Character sheet for the James Bond film A View to a Kill.
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MI6
Sir Godfrey Tibbett
Sir Godfrey Tibbett
"We're on a mission!"
Played by: Patrick Macnee
An MI6 field operative and horse specialist with a knighthood, who helps Bond when he infiltrates Zorin's villa and stable.
- Beleaguered Assistant: He pretends to be "James St. John-Smythe's" put-upon valet.
- Casting Gag: Producer Albert R. Broccoli had previously cast both Honor Blackman (in Goldfinger) and Diana Rigg (in On Her Majesty's Secret Service) after they gained fame in The Avengers. Now it was the turn of the series' male lead, Macnee.
- Janitor Impersonation Infiltration: He disguises himself as Bond's chauffeur.
- Sacrificial Lion: He proves to be a competent ally of Bond, but he's killed by May Day almost at the same time Zorin reveals to Bond that he knows about their investigation, to show how dangerous they are.
Kimberly Jones
Kimberly Jones
"Oh, Commander Bond..."
Played by: Mary Stävin
A MI6 agent who is sent into the field to assist Bond during his mission in Siberia during the pre-credits sequence.
- Ms. Fanservice: The fur coat that Kimberly wears highlights her curves.
- Fanservice Extra: She's only in the movie for the pre-credits sequence, and while she assists Bond by picking him up after completing his mission during said sequence, it's clear that her main purpose is fanservice.
- Pretty in Mink: A gorgeous woman in fur-trimmed winter gear.
- You Look Familiar: Mary Stävin also appeared two years earlier in Octopussy as one of Octopussy's girls.
Bond's Allies
Stacey Sutton
Stacey Sutton
"I'd sell everything and live in a tent before I give up."
Played by: Tanya Roberts
A geologist for the State of California whose family's possessions are being squeezed by Zorin.
- '80s Hair: The only Bond girl of the 80s to truly show this.
- Action Survivor: On one hand, Sutton despairs and screams frequently and at one point fails to notice Zorin sneaking up on her in a freaking zeppelin. On the other hand, she does manage to discover Zorin's plan, take out Scarpine out of nowhere, intentionally distract Zorin during the fight at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, and threaten intruders with a shotgun (loaded with rock salt). And the fact that she survived all this is already worthy of applause.
- Age-Gap Romance: Roger Moore was 22 years older than Tanya Roberts. Lampshaded out-of-universe by Moore himself, who admits in interviews that he realized he should've retired as Bond after realizing he's older than Tanya Roberts' mother.
- All There in the Manual: According to the script, Stacey is in her early thirties, which matches Tanya Roberts' age at the time of the film's release (30 years old).
- Alliterative Name: Stacey Sutton.
- Always Save the Girl: After stopping Zorin's evil plan, Bond sees the villain kidnapping Stacey in an airship. Instead of asking for reinforcements, Bond simply grabs a rope, flying off in the airship by San Francisco, and not giving up until he saves Stacey from Zorin.
- Ankle Drag: May Day grabs Stacey by her ankle when the former tries to climb out of Zorin's mine shaft. Stacey escapes via Giving Them the Strip.
- Badass Adorable: On the one hand, Stacey is adorable. On the other hand, she isn't much of an Action Girl, but she still points a rock salt gun at her enemies and fights Zorin long enough to distract him.
- Battle Couple: Well, Stacey is by no means a super competent warrior, but the fact is that she and Bond face the villains together in the second half of the film and on more than one occasion she manages to be useful.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Stacey is gorgeous, a wonderful person, and very lovely.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Stacey remains beautiful throughout the final action scene, no matter what happens.
- Betty and Veronica: Stacey Sutton is Betty and May Day is Veronica. Stacey is the sweet, reliable Nice Girl, while May Day is the exotic Ice Queen... and also a killer. Stacey dresses more modestly (but still looks gorgeous), while May Day is the Ms. Fanservice in all her glory. Stacey is blonde, May Day is brunette.
- Clothing Damage: It happens quickly with Stacey at the climax when May Day tries to grab her and rips her disguise and part of her dress, showing her legs.
- Coitus Uninterruptus: The final scene is of Bond and Stacey in the shower together when a robot with a remote camera on it piloted by Q homes in on them. Q makes a face and reports back to M that Bond is alive; Bond turns and sees the robot, throws a towel over it, and then turns back to Stacey as if nothing happened.
- Comforting Comforter: Bond covers Stacy Sutton after she fell asleep on her bed.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: She's gorgeous, but her screams are eardrum-shattering.
- Damsel in Distress: Stacey is kidnapped by the Zorin at the end and must be rescued by Bond. One of the most remembered parts of the film is her screaming "Jaaaaames!" a lot at an incredible high pitch. At least she fights back in the climax and even shows determination in fighting back against Zorin beforehand.
- Deadpan Snarker: Her screams seem to make fans forget that she gets to have those moments with Bond himself.Bond: Hello. I thought you might like to join the party. By the way, the name is James St. John Smythe. I'm English.
