History Main / DiabolicalMastermind

* ComicBook/TheKingpin in the MarvelUniverse occasionally lurches into this archetype, particularly in the ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' animated series.
%%* ComicBook/ThePenguin gradually became more powerful around the mid-70s/80s and gradually became the primary crimelord of Gotham City.

* ComicBook/{{Magneto}} has shades of this in ClassicVillain mode.

* ComicBook/IronMan's {{archenemy}} the Mandarin is a classic example, with a YellowPeril twist.
* Hunter Rose, the original Grendel in ''ComicBook/{{Grendel}}'' is a Diabolical Mastermind with a carefully developed and successful plan to take over all organised crime in the USA. He differs from the usual archetype in being an enthusiastic and very competent fighter who much prefers getting his own hands dirty to telling other people to do so.

* The Commander in ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' is a worldwide wanted terrorist that leads the Cobra Organization, which sows discord and chaos with aims of world domination. His effectiveness as a leader varies: in the original cartoon, he was such a failure with a long string of defeats that his comrades created [[TheEmperor Serpentor]] to become a proper leader to Cobra and the Commander getting DemotedToDragon with an EnemyCivilWar ensuing as result. Later cartoons portray him as a more scary villain, being able to overthrow the US government and getting bumped up to ShadowDictator.

** Walter White seeks to [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain establish himself as one]] in his alter ego of Heisenberg, although for the first half of the series his operation is simply too small (consisting only of himself, his partner Jesse, and one or two dealers) to qualify him as such. By the end of the series, with his connection to [[MegaCorp Madrigal]], alliances with other drug dealers and his use of the Aryan Brotherhood as muscle, Heisenberg could accurately be described as the "king of meth".

** Walter White seeks to establish himself as one in his alter ego of Heisenberg, although for the first half of the series his operation is simply too small (consisting only of himself, his partner Jesse, and one or two dealers) to qualify him as such. By the end of the series, with his connection to [[MegaCorp Madrigal]], alliances with other drug dealers and his use of the Aryan Brotherhood as muscle, Heisenberg could accurately be described as the "king of meth".

The criminal version of the EvilOverlord. Standing out from the terrorists, smugglers, murderers, gangsters, evil dictators and other petty criminals is the diabolical mastermind. Generally found [[SlouchOfVillainy sitting]] in an [[CoolChair expensive leather chair]] with one hand idly tapping a TrapDoor button and the other stroking [[RightHandCat his pet cat]] ([[RightHandAttackDog or dog]]), the diabolical mastermind is always at the top of whatever criminal food chain the hero -- usually a detective or spy -- ends up climbing. He differs from the EvilOverlord in that he (usually) has no sovereign territory or political power of his own, although his criminal resources sometimes [[NGOSuperpower rival those of a developed nation]].

Note that the diabolical mastermind is not always motivated by money. He may lust for power, land, priceless art or something else. But his tactics are invariably complicated and [[CutLexLuthorACheck technologically impressive]].

* Crocodile from ''Manga/OnePiece''. He's even based off Mafia-type gangsters, and he leads a secret criminal organization that out to overthrow a whole kingdom. What sets him apart from other masterminds, is that Crocodile has superpowers.
* Izaya Orihara from ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' manipulates people and supernatural beings just because he can, and [[ForTheEvulz it's fun]]. He is an information broker who has a hand in everything that happens in Ikebukuro, and is arguably the most dangerous out of a cast of very dangerous people.

* Gouda in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' clearly qualifies. That he is actually a high ranking officer of the national security services acting out in the open and on behalf of his superiors only shows how corrupt and devided the government is.

* William James Moriarty, ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'''s verion of Professor James Moriarty, is the mastermind behind the criminal organizatio that stands as The Lord of Crime and everyone answers to him.

* ComicBook/LexLuthor, prime antagonist of ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' in comics, TV and film, was originally created as a classical criminal mastermind trying to make money or take over the world. Since then, he has added being a MadScientist and CorruptCorporateExecutive to his portfolio.
* The Octopus, archfoe of Will Eisener's much-acclaimed ''ComicBook/TheSpirit'', is a classic example. Debuting in the 1940s, he anticipated both Dr. Claw and Blofeld in that his face was never seen -- even on those occasions when he confronted the Spirit in person, his face was always in shadow, his most distinctive feature being his purple gloves with three yellow lines down the back. Initially a crime-boss, the modern-day reboot by Darwyn Cooke recreates him as the leader of a terrorist group -- the Octagon.

