History Main / GovernmentConspiracy

* The ''Franchise/DotHack'' series' system administrators work much the same way up until the end of ''Manga/DotHackLegendOfTheTwilight''.
** [[VideoGame/DotHackGU And afterward as well.]] [=CC Corp=] just never learns.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', though the manga and the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 2003 anime adaptation]] differ in how many people are aware of/involved in the conspiracy. The conspiracy itself is different in the manga and first anime; in the manga, [[spoiler:Father and the upper echelons of the military are planning to create a utopia through HumanSacrifice]]. In the 2003 anime, the conspiracy is [[spoiler:[[VainSorceress Dante]] using the country (through Pride) to create situations that will lead to the creation of Philosopher's Stones (again through mass human sacrifice) that Dante needs to fuel her [[ImmortalityImmorality immortality]]]].

* ''Anime/LupinIIIIslandOfAssassins'': The island's location is unmarked on any map, since the world's major governments all have a vested interest in keeping it hidden: [[spoiler: because the Tarantulas are [[MurderInc their private hit squad]]]]. Which is why they have a KillSat in place to shoot down anything approaching the island, or attempting to leave it, without authorization. [[Franchise/LupinIII Lupin]] tells Jigen that it's the secret behind all the disappearances in [[spoiler: TheBermudaTriangle]].
* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers''. Turns out that TheFederation was behind [[spoiler: [[BigBad Jail Scaglietti]] and [[PlayingWithSyringes all his projects]]]].

* In the past, Nagi's work in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' was made more difficult by the fact that [[BigBad Fate's]] group had several secret supporters in the various governments of the Magic World. In the present, considering how one of Nagi's old friends warned our heroes to be wary of Ostia's Governor-General, it seems Negi is in a similar situation as well. That's just the tip of the iceberg. [[spoiler: The masterminds behind the attack on Negi's home village were [[EvilChancellor members of the Megalo Mesembria Senate]] who have been pulling the strings of the Senate since the beginning of the war, which they helped start.]]

* The World Government in ''Franchise/OnePiece'' comes down ''[[KickTheDog hard]]'' on ''anyone'' who can read poneglyphs, is scheming to get their hands on plans to a LostTechnology superweapon, and keeps a tight lid on the truth behind the "Blank Century" in the world's history. [[EpilepticTrees What are they hiding?]] To a lesser extent, they also quickly spin any story that might paint pirates in a favorable light, or simply embarrasses the World Government. The events of Alabasta, resolved by the Straw Hats, were credited to Smoker because he was the highest ranking Marine there at the time. They would have done the same with Dressrosa, but Admiral Fujitora torpedoed those plans by broadcasting what really happened before the government even knew about it.
** And then there's the secret known only to the highest level of the World Government: [[spoiler: despite the WG's official stance that there is no single ruler standing above all the constituent nations, there is in fact a ShadowDictator known only as Imu, to whom even the Five Elders (stated for years to be the highest authority in the WG) bow to.]]
* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': Where to even begin? {{Cyberpunk}} {{Mega Corp}}s love these.
** Yanigisawa, with approval fron the city government, lures monsters to attack the city by having a nationalist rebel bait them there, as an excuse to set up a base deeper in the ruins for profit (and keep the defense budget high). The news reports this as a nationalist rebel attack, and it technically sort of is, but also an InsideJob.
** When Akira foils a relic heist against the government, to cover up for their incompetence in letting it happen in the first place, city officials jack up Akira's medical bills to the max in order to force him to accept their hush money or enter IndenturedServitude like all debtors. As part of said deal, his record in stopping the criminals is erased, with the official story being a city sleeper agent had stopped them as part of a sting.
** Due to two gangs in the slums becoming as powerful as an NGOSuperpower, the government hires Viola to make them fight each other in a MobWar with the slums being acceptable collateral damage, since it's less expensive than sending the army in. [[spoiler:Viola lures Akira into attacking one gang with Sheryl and a pickpocket who he has a vendetta against as TheBait, and the other gang into exploiting the opportunity. They finish the job with a secret DecapitationStrike on both gangs.]]
** The fact that the Rebuild Institute made a secret deal with government officials to [[spoiler: [[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink spike slum dwellers food]] with {{Nanomachines}} designed to [[MassSuperEmpoweringEvent make them into]] DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals known as Old World Connectors, and this led to most subjects dying due to either hideous mutations or from the lesser known side effect of connectors being that their emotions are broadcast into others, causing Akira's DarkAndTroubledPast.]]
** Since the OneNationUnderCopyright government is an EnemyMine alliance of MegaCorp, they are in a state of constant cold war with one another. Akira gets involved in fighting several different battles against monsters who got lured towards Sakashita Heavy Industries locations by other companies, as well as special forces pretending to be nationalist rebels striking at one of their Old World Connector agents, all a FalseFlagOperation. This is noted by the CEO of Sakashita to be nothing new; the strikes were to test their strength.
** There being a SecretWar between [[spoiler:the Corporate Government, and TheRemnant of the {{Precursors}} in the form of their ArtificialIntelligence. The latter of whom have the goal of annihilating the current human civilizations to try and restore the old one, being aligned with the Rebuild Institute's efforts to being back Old World Connectors.]]
** Yanigisawa striking a secret deal with another MegaCorp [[spoiler:to allow Akira to set up in his HomeBase in the slums after a [[PriceOnTheirHead bounty is put on his head]], in order to put on a good show of the Lion Steel corporation's strength while attacking it in order to help convince Olivia to join them, with the principal conspiritors being Yanigisawa, the Lion Steel CEO Alice, and Olivia herself. Yanigisawa's reward being knowledge of human agents working under A.I.s like Alpha.]]
* The manga version of ''Manga/ShadowStar'' has one of these observing the [[{{Mons}} shadow dragons]], as well as being involved in a lot of cover-ups and extreme military measures.
* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'': [[spoiler: The leaders of the [[HunterOfMonsters CCG]] have been cooperating with a secret organization of ghouls for more than a century, to maintain control over society]]. It gets worse, though: [[spoiler: the elite Investigators trained at a facility known as the Sunlit Garden are actually short-lived HalfHumanHybrid TykeBombs, including [[TheAce Kishou Arima]] himself. And TheClan that has commanded the CCG since its inception? The famous clan of ghoul hunters tasked by the Emperor with protecting Japan? The Washuu Clan are ''also'' ghouls, meaning that the three highest ranked officials within the CCG are themselves ghouls, using human pawns to exterminate any competition or threats to their authority]].

