History Main / FeedTheMole

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': In [[Recap/GameOfThronesS2E3WhatIsDeadMayNeverDie "What is Dead May Never Die"]], Tyrion smokes out who is feeding the queen her information by telling the entire council that he is marrying off her daughter to a different person. When Cercei angrily confronts him about her daughter being shipped off to marry one of those men, he has his mole.

** ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': PlayedForLaughs. Sheppard is captured by the Wraith and placed in a cell with another human prisoner, a frightened young girl. However, he becomes suspicious when she asks a few leading questions about Earth ([[spoiler:[[ProperlyParanoid he's right]], [[LesCollaborateurs she's a Wraith-worshipper]]]]), so he tells her about the terrible enemy that they're at war with: '''''clowns'''''.

* This is how [[GuileHero George Smiley]] finally narrows down the identity of the mole in ''Film/TinkerTailorSoldierSpy'', as [[Literature/TheQuestForKarla the book]]. He arranges for the mole, one of an increasingly-shorter list of suspects, to catch wind that the man who knows of his existence -- if not his identity -- has resurfaced and wants to reveal the information to the Circus. [[spoiler:That causes the mole to request an emergency meeting with his Soviet handler at the prearranged safehouse, where Smiley is waiting for them.]]

* In the [[Literature/TheQuestForKarla George Smiley books]] by Creator/JohnLeCarre, the sort of intelligence deemed suitable for leaking to moles is dubbed "Chickenfeed". The background to the events of ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is that the cabal of high-level intelligence officials ''believe'' that they are only giving chickenfeed to their pet Soviet mole, while one of their number is in fact feeding the mole with real, vital intelligence. Similarly, they view the intelligence supplied back to them as being gold; Smiley, however, is suspicious from the get-go - "Topicality is always suspect," he remarks of the first report - and confirms in the end that it was all Karla's chickenfeed, with just a few scraps of the good stuff at the start in order to bait the hook.

* A small questline in the fan-made ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' mod pack ''VideoGame/TamrielRebuilt'' centers around the EnforcedColdWar between the [[MagicalSociety Mages Guild]] and [[TheMagocracy House Telvanni]], and regardless of which one you side with, both sides have a quest where you have to help root out any suspected moles[=/=]leaks this way. The Telvanni version has you baiting out four suspected moles with "gossip" about a defecting Guild mage (with a different story[=/=]mage for each suspect), then seeing if any of the "defectors" [[UnPerson suddenly disappear]], while the Guild quest has you spread a rumor about a fake expedition to determine if one of their agents within the Telvanni has been flipped. [[spoiler:For extra points, the spy for both quests is [[DoubleAgent the same person]].]]

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': When the Klingons (who are the Federation's allies) go to war with the Cardassians (who are in an uneasy not-quite-alliance with the Federation at that point) Sisko knows he can't directly warn the Cardassians without ending the Federation-Klingon alliance so he has a meeting about the attack while having his measurements taken by the local exiled Cardassian tailor with the shady background. This is an unusual case of a GuileHero feeding a mole ''genuine'' information, in order to help the ''mole''[='=]s side.

** Janeway suspects that a defector she has granted asylum is faking and feeds him misleading information about where she is hiding the refugees and where their escape wormhole is located to buy time for the refugees who are already booking it to the wormhole in hidden shuttles.

Alternatively, or additionally, seeing which of your enemies reacts as if in possession of a piece of false information determines which of them is the boss, if that is unknown.

* In the [[Literature/TheQuestForKarla George Smiley books]] by Creator/JohnLeCarre, the sort of intelligence deemed suitable for leaking to moles is dubbed "Chickenfeed". The background to the events of TinkerTailorSoldierSpy is that the cabal of high-level intelligence officials ''believe'' that they are only giving chickenfeed to their pet Soviet mole, while one of their number is in fact feeding the mole with real, vital intelligence. Similarly, they view the intelligence supplied back to them as being gold; Smiley, however, is suspicious from the get-go - "Topicality is always suspect," he remarks of the first report - and confirms in the end that it was all Karla's chickenfeed, with just a few scraps of the good stuff at the start in order to bait the hook.

* ''Film/TheImitationGame'': An unusual example in that the mole is fed true information. In the film, MI6 uses the mole to pass on information they want the Soviets to have but [[UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill Churchill]] is unwilling to share. (Churchill was paranoid about sharing information with the Soviets, despite being allies.)

* The ''Literature/JamesBond'' short story "[[Literature/OctopussyAndTheLivingDaylights The Property of a Lady]]", starts when it is revealed the Soviets are rewarding a known mole for her efforts, so MI6 can make more use of this trope.

* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' has an InUniverse example with the story of Vilquar; the Githzerai figured out he had sold them out to the Illithid, so they tricked him into believing that they had given up on their rebellion to fool the Illithid into becoming complacent, as well as prevent future treason by showing how thoroughly the Illithid follow the YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness trope.

** And the technique was originally used to expose Seska in the first place. She and another suspect are told that a piece of Voyager's technology has been recovered from a Kazon vessel. Seska tries to fabricate evidence that the other officer stole the device in the first place, but Tuvok is monitoring the computer program to see if this will happen.

