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The Men in Black: Difference between revisions
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* In Katekyo Hitman Reborn, since it centers on the mafia world, practically everything is all about black suits and ties. The younger tenth generation kept it generic by wearing white shirts, but their older versions go with colored shirts depending on their flames and TYL Tsuna wears a pinstripped suit.
* Saruwatari (best known as the Hair Guy) and other Industrial Illusions and Kaiba Corp employees from [[Yu-Gi-Oh!]] have this theme going on.
* [[CP 9]] in [[One Piece]] qualifies, given that everyone thought that the Cipher Pol divisions only went up to 8 (similar to how [[MI 6]] exists as the super-secret extra number in the [[James Bond]] continuities), but it's different in that [[CP 9]] has a number of very colorful characters who operate under what are presumably their real names. A number of literal "men in black" work for them as [[Mook|mooks]], however. Another alternative would be Baroque Works, whose upper membership operated in a more conventional cloak-and-dagger scenario, with people like Mr. 2 a.k.a. Bon Clay a.k.a. Bentham.
* Roger Smith from ''[[The Big O]]'', emphasis on the "B": everything he wears (apart from his white shirts) has to be black, as does anything worn by his butler and android companion. Subverted, though, in that he's not a shady government agent, rather a freelance negotiator, but he is in the business of keeping secrets, like his [[Humongous Mecha]]-based vigilantism.
* Mr. K from [[Shin Chan]] is a parody of this trope, but he's more of a [[Badly-Battered Babysitter]] to a spoiled rich kid than actual agent.
* The [[Mooks]] of the Kiga Group in ''[[Mawaru Penguindrum]]'' wear a more classic combination of black overcoat and fedora, but they are definitely men in black in appearance and action.
* A bunch of these show up in Marika's cafe in the pilot of ''[[Bodacious Space Pirates]]''. Later, Chiaki identifies them as working for various government agencies. Possibly subverted in that they were mostly there to protect her.
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::All have access to various suits and uniforms and unusually well-taken-care-of older model cars.
* R-Complex from ''[[Scare Tactics (comics)|Scare Tactics]]''.
* In ''[[Fables]]'', the army of wooden soldiers that attack Fabletown dress in typical MIB attire.
* Gleefully subverted in an issue of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage|Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', in which two Men in Black show up to debrief the turtles' friend Casey Jones after an encounter with an alien robot. However, the agents are actually aliens themselves, testing human reactions to see whether Earth is ready to be contacted openly by their race.
* ''[[Gold Digger (Comic Book)|Gold Digger]]'' has Agency Zero, which was a traditional [[Super Team]] that switched over to this trope to avoid the downsides of traditional superheroism (supervillains going after them or their loved ones, etc.)
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** The Lowell Cunningham comic series from which the movies were most directly adapted were less positive: sympathetic, maybe, but these defenders of the Earth were not noble.
* The "Low Men" from ''Hearts In Atlantis''.
* ''[[The Blues Brothers]]'': Jake and Elwood are dressed in black suits, white shirts, and shades. When they relentlessly question a woman while trying to get their band together, she says "Are you the police?" and Dan Aykroyd replies, in perfect police deadpan "No, ma'am. We're musicians." Jake and Elwood's costumes were left over from SNL skits in which they played Secret Service agents guarding Chevy Chase.
* The Agents of ''[[The Matrix]]'' are portrayed as [[The Men in Black]], even though they wear dark green. Police officers and other people in [[The Matrix]] naturally regard them as authority figures, though their true nature and purpose is much more sinister. The three Agents in the first movie are named "Agent Smith," "Agent Brown," and "Agent Jones," the "upgraded" ones in the sequels are called Jackson, Johnson and Thompson.
** Additionally, there are Agents [[Black and Gray Morality|Black and Gray]] from the MMORPG ''[[The Matrix]] Online''. Agent Gray is the only Agent to have prolonged contact with humans (both humans and machines are working against the Merovingian's rogue programs), and this distinction almost makes him feel... "proud".
** When Smith is reformatted in the sequels, he does start wearing a black suit.
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* ''[[Repo Man]]'' featured one of the most popular concept of the Men In Black before the ''MIB'' movie came out. They're all tall, pale, and have unnaturally-shaped and -colored blond hair.