Stacey: I never would have guessed. - Defrosting Ice Queen: Downplayed. In the first half of the movie, she appears to be cold and cynical when Bond flirts with her at Zorin's mansion, but in the second half of the movie, after discovering that Bond is an ally, she becomes one of the most sympathetic Bond girls in the franchise, always smiling.
- Designated Girl Fight: Subverted. At the climax, May Day tries to grab Stacey to stop her from running away, giving the impression that there will be a fight between them. Instead, May Day only manages to rip off a piece of clothing from Stacey, who then manages to escape. May Day then fights Bond.
- Doesn't Like Guns: Subverted. Stacey uses a gun to try to intimidate Bond when he breaks into her house, but it is soon revealed that the ammunition is rock salt.
- Failed a Spot Check: The infamous scene where Stacey doesn't notice a blimp approaching her, even when Bond yells at her to look out.
- Fire-Forged Friends: She is hostile to Bond at first, but they both soon realize that they can trust each other.
- Girl of the Week: She's Bond's main love interest in the film.
- Giving Them the Strip: Stacey sheds her coveralls to escape from May Day while climbing out of Zorin's mine shaft.
- Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Bond and Stacey at the end of the film.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She's blonde haired and firmly on the good side.
- Impoverished Patrician: Sutton is the granddaughter of an oil tycoon in California, but the company was taken over by Max Zorin. She filed a lawsuit against him in court, which forced her to sell most of her assets (which is Truth in Television) and become a geologist for the state of California.
- Interrupted Bath: Bond and Stacey are making love in the shower at the end of the movie when they are interrupted by one of Q's inventions, that was looking for him. Bond quickly dumps the device and kisses Stacey again.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: She's good-natured and owns a cat named, appropriately enough, Pussy.
- Ms. Fanservice: Stacey wears beautiful dresses. At one point in the movie, she goes to sleep wearing a short robe that shows off her legs.
- Nice Girl: Screams aside, she's one of the most friendly and lovable women in the series.
- Screaming Woman: She screams a lot at an incredible high pitch. Even a short fall onto some sand has her belt out a shriek.Sutton: Jaaaaames! Help meeeeeeee!
- Shotguns Are Just Better: But since she's too nice to actually kill people, she loads hers with rock salt instead of 12-gauge.
- Shower of Love: She makes out with Bond in her shower at the end.
- Token Romance: Roger Moore is 28 years older than the film's lead actress Tanya Roberts, something that had already occurred to him and Carole Bouquet in For Your Eyes Only. And just like in that movie, the hero and the lead Bond Girl, Stacey, have almost no romantic moments before having sex in their final scene, except for a brief flirt that comes between them when they dine at her house. Their relationship seems more like father and daughter, and it doesn't help that in their first scene at Zorin's mansion, Stacey rejects all of his brazen flirtations, looking like she thinks he's a creepy old man.
- Two-Person Pool Party: Bond and Sutton make out in a shower at the end of the film.
Chuck Lee
Chuck Lee
"It's a pleasure working with 007."
Played by: David Yip
A CIA agent posing as a fish salesman who acts as Bond's contact in San Francisco.
- Ascended Fanboy: As the above quote indicates, he's thrilled at the prospect of partnering up with Bond.
- Mr. Exposition: Provides Bond with the histories of Conley and Mortner, which in turn allows Bond to realize Zorin is one of the latter's test subjects.
- Temporary Substitute: His role was supposed to go to Felix Leiter, until the filmmakers decided to take advantage of San Francisco's Chinatown.
Villains
Max Zorin
Max Zorin
"Dead! That's rather neat, don't you think?"
Played by: Christopher Walken
The surviving result of a Nazi eugenics experiment turned microchip tycoon and later recruited by the KGB. He has gone rogue and now pursues his own interests.
- Apocalypse How: Class 0, with the destruction of Silicon Valley and the death of millions just so he can corner the microchip market. All For the Evulz.
- Ax-Crazy: Extremely so, to the point where he literally wields a fire axe during his final fight with Bond. It also doubles as his Fatal Flaw that brings him down. Justified as he is the end result of a Nazi eugenics experiment to create the ideal Super-Soldier Gone Horribly Right.
- Amazon Chaser: His dragoness, sparring partner, and lover is a tall, powerfully built woman.
- Bad Boss: Remarkably bad even by Bond villain standards. He personally guns down his own minions while cackling maniacally the moment he no longer needs them, and even betrays May Day, not even for the usual You Have Failed Me but simply For the Evulz.
- Big Bad: He's the main villain of this film, and a truly terrifying one at that.
- Big Fancy House: A Renaissance château in France (Chantilly), no less.
- Blood Knight: Upon seeing Bond's "Licence to Kill" designation on his computer, he makes an excited little chuckle.
- Bond One-Liner: He gets in on the action when he has a guy thrown out of a zeppelin:Zorin: So, does anyone else want to drop out?
