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In General
- Interservice Rivalry: They've butted heads with the IMF multiple times.
- Sinister Spy Agency: In all films made so far in which the CIA has made an appearance, the only inarguably "good guy" agent that has appeared is a Butt-Monkey office guy. All of the others are either highly morally-grey Inspector Javert willing to sacrifice people to smoke out the people they assume are the bad guys (and one of which accepts keeping the IMF active after her attempted inquisition, because as long as the IMF cares about preventing covert operations from ending in mass casualties, it won't be her problem), or the freaking Big Bad.
Donloe
William Donloe
Played By: Rolf Saxon
Appearances: Mission: Impossible
A CIA analyst in charge of the Langley HQ's cybernetic security.
- The Bus Came Back: He is set to return in Dead Reckoning Part Two.
- Butt-Monkey: He is just a guy doing his job who didn't actually deserve that situation. The poor man is given an emetic in his hot chocolate to give Ethan time to retrieve the NOC List and sees that the List has been downloaded in his absence. Then Kittridge in a fit of anger wants him to be sent somewhere in Alaska for his failure and his clothes been sent by mail there.
Hunley
Alan Hunley
Played By: Alec Baldwin
Dubbed in French By: Bernard Lanneau
Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation | Mission: Impossible – Fallout
For his sheet, see IMF Leadership.
Sloane
Erica Sloane
"If [Ethan] had held onto the plutonium, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Played By: Angela Bassett
Dubbed in French By: Maïk Darah
Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Fallout
"The world needs the IMF. We need people like you. Who care about the one life as much as they care about the millions. That way I never have to."
The coldhearted and pragmatic Director of the CIA and August Walker's boss, who is willing to be cruel as necessary to maintain world peace.
- Black Boss Lady: As the head of the CIA.
- Inspector Javert: Worth noting individually because it becomes a major Spanner in the Works: after the IMF provides proof that Walker is John Lark and not Hunt as Walker tried to frame him, she decides to just arrest everybody and sort it out back at CIA HQ. This leads to all sides having to run away (and Walker kills Hunley in the Blast Out) and go rogue to find Lane and capture him/finish the job.
- Jerkass Has a Point: As manipulative and condescending as she is, Sloane is right to distrust Ethan since he failed to secure the plutonium cores in Berlin.
- Manipulative Bitch: When working with Hunley to figure out who John Lark is, she makes sure that she has the upper hand, even having an armed CIA team ready to detain both Walker and the IMF to bring them back to Langley. Too bad she didn't count on Walker having his own people inside with said team.
- A Million Is a Statistic: To her, innocent civilians silenced to prevent witnesses of dirty CIA wetwork are not even sacrifices, but the eggs you must break to make an omelette of world peace and stability.
- Moral Sociopathy: Ultimately, she comes to agree with Ethan Hunt's compassionate work ethic, not out of any respect or agreement with his morality, but only because "The IMF cares about the one life as much as the one million, so I won't have to."
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Is perfectly willing to see both sides of a situation, and not just blindly trust the information given to her by her Walker, actually working with Hunley and Ethan. Of course, this does mean shutting the whole operation down and shipping everyone to Langley for them to figure things out, which doesn't work for Ethan, nor Walker.
- At the end of Fallout, she comes to understand why Ethan and the IMF are needed, in a way.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Her suspicion over Hunt and Walker are justified when you consider her position.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: She's missing by the time Dead Reckoning, Part One begins, with it being presumed that she was fired over the situation in Fallout (and Kittridge having taken her job by the time Part One begins), but no further explanation is given to her whereabouts beyond a Continuity Nod of her official headshot adorning the wall of a meeting room. Bassett was originally planned to return as Sloane, but filming complications caused by the pandemic prevented her from returning.
Walker (SPOILERS)
August Walker/John Lark
"How many times has Hunt's government betrayed him, disavowed him, cast him aside? How long before a man like that has had enough?"
Played By: Henry Cavill
Dubbed in French By: Adrien Antoine
Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Fallout
"If you have a problem with my methods, you can always stay behind. Your mission, should you choose to accept it. Isn't that the thing?"
CIA assassin who is assigned to work with Ethan Hunt, something neither man is comfortable with as Walker is far more ruthless and brutal in his methods in their mutual pursuit of the terrorist known as John Lark. It later turns out that he is John Lark.
- Anti-Villain: Walker wants to kill a third of the world's population so that the world powers will finally work together to fix something, which might create peace later on.
- Arc Words: "There cannot be peace without first, a great suffering. The greater the suffering, the greater the peace."
- Ax-Crazy: After his helicopter crashes, he becomes nuts.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Walker is a good fighter and is only seen wearing either a coat or a blazer, or sometimes even both.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: With Solomon Lane in Fallout. Walker is the one who came up with the Evil Plan, while Lane is going along with it to get revenge on Ethan. While they do have different motives, they are still working together, nonetheless.
