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Spy-fi is a subgenre of spy fiction that includes elements of science fiction, and is often associated with the Cold War. Features of spy-fi include the effects of technology on the espionage trade and the technological gadgets used by the characters, even though the technologies and gadgets portrayed are well beyond contemporary scientific reality.

Definition and characteristics

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Spy-fi can be defined as media that centers around the adventures of a protagonist (or protagonists) working as a secret agent or a spy. Usually, these adventures will revolve around defeating a rival superpower or singular enemy from achieving a nefarious aim. Content may include themes such as world domination, world destruction, futuristic weapons, and gadgets. Settings vary from outright fantasy, such as outer space or under the sea, to real but exotic locations. Spy-fi does not necessarily present espionage as it is practiced in reality but rather glamorizes spy-craft through its focus on high-tech equipment, agencies, and organizations with nearly limitless resources and incredibly high-stakes adventures.

The spy protagonist may discover in his or her investigation that a mad scientist or evil genius and his secret organization are using futuristic technology to further their schemes. Examples of these include the James Bond film series, the use of advanced scientific technologies for global influence or domination in The Baroness spy novels, using space travel technology to destroy the world as in Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die, weather control in Our Man Flint, using a sonic weapon in Dick Barton Strikes Back, a death ray in Dick Barton at Bay, or replacing world leaders with evil twins in In Like Flint.

Examples

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Films and television

• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV series)
• Alias (TV series)
• James Bond (film series)
• Mission: Impossible (TV series)
• Austin Powers (film series)
• The Avengers (TV series)
• Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? (TV series)
• Spy Kids
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (TV series)
• Danger Man (TV series)
• Get Smart (TV series)
• The Prisoner (TV series)
• Matt Helm (film series)
• Face/Off
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
• Tenet

Games

• Global Agenda
• Perfect Dark
• No One Lives Forever
• Invisible Inc.
• I Expect You to Die

See also

• Cross-genre
• Techno-thriller

References

1. "Spy Fi Shelf". Goodreads.com. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
2. Danesi, Marcel (2012). Popular Culture: Introductory Perspectives (2nd ed.). Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated. p. 76. ISBN 9781442217836.
3. "Relive decades of spy-fi with an epic retrospective on James Bonds' sci-fi gadgets". Blastr. 2015-11-06. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
4. "Spy-fi is just around the corner". Tor.com. 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
5. Sexton, Max. "Celluloid Television: The Action Adventure Genre of the 1960s". Dandelion. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
6. "Spyfi". BestScienceFictionBooks.com. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
7. MI6-HQ Copyright 2016. "Spies + Spoofs :: MI6 :: The Home Of James Bond 007". Mi6-hq.com. Retrieved 2016-03-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
8. Weiner, Robert G.; Whitfield, B. Lynn; Becker, Jack (2010). James Bond in World and Popular Culture: The Films are Not Enough (1. publ. ed.). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars. p. 100. ISBN 978-1443822893.
9. Packer, Jeremy (2009). Secret Agents: Popular Icons Beyond James Bond. New York: Peter Lang. p. xi. ISBN 978-0820486697. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
10. {{cite https://web.archive.org/web/20150322164531/http://comicsalliance.com/marvel-mark-waid-shield-original-sin-annual-cyclops-layman-death-of-wolverine-next-big-thing/_(comic_book) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (comic book)}}
11. Stuller, Jennifer K. (2010). Ink-stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. ISBN 978-1845119652.
12. Avam, Elizabeth; Hoskin, Dave (2004). "TV Eye". Metro Magazine (141): 158.
13. Britton, Wesley (2004). Spy Television. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0275981630.
14. Biederman, Danny (2004). The Incredible World of Spy-fi: Wild and Crazy Spy Gadgets, Props, and Artifacts from TV and the Movies. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 081184224X.
15. ^ Falksen, GD (November 6, 2009). "Spy-fi is just around the corner". Tor.com. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
16. Anders, Charlie Jane (7 August 2012). "10 Best Spy-Fi Movies of All Time". io9. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
17. Sherlock, Ben (March 11, 2023). "Tenet's Ending, Explained". Game Rant. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
18. Ison, Blake (August 27, 2020). "'Tenet' Ushers in a New Era of "Spy-Fi"". MovieBabble. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
19. Rossignol, Jim (2009-04-14). ""Spy-Fi": Global Agenda Footage". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 2017-05-17.

• Science fiction by genre
• Spy fiction
• Works about espionage