10 James Bond Side Characters That Saved 007 In The Franchise

Summary

• James Bond’s humanity is showcased through his relationships with side characters who provide help and support in his missions.
• The dynamic between Bond and his allies, like Q and Miss Moneypenny, adds depth to Bond’s character and enhances the storytelling.
• Strong female characters like Paloma and Pussy Galore challenge traditional Bond Girl stereotypes and play pivotal roles in the franchise.

The James Bond franchise features many great side characters besides the titular spy who has stepped in to save Bond’s life in many movies. Whether they’re love interests, friends, or enemies-turned-allies, these characters prove that James Bond is human. Even he needs a little help sometimes. While it’s fun to think of Bond as an infallible hero, there’s something exciting and intriguing about knowing that a character is human and that he could fall in battle without the help of his allies. The more recent string of movies starring Daniel Craig as Bond has explored more of Bond’s humanity.

Bond’s casting is controversial because his charm and suave nature contribute to the characters’ decisions to join his team and help him save the day.

James Bond has been a hallmark of moviemaking for many years, with the first Bond film, Dr. No, premiering in 1962 with the iconic Sean Connery starring as Bond. Since then, many men have taken up the moniker of Bond, and the contenders to play the next James Bond are hotly contested. Bond’s casting is controversial because his charm and suave nature contribute to the characters’ decisions to join his team and help him save the day. The chemistry Bond actors have with the side character performers can change the audience’s perception of Bond as a man and a hero.

10 Paloma

Played by Ana de Armas in No Time To Die (2021)

No Time to Die was a stellar ending for the Craig era of Bond and indicates where the franchise is moving in the future. The trope of the Bond Girl is something that has haunted and defined the James Bond movies since their inception. There’s a lot to unpack with the depiction and treatment of female characters throughout the franchise. However, characters like Paloma prove that the Bond Girl can be beautiful, powerful, and an equal to Bond, all while being a fully realized character. There doesn’t have to be sexual tension for the chemistry between them to be palpable.

While there is some tension in
No Time to Die
about Bond aging out of his role and being replaced by a younger generation, Paloma demonstrates that there are strong up-and-coming spies.

Many actresses can bring the Bond Girl into a new era and serve similar roles as Armas does, bringing comedy and action to her performance while holding her own next to Bond. When she and Bond meet at the party where Bond is trying to find a SPECTRE agent, she plays a vital role in his escape from the party and works with him as a close confidant. While there is some tension in No Time to Die about Bond aging out of his role and being replaced by a younger generation, Paloma demonstrates that there are strong up-and-coming spies.

9 Major Anya Amasova / Agent XXX

Played by Barbara Bach in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Though he’s not the most talked about incarnation of Bond, Roger Moore shouldn’t be forgotten as one of the most fun Bonds who starred in campy iterations of the story. WhenMoore’s Bond meets the KGB agent, Anya Amasova, they’re perfectly set up to have an enemies-to-lovers arc, as the pair is forced to join forces to investigate a theft at the request of their governments. From there, it doesn’t take long for the pair to fall in love, but it’s complicated by the fact that Bond inadvertently kills her lover at the beginning of the film.

Though torn by her contradicting feelings of love and hate, Amasova ends up coming to Bond’s aid time and again throughout their fights. While she doesn’t have a chance to dramatically save him in the film, she does decide not to pull the trigger at the end when her gun is on him. Amasova’s complex relationship with Bond elevates her to a more nuanced position, especially considering when the film was made. The Spy Who Loved Me is also remembered for the horrendous villain, Jaws (Richard Kiel), whose defining characteristic is his metal teeth that can bite through almost anything.

8 M

Played by Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Bernard Lee, & more in multiple films.

Though Bond frequently chafes under M’s authority and doesn’t want to capitulate to their demands, M’s decision to pull Bond out of the field often saves his life.