- Bond Villain Stupidity:
- Zorin decides to kill Bond by rolling his car into a lake. One could guess he wanted to Make It Look Like an Accident, but once awake it was probably Bond's easiest escape ever.
- The car case actually downplays this as Zorin does try to get it done while James is still unconscious and even stays at the lake long enough to make sure James didn't survive (James managed to survive by spotting that Zorin was watching and using the air from the tire to stay underwater until Zorin left).
- Later Zorin has Bond at his mercy but decides to kill him by locking him in an elevator and setting it on fire. In this case at least he has the excuse that he wants to frame Bond for the murder of someone else and make it look like he failed to escape after setting the building on fire himself.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: During a horse race, he uses remote-controlled obstacles to trip up Bond's horse, then has thugs jump onto the track and attack Bond. Bond fights them off and still pulls ahead. However, when Bond decides he's had enough and abandons the race, Zorin declares himself the winner.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: He murders the Obstructive Bureaucrat in his pocket to frame Bond for the crime, machine guns his own men to death and blows up and floods the mine they were in to kill anyone else who escapes his massacre, as well as two of his assistants and his own girlfriend. He's supposedly a KGB agent but after they helped set him up as a millionaire industrialist, he abandoned them too, and they hated him so much they gave Bond the Order of Lenin for foiling his scheme and killing him. If anything, the only person he has even a semblance of loyalty or genuine affection for is Dr. Mortner and possibly also his main dragon, Scarpine.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He wants to flood Silicon Valley, causing the death of millions just so he can monopolize the microchip market.
- Cool Airship: His airship may look like a boring old blimp, but does yours unfold from a construction shack and come with an integrated deathtrap? Max even gets to make a Bond One-Liner.
- Cunning Linguist: It's mentioned he speaks five languages flawlessly, presumably one of the perks of being the product of 1940s genetic engineering.
- Designer Babies: Deconstructed. He's the end result of a Super Breeding Program that attempted to create Super Soldiers for the Nazis. While most of the pregnancies failed due to the pregnant mothers being overdosed with steroids, the surviving babies became gifted later in life — but also mentally unstable beneath that charm. Zorin killing his minions while cackling like a madman is one disturbing example of how the steroids have corroded his mind.
- Deus Ax Machina: He grabs a fire ax on board of his zeppelin in the climax.
- Diabolical Mastermind: He has genius-level intelligence and hatches a scheme to murder millions of people for profit.
- Disney Villain Death: He falls off the Golden Gate Bridge.
- Dying Smirk: Max Zorin lets out a small burst of psychotic laughter after realizing he's gonna fall after his confrontation with Bond. Then he does a brief Oh, Crap! face as he falls to his watery death.
- Evil Counterpart: To Bond. Both have a startling line/connection between sex and violence and are highly skilled. The key difference? While Bond remains loyal to MI-6, Zorin is a rogue KGB agent who even goes so far to betray May Day and kill his own mooks out of pure, bat-shit sadism.
- Evil Genius: He has genius-level intelligence but is also completely Ax-Crazy. He hatches a scheme to murder millions of people for profit.
- Evil Is Hammy: It's "More Cowbell" Christopher Walken, what did you expect?
- Evil Is Not a Toy: The Soviets really had no idea what they were dealing with — Zorin is an incredibly insane psychopath and homicidal maniac to begin with, and he chose to screw them over once he became successful and no longer needed them.
- Evil Laugh: Often breaks out into evil laughter, even when it seems wholly inappropriate for the situation. For example, he cackles like an insane megalomaniac while gunning down several of his workers. He'd rival The Joker in that department.
- Evil Mentor: The video game Everything or Nothing revealed that he was the mentor of Nikolai Diavolo, who wanted to avenge his death.
- Evil Plan: His ultimate plan is to detonate explosives along the Hayward and San Andreas Faults, causing them to flood. The other major bomb was set to destroy a "geological lock" that's in place to prevent the two faults from moving, causing a double earthquake that would destroy Silicon Valley, leaving his microchip company with a monopoly.
- Fatal Flaw: Zorin's Ax-Crazy sociopathic behavior, coupled with his Chronic Backstabbing Disorder proves to be his biggest flaw, as by the end of the movie his plans have been ruined by May Day, who survived his betrayal, and whatever remaining sanity he had has been completely whittled to the point that he literally wields an ax, trying to hack Bond to death during the climatic final battle at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge.
- Faux Affably Evil: He's very cheerful in public. Likewise when he plans to have millions killed and mows down his own workers.
- Freudian Excuse: The reason why he's a sociopath to begin with is because he's the end result of a Nazi Super Breeding Program that attempted to create Designer Babies near the end of WWII. The few babies who survived became talented later in life — but also totally devoid of empathy as the Nazis used massive doses of steroids, which corroded their brains.
- Greater-Scope Villain: While he's long dead by the time the video game Everything or Nothing takes place, ex-KGB operative Nikolai Diavolo wants revenge against 007 for the death of his mentor.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: His disloyalty towards his own girlfriend comes at a cost, as she was all too eager to help Bond foil his plans when he left her to die along with everyone else in the mine.
