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{{trope}}
[[File:Operation Rabbit Plan 1.jpg|thumb|400px|Because every operation needs a plan]]
{{quote|''"Begin Operation: Something-Thingy!"''|'''Evil Blah''', from the Flash movie ''[[The Demented Cartoon Movie]]''}}▼
{{quote|''"Begin Operation: [[Buffy-Speak|Something-Thingy]]!"''
▲
{{quote|'''Steven Heck''': So Operation Turbo Panther is finally a go!
'''Mike Thorton''': Operation....''what''?
'''Steven Heck''': Oh, yeah. I name all the operations that go down in Taipei, even the ones that aren't mine. Operation Latex Turtle, Operation Angry Bees, Operation ''AAAAAHHHH-'''YOOOOOOOW!''''' Heh. That was a good one.
|'''[[Alpha Protocol]]'''}}
Standard naming scheme for military plans, "Operation: Some Phrase". Used in real life, and in any series involving spies, soldiers, and the government, or parodies thereof. Straight uses are too numerous to count, but some common subversions, variants, and spoofs come up. A [[Code Name]] for a plan instead of a person, and can follow the same conventions. Science uses an almost identical scheme, but their stuff starts with "Project:".
In real life, operation names are ([[We All Live in America|at least American military ones]]), since the first [[Gulf War]], often optimistically descriptive (Operation Restore Hope, Operation Allied Force, Operation Iraqi Freedom [an infamous [[Retool]] from [[Fun with Acronyms|Operation Iraqi Liberation]]...], Operation Enduring
The US began using marketing people to come up with these after their earlier method (a random name generator) produced "Operation: Bolton" as the name for Desert Storm (The American contribution to the First [[Gulf War]]). However there were fears about retaliation against the town of Bolton and also that troops would be embarrassed to go to war in an operation named after a dreary little town in the north of England. It became more of a ''brand name'' than a [[Code Name]]. Wartime or covert operations are more obliquely named, with security a higher consideration than sounding cool (though let's face it, Operation Anaconda was pretty cool.). The British magazine ''New Statesman'' remarked that it said a lot about the difference between American and [[Stiff Upper Lip|English]] culture that the USA called the Iraq War "Operation Iraqi Freedom" and the UK called it "Operation Telic" (a word that means "tending to a definite end", chosen from a random list).
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Favorite things to fill in the blank:
* '''Mythological allusions''', especially common if a scientist or academic named the thing, which they often do: Phoebus, Perseus, Hercules, Gemini, [[Princess Principal|Changeling]]. These are also common examples of "hero can work it out with the right information".
* '''Animal name''', with or without attached adjective: [[Looney Tunes|Rabbit]] (as shown in the page image), Stone Rhino, Burning Hawk, [[Worms|Concrete Donkey]], Iron Serpent...
* '''Tool name''': Crowbar, Hammer, Icepick...
* '''Sports position''': Usually from American football, probably influenced by the real life Operation Linebacker during Vietnam. Operation Quarterback, Running Back, Pinch Hitter...
* '''Location name''', either specific locations or general types of locations: [[Mobile Suit Gundam|Odessa]], [[The Penguins of Madagascar|Antarctica]], [[A Bridge Too Far|Market Garden]], [[Inglourious Basterds|Kino]]. Most infamously, Operation Sedan (a nuclear weapons test, named for a city in France), which would cause an international incident when the name was later mispronounced as "Sudan", leading to the question of whether the US was performing illegal tests in other countries.
Common subversions, parodies, and spoofs:
* Extremely silly name, or overly stereotypical
* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Too descriptive to conceal the secret nature of the plan]]
* Almost illiterate in construction
May sometimes begin after a [[Whoa, Bundy!]] rally cry.
----▼
▲----
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'' has a poster stating that the name of their scheme is called "Operation: Haru-chan Is Absolutely, Definitely And In All Ways A Guy!"
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** Sequel ''SEED Destiny'' has Juna Roma name Operations after Greek mythological characters because he's a putz.
* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' is full of these. Running the full gambit of blatantly obvious "Operation Odessa" target was Odessa. To completely obscure, "Operation Cembalo" named after an old musical instrument. "Operation British" and "Operation Star One" fall in the relevant, but you'd have to know category.
