Line #78 Main/FemmeFataleSpy


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14	[[quoteright:300:[[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/97e0e76769160e7fcc19b303cf3d7f14.jpg]]]]
15
16	->''"See that ambassador over there? I'll sleep with him tonight, and the next morning, he'll tell me all his secrets."''\
17	''"And if he won't tell them?"''\
18	''"Well, at least I'll get laid."''
19	-->-- '''Folklore'''
20
21	Espionage has long been depicted as [[TuxedoAndMartini a glamorous and exciting profession]]. The same depiction goes for its practitioners. Among this image is the concept of a beautiful and irresistible young woman charming male officers into revealing military secrets with her feminine wiles.
22
23	To qualify as this trope, the character must be a young attractive woman who uses her "charms" (sexual, emotional manipulation, or both) to work in a capacity for espionage specifically under a guise of innocence. She can be a member of LaResistance or TheEmpire, be [[TheIdealist idealistic]], motivated by revenge, or OnlyInItForTheMoney and personal gain, as long as it's an attractive female spy, it fits this trope. This trope however does not apply to women who are merely secret agents. There must clearly be incidences of fraternizing with the enemy as TheMole.
24
25	The ''biological basis'' for this trope is quite sound: orgasm tends to shut off the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for, among other things, controlling behavior and impulses, and even simple kissing releases oxytocin, which is known to make people more trusting. Lack of self-control + misplaced trust = LooseLips. However, this trope is rarely TruthInTelevision.
26
27	Despite its popularity in media, this trope is not usually TruthInTelevision for the reason that most political and military leaders know better than to blab state secrets to women they get to know in private company. Much more common is the case where a weak-willed political leader will reveal secrets to an ordinary prostitute who will then reveal it to the press or others, fulfilling the trope retroactively.
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29	Finally, one doesn't need to actually get the target to reveal secrets directly; photographs or other embarrassing evidence of the encounter can be used to {{blackmail}} the target into giving you what you want (the classic HoneyTrap).
30
31	SpiesAreLecherous may serve as an example of a gender-inversion of this trope.
32
33	See also GentlemanThief, ClassyCatBurglar, HoneyTrap, FemmeFatale, TheVamp and SpyCatsuit. Can be averted via TheSchlubPubSeductionDeduction. Can lead to a WhenHarryMetSvetlana plot.
34
35	----
36	!!Examples:
37
38	[[foldercontrol]]
39
40	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
41	* Irina Jelavić in ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' is a stock example of this. A professional assassin who tends to default to seduction in order to get close to her targets.
42	* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Lust bemoans that Jean Havoc was smart enough not to tell her anything despite her best attempts.
43	* Ryōji Kaji from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' {{exploit\|edTrope}}s, [[PlayingWithATrope toes]], {{downplay\|edTrope}}s, and {{exaggerate\|dTrope}}s this trope, as a [[GenderInvertedTrope Homme]] Fatale Spy: Played with because he chooses to [[DownplayedTrope flirt]] with numerous people to either throw them off as a HandsomeLech or win them over as a charmer but moments with Shinji and Misato have shown that this is mostly a facade. Then it turns out that he isn't on anyone's side and is a double agent for another group, but exaggerated when it's revealed that he is [[DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent backstabbing several governments]].
44	* Nancy Makuhari in ''Anime/ReadOrDie'' [[spoiler:is both TheMole and a literal clone of UsefulNotes/MataHari]].
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Comic Books]]
48	* ''ComicBook/{{Agent327}}'': The voluptuous Olga Lawina is a Swiss spy, who is very attractive and has [[BuxomBeautyStandard rather large breasts]]. In the series she is a double spy, sometimes siding with Agent 327 but other times siding with the enemies, which makes her very unpredictable.
49	* The ComicBook/BlackWidow was this in her early appearances as an ComicBook/IronMan villain: a Russian spy sent by the KGB to romance him while stealing his secrets. She also initially manipulated ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} in order to get him to help her.
50	* Kay-K from ''ComicBook/DoubleDuck'', a very attractive spy. In her first appearance ([[spoiler: before her HeelFaceTurn]]) she has no problem using her beauty to manipulate male characters like Donald Duck. [[spoiler: She was the criminal Red Primerose who introduced herself in the Agency replacing secretly the director Jay J.]]
