%%
%%
%% Zero Context Examples are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
%%
%%
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ministryofdarkness_1271.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: L-R: Viscera, [[Wrestling/RonSimmons Faarooq]], [[Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield Bradshaw]], Wrestling/TheUndertaker and Mideon]]

-> ''"Accept the Lord of Darkness as your savior. Allow the purity of evil to guide you."''
-->-- '''Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness entrance theme'''

The Ministry of Darkness was a PowerStable in Wrestling/{{WWE}} during the Wrestling/AttitudeEra. It was a cult led by Wrestling/TheUndertaker. The cult abducted people and perform sinister "rituals" on them, and turned a few wrestlers into new followers.

It started in October of 1998 when Wrestling/TheUndertaker reunited with his former manager Wrestling/PaulBearer and [[FaceHeelTurn turned against his brother]] Wrestling/{{Kane}}. Undertaker referenced a "Ministry of Darkness" and admitted that [[SelfMadeOrphan he started the fire that killed his own parents]] and [[CainAndAbel burned Kane because Kane was weak]]. Taker continued feuding with Kane as well as Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin. During his feud with Austin he tried performing cult-like rituals on him and even killing him. Undertaker's threat was seemingly ended when Austin and Kane buried him alive.

That turned out not to be the case. [[ThoseTwoGuys Bradshaw and Faarooq]] (a.k.a. Wrestling/RonSimmons), as the Acolytes, kidnapped Dennis Knight, and it was revealed that they were now henchmen of the returning Undertaker, who performed a ritual and Knight became "Mideon" and a new member of the Ministry. That same night Undertaker announced his plans to [[TakeOverTheWorld conquer the WWF]]. They later did the same with Mabel, who became Viscera, and the Brood ([[Wrestling/DavidHeath Gangrel]], Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}}, and Wrestling/{{Christian}}) joined as well.

It was then revealed that The Undertaker's goal was to take control of the WWF from Wrestling/VinceMcMahon, [[EvilVersusEvil starting a feud with]] Wrestling/TheCorporation, as well as reveal that he was taking orders from a [[TheManBehindTheMan "Higher Power"]]. The Ministry then threatened Vince's daughter Wrestling/{{Stephanie|McMahon}}, prompting Vince to go into PapaWolf mode and eventually a HeelFaceTurn. The Ministry then abducted Stephanie and The Undertaker [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty attempted to marry her]], but [[BigDamnHeroes this was thwarted by]] Vince's own ArchEnemy, Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin. After this it was revealed that Vince's son Wrestling/{{Shane|McMahon}} (who had taken over the Corporation) was in cahoots with The Undertaker the whole time, and the Corporation merged with the Ministry to become the Corporate Ministry. It was then finally revealed that the "Higher Power" who masterminded the whole thing was none other than... Vince [=McMahon=], and [[HijackedByGanon it was all part of a plan]] to get the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWF World Heavyweight Title]] off of Austin once more. [[note]] Vince wasn't planned from the beginning to be the Higher Power, as should be obvious. The twist was due to no one else really being able to fill the role at the time ''but'' Vince. One possibility was to have Wrestling/MickFoley be the Higher Power, but he backed out.[[/note]]

The Ministry collapsed after Vince was "banished" from the WWF when Steve Austin was appointed CEO of the company by Linda [=McMahon=], though a few members continued to follow the Undertaker until he took time off to heal injuries, then came back with his Biker gimmick. The Brood ultimately went their separate ways to varying degrees of success, and the Acolytes continued to exist as a tag team in the form of Wrestling/TheAPA (Acolyte Protection Agency) for a few more years. However, the group briefly resurfaced in 2004, when former member Bradshaw (now called Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield with a {{Rich B|itch}}astard gimmick) hired Gangrel and Viscera to attack the Undertaker. They were simply known as The Ministry. They didn't last long at all, as The Undertaker took both of them out quickly, though Viscera did linger on for a time before changing his gimmick. Undertaker referenced the gimmick again a couple weeks later by [[UnwillingSuspension making a sacrifice of Orlando Jordan on his symbol]] to play mind games with JBL.
----
!!"Accept the Tropes of Darkness as your saviors":
* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Undertaker attempted to marry Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon, [[BigDamnHeroes but this was thwarted]] by Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin.
* AscendedExtra: A few of the Ministry's {{Mooks}} went on to become stars in their own right, such as Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}}, Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield, and Wrestling/{{Christian}}.
