During the 1960s trend for action-adventure spy thrillers, it was a common practice for fictional spy organizations or their nemeses to employ names that were
contrived acronyms. Sometimes these acronyms' expanded meanings made sense, but most of the time they were words incongruously crammed together for the mere purpose of obtaining a catchy acronym, traditionally a heroic sounding one for the good guys and an appropriately menacing one for the bad guys. This has become one of the most commonly parodied clichés of the spy thriller genre. They were presumably inspired by SMERSH, which appeared in the
James Bond stories and sounded fictional, but really was
a branch of Soviet intelligence. These acronyms are often spelled with periods/points/stops to make it clear that they stand for longer terms and are not simply the usual English words that they resemble, even though the punctuation would otherwise seem to indicate that the abbreviations should be pronounced as the names of the individual letters.
List
Among the most popular:
A.C.M.E. (Agency to Classify & Monitor Evildoers), a fictional crime intelligence agency in
Carmen Sandiego.
A.C.R.O.S.T.I.C. (ACabal Recently Organized Solely To Instigate Crimes), enemies of the
Zoo Crew.
A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics), a fictional
Marvel Comics terrorist organization, whose members are memorable for wearing yellow
Hazmat or
radiation suits as uniforms, which make them resemble an army of
beekeepers.
A.N.V.I.L., a fictional agency representing China and southeast Asia in the video game
Evil Genius
A.P.E. (Agency to Prevent Evil) and C.H.U.M.P. (Criminal Headquarters for the Underworld's Master Plan), from Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp
A.R.M.O.R. (Alternate Reality Monitoring and Operational Responses) a fictional branch of
SHIELD in
Marvel Comics founded to keep an eye on parallel universes.
A.P.O. (Authorized Personnel Only), a fictional black-ops division of the CIA on the television series
Alias
B.L.U. (Builder's League United), a front for one of the two warring companies in Team Fortress 2. Blue uniforms.
B.R.U.T.E. (Bureau for Random Unlawful Terror and Evil), a terrorist organization in the
Micro Adventure series of kids' books.
C.H.E.S.S. (Command for the Hindrance of Espionage, Sabotage, and Subversion), a secret federal agency whose hierarchy is chess-themed: led by the King and the Queen, and whose field agents are organized as Knights, Rooks, and Bishops depending upon their duties. Appears once in a back-up story in the first issue of
Charlton Comics' E-Man.
C.I.S.O. (Canadian International Security Organization), from Richard Comely's Captain Canuck comic book series.
C.L.I.T.O.R.I.S. (The Committee for the Liberation and Integration of Terrifying Organisms and their Rehabilitation Into Society), from Red Dwarf
C.M.D.F. (Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces), from the movie Fantastic Voyage. In the television
animated cartoon series, the acronym stood for Combined Miniature Defense Force.
C.O.B.R.A. (Criminal Organization of Bloodiness, Revenge and Assassination), an international terrorist organization, headed by
Cobra Commander, from the G.I. Joe series.
CONTROL, the fictional government agency in the TV Show Get Smart.[1]
F.L.A.G. (Foundation for Law And Government), from the original
Knight Rider
F.O.W.L. (Fiendish Organization for World Larceny), in cartoon series, Darkwing Duck. This organization originated in the DuckTales episode "Double-o-Duck", but was called the Foreign Organization there. In the new DuckTales F.O.W.L. served as the main overarching antagonists.
G.D.I. (Global Defense Initiative), from the
Command & Conquer video game series.
G.L.A (Global Liberation Army), from the
Command & Conquer video game series.
G.R.A.M.P.A. (Global Reaction Agency for Mysterious Paranormal Activity), an international intelligence agency in Marvel Comics.
G.O.D (Government of Darkness), an evil secret organisation from Kamen Rider X.
G.R.O.S.S. (Get Rid Of Slimy girlS), an organization founded by Calvin from the
Calvin and Hobbes comic series which seeks to exclude girls because of their inherent slimy nature.
H.A.M.M.E.R., a fictional agency representing former USSR territories and Cuba in the video game
Evil Genius
H.A.R.M., from the No One Lives Forever (NOLF) series of computer games, which were released in the 1990s, but were based in 1960s pop culture. What H.A.R.M. actually stands for is never revealed, and speculation about its true meaning is the subject of several jokes in both games. (However, in the 1966 spy film Agent for H.A.R.M., it stands for Human Aetiological Relations Machine.)
H.A.T.E. (Highest Anti Terrorism Effort) from Marvel.