- Boxing Battler: While he uses a variety of fighting techniques, his most famous move is a boxing-style barrage of jabs and hooks delivered in the bathroom fight.
- Blood Knight: Looks forward to every battle.
- The Big Guy: A very physical man.
- Cowboy Cop: At first appears to be the CIA version of this as Ethan accuses him of having killed many members of the Apostles instead of bringing them in for questioning. Truth is he was getting rid of witnesses.
- Crazy-Prepared: More of a man of action, but he had some of his men infiltrating the CIA's assault squad in case his cover is blown. and keeps a picture of Julia just in case he needs leverage on Hunt.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Gets half of his face melted by helicopter fuel and is later impaled through the skull by a hook which pulls him down a cliff face and into the exploding wreckage of a helicopter, leaving very noticeable bloody residue along said cliff face. It's not pretty, to say the least.
- Death by Disfigurement: Shortly after half his face is chemically burnt, he dies falling off a cliff.
- Diabolical Mastermind: He's orchestrated multiple terrorist attacks, built up a network of followers that includes spies in the CIA, and contracted the services of the remnants of The Syndicate to help him in his plan.
- Disney Villain Death: An especially brutal example. He's pulled off a cliff by the falling wreckage of a helicopter... because its cargo hook, which had been lodged in the cliff up to that point, is dislodged by Ethan and impales him through the head.
- The Dreaded: He's built quite the reputation for himself as a merciless terrorist.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: With the CIA's Special Activities Division when he was pulled out from anti-Syndicate ops to be with the IMF team in Europe.note
- Establishing Character Moment:
- Walker is introduced as a hammer to Ethan's scalpel, best illustrated when he smacks their target with the face-creating laptop to knock him out when Ethan's attempt to drug him failed. Taking into account the reveal that Walker is John Lark, this action seems much more calculated in retrospect; ruining the laptop means Ethan will have to pretend to be Lark without being able to disguise himself, which makes it much easier for Walker to frame Ethan later and claim that he's been John Lark all along.
- Another one for Walker comes earlier than that, when Ethan tries to delay their HALO jump because of a thunderstorm directly below them, Walker rips out Ethan's oxygen tube so he won't delay him, then dives into the storm anyway. When Ethan saves his life and they both land safely, rather than thank him, Walker sarcastically points out that Ethan seems to have lost his oxygen tank, showing that he's utterly fearless, doesn't play well with others, and doesn't really care who dies in the course of his mission. Which makes sense when you consider what his true mission is as John Lark.
- Evil Is Bigger: Played by the 6'1 and brawny Henry Cavill, towers over Ethan, played by the 5'7" Tom Cruise.
- Expy: As John Lark, his motives are similar to that of Kurt Hendricks, as both villains wanted to use nuclear weapons to destroy the world in the name of peace.
- Facial Horror: Gets the right side of his face scarred after getting splashed with aviation fuel from his crashed helicopter.
- Fallen Hero: By the time Fallout starts, he's been doing shady things as John Lark.
- Faux Affably Evil: He drops the nice guy façade after he's outed as John Lark.
- Foil: Specifically referred to as the "hammer" to Ethan's "scalpel." This means that Ethan is more accurate, precise and gets the job done without any innocent lives lost. The "hammer" is a destructive force, more brutal and less precise, which fits.
- More so when it's revealed that he's a mole working with Lane. For as much as Ethan tends to go rogue, he's still on the side of the "good guys" in the end, Walker on the other hand isn't.
- Genius Bruiser: A big, brutally strong fighter and a very cunning and skilled CIA agent, not to mention political visionary.
- The Heavy: He's in a Big Bad Duumvirate with Solomon Lane and spends the first half of the film posing as one of the good guys, but he's the one hired the Apostles and organized most of the Evil Plan. He's also the Final Boss Ethan fights in the film.
- Hero Antagonist: Subverted. Walker is in the way of IMF's mission out of fear that Ethan Hunt and his allies could go rogue. And then it turns out Walker is actually working with Lane.
- Hero Killer: Kills Hunley in the process of escaping with Lane.
- Hidden Villain: He's John Lark, the mysterious terrorist who forms one half of the film's Big Bad Duumvirate.
- Informed Ability: Famed as a huge physical threat and Ethan's equal, and explicitly referred to as the CIA's best killer. However, doesn't get many chances to prove it, and against "Lark" in the bathroom, he doesn't fare better nor last much longer than Ethan. He's pretty impressive against a couple of mooks, but he doesn't quite live up to his hype.
- It's Personal: Well, he claims to have nothing against Ethan and doesn't seem to care all that much about Lane's quest for revenge against him, but he eventually makes it personal anyway by threatening Julia.
