SKYFALL, or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Fight Like a Rat in a Barrel

[Shyria Dracnoir]

Wrong end of the body there, Lumens

[Locke cole]

Wrong... what?

You mean, all this time, I...?

[BloodyMage]

Originally Posted by Magus

That it is a code-name is a fan theory to explain why he is played by various actors and never ages, whereas within the films themselves it seems supported that it is the same character throughout, although the only hard evidence up until Skyfall would have been that Dalton refers to George Lazenby's marriage in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. With Skyfall kind of cementing it it would appear that it is the same James Bond throughout.

EDIT: First thing that pops up in a Google search:

Amazingly, I never thought it through to that extent. It was just a theory in my mind to explain why James Bond, who is apparently the same person across 23 films, appears to age in reverse. Even if we start from Daniel Craig who is 44 (36 when he filmed Casino Royale), Sean Connery was only 32 when he started and 37 in You Only Live Twice. In the following film, where Lazenby takes over for one film, Lazenby is only 30. Connery comes back, aged 41, then Roger Moore takes over two years later but aged by three years at 44 ( although he looks younger.) He retires from James Bond at the age of 58, whist Timothy Dalton is, at least, 43. After 1989 there are no Bond films for six years but Pierce Brosnan is 42 when he plays Bond. He quits at age 51, at which point Daniel Craig takes over and its either a reboot or he deages by seven years.

The general age for Bonds seems to be mid thirties to late thirties and if it is one character he seems to have only aged by a decade, two maybe, in the space of fifty years. All the while technology has sped along regardless. I could possibly buy that he might be using facial reconstruction (he is a spy after all) but his accent goes from very heavily Scottish to Welsh, to English, to Welsh, to Irish (although it's not very heavy), to an Englishman playing a Scotsman. There's no consistency to the character to suggest it's the same person over and over.

I can't real refute most of what it says in that article though. It would just seem that maybe, if James Bond is a code name, then one doesn't necessarily need to die to inherit it. For instance, Connery's Bond could have retired, so Lazenby's Bond was promoted from within the agency (which might explain how he'd be familiar with equipment used by older Bonds). Lazenby decided he couldn't handle it and wanted a desk job and Connery's Bond reprised the role until a successor could be found.

The same could apply to Dalton/Brosnan Bonds in regards to the overlap. It has been shown that they need to pass an evaluation to continue working as spies. Perhaps Dalton failed his, Brosnan was brought up until Dalton was ready to take over again. Maybe Dalton was married before. Maybe he stole the Bond code name after he resigned rather than use his own name and MI6 didn't have time to send out the new Bond (perhaps Brosnan was still too green?). I'd particularly like it if Alec Trevelyn was a code name too actually since the reveal that he was connected to Russian families wasn't really shocking when, during the Cold War, he had a really European sounding name.

The thing is, I could come up with any number of theories because traditionally Bond films haven't shown much about Bond's history or character. He's generally the least developed character in the franchise. That is until Skyfall.

Also, atomic wedgies.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Counterpoint 1: This would have never have happened to the other guy.

Counterpoint 2: It's the plot of the best bond movie.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Counterpoint 1: This would have never have happened to the other guy.

Counterpoint 2: It's the plot of the best bond movie.

[Krylo]

I'm reminded of this.

[Kim]

James Bond is actually a time lord.