Elektra King

Elektra King: "I could've given you the world."

James Bond: "The world is not enough."

―Elektra King and James Bond^[src]

Elektra Vavra King is the daughter of oil tycoon Sir Robert King and one of the two main villains from the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, alongside Renard. She is played by Sophie Marceau.

Film biography

Spoiler warning: This article contains spoilers! Plot and/or ending details follow.

Background

Elektra is the daughter of Sir Robert King, whose mother's side of the family is of Azerbaijani descent and fled the country immediately after the Soviet Union was established. She was kidnapped as a teenager by the terrorist Renard, and her father refused to pay the ransom on the advice of family friend (and James Bond's boss) M. Embittered, she became Renard's lover and participated in his scheme to extort money from her family (going so far as to mutilate her ear so Renard could send it to her father as a warning) but pretended to have been traumatized by the kidnapping. (Bond thought she suffered from Stockholm syndrome, but may have been blinded by his affection for her.)

Hostile takeover

Ten years later, she secretly collaborated with Renard to blow up her family's oil pipeline, becoming Bond's lover to throw off suspicion. When Renard publicly threatened to destroy the pipeline, however, she showed her true colors and kidnapped M, whom she blamed for her father's betrayal in not paying her ransom years earlier. Her plan was minutes away from completion when Bond stormed her hideout. Soon Bond and Christmas are captured by Elektra's henchmen. Christmas is taken aboard the submarine, which was seized by Renard's men. Bond is taken to the tower, where Elektra tortures him in a garrote. During said torment, Elektra taunts and seduces Bond, insisting that she had a certain power that no man could resist, and that Bond's affection for her had been his undoing. Bond denied that Elektra ever meant anything to him, even as Elektra slowly but steadily brought him closer to death.

Death

Having survived the bombing, Zukovsky and his men take mount a raid on the tower. Reaching the room where Elektra has Bond, he is shot by her. Dying, Zukovsky uses his cane gun to free Bond, who then chases after the fleeing Elektra, freeing M in the process. During a tense standoff, and at the business end of a gun, Bond demands that Elektra order Renard to call off the imminent meltdown in the city. Elektra then taunts Bond, telling him that he wouldn't shoot her and that he would miss her. She then radios Renard and in her overconfidence on her hold over Bond, she instead tells him to proceed with the plan, and Bond immediately kills her with a single gunshot while exclaiming "I never miss".

Henchmen & Associates

Behind the Scenes

There is some debate as to whether Elektra, not Renard, should be considered the main villain in The World is Not Enough as it is clear many elements of the plot are orchestrated by her. If this is the case, Elektra is the first woman to be the main villain of a Bond film (since Rosa Klebb of From Russia with Love is clearly answering to someone else); However most fans have declared that both are on equal footing for the role of head villain.
Elektra is slightly similar to Vesper Lynd. Both betray Bond for the main villain. Although Elektra herself ends up being the main villain and Vesper was being blackmailed.