History Main / TeenSuperspy

[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/KimPossible https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f1d62375_4dc6_4c5c_b3ec_1bcbe08ebfc4.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300: [[TheNameIsBondJamesBond Possible. Kim Possible.]][[note]]And she is [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou going to shoot you]].[[/note]]]]

* The post-''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'' Invisible Kid from ''ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}''.

* TheStinger at the end of ''Film/CharliesAngels2019'' features a group of teenage recruits into the Townsend Agency (played by Creator/HaileeSteinfeld, Lili Reinhart, Aly Raisman, and Chloe Kim) going through their training.

* The post-''ComicBook/ZeroHour'' Invisible Kid from ''ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}''.

* The protagonist of Polish point and click adventure game ''Teenagent''.

* Creator/DisneyChannel series ''Series/KCUndercover'', featuring former ''Series/ShakeItUp'' costar Creator/{{Zendaya}} in the title role.

* Sydney Bristow's backstory on ''Series/{{Alias}}'' is a borderline example; she was recruited into SD-6 as a 19-year-old college freshman just one year removed from teenage life. She's 26 by the start of the show and no longer an example, but the first season still has elements of this, as she has to juggle grad school with espionage.
* ''Series/TheModSquad'' is a police version of this trope, in which three teenage {{delinquents}} are recruited to infiltrate the [[NewAgeRetroHippie '60s counterculture]].
* ''The Mod Squad''[='=]s '80s SpiritualSuccessor ''Series/TwentyOneJumpStreet'' (and its [[Film/TwentyOneJumpStreet film adaptation]]) is an inversion. Here, the twentysomething undercover cops pose as teenagers and infiltrate high schools and universities.

** The spin-off, ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingSpiez'', in only one of the four spies was technically a teenager

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' -- the lead character is technically a freelancer and a not a spy (she doesn't even bother with keeping a secret identity), but she otherwise fits the trope.

* Franchise/ArchieComics examples:

The TeenSuperspy is the [[ImprobableAge implausibly young]] agent of secret agency. Perhaps she's been [[{{Tykebomb}} trained from birth]] for this role. Perhaps she's carrying the legacy of a missing or dead parent. Perhaps the government figures no one will suspect children of being secret agents. Perhaps they were just in the wrong place at the right time. Whatever the case, expect them to have [[ShoePhone an arsenal of high-tech spy gadgets disguised as typical teen paraphernalia]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKids'': TeenSuperspy rock musicians, no less!

!!Examples

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]

* Literature/ArtemisFowl is one, albeit self-employed. No government agencies for him - Artemis has the style and the gadgets. Juliet is another, and even joins a SWAT team in ''The Eternity Code.''
* The ''Literature/CHERUBSeries''. CHERUB tries a lot harder to be realistic than most other versions of TeenSuperspy.
* Alianne in the ''Literature/DaughterOfTheLioness'' books is a borderline example. While she is [[spoiler: the spymaster for a very successful [[LaResistance rebellion]] and later government,]] she has this as her main job (she's 17), lacks any special gadgets (Medieval society) and [[ShownTheirWork relies on traditional, entirely un-flashy techniques,]] like [[FeedTheMole feeding the mole]] and carefully asking questions. So, while she is indeed a teenager and a very capable spy, [[SubvertedTrope she isn't working the way we'd expect her to at all]].[[note]]Not to mention that 16 is the age of adulthood in that society.[[/note]]

* During the ''Franchise/JamesBond''-inspired '60s superspy craze, Grosset & Dunlap published a hardcover kids' series of the adventures of ''[[http://www.series.net/cool/about.html Christopher Cool, TEEN Agent]]''. The Top-secret Educational Espionage Network kept the free world safe from the evil machinations of TOAD.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MaxSteel2013'': A 16-year-old boy named "Maxwell McGrath" is thrown into a new life when he and his mom moved to a small town called Copper Canyon. There he meets new friends, enemies, and a lot more. But later he started to generate a powerful energy called "T.U.R.B.O. Energy". Max must now join N-Tek, a secret organization his father worked on and meets a friendly ultralink named N'barro Aksteel X377/Steel.

