Every Main James Bond Villain Ranked Worst To Best

13. Kamal Khan & General Orlov (Octopussy, 1983)

Kamal Khan is a charming Afghan prince fond of hunting and smuggling; Orlov is a warmongering Soviet General with a thirst for conquest and truly bizarre cadence. Together, they scheme to use stolen Soviet jewels as bait to trick a smuggling ring into transporting a nuclear bomb via a circus troupe and exploding it in the presence of US military to bamboozle the West into proposing nuclear disarmament and therefore inadvertently making their lands ripe for Soviet takeover.

That’s the simplified version of their scheme, and it still sounds stupidly complex. Which is precisely why they're on the midcard.

It’s their colourful, animated presences of villainy which truly help them stand out, a world apart from the grounded tone of 1981’s For Your Eyes Only. Octopussy channels the fun side of the series, and its villains are a central piece of it. For all his wild dreams and plans for world domination, however, Orlov comes off as the slight lesser of the two. Khan’s suave sophistication contrasts with his deadly nature: his estate is quite literally filled with dead bodies.

Best Moment: “Spend the money quickly, Mr Bond.” The cold war between Bond and Khan will not remain cold for much longer.

Worst Moment: By the time Khan and Orlov first appear on camera together, you’ve probably given up trying to follow the film’s highly convoluted movement of real and fake Fabergé eggs.