History Quotes / ManipulativeBastard

-->-- '''Archie''', ''Theatre/ThirteenTheMusical'', [[IWantSong "Get Me What I Need"]]

->'''Luz:''' Come on, we can't stop now! We're getting everything we could've hoped for!\\
'''Lilith:''' That's just it. Look. Most of this puzzle has been solved already. And Philip... The confidence, the compliments, he says ''everything'' you wanna hear. It feels... uncomfortably familiar.\\
'''Luz:''' Some of this is pretty weird, but... It's the Boiling Isles! Everything's a little weird, right? Hey, why don't you keep working on this, and I'll go talk to Philip.\\
''(Luz walks over to Philip, who is writing in his journal)''\\
'''Luz:''' ''(reading over his shoulder)'' "[[WrittenByTheWinners I singlehandedly defeated the beast behind the door]]. Tragically I could ''not'' save my companions...?" ''(Philip closes the journal and stands up)'' Philip... why did you bring us here?\\
'''Lilith:''' Ah! I did it! I solved the puzzle!\\
'''Philip:''' [[WhamLine I needed a sacrifice]].\\
[...]\\
'''Luz:''' You ''tricked'' us!\\
'''Philip:''' It was-\\
'''Luz:''' Destiny?! Balderdash.\\
'''Philip:''' ''(chuckles)'' I was going to say "inevitable". You two were easier to trick than Blue Fang. Hopefully you and "Aunt Dertrude" can last longer.
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', "Elsewhere And Elsewhen"

->''"This is what I ''do''. I plant stories in ground, watch grow into truth. Keep Gelfling looking over shoulder, and they won't ever see what's right in front of them."''
-->-- '''The Chamberlain''', ''Series/TheDarkCrystalAgeOfResistance''

->Well, there was magic. And [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Mordru]] had plenty of that. Rao knows, he could do the job, if he wanted to. If she could persuade him. And, running her hands over her body, she guessed that she had just the means to persuade him. It might be fun, too.

->When [[AssholeVictim Rudolf]] had died, back in Spain, [[TheSociopath Gretel]] had used her prescience like a blunt instrument. But now she wielded it like one of Doctor von Westarp's scalpels. Heike's suicide had been ''engineered'': the culmination of subtle, devious psychological manipulations that neatly excised the will to live from Heike's heart and mind.

->[[HumanoidAbomination Mr. Gaunt]] thought of himself as an electrician of the human soul.\\

''All at once.''

->''Show me how to lie\\

A mob jumps to their feet''

->''So you can help me out and we can go through very well\\

It's up to you, you've got a choice, you've got incentive to succeed''

->This will of course turn out to be all Merlin’s fault, and I’d expect nothing less.

->''"The [[DecadentCourt Eighteenth-Century aristocracy]] seduced, betrayed, and corrupted itself until its world self-destructed into revolution. I didn't have to destroy you, Cornel. I just turned all of you into Eighteenth-Century aristocrats and let you do it yourselves."''
-->-- '''Madame''', ''[[Literature/TerraIgnota Seven Surrenders]]''

->When [[AssholeVictim Rudolf]] had died, back in Spain, [[TheSociopath Gretel]] had used her prescience like a blunt instrument. But now she wielded it like one of Doctor von Westarp's scalpels. Heike's suicide had been ''engineered'': the culmination of subtle, devious psychological manipulations that neatly excised the will to live from Heike's heart and mind.
-->-- ''Literature/BitterSeeds''

'''Azula:''' [[KickTheSonOfABitch Don't flatter yourself]]. [[PretenderDiss You were never even a player]].

->''"Darkseid lives for manipulation. He has hypnotists, scientists and sadists whose only functions are to break your spirit. Darkseid is evil."''
-->-- '''Superman''' on '''Darkseid''', ''WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanApocalypse''

->"Let's say that some nutcase suddenly steps in here and ventilates us all with a Tommy gun. No, I'm just saying.\\

'Hey, there's still one left. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Yourself]].'"
-->-- ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}} 1931 -- Another Junk Railroad''

->''"I'm really getting into this game. I can play these losers like a violin."''
-->-- '''Heather''', ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''

->'''Owen:''' Why don't you like Al? He's great!\\
'''Noah:''' I don't trust the guy! He's like an eel, dipped in grease, swimming in motor oil.\\
'''Owen:''' Dirty?\\
'''Noah:''' ''Slippery.'' Think about it. [[SpearCounterpart He's like Heather]], only with [[TheCharmer social skills]].
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaWorldTour''

'''[[spoiler:Bellwether]]''': Fear always works, and I'll dart every predator in Zootopia, to keep it that way.

