James Bond is one of the longest-running movie franchises of all time. Since 1962, Bond has gripped us all with his daring missions, high tech gadgets, and terrifying villains. Due to the fact that the film series has been running for so long, there is a wealth of villains in Bond’s rogues’ gallery. Some of these villains are laughably bad, with schemes that have been parodied over the years, while others can be creepy and unnerving, imposing, or just outright scary. The upcoming Bond film certainly appears to have an unnerving villain, with Rami Malek’s masked Safin looking incredibly scary in the trailer released thus far.
This article will list the 10 scariest Bond Villains.
Mr. Wint And Mr. Kidd
Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd represent a strange, progressive yet problematic moment in Bond’s history. It is heavily implied that the two are gay, with the two assassins holding hands at times and when Mr. Kidd suggested that Miss Case was attractive ‘for a lady’, Mr. Wint looked offended. On the one hand, their representation is homophobic due to the fact that they fall into gay stereotypes, on the other hand, their sexuality isn’t even mentioned, meaning it is just a part of their character.
Their creepiness, however, comes from their conversations with each other and how they tried to kill Bond. The way they speak is unnerving and they tried to kill Bond by locking him in a coffin, ready to be cremated.
Dr. Julius No
Dr. No is one of the most memorable and unique Bond villains of all time. Dr. No is a nuclear scientist working for SPECTRE, plotting to sabotage an American rocket for SPECTRE. Not only does Dr. No have terrifying weaponry, including a tank, on his island, but he also has extremely strong prosthetic hands.
While the hands aren’t particularly dexterous, they are more than capable of crushing objects, as the film shows clearly with Dr. No crushing a metal figurine.
Renard
Renard is an underrated Bond villain. While the villain did show up in the World is not Enough, a maligned Bond film, Robert Carlyle did a fantastic job of bringing the character to life. Renard is a terrorist who was shot in the head by another Mi6 agent, rather than killing Renard, it simply cut off the pain receptors in his brain, meaning that he feels no more pain.
Aside from the fact that he is difficult to fight as he feels no pain, Renard is also a sadistic character. He enjoys punishing his henchmen if they fail, with many of his henchmen killing themselves if they fail in order to avoid Renard’s punishment.
Alec Trevelyan
Alec Trevelyan isn’t only one of the best Bond villains of all time, but he is also one of the scariest. While initially an Mi6 agent, Trevelyan felt betrayed after a mission with Bond left him scarred and believed dead by both James Bond and the rest of Mi6.
As a consequence of the betrayal, Trevelyan took a villainous turn and plotted to disrupt the UK’s economy, stealing millions from the Bank of England using the Goldeneye satellite.
Raoul Silva
Raoul Silva’s plot in Skyfall was largely a revenge mission against M, which ultimately resulted in both her death and his own. While one of the scariest things Raoul Silva does involves removing his fake jaw, even if we put this aside he is a terrifying villain.
Silva is the head of an organization that is run based on fear of him. We see Sévérine twitch in fear at the mere mention of his name, he is certainly a terrifying villain.
Donald ‘Red’ Grant
Donald ‘Red’ Grant was a thematic ‘dark mirror’ to Bond. Red Grant was an agent working for SPECTRE and the Aryan henchman became a bit of a cliche in the Bond franchise after this, with henchmen such as Stamper being cut from the same cloth as Red Grant.
What made Red Grant so scary was his ruthlessness, as well as his method of execution. At the start of From Russia With Love, we see Red Grant strangling someone wearing a Bond mask, an unnerving scene that makes us worry for Bond’s life.
Oddjob
Oddjob is one of the most iconic Bond villains. The character was the henchman and personal bodyguard of Auric Goldfinger, yet stole a fair amount of the limelight from the titular villain of Goldfinger. While Oddjob is most well known for his iconic razer brimmed bowler hat, it is his personality that makes him so intimidating.
Throughout the film, Oddjob never says a word making him a silent assassin. We never know what he is thinking and he appears to be unable to reason with so, if you wish to stop him, you will have to fight him.
Baron Samedi
Baron Samedi represents a foray into the supernatural for the Bond franchise. Throughout Live and Let Die, we cannot tell if the character does actually possess legitimate voodoo powers, or if he simply pretends to use dark magic as a form of intimidation.
One of the most terrifying aspects of this character is his maniacal laugh, which we see several times throughout the movie, most notably at the end of the film when it is revealed that Baron Samedi survived his apparent death and heavily implying he is a supernatural villain.
Jaws
Along with Oddjob, Jaws is one of the most iconic Bond henchmen of all time, with the character appearing in both the Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. The character is most well known for his stainless steel teeth that could bite through almost anything and his gargantuan stature.
Naturally, it is the character’s huge size and stainless steel teeth that make the character so terrifying. No one would want to see Jaws smiling at them in a dark alley.
Blofeld
No one else could have topped this list. While many different actors have portrayed the infamous and mysterious Ernst Stavro Blofeld and head of SPECTRE, they have all captured his terrifying and intimidating character (with or without a white cat).
Not only does Blofeld have a scary scar across his face, but his tone of voice and the fact that he is the head of an incredibly powerful organization only makes him scarier.
