The Greatest Bond Girls, Ranked By How Much Butt They Kicked

If Ocean’s 8 proved one thing, it’s that ladies can take on iconic male-led films and do just as good a job, if not superiorly better.

And the next iconic flick to cop the female treatment is Bond, James Bond.

It was recently announced that British actress Lashana Lynch is set to become the next 007. Nope, not Jane Bond, but rather the next agent to inhabit the 007 moniker.

While punters, naturally, have had varying opinions on the matter, we reckon there’s total precedent for a woman to take on the task of saving Britain from the baddies.

If you take a look back at the history of Bond films, for all its different incarnations, you’ll see ladies kicking butt alongside the titular character and doing it in style.

While there has been many, many Bond Girls over the years, we’ve ranked the best ones based on how much butt they kicked in their respective films, all of which are now streaming on Stan.

9. Camille Montes (Quantam of Solace)

Perhaps the most savvy Bond Girl of the Daniel Craig era, Olga Kurylenko portrays Camille Montes, a Bolivian spy out to thwart the coup Quantum is backing.

Her ruthlessness is driven by her desire to avenge her family who were murdered by coup leader Medrano.

When she ultimately comes face-to-face with Medrano, he attempts to rape and kill her but she ultimately shows her skills by gaining the upper hand and killing the dictator with a single gun shot to the head.

Slay.

8. Octopussy (Octopussy)

When it comes to Bond Girls, people remember the combat, the sex scenes and the shocking revelation when they turn out to be evil, but in terms of their names, perhaps the most renowned is Octopussy.

Don’t let her outlandish name fool you, though, as Octopussy is one powerful force.

Played by Maud Adams, Octopussy is a sly jewellery smuggler and the leader of an army of female acrobats who work together to nab them diamonds.

Upon meeting 007, she notes how the pair are two of a kind and although he laughs this off because, well, he’s a secret agent and she’s a thief, there’s no denying that the WILD method of her thievery earns her spot on this list.

7. Melina Havelock (For Your Eyes Only)

While most suckers carry a gun, sword or other stock-standard weapon, our girl Melina wields a crossbow. She doesn’t just kick ass, she shoots an arrow through it.

Carole Bouquet plays the rage-filled character, intent on avenging her murdered parents.

Melina’s determination to seek revenge and her desire to kill the culprit upon meeting him mirrors the brute force that was typically shown by men in cinema at that point which makes her particularly ruthless.

6. Pussy Galore (Goldfinger)

Goldfinger’s leading lady is perhaps one of the most iconic Bond Girls for two reasons.

1. She’s the first to have an outrageously suggestive name.

2. She’s the first to start off as a baddie and ultimately turn to the side of good upon meeting Bond, James Bond.

When she first meets our hero, she proves herself to be a formidable opponent, using her judo skills to kick Bond’s butt.

After eventually changing sides, she becomes integral in taking Goldfinger down and saving the day.

5. Maj. Anya Amasova (The Spy Who Loved Me)

We love a woman in power and Barbara Bach’s Amasova is an all-powerful, respected Major which earns her a sweet spot on this list.

Amasova is tasked with finding who’s stealing nuclear-armed submarines and proves to be a formidable adversary when she crosses paths with Bond.

Upon discovering that they have the same enemy, they join forces and Amasova kicks a whole lot of butt along the way.

In fact, this is the first Bond Girl to ever overshadow the villain and she is certainly the most self-sufficient female character at that point in the franchise.

4. May Day (A View to a Kill)

I mean, the above image pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?

Supermodel Grace Jones portrays one of the most fascinatingly fierce Bond Girls to date.

May Day has it all: Strength (see above), sexual prowess (she insists on being on top while boning Bond) and heart (as shown when she turns against her evil boss and sacrifices herself to stop an earthquake).

The film’s tagline reads: “Has James Bond finally met his match?” This is what you want in a Bond Girl, the ability to kick as much butt as the blokes, and then some.

3. Wai Lin (Tomorrow Never Dies)

Hiring a famous martial arts star was a boss move by the casting director and places Wai Lin at a high spot on this list because she (high) kicks ass.

Famous for doing her own spectacular stunts in over a dozen Hong Kong action films, Michelle Yeoh’s character took the Bond Girl archetype to a whole new level of badass.

Wai Lin is an elite Chinese secret agent who joins forces with 007 to take down a mad man intent on starting World War III.

Here’s hoping Lashana Lynch undergoes some heavy martial arts training so her hand-to-hand combat skills are as epic as those displayed by Yeoh in this flick.

2. Xenia (GoldenEye)

Sure, she’s a cold-blooded killer who murders with glee, but in a man’s world, Xenia proved that the ability to kick ass isn’t specific to one gender.

The malicious Xenia (played by iconic actress Famke Janssen) had many powerful weapons at her disposal, and I don’t just mean her firearms.

She was able to use her sexuality to lure men – then break their backs while they were doing it – on top of some serious hand-to-hand combat and gun slinging skills.

While other ladies in Bond films only wore sexy attire for the benefit of male viewers, Xenia broke down gender barriers by displaying her penchant for cars, cigars and obliterating her enemies.

1. Jinx (Die Another Day)

Ladies and gents, we have a winner in Halle Berry’s Die Another Day character, Jinx.

Women in the Bond franchise are typically either sexual conquests of the mighty hero, ruthless villains, or assistants with a myriad of personal problems. Jinx, however, was a force in her own right, an equal to Bond. Not a superior, not a subordinate, an equal.

Jinx was an NSA agent working a different strand of the same case 007 was tasked with and therefore partners with him to get the job done quicker.

While working together, Jinx certainly makes the case for a female 007 as she’s as skilled, witty and committed to the cause as her male counterpart.

Her performance was so spectacular, in fact, that there was talk of the character copping her own spinoff and while that ultimately never came to be, it’s certainly fair to say that Jinx paved the way for Lashana Lynch to ultimately become the first ever female 007.

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