History Main / EliteAgentsAboveTheLaw

** In most ''Star Wars'' media, including ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', the Jedi Order is portrayed as an NGOSuperpower of sorts: an independent paramilitary organization that is allied to the Republic, enforcing its laws and keeping the peace, but only really answers to its own Jedi Council. And in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', the Council really doesn't like it when the civilian government of the Republic tries to insert itself in what it sees as purely Jedi affairs. During the Clone Wars, the Military Creation Act changes this status by legally appointing Jedi assigned to the war effort as senior officers of the Grand Army of the Republic.

** In most ''Franchise/StarWars'' media, including ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', the Jedi Order is portrayed as an NGOSuperpower of sorts: an independent paramilitary organization that is allied to the Republic, enforcing its law and keeping the peace, but which really only answers to its own Jedi Council. And per ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', the Council really doesn't like it when the civilian government of the Republic tries to insert itself in what it sees as purely Jedi affairs. During the Clone Wars, the Military Creation Act changes this status by legally appointing Jedi assigned to the war effort as senior officers of the Grand Army of the Republic.

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

** ''Literature/TheTeethOfTheTiger'', ''Literature/DeadOrAlive'', ''Literature/LockedOn'', and ''Literature/ThreatVector'' revolve around a private counterterrorism [[ProfessionalKillers hit squad]] called the Campus, secretly established by former President Jack Ryan. Ryan supplied the group with [[ArtisticLicenseLaw a stack of pre-signed presidential pardons]] to shield its operatives from prosecution.

** ''Literature/TheTeethOfTheTiger'' revolves around a private counterterrorism [[ProfessionalKillers hit squad]] secretly established by former President Jack Ryan. Ryan supplied the group with [[ArtisticLicenseLaw a stack of pre-signed presidential pardons]] to shield its operatives from prosecution.

* Council Spectres from ''Franchise/MassEffect'', operatives with a vague mandate to "preserve peace and stability in the galaxy," are only answerable to the Council itself, which takes pains to not inquire too deeply into what they do and how they do it. Unlike other examples of this trope, they are [[WithThisHerring not provided with any particular resources]] by their employers, but since they can do anything they like without legal repercussion, they're free to cut deals, steal, and even raise private armies to accomplish their missions. The ethics of this are {{discussed}} in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': DaChief of Citadel Security criticizes the Spectres' lack of accountability, and the main plot of the game involves Commander Shepard hunting down a Spectre who has gone rogue, blundering into his plot to [[spoiler:summon the Reapers and bring on TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]] as a result.
* In the ''VideoGame/XCom'' series, you have permission to operate in more-or-less any country. So long as you do a good job of fighting off the alien forces, none of the funding nations will withdraw support. You can be given [[SideQuest requests]] by these funding nations, but are not obligated to complete them. The penalty for failing (or simply not attempting) the requests is typically minimal.

* FinalFantasyXIV plays with this all to hell, usually to the tune of subversion.

