Alex Rider (character)
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Alexander "Alex" Rider is a fictional character. He is the protagonist and title character of the popular Alex Rider series of novels by British author Anthony Horowitz.
Alex is a young agent for MI6, the British international intelligence service. At no more than fourteen years of age, Alex was forced into this occupation after MI6 noticed Alex's many talents.
Alex is often known as "the reluctant teenage super-spy".
He was played in the film Stormbreaker, based on the novel of the same name, by Alex Pettyfer.
[edit] Physical appearance and characteristics
Alex Rider is described as a strikingly good-looking 14-year-old boy, with light fair hair that hangs in strands, and a handsome slender face that "would attract plenty of girls". Alex has serious dark-brown eyes and a slightly hard, narrow mouth.
Alex is well-built and slim, and has a suntan. He is very fit, being described as having "the body of an athlete"[1]. Alex is of medium height but quite tall for his age.
Alex wears mostly casual clothing, and often wears a wooden bead necklace.
Towards the later novels, though he stays fourteen throughout the series, Alex is described as looking older - this being due to pain endured by him on his missions, and difficult life since the death of his uncle.
Due to the fact that Alex was raised in England, he speaks with an English accent. He is generally polite and well-mannered, having been raised in high class.
Alex has a rather dry sense of humour, with a tendency to make jokes during difficult situations, and also to mock the flaws of his enemies and their actions.
[edit] Alex's background and personal life
Alexander Rider was born on 13th February 1987, in West London, England, to John Rider, an MI6 agent, and Helen Rider, a nurse working in radiology.
When Alex was a baby, his mother and father were killed by Scorpia in a bombing after an aeroplane had landed. Fortunately, Alex was not on the aeroplane (though he was meant to be at the time); he had an ear infection and stayed behind with a nanny. Alex's paternal uncle, Ian Rider, raised Alex after his parents died.
Alex has become quite independent in his character as a result of having no parents, and his uncle Ian's long absences. Ian and Alex were very close, and when Ian was home they did practically everything together.
Ian Rider often took Alex around the world to educate him about other cultures. Alex has lived abroad, once spending the best part of a year living in Barcelona, Spain, and he has also stayed in the Marais district of Paris, France.
Because Alex's parents and uncle have died, his former housekeeper/babysitter (now his new guardian), Jack Starbright, takes care of him.
Alex currently lives in Chelsea, London, with Jack Starbright. He attends Brookland Comprehensive School and is now in year 9 of secondary school (third year of high school). Alex has a friend in this school named Tom Harris who finds out about his MI6 life. But unlike Sabina Pleasure, Tom is very supportive of Alex and covers for him whenever he needs it.
Alex has been raised in a somewhat different environment than most other boys his age. As a result, he tends not to relate much to his peers, and does not have many friends at his school, apart from Tom Harris. But Alex does not mind this, as he is not the type to hunger for popularity.
Before Alex was forced to join MI6, he wanted to be a footballer, but now is unsure of what he wants to do when he graduates from school. He still does not express interest whatsoever in following his father's (and uncle's) footsteps in becoming a full-time MI6 agent.
[edit] Relationships
[edit] Jack Starbright
The person Alex has had the most time with is Jack Starbright, his uncle Ian always having been away on business. Alex met Jack when she came from America under employment of his uncle as a housekeeper and babysitter for Alex, who was seven years old at the time. She has known Alex for seven years. After Ian died, Jack became Alex's guardian. Jack is by far Alex's closest friend, and even though it was originally her job to care for Alex, they have grown attached and their relationship has become very personal. However, as Alex's MI6 life starts to take a toll on him, it also places somewhat of a strain on their relationship - Jack is always very worried and upset that Alex's life is constantly being put in danger.
[edit] Sabina Pleasure
Alex met Sabina at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and they quickly became good friends. Sabina soon became suspicious when Alex had to leave the Championships early, and more so when Sabina saves his life and then he disappears for weeks on a mission. Alex's constant disappearances place a real difficulty on their relationship, and when Sabina finally finds out the truth about Alex when they are kidnapped, things turn out differently for them. Sabina soon leaves Britain to live in America. She has kissed him twice and shows more romantic feelings for him.
