James Bond (character)
This article is about the character. For information about the franchise in general, see James BondFamily and early years
With the exception of the
Young Bond series of novels by
Charlie Higson launched in
2005, Bond for the most part is an
ageless character in both films and literature. He is roughly in his late thirties. Many
Ian Fleming biographers agree that he never really intended to write as many James Bond adventures as he did and to keep writing the novels he had to "tinker with Bond's early life" and change dates to ensure Bond was the appropriate age for the service, particularly due to a statement in
Moonraker that 007 faced mandatory
retirement from the 00 Section at age 45. In the same novel Bond notes that he has only 8 years to go, thus in
Moonraker, Bond is 37 years old. This approximate age carries on in continuation novels written by
Kingsley Amis,
John Gardner, and
Raymond Benson.
Due to Fleming's changes of dates and times in which events occurred, Bond's specific birth year is unknown. Most researchers or biographers have concluded that Bond was born in
1920,
1921 or
1924. (
see more)
It is also debated where James Bond was born. According to
John Pearson and his book
James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007, Bond was born near
Essen,
Germany; however, Charlie Higson, in his novel
SilverFin claims Bond was born in
Switzerland. Regardless, Bond is unquestionably British.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
ThunderballBond 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.
According to John Pearson's
James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007, Bond was born on
November 11,
1920; no Fleming novel supports this date, in fact, the novel
You Only Live Twice makes a couple of references to Bond's birth year being 1924. In the novel, M writes an obituary for James Bond after believing him to be dead. M writes that Bond left school when he was 17 years old and joined the
Ministry of Defence in 1941. If Bond was 17 in 1941, then he was born in 1924. Prior to this, Tiger Tanaka, the head of the Japanese Secret Service, states Bond was born in the
year of the rat, which supports 1924. A more complex date of birth, according to
John Griswold and his authorised book
Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies is
November 11,
1921 (November 11, being Pearson's date and
Armistice Day). Griswold notes that Bond's joining of the Ministry of Defence was originally written in Fleming's manuscript as 1939 and later changed to 1941. Briefly, Griswold contends that Bond joined the Admiralty in 1939 (the same year Fleming joined) and 1941 is a year marker that places his recruitment into an organisation that was later attached to the Ministry of Defence by Fleming. Griswold believes that a lot of details in Bond's timeline make better sense with the original
1939 date. For instance, if one computes Bond's age for when he was admitted into the Admiralty to when his parents died, then Bond would have been 11 in 1933 from
January 1 through
November 10 if he was born in 1921. 1933 is the year mentioned in
Casino Royale for when Bond 'bought' his first Bentley. Since all of the years claimed for when Bond was born would have made him too young to purchase this Bentley, a more likely scenario is that he 'inherited' it from his late father. Griswold presented this idea to
Ian Fleming Publications in February
2003. The company recognised this issue for its
Young Bond series of novels featuring Bond as a teenager in the 1930s and along with its author, Charlie Higson, defined Bond being born in the year 1920. In Higson's series, the Bentley in question is owned by his aunt Charmian.
The 2006 film
Casino Royale, is a
reboot of the series that depicts Bond's first mission as a 00 agent. A dossier available on the official site [
1], gives a lengthy biography of the Bond that parallels the backstory of Fleming's literary character, but it is updated to reflect Bond's new birth date of April 13, 1968; April 13 being the day in which
Casino Royale was published in 1953 and 1968 being
Daniel Craig's year of birth. This version of the character is born in West Berlin, Germany. His parents, Andrew and Monique Bond, died in a climbing accident, so he was raised in
Kent, England, by his aunt Charmain Bond.
As in the original character, Bond is kicked out of Eton College and attends his father's alma mater of
Fettes College. Bond attends the University of Geneva while at Fettes through an exchange program. After Fettes, Bond joins the Royal Navy and attends Britannia Royal Navy College at the age of 17.
The modern biography clarifies Bond's military service by stating he joins the
Special Boat Service while in the Royal Navy, and then is placed in the 030 Special Forces Unit (a reference to Ian Fleming's 030 Assault Unit during World War II). Bond serves covertly in Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Libya and actively in Bosnia. Following this, he is recruited by the RNR Defence Intelligence Group. Bond attends specialized courses at Cambridge and Oxford universities during this period, earning a first in oriental languages from Cambridge. Bond is noted to be fluent in French, German, and Italian, and writing passable Greek, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese at the time he joins MI6. Serving in the Royal Navy from age 17 to 31, Bond joins MI6 at age 30 and is promoted to 00 agent at age 38.
An interesting, if wholly non-canonical, conjecture about the Bond lineage can be found in
Alan Moore's comic book series,
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, set in
Victorian England. In it, the portly, sinister, and secretive MI6 agent placed in charge of the League is named
Campion Bond. His superior, the overall director of the top-secret team, is code-named
M, an obvious reference to the James Bond series. Later in "League," it is revealed that this "M" is none other than
Professor James Moriarty, the arch nemesis of
Sherlock Holmes. The second miniseries would continue the Holmes link, as MI6 would be taken over by Mycroft Holmes as the new "M." Although Moore makes no overt connection between Bond and Campion, the saturation of literary reference in the comics has led fans to propose that Campion is meant to be an ancestor of the modern secret agent. Another character in the comic notes of Campion that, "Family's got a reputation. A bad 'un." As no other members of Campion's family appear, it is possible that the reader is supposed to make the Bond link.
Auric Goldfinger is briefly mentioned in the
universe's background, implying a definite link between the James Bond universe and that of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The character's first name, Campion, is believed to be a reference to fictional detective
Albert Campion.
A second (non-canonical) son is suggested in the
Marvel Comics series
Master of Kung Fu. Clive Reston, a supporting character in the series, resembles Bond in many respects and is an MI6 agent himself. While it is never stated explicitly, dialogue strongly hints that Reston is Bond's son and the grand-nephew of Sherlock Holmes. In his fictional biographies, author
Philip José Farmer suggests that Bond belongs in the
Wold Newton family tree along with
Tarzan,
Doc Savage, and many other fictional heroes. Followers of Farmer's speculations have greatly elaborated on Bond's family.
Controversially,
Die Another Day director
Lee Tamahori believed that the name "James Bond" is a codename (like 007) which is given to the best and most accomplished secret agents. The theory is meant to explain the radical changes in actors (e.g.,
Roger Moore vs.
Timothy Dalton) and Bond's ageless ability. The idea was created so that Tamahori could get
Sean Connery to do a cameo scene in
Die Another Day, and thus explain how it was possible that Connery and Brosnan as Bond could both be on film at the same time.
The theory, as well as the intent to have Connery cameo in
Die Another Day, was rejected by producers
Barbara Broccoli and
Michael G. Wilson (although a televised news report during production reported erroneously that Connery had filmed a cameo as Bond's father). One and probably the only evidence to support this theory is
George Lazenby's final line in the pre-title sequence of
On Her Majesty's Secret Service where the
Bond girl runs away after Bond is ambushed on a beach: "This never happened to the other fella." The theory is largely denounced by fans and usually discredited by the light continuity in subsequent films when Bond's wife,
Tracy, or his marriage in general (from
On Her Majesty's Secret Service) is mentioned (most notably in
The Spy Who Loved Me when Moore's Bond reacts emotionally when the death of his wife is mentioned; in the later
For Your Eyes Only he is seen attending Tracy's grave). The theory tends to be a hot topic that was given a boost because the latest film,
Casino Royale, is a reboot of the film series and features the same female M who oversaw Pierce Brosnan's version of the character (as opposed to the male M who was in place in the original book).
