Characters / Alex Rider MI 6

MI6 As A Whole

• Anti-Hero: Varies, but if the situation requires blackmail or violence they'll do it without hesitation.
• Black-and-Gray Morality: Although Alex has strong morals, MI6 (the people Alex serves) are cold and calculated, and black-mailed Alex into their service instead of actually letting him decide whether he wanted to serve or not. It's made even more appropriate by the fact that Alan Blunt, head of MI6 until the last book, is portrayed as being almost emotionless and entirely colourless; grey suit, grey hair, grey lips, grey eyes, grey life...
• Blackmail: Blunt blackmailed Alex into being a spy by threatening to use information relating to Jack's visa and have her deported and by making sure Alex would be put into an undoubtedly bad institution.
• Chekhov's Gun: MI6 usually provides these.
• Establishing Character Moment: MI6 as a whole during Ian's funeral as they talk to Alex concerning said death and calling it an "accident", setting up a Red Herring that they might be the big bads that killed Ian in the first place. For a more in-depth one, Mr. Blunt shows off the Good Is Not Nice aspect by threatening to deport Jack should Alex refuse to join MI6.
• Good Is Not Nice: MI6 can act like this at times.
  • The final novel reveals at the end that Alan Blunt arranged for the sniper to attack Alex at his school solely for the purpose of getting an excuse to put Alex on another assignment. That's right, he arranged a school shooting in order to coerce a fifteen-year-old boy into working as a spy again.
• Our Hero Is Dead: There's a bit of this in Point Blanc, with MI6 organising a sham funeral to trick Stellenbosch and Dr Grief into thinking Alex was really dead.

Alan Blunt

• Blackmail: Blunt blackmailed Alex into being a spy by threatening to use information relating to Jack's visa and have her deported and by making sure Alex would be put into an undoubtedly bad institution.
• Compromising Memoirs: Discussed briefly after Alan Blunt is forced to retire in Scorpia Rising.
• Cool Old Guy: Can probably be seen as this Until the end of the last book.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Uses this trope as an excuse for his general stoic attitude and his actions in Scorpia Rising. He even quotes the trope naming line itself.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Always wears grey. Heck, his whole appearance looks monochrome.
• Establishing Character Moment: Shows off Good Is Not Nice through the said Blackmail above.
• Good Is Not Nice: He is made of this trope. Starting with the Blackmail.
  • The final novel reveals at the end that Alan Blunt arranged for the sniper to attack Alex at his school solely for the purpose of getting an excuse to put Alex on another assignment. That's right, he arranged a school shooting in order to coerce a fifteen-year-old boy into working as a spy again.
• Jerkass: Rather rude, needless to say.
• Karma Houdini: And how. For arranging a school shooting and taking Alex to Egypt for another mission, he gets a knighthood and to retire and take a vacation with his wife.
• Knight Templar: The actions he takes for his plans to come to fruition scream this.
• Manipulative Bastard: Goes to great lengths to keep Alex 'employed.'
• Meaningful Name: Alan Blunt, to match his abrasive attitude.
• Out-Gambitted: Despite believing himself to be one step ahead of Scorpia in Scorpia Rising, he is in fact walking into their trap.
• Pet the Dog: He shows a surprising amount of concern for Alex in the meeting with the Prime Minister in Crocodile Tears. Then again, he could be doing this to act like he cares, as the government isn't too fond of MI6.
• The Spymaster: Head of MI6.
• The Stoic: He's often described as seeming completely emotionless.
  • Not So Stoic: On the rare occasions he does show emotion, you know it's serious. When he's telling Alex the truth about how his parents really died in Scorpia, there's "a little pain" in his voice. Then again, considering who he is, he could have been faking it.
• Would Hurt a Child: Arranges a school shooting to force Alex to work for him again.

Mrs.Tulip Jones

• Adaptational Attractiveness: It is outright stated in Snakehead that Mrs Jones is "not attractive". Compare her appearance in the movie and the graphic novels. Even in earlier novels she was described as "a head shaped like a potato".
• The Chess Master: Conducts an epic operation using John Rider to humiliate Scorpia and rescue an VIP hostage
• Defrosting Ice Queen: As time goes on, she becomes more warm.
• Embarrassing First Name: "It made sense. He wouldn't have used that name either."
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's slightly abrasive but genuinely wants the best for Britain, and eventually for Alex too.
• Number Two: Is Alan Blunt's second-in-command.
• Race Lift: In the novels, she is described as being pale. In the films, she is portrayed by Sophie Okonedo, a black actress.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Shares this with Smithers. Both want the best for Alex and by the end of the series are strongly advocating for him to be let free from MI6's employment.
  • Mrs. Jones has taken over as head of MI6, and probably makes sure that MI6 will never contact Alex again.
• She Who Fights Monsters: Mrs. Jones [[Defied Trope defies the trope]] in Scorpia. Although she had the chance to correct Alex about how his father died she didn't because she didn't want to use him the way Julia Rothman did.
• The Unreveal: What did happen to her husband and children?
• Trademark Favorite Food: Always has a peppermint.
• You Killed My Father: Alex is informed by Scorpia about the circumstances of his father's death. subverted by Scorpia with Mrs Jones for John Rider.