H.A.T.E. (Humanitarian Alliance for Total Espionage) the "bad guys" organization from the pulp novel series "The Lady from L.U.S.T." (see L.U.S.T. below)
H.I.V.E. (Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination), a villainous organization that combats the
Teen Titans and other DC Comics superheroes.
H.U.N.T. (High-risk United Nations Task-force), from
Rise of the Triad
HYDRA is an exception in that the name is not an acronym but rather a reference to the mythical
Lernaean Hydra; the name's capitalization exists per
Marvel's official spelling only.
KAOS, the enemy organization in the TV Show Get Smart.
L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. (The League Of Villainous Evildoers Maniacally United For Frightening Investments in Naughtiness) from the series Phineas and Ferb, is an organization dedicated to promoting evil. It was presumably founded by Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.
L.U.S.T., (League of Undercover Spies and Terrorists) the "good guys" organization from the pulp novel series "The Lady from L.U.S.T." (see H.A.T.E. above)
O.D.I.N. (Organization of Democratic Intelligence Networks) is a rival European agency that the lead characters in
Archer (2009 TV series) are frequently competing with.
O.S.I. (Office of Secret Intelligence), a fictional intelligence Britannian affiliated agency in the Code Geass universe. Its main tasks are espionage, black ops, intelligence gathering, counter-intelligence and assassination.
O.S.I. (Office of Scientific Intelligence), a fictional intelligence agency in the Six Million Dollar Man universe. It was headed by
Oscar Goldman of which
Steve Austin (The Bionic Man) and later,
Jaime Sommers (The Bionic Woman), were its primary agents.
O.W.C.A. (Organization Without a Cool Acronym), a top-secret organization that uses animals for secret agents, from Phineas and Ferb
P.A.T.R.I.O.T., a fictional agency representing the US and Japan in the video game
Evil Genius
P.R.F. (People's Revolutionary Front), a terrorist agency from the TV show
Alias
S.H.I.E.L.D. (originally Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law Enforcement Division; later Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage and Logistics Directorate and Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), from the Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.Marvel Comics.
S.H.O.C.K.E.R (Sacred Hegemony of Cycle Kindred Evolutionary Realm) is an evil secret organisation in Kamen Rider: The First. It is a rebooted version of an eponymous organisation from the original Kamen Rider, where it wasn't an acronym.
S.K.O.O.L. (Secret Knowledge Of Organized Lawbreakers) in the
Hardy Boys book, Secret Agent of Flight 101.
S.M.A.S.H., a fictional agency representing Africa, South America, and Antarctica in the video game
Evil Genius
S.M.E.L.L.Y. (Society of Meaningless Evil, Larceny, Lying and Yelling), the antagonist of the children's video game
Spy Fox 2: "Some Assembly Required"
S.N.A.F.U. (Society of Nefarious And Felonious Undertakings), a terrorist organization from the short-lived Nickelodeon animated series, The X's
SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion), from the
James Bond series.
S.T.E.N.C.H. (Society for the Total Extermination of Non-Conforming Humans) in the film Carry On Spying and the radio series Round the Horne.
T.I.A. (Técnicos Investigación Aeroterráquea) translating into "Aeroterraquatic (air, land, sea) Investigation Technicians", from the Spanish comic strip
Mortadelo y Filemón.
U.G.L.I. (Undercover Global League of Informants) in the
Hardy Boys book, Secret Agent of Flight 101.
U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. (Underground Liberated Totally Integrated Mobile Army To Unite Mankind) from Marvel Comics.
U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement) and T.H.R.U.S.H., from The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. (The meaning of T.H.R.U.S.H. was never revealed on the series; but, in the novelizations it was stated to be "Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity".)
U.N.I.T. (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) A military organization formed to investigate and combat paranormal and extraterrestrial threats to the Earth in the series Doctor Who. UNIT was rebranded as the UNified Intelligence Taskforce in 2008, after the United Nations expressed its discomfort with being associated with a fictional paramilitary organization.
V.A.C.U.U.M. (Volunteer Agents Crusading Unsteadily Under Mongoose), from the
Donald Sobol book Secret Agents Four.
V.E.N.O.M. (The Vicious, Evil Network Of Mayhem), the evil mask-wearing cohort from the 1980s Saturday-morning cartoon M.A.S.K.
Z.O.W.I.E. (Zonal Organization for World Intelligence and Espionage), from the movies Our Man Flint and In Like Flint
Various fiction invent British spy agencies with "MI numbers" other than the well-known
MI5 or
MI6. Examples include MI7 in Johnny English, M.I.9 in M.I. High, and
MI-13 in
Marvel Comics. These agencies generally have no relation to the real but defunct branches of the
Directorate of Military Intelligence that previously used these designations.
