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1->'''Chief:''' Max, you realize you'll be facing every kind of danger imaginable.\
2'''Max:''' And. Loving it.
3-->-- ''Series/GetSmart''
4
5A standard television plot. An assignment is received in TheTeaser. A planning session is held (AvengersAssemble). Then comes TheCaper or TheCon, using a MasterOfDisguise and an ATeamMontage. The resolution is as close to end of TheTag as possible. At about the 40-minute mark, there is a PseudoCrisis.
6
7The trope takes its name from the classic ''Series/MissionImpossible'' television series, whose Impossible Mission Force did one of these every week. As such, note that not every impossible mission is an Impossible Mission.
8
9For missions that actually ''are'' impossible, see ImpossibleTask.
10
11Not to be confused with the video game ''VideoGame/ImpossibleMission''. Also see SuicideMission when the probability of dying is very high.
12----
13!!Examples:
14
15[[foldercontrol]]
16
17[[folder: Comic Books]]
18* ''ComicBook/GlobalFrequency'' is an anthology of mostly self-contained stories that used this sort of plot, although not every story follows its structure perfectly. The premise owed a certain amount of inspiration to the TropeNamer, concerning a HeroesRUs organisation that specialised bringing together people with very unusual and specific skills to solve [[PlotTailoredToTheParty particularly unusual and specific problems that required those skills.]]
19[[/folder]]
20
21[[folder:Fan Works]]
22* Fanfic/TheMidnightVerse story ''Diamonds in the Desert'' is one long example of this.
23[[/folder]]
24
25[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
26* The movie ''Film/{{Inception}}'' has this as the "inception" itself. Dom Cobb is used to steal secrets within a person's dream, implanting an idea in a person's mind is a whole different affair.
27* As with its televised source material, the ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries Mission: Impossible]]'' film series runs on this trope.
28* The ''Film/NationalTreasure'' movies regularly fell into this, with plots like stealing the Declaration of Independence and kidnapping the President of the United States.
29* ''Film/PathsOfGlory'' combines this with SuicideMission.
30* ''Film/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'' may be seen as an UrExample.
31* The heist in ''Film/LesSpecialistes'' involves RobbingTheMobBank and has very few chances of success. The film's tagline plays this up with "It was impossible. They did it!".
32[[/folder]]
33
34[[folder:Game Shows]]
35* In Series 4 of ''Series/{{Taskmaster}}'', Creator/{{Greg|Davies}} and Creator/{{Alex|Horne}} decide that Mel is ''far'' too positive, and decide to give her the impossible task of hiding a ''gigantic'' beach ball from Alex in only 5 minutes. It's an extra task, and she doesn't get any points for it, and it's purely in an attempt to push her to her RageBreakingPoint. It fails, and "aw heck" is just about the most they get out of her, which they note as being Mel's equivalent of an AtomicFBomb. They also force her to inflate the blasted thing, which took 45 minutes, ''and'' to score a goal with it, which required deflating it which took an extra 25 minutes. She didn't get points for these either, and she ''still'' [[IncorruptiblePurePureness refuses to get even the least bit angry]] even when she learns they were basically just messing with her [[ItAmusedMe for their own enjoyment]].
36--> '''Greg:''' I'll cop to it: she is officially nice!
37[[/folder]]
38
39[[folder:Literature]]
40* The ''Literature/GrandmasterOfTheft'' series is based around this.
41* As did ''Literature/ModestyBlaise''
42* ''Literature/SixofCrows'' fits this to a T, with a group of teenagers breaking into and out of the most secure prison in the world.
43* ''Literature/SpyClassroom'' defines these as a mission in which another group of spies already tried and failed - the enemy now knows that someone is actively after what they're guarding and will be ready for the next group to try. Such missions have a 90% failure rate, with casualties common. Dealing with them was the specialty of the defunct unit Inferno and is shaping up to be the specialty of their successor unit Lamplight.
44[[/folder]]
45
46[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
47* Not surprisingly, the ''Series/MissionImpossible'' television series featured this on a regular basis.
48* Despite its few episodes, ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' did two of these, in "Ariel" and in "Trash".
49* Similarly, this occurred regularly on ''Series/{{Alias}}''
50* Mercilessly parodied in the ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' game "Improbable Mission," which had agents given missions involving high stakes but ordinary tasks, such as doing laundry or mowing the lawn.
51* Every mission of ''Series/BreakingIn'' seems easy at first, until complications pile up into this.
52* In the South Korean television show ''Series/DatingAgencyCyrano'', the case for Choi Darin seems to be like this, since the girl he likes hates him a lot. However, the Dating Agency guarantees a "100% success rate"...
53* Many episodes of ''Series/DinnerImpossible'' fall into this pattern.
54[[/folder]]
55
56[[folder:Video Games]]
57* In ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'', the task of entering the bunker where Handsome Jack is [[spoiler: holding Angel prisoner]] is framed this way, with the next several story missions involving rounding up the tools and talent needed to break in.
58-->'''Roland:''' If it was a trap, she would at least have made it sound possible.
59[[/folder]]

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