The Alex Rider series of books is perhaps most notable for its list of memorably despicable enemies, from villains to henchmen. Listed here are the primary and secondary villains of every story.
Primary antagonists[]
| Story | Villian | Endgame(s) | Consequence(s) | Eventual fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stormbreaker/ | Herod Sayle/ Darrius Sayle | Exact revenge on the British Prime Minister (who bullied him in school) and the entire country with an "April Fool's Joke": when the Prime Minister activates the 'Stormbreaker' computers, a potent strain of smallpox will be released into every school in the country, killing all the children in school | Alex Rider shoots and destroys the master computer | Shot and wounded by Alex Rider; then shot again, this time fatally, by Yassen Gregorovitch |
| Point Blanc | Hugo Grief | Initially cloned 16 copies of himself in South Africa in the 1980's, then employs Baxter to surgically alter his 14-year-old clones to resemble them. The clones and real boys will eventually be swapped. When the parents die and pass on their inheritance, he will take the assets from the clones and become the most powerful man in the world, allowing him to reinstate apartheid globally. | MI6 captures all the clones and apprehends them | Incinerated by a snowmobile that Alex Rider sets on a collision course with his helicopter |
| Skeleton Key | Alexei Sarov | Drop a nuclear bomb in a shipyard of nuclear submarines, thus causing a massive explosion. Russia will be blamed and they will turn to their president. Sarov will then release edited footage from an interview exposing Kiriyenko as a lazy drunk idiot who says he can't deal with the issue; this will force him out of power and he will eventually be found dead due to heart failure. Sarov will then reinstate communism in Russia, and will be taking over. | Alex Rider removes the detonation keycard from the nuke and tosses it into the ocean | Shoots himself |
| Eagle Strike | Damian Cray | Hijack Air Force One and use its missile room to fire nuclear missiles at major drug-running countries to eradicate the drug trade | Sabina Pleasure causes the missiles to self-destruct before they hit their targets | Thrown off Air Force One; sucked into engine number 2 |
| SCORPIA | Julia Charlotte Glenys Rothman | Break the US-UK link by intentionally demanding that America pay SCORPIA a ridiculous amount; if they do not, a hot air balloon covered in satellite dishes would take to the air above London and activate Invisible Sword, killing thousands of children who have been injected with poisonous nanoshells. The satellite dishes would transmit tetrahertz beams that would cause the nanoshells to break out of their casing and release the poison into every childs' body, causing instant death. | Alex Rider hijacks the balloon, sabotages the machinery and causes it to crash | Crushed by the falling satellite |
| Ark Angel | Nikolei Vladimir Drevin | Use Gabriel 7 to deliver a bomb onto Ark Angel; when the device explodes, it will cause the space station to fall onto the Pentagon, destroying the evidence which the authorities accumulated against him while simultaenously allowing him to claim insurance for the destruction of Ark Angel (which costs him a sizable sum) | Alex Rider boards the space hotel and shifts the bomb to its center, causing it to blow up before it hits the Pentagon | Crashes his seaplane into trees while flying away |
| Snakehead | Winston Yu | Use 'Royal Blue' to create an artificial tsunami that will kill the celebrities attending an Australian conference; the resulting shockwave will hit the coast of Australia | Alex Rider takes control of 'Royal Blue' and prematurely detonates it | Smashed apart by the bomb's shockwave |
| Crocodile Tears | Desmond McCain | Have Greenfields engineer a poison called ricin for crops that would kill half the population of Africa, then make hundreds of millions of pounds from his charity, First Aid, during the first few months of the plague and intends to steal the money before running away and assuming a new identity in South America | Alex Rider plants a bomb on a dam, causing a torrent of water to flood the poisoned crops | Set alight when Alex Rider causes a leaking fuel tank to detonate after he combusts it with an exploding pen |
| SCORPIA Rising | Abdul-Aziz Al-Rahim | Use Alex to blackmail the British government into returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece. As part of Operation Horseman, Razim would proceed to gather evidence to prove that Alex had been working for MI6 for the past year. He accurately speculates that the British government would immediately release the marbles back to Greece, as Razim would otherwise publicly reveal the contents of the Horseman file, ruining Great Britain's reputation around the world for generations to come. | Alex Rider, masquerading as Julius Grief, lures a group of Special Forces to his base, leading to a protracted shootout where his guards are killed | Sucked into a pit of salt, crushing him to death. |
