History Main / MysteriousEmployer

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* The Fourth Man in ''{{Planetary}}'', [[spoiler:who also happens to be the protagonist Elijah Snow; [[PlayingWithATrope the rest of the group only pretend that their leader is an example of this trope so that he doesn't find out]]. Before his LaserGuidedAmnesia, Elijah used to take a very active part in the fieldwork of his organization.]]

* Just who is the main character of ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'' working for? He receives [[SpySpeak seemingly mundane]] pseudonymous messages on his answering machine, instructing him to go to a specified location, where he renders his "services".

* In WilliamGibson's ''[[Literature/BigendBooks Pattern Recognition]]'' and ''Spook Country'', Bigend is this.

* Early in ''TheIncredibles'', Mr. Incredible works for a mysterious employer who contacts him through Mirage. [[spoiler:Said mysterious employer is actually Syndrome, AKA Buddy, who wants to kill supers -- especially Mr. Incredible.]]

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'' has the sidequest-giving group known as the Friends of Red Jenny. In the first game, the Warden can deliver them a "small painted box" from the office of Ferelden's [[TheArchmage First Enchanter]]. Asking what they want with it gets the door shut in your face without payment. In the second, a woman known only as "A Friend" can hire Hawke to wipe out nearly a dozen small gangs for them; you only learn who you're working for after the last quest. In the third, one of your rogue companions is a member.

* Does [[{{Satan}} Our Father Below]] in ''TheScrewtapeLetters'' count?

* The Commissioner in SamAndMax.

* [[spoiler:Moriarty]] in the 2009 SherlockHolmes [[Film/SherlockHolmes film]].

* The name of the client in the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' story ''The Adventure of the Illustrious Client'' is never given. He only interacts with Holmes through an intermediary. Holmes and Watson independently figure out who it is (Watson by spying the client's coat of arms, Holmes by unknown means), but all that is ever revealed to the reader is that the client is a very influential nobleman.

* Carla is a little like this in BurnNotice. So is "Management"
* [=O2STK=] in TheMiddleman. Wendy at first mistakes it for the name of a real organization, before Ida explains it's an acronym for "Organization to Secret to Know."

* The Rossum Corporation in {{Dollhouse}}, which by Season 2, is revealed to run multiple dollhouses, and have a super-secure headquarters in New Mexico, the whole corporation was masterminded by [[spoiler:Boyd Langton, who had been in the series the whole time]]

* VideoGame/TeamFortress2: RED and BLU are the mysterious employers, and it's revealed in para-game materials that [[spoiler:the same Administrator runs both teams]].

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'' has the sidequest-giving group known as the Friends of Red Jenny. In the first game, the Warden can deliver them a "small painted box" from the office of Ferelden's [[TheArchmage First Enchanter]]. Asking what they want with it gets the door shut in your face without payment. In the second, a woman known only as "A Friend" can hire Hawke to wipe out nearly a dozen small gangs for them. You only learn who you're working for after the last quest.

* In ''TheWiseMansFear'', Denna is working for a mysterious patron who Kvothe nicknames "Master Ash", who hires her to research ancient events and recast a mythical villain as a hero for unknown reasons.

* Charlie of ''CharliesAngels''.
* Similarly, Robin Masters on ''MagnumPI'' was a famous but reclusive writer, and later seasons played up the idea that Magnum et al. had never actually seen him. (The first season had Magnum hanging out with Masters in an episode that became CanonDisContinuity.)

* During the ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' storyline "True Believers", the super hero support group Excelsior had a mysterious benefactor who wanted them to reign in the kids. Turns out that it was [[spoiler:Rick Jones, former sidekick to the [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] and CaptainAmerica]]. It's subverted, though, when the group got their own comic ''ComicBook/TheLoners'', somehow losing their support.

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* In Greg Egan's ''Literature/{{Quarantine}}'', Nick is hired to investigate Laura's disappearance by an anonymous client. While Nick goes on to uncover [[spoiler: the causal foundations of the universe]], he never discovers who his client was.

