The 20 Greatest James Bond Villains Ever

After several release date pushes, the latest James Bond film, "No Time to Die," is set to hit theaters in October. The 25th installment in the long-running franchise comes with heightened expectations, and not just because of the delays. It marks the final appearance of Daniel Craig as 007 before a new actor slips into the role of the martini-sipping super spy.

While "No Time To Die" won't end the ongoing debate about who the best Bond is and who should take up the role next, it's exciting to see Academy-Award winning "Bohemian Rhapsody" star Rami Malek join the series as the villain Safrin. Malek marks the third time in a row that Bond's main antagonist has been played by an Oscar winner, following Javier Bardem in "Skyfall" and Christoph Waltz in "Spectre."

Bond films are often as good as their antagonists. The first film, "Dr. No," even took its title from the saga's first cinematic antagonist. In the 50 years since, different types of Bond villains have emerged; some are scheming masterminds who lay out meticulous traps, others are imposing henchmen, and are some femme fatales who fall for 007's charms. Each era of Bond has distinct villains, too — Roger Moore's adversaries tend to be wackier, while Daniel Craig has faced off against more realistic threats.

Bond's rogue's gallery is extensive, but these 20 characters stand out as his most fearsome and memorable challenges yet.

"Goldfinger" is one of the most important installments in the James Bond franchise. While the first two films, "Dr. No" and "From Russia With Love," were popular and drew praise for Sean Connery's charismatic performance, the third installment, "Goldfinger," launched the series into blockbuster territory and established many of the franchise's recurring tropes, including the high-tech gadgets, exotic locations, self-aware humor, lavish musical numbers, and of course, eccentric and imposing villains.

In a way, every subsequent Bond villain lives in Auric Goldfinger's shadow. A villain the audience loved to hate, Goldfinger is a boastful and cruel businessman whose rudeness provides a stark contrast to 007's slick charms. Bond discovers Goldfinger's deceitful nature early on when he catches Auric cheating at golf, but soon learns that he's up to more than just unsportsmanlike conduct. Goldfinger plots to corrupt the U.S. Government's federal gold supply and crash the global economy, creating chaos in which he could emerge as a world leader. Although previous Bond villains were involved with SPECTRE, Goldfinger's evil plans are entirely his own.

Goldfinger's venomous threat, "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" is one of the most iconic moments in the series. Bond deceives the prideful villain into explaining his plan, a moment that many Bond films would later replicate. Although Bond producers allegedly considered Orson Welles for the part, German actor Gert Fröbe did a terrific job capturing Goldfinger's menacing aura.

Although most Bond villains only last for a single film, SPECTRE's leader Ernst Stavaro Blofeld has popped up in the series eight times. Donald Pleseance first played him in "You Only Live Twice," in which Bond leads MI6 in a strike on SPECTRE's underground lair. Telly Savalas stepped into the role opposite George Lzanby's Bond in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," where he survives the destruction of SPECTRE's headquarters and begins conducting brainwashing experiments in an icy fortress.

When Connery came back to Bond for "Diamonds Are Forever," Blofeld also returned, although this time Charles Gray portrayed him (explained via Blofeld's face shifting abilities). Blofeld appeared to be defeated, despite a brief cameo by John Hollis in "For Your Eyes Only" that's played for laughs, but Max Von Sydow gave him a more menacing touch in the unofficial Bond film "Never Say Never Again."

Blofeld finally reemerged in 2015's "Spectre" with a huge revelation. Not only was the twist that Chrisoph Waltz was playing the iconic character a surprise, but had a secret history: Blofeld and Bond were once adopted brothers. It will be interesting to see where Waltz's version of the character goes next when he reappears in "No Time To Die."

Blofeld is always a menacing presence, employing different henchmen to track down Bond. Blofeld's elaborate schemes and secretive meetings also helped inspire the character Dr. Evil from the "Austin Powers" series.