* Benjamin "Beans" Baxter, Jr from ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfBeansBaxter''.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* ''Manga/SukebanDeka'' (which also had a live action TV series and several movies)

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* ''ComicBook/SpyBoy'' is the story of Alex Fleming, a young boy who was bullied in his school and had a normal life. But he doesn't know that he's a sleeper agent, codenamed as "[=SpyBoy=]", who works for secret organization S.H.I.R.T.S. (acronym for Secret Headquarters International Reconnaissance, Tactics, and Spies), in order to stop criminal organization S.K.I.N.S. (acronym for Supreme Killing Institute). There is also his Japanese counterpart, [=SpyGirl=]. Admittedly, [=SpyBoy=] got his ass kicked when he met [=SpyGuy=]...
* Danny Chase, CreatorsPet of the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'', was a former agent of the CBI... as he never tired of telling his team-mates.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Film/AgentCodyBanks'' follows the adventures of the 15-year-old title character, played by Frankie Muniz, who has to finish his chores, avoid getting grounded, and save the world by going undercover for the CIA as a James Bond type superspy..
* ''Film/{{Stormbreaker}}'', a film adaptation of the Literature/AlexRider books. The film's plot follows a teenage boy who is recruited by [=MI6=] after his uncle, a secret agent, is killed in action. He is sent on a mission in Cornwall to gather intelligence behind ''Stormbreaker'', an advanced computer system being provided to schools across Britain, and its creator, billionaire Darrius Sayle.
* ''Film/SpyKids'' (strictly speaking, they are tween superspies, though Carmen is in her teens by the third movie). The franchise follows the adventures of Carmen and Juni Cortez, two children who become involved in their parents' espionage. The rest of their family are spies as well, including their estranged uncle, Machete, and maternal grandparents.
* Michael Corbin from ''Film/IfLooksCouldKill''. When Michael Corben, along with the rest of his high-school French class, set out for a trip to France, he runs headlong into international intrigue: Agent Michael Corbin has just been disposed of by the evil forces of Augustus Steranko. When it's learned that Michael Corbin is alive and well, and still on his way to France, he's beseiged by both the good guys and the bad guys. British Intelligence outfits him with a series of James-Bond-like gizmos, and Steranko sends more would-be assassins after him.
* Lance Elliot from ''Film/TheDouble0Kid''. 17-year-old Lance Elliot is a summer intern at the Agency. His fantasies of espionage and intrigue turn real when he's ordered to rush a package to L.A. A madman millionaire computer virus designer and his icy henchwoman want that package. It's key to their plot to destroy the environment. Lance stays one step ahead of them, trying to avoid a visit to their "video-game-of-doom" room.

* They tried to make the ''Film/{{Thunderbirds}}'' film like this. When The Hood finds and invades International Rescue's secret base and traps most of the Tracy family, only young Alan Tracy and his friends can save the day.
* Agent 83, aka Megan Walsh, in ''Film/BarelyLethal'' is a runaway from the [[SpySchool Prescott Academy]] who [[FakingTheDead faked her death]] during a mission in order to experience life as an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent.

* TheStinger at the end of ''Film/CharliesAngels2019'' features a group of teenage recruits into the Townsend Agency (played by Creator/HaileeSteinfeld, Lili Reinhart, Aly Raisman, and Chloe Kim) going through their training.

* Literature/AlexRider. He was secretly trained from birth -- and, by "secretly", we mean not even Alex himself was aware that the activities in question were training -- to carry the legacy of his uncle. Because he is in the wrong place in the wrong time, he is recruited early because no one will suspect a child.

* In ''Literature/TheFinishingSchoolSeries'', the protagonist Sophronia Temminnick is recruited by an espionage school masquerading as a charm school.

* The ''Literature/SpyHigh'' series of novels
* ''Literature/TheGallagherGirls'' book series trains teenage girls to be spies.
* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', Miles Vorkosigan starts out this way, [[spoiler:though he gets to just shy of 30 before his career as a spy comes to an end]]. He is definitely a wrong-place/wrong-time variant; his first 'mission' started out as a vacation after washing out of the local Barrayaran military academy and he only contacted his government ''after'' they filed treason charges over the whole Private Army Thing.

