History Characters / IMFLeadership

'''[[center: [- [[Characters/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries Main Character Index]] -]]]'''
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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Kittridge]]
!!Eugene Kittridge
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kittridge_mission_impossible_1996.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/HenryCzerny
->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Jean-Daniel Nicodème
->'''Appearances:''' ''[[Film/MissionImpossible1996 Mission: Impossible]]'' | ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleDeadReckoningPartOne Dead Reckoning Part One]]''

->''"Everyone has pressure points, Barnes. You find something that's personally important to someone and... you squeeze."''

The chief of the IMF in the first film.
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* TheBusCameBack: After six films and twenty-five years, Kittridge returns in the seventh entry of the series.
* HeroAntagonist: He genuinely believes that Ethan is the mole. [[spoiler: Upon learning that Ethan was framed and that Phelps is the real mole, Kittridge works with Ethan to take Phelps down.]]
* InspectorJavert: Accuses Ethan of killing the team and pursues him everywhere he goes.
* TheMole: Suspected to be one but is proven not to be.
* ProperlyParanoid: Being an IMF Leader, it may be natural to assume that the only one guy not killed in a botch mission will be the mole.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Played with. Initially suspects Ethan of being the mole, but after Ethan proves Phelps is the mole, helps to take him down.
* RedHerring: Kittridge's rather [[SmugSnake snide]] behavior at the restaurant and accusing Ethan of being the mole leads the audience to believe that he might be a villain working to frame Ethan. [[spoiler: And when Ethan finds Phelps still alive, Phelps tells him exactly that, that Kittridge is the mole. However, Ethan sees through it and figures out that Kittridge is innocent while Phelps is the real mole.]]
* SmugSnake: A HeroAntagonist example, as seems pretty pleased with himself as he accuses Ethan of being the mole, clearly satisfied that he has who seems to be the traitor right in his clutches. But Ethan manages to escape pretty easily with the help of some explosive chewing gum, and while Kittridge makes a good effort of trying to catch him, Ethan is always one step ahead. [[spoiler: He gets a straightforward heroic example when he contacts the real mole, Phelps, and smugly makes it clear that the gig is up.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Swanbeck]]
!!Mission Commander Swanbeck
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bzwvmnta0otytntjjzi00mtdklweynmqtndu5nzrkytlhmda4xkeyxkfqcgdeqxvyotc5mdi5nje_v1.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/AnthonyHopkins
->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Bernard Dhéran
->'''Appearances:''' ''Film/MissionImpossibleII''

->'''Swanbeck:''' You mean it will be difficult.\\
'''Ethan:''' Very.\\
'''Swanbeck:''' Well, Mr. Hunt, this is not 'Mission: Difficult', it's 'Mission: Impossible'. 'Difficult' should be a walk in the park for you.

Ethan's IMF superior during the second film.
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* BenevolentBoss: Is generally a nice guy, and even lives up to his promise that Nyah's criminal record will be erased.
* TheCameo: From Sir Anthony Hopkins.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Disappears in the third film with no explanation as to why this is so.
* CoolOldGuy: Courtesy of being played by Anthony Hopkins.
* DeadpanSnarker: His quote about Mission: Difficult.
* {{Expy}}: He plays M to Ethan's Film/JamesBond.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: His comment about Nyah indicates him having a less than flattering opinion about women.
-->'''Ethan''': She's got no training for this kind of thing.
-->'''Swanbeck''': What? To go to bed with a man and lie to him? She's a woman, she's got all the training she needs.
* PutOnABus: Per usual Mission: Impossible fare, that is the first and last time we see Swanbeck.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Musgrave]]
!!John Musgrave
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/397509.jpg]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/BillyCrudup
->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Fabrice Josso
->'''Appearances:''' ''Film/MissionImpossibleIII''

->''"I know we've joked about it, but I'm always this close on begging you to stop training our people and get your ass back in the field."''

