List of Alex Rider characters

This is a list of protagonists and antagonists from Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider books.

Antagonists

This is a list of antagonists from Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider books.

Ash

Ash is Alex's godfather, a mysterious and somewhat haunted character. Alex works with him to try and sneak into a smuggling operation named "Snakehead" on orders from Ethan Brooke who is head of the Convert Action section of ASIS. Later in the book it is revealed that he works for SCORPIA, and placed the bomb on the plane which killed Alex's parents. At the end of Snakehead Ash is killed by Fox (Ben Daniels) when the oil rig is stormed by the Australian SAS. Whether Fox killed Ash intentionally or not remains a mystery. Ash only has half a stomach because Yassen Gregorvich stabbed him 14 years ago.

Damian Cray

Damian Cray was born in North London on October 5, 1950, and baptised Harold Eric Lunt. His father was Sir Arthur Lunt, who made his fortune building multi-story parking lots. As a child, he had a remarkable singing voice and at the age of 11, was sent to the Royal Academy of Music in London. He hated it there, however; he wanted to be a pop star, not a classical musician. His parents kept him there against his wishes, however. When he was 13, his parents were killed in a bizarre car accident: a car fell on them after rolling off the top floor of one of their own car parks. He left the Royal Academy and travelled the world. He changed his name and became a Buddhist as well as a devoted vegetarian.

He returned to England in the 1970s and formed a band called "Slam!" (a parody of Wham!) in which he was the lead singer. They were very successful and rocketed Cray to stardom. At the end of the 1970s, the band split up and Cray began a solo career which took him to new heights. His first solo album, Firelight, went platinum. He won five Grammys and an Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 1986 he visited Africa and arranged a concert at Wembley Stadium with all proceeds going to charity. "Chart Attack" was a huge success and that Christmas, he released the single Something for the Children. The single sold four million copies and all the money was given to charity. His newest album, as stated in the book, is 'White Lines'. Cray is a tireless campaigner for a range of world issues, including saving the rainforests, protecting the ozone layer and ending world debt. He built a rehabilitation centre and spent two years fighting to have an animal testing lab closed down. In 1989, he performed in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A year later, he made two visits to Buckingham Palace. He played a solo for Princess Diana's birthday and was rewarded the next day with knighthood. He appeared on the cover of Time under the headline "Man of the Year: Saint or Singer?" He is a multi-millionaire with a Thames penthouse and a Wiltshire mansion outside Bath. Since the early 1990s, Cray has owned a popular television station, branched into hotels and even has his own gaming system, Gameslayer. He is a personal friend of the Prime Minister and donated a million pounds to the government before the 2001 election.

Cray, however, also has a dark side. Over the years, he has had countless people murdered to serve his various causes. The first person he had killed was Professor Milburn of the Milburn Institute in Bristol to force them to stop animal testing. He also killed a journalist who threatened to ruin the grand opening of the Gameslayer. He is obsessed with eliminating drugs, which he blames for everything that is wrong in the world. He has done advertisements for the government, spent millions building treatment centres and has written songs, such as "White Lines", to discourage drug use.

Under the cover of building his new Gameslayer console, he duplicated the key to the NSA defence systems. He then hijacked the President's plane, Air Force One and planned to launch 25 nuclear missiles at various targets around the world. His goal was to wipe out the entire world's drug supplies and major exporters, even if it meant killing hundreds of millions in the process. By attempting to murder Edward Pleasure (Sabina Pleasure's father), a journalist in Saint-Pierre who had threatened to expose him, Cray had made an enemy of teenage spy Alex Rider. Cray's plan, codenamed "Eagle Strike" failed when Alex Rider activated the self destruct button on the missiles, destroying them before they reached their target. An infuriated Cray shoots Alex, causing Sabina Pleasure to attack him. However Sabina is overpowered by Cray and he's about to shoot her when Alex reveals he was wearing a bulletproof vest giving to him by Smithers under his shirt. He then proceeds to push Cray out the plane's window causing him to be sucked into the plane's jet turbine and be shredded to bits by its spinning blades.

