History Main / DoubleAgent

* ''Agent Intercept'' has Torpere. After his failure to outrun the Sceptre in act 1, he works with Eris as Dr. Torpedo... but sends the Aerial and Arctic Mode data to HQ, and comes back to assist HQ in rearming for the final battle - including the Aegis, a key item in defeating Eris' EvilKnockoff Specters [[spoiler: and disarming her TerrainSculpting "Harmony" project.]]

[[quoteright:213:[[WebComic/ExterminatusNow https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doubleag.PNG]]]]
[[caption-width-right:213: The whole cult is like that...]]

* [[spoiler: Itachi]] from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' was a double agent for [[spoiler: Konoha]] while pretending to be the [[spoiler: Uchiha clan's]] mole in the [[spoiler: ANBU]]

* In one of the greatest intelligence success stories of all time, the British managed to turn literally every German spy in Britain to their service early in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, then used the German intelligence network in England as a massive puppet show to deceive Germany about Allied strength, strategy, and goals. And since they had all the current German infiltrators turned, they always knew when new ones would be snuck in, and captured them immediately. The captured spies would be given the option to join in the sending of false info, or die. Some would be kept out of circulation anyway, because the Germans obviously would have gotten suspicious if ''none'' of their spies were ever caught. Admittedly, at least in the case of the UsefulNotes/{{Abwehr}} agents, a lot of them probably switched sides willingly with the hope of bringing down the Nazis.
** One in particular, Juan Pujol Garcia, a.k.a. "[[http://mentalfloss.com/article/58468/most-amazing-lie-history GARBO]]," set out very early on to become a Double agent; he conned his way into Nazi Intelligence, and used that to get into British Intelligence (his real goal). He played a critical role in ensuring that D-Day was a success. He fed the Germans such a wealth of false information that they actually ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Pujol_Garcia#Honours awarded him the Iron Cross for his efforts]]'', meaning he may be the only person to have received honors from both the Axis ''and'' Allied sides of World War II.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Gordievsky Oleg Gordievsky]], A (former) Colonel in the KGB and Bureau Chief in London, who - disillusioned with his government after the building of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall - volunteered as a double agent for the UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService of the United Kingdom and served as such for eleven years, from 1974 to 1985. Notably, when he was recalled to Moscow, [=MI6=] opted to stop using him as an agent, believing they would be better off to not risk him being discovered, and prepared an extraction plan, expecting it would never actually be used. They did not know that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldrich_Ames Aldrich Ames]], a double agent for the KGB within the CIA, had seen the CIA's finding that Gordievsky was a double ([=MI6=] had steadfastly refused to identify their agent to the CIA or any other agency because of fears of exactly this situation arising, but the CIA had conducted an investigation and realised that it could only be Gordievsky) and had tipped off the KGB. Gordievksy was drugged and interrogated, but then - uncharacteristically - released and placed under close surveillance. The impromptu extraction plan was activated despite grave fears that it would not work, and - astonishingly enough - succeeded, being the only known case of a double agent being successfully extracted from Moscow during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar; Gordievsky currently lives in a safe house, apparently somewhere in London. Ames was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment for Espionage in 1994; Gordievsky is technically still under sentence of death despite the fact that the Soviet Union no longer exists, and may have been the victim of an attempted poisoning in 2007. The story is told in much more detail in Ben [=MacIntyre=]'s "The Spy And The Traitor".

* Bruce Willis' character in the Western flick ''Film/LastManStanding''.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter:'' Snape. Snape. Severus Snape. His true allegiance is one of the Big Mysteries of the first six books, and, after frantic EpilepticTrees regarding the sixth book's ending, in the seventh it at last turns out [[spoiler: that he was GoodAllAlong, and that he helped Dumbledore because he was in love with Lily and felt guilty that she died because he was a Death Eater and was the one who related the prophecy to Voldemort]].
* Taken to truly brain-melting levels in the book [[FilmOfTheBook and film]] ''Film/WhereEaglesDare'': although everyone's loyalties are eventually revealed to have been constant throughout, the loyalties they claim ping-pong back and forth like crazy. Check under BatmanGambit for details.
* ''[[Literature/AssassinFantastic On My Honor]]'': the main character is a double agent working as TheMole in one kingdom as well as one of its ruler's most trusted assassins. Then he's assigned to murder the king of his home country, an [[TheCaligula unpopular new ruler]]. Obviously this makes things... complicated.

