Illuminati in popular culture

Illuminati in popular culture covers how the secret society of the Illuminati founded by Adam Weishaupt in Bavaria in 1776 has been manifested in popular culture, in books and comics, television and movies, games, and music.

A number of novelists, playwrights, and composers are alleged to have been Illuminati members and to have reflected this in their work. Also, early conspiracy theories surrounding the Illuminati inspired a number of creative works, and continue to do so.

Contents
1 Books and comics
2 Television and film
3 Games
4 Music and audio
5 See also
6 References
[edit]Books and comics

Gothic literature had a particular interest in the theme of the Illuminati. The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction wrote that readers had a "scandalous vogue for German tales of the Illuminati."[1] The role of the Illuminati in Horrid Mysteries, as in Montague Summers' introduction to a later reprint of it. The Illuminati also turn up in two spoofs of the gothic genre, which both also reference Horrid Mysteries, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen and Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock.[2] A number of writers have indicated the familiarity of Mary Shelley with the early anti-Illuminati text Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism due to Percy Bysshe Shelley's enthusiasm for it and see its influence in Frankenstein, Zastrozzi and The Assassins particularly, reading the Monster itself as an amalgam of Shelley's Illuminati-influenced ideas and of the Illuminati itself, with the monster being created in Ingolstadt, where the Illuminati had been formed.[3][4][5]

The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson is a three-book science fiction series published in the 1970s, which is regarded as a cult classic particularly in the hacker community. An incomplete comic book version of the Illuminatus! was produced and published by Eye-n-Apple Productions and Rip Off Press between 1987 and 1991. Robert Anton Wilson also wrote The Historical Illuminati Chronicles in the early 1980s, and several other books and stories making use of it. Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum is a labyrinthine 1988 novel about all sorts of secret societies, including the Illuminati and the Rosicrucians.[6]

Angels & Demons (German title: Illuminati), Dan Brown's 2000 precursor to 2003's The Da Vinci Code, is about an apparent Illuminati order plot to destroy its enemy the Catholic Church by using antimatter to blow up the Vatican while Papal elections are being held. In this novel the Illuminati movement was founded by Galileo Galilei, and others, as an enlightened reaction to persecution by the Catholic Church. They were initially based in Italy, but fled after four key members were executed by the Vatican. Apparently there are four churches to them in Rome, each representing one of the four elements.[7] This is also the plot of the movie by the same name.

In Michael Romkey's vampire novels, the Illuminati are an order of benevolent vampires, consisting of many famous figures throughout history (Beethoven, Mozart, etc.). The main character, David Parker, joins the order, but later leaves.[8] Author Larry Burkett wrote a book called The Illuminati, where "The Society" seeks world power.[9]

In Marvel Comics, the Illumnati is a group of superheroes who joined forces and secretly work behind the scenes in Marvel's main shared universe.

[edit]Television and film

In Simon West's 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, a group of high-society villains call themselves Illuminati, developing a plan to rule the world. They and Lara Croft's father claim that the Illuminati have existed four millennia for this purpose.[10][11]
In several episodes of the Walt Disney animated series Gargoyles, one of the major antagonists of the series, David Xanatos, was revealed to be a member of the Illuminati.[7][12] Other individuals revealed to be Illuminati members in the Gargoyles series were former FBI agent Martin Hacker, NYPD detective Matt Bluestone, and Quarrymen founder John Castaway.[13]
The History Channel series Decoded featured Illuminati author Mark Dice, who met with the show's investigators to discuss the Illuminati and their operations today.[14]
In one episode of Justice League Unlimited, The Question, a conspiracy theorist, exclaims several theories under torture, one of them being that Illuminati mystics forged the Magic Bullet to 'stop us from learning the truth'.
In several episodes of the modern television show "Bones", the cannibalistic serial killer referred to as "the Gormogon" is revealed to act and behave under the doctrines of the Illuminati.[15]
The Illuminati are parodied in an episode of American Dad called Black Mystery Month, the "Illuminuti" is a secret organization revolving around peanut butter.
[edit]Games

In Street Fighter III the final boss Gill is the leader of Illuminati

Several games from Steve Jackson Games are based on the mythos : the card game Illuminati and its trading card game reincarnation Illuminati: New World Order, and the role-playing game GURPS Illuminati.[16] By appearing in video games like Deus Ex, in which the player is a United Nations agent pitted against conspirators that include the Illuminati, Illuminati conspiracy theories are kept alive partly by "the fertile imaginations of computer game creators and their players."[17]

In the role-playing game Paranoia the Illuminati is a secret society so secret that all its members are undercover, pretending to be members of one of the other, less secret, secret societies and presumably attempting to influence their activities for some greater purpose.

The 'Oro' in the Condemned video game series is highly reminiscent of the Illuminati, as it is a secretive organization consisting of members in lofty political positions (including the President of the United States) seeking to influence society.

In the first person shooter series Call of Duty the Illuminati is mentioned several times in the zombies mode, which is playable in Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Black Ops. One of the four main playable characters, Edward Richtofen, is suspected to be a member of the illuminati, due to how many times he refers to them.

In the beginning cutscene of L.A. Noire, the Illuminati symbol is seen on the roof of a building.

Also, in Assassins Creed, the Illuminati is a theme of the many symbols revealed at the end of the game.

[edit]Music and audio

Some composers had been members of the Illuminati itself, like Brindl, Benedikt Hacker,[18] Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann,[11] and Christian Gottlob Neefe.[19] One member, Karl von Eckartshausen included masonic references in his libretto "Fernando und Yariko."[11] Some writers detect references to the Illuminati and its concerns in the music of Ludwig van Beethoven[20] and in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, particularly his opera "The Magic Flute"[21]

Rolling Stone noted in 1998 that there were at that time "dozens of songs" making use of conspiracy theories about the Illuminati, such as Dr. Dre's "Been There, Done That".[22] Hip-hop music has continually returned to the theme of the Illuminati in songs and albums, like Tupac Shakur's final album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, which was thick with references to the subject,[23] Jay-Z's debut album, Reasonable Doubt,[24] and Mr. Dibbs' album Outer Perimeter..[25]

The music video for the song Justice by Rev Theory shows an organization that is bent on changing the world similar to the Illuminati.

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