* ''[[Film/The Brother From Another Planet|The Brother From Another Planet]]'' is an escaped alien slave. Two alien slave-hunters are after him, dressed in black suits and posing as INS agents. They are utterly unconvincing in their oddly-affected manner. One woman angrily bawls them out in Spanish, the words "Johnny Cash" and "Roy Orbison" heard in her rapid-fire shouting.
* ''[[Hellboy (film)|Hellboy]]'' features regular human agents in suits and ties alongside the superpowered specialists. They tend to not fare [[Red Shirt|particularly well]].
* ''[[Laserblast]]'' has a character who's obviously supposed to be one of these despite him wearing the clever disguise of an ''olive-green casual suit'' straight from the depths of [[The Seventies]].
* In ''[[Thor (film)|Thor]]'' and possibly other [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]] films, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. dress and act like Men In Black, even though they're portrayed as good guys once you get to know them.
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* ''[[The Mothman Prophecies]]'' the book talks about MIB agents snooping around town where the sightings were going on. This book is, in fact, probably the [[Trope Codifier]], and is based on witness testimonials from actual people author John Keel interviewed about a rash of UFO/monster sightings in rural West Virginia. The movie made no mention of them.
** The Men in Black described were the creepiest sort as well. They had reptilian features, always sported a [[Slasher Smile]], didn't quite seem to know how to use the correct inflections in their speech (much like the G-Man from ''[[Half Life]]''), were completely puzzled by everyday objects, drove dated cars that were somehow ''brand new'', and sometimes giggled unnervingly. One of them called himself "Indrid Cold".
* ''[[Hunt For The Skin Walker]]'' the book mentions reports of men driving around in black Cadillacs in a place where seeing a car would be extremely unusual.
* ''[[Good Omens]]'' has The Them speculate about MIB, who they reckon probably cause traffic accidents because of all the big black cars going around telling people they haven't seen aliens. Unlike most of Adam's ideas they don't show up, although it's possible that America did suddenly start swarming with them and none of the main cast heard about it.
* ''[[Declare]]'', by [[Tim Powers]], features a mixture of international intrigue and the supernatural; there are several apy agencies within larger spy agencies responsible for dealing with the djinn. Since the book draws its roots from hard espionage, though, said spies do ''not'' wear black suits and sunglasses, nor are they there to cover things up from the public.
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* The main character of ''[[Dark Skies]]'' first joins, then goes on the run from an MIB-type organization (Majestic 12).
* [[Fringe]] has an interesting variation in the form of The Observers, strange hairless men in black suits and hats, who exist outside of normal time, have been present at virtually every important historical event, and speak with an odd, stilted inflection. They subvert the usual behavior of the MIB in that their [[Blue and Orange Morality]] dictates absolute noninterference (except when fixing an earlier interference). As such, they try not to interact directly with people at all, do not employ [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]], and make no attempt to cover anything up. They just...[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|observe]].
* At the very end of ''[[Community]]'' episode "[[Community/Recap/S2
* ''[[Honey I Shrunk the Kids (TV series)|Honey I Shrunk the Kids]]'': [[The Series]] had a group of these. They were involved in all sorts of conspiracies, up to and including the meaning of the pyramid on the back of one dollar bills. They are themselves aliens, and are killed by the family by tricking them into eating shrunk care tires that expand to their original size shortly afterwards.
* [[Being Human (UK)]]: Appears to have 'men in grey' who work to keep the supernatural a secret.
* In one episode of [[Bones]], Hodgins calls in a false criminal report to ensure that a suspect, who is protected by [[Diplomatic Immunity]], is detained at the airport long enough for the FBI to arrive. At the end of the episode, he is seen being led away by men in black suits for interrogation. Being [[Conspiracy Theorist|Hodgins]], he is ecstatic.
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* MIB were a common enemy in ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]''. The faction they belonged to, the New World Order convention of the Technocracy, also included Men in Grey (infiltrators, who rarely actually wore grey suits) and Men in White (who acted as [[Internal Affairs|internal police]]). It is noted that this is just one of many guises they have used throughout the centuries.
