History Main / ImpersonationGambit

* ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'': James Bond impersonates Peter Franks in order to infiltrate the diamond smuggling operation.

* In ''Series/{{Jake20}}'', Jake infiltrates a meeting of a group of hackers (who had previously only communicated online) by impersonating a group member who has been arrested by the NSA.

* Gloriously played in the ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Almost Got 'Im", where [[spoiler:Killer Croc]], of all people, turns out to have been Batman the whole time.

A sting operation in which the hero tries to infiltrate the villain's organization by passing themselves off as one of the bad guys.

For example, Bob is going to meet Alice to be given an evil plan to carry out. The hero, Charlie, catches up with Bob before he can meet with Alice. Since Alice and Bob has never met face to face, Charlie goes to the meeting point, pretending to be Bob. Charlie is attempting an Impersonation Gambit. If successful, he will take down Alice's organization, [[RuleOfDrama but this gambit doesn't always go as planned]].

A subtrope of TheInfiltration, only in this case, they are impersonating a real person that the villains were expecting to meet. Can result in a YouAreAlreadyCheckedIn if the person they're impersonating shows up. Compare DressingAsTheEnemy which this trope can often overlap with.

Inexperienced in impersonation, the heroes might act according to MostDefinitelyNotAVillain (except that they're trying to pretend that they most definitely ''are'' a villain). They may also face the need to [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten prove that they're as evil as the impersonatee is known to be]].

!!Examples:

* ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'': James Bond impersonates Peter Franks in order to infiltrate the diamond smuggling operation.
** Another James Bond example occurs during the opening of ''Film/DieAnotherDay''.
* In ''{{Ultraviolet}}'' Violet impersonates a courier in order to get inside the Archminstry's headquarters and steal the weapon that will wipe out the hemophages.

* Done in almost all possible ways (from stolen uniforms to magical transformations) in the BlackCompany. GambitPileup is the typical result.
* ''TheExecutioner'' series. Mack Bolan would sometimes infiltrate Mafia organizations by masquerading as an elite hitman. He did so by displaying an ace of spades, which they used to identify themselves.

* ''MissionImpossible''. This was sometimes used in IMF operations.
* [[TwentyFour Jack Bauer]] attempts this twice throughout the shows run. In both instances, a suspect is killed before Jack can get any info out of them, but Jack [[IndyPloy improvises]] when their phone rings, and gets a meeting location where he continues the guise.
* [[HumanTarget Christopher Chance]] successfully pulls this off in "Taking Ames".
** In another episode, to protect a woman he believed was being targeted, he posed as online date. However, the real date shows up, blowing Chances cover. The "real date" is revealed to be the assassin hired to kill the woman, but luckly, Chance saves her.
* ''{{Chuck}}'' pulls this off in "Chuck vs the Fake Name" by taking an assassins indentity to find out who the ring wants to kill.
** There was a similar plot in ''{{Monk}}''. Even more coincidental since one of the mobsters was played by the same actor who played a mobster in the that episode of ''{{Chuck}}''.
* Series/{{Angel}} pulls one of these in the Season 2 episode "The Shroud of Rahmon," impersonating a hip Vegas vampire to infiltrate a group of thieves.
* Villain example in ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. Sylar kills Zane Taylor, steals his power, and passes himself off as him to Mohinder.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' - Tony and Ziva pose as an assassin couple in order to sniff out who they were taking orders from.

* In ''[[Series/{{Jake20}} Jake 2.0]]'', Jake infiltrates a meeting of a group of hackers (who had previously only communicated online) by impersonating a group member who has been arrested by the NSA.

* On ''Series/{{Charmed}},'' an assassin tries to kill the sisters, only to be killed by Prue. She then impersonates the assassin to meet her client, who had apparently never met the assassin in person before.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Starsky and Hutch}}'', Hutch impersonates a reclusive hitman who has just been taken into custody. This goes wrong when the hitman escapes and shows up at the meeting...

* In ''MetalGearSolid3'', [[spoiler: Eva isn't really your contact]].

* Rather humorously averted in ''Webcomic/DoubleK'' - having just raided a drug dealer's warehouse, [[CowboyCop Kamina]] notices the suspect's portable phone ringing and answers it. When the guy on the other end assumes that he's talking to the dealer as normal, well... in the author's own words, "True to form, [[IdiotHero Kamina]] immediately pisses away any usefulness this development may have brought." [[StuffBlowingUp Explosions]] [[HilarityEnsues ensue]].

* Two FBI agents were able to stop a bomb plot in Portland by impersonating the would-be bombers' online contacts.

* ''DiamondsAreForever'': James Bond impersonates Peter Franks in order to infiltrate the diamond smuggling operation.
** Another James Bond example occurs during the opening of ''DieAnotherDay''.

* On ''{{Charmed}},'' an assassin tries to kill the sisters, only to be killed by Prue. She then impersonates the assassin to meet her client, who had apparently never met the assassin in person before.

** There was a similar plot in ''{{Monk}}''. Even more coincidental since one of the mobsters was played by the same actor who played a mobster in the that episode of {{Chuck}}.
* ''{{Angel}}'' pulls one of these in the Season 2 episode "The Shroud of Rahmon," impersonating a hip Vegas vampire to infiltrate a group of thieves.
* Villain example in ''{{Heroes}}''. Sylar kills Zane Taylor, steals his power, and passes himself off as him to Mohinder.
* ''{{NCIS}}'' - Tony and Ziva pose as an assassin couple in order to sniff out who they were taking orders from.

