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James Bond character
James Bond
Gender	Male
Affiliation	British Secret Service
Status	Active
Portrayed by	Barry Nelson Bob Holness Sean Connery David Niven George Lazenby Roger Moore Timothy Dalton Pierce Brosnan Daniel Craig

Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by novelist Ian Fleming in 1952. He is the protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games. He is portrayed as an SIS agent residing in London. From 1995 onwards, SIS would be officially acknowledged as MI6.

According to the National Enquirer, Ian Fleming patterned James Bond after Dusan "Dusko" Popov, a Serb double agent nicknamed Tricycle. Was there ever a real superspy like James Bond, Her Majesty's secret agent with a licence to kill? A resounding "No" was the answer given by Popov. "I doubt whether a flesh and blood Bond would last 48 hours as a spy," Popov declared to a group of Italian journalists in 1981, shortly before his death at his residence outside Cannes, on the Mediterranean Cote d'Azur in France.

Bond holds code number "007," except for in You Only Live Twice, where he temporarily becomes "7777". The "double-0" prefix indicates his discretionary licence to kill in the performance of his duties.^[1] In the films, he is famous for introducing himself as "Bond, James Bond" whenever the opportunity arises and for ordering his vodka martinis "shaken, not stirred"; his usual and characteristic clothing is a tuxedo, usually also wearing a Rolex watch or, in later films, an Omega.

He has been portrayed on film by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig, the last interpretation being the only one with an official fictional biography of the character. However, Bond was first portrayed by Barry Nelson in a 1954 American television movie based on the novel Casino Royale, and next by Bob Holness in a 1956 South African radio series based on the novel Moonraker. David Niven was Bond in a spoof film also called Casino Royale in 1967, which bore almost no relation to the Bond novel of the same name. Several other actors, including Peter Sellers and Woody Allen, also played James Bond in the spoof.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Family and early years 1.2 Working for the British Secret Service 1.3 Description and personal life 1.4 Habits and preferences 2 Birth year debate 3 Modern Bond biography 4 Actors 5 Alternative biographies and theories 6 References 7 External links

This article or section describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please rewrite this article to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective.

See also: Young Bond

With the Young Bond series of novels by Charlie Higson launched in 2005, Bond is an ageless character in his late thirties. In Moonraker, Bond notes that he has only eight years before mandatory retirement at age 45. Therefore, he is 37 years old.^[2] This approximate age carries on in continuation novels written by Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, and Raymond Benson.^{[citation needed]} However, the actors who have portrayed Bond have varied greatly in age. George Lazenby was only 30 when On Her Majesty's Secret Service was released, while Roger Moore was 58 when A View to a Kill was released.

Due to Fleming's changes of dates and times in which events occurred, Bond's specific birth year is unknown. Most researchers or biographers have concluded that Bond was born in 1920, 1921 or 1924. (see more)

It is also debated where James Bond was born. According to John Pearson and his book James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007, Bond was born in Wattenscheid, near Essen, Germany. But Charlie Higson states in his novel SilverFin that the secret agent was born in Switzerland.

James Bond is the son of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond of Glencoe, and a Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix of the Canton de Vaud. Bond spent many of his early years abroad and became proficient in German and French due to his father's work as a foreign representative of the Vickers armaments firm. When Bond was 11, both of his parents died in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges near Chamonix.

During "Operation Corona" in the novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service, it is established that Bond's family motto may be Orbis non sufficit (Latin for "The world is not enough.") The coat of arms and motto are stated to have belonged to Sir Thomas Bond, although his relation with James Bond is unclear and neglected by the latter. Bond, in fact, shows no true interest or enthusiasm about his potential genealogical relationship to Sir Thomas Bond, as can be demonstrated by his abrupt response to Griffin Or after being told about the motto:

“ Griffon Or broke in excitedly, 'And this charming motto of the line, "The World is not Enough". You do not wish to have the right to it?' 'It is an excellent motto which I shall certainly adopt,' said Bond curtly. He looked pointedly at his watch. 'Now I'm afraid we really must get down to business. I have to report back to my Ministry.' ”

On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Chapter 6: Bond of Bond Street?

After the death of his parents, he subsequently went to live with his aunt, Miss Charmian Bond, in the village of Pett Bottom who completed his early education. He later briefly attended Eton College starting at the age of "12 or thereabouts" (13 in Young Bond), but left after two halves when some "alleged" troubles with one of his maids came to light. However, he recounts losing his virginity on his first visit to Paris at the age of 16 in the short story "From a View to a Kill".

