List of references (Spy)

Due to the comedic style of Team Fortress 2 and Valve's humor, the game includes references, usually in a humorous fashion. There are many different types, from games to movies, even jokes that have developed within the game and its community have been included. Below are references specific to the Spy class.

Espionage

Burn Notice

Achievement: Burn Notice

A Burn Notice is an official document put forth by one agency to other agencies to discredit or announce the dismissal of agents or sources who are considered to have become unreliable. When a Spy is burned, they are wiped off the "grid". The 'burned' agent thus has no prior work history, no money; no identity.

This is also the name and premise of a popular American Spy comedy/drama.

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Sleeper Agent

Achievement: Sleeper Agent

A Sleeper Agent is a Spy placed not to take any immediate action, but to rather serve as an asset at a later time should his services be needed.

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Agent Provocateur

Achievement: Agent Provocateur

(French; "enticing agent") an agent provocateur is a person employed by the police or other entity to act undercover to entice or provoke another person to commit an illegal act.

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Wetwork

Achievement: Wetwork

Wetwork or wet work is a euphemism for murder or assassination, alluding to hands literally wet with blood. It is most popularly attributed to the K.G.B. and their broad euphemism for such activities, mokroye delo (wet job). There have been others however, who variously attribute it to the Mossad, the CIA and MI5. Sometimes the term 'wet-boy', 'washer', or 'cleaner' is given to an agent involved in such work.

In-Jokes

Camera Beard

Initially, the Camera Beard was rejected by the Spy for being ridiculous in the Sniper vs. Spy Update Day 4.

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Jarate Response

“

I have been shown who is the boss! Click to listen — The Spy

”

A reference to the Spy's advertised exclamation, as seen on the announcement page of the Jarate's supposed April Fools reveal.

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Meet the Sniper

“

You live in a van! Click to listen — The Spy

”

A reference to the Sniper's choice of abode and transport as seen in Meet the Sniper. A running joke in various response lines has the other classes mock the Sniper for living in a van.

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Meet the Spy

Achievement: Who's Your Daddy?

This achievement is most likely a reference to the Spy's relationship with the Scout's mother as revealed in Meet the Spy.

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Spycrab

The Spy's crab-walking kit and its respective taunt are both likely a reference to the Spycrab, the fan-named result of a player selecting the Disguise Case, looking straight up, crouching, and walking. Doing this results in the Spy holding the Disguise Case and both arms over his head, while looking forward (despite the players view looking up in first person). The fashion in which he walks is similar to a crab walking on land.

Sayings and Phrases

"A Cut Above"

Achievement: A Cut Above

An idiom which is defined as of better quality than another person, place, or thing. (Attributes which could easily describe the Spy)

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"Cloak and Dagger"

The Cloak and Dagger watch and Uncloak and Dagger achievement both refer to the term Cloak and dagger, used to refer to situations involving espionage, mystery, or even assassination. The phrase dates from the early 19th century. It is a translation from the French de cape et d'épée and Spanish comedia de capa y espada. The French and Spanish phrases refer to a genre of drama in which the main characters actually wore cloaks and carried swords.

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"Come In From The Cold"

Achievement: Come In From The Cold

An idiom meaning a person or smaller group becoming part of a group or agency they had been previously disallowed from, often used in reference to defecting Spies.

There is an John le Carré novel entitled "The Spy That Came In From The Cold".

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"Slash and Burn"

Achievement: Slash and Burn

Slash and burn is an act of cutting and burning down forests in order to create fields to be used for agriculture. The term 'slash-and-burn' can also be used as an expression, to describe methods that are drastic and ultimately destructive.

TV and Film

James Bond

The Ambassador advertisement for the Sniper vs. Spy Update bears striking similarity to the pose used in several James Bond film posters. The difference being that the Spy is left-handed in the ad, and Bond appears right-handed.

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Die Another Day

Achievement: Die Another Way

A play on name of the 20th James Bond movie, Die Another Day, released in 2002, and the last one to feature Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.

