Le Chiffre
Encyclopedia
Le Chiffre is a fictional character
and the main antagonist in Ian Fleming
's James Bond
novel Casino Royale
. On screen Le Chiffre has been portrayed by Peter Lorre
in the 1954 television adaptation of the novel for CBS
's Climax! television series, by Orson Welles
in the 1967 spoof
of the novel and Bond film series, and by Mads Mikkelsen
in the 2006 film version
of Fleming's novel.
Fleming based the character on occult
ist Aleister Crowley
.
for "Smashed Eye") and other translations of "The Number" or "The Cipher" in various languages, is the paymaster of the "Syndicat des Ouvriers d'Alsace" (French for "Syndicate of the Alsatian Workmen"), a SMERSH
-controlled trade union.
He is first encountered as an inmate of the Dachau
displaced persons camp
in the US zone of Germany in June 1945 and transferred to Alsace-Lorraine
and Strasbourg
three months later on a stateless passport
. There he adopts the name Le Chiffre because as he claims, he is "only a number on a passport". Not much else is really known about Le Chiffre's background or where he comes from, except for educated guesses based on his description:
He is also fluent in French, English, and German with traces of a Marseille
accent.
In the novel, he makes a major investment in a string of brothels with money belonging to SMERSH. The investment fails after a bill is signed into law banning prostitution. Le Chiffre then goes to the casino Royale-les-Eaux in an attempt to recover all of his lost funds. There, however, Bond bankrupts
him in a series of games in Chemin de Fer. Le Chiffre kidnaps Bond's assistant, Vesper Lynd
, to lure him into a trap and get his money back. The trap works, and Le Chiffre torture
s Bond to get him to give up the money. He is interrupted by a SMERSH agent, however, who shoots him between the eyes with a silenced TT pistol as punishment for losing the money. The torture Bond suffers at the hands of Le Chiffre briefly upsets 007's confidence in his profession, and he toys with the idea of leaving the service until the novel's conclusion, when a new threat emerges.
Le Chiffre's death is seen by the Soviet
government as an embarrassment, which in addition to the death and defeat of Mr. Big in Live and Let Die
, leads to the events of From Russia With Love.
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Le Chiffre is a secondary villain in the 1967 satire
and appears in the only segment of the film
actually adapted from Fleming's book. As in the novel, Le Chiffre is charged with recovering a large sum of money for SMERSH after he loses it at the baccarat
table. He first attempts to raise the funds by holding an auction of embarrassing photographs of military and political leaders from China, the US and the USSR, but this is foiled by Sir James Bond's daughter, Mata Bond. With no other option, he returns to the baccarat table to try to win back the money. Later, he encounters baccarat Master Evelyn Tremble, who has been recruited by Bond to stop Le Chiffre from raising the money. Le Chiffre attempts to distract Tremble by performing elaborate magic tricks, but fails to prevent Tremble from winning. Afterwards, he arranges for Tremble to be kidnapped and subjects the agent to psychedelic
torture in order to get back the money. The torture session is interrupted when his SMERSH masters, led by the film's main villain, Dr. Noah, shoot him dead.
, portrayed by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen
. Believed by MI6
to be Albanian
and officially stateless, according to his file, Le Chiffre is banker to the world's terrorist organisations. M
implies that Le Chiffre was involved in the 11 September attacks, or at least deliberately profiteered
off of the aftermath. In the video game version of Quantum of Solace, it is said that his birth name is "Jean Duran", in the MI6 mission briefings. A mathematical genius
and a chess
prodigy
, his abilities enable him to earn large sums of money on games of chance and probabilities, and he likes to show off by playing poker
. He suffers from haemolacria
, which causes him to weep blood out of a damaged left eye, and, as in Fleming's novel, dresses in immaculate black suits and uses a Salbutamol
inhaler, here plated with platinum. To date he is the only main Bond villain to die before the film's final act.
Le Chiffre is contacted by Mr. White
, a representative of a terrorist organization later revealed to be Quantum
. White introduces Steven Obanno, a formidable leader of the Lord's Resistance Army
in Uganda to Le Chiffre, and arranges to bank several briefcases full of cash for Obanno. Le Chiffre invests the money along with his other creditors' money in the aircraft manufacturer SkyFleet. Though SkyFleet's shares have been skyrocketing, he plans to short
the company by purchasing put option
s, and ordering the destruction of the company's new prototype airliner, set to make its first flight out of Miami International Airport
. Bond intervenes and foils the plan, costing Le Chiffre his entire investment totaling US$101,206,000.
