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This Protagonist was Headlined on August, 2014. | ||
Ethan "Matthew" Hunt is the main protagonist of the Mission: Impossible film series.
He is a senior field agent for the Impossible Mission Force, an elite top-secret espionage and covert operations agency that handles dangerous and highly sensitive international missions that have been deemed "impossible".
He is portrayed by Tom Cruise, who also played Maverick in Top Gun and its sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, Charlie Babbitt in Rain Man, John Anderton in Minority Report, Ray Ferrier in War of the Worlds, Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth of July, Daniel Kaffee in A Few Good Men, David Aames in Vanilla Sky, Nathan Algren in The Last Samurai, Jack Harper in Oblivion, Jack Reacher in the Jack Reacher live-action films, Major William Cage in Edge of Tomorrow, and Nick Morton in 2017's The Mummy.
In Mission: Impossible – Operation Surma, he was voiced by Steve Blum, who also voiced Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, Vincent Valentine in the Final Fantasy series, Tank Dempsey in Call of Duty Zombies, Urdnot Grunt in the Mass Effect series, Grayson Hunt in Bulletstorm, Sub-Zero in the Mortal Kombat series, and Hal Jordan in Injustice 2.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Ethan Matthew Hunt was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on August 18, 1964, and he was the only child of Margaret Ethan and Nathan Hunt. Raised on a dairy farm in Middlefield, New York, After high school, Ethan went on to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a double major in Engineering and International Relations. Upon graduating from Pennsylvania, he joined the Army. Ethan commissioned for the military occupational specialty, Infantry, and decided that he would become an Army Ranger, going to the Ranger Indoctrination Program. Upon graduation of RIP, he was placed in the 3rd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Daniel David Briggs. Ethan eventually fought in combat during Operation Desert Storm. After five distinguished years in the Army, Ethan gained an honorable discharge.
After his discharge, he immediately sought employment with the Central Intelligence Agency. Before Ethan could join the Agency, he had to go through background checks, take the entrance exam, and go through a series of interviews and psychological tests. Upon passing the entrance and psychological examinations, Ethan was contacted by Colonel Briggs, who had joined the CIA in a high-level position a few years before and he believed Ethan would be perfect for an organization outside of the Agency. In short order, he was recruited into an ultra-secret agency called the Impossible Mission Force.
Although he was initially only told that he would be tasked with "unconventional black ops", Ethan exuberantly accepted the job offer. Afterwards he was informed of IMF's mandate. He then went through an intensive operational training course to train him in so-called "operational intelligence" or "tradecraft" skills, including surveillance, clandestine photography, infiltration, and extraction techniques. He was also trained for night parachuting, tactical high speed emergency driving, rappelling from helicopters, and dry and wet demolition. Because of his military experience, Ethan excelled through training.
Once he completed training, he was given the "cover legend" of a systems analyst for the U.S. Department of Transportation and placed in a five-person team (called an "IM Force") as the team's point man. Led by Senior Agent James "Jim" Phelps, the team's job was to infiltrate secure installations, seize critical intelligence, destroy dangerous data or equipment, and neutralize the enemy as needed, without leaving a trace. The IMF is different than most intelligence organizations in that, once their orders have been given, there are no required procedures for the fulfillment of the mission. Therefore, Ethan and his fellow agents could use any means they deem necessary, and success was all that matters. The downside was, of course, obvious; if a team member was either captured or killed, the Secretary of the IMF would disavow any knowledge of his or her actions.
Personality[]
| “ | Hunt is uniquely trained and highly motivated - a specialist without equal - immune to any countermeasures. There is no secret he cannot extract, no security he cannot breach, no person he cannot become. He has most likely anticipated this very conversation and is waiting to strike in whatever direction we move. Sir, Hunt is the living manifestation of destiny. And he has made you his mission. | „ |
| ~ Alan Hunley describing Ethan Hunt to the UK Prime Minister. |
Ethan is proactive, tending to initiate events rather than respond to them. Even before Jim Phelps betrayed him, Ethan tended to act independently; that trait became his dominant one after his time as a fugitive. He is capable of planning and undertaking very intricate schemes, particularly covert intrusions.
According to Ambrose, he prefers misdirection to confrontation, as expected as a covert operative, and Ethan will do his best to avoid endangering innocent bystanders.
Ethan is extremely observant, with an almost-photographic memory, and his ability to make profound deductions with limited clues is very impressive. He is also very good at hiding his reaction to critical information; for example, during one mission he realized one of his hired hands was also one of the people who assassinated his former team, but he did not show any visible reaction that would have given away this revelation.
Ethan enjoys engaging in playful banter in conversation and often wins people over quickly by virtue of his charm.
He is also incredibly intelligent, and almost recklessly daring in his missions. He is highly cunning and extremely astute and calculating, especially when it comes to knowing his enemies. He is highly idealistic and devises philosophical traps during debates.
He is very loyal to the team and cares about people. He would do whatever it took to save the world and protect the people.
Ethan is also a very observant person and has an almost photographic memory.
Finally, Hunt's personality is subdued in the first movie, but becomes more extravagant and extroverted during the next two.
He is described as a tough, uniquely trained, and highly motivated individual who is a great expert without any equal and described as immune to any countermeasures. In most of the films, he is depicted as an individual who is able to extract any secret data, breach any security system, and become any person in the world easily via the latex masks provided by the IMF.
Alan Hunley, former director of the CIA, had described Hunt as the ultimate personification of destiny, and it is proven the whole time during every mission. Most of all, Hunt is a man of work as he loves his job and almost nothing would prevent him from finishing his missions and defending the world as he knows it.