* BecomingTheMask: Wrestling/KenShamrock accused The Undertaker of letting his character take over who he really was, referring to him by his real name, Mark, in order to try to get him to come back down to Earth.
* BigBad: Vince [=McMahon=], [[HijackedByGanon aka The Higher Power]].
* BigBadDuumvirate: At first, Shane and Undertaker. At least it seemed this way until TheReveal, where it turned out they were CoDragons to Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. Although, one could've called it a ''[[RuleOfThree tri]]''[[RuleofThree umvirate]] by factoring in Wrestling/TripleH, no pun intended. His role in entrances, promos, and fights, not to mention his ambitions, seemingly mirrored Undertaker's.
* BigDamnHeroes: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin rescuing Stephanie [=McMahon=] despite being outnumbered.
* BigWhat: Wrestling/JerryLawler was shocked by TheReveal of who the Higher Power was; this was his reaction.
* BlackCloak: Undertaker's wardrobe.
* BloodMagic: The sacrifice of Dennis Knight involved Undertaker slitting his own wrist with a dagger and letting it drip into a goblet, which Knight was forced to drink from. Undertaker then carved his symbol into Knight's chest, proclaiming him Mideon.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: All the Ministry followers had this to various degrees, Mideon being the most pronounced.
* CardCarryingVillain: Right before TheReveal of the Higher Power, Wrestling/VinceMcMahon (via titantron) demanded that the "evil demonic SOB show his face to the world now". Right after this [[spoiler:Vince revealed himself to be the Higher Power in an over-the-top villainous, gloating manner. So he basically called himself evil and demonic and was proud of it.]]
* ChewingTheScenery: Vince [=McMahon=] [[HijackedbyGanon revealing himself as the Higher Power]] is one of the most famous examples in wrestling.
-->'''Vince [=McMahon=]:''' IT'S ME, AUSTIN!!!! IT'S ME, AUSTIN!!!! IT WAS ME ''ALL ALONG'', AUSTIN!!!!
* ComplexityAddiction: ''The whole reason this page in pro wrestling history exists'' is because Wrestling/VinceMcMahon completely fell off his rocker in his disdain for Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, and apparently couldn't just ''fire'' the guy. The ridiculousness of this is highlighted even more when Wrestling/TripleH, one of Vince's top minions during this whole scheme, [[{{Kayfabe}} took Austin out for months]] by getting Wrestling/{{Rikishi}} to run him over less than half a year later.
* ContinuitySnarl: Somewhat in 2004, when JBL brought back Gangrel and Viscera as the Ministry, there was no mention of JBL being a member of the Ministry in the past. In fact it was simply just said he paid them off, most likely to help sell JBL's {{rich b|itch}}astard gimmick. Though a couple of years later while on commentary JBL [[ContinuityNod referenced that he was part of the Ministry]].
* CoolChair: Undertaker's throne, shaped like his symbol.
* CostumePorn: Like no other time in Undertaker's career.
* CrucifiedHeroShot: The Ministry was fond of doing this to their sacrifices and enemies.
* {{Cult}}: A blatantly pseudo-Satanic one at that.
* DamselInDistress: Undertaker was fond of kidnapping women during this era, such as Ryan Shamrock[[note]]Ken Shamrock's [[UnrelatedBrothers "sister"]][[/note]] and Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon. Mideon was practically a {{Gender Flip}}ped example too until he was sacrificed.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The Undertaker himself underwent this, [[FaceHeelTurn going]] [[{{Face}} from a]] [[DarkIsNotEvil noble personification of death]] [[{{Heel}} to a]] [[DarkIsEvil misanthropic personification of evil]], and dragged everyone else involved with the stable along with him. Even The Corporation underwent this when they merged with Undertaker's group, using the "Evil Empire" reprise of "No Chance in Hell" for the Corporate Ministry.
* DarkMessiah: The Undertaker came to do the will of his Higher Power: destroy those we hold dear, make playthings of our heroes, and control the WWF.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: The Undertaker became this once Vince [=McMahon=] was revealed to have orchestrated the whole thing. It got to the point where, even after The Ministry had largely dissolved, an injured and frustrated Taker would quit on [=McMahon=] before Austin would beat Vince and force him off TV (temporarily anyway) to truly end the storyline.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The Undertaker revealed that the had abducted Stephanie during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JS8a7fNZcM a segment]] that began when he and the Ministry crashed a match involving Wrestling/{{Sable}}, where he eventually grabbed Sable by the throat and forced her to her knees, with her head at the level of his waist, at which point the cameraman apparently decided to make his holy mission to invoke this trope and make it look like Undertaker is receiving a blowjob from Sable on the ring.