%%* ComicBook/ThePenguin gradually became more poweful around the mid-70s/80s and gradually became the primary crimelord of Gotham City.

* Hunter Rose, the original Grendel in ''ComicBook/{{Grendel}}'' is a Diabolical Mastermind with a carefully-developed and successful plan to take over all organised crime in the USA. He differs from the usual archetype in being an enthusiastic and very competent fighter who much prefers getting his own hands dirty to telling other people to do so.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'s'' title character falls somewhere between a low-budget version of a Diabolical Mastermind (with a small number of flying robot minions, a series of secret lairs and endless, albeit simple, schemes to stop Metroman once and for all) and the MadScientist (which is far more prevalent).

** Film/{{Goldfinger}} is a big time international gold smuggler and a millionare entrepreneur, with ties to the Reds.

** Stromberg in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' is a billionare shipping magnate with an underwater base who steals nuclear submarines.
** Hugo Drax in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'' is a billionare industrialist with his own secret space station who makes shuttles for NASA. The [[Literature/{{Moonraker}} original novel]] had him as a Nazi who disguised himself as a British businessman, but is actually working for the Soviets.

** [[Film/AViewToAKill Max Zorin]] is a billionare industrialist, as well as a rogue KGB agent and the product of Nazi genetic engineering.
** The BigBadDuumvirate in ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' are a corrupt Soviet general and a criminal, this time a KGB chieftain and a crooked arms dealer respectively, who plan to have Bond murder the former KGB superior to cover up their ring of embezzlement, drug running and diamond smuggling.

** ''Film/GoldenEye'' has Janus, who is the head of a big time arms dealing syndicate that has got its hands on a KillSat.
** Media magnate Eliot Carver from ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' uses money from his media empire to create tomorrow's headlines, as well as provide himself with numerous personnel, both as armed gunmen, and for engineering catastophes.
** Renard from ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' is a notorious international terrorist, while [[spoiler: Elektra King was an oil heiress, until she killed her father for revenge and to get rid of the "heiress" part]].

* The villain of ''Literature/TheNightMayor'' is Truro Daine, whose extensive criminal career is such that nobody can think of any precedent to compare him to short of fictional supervillains like Fu Manchu and Lex Luthor. When he was finally caught, the charges started with 8921 counts of first-degree murder, and continued through arson, blackmail, drug-running, pornography, and other trespasses too numerous to mention. The jail time due for all his crimes is enough that if he lived that long he'd come out to find the human race had evolved into something else. He continues pulling the strings of his criminal empire from maximum security prison. The prison governor notes that a man of Daine's genius could easily have made a legitimate fortune larger than his ill-gotten gains, but apparently Daine would have found that too boring.

* ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' had a recurring sketch about one of these, and his frustrations with certain aspects of the job. Such as a contractor's requirement that a secret revolving wall have a clearly visible sign on it saying "Warning: Wall may rotate", and his henchmen responding to the instruction "Let's hope he meets with an unfortunate accident" by ''hoping'' that the man in question met with an accident.

* Earth-2 Lionel Luthor in Season 10 of ''Series/{{Smallville}}''. By fusing [=LuthorCorp=] and the Metropolis underworld he's become the most powerful man on Earth-2, and is one step short of becoming the CorruptCorporateExecutive version of TheEmperor. A ruthless SocialDarwinist, he values power and control not so much for their sake, but as proof that he, by virtue of his position, is the greatest survivor on Earth-2. Having an [[EvilTwin evil]] {{Superman}} at your [[TheDragon beck and call]] can help with that.

-->"Who am I? I ''[DramaticPause]'' am the Napoleon of Wickness. The Most Naughty Man in the World! {{Master of Disguise}}s (Sussex University). Arch Rascal, Prince of Mischief. You many know me as... ''[henchman plays OminousPipeOrgan]'' Nasty Person!"

* Edmond Furax from the french radio-serial SigneFurax.

* Nicole Horne, the corrupt pharmaceutical pusher from ''VideoGame/MaxPayne''. Starting out as a government chemist, she began peddling a rejected super-solider drug on the streets. Horne used her old government contacts to assemble an army of mobsters, ex-government agents, and junk squad cops to do the heavy lifting for her.

* In that vein, control over ''VideoGame/FinalFight'''s Metro City is being wrested away by the Mad Gear gang, led by a mob boss known as Belger. He dies in the original, but has been reincarnated in various forms (including a cyborg, a zombie, and a vengeful brother).

