Ethan Hunt's History
Ethan Matthew Hunt was born in Madison, Wisconsin, the only child of Margaret and Nathan Hunt. Raised on a dairy farm in Middlefield, New York, he enlisted in the Army right out of high school. Ethan enlisted for the Infantry military occupational specialty and decided that he would become an Army Ranger. After graduating Basic, Advanced Individual, and Airborne Training, Ethan was sent to the Ranger Indoctrination Program. Upon graduation of RIP, he was placed in the 75th Ranger Regiment's 3rd Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Daniel David Briggs. He then attended and passed Ranger School, where he earned his Ranger Tab. Ethan eventually fought in combat during Operation Desert Storm.
After four distinguished years in the Army, 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 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 a 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 exfiltration 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 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 Impossible Missions Force 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 whatever means they deem necessary. Success was all that matters. The downside was, of course, obvious. If a team member was captured or killed, the Secretary of State would disavow any knowledge of his or her actions.
Just a few months into his IMF career, Ethan's team assembled for a mission in Prague that would change Ethan's life dramatically. The objective of the mission was to prevent a U.S. diplomat from selling the Non-official cover (NOC) list - a comprehensive list of all covert agents in Eastern Europe. The mission went inextricably wrong, resulting in the deaths of the team, leaving Ethan the sole survivor. Fleeing the scene, Ethan met with Eugene Kittridge, the CIA-based director of the IMF, at a caf�. Ethan, very much in shock, was disturbed to learn from Kittridge that a mole, codenamed Job, had infiltrated IMF, and that the Prague operation was meant to ferret Job out by allowing the mole to acquire the NOC list and attempt to sell it to "Max", an illegal arms dealer known for corrupting IMF agents. The NOC list in Prague was fake, the real list being held in CIA headquarters in Virginia. With Ethan the sole survivor, the CIA believed he was the mole. Ethan realizes this, and mounted a daring escape from the caf�, fleeing into Prague.
Ethan returned to the IMF safe house, where he discovered fellow IMF agent Claire Phelps, Phelps's wife, actually survived the mission. Ethan began a correspondence with "Max" (a woman), explaining that the NOC list was a fake and offering to deliver the real NOC list in exchange for the identity of the mole. Max agreed to the deal and offered Ethan a cash advance, which Ethan used to assemble a team of disavowed former IMF agents, including computer expert Luther Stickell and pilot Franz Krieger. The new team infiltrated the heavily fortified headquarters of the CIA in Langley and successfully stole a copy of the full NOC list before escaping to a safe house in London. Once there, Ethan discovered that his uncle and mother had been falsely arrested for drug trafficking in an attempt to lure him out. This infuriated Hunt, and he contacted Kittridge, who offered to drop the false charges the moment Ethan surrendered to authorities. Ethan hung up, after allowing Kittridge to trace him to the London area, turned around and walked right into Jim Phelps.
Phelps, presumed dead in the Prague operation, revealed that Kittridge was the mole and was tying up loose ends by trying to apprehend Ethan. Ethan reflected on this, while in reality piecing together the clues he discovered leading up to his operation and realized that Phelps was the mole, Job. Ethan pretended to accept the story while being uncertain about Claire's place in the conspiracy. The next day, Max and Ethan arranged to meet aboard the TGV en route to Paris, with Claire and Luther aboard to provide backup. Kittridge was also aboard, having recently arrived in London and received tickets for the TGV and a video watch from Ethan. In the train, Ethan delivered the supposed NOC list to Max, who directed him to the luggage compartment to find his money, and Job. Max then attempted to transmit the NOC list to a server, an operation hindered by Luther, who activated a jamming device to prevent the upload. Claire, observing Kittridge's presence aboard the train, vacated her seat and met with Phelps in the luggage car, confirming her part in the conspiracy. A silent "Phelps" slowly peeled away his mask, revealing himself as Ethan. Suddenly, the real Phelps appeared, armed and demanding the NOC list money. Ethan surrendered it before pulling out a pair of glasses. He slid them over his eyes, activating the camera inside and transmitting Phelps's image to Kittridge, proving beyond a doubt that Phelps was still alive.
Phelps, now revealed as the traitor, shot Claire in anger when she spoke against killing Ethan. He then beat Ethan down before escaping to the roof of the train, where Krieger, also a traitor, waited to extract him with a helicopter. Ethan recovered and followed Phelps, impeded his efforts to escape and tethered Krieger's helicopter to the train as it headed into the Channel Tunnel. The fight continued, with the helicopter now following the train inside the tunnel. The two fought atop the wind-swept train before Phelps disconnected the helicopter from the train and attempted to escape. Ethan followed, leapt onto the helicopter's landing skids and attached explosive gum to the windshield. The ensuing explosion killed Phelps and Krieger, with Ethan narrowly escaping. Kittridge, now in possession of the NOC list and Max's true identity, dropped his investigation against Ethan and reinstated Luther as an IMF agent.
A little while later, as Ethan was on a plane flying home, a flight attendant approached him and through a coded phrase asked if he's ready for another mission; because of his actions during the crisis, Ethan was promoted to the position of team leader. After being given the new cover legend of a traffic engineer who studies traffic patterns for the Virginia Department of Transportation, he officially became a "senior field operations agent." Since then, Ethan Hunt has become the Impossible Mission Force's premier field agent.
Chimera Virus
Ethan had been alerted to a dangerous virus being in the hands of a rogue IMF agent, and thereafter recruited Nyah Nordoff Hall, Billy Baird and Luther Stickell to help him catch the man. Ethan killed the man after a battle on the beach.
Hunt for the Rabbit's Foot
In 2006, Ethan Hunt married Julia Meade, right before she was kidnapped by Owen Davian, who forced Hunt to steal a powerful weapon (the Rabbit's Foot) to save Julia's life. After Hunt saved Julia and killed Davian, he told her all about his real job working for IMF. And then they went on their honeymoon.
Endangered Marriage
In Croatia, Ethan and Julia were both together until Hunt realized that the only way to protect her from death was to fake it. Agent William Brandt was assigned to watch the family, following Ethan one day as he went for a jog. Brandt assigned two men to watch Julia before he left and after returning, he found them both unconscious and Julia gone. Days later, Brandt was told that what was left of Julia's body had been found. In apparent retaliation for his wife's murder, Hunt killed six Serbian nationalists linked to the crime, and as a result was sent to Rankow Prison. In reality, the IMF invented this cover to allow Hunt to inflitrate the prison, in the hope of gaining information in regards to a terrorist named Cobalt. Julia, now safe, was kept a secret by Ethan, who had to keep his distance from her.
Disavowed
In 2011, in the wake of the bombing of the Kremlin at the hands of Kurt Hendricks, Hunt and the entire IMF team was disavowed, and the remaining crew were branded as terrorists. In the end, the mission was accomplished.