* ''[[New World of Darkness]]'':
** The nWoD has the Men in Black, mysterious entities from beyond who show up in pristine suits, don't quite act human, go by names like "Mr. Door" and "Agent Clock" and act to... neutralize any individual who's had an encounter with the supernatural.
** In ''[[Hunter: The Vigil]]'', the (human) Men in Black are officially designated Task Force: VALKYRIE.
** There's another group, Division Six, that ''thinks'' it's the Men in Black, but they're actually being used as a hitman squad by the Seers of the Throne from ''[[Mage: The Awakening]]''. Division Six is a direct reference and possible [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Men in Black (film)|Men in Black]]'', referring to the cover story ("(Name of Agency), Division Six") most often used by the MIB agents in the movies and especially in the animated series.
* The Company in ''[[GURPS]] Black Ops''.
** Also referenced directly in ''GURPS Illuminati,'' the Third Edition supplement about worlds based on conspiracy theory.
** In ''GURPS Technomancer'', "Mages in Black" are part of the general lore around [[The Fair Folk|Seelie]] sightings and abductions (which may or may not actually happen).
* Delta Green in the ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'' RPG ''were'' the official Men in Black of the setting until a giant snafu in the Seventies that resulted in massive losses and the dismantling of the organization. Now it exists as a conspiracy within several government agencies, while their arch-rivals, the MAJESTIC conspiracy, have risen to the roost with an even less moral approach to skullduggery. At times the ''Delta Green'' setting gets positively ''crowded'' with sinister guys in sunglasses, all trying to intimidate each other.
* The Imperial Inquisition of ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' can be seen as an unusually well-developed version, which does seek to keep Imperial citizens as ignorant of Chaos (among other things) as possible, and they don't hesitate to silence those who have seen too much in a rather permanent fashion. Including entire planetary populations.
** They don't exactly wear black, but they do have black spaceships.
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** In a combination of [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] and [[Crowning Moment of Funny]], the head of Agency operations in the Weird West is none other than {{spoiler|Abe Lincoln himself, risen from the grave.}}
* ''[[Teenagers From Outer Space]]'' has its Alien Control Officers, who are supposed to keep the chaos caused by alien students to a minimum. Since they're equipped with black suits, black sunglasses, excessive ultra-tech firepower, and "All the tactical sense of a pithed hamster", this rarely works.
* ''[[Bureau 13]]'' <ref>Release in 1983, written by Nick Pollotta of [[Tri Tac]] Games.</ref> - Released long before MIB or ''X-Files''. Players create agents of the titular government bureau and hunt down the things that go bump in the night and keep their existance secret from the nation at large. A classic setting combining supernatural horror with a touch of tongue in cheek comedy, the long awaited d20 version came out at [[Gen Con]] in 2008.
* Many conspiracies in ''[[Over the Edge]]'' use people fitting in the description as their Mooks, but the Movers are probably the most eponymous, having presence in pretty much every government.
* ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'' has the Men in Infrared, whose black clothes let them hide among regular Infrareds (low-level grunts making up something like 80% to 90% of the population).
* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' has the Keepers; mysterious, unnerving, and inhuman aberrations clad in black. They appear human at first glance, but closer inspection reveals the truth - their flesh is livid and rubbery, their joints bend in any direction, and if one removes the goggles or masks they wear, it becomes apparent that they have no eyes. As the name implies, they keep secrets. They seek out beings who know them - any kind of secret will do, as long as it is important on a large scale (or pertains to the keepers themselves). Then they appear, demanding silence and enforcing it in [[He Knows Too Much|a tried and true manner.]]
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== Theater ==
* In the play ''[[The Last Days of Judas Iscariot]]'' (based on the character of the [[The Bible|same name]]), the Devil wears an entirely black suit, black shirt, black tie, and black . And [[Sinister Shades|black shades]]. And he is often [[Scary Black Man|black]].
* ''[[wikipedia:The Black Rider|The Black Rider]]'': Pegleg, AKA [[Satan]], is a woman in a snazzy black suit and dark shades.
* ''You're Welcome America'': [[George W. Bush]] (as played by [[Will Ferrell]]) is "guarded" by a burly secret service agent who appears between acts. {{spoiler|He eventually loosens up and dances to the interstitial music.}}
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** According to himself, he has a fondness for people who know how to "survive".