- I'll Take That as a Compliment: His smugness always disappears whenever someone reminds him of his Designer Babies nature. However when Bond gives the page quote, he's apparently enough of a "Well Done, Son" Guy to agree with it.
- Informed Attribute: M claims that he speaks five languages with "no accent", a claim that is... tenuous.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: For how cruel and psychotic he is, most of the film implies that he is genuinely in love with May Day. Only it turns out he doesn't even care about her either, and not only that but he willingly leaves her to die once she's no longer of use to him.
- Karmic Death: He falls in the water from a great height, similar to the investor he had killed earlier.
- Kingpin in His Gym: We are treated to a scene of Zorin sparring with May Day.
- Knight of Cerebus: Probably one of Bond's most dangerous foes since Francisco Scaramanga or Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
- Lack of Empathy: He wants to corner the microchip market by triggering a megaquake in the San Francisco Bay Area with casualties running in the millions. He's also a Bad Boss, gleefully mowing down his henchmen and casually tries to kill May Day without remorse.
- Large Ham: As you could expect from Christopher Walken playing a villain of a James Bond film.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Zorin, playing a bit of Xanatos Speed Chess, takes advantage of a break-in by Bond and Stacey into City Hall. Zorin kills her ex-boss and forces the pair into an elevator before setting the building on fire, making it look like they were responsible but were killed by the flames trying to escape.
- Molotov Cocktail: He sets fire to the San Francisco City Hall by using molotov cocktails everywhere.
- Monumental Damage: A rare instance in the series, as he attempts to murder Bond and Stacy by setting fire to San Francisco City Hall.
- No Guy Wants an Amazon: Subverted. He hooks up with May Day.
- Oh, Crap!: Just as he's about to fall 700 feet off the Golden Gate Bridge.
- Omnicidal Maniac: From the way he acts, it seems he wants to destroy Silicon Valley just to watch it go BOOM. His whole microchip price gouging scheme seems more like a fringe benefit.
- Pre-emptive Declaration: He informs a corrupt official on his payroll how he intends to fake Bond and Sutton's deaths. They murdered him and started a fire to destroy the evidence, only to die after being trapped in the elevator.Howe: But that means... I would have to be...
Zorin: Dead! [shoots him in heart] - Psychopathic Manchild: He's extremely impulsive and a mentally unstable brute. Part of this is because he is the end result of a Nazi eugenics program — while the surviving babies were intelligent, they grew up to become psychopathic. General Gogol criticizing Zorin over (seemingly) killing Bond almost plays like a parent scolding a young child.
- Psycho Serum: The steroid concentrate that created him makes him highly intelligent, but also mentally unstable.
- Psychotic Smirk: He flashes a lot of these during the film. He even smiles and laughs right before he falls to his death.
- Put the "Laughter" in "Slaughter": He murders his minions while cackling psychotically like a homicidal maniac. He would rival The Joker in that department.
- Reckless Gun Usage: He taps his temple with a loaded pistol.
- Renegade Russian: Not a literal example of this trope, but in the same spirit — he is a KGB agent who ditches his employers to carry out his mad scheme for world domination of the silicon chip industry.
- The Rich Want to Be Richer: His Evil Plan is very similar to Goldfinger's scheme — but with more collateral damage involved. He wants to corner the microchip market and wipe out his competition by triggering a super-earthquake in the Bay Area, which would kill millions.
- Rogue Agent: He used to work for the KGB, but now he follows his own agenda.
- Sadist: He cackles like a homicidal maniac while peppering his own henchmen with bullets out of pure sadism. All because it amused him.
- Sanity Slippage: While he was already an insane psychopath to begin with, Zorin slowly loses his grip on sanity as the film progresses. By the end, he's completely batshit Ax-Crazy to the point of wielding a fire axe against Bond after entering Villainous Breakdown mode.
- Shadow Archetype: While both Zorin and Bond have a startling line/connection between sex and violence and are highly skilled, the key difference between the two is that while Bond remains loyal to MI6, Zorin is a rogue KGB agent who even goes so far as to betray his Dragon May Day and kill his own mooks out of pure, bat-shit sadism. In short, he is essentially Bond without any moral compass or restraint.
- The Sociopath: Zorin fits the bill of one: Lack of Empathy, Faux Affably Evil, Trigger-Happy, Ax-Crazy, Put the "Laughter" in "Slaughter", and For the Evulz. Part of this is because he's the product of a Nazi eugenics program, in which pregnant women were injected with steroids in an attempt to create "super-children" for the Nazis. The few babies that survived became totally insane psychopaths, partly because of the drugs administered to create these "super-babies".
- The Starscream: He's a product of Nazi eugenics experiments that the KGB raised, trained, and sent to the West as a deep cover agent. Once he becomes successful enough, he decides to screw them over and take a shot at global financial domination himself.
