The following article was written by BondMovies.com Message Board member ShakenNotStirred. We thank him for his contribution!

Besides James Bond himself, two key ingredients to the Bond series are the 'Bond Girls' and villains. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to the interaction and relationships between the villains and the Bond girls, despite the great frequency of these relationships, and their role in the film's plots.

"Tainted Love"
One of the quintessential trademarks of a Bond villain is their quirky appearance and behaviour, whether it's Scaramanga's third nipple, Dr No's metal hands or Le Chiffre's bleeding eye. This quirkiness occasionally extends into their relationships too. The first case of this is with Rosa Klebb, whose lesbianism is discreetly (and bravely, considering the times in which it was made) maintained from the novel of From Russia with Love. As lesbianism was considered more unusual and controversial at the time, this trait was used as a tool to make Klebb's character likewise more unusual, more difficult to relate to, and therefore a more characteristically unsympathetic villain for the audience (This technique was repeated, though with more humorous intent, with Mr Wint and Mr Kidd in Diamonds are Forever).

Aris Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only

Lupe Lamora in Licence To Kill

"Disposable pleasures rather than meaningful pursuits"
Besides the occasionally twisted relationships villains have with women, it has more often been the case that they disregard women. Once more, this dehumanizes the villain: whilst Bond always seeks relationships (albeit numerous and brief ones) with women, numerous villains are shown to be indifferent to women - portrayed as a sign of emotional obscurity or disability. This is clearly the case with Dr. No, and often the case with recurring villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld (the exception being the Blofeld of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, who attempts, but fails, to woo Tracy. More on villains' issues in this department later). With Kamal Khan and General Orlov of Octopussy, and likewise Brad Whitaker in The Living Daylights, they pay little attention to women in a romantic sense, and instead narrowly focus on their own schemes; once more comparing negatively with Bond, who always prioritizes saving the Bond girls in each film. Drax meanwhile, though likewise seemingly indifferent to women, nevertheless often seems to have female companions in Moonraker. Nevertheless, romantic intent is once again never shown.

Auric Goldfinger and Pussy Galore in Goldfinger

"Jealousy? From you, Mr. Bond? I'm flattered"
Well, not so much jealously from Bond as jealousy of Bond. This is the case with most of the Bond villains in some sense. Rather than showing the menacing, inhuman aspect of the villain, which would pose a more potent threat to Bond, jealousy instead exposes greater vulnerability of the villains. Villains are often wealthy and powerful people, but many Bond films, through villain-Bond girl relations, showcase the message that 'there are some things money can't buy'. The likes of Rosa Klebb, Auric Goldfinger and Elliot Carver all seemingly want to swap places with Bond: Klebb's advances towards Romanova fail, yet she witnesses Romanova's feelings towards Bond via their hidden camera; Goldfinger encouragingly places a hand on Pussy Galore's, to no avail, yet she quickly came to Bond's rescue during Operation Grand Slam; then Elliot Carver offers Paris all the material possessions she desires in Tomorrow Never Dies, yet Paris too finds herself in Bond's doorway.

Emilio Largo from Thunderball, Renard from The World Is Not Enough and Dominic Greene from Quantum of Solace, also find their partners enjoy Bond's company more than their own, much to their annoyance. Whilst Largo is particularly insulted that Domino would risk her life for Bond, Renard is jealous of Bond's ability to have a physical relationship with Elektra, unlike himself, as he is suffering the side-effects of feeling 'no pain', due to the bullet in his brain. Meanwhile Greene, convinced that Camille would only ever be a lover as a means to information, must have noticed, to his fury, the chemistry between Bond and Camille. This underlying jealousy of villains also acts as another motivation for them to do all they can to bring Bond down, making it a deeper and more personal conflict between Bond and the villain- yet another conflict where Bond has the advantage. Similar jealousy is implied, though to a lesser extent, with Karl Stromberg of The Spy Who Loved Me, who is attracted to Anya Amasova, but knows it isn't mutual, as is the case with Goldeneye's Alec Trevelyan with Natalya.

Fransisco Scaramanga and Andrea Anders in The Man With The Golden Gun

"Man in the Mirror"
Only one villain seems to mirror any of Bond's success with women- Georgi Koskov in The Living Daylights, able to not only maintain a long-term relationship with Kara, but also seems to be in luck with the bikini girls around Whitaker's swimming pool!

Nevertheless, with only one villain sharing Bond's luck with the other sex, the Bond writers have really used their imaginations over the years to create interesting dynamics between villains and Bond girls. Sadly, despite the importance of villain-girl relations in character development and the plot, this is one bond that is often forgotten.