51	* Comicbook/JetDream and her Stunt-Girl Counterspies all fit this trope.
52	* ComicBook/{{Mockingbird}} did this at least once when she was Bobbi Morse/Agent 19. She went undercover and become engaged to a man ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} suspected was involved with A.I.M. so that S.H.I.E.L.D. could gather information on him (he was involved with A.I.M.)
53	* Directly referenced in the ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'' story ''ComicBook/ValorYAlToro'', where Mortadelo jokingly disguises himself as a femme fatale when Filemón mentions the word spy.
54	* Lampshaded in ''ComicBook/NikolaiDante''. Nikolai's childhood friend, Lauren is his contact at a tavern. When Akita Sagawa's ninjas attack her, she notes that she should have dressed like a smelly old hag, but that vanity got the better of her and she feels that spies should be sexy and glamorous. Nikolai doesn't complain.
55	* In ''ComicBook/SpyBoy'', Bombshell uses "Marta Hari" as her school-going alias.
56	* The Grey Spy in Antonio Prohias' ''ComicStrip/SpyVsSpy'' strips is a glamorous young woman who always plays on the Black and White Spies' sense of chivalry in order to defeat them both. Prohias eventually phased her out of the strips because he couldn't bring himself to have the Spies hurt a woman and the comics were too predictable if she never lost.
57	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': "Dolly Dancer" was an Axis spy that was meant to seduce Steve Trevor prior to him ever meeting Diana. While they did have a relationship and did care about each other, each of them was playing the other and ultimately their loyalties were to their governments.
58	* ''ComicBook/XMen'' villain ComicBook/{{Mystique}} isn't above playing this role from time to time. Being a {{shapeshift\|ing}}er helps.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
62	* ''WesternAnimation/TintinAndTheLakeOfSharks'': The housekeeper Madame Black is a female spy, but an old lady, this not exactly this trope. When Tintin catches [[TheMole ugly old housekeeper Madame Black]] red-handed, he tells her "Spies have changed a lot since Mata Hari, haven't they?"
63	* Barbie ends up playing this role in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3''. She did love Ken before realizing what was really going on at Sunnyside and then rejected him. [[spoiler:She played this role well enough to push him into a HeelFaceTurn, and they end the movie HappilyMarried.]]
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
67	* Monica Fuentes in ''Film/TwoFastTwoFurious'' is a U.S. Customs agent who worked undercover as an assistant for Argentine drug lord Carter Verone.
68	* Marushuka in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfTartu''. She's beautiful and part of LaResistance, trying to get Nazi officers to spill their secrets.
69	* Spoofed with Felicity Shagwell (Creator/HeatherGraham) in ''Film/AustinPowers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'', who has to seduce FatBastard in order to put a tracker on him.
70	%%* Marcus' sister in ''Film/BadBoysII''
71	* Rachel Stein alias Ellis de Vries in ''[[Film/{{Zwartboek}} Black Book]]'': a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.
72	* ''Film/TheBlackDahlia'' reveals that [[spoiler: Madelleine Linscott]] is actually this. She dons men's clothes to kill numerous cops and [[spoiler: that includes Dwight, preserving her cover as a seemingly wholesome heiress]].
73	* Marta Bond, the illegitimate daughter of UsefulNotes/MataHari and Film/JamesBond in the spoofy ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'' is this trope played for maximum silliness.
74	* ''Film/DarlingLili'':
75	** The titular Lili is a GlamorousWartimeSinger who is also a spy. She differs from the usual type however in that her persona is of a wholesome EnglishRose, and her FemmeFatale traits don't surface until she's InLoveWithTheMark and suspects him of cheating on her. [[spoiler: She also fails woefully at it, since she ends up needing to be rescued by everyone around her]].
76	** Crepe Suzette - the sultry burlesque dancer who performs the BadGirlSong "Your Goodwill Ambassador" - is assumed to be one by Lili, and even the police think he's passing information to her (not realising Lili herself is the spy). [[spoiler: She's actually innocent and they just had a minor fling]].
77	* Claire Romely (Creator/SaffronBurrows) in ''Film/{{Enigma\|2001}}'' is suspected of being this but you only find out at the end of the film if she is.
