History Main / InstitutionalAllegianceConcealment

One of the few negative ideas about it is that it can sometimes lead to a FriendOrFoe scenario. Others bad scenarios include [[DontSneakUpOnMeLikeThat catching your allies unaware of who you are]] or [[PoorCommunicationKills miscommunication when the persons or groups involved are not identified correctly by friendlies.]] Sometimes, the undercover cop/agent/soldier/etc. can be forced into a [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten situation where they need to do something horrible]] [[ShootYourMate to prove that they're really a criminal/terrorist]]. The worse thing that can happen is that someone you know is a DirtyCop, a BadCopIncompetentCop, TheMole, RogueSoldier or a RogueAgent who reveals said person's affiliation to the bad guy/s.

* A feature with all police/intelligence agencies when they need to send in officers/agents undercover. This is done by creating false names and backgrounds and use their informants to "vouch" for them while they [[TheInfiltration conduct their assignment to infiltrate the criminal underworld.]]
* In the military, special forces only do not wear insignias from their units (Sometimes, but it depends on the unit and/or their commanding officer/s), but they are also trained to handle other small arms and wear clothing other than what their military issues to them so that the hostile nation/organization does not trace anything back to them if the operation goes bad.
* [[MustStateIfYoureACop There's an urban legend]] that suggests that someone suspected of being an undercover officer should be asked of their true status. [[http://www.snopes.com/risque/hookers/cop.asp This allegation is proven false]] since undercover officers do not have to do this while performing their work.

* ''Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': After group of Dothraki are condemned to death for cowardice (they were supposedly too busy fighting a monster to kill wights during the Long Night), the Wolf asks to use them as a PenalLegion of sorts, marking their shoulders with a flame-like tattoo ([[spoiler:as the Wolf had brought a Tzeentch-aligned Chaos Spawn against the wights, and the Chaos Gods reward bravery, he marked them with the symbol of Tzeentch for their victory]]). After the Wolf's treachery is revealed, he uses those same Dothraki to infiltrate the Seven Kingdoms warcamp, but because one of them is killed and the tattoo discovered, he can't use the same ruse again as the loyalist Dothraki know where to look to spot the traitors.

%%Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1643741715085597000
%%Please start a new thread to discuss a new image.

* In ''Anime/{{Darker Than Black}}'', this is used by the Public Security Bureau's 4th Foreign Affairs Division whenever they get a case, criminal or terrorist alike, that relates to Contractors. Saito goes undercover as a waiter from a catering company when he infiltrates the hotel owned by the Qing Long Tang triad in order to find out who was responsible for assassinating its prominent members. Averted in the sense that he used his official name instead of an alias. Misaki calls him out on this.
** The 2nd season has the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications establish an anti-Syndicate black ops team known as Section 3, based at the MIAC's Statistics Bureau, 2nd Investigative Division.
* ''Literature/HeavyObject'' has the Information Alliance military operate a commando unit led by Wyndine Uptown. Uptown orders the commandos to dress up as maids and publicly tell the rest of the world that they're a private military contractor with a maid appeal in order to hide their activities.
* The Indexverse (''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'', ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'' and ''Manga/ACertainScientificAccelerator'') has Judgement, a law enforcement agency next to Anti-Skill, which is made up of young people ranging from elementary school to university/college students. They wear the green arm band to signify their status as Judgement officers. But if he/she needs to proceed with an investigation without revealing their status, they have the right to take it off and hide it to avoid being discovered.
* The ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' franchise has Public Security Section 9, a secretive law enforcement unit that "officially" doesn't exist in the Japanese law enforcement system. The government gets to use them in sensitive missions that requires their intervention before a case gets to the public eye or investigate cases involving the government if the relevant agency or ministry doesn't want to cooperate.
** Section 9 is not the only plainclothes unit to not be easily recognized. In ''Stand Alone Complex'', the Narcotics Suppression Squad operates as a plainclothes unit, which allows the BigBad in the first season to use their assets to take out [=S9=]. When that fails, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces' [[TheDreaded Umibozu]] is called in to use its commandos in order to flush out [=S9=] and take them all alive or kill them since they are known as a black ops unit in the [=JMSDF=].
* One of the new elite officers in ''Anime/JinRohTheWolfBrigade'' is Kazuki Fuse, and he scores well enough in exercises that his superiors choose him to go undercover to locate the renegade band called the Wolf Brigade. Fuse agrees, and begins making contact through the sister of a known anarchist sympathizer, Kei Amemiya. Imagine their surprise when the police honchos discover [[spoiler:that Fuse has been part of the Wolf Brigade all along, assigned to infiltrate the police corps.]]