* In one episode of ''{{Starsky and Hutch}}'', Hutch impersonates a reclusive hitman who has just been taken into custody. This goes wrong when the hitman escapes and shows up at the meeting...

** Snake impersonates Major Raikov in order to get to the west wing of Grozni Grad.

* Rather humorously averted in ''DoubleK'' - having just raided a drug dealer's warehouse, [[CowboyCop Kamina]] notices the suspect's portable phone ringing and answers it. When the guy on the other end assumes that he's talking to the dealer as normal, well... in the author's own words, "True to form, [[IdiotHero Kamina]] immediately pisses away any usefulness this development may have brought." [[StuffBlowingUp Explosions]] [[HilarityEnsues ensue]].

* Done in almost all possible ways (from stolen uniforms to magical transformations) in the BlackCompany. ThirtyGambitPileup is the typical result.

* In ''Jake 2.0'', Jake infiltrates a meeting of a group of hackers (who had previously only communicated online) by impersonating a group member who has been arrested by the NSA.

* Villain example in ''{{Heroes}}''. Sylar kills Zane Taylor, steals his power, and passes off as him to Mohinder.

Inexperienced in impersonation, the heroes might act according to MostDefinitelyNotAVillain (except that they're trying to pretend that they're definitely a villain). They may also face the need to [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten prove that they're as evil as the impersonatee is known to be]].

A sting operation in which the heroes try to infiltrate the villains organization by passing off as one of the bad guys.

A subtrope of TheInfiltration only in this case, they are impersonating a real person that the villains were expecting to meet. Can result in a YouAreAlreadyCheckedIn if the person they're impersonating shows up. Compare DressingAsTheEnemy which this trope can often overlap with.

* Done in {{Harald}}, when [[TheDragon Mord]] hires [[HorseArcher Westkin]] mercenaries as soldiers to assassinate [[Spoiler: King James]], [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness who has outlived his usefulness]], [[BadassGrandpa Harald]] gets his own Westkin allies to impersonate them.

** There was a similar plot in ''{{Monk}}''. Even more ironic since one of the mobsters was played by the same actor who played a mobsters in the that episode of {{Chuck}}.

* Done in almost all possible ways (from stolen uniforms to magical transformations) in the BlackCompany. ThirtyXanatosPileup is the typical result.

* Two FBI agents were able to stop a bomb plot in Portland by impersonating the would be bombers online contacts.

Inexperienced in impersonation, the heroes might act according to MostDefinitelyNotAVillain (except that they're trying to pretend that they're definitely a villain). They may also face the need to [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten prove their dedication to the bad guys' cause]].

A subtrope of {{The Infiltration}} only in this case, they are impersonating a real person that the villains were expecting to meet. Can result in a {{You Are Already Checked In}} if the person they're impersonating shows up. Compare {{Dressing As The Enemy}} which this trope can often overlap with.

!!!Examples

{{Film}}
* {{Diamonds Are Forever}} James Bond impersonates Peter Franks in order to infiltrate the diamond smuggling operation.
** Another James Bond example occurs during the opening of {{Die Another Day}}.
* In {{Ultraviolet}} Violet impersonates a courier in order to get inside the Archminstry's headquarters and steal the weapon that will wipe out the hemophages.

{{Literature}}
* Done in almost all possible ways (from stolen uniforms to magical transformations) in the {{Black Company}}. {{Thirty Xanatos Pileup}} is the typical result.
* {{The Executioner}} series. Mack Bolan would sometimes infiltrate Mafia organizations by masquerading as an elite hitman. He did so by displaying an ace of spades, which they used to identify themselves.

{{Live Action TV}}
* {{Mission Impossible}}. This was sometimes used in IMF operations.

* {{Chuck}} pulls this off in "Chuck vs the Fake Name" by taking an assassins indentity to find out who the ring wants to kill.
** There was a similar plot in {{Monk}}. Even more ironic since one of the mobsters was played by the same actor who played a mobsters in the that episode of {{Chuck}}.
* {{Angel}} pulls one of these in the Season 2 episode "The Shroud of Rahmon," impersonating a hip Vegas vampire to infiltrate a group of thieves.
* Villain example in {{Heroes}}. Sylar kills Zane Taylor, steals his power, and passes off as him to Mohinder.
* {{NCIS}} - Tony and Ziva pose as an assassin couple in order to sniff out who they were taking orders from.

{{Video Games}}
* In {{Metal Gear Solid 3}}, [[spoiler: Eva isn't really your contact]].

{{Web Comics}}
* Rather humorously averted in {{Double K}} - having just raided a drug dealer's warehouse, [[CowboyCop Kamina]] notices the suspect's portable phone ringing and answers it. When the guy on the other end assumes that he's talking to the dealer as normal, well... in the author's own words, "True to form, [[IdiotHero Kamina]] immediately pisses away any usefulness this development may have brought." [[StuffBlowingUp Explosions]] [[HilarityEnsues ensue]].

{{Real Life}}