Characters

The Characters

Here is a list of villains throughout the Alex Rider series

__** Ash **__ Anthony Sean Howell, more commonly referred to by his initials, ASH, is a major character in ﻿﻿﻿﻿Snakehead

Ash was born in England and worked for MI6 with John Rider. On a mission to capture Yassen Gregorovich, he was badly injured and demoted. He eventually quit his job because he was jealous of his best friend John Rider, Alex's father, who was considered one of MI6's best operatives. He then went to work for ASIS in Australia.

Alex Rider first meets him in Snakehead when he wanders into a minefield. Ash tells him not to move and leaves, claiming he will get help. This was later found to be a test, to see how Alex would react. Alex discovers that Ash is his godfather after meeting with Ethan Brooke, head of Covert Action for ASIS. The idea of learning more about his past lures Alex into working for ASIS, alongside Ash, investigating the ruthless Snakehead. They are sent on a mission together to infiltrate the Snakehead by posing as Afghan refugees trying to gain the Snakehead's help in illegally immigrating to Australia.

At the end of Snakehead, when Major Yu's oil rig is attacked by a joint British/Australian taskforce, Ash is shot by Ben Daniels, and is then revealed to have been working for Scorpia. He is found to be responsible for the death of Alex's parents, having planted a bomb on their plane, on which they were going to France to start a new life there but Alex wasn't with them because he had an ear infection and couldn't fly, although he expresses some regret of doing this before his death. Scorpia had already been betrayed once by John Rider and so they put his loyalty to the test by commanding him to place the bomb in position. It is also revealed that Ash had a minor crush on Alex's mother, a charming and beautiful nurse.

Ash is described as having "black curly hair and the beginnings of a rough beard" and has a slight Australian accent. He also has a large scar along his stomach, the result of his encounter with Yassen Gregorovich, a Russian assassin. He had a brief relationship with Jack Starbright, Alex's housekeeper and legal guardian. He is seen smoking at several points in the book, his name possibly being a reference to this. Alex also notes that it is surprising that Ash smokes, considering the fact that he chooses to look after himself in so many other ways.

__** Harold Bulman **__ Harold "Harry" Bulman is a minor character in Crocodile Tears.

A freelance journalist who served in the SAS, Bulman spent most of his time writing stories focusing on the secret services, and had discovered information about Alex's actions during his missions against Herod Sayle, Damian Cray and Winston Yu (It is not specified whether he was unaware of Alex's other assignments or simply chose to focus on those when addressing Alex). Confronting Alex about the truth, he offered to share the profits in a book he was planning to publish about Alex's missions, claiming to be impressed with Alex's heroics but disgusted at how MI6 had used him. In reality, however, Bulman was largely self-centered and cared only about the money he would make from such an article. Alex refused, and contacted MI6, who (amongst other things) erased all of Bulman's financial and personal records, then made new records appear as though he was an escaped Broadmoor﻿ inmate named Jeremy Harwood who had killed Bulman.

Subsequently unable to make money from his article, Bulman instead sold his information about Alex to Desmond McCain. When he attempts to negotiate a higher price for his information McCain kills Bulman with 3 bullets to the chest, not solely because of his greed, but also because of McCain's fear that Bulman will expose his plans.

__** Dr. Myra Beckett **__

Dr. Myra Beckett is a major antagonist in the novel Crocodile Tears. She first appears as the supervisor at Greenfields. She is portrayed as a scientist with very little emotion. She does not care about her appearance, as evidenced by her cheap spectacles and her lack of makeup. She is the fiancé of Desmond McCain, although she never displays any particular emotion in her dealings with him beyond her usual relatively blank appearance. She is very sadistic, as she takes photos of Alex while he is being tortured. She is killed when she is stabbed from behind by Rahim and falls into a crocodile-infested river, where she is eaten alive.

It is said that she had taught herself how to fly, understanding only the laws of physics and she has a cruel knack for inflicting pain and suffering on others and knowing that they brought it down on themselves. This shows when she makes Alex pull a lever while she is flying, spraying a deadly virus on the wheat fields in Kenya.

__** Ravi Chandra **__ Ravi Chandra (full name Ravindra Manpreet Chandra) is a minor character in ﻿﻿﻿Crocodile Tears﻿﻿﻿.

Chandra works at the Jowada nuclear power station near Chennai, India. He has a wife and two boys, aged four and six, whom he wishes to provide for. Desmond McCain offers him an extreme sum of money to infiltrate Jowada's security, plant a bomb, and let loose a radioactive cloud on the city of Chennai. McCain betrays Chandra, however, by lying and telling him that there was a 10 minute delay on the bomb's timer. As there was, in reality, no delay, Chandra is vaporized instantly, and McCain's charity (later to be found out as fake) raises thousands of pounds for the victims affected by the disaster.

Damian Cray is the main antagonist of Eagle Strike.
 * __ Sir Damian Cray __**

Cray was born in North London on October 5, 1950, and baptized Harold Eric Lunt. Although he desired to be a pop or rock star, his parents sent him to the Royal Academy of Music in London. He sang there with a young Elton John. When he was thirteen, his parents died in a bizarre accident, which involved a car falling on them. Although he welcomed their deaths, he pretended to be distraught and left the Royal Academy to travel the world. He changed his name and became Buddhist and vegetarian.

He returned to England in the 1970s and enjoyed a hugely successful music career, starting a band called “Slam!” (a parody of Wham!). This shot him to fame at once. At the end of the 1970s, the band split up and he started a solo career. His first solo album, “Firelight”, went platinum and he won several awards and released the single “Something for the Children” at Christmas time with all money given to charity. Cray campaigned for several issues, including saving the rainforests, ending world debt and banning animal testing. His tireless work for charity earned him a knighthood in 1990. The rich superstar then branched into hotels, television, and even started developing “Gameslayer”, the most advanced games console of its time.

However, despite his charitable work and beliefs, Cray had a darker and more sinister side to him; in order to fulfill some of his charitable notions, such as his campaign against animal testing, he ordered the assassinations of many people responsible for the practises he was campaigning against. This went unnoticed until he ordered an assassination on Edward Pleasure- father of Sabina Pleasure- a journalist who was threatening to expose Cray's plan. He also arranges the killing of a journalist who puts him on the spot by asking him awkward questions regarding video game violence in "Gameslayer".

Cray was planning a nuclear attack to annihilate major drug-producing parts of the world. Under the cover of “Gameslayer” he devised a way of hijacking Air Force One using a flash drive and launching the USA's supply of nuclear missiles. However, Alex has trouble convincing Alan Blunt that the charitable Damian Cray is planning to destroy half of the world, forcing Alex to investigate the situation himself.

In Air Force One, Alex manages to prevent the nuclear strike and, with Sabina, pushes Cray out of the plane and into one of the turbines, killing him instantly and forcing the pilot to make a crash landing.

Cray is described as very short, with dyed jet-black hair. He has a round face, green eyes, with a small nose positioned "almost unnaturally in the centre of his face". It is mentioned that Cray has probably had plastic surgery.

__**Conrad**__ Conrad is General Alexei Sarov's personal assistant and thus one of the main antagonists of the novel Skeleton Key. He is a Turk that was born in Istanbul, and was a terrorist-for-hire with nine different security services after him. He is held responsible for terrorist actions in London, Boston, Madrid, and Athens. He is described as a short man with several scars all around his body. Half of his head is bald, one of his legs is longer than the other, and one of his eyes is permanently bloodshot. The reason for his appearance is that in the winter of 1998 a bomb that he was carrying to a military base had exploded, and in order to save his life, a group of Albanian scientists from Elbasan had given him metal pins and prosthetics to hold his body together.

He first appears in the novel after placing a bomb in The Salesman's ship, where he is seen by Alex Rider, although Alex doesn't know who he is at the time. Later, after Tom Turner (named Glen Carver in the US version of Skeleton Key), and Belinda Troy are killed in an underwater cave, Conrad kidnaps Alex and puts him in a crusher, only for Alex to be saved by General Sarov, who plans on adopting Alex.

After Alex is saved by Sarov and kept in his home, Conrad expresses tremendous hostility towards him, wishing to shoot him. Throughout Alex's stay, Conrad often says to him that when Sarov disposes of him, he'll shoot him or make his death very painful.

Conrad is killed when a magnetic crane, which he used to position Sarov's nuclear bomb, magnetizes all the metal pins and prosthetics in his body and attaches him to the magnet, breaking his back and killing him. Alex then drops his body in the ocean and he is never seen again.

**__Nikolei Drevin__** Nikolei Drevin is the main antagonist of Ark Angel. Drevin is a famed Russian billionaire, owning many hotels, businesses, and even a soccer team, Stratford East. While generally viewed as a philanthropist, his wealth was actually attained through deals with several criminal organizations. He is the mastermind behind the "Ark Angel" space hotel project.

Born in Russia during the rule of the Soviet Union, Drevin apparently served in the KGB. When Communism collapsed in 1991, Drevin used his former contacts in the Russian Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza and the Chinese Triads to seize Russia's oil supplies for himself at a quarter of their usual prices, conning the Russian government out of its natural assets. He soon became, thanks to his criminal activities and his ownership of Russian oil, one of the richest men in the world.

