Every hero needs his villain: to give him a purpose, an obstacle, a reason to exist even. Iconic though the central character always is, the James Bond films often live or die on the strength of their villains. Take Skyfall for instance; was not one of the principal reasons why it was superior to Quantum of Solace that Raoul Silva was simply a far more memorable villain than Dominic Greene? Was not one of the most gripping aspects of the 1960's Bond films the increasing appearance of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, whose character lent much menace and mystery to the series? But on purely cinematic terms, the villains are there primarily also to engage Bond physically: they are essential to the action set-pieces and such encounters are usually moments of high tension. If the struggle becomes a fight-to-the-death we're never in any doubt as to the outcome, but the excitement lies in how we reach that destination. Sometimes when the villain has been built up to be such a monster, their death is particularly satisfying to the audience; on other occasions the manner of their departure is simply so stylishly and coolly executed that it warrants applause. In the following list I've tried to strike a balance, firstly including as many different Bond actors as possible. Beyond that I've gone for a whole variety of deaths, ranging from those which seem to affect Bond personally, suggesting sadness or loss even, to those which show his ingenuity in overcoming especially unsurmountable odds, to those which are marked by highly impressive stunt-work, to those which are more humorous in tone (though only up to a point- there's no Kananga being ludicrously and quite literally blown-up here). Read on then for what I consider to be the ten best Bond villain deaths.
Honourable mention: Scaramanga (The Man With The Golden Gun) Christopher Lee's Scaramanga is probably the best thing about Roger Moore's generally-maligned second outing as 007. It's fitting then that the film's climax is, quite uniquely, a duel between the two expert marksmen on Scaramanga's island, pitting Bond's six Walther bullets against his enemy's single golden round. For the most part the duel is admirably constructed, full of suspense and tension, as Bond becomes disorientated in Scaramanga's Funhouse whilst all the while being stalked by the villain. Bond eventually loses his gun, but ultimately prevails by posing as a mannequin of himself, thus taking Scaramanga by surprise and shooting him as he walks by. Whilst I wouldn't call this ending unimpressive, it's somewhat predictable given that we've already seen the mannequin in Scaramanga's house during the film's pre-title sequence, thus leading us to suspect immediately that Bond will himself later on exchange places with it. Moreover the way the final scene is shot, with prominent focus on the 'mannequin' in the foreground, reveals too early that Bond has switched places with it. You might also legitimately ask, why did the mannequin's gun happen to be holding live ammunition?