-->[[WhamLine "All my records from the Bersaglieri were real. But everything after, up to joining Koko's crew, is fake. I work for Saw."]]
* ANBU in ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' are special black ops-esque teams that every big ninja village has. They are instructed not to carry any identifying mark of their villages, including their signature headbands with the village logo carved on them.

* This is the main operational method of [=COSMOS=] ([[NamesToRunAwayFrom Children of Soldier Machine Organic System]]) and the Machiner's Platoon as part of the [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks American military]] in ''Manga/{{Spriggan}}''. Since they operate as black ops-type military units and are issued with a variety of small arms and equipment, they can plausibly deny their involvement in an operation in case it goes bad.

[[folder:ComicBook]]
* In ''Recap/AsterixAndTheChieftainsShield'', Roman tribune Noxius Vapus tasks a Roman Legionary named Caius Pusillanimus to conduct a secret investigation on what Asterix and Obelix are doing while in Gergovia. He poses as someone from Anicum by having messy hair and a fake moustache. But during this undercover mission, he gets drunk and not only finds out nothing of value, but gives away information that helps Asterix in his own investigation of what the Romans are doing.

[[folder:Fanfic]]

[[folder:Films]]

* ''Film/ForceTenFromNavarone''. During UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Force Ten meets up with some Yugoslavian partisans friendly to the Allies, who take Force Ten to their village. Once there the partisans reveal that they are actually [[spoiler: Nazi-allied Chetniks by revealing their Chetnik badges]].

* ''Film/MaxManus''. When carrying out a mission to destroy ships in a Norwegian harbor, the Norwegian commandos wear British uniforms and leave a taunting message in English so the Germans won't retaliate against the local inhabitants. The Germans however realise that the raid had to be aided by local dock workers, so [[MakeAnExampleOfThem several are selected to be shot]].
* ''Film/{{Tenet}}''. In the opening hostage scene at the Opera House, the protagonist's team wait until the local [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_Operational_Response_Unit KORD unit]] shows up to deal with a terrorist attack. As they are wearing standard black [=BDUs=] with gas masks and ballistic helmets, all they have to do is select the appropriate KORD velcro shoulder patch from a bunch of patches they have of the different units that might have turned up, then charge in with the real KORD elements. Unfortunately it turns out their team isn't the only one pulling this trick.
* ''Film/TheDeparted'' sees the Massachusetts State Police send Billy Costigan to prison on trumped up charges so he has a criminal record and street cred to infiltrate Frank Costello's crew.

* In Creator/GeorgeMacDonaldFraser's ''Literature/{{Flashman}}'' series, the titular coward is faced with implacable native assassins trying to hunt him down. He reasons that the last place they will look is among native soldiers in the Indian army. So Flashman grows his beard long, exploits his native-fluency in Urdu and Pashtu, and signs up, masquerading as an ordinary native cavalryman. Later, he is able to justify this as he is there on Intelligence duties assessing the likelihood of native mutiny and has realized the only way a white Englishman can accurately understand what is going on, is to get to the natives on their level.

* In ''Magicians of Literature/{{Gor}}'', Tarl and his friend Marcus get jobs as auxiliary guardsmen, which gives them license to freely roam the city armed, while also going around instigating civil unrest as the "Delta Brigade" (named after a failed military campaign in a delta). Occasionally they take off their guardsman armbands, create some mayhem as the Brigade, and then reattach the armbands in order to "investigate" their own crime.

* In Creator/BernardCornwell's ''Literature/TheStarbuckChronicles'' series about the American Civil War, the titular Major Starbuck exposes corruption in the base depot by posing as a notoriously drunken junior officer who nobody takes seriously. He exposes his real identity and higher rank when he is sure, and has proof that, supplies and rifles meant for the front are being sold for profit on the black market.

