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* DoubleSubverted in one ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' episode: a ConspiracyTheorist believes the Pudding Club (an association of college students and alumni, started when the students pooled their funds to afford desserts) is an Illuminati-esque organization that secretly controls the world. Naturally, this is dismissed by Barnaby, even when the theorist is murdered. It turns out the club ''is'' a conspiracy, but nothing so grand as to TakeOverTheWorld: the students tend to end up in diplomatic positions around the world, and use them to smuggle cultural artifacts back to the school, which sells them off to keep itself funded. [[spoilers:All of the murders of the episode turn out to have been done by the school's EvilPrincipal, who stole the funds of the Pudding Club [[{{Greed}} to bolster his pockets]] and tried to keep it a secret [[MurderIsTheBestSolution by any means necessary]].]]
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* DoubleSubverted in one ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' episode: a ConspiracyTheorist believes the Pudding Club (an association of college students and alumni, started when the students pooled their funds to afford desserts) is an Illuminati-esque organization that secretly controls the world. Naturally, this is dismissed by Barnaby, even when the theorist is murdered. It turns out the club ''is'' a conspiracy, but nothing so grand as to TakeOverTheWorld: the students tend to end up in diplomatic positions around the world, and use them to smuggle cultural artifacts back to the school, which sells them off to keep itself funded. [[spoilers:All [[spoiler:All of the murders of the episode turn out to have been done by the school's EvilPrincipal, who stole the funds of the Pudding Club [[{{Greed}} to bolster his pockets]] and tried to keep it a secret [[MurderIsTheBestSolution by any means necessary]].]]
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* DoubleSubverted in one ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' episode: a ConspiracyTheorist believes the Pudding Club (an association of college students and alumni, started when the students pooled their funds to afford desserts) is an Illuminati-esque organization that secretly controls the world. Naturally, this is dismissed by Barnaby, even when the theorist is murdered. It turns out the club ''is'' a conspiracy, but nothing so grand as to TakeOverTheWorld: the students tend to end up in diplomatic positions around the world, and use them to smuggle cultural artifacts back to the school, which sells them off to keep itself funded.
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* DoubleSubverted in one ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' episode: a ConspiracyTheorist believes the Pudding Club (an association of college students and alumni, started when the students pooled their funds to afford desserts) is an Illuminati-esque organization that secretly controls the world. Naturally, this is dismissed by Barnaby, even when the theorist is murdered. It turns out the club ''is'' a conspiracy, but nothing so grand as to TakeOverTheWorld: the students tend to end up in diplomatic positions around the world, and use them to smuggle cultural artifacts back to the school, which sells them off to keep itself funded. [[spoilers:All of the murders of the episode turn out to have been done by the school's EvilPrincipal, who stole the funds of the Pudding Club [[{{Greed}} to bolster his pockets]] and tried to keep it a secret [[MurderIsTheBestSolution by any means necessary]].]]
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A frequent plot element of MocksteryTale; may overlap with MilkmanConspiracy. Also compare ScoobyDooHoax, in which the storyline seems to have supernatural elements, but they are actually fake.
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A frequent plot element of MocksteryTale; may overlap with MilkmanConspiracy. Also compare ScoobyDooHoax, in which the storyline seems to have supernatural elements, but they are actually fake.
fake. Sometimes subverted, or at least played with, in that the protagonist's actions still reveal [[RightForTheWrongReasons a conspiracy, just not the one they were looking for]].
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* In ''Film/JacobsLadder'', the titular Vietnam veteran believes that he's being pursued by government agents who want to suppress the truth about the use of psychedelic drugs during the war. The drug story may or may not be true, but the conspiracy itself is just a DyingDream of the protagonist who never actually made it out of Vietnam.
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* In ''Film/JacobsLadder'', the titular Vietnam veteran believes that he's being pursued by government agents who want to suppress the truth about the use of using psychedelic drugs during the war. The drug story may or may not be true, but the conspiracy itself is just a DyingDream of the protagonist who never actually made it out of Vietnam.
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* In ''Film/Passengers2008'', a number of passengers who survived a plane crash start to disappear one by one; the protagonist (a grief counselor who conducts therapy for them) believes that an airplane conspiracy may be killing them off to cover up their guilt for the crash. It turns out that Claire was also one of the passengers, and they were all in the afterlife (nobody survived the crash actually); the people who they thought were pursuing them were actually dead loved ones helping them to move on.
