History Main / WindmillPolitical

** More than that, Oceania is perpetually at war with one of two other superpowers, and the populace is taught to hate and scorn whatever enemy they're currently opposing. Since the war never ends, it's implied the three nations have a gentleman's agreement of sorts to keep from fully beating each other, purely to keep the populace in line, or possibly that they are the same (Goldstein's book claims all of their ideologies boil down to identical principles) and only pretend that separate factions exist fighting each other.

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', this trope is used in a more [[PuttingOnTheReich Nazi-like]] way against [[FantasticRacism Muggle-borns]] by the Voldemort-controlled Ministry, by saying that Muggle-borns somehow ''stole'' their magical abilities and wands from other wizards. [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Mutations? Squib ancestors?]] ''[[AcceptableTargets Muggle lies.]]''

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'' comic series, Phoney Bone does the ManipulativeBastard version of this: he convinces the people of Barrelhaven that they need to be protected from the (actually harmless) dragons, and capitalizes on his new role as the Dragon Slayer to win a bet.
* Parodied in ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} in Spain'', when one man the Gauls talk to charges, weapons ready, whenever [[Literature/DonQuixote windmills]] are mentioned.

* ''Film/CanadianBacon'' is all about this with the U.S. Government declaring war on Canada to distract from the sinking economy. The "war" only exists on paper, but the protagonists decide to launch a small invasion anyway.

* In the YA novel ''Literature/TheKingOfDragons'', the hero's father is a severe PTSD case of WindmillCrusader. His PTSD from military service causes him to believe that the government is out to get him and that terrible things will happen if he and his son are found by the authorities, so he gives the boy Survival TrainingFromHell. At the end of the book, the father is recovering, and tells his son, "I mistook molehills for mountains, but I taught you how to climb mountains."
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', Harry and Dumbledore are assumed by the Ministry of Magic to be using this trope regarding Voldemort's return. As a result, this trope is ironically used against them in response.
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', CloudCuckoolander Luna Lovegood's windmills include Aurors, whom she believes intend "to bring down the [[TheGovernment Ministry of Magic]] from within using a combination of [[BlackMagic Dark Magic]] and gum disease".
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', this trope is used in a more [[PuttingOnTheReich Nazi-like]] way against [[FantasticRacism Muggle-borns]] by the Voldemort-controlled Ministry, by saying that Muggle-borns somehow ''stole'' their magical abilities and wands from other wizards. [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Mutations? Squib ancestors?]] ''[[AcceptableTargets Muggle lies.]]''
* In ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', Farmer Jones, his spies, and [[spoiler: eventually Snowball]] are all accused of being the source of all the farm's problems, long after Jones has apparently left the farm for good. The literal windmill, however, is not.

* In the ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' novel ''Island of Doom'', the villainous Piraka, use a Type 2 example in order to convince the Matoran that they're really the good guys, by using their powers to create a fake monster which they then "defeat."

* In the MiniSeries {{Remake}} of ''Series/{{The Prisoner|2009}}'', Number 2 convinces the Village that black holes appearing everywhere are because people do not have enough pigs to provide stability, and encourages villagers to buy more pigs.

* In ''VideoGame/StarControl'', the [[LovableCoward Spathi]] live in fear of the Ultimate Evil. A race of beings so sneaky, they always stay just outside detection range of the Spathi's best scanners. This is clearly proof of their sinister intent. [[spoiler: Considering the [[EldritchAbomination Orz]] are their closest neighbors, they might actually be correct.]]

* Congressman Arthur Bennett of ''Webcomic/ButImACatPerson'' tries to paint himself as tough on the threat posed by Beings. It's complicated by the fact that only about a hundred Beings exist in the world, and they're all incapable of harming humans. No wonder [[spoiler: the only scary incidents he can point to are the ones he himself secretly caused]].

* UsefulNotes/AlGore's portrayal in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', in which he insists on the terrible threat Manbearpig (half man, half bear, half pig) poses to mankind -- a biting satire, of course, of the real Gore and his activism against GlobalWarming. To this day, you can't mention him to anyone under thirty without hearing "MANBEARPIG" in response.
** In the game ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'', you ultimately have to fight him after [[spoiler:he finally goes off the deep end and thinks you are Manbearpig after spamming your Facebook with no answer. After you defeat him and his entire three-man Secret Service team, he ultimately returns having taken on the guise of Manbearpig in a bid to finally take you down]].
** In "Time to Get Cereal" turns out that [[NoMereWindmill Manbearpig IS real]] and is responsible for a series of grisly murders in the town. The adults are, predictably, [[AdultsAreUseless too idiotic to acknowledge this]], opting to blame everything ''but'' the creature for the deaths. The boys realize that Al Gore was right and tried to get his help only to get rebuked time and time again due to the mockery from all those years ago. When Gore finally accepts the apologies, [[spoiler: he contacts Satan via ritual who reveals that Manbearpig is a demon that someone from the town summoned. When the boys tried to warn the population about this, they instead get arrested and blamed for everything.]] The next episode shows that Manbearpig is a demon that torments humanity via a deal made by the previous generation and that it will only go away for good if people decide to give up soy sauce and ''Videogame/RedDeadRedemption2''. [[spoiler:They don't and Manbearpig is allowed to come back in five years]].

-->'''Lisa:''' By your logic, I could claim this rock keeps tigers away.
-->'''Homer:''' How does it work?
-->'''Lisa:''' It doesn't work. It's just a stupid rock. But I don't see any tigers around. Do you?
-->''({{Beat}})''
-->'''Homer:''' Lisa, I want to buy your rock.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': The robot elders of Chapek 9 admit they were using humans as a scapegoat to distract the other robots from Chapek 9's more serious problems, like their crippling lugnut shortage, or the corrupt government of incompetent robot elders.