History Main / AgentProvocateur

In spy lingo, this is a covert operative whose job is to incite rebellion, entice defectors or goad the enemy into a foolish action (sometimes to the point of skirting with the FalseFlagOperation). Even though it's a [[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench sexy French word]], the Agent Provocateur got the short end of the [[InnocentInnuendo sexy spy stick]]. They are looked down upon by... [[ContemptCrossfire pretty much everyone.]]

In spy lingo, this is a covert operative whose job is to incite rebellion, entice defectors or goad the enemy into a foolish action (sometimes to the point of skirting with the FalseFlagOperation). Even though it's a [[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench sexy French word]], the Agent Provocateur got the short end of the [[InnocentInnuendo sexy spy stick]]. They are looked down upon by...pretty much everyone.

* Throughout history, agent provocateurs have been sent inside a few social movements with the intent to destroy them and stir up controversy to help discredit the movement. As a result, they are often used as scapegoats when protests turn ugly. Website/TheOtherWiki provides a list of proven and suspected cases [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_provocateur here]].

* ''Literature/ThePragueCemetery''. The VillainProtagonist Simonini takes this role when the secret police use him to get some French radicals together for a bomb plot so they can be arrested. His main job however is the forgery of documents that his various employers use to 'prove' whatever ConspiracyTheory it's in their interest to pedal.

** However, it's an open secret that ''federal'' law enforcement agencies in the United States such as the FBI and ATF have been doing exactly this for decades, one such example leading to the infamous Ruby Ridge standoff of 1992. A more recent instance occurred in 2017 when [[https://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/29/politics/aby-rayyan-fbi-terror-sting-pizza-man/index.html a depressed pizza deliveryman from Detroit, Michigan]] who pretended to be an ISIS sympathizer online was contacted by an FBI agent who [[DatingServiceDisaster pretended to be a romantically interested woman, got him to fall in love]], [[TheVamp relentlessly pressured him to commit a mass shooting]], and arrested him after he refused. As a result, almost every high-profile act of violence in America over the past two decades has been the subject of UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories accusing them of being the result of this, [[ParanoiaFuel with many having no reliable way to confirm or refute it]].

* ''Series/ThePrisoner1967''. This trope causes the failure of the escape attempt in "Checkmate". Number Six works out how to identify the spies among the inhabitants of the Village, and thus is able to recruit a team of genuine prisoners. [[spoiler:Unfortunately on the night of the escape the prisoners become paranoid that Number Six is an agent provocateur trying to incite them, so denounce him to Number Two.]]

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': This is the modus operandi of the ArtificialIntelligence Tsubaki who is TheRemnant of the Old World {{Precursors}}. She was previously FamedInStory as the Tempting Spectre for offering hunters deals to attack other hunters, before TheGovernment changed that myth to something more convenient. Before her territory in the ruins is about to be assaulted, she prepares EvilKnockoff hunters to plant inside the enemy squads and sow distrust and infighting amongst the attackers after she’s disabled their communications.
* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': In the AlternateTimeline ''Marie Route'' series, Olivia suffers from DemonicPossession by a VengefulGhost bent on destroying the kingdom, leading to her PlayingBothSides as TheChessmaster in multiple conflicts, and being TheCorrupter for the Crown Prince Julius, while [[VillainWithGoodPublicity the public sees]] Olivia as a kind and generous saint.

* There should be an article about ukrainian center of special informational and psychological operations, but I am afraid adding it here will make the site inaccessible in Ukraine due to being “pro-Russian”.

[[folder:Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder:Comic Books ]]

[[folder:Film ]]

[[folder:Literature ]]

[[folder:Live Action Television ]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder:Religion ]]

[[folder:Video Games ]]

[[folder:Western Animation ]]

[[folder:Real Life ]]

* Throughout history, agent provocateurs have been sent inside a few social movements with the intent to destroy them and stir up controversy to help discredit the movement. As a result, they are often used as scapegoats when protests turn ugly. Wiki/TheOtherWiki provides a list of proven and suspected cases [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_provocateur here]].

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', the Ishval uprising is supposedly the result of a soldier accidentally shooting an Ishval boy. [[spoiler:It was actually Envy, who had posed as an Armestrian soldier and shot the child with the intent of causing the rebellion. This is pretty much the Homunculi's modus operandi: they start wars for the express purpose of [[ConnectTheMurders drawing the enormous transmutation circle]] [[BigBad Father]] needs for [[GodhoodSeeker his master plan]].]]

** In the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime adaptation]], [[spoiler:a group of special forces had been tasked with starting the Ishbal uprising. This group of special forces is then used in experiments to create chimeras who are let loose after the 5th laboratory arc and expose the whole conspiracy. The story of the child getting shot is then spread around as a coverup.]]

* James Mowry, the hero of Creator/EricFrankRussell's ''Literature/{{Wasp}}'', is sent down alone to an alien planet to stir up as much trouble as he possibly can.

Common conspiracy theory trope. See also {{Astroturf}}. Compare with DoubleAgent. Not necessarily one of LesCollaborateurs, though he or she may double as this. Not to be confused with a HoneyTrap. Or the 1984 Music/{{Foreigner}} album.

** This is also one of the more famous specialities of the Alpha Legion according to the fluff. Famously provoking much of the Imperial Eastern Sector into riots during the Horus Heresy as a means of destabilizing the necessary supply lines for the Seige of Terra. However, in novels it is better shown by both the Night Lords Trilogy and the Blood Gorgons in the novel Flesh and Iron. On the tabletop, this is traditionally shown by a larger than average number of cultists.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action Television ]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Religion ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', [[spoiler:Discord, donning the disguise of TheGhost]] Grogar, tries to goad the other villains [[spoiler:Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow and King Sombra (whom he himself reanimated)]] into combining forces and attacking Equestria [[spoiler:for the sole purpose of granting the Mane Six a glorious victory just in time of Princess Twilight's ascension to the throne]]. Predictably, the whole scheme goes pear-shaped when the villains perform [[LetsGetDangerous far more competently]] than expected.