The name’s Bond, James Bond – is this perhaps the most recognisable single sentence currently in existence in the English-speaking world? We think so. James Bond is a cultural icon and even now as it prepares to enter its newest phase under the umbrella of Amazon, there perhaps is no other fictional character who captures our imaginations quite like 007.
With that being said, there are several rather unique aspects to James Bond films which capture viewers’ attention. When the franchise first began back in the 1960s, the main drawing points were the exotic locations. The earliest Bond films saw Bond in locations such as Jamaica, Istanbul and Switzerland. To audiences back then, these countries were like different worlds. Even the places that Bond visited were an attraction in themselves. Think about the glitz and glamour of the numerous casinos visited by Bond whilst he drank his now-famous Vodka Martini, shaken, not stirred, of course. To get a better idea of how past viewers may have felt when they saw Bond visit the kind of casinos shown in the movies, you can take a look at some live casino sites recommended by Top Live Casinos.
Slowly, the attractions of bond films evolved; the title music was a huge draw and something of a boon to whichever artist was given the opportunity to produce a soundtrack for a Bond film. Bond girls became a thing too and still are. To be a Bond girl was the dream of many actresses in those days. At the same time, everyone wanted to know who the next maniac villains were going to be and this is also where the Henchmen come in too. Who can forget Oddjob from GoldFinger?
There is so much we can talk about here at NerdBot when it comes to James Bond, but for this article we are going to take a look at some of the most charismatic and eye-catching hench-men. This list will not just be restricted to the main villains; we will include henchmen and assistants to the main bad guys in this list too. So, sit back and enjoy as we bring to you some of the most extraordinary and unforgettable Bond villains.
OddJob
We have already mentioned him once and no Bond villains list is complete without him. OddJob is the steel-rimmed bowler hat wearing henchman of the villainous Goldfinger, a megalomaniac who wanted to control the world supply of Gold. Here’s a fun fact for you: the hat was especially created for the film and was made by Lock and Co hat company.
So, what made OddJob so special? He is certainly an enigma – OddJob did not have a single line of dialog throughout the film and he was something of a juxtaposition for the flamboyant and extroverted Bond. Whilst both men are exceptionally dangerous, OddJob displays a cold, grounded and silent toughness in comparison to Bond’s more charismatic character.
OddJob was played by actor Harold Sakata, an American Olympic weightlifter, wrestler and actor of Japanese descent. The reason OddJob doesn’t speak is because of a cleft palate that renders his speech unintelligible to all apart from his boss, Auric Goldfinger. Although, it is said that the actor couldn’t speak English, so that may be a reason too. Incidentally, his name is OddJob because of the number of different jobs he did for Goldfinger. These jobs included being his chauffeur, bodyguard and general manservant.
OddJob was immensely loyal to Goldfinger which ended up being his downfall. Funnily enough, OddJob was not to be bested by Bond and it was only through the help of electricity that allowed Bond to beat OddJob.
Tee-Hee Johnson
I am not sure why but whenever I think of villains from the James Bond movies, Tee-Hee Johnson and his smiling face always appear in my minds-eye. Tee-Hee, who worked for the drug lord Mr Big aka Dr Kananga, appeared as one of Bond’s main foils in Live and Let Die which starred Roger Moore in his first appearance as the secret agent following on from George Lazenby.
Although Tee-Hee did not have a huge amount of screen-time, the actor who played him Julius Harris made the most of what he did have. Funnily enough, we haven’t even spoken about one of the features which makes Tee Hee so recognisable yet, his right arm is made of metal! Tee Hee tells Bond during the film that his own arm was bitten off by a crocodile named Albert.
In the novel version of Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming, Tee Hee actually breaks several of Bond’s fingers using his metal hand. One of my favourite endings to any Bond film also comes in Live and Let Die, because just as you think that Bond has succeeded and is riding a train off into the sunset with Solitaire, Tee Hee shows up again with his trademark smile and the excellent dialogue “Mr Bond, it’s good to see you again.” Bond obviously comes out victorious when he uses Tee Hee’s metal arm against him before throwing him out of the moving train, but Tee Hee will always be one of the top Bond villains for me.
