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1-> "''He secedes from New Fluffytown, and begins constructing Blanketsburg on the other side of the campus. Abed renames his fort Pillowtown, for the sake of conceptual symmetry.''"
2-->-- '''Narrator''', ''Series/{{Community}}'', "[[Recap/CommunityS3E14PillowsAndBlankets Pillows and Blankets]]"
3
4
5There are the good guys, and there are the bad guys. Both groups are named. Now you would expect these names to be diverse, right?
6
7Nope. If one name is an acronym, the other is too. If one name is one word, the other is too. If one is referred to thematically (such as by color, e.g. "the Reds"), the other's name will match it ("the Blues"). This is Unified Naming System. This seems weird but is probably the best way to express there's something between those two. The more cynical (and/or [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]]) could also say that the reason for this is the author's lack of imagination.
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9Political parties in real life and fiction like to do this a lot too. Can be {{justified|Trope}} if both sides adopted names that were selected by a common third party, or if we're just hearing one side's nickname for the other.
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11Related to FunWithAcronyms, when an acronym spells something funny or significant., and ThemeNaming, when certain related elements of a story are named following a specific theme or pattern. Compare VirusAndCureNames, which is this but for viruses and their cures.
12----
13!!Examples:
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15[[foldercontrol]]
16
17[[folder:Comic Books]]
18* ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'': The titular squad is the senior of three Canadian super squads. "Beta Flight" and "Gamma Flight" are basically trainees. In the first issue of the comic book, the junior flights were shut down, with the most promising members being promoted to Alpha; several of the rejects were then recruited into a villainous "Omega Flight".
19* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague'': The titular team's evil counterpart is the "Injustice League".
20* The Legion of Superheroes regularly fought the Legion of Supervillains.
21* ''ComicBook/SpyBoy'': The two rival spy organisations are S.H.I.R.T.S. (Secret Headquarters, International Reconnaissance, Tactics, and Spies) and S.K.I.N.S. (Supreme Killing Institute).
22* ''ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}'' (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) vs. AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics) and HYDRA (as in the mythological creature). SHIELD's spinoff organizations also qualify, having names such as STRIKE, SWORD, ARMOR, and HAMMER.
23[[/folder]]
24
25[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
26* ''Film/OurManFlint''. Z.O.W.I.E. (Zonal Organization World Intelligence Espionage) vs. GALAXY. (Or rather, evidently, just "Galaxy".)
27[[/folder]]
28
29[[folder:Literature]]
30* ''Literature/GulliversTravels'': There are the Big Endians and the Little Endians. Which actually refers to the reason for the conflict: [[spoiler:[[SillyReasonForWar how to eat eggs]]]].
31* ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'': The plethora of acronymous --and mutually acrimonious.- competing groups. This is not done entirely seriously --witness KCUF-- Knights of Christ United in Faith. Or WHORE --White Heroes Opposing Red Extremism.
32* ''Literature/{{Retief}}'': The various government departments in Author/KeithLaumer's series: "Manpower Untilization Department, Directorate of Libraries & Education", "Motorized Equipment Depot, Division of Loans & Exchanges", "Special Committee for the Reconstruction of Underdeveloped Nations' Economies", etc. (MUDDLE, MEDDLE, SCROUNGE)
33* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': The [[LightIsNotGood Children of the Light]] oppose the darkfriends (and really anyone who looks at them funny).
34[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
37* ''Series/{{Community}}'': {{Invoked}} in the episode [[Recap/CommunityS3E14PillowsAndBlankets Pillows and Blankets]], Abed and Troy are building a BlanketFort called New Fluffytown. After Troy leaves and creates one called Blanketsburg, Abed renames his Pillowtown, for the sake of conceptual symmetry.
38* ''Series/GetSmart'': CONTROL vs KAOS are the two opposing spy organizations.
39* ''Series/LancelotLinkSecretChimp''. APE (Agency to Prevent Evil) vs. CHUMP (Criminal Headquarters for Underworld Master Plan).
40* ''Series/TheManFromUncle'':
41** UNCLE (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement) vs. THRUSH (Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity).
42** Maybe, maybe not. The "expansion" of "THRUSH" was never used in any of the series episodes, but appears only in several ExpandedUniverse UNCLE novels.
43[[/folder]]
44
45[[folder:Roleplays]]
46* ''Roleplay/ProphesiesDestiniesAndKillingGods'': The Heroes group is called… the Heroes. They never named themselves and the people they helped simply called their rescuers the Heroes. Awesome attempts to name his group the Villains just to go with the name scheme. There is also the Empire and the Coalition, though their official names are much longer.
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Radio]]
50* ''Radio/{{Nebulous}}'': K.E.N.T. and L.O.U.G.H.B.O.R.O.U.G.H. are both named after British universities.
51[[/folder]]
52
53[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
54* ''A.C.E. Agents'' has ACE (Alpha Command Echeleon) vs. PYTHON (...actually, nobody knows, including its leaders. They just thought it was a good name for an organisation to take over the world)
55* ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'': UNTIL (United Nations Tribunal on International Law) vs. VIPER (Venomous Imperial Party of the Eternal Reptile or Victory In Perpetuity through Eternal Resolve).
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Video Games]]
59* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': Builders League United (aka BLU) vs Reliable Excavation and Demolition (RED).
60* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' zig-zags this, as the primary gangs include the Grove Street Families and Varrios Los Aztecas, but [[OddNameOut also]] the more generically-named Los Santos Vagos and a set of several affiliated gangs referred to in general as just the Ballas. The latter at least do have four different subdivisions with names in the same style: Front Yard, Kilo Tray, Rollin' Heights, and Temple Drive.
