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"SPECTRE is a dedicated fraternity whose strength lies in the absolute integrity of its members."
― Ernst Stavro Blofeld[src]

SPECTRE (an acronym of Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) is a fictional global terrorist organisation featured in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, the films based on those novels, and James Bond video games. Led by evil genius and supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the organisation first formally appeared in the novel Thunderball (1961) and in the movie Dr. No (1962).

The twenty-fourth Bond film, SPECTRE (2015) features a Daniel Craig continuity version of the organisation from the remains of Quantum.

SPECTRE is not aligned to any nation or political ideology, enabling the later Bond books and Bond films to be regarded as apolitical. SPECTRE began in the novels as a small group of criminals but became a vast international organisation with its own SPECTRE Island training facility in the films.

Ideology

SPECTRE rings comparision

Comparison of Fiona Volpe's octopus insignia ring from Thunderball (1965), with its 2015 counterpart.

In Ian Fleming's novels, SPECTRE was a commercial enterprise led by Blofeld. Their top-level members were 21 individuals, 18 of whom handled day-to-day affairs and were drawn in groups of three from six of the world's greatest criminal organisations—the Gestapo, SMERSH, Marshal Josip Broz Tito's secret police, the Mafia, the Unione Corse, and a massive heroin-smuggling operation based in Turkey. Their debut was in Thunderball. At the time of writing the novel (1959) Fleming believed that the Cold War might end during the two years it would take to produce the film, which would leave it looking dated; he therefore thought it better to create a politically neutral enemy for Bond. The organisation was next mentioned in The Spy Who Loved Me, when Bond describes investigating their activities in Toronto before the story begins.

The organisation's third appearance was in On Her Majesty's Secret Service where Blofeld, hired by an unnamed country or party (though the Soviet Union is implied) is executing a plan to ruin British agriculture. Blofeld, with a weakened SPECTRE would appear for the final time in You Only Live Twice.

In the films, the organisation had a more active role, often as a third party in the ongoing Cold War. The goal of world domination was only ever stated in You Only Live Twice, and SPECTRE was working not for itself but for an unnamed Asian government whose two representatives Blofeld speaks to during the movie; perhaps Red China, who earlier backed Goldfinger. SPECTRE's goals in the other films it has appeared in have always been less lofty. Its long-term strategy, however, 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 SPECTRE's main strategy was to instigate conflict between two powerful enemies, namely the superpowers, hoping that they would exhaust themselves and be vulnerable when it seizes power. SPECTRE thus worked with both sides of the Cold War.

Headquarters

SPECTRE_meeting_in_Thunderball

SPECTRE meeting in Thunderball

In both the film and the novel Thunderball, the physical headquarters of the organisation were in Paris, operating behind the terrorist front organisation aiding refugees (Firco in the novels; International Brotherhood for the Assistance of Stateless Persons in the films).

Organizational discipline was notoriously draconian with the penalty for disobedience or failure being death. As quoted by Blofeld on several occasions: "This organisation does not tolerate failure". Furthermore, to heighten the impact of the executions, Blofeld often chose to focus attention on an innocent member, making it appear his death is imminent, only to suddenly strike down the actual target when that person is off guard.

Fleming's SPECTRE had elements inspired by mafia syndicates and organised crime rings that were actively hunted by law enforcement in the 1950s. The strict codes of loyalty and silence, and the hard retributions that followed violations, were hallmarks of U.S. gangster rings, Mafia, the Unione Corse, the Chinese Tongs/Triads and the Japanese Yakuza/Black Dragon Society.

Leadership & Hierarchy

Blofeld FRWL

Ernst Stavro Blofeld, as he appears in From Russia with Love (1963).

SPECTRE was headed by the supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld who usually appeared accompanied by a white Persian cat in the movies, but not in the books. In both the films and the novels, Emilio Largo was the second in command. It is stated in the novel that if something were to happen to Blofeld, Largo would assume command.[1]

The members of the head board of SPECTRE went by numbers (e.g.: Number 1) as codenames. In the novels, the numbers of members were initially assigned at random and then rotated by two digits every month to prevent detection. For example, if one was Number 1 this month, he would be Number 3 next month. In the novel Thunderball Blofeld has been assigned "Number 2", while Emilio Largo is assigned "Number 1". This particular example of numbering was perhaps deliberately borrowed from revolutionary organisations, wherein members exist in cells, and are numerically defined to prevent identification and cross-betrayal of aims. By deliberately drawing attention away from the true leader of the organisation, he was protected by masquerading as a target of lower importance, and the structure of the organisation was also obscured from intelligence services.

