Occasionally they might reference Adam Weishaupt, but don't count on it. By far the most common are The Illuminati, who have been used as an ancient conspiracy so many times that the term has become generic, and need not have anything to do with the historical Bavarian Illuminati at all. The Freemasons might crop up occasionally, but as a real, semi-secret society, they're generally not scary enough, so expect them to be a front for the real secret society, at best. In older works, Jewish secret domination of the world through the banks is the norm. ![]() The Knights Templar are popular, as are The Hashshashin. Since the ancient conspiracy often draws on conspiracy-theorist lore, don't be surprised when certain names keep coming up. It tends to be big on Only the Knowledgable May Pass, which may matter a great deal for The Infiltration. Occasionally (primarily in series by writers who understood earlier source material such as the Illuminatus! trilogy), the obvious ancient conspiracy is later discovered to be an offshoot of an even more Ancient Tradition which has lost its way in such cases, the real Ancient Tradition may provide some veiled and ambiguous assistance to the protagonists, though they will remain aloof themselves. ![]() Sometimes the ancient conspiracy is neutral or a force for good, such as an Ancient Order of Protectors, but more often than not it is evil (when it is a force for good, it often still does extremely evil things because its members believe they serve the greater good). Sometimes the conspiracy is exposed, only to be revealed in the last pages (or scenes) that that conspiracy was sacrificed to hide the real one - which leads to the conclusion that if you learn of the conspiracy, it is not the true one, which may take us into Zen territory. Their Multilayer Façade is unbreakable Resistance Is Futile. Killing one member of the Conspiracy, even its "leader", does no good, for there is always another waiting behind him to take his place and continue the group's work seamlessly. They may control The Government, industry, or both, and their goals may be refreshingly mundane (political power, wealth) or horrifyingly supernatural (summon the Great Old Ones, trigger the Apocalypse). Their reach is vast, and they have unlimited numbers of Evil Minions with which to strike at the heroes. An incomprehensibly powerful group that has lurked in the shadows throughout centuries of history, such as The Illuminati or the Masons.
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