The earliest citation in theOxford English Dictionary for the American usage of the term "G-man" was in 1930, from a biography ofAl Capone by F. D. Pasley.
In popular legend, the term originated during the September 1933 arrest of the gangsterGeorge "Machine Gun" Kelly by agents of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), a forerunner of the FBI. Finding himself unarmed, Kelly supposedly shouted, "Don't shoot, G-men! Don't shoot!", although this is probably a fabrication.[2][3]
The term was the basis of the title for the 1935 filmG Men, starringJames Cagney, which was one of the top-grossing films of that year.
Kelly's surrender is dramatized in the 1959 filmThe FBI Story. The encounter with Kelly is similarly dramatized in the 1973 filmDillinger. The film was followed by a 1974 television film titledMelvin Purvis: G-Man.
In the 1962 filmExperiment in Terror a young boy refers to the FBI agent aG-Man.
During Season 3 ofThat Girl in the 1969 episode "Many Happy Returns" Ann Marie is faced with a sudden audit from the IRS. She refers to the income tax person as aG-Man.
The Spanish Rock bandHombres G got its name in 1983 from the Spanish translation of "G-man" and after theJames Cagney filmG Men.[4]
In theHalf-Life video game series (1998–), one of the main characters is a "sinister interdimensional bureaucrat" nicknamed theG-Man. Dressed in a suit and tie, and often carrying a briefcase, he speaks in a cryptic manner, and periodically intervenes to store or utilise theplayer character,Gordon Freeman, to shape events.
In the 2005 video gamePsychonauts, G-Men appear as enemies in the levelMilkman Conspiracy. They (poorly) disguise themselves as ordinary civilians as they tirelessly hunt for someone named the Milkman. The player must equip the objects that the G-Men use to disguise themselves in order to get past them.
The 2011 filmJ. Edgar includes a reference to the surrender scene in the 1959 filmThe FBI Story.
In the 2011 filmX-Men: First Class,Charles Xavier refers to his team as the "G-Men", butMoira MacTaggert states that they are something different, and decides to name the team "X-Men". Charles finds the name amusing and keeps it.
In the 2013 gameGrand Theft Auto V, Dave Norton claims that he'll "send some G-Men to [Franklin's] aunt's house" in the mission "Three's Company".
