Elektra King

Elektra has a British father (Sir Robert King) and a mother of Azerbaijani descent. Her father had acquired his wife's oil wealth and merged it into his own construction business, forming King Enterprises. Elektra is wealthy, beautiful, and intelligent and becomes famous for the combination. She is kidnapped by Victor "Renard" Zokas, a terrorist anarchist and former KGB agent. On the advice of M (a family friend), Sir Robert refuses to pay the ransom.

Elektra was embittered, and became Renard's lover. She joined in Renard's extortion scheme and mutilated her own ear to send to her father. James Bond initially thought she was suffering from Stockholm syndrome, but it turns out she already had a hatred for her father, based on loyalty to her mother. She and Renard attempt to blow up her family's oil pipeline, and she kidnaps M, Bond, and Christmas Jones. Elektra tortures Bond with a garrote, but when Valentin Zukovsky frees Bond, Bond shoots Elektra.

Marceau's portrayal of Elektra earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the 2000 Empire Awards.

The film's costume designer, Lindy Hemming, highlighted Elektra's exoticism by "adorning her in luxuriant textiles".[1]

Kirsten Smith suggests that "Elektra holds some of the characteristics of the femme fatale displayed in her clothing choices, her quest for power over all the men in her life, and her ability to use sex to enhance her position." Smith goes on to say, however, that Elektra is also a "damaged and complex woman trying to redeem her mother's name and cultural heritage."[2]

Dean Kowalski notes that while we are led to believe Renard is the main villain of the film, Elektra is actually the "brains and evil heart of the operation". Kowalski concludes that "Elektra's attitudes and behavior are reminiscent of the yin force and exactly what we would expect of a strong (even if misguided) female character."[3]