[edit] Alex's school life
Alex normally goes to Brookland School in London, England, but his education has been interrupted several times for MI6 missions.
From what Alex's hobbies are, it is easy to tell what this favourite school subjects would be: Physical Education and Language would be among them.
The school secretary, Jane Bedfordshire, has always had a soft spot for Alex. In the British version of Scorpia, while the students were on excursion to Venice, Alex recovered Miss Bedfordshire's handbag after it was stolen.
Also in Scorpia, Alex receives a tutor, Mr. Grey, to help him catch up with the schoolwork he missed while on errands for MI6. He eventually takes Alex on the school trip to Venice, where Alex attempts to find Scorpia.
However, Alex ends up in a bad situation in Venice and finds himself unable to return to Mr. Grey and the other students. This ultimately makes Mr. Grey very worried about Alex, as well as suspicious, no more so than when they had to return to England without him. When Alex eventually returns to school, Mr. Grey does not talk to Alex and is wary around him.
Alex's school life suffers quite a lot from his life as a spy and it's constant interferences.
[edit] Alex's talents
Alex is fluent in several languages - as well as his native English, he speaks fluent French, German and Spanish. He also speaks basic Italian and Japanese.
Alex is skilled in many activities, including extreme sports - martial arts (Alex is a black belt in karate), abseiling, mountain climbing, rifle shooting and snowboarding. He also plays tennis, football and basketball, and is in the Brookland School basketball team.
While on a trip to Czechoslovakia, Alex learnt the "art" of pickpocketing from his uncle. He puts this skill to use when he needs a special persons' ticket to a conference to investigate Damian Cray in Eagle Strike.
Alex is also skilled in snooker, and represents the junior team at his local snooker club.
His athletic talents greatly assist Alex and even save his life during his missions many times, for example in Stormbreaker he rides a fourwheeler to elude guards, in Point Blanc he snowboards down a mountain on an ironing board to escape Point Blanc Academy, in Skeleton Key he Scuba dives into Skeleton Key, in Scorpia he BASE jumps into a factory and in Ark Angel he walks between two skyscrapers on a tightrope.
As the series progresses, Alex becomes exceptionally more skilled at spying, to the point that he sometimes investigates and pursues some enemies by himself while not on an MI6 mission.
[edit] Alex's MI6 life
After Alex's uncle was killed in strange circumstances, Alex wanted to investigate the matter. He researched the breaker's yard where his uncle's car was going to be crushed, and he narrowly escaped because of his wits and talent. MI6 had a hidden camera on Alex during this incident, and were curious about him. Crawley, MI6's messenger, phoned Alex and invited him to talk about his position since Ian Rider was dead. Alex agrees, but is curious to look in his uncle's office in the building (which is locked), and he climbs out of a 17th story window and talentedly maneuvres to the office window to do that. It is this that interests Blunt into making Alex an agent.
Alex found and read his uncle's work documents. He was deeply shocked by what he found out.
It turned out that Ian Rider was not a banker as Jack and Alex originally believed. He was an agent for MI6, and was killed on his last mission.
By encouraging Alex's hobbies, Ian Rider had trained Alex his whole life to be his successor. Upon realising this, Alex is highly reluctant.
Alex does not want to be an agent for MI6, in fact, initially he flatly refuses. But Blunt tells him that his legal guardian Jack Starbright will be deported and Alex sent to an institution if he does not cooperate. Alex does not want this for Jack or himself, so reluctantly he agrees. He is sent to a training camp to prepare for his first mission.
[edit] Alex's missions
As an MI6 agent (as unwilling as he is) Alex has been sent on various missions, all notably within one year, and these have had an impact on him in various ways. They are:
[edit] Stormbreaker
After Alex finishes training with the SAS, he is sent to Cornwall in South England to investigate a Middle Eastern multi billionaire, Herod Sayle, who has invented a computer called Stormbreaker. Sayle plans to send thousands of Stormbreaker computers to every British school as a gift, or so it seems.
