Espionage

:Spy and secret agent redirect here; for alternate use, see Spy (disambiguation) and Secret agent (disambiguation).

Spy fiction

:Main article: Spy fiction

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Since not much is publicly known about real-life secret agents, the popular conception of the secret agent has been formed largely by 20th and 21st century literature and cinema. Similar to the character of the private eye, the secret agent is usually a loner, sometimes amoral, an existential hero operating outside the everyday constraints of society. James Bond, the protagonist of Ian Fleming's novels who went on to spawn an extremely successful film franchise, is probably the most famous fictional secret agent of all.

Related Topics:
Literature - Cinema - Private eye - Existential - Hero - James Bond - Ian Fleming - Fiction

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Spy Fiction is also becoming prevalent in video gaming (for instance, a game with that title exists for the PlayStation 2). The concept was both pioneered and brought into the mainstream by the Metal Gear series, Metal Gear Solid in particular. The hero, a tortured soldier known only by his codename Solid Snake, must infiltrate an enemy controlled territory (be it a tanker, an armed fortress nation, or a captured US government facility) using only a pair of binoculars, a pack of cigarettes, and his wits. It particularily emphasizes the "wetworks" aspect of espionage, that is, covert agents sent into enemy territory for the purposes of subversion, although it is more action oriented than actual espionage would be, it is a far cry from the usual action game formula.

Related Topics:
Metal Gear - Metal Gear Solid - Solid Snake

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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, a game franchise originally for Xbox and PC (later released on PS2 and GameCube), is about a spy by the name of Sam Fisher. The games are less focussed on the gathering of infomation than on the infiltration aspect of espionage; Fisher is almost a one-man army in the action-movie style, quite far removed from undercover agents or most covert operations.

Related Topics:
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - Xbox - PC - PS2 - GameCube - Sam Fisher

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