The CIA is building up a case against Drevin, storing all of their evidence in the Pentagon in Washington. Meanwhile, Drevin's Ark Angel project becomes over-budget, making it harder for him to support it. It is revealed that he plans to solve both these problems by blowing Ark Angel out of orbit with a bomb as it passes above Washington. The falling space station, guided towards Washington, would destroy the Pentagon, with all its evidence against Drevin, and devastate Washington, while allowing him to collect on the insurance.

Drevin becomes acquainted with Alex Rider when he saves his son, Paul Drevin, from "Force Three", an organization of eco-terrorists (Drevin had actually created Force Three as a convenient scapegoat to blame Ark Angel's destruction on; the 'attack' on Paul was intended to draw attention away from any possible connection between him and Force Three). He then invites Alex to "two weeks of the most luxury you have ever had". Alex is informed by the CIA of Drevin's criminal activities and is sent in to spy on him. Drevin discovers Alex's assignments with MI6 and orders his head of security, Magnus Payne, to kill him.

Later, Drevin, while trying to shoot Alex, accidentally shoots his own son, Paul. Infuriated, he climbs onto his seaplane to try and escape. Unbeknown to him, however, Alex had tied two canoes to the plane's floats. The canoes become tangled in the trees, causing Drevin to crash, killing him. As for his plan, Alex is able to move the bomb to the center of Ark Angel, so that it simply blows the station apart.

**__Force Three__** Force Three are a small eco-terrorist organization created by Nikolei Drevin to act as a scapegoat for his plan to destroy Washington D.C. (see Nikolei Drevin). Their name refers to Earth being the third planet from the sun. Their members consist of the leader, Kaspar, and four other men, who, as their real names are never used, Alex names "Steel Watch", "Combat Jacket", "Spectacles" and "Silver Tooth" after their distinguishing features.

They are first encountered by Alex when they attempt to kidnap Nikolei Drevin's son Paul, which would have made Nikolei's plan to use them as decoys for his main scheme more believable. Alex incapacitates them using hospital equipment. Force Three's driver, however, knocks Alex out and kidnaps him, believing Alex to be Paul. Alex manages to convince Kaspar that he is not Paul, but they decide to kill him anyway. Alex then escapes from a burning building. They appear again at Stamford Bridge, where they kill the star player of Drevin's football team, Adam Wright, at the end of a match. They are killed on Drevin's island by security, so that their bodies can be used as evidence of an attack by them. Only Kaspar survives, as Drevin employed him as head of security.

When Drevin interviews Alex after he has discovered he is a spy, he reveals that they let Alex purposefully escape. However, when "Combat Jacket" was on the first floor, ready to kill Alex, it had not been part of the plan. "Combat Jacket" had disobeyed Drevin so he could get his revenge on Alex.

**__The Gentleman__** The Gentleman is an unnamed assassin featured briefly in Point Blanc. He obtained the name 'Gentleman' because he always sends flowers to the families of his victims. He is an assassin for hire in his early thirties, but other than this no backstory or facts about him are provided.[1] He is hired by Dr Hugo Grief to assassinate Michael Roscoe in New York when he becomes suspicious of his son Paul's unusual behavior (Paul had, in fact, been replaced by a surgically altered teenage clone of Grief).

The Gentleman is also mentioned in Crocodile Tears, as Desmond McCain explains that he hired the Gentleman to murder a plastic surgeon who did a botched job on McCain's jaw after his boxing accident. He also killed the boxer who ruined McCain's boxing career, Buddy Sangster, by pushing him under a train in New York.

The Gentlemen is one of the two antagonists that have not heard of or met Alex Rider, the other being Ravi Chandra of Crocodile Tears

**__Yassen Gregorovich__** Yassen Gregorovich is a recurring villain in the series, appearing in //Stormbreaker// and Eagle Strike. He is also mentioned in Scorpia and Snakehead. In the end of Stormbreaker he saves the life of Alex Rider by shooting Herod Sayle on a helicopter pad. He was a Russian-born contract killer, trained by, and apparently working for, the clandestine terrorist organization Scorpia. A superb assassin, Yassen was considered one of the world's best.

Born in Russia, Yassen's father was killed by an accident of a biochemical warfare project that was hushed up by the Russian Government. His mother died six months afterwards due to illness. After his parents' deaths, Yassen (who was at the time 14) made his way to Moscow in search of Scorpia. While in Moscow, Yassen ran errands for the local mafia. Eventually, Yassen Gregorovich found and began working for Scorpia.

For all his skills, Yassen is obviously best known for his assassinations; throughout the series, his reputation seems to be one of a man who makes no mistakes, and he is considered an active threat by MI6. He has been employed by Iraq, Serbia, Libya, and China. It is suggested that his training included, as is demonstrated on a single occasion when he convinces Alex not to shoot him by describing what will happen when he pulls the trigger, basic psychological warfare. He was also an expert with conventional weaponry and terrorist techniques, though both are demonstrated only once throughout the series before his death. Yassen made another appearance (in a scene set in the past) in the seventh book of the series, Snakehead. He was fluent in seven languages and was learning Japanese at the time of his death, while working with Damian Cray.

Yassen was at least partially instructed by Alex Rider's late father, Ian's Brother, John Rider, an MI6 agent under deep cover working as an unspecified instructor for Scorpia on the Italian island of Malagosto. Yassen is in debt to John Rider; during a joint assignment in the Amazon, Rider, under the alias of Hunter, saved his student's life by shooting a black widow spider that had crawled onto Yassen's throat, killing their intended target with the same bullet. Although it left a notable scar on Yassen's neck, it was something which Yassen never forgot. Though Alex does not initially realize the reason, Yassen exhibits some care for the boy, on more than one occasion sparing his life when he could have easily killed him. Before his "death", Yassen actually tells Alex he loved John Rider and is glad that his son (Alex) could be with him in the "last moments" of his life.

He was shot and killed by his then-employer Damian Cray after he refused to kill Alex and Sabina, claiming that he didn't kill children.

Yassen Gregorovich is described as attractive, having blond hair (though in the Stormbreaker film he has red hair), pale blue eyes, pale skin, distinctly chiseled lips, and "almost feminine eyelashes". He also has a long, distinctive scar along his neck (a result of the aforementioned incident with the black widow). Yassen's relaxed and graceful poise is often compared to that of a dancer.

He was portrayed by Damian Lewis in the film.

**__Dr Hugo Grief__** Doctor Hugo Grief is the main antagonist of Point Blanc. He was born in South Africa, where he was head of biology department at the University of Johannesburg. He went on to become South Africa's minister for science while still in his twenties. In this position, he discovered how to clone humans, perfecting the process by experimenting on political prisoners. Grief was also racist, disgusted by how black people became the leaders of South Africa, feeling they would run his country into the ground. He thought that South Africa was excellent when controlled by the white men and thus decided to try and rule the world, and reinstate apartheid globally. Grief believed that he could rule the earth if he could control the main industries, such as technology and food.

In order to achieve this, Grief devised "Project Gemini". Using money stolen from the South African government in 1981, he bought a castle in the French Alps and, along with assistant Eva Stellenbosch, turned the castle into an underground laboratory where they cloned him sixteen times. Grief then turned the castle into a school, Point Blanc, for the rebellious sons of rich families. He intended to use plastic surgery on his clones to make them resemble the real boys who were sent to him by their parents. Grief would then send the clones back to the parents- assuming that any minor 'differences' between his clones and the originals would be taken as nothing more than the natural changes the boys would have gone through during their time away-, and when the parents died the clones inherit their businesses. However, when two men became suspicious about their sons' (the clones) changed personalities, and began researching Grief, he had them killed by The Gentleman. The possible link between the two deaths, coupled with messages that Alan Blunt had exchanged with one of the fathers- the two men having become friends at university- lead to MI6 sending Alex Rider to Point Blanc to investigate under the name of Alex Friend, resulting in Alex discovering the truth.

After Alex escapes Point Blanc, he fakes his death, and 24 hours later returns with an SAS attack force and raids Point Blanc. Grief attempts to escape by helicopter, but Alex climbs onto a snowmobile and speeds up a ramp. When he is about to reach the edge of the ramp, he leaps off, leaving the snowmobile flying through the air, crashing into Grief's helicopter. The snowmobile explodes upon impact, blowing apart the helicopter and killing Grief. After his death, the clone meant to replace Alex attacks the real Alex at his school. Alex, however, is presumably able to kill the clone.

When Alex encountered him, Grief was almost sixty years old. He is described as having "white paper skin" and wears red-tinted spectacles. It is quite likely that he is an albino, in order to emphasize his white superiority ideas, and the red-tinted spectacles could be a reference to albinistic eyes. His appearance is often compared to that of a skeleton. He moves as if "every bone in his body had been broken and then put back together again". Despite this, he has "beautifully manicured fingernails".[2] Grief was also portrayed as insane by deciding to kill Alex by using him as a live human dissection in a biology class for the clones. Grief was also an admirer of Adolf Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Joseph Stalin.

