In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli acknowledged the appeal of the franchise’s megalomaniacal villains: “Normally, when we’re making a movie, everybody wants to know who’s going to play Bond, who’s the villain, who’s the lady, and who’s singing the song. It’s very much been a part of the whole mystique of Bond.”

Part of the fun of Bond films is watching 007 escape certain doom at the hands of iconic bad guys. From Auric Goldfinger to Lyutsifer Safin, some Bond villains got closer to killing the gentleman spy than others.

10 Raoul Silva

James Bond Raoul Silva in his MI6 prison cell in Skyfall

The main villain in Skyfall, Raoul Silva, is more interested in killing M than Bond. The only reason he tangles with Bond is that Bond stands in his way. Daniel Craig’s 007 developed a maternal bond with Judi Dench’s M and committed himself to saving her.

On his way to kill M, Silva rigs an underground train to derail in Bond’s direction, seemingly for no reason. The third act is a ruthless home invasion at Bond’s childhood home in the Scottish countryside. While Silva succeeds in killing M, he never comes close to killing Bond (although his henchmen do).

9 Le Chiffre

Le-Chiffre-tortures-Bond-in-Casino-Royale-1

In Craig’s first outing as 007, Casino Royale, he battled with the nefarious Le Chiffre. But the two fought each other with their hands at a poker table more than they fought each other with their fists. Le Chiffre didn’t come close to killing Bond because he never intended to.

But he did seriously injure Bond when he tortured him by tying him to a seatless chair and whipping his private parts.

8 Ernst Stavro Blofeld

Blofeld with his cat and a gun in You Only Live Twice

Ernst Stavro Blofeld, featured from the Connery era all the way through to the Craig era, is arguably Bond’s most iconic villain. With the white Persian cat that he ominously strokes and his evil lair burrowed into a hollowed-out volcano, Blofeld has become a universal symbol of diabolical evil.

But despite being the most memorable villain in the franchise, Blofeld never actually got all that close to killing Bond (as parodied by Dr. Evil’s indirect threats to Austin Powers). 007 was always one step ahead of Blofeld.

7 Xenia Onatopp

Xenia smiling in GoldenEye

Pierce Brosnan’s Bond got an unforgettable introduction in GoldenEye, one of 007’s most action-packed cinematic adventures to date. He tackled two different villains in this movie – former colleague Alec Trevelyan and his henchwoman Xenia Onatopp – but the latter got closer to killing him than the former.

A literal femme fatale who seduces her targets and kills them during sex, Xenia tried to crush 007 to death with her thighs before he tossed her into a tank of hot water.

6 Rosa Klebb

Rosa Klebb looking stern in From Russia with Love

The second Bond movie, From Russia with Love, directly followed on from the first one as SPECTRE tasked Rosa Klebb with tracking down 007 and killing him in retaliation for their late co-worker Dr. Julius No in the previous movie.

In the final scene, Klebb attacks Bond in a hotel room with a knife sticking out of her shoe. But she’s quickly dispatched by 007, who quips, “She had her kicks.”

5 Auric Goldfinger

Auric Goldfinger with a laser beam

Auric Goldfinger is the ultimate Bond villain. He has a unique quirk (a dangerous obsession with gold) and a delightfully ludicrous evil plan (to destroy all the gold in Fort Knox in order to increase the value of his own). When Bond stands in his way, he very almost kills him.

The closest that Goldfinger came to killing 007 has since become one of the most iconic images in the history of the franchise. He strapped Bond to a table and sent a deadly laser beam up between his legs.

4 Jaws

Jaws-attacks-Bond-in-The-Spy-Who-Loved-Me-1

Jaws is one of the only Bond villains to be brought back by popular demand. After making his debut alongside Roger Moore’s 007 in The Spy Who Loved Me, the metal-toothed maniac returned in Moonraker. Jaws came closer to killing 007 than either of the megalomaniacs he worked for, first Karl Stromberg and later Hugo Drax.

In the opening scene of Moonraker, Jaws threw Bond out of a plane. If he hadn’t managed to soar over to the pilot and steal his parachute, then he would’ve plummeted to his demise.

3 Red Grant

Red Grant on a train with a gun in From Russia with Love

Klebb might be the main villain in From Russia with Love, but henchman Red Grant steals the show. A SPECTRE assassin trained specifically to kill Bond, Grant spends the movie chasing 007 across Europe so he can complete his mission to avenge Dr. No.

When he finally tracked down his target and confronted him on the Orient Express, Grant beat 007 within an inch of his life. If it weren’t for his plot armor, audiences would genuinely fear for Bond’s life in this brutal fight sequence.

2 Francisco Scaramanga

Bond and Scaramanga back-to-back in The Man with the Golden Gun

In Moore’s second Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun, he was targeted by the titular wielder of the golden gun. Francisco Scaramanga is the only assassin in the world whose skillset is on the same level as Bond, and he set out to kill 007 simply to prove that he was a better killer.

Rather than a large-scale battle involving legions of henchmen, the climactic showdown in The Man with the Golden Gun is just a one-on-one duel between the hero and his latest villain.

1 Lyutsifer Safin

Safin in his lair in No Time to Die

Lyutsifer Safin, the villain of No Time to Die, is the only baddie who actually succeeded in killing Bond – albeit indirectly. Safin might not have landed the final death blow that killed 007, but he did create the circumstances that eventually led to Bond’s first on-screen death.

Safin filled Bond with bullets and closed his blast doors to keep Bond on the island. When he went back to reopen the blast doors to allow the nukes to destroy the island, Bond didn’t have time to escape and died when the missiles hit.

NEXT: 10 Best Villain Introductions In James Bond Movies