Alex has to pose undercover as Felix Lester, the winner of a competition in a computer magazine to investigate the Stormbreaker computers, as MI6 believes that Sayle has something to hide. As Alex investigates, he gradually discovers more about his uncle's final mission.
Alex's cover is eventually blown, and Sayle, now aware of what Alex is doing at his estate, keeps Alex tied to a chair in his office - rendering him helpless to thwart Sayle's plans to destroy the children of Britain by pressing a button at the Science Museum that will activate a lethal virus in the Stormbreaker computers.
Alex manages to escape using the gadgets Smithers gave him, and his mission is a success - Alex bursts into the Science Museum and shoots the activation button.
Sayle attempts to take revenge on Alex after the mission. As Alex is walking out of MI6 headquarters, he is kidnapped by Sayle and taken to a helipad, where Sayle tries to shoot him, but Yassen Gregorovich arrives and shoots Sayle, saving Alex's life.
[edit] Point Blanc
After the events of Stormbreaker, Alex is back at school. But one day he finds a drug dealer near his school and follows him, eventually using a crane to destroy the drug dealer's supplies. This leads on to Alex's next mission.
Alex is sent to the French Alps to Point Blanc Academy, a proclaimed school for misbehaving wealthy boys, to investigate the supposed head teacher of the school, Dr. Grief. Alex goes undercover as Alex Friend, rebellious son of Sir David Friend. For his cover, he has to dress and behave completely different - he has his ear pierced, a different hairstyle, and different clothes. To reinforce his cover, Alex pretends to drink gin when he first arrives in the Point Blanc hotel, knowing that there are surveillance cameras monitoring him.
Alex is dining in the hotel, when he realises he has been drugged - his drink has been spiked. Alex staggers out to his hotel room where he collapses. He is transported to a laboratory where doctors strip him of his clothing and examine every inch of him, with the intention of cloning him. When Alex wakes up, it seems nothing has happened - but after this, Alex finds that Point Blanc Academy is not what it claims to be, and is a threat to the future of the world.
When Dr. Grief finds out that Alex is investigating him, he arranges for Alex to be dissected alive in a biology class. Alex manages to escape using the gadgets Smithers gave him, including an exploding earring.
After this mission is successful, Alex returns home, but his relief is short-lived. He finds out that Dr. Grief and his staff managed to create a clone of Alex after he had been drugged at the hotel - the clone is completely identical to Alex, apart from his voice. The two Alexes have a showdown in Alex's school.
[edit] Skeleton Key
Sometime after Point Blanck, Alex is playing soccer when he unexpectedly encounters Crawley. He tells Alex about how MI6 expects the Wimbledon Tennis Championships are being sabotaged. Alex is soon sent to the Championships undercover as a ballboy. It is here that he meets Sabina Pleasure.
A Big Circle (Chinese gang) assassin finds out Alex is investigating the games, and unsuccessfully attempts to kill him. Alex is almost killed again by another assassin later when he is on a surfing holiday with Sabina in Cornwall - Alex rides the "Cribber" wave on Fistral Beach, when the assassin attempts to run him over with a jet ski. Although he escapes the gang member, he cannot escape the relentless tide of the Cribber. Alex drowns and stops breathing, but Sabina does CPR on Alex to resuscitate him, after finding him unconscious in the water.
Alex spends five days recovering in hospital after his near-drowning. To escape the Big Circle, Alex leaves Britain temporarily. MI6 sends him to Skeleton Key, an island near Cuba, to investigate General Alexei Sarov, a wealthy Russian who lives on the island. Alex goes undercover as Alex Gardiner - an American boy supposedly visiting on holiday. Two CIA agents accompany him, undercover as his "parents", though both are soon killed.
Alex's cover is blown, and he becomes a prisoner in Skeleton Key, kept against his will by Sarov. Alex must find a way to escape before Sarov puts his threatening plan to action. Sarov also develops twisted, sentimental feelings for Alex. He tells Alex he wants to adopt him, as Alex reminds him of his deceased son. When Alex refuses, claiming he would rather be dead than have Sarov as a father, he shoots himself in front of Alex. Alex is taken to hospital in Moscow by Russian police and eventually back to England.
