Gallows Humor: All the time. It would be easier to count the times where he hasn't cracked a joke in the face of terrible events.
Heel Face Revolving Door: He defects to Scorpia in the novel of the same name, but eventually stays a "Face" after learning the truth about what they really have planned.
Adaptational Attractiveness: It is outright stated in Snakehead that Mrs Jones is "not attractive". Compare her appearance in the movie and the graphic novels. Even in earlier novels she was described as "a head shaped like a potato".
He Who Fights Monsters: Uses this trope as an excuse for his general stoic attitude and his actions in Scorpia Rising. He even quotes the trope naming line itself.
Karma Houdini: And how. For arranging a school shooting and taking Alex to Egypt for another mission, he gets a knighthood and to retire and take a vacation with his wife.
Out Gambitted: Despite believing himself to be one step ahead of Scorpia in Scorpia Rising, he is in fact walking into their trap.
Pet the Dog: He shows a surprising amount of concern for Alex in the meeting with the Prime Minister in Crocodile Tears.
The Stoic: He's often described as seeming completely emotionless.
Not So Stoic: On the rare occasions he does show emotion, you know it's serious. When he's telling Alex the truth about how his parents really died in Scorpia, there's "a little pain" in his voice.
Would Hurt a Child: Arranges a school shooting to force Alex to work for him again.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: You think his weight problems hinder him? You'd be right, but he's surprisingly effective at getting rid of the Scorpia team that come his way. And then he's revealed to not even be fat.
And the revelation is... Smithers is actually a thin man wearing a special suit that only makes him look fat.
Fake Brit: In-universe example, as after removing his Fat Suit it turns out the "real" Smithers is Irish, rather than the "public school" accent he affects.
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome / Demoted to Extra: He disappears after Skeleton Key. He shows up very briefly in Ark Angel and Crocodile Tears, but in both cases he does very little (his involvement in the latter is about half a page that could have been served by another generic MI 6 character).
People think that being a spy is fun and exciting. Your uncle was a bit like that. It was all a big adventure as far as he was concerned - and look what happened to him.
John Rider
The Ace: Frequently described as one of the best agents MI 6 ever had. Even Alan Blunt is described as having a soft spot for him.
Secret Keeper: For the most part, although he does casually blurt out that Alex is a spy to his older brother.
What Happened to the Mouse?: He's heard from only once after he's shot in Scorpia Rising, and it's a passing mention. The final chapter never bothers to mention if Alex ever talks to him once he returns from Cairo or meets him ever again, despite Alex having agonised over leaving him to go to America in an earlier chapter.
Antagonists (Big Bads and Dragons)
Herod/Darrius Sayle
Disproportionate Retribution: Prime Minister and friends insult you as a schoolboy? Kill all the schoolchildren in Britain.
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: He has no qualms about working for an employer intending to kill millions of children, but objects to directly killing Alex. Though this may be because Yassen worked with Alex's dad.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: His badly damaged body is good for throwing people off and making them assume he's not a capable combatant. They're very wrong.
Death by Irony: He has a fear of heights, and ends up being knocked off a hot air balloon from a height of 100 metres. To add insult to injury, he gets knocked off by a fireball that Alex sets off by severing the balloon's propane burner. How did he do that? By cutting through it with a sword Nile had thrown at him.
Throwing Your Sword Always Works: When he kills a researcher, though Averted Trope when he later tries to kill Alex because he was crippled by his fear of heights. Though these are swords that are meant to be thrown, not normal swords.
Too Dumb to Live: Wow, Levi. Did you really expect to get away with pulling a gun on Zeljan of all people?
Wrong Genre Savvy: He's Genre Savvy in the sense that he knows retiring from Scorpia just leads to early death. Unfortunately, he misinterprets a comment from Razim as a suggestion that they should kill him, and ends up giving them reason to. Probably what Razim had intended, of course.
Nikolei Drevin
Man Behind the Man: For the first half of Ark Angel, Kaspar is made out to be the Big Bad. Guess who it really is?
Would Hurt a Child: He arranged for his own son to be kidnapped as a Force Three stunt, and even arranged for them to cut his finger off just so the threat would seem credible. He shoots him later, but that is an accident (he's aiming for Alex). Still doesn't change anything, though.
Man Behind the Man: In Snakehead and Scorpia Rising, for Winston and Razim respectively. He comes up with plans, the other Scorpia executives carry them out.
Big Bad Friend: He murders his best friend, to whose son he is godfather, along with his wife, to prove he's loyal to Scorpia. He goes on to more or less ensure his godson will be killed by telling Major Yu about ASIS' plot and removing the battery from the homing device MI 6 gives him.
Co-Dragons: Him and Bill to Winston. Ash plays a much larger role, however.
Driven to Suicide: Possibly; it's known that he kills himself, but why he does is never explained (it's suggested that he was following orders from Yu after Alex escaped, which given the fate of de Wynter earlier seems likely).
We Care: His charity exists purely to gain whatever profit it can from the disasters by keeping as much of the donation money as it can. Perhaps taken to its extreme when he starts engineering disasters to get people to donate.
Asshole Victim: Razim's death would've practically been in Moral Event Horizon territory if the situation was reversed, however considering whathe was, he definitely deserved it.
Self-Made Orphan: Indirectly; he rats his parents out to Hussein, but doesn't do anything to them himself.
Spanner in the Works: He expects Jack to steal a knife when she and Alex are dining with him, as it's part of his plan to cause Alex emotional pain. Alex stealing a cigarette packet at the same meal is not part of his plan.
The Sociopath: He is characterized by a complete lack of emotions or empathy.
The Unsmile: At the end when he's fallen into the pile of salt and is pleading with Alex to throw him a rope. It's described as looking more like a hideous grimace than anything.
Erik Gunter
Failed a Spot Check: Alex's plan to escape would have failed if he hadn't noticed the cigarette packet hadn't been there before Alex got into the van.
Fallen Hero: It is suspected that this happened after leaving his hospital treatment. The suspicions are true.
