History MegaCorp / Literature

* The corporation Blok in ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'' book 8, ''The Quillan Games''. It thrives off CreativeSterility in its consumer base, to the point that its stores have BrandX names like "CLOTHING", "FOOD", and "HEALTH CARE", all written in the same font. There's also the fact that Blok has been around for so long that nobody can recall a time when other corporations existed. Its owners, or "trustees", run DeadlyGames where citizens have to bet on the winning player, or they'll be shipped off to perform menial labor (which, for a few unlucky citizens, can mean the worst fate of all―cleaning up nuclear waste in the dreaded "tarz").

* ''Literature/TheAsteriskWar'' has the integrated enterprise foundations, a group of six international conglomerates[[note]]LostInTranslation in the anime, which speaks of a single IEF[[/note]] that controls the world economy. Everything it does is in the name of profit, such as bringing entire countries to the brink of poverty, organzing fighting tournaments between teenage superhumans and brainwashing its own members to prevent any defiance.

* Interspace, otherwise known as IS, covers ''The Bones of Time'' by Kathleen Ann Goonan with the underhanded dealings of the Mega Corp, with worldwide shareholders. They pay people to act as lab rats for their yet to be approved nanotech, as well as fund studies in various fields like genome nature and cloning, spatial and dimensional warping mathematics as long as it benefits IS. Killing to further the IS agenda is also a go.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}: Legion'' (Creator/PeterWatts' novelization of ''Crysis 2'') claims that Hargreave-Rasch is so big and powerful that even real-world giants like [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto Monsanto]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton Halliburton]] are small fry compared to it. Uniquely enough (especially for a Creator/PeterWatts novel) is the fact that the entire corporation and its subsidiaries are secretly dedicated to one man's shadowed, [[spoiler:century-long struggle to prepare humanity against an imminent conflict with {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s that he first came across at [[TheTunguskaEvent Tunguska]]]]. The corp is stated to own, among other assets, an Arecibo-sized radio telescope which it uses to scan the sky for ''something''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}: Legion'' (Author/PeterWatts' novelization of ''Crysis 2'') claims that Hargreave-Rasch is so big and powerful that even real-world giants like [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto Monsanto]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton Halliburton]] are small fry compared to it. Uniquely enough (especially for a Creator/PeterWatts novel) is the fact that the entire corporation and its subsidiaries are secretly dedicated to one man's shadowed, [[spoiler:century-long struggle to prepare humanity against an imminent conflict with {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s that he first came across at [[TheTunguskaEvent Tunguska]]]]. The corp is stated to own, among other assets, an Arecibo-sized radio telescope which it uses to scan the sky for ''something''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}: Legion'' claims that Hargreave-Rasch is so big and powerful that even real-world giants like [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto Monsanto]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton Halliburton]] are small fry compared to it. Uniquely enough (especially for a Creator/PeterWatts novel) is the fact that the entire corporation and its subsidiaries are secretly dedicated to one man's shadowed, [[spoiler:century-long struggle to prepare humanity against an imminent conflict with {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s that he first came across at [[TheTunguskaEvent Tunguska]]]]. The corp is stated to own, among other assets, an Arecibo-sized radio telescope which it uses to scan the sky for ''something''.

* The Sol Corporation (otherwise known as the Earth Company) from the ''Literature/AllianceUnion'' series. They developed a monopoly on space travel, and on all resources produced by interstellar colonies, and the colonies were dependent on them to supply food and other organic materials. It wasn't until the discovery of Pell and Cyteen that it was even possible for any of the colonies to try and become independent, after which they did try. The Company's response was ''to manufacture a giant fleet of space battleships and [[TheWarOfEarthlyAggression go to war with the Union]].''
* Interspace, otherwise known as IS, covers ''The Bones of Time'' by Kathleen Ann Goonan with the underhanded dealings of the mega corp, with worldwide shareholders. They pay people to act as lab rats for their yet to be approved nanotech, as well as fund studies in various fields like genome nature and cloning, spatial and dimensional warping mathematics as long as it benefits IS. Killing to further the IS agenda is also a go.
* ''Literature/CatsVsRobots'' had [=GloboTech=], a worldwide conglomerate in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. They developed the Home [=AI=] that the Wengrods installed into their house.

