S.W.O.R.D. (The Saint)


S.W.O.R.D. is a fictional criminal organization that exists as a creation within a creation. The organization appears in the novel The Saint and the Fiction Makers, written by Fleming Lee. It is credited to editor Leslie Charteris who created the title character of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". The Fiction Makers was adapted from a two-part episode of the same title written by John Kruse from The Saint TV series. This was later recut and released in 1968 as a black-and-white movie.
As depicted in The Fiction Makers, S.W.O.R.D. is a diabolical criminal organization that pulls off ingenious heists. It is a creation of author "Amos Klein", the nom de plume of Joyce Darling, a character in the book. The plot deals with Simon Templar fighting to stop S.W.O.R.D. from becoming a real organization.
Templar is hired to bodyguard the reclusive Amos Klein on behalf of Klein's publisher Finlay Hugoson only to discover "he" is really a clever, if eccentric, woman named Joyce Darling. When they are kidnapped by S.W.O.R.D., they assume Templar is Amos Klein and that Miss Darling is his secretary. Now they must help S.W.O.R.D. plan a heist on one of the most secure vaults in the world or die horribly at their hands.

Characters

Klein develops the following characters within S.W.O.R.D.:
Rip Savage, the protagonist of "Amos Klein's" books, is a parody of James Bond.