Conrad

Conrad is General Alexi Sarov's personal assistant and thus one of the main antagonists of the novel Skeleton Key. He is a short man who has been descrived to have several scars all around his body, the cause for his scars are apparently that once he was carrying a bomb which blew up on him, in order to save his life he was given a metal jaw, metal legs and metallic pins to hold his skull together.

He first appeared in the novel when Sarov orders him to put a bomb in The Salesman's ship and is later seen by Alex Rider near the Salesman's ship although Alex doesn't know who he is at the time. Later, after Tom Turner and Belinda Troy are killed in "The Devil's Chimney" under water cave, Conrad kidnaps Alex and puts him in a crusher only for Alex to be saved by General Sarov, Conrad's boss. Sarov planned on adopting Alex no matter how much Conrad told him it was a bad idea and that Alex should be killed because he would ruin the plan, this eventually became true.

Sarov's plan was to put a nuclear bomb in a nuclear submarine to create and enormous explosion which would destroy Murmask and the fall out would cause so much chaos that communism could control Europe again, Sarov ordered Conrad to place the bomb in the submarine with a magnetic crane, however Alex escapes from Sarov (who had changed his mind about adopting him and decided he should die in the nuclear explosion) Conrad, without turning off the crane, goes after him and they both engage in a fight. Conrad has the upper hand in the fight until the crane he left on magnetises all the metal pins and prosthetics in his body and is attached to the crane, Alex takes control of the crane and drops Conrad into the water in the harbor and due to the heavy, metal prosthetics in his body, Conrad can't come afloat, causing him to sink into the ocean and drown.

Conrad's name is a play on the word "Comrade" which was a term used by Communist generals and politicians during the communist era of the Soviet Union.

Nikolei Drevin

Introduced in: Ark Angel, chapter The Lap Of Luxury.

Killed in: Ark Angel, chapter The Red Button.

Nikolei Drevin appears in "Ark Angel". Drevin is a famed Russian billionaire, owning many hotels, businesses and even a football (soccer) club- Stratford East. He is the mastermind behind the "Ark Angel" space hotel project. Nikolei becomes acquainted with Alex Rider when the teen saves his son, Paul from Force Three, an organization of eco-terrorists. He then invites Alex to "two weeks of more luxury you have ever had". When Alex is visiting the launch site of his space hotel, Ark Angel, Nikolei discovers Alex's assignments with MI6. He then orders his head of security, Magnus Payne, to kill him. He also reveals Force Three was his invention and was only used to disguise Drevin. Alex is then taken to a ship wreck where he is dumped and rescued by Nikolei's assistant, Tamara Knight. While eavesdropping on Nikolei, Alex and Tamara Knight are found. He then takes Alex to the "main hangar". He thens reveals to Alex his plan to sabotage his own (failing) Ark Angel project so he could reacquire the money from an insurance company; Force Three, as it turns out, was actually created by Drevin to provide him with a convenient scrapegoat so that he himself wouldn't be suspected. Drevin, while trying to shoot Alex he accidentally shoots his own son Paul Drevin. Infuriated, Nikolei climbs onto his jet and Alex ties two canoes to Drevin's jet to stop him from escaping, however Drevin takes off and tries to kill Alex with the machine gun in the jet, however while he tries to attack Alex, the canoes get tangled on jungle trees and they cause the jet to crash and explode, killing Nikolei Drevin.

Yassen Gregorovich

Yassen Gregorovich was a recurring villain in the series, appearing from the first novel to the fifth. He was formerly a Russian-born contract killer, trained by and apparently working for the clandestine terrorist organisation SCORPIA. A superb assassin, Yassen was considered one of the world's best.

For all his skills, Yassen 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, in the fourth book. According to Anthony Horowitz's official website, Yassen will make another appearance in the seventh book of the series, "Snakehead" He was also revealed to be fluent in 7 languages but is teaching himself to learn 8. He was learning Japanese at the time of his apparent death.

Yassen 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.