* In Literature/CursedWorld, ONY makes pretty much everything and has a great deal of say in the government. [[spoiler: and also make magical super-soldiers, artificial humans, and the company's President is Lord Orochi Yamamta, the big bad]]
* In the ''Cybione'' series by Ayerdhal, the protagonist is employed by Ender, an insurance company that, amongst other things, guarantees the constitution of “a thousand worlds”.

** New Path in ''Literature/AScannerDarkly'' also qualifies. Though it advertises as a rehab clinic for Substance D addicts, [[spoiler: it actually grows the plants the drug is distilled from and is implied to have connections to law enforcement and other industries.]]

** ''Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles'' (CHOAM (roughly translated as "The Corporation of Honest Profit Traders")). They control all interstellar business in the Imperium except for star travel. The major stockholders of CHOAM consist of the Emperor, the Bene Gesserit sisterhood and... the Spacing Guild. CHOAM has the curious distinction of being a mega corp in a feudal society. The main indication of political power among the nobility is the possession of CHOAM stock and directorships.
** The Guild could actually be considered a mega-corporation in its own right(beyond the fact they have a sizeable stock, the exact figure never given, but probably a third, in CHOAM) -- CHOAM controls trade, but guild ships are required to move anything out of a particular system, and they have an absolute monopoly on spaceships, and are the only organisation who can travel in space, and as such are tremendously rich and powerful.
** The prequels introduce Venport Holdings (which, presumably, eventually evolves into the Spacing Guild), originally founded as Foldspace Shipping Company by Aurelius Venport and Norma Cenva. Originally, it's the only transport company that uses the newly-developed Holtzman engines instead of the much slower conventional FTL drives. After Emperor Jules revokes [=VenHold=]'s monopoly on foldspace technology, rival foldspace companies spring up, but they don't know how to make Navigators, which is [=VenHold=]'s best kept secret, and their ships have a chance of being destroyed in transit due to navigation errors. Nevertheless, Director Josef Venport (the great-grandson of Aurelius and Norma) ruthlessly destroys the competition and absorbs their assets. He maintains a private mercenary army and a powerful fleet of advanced warships that rival the forces of House Corrino. Venport has also created a puppet company called Combined Mercantiles (the predecessor to CHOAM) to mine spice on Arrakis. After Emperor Salvador tries to appropriate all spice mining, Venport [[spoiler:has him assassinated]]. The [[spoiler:next]] Emperor responds by [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem enacting a new law and appropriating all of Venport's assets]], resulting in Venport upping the ante and [[spoiler:taking his fleet to threaten Salusa Secundus with his advanced warships and [[HumongousMecha cymeks]]]]. Venport also withdraws all his transport ships from their regular service in supplying multiple Imperial worlds, resulting in unrest. While other companies have picked up some of the slack, they are unable to provide spice to the billions of addicts throughout the Imperium due to Arrakis being, effectively, Josef Venport's personal fiefdom at this point. It's even speculated that, should Venport wish to depose the Emperor, the Landsraad would not object, as [=VenHold=]'s services are far more important to them than continuing the relatively new Corrino dynasty. However, Venport is a businessman and has absolute no intention of holding a political office. Kolhar, the location of the [=VenHold=] HQ, is a veritable fortress, protected by multiple planetary shields and a powerful fleet, impregnable to even the Imperial forces ([[spoiler:that is, until the fanatical Butlerians find a cache of forbidden atomics and [[NukeEm nuke the planet to hell and back]]]]).
* ''Literature/TheExpanse'' has Protogen and Mao-Kwikowski Mercantile, the founders and funders of the protoparticle conspiracy, who have SuperSoldier troops and more advanced weapons than what the other power blocs have. However, once the other power blocs know that the corporations are behind the attempted "Helter Skelter" situation that had been brewing up, the corporations get utterly curb-stomped in retaliation.