78	* ''Film/FemaleAgents'': Jeanne and Suzy serve as these. Suzy is specifically chosen because she formerly had a relationship with the target, and the team hopes she'll rekindle it to gain information. [[spoiler: This gets her killed.]]
79	* The "deaf" girl from the Creator/MattDamon film ''Film/TheGoodShepherd''.
80	* In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' [[spoiler:Elsa Schneider]] is a German spy who sleeps with both [[spoiler:Indy and his father]].
81	* Bridget von Hammersmark from ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' may qualify. She relies more on her fame from being a movie star than her sexual charm, though. In fact, Creator/QuentinTarantino may have been hinting that he did intend for her to be ''seen'' as this kind of character; in the same scene, a group of German soldiers (whom she had been sitting with earlier) are playing a kind of celebrity guessing game, and UsefulNotes/MataHari herself is one of the answers.
82	* In ''Film/MarsAttacks'', the Martians send out a Martian in a woman suit to infiltrate the White House and try to assassinate the President. It almost works.
83	* In ''Film/MataHari'', Creator/GretaGarbo plays the titular sexy dancing spy in a VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory account.
84	* Nyah Nordoff-Hall in ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' sleeps with the BigBad in order to infiltrate his operation. She was recruited by the IMF specifically to do this because she had a prior relationship with said Big Bad that had ended in a breakup. She's still not happy about it.
85	* In ''Film/{{Munich}}'' a character says "beware the local honeytrap."
86	* Alicia Huberman in ''Film/{{Notorious\|1946}}'' is asked by the US government to seduce (and eventually marry) a Nazi agent in order to have someone with inside access to his house who can look out for the illegal activities the US government suspects are going on in there. When told the nature of her assignment, Alicia even mentions Mata Hari, saying, "Mata Hari, she makes love for the papers."
87	* Eve in ''Film/NorthByNorthwest''. Doubly so once it's revealed she's TheMole [[ItWasHisSled working for the United States government]].
88	* In ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'' Bolivian agent Camille Montes sleeps with crimelord Dominic Greene to get near one of his partners in crime; war criminal General Medrano, because she has a personal vendetta against Medrano.
89	* ''Film/RedSparrow'' and [[Literature/RedSparrow the book it was based on]] [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruct]] the everliving hell out of this trope and any [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype associated character archetypes]] by showcasing the training needed for a woman to be an effective seductress, which is a barrage of constant sexual assaults and other denigrations meant to teach the students how to become insensitive and dominant.
90	-->'''Dominika Egronova:''' ''[to her uncle, fll of deadpan hatred]'' You sent me to whore school.
91	* Lori from ''Film/TotalRecall1990'' poses as the amnesiac protagonist's wife. When her cover is blown, she reveals herself as a DarkActionGirl.
92	* ''Film/TrueLies'' parodies this. Helen Tasker believes a pick-up routine from a sleazy liar who pretends to be a spy to seduce women. Of course she doesn't know her husband is ''actually'' a spy. When questioning her, she reveals she just wanted to do something exciting, so they put her on a fake mission to oblige - playing a prostitute named Michelle. [[spoiler: By the end she's a spy alongside her husband for real.]]
93	* ''Film/TheWreckingCrew'':
94	** Linka is the FemmeFatale sidekick to the main villain, and naturally does her best to seduce Matt Helm.
95	** The film merges this with the DragonLady in the form of Yu Rang, played by 1960s sex symbol Nancy Kwan. She tries to seduce the protagonist, but is dealt with in the DesignatedGirlFight.
96	** Lola Medina was previously this but was replaced with Linka, and defects in the hope of getting revenge. But she's killed in an explosion right after she agrees to help Matt.
97	* Mati Herring, from Film/YouNaztySpy, a classic ''Film/TheThreeStooges'' film.
98	* ''Film/{{Zeppelin}}'' (1971) opens with the protagonist, a FakeDefector going to meet Stephanie, a beautiful German spy in World War One. His superior makes a DeadpanSnarker comment about how dedicated he is, that he would go to meet the woman without having to be ordered to do so.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Literature]]
102	* In ''Literature/TheAliceNetwork'', Eve uses her feminine charms to her advantage in her spy work (and civilian life). Most notably, she sleeps with [[spoiler:her employer]] for information. She even turns her skills against her own side, charming a superior into sleeping with her to stop him from [[spoiler:immediately pulling her from the field]]. After he falls asleep, she goes downstairs and [[spoiler:tells Major Allenton that she’s ready to be sent back to Lille]].
