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For their counterpart in the reboot series, see Spectre

SPECTRE: Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, Extortion. The four great cornerstones of power headed by the greatest brains in the world.
~ Dr. Julius No.

The Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion (abbreviated as SPECTRE) are the main antagonists of the James Bond franchise. It is a global terrorist organization with aspirations of world domination that was created and led by the criminal mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

History[]

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 organization 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 Honor 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.

Films[]

In the EON Productions James Bond series, which began in 1962 with Dr. No, SPECTRE plays a more prominent role. The organization is first mentioned in Dr. No as the organization 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 villainous faction, 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, except for a cameo by Blofeld (not identified by name, but accompanied by the character's trademark cat) in For Your Eyes Only.

Non-EON Productions Films[]

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[]

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent[]

SPECTRE is shown, but never mentioned by name. Instead, it is referred to as a "powerful criminal organization". 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.

From Russia with Love[]

Although the video game mirrors much of the plot of the eponymous film, it uses an organization called OCTOPUS rather than SPECTRE to avoid copyright issues. The game features a recurring symbol that 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.

Description[]

Ideology[]

SPECTRE's members are derived from several prominent criminal organizations including the Gestapo, SMERSH, Marshal Josip Broz Tito's secret police, the Mafia, the Unione Corse, and a massive heroin-smuggling operation based in Turkey. SPECTRE seems to desire world domination though this was only ever stated to be their goal in You Only Live Twice, a movie in which SPECTRE was working not for itself but for an unnamed Asian government, possibly Red China, who had earlier backed Auric Goldfinger. SPECTRE's goals in the other films it has appeared in have always been less lofty. The organization had a more active role, often as a third party in the ongoing Cold War, and worked with both sides all while instigating conflict between the two superpowers so as to get them to exhaust themselves and thus be vulnerable when it seizes power. SPECTRE thus of the Cold War. This strategy is described by Blofeld in the film version of From Russia with Love with some Siamese fish he keeps in an aquarium, where one fish is refraining from fighting two others until their fight is concluded. The cunning fish then attacks the weakened victor and kills it easily.

SPECTRE has an extremely draconian discipline policy, with the penalty for disobedience or failure being automatic death. As Blofeld says on several occasions: "This organization does not tolerate failure". To heighten the impact of the executions, Blofeld would often focus attention on an innocent member to make it appear his death is imminent, only to suddenly kill the actual target when that person is off guard. The organization is also shown to be somewhat money-pitching and petty as Blofeld and Emiio Largo willing to kill Angelo Palazzi for demanding more money and order the death of Count Lippe for hiring Palazzi, even though both of them complete their mission successfully. While this type of discipline is used to enforce the members of the organization to perform their task successfully, it always backfires on the organization multiple times since all Spectre agents never have a chance to learn from their experience to perform their tasks successfully later on and those that replace them never have the failure experience from their predecessors to succeed, leading to the chain of failure perpetuating throughout the organization's operations. To make matter worse, by killing henchmen on the whim, Blofield failed to realize that he depletes his manpower at fast pace and even unknowingly sabotaging his own plan. The best example is that when Blofield ordered the death of Count Lippe, the assassin, whom he dispatched, killed Lippe while he in the process of killing Bond thus saving Bond life in the process and leading Bond to foil in his plan in the end.

SPECTRE also draws elements from mafia syndicates and other organized crime rings, having strict codes of loyalty and silence with fierce punishments for violating them.

Headquarters[]

In both the film and the novel Thunderball, the physical headquarters of the organization was in Paris which operated behind the front of an organization aiding refugees (Firco in the novels; International Brotherhood for the Assistance of Stateless Persons in the films).

Leadership and Hierarchy[]

There are 21 members of the headboard of SPECTRE. Ernst Stavro Blofeld served as the autocratic leader of the organization while Emilio Largo was elected by the cabinet to be second in command. A physicist named Kotze and an electronics expert named Maslov were also prominent members of the board for their expertise in scientific and technical matters. SPECTRE's head cabinet was officially dismantled in Diamonds are Forever after their latest scheme of world espionage and domination was thwarted.