Alex is affected deeply by the events of this mission. He suffers such depression that even Jack Starbright can not console him - he snaps angrily at her when she attempts to get him to see a doctor, and her attempts to uplift him are not successful. But Alex soon encounters Sabina Pleasure again, who invites him on holiday to France.
[edit] Eagle Strike
Alex is on holiday with Sabina Pleasure in the south of France when he sees Yassen Gregorovich, the assassin who killed his uncle. This makes Alex very wary and no longer able to enjoy the holiday. Soon their holiday home is destroyed by a bomb, injuring Sabina's father. Alex is sure Yassen was involved, so he investigates.
When Yassen finds out, he tests Alex's skills by forcing him into a bullfight. Alex is forced to wear a matador costume and endure a terrifying ordeal from a bull, all of this in public. Alex eventually succeeds, and manages to escape Yassen and his accomplices with only minor injuries, before being safely returned to England.
During this, Alex finds out that Yassen's mobile phone has the number of Damian Cray, a singer and anti-drugs campaigner. He suspects Damian Cray was also involved in the holiday house incident. Alex, accompanied by Jack Starbright, travels from France to the Netherlands investigating Damian Cray.
Alex acquires a ticket to a conference Cray is attending, where Cray introduces his new game console, the Gameslayer. Alex is the only teenager in the conference, so he is ushered onto the stage and made to play the Gameslayer. When Alex is starting to beat the game, Cray cheats him into a loss by pulling his arm away.
Alex continues to investigate Cray when suddenly Cray finds out what Alex is doing. Alex is captured and forced to endure a real-life replica of the video game Cray created from his Gameslayer, and is nearly killed - he barely manages to escape.
Alex does not go undercover in this installment.
[edit] Scorpia
Alex has been told by a now-dead Yassen Gregorovich to go to Venice to find "Scorpia" so he can find his "destiny". He has also found out that Yassen once worked with Alex's father. Alex is confused and unhappy about this, as he does not know what Scorpia is, or what it has to do with him.
Meanwhile, Jack Starbright has expressed worry over Alex's schooling - concerned about Alex's progress due to the constant interruptions of his missions, Jack hires a tutor for a reluctant Alex. This really annoys Alex, as he has to work very hard in order to catch up.
Alex finds out about the school trip to Venice, and he attends, hoping to find Scorpia. He separates from the other students, and his friend Tom covers for him as he investigates.
When Alex eventually finds Scorpia, he discovers it is an organisation his father worked for, and joins them without telling MI6. Alex does this because he wants revenge against MI6 for all of the things they put him through. His first mission is to kill Mrs Jones, the head deputy of Special Operations.
While temporarily working for Scorpia, Alex goes undercover as a pizza delivery boy while infiltrating Mrs Jones's apartment. He does not succeed, and realising that Scorpia are attempting to use him against MI6, Alex goes back to MI6 and does a mission to investigate Scorpia for them. This mission is a success.
Upon his return from the mission, Alex finds out that his father was not an assassin; he worked for MI6 undercover as an assassin, and that it was Scorpia that killed Alex's parents.
As he is walking out of MI6's building, Alex is about to phone Jack Starbright and ask her to go out with him - when he is shot in the chest by a Scorpia assassin. Alex is rendered unable to breathe. He sees his deceased mother and father, having a near-death experience, before losing consciousness.
[edit] Ark Angel
Alex is in hospital after the events of Scorpia. When a group of ecoterrorist kidnappers known as Force Three target Paul Drevin, the boy next door to him, they kidnap Alex instead after he switches the room numbers. Alex eventually manages to escape.
Alex returns home with Jack Starbright after eleven days in the hospital, to find out that Jack is angry with him; she loves him and nearly lost him only for him to be nearly killed again, and fears that next time he may not make it. Alex assures her it will not happen again and tells her how much she means to him - only for there to be a phone call from multimillionaire Nikolei Drevin, Paul Drevin's father, inviting Alex to stay with him and his son out of gratitude for Alex's bravery, or so it would appear.
