History Main / RunningBothSides

* The alternate reality from [[Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses You're A Rotten Dirty Bastard]] has Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} and Creator/DCComics owned by [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]], who wants a faithful adaptation of IronMan vs. Franchise/{{Batman}} III.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'', it turns out that the mysterious Nidraa'chal leader who lead them against the ruling Sharen family is actually [[spoiler:Snadhya'rune Vel'Sharen, the eldest daughter of the empress, and two of her sisters were in on the plot as well in order to get rid of their mother.]]
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', [[spoiler:Elan's father's adventuring party]] [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0758.html has arranged to rule the better part of a continent by doing this.]] The nominal leaders of the factions involved know nothing about this, as [[spoiler:Tarquin's party]] set themselves up as TheManBehindTheMan to a series of [[PuppetKing puppet rulers]], periodically staging their overthrow in favor of new puppets so that the rest of the continent won't clue in on what's happening and band together against them.
[[/folder]]

* During the 2016 US Presidential Election, some conspiracy prone commentators wondered if Donald Trump was being deliberately outrageous in his comments to undermine fellow Republican candidates and turn voters on the fence towards Hilary Clinton (Trump having given to the Clintons in previous campaigns being a prime piece of evidence). It died down as the General Election neared and Trump was shown to be as aggressive and outrageous against Clinton as he had been against any Republican contender, though it did get a nod in some of his more political missteps. Ultimately, if this was the play, it WentHorriblyWrong. Though believers in the conspiracy theory ''still'' insist that Trump and Clinton were conspiring together, regardless of all evidence of both political incompatibility and personal animosity between them, with the premise being that a Trump presidency was an acceptable Plan B for them (or whatever shadowy cabal of lizard-men they were working for).

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', [[TheChessmaster Lord Vetinari]] is not only aware that there are numerous secret societies and conspiracies trying to overthrow him or replace him, but according to ''Literature/GuardsGuards'', he's even founded a few of them.

* ''Manga/{{MAR}}'': Both the [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad Chess Pieces]] and the [[;aResistance Cross Guard]] were founded by the same person, [[spoiler:i.e. Diana, Dorothy's older sister and the Queen of the Chess pieces]], who wanted to plunge the world into a large-scale war.

* ''Manga/{{MAR}}'': Both the [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad Chess Pieces]] and the [[;aResistance Cross Guard]] were founded by the same woman, who wanted to plunge the world into a large-scale war.

* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy, [[TheChessmaster Darth Sidious]] orchestrates the Clone Wars, with himself in ultimate control of both sides; he is the leader of the Republic as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the Separatists are led by his Sith Apprentice Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus, meaning the ultimate authority over the Separatists secretly lies with him as well. As Chancellor, the conflict is his means of securing total and eternal power and destroying the Jedi Order, while Dooku and the Separatists provides the external threat used to justify his expansion of government power. Given he ran both sides of the conflict, this effectively means [[XanatosGambit the outcome of the war was completely irrelevant]], as no matter who won he'd rule the galaxy and wipe out the Jedi, the war itself was just a means to an end. Once the Jedi are defeated, he ends the Clone Wars by calling a meeting of the Separatist council on Mustafar, then dispatches the newly anointed Darth Vader there [[BoardToDeath to slaughter them]].

* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy, [[TheChessmaster Darth Sidious]] orchestrates the Clone Wars, with himself in ultimate control of both sides; he is the leader of the Republic as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the Separatists are led by his Sith Apprentice Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus, meaning the ultimate authority over the Separatists secretly lies with him as well. As Chancellor, the conflict is his means of securing total and eternal power and destroying the Jedi Order, while Dooku and the Separatists provides the external threat used to justify his expansion of government power. Given he ran both sides of the conflict, this effectively means [[XanatosGambit the outcome of the war was completely irrelevant]], as no matter who won he'd rule the galaxy and wipe out the Jedi, the war itself was just a means to an end. Once the Jedi are defeated, he ends the Clone Wars literally by pushing a button to turn off all the droids.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Who would've thought that [[spoiler: Pink Diamond was the ruler of Earth ''[[SecretIdentity and]]'' Rose Quartz, the leader of the very army she was opposing]]? Unlike most examples, this was not done to prolong conflict: [[spoiler:Pink Diamond wanted to end the colonization of Earth upon seeing the life that already existed there, but the other Diamonds wouldn't allow it. She started the rebellion to create an excuse for Homeworld to leave Earth--which then resulted in the other Diamonds [[PuppetKing undermining Pink's authority]] as ruler to stay and crush the rebels. They insisted that the colonization would be completed as long as Pink was there to rule, which only led to Pink faking her shattering and assuming the identity of Rose Quartz permanently. She [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor got her wish when the remaining Diamonds left Earth and corrupted all the Gems on it in vengeance for Pink's "death"]].]]

* Look at old photos of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln and Jefferson Davis, the two leaders in the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar. It's obviously the same guy. He wears a big fake beard as "Lincoln" and a swoopy wig as "Davis", but the cheekbones and eyes are identical. Then there is the ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lincoln_squirrel_2930.jpg squirrel!]]''

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', [[TheChessmaster Lord Vetinari]] is not only aware that there are numerous secret societies and conspiracies trying to overthrow him or replace him, but according to ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'', he's even founded a few of them.

* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy, [[TheChessmaster Darth Sidious]] orchestrates the Clone Wars, with himself in ultimate control of both sides; he is the leader of the Republic as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the Separatists are led by his Sith Apprentice Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus, meaning the ultimate authority over the Separatists secretly lies with him as well. As Chancellor, the conflict is his means of securing total and eternal power and destroying the Jedi Order, while Dooku and the Separatists provides the external threat used to justify his expansion of government power. Given he ran both sides of the conflict, this effectively means [[XanatosGambit the outcome of the war was completely irrelevant]], as no matter who won he'd rule the galaxy and wipe out the Jedi, the war itself was just a means to an end.

!!Examples

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars 2}}'', [[spoiler:Sir Miles Axelrod is hosting the World Grand Prix to promote his Allinol ''and'' is the shadowy leader of the Lemons.]] This is all part of a larger effort to discredit alternative fuels and encourage greater reliance on conventional petroleum sources.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In the 1987 ''Franchise/{{Dragnet}}'' movie, Reverend Whirley is [[spoiler:the head of P.A.G.A.N.]].

* In ''Film/PoliceAcademy6CityUnderSiege'', the crime boss turns out to be the mayor. As mayor, he knew about the city's light rail plans which would increase property values in the covered areas, while as a crime boss, he could use a crime wave to drop property values so he could buy the land cheap.
* The main plot of ''Film/BatmanReturns'': The Penguin has his gang (to which he appears to have no connection whatsoever in the public's mind) commit random acts of violence throughout Gotham City in order to make the city's current mayor look weak, while simultaneously running for mayor himself and claiming he's the only one who can restore order (and, FromACertainPointOfView, he's telling the truth!). One of his allies even refers to "the Gulf of Tonkin" and "the Reichstag fire", both real-life events that might suggest to naïve viewers that both were [[FalseFlagOperation False Flag Operations]], when in fact they genuinely happened and were only exploited afterward.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'': Boris Badenov did this in "Missouri Mish-Mash."

* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy, Palpatine [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready ends up in charge of both]] the Republic as Supreme Chancellor and the Separatists as Darth Sidious. As Chancellor, the conflict is his means of securing total and eternal power and destroying the Jedi Order. As Sidious, he (through his apprentice Count Dooku) provides the external threat used to justify his expansion of government power. Given he ran both sides of the conflict, this effectively means [[XanatosGambit the outcome of the war was completely irrelevant]], as no matter who won he'd rule the galaxy and wipe out the Jedi, the war itself was just a means to an end.

* In 1999, Wrestling/{{WW|E}}F featured a long and convoluted storyline about Wrestling/TheUndertaker and his [[PowerStable Ministry Of Darkness]] attempting to seize control of the WWF from [[HeelFaceTurn former bad guy]] Wrestling/VinceMcMahon under the orders of a mysterious figure known only as "The Higher Power". This "Higher Power" turned out to be... Vince [=McMahon=]. The Wrestling/MinistryOfDarkness then merged with Wrestling/TheCorporation to become the Corporate Ministry, and about five months of storyline was [[ShaggyDogStory thrown out the window]].

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Who would've thought that [[spoiler: Pink Diamond was the ruler of Earth ''[[SecretIdentity and]]'' Rose Quartz, the leader of the very army she was opposing]]? Unlike most examples, this was not done to prolong conflict: [[spoiler:Pink Diamond wanted to end the colonization of Earth upon seeing the life that already existed there, but the other Diamonds wouldn't allow it. She started the rebellion to create an excuse for Homeworld to leave Earth--which then resulted in the other Diamonds [[PuppetKing undermining Pink's authority]] as ruler to stay and crush the rebels. They insisted that the colonization would be completed as long as Pink was there to rule, which only led to Pink faking her shattering and assuming the identity of Rose Quartz permanently.]]

* ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'': [[spoiler:Hagbard Celine is the leader of both the Legion of Dynamic Discord and the Illuminati.]]

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', [[spoiler:Elan's father's adventuring party]] [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0758.html has arranged to rule the better part of a continent by doing this.]]

A conflict is going on. It might be a shooting war or just a fierce rivalry; it might be only important to some of the characters or important to nearly everyone in the setting. However, it turns out that while the subordinates on opposite sides feel very strongly about it, the leadership on either side aren't enemies. They might even be the same person! Normally, you'd expect someone in that position to attempt to defuse the conflict. But they don't, they encourage it, not because of HonorBeforeReason, but because it is to their political advantage to keep the conflict going for the moment.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Wild Jonathan Wild]] was a British criminal kingpin, who, from 1718 to 1725, claimed the title of "Thief-taker General", i.e. the chief BountyHunter of London, given how the city did not have an organized police force until [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_Street_Runners 1749]]. During those seven years, Wild was enjoying the benefits of having a secret, but total monopoly in crime in London, but his downfall came when people started realizing what he was doing, and he was hanged.

* At the end of ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Lelouch is running both the Britannian Empire as himself and the rebellion as Zero. He decides that the only way to grant peace is through the Zero Requiem, in which [[spoiler:Lelouch has ZeroApprovalGambit; Suzaku becomes the new Zero and assassinates Lelouch in front of the whole world, and since everyone blames Lelouch for the world's problems, everyone will work together to rebuild the world instead of fighting each other over Lelouch if he wasn't terrible.]]
** At the end of R1, upon learning Zero's true identity as Lelouch, Kallen accuses Lelouch of PlayingBothSides or some sort of RunningBothSides.

* In ''Film/PoliceAcademy 6'', the crime boss turns out to be the mayor. As mayor, he knew about the city's light rail plans which would increase property values in the covered areas, while as a crime boss, he could use a crime wave to drop property values so he could buy the land cheap.