Editing SPECTRE (section)

==Leadership==
SPECTRE is headed by the criminal mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld who usually appears accompanied by a Chinchilla Silver [[Persian (cat)|Persian cat]] in the films, but not in the books. In both the films and the novels, [[Emilio Largo]] (played in the film ''Thunderball'' by [[Adolfo Celi]]) 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 in the 1961 novel ''Thunderball'', the 1965 film version and its 1983 remake, ''[[Never Say Never Again]]'', where he is renamed Maximilian Largo ([[Klaus Maria Brandauer]]) and is said to be Romanian rather than Italian.

The SPECTRE cabinet had a total of twenty-one members. Blofeld was the chairman and leader because he founded the organisation and Largo was elected by the cabinet to be second in command. A physicist named Kotze (who later defected) and an electronics expert named Maslov were also included in the group for their expertise on scientific and technical matters.

Members are typically referred to by number rather than by name. In the novels, the numbers were initially assigned at random and then rotated up by two digits on a once-a-month basis to prevent detection; for example, if a SPECTRE operative is titled 'Number 1' in the present month, the security system will designate them 'Number 3' in the next month, 'Number 5' in the following month and so forth. However, in the [[Eon Productions|EON]] films the number indicates rank within the organisation: Blofeld is always referred to as 'Number 1' and Emilio Largo, in ''Thunderball'', is 'Number 2'. This particular example of numbering is perhaps deliberately borrowed from [[revolutionary organisation]]s, where 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 service]]s.

Members who fail missions are immediately executed, usually in gory and spectacular ways. In the novel, Blofeld electrocutes Pierre Borraud (codename Number 12) in his chair for sexually molesting a girl who had been kidnapped by the organisation; he had previously strangled a second to death with a [[garrote]] and shot a third through the heart with a compressed-air pistol. In the film, Number 9 (Clive Cazes) is electrocuted for embezzlement at the ''Thunderball'' meeting where he and Number 11 (Murray Kash) report on the proceeds from a narcotics-related operation. The merciless killing of assistant Helga Brandt ([[Karin Dor]]) in ''You Only Live Twice'', for failing to kill James Bond ([[Sean Connery]]), similarly horrifies visiting Red Chinese agents; she is dropped into a pool of [[piranha]], which quickly eat her alive.

Previously, in ''From Russia with Love,'' Tov Kronsteen ([[Vladek Sheybal]]) was killed with a poisoned shoe knife in front of [[Rosa Klebb]] ([[Lotte Lenya]]) to motivate Klebb to complete her mission with no further delays. Blofeld prefers to accuse another operative as a decoy, keeping his victim calm inside the trap before executing them.