SPECTRE

SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) is a fictional global terrorist organisation featured in the James Bondnovels by Ian Fleming, the films based on those novels, and James Bond video games. Led by evil genius and supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the organisation first formally appeared in the novel Thunderball (1961) and in the movie Dr. No(1962). SPECTRE is unaligned to any nation or political ideology, enabling the later Bond books and Bond films to be regarded as apolitical. SPECTRE began in the novels as a small group of criminals; but became a vast international organisation with its own SPECTRE Island training base in the films.

In Ian Fleming's novels, SPECTRE is a commercial enterprise led by Blofeld. Their membership comprises 18 individuals, three each from the world's six great criminal organizations—the Gestapo, SMERSH, MarshalTito's secret police, the highland Turks, the Mafia, and the Union Corse. Their debut appearance in Thunderball is concerned chiefly with "Plan Omega," a plot to capture two nuclear weapons from NATO for a ransom of 100 million pounds. The organization is next mentioned in The Spy Who Loved Me, when Bond describes investigating their activities in Toronto before the story begins.

The organization's third appearance is in On Her Majesty's Secret Servicewhere Blofeld, hired by an unnamed country or party (though the Soviet Union is implied) is executing a plan to ruin British agriculture. Blofeld, without SPECTRE would appear for the final time in You Only Live Twice.

In the films, the goal of the organization is world domination. To achieve this, the basic strategy of the organization is illustrated by the analogy of the three Siamese fighting fish Blofeld keeps in an aquarium in the film version of From Russia with Love. Blofeld notes that one fish is refraining from fighting two others until their fight is concluded. Then, that cunning fish attacks the weakened victor and kills it easily. Thus SPECTRE's main strategy is to instigate conflict between two powerful enemies, namely the superpowers, hoping that they will exhaust themselves and be vulnerable when SPECTRE finally moves in to seize power.

However, it should be noted that this goal of world domination was only ever stated in You Only Live Twice, and Blofeld does not say that SPECTRE will be the dominant power. He is seen earlier in the film speaking with two unidentified Asian men and it is stated he is working for their government. This is likely either Japan- only because SPECTRE's base in the film is situated in that country, or more likely North Korea or Red China, which had split from the Soviet Union by that time and in the third film were the backers of Goldfinger. SPECTRE's goals in the other films it has appeared in have always been less lofty.

In both the film and the novel Thunderball, the physical headquarters of the organisation are laid in Paris, operating behind the front of an international organization aiding refugees (Firco in the novels; International Brotherhood for the Assistance of Stateless Persons in the films).

Organisational discipline is notoriously draconian with the penalty for disobedience or failure being death. As quoted by Blofeld on several occasions: "This organization does not tolerate failure". Furthermore, to heighten the impact of the executions, Blofeld often chooses to focus attention on an innocent member, making it appear his death is imminent, only to suddenly strike down the actual target when that person is off guard.

Fleming's SPECTRE has elements inspired by mafia syndicates and organized crime rings that were actively hunted by law enforcement in the 1950s. The strict codes of loyalty and silence, and the hard retributions that followed violations, were hallmarks of U.S. gangster rings, Mafia, the Unione Corse, the Chinese Tongs and the Japanese Yakuza and Black Dragon Society.

SPECTRE Leader

SPECTRE is headed up by the supervillain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld who usually appears accompanied by a white Persian cat in the movies, but not in the books. In both the films and the novels, Emilio Largo is the second in command. It is stated in the novel that if something were to happen to Blofeld, Largo would assume command. Largo appears for the first and only time in Thunderballand also in the unofficial James Bond film Never Say Never Again.

In the novels, the numbers of members were initially assigned at random and then rotated by two digits every month to prevent detection. For example, if one was Number 1 this month, he would be Number 3 next month. At the time of Thunderball, the leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, has been assigned "Number 2", while Emilio Largo is assigned "Number 1". In the films the number indicates rank: Blofeld is always referred to as "Number 1" and Emilio Largo, in Thunderball, is "Number 2".

The SPECTRE cabinet had a total of 21 members. Blofeld was the chairman and leader because he founded the organization and Largo was elected by the cabinet to be second in command.

This particular example of numbering is perhaps deliberately borrowed from revolutionary organisations, wherein members exist in cells, and are numerically defined to prevent identification and cross-betrayal of aims. By deliberately drawing attention away from the true leader of the organisation, he is protected by masquerading as a target of lower importance, and the structure of the organisation is also obscured from intelligence services.

from Wikipedia