103	* Comes up quite a bit in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' fiction. One detailed example can be seen in the novel ''Close Quarters'', in which a disguised Cassie Suthorn manages to work her way into the confidence of the Duke of Hachiman by playing on his chivalrous impulses and allowing him to "rescue" her from the supposed minions of the "abusive" Chandrasekhar Kurita (actually her regiment's current employer) after a party. They never get physically intimate, the Duke being quite sympathetic to her alleged plight and too much of a gentleman to take advantage, but the general principle still holds.
104	* Rook and occasionally Amara from ''Literature/CodexAlera''. The Cursors and Bloodcrows play for keeps.
105	* ''Literature/TheDayOfTheJackal'': Jacqueline is this, seducing a member of UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle's cabinet so those who are plotting to assassinate him can find out about the efforts to catch the ProfessionalKiller they've hired to assassinate him.
106	* ''[[Literature/TheLaundryFiles The Jennifer Morgue]]'' has Ramona Random, the CIA liaison paired with Bob Howard. In their first meeting, she asks if he wants to sleep with her; when he says no, she says good, because "every man who ever slept with me is dead." The fact that she has a succubus stapled to her soul as a control measure might have something to do with that. [[spoiler: In fact, Ramona's entirely on the mission to ''fulfill'' the role of the Femme Fatale Spy, or the Bad Bond Girl, so that Bob can pierce the geas the main villain has woven that keeps anyone from getting close to him unless they fulfill the tropes of a Bond movie.]]
107	* Literature/JohnRain's {{Love Interest\|s}} Delilah's job with Mossad is to seduce targets to get information. She's routinely despised by her colleagues for her methods, although they have no problem using the intelligence she provides.
108	* ''[[Literature/KushielsLegacy Kushiel's Dart]]'' is a rare example of a femme fatale spy as ''protagonist''.
109	* ''Literature/LordDarcy'':
110	** The backstory of "Murder on the Napoli Express" centered around a naval officer whose mistress turned out to be a spy for a foreign power. While nobody could prove that Captain Jourdain had ever leaked classified information to his mistress, the Admiralty decided that he could no longer be trusted with his command and gave him the choice between taking early retirement and being ReassignedToAntarctica. He took the former, and later committed suicide. Then, in a train car filled almost entirely with officers who had served under Jourdain on their way to his funeral, the man who had first reported Jourdain's mistress as a spy turns up murdered...
111	** "The Ipswich Phial" features Olga Polovski, Agent 055 of the Serka, and the most dangerous woman in Europe, who uses magic to enhance her seduction of Lord Darcy. Darcy, however, has enough control over his own mind to recognise the condition, and is able to bluff his way round her questions even while being enchanted in both senses of the word.
112	* Catherine de Varesne in the ''Literature/MatthewHawkwood'' novel ''Ratcatcher''.
113	* Jane Wooliston, Mary Alsworthy and Teresa Ballinger all employ this trope in the ''PinkCarnationSeries''. Jane Wooliston however also uses many other disguises and methods in her quest to prevent the Napoleonic invasion of England. She is the Pink Carnation after all.
114	* ''Literature/TheSilerianTrilogy'': Elelar is a straight example, and surprisingly effective, gaining state secrets from the head of the Valdani administration in Sileria through seducing him to become his mistress. She's glamorous, a native aristocrat and very beautiful. He's also not the only or first man she's used her wiles on. Pillow talk is enough to be told all kinds of things, often in passing.
115	* ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' has both [[AttractiveBentGender male]] and female examples, including Governor Bowen's regular mistress and the gorgeous female impersonators who pull a HoneyTrap on Governor Hokem.
116	* Though nobody is every shown doing it on page, this trope is brought up in the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga''. [=ImpSec=] agent Byelry Vorruyter notes that when he wants some, it's easier to convince prostitutes to spy on their clients than to convince female agents to seduce people on demand.
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
120	* Mandy in ''Series/TwentyFour'', who poses as a seemingly normal GirlNextDoor. She's one of the few villains to end her season still being at large, due to the information she gives CTU in exchange for freedom.