* In one two-part ''[[ComicBook/SpiderMan Amazing Spider-Man]]'' story during Eric Larson's run, Spidey teamed up with ComicBook/ThePunisher to find out who was hording thousands of tons of cocaine but not selling it. It turned out that an agency in the actual U.S. Government (which one was not revealed) was behind this scheme. Worried that the economy's dependence on the Gold Standard might be a liability if gold were to lose value in a crisis, this agency was actually considering using cocaine as the new standard, reasoning that drugs always had value. While both Spider-Man and the Punisher knew this was a sick and misguided idea, they decided against exposing it; not only would it be hard for a judge to believe "a man in a mask like me and a walking gun shop like you" as Spidey put it, knowing about such a thing would hurt -- if not destroy -- what trust remained in America's government. (However, they ''did'' destroy the cocaine. Letting the conspiracy continue was not an option.)

* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/CloudedSky'', the government of Waytar, the region in which the story takes place, doesn't want anybody to know the truth about [[spoiler:what's really beyond Waytar's Shield]] and are willing to use some underhanded methods to keep the secret from getting out.
* Celestia and Luna have several going in ''Fanfic/DiariesOfAMadman''. The first is perpetuating the myth that they control the sun and moon, the second being the covering up of "true magic". Nav's sudden disappearance later on in the story is thought to be the result of one as well, though it's clearly false from the reader's perspective.
* In ''Fanfic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed'', according to the narrator, everything is a government conspiracy. They've been sending her subtle signs of the "true" history to toy with her. Little do they know, she'll reveal the "truth" to the world, whether the world wants to hear it or not.
* ''Fanfic/EverfreeInfectionAU'': Princess Cadence is hiding the existence of the infection from the Crystal Empire's residents. She publicly justifies the presence of the giant shield spell over the Empire that's keeping the spores out (and the residents in) by claiming it's there to keep them safe from a nasty winter storm.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, the Republic Intelligence Service seems to have subverted the entire Trans-Galactic Republic to the point where its favored PrivateMilitaryContractor can call up a shipyard and obtain hardware previously reserved for [[InsistentTerminology Spacelane Protection]]. It [[WellIntentionedExtremist theoretically has a good reason]] for working to defeat the AlienInvasion [[spoiler:Flood left unchecked is bad]] but its methods are rather brutal. Knocking out a democratic government doesn't bode well either, until you consider what the [[Franchise/StarWars source material]] tends to think [[DemocracyIsBad about democracy]].
* ''Fanfic/BrokenSouls'' features one in the Literature/HarryPotter universe's Ministry of Magic and the Moscow Clique, a powerful group in Russian wizarding politicians that have been controlling the country for nearly twenty years. A German reporter and his paper were following a story on them, investigating the possibility of them placing moles inside foreign governments in order to trade money for secrets and vice versa.
* In ''Fanfic/AmbiencePlatoonMoebiusFour'', [[spoiler:there is an ultranationalist far-right faction within the Diet that is bent on returning control of the ship girls to Japanese hands, by force if need be. They try twice to assassinate Franklin and, when that fails, try to pull a UriahGambit on him. They eventually get their wish when an Abyssal attack on Okinawa incapacitates him.]]

