Emilio Largo - Biography

Biography

Fleming describes Largo as a ruthless Neapolitan black marketeer and fence who moved to riskier and more profitable ventures on the international crime scene after five years smuggling from Tangiers and five years of master-minding big jewel robberies on French Riviera. He is supposedly the last survivor of a once famous Roman family whose fortune he inherited. Largo eventually became the second-in-command of the terrorist organization SPECTRE. In the film, Largo is "No. 2" and head of extortion operations. In the novel, Largo is "No. 1"; however the numbers are rotated every month as a security precaution, although Largo is the successor to Ernst Stavro Blofeld and the Supreme Commander of "Plan Omega".

Largo's two main headquarters are located in the Bahamas. The first is his estate, called Palmyra, which houses a giant swimming pool filled with sharks; Bond is later be thrown into this pool, but of course escapes. The second is Largo's private yacht, the Disco Volante. The yacht is a hydrofoil craft purchased with SPECTRE funds for £200,000. The craft plays a pivotal role in the seizure and transportation of the two nuclear weapons.

To Largo, failure is punishable by death. When Quist, one of Largo's henchmen, fails to kill Bond, Largo has him thrown into his pool of sharks. Largo also has little consideration even for those closest to him, going as far as to torture his own mistress, Domino, when he finds out she is betraying him.

One of Largo's henchmen helps Domino get free and Domino gets to do what she wanted Bond to do: kill Largo. When Largo gets the upper hand by nearly shooting Bond, Domino shoots him in the back with a spear gun. Largo collapses to his death on the controls and jams them. Bond, Domino, and the turncoat henchman who helped Domino all evacuate the Disco Volante just seconds before the ship collides with rocks and explodes.