121	* Russian spy Dottie Underwood from ''Series/AgentCarter'' is an early graduate of the country's Black Widow program, where orphan girls are trained to fulfill this trope. Her most successful mission was seducing Howard Stark and stealing his designs, a nod to the comics where Natasha Romanov -- the ComicBook/BlackWidow we know and love -- initially played this role. Dottie goes on to become Peggy Carter's personal archenemy.
122	* ''Series/{{Alias}}'':
123	** Sydney Bristow, along with roughly half the female cast.
124	** Sydney's mother, Irina Derevko, is a literal example - a KGB agent assigned to marry a CIA agent (namely, Jack) and steal his secrets.
125	** [[spoiler: Lauren Reed]] pulls the same exact act, but on Vaughn.
126	* Elizabeth Jennings from ''Series/TheAmericans'' has this arrow in her quiver. She seduces a KGB defector in order to facilitate his kidnapping. Averted by her daughter Paige in later seasons, with Elizabeth in one instance ordering her not to attempt to seduce a mark.
127	* The North Korean spy Joyce Kim in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' tried to obtain military secrets from Leonard, who was working under a DARPA contract at the time. She couldn't put up with Sheldon though, and abandoned her attempt.
128	* ''Series/TheBill'' WPC Kerry Young seduced a gangster for inside information to help free women who were victims of sex trafficking.
129	* Fiona from ''Series/BurnNotice'' has played this role occasionally, although she generally prefers the MoreDakka or StuffBlowingUp approaches to the team's problems.
130	* ''{{Series/Charmed\|1998}}'':
131	** In the episode "Ms. Hellfire," Prue goes undercover as a hitwoman sent to kill the sisters to find out who ordered the hit. Naturally this involves donning some sexy black dresses and going to a party.
132	** In "Used Karma," a backfiring spell causes Phoebe to get possessed by none other than UsefulNotes/MataHari herself. So she behaves as if she's this - and makes a deal with a group of demons to assassinate her ex-boyfriend.
133	* Sarah Walker of ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' is a CIA agent and being the resident MsFanservice, she don't hesitate to use her skills in seduction to gain informations and trap her enemies.
134	* Undercover policewoman Kate Morton in ''Series/{{Eastenders}}'' became the girlfriend of Phil Mitchell to get him to confess if he murdered his ex.
135	* Karen is sent by the Overlords in ''Series/FallingSkies'' to play this role in order to get Ben away from the 2nd Mass.
136	* In eight season ''Series/{{JAG}}'' episode "Dangerous Game", Chegwidden tells Rabb that a new attorney, Lieutenant Commander Tracey Manetti, on the recommendation of the new [=SecNav=] will work at JAG, Rabb quips "Mata Hari in our midst". It later turns out (in a later episode) that she actually was assigned there as the Secretary's pair of extra eyes and ears.
137	* Subverted in the 1979 mini-series ''Series/AManCalledIntrepid''. Creator/DavidNiven's character objects to a beautiful woman being used as a spy because "anyone who saw her would never forget her". Because she's highly qualified she's sent into France anyway; sure enough a German sentry remembers her face and it leads to her capture.
138	* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': Jenny Frazer in "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS12E3 Secrets and Spies]]", trained by [=MI6=] to set up {{Honey Trap}}s.
139	* Katrina Petrovna (Creator/JoanCollins), in the 1986 miniseries ''Series/MonteCarlo'', is a famous lounge singer who is also working for MI-6 and seduces an Italian general in the pursuit of intelligence on behalf of Great Britain.
140	* Ziva David, ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', but only occasionally. She is better known for more "direct" methods than seduction.
141	* Nikita and Alex from ''Series/{{Nikita}}'' qualify for this trope, although they often use other methods to get their way as well.
142	* Irene Adler from ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', the BBC series, where she's a dominatrix instead of an opera singer. Indeed, she [[spoiler:very nearly]] succeeds at [[spoiler:turning the British treasury into her own personal bank account]].
143	* Katherine Pierce from ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' employs this tactic many times, always with brilliant results but then she is a MagnificentBastard.
144	* In the world of ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'', Margaretha Zelle was much more successful as a spy and seductress than in our world. While wearing Zelle's stockings, a woman has the power to enslave the mind of any man who has touched the stockings.
145	%%* Devonne from ''Series/TheWire''.
