Editing James Bond (section)

=== Creation and inspiration ===
{{Main|James Bond (literary character)|Inspirations for James Bond}}

[[Ian Fleming]] created the fictional character of [[James Bond (literary character)|James Bond]] as the central figure for his works. Bond is an intelligence officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as [[MI6]]. Bond is known by his code number, 007, and was a [[Royal Naval Reserve]] [[Commander (Royal Navy)|Commander]]. Fleming based his fictional creation on a number of individuals he came across during his time in the [[Naval Intelligence Division (United Kingdom)|Naval Intelligence Division]] and [[30 Assault Unit]] during the Second World War, admitting that Bond "was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war".<ref name="Macintyre (2008b)" /> Among those types were his brother, [[Peter Fleming (writer)|Peter]], who had been involved in behind-the-lines operations in [[Norway in World War II|Norway]] and [[Greece in World War II|Greece]] during the war.<ref name="PF Obit (1971)">{{cite news|title=Obituary: Colonel Peter Fleming, Author and explorer|newspaper= The Times|date=20 August 1971|page=14}}</ref> Aside from Fleming's brother, a number of others also provided some aspects of Bond's make up, including [[Conrad O'Brien-ffrench]], [[Patrick Dalzel-Job]], [[Wilfred Dunderdale|Bill "Biffy" Dunderdale]] and [[Duško Popov]].<ref name="Macintyre (2008b)" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Chris |title=From the archive: the real James Bond, 1973 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/mar/22/from-the-archive-the-real-james-bond-1973-dusko-popov-ian-fleming |work=The Guardian |access-date=28 February 2023 |date=22 March 2020}}</ref>

The name James Bond came from that of the American [[ornithologist]] [[James Bond (ornithologist)|James Bond]], a Caribbean bird expert and author of the definitive [[field guide]] ''[[Birds of the West Indies]]''. Fleming, a keen [[Birdwatching|birdwatcher]] himself, had a copy of Bond's guide and he later explained to the ornithologist's wife that "It struck me that this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James Bond was born".<ref>{{cite news |title=James Bond, Ornithologist, 89; Fleming Adopted Name for 007 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/17/obituaries/james-bond-ornithologist-89-fleming-adopted-name-for-007.html |access-date=22 August 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=17 February 1989 |archive-date=2 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502204215/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/17/obituaries/james-bond-ornithologist-89-fleming-adopted-name-for-007.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He further explained that:

{{Blockquote|text= When I wrote the first one in 1953, I wanted Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened; I wanted him to be a blunt instrument&nbsp;... when I was casting around for a name for my protagonist I thought by God, [James Bond] is the dullest name I ever heard.|sign= Ian Fleming|source=''[[The New Yorker]]'', 21 April 1962<ref name="Hellman (1962)">{{cite magazine |last= Hellman |first= Geoffrey T. |title= Bond's Creator |url= https://www.newyorker.com/archive/1962/04/21/1962_04_21_032_TNY_CARDS_000268062 |id= section "Talk of the Town" |magazine= The New Yorker |access-date= 9 September 2011 |author-link= Geoffrey T. Hellman |page= 32 |date= 21 April 1962 |archive-date= 21 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121095936/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1962/04/21/1962_04_21_032_TNY_CARDS_000268062 |url-status= live }}</ref>}}

On another occasion, Fleming said: "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, 'James Bond' was much better than something more interesting, like 'Peregrine Carruthers'. Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral figure—an anonymous, blunt instrument wielded by a government department."{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=112}}

[[File:Hoagy Carmichael - 1947.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Hoagy Carmichael]]—Fleming's view of James Bond]]

Fleming decided that Bond should resemble both American singer [[Hoagy Carmichael]] and himself{{sfn|Macintyre|2008|p=67}} and in [[Casino Royale (novel)|''Casino Royale'']], [[Vesper Lynd]] remarks, "Bond reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless." Likewise, in [[Moonraker (novel)|''Moonraker'']], [[Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)|Special Branch]] officer Gala Brand thinks that Bond is "certainly good-looking&nbsp;... Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way. That black hair falling down over the right eyebrow. Much the same bones. But there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold."{{sfn|Macintyre|2008|p=67}}

Fleming endowed Bond with many of his own traits, including sharing the same golf handicap, the taste for scrambled eggs, and using the same brand of toiletries.{{sfn|Macintyre|2008|p=50}} Bond's tastes are also often taken from Fleming's own as was his behaviour,<ref name="Cook (2004)">{{cite news |last=Cook |first=William |title=Novel man |newspaper=[[New Statesman]] |date=28 June 2004|page=40}}</ref> with Bond's love of golf and gambling mirroring Fleming's own. Fleming used his experiences of his career in espionage and all other aspects of his life as inspiration when writing, including using names of school friends, acquaintances, relatives and lovers throughout his books.<ref name="Macintyre (2008b)" />

It was not until the penultimate novel, ''[[You Only Live Twice (novel)|You Only Live Twice]]'', that Fleming gave Bond a sense of family background. The book was the first to be written after the release of [[Dr. No (film)|''Dr. No'']] in cinemas, and [[Sean Connery]]'s depiction of Bond affected Fleming's interpretation of the character, henceforth giving Bond both a dry sense of humour and Scottish antecedents that were not present in the previous stories.{{sfn|Macintyre|2008|p=205}} In a fictional obituary, purportedly published in ''[[The Times]]'', Bond's parents were given as Andrew Bond, from the village of [[Glencoe, Highland|Glencoe]], [[Scotland]], and Monique Delacroix, from the canton of [[Vaud]], Switzerland.{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=59}} Fleming did not provide Bond's date of birth, but [[John Pearson (author)|John Pearson]]'s fictional biography of Bond, ''[[James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007]]'', gives Bond a birth date on 11 November 1920,{{sfn|Pearson|2008|p=21}} while a study by John Griswold puts the date at 11 November 1921.{{sfn|Griswold|2006|p=27}}