James Bond

Agent 007 James Bond (played by both Pierce Brosnan (left) and Daniel Craig (right)).

James Bond is a novel character who has been portrayed by various actors over various eras in cinema. The character while heroic is sometimes considered an anti-hero by his respective filmmakers. [1] Ever since 1995, the character has been retooled twice and appeared in films which bare resemblance to the Die Hard scenario formula as well as The Bourne Identity film series starring Matt Damon. Many have also noted how it has influenced other series such as the film versions of the Mission: Impossible franchise, the "24" television series and more all while holding up on it's own terms.

Legacy

The James Bond series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, seven other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelizations: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver and William Boyd, with a further instalment due in September 2015 by Anthony Horowitz. Additionally Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond, and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny.

The character has also been adapted for television, radio, comic strip, video games and film. The films are the longest continually running and the third-highest grossing film series to date, which started in 1962 with Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as Bond. As of 2015, there have been twenty-three films in the Eon Productions series. The most recent Bond film, Spectre (2015), stars Daniel Craig in his fourth film portrayal of Bond; he is the sixth actor to play Bond in the EON series. There have also been two independent productions of Bond films: Casino Royale (a 1967 spoof) and Never Say Never Again (a 1983 remake of an earlier EON-produced film, Thunderball).

The Bond films are renowned for a number of features, including the musical accompaniment, with the theme songs having received Academy Award nominations on several occasions, and one win. Other important elements which run through most of the films include Bond's cars, his guns, and the gadgets with which he is supplied by Q Branch. The films are also noted for Bond's relationships with various women, who are sometimes referred to as "Bond girls."

Film History and Production

In 1962 Eon Productions, the company of Canadian Harry Saltzman and American Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli, released the first cinema adaptation of an Ian Fleming novel, Dr. No, featuring Sean Connery as 007. Connery starred in a further four films before leaving the role after You Only Live Twice, which was taken up by George Lazenby for On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Lazenby left the role after just one appearance and Connery was tempted back for his last EON-produced film Diamonds Are Forever.

In 1973, Roger Moore was appointed to the role of 007 for Live and Let Die and played Bond a further six times over twelve years before being replaced by Timothy Dalton for two films. After a six-year hiatus, during which a legal wrangle threatened Eon's productions of the Bond films, Irish actor Pierce Brosnan was cast as Bond in GoldenEye, released in 1995; he remained in the role for a total of four films, before leaving in 2002. In 2006, Daniel Craig was given the role of Bond for Casino Royale, which rebooted the series. The twenty-third EON produced film, Skyfall, was released on 26 October 2012. The series has grossed just over $6 billion to date, making it the third-highest-grossing film series (behind Harry Potter and the Marvel Cinematic Universe), and the single most successful adjusted for inflation.

Character Film Appearances (1995 - Present Day)

GoldenEye

In 1986, Bond and Alec Trevelyan, agent 006, infiltrate an illicit Soviet chemical weapons facility and plant explosive charges. Trevelyan is shot, but Bond escapes from the facility as it explodes. Nine years later, Bond witnesses the theft by Xenia Onatopp, operative of criminal organisation Janus, of a prototype Eurocopter Tiger helicopter that can withstand an electromagnetic pulse. Janus uses the helicopter to steal the control disk for the dual GoldenEye satellite weapons, using the GoldenEye to destroy the complex with an electromagnetic pulse; there is one survivor of the attack, a programmer, Natalya Simonova.

Bond investigates the attack and travels to Russia where he locates Simonova and learns that Trevelyan, who had faked his own death, was the head of Janus. Simonova tracks computer traffic to Cuba and she and Bond travel there and locate Trevelyan, who reveals his plan to steal money from the Bank of England before erasing all of its financial records with the GoldenEye, concealing the theft and destroying Britain's economy. Bond and Simonova destroy the satellite facility, killing Onatopp and Trevelyan in the process.

Tomorrow Never Dies

Bond investigates into the sinking of a British warship in Chinese waters, the theft of one of the ship's cruise missiles—and the shooting down of a Chinese fighter plane. He uncovers a link to media mogul Elliot Carver which suggests that Carver had purchased a GPS encoder on the black market, finding it in his headquarters in Hamburg.