The SPECTRE heirarchy

The leadership of SPECTRE, as seen in Thunderball (1965).

In the films the number indicates rank: Blofeld is always referred to as "Number 1" and Emilio Largo, in the film Thunderball, is "Number 2".

The SPECTRE cabinet had a total of 21 members. Blofeld was the chairman and leader because he founded the organisation, and Largo was elected by the cabinet to be second in command. A physicist named Kotze and an electronics expert named Maslov were also included in the group for their expertise on scientific and technical matters.

EON Films

This list shows all SPECTRE board members mentioned in the official film series:

Name No. Film Portrayed by
Blofeld FRWL



Hollis Blofeld

Franz Oberhauser
Ernst Stavro Blofeld 1

From Russia with Love
Thunderball
You Only Live Twice
On Her Majesty's ...
Diamonds Are Forever
For Your Eyes Only
SPECTRE

Anthony Dawson
Eric Pohlmann (Voice)
Donald Pleasance
Telly Savalas
Charles Gray
John Hollis
Robert Rietty (Voice)
Christoph Waltz

Largo (Micro) Emilio Largo 2 Thunderball

Adolfo Celi
Robert Rietty (Voice)

File:Klebb (Micro).png

Rosa Klebb

3

From Russia with Love

Lotte Lenya
Burt Kwouk (Micro) Unknown You Only Live Twice Burt Kwouk
Count Lippe (Guy Doleman) - Profile Count Lippé 4 Thunderball Guy Doleman
Michael Chow (Micro) Unknown You Only Live Twice Michael Chow
File:Kronsteen (Micro).png Tov Kronsteen 5 From Russia with Love Vladek Sheybal
Philip Stone (Micro) Unknown Thunderball Philip Stone
File:Bouvard (Micro).png Jacques Bouvar 6 Thunderball Bob Simmons
Cecil Cheng (Micro) Unnamed 7 Thunderball Cecil Cheng
Clive Cazes (Micro) Unknown 9

Thunderball

Clive Cazes
André Maranne (Micro) Unknown 10 Thunderball André Maranne
Gábor Baraker Unnamed
11 Thunderball

Murray Kash

File:Brandt (Micro).png Helga Brandt You Only Live Twice Karin Dor
Mr
Mr. White - Casino Royale
Quantum of Solace
SPECTRE
Jesper Christensen

Never Say Never Again

This list shows all SPECTRE board members mentioned in the unofficial films:

Name No. Film Portrayed by
Ernst Stavro Blofeld Von Sydow Ernst Stavro Blofeld 0 Never Say Never Again Max von Sydow
MaxLargo Maximillian Largo 1 Never Say Never Again Klaus Maria Brandauer
Fatima Blush Profile Fatima Blush 12 Never Say Never Again Barbara Carrera

Novels

This list shows all SPECTRE board members mentioned in the Ian Fleming novel Thunderball:

Name No. Description
Blofeld - Thunderball (George Almond) Ernst Stavro Blofeld 2 Leader and founder of SPECTRE.
File:Largo.jpg Emilio Largo 1 Second-in-command of SPECTRE and designated by Blofeld to oversee all field operations for Plan Omega.
Fonda 4 An Italian who recruited Petacchi for the plot.
Pierre Borraud 12 A member of the Unione Corse; had sex with a girl that he kidnapped for ransom. As a punishment, Blofeld electrocuted Borraud and returned half of the ransom money to the girl's father as compensation.
Marius Domingue 7 Another Unione Corse man; highly trustworthy, but singled out by Blofeld for a lecture in order to throw Borraud off guard.
Strelik 10 A former SMERSH member; shot dead by Largo for questioning the loyalty of the other SPECTRE members.
Unknown 11 Another ex-SMERSH operative.
Kotze Kotze 5 Formerly known as Emil Traut; an East German physicist who defected to the West. Later defects to NATO and reveals all he knows about SPECTRE.
Unknown 6 Kills Lippe at the behest of Blofeld for being unreliable.
Unknown 14 A former Gestapo officer.
Unknown 17 Finds Domino scanning the Disco Volante with a Geiger counter in search of the stolen atomic bombs; reports her to Largo, who takes her prisoner and tortures her.
Maslov 18 Formerly known as Kandinsky; a Polish electronics expert who resigned from Philips AG.
Bunt Irma Bunt ? Blofeld's matron at Piz Gloria who later becomes his wife in Japan.

