Mister Big (James Bond)
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| James Bond character | |
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| Mr. Big/Dr. Kananga | |
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| Gender | Male |
| Affiliation | SMERSH (novel) Black Widow Voodoo Cult (novel and film) San Monique (film) |
| Portrayed by | Yaphet Kotto |
Mr. Big is a fictional character 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 altogether.
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[edit] Novel bio
In the novel, Mr. Big's name is actually an acronym for Buonapart Ignace Gallia, his real name. Big was born in Haiti and is half French. Likely trained in Moscow as a Soviet agent after World War II, Mr. Big then returned to Harlem 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 some to be the voodoo master Baron Samedi himself. Big is also a member of SMERSH.
[edit] Scheme
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. Big's demise comes when Bond places a limpet mine on Big's yacht, the Secatur, sinking it. Although Big actually survives the explosion, he is killed moments later by a swarm of barracuda and sharks (this stands in stark contrast to the film, where a more comedic demise was improvised during filming to replace the scripted shark death). He and his remaining henchmen are devoured while Bond watches.
Part of this scene is used in the film For Your Eyes Only – Bond and Solitaire are being towed behind the Secatur on a line when the mine explosion saves them from being dragged over coral to excite the gathering sharks (in the film, Melina Havelock replaces Solitaire). Much of the rest of the novel is brought to the screen in the film Licence to Kill, although instead of smuggling gold coins, Franz Sanchez – replacing Big – is smuggling drugs for his own enrichment. Other parts of Live and Let Die used in Licence to Kill include his feeding Felix Leiter to a shark and leaving the near-dead CIA man with a note for Bond: "He disagreed with something that ate him", and the aquarium warehouse scene in which Bond exacts revenge for this act.
[edit] Henchmen
- The Whisper
- Tee Hee Johnson
- McThing
- Sam Miami
- The Flannel
- Blabbermouth Foley
- The Robber
As in the film, Solitaire works for Mr. Big, however, early in the film upon their first meeting she defects and aids Bond in bringing Mr. Big down.
[edit] Film bio
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 Harlem. On the fictional tiny island of San Monique, Big is known by his actual name: Dr. Kananga. Kananga is the 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.
[edit] Scheme
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. This triggers Bond's line (after Solitaire has asked what happened, as there is pretty much nothing left of him), "He always did have an overinflated opinion of himself." There is also a certain irony with Mr. Big 's death in this manner. Beforehand, Bond's friend Felix Leiter and his partner, Quarrel Jr., had already destroyed the poppy fields with timed explosives.
[edit] Henchmen
- Further information: List of James Bond henchmen in Live and Let Die
Although not technically considered a henchman, Solitaire works for Mr. Big/Dr. Kananga as a psychic, and uses Tarot cards to allow Mr. Big to see what and who might be coming for him.
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