The 00 Section also called 00 Branch or the 00 program of MI6 is considered the intelligence service's elite black ops unit. This group of agents is tasked with uniquely complex assignments that most often concern global security in some way. Additionally, these seem to be highly trained in hand to hand combat, martial arts and the use of weapons as well as infiltration as well as having a talent for solving problems with unorthodox methods and other skills. Promotion to 00 Status requires two kills. These agents report directly to and receive orders from M who is the overall head of the agency. These agents are also granted access to uniquely crafted gadgetry for each assignment made by Q branch as well as what appears to be a vast expense account as 00 agents are seen to be well dressed and stay in the best accommodations in many instances.
A 00 (typically read "Double O" and denoted in Fleming's novels by the letters "OO" rather than the digits "00") is a field agent that holds a licence to kill in the field, at their discretion, to complete any mission. This differs from standard agents who are authorized to kill in self defence or during the execution of a mission. Several characters in film and literature (such as Zhao in Die Another Day) have referred to Bond as an assassin; Julius No, meanwhile, refers to him as simply a policeman in Dr. No). Standard mandatory retirement age is 45, though various writers including Ian Fleming, Sebastian Faulks and John Gardner have contradicted this as a matter of poetic License and several actors who have portrayed Bond on film have been older than 45 at the time of playing the character (indeed, Roger Moore was 45 when he filmed his first Bond film, and continued to play the role until he was nearly 60, whereas Sean Connery's Bond was implied to have had retired - or, more precisely, moved into training - by the time of Never Say Never Again with the actor in his mid-50s). Although Fleming only mentioned five 00 agents, others have been added over the years across various franchise media.
Other MI6 agents seem to be given code numbers. In the novel You Only Live Twice, Bond in transferred to the diplomatic branch of MI6 and given the number 7777. In the short story The Living Daylights, Bond is assigned to help Agent 272 escape from East Berlin. Zero Minus Ten opens with Bond on a training mission with agents 03 and 05. In Carte Blanche, Bond requests M assign several “Double-One” agents to assist him.
History[]
The following is a history of the other 00 Agents, other than 007, featured in the James Bond franchise.
Goldfinger (film)[]
- "You're forgetting one thing, if I fail to report, 008 replaces me."
"I trust he will be more successful." - ― James Bond and Auric Goldfinger
To be added
Thunderball (film)[]
- "The Prime Minister has asked that your department take charge of the operation."
- ― Home Secretary to M
To be added
Octopussy (film)[]
To be added
A View to a Kill (film)[]
To be added
The Living Daylights (film)[]
- "Gentlemen, this may only be an exercise so far as the Ministry of Defence is concerned, but for me it is a matter of pride that the Double O Section has been chosen for this test. Your objective is to penetrate the radar installations of Gibraltar. The SAS have been placed on full alert to intercept you, but I know you won't let me down. Good luck, men."
- ― M to 00 Agents
To be added
GoldenEye (film)[]
- "Ready to save the world again?"
"After you, 006." - ― Alec Trevelyan and James Bond
To be added
The World Is Not Enough (film)[]
To be added
Spectre (film)[]
To be added
No Time to Die (film)[]
To be added
00 Agents[]
The following list is of the known members of this elite order who have been referenced in officially licenced James Bond fiction: novels, films, video games, and comic strips (not including impostors).
