History Main / CorporateWarfare

* ''VideoGame/{{Syndicate}}'' has corps warring over control of the planet, mostly via small teams of highly skilled agents.

* ''TabletopGame/MutantChronicles'' had several Megacorps duking it out for supremacy in the solar system before and after everything really went to hell.

* In Frank Herbert's ''[[Main/ConSentiency Whipping Star]]'', Mliss Abnethe has such economic power (controlling a corporation that owns several worlds) that it's no surprise she has her own household troops.

* A staple (and the main source of employment of the [=PCs=]) in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}''. There are also the Desert Wars where megacorps pit their troops against one another to test their weapons and for publicity.

* The English East India Company is featured in the second and third ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movies. Not only do they have a private fleet and army with a worldwide reach, they also control the ''Flying Dutchman''. The Company wages war on all pirates, intent to wipe them out. Not TruthInTelevision: the East India ''Trading'' Company did arm their ships defensively, but actually fighting wars was the province of the Royal Navy.

A staple of Cyberpunk media. Megacorporations typically are depicted as having "Company Security Forces" which are often as powerful as the military of a small nation. Besides the option for open warfare, they also heavily indulge in covert operations against their business rivals, ranging from espionage to sabotage and "wetwork", meaning assassinations of key personnel.

Compare MobWar. Contrast to OneNationUnderCopyright, where the corporations literally are nations. May involve an ArmyOfLawyers. PrivateMilitaryContractors are a common choice for such security forces.

[[AC:Anime and Manga]]
* ''{{Spice and Wolf}}'': During certain arcs (namely the devalued coins one), there is a trade company that has enough men to do the thug and garrote routine without problem by sheer force of numbers. The other Traders had a nice Intel network of the city maps and then Lawrence has [[{{bigbadasswolf}} Holo]]. Considering the setting the idea of using men for pressuring and muting the lone merchant they scammed is logical from their point of view. {{Karma}} on the other hand...

[[AC:Comic Books]]

[[AC:Film]]
* In ''StarWars Episode I: ThePhantomMenace'', the antagonist faction was the corporate army of the Trade Federation, secretly controlled by [[BigBad Darth Sidious]]. In Episode II-III and TheCloneWars, the Separatist army was also created as an amalgamation of several corporate armies.
* The English East India Company is featured in the second and third ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movies. Not only do they have a private fleet and army with a worldwide reach, they also control the ''Flying Dutchman''. The Company wages war on all pirates, intent to wipe them out.

* The film ''{{Matewan}}'' involved conflict between a coal company which controlled most of a West Virginia town's economy, and local miners endeavoring to form a union in the 1920s. The company had contracted with a [[{{Pinkertons}} Pinkerton-style]] mercenary force called the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, which sent a platoon of gunmen into the town to suppress the miners' strike. TruthInTelevision: this film was loosely based on true events that occurred in Matewan, West Virginia at that time. And suppression of unions through such means was common elsewhere in the U.S. in that era, often involving the actual {{Pinkertons}}.

* ''Literal'' corporate warfare is seen in a section of Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife when the disgruntled employees of Permanent Assurance Company turn their building into a pirate ship and launch a raid on The Very Big Corporation of America.

[[AC:Literature]]

* In Eoin Colfer's ''Literature/TheSupernaturalist'', the term "paralegal" has come to mean commandos with law degrees.

[[AC:Tabletop RPG]]

* ''MutantChronicles'' had several Megacorps duking it out for supremacy in the solar system before and after everything really went to hell.
* In ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'' the [[OneNationUnderCopyright Planetary Consortium]] deployed [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Direct Action]] to seize several Anarchist and Extropiab habitats on the grounds that they were havens for software pirates (neither group acknowledges copyrights). However the Titanian Comminwealth decided to side with the anarchists and they formed the Autonomist Alliance.

[[AC:Video Games]]

* The whole plot of ''AceCombat3Electrosphere'' revolves around a war between two megacorporations, General Resource Ltd. and Neucom Inc.; although there are two more sides in it ([[UnitedNationsIsASuperPower peace-enforcing UN]] and the [[NebulousCriminalConspiracy terrorist conspiracy Ouroboros]]), they are much smaller in scale and influence.

[[AC:Webcomics]]
* The protagonists of ''MyLifeAtWar'' were hired by Mega-Fun Foods Inc. to defend some newly acquired farmland from some nobles who think they still own it.

[[AC:Real Life]]

* In ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'' the Planetary Consortium deployed [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Direct Action]] to seize several Anarchist and Extropiab habitats on the grounds that they were havens for software pirates (neither group acknowledges copyrights). This resulted in the formation of the Autonomist Alliance.

* Not just pirates and natives; for much of the 18th century, whenever Britain and France went to war, the British and French East India Companies [[hottip:* :the ''Honourable East India Company'' and the ''Compagnie des Indes Orientales'' respectively]] would dutifully declare war on one another as well. The Carnatic Wars in particular were fought largely by Company forces on both sides, with the British East India Company eventually emerging as the dominant of the two before the French company was eventually forcibly liquidated during the FrenchRevolution.

Compare MobWar. Contrast to OneNationUnderCopyright, where the corporations literally are nations. May involve an ArmyOfLawyers.

* Parodied in the Cursed Earth storyline in ''JudgeDredd''. Gengineered mascot creatures battle each other for supremacy long after the corporations they represent have vanished. (Apparently these chapters could not be reprinted due to trademark infringement.)