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* In ''Film/Passengers2008'', a number of passengers who survived a plane crash start to disappear one by one; the protagonist (a grief counselor who conducts therapy for them) believes that an airplane conspiracy may be killing them off to cover up their guilt for the crash. It turns out that Claire was also one of the passengers, and they were all in the afterlife (nobody survived the crash actually); the people who they thought were pursuing them were actually dead loved ones helping them to move on.
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* ''Film/NakedLunch'' is about a "conspiracy" involving fantastic monsters and talking typewriters that exists only in the drugged mind of the protagonist.
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* ''Film/NakedLunch'' is about a "conspiracy" involving fantastic monsters and talking typewriters that exists exist only in the drugged mind of the protagonist.
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** ''Literature/FoucaultsPendulum''. The protagonists invent a centuries-old conspiracy involving Rosicrucians, Templars, Masons and other secret organizations to parody the real-life conspiracy theorists. ZigZagged however, since the real occultists and conspiracy theorists take the story at face value, and ''actually'' [[FakeRealTurn create the secret society that the protagonists made up]].
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** ''Literature/FoucaultsPendulum''. The protagonists invent a centuries-old conspiracy involving Rosicrucians, Templars, Masons Masons, and other secret organizations to parody the real-life conspiracy theorists. ZigZagged however, since the real occultists and conspiracy theorists take the story at face value, and ''actually'' [[FakeRealTurn create the secret society that the protagonists made up]].
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* A throwaway line in the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' novel ''Trading Futures'' suggests that there are multiple groups which believe their own hype to the extent of thinking ''they're'' the Secret Masters of the World. Only one of them can be right, and it's most likely that none of them are.
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* A throwaway line in the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' novel ''Trading Futures'' suggests that there are multiple groups which that believe their own hype to the extent of thinking ''they're'' the Secret Masters of the World. Only one of them can be right, and it's most likely that none of them are.
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* The Priory of Sion was a hoax created by a Frenchman who claimed to be the descendant of the Merovingian bloodline; according to him, the Priory was a centuries-old secret society that protected the royal dynasty, and its Grand Masters included Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Jean Cocteau. The story served as basis for ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode''.
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* The Priory of Sion was a hoax created by a Frenchman who claimed to be the descendant of the Merovingian bloodline; according to him, the Priory was a centuries-old secret society that protected the royal dynasty, and its Grand Masters included Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Jean Cocteau. The story served as the basis for ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode''.
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* Kergizaught in a Nutshell made many great conspiracies for their how to identify a conspiracy video. This includes Aldolphin [[Hitler]] and more.
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* ''Film/ABeautifulMind'' initially looks like a spy thriller movie about a scientist who assisted Pentagon in combating a nefarious Soviet conspiracy, but then it's revealed that the scientist is actually schizophrenic; the spy movie-like scenes were all in his head.
* In ''Film/Passengers2008'', a number of passengers who survived a plane crash start to disappear one by one; the protagonist (a grief counselor who conducts therapy for them) believes that an airplane consipracy may be killing them off to cover up their guilt for the crash. It turns out that Claire was also one of the passengers, and they were all in afterlife (nobody survived the crash actually); people who they thought were pursuing them were actually dead loved ones helping them to move on.
* In ''Film/Passengers2008'', a number of passengers who survived a plane crash start to disappear one by one; the protagonist (a grief counselor who conducts therapy for them) believes that an airplane consipracy may be killing them off to cover up their guilt for the crash. It turns out that Claire was also one of the passengers, and they were all in afterlife (nobody survived the crash actually); people who they thought were pursuing them were actually dead loved ones helping them to move on.
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* ''Film/ABeautifulMind'' initially looks like a spy thriller movie about a scientist who assisted the Pentagon in combating a nefarious Soviet conspiracy, but then it's revealed that the scientist is actually schizophrenic; the spy movie-like scenes were all in his head.
