Wai Lin

Wai Lin (Chinese 林慧) is a fictional character in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, portrayed by Michelle Yeoh. Wai Lin received critical acclaim, widely regarded as one of the best female characters in the series.

In the film
Wai Lin is a spy for the Chinese People's External Security Force in the rank of colonel and a fierce warrior with incredible skill in martial arts. She first encounters Bond when she is sent (under the disguise as a Xinhua News Agency reporter) to investigate the disappearance of stealth material from a Chinese military base that is connected to media mogul Elliot Carver's plan to start a war between China and the United Kingdom.

Wai Lin later learns that Bond was sent by MI-6 to work on the same case. The two initially believe they have been ordered to kill each other, but eventually develop a wary mutual trust when they are both captured and imprisoned by Carver's secret partner, General Chang (who was in charge of the military base where the stolen stealth materials for Carver's stealth boat originated from). Bond especially grows to respect her when she playfully, but firmly, rejects his attempts at seduction. Carver brings them both aboard his private ship to gloat that he will control the world's media after he gets exclusive coverage rights to the impending war, which will begin when the ship launches missiles at a British craft. At the last minute, however, Wai breaks free and creates a distraction that allows Bond to disable the missiles, kill Carver, and escape with her as the ship self-destructs. She and Bond then give in to the mutual attraction they had both been fighting during the mission, and become lovers.

In other media
In the film's novelziation by Raymond Benson, Wai Lin has an entire chapter devoted to introduce her character, detailing "her involvement with the Chinese People's External Security Force, her training, her skills, and many other facets of her life that made her a real person. Her relationship with Bond is also much more realistic."

In the video game adaptation, she is both a playable (Mission 9: Market District, Saigon) and non-playable (Mission 10: Stealth Boat, Ha Long Bay) character.

Reception
In 2008, Fandomania ranked her as the second best Bond girl, stating that she was "the right type of Bond Girl at the right point in action cinema’s evolution." In 2010, Entertainment Weekly ranked her as the seventh best Bond girl, calling this "savvy Chinese agent" one of the few "wom[en]n of color to match wits with 007" and "the first one you could take seriously". In 2011, MensXP.com also ranked her as the seventh top Bond girl of all time, who "took a Bond girl's hotness to a whole new level. Sexy and stern at the same time, this Bond girl almost outdid 007 in being a better fighter." In 2012, the International Business Times included Michelle Yeoh as Wai Lin among the top ten "most stunning" Bond girls of all time.

LIFE named Wai Lin the 11th best Bond girl of all time. She was also included on the list of the 20 best Bond girls by Virgin Media, who called her "an equal match for Bond", and on a similar list by 3MMM. Rope of Silicon ranked her as 20th in 2007, calling her "fantastic" and stating that Yeoh "will never be forgotten as a one-time Bond girl." UGO.com commented, "In fact, Bond actually grows to respect the Chinese agent after she playfully but firmly spurns his romantic advances - one of the very few Bond Girls to pull that off!"