Appearances

Novels

In the original Bond novel series, SPECTRE's first and last appearance as a worldwide power is in the novel Thunderball, published in 1961. In the novel, SPECTRE, headed by Blofeld, attempts to conduct nuclear blackmail against NATO. Apparently disbanded afterwards, SPECTRE is said to be active again in the next book, The Spy Who Loved Me, although the organisation is not involved in the plot. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the second chapter of what is known as the "Blofeld Trilogy", Blofeld has revived SPECTRE, and Blofeld's final appearance, sans SPECTRE, is in the final novel of the trilogy, You Only Live Twice.

Later, the John Gardner Bond novel, For Special Services introduces a revived SPECTRE led by Blofeld's daughter, Nena Bismaquer. Although Bond ultimately prevents SPECTRE from reforming, it continued, under the leadership of Tamil Rahani, to play a part in Role of Honour and Nobody Lives For Ever. The next Bond novelist, Raymond Benson, reintroduces Irma Bunt, Blofeld's assistant, in his short story "Blast From the Past", which is a sequel to You Only Live Twice.

Connery, Lazenby, and Moore Films

File:Thunderball (1965) - Open-ended Trailer for this James Bond film

In the EON Productions James Bond series, which began in 1962 with Dr. No, SPECTRE plays a more prominent role. The organisation is first mentioned in Dr. No as the organisation for which Dr. Julius No works. This was changed from Fleming's novels, which had Dr. No working for the USSR. In the films, SPECTRE usually replaced SMERSH as the main villains, although there is a brief reference to SMERSH in the second EON Bond film, From Russia with Love. The film adaptation of From Russia with Love also features the first on-screen appearance of Blofeld, although he is only identified by name in the closing credits of the film. After being absent from Goldfinger, SPECTRE returns in Thunderball and subsequently is featured in the following films You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Diamonds Are Forever. Following Diamonds Are Forever, SPECTRE and Blofeld were retired from the EON Films series due to a legal battle over the film rights to Fleming's Thunderball. Blofeld (not identified by name, but accompanied by the character's trademark cat) is written out in the opening of For Your Eyes Only.

Craig Films

Quantum pin

A pin for Quantum from Quantum of Solace

In the Daniel Craig continuity of the Bond series, 007 uncovered an underground terrorist organisation similar to SPECTRE, known as Quantum. They first appeared unnamed in 2006's Casino Royale and reappeared in 2008's Quantum of Solace. It is worth noting that in the Bulgarian subtitles of Quantum of Solace, the name Quantum was translated as SPECTRE, with the title changed to "Spectre of Solace" ("Спектър на утехата").

In 2013, EON Productions re-obtained the rights to the usage of the character Blofeld and SPECTRE. After the success of Skyfall, Sam Mendes returned to the director's chair to helm the 24th Bond film, SPECTRE. Released in 2015, the film marks return of the organization to the film series after a forty-four year absence.

Spectreredesign

The re-designed SPECTRE logo seen in SPECTRE

In the film, Bond follows a clue from a cryptic message left behind by the late M, leading him to a member of SPECTRE, and ultimately to one of the organization's meetings. During the conference, Bond sights Franz Oberhauser, a man from his past who had previously been believed to be dead. The name "Pale King" is also mentioned during the exchange, which is eventually identified as a code-name for the former Quantum figurehead, Mr. White. Marked for death and forced into hiding after his failures with Le Chiffre & Dominic Greene, Mr. White's location is tracked down by Bond. At the hideout, Bond receives information from White on where to find further info about Oberhauser and SPECTRE, in exchange for Bond's promise that he protect his daughter (Madeleine Swann). Bond locates Swann and both set off for SPECTRE's base in the Moroccan desert. They are captured by Oberhauser's forces and brought to the base. While there, Bond is tortured by Oberhauser while the latter elaborates on their shared past. Oberhauser explains that his father adopted Bond and Oberhauser's growing anger and jealousy of Bond drove him to murder the senior Oberhauser, adopt his mother's maiden name (Blofeld), and form SPECTRE. Oberhauser also reveals that much of Bond's misgivings in his adult life were orchestrated by SPECTRE, including all activity by Quantum, which is revealed to be a puppet organization controlled by SPECTRE. Bond and Swann manage to escape Oberhauser, destroy his base, then race to London to stop a plot by SPECTRE to set up a global surveillance network. With the combined effort of Bond, M, and Q, the surveillance program is successfully shut down and Oberhauser is arrested.