146	* ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles'': Indiana Jones meets UsefulNotes/MataHari in one episode, also losing his virginity to her.
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Music]]
150	* Lampshaded of course in ''Secret Agent Man'' by Johnny Rivers:
151	-->''Beware of pretty faces that you find\
152	A pretty face can hide an evil mind''
153	* In Music/WarrenZevon's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP5Xv7QqXiM Lawyers, Guns, and Money]]", the first scrape the narrator gets into involves this:
154	-->''I went home with a waitress,\
155	Just like I always do.\
156	How was I to know\
157	She was with the Russians too?''
158	[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
161	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has Calistria, the goddess of lust, revenge, and trickery. Needless to say, a lot of her priests end up serving this role, to the point that many Calistrian temples are equal parts bordello and information trading warehouse.
162	* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Greater Daemons of Slaanesh (Chaos god/dess of hedonism, excess, and lust) are known as Keepers of Secrets for this reason, as their dominion over sex and decadence extends to pillow talk.
163	[[/folder]]
164
165	[[folder:Theatre]]
166	* ''Theatre/MButterfly'' has Song, a Chinese spy, who poses as a woman to get information from Gallimard, a French soldier. He ends up falling in love with him after being his "mistress" for years.
167	[[/folder]]
168
169	[[folder:Video Games]]
170	* Natasha from the ''VideoGame/{{Commandos}}'' series. Originally appearing in ''Beyond The Call Of Duty'', she is used by the player to meet a general and steal some secret documents from him. In ''Men Of Courage'', her abilities are expanded, including using wine bottles to knock out enemies and sniping.
171	* The design of ''VideoGame/ADanceWithRogues'' lends itself to this sort of player character. An AxCrazy runthrough is much more difficult.
172	* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins,'' Orlesian[[note]]A FantasyCounterpartCulture of France[[/note]] Bards fill this role. Party member Leliana used to be one, and also doubles as a NaughtyNun; she has trouble reconciling the two aspects of her being, since she enjoyed her former career as much as her newfound faith. [[spoiler: She does this by the time of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', by becoming a spy for the Church.]]
173	** Zevran is a male version. In the 'verse, the genders are equal and homo/bisexuality is seen as a mere fetish rather than a taboo, thus making male Mata Haris almost as effective as the ladies.
174	* Mata Hari appears in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' as a low-tier playable Servant. Although she is an Assassin, she has no instant-kill or high-damage gimmicks, but instead is meant to generate criticals for allied Servants (i.e., intel) and prevent enemy actions. Her skill-sealing ability in particular [[LethalJokeCharacter is surprisingly useful]] against the boss of [[spoiler: Time Temple Solomon]].
175	* The adventure game ''VideoGame/MataHari''. Reviews have been mixed, but the general consensus is it's SoOkayItsAverage.
176	* EVA from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater''. Snake even refers to her as "a regular Mata Hari."
177	* Minagho in ''VideoGame/PathfinderWrathOfTheRighteous'' was one in the backstory, the [[HotAsHell beautiful demoness]] whose manipulative and deceptive charms caused the fall of Drezen. Much less so in the present time of the game, where the major characters know what she's capable of and she operates openly as a demonic agent.
178	* Milla Vodello from ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' is an attractive lady spy whose nickname is "The Mental Minx".
179	* Ada Wong of ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' is first introduced as this, seducing an Umbrella employee in order to gain access to company secrets. Doesn't hurt that she's also a DarkActionGirl and a world-class FemmeFatale.
180	* Margarete from ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts''... then again, she ''is'' the actual UsefulNotes/MataHari.
181	* Belleza from ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia''. She's an Admiral, but she poses as a belly dancer to gather information on the party for TheEmpire. Rare, in that she's both a villainous version of this trope and motivated by idealism.
182	* Rouge the Bat fits as a femme fatale spy in ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog''.
183	* Surprisingly {{averted\|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/VelvetAssassin''. Violette possesses a lot of feminine charm, but never uses them on her missions, preferring the more direct method of sneaking around and stabbing Nazis. Even the [[ArtificialStupidity dimwitted guards of this game]] are able to clue in that the heavily-armed and rather scary looking British woman didn't sneak into enemy territory because she wanted a good time.
