FBI Agent: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
An agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or one of its fictional counterparts.
The FBI is the investigative branch of the United States of America's Department of Justice. See [[FBI]] for information about the agency. This is about the agents in fiction.
From the late 1920s through the 1950s; "G-Men" were seen in fiction as incorruptible forces for law and America, with very rare exceptions. However, J. Edgar Hoover's suspicion of the politics and motivations of prominent civil rights activists, and growing paranoia about the social changes in America, caused the FBI's activities to become increasingly out of step with the times. Mishandled cases and other scandals, some decades old, were talked about more publicly. After Hoover died in 1972, a law previously passed to limit the tenure of FBI directors came into effect. Scurrilous rumors of J. Edgar's sexual peccadillos or connection to organized crime figures got a lot more play once he couldn't sic his agents on those reporting them.
Media portrayals of the FBI since then have generally depicted a flawed but usually well-meaning organization, some of whose agents are corrupt or evil. Works of fiction will often use a [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]] version of the FBI and Hoover. They have [[CIA Evil, FBI Good|a better public image than the CIA]], of course.
FBI agents during the majority of the Hoover period were [[Always Male]] (there had been female agents before he took office, but he felt that women were unsuited for the work) and agents of color were rare to non-existent, which made working in certain communities, especially infiltration of them, difficult. Special agents must have a 4-year ("bachelor's") college degree, with a preference given to Law and Accounting.
Sometimes overlaps with [[The Men in Black]]. If the FBI isn't the only law enforcement agency involved, there may be [[Jurisdiction Friction]]. For agents of other government agencies without their own entry, including fictional ones, see [[Government Agency of Fiction]].
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== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Baccano
* Appears in ''[[
== Film ==
* The James Cagney movie ''G-Men'', was released in 1935, and was the first movie about the renamed FBI.
* Will Graham and Clarice Starling of ''[[The Silence of the Lambs]]''.
* ''[[Dog Day Afternoon]]''. FBI Agent Sheldon is portrayed as being tough, unflappable and in charge, and the bank robber Sonny clearly respects him. Agent Murphy is chosen to drive the getaway car, and he cleverly asks Sal (the other bank robber) to point his gun up so he won't accidentally shoot anyone. When they arrive at the airport Murphy uses a gun stashed in a hidden compartment to kill Sal while Agent Sheldon captures Sonny.
* ''[[
* Zeke Kelso and assorted other agents in ''[[
* ''[[Once Upon a Time In Mexico]]'' features Jorge Ramirez, a [[Retired Badass|retired]] FBI agent living in Mexico. After being recruited by [[The Chessmaster|Agent Sands]], he ends up dusting off his old skills and tools to find out what Barillo is up to.
* ''[[Rush Hour]]'' has FBI agents and Detective Carter ([[Chris Tucker]]) apparently wants to join the FBI early in the film. He decides to stick with the LAPD in the end.
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== Literature ==
* FBI agent Lemmy Caution appeared in Peter Chaney's novels ''This Man Is Dangerous'' (1936) and ''Can Ladies Kill?'' (1938).
* Will Graham and Clarice Starling of ''[[The Silence of the Lambs]]''.
* The FBI is an important part of the plot in the [[Nero Wolfe]] novel ''The Doorbell Rang''. Rex Stout (the author) really hated J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, so the novel is pretty much entirely a [[Take That]] against them.
* The FBI are all over the place in [[Tom Clancy]]'s Ryanverse novels. Several FBI agents are major characters, including one who saves the life of Ryan's daughter during a terrorist attack.
* In [[Kim Newman]]'s Diogenes Club stories, the heroes' American counterparts are FBI agents. "Moon Moon Moon" explains that they're agents of ''a'' federal bureau of investigation, which is not ''the'' Federal Bureau of Investigation.
* In the Dresden Files book Fool Moon, the FBI shows up to investigate a series of killings with a wolf element. One of Murphy's ex's is also an FBI agent.
* [[John Ringo]]'s ''[[
== Live Action Television ==
* ''The F.B.I.'', a television show with fictionalized versions of real FBI cases, starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
* ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' featured FBI agent Dale Cooper.
* ''[[
* The final season of ''[[
* The FBI is highly prominent in the seventh season of ''[[24
* Agents of the FBI are also featured in the show ''[[
* ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' (Donut Run): Two FBI agents come to Neptune to investigate Duncan's disappearance, but they spend most of their time snarking about backwater Neptune and belittling Sheriff Lamb.
** The Season Four teaser showed that had the series continued, it would have portrayed Veronica's FBI Academy career.
** Also Deputy Director Cullen, Director Hacker, and for a while, Anget Sullivan. A guy named Agent Kenton was a corrupt one in one episode.
* In ''[[Castle]]'', Beckett has an ex in the FBI who she occasionally hits up for favors.
* Fitz from ''[[The Wire]]''. He's friendly with McNulty; as a rule, he genuinely wants to help the Baltimore police department with whatever problem they have that needs federal resources, but is constrained by the department's post-9/11 focus on counterterrorism.
* ''[[
* ''[[The Inside]]'': The FBI allows [[Magnificent Bastard|Special Agent Virgil Webster]] to operate an elite team out of the Los Angeles field office, called the VCU.
* ''[[
* FBI agents appear several times on ''[[The Wire]]''.
* ''[[Sue Thomas:
* All the main characters of ''[[
** And the main characters of its [[Spin-Off]], ''[[Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior]]''.
* ''[[
* ''[[Dollhouse]]'' has Paul Ballard {{spoiler|who gets kicked out and ends up working for the company he was investigating.}}
* ''[[
** And in one episode, [[Adam Baldwin]] plays a fellow FBI agent who helps Booth investigate a gruesome murder and agrees to protect Bones when Booth is injured. {{spoiler|He is secretly working for the Mafia.}}
* ''[[Burn Notice]]'': In the first season, Sam informs on Michael to the FBI (though Michael knows he's doing it), who are curious as to why a known spook has washed up in Miami. In later seasons, [[Those Two Guys|Agents Lane and Harris]] pop up from time to time to reluctantly help Team Westen.
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== Video Games ==
* J. Edgar Hoover and the Bureau of Investigation (as the game takes place before the name change) show up (and torture the player character) in ''[[Dark Corners of the Earth|Call Of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth]]''.
* ''[[Heavy Rain]]'': <s>Norman</s> [[Fan Nickname|Nahman]] Jayden is an FBI profiler who also has access to technology that lets him be a one-man CSI team.
* Francis York Morgan from ''[[Deadly Premonition]]''. He's pretty strongly influenced by [[Twin Peaks|Dale Cooper]].
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== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[
* When Ashley Madder "disappears" in ''[[Tales Of Gnosis College]]'', a whole team of FBI agents, headed by Special Agent-in-Charge Macneil, is sent in to investigate.
* Agent Ben and Agent Jerry, [[The Men in Black]] from ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'' work for the FBI.
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