An old friend of Ethan and an IMF veteran agent.
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* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: He's an evil and smug man, but Musgrave's death is a bit tragic due to how shocked he looks and how squeaky his voice becomes. It can also be interpreted as him accepting death, as he doesn't get angry at Hunt or try killing him as he dies, he just looks shocked at him while he dies]].
* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler: He teams up with Davian to release the "Rabbit's Foot".]]
* DragonWithAnAgenda: [[spoiler: He considers Davian to be a disposable criminal (referring to him as "a cockroach"), and is only using him to create chaos with the rabbit's foot as a pretense to start a war in the Middle East.]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: Pretends to be one of the only [=IMF=] supervisors that believes Ethan isn't TheMole, when in fact he's the mole himself.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Helps Davian kidnap Julia, who later kills him.
* TheMole: [[spoiler: In the IMF itself]].
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: [[spoiler: He calls Brassel, who's African-American, an "affirmative action poster-boy" and implies that's the only reason he's in his position as IMF director.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: As evidenced by the spoiler marks.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: He doesn't see himself as a traitor or rogue agent like Jim Phelps, Ambrose, Solomon Lane, or John Lark. He's just carrying out a FalseFlagOperation he feels his superiors lack the spine to approve, all to pave the way for "democracy to win" in the Middle East.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Brassel]]
!!Theodore Brassel
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/af6b0842_a9ea_4523_8150_ad724ac02da3.jpeg]]
%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/LaurenceFishburne
->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Paul Borne
->'''Appearances:''' ''Film/MissionImpossibleIII''

->''"You can look at me with those judgmental, incriminating eyes for all you want, but I bullshit you not. I'll bleed on the flag to make sure the stripes stay red."''

Ethan's superior during the third film.
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%%* BadassBoast: See the above quote.
* BenevolentBoss: Yes. He tells Ethan to enjoy his honeymoon.
* GoodIsNotNice: He really means well and isn't one of the corrupt agents but he's quite abrasive to Ethan considering the circumstances in the third movie he's involved in. After Ethan founds out who the 'mole' is, Brassel eventually mellows out and becomes completely friendly to him at the end of the movie.
* InspectorJavert: Once again, he is in the list of people who thinks that Ethan betrayed the IMF.
* TheMole: Initially suspected to be such but is actually not. Kind of reminds us of Kittridge.
* PutOnABus: Sadly never seen again after III.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: This despite butting heads with Ethan throughout. He chews out Ethan and Musgrave but justifably so considering the operation resulted in [[spoiler: a dead agent]] and little information gained; when the team successfully grabs Davian at the Vatican, he congratulates them despite the job being pulled behind his back, and when Ethan's name is cleared, he offers him a promotion and best wishes on his honeymoon.
* ScaryBlackMan: Averted. He's quite an affable, friendly boss, but his multiple [[ImpliedDeathThreat implied death threats]] and BadassBoast moments make him this until the end of the film when everything is done.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The IMF Secretary]]
!!The IMF Secretary
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghost_protocol4597.png]]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/TomWilkinson
->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Jean-Yves Chatelais
->'''Appearances:''' ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol Ghost Protocol]]''

->''"Ethan, you're my best man. And I'm sorry it's come to this, after all the sacrifices you've made. If we don't meet again, I just want you to know... I will always consider you a friend."''

The boss of the IMF.
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* BenevolentBoss: Despite having to follow orders from the President, he deeply cares for his operatives.
* BigGood: The closest person to one. As the Secretary in charge of the IMF, he has an even higher rank than Kittridge, Swanbeck, and Brassel. He's also the only other IMF leader besides Swanbeck who never antagonizes Ethan in any way.
* BoomHeadshot: How he meets his end, courtesy of a Russian policeman.
* CoolOldGuy: He seems very stern, yet he knows how to deal with critical situations with some brain.
* NoNameGiven: His real name hasn't been revealed.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: [[spoiler:His demise heavily impacts into ''Rogue Nation''.]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He tells Ethan that the IMF has been dissolved because of the Kremlin terrorist attack... then he explains him how the fake the runaway.
* {{Retirony}}: He was planning to go to Washington to announce his resignation. The Russian police fatally put an end to that.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hunley]]
!!Alan Hunley
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alanhunley.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I'm beginning to see why you guys enjoy this so much."'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/AlecBaldwin
->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Bernard Lanneau
->'''Appearances:''' ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleRogueNation Rogue Nation]]'' | ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleFallout Fallout]]''

->'''Chairman:''' I'm not sure the Committee approves of your methods, Director Hunley.\\
'''Hunley:''' [[BorrowedCatchphrase Desperate times, desperate measures,]] Mr. Chairman.

