History Main / FeedTheMole

* In World War II German spies were captured when they landed in the UK and given the choice feed false information or be otherwise incapacitated. After the war, it was discovered that Operation Doublecross had successfully turned ''every'' spy the Germans sent throughout the war.
** The Germans however pulled a highly successful double-cross system of their own thanks to poor security and InterserviceRivalry among the British intelligence services. Agents dropped into German-occupied Europe were captured and their radios used to send back false information -- in one notorious incident an agent who [[SomethingTheyWouldNeverSay left out his 'true check']] to let his superiors know he'd been captured was sent back a message [[IdiotBall reprimanding him]] for 'forgetting' it.
*** {{Interservice rivalry}} worked both ways, there was a lot of rivalry between the Military Intelligence service, and the SS/NAZI Intelligence service, heightened by the fact that the heads of the military intelligence service (there was a changeover in July '44) were members of a group that had tried to assassinate Hitler.
**** Hitler actively encouraged {{interservice rivalry}}, partly to prevent anyone becoming strong enough to overthrow him and partly from a warped notion of "survival of the fittest." At one point the Third Reich had three separate foreign affairs ministries that used to steal each others' mail.
** Hardly surprising that the British intelligence was so good with these, one of the instructors at the main German intelligence training school was actually an MI6 plant, so they were able to grab half the spies the day war was declared. Add into that the resistance (and many non-resistance but sympathetic locals), and foreign agents pretending to work for the Germans, plus a whole agency dedicated to piecing together the random scraps they got, and it's hardly surprising the Germans lost out. Oh, and we can't forget that they'd cracked the ENIGMA as well.
** Well, technically the Polish intelligence solved it first, but the British actually put it to good use.

A "Mole" who willingly feeds the information you want is a DoubleAgent. A Mole who is BecomingTheMask may slowly move to being a DoubleAgent. FeedTheMole may lead to a YouHaveFailedMe moment for the unlucky Mole concerned, if their boss ever figures out what they did. The boss may even accuse the Mole of doing it of their own free will, when really the Mole had no more idea what was going on than the boss did.

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* In ''RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', the brothers Cai are fed misinformation so that [[TheStrategist Zhou Yu]] can set up Huang Gai's false defection. Another of Cao's spies, Jiang Gan, is also fed false information that leads to the execution of two of Cao Cao's most capable admirals.

* In ''MaraDaughterOfTheNile'', Sheftu, the leader of LaResistance, has discovered evidence that Mara is TheMole for the queen, but is not completely sure. So he has Nekonkh feed her false information as a test of her loyalty. Although Mara ''is'' TheMole (or more accurately, a DoubleAgent), she has also [[BecomingTheMask Become The Mask]], and does not betray Sheftu. Unfortunately, Sahure the juggler was also listening when Nekonkh Fed The Mole, and he is ''also'' TheMole.
* [[TomClancy Without Remorse]] features an instance where lead character, John Kelley completed a dangerous infiltration mission deep within North Vietnamese territory and captured a Soviet officer. They pull a classic type 2, which culminates with John confronting the [[StrawmanPolitical liberal stoner kid]] and offering him a [[SadisticChoice choice]] between killing himself by lethal injection on the spot or being shot through the head, also on the spot.

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* More or less all the German spies which were captured in WorldWarI suffered this fate, if they didn't defect or end up executed.

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On the other hand, if the BigBad figures out, or guesses, that you know about the Mole, he will know that you are feeding him information, false or manipulative. If counterploys start forming on each side, this might tumble over into IKnowYouKnowIKnow and a ThirtyXanatosPileup may ensue.

** In the much earlier-set XWingSeries, Han Solo was personally flying around slightly-modified sets of orders to check for leaks in communications (quite a valid worry, since the New Republic had lost at least one force to bad intel already). And don't even get started on the plot involving Tycho Celchu (who isn't an Imperial spy, but is suspected (and put on trial for!) being one) and [[spoiler: Erisi Dlarit]], who really is (the real agent's existence is suspected, but not known for sure). [[ChessMaster General Cracken]] and [[MagnificentBastard Ysanne Isard]] are involved, so [[ThirtyXanatosPileup it's gonna get complicated]].

* In ''MaraDaughterOfTheNile'', Sheftu, the leader of LaResistance, has discovered evidence that Mara is TheMole for the queen, but is not completely sure. So he has Nekonkh feed her false information as a test of her loyalty. Although Mara ''is'' TheMole (or more accurately, a DoubleAgent), she has also BecomeTheMask, and does not betray Sheftu. Unfortunately, Sahure the juggler was also listening when Nekonkh Fed The Mole, and he is ''also'' TheMole.

* ''TheGunsOfNavarone'' does a variation where one of the loyal men is wounded, and the team medic can't treat him as he is. The team realize he'd get better treatment as a POW, and then Captain Mallaroy tells him false information of their plans in case he is interrogated.

* In the original ''PoliceAcademy'' film, Copeland and Blankes intimidate Barbara into asking Mahoney where the shore leave party is being held. Mahoney realizes fairly quickly that Barbara is too introverted to party, so he gives him the name of [[spoiler:a [[HardGay tough]] [[WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame Gay Bar]]]].