In order to win the money back, while not informing Mr. White or Obanno, Le Chiffre sets up and enters a high stakes Texas hold 'em
tournament in Montenegro
at the Casino Royale in an attempt to recoup the loss before Obanno learns that his money has been misappropriated. Bond is sent to make sure that Le Chiffre does not win back the money. The reasoning is to force Le Chiffre to turn to MI6 for protection, in exchange for information on his creditors and employers. Bond plants a listening device in Le Chiffre's inhaler shortly after the tournament begins.
During the tournament, an enraged Obanno and his lieutenant break into Le Chiffre's hotel room and threaten him and his girlfriend, Valenka. Le Chiffre does not blanch at the threatened amputation of Valenka's arm, and is granted one last chance to win their money back.
As Obanno leaves the room, his bodyguard spots Bond and hears Valenka's cries coming from Bond's earpiece. In the subsequent brawl, 007 kills both Obanno and his henchman, and Rene Mathis arranges the blame to be placed on Le Chiffre's bodyguard Leo.
During the tense tournament, Le Chiffre initially outwits and bankrupts Bond, who cannot get additional funding from MI6 accountant Vesper Lynd
, who has accompanied Bond to make sure the money is used properly. However, Felix Leiter
, an American CIA agent also playing in the game, agrees to bankroll Bond, on the condition that CIA is allowed to take Le Chiffre in afterwards. Desperate, Le Chiffre has Valenka attempt to poison Bond's drink. Bond is almost killed, but, thanks to an antitoxin
kit in his car and Vesper's timely interference, is revived at the last moment and returns to the game. During the final round, Le Chiffre's full house bests the hands of the two players preceding him, but loses to Bond's straight flush
.
Enraged by his loss, Le Chiffre kidnaps Vesper, forcing Bond to give chase, and Bond is led straight into his trap. Le Chiffre leaves Vesper, bound at the feet and hands, in the middle of the road, and Bond is forced to swerve to avoid hitting her and crashes his car.
When Bond regains consciousness he is stripped naked and tied to a chair with its cane seat cut out. Le Chiffre proceeds to torture
Bond by repeatedly whipping
him in the testicles with the large knotted end of a thick rope, trying to extort the password that will enable Le Chiffre to collect the tournament winnings. Bond refuses to give in and plays on Le Chiffre's fear that there will be retribution from the clients whose money he lost. Le Chiffre then states that if he is unable to retrieve the password than he will still kill both Bond and Vesper Lynd and opt for protection from MI6; Le Chiffre says that he wins either way. When Bond refuses to give in, Le Chiffre brandishes a knife and threatens to castrate
him.
Just then, Mr. White bursts into the room, holding Le Chiffre at gunpoint and informing him that he has just become a liability. Le Chiffre pleads for his life, promising that he'll get the money, but it is to no avail; Mr. White personally executes Le Chiffre by shooting him in the forehead with a SIG-Sauer P230 fitted with a suppressor
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
and the main antagonist in Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
's James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novel Casino Royale
Casino Royale (novel)
Casino Royale is Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel. It paved the way for a further eleven novels by Fleming himself, in addition to two short story collections, followed by many "continuation" Bond novels by other authors....
. On screen Le Chiffre has been portrayed by Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
in the 1954 television adaptation of the novel for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's Climax! television series, by Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
in the 1967 spoof
Casino Royale (1967 film)
Casino Royale is a 1967 comedy spy film originally produced by Columbia Pictures starring an ensemble cast of directors and actors. It is set as a satire of the James Bond film series and the spy genre, and is loosely based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel.The film stars David Niven as the...
of the novel and Bond film series, and by Mads Mikkelsen
Mads Mikkelsen
' is a Danish actor.-Life and career:Mikkelsen was born in the Østerbro area of Copenhagen, the son of Bente Christiansen and Henning Mikkelsen, a cab driver. He is the brother of actor Lars Mikkelsen. After attending Århus Theatre School, he made his film debut in the movie Pusher...
in the 2006 film version
Casino Royale (2006 film)
Casino Royale is the twenty-first film in the James Bond film series and the first to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
of Fleming's novel.