Agent # | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
000 | Conrad Harthrop-Vane | Mentioned in the Kim Sherwood novel Double or Nothing Chapter 4 as having recently been on a mission with 005. He is nicknamed Triple-O. |
001 | Unidentified | An apparent 001 is seated to the far left of James Bond during the "00 Section" briefing in the 1965 film, Thunderball.[1] |
Edward Donne | Referenced in the Raymond Benson novel, Doubleshot. | |
002 | Unidentified | An apparent 002 is seated to the left of James Bond during the "00 Section" briefing in the 1965 film, Thunderball.[1] |
Unidentified | In John Pearson's novel, James Bond: The Authorised Biography, an alternate-continuity 002 ended up in a gaol in Canton. Bond is sent to extract him after he escapes, kills several Chinese guards and somehow crosses the border between China and Portuguese Macao. | |
Bill Fairbanks | Assassinated by Francisco Scaramanga, a.k.a. The Man with the Golden Gun, in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1969 (film version: The Man with the Golden Gun). | |
Unidentified | In The Living Daylights (film version), another 002, played by Glyn Baker, was in the training exercise at Gibraltar, with 004 and 007. | |
Unidentified | The game Lord Bromley's Estate (1990) mentions a 002, whose corpse had been washed up in the south of France, after uncovering a plot in Turkey by the counterespionage organisation "SPIDER". | |
Elizabeth Dumont | Mentioned in the Kim Sherwood novel Double or Nothing Chapter 4 as having recently been killed in Dubai. | |
003 | Unidentified | An apparent female 003 is seated several seats to the left of James Bond during the "00 Section" briefing in the 1965 film, Thunderball.[1] |
Unidentified | In John Pearson's novel, James Bond: The Authorised Biography, an alternate-continuity 003 is severely injured in early 1951 after being dragged from a blazing car outside Belgrade. | |
Unidentified | Found dead in Siberia, in the 1985 film A View to a Kill. Had been investigating the Soviet Union's use of EMP-resistant microchips prior to his death. | |
Jack Mason | Another MI6 agent, referred to as 003, or "Jack", is captured and shot by the primary antagonist, Nikolai Diavolo, in the 2004 video-game Everything or Nothing. | |
Unidentified | In Dynamite's 2020 graphic novel, Reflections of Death, Bond attempts to break an unnamed 003 out of a black site in Olgetsk - only to discover that he was a traitor and part of the facility's senior management. He was incarcerated. | |
Johanna Harwood | Appears in the Kim Sherwood novel Double or Nothing as a main character. She was formerly a surgeon and girlfriend of James Bond before coming to MI-6. | |
004 | Unidentified | An apparent 004 is seated to the left of James Bond during the "00 Section" briefing in the 1965 film, Thunderball.[1] |
Unidentified | Accompanied 002 and 007 to Gibraltar in The Living Daylights film; murdered by an individual pretending to be a KGB agent who left a tag on the body that read "Death to Spies" in Russian. | |
Unidentified | Another 004 appears in the Benson novel The Facts of Death. | |
Unidentified | In the GoldenEye video game on the Silo mission briefing, Q mentions to 007 to "remember to treat the timed explosives with respect - you remember what happened to 004 in Beirut" - whether this is another agent or the same one as above is unknown. | |
Scarlett Papava | In the Sebastian Faulks novel Devil May Care, Bond girl Scarlett Papava is unveiled as 004, replacing the previous agent who was killed in Berlin. | |
Joseph Dryden | Joseph Dryden appears in the Kim Sherwood novel Double or Nothing as a main character. He was formerly an SAS soldier in Afghanistan before being injured and moving to MI-6. | |
005 | Unidentified | An apparent dark-haired 005 is seated to the left of James Bond during the "00 Section" briefing in the 1965 film, Thunderball.[1] |
Stuart Thomas | Was 005 until an eye defect had begun to impair his ability to use a firearm. Was transferred and is the head of Station G (Greece) in Colonel Sun (1968). | |
Unidentified | In Dynamite Entertainment's 2018 comic James Bond: M, an unnamed 005 was chastised by M for severely bungling a mission to save a Duchess from her captors. | |
Ventnor | Ventnor is mentioned in the Kim Sherwood novel Double or Nothing Chapter 4 as having recently fallen to his death on a mission with 000 Harthrop-Vane. | |
006 | Unidentified | An unnamed 006, a former Royal Marine commando, is mentioned in the Fleming novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service. |
Unidentified | Another apparent 006, a bearded gentleman, is seated directly to the left of James Bond during the "00 Section" briefing in the 1965 film, Thunderball.[1] | |