* In ''Film/Passengers2008'', a number of passengers who survived a plane crash start to disappear one by one; the protagonist (a grief counselor who conducts therapy for them) believes that an airplaneconsipracy conspiracy may be killing them off to cover up their guilt for the crash. It turns out that Claire was also one of the passengers, and they were all in the afterlife (nobody survived the crash actually); the people who they thought were pursuing them were actually dead loved ones helping them to move on.
* In ''Film/Passengers2008'', a number of passengers who survived a plane crash start to disappear one by one; the protagonist (a grief counselor who conducts therapy for them) believes that an airplane
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* ''Film/{{Defendor}}'' has the titular mentally ill VigilanteMan constantly on the lookout for a SuperVillain called "Captain Industry", which he ends up believing is the leader of the local drug ring. While it is true that drug lords are bad (it's eventually showcased that the reason he started believing the "Captain Industry" thing is because of him overhearing a conversation about the "Captains of Industry"), they are not commanded by a Lex Luthor-esque mastermind and a lot of the comedy (and tragedy) of the film is his WrongGenreSavvy.
* In ''Film/UnderTheSilverLake'', an amateur sleuth discovers a mysterious conspiracy of rich people with the use of [[PopCultureSymbology codes hidden in pop music, video game magazines, and cereal box pictures]]; however, there are some implications that the conspiracy may not really exist, and [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness he's simply going insane]].
* In ''Film/UnderTheSilverLake'', an amateur sleuth discovers a mysterious conspiracy of rich people with the use of [[PopCultureSymbology codes hidden in pop music, video game magazines, and cereal box pictures]]; however, there are some implications that the conspiracy may not really exist, and [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness he's simply going insane]].
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* ''Film/{{Defendor}}'' has the titular mentally ill VigilanteMan constantly on the lookout for a SuperVillain called "Captain Industry", which who he ends up believing is the leader of the local drug ring. While it is true that drug lords are bad (it's eventually showcased that the reason he started believing the "Captain Industry" thing is because of him overhearing a conversation about the "Captains of Industry"), they are not commanded by a Lex Luthor-esque mastermind and a lot of the comedy (and tragedy) of the film is his WrongGenreSavvy.
* In ''Film/UnderTheSilverLake'', an amateur sleuth discovers a mysterious conspiracy of rich peoplewith through the use of [[PopCultureSymbology codes hidden in pop music, video game magazines, and cereal box pictures]]; however, there are some implications that the conspiracy may not really exist, and [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness he's simply going insane]].
* In ''Film/UnderTheSilverLake'', an amateur sleuth discovers a mysterious conspiracy of rich people
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** ''Literature/ThePragueCemetery'' describes a fictionalized story how such a hoax, called Protocols of the Elders of Zion, was created in real life (see "Real Life" section).
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** ''Literature/ThePragueCemetery'' describes a fictionalized story of how such a hoax, called Protocols of the Elders of Zion, was created in real life (see "Real Life" section).
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* The Nightwatchmen from ''Literature/SpecialTopicsInCalamityPhysics'' may or may not be this.
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* By the midpoint of ''VideoGame/{{Firewatch}}'', Henry and Delilah become increasingly convinced to have been unwitting test subjects in a [[GovernmentConspiracy secret government research]] of human behavior in long-term isolation. It turns out, however, that the "conspiracy" is a hoax perpetrated by a previous occupant of Henry's watchtower who attempts to drive them both mentally unstable and have them kicked out before they can discover evidence of his crimes.
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* By the midpoint of ''VideoGame/{{Firewatch}}'', Henry and Delilah become increasingly convinced to they have been unwitting test subjects in a [[GovernmentConspiracy secret government research]] of research project]] on human behavior in long-term isolation. It turns out, however, that the "conspiracy" is a hoax perpetrated by a previous occupant of Henry's watchtower who attempts to drive them both mentally unstable and have them kicked out before they can discover evidence of his crimes.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode ''[[Recap/SouthParkS10E9TheMysteryOfTheUrinalDeuce The Mystery of the Unrinal Deuce]]'' plays with this. While 9/11 itself was indeed caused by al-Qaeda, the 9/11 [[ConspiracyTheorist Truth movement]] was started by the U.S. government as a way to scare American citizens into believing they really are that powerful and omniscient. This was also all part of the plan to cover up the episode's grand mystery of whoever was responsible for shitting in the school's urinal.
