Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Secret societies in popular culture

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Secret societies appear in many works of fiction. They are often involved in elaborate conspiracies.

Contents

Real organizations

  • Freemasonry, as depicted in such works as National Treasure and From Hell.
  • The Illuminati are referred to in many works. See Illuminati in popular culture.
  • The Ku Klux Klan is an American society devoted to promoting racist agendas and has been used in many books and films, including The Birth of a Nation, Mississippi Burning, and A Time to Kill.
  • The Mafia is a secret criminal society and has been used in numerous books, films, and television series including The Godfather, Goodfellas, and The Sopranos.
  • Order of the Dragon, used in Elizabeth Kostova's novel The Historian and in the film Bram Stoker's Dracula.
  • Yale society Skull and Bones in the films The Good Shepherd and The Skulls.

    • Fictional secret societies

  • Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.), in the Marvel Comics universe
  • Aes Sedai Ajahs in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, particularly the Black Ajah
  • Alias includes a number of secret societies, among them the Alliance of 12 and its subsidiary groups, including SD-6. Other groups include K-Directorate; FTL; The Covenant; and The Trust.
  • The Assassins in the Assassin's Creed video game series, loosely based on the non-fictional Hashshashin
  • Akatsuki from Naruto
  • Baroque Works from One Piece
  • The Bene Gesserit and Bene Tleilax from Frank Herbert's Dune universe
  • The Black Crusaders from the "Cleveland" episode of 30 Rock.
  • The Black Glove in Batman R.I.P.
  • The Black Organization from Detective Conan
  • The Brethren Court in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
  • Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
  • The Brotherhood in Ralph Waldo Ellison's Invisible Man
  • The Brotherhood of Evil and the H.I.V.E. from Teen Titans, comics and the animated series.
  • Central Anarchist Council in G. K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday.
  • Children of Lieutenant Schmidt Society in The Little Golden Calf.
  • Circle of the Black Thorn in the Angel series
  • The Company, a fictional covert international organization in the NBC drama Heroes.
  • The Company, a fictional covert organization in the series Prison Break.
  • The Consortium in the TV series Eureka
  • CONTROL and KAOS in the TV series Get Smart
  • The Court of Owls in Batman and other DC Comics.
  • Dark Angel's second season had a secret society plotline.
  • Darkfriends, in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time
  • The titular group in the film Dead Poets Society.
  • DedSec from Watch Dogs.
  • The Dharma Initiative, a secretive group of scientists in the TV series Lost.
  • The Dollhouse as depicted in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse.
  • The Eye, "guardians of true magic", in the 2013 movie Now You See Me.
  • The titular "fight club" of the Chuck Palahniuk novel and film by David Fincher.
  • The Fulcrum from the TV series, Chuck.
  • The Guild of Calamitous Intent in the series The Venture Bros.
  • The Grail from the comic book Preacher.
  • The titular House of Flying Daggers in the movie of the same name
  • HYDRA, in the Marvel Comics universe
  • The Individual Eleven from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig
  • The League of Assassins, alternatively called The League of Shadows, in the DC Comics universe
  • The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
  • The Legion of Doom
  • The Light in Young Justice Animated Series
  • Meliorare Society, a eugenics organization from Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth universe.
  • Millennium Group in the television series Millennium.
  • The Mysterious Benedict Society, from the book of the same name
  • The Order of Rosenkreuz, or The Rosenkreutz Orden, from the anime series Trinity Blood.
  • The Order of Aurelius from the Buffyverse.
  • The entire wizarding world, the Order of the Phoenix, the Death Eaters and Dumbledore's Army in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.
  • The Hand, in "Daredevil" (Marvel)
  • The Order of St. Dumas, in DC Comics' Batman series
  • The Order of the Skull and the Clan of the Cave Girls on the TV series Salute Your Shorts
  • The Order of The White Lotus in the Avatar: The Last Airbender series.
  • Ordo Hydra in the Warhammer 40k series.
  • The Patriots and The Philosophers in the Metal Gear video game series
  • The Others are a mysterious and secretive group residing on the Island in the series Lost
  • The Pentavirate in Mike Myers' film So I Married an Axe Murderer.
  • The Post-War Administration Bureau in the Guilty Gear video game series.
  • Second Foundation, in The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov
  • Secret Empire, in the Marvel Comics universe
  • The Secret Society of Super Villains in DC Comics modern and silver age continuities and in Bruce Timm's Justice League
  • The Seekers in The Last Rune series by Mark Anthony (writer)
  • The organization SEELE from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion
  • Sisters of the Light and Sisters of the Dark in The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind
  • The Sith in the Star Wars film series.
  • The Society of the Blind Eye from Disney's animated television series Gravity Falls.
  • SPECTRE, in the works of Ian Fleming
  • The Spider Society, in the Marvel Comics universe
  • The Stonecutters from The Simpsons, a parody of other Secret Societies. Appears in Homer the Great.
  • TRES, in Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum.
  • The Talamasca, in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles
  • Torchwood, a secret agency that investigates and defends the earth from supernatural occurrences. It is featured in the TV show Doctor Who and has a spin-off series.
  • Tribulation Force, founded by a group of post-Rapture believers in Christ in the Left Behind series
  • The Trust in the television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.
  • The Trust, in the Vertigo/DC comics series 100 Bullets.
  • The Trust, a secret US Government Agency that appears in The Conduit and Conduit 2.
  • United Network Command for Law and Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.) in the TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E..
  • Unnamed secret society in Stanley Kubrick's film Eyes Wide Shut
  • The Van Buren Boys in Seinfeld
  • V.F.D. from A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
  • The Vigils in The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
  • The Water Buffaloes in "The Flintstones".
  • W.A.S.T.E. in The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon.
  • W.E.B. an evil adversary secret intelligence agency from TSR's rpg Top Secret/S.I.
  • Warehouse 13 secret organizations include the Warehouse, The Regents, and The Order of the Black Diamond.
  • The Syndicate and The Consortium from The X-Files.
  • The Telegu Tigers of Isipingo
  • The Z-Fighters in Dragon Ball Z
  • The Society of Light in Yu-Gi-Oh

    • References

    Secret societies in popular culture Wikipedia
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