For more than sixty years, James Bond, Agent 007, has been keeping the world safe from megalomaniacs out to end the world, evil businessmen trying to get even richer than they already are, and terrorists plotting some good ol’ fashioned world domination. With such a long history, it’s no surprise that some of James Bond’s villains have carved out places for themselves amongst the most vile and memorable villains ever put on screen. Let’s take a look at the best of the worst. For this list, we’ll only be including the main villain, so no henchmen like Jaws or Oddjob. Since multiple actors have played SPECTRE head, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, each actor will be ranked separately. After all, each actor who played him brought something unique to the role.
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9 Alec Trevelyan - Goldeneye (1995)
Distributed by MGM/UA
An evil 00 is such a fantastic premise for a villain, and it’s a good thing that Goldeneye’s Alec Trevelyan delivers on that premise. Trevelyan, played by Sean Bean, plans to electronically rob all of London’s finances, then use the Goldeneye satellite to wipe all traces of the crime. The reason he’s doing this? His family is descended from the Lienz Cossacks, a group of soldiers handed over to Stalin’s death squads by the British at the end of WWII. Bean’s performance is wonderful. Trevelyan even claims to have considered asking Bond to join his scheme, but knew our hero would refuse. The only negative against him is his evil scheme. If he succeeds, then all the money he’s stolen would become useless. Still, everything else about him works wonderfully.
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8 Le Chiffre - Casino Royale (2006)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/ Columbia Pictures/ Eon Productions
Much like his novel counterpart, Casino Royale’s Le Chiffre is in debt to some rather nasty people. In the novel, he lost money investing in brothels right before the French outlawed them. In this movie, his plan to short the stock market of an airplane manufacturer (using his clients’ money, no less) fails thanks to the intervention of James Bond, played by Daniel Craig in his first time in the role. As a result, Le Chiffre sets up a high-stakes poker game to recoup his losses. Le Chiffre is a desperate villain, which makes him more dangerous and unpredictable. If he doesn’t get the money, he’s a goner. Mads Mikkelsen gives a wonderful performance, especially during the scene where he tortures Bond. Cold, calculating, and dangerous, Le Chiffre is a great villain.
7 Franz Sanchez - License to Kill (1989)
Timothy Dalton’s first James Bond movie, The Living Daylights, had him go against the two most forgettable villains in the history of the franchise. Dalton’s second (and last) film, License To Kill, corrects that issue by putting him up against Franz Sanchez, one of the most brutal and sadistic villains Bond has ever faced. A drug kingpin with an invisible empire, Sanchez has two sides: a trusting, loyal side for his best friends and a heartless, vicious one for his enemies. What makes him so menacing is how quickly he flips back and forth between the two. A downright terrifying villain, Sanchez is definitely not a villain you want to meet on a bad day.
6 Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas) - On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
Distributed by United Artists
The second Blofeld whose face we get to see, Telly Savalas’ version of the character in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, is the most physical of all the Blofelds. His evil scheme is to be recognized with the title of Count, and if he doesn’t get it, he’ll unleash viruses upon the world that causes complete sterilization in a single crop or group of livestock. While Bond thwarts this plan, it’s Blofeld’s revenge on Bond that gets him this high on this list: He guns down Bond’s new bride on their wedding day. No other Blofeld, no other Bond villain, for that matter, has ever damaged Bond as badly as this one has.
5 Francisco Scaramanga - The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)
He’s played by Christopher Lee, which automatically puts him in the very memorable category. Scaramanga, from The Man With The Golden Gun, is the world’s deadliest assassin. Price per job: $1 million. With a unique weapon at his disposal and utter joy at his chosen line of work, Scaramanga sees himself as a dark reflection of James Bond and makes a darn good case for it. He even tries to get Bond to admit that he enjoys killing, to which Bond actually admits that he would enjoy killing Scaramanga. Like Alec Trevelyan, he’s held back by his evil scheme. He’s trying to corner the solar energy market, a big deal in 1974, when the movie came out, but also admits science is not his strong point, so why bother with this in the first place? Everything else about him is top tier, though.
4 Dr. Julius No - Dr. No (1962)
The first ever main villain has a lot to live up to, especially since he only shows up in the last 24 minutes of the movie. Before that, Dr. No is built up as the mysterious and threatening force whose minions would rather die than betray him. Half-Chinese, half-German, with robotic hands (he lost his real ones experimenting with radioactivity), Dr. No is smart, menacing, and dangerous. Joseph Wiseman, who plays the titular doctor, has high expectations, but he meets them with flying colors. With fantastic lines like “East, West, just points of the compass, each as stupid as the other” and “Unfortunately, I’ve misjudged you. You are just a stupid policeman,” Dr. No gives future Bond villains a very high bar to clear.
3 Emilio Largo - Thunderball (1965)
Possibly the most active villain Bond has faced, Thunderball’s Emilio Largo has no issue with getting himself involved in the action. Whether it’s recovering the nuclear bombs he’s stolen (and killing henchmen who want more money) or fighting off US frogmen at the end, Largo’s in the thick of it all. The founding father of the “hijack some nuclear weapons and hold the world hostage” scheme, Largo’s a very dangerous villain. He’s also fairly smart, as seen in the scene where Bond sneaks into his mansion at night and gets his guards to fire on each other, something Largo sees through immediately and chastises his men for falling for. All in all, Largo’s a great villain.
2 Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence) - You Only Live Twice (1967)
United Artists
What’s the first image that comes to mind when you hear the phrase “supervillain with plans for world domination?” Chances are it’s Donald Pleasence’s version of SPECTRE mastermind, Ernst Stavro Blofeld in You Only Live Twice. This is the first time we see the face of SPECTRE’s leader, and Pleasence makes darn sure we’ll never forget it. His evil scheme is to start WWIII between the US and the USSR by hijacking their space probes and having the two superpowers blame each other for it.
He claims “Extortion is my business.” He’s not wrong. It’s what the last “E” in SPECTRE stands for. Pleasence’s performance is properly menacing. It’s easy to see why every person who works for him is absolutely terrified of him. The first time we get a face to a man who had been faceless for the movies prior, and it’s one that movie-going audiences will never, ever forget. Pleasence is the best Blofeld of them all.
1 Auric Goldfinger - Goldfinger (1964)
Eon Productions
The movie’s theme song is all about what an evil SOB he is, and boy, does he live up to it. The founding father of the “destroy a large amount of a resource to make the villain’s stockpile of said resource much more valuable” scheme, Goldfinger’s an incredible villain. He plans on using a nuclear bomb (given to him by the Chinese) to irradiate Fort Knox, making his own supply of gold much more valuable. He’s one step ahead of Bond for almost the entire film, and comes darn close to finishing him off with that laser. He’s one of the few villains who has justification for keeping Bond alive. If Goldfinger kills Bond, then MI6 will just send 008 after him. Goldfinger is simply the best villain in the franchise. He’s got a brilliant scheme, a disturbing gold obsession, and he’s ruthless. What more could you want in a James Bond villain?