* In his stand-alone novel ''Literature/FallenDragon'', Earth is essentially run by the megacorporations, and they have far more power than national governments. Zantiu-Braun is the largest, with one character commenting off-hand that Z-B own "half the bloody planet these days". Z-B is also the only corporation large enough -- and willing enough -- to still be able to fund exploratory missions, although new colonies are now founded through one-shot wormholes and left to fend for themselves rather than via starship. The remaining starships are repurposed by the corporations into the only interstellar venture that remains profitable: "asset realisation", or the pillaging of colony planets in debt to the aforementioned corporations for material to sell. The corporations buy out struggling debt-laden founding companies in order to provide some kind of legal basis for their asset realisation missions, and then send invasion fleets to subjugate and pillage the colony planets for valuable industrial assets to sell at a profit, thanks to the production costs being cut out. Essentially, it's piracy. [[spoiler: Muddying the waters a little bit, Z-B's ultimate motive is to elevate the human race via corporate stakeholding, which essentially means corporate socialism, in order for humanity to truly reach for the stars. The Board -- which consists entirely of different batches of the Roderick clones -- is divided on the best approach to do this, and the discovery of the dragons and their patternform technology is likely to cause an unprecedented split.]]
* The ''Literature/FormicWars'' novels have Jukes Limited, a Luna-based corporation whose specialty is [[AsteroidMiners asteroid mining]]. In practice, they control much of the Solar System and continually expand, pushing free mining clans further outsystem. They have so much control that they can pressure the Lunar Trade Department, the government agency that's supposed to regulate companies like them, to drop investigations into their shady activities. The company's CEO Ukko Jukes is a mastermind, who always thinks several moves ahead and ends up using the AlienInvasion to move forward with his plan to [[spoiler:convince the world governments to form the [[SpaceNavy International Fleet]] and the [[OneWorldOrder Hegemony]] with himself as the first Hegemon]]. His son Lem tries to usurp control of the company (as a way to show his father that [[WellDoneSonGuy he's not a complete failure]]), but Ukko outsmarts him and leaves him with a consolation prize - Jukes Limited (which shifts its primary focus to [[spoiler:building ships for the newly-created IF]]).
* In the AlternateHistory classic ''Literature/ForWantOfANail'' by Robert Sobel, the company Kramer Associates directly runs the Philippines and Taiwan along with influencing many of the great powers economically with holdings in the United States of Mexico, Japan, The Confederation of North America, etc., and it was also the first to develop the Atomic Bomb in the 1960s. The notable thing about ''For Want of a Nail'' is that it was written well before cyberpunk popularized the sovereign corporation trope.
* Morning Star Cartel (a MeaningfulName) in ''Literature/AGameOfUniverse'' is a global corporation that became an interplanetary and then an interstellar corporation, thanks to the founder making A DealWithTheDevil.
* In ''The Golden Witchbreed'', it seems that Earth is run gigantic Companies of the likes of [=NuAsia=] and [=ChinaCo=]. The second book has the planet Orthe being all but conquered by the [=PanOceania=] Company, which can not only monopolize on travel to an entire planet, but also has its own military and spacefleet. They're not really evil, though, (at least nowhere near as evil as [[AxCrazy the real]] [[OmnicidalManiac villain]]) they just want to get their hands on the nifty technology left behind by the {{Precursors}}, and don't care what happens to the natives.

** The main plot of ''Literature/MagicInc'' is about the eponymous corporation taking over all magical dealings first in the city, then the state and the US. [[spoiler: The heroes find out that it is a ''literal'' evil corporation when they discover that the founder and CEO is a high ranking demon from hell.]]