* In ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'', the [[Alpha Bitch]] tries a series of schemes to discredit [[
* Episode 6 of ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' is "Operation: Yashima", where NERV plans to defeat an angel with a [[Wave Motion Gun|disintegration beam]] by having an Eva snipe it with a positron rifle (also appears with minimal differences in ''Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0''). The [[wikipedia:Battle of Yashima|Battle of Yashima]] was a naval battle [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|between two clans fighting for control of Japan]], known for [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|one of the most legendary feats of archery]] in Japanese history.
* Yuri of ''[[Angel Beats!]]'' always gives her missions these names. Very frequently, as with Operation Tornado (using fans to steal meal tickets) and Operation Monster Stream (fishing), the names are [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]].
{{quote|Yuri: Operation...START!}}
* In ''[[Mai-Otome Zwei]]'', the name of the operation to free the hostages from the bus is named "Operation Silent Sea," based on the assumption that [[Leeroy Jenkins|Haruka]] would be excluded from it. Unfortunately, she gives [[Cranial Eruption
* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory]]'' is partly named after Operation Stardust, which starts with [[Gundamjack
* ''[[Princess Principal]]''{{'}}s "Project: Changeling" drives the entire plot.
* Miho in ''[[Girls und Panzer]]'' is known for giving her battle plans ... uninspired ... names in this format.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* "Operation: Rebirth" is the name of the experiment that gave Steve Rogers
** Or Project:{{spoiler|Weapon I/Weapon Plus}}.
== [[Fan
* In ''[[Shinji and
* In ''[[Ready, Sette, Go]]'', [[Emotionless Girl|Sette]] (who has been released from prison and seeks out Cinque for further orders) puts "Operation" in front of many things, including a suggestion by [[Genki Girl|Wendi]] to act more normally and not call everything an "operation".
* ''[[Queen of All Oni]]'': Jade's [[Batman Gambit]] to {{spoiler|get one of the masks on one of the heroes and use them to infiltrate Section 13 and steal the other masks}} is called "Operation Steel Lightning". Her [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] are quick to point out that the name makes no sense whatsoever and suggest more fitting alternatives, but she shoots them all
* ''[[Jewel of Darkness]]'': Midnight's master plan at the culmination of the Jump City Arc, to {{spoiler|capture Robin and torture him into insanity}} in order to permanently break the Titans, is codenamed "Operation Blackfire"
* One of the ''[[The Abridged Series|Higurashi Parody Fandub Series]]'' episodes had Rika declare, "Operation: Get back at this crazy bitch for killing my friends is a go!" when she was about to spray tear gas into Shion's eyes.▼
* At one point during fifth year in ''[[Hermione Granger and the Boy Who Lived]]'', Hermione assigns the <s>Weasley</s> [[The Duke of Wellington|Wellesley]] Twins to "Operation Prankster":
{{quote|"Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make Umbridge's life a living hell." }}
▲* One of the [[The Abridged Series|Higurashi Parody Fandub Series]] episodes had Rika declare, "Operation: Get back at this crazy bitch for killing my friends is a go!" when she was about to spray tear gas into Shion's eyes.
* In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' fic ''[[Xendra]]'': when the Scoobies make plans to expand their intelligence on the DRI, they spend some time discussing what to call their plans, at one point invoking this trope. But ultimately this is averted, as they can't agree on any of the words to fill in the "Blank", and simply end up calling whatever they do "The Op", "The Other Op", and "The Other Other Op", as needed.
== [[Film]] ==
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* [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] overhears [[Goldfinger]] talking about "Operation Grand Slam". Although he hasn't the faintest idea what it means, he's able to bluff the villain into keeping him alive purely on the basis of knowing the name.
** Also, ''[[Thunderball]]'' is the operation involving the rescue of [[Empty Quiver|hijacked nuclear missiles]].
* ''[[Operation Dumbo Drop]]''
* Alice is part of Project Nemesis in ''[[Resident Evil:
* In the popular Soviet comedy ''[[Operation Y]]'' (''Операция Ы''), the titular operation is an insurance scam by a warehouse administrator, named so by one of the hired thugs so that "nobody guesses why". In Russian, there are no words that start with the letter "Ы".
* ''[[Operation: Endgame]]'', described on this wiki as "How To Kill Your Friends With Office Supplies: The Movie".
