S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld

The SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion (S.P.E.C.T.R.E.) is a fictional terrorist organization led by Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Its first appearance was in Ian Fleming's James Bond novel, Thunderball, and subsequently in a number of James Bond films including the very first Bond film, Dr. No, where it has been the spy's most persistent opponent. 007 Fictional character Ernst Stavro Blofeld (portrayed by Donald Pleasence) with his cat from You Only Live Twice - Image from www. ... 007 Fictional character Ernst Stavro Blofeld (portrayed by Donald Pleasence) with his cat from You Only Live Twice - Image from www. ... Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character in the James Bond universe. ... The Three Graces, here in a painting by Sandro Botticelli, were the goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in Greek mythology. ... ... Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character in the James Bond universe. ... Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964) was an English author and journalist, best remembered for writing the James Bond series of novels as well as the childrens story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. ... The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced double-oh seven), is a fictional British spy created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. ... 2003 Penguin Books paperback edition There is also a game in the UK National Lottery called Thunderball Thunderball is the ninth novel in Ian Flemings James Bond series. ... 2002 reissue of the original novel. ...

Philosophy and goals

The goal of the organization is extortion and world domination. To achieve this, their basic strategy of the organization is illustrated by the analogy of the three Siamese fighting fish Blofeld keeps in an aquarium in the film version of From Russia with Love. Blofeld notes that one fish is refraining from fighting two others until their fight is concluded. Then, that cunning fish attacks the weakened victor and kills it easily. Thus S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s main strategy is to instigate conflict between two powerful enemies, namely the superpowers, hoping that they will exhaust themselves and be vulnerable when S.P.E.C.T.R.E. finally moves in to seize power. Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person obtains money, behaviour, or other goods and/or services from another by wrongfully threatening or inflicting harm to this person, reputation, or property. ... WORLD DOMINATION is KOMPRESSORs first compact disc release. ... Binomial name Betta splendens Regan, 1910 The Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta splendens) is one of the most popular species of freshwater aquarium fish. ... A 2002 Penguin Books paperback edition From Russia with Love, published in 1957, is the fifth James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ...

In both the film and the novel Thunderball, the physical headquarters of the organisation are laid in Paris, operating behind the front of an international organisation aiding refugees. 2003 Penguin Books paperback edition There is also a game in the UK National Lottery called Thunderball Thunderball is the ninth novel in Ian Flemings James Bond series. ... The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city, with the skyscrapers of La Défense business district 5 km/ 3 mi behind. ...

Organization discipline is notoriously draconian with the penalty for disobedience or failure being death. Furthermore, to heighten the impact of the executions, Blofeld often chooses to focus attention on an innocent member, making it appear his death imminent, only to suddenly strike down the actual target when that person is off guard.

Leadership

S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s second in command, Emilio Largo from Thunderball

S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is headed up by the supervillain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld who usually appears accompanied by a white Persian cat in the movies, but not in the books. In both the films and the novels, Emilio Largo is the second in command (although not indicated so by number). It is stated in the novel that if something were to happen to Blofeld, Largo would assume command. Largo appears for the first and final time in Thunderball. Emilio Largo from Thunderball (DVD) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... Emilio Largo from Thunderball (DVD) This is a screenshot of a copyrighted website, video game graphic, computer program graphic, television broadcast, or film. ... Emilio Largo is a fictional character from the 1961 novel and the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball. ... Doctor Doom, one of the most archetypal supervillains and his arch-enemies The Fantastic Four (in background). ... Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character in the James Bond universe. ... The Persian cat is one of the oldest breeds of cat. ... Emilio Largo is a fictional character from the 1961 novel and the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball. ... 2003 Penguin Books paperback edition There is also a game in the UK National Lottery called Thunderball Thunderball is the ninth novel in Ian Flemings James Bond series. ...

In the novels, the numbers of members are deliberately assigned at random and regularly rotated to prevent detection. At the time of Thunderball, the leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, has been assigned 'Number 2', while Emilio Largo is assigned 'Number 1'. In the films the number indicates rank. Blofeld is always referred to as 'Number 1' and Emilio Largo, in Thunderball, is 'Number 2'.

