Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character in the James Bond film and novel The Man with the Golden Gun. In the novel, the character is nicknamed “Pistols” Scaramanga and is also called “Paco” (a Spanish diminutive of Francisco). Scaramanga was played by English actor Christopher Lee, who is also Ian Fleming’s cousin.

Christopher Lee as Francisco Scaramanga.

Novel biography: Francisco Scaramanga, of Spanish Catalan origin, becomes a trick shot in a circus act while a youngster, and he also cares for one of the circus elephants. When the elephant goes on a rampage and Scaramanga witnesses a policeman kill him, the enraged boy retaliates by killing the police officer with a single shot through the heart. He then makes his way to the United States, where he finds employment as an enforcer for the Spangled Mob, an outfit that plays a role in two other Bond novels; Diamonds Are Forever, where they were the main foe of agent 007, and Goldfinger as an accomplice to Auric Goldfinger’s Operation Grandslam.

By the time Bond finally encounters him in The Man with the Golden Gun, Scaramanga is a Caribbean gunman who often works for Fidel Castro’s secret police in addition to being engaged in other criminal enterprises such as drug-running into the United States in partnership with the KGB. Bond’s service has evaluated him as one of the finest shots in the world, and M authorises Bond to assassinate Scaramanga—if he can.

Bond catches up with Scaramanga in Jamaica, where Bond pretends to be a freelance security officer, and Scaramanga hires him to guard an upcoming meeting of gangsters. During the meeting, a KGB officer blows up Bond’s cover subsequently pitting Scaramanga and Bond in a shootout. Bond wounds Scaramanga, but before he can finish the gunman off, Scaramanga shoots Bond with a poisoned bullet from his backup weapon, a golden Derringer. Bond returns fire, killing Scaramanga instantly; soon thereafter, a policeman finds the nearly dead Bond in time to save him.

In the novel, British intelligence also has an in-depth psychological profile on Scaramanga, which is printed in the book before the mission begins. The profile (read by M) is unusually disturbing in describing his background and psyche. The profile also claims that Scaramanga is a latent homosexual.

Film biography: Francisco Scaramanga is a high-priced freelance assassin, supposedly the best in the world, charging one million (USD) per hit. He’s best known for being “The man with the golden gun“, after his weapon of choice.

Francisco Scaramanga (left) with James Bond.

All of Scaramanga’s dealings go through his henchman Nick Nack, which allows Scaramanga to be anonymous. Scaramanga is a British national born in a travelling circus. His father was the ringmaster, a former Cuban national and his mother was the snake charmer. By age 10, he is part of the circus as a trick-shot pistol marksman. At age 15, he becomes an international assassin-for-hire. He is recruited some years later by the KGB in Brazil where he is currently living, and trained in Eastern Europe where for many years he is just another overworked and underpaid assassin for the KGB. He quits the KGB, becoming an independent hitman-for hire. No photographs of him exist, but he has unusual anatomy: a third nipple. This information later comes in handy to Bond, who uses Scaramanga’s anonymity and only known physical feature to get into contact with Scaramanga’s current employer, Hai Fat.

Later in the film, Scaramanga reveals to Bond that as a boy living in the circus, he shot and killed an abusive animal trainer after the man killed an elephant that had befriended Scaramanga. Scaramanga also demonstrates his marksmanship to Bond by using a revolver to shoot the cork off a bottle of champagne from long range.

Scaramanga lives quite well off of the exorbitant sums of money from his assassinations, and makes his home on a personal island somewhere off the coast of south-eastern China. Despite his insistence that “science was never my strong point,” the island utilises many aspects of modern technology, including its own self-sufficient solar power plant. In addition to the power plant, Scaramanga’s home also includes a sort of “funhouse.” Nick Nack uses the facility to hire other assassins to murder Scaramanga as a sort of challenge, or perhaps to just keep him on his toes. In addition, Scaramanga also has a private junk, which Bond later steals to get off the exploding island.

Scaramanga also uses some of his wealth to finance research and development of technologies that rival those developed by MI6’s Q Branch. Such technologies include a car that transforms into an aircraft and a solar-powered laser cannon.

Scaramanga is hired by Hai Fat to assassinate a British scientist named Gibson, thought to be in possession of information crucial to solving the energy crisis by creating a virtually unlimited amount of energy using a new technique of harnessing the sun’s power. Gibson is assassinated and his invention, the solex agitator, is stolen at the scene by Nick Nack. The solex agitator is a critical component of Gibson’s solar energy device. However, instead of turning the device over to Hai Fat, Scaramanga instead kills him and takes the device for himself. With it in Scaramanga’s hands it allows for him to sell the device to the highest criminal bidder or use it to power his personal solar energy cannon.

Scaramanga also desires to test his skills against the famed James Bond, whom he regards as the only man capable of being his equal. Besides the profit and/or power the solex agitator can give him, Scaramanga’s scheme in acquiring the device is also intended to lure Bond to Scaramanga’s private island so that the two of them can engage in one final, decisive duel. After taking Mary Goodnight (Bond’s semi-partner in the film) hostage, Scaramanga lures Bond to his private island. There Bond and Scaramanga have a duel, where Bond evades the famed assassin and eventually tricks him after changing places with a wax replica. Bond then shoots the surprised Scaramanga in the heart. His body is then vaporised when the island explodes.

One of Scaramangas most famous scenes is when he and Bond are eating together when Scaramanga suddenly has his golden gun on Bond.

Scaramanga: Your Walther PPK against my golden gun, each of us with a fifty-fifty chance.
Bond: My six bullets, against your one?
Scaramanga: I only need one.

See also:

• Bond villains