* Edwin [=VanCleef=] in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' was the mastermind behind the criminal organisation the Defias that has its tentacles everywhere. He was otherwise unusual for the role in being a WellIntentionedExtremist whose AuthorityEqualsAsskicking.

** In ''[[VideoGame/Hitman2SilentAssassin Silent Assassin]]'', 47 falls for the same trick as before. His client this time is Sergei, a Russian mob boss and 47's 'uncle'. (His brother was Boris, the final target in 47's previous outing.) Sergei is not interested in revenge, but merely wants to assemble a nuclear missile which is undetectable by radar. Your targets each own a component for the missile which Sergei asks you to collect.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', Jake Armitage is a courier who was shot by his Mr. Johnson, Drake, and left for dead somewhere in Seattle. Unfortunately, the bullet wiped clean any memory of Jake's last assignment or the angry-sounding voice on his answering machine. [[spoiler:Long story short, Aneki Corporation developed a revolutionary, if malevolent Artificial Intelligence. Because of this, Matrix Systems, a small corporation, started working on a program to destroy the A.I. Aware of that, Aneki cut a deal with the metahuman Drake]]. With Drake's firepower, they cleared Matrix Systems off the map, except for Jake, who is carrying the last copy of the program. Jake manages to destroy Aneki using the program and kill Drake (inside of Drake's VolcanoLair, no less), thus saving Seattle from the A.I.

** A more straightforward example is the Great Dragon Lofwyr. Like most dragons, he sees his company as a [[DragonHoard treasure hoard]], and his employees (which includes the protagonist) are little gold coins that he keeps well-polished. He's concerned with the end of the world, and plays chess on a global scale to prevent it--but he wants to be on top at the end, not just get through it. His involvement in the dissolution of the Flux State is a growing concern in ''Dragonfall'', as anarchy (especially on Lofwyr's front door step) is just bad for business. [[spoiler:Vauclair]]'s research is a good instrument for the Flux, because APEX unshackled is more of a god in its reign than dragons will ever be in meatspace. But it apparently has no effect, because Lofwyr still invades the F-State and wins anyway in the epilogue. [[ForegoneConclusion It was always going to happen]] and is canon.

** Phantom Limb has aspirations as such, and in the fourth season has taken multiple steps in that direction by expanding the Revenge Society's roster with [[SanityHasAdvantages real supervillains instead of a mug, toaster and high-heel shoe.]]
** The Sovereign is the official Diabolical Mastermind of the series as the head of the Guild of Calamitous Intent. It's technically an elected position, but it fits the rest of the trope well. He also flexes his muscle as a fiendishly powerful shapeshifter, and has some hand-to-hand skills, but the majority of his power comes from the vast, high-tech Guild he leads.

* Mr. Big in ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'', but considering this is a children edu-tainment show, don't expect him to get away with his evil acts.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/BeastWars Transformers Beast Wars]]'' Megatron is a prime example. Unlike other Megatrons, this one didn't have any political power in his faction. (The Council considered him a dangerous rogue.) He's described as brilliant the cleverly crafted strategies he uses to thwart the Maximals throughout the show. He has a handful of lackeys (half of them traitorous, and the other half stupidly loyal) and he takes the time to incorporate their plans against him to further his agenda without them knowing.
* Belphegor, the main villain for from the French-Canadian animation ''Belphegor'', fits this trope very well. Unlike most diabolical masterminds however, he gets in on the action just as much as his mooks and underlings, if not more so.
* Baron Silas Greenback from ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' usually sits behing his desk stroking his pet and organising villainy, leaving his henchman Stiletto to do the work.
* The Commander in ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' is an world-wide wanted terrorist that leads the Cobra Organization, which sows discord and chaos with aims of world domination. His effectiveness as a leader varies: in the original cartoon, he was such a failure with a long string of defeats that his comrades created [[TheEmperor Serpentor]] to become a proper leader to Cobra and the Commander getting DemotedToDragon with an EnemyCivilWar ensuing as result. Later cartoons portray him as a more scary villain, being able to overthrow the US government and getting bumped up to ShadowDictator.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/TheKingpin https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/secret_empire_vol_1_9_villain_variant_textless.png]]]]

** The Sovereign is the official Diabolical Mastermind of the series as the head of the Guild of Calamitous Intent. However, his actions thus far in the series hasn't been overly villainous.

