List of Alex Rider characters
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The following is a list of characters recurring, appearing in or referred to in the Alex Rider series of novels by British author Anthony Horowitz. The list of characters on this page are not included in the Alex Rider main article. For information on the title character, Alex Rider, see the article on his character: Alex Rider (character).
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[edit] Jack Starbright
Jack Starbright is Alex Rider's closest and best friend, an American girl who traveled to London to study law when she was twenty-one, but never returned to the United States (presumably after having become attached to Alex in their time living together). She was originally employed as a housekeeper by Ian Rider to look after a young Alex and maintain their house during Ian's long absences, in return for the lease of a room in the residence. She is twenty-eight years old.
After the death of Ian Rider, Jack becomes Alex's legal guardian. She has appeared in every installment of the Alex Rider series.
Jack is described as slim, with tangled red hair, and a boyish, round face.
Jack has known Alex since he was seven years old. However, in the Stormbreaker film, she has known him since he was five (due to the fact that in the novel, Jack has been housekeeper for seven years but in the film, she has been for nine years).
Jack is one of few people who knows that Alex is an MI6 agent, and highly objects to it, fearing for his safety - always encouraging him to refuse missions (until he is forced to participate in one). She is extremely protective of Alex.
In the Stormbreaker film, Jack is blonde, and fascinated with Japanese culture - regularly preparing Japanese meals and is first introduced wearing a kimono. She fights Nadia Vole when she interrogates her about Alex, Vole having hacked into Alex's mobile phone and found out his home address. Jack also assists Alex in traveling to prevent Sayle activating the Stormbreaker computers, in a minor departure from the novel.
Early in Ark Angel, while Alex is in hospital, he receives a "Get Well" card from Jack. It is described as the biggest card in the room, and is followed up with magazines and energy drinks.
It has been stated that "Jack" may be short for "Jackie" or "Jacqueline".
In the Stormbreaker film, Jack Starbright is played by Alicia Silverstone.
[edit] Alan Blunt
Alan Blunt is the head of MI6 Special Operations. He is an aloof, impassive, and ruthless man. He is known for wearing a grey suit and grey glasses, and driving a Rolls-Royce. He is married, but his wife is not mentioned in the series. Blunt is dedicated to his job and has a very analytical mind. Like many spy-masters in popular culture, Blunt is portrayed as being emotionally unattached to anything he does and whatever means he uses.
After Alan Blunt dismissed Alex Rider's suspicions of Damian Cray and his attempt to destroy half the world, he was severely humiliated and was only narrowly able to keep his position. He insists on Alex's continued use despite of his youthfulness, the death of his uncle in an intelligence case, and the fact that he has encountered near death more times than most intelligence agents would be expected to in their careers.
In the film he is played by Bill Nighy.
[edit] John Crawley
John Crawley is a man who works for MI6 as a messenger between Alex Rider and Special Operations. He is in his thirties and is known to have worked with John Rider, Alex's father, on a number of occasions. It is hinted in Ark Angel that he was mortally injured by Scorpia on one mission.
In the film, he is played by Jimmy Carr, and is renamed "Crawford", after an unusual request from MI6 itself not to use the name Crawley.
[edit] Mrs. Tulip Jones
Mrs. Tulip Jones is second in command at MI6 and is Alan Blunt's closest associate. Blunt insists their personal and professional lives remain separate; consequently, Mrs. Jones has never even been inside of his house, despite knowing him better than anyone else in Special Operations. Mrs. Jones has two children, both of them whom have been taken by someone at a young age. As a result of that, she has a soft spot for Alex Rider, even though he set out to kill her in Scorpia.
When Alex was a few months old, Mrs. Jones executed a successful operation on Albert Bridge. Both MI6 and Scorpia had hostages and agreed to release them on a neutral bridge; Scorpia had captured an English civil servant's son, while MI6 has John Rider, Alex Rider's father. As both hostages were walking back to their own side, Mrs. Jones gave the order to "kill" John Rider, a highly successful MI6 agent himself. Scorpia was fooled into believing that John Rider was an operative of theirs (all the while spying for MI6), who is now dead. The mission was successful and led to her promotion to deputy head.
Mrs. Jones can be found sucking on a peppermint while giving Alex his bread before he goes on his next action-filled mission.
Scorpia, the fifth novel of the series, reveals her full name, Tulip Jones.
In the Stormbreaker film, she is played by Sophie Okonedo.
[edit] Sabina Pleasure
Sabina Pleasure is Alex Rider's love interest. She is first introduced in the third novel of the series, Skeleton Key, as a ballgirl at Wimbledon when Alex is posing as a ballboy. Sabina is described as dark-haired with freckles, who loves indecent, rude jokes and has an extremely loud laugh. Her name is a pun on the phrase "It's been a pleasure".