- Knight Templar: His plan is to cause a massive tragedy using nuclear bombs, under the belief it will make the world come together and trigger a new wave of peace in the long run.
- Made of Iron: He's a beast physically and treats Hunley raining blow after blow on him as a mild irritation as he goes for his knife.
- Manifesto-Making Malcontent: As John Lark, he writes a manifesto that Debruuk forces Hunt and company to read on live television before he'll assist them in unlocking his phone. Too bad it's all staged.
- Manly Facial Hair: Has a mustache and Perma-Stubble to illustrate his grizzled nature. This was actually enforced behind-the-scenes - Paramount gave Henry Cavill a "no shave" contract, forbidding from even trimming his 'stache until the shoot is over.
- Misery Builds Character: Lark's whole philosophy revolves around the notion that great suffering ultimately produces peace, and thus he plans to inflict a massive tragedy upon the world by detonating three nuclear bombs with the intended outcome of humanity uniting and a wave of peace following.
- The Mole: Is actually John Lark, and is working on the mission with Ethan to try to frame him.
- Mole in Charge: Is the CIA's leading agent in the hunt for John Lark and the Apostles, despite secret being Lark himself.
- Near-Villain Victory: His plan literally comes within seconds of succeeding.
- Never Hurt an Innocent: Infamously known for not doing this as his job is to assassinate and clean up. When the group is spotted by a police officer, he is ready to gun her if Ethan can't convince her to walk away.
- Never My Fault: Throughout the initial mission to capture Lark, Walker acts as though Ethan is the reason this whole mission is going wrong, even though such problems are his fault, such as damaging the mask-making technology by hitting Lark with it. The fact that he is the real Lark at least suggests he's not an ignorant idiot but was doing all that on purpose.
- Oh, Crap!: This is Walker's final expression just before getting a steel hook straight in his eye socket.
- The Paragon Always Rebels: He's described as one of the CIA's best assassins and much like Lane himself, he ultimately turns against the system he's spent his career protecting due to increasing disillusionment. Apparently, several other CIA operatives agree with him enough to turn on their own squadmates when Sloane sends a team to capture him.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He is appalled by Lane’s obsession with Ethan Hunt, but this is only because Lane’s vendetta complicates his plan too much.
- Reckless Sidekick: Some of his actions are needlessly dangerous to the point of endangering the mission, the most obvious one being jumping off a plane into a thunderstorm despite Hunt warning against it, something that very nearly gets both men killed when Walker is struck by lightning and knocked unconscious. Ironically enough though, as John Lark he views Solomon Lane as his reckless sidekick because Lane insisting on getting revenge on Hunt meant constant delays and sidetracks in their mission.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: He thinks he is the cold, pragmatic Blue to Hunt and Lane's more passionate, emotional Reds, but it is actually the reverse since underneath his cool exterior he is a violent, hot-headed and reckless killer and terrorist, while the other two are - despite their emotional ties- much more cool-headed and efficient overall.
- Rogue Agent: He is utterly ruthless in his pursuit of John Lark and the Apostles to the point of killing every Apostle he ever came across, and Hunt is reluctant to work with him because of his extremist methods. In reality, fed up with the world, he goes rogue and is Lark himself, and presumably was only killing those Apostles in order to maintain his cover by not having any witnesses.
- Sanity Slippage: After his helicopter crashes, he goes crazy.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Easily the most foul-mouthed character in the series thus far, even getting to use the series' first Precision F-Strike eventually.
- Sixth Ranger: Walker is initially set up as the odd one out member of Ethan's team, the quiet but brutish CIA agent assigned to shadow Hunt at Sloane's behest. Subverted when he's revealed to be the true identity of Lark. Ilsa ends up becoming the team's Sixth Ranger instead, just like the last film.
- The Sociopath: He is very good at keeping a façade, as he is in fact the extremist nicknamed "John Lark", although he’s not as bad as Lane, who wants to murder millions over a grudge, something which even Walker is disgusted by, albeit for the wrong reasons.
- Start of Darkness: Walker is fed up with the world after having been abused and abused, mistreated and mistreated day after day by his own government, that it is eventually understandable why he went insane in the end. It is obvious that the above quote isn't referring to Hunt, but actually himself. His terrorist attacks are all because he wants to cause peace, as well.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: As befits a character played by Henry Cavill.
- Underestimating Badassery: Ultimately Walker constantly dismissing Ethan's methods as inefficient and the IMF's gadgets as just tricks means that he's exposed because he is caught off-guard by the team using those gadgets against him. Since Walker didn't know how good those gadgets were, the team are able to trick him into admitting his true agenda to Benji while Benji is disguised as Solomon Lane.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Ethan saves him from death when he is knocked unconscious by a nearby lightning bolt HALO jumping over Paris, but when they land Walker doesn't even mention it despite both men nearly dying as a result- the fact that it was his own damn fault might have something to do with it.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: His goal in the climax after he and Lane set off the nuclear weapons is to escape on a helicopter to a minimum safe distance while Lane stays behind, intending to perish in the explosion. Ethan must try to stop him by commandeering the second helicopter to go after him.