== [[Literature]] ==
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* ''[[The Sixth Battle]]'' has a US amphibious landing codenamed Operation {{spoiler|Evil Hyphen}}.
* In ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]'', Jack Ryan is told his operation's codename is "Mandolin" and his mission codename is "Magi". The names came from a list, as Ryan considers "Magi" inappropriate for him.
* [[H. Beam Piper]]'s ''The Edge of the Knife'' revealed that the U.S. prepared for the possibility of [[World War III]] in 1973 with "Operation Triple Cross": the enemy launched missile attacks on a number of vital
* ''Operation Terror'', a suspense novel by Gordon and Mildred Gordon that was adapted into the 1962 film ''Experiment in Terror''.
== [[Live
* In the ''[[Angel]]'' episode "Groundstate", Gunn asks what they'll need for "[[Sarcasm Mode|Operation Chance in Hell]]".
* In ''[[3rd Rock from the Sun]]'', Sally and Harry determine that Mary's brother Roy, who seems to be an alien abductee, knows too much and must be done away with. Their plan to get rid of him is fittingly named "Operation: Kilroy".
* The title character from ''[[Parker Lewis Can't Lose]]'' would occasionally do this in the middle of an episode.
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* ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'':
{{quote|'''Sheppard''': ''Operation "This Will Most Likely End Badly" is a go.''}}
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' hid the SGC's funding under the innocuous label of
** Note that in real life, "Project Blue Book" was the Air Force's [[wikipedia:Project Blue Book|investigation into UFO sightings]], ending in 1970.
* From an episode of ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'':
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'''Michael''': No, let's try to top that.
'''Narrator''': They never did and five minutes later, Operation: Hot Mother was under way. }}
* The last episode of season one of ''[[Star Trek:
* [[Stephen Colbert]] was once given a flag that had been flown over the US Embassy in Afghanistan (?){{verify}} during an (apparently actually real) mission known as Operation: Beef Hammer. As he noted, it doesn't get more American than that.
* One episode of ''[[Blackadder]] Goes Forth'' has General Melchett call for volunteers to take part in a mission codenamed Operation: Certain Death.
* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[Chuck]]''. The protagonists are running a top secret operation tasked in part with protecting the Human Intersect Project, one Chuck Bartowski, and in part with using his abilities for spy business of all kinds. It's called "Operation Bartowski". [[Face Palm]].
* In the later seasons of ''[[Smallville]]'', [[Lex Luthor]] had a tendency to name his secret projects this way with some straightforward classical references: the culmination of his experiments on "meteor freaks" to create a [[Super Soldier]] was called "Project Ares<ref>effectively, Project War God</ref>", his attempts to {{spoiler|clone his brother}} was "Project Gemini<ref>Twin Brothers</ref>", his attempts to build a suit that copies Clark's powers was "Project Prometheus<ref>The god who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man</ref>", etc.
* ''[[Space: Above and Beyond]]'' gives us "Operation Roundhammer", the code-name for an all-out assault on {{spoiler|The Chig Homeworld}}. For bonus points, the moon that the operation is planned to be launched from is code-named "Anvil". The operation is even mentioned in [[Foreshadowing]] earlier in the series, with earlier missions being stated to be in support of it, without revealing to the viewers just ''what'' Roundhammer was supposed to accomplish until the penultimate episode of the series.
* ''[[Nikita (TV series)|Nikita]]'': Division missions are all codenamed this way. According to Michael, the more innocent sounding the name, usually the more devastating the mission.
== Music ==
* ''[[Operation Mindcrime]]''
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* Played with in a [[Footnote Fever|piece of marginalia]] from ''[[Warhammer
== [[Video Games]] ==
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* Part spoof and part [[Shout-Out]], the first mission in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3'' is code-named "Virtuous Mission." Anyone who had been annoyed by [[The Scrappy|Raiden]] in the previous game must've been glad to know that it was not, as Snake joked, "Virtual Mission".
** The second mission fits as well, being code-named "Operation [[Title Drop|Snake Eater]]."
* In ''[[City of Heroes]]'', the covert paramilitary force known as the Malta Operatives
** Task and Strike Forces -- the teams formed for special story arcs -- were assigned randomly-selected names in the form "Task/Strike Force (Word)" which could range from the profound to the jejune.
