Continuing with a new James Bond list, this week we will be ranking the main James Bond villains. Again, Never Say Never Again is eligible to be included with the EON series.
So rank the main James Bond villains according to your personal preference.
Here’s my rankings:
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Franz Sanchez – (Robert Davi) – LICENCE TO KILL
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Kamal Khan & Orlov – (Louis Jourdan & Steven Berkoff) – OCTOPUSSY
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Auric Goldfinger – (Gert Fröbe) – GOLDFINGER
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Emilio Largo – (Adolfo Celi) – THUNDERBALL
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Karl Stromberg – (Curd Jürgens) – THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
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Alec “Janus” Trevelyan 006 – (Sean Bean) – GOLDENEYE
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Max Zorin – (Christopher Walken) – A VIEW TO A KILL
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Ross “Mr. Big” Kananga – (Yaphet Kotto) – LIVE AND LET DIE
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Hugo Drax – (Michael Lonsdale) – MOONRAKER
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Elliot Carver – (Jonathan Pryce) – TOMORROW NEVER DIES
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Julius No – (Joseph Wiseman) – DR. NO
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Ernst Stavro Blofeld – (Telly Savalas) – ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE
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Tan-Sun Moon aka Gustav Graves – (Will Yun Lee aka Toby Stephens) – DIE ANOTHER DAY
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Brad Whitaker & Georgi Koskov – (Joe Don Baker & Jeroen Krabbé) – THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
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Maximilian Largo – (Klaus Maria Brandauer) – NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
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Elektra King – (Sophie Marceau) – THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
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Aris Kristatos – (Julian Glover) – FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
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Le Chiffre – (Mads Mikkelsen) – CASINO ROYALE
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Francisco “Pistols” Scaramanga – (Christopher Lee) – THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
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Raoul Silva – (Javier Bardem) – SKYFALL
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Ernst Stavro Blofeld – (Donald Pleasence) – YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
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Ernst Stavro Blofeld – (Charles Gray) – DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
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Rosa Klebb – (Lotte Lenya) – FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
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Ernst Stavro Blofeld – (Christoph Waltz) – SPECTRE
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Dominic Greene – (Mathieu Amalric) – QUANTUM OF SOLACE
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Lyutsifer Safin – (Rami Malek) – NO TIME TO DIE
I love Robert Davi’s Franz Sanchez–evil in every way and a physical threat to Bond. I also love Louis Jourdan’s suave Kamal Khan villain and the way he talks. I know I like both Die Another Day’s and The Living Daylights’ villains more than most, but I just enjoy Toby Stephens’ smarmy, over-the-top performance and I find Joe Don Baker’s Brad Whitaker a funny character/guy with some memorable one-liners (“You know, you could have been a live, rich man instead of a poor dead one.” And, “You’ve had your eight, now I’ll have my 80!”)
On the other hand, I don’t seem to like The Man With The Golden Gun and Skyfall’s villains as much as others. Christopher Lee’s Francisco Scaramanga is fine, but he doesn’t do a whole lot. And Javier Bardem’s Raoul Silva just keeps going on about M and killing her, but doesn’t really do anything about it. He has her in his sights twice (at the Whitehall meeting and the Skyfall church) and doesn’t pull the trigger.
I also feel bad about ranking Rosa Klebb so low. I like her villain, but she also doesn’t have a lot to do so I think that drags her down in my rankings a bit. But really, the only villain I don’t like is Lyutsifer Safin. He’s very weak. Easily the worst of the series. Actually, looking at my list, the Daniel Craig films really suffer in this department. Three of his villains are at the very bottom of my list and, of the other two, none rank higher than 18th, so hopefully the new Amazon Bond film will improve on the recent villains. Shoot, they can’t do much worse than the last one.
7 Likes
I generally prefer the psychological dark mirrors to Bond who can also have physicality. Sanchez, Silva, Scaramanga, Trevelyan and Blofeld (Savalas).
4 Likes
Silva - his introduction is just so much fun
Goldfinger - also: so much fun in his narcisist devil may care attitude
Stromberg - deliciously superior
Drax - deliciously superior with better bonmots but a bit less threatening
Scaramanga - hey, it’s Lee, so, definitely great
Mr.Big - maliciously delicious and emotional
Blofeld DAF - pure fun
Carver - and we thought he was unreal
Safin - creepily underrated, snake-like and beyond any moral boundaries, very effective, too
Greene - lowkey but wonderfully hateable
Zorin - hey, it’s Walken, so, never enough cowbell
Largo Brandauer - so smug, terrifying in that sweater arms around the neck way
Blofeld Savalas - almost normal in his suck all the attention from the room way
Sanchez - ruthless, but almost too much so
Klebb - really a henchwoman, and strangely needs thick glasses only when asked to look menacing and weird
Graves - smarmy, but almost too much so
Kamal Khan - „Octopussy… Octopussy…“ Nobody but him can say that ridiculous name twice in a row without breaking out into laughter. His slight „s“-slurring adds that particular oomph.
