Here are ten of the most awe-inspiring James Bond villains of all time.
- Max Zorin (A View to a Kill 1985)
Zorin (Christopher Walken) was born in Dresden, Germany nearing the end of World War II. He is a product of a Nazi experiment in which pregnant women were injected with large amounts of steroids to create “super children”. Most of the pregnancies failed and the children who survived became geniuses, but also developed psychopathic tendencies. Zorin’s plan was to create an earthquake in the San Andeas Fault at high tide, causing Silicon Valley (and his only competitors in the micro-chip business) to be completely destroyed. Of course, James Bond stops him.
- Doctor Julius No (Dr. No 1962)
Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) is what one could describe as an evil genius. He spent his time in the Bond movies redirecting American missiles to blow up in places unplanned. He is also known for picking the bombs up from the bottom of the ocean to sell to the Russians. Dr. No lost his hands to a group called the Tongs, so now he has “metal pinchers” for hands.
- Red Grant (From Russia with Love 1963)
Grant (Robert Shaw) is a convicted murderer who escaped from Dartmoor prison in 1960. Now he is working as an assassin for the villain Rosa Klebb. Grant’s full name differs slightly between the novel and the film. In the novel his name is Donovan Grant, whereas in the movie, his first name is Donald.
- Francisco Scaramanga (The Man with the Golden Gun 1974)
Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) is the main antagonist against Bond. His weapon of choice: a golden gun. He used to be a trick shot for the circus until his only friend (a performing elephant) was killed by a policeman. After that he decides to become a villain in the U.S.
- Nick Nack (The Man with the Golden Gun 1974)
Nick Nack (Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize) was an “all around” personal assistant to Scaramanga (above). He was a butler, housekeeper, chef, and also henchman when it came to Scaramanga’s criminal activities. Knick Knack’s most distinctive feature is that he stand at a solid 1.18 meters or 3 feet, 11 inches tall.
- Oddjob (Goldfinger 1964)
Oddjob (Harold Sakata) is Goldfinger’s henchman. He is extremely strong, and in the film is shown breaking a “massive” oak railing of a staircase with a karate chop of his hand and a mantel with his foot. He is also known for his super-cool hat that is able to decapitate statues with a flick of the wrist.
- Le Chiffre (Casino Royale 2006)
Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelson), is banker to the world’s terrorist organizations. A mathematical genius and chess prodigy, his abilities enable him to earn large sums of money in games of chance and probability. In French “le chiffre” translates as either “the figure” (“the number”) or “the cipher”. Le Chiffre loses in a game of poker to James Bond’s straight flush.
- Auric Goldfinger (Goldfinger 1964)
Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe, Michael Collins [voice]) is arguably one of the most famous villains in 007 history. Goldfinger’s scheme, codenamed “Operation Grand Slam”, involved breaking into the U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, and detonating a nuclear weapon thus contaminating the United State’s gold reserve and thereby dramatically increasing the value of his gold holdings. An incredibly cunning plan.
- Jaws (The Spy Who Loved Me 1977, Moonraker 1979)
Jaws (Richard Kiel) appears in two Bond films as the henchman of both Karl Stromberg and Hugo Drax. Jaws’ jaws are his weakness as well as his signature weapon. They are highly susceptible to magnetism, electricity and heat. They are also incredibly durable, able to withstand a bullet, an explosion and several direct punches. This also renders him unable to communicate with others.
- Ernst Stravro Blofeld (From Russia With Love 1963, Thunderball 1965, You Only Live Twice 1967,On Her Majesty’s Secret Service 1969, Diamonds are Forever 1971, For Your Eyes Only 1981)
Blofeld (Anthony Dawson [uncredited], Eric Pohlmann [voice, uncredited], Donald Pleasence, Telly Savalas, Charles Grey, John Hollis [uncredited], Robert Rietty [voice, uncredited], Max von Sydow) is known for being one of the most dedicated villains in Bond history because he has appeared in a total of six films. In the novel “Thunderball” it is mentioned that Blofeld was born on 28 May, 1908 (the same day as the author, Fleming), and other than that you learn little else about him. Many of Blofeld’s characteristics have become clichés for evil villain. For example: Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers film series and before that, Dr. Claw, Inspector Gadget’s worst enemy.
