James Bond
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Status: Complete
Name: James Bond
Actor: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig
Age: Late 20s (Arkhangelsk Prologue)/Late 30s
Weight: Classified
Height: 6' 1"
Info: Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character and the protagonist of the James Bond series. James Bond is an agent of the international arm of the British Secret Service headquartered in London. As an agent of the Secret Service, Bond holds code number "007." The 'double-O' prefix indicates his discretionary licence to kill in the performance of his duties.
Bond is the consummate womaniser, drinker, gambler, automobile fan, and heavy cigarette smoker, at one point reaching 70 cigarettes a day. He is famous for ordering his vodka martinis "shaken, not stirred," although he also drinks and enjoys gin martinis, champagne and bourbon. He is also famous for introducing himself as "Bond, James Bond" whenever the opportunity arises.
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Detailed Biography
James Bond is the son of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond of Glencoe, and a Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix of the Canton de Vaud. Bond spent many of his early years abroad and became proficient in German and French due to his father's work as a foreign representative of the Vickers armaments firm. When Bond was eleven, both of his parents died in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges near Chamonix.
While Bond's family did not have a motto initially, he later adopted one during "Operation Corona" in the novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The motto, Orbis non sufficit is Latin for "The world is not enough." The coat of arms and motto belong to Sir Thomas Bond, whom was never proven to be of any relation to James Bond. He never requested research to confirm his potential genealogical relationship to Sir Thomas Bond and his family. Bond, in fact, showed no true interest or enthusiasm in the matter as can be demonstrated by how abrupt he became with Griffin Or after being told about the motto. "Griffon Or broke in excitedly, 'And this charming motto of the line, "The World is not Enough". You do not wish to have the right to it?'
'It is an excellent motto which I shall certainly adopt,' said Bond curtly. He looked pointedly at his watch. 'Now I'm afraid we really must get down to business. I have to report back to my Ministry.' "
On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Chapter 6: Bond of Bond Street?
After the death of his parents, he subsequently went to live with his aunt, Miss Charmian Bond, who completed his early education. He later briefly attended Eton College starting at the age of "12 or thereabouts" (13 in Young Bond), but left after two halves when some "alleged" troubles with one of his maids came to light, although in the short story "From a View to a Kill," Bond admits to losing his virginity on his first visit to Paris at the age of 16.
Due to these troubles, Bond was removed from Eton at Charmian Bond's request and sent to continue his education at Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland, his father's old school. Per John Pearson's Authorised Biography and an allusion by Fleming in From Russia with Love Bond also briefly attended the University of Geneva. With the exception of Fettes, Bond's attendance at these schools parallels Fleming's own life, as he attended these same schools. The film version of James Bond tacks on the additions of his being a graduate with a degree in Oriental languages from Cambridge University, as stated in You Only Live Twice. He also attends (presumably at some point) Oxford to study Danish in Tomorrow Never Dies, although in the film he's not there to study at all. Bond can speak a variety of different languages, most notably, in addition to German and French, Russian and Japanese, although many times the languages Bond claims to know are contradicted between the film series, Fleming's novel series, and even later films and continuation novels.
At the age of 17, presumably when he was attending the University of Geneva, Bond was taught to ski by Hannes Oberhauser in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
In 1941, Bond lied about his age in order to enter the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during World War II, from which he emerged with the rank of Commander. Bond maintains this rank while in the employ of the British Secret Service and through further continuation novels and in the films. Gardner promoted Bond to Captain in Win, Lose or Die. Since Benson's Bond was rebooted, Bond became a Commander again. Bond also became a member of the RNVSR (Royal Naval Volunteer Supplementary Reserve) which was an association of officers with considerable wartime experience (Moonraker, chapter 4 - The 'Shiner').
Working for the British Secret Service
It is never stated when James Bond became a 00 agent. According to Fleming, after joining the RNVR, Bond is mentioned as to travelling to America, Hong Kong, and Jamaica. It is believed that it is during this time that Bond perhaps joined another organisation such as the SOE, the 00 Section of the British Secret Service, or perhaps as a commando in Fleming's own 30th Assault Unit (30 AU). One supporting reason is that Fleming describes Bond in the Ardennes firing a bazooka in 1944. It can be assumed that by this time Bond has moved on to another organisation. In Bond's obituary from You Only Live Twice, M alludes to Bond's rank as being cover. "To serve the confidential nature of his duties, he was accorded the rank of lieutenant in the Special Branch of the R.N.V.R., and it is a measure of the satisfaction his services gave to his superiors that he ended the war with the rank of Commander. "
You Only Live Twice, Chapter 21: Obit:
Bond earns his stripes in the 00 Section by completing two tasks, which Fleming outlines in Casino Royale. The first is the assassination of a Japanese cipher expert on the 36th floor of the RCA Building at Rockefeller Centre in New York City. The second was the assassination of a Norwegian who became a double agent and betrayed two British agents. Bond travels to Stockholm where he kills the man in his sleep with a knife.