Largo Celi - sees being evil as work and wants to please the boss
Dr.No - still wondering how he manages to button his frock with those hands, but he is unsettlingly crazy
Oberhauser - the usual Waltz
LeChiffre - without those tears a bit bland
Blofeld Pleasance - well, he‘s Pleasance, so that saves him
Kristatos - could also work in a pawn shop
Trevelyan - without those scars he would be run of the mill, too
5 Likes
Thanks for participating, but might I ask where are Brad Whitaker & Georgi Koskov and Elektra King The Living Daylights and The World Is Not Enough villains on your list?
3 Likes
I forgot about them!
Makes one think, maybe.
I would put Whitaker/Koskov above Le Chiffre and Electra above Kristatos. But not higher.
Whitaker/Koskov: both are kind of bumbling idiots, no match for all the other villains but more fun than the guys following on my ranking.
Elektra: yeah, well, okay, she provokes him very well on that chair, but before that she is more mopey than threatening.
6 Likes
Here are the results of the three people who did a full listing of the main James Bond villains so far:
- Auric Goldfinger – (Gert Fröbe) – GOLDFINGER – with a cumulative score of 34 for an average of 11.3.
t2. Karl Stromberg – (Curd Jürgens) – THE SPY WHO LOVED ME – with a 15 score for a 5.0 avg.
t2. Hugo Drax – (Michael Lonsdale) – MOONRAKER – with a 15 score for a 5.0 avg.
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Franz Sanchez – (Robert Davi) – LICENCE TO KILL – with a 24 score for an 8.0 avg.
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Emilio Largo – (Adolfo Celi) – THUNDERBALL – with a 27 score for a 9.0 avg.
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Max Zorin – (Christopher Walken) – A VIEW TO A KILL – with a 29 score for a 9.7 avg.
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Raoul Silva – (Javier Bardem) – SKYFALL – with a 31 score for a 10.3 avg.
t8. Ernst Stavro Blofeld – (Charles Gray) – DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER – with a a 32 score for a 10.7 avg.
t8. Ross “Mr. Big” Kananga – (Yaphet Kotto) – LIVE AND LET DIE – with a 32 score for a 10.7 avg.
t8. Francisco “Pistols” Scaramanga – (Christopher Lee) – THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN – with a 32 score for a 10.7 avg.
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Julius No – (Joseph Wiseman) – DR. NO – with a 34 score for an 11.3 avg.
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Kamal Khan & Orlov – (Louis Jourdan & Steven Berkoff) – OCTOPUSSY – with a 35 score for an 11.7 avg.
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Ernst Stavro Blofeld – (Telly Savalas) – ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE – with a 39 score for a 13.0 avg.
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Elliot Carver – (Jonathan Pryce) – TOMORROW NEVER DIES – with a 41 score for a 13.7 avg.
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Tan-Sun Moon aka Gustav Graves – (Will Yun Lee aka Toby Stephens) – DIE ANOTHER DAY – with a 46 score for a 15.3 avg.
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Maximilian Largo – (Klaus Maria Brandauer) – NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN – with a 49 score for a 16.3 avg.
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Ernst Stavro Blofeld – (Donald Pleasence) – YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE – with a 50 score for a 16.7 avg.
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Rosa Klebb – (Lotte Lenya) – FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE – with a 51 score for a 17.0 avg.
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Le Chiffre – (Mads Mikkelsen) – CASINO ROYALE – with a 52 score for a 17.3 avg.
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Alec “Janus” Trevelyan 006 – (Sean Bean) – GOLDENEYE – with a 53 score for a 17.7 avg.
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Aris Kristatos – (Julian Glover) – FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – with a 57 score for a 19.0 avg.
t22. Brad Whitaker & Georgi Koskov – (Joe Don Baker & Jeroen Krabbé) – THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS – with a 59 score for a 19.7 avg.
t22. Elektra King – (Sophie Marceau) – THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH – with a 59 score for a 19.7 avg.
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Dominic Greene – (Mathieu Amalric) – QUANTUM OF SOLACE – with a 60 score for a 20.0 avg.
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Lyutsifer Safin – (Rami Malek) – NO TIME TO DIE – with a 61 score for a 20.3 avg.
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Ernst Stavro Blofeld – (Christoph Waltz) – SPECTRE – with a 64 score for a 21.3 avg.
Again, this is a (really) small sample size, but one thing stands out–the three bottom villains are all Daniel Craig bad guys. And a fourth resides at #19 with only Skyfall’s Silva being a clear favorite (though admittedly not mine) in cracking the top 10. Hopefully, Amazon does a better job with the villains.
I also find it an interesting coincidence that DAF’s Blofeld, LALD’s Kananga, and TMWTGG’s Scaramanga all tied each other and they are in successive films.
Anyway, as always for those that did, thanks for participating.
Next up: Main Allies.
2 Likes
We do need a better bunch of villains next time. My least favourites in the series are Kristatos, Koskov, Safin, Blofeld (Waltz) and Greene. Understated types aren’t that memorable and the only character in that mould I like is Le Chiffre. If they’re not physical, dark mirrors to Bond I enjoy performances in the spirit of Christopher Walken and Jonathan Pryce. They’re enjoying themselves and have spark.
5 Likes
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