10 Greatest Bond Girls of All Time – Ranked

James Bond is known for two things – the hyper exclusive Bond Gadgets and the trademark Bond Girls, a staple of every James Bond movie.

Over the years, the onus has always been on 007 to get the job done.

But the Bond Girls are also equally responsible for the franchise’s success.

They provide the X-Factor the suave James Bond movie would sorely lack if it is without one.

Here are the greatest Bond Girls that ever were, are and will be.

Britt Ekland – Mary Goodnight (The Man With the Golden Gun)

Her character might not have been the brightest of the bunch.

She did shine in The Man With the Golden Gun with her acting chops alone.

Britt Ekland is one of the most famous actresses of her time. You could say she was her era’s Angelina Jolie.

The James Bond movie was such a hit because one of the shoulders on whose star power the movie rode into the Box Office sunset was Britt Ekland’s.

Both quirky and charming, Ekland’s Mary Goodnight remained as the recipient of some of the harshest punishments in the movie.

James Bond pushed her into a cupboard to stop Andrea Anders from spotting her.

The hitman Scaramanga captures her and forces her to remain in a bikini at all times. It is her eventual revenge arc that sweetens the pie.

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Honor Blackman – Pussy Galore (Goldfinger)

Maybe it was that ridiculously derivative name that gave her a spot on this list.

But we cannot deny the fact that Honor Blackman outshone a lot of her peers when she portrayed the role of pussy Galore in Goldfinger.

One interesting fact about her – Blackman’s character is said to be based on the real-life of Fleming’s romantic interest – Blanchette Blackwell.

In the source material, Pussy Galore is actually a black-haired lesbian who leads a team of cat burglars.

In the movie, she is blonde and not lesbian at all. Pussy Galore started out as a secondary antagonist but Bond’s charm turned her to the good side and the rest is history.

Denise Richards – Christmas Jones (The World is Not Enough)

With all the good looking women James Bond waltzed around within all these years, it is easy to forget not all of them are just pretty faces.

Some of the characters are over-qualified for the role of a Bind Girl.

Denise Richards’ Christmas Jones was a nuclear physicist and knew the inner sanctums of the smallest particle in the universe, something James Bond could never know.

While her understanding of nuclear chemistry neither helped stop Elektra King or incite any meaningful chemistry between her and Bond, she was played by the ever-green beauty that is Denise Richards.

Also, her name invited a lot of Santa Claus puns. She even asked Bond not to make one. Only if the 007 had listened!!

Daniela Bianchi – Tatiana Romanova (From Russia With Love)

You are certainly entitled to your own opinion but if you say you do not like From Russia With Love, then don’t call yourself a James Bond fan.

One of the many highlights of the movie was Tatiana Romanova, the blonde straight-faced Soviet Intelligence Officer played by Daniela Bianchi.

Daniela Bianchi is a former Universe Contestant. She has Italian roots.

Her English would come out with a distinct accent that was not Russian so the movie hired Barbara Jefford to voice her lines in From Russia With Love.

Her character is a former Ballerina hailing from the acclaimed Boloshoi theatre.

She is all about loyalty, devotion, and discipline.

Ursula Andress – Honey Rider (Dr No)

In Dr No, Bond had already been around before he met the stunningly beautiful Honey Rider, played by Ursula Andress in the movie.

The scene where the strikingly hot Andress emerges out of the water in a bikini became a gold standard for male fantasy for Bond Girls for the many years to come for the franchise.

Honey Rider had a tragic backstory. She was raped when she was a child. She has a childlike innocence she carries everywhere.

She mentions killing her rapist and does not even flinch at the fact that she just confessed to murder.

Ursula’s character is unaware of her own incredible beauty.

Despite a lack of skills, she will always be the original Bond Girl, the one that paved the way for others to follow.

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Izabella Scorupco – Natalya Simonova (Golden Eye)

Yet another Bond Girl with abilities that James Bond actually found useful while trying to save the world, Izabella Scorupco excelled as Natalya Simonova, an IT Professional caught in the middle of a larger conspiracy.

Bond is yet to master the art of computer science and software programming. Simonova had mastered it for a long time.

In Goldeneye, she was pretty much responsible for saving the world from a digital catastrophe when he programmed the hijacked Soviet Goldeneye project to crash and burn.

Like Holly Goodhead, Scorupco’s Natalya should also be credited for saving humanity as much as Bond is.

Michelle Yeoh – Wai Lin (Tomorrow Never Dies)

Wai Lin starts out as an enemy of James Bond during the beginning of the movie.

As the movie progresses, Bond and Lin realize they share a common enemy. Hence they join forces. Elliott Carver, a media magnet, wants to enact a regime change in China.

He is ready to sacrifice countless innocent Chinese lives for the same by instigating a war between two great military powers.

Yeoh is known for her martial arts prowess and her character uses those to its fullest.

When Wai Lin fights, it is like she becomes an angel of death. After partnering up with Bond, Wai Lin effortlessly kicked butt.

No other Bond Girl could have shown such proficiency in close combat abilities and compatibility with the lone wolf-like James Bond the way Wai Lin did.

Monica Bellucci – Lucia Sciarra (Spectre)

Monica Bellucci is considered a sex symbol by many. Like a fine wine, the actress; beauty has only blossomed with age.

She showed everyone that she still got the chops when she was cast in Spectre.

At around 50, Bellucci was the oldest Bond Girl, a record she holds till date.

Bellucci’s Lucia Sciarra had nothing to add to the overall plot of Spectre. She did not need to. Her presence was enough.

Bellucci outshone Daniel Craig in some scenes. When asked about her status as the oldest Bond Girl, Bellucci claims that she does not consider herself a Bond Girl but a “Bond Woman”. Can this woman be any more classy?!?!

Famke Janssen- Xenia Onatopp (Goldeneye)

Killing, smoking and driving – these are the holy trinity of vices Onatopp sports proudly in Goldeneye.

Played by Famke Janssen, Onatopp is a sociopath. She kills with pleasure. When she spills blood, she has a grin on her face which looks almost like she is having an orgasm.

She prefers to kill men by breaking their backs while making love with them.

You do not go any crazier than that. There was no way Bond could have turned her to the good side using his usual charms.

The only demerit to Janssen’s character was that she was made to be an errand girl. The movie portrayed her as a secondary hench-woman.

There was so much Onatopp’s character had the potential for.

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Eva Green – Vesper Lynd (Casino Royale)

Casino Royale is one of the few new-age Bond Films that actually remained true to the crux of everything that James Bond represents.

It had action, thrill, drama, suspense, and adventure- all in the right amounts.

Having Eva Green as a Bond Girl only added fuel to that fire!

Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd made an emotional connect with James Bond.

None of the Bond Girls that came before could have boasted of getting under the skin of the legendarily thick-skinned James Bond.

The twist in the tale was even better. Vesper was revealed to be a double agent. Her betrayal shook James Bond to the core.

Casino Royale is regarded as one of the best Bond movies ever because it showed just how much James Bond stood to lose from his life of espionage.