History Main / TheMeninBlack

** The "[[music/AgentsOfFortune Agents of Fortune]]" mentioned in "E.T.I." (and possibly depicted on the live album's cover) are definitely an example.

** The "Agents of Fortune" mentioned in E.T.I. (and possibly depicted on the album cover) are a possible example.

* True to the sci-fi nature of their songs, Music/BlueOysterCult has multiple instances of MIB in their songs. Most noticeably in the song Take Me Away as well as its music video.

* An advert for Mars bars had a couple of MIB's questioning a FirstContactFarmer about his experience (whether the out-of-this-world experience involved AlienAbduction or [[MundaneMadeAwesome eating a Mars bar]] was left vague).

* An advert for Mars bars had a couple of MIB's questioning an alien abductee about his experience (whether the out-of-this-world experience involved AlienAbduction or [[MundaneMadeAwesome eating a Mars bar]] was left vague).

* The Agents of ''Film/TheMatrix'' (though they technically wear dark green instead of black, save for [[spoiler:Smith in the sequels]]) are programs that act as the Machines' enforcers within the film's titular LotusEaterMachine; they're generally tasked with hunting down human rebels, though as shown in the second film, part of their job is also hunting down programs from their own side that have gone rogue. As part of the {{Masquerade}}, they're given very generic names ("Smith," "Brown," and "Jones" in the first film, and the "upgraded" ones "Jackson," "Johnson," and "Thompson" in the second) and seem to hold some ambiguous government position that gives them command over both the police and military.
* The Strangers in the film ''Film/DarkCity'' are [[spoiler: actual aliens]], which shows in the way they get details wrong: notably, their idea of common, everyday names includes "Mr. Book," "Mr. Wall," and "Mr. Hand."
* The bleached-blond Strangers of ''Film/{{Knowing}}'' (another Alex Proyas film) also seem to embody this trope. [[spoiler: They're either angels or aliens, depending on your interpretation.]]
* ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'' movie makes Men in Black of the CIA when Adm. Greer has his IWasNeverHere moment.

* ''Film/ThePresidentsAnalyst'' from 1967 defined the cultivated image of the G-man early on, showing them as suit-and-tie and hat-wearing, quick to kill, unquestioning drones, all shorter than their stunted leader whose grudge against the title character was based on moral differences. Most other spy agencies fared little better: a major scene has spies of all stripes sneaking up on the analyst in a grassy country meadow. All of them, from FBI men to African agents with tribal face scars, to a Genghis Khan-looking Asian, wearing the same regulation black suit and tie (only a Russian agent has the sense to dress like a farmer).
* Spoofed in the 1979 StonerFlick ''Film/JMenForever'' where the tight-assed straights...umm straight-jawed men-in-tights fight an alien attempt to take over the world with SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll.
-->'''Barton:''' That kook said something about ''aliens'' being behind the whole thing.
-->'''The Chief:''' Aliens? ''Suuure.'' Listen, Mexicans and Canadians are always a problem. Next thing you know they're going to be blaming it on little guys in shiny suits from Outer Space!

* ''Film/RepoMan'' 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/{{Hellboy|2004}}'' features regular human agents in suits and ties alongside the superpowered specialists. They tend to not fare [[RedShirt particularly well]].

* This is how Film/GIJoe are portrayed in the live-action movies.

* The Men in Black in the ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' are followers of the Cult of Thorne, the Pagan cult that actually made Michael Myers so he could kill his family in a form of HumanSacrifice out of ancient Celtic tribes customes. They only appear in the movies from 4 to 6 as they are their own continuity (the franchise has a lot of reboots).

** Section Seven was an OverTheTopSecret agency created by Theodore Roosevelt to deal with Cybertronians and what they could give to mankind ([[ETGaveUsWiFi in the film universe it turns out that stuff like the microchip was developed from reverse-engineering Megatron]]). Their immense secrecy gives the heroic U.S. Army soldiers about to pull an insane stunt (take the Allspark away and right to a city for extraction) a good answer to agent Simmons (up until then a [[LargeHam hard-core]] SmugSnake) ordering them to stop:
-->'''Captain William Lennox''': You don't exist. And we don't take orders from people who don't exist.

** The Second Inquisition (or "FIRSTLIGHT") in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasqueradeFifthEdition''. An organization formed by various secret services around the world and the Catholic Church's [[ChurchMilitant Society of Leopold]], after the NSA accidentally cracked the vampire intra-net [=SchreckNet=]. The Second Inquisition send its agents in attempts to hunt and kill any vampires, and they have been surprisingly effective too.

* The Watchdog hunters in ''VideoGame/Manhunt2'' work for the Project and are their "clean-up crew". Between the suits, shades and masks, they don the look pretty well.

* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'', the BigBad's mooks all dress in fashionable business suits and shades, and are referred to by title only in the game's credits, which name them the 'Killer Suits'.

** 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 [[Anime/MegaManNTWarrior the cartoon]] also as Lan and Chaud both become Men in Black in the second season.

* A bunch of these show up in Marika's cafe in the pilot of ''LightNovel/BodaciousSpacePirates''. Later, Chiaki identifies them as working for various government agencies. Possibly subverted in that they were mostly there to protect her.

* R-Complex from ''ComicBook/ScareTactics''.

The Men In Black are the generic intimidating agents. If they have names, expect them to be along the lines of [[MrSmith an obvious pseudonym]], one of the most common Anglo-Saxon names (although they're often described as being [[AmbiguouslyBrown very racially ambiguous]]), such as [[Film/TheMatrix "Mr. Smith", "Mr. Jones", "Mr. Brown"]], etc., or else they'll be MisterStrangenoun. They're there to loom over you and make you feel afraid, whether they're sent by TheGovernment, TheMafia, a CorruptCorporateExecutive, or aliens from outer space. They're almost ''never'' there to help you - and if they are, [[GoodIsNotSoft you probably won't]] [[IDidWhatIHadToDo like their methods]].

** Human MIB -- Typical mysterious gov't agent. May or may not be a BadassNormal. Book narrator Charles Fort acknowledges that the narrator of ''[[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories The Big Book of Conspiracies]]'' is one, too.

** The ending of the episode "A Spider In The Web" attempted to set up an arc involving an MIB-esque organization called "Bureau 13". When JMS found out there was already an RPG with that name, they were never mentioned again. Except in a novel where they were renamed Department Sigma. It was mentioned that they change names semi-frequently to make tracking them harder.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. The alien MIB version turns up in the episode "Bride of Chaotica!" when two photonic aliens appear on the holodeck program ''The Adventures of Captain Proton'', dressed as grey-suited men in fedoras. They speak in a stilted manner and though dressed like humans of the 1930's are unfamiliar with their society, mistaking the holodeck characters for {{Energy Being}}s like themselves and assuming the LargeHam supervillains they encounter are a genuine threat.

** DeconstructedTrope in the TwoPartEpisode "[[Recap/TheXFilesS06E04Dreamland Dreamland]]" and "[[Recap/TheXFilesS06E05DreamlandII Dreamland II]]", in which Mulder [[FreakyFridayFlip switches his body and life]] with MIB Morris Fletcher (played by Creator/MichaelMcKean). It turns out that the Men in Black live mundane lives as well and aren't any closer to the Truth than Mulder is. Morris actually prefers to be an FBI agent, as he thinks that Mulder's life is more exciting (or it ''would'' be, if he had more sex).

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', the season one episode involving an invisible girl ended with her being taken away by two black-suited FBI agents who spoke entirely in monotone stock quotes. The episode ended with the reveal of some kind of underground SpySchool ''full'' of invisible people. The concept would later return with The Initiative in season 4, their unnamed successors in seasons 5 and 6 and their predecessors in the Angel season 5 episode 'Why we fight?'.

* The Unspeakables in ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' are the wizarding world's version of this, although the secrecy is emphasized more than the intimidation.

** Inhuman MIB -- A humanoid agent from the UncannyValley, who have strange features like [[EyeScream bulging eyes,]] [[EvilHand unusually long fingers,]] or [[UndeathlyPallor completely colorless skin that is clumsily covered up with thick makeup and lipstick.]] They also seem to have no idea how to use everyday objects like a pen. (These were the kind described by the book ''The Mothman Prophecies'', as seen below.)

* ''Podcast/TheLastPodcastOnTheLeft'' has a multi-episode series on the Men in Black, citing ''Literature/TheMothmanProphecies'' as one of its primary sources and delving into the lives of Albert Bender and Grey Barker. They focus on the UncannyValley version of the MIB described in ''Mothman'', with Harry Zebrowski providing voices that speak in gravelly and/or disjointed voices. Theories about them include their being {{Tulpa}}s created from Bender's image of them, {{Eldritch Abomination}}s in a new form, and even TimePolice.

** ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' introduces the [[NoodlePeople Thin]] [[HughMann Men]], alien infiltrators that appear as [[UncannyValley unnaturally]] tall and lanky men in business suits and sunglasses, the better to hide their scaly patches of skin and HellishPupils -- they're really bio-engineered SnakePeople.

%%* The BritishSeries ''Series/{{UFO}}'' shows what the Men in Black would look like if their fashions and vehicles were designed by [[Series/{{Thunderbirds}} Gerry and Sylvia Anderson]].

* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' features two Secret Service agents who are unknowingly recruited to become MIB-like enforcers. {{Lampshaded}} in Season 4:
-->'''Guy who thinks his wife's turned into a monster''': Are you like the Men In Black?\\
'''Pete''': Yeah, we kinda are.\\
'''Myka''': Sure, why not?

** DeconstructedTrope in the TwoPartEpisode "Dreamland", when Mulder [[FreakyFridayFlip switched his body and life]] with MIB Morris Fletcher (played by Creator/MichaelMcKean). Turns out TheMenInBlack live mundane lives as well, and aren't any closer to the Truth than Mulder is. Morris actually prefers to be an FBI agent as he thinks Mulder's life is more exciting (or it would be if he had more sex).

* The ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' is a super-secret international organization that hides the existence of the paranormal, and is a great example of this trope. Its documents even specifically mention using a "standard 'Man in Black' concealment pattern" to retrieve [=SCPs=] from the [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction UIU]].

* The [[ComicBook/MenInBlack 6-issue comic]] that ''Film/MenInBlack'' was originally based upon. There's a number of differences: one, threats both explicitly supernatural and mundane are also investigated; two, Kay is a lot nastier, acting more like a walking branch of the Wiki/SCPFoundation; three, we don't see any other [=MIBs=] apart from Jay and Kay.

* From the same author we have Lord Vertinari's "Dark Clerks" in the Literature/{{Discworld}} series, nondescript men in nondescript dark suits who are occasionally called upon to stand around looking vaguely ominous on the rare occasions when the Patrician needs some LivingProp's to help him intimidate someone, and are members some sort of rather vaguely-defined intelligence service. (But most emphatically [[AvertedTrope not]] any kind of SecretPolice, however, because that's not Vetinari's style.) Most of them are said to be former ScholarshipStudent's from the Guild of Assassins, including Inigo Skinner from ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'', the only individual Dark Clerk to have a notable speaking role.

* From the same author we have Lord Vertinari's "Dark Clerks" in the Literature/{{Discworld}} series, nondescript men in nondescript dark suits who are occasionally called upon to stand around looking vaguely ominous on the rare occasions when the Patrician needs some LivingProps to help him intimidate someone, and are members some sort of rather vaguely-defined intelligence service. (But most emphatically [[AvertedTrope not]] any kind of SecretPolice, however, because that's not Vetinari's style.) Most of them are said to be former ScholarshipStudents from the Guild of Assassins, including Inigo Skinner from ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'', the only individual Dark Clerk to have a notable speaking role.

* A commercial for the Super Squirter water cannons features two boys who are refused invitations to a snobby girl's garden party. The two lads dress up as the Blues Brothers (except they're wearing swim trunks), unload their Squirters from a briefcase, and unleash [=H2O=] chaos on the snob and her guests.

* In the video for the Music/KateBush song "Cloudbusting" (about the eccentric psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich, who was imprisoned for his pseudoscientific and highly dubious treatments - see Wiki/TheOtherWiki for the whole story) the federal agents who come to Reich's farm to arrest him are like this. In the song itself, it's mentioned they arrive in a black car, which may allude to this trope.

** [=MI13=] dial all the tropes UpToEleven, especially after Peter Wisdom [[spoiler: a.k.a. Regulus Black]] becomes Director, excepting only their anonymity - in supernatural circles, at least, some of their most prominent agents are known and feared. However, even the upper ranks of the British government don't know very much about them or what exactly they do, with Wisdom being entirely capable of secretly rearming [[spoiler: the HMS Belfast]] as 'Project Wolftrap'. By the end of ''Child of the Storm'' and the start of the sequel, it is increasingly implied that Wisdom is the ''de facto'' [[ManBehindTheMan ruler of Muggle Britain behind the scenes,]] and he's making a play for Magical Britain too.

Generally, these guys are in the business of keeping secrets. LaserGuidedAmnesia is a pretty common tool in their arsenal, especially in more idealistic versions, wiping out a memory you're probably better off without so you can go back to a [[{{Muggle}} normal life]]. More cynical portrayals just bully you into keeping your mouth shut. [[UnPerson Or just make you disappear]], [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade one way or another]]. Less often, they'll make AnOfferYouCantRefuse: [[RedPillBluePill join or forget]]. [[JoinOrDie Or die.]]

Generally, the Men in Black are in the business of keeping secrets. LaserGuidedAmnesia is a pretty common tool in their arsenal, especially in more idealistic versions, wiping out a memory you're probably better off without so you can go back to a [[{{Muggle}} normal life]]. More cynical portrayals just bully you into keeping your mouth shut. [[UnPerson Or just make you disappear]], [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade one way or another]]. Less often, they'll make AnOfferYouCantRefuse: [[RedPillBluePill join or forget]]. [[JoinOrDie Or die.]]