* ''Literature/JamesBond'' has a spin-off series called ''Literature/YoungBond'', which is about him becoming a teen spy. He only acts the part proper in the fifth novel, ''Literature/ByRoyalCommand''.
* Literature/ArtemisFowl is one, albeit self-employed. No government agencies for him - Artemis has the style and the gadgets. Juliet is another, and even joins a SWAT team in ''The Eternity Code.''
* ''Literature/RubyRedfort'' is a expert code breaker and was hired to work at Spectrum, a top secret agency keeping tabs on the world. A long time ago, Spectrum tried to train other teen spies, like Bradley Baker and [[spoiler:Buzz]].

* ''Literature/{{Pygmy}}'' by Creator/ChuckPalahniuk has a group of these as {{Villain Protagonist}}s. They were sent to America by a totalitarian [[CommieNazis commie-Nazi]] regime with a mission to destroy the US government.
* The ''Literature/AlphaForce'' series of novels by Creator/ChrisRyan has a MultinationalTeam of kids who work for a covert agency after being shipwrecked together in the first novel, "Survival".
* From ''Steampunk Detective'', Jack Mason is one since his apprenticeship to Ignatius Doyle onwards.

* Benjamin "Beans" Baxter, Jr from ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfBeansBaxter''
* ''Series/MIHigh''. The series focuses on a team of undercover teenage spies working for the fictional secret intelligence agency M.I.9 who have to balance their school life with their jobs as secret agents

* The yellow ranger of spy-themed ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGobusters'' is 16 years old. Her two teammates don't qualify, though, as they're both aged in their 20s.

* [[spoiler: Sakazaki Yuuya]] in ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'' turns out to be one investigating [[spoiler: Dr. Iwamine Shuu and the Hawk Party]]. If the player completes his route, the heroine runs away with him and it's implied that they become partners.

* Black Widow is one in ''VideoGame/AvengersAcademy'' thanks to an AgeLift.

* ''WesternAnimation/JamesBondJr'': While attending prep school at Warfield Academy, Bond's nephew James Bond Jr., with the help of his friends IQ (the grandson of Q), and Gordo Leiter (the son of Felix Leiter), fight against the evil terrorist organisation S.C.U.M. (Saboteurs and Criminals United in Mayhem), a SPECTRE-like organization.
* ''WesternAnimation/PrincessNatasha'': Student - Secret Agent - Princess
* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': The series centers on the adventures of a group of five 10-year-olds who operate from a high-tech tree house, fighting against adult and teen villains with advanced 2×4 technology. Using their codenames (Numbuhs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), they are Sector V, part of a global organization called the Kids Next Door.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Grossology}}'': Ty and Abby are a teen brother and sister crime-fighting team who report to the Bureau of Grossology, a secret government agency whose job is to investigate gross criminals, their gross crimes, and/or various gross phenomena.
* ''WesternAnimation/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKids'': TeenSuperspy rock musicians, no less!
* ''WesternAnimation/BrunoTheKid''. Partially subverted in that his employing agency thought he was an adult, due to his using an avatar when communicating with them.
* ''WesternAnimation/MaryKateAndAshleyInAction''. No, really. We get to see two of the biggest teen stars in the world comment on their "film" adventures and then, with the power of animation, we join them -- at the premiere -- to watch their on-screen Super Teen Agent identities fight the good fight and save the world from evil. These girls go right from the pre-show interview in real life straight to exotic locations like the Great Wall of China as animated Special Agents.
* ''WesternAnimation/InvisibleNetworkOfKids'': Pinkerton School is a boarding school with two teachers. One of the teachers, Mr. Soper, is nice, and the other, Ms. Macbeth, is evil and is constantly trying to enslave the children of the school. However, four of the students act as a secret organisation known as "The Invisible Network of Kids", or "I.N.K." for short. I.N.K's mission is to thwart all of Ms. Macbeth's evil plans.
* ''WesternAnimation/DelilahAndJulius'' is about a duo of teen super spies with great chemistry and a fair amount of {{UST}}.
* An odd piece of WildMassGuessing from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''. They were employing Perry when he was just a newborn, and many new OWCA members haven't been "trained" yet...so technically, they're this.
** In a more literal sense, Perry that time he was in Candace's body. As the theme song says, "She's a semi-neurotic teenage girl of action".
* ''WesternAnimation/MaxSteel2013'': A 16-year-old boy named "Maxwell McGrath" is thrown into a new life when he and his mom moved to a small town called Copper Canyon. There he meets new friends, enemies, and a lot more. But later he started to generate a powerful energy called "T.U.R.B.O. Energy". Max must now join N-Tek, a secret organization his father worked on and meets a friendly ultralink named N'barro Aksteel X377/Steel.

