History Main / EmpireWithADarkSecret

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', the Ghestalian Empire's super-advanced {{Magitek}} was created by [[PoweredByAForsakenChild forcibly draining the magical power of captured Espers]].

** The World Government was founded on the idea that all rulers are equal and that there is no ''one'' ruler of the world. This is symbolized by the "Empty Throne" located in Pangea Castle, in the holy city of Mariejois, the capital of the World Government. It is a throne that is surrounded by blades, each representing a monarch and their vow to never seek dominion over each other or the world, a throne that no one, not even the Celestial Dragons, are allowed to sit upon. At the start of the Reverie, each attending monarch is required to renew their vow as a show of good faith, so they may discuss world affairs in peace. This idea is further strengthened by the fact that the highest authority in the world is a council called the Five Elder Stars, enforcing the idea that there is no one king that rules above the World Nobles and thus the world itself. [[spoiler:The Reverie Arc swiftly introduces all these ideas -- and reveals that they are all ''lies''. In truth, there ''is'' someone who sits upon the Empty Throne and rules the world from the shadows; a mysterious figure called Imu, who the Elder Stars bow their heads towards and serve. Needless to say, if this were to ''ever'' get out, the public would ''not'' take it well]].

In ''Film/{{Damsel}}'', the kingdom of Aurea is happy, prosperous, and peaceful...as long as they give up three women to be brutally murdered by a dragon.

* ''Literature/TheScholomance:'' As revealed in book three, [[spoiler: in order to create the enclaves which provide wizards with protection from mals, you have to sacrifice an innocent wizard (if your sacrifice is even a little bit corrupt, it apparently doesn't work) to [[FateWorseThanDeath turn him into the core for a new maw-mouth]], which will channel the vast amounts of power needed to sustain the enclave. It turns out that the destruction of the Bangkok enclave which was such a big mystery in book two was due to El destroying the maw-mouth bound to it.]]

* Borogravia in ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment''. Turns out [[spoiler: the Duchess who supposedly runs the country has been dead for years, their patron deity Nuggan has dwindled to nothing due to [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly lack of belief]], and approximately a third of the top military leaders, if not the entire army, is composed of [[SweetPollyOliver women disguised as men]].]]

* ''WebComic/QuentynQuinnSpaceRanger'' Defied by the Empire of the Seven Stars, which admits that as an interstellar empire it most certainly has dark secrets ''and will enjoy ferreting the perpetrators out''. Some stories are about crimes against civilization that could only exist because of the Empire[[note]]Cloning an innocent intern to rape and murder her indefinitely, grifting the copyrights of ''entire civilizations'', manipulating bureaucracy to legalize murder of stowaways[[/note]], but the fact that they're public knowledge shows that at least they're reacting with appropriate revulsion and rules patches.

* Some of the most famous [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man stories,]] beginning with ''Blog/SeekingTruth,'' have stated or at least implied that the United States government is well aware of the Slender Man, and [[TheMenInBlack that there is an entire branch of agents dedicated essentially to being damage control and keeping anyone from revealing his existence,]] [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade simultaneously killing,]] [[{{Unperson}} unpersoning]] [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade or simply screwing over anyone attempting to reveal him...]] [[GoneHorriblyRight or, ultimately, destroy him.]]

Hey, guess what? Your [[TheEmpire entire civilization]] lives [[DarkSecret on a lie]]. It might be a secular version of a PathOfInspiration, or maybe no one in the world has ever realized that the AppliedPhlebotinum powering your homes and healing your sick is actually PoweredByAForsakenChild - but in any case, UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans, right?

* The Alliance from ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' buried the fact that some time ago, they [[spoiler:had accidentally killed 99.9% of the population of Miranda with a chemical meant to calm their violent urges, and turned the rest into the horrifically violent cannibal monsters that would become known to the rest of the Verse as the Reavers.]]

