Alexander "Alex" Rider is a title character and the protagonist of the Alex Rider novel series by British author Anthony Horowitz. He has also been featured in three short stories written by Horowitz based in the same canon as the series; Secret Weapon, Christmas at Gunpoint and Incident in Nice.
Alex is a boy who works for MI6, the British international intelligence service. When fourteen years old, Alex was forced into this occupation after MI6 noticed Alex's many talents. He has not only worked for MI6, but also the CIA, Scorpia (in Scorpia), and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (in Snakehead). In the film adaption of Stormbreaker, Alex Rider was portrayed by Alex Pettyfer, and in the Amazon Prime TV series, he is portrayed by Otto Farrant.
Development
Horowitz came up with the idea for the series when he thought about creating a teenage equivalent of James Bond.
He initially considered several possible names for the character, including Jack Banning, Tom Summers, Zac Marshall, Scott Winters, Dylan Beckett, Miles Longman, Sean Reeves, Jake Keaton, Adam Whitehead, Kai Bexter, Marcus Edwards, Liam Skye, Connor West, Kyle Fisher, Bradley Roberts, Callum Gates, Rupert Halliwell and Ben Shires, before finally settling on Alex Rider. Rider's last name comes from the Bond girl Honeychile Rider from the novel Dr. No.
Alex was originally to have had dark hair, but after Horowitz saw several surveys that said teenage girls preferred blonde boys, he created him as fair haired instead.
About the character
Alex was born on February 12, 1987. The book series originally happens during 2001, making him fourteen. Before Alex became involved with MI6, he wanted to be a professional football player, but now is unsure of what he wants to do when he finishes school. Alex once joked that he wanted to be a train driver. He has stated many times that he is not interested in becoming a full-time MI6 agent.
Alex's athletic talents greatly assist him during his missions many times: for example, 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, in Ark Angel he walks between two apartment buildings on a tightrope and in Snakehead, he kayaks down a river on a makeshift kayak.
As the series progresses, Alex becomes more skilled at spying. He later pursues Damian Cray alone after MI6 refuse to investigate him, and is recruited by the CIA in the United States, and later by the ASIS in Australia although in each case only for specific missions.
Physical appearance
Alex is described as a boy with 'the body of an athlete'. He also has fair blonde hair and 'serious dark eyes', and weighs 110 pounds. He is also said to attract many girls.
Relationships
Jack Starbright
One of Alex's closest friends is Jack Starbright. With his uncle having been away on secret missions for MI6 much of the time, Alex has spent a lot of time with Jack. Alex met Jack when she came from America to study law in London, and being employed by his uncle as a housekeeper and to watch over Alex, who was seven years old at the time. She has known Alex for seven years. After Ian died, Jack became Alex's guardian. 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. In Scorpia Rising, Jack learns that her father is sick and needs someone to look after him. Jack decides that she needs to tell Alex that she must leave in order to care for her father, but she first decides to accompany Alex to Egypt for his mission. After the two are captured by Razim's men, Jack comes to experience, for the first time, what it has been like for Alex on a mission. She attempts to escape, and nearly succeeds, but Razim is merely using her for his "measurement of pain" experiment, and has Julius Grief detonate a bomb on the Land Rover she is driving, killing her instantly. Alex's grief is enough to cause him to black out, and Razim "may even have to create a second scale of measurement" for the amount of emotional pain Alex felt. However, Jack is revealed to be alive in the following novel Never Say Die, as her death was faked by other members of Scorpia as part of their plans to set up a complex hostage situation involving taking a school bus of wealthy children prisoner, with Alex eventually managing to rescue her.