Alec Trevelyan | Major character in GoldenEye. One of Bond's best friends, he betrayed MI6 and Her Majesty's Government by faking his death and then, years later, in aiding the theft of the secret Soviet satellite system, GoldenEye. His motive was avenging his parents, Lienz Cossacks, betrayed to the Communists by the British government after World War II. He also begrudged Bond's not allowing him time to escape unscathed from the Soviet chemical weapons factory they were to destroy in the mission shown in the teaser of GoldenEye. Portrayed by Sean Bean. | |
"Hutcheon" | Another active 006 is mentioned in the 2015-2016 comic VARGR, and at one point in his career, he used the pseudonym "Mr. Hutcheon". | |
007 | Unidentified | In Anthony Horowitz's 2018 James Bond continuation novel Forever and a Day, the 007 preceding James Bond was shot three times and killed on assignment in the South of France in the year 1950. His body was discovered in the waters of Marseille. This man was the first to hold the 007 title, and was in the first batch of 00 Agents. He was a personal friend of James Bond before his death. |
James Bond | Until 2018, James Bond was the only agent known to have had the code number 007. During the timeframe of the You Only Live Twice novel, Bond was transferred into another branch and given the number 7777, suggesting there was no active 007 during that time frame. Bond was subsequently reinstated as 007 in the following book, The Man with the Golden Gun. In the John Gardner novels, 007 is the last remaining active 00-agent, the section itself having been dissolved by the 1980s; Raymond Benson later contradicted this in his novels. Bond was initially offered the title of 009, but out of respect to his personal friend the previous 007, he asked for his number instead.[2] | |
Nomi | Major character in No Time To Die. After Bond has retired, she got the code number 007. Later she gave back the code number to Bond, helping to find Lyutsifer Safin and destroy his lab. It is not revealed if she is reassigned 007 after the mission or another number. | |
008 | "Bill" | In the novel Goldfinger, Bond thinks to himself that 008 would likely avenge Bond by killing Goldfinger. As Bond thinks this, he ruminates that 008 is "a good man, more careful than Bond." In the novel Moonraker, 008 (called "Bill" by Bond) is mentioned as being on recuperative leave after returning from a mission behind the Iron Curtain. |
Unidentified | In John Pearson's novel, James Bond: The Authorised Biography, an alternate-continuity 008 is found dead in January 1951 in a parked car fifty yards inside the Western zone of Berlin. | |
Unidentified | An apparent 008 is seated immediately to the right of James Bond during the "00 Section" briefing in the 1965 film, Thunderball.[1] | |
Unidentified | In the films, agent 008 is mentioned briefly when M threatens to replace Bond on an assignment, e.g. Goldfinger and The Living Daylights[3]. The James Bond 007 role playing game released in the 1980s suggests 008 is a woman. | |
Unidentified | In the 1998 video game James Bond 007 for the Nintendo Game Boy, MI6 sends an unnamed agent 008 into Kurdistan to dismantle an arms smuggling ring. Soon thereafter, all contact was lost with 008. M makes a decision to send James Bond to investigate his whereabouts. | |
Unidentified | In the 2014 Dynamite comic VARGR, Bond was sent to Helsinki, Finland to avenge a fallen 008. This 008 was confirmed as male, and was killed by a gangster for no other reason than because he loved killing. | |
Donovan | Mentioned in the Kim Sherwood novel Double or Nothing Chapter 1 as having recently been killed in the Central African Republic. | |
009 | Unidentified | M tells 009 to take care of the "00 Section" whilst 007 is sent to Shrublands in Fleming's 1961 novel, Thunderball. |
Unidentified | An apparent 009 is seated to the right of James Bond during the "00 Section" briefing in the 1965 film, Thunderball.[1] | |
Unidentified | In John Pearson's novel, James Bond: The Authorised Biography, an alternate-continuity 009 is murdered by a double-agent during 1955 in Hungary. Bond finds him with his throat slit. | |
Unidentified | Assassinated by Mischka and Grischka in the film version of Octopussy. | |
Unidentified | Another 009 is mentioned in R.L. Stine's gamebook, James Bond in Win, Place or Die (1985). | |
Unidentified | Another 009 dies in Issue: #7 of the Swedish James Bond comic James Bond, Agent 007 (8th July 1986) in story Dödlig Dubbelgångare (Deadly Double). | |
Unidentified | Yet another unlucky holder of the title was experimented on and later killed in Peru in Dark Horse Comics' 1991 graphic novel Serpent's Tooth. | |
Unidentified | M sent another 009, in the movie The World Is Not Enough, to assassinate Renard; despite 009's shooting him in the head, Renard lived. | |
Unidentified | Another holder of 009 status was supposed to get the Aston Martin DB10 featured in Spectre, however the car was stolen by James Bond. | |
Sid Bashir | Appears in the Kim Sherwood novel Double or Nothing as a main character. He was personally mentored by James Bond. | |
0010 | Unidentified | Referenced in the Benson novel The Man with the Red Tattoo. |