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* In the The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode ''[[Recap/SouthParkS10E9TheMysteryOfTheUrinalDeuce The Mystery of the Unrinal Urinal Deuce]]'' plays with this. While 9/11 itself was indeed caused by al-Qaeda, the 9/11 [[ConspiracyTheorist Truth movement]] was started by the U.S. government as a way to scare American citizens into believing they really are that powerful and omniscient. This was also all part of the plan to cover up the episode's grand mystery of whoever was responsible for shitting in the school's urinal.
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Merged with The Con
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Plots that involve conspiracy theories and secret societies hidden beneath the veneer of everyday life treat them in different ways. Some [[ConspiracyKitchenSink play it completely straight]], while others imply or bluntly state that the conspiracy that seemed to be behind the whole plot does not really exist: it was either [[MassiveMultiplayerScam an elaborate hoax]], [[FriendlyScheming a joke staged by the protagonist's friends and loved ones]], [[TheSchizophreniaConspiracy a hallucination]] [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness of a mentally ill protagonist]], or [[DyingDream something even darker]].
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Plots that involve conspiracy theories and secret societies hidden beneath the veneer of everyday life treat them in different ways. Some [[ConspiracyKitchenSink play it completely straight]], while others imply or bluntly state that the conspiracy that seemed to be behind the whole plot does not really exist: it was either [[MassiveMultiplayerScam [[TheCon an elaborate hoax]], [[FriendlyScheming a joke staged by the protagonist's friends and loved ones]], [[TheSchizophreniaConspiracy a hallucination]] [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness of a mentally ill protagonist]], or [[DyingDream something even darker]].
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* A throwaway line in the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' novel ''Trading Futures'' suggests that there are multiple groups which believe their own hype to the extent of thinking ''they're'' the Secret Masters of the World. Only one of them can be right, and it's most likely that none of them are.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode ''[[Recap/SouthParkS10E9TheMysteryOfTheUrinalDeuce The Mystery of the Unrinal Deuce]]'' plays with this. While 9/11 itself was indeed caused by al-Qaeda, the 9/11 [[ConspiracyTheorist Truth movement]] was started by the U.S. government as a way to scare American citizens into believing they really are that powerful and omniscient. That plan also covering up who was really responsible for the episode's grand mystery: who was really responsible for shitting in the school's urinal.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode ''[[Recap/SouthParkS10E9TheMysteryOfTheUrinalDeuce The Mystery of the Unrinal Deuce]]'' plays with this. While 9/11 itself was indeed caused by al-Qaeda, the 9/11 [[ConspiracyTheorist Truth movement]] was started by the U.S. government as a way to scare American citizens into believing they really are that powerful and omniscient. That This was also all part of the plan also covering to cover up who was really responsible for the episode's grand mystery: who mystery of whoever was really responsible for shitting in the school's urinal.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode ''[[Recap/SouthParkS10E9TheMysteryOfTheUrinalDeuce The Mystery of the Unrinal Deuce]]'', while 9/11 was indeed caused by al-Qaeda, the 9/11 ''[[ConspiracyTheorist Truth movement]]'' was started by the U.S. government as a way to scare American citizens into believing they really are that powerful and omniscient. Part of that conspiracy somehow involved helping cover up who was responsible for shitting in the South Park elementary school's urinal.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode ''[[Recap/SouthParkS10E9TheMysteryOfTheUrinalDeuce The Mystery of the Unrinal Deuce]]'', while Deuce]]'' plays with this. While 9/11 itself was indeed caused by al-Qaeda, the 9/11 ''[[ConspiracyTheorist [[ConspiracyTheorist Truth movement]]'' movement]] was started by the U.S. government as a way to scare American citizens into believing they really are that powerful and omniscient. Part of that conspiracy somehow involved helping cover That plan also covering up who was really responsible for the episode's grand mystery: who was really responsible for shitting in the South Park elementary school's urinal.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/South Park'' episode ''[[Recap/SouthParkS10E9TheMysteryOfTheUrinalDeuce The Mystery of the Unrinal Deuce]]'', while 9/11 was indeed caused by al-Qaeda, the 9/11 ''[[ConspiracyTheorist Truth movement]]'' was started by the U.S. government as a way to scare American citizens into believing they really are that powerful and omniscient. Part of that conspiracy somehow involved helping cover up who was responsible for shitting in the South Park elementary school's urinal.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/South Park'' ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode ''[[Recap/SouthParkS10E9TheMysteryOfTheUrinalDeuce The Mystery of the Unrinal Deuce]]'', while 9/11 was indeed caused by al-Qaeda, the 9/11 ''[[ConspiracyTheorist Truth movement]]'' was started by the U.S. government as a way to scare American citizens into believing they really are that powerful and omniscient. Part of that conspiracy somehow involved helping cover up who was responsible for shitting in the South Park elementary school's urinal.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/South Park'' episode ''[[Recap/SouthParkS10E9TheMysteryOfTheUrinalDeuce The Mystery of the Unrinal Deuce]]'', while 9/11 was indeed caused by al-Qaeda, the 9/11 ''[[ConspiracyTheorist Truth movement]]'' was started by the U.S. government as a way to scare American citizens into believing they really are that powerful and omniscient. Part of that conspiracy somehow involved helping cover up who was responsible for shitting in the South Park elementary school's urinal.
