Scorpia Rising (Alex Rider)

Product Information

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. Portrayed as jolly and enthusiastic from his overweight appearance, it is often implied that Smithers is one of Alex's two only genuine friends at MI6 (the other probably being Ben Daniels). For instance, 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. Horowitz, Anthony; Johnston, Antony (May 2020). Alex Rider Graphic Novel 6: Ark Angel. Walker Books Australia Pty, Limited. ISBN 978-1-4063-4189-8. He is portrayed by Ashley Walters in the Stormbreaker film adaptation, and by Howard Charles in the Television series. Blunt was only seen a few times in the fifth Alex Rider novel, the first when Mrs Jones comes to his office to tell him Alex Rider has joined SCORPIA. The second time was when he arranged a meeting with Alex after his attempt to kill Mrs Jones in her flat, and then having consecutive appearances throughout the rest of the novel. Ian Rider is Alex's uncle and 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 is killed at the beginning of Stormbreaker by Yassen Gregorovich. His death led Alex into working for MI6.

Point Blanc was published in the United Kingdom in 2001, and in North America in 2002 under the alternate title Point Blank. After the deaths of two billionaires, MI6 discovers a connection: the two men who died each had a son attending Point Blanc, a school for rebellious sons of billionaires located in the French Alps, owned by Dr. Hugo Grief. MI6 sends Alex to investigate Point Blanc, where he discovers that Grief is replacing the students with clones of himself, who are altered through plastic surgery to resemble the students, including Alex himself, so Grief can inherit the fortune and gain the power to control the whole world. However, Alex foils his plan. He insists on continuing to use Alex Rider despite his age, 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 him. He can appear arrogant and self-centred, almost callously and cynically utilising Alex for his own ends, and at one point causing the police hours worth of work just to recruit Alex in the final book. Alex's athletic talents greatly assist him during his missions many times: for example, in Point Blanc he snowboards down a mountain on an ironing board to escape Point Blanc Academy, in Skeleton Key he scuba dives into Skeleton Key, in Scorpia he base jumps into a factory, in Ark Angel he walks between two apartment buildings on a tightrope and in Snakehead, he kayaks down a river on a makeshift kayak.Frankie "The Flame" Stallone - Killed after crashing the steam train he was driving into the side of a tunnel after Alex Rider throws a flask of diesel fuel into the boiler of the train, causing it to explode. Razim is a callous, self-serving sociopath with virtually no emotions or empathy. His evil even showed at a young age - as a baby, he never laughed or cried, instead lying sullenly in a cot. When he was a young child, he had multiple, uncontrollable temper tantrums which often resulted in the harm or suffering of others. Each and every nanny that had ever looked after him never lasted a day; one was even stabbed in the thigh with a pair of scissors after she told him off for teasing his sister.

Mrs Jones reveals that she did not want to be a spy; she started out wanting to be a humanitarian, working to stop bad things happening in foreign countries. She was at university, preparing a doctoral thesis on climate change and how it affects developing countries, when she was approached to work at Special Operations. She started as an analyst, before eventually becoming Alan Blunt’s second in command. In that time, she met a German political writer called Hans, who she fell in love with and married (though she kept her maiden name). Later, they became parents to two children, a boy called William and a girl called Sofia. Alex saw their picture at Mrs Jones’ apartment, when SCORPIA sent him to kill her (as depicted in Scorpia); this revelation startles him, as he thought of them as a nephew and niece, never once believing Mrs Jones to be a mother. Scorpia was all over the world. It had brought down two governments and arranged for a third to be unfairly elected. It had destroyed dozens of businesses, corrupted politicians and civil servants, engineered several major ecological disasters, and killed anyone who got in its ways. It was now responsible for a tenth of the worlds terrorism, which it undertook on a contract basis. Scorpia liked to think of itself as the Microsoft of crime - but in fact, compared to Scorpia, Microsoft was strictly small time

Childhood and Early Life

A fake light-switch which can be attached to any wall, as it is used to listen in on room conversations.

At the time of Scorpia, Rothman sat on the executive board of the criminal organization SCORPIA (having been one of the original twelve founders), and was in charge of their then latest assignment, Operation Invisible Sword. Alex is described as a boy with 'the body of an athlete'. He also has fair blonde hair and 'serious dark eyes', and weighs 110 pounds. He is also said to attract many girls. Anthony Sean Howell, more commonly referred to as Ash (his initials), is a major character in Snakehead.Exocet: An X-ray machine that could see through solid walls and doors (within 2 in.) and amplified sound