* There's more than one ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fic that posits the existence of the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Nations]] ''themselves'' as this trope. Depending on [[DarkFic how dark the story is]], it usually results in mass chaos and WhatMeasureIsANonHuman scenarios.
* In ''The Lord of the Rings'' fanfic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/7142897/chapters/16218209 Heart of the Mountain]]'', the mountain kingdom of Erebor is this. The protagonists were not in on the secret and are horrified when they find out.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* The Alliance from ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' buried the fact that some time ago, they [[spoiler:had accidentally killed 99.9% of the population of Miranda with a chemical meant to calm their violent urges, and turned the rest into the horrifically violent cannibal monsters that would become known to the rest of the Verse as the Reavers.]]

* Scott Westerfield likes this Trope. The society in ''Literature/{{Uglies}}'' relies on the government performing operations on everyone that cripple their ability to think independently, and it's enforced by SuperSoldiers.
* There's also the Humans in Zhan's ''Literature/TheConquerorsTrilogy'', who are widely feared for having a superweapon capable of irradiating entire fleets. It turned out to be based on a well-spun accident involving a solar flare.
* The Colonial Defense Forces in ''Literature/OldMansWar'' has [[spoiler:vat-grown supersoldiers with their basic DNA used as a template coming from volunteers who die before they can have their consciousness transferred to one of the normal engineered bodies, which they use as special ops forces]].
* Borogravia in ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment''. Turns out [[spoiler: the Duchess who supposedly runs the country has been dead for years, their patron deity Nuggan has dwindled to nothing due to [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly lack of belief]], and approximately a third of the top military leaders, if not the entire army, is composed of [[SweetPollyOliver women disguised as men]].]]

* Pretty much the entire point of the ''Literature/GreenSkyTrilogy'' by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, where the secret is that [[spoiler: children were not taught about Earth's historical capacity for violence, the knowledge being kept by a select few, and anyone who disagreed with this policy got trapped below ground.]]
* In ''Literature/TheObsidianTrilogy'', Armethalieh's mages get their magic from farming it from talismans they force the population to wear and exchange on a monthly basis, from humans who can't practice magic but still have a little of it within them. They also insist on having a society without change in order to prevent demon invasion, which they also don't mention. It's been noted in-universe neither of these secrets seems actually ''worth keeping''; their citizenry wouldn't mind what's happening, it would reassure their neighbors and their system's breaking down entirely because nobody knows why they're really doing things and thus mismanage the few necessary changes. At the same time, Armethalieh is very openly doing some nasty things which have given it a dark and ugly reputation -- and worse, by people who can be trusted to do these for the wrong reasons so ''not even they'' need be let in on it. The whole thing's a study in societal erosion, [[spoiler:not at all natural]].
* In the ''Myst'' novels, the Terahnee appear to have a utopian world where automation and mechanical power means no one has to work. In reality, [[spoiler: they're enslaving entire universes' worth of people to provide this "automation".]]
* All of Literature/{{Safehold}} was founded with the dark secret that the religion that underpins every country on the planet is a PathOfInspiration founded out of a combination of [[LuddWasRight technophobia]] and [[AGodAmI megalomania]] on behalf of its central figures. Several figures have been kept out of the loop because if they found out the truth it would shatter their entire worldview.

* ''Literature/IntoTheHeartlessWood'': The kingdom of Tarian [[spoiler: is run by an immortal sorcerer who is responsible for the creation of [[WickedWitch the Gwydden]] due to him devouring her soul.]]

