.gif)
Mister Big (James Bond)
Encyclopedia
Mr. Big is a fictional character and the main antagonist
in the James Bond
novel and film Live and Let Die
. In the film, Big is portrayed by actor Yaphet Kotto
. The novel and film versions of Mr. Big are extremely different, with the film incarnation bordering on being a completely new character. Hardly disputed, the character of Kananga was based partially on Haiti
an dictator François Duvalier
, who rose to power only in 1957, after Ian Fleming finished the novel.
and is half Black, half French. He got involved with Voodoo cult as a child, and eventually began making his living as a truck driver in Port-au-Prince
. Afterward, he emigrated to the USA and started working as an alcohol smuggler in a gang. When Prohibition ended he moved to Harlem and bought half of a share in a small nightclub. His partner was found in a barrel filled with cement in Harlem river in 1938, Big by default becoming the sole owner. Mobilized in 1943, he was posted to Marseilles due to his fluent French by the OSS
. Probably trained in Moscow as a Soviet
agent after World War II, Mr. Big then returned to Harlem
in 1950 and entered the nightclub business as a front for more sinister operations. According to M
, Mr. Big is one of the most powerful criminals in the world. Head of the "Black Widow Voodoo Cult", Big is believed by many of his subordinates to be a zombie
controlled by Baron Samedi, the voodoo god of death and darkness; his greyish skin, the result of a diseased heart, lends plausibility to this belief. Big is also a member of SMERSH
.
Mr. Big has discovered, and is engaged in excavating, the treasure trove of Sir Henry Morgan
in Jamaica. Smuggling the valuable gold coins into Florida, he then has his agents sell them on to unsuspecting buyers as a means of laundering
the treasure. He then uses the cash from the sales to finance the Soviet espionage machine in America.
Learning of this operation, Her Majesty's Government unleashes James Bond on Mr. Big after the events of Casino Royale
, allowing Bond to exact his revenge on the organisation SMERSH. Bond places a limpet mine
on Big's yacht, the Secatur, sinking it. Although Big survives the explosion, he is killed moments later by a swarm of barracuda
and shark
s. He and his remaining henchmen are devoured while Bond watches.
. On the fictional tiny island of San Monique, Big is known by his actual name: Dr. Kananga. Kananga is the Prime Minister and de facto dictator of the island and thus has certain diplomatic immunities
in the United States, allowing him to easily smuggle drugs into the country.
Kananga stands out as a Bond adversary due to the supernatural
aspect of his villainy. He uses a psychic
kept girl, Solitaire
, to tell the future; has an ally in Baron Samedi, who appears to be the genuine voodoo God of the Dead; and it has been implied that he, himself, is at least twice the age he appears to be, since he also used the powers of both Solitaire's mother and grandmother, before both lost their powers by losing their virginity.
Kananga grows vast quantities of heroin in San Monique that are covered by large camouflage
nets and guarded by the mystical Baron Samedi. Using the poppies, Kananga hopes to flood the U.S. market with heroin distributed through his alias Mr. Big's legitimate restaurants for free, thus forcing other drug dealers out of business. In doing so, he believes that he would double the number of addicts, which he would be able to exploit with his new-found monopoly.
Big is thwarted by his former voodoo high priestess, Solitaire, and James Bond. During the climax, Bond fights Mr. Big, with both of them falling into a pool of sharks. At the conclusion of the fight, Bond forces Mr. Big to swallow a bullet
of compressed air (from a Q Branch
shark gun), which unloads inside Kananga, causing him to inflate, float up to the ceiling like a balloon and explode, to which Bond quips, "He always did have an inflated opinion of himself." Beforehand, Bond's friend Felix Leiter
and his partner, Quarrel Jr., had already destroyed the poppy fields with timed explosives.
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
in the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novel and film Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die (novel)
Live and Let Die is the second novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1954, where the initial print run of 7,500 copies quickly sold out. As with Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale, Live and Let Die was broadly well received by the critics...
. In the film, Big is portrayed by actor Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Frederick Kotto is an African-American actor, known for numerous film roles , and his starring role in the NBC television series Homicide: Life on the Street .-Early life:Kotto was born in New York City, the son of Gladys Marie, a...
. The novel and film versions of Mr. Big are extremely different, with the film incarnation bordering on being a completely new character. Hardly disputed, the character of Kananga was based partially on Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an dictator François Duvalier
François Duvalier
François Duvalier was the President of Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. Duvalier first won acclaim in fighting diseases, earning him the nickname "Papa Doc" . He opposed a military coup d'état in 1950, and was elected President in 1957 on a populist and black nationalist platform...
, who rose to power only in 1957, after Ian Fleming finished the novel.
