Just over seven decades ago, author Ian Fleming introduced audiences to James Bond, the British super spy whose adventures have lit up movie theaters since 1962. And the secret to Bond’s longevity on the big screen isn’t based solely on the way the role is recast every few movies. It’s because it takes a special kind of villain to give Bond a credible threat, especially since 007 always seems to win in the end.
However, not every Bond villain can match up with the franchise’s top bad guys, who exist in a league of their own. To celebrate the legacy of the films, we’ve chosen the seven best James Bond villains. And if you know the movies well, our picks are probably not that surprising.
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7. Alec Trevelyan
Over 16 years before he headlined Game of Thrones season 1 as Ned Stark, Sean Bean’s Alec Trevelyan gave James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) all he could handle in GoldenEye. Trevelyan was once 006 alongside Bond’s 007, but he betrayed MI6, faked his death, and launched an international crime syndicate called Janus.
Among the Bond villain masterminds, Trevelyan is one of the few who could physically go one-on-one with James. He also had impeccable taste in henchwomen, as evidenced by Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen). She was a hilariously over-the-top killer who loved to dispatch her enemies by crushing them with her thighs. If there’s a best henchperson list for Bond villains, she’s pretty high on it.
6. Dr. No
Even if you’ve never seen Dr. No, chances are good that you’ve heard the name. It’s such a Bond-style name that the novel and the movie it inspired used it as the title. Surprisingly, Dr. Julius No (Joseph Wiseman) doesn’t appear until almost midway through the movie. And yet the reason he ranks so highly is that he set the tone for most of the Bond bad guys that came after him.
Dr. No has everything a true supervillain could ever ask for, including an ambitious evil plan, an underwater lair, inhuman metallic hands, and a cruel streak that goes on for miles. Austin Powers’ Dr. Evil wishes he could be as evil as Dr. No.
5. Le Chiffre
There’s something about Mads Mikkelsen that makes him a great villain, as he’s played the bad guy in Hannibal, Doctor Strange, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. But one of his most sinister villains was in Daniel Craig’s first Bond movie, Casino Royale. Le Chiffre is the banker to the stars in the world of international terrorism, and his lone weakness is his gambling addiction.
Le Chiffre is more than just a money middleman for terrorists. When he captures Bond late in the film, Le Chiffre demonstrates his sadism by personally torturing Bond to such an extent that it leaves 007 incapacitated for an extended period of time. Le Chiffre was one of the best modern Bond villains, even though this was his only film in the spotlight.
4. Francisco Scaramanga
You may not know Francisco Scaramanga by his name, but he’s distinctive by his choice of weapons in The Man with the Golden Gun. The great Christopher Lee portrayed Scaramanga as a warped reflection of Bond (Roger Moore) himself, and his lethal skills rivaled 007’s abilities. There aren’t many Bond villains who call out 007 near the beginning of the story just because they can. But Scaramanga couldn’t resist letting Bond know he was on his hit list before anyone even knew what the former looked like.
The Man with the Golden Gun isn’t a great movie in the Bond canon, but Lee was a terrific villain who ran away with the movie. He alone is worth watching the film.
3. Raoul Silva
Javier Bardem had already won an Oscar for playing one of the greatest movie villains of all-time, Anton Chigurh, in No Country For Old Men before he was cast as Raoul Silva in Skyfall. If we were ranking Silva versus Chigurh, the latter would come out on top. But among Bond villains, Silva stands out because his vendetta isn’t against 007 — it’s with MI6 and M (Judi Dench). And he’s willing to burn down the entire United Kingdom just to get his revenge.
Even capturing Silva isn’t enough to stop him, and his command of technology actually forces Bond and M to seek a low-tech solution in their final confrontation with their mutual nemesis.
2. Auric Goldfinger
Sometimes, the really great Bond villains not only get a movie named after them, but also a memorable theme song that shares their name (performed by the great Shirley Bassey in this case). Goldfinger‘s Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) could give modern evil billionaires a run for their money. When one of Goldfinger’s female employees falls for Bond (Sean Connery), Goldfinger has her covered in gold … which proves to be fatal for the poor woman. It’s also one of the most iconic images in the franchise.
Goldfinger lives up to his reputation as a criminal mastermind, and unlike some other movie villains, his plans had a real chance of making him the wealthiest man alive. Goldfinger also had two of the franchise’s best henchpersons, Oddjob (Harold Sakata) and Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman). Nonetheless, he still shined as one of the most malevolent enemies that Bond has faced on film.
1. Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Ernst Stavro Blofeld may be the obvious choice for the ultimate Bond villain, but would you seriously argue that Joker isn’t Batman’s best villain? Or that Moriarty isn’t the only true nemesis to Sherlock Holmes? That’s how important Blofeld is to Bond, both in the original movie series and in the reboot films led by Daniel Craig. No other Bond bad guy has ever hurt 007 the way that Blofeld has. He’s responsible for the death of Bond’s wife, Tracy (Diana Rigg), in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and in the modern movies, he tormented James for most of his life.
Blofeld set the standard for Bond villains, and he makes his conflict with James into a personal vendetta that carries over from movie to movie. He is simply the best James Bond villain, and the franchise has yet to come up with another adversary who comes close to Blofeld’s impact.
