History Main / TheSpymaster

* Thufir Hawat in ''Literature/{{Dune}}''. One of the few intrigue tales that shows TheSpymaster's perspective.

* Subverted in ''Literature/AFireUponTheDeep''. Vendacious is said to be incompetent at every government position he's tried, except spymaster. Turns out he's a DoubleAgent and is only providing information fed to him by the BigBad.

* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': In ''Literature/TheCollegiumChronicles'', Herald Nikolas acts as Valdemar's spymaster, in addition to his public duties as the King's Own Herald. No one suspects him of running an intelligence ring on top of his full-time job as personal adviser to the monarch and duties as a father. The protagonist Mags is trained as a spy by Nikolas, joining him undercover as a pawnbroker and fence in the capital city's poorer districts. In the sequel series ''Literature/TheHeraldSpy'', Mags begins to set himself up as Nikolas's successor, inheriting Nikolas' agents in the city and establishing his own, while Nikolas shifts his focus to the kingdom at large. In the reign of Queen Selenay several hundred years later, this duty has been passed down to Herald Alberich, in addition to his own public job as Weaponsmaster.
* Bob Ritter from Creator/TomClancy's ''Literature/JackRyan'' novels is the CIA's Director of Operations, which means that he's the man who manages all of the CIA's human intelligence assets.
* [[http://tinyurl.com/6qe5yq "M" (Sir Miles Messervy, later Admiral Hargreaves, then Barbara Mawsley)]] is the spymaster of [=MI6=] in the ''Franchise/JamesBond'' novels and movies. While mostly there to gives jobs to, and be sarcastic at, Bond, M has become something of an archetype.

* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', Simon Illyan is the head of [=ImpSec=] the spying and counterspying organisation of Barrayar. He also plays the role of DaChief to Miles.
** Illyan's predecessor, the legendary Captain Negri, was this in spades.
* Subverted ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', where Pedron Niall's well-known spymaster, Omerna, is an incompetent decoy, and all the spying is actually done by his secretary.

* Count Sigismund Dijkstra is the Spymaster of the Kingdom of Redania and one of the principal players in Andrzej Sapkowski's ''Literature/TheWitcher'' series. He is noted to completely lack the stereotypical physical characteristics of the archetype, being very tall, overweight, thuggish-looking and fond of extravagant clothing. But he is also extremely brilliant and skilled at his job.

** And in the game based on them [[spoiler:the fence Thaler is actually head of Temerian intelligence and the secret police.]]

** G'Kar also did this for the Narn Resistance. Needless to say, with Babylon 5 pretty much being a CityOfSpies, you run into a lot of characters being TheSpymaster for various governments and organizations over the years.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Ravenmark}} Ravenmark: Scourge of Estellion]]'': Benjamin Allsworth is a nondescript, perpetually smiling [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarf]] who serves as the Sotran Trade Ambassador to TheEmpire. He also happens to be in charge of the Commonwealth's intelligence network. He frequently has dealings with his childhood friend and occasional rival Crumston Caldare, his [[{{Hobbits}} halfling]] counterpart in the Empire. Both have "Spymaster" titles in their respective governments.
* ''VideoGame/VGAPlanets:'' the [[Franchise/StarTrek Romulan]]-expy Birdman faction has this as their schtick, with numerous cloaked spaceship designs and the ability to snoop information from enemy planets.

* ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000RogueTrader'': The von Valancius dynasty of Rogue traders maintains a "Master of Whispers" role in their retinue to serve as this role, though the incumbent, Kunrad Voigtvir, ends up removed by the same events that raises the player as the new Rogue Trader of the dynasty, and the player never actually gets around to filling in the role during the game, with Abelard Werserian, your seneschal, being the closest to filling in the gap. [[spoiler: If Heinrix van Calox leaves the Inquisition, he can join you as your Master of Whispers in the epilogue]].

* ''Webcomic/CosmicDash:'' Ij Far is TheFederation's spymaster. He [[https://www.cosmicdash.com/comic/episode-1-pg-9-2/ met Mara]] during the "Grounded" arc, and accepted her help gathering evidence on a weapon smuggler, before [[https://www.cosmicdash.com/comic/episode-2-pg-34/ "officially" hiring her]]. He's been shown to [[https://www.cosmicdash.com/comic/episode-3-pg-34-2/ work with his Imperial]] ''and'' Neutrality [[https://www.serreven.com/comic/the-ten-triggers-pg-3/ counterparts]] when the situation calls for it.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* ''Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' features Mycroft Holmes (Franchise/SherlockHolmes' brother), then later Harry Lime from ''Film/TheThirdMan'', and an aged [[Series/TheAvengers1960s Emma Peel]] in the modern day, as 'M', Britain's legendary spymaster (the title coming from the Franchise/JamesBond stories). They're all following on from the original 'M': James Moriarty.
* ComicBook/AmandaWaller and ComicBook/SargeSteel have both filled this role for the U.S. Government in Franchise/TheDCU.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'': While ComicBook/SteveTrevor was essentially a spy in the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 original comics]] his characterization and ablilties drifted over the reboots, up until he was turned into DC's equivalent of Nick Fury.
* The Franchise/MarvelUniverse:

** He's succeeded by, among others, Maria Hill, Daisy Johnson, Norman Osborn (who replaced S.H.I.E.L.D. with H.A.M.M.E.R.) and the below-mentioned Steve Rogers.

** Pete Wisdom, while not the head of his agency (at first -- by the time of ''ComicBook/CaptainBritainAndMI13'', he's taken the job), serves as the closest thing to a counter-part Nick Fury has in MI-13, Britain's paranormal agency, and is similarly hands-on.

