| rdfs:comment | - The Conspiracy was a poem by Blind Gallan.
- The Conspiracy is a WFW TV Show developed, directed and screenwritten by Herm. It shall premiere March 2013.
- The Conspiracy is the thirty-first book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Jake.
- The most basic definition of The Conspiracy is "a secretive villainous group with an Evil Plan". Let's break it down:
* Secretive. The conspirators always hide their evil agenda or even their very existence. They live as far from a Card-Carrying Villain as possible. As a result, most of them appear benevolent or neutral at first but are then revealed to have been Evil All Along, creating an atmosphere where neither the protagonist, nor the reader knows whom to trust.
* Villainous. The conspiracy always plays an antagonistic role to the heroic protagonists. If a conspiracy isn't evil, it's an Ancient Tradition and is discussed elsewhere.
* Group. The number of conspirators ranges from a dozens to thousands. Depending on the scale, the conspiracy may be between individuals or entir
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| abstract | - The most basic definition of The Conspiracy is "a secretive villainous group with an Evil Plan". Let's break it down:
* Secretive. The conspirators always hide their evil agenda or even their very existence. They live as far from a Card-Carrying Villain as possible. As a result, most of them appear benevolent or neutral at first but are then revealed to have been Evil All Along, creating an atmosphere where neither the protagonist, nor the reader knows whom to trust.
* Villainous. The conspiracy always plays an antagonistic role to the heroic protagonists. If a conspiracy isn't evil, it's an Ancient Tradition and is discussed elsewhere.
* Group. The number of conspirators ranges from a dozens to thousands. Depending on the scale, the conspiracy may be between individuals or entire organizations. Some of them are obviously evil, some appear benevolent, some don't exist at all in the public eye. There may be an Omniscient Council of Vagueness, The Man, The Man Behind the Man, The Dragon, The Mole, and tons of Faceless Goons among them. Conspiracy is like the Lernaean Hydra: every time a head is cut off, it just grows another.
* Evil Plan. The conspiracy always has a very specific objective: power, profit, selective destruction, etc. Without this unifying objective, a secretive villainous group turns into The Masquerade. There are three basic kinds of conspiracies, though the borders between them are fluid:
* Ancient Conspiracy. A secret society consisting of otherwise unrelated individuals who pursue some (possibly esoteric) goals. As the name implies, it is pretty old (likely going back to The Knights Templar, The Illuminati, etc.) and very, very well hidden. Their power comes either from long-term strategic planning or mystical sources.
* Government Conspiracy. A secret project uniting a small number of members of a powerful but otherwise benevolent organization, usually but not necessarily The Government (hence the name). The project can hardly be older than The Government itself. Their power comes from their Front Organization's resources and the trust that Normal People put into it.
* Nebulous Criminal Conspiracy. An informal alliance between seemingly benevolent organizations or individuals and / or obviously evil/criminal/obscure ones. It is likely to be very recent. Their power comes from controlling everything from both sides, though they may be too loosely organized to take full advantage of this. The Syndicate is not a conspiracy in itself because it is obviously evil, but it is almost always a member. The Conspiracy is generally a great antagonist in any story but two genres make a particularly extensive use of it:
* Conspiracy Theory is a Scrapbook Story detailing the progress of Their Plan at different times and places from different perspectives in Faux Documentary style.
* Conspiracy Thriller is a more traditional Thriller narrative centering on the conflict between The Protagonist and The Conspiracy. For further tips on writing both of the above, see Write a Conspiracy Theory. For tropes commonly associated with conspiracies, see The Index Is Watching You. Multiple concurrent conspiracies form a Conspiracy Kitchen Sink. A character believing in conspiracies is a Conspiracy Theorist. See also Milkman Conspiracy and Conspiracy Religion. Examples of works/series featuring conspiracies of more than one type:
- The Conspiracy was a poem by Blind Gallan.
- The Conspiracy is a WFW TV Show developed, directed and screenwritten by Herm. It shall premiere March 2013.
- The Conspiracy is the thirty-first book in the Animorphs series, written by K.A. Applegate. It is narrated by Jake.
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