"Bond. James Bond."

Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by novelist Ian Fleming in 1952. He is the protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games. He is portrayed as an SIS agent residing in London. From 1995 onwards, SIS would be officially acknowledged as MI6.

Bond holds the code number 007, except for the novel You Only Live Twice, where he temporarily becomes "7777". The "double-0" prefix indicates his discretionary licence to kill in the performance of his duties. He is famous for introducing himself as "Bond, James Bond" whenever the opportunity arises and for ordering his vodka martinis "shaken, not stirred"; his usual and characteristic formal clothing is a dinner jacket. In the films he usually wears a Rolex Submariner watch or, in later films, an Omega.

He has been portrayed on film by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig, the last interpretation being the only one with an official fictional biography of the character. However, Bond was first portrayed by Barry Nelson in a 1954 American television film based on the novel Casino Royale, and next by Bob Holness in a 1956 South African radio series based on the novel Moonraker. David Niven played Bond in Casino Royale, a 1967 satire, which was lightly based on the Bond novel of the same name. Several other actors, including Peter Sellers and Woody Allen, were also designated as James Bond in the satire.

In Fleming's stories James Bond is an ageless character in his late thirties. In Moonraker, he admits to being eight years shy of mandatory retirement at age 45 - therefore, 37 years old at the time of the novel.

James Bond's birth year is unknown because Fleming changed the dates and times of events. Most researchers and biographers concluded that he was born either in 1917, 1920, 1921, or 1924 (see more). Fleming never said where James Bond was born although people have speculated, based on derivative works.

You Only Live Twice reveals Bond is the son of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond, of Glencoe, and a Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix, of the Canton de Vaud. The boy James Bond spends much of his early life abroad, becoming multilingual in German and French because of his father's being a Vickers armaments company representative. When his parents are killed in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges near Chamonix, eleven-year-old James is orphaned.

In On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the Bond family motto might be non sufficit Orbis (Latin for "The world is not enough"). The coat of arms and motto belonged to the historical Sir Thomas Bond; his relation to James Bond is unclear and neglected by the latter. After the death of his parents, he goes to live with his aunt, Miss Charmian Bond, in Pett Bottom village, where he completes his early education. Later, he briefly attends Eton College at "12 or thereabouts" (13 in Young Bond), but is removed after four halves because of girl trouble with a maid. He reminisces about losing his virginity at sixteen, on a first visit to Paris, in the short story "From a View to a Kill". Bond is removed from Eton and sent to Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland, his father's school. Per Pearson's James Bond: The Authorised Biography and an allusion in From Russia with Love, Bond briefly attended the University of Geneva. Some of Bond's education is based on Fleming's own, both having attended Eton, and the University of Geneva.