Non-EON

In 1983, MGM released Never Say Never Again, based on the same original source material as Thunderball. Not considered part of the official Bond series, the film retells the story of Thunderball and reintroduces both SPECTRE and Blofeld.

Video games

File:Goldeneye Rogue Agent (VG) (2004) - Video Game

SPECTRE is shown, but never mentioned by name, in the game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. Instead, it is referred to as a "powerful criminal organisation". It is depicted as being much more powerful than it was in any of the films or books, possessing a massive undersea black market known as The Octopus, resembling Karl Stromberg's lair from The Spy Who Loved Me, a large lair built into an extinct volcano akin to the films which is used as the main base of operations, and also the personal structures of its members such as Auric Goldfinger's Auric Enterprises and casino and Dr. No's Crab Key, also returning from the films.

Although the From Russia with Love video game mirrors much of the plot of the eponymous film, it uses an organisation called OCTOPUS rather than SPECTRE to avoid copyright issues. The game features a recurring symbol which could be thought of as SPECTRE's logo: a simple, marine-blue octopus with semicircular eyes and blade-like tentacles. This logo is at least seen printed on the walls of The Octopus black market and on Goblin grenades.

Copyright issues

Main article: The controversy over Thunderball
File:Never-say-never-again.jpg

SPECTRE 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 SPECTRE in a number of his novels.

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 SPECTRE and Blofeld are used in a number of films before and after Thunderball, the issue over the copyright of Thunderball, did prevent SPECTRE 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.

Although McClory retained the film rights to Thunderball until his death in 2006, and his estate held them until 2013, the courts in 2001 awarded MGM with the exclusive film rights to the fictional character James Bond. This technically prevented McClory from creating further adaptations of the novel. On November 15, 2013, MGM and Danjaq, LLC announced they had acquired all rights and interests of the estate of Kevin McClory. MGM, Danjaq, and the McClory estate issued a statement saying that they have brought to an "amicable conclusion the legal and business disputes that have arisen periodically for over 50 years."[2]

SPECTRE members

Henchmen working for SPECTRE or directly for Ernst Stavro Blofeld in (order of appearance):

Films

Novels

SPECTRE equipment

Gadgets - DN - Cyanide Cigarette Cyanide cigarettes (Dr. No) - Cigarettes containing cyanide. Used by Jones, an operative of Dr. Julius No. In a bid to escape interrogation by Bond, he bites down on a cigarette and dies seconds later. Although it doesn't appear in the novel, Bond is sent a cyanide-laced basket of fruit by Dr. No.
File:Gadgets - FRWL - Watch.png Garotte watch (From Russia with Love) - A wristwatch from which a wire garrote can be drawn. It is used by Red Grant to strangle a fake Bond as part of a training exercise in the opening scene. He later attempts to strangle the real 007 in the film's climax, only to have it turned against him. Later seen in On Her Majesty's Secret Service when Bond cleans out his office.
File:Gadgets - FRWL - Dagger Shoes.png Dagger shoes (From Russia with Love) - A shoe with a retractable, poison-tipped blade concealed in the toe-cap. In the film the poison caused death within seven seconds. Dr. No, the novel's sequel, notes that the shoe spike was coated with the poison tetrodotoxin. In the film they were worn by SPECTRE operatives Rosa Klebb and Morzeny, whereas in the novel they were worn only by Klebb. Seen again in Die Another Day.
Gadgets - TB - Remote
Largo's remote control (Thunderball) - A remote control device disguised as a cigarette case. The device allows access to SPECTRE's Paris conference room, concealed in the 'Centre international d'assistance aux personnes déplacées' ('The International Brotherhood for the Assistance of Stateless Persons').
Gadgets - TB - Chair
Electric chair (Thunderball) - With the flick of a switch on Blofeld's control console, any seat can become electrified, killing its occupant. The seat then drops down into the floor, disposing of the dead body. Blofeld uses this equipment to execute No. 9, who he believes is guilty of embezzlement.
Gadgets - YOLT - Lipstick

Lipstick gas grenade (You Only Live Twice) - A gas grenade disguised as a makeup applicator. While flying Bond in a light aircraft Helga Brandt catches the spy off guard by dropping the device, locking him in his seat and parachuting to safety. Within seconds the cabin is filled with a disorienting gas, leaving 007 fighting for his life in a pilot-less plane.

