Sandbox / Magnificent Bastard James Bond

Dr. Julius No: SPECTRE — Special Executive for Counter Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, Extortion. The four great cornerstones of power headed by the greatest brains in the world.
James Bond: Correction — criminal brains.
Dr. No: The successful criminal brain is always superior. It has to be.

— Dr. No

Of the many brilliant criminals and terrorists faced by the title character, these few manage to be even a cut above in suaveness and intelligence.

All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

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Original series

Examples

• Dr. No: Dr. Julius No is one of SPECTRE's top operatives and a man of charm and charisma who rules Crab Key, Jamaiaca with his two metal fists. Seeking to disrupt a shuttle launch from America, No outplays everyone sent to the area until Bond's arrival, and even for much of the film Bond is entirely within No's power, only surviving thanks to outwitting No's assassins. When encountered by Bond, No reveals how he completely outwitted the Tongs after crawling up from nothing in Hong Kong as the son of a German missionary and a Chinese woman. Joining SPECTRE, No seeks to help overthrow the orders of the eastern and western blocs alike, and remains one of the most dynamic and striking villains Bond ever faces.
• Goldfinger: Pussy Galore is the beautiful personal pilot to Auric Goldfinger. A skilled pilot, Pussy personally trained a team of pilots who are an essential part of Goldfinger’s plot to break into Fort Knox by gassing the area. Upon meeting the captive Bond, Pussy proves herself a match for the agent, resisting his charm, capturing him when he escapes, and even fighting Bond with her Judo skills. Upon being convinced to betray Goldfinger, Pussy sabotages his scheme, allowing the US military and Bond to stop him. Dynamic, capable, and charming, Pussy earns her place as one of Bond’s most iconic partners.
• Thunderball: The beautiful seductress Fiona Volpe is a dangerous SPECTRE Agent assigned to aid Emilio Largo in his plan to steal two nukes and hold the world hostage. Volpe seduces a French pilot and helps Angelo Palazzi murder and impersonate him, negotiating a deal when Palazzi demands higher pay for his services. Volpe later executes the incompetent Count Lippe with a missile loaded motorbike. While investigating Bond, Volpe captures his ally Paula, before seducing and capturing Bond, mocking his attempt to seduce her in turn. After a stroke of luck allows Bond to escape her clutches, Volpe is able to follow the blood trail left behind by the injured agent and corners him in a club, an encounter that results in his near death.
• Live and Let Die: Dr. Kananga, dictator of San Monique, uses Voodoo religions to maintain a tight control on the populace. Eliminating a number of MI6 agents investigating him, Kananga plots to monopolize the heroin trade in America. Disguising himself as rough Harlem gangster Mr. Big to fool any onlookers and divert suspicion to a man who doesn't even exist, Kananga processes heroin on his island and intends on sending "free samples" to double the amount of addicts before he begins charging, utterly dominating the trade. Staying two steps ahead of Bond for most of the film, Kananga proves himself a charming, suave mastermind and more than a match for 007's best.
• The Man with the Golden Gun: Francisco Scaramanga was once a circus boy who loved an elephant. When the elephant was abused to death by its trainer, Scaramanga murdered the man and discovered a love for, and talent at killing. Becoming a master assassin, Scaramanga keeps his skills sharp by having his sidekick Nick Nack hire assassins to kill him so he can always test himself with his life on the line. Scaramanga also outplays the ostensible villain of the film, the industrialist Hai Fat, killing him to steal the powerful solar device to sell to the highest bidder and retire. When he has his hands on Bond, Scaramanga demonstrates his respect and wish to challenge Bond by challenging him to a duel, gleeful to show his own talents against the world's greatest secret agent.
• For Your Eyes Only: Aris Kristatos presents as a war hero of Greece and ally of the British in James Bond's question to recover the ATAC targeting machine. Kristatos is actually a ruthless heroin smuggler and double agent who betrayed the Greek resistance and now works for the Soviets. Taking advantage of the murder of the Havelock archaeologists to recover the ATAC, Kristatos manipulates Bond into believing his former friend and rival Milos Columbo is the true "Dove" of the underworld, having an Italian agent murdered to frame him. After Columbo tells Bond the truth, Kristatos simply allows him to recover the ATAC for him, stating to Bond he never goes back on a deal when Bond offers more money from the British.
• A View to a Kill: May Day is the monstrous Max Zorin's lover and main henchwoman who proves to be one of the most dangerous right-hand villains encountered by Bond. Sneaking into a restaurant and using a fake prop to kill a French detective meeting with Bond, May then escapes the pursuing agent by parachuting from the Eiffel Tower. May later uses a momentary distraction to sneak into Agent Tibbett's car and murder him, using the car to lead Bond into a trap that nearly kills him. May later ambushes General Gogol, forcing him to leave Zorin alone and later lures an investor who backed out of Zorin's plan to his death. May murders CIA agent Chuck Lee, hiding his body so Bond will be led into a trap Zorin has set. When Zorin betrays her and kills her friends, May turns on Zorin and sacrifices herself to sabotage his plans, asking Bond to take revenge for her and spending her last moments glaring at her treacherous former lover.
• The Living Daylights: Necros is General Georgi Koskov's second in command and easily the most dangerous member of his criminal ring. When Koskov is brought to England as part of his fake defection Necros, through a combination of disguises, hidden weapons, and combat prowess, stages a one man rescue mission and successfully extracts Koskov despite him being guarded by dozens of British Agents. Necros later uses another disguise to rig a trap to murder an MI6 Agent as part of Koskov's plan to trick Bond into killing Leonid Pushkin. When Bond hijacks Koskov’s plane Necro gets aboard and ambushes Bond, nearly killing him in the ensuing fight.
• GoldenEye: Alec Trevelyan was once James Bond's best friend and the son of Cossacks who killed themselves after the betrayal of the British and Stalin's execution squads. Seeking revenge, Alec faked his death, betrayed the British and formed the Janus Crime syndicate. Alec proceeds to manipulate and organize several schemes to get his hands on the Goldeneye Satellite, even completely outwitting Bond and nearly killing him on several occasions, all while intending on robbing the British bank and then using the Goldeneye to erase the records, also nearly collapsing western civilization. One of Bond's most personal adversaries, Alec Trevelyan conducts himself with pure charisma, able to get under Bond's skin like no other by knowing him better than anyone else.
• The World Is Not Enough: Elektra King has her own father assassinated and his oil pipeline attacked to deflect suspicion and set up her own plans. Having once been abandoned to the terrorist Renard, Elektra seduced him to the point he is utterly loyal to her, using him to sow chaos while she remains behind the scenes. Intending on causing a nuclear meltdown to enrich her own pipeline, while also gaining revenge on those who abandoned her, Elektra easily outwits the heroes throughout the film, constantly a step ahead of all MI6.

