Mata Hari

The Trope Namer

See that ambassador over there? I'll sleep with him tonight, and the next morning, he'll tell me all his secrets.

And if he won't tell them?

Well, at least I'll get laid.

—Folklore

Espionage has long been depicted as a glamorous and exciting profession. The same depiction goes for its practitioners. Only relatively recently however did the concept of a beautiful young woman charming male officers into revealing military secrets with her feminine wiles appear.

Named after Mata Hari (Margaretha Zelle), an exotic dancer from the Netherlands during and before World War I who was a courtesan to many high class officials, politicians, and military officers. She was actually a spy for the French, but she was convicted of being a double agent for Germany and eventually was executed by firing squad by the French (sealed state secrets revealed she was innocent of being a double-agent about 70 years later). Her life was later fictionalized into a story of her being an irresistible master spy, and the idea stuck. Although unlike their unlucky inspiration, most Mata Hari templates are very good at what they do.

To qualify as this trope, the character must be a young attractive female who uses her "charms" (sexual, emotional manipulation, or both) to work in a capacity for espionage specifically under a guise of innocence. She can be a member of La Résistance or The Empire, be idealistic, motivated by revenge, or simply in it for the money and personal gain, as long as it's an attractive female spy, it fits this trope. This trope however does not apply to females who are merely secret agents. There must clearly be incidences of fraternizing with the enemy as The Mole.

Despite its popularity in media, this trope is not usually Truth in Television for the reason that most political and military leaders know better than to blab state secrets to women they get to know in private company. Much more common is the case where a weak-willed political leader will reveal secrets to an ordinary prostitute who will then reveal it to the press or others, fulfilling the trope retroactively. That said, the biological basis for this trope is quite sound: orgasm tends to shut off the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for, among other things, controlling behavior and impulses, and even simple kissing releases oxytocin, which is known to make people more trusting. Lack of self-control + misplaced trust = Loose Lips.

Finally, one doesn't need to actually get the target to reveal secrets directly; photographs or other embarrassing evidence of the encounter can be used to Blackmail the target into giving you what you want (the classic Honey Trap).

See also Gentleman Thief, Classy Cat Burglar, Honey Trap, Femme Fatale, The Vamp and Spy Catsuit.

Examples of Mata Hari include:

Anime

Comic Books

  • The Grey Spy in Antonio Prohias' Spy Vs. Spy strips is a glamorous young woman who always plays on the Black and White Spies' sense of chivalry in order to defeat them both. Prohias eventually phased her out of the strips because he couldn't bring himself to have the Spies hurt a woman, but the comics were too predictable if she never lost.
  • The Black Widow was this in her early appearances as an Iron Man villain: a Russian spy sent by the KGB to romance him while stealing his secrets.
  • X-Men villain Mystique isn't above playing this role from time to time. Being a Shape Shifter helps.
  • In Spy Boy, Bombshell uses "Marta Hari" as her school-going alias.
  • Jet Dream and her Stunt-Girl Counterspies all fit this trope.