Alex accepts, only to discover that Drevin is not the man he originally seemed to be - Alex finds out that Drevin planned his own son's attempted kidnapping and even his attempted mutilation for his own ends. When Drevin suspects Alex of trying to intervene with his plans (due to eventually finding out about his MI6 life) he locks Alex up.
After an ordeal, Alex escapes from Drevin, and then has to do another mission for the CIA -to infiltrate Ark Angel, a hotel located just outside Earth, as Drevin has planted a bomb there that will destroy Washington, D.C. (where Jack Starbright is staying to visit her parents) unless it is desposed of as quickly as possible... And Alex is the only one that can fit in the small probe, therefore the only one who can carry out the mission. Resulting from that is not only that an entire city is prevented from being destroyed, but also a world record is broken: Alex Rider becomes the youngest person to visit space.
When Alex has gotten rid of the bomb's threat, he cannot resist taking a look at Earth as it is seen from outside it in space. Alex knows it is an experience he will never forget.
After this mission is complete, Alex lands in the water near Australia.
[edit] Snakehead
The seventh novel of the Alex Rider series is unpublished as of yet. Information on plans for Alex's character can be found in the article for Snakehead.
[edit] Notes
Despite coming face-to-face with many criminals and having personally witnessed many murders and other deaths, Alex does not possess a killer's instinct, and never kills unless in self-defense; however, he has personally killed or been responsible for many of the deaths of the criminals he battles for this reason. Alex, so far, has killed 7 people. He has killed Mr. Grin, Dr Grief, Damien Cray, Nile, Julia Rothman (though this was by accident), Nikolei Drevin, Nadia Vole and Conrad (Though these were notably out of self-defense).
In addition to being employed by MI6 in Stormbreaker and Point Blanc, Alex has done two missions for the CIA, in Skeleton Key and Ark Angel, and will do a mission for Australian intelligence in Snakehead. In Eagle Strike and Scorpia, he becomes involved in adventures for personal reasons.
[edit] Facts about Alex
- Alex bites his nails. This is a common habit associated with anxiety due to nervousness and stress.
- Alex does not like horse riding. This is a notable irony about Alex, as his name is Rider - and riding is the only sport he hates.
- When in France, Alex enjoys sirop de grenadine, a type of bright red fruit juice with ice.
- Alex's hobbies include sports, snooker and video games. He also enjoys outings with Jack Starbright.
[edit] Quotes by and about Alex
Jack Starbright: (at Ian Rider's funeral) Cemeteries give me the creeps.
Alex: Yes, and quite a few creeps have turned up. -Stormbreaker
Alan Blunt: I hope you eat meat. Today it's carré d'agneau.
Alex: You mean roast lamb. - Stormbreaker
Herod Sayle: (about the pet jellyfish) It reminds me of myself.
Alex: It's ninety-nine per cent water. It has no brain, no guts and no anus. - Stormbreaker
Alex: (To Herod Sayle) I'm sorry you were bullied at school, but lots of kids get bullied and they don't turn into nutcases. - Stormbreaker
Dr. Grief: Have you heard of cloning?
Alex: You mean... like Dolly the sheep? - Point Blanc
Alex: I called for help two days ago. Where were you?
Mrs. Jones: I'm very sorry, Alex. There were...logistical problems.
Alex: Yes? Well while you were having your logistical problems, Dr. Grief was getting ready to cut me up! - Point Blanc
Alex: (after running a sled into Dr. Grief's helicopter) It looks like I sleighed him... - Point Blanc
Sabina Pleasure: (kissing Alex, who is half asleep) You're much cuter than James Bond. - Skeleton Key
Conrad: You are mine! And I intend to make you suffer...
Alex: Just talking to you makes me suffer. - Skeleton Key
Sabina Pleasure: Alex, I'm really pissed off with you. I saved your life in Cornwall, in case you don't remember - although I have to say that giving you the kiss of life on the beach was the high point of the holiday... - Skeleton Key
Sabina Pleasure: Aren't there any good-looking boys in France? Apart from you, I mean. - Eagle Strike
Damian Cray: What do you think is the greatest evil in the world today?