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Dirty Harry

The Ambassador weapon is a reference to the Dirty Harry movie series. The titular character (Harry Callahan) is known for carrying an enormous Smith & Wesson Model 29, a .44 caliber Magnum Revolver with an 8⅜-inch barrel. The name 'Ambassador' most likely alludes to one movie in particular from the Dirty Harry series: The Enforcer. It may also be a reference to The Peacemaker, which was a nickname of the Colt Single Action Army, one of the first popular and widely used revolvers.

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Dr. No

“

They should call you whiners Dr. NOOOOO! Click to listen — The Spy

”

Achievement: Dr. Nooooo

Dr. No (also Dr No and Doctor No) is Ian Fleming's sixth James Bond novel. Dr. No (1962) was also the first film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Sean Connery as British Secret Service agent James Bond.

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For Your Eyes Only

Achievement: For your Eyes Only

For Your Eyes Only (1960) of a pair of short stories written by Ian Fleming featuring James Bond. The was also a movie based on the stories, as well as other Bond novels, released in 1981, featuring Roger Moore as James Bond. It is also a phrase commonly seen in stories and films such as the aforementioned Bond film, stamped on documents to warn the reader not to divulge the information contained within.

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Marathon Man

Achievement: Is It Safe?

A reference to Marathon Man, a 1974 paranoid thriller novel by William Goldman. A film version was released in 1967. Both the novel and the film contain a graphic depiction in which Szell tortures Babe by drilling into his teeth, without anesthetic, and repeatedly asking the question, "Is it safe?".

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Mystery, Alaska

“

He is a puzzle, wrapped in an enigma, shrouded in riddles, lovingly sprinkled with intrigue, express mailed to Mystery, Alaska... — The Spy's Bio

”

Mystery, Alaska is a 1999 drama directed by Jay Roach about a fictional small-town ice hockey team that plays a game against the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League.

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On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Achievement: On Her Majesty's Secret Surface

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is another Bond novel, written by Ian Fleming in 1963. There was also a film released in 1969, the only Bond film to feature George Lazenby as James Bond. British Intelligence (known as the SIS, or MI6) is also known as 'Her Majesty's Secret Service'.

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Point Break

Achievement: Point Breaker

Point Break is a 1991 action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze and Gary Busey. The title refers to the surfing term "point break". A surf break (also break, shore break, or big wave break) is a permanent obstruction such as a coral reef, rock, shoal, or headland that causes a wave to break, forming a barreling wave or other wave that can be surfed, before it eventually collapses.

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Spies Like Us

Achievement: Spies Like Us

Spies Like Us is a comedy film released in 1985, featuring two rookie Spies sent into the Soviet Union to stop a nuclear threat. The film features many stereotypes of things frequently seen in other Spy movies.

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The Bourne Supremacy

Achievement: The Melbourne Supremacy

The Bourne Supremacy is the second novel in Robert Ludlum's Bourne series, released in 1986. There was also a film based on the novel released in 2004, starring Matt Damon as the main character, Jason Bourne. Melbourne is a city in Australia, the homeland of the Sniper.

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The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Achievement: The Man from P.U.N.C.T.U.R.E.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. The series centered on a two-man troubleshooting team for a fictitious secret international law-enforcement agency, the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.): American Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn), and Russian Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum).

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The Man with the Golden Gun

Achievement: The Man with the Broken Guns

The Man with the Golden Gun is another James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming in 1965, as well as being a Bond film, starring Roger Moore as Bond, in 1974. The Golden Gun itself is usually wielded by Francisco Scaramanga, an elite assassin, and is famous for being able to kill any target with just one bullet (in the film it was comprised of several mundane devices, such as a lighter, assembled together).

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You Only Live Twice

Achievement: You only Shiv Thrice

A play on Ian Fleming's 1964 Bond Novel, You Only Live Twice. A film based on the novel was also released in 1967, starring Sean Connery as James Bond, and while Connery would not play Bond in the next film, it was not his last starring role as James Bond.

See Also

• List of references