Fleming based the character on occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
ist Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
.
Novel bio
Le Chiffre, alias "Die Nummer", "Mr. Number", "Herr Ziffer", "Ochiu Spart" (RomanianRomanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
for "Smashed Eye") and other translations of "The Number" or "The Cipher" in various languages, is the paymaster of the "Syndicat des Ouvriers d'Alsace" (French for "Syndicate of the Alsatian Workmen"), a SMERSH
SMERSH (James Bond)
SMERSH is a Soviet counterintelligence agency featured in Ian Fleming's early James Bond novels as agent 007's nemesis. СМЕРШ is an acronym from two Russian words: "SMERt' SHpionam" meaning "Death to Spies"...
-controlled trade union.
He is first encountered as an inmate of the Dachau
Dachau
Dachau is a town in Upper Bavaria, in the southern part of Germany. It is a major district town—a Große Kreisstadt—of the administrative region of Upper Bavaria, about 20 km north-west of Munich. It is now a popular residential area for people working in Munich with roughly 40,000 inhabitants...
displaced persons camp
Displaced persons camp
A displaced persons camp or DP camp is a temporary facility for displaced persons coerced into forced migration. The term is mainly used for camps established after World War II in West Germany and in Austria, as well as in the United Kingdom, primarily for refugees from Eastern Europe and for the...
in the US zone of Germany in June 1945 and transferred to Alsace-Lorraine
Alsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
and Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
three months later on a stateless passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
. There he adopts the name Le Chiffre because as he claims, he is "only a number on a passport". Not much else is really known about Le Chiffre's background or where he comes from, except for educated guesses based on his description:
He is also fluent in French, English, and German with traces of a Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
accent.
In the novel, he makes a major investment in a string of brothels with money belonging to SMERSH. The investment fails after a bill is signed into law banning prostitution. Le Chiffre then goes to the casino Royale-les-Eaux in an attempt to recover all of his lost funds. There, however, Bond bankrupts
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
him in a series of games in Chemin de Fer. Le Chiffre kidnaps Bond's assistant, Vesper Lynd
Vesper Lynd
Vesper Lynd is a fictional character featured in Ian Fleming's James Bond novel Casino Royale. The name is a pun on "West Berlin". It has been claimed that Fleming based Lynd on the real life Special Operations Executive agent Christine Granville. In the 1967 film of Casino Royale, she is played by...
, to lure him into a trap and get his money back. The trap works, and Le Chiffre torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
s Bond to get him to give up the money. He is interrupted by a SMERSH agent, however, who shoots him between the eyes with a silenced TT pistol as punishment for losing the money. The torture Bond suffers at the hands of Le Chiffre briefly upsets 007's confidence in his profession, and he toys with the idea of leaving the service until the novel's conclusion, when a new threat emerges.
Le Chiffre's death is seen by the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
government as an embarrassment, which in addition to the death and defeat of Mr. Big in Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die (novel)
Live and Let Die is the second novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1954, where the initial print run of 7,500 copies quickly sold out. As with Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale, Live and Let Die was broadly well received by the critics...
, leads to the events of From Russia With Love.
Henchmen
- Tall, thin man named only Basil – bodyguard and an expert in martial arts who takes pleasure in roughing up Bond. He is later killed by a SMERSH agent.
- Kratt, short, CorsicaCorsicaCorsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
n man – bodyguard of Le Chiffre and wielder of a walking-stick gun that he threatens to cripple Bond with at the gaming table. He is later killed by a SMERSH agent.
1967 film biography
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
and appears in the only segment of the film
Casino Royale (1967 film)
Casino Royale is a 1967 comedy spy film originally produced by Columbia Pictures starring an ensemble cast of directors and actors. It is set as a satire of the James Bond film series and the spy genre, and is loosely based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel.The film stars David Niven as the...
actually adapted from Fleming's book. As in the novel, Le Chiffre is charged with recovering a large sum of money for SMERSH after he loses it at the baccarat
Baccarat
Baccarat is a card game, played at casinos and by gamblers. It is believed to have been introduced into France from Italy during the reign of King Charles VIII , and it is similar to Faro and Basset...
table. He first attempts to raise the funds by holding an auction of embarrassing photographs of military and political leaders from China, the US and the USSR, but this is foiled by Sir James Bond's daughter, Mata Bond. With no other option, he returns to the baccarat table to try to win back the money. Later, he encounters baccarat Master Evelyn Tremble, who has been recruited by Bond to stop Le Chiffre from raising the money. Le Chiffre attempts to distract Tremble by performing elaborate magic tricks, but fails to prevent Tremble from winning. Afterwards, he arranges for Tremble to be kidnapped and subjects the agent to psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
torture in order to get back the money. The torture session is interrupted when his SMERSH masters, led by the film's main villain, Dr. Noah, shoot him dead.