Judi Dench is one of the more iconic actors to take on the role of M, as she was one of the few performers seen in Bond movies across different eras. She began in Goldeneye with Pierce Brosnan but returned for Casino Royale. The filmmakers recognized that Dench’s talents couldn’t be wasted on only one installment. M is a layered character as they serve as the head of MI6 and have more control over Bond’s actions than most people in the films. It’s not uncommon for Bond to go rogue, but M is always there to reign him in.

Though Bond frequently chafes under M’s authority and doesn’t want to capitulate to their demands, M’s decision to pull Bond out of the field often saves his life. It was controversial, but Dench’s M was killed off in Skyfall to rebuild interest in James Bond after Quantum of Solace didn’t meet expectations. Additionally, Skyfall sees M work closely with Bond, resulting in a loss that sets Bond on a new course for the remaining movies. When Fiennes appears to take over the role of M after this, it’s a shift for both Bond and the audience, creating exciting tension.

7 Pussy Galore

Played by Honor Blackman in Goldfinger (1964)

It’s common knowledge that many of the best and most infamous Bond Girls have interesting names, but it’s easy to get over her unusual moniker once you meet Pussy Galore. She’s an interesting character and one of the most memorable villains who’s swayed to Bond’s side thanks to his charisma. Galore appears in Goldfinger alongside Connery, serving as a henchwoman for the titular villain, Auric Goldfinger. Though she begins the movie doing Goldfinger’s bidding, she turns on him and uses her aviation skills to rescue Bond.

She’s the leader of Pussy Galore’s Flying Circus, in which she leads a fleet of female aviators to perform amazing feats of skill in the air. Not only does she prevent Bond from being poisoned by lethal gas, but she also plays a pivotal role in alerting the authorities to Goldfinger’s plot and his location. While Galore doesn’t break out of the mold of falling victim to Bond’s seduction, she’s still a strong female character with personal motivations that drive her actions.

6 Q

Played by Ben Whishaw, John Cleese, Desmond Llewelyn, & more in multiple films.

Many characters from Craig’s era could carry over to the next phase of Bond, and Ben Whishaw’s Q would be a great addition to that list. The modern-day trope of having a tech support and analysis character back at the base to help the field agent was established in part thanks to Q in the Bond franchise. This archetype is now seen all over the espionage genre, with characters like Benji in Mission: Impossible serving as a modern example of how the role has evolved.

One of the most devastating parts of
No Time to Die
is when Q fails to save Bond and must watch him die, even though Q’s done everything he can to stop the nuclear missiles.

With Q, it’s often up to him to solve the mystery behind a deadly toxin or horrible computer virus at the last minute. Many of the James Bond movie gadgets were invented by Q for Bond to use. One of the most devastating parts of No Time to Die is when Q fails to save Bond and must watch him die, even though Q’s done everything he can to stop the nuclear missiles. However, this is the only example of a time that Q has failed to come through for Bond.

5 Miss Moneypenny

Played by Naomie Harris, Samantha Bond, Caroline Bliss, & more in multiple films.

The best and most fully realized version of Miss Moneypenny, now known as Eve Moneypenny, is introduced in Skyfall when Naomie Harris joins Craig as a field agent. While in the past, Moneypenny was relegated to the role of secondary Bond Girl who pined after Bond, the new era has given her more to work with than ever. She’s an interesting and complex character, and her later decision to leave fieldwork is her own choice. This differs from the early James Bond films, in which women who worked for MI6 were almost always relegated to office work no matter what.

In an interesting twist, it’s Moneypenny’s presumed killing of Bond that ends up saving his life in Skyfall. She shoots him on top of a moving train early in the movie, allowing him to fake his death and investigate in private, later looping Moneypenny in and using her skills once more. However, the death of Dench’s M and Moneypenny’s experience of seeing so many people come close to death changes her. In the films after Skyfall, Moneypenny works for the new M, Mallory, and is able to make just as big of an impact behind the scenes.

4 Nomi/007

Played by Lashana Lynch in No Time To Die

Nomi feels added pressure to be even better than Bond to prove her worth while they work together.