Film

  • Marta Bond, the illegitimate daughter of Mata Hari and James Bond in the spoofy Casino Royale 1967 is this trope played for maximum silliness. The fact that the real Mata Hari was shot in 1917 is conveniently not mentioned.
  • Eve in North by Northwest. Doubly so once it's revealed she's the Reverse Mole working for the United States government.
  • Bridget von Hammersmark from Inglourious Basterds may qualify. She relies more on her fame from being a movie star than her sexual charm, though. In fact, Tarantino may have been hinting that he did intend for her to be seen as this kind of character; in the same scene, a group of German soldiers (whom she had been sitting with earlier) are playing a kind of celebrity guessing game, and Mata Hari herself is one of the answers.
  • In Mars Attacks!, the Martians send out a Martian in an Uncanny Valley woman suit to infiltrate the White House and try to assassinate the President. It almost works because of the Idiot Plot.
  • Claire Romely (Saffron Burrows) in Enigma is suspected of being this but you only find out at the end of the film if she is.
  • Jude in The Crying Game.
  • Marcuses sister in Bad Boys 2
  • In Munich a character says "beware the local honeytrap"
  • Monica Fuentes in Two Fast Two Furious
  • Rachel Stein alias Ellis de Vries in Black Books
  • Mati Herring, from You Nazty Spy, a classic Three Stooges film.
  • The "deaf" girl from the Matt Damon film The Good Shepherd.
  • Alicia Huberman in Notorious is asked by the US government to seduce (and eventually marry) a Nazi agent in order to have someone with inside access to his house who can look out for the illegal activities the US government suspects are going on in there. When told the nature of her assignment, Alicia even mentions Mata Hari, saying, "Mata Hari, she makes love for the papers."
  • Barbie ends up playing this role in Toy Story 3. She did love Ken before realizing what was really going on at Sunnyside and then rejected him. She played this role well enough to push him into a Heel Face Turn, and they end the movie Happily Married.

Literature

  • Jane Wooliston, Mary Alsworthy and Teresa Ballinger all employ this trope in the Pink Carnation Series. Jane Wooliston however also uses many other disguises and methods in her quest to prevent the Napoleonic invasion of England. She is the Pink Carnation after all.
  • Catherine de Varesne in the Matthew Hawkwood novel Ratcatcher.

Live Action TV

  • Sydney Bristow, along with roughly half the female cast.
    • Sydney's mother, Irina Derevko, is a literal example - a KGB agent assigned to marry a CIA agent (namely, Jack) and steal his secrets.
    • Lauren Reed pulls the same exact act, but on Vaughn.
  • Ziva David, NCIS, but only occasionally. She is better known for more "direct" methods then seduction.
  • Young Indiana Jones: Yes, apparently Henry Jones Junior lost his virginity to the Mata Hari in World War I.
  • The North Korean spy Joyce Kim in The Big Bang Theory tried to obtain military secrets from Leonard, who was working under a DARPA contract at the time. She couldn't put up with Sheldon though, and abandoned her attempt.
  • Mandy in 24.
  • Devonne from The Wire.
  • Undercover policewoman Kate Morton in Eastenders became the girlfriend of Phil Mitchell to get him to confess if he murdered his ex
  • The Bill WPC Kerry Young seduced a gangster for inside information to help free women who were victims of sex trafficking
  • Nikita and Alex from Nikita qualify for this trope, although they often use other methods to get their way as well.
  • Katherine Pierce from The Vampire Diaries employs this tactic many times, always with brilliant results but then she is a Magnificent Bastard.
  • Sarah Walker on Chuck.
  • Irene Adler from Sherlock, the BBC series, where she's a dominatrix instead of a opera singer.
  • Fiona from Burn Notice has played this role occasionally. Although she generally prefers the More Dakka approach.

Video Games

  • Milla Vodello from Psychonauts is an attractive lady spy whose nickname is "The Mental Minx".
  • Margarete from Shadow Hearts... then again, she is Mata Hari.
  • EVA from Metal Gear Solid 3. Snake ever refers to her as "a regular Mata Hari."
  • Belleza from Skies of Arcadia. She's a General, but she poses as a belly dancer to gather information on the party for The Empire. Rare, in that she's both a villainous version of this trope and motivated by idealism.
  • The design of A Dance With Rogues lends itself to this sort of player character. An Ax Crazy runthrough is much more difficult.
  • Rouge the Bat fits as a Mata Hari in Sonic the Hedgehog.
  • The adventure game Mata Hari is based on her. Reviews have been mixed, but the general consensus is it's So Okay It's Average.
  • In Dragon Age, Orlesian[1] Bards fill this roll. Party member Leiliana also doubles as a Naughty Nun and has trouble reconciling the two polar aspects of her being, since she enjoyed her former career as much as her newfound faith. She does this by the time of Dragon Age II, by becoming a spy for the Church.
    • Zevran is a male version. In the 'verse, the genders are equal and homo/bisexuality is seen as a mere fetish rather than a taboo, thus making male Mata Haris almost as effective as the ladies.