Appearances

Novels

In the original Bond novel series, S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s first and last true appearance was also in the book Thunderball. It appears that after James Bond and Felix Leiter smashed S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s plot to blackmail NATO with stolen nuclear weapons, S.P.E.C.T.R.E. was disbanded. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the second chapter of what is known as the 'Blofeld Trilogy', Blofeld appears to be working on his own with only the help of his henchman Irma Bunt. Although there are references to S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and speculation by Bond that Blofeld was attempting to reform S.P.E.C.T.R.E., the organization as a full entity was never re-established. Blofeld made one final appearance in Fleming's You Only Live Twice. Felix Leiter is a fictional character created by Ian Fleming in the James Bond series of novels and films. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ... 2003 Penguin Books paperback edition On Her Majestys Secret Service is the eleventh James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, published in 1963. ... 2003 Penguin Books paperback edition You Only Live Twice is the twelfth novel by Ian Fleming featuring James Bond, secret agent 007; it was published in 1964, around the time Fleming died. ...

Later, the John Gardner Bond novel, For Special Services introduced a revived S.P.E.C.T.R.E. led by Blofeld's daughter. Although Bond ultimately prevents S.P.E.C.T.R.E. from reforming, it continued to play a part in Role of Honour and Nobody Lives For Ever. The next Bond novelist, Raymond Benson, reintroduced Irma Bunt in his short story "Blast From the Past." This article concerns the British author of spy thrillers John Gardner. ... Berkley Books American paperback edition. ... Role of Honour (published in American editions as Role of Honor), is a novel that was first published in 1984. ... Nobody Lives For Ever (published in American editions as Nobody Lives Forever), is a novel that was first published in 1986. ... Raymond Benson, born September 6, 1955, is an American author best known for being the most recent author of the official James Bond novels. ... In the late 1990s, Raymond Benson, who at the time was the official novelist of the James Bond literary franchise, became the first author since Bonds creator, Ian Fleming, to write officially sanctioned short stories featuring the superspy. ...

Films

The first mention of S.P.E.C.T.R.E occurred in the first official film, Dr. No. In the novel, Dr. Julius No was working in association with the Soviets. This was changed, however, for the film as well as subsequent adaptations of the novels where either the Soviets or their counter-spy agency, SMERSH are Bond's main nemesis. SMERSH, however, does have a small part in the film From Russia with Love. 2002 reissue of the original novel. ... Dr. Julius No is a fictional character in the James Bond film and novel Dr. No. ... Soviet redirects here. ... SMERSH (in capitalised letters) is a Soviet counterintelligence agency that was featured in Ian Flemings early James Bond novels and films as 007s nemesis. ... A 2002 Penguin Books paperback edition From Russia with Love, published in 1957, is the fifth James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming. ...

Differing from the novel series by Fleming, S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is much more resilient, coming back after each defeat by Bond with increasingly grander schemes. S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is behind the villainous plots in some way in four James Bond films including Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Thunderball, and finally You Only Live Twice where it appears they are ultimately defeated. S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is mentioned by name one last time in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but this film and its follow up, Diamonds Are Forever feature Blofeld working independently. Blofeld appears one more time in the pre-title sequence of For Your Eyes Only where he supposedly meets his demise. 2003 Penguin Books paperback edition You Only Live Twice is the twelfth novel by Ian Fleming featuring James Bond, secret agent 007; it was published in 1964, around the time Fleming died. ... 2003 Penguin Books paperback edition On Her Majestys Secret Service is the eleventh James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, published in 1963. ... A 2002 Penguin Books paperback edition Diamonds Are Forever, published in 1956, is the fourth James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming. ... 2003 Penguin Books paperback edition For Your Eyes Only is a collection of James Bond short stories by Ian Fleming, first published in 1960. ...

In 1983, S.P.E.C.T.R.E. was revived in the unofficial remake of Thunderball, Never Say Never Again. // Events February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Lets Spend the Night Together opens in New York Top grossing films North America Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Tootsie Trading Places, starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy WarGames, starring Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy Superman III Flashdance... Never Say Never Again is an unofficial James Bond film and remake of the 1965 film Thunderball. ...