- Walking Spoiler: You can't talk about this guy without talking about his true identity.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Walker's true goal is to create a large enough international incident to get the world's powers working together. Arguably more so than Lane, as Lane seems to do this out of spite against Hunt.
- Why Won't You Die?: Screams this at the end of his and Hunt's final fight.
- Would Hurt a Child: As Ethan points out, John Lark unleashes a smallpox plague that results in the deaths of millions, including women and children, so he is an absolutely ruthless terrorist.
Kittridge
Eugene Kittridge
The latest director of the CIA. For more details, see this page.
Briggs
Jasper Briggs
Played By: Shea Whigham
Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
The leader of a CIA task force with a mission to recover the Entity's key from Ethan Hunt.
- Goldfish Poop Gang: He and Degas encounter Ethan at multiple points throughout his hunt for the key, but only being a minor nuisance to him most of the time.
- Hero Antagonist: He and his partner are among the individuals opposing Ethan throughout the film, but he doesn't have malicious intentions and is just following his duty of apprehending (whom he believes to be) a dangerous Rogue Agent whose interests are at odds with the US. The third even sees him and Degas working with Ethan to rescue the passengers on board the train.
- Inspector Javert: As in tradition, he's the resident law enforcer who's tasked with capturing Ethan Hunt and will follow him to the ends of the Earth to do so.
- Locked Out of the Loop: In the climax, while he is aware that the White Widow is meeting someone on the Orient Express to sell the completed key and that Ethan is going to be there to steal it, he never expected that the contact would be his own boss Kittridge, which leads to a funny moment when Briggs thought Kittridge was Ethan in disguise at first and tries to pull his 'mask' off.
- Mythology Gag: "Briggs" was also the surname of the first IMF leader, Dan Briggs, in the original TV series.
- Properly Paranoid: A Running Gag in the film sees him pulling the faces of random strangers thinking that they are Ethan in disguise, but given how that's often the modus operandi of IMF agents and how frequent Ethan employs it on his missions, you couldn't really blame him for being too careful.
- Spanner in the Works: Surprisingly, he and his partner Degas end up being this to the Entity. During the final battle, Ethan has Gabriel dead to rights and, in a blind rage to avenge Ilsa, is about to kill him and thus killing the only person who knows what the key unlocks. Briggs and Degas's arrival manage to shake Ethan out of his rage and spare Gabriel.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: In the climax, he's forced to team up with his target Ethan Hunt to save the passengers on the Orient Express train that's about to fall off a broken bridge. He's actually quite efficient at it.
- Those Two Guys: He's never seen without his partner Degas.
- To Be Lawful or Good: In the third act, his partner Degas convinces him to consider that Ethan might have a good reason for going rogue and trying to destroy the Entity. Later on, when he has Ethan in his sight, he ultimately doesn't go through with shooting him and let Ethan go to do his mission.
- What You Are in the Dark: During a shoot-out with the Entity's goons in Venice, he has the chance to shoot Ethan while he's helpless and taking cover behind a car, but ultimately can't bring himself to kill Hunt in cold blood while he's seemingly cooperating. This saves mankind twice over, first by ensuring Hunt is still alive to foil the Entity in the end and second by showing Ethan that Briggs is a good man who also fundamentally values the sanctity of life, something which leads him to reach out and successfully forge an alliance aboard the Orient Express.
Degas
Degas
Played By: Greg Tarzan Davis
Appearances: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
Briggs's partner.
- Cunning Linguist: Speaks at least Italian and French, which proves useful in his and Briggs's pursuit of Ethan Hunt in Europe.
- Hero Antagonist: Slightly moreso than Briggs, given how he's willing to Ethan the benefit of the doubt. While he still mostly obeys his orders, he does question whether apprehending Ethan is the right thing to do.
- Inspector Javert: He's chasing after Ethan Hunt alongside his partner Briggs, though in Degas's case it's more because it's his job rather than anything personal. In the end, even he starts to question Briggs if they've been chasing the wrong guy.
- Spanner in the Works: He and Briggs end up being this to the Entity's plan in the climax. The Entity wants Ethan to kill off Gabriel, and he's about to do so when he and Briggs stopped him and brought Ethan back to his senses, allowing Gabriel to live.
- Those Two Guys: He's never seen without his partner Briggs.
- Undying Loyalty: Loyal to his duty to the point where he claims he'd turn the key over to his superiors if he ever got his hands on it.
- The Watson: He acts as Briggs's confidant and even his conscience, questioning Briggs if chasing after Ethan Hunt really is the right thing to do and whether Ethan has a good reason for doing what he did.