- Super Breeding Program: He's the end result of an eugenics program in which pregnant women were loaded up with steroids in an attempt to create Designer Babies for the Nazis. While most of the pregnancies failed, the few babies that survived became extraordinarily intelligent later in life — but also totally psychopathic.
- Tyke Bomb: He's the end result of a Super Breeding Program in an attempt to create Super Soldiers for the Nazi regime. After WWII, he and his mentor were whisked away to the Soviet Union, where they became deep-cover KGB agents.
- Trigger-Happy: As shown when he massacres his own mine workers, laughing all the way.
- The Unfettered: He'll do anything that pushes himself forward.
- Upper-Class Equestrian: Zorin, a wealthy Corrupt Corporate Executive, owns a horse ranch where he routinely breeds and sells quarter horses. It is at this ranch that Bond notices a private deal between Zorin and Bond Girl Stacey Sutton.
- Villain with Good Publicity: He's seen as a respectable businessman, but is in fact a total psychopathic monster and a mass murderer.
- Villainous Breakdown: While he was already an insane psychopath to begin with, Zorin slowly loses his grip on sanity as the film progresses. Arguably, May Day taking revenge on him and screwing over his plan is what pushes him over into full-blown insanity. By the end of the film, he becomes so Ax-Crazy to the point of wielding a fire axe during his final fight with Bond.
- Younger Than They Look: The script says Max Zorin is in his late thirties. Christopher Walken was 42 at the time of the film's release.
- You're Insane!: He is called a "psychopath" by Bond. Zorin harshly chuckles.
May Day
May Day
"Someone will take care of you."
Played by: Grace Jones
Max Zorin's main enforcer, bodyguard and lover.
- '80s Hair: Her hair and makeup just screams 80s.
- Action Girl: The Brute to Zorin and gender-flipped variation of Scary Black Man, a tall and tough Amazonian Beauty who can lift a man clean over her head and set up as a woman who could take Bond himself to the cleaners. Unfortunately, she doesn't make it to the end.
- Age-Gap Romance: Roger Moore was 21 years older than Grace Jones.
- Alas, Poor Villain: As brutal and ruthless as she is, it is still pretty sad to see her enraged and heartbroken reaction when a man she thought loved her ends up betraying her and leaving her for dead, and mercilessly kills her colleagues. Even Bond shows sympathy for her.
- All There in the Manual: The script reveals that she is 28 years old.
- Amazonian Beauty: She's tough and certainly looks it, but that doesn't stop her from being attractive.
- Ambiguously Bi: She seems very attached to her henchwomen, Jenny in particular. Nothing is confirmed, though.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: May Day look beautiful throughout the final action scene, no matter what happens. She gets completely soaked, yet her hair and makeup remain immaculate.
- Betty and Veronica: Stacey Sutton is Betty and May Day is Veronica. Stacey is the sweet, reliable Nice Girl, while May Day is the exotic Ice Queen... and also a killer. Stacey dresses more modestly (but still looks gorgeous), while May Day is the Ms. Fanservice in all her glory. Stacey is blonde, May Day is brunette.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: She rarely talks. She doesn't need to.
- Bodyguard Babes: May Day and her henchwoman.
- The Brute: She's the muscle in Zorin's operations and she rarely talks.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: She can lift a man over her head effortlessly.
- Covers Always Lie: See that poster that features Bond and May Day having the same height? Grace Jones is just 2 1/2 inches - 6 cm - shorter than Roger Moore. The fact that she's wearing high heels makes it more unrealistic. The poster does convey Jones' long legs, however. However, this is because "May Day" on that poster was actually modeled on another, somewhat more muscular (if that holds up to willing suspension of disbelief) woman than Grace Jones.
- Danger Takes a Backseat: She murders Sir Godfrey and Chuck Lee by hiding in the back of their cars.
- Dark Action Girl: As the enforcer for Zorin.
- Deadpan Snarker: As you might expect from Grace Jones.Bond: May Day, where have you been? I've been waiting for you... to take care of me, personally.
[May Day enters the room quietly and stands naked before Bond.]
Bond: I see you're a woman of very few words.
May Day: What's there to say? - Death Glare: This is basically her default facial expression for most of the movie..
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Averted. She remains cold, reserved and cruel from start to finish, and even the night of love with Bond has no influence on her. It's Zorin's betrayal that makes her turn to Bond's side in the end.
- Designated Girl Fight: Subverted. At the climax, May Day tries to grab Stacey to stop her from running away, giving the impression that there will be a fight between them. Instead, May Day only manages to rip off a piece of clothing from Stacey, who then manages to escape. May Day then fights Bond, but the flood caused by Zorin's betrayal brings them together.
- Devilish Hair Horns: One of May Day's many, many styles is a red outfit and hairdo shaped like devil horns. Subtle.
- Determinator: She manages to get away from Bond after a really steadfast chase through the streets of Paris.
- The Dragon: Subverted; she seems this way at first, but it transpires that Zorin's most valued henchman is actually Scarpine, who even joins in Zorin's attempt to murder May Day and other minions.