Bond was removed from Eton at his aunt's request and sent to continue his education at Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland, his father's old school. Per John Pearson's Authorised Biography and an allusion by Fleming in From Russia with Love, Bond also briefly attended the University of Geneva. With the exception of Fettes, Bond's attendance at these schools parallels Fleming's own life. The film version of You Only Live Twice asserts he is a graduate with a degree in Oriental languages from Cambridge University; in the later film The Spy Who Loved Me Bond is identified by an acquaintance as a Cambridge graduate, whilst in the official biographical material for for the 2006 film Casino Royale, he is stated as having attended the London School of Economics. He also attends (presumably at some point) Oxford to study Danish in Tomorrow Never Dies, although in the film he's not there to study at all. Bond can speak a variety of different languages, most notably German, French, Russian and Japanese. The languages Bond claims to know are contradicted many times between the film series, Fleming's novel series, and even later films and continuation novels.

In 1941, Bond lied about his age in order to enter the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during World War II, from which he emerged with the rank of Commander. Bond maintains this rank while in the employ of the British Secret Service and through further continuation novels and in the films. Gardner promoted Bond to Captain in Win, Lose or Die. Since the novels written by Raymond Benson constitute a reboot, Bond becomes a Commander again. Bond also became a member of the RNVSR (Royal Naval Volunteer Supplementary Reserve) which was an association of officers with considerable wartime experience.^[3]

It is never explicitly stated when James Bond became a 00 agent, though references in Goldfinger suggest a date of 1952. According to Fleming, after joining the RNVR, Bond is mentioned as travelling to America, Hong Kong, and Jamaica. It is believed that during this time that Bond perhaps joined another organisation such as the SOE, the 00 Section of the British Secret Service, or perhaps as one of the Naval Commanders who individually took small units of Royal Marines on secret operations behind enemy lines at the end of World War Two, in Fleming's own "Red Indians" 30 Commando Assault Unit (30 AU). One supporting reason is that Fleming describes Bond in the Ardennes firing a bazooka in 1944^{[citation needed]}. 30 AU were the only British unit attached in small groups to US units all over Europe. In Bond's obituary from You Only Live Twice, his commanding officer, M, alludes to Bond's rank as being cover:

"To serve the confidential nature of his duties, he was accorded the rank of lieutenant in the Special Branch of the R.N.V.R., and it is a measure of the satisfaction his services gave to his superiors that he ended the war with the rank of Commander." — You Only Live Twice, chapter 21: "Obit"

Bond earns his stripes in the 00 Section by completing two tasks, which Fleming outlines in Casino Royale. The first is the assassination of a Japanese cipher expert on the 36th floor of the RCA Building at Rockefeller Centre in New York City. The second was the assassination of a Norwegian who became a double agent and betrayed two British agents. Bond travels to Stockholm where he kills the man in his sleep with a knife.

According to Bond, obtaining a 00 number is not hard so long as you're prepared to kill, which Pearson suggests Bond first did as a teenager. Throughout the films, Bond's attitude towards his job is similar; he dislikes taking life unless he personally held a grudge against the one he killed— resorting to flippant jokes and off-hand remarks as after-the-fact relief, often misinterpreted as cold-bloodedness. However, In the original Ian Fleming Bond novels, he never jokes about killing and deals with it as one would expect a top agent would, as just part of the job.

"It was part of his profession to kill people. He had never liked doing it and when he had to kill he did it as well as he knew how and forgot about it. As a secret agent who held the rare Double-O prefix – the licence to kill in the Secret Service – it was his duty to be as cool about death as a surgeon. If it happened, it happened. Regret was unprofessional — worse, it was a death-watch beetle in the soul." — Goldfinger, chapter 1: "Reflections in a Double Bourbon"

