Nintendo DS Derek Smithers appeared in all the Alex Rider novels. He has been responsible for supplying gadgets to Alex Rider for his various missions.
Personality and Appearance
In the novels, Smithers is shown to be incredibly intelligent, as well as having a bubbly personality, constantly wisecracking and kidding around with Alex. Smithers is quite fat, and often wears a Hawaiian-style shirt covered in flowers. However, the fat is actually a disguise. To Alex, it was a wonder that each chair he sat in doesn't break under the weight. Smithers in the Stormbreaker movie, though, was not portrayed so. He was an average weight, and was about as serious as a schoolteacher - but not nearly as serious as Alan Blunt. It is shown that in the ninth book Scorpia Rising that Smither's appearance is in reality a fat suit and he is a wiry Irish man of about thirty years old, with brown hair and blue eyes.
Role in Series
Stormbreaker
In Stormbreaker, Smithers supplied Alex with the following:
- Metal-burning zit cream"Zit Clean:For healthier skin"
- A retractable yo-yo
- A Gameboy, which had various features, the functions accessed depending on what game was in the console at the time:
- Nemesis: A photocopier and fax machine
- Exocet: An X-ray machine that could see through solid walls and doors (within 2 in.) and amplified sound
- Speed Wars: A bug (listening device) finder
- Bomber Boy: A remotely detonated smoke bomb
Point Blanc
In Point Blanc, Smithers supplied the following gadgets:
- Bulletproof Ski Suit
- Infrared Ski Goggles
- CD Player with (when fast forward is pressed three times) Panic Button and convertible to an electric saw when a Beethoven CD is inserted
- Golden explosive Ear Stud
- Harry Potter book "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" with a gun built into the spine and a tranquilizer dart (activated when author's name is pressed)
Skeleton Key
Smithers gave the following gadgets in Skeleton Key.
- A cell phone that works underwater and has a hidden tranquilizer gun(activated by calling 999)
- Expanding bubble-gum to break locks named as "Bubble 0-7
- A Tiger Woods (American) or Michael Owen (British) stun grenade figurine
Also, the CIA gave agents Belinda Troy and Tom Turner(British)/Glen Carver(American) a DS that had a Geiger counter built in, remeniscent of the DS Smithers had given Alex.
Eagle Strike
In Eagle Strike, Smithers secretly gave Alex Rider, at that point a rogue agent, a bike that had the following features. Some of these features would only be activated when a specific button would be pressed underneath the lid of the bell.This was similar to an Aston Martin car Bond was given in the movie "Goldfinger""
- Heat-seeking missiles (orange button)
- Blinding lights (magnesium flare, yellow button)
- Blue smoke bike pump (blue button)
- Ejector seat (red button)
- Slippery "snail trail" (green button)
- Magnetic bike clips
- Bulletproof jersey
Scorpia
After briefly working for SCORPIA, Alex was given by Smithers
- A tracking device/signal transmitter disguised as a brace.
Ark Angel
For his trip to Flamingo Bay, Smithers provided Alex with the following gadgets.
- An asthma inhaler which acted as a knockout gas as well as a hand grenade.
- A microwave-eavesdropping iPod touch.
- It was hinted that Smithers had invented an explosive iPod called the "i-X-Plod", but this was never used.
- A bug-attracting, jungle strength Stingo lotion.
Snakehead
After meeting in Bangkok, Smithers provided Alex with these gadgets:
- Three explosive coins(1, 5 &10 Baht) with gum pack detonator
- A belt with a knife in the buckle and jungle survival items
- A watch with a tracking device to signal M16.
He also displayed:
- The fan club gadget
- Buddha grenade
- A tuk-tuk (auto rickshaw) equipped with a machine gun directly controlled by the handlebars and a missile concealed behind the front headlight. Smithers nicknames it an 'Attack-tuk'.
Crocodile Tears
In Crocodile Tears, Smithers provided Alex with the following
- A pencil case with ghost images of school equipment and a miniaturized flux (reversal) system
- An eraser with a password-cracking Memory Stick on the inside
- A library card which, when fed through the flux system in the pencil case, becomes an all-purpose swipe card
- A post card with a lay-out of Greenfields and lights showing where the card is and where Straik's office is
- A pencil-sharpener with a knife on the inside
- A calculator which jams security cameras and contacts MI6
- Two exploding gel pens
Scorpia Rising
In Scorpia Rising, he supplied Alex with:
- A water bottle that could listen in on phone conversations
- An iPhone that could record and duplicate fingerprints
- A baseball cap with a miniaturised GPS system "Hat-Nav"
- A notepad that could send messages to Smithers' computer screen
- A fake light-switch which can be attached to any wall, as it is used to listen in on room conversations.
