or decades after the Constitution was validated. Even the standing military wasn't formed until two Presidents in.

->''"[[OlderThanFeudalism When thou doest alms]], [[TropeNamer let not thy left hand know]] [[AccidentalInnuendo what thy right hand doeth]]."

->''"[[OlderThanFeudalism When thou doest alms]], [[TropeNamer let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth]]."

->''"[W]hen thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly."
-->-- '''Jesus''' in [[TheBible Matthew 6:3-4]]