Yassen is in debt to John Rider; during a joint assignment between the two, Rider saved his student's life; something which Yassen never forgot. Though Alex does not initially realize the reason, Yassen exhibits some care for the boy, on more than one occasion saving (or sparing) his life. At the time of his apparent death (which was caused by a bullet from Damian Cray's gun), Yassen 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.

Born in Russia, Yassen's father was killed by an accident of a biochemical warfare project that was hushed up by the Russian Government. His mother died 6 months after due to illness. After his parents death, Yassen (who was at the time 14) made his way to Moscow in search of Scorpia. While in Moscow, Yassen ran errands for the local mafia. Eventually, Yassen Gregorovich found and started to work for Scorpia.

Yassen Gregorovich was described to have blonde hair, pale blue eyes, pale skin, distinctly chiseled lips, and "almost feminine eyelashes". He also has a long, distinctive scar along his neck caused by John Rider when he saved him from a black widow spider by shooting it off his neck, leaving a mark where the bullet grazed his skin. Yassen's relaxed and graceful poise is often compared to that of a dancer's.

There is a faint possibility that the Assassin that shot Alex in the end of Scorpia is Yassen Gregorovich. It has been speculated that Yassen is not dead but in hiding and alive awaiting the correct time for him to come back. Theories about his current location include that he is possibly back on Malagosto (The Scorpia Training Facility just off shore of Venice, Italy) undergoing more training, or he may be slowly tearing Scorpia apart from the inside as a form of repayment to John Rider.

Dr. Hugo Grief

Introduced in: Point Blanc, chapter "My Name Is Grief".

Killed in: Point Blanc, chapter Night Raid.

Dr Grief was a native of South Africa where he was the chief of biological research in the Main Biology Department Of South Africa and the main antagonist of the Point Blanc novel. He was a racist man who was disgusted by how black people eventually became the leaders of South Africa (to him, Nelson Mandela was criminal who had no right to be given his position). He thought that Africa was excellent when controlled by the white men and thus decided to try and rule the world to reinstall the white man's control over the world. Grief after years of thinking discovered that to rule the earth you must control the main industries in the world that humans need to live like food and technology industries. Thus he came up with a plan to rule all industries called "Project Gemini".

In order to control these industries Grief came up with a plan, he bought an abandoned castle on top of the French Alps and along with assistant Eva Stellenbosch turned the castle into an underground laboratory where they managed to clone him sixteen times (having perfected this process, experimenting in the past on his countries political prisoners).

Grief then turned the castle into a school for the troubled sons of rich families but his actual intentions were to lock up the real children and use plastic surgery to make the clones of himself resemble the children. Grief would then send them back to their parents and eventually, when the parents died, the clones would control and inherit their businesses. However when two men got suspicious about their sons' (the clones) attitudes, Grief had them killed because they were researching him. This eventually lead to MI6 sending Alex Rider to Point Blanc in disguise to investigate. Alex eventually discovered the truth and was set to be killed by Dr. Grief, though Alex managed to escape.

It was in the hands of Alex where Grief met his end. After Alex escaped, it was made to look as if he had been killed in doing so to put Grief off his guard. 24 hours later, however, he returned with an SAS attack force and raided Point Blanc. Grief attempted to escape in a helicopter, and Alex, in an attempt to stop the helicopter from escaping, climbs onto a snowmobile and speeds up a ramp. When he is about to reach the edge of the ramp, he leaps off, leaving the snowmobile flying through the air, striking Grief's helicopter. The snowmobile exploded upon hitting it, blowing apart the helicopter and killing Grief. many live free or die hard fans considered what alex did is a complete parody of bruce willis's car stunt. seeing how the book came out before LFODH IT SEEMS lfodh just parodied point blanc.

Grief was also portrayed as insane by having the idea of disposing of Alex by having him be disected alive in a biology class for the clones of himself. Aside from this, he is also portrayed as insane by worshipping the biggest villains of history such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Joseph Stalin.

Nile

Introduced in: Scorpia, chapter By Inviation Only.

Killed in: Scorpia, chapter High Resolution.