| Russian Roulette | Vladimir Sharkovsky | Was responsible for the incident in Estrov, which caused innocents to die, and inevitibly led Yasha into his hands. | Yassen escapes from his estate | Shot in the head by Yassen, who just finished training with SCORPIA in Malagosto. |
| Never Say Die/Steel Claw | Giovanni and Eduardo Grimaldi | In a desperate need of money after the collapse of SCORPIA, they capture 52 children from Linton Hall, all offspring of powerful people, and hold them for ransom, demanding for 250 million dollars for them to be returned. | The children, Alex Rider, and Jack Starbright, as well as a security guard and the children's drama teacher, escape from the Grimaldis using a school bus. | Incinerated by a flask of petrol which Alex throws into the train's smoke stack. |
| Nightshade | Dominic Royce | Attempts to kill Lord Clifford and also is the mastermind behind Leap of Faith, he wants the British Cabinet dead to wake up England. He thinks that politicians are useless and ignorant of the world's issues. He also intends to destroy the government and let younger generations be in control. | Alex Rider interrupts Leap of Faith, captures a VX gas capsule and causes numerous casualties for Nightshade: Number 11 is knocked unconscious, while Frederick Grey's communication device with the Nightshade leadership is rendered useless due to a jamming gadget that Alex uses. | Sent on a 'long vacation' to Gibraltar. |
| Nightshade Revenge | Jon Lucas | Wants the market share and power of Real Time for himself; he hacks the AR and when the newest update goes live, a bug in the system will lead thousands of players to their deaths. The public outcry of these accidents will bankrupt Real Time, giving Lucas the opportunity to buy it over and merge it with his own company | Alex Rider shoots his leg, then Ben Daniels forces him to deactivate the bugs. | Refuses to experience jail time and is killed in an air strike that the Central Intelligence Agency calls on his estate. |
Secondary antagonists[]
| Story | Villian | Endgame | Outcome | Eventual fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stormbreaker | Nadia Vole | Kill Alex Rider | Fails | Stung by Sayle's man 'o' war jellyfish |
| Mr Grin | Crashes his plane in the book. Survives in the movie. | |||
| Point Blanc | The Gentleman | Assassinate Michael Roscoe, Buddy Sangster and a surgeon who botched McCain's jaw surgery | Succeeds | Survives; remains at large. No further contact between him and Alex but it is rumoured in 'Scorpia Rising' that he is apprehended. |
| Skoda | Sell drugs to school kids | Initially succeeds | Hospitalised, later apprehended. | |
| Mr Baxter | Demand higher payment from Grief | Fails | Shot by Grief | |
| Eva Stellenbosch | Kill Alex Rider | Shot by Wolf | ||
| Julius Grief | Apprehended, later killed in 'Scorpia Rising'. | |||
| Skeleton Key | Conrad | Kill Alex Rider | Fails | Breaks his back, which was metallic, on a crane magnet |
| "The Salesman'" | Kill Tom Turner | Blown apart by a bomb that Conrad placed on his ship | ||
| Eagle Strike | Charlie Roper | Demand payment from Cray | Indirectly succeeds | Crushed or suffocated by a torrent of coins paid by Cray |
| Henryk | Escape from Heathrow | Fails | Snaps his neck | |
| Franco | Kill Alex Rider | Hospitalised, possibly apprehended. No further contact between him and Alex. | ||
| Yassen Gregorovich | Assist Cray | Partially succeeds; partially fails | Shot by Cray | |
| SCORPIA | Nile | Kill Alex Rider | Fails | Set aflame on Rothman's balloon; plunges to the ground |
| Harold Liebermann | Assist Rothman | Succeeds | Killed by a sword which Nile throws | |
| "The Courier" | Give the British government a letter stating SCORPIA's requests and threat | Survives, remains at large. No contact between him and Alex. | ||
| Unknown sniper | Kill Alex Rider | Shoots Alex but fails to kill him | Assassinated | |
| Ark Angel | Magnus Payne/ Kaspar | Kill Alex Rider | Fails | Impaled by a knife |
| Kolo | Survives, remains at large. No further contact between him and Alex. | |||
| Force Three | Shot by Kaspar | |||
| Snakehead | Bill Tanner | Use Alex Rider's organs for transplanting | Fails | Kills himself |
| Cpt. Herman de Wynter | Capture Alex Rider | Killed by Winston Yu | ||
| Anan Sukit | Have Alex Rider participate in a muay thai contest | Alex Rider takes part but wins the fight | Shot by Fox | |
| Anthony Sean Howell | Escape from Dragon Nine | Fails | ||
| Isabelle | Use Alex Rider's organs for transplanting | Apprehended | ||
| Charleen | ||||
| Jacko | ||||
| Quombi | ||||
| Sunthorn | Defeat Alex Rider | Knocked out; possibly killed by Alex | ||
| Crocodile Tears | Ravi Chandra | Infiltrate Jowada's security, plant a bomb, let loose a radioactive cloud on the city of Chennai and request payment from his masters | Succeeds in destroying the plant but fails to acquire payment | Vaporised by the explosion |