- Dying Smirk: While rolling out of Zorin's mine on the bomb that's about to explode, she's laughing, knowing that she's helping screw over Zorin hard after what he pulled. Though it fades right before the bomb goes off, as she sees Zorin's blimp and shoots him one last Death Glare.
- Effortless Amazonian Lift: When Zorin tells General Gogol he's going to go ahead with his Evil Plan instead of working for the Soviets, a KGB mook pulls a gun and is promptly lifted up in the air by May Day.
- Enigmatic Minion: Lampshaded by Bond.Bond: I see you're a woman of very few words.
May Day: What is there to say? - Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She doesn't take kindly to Zorin turning on her and her Amazon Brigade. Her incensed reaction to Zorin's betrayal would indicate that she had genuinely loved him too.
- Even Evil Has Standards: May Day is devastated at the death of her friends and the realization that Zorin left her to die is what makes her turn on him.
- Evil Laugh: She lets out a fabulous cackle as she and Zorin escape by boat after she's killed Auebergiene.
- Head-Tiltingly Kinky: Her sex scene with Bond.
- Heel–Face Turn: At the climax, May Day helps Bond to stop Zorin's plans... but not because she fell in love with Bond, but because Zorin betrayed her and killed her friends, in addition to trying to kill May Day herself.
- Heroic Sacrifice: She helps Bond remove the bomb from the mine, putting the device onto a handcar and pushing it out of the mine, where it explodes, killing her.
- High-Heel–Face Turn: Actually averted! Her motivation isn't Bond (though she did sleep with him), but revenge against Bad Boss Zorin.
- Honey Trap: Downplayed. At one point in the movie, Bond, still in disguise and investigating Zorin's mansion, fails to return to his room before the villain, who suspects him. Bond then decides to pretend he has been in May Day's room all this time waiting for her, and invites her to spend the night with him. May Day is initially surprised and she and Zorin realize Bond's plan, but she, with Zorin's approval, decides to spend the night with Bond anyway to fool him.
- Iconic Outfit: The loose, flowy hoods she always wears.
- Lady in Red: May Day is introduced in the film wearing a red dress.
- Large Ham: Grace Jones devours all her scenes.
- Love Redeems: Averted. May Day has sex with Bond halfway through the movie, but that moment is never commented on for the rest of the plot, and May Day only helps Bond defeat Zorin at the climax because Zorin betrayed her and tried to kill her.
- Meaningful Name: "Mayday" is a radio distress signal that has been used by aircraft and ships.
- Mirthless Laughter: May Day laughs harshly when she leaves the mine with the bomb, but when she locks eyes with Max, it becomes pure snarl.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: May Day stays loyal to Max until he decides he doesn't need her any more and leaves her to die with the rest of his minions who have outlived their usefulness. After that, she's out for revenge.
- Mook–Face Turn: Zorin goes ahead and floods the mines fully aware that the workers and May Day are down there. May Day and Bond survive. Upon discovering she was betrayed, and seeing her dead friends as well, she helps Bond remove the bomb and sacrifices herself, taking it out when it explodes.
- Ms. Fanservice: As you might expect from a character played by Grace Jones. May Day wears beautiful dresses, and in the sex scene with Bond, the camera focuses on her naked back.
- No Guy Wants an Amazon: Subverted by Bond and Zorin, who both hook up with her. In fact, it's her who seems a bit reluctant of them.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: She's supposed to be American, but Grace Jones plays her with her usual Jamaican accent.
- Only Known By His Nickname: Unless it's actually her name.
- Punny Name: Indeed, you can say that you'll need to shout "Mayday!" if you ever meet May Day.
- Ready for Lovemaking: After snooping around Zorin's estate, Bond is unable to get back to his bedroom before they check if he's there (blowing his cover as just another rich idiot guest). So, he uses this ploy to explain his absence: when May Day returns to her room she finds Bond naked in her bed. She ends up going along with it in order to not blow her cover (the fact that she and Zorin are on to him).
- Redemption Equals Death: Subverted in the sense that her motivation isn't redemption, but revenge against Zorin.
- Rhyming Names: Assuming that May Day is her actual name.
- Say My Name: She pulls this when she sees her companion Jenny Flex dead in the flooded mine tunnel.
- Scary Black Woman: You do not want her after you.
- Sex–Face Turn: Subverted. Bond does sleep with Zorin's main henchwoman (and lover) May Day, but when she eventually turns against her boss, it's because Zorin knowingly left her to her death, not because she's smitten with Bond's manly ways. In fact, May Day could be said to be manlier than Bond himself.
- Sex Signals Death: May Day makes sex with Bond in the middle of the film, and after her Heel–Face Turn, she pulls a Heroic Sacrifice to take Max Zorin down and avenge the deaths of her workmates, whom he killed when they weren't useful anymore.
- Statuesque Stunner: Much like Grace Jones herself. One poster even put her side by side with Bond, and they seemingly had the same height (in real life, Grace Jones and Roger Moore were a few inches apart in height).
