James Bondis one of the most recognizable characters in all of cinema. The theme music, composed by Monty Norman, is synonymous with Bond’s perfect mix of danger, intrigue, and a well-tailored suit. Sir Arthur Fleming’s character has been portrayed on-screen by seven actors who each got to try their hand at the role of Britain’s supreme secret agent, complete with customized gadgets and a sleek sports car.
Aside from a consistent, rakish British charm, there is something every James Bond film needs: a villain with a larger-than-life scheme. Over the course of their 50-year history spread across 25 films, the Bond villains have proven to be some of the most lasting depictions of on-screen evil. Every Bond from Connery to Craig has had a showdown against a nemesis with a grand objective, from old-fashioned revenge plots to waging war between nations. The villains on this list and their maniacal plans will leave you shaken (not stirred).
Lyutsifer Safin - No Time to Die
2021’sNo Time to Diewas Daniel Craig’s final appearance as MI6’s most famed super-spy.In his last outing, Craig’s grizzled, retired James Bond faces off against Lyutsifer Safin, played by Academy Award winner Rami Malek. The disfigured Safin kills the leaders of the global criminal enterprise SPECTRE. Malek’s villain also threatens to release a programmable DNA bioweapon, codenamed Heracles, that was stolen from MI6 to take revenge on the world. Safin programs his weapon to take out people with specific genetic profiles, including some people very important to Bond. His genocidal plan calls to mind Drax’s plot in Moonraker. The idea that Safin can commit mass murder of only certain people is chilling and Malek’s icy calm performance makes it all the more unsettling.
Emilio Largo - Thunderball
Adolfo Celi is the ruthless Emilio Largo, second in command to Blofeld, the mysterious head of SPECTRE in 1965’sThunderball. Largo is meticulous and exacting in his plans to steal nuclear warheads and hold the major world powers for ransom in exchange for not detonating them. He will kill anyone who stands in his way, even his own henchmen by way of a pool full of hungry sharks. In one scene, a fellow SPECTRE member is killed at a board meeting by Blofeld and Largo sits across the aisle, hardly batting an eyelash in total indifference before getting up to continue the meeting while every other member is sitting in complete shock. In the final showdown, Largo displays how powerful and physical a villain he is, engaging in rough hand-to-hand combat withSean Connery’s Bond.
Elliot Carver - Tomorrow Never Dies
Played with smugness and arrogance by Jonathan Pryce, Elliot Carver is a media mogul hungry for attention and power inTomorrow Never Dies. His grand scheme in the film revolves around stoking a war between China and the West for him to have news to cover, thus leading to the expansion of his media empire. Carver’s plan to create the conflict, report on it, and make money all in favor of starting World War III is still terrifying today because of how timely and realistic it is. When released in 1997, it seemed like a far-off impossibility but in the current day of political disinformation across the internet and news media, Carver’s plot could elicit nervous chuckles from an audience recognizing the terrors of his megalomania and thirst for power.
Live and Let Die - Mr. Big/Dr. Kananga
Yaphet Kotto is the evildoer in 1973’sLive and Let Die, the eighth Bond film and the first ofRoger Moore’s tenure as the iconic character. In the film, Kotto plays a drug dealer named Mr. Big who plans to give away free heroin, drive his competitors out of business, then charge exorbitant amounts for his drugs and create a monopoly. Mr. Big is also revealed to be Dr. Kananga, the vicious dictator of a fictional Caribbean nation named San Monique where he farms opium poppies. In the final fight sequence, Kananga meets a rather explosive end at the hands of Bond. Kotto is menacing in the role, portraying Kananga as a man willing to go to extreme lengths to maintain his hold on the drug trade and create a legion of heroin addicts all in the name of undying greed.
Moonraker - Hugo Drax
Hugo Drax is a rich industrialist who plans to fire a nerve toxin from space onto the Earth from a stolen space shuttle, killing every person on the planet except for a specially selected group of people of his choosing. Those people would remain safely on a space station before returning to repopulate the world and start a new master race. Michael Lonsdale plays Drax in the 1979 Bond film, the eleventh in the long-running series, going head-to-head with Roger Moore’s Bond.Moonrakeris a departure from previous Bond entries, leaning into sci-fi elements (Drax’s space station is vaguely reminiscent of something out of Star Wars). Drax’s plot is very over-the-top, but the implications of it are truly evil. Lonsdale plays Drax as calculated and cold, making him a disturbing nemesis for Bond.
