Every James Bond film needs a villain and every good villain needs a henchman. 007 has battled many during his long career, and we are going to list them for you here.
Ranked in terms of their badassery, here are the henchmen (and henchwomen) who have battled Bond while in the services of the criminal masterminds who have hired them.
Patrice, Skyfall
A trained assassin for ruthless villain Silva, Patrice made his first appearance during the beginning action sequence on top of a train. He survived the fisticuffs when Bond was accidentally taken out by his own ally!
Bond got to meet Patrice again later in the film but failed to get the information he needed from the assassin. In a battle atop a Shanghai skyscraper, Patrice fell to his death, and with him the list of operatives that Bond needed to complete his mission.
Necros, The Living Daylights
A KGB agent in the employ of General Koskov, Necros was a blond studmuffin with a penchant for disguises. Milkmen and balloon salesmen were just two of the roles he took on when going undercover, and he used exploding milk bottles and the cords of his walkman to take out his foes.
Of course, Necros was no match for Timothy Dalton's James Bond. After the two scuffled on a cargo net in midair, Necros plummetted to his death after losing his grip on Bond's shoe. "He got the boot" quipped Bond later when asked about Necros' demise.
Stamper, Tomorrow Never Dies
The right-hand man to unscrupulous media head, Elliot Carver, Stamper was yet another blond assassin who failed to get one over on OO7. He even had his own army of henchmen, who were, of course, no match for Bond.
Stamper spent more time barking orders than actually engaging Bond himself, but he did prove quite formidable when he took on 007 in a fight. Unfortunately, he came to an explosive end when he came face to face with a deadly cruise missile.
Dario, Licence To Kill
Benicio Del Toro took on the role of this psychotic killer early in his career, and he gave a memorable turn. Under the employ of the villainous Sanchez, Dario murdered the wife of Bond's friend Felix Leiter and later tried to feed the grieving man to the sharks.
Of course, Bond made sure Dario got his comeuppance. He was given the agonizing death he deserved after Bond dropped him into the whirling blades of a cocaine shredder.
Nick Nack, The Man With The Golden Gun
Diminutive in size but deadly in nature, Scaramanga's killer butler used a variety of deadly traps against Bond. He even tried to turn Bond against his boss, so this was one character that was more than a little unpredictable.
Unfortunately, he was no match for Bond. After sneaking on board the spy's boat, Nick Nack attempted to kill Bond when he was making love to Mary Goodnight. He was swiftly locked inside a suitcase, which just goes to show you should never get between Bond and his women.
Tee Hee, Live And Let Die
Kananga's brutal right-hand man memorably had a mechanical arm, which he had attached after his original limb was torn off by one of his crocodiles. He tried to feed Bond to his sharp-toothed pets but failed as the agile spy used them as stepping stones.
It was no laughing matter for Tee Hee when he later lost his mechanical arm and his life after battling Bond in a train carriage. The spy disabled the deadly attachment with a pair of pliers and pushed the henchman out of the train window.
Mr. Hinx, Spectre
Dave Bautista's henchman was super strong, smartly dressed, and a good match for Bond. He was silent and deadly, and enjoyed gouging out the eyes of others with his metallic thumbnails.
The only time we got to hear Blofeld's henchman speak was towards the end of the film. "S**t," he exclaimed after being yanked out of a speeding train by the falling barrels that Bond had chained him to.
Xenia Onatopp, Goldeneye
Employed by the villainous Janus crime syndicate, this ruthless assassin brought her victims to orgasm before bumping them off. Hardly the foreplay Bond was used to, he found himself trapped between her deadly thighs in one less than erotic scene. Thankfully, he managed to escape before suffering a deadly climax.
With typical irony, Bond quipped "she always did enjoy a good squeeze" when she was later killed after becoming wedged against a tree by a falling helicopter.
Zao, Die Another Day
This terrorist-for-hire fell under the employ of Gustav Graves in Pierce Brosnan's final Bond adventure. Made memorable by his diamond-encrusted face, he was a more chilling foe than the main villain.
In one of the more thrilling scenes of the movie, Zao and Bond faced off against each other while driving heavily-armored supercars on a frozen lake. After crashing into a melting ice palace, he got the point that Bond was better than him when the spy sent a chandelier crashing down onto his body.
Baron Samedi, Live and Let Die
The voodoo henchman to Kanaga, Baron Samedi was seemingly immortal. He was one of the more memorable henchmen in the Bond franchise thanks to his skull-painted face and snazzy dress sense.
Bond thinks he has killed Samedi several times in the movie, latterly with a push into a snake-filled coffin. But as we found out at the end of the movie, the mystical Baron had survived, as he was seen alive and laughing on the tail-end of the train Bond was riding on.
Red Grant, From Russia With Love
Blofeld's lean, mean killing machine proved very ferocious in a fistfight and was a worthy match to Sean Connery's James Bond. Wily, strong, and icily cool, he was one of the spy's greatest adversaries.
In a ferocious train battle near the end of the film, Grant failed to beat Bond. After attempting to strangle the spy, the tables were turned when he was killed with his own garotte wire.
May Day, A View To A Kill
As intimidating as the actress who played her, May Day was the henchwoman to the villainous Max Zorin. Grace Jones stole the movie in her turn as the almost superhuman baddie and the aging Roger Moore paled beside her.
Sadly, she came to a sticky end after joining forces with Bond after Zorin betrayed her. She died in a sacrificial act on a bomb-loaded minecart and saved America's west coast from an earthquake while also saving this lackluster movie.
Jaws, The Spy Who Loved Me
Made memorable by his razor-sharp teeth, Jaws was near-indestructible. The henchman to Karl Stromberg escaped death by electrocution, falling scaffolding, and (ironically) a shark attack, and was one of Bond's greatest foes.
Jaws escaped death in the film and later turned up in Moonraker. Sadly, the character was played for laughs in the second film, and his menace was diminished because of a romantic sub-plot.
Oddjob, Goldfinger
Henchman to Auric Goldfinger, Oddjob was a silent killing machine with a razor-sharp hat. Perhaps the most memorable of all Bond villains because of his decapitating headwear, here was a henchman that was more than just a secondary antagonist.
Oddjob famously painted Bond's girlfriend gold, and proved himself more than worthy in a fight, even without his hat. He came to a shocking end when Bond electrocuted the fearsome fellow when he tried to retrieve his sharpened headwear.
Irma Bunt, On Her Majesty's Secret Service
This henchwoman to Blofeld does little in the film, other than walk around looking menacing. She barely poses a threat to Bond, even after the spy insults the woman by telling her that her name comes from the nautical word for 'baggy.'
So, why is she at number one? Well, at the end of the film, she wrecks Bond's life forever. Just after his wedding to Tracy, Bunt turns up one last time. Driving past the wedding car, she lets rip with a machine gun and kills Bond's new wife. Its a devastating scene and it earns Bunt the number one spot on this list.