[[/folder]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/South Park'' episode ''[[Recap/SouthParkS10E9TheMysteryOfTheUrinalDeuce The Mystery of the Unrinal Deuce]]'', while 9/11 was indeed caused by al-Qaeda, the 9/11 ''[[ConspiracyTheorist Truth movement]]'' was started by the U.S. government as a way to scare American citizens into believing they really are that powerful and omniscient. Part of that conspiracy somehow involved helping cover up who was responsible for shitting in the South Park elementary school's urinal.
[[/folder]]
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* DoubleSubverted in one ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' episode: a ConspiracyTheorist believes the Pudding Club (an association of college students and alumni, started when the students pooled their funds to afford desserts) is an Illuminati-esque organization that secretly controls the world. Naturally, this is dismissed by Barnaby, even when the theorist is murdered. It turns out the club ''is'' a conspiracy, but nothing so grand as WorldDomination: the students tend to end up in diplomatic positions around the world, and use them to smuggle cultural artifacts back to the school, which sells them off to keep itself funded.
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* DoubleSubverted in one ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' episode: a ConspiracyTheorist believes the Pudding Club (an association of college students and alumni, started when the students pooled their funds to afford desserts) is an Illuminati-esque organization that secretly controls the world. Naturally, this is dismissed by Barnaby, even when the theorist is murdered. It turns out the club ''is'' a conspiracy, but nothing so grand as WorldDomination: to TakeOverTheWorld: the students tend to end up in diplomatic positions around the world, and use them to smuggle cultural artifacts back to the school, which sells them off to keep itself funded.
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* In ''Film/UnderTheSilverLake'', an amateur sleuth discovers a mysterious conspiracy of rich people with the use of [[PopCultureSymbology codes hidden in pop music, video game magazines, and cereal box pictures]]; however, there are some implications that the conspiracy may not really exist, and [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness he's simply going insane]].
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* ''Film/{{Defendor}}'' has the titular mentally ill VigilanteMan constantly on the lookout for a SuperVillain called "Captain Industry", which he ends up believing is the leader of the local drug ring. While it is true that drug lords are bad (it's eventually showcased that the reason he started believing the "Captain Industry" thing is because of him overhearing a conversation about the "Captains of Industry"), they are not commanded by a Lex Luthor-esque mastermind and a lot of the comedy (and tragedy) of the film is his WrongGenreSavvy.
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* The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a literary forgery describing an imaginary "Judeo-Masonic conspiracy" planning to take over the world; the details of the alleged conspiracy are borrowed directly from various antisemitic canards. It's one of the most infamous examples of this trope, since it has been used by Nazis to justify the Holocaust.
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* The Protocols of the Elders of Zion Literature/TheProtocolsOfTheEldersOfZion is a literary forgery describing an imaginary "Judeo-Masonic conspiracy" planning to take over the world; the details of the alleged conspiracy are borrowed directly from various antisemitic canards. It's one of the most infamous examples of this trope, since it has been used by Nazis to justify the Holocaust.