2006 film biography
Le Chiffre is the main villain of the official 2006 James Bond film, Casino RoyaleCasino Royale (2006 film)
Casino Royale is the twenty-first film in the James Bond film series and the first to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
, portrayed by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen
Mads Mikkelsen
' is a Danish actor.-Life and career:Mikkelsen was born in the Østerbro area of Copenhagen, the son of Bente Christiansen and Henning Mikkelsen, a cab driver. He is the brother of actor Lars Mikkelsen. After attending Århus Theatre School, he made his film debut in the movie Pusher...
. Believed by MI6
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
to be Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
and officially stateless, according to his file, Le Chiffre is banker to the world's terrorist organisations. M
M (James Bond)
M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
implies that Le Chiffre was involved in the 11 September attacks, or at least deliberately profiteered
War profiteering
A war profiteer is any person or organization that profits from warfare or by selling weapons and other goods to parties at war. The term has strong negative connotations. General profiteering may also occur in peace time.-International arms dealers:...
off of the aftermath. In the video game version of Quantum of Solace, it is said that his birth name is "Jean Duran", in the MI6 mission briefings. A mathematical genius
Genius
Genius is something or someone embodying exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, or originality, typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of unprecedented insight....
and a chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
, his abilities enable him to earn large sums of money on games of chance and probabilities, and he likes to show off by playing poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
. He suffers from haemolacria
Haemolacria
Haemolacria is a physical condition that causes a person to produce tears that are partially composed of blood. It can manifest as tears that are anything from merely red-tinged to appearing to be entirely made of blood....
, which causes him to weep blood out of a damaged left eye, and, as in Fleming's novel, dresses in immaculate black suits and uses a Salbutamol
Salbutamol
Salbutamol or albuterol is a short-acting β2-adrenergic receptor agonist used for the relief of bronchospasm in conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It is marketed as Ventolin among other brand names....
inhaler, here plated with platinum. To date he is the only main Bond villain to die before the film's final act.
Le Chiffre is contacted by Mr. White
Mr. White (James Bond)
Mr. White is a fictional character and antagonist played by Jesper Christensen in the James Bond films Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace....
, a representative of a terrorist organization later revealed to be Quantum
Quantum (James Bond)
Quantum is a fictional criminal organization, featured as the antagonists in the James Bond films Casino Royale, and its sequel, Quantum of Solace. The organization prefers to remain in the shadows, and is known to contract third parties to avoid implicating itself...
. White introduces Steven Obanno, a formidable leader of the Lord's Resistance Army
Lord's Resistance Army
The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is an ongoing guerrilla campaign waged since 1987 by the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, operating mainly in northern Uganda, but also in South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo...
in Uganda to Le Chiffre, and arranges to bank several briefcases full of cash for Obanno. Le Chiffre invests the money along with his other creditors' money in the aircraft manufacturer SkyFleet. Though SkyFleet's shares have been skyrocketing, he plans to short
Short selling
In finance, short selling is the practice of selling assets, usually securities, that have been borrowed from a third party with the intention of buying identical assets back at a later date to return to that third party...
the company by purchasing put option
Put option
A put or put option is a contract between two parties to exchange an asset, the underlying, at a specified price, the strike, by a predetermined date, the expiry or maturity...
s, and ordering the destruction of the company's new prototype airliner, set to make its first flight out of Miami International Airport
Miami International Airport
Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the South Florida area...
. Bond intervenes and foils the plan, costing Le Chiffre his entire investment totaling US$101,206,000.