* Each mission in ''[[Supreme Commander]]'' is named Operation _______. Generally, the mission name reflects the content of the mission in some
* In ''[[Fables]]'', Cinderella points out the peril of code names that reveal something about the operation, and bemoans the "anachronistic men who cling to romantic notions of war" responsible for her side's names.
* ''[[Ace Combat]]'' missions often have titles of this form. While the stage may have a different name, an Operation: Blank code name frequently appears in the [[Mission Briefing]] (except emergency missions which get no operation name). See examples: ''[http://acecombat.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_missions_in_Ace_Combat_04 AC04]'', ''[http://acecombat.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_missions_in_Ace_Combat_5 AC5]'', ''[http://acecombat.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_missions_in_Ace_Combat_Zero ACZ]''.
* ''[[Command
** ''Tiberium Wars'' doesn't usually do this, except for one particularly tough Nod mission; [[Scrappy Level|Operation Stiletto]].
* In ''[[Mass Effect]] 2'', Cerberus was responsible for the Lazarus Project, a name with such obvious implications that {{spoiler|Commander Shepard's resurrection}} was not surprising in the least.
** DLC adds Project: Overlord, {{spoiler|an attempt to sway the loyalty of the geth by creating a new god figure to replace Sovereign}}, and Project: Firewalker, {{spoiler|an archaeological mission to recover a Prothean artifact from a volcanic world}}.
** And in the sequel, multiplayer events take this format as well. So far, we've had Operation Goliath {{spoiler|(kill 1 million of the appropriately-named Brutes)}}, Operation Fortress, Operation Raptor, Operation Beachhead, Operation Resurgence {{spoiler|(play on the new Resurgence maps)}}, Operation Exorcist {{spoiler|(kill 1 million Phantoms)}}, Operation Silencer {{spoiler|(kill 3 million Banshees)}}, Operation Shieldwall, and Operation Mastiff.
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** The game itself names all of your missions in this fashion: Operation Desert Spear (Saudi Arabia), Operation Deus Vult (Rome), Operation True Heirs (Taipei), Operation Blood Feud (Moscow), and Operation Full Circle (the [[Grand Finale]]).
* In ''[[Mega Man Zero]] 2'', there's Elpizo's "Operation Righteous Strike", which is essentially an invasion by [[La Résistance]] of [[The Empire|Neo Arcadia.]] The operation fails horribly, with [[Redshirt Army|many redshirts]] dead and Zero having to rescue Elpizo before he's killed by [[Hero Antagonist|the Guardians.]]
** In the [[All There in the Manual|drama tracks,]] there's "Project Elpizo", the project that instigated the creation of the "Sigma Antibody Program", [[Energy Being|Mother Elf]]. TK-31 (Elpizo's former codename) accidentally found the data about this project, and because it's supposed to be a secret for Neo Arcadia, he's declared a Maverick by Harpuia. Eventually, he managed to run away from the country and changed his name into... [[Captain Obvious|you know...]] As well as starting his quest for power by stealing the Baby Elves.
* ''[[R-Type]]'' gives us Operation Last Dance from ''R-Type Final'', and Operation Bitter Chocolate from ''R-Type Tactics II: Operation Bitter Chocolate''.
* ''[[Zack and Wiki]]'' has "Operation Takeback."
* The mid-80s arcade game, ''[[Operation Wolf]]''
** Its sequel, ''Operation: Thunderbolt''<ref>Taito later made two other sequels. The first was simply called "Operation: Wolf 3", while the next was called "Operation: Tiger".</ref>
* In ''[[Persona 3]]'', Junpei calls the guys' attempts to pick up chicks on the beach Operation Babe Hunt. [[Dropped a Bridget On Him|It doesn't go well.]]
* ''[[Operation: Inner Space]]'', which has its own page here.
== [[Web Animation]] ==
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Parody: In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0153.html #153], when Roy the [[Genius Bruiser]] refuses to help the others rescue Elan, they note that this eliminates "Operation: Send the Meat Shield in First" and "Operation: Wait for Roy to Come Up With a Better Plan".
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]''
** In [
** [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2016-08-14 Operation "Elephant Party"].
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', Tedd refers to the rescue of Elliot as "Operation: Zelda".