** [[spoiler:the fact that it was Xenolith/The Abyssal who brought Lauren into the second F.L.E.E.T. Project, and that Lauren and Jeannie's escape from it led to an executive order for their capture by none less than the US President himself, implies two possibilities. Either the Inner Circle is directly in cahoots with the Feds, or they have deeply infiltrated the Feds. Neither possibility bears thinking about. It gets worse when Shoukaku's Abyssalised weapon reacts to Damon, suggesting a link between the Genesis Thesis Project and the Abyssals.]]
** Baltimore. As revealed in chapter 189, [[spoiler:the Feds were working on something, and when it resulted in a mutation-inducing outbreak, quarantined the whole city far faster than they should have been able to, then hushed the whole thing up.]]
* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/ThePowerThatsInside'' shows a government that controls Gyms, Pokemon Centers, PokeMarts, all utilities...and marriages.
* ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': SEELE is supposedly an UN Committee created to oversee NERV. In reality they control the UN.
* In ''Fanfic/JewelOfDarkness'', it's revealed that Mad Mod was originally the head of the British Institute for the Prevention of Metahuman Crisis, a secret agency dedicated to "[[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood rehabilitating]]" Meta- and Super-criminals in order to prevent them from threatening British society. Then his peers found out he was planning on doing the same to key members of the government in order to take over the country, forcing him to go on the run.

* In the ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' Fanfic ''Fanfic/Team8'', there is one going on inside the Leaf Village between [[spoiler:the Hyuuga Clan and many members of the Village Council, with the ringleaders seemingly being Hiashi and Danzo]]. Although their exact goals and motivations have not been clarified yet, it is heavily implied that [[spoiler:they ordered the murder of Kurenai's former team and had been actively promoting hate against Naruto inside the village]]. Some characters, including the Hokage and Kurenai, are aware of its existence but have been unable to bring it down through legal means.
* An interesting variation happens in the Literature/HarryPotter story ''Fanfic/TheChosenSix''. [[spoiler: The MI-X is clearly set up by the legal government of the United Kingdom, and its purpose seems to be to prepare for an eventual conflict with Magical Britain. Their exact motivations for doing so as of now are still unknown.]]
* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfRemnant'': While Atlas doesn't officially attach itself to the Schnees and Belladonnas in their plan to assassinate Jaune, they clearly know about it and aren't trying to stop it. [[spoiler:They even get Kali out of jail after she attempts to kill him, and once that's done they all but invade Vale to finish the war they've now started]].

* ''Fanfic/AIsA'': Due to the existence of the multiverse and partnerships between various groups, several government conspiracies have cropped up, though the majority seem to be upheld by the protagonists rather than their foes. To wit:
** Stargate Command is still carrying on their exploration of the galaxy and undeclared war against the Goa'uld.
** Amestris, now ruled by Gen. Grumman, is concealing the truth of Father's plans for the Promised Day for fear it will rip their nation apart.
** Team Rainbow become the primary interface between their universe and those in the Multiversal Task Force, under the justification that their world isn't ready for what revealation would carry with it.