* The last season of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' has Mack and the team masquerade as Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers assisting the NYPD after the Chronicoms show up in the 1930s since [=SHIELD=] was not "officially" created until they left New York.
* ''Series/{{Blindspot}}'' has Orion, a black ops Navy [=SEAL=] team that's responsible for attacks done all over the world and their attacks are blamed on other individuals and organizations.

* In the episode "Wesenrein" in ''Series/{{Grimm}}'', the team moves to save Monroe from being killed by a cult known as the Wesenrein. Since they are going in without official police backup, Nick, Hank and Sean toss their police badges in the unmarked [=SUV=] in order to hide any details that can give their identity away as police officers. Averted with Wu, who simply didn't bother to conceal his uniform or minimize it so that the cultists can't identify him as a police officer.
** This time, it's fully played in "Cry Havoc" when Wu had the foresight to leave his [=PPB=] badge at his house to avoid being called out as a police officer against the Verrat.
-->'''Wu''': "Just so you know, I left my badge at home."
* In the ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' episode "Demons", Stabler goes undercover as a paroled sex offender in order to track another parolee whom he suspects of having already reoffended. Part of his undercover work involves letting his fellow detectives hassle him so that he can report to them without the parolee getting suspicious.
* The first season of ''Series/TheManInTheHighCastle'' has Joe Blake working undercover as an anti-GNR fighter on orders from the SS.

*** Both the JPS and the GNR had their security forces operate in plainclothes in the Neutral Zone since they're not allowed to operate there by treaty in an official capacity.[[note]]Except for GNR's involvement in the Lackawanna mines.[[/note]]

** Throughout ''Series/{{NCIS Los Angeles}}'', this is how agents and support personnel of the Office of Special Project operate. They are a [=NCIS=]-sanctioned deep cover anti-criminal/terrorist unit. In some instances, law enforcement does undercover work, which doesn't go smooth always due to (mostly) [[DirtyCop corrupt cops involved.]]
** The trope is deconstructed in the 10th season when the OSP team is forced to do a black op assignment since the politicians in Washington DC are furious about what happened in Mexico that Deputy Director Ochoa made a deal to get the OSP off their radar.
* A subplot of ''Series/{{Nineteen Two}}'' involves officers of the 19-2 precinct going all out to [[ItsPersonal hunt down a suspect responsible for beating up one of their own in a trap.]] Since they cannot hunt down and apprehend the suspect because the investigation and arrest of said suspect is conducted by another department, they decide to wait until they are off-duty and are not needed in the precinct by changing out of the uniforms and wearing civilian clothes so that the suspect won't be able to call them out as police officers.

* Throughout the fourth season of ''Series/{{Person of Interest}}'', John Reese falls to this when he needs to help Finch and others conduct operations against Samaritan agents and/or to save civilians in trouble by hiding his [=NYPD=] badge from plain sight when he has to, wear a balaclava and use his own sidearm instead of the department-issued sidearm. It also helps that Reese has a false identity made by The Machine to hide him from Samaritan. Fusco falls into this also when he wears a balaclava and hides his badge to help Team Machine.
** [[DirtyCop HR officers]] operate like this by wearing civilian clothes with balaclavas and use non-department weapons and gear if the situation calls for it.
* In ''Series/SEALTeam'', especially the episode "Hold What you Got", the Mexican Marines working with the [=SEALs=] are in charge of an op to bag a cartel leader in Mexico. Because of the serious sensitivity of the operation and not to mention of the possibility that the cartel may have sympathizers in the military, police and intelligence services assigned to work with them, Jason and the rest of Bravo Team have to visually masquerade as Mexican Marines and use their gear in order to blend in since their American camos/patches can easily give them away. They later disguise themselves as sicarios from another cartel in order to intimidate the Doza Cartel.

* ''Series/{{Spooks}}'' uses this trope as a recurring device when [=MI5=] agents need to conduct undercover operations to gather the needed evidence to put away the bad guys. However, things don't always go according to plan. And in some instances, the agency is sometimes forced to retire their best officers. [[spoiler:Like Zoe.]]
* In the episode "Hunted" in ''Series/SWAT2017'', Hondo and Deacon went in to check on a fellow LAPD officer who was infiltrating a biker gang known as the ''Mercs''. When Hawkins mentions that the ''Mercs'' were targeting the ''Jackals'', Hondo mentioned that he didn't say which gang the LAPD was investigating. Both SWAT officers realized that Hawkins [[BecomingTheMask fell in line with the Mercs for real]].