* TheDragon: Undertaker was [[DemotedToDragon demoted to this]] in the Corporate Ministry. At the beginning of the storyline, Vince was the GreaterScopeVillain behind Taker's BigBad since he gave Taker orders behind-the-scenes. However when Vince revealed himself he played the BigBad role directly while Taker played TheDragon.
* TheDreaded: Undertaker commanded respect through fear, abducted and terrorized Mideon and Viscera to convert them to The Ministry, then kidnapped Ryan Shamrock and Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon which had them screaming for help every chance they got.
* EvilOverlord: The Undertaker and his Higher Power, [[spoiler:Vince [=McMahon=]]].
* EvilPlan: Vince [=McMahon=] sending the Ministry to abduct Stephanie just to screw Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin.
* EvilVersusEvil: Ministry of Darkness versus Wrestling/TheCorporation, until the merger.
* FatBastard:
** Paul Bearer, of course.
** The 500 lbs Viscera.
* GambitRoulette: The reveal that Vince [=McMahon=] was behind the Ministry just to screw with Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin makes a lot of the logic behind the plan really suspect, especially with regards of the kidnapping of his daughter Stephanie. It goes to the point that, when the Greater Power reveal [[http://wrestlecrap.com/inductions/greater-power/ was inducted into]] ''Website/WrestleCrap'', about 90% of the induction consisted of recapping the actions of Vince and the Ministry in the months before the reveal, which were more often than not directly at odds with each other.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Vince originally masterminded everything behind the scenes before revealing himself and playing the BigBad role directly.
* HijackedByGanon: Vince became the BigBad of the arc after the Higher Power reveal.
* HollywoodSatanism: Complete with evil occultic rituals, worship of a devious figure, and attempts at both literal (Steve Austin) and symbolic (Stephanie, Ryan Shamrock, Christian) HumanSacrifice.
* IWantMyMommy: Stephanie screamed for her dad while being kidnapped by the Undertaker.
* LightIsNotGood: The Brood, who were blonde [[Film/TheLostBoys Lost Boys-inspired]] vampires in white clothing, in stark contrast with the [[DarkIsEvil all black garb of the rest of the ministry]]. Later on subverted in that The Brood defected from the group, but they were still blood sucking vampires.
* LoserLeavesTown: Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin successfully retained his title at ''Fully Loaded 1999''. As a result per stipulation, Vince [=McMahon=] was "banished" and could no longer interfere with WWE business, thus putting an end to the Corporate Ministry and the Austin vs [=McMahon=] feud, which had been the main storyline of WWE for over a year. This didn't last too long as Vince came back two months later.
* TheManBehindTheMan: The Undertaker's "Higher Power" who turns out to be [[spoiler:Vince [=McMahon=]]].
* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: The Brood [[MookFaceTurn defected from the Ministry of Darkness]] for the sake of Wrestling/{{Christian}}, whom Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} and Gangrel were ordered to help nail to the "symbol" after he [[YouHaveFailedMe failed]] Undertaker.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Ministry of Darkness.
* NotMyDriver: The way Undertaker kidnapped Stephanie in her limo.
-->'''Undertaker:''' Where to, Stephanie? [[EvilLaugh Ahahaha!]]
* OminousFog: As typical for Undertaker's entrances.
* OminousLatinChanting: Not only did "March of the Druids" precede some of Undertaker's entrances in early 1999, his themes as the leader of the group ("Buried Souls" and "Lord of Darkness") had ominous ''Gaelic'' chants from The Deadman himself.
* PrimalFear: Referenced by the Undertaker, as he said he would show everyone why they were afraid of the dark after he turned Dennis Knight into Mideon.
* PrimalStance: Mideon did this to demonstrate his warped, sycophantic nature after being converted from Dennis Knight into a follower of the Ministry.
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil:
** It's been theorized and/or wondered if Taker raped Stephanie after he kidnapped her. When Ken Shammrock saved her, she tearful hugged Vince and said she was fine but we can barely understand her sobbed answers when Vince asks what he did to her. She could've just been roughed up but her later comments indicated if she hadn't been raped yet, it was impending. She says Taker kept touching her and whispering that she was his. During the wedding, Stephanie is screaming & crying the entire time but it doesn't deter anything and her bearing Taker's offspring is mentioned in the wedding vows. Finally, the following ''Raw'', an angry Taker scolds Austin for ruining the wedding, adding that Stephanie was to be his bride and "servant" which drove home the lack of power and consent that would've existed in the relationship -meaning that even if it didn't happen, it was portrayed as the Undertaker's in-universe MoralEventHorizon.