In Goldfinger Bond is haunted by memories of a small-time Mexican gunman he had killed with his bare hands days earlier. The cinematic Bond did not begin to show unease about killing until Brosnan's tenure; it is suggested in GoldenEye that he is troubled by the brutality of his job, while in The World Is Not Enough, he admits that cold-blooded killing is a filthy business. Nonetheless, Bond does kill when needed, and on film commits acts that might be considered murder in other circumstances (killing the unarmed Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough) or political assassination (killing Mr. Big, who is the leader of a small fictional nation in Live and Let Die). The literary James Bond was reserved in his licensed killing, sometimes disobeying his orders to kill if the mission could be accomplished by other means. Such is the case in "The Living Daylights" where Bond makes a last-second decision to disobey his orders and not kill an assassin. Instead Bond intentionally shoots the assassin's gun and still manages to accomplish the mission. He later feels so strongly about his decision that he actually expresses the hope that M will fire him for it. There are Fleming works in which Bond does not kill anyone. Bond also feels an intense hatred towards those who kill helpless non-combatants (such as Oddjob, Max Zorin and Franz Sanchez), in particular if the victim is a woman. He has been known to forsake even his vows to his country to avenge the deaths of innocent victims, as he did for Felix Leiter and his murdered wife in the film Licence to Kill.

In both the literary and cinematic adaptations of the character, Bond has a cavalier attitude toward his own death; he accepts that he will most likely die if captured, and expects MI-6 to disavow his existence in such a situation. He withstands brutal torture in more than one adventure (most notably Casino Royale, The World is Not Enough, and Die Another Day) without divulging the information his persecutors seek.

The cinematic James Bond (introduced in 1962) already had a history with the Secret Service. In Dr. No, when reluctantly re-equipped with a 7.65 mm Walther PPK pistol replacing his Beretta automatic pistol, agent 007 protests, telling M that he had used the weapon for 10 years, suggesting he has been a secret agent for at least that long. In the novels preceding Dr. No, Bond used a .25 Beretta automatic with a light chamois leather holster, however, in From Russia with Love, the gun snagged in Bond's jacket when drawn and because of this incident M and Major Boothroyd forced Bond to switch to the Walther PPK and a Berns-martin triple-draw holster made of stiff saddle leather. Bond continues to use this handgun up until John Gardner's Licence Renewed where he uses a number of different weapons until settling on the ASP 9mm in later books. According to Gardner in the novelisation for Licence to Kill, the Walther PPK is not Bond's favourite weapon. With Raymond Benson, Bond began using the PPK again until being updated in both the film and novelisation Tomorrow Never Dies with the Walther P99. In James Bond: The Secret World of 007, it is revealed that Bond has a practical knowledge of judo and other martial arts.

In the novels (notably From Russia with Love), Bond's physical description has generally been consistent: slim build; a three-inch, vertical scar on his right cheek (absent from the film version); blue-grey eyes; a "cruel" mouth; short, black hair, a comma of which falls on his forehead (greying at the temples in Gardner's novels); and (after Casino Royale) the faint scar of the Russian cyrillic letter "Ш" (SH) (for Shpion: "Spy") on the back of one of his hands (carved by a SMERSH agent). In From Russia with Love he is also described as 183 centimeters (6 feet) in height and 76 kilograms (167 lbs.) in weight.

In all media, Bond is portrayed as highly intelligent, and in the films is something of a "know-it-all."^{[citation needed]} In Goldfinger, he calculates in his head how many trucks it takes to transport all the gold in Fort Knox, and how long the gold would be radioactive after Auric Goldfinger's bomb had exploded. Also, in Casino Royale, he is shown to have skill at calculating probabilities of draws from a deck in a Texas hold'em tournament in Montenegro.

When not on assignment or at headquarters Bond spends his time at his flat off the Kings Road in Chelsea. His flat, as well as himself, is looked after by an elderly Scottish housekeeper named May, who is very loyal and often motherly to him. According to Higson's Young Bond series, May previously worked for Bond's aunt, Charmian. Bond hardly ever brings women back to his home, happening only once between the novels Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia with Love when he briefly lived with Tiffany Case; and once in the film series: in Live and Let Die, M and Moneypenny visit Bond at his flat, forcing him to hide his female company in the wardrobe. According to Pearson's book and hinted at in From Russia with Love, Tiffany often got into arguments with May and eventually left. At his home, Bond has two telephones. One for personal use and a second red phone that is a direct line between his home and headquarters; the latter is said to always be ringing at inopportune moments.