Few actors have played as many classic bad guys as Christopher Lee. The legendary British actor has embodied characters like Sauraman in "The Lord of the Rings," Count Dooku in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy, Rochefort in "The Three Musketeers," and Dracula in the '50s Hammer horror films. As such, Lee was a natural choice to play one of Ian Fleming's most notorious villains, Francisco Scaramanga, in "The Man with the Golden Gun."

A talented strategist, Francisco Scaramanga lures potential enemies into a funhouse on his private estate, where he puts them through a set of sadistic traps. Scaramanga is able to easily dispatch gangsters and thugs, and seeks a real threat whose marksmanship rivals his own. He revels in the chance to face off with someone of Bond's reputation. Bond is tracking down a weapons supply shipment in Beirut when he discovers golden bullets left behind at the scenes of mysterious assassinations, leading him to Scaramanga.

Although the later Moore films used goofier villains, Scaramanga poses a legitimate threat to 007. While he employs a criminal gang that helps him track down Bond, including his personal assistant Nick Nack (Hervé Villechaize), Scaramanga is imposing because he prefers to carry out his crimes personally. The final shootout between Bond and Scaramanga is among the most exciting finales in the entire series.

Without "Dr. No," there would be no Bond franchise. Although "Dr. No" wasn't the first novel in Ian Fleming's series, the film contains many iconic moments, including Sean Connery's introduction as "Bond.... James Bond," the shot of Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) emerging from the ocean, and the debut of the international criminal syndicate known as the Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion, aka SPECTRE.

SPECTRE is introduced through Dr. Julius No (Joseph Wiseman), a brilliant scientist who aims to disrupt a U.S. space mission. Secluded within a Caribbean lair, Dr. No conducts secret atomic research with his hands scarred by his dangerous experiments. Like many of the SPECTRE villains, Dr. No doubts Bond's intelligence due to the secret agent's outgoing persona, and his arrogance seals his fate as he callously brags to Bond about his plot to destroy the island.

Wiseman added depth to what could have been a generic evil scientist; Dr. No was spurned by rejections from the U.S. and Soviet governments before joining SPECTRE, and he seeks to convince Bond of a genius that he felt has been ignored. "Dr. No" also featured the first iconic death scene in the series, as the titular character plunges to his death in a vat of acid.

Among the precedents established in "Goldfinger" is an evil henchman who works alongside the main antagonist. While Auric Goldfinger himself prefers not to get his hands dirty, his ruthless bodyguard Oddjob (Harold Sakata) had none of those reservations. Compared to the loud boastfulness of his employer, Oddjob is nearly silent, and his wordlessness only unnerves Bond as he uncovers the plot to attack the U.S. gold supply.

Oddjob is responsible for some of the most shocking deaths in the series; his spinning metal hat snaps the neck of his enemies, and he suffocates Bond's romantic partner Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton) before painting her solid gold. Oddjob is menacing in his blind fanaticism for Goldfinger, acting as his personal driver and golf caddy, and their combined threat offers two very different types of villains for Bond to go up against. Even during the final confrontation, in which Goldfinger's bomb is on the verge of detonating, Oddjob shows unwavering loyalty to his employer.

Sakata's constant smile added personality to the character, but like many Bond villains, it's his overconfidence that allows Bond to emerge victorious. Although "Goldfinger" introduced many new gadgets for Bond himself, Oddjob is the one who relies too heavily on technology, as he meets his doom by getting electrocuted by his metal hat.

"A View To A Kill" is often cited as one of the worst Bond films. At 57 years of age, Moore was no longer believable as the superspy. The film's excessive disregard for civilian life also makes it difficult to watch. However, "A View To A Kill" is self-aware, and acknowledges how ridiculous the story is. So does a gloriously hammy Christopher Walken, who brings main antagonist Max Zorin to life.

