Dr. Julius No

Nuclear scientist and SMERSH agent

When he narrowly avoids death, Wala Kitu reinvents himself as Dr. Julius No, an isolated, strangely tall scientist with metal claws for hands. Will his sadistic desire to experiment on Bond lead to his downfall?

Born in Peking, the illegitimate son of a German Methodist missionary, the young Walu Kitu becomes involved in crime syndicate, the Tongs, and is eventually smuggled to New York, where he works for the syndicate’s foreign interests. During a mob war and police crack-down in the 1920s, he takes advantage of the chaos to embezzle a million dollars worth of gold from the gang. Eventually, the Tongs find him, cut off his hands, shoot him through the heart and leave him for dead – but are unable to find the gold.

Due to a rare physiological condition called Dextrocardia, Kitu’s heart is located on the right side of his body, enabling him to survive the attack. He trades his gold for rare stamps, changes his appearance with plastic surgery, and uses exercises to make himself unusually tall and thin. He then enrols in medical school and changes his name to Julius No. The newly minted doctor fits himself with custom metal pincers for hands and eventually purchases the Carribean island of Crab Key. Here he runs a defunct guano business as a cover for his criminal operations. No one who enters the island is allowed to leave.

With aid from the USSR, Dr. No manages to divert and recover American missiles, and plans to control them using a powerful radio beam. However, Bond and Quarrel soon infiltrate Crab Key and uncover this plot.

DID YOU KNOW?

Dr. No began life as a screenplay for a proposed television show titled Commander Jamaica. Once he had decided to develop it into a novel, Fleming planned to name it, and it’s villain, The Wound Man.