Gadgets - YOLT - Piranha pool

Piranha pool (You Only Live Twice) - Blofeld's trap door that he uses to dispose of failures to his organization and unwelcome guests. Operated by a foot pedal concealed behind Blofeld's desk, part of the foot-bridge over the piranha-infested pool collapses, sending the unsuspecting victim to his or her death.

File:Gadgets - YOLT - Staff.jpg

Bo with retractable spear (You Only Live Twice) - Used by a SPECTRE assassin who infiltrated Tanaka's Samurai training school in an attempt to assassinate Bond.

Gadgets - OHMSS - Blofeld's Gifts Blofeld's gifts (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) - Blofeld's gifts to the Piz Gloria girls; in reality they are transmitting devices which would enable the spread of his biological weapon.
Gadgets - DAF - Voice Changer Voice algorithm recorder (Diamonds Are Forever) - Used primarily by Blofeld to disguise his voice as that of Willard Whyte. Bond later uses a similar device (Courtesy of Q) to fool Blofeld into divulging Willard Whyte's loaction.

Parodies and clones

SPECTRE 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 called "Evil Enterprises" Dr. Evil's second in command, known only as "Number Two", is a parody of Emilio Largo, Blofeld's second in command.
  • 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 SPECTRE The character Maximillian is a spoof of Blofeld.
  • The James Bond spinoff animated series, James Bond Jr., featured a clone of SPECTRE called "SCUM".
  • The animated series Inspector Gadget featured a clone of SPECTRE called "MAD.". Dr. Claw, the head of MAD. is also based on the villain Blofeld.
  • The TV series Get Smart featured a SPECTRE-like organization called KAOS.
  • Tv Show REVENGE featured an a shadowy criminal group called Americon Intiative, who served as one the major antagonists of the series. Though American had a public terrorism agenda , they were actually savy business men/women who prayed on peoples fears to amass money and expand their power. They owned disater relief companies and the set off disasters to fatten their bank accounts. Such as the downing of flight 197, they always had a patsy to take the fall for them.
  • 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 SPECTRE They in fact leased out services to other terrorist organizations and various crime syndicates. The most noted change was SPECTRE. It was later renamed TAROT and the face cards represented various departments. This was due to the copyright issues referenced above. Victory 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 SPECTRE, hence the hasty renaming.
  • In the animated TV series, Darkwing Duck, one of the major antagonists is an evil criminal syndicate with the acronym "F.O.W.L.", punning on all the characters in the universe being birds, the word 'foul' and the suggestive acronym based names for such organizations.
  • The Bond films that Daniel Craig star in have an criminal organization called QUANTUM, whitch is similar to SPECTRE.
  • In the sci-fi game Mass Effect, the protagonist joins the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel Counsil. Operatives of the organisation are extremely well-trained fighters from various races and professions, and they are above the law, allowing them to use any means the individual agent deems nessecary in order to maintain galactic stability. These agents are generally referred to as Spectres.
  • In the video games and TV series Pokémon, an evil organization called Team Rocket often appears and wants to become rich and powerful, enough for dominate the world, like the SPECTRE Their boss is Giovanni, who has a Persian, a cat Pokémon, like Blofeld and his cat.
  • In Totally Spies Terence Lewis (the main villain of the show) founded the similar organization named L.A.M.O.S. with same goals and emblem.
  • In the 'Alex Rider' books, there is a similar organisation calling itself SCORPIA (Sabotage; CORruPtion; Intelligence; Assassination).

Images

See also

References

  1. Thunderball, Ian Fleming, 1961
  2. Johnson, Ted (November 15, 2013). MGM, ‘James Bond’ Producer End Decades-Long War Over 007. Variety. Retrieved on November 27, 2013.

External links

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