- Taking You with Me: Not with a person but the mine Zorin was going to detonate upon the TNT, as the brakes on the cart they used jammed.
- Toplessness from the Back: May Day when she takes off her robe and throws it on the floor, and then lies in bed to make love with Bond.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Her High-Heel–Face Turn is motivated by Zorin killing her Amazon Brigade and leaving her for dead.
- Vasquez Always Dies: She's the toughest, more aggressive and less feminine character in the film, and dies at the end.
- Woman Scorned: When Zorin leaves her and his henchmen to die, an outraged May Day tells Bond "And I thought that creep loved me!"
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The reason by which May Day helps Bond to defeat Zorin at the climax.
- Younger than She Looks: The script says May Day is 28 years old. Grace Jones was 37 years old and this is apparent in the film.
Carl Mortner
Dr. Carl Mortner/Hans Glaub
"Selective breeding is important, ja. But more important is conditioning and desire!"
Played by: Willoughby Gray
An old Nazi scientist whose experiments on pregnant deportees during World War II resulted in the creation of Max Zorin. He now designs Zorin's microchips for carrying horse-doping drugs.
- Bald of Evil: He has little hair on his head and is working for Zorin, the Big Bad.
- Dying Smirk: He is clearly seen grinning as he and Scarpine fumble over the lit roll of dynamite that seals their fate.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Mortner came to love Zorin as a son, given his horrified reaction when the latter is about to fall to his death.
- Evil Old Folks: An old man responsible for conducting horrific experiments in WWII and is helping with Zorin's plan.
- Evilutionary Biologist: He tells Bond that he thinks his principles in horse breeding could be equally applied to humans. It's later discovered that he did in fact experiment on concentration camp inmates with steroid injections to breed the "perfect" Super-Soldier. Instead, he ended up creating a generation of incredibly intelligent psychopaths, Zorin being one of them.
- Herr Doktor: He's a Mengele-sque Nazi scientist from the war, responsible for experiments on women in concentration camps, resulting with highly intelligent and psychotic offspring. Zorin is one of them.
- High-Class Glass: He wears a monocle at all times. He can't see without it.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Literally. He's blown up with his own dynamite.
- Mad Doctor: It doesn't get any more mad than a Nazi doctor. His experiments with pregnant women in concentration camps seems to make him an stand-in for Josef Mengele.
- Mad Scientist: He experimented on concentration camp inmates to breed perfect humans, creating a generation of incredibly intelligent psychopaths.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Well yes, he's a Nazi doctor.
- Nazi Grandpa: If the above mentioned tropes didn't tip you enough; yes, he was a Nazi scientist.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: He is based on Josef Mengele, who experimented with pregnant women on concentration camps in World War II.
- No Swastikas: In the German dub of the film, he is a Polish communist.
- Piggybacking on Hitler: More like Piggybacking on Brezhnev: He utilized Soviet resources as long as their agendas aligned, and dumped them once he was able to pursue his own goals.
- Rapid-Fire "No!": He says "Nein" rapidly before the dynamite blows up the airship, taking Scarpine with him.
- The Social Darwinist: He's a Mengele expy who partook in a Nazi Super Breeding Program to create Designer Babies. His quote about selective breeding reeks of Social Darwinism, commenting on how such principles can be also applied to create the "ideal" human.
- Those Wacky Nazis: He's a scientist who experimented on pregnant women in an attempt to create the ideal soldier for the Nazis. While most of his projects failed, Zorin was one of the lucky few that survived.
- Too Dumb to Live: It's not very wise to light the fuse of a dynamite stick that soon. For that matter, there was a row of submachine guns he could have used instead of dynamite.
Scarpine
Scarpine
Played by: Patrick Bauchau
Zorin's chief of security and right-hand man.
- The Dragon: Shares this position with May Day to Zorin. Turns out Zorin thought of Scarpine as his only worthy Dragon, leaving May Day to die at the mine.
- Dueling Scar: He has a facial scar that makes him noticeably more intimidating. It even resembles a literal dueling scar: a downward curve on the left cheek.
- Meaningful Name: Scarpine has a large distinctive scar on the left side of his face.
- Oh, Crap!: When ordered by Zorin to pursue Bond out atop the Golden Gate Bridge.
Bob Conley
Bob Conley
Played by: Manning Redwood
Zorin's chief mining engineer who handles Zorin's oil interests in California.
- Asshole Victim: Even Evil Has Standards on the side, he was complicit in Zorin's goal to flood the fault, killing millions.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He's head of one of Zorin's subsidiaries and is every bit the typical slimy oilman stereotype. His background check states that he ran a illegal mine in Africa that collapsed and killed many miners.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- He gives Zorin a "WTF dude!?" look when Zorin has the Russian spy shoved into the turbine.
- He tries to stop Zorin from having all the miners killed, to no avail.Bob: [upon realizing that Zorin is going to detonate the explosives early] But Mayday... and my men!
Zorin: Yeah. A convenient coincidence!