In Skeleton Key, Alex meets Sabina and quickly becomes good friends with her. After the Wimbledon tennis championships, Sabina, her parents and Alex go to Cornwall on a surfing holiday. It is here that Sabina blatantly expresses romantic feelings for Alex when she goes into his room one night while he is going to sleep and kisses him, telling him how cute he is. Sabina and Alex go down to Fistral Beach to catch the surf early next morning.
When he is attacked while surfing, Alex drowns - but Sabina finds him, carries him out of the water and revives him with CPR. She does this using the resuscitation skills she learnt at school. After a bystander calls an ambulance, Sabina briefly loses touch with Alex after his drowning incident when he is taken to hospital, but at the end of Skeleton Key, Sabina makes another appearance when she invites Alex to attend the trip to France her parents are planning.
In Eagle Strike, Sabina takes Alex to the south of France. When the house is destroyed by terrorists, Sabina's father is injured. Sabina is later kidnapped by Damian Cray while visiting her father in the hospital. Alex gambles on getting her out and is shocked to find her gagged and tied up. Although they both end up captured, he eventually manages to save them both from Damian Cray. Because Alex is too tired after this, Sabina is the one that shuts down Damian Cray's threatening missile launch.
Sabina later moves away to San Francisco. She kisses Alex again after they hug before she leaves. It is unknown whether or not she is going to continue her relationship with Alex because it was stated very heavily in the novel that they won't see each other again, but in Ark Angel she says she may visit at Christmas - hinting that she may return in the upcoming Alex Rider novel, Snakehead.
While Alex is in hospital due to being shot by a sniper, he receives a "Get Well Soon" card from Sabina. Alex does not know how Sabina found out he was in hospital.
Although Sabina's first novel appearance is in Skeleton Key, she appears in the Stormbreaker film adaptation, played by Sarah Bolger.
[edit] Yassen Gregorovich
Yassen Gregorovich was a recurring villain in the series, appearing from the first novel to the fourth.
He was formerly a Russian-born contract killer, trained by and apparently working for the clandestine terrorist organisation SCORPIA. A superb assassin, Gregorovich was considered one of the world's best.
From his skills, Gregorovich is obviously best known for his assassination; throughout the series, his reputation seems to be one of a man who makes no mistakes, and is considered an active threat by MI6. It is suggested that his training was grounded in ninjutsu, including, as is demonstrated on a single occasion, basic psychological warfare. He was also supposedly an expert with conventional weaponry and terrorist technique, though both are demonstrated only once throughout the series before his death. He was also revealed to be fluent in 7 languages but is teaching himself to learn 9. He was learning Japanese at the time of his death.
Gregorovich was at least partially instructed by Alex Rider's late father, John Rider, who appeared to be working as an unspecified instructor (though certainly in some form of combat, considering that he was a weapons and martial arts expert) for SCORPIA on the Italian island of Malagosto. However, he was secretly working for MI6 under deep cover.
Gregorovich is in debt to John Rider; during a joint assignment between the two, Rider saved his student's life; something which Gregorovich never forgot. Though Alex does not initially realize the reason, Gregorovich exhibits some care for the boy, on more than one occasion saving (or sparing) his life. At the time of his death, Gregorovich actually tells Alex he loved both John Rider and Alex.
Having trained in a special assassin school in Italy, he killed his first man when he was 19 in the Amazon Jungle. Yassen Gregorovich became a professional and reliable contract killer and is employed by Scorpia. They sent him on numerous jobs throughout the world.
Considering Yassen's reputation and position, it is probable that his assassinations are numerous. Throughout the entire series however, only four of Yassen's assassinations are revealed.
A Russian by birth, Yassen Gregorovich's was described to have blond hair, a body of a dancer, pale blue eyes, pale skin, distinctly chiseled lips, and "almost feminine eyelashes". He also has a long, distinctive scar along his neck, Yassen's relaxed and graceful poise is often compared to that of a dancer's.
[edit] John Rider
John Rider was Alex Rider's father. He is now deceased. John was an agent for MI6 like his brother, Ian Rider.
In Eagle Strike, Yassen Gregorovich reveals that he worked with John Rider in an assassin group known as Scorpia. It is also revealed that John saved Yassen's life once while on a mission in the Amazon.
In Scorpia, Julia Rothman tells Alex that his father taught at Scorpia's training school for new assassins. She also says that he was the best assassin that Scorpia had ever seen. Rothman explains to Alex that MI6 killed his father while releasing an eighteen-year-old boy in return for John Rider's release. Later, however, MI6 reveals the truth that John Rider was a double agent who was actually working as a spy for MI6. His death was staged, but the trickery was later discovered by Rothman who ordered a plane pilot to crash thereby killing John and his wife.
It has been said multiple times that Alex is the spitting image of his father.
