Here we go:
| Identity |George Smiley, Deputy Director of SHIELD
| Origin & Backstory |George Smiley was born in England to an upper middle-class family in the early 50's. After attending public school, Smiley's academic track record proved successful enough to win him entry into Oxford. While at Oxford he studied foreign languages, Russian and German especially, along with political affairs. One of his teachers turned out to be a talent scout for British intelligence and Smiley was recruited to join the organization with many names - SIS, MI6, and as Smiley came to call it, the Circus.
Smiley worked throughout Europe as an intelligence officer in the 70's and early 80's. Under the guise of an intellectual lecturer, Smiley would travel behind the Iron Curtain and act as a cutout for Western spies working against the Soviet Union. Smiley's work in and out of the field earned him promotions up the ladder until he was head of the Circus' intelligence directorate and right-hand man to M, head of the Circus. In 1986, junior officer Percy Alleline discovered a dynamite source of Soviet intelligence. Codenamed Gerald, a big figure inside the Soviet power structure was delivering the Circus dynamite intelligence and marked Percy as a man on the come. Slowly, Smiley and M began to notice that their spies and contacts were disappearing all over Europe. One by one, the lights of intelligence were going out just as Gerald was sinking his hooks into the Circus. The two men suspected Gerald was a sleight of hand, a move by the Russian spymaster Karla, and that there was a mole in the Circus. M and Smiley planned an op behind the Iron Curtain to find the mole that went horribly wrong, the undercover British agent trapped behind enemy lines and tortured by the Soviets before being let go. M was fired and Smiley retired from the Circus.
Enter 1989. Even though the USSR and the Soviet Bloc was beginning to crumble, Karla held firm to his mole. A rogue spy involved with a Russian agent discovered information that there was indeed a mole in the Circus and the foreign secretary brought Smiley back for one job: find the mole. After a twisting and winding path, Smiley found the truth out about Gerald, the mole inside the Circus, and saw that they were dispatched ruthlessly. Smiley took over the Circus as the new M and initiated a war with Karla that ended with the spymaster's shadow empire coming down just as the Soviet Union collapsed. The Cold War was over. Smiley's crusade was over and he retired for a second time.
Now, after ten years in retirement, Smiley is called again to serve. This time not by the British, but the Americans. Nick Fury, an old friend, has taken over as Director of SHIELD and he needs help, he needs a man who can handle intelligence operations and can take care of enemies without remorse. George Smiley is the perfect man for the job.
| Attributes |Physically, Smiley is wholly average - maybe a bit below because of his age - and is not in the best shape. Intellectually, he has a brilliant mind that can see patterns and angles that very few can.
| Character Notes |Nothing really to add. Smiley will be working with SHIELD, so I guess I'll use some SHIELD folks and try and interact with Cap and Nomad.
| Character Goals |I want to tell spy stories, but not the kind you think of. Morden and Indy can do the fantastical stuff, I'll handle the nitty gritty. I love John Le Carre and the Smiley character because of how anti-Bond it is. There will be no men in tuxedos making witty retorts, no death lasers, no martinis. This is a story about a man who is asked to do questionable things for the good of the world. Do those decisions take a toll? Or maybe there's nothing left to take a toll on. Maybe George Smiley's conscience died a long time ago.
| References |Tara Chace - Shaken and StirredPrecipice of War - A Change is Gonna ComeFatal Souls - The Skavian Shuffle
