James Bond (character)

James Bond (character)

Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR, is a fictional character created by British journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games. Fleming wrote twelve Bond novels and two short story collections before his death, although the last two books—The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and The Living Daylights—were published posthumously.

The Bond character is a Secret Service agent, code number 007, residing in London but active internationally. Bond was a composite character who was based on a number of commandos whom Fleming knew during his service in the Naval Intelligence Division during World War II, to whom Fleming added his own style and a number of his own tastes; Bond's name was appropriated from American ornithologist James Bond. Bond has a number of character traits which run throughout the books, including an enjoyment of cars, a love of food and drink, and an average intake of sixty custom-made cigarettes a day.

Since Fleming's death in 1964, there have been other authorised writers of Bond material, including John Gardner, who wrote fourteen novels and two novelizations and Raymond Benson, who wrote six novels, three novelizations and three short stories. There have also been three authors who wrote one book each, Kingsley Amis (writing as Robert Markham), Sebastian Faulks and Jeffery Deaver. Additionally a series of novels based on Bond's youth—Young Bond—was written by Charlie Higson.

As spin-offs from the literary works, there was a television adaptation of the first novel, Casino Royale, in which Bond was played as an American agent. A comic strip series also ran in the Daily Express newspaper. There have also been twenty-five Bond films; seven actors have played Bond in these films.