* In ''Literature/DoctrineOfLabyrinths'', a magically-disguised Kekropian agent coerces Mehitabel into spying on the Marathine government. She doesn't discover his true identity until she catches him off-guard at a party; he turns out to [[TheReveal be]] [[spoiler: Isaac Garamond, Lord Felix's lover]].

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** Wasn't there a running gag that Thomas Magnum came to suspect [[spoiler: Higgins]] was actually Robin Masters (really wrote the books and owned the estate and the Ferrari) because no one had actually seen Robin Masters, with the person heard but not seen being a hired actor? If memory serves, [[spoiler: Higgins]] made a confession of sorts near the series' end to a comatose Magnum in an ICU after a car wreck—so of course said confession could be disavowed later.

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* The hero of ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'''s MissionControl: [[spoiler: There ain't no Atlas, kid.]]

** There's also the people who Booker owes his gambling debts to, and have offered to wipe them in exchange for bringing them Elizabeth, for whom they have unknown intentions. [[spoiler: This turns out to be a fabrication of Booker's mind dealing with the cognitive dissonance of crossing universes, cobbled together from numerous experiences in order to justify his journey to Columbia.]]

* VideoGame/TeamFortress2: RED and BLU are the mysterious employers, and it's revealed in para-game materials that [[spoiler: the same Administrator runs both teams]].

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* Miranda Zero in GlobalFrequency.

* During the ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' storyline "True Believers", the super hero support group Excelsior had a mysterious benefactor who wanted them to reign in the kids. Turns out that it was [[spoiler:Rick Jones, former sidekick to the [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] and CaptainAmerica]]. It's subverted, though, when the group got their own comic ''The Loners'', somehow losing their support.

* Management in the first season of ''{{Carnivale}}''

* In WilliamGibson's ''Pattern Recognition'' and ''Spook Country'', Bigend is this.

* So is Sunday in G.K. Chesterton's ''The Man Who Was Thursday''.

* For pretty much all of the novel ''Thieves Like Us'', almost nothing is known about the benefactor Nathaniel [[MeaningfulName Coldhardt,]] who employs the teenage criminal protagonists.

* The Associates of Mister Morden in Babylon 5. He even calls them that after the whole galaxy knows exactly who they are. [[spoiler:Their reason to stay hidden and never act openly is that their goal is not to conquer the galaxy, but to prove to their rivals that their method of cultural and technological progress is superior. They merely encourage younger species to follow their methods and ideology and then smile smugly as they watch them destroy the followers of the Vorlons way.]]

* ''Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incoperated'' - the team is sent on missions by "Mr. E". Took a long time before we ever saw what he looks like.

* In Eden of the East, we have Mr. Outside who isn't seen in the anime at all, it's not until the movie we get to see his face.

* Karla is a little like this in BurnNotice. So is "Management"

* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' has Sister Gabby of the Monastery. She's said to be virtually ageless and will issue missions with apparent previous knowledge of places sealed centuries beforehand. [[spoiler:That's because she's the disguised form of the ArchangelGabriel, who has plans for you andyour friends...]]

* [[spoiler:Greg and Tamara]] work for a group referred to as The Home Office, which is dedicated to destoying magic in our world. [[spoiler:Turns out that the Home Office was actually Peter Pan, who was only concerned with getting his hands on Henry and had them killed after [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they had accomplished this for him]].

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'' has the sidequest-giving group known as the Friends of Red Jenny. In the first game, the Warden can deliver them a "small painted box" from the office of Ferelden's [[TheArchmage First Enchanter]]. Asking what they want with it gets the door shut in your face without payment. In the second, a woman known only as A Friend can hire Hawke to wipe out nearly a dozen small gangs for them.

* Gordon Freeman's sponsor in ''{{Half-Life}}''; still no {{reveal}} as to who it is.