[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/KimPossible https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kim_possible_bond_barrel.jpg]]]]

* ''Film/PumpedUpKicks'' is about one of these battling a [[AxesAtSchool school shooting]], which the real villains are using as a cover for a BankRobbery. WordOfGod described it as "Kim Possible versus the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} gunmen".

* ''Film/{{Stormbreaker}}'', a film adaptation of the Literature/AlexRider books. The film's plot follows a teenage boy who is recruited by MI6 after his uncle, a secret agent, is killed in action. He is sent on a mission in Cornwall to gather intelligence behind ''Stormbreaker'', an advanced computer system being provided to schools across Britain, and its creator, billionaire Darrius Sayle.

A hero with all of the style, panache and gadgetry of Franchise/JamesBond, the Teen Superspy exists to save the world (or maybe just the kids) from megalomaniacs bent on world domination. And he'll do it all without being old enough to have a martini. Or drive. And he'll still have to find time to do his homework.

* Rouge the Bat from the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series is a master thief who works for the G.U.N. military force. She's also 18 years old.

* The ''Literature/AlphaForce'' series of novels by Chris Ryan has a MultinationalTeam of kids who work for a covert agency after being shipwrecked together in the first novel, "Survival".

%% * ''Series/ConnorUndercover''

* ''WesternAnimation/JamesBondJr''

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''
** Point of order: the Kids Next Door, strictly speaking, are tweens. [[TeensAreMonsters They consider actual teenagers the enemy.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Grossology}}''

* ''WesternAnimation/MaryKateAndAshleyInAction''. No, really.
* ''WesternAnimation/InvisibleNetworkOfKids''

* ''WesternAnimation/MaxSteel2013''.

%% * ''ComicBook/SpyBoy'' and his Japanese counterpart, Spygirl. Admittedly, Spyboy got his ass kicked when he met Spyguy...

%% * ''Film/AgentCodyBanks''.
%% * ''Film/{{Stormbreaker}}'', a film adaptation of the Literature/AlexRider books.
%% * ''Film/SpyKids'' (strictly speaking, they are tween superspies, though Carmen is in her teens by the third movie).
%% * Michael Corbin from ''Film/IfLooksCouldKill''.
%% * Lance Elliot from ''Film/TheDouble0Kid''.

%% * The eponymous ''Film/TeenAgent''. Partially a NamesTheSame problem.
%% * They tried to make the ''Film/{{Thunderbirds}}'' film like this.

%% * ''Series/MIHigh''

* The ''AlphaForce'' series of novels by Chris Ryan has a MultinationalTeam of kids who work for a covert agency after being shipwrecked together in the first novel, "Survival".

* ''Series/MIHigh''
* ''Series/ConnorUndercover''

* ''Film/AgentCodyBanks''.
* ''Film/{{Stormbreaker}}'', a film adaptation of the Literature/AlexRider books.
* ''Film/SpyKids'' (strictly speaking, they are tween superspies, though Carmen is in her teens by the third movie).
* Michael Corbin from ''Film/IfLooksCouldKill''.
* Lance Elliot from ''TheDouble0Kid''.

* The eponymous ''TeenAgent''.
* They tried to make the ''Film/{{Thunderbirds}}'' film like this.