* ''Series/WithoutATrace'': In "Fallout - Part 1," Samantha is in a bookstore supervising a ransom drop that goes bad. When the kidnapper takes the store hostage, she has to quickly ditch her badge and gun so that he doesn't find out she's FBI. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, the other patrons see her do it, and one of them goes for her gun while she's away from it, leading to her getting shot.]]
* This is how Camp X-trained agents operate in occupied Europe throughout ''Series/{{X Company}}''. They have to use fake [=IDs=] and names in order to avoid the risk of being caught by the Wehrmacht or by their collaborators.

* In ''TabletopGame/DeltaGreen'', since the eponymous organization is trying to [[NoSuchAgency mantain secrecy]], their agents aren't employed by Delta Green but by the FBI, CIA, DEA, CDC and other agencies, they have "day jobs" on their parent agencies and are designated into Delta Green operations when necessary. Sometimes if the operations calls for it, the higher-ups can get them the cover of a relevant agency for the operations.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Stormbringer}}'' supplement ''Stormbringer Companion'', adventure "Hall of Risk". One of the possible starts is "On Orders from the Queen", in which Queen Yishana of Jharkor asks for volunteers from her military to investigate the title Hall in the nation of Shazaar. She tells them that the job is "unofficial" and orders them to remove all Jharkor insignia and colors from their armor and shields and deny being from Jharkor if anyone in Shazaar asks them.
* Happens on a semi-regular basis in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. One of the most famous instances was during the 4th Succession War, when the [=ComGuard=], Comstar's top secret military branch [[note]]so top secret that the Inner Sphere wouldn't even learn of its existence for another 25 years[[/note]], staged an attack on the New Avalon Institute of Science in an attempt to destroy the military research that was being conducted there while disguised as a mercenary unit.

* In the stage "Clockwork" in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts'', the Ghosts infiltrate a Federation military base in Argentina by taking down isolated Federation troops and taking their uniforms.
* The Division games (VideoGame/TheDivision and VideoGame/TheDivision2) has agents of the Strategic Homeland Division operate under civilian clothes to conceal their identity. But they do work on behalf of the federal government and show proof of their allegiance by using the Division emblems seen (usually) in their armbands.
* The first Police Quest game has Narcotics officer Sonny Bonds going undercover in Lytton to get incriminating evidence to bust a drug dealer named Jessie Bains aka [[TheDreaded the Death Angel]]. This gets subverted when Bains draws a pistol on Bonds and says that someone mentions that he's outed since his face was all over the papers even when Bonds had blond hair to conceal his identity.

* In the ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' series, the entire point of Third Echelon was to operate under deep cover and without official support from Washington aside from the usual logistics and field supplies from its allies without asking about the organization. 3E was to take the lead in the war against its enemies in the field of information warfare. Its successor, Fourth Echelon, operates under the same principle.

There may be a time when the hero or the villain needs to do something covertly to the point that if they were seen, their identities can be given away due to publicly known or identifiable police (or law enforcement agencies), military or paramilitary uniforms, insignias, logos, name or [=ID=] tags. That's certainly going to be troublesome if someone was able to detect them and "inform" the relevant personalities. If that's done, their efforts are doomed to fail no matter what they do.

* ''LightNovel/HeavyObject'' has the Information Alliance military operate a commando unit led by Wyndine Uptown. Uptown orders the commandos to dress up as maids and publicly tell the rest of the world that they're a private military contractor with a maid appeal in order to hide their activities.
* The Indexverse (''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'' and ''Manga/ACertainScientificAccelerator'') has Judgement, a law enforcement agency next to Anti-Skill, which is made up of young people ranging from elementary school to university/college students. They wear the green arm band to signify their status as Judgement officers. But if he/she needs to proceed with an investigation without revealing their status, they have the right to take it off and hide it to avoid being discovered.

