| “ | It was all me, James. It's always been me. The author of all your pain. | „ |
| ~ Blofeld taunting James Bond |
Franz Oberhauser, also known as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, is the main antagonist of the James Bond film Spectre and the overarching antagonist of the entire Bond reboot film series. He is the founder and leader of the titular criminal organization, and James Bond's archnemesis and former foster brother.
He is portrayed by Christoph Waltz, who also portrayed Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds.
Early Life[]
Blofeld as born Franz Oberhauser, the son of James Bond's family friend Hannes Oberhauser. When Bond's parents died in a climbing accident, the elder Oberhauser adopted Bond and told Franz to treat him as a brother; in time, he began to prefer Bond to his actual son. Fiercely jealous, Franz killed his father and faked his own death, making it look like a skiing accident. He then reinvented himself as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and over the next 20 years created a worldwide criminal organization known as SPECTRE, which specialized in terrorism, drug dealing, and human trafficking. Still nurturing his hatred of Bond, he sent SPECTRE agents Le Chiffre, Dominic Greene, and Raoul Silva to kill him after his former foster brother became a 00 agent with MI-6.
In Spectre[]
Blofeld conspires with Max Denbigh, the corrupt head of the Joint Security Service, to commit a series of terrorist attacks to create demand for Denbigh's proposed global surveillance initiative, "Nine Eyes". In return, SPECTRE would be given unlimited access to intelligence gathered by the system. Blofeld also tries to kill disloyal subordinate Mr. White by poisoning him with thallium.
When Bond assassinates one of Blofeld's lieutenants, Marco Sciarro, Blofeld retaliates by bombing the funeral, which Bond had attended, and making a failed attempt on the life of Sciarra's widow, Lucia. Bond later infiltrates a meeting of the heads of SPECTRE, where Blofeld senses his presence and calls him out. Stunned to see his former foster brother alive, Bond flees Blofeld's thugs, and seeks out White's daughter Madeline Swann for information about her father's associates.
Bond and Madeline eventually find SPECTRE's headquarters and confront Blofeld, who brags about orchestrating the recent tragedies in Bond's life, especially the deaths of his lover Vesper Lynd and the previous M. He then imprisons Bond in a neurosurgical chair, planning to drill into his skull and remove his eyes. At the last minute, however, Madeline destroys the chair with Bond's explosive watch, made by Q. The explosion disfigures Blofeld, blinding him in one eye and scarring his face. He escapes before Bond and Swann destroy SPECTRE's headquarters.
Blofeld follows Bond to London as the latter tries to dismantle Nine Eyes before it launches, and kidnaps him and Swann. He imprisons them in the abandoned SIS headquarters, which are set to be demolished in a matter of minutes, and boards a helicopter. Bond escapes and rescues Swann just in time, however, while Denbigh is killed during a confrontation with M, ruining Blofeld's plan to steal the world's intelligence data. Bond shoots Blofeld's helicopter, causing it to crash, severely injuring Blofeld. As Blofeld crawls away from the wreckage, Bond stands over him. Blofeld dares Bond to kill him, but Bond spares his life and allows him to be arrested.