Nile is a contract killer for the infamous crime organisation SCORPIA and one of the main antagonists in the novel Scorpia. He's a black man who has a strange disease that gives him several white spots in his body. Nile was the second in his class of assassination, according to Julia Rothman, he could have been the first if it wasn't for his one fatal flaw, (later revealed to be his fear of heights).

Nile first encountered Alex in Widow's Palace and locked him up in a flood room where he was to drown, however Alex escaped and found Nile again in their technology research lab in Naples.Then Nile blew it up and drove Alex to a hotel with a Alfa Romeo Spider. Later Nile trained Alex when he joined Scorpia in their crime school at Malagosto and helped him infiltrate Mrs. Jones's flat to kill her, where Alex failed to kill her. Finally Alex climbed onto a hot air balloon to stop project Invisible Sword from activating and Nile was sent after him, resulting in Alex learning about Nile's fear of heights. Using this to distract his foe, Alex then sliced open the hot air balloon's gas container, causing a huge explosion and knocking off the balloon's basket. The explosion didn't only blow up the basket but also knocked Nile off the balloon and he fell down to his death.

General Alexei Sarov

Alexei Sarov is a former Russian war general. He was the main antagonist of novel Skeleton Key. Sarov still lived in Russian communism days, he had a master plan in which he would detonate a nuclear bomb inside a nuclear submarine to spread nuclear radiations, the confusion of the nuclear radiation would bring so much devastation to Europe that communism could take back control.

Sarov was once married to an unnamed woman and had a son called Vladimir. Sarov wanted his son to join the Russian army, however Sarov's wife disagreed which led to their divorce. Eventually Vladimir did join the army and became a powerful and skilled soldier, however he was taken out in a barrage of bullets during an enemy raid.

Sarov's main residence is in the island of Cayo Esqueleto in Cuba, his house and HQ is a large yellow house on the edge of a cliff called Casa De Oro. There are two entrances to Casa De Oro, the first being through a narrow road that goes to the edge of the cliff where the house is and the second is a booby trapped underwater cave called "The Devil's Chimney", the cave has a security device in which anything that enters the cave is diced, sliced, stabbed and impaled by fake stalagmites and stalactites on the floor and roof of the cave which ascend and descend like a giant jaw (CIA agents Glen Carver and Belinda Troy are killed by this trap while trying to enter Casa De Oro).

In order to sneak a bomb into Murmask to detonate it Sarov invites the Russian president to his house and during a banquet he knocks out the president with a drugged glass of vodka, then Sarov has the president locked up and then takes off to Murmask in the president's jet, which will not be searched and thus the bomb would not be discovered. Aside of his nuclear devastation plan, Sarov, also had an interview with the Russian president which he planned on editing to make him look like a terrible president so that he (Sarov) could take control of Russia and thus turn it once again to a communist country.

In Skeleton Key when he saw Alex Rider who worked so hard to save his country, that he remembered his son, Vladimir, who had died serving his country in the army. Sarov planned to adopt Alex, however Alex refused several times by trying to escape from him and a depressed Sarov leaves Alex to die in the nuclear explosion of Murmask harvour. However Alex takes control of a crane and removes the detonation card of the bomb, Sarov then enters and calmly tells Alex to put it back, Alex however refuses and a devastated Sarov pulls out a gun and shoots himself.

Eva Stellenbosch

Introduced in:Point Blanc, chapter Special Edition.

Killed in:Point Blanc, chapter Night Raid.

Eva Stellenbosch is a fictional villain from Point Blanc book two of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series.

She is the co-director of Point Blanc Academy for young men, along with Dr Hugo Grief. Having been an Interrogator for the South African Secret Police (before that she was Miss South Africa in weightlifting five years in a row) she'd known Hugo for twenty six years. She is described as having huge muscles, and a facial structure that wasn't quite human. She also has wisps of bright ginger hair and a high domed forehead.

Along with Dr Grief, she organises the Gemini Project (having raised Hugo's clones for the first fourteen years of their lives), which uses fourteen year-old clones of Grief, along with a Plastic Surgeon named Mr Baxter, to create copies of the students, who they send home in place of the real ones.