According to Bond, obtaining a 00 number is not hard so long as you're prepared to kill, which John Pearson suggests Bond first did as a teenager. Throughout Fleming's novels, further continuation novels, and even the films, Bond's attitude toward his job is similar; he dislikes taking life — resorting (typically in the films) to flippant jokes and off-hand remarks as after-the-fact relief, often misinterpreted as cold-bloodedness. "It was part of his profession to kill people. He had never liked doing it and when he had to kill he did it as well as he knew how and forgot about it. As a secret agent who held the rare Double-O prefix — the licence to kill in the Secret Service — it was his duty to be as cool about death as a surgeon. If it happened, it happened. Regret was unprofessional — worse, it was a death-watch beetle in the soul. "
Goldfinger, Chapter 1: Reflections in a Double Bourbon
In Goldfinger Bond is haunted by memories of a small-time Mexican gunman he had killed with his bare hands days earlier and on film, specifically in The World Is Not Enough, he admits that cold-blooded killing is a filthy business. Nonetheless, Bond does kill when needed, and on film commits acts that might be considered murder in other circumstances (in Dr. No or shooting Professor Dent in the back; killing the unarmed Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough) or political assassination (killing Mr. Big, who is the leader of a small fictional nation in Live and Let Die). The literary James Bond was reserved in his licensed killing, sometimes disobeying his orders to kill if the mission could be accomplished by other means. Such is the case in "The Living Daylights" where Bond makes a last second decision to disobey his orders and not kill an assassin. Instead Bond intentionally wounds the assassin and still manages to accomplish the mission. He later feels so strongly about his decision that he actually hopes M fires him for it. There are Fleming works in which Bond does not kill anyone.
The cinematic James Bond (introduced in 1962) already had a history with the Secret Service. In Dr. No, when reluctantly re-equipped with a 7.65 mm Walther PPK pistol replacing his Beretta automatic pistol, agent 007 protests, telling M that he had used the weapon for 10 years, suggesting he has been a secret agent for at least that long. In the novels preceding Dr. No, Bond used a .25 Beretta automatic with a light chamois leather holster, however, in From Russia with Love, the gun snagged in Bond's jacket when drawn and because of this incident M and Major Boothroyd forced Bond to switch to the Walther PPK and a Berns-martin triple-draw holster made of stiff saddle leather. Bond continues to use this handgun up until John Gardner's Licence Renewed where he uses a number of different weapons until settling on the ASP 9mm in later books. According to Gardner in the novelsation for Licence to Kill, the Walther PPK is not Bond's favourite weapon. With Raymond Benson, Bond began using the PPK again until being replaced in both the film and novelisation Tomorrow Never Dies with the Walther P99. [edit]
Description and personal life
In the novels (notably From Russia, With Love), Bond's physical description has generally been consistent: a three-inch, vertical scar on his left cheek (absent from the cinematic version); blue-grey eyes; a "cruel" mouth; short, dark hair, a comma of which falls on his forehead (greying at the temples in Gardner's novels); and (after Casino Royale) the faint scar of the Russian cyrillic letter "Ш" (SH) on the back of one of his hands (carved by a SMERSH agent).
When not on assignment or at headquarters Bond spends his time at his flat off the Kings Road in Chelsea. His flat, as well as himself, is looked after by an elderly Scottish housekeeper named May, who is very loyal and often motherly to him. According to Higson's Young Bond series, May previously worked for Bond's aunt, Charmian. Bond hardly ever brings women back to his home, happening only once between the novels Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia with Love when he briefly lived with Tiffany Case. According to Pearson's book and hinted at in From Russia with Love, Tiffany often got into arguments with May and eventually left. At his home, Bond has two telephones. One for personal use and a second red phone that is a direct line between his home and headquarters; the latter is said to always be ringing at inopportune moments. Tracy Bond and James Bond from On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
In both the literary and cinematic versions of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, James Bond marries, but his bride, Teresa di Vicenzo (Tracy), is killed on their wedding day by his archenemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld; the event resonates in both versions of the character for many years thereafter. In the novels, Bond gets revenge in the following novel, You Only Live Twice, when he by chance comes across Blofeld in Japan, whilst the cinematic Bond takes on Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever with an ambiguous result. Later, in the pre-title sequence of For Your Eyes Only, Bond dispatches a bald, wheelchair-bound man who bears a startling resemblance to Blofeld. The character was not named for legal reasons connected with EON Productions' ongoing dispute with Kevin McClory over the films rights to the novel Thunderball
Bond had one child by Kissy Suzuki in You Only Live Twice, although he never learns of the boy's existence in Fleming's novels. In Pearson's book, the son is named James Suzuki. Bond is obviously aware of his son's existence by the time of Raymond Benson's short story "Blast From the Past" in which his son asks him to come to New York City as a matter of urgency before being killed by Irma Bunt. The story's canonical status is often disputed since it appears to exist outside the timeline of all continuation novels, including Benson's own.
Model References
