# Good-guy and villainous names for alliances
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 18, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699 "2019-06-18T18:14:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/1 "2019-06-18T18:14:09Z")
“Allies” and “Coalition” are generally considered terms for alliances made up of good guys; “Axis” is a villainous-sounding term. “Empire” usually sounds bad (think Star Wars,) but it isn’t an alliance; it’s a single entity. What are some more good-guy and bad-guy names for alliances?
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### Author:  [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/2 "2019-06-18T18:20:53Z")
Brotherhoods are bad guy alliances while sisterhoods are good guy alliances.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/3 "2019-06-18T18:21:19Z")
\*\*NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
Warsaw Pact (Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance)
Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (Japanese: 大東亜共栄圏 Hepburn: Dai Tōa Kyōeiken) \*\*
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### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/4 "2019-06-18T18:24:08Z")
CONTROL for the good guys, CHAOS for the bad.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/5 "2019-06-18T18:38:05Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#):
>
> CONTROL for the good guys, CHAOS for the bad.
Nitpick – **KAOS** for the Bad Guys
They were so Bad, they didn’t even come up with whatever KAOS was supposed to be an acronym _for_.
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/6 "2019-06-18T18:38:37Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#):
>
> CONTROL for the good guys, CHAOS for the bad.
Really? I would think CONTROL has Borg-like connotations, or Big Brother.
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/7 "2019-06-18T18:41:04Z")
THRUSH - Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity.
UNCLE - United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.
SHIELD - Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage and Law-Enforcement Division.
AIM - Advanced Idea Mechanics (they were bad guys).
APE - Agency to Prevent Evil
CHUMP - Criminal Headquarters for the Underworld’s Master Plan
SPECTRE - Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion
No corresponding good guy acronym, just the British Secret Service
THUNDER - The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserve
SPIDER - Secret People’s International Directorate for Extralegal Revenue
Regards,
Shodan
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/8 "2019-06-18T19:46:16Z")
Nitpick: The current incarnation of SHIELD is “Secure Homeland Initiative, Enforcement and Logistics Division”.
But yeah, the comic-book villain groups tend to proclaim themselves villains in their names (see also Magneto’s “Brotherhood of Evil Mutants”, though they mostly didn’t use an acronym). The real-world Axis and similar organizations never described themselves as “criminal” or “terrorist”.
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### Author:  [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/9 "2019-06-18T20:08:05Z")
“World Crime League” sorta speaks for itself. “Blue Blaze Irregulars” less so.
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### Author:  [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/10 "2019-06-18T20:31:15Z")
Marvel Comics also has ULTIMATUM–The Underground Liberated Totally Integrated Mobile Army To Unite Mankind.
[https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Underground\_Liberated\_Totally\_Integrated\_Mobile\_Army\_To\_Unite\_Mankind\_(Earth-616)](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Underground_Liberated_Totally_Integrated_Mobile_Army_To_Unite_Mankind_(Earth-616))
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/11 "2019-06-18T20:48:06Z")
“Federation” is usually the good guys, isn’t it?
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/12 "2019-06-18T20:49:37Z")
_The Venture Brothers_ has the Guild of Calamitous Intent.
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/13 "2019-06-18T23:49:53Z")
The 1985 cartoon and toyline **M.A.S.K.** had the mundane and misspelled “Mobile Armored Strike Kommand” in the title as the good guys. The bad guys hilariously tripled up the explicit badness with V.E.N.O.M. for “Vicious Evil Network Of Mayhem” (“Mayhem” was also their leader’s surname). There was no subtlety on Saturday Mornings.
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### Author:  [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2019, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/14 "2019-06-19T00:46:24Z")
> [@Shodan](#):
>
> THRUSH - Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity.
> UNCLE - United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.
>
> SHIELD - Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage and Law-Enforcement Division.
> AIM - Advanced Idea Mechanics (they were bad guys).
>
> APE - Agency to Prevent Evil
> CHUMP - Criminal Headquarters for the Underworld’s Master Plan
>
> SPECTRE - Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion
> No corresponding good guy acronym, just the British Secret Service
>
> THUNDER - The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserve
> SPIDER - Secret People’s International Directorate for Extralegal Revenue
>
> Regards,
> Shodan
Excellent list! And nice pull from _Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp!_ (Y’know, there was a time when I had thought I was the only one who remembered that show at all - that it might have been a fever-dream from watching _Get Smart_ and a _Planet of the Apes_ marathon in one day.)
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Nitpick: The current incarnation of SHIELD is “Secure Homeland Initiative, Enforcement and Logistics Division”.
That would be _Strategic,_ but yeah.
> [@](#):
>
> But yeah, the comic-book villain groups tend to proclaim themselves villains in their names (see also Magneto’s “Brotherhood of Evil Mutants”, though they mostly didn’t use an acronym). The real-world Axis and similar organizations never described themselves as “criminal” or “terrorist”.
Yeah, but what fun is that? If you gonna be a bear, Be A Grizzly!
> [@scr4](#):
>
> “Federation” is usually the good guys, isn’t it?
See _Blake’s 7._
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/15 "2019-06-19T01:04:13Z")
“Dominion”, meanwhile, to me evokes mostly-good guys (at least, by comparison with who they’re fighting), but with a dark side.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2019, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/16 "2019-06-19T02:22:30Z")
Good guys belong to Leagues. Bad guys belong to Directives.
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2019, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/17 "2019-06-19T04:04:19Z")
Cabal, conclave, syndicate, and pact tend to have negative connotations. And while “family” has wholesome connotations, when you talk about “the Five Families of New York,” better watch your ass.
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### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2019, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/18 "2019-06-19T05:43:55Z")
C.A.P.E.R.
the Civilian Authority for the Protection of Everybody, Regardless!
In one episode, the Kids from C.A.P.E.R. were brainwashed by a mad scientist and turned into the Kids from H.Y.D.E, but I don’t remember what H.Y.D.E. stood for.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2019, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/19 "2019-06-19T07:07:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> “Dominion”, meanwhile, to me evokes mostly-good guys (at least, by comparison with who they’re fighting), but with a dark side.
Not if you’re on the wrong side of [colonisation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion). Then, just bad.
Come to think of it, the Terran Dominion in the later _Starcraft_ games weren’t my idea of good guys, either.
Whereas “Domination” evokes [evil racist Mary-Sues](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Domination) (although they also started as a Dominion first)…
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Good guys belong to Leagues.
What about [wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_War) _between_ leagues?
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### Author:  [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2019, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-guy-and-villainous-names-for-alliances/835699/20 "2019-06-19T09:36:39Z")
> [@Shodan](#):
>
> THRUSH - Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity.
> UNCLE - United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.
Thanks ! I’d forgotten what THRUSH and UNCLE actually stood for, initial-letters-wise.
When the series _The Man from UNCLE_ was regularly showing on television; myself and brother (then late teens / young kid) dreamed up a parody of it, with similar-but-different names for the outfits involved. The bad guys, we called FIELDFARE (after a European bird of the thrush family) – Foul Incredibly Evil League Dedicated For All Reprehensible Ends. For the “goodies”, we had some lengthy and convoluted family-relationship title – something like BROTHER-IN-LAW; but after many decades, I forget both what exact expression, and what the letters stood for.
> [@mbh](#):
>
> C.A.P.E.R.
>
> the Civilian Authority for the Protection of Everybody, Regardless!
>
> In one episode, the Kids from C.A.P.E.R. were brainwashed by a mad scientist and turned into the Kids from H.Y.D.E, but I don’t remember what H.Y.D.E. stood for.
Hideous Yetis Dominating Earth?
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