She ends up being killed when she is shot in the leg by Alex's SAS friend of the codename "Wolf", causing her to stumble backwards and trip into a window, shattering it and falling of a three story building to her death.

Eva Stellenbosch is also portrayed as a smoker. At various points in the book, she is pictured smoking cigars.

Anan Sukit

Anan is the leader of the snakehead owned by Winston Yu and is killed by Ben Daniels in the beginning of Snakehead.

The Salesman

Introduced/Killed in: Skeleton Key, chapter Death Of A Salesman.

The Salesman is a short term antagonist in the Skeleton Key novel. The Salesman's main line of work goes along with his name, he sells illegal products like weapons, drugs, etc. CIA agent Tom Turner was placed undercover as a weapons purchaser to engage a friendship between him and The Salesman.

Eventually The Salesman discovered Turner's real identity and prepared to kill him, however Alex Rider was at the time with Turner and made it on board The Salesman's main work center, a boat called Mayfair Lady and set the boat on fire. When the crew members got distracted by the fire Alex knocks out The Salesman and saves Turner. However The Salesman woke up and when Alex and Turner jump offboard he tries to ram them with his boat, but one of (see above) General Alexi Sarov's assistants called Conrad had set up a bomb in the Salesman's boat which blew up while The Salesman tried to kill Alex and Turner, the detonation of the bomb blows the boat to pieces and kills The Salesman and his crew.

Mr. Grin

Mr. Grin is Herod Sayle's right hand man and butler. Grin used to be a circus performer who flung knives into the air and caught them in his mouth and fingertips, however, one day Grin's mom came to see his act, he got nervous and one of the knives fell in his lips and left a scar that makes it look like he has a permanent smile on his face., (hence his name "Grin").

Mr. Grin's main role in the novel where he appears, Stormbreaker, is when he captures Alex after they discover he is a spy infiltrated in Sayle Corp. Alex is then tortured by Grin so he confesses to who he's working with.

Later when Sayle heads to execute his plan in London, Grin takes a jet there to serve Sayle as a getaway vehicle. However Alex gets in the jet and hides in the back, however as they arrive in London, Grin discovers Alex and attacks him. Alex quickly grabs a parachute and throws himself of the jet. Grin attempts to ram Alex with the jet, but Alex left a smoke bomb in the jet, and he triggers it. The smoke totally blinds Grin and he accidentallly drives off course and crashes into a building, Grin dies in the jet explosion.

Nadia Vole

Nadia Vole (otherwise known as Fräulein Vole) is Herod Sayle's assistant and henchman. She is described as being broad-shouldered and severe, having blonde hair, a moon-shaped face, wearing wire framed spectacles, and also wearing a smear of yellow lipstick. She also has a thick German accent, she dies when the tank containing Sayle's Portuguese man of war smashes and the jellyfish electrocutes her. She is portrayed by Missi Pyle.

Winston Yu

Winston Yu ran a snakehead in Australia. He was in charge of the operation involving the non-nuclear but powerful bomb "Royal Blue" in Snakehead. He is on the board of Scorpia. He is deemed to be utterly ruthless, and all of his employees fear him, leading some to commit suicide in order to avoid whatever unspeakable punishment lay in wait, in the example of the doctor who attempted to illegally transplant Alex's organs. Despite this, he is in person quite pleasant and generally kind (at least to Alex, who's English). His mother had previously worked for Snakehead, and killed several of his classmates and adversaries, as well as a man for every term at Harrow, making her a killer of 15 men in total (16 when he took up horse riding), before dying of a heart attack. He is obsessed with the British (hence the name Winston, named after Winston Churchill). He has British paintings, boats, clothes, etc. He was diagnosed with the rare Osteoperosis disease, which makes him unstable, which causes him to be killed when Royal Blue explodes early underwater, causing his fragile bone structure to shatter.

Julia Rothman

Introduced in: Scorpia, chapter Invisible Sword.

Killed in: Scorpia, chapter High Resolution.

