10. Camille Montes
Played by: Olga Kurylenko
Appears in: Quantum of Solace
Like many other Bond Girls, Camille’s own quest for revenge intersects with 007’s mission, and they team up. Unlike many other Bond Girls, her vendetta is given its proper due in the film. Camille is notable for being the first major Bond Girl to not sleep with Bond while being entirely willing to use sex in order to accomplish her goal. In a way, she’s more like Bond than she is like other Bond Girls. She has spent years on her own journey, and it’s refreshing that this plot point isn’t merely folded into Bond’s own plans. Camille isn’t his accessory, nor is she dispensable. While Bond is on his own reckless and messy path to revenge, Camille is by his side and on equal footing, or at least as much equal footing as these films tend to allow.
9. Elektra King
Played by: Sophie Marceau
Appears in: The World Is Not Enough
While there’s many a Bond Girl who starts bad and flops once seduced, Elektra is a rare and welcome example of a baddie who completely fooled Bond, seduced him, and double-crossed him. She’s the first female primary antagonist of the franchise, and Marceau absolutely rises to the occasion in her performance. Elektra might have ultimately been thwarted, but you gotta hand it to her, she caused a hell of a lot of destruction along the way and was still mourned by Bond. It takes quite a woman to do all that.
8. Wai Lin
Played by: Michelle Yeoh
Appears in: Tomorrow Never Dies
An early draft of Die Another Die included a return for Wai Lin, which would have marked the second occasion where a Bond Girl came back for another film. Though this plot point was ultimately dropped before production, there’s a reason she almost became an exception to the rule: she RULES. Despite a third act development requiring Bond to save her (a trope that the franchise probably won’t ever shake), Wai Lin spends the vast majority of the film proving herself as a smart and savvy Chinese spy with fight skills that Bond should probably take notes on. Even when he sees her as a backseat driver, we all know she really belongs at the wheel.
7. Pussy Galore
Played by: Honor Blackman, voiced by Natasha Little
Appears in: Goldfinger
There’s a reason Pussy Galore is a legend, and it’s not just because she has the most “how did they get away with that?” name of any Bond Girl. She’s a lover and a fighter, the leader of her own flying circus, and the reason that Bond detours from his mission. She’s crafty, beautiful, and though she is ultimately overpowered (yikes) by Bond’s advances, she does a better job than most of staying on a level playing field with him. Henchwomen-turned-allies don’t really get any better than that.
6. Xenia Onatopp
Played by: Famke Janssen
Appears in: GoldenEye
Xenia is a Soviet assassin who enthusiastically murders men by suffocating them with her thighs. What else do we need to say?
5. Sylvia Trench
Played by: Eunice Gayson, dubbed by Nikki van der Zyl
Appears in: Dr. No; From Russia With Love
The first Bond Girl of the entire franchise. A gambling 007 first meets Sylvia at Le Cercle Club in London. After prompting Connery’s inaugural “Bond, James Bond,” Sylvia proves she’s more than just the novelty of firsts: she’s a golfer, a gambler, a pleasure-seeker. Hell, she even manages to break into Bond’s apartment for a booty call. Sylvia was originally conceived as a love interest who would return regularly as a running gag, always left in the lurch when Bond would get whisked away for another mission. While naturally, we’re in favor of Sylvia finding a more attentive partner, her teasing, assertive energy is missed.
4. Pam Bouvier
Played by: Carey Lowell
Appears in: Licence to Kill
Pam is introduced by pulling a “that’s not a gun — this is a gun” bit on Bond and she only gets better from there. She’s a fast-talking Floridian, a pixie cut queen, and a former Army pilot who can hold her own in a bar fight. She’s a through and through action heroine who doesn’t fall into the trope of the badass emotionless action heroine. Ms. Bouvier has her fair share of jealousy towards Lupe, but her charms can be seen from a mile away, and it’s no wonder Bond chose her in the end. Who wouldn’t?
3. Tatiana Romanova
Played by: Daniela Bianchi, voiced by Barbara Jefford
Appears in: From Russia With Love
Oh Tatiana: ballerina, cipher clerk, patriot. What’s not to love? An accidental pawn in SPECTRE’s genius plan to undermine the British Secret Service by making two hot people work together, Tatiana is charming and capable if a little bit naive. We bet her back must hurt from having to shoulder all of From Russia With Love‘s emotional stakes. Tatiana is one of the few love interests from the Connery era who feels like more than a convenient fling, and her relationship with Bond is genuinely involving and believable. Thanks, SPECTRE! Sometimes getting in bed with the enemy is the right thing to do.
2. Vesper Lynd
Played by: Eva Green
Appears in: Casino Royale
You never forget your first, and for Bond, it’s clear that few can compare to the woman who touched, then broke, then hardened his heart. She sized him up the moment she met him and was prepared to stay a step ahead until she fell for him, and, of course, he for her. Eva Green impeccably brings Vesper to life with wit, heart, and a perfect balance of fortitude and frailty. Green is one of the best actresses to star opposite 007, a fact complemented by her beauty and her off the charts chemistry with Daniel Craig. She’s as nuanced as Bond Girls come, exhibit A being that of all the women to ever betray him, she’s the most memorable, the one that haunts him whether he’s willing to admit it or not. More than Bond’s license to kill or any mission, Vesper is his origin story. James Bond is James Bond because of the woman he loved and lost. It might sound cliché, but — for better or worse, as the Craig films have demonstrated — all roads lead back to her.
1. Tracy Bond
Played by: Diana Rigg
Appears in: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
If you’ve been patiently waiting to press play on Tina Turner’s “The Best,” now’s the time. Tracy doesn’t just match Bond, she compliments him and does the impossible: she gives him a reason to care about someone other than himself. Tracy is a force to be reckoned with and it’s all Bond can do to keep up with her wit, her will, and her contagious desire for a life lived on her terms. It’s fitting that Tracy exists in an atypical Bond film alongside Lazenby’s sole turn as 007. She’s a special Bond Girl for a special movie — lightning in a bottle that can never be caught again. Of course, Tracy burned too bright to last in Bond’s world, but while she was there, she was absolutely unforgettable. Bond falls hard and fast and we’re right there with him: Tracy isn’t just the gold standard for Bond Girls; she’s the gold standard full stop.
Related Topics: Bondathon, James Bond
