Elektra Vavra King is a character in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

film ''

The World Is Not Enough ''The World Is Not Enough'' is a 1999 spy film, the nineteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Michael Apted, from an ...

'', played by actress

Sophie Marceau Sophie Marceau (; born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu, 17 November 1966) is a French actress. As a teenager, she achieved popularity with her debut films ''La Boum'' (1980) and '' La Boum 2'' (1982), receiving a César Award for Most Promising A ...

In the film

Elektra is the daughter of Scottish oil magnate Sir Robert King and his

Azerbaijani Azerbaijani may refer to: * Something of, or related to Azerbaijan * Azerbaijanis * Azerbaijani language See also * Azerbaijan (disambiguation) * Azeri (disambiguation) * Azerbaijani cuisine * Culture of Azerbaijan The culture of Azerbaijan ...

wife. Her father had acquired her mother's oil wealth and merged it into his own construction business, forming King Enterprises. As a teenager, Elektra was kidnapped by Victor "Renard" Zokas, a terrorist and former KGB agent. On the advice of M, a family friend, Sir Robert refused to pay the ransom. Elektra was embittered, and became Renard's lover. She joined in Renard's extortion scheme and mutilated her own ear to send to her father. James Bond speculates that, after her kidnapping, she was suffering from

Stockholm syndrome Stockholm syndrome is a condition in which hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors. It is supposed to result from a rather specific set of circumstances, namely the power imbalances contained in hostage-taking, kidnapping, and ...

. In the film, she and Renard kill Sir Robert and attempt to blow up her family's oil pipeline as part of an elaborate plan to steal his fortune. Elektra impresses Bond by brazenly betting one million dollars on a card game and shrugging it off when she loses. They briefly become lovers, before she and Renard kidnap him, along with M and

nuclear physicist Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

Christmas Jones. Elektra mortally wounds Bond's erstwhile ally Valentin Zukovsky, and then tortures Bond with a

garrote A garrote or garrote vil (a Spanish word; alternative spellings include garotte and similar variants''Oxford English Dictionary'', 11th Ed: garrotte is normal British English spelling, with single r alternate. Article title is US English spelli ...

. Zukovsky frees Bond as he dies, and Bond holds Elektra at gunpoint, ordering her to call off Renard from firing a

nuclear missile Nuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. Several methods have been developed to carry out this task. ''Strategic'' nuclear weapons are used primari ...

at the pipeline. Elektra taunts Bond, saying, "You won't kill me - you would miss me," and tells Renard to fire the missile. Bond then shoots her dead, saying "I never miss." He then also kills Renard.

Portrayal

Marceau's portrayal of Elektra earned her a nomination for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

at the 2000 Empire Awards. The film's costume designer,

Lindy Hemming Lindy Hemming (born 21 August 1948) is a Welsh costume designer, who won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for the 1999 film ''Topsy-Turvy''. Hemming's name is an example of an aptronym. Career After she studied at the Royal Academy of ...

, highlighted Elektra's exoticism by "adorning her in luxuriant textiles".

Analysis

Kirsten Smith suggests that "Elektra holds some of the characteristics of the

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype o ...

displayed in her clothing choices, her quest for power over all the men in her life, and her ability to use sex to enhance her position." Smith goes on to say, however, that Elektra is also a "damaged and complex woman trying to redeem her mother's name and cultural heritage." Dean Kowalski notes that while we are led to believe Renard is the main villain of the film, Elektra is actually the "brains and evil heart of the operation". Kowalski concludes that "Elektra's attitudes and behavior are reminiscent of the ''

yin Yin may refer to: *the dark force in the yin and yang from traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine *Yīn (surname) (), a Chinese surname *Yǐn (surname) (), a Chinese surname *Shang dynasty, also known as the Yin dynasty **Yinxu or Yin, the S ...

'' force and exactly what we would expect of a strong (even if misguided) female character."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Elektra Bond girls Bond villains Female characters in film Film characters introduced in 1999 Female film villains Fictional Azerbaijani people Film supervillains Female supervillains Fictional terrorists Fictional business executives Fictional patricides Fictional gamblers Fictional socialites