Anna Savarin | Anna Savarin is mentioned in the Kim Sherwood novel Double or Nothing Chapter 4 as having recently been killed in Basra. | |
0011 | Unidentified | Mentioned briefly in the Fleming novel Moonraker as vanishing while on assignment in Singapore. In John Pearson's novel, James Bond: The Authorised Biography, an alternate-continuity 0011 similarly disappears in the Far East; in this case, in early 1951 while passing through China on the so-called ‘Blue Route’. |
Harry Mace | Mentioned in the Kim Sherwood novel Double or Nothing Chapter 4 as having recently disappeared on assignment in Singapore. | |
0012 | Unidentified | Simply identified as an "MI6 agent" on the big screen, the novelization and video-games based on The World is Not Enough identified the unnamed character a 'Double-O' operative.[4] He was killed over a confidential document, prior to the film's events. |
0013 | Briony Thorne | A female 00-agent who appears in the comic strip Fear Face (published January 18, 1971 to April 20, 1971 in the The Daily Express). Thorne was framed as being a double agent for China. |
Unidentified | Agent York | Killed in the comic strip River of Death (published June 24, 1969 to November 29, 1969 in The Daily Express). Agent York is a 00 agent but his number isn't revealed. |
Suzi Kew | A recurring character in the Daily Express comic strip series of the 1960s and 1970s, Suzi Kew is a 00 agent but her number is not revealed. | |
Various unnamed | Several 00-agents are also glimpsed in the Castle Thane briefing scene of The World Is Not Enough, but no additional information about them is provided. It is implied that at least one is female. | |
Henry Fraser | In Anthony Horowitz's 2015 James Bond continuation novel Trigger Mortis, an unnumbered 00 agent named Henry Fraser was reassigned to the Communications Department where he serves as Duty Officer, following paralysis from a gunshot wound to the spine.[5] | |
Clive Woodslow | Another unnumbered 00 agent named Clive Woodslow was an ally to Bond in the 2015 video game James Bond: World of Espionage by Glu Mobile. |
Trivia[]
- A former 00-agent candidate[6] nicknamed "GoldenEye" was featured in the video-game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. He was shot in the right eye, and was dismissed by MI6 for "reckless brutality". He joined up with Auric Goldfinger against the shooter, Dr. Julius No, and eventually received a gold-hued, synthetic orb as a replacement for his right eye. After killing Goldfinger and Dr. No, he becomes Ernst Stavro Blofeld's bodyguard. Unlike other 00 agents listed here, it is difficult if not impossible to reconcile GoldenEye with the continuity of the films, comic strips, or novels.
- Bond is one of three agents[7] who had been given the double zero assignation in Anthony Horowitz's 2015 James Bond continuation novel Trigger Mortis, set immediately after Goldfinger in 1957.[8]
- As noted above, on screen Bond has been seen in the presence of multiple other 00 agents on two occasions to date, while The World Is Not Enough establishes that not only do the 00's have their own section at MI6 headquarters, but even their own logo. However, other media, such as the comic strip "Fear Face" and the novel Devil May Care have as major plot points the fact that Bond doesn't recognize two characters as fellow 00 agents, indicating that the agents (likely for security reasons) are not always aware of each other's identities (see also the lack of interaction between agents in TWINE and during a similar scene in Thunderball. It's notable also that, when MI6 HQ is attacked in The World is Not Enough (soon after the aforementioned reveal of the 00 section of the building), 007 appears to be the only 00 agent present during the incident.
Gallery[]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Probable 00 numbers can be derived from 007's position during the meeting; seated in the seventh seat from the left.
- ↑ Anthony Horowitz (2018). Forever and a Day. Ian Fleming Publications, 42. ISBN 0062873628.
- ↑ "It was instinct. - I'll recall 008 from Hong Kong | The Living Daylights quotes". Subzin.com. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
- ↑ Benson, Raymond; Neil Purvis & Robert Wade (1999). "Chapter 01: Errand Boy", The World Is Not Enough (in En). Boulevard. ISBN 9780425173503.
- ↑ Horowitz, Anthony (2015). "Chapter 2: Racing Uncertainty", Trigger Mortis (in English). Hachette UK, p.28. ISBN 9781409159155.
- ↑ Goldeneye: Rogue Agent: Official Strategy Guide (Prima's Official Strategy Guides), Prima Games, 26 November 2004, p.4
- ↑ Horowitz, Anthony (2015). "Chapter 20: Naked Aggression", Trigger Mortis (in English). Hachette UK, p.254. ISBN 9781409159155.
- ↑ Horowitz, Anthony (2015). "Chapter 15: Follow the Money", Trigger Mortis (in English). Hachette UK, p.185. ISBN 9781409159155. “[this counterfeit note is] at least seven years old ... Back in 1950 they made a few changes to the design.”