Zorin is the result of a botched Nazi experiment that granted him super intelligence and an obsession with violence. Zorin uses his highly developed mind to create a successful business out of technological manufacturing and oil investments, but he sees Silicon Valley as a competitor that he needs to eliminate. Constructing a giant blimp with the firepower capacity to trigger the San Andreas and Hayward Faults, Zorin is willing to personally gun down miners during his attack.

Walken has no illusions about how silly the character is, and seems to have a blast ejecting his underlings from his blimp and yelling one-liners like, "Does anyone else want to drop out?" Although it's clear that both Walken and Moore are heavily relying on their stunt doubles, their last battle over the Golden Gate Bridge is entertaining nonetheless. Walken redeems one of the weaker Bond movies with his wacky performance.

Chrisopher Walken's zany performance as Zorin in "A View To A Kill" risked turning Roger Moore's last Bond flick into an outright parody, but thankfully Zorin's chief assassin, May Day (Grace Jones), added some actual suspense to the story. Zorin spends much of the film scheming from afar, but May Day actively keeps up with Bond's globetrotting and foils his attempts to uncover the plot above the Golden Gate Bridge.

May Day demonstrates her skills early on when she assassinates a French detective who's passing information to Bond and his personal horse trainer, Sir Godfrey Tibbett (Patrick Macnee). While Day and Zorin are romantically intimate, she is far from his mindless servant, and values loyalty among her personal assistants, Jenny Flex (Alison Doody) and Pan Ho (Papillon Soo). When May Day realizes that she won't be spared from Zorin's bloodlust, she switches sides and helps Bond rescue innocent civilians.

Although Red Grant provided Bond with one of his greatest physical challenges, he wasn't the mastermind behind the attempt on Bond's life. SPECTRE's top agent, Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), was tasked by Blofeld to get vengeance for Dr. No's death, and she exhausts her resources by deceiving Russian agents into helping her find 007. Klebb has an interesting backstory: she was a former agent at Russia's counter-intelligence outfit, SMERSH, who was emboldened by SPECTRE's radicalism.

Klebb's inventiveness wasn't limited to outsourcing field agents. After Grant's defeat, she emerges to personally threaten Bond. Thinking he could finally relax on a romantic getaway in Venice, Bond is deceived when Klebb shows up at the last minute, disguised as a maid. To stop her, Bond needs the help of his Russian ally Tatiana Romanova, who overpowers Klebb during the thrilling final action set piece.

The '60s Bond films played with Cold War anxieties, expressed through their villains. For example, "Thunderball" examines the threat of a covert submarine attack. In the movie, SPECTRE plots to initiate a nuclear war, and tasks Blofeld's second-in-command Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) with striking the first blow. Largo is a modern pirate, meeting Bond at a shady card game and wearing an eyepatch to hide an old wartime injury. A former black market thief, Largo's disregard for civilization landed him a leading position at SPECTRE.

The adaptation of "Thunderball" had a complicated history thanks to a lawsuit by Ian Fleming's co-writers Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham. As a result, Taliafilm produced an unofficial remake of the movie in 1983 titled "Never Say Never Again," in which Connery returned for a final performance as 007. Although a divisive film, Klaus Maria Brandauer is certainly a highlight as an alternate version of Largo who has risen through the ranks to become the leader of SPECTRE.

Although it's one of the weaker installments in the series, "The World Is Not Enough" features a fascinating villain, Sophie Marceau's oil baroness Elektra King. She was the first lead female antagonist who wasn't a traditional Bond girl, as she instead enjoyed a romance with her henchman, Victor Zokas (Robert Carlyle). In fact, King is the one who seduces Bond with her charms. She also tricks MI6 into protecting her, claiming that Zokas is threatening her life.

King has a fascinating backstory, as she blames M (Judi Dench) for the death of her father, and aims to destroy a critical oil pipeline in order to raise the value of her business. For Bond films, that's a big landmark: "The World Is Not Enough" was the first time that M got directly involved with the action. Despite her cruelty, Marceau makes Zokas somewhat sympathetic even in her final moments, as Bond is forced to kill her while she's unarmed.