184	[[/folder]]
185
186	[[folder:Web Comics]]
187	* The T-Girls of the ''Webcomic/JetDream'' RemixComic are all femme fatale spies, similar to ''[[Comicbook/JetDream their original counterparts]], except that in this case, they're [[GenderBender an all-transgender group]].
188	* In ''Webcomic/SpyingWithLana'', Lana often uses honey traps to get close to her targets. However, once she has closed in, she handles herself very well with guns or in fist fights.
189	[[/folder]]
190
191	[[folder:Western Animation]]
192	* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' WartimeCartoon ''WesternAnimation/PlaneDaffy'' features a seductive Nazi spy pigeon named [[{{Spoonerism}} Hatta Mari]].
193	* One ''WesternAnimation/PrivateSnafu'' cartoon has Snafu gleefully tell a woman he falls in love with about being shipped out to Africa at half-past four. Unfortunately, she's got a direct line to Hitler himself.
194	[[/folder]]
195
196	[[folder:Real Life]]
197	* UsefulNotes/MataHari is the most iconic example. She was an exotic dancer from UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands. During and before UsefulNotes/WorldWarI she was a courtesan to many high class officials, politicians, and military officers. She was a spy for the French, but was convicted of being a double agent for ''Germany'' and was eventually executed by firing squad by the French. Her life was later fictionalized into a story of her being an irresistible master spy, yet in reality she wasn't such a master spy at all (most of the information she sold to ''both'' sides was little more than gossip about various official's personal lives). In fact, while movie adaptations of her story (most famously the 1931 version starring Creator/GretaGarbo) depict her as a sensational beauty, the real Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, while attractive, was more remarkable in her heyday for her sensual appeal than for her looks.
198	* Katrina Leung worked as a double agent for China and the FBI. She seduced several FBI employees including her FBI handler which got her information of use to China
199	* Cheryl Bentov (aka Cindy) was an American Mossad Agent who targeted a former Israeli nuclear technician who had disclosed nuclear secrets. She posed as an American tourist, became his lover, and persuaded him to go to Italy with her... where, naturally, he was kidnapped and smuggled back to Israel.
200	* In 2006 a British Defense Attache in Pakistan was brought back to the UK after it emerged a girlfriend/lover of his was a Pakistani Intelligence Officer. There are sources which say his actions compromised Western operatives and operations in Pakistan but the British government denies this.
201	* A North Korean woman, Wong Jeong-Hwa, was imprisoned in 2008 after she admitted seducing South Korean military officers in exchange for classified information.
202	* A US diplomat was photographed in a "compromising situation" with a Polish woman in 1961 and was blackmailed into revealing secrets.
203	* A US Army NCO who worked at the US Embassy in Moscow either had drunken sex or was made to believe he had sex with a Soviet Agent because he was too drunk to remember. He was later told she was pregnant and that his wife would be told if he did not cooperate with the Soviet Authorities.
204	** This was a very common tactic used by the [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre KGB]], which trained attractive female personnel known as "sparrows" to lure Westerners into [[HoneyTrap sexual situations]] by which they could be blackmailed into working for the Soviets or at least giving classified information to them. Smart victims of this plot would refuse and immediately contact the American embassy.
205	* In 1987 a US Marine Sergeant embassy guard in Moscow called Clayton J. Lonetree was convicted of spying against the United States for handing over documents he was assigned to after being honeytrapped and blackmailed by a female Soviet officer.
206	* Anna Chapman, who pleaded guilty to acting as a agent for a foreign government, has been described in the media as a "modern day Mata Hari" and a "{{honey trap}}" for obtaining a British passport by marrying a British man and allegedly having affairs with prominent businessmen.
207	** She, at least, appears no more competent than the real Mata Hari, having been caught by U.S. authorities (her cover was blown almost immediately and she never realized it and most of the information she managed to gain could have been gained just by reading the Wall Street Journal or Washington Post) and extradited back to Russia via PrisonerExchange. With her cover thoroughly blown, she's been capitalizing on her looks and notoriety to become a media personality and TV host. She also did a photo shoot for ''Maxim'' magazine which played up this trope, posing in Agent Provocateur lingerie while holding a pistol.
