Every James Bond Main Villain Ranked Worst To Best

In Live and Let Die, Bond discovers Dr. Kananga, who's seen as a respected owner of a restaurant chain, secretly runs a drug empire under the alias, Mr. Big.

Now, there are many villains in the franchise like Gustav Graves and Dominic Green who, despite their illicit affairs, are publicly perceived as respected entrepreneurs. But Kananga doesn't just fool the public - he fools the viewers. Until Mr. Big pulls off his latex prosthetics to reveal he's Kananga, viewers didn't have a clue both characters are one and the same. Not only is this a neat twist, it shows that the actor, Yaphet Kotto's talent at portraying the same person in two completely different ways.

Kotto is so astounding at switching from the aggressive and brash Mr Big to the distinguished Kananga, you'd assume the actor had a lot of fun in the role. In reality, he absolutely detested the character, stating it perpetuated a negative stereotype towards the African community. However, this resentment helped Kotto since it forced him to dig deep to bring humanity to the character.

If Kananga didn't have the dumbest death in the franchise, he would've ranked a little higher on our list.