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And then somewhat subverted at the end of the novel - the Russian government, on a very short notice, sends in The Cavalry that relatively easily overpowers Sarov's forces. Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: The Prime Minister in Stormbreaker. Whilst never named, the tie-in book Alex Rider: The Mission Files states that "Education is at the heart of his government's manifesto". Butt-Monkey: Poor Alex can hardly take a breath of fresh air without being whisked away on another life-threatening, trauma-inducing mission. You must let me know what you think when you’ve read it – but I can’t tell you how excited I am about the new story. It’s quite tough, quite adult…but at the same time (I hope) an easy read. The idea is that it will hopefully appeal to new, young readers…but also to their big brothers and sisters who maybe read Alex fifteen years ago. Shoehorned Acronym: SCORPIA: Sabotage, CORruPtion, Intelligence, Assassination. More than half the letters are taken, more or less randomly, from one word. It's lampshaded and justified when they make their debut: "it was a fanciful name...but they had to call themselves something", and as a global network of spies they wanted a name that works in several different languages.
Rescue Romance: Fiona Friend ends up having a crush on Alex after he saves her life, although he very much doesn't reciprocate her feelings. This leads to a Woman Scorned moment when Fiona nearly blows Alex's cover, before he shoots her with a tranquilliser gun. Training from Hell: To prepare him as their Teen Superspy, MI6 sends Alex to the SAS for 2 weeks. Even with allowances made for his age and size, it's no summer camp. Glasgow Grin: Sayle's Dragon, Mr. Grin, has one. It's the source of his name, since he can't speak—he lost his tongue when he got the scars. Conrad threatens to put Alex through a sugar mill's crusher if he doesn't talk at one point in Skeleton Key. Sarov stops him in time, thankfully. Express option - We provide a express service option which can take 2 working days (Working days are termed as Monday to Friday)Sarov intends to portray his nuking of Murmansk as an accident caused by a defective submarine, which he will then blame on the Russian government being run by idiots. Series Continuity Error: Perhaps as a result of being the first entry in the series after a long hiatus, Never Say Die contains several of these: the characters of Wolf and Fox are conflated, and their previous meeting is referred to as when Alex took on "the gang known as Snakehead", when — as the original book made clear — a snakehead is a type of gang. The Sequel Hook at the end also mentions that MI6's captive is currently being held hostage at the secret facility on Gibraltar from Scorpia Rising, even though at the end of that book Mrs Jones decided to shut the facility down, although the short timeframe of the series means it is possible it just hasn't been closed down yet. (The first of these was corrected when the book was reprinted.) Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: In Point Blanc, Smithers gives Alex an exploding ear-stud, and in Skeleton Key a flash grenade disguised as a keyring and bubblegum which will expand to enormous sizes when chewed. All of these are in direct contravention of his instructions from Alan Blunt, who does not want Alex to have anything that could be classed as a weapon, and all three are directly responsible for saving Alex's life. In Eagle Strike, upon hearing Alex is going off on his own after MI6 fail to take him seriously over Damian Cray, Smithers gives sends him a specially modified bicycle with about a dozen different gadgets hidden in it. Desmond McCain goes through this at the end of Crocodile Tears. After having his plan to unleash a devastating plague across the face of Africa foiled by Alex, he confronts Alex with a gun, demanding that just for once, Alex grovel and cry in front of him like the child he's supposed to be. Some people just can't handle having a kid get the better of them.
Julia Rothman of Scorpia also averts this, as she pointedly doesn't tell Alex what her plan is, leaving him to figure it out by himself. Although he manages to do so, Rothman is the most Genre Savvy villain of the series, and her plan ultimately fails for reasons largely beyond her control. Adaptation Title Change: Point Blanc was retitled Point Blank in the US, presumably to make the Punny Name more obvious.
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Torture Always Works: Torture isn't even used much in the novel, and is usually avoided or interrupted. Subverted with Ash; while he is truly regretful on Alex revealing he figured out that Ash was The Mole for ASIS, actually working for Scorpia, showed no qualms about getting Alex involved in a spy operation that nearly ends up fatal. Ash is also forced to reveal that he's the one who killed Alex's parents by planting a bomb in their plane. He does offer Alex a way out without telling him the truth, but Alex stays because he wants to know more about his father. The investigation into a break-in at Wimbledon that leads to Alex being suggested to take the Skeleton Key mission in the first place due to angering the Chinese Red Circle.
The sale of customised goods or perishable goods, sealed audio or video recordings, or software, which has been opened. Alex Rider - cool kids clothes with a gadget or two! Kids could make their own gadgets using boxes, kitchen foil etc. Refusal of the Call: Alex refuses Blunt's initial request in the first book, but is forced to change his mind when Blunt outlines what will happen otherwise. Three books later in Eagle Strike, Alex decides that whatever Yassen is planning is not his business, but changes his mind when he realises that Yassen had been hired to assassinate Sabina's father.
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It is noted in Crocodile Tears that Alan Blunt disapproves of the fact that Alex has gotten taller, because as he loses his youthful features he steadily becomes less useful to MI6 in this way.
No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: This happens frequently with Alex. He's dined with almost every one of the Big Bad's in each book. Agents Troy and Carver get Impaled with Extreme Prejudice underwater after discovering too late that General Sarov does know about the secret route into his base of operations after all.
The Gunman in Russian Roulette is Vladimir Sharkovsky, who appears at the end is as Yassen's first assassination. Jerkass Façade: Alex has to act like one of The Upper Crass teenage rebels that get sent to a disciplinary school like Point Blanc, with a bit of Obfuscating Stupidity such as pretending to not know French. Knife-Throwing Act: Mr Grin in Stormbreaker used to be part of a knife-throwing act in which he would catch a knife between his teeth during the act's finale. As a result of the act going horribly wrong, he now sports a Glasgow Grin and has difficulty speaking properly.
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