History Main / MysteriousInformant

->'''Sore Throat:''' I parked my station wagon here in ’89 and can’t remember where I left it.

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* [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep The Mole]] in ''OzzyAndDrix''. He's not entirely sane, nor is he that good at [[StealthHiBye disappearing]].

* ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen'' has the original Deep Throat, Bob Woodward's government source who tells him "Follow the money."

The TropeMaker and a major inspiration for {{Stock Shout Out}}s is Deep Throat (decades later revealed to be W. Mark Felt, a deputy director of the FBI), the ''Washington Post'''s mysterious informant during the Watergate scandal that drove US President RichardNixon out of office. [[TruthInTelevision The real-life Deep Throat]], being ProperlyParanoid, did in fact deliver vague, cryptic information in the dead of night in a parking garage and take other extreme precautions against being discovered.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has also had one, with the shadowed MysteriousInformant obviously being [[TheMuppetShow Kermit The Frog]]. In another episode where they had become a reality TV family and Meg was kicked out of the family for being boring, Peter and Lois met her in this fashion, complete with offering her a cigarette.

* Sylia occasionally receives job offers and intelligence from one of these in ''BubblegumCrisis''. He spends at least half of each meeting hitting on her.

* Kujaku from ''RGVeda'' is one of very few people who knows what's going on with the prophecy, and the only one who helps the heroes.

* Used in ''TheFairlyOddparents'' when Tootie gives Timmy's parents information about her sister Vicky's evil deeds under the alias of "[[ShoutOut Deep Toot]]" (the name of which Timmy's dad finds hilarious).

* ''FamilyGuy'' has also had one, with the shadowed MysteriousInformant obviously being [[TheMuppetShow Kermit The Frog]]. In another episode where they had become a reality TV family and Meg was kicked out of the family for being boring, Peter and Lois met her in this fashion, complete with offering her a cigarette.
* ''HeyArnold'': In TheMovie, there was a principal character who was impersonating "Deep Voice", a reference to "Deep Throat". This character also wore a trenchcoat and used a voice simulator. [[spoiler:It was really Helga Pataki.]]

* Spoofed in the ''BeavisAndButthead'' book "The Butt-Files". In a section parodying ''The X-files'', Beavis and Butt-head take the roles of Scully and Mulder, and get a tip from Deep Throat. Angered, Beavis yells "Dammit, you're always pulling this crap! If you know everything, why the hell don't you just tell us so we can go home! Now it's gonna take us another 45 minutes to figure this out!" Deep Throat initially refuses, but "Scully" persuades him with a kick to the crotch.

* ''PoliceSquad!'' (the six-episode ABC series that later became the ''Naked Gun'' movies) also parodied this with Johnny the Shoeshine Boy, who knew everything if you had the price. After every visit by Frank Drebin, Johnny had to deal with a celebrity looking for advice or help on their special areas of expertise (Dick Clark asking about ska music, Dr. Joyce Brothers asking about psychology, and so on).

* ''Series/DeepSpaceNine''. In "Improbable Cause" Odo meets with a Cardassian who keeps his face in shadow, claiming that he's altered his appearance since they last worked together (during the Bajoran Occupation). He was meant to be a recurring character but this was dropped, with main character Garak (a Cardassian 'tailor' with a MysteriousPast) filling in for the intelligence gathering role.

* SSS ("Three Speed") from ''{{Madlax}},'' the eponymous character's employer/ contact [[spoiler: who ends up selling out Madlax to [[AncientConspiracy Enfant]] under pressure]]. She doesn't hold a grudge at him for this.

* "[[CoolMask Diana]]" in [[ErastFandorin Boris Akunin's The State Counsellor]] leaks the terrorist organisation's secrets to the police - or is it the other way around? - and attains a considerable influence over the heads of several police departments. She really likes to keep up the mysterious appearance - it helps her maintain her FemmeFatale reputation as well.

* The 1990's ''X-Files'' spoof ''The X Fools'' had the husky-voiced "Sore Throat" ( always introduced as "our mysterious informant"). Once when Agent Smolder asked why he always met him in a {{parking garage}}, Sore Throat replied that he'd forgotten where he'd parked his station wagon back in '89 and was still looking for it.

& In ''FanFic/MegaManReawakened'', Robert hears from one in Arc 5, chapter 6. It's Darian Darhk.

* Spoofed in the ''BeavisAndButthead'' book "The Butt-Files". In a section parodying
''The X-files'', Beavis and Butt-head take the roles of Scully and Mulder, and get a tip from Deep Throat. Angered, Beavis yells "Dammit, you're always pulling this crap! If you know everything, why the hell don't you just tell us so we can go home! Now it's gonna take us another 45 minutes to figure this out!" Deep Throat initially refuses, but "Scully" persuades him with a kick to the crotch.