* In ''Film/DefenceOfTheRealm'', when a teenage boy who escaped from jail is trying to escape from the police, he ends up breaking into [[spoiler: a U.S. Air Force base in Britain, nearly causing a plane carrying nuclear weapon to crash, and the boy is killed by those who don't want anyone to know what happened. When an MP asks questions about what happened that night, he's framed and discredited, and two reporters who try to break the story end up being killed, along with the MP's secretary. That said, the story eventually breaks and the conspiracy is eventually revealed]].
%%* ''[=H2O=]'' (the miniseries) -- you think it's bad when MarsNeedsWater; how about the US government!

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', [[spoiler: Voldemort]] takes over the Ministry. Most people are suspicious about subsequent policy changes, but are afraid to speak up.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Two men. Two continents. At ''least'' Seven Kingdoms and a couple of city states and probably not ''just'' the one Crown with uncomfortable chair. One wide-ranging and free-wheeling plan to use them all. [[spoiler: Isn't that right, Lord "the Spider" Varys and Illyrio Mopatis?]] It's not the largest in terms of the number of instigators or the complexity in its base premise, but... heavens above, it's large in scope! [[spoiler: On the face of it, they are probably using the government of the Seven Kingdoms, various Essosi resources they have ''and'' their wits and outright gall to hand the Targaryens back the throne they lost. A loss which, all to likely, they probably played some small part in, once the situation came to light. (They have been playing each exiled Targaryen for all they are worth, while looking like support.)]] It's probably the biggest two-man con-job in the history of their world, as well.
** Petyr Baelish may have less of a wide-ranging plan and less well, but if you think he isn't using his position for his own ends... Well, there's this bridge for sale... [[spoiler: You know the whole civil war? He instigated it while Varys was trying to put the breaks on the whole building mess for the timing of his own plan.]]
** Lady Dunstin is convinced the Citadel controls politics throughout the Seven Kingdoms for its own ends through the maesters that are oh-so useful to the lords they in turn rule through. [[spoiler: Yes-no: they are deliberately directing knowledge and culture, not specifically politics. Most of them wish to end the reliance on magical lore.]]

* In the first three of the ''Literature/{{Uglies}}'' series, the government lets extensive surgery happen on everyone to make them [[TheBeautifulElite beautiful]] the moment they turn 16. It turns out during the operation your brain is messed with to make you vapid, stupid, and forgetful, but good at heart. [[spoiler: This is a subversion as although everyone is stupid it has stopped wars, poverty, and prejudice, all the while the environment is doing fine.]]

* The short-lived ''Series/AgentX'' had, as one of its StoryArc plot points, a "shadow government" being formed by various high-ranking government officials (including the Speaker of the House) to carry out illegal covert operations to further their own personal agendas. It later turns out that they're just pawns of BigBad [[ArmsDealer Nicolas Volker]] [[spoiler: [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness who kills them once they're no longer necessary]]]].
* ''Series/AlienNation'': ''Body And Soul'' has one revealed. [[spoiler:The US government kept Overseer scientists free to serve them by making weapons in return for escaping any punishment after they had horrifically experiments on slaves.]]

* ''Series/BabylonFive'' has several governments from several worlds, many of them involved in several conspiracies. In particular, much of the show centers around the Centauri Republic's DecadentCourt, with different noble Houses trying to outmaneuver each other, and the Earth Alliance, which proves to be host to numerous conspiracies between different parts of the government. In particular, the human protagonists are part of a conspiracy to prove that the President had his predecessor killed and to find out who is backing him, while the President is part of a very xenophobic conspiracy [[spoiler: which is backed by a very powerful alien race.]] One character specifically refers to the heroes' conspiracy as a [[BenevolentConspiracy Conspiracy of Light]].
* ''Series/{{Blindspot}}'' has the mysterious [[OperationBlank Operation Daylight]], and the cover up around it, which "Persecute Envoys" finally reveals in detail: [[spoiler: the White House Chief of Staff brought together the White House's Deputy Political Director, Deputy Director Carter of the CIA, and Assistant Director Mayfair of the FBI, and tasked them with using illegally obtained NSA surveillance intelligence to further the government's aims in their respective fields (blackmailing political opponents, preventing terrorist attacks, and going after otherwise untouchable criminals), all while dressing up the intel to look legal]]. The cover up part comes in when [[spoiler: a whistleblower exposed the NSA's surveillance program, at which point the Chief of Staff cut the other three loose to fend for themselves, denying all involvement]]. And of course, a clue to all of this in one of Jane's tattoos.
** More important to the MythArc is the project known as Orion, which Jane was part of at some point in her mysterious past. It eventually turns out to have been an offshoot of Daylight, [[spoiler: the CIA having black-ops teams use the information provided by Daylight to carry out illegal assassinations. When it risked exposure, Carter had all the members (except Jane, who barely survived) killed to cover it up]].
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had the Initiative in season four. They collect supernatural creatures (mostly demons) for "research". The ''{{Series/Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS05E13WhyWeFight Why We Fight]]" reveals they existed during World War II and attempted to use the demons as weapons.