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* Played with in ''Film/WonderWoman2017'': Diana goes into UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne thinking that the whole conflict was brought about by a conspiracy led by Ares, the mortal-hating god of war. [[spoiler:Ares ''is'' involved in the plot, but all he's doing is trying to prolong and escalate a war that had already started without him. The conspiracy Diana is chasing doesn't exist; it was always just a product of her imagination, formed because she was [[WideEyedIdealist so young and idealistic]] that [[GoodCannotComprehendEvil she couldn't understand why so many people would willingly throw their lives away in a pointless war]].]]
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* The sinister conspiracy is played completely for laughs in the Website/CollegeHumor video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbl-vMN2gzo "Deceptive Deceptions"]]. Basically, ''[[ConspiracyKitchenSink everyone]]'' is in on it, the proof of their connections is laughably absurd, and it ultimately amounts to a MilkmanConspiracy.
* The sinister conspiracy is played completely for laughs in the Website/CollegeHumor video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbl-vMN2gzo "Deceptive Deceptions"]]. Basically, ''[[ConspiracyKitchenSink everyone]]'' is in on it, the proof of their connections is laughably absurd, and it ultimately amounts to a MilkmanConspiracy.
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* The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a literary forgery describing an imaginary "Judeo-Masonic conspiracy" planning to take over the world; the details of the alleged conspiracy are borrowed directly from various antisemitic canards. It's one of the most infamous examples of this trope, since it has been used by Nazis to justify the Holocaust.
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* The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a literary forgery describing an imaginary "Judeo-Masonic conspiracy" planning to take over the world; the details of the alleged conspiracy are borrowed directly from various antisemitic canards. It's one of the most infamous examples of this trope, since it has been used by Nazis to justify the Holocaust.Holocaust.
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Examples:
Examples:
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Examples:
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Created from YKTTW
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Plots that involve conspiracy theories and secret societies hidden beneath the veneer of everyday life treat them in different ways. Some [[ConspiracyKitchenSink play it completely straight]], while others imply or bluntly state that the conspiracy that seemed to be behind the whole plot does not really exist: it was either [[MassiveMultiplayerScam an elaborate hoax]], [[FriendlyScheming a joke staged by the protagonist's friends and loved ones]], [[TheSchizophreniaConspiracy a hallucination]] [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness of a mentally ill protagonist]], or [[DyingDream something even darker]].
A frequent plot element of MocksteryTale; may overlap with MilkmanConspiracy. Also compare ScoobyDooHoax, in which the storyline seems to have supernatural elements, but they are actually fake.
Contains spoilers; read at your own caution.
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* According to the most popular interpretation of ''Film/MulhollandDrive'', the omniscient Hollywood conspiracy involving mafia, men on black limos, and a mysterious wheelchair-bound kingpin Mr. Roque was just a dream of a failed actress who attempted to reimagine her life in a positive light.
* In ''Film/JacobsLadder'', the titular Vietnam veteran believes that he's being pursued by government agents who want to suppress the truth about the use of psychedelic drugs during the war. The drug story may or may not be true, but the conspiracy itself is just a DyingDream of the protagonist who never actually made it out of Vietnam.
* ''Film/ABeautifulMind'' initially looks like a spy thriller movie about a scientist who assisted Pentagon in combating a nefarious Soviet conspiracy, but then it's revealed that the scientist is actually schizophrenic; the spy movie-like scenes were all in his head.
* In ''Film/Passengers2008'', a number of passengers who survived a plane crash start to disappear one by one; the protagonist (a grief counselor who conducts therapy for them) believes that an airplane consipracy may be killing them off to cover up their guilt for the crash. It turns out that Claire was also one of the passengers, and they were all in afterlife (nobody survived the crash actually); people who they thought were pursuing them were actually dead loved ones helping them to move on.
* In ''Film/ShutterIsland'', US Marshall Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from the remote mental clinic, Ashecliffe Hospital. As the investigation continues, he finds that the hospital staff are hiding something from him, and suspects that the head doctor is conducting horrible experiments on unwilling patients. In reality, "Teddy Daniels" is actually Andrew Laeddis, a patient at that same hospital. The only experiment happening is the doctors indulging Laeddis's delusions of investigating a conspiracy, in hopes that Laeddis would realize the truth and be cured after his fantasy played out to the end.