** Revealed by [[Word of God]] in a filler that this had been a long planned joke, but that's something else entirely.
* ''[[Full Frontal Nerdity]]'' has [http://ffn.nodwick.com/?p=1961 Operation Fuchsia Tiger Asteroid].
** And refers to [[Random Name Generator]] [https://www.codenamegenerator.com/ codenamegenerator.com]
== [[Web Original]] ==
* ''[[Tech Infantry]]'' plays this straight most of the time, but lampshades this at one point.
{{quote|"The plan was codenamed Operation Foliage Gear. The Federation had gone back to random computer-generated operational code names after Operation Ziggurat had failed to relieve the siege of the planet Babylon due to poor security. }}
* In ''[[Fenspace]]'', the organized anti-piracy and anti-slavery effort -- which became an outright war -- was called "Operation [[Zero Wing|Great Justice]]".
* Per ''[[Things Mr. Welch Is No Longer Allowed to Do In An RPG]]'',
{{quote|1332. Even if silence is required for the entire adventure, we are not naming the Black Ops Operation: Mimecrime.}}
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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** Also worth mentioning is Dr. Drakken's "Operation Catastrophic Doom".
*** Which [[Deadpan Snarker|Shego]] renamed "Plan Too-Complicated-To-Actually-Work."
** Drakken takes it to the point of telling Shego that he needs her for "Project Gherkin"
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'', Bart tries to make the teacher's strike go longer. His plan: "Operation: Make Strike Go Longer".
** In another episode, the family tries to make Lisa reverse her conversion to Buddhism using "Operation: X-mas, Remind Of How Good Is".
** "Operation: Judge Get Back At"
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* ''[[Family Guy]]'':
{{quote|'''Army General:''' Peter Griffin! Surrender immediately, or we will institute "Operation: Bomb the Crap out of Your House". The guy that names things is on vacation, apparently.}}
* An old ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' short had Wile E. Coyote attempt to capture Bugs Bunny with a number of complex scientific contraptions, the name of the cartoon (and each device, with an ascending number as the previous attempts fail) is "Operation: Rabbit". This now provides this page's image.
* This also occurs frequently on ''[[Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines]]'', whenever Dick Dastardly devises a new plan to [[Catch That Pigeon]]. In fact, two of the shorts were titled "Operation Anvil" and "Operation Birdbrain".
* Parodied in ''[[South Park]]: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut'', where the U.S. Army had two different operations: The minorities were in "Operation Human Shield", part of the "all-important first attack wave, expected to have heavy casualties" while the whites were in "Operation Get Behind the Darkies", who, well...
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* Happens [[Once an Episode]] in ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]''. Sometimes the operation names are clever, sometimes they're quite obvious. A [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade is hung]] in ''Popcorn Panic'' when Kowalski points out that "Operation: Popcorn" seems "a bit on the nose".
** Whenever Nickelodeon promotes new episodes, promotions for it usually give it an [[Operation Blank]] title, when the actual title is something entirely different. So far the only episode titles actually done this way are "Operation: Plush and Cover", "Operation: Cooties", "Operation: Good Deed", "Operation: Antarctica" and "Operation: Big Blue Marble".
* ''[[Sheep in The Big City]]'':
{{quote|''General Specific:'' We will begin Operation Kidnap That Sheep That We Need For The Ray Gun And Don't Let Him Get Away Again Storm as soon as I say "Commence Operation Kidnap That Sheep That We Need For The Ray Gun And Don't Let Him Get Away Again Storm". Commence Operation Kidnap That Sheep That We Need For The Ray Gun And Don't Let Him Get Away Again Storm!}}
** You could always use the ''acronym'': Operation KtStWNftRGaDLHGAAS.
* ''[[Invader Zim]]''{{'}}s Irken plan for galactic conquest is called "Operation Impending [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|Doom]]". Well, "Operation Impending Doom Two". "Operation Impending Doom One" turned out a little differently than expected, thanks to the title character.
* ''[[The Venture Bros]]'' naturally has plenty of these. Brock Samson's assignment as Venture's bodyguard is the insulting, if accurate, "Operation: Rusty's Blanket."
== Troping ==
* The trope name [[Operation: Jealousy]].
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Naming Conventions]]
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
▲[[Category:Operation Blank]]
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