* In Andrey Livadny's ''Literature/TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'', the Galactic Cybersystems Corpotation used to be the primary provider of all cybernetics (from household robots to infantry droids and HumongousMecha) for most of the known worlds. However, they reached their limit, and the heads of the corporation were afraid of a crackdown if they attempt to step beyond the legal and ethical norms imposed by TheFederation. They decide to lay low for awhile, letting their competition make these steps and then come back when the laws and ethical norms have changed. It didn't quite work out this way, and Galactic Cybersystems disappeared virtually overnight due to over-consolidation (all R&D and production was done on a single planet known only to a few). The corporation was powerful enough to have its own HumongousMecha and a private fleet. Later novels have many smaller corporations that qualify as Mega Corps by owning several worlds each, many of them striving to free themselves from the "oppressive" laws of TheFederation (DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything). One of these, under threat from a (deserved) crackdown, decides to strike out against TheFederation and hold it hostage. In ''Blind Punch'', the first novel (according to the in-universe timeline), Earth is divided by the four largest corporations: Rimp Cybertronics (computer systems and robotics), Genesys (biotech and terraforming), Cryonics ([[HumanPopsicle cryogenics]]), and Megapool ([[MegaCity large-scale construction]]). In the later part of the novel, they start feuding over resources and building corporate fleets, although Cryonics chooses to sell its shipyards to the [[OneWorldOrder World Government]] (the shipyards are run by a newly-created state-run corporation called New Age), which creates a non-corporate SpaceNavy as well. The most conflict comes from Genesys and Megapool vying for the control over Mars: the CEO of Genesys dreams of the red planet becoming a lush green paradise, while the CEO of Megapool cares only about space to build more and more [[MegaCity megacities]] in order to keep his company from stagnating. Ironically, the technology from all four corporations is necessary to build the first extrasolar colony ship ''Alpha''.

** Manpower Incorporated is the poster boy of this trope. They own and control entire ''planets,'' have their own space navy, their own army complete with [[SuperSoldier combat line clones]], own other corporations, their main products are [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesa_%28Honorverse%29#Manpower_Incorporated genetic slave clones]], and practically dictate the foreign and domestic policy of not one, not two, but ''dozens'' of star nations. To add icing on the cake, their CEO Albrecht Dettweiler, is a [[DesignerBabies genetically engineered]] MagnificentBastard; with major emphasis on the bastard part. [[spoiler:And the whole affair is a giant, ultimately disposable front. For the actual government that is supposedly ''its'' thinly veiled puppet. Talk about a DoubleBlind]].

* ''Literature/{{Insignia}}'' features the Coalition of Multinationals, a group of twelve of these that effectively rule the world and are fighting a war in space with each other for the resources of the solar system. They're "led" by Dominion Agra and Harbinger, which have global monopolies on ''food and water'', respectively. Thirty-three years before the book begins, they murdered the entire population of the Middle East - 1.3 ''billion'' people at the time - with neutron bombs, [[DisproportionateRetribution for the sole reason that its residents refused to pay them for food and water]], and managed to [[KarmaHoudini get away scot-free]].
* ''Literature/JenniferGovernment'' has two giant corporate alliances, US Alliance and Team Advantage, that cover the strongest and second strongest corporations of every trade, respectively. Any independent companies have long since gone bankrupt.

* Off ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' comes Interstellar Spaceways, or InterSpace. In the book's universe, they are the biggest corporation and still growing-fast. So large a franchise, they are willing to bribe Virgil Samms to their antagonist side with millions of value-increasing credits, and twenty two & one half percent of their entire Spaceways brigade. It's the highest they can offer, but still . . .
* The Chartered Zarathustra Company starts out owning the entire planet of Zarathustra in Creator/HBeamPiper's ''Literature/LittleFuzzy'' novels. [[spoiler:Although in the end TheFederation turns out to be bigger than they are.]] This is actually the standard Federation method of developing planets, as in "Uller Uprising". Kwannon, in "Oomphel in the Sky", is an exception.
* The Syndicate Worlds from ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' are an interstellar nation seemingly comprised of several Mega corps. Officers in the fleet are even referred to as [=CEOs=].

* Used and subverted with Event Horizon from the ''Mindstar'' sci-fi detective series by Creator/PeterFHamilton. Although mega corporations are more powerful than governments, the young and patriotic CEO Julia Evans keeps most of her industry in Britain to provide work and a strong economy, rather than subcontracting out to cheaper Pacific Rim countries. This also increases Event Horizon's power and influence within Britain.

