#The 20 Greatest James Bond Villains Ever

Javier Bardem is best known for playing the near-silent hitman Anton Chigurh in “No Country For Old Men,” but his role in “Skyfall,” while still villainous, is very different from the brooding assassin. Raoul Silva is an eccentric criminal mastermind who plots to take down MI6 through a series of elaborate traps, publicly discrediting the intelligence agency through bombings and leaked intel. While he has a flair for the theatrical, Silva is a damaged character who harbors a deep hatred for Bond’s employer M (Judi Dench).

A former MI6 operative, the cyber-criminal once known as Tiago Rodriguez was abandoned and left permanently scarred. Driven by vengeance, Rodriguez took on the name Silva and used his knowledge of the MI6 database to expose the secret identities of working field agents. Silva’s advanced knowledge poses such a threat to M that Bond must temporarily leave MI6 in order to protect his boss. Silva is fascinated by Bond, and considers him to be a potential ally.

Silva is a dark mirror to Bond: in the opening of “Skyfall,” Bond is nearly killed on assignment, so he’s able to empathize with Silva’s rage. However, upon enduring Silva’s sadistic games, during which Silva kills his lieutenant Sévérine (Bérénice Marlohe), Bond realizes that he will never understand Silva’s capacity for cruelty. For his transformative performance, Bardem earned a BAFTA, Screen Actor’s Guild, and Critic’s Choice Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.