In both the literary and cinematic versions of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, James Bond marries, but his bride, Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo, is killed on their wedding day by his archenemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld; the loss resonates in both versions of the character for many years thereafter. In the novels, Bond gets revenge in the following novel, You Only Live Twice when, by chance, he comes across Blofeld in Japan, while the cinematic Bond takes on Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever with an ambiguous result. Later, in the pre-title sequence of For Your Eyes Only, Bond despatches a bald, wheelchair-bound man who bears a startling resemblance to Blofeld, shortly after viewing his wife's grave (the character was not named for legal reasons connected with EON Productions' ongoing dispute with Kevin McClory over the film rights to the novel Thunderball, Blofeld and SPECTRE included.)

Bond and Kissy Suzuki bear a child, although Fleming's novels do not state his existence. Bond is obviously aware of his son's existence by the time of Raymond Benson's short story "Blast From the Past" in which his son asks him to come to New York City as a matter of urgency before being killed by Irma Bunt. The story's canonical status is often disputed since it appears to exist outside the timeline of all continuation novels, including Benson's own.^{[citation needed]}

Bond is a creature of sensual appetites, a consummate gourmand, womanizer, drinker and heavy cigarette smoker.

Bond seems to have very Epicurean tastes in meals, often giving meticulous instructions on the preparation of his food and drink as well as the ambiance of the room. His favourite meal of the day is breakfast and his favourite meal is brown hard-boiled eggs which are prepared for him by his Scottish housekeeper May Maxwell. A recipe for "Scrambled eggs 'James Bond'" can be located in the short story "007 in New York." He also has an amazing knowledge of wines and spirits. Bond is famous for ordering his vodka martinis "shaken, not stirred." In the novel Moonraker, he drinks a shot of vodka straight, served with a pinch of black pepper; a habit he picked up working in the Baltic region. This was not for the flavour, he explains, but because it caused the impurities in cheap vodka to sink to the bottom. He also drinks and enjoys gin martinis, champagne, and bourbon. In total, Bond consumes 317 drinks of which 101 are whisky, 35 sakes, 30 glasses of champagne and a mere 19 vodka martinis. This is an average of one drink every seven pages.^[4]

In Ian Fleming's novels Bond is a heavy smoker, at one point reaching 70 cigarettes a day. On average, Bond smokes 60 a day, although in certain novels Bond does attempt to cut back so that he can accomplish certain feats such as swimming underwater. He is also forced to cut back after being sent to a health farm per his superior's order in Thunderball. Bond specifically smokes a blend of Balkan and Turkish tobacco with a higher than average tar content from Morlands of Grosvenor Street called "Morland Specials." The cigarette itself has three gold bands on the filter signifying Bond's (and Fleming's) commander rank in the secret service. Additionally Bond carries his cigarettes in a trademarked monogrammed gunmetal cigarette case. In continuation novels by John Gardner, Bond cuts back by smoking low-tar cigarettes from Morlands and later H. Simmons of Burlington Arcade. Later works by Raymond Benson has Bond continuing to use this brand. Cinematically, Bond has been off and on usually going with changes in society. During the films starring Connery, Lazenby and Dalton, Bond was a smoker, while during Moore's and Brosnan's tenure he doesn't smoke cigarettes, although he does occasionally smoke cigars. Indeed, Brosnan's first portrayal of Bond, in GoldenEye, remarks upon a Russian who is smoking by saying "Filthy habit". The last time Bond smoked a cigarette on film was in 1989. In Daniel Craig's tenure, he is never seen smoking at all.

Bond has mostly meaningless affairs or one night stands with virtually every woman he encounters, and discards them the minute they become an inconvenience. His suave, chauvinistic charm even seduces women who initially find him repellent, such as Holly Goodhead in Moonraker or Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies. His "ladies man" persona belies a darker side, however; in both novels and film, he is extremely sexually aggressive. While the women he sleeps with do willingly give in to him, he does not take the initial 'no' for an answer. In more recent incarnations, his attitudes toward women have softened somewhat; he respects the new, female M, and a few female characters, such as Elektra King and Paris Carver, have gotten under his skin.

Despite Bond's proclivity for expensive living, in Goldfinger, which was written in 1959, his income is stated at $4200 USD per year, which comes out to $28,719.18 (£13,994.28 GBP)in January 2007 money.^[5]

According to John Pearson's James Bond: The Authorised Biography of 007, Bond was born on November 11, 1920. However, the novel You Only Live Twice implies the birth year as 1924. In the novel, M writes an obituary for James Bond after believing him to be dead. M writes that Bond left school when he was 17 years old and joined the Ministry of Defence in 1941 "claming an age of 19." If Bond was 17 in 1941, then he was born in 1924. Also Tiger Tanaka, a Japanese secret agent, states that Bond was born in the year of the rat, which hints at 1924. However, the novel Moonraker (which is set in 1954) states that Bond's age is 37. This would place Bond's date of birth in about 1917.