* The ''Literature/NemesisSaga'' has Zoomb. Originally a Google-like Internet search engine company, they now have their hooks in just about everything, enabling them to be able to secretly run programs like the experiments on Nemesis-Prime, and develop military technology beyond that of any nation, with [[NGOSuperpower no one the wiser]]. The end of the third book reveals [[spoiler: that Endo had been secretly buying up controlling interest in the company, and upon his "death" by merging with Nemesis, leaves it to Hudson, putting the company under the nominal control of the FC-P.]]

* The novel ''Literature/OryxAndCrake'' by Margaret Atwood features many of these, most of which are bio-corporations or health 'care' industries. The employees of these corporations live in secure compounds, seperated from the ordinary city, which they believe is dangerous and disease-riddled. These Megacorporations also have their own security corps, the Corpsecorps, which has replaced ordinary law enforcement and is a commercial and very corrupt company.
* J Corp in Creator/TadWilliams' ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'' is one of these. While not as large as some of the other examples (it has competitors), it's still big enough to own a private army, cofinance a project to build the world's most powerful computer network, and tell governments to piss off. Helps that in this version of the future corporations hold seats in the American government, with the number of seats being determined by shares of the market.
* In ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'', Innovative Online Industries (IOI) is the largest Internet service provider in the world. They're also the biggest force searching for Halliday's Easter Egg (whoever finds it inherits his controlling shares of Gregarious Simulation Systems, his billions, and total control over OASIS). IOI execs don't hide their true goal for going after the Egg. They want to start charging a fee for logging into OASIS and puts tons of ads into the simulation. They appear to be the embodiment of a typical {{Cyberpunk}} "soulless" corporation. Their employees are barred from using custom names or appearances for their OASIS avatars, forcing them to use the standard IOI employee avatar with their 6-digit employee number as avatar name (hence the nickname "the Sixers"). They employ blatantly unfair tactics, such as rigged VR equipment that allows any IOI employee (e.g. one more skilled for a particular task) to take control of another employee's avatar. When finding a key or gate location, they frequently attempt to bar anyone else from accessing it by erecting powerful shields and using teleportation-negating spells or devices. In the real world, they have their own corporate police, who are legally authorized to arrest people indebted to the company, seize their assets, and force them to work off the debt as a lowly indentured employee. Theoretically, once a person's debt has been paid off, he or she is released from indentured service, but, in practice, IOI uses LoopholeAbuse to keep people indentured for the rest of their lives (and given the [[CrapsackWorld typical state of the world]], not everyone minds a steady job, home, and meals). Additionally, they are blatantly violating the law when they [[spoiler:use their ISP access to monitor OASIS users in the real world, bribe officials, and send hit squads to kill potential rivals in reality]].

* Pantheon Corp makes more or less everything in The ''Literature/RedRoom'' series including weapons, medicine, computers, and vehicles. {{Justified}} and {{Lampshaded}} that the corporation is actually protected by TheIlluminati stand-in, the House, and their diverse portfolio is so they can produce all of the equipment they need to function.
* [[PunnyName Mind, Body & Soll LLC]] from ''The Seems'' was responsible for designing the Departments, as well as some of the greatest architectural wonders of The World, including Easter Island and Machu Picchu, apparently.
* ''Literature/SevenStars'': In the chapter "The Dog Story", set in a cyberpunk future, there are occasional mentions of a "vastcorp" called the Walt [=McDisney=] corporation, about which the main thing we learn is that it takes a very hard line on trademark infringement.
* The universe of ''Literature/SpinwardFringe'' runs almost entirely on this trope. There are a few planets and space stations with regular governments, but the majority of the galaxy is run by Mega Corps. The largest of them own hundreds of star systems, and many have a presence selling goods pretty much everywhere inhabited by humans. Most are greedy, corrupt, and just generally bad, but one of the largest is also one of the few entities in the series to have been portrayed as unambiguously good.
* Creator/WilliamGibson's ''Literature/SprawlTrilogy'' and short stories set in the same world are the TropeCodifier. Mega-corporations are at least as powerful as major governments, and most of the conflict comes from corporate warfare or as the result of corporate actions. Some examples of megacorps in the world include Tessier-Ashpool S.A., Maas Biolabs and Hosaka Corporation, among others. Real-life corporations such as Hitachi and Sony also make an appearance. The Yakuza is also a nationally recognized corporate power.