** A more questionable case is Ryan Shamrock, whom the Ministry kidnapped, sacrificed, and held captive for a week. Lawler pointedly asks JR what they may have been doing to her all week which JR said he didn't want to think about. Taker outright noted her as a stand-in for Stephanie -saying that while Ryan isn't the woman he wants, she'll have to do. He then went on to say when he looked at or touched her, he was seeing & feeling Stephanie. Finally he taunts Ken by saying that Ryan has enjoyed everything that's happened to her.
* TheReveal: Austin got a peek under the veil of the Higher Power the night after ''Over the Edge'', which had him ranting furiously. The following week the veil was lifted to show the reason why: Vince [=McMahon=] was the Higher Power.
* RuleOfThree: Three attempts were made to rescue Stephanie from the wedding to the Undertaker. The first two, by Wrestling/KenShamrock and Wrestling/BigShow, failed; the third, by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, was successful.
* SatanicArchetype: Vince referred to the Higher Power as an "evil, demonic [=SoB=]". Turns out he was talking about himself.
* ScaryBlackMan: Viscera stood at over 500 pounds and was willing to brutalize people for Taker's cause.
* SelfMadeOrphan: Undertaker finally admitted that he was the one that killed his parents and that his half-brother Kane was innocent.
* SinisterMinister: Undertaker and Wrestling/PaulBearer were the Messiah and Reverend of this pseudo-Satanic ministry. Paul in particular stood out as this when he presided over Undertaker and Stephanie's "wedding".
* StalkerWithoutACrush: Undertaker wanted to take Stephanie for his bride, but it was far less to do with any real lust for her and far more to do with his seeming objective below.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Or at least the WWF. Wrestling/TheUndertaker revealed that his goal was to take control of the WWF from Vince [=McMahon=]. Subverted when it was revealed Vince himself was the Higher Power, whose REAL goal was to get the title off of Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin.
* TouchedByVorlons: Mideon perceived himself as having gained psychic powers from the Ministry conversion.
* UnwillingSuspension: Their sacrifices usually consisted of tying someone to an Undertaker symbol and hanging them from the rafters. The Undertaker also "hung" the Wrestling/BigBossMan[[note]]who was actually wearing a safety bungee harness underneath his suit when he was attached to a long harness cord disguised as a hangman's noose[[/note]] at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 15'', at the end of a Wrestling/HellInACell match that most people found very disappointing. Of course, [[UnexplainedRecovery he got better]],[[note]]This was after he got taken down off-camera so that he could get to a hospital for recovery on a stretcher.[[/note]] and in fact nobody ever mentioned it again.
* VillainousBreakdown:
** Vince [=McMahon=] after Wrestling/PaulBearer presented him with a teddy bear that was stolen from Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon's bedroom, and Undertaker set it on fire. This turned out to be an act, though.
** The whole Higher Power angle is basically one massive VillainousBreakdown by Vince [=McMahon=], as his hatred of Austin drove him completely insane to the point he formed an evil cult from behind the scenes with himself as the [[TheManBehindTheMan Higher Power]] that they worshiped and had them stalk and kidnap his own daughter as part of the plan to get revenge on Austin. It reached its peak during TheReveal, SlasherSmile and all.
* VillainTeamUp: With their former enemies Wrestling/TheCorporation, probably has to do with the fact that both {{Power Stable}}s were controlled by Vince [=McMahon=] behind the scenes.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Vince [=McMahon=] was still the corporate villain who spent over a year being a thorn in the side of Stone Cold Steve Austin, but the Stephanie kidnapping incident as well as Shane seemingly going DrunkWithPower did manage to turn much sympathy his way before TheReveal of him being the Higher Power.
* WhamLine: '''''"IT'S ME, [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin AUSTIN]]! IT'S ME, AUSTIN! IT WAS ME...ALL ALONG, AUSTIN!"''''' courtesy of Wrestling/VinceMcMahon.
* YouHaveFailedMe: Wrestling/{{Christian}} suffered this from the Undertaker after giving up Stephanie's location, hanging him from a rope and flogging him. It eventually led to the Brood [[HeelFaceTurn turning against the Ministry]] after the Undertaker tried to force Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} and Gangrel to help him crucify Christian from his symbol. Nobody else ever jumped ship from the Ministry, by the way, before it dissolved.
----