->''"Let's say that some nutcase suddenly steps in here and ventilates us all with a Tommy gun. No, I'm just saying.\\

'Hey, there's still one left. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Yourself]].'"''

-->-- '''Darth Plagueis''' [[EvilMentor to the future]] [[MagnificentBastard Darth Sidious]], ''Franchise/StarWars: Literature/DarthPlagueis''

->Show me how to lie\\

A mob jumps to their feet

->So you can help me out and we can go through very well\\

It's up to you, you've got a choice, you've got incentive to succeed

->''"Flip [[MouthOfSauron the Messenger]]. He bubbles and boils and blasphemes. You had a moment, the two of you, eh sweetling? [[SarcasmMode How lovely]]. He has the advantage over us. His limitations more closely resemble yours. [[AffablyEvil Comforting, like a pleasantly warmed poison poured into the ear]]. He let you in. Do you think that is all he will do? Do you think he has let a little thing like death stop him from his original mission? He still burns with embarrassment over that. You understand. We do not. We cannot blush. [[PetTheDog He let you in]]. Don't [[UnwittingPawn you]] [[{{Catchphrase}} let him in]]."''

->Well, there was magic. And [[ComicBook/{{LegionOfSuper-Heroes}} Mordru]] had plenty of that. Rao knows, he could do the job, if he wanted to. If she could persuade him. And, running her hands over her body, she guessed that she had just the means to persuade him. It might be fun, too.

->That is true. If the crime lab investigates, they'll know they're tears. It's impossible to know whose tears they are. But, '''that would be enough'''. ''Maybe it was suicide'', ''Maybe it was a farce'', ''Maybe it'll be a meaningless mystery''. With even the slightest bit of gossip, the value in trying to solve it would drop off. '''Your friend's final wish will amount to nothing'''. '''This isn't simple logic. [[LampshadeHanging It's the manipulation of a demon who erodes people's souls]]. [[BadassBoast The ability to destroy the crux of your existence is the only ability I need]]'''.
-->--'''Ranpo Edogawa''', ''Manga/BungoStrayDogs'', to Mushitarou Oguri

->'''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}:''' How could you? I... trusted you!\\
'''Comicbook/LexLuthor:''' Like a father. I know - I worked on that. I had to make sure we bonded.

->Well, there was magic. And [[ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}} Mordru]] had plenty of that. Rao knows, he could do the job, if he wanted to. If she could persuade him. And, running her hands over her body, she guessed that she had just the means to persuade him. It might be fun, too.

->'''ComicBook/CarolDanvers:''' Just tell me one thing?\\
'''ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}:''' I'll try.\\
'''Carol:''' You and [[ComicBook/ProfessorX Xavier]]. Both leaders. And you've both turned out to be manipulative bastards, when you needed to. Why? Why is that?\\
'''Cyclops:''' It comes with the territory.

->'''Scott:''' I really need to find a career that allows me to play with people's minds, souls, and ethical values or else I'm never going to be a happy and fulfilled person.\\
'''Warren:''' Have you considered law?\\
'''Scott:''' Summers, Happily, Cheatum, and Howe? I'll have to consider changing my major.

->''"She spied on our lives through the little doll's eyes, and saw that we weren't happy. So she lured us away with treasures and treats and games to play.. Gave all that we asked, yet we still wanted more. So we let her sew the buttons. She said she loved us, but she locked us here and ate up our lives."''
-->--'''The Ghost Children''' on '''the Other Mother''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}''

->'''Dawn Bellwether''': Gosh, think of the headline: "Hero cop killed by savage fox!"\\

'''Bellwether''': Yeah. Pretty much.\\

'''Bellwether''': Fear always works, and I'll dart every predator in Zootopia, to keep it that way.
-->--''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}''

-->--'''Superman''' on '''Darkseid''', ''WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanApocalypse''

