Bond girls: beautiful, but deadly

By: Natalie Abreu

Posted: 11/13/08

Seductive, elegant, intelligent and deadly are only some of the words used to describe a specific yet iconic type of femme fatale known by the title of "Bond Girl." Though their faces, names and motives vary throughout the 22 Bond films, their iconic stance and strength as sexy, empowering women often outweigh the subject of the film itself - sometimes, even outdoing the performance of dear old Bond, James Bond. However, while some of these women remain a distant memory, some stand strongly in the minds of Bond movie lovers as badass women, standing side by side to Bond.

Honey Ryder ("Dr. No"): Emerging through the water in her skimpy white bikini, Ursula Andress sets the standard for all Bond girls to come, not to mention making the bikini an instant classic and must-have for any fashionable woman. Beautiful and seductive as she sings "Underneath the Mango Tree" on the beach, Bond doesn't have a chance of saying "no" to her.

Pussy Galore ("Goldfinger"): Age proves to be no problem when it comes to this Bond "girl." Honor Blackman was 37 years old when she depicted a villainess with a dislike for men. Though a dominating and intimidating figure to Bond, not even she could resist his charms, and eventually helps him thwart Goldfinger's evil plan.

Jill Masterson ("Goldfinger"): Though she met her death early into the film "Goldfinger," the image of Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton) lying on a bed painted in gold is one of the most iconic images of the whole Bond series.

Tiffany Case ("Diamonds Are Forever"): With charm and class, Jill St. John's character is not only an American diamond smuggler but a lively personality to clash with James Bond's sophisticated charm. At first she's a bad girl, presented as tough and opportunistic, taking sides with the bad guys. Later though, she decides that her loyalties lie with the good guys, and with Bond. Even when she's captured, she always takes advantage of her situation.

Anya Amasova ("The Spy Who Loved Me"): A Russian secret agent known as XXX, she often outsmarts Bond. Barbara Bach plays her as a strong secret agent and a damsel in distress. More importantly, she was the first Bond girl to result from the Women's Liberation Movement in the mid-1970s and was the first of Bond's lovely ladies to truly be his equal.

Solitaire ("Live and Let Die"): The sweet and innocent tarot card reader of the villain Kananga, she keeps her virginity in order to sustain her mystical powers. However, she is easily swayed by Bond's charms, and trick deck of cards. She's a constant damsel in distress and is a fun performance by Jane Seymour to watch.

Octopussy ("Octopussy"): Maud Adams stars in the title role in 1983's "Octopussy." Also appearing in "The Man with the Golden Gun," she was also the star of the first Bond film to be named after a woman character. A jewelry smuggler, she is conniving and smart as she uses a circus as her cover for her illicit business and shows Bond that love is also better the second time around.

Xenia Onatopp ("GoldenEye"): Though clearly a sex object, Onatopp, as played by Famke Janssen, uses sex as her weapon. With her flexible legs, she uses sex to entangle men in her web of death.. She receives sexual satisfaction through her killings too. Ironically, her death comes to her through her satisfaction of strangling as her chest is crushed.

Jinx ("Die Another Day"): Unlike other Bond women before her, Giacinta "Jinx" Johnson, (Halle Berry), was not only one of the few black Bond girls to be predominantly featured in a Bond film, but is also the one who called the shots with Bond. Tough and hardnosed, she's the one that leaves in the morning after a fun night with Bond, automatically getting to her spy business. She coolly kills a plastic surgeon at one point and back dives off a cliff at another. She says to Bond "I don't like to be tied down." Shouldn't that be the motto of every Bond girl?

Vesper Lynd ("Casino Royale"): Though used as a homage to the great Bond women of the past in the revamp of the Bond franchise, Eva Green's version of this Bond girl stands on her own as a full-fledged character filled with complexities, motives and emotion. She has brains as well as beauty and is a foreign liaison agent assigned to make sure that Bond adequately manages the funds provided by MI6 for his betting. She is the epitome of elegance as she stands proud and tall next to the new Bond Daniel Craig in the casino. She sets the tone for the next generation of Bond girl to come in "Quantum of Solace" and beyond.