Julia Rothman is the head of the operation Invisible Sword as in Scorpia, the fifth book in the Alex Rider Series. Fallen in love with Alex's father, she is delighted to accept Alex into Scorpia, the criminal organization. However, this does not mean that she trusts Alex and she places capsuals containing deadly poison into his bloodstream, to be released should he betray her. She planned to destroy the relationship between America and Britain, by threatening to unleash deadly poisons into millions of children's bloodstreams in London, through the use of radio waves transmitted by a hot air balloon, if America did not comply to a series of certain demands. She would then make the same threats in New York, but with more reasonable demands. When America comply, she states that this will show Britain that they mean little to America and so end the allience between the two. Julia Rothman is a lady who was on the board of SCORPIA, she was responsible of the deaths of fellow board member Max Grendel and her husband (pushing him off their hotel balconey during their honeymoon). She met her death when the satellites of Invisible Sword crushed her. She is fifteen years older than Alex Rider, as she had said in the book, Scorpia, during the time that Alex Rider had dinner with her.

Protagonists

The following is a list of the protagonists recurring, appearing in, or referred to in the Alex Rider series of novels by British author Anthony Horowitz.

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; after Alex is nearly killed, however, he agrees with Mrs Jones not to use him again.

In the film he is portrayed by Bill Nighy.

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 injured by Scorpia on one mission. He is also involved in the Wimbledon committee, once getting Alex a job there as a ball boy to investigate the possibility of somebody trying to sabotage the competition.

In the film, he is portrayed by Jimmy Carr, and is renamed "John Crawford", after an unusual request from the real MI6 itself not to use the name Crawley.

Ben 'Fox' Daniels

Fox is a character that is seen in Stormbreaker at an SAS training camp in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. In Snakehead, Alex meets Fox again, and it is later revealed that his name is in fact Ben Daniels. He comes to Alex's rescue in the deep Australian jungle. It is also revealed that he was taken out of the SAS and placed in MI6 in Snakehead. In Snakehead, he shoots and kills Alex's godfather Ash, who was recently revealed to be the man who had betrayed Alex's parents, and is wounded by Winston Yu who shoots him.

Paul Drevin

Introduced in: Ark Angel, chapter The Boy In Room Nine.

Paul Drevin is the son of Russian multibillionaire Nikolei Drevin. Paul, like Alex, is 14 years old. He has a noticeable Russian accent. Paul has short blond hair and light blue eyes. At his first appearance his face is described as being "thin" and his skin as "pale", although his recent operation to have his appendix out may account for some of this.

During Paul's first encounter with Alex, when Alex asks: "'Where is home?", Paul replies: "'I'm not sure.'" He then continues to explain that he lives in London a lot, but is accustomed to moving frequently, mentioning places such as: Moscow, New York and south of France. Paul has so many houses that he doesn't know where home is and doesn't go to school. Instead, his father employs tutors, therefore Paul misses out on meeting children his own age. Paul's parents divorced when he was six years old and his mother lived in America. Paul sees her no more than a few times a year. Paul was educated at an ordinary school but had to be removed as there were too many "security problems".

When on his own territory, Paul comes across as more confident than he is anywhere else. Paul understands perfectly well that other children see him a "spoilt brat" and that they only ever meet him because of all the free stuff. He tells Alex that he would understand if he decided to pack his bags and leave Neverglade, the castle that they were staying at. Growing up with such wealth has led Paul to comprehend the fact that friendship can't be bought, no matter how rich his dad is. Paul often protested against some of the things that came with the billionaire lifestyle, but he fitted into a lot better than he seemed and was much more like his father than he would think.

Paul Drevin has suffered from asthma all of his life but says that it isn't that bad. He is an excellent tennis player, naturally, he has his own tennis courts, however, due to his asthma he can't manage any more than two sets.