** Loads of them show up in ''Metal Gear Solid 3''. [[spoiler:In addition to Ocelot himself we also have The Boss and EVA.]]
* [[spoiler:Kratos]] in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': he starts out good, then turns out to be [[spoiler:[[TheMole part of Cruxis]], so you fight him]], then he [[EnigmaticMinion helps out the good guys anyway for his own inscrutable purposes]]. There's also [[spoiler:Zelos]] who is working all three sides at once and depending on game choices will either completely join your side after faking a betrayal or actually betray you, fight against you, and die.
** Not to mention [[spoiler:Yuan]], who starts out trying to kill you (and already acting as a double agent for two sides), then agrees to an alliance, then betrays you, and then finally decides to help you after all when the double agent act collapses. And then there's [[spoiler:[[BigBad Mithos']] mid-game Helpful NPC stint...]]
* Pretty much the entire point of ''Creator/TomClancy's VideoGame/SplinterCell: Double Agent'', although the player can ultimately determine just ''who'' Sam is ultimately working for.
* The player character in ''VideoGame/FarCry2''.

* Axel, firstly in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. And ''especially'' him in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories''.

* In an [[AlternateUniverse alternate reality]] as depicted the episode "WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb and the Temple of Juatchadoon", Isabella is revealed to be a "Dirty Double Crosser" as literally described on her business card. She has to trick Phineas and Ferb because Doofenshmirtz is holding her mother hostage.

* ''Film/TripleThreat'': Jaka pretends to align himself with Collins and his mercenary crew in order to gain their trust and destroy them, while assisting the defectors Payu and Long Fei.

--> '''Elizabeth:''' Who's side is Jack on?

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Gordievsky Oleg Gordievsky]], A (former) Colonel in the KGB and Bureau Chief in London, who - disillusioned with his government after the building of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall - volunteered as a double agent for the UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService of the United Kingdom and served as such for eleven years, from 1974 to 1985. Notably, when he was recalled to Moscow, [=MI6=] opted to stop using him as an agent, believing they would be better off to not risk him being discovered, and prepared an extraction plan, expecting it would never actually be used. They did not know that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldrich_Ames Aldrich Ames]], a double agent for the KGB within the CIA, had seen the CIA's finding that Gordievsky was a double ([=MI6=] had steadfastly refused to identify their agent to the CIA or any other agency because of fears of exactly this situation arising, but the CIA had conducted an investigation and realised that it could only be Gordievsky) and had tipped off the KGB. Gordievksy was drugged and interrogated, but then - uncharacteristically - released and placed under close surveillance. The impromptu extraction plan was activated despite grave fears that it would not work, and - astonishingly enough - succeeded, being the only known case of a double agent being successfully extracted from Moscow during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar; Gordievsky currently lives in a safe house, apparently somewhere in London. Ames was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment for Espionage in 1994; Gordievsky is technically still under sentence of death [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp despite the fact that the Soviet Union no longer exists]], and may have been the victim of an attempted poisoning in 2007. The story is told in much more detail in Ben [=MacIntyre=]'s "The Spy And The Traitor".

** [[MagnificentBastard Revolver Ocelot]] is the definition of this; the end of each game has him talking with some puppetmaster or another over the phone, making known his double, triple, and quadruple crosses but never quite explaining what they ''are'' when all is said and done. It seems Ocelot worked for [[spoiler:the American CIA before transferring his allegiance to Big Boss. Everything else was him playing multiple sides for Big Boss's sake. Of course, it still fits as being out for himself, because he really respects Big Boss.]]

