The Bond girl is a critical ingredient of every 007 film. She started out as a simple love interest, relevant to the plot only in tangential ways. But over the decades, she morphed into something more: sometimes a capable spy, sometimes a charismatic villain, but always boasting independence and influence—eventually becoming just as important as the titular spy.
Bond's female counterparts have been played by some incredible actors (and not all of them love the term "Bond girl," by the way). Below, the most unforgettable.
Tiffany Case (Jill St. John)
The first American Bond girl! The strangely named Diamonds Are Forever character was a bit of a caricature: whiny, not always competent, and generally irritating. She flirts with double-crossing Bond, too, but her redemption arc is better than that of a lot of Bond girls.
Solitaire (Jane Seymour)
Jane Seymour starred as a psychic (and love interest) in Live and Let Die, Roger Moore's first Bond film. She was 20 at the time, and she later noted in an interview, “My Bond character was meant to look like a virgin. I don’t think they do that very often." Beyond the bummer of her character sleeping with Bond and losing her power, she brings a lot to the role.
Christmas Jones (Denise Richards)
The now-memeable nuclear physicist from The World Is Not Enough was named....Christmas Jones?? The character is most well-remembered for the raunchy last line of the movie (if you know, you know). Fortunately, Denise Richards is absolutely in on the joke and loves to poke fun.
Kara Milovy (Maryam d’Abo)
If you're familiar with Timothy Dalton's short-lived turn as Bond, you may remember the "cello girl." She's the romantic lead in The Living Daylights and a professional musician who demands the instrument be brought along for several scenes filled with running. In hindsight—iconic behavior.
Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles)
You might roll your eyes at poor Holly's last name, but (as you can see in this photo) she's actually pretty important to the plot of Moonraker. She joins Bond on the space mission; after saving the world, the two get to—you know—in zero gravity. Sure!
Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike)
Before Rosamund Pike showed off her powers playing a sociopath in Gone Girl, she took a semi-similar character arc in Die Another Day: Bond thinks she's on his side, but—thanks to her frosty name and general demeanor—Miranda's double cross is unsurprising.
Sylvia Trench (Eunice Gayson)
Fun fact: the very first Bond girl was played by Eunice Gayson but voiced by Nikki van der Zyl (which was more common for some of the early Bond movies). Through her, Bond gets to make his first, iconic “Bond, James Bond” introduction. This character also recurred in the Bond universe!
Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya)
I have long been on record as loving evil SPECTRE agent Rosa Klebb, who's integral to evil plotting and kills people with a poisoned spike hidden in her shoe. It's a dated move to make her an evil lesbian (this was something that came from the original Ian Fleming book), but—like the best Bond girls—she's 007's equal in intelligence and sense.
Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress)
If you think "classic Bond girl," Ursula Andress is probably the person who comes to mind. In Dr. No, Honey Ryder comes out of the sea like a goddess, diving for shells and oblivious to Sean Connery's Bond. When she sees him, she pulls a knife and tells him to back away from her shells. Iconic.
Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi)
Some of the very best Bond girls are villains—and this might be one of the first instances of the "love interest who's actually evil" trope. Fiona, SPECTRE assassin, delights in both romancing Bond and using him to her evil ends. She does die, but her character is a foretelling of future badassery.
Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco)
IT expert Natalya Simonova (GoldenEye) is a modern example of the Bond girl whose capabilities keep Bond out of trouble. She cracks codes, she helps stop the bad guy, and she tells Bond off for his crummy behavior towards women. She also does sleep with him, but whatever.
Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell)
Unfairly maligned as uninteresting, Pam Bouvier lives up to her (non-sexual) name. The pilot and DEA informant has a last name deliberately meant to connote Jackie (Bouvier) Kennedy, and she's incredibly competent—even showing off those piloting skills.
Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi)
SPECTRE agent Tatiana starts out as naive and patriotic in From Russia with Love. It only takes a few encounters with Bond to sway her, but even in the dated 1960s conception of spycraft, she has quite a positive arc that allows her to actively participate in the plot. She kills a major villain!
Domino Derval (Claudine Auger)
In a similar way to others on this list, Domino is an example of the Bond girl who gets a chance at some action (and not the sexy kind!). She has a great arc, too, starting the film as SPECTRE boss Emilio Largo's girlfriend and ending the movie happily murdering him.
Octopussy (Maud Adams)
What's interesting about Maud Adams is she's actually played two Bond girls. This is the vastly superior role (in The Man With the Golden Gun, Bond slaps her in the face, and that's not even the worst thing that happens to her). If you somehow manage to make it past her hilarious Octopussy nickname, you'll notice she's actually a criminal genius.
Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman)
Sigh. Hilarious/terrible name aside, Pussy Galore is quite the match for Bond. Her portrayal in the Fleming book is not awesome, but Honor Blackman makes her feisty and charismatic. Blackman was not a fan of the term "Bond girl," but her portrayal is now seen as queer-coded and ahead of its time.
Vesper Lynd (Eva Green)
Vesper Lynd is largely considered one of the best Bond girls. She gives Daniel Craig (in his first appearance as Bond) a heck of an origin story, as the two spar and fall in love before she betrays him. That latter aspect is perhaps a bit cliche, but there's still so much to love.
Jinx Johnson (Halle Berry)
In a cooler alternate timeline, Jinx Johnson would have become a main character in her own right (there were talks of a spinoff that never came to fruition). But the NSA agent will live forever in our hearts as the best part of Die Another Day. She's much more than her iconic orange bikini scene!
Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux)
Madeleine Swann ends up being incredibly crucial to Daniel Craig's Bond. The daughter of a high-ranking SPECTRE agent, she has a profound impact on the spy. Spoiler alert for No Time to Die: she is one of only a few Bond girls to have had a long-term relationship with him and the first to give birth to his child.
Eve Moneypenny (Naomi Harris)
There have actually been several actresses who have played Moneypenny over the years, but the character has evolved from a secretary who flirts with Bond to (in Harris' case) a fellow agent and competent professional whose name is only revealed at the end of Skyfall.
Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko)
This was an important step for Bond girls—Camille is on a mission to avenge her family's murder, and she becomes Bond's ally (and, critically, not his lover). She's crafty and competent, and—despite being on the receiving end of some brutal violence—gets her vengeance in the end.
Elektra King (Sophie Marceau)
Elektra might be one of my favorite Bond girls ever. She's not the first "Bond girl you think is a protagonist but ends up being a villain," but she is so gleefully evil that you can't help but root for her. She tortures Bond in one of the most over the top scenes the franchise has ever seen!
Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen)
I mean. Her name is Xenia Onatopp, she kills men by cutting off their air supply while in the midst of love-making (Onatopp, get it?), and she, uh, deeply enjoys herself while doing it. She's pure camp, in the best way—the amalgamation of all Bond girls who came before her. Also, she's got great fashion.
Tracy, Teresa Draco di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg)
The only Bond girl to have ever married Bond, Tracy is one of the best characters of all time—and the spy obviously thought so, too. To my enduring frustration, she is murdered within moments of the wedding. I get that Bond needs to remain steadfastly single, but Diana Rigg was the coolest.
May Day (Grace Jones)
In one of the stranger Bond films (A View to a Kill), Grace Jones was a major high point. She's literally the strongest person in the movie, fighting with incredible agility and talent and even lifting a man over her head at one point. She should have lived and fought alongside Bond for more movies, is all I'm saying.
Lucia Sciarra (Monica Bellucci)
Becoming the oldest Bond girl ever at 51, Monica Bellucci wasn't really in the movie much. She gets saved by Bond and shares information about her (late, recently murdered) husband, but she's so charismatic on screen that her presence is electrifying.
Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet)
Melina joins the rarefied category of Bond girls who could legitimately kick your (and Bond's) butt. She's the woman driven by revenge for the murder of her family in For Your Eyes Only, and teaming up with Bond means she achieves that dream before the two end up together.
Nomi (Lashana Lynch)
This Bond girl is Bond! Lashana Lynch became the first Black and first female 007 in the franchise, succeeding Daniel Craig's character and taking the famous number. She gives the character toughness, humor, and—most importantly—an intense skill that matches and even surpasses Bond's.
Paloma (Ana de Armas)
Paloma is considered one of the best parts of No Time to Die. The relatively novice spy is bubbly and sweet and competent as all heck. That irrepressible combo, when compared to Craig's grizzled Bond in his last go-round in the role, gives incredible life to the movie.
Major Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach)
I much prefer calling this character by her full title (Major Anya Amasova) instead of her codename (Agent XXX...really?). Seriously, though, this Russian agent—basically the Bond equivalent in her own agency—starts out seriously hating Bond for killing her partner. Their back and forth is one of the most iconic pairings in any movie.
Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh)
Seriously, Michelle Yeoh's character was deemed a "female James Bond" in Tomorrow Never Dies! She's essentially the anti-damsel in distress who kicks so much butt that she even impresses Bond (and, in real life, Pierce Brosnan). Their motorcycle ride together is a particular stunt-filled highlight.
M (Judi Dench)
Judi Dench is beyond Bond girl. She's Bond's boss (for several actors in several films!) and his literal and figurative superior. She's tough, decisive, and smart, and she's got a soft spot for her favorite agent. As played by Dench, she knows exactly when to ham it up and when to bring the gravitas. She's the best.
