Ex-British army officer and Secret Service agent who is the father of Octopussy (MAUD ADAMS) in the 13th James Bond movie, Octopussy. During the Korean War, Smythe stole a cache of Chinese gold from the North Koreans, murdered his guide, and disappeared, later settling in Sri Lanka, where his daughter was born. Becoming an authority on octopi, Smythe gave his daughter the unusual nickname Octopussy.

In the film, James Bond (ROGER MOORE) recalls that, 20 years later, he went to Sri Lanka to give Smythe 24 hours to clean up his affairs before he was brought back to London for a military court-martial. Given such an opportunity, Smythe decided to commit suicide rather than face the humiliation of a murder trial. Upon meeting the adult Octopussy, Bond learns that his daughter holds no grudge; on the contrary, she respects 007 for giving her father “an honorable alternative.”