Bob: [Death Glare] Mr. Zorin, those men are loyal to you!
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He is the first of Zorin's associates to be murdered by him.
Jenny Flex and Pan Ho
Jenny Flex and Pan Ho
Jenny Flex (left) and Pan Ho (right)
Played by: Alison Doody (Jenny Flex), Papillon Soo Soo (Pan Ho)
- All Girls Like Ponies: Jenny and Pan Ho are seen in equestrian outfits at Zorin's stable.
- The Dividual: The Syndividual. They usually appear together and receive little independent characterization.
- The Quiet One: They only speak in their first scene, and Pan Ho only has a single line of dialogue.
- Villainous Friendship: The two women are accomplices to multiple murders but seem to be genuinely close with May Day and each other. In fact, Zorin having no compunction in having the two women among the casualties when he floods the mine leaves May Day distraught enough for her to pull her Heel–Face Turn.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Zorin floods the mine despite knowing that Jenny and Pan Ho are inside, chasing Bond and Stacey. Both women are caught in the flood. Jenny's drowned corpse floats past Bond and May Day while Pan Ho presumably dies as well.
KGB
Pola Ivanova
Pola Ivanova
"James, you haven't changed!"
Played by: Fiona Fullerton
A KGB agent sent by General Gogol to spy on Zorin. Bond seduces her in a spa and steals her recording of Zorin's conversation about his operation.
- Age-Gap Romance: Roger Moore was 29 years older than Fiona Fullerton.
- Friendly Enemy: With Bond. When they first met in the movie, they recognize each other from what was apparently a previous mission in which they were on opposing sides. Soon enough, they're frolicking in a hot tub at a spa.
- Furo Scene: Ivanova and Bond share a bath together at an oriental bathhouse.
- Hero Antagonist: She's not even really a villain, just a rival to Bond, and the two of them are working towards the same goal.
- Ms. Fanservice: She spends most of her on-screen time in that hot tub.
- Sensual Slavs: A sensual KGB agent.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Of Major Anya Amasova from The Spy Who Loved Me; a female KGB agent who's friendly with Bond and knows him from a previous mission.
- When Harry Met Svetlana: Subverted. She and Bond seem to agree to work together since she's been taping an incriminating conversation between Zorin and his oil company chief, Bob Conley; and have a romantic interlude together. However, after Pola hurriedly absconds to pass the tape of Zorin's conversation to General Gogol, they discover that Bond has swapped the tape with a cassette of Japanese music which had been playing in the spa they were in.
Other Characters
Achille Aubergine
Achille Aubergine
"But the key to this mystery is there. And I, Achille Aubergine, intend to find it!"
Played by: Jean Rougerie
A French private detective who meets Bond in a restaurant atop the Eiffel Tower to give him some secret informations about Zorin.
- Alliterative Name: Achille Aubergine.
- Expy: Of Hercule Poirot. A Francophone detective (he is French, Poirot is Belgian) with a distinctively-shaped mustache. Both have first names after a powerful demigod from Classical Mythology, and surnames from a plant ("aubergine" means "eggplant", "poirot" means "leek".)
- Friend on the Force: He's a Private Detective who gives valuable information to Bond before he's assassinated by May Day.
- Gentleman Detective: His dress and comportment hint that he belongs to the upper classes, and has access to information that the formal intelligence services don't.
- Private Detective: His job. It ends getting him killed.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He is quickly killed by May Day with a poisoned fake butterfly.
W. G. Howe
W. G. Howe
Played by: Daniel Benzali
A San Francisco city official who is in charge of the city's oil and mining interests, and Stacey Sutton's employer. He is also a collaborator of Max Zorin, covering up for his illegal activities in California.
- Affably Evil: Seems like a perfectly reasonable man in casual conversation, but in truth is covering for Zorin even while unaware of the man's true intent.
- Asshole Victim: He's clearly out of his depth protecting Zorin and Bond and Stacey are genuinely horrified when he is shot dead; that said, he still did absolutely nothing to stop the man from triggering a major cataclysm outside of the city.
- Bad Boss: He fires Stacey when she confronts him with evidence of Zorin's activities.
- Horrible Judge of Character: He blindly believes that Zorin is beneficial to California, even firing Stacey when she tries to report his unethical activities. His devotion to Zorin only gets him killed.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Attempts to keep Bond and Stacey from snooping too much into Zorin's illegal oil drilling, which is actually pumping seawater into an active faultline.
- Too Dumb to Live: His association with a dangerous (and highly psychopathic) industrialist ultimately proves fatal for him in the end, and for everyone else in Silicon Valley if not for Bond's intervention.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Clearly has no clue just how dangerous Zorin truly is and is presumably unaware of Zorin's intent to destroy Silicon Valley outright.
- Unwitting Pawn: Bond pretty much spells this out to him right to his face, moments before Zorin has him murdered in order to frame Bond.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Zorin shoots him dead in order to frame Bond and Stacey for the murder, intending for them to die only minutes after the fact.
