Karl Stromberg is a fictional character in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Stromberg was played by German actor Curt Jurgens. The character Stromberg was created specifically for the film by writer Christopher Wood. The novel The Spy Who Loved Me, written by Ian Fleming wasn't told from Bond's perspective, but rather a Bond girl that is in love with James Bond. The entire plot of the film has actually nothing to do at all with the plot of the novel. This was at Fleming's request; when he sold the rights to his novel to EON Productions he requested only the title be used. Stromberg has the distinction, therefore, of being the very first major James Bond villain to be created specifically for the movies.

Character bio

Stromberg was a successful self-employed businessman as head of his own shipping firm. Stromberg's obsession and passion was the ocean where he lived in his palace, named Atlantis, that could submerge itself underwater so as not to be seen or detected. Located off of Sardinia, Italy, Atlantis had everything to support life above and below water for any length of time. In fact, Atlantis was more like a city, able to support dozens if not hundreds of people.

Stromberg also owned a huge tanker, named Liparus, that was his headquarters away from Atlantis.

Scheme

Although Stromberg had a passion and love for the ocean and its life, he absolutely despised human life. It was his belief and personal mission to start over with a new civilization underwater. After contracting two scientists to create the technology to track nuclear submarines, Stromberg took this technology and used it to acquire a Soviet nuclear submarine and an American submarine. By tracking the subs, Stromberg's tanker, the Liparus, would sneak up on the subs and capture them inside the tanker. His plan called for the use of firing nuclear weapons from these subs at New York City and Moscow thus framing each other's government and starting a nuclear war, which would wipe out every last human being on Earth.

This scheme is actually a recycled plot from a previous film, You Only Live Twice, which was similar in that by stealing space shuttles it would start a war between the Soviets and the Americans. It was also used, in part, in the sequel to The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker. In Moonraker, the villain Hugo Drax had an obsession with starting human civilization over in space. The film Moonraker was also written by Christopher Wood.

Prevention

Stromberg's scheme is prevented after Bond sneaks aboard the Liparus as a prisoner from a recently captured American submarine. With Bond's help, the crews of the other submarines escape and take over the tanker. With the tanker in their control, Bond is able to order the stolen submarines to fire their nuclear warheads at each other. Prior to this, however, Stromberg abducts Bond's partner, Anya Amatsova, and escapes to his city-ship, Atlantis.

Bond pursues Stromberg, and after two failed attempts by Stromberg to kill Bond, Bond exercises his licence to kill, executing Stromberg with multiple gunshots to the chest. Afterwards, Atlantis is scuttled by the remaining American submarine while Bond and Anya escape.

Henchmen

• Jaws
• Sandor

The Blofeld connection

In early drafts of the screenplay, the villain of The Spy Who Loved Me was going to be Ernst Stavro Blofeld, head of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and Bond's mortal enemy from previous films, but legal wrangling over the rights to the character required the creation of a new bad guy. A passing reference in the film to the death of Bond's wife (killed in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in a drive-by shooting conducted by Blofeld himself) could be a remnant of this earlier script. Indeed Stromberg and Blofeld have many similarities, both in terms of characterization, and in the fact that they have small armies of thugs at their disposal. Stromberg's plan to end civilization is also similar to Blofeld's plan to start a Third World War in You Only Live Twice.

See also

• List of James Bond villains
• The Spy Who Loved Me