-->''When we say "general" at GT we mean GENERAL. We offer the career of a lifetime to anyone interested in astronautics, biology, chemistry, dynamics, eugenics, ferromagnetism, geology, hydraulics, industrial administration, jet propulsion, kinetics, law, metallurgy, nucleonics, optics, patent rights, quarkology, robotics, synthesis, telecommunications, ultrasonics, vacuum technology, work, x-rays, ylem, zoology ...\\

* ''Star Bridge'' by Creator/JackWilliamson and Creator/JamesEGunn features the Eron Company, which has a monopoly over the secret to faster-than-light travel. When the General Manager[[note]]"Emperor" in all but name ... while the position is not hereditary in the usual sense, all high Company officials can trace their lineage back to the first General Manager[[/note]] dies, this triggers a SuccessionCrisis.

** Contrary to what might be expected, the Empire doesn't do away with megacorps. Similar entities dominate the Imperial economy, which also have complete control over various planets (Kuat, Sullust) and are allowed their own security forces, complete with warships that rival any in the Empire's arsenal. However, the existence of these megacorps is contingent on their loyalty to the Empire: when political dissidents within Incom Corporation steal the plans and prototypes to the X-wing starfighter and give them to the Rebellion, the company is ''quickly'' nationalized. Most of this era's megacorps (Kuat Drive Yards, Sienar Fleet Systems, SoroSuub, Corellian Engineering Corporation, and, before its nationalization, Incom Corporation) are part of the Imperial military-industrial complex, and made most of their money by designing and manufacturing the Imperial Starfleet's weapons and equipment.

** The [[{{Panacea}} Bacta]] Cartel maintains a monopoly on the galaxy's most valuable medical substance. It also maintains complete control over its home planet, Thyferra, where it keeps the native Vratix in virtual slavery, and has enough political muscle that both Rebels and Imperials are very wary of provoking it. In a partial subversion, however, the cartel is a joint venture between two corporations that often don't get along. When the more Imperial-aligned corporation stages a coup that gives it sole control of the planet and cartel, the other retaliates by allying itself with a RenegadeSplinterFaction of the New Republic, and with the enslaved Vratix rebels (to whom it offers their freedom), to overthrow it.
** In general, megacorporations continue to exist under the New Republic, including some of the same ones that thrived under the Empire. However, they're at least somewhat more strongly regulated than they were under the Empire. When Kuat Drive Yards defines court orders to clean up a planet that they've polluted to a ridiculous extent, it retaliates by ''sending a battle fleet to the planet'' and freezing all travel to or from it until KDY complies. The New Republic is also generally more sympathetic to free trade and independent shippers, at least in its earlier years, making it possible for many smugglers to reinvent themselves as legitimate small businessmen now that the economy isn't as tightly regulated by the Empire or dominated by Imperial-aligned megacorps.

** Depending on where in the galaxy you are, the Hutt kajidics can be seen as this. As their main revenue comes from activities that most of the galaxy considers illegal, most people consider them crime syndicates. Hutt space is not part of the Republic, however (and was only part of the Empire in the most nominal sense), and by their own lights, they're doing nothing illegal. Since the council governing Hutt space is made up of a representative for each of the kajidics, and since each kajidic is built around a powerful Hutt family, they can be considered Megacorps, nation-states, aristocratic houses, and tribal clans all rolled into one.