Over the years, there have been many calls for an actress to take on the role of Bond, but it’s unlikely that this will ever come to fruition. However, in No Time to Die, the 007 title is handed down to Nomi, the agent who assumes Bond’s position in MI6 after he retires. Bond is enjoying a quiet life at the movie’s start and chooses to retire. However, he squirms under the knowledge that someone else is referred to as 007. It makes him worry he’s not as relevant as he once was.

Conversely, Nomi feels added pressure to be even better than Bond to prove her worth while they work together. In the end, it takes them putting aside their own egos and joining forces to stop Safin. As they infiltrate Safin’s island to rescue Madeleine and her daughter, Nomi has Bond’s back the entire time, saving him from guards and villains at every turn. Though Bond doesn’t make it off the island alive, this is no part due to Nomi’s actions, as she does everything to be a good partner.

3 Felix Leiter

Played by Jeffery Wright, John Terry, David Hedison, & more in multiple films.

It’s tough to argue that Jeffrey Wright isn’t the best incarnation of Felix Leiter, Bond’s friend and foil who’s an American spy for the CIA. Wright began his tenure as Felix in the first Craig film, Casino Royale, which sees the characters team up on a poker game as Felix stakes Bond’s buy-in so he can take down Le Chiffre. This is the beginning of an amazing partnership, as Felix is one of the few characters Bond truly trusts. In other movies, Felix is just as vital to Bond’s daring escapes and schemes, and it’s always exciting when he appears.

Felix’s final sacrifice in the Craig James Bond films is in No Time to Die when he saves Bond from drowning, only to succumb to the water himself. In some ways, this makes sense, as Bond doesn’t end up making it out of this movie alive either. The men have seen each other through a lot up until this point, and it wouldn’t be right for one to move on without the other. It will be interesting to see if the next James Bond era will cast a new character as Felix or if it will follow Craig’s continuity.

2 Madeleine Swann

Played by Léa Seydoux in Spectre (2015) & No Time To Die

The last two Craig films were defined by one of Bond’s most serious relationships, that between himself and Madeleine Swann, the daughter of a SPECTRE agent who becomes his lover and close confidant. Swann is one of the few Bond Girls who is featured in more than one James Bond film, but it’s easy to see why when watching the dynamic between Craig and Seydoux. Her romantic relationship with Bond is much deeper than many of his other love interests, and it’s discovered in No Time to Die that they have a daughter together.

Part of the reason Craig’s Bond decides to sacrifice himself in
No Time to Die
is because of nanotechnology that makes it impossible for him to ever see Madeleine or their daughter without killing them.

Part of the reason Craig’s Bond decides to sacrifice himself in No Time to Die is because of nanotechnology that makes it impossible for him to ever see Madeleine or their daughter without killing them. For most of No Time to Die, Bond saves Madeleine, but their connection is solidified in Spectre because Madeleine proves herself a brave ally by preventing Mr. Hinx from killing him. This is important because it shows Bond that Madeleine is someone who can handle herself while being part of his lifestyle and that there is more to her character than being a love interest.

1 Vesper Lynd

In Casino Royale

Perhaps the most iconic Bond Girl from Craig’s era is Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green. She stars alongside Craig in Casino Royale, his debut as 007, and though it’s clear that she’s dangerous, Bond can’t help falling in love with her. Of course, Vesper seems duplicitous from the start, but Bond has good reason to trust her after she saves his life during the poker game and prevents him from being poisoned. This makes it even more crushing when she betrays him in the end.

Casino Royale was a pivotal movie and set the Craig era of James Bond on the right path to reestablish a more serious tone for the franchise. The genuine love story that blossoms between Vesper and Bond indicates why she ends up saving him and that their connection is real even though she had to double-cross him. The betrayal and her ultimate fate end up haunting Bond throughout the remaining movies in the Craig era, and her impact will not be soon forgotten.