Renard (James Bond)

Viktor Lavrentievich Zokas, better known by his alias of Renard, the Anarchist, is a fictional character and a main antagonist in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. He was portrayed by Scottish actor Robert Carlyle.

Biography

As detailed in the film, Renard was trained by the KGB as an assassin, but was dismissed due to his mental instability. With the cessation of the Cold War and the political climate changes, he became a terrorist, with the sole purpose of spreading chaos. During a mission to dispatch Renard, MI6 agent 009 tracked him to Syria and shot him in the head. Renard survived the attack, but the bullet could not be removed from his head, and was steadily working its way through his brain toward the cerebral cortex. As it moved, it steadily deprived Renard of his ability to taste, smell, and (most notably) feel. However, even though the bullet will inevitably kill him, because he is unable to feel pain, he is able to push his physical limits further and further each day, granting him strength far beyond what a normal human being can take as he no longer registers the damage.

Some time prior to the events of the film, Renard kidnapped Elektra King, a billionaire heiress, and held her for ransom in Cyprus. When Elektra's father refused Renard's ransom demands, she decided to collaborate with and seduce Renard. She even went as far as to mutilate her own earlobe, as Renard loved her too much to harm her. Unbeknownst to MI6, Renard was aiding Elektra in her oil pipeline scheme in a last ditch effort to commit the ultimate act of chaos: killing 8 million innocent people (including himself, stating more than once that he considers himself to be already dead due to the bullet) in a nuclear blast, triggering a nuclear meltdown which would destroy Istanbul.

Film appearance

As the events of The World is Not Enough unfold, Renard is living with an indeterminate life expectancy, as the bullet could reach his cerebral cortex at any time and kill him. However, according to MI6 doctor Molly Warmflash, until the bullet kills him, Renard is expected to continue due to his inability to feel pain, allowing him to drive himself beyond ordinary physical limits. This unique trait is demonstrated in Renard's first on-screen appearance when he handles scalding pieces of volcanic rock in his hand without any sign of discomfort. After her 'escape' from Renard, Elektra claimed to be traumatized, faking Stockholm syndrome.

In the film, Elektra joins forces with Renard in a scheme to take control of the world's oil market. They launch an attack on MI6 headquarters in London, which results in the death of Elektra's father. Originally, it is thought their target is her family's oil pipeline, but it is later revealed that Renard and Elektra damaged the pipeline to cover their real target of disrupting all oil supplies except for those belonging to the King family. Renard hijacks a Russian nuclear submarine and intends to introduce weapons-grade plutonium into the submarine's nuclear reactor, causing a nuclear meltdown. This would happen in the Bosphorus at Istanbul, which would contaminate the city and the Bosporus for decades, preventing any shipping from the Black Sea. Shipments of Caspian Sea oil via all existing pipelines except for the King pipeline which terminated on Turkey's Mediterranean coast would have been affected.

Meanwhile, Elektra takes M hostage for Renard and captures Bond, but is ultimately killed by 007 after she tells Renard to launch the submarine on its mission. Bond boards the sub and confronts Renard, revealing Elektra's death during the confrontation. The latter locks himself inside the reactor so that Bond cannot get to him. Just as the reactor is about to go into a critical state due to Renard's plutonium-laced fuel rod, Bond causes the reactor to shoot the rod out of the core at a high speed and into Renard's abdomen- his last words being to inform Renard that Elektra is waiting for him-, thus killing him and stopping the reaction.