A more complex date of birth, according to John Griswold and his book Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies is November 11, 1921. Griswold notes that Bond's joining of the Ministry of Defence was originally written in Fleming's manuscript as 1939 and later changed to 1941. Briefly, Griswold contends that Bond joined the Admiralty in 1939 (the same year Fleming joined) and 1941 is a year marker that places his recruitment into an organisation that was later attached to the Ministry of Defence by Fleming. Griswold believes that a lot of details in Bond's timeline make better sense with the original 1939 date. For instance, if one computes Bond's age for when he was admitted into the Admiralty to when his parents died, then Bond would have been 11 in 1933 from January 1 through to November 10 if he was born in 1921. 1933 is the year mentioned in Casino Royale for when Bond "bought" his first Bentley. Since all of the years claimed for when Bond was born would have made him too young to purchase this Bentley, a more likely scenario is that he "inherited" it from his late father. Griswold presented this idea to Ian Fleming Publications in February 2003. The company recognised this issue for its Young Bond series of novels featuring Bond as a teenager in the 1930s and along with its author, Charlie Higson, defined Bond being born in the year 1920. In Higson's series, the Bentley in question was purchased and used in December 1933 in Double or Die by Bond with money he had received for helping someone win a lot of money at a roulette table. Previously Bond had inherited a Bamford & Martin Sidevalve Short Chassis Tourer around Easter 1933 from his Uncle Max.

Fleming once described him as being in his mid-thirties,^{[citation needed]} though we are led to believe he is in his forties in the Gardner/Benson novels 30-40 years later.^{[citation needed]} His average screen age is approx 42.^{[citation needed]}

The 2006 film Casino Royale is a reboot of the film series that depicts Bond's first mission as Agent 007. The film's official website^[6] gives a biography of the Bond that parallels the backstory of Fleming's literary character, but it is updated to reflect Bond's new birth date of April 13, 1968; April 13 being the day in which Casino Royale was published in 1953 and 1968 being the year in which Daniel Craig was born. This version of the character is born in Glencoe, Scotland. His parents, Andrew and Monique Bond, died in a climbing accident, so he was raised in Kent, England, by his aunt Charmain.

Like the original character, Bond is kicked out of Eton College and attends his father's alma mater, Fettes College. Bond attends the University of Geneva while at Fettes through an exchange program. After Fettes, Bond joins the Royal Navy and attends Britannia Royal Naval College at the age of 17.

The modern biography clarifies Bond's military service by stating he joins the Special Boat Service while in the Royal Navy, where he obtains the rank of Commander, and then is placed in the 030 Special Forces Unit (a reference to Fleming's 30th Assault Unit during World War II, a unit he nicknamed his 'Red Indians'; see Casino Royale). Bond serves covertly in Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Libya and actively in Bosnia. He is then recruited by the RNR Defence Intelligence Group. Bond attends specialized courses at Cambridge and Oxford universities during this period, earning a degree in Oriental Languages from Cambridge. Bond is noted to be fluent in English, French, German, Russian, and Italian, and writing passable Greek, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese at the time he joins MI6. In training, he receives exceptionally high marks for physical endurance, logic, and Psychological Ops exercises. He serves in the Royal Navy from age 17 to 31, joining MI6 at age 30, and is promoted to 00 Agent at age 38 in 2006.

The first actor to portray James Bond in the EON series was Sean Connery in Dr. No, released in 1962. Connery played the role for five films. Australian actor George Lazenby was cast in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969. However, Connery returned for the next movie, Diamonds Are Forever in 1971. 1973's Live and Let Die featured Roger Moore's debut as Bond. Moore would have the longest run, appearing in seven films.

The role subsequently went to Timothy Dalton, who was contracted in 1986 for three films as James Bond. Dalton starred in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989), with the third film planned for 1991. However, legal ownership problems of the James Bond franchise delayed release until 1995, by which time the decision had been taken to cast a new actor. Persistent rumours state that Dalton's third film was going to be The Property of a Lady, but the story, treatment, and draft screenplays were called GoldenEye.^[7]

In 1994, Irish actor Pierce Brosnan was hired as James Bond. Brosnan's debut, GoldenEye (1995), was the franchise's highest grossing film at that date, and he starred in three more films. Brosnan is the only actor who did not star in a James Bond film titled after an Ian Fleming novel and is the second actor not to have been from the United Kingdom.