Reboot series

Examples

• "Mr. White" is the most often seen member of Quantum. Handling most of Quantum's business between terrorist organization to ensure Quantum's money is put in the proper channels while keeping Quantum beneath the notice of the world's intelligence agencies. When Le Chiffre loses a great deal of money, White helps him to attempt to regain it while masterminding the betrayal of intelligence agent Vesper Lynd with the aide of her lover, a Quantum agent who pretends to be a captive. After executing Le Chiffre, White later escapes custody and remains behind Dominic Greene for the plot to seize control of Bolivia's water supply. Upon the ascendancy of SPECTRE, White's conscience causes him to break from the group over its leader Oberhauser trafficking women and children, though not before he does all he can to ensure his daughter's safety, finally entrusting her to Bond himself before ending his own life.
• Skyfall: Tiago Rodriguez was once M's finest agent, whom she betrayed to the Chinese where he was tortured to the point of attempting a bungled suicide which left him hideously disfigured. Escaping as "Raoul Silva", he joined SPECTRE under his new name and became a cyber-terrorist who plays the entirety of MI6 perfectly. Using a series of terrorist attacks to lure out Bond, Silva proceeds to play mind games with him from their meetings, and allows his own capture so his encrypted laptop allows his men access to MI-6's systems. Escaping MI-6's custody, Silva hunts down M with the intention of achieving a mutual suicide with her, to end his pain with hers and secure his revenge against the woman he sees as a mother who betrayed him. One of Bond's most effective and brilliant adversaries, Silva even dies achieving almost everything he sets out to do, with M following him to death moments later.
• No Time to Die: Lyutsifer Safin was the son of chemists supplying weapons to SPECTRE until the day their usefulness came to an end. Disfigured in an attempt on his family's life, Safin waited and plotted until the day he could achieve his vengeance. Sparing the life of the daughter of Mr. White—his family's killer—Madeleine Swann, Safin went on to prepare a nanobot virus to make the world "a little tidier". Tricking MI6 and SPECTRE alike by reprogramming the virus to wipe SPECTRE out and organizing the death of Blofeld himself, Safin is able to craft his own operation with preparation to distribute the virus and kill millions so he may control the world and better it by freeing it of the threats of terrorism for good. Even in defeat, he forces James Bond's own Heroic Sacrifice by infecting him so Bond might never touch his lover Madeleine or their child ever again.