A "Mole" who willingly feeds the information you want is a DoubleAgent. A mole who is BecomingTheMask may slowly move to being a DoubleAgent. FeedTheMole may lead to a YouHaveFailedMe moment for the unlucky Mole concerned, if their boss ever figures out what they did. The boss may even accuse the Mole of doing it of their own free will, when really the Mole had no more idea what was going on than the boss did.

On the other hand, if the BigBad figures out, or guesses, that you know about the Mole, he will know that you are feeding him information, false or manipulative. If counterploys start forming on each side, this might tumble over into IKnowYouKnowIKnow. A ThirtyXanatosPileup may ensue.

Note that this isn't exclusive to the hero - the BigBad, TheDragon or TheRival could just as easily manipulate a ReverseMole in this fashion. TheChessplayer and the MagnificentBastard are quite likely to use this tactic to confuse or to trick the hero. If that's the case, then the tactic will generally be condemned more strongly by the audience as playing dirty than if the hero had used it, obviously because the audience is usually (DesignatedHero notwithstanding) on the hero's side, or because it's more likely an opponent will be more ruthless by, for example, using it to get the hero killed. Might make for a good [[TheReveal Reveal]] when the hero or the ReverseMole says "MyGodWhatHaveIDone".

* Someone in the group genuinely doesn't know who TheMole is, so he (or she, but for conciseness I'll just use 'he') devises a secret test by picking out individuals and giving each one different information. The idea is that the loyal members will keep it to themselves, whereas TheMole will pass it on to their boss on the other side. By watching what the boss does, the one who started the test can then gauge which information the boss heard and therefore deduce who TheMole is. Feeding different stories to different suspects is a classic way to determine which, if any of them, is TheMole.

* Someone in the group knows who TheMole is, but hasn't exposed them yet (if they ever will). He simply arranges matters so that TheMole ends up passing on bogus information to whomever they work for. The information is always to the other side's detriment. Perhaps it's useless or designed to throw them off the scent. Perhaps they'll act on it, in which case they may get caught in a trap or be lead to their deaths. Perhaps, if they're getting more than one report, the information confuses them, and thus buys the group some time as their enemies (it's usually an enemy) try to work out which of their contradictory reports are true and which aren't.

A "Mole" who willingly feeds the information you want is a DoubleAgent. A mole who is BecomingTheMask may slowly move to this condition. May lead to YouHaveFailedMe for the Mole -- or some HelpFaceTurn. Feeding different stories to different suspects is a classic way to determine which, if any of them, is TheMole.

On the other hand, if the BigBad knows, or guesses, that you know, he will know that you are feeding him information. Perhaps you can just feed him information so that he will think that's what you want him to think that you want to feed him. [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow Then, if he guesses that]]. . . (ThirtyXanatosPileup may ensue.)

This is one of TheThirtySixStratagems, making it OlderThanDirt. DangerouslyGenreSavvy villains may even use any ReverseMole on their side in this way, in which case you have FeedTheReverseMole.

You have TheMole on your team. Perhaps you even know who he is, feeding information to the BigBad, or (if you are HangingSeparately) to TheRival.

How convenient! [[FlawExploitation You can get whatever (mis)information you want spread]]! You may even manage to trigger an EnemyCivilWar.

A "Mole" who willingly feeds the information you want is a double agent. A mole who is BecomingTheMask may slowly move to this condition.

May lead to YouHaveFailedMe for the Mole -- or some HelpFaceTurn.

Feeding different stories to different suspects is a classic way to determine which, if any of them, is TheMole.

This is one of TheThirtySixStratagems, making it OlderThanDirt.

* RobertHeinlein's ''The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress''. Professor Bernardo de la Paz explains:

* ''The Fourth Protocol'' by Frederick Forsyth. At the beginning of the novel the protagonist uncovers a FalseFlagOperation feeding information to the Soviets. He later stumbles across the information that the Soviets are smuggling a nuclear weapon into the country for an unknown purpose. [[spoiler:TheChessmaster head of MI-6, realising there's no way they can track down the remaining components in time, leaks information through the mole captured earlier that the Soviet operation has been uncovered and the British are closing in. This causes his Soviet counterpart to deliberately blow the operation (which was being conducted by the General Secretary without his approval) in exchange for a guarantee by TheChessmaster that the whole affair will be covered up.]]

* In Brian Jacques's ''{{Redwall}}'', Cluny knows that Sela will betray him. So he carefully ensures that she believes he wants to batter in the gate when he intends to tunnel.

** Snape, Snape, Severus Snape. Snape, Snape, Severus Snape. (Dumbledore!)
*** I don't know, Snape is at the very least a Quadruple Agent, so Feed The Mole might be cutting him short.
** Voldemort to himself in ''Order of the Phoenix''; Voldy was an unwilling mole due to his PsychicLink with Harry. After having Harry peek in on his plans enough times to realize what was going on, Voldy passed Harry some false information, along with a HeroBall.