Character sheet for the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.
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MI6
Bond's Allies
Tanaka
"Tiger" Tanaka
"Rule number one: never do anything yourself when someone else can do it for you."
Played by: Tetsurō Tamba (丹波 哲郎)
The head of the Japanese secret service.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the novel, Tanaka is essentially a proudly Axis gangster who ended up on the "right" side as a quirk of post-War politics. The less savory aspects of his character are not seen in the film, where he is the genuinely friendly and heroic head of a Japanese secret service.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: He wears a suit when meeting Bond for the first time.
- Codename: "Tiger" of course and the enemies of Japan and its allies about to be mauled by him.
- Cool Train: He has his own private underground train on a railroad beneath Tokyo. There's a lounge living room onboard, complete with a bar ("Sorry, no Siamese vodka!"), and a high-tech office offering full communication, encryption and stenographic services, as well as a fully equipped audio-visual suite that can display any material at a command — even micro-dots.
- Crazy-Prepared: By far the most competent and well-equipped ally Bond has ever met, what with sending a helicopter equipped with a giant electromagnet to get rid of a car that was chasing Aki and Bond.
- Frontline General: He personally leads his ninjas during the assault on Blofeld's volcano base in the climax.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He can also be considered as the Japanese equivalent of Q.
- Gratuitous Ninja:Bond: Do you have any commandos here?
Tanaka: I have much, much better. Ninjas. - Home Base: A hidden high tech office dedicated to "receive" his guests (after said guests fall through a funnel), a private underground train and also a Japanese castle.
- Japanese Politeness: He treats Bond with a bath, complete with bikini-clad servants.
- The Kindnapper: Bond is lured to him by Aki, using a Trap Door.
- Majored in Western Hypocrisy: The novel reveals that he studied at Oxford and later used it as a pretext to spy on the Brits.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: "In Japan, men come first. Women come second."
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He fully backs Bond up for the duration of the mission.
- Special Person, Normal Name: Tanaka is one of the most common Japanese family names, and the one typically used as shorthand for "Mr. Average Japanese Citizen" (as Americans might use "Mr. John Smith" or the like). Using it for a mysterious chief of intelligence touches on Ominous Mundanity.
- The Spymaster: He is the head of Japan's secret service. He is considered so important that he has his own subway system in Tokyo to keep him protected in the city.
- Supporting Leader: Despite being basically the Japanese equivalent of M, he still personally leads the raid into SPECTRE's base.
Aki
Aki
"I think I will very much enjoy serving under you."
Played by: Akiko Wakabayashi (若林 映子)
An agent of the Japanese secret service. She is Bond's first contact in Japan and assists him.
- Action Girl: For her limited screen time, she manages to pull quite the nice car stunts.
- Badass Driver: She has downright mean driving skills, shown for example when Bond is escaping from the Osato Chemicals building.
- Big Damn Heroes: Comes to save Bond twice.
- Cool Car: Toyota 2000GT
. - Dies Wide Open: Bond closes them soon after.
- Kidnapped by an Ally: She lures Bond into what seems to be a trap... which is actually the way to bring him to meet Tanaka.
- Ms. Fanservice: Gives Bond a massage while wearing nothing on her upper half except a small bra.
- Sacrificial Lion: Works alongside Bond for a little more than half of the film before she's killed by a SPECTRE assassin who was trying to kill Bond.
- Sexy Secretary: Described as being one to Tanaka by a Playboy review.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Little about this character is known before her death.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Is happy to "serve" Bond, both sexually and as his subordinate in the espionage profession. She also seems to have died demurely, as though to have conveniently, if inadvertently, put herself out of the way
so Bond can be with an Ama girl
Kissy Suzuki
Kissy Suzuki
"No honeymoon. This is business."
Played by: Mie Hama (浜美枝)
One of the agents working for Tanaka, she is assigned to partner Bond after the death of Aki. She "marries" Bond in a mock wedding ceremony as James goes undercover, posing as a Japanese fisherman. Bond and Kissy eventually find Blofeld's secret base and Kissy is sent to alert Tanaka. While swimming to her destination, she is pursued and fired upon by a SPECTRE helicopter, but her experience as a Ama divernote enables her to dive underwater and stay there long enough to convince her pursuers that she drowned.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: The film omits her backstory as a failed actress in Hollywood.
- Adaptational Job Change: In the novel, she's an Ama diving girl who is distantly related to one of Tanaka's agents and is therefore asked to assist Bond. In the film, she's an active agent.
- All There in the Script: Kissy's name isn't mentioned in the movie.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Never gets dirty scaling a volcano in a bikini.
- Chekhov's Gun: The story establishes that she is a pearl diver as a cover. That professional skill, such as being able to hold her breath and stay underwater for an usually long period of time, proves vital to escape SPECTRE'S goons chasing her and alert Tanaka.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: When Kissy meets Bond, she is initially serious and makes it clear that their marriage is only part of the mission. Obviously, it doesn't take long for Bond to seduce her and she becomes more friendly towards the end of the film.