**__Mr. Grin__** Mr Grin is a secondary antagonist in both the novel and film adaption of Stormbreaker. He is Herod Sayle's right-hand man and butler. Grin was formerly a circus performer, throwing knives into the air and catching them in his mouth. However, when Grin's mother came to see his act one day, he was distracted by her and his knives cut off most of his tongue, and left him with a Glasgow Smile. It was after this accident he changed his name to Grin.

When it is discovered that Alex Rider is a spy, he is almost tortured by Grin. However, Alex confesses before he is able to. Later, when Sayle goes to London to execute his plan, Grin takes a jet, presumably to help Sayle escape. Alex hijacks the jet, holding Grin at gunpoint, telling him to fly to London.

As they arrive, Alex parachutes out of the jet. Grin attempts to ram Alex with the jet, but he crashes after Alex triggers a smoke-bomb he left in the jet. He is presumed to have died in the resulting explosion. At one point Herod Sayle implies that Mr. Grin did not actually lose his tongue in a circus accident. His specific line is this: "Remember what happens to liars, Alex, particularly their tongues." This heavily implies that Sayle cut off Mr. Grin's tongue because Grin lied to him.

__ Zeljan Kurst __ Zeljan Kurst is a Yugoslavian businessman and a leading member of the terrorist organization Scorpia. In the novel Snakehead, he supervises Major Yu while he is coordinating and executing operation "Reef Encounter," an operation in which they would use a powerful, British-made, non-nuclear bomb called Royal Blue to cause a tsunami, and also to pleasingly destroy an Australian Island where an anti-poverty conference would be held. Kurst advises Yu to not underestimate Alex Rider's abilities, since Kurst was impressed by Alex's abilities to thwart operation Invisible Sword during the novel Scorpia.

Kurst was the head of the police force in Yugoslavia during the early 1980s, and had been famous for his love of classical music(particularly Mozart)and extreme violence. It is said that he would interrogate prisoners with an opera or a symphony playing in the background. Seeing the breakup of his country on the horizon, he had decided to quit before he was fired. Lacking any family, friends, or anywhere he could call home, he needed work, and he knew that Scorpia would pay him extremely well. He rose up on the organization's ranks until he became the head.

Kurst is introduced at the beginning of Snakehead when he assigns Yu the job of coordinating operation "Reef Encounter." Many times through the book, Kurst has small meetings at public places with Yu, so Yu can brief him on the progress of the operation. Kurst owns and operates a funeral parlor business which has a secret room that serves as a conference room for Scorpia. Kurst is the only member of Scorpia who treats Alex with caution, despite his age, knowing that he was responsible for many of Scorpia's failures. Kurst and Yassen Gregorovich are the two major antagonists not introduced and killed in the same book.

In Scorpia Rising, Kurst masterminds a new plot: a Greek millionaire asks him to return the Elgin Marbles to him. Kurst plans to use Alex Rider and MI6's use of him to obtain that objective. The plan is to use the clone made of Alex during Point Blanc, who wants revenge against Alex, to assassinate the American Secretary of State in Egypt and frame Alex for it, killing him along the way, and then blackmail the British government with the knowledge of MI6's use of a teenage boy unless they turn over the Elgin Marbles. He assigned a new member of the Scorpia board, Abdul-Aziz Al-Razim, to carry it out. Board member Levi Kroll expresses opposition to the plan in the meeting and asks out. Kurst orders his assassination throught the use of a sniper before using his body to attract MI6's attention on a school in Cairo where they will inevitably send Alex.

The plot later fails and ends in the deaths of Razim, Grief and Erik Gunter, although along the way, Jack Starbright, Alex's caretaker, is killed by Razim. Kurst is arrested by Interpol and put on trial for various criminal charges and Scorpia is disbanded.

__ Desmond McCain __ Desmond McCain is the main antagonist in the eighth book, Crocodile Tears. He is black skinned, bald, and his eyes are gray. He wears an ear stud shaped like a silver crucifix.

McCain was an orphan, found abandoned in a bag of McCain's Oven Chips (where he got his name from) in Hackney, London. He was then adopted and grew up to become a boxer. He won many major boxing titles and was in line for stardom, until his boxing career came to an abrupt end when he was defeated by a boxer called Buddy Sangster in Las Vegas. During the bout, his jaw was smashed up badly and suffered a botched plastic surgery operation when attempting to get it fixed. McCain later had an international assassin, The Gentleman, kill the surgeon and Buddy Sangster.

McCain then went into property development. He built a lot of skyscrapers in London and then went into politics. He decided he wanted to become an MP. He was elected the minister in the department for sport. Problems piled up and cost him money, so he set fire to one of his properties and claimed the insurance money. McCain was exposed, however, by a homeless man who had seen it happen and sent to prison for nine years.

While McCain was in jail, he pretended to convert to Christianity for a good image. Because of this, McCain had the ability to insert biblical verses into his sentences at the most convenient of moments. He was released early and set up a charity, First Aid. He created disasters and then collected money for them, keeping half of it. He then made plans to create the ultimate disaster in Kenya. McCain joined a partnership with GM scientist Leonard Straik and created a poisonous gene to be pumped into crop fields in Kenya which would spread a horrible disease that could wipe out half of Africa. When the many millions of pounds flooded in, McCain planned to steal it and hide out in South America with his future wife, Myra Bennett.

He tries to kill Alex Rider by leaving him to hang over a crocodile infested river, but Alex escapes and foils McCain's plans. McCain follows Alex to an airport in a Kenyan village. He attacks the plane and Alex jumps out near some oil drums, breaking his ankle. Alex rolls one of the barrels towards McCain. McCain stops it with his foot and just smiles. He is about to shoot Alex, but Alex has attached an exploding pen gadget to the bottom of the oil drum. It sets the drum on fire, engulfing McCain in flames. This makes McCain the first villain that Alex kills deliberately, though he later kills Eric Gunter and Julius Grief deliberately in the novel Scorpia Rising.

__Nile__ Nile is a contract killer for the crime organization Scorpia and one of the main antagonists in the novel Scorpia. He is a black man who suffers from vitiligo. Nile was the second best in his class of assassination. According to Julia Rothman, he could have been the first if it was not for his "rather annoying weakness" (later revealed to be his fear of heights).

Nile first encounters Alex in the Widow's Palace. After capturing Alex for trespassing, he locks Alex in a flooding room to kill him. After Alex joins Scorpia, Nile becomes his friend. He accompanies Alex to Scorpia's island, Malagosto, for training, and later helps Alex in his mission to kill Mrs. Jones. When Alex climbs onto the hot-air balloon to stop Invisible Sword from activating, Nile is sent after him, where Alex learns about Nile's fear of heights. Using this to taunt and distract his foe, Alex then slices open the hot air balloon's gas container, causing an explosion, and knocking off the balloon's basket. The explosion not only destroys the basket (Alex survives by holding onto the balloon's ropes), but also knocks Nile's body off the balloon, sending him falling to his death.

__ Magnus Payne __ Magnus Payne, a.k.a. Kaspar, is one of the secondary antagonists in the novel Ark Angel. As Kaspar, he is the leader of Force Three, an eco-terrorist organization created by Nikolei Drevin to act as a scapegoat for his plan to destroy the Pentagon (see Ark Angel). Kaspar is described as having a map of the world tattooed all over his face. As Magnus Payne, chief of security on Drevin's island, Flamingo Bay, he wears a latex mask. Payne, as Kaspar, was sent up to the Ark Angel station to arm the bomb planted there. He is killed on Ark Angel when Alex blinds him by opening a window faced toward the sun, and kicks him into the point of a knife, which Payne had dropped, and was hovering in zero-gravity. Payne is the second major antagonist to still be alive after the main antagonist of the story is killed. The first was Yassen.

__ Julia Rothman __ Julia Rothman (full name Julia Charlotte Glennis Rothman) is the main antagonist in the novel Scorpia. She is a board member of the criminal organization Scorpia, and the head of Operation Invisible Sword. Rothman was born in Wales to Welsh nationalist parents, who would set fire to holiday homes owned by English families. One of the targeted homes was still inhabited, and Julia's parents were jailed. Julia was only six years old, and grew up in institutions, marking the start of her criminal lifestyle. At one time, she was married to a multimillionaire; however, he died two days after their wedding when he fell from a seventeenth story building, though it is later mentioned in the Paperback edition of Snakehead that Julia pushed him to his Death so she would inherit his Fortune.

When John Rider, Alex's father, came to work for Scorpia, Julia fell in love with him. When she discovered he had been working for MI6 and had betrayed her, she came to hate him, and eventually Alex when she meets him, even though she pretends to like him.

She was in charge of Operation Invisible Sword. This came from a request from a man in the Middle East to destroy Anglo-American relations, who would pay Scorpia one hundred million pounds to do so. Her plan was to insert microscopic capsules containing poison into the children's bloodstreams via immunization injections, which they would receive at school. Scorpia would then make demands of America which they would never accept, such as complete nuclear disarmament, threatening to kill thousands of British children if refused. After America refuses, a satellite will destroy the capsules, releasing the poison and killing the children. She would then make the same threats in New York, but with more reasonable demands, which they will agree to, thus destroying the alliance between Britain and America.