* One of the new elite officer in ''Anime/JinRohTheWolfBrigade'' is Kazuki Fuse, and he scores well enough in exercises that his superiors choose him to go undercover to locate the renegade band called the Wolf Brigade. Fuse agrees, and begins making contact through the sister of a known anarchist sympathizer, Kei Amemiya. Imagine their surprise when the police honchos discover [[spoiler:that Fuse has been part of the Wolf Brigade all along, assigned to infiltrate the police corps.]]

See OutsideManInsideman, which is a character dynamic trait that goes along with this. A subtrope of this is MustStateIfYoureACop and DirtyHarriet.

One of the few negative ideas about it is that it can sometimes lead to a FriendOrFoe scenario. Others bad scenarios include [[DontSneakUpOnMeLikeThat catching your allies unaware of who you are]] or [[PoorCommunicationKills miscommunication when the persons or groups involved are not identified correctly by friendlies.]] Sometimes, the undercover cop/agent/soldier/etc. can be forced into a [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten situation where they need to do something horrible]] [[ShootYourMate to prove that they're really a criminal/terrorist]]. The worse thing that can happen is that someone you know is a DirtyCop, a BadCopIncompetentCop, TheMole or a RogueAgent who reveals said person's affiliation to the bad guy/s.

** Section 9 is not the only plainclothes unit to not be easily recognized. In ''Stand Alone Complex'', the Narcotics Suppression Squad operates as a plainclothes unit, which allows the BigBad in the first season to use their assets to take out [=S9=]. When that fails, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces' [[TheDreaded Umibozu]] is called in to use its commandos in order to flush out [=S9=] and take them all alive or kill them since they are known as a black ops in the [=JMSDF=].
* One of the new elite police-soldiers in ''Anime/JinRohTheWolfBrigade'' is Kazuki Fuse, and he scores well enough in exercises that his superiors choose him to go undercover to locate the renegade band called the Wolf Brigade. Fuse agrees, and begins making contact through the sister of a known anarchist sympathizer, Kei Amemiya. Imagine their surprise when the police honchos discover [[spoiler:that Fuse has been part of the Wolf Brigade all along, assigned to infiltrate the police corps.]]

* Throughou the ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' franchise, the Yamainu is tasked by Tokyo to keep an eye on Hinamizawa. They operate as a gardening company as one of their front companies to prevent the rest of the world from being aware that they're a black ops unit tasked to investigate Rika's background. They're also given carte blanche to do what needs to be done. This include being a CopKiller or disguising as Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel to assassinate anyone if Emergency Manual 34 needs to be enforced.

* Throughou the ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' franchise, the Yamainu is tasked by Tokyo to keep an eye on Hinamizawa. They operate as a gardening company as one of their front companies to prevent the rest of the world that they're a black ops unit tasked to investigate Rika's background. They're also given carte blanche to do what needs to be done. This include being a CopKiller or disguising as Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel if Emergency Manual 34 needs to be enforced.

* In ''Recap/AsterixAndTheChieftainsShield'', Roman tribune Noxius Vapus tasks a Roman Legionary named Caius Pusillanimus to conduct a secret investigation on what Asterix/Obelix are doing while in Gergovia. He poses as someone from Anicum by having messy hair and a fake mustache. He later gets too drunk and reveals why under a drunken spur that Vapus is intensifying efforts to hunt for a shield used by Vercengetorix. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome He gets detained after he reports back to Vapus in a drunken state that he can't get any good information on the shield]].

Any RogueAgent or RogueSoldier will probably want to do this to keep attention away from them if they're acting as the bad guy, which in this place with be a subversion of said trope.

* In Creator/GeorgeMacDonaldFraser ''Literature/{{Flashman}}'' series, the titular coward is faced with implacable native assassins trying to hunt him down. He reasons that the last place they will look is among native soldiers in the Indian army. So ~Flashman grows his beard long, exploits his native-fluency in Urdu and Pashtu, and signs up, masquerading as an ordinary native cavalryman. Later, he is able to justify this as he is there on Intelligence duties assessing the likelihood of native mutiny and has realized the only way a white Englishman can accurately understand what is going on, is to get to the natives on their level.

%%See thread to discuss a new image.

Any RogueAgent will probably want to do this to keep attention away from them if they're acting as the bad guy, which in this place with be a subversion of said trope.