Max Zorin - A View to a Kill
InA View to a Kill, Roger Moore’s final appearance as 007, Bond goes head-to-head with Max Zorin. Christopher Walken plays Zorin in the 1985 film, the psychopathic result of secret Nazi experiments to create hyper-intelligent children. Zorin is an erstwhile KGB agent who plans to trigger an earthquake along the San Andreas Fault that would destroy Silicon Valley, leaving him asthe only supplier of microchips. Walken does well in dark roles and his performance here is no exception. He has an exuberant joy while planning to demolish an entire region of the country and kill millions of people. In one scene, Zorin sets off a bomb to flood the Fault. As his construction workers desperately attempt to flee the rushing waters, he guns them all down and cackles while doing it.
Raoul Silva - Skyfall
InSkyfall, the 23rd Bond film, 007 is pitted against Raoul Silva, played by Academy Award winner Javier Bardem. In the film, Silva is a cybercriminal with a deeply personal motive: he seeks revenge against M (Judi Dench) after she gave him up to the Chinese government in exchange for the safe return of other MI6 agents. He goes about this by hacking MI6’s computers and blowing up part of the headquarters before continuing to play a cat-and-mouse game with Bond until he finally manages to trap him. In one haunting scene, Silva comes face to face with M and shows her the scars of the torture he endured while in captivity. Bardem’s Silva is one of the most unforgettable villains in the Bond series, played with a flamboyant panache and a barely contained rage.
Ernst Stavro Blofeld - You Only Live Twice
Blofeld, the heretofore unseen leader of the worldwide organization SPECTRE, is finally given a face in 1967’sYou Only Live Twice. James Bond’s bald, scarred, cat-loving archnemesis is played with frigid intensity by Donald Pleasance in the Cold War-era film. Connery’s Bond races against time to stop Blofeld and SPECTRE from instigating World War III using stolen American and Soviet nuclear warheads.
With an army of henchmen, a secret underground lair complete with a piranha-filled moat, and a mind that functions only to calmly intimidate those around him, Pleasance’s Blofeld is the blueprint for movie villains. Blofeld’s evil nature is only matched by his supreme intelligence. His appearance as the SPECTRE leader was the prime inspiration for Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers films. Blofeld was also played most recently by Christoph Waltz in 2015’sSpectreand 2021’sNo Time to Die.
Le Chiffre - Casino Royale
Mads Mikkelsen plays the intense Le Chiffre in 2006’sCasino Royale, appearing as the foil to Daniel Craig’s Bond in his first film as the character. In the film, Le Chiffre is trying to win back the millions of dollars of terrorist money he lost in a scheme to swindle an airline company. In a desperate attempt to win the money back, he enters into a poker game at the titular casino in Montenegro. Among his opponents? 007.
Le Chiffre also suffers from a condition called haemolacria, which causes him to produce tears of blood. This villain is unique in that his motivation is not greed, but fear of what the terrorists he defrauded will do to him once they find him. Mikkelsen appears calm on the outside when the audience knows how panicked he is on the inside, like an animal backed into a corner.
Dr. Julius No - Dr. No
Dr. No, the first in the Bond film series, stars Sean Connery as Bond and Joseph Wiseman as the nefarious titular doctor. The half-German, half-Chinese supervillain has robotic hands after he lost his own to a radioactive accident. He used stolen gold to finance his corrupt plans to impede an American space launch using a weaponized radio beam.
Dr. No iscunning and mysterious, with his master plan acting as revenge for having his scientific expertise rejected by both the American and Soviet governments. Being the first on-screen Bond villain, Wiseman’s performance sets the tone for all who succeed him. As he speaks to Connery’s Bond, his face and lips barely move, but his voice is coolly detached. Wiseman as No is quintessentially evil: a hyper-intelligent man with deep resentment, seemingly unlimited financial access, and a frighteningly calm demeanor.