** In the episode "The Beast Below", England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (Scotland as mentioned in the episode built their own ship) are being carried through space [[spoiler:on a star whale which they torture to control the speed]] -- they know they can't justify their actions, but they're afraid [[spoiler:that freeing the whale will destroy the ship. Thank goodness for Amy Pond, really.]] There's also the fact that [[spoiler:they feed anyone who finds out the truth and disagrees with it to the whale]]. Or simply someone who doesn't do his homework. Luckily, [[spoiler:the whale won't eat children]].
** In the "Long Game", The Ninth Doctor takes Rose and Adam to a news space station called Satellite 5, in the year 200,000 -- the era of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. However, the Doctor notes that progress is relatively slow, or simply ground to a halt with most of humanity being docile. Then he discovers why -- The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire is not a ''human'' empire at all, or at least not human-led, and humanity is secretly being controlled by a monstrous alien known as the Jagrafess by controlling information. The Doctor and Rose would appear a century later with Jack Harkness to learn of the Jagrafess' [[TheManBehindTheMan own masters]]: The Daleks.
** "The Timeless Children" reveals the lie that all of Time Lord society was built on top of: [[spoiler:the Time Lords didn't naturally evolve the ability to [[TheNthDoctor regenerate]]. They artificially gave it to themselves by studying the Timeless Child, a MysteriousWaif discovered at the base of a [[NegativeSpaceWedgie portal to another universe]] -- a child who eventually grew up to become the Doctor, after having had their memories wiped.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Veracia, largest and (at least until recently) most powerful nation in the world of ''Webcomic/ErrantStory'', is pretty much founded on this trope. While most of the country does not realize this, the "god" at the center of their faith, Luminosita, is actually just a MadeOfMagic puppet, created by mages who are connected to and control it. Even many of said mages are made unaware of this, interpreting their connection to their god religiously. [[spoiler:Ian tries to commit SuicideByCop, killing off one of their cities as well as said "god". Veracia reassures its citizens that Luminosita will return, but since Veracia's mages take a VowOfCelibacy, which has been causing their numbers to grow fewer and fewer, they will likely have difficulty recreating their god.]]

* ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'': The Terran Dominion is built on the big lie of Mengsk's {{Ubermensch}} title. Mengsk lured a horde of Zerg to obliterate the billions-strong population of Tarsonis rather than conquer it fairly, and unwittingly created the Queen of Blades when he spitefully left the woman who murdered his family to die screaming. Entire planetary operations are dedicated to keeping these secrets buried. Also, the Dominion (or at least the Mobius Foundation) has secretly been creating Zerg-Protoss hybrids.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': the Kingdom of Tantal prides itself on being descended from the legendary hero of the Aegis War, Addam, and considers itself as upholding the legacy of the now destroyed Kingdom of Torna. In truth, Addam retired in shame to a backwater village after failing to save Torna, and the Tantalese royal family is actually descended from some sleazy distant relative of Addam's who seized power in the chaos. This comes as a deep shock to Zeke, the Prince of Tantal, who had always taken great pride in his lineage, and causes him to be greatly disillusioned with his father. And when we do see Tornan culture in the prequel DLC, it bears almost no similarity to Tantal at all.
** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': Rival empires Keves and Agnes, whose existing dystopian cultures of flash-cloned child soldiers used as human sacrifices during an endless war, have an even worse secret: no-one in either empire knows where the two empires ''came from'', let alone why they're at war. It turns out the entire world itself is a sick joke, created by a mad god who came into being from a collective subconscious desire to 'maintain the status quo', and decided a pointless eternal war between two artificial empires would do the trick. This allows the asshole servants of said god to secretly rule both sides and decide when to harvest a regiment for exp by forcing them into unwinnable battles or outright murdering them.

* ''Manga/GiantRobo: The Day The Earth Stood Still'':

* SEELE in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is running a thousand-year-old AncientConspiracy. Not only have they influenced humanity's advancement towards their AssimilationPlot, but part of this influence was intentionally causing a global catastrophe[[note]]the awakening of Adam in the Antarctic which led to the melting of the polar ice caps and global sea levels rising and destroying all coastal settlements, plus the resulting wars ending with a death toll of ''three billion''[[/note]] and covering it up as an asteroid impact. Oh, and the CapturedSuperEntity they worship and want to use for said AssimilationPlot? A sentient terraforming device of alien origin[[note]]although they might not realize it themselves, the "sacred" Dead Sea Scrolls are actually an instruction manual misinterpreted as religious text[[/note]]. And the kicker: not only was the AssimilationPlot essentially TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, SEELE's leadership of humanity from behind the scenes subtly corrupted society in such a way that ''no one is literally sane anymore'' and global birth rates are dropping rapidly, so either they successfully pull off Instrumentality or '''humanity will die out in a few generations'''. Another dark secret might be what the [[EldritchAbomination Evangelions]] [[PoweredByAForsakenChild actually]] [[CloningBlues are]].