Alex: ...Is that including or not including you? - Eagle Strike
Julia Rothman: Do you have a girlfriend, Alex? I'm sure a boy as handsome as you gets plenty of offers. - Scorpia
Dr. Steiner: Would you mind rolling up your sleeve?
Alex: I thought you were a psychiatrist.
Dr. Steiner: I'm perfectly qualified to give you an injection. You're not going to tell me you're afraid of a little prick?
Alex: I wouldn't call you that. - Scorpia
Nurse: Hello, I'm Diana Meacher.
Alex: I'm looking forward to meeting you too. - Ark Angel
Alex: (after walking a tightrope) Nice night for a walk... (faints). - Ark Angel
[edit] Alex Rider in the Stormbreaker film
In the 2006 Stormbreaker film directed by Geoffrey Sax, Alex Rider is played by Alex Pettyfer, a rising British actor. Pettyfer was chosen from 500 hopefuls for the role of Alex.
Anthony Horowitz, who was the scriptwriter for the film as well as the author of the novels, recommended Pettyfer to the casting director to play Alex Rider after seeing him in Tom Brown's Schooldays. Horowitz gave Pettyfer intense guidance on becoming the character of Alex Rider, expressing him and bringing his athletic talents, intellect and charm to the screen.
The role of Alex Rider was said to be the most physically demanding ever taken by a child actor. Pettyfer undertook martial arts training with Hong Kong martial arts choreographer Donnie Yen, as well as horseback riding. Pettyfer did most of his own stunts in the shooting of the film, and underwent major physical preparation for the role.
Pettyfer was fifteen years old at the time of the film's shooting, just one year older than his character.
[edit] Differences between novel and film regarding Alex
There were a number of changes, mostly on Alex Rider's part, made in the film that were noticeably different from the novel. The following is a table of the differences in chronological order:
| Aspect | Novel | Film |
|---|---|---|
| How Alex Rider is introduced | Alex has woken up early one morning and found out about his uncle - this sends him in deep thought, and is an introduction to his character. | Alex is in class at school and is giving an oral presentation on his family. |
| Alex's eye colour | Brown | Blue |
| Languages Alex is fluent in | French, German and Spanish | French, German and Japanese |
| How long Alex has known Jack Starbright | Seven years (since Alex was seven years old) | Nine years (since Alex was five years old) |
| How and when Alex found out his uncle died | At 3:00 a.m., after waking up from the police ringing the doorbell, and overhearing the police tell Jack. | In the evening, after answering the front door to his home, initially believing it to be his uncle - when it was actually the police. |
| How Alex finds out his uncle's possessions had been taken from their house | Alex looks in his uncle's secret office in their house and finds that nothing is in there | Alex notices a van outside their house and sees his uncle's possessions being packed in it |
| How Alex escapes from the breaker's yard | He crawls out the back window | He uses the built-in ejector seat |
| How Alex finds out his uncle was a spy | Alex sneaks into his uncle's office (at the "Royal and General") and reads his mission files. | Alex is told by Mrs. Jones, upon first entering MI6 headquarters. |
| How Alex first gets to the MI6 Headquarters | Alex was lead there by Crawley, being told it was a bank, before seeing his uncle's office. | Alex is transported there via a photo booth in Liverpool Street Station. |
| Where Alex gets his gadgets from Smithers | In MI6 Headquarters | In Hamley's toy shop |
| The name of the boy Alex goes on his mission undercover as | Felix Lester | Kevin Blake |
| The number of times Alex tries out the Stormbreaker computer | Twice | Once (presumably for pacing reasons) |
| How Alex gets Mr. Grin to fly him to London after escaping Sayle's headquarters | He threatens Mr. Grin with a gun retrieved from Sayle's headquarters. | He uses a fountain pen, given to him by Smithers, to inject sodium pentathol into Mr. Grin so he does what Alex commands him. |