->'''Emily Monroe Norton Kane''': Really Charles, people will think-\\
'''Charles Foster Kane''': -what I tell them to think.
-->--''Film/CitizenKane''

-->--'''Stewart Menzies''', ''Film/TheImitationGame''

->''"So, I have this friend who is a new student this year. And I convinced her that it would be fun to mess up Regina George's life. So I had her pretend to be friends with Regina, and then she would come to my house after and we would just laugh about all the dumb stuff Regina said. And we gave these candy bar things that would make her gain weight, and then we turned her best friends against her. And then... Oh yeah, Cady - you know my friend Cady? She made out with her boyfriend, and we convinced him to break up with her. Oh, God, and we gave her foot cream instead of face wash."''
-->--'''Janis Ian''', ''Film/MeanGirls''

-->--'''Dutch''' to '''Dillon''', ''Film/{{Predator}}''

-->--'''Shilo Wallace''' to '''Rotti Largo''', ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera''

->''"Power don't come from a badge or a gun. Power comes from lying. Lying big, and gettin' the whole damn world to play along with you. Once you got everybody agreeing with what they know in their hearts ain't true, you've got 'em by the balls."''
-->--'''Senator Ethan Roark''', ''Film/SinCity''

->'''Alonzo Harris:''' [after [[spoiler: killing Roger]]] Use your ears and hear me, Jake. Sometimes we gotta take this shit all the way. Now, nobody will ever ask you to pull the trigger if you don't want to.\\
'''Alonzo Harris:''' [to Mark] Mark, where are you transferring to?\\

'''Jake:''' [[OhCrap You've been planning this all day?]]\\
'''Alonzo Harris:''' [[TheChessmaster I've been planning this all week, son.]] You talk that crazy shit, I'll make sure that blood gets to the lab. You wanna walk your baby nuts around the block, you won't make it to the corner, but if you're cool, if you're cool... then you're a hero. You're a virgin shooter above suspicion.
-->--''Film/TrainingDay''

-->--'''{{Dracula}}''', ''Film/VanHelsing''

->Let's say that some nutcase suddenly steps in here and ventilates us all with a Tommy gun. No, I'm just saying.\\\

And let's say - just saying, again - that there's someone standing behind the guy. The sicko wants to kill everyone in this shop, but he never, ''ever'' turns the gun on the guy behind himself. But it's not like the guy behind him's working with him or anything. The second guy's just there from the start. Acting like he's completely safe and enjoying the show, even though he shouldn't actually be safe.\\

"Hey, there's still one left. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Yourself.]]"
-->-- ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}! 1931 - Another Junk Railroad''

In a small town like Castle Rock, all the fuse-boxes were lined up neatly side by side. What you had to do was open the boxes... and then start cross-wiring. You hot-wired a [[{{Jerkass}} Wilma Jerzyck]] to a [[TheWoobie Nettle Cobb]] by using wires from two other fuse-boxes-those of a young fellow like Brian Rusk and a drunk fellow like Hugh Priest, let us say. You hot-wired other people in the same way, a [[ParanoiaGambit Buster Keeton to a Norris Ridgewick]], a [[{{Gayngst}} Frank Jewett to a George Nelson]], a Sally Ratcliffe to a Lester Pratt.\\
At some point you tested one of your fabulous wiring jobs just to make sure everything was working correctly-as he had done today-and then you laid low and sent a charge through the circuits every once in awhile to keep things interesting. To keep things hot. But mostly you just laid low until everything was done... and then you turned on the juice.\\

->Tell me what you regard as your greatest strength, so I will know how best to undermine you; tell me of your greatest fear, so I will know which I must force you to face; tell me what you cherish most, so I will know what to take from you; and tell me what you crave, so that I might deny you.

->The ability to manipulate his enemies was one of Thrawn's greatest talents.

->The Eighteenth-Century aristocracy seduced, betrayed, and corrupted itself until its world self-destructed into revolution. I didn't have to destroy you, Cornel. I just turned all of you into Eighteenth-Century aristocrats and let you do it yourselves.

->When [[AssholeVictim Rudolf]] had died, back in Spain, [[TheSociopath Gretel]] had used her prescience like a blunt instrument. But now she wielded it like one of Doctor von Westarp's scalpels. Heike's suicide had been ''engineered:'' the culmination of subtle, devious psychological manipulations that neatly excised the will to live from Heike's heart and mind.
-->--''Literature/BitterSeeds''

->Crash course in manipulation: you don't actually tell the person what you want them to do. You help them realize they want to do it, so it can't be traced back to you.

->Everybody plays each other. That's all anybody ever does. We play parts.

->[[LetNoCrisisGoToWaste Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder.]] Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb, but they refuse. They cling to the realm, or the gods, or love. [[VirtueIsWeakness Illusions.]] [[SocialClimber Only the ladder is real.]] [[TheUnfettered The climb is all there is.]]

->The woman you love is trapped in some horrible future where nearly everyone is dead. You can ''change'' that. She needs you, Peter. We ''all'' need you... to open that door.

->'''Rodney Foreman:''' My son says you're a ManipulativeBastard.\\

'''Zachariah:''' We didn't "lie". We just [[DistinctionWithoutADifference avoided certain truths to manipulate you.]]

->''"This is what I'' do''. I plant stories in ground, watch grow into truth. Keep Gelfling looking over shoulder, and they won't ever see what's right in front of them."''

->I watch you. I see the hatred in your eyes, well-hidden behind courtly graces.\\

For I am [[GodOfEvil Tzeentch]] and you are my puppet who dances to my tune.

->My manipulatin' hasn't even ''begun!''

->For every task, there's a perfect tool.

->I did it! It all went according to plan! I got the sun and moon to fight. I got you to go into space... it was all according to my perfect little plan! Now I can cause all the mischief I want! Haha! See you later!

->Flip [[MouthOfSauron the Messenger]]. He bubbles and boils and blasphemes. You had a moment, the two of you, eh sweetling? [[SarcasmMode How lovely]]. He has the advantage over us. His limitations more closely resemble yours. [[AffablyEvil Comforting, like a pleasantly warmed poison poured into the ear]]. He let you in. Do you think that is all he will do? Do you think he has let a little thing like death stop him from his original mission? He still burns with embarrassment over that. You understand. We do not. We cannot blush. [[PetTheDog He let you in]]. Don't [[UnwittingPawn you]] [[{{Catchphrase}} let him in]].

->Even if the count dies, the Chaos Heart won't disappear if I continue to control it! [[TheStarscream But I needed the power of the Pure Hearts to beat him... I couldn't do that on my own]]. So I had you all do the sweaty labour for me. And you even used your Pure Hearts to defeat Count Bleck! [[LaughablyEvil If they make greeting cards to thank people for helping with evil plans]], [[NiceJobBreakingItHero I owe you one.]]

->This is a stage of my own creation! We didn't have enough actors, so the playwright had to take on a role herself, but that only adds to the excitement! Yes, this is all, all, ''aaaaaaaall'' my masterpiece! You're just ignorant puppets, dancing to my tune! From the first shot to the last! Blind to whose finger is sitting on the trigger!

'''Azula:''' Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player.

->Twists and turns are my master plan. You'll find the elements back where you began.

'''Bedrager:''' What if you could troll the entire world? Somebody who could rise to political power through nothing more that pushing people's a-buttons and getting them all riled up, become the leader of... a Scandinavian country, perhaps, get them to listen to you when, actually... (''now speaking with an American accent'') [[WhamLine you're not even fucking Danish.]]\\

'''Bedrager:''' Because its FREAKING HILARIOUS!

->I'm really getting into this game. I can play these losers like a violin.

->Hence the saying: if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

'''Azula:''' Don't flatter yourself. [[PretenderDiss You were never even a player.]]

'''Bedrager:''' Use that country to create a machine that relies on the shittiness of people to fuck over other people and watch the whole world go completely batshit... (''speaking with a [[FakeNationality Danish]] accent'') Attention all a-Troll Trace workers, please report to assembly hall one for a big announcement. (''reverting back to his American accent'') Completely fool everyone and keep your real intentions completely anonymous.\\

'''Bedrager:''' [[ForTheEvulz Because its FREAKING HILARIOUS!]]

-->-- '''Heather''', ''WesternAnimation/{{TotalDrama}}''

->When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.
-->--'''Thomas Sowell'''