- Girl of the Week: The main Bond Girl of this film.
- Hollywood Homely: Invoked. Tanaka claims this is the case, though it may just be to tease Bond.
- Ms. Fanservice: Spending the entire climax in a bikini certainly counts her as one.
- Stripperiffic: The plot sure manages to leave her in that bikini in the climax.
- Walking Swimsuit Scene: After she and Bond set out to investigate SPECTRE's volcano lair, every scene of Kissy for the rest of the movie is a Walking Swimsuit Scene for her.
- When She Smiles: Kissy starts up emphatically insisting that her fake marriage to Bond was strictly business and would not be consummated for their "honeymoon," but this being a Bond movie, she eventually lights up a beautiful smile at him.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: In her first scene.
Ling
Ling
"Darling, I give you very best duck."
Played by: Tsai Ching (周采芹)
A Chinese woman seen in the pre-credit sequence. After being in bed with Bond, she presses a button on the wall flipping the bed into an upright position with Bond still on it. She then lets in a couple of gunmen who shoot at Bond. The killing, however, is staged.
- Ambiguously Evil: She sets Bond up to be assassinated, but the killing is staged. Is she a Double Agent working against Bond, or is she working with MI6 to fake his death?
- Dragon Lady: Despite her brief appearance, she hits all the check-boxes—an overtly sexual and seemingly untrustworthy Mysterious Woman.
- Hammer and Sickle Removed for Your Protection: Presumably Ling and the assassins are working for Red China, but it's never said.
- Honey Trap: She has sex with Bond, then traps him in a Murphy bed and lets two Chinese agents into the room to empty their submachine guns into it.
SPECTRE
Osato
Mr. Osato
"I gave Number 11 the strictest orders to eliminate him."
Played by: Teru Shimada (島田テル)
A Japanese industrialist secretly allied with SPECTRE.
- Affably Evil: When Bond goes to Osato Chemicals to meet Mr. Osato himself, masquerading as a potential new buyer, Osato humours Bond, but after their meeting, he orders his secretary, Helga Brandt, to have him killed. Cue assassins opening fire at Bond outside the building.
- Blofeld Ploy: Happens twice to him. The first time, it leads to Helga Brandt's execution, the second time, Blofeld aims his gun straight at Bond, before shooting Osato.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: The president of Osato Chemicals and an ally of SPECTRE.
- The Dragon: Of the "smart, detail-oriented administrator" type to Hans' "ferocious fighter" type, which makes Osato more of an...
- Evil Genius: He and his company were delivering elements for rocket fuel to Blofeld and SPECTRE.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Osato looked spooked when Blofeld kills Helga by tossing her into a piranha-infested water pool for failing to kill 007.
- Straight Edge Evil: Zig-zagged; he apparently likes to start the morning with champagne, though possibly out of some notion that it's good for you; however, out of a stated belief in "a healthy chest", he chides "Mr. Fisher" about his smoking habit.
- You Have Failed Me: As seen in Blofeld Ploy, Blofeld kills him for failing him so much after it looked like he was going to shoot Bond first.
Helga Brandt
Helga Brandt
"You should have killed him yourself. You had plenty of opportunities."
Played by: Karin Dor
Osato's secretary and SPECTRE assassin, codename Number 11.
- Almighty Janitor: She plays Osato's secretary in the daylight, but not only is she a skilled assassin, she has a code number and Osato doesn't, which implies she's on the board and outranks him.
- Evil All Along: Bond thinks that he has managed to convince Brandt to free him and she flies Bond to Tokyo, but, en route, she sets off a flare in the plane and bails out, intending to kill him in the plane crash. Bond manages to land the crashing plane and escapes.
- Evil Redhead: A member of SPECTRE with red hair. Weirdly enough, her actress said the producers were looking for a blue-eyed blonde.
- Expy: Of Fiona Volpe from Thunderball.
- Fed to the Beast: Her punishment for not killing Bond is being fed to Blofeld's piranhas.
- High-Heel–Face Turn: Subverted. She sleeps with Bond, but doesn't join him. She still gets executed for not eliminating Bond.
- Ms. Fanservice: In her first scene, she wears a form-fitting blouse◊ to Sexy Sweater Girl-levels. "Healthy chest," indeed.
- Never My Fault: When she gets called on the carpet for failing to kill Bond, she tries to shift the blame to Osato. Blofeld is not amused.
- Sexy Secretary: She poses as Osato's secretary.
- Torture Technician: Implied when she threatens Bond with surgical knives. She's not very competent around Bond, though.
- The Vamp: She seduces Bond and makes him believe that she jumped to his side, but it's really an attempt to kill him.