Xenia Onatopp
First of all, Goldeneye has some truly outstanding Bond villains and henchmen. First of all, there is Alec Trevelyan the traitorous former British secret service agent turned villain. On top of that, you have the Russian General Ourumov and then the semi-villian Boris Grishenko played by the talented Alan Cumming. However, I believe that the alluring and tremendously sadistic Xenia Onatopp tops them all.
Onatopp’s opening scene is unforgettable where we see and hear her in an intimate situation with an unknown man who we later learn is a Canadian Navy Admiral called Chuck Farrel. The man seems to be enjoying himself at first but that quickly stops when Onatopp uses her thighs to crush the Navy Commander’s ribs. Onatopp derives sexual satisfaction from killing whether it is with her thighs or with guns. When she assists General Ourumov to steal the GoldenEye key, she murders dozens of innocent people in order to ensure there are no witnesses to her and Ourumov’s crime. Her obvious sexual satisfaction with the killings even disgusts Ourumov!
Onatopp is without a doubt the most vicious and sadistic henchwoman in the entire series. In fact, no other woman has come close to her. Onatopp is played by Famke Janssen who said she nearly had a heart attack after she first read the script and learned how her character would kill her victims.
Onatopp has no real reason for killing her victims other than from the pleasure she takes from it which is why the character is considered to be the only Bond girl who is pure evil. She is certainly the number one femme fatale on this list and deserves her place as one of the absolute best Bond villains.
Jaws
No Bond Henchmen villains list is complete without the iconic Jaws. The reason Jaws is so far down on this list though is because he became something of a comic relief character by the end, although comic relief was something of a component of the majority of Roger Moore’s Bond films.
With that being said, all of Jaws’ scenes prior to his last few from Moonraker were brilliant and Jaws is really one of the only bad guys who could stand up to Bond without coming out the loser. Furthermore, Jaws was one of only a few villains who appeared in more than one James Bond film. Jaws was first seen in The Spy Who Loved Me and then Moonraker after that.
The closest Bond came to defeating Jaws was when he tricked him using a giant magnet before sending Jaws tumbling down into shark infested waters. Of course, a shark was no match for Jaws who used his teeth to great effect. Speaking of his teeth, those were the obvious standout features as well as his height. The man who played Jaws, Richard Kiel stood at an impressive 7.15ft tall.
Here’s some interesting trivia for you; Richard Kiel could only wear jaws’ steel capped teeth for a few minutes at a time because they caused him a lot of pain to wear.
Rosa Klebb
Last but certainly not least is the former Soviet Counter Terrorist SMERSH Operative turned SPECTRE agent Rosa Klebb. Klebb appears in the From Russia with Love film and is also known as ‘Number 3’. She uses Chess master Kronsteen’s plan to obtain the Lektor which is a decoding device which has high-value to MI5. Klebb also trains and uses the assassin Red Grant to retrieve the Lektor and to kill James Bond.
Unfortunately for SPECTRE, although Kronsteen’s plan works to perfection, it is Red Grant who ruins the mission by being too over-confident. Grant has Bond right where he wants him but decides to play and torment Bond first (which is the downfall of many Bond villains), this allows Bond to re-gain the upper hand using one of Q’s gadgets.
It is only really at the end of the film where Klebb becomes memorable. Disguised as a hotel maid, Klebb attempts to steal the Lektor from right under Bond’s nose. When Bond realises who she is, Klebb brings out her signature weapon – a poison tipped shoe. One hit from such a weapon would immediately render Bond incapacitated. Fortunately for Bond, he manages to avoid the shoe.
I truly hope that the poison tipped shoe is seen again as the new era of James Bond begins under Amazon.
Final Words
Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed our list of the best and most memorable James Bond villains. Personally, I always like a Bond film more if there are memorable henchmen or women in them. I do not like to take Bond films too seriously, so the more memorable and downright crazy the villain, the better.
For craziness, Xenia Onatopp definitely takes the top spot for craziest villain. But then, how can we forget the likes of OddJob, Jaws and Klebb when they come with utterly unique signature weapons.
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