Bond encounters Chinese agent Wai Lin in Vietnam, who is also investigating the matter and the two agree to work together. They discover that Carver had used the GPS encoder to push the British ship off course and into Chinese waters in order to incite a war for ratings. With the British fleet on their way to China, Bond and Wai Lin find Carver's stealth ship, board it and prevent the firing of a British cruise missile at Beijing. They blow a hole in the ship, exposing it to radar, leading to its sinking averting war between Britain and China.

The World Is Not Enough

Bond recovers money for Sir Robert King, a British oil tycoon and friend of M, but the money is booby-trapped and kills King shortly afterwards. Bond traces the money to Renard, an ex KGB agent-turned-anarchist, who had previously kidnapped King's daughter Elektra. MI6 believes that Renard is targeting Elektra King a second time and Bond is assigned to protect her: the pair are subsequently attacked in Azerbaijan.

Bond visits Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky and is informed that Elektra's head of security, Sasha Davidov, is in league with Renard: Bond kills Davidov and follows the trail to a Russian ICBM base in Kazakhstan. Posing as a Russian nuclear scientist, Bond meets American nuclear physicist Dr. Christmas Jones. The two witness Renard stealing the GPS locator card and a half quantity of weapons-grade plutonium from a bomb and set off an explosion, from which Bond and Jones escape. Elektra kidnaps M after she thinks Bond had been killed and Bond establishes that Elektra intends to create a nuclear explosion in a submarine in Istanbul in order to increase the value of her own oil pipeline. Bond frees M, kills Elektra and then disarms the bomb on the submarine and kills Renard.

Die Another Day

Bond investigates North Korean Colonel Tan-Sun Moon, who is illegally trading African conflict diamonds for weaponry. Moon is apparently killed and Bond is captured and tortured for 14 months, after which he is exchanged for Zao, Moon's assistant. Despite being suspended on his return, he decides to complete his mission and tracks down Zao to a gene therapy clinic, where patients can have their appearances altered through DNA restructuring. Zao escapes, but the trail leads to British billionaire Gustav Graves.

Graves unveils a mirror satellite, "Icarus", which is able to focus solar energy on a small area and provide year-round sunshine for crop development. Bond discovers Moon has also undergone the gene therapy and has assumed the identity of Graves. Bond then exposes Moon's plan: to use the Icarus to cut a path through the Korean Demilitarized Zone with a concentrated sun powered laser, allowing North Korean troops to invade South Korea un-opposed and reunite the countries through force. Bond disables the Icarus controls, kills Moon and stops the invasion.

Casino Royale

On his first mission as agent 007, Bond and an agent named Carter worked cooperatively in an attempt to capture international bomb-maker, Molloka. At a mongoose/cobra fight in Madagascar, Bond and Carter conducted surveillance on Molloka but, due to a foolish mistake made by Carter, the suspected criminal realized he was being watched and attempted to escape. Bond pursued Molloka through the jungle, up an enormously high construction site, where the two engaged brutally in hand-to-hand combat, and finally to the Nambutu Embassy, where he attempted to arrest the suspected bombmaker. However, since Bond found himself surrounded by Nambutu soldiers, he manages to escape after he shot and killed Molloka and caused an explosion that partly also destroyed the embassy. The incident infuriated the British government, as Bond had only been instructed to capture Molloka, but the criminal's cell phone led Bond to discover a terrorist plot to blow up a gigantic prototype Skyfleet airliner at Miami International Airport. Bond managed to stop the terrorists from succeeding and killed a man named Carlos, who had replaced Molloka as the criminal responsible for destroying the airliner.

Following this success, M informed Bond that the mastermind of the incident was a man known as Le Chiffre, who served as private banker to terrorists. Le Chiffre had been using his clients' money to short sell successful companies and then would engineer terrorist attacks to sink their stock values so he could make a fortune. When Bond foiled Le Chiffre's plan to destroy the Skyfleet, the banker was left with a major loss since he had shorted the company's shares.

Having lost several high-ranking operatives in his organisation and needing to recoup his clients' money, Le Chiffre had set up a high-stakes poker tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. Hoping that a defeat would force Le Chiffre to aid the British government in exchange for protection from his creditors, MI6 entered Bond into the tournament. He was assisted in the mission by a fellow MI6 officer named René Mathis and Vesper Lynd, a foreign liaison agent from HM Treasury's Financial Action Task Force. She was sent to make sure that Bond adequately managed the funds provided by MI6. Bond overcame several obstacles: He was forced to save Le Chiffre from a vengeful Steven Obanno which resulted in the latter's death, he was beaten in the game but Felix Leiter bought him back in, and he was also poisoned by Le Chiffre's sweetheart, Valenka, but Vesper manages to save him. Despite everything, Bond went on to win the tournament and since then James Bond has proven himself to be one of the most capable officers in MI6's employ.

