Rank the Ian Fleming novel Villains

[Double-OhAgent]

This week’s rankings deal with the Ian Fleming novel villains. So once again, those from the short stories are NOT included.

So what are your Fleming villain rankings? Here’s mine:

1. Auric Goldfinger – GOLDFINGER – The iconic film villain is basically all that on the page as well. Smart, strong, and in control with an interesting scheme that is actually bettered in the film version. He’s the best of the Fleming novel villains.

2. Emilio Largo – THUNDERBALL – An intimidating presence–especially when in the water. He gets the better of James Bond and 007 survives only by the last second appearance of Domino Vitali.

3. Ernst Stavro Blofeld – ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE – Bond’s arch-enemy is his number one villain for a reason. He’s chameleon-like, he’s got the biggest plot in the Fleming novels, and he exacts a deep cut into 007’s psyche at the conclusion of this story. The films have tried and, for the most part, failed to ideally cast the role. The best is the unseen Blofeld from From Russia With Love and Thunderball. Telly Savalas comes the closest of those visibly seen, but it’s still not a perfect match. Regardless, the novel Blofeld is what is being ranked here, and he is a standout villain.

4. Ernst Stavro Blofeld – YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE – While still a good villain, this version of Blofeld has seemingly lost a little bit danger/sanity from his Thunderball and OHeMSS heyday. Regardless, it is still enjoyable to see Bond finally track him down at his Garden Of Death. You almost wish he could have survived to have another encounter with 007.

5. Buonaparte Ignace Gallia aka Mr. Big – LIVE AND LET DIE – An unusual villain for 1954, yet he’s still interesting, competent, and highly dangerous. Like the ensuing film, the novel plays up the voodoo and mysticism angle without going too far overboard. Mr. Big has people everywhere and they are all afraid of him, which makes him all the more scary. He gets a particularly nasty death as well.

6. Hugo “Hugger” Drax – MOONRAKER – A boorish megalomaniac who plans to obliterate London. Drax is a thoroughly dislikable sort who nevertheless has high standards (see the Moonraker project)–when he doesn’t cheat at cards. He’s a guy you love to hate and that helps make him a great villain.

7. Julius No – DOCTOR NO – More than a Fu-Manchu knockoff, this Fleming villain has hooks for hands and organs on the opposite sides of his body. His sinister presence hovers over the first part of the novel and his appearance later on takes center stage. His demise is disgusting, but appropriate.

8. Le Chiffre – CASINO ROYALE – The original Bond villain doesn’t have many scenes to showcase his villainy, but he is nevertheless memorable. Never more so than in his torture of 007. Will never look at a carpet beater the same way again. A great debut to set the stage for the rest to follow.

9. Rosa Klebb – FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE – Klebb is even more repugnant here than in the film. She is probably the least likable and scariest female villain of the series and, yes, I do include Irma Bunt in that statement. (Bunt would be #2). Klebb doesn’t get much page time, but you certainly can’t forget about her.

10. Francisco Scaramanga aka Pistols – THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN – Not much refining going on here. Scaramanga is basically a glorified thug. Still, he does radiate menace, and you’re not sure how Bond is going to get the best of him.

11. Jack Spang aka ABC & Seraffimo Spang – DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER – I think I like the Spang brothers a little more than most seem to, but they are still toward the bottom of the Fleming villains. Of the two, Jack works better for me, though Seraffimo has a more memorable scene (Spectreville) and death.

12. Ernst Stavro Blofeld / Sanguinetti – THE SPY WHO LOVED ME – Again, I look at TSWLM as two separate missions – in the first, SPECTRE sends a killer to assassinate a defector and in the second, Bond saves a woman from thugs sent by Sanguinetti to burn a motel to the ground. In the former, Blofeld is barely mentioned as being behind the job, and a similar circumstance occurs in the latter. Both are basically off-page, and, as such, they get the bottom rung of this villain ladder.

