The man is a trained assassin, after all. You’d think people would know better than crossing James Bond. That being said - his tropical island is a standout lair in the series. But his plan - to use a solar power station component called a ‘Solex agitator’ to supercharge his personal solar energy cannon? Ridiculous. Played in The Man with the Golden Gun by Christopher Lee - Ian Fleming’s step-cousin, don’t you know - the assassin is a brilliant match for Bond. We want world-conquering, far-reaching megalomania from our Bond villains - not neighbourhood drug dealers.Īnd then we come to Francisco Scaramanga. It would be a great twist, but his evil plan turns out to just be about drugs again - distributing two tonnes of heroin for free to increase the number of users, then raising his prices when everyone becomes addicted. Kanaga, a corrupt Caribbean Prime Minister. Live and Let Die’s villain is introduced as a ruthless gangster and drug lord, before we’re treated to the second-act reveal that he’s actually Dr. Now, with prosthetic paws and a SPECTRE membership card, he uses all of his wiles and resources to… disrupt an early Cape Canaveral space launch using a radio jammer? True, it could lead to World War III. The titular villain in the franchise’s first film, No is a former member of a Chinese crime syndicate whose hands were damaged by exposure to radiation. But some of Bond’s opponents have laid indisputably weaker plans than others. Below, see Bond’s big bads sorted into seven tiers of dishonesty, depravity and double-dealing - beginning with the least effective antagonists, and working our way up through the ranks of evil… And that got us to thinking: would it be possible to definitively rank every main villain from each of the 24 official Bond films? With muddled motives, incalculable body counts and different levels of success, probably not. And, whether it’s a corrupt dictator, a shady business magnate or a North Korean military colonel-turned-upper-class British diamond dealer (don’t ask), the books and films of the 007 franchise have had a good crack at giving us some top tier villains - with memorable quirks, elaborate lairs and facial scarring aplenty.Īnd yet, some eyebrow-raisers have slipped through the cracks. And always, always wearing a dinner jacket.īut it takes a big personality to go toe-to-toe with such an iconic character. MI6’s best agent has saved the world more times than any other action hero - balancing a Walther PPK in one hand and a dry martini in the other.

Whether you did or didn’t agree with our definitive ranking of James Bond actors, you’ve got to admit: the man’s a bloody good spy.

Casino royale villain