Octopussy is a character from the James Bond film Octopussy. She is played by the Swedish actress Maud Adams.

Maud Adams as Octopussy.

Story biography: In the Ian Fleming novel, Octopussy and the Living Daylights, Octopussy was the name of an octopus that Major Dexter Smythe visited every day while snorkel diving in Jamaica. The role of Octopussy was heavily symbolic and, towards the end of the novel, a key element in the story.

In the book, Major Smythe is a pathetic old retiree from the British army who has been living off a cache of gold that he stole as an intelligence officer in WWII. Bond is on a personal vendetta to track the man down for his war crime, in which Bond’s childhood ski instructor, an innocent German non-combatent, was killed for the gold. Having confronted Smythe with evidence of his guilt, Bond offers the man some time to get his affairs in order before he is placed under arrest (hoping, it is implied, that Smythe will committ suicide and save everybody the embarrassment of a trial involving the wartime MI6). Instead, Smythe is dragged underwater and drowned by his favourite octopus while trying to feed the beast in his last few hours of freedom.

Bond’s treatment of Major Smythe in the book and the backstory about Octopussy’s father in the film (together with Octopussy’s keeping of a pet octopus in her home aquarium) are the only similarities between the short story “Octopussy” and the film of the same name.

Two other short stories, “Property of a Lady” and “The Living Daylights” from the “Octopussy” collection also have elements that were incorporated into the film. These being the auctioning of a Fabrige egg at Sotheby’s and the idea of a fellow MI6 agent making an escape from East to West Berlin (successfully in the book, but unsuccessfully in the film, where he is killed in the process).

Film biography: Octopussy is a jewel smuggler who lives a life of luxury in a floating palace near Delhi, India. Her father, Major Dexter Smythe, studied octopuses, hence her nickname Octopussy. Her real first name is unknown, but it can be assumed that Smythe is her real last name; however, this is never explicitly confirmed. As a cover for her smuggling activities, Octopussy owns her own circus. Magda, the ring leader of the circus, works with her and, together, they work with Kamal Khan to get a Faberge egg from General Orlov.

Octopussy is first seen (her face is not shown at this time) when Khan shows her the egg and tells her about Bond. Khan insists on killing Bond but Octopussy says no. Behind her back, however, Khan continues to try killing Bond.

She finally meets Bond when he sneaks into her palace. It is revealed that her father stole a cache of Chinese gold several years ago and that Bond had been assigned to find him. He did so and gave Major Smythe 24 hours to settle his affairs before arresting him. However, Smythe chose suicide instead of facing the disgrace of a court martial. Octopussy tells Bond she was hoping to meet him someday, not for revenge as Bond assumes, but to thank him for giving her father an honourable alternative to public disgrace. She and Bond then make love.

Meanwhile, Kamal Khan arranges for a group of assassins to kill Bond, but spare Octopussy. Bond and Octopussy work together to defeat the assassins, but in the course of the struggle, Bond and one of the assassins crash through a window and are apparently attacked and killed by a crocodile. Octopussy is devastated, unaware that Bond escaped safely (the crocodile itself was in fact a tiny submarine built by Q).

Bond follows her to the circus and discovers that Orlov has substituted a nuclear bomb for the jewellery without Octopussy’s knowledge. Kamal leaves Octopussy and Magda for dead at the circus while he escapes and hoping to claim the jewellery. At the film’s climax, Bond, disguised in a clown suit, tells Magda and Octopussy that they have been betrayed by Orlov and Khan. Magda disbelieves him, but Octopussy grabs a gun and shoots off the lock of the supposed jewellery cache to reveal the bomb. In the nick of time, Bond succeeds in disarming the bomb.

Back in India, Octopussy’s circus performers raid Khan’s palace to avenge his betrayal, but she is abducted and knocked unconscious by Gobinda. She wakes up in Khan’s private plane. After a struggle between Bond and Gobinda, Khan loses control of the plane. Bond and Octopussy jump out just before the plane crashes. After saving Octopussy from a literal cliffhanger, Bond returns with her to India. They are last seen making love on her boat.

See also:

• Bond girls