** The CIA, in particular an aspiring VP Walden, was responsible for a drone strike that killed [[spoiler: 83 children including Abu Nazir's son Issa who Brody loved like his own son]], just because they were sure Abu Nazir was in the area and thought the collateral was worth it. Initially they got away with the atrocity. This sets up Brody's revenge plan.
** A group of government officials conspires to discredit [[spoiler: and then assassinate]] the President elect in season six.
* ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'': In "And the Rocket's Dead Glare", Lewis and Crosetti head to Washington to investigate the political assassination of a Chinese immigrant who had participated in the Tiananmen Square protests, apparently ordered by the Chinese government. However, they are stonewalled by the Secret Service, who are actively trying to cover it up so that there won't be an international incident. [[TheBadGuyWins Eventually, Lewis and Crosetti are forced to leave and abandon their investigation.]]
* ''Series/{{Humans}}'': The Season 3 finale. A contingency plan is launched to eliminate all the green eyed synths by shutting down the power to the synth compounds and then using power surges to destroy them when it's all turned back on. The extremist anti-synth groups are then unleashed to eliminate any survivors- the police are ordered to stand by rather than intervene. Meanwhile, news media receive false reports claiming the synths are attacking innocent humans, with violence toward them being self-defense. Luckily this is exposed by Laura with Neil's help, although she is charged with treason over it, and Mia sacrifices herself to show not all synths are bad.

** In "Hearts and Minds", [[spoiler:the North American Federation soldiers have brain implants which cause them to perceive the Asian Coalition soldiers and miners whom they are fighting as alien insectoids. They are equipped with drug injectors which they believe protect them from an alien virus when they in fact reinforce this false perception. It turns out that the Asian Coalition personnel similarly perceive the North American soldiers as a belligerent alien race.]]
** In "Down to Earth", many of the attendees of the North American UFO Convention are convinced that the US government is hiding information about the existence of aliens and their contact with humans. [[spoiler: It turns out that they are right and that Dale [=LaRose=], one of the most outspoken true believers, is part of the conspiracy.]]

* ''Series/{{Powers}}'': In season 2, Heavy, the guy who [[spoiler: killed Retro Girl is actually a rogue CIA operative]], which they are very eager to cover up, even if it means letting [[spoiler: Retro Girl's killer go free.]]

* PlayedForLaughs in the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Junk Mail" when Kramer tries to stop receiving mail. He goes to the post office and his postman friend Newman tells him that nobody really needs mail anymore, but then gets questioned by his boss while sweating bullets. When Kramer starts protesting the postal service and handing out leaflets, he's kidnapped by government agents and intimidated into stopping by the United States Postmaster General. On his way out he passes Newman who's handcuffed [[MakesSenseInContext with a bucket on his head]].

* ''Series/StargateSG1'', the protagonists are part of the conspiracy: aliens built the pyramids, their tech is stashed in military bases such as Area 51, and the United States Air Force is fighting a secret war with them in space.
** It is a conspiracy incorporating most of the major world governments, and probably every single space program. And what holds it all together? Nondisclosure agreements.
** The show includes two straighter examples, in the NID and later "The Trust", that are ''even more'' secret than above-mentioned programs. The first goes too far and gets taken down by the heroes, while the second one gets infiltrated by Goa'uld.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', and later ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', both feature an organization called Section 31, that's ambiguously part of the government. They're a group of Star Fleet officers who either work for the organization secretly, or just look the other way for them. They basically believe that "[[KnightTemplar The end justifies the means]]", almost literally {{Utopia Justifies the Means}}, and are willing to commit Genocide when it comes to defending TheFederation (or just Earth, in the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' era). The crew of ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space 9]]'' end up exposing them, after they fail to recruit Doctor Bashir into their organization.
** Ironically, Section 31 were actually vital to achieving a happy ending for the Dominion War. Because it's explicitly stated (in "Statistical Probabilities", and by a Changeling admitting to their SaltTheEarth strategy) that the Alpha Quadrant would have become a CrapsackWorld, had Odo not been able to use the cure to broker peace. Of course, their plan wasn't to broker a peace with the Changelings; their plan was to kill them all, and the virus they gave them probably led directly to the paranoid breakdown the Female Changeling suffered that caused her to order the xenocide of everyone on Cardassia; not to mention, had Odo ''not'' broked the peace but the Changelings ''did'' remain infected, the Dominion may have still lost but they probably would have pulled a TakingYouWithMe on as many of their enemies as possible. So really, what Section 13 did counts as NiceJobFixingItVillain, if a rare case where "fixing it" was actually a good -- but unintended -- outcome for them anyway.
** Section 31's name derives from Article 14, Section 31 of the Starfleet Charter, which makes allowances for bending Starfleet regulations in times of extraordinary threat. The organization, of course, promptly seized on that to motivate their existence (apparently reasoning that there always ''some'' extraordinary threat around or brewing).