At one point, as he and Vesper has dinner, he receives information from a call from Mathis that Le Chiffre was apprehended by the Central Intelligence Agency. He soon realizes that Vesper is missing and goes to rescue her. However, as he races to find Le Chiffre on the road, he swerves his car when a bounded Vesper is put on the road. The impact of the swerve immediately injures him, rendering Bond unconscious. Bond and Vesper are captured by Le Chiffre and his cronies. At a nearby tramp steamer, Bond is stripped and tied to a chair, where Le Chiffre proceeds to torture him of using a rope to strike his scrotum. Bond refuses to give information to Le Chiffre of the password to the account of where the winnings are secured to. Le Chiffre is about to castrate Bond but Mr. White arrives, murdering Le Chiffre's goons, and personally executes Le Chiffre. After murdering Le Chiffre, Mr White rescues Bond and Vesper, leaving the two of them for MI6 to find.

Bond regains consciousness at a hospital where Mathis, who is beside him, reveals that he is the mastermind behind his and Vesper's capture. M16 agents appears to capture Mathis. Vesper visits Bond to confess her love for him and a Swiss banker gives them the password. Bond resigns to go on vacation with Vesper.

In Venice, Italy, M phones Bond about his resignation and that the British government wants the money returned. Vesper soon arranges a secret meeting to a man named Gettler and his cronies. Bond ensues a gunfight with the men, where he wins and kills them. Vesper, however, locks herself and takes her own life by drowning herself. Bond manages to recover her and attempts to revive but to no avail.

Later, after informing M about Vesper having a boyfriend being held in Le Chiffre's organization, Bond finds Mr. White's number through Vesper's cell phone and tracks him down. Bond anonymously phones Mr. White and suddenly shoots him in the leg. Bond appears, saying to White "The name's Bond. James Bond."

Quantum of Solace

After shooting Mr. White in the leg, Bond has captured Mr. White and manages to evade pursuit by his various minions in a chaotic car chase in his Aston Martin DBS V12 painted in black. After interrogating him with M at a closed off location, Bond and M are both betrayed by a disguised minion who, after a toss and tumble, is later dispatched and killed by James. Mr. White takes this time to vanish and is never seen or heard from again.

Bond then makes it his mission to go after Dominic Greene when he realizes his connection to Vesper's death. He is forced to go rogue after one of M's assistants, Strawberry Fields, who is killed off by mysterious assailants (in a similar manner seen in Goldfinger). He is aided by Camille Montes in his raid on Greene and his organization in Bolivia where he foils his plan on controlling the nation's water supply. After bidding farewell to Camille after Bond interrogates Greene about the Quantum organization, Greene is left by Bond to die in the desert. Bond then finds Vesper's former lover and member of Quantum, Yusef Kabira and is reinstated by M.

Skyfall

James Bond, six years after the Bolivian mission, is in Istanbul, Turkey, teamed up with Miss Moneypenny and Sebastian Ronson to protect a computer drive later revealed to contain the identities of every NATO agent embedded in terrorist organisations the world over. A French mercenary called Patrice eludes Bond and ransacks the safehouse, where he fights and kills Ronson and steals the computer drive. Bond, armed with his standard-issue Walther PPK, finds Ronson's body and briefly tries to save the latter, but M coerces him into pursuing the Frenchman.

Leaving Ronson to die, Bond and Moneypenny briefly pursue him in a van, but they eventually corner him in the Grande Bazaar. The local police try to defuse the situation. Patrice unsheaths a machine-gun and mows down the police, cornering Bond. Moneypenny distracts him and Patrice tries to escape on a motorbike, but Bond steals a motorbike himself and gives chase, going over the rooftops of the Bazaar. The chase drives the two of them to a bridge, where Patrice boards the top of the train and Bond heroically severs the motorbike in an attempt at boarding the train too. After a destructive chase, Bond corners Patrice and they fight. Patrice manages to hold out against the 00 agent and soon manages to gain the upper hand, despite the use of a knife, a machine-gun and a brilliantly convenient chain. In the ensuing brawl, Bond is about to beat Patrice before Moneypenny unwillingly shoots him. Bond is thrown from the train, into the waterfall, allowing Patrice to escape with the computer drive.