208	* Alleged Russian spy Katja Zatuliveter, who worked as a researcher for the BBC and a politician's PA, has been labeled a honey trap and "blonde temptress" by the UK press, who strongly imply the MP in question hired her out of lust and didn't do the proper background checks.
209	* During the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, British Secretary of State for War John Profumo was accused of putting national security at risk by having a sexual relationship with alleged call girl Christine Keeler, who was reputed to also be sleeping with Eugene Ivanov, a senior Naval Attache at the Soviet Embassy in London.
210	* M15 sent out a 14-page document to British banks, businesses and financial institutions warning about the danger of Chinese intelligence services blackmailing Western businesspeople over sexual relationships.
211	* Spy Sylvia Rafael has been called a Mossad honey trap.
212	* British MP Ian Clement admitted he was seduced by a woman in Beijing he suspects of working for Chinese intelligence.
213	* Russian model Ekaterina Gerasimova was allegedly employed by the Kremlin to seduce at least half a dozen of their high profile critics to destroy their reputations and for blackmail purposes.
214	* UsefulNotes/WorldWarII American spy Betty Pack used her feminine wiles to get an Italian naval attache to give her the Italian Naval Code book (some say he gave her fake codes but the Italian fleets movements were predicted much more accurately suggesting he didn't) and seduced the French Embassy's press attache who gave her information to use against the Nazis.
215	* Also in World War II, Amy Elizabeth Thorpe was an American spy, codenamed Cynthia, who worked for the British government. She seduced several foreign diplomats to gain access to their plans. Among her contributions was helping the Allied Invasion of North Africa succeed.
216	* A Taiwanese Army Major General Lo Hsien-che was drawn into a honey trap set by a "tall, beautiful and chic" Chinese agent and supplied her with top secret information in exchange for sex and money in what has been described as the worst Espionage case in Taiwan for 50 years
217	* Rose O'Neal Greenhow. She was a Southern socialite and spy for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. She was hugely successful because men seemed incapable of refusing her anything. On multiple occasions, she seduced Union officers and politicians to where they were willing to betray their duty (and left a few suicides in her wake).
218	* For a multiplayer example, this is generally considered to be true about prostitutes during [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar America's war in Vietnam]]. Much of the intelligence also came from other sources that were close to the Americans such as taxi drivers.
219	* During his time as a spy in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Creator/RoaldDahl served as a gender-inverted version of this. Yes, THAT Roald Dahl. Website/{{Cracked}} has [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19458_the-5-most-badass-teams-famous-people-to-ever-join-forces.html more information than you require]].
220	* In a 1904 manual on field intelligence, a British intelligence colonel discussed this trope.
221	-->"When women are employed as secret service agents, the probability of success and the difficulty of administration are alike increased. Women are frequently very skillful in eliciting information; they require no disguise; if attractive, they are likely to be welcome everywhere, and may be able to seduce from their loyalty those whose assistance and information may be of use. On the other hand, they are variable, easily offended, seldom sufficiently reticent, and apt to be reckless. Usually they will work more consistently for a person than for a principle, and a lover in the Intelligence Corps makes a useful intermediary."
222	* In 2018, US prosecutor unmasked [[https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/19/politics/maria-butina-paul-erickson-russian-sex-lies-guns/index.html Maria Butina]], who used, among other things, "sex, lies and gun" to infiltrate the NRA and undermine the US election.
223	* The author of the book on which ''Film/RedSparrow'' was based on was asked if the CIA had set up such a program. They had but had to abandon it as the blackmail aspect didn't work- East Bloc nationals just regarded being seduced by sexy foreigners as one of the perks of the job. They reported it to their superiors, who ordered them to keep the affair going and feed the foreign agent with disinformation.
224	* In 2024, US Federal authorities [[https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2024/03/05/air-force-employee-allegedly-leaked-classified-info-on-dating-site/ accused an Air Force employee]] of leaking classified information about the Russo-Ukrainian War to a romantic intertest through a foreign online dating platform. After the transcripts of the conversations were revealed, many observers remarked just how ''transparent'' the agent was in buttering the employee up and how blatant the requests for classified information were. It seems this case was less about the agent on the other side being clever and more about the Air Force employee utterly [[FailedASpotCheck failing to see the obvious signs]] due to [[LustMakesYouDumb not thinking with the right head]].
225	[[/folder]]

Context Main / FemmeFataleSpy