Ernst Stavro Blofeld

Number 1, head of SPECTRE and arch enemy of 007

Blofeld, an extremely imposing man of 6’3″, with a penchant for violet-scented breath mints, serves as Bond’s target and main rival in the last three Fleming 007 stories. As the head of SPECTRE, a global organisation with criminality at its core, there is no limit to this man’s power.

Born in 1908 in Gdynia, Poland, Blofeld studies at the University of Warsaw before taking a communication role in the Polish government. Foreseeing World War II, he makes copies of the top-secret wires coming across his desk and begins selling them to Nazi Germany. At the start of the German invasion, he destroys all evidence of his existence and flees to Turkey where he starts trading intelligence information to both sides. When the tide turns in the war, Blofeld fully backs the Allied forces and earns himself numerous medals. He then moves to South America and sets up SPECTRE, SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion.

By the time he meets Bond, Blofeld is Number 1 and head of a criminal organisation so large that it is able to hold the world to ransom. As well as being an evil mastermind, Blofeld is a master of disguise, transforming in each installment of the SPECTRE trilogy, creating increasingly dramatic alter egos as 007 closes in on him. Bond eventually meets him hiding in Japan under the alias Dr Guntram Shatterhand, where they finally go head-to-head.