* The main conflict of ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' is set off by this trope. With [[spoiler:the collapse of SHIELD]] in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', the Avengers are now effectively an NGOSuperpower with no civilian oversight or accountability. As a consequence of the missions in [[Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron Sokovia]] and Nigeria going pear-shaped and causing massive civilian casualties, the world's governments enact the [[SuperRegistrationAct Sokovia Accords]] in an attempt to [[DefiedTrope bring the Avengers back under civilian control]]. Reaction from the Avengers themselves is mixed: the increasingly traumatized Tony Stark is in favor, while Steve Rogers worries that the Avengers will be subordinated to political objectives over the broader goal of protecting the planet, and chooses to quit. It gets worse when the Accords signatories appoint [[GeneralRipper Thaddeus Ross]] ([[Film/TheIncredibleHulk infamous for hunting the Hulk]]) in charge of enforcing the Accords on the superheroes; his pursuit of Bucky Barnes pushes Tony and Steve into open conflict.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition. In addition to their totally unfettered powers of requisition (ranging from safehouses to entire fleets of starships), Inquisitors have no limits on their authority save what the Inquisition imposes on them, allowing them to do things (like summon daemons and traffick with aliens) that would get any other citizen burned alive. Finally, they are one of two groups (the other being the Emperor's [[SuperSoldier Space Marines]]) empowered to enact [[EarthShatteringKaboom Exterminatus]] if they deem it necessary. Inquisitors ''are'' answerable to other Inquisitors, with potential penalties for abuse of power including defrocking or even death, but the only office above them is that of the incapacitated GodEmperor of Mankind. So far the only other Imperial organization to successfully stand up to them has been the Space Wolves. %% Do not re-add comments about the Inquisition being a Trope Codifier: it does not qualify for the term.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''
** The Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition. In addition to their totally unfettered powers of requisition (ranging from safehouses to entire fleets of starships), Inquisitors have no limits on their authority save what the Inquisition imposes on them, allowing them to do things (like summon daemons and traffick with aliens) that would get any other citizen burned alive. Finally, they are one of two groups (the other being the Emperor's [[SuperSoldier Space Marines]]) empowered to enact [[EarthShatteringKaboom Exterminatus]] if they deem it necessary. Inquisitors ''are'' answerable to other Inquisitors, with potential penalties for abuse of power including defrocking or even death, but the only office above them is that of the GodEmperor of Mankind--who has been a DarkLordOnLifeSupport since the Horus Heresy. So far the only other Imperial organization to successfully stand up to them has been the Space Wolves. %% Do not re-add comments about the Inquisition being a Trope Codifier: it does not qualify for the term.
** Like the Inquisition, the Commissariat, which governs the [[StandardSciFiArmy Imperial Guard's]] and [[SpaceNavy Navy's]] [[ThePoliticalOfficer political commissars]], is outside the regular military's chain of command. Therefore, in theory, due to the aforementioned lack of centralized leadership in the Imperium, commissars don't have to obey even a direct order from a Lord General Militant or admiral, and can execute anyone of any rank for virtually any reason (though in practice there's a lot more paperwork involved the further up they go, and they can be judged by more senior commissars). Literature/CiaphasCain notes this very often, but due to his reputation and calculating nature, he's never actually had to shoot anyone for insubordination on-page (in fact, he often mistakenly attributes senior officers listening to him to fear of execution, instead of them considering him a experienced source of advice).

* When Torchwood was first introduced in ''Series/DoctorWho'', it's established that [[NoSuchAgency even the Prime Minister is not supposed to know they exist]]. Torchwood was established by UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria to counter supernatural and extraterrestrial threats and is answerable only to the current monarch of the UK. [[Series/{{Torchwood}} They got their own spin-off series later.]]

* ''Series/AgentX'' was a short-lived TV series following a special agent that follows pretty much all of the traits of this trope, except he is answerable only to the ''Vice President'', as designated by [[ArtisticLicensePolitics a secret section of the Constitution]].

* The original ''Series/MissionImpossible'' (1966-1973) is probably the TropeCodifier. The Impossible Mission Force's command structure is only vaguely defined due to the episodic nature of the series: all that we're ever told, OnceAnEpisode, is that they answer to a mysterious Secretary, who will famously disavow all knowledge of the protagonists' actions if any are exposed.

** Section 31, a super-secret Federation intelligence agency that isn't accountable to ''anyone at all''. It draws its authority from the eponymous section of the Federation Charter, which voids other restrictions placed by the charter in times of "extraordinary threat". Section 31 also demonstrates some of the pitfalls of having such an agency: the lack of oversight leads to Section 31 going to increasing extremes to "safeguard the Federation", including using biological weapons to try to exterminate the Dominion's Founders and framing a Federation-friendly Romulan senator for treason in order to put one of their [[TheMole moles]] into a higher position. They're even said to have an operative in the Federation President's Cabinet--in a series where there has already been [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E12ParadiseLost one attempted coup]] by a WellIntentionedExtremist Starfleet officer.