It is revealed that Bond has survived the bullet, the fall, the water and the asphyxiation. He is somewhere in the Caribbean, engaging in gambling, alcoholism and prostitution almost obsessively. When news arrives of the attack on MI6 headquarters, Bond finally decides to go back to England and protect M. He breaks into her flat one night and reveals his survival. He and M argue fiercely and then Bond decides to rejoin MI6, since being officially dead means he isn't part of MI6 anymore. He is taken to the new MI6 headquarters in the War Rooms and immediately engages in training. Meanwhile, Bill Tanner tells him about the situation with M's attacker. He then engages in psychological tests, where he scornfully labels M as 'bitch'. Then, after digging into his biography, the examiner mentions 'Skyfall'. The examiner repeats several times, but Bond remains extensively silent. Then, with a callous gesture of disinterest, he mutters 'Done' and leaves the room.

He actually fails the tests because of his sexual engagement, excessive use of drugs and alcohol. He was also unhinged by the mention of Skyfall, triggering immense childhood trauma. He then removes the bullets that Patrice gave him during the chase on the train, gets them analysed. He identifies Patrice as a serial killer-for-hire and is assinged to pursue and apprehend the mercenary so they can discover the identity of his paymaster. He meets Gareth Mallory, who coldly suggests that Bond 'stays dead' since very few agents get the opportunity to retire so peacefully. Bond makes it clear that it is because he puts his country before his ego. Mallory, whom Bond deduced to be a former prisoner of the IRA (A feat that expresses extreme bravery and patriotic loyalty), leaves with a sarcastic demand not to 'cock it up'. He then meets wiht his Quartermaster, a teenager who is also an intellectual genius, as he liked to boast, who gives him a specially adapted Walther PPK, modified so only Bond can use it. He also gives him a distress signal device, and M dutifully sends him to Macau, where he hunts down Patrice.

He corners Patrice at the top of a building, where he is about to make a kill. Bond stalks the man right up to the moment where Patrice completes the kill. Then Bond tries to sneak-attack him. Patrice recognises him from the motorbike chase and turns around and fires just as Bond attacks. But Patrice misses, Bond smashes into him and they fight briefly, ending with the French mercenary hanging over the edge of the building. Bond angrily interrogates him, but Patrice remains silent and commits suicide, falling to his death. Bond reacts furiously, scolding himself. And then he spots a woman in a backless black dress, staring at him malevolently. He then tracks the woman to a casino, where Moneypenny reveals that the man who stole the list has put the first handfull of names on YouTube. Later, she accompanies him as he tracks the woman in the backless dress into the casino, where she reveals herself to be Severine. They flirt until he deduces that her 'bodyguards' are using fear to manipulate her.

He deduces that she was once a teenage prostitute at the age of twelve when the man who stole the list saved her and used her as a contact and, for his own means, sex slave. She reacts angrily, but he remains calm to her. She reveals that her bodyguards are going to kill him if he tries to leave. She tells him the location of her boat, and that she will take him to her employer. Bond lets her leave then attempts to leave, himself. Severine's bodyguards stand in his way. Bond sarcastically replies, then fights back. The skirmish takes him and the surviving thug into the sandpit, where a Kommodo dragon is circling them. The thug regains consciousness and they fight brutally. After using Q's cunning devices to survive, Bond finally manages to kill the thug, who is later eaten by the Kommodo dragon. Bond escapes and has sex with Severine.

They sail to a deserted island, which the man revealed to be Raoul Silva tricked the settlers ot retreat after a faux gas leak. Bond is left alone in a church hall and Silva reveals himself. They talk for a long time and Silva reveals that he attacked M's headquarters and hired Patrice. He then unearths that M lied and that he failed all the tests, but M sent him anyway because she trusted him to save the day. Silva later makes it clear that he hates M, and then takes Bond out where a bloodied Severine is held captive against a pillar. Silva challenges him to a marksmanship contest, places a glass of scotch on Severine's head and challenges Bond to shoot the glass off without hitting her head. Bond deliberately misses in an attempt to save her life, but Silva arrogantly sees through him and shoots her in the head, killing her and spilling the scotch. Bond shows no emotion to this, but he is clearly devastated. He then attacks, killing Silva's thugs in a matter of seconds, and then holds Silva at gunpoint. Bond reveals he called MI6 after arriving on the island and Silva is overpowered and arrested.

