Malko Linge is an agent for the CIA.
Often referred to as "Son Altesse Serenissime", or His Serene Highness, due to his lineage, Malko is an Austrian Prince by birth. This title is also used as a codename for the agent.
Standing 6'1" with golden brown eyes and blond hair, Malko is a 38-year old man at the start of his activities who works on a contract basis for the CIA. Though he is eligible for American citizenship, he prefers to stay foreign. He graduated from Harvard in 1954 and worked as an arms salesman for several years before taking his first assignment for the CIA's Plans Division.
Malko, Austrian by birth, is truly a man of the world and his wide experience in virtually every corner is testiment to that. At one time he owned a house in Poughkeepsie, New York, but during the course of the series he elected to move to the castle he owns in Liezen, Austria and for which he devotes most of his earnings to restoring. Few of his acquaintances know of his work with the Agency and see him mainly as a jet-setting playboy, a fact he does nothing to change as it provides good cover no matter where he travels. Linge remains a bachelor though he has an ongoing relationship with a Baroness, later becoming engaged, in a nearby town. This does not stop him from enjoying the favors of numerous other women during his adventures, at least until his engagement.
Though he is an excellent marksman, or perhaps because of it, Malko does not go in for heavy armament but instead relies on a very small handgun which is easy to conceal, especially since he always has his suits tailored-made, adjusting for the weapon.
Being so cosmopolitan, Malko speaks many languages, several of them fluently. His memory, while not photographic, is nevertheless excellent and has helped keep him alive on more than a few occasions.