* ''Film/NakedLunch'' is about a "conspiracy" involving fantastic monsters and talking typewriters that exists only in the drugged mind of the protagonist.
[[AC:Literature]]
* The mysterious underground postal delivery service Trystero from ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49'' may be either a delusion of Oedipa or an elaborate joke by her former husband. [[MindScrew Or it may be real after all.]]
* Creator/UmbertoEco
** ''Literature/FoucaultsPendulum''. The protagonists invent a centuries-old conspiracy involving Rosicrucians, Templars, Masons and other secret organizations to parody the real-life conspiracy theorists. ZigZagged however, since the real occultists and conspiracy theorists take the story at face value, and ''actually'' [[FakeRealTurn create the secret society that the protagonists made up]].
** ''Literature/ThePragueCemetery'' describes a fictionalized story how such a hoax, called Protocols of the Elders of Zion, was created in real life (see "Real Life" section).
* One of the scenes in ''Literature/TheMagus'' by John Fowles implies that all the events in the novel were the workings of some secret society of psychotherapists who perform elaborate psychological experiments on people; however, it turns out to be a ruse, just like everything before it.
* The Nightwatchmen from ''Literature/SpecialTopicsInCalamityPhysics'' may or may not be this.
[[AC:Live Action TV]]
* DoubleSubverted in one ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' episode: a ConspiracyTheorist believes the Pudding Club (an association of college students and alumni, started when the students pooled their funds to afford desserts) is an Illuminati-esque organization that secretly controls the world. Naturally, this is dismissed by Barnaby, even when the theorist is murdered. It turns out the club ''is'' a conspiracy, but nothing so grand as WorldDomination: the students tend to end up in diplomatic positions around the world, and use them to smuggle cultural artifacts back to the school, which sells them off to keep itself funded.
[[AC:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''{{TabletopGame/Paranoia}}'' supplement ''Acute Paranoia'', a society called The International Workers of the World (Wobblies) was created because the people sent to investigate it kept being executed for failing to find it, so the latest group realized that if the society doesn't exist, then they should create it. [[FlockOfWolves They created it solely to spy on it, and then it was infiltrated by spies for other groups]].
[[AC:Video Games]]
* By the midpoint of ''VideoGame/{{Firewatch}}'', Henry and Delilah become increasingly convinced to have been unwitting test subjects in a [[GovernmentConspiracy secret government research]] of human behavior in long-term isolation. It turns out, however, that the "conspiracy" is a hoax perpetrated by a previous occupant of Henry's watchtower who attempts to drive them both mentally unstable and have them kicked out before they can discover evidence of his crimes.
[[AC:Real Life]]
* The Priory of Sion was a hoax created by a Frenchman who claimed to be the descendant of the Merovingian bloodline; according to him, the Priory was a centuries-old secret society that protected the royal dynasty, and its Grand Masters included Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Jean Cocteau. The story served as basis for ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode''.
* The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a literary forgery describing an imaginary "Judeo-Masonic conspiracy" planning to take over the world; the details of the alleged conspiracy are borrowed directly from various antisemitic canards. It's one of the most infamous examples of this trope, since it has been used by Nazis to justify the Holocaust.
A frequent plot element of MocksteryTale; may overlap with MilkmanConspiracy. Also compare ScoobyDooHoax, in which the storyline seems to have supernatural elements, but they are actually fake.
Contains spoilers; read at your own caution.
----
Examples:
[[AC:Film]]
* According to the most popular interpretation of ''Film/MulhollandDrive'', the omniscient Hollywood conspiracy involving mafia, men on black limos, and a mysterious wheelchair-bound kingpin Mr. Roque was just a dream of a failed actress who attempted to reimagine her life in a positive light.
* In ''Film/JacobsLadder'', the titular Vietnam veteran believes that he's being pursued by government agents who want to suppress the truth about the use of psychedelic drugs during the war. The drug story may or may not be true, but the conspiracy itself is just a DyingDream of the protagonist who never actually made it out of Vietnam.
* ''Film/ABeautifulMind'' initially looks like a spy thriller movie about a scientist who assisted Pentagon in combating a nefarious Soviet conspiracy, but then it's revealed that the scientist is actually schizophrenic; the spy movie-like scenes were all in his head.