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Pretty much every empire, to date. The reason they're typically considered evil despite the civilization they bring to the world is that they regularly outsource their culture, labor, and punching bag needs to the lowest caste, who are typically slaves or oppressed minorities. And they ''always'' cover it up with misinformation/propaganda campaigns.
[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': the Kingdom of Tantal prides itself on being descended from the legendary hero of the Aegis War, Addam, and considers itself as upholding the legacy of the now destroyed Kingdom of Torna. However... the truth is, Addam never had any offspring, and the Tantalese royal family is actually descended from some minor Tornan noble of no real note. This comes as a deep shock to Zeke, the Prince of Tantal, who had always taken great pride in his lineage, and causes him to be greatly disillusioned with his father. And when we do see Tornan culture in the prequel DLC, it bears almost no similarity to Tantal at all.

** The World Government was founded on the idea that all rulers are equal and that there is no ''one'' ruler of the world. This is symbolized by the "Empty Throne" located in Pangea Castle, in the holy city of Mariejois, the capital of the World Government. It is a throne that is surrounded by blades, each representing a monarch and their vow to never seek dominion over each other or the world, a throne that no one, not even the Celestial Dragons, are allowed to sit upon. At the start of the Reverie, each attending monarch is required to renew their vow as a show of good faith, so they may discuss world affairs in peace. This idea is further strengthened by the fact that the highest authority in the world is a council called the Five Elder Stars, enforcing the idea that there is no one king that rules above the World Nobles and thus the world itself. [[spoiler:The Reverie Arc swiftly introduces all these ideas -- and reveals that they are all ''lies''. In truth, there is someone who sits upon the Empty Throne and rules the world from the shadows; a mysterious figure called Im, who the Elder Stars bow their heads towards and serve. Needless to say, if this were to ''ever'' get out, the public would ''not'' take it well]].

* ''Videogame/JadeEmpire'': Rain only falls because [[spoiler: the Emperor and his family mortally wounded but did not kill the Water Dragon. As she is a goddess, if she is not killed she will simply live on, never reincarnating]]. Oh, and Emperor Sun Hai [[spoiler: should have died a long time ago but is using the power of the Water Dragon to keep himself alive.]] Oh, and [[spoiler: this was all caused by the emperor's brother, Sun Li, who's basically planning to bring about a perfect totalitarian state]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'', Pre-war America was a secretive, semi-totalitarian government that has an iron grip on the lives of its populace. It monitors what everyone thinks, and says, with anyone suspected of dissent, or considered a communist spy/sympathizer getting shipped off to prison camps, or used as guinea pigs in horrifying experiments. Which range from the Robobrains, to being subjected to the FEV. With corporations like Vault-Tec given free reign in preforming experiments on people in the Vaults. These range from terrible, to horribly inhumane.

* The ''Videogame/JadeEmpire''. Rain only falls because [[spoiler: the Emperor and his family mortally wounded but did not kill the Water Dragon. As she is a goddess, if she is not killed she will simply live on, never reincarnating]]. Oh, and Emperor Sun Hai [[spoiler: should have died a long time ago but is using the power of the Water Dragon to keep himself alive.]] Oh, and [[spoiler: this was all caused by the emperor's brother, Sun Li, who's basically planning to bring about a perfect totalitarian state]].

* ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' the Terran Dominion is built on the big lie of Mengsk's {{Ubermensch}} title. Mengsk lured a horde of Zerg to obliterate the billions-strong population of Tarsonis rather than conquer it fairly, and unwittingly created the Queen of Blades when he spitefully left the woman who murdered his family to die screaming. Entire planetary operations are dedicated to keeping these secrets buried. Also, the Dominion (or at least the Mobius Foundation) has secretly been creating Zerg-Protoss hybrids.