Dynamite Comics works

Examples

• James Bond himself is the accomplished agent of MI6, lacking the more unsavoury traits of his literary counterpart while being no less suave, cunning and ruthless. A debonair thrillseeker while still loyal to Queen and Country, Bond remains unflinching in the face of danger, using his signature charm and wit to win his freedom on multiple occasions. Bond also has no qualms fighting dirty when the situation calls for it, defeating physically superior foes with whatever tools he has at his disposal. One example includes an assassin unable to experience pleasure, who Bond manages to defeat by overdosing him with morphine. On another occasion where he's forced to work for Ernst Stavro Blofeld to kill a traitor within SPECTRE, Bond proceeds to play both sides against each other, causing a civil war that weakens the organisation and leaves Blofeld temporarily out of commission. Thwarting the ambitions of terrorist organisations and criminal empires alike, James Bond truly lives up to his status as a superspy for Her Majesty's Secret Service.
• Black Box: Selah Sax is a former member of Group 13, a British black-ops team that does the government's dirty work. After a mission accidentally results in several civilian casualties, including children, a guilt-ridden and disillusioned Sax fakes her death. To atone for her past actions, Sax becomes a freelancer who targets assassins and anyone who is a threat to her country. Crossing paths with James Bond after killing one of his targets, Sax teams up with him to track down a black box that contains compromising global secrets. Throughout their time together, Sax proves her guile and resourcefulness by saving Bond on two separate occasions. Sax later convinces Bond to destroy the black box rather than retrieve it for MI6 and the British government, successfully averting a potential world war in the process.

Literature

• Hurricane Gold: El Huracán is the affable ruler of Lagrimas Negras. Formerly a slave, El Huracán eventually created a resort where wanted criminals can seek refuge, while he slowly drains their wealth before forcing them to work for him when they finally run out of money. Introduced bluffing a man who is plotting to escape into showing his hand, El Huracán grows to admire the young James Bond and attempts to groom him into becoming his successor. When James and his friend Precious get themselves sent to El Huracán's impossible Death Course, El Huracán tries to talk them out of it, before graciously letting them go free when they beat the course and avoiding any repercussions for his immoral actions.

Video Games

• 007 Legends: Franz Sanchez is a powerful drug lord who lacks his film incarnation’s needless cruelty while maintaining his charm and intelligence. Sanchez runs a criminal organization that spans the globe, having his hand in money laundering in Asia, and the theft of American weapons in the Middle East. Sanchez has developed a way of smuggling his cocaine into the US by mixing it in with gasoline, a strategy that has kept the DEA from catching him. Sanchez has also partnered himself with terrorists who he smuggles into the US by having them drive his gasoline trucks. When he discovers that the CIA is trying to infiltrate his organization, Sanchez attacks and nearly kills Felix Leiter. When CIA Agent Pam Bouvier infiltrates his base, Sanchez uncovers her true intentions and nearly kills her, only being stopped by Bond’s interference.

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