Top 10 Badass James Bond Villains

Tequila Mockingbird April 4, 2008

“Goodbye, Mr. Bond.” This simple phrase has been spoken many times throughout the James Bond film series, always laced with malevolence and hatred. These words are usually the precursor to the final battle that invariably sees our hero win the day and our villain meet his maker. But, of these many evil souls, which ones posed the greatest threat to 007? Who were the most badass of the lot? Question no more – here is a list of the ten most badass James Bond villains!

Gerte Frobbe was overweight, balding and didn’t even speak English. Yet he remains the single most quoted Bond baddie (you know what I’m talking about.) But he did give us a valuable lesson in the dangers of cabin depressurization.

Talks the Talk: “No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!”

Years before he got eaten by that shark, Robert Shaw was kicking some Connery ass as this ruthless SPECTRE heavyweight. The train brawl is still among the most brutal in Bond history.

Talks the Talk: “The first one won’t kill you. Not the second. Not even the third. Not until you crawl over here and kiss my foot!”

The quintessential Bond baddie, complete with shaved head, Kim-Jong Il tunic and white fluffy cat. Met a rather unceremonious end at the bottom of a smoke stack.

Walks the Walk: Feeding insubordinate minions to ravenous pirhanas. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Who could forget the pint-sized KGB pitbull that proved that not all Bond girls have to be easy on the eyes.

Walks the Walk: Dispatching an underling with her famous poison-tipped clogs

Innuendo aside (and man this movie’s full of it), Christopher “Dracula” Lee’s icy cool hitman was almost too much for Roger Moore. Almost.

Walks the Walk: Pleasuring his girlfriend with his signature gold pistol. Paging Dr. Freud…

This former 006 has all of Bond’s suave resourcefulness and none of the scruples. Plus he had a cool underwater fortress and a badass scar on his eye, two essentials for any self-respecting supervillain.

Talks the Talk: “I gave you three minutes, Bond. The same three minutes you gave me.”

Okay, so he’s just a henchman. But unlike the others, he has staying power. Oh, and he’s also a 7-foot-tall, metal-mouthed gorilla.

Walks the Walk: Killing a shark with those trademark pearly-whites. A friggin’ shark.

Ah, the ubiquitous drug lord, the signature supervillain of the 80s. Robert Davi brought a cool menace to an otherwise ho-hum entry.

Talks the Talk: “What did he promise you, his heart? Give her his heart!”

Definitely one of the weakest of the series, but hey, any film that involves Christopher Walken maniacally swinging an axe high above the Golden Gate Bridge can’t be all bad.

Walks the Walk: Gleefully machine-gunning dozens of helpless flood victims.

Maybe not the most physically intimidating baddie on the list, but Mads Mikkelson’s creepy asthmatic proved a nasty foil.

Walks the Walk: Handing New Bond an Old School beat-down at the business end of a knotted rope. Ouch.

Contributor: Tequila Mockingbird