Nikolei and Paul don't appear to be close. Nikolei had been "too busy" to visit Paul after his appendicitis operation and during his stay in hospital. It is evident by the language spoken and the actions when in each other's presence that neither is particularly close to the other. During a talk with Alex, Paul reveals that he wishes he had a brother as he always feels alone, despite the company of his father. However, Nikolei insisted that Paul stay with him and not his mother. Paul also confides in Alex that "Dad's not too bad", but he does wish that he had a life of his own. Paul may also fear his dad, offering a serious warning to Alex not to make him his enemy. He understands how ruthless and dangerous his father can be.

Nikolei shows little concern for his son, demonstrated perfectly near the end of the story where Nikolei flees, leaving his bullet ridden son dying on the ground, preferring to save himself.

Tulip Jones

Mrs. 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 Alex tried to kill her under orders from Scorpia in the book with the same name.

In Scorpia, Mrs. Jones' first name is revealed to be Tulip because "her parents were avid gardeners", prompting Alex to reflect that the reason she hasn't mentioned it earlier is that nobody would want to admit to a name like that.

Mrs. Jones can be found sucking on a peppermint while giving Alex his briefing before he goes on his next action-filled mission.

In the Stormbreaker film, she is played by Sophie Okonedo.

Sabina Pleasure

Introduced in: Skeleton Key, chapter Match Point.

Sabina Pleasure is Alex Rider's love interest. As mentioned in Skeleton Key, she is fifteen years old (a year older than Alex). She is introduced in Skeleton Key as a Wimbledon ballgirl when Alex is posing as a ballboy. She is described as dark-haired, loves rude jokes and has a very loud laugh. She is fit and a fast runner. She is also mentioned to be trained in self-defense. Her name is a pun on the phrase "It's been a pleasure". Her father, Edward, is a journalist and her mother, Liz, is a fashion designer.

Alex and Sabina quickly become good friends. Sabina soon takes Alex to Cornwall for a surfing holiday - it is here that Sabina blatantly expresses romantic feelings for Alex when one night while he is getting ready for bed that Sabina comes on the bed and kisses him, then after - he tells her of his spy status. Initially Sabina thought Alex was joking when he told her, much to Alex's expectation.

Sabina and Alex go to Fistral Beach to surf the Cribber wave. Sabina decides not to surf, but Alex rides the wave, and is attacked by a member of the Big Circle. Luckily, Sabina is a strong swimmer. She finds Alex unconscious in the water and carries him out. Sabina had learned CPR at school, and she performs it on Alex, saving him from death. Later, she makes a joke of the incident, saying that giving Alex the kiss of life on the beach was the "high point of the holiday" - suggesting that she enjoyed such physical contact, furthering signs of her romantic interest in Alex.

At the end of Skeleton Key, Sabina invites Alex on a trip to France with her. Eagle Strike begins when Sabina and Alex are on this trip. When their French holiday home is destroyed by terrorists, Sabina's father is injured. Sabina believes the accident was due to a gas leak. Alex reveals the true cause of the "accident", and in the process tells her he is an MI6 agent. Sabina does not believe him, and thinks he is under a large amount of stress. They argue, and Sabina abandons Alex. Sabina is later kidnapped by Damian Cray's company while visiting her father in the hospital. She is bound and gagged when Alex arrives to get Cray to release her. However, Cray threatens to cut her fingers off with scissors until Alex gives him the Flash drive, stating he would give anything to keep her bound.

Though Sabina and Alex reconcile after this, Sabina moves away to San Francisco. She gives Alex a passionate kiss before she leaves. At the end of Eagle Strike, Sabina mentioned a book that her father was writing, called "The Truth about Damian Cray".

Sabina is mentioned briefly in Scorpia, yet she makes no appearance in the novel.

While Alex is in hospital in Ark Angel, he receives a get-well card from Sabina. It is unknown how she found out he was in hospital.

Sabina makes a very brief appearance at the end of Snakehead, when she makes a surprise visit to Alex's home while staying in London for Christmas.

Although Sabina's first novel appearance is in Skeleton Key, she appears in the Stormbreaker film adaptation, played by Sarah Bolger, although here she is a schoolfriend of Alex's.

Alex Rider

Introduced in: Stormbreaker, chapter Funeral Voices.

