History SmugSnake / Literature

* [[LizardFolk Cree Bega]], TheDragon in ''TheVoyageOfTheJerleShannara'' is slipperily obsequious and has a penchant for ColdBloodedTorture and murder, BreakTheCutie, and [[KickTheDog Kicking]] TheWoobie. He's also ungodly arrogant, seeing all of the [[{{Snaketalk}} Little Peoplesss]] as [[FantasticRacism inferior beings]] worthy only of disdain. Even his undeniable bravery in combat and willingness to [[TheStarscream stand up]] to [[BadBoss The Isle Witch]] stems from this arrogance, and it ultimately gets him killed when one of {{the Woobie}}s [[TheDogBitesBack Bites Back]]. Utterly unlikeable, and truly disgusting. Stenmin, the EvilChancellor from ''[[Literature/TheSwordOfShannaraTrilogy The Sword Of Shannara]]'' is a more typical example, combining sliminess, DirtyCoward, and TheMole into one unloveable package.

* Gustav Fiers, aka The Gentleman from the {{Spider-Man}} novelisations, the ''Literature/SinisterSixTrilogy''. He certainly ''thinks'' he's a MagnificentBastard, and looks and acts the part, being an excellent ManipulativeBastard and {{Chessmaster}}, and ManOfWealthAndTaste who successfully manipulates the whole of the Sinister Six, has evaded law enforcement for years, and refers to himself as an "investor in chaos". Yet he fails to earn the audience's respect due to his contemptuous attitude and his unpleasant personality, utter heinousness (only his genuine affection for his equally monstrous brother, [[TerroristWithoutACause Karl]], keeