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* The main character of ''Literature/DisAcedia'', Shroud, turns into a big one, mostly to make up for [[WeakButSkilled lack of combat skills]]. [[BigBad Lazarus]] turns out to be even better.
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** Achilles from the spin-off ''Shadow'' series manages to hook entire governments, despite being an ''openly'' [[ReliableTraitor reliably traitorous]] AxCrazy PsychoForHire.
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** Achilles from the spin-off ''Shadow'' ''Literature/EndersShadow'' series manages to hook entire governments, despite being an ''openly'' [[ReliableTraitor reliably traitorous]] AxCrazy PsychoForHire.
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** Morgoth is the epitome of this trait, almost in all literature. Creating just about all evil in the world either directly or indirectly. He CREATED Sauron from the once benevolent maiar, Mairon by manipulating his sense of order and desire to help mankind. Morgoth also manipulated Ungoliant to destroy the equivalent of the Sun and Moon and blind all the Valar for him to escape their imprisonment, which was only possible because he manipulated the head Valar's sense of good. He then went on to manipulate heroes into betraying their cities or their closest friends.
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* Xanatos from ''Literature/JediApprentice'' and his bastard son Granta Omega from ''JediQuest'' are both very effective Manipulative Bastards, specialising in screwing with their opponents' minds during combat. Xanatos is especially brutal, giving Obi-Wan a NotSoDifferent[=/=]TheReasonYouSuckSpeech after the former is forced to kill fellow student [[RivalTurnedEvil Bruck]], that nearly shatters the boy's self-confidence.
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* Xanatos from ''Literature/JediApprentice'' and his bastard son Granta Omega from ''JediQuest'' ''Literature/JediQuest'' are both very effective Manipulative Bastards, specialising in screwing with their opponents' minds during combat. Xanatos is especially brutal, giving Obi-Wan a NotSoDifferent[=/=]TheReasonYouSuckSpeech after the former is forced to kill fellow student [[RivalTurnedEvil Bruck]], that nearly shatters the boy's self-confidence.
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* ''Literature/TheDinosaurLords'': Bergdahl uses masterful rumour-mongering to make people like Falk and dislike Jaume. He also manipulates Falk by playing on man's insecurities, [[WellDoneSonGuy need for appreciation]] and feelings of guilt, and claims to have gotten a job at the Palace by blackmail.
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** In ''Blood Promise'', Avery Lazar manipulated emotions and perspectives towards her own ruthless goals. Led Lissa towards a self-destructive path and slowly seduced Adrian.
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** In ''Blood Promise'', Avery Lazar manipulated emotions and perspectives towards her own ruthless goals. Led Leads Lissa towards a self-destructive path and slowly seduced seduces Adrian.
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** [[spoiler:Victor Dashkov had his daughter commit evil acts behind everyone's back and even convinced her to turn Strigoi. Manipulated Lissa intro trusting him as an adoptive uncle while planning to use her for his own purposes. Manipulated Rose into sleeping with Dimitri, to get them both out of the way of his plans]].
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** [[spoiler:Victor Dashkov had has his daughter commit evil acts behind everyone's back and even convinced convinces her to turn Strigoi. Manipulated Strigoi in order to break him out of a secure prison. Manipulates Lissa intro into trusting him as an adoptive uncle while planning to use her for his own purposes. Manipulated Manipulates Rose into sleeping with Dimitri, to get them both out of the way of his plans]].
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** Lissa Dragomir weasels her way out of any situation using only words. For example, she manipulates the usually strong-willed Camille Conta, a royal girl, to act as a defender to Rose's reputation. She manipulates Aaron (her former boyfriend) to get back together with her, while she truly finds him boring. But this ensures the further isolation of Mia Rinaldi.
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** Lissa Dragomir weasels her way out of any situation using only words. For example, she manipulates the usually strong-willed Camille Conta, a royal girl, to act as a defender to Rose's reputation. She manipulates Aaron (her former boyfriend) to get back together with her, while she truly finds him boring. But this This ensures the further isolation of Mia Rinaldi.
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*** Speaking of Lara, this trope is pretty much the Hat of ''all'' the upper-rank White Court vampires. The lower-ranking ones are lower-ranking ''because'' they're not as good at it.
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* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': President Coriolanus Snow.
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* Marco is a borderline SmugSnake, "irritate, annoy, threaten, and offer you the world" type. A villainous example would be Yeerk TortureTechnician and utter psycho, Taylor.
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* Marco is a borderline SmugSnake, "irritate, annoy, threaten, and offer you the world" type. A villainous example would be Yeerk TortureTechnician and utter psycho, Taylor.Taylor, from {{Animorphs}}.
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A Manipulative Bitch is supposed to be nasty. Cassie\'s personality makes her more heroic than her teammates. Also, she is the least changed Animorph by the end of the series.
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* Cassie from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. Many, many times throughout the series, she uses her innate understanding of people for the good of the team, if not necessarily for the good of herself, or the person. Her main victim of her manipulations was Visser Three (mainly because the Visser was an evil ego-driven son of a bitch). She also (reluctantly) used her understanding of people to [[spoiler: trap a traitor of the group in the body of a rat]]. BewareTheNiceOnes, indeed.
** She and [[TheLancer Marco]] tend to share this role, with Cassie being the "play on what you love" type, and Marco being the borderline SmugSnake, "irritate, annoy, threaten, and offer you the world" type. A villainous example would be Yeerk TortureTechnician and utter psycho, Taylor.
** She and [[TheLancer Marco]] tend to share this role, with Cassie being the "play on what you love" type, and Marco being the borderline SmugSnake, "irritate, annoy, threaten, and offer you the world" type. A villainous example would be Yeerk TortureTechnician and utter psycho, Taylor.
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* Cassie from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. Many, many times throughout the series, she uses her innate understanding of people for the good of the team, if not necessarily for the good of herself, or the person. Her main victim of her manipulations was Visser Three (mainly because the Visser was an evil ego-driven son of a bitch). She also (reluctantly) used her understanding of people to [[spoiler: trap a traitor of the group in the body of a rat]]. BewareTheNiceOnes, indeed.
** She and [[TheLancer Marco]] tend to share this role, with Cassie being the "play on what you love" type, andMarco being the is a borderline SmugSnake, "irritate, annoy, threaten, and offer you the world" type. A villainous example would be Yeerk TortureTechnician and utter psycho, Taylor.
** She and [[TheLancer Marco]] tend to share this role, with Cassie being the "play on what you love" type, and
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** But most of all, Jake, who becomes more and more manipulative as the series progresses.
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** But most of all, Jake, who becomes more and more manipulative and nasty as the series progresses.
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* In ''Literature/TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre,''Pat McCormick is an oilfield contractor who gets foreigners (who aren't covered by Mexican labor laws) to work for him by pretending to be a [[ChummyCommies Comrade]] who's just trying to stay afloat and help some fellow working men out. He uses this to get them to work longer and harder hours, then absconds with their pay, often convincing them that the fault is with the dirty oil barons delaying payments, and to come out on another contract with him in the meantime.
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* Karlax from the ''Series/DoctorWho'' novel [[Recap/NewSeriesAdventuresEnginesofWar "Engines of War"]]. The narration states that he has spent most of his lives manipulating others in order to achieve his own goals.
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** In his novel ''Literature/AndTheMountainsEchoed'', Adel's father is a warlord who gentrifies the village and oppresses the townspeople. He pretends to support organizations such as healthcare facilities and schools while funneling money through them and gaining respect from the people.
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* Rasheed from ''Literature/AThousandSplendidSuns'' by Creator/KhaledHosseini. He's a total tyrant who sexually abuses his wives to gain sex from them, while convincing them that without him, they'd be better off (which became especially true after the Taliban took over).
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* From the ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'' series, Jeanine Matthews. Also, Evelyn Johnson[[spoiler:-Eaton. ''She'' gets better though]].
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%% * From the ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'' series, Jeanine Matthews. Also, Evelyn Johnson[[spoiler:-Eaton. ''She'' gets better though]].
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** Leto II. There's a reason he's becomes the God Emperor. He manages to manipulate ''every single human being that crosses his path'', up to and including [[spoiler: his grandmother, his aunt and his own father]], all of which should have known better. Then he ends up ruling the entire known universe for 3500 years with an iron fist. To be fair, he really didn't [[spoiler: manipulate his father Paul. It was more like winning an argument and Paul realizing Leto was right, much to his dismay.]]
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** Leto II. There's a reason he's becomes the God Emperor.GodEmperor. He manages to manipulate ''every single human being that crosses his path'', up to and including [[spoiler: his grandmother, his aunt and his own father]], all of which should have known better. Then he ends up [[Literature/GodEmperorOfDune ruling the entire known universe for 3500 years with an iron fist.fist]]. To be fair, he really didn't [[spoiler: manipulate his father Paul. It was more like winning an argument and Paul realizing Leto was right, much to his dismay.]]
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* If they have a pulse and have set foot on the planet Arrakis (Or, as it's also known, ''Literature/{{Dune}}''), then they're probably magnificent bastards. Paul manipulates the Fremen to make them both into an army to win back the planet AND avert a jihad he sees in the future. Jessica does to (again to the Fremen) in order to survive. Baron Harkonnen does it to eventually put a Harkonnen on the Imperial throne (although in his case he never seriously considers doing it for himself. He's in it for the legacy). The Emperor himself kills off someone described repeatedly as looking like the Emperor himself (Duke Leto Atreides) because he feels threatened by him. The only people in the book who aren't magnificent bastards (or just bastards) is Gurney Hallack or dead (like Duncan Idaho. Don't worry, he gets both better and a magnificent bastard).
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* If they have a pulse and have set foot on the planet Arrakis (Or, as it's also known, ''Literature/{{Dune}}''), ''Franchise/{{Dune}}''), then they're probably magnificent bastards. Paul manipulates the Fremen to make them both into an army to win back the planet AND avert a jihad he sees in the future. Jessica does to (again to the Fremen) in order to survive. Baron Harkonnen does it to eventually put a Harkonnen on the Imperial throne (although in his case he never seriously considers doing it for himself. He's in it for the legacy). The Emperor himself kills off someone described repeatedly as looking like the Emperor himself (Duke Leto Atreides) because he feels threatened by him. The only people in the book who aren't magnificent bastards (or just bastards) is Gurney Hallack or dead (like Duncan Idaho. Don't worry, he gets both better and a magnificent bastard).
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*''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': [[spoiler: Duke Selen Esrah used manipulation to start a coup.]] When Kasile investigated her own kidnapping, he pretended to be her greatest aid when he was truly the one she was looking for. He twisted her conclusion to frame her for treason.
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** [[spoiler:Victor Dashkov had his daughter commit evil acts behind everyone's back and even convinced her to turn Strigoi. Manipulated Lissa intro trusting him as an adoptive uncle while planning to use her for his own purposes. Manipulated Rose into sleeping with Dimitri, to get them both out of the way of his plans]].
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* Avery Lazar from ''[[Literature/VampireAcademy Blood Promise]]'', manipulated emotions and perspectives towards her own ruthless goals. Led Lissa towards a self-destructive path and slowly seduced Adrian.
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* ''Literature/VampireAcademy'':
** Lissa Dragomir weasels her way out of any situation using only words. For example, she manipulates the usually strong-willed Camille Conta, a royal girl, to act as a defender to Rose's reputation. She manipulates Aaron (her former boyfriend) to get back together with her, while she truly finds him boring. But this ensures the further isolation of Mia Rinaldi.
** In ''Blood Promise'', Avery Lazarfrom ''[[Literature/VampireAcademy Blood Promise]]'', manipulated emotions and perspectives towards her own ruthless goals. Led Lissa towards a self-destructive path and slowly seduced Adrian.
** Lissa Dragomir weasels her way out of any situation using only words. For example, she manipulates the usually strong-willed Camille Conta, a royal girl, to act as a defender to Rose's reputation. She manipulates Aaron (her former boyfriend) to get back together with her, while she truly finds him boring. But this ensures the further isolation of Mia Rinaldi.
** In ''Blood Promise'', Avery Lazar
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* Macon Ravenwood from ''Literature/TheCasterChronicles''.
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%% * Macon Ravenwood from ''Literature/TheCasterChronicles''.
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*''Literature/CompanionsOfTheNight'': Ethan, being an immortal vampire, has had a fairly long time to practice his acting skills and learn to efficiently have people act the exact way he wants them to.
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** What makes him even more Manipulative and Bastardly is that he ''doesn't'' genuinely believe this himself: rather, he realizes that people who lack a sense of the greatness in life are easier to control. (As witness the way he sabotages his niece's chances for a fulfilling career and a happy marriage.) Toohey is driven only by the desire for power over others, like the Party in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour.'' (In fact, [[WordOfGod both Orwell and Rand]] stated that inspiration for the antagonists came from observing the very worst tendencies in contemporary socialists and taking them to their logical conclusions.)
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** What makes him even more Manipulative and Bastardly is that he ''doesn't'' genuinely believe this himself: rather, he realizes that people who lack a sense of the greatness in life are easier to control. (As witness the way he sabotages his niece's chances for a fulfilling career and a happy marriage.) Toohey is driven only by the desire for power over others, like the Party in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour.'' (In fact, [[WordOfGod both Orwell and Rand]] stated that inspiration for the antagonists came from observing the very worst tendencies in contemporary socialists and taking them to their logical conclusions.)) Why does he do all of this? Because he knows that he is not and will never be one of the greats, so he tries his best to ensure no one else becomes great to feel better about himself. As Ayn Rand put it, he is "the man who couldn't be, and knows it".
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* Avery Lazar from ''[[Literature/VampireAcademy Blood Promise]]'', manipulated emotions and perspectives towards her own ruthless goals. Led Lissa towards a self-destructive path and slowly seduced Adrian.
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* [[spoiler:Stephen Norton]] in Creator/AgathaChristie's ''[[Literature/{{Curtain}} Curtain: The Last Case of Poirot]]'' is largely based on Iago. The manipulations quickly reach downright ridiculous extremes bordering on full-blown ''{{Gambit Roulette}}s''. It often takes little more than a casual remark on [[spoiler: Stephen Norton]]'s part [[spoiler: (or on the part of any of the dozens of people he uses as unwitting proxies to voice his 'suggestions' to the people involved, both victim and murderer alike)]] in any given conversation to set a complex chain of events into motion that will lead to someone getting killed shortly afterwards. [[spoiler: Norton]] is actually so good at this, that even Poirot knows that [[spoiler: it'd be impossible to ever him get convicted of any crime whatsoever.]] So Poirot decides to [[spoiler: just kill Norton instead.]]
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* [[spoiler:Stephen Norton]] in Creator/AgathaChristie's ''[[Literature/{{Curtain}} Curtain: The Poirot's Last Case of Poirot]]'' Case]]'' is largely based on Iago. The manipulations quickly reach downright ridiculous extremes bordering on full-blown ''{{Gambit Roulette}}s''. It often takes little more than a casual remark on [[spoiler: Stephen Norton]]'s part [[spoiler: (or on the part of any of the dozens of people he uses as unwitting proxies to voice his 'suggestions' to the people involved, both victim and murderer alike)]] in any given conversation to set a complex chain of events into motion that will lead to someone getting killed shortly afterwards. [[spoiler: Norton]] is actually so good at this, that even Poirot knows that [[spoiler: it'd be impossible to ever him get convicted of any crime whatsoever.]] whatsoever]]. So Poirot decides to [[spoiler: just kill Norton instead.]]instead]].
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* Raistlin Majere in Literature/{{Dragonlance}} is very good at TheChessmaster event-manipulating (he earns his title as 'Master of Past and Present' in more than the time travel sense) but arguably even better at using ''people'', effortlessly twisting his brother's love to his own purposes, maneuvering apprentice-Bastard-in-training Dalamar into both hating and [[HoYay worshiping him]], manipulating guileless kender Tasselhoff into achieving several of his goals (though he [[SpannerInTheWorks screws up others]]) and playing (and almost always winning) mind-games with the heads of the Orders of High Sorcery, Fistandantilus, and ''the Dark Queen Herself''. His crowning achievement, however, is his protracted seduction minus any sex (losing her virginity would cause her to lose her powers) and subsequent cruel abandonment of a holy cleric of Paladine simply so he could use her to [[spoiler: enter the Abyss and kill the Queen. To [[AGodAmI take her place]], naturally.]] In a supreme bit of irony, the only reason he is foiled is because [[spoiler:he's ''not'' a heartless bastard.]]
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* Raistlin Majere in Literature/{{Dragonlance}} is very good at TheChessmaster event-manipulating (he earns his title as 'Master of Past and Present' in more than the time travel sense) but arguably even better at using ''people'', effortlessly twisting his brother's love to his own purposes, maneuvering apprentice-Bastard-in-training Dalamar into both hating and [[HoYay worshiping him]], manipulating guileless kender Tasselhoff into achieving several of his goals (though he [[SpannerInTheWorks screws up others]]) and playing (and almost always winning) mind-games with the heads of the Orders of High Sorcery, Fistandantilus, and ''the Dark Queen Herself''. His crowning achievement, however, is his protracted seduction minus any sex (losing her virginity would cause her to lose her powers) and subsequent cruel abandonment of a holy cleric of Paladine simply so he could use her to [[spoiler: enter the Abyss and kill the Queen. To [[AGodAmI take her place]], naturally.]] In a supreme bit of irony, the only reason he is foiled is because [[spoiler:he's ''not'' a heartless bastard.]]bastard]].
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* Macon Ravenwood from ''[[Literature/BeautifulCreatures The Caster Chronicles]]''.
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* Macon Ravenwood from ''[[Literature/BeautifulCreatures The Caster Chronicles]]''.''Literature/TheCasterChronicles''.
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* From the ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'' series, Jeanine Matthews. Also, Evelyn Johnson[[spoiler:-Eaton. ''She'' gets better though]].
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* From the ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'' series, Jeanine Matthews. Also, Evelyn Johnson[[spoiler:-Eaton. ''She'' gets better though]].though]].
* Lord Cuncz in ''[[Literature/ElsabethSoesten No Good Deed...]]'', bonus points for being an actual bastard, as well. [[spoiler: Garnerius arranged for his adoption and legitimation with the previous Baron of Leyen because he thought Cuncz would be easily controlled and disposed of when he was ready to make a political move against the Prince-Bishop of Bremen. Cuncz in turned played him behind the scenes, working with the Prince-Bishop to expose the Abbot's machinations and have Friuli Abbey added to his fief as a reward. When Elsabeth and Hieronymus unwittingly foil his plans to recover incriminating evidence against the Abbot, he just uses ''them'' to carry out his plans instead. And ''then'' he seduces Elsabeth by letting ''her'' seduce ''him'' as part of her plans to steal the documents from he he actually ''wants'' her to steal, for no other reason than he wanted to sleep with her!]]
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* Lord Cuncz in ''[[Literature/ElsabethSoesten No Good Deed...]]'', bonus points for being an actual bastard, as well. [[spoiler: Garnerius arranged for his adoption and legitimation with the previous Baron of Leyen because he thought Cuncz would be easily controlled and disposed of when he was ready to make a political move against the Prince-Bishop of Bremen. Cuncz in turned played him behind the scenes, working with the Prince-Bishop to expose the Abbot's machinations and have Friuli Abbey added to his fief as a reward. When Elsabeth and Hieronymus unwittingly foil his plans to recover incriminating evidence against the Abbot, he just uses ''them'' to carry out his plans instead. And ''then'' he seduces Elsabeth by letting ''her'' seduce ''him'' as part of her plans to steal the documents from he he actually ''wants'' her to steal, for no other reason than he wanted to sleep with her!]]
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* [[Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe Goethe]] gives an opinion of what makes someone a manipulative bastard in the following passage from ''Elective Affinities''. Eduard, who's married to the Baroness's friend Charlotte, has just told the Baroness that he's in love with Ottilie. And the Baroness decides to break up the love affair: "[A]s she made up her mind, she appeared to become even more sympathetic to Eduard's desires, for no one had more self-control than the Baroness. Self-control at crucial moments accustoms us to maintain outward composure on all occasions. When we have so much control over ourselves, we are inclined to extend it to others as an external compensation for all our inner privations... This state of mind is usually connected with a secret enjoyment of the blindness of others who walk unsuspectingly into the trap. We enjoy not only our present success but, at the same time, the other person's future embarrassment. The Baroness, therefore, was malicious enough to invite Eduard to come with Charlotte to her estate at the vintage season; and when he asked whether they might bring Ottilie, she gave an answer which he could take to be affirmative, if he chose."
* Dolokhov from ''Literature/WarAndPeace'' often manipulates others during games of chance to earn far greater winnings, or to spur them into doing things they will regret later. He also seems to take some sort of perverted delight in seeing people, his social betters, strung around so easily.
* Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium
** Sauron in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. In particular, in "Of Beren and Lúthien", he tricks a loyal follower of Barahir into betraying the location of his hideout, makes the king of Nùmenor attack Valinor, which causes the [[{{Atlantis}} destruction of Nùmenor]], and shows the [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elves]] how to create the Rings of Power, which Sauron later uses to enslave or corrupt some of the leaders of the races of Middle-Earth. All this only to fall foul of the fact that [[spoiler:the existence of God makes being a Manipulative Bastard and/or a Chessmaster ultimately futile]].
** Dragons in Middle-Earth seem to share this trait. Smaug in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' manages to sow distrust of his Dwarf companions in Bilbo, despite Bilbo only talking in the most cryptic of riddles, the only thing giving him away being that he had the smell of Dwarf on him.
* [[BrainsEvilBrawnGood Shift]] from ''[[Literature/ChroniclesOfNarnia The Last Battle]]'' demonstrates his Manipulative Bastardry multiple times just in his ''first few scenes''. He gets his "[[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter friend]]", [[StubbornMule Puzzle]], to do whatever he wants through a combination of guilt-tripping and playing on Puzzle's [[DumbIsGood insecurity]]/low self-esteem (which are a result of the way Shift treats him in the first place).
* [[spoiler:Smerdyakov]] in ''Literature/TheBrothersKaramazov'' fits this trope to a fault, to the point of [[spoiler:convincing Ivan that he is the one responsible for his father's death, despite the fact that Smerdyakov was the one who did the old man in. According to Smerdyakov, Ivan [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow subconsciously told him through various cues and actions that he wanted his father dead.]]]] Whether this is true or not is left rather ambiguously defined.
* Long John Silver from ''Literature/TreasureIsland''. While lacking the style needed to be a MagnificentBastard, he fits this trope perfectly; acting so charming and likable that one can easily forget that he's in fact a ruthless, murderous pirate. His fondness for Jim Hawkins is particularly of notice, as even in the end it's never made clear just how much of their relationship was genuine and how much was manipulation on Silver's part.
* Ellsworth Toohey from Creator/AynRand's book ''Literature/TheFountainhead''. Here's a man who holds to the StrawmanPolitical philosophy that no one should ever achieve anything great, and he does everything he can to make people feel so insecure to be anything but a mass of mediocre and dependent "second-handers." He has a well-developed {{Backstory}} to show that he's been growing into this role all his life, and he gives a BreakingSpeech to Peter Keating that explains all his motivations and goals.
** What makes him even more Manipulative and Bastardly is that he ''doesn't'' genuinely believe this himself: rather, he realizes that people who lack a sense of the greatness in life are easier to control. (As witness the way he sabotages his niece's chances for a fulfilling career and a happy marriage.) Toohey is driven only by the desire for power over others, like the Party in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour.'' (In fact, [[WordOfGod both Orwell and Rand]] stated that inspiration for the antagonists came from observing the very worst tendencies in contemporary socialists and taking them to their logical conclusions.)
* [[spoiler:Stephen Norton]] in Creator/AgathaChristie's ''[[Literature/{{Curtain}} Curtain: The Last Case of Poirot]]'' is largely based on Iago. The manipulations quickly reach downright ridiculous extremes bordering on full-blown ''{{Gambit Roulette}}s''. It often takes little more than a casual remark on [[spoiler: Stephen Norton]]'s part [[spoiler: (or on the part of any of the dozens of people he uses as unwitting proxies to voice his 'suggestions' to the people involved, both victim and murderer alike)]] in any given conversation to set a complex chain of events into motion that will lead to someone getting killed shortly afterwards. [[spoiler: Norton]] is actually so good at this, that even Poirot knows that [[spoiler: it'd be impossible to ever him get convicted of any crime whatsoever.]] So Poirot decides to [[spoiler: just kill Norton instead.]]
* Abelard Lindsay and the other Shaper diplomats in ''Literature/{{Schismatrix}}'', but also Lindsay's untrained rival Constantine.
* The three Wiggin children, plus Graff, from ''Literature/EndersGame''.
** Achilles from the spin-off ''Shadow'' series manages to hook entire governments, despite being an ''openly'' [[ReliableTraitor reliably traitorous]] AxCrazy PsychoForHire.
* Raistlin Majere in Literature/{{Dragonlance}} is very good at TheChessmaster event-manipulating (he earns his title as 'Master of Past and Present' in more than the time travel sense) but arguably even better at using ''people'', effortlessly twisting his brother's love to his own purposes, maneuvering apprentice-Bastard-in-training Dalamar into both hating and [[HoYay worshiping him]], manipulating guileless kender Tasselhoff into achieving several of his goals (though he [[SpannerInTheWorks screws up others]]) and playing (and almost always winning) mind-games with the heads of the Orders of High Sorcery, Fistandantilus, and ''the Dark Queen Herself''. His crowning achievement, however, is his protracted seduction minus any sex (losing her virginity would cause her to lose her powers) and subsequent cruel abandonment of a holy cleric of Paladine simply so he could use her to [[spoiler: enter the Abyss and kill the Queen. To [[AGodAmI take her place]], naturally.]] In a supreme bit of irony, the only reason he is foiled is because [[spoiler:he's ''not'' a heartless bastard.]]
** Raistlin's half-sister, Kitiara Uth Matar, also qualifies. Tanis Half-Elven was putty in her hands. She successfully seduced Sturm Brightblade, effectively getting a paragon of HonorBeforeReason to betray his best friend. She easily manipulated her rival in love and war, Laurana, into getting herself captured. She tricked her lover Dalamar into letting her get close enough to stab him. [[spoiler:Though she muffed the attack and failed to kill him.]] And she even got the best of Raistlin a couple of times.
* In the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms series ''Literature/WarOfTheSpiderQueen'', [[spoiler:Danifae Yauntyrr]] starts as a lowly slave after her clan was wipped out in one of the common political feuds and she was captured alive as a trophy, to serve as a [[LesYay personal slave]] to a spoiled princess. Even though any other member of her group could kill her at any time without requiring a reason, she defies and antagonizes about everyone else, makes her former mistress her personal bitch, has her LoveInterest shred to bloody pieces by [[PsychoForHire Jaggred]], makes a high priestess to end up paralyzed with self-doubt, and gets the half-demon Jeggred to defy his aunt and follow her orders instead (as she continually proves to be much more ruthless and manipulative, and thus being worthy of his loyalty). [[spoiler:And when it comes for the reincarnated godess to chose her new champion, she spits everyone in the face by being chosen over priestesses who had served her all their lives and sacrificed everything to gain her favor.]]
* Lord Havelock Vetinari from the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series manipulates everybody, heroes and villains alike. Whether or not he himself is a villain is [[NobleDemon a difficult question to answer.]]
* Leland Gaunt from Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/NeedfulThings''. He's similar to Iago, but on a large scale; he takes the conflicts among people and turns them into murderous feuds. With "pranks".
** He even makes sure his customers only play pranks on people they don't know well enough to realize that the prank will play on a flaw or insecurity, but know enough about to be able to rationalize the prank to themselves by denigrating the person. And then he makes his final bit of money by selling guns...
* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' is positively awash with this types, given the series somewhat political bent, especially in the latest novels.
** One good example of the cold and ambitious Manipulative Bastard would be Solarian Vice-Admiral Luis Rozsak, who is also TheChessmaster, and has absolutely no qualms about bending almost everybody to do his bidding. Surprisingly he isn't a villain, at least technically: he's a rather personable guy, and his goals are mostly noble, so he's actually more of a WellIntentionedExtremist.
** The same series also subverts this trope with Havenite secret agent Victor Cachat, who fits the same analytical type to a T, but it is only ONE part of his otherwise genuinely kind and meek personality, and manifests itself only when [[{{Determinator}} he firmly believes in its necessity]].
* Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. As well as being TheChessmaster and a card-carrying MagnificentBastard, he emotionally manipulates those around him callously and shamelessly, starting with UnluckyChildhoodFriend Lysa Tully. ''And'' he's seemingly training [[spoiler: Lysa's niece, Sansa Stark]] to follow his steps.
** Actually, [[spoiler: Sansa]] had inklings of this from the beginning. She's said to be good at putting up a false front and lying to others right to their faces, so while she's caught more than a few times ([[spoiler: Sandor and Cersei]] tell her "learn to lie better, kiddo"), Littlefinger just has to pass his best manipulation techniques onto her...
* Cassie from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. Many, many times throughout the series, she uses her innate understanding of people for the good of the team, if not necessarily for the good of herself, or the person. Her main victim of her manipulations was Visser Three (mainly because the Visser was an evil ego-driven son of a bitch). She also (reluctantly) used her understanding of people to [[spoiler: trap a traitor of the group in the body of a rat]]. BewareTheNiceOnes, indeed.
** She and [[TheLancer Marco]] tend to share this role, with Cassie being the "play on what you love" type, and Marco being the borderline SmugSnake, "irritate, annoy, threaten, and offer you the world" type. A villainous example would be Yeerk TortureTechnician and utter psycho, Taylor.
** David, [[spoiler:the aforementioned 'Ani-Traitor']], also falls into Manipulative Bastard territory, coming closer to wiping out the Animorphs than the entirety of the Yeerk Empire in his trilogy. He goads Jake into fighting a battle he cannot win, manipulates Ax's ignorance of alarm clocks and Rachel's opinion of him as a robber to lure Rachel into another trap, and turned the entire Berenson family into puppets by pretending to be recently-hospitalized cousin Saddler. His return in #48 goes even further, working the TheReasonYouSuckSpeech overtime in his attempt to break Rachel's will to fight.
** The Drode.
** But most of all, Jake, who becomes more and more manipulative as the series progresses.
* Gentleman in ''Literature/{{Fingersmith}}'' by Sarah Waters. He has exceptional insight and sometimes understands a person's mind better than they themselves do, but only uses the knowledge to exploit them, for profit and for fun.
** Also [[spoiler: Mrs Sucksby. She raises Sue as a daughter, keeping her close and innocent (and making Sue love her like a mother), but the whole time planning to her being able to put Sue [[BedlamHouse away]] and reclaim Maud, her biological daughter.]]
* 'Sticky Eye' Kawakami in ''Literature/CloudOfSparrows''. [[spoiler:He raises Heiko from a village of ''eta'', outcasts who perform disgusting but necessary work such as butchers and tanners, as the most beautiful geisha in Edo, and assigns her as a spy and assassin attached to Genji. Genji quickly cops to the fact that she's an assassin, but it turns out Kawakami had counted on this so he could reveal her background to Genji at the right moment. This sends Genji into a well-concealed HeroicBSOD, which culminates in him sending Heiko to America and massacring her entire village to prevent anyone else finding out.]]
* Sol in ''Literature/WarriorCats''. His voice even seems to have the power to influence other cats' minds.
** And Hawkfrost.
* In Nick Kyme's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} novel ''[[Literature/{{Salamanders}} Salamander]]'', Iagon reveals his TrueColors when he manipulates Tsu'gan into not reporting his [[DividedWeFall ploys]]. [[spoiler:Followed up by his reflection that he has to do something about the Apothecary who knows, and later by his murdering a helpless servant.]]
* If they have a pulse and have set foot on the planet Arrakis (Or, as it's also known, ''Literature/{{Dune}}''), then they're probably magnificent bastards. Paul manipulates the Fremen to make them both into an army to win back the planet AND avert a jihad he sees in the future. Jessica does to (again to the Fremen) in order to survive. Baron Harkonnen does it to eventually put a Harkonnen on the Imperial throne (although in his case he never seriously considers doing it for himself. He's in it for the legacy). The Emperor himself kills off someone described repeatedly as looking like the Emperor himself (Duke Leto Atreides) because he feels threatened by him. The only people in the book who aren't magnificent bastards (or just bastards) is Gurney Hallack or dead (like Duncan Idaho. Don't worry, he gets both better and a magnificent bastard).
** Leto II. There's a reason he's becomes the God Emperor. He manages to manipulate ''every single human being that crosses his path'', up to and including [[spoiler: his grandmother, his aunt and his own father]], all of which should have known better. Then he ends up ruling the entire known universe for 3500 years with an iron fist. To be fair, he really didn't [[spoiler: manipulate his father Paul. It was more like winning an argument and Paul realizing Leto was right, much to his dismay.]]
* [[Literature/AmericanGods Mr. Wednesday.]] Dear god, Wednesday.
* Nigel Bishop, from the Literature/DreamPark novel ''The California Voodoo Game'', wrote the book on Manipulative Bastardry (''The Art of Gaming''). An outstanding example of this trope, not least because Bishop unabashedly convinces the Gaming world he's a ''Magnificent'' Bastard, and is universally admired for it; only the reader knows the extent of his crimes, or the tone of his [[SmugSnake internal monologue]], that show he's too much of a Bastard to rightly qualify as Magnificent.
* Julian from ''Literature/TheForbiddenGame''.
* Considering [[GambitPileup the sheer number]] of {{chessmaster}}s, {{Magnificent Bastard}}s, and [[SmugSnake people aspiring to those titles]] in ''Literature/CodexAlera'', several characters qualify. But probably the clearest bit of emotional manipulation comes from an unexpected quarter: [[spoiler:Ehren]]. He plays on [[spoiler:Attis]]'s pride and self-confidence to get him to act as bait for TheDragon and the BigBad, knowing that he would see it more as a chance to destroy the enemy leaders than ''putting himself in their way''. As a result, [[spoiler:Attis gets, in his words, "filleted," Invidia gets [[KillItWithFire severely inconvenienced]], and Tavi no longer has to worry about competition for the throne.]]
* Also from Creator/JimButcher, Martin, in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Nicknamed "[[TheNondescript Mr. Bland]]" when Harry meets him, the guy is a half-vampire working for an anti-vampire organization called the Fellowship of St. Giles who seems to have absolutely no emotions. He says it's necessary for his work, where emotions create attachment and he has to do very bad things in order to defeat the Red Court vampires. [[spoiler:He ain't kidding. In the end, turns out not only is he a mole for the Red Court, but he is actually against THEM as well. He's been feeding them entirely accurate information, including that which has led to hundreds of deaths of humans, to put them into a position of enough power where they would initiate an incredibly dangerous magical ritual just for the sake of vengeance. Then he manipulated Harry into being forced to kill Susan-- his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child (as well as Martin's partner for about a decade)-- in a way that would turn the ritual against the Reds, wiping out ''all the Red Court vampires in the world.'']] [[GambitRoulette Yikes.]]
** Nicodemus also likes to do this sort of thing. Highlights include tossing an ArtifactOfDoom at a toddler in order to force Harry to pick it up ([[spoiler:implanting a copy of a FallenAngel's personality in his head in the process]]) and displaying a horribly-tortured little girl to try to provoke Harry into [[spoiler:using the Sword of Faith to break a promise]]. (The latter of which fails; Harry immediately realizes what Nick's trying to do, and he's made that mistake before and does ''not'' wish to repeat it)
** Harry's developed this as well. Witness using Lara Raith as a catspaw to destroy Lord Raith while making her think that he is her catspaw.
* [[EvilSorcerer Azrael de Gray]] from Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/WarOfTheDreaming'' manages to get out of the TailorMadePrison he was locked in by, among other things, persuading his great-grand descendant to jump off the [[FlatWorld edge]] of the world.
* Any descendant of Kushiel in ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' can become a Manipulative Bastard. They can actually "see" what it will take to get people to act in a specific manner. Melisande embraces being a Manipulative Bastard and manipulates people [[ForTheEvulz just because she can.]] Her son Imriel tries to avoid being a Manipulative Bastard but still has that ability for when he needs to use it.
* Many Literature/SherlockHolmes villains qualify and so does Sherlock Holmes himself. In more than a couple occasions he has gone as far as to emotionally manipulate, not just the villains but innocent bystanders and Watson as well, to achieve his goals. Watson notes that this amuses him greatly.
* Anna from Ann M. Martin's ''Slam Book''. She [[spoiler:admittedly accidentally drives an unpopular girl to suicide. She feels bad briefly -- but her parents assure her that oh, it's mostly because that girl was unadjusted in the first place! Right...]]
* Rimmer Dal, BigBad of Creator/TerryBrooks's Literature/TheHeritageOfShannara series. He so thoroughly destroys [[TheHero Par's]] sense of self and right and wrong, that by the end the poor kid is borderline insane, and barely able to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Worst of all, this is exactly the result he was after, as a Par whose will is utterly shattered won't be able to prevent Dal's GrandTheftMe from going into effect. He turns this kid into TheWoobie purely for his own benefit, and the kicker? It takes the Sword of Shannara (an artifact designed to expose the truth) to pierce through all the lies he's told. That almost isn't enough, because he manages to talk Par into believing he can't use it. Manipulative Bastard and ConsummateLiar indeed.
* Anasûrimbor Kellhus of ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'', like all members of his secret monastic order, is a [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] {{Ubermensch}} who is AwesomeByAnalysis and has HyperAwareness, which because he is [[TheUnfettered unfettered]] allows him to become a ConsummateLiar. He eventually manipulates [[spoiler:a civilization into viewing him as a GodEmperor]]. His father Anasûrimbor Moënghus was only slightly less successful.
* In Creator/ChinaMieville's novel ''Literature/TheScar'', [[spoiler: Uther Doul]] is either this or MagnificentBastard, depending on your interpretation. He knows that the Lovers' plan will [[spoiler: get them all killed]] (if you believe that; arguably, that part could have been a lie too), but he doesn't want to be shown doing anything himself to oppose the Lovers, so he manipulates [[spoiler: Bellis]] by giving just enough information to start a [[spoiler: rebellion of Armada's citizens, even indulging her growing infatuation with him.]] Many readers fell for it hook, line, and sinker, thinking he'd become an AntiVillain in time and end up with [[spoiler: Bellis]], and oh how wrong they were. [[spoiler: The revelation that he never felt anything for Bellis, and was only using her, felt pretty harsh.]]
* Irial from ''Literature/WickedLovely'' is very good at this.
* Mayor Prentiss from Patrick Ness's Literature/ChaosWalking series. Throughout ''The Ask and the Answer'', he plays head games with Todd, Viola, and his own son [[spoiler: who he ends up shooting]]. He could also be considered a MagnificentBastard as he is extremely confident and independent. Starts a BigBadassBattleSequence at the beginning of ''Monsters of Men''. In ''The Knife of Never Letting Go'', drags Aaron along as a ChurchMilitant while trying to chase Todd down.
* Voldemort from ''Literature/HarryPotter''. Especially when he was younger, and charmed everyone around him into to thinking he was the hero. Everything he says is a form of emotional manipulation (guilt-tripping, flattery, fear-mongering, put-downs to lower self-esteem), it's just that he doesn't use his charm to its full extent as an adult, preferring to manipulate using negative reinforcement instead. As is repeatedly stated in the series: "Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great."
** Dumbledore. He plays people from ''beyond the grave'', using his reputation as a kind, slightly CloudCuckoolander BigGood to get everyone to do exactly what he wants, playing on Voldemort's vanity and shortsightedness, Snape's love for [[spoiler: Lily]] and Harry's chronic heroism. Also, what he did with [[spoiler: Draco. He knew the kid was trying to kill him, and he knew he wouldn't be doing it if Voldemort hadn't put him up to it. Yet he still refused to confront him until ThePlan he'd dragged Snape into came to fruition. When he offered to hide Draco and his family, it was already too late for him to accept.]]
* [[TheDarkChick Diana Ladris]] from ''Literature/{{Gone}}''. With the exception of Drake and sometimes [[BigBad Caine]], she gets people to do whatever she wants them to just by playing off of what they want, [[DeadpanSnarker and she's not even pleasant about it.]]
* Tarantyev and his buddy in ''Literature/{{Oblomov}}''.
* Xanatos from ''Literature/JediApprentice'' and his bastard son Granta Omega from ''JediQuest'' are both very effective Manipulative Bastards, specialising in screwing with their opponents' minds during combat. Xanatos is especially brutal, giving Obi-Wan a NotSoDifferent[=/=]TheReasonYouSuckSpeech after the former is forced to kill fellow student [[RivalTurnedEvil Bruck]], that nearly shatters the boy's self-confidence.
* Keifer Porter of ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' was [[DumbBlonde not intelligent]], but he ''was'' clever and manipulative and very, ''very'' beautiful. He [[LysistrataGambit withheld sex]] and threw tantrums and at times was very sweet to the elder princesses to the point where they supported him [[WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou when he really hurt one of their younger sisters]], [[spoiler: and all along he did as his much more intelligent family wanted]].
* In Donald Kingsbury's ''Literature/CourtshipRite'', most Getans consider the whole Kaiel clan to be this—and, indeed, they seem to be actively trying to breed for the trait, in several ways. Within the Kaiel, Prime Predictor Aesoe is a prime example, ordering the three protagonist brothers to marry Oelita, the Gentle Heretic (against the wishes of all parties) so the Kaiel will gain influence with her followers.
* ''Literature/LegacyOfTheDragokin'': All the drama in Drewghaven was [[spoiler:a distraction planned by Man in Shadow to get Daniar out of her castle.]] He led the rioters to the [[SealedEvilInACan Kthonian knights' can]] and sent the distress signal letter to Brittania castle so Daniar would rush to her sister's aid. [[spoiler: Once she was gone he could dig up Erowin's corpse without interference or observation.]]
* Deshamai in ''Literature/TheQuestOfTheUnaligned'' initially comes off as this. As quite possibly the most powerful [[MakingASplash sha]][[CharmPerson mai]] in the world, he can persuade anyone to do what he wants. Confirmed when he accuses Laeshana of being a reckless idiot (though to be fair, [[ElementalRivalry shamais think all aeshes are reckless idiots]]), and mindbends Prince Alaric into going off on his own.
** [[spoiler: Later subverted when it is made clear that Deshamai really did believe that what he did was the best thing for Caederan, and still more so when he gives a really [[Awesome/TheQuestOfTheUnaligned awesome]] speech to the court and talks them into letting Alaric and Laeshana marry.]]
* Hilde from [[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Last Dragon Chronicles]]. [[spoiler:This explains Gwilanna...]]
* Macon Ravenwood from ''[[Literature/BeautifulCreatures The Caster Chronicles]]''.
* From the ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'' series, Jeanine Matthews. Also, Evelyn Johnson[[spoiler:-Eaton. ''She'' gets better though]].
* Dolokhov from ''Literature/WarAndPeace'' often manipulates others during games of chance to earn far greater winnings, or to spur them into doing things they will regret later. He also seems to take some sort of perverted delight in seeing people, his social betters, strung around so easily.
* Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium
** Sauron in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. In particular, in "Of Beren and Lúthien", he tricks a loyal follower of Barahir into betraying the location of his hideout, makes the king of Nùmenor attack Valinor, which causes the [[{{Atlantis}} destruction of Nùmenor]], and shows the [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elves]] how to create the Rings of Power, which Sauron later uses to enslave or corrupt some of the leaders of the races of Middle-Earth. All this only to fall foul of the fact that [[spoiler:the existence of God makes being a Manipulative Bastard and/or a Chessmaster ultimately futile]].
** Dragons in Middle-Earth seem to share this trait. Smaug in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' manages to sow distrust of his Dwarf companions in Bilbo, despite Bilbo only talking in the most cryptic of riddles, the only thing giving him away being that he had the smell of Dwarf on him.
* [[BrainsEvilBrawnGood Shift]] from ''[[Literature/ChroniclesOfNarnia The Last Battle]]'' demonstrates his Manipulative Bastardry multiple times just in his ''first few scenes''. He gets his "[[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter friend]]", [[StubbornMule Puzzle]], to do whatever he wants through a combination of guilt-tripping and playing on Puzzle's [[DumbIsGood insecurity]]/low self-esteem (which are a result of the way Shift treats him in the first place).
* [[spoiler:Smerdyakov]] in ''Literature/TheBrothersKaramazov'' fits this trope to a fault, to the point of [[spoiler:convincing Ivan that he is the one responsible for his father's death, despite the fact that Smerdyakov was the one who did the old man in. According to Smerdyakov, Ivan [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow subconsciously told him through various cues and actions that he wanted his father dead.]]]] Whether this is true or not is left rather ambiguously defined.
* Long John Silver from ''Literature/TreasureIsland''. While lacking the style needed to be a MagnificentBastard, he fits this trope perfectly; acting so charming and likable that one can easily forget that he's in fact a ruthless, murderous pirate. His fondness for Jim Hawkins is particularly of notice, as even in the end it's never made clear just how much of their relationship was genuine and how much was manipulation on Silver's part.
* Ellsworth Toohey from Creator/AynRand's book ''Literature/TheFountainhead''. Here's a man who holds to the StrawmanPolitical philosophy that no one should ever achieve anything great, and he does everything he can to make people feel so insecure to be anything but a mass of mediocre and dependent "second-handers." He has a well-developed {{Backstory}} to show that he's been growing into this role all his life, and he gives a BreakingSpeech to Peter Keating that explains all his motivations and goals.
** What makes him even more Manipulative and Bastardly is that he ''doesn't'' genuinely believe this himself: rather, he realizes that people who lack a sense of the greatness in life are easier to control. (As witness the way he sabotages his niece's chances for a fulfilling career and a happy marriage.) Toohey is driven only by the desire for power over others, like the Party in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour.'' (In fact, [[WordOfGod both Orwell and Rand]] stated that inspiration for the antagonists came from observing the very worst tendencies in contemporary socialists and taking them to their logical conclusions.)
* [[spoiler:Stephen Norton]] in Creator/AgathaChristie's ''[[Literature/{{Curtain}} Curtain: The Last Case of Poirot]]'' is largely based on Iago. The manipulations quickly reach downright ridiculous extremes bordering on full-blown ''{{Gambit Roulette}}s''. It often takes little more than a casual remark on [[spoiler: Stephen Norton]]'s part [[spoiler: (or on the part of any of the dozens of people he uses as unwitting proxies to voice his 'suggestions' to the people involved, both victim and murderer alike)]] in any given conversation to set a complex chain of events into motion that will lead to someone getting killed shortly afterwards. [[spoiler: Norton]] is actually so good at this, that even Poirot knows that [[spoiler: it'd be impossible to ever him get convicted of any crime whatsoever.]] So Poirot decides to [[spoiler: just kill Norton instead.]]
* Abelard Lindsay and the other Shaper diplomats in ''Literature/{{Schismatrix}}'', but also Lindsay's untrained rival Constantine.
* The three Wiggin children, plus Graff, from ''Literature/EndersGame''.
** Achilles from the spin-off ''Shadow'' series manages to hook entire governments, despite being an ''openly'' [[ReliableTraitor reliably traitorous]] AxCrazy PsychoForHire.
* Raistlin Majere in Literature/{{Dragonlance}} is very good at TheChessmaster event-manipulating (he earns his title as 'Master of Past and Present' in more than the time travel sense) but arguably even better at using ''people'', effortlessly twisting his brother's love to his own purposes, maneuvering apprentice-Bastard-in-training Dalamar into both hating and [[HoYay worshiping him]], manipulating guileless kender Tasselhoff into achieving several of his goals (though he [[SpannerInTheWorks screws up others]]) and playing (and almost always winning) mind-games with the heads of the Orders of High Sorcery, Fistandantilus, and ''the Dark Queen Herself''. His crowning achievement, however, is his protracted seduction minus any sex (losing her virginity would cause her to lose her powers) and subsequent cruel abandonment of a holy cleric of Paladine simply so he could use her to [[spoiler: enter the Abyss and kill the Queen. To [[AGodAmI take her place]], naturally.]] In a supreme bit of irony, the only reason he is foiled is because [[spoiler:he's ''not'' a heartless bastard.]]
** Raistlin's half-sister, Kitiara Uth Matar, also qualifies. Tanis Half-Elven was putty in her hands. She successfully seduced Sturm Brightblade, effectively getting a paragon of HonorBeforeReason to betray his best friend. She easily manipulated her rival in love and war, Laurana, into getting herself captured. She tricked her lover Dalamar into letting her get close enough to stab him. [[spoiler:Though she muffed the attack and failed to kill him.]] And she even got the best of Raistlin a couple of times.
* In the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms series ''Literature/WarOfTheSpiderQueen'', [[spoiler:Danifae Yauntyrr]] starts as a lowly slave after her clan was wipped out in one of the common political feuds and she was captured alive as a trophy, to serve as a [[LesYay personal slave]] to a spoiled princess. Even though any other member of her group could kill her at any time without requiring a reason, she defies and antagonizes about everyone else, makes her former mistress her personal bitch, has her LoveInterest shred to bloody pieces by [[PsychoForHire Jaggred]], makes a high priestess to end up paralyzed with self-doubt, and gets the half-demon Jeggred to defy his aunt and follow her orders instead (as she continually proves to be much more ruthless and manipulative, and thus being worthy of his loyalty). [[spoiler:And when it comes for the reincarnated godess to chose her new champion, she spits everyone in the face by being chosen over priestesses who had served her all their lives and sacrificed everything to gain her favor.]]
* Lord Havelock Vetinari from the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series manipulates everybody, heroes and villains alike. Whether or not he himself is a villain is [[NobleDemon a difficult question to answer.]]
* Leland Gaunt from Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/NeedfulThings''. He's similar to Iago, but on a large scale; he takes the conflicts among people and turns them into murderous feuds. With "pranks".
** He even makes sure his customers only play pranks on people they don't know well enough to realize that the prank will play on a flaw or insecurity, but know enough about to be able to rationalize the prank to themselves by denigrating the person. And then he makes his final bit of money by selling guns...
* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' is positively awash with this types, given the series somewhat political bent, especially in the latest novels.
** One good example of the cold and ambitious Manipulative Bastard would be Solarian Vice-Admiral Luis Rozsak, who is also TheChessmaster, and has absolutely no qualms about bending almost everybody to do his bidding. Surprisingly he isn't a villain, at least technically: he's a rather personable guy, and his goals are mostly noble, so he's actually more of a WellIntentionedExtremist.
** The same series also subverts this trope with Havenite secret agent Victor Cachat, who fits the same analytical type to a T, but it is only ONE part of his otherwise genuinely kind and meek personality, and manifests itself only when [[{{Determinator}} he firmly believes in its necessity]].
* Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. As well as being TheChessmaster and a card-carrying MagnificentBastard, he emotionally manipulates those around him callously and shamelessly, starting with UnluckyChildhoodFriend Lysa Tully. ''And'' he's seemingly training [[spoiler: Lysa's niece, Sansa Stark]] to follow his steps.
** Actually, [[spoiler: Sansa]] had inklings of this from the beginning. She's said to be good at putting up a false front and lying to others right to their faces, so while she's caught more than a few times ([[spoiler: Sandor and Cersei]] tell her "learn to lie better, kiddo"), Littlefinger just has to pass his best manipulation techniques onto her...
* Cassie from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. Many, many times throughout the series, she uses her innate understanding of people for the good of the team, if not necessarily for the good of herself, or the person. Her main victim of her manipulations was Visser Three (mainly because the Visser was an evil ego-driven son of a bitch). She also (reluctantly) used her understanding of people to [[spoiler: trap a traitor of the group in the body of a rat]]. BewareTheNiceOnes, indeed.
** She and [[TheLancer Marco]] tend to share this role, with Cassie being the "play on what you love" type, and Marco being the borderline SmugSnake, "irritate, annoy, threaten, and offer you the world" type. A villainous example would be Yeerk TortureTechnician and utter psycho, Taylor.
** David, [[spoiler:the aforementioned 'Ani-Traitor']], also falls into Manipulative Bastard territory, coming closer to wiping out the Animorphs than the entirety of the Yeerk Empire in his trilogy. He goads Jake into fighting a battle he cannot win, manipulates Ax's ignorance of alarm clocks and Rachel's opinion of him as a robber to lure Rachel into another trap, and turned the entire Berenson family into puppets by pretending to be recently-hospitalized cousin Saddler. His return in #48 goes even further, working the TheReasonYouSuckSpeech overtime in his attempt to break Rachel's will to fight.
** The Drode.
** But most of all, Jake, who becomes more and more manipulative as the series progresses.
* Gentleman in ''Literature/{{Fingersmith}}'' by Sarah Waters. He has exceptional insight and sometimes understands a person's mind better than they themselves do, but only uses the knowledge to exploit them, for profit and for fun.
** Also [[spoiler: Mrs Sucksby. She raises Sue as a daughter, keeping her close and innocent (and making Sue love her like a mother), but the whole time planning to her being able to put Sue [[BedlamHouse away]] and reclaim Maud, her biological daughter.]]
* 'Sticky Eye' Kawakami in ''Literature/CloudOfSparrows''. [[spoiler:He raises Heiko from a village of ''eta'', outcasts who perform disgusting but necessary work such as butchers and tanners, as the most beautiful geisha in Edo, and assigns her as a spy and assassin attached to Genji. Genji quickly cops to the fact that she's an assassin, but it turns out Kawakami had counted on this so he could reveal her background to Genji at the right moment. This sends Genji into a well-concealed HeroicBSOD, which culminates in him sending Heiko to America and massacring her entire village to prevent anyone else finding out.]]
* Sol in ''Literature/WarriorCats''. His voice even seems to have the power to influence other cats' minds.
** And Hawkfrost.
* In Nick Kyme's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} novel ''[[Literature/{{Salamanders}} Salamander]]'', Iagon reveals his TrueColors when he manipulates Tsu'gan into not reporting his [[DividedWeFall ploys]]. [[spoiler:Followed up by his reflection that he has to do something about the Apothecary who knows, and later by his murdering a helpless servant.]]
* If they have a pulse and have set foot on the planet Arrakis (Or, as it's also known, ''Literature/{{Dune}}''), then they're probably magnificent bastards. Paul manipulates the Fremen to make them both into an army to win back the planet AND avert a jihad he sees in the future. Jessica does to (again to the Fremen) in order to survive. Baron Harkonnen does it to eventually put a Harkonnen on the Imperial throne (although in his case he never seriously considers doing it for himself. He's in it for the legacy). The Emperor himself kills off someone described repeatedly as looking like the Emperor himself (Duke Leto Atreides) because he feels threatened by him. The only people in the book who aren't magnificent bastards (or just bastards) is Gurney Hallack or dead (like Duncan Idaho. Don't worry, he gets both better and a magnificent bastard).
** Leto II. There's a reason he's becomes the God Emperor. He manages to manipulate ''every single human being that crosses his path'', up to and including [[spoiler: his grandmother, his aunt and his own father]], all of which should have known better. Then he ends up ruling the entire known universe for 3500 years with an iron fist. To be fair, he really didn't [[spoiler: manipulate his father Paul. It was more like winning an argument and Paul realizing Leto was right, much to his dismay.]]
* [[Literature/AmericanGods Mr. Wednesday.]] Dear god, Wednesday.
* Nigel Bishop, from the Literature/DreamPark novel ''The California Voodoo Game'', wrote the book on Manipulative Bastardry (''The Art of Gaming''). An outstanding example of this trope, not least because Bishop unabashedly convinces the Gaming world he's a ''Magnificent'' Bastard, and is universally admired for it; only the reader knows the extent of his crimes, or the tone of his [[SmugSnake internal monologue]], that show he's too much of a Bastard to rightly qualify as Magnificent.
* Julian from ''Literature/TheForbiddenGame''.
* Considering [[GambitPileup the sheer number]] of {{chessmaster}}s, {{Magnificent Bastard}}s, and [[SmugSnake people aspiring to those titles]] in ''Literature/CodexAlera'', several characters qualify. But probably the clearest bit of emotional manipulation comes from an unexpected quarter: [[spoiler:Ehren]]. He plays on [[spoiler:Attis]]'s pride and self-confidence to get him to act as bait for TheDragon and the BigBad, knowing that he would see it more as a chance to destroy the enemy leaders than ''putting himself in their way''. As a result, [[spoiler:Attis gets, in his words, "filleted," Invidia gets [[KillItWithFire severely inconvenienced]], and Tavi no longer has to worry about competition for the throne.]]
* Also from Creator/JimButcher, Martin, in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Nicknamed "[[TheNondescript Mr. Bland]]" when Harry meets him, the guy is a half-vampire working for an anti-vampire organization called the Fellowship of St. Giles who seems to have absolutely no emotions. He says it's necessary for his work, where emotions create attachment and he has to do very bad things in order to defeat the Red Court vampires. [[spoiler:He ain't kidding. In the end, turns out not only is he a mole for the Red Court, but he is actually against THEM as well. He's been feeding them entirely accurate information, including that which has led to hundreds of deaths of humans, to put them into a position of enough power where they would initiate an incredibly dangerous magical ritual just for the sake of vengeance. Then he manipulated Harry into being forced to kill Susan-- his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child (as well as Martin's partner for about a decade)-- in a way that would turn the ritual against the Reds, wiping out ''all the Red Court vampires in the world.'']] [[GambitRoulette Yikes.]]
** Nicodemus also likes to do this sort of thing. Highlights include tossing an ArtifactOfDoom at a toddler in order to force Harry to pick it up ([[spoiler:implanting a copy of a FallenAngel's personality in his head in the process]]) and displaying a horribly-tortured little girl to try to provoke Harry into [[spoiler:using the Sword of Faith to break a promise]]. (The latter of which fails; Harry immediately realizes what Nick's trying to do, and he's made that mistake before and does ''not'' wish to repeat it)
** Harry's developed this as well. Witness using Lara Raith as a catspaw to destroy Lord Raith while making her think that he is her catspaw.
* [[EvilSorcerer Azrael de Gray]] from Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/WarOfTheDreaming'' manages to get out of the TailorMadePrison he was locked in by, among other things, persuading his great-grand descendant to jump off the [[FlatWorld edge]] of the world.
* Any descendant of Kushiel in ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' can become a Manipulative Bastard. They can actually "see" what it will take to get people to act in a specific manner. Melisande embraces being a Manipulative Bastard and manipulates people [[ForTheEvulz just because she can.]] Her son Imriel tries to avoid being a Manipulative Bastard but still has that ability for when he needs to use it.
* Many Literature/SherlockHolmes villains qualify and so does Sherlock Holmes himself. In more than a couple occasions he has gone as far as to emotionally manipulate, not just the villains but innocent bystanders and Watson as well, to achieve his goals. Watson notes that this amuses him greatly.
* Anna from Ann M. Martin's ''Slam Book''. She [[spoiler:admittedly accidentally drives an unpopular girl to suicide. She feels bad briefly -- but her parents assure her that oh, it's mostly because that girl was unadjusted in the first place! Right...]]
* Rimmer Dal, BigBad of Creator/TerryBrooks's Literature/TheHeritageOfShannara series. He so thoroughly destroys [[TheHero Par's]] sense of self and right and wrong, that by the end the poor kid is borderline insane, and barely able to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Worst of all, this is exactly the result he was after, as a Par whose will is utterly shattered won't be able to prevent Dal's GrandTheftMe from going into effect. He turns this kid into TheWoobie purely for his own benefit, and the kicker? It takes the Sword of Shannara (an artifact designed to expose the truth) to pierce through all the lies he's told. That almost isn't enough, because he manages to talk Par into believing he can't use it. Manipulative Bastard and ConsummateLiar indeed.
* Anasûrimbor Kellhus of ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'', like all members of his secret monastic order, is a [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] {{Ubermensch}} who is AwesomeByAnalysis and has HyperAwareness, which because he is [[TheUnfettered unfettered]] allows him to become a ConsummateLiar. He eventually manipulates [[spoiler:a civilization into viewing him as a GodEmperor]]. His father Anasûrimbor Moënghus was only slightly less successful.
* In Creator/ChinaMieville's novel ''Literature/TheScar'', [[spoiler: Uther Doul]] is either this or MagnificentBastard, depending on your interpretation. He knows that the Lovers' plan will [[spoiler: get them all killed]] (if you believe that; arguably, that part could have been a lie too), but he doesn't want to be shown doing anything himself to oppose the Lovers, so he manipulates [[spoiler: Bellis]] by giving just enough information to start a [[spoiler: rebellion of Armada's citizens, even indulging her growing infatuation with him.]] Many readers fell for it hook, line, and sinker, thinking he'd become an AntiVillain in time and end up with [[spoiler: Bellis]], and oh how wrong they were. [[spoiler: The revelation that he never felt anything for Bellis, and was only using her, felt pretty harsh.]]
* Irial from ''Literature/WickedLovely'' is very good at this.
* Mayor Prentiss from Patrick Ness's Literature/ChaosWalking series. Throughout ''The Ask and the Answer'', he plays head games with Todd, Viola, and his own son [[spoiler: who he ends up shooting]]. He could also be considered a MagnificentBastard as he is extremely confident and independent. Starts a BigBadassBattleSequence at the beginning of ''Monsters of Men''. In ''The Knife of Never Letting Go'', drags Aaron along as a ChurchMilitant while trying to chase Todd down.
* Voldemort from ''Literature/HarryPotter''. Especially when he was younger, and charmed everyone around him into to thinking he was the hero. Everything he says is a form of emotional manipulation (guilt-tripping, flattery, fear-mongering, put-downs to lower self-esteem), it's just that he doesn't use his charm to its full extent as an adult, preferring to manipulate using negative reinforcement instead. As is repeatedly stated in the series: "Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great."
** Dumbledore. He plays people from ''beyond the grave'', using his reputation as a kind, slightly CloudCuckoolander BigGood to get everyone to do exactly what he wants, playing on Voldemort's vanity and shortsightedness, Snape's love for [[spoiler: Lily]] and Harry's chronic heroism. Also, what he did with [[spoiler: Draco. He knew the kid was trying to kill him, and he knew he wouldn't be doing it if Voldemort hadn't put him up to it. Yet he still refused to confront him until ThePlan he'd dragged Snape into came to fruition. When he offered to hide Draco and his family, it was already too late for him to accept.]]
* [[TheDarkChick Diana Ladris]] from ''Literature/{{Gone}}''. With the exception of Drake and sometimes [[BigBad Caine]], she gets people to do whatever she wants them to just by playing off of what they want, [[DeadpanSnarker and she's not even pleasant about it.]]
* Tarantyev and his buddy in ''Literature/{{Oblomov}}''.
* Xanatos from ''Literature/JediApprentice'' and his bastard son Granta Omega from ''JediQuest'' are both very effective Manipulative Bastards, specialising in screwing with their opponents' minds during combat. Xanatos is especially brutal, giving Obi-Wan a NotSoDifferent[=/=]TheReasonYouSuckSpeech after the former is forced to kill fellow student [[RivalTurnedEvil Bruck]], that nearly shatters the boy's self-confidence.
* Keifer Porter of ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' was [[DumbBlonde not intelligent]], but he ''was'' clever and manipulative and very, ''very'' beautiful. He [[LysistrataGambit withheld sex]] and threw tantrums and at times was very sweet to the elder princesses to the point where they supported him [[WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou when he really hurt one of their younger sisters]], [[spoiler: and all along he did as his much more intelligent family wanted]].
* In Donald Kingsbury's ''Literature/CourtshipRite'', most Getans consider the whole Kaiel clan to be this—and, indeed, they seem to be actively trying to breed for the trait, in several ways. Within the Kaiel, Prime Predictor Aesoe is a prime example, ordering the three protagonist brothers to marry Oelita, the Gentle Heretic (against the wishes of all parties) so the Kaiel will gain influence with her followers.
* ''Literature/LegacyOfTheDragokin'': All the drama in Drewghaven was [[spoiler:a distraction planned by Man in Shadow to get Daniar out of her castle.]] He led the rioters to the [[SealedEvilInACan Kthonian knights' can]] and sent the distress signal letter to Brittania castle so Daniar would rush to her sister's aid. [[spoiler: Once she was gone he could dig up Erowin's corpse without interference or observation.]]
* Deshamai in ''Literature/TheQuestOfTheUnaligned'' initially comes off as this. As quite possibly the most powerful [[MakingASplash sha]][[CharmPerson mai]] in the world, he can persuade anyone to do what he wants. Confirmed when he accuses Laeshana of being a reckless idiot (though to be fair, [[ElementalRivalry shamais think all aeshes are reckless idiots]]), and mindbends Prince Alaric into going off on his own.
** [[spoiler: Later subverted when it is made clear that Deshamai really did believe that what he did was the best thing for Caederan, and still more so when he gives a really [[Awesome/TheQuestOfTheUnaligned awesome]] speech to the court and talks them into letting Alaric and Laeshana marry.]]
* Hilde from [[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Last Dragon Chronicles]]. [[spoiler:This explains Gwilanna...]]
* Macon Ravenwood from ''[[Literature/BeautifulCreatures The Caster Chronicles]]''.
* From the ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'' series, Jeanine Matthews. Also, Evelyn Johnson[[spoiler:-Eaton. ''She'' gets better though]].