- Exploding gnomes (Mentioned only).
Stormbreaker (movie)
Derek Smithers was portrayed by Stephen Fry.
Smithers was based in a toy shop. After meeting Alex, he gave him:
- A Nintendo DS, with the games "Call Out", which was like Nemesis, "Sweep Up", which found bugs, "Green Screen", which turned the entire Nintendo DS into a smoke bomb, and "Mario Kart", which did nothing special.
- Acidic zit cream.
- A pen, which would shoot out a nib with sodium pentathol
- Retractable yoyo
- A backpack with a parachute
Sources
- Photo:
- General information: various sources, including but not limited to:
- Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz (primary)
- Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz (primary)
- Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz (primary)
- Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz (primary)
- Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz (primary)
- Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz (primary)
- Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz (primary)
- Crocodile Tears by Anthony Horowitz (primary)
- Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz (primary)
- http://www.alexrider.com/Characters/MI6/Smithers
- http://www.alexrider.com/Alexs-World/Gadgets/Viewer
- http://www.gadgetacademy.co.uk/content/page/tag/alex_gadget_gallery
Stormbreaker Characters | |
Main Characters | |
---|---|
Alex Rider • Alan Blunt • Tulip Jones • Jack Starbright • Herod Sayle • Yassen Gregorovich | |
Other Key Characters | |
Ian Rider • Smithers • Nadia Vole • Mr. Grin • Wolf • John Crawley |
Point Blanc Characters | |
Main Characters | |
---|---|
Alex Rider • Alan Blunt • Tulip Jones • Jack Starbright • Hugo Grief • Eva Stellenbosch | |
Other Key Characters | |
David Friend • Smithers • James Sprintz • Michael J. Roscoe • Wolf • John Crawley • Fiona Friend • Julius Grief |
Skeleton Key Characters | |
Main Characters | |
---|---|
Alex Rider • Alan Blunt • Tulip Jones • Jack Starbright • Alexei Sarov • Sabina Pleasure | |
Other Key Characters | |
Joe Byrne • Smithers • Belinda Troy • Tom Turner • Conrad • John Crawley • Boris Kiriyenko |
Eagle Strike Characters | |
Main Characters | |
---|---|
Alex Rider • Alan Blunt • Tulip Jones • Jack Starbright • Damian Cray • Sabina Pleasure • Yassen Gregorovich | |
Other Key Characters | |
Edward Pleasure • Smithers • Liz Pleasure • Marc Antonio • Charlie Roper • John Rider • Henryk |
Scorpia Characters | |
Main Characters | |
---|---|
Alex Rider • Alan Blunt • Tulip Jones • Jack Starbright • Julia Rothman • Nile | |
Other Key Characters | |
Graham Adair • Smithers • Mark Kellner • George Adair • Tom Harris • Jerry Harris • Harold Liebermann |
Ark Angel Characters | |
Main Characters | |
---|---|
Alex Rider • Alan Blunt • Tulip Jones • Jack Starbright • Nikolei Drevin • Paul Drevin • Magnus Payne | |
Other Key Characters | |
Joe Byrne • Smithers • Tamara Knight • Max Webber • Ed Shulsky • John Crawley |
Snakehead Characters | |
Main Characters | |
---|---|
Alex Rider • Tulip Jones • Jack Starbright • Ethan Brooke • Ash • Major Winston Yu | |
Other Key Characters | |
Smithers • Ben Daniels • Sabina Pleasure • Bill Tanner • Anan Sukit • Hermann De Wynter • Marc Damon |
Crocodile Tears Characters | |
Main Characters | |
---|---|
Alex Rider • Alan Blunt • Tulip Jones • Jack Starbright • Desmond McCain • Sabina Pleasure • Leonard Straik | |
Other Key Characters | |
Edward Pleasure • Smithers • Liz Pleasure • John Crawley • Ravi Chandra • Harry Bulman • Myra Bennett • Rahim |
Scorpia Rising Characters | |
Main Characters | |
---|---|
Alex Rider • Jack Starbright • Alan Blunt • Abdul-Aziz Al-Rahim • Julius Grief | |
Other Key Characters | |
Smithers • Tulip Jones • Joe Byrne • Erik Gunter • Zeljan Kurst • Yannis Ariston Xenopolos |
Never Say Die Characters | |
Main Characters | |
---|---|
Alex Rider • Jack Starbright • Grimaldi Twins • Tulip Jones | |
Other Key Characters | |
Wolf • Frankie Stallone • Skunk • Dragana Novak • Jane Vosper • Sabina Pleasure |
Nightshade Characters | |
Main Characters | |
---|---|
Alex Rider • Jack Starbright • Tulip Jones • Frederick Gray | |
Other Key Characters | |