| Myra Bennett | Forces Alex Rider to hold on to a metallic bar above a lake of crocodiles, then takes pictures of him before he falls down. | Fails | Impaled by a knife, falls into the lake and is ripped apart by the crocs | |
| Harry Bulman | Demand payment from McCain | Shot by McCain | ||
| Njenga | Capture Alex Rider (or kill him) | Drowned by the torrent of water that Alex Rider's bomb looses | ||
| Leonard Straik | Manufacture a virus for McCain | Succeeds | Poisoned by a marble cone snail | |
| SCORPIA Rising | Erik Gunter | Kill Alex Rider | Fails | Stung by a scorpion, falls to the ground and snaps his neck |
| Julius Grief | Shot by Alex Rider | |||
| Habib | Manufacture weapons for Gunter | Succeeds | Shot by Gunter | |
| Never Say Die | Dragana Novak | Hijack a helicopter on loan from the British Air Force | Succeeds | Poisoned by Eduardo Grimaldi after she is heavily wounded to the point that she would no longer be of use |
| Frankie Stallone | Kill Alex Rider | Fails | Incinerated by exploding train | |
| Skunk | ||||
| Slavko Novak | Capture 52 schoolkids and drop them on a locomotive | Succeeds | Blown apart by the bomb on the Super Stallion | |
| Jane Vosper | Lead the captured children to the Grimaldi Twins. | Succeeds | Killed by Giovanni Grimaldi by injecting cyanide | |
| Nightshade | Owen Andrews | Attempts to act as a mole, disseminating classified information from MI6 to Nightshade, in order to allow the latter to succeed with their operation. Also informs Royce about other developments. | Succeeds. | Sent to Costa Rica on holiday, then apprehended on drug charges and will potentially be in prison for 10 years. |
| Frank Sheriff | ||||
| Derek and Claire Miller | Have a score to settle with Julius Grief, whom Alex is impersonating | |||
| Henry Mellish | Have a score to settle with Julius Grief, whom Alex is impersonating | Fails | Nose broken by Frederick Grey, then evacuated to Gibraltar's Royal Naval Hospital | |
| Jane Chumley | ||||
| Ali Glasim | ||||
| 'Mr Someone' | Attempts to escape from the prison and kill Julius Grief, whom Alex is impersonating, if 'Julius' disagrees with the escape plan | Fails | Stopped by a guard, who also rescues Alex | |
| Royal Gibraltar Police | Attempts to capture Nightshade agents: Sebastien, Mattias, Alex and Frederick | Fails | Withdraw from the chase after Sebastien threatens them with an RPG | |
| Brother Mike | Attempts to take Alex out of the equation: they drug him, disguise him as a dangerous criminal to distract the British police force and they will capture him, which diverts personnel from Leap of Faith, thus allowing it to succeed. | Fails | They escape from police detection and attempt to exact revenge on Alex. | |
| Lamar Jensen | ||||
| Sister Jeanne | ||||
| Krysten Schultz | ||||
| Number 009/ Frederick Grey | Attempts to carry out Leap of Faith | Fails | Apprehended and sent into jail. | |
| Number 007/William Jones | Attempts to be one of the agents used for Operation Leap of Faith | Fails | Injured from a fall into the ocean, breaks his arm | |
| Number 006/ Sophia Jones | Apprehended and sent into jail. | |||
| Number 022 | ||||
| Number 011 | Attempts to carry out Leap of Faith | Fails | Alex knocks him out, disguises himself as '011' and then confronts Frederick Grey before the VX can detonate. | |
| Number 015 | ||||
| Number 016 | ||||
| Maintenance engineer | Attempts to kill 'Julius Grief', who is in fact Alex | Fails | Tom knocks him out. | |
| Nightshade Revenge | Brother Mike | Attempts to have Alex and Frederick Grey participate in a shootout, where whoever kills the other person the fastest can be reinstated into Nightshade, although they intend to kill Alex regardless of the outcome. | Fails | Frederick Grey shoots him in the head. |
| Lamar Jensen | William Jones shoots him | |||
| Sister Jeanne | William Jones shoots her | |||
| Krysten Schultz | William Jones shoots her | |||
Notes[]
- Despite both Alex and Antony Horowitz being English, all but one of of Alex Rider's enemies were a nationality other than British. Herrod Sayle was Lebanese, Hugo Grief was South African, Alexi Sarnov's was Russian, Damien Cray was American, Julia Rothman was Welsh, Nikolai Drevin was Russian, Winston Yu was born in England but native Chinese, Desmond McCain was the only actual British villain, Abdul-Aziz Al-Rahim was Iraqi and the Grimaldi Twins were Italian.
- According to Horowitz, the decision to make two of the most well known antagonists in the series Russian was to parody the fact that many of the old villains in James Bond films (most notably Dr No) were Russian due to the anti-Communist attitude at the time.
- Alexi Sarnov is in fact an intentional reference to this since his was a USSR general wanting WWIII and to bring back Russian's apparent former glory.
- According to Horowitz, the decision to make two of the most well known antagonists in the series Russian was to parody the fact that many of the old villains in James Bond films (most notably Dr No) were Russian due to the anti-Communist attitude at the time.