The latest actor to play the role is Daniel Craig, hired in 2005. Craig's debut in Casino Royale was successful both critically^[8] and commercially. Craig's performance was also the first in the series to earn a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor.^[9] The 22nd Bond film is scheduled for a 2008 release, and the 23rd, for 2010.^[10]

Before Sean Connery was cast as James Bond, Harry Saltzman favoured Roger Moore for the role, while Cubby Broccoli preferred Cary Grant (but the producer ultimately decided against Grant because he knew that if he succeeded in signing him, it would be a one-year deal and the next film would necessitate a search for another Bond).^[11][12] Before Roger Moore was cast in Live and Let Die, Timothy Dalton was offered the part, but turned it down as he then felt himself to be too young for it. Pierce Brosnan was initially approached after Roger Moore relinquished the role, but his contract with the TV show Remington Steele made him unavailable.^[13]

In the course of the official series, American actors have been engaged to play James Bond on two occasions — and have been approached at other times as well. John Gavin was contracted in 1970 to replace George Lazenby, but Connery was well-paid to re-appear in Diamonds Are Forever.^[14] James Brolin was contracted in 1983, to replace Roger Moore, and prepared to shoot Octopussy when the producers paid Moore to return. To date, the only American to play James Bond is Barry Nelson, in the 1954 American television adaptation of Casino Royale, though Brolin's three screen tests were publicly released for the first time as a special feature named James Brolin: The Man Who Would Be Bond in the Octopussy: Ultimate Edition DVD.^[15]

A wholly non-canonical conjecture about the Bond lineage can be found in Alan Moore's comic book series, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, set in Victorian England. In it, the portly, sinister, and secretive MI5 agent placed in charge of the League is named Campion Bond. His superior, the overall director of the top-secret team, is code-named M, an obvious reference to the James Bond series. Although Moore makes no overt connection between Bond and Campion, the code Double-O Seven being engraved in morse code on Campion's walking stick and keys,^[16] has led fans to propose that Campion is meant to be an ancestor of the modern secret agent. Another character in the comic notes that the Bond "Family's got a reputation. A bad 'un." Further evidence is the presence of Auric Goldfinger, who's existence in that universe is undeniable. In the recent League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier, a young spy named 'Jimmy' appears, possessing Campion's 007 cigarette case and clearly meant to be Bond. Jimmy is presented as an incompetent psychotic rapist whose daring exploits against Dr. No are no more than a cover story for him to commit double agent work against the United Kingdom on behalf of the United States.

In his fictional biographies, author Philip José Farmer suggests that Bond belongs in the Wold Newton family tree along with Tarzan, Doc Savage, and many other fictional heroes. Followers of Farmer's speculations have greatly elaborated on Bond's family.

Controversially, Die Another Day director Lee Tamahori believed that the name "James Bond" is a codename (like 007) which is given to the best and most accomplished secret agents. The theory is meant to explain the changes in actors (e.g., Roger Moore vs. Timothy Dalton) and Bond's apparent agelessness. The idea was created so that Tamahori could get Connery to make a cameo appearance in the film, and thus explain how it was possible that Connery and Brosnan as Bond could both be on film at the same time.^[17]

Tamahori explained the theory: "My idea was basically that there have been several Bonds. It's just a prefix and a code name. Even James Bond is not the guy's name. That's the way I've always been able to view these things from when Connery left and Lazenby and Moore took over, right up to Brosnan. How could this guy be so young still? Of course to me, it is just a prefix and a code name. That means that Connery either died or retired, Moore died or retired and so on. Following that, that allows you to have possibly two James Bonds in a movie. What happened to the others? Were they retired from active service or were they killed? That's where I came from."