Copyright issues

Main article: The controversy over Thunderball

S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and its characters have been at the center of a long-standing litigation case starting in 1961 between Kevin McClory and Ian Fleming over the film rights to Thunderball and the ownership of the organization and its characters. In 1963 Ian Fleming settled out of court with McClory, which awarded McClory with the film rights to Thunderball, although the literary rights would stay with Fleming and thus allow continuation author John Gardner to use S.P.E.C.T.R.E. in a number of his novels. 2003 Penguin Books paperback edition There is also a game in the UK National Lottery called Thunderball Thunderball is the ninth novel in Ian Flemings James Bond series. ... Kevin ODonovan McClory (b. ... This article concerns the British author of spy thrillers John Gardner. ...

In 1963 the producers of EON Productions, Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman made an agreement with McClory to adapt the novel into the fourth official James Bond film. The agreement also stipulated that McClory would not be allowed to make further adaptations of Thunderball for at least ten years since the release. Although S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and Blofeld are used in a number of films before and after Thunderball, the issue over the copyright of Thunderball, did prevent S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and Blofeld from becoming the main villains in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me. In 1983, McClory released the unofficial remake of 1965's Thunderball, entitled Never Say Never Again. EON Productions is a film production company known for producing the James Bond film series. ... Albert Romolo Broccoli (April 5, 1909–June 27, 1996) known to millions of movie fans as Cubby Broccoli (a nickname used by a cousin), produced more than forty movies, but will be remembered by most for his contribution to one of the most successful film franchises in history, James Bond. ... Harry Saltzman (October 27, 1915 - September 28, 1994) was a film producer best known for co-producing the James Bond film series with Albert R. Broccoli until selling his share of the franchise to United Artists in 1975. ... // Events In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network. ... 2003 Penguin Books paperback edition The Spy Who Loved Me is a James Bond novel by Ian Fleming first published in 1962. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Never Say Never Again is an unofficial James Bond film and remake of the 1965 film Thunderball. ...

Although to this day, McClory retains the film rights to Thunderball, the courts in 2001 awarded MGM with the exclusive film rights to the fictional character James Bond. This technically prevents McClory from creating further adaptations of the novel. MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ... A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ...

S.P.E.C.T.R.E. henchmen

Henchmen working for S.P.E.C.T.R.E. or directly for Ernst Stavro Blofeld in (order of appearance):

Films

• Dr. Julius No (Dr. No)
• Professor R. J. Dent (Dr. No)
• Miss Taro (Dr. No)
• Rosa Klebb (No. 3, From Russia with Love)
• Donald "Red" Grant (From Russia with Love)
• Kronsteen (No. 5, From Russia with Love)
• Morzeny (From Russia with Love)
• Emilio Largo (No. 2, Thunderball)
• Fiona Volpe (Thunderball)
• Colonel Jacques Boitier (No. 6, Thunderball)
• Count Lippe (Thunderball)
• Angelo Palazzi (Thunderball)
• Vargas (Thunderball)
• Janni (Thunderball)
• Professor Ladislav Kutze (Thunderball)
• Quist (Thunderball)
• Helga Brandt (No.11, You Only Live Twice)
• Hans (You Only Live Twice)
• Mr. Osato (Head Of Osato Chemicals, You Only Live Twice)
• Irma Bunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
• Bert Saxby (Diamonds are Forever)
• Grunther (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
• Several other agents of SPECTRE remain nameless and unimportant

Dr. Julius No is a fictional character in the James Bond film and novel Dr. No. ... 2002 reissue of the original novel. ... The SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion (S.P.E.C.T.R.E.) is a fictional terrorist organization led by Ernst Stavro Blofeld. ... A 2002 Penguin Books paperback edition From Russia with Love, published in 1957, is the fifth James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming. ... Red Grant is a fictional character in the James Bond novel and film From Russia with Love. ... Emilio Largo is a fictional character from the 1961 novel and the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball. ... 2003 Penguin Books paperback edition There is also a game in the UK National Lottery called Thunderball Thunderball is the ninth novel in Ian Flemings James Bond series. ...