* ''Series/StargateSG1'': The Tok'ra do this with a supposedly converted Goa'uld. This exchange occurs when the spy finds out:
-->'''Tanith:''' I don't understand. Why have I been excluded from such important information?\\

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': PlayedForLaughs. Sheppard is captured by the Wraith and placed in a cell with another human prisoner, a frightened young girl. However, he becomes suspicious when she asks a few leading questions about Earth ([[spoiler:[[ProperlyParanoid he's right]], [[LesCollaborateurs she's a Wraith-worshipper]]]]), so he tells her about the terrible enemy that they're at war with: '''''clowns'''''.
-->'''Sheppard''' Oh yeah, the clowns. We fight them too. Entire armies [[ClownCar spilling out of Volkswagens]]. We do our best to fight them off, but [[Theatre/ALittleNightMusic they keep sending them in]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/AModestDestiny'' shows that you can use this even on a non-mole [[TheDitz ditz]], as seen when Gustav is deliberately given bad information so (when asked politely by a disguised villain) he'll accidentally lead the enemy into a trap.

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius:'' It's spelled out more explicitly in the print novelizations than the original comic, but Klaus and Gil Wulfenbach do this with both the noble-family students/hostages on board [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld Castle Wulfenbach]], ''and'' Gil's manservent Ardley Wooster, who is a British spy.
** [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20160314 Explicitely done]] after the TimeSkip:
--->'''Gil:''' So, I've been setting traps. Discrete "useful bits of information" to each suspected traitor. I'm sure ''you'' know the drill. By now, the attackers at our "completely undefended" outer base should be all sorted out.

* The fan-made ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' mod pack ''VideoGame/TamrielRebuilt'' has a quest for House Telvanni to ferret out a Mages Guild spy by baiting several suspects with fake intel about Telvanni agents in the Guild and seeing if any of the "agents" [[UnPerson suddenly disappear]]. A similar quest for the Mages Guild involves determining if one of their moles with the Telvanni (the same mole as in the other quest, in fact) has become a DoubleAgent by "leaking" information about a fake Guild expedition to them and seeing if the Telvanni act on it.

* ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries'': An alien in the guise of an AmazonianBeauty once infiltrated MiB and [[InterspeciesRomance gains the confidence]] of Frank the Pug. J and K cottoned on pretty quickly and provided Frank with bogus information. Frank was ''genuinely'' saddened when he learned of her intentions.

** And the plan doesn't work as intended because [[spoiler: the assassin goes to the "wrong" room deliberately, planning to climb to the correct room OUTSIDE. Fortunately, they wait a minute to make the bust; unfortunately the true mole already has the jump on the rest of the good guys in a different location.]]

* In ''Series/AshesToAshes'', Hunt and Drake know there is a mole in the department, so they set up a sting, telling each member of the team slightly different information, and then wait to see which one will act on it, revealing themselves in the process. [[spoiler:Heartbreakingly, it turns out to be Chris.]]

* "UsefulNotes/TheThirtySixStratagems" also have this trope as one of them, and the name for it is "anti-spy".

* "UsefulNotes/ThirtySixStratgems" also have this trope as one of them, and the name for it is "anti-spy".

* A Chinese Literature "36-tactics" also have this trope as one of the tactics, and the name it "anti-spy".

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': In ''Literature/AClashOfKings'', Tyrion assumes at least one of three members of the DeadlyDecadentCourt is Cersei's Mole, and so feeds them all different stories to see which one gets back to her. Tyrion even singles out one of these three whose motives are still mysterious and [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome and tells him everything he's doing and why]], thereby trapping the schemer [[XanatosGambit between the choice of playing along or passing the info and thus letting Tyrion know he's truly an enemy]]. Hell with Littlefinger, Tyrion is the true MagnificentBastard.

* In Jason Matthews's ''Literature/RedSparrow'', Vanya Egorov attempts to find the mole among his colleagues by employing a "canary trap": give each of them a piece of information with only one difference unique to each individual, and whichever version would come back to him would tell him who the mole was. The mole learns of another colleague's version of the story, allowing him to draw suspicion away from himself for a while. [[spoiler:He later uses this to set his successor up without her knowledge]].

* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': In ''Literature/DaughterOfTheLioness'', Aly feeds every mole she can find. She even, at one point, manages to get ''herself'' made one of them in ''Trickster's Queen''.

* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': When [[spoiler: Robin]] is found out, everyone starts giving him false info.
* ''[[Literature.GentlemanBastard The Republic of Thieves]]'' uses a tactic similar to the one from ''Clash of Kings''. Locke and Jean realize that Sabetha has a mole among the Deep Roots party, so they feed three of the most important members a different target, and wait to see which one they go after.
* Honoré de Balzac and his friends do this as a prank in ''Literature/TheDeadSkunk''.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords "Last of the Time Lords"]], Martha does this to ensure the Master finds her.

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'' Recap/GameOfThronesS2E3WhatIsDeadMayNeverDie, Tyrion smokes out who is feeding the queen her information by telling the entire council that he is marrying off her daughter to a different person. When Cercei angrily confronts him about her daughter being shipped off to marry one of those men, he has his mole.

** [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20160314 Explicitely done]] after the TimeSkip
--> '''Gil''' : So, I've been setting traps. Discrete "useful bits of information" to each suspected traitor. I'm sure ''you'' know the drill. By now, the attackers at our "completely undefended" outer base should be all sorted out.