61* INTERPOL vs V.I.L.E. in the ''Franchise/CarmenSandiego'' franchise.
62* ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'': The ''Advance Wars'' series has Orange Star, Blue Moon, Green Earth, Yellow Comet, and Black Hole, which are named for both colours and astronomical objects.
63* ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'': U.N.I.T.Y and H.A.R.M. are two opposing spy organizations. Befitting the series' tone, several jokes are made about what H.A.R.M. is short for, up to and including hints that even the people of H.A.R.M. don't know what H.A.R.M. means.
64* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries'': GDI and the Brotherhood of Nod are by all indications not this trope, but it is a likely contributor to why Nod occasionally is referred to as NOD, and it was originally planned to be the case during the first game's development (NOD was originally going to stand for New Order of Diplomacy, but this was dropped early enough that there wasn't even any reference in the teaser or preview material).
65* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': There are two opposing nations: Keves and Agnus, which mean lamb in Greek and Latin respectively. Their Colonies all begin with the word "Colony", with Kevesi Colonies following with a number and Agnian Colonies with a Greek letter. [[spoiler:This is a sign that both nations are being manipulated by Moebius.]]
66[[/folder]]
67
68[[folder:Websites]]
69* Website/TVTropes: The Archive of Bellicose Lexicon Entities (TABLE, for short) factions follow the cutlery trend: JustForFun/{{SPOON}} vs JustForFun/{{FORKS}} vs JustForFun/{{KNIVES}} vs JustForFun/{{PLATTER}}. [[strike:I predict we will see a new contender trump them all and make PLATE.]] But then we'd have a LensmanArmsRace, with the creation of GLASS, TABLE, or even [-[=*gasp*=]-] ''KITCHEN!'' At which time DEN, BEDROOM, and ATTIC will make their appearance, followed by HOUSE (except that they're just fans of Hugh Laurie and only joined in the fight because it looked like fun). Well, if they can't stand the heat... Bah, they'll all be crushed to dirt once the Kombined Initialism Takeover Crusade Holistic Enforcement Network: Strike Insertion Neo-Kommando forces rise up.
70[[/folder]]
71
72[[folder:Western Animation]]
73* ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'': A.C.M.E. (Agency to Classify and Monitor Evildoers) faces V.I.L.E. (Villains International League of Evil).
74* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'': The D.I.A. (Duckburg Intelligence Agency) goes up against F.O.W.L. (Foreign Organization for World Larceny)
75* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'':
76** SHUSH (a name so top secret none know what the acronym stands for) against F.O.W.L. (Fiendish Organization for World Larceny). Yep, F.O.W.L. got a slight name change in the transition from show to show.
77** SHUSH and F.O.W.L. appear again in the [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017 Duck Tales reboot.]]
78* ''WesternAnimation/HulkAndTheAgentsOfSmash'': The Supreme Military Agency of Super Humans gets their own LegionOfDoom from past villains in the form of C.R.A.S.H. (Chaotic Radical Agency of Super Humans).
79* ''WesternAnimation/{{MASK}}'': MASK (Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand) vs. VENOM (Vicious Evil Network Of Mayhem).
80* ''WesternAnimation/KingArthurAndTheKnightsOfJustice'': On the hero side there's the Knights of Justice and on the villain side there are the Warlords, who in "A Knight's Quest" are fully known as the Warlords of Evil. In the comic adaptation, the latter also goes by the name Warriors of Vulcan's Forge, switching which of the two is the matching word (Justice vs Evil; Knights vs Warriors).
81* ''WesternAnimation/RolandAndRattfink'': In "Hawks and Doves", Rattfink is the ruler of Hawkland and wages war on Doveland, defended by Roland.
82* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretShow'': U.Z.Z. (Umbo Zim Zom) vs. T.H.E.M. (The Horrible Evil Menace).
83* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'': The Winx (a sextet of do-gooder fairies) find their most recurrent enemies in the Trix (a trio of evil witches). Both their names end with the suffix -ix and are modifications of existing words. Respectively, wings and tricks.
84[[/folder]]
85
86[[folder:Real Life]]
87* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII: Allies vs Axis.
88* The UsefulNotes/ColdWar: U.S.A. vs. U.S.S.R.
89* Another Cold War related one: UsefulNotes/{{Capitalism}} vs. Communism.
90* More RealLife: Triple Alliance vs Triple Entente.
91* The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (UsefulNotes/{{NATO}}) vs. the Warsaw Treaty Organisation (WTO), another name for the Warsaw Pact.
92* The Russian Revolution: The Reds vs. the Whites.
93** And prior to that the Bolsheviks vs. the Mensheviks. Though those words come from terms meaning "Majority" and "Minority" respectively (based on which side they took in a particular crucial vote).
94* In early [[UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} Christian]] church history, two groups arose over what word best expressed the relationship between {{God}} the Father and UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Christ in their creeds: the ''homoousians'' (those who favored "of the same substance") and the ''homo'''i'''ousians'' (those who favored "of similar substance"). Yet another group didn't really see the point to all this arguing and called themselves the ''homoians'' (a deliberately vague compromise best translated as "alike"). For the record, the first group ultimately got their way.
95* Rival college fraternities and sorority names will often have a similar number of seemingly random Greek letters, making them indistinguishable from each other to non-college students or anyone who just doesn't care about Greek life.
96* The two leading Swedish parties for much of the 18th century were the Hats and the Caps.
97[[/folder]]
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