* ''Literature/HarryPotter:'' Snape. Snape. Severus Snape. His true allegiance is one of the Big Mysteries of the first six books, and, after frantic EpilepticTrees regarding the sixth book's ending, in the seventh it at last turns out [[spoiler: that he was good all along, and that he helped Dumbledore because he was in love with Lily and felt guilty that she died because he was a Death Eater and was the one who related the prophecy to Voldemort]].

* ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'': Xizor calls together his Vigos (lieutenants) knowing one of them has been spying on Black Sun, then has Guri kill the spy, who's revealed to be the Human Vigo Green, once they all deliver the reports of their areas' earnings, after letting Durga the Hutt sweat to warn him against making any similar disloyal moves. He sternly lectures them first about how ungrateful it is to be betraying Black Sun, given how each of them enjoys significant power, status and wealth.

* ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'': Xizor calls together his Vigos (lieutenants) knowing one has been spying on Black Sun, then has Guri kill the spy, who's revealed to be Green, once they all deliver the reports of their areas' earnings, after letting Durga the Hutt sweat to warn him against making any similar disloyal moves. He sternly lectures them first of how ungrateful betraying Black Sun has to be first, given they're paid so much.

* In ''Literature/TheLastDaysOfNewParis [[spoiler: The female journalist, Sam]] turns out to be secretly [[spoiler: working for Hell]], although this isn't as bad as it seems, since [[spoiler: Hell isn't getting along with the Nazis so well any more]].

[[quoteright:213:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doubleag.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:213:[[WebComic/ExterminatusNow The whole cult is like that...]]]]

The guy who's both TheMole and TheMole. He works for both sides and plays them off against each other. Although often shown as a villain, he can also be a likeable rogue who just happens to have flexible loyalties, or who has problems with both sides and enjoys setting them on each other. He can even be loyal to one side, and willing to engage in the DirtyBusiness of faking being an agent for the other; TheMole who engages in BecomingTheMask may turn into this.

The guy who's both TheMole and the ReverseMole. He works for both sides and plays them off against each other. Although often shown as a villain, he can also be a likeable rogue who just happens to have flexible loyalties, or who has problems with both sides and enjoys setting them on each other. He can even be loyal to one side, and willing to engage in the DirtyBusiness of faking being an agent for the other; TheMole who engages in BecomingTheMask may turn into this.

** One in particular, Juan Pujol Garcia, a.k.a. "[[http://mentalfloss.com/article/58468/most-amazing-lie-history GARBO]]," set out very early on to become a DoubleAgent; he conned his way into Nazi Intelligence, and used that to get into British Intelligence (his real goal). He played a critical role in ensuring that D-Day was a success. He fed the Germans such a wealth of false information that they actually ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Pujol_Garcia#Honours awarded him the Iron Cross for his efforts]]'', meaning he may be the only person to have received honors from both the Axis ''and'' Allied sides of World War II.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Gordievsky Oleg Gordievsky]], A (former) Colonel in the KGB and Bureau Chief in London, who - disillusioned with his government after the building of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall - volunteered as a double agent for the UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService of the United Kingdom and served as such for eleven years, from 1974 to 1985. Notably, when he was recalled to Moscow, [=MI6=] opted to stop using him as an agent, believing they would be better off to not risk him being discovered, and prepared an extraction plan, expecting it would never actually be used. They did not know that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldrich_Ames Aldrich Ames]], a double agent for the KGB within the CIA, had seen the CIA's finding that Gordievsky was a double ([=MI6=] had steadfastly refused to identify their agent to the CIA or any other agency because of fears of exactly this situation arising, but the CIA had conducted an investigation and realised that it could only be Gordievsky) and had tipped off the KGB. Gordievksy was drugged and interrogated, but then - uncharacteristically - released and placed under close surveillance. The impromptu extraction plan was activated despite grave fears that it would not work, and - astonishingly enough - succeeded, being the only known case of a double agent being successfully extracted from Moscow during the ColdWar; Gordievsky currently lives in a safe house, apparently somewhere in London. Ames was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment for Espionage in 1994; Gordievsky is technically still under sentence of death [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp despite the fact that the Soviet Union no longer exists]], and may have been the victim of an attempted poisoning in 2007. The story is told in much more detail in Ben [=MacIntyre=]'s "The Spy And The Traitor".