* Spoofed in the ''BeavisAndButthead'' book "The Butt-Files". In a section parodying the X-files, Beavis and Butt-head take the roles of Scully and Mulder, and get a tip from Deep Throat. Angered, Beavis yells "Dammit, you're always pulling this crap! If you know everything, why the hell don't you just tell us so we can go home! Now it's gonna take us another 45 minutes to figure this out!" Deep Throat initially refuses, but "Scully" persuades him with a kick to the crotch.

* ''TheXFiles'' turned it into a cottage industry. To elaborate, Mulder's very first informant was Deep Throat ([[spoiler:killed by TheMenInBlack in the season 1 finale]]); after him, there were the ex-MIB X ([[spoiler:killed by another MIB in the season 4 pilot]]), Marita "SRSG" Covarrubias ([[spoiler:infected with black oil in season 5, survived, and stopped helping Mulder]]), and the [[TheAdjectivalMan Well-Manicured Man]] (only in TheMovie, [[spoiler:killed himself with a car bomb]]).
* ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'': When Hal is being indicted for his masterminding of a vast conspiracy to defraud the company he worked at, he's met by one of these at the public library who tells him that he's got six months to live and wants to die with a clean conscience. It's then neatly subverted when the informant turns up at court, testifies AGAINST Hal and says that the medical records were mixed up and he's going to be fine.
* An episode of ''LoisAndClark'' featured a constantly coughing informant called "Sore Throat". When Perry asked him to give them more information he said "What, like 'follow the money'? I never understood that." One episode guide refers to him as "[[OlderThanTheyThink an obvious parody of Deep Throat in The X-Files]]".
* Sporty James from ''{{Hunter}}'' TV series. Not very mysterious though.
* The MysteriousInformant shows up, and is subverted, in the ''{{Frasier}}'' episode "Three Days of the Condo." A secretive figure approaches Frasier in the car garage of his apartment building and urges him to stand as a candidate against the current chair of the condo board in the upcoming election. When Frasier asks why his informant insists on remaining anonymous, the figure replies that he's redecorating his bathroom and doesn't want his bidet request to be denied. Then he gets in his car and zooms away.

* This trope was parodied in ''HappyDays'' when Milwaukee is in the midst of a bitter garbage strike and Richie is investigating a story about it. Fonzie says he has a source, but since he wants to be anonymous, he will only appear as a silhouette on a window blind standing outside to give yes or no signs to questions. When he steps forward, Richie notes that it is obviously Al, but Fonz insists that Richie plays along. Reluctantly, he cooperates with his questions until Al forgets himself and answers a question by talking. Now with the silliness completely pointless, Richie opens the blind and the two finish their conversation normally.

* The 1990's XFiles spoof ''The X Fools'' had the husky-voiced "Sore Throat" ([[InvokedTrope always introduced as "our mysterious informant]]"). Once when Agent Smolder asked why he always met him in a {{parking garage}}, Sore Throat replied that he'd forgotten where he'd parked his station wagon back in '89 and was still looking for it.

* Used in both ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2''. The mysterious informants both dub themselves "Deep Throat", although the second then says to call him [[TheXFiles Mr. X]] because Raiden, in FanGirl mode, made comparisons to the Shadow Moses "Deep Throat".

--->'''Snake''': Is this...[[spoiler:Jack]]?

* The 1990's XFiles spoof ''The X Fools'' had the husky-voiced "Sore Throat" ([[InvokedTrope always introduced as "our mysterious informant]]"). Once when Agent Smolder asked why he always met him in a parking garage, Sore Throat replied that he'd forgotten where he'd parked his station wagon back in '89 and was still looking for it.

* The 1990's XFiles spoof ''The X Fools'' had the husky-voiced "Sore Throat". Once when Agent Smolder asked why he always met him in a parking garage, Sore Throat replied that he'd forgotten where he'd parked his station wagon back in '89 and was still looking for it.

* The 1990's XFiles spoof ''The X Fools'' had the husky-voiced "Sore Throat".

* [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep The Mole]] in ''OzzyAndDrix''. He's not entirely sane.

* The G-Man in the ''HalfLife'' series.

* [[TruthInTelevision Real-life example]] and [[TropeMakers Trope Maker]]: "Deep Throat", the Watergate informant whose identity (William Mark Felt Sr.) was only recently revealed. So ubiquitous, nearly every MysteriousInformant is either an outright reference/parody, or at least has some aspects gleaned from Deep Throat. However, some aspects of the trope draws heavily from the PopculturalOsmosis of ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''; the real-life Deep Throat's identity was a mystery to the general public, but Bob Woodward knew exactly who he was talking to.