- You Have Failed Me: She gets fed to piranhas by Blofeld for her failure.
Hans
Hans
Played by: Ronald Rich
Blofeld's personal bodyguard.
- The Brute: A ferocious fighter.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: He's thrown into Blofeld's piranha pool and eaten alive.
- The Dragon: Of the "ferocious fighter" type to Mr. Osato's "smart, detail-oriented administrator" type.
- Evil Wears Black: Wears a black turtleneck and slacks combo.
- Fed to the Beast: Bond throws him into the pirahna pool.Bond: Bon appétit!
- Giant Mook: He's a good head taller than Bond and easily No Sells most of Bond's punches. Bond is still able to throw him a few times using leverage, which is also ultimately how he beats him, by using an Aikido toss to dunk him in a pool of piranhas.
- Only One Name: Only called "Hans" and is also the only name with which the actor is credited.
- Shark Pool: Takes care of Blofeld's piranha pool, which claims his life in the end.
- Undying Loyalty: Amidst all the chaos in SPECTRE's lair during the climax after Blofeld activates the self-destruct, he still makes sure to stay behind and cover Blofeld's retreat.
- The Voiceless: Only speaks during his final scene, with his last words being "No!"
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Blofeld entrusts him with the key to the self-destruct for Bird One.
- You Shall Not Pass!: He covers Blofeld's retreat.
The Driver
The Driver
Played by: Peter Fanene Maivia
A henchman working for Osato. Bond kills him after a brief but tough fight.
- Ax-Crazy: He looks quite crazy during his fight with Bond.
- The Brute: Maybe even more than Hans.
- Giant Mook: He's really burly. It says something that it took to hit him with a sofa and a statue to put him down for good.
- Katanas Are Just Better: At one point during his fight with Bond, he uses a katana.
- Made of Iron: At least it seems so until Bond knocks him dead with a statue.
- Slasher Smile: When he grabs the katana.
- Stout Strength: Peter Maivia weighted 275 lbs.
- Wrestler in All of Us:
Cast the Expert. The actor/stuntman is none other than The Rock's grandpa, and a wrestler himself. For more modern fans, he would be considered one of the founding members, along with blood brother Amituanaʻi Anoaʻi, of the Samoan family of wrestlers most notably associated with The Bloodline.
Other Characters
Dikko Henderson
Richard Lovelace "Dikko" Henderson
"That was stirred, not shaken? I hope I got it right."
Played by: Charles Gray
A veteran British/Australian field-agent in Japan, he had lived there for 28 years. Bond is taken to his estate (which is an odd hybrid of old English comfort and Japanese style) for information about Tanaka, but Henderson is killed before saying anything further.
- Adaptational Nationality: He's Australian in the book, English in the film.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Unlike his book counterpart, he's polite, mild-mannered and soft-spoken.
- Adaptation Personality Change: In the book, he's a boisterous, racist Australian. In the film, he's a pleasant, mild-mannered Englishman.
- Artificial Limbs: He has a wooden leg as result of The Battle of Singapore.
- Awesome Aussie: In the book, though his awesomeness largely revolves around consuming grossly large quantities of alcohol.
- Death by Adaptation: He doesn't die in the book.
- Died Standing Up: He dies from a dagger to the back as he stands next to a paper wall in mid-sentence.
- Going Native: Averted. Despite having lived in Japan for close thirty years, he tries to maintain ties to Britain through his furniture, leading to a mishmash of both cultures decorating his home.
- His Name Is...: He's Killed Mid-Sentence when about to name the "large Japanese industrial concern" involved in the plot.
- Instant Death Stab: Henderson stops speaking, and when Bond investigates, he notices a knife in Henderson's back, whick had killed him instantly through a paper wall.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Henderson is talking to Bond when he suddenly stops talking mid-sentence. As Bond approaches him, he finds that a knife was stabbed into his back through the shoji wall.
- Noble Bigot: He's a nice guy in the book, but his old-fashioned attitude towards the Australian aboriginals makes him look politically incorrect to present-day audiences (and probably did at the time of writing, too, if not as much).
- Organ Dodge/Prosthetic Limb Reveal: Played with. Bond smacks him hard in the leg — which is wooden and proves it really is him. Henderson is just glad he got the correct leg.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: By contemporary standards he's jaw-droppingly racist in the book — not with regard to the Japanese, whose culture he shows some knowledge of and who he has respect for, but with regard to Indigenous Australians:Dikko: Don't talk to me about the Aboriginals. Do you know there's a movement afoot in my country, not merely afoot but at full gallop, to give the Aboriginals the vote? You pommy poofter. You give me any more of that liberal crap and I'll have your balls for a bow-tie.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Stabbed In the Back by one of Osato's mooks after one scene. His role was much bigger in the book, where he was a foul-mouthed Australian.