* Izaya Orihara from ''{{LightNovel/Durarara}}'' manipulates people and supernatural beings just because he can, and [[ForTheEvulz it's fun]]. He is an information broker who has a hand in everything that happens in Ikebukuro, and is arguably the most dangerous out of a cast of very dangerous people.
* [[spoiler:Dynamis]] in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' [[ChewingTheScenery absolute loves]] the idea of being one of these. And he's good at it.

* All for One from Manga/MyHeroAcademia was this at the height of his power before being deposed by [[BigGood All Might]] years before the start of the series. He ruled the criminal underworld with an iron fist and snuffed out any potential threat to his rule [[spoiler: all past users of One for All.]] In the present day, he's refocused his efforts in reestablishing his criminal empire and raising his successor, Tomura Shigaraki to be the head of it.

* ComicBook/LexLuthor, prime antagonist of ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}'' in comics, TV and film, was originally created as a classical criminal mastermind trying to make money or take over the world. Since then, he has added being a MadScientist and CorruptCorporateExecutive to his portfolio.

%%* Coil from ''{{Literature/Worm}}'' does this very well thanks to his high intellect and unusual superpower.

-->'''Ryan:''' "This Fontaine fellow is somebody to watch. Once, he was just a menace, to be convicted and hung. But he always manages to be where the evidence isn't. He's the most dangerous type of hoodlum... the kind with [[VisionaryVillain vision.]]"

* The game ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'' and [[Videogame/EvilGenius2 it's sequel]] is a Diabolical Mastermind simulation, where you select one of several evil supergenius characters and build up a globe-spanning criminal empire, dealing with any spies or secret agents sent to take you out or disrupt your operation.
* Giovanni, the cat-stroking head of Team Rocket, from ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue''. He was only TheFaceless on the Gym Leader page in the manual and in parts of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime prior to the release of ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'', though.

* In the NES adventure game ''{{VideoGame/Nightshade}}'', you play as a wannabe crime fighter seeking to fill the vacuum left by Vortex, the city's late superhero. On the flip side, the criminals have their own vacuum to fill: without a hero to fight, the gangs descend into all-out war until a Pharaoh-themed supervillain, Sutekh, proposes that they unite. As his reward, Sutekh is now at the helm of a mega-gang that controls the city.

** The [[Videogame/Hitman2016 2016]] sequel has the mysterious Shadow Client, who manipulates the ICA into eliminating those connected to [[AncientConspiracy Providence]] for unknown reasons. He also seems to have a personal connection to 47. [[Videogame/Hitman2 The sequel]] reveals him to be a former friend of 47 who is trying to break the Illuminati's hold over the world and [[Videogame/Hitman3 in the third game]] The Constant takes over this role.

* In ''{{VideoGame/Shadowrun}}'', Jake Armitage is a courier who was shot by his Mr. Johnson, Drake, and left for dead somewhere in Seattle. Unfortunately, the bullet wiped clean any memory of Jake's last assignment or the angry-sounding voice on his answering machine. [[spoiler:Long story short, Aneki Corporation developed a revolutionary, if malevolent Artificial Intelligence. Because of this, Matrix Systems, a small corporation, started working on a program to destroy the A.I. Aware of that, Aneki cut a deal with the metahuman Drake]]. With Drake's firepower, they cleared Matrix Systems off the map, except for Jake, who is carrying the last copy of the program. Jake manages to destroy Aneki using the program and kill Drake (inside of Drake's VolcanoLair, no less), thus saving Seattle from the A.I.

* One of the big bads in ''VideoGame/DieReiseInsAll'', is one. Not a big surprise, as it is [[spoiler: [[Literature/{{SherlockHolmes}} Profesor Moriarty]] himself. And now he [[{{MadScientist}} is even more dangerous]].]]

* The Film/JamesBond video games, of course, have plenty of these, much like their cinematic inspirations.

* The game ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'' is a Diabolical Mastermind simulation, where you select one of three evil supergenius characters and build up a globe-spanning criminal empire, dealing with any spies or secret agents sent to take you out or disrupt your operation.

** The [[Videogame/Hitman2016 2016]] sequel has the mysterious Shadow Client, who manipulates the ICA into eliminating those connected to [[AncientConspiracy Providence]] for unknown reasons. He also seems to have a personal connection to 47. [[Videogame/Hitman2 The sequel]] reveals him to be a former friend of 47 who is trying to break the Illuminati's hold over the world.