Main article: Alex Rider (character)

Helen Beckett Rider

Helen Rider (nèe Beckett) was Alex Rider`s mother. She is now dead. She was a nurse before she was killed with her husband John Rider in a plane explosion by a bomb set off by the couple's friend, Ash.

Ian Rider

Intoduced/Killed in: Stormbreaker, chapter Funeral Voices.

Ian Rider was Alex's uncle that taught him a lot of things that prepared him for being a spy, such as scuba diving. He was killed at the beginning of Stormbreaker by Yassen Gregorovich. His death led Alex into working for MI6.

John Rider

John Rider was Alex Rider's father. He is now dead. John was an agent for MI6 like his brother, Ian Rider. But as mentioned in Scorpia, he was a much better agent than Ian.

In Eagle Strike, Yassen Gregorivich 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, thus convincing Alex to join Scorpia and assassinate Mrs. Jones. 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 had a bomb placed by Ash, Alex's godfather, in with the luggage, thereby killing John and his wife when it went off.

It has been stated multiple times by various characters that Alex is the spitting image of his father.

Smithers

Smithers is the gadget expert at MI6, a role similar to Q's in James Bond films. He is described as balding, extremely overweight and very jovial. It is often implied that Smithers is Alex's only friend at MI6; in Eagle Strike, when Alex attempted to convince MI6 to investigate Damien, Cray, he was ignored by Blunt and Mrs Jones, but Smithers nevertheless supplied with a high-tech bicycle that played a crucial role in Alex's investigations. He has often stated that he enjoys having Alex around because he finds it a greater challenge to come with gadgets for teenagers, as well as the final results inevitably being more 'fun' than his products for MI6's adult agents. In the film Stormbreaker he is portrayed by Stephen Fry.

Jack Starbright

Introduced in: Stormbreaker, chapter Funeral Voices.

Jack 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. Her parents still live in America, and she still occasionally visits them.

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. She is described as slim, with tangled red hair, and a boyish, round face that "is always cheerful, even when in a bad mood". She has a crooked smile, and is described to look more like a big sister than a housekeeper. She has known Alex for seven years, since Alex was seven years old.

After the death of Ian Rider, Jack became Alex's legal guardian, and continues to live with him in Chelsea, London. She has appeared in every installment of the Alex Rider series, having been introduced near the beginning of Stormbreaker. She is very protective of Alex, having looked after him for several years, and developed a strong relationship with him.

In Point Blanc and Skeleton Key, Jack makes appearances but does not have a part in the major plot. She strongly disapproves of MI6's demand of Alex, but Alex and Jack have a somewhat "unspoken agreement" not to discuss his MI6 life in their time together.

In Eagle Strike, Jack helps Alex investigate suspicious millionaire Damian Cray. She travels with him from France to the Netherlands, and assists in carrying out a pickpocketting of a V.I.P.'s ticket by distracting him while Alex took the ticket, allowing him to investigate Cray.

In the original English version of Scorpia, Jack hires a tutor to help Alex catch up with the schoolwork he missed because of his MI6 life, having become concerned about the way Alex's spy status has affected him.

When Alex is in hospital in Ark Angel, he receives a get-well card from Jack. It is described as the biggest card in the room, and it is followed up with magazines, chocolate bars and energy drinks. Later, while Alex is on his mission, Jack is in Washington D.C., visiting her parents. When the city is under threat of being destroyed by a bomb on Ark Angel, Jack is one of the main reasons Alex travels to space in order to stop it happening.

Jack speaks fluent French - she once spent a year at the Sorbonne when studying art in college. It was stated that, if not for her involvement with Alex, she might have gone to live in France. She is also a good cook; according to Alex, she specialises in scrambled eggs. However, she refuses to make anything that takes longer than ten minutes (for comically unknown reasons).

Jack's name may be short for Jackie or Jacqueline - in Stormbreaker, it mentioned that Alex once asked, but she never revealed what it was.

In the Stormbreaker film adaptation, Jack is played by Alicia Silverstone and Alex Rider is played by Alex Pettyfer. Jack also appears in the graphic novel adaptation of Stormbreaker.