Silva is interrogated, where he reveals his affairs with M and that she left him for dead with the Chinese after his illegal cyberterrorist activities. M reluctantly reveals that Silva's real name was Tiago Rodriguez, that he was an excellent agent if it hadnt been for his sexual appetites and criminal habits. Bond and Q then try and hack Silva's computer, and Silva then outthinks them and escapes. Bond leaves and starts a lengthy chase through the London Underground, which leads to several accounts of violence and illegal activity. Silva outmatches Bond several times and storms M's trial. Bond arrives just in time and an intense shootout breaks out. Mallory, Moneypenny, M and Bond himself overpower Silva's men, during which Mallory is injured, and Silva escapes. M is led to a car to take her to a safehouse, but Bond "takes her hostage" and they escape to Skyfall Lodge.

Bond is traumatised by his return to his childhood home, and eventually meets Kincade, who helps to arm Bond with several minor weapons, but they make up for it with several traps and explosives. Silva's men arrive and they easily overpower them. Then Silva arrives with a large amount of mercenaries and a climatic battle ensues. Bond duels Silva, who arrives by helicopter. He holds out lengthily against the cyberterrorist, but then decides to destroy the lodge and kill Silva's men and, he hoped, Silva himself. He sets up numerous explosives and, before he leaves through a priest's hole he used as a boy, he remarks that 'He always hated this place', then he leaves, setting off the explosives. The helicopter and all but two of Silva's men are incinerated, but Silva narrowly survives.

Bond then confronts Silva on the frozen lake, but Silva tries to kill him, ending with Bond and one of Silva's men fighting under the lake. Bond gains the upper hand and arrives just in time to kill Silva, once and for all, by hurling a meat-cleaver at him from the other end of the chapel. Silva's spine is severed, he begins to bleed internally. Bond reveals himself and sarcastically remarks Last rat standing, remembering their conversation back on the island. Silva dies and Bond is left to be the last person M sees before she dies of injuries she suffered during the battle.

With M dead, Gareth Mallory takes her position. Bond returns to London, traumatised, exhausted and triumphant, but still alive. He briefly confronts Moneypenny, who reveals that M left her Churchill bulldog, an ornament that survived Silva's attack, to Bond in her will. Bond accepts Moneypenny as his secretary and goes in to meet Mallory. After the battle, Mallory was left with his arm in a sling. He is now head of MI6 and remarks that he was unused to field work, considering his injury a trophy. Mallory hands him a file with his name and serial number on it. Mallory asks Bond if he is ready to get back to work. Eager for the next chance to save the day, Bond replies: With pleasure, M. With pleasure.

Spectre

In Spectre, Bond will confront his past when personal effects from the destroyed Skyfall Lodge include a photo of him and his caretaker Hannes Oberhauser early in Bond's life. Bond must confront Mr. White, Franz Oberhauser, and the SPECTRE organisation as he navigates secrets he hoped were permanently buried.

Videogame Appearances (1997 - Present Day)

• GoldenEye 007- 1997 hit Nintendo 64 game that was both one of the best James Bond video games as well as a breakthrough in gaming consoles.
• 007: Tomorrow Never Dies- Videogame version of the 1997 film of the same name.
• 007: The World Is Not Enough- Videogame version of the 1999 film of the same name.
• 007 Racing- 2000 cash-in on the racing video game craze featuring playable James Bond heroes and villains.
• 007: Agent Under Fire- 2001 video game featuring Brosnan's likeness.
• 007: Nightfire- 2002 video game featuring Brosnan's likeness but not his voice; storyline is similar to the Roger Moore 007 film Moonraker; some of the characters from Agent Under Fire return here.
• 007: Everything or Nothing- 2004 final appearance of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in an new original storyline
• 007: Quantum of Solace- 2008 video game featuring Daniel Craig and the other cast members first video game voice-overs of their characters; the storyline and levels are all recreations of the material found in 2006's Casino Royale and 2008's Quantum of Solace due to their heavily connected plot lines.
• 007: Blood Stone- 2010 original mission and storyline with Craig's likeness and voice being provided as well.
• GoldenEye 007 (2010 edition)- 2010 update of the original 1997 Nintendo GoldenEye video game made for the current consoles of that time and with upgraded graphics and with Craig replacing Brosnan's version of 007 with a new storyline enhancement. Later followed by a 2011 Reloaded version for other consoles and with more updates.
• 007: Legends- 2012 video game release featuring missions from each of the respective film eras of 007 (Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Licence to Kill, Die Another Day, Moonraker, Skyfall) as well as the option to play as each likeness of 007. Also features some of the same voice and likenesses for the various recreated other non-playable characters (villains, etc.).