When Rothman meets Alex, she appears delighted to accept him into Scorpia, having him trained as an assassin by Scorpia. Because of his father's betrayal, however, she secretly plans to kill him as revenge. She arranges for the poisonous capsules used in Invisible Sword to be injected into Alex's bloodstream, without his knowledge, during a medical check-up.

She is killed during Operation Invisible Sword. The satellite, which would give out terahertz beams, destroying the capsules and killing the children, is carried in a hot-air balloon. Alex climbs onto the balloon and cuts the ropes holding the basket to the balloon. The basket falls on Rothman, killing her, destroying the satellite and ending Invisible Sword at the same time.

At the time she met Alex, Rothman was in her forties or fifties. She is described by Alex and Max Grendel as being beautiful with an upturned nose, long black hair in waves down to her shoulders, dark eyes, "blood-red lips," and "perfect teeth".

__ The Salesman __ The Salesman is a short-term antagonist in Skeleton Key. He is a Mexican from Mexico City. The Salesman's main line of work, as his name suggests, is selling illegal products, such as weapons and drugs. He was the one who sold the nuclear bomb to Sarov. CIA agent Tom Turner (Glenn Carver) was placed undercover as a weapons purchaser to engage a friendship between him and The Salesman on his boat, The Mayfair Lady.

Eventually, The Salesman discovers Turner's (Carver's) real identity and attempts to kill him. However, Alex sneaks onto the boat and sets it on fire. This causes a distraction, allowing Alex to save Turner(Carver). After Alex and Turner (Carver) jump overboard, the Salesman tries to ram them with his boat, but Sarov's assistant, Conrad, had set a bomb on the boat, which is detonated, killing the Salesman and his crew.

__ General Alexei Sarov __ General Alexei Sarov is the main antagonist of Skeleton Key. He is a former Russian General who still lives in the old days of communist Russia.

Sarov was born in 1940. He served as a commander in the Russian army, while it was still part of the Soviet Union. Sarov married when he was thirty. When he was thirty-eight, Sarov was made a general. For ten years he fought in Afghanistan, and rose to become second-in-command of the Red Army.[4]

Sarov wanted his son to join the Russian army. His wife, however, disagreed, which led to their divorce. Eventually Vladimir, Sarov's son, who was a talented athlete, did join the army in 1988 when he was sixteen.[4] He became a powerful and skilled soldier, but was shot and killed by a sniper in Afghanistan. When Sarov meets Alex, he sees a lot of his son in him and makes plans to adopt him.

Sarov's residence is on the island of Cayo Esqueleto ("Skeleton Key") in Cuba. There are two entrances to his home, one of them being a booby trapped underwater cave called "The Devil's Chimney". The cave has a security device in which anything that enters the cave is impaled by mechanical stalagmites and stalactites, which are responsible for the deaths of CIA agents Tom Turner (Glen Carver) and Belinda Troy.

Sarov plans to restore communism to Europe by detonating a nuclear bomb in Murmansk, where abandoned nuclear submarines are kept. The explosion and fallout would kill millions, and he would use the resulting chaos to unite Russia and take over Europe (and, presumably, the rest of the world).

Sarov invites the Russian president, Boris Kiriyenko, to his home. Sarov edits several tapes humiliating Kiriyenko, which he will release after he has executed his plan, turning the country against Kiriyenko and allowing Sarov to seize power. During a banquet he spikes the president's vodka. Sarov then steals the president's plane, which will not be searched when they stop to refuel, and thus the bomb will not be discovered.

At Murmansk, Sarov leaves Alex to die, as Alex had refused to be adopted by him. Alex, however, is able to remove the detonation card from the nuclear bomb. Sarov then arrives and calmly tells Alex to put it back. Alex refuses and states he would rather die than have a father like Sarov. A devastated Sarov pulls out a gun and shoots himself right in front of Alex, unable to live with himself any more.

When he met Alex, Sarov was sixty-two years old, but looked "twenty years younger". Sarov is described as not being particularly tall, but he "radiates power and control". He also has short grey hair, pale blue eyes, and an emotionless face. He normally dresses in suits.[4]

__ Herod Sayle __ Herod Sayle (named Darrius Sayle in the film adaption Stormbreaker) is the main antagonist in Stormbreaker. In the original UK edition, Sayle was born in the gutters of Beirut, Lebanon; the US edition changed his nationality to Egyptian. He was one of 13 children (nine boys, four girls). His father was a failed hairdresser (oral hygienist in the US version) and his mother took in washing. At age seven, he saved two wealthy American tourists from being crushed by a falling piano, who rewarded him by sending him to school in Britain. He was at first delighted at this prospect, but he was severely bullied there, the worst bully, he claimed, being the future Prime Minister. Although he did very well in school, achieving nine 'O' levels, he came to hate British school children.

After his schooling, he went to Cambridge University where he received a first in economics, and built up a large and successful business empire, becoming a multi-millionaire. He owned a computer company and a string of unsuccessful racehorses.[5] Sayle also invented a technique that allows computer components to be developed in a non-sterile environment, greatly reducing the price of production. Using this technique, he developed a computer called "Stormbreaker" and planned to donate a Stormbreaker to each school in Britain, in exchange for a British citizenship. However, he plans to fill each Stormbreaker with a lethal smallpox virus (it is later revealed, in the novel Snakehead, that he purchased the smallpox from Scorpia), which will be released into the schools, killing virtually every child in Britain. MI6 is suspicious about his intentions, and send out agent Ian Rider to investigate. Rider sends out an urgent message to MI6, but is assassinated by Yassen Gregorovich.

MI6 blackmails Ian Rider's nephew, Alex Rider, into investigating Sayle. Alex Rider investigates the plant and its operations and soon discovers Sayle's plan. Alex later reaches the Stormbreaker opening ceremony, and stops the Prime Minister from activating the Stormbreakers, at the same time injuring Sayle in the left arm and shoulder; however, Sayle escapes.

At the end of the book, after debriefing with Mrs. Jones and Alan Blunt, Alex takes a taxi home, only to discover that the driver is Sayle. Sayle takes Alex at gunpoint to the top of a building. He is about to shoot Alex but Yassen Gregorovich climbs out of a helicopter and shoots Sayle, killing him. Surprisingly, Gregorovich lets Alex live (he claims there were no instructions for him in regard to Alex) and flies the helicopter away.

Herod Sayle's dislike of the UK, and especially the British schoolchildren and Prime Minister, is a strong contrast to Winston Yu, the antagonist of Snakehead, who is obsessed with Britain and liked being brought up in a British public school (Harrow). He was only ever bullied on one occasion (the bully was then assassinated by his mother).

In the film adaptation of Stormbreaker, Herod Sayle was portrayed by Mickey Rourke. Herod's nationality was changed to American, and his name changed to Darrius. Also in the movie Darrius became rich and went to a British school because his mother won the lottery.

In a First News interview, Anthony Horowitz revealed that Sayle's name is derived from the Christmas Harrod's sale.[citation needed]

__ Skoda __ Skoda is an antagonist who has a minor role in Point Blanc, and is the main antagonist in the short story Alex Rider: Secret Weapon. His name comes from the manufacturer of his car, as nobody knows his real name, although it is rumored to be Jake. He is a drug dealer who hooked many of the pupils at Alex's school on drugs.

Skoda first appears in Point Blanc. Alex follows him from his school to his boat on the Thames, where he manufactures his drugs, intending revenge for hooking his friend Colin on drugs. Alex follows Skoda to his drug-manufacture lab, which is on a boat. He then picks up the boat with a crane, severely injuring Skoda and one of his associates, and drops it on a police conference center, which is destroyed.

He appears again in the short story Alex Rider: Secret Weapon, this time as the main antagonist. He encounters Alex in a weapons museum where he tries to stab him with one of the museum's swords. However, Miss Treat, an MI6 agent undercover as one of Alex's teachers, arrives and shoots Skoda with a tranquillizer gun.

He is described as "in his twenties, bald, and had two broken stumps where his teeth should have been and five metal studs in his ear". When he returns in Alex Rider: Secret Weapon, his face has been damaged by the incident in Point Blanc, and appears almost deformed.[1]

__ Scorpia __ Scorpia is a criminal organization, and the series' main antagonist. Despite not appearing until the fifth novel Scorpia, their influence was felt in the very first novel, as it was revealed when they appeared in Snakehead that they were responsible for supplying the virus Sayle uses. Their name stands for Sabotage, Corruption, Intelligence and Assassination, as these are their main fields of activity. They were formed in Paris in the early 1980s by spies and assassins from several governments who, fearing they would lose their jobs when the Cold War ended, decided to go into business for themselves. They split profits equally and are assigned tasks alphabetically. After many years of work, they are now responsible for a tenth of the world's terrorism.