[Revelator]

Ranked from greatest to least:

Hugo Drax: Winner by force of personality (he was Kingsley Amis’ favorite too). Powered by resentments both justified and childish, Drax wants to pass as a gentleman and can’t help failing, since he’s a half-German boor who hates his old bullies and wants to nuke them.

Mr. Big: Commanding a voodoo cult and smuggling pirate treasure are already cool enough, but making Mr. Big an aesthete is icing on the cake—he even quotes Cellini!—and the cherry on top is his motivation stemming from the struggle against accidie, like Fleming himself.

Dr. No: Fu Manchu tropes taken to mid-century perfection. The ultimate example of villainous self-invention and power-lust (“I am, as you correctly say, a maniac—a maniac, Mister Bond, with a mania for power”), ruling his private island like a sadistic God.

Auric Goldfinger: As far as villainous plots go, you can’t beat an assault on Fort Knox, and Auric’s gold fetishism and puritanical streak (that lecture on smoking!) are great touches, though whether they fully coalesce is another question.

Emilio Largo: The closest version of “dark mirror” Bond, unlike the usually older and fatter villains. Like Bond he’s handsome, in his prime, and enjoys drinks, cards, and woman, and has a piratical, ruthless streak. The only difference is the complete lack of belief in anything bigger than himself.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld: Three villains in one! Shadowy mastermind in TB; snobbish silver-maned ski-slope aristocrat in OHMSS; ranting Teutonic madman in YOLT. We only get to really know the character in the latter, and it can be difficult to combine the three versions into one.

Rosa Klebb: A primal embodiment of the witch/hag archetype, yet perfectly envisoned as an outgowth of the Stalin/Beria perversion of humanity. So inhuman that even her perversions are just an “itch.” Everything about her is ugly and insincere, except her brutality.

Le Chiffre: The most down-to-earth of the villains—not a megalomaniac, just a man of the world who got his hand caught in the cookie jar. But in the torture scene he (as Amis notes) plays sophisticated father figure, making him a wise man of evil.

Francisco Scaramanga: Unlike the other villains he’s coarse and vulgar, but that contrast with Bond isn’t played up enough. And while Fleming gives us hints of kink in the report of pistol fetishism and possible homosexuality, they’re never followed through.

Seraffimo Spang: Another case of good ingredients but an undercooked dish. Spang’s wild west cosplay and brutal air of entitlement (that manicure scene!) are great ugly-American attributes to work from, but the character only gets a couple scenes “onstage.”

[Double-OhAgent]

Nice list and comments Revelator.

Just out of curiosity, which “version” of Ernst Stavro Blofeld do you prefer? On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’s or You Only Live Twice’s?

And I assume that The Spy Who Loved Me’s barely mentioned villain Sanguinetti would finish last in your rankings?

[Revelator]

I prefer the YOLT Blofeld, since we never see the OHMSS Blofeld “unmasked.” Throughout the book we (and Bond) only encounter Blofeld playing de Bleuville. The film version wisely invented a scene where Bond and Blofeld finally get to drop their disguises and talk directly to each other.

I disqualified Sanguinetti because he never appears in the book and is only mentioned. I suppose that makes Sluggsy and Horror the main villains. They may qualify as henchmen, but they’re also in Largo’s position. If I were to rank them among main villains they’d be right after LeChiffre.

[sharpshooter]

@Revelator

I prefer the YOLT Blofeld, since we never see the OHMSS Blofeld “unmasked.” Throughout the book we (and Bond) only encounter Blofeld playing de Bleuville. The film version wisely invented a scene where Bond and Blofeld finally get to drop their disguises and talk directly to each other.

Very true - an improvement in the film version there. It also happens to be one of my favourite displays of Lazenby’s acting.

Blofeld in YOLT seems the most crazy because he’s focused on his pleasure of death and not global schemes. Walking around the castle grounds in samurai armour is an insane visual. It’s his version of a retirement home, isolated to a location where he’s playing the role of Satan and enjoying his own private theatre.