Web Comics

Western Animation

Real Life

  • Katrina Leung worked as a double agent for China and the FBI. She seduced several FBI employees including her FBI handler which got her information of use to China
  • Cheryl Bentov (aka Cindy) was an American Mossad Agent who persuaded a former Israeli nuclear technician who had disclosed nuclear secrets by posing as an American tourist, becoming his lover, and persuading him to go to Italy with her... where, naturally, he was kidnapped and smuggled back to Israel.
  • In 2006 a British Defense Attache in Pakistan was brought back to the UK after it emerged a girlfriend/lover of his was a Pakistani Intelligence Officer. There are sources which say his actions compromised Western operatives and operations in Pakistan but the British government denies this.
  • A North Korean woman, Wong Jeong-Hwa, was imprisoned in 2008 after she admitted seducing South Korean military officers in exchange for classified information.
  • A US diplomat was photographed in a "compromising situation" with a Polish woman in 1961 and was blackmailed into revealing secrets.
  • A US Army NCO who worked at the US Embassy in Moscow either had drunken sex or was made to believe he had sex with a Soviet Agent because he was too drunk to remember. He was later told she was pregnant and that his wife would be told if he did not cooperate with the Soviet Authorities.
    • This was apparently a very common tactic used by the Soviets. Smart victims of this plot would refuse and immediately contact the American embassy.
  • In 1987 a US Marine Sergent embassy guard in Moscow called Clayton J. Lonetree was convicted of spying against the United States for handing over documents he was assigned to after being honeytrapped and blackmailed by a female Soviet officer.
  • Anna Chapman, who pled guilty to acting as a agent for a foreign government, has been described in the media as a "modern day Mata Hari" and a "honeytrap" for obtaining a British passport by marrying a British man and allegedly having affairs with prominent businessmen.
    • She, at least, appears no more competent than the real Mata Hari, having been caught by U.S. authorities and extradited back to Russia via Prisoner Exchange. With her cover thoroughly blown, she's been capitalizing on her looks and notoriety to become a media personality and TV host.
  • Similarly, alleged Russian spy Katja Zatuliveter, who worked as a researcher for the BBC and a politician's PA, has been labeled a honeytrap and "blonde temptress" by the UK press, who strongly imply the MP in question hired her out of lust and didn't do the proper background checks.
  • During the Cold War, British Secretary of State for War John Profumo was accused of putting national security at risk by having a sexual relationship with alleged call girl Christine Keeler, who was reputed to also be sleeping with Eugene Ivanov, a senior Naval Attache at the Soviet Embassy in London.
  • M15 sent out a 14 page document to British banks, businesses and financial institutions warning about the danger of Chinese intelligence services blackmailing Western businesspeople over sexual relationships.
  • Spy Sylvia Rafael has been called a Mossad honey trap.
  • British MP Ian Clement admitted he was seduced by a woman in Beijing he suspects of working for Chinese intelligence.
  • Russian model Ekaterina Gerasimova was allegedly employed by the Kremlin to seduce at least half a dozen of their high profile critics to destroy their reputations and for blackmail purposes.
  • WW 2 American spy Betty Pack used her feminine wiles to get an Italian naval attache to give her the Italian Naval Code book (some say he gave her fake codes but the Italian fleets movements were predicted much more accurately suggesting he didn't) and seduced the French Embassy's press attache who gave her information to use against the Nazis.
  • A Taiwanese Army Major General Lo Hsien-che was drawn into a honey trap set by a "tall, beautiful and chic" Chinese agent and supplied her with top secret information in exchange for sex and money in what has been described as the worst Espionage case in Taiwan for 50 years
  • And the eponymous Trope Namer herself Mata Hari
  1. ↑ A Fantasy Counterpart Culture of France
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