* ''VideoGame/Overwatch'' has a rare female example in Sombra, a hacker who has built quite the criminal empire off of stolen top-secret information. She is pretty much the most actually powerful person in the world at this point: able to hack any device and blackmail any foe in order to get what she wants. She takes down TheDon Katya Volskaya with a few threats and a little infiltration assistance from Reaper. Not exactly a villain though. She behaves more like an EldritchAbomination in that it's not clear exactly what she wants, and it's entirely possible all her experimentation on herself has actually made her something not quite human.

* ''Film/LupinIIITheCastleOfCagliostro'': Count Cagliostro.

The criminal version of the EvilOverlord. Standing out from the terrorists, smugglers, murderers, gangsters, evil dictators and other petty criminals is the diabolical mastermind. Generally found [[SlouchOfVillainy sitting]] in an [[CoolChair expensive leather chair]] with one hand idly tapping a TrapDoor button and the other stroking [[RightHandCat his pet cat]], the diabolical mastermind is always at the top of whatever criminal food chain the hero -- usually a detective or spy -- ends up climbing. He differs from the EvilOverlord in that he (usually) has no sovereign territory or political power of his own, although his criminal resources sometimes [[NGOSuperpower rival those of a developed nation]].

->''"He is the [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte Napoleon]] of crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city."''

** The parent game, ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'', actually has its share of these as well- almost every group of NPC villains has at least one of these at the top, as well as a few {{Diabolical Mastermind}}s-in-training amongst the lieutenants.

* Dr. Mabuse from ''Film/DrMabuseTheGambler'' and his subsequent VillainBasedFranchise is an early TropeCodifier.

** Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the archnemesis of James Bond and leader of supercrime organisation SPECTRE, runs various illicit operations, plots terror attacks, and makes multiple attempts to start wars behind the scenes.

** Ernst Stavro Blofeld, nemesis of James Bond and leader of supercrime organisation SPECTRE, is probably the most obvious example. Employees of SPECTRE, even famous ones such as Dr. No, probably shouldn't count, since they are subservient to Blofeld, but they do otherwise have most of the necessary qualifactions and certainly act as such in the context of their SPECTRE missions.

** [[Film/AViewToAKill Max Zorin]] is ''yet another'' billionare industrialist, as well as a rogue KGB agent and the product of Nazi genetic engineering. He's hit the Bond trifecta!
** The BigBadDuumvirate in ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' are once again a corrupt Soviet general and a criminal, this time a KGB chieftain and a crooked arms dealer respectively, who plan to have Bond murder the former KGB superior to cover up their ring of embezzlement, drug running and diamond smuggling.

** Media magnate Eliot Carver from ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'', who uses money from his media empire to create tomorrow's headlines.

* ComicBook/ThePenguin gradually shifted into this around the mid-70s/80s and gradually became the primary crimelord of Gotham City.
* The ComicBook/RedSkull is a major one of these.

** ''VideoGame/{{Nightfire}} has Raphael Drake, whose business decommissioning old nuclear reactors and missiles is actually a front for his plot to hijack an American military space station and TakeOverTheWorld.

* Ernst Stavro Blofeld from the ''Franchise/JamesBond'' series provides the page image, so obviously, his DenserAndWackier counterpart from the fanmade CharacterBlog ''Blog/AskErnstStavroBlofeld'' also qualifies.

* ''VideoGame/Overwatch''has a rare female example in Sombra, a hacker who has built quite the criminal empire off of stolen top-secret information. She is pretty much the most actually powerful person in the world at this point: able to hack any device and blackmail any foe in order to get what she wants. She takes down TheDon Katya Volskaya with a few threats and a little infiltration assistance from Reaper. Not exactly a villain though. She behaves more like an EldritchAbomination in that it's not clear exactly what she wants, and it's entirely possible all her experimentation on herself has actually made her something not quite human.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1370468695042980100

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/JamesBond https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s_cat_1_8484.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster Pinky ring]] and [[RightHandCat white cat]] optional.]]

* ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'': Professor Ratigan's VillainSong explicitly points out that he is "the world's greatest criminal mind".

* There are several in the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'', but the ones to ''really'' worry about are Lord Doom (who wants to take over the world in order to save humanity from itself), Doctor Simian (a super-intelligent chimpanzee who wants to overthrow humanity and put apes in their rightful place as rulers of the Earth), and The Emperor, leader of TAROT (who wants to control the world through economics).
** And it is entirely possible that The Emperor has already succeeded in doing just that.