Derek Smithers

• Big Fun: He's slightly fat, but he's a very enjoyable guy.
• Chekhov's Gun: Word of God stated that Smithers has had a gadget that has appeared, unknown to the reader, in every book to up to the 8th book, Crocodile Tears. This was finally revealed in Scorpia Rising, book 9. And that gadget is Smithers' own fat. In fact, he's very thin and fit but has been wearing a special suit that has made him look fat all along.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: You think his weight problems hinder him? You'd be right, but he's surprisingly effective at getting rid of the Scorpia team that come his way. And then he's revealed to not even be fat.
• Dark Secret: To be revealed in Scorpia Rising as per Word of God, it's that Smithers is actually a thin man wearing a special suit that only makes him look fat.
• Fake Brit: In-universe example, as after removing his Fat Suit it turns out the "real" Smithers is Irish, rather than the "public school" accent he affects.
• Deadly Delivery: Fails miserably in Scorpia Rising when Smithers uses an X-Ray scanner to prove that the delivery man was carrying a gun and the package was empty. He then gets rid of him with a trapdoor under a welcome mat.
• Fat Suit
• Gadgeteer Genius
• Gadget Watch: He gives Alex one in Snakehead that can send out a distress signal.
• Literal Surveillance Bug: Scorpia Rising, when Smithers disguises an electronic bug as a dead cockroach.
• Nice Guy: Extremely caring for Alex and often holds reservations about putting him in danger, so for that reason he does his best to make sure he's well protected. In Scorpia Rising, he even agrees to go along with Alex's plan to
• Pun: A lot of his gadget names, including the 'fan club' and the 'Chamber of Secrets'. This therefore makes him a Pungeon Master.
• Sacrificial Lion: Subverted. He's set up to die, but manages to dispose of most of the Scorpia agents sent after him and escapes.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: shares this with Mrs Jones in MI6, by the end of the series he's arguing with Alan Blunt on letting Alex go from employment with MI6.
  • He makes sure Alex is backed up when he goes rouge in Eagle Strike.
• Shoe Phone: Every single one of his gadgets. He never actually invented a shoe that works as a phone, though.
  • Are you sure?
• Stuff Blowing Up: Several of Alex's gadgets; Smithers notes when giving him the exploding pens in Crocodile Tears that he "likes his explosions".

John Crawley

• Boring, but Practical: His attire looks like it came from the 'boring businessman' section. Probably deliberately too, as he is supposed to appear as a banker.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome / Demoted to Extra: He disappears after Skeleton Key. He shows up very briefly in Ark Angel and Crocodile Tears, but in both cases he does very little (his involvement in the latter is about half a page that could have been served by another generic MI6 character).
• Heroes Love Dogs: He is shown walking his dog in Skeleton Key and seems to be rather fond of it.
• Informed Attribute: He says that he is skilled in Martial Arts and is a proficient marksman.
• Master of Disguise: It is known that he can blend in just about anywhere, including the Wimbledon committee.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Like Smithers, he is more of a decent human being towards Alex.

Fox/Ben Daniels

• Animal Motifs: His codename was 'Fox'.
• Ascended Extra: He was a background character in Stormbreaker but then played a much larger role in Snakehead, as he is promoted to Special Operations.
• Big Damn Heroes: He saves Alex's life by killing Anan Sukit who was attempting to shoot Alex after he had beaten Sukit's fighter "Sunthorn" in an arena fight.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: ...and immediately after that novel he pretty much vanishes.
• Dye or Die: It is implied that he is trained to disguise himself. In each of the novels, Ben is said to have black hair cut short, though the extra chapter in "Resistance to Interrogation" describes how "his fair hair was damp and untidy".
• Oop North: It is safe to say that he is from Liverpool.
• Selective Obliviousness: During the SAS training in Stormbreaker, instead of bullying Alex like Wolf him and the rest of the trainee group ignore Alex. However he interacts with him in the extra chapter "Resistance to Interrogation" Ben explains what is happening before helping lift the lid off a drain for Alex to crawl through to get out of the place where they are being held.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Assists Alex in Snakehead when he is needed. In Snakehead, he follows Alex whilst he prepares and goes on a mission to infiltrate the Snakehead with his godfather, Ash. He later rescues him in a helicopter.
• Took a Level in Kindness

Wolf

• Big Damn Heroes: Saves Alex from being killed by Eva Stellenbosch.
• Jerkass Realization: After Alex kicks him out of a plane to prevent him from being "binned".
• Reverse Psychology: Used this with Mrs. Jones in "Point Blanc" when Alex refuses to take part in a raid on Point Blanc. Wolf comes in and tells him he's Just a Kid. Alex immediately demands to go with them, and realizes what he's done five seconds too late.
• Took a Level in Kindness: See Jerkass Realization above.
• Training from Hell: Subjects Alex to this, to a degree.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: He's wounded in the raid in Point Blanc, and never heard from again apart from a line confirming he survived.

Ian Rider

• The Ace: Shown the was one as he taught Alex everything he hew prior to his death.
• Posthumous Character
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Smithers implies this in Scorpia Rising.
  People think that being a spy is fun and exciting. Your uncle was a bit like that. It was all a big adventure as far as he was concerned - and look what happened to him.