* The ''[[Elite Beat Agents]]'' from the Nintendo DS game of the same name are over-the-top caricatures of this trope. Unlike many other examples, the EBA are actually out to help people by literally [[The Power of Rock|channeling their dancing powers]] to help their targets succeed in their goals. Clad in sharp black suits, they seem to be vaguely part of some secret government organization and are lead by a guy named Commander Kahn.
** Apparently, the MIB aesthetic was selected for its similarity to the stern, black-clad male cheerleaders used in the Japanese game ''[[
* ''[[City of Heroes]]'' gives your character a "Man In Black" or "Woman In Black" badge for defeating 200 Shivans, enemies that are a combination of alien goo and human corpses that spawned from meteors. There is also the Crey faction (a mega-corporation), which has people in the same familiar attire and are assumed to have the roles of infiltrating and bullying other companies. And while the actual attire isn't in the MIB style, the Malta group has mostly the same role of silencing and subverting the general populace.
* Men in Black and Women in Black are semi-common enemies in the video game ''[[Deus Ex]]''. These individuals were Series P augmented agents (Physiopharmaceutical?) whose modifications had rendered them albino. To quote the game, "so far the simple addition of sunglasses and dark clothing appear to have resolved the matter in a practical fashion." Deus Ex was very fond of using tropes and memes to enforce Genre Blindness on the population in the game -- it's remarkably easy to scoff at the idea of an MIB, whereas a towering albino with an automatic shotgun is so far off the conspiracy radar that people might actually start ''listening''.
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* The online Flash RPG ''[[Adventure Quest]]'' has N.O.V.A. (The Network of Vesparian Agents) that work for the Devourer Uncreator The'Galin.
* The ''[[Destroy All Humans!]]'' series of games about an alien invasion of Earth naturally feature these as enemies. In the first game, they belong to a secret US government organization known as Project MAJESTIC.
* There is even one in ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]]'', however this one doesn't wear all black. Instead he wears a black undershirt with a red vest on top of it. He appears three times over the course of the series, first in the first game where he is in ACDC Town on offical government business investigating WWW, when Lan messes in his undercover work, and then in the fifth game where he is tasked with the creation of a task force to stop Dr. Regal's evil plans.
** This actually carries over to the task force as since they are under his leadership, they become Men in Black too. It also appears in [[Mega Man NT Warrior|the cartoon]] also as Lan and Chaud both become Men in Black in the second season.
** You mean... Chaud, as in [[The Rival]] Chaud? He's in every single game in the series at one point or another, with the exception of the Team Colonel version of 5, where ProtoMan appears only briefly. I always considered Famous more of an MIB type anyway, white coat notwithstanding. He's far more mysterious. Heck, since you can use ProtoMan in 5 and gain his [[The Power of Friendship|Soul Unison]] in both 4 and 5, he's practically a main character. We don't even know what Famous actually does.
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'''Director:''' ''There is now.'' }}
* The ''[[Walkyverse]]'' has exactly ''one'' MIB. {{spoiler|He's an agent ''and'' an alien in disguise.}}
* MIB Agent Turing has appeared twice in ''[[Questionable Content]]'' starting [http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=147 here] and later [http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=750 here].
* The main characters of ''[[Exterminatus Now]]'' are part of the Mobian Inquisition, though most Inquisitors prefer [[Badass Longcoat|black trenchcoats]] to suits (and Eastwood recently switched to a brown one). [http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2010-12-06/comic/non-storyline/randoms/boy-did-you-pick-the-wrong-table/ Once] they had to correct a drunken [[Conspiracy Theorist]].
* In ''[[Elf Blood]]'', King, the leader of the secretive paramilitary government-sanctioned magitek-wielding unethically-experimenting Council, naturally favours a dark grey suit and a dark burgundy tie.
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* ''[[Johnny Test]]'' spoofs this: a pair of bumbling Men in Black are recurring characters who constantly fail to save the day.
* The ''[[Kim Possible]]'' episode "Rufus vs. Commodore Puddles" centers around Area 51. Kim's ride for the mission are a pair of Men in Black named "Agent Smith" and "Agent Smith". Kim's usual formulaic response to their "don't mention it" line, to humbly recount how simple it was to help them in the past, is interrupted by, "No, really! Don't mention it."