** ''TNG'' also revealed a conspiracy within the Klingon government to pin the blame of the massacre at the Khitomer colony on Mogh, Worf's father. As a result of this conspiracy, Worf would be [[SinsOfTheFather condemned as the son of a traitor]]. In truth, the traitor was actually Ja'rod, the father of Duras, who allowed the Romulans to destroy the colony. Because Duras was in a position of considerable power and influence, however, he and the Klingon High Council had a vested interest in keeping the truth of the massacre from being revealed, forcing Worf to accept [[PersonaNonGrata discommendation]]. It would be some time until the conspiracy was dismantled with the previous Klingon chancellor's death, Duras's death at the hands of Worf, and Duras's family being defeated in a subsequent civil conflict.

* ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook:''

** At the end of the Diana sketch, it is revealed [[spoiler: the conspiracy didn't kill Diana. The exact same watertight but obviously planned method happened on its own while they were drawing up their plan.]]

%%* Also the Gerry Anderson live action series ''Series/UFO1970'', a 70's version of...

* ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'' for sure in the eponymous game. It's hinted that there are probably others out there; in particular, one of the other factions, G22, is identified as possibly being a US government group. Alpha Protocol itself has had many names and identities through the years. [[spoiler: One of which was "G19", remnants of which may have splintered off into G22.]]

** A line of sidequests has the player uncovering a conspiracy involving inhumane breeding experiments at the hands of the leadership of the largest city on the continent. Despite your efforts, everyone involved in giving the quest is ultimately killed, and when you try to take the story to the press with the only evidence you have, [[spoiler: it turns out the newspaper reporter you go to was a plant from the conspirators themselves, and the evidence vanishes forever.]] An NPC states that they occasionally let tidbits of information get out just so it all sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory.
** The main evil storyline reveals that the [[spoiler: entire Panarii religion is a conspiracy, originally founded and still guided by an evil priest for the sole purpose is helping its devil-figure return to this plane of existence.]] To achieve this, they have covered up a large number of events, including murdering one of the most notable and legendary Panarii saints [[spoiler: and burying him in their supposed dead god's place.]]
* In ''VideoGame/BorderDown'', [[spoiler: The First Approach were actually a fiction of the Earth officials behind the creation of [=SDF=]. [=SDF=] and [=RAIN=] were all just a ploy to 1. rip up Mars and force it back under Earth's rule (with Frank himself as a [[UnwittingPawn convenient fall guy]] for the disaster) and 2. design the ultimate battle machine -- Red Wasps, the heavily armored versions of the Antares fighters that act as the 6-C and 6-D bosses. Even worse, ''everything'' but 6-C/D was a simulacrum fed to Frank to force him to ruin the space elevator...]]
* The end of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' seems to imply that while under [[spoiler: Soviet mind control]], the PlayerCharacter Alex Mason may or may not have [[spoiler: assassinated JFK.]]
* The Malta Group in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' was formed by a bunch of politicians and businessmen annoyed that the SuperRegistrationAct had been ruled unconstitutional. They formed an spread of cells of elite soldiers trained and equipped to [[CapeBusters take down and control superpowered individuals]] [[KnightTemplar good or bad, by any means necessary]]. They're also paranoid enough to [[spoiler:try to start WorldWarIII with China]].
* ''VideoGame/ContraShatteredSoldier'' has [[spoiler: the Triumvirate, who is revealed by Lance Bean to be the ones truly responsible for provoking the Alien Wars as they had stolen a mysterious artifact from the aliens, known as the [[ArtifactOfDoom Relic of Moirai]].]]
* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', [[spoiler:[[PlayerCharacter V]] learns that the new mayor of [[WretchedHive Night City]], [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Jefferson Peralez]], and his wife Elizabeth have become the center of a conspiracy in which ''[[TheUnsolvedMystery someone]]'' killed the previous mayor and has been [[PuppetKing brainwashing the Peralezes for unknown reasons]], giving them FakeMemories and altering their personalities with the player being unable to discover the truth behind it all. [[MentorInSourArmor Johnny Silverhand]] theorizes that [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue AIs]] could be responsible, however the MysteriousStranger from the [[MultipleEndings "Sun" ending]] Mr. Blue Eyes [[FreezeFrameBonus can be spotted spying on them]], and the AmbiguouslyEvil infrastructure company Night Corp has performed similar experiments in the past with Peralez having been one of their beneficiaries. What makes it even more bizarre is that it appears to be a case of BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood, as their captors [[BenevolentConspiracy seem interested in turning them into the "perfect" political couple]] and if LockedOutOfTheLoop Mr. Peralez declares his intent to combat homelessness.]]
* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''VideoGame/DesertStrike: Soviet Strike''. The game seems to suggest that STRIKE, the organization you work for, is a multinational conspiracy going back decades. The coup was all their doing, and your subsequent rescue of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, was all an elaborate BatmanGambit designed to scare him into playing ball. One of the Audio Logs has the head of STRIKE telling [[UsefulNotes/BillClinton President Clinton]] ''to his face'' that, when it comes to military matters, STRIKE calls all the shots.

** ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' features the Enclave, which [[spoiler:started the Vault Project]], [[spoiler:created FEV]], and after the bombs fall, went into hiding for over 150 years to regroup and consolidate its military forces and boost its technological superiority beyond anything that could possibly be available on the mainland. When they return they start performing covert operations on the mainland, such as [[spoiler: using FEV to create new super mutants]], selling energy weapons to [[spoiler:a mafia clan]], and [[spoiler:kidnapping Vault residents]] as part of their EvilPlan.

* ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' It's implied that one was behind Hoxton's imprisonment, as during the Hoxton Breakout you need the clearance of the FBI Director to gather information, causing Hoxton to note that his case goes up to the top, higher than you would expect a mere heister's case to go. [[spoiler: It's revealed that it was Hector that got Hoxton arrested since Hector, a criminal himself and had worked with the PAYDAY crew before the events of the game, was caught by the FBI and he agreed to a lesser sentence if he kept working with the PAYDAY gang as their contractor. This got Hoxton caught and probably would have gotten the others caught as well, but once the crew broke out Hoxton, they started to hunt down the rat that got Hoxton in jail and quickly discover that Hector was behind it. They track him down to an FBI safe house and kill him.]]

* In ''VideoGame/Prototype2'' a late-game cutscene has an agent from some government agency say that the plan to [[spoiler: vivisect Maya Heller]] gets approval from Washington. Where exactly is unknown; however, [[StateSec Blackwatch]] was said in the first game to be so high up you had to look down to see the POTUS. The fact that Rooks with all his authority considers tangling with them unwise says that the rabbit hole goes really far down.

** ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlueTheChorusTrilogy'' reveals that the long running civil war on the planet was [[spoiler: really a set up by Charon Industries, which is really owned by the Chairman. His goal was to have both factions destroy each other so he could claim the planet for some nefarious purpose.]]

* A major plot point in ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures''. A council has been planning to use Jyryas... somehow. Same for Dan, but that's with his mom and every other major Cubi apparently.

* ''Literature/NewDealCoalitionRetained'': A (technically) benevolent example occurs in 2001, when members of President [[spoiler: UsefulNotes/TedBundy]]'s cabinet discover that he's been engaging in and covering up murders of women throughout his political career. Rather than expose this, and thus taint the party by association, they have him assassinated in order to both end his crimes and make him a martyr.

* Played in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' as the U.S. Government had known for a long time that aliens are real, but purposely disseminated this fact as a conspiracy to make the general public believe that a ConspiracyTheorist seems like a paranoid individual and discredit the theory. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by Ron on the questionable logic of this plan given that everyone already suspected that the U.S. Government was hiding evidence for aliens.