Character Background Information and Notes

• In Die Another Day, Bond's fake passport gives him the alias "Alex Smith", states that he was born in London, England, and gives him a birthdate of May 6, 1960. This would mean that he is trying to pass off as being 42 years old, when it is assumed that he is much older. However, his actual passport gives him a birthdate of November 10, 1953, which would make him 49 in Die Another Day.

• During the rest of Brosnan's version of the Commander James Bond's timeline, it's established that he has the same credentials as the last few portrayals who played him (Connery, Lazenby, Moore and Dalton respectively) in that he is a Senior Operational Officer of the 'Double-O' ('00') Branch, an ultra-covert Black Ops unit within the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). As an agent of MI6, Bond holds code number "007". The 'double-O' prefix indicates his discretionary licence to kill in the performance of his duties.

• During Craig's version of the timeline, they add that further details such as "C.M.G., R.N." and that he was born April 13, 1968 instead. West Berlin, Germany. His father Andrew Bond of Glencoe, Scotland, was a Senior Accounts Manager for Vickers Defence Systems (now BAE Systems Land; Armaments Group), while his mother Monique Bond (née Delacroix) was originally from Yverdonm Canton de Vaud, Switzerland. Until age 11, Bond was educated in Switzerland and Germany, where his father was stationed as a Vickers executive. Both parents died tragically in a climbing accident while attempting to scale north-east ridge of the Aiguille de la Persévérance. After the death of his parents, he was privately tutored while he lived at the family's estate in Scotland, Skyfall Lodge.

• (Cont.) On his father's command, from age 12 to 13, Bond attended Eton until he was expelled for repeated curfew violations and 'trouble' with one of the maids. He then attended his father’s alma mater, Fettes College. While there he won numerous athletic competitions and twice boxed for the school as a light weight. He also formed the first intermural judo league for the public school circuit. During his teens, he spent time studying both climbing and skiing with local Austrian instructor Hannes Oberhauser of Kitzbühel during term breaks at Fettes. Bond's one strong relationship, this friendship ended when Oberhauser disappeared mysteriously. Bond has referred to Oberhauser as a second father. During a stint at the University of Geneva under an exchange program with Fettes, Bond led an expedition to the very mountain where his parents had died. Bond climbed it with friends and never told them of his personal and tragic link to the location.

• (Cont.) After graduating from Fettes at the age of 17, Bond began attending the Britannia Royal Naval College. While there, Bond excelled in all areas of training. Bond matriculated from his coursework at BRNC with passable marks. However, whilst excelling at athletic competitions, strategic operations, and counter-intelligence courses, his unconventional approach to his education, his diffident attitude to some of his superiors, and a lack of respect for curfew drew him many demerits. On more than one occasion, a fellow candidate was strongly suspected of lying to protect Bond from punishment. In his later teens, Bond lost his one surviving close relative, his aunt Charmain Bond.

• (Cont.) Bond conducted his year of Sea Service with high recommendations from his Chief Petty Officers and Warrant Officers. He applied for and was uniformly recommended for work in Naval Intelligence. Bond served as an intelligence officer on HMS Exeter both before and during Operation Granby, and later was able to transfer to submarine service, touring on the HMS Turbulent. His natural abilities, mental quickness and confidence impressed his commanding officers. Within the year of being assigned to HMS Turbulent, it became apparent that Bond was not being sufficiently challenged with his duties, so Bond volunteered for the Special Boat Service. Bond excelled at SC3 and Underwater and Aquatic Warfare training. He constantly equaled or bested his superior officers and instructors in all areas after nominal experience.

• (Cont.) Bond earned the distinction of being the only candidate to entirely escape detection during the night limpet placement operation at Plymouth. There was some doubt as to whether Bond had actually accomplished the mission per the assignment until he demonstrated his rather ingenious method of eluding the underwater infra-red cameras and sonar systems in-place. His techniques were rapidly included in future training.

• (Cont.) Upon completion of UAW training, Bond commenced Advanced Commando Parachute training at Brize Norton. A very dramatic incident occurred when Bond participated in the first group freefall exercise. At 900 meters the third jumper Lieutenant Cameron's ripcord pins jammed causing the main chute to malfunction, and he panicked. As the fourth jumper, Bond spotted Cameron, and at great personal risk, repositioned himself to aerially intercept Lt. Cameron at approximately 450 meters, and deploy Lt. Cameron's chute. Bond deployed at 250 meters. Lt. Cameron shattered his hip upon landing, although Bond escaped without serious injury.