* Moff Nyna Calixte a.k.a. Morrigan Corde plays this role in ''ComicBook/StarWarsLegacy''.
* Paul Crocker, Director of Operations, from ''ComicBook/QueenAndCountry'' is very much a SpiritualSuccessor to [[Series/TheSandbaggers Neil Burnside]].
* ''ComicBook/StarWarsPoeDameron'' establishes that [=C-3PO=], of all people, serves in this capacity to the Resistance, using a network of droid informants HiddenInPlainSight across the galaxy in order to acquire intelligence.
* The fashionable (dig that scarf!) yet mysterious man known only as Control, in the WWII-set ''OSS'' feature in ''G.I. Combat''. Appointed head of military intelligence by FDR after Pearl Harbor, Control also scouts civilian agents from all walks of life and dispassionately sends them on deadly sabotage and wetwork missions across Europe, Africa, and beyond.

TheHandler of handlers, moving spies about all over the world. He is easily made a villain because this role lends itself to deception, morally questionable decisions and a WeHaveReserves mentality. Though sometimes a spymaster can be an anti-hero, feeling TheChainsOfCommanding and considering TheNeedsOfTheMany. Thus, he is typically cold and dour, though sometimes he has a heart of gold. If rebellious or wildly anti-heroic protagonists work for him, he may have a long-suffering air, as he's the one who has to deal with many of the consequences of their hi-jinx.

* Dr. Harold Smith from the ''Literature/{{Destroyer}}'' series qualifies because he can take on this role, although in most of the novels he is rarely seen playing this part; he does so in cases he doesn't need Remo's skills.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, basically any leader of the Blades, an AncientOrderOfProtectors that has long served the emperors of Tamriel as [[PraetorianGuard bodyguards]] and [[SecretPolice spies]], has qualified throughout history. This was actually the title of the highest ranking Blade in a larger area of interest during the height of the Third Empire. In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', "Spymaster" is literally the title of the rank of Caius Cosades, Vvardenfell's highest ranking Blade (he's also separately referred to as Director of Imperial Intelligence in Vvardenfell District, Eastern Provinces). His cover identity is ironically [[ObfuscatingStupidity that of a stoner]] and he acts as the primary QuestGiver for the first half of the main quest.

* Salthar in the ''Literature/{{Spaceforce}}'' novels is head of the Tayshak, the 'semi-clandestine' department of the Taysan Court which conducts internal and external espionage. Given that Taysan culture is squeamish about all such things and recruits only misfits and functional sociopaths as agents, Salthar finds himself in charge of a real rabble of potential rebels and seems to have difficulty in managing them.

He is often TheChessmaster.

* ''Webcomic/CosmicDash:'' Ij Far is TheFederation's spymaster. He [[https://www.cosmicdash.com/comic/episode-1-pg-9-2/ met Mara]] during the "Grounded" arc, and accepted her help gathering evidence on a weapon smuggler, before [[https://www.cosmicdash.com/comic/episode-2-pg-34/ "officially" hiring her]]. He's been shown to [[https://www.cosmicdash.com/comic/episode-3-pg-34-2/ work with his Imperial counterpart]] when the situation calls for it.

* ''Webcomic/CosmicDash:'' Ij Far is TheFederation's spymaster. He [[https://www.cosmicdash.com/comic/episode-1-pg-9-2/ met Mara]] during the "Grounded" arc, and accepted her help gathering evidence on a weapon smuggler, before [[https://www.cosmicdash.com/comic/episode-2-pg-34/ "officially" hiring her]]. He's been shown to work with his Imperial counterpart when the situation calls for it.

* Isser Harel, the second director of Mossad (full translated title: Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations) and the Shin Bet (usually translated as the Israel Security Agency), was one of these. He [[PlayingAgainstType was also]] quite [[JewishComplaining nebbish]] and his [[HenpeckedHusband personal life was dominated by his wife]]. The story goes that his neighbors thought he was a mid-level bank employee, rather than one of the most powerful men in Israel.

* In ''Manga/ShoukokuNoAltair'', Süleyman is the chief of spies for Türkiye. He's constantly traveling to keep in touch with the spies stationed in each country of Rumeliana and recruit other potential spies. And he works under Zağanos Pasha, who is their superior and tells them what it is they have to do directly.

* In ''Literature/TheZombieKnight'', Ivan "[[RedBaron the Salesman of Death]]" is the spymaster for the Morgunov Abolishers, as well as being involved heavily with their revenue operations and negotiations with client states. On top of that, he's a [[PersonOfMassDestruction fearsome combatant]] in his own right, [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority as is anyone in the Abolish or Vanguard inner circles]].

* "Wild Bill" Donovan led the American OSS (precursor to the UsefulNotes/{{CIA}}) during World War II. As his nickname suggests, he was anything but cold, dour, or reserved -- essentially he was the BoisterousBruiser running a spy agency. Alan Dulles, a somewhat stiff Boston Brahmin, was Chief of Station for the OSS in Switzerland and later boss of the UsefulNotes/{{CIA}}. One of ''his'' curious tactics during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was to make it [[RefugeInAudacity obvious]] who he was as he could, and then wait for recruits to show up. Interestingly, that worked quite well and he got one or two very useful [[TheMole moles]].

* ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'' has Heiss, head of Special Intelligence, which deals in espionage and other sneaky business for the nation of Alistel. Specint's existence is not a secret, and interestingly there is some tension between them and the army.

* ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'' has Heiss, head of Specint, which deals in espionage and other sneaky business. Specint's existence is not a secret, and interestingly there is some tension between them and the army.

* Unsurprisingly, the La Resistance expansion for the fourth ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIron'' game, which introduced an intelligence agency, allows the player to become one of these for their faction. If you manage to do so as the British Raj, you even gain an achievement for doing so.

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