Abilities[]
- Peak Human Condition: As an IMF agent and former U.S. Army Ranger, Ethan is in peak physical condition. His strength, speed, agility, reflexes and durability are all at peak levels for a man in his age, height and weight. Ethan has shown himself capable of performing incredible physical feats such as holding his breath for long periods, withstanding intense physical pain and torture, jumping from great heights and between buildings, withstanding extended altercations and recovering quickly, clinging to the side of an airplane in flight, climbing up the side of a mountain with no equipment and running at incredible speeds for long periods without tiring. Ethan keeps himself in shape in between missions through an intense workout regime as well as hobbies like rock climbing.
- Expert Martial Artist: According to Ethan's profile, he has been trained in the Brazilian martial arts of Capoeira. He shows limited fighting ability, kicking a CIA employee while stealing the NOC list, but he is later knocked out in a confrontation by the elderly, but more experienced Jim Phelps. He uses various kicks, holds and flips during attacks on terrorist personnel during the next two movies. In the second installment, we see him using techniques inspired by Capoeira, which fits with his profile from the first movie. He also uses Aikido and Jujutsu techniques during his fight with Ambrose. In the third installment, while still using some Capoeira, he also utilizes techniques from Keysi, and in a training scene with Lindsey Farris, he was teaching her the Filipino martial arts of Eskrima. He displays several extremely complex techniques in the fourth movie, including a selection of Capoeira and Taekwondo moves. During his prison escape, he mainly utilizes Karate and judo moves, and resorts to combined Capoeira, Ninjutsu, Taekwondo, and Karate moves and strategies. During the sixth movie, he is shown to be using techniques from Keysi, as well as techniques from Eskrima, Muay Thai and Krav Maga.
- Weapon Mastery: Ethan is highly skilled with a variety of weapons including handguns, rifles and knives. He is also very skilled at using whatever is available to him as a weapon and using his environment to his advantage in combat.
- Expert Marksman: Ethan is highly skilled in the use of firearms. He shot and killed Sean Ambrose and Saif and later draws on and kills multiple targets within seconds. He is able to use a variety of weapons.
- Master Spy: Ethan is very skilled at breaking into even the most secure facilities and breaking out without being detected. In the first movie, Hunt is a master of disguises, stealth, and espionage tactics. As the series progresses, however, Hunt abandons many of his stealth tactics in favor of force. Ethan reused his mastery of stealth and surprise while battling Kurt Hendricks. Through the use of latex masks and voice modifiers as well as other changes to his appearance, Ethan is able to impersonate high ranking officials and is skilled at remembering their behavior enough to fool even those close to them. Ethan is a master escape artist, able to free himself from various confinements. He is also skilled at escaping capture and breaking others out when necessary.
- Gifted Intellect: Ethan is incredibly intelligent and has shown himself to be very skilled in espionage, infiltration, counterintelligence and is skilled at adjusting his plans to account for changes as well as knowing how to plan well in advance and improvising new plans when necessary. He also has an excellent memory and can remember messages and details of missions easily.
- Master Tactician: Ethan is a highly trained tactician who is skilled at coming up with and executing plans for a variety of missions and is very good at understanding his opponents and using their flaws and plans against them. One of his favorite measures is to let those he is targeting think they have him beaten and enact counter measures that he was relying on for his own plans to succeed.
- Expert Driver: Ethan is a very skilled driver who is able to use both cars and motorcycles.
- Multilingualism: In addition to English, Ethan is also fluent in multiple languages without accent like Spanish, Russian, German, and French. He is skilled enough to fool even native speakers.
- Lip Reading: Ethan is able to read lips. He first demonstrates this ability when he is able to understand what Julia and her friends are talking about, despite not hearing them, and later uses it to figure out a hidden message from John Musgrave.
- Rock Climbing: Ethan enjoys engaging in rock climbing as a hobby and form of exercise and is very skilled at it. He is able to climb up a cliff face with no equipment and jump from one area to another and is able to pull himself up a mountain side using only his strength.
- High Pain Tolerance: Ethan is very skilled at overcoming pain and can withstand excruciating injuries and torture without breaking.
- Indomitable Will: Arguably, Ethan's greatest skill is his incredible determination. Regardless of what he has to do, he will not stop until he succeeds in his mission and refuses to ever accept defeat, no matter what setbacks he endures.
Other appearances[]
Aside from the Mission: Impossible films, Ethan Hunt has appeared in the 1998 video game based on the first film and the 2003 video game Mission: Impossible – Operation Surma, where he was voiced by Steve Blum. He also appears as a playable character in the crossover game Lego Dimensions, with archive footage from the first film being used for his voice.
Trivia[]
- The Mission Impossible franchise was Tom Cruise’s most promising film series.
- Ranked # 3 on WatchMojo's list of "The Top 10 Movie Spies".
- Voted # 41 on Ranker's "The Most Hardcore Big Screen Action Heroes".
- Tom Cruise is known for doing many of his own stunts in film, and went through vigorous training for many of them (e.g. the HALO jump in Fallout).
- Cruise fractured his ankle during a stunt, specifically when jumping across a rooftop in Fallout, and the footage was used in the trailer and film.
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 Heroes
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Animated Features Live-Action Features Animated Television Live-Action Television See Also | ||
 Heroes
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Mission: Impossible (TV series) Mission: Impossible (film) Mission: Impossible 2 Mission: Impossible III Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation Mission: Impossible – Fallout Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning | ||
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