General Orlov
(Steven Berkoff)

Character: General Orlov
Actor: Steven Berkoff
Movie: Octopussy
Age: 40's
Appearence: Medium build and height with constant look of disapproval and a deceit that lies just out of reach beyond the eyes.
Status: Terminated

General Orlov, head of the Soviet forces, is a tough talking leader who sees the Russian armed superiority going to waste in the new wave of detente. The unpredictable Orlov is ever so slightly unhinged in his consuming desire to demonstrate Soviet superiority. He betrays his undercover aids, including Octopussy, with his plan to detonate a nuclear device on an American airbase.

Personality

Communism in its ugliest extreme, mixing a lust for power and a hunger for war, Orlov is a pompous Soviet General dissatisfied with NATO's disarmament talks. Disavowed of his country's approval for hostile action Orlov considers it his responsibility to conduct underhanded activities for the good of "mother Russia".

Involvement

Vying for Soviet invasion of Western Europe, Orlov plans to explode an atomic bomb on a US Air Force base in West Germany, making it look like an accident. With no one to blame for the atomic mishap it will cause unilateral disarmament, and Soviet tankers will easily cross into Western Europe. To gain access to the German base, he partners with Kamal Khan, a jewel smuggler, whose associate, Octopussy, has a circus that serves as a cover for their smuggling ring. In return, Orlov gives Khan his stash of stolen Russian jewels which he has duplicated with undetectable fakes. When it became known that Orlov has been stealing the jewels from the Kremlin Art Repository General Gogol goes after Orlov personally. Gogol catches up with Orlov at the West German Border, but when Orlov crosses illegally into the west he is gunned down by the border guards.