** The Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition. In addition to their totally unfettered powers of requisition (ranging from safehouses to entire fleets of starships), Inquisitors have no limits on their authority save what the Inquisition imposes on them, allowing them to do things (like summon daemons and traffick with aliens) that would get any other citizen burned alive. Finally, they are one of two groups (the other being the Emperor's [[SuperSoldier Space Marines]]) empowered to enact [[EarthShatteringKaboom Exterminatus]] if they deem it necessary. Inquisitors ''are'' answerable to other Inquisitors, with potential penalties for abuse of power including defrocking or even death, but the only office above them is that of the GodEmperor of Mankind--who has been a DarkLordOnLifeSupport since the Horus Heresy. So far the only other Imperial organization to successfully stand up to them has been the Space Wolves.
** The Commissariat is outside the regular Imperial military's chain of command, so in theory commissars don't have to obey even a direct order from a Lord General Militant or admiral, and can execute anyone of any rank for virtually any reason (though there's a lot more paperwork involved the further up they go, and they can be judged by more senior commissars). Literature/CiaphasCain notes this very often, but due to his reputation and calculating nature, he's never actually had to shoot anyone for insubordination on-page (in fact, he repeatedly and mistakenly attributes senior officers listening to him to fear of execution instead of them considering him a experienced source of advice).

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition are the TropeCodifier. In addition to their totally unfettered powers of requisition (ranging from safehouses to entire fleets of starships), Inquisitors technical have no limits on their authority save for what the Inquisitor imposes on themselves, allowing them to do things (like summon daemons and consort with aliens) that would get any other citizen burned alive. Other Inquisitors can, and do, attempt to impose standards on Inquisitorial operations but these are far from universal and tend to rely on the influence of the Inquisitors themselves, and a well respected Inquisitor can get away with far more than one that has fallen out with his colleagues.

They are usually a CovertGroup, NoSuchAgency or a GovernmentAgencyOfFiction. Compare a {{Privateer}}, who are not necessarily elite, but likewise "above the law" in that they are allowed to engage in maritime crimes like piracy and get away with it in their home country, as long as they only target the enemies and rivals of said country.

* Being loyal to the [[TheMenInBlack original urban myth]], the ''ComicBook/MenInBlack'' is an obscure organization that goes beyond any laws to controls the world and stops any abnormal activity like extraterrestials, demons and even sects. Different from [[Film/MenInBlack their]] [[WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries adaptations]], the original source doesn't work as the "world police" but closest as it gets to the MIB myth, shaping the world as they like and having no compassion to any witnesses (or maybe yes by recruiting them).

** In the original trilogy, Darth Vader derives his authority in the Empire not from his official rank, but from his Master-Apprentice relationship with the Emperor. By default this puts the Sith order above any Imperial body. He appears to defer to Grand Moff Tarkin out of respect in ''Film/ANewHope'', but it's doubtful that Tarkin could really do anything about it if Vader decided to ignore him or even challenge his command.

* ''Literature/TheDestroyer'': CURE is a top secret agency of the U.S. government which carries out assassinations and answers directly to the President. It consists of three people: its operatives Remo Williams and Chiun and the head of the agency, Harold Smith.

** As one of only five true Telepaths, Amber is [[MutantDraftBoard desperately needed]] to police a Hive city of a hundred million people. As such, she's showered in luxuries, given anything she wants no matter how troublesome and is explicitly above the law. [[spoiler:She takes advantage of this at the end of ''Telepath'', when she [[MercyKill Mercy Kills]] Elden to save him from [[FateWorseThanDeath destruction analysis]]. In a later book, she muses that no one so much as took away her chocolate crunch cakes.]]

** ''Literature/ClearAndPresentDanger'' refers to the explosive growth of Colombian narcotics trafficking within the United States, which President Bob Ritter deems a threat to national security. As such, he has his NSA man, James Cutter, cherrypick an elite team to conduct covert sabotage operations against the cocaine cartel. When actions escalate into an airstrike that obliterates one kingpin's compound (wives, mistresses and children included), that's United States military killing foreign nationals on their home soil, which is an act of war. Once this indiscretion starts unraveling, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness the politicos leave their underlings to be killed or captured]].

* ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'': The Inquistorius, a division of [[StateSec Imperial Intelligence]] composed of [[MagicKnight Force sensitive operatives]]. Their mission is to [[MutantDraftBoard recruit or kill]] any latent Force sensitives they can find, they answer only to [[TheDragon Darth Vader]] himself, and they are allowed to requisition any Imperial resources they deem necessary for their task.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': The All-Seeing Eye are the Realm's secret police, intelligence service and, at need, assassins, tasked by the Scarlet Empress with overseeing the dealings of the Great Houses, the Realm's bureaucrats, merchant conglomerates and other powerful factions and ensuring that they do not threaten the stability of the realm. They ultimately answer only to the Empress and to the Sidereals secretly manipulating the Realm, and exist entirely outside of its normal system of laws, politics and regulations. The Empress' disappearance, however, has been a serious problem for them, as they now lack any overarching direction in their mission and no longer possess a sponsor to protect them against the retribution of the Houses.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition are the TropeCodifier. In addition to their totally unfettered powers of requisition (ranging from safehouses to entire fleets of starships), Inquisitors technical have no limits on their authority save for what the Inquisitor imposes on themselves, allowing them to do things (like summon daemons and consort with aliens) that would get any other citizen burned alive. Other Inquisitors can, and do, attempt to impose standards on Inquisitorial operations but these are far from universal and tend to rely on the influence the Inquisitors themselves, and a well respected Inquisitor can get away with far more than one that has fallen out with his colleagues.

* The eponymous agency in ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'' operates like this. They (and their [[LegacyCharacter predecessors]]) are also subject to to short end of this trope, however: if they screw up, get exposed, or go rogue, the government will simply [[YouHaveFailedMe liquidate the operatives they can find]] and pretend the rest were {{Rogue Agent}}s all along.

** In the 16th century, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprichnik the Oprichnina]] were both bodyguard and enforcers for none other than Ivan the Terrible. Operating under his direct and unquestionable command, they scoured Russia for ahis enemies (or people he just didn't like, or looked at him funny). However, they only lasted seven years: after they failed to defend Moscow against the Tartars ([[RealityEnsues terrorizing helpless citizens isn't the same as being actual soldiers, after all]]), Ivan purged and then disbanded them.

** Section 31, a super-secret Federation intelligence agency that isn't accountable to ''anyone at all''. It draws its authority from the eponymous section of the Federation Charter, which voids other restrictions placed by the charter in times of "extraordinary threat." Section 31 also demonstrates some of the pitfalls of having such an agency: the lack of oversight leads to Section 31 going to increasing extremes to "safeguard the Federation", including using biological weapons to try to exterminate the Dominion's Founders and framing a Federation-friendly Romulan senator for treason in order to put one of their [[TheMole moles]] into a higher position. They're even said to have an operative in the Federation President's Cabinet--in a series where there has already been [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E12ParadiseLost one attempted coup]] by a WellIntentionedExtremist Starfleet officer.
** Both the Romulan Tal Shiar and the Cardassian Obsidian Order may have started out as intelligence arms for their respective governments, but by the 24th century both had become so powerful that they could effectively run their governments simply by "disappearing" anyone who disagreed with them or framing them as disloyal to the state. The Dominion ''specifically'' targeted both organizations for annihilation prior to the Dominion War precisely because they considered both of them to be the greatest threat to the Dominion's takeover of the Alpha Quadrant. And then by the ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' we learn that there's an even deeper and more powerful cabal within the Tal Shiar called the''Zhat Vash'' that scares even hardened Romulan operatives.

** Both the Romulan Tal Shiar and the Cardassian Obsidian Order may have started out as intelligence arms for their respective governments, but by the 24th century both had become so powerful that they could effectively run their governments simply by "disappearing" anyone who disagreed with them or framing them as disloyal to the state. The Dominion ''specifically'' targeted both organizations for annihilation prior to the Dominion War precisely because they considered both of them to be the greatest threat to the Dominion's takeover of the Alpha Quadrant. And then by the ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' we learn that there's an even deeper and more powerful cabal within the Tal Shiar that scares even hardened Romulan operatives.

