History Main / CollidingCriminalConspiracies

You know the saying "There's AlwaysABiggerFish"? Well, it also applies to crime and criminals. When a story opens with a thief, kidnapper, or murderer "getting away with it" or proceeding with stage 3 of their 4 step plan, they may run into Colliding Criminal Conspiracies when they get entangled along with or caught in the traps of another, bigger or more professional criminal...or monster.

You know the saying "There's AlwaysABiggerFish"? Well, it also applies to crime and criminals. When a story opens with a thief, kidnapper, or murderer "getting away with it" or proceeding with stage 3 of their 4 step plan, they may run into Colliding Criminal Conspiracies when they get entangled along with or caught in the traps of another, bigger or more professional criminal... or monster.

* ''Film/LockStockAndTwoSmokingBarrels'' is the intersection of four lowlifes trying to pay off a gambling debt, a group of thugs stealing from a black gang's pot growing operation, and a crimelord ordering the theft of some valuable muskets.

* ''Film/{{Frontiers}}'': Bunch of French thieves exploit riots to perform a heist and then hide in a hotel on the French countryside... that is the home of a CannibalClan in the vein of ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre''.

* Worst case yet must be ''Film/DeepRising'', where a GambitPileup has a thief, mercenaries, a captured cruise ship run by a gun attempting to pull off an insurance scam, and a pack of sea monsters [[spoiler:that are actually just the tentacles of a larger sea monster]].

* Worst case yet must be ''Film/DeepRising'', where a GambitPileup has a thief, mercenaries, a captured cruise ship and a pack of sea monsters [[spoiler:that are actually just the tentacles of a larger sea monster]].

* ''Film/{{Frontiers}}'': Bunch of French thieves exploit riots to perform a heist and then hide in a hotel on the French countryside... that is the home of a CannibalClan in the vein of ''Franchise/TheTexasChainsawMassacre''.

* In the ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' storyline "Crossfire," the Rogues launch their long-planned takeover of Keystone City...only to have the Thinker choose the same time to launch his own attack on Central City and the battle of the two forces allows the Flash to defeat them both.

* ''Film/{{Splinter}}'': A married couple is taken hostage by a couple of criminals. During a pit stop for gas, they're attacked by a horrible monster that takes over people as it devours them.

* Worst case yet must be ''Film/DeepRising'', where a GambitPileup has a thief, mercenaries, a captured cruise ship and a pack of sea monsters.

* ''Film/TheyRePlayingWithFire'' starts off as a movie where a married couple plan to drive the husband's mother and grandmother away from their home mansion with help from a high school student. Then a guy in a ski-mask starts killing people around the place.

This isn't to say all is forgiven and the criminals turn over a new leaf, and make them truly sympathetic by pitting them against a truly worse adversary. Quite the contrary, they might show that they're really rotten by showing that after their need for TeethClenchedTeamwork has passed, they plan to kill their former kidnap victims, and/or by using the hostages as {{Human Shield}}s and dying thanks to their stupidity. Good riddance to that AssholeVictim. Interestingly, both of the above can exist in the same story if one criminal repents and the other doesn't.

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' combines this with the odd case of MuggingTheMonster, with everything from [[spoiler: trainfulls of rival mobsters encountering a conductor who's an AxCrazy assassin with a twisted [[KnightTemplar sense of justice]] (and a great deal of respect for the [[ItsPersonal colleague they murdered to infiltrate the train]]) to [[AncientConspiracy immortals]] having their elixir of life stolen by random muggers]].

* The French movie ''The Nest'' has a great example of this. A big warehouse complex is being used as a hideout by some fairly mundane thieves, but ends up as the site for a huge battle between terrorists and a good-guy military squad.

* ''Film/{{Splinter}}'': A married couple are taken hostage by a couple of criminals. During a pit stop for gas, they're attacked by a horrible monster that takes over people as it devours them.
* In ''Whisper'', a band of kidnapper discover the child they've abducted is very, ''very'' much not a normal little boy.
* In ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'', a bunch of would-be robbers end up stealing from and in the pockets of a much more sinister crime lord. The only reason they were kept alive is because they didn't realize who they were stealing from at the time of robbery and they are forced to repay with another crime.

* Played with in ''Film/HardRain'' where a fairly simple plotline about a bunch of criminals trying to rob an armoured truck becomes more complicated when [[spoiler: the local law enforcement decide to steal the cash themselves and the van guard and the lead robber end up in an EnemyMine]].

* ''Film/ManOnFire'' had this as the cause of the main plot. The ransom drop off went [[GoneHorriblyWrong horribly wrong]] because several groups got too greedy. Aside from the Voice and his gang (the actual kidnappers), [[spoiler: a group of [[DirtyCop cops]] tried to steal the ransom money for themselves]], as well as [[spoiler: the victim's family [[AmoralAttorney lawyer]] stealing half the ransom as it was being transported]]. Creasy ends up unraveling the plots of each group as he hunts each of them down and kills them.
* ''Film/TheyRePlayingWithFire'' starts off as a movie where a married couple plan to drive the husband's mother and grandmother away from their home mansion with a help from a high school student. Then a guy in a ski-mask starts killing people around the place.

* ''Film/DontBreathe'': A group of hapless thieves learn the hard way that the blind old man they’re planning to rob is actually a deranged rapist/murderer, and they’ve just interrupted his attempts to [[{{Squick}} produce an heir]].