* In John Van Stry's [[http://www.amazon.com/Children-Steel-John-Van-Stry/dp/147008502X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354056164&sr=8-1&keywords=Children+of+steel "Children of Steel"]] series, wars between corporations over mines in distant systems aren't rare. Freighter crews (comprised mainly of indentured [[PettingZooPeople animen]]) are trained in combat and ships are easily converted into troop transports.

* The background of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is that the playable characters are mercenaries hired by one of the two corporations that secretly run the world to fight over gravel pits because the [=CEOs=] are idiots with an epic case of SiblingRivalry.

* Part of the initial Opium War among England, United States and China; for more information look for the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars Opium Wars (in the other wiki click here)]] trade benefits and all. For more if I don't recall wrong it is around the 1839-1842 period. When the United States got to sign their treaty in 1844, it made the Brits condition for their {{Mega corp}} seem saint in comparison. Given that it was a {{Gunboat Diplomacy}} (not to mention the {{Curb Stomp Battle}} that it was) at some points, the list included (the side of the Brits, not the U.S. one):
** Indemnification for burnt opium.
** Give Hong Kong to the Brits.
** Give five Chinese harbors.
** Expecting the British citizens to submit to Chinese laws.
** Tax exemption just up to 5% of customs to foreign merchandise.

* A staple (and the main source of employment of the [=PCs=]) in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}''.

* ''Tabletopgame/{{Cyberpunk 2020}}'' is a prime example, featuring a full-scale Corporate War between two of the biggest megacorps as a world-changing event.

* Parodied in the Cursed Earth storyline in ''JudgeDredd''. Gengineered mascot creatures battle each other for supremacy long after the corporations they represent have vanished. (Last I heard, these chapters could not be reprinted due to trademark infringement.)

* ''Tabletopgame/{{Cyberpunk2020}}'' is a prime example, featuring a full-scale Corporate War between two of the biggest megacorps as a world-changing event.

* ''Film/{{Robocop}} 3'' has Omni Consumer Products (and it's new shareholders the Kanemitsu Corporation) hire a band of mercenaries to force out the inhabitants of Old Detroit. To combat this, the regular folks form a underground resistance. Oh, just to make sure their investment pays off, Kanemitsu sends robot ninjas to aid their hired guns.

* ''{{Civilization}}'' series: Certain {{Greed}} events that go under "Our corporation wants X resource under rival civilization's border, go and get it for massive cash. The other variant is that "our generals want X resource in enemy land, go get it old chap".

A staple of Cyberpunk media. Megacorporations typically are depicted as having "Company Security Forces" which are often as powerful as the military of a small nation. Besides the option for open warfare, they also heavily indulge in covert operations against their business rivals, ranging from espionage to sabotage and "wetwork", meaning assassinations of key personell.

In RealLife the East India Trading Companies officially conquered and outright governed large areas of India in the name of their home nations.

Compare MobWar. Contrast to OneNationUnderCopyright where the corporations literally are nations. May involve an ArmyOfLawyers.

[[AC: Anime and Manga]]
* {{Spice And Wolf}}: During certain arcs (namely the devalued coins one), there is a trade company that has enough men to do the thug and garrote routine without problem by sheer force of numbers. The other Traders had a nice Intel network of the city maps and then Lawrence has [[{{bigbadasswolf}} Holo]]. Considering the setting the idea of using men for pressuring and muting the lone merchant they scammed is logical from their point of view. {{Karma}} on the other hand...

[[AC: Comic Books]]
* Parodied in the Cursed Earth storyline in ''JudgeDredd''. Gengineered mascot creatures battle each other for supremacy long after the corporations they represent have vanished. (Last I heard these chapters could not be reprinted due to trademark infringement.)

[[AC: Film]]

[[AC: Literature]]
* In ''JenniferGovernment'', the corporate alliances [[spoiler: come to the brink of all-out warfare, and step slightly over the line a few times before coming to their senses]] due to John Nike's influence.
* In John Van Stry's [[http://www.amazon.com/Children-Steel-John-Van-Stry/dp/147008502X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354056164&sr=8-1&keywords=Children+of+steel "Children of Steel"]] series wars between corporations over mines in distant systems aren't uncommon. Freighter crews (comprised mainly of indentured [[PettingZooPeople animen]]) are trained in combat and ships are easily converted into troop transports.
* In Eoin Colfer's ''Literature/TheSupernaturalist'' the term "paralegal" has come to mean commandos with law degrees.

[[AC:TabletopRPG]]

* A staple (And the main source of employment of the [=PCs=]) in {{Shadowrun}}.

[[AC: Video Games]]

[[AC: Web Comics]]
* The protagonists of ''MyLifeAtWar'' were hired by Mega-Fun Foods Inc to defend some newly acquired farmland from some nobles who think they still own it.

* The R&D wars of ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' in the "4U City" AlternateUniverse between a number of weapons manufacturers with strong ties to organized crime. In the prime universe Torg has been trying to take them down, [[spoiler: but all his efforts have done is consolidate them into Hereti-Corp against everyone else.]]

[[AC: Real Life]]

* Part of the initial Opium War between England, United States and China, for more information look for the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars Opium Wars (in the other wiki click here)]] trade benefits and all. For more if I don't recall wrong it is around the 1839-1842 period. Needless to say when Us got to sign their treaty in 1844 it made the Brits condition for their {{Mega corp}} seem saint in comparison. Given it was a {{Gunboat Diplomacy}} (not to mention the {{Curb Stomp Battle}} that it was) at some points but the list included (the side of the Brits not the US one):

** Give 5 Chinese harbors.
** Excepting the Brit citizens to submit to Chinese laws.
** Tax exemption just up to 5% of customs to foreign merchandise.