* ''[[Ben 10]]'' has the Plumbers, a secret organization to which the hero's grandfather used to belong--"used to" because in the series, we're told that the agency was shut down years ago. The sequel series [[Retcon|Retconned]] that they're a still-active [[Space Police|intergalactic police force]].
* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' has the [[Palette Swap|Guys in White]], top-secret ghost hunters who work for the government.
** What do you mean, ''top secret''? Everyone knows about them because they won't shut up about it!
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* ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'' has MERF, the Military Extraterrestrial Response Force, whose purpose it to protect Earth from otherwordly threats. Considering that [[Adults Are Useless]] on this show, you can guess how well that works out.
* ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'' has Section 13, and while they are outclassed by the magic Jackie usually fights, they are good at transportation, are very good against technology-based threats, and have been known to slow the bad guys down long enough for Jackie and Co. to conjure up the spell needed to win. They are a very rare heroic example.
* ''[[Venture Brothers]]'' has Cardholder and Doe, a pair of "exterminators" sent by [OSI] to deal with Jonas Jr.'s "butterfly problem". Another episode has an entire squad of Men in Black being ominously briefed for a mission, that turns out to be working security for Dr. Venture's [[Garage Sale|yard sale]].
* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' animation "Dreamland", set in [[Area 51]], introduces Men In Black early on. They eventually turn out to be {{spoiler|robotic agents of the Alliance of Shades}}, named Mr. Dread, Mr. Fear, Mr. Terror and Mr. Apprehension.
* The S.U.M.A. (Shut Up and Move Along) agents from the ''[[Class of 3000]]'' episode "Brotha from the Third Rock". Competence optional.
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* Based on the secretive government agents of the Cold War era, following the President's every footstep and whispering coded security updates at every turn.
* J. Edgar Hoover revamped the popular image of law enforcement from a corrupt, overweight, bumbling brute wielding a blood-spattered nightstick to a handsome, tommy gun-toting, college-educated nemesis of America's Public Enemy No. 1. This public relations campaign gave rise to the "G-man" as a forerunning to the MIB -- see the [[Film]] section above.
* Apparently, the standard MIB get-up has become something of an [[Ascended Meme]] where the Secret Service and similar government agents are concerned.
* In the British civil service they have been known as "Migs", Men in Grey Suits, for at least 40 years. Also known as "boxers" as according to the mythology the only address they give for their department is always a PO box. [[wikipedia:MI5|Box 500]] and [[wikipedia:Box 850|Box 850]] are the most well known.
* Part of the culture of 'Geek Squad' is a parody on this. Employees refer to themselves as 'Agent [last name or sometimes first name]', wear a uniform designed to be a nerdy version of a secret service agent's uniform, and are often portrayed as being 'super cereal' about what they're doing in both commercials and training videos. Of course, many tech illiterate people find some agents to be overbearing, dressed to kill, speaking an incomprehensible code language to mask the simplicity of their operations, and specially trained by experts to deal in matters too arcane for the normal mind to comprehend, so the parody practically writes itself.
* The Securitate was Romania's attempt at [[The Men in Black]] during the communist era. This is more of a subversion though, since most of them were nothing more that common street muscle and bar thugs, dressed in black suits.
* The term is also used tongue-in-cheek to refer to "Revenue Protection Officers" on UK railways, the people who check tickets and issue fines for evasion. They are almost universally seen in pairs, wearing long black coats (more following the "bouncer" image than a [[The Men in Black|Man in Black]] proper) and [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|acting like the High Lords of the Universe]].
* Actually used by the modern Secret Service because of this trope. Although some suspect the [[Overt Operative|Highly Visible Secret Service Agent]] is just a decoy for plainclothes agents.
* In [[World War II|1943]] an American ship in a harbor was hit. The local hospital was flooded with casualties with symptoms no one recognized. While the hospital staff was working a couple of [[The Men in Black|men in black]] walked in, swore the staff to secrecy, and told them that the ship that had been hit had contained a large supply of Mustard Gas that had been shipped to the front, [[Crazy Prepared|"just in case"]]. Then [[The Men in Black]] walked out.
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