In order to win the money back, while not informing Mr. White or Obanno, Le Chiffre sets up and enters a high stakes Texas hold 'em
Texas hold 'em
Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...
tournament in Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
at the Casino Royale in an attempt to recoup the loss before Obanno learns that his money has been misappropriated. Bond is sent to make sure that Le Chiffre does not win back the money. The reasoning is to force Le Chiffre to turn to MI6 for protection, in exchange for information on his creditors and employers. Bond plants a listening device in Le Chiffre's inhaler shortly after the tournament begins.
During the tournament, an enraged Obanno and his lieutenant break into Le Chiffre's hotel room and threaten him and his girlfriend, Valenka. Le Chiffre does not blanch at the threatened amputation of Valenka's arm, and is granted one last chance to win their money back.
As Obanno leaves the room, his bodyguard spots Bond and hears Valenka's cries coming from Bond's earpiece. In the subsequent brawl, 007 kills both Obanno and his henchman, and Rene Mathis arranges the blame to be placed on Le Chiffre's bodyguard Leo.
During the tense tournament, Le Chiffre initially outwits and bankrupts Bond, who cannot get additional funding from MI6 accountant Vesper Lynd
Vesper Lynd
Vesper Lynd is a fictional character featured in Ian Fleming's James Bond novel Casino Royale. The name is a pun on "West Berlin". It has been claimed that Fleming based Lynd on the real life Special Operations Executive agent Christine Granville. In the 1967 film of Casino Royale, she is played by...
, who has accompanied Bond to make sure the money is used properly. However, Felix Leiter
Felix Leiter
Felix Leiter is a fictional CIA agent created by Ian Fleming in the James Bond series of novels and films. In both, Leiter works for the CIA and assists Bond in his various adventures as well as being his best friend. In further novels Leiter joins the Pinkerton Detective Agency and in the film...
, an American CIA agent also playing in the game, agrees to bankroll Bond, on the condition that CIA is allowed to take Le Chiffre in afterwards. Desperate, Le Chiffre has Valenka attempt to poison Bond's drink. Bond is almost killed, but, thanks to an antitoxin
Antitoxin
An antitoxin is an antibody with the ability to neutralize a specific toxin. Antitoxins are produced by certain animals, plants, and bacteria. Although they are most effective in neutralizing toxins, they can kill bacteria and other microorganisms. Antitoxins are made within organisms, but can be...
kit in his car and Vesper's timely interference, is revived at the last moment and returns to the game. During the final round, Le Chiffre's full house bests the hands of the two players preceding him, but loses to Bond's straight flush
Straight Flush
Straight Flush was the name of a B-29 Superfortress participating in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945....
.
Enraged by his loss, Le Chiffre kidnaps Vesper, forcing Bond to give chase, and Bond is led straight into his trap. Le Chiffre leaves Vesper, bound at the feet and hands, in the middle of the road, and Bond is forced to swerve to avoid hitting her and crashes his car.
When Bond regains consciousness he is stripped naked and tied to a chair with its cane seat cut out. Le Chiffre proceeds to torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
Bond by repeatedly whipping
Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
him in the testicles with the large knotted end of a thick rope, trying to extort the password that will enable Le Chiffre to collect the tournament winnings. Bond refuses to give in and plays on Le Chiffre's fear that there will be retribution from the clients whose money he lost. Le Chiffre then states that if he is unable to retrieve the password than he will still kill both Bond and Vesper Lynd and opt for protection from MI6; Le Chiffre says that he wins either way. When Bond refuses to give in, Le Chiffre brandishes a knife and threatens to castrate
Castration
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testicles or a female loses the functions of the ovaries.-Humans:...
him.
Just then, Mr. White bursts into the room, holding Le Chiffre at gunpoint and informing him that he has just become a liability. Le Chiffre pleads for his life, promising that he'll get the money, but it is to no avail; Mr. White personally executes Le Chiffre by shooting him in the forehead with a SIG-Sauer P230 fitted with a suppressor
Suppressor
A suppressor, sound suppressor, sound moderator, or silencer, is a device attached to or part of the barrel of a firearm which reduces the amount of noise and flash generated by firing the weapon....
.
Appearances
- Casino Royale (2006)
- Quantum Of Solace (2008) – mentioned/seen in a photograph only
Henchmen
- Alex Dimitrios
- Carlos
- Mollaka
- Leo
- Bobbie
- Jochum
- Kratt
- Valenka
- General Grafin von Wallenstein
- Madame Wu
- Sheriff Tomelli
- Lionel
- Ison