NOTE: This page is only about the MGM film version of Le Chiffre as the book and 1954 versions of Le Chiffre were not voted Pure Evil, and thus only the MGM film version of Le Chiffre's info and crimes should be put here. |
“ | You know, I never understood all these elaborate tortures. It's the simplest thing to cause more pain than a man can possibly endure. And of course, it's not only the immediate agony, but the knowledge that if you do not yield soon enough, there will be little left to identify you as a man. The only question remains: will you yield, in time? | „ |
~ Le Chiffre's most famous quote as he tortures James Bond. |
Jean Duran, or better known as Le Chiffre, is a major antagonist in the James Bond reboot film series, serving as the main antagonist in the first installment Casino Royale, based on Ian Fleming's original 1953 novel of the same name, and as a posthumous antagonist in both Quantum of Solace and Spectre.
He is Albanian by birth (though officially stateless), and his most notable physical feature was a defective tear duct, which causes him to cry blood. He works for a mysterious group called Quantum, and finances terrorist groups by buying company stocks with his client's money and forcing stock market shifts through terrorist acts.
He was portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen, who also played Randall Boggs in the Danish dub of Monsters, Inc., David Prentiss in Chaos Walking and Jürgen Voller in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- Financing multiple terrorist attacks for his personal profit, including 9/11 and the attempted bombing of the Skyfleet S570 prototype; an attack that would've killed dozens, if not hundreds, of civilians if it weren't for James Bond's intervention.
- Betting the funds belonging to his clients on the stock market without their consent.
- Having Solange Dimitrios tortured to death for indirectly exposing his plot to bomb the Skyfleet S570.
- Secretly bribing the Montenegro police chief to protect him from MI6, police, or any other enemies of his, and didn't care at all when he was arrested.
- Nearly allowing Steven Obanno to take Valenka's arm for his own betrayal before the former stopped himself in disgust at Le Chiffre's cowardice.
- Having Valenka poison James Bond in an attempt to get him out of the Poker tournament for good, nearly causing him to have a heart attack if it weren't for Vesper Lynd's intervention.
- Kidnapped Vesper and threw her out of his car forcing Bond to crash while chasing him and then kidnapped him.
- Framed René Mathis by claiming he was working with him, which branded Mathis a traitor and exiled him.
- Torturing Bond by whipping his testicles with a knotted rope while mocking him over his and Vesper's current situation during his attempt to acquire the password to the account housing Bond's and Vesper's winnings.
- Attempted to castrate Bond when he wouldn't give up the password and he would have succeeded if Mr. White hadn't been ordered to kill him.
- Despite the 007 Reboot series' high Heinous Standards, Le Chiffre stands out due to having very few resources of his own, essentially he's just an accountant for Quantum. On top of that, his torture of Bond is a unique crime to the Reboot series, since the only other villain to torture Bond in this series was another Pure Evil, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
Trivia[]
- In the original Ian Fleming novel, Le Chiffre was much more perverted than the film version, having countless mistresses and investing the stolen money in a French brothel rather than the stock market. However, he could qualify as tragic due to originally being a mute amnesiac who was rescued from the Dachau concentration camp in 1945, implying possible abuse he suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Thus, Le Chiffre is Pure Evil in the movie, but not in the novel.
- According to Mads Mikkelsen, in the backstory he originally conceived for Le Chiffre, he grew up in Eastern Europe in a harsh neighbourhood and became a teenage criminal by using his mathematical genius to win at gambling, making a lot of money. However, he always carried a knife to defend himself due to being weak in comparison to other kids and once got in a fight that caused his left eye to be damaged with his knife. Of course, Mikkelsen's statement doesn't count unless clearly shown, so this doesn't make Le Chiffre tragic at all.
- Le Chiffre is, alongside Dominic Greene, General Medrano, and Ernst Stavro Blofeld, one of the four villains of the James Bond film series with Daniel Craig to be Pure Evil.
External Links[]
- Le Chiffre on the Villains Wiki
- Le Chiffre on the James Bond Wiki
- Le Chiffre on Wikipedia
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