Superfluous Characters?

DavidJonesDavidJones BermondseyPosts: 266MI6 Agent
edited February 2019 in The James Bond Films
I wonder if there have been any characters in the series who add nothing to the plot or action?

Mr Bullion in TWINE, maybe?

Comments

  • ManxmanManxman Posts: 125MI6 Agent
    I think the most obvious example is Bibi Dahl in For Your Eyes Only.
  • James SuzukiJames Suzuki New ZealandPosts: 2,406MI6 Agent
    Miss Moneypenny.
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  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,860Chief of Staff
    Miss Moneypenny isn't there to add to the plot, even though she's better than a computer in all sorts of ways, except in very few instances (SF being the most obvious example). I'd exclude her from this list- the same goes for Felix who sometimes does very little plotwise.
  • Sir Hillary BraySir Hillary Bray College of ArmsPosts: 2,174MI6 Agent
    Maybe I'm not fully understanding the question, but here goes...

    How about Aziz Fekkesh from TSWLM? Hossein tells Bond, "To get to Kalba, you must first contact Fekkesh", but it's not like Kalba keeps a low profile, wearing a dinner jacket and watching the entertainment at his own club. Fekkesh seems like a middleman with no real purpose other than to give Bond a set piece in which to kill Sandor and to stage a cool scene at the Pyramids.
    Hilly...you old devil!
  • hehadlotsofgutshehadlotsofguts Durham England Posts: 2,112MI6 Agent
    Miss Moneypenny.

    In some films, she's more useful than in other films. For example in LTK, she goes behind M's back to contact Q branch so that he can give Bond some gadgets for his mission. And in LALD, she was a substitute for Q.

    In Moonraker, in the scene in Brazil, she didn't even need to be there. She only told Bond where M was. There was none of the typical flirting or anything.

    I don't think Stamper is
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  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 22,334MI6 Agent
    Sheriff J.F. Pepper?
  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,610MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    Sheriff J.F. Pepper?

    J.W.'s brother who works in another parish?
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  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 22,334MI6 Agent
    Who else? No, I was thinking of J.W.
  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,610MI6 Agent
    Number24 wrote:
    Who else? No, I was thinking of J.W.

    As stupid as he is, he serves a purpose in Live and Let Die, but definitely not in The Man with the Golden Gun.
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  • PPK 7.65mmPPK 7.65mm Saratoga Springs NY USAPosts: 1,253MI6 Agent
    Mr. Kil from Die Another Day always seemed to be a superfluous character to me. He was only there to tell a lame joke and be another guy for Bond to fight with. Defiantly not needed if you ask me.
  • DavidJonesDavidJones BermondseyPosts: 266MI6 Agent
    PPK 7.65mm wrote:
    Mr. Kil from Die Another Day always seemed to be a superfluous character to me. He was only there to tell a lame joke and be another guy for Bond to fight with. Defiantly not needed if you ask me.

    Definitely. He sums up everything that is wrong with DAD.
  • Mr MartiniMr Martini That nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,707MI6 Agent
    PPK 7.65mm wrote:
    Mr. Kil from Die Another Day always seemed to be a superfluous character to me. He was only there to tell a lame joke and be another guy for Bond to fight with. Defiantly not needed if you ask me.

    At the end of the fight you knew Mr. Kil wasn't going to appear in future installments of the Bond movies.
    Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    DavidJones wrote:
    PPK 7.65mm wrote:
    Mr. Kil from Die Another Day always seemed to be a superfluous character to me. He was only there to tell a lame joke and be another guy for Bond to fight with. Defiantly not needed if you ask me.

    Definitely. He sums up everything that is wrong with DAD.

    That's exactly the one character I was thinking of too, when I first saw this thread title.

    I'm also not very keen on Rosie Carver from LALD either. I think she's a very badly written character and one that we could probably have done without, although I suppose she does perform a function in the film.
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  • AugustWalkerAugustWalker Posts: 880MI6 Agent
    I got this one from CD‘s YOLT review.
    At Bond‘s sea burial, there‘s a scene showing a man reading Bond‘s obituary whilst observing the funeral with binoculars. You‘d assume he‘d be some SPECTRE agent or otherwise relevant to the plot hence this extra scene but he‘s never to be seen again...
    The name is Walker by the way.

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  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,610MI6 Agent
    I got this one from CD‘s YOLT review.
    At Bond‘s sea burial, there‘s a scene showing a man reading Bond‘s obituary whilst observing the funeral with binoculars. You‘d assume he‘d be some SPECTRE agent or otherwise relevant to the plot hence this extra scene but he‘s never to be seen again...

    Perhaps he was there just to show how even insignificant people were aware that Bond had died.
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  • Silhouette ManSilhouette Man The last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
    edited February 2019
    Matt S wrote:
    I got this one from CD‘s YOLT review.
    At Bond‘s sea burial, there‘s a scene showing a man reading Bond‘s obituary whilst observing the funeral with binoculars. You‘d assume he‘d be some SPECTRE agent or otherwise relevant to the plot hence this extra scene but he‘s never to be seen again...

    Perhaps he was there just to show how even insignificant people were aware that Bond had died.

    That's actually a very good explanation, Matt S. I guess I'd always just assumed it was a SPECTRE agent or other interested party checking to see if Bond really was dead like the newspapers said.
    "The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 4,108MI6 Agent
    Manxman wrote:
    I think the most obvious example is Bibi Dahl in For Your Eyes Only.
    Bibi inadvertently leads Bond into a trap when Kristatos asks Bond to accompany her to a ski-event. As well as setting up a major action sequence, this scene introduces one of the films' villains: Eric Kriegler.
    This whole bit of plot-structure is very similar to the parade-date in Thunderball, where Domino was also identified as Largo's protégé.

    Also during the climax it is Bibi and her trainer who lead Bond and his team through Kristatos's hideout.
    So she is annoying I agree but is needed at least twice to make the plot work.


    There's lots of walk-on characters who contribute only "comedy" or good looks, especially during the 1970s films.
    Sherriff Pepper, in his second appearance, is only there because he was about to testdrive a car when that sekurt agent feller needed to commandeer a vehicle. After which all he contributes is dumb dialog. Bond could have just as easily commandeered any random vehicle in the street and the subsequent chase scene would have worked exactly the same without his old buddy.


    There a lot of fabulous babes during the Moore era who just stand around and look pretty while he waggles an eyebrow at the camera like Benny Hill. In the Spy Who Loved Me for example, the harem girl and the hotel receptionist both get gratuitous oggling closeups without actually doing anything. Still, sometimes it's not all about advancing the plot, is it? the posters of the era promised plenty of babes so they gotta get them in the story one way or another.
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