• (Cont.) Bond's record with training earned him placement with the 030 Special Forces Unit, rather than deployment as a swimmer-canoeist with the standard SBS Units in Poole. During further training with 030 SFU, Bond earned certifications for the operation of assault helicopters, Harrier-class jets, fixed wing aircraft, hovercrafts, marine assault vessels, armored vehicles, and other crafts. Bond served with distinction in the 030 Special Forces Unit. He proved adept at training other candidates, initiating athletic competitions, and fostering a creative environment. During his three-year tenure with the 030 SFU, Bond rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He saw covert service in Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Libya, and active service in Bosnia. Upon completion of his duties in Bosnia, where Bond was credited with saving the lives of nearly 100 men from a Serbian militia in one village. Bond was recruited by the RNR Defence Intelligence Group and awarded the rank of Commander.

• (Cont.) Bond's work with the Defence Intelligence Group at Defence Intelligence and Security Centre, Chicksands, proved highly satisfactory, although his fellow officers noted Bond's rather casual attitude toward command structure and protocol. Bond's work provided vital intelligence during key moments with Libya, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Indonesia, China (during the Hong Kong handover) and North Korea. In Libya, Bond was able to secure detailed assessments of the status of the Libyan government's reputed financial ties to numerous terrorist organizations, as well as crucial information related to the settlement of issues related to the Pan Am 103 case. In Iraq, Bond was able to monitor Iraqi counter-moves to the UNSCOM (now UNMOVIC) inspections process during one key period. Bond undertook a particularly hazardous mission into Afghanistan to rescue a researcher deemed important to Her Majesty's government who was being imprisoned by the Taliban government. During the S-300 missile crisis in Cyprus, Bond helped undermine the Republic of Cyprus government's confidence, and, it is felt, helped bring a peaceful resolution to the matter. On occasions, Bond has been known to carry out high profile assassinations under Her Majesty's orders. During his tenure at the RNR DI Group, Bond attended specialized courses at Cambridge (where he achieved a first in Oriental Languages), Oxford and other institutions. Bond left the RNR DI Group after recruitment by MI6 at the age of 30.

• James Bond's history with MI6 recruitment: James Bond completed all orientation and MI6 Covert Operations training in eight weeks. He received exceptionally high marks for physical endurance, logic, and Psychological Ops exercises. His first assignment was at the British Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica. His duties there included: translation of Haitian, French and Dutch West Indies communiqués, interdiction efforts with gun and drug smuggling between Kingston and London (resulting in a letter of commendation from his superior, Charles DaSilva), and four days of Black Ops reconnaissance in Cuba, penetrating military compounds.

• (MI6 History Cont.) Bond then was appointed Senior Advisor at the British Embassy in Rome. He was promoted to Ops Specialist simultaneous with this posting. Although based nominally in Rome, his duties took him to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, France, Spain, China and the United States. He worked back-channel sources to aid in solving a minor crisis between the U.S. and China. Bond worked with his former Special Forces unit to penetrate and gain intelligence on Iraqi military and suspected unconventional weapons installations in late-2002 and early-2003. Afterwards, Bond was posted to the MI6 headquarters in London, where he continued to work as a Mission Specialist (within Black Ops) in such locations as Cuba, the United States, Austria, Spain, Russia, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan, the Sudan, and the UAE.

• MI6 History Cont.) Prior to the events of Casino Royale, at the age of 38, Bond was promoted to 'Double-O' ('00') status. The ultra-secret '00' Branch is the elite of the Secret Intelligence Service. These covert agents, known as 'double-Os', have proven themselves capable enough in the field to be entrusted with the license to kill -- the authorization to, at their own discretion, commit assassination and acts that might be otherwise considered murder in order to complete their missions, without having to seek permission from headquarters first. Bond then earned his stripes in the '00' Branch by killing two people, Section Chief Dryden - who had been selling secrets from within MI6 - and Dryden's contact. After Bond killed Dryden's contact in a bathroom in Lahore, Pakistan, he flew to the Czech Republic, where he assassinated Dryden in the Section Chief's office. Bond was consequently granted '00' status and awarded the infamous code number "007".