During the 1960s trend for action-adventure spy thrillers, it was a common practice for fictional spy organizations or their nemeses to employ names that were
contrived acronyms. Sometimes these acronyms' expanded meanings made sense, but most of the time they were words incongruously crammed together for the mere purpose of obtaining a catchy acronym, traditionally a heroic sounding one for the good guys and an appropriately menacing one for the bad guys. This has become one of the most commonly parodied clichés of the spy thriller genre. They were presumably inspired by SMERSH, which appeared in the
James Bond stories and sounded fictional, but really was
a branch of Soviet intelligence. These acronyms are often spelled with periods/points/stops to make it clear that they stand for longer terms and are not simply the usual English words that they resemble, even though the punctuation would otherwise seem to indicate that the abbreviations should be pronounced as the names of the individual letters.
List
Among the most popular:
A.C.M.E. (Agency to Classify & Monitor Evildoers), a fictional crime intelligence agency in
Carmen Sandiego.
A.C.R.O.S.T.I.C. (ACabal Recently Organized Solely To Instigate Crimes), enemies of the
Zoo Crew.
A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics), a fictional
Marvel Comics terrorist organization, whose members are memorable for wearing yellow
Hazmat or
radiation suits as uniforms, which make them resemble an army of
beekeepers.
A.N.V.I.L., a fictional agency representing China and southeast Asia in the video game
Evil Genius
A.P.E. (Agency to Prevent Evil) and C.H.U.M.P. (Criminal Headquarters for the Underworld's Master Plan), from Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp
A.R.M.O.R. (Alternate Reality Monitoring and Operational Responses) a fictional branch of
SHIELD in
Marvel Comics founded to keep an eye on parallel universes.
A.P.O. (Authorized Personnel Only), a fictional black-ops division of the CIA on the television series
Alias
B.L.U. (Builder's League United), a front for one of the two warring companies in Team Fortress 2. Blue uniforms.
B.R.U.T.E. (Bureau for Random Unlawful Terror and Evil), a terrorist organization in the
Micro Adventure series of kids' books.
C.H.E.S.S. (Command for the Hindrance of Espionage, Sabotage, and Subversion), a secret federal agency whose hierarchy is chess-themed: led by the King and the Queen, and whose field agents are organized as Knights, Rooks, and Bishops depending upon their duties. Appears once in a back-up story in the first issue of
Charlton Comics' E-Man.
C.I.S.O. (Canadian International Security Organization), from Richard Comely's Captain Canuck comic book series.
C.L.I.T.O.R.I.S. (The Committee for the Liberation and Integration of Terrifying Organisms and their Rehabilitation Into Society), from Red Dwarf
C.M.D.F. (Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces), from the movie Fantastic Voyage. In the television
animated cartoon series, the acronym stood for Combined Miniature Defense Force.
C.O.B.R.A. (Criminal Organization of Bloodiness, Revenge and Assassination), an international terrorist organization, headed by
Cobra Commander, from the G.I. Joe series.
CONTROL, the fictional government agency in the TV Show Get Smart.[1]
F.L.A.G. (Foundation for Law And Government), from the original
Knight Rider
F.O.W.L. (Fiendish Organization for World Larceny), in cartoon series, Darkwing Duck. This organization originated in the DuckTales episode "Double-o-Duck", but was called the Foreign Organization there. In the new DuckTales F.O.W.L. served as the main overarching antagonists.
G.D.I. (Global Defense Initiative), from the
Command & Conquer video game series.
G.L.A (Global Liberation Army), from the
Command & Conquer video game series.
G.R.A.M.P.A. (Global Reaction Agency for Mysterious Paranormal Activity), an international intelligence agency in Marvel Comics.
G.O.D (Government of Darkness), an evil secret organisation from Kamen Rider X.
G.R.O.S.S. (Get Rid Of Slimy girlS), an organization founded by Calvin from the
Calvin and Hobbes comic series which seeks to exclude girls because of their inherent slimy nature.
H.A.M.M.E.R., a fictional agency representing former USSR territories and Cuba in the video game
Evil Genius
H.A.R.M., from the No One Lives Forever (NOLF) series of computer games, which were released in the 1990s, but were based in 1960s pop culture. What H.A.R.M. actually stands for is never revealed, and speculation about its true meaning is the subject of several jokes in both games. (However, in the 1966 spy film Agent for H.A.R.M., it stands for Human Aetiological Relations Machine.)
H.A.T.E. (Highest Anti Terrorism Effort) from Marvel.
H.A.T.E. (Humanitarian Alliance for Total Espionage) the "bad guys" organization from the pulp novel series "The Lady from L.U.S.T." (see L.U.S.T. below)
H.I.V.E. (Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination), a villainous organization that combats the
Teen Titans and other DC Comics superheroes.
H.U.N.T. (High-risk United Nations Task-force), from
Rise of the Triad
HYDRA is an exception in that the name is not an acronym but rather a reference to the mythical
Lernaean Hydra; the name's capitalization exists per
Marvel's official spelling only.
KAOS, the enemy organization in the TV Show Get Smart.
L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. (The League Of Villainous Evildoers Maniacally United For Frightening Investments in Naughtiness) from the series Phineas and Ferb, is an organization dedicated to promoting evil. It was presumably founded by Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.
L.U.S.T., (League of Undercover Spies and Terrorists) the "good guys" organization from the pulp novel series "The Lady from L.U.S.T." (see H.A.T.E. above)
O.D.I.N. (Organization of Democratic Intelligence Networks) is a rival European agency that the lead characters in
Archer (2009 TV series) are frequently competing with.
O.S.I. (Office of Secret Intelligence), a fictional intelligence Britannian affiliated agency in the Code Geass universe. Its main tasks are espionage, black ops, intelligence gathering, counter-intelligence and assassination.
O.S.I. (Office of Scientific Intelligence), a fictional intelligence agency in the Six Million Dollar Man universe. It was headed by
Oscar Goldman of which
Steve Austin (The Bionic Man) and later,
Jaime Sommers (The Bionic Woman), were its primary agents.
O.W.C.A. (Organization Without a Cool Acronym), a top-secret organization that uses animals for secret agents, from Phineas and Ferb
P.A.T.R.I.O.T., a fictional agency representing the US and Japan in the video game
Evil Genius
P.R.F. (People's Revolutionary Front), a terrorist agency from the TV show
Alias
S.H.I.E.L.D. (originally Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law Enforcement Division; later Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage and Logistics Directorate and Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), from the Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.Marvel Comics.
S.H.O.C.K.E.R (Sacred Hegemony of Cycle Kindred Evolutionary Realm) is an evil secret organisation in Kamen Rider: The First. It is a rebooted version of an eponymous organisation from the original Kamen Rider, where it wasn't an acronym.
S.K.O.O.L. (Secret Knowledge Of Organized Lawbreakers) in the
Hardy Boys book, Secret Agent of Flight 101.
S.M.A.S.H., a fictional agency representing Africa, South America, and Antarctica in the video game
Evil Genius
S.M.E.L.L.Y. (Society of Meaningless Evil, Larceny, Lying and Yelling), the antagonist of the children's video game
Spy Fox 2: "Some Assembly Required"
S.N.A.F.U. (Society of Nefarious And Felonious Undertakings), a terrorist organization from the short-lived Nickelodeon animated series, The X's
SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion), from the
James Bond series.
S.T.E.N.C.H. (Society for the Total Extermination of Non-Conforming Humans) in the film Carry On Spying and the radio series Round the Horne.
T.I.A. (Técnicos Investigación Aeroterráquea) translating into "Aeroterraquatic (air, land, sea) Investigation Technicians", from the Spanish comic strip
Mortadelo y Filemón.
U.G.L.I. (Undercover Global League of Informants) in the
Hardy Boys book, Secret Agent of Flight 101.
U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. (Underground Liberated Totally Integrated Mobile Army To Unite Mankind) from Marvel Comics.
U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement) and T.H.R.U.S.H., from The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. (The meaning of T.H.R.U.S.H. was never revealed on the series; but, in the novelizations it was stated to be "Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity".)
U.N.I.T. (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) A military organization formed to investigate and combat paranormal and extraterrestrial threats to the Earth in the series Doctor Who. UNIT was rebranded as the UNified Intelligence Taskforce in 2008, after the United Nations expressed its discomfort with being associated with a fictional paramilitary organization.
V.A.C.U.U.M. (Volunteer Agents Crusading Unsteadily Under Mongoose), from the
Donald Sobol book Secret Agents Four.
V.E.N.O.M. (The Vicious, Evil Network Of Mayhem), the evil mask-wearing cohort from the 1980s Saturday-morning cartoon M.A.S.K.
Z.O.W.I.E. (Zonal Organization for World Intelligence and Espionage), from the movies Our Man Flint and In Like Flint
Various fiction invent British spy agencies with "MI numbers" other than the well-known
MI5 or
MI6. Examples include MI7 in Johnny English, M.I.9 in M.I. High, and
MI-13 in
Marvel Comics. These agencies generally have no relation to the real but defunct branches of the
Directorate of Military Intelligence that previously used these designations.