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Gordievsky Oleg Gordievsky]], A (former) Colonel in the KGB and Bureau Chief in London, who - disillusioned with his government after the building of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall - volunteered as a double agent for the UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService of the United Kingdom and served as such for eleven years, from 1974 to 1985. Notably, when he was recalled to Moscow, [=MI6=] opted to stop using him as an agent, believing they would be better off to not risk him being discovered, and prepared an extraction plan, expecting it would never actually be used. They did not know that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldrich_Ames Aldrich Ames]], a double agent for the KGB within the CIA, had seen the CIA's finding that Gordievsky was a double ([=MI6=] had steadfastly refused to identify their agent to the CIA or any other agency because of fears of exactly this situation arising, but the CIA had conducted an investigation and realised that it could only be Gordievsky) and had tipped off the KGB. Gordievksy was drugged and interrogated, but then - uncharacteristically - released and placed under close surveillance. The impromptu extraction plan was activated despite grave fears that it would not work, and - astonishingly enough - succeeded, being the only known case of a double agent being successfully extracted from Moscow during the ColdWar; Gordievsky currently lives in a safe house, apparently somewhere in London. Ames was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment for Espionage in 1994; Gordievsky is technically still under sentence of death, and may have been the victim of an attempted poisoning in 2007. The story is told in much more detail in Ben [=MacIntyre=]'s "The Spy And The Traitor".

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Gordievsky Oleg Gordievsky]], A (former) Colonel in the KGB and Bureau Chief in London, who - disillusioned with his government after the building of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall - volunteered as a double agent for the UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService of the United Kingdom and served as such for eleven years, from 1974 to 1985. Notably, when he was recalled to Moscow, [=MI6=] opted to stop using him as an agent, believing they would be better off to not risk him being discovered, and prepared an extraction plan, expecting it would never actually be used. They did not know that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldrich_Ames Aldrich Ames]], a double agent for the KGB within the CIA, had seen the CIA's finding that Gordievsky was a double ([=MI6=] had steadfastly refused to identify their agent to the CIA or any other agency because of fears of exactly this situation arising, but the CIA had conducted an investigation and realised that it could only be Gordievsky) and had tipped off the KGB. Gordievksy was drugged and interrogated, but then - uncharacteristically - released and placed under close surveillance. The impromptu extraction plan was activated despite grave fears that it would not work, and - astonishingly enough - succeeded, being the only known case of a double agent being successfully extracted from Moscow during the ColdWar; Gordievsky currently lives in a safe house, apparently somewhere in London. Ames was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment for Espionage in 1994; Gordievsky is technically still under sentence of death, and may have been the victim of an attempted poisoning in 2007. The story is told in much more detail in Ben [=McIntyre=]'s "The Spy And The Traitor".

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Gordievsky Oleg Gordievsky]], A (former) Colonel in the KGB and Bureau Chief in London, who - disillusioned with his government after the building of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall - volunteered as a double agent for the UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService of the United Kingdom and served as such for eleven years, from 1974 to 1985. Notably, when he was recalled to Moscow, [=MI6=] opted to stop using him as an agent, believing they would be better off to not risk him being discovered, and prepared an extraction plan, expecting it would never actually be used. They did not know that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldrich_Ames Aldrich Ames]], a double agent for the KGB within the CIA, had seen the CIA's finding that Gordievsky was a double ([=MI6=] had steadfastly refused to identify their agent to the CIA or any other agency because of fears of exactly this situation arising, but the CIA had conducted an investigation and realised that it could only be Gordievsky) and had tipped off the KGB. Gordievksy was drugged and interrogated, but then - uncharacteristically - released and placed under close surveillance. The impromptu extraction plan was activated despite grave fears that it would not work, and - astonishingly enough - succeeded, being the only known case of a double agent being successfully extracted from Moscow during the ColdWar; Gordievsky currently lives in a safe house, apparently somewhere in London. Aldrich Ames was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment for Espionage in 1994. The story is told in much more detail in Ben [=McIntyre=]'s "The Spy And The Traitor".