Former Director of the CIA. He strongly disapproves of the IMF and tries to shut it down and merge all employees with the CIA itself. However, after Ethan goes to great lengths to prove that the IMF is still needed and they are indeed effective in what they do, Hunley relents and shows full support to the IMF, becoming the new Secretary in charge of the organization after the previous one is killed in ''Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol''.
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* BadassBureaucrat: Despite being neither a young man nor a field agent, he proves himself to be no slouch in combat. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, he's no match for Walker.]]
* BenevolentBoss: Once he becomes the [=IMF=] secretary, he shows himself to be completely supportive of Ethan and his team, having seen firsthand the need for what they do, [[spoiler: and even pulls a HeroicSacrifice to save Ethan's life. Doesn't get more benevolent than that.]]
* BigGood: The successor to the previous Secretary who's killed in ''Ghost Protocol''.
* CoolOldGuy: He's 60 years old and not in great shape [[spoiler:but able to fight Walker on equal terms in hand-to-hand combat, forcing Walker to use a hidden knife to stab him]].
* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Hunley told Ethan that Ethan’s noble qualities is the reason he can always trust Ethan to have his back. He ends up getting killed to protect Ethan when Walker tries to shoot him in the back instead.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Upon seeing Walker trying to shoot Ethan in the back, Hunley rushes to stop him and gets into a fistfight. He ends up getting stabbed by Walker and left to die, though not before giving some encouragement to Ethan to finish the mission.]]
* InspectorJavert: Like Kittridge and Brassel before him, he believes Ethan has gone rogue and organizes a manhunt for him in ''Rogue Nation''.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: In ''Rogue Nation'' as the CIA Director. He strongly disapproves of the IMF and tries to disband it and merge all assets with the CIA itself. When Ethan refuses to fall in line, he sends task forces to find and either capture or kill him with extreme prejudice. After Ethan proves the existence of the Syndicate to him and clears his name, Hunley finally drops this attitude and becomes his ally. He's later appointed to be the new IMF Secretary, averting this trope in full.
* NiceGuy: In ''Fallout'', he proves himself to be this, and declares to Ethan out loud he can "trust him to have (his) back".
* NotSoAboveItAll: [[spoiler:He's part of the plan Ethan cooks up to expose August Walker as John Lark. He gets to be the one to hold Walker at gunpoint after he fakes being tasered by Ethan. He then admits to the team that he finally knows why Ethan and his IMF Team enjoy their KansasCityShuffle gambits so much.]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: His characterization in ''Fallout'' after he TookALevelInKindness. Even if Ethan screws up or plots some extremely risky schemes that he did not approve of, he still believes in Ethan and his team's capabilities to get the job done.
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:The sixth film needed a good guy to die to show how serious the villain is.]]
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:Killed by Lark in the sixth film.]]
* TookALevelInKindness: He's noticeably nicer to the IMF in ''Fallout'', probably because he had seen firsthand what they're capable of and the fact that he's now the new Secretary in charge of the organization. He may not approve of Ethan's methods, but he can always trust him to have a good judgment. [[spoiler:In the end, he dies protecting his subordinates and entrusts them to finish the mission.]]
[[/folder]]
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The IMF has many great agents, but great agents need greater leaders. These are the leaders throughout all Mission: Impossible films.

* TheBusCameBack: After six films and twenty-five years, Kittridge returns in the seventh entry of the series.

%%*TheBusCameBack: He returns after a whopping 25 years in the seventh film.

->'''Appearances:''' ''Film/MissionImpossible1996''

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: He's an evil and smug man, but Musgrave's death is a bit tragic due to how shocked he looks and how squeaky his voice becomes. It can also be interpretated as him accepting death, as he doesn't get angry at Hunt or try killing him as he dies, he just looks shocked at him while he dies]].

->'''Dubbed in French By:''' Yann Guillemot

->'''Played By:''' Henry Czerny

->'''Appearances:''' ''Film/MissionImpossible''

->''"Ethan, you're my best man. And I'm sorry it's come to this, after all the sacrifices you've made. We don't meet again, I just want you to know... I will always consider you a friend."''

* BigGood: The closest person to one. As the Secretary in charge of the IMF, he has an even higher rank than Kittridge, Swanbeck, and Brassel. He's also the only other IMF leader beside Swanbeck who never antagonizes Ethan in any way.

->'''Played By:''' Tom Wilkinson

* TheDragon: [[spoiler:To Davian.]]
* DragonTheirFeet: [[spoiler:He survives Ethan's initial fight and attacks Julia after Ethan kills Davian, but Julia quickly shoots him down.]]

%*TheBusCameBack: He returns after a whopping 25 years in the seventh film.

* BadassGrandpa: He's 60 years old and not in great shape [[spoiler:but able to fight Walker on equal terms in hand-to-hand combat, forcing Walker to use a hidden knife to stab him.]]

* CoolOldGuy: Courtesy of being played by [[Creator/AlecBaldwin Alec Baldwin]].