* The {{dystopia}}n society featured in Creator/EoinColfer's ''Literature/TheSupernaturalist'' is controlled by real companies. Buick have [[KillSat laser satellites]], Pepsi has a [[NGOSuperpower private army]], and so on. And they all have commando-lawyer strike teams. Seriously.
* the ''Literature/TakeshiKovacs'' series subverts this trope, in that, while the setting is dominated by Mega corps, all of the human-inhabited universe ultimately answers to the despotic United Nations Protectorate, and is utterly ''terrified'' of it, to the extent that a planetary oligarchy is unwilling to ask for Protectorate aid in the suppression of a potentially world-consuming insurrection, for fear that the Protectorate may choose to take too close an interest in the planet.

** ''Literature/{{Ubik}}'' has several, which may control reality itself.
** In ''Literature/TheThreeStigmataOfPalmerEldritch'', P. P. Layouts, Inc. has near-total control over the entertainment available to the Martian colonists, until Eldritch comes along to challenge them.
* The ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' books have the Goliath Corporation, which produces everything "from cradles to coffins." They're also more or less the main villains of the series. Well, at least the executives of Goliath are. The {{Mook}}s lean more towards {{Punch Clock Villain}}y.

* ''{{Literature/Valhalla}}'' by Ari Bach features a world where everything is owned by something. Nothing but the titular organization escapes purchase by increasingly gigantic companies.
* FrancisCarsac's novel ''La vermine du lion'' (''The Vermin of the Lion'') has the Interplanetary Metallurgical Bureau. Despite sounding like a state institution, it's definitely a Mega Corp of the mining variety. Several major plot arcs are the result of the IMB attempting to strip-mine this planet or that, damn the natives.
* [=GalacTech=] in Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga''. [=GalacTech=] is prominent in ''Falling Free'' and is still in business as of the latest book. Maker of, among other things, starships, living furs, and fungoid tunnel borers. It's not portrayed as inherently evil, though the initial classification of quaddies as "experimental tissue cultures" — and never getting around to reclassifying them as ''children'' — leads to trouble when the Cay Project goes from being an asset to a liability.
* The S & C Company, in Harold Wright's ''The Winning Of Barbara Worth'', is treated in-story like a Mega Corp -- or, for that matter, TheEmpire. It has evil plans, incredible amounts of funding, and any number of CorruptCorporateExecutive[=s.=] This trope is taken to such an extent that Willard's inner struggle between doing the right thing or staying loyal to The Company and his father could be analogized to [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Prince Zuko's defection from the Fire Nation.]]

* '''Literature/CatsVsRobots'' had [=GloboTech=], a worldwide conglomerate in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. They developed the Home [=AI=] that the Wengrods installed into their house.

* ''Literature/TheExpanse'' has Protogen and Mao-Kwikowski Mercantile, the founders and funders of the protoparticle conspiracy, who have SuperSoldier troops and more advanced weapons than what the other power blocs have. RealityEnsues, though, in that once the other power blocs know that the corporations are behind the attempted "Helter Skelter" situation that had been brewing up, the corporations get utterly curb-stomped in retaliation.

** In ''Literature/{{Friday}}'', the Shipstone corporation owns, by the protagonist's own accounting, everything on Earth -- to the point where it controls nuclear weapons and uses them on ''countries'' that piss it off; and its internal "power struggles" are resolved by mass assassination. It is made clear that Territorial States don't stand a real chance against Corporate States.
*** This fits into Heinlein's "Future History" timeline. In one story, Daniel Shipstone invented what was, basically, an ''extremely'' good battery. As in, one of them was capable of powering a starship, and a small bank of them could run a decent-size city. He briefly considered patenting it, but realized that a) to patent it he'd have to explain how it worked, and b) anybody trying to disassemble one to see how it worked would get a mess, if lucky, or an explosion, if not so lucky. He also decided that his business model would be leasing them rather than selling them outright. By the time of ''Friday'' a couple hundred years later, the company he founded controls pretty much everything (Friday's assessment that they own Earth is probably not literally true, but it is likely that they have a controlling interest, or at the very least could buy one if they sold off their offworld assets).

* General Technics, in Creator/JohnBrunner's ''Literature/StandOnZanzibar''. As a want ad says,