SPECTRE's cabinet all use numbers (e.g.: Number 1) as code names to hide their identities. In the novels, the numbers of members were initially assigned at random and then rotated by two digits every month to prevent detection. In the novel Thunderball, Blofeld has been assigned "Number 2", while Largo is assigned "Number 1". This particular example of numbering was perhaps deliberately borrowed from revolutionary organizations, 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 organization, he was protected by masquerading as a target of lower importance, and the structure of the organization was also obscured from intelligence services.

In the films the numbers are permanent and indicate rank: Blofeld is always referred to as "Number 1" and Largo is "Number 2".

EON Films[]

This list shows all of the members of SPECTRE mentioned in the official Bond film franchise.

Name Number Film Portrayed by
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
1 From Russia with Love

Thunderball

You Only Live Twice

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Diamonds Are Forever

For Your Eyes Only

Spectre

No Time to Die

Anthony Dawson
Eric Pohlmann (Voice)
Donald Pleasence
Telly Savalas
Charles Gray
John Hollis
Robert Rietty (Voice)
Christoph Waltz
Emilio Largo 2 Thunderball Adolfo Celi

Robert Rietty (Voice)

Rosa Klebb 3 From Russia with Love (Rosa Klebb)

You Only Live Twice (Unknown)

Lotte Lenya
Unknown Burt Kwouk
Count Lippe 4 Thunderball

You Only Live Twice

Guy Doleman
Unknown Michael Chow
Tov Kronsteen 5 From Russia with Love

Thunderball

Vladek Sheybal
Unknown Philip Stone
Jacques Bouvar 6 Thunderball Bob Simmons
Unnamed 7 Cecil Cheng
Unknown 9 Clive Cazes
10 André Maranne
Unnamed 11 Thunderball

You Only Live Twice

Murray Kash
Helga Brandt Karin Dor

Never Say Never Again

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

Name # Film Portrayed By
Ernst Stavro Blofeld 0 Never Say Never Again Max von Sydow
Maximillian Largo 1 Klaus Maria Brandauer
Fatima Blush 12 Barbara Carrera


Novels[]

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

Name No. Description
Ernst Stavro Blofeld 2 Leader and founder of SPECTRE.
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 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.
14 A former Gestapo officer.
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.
Irma Bunt ? Blofeld's matron at Piz Gloria who later becomes his wife in Japan.

Members[]

Leadership[]

Operatives[]

Copyright Issues[]

SPECTRE and its characters have been at the centre 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 after 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 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.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • In the novels, its first appearance was in Thunderball, while in the movies it appears right in the first movie Dr. No.
  • SPECTRE appeared as the main antagonistic faction of the Sean Connery era James Bond films (excluding Goldfinger) and George Lazenby's sole film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but due to legal issues between Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory, the organization did not appear after 1971's Diamonds Are Forever (save for an unnamed Blofeld appearing in the pre-credits of For Your Eyes Only). Thanks to the legal dispute being settled between EON Studios (the owners of the Bond films) and the McClory Estate, SPECTRE returned as the eponymous main antagonists of the 24th Bond film Spectre, once again led by Blofeld, as well as the following Bond film, No Time to Die.

Navigation[]

           007 Villains

SMERSH
Auric Goldfinger | Mr. Big | Le Chiffre | Krilencu

SPECTRE
Ernst Stavro Blofeld | Dr. Julius No | R.J. Dent | Three Blind Mice | Miss Taro | Annabel Chung | Rosa Klebb | Tov Kronsteen | Red Grant | Morzeny | Rhoda | Emilio Largo | Fiona Volpe | Count Lippe | Angelo Palazzi | Colonel Jacques Bouvar | Vargas | Ricardo | Mr. Osato | Helga Brandt | Hans | Irma Bunt | Grunther | Braun | Felsen | Josef | Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd | Bambi and Thumper

Auric Enterprises
Auric Goldfinger | Oddjob | Pussy Galore | Kisch | Mr. Ling | Mr. Solo | Jed Midnight | Jack Strap

Flying Circus
Pussy Galore | Denise | Sydney

San Monique
Dr. Kananga | Tee Hee | Baron Samedi | Adam | Whisper | Dambala | Rosie Carver | Leroy