Novel biography
In the novel, Mr. Big's name is actually an acronym for Buonapart Ignace Gallia, his real name. His nickname also comes from the fact that he is 6 ft 7 inches (200 cm) tall and weights 220 pounds (100 kg). He is forty-five years old and described as having "golden eyes". Big was born in HaitiHaiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
and is half Black, half French. He got involved with Voodoo cult as a child, and eventually began making his living as a truck driver in Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
. Afterward, he emigrated to the USA and started working as an alcohol smuggler in a gang. When Prohibition ended he moved to Harlem and bought half of a share in a small nightclub. His partner was found in a barrel filled with cement in Harlem river in 1938, Big by default becoming the sole owner. Mobilized in 1943, he was posted to Marseilles due to his fluent French by the OSS
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
. Probably trained in Moscow as a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
agent after World War II, Mr. Big then returned to Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
in 1950 and entered the nightclub business as a front for more sinister operations. According to M
M (James Bond)
M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
, Mr. Big is one of the most powerful criminals in the world. Head of the "Black Widow Voodoo Cult", Big is believed by many of his subordinates to be a zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
controlled by Baron Samedi, the voodoo god of death and darkness; his greyish skin, the result of a diseased heart, lends plausibility to this belief. Big is also a member of SMERSH
SMERSH (James Bond)
SMERSH is a Soviet counterintelligence agency featured in Ian Fleming's early James Bond novels as agent 007's nemesis. СМЕРШ is an acronym from two Russian words: "SMERt' SHpionam" meaning "Death to Spies"...
.
Mr. Big has discovered, and is engaged in excavating, the treasure trove of Sir Henry Morgan
Henry Morgan
Admiral Sir Henry Morgan was an Admiral of the Royal Navy, a privateer, and a pirate who made a name for himself during activities in the Caribbean, primarily raiding Spanish settlements...
in Jamaica. Smuggling the valuable gold coins into Florida, he then has his agents sell them on to unsuspecting buyers as a means of laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
the treasure. He then uses the cash from the sales to finance the Soviet espionage machine in America.
Learning of this operation, Her Majesty's Government unleashes James Bond on Mr. Big after the events of Casino Royale
Casino Royale (novel)
Casino Royale is Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel. It paved the way for a further eleven novels by Fleming himself, in addition to two short story collections, followed by many "continuation" Bond novels by other authors....
, allowing Bond to exact his revenge on the organisation SMERSH. Bond places a limpet mine
Limpet mine
A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
on Big's yacht, the Secatur, sinking it. Although Big survives the explosion, he is killed moments later by a swarm of barracuda
Barracuda
The barracuda is a ray-finned fish known for its large size and fearsome appearance. Its body is long, fairly compressed, and covered with small, smooth scales. Some species could reach up to 1.8m in length and 30 cm in width...
and shark
Shark
Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....
s. He and his remaining henchmen are devoured while Bond watches.
Henchmen
- The Whisper
- Tee Hee Johnson
- McThing
- Sam Miami
- The Flannel
- Blabbermouth Foley
- The Robber
- Butch
- Poxy
Film biography
In the film, Mr. Big is a businessman and owner of a chain of restaurants in New York City and New Orleans called "Fillet of Soul". Big is also the head of one of the most vicious street gangs in HarlemHarlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. On the fictional tiny island of San Monique, Big is known by his actual name: Dr. Kananga. Kananga is the Prime Minister and de facto dictator of the island and thus has certain diplomatic immunities
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
in the United States, allowing him to easily smuggle drugs into the country.
Kananga stands out as a Bond adversary due to the supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
aspect of his villainy. He uses a psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
kept girl, Solitaire
Solitaire (James Bond)
Solitaire is a fictional character in the James Bond novel and film Live and Let Die. In the film, she was portrayed by Jane Seymour. At the age of 22, Jane Seymour became the youngest actress ever to play a Bond girl at the time .-Novel biography:In a relative rarity for the James Bond franchise,...
, to tell the future; has an ally in Baron Samedi, who appears to be the genuine voodoo God of the Dead; and it has been implied that he, himself, is at least twice the age he appears to be, since he also used the powers of both Solitaire's mother and grandmother, before both lost their powers by losing their virginity.
Kananga grows vast quantities of heroin in San Monique that are covered by large camouflage
Camouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
nets and guarded by the mystical Baron Samedi. Using the poppies, Kananga hopes to flood the U.S. market with heroin distributed through his alias Mr. Big's legitimate restaurants for free, thus forcing other drug dealers out of business. In doing so, he believes that he would double the number of addicts, which he would be able to exploit with his new-found monopoly.
Big is thwarted by his former voodoo high priestess, Solitaire, and James Bond. During the climax, Bond fights Mr. Big, with both of them falling into a pool of sharks. At the conclusion of the fight, Bond forces Mr. Big to swallow a bullet
Bullet
A bullet is a projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the intended target by impact and penetration...
of compressed air (from a Q Branch
Q (James Bond)
Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. Q , like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q Branch , the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service...
shark gun), which unloads inside Kananga, causing him to inflate, float up to the ceiling like a balloon and explode, to which Bond quips, "He always did have an inflated opinion of himself." Beforehand, Bond's friend Felix Leiter
Felix Leiter
Felix Leiter is a fictional CIA agent created by Ian Fleming in the James Bond series of novels and films. In both, Leiter works for the CIA and assists Bond in his various adventures as well as being his best friend. In further novels Leiter joins the Pinkerton Detective Agency and in the film...
and his partner, Quarrel Jr., had already destroyed the poppy fields with timed explosives.
Henchmen
- Tee Hee Johnson
- Baron Samedi
- Whisper
- Adam
- Rosie Carver
- Charlie Francis
- Pratik Patel
- Small force of footsoldiers in red teeshirts and black trousers