* Section 31 from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', a super-secret Federation intelligence agency that isn't accountable to ''anyone at all''. It draws its authority from the eponymous section of the Federation Charter, which voids other restrictions placed by the charter in times of "extraordinary threat." Section 31 also demonstrates some of the pitfalls of having such an agency: the lack of oversight leads to Section 31 going to increasing extremes to "safeguard the Federation", including using biological weapons to try to exterminate the Dominion's Founders and framing a Federation-friendly Romulan senator for treason in order to put one of their [[TheMole moles]] into a higher position. They're even said to have an operative in the Federation President's Cabinet--in a series where there has already been [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E12ParadiseLost one attempted coup]] by a WellIntentionedExtremist Starfleet officer.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''
** The Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition. In addition to their totally unfettered powers of requisition (ranging from safehouses to entire fleets of starships), Inquisitors have no limits on their authority save what the Inquisition imposes on them, allowing them to do things (like summon daemons and traffick with aliens) that would get any other citizen burned alive. Finally, they are one of two groups (the other being the Emperor's [[SuperSoldier Space Marines]]) empowered to enact [[EarthShatteringKaboom Exterminatus]] if they deem it necessary. Inquisitors ''are'' answerable to other Inquisitors, with potential penalties for abuse of power including defrocking or even death, but the only office above them is that of the GodEmperor of Mankind--who has been a DarkLordOnLifeSupport since the Horus Heresy. So far the only other Imperial organization to successfully stand up to them has been the Space Wolves.
** The Commissariat is outside the regular Imperial military's chain of command, so in theory commissars don't have to obey even a direct order from a Lord General Militant or admiral, and can execute anyone of any rank for virtually any reason (though there's a lot more paperwork involved the further up they go, and they can be judged by more senior commissars). Literature/CiaphasCain notes this very often, but due to his reputation and calculating nature, he's never actually had to shoot anyone for insubordination on-page (in fact, he repeatedly and mistakenly attributes senior officers listening to him to fear of execution instead of them considering him a experienced source of advice).

* ''Literature/HiveMind'': As one of only five true Telepaths, Amber is [[MutantDraftBoard desperately needed]] to police a Hive city of a hundred million people. As such, she's showered in luxuries, given anything she wants no matter how troublesome and is explicitly above the law. [[spoiler:She takes advantage of this at the end of ''Telepath'', when she [[MercyKill Mercy Kills]] Elden to save him from [[FateWorseThanDeath destruction analysis]]. In a later book, she muses that no one so much as took away her chocolate crunch cakes.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', Project CADMUS are portrayed this way, as being an off-the-books cabal of people with serious bones to pick with the Justice League all coming together to act as the governments response if the Justice League go rogue, and they answer only to the US President.

!!RollingUpdates
->'''Harris:''' Reread the Charter, Article 14, Section 31. There are a few lines that make allowances for bending the rules during times of extraordinary threat.
->'''Capt. Jonathan Archer:''' What threat?
->'''Harris:''' Take your pick. Earth's got a lot of enemies.

But what if the agency itself doesn't answer itself to the relevant department/ministry head? Some of the reasons include BenevolentConspiracy or an AncientOrderOfProtectors who is only held accountable to the leader of a certain country. [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections This places them outside the nation-state's normal legal and accountability structure]], which if the agents remain loyal, can make them [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans more effective protectors]] than operators who have to answer to {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s--or conversely, makes them more effective at [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans maintaining a tyrant's grip on power]]. If they ''don't'', they may turn into {{Rogue Agent}}s, or even a full-blown RenegadeSplinterFaction that becomes a threat to the very government that spawned them.

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!!Indexes: EspionageTropes, OlderThanRadio, OrganizationIndex, PoliticsTropes