The theory, as well as the intent to have Connery cameo in Die Another Day, was rejected by producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson (although a televised news report during production reported erroneously that Connery had filmed a cameo as Bond's father). One and probably the only evidence to support this theory is Lazenby's final line in the pre-title sequence of On Her Majesty's Secret Service where the Bond girl runs away after Bond is ambushed on a beach: "This never happened to the other fella." The theory is denounced by most fans due to continuity in subsequent films when Bond's wife, Tracy (from On Her Majesty's Secret Service) is mentioned — most notably in The Spy Who Loved Me, where Moore's Bond reacts emotionally when the death of his wife is mentioned. In the later For Your Eyes Only Bond is seen attending Tracy's grave, and Felix Leiter refers to Bond's marriage in Licence To Kill. Also in The World is not Enough, when Electra inquires Bond whether he ever lost a loved one, Bond does not give an answer and changes the subject immediately. In addition to this, once in a while, Bond is seen with gadgets and weapons, such as Honey Rider's knife, from previous films that he obviously kept as souvenirs. A scene was apparently originally planned in On Her Majesty's Secret Service that would feature Bond having plastic surgery as a means of explaining his new appearance, but the scene never made it into production. The idea that the James Bond name- in addition to the 007 number- has been given to subsequent agents was also featured in the 1967 film of Casino Royale, where the original James Bond is an elderly gentleman who won a VC at the Siege of Mafeking, who berates M for having given his number and name to a brash young agent whose description appears to match Sean Connery's Bond. Later in the film, six further MI6 agents are assigned the name "James Bond 007", including Vesper Lynd and baccarat expert Evelyn Tremble.

• AskMen.com profile
• The many actors of James Bond on "the ultimate James Bond Community"
• James Bond's Obituary - From You Only Live Twice
• James Bond's Movies Trailer from Fan site
• Ian Fleming's 'Red Indians' - 30AU - Literary James Bond's Wartime unit

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James Bond (007)
Villains	Dr. No • Rosa Klebb • Auric Goldfinger • Emilio Largo • Ernst Stavro Blofeld • Dr Kananga/Mr. Big • Francisco Scaramanga • Karl Stromberg • Sir Hugo Drax • Aristotle Kristatos • Kamal Khan • General Orlov • Max Zorin • Brad Whitaker • General Koskov • Franz Sanchez • Alec Trevelyan • Elliot Carver • Renard • Elektra King • Gustav Graves • Le Chiffre • Mr. White
Bond girls	Sylvia Trench • Honey Ryder • Tatiana Romanova • Jill Masterson • Tilly Masterson  • Pussy Galore • Fiona Volpe • Domino Derval • Paula Caplan • Patricia Fearing • Aki • Kissy Suzuki • Helga Brandt • Teresa di Vicenzo • Ruby Bartlett • Tiffany Case • Plenty O'Toole • Rosie Carver • Solitaire • Mary Goodnight • Andrea Anders • Anya Amasova • Dr. Holly Goodhead • Corinne Dufour • Melina Havelock • Bibi Dahl • Countess Lisl von Schlaf • Octopussy • Magda • Stacey Sutton • Pola Ivanova • Kara Milovy • Pam Bouvier • Lupe Lamora • Xenia Onatopp • Natalya Simonova • Paris Carver • Wai Lin • Elektra King • Dr. Molly Warmflash • Dr. Christmas Jones • Jinx Johnson • Miranda Frost • Solange Dimitrios • Vesper Lynd
Novel Only Characters	Gala Brand • General Grubozaboyschikov • Vivienne Michel
Officials	Felix Leiter • M • Miss Moneypenny • Q • General Gogol • Fredrick Gray • Other 00-Agents • Bill Tanner • Charles Robinson
Henchmen by film	Dr. No • From Russia with Love • Goldfinger • Thunderball • You Only Live Twice • On Her Majesty's Secret Service • Diamonds Are Forever • Live and Let Die • The Man with the Golden Gun • The Spy Who Loved Me • Moonraker • For Your Eyes Only • Octopussy • A View to a Kill • The Living Daylights • Licence to Kill • GoldenEye • Tomorrow Never Dies • The World Is Not Enough • Die Another Day • Casino Royale
Allies by film	Dr. No • From Russia with Love • Goldfinger • Thunderball • You Only Live Twice • On Her Majesty's Secret Service • Diamonds Are Forever • Live and Let Die • The Man with the Golden Gun • The Spy Who Loved Me • Moonraker • For Your Eyes Only • Octopussy • A View to a Kill • The Living Daylights • Licence to Kill • GoldenEye • Tomorrow Never Dies • The World Is Not Enough • Die Another Day • Casino Royale
Unofficial Characters by film	Casino Royale • Never Say Never Again
Video Game Characters by game	Agent Under Fire • Nightfire • Everything or Nothing • GoldenEye: Rogue Agent