Known board members include the chairman Zeljan Kurst, Major Winston Yu (deceased), Julia Rothman (deceased), Max Grendel (deceased), Levi Kroll, Dr. Three, Razim, a Japanese man named Mikato, and an Australian man who name is finally revealed to be Brendan Chase. Three other board members were mentioned to have died before the current storyline. Two of them were murdered and the third died of cancer, thus leaving the current roster at exactly half of what it was at its inception. At the end of Scorpia Rising it is revealed that Scorpia has disbanded. They failed to defeat a teenager three times, and became a laughing stock. Several executive board members, Kurst included, were arrested, and Scorpia was no more.

Executive Board

Zeljan Kurst (Chairman) Major Winston Yu (deceased) Julia Rothman (deceased) Max Grendel (deceased) Levi Kroll (deceased) Dr. Three Brendan Chase Mikato Monseiur Duval In Scorpia Rising, many new members were added to the Scorpia board, including:

Seamus Giovanni Eduardo Abdul-Aziz Al-Rahim (deceased) __ Eva Stellenbosch __ Eva Stellenbosch is a secondary antagonist in the novel Point Blanc. She is co-director of Point Blanc Academy for young men, along with Dr Hugo Grief. She was formerly an interrogator for the South African Secret Police, and was Miss South Africa in weightlifting for five years in a row. She had known Dr. Grief for twenty-six years. She is described as having huge muscles, and a facial structure that "wasn't quite human". She also has wisps of bright ginger hair and a high domed forehead.

Along with Dr. Grief, she organizes the Gemini Project (see Dr. Hugo Grief), having raised Hugo's clones for the first fourteen years of their lives.

She is killed by Wolf when the SAS raid Point Blanc Academy. Wolf shoots her in the leg, causing her to stumble backwards and trip into a third-story window, shattering it and falling to her death.

Eva Stellenbosch is also portrayed as a smoker. At various points in the book, she is pictured smoking cigars.

__Leonard Straik__ Leonard Straik is a secondary antagonist in the novel Crocodile Tears. He runs the company Greenfields that Alex takes a school trip to. He is also a close friend of Desmond McCain, the chief antagonist of the novel, and is known to be the inventor of the gene gun that is demonstrated at Greenfields.

Straik supplies various countries in Africa, including Kenya and Uganda, with his own genetically engineered seeds that will, when activated by a strange "mushroom soup" substance, make the crops poisonous. Alex is sent to Greenfields by MI6 under the guise of a school trip in order to obtain data on Straik's computer. It is in the act of stealing this information that he discovers Straik's association with McCain. Alex considers Straik to be something of a sadist, especially after seeing the greenhouse marked Poison Dome, which is filled with the most dangerous creatures, plants, and natural chemicals on the planet. It also acts as his method of killing people who may inform the authorities of his work, such as the whistle-blower Philip Masters.

McCain mentions later on in the novel that he had killed Straik by shoving a poisonous Cone Snail from the Poison Dome down his throat.

__ Anan Sukit __ Anan Sukit is a minor antagonist in the novel Snakehead. He is the head of the Bangkok Snakehead, owned by Winston Yu.

Sukit first meets Alex while he and Ash are undercover as Afghan refugees, trying to obtain Snakehead's help in illegally immigrating to Australia. Sukit, however, is aware that Alex is undercover, having been warned by Winston Yu. Sukit orders that Alex was to retrieve the fake passports they needed from the Snakehead.

When Alex goes to collect the papers, he is kidnapped by Sukit's men and taken to fight in an arena. Alex, cheating, defeats his opponent in the fight, a man named Sunthorn. The gamblers, who had all bet on Sunthorn, were enraged, leading Sukit to attack Alex. However, Ben Daniels shorts out the lights, giving Alex a chance to flee the arena.

Later, when Alex attempts to escape from the arena in a swamp boat, Sukit approaches him with a gun. Just before he shoots Alex, Ben Daniels shoots Sukit in the back three times, killing him.

Sukit is described as a short Asian man who wears a strange mixture between a suit and combat clothes. He has no ears, as they were cut off during a deal which was ambushed by a rival Bangkok gang.

__ Bill Tanner __ Dr. Bill Tanner is a minor antagonist in Snakehead. He is an Australian doctor who works in an illegal organ harvesting clinic, owned by Major Yu, where Alex was sent to be killed after he was captured. He was in charge of removing Alex's organs for transplants, having been sacked from his previous job for telling a patient they could receive an instant transplant if they paid him. He tells Alex of all the security systems in the hospital, which helps Alex to escape. After Alex escapes and sets fire to the hospital, Tanner survives the attack and sends a Huey helicopter after Alex. It is later revealed that Tanner commits suicide, rather than face Major Yu's horrible punishment.

__ Nadia Vole __ Nadia Vole (otherwise known as Fräulein Vole) is Herod Sayle's German assistant. She is described as being broad-shouldered and severe, having blonde hair, a moon-shaped face, wearing wire framed spectacles, and also wears a smear of yellow lipstick. She has a thick German accent and is described to walk like a soldier. She is killed when the tank containing Sayle's Portuguese Man o' War is destroyed by Alex. She is stung by the jellyfish when it lands directly on top of her.

She is portrayed by Missi Pyle in the film Stormbreaker.

__ Major Winston Yu __ Major Winston Yu is one of the members of the executive board of Scorpia, and the main antagonist of the novel Snakehead. He was asked by Zeljan Kurst, another board member of Scorpia, to command operation "Reef Encounter". This involved generating an artificial tsunami to destroy Reef Island and the west coast of Australia by detonating a stolen bomb named "Royal Blue" between two underwater tectonic plates when they are most vulnerable. He ran the Bangkok Snakehead with Anan Sukit, but becomes the sole leader when Ben "Fox" Daniels kills Sukit.

Yu has a form of osteoporosis which he calls "Brittle Bone Disease", This makes his skeleton highly unstable. It was this disease that forced him to leave the army after four successful tours of duty in Northern Ireland, and into organized crime. Yu is obsessed with the British and has British boats, paintings, and statues. His obsession with the British began when his mother had an affair with a British business man who told her beautiful things about England. When Yu was born, his mother named him after Winston Churchill. He treats every one of his underlings with merciless behavior, but treats Alex gently because he is British.

After his men steal Royal Blue, his plans start going wrong when MI6 tells Alex about Yu and his plot. Yu and Alex escape from the boat The Liberian Star and Yu has Alex kidnapped. Then he is brought to his mansion so Yu could explain himself, and then sends Alex to have his organs surgically removed and used for illegal organ transplanting.

However, Alex escapes his captors and leads Yu to believe he is dead. Alex and a group of ASIS soldiers-including Alex's old ally Ben "Fox" Daniels-subsequently raid Yu's center of operations, an oil drilling platform named Dragon Nine and Alex and Fox eventually encounter Yu and Ash. Fox shoots and kills Ash but Yu shoots Fox, although he is not killed. Alex and Yu have a final confrontation and when Yu is about to kill Alex, a crane collapses inside the control room and the impact breaks Yu's arm, forcing him to flee. In the process he breaks both his ankles as he falls into his yacht, which he then attempts to escape in. While trying to escape, Yu is killed when Alex detonates Royal Blue before due time, sending a huge shock wave which hits Yu and his yacht. Yu's weak bone structure cannot stand up to the force of the explosion and he is killed when all his bones break at the same time.

Yu is portrayed as being a ruthless and merciless killer, a characteristic he inherited from his mother who, when Yu and her were poor in Hong Kong, worked as a paid assassin for the Hong Kong Snakehead. Several of Yu's employees prefer to commit suicide rather than face Yu's punishments, such as Bill Tanner and Captain De Wynter.

__ Razim __ Razim, whose name used to be Abdul-Aziz Al-Rahim, is the main antagonist in Scorpia Rising. He used to be a terrorist for both Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda. He is a new member of Scorpia and he does not feel emotions. He wants to create a measurement of pain called the "Razim." Razim was chosen by Zeljan Kurst to run operation "Horseman," to deliver the Elgin marbles to Greece. His plan was to lead a trail to Cairo, have Alex spy there, and then kill him. Afterward, he wants to blackmail London with evidence of them recruiting Alex. Razim is eventually killed in a fight with Alex by falling into a large pile of salt.

__ Julius Grief __ Julius Grief was Alex's clone in Point Blanc, and in Scorpia Rising, Julius helps Scorpia in order to kill Alex, his enemy. It is Julius who kills Jack Starbright, by detonating the bomb in the car she steals while escaping from Razim's fortress. After a failed attempt to kill the U.S Secretary of State, Julius flees with Alex behind. A taxi hits Julius and he is injured. Alex comes over and shoots him. He is named after Julius Caesar.

__ Erik Gunter __ Erik Gunter was a former war hero who turned to Scorpia for money. In Scorpia Rising, he is hired to manipulate and eventually kill Alex. He is the head of security at the school Alex is attending. He lures Alex into a trap and was going to kill Alex after Julius was supposed to assassinate the U.S. Secretary of State. Alex asks him to give him a cigarette and when Gunter tries to get a cigarette a scorpion which was in the box stings him. Alex then breaks his nose and kicks his neck causing it to snap back and kill Gunter immediately.

__ Heroes __ The following is a list of the heroes appearing in, or referred to in the Alex Rider series, listed alphabetically.

__ Alan Blunt __ Alan Blunt is the head of MI6 Special Operations. He is an aloof, impassive, and ruthless man. Throughout the series he is known for wearing a grey suit and grey glasses and being driven around in a Rolls-Royce. From the book Point Blanc, it is said that he had graduated with a First-Class Honours degree in mathematics from Cambridge University. He is married, but his wife is never mentioned in the series. Blunt is dedicated to his job and has a very analytical mind. Like many spy-masters in popular culture, Blunt is portrayed as being emotionally unattached to anything he does and whatever means he uses.

After Alan Blunt dismissed Alex Rider's suspicions of Damian Cray and his attempt to destroy half the world, he was severely humiliated and was only narrowly able to keep his position. He insists on continuing to use Alex despite of his youthfulness, the death of his uncle whilst on an intelligence case, and the fact that he has encountered near death more times than most intelligence agents would be expected to in their careers; after Alex is almost assassinated in Scorpia, however, he agrees with Mrs. Jones not to use him again, although the CIA and ASIS continue to use Alex. During the events of Crocodile Tears, when Alex goes to MI6 to ask them for help with a journalist who has learned the truth about him, although Blunt continues to treat Alex the same way he always does when meeting Alex in person, he demonstrates a surprising level of concern for Alex when talking to the Prime Minister, expressing pride in Alex's accomplishments and showing disdain at the Prime Minister's decision to bomb a location due to the risk to Alex.

In Scorpia Rising, Blunt is taking retirement and is leaving Mrs. Jones in charge of MI6. When the body of Levi Kroll, a member of the original board of Scorpia, is washed up on the shores of the Thames with an iPhone that references a school in Cairo. Blunt wants to send Alex to investigate the school but Mrs Jones disagrees. However, after a sniper tries to kill Alex, the young man is offered a deal: to take the mission and therefore get out of England to be safe. It is later revealed that it was all part of Scorpia's plot to frame Alex for the death of a US ambassador will killing him along the way before blackmailing the British government out of the Elgin Marbles with the knowledge that MI6 had used a teenage boy as a spy. The mission ended in success: the executors of the plot; Abdul-Aziz Al-Razim, Julius Grief and Erik Gunter; were killed by Alex, the Secretary of State was saved, Scorpia was disbanded and its leader, Zeljan Kurst, was arrested and put on trial by Interpol. However, Jack Starbright was killed in the operation by Razim.

As Mrs Jones becomes the new head of MI6, she tells Blunt that she knows he was the one who hired the sniper that forced Alex into the mission in the first place. Blunt doesn't deny it and says that as the new head of MI6, Mrs Jones will need to make just as difficult decisions and choices. He sums up that no matter what Alex went through Scorpia have disbanded and the American Secretary of State survived so the ends justified the means.

In the film Stormbreaker, Blunt was portrayed by Bill Nighy.

__ John Crawley __ John Crawley has been described as an "office manager" for MI6, and often acts as a messenger between Alex Rider and Special Operations, such as delivering him to MI6 in Stormbreaker and Point Blanc, informing him of his mission in Skeleton Key, visiting him in hospital in Ark Angel and, most recently, leading the "Invisible Man" operation against Harold Bulman in Crocodile Tears. He is known to have worked with John Rider, Alex's father, on a number of occasions and is described as having "the kind of face you forget while you're still looking at it". It is hinted in Ark Angel that he was injured by Scorpia on one mission. He is involved in the Wimbledon committee, and gets Alex a job as a ball boy to investigate a match fixing attempt by the Triads after an unusual raid on the court in Skeleton Key as an independent, non-MI6-related assignment. He is also known to have a dalmatian named Barker.

In the film adaption of Stormbreaker, he was portrayed by Jimmy Carr. After a request from the real MI6 the characters name was changed to "John Crawford".[citation needed]

__Ben 'Fox' Daniels__ Fox is a minor protagonist who has appeared in Stormbreaker and Snakehead. He first meets Alex at an SAS training camp in the Brecon Beacons, where Alex was sent by MI6 for training. In Snakehead, Fox kills Anan Sukit who was attempting to shoot Alex after he had beaten Sukit's fighter "Sunthorn" in an arena fight. Alex meets Fox again, where he takes him to an MI6 outpost in Bangkok. It is revealed here that his real name is Ben Daniels and he was seconded to MI6 from the SAS. After Alex escapes from Bill Tanner's hospital in the Australian jungle, Ben arrives in a helicopter and rescues him. He leads the joint MI6/ASIS raid on Major Yu's oil rig, Dragon 9, where he shoots Alex's godfather Ash, who is then revealed to be working for Scorpia. Ben is then shot by Major Yu, but survives.

He is described as having dark eyes, short black hair, and a Liverpudlian accent.

__ Paul Drevin __ Paul Drevin is the son of Russian multibillionaire Nikolei Drevin, the main antagonist of Ark Angel. Alex and Paul first meet in hospital, where Alex is recovering from a bullet wound, and Paul is recovering from appendicitis. When Force Three attempts to kidnap Paul, Alex is kidnapped instead after he pretends he is Paul. When Alex escapes from Force Three, Nikolei invites Alex to stay with them for a few days and view the launch of Ark Angel.

During Paul's first encounter with Alex, when Alex asks: "'Where is home?", Paul replies: "'I'm not sure.'" He then continues to explain that he lives in London a lot, but is accustomed to moving frequently, mentioning places such as Moscow, New York, and the south of France. Paul doesn't go to school; instead, his father employs tutors. Therefore, Paul misses out on meeting children his own age. Paul was once educated at an ordinary school but had to be removed as there were too many "security problems."

Paul's parents divorced when he was six years old and his mother lives in America. Paul sees her no more than a few times a year.

When on his own territory, Paul is more confident than anywhere else. Paul understands that others may see him as a "spoiled brat." Growing up with such wealth has led Paul to comprehend the fact that friendship can't be bought, no matter how rich he is. Paul often protested against some of the things that came with his billionaire lifestyle.

Nikolei and Paul do not appear to be close. Nikolei had been "too busy" to visit Paul after his operation and during his stay in the hospital. It is evident by the language spoken and the actions when in each others presence that neither is particularly close to the other. During a talk with Alex, Paul reveals that he wishes he had a brother as he always feels alone, despite the company of his father. However, Nikolei insisted that Paul stay with him and not his mother. Paul also confides in Alex that "Dad's not too bad," but he does wish that he had a life of his own. Paul may also fear his father, offering a serious warning to Alex not to make him his enemy. He understands how ruthless and dangerous his father can be.

Near the end of Ark Angel, Nikolei Drevin accidentally shoots Paul, when intended target, Alex, jumps out of the way. Believing his son to be dead, and after screaming out in grief, he flees when he hears the CIA approaching, although he is killed when his seaplane crashes (due to Alex tying a boat to it). It is later stated in Snakehead that Paul recovers from his wound.

Paul, like Alex, is 14 years old. Paul has short blond hair, light blue eyes and a noticeable Russian accent. At his first appearance his face is described as being "thin" and his skin as "pale", although his recent operation to have his appendix removed may account for some of this. Paul suffers from asthma but says that it isn't that bad. He is an excellent tennis player; however due to his asthma, he cannot manage any more than two sets. This also prevented him from joining Alex in wreck diving.

__ Tom Harris __ Tom Harris is Alex's best friend at Brookland High School. He first appeared in the novel Scorpia, and has since appeared in Crocodile Tears.

Tom is described as being at the bottom of his class, though he makes up for this on the sports field. He is Alex's main rival in many sports, and is captain of the school's football (soccer in North America) team.[6] In Crocodile Tears, he says that if he had it his way, he would drop out of high school-having concluded that education doesn't matter after seeing the mess his parents have made of their lives despite their own education-and prefers to listen to his iPod rather than sitting through an assembly.

Tom is first introduced in Scorpia, where he and Alex are holidaying in Venice. Tom's parents were going through an unpleasant divorce, and Tom was weary of their squabbling. He was invited to a holiday in Naples by his brother Jerry, and gladly accepted, bringing Alex along. In Venice he witnesses Alex stop a burglary, and creates a diversion which allows Alex to enter Ca'Vedova. Tom then becomes Alex's closest ally and confidant, learning about his friend's secret work for MI6 and aiding him further.

Tom has a minor role in Crocodile Tears. His class, Alex included, tours a genetic sciences plant, a location MI6 needs to infiltrate. Tom helps Alex escape from Leonard Straik's guards, and covers for his friend during a roll call and his subsequent return to the group.

In Scorpia Rising, he is shot in the arm by a sniper and has to go to the hospital.

He is described as short, with spiky black hair and bright blue eyes.

__ Tulip Jones __ Mrs. Jones is second-in-command at MI6 and is Alan Blunt's closest associate. Blunt insists their personal and professional lives remain separate; consequently, Mrs. Jones has never even been inside of his house, despite knowing him better than anyone else in Special Operations. Mrs. Jones has two children, both of whom have been taken by someone at a young age, although the specifics of this are unknown. Mrs. Jones also has a cat named Q, presumably referring to the gadget expert from the James Bond series. She is sympathetic towards Alex and is often concerned about how his assignments have affected him, even after he tries to kill her in Scorpia after being presented with evidence that she had arranged his father's death. She often objects to Alan Blunt's use of him, eventually convincing him to stop after Alex is nearly assassinated by a sniper, although Alex is used again by the CIA and ASIS. In Scorpia, Mrs. Jones' first name is revealed to be Tulip because her parents were avid gardeners. After Blunt is forced into retirement in Scorpia Rising, she is made Head of MI6 Special Operations, and she vows never to use Alex again. As a parting gift, she arranges Alex a permanent visa in the United States and has Sabina Pleasure's parents made into his legal guardians after Jack is killed in Egypt.

In the Stormbreaker film, she is played by Sophie Okonedo.

__ Tamara Knight __ Tamara Knight is introduced in the novel Ark Angel as Nikolei Drevin's personal assistant. At first, she is cold towards Alex and she doesn't seem to like him at all. However, it was later revealed that she was working for the CIA when she saved Alex's life from drowning when he went scuba diving. Tamara softened towards him and they joined forces to stop Drevin's plans to destroy his Ark Angel space hotel. They were captured by Magnus Payne and the Force Three "freedom fighters", truly mercenaries working for Drevin. Tamara was injured and was imprisoned. She was later rescued by Ed Skulsky and a CIA task force. She one of those who convinced Alex to go into space and stop Payne from setting off the bomb that would destroy Ark Angel.

Also, after saving Alex's life, many clues led to suggest that Alex and Tamara were romantically interested in each other. The most notable clue was when Tamara held his hand as she and Ed tried to get him to go into space. It was later implied in Snakehead when the ASIS file on Alex marked her as one of his two love interests, the other being Sabina Pleasure.

She is described being aged 25, but looking much younger, slightly taller than Alex, brown hair, and attractive blue eyes.

__ Sabina Pleasure __ Sabina Pleasure is a major protagonist who made her first appearance in the novel Skeleton Key and has gone on to appear in Eagle Strike, Snakehead, and Crocodile Tears.

She first meets Alex at Wimbledon, where Alex is working as ball boy and Sabina is working as a ball girl. Like her mother, Sabina enjoys rude jokes. She befriends Alex at this time and Sabina offers to take him on holiday to Cornwall with her parents. It is one night during this holiday that they share their first kiss. From this moment on, she serves as Alex's primary love interest. At the end of the book, she invites him on a holiday to the South of France, setting up the plot of the next novel.

In Eagle Strike, Sabina's father is nearly killed by a bomb, as he was writing an article about Damian Cray, the main antagonist of this novel. When Alex tries to tell her he is a spy, and attempts to show her MI6's headquarters- which have been set up to appear as a genuine bank-, she doesn't believe him and breaks up with him. Later, she is kidnapped by Damian Cray, who wants to use her as a ransom for the flash drive Alex has stolen from him. Alex intends to destroy the flash drive with super glue, but Cray threatens to cut Sabina's fingers off with scissors, forcing Alex to give him the flash drive and let him keep her. When Cray hi-jacks Air Force One, Sabina helps Alex to kill him, and also deactivates the nuclear missiles. Sabina then reveals to Alex her parents want to move to San Francisco, as her father has been offered a job there. Before she leaves, they have a short meeting under a bridge, where she gives Alex a brief kiss.

She appears at the end of Snakehead for a "surprise" Christmas visit, and the book ends with them entering Alex's house together.

In the book Crocodile Tears, Alex and Sabina are on holiday together once more, but in Scotland. Sabina's father, Edward Pleasure, is invited by the main antagonist of the book, Desmond McCain who Edward was writing a report on, to a party on December 31 to celebrate the New Year. All the profits of the party would go to McCain's charity First Aid. They were all set to leave when Sabina's mother announced she wasn't feeling well and could not come. The party bored both Alex and Sabina and they left early, but as they were driving down the hill away from the castle where the party was set, their car's tire was shot out and they were sent plummeting into the loch below. Alex manages to save her and her father's lives once more. They decide to leave for America early, although they invite Alex over for spring. Before leaving, Sabina gives Alex another kiss, suggesting her feelings for him are still existent.

In the book Scorpia Rising Alex remembers his past visit with Sabina, wherein it is made explicitly clear that they are in a relationship, although Alex is unsure how long they will be able to maintain it. After Jack, best friend and legal guardian, is killed in Egypt, Mrs. Jones manages to get Sabina's parents to become Alex's new legal guardians.

She is described as having dark hair, bright blue eyes and freckles. It is often mentioned that she has a "fixation with older men" (which is surprising, considering Alex is younger than her).

In both the graphic novels and the Stormbreaker film, she appears as a school friend of Alex, instead of meeting him at Wimbledon, to provide a love interest element to the film. By the end of the film she knows (and believes) Alex's secret, instead of learning of it in Eagle Strike.

In the film Stormbreaker, she was portrayed by Sarah Bolger.

__ Alex Rider __

Alex Rider is the main character of the series, his name being the title for the franchise. Alex's parents were killed when their private plane crashed - later revealed to have been caused by a bomb planted by Ash - and he was subsequently raised by his uncle Ian Rider, until Ian himself was killed when Alex was fourteen years old. After his uncle's death, MI6 allows Alex's best friend and housekeeper, Jack Starbright, to become his legal guardian and after that he was working for MI6.

His father and uncle were secretly spies for MI6, and Ian Rider had been, unbeknownst to Alex, training Alex his whole life for a career with MI6, teaching him several languages and enrolling him in karate classes. After his uncle is killed, MI6 send Alex on his first mission. He is trained with the SAS and codenamed "Cub". Alex is repeatedly used by MI6 on assignments, and has also been used by the CIA and ASIS. He is very reluctant to take on these assignments, even though he is very capable of successfully completing them, and usually has to be blackmailed into them.

"Most schoolboys dream of being spies, with Alex, we have a spy that dreams of being a schoolboy," said MI6 chief Alan Blunt. Through his adventures, Alex discovers new things about his uncle, his parents, and his godfather, Ash, who were all involved in secret services, with the exception of his mother, who was a nurse.

His assignments often affect him mentally, his eyes often being described as "having seen too much", and he has few friends left at his school, his classmates viewing him as strange because of his long absences from school.

Alex speaks German, French and Spanish (as well as Japanese in the film adaption) and also has a limited grasp of Italian. He is a black-belt in karate. He is an accomplished diver, and has experience in several extreme sports. He is described as having "fair hair, cut short except for two thick strands hanging over his forehead", "the body of an athlete" and having "a face that would attract plenty of girls" as well as "thin lips", and a "slightly chiselled nose and chin". After the novel Scorpia, he has a bullet wound, as well as several scars and bruises from previous assignments. Alex is fourteen years old in the first seven novels, and will be turning fifteen after the end of Crocodile Tears, the eighth novel.

He was portrayed by Alex Pettyfer in the film Stormbreaker.

__ Helen Rider __ Helen Rider (born Beckett) was Alex Rider's mother. She was killed, along with her husband, John Rider, when their best friend Ash, who was working for Scorpia, set a bomb on their private airplane. This happened while Alex was still an infant (he had a minor ear infection, so stayed behind), and his uncle, Ian Rider, became his legal guardian.

Before her death, Helen was a nurse. She met John Rider at Oxford, while studying medicine, then later helped him recover from injuries sustained during a mission. In the novel Snakehead, Ash speaks about how he actually asked her out, but she "turned me [Ash] down very sweetly". John and Helen later married at a registry office in London, with only half a dozen people in attendance. In the novel Scorpia, Alex sees a vision of his mother, smiling at him, after he is shot.

__ Ian Rider __ Ian Rider, Alex's uncle, became his guardian after his parents died. He worked for MI6, undercover of being a banker. Ian and Alex had a very good relationship. They were very close, and when Ian was home they did practically everything together. Ian often took Alex around the world to educate him about other cultures. He never let Alex call him 'uncle'. Ian also taught him a lot of things that prepared him for being a spy, such as scuba diving, climbing, and driving. He was killed at the beginning of Stormbreaker by Yassen Gregorovich. His death led Alex into working for MI6. He had completed missions in Iran, Havana, Hong Kong, Cairo and Washington. But his luck ran out in Cornwall, while investigating Herod Sayle and the Stormbreaker project.

It is later revealed that Yassen worked for Herod Sayle and that he or Scorpia ordered the assassination.

Ian Rider is played by Ewan McGregor in the movie adaptation of Stormbreaker.

__ John Rider __ John Rider was Alex Rider's father and an agent of MI6.

At Oxford University, Rider studied politics and economics, and was an excellent tennis player. He later joined the Parachute Regiment at Aldershot and served for three years, seeing action in both Northern Ireland and Gambia. John was awarded the Military Cross from the queen, as well as being promoted to the rank of Captain for carrying a wounded soldier to safety under fire during the attack on Goose Green, in the Falklands War.

He later worked for MI6 and became one of the best agents in the service. He was placed undercover in the organization Scorpia, where he used the alias "Hunter". He gained Scorpia's trust this by pretending to murder a taxi driver, which landed him in prison, aside from being discharged from the Army. During his time at Scorpia, he was a mentor to a young Yassen Gregorovich. It was mentioned that he saved Yassen's life while on an assignment with him in the Amazon, shooting a black widow spider off of Yassen's neck and assassinating the target with the same bullet.

Julia Rothman, a senior executive of Scorpia, fell in love with John, so he was "captured" by MI6 in Malta. Afterwards, he faked his own death to leave Scorpia during a prisoner exchange, in which he was believed to have been killed.

After his assignment, he was granted leave. His best friend Ash, however, had been working for Scorpia. Following orders from Julia Rothman, he planted a bomb on John's plane, killing both him and his wife, Helen. Alex, who was still an infant at that time, had stayed behind due to a minor ear infection, and survived.

__ Derek Smithers __ Derek Smithers is a protagonist who has appeared in all of the novels, as well as in the film adaption. He creates the various gadgets for MI6 agents, a role similar to that of Q's in the James Bond films. It is often implied that Smithers is Alex's only genuine friend at MI6; in Eagle Strike, when Alex attempted to convince MI6 to investigate Damian Cray, he was ignored by Blunt and Mrs. Jones, but Smithers nevertheless supplied him with a high-tech bicycle that played a crucial role in Alex's investigations, and in Ark Angel Smithers took time out from his holiday to provide Alex with new gadgets when the CIA requested Alex's assistance in investigating the father of a new friend.

He has often stated that he enjoys having Alex around because he finds it a greater challenge to come up with gadgets for teenagers, as well as the final results inevitably being more "fun" than his products for MI6's adult agents. He often tries to give Alex some sort of weapon; although MI6 will not allow an actual gun, he has secretly provided Alex with little extras such as an exploding earstud, explosive geligemite ink pens, and a book with a knock-out dart in it.

Smithers is described as balding, morbidly obese, and very jovial. He often expresses dislike for other intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, ASIS, and even MI5.

In the film Stormbreaker, Smithers was portrayed by Stephen Fry. Notably in the film he doesn't appear to be at all overweight, much less obese than he is in the books. He has a somewhat stern, almost gruff, demeanor in the film, as opposed to his joviality in the novels. Fry, when interviewed for the special features of the Stormbreaker DVD release, actually says that he portrays the character as annoyed that he has to make gadgets for a fourteen-year-old, saying that Smithers would feel that his self-esteem was at risk. This is a clear contradiction to the portrayal in the books, in which he enjoys the challenge of making gadgets for a teenager.

Revealed in Scorpia Rising, Smithers is actually a thin, wiry man, who wears a fat suit. He also sounds Irish. This is the "dark, dark, secret" described about him by Anthony Horowitz.

__ James Sprintz __ James Sprintz is a character in Point Blanc. When Alex arrives at Point Blanc Academy, James is the only boy who had not yet been imprisoned and replaced by a Dr. Grief clone. He becomes Alex's only friend at the academy. He often comments on the other boys' strange behaviour (who are, in reality, clones of Dr. Grief), and the day before he was captured and replaced, he had planned to escape Point Blanc. He is eventually freed by Alex and the SAS, along with the other real boys, when the school is raided.

According to Alex's notes, James is fourteen years old, German, and formerly lived in Düsseldorf. His father is Dieter Sprintz, a well-known financier and banker. His mother lives in England. He was expelled from his previous school for wounding a teacher with an air-pistol, and is described by Alex as being pale, with dark blue eyes and brown hair.

__ Jack Starbright __ Jack Starbright is Alex Rider's closest and best friend, a 28 year old American girl, originally Ian Rider's housekeeper and after his death Alex's legal guardian. She has appeared in every novel so far, with her most prominent roles being in Eagle Strike and Scorpia Rising. She is described as slim, with tangled red hair, and a boyish, round face that "is always cheerful, even when in a bad mood". She has a crooked smile, and is described to look more like a big sister than a housekeeper. She is killed during the events of Scorpia Rising.

She came to London from Washington D.C. when she was twenty-one to study law, but never left, and has known Alex since he was seven years old. After the death of Ian Rider, Jack became Alex's legal guardian, and continued to live with him in Chelsea. She is very protective of Alex, having looked after him for several years, and as a result has developed a strong relationship with him.

In most of the novels, Jack appears at the beginning and the end of the story, but does not have a part in the major plot. However, in Eagle Strike, she helps investigate Damian Cray's organization by travelling with him through Europe, and assists in pickpocketing a V.I.P.'s ticket in order to get into the premiere of Damian Cray's new video-game console, the Gameslayer.

In the original version of Scorpia, Jack hires a tutor to help Alex catch up with the schoolwork he missed because of his various missions, having become concerned about the way Alex's assignments have affected him. In Snakehead, it is revealed that Jack had met Alex's godfather and John Rider's best man, Ash. She had a brief relationship with him - it is implied that the relationship was of a romantic nature.

She strongly disapproves of MI6's demands of Alex, but Alex and Jack have a somewhat "unspoken agreement" not to discuss his MI6 life. In Stormbreaker, her visa was close to expiring, and Blunt used this to blackmail Alex into working for MI6. Jack speaks fluent French, and although being a good cook refuses to make anything that takes longer than ten minutes. Jack's name may be short for Jackie or Jacqueline - in Stormbreaker, it is mentioned that Alex once asked, but she never revealed what it was.

In Scorpia Rising, Jack is planning to return to America, after her father has a stroke, and she feels that Alex no longer needs her. However, after an incident with a sniper (arranged by Blunt), she travels with Alex to Cairo to spy on former war hero Erik Gunter. After being captured by Razim in the act of doing so, Jack manages to break out of her cell, knock out a guard and steal a Land Rover. However, Razim has been allowing her to do so, and, with Alex watching on television (and as part of his measurement of pain experiment), has Julius Grief detonate a bomb placed underneath Jack's Land Rover, and the car explodes, killing Jack instantly.

In the Stormbreaker film adaptation, Jack is played by Alicia Silverstone. Jack also appears in the graphic novel adaptations of both Stormbreaker and Point Blanc.

__ Belinda Troy __ Belinda Troy is a minor protagonist in Skeleton Key. She was a CIA agent partnered with Tom Turner (In the US version Glen Carver) and Alex Rider on a mission to Cuba to investigate General Alexei Sarov. She and Turner do not take to Alex, because he is a minor, and believe he is unnecessary and could put their mission in danger.

She is killed in the same manner as Tom Turner while attempting to infiltrate Sarov's headquarters. She is described as being "a couple of years older than he is (Turner), slim, with brown frizzy hair tumbling down to her shoulders".

__ Tom Turner __ Tom Turner (named Glen Carver in the US version of Skeleton Key) is a minor protagonist in Skeleton Key. He, like Belinda Troy, is a CIA agent, sent to Cuba with Troy and Alex Rider, to investigate General Alexei Sarov. Turner and Troy object to Alex being sent with them. They often ignore his opinions and treat him as a hindrance, even after Alex saves Turner from The Salesman. He reveals nothing about his personal life, other than he is a former marine, and dreams of dying for his country.

He is killed, along with Belinda Troy, when trying to infiltrate Sarov's headquarters through the "Devil's Chimney", a hidden underwater tunnel. They were killed by the traps which were disguised as stalactites. Turner is described as "about forty, a handsome man, with fair, close-cropped hair, blue eyes and a face that managed to be both tough and boyish" (Skeleton Key).

__ Wolf __ Wolf is a minor character who appears as being initially hostile towards Alex in the novel Stormbreaker but returns in a more protagonistic role for the novel Point Blanc. He also appears in the film adaption of Stormbreaker. He is first encountered by Alex while training with the SAS. He is part of "K Unit" along with Alex (Cub), Ben Daniels (Fox), and two other men, codenamed Eagle and Snake/Bear (Snake in the novel, Bear in the film). Unlike Tom Turner in Skeleton Key, Wolf resents Alex because he is a minor. During a training exercise, Wolf pushes Alex into a tripwire, causing the whole unit to fail the exercise and blame Alex. Near the end of Alex's training, the unit are to parachute out of a plane. Wolf, however, freezes and cannot make the jump. Alex then kicks him out of the door, saving his career and reputation.

Wolf returns again in Point Blanc, with a team of SAS, to raid Point Blanc Academy. His attitude towards Alex has changed considerably by this time. There, he kills Mrs. Stellenbosch, but is shot in the process. He is later found to have survived.

While Alex was recovering in hospital, after being shot at the end of Scorpia, he received a postcard from Wolf. The postcard had been sent from Iraq, showing Wolfs' latest deployment.

He is described as well-built with black hair, square shoulders and a dark, watchful face. He is in his late twenties. In the film Stormbreaker, he was portrayed by Ashley Walters