Necros (James Bond)

Necros
James Bond character
Andreas Wisniewski as Necros
Portrayed by	Andreas Wisniewski
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Affiliation	General Georgi Koskov Brad Whitaker
Classification	Henchman

Necros is a fictional character and henchman in the 1987 James Bond film The Living Daylights . He was played by Andreas Wisniewski. ^[1] Tall, muscular, blond, blue-eyed and steel-jawed Necros is of the Red Grant model, common in the earlier James Bond films. ^[2] Over the course of the film, Necros impersonates an American jogger, a Cockney milkman, an upper-class-sounding MI6 Agent, an Austrian balloon salesman, and a doctor in Morocco.

Biography

Necros, meaning 'dead' in Greek, was General Koskov's highly trained and disciplined Soviet assassin with KGB affiliations, but ultimately loyal to Koskov. He also says he has comrades fighting for "world revolution". His personal stereo plays The Pretenders. ^[3] Necros uses a great number of disguises and many techniques of killing, although strangulation seems to be a preferred method.

His first priority is to see that Koskov is brought safely to Brad Whitaker's Tangier estate from the safe house in England, where Koskov is being held by British Intelligence. He completes this mission by disguising himself as a milkman, whereby he gains access to the intelligence compound. ^[3] Subsequently, he radios in a report of a major gas leak within the building. This causes security to order an immediate evacuation. In the confusion, he abducts Koskov and effects his escape with the help of explosive milk bottles that look like molotovs, killing several Secret Service agents who attempt to apprehend him.

Necros later kills Saunders, head of Station V in Vienna, disguised as a balloon salesman, ^[4] by setting a bomb to explode at the doors to the cafe as he leaves his rendezvous with Bond. The killing becomes part of the operation to make the British Secret Service believe the Soviets have instituted a "Smiert Spionem" or "Death to Spies" operation.

Necros himself is killed after a midair struggle with Bond on the holding net of a Lockheed C-130 Hercules cargo plane 6,500 feet (2,000 m) above Afghanistan. ^{[5] [6]} Necros pleads for his life whilst hanging on to Bond's boot, but Bond slips the boot off by cutting the laces and drops the henchman to his death. ^{[5] [7]}

Reception

Perhaps due to his imposing stature and chiseled features, variety of false accents and love of pop music, Sally Hibbin considers Necros to be one of the most memorable Bond villains. ^[8] However, Steven Rubin stated that he was "not on-screen long enough to make any true impact", although he added that "even he has his sympathetic moments." ^[7] Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worrall say of Necros, "Necros is the most intriguing of the film's trio of main villains. He is a silent, humourless, but extremely handsome assassin who tends to use a Walkman as a strangulation device. The role is well played by Andreas Wisniewski, who provides the film with a much-needed sense of menace." ^[9]

See also

• List of James Bond villains

References

1. Dougall, Alastair; Stewart, Roger (1 October 2000). James Bond: the secret world of 007. Dorling Kindersley Pub. p. 137. ISBN   978-0-7894-6691-4 . Retrieved 11 December 2012.
2. Rubin, Steven Jay (2003). The complete James Bond movie encyclopedia. Contemporary Books. p. 297. ISBN   978-0-07-141246-9 . Retrieved 11 December 2012.
3. Burlingame, Jon (1 October 2012). The Music of James Bond. Oxford University Press. p. 187. ISBN   978-0-19-998676-7 . Retrieved 11 December 2012.
4. shortly before, he tries to sell Saunders a balloon with the words Ballon, mein Herr?, a nod to a scene in the Vienna-set Orson Welles film The Third Man . The British sergeant who buys a balloon in that film was played by Bernard Lee, who later played "M" in the Bond series.
5. Yeffeth, Glenn (28 September 2006). James Bond in the 21st Century: Why We Still Need 007. BenBella Books. p. 109. ISBN   978-1-933771-02-1 . Retrieved 11 December 2012.
6. American Cinematographer. ASC Holding Corp. July 1987. p. iii. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
7. Rubin, Steven Jay (2003). The complete James Bond movie encyclopedia. Contemporary Books. p. 246. ISBN   978-0-07-141246-9 . Retrieved 11 December 2012.
8. Hibbin, Sally (1 August 1987). The official James Bond 007 movie book. Crown Publishers. p. 125. ISBN   978-0-517-56643-5 . Retrieved 11 December 2012.
9. Pfeiffer, Lee; Worrall, Dave (1 April 2003). The Essential Bond: The Authorized Guide to the World of 007. Channel Four Books. p. 153. ISBN   978-0-7522-1562-4 . Retrieved 11 December 2012.