* In ''Film/Passengers2008'', a number of passengers who survived a plane crash start to disappear one by one; the protagonist (a grief counselor who conducts therapy for them) believes that an airplane consipracy may be killing them off to cover up their guilt for the crash. It turns out that Claire was also one of the passengers, and they were all in afterlife (nobody survived the crash actually); people who they thought were pursuing them were actually dead loved ones helping them to move on.
* In ''Film/ShutterIsland'', US Marshall Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from the remote mental clinic, Ashecliffe Hospital. As the investigation continues, he finds that the hospital staff are hiding something from him, and suspects that the head doctor is conducting horrible experiments on unwilling patients. In reality, "Teddy Daniels" is actually Andrew Laeddis, a patient at that same hospital. The only experiment happening is the doctors indulging Laeddis's delusions of investigating a conspiracy, in hopes that Laeddis would realize the truth and be cured after his fantasy played out to the end.
* ''Film/NakedLunch'' is about a "conspiracy" involving fantastic monsters and talking typewriters that exists only in the drugged mind of the protagonist.
[[AC:Literature]]
* The mysterious underground postal delivery service Trystero from ''Literature/TheCryingOfLot49'' may be either a delusion of Oedipa or an elaborate joke by her former husband. [[MindScrew Or it may be real after all.]]
* Creator/UmbertoEco
** ''Literature/FoucaultsPendulum''. The protagonists invent a centuries-old conspiracy involving Rosicrucians, Templars, Masons and other secret organizations to parody the real-life conspiracy theorists. ZigZagged however, since the real occultists and conspiracy theorists take the story at face value, and ''actually'' [[FakeRealTurn create the secret society that the protagonists made up]].
** ''Literature/ThePragueCemetery'' describes a fictionalized story how such a hoax, called Protocols of the Elders of Zion, was created in real life (see "Real Life" section).
* One of the scenes in ''Literature/TheMagus'' by John Fowles implies that all the events in the novel were the workings of some secret society of psychotherapists who perform elaborate psychological experiments on people; however, it turns out to be a ruse, just like everything before it.
* The Nightwatchmen from ''Literature/SpecialTopicsInCalamityPhysics'' may or may not be this.
[[AC:Live Action TV]]
* DoubleSubverted in one ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' episode: a ConspiracyTheorist believes the Pudding Club (an association of college students and alumni, started when the students pooled their funds to afford desserts) is an Illuminati-esque organization that secretly controls the world. Naturally, this is dismissed by Barnaby, even when the theorist is murdered. It turns out the club ''is'' a conspiracy, but nothing so grand as WorldDomination: the students tend to end up in diplomatic positions around the world, and use them to smuggle cultural artifacts back to the school, which sells them off to keep itself funded.
[[AC:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''{{TabletopGame/Paranoia}}'' supplement ''Acute Paranoia'', a society called The International Workers of the World (Wobblies) was created because the people sent to investigate it kept being executed for failing to find it, so the latest group realized that if the society doesn't exist, then they should create it. [[FlockOfWolves They created it solely to spy on it, and then it was infiltrated by spies for other groups]].
[[AC:Video Games]]
* By the midpoint of ''VideoGame/{{Firewatch}}'', Henry and Delilah become increasingly convinced to have been unwitting test subjects in a [[GovernmentConspiracy secret government research]] of human behavior in long-term isolation. It turns out, however, that the "conspiracy" is a hoax perpetrated by a previous occupant of Henry's watchtower who attempts to drive them both mentally unstable and have them kicked out before they can discover evidence of his crimes.
[[AC:Real Life]]
* The Priory of Sion was a hoax created by a Frenchman who claimed to be the descendant of the Merovingian bloodline; according to him, the Priory was a centuries-old secret society that protected the royal dynasty, and its Grand Masters included Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Jean Cocteau. The story served as basis for ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode''.
* The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a literary forgery describing an imaginary "Judeo-Masonic conspiracy" planning to take over the world; the details of the alleged conspiracy are borrowed directly from various antisemitic canards. It's one of the most infamous examples of this trope, since it has been used by Nazis to justify the Holocaust.