Hai Fat Industries
Hai Fat | Francisco Scaramanga | Nick Nack | Kra

Stromberg Shipping Line
Karl Stromberg | Jaws | Liparus Captain | Liparus Crew | Naomi | Sandor | Professor Markovitz | Dr. Bechmann

Drax Industries
Hugo Drax | Jaws | Chang

Octopus Cult
Octavia Smythe | Magda | Kamal Khan | Gobinda | Mischka and Grischka | General Orlov

Zorin Industries
Max Zorin | Scarpine | Hans Glaub | May Day | Jenny Flex | Pan Ho | Bob Conley

Sanchez Cartel
Franz Sanchez | Wavekrest Marine Research (Milton Krest & Clive) | Colonel Heller | Dario | Ed Killifer | Joe Butcher | Perez | Braun | Truman-Lodge

Janus Syndicate
Alec Trevelyan | Xenia Onatopp | Arkady Ourumov | Boris Grishenko

Carver Media Group Network
Elliot Carver | Richard Stamper | Henry Gupta | Captain Scott | Stealth Ship Crew | Dr. Kaufman | General Chang | Timblin | Satoshi Isagura | Jeff Hobbs | Philip Jones | Tom Wallace | Beth Davidson | Tamara Steel

King Industries
Elektra King | Renard | Gabor | Sasha Davidov | Mr. Bullion | Giulietta da Vinci | Mikhail Arkov | Trukhin | Lachaise

Graves Corporation
Gustav Graves | Miranda Frost | Tang Lin Zao | Vladmir Popov | Mr. Kil | Dr. Alvarez | General Han | General Li | General Dong | Van Bierk

Quantum/Spectre
Ernst Stavro Blofeld | Mr. White | Le Chiffre | Steven Obanno | Vesper Lynd | Alex Dimitrios | Adolph Gettler | Dryden | Valenka | Kratt | Mollaka Danso | Carlos Nikolic | Leo | Fisher | Dominic Greene | General Medrano | Colonel Carlos | Gregg Beam | Elvis | Lieutenant Orso | Craig Mitchell | Yusef Kabira | Guy Haines | Edmund Slate | Marchetti Pilot | Gregor Karakov | Moishe Soref | Raoul Silva | Patrice | Severine | Boat Captain | Max Denbigh | Mr. Hinx | Marco Sciarra | Moreau | Dr. Vogel | Guerra | Abrika | Marshall | Valerian | Lorenzo | Gallo | Francesco and Marco | Primo

Greene Planet
Dominic Greene | Elvis | Edmund Slate

The Union
Taylor Michael Harris | Le Gérant

Malprave Industries
Adrian Malprave | Nigel Bloch

Phoenix International
Rafael Drake | Kiko Hayashi | Armitage Rook | Ninja

Volotech
Nikolai Diavolo | Katya Nadanova | Arkady Yayakov

Others
Dr. Noah | Capungo | Aris Kristatos | Emile Locque | Erich Kriegler | Hector Gonzales | Claus | Apostis | General Georgi Koskov | Brad Whitaker | Necros | Colonel Feyador | Impostor 00 | Lyutsifer Safin | Valdo Obruchev | Logan Ash | Jack & Seraffimo Spang | Sluggsy & Horror | Mr. Sanguinetti | Anton Murik | Caber | Franco Quesocriado | Nena Bismaquer | Markus Bismaquer | Walter Luxor | Konrad von Glöda | Rivke Ingber | Koyla Mosolov | Tamil Rahani | Jay Autem Holy | Shooter | Steve Quinn | Doktor Kirchtum | Nannie Norrich | Konstantin Chernov | Heather Dare | Norman Murray | Vladimir Scorpius | David Dragonpol | Maxwell Tarn | Felicity Willing | Severan Hydt | Niall Dunne | Mahdi al-Fulan | Nicholas Rathko | Irwin Wolfe | Jean-Paul Scipio | Reade Griffith

Young Bond
Dr. Perseus Friend | Count Ugo Carnifex | Smiler | El Huracán | John Charnage | Colonel Irina Sedova | Ludwig Smith | Wolfgang Smith | Anton Kostler | La Velada | Konstantin Grünner | Andrei Karachan | Adam Elmhirst | Zoltan the Magyar

Never Say Never Again
Ernst Stavro Blofeld | Maximillian Largo | Fatima Blush

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