Impossible Missions Force

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The Impossible Missions Force (IMF) is a fictional intelligence agency under the U.S. government. It was introduced in the 1966-73 television series Mission: Impossible, and later in a revival series that ran from 1988 to 1990. Beginning in the 1990s, the IMF has been featured in three theatrical films starring Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible II, and Mission: Impossible III.

As depicted in the original series, IMF agents were mostly part-time spies who kept regular day jobs as actors, electronics tycoons, fashion models, doctors, lawyers, and even circus acrobats. The only "full-time" member identified was the team leader. In the first season of the original series, this was Dan Briggs; starting in the second season and continuing into the revival series, the leader is Jim Phelps. Phelps is also depicted as the leader of the IMF in the first Mission: Impossible film, however the movies do not keep continuity with the television series. In the second and third films the team leader is Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise).

IMF agents are sent on covert missions to tackle the dangerous world of counterterrorism, espionage and international crime. They operate under non-official cover status and if captured or killed the U.S. government will disavow any knowledge of their actions. It is never directly specified in the two television series which branch of the government oversees the IMF. In the secret tape messages issued to the team leaders, reference is made to a Secretary, but it's never said which Secretary. The IMF team leader is also given the option of not accepting a mission if he believes it truly is impossible to complete.

In the 1980s revival series, the IMF is implied to be an independent agency, with multiple IMF teams as well as specialized divisions.

In the 1996 film Mission: Impossible the IMF is actually a black ops division of the C.I.A. In Mission: Impossible II, it's not clear to whom IMF answers if anyone, though it is implied it is connected to a larger worldwide network. Mission: Impossible III, IMF is indeed identified as the independent agency (whose majority of agents comedically front as Virginia Department of Transportation employees) of the series, but is referred to by Hunt as the 'Impossible Mission Force'.