Alexander Hale

"*Once, when I was in Bangladesh, my enemies tried to kill me by placing a powerful neurotoxin on my menu.*"
—Alexander to Ben Ripley in *Spy Camp*
Defusing**Alexander** **Hale** is a spy for the CIA. At the beginning of the series, he seems like the ideal spy, but in reality, he is an awful spy, and his entire career is based on lies. The only people who see through his cover (up until *Evil Spy School)* are his father (Cyrus Hale), his daughter (Erica Hale), his ex-wife (Catherine Hale), a professor at the CIA Academy of Espionage (Lucas Crandall), and Benjamin Ripley.

At the end of *Spy Camp*, the truth is revealed and all his prestige and medals are taken away. He is later reinstated after redeeming himself on a mission with Benjamin Ripley and Erica Hale.

## Appearance & Personality

Alexander is described by Ben as "handsome, athletic, sophisticated, and cool" before Ben discovers that he is a fraud. He has a small scar on his chin. In *Spy School**,* he is erroneously described with "steely gray eyes," but like the rest of the Hales, his eyes are ice-blue. In *Spy Ski School*, Leo Shang is described as the Chinese version of Alexander Hale.

Alexander, despite his appearance, is an idiot, according to Erica. He is also described with other names worse than that by his own father. Alexander has a desire to impress his father, who unfortunately doesn't give him many chances. He didn't know his ex-wife was a spy as well (a very competent one), and that she works for MI6. This is partially because he's a bad spy himself, and also because Catherine purposely never revealed it to him, even when they separated.

## Skills & Abilities

Alexander's greatest strength is making himself look good, as he had fooled the entire CIA into thinking he was a legendary spy, which he may have inherited from his ancestor Nathan Hale. He is very good at flirting due to his good looks and his so-called "spy stories," which make him look very competent, skilled, and intriguing. He is skilled at flying the vintage Russian helicopter that Orion gives to him in *Spy School British Invasion*. He does know how to parachute. Other than that, Alexander is awful at almost everything else in espionage. He is out of shape and has little stamina, as shown in *Spy Camp* when fleeing from the Apple Valley Reformation Camp.

## Relationships

### **Catherine Hale**

Catherine Hale met Alexander on a mission of hers and was easily entranced by his charming ways. They got married but parted ways a few years ago because of, as Catherine claims, "the stress from their jobs." It is possible there may be additional reasons. Recently they have been trying to work things out and they, along with Erica, hug in Spy School At Sea. Additionally Zoe told Ben that she thinks they got back together, in Spy School Project X, but that has not been confirmed.

## Missions

Alexander talks a great deal of all the glorious missions (see trivia below) he has been through, though many of them are fake. He is actually quite clumsy and naive during operations. Surprisingly, he is capable of fighting exceptionally when the time calls. For example, in *Spy Camp*, he takes several fighters down to save his father and daughter.

* Operation Angry Jackal
* Operation Bedbug
* Operation Snow Bunny
* Operation Screaming Vengeance
* Operation Deadly Manatee

## Trivia

* In *Evil Spy School*, he gets caught by Ben while stealing office supplies from Nathan Kagan, the survival skills professor.
* He has been known to 'let himself in' to other people's houses.
* He once blew up the Hale family kitchen with missiles installed in the car, later claiming Swedish radicals had sabotaged his car.
* He also single-handedly destroyed diplomatic relations between the United States and Tanzania as he was trying give the president's wife a compliment, but botched up his Swahili and ended up telling her she smelled like a diseased wildebeest.
* He once lost a briefcase full of military secrets in a Tokyo karaoke lounge.
* In *Spy School British Invasion*, Orion gives him his vintage Russian military helicopter.
* Alexander continuously claims to have been on crazy missions, but they're all fabrications or stolen credit. Here is a list of all his known lies:
	+ Used a grappling hook to break into the Taj Mahal, a "secret one in Cambodia."
	+ Prevented the French from invading Turkey and thwarted an evil plot to turn all gold into soup.
	+ Protected the queen of Saudi Arabia with only a Swiss Army knife.
	+ Uncovered a mole in Karachi.
	+ Brought down an entire terrorist cell in Kandahar because one of them posted on Facebook where their hiding cell was.
	+ Once had to urinate so badly during a gunfight in Venice that he almost lost consciousness and nearly took a bullet to the brain.
	+ Was knocked unconscious for eight days in Afghanistan.
	+ Was attacked by ninjas only a few months after he graduated from Spy School.
	+ Was heading to a safe house in Qatar when he sensed something wrong, so he didn't go in. A few moments later, the house exploded.
	+ Went for week without sleep.
	+ Was trained to smell neurotoxins in Bangladesh which saved his life.
	+ Saved the Premier of China by deflecting a bullet with a tea tray.
	+ On his and Catherine's honeymoon, they booked a trip at sea and he spent the whole time vomiting.
	+ In Spy Camp the Graphic Novel, he grew a mustache and beard.