* In Creator/KimNewman's ''No Gold in the Grey Mountains'', a band of thieves try to rob a coach of its gold. It doesn't have any (a TitleDrop is deployed), so they opt for a hostage ploy on the little girl who's aboard instead. Back at their hideout, some ancient ''thing'' is stirred up, and begins picking them off one-by-one...

* Happens at a bank robbery with almost immediate turnaround at the beginning of ''Literature/{{Steelheart}}''.

* Happens a couple times with rival spy agencies on ''Series/{{Alias}}''. Most notable in the early seasons with Sark and his "flexible loyalties." Most of his plans started with big successes, only for him to get caught or entwined in another spy's scheme. He'd then [[WildCard switch sides]] or at least pretend to, evoking a very temporary [[EnemyMine truce]]. Even the finale showed that his tendency to let whoever's conspiracy he collided with take precedence allowed him to be the only BigBad to survive.
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' features two sets: the various power battles for control of New York's criminal underworld and the conflict over control of The Machine. From time to time, the two sets will intersect for an even bigger collision. [[spoiler:The series ends with both of the crime dons that were part of the major cast buying the farm because they -- evil or morally grey -- didn't really had the understanding or firepower to deal with something as powerful as the Samaritan conspiracy when it decided to "purge" them.]]

* ''Series/TheLastHeist'' is about a BankRobbery that takes place at the same time that a SerialKiller who likes to [[EyeScream carve out and collect his victims' eyes]] happens to be in the building to retrieve his [[CreepySouvenir 'trophies']] from the vault. It also turns into a HostageSituation when the police catch on to the robbery taking place. And then it's revealed that several [[DirtyCop corrupt SWAT team members]] are also after the loot.

[[caption-width-right:242:Evil's version of ''UsefulNotes/ReesesPeanutButterCup'']]

* ''Series/TheLastHeist'' is about a BankRobbery that takes place at the same time that a SerialKiller who likes to [[EyeScream carve out and collect his victims' eyes]] happens to be in the building to retrieve his [[CreepySouvenir 'trophies']] from the vault. It also turns into a HostageSituation when the police catch on to the robbery taking place. And several [[DirtyCop corrupt SWAT team members]] are also after the loot.

* ''Film/ManOnFire'' had this as the cause of the main plot. The ransom drop off went [[GoneHorriblyWrong horribly wrong]] because several groups got too greedy. Aside from the Voice and his gang (the actual kidnappers), [[spoiler: a group of [[DirtyCop cops]] tried to steal the ransom money for themselves]], as well as [[spoiler: the victim's family [[AmoralAttorney lawyer]] stealing half the ransom as it was being transported]].

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' features two sets: the various power battles for control of New York's criminal underworld and the conflict over control of The Machine. From time to time, the two sets will intersect for an even bigger collision.

* ''Film/{{Frontiers}}'': Bunch of French thieves exploit riots to perform a heist and then hide in a hotel on the French countryside... that is the home of a CannibalClan in the vein of ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre''.

* ''Series/TheLastHeist'' is about a BankRobbery that takes place at the same time that a SerialKiller who likes to [[EyeScream carve out and collect his victims' eyes]] happens to be in the building to retrieve his [[CreepySouvenir 'trophies']] from the vault. It also turns into a HostageSituation when the police catch on to the robbery taking place. And several SWAT team members are also after the loot.

* ''Series/TheLastHeist'' is about a BankRobbery that takes place at the same time that a SerialKiller who likes to [[EyeScream carve out and collect his victims' eyes]] happens to be in the building to retrieve his [[CreepySouvenir 'trophies']] from the vault. It also turns into a HostageSituation when the police catch on to the robbery taking place.

* ''Film/ManOnFire'' had this as the cause of the main plot. The ransom drop off went [[GoneHorriblyWrong horribly wrong]] because several groups got too greedy. Aside from the Voice and his gang, [[spoiler: a group of [[DirtyCop cops]] tried to steal the ransom money for themselves]], as well as [[spoiler: the victim's family [[AmoralAttorney lawyer]] stealing half the ransom as it was being transported]].

* ''Film/{{Bodom}}'': Four teenagers decide to go camping near lake Bodom, where [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Bodom_murders murders]] took place in 1960. Two of them [[spoiler:are plotting to kill the other half of the group and make them disappear]] but, unbeknownst to them, they are being stalked by a genuine psycho killer...

* ''They're Playing with Fire'' starts off as a movie where a married couple plan to drive the husband's mother and grandmother away from their home mansion with a help from a high school student. Then a guy in a ski-mask starts killing people around the place.

* When the fact that ComicBook/ThePunisher is being held up in a small town cell during the ''ComicBook/SuicideRun'' event, several criminal enterprises sets out independently to get him, turning the town into a war zone.

* The film ''Film/Flypaper'' has two robber gangs (a couple of StupidCrooks and somewhat more competent commando-type thieves [[spoiler:and it's eventually revealed that a famous cat burglar had been working on the inside for a while prior]] barging into a bank and taking the people inside hostage while they try to rob different parts of it (after a while of going through a MexicanStandoff and then declaring "ThisIsMySide, this is your side")... and then it turns out that they were both baited into robbing the bank on the same day by a criminal mastermind Chessmaster that wanted to use all of them as chaff for his own heist (and the murder of a DirtyCop accomplice that had outlived his usefulness) and KillEmAll afterwards.