Unofficial

• Maximillian Largo (No.1, Never Say Never Again)
• Fatima Blush (No.12, Never Say Never Again)

Maximillian Largo is the reimagined fictional character from the 1983 film, Never Say Never Again, which was an unofficial remake of the 1961 James Bond novel and subsequent 1965 film adaptation, Thunderball. ...

Novels

All henchmen listed below are from Thunderball

• Emilio Largo — 'Number 1'
• Giuseppe Petacchi — Domino Petacchi's brother
• Pierre Borraud — Killed by Blofeld for raping a girl
• Dr. Kandinsky
• Dr. Kotze
• Count Lippe

Parodies and clones

S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is often cloned or parodied in films, video games, and novels. The most obvious is the Austin Powers series of movies. In this series, a man named Dr. Evil (a parody of Ernst Stavro Blofeld) is the leader of a villainous organization simply called "Dr. Evil's Evil organization." Dr. Evil's second in command, known only as "Number Two", is a parody of Emilio Largo, Blofeld's second in command. A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Mike Myers as Austin Powers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. ... Dr. Evil (played by Mike Myers), is the chief villain of the Austin Powers series of films. ... This article is about fictional characters. ... Emilio Largo is a fictional character from the 1961 novel and the 1965 James Bond movie Thunderball. ...

• In the video game series No One Lives Forever a man simply called "The director" leads a similar organization called "H.A.R.M.". A running joke during the series is that no one actually knows what H.A.R.M. stands for.

• In the video game 'Evil Genius', one has to make a criminal organization exactly like S.P.E.C.T.R.E. The character Maximillian is a spoof of Blofeld. Similarly, the enemy organisations within the game are named things like 'S.M.A.S.H.' or 'H.A.M.M.E.R.'

• The James Bond spinoff animated series, James Bond Jr, featured a clone of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. called "S.C.U.M.".

• The animated series Inspector Gadget featured a clone of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. called "M.A.D.". Dr. Claw, the head of M.A.D. is also based on the villain Blofeld.

• The TV series Get Smart featured a S.P.E.C.T.R.E.-like organization called KAOS.

• In the mid 80s, a highly successful James Bond tabletop RPG was released. With the films as inspirations, the stories were adapted for players. Minor changes to plots and villains were made. For example, Kidd & Wint were freelance assassins working for S.P.E.C.T.R.E. They in fact leased out services to other terrorist organizations and various crime syndicates. The most noted change was S.P.E.C.T.R.E.. It was later renamed TAROT and the face cards represented various departments. This was due to the copyright issues referenced above. West End Games (the game's publisher) worked with Eon productions (the film producers) for the rights to Bond, and were told they were not allowed to negotiate with McClory for the rights to S.P.E.C.T.R.E., hence the hasty renaming.

• The Secret Board of Shadowy Figures from Clone High.

No One Lives Forever, commonly abbreviated NOLF, is the name of a computer game and video game series by Monolith Productions. ... James Bond Jr. ... Inspector Gadget is an animated television series about a clumsy, absent-minded, and oblivious detective, Inspector Gadget, who is a cyborg with various gadgets built into his anatomy. ... Get Smart was an American comedy television series that ran from September 18, 1965 to May 1970; a revival of the series ran from January to February 1995. ... The Secret Board of Shadowy Figuress apparent headquarters The Secret Board of Shadowy Figures is a group of fictional animated characters on Clone High. ... Clone High was an animated series that aired for one season (November 2002 - April 2003) on MTV and Teletoon. ...

See also

• List of James Bond villains
• SMERSH

The James Bond novels and films are notable for their memorably despicable villains and henchmen. ... SMERSH (in capitalised letters) is a Soviet counterintelligence agency that was featured in Ian Flemings early James Bond novels and films as 007s nemesis. ...

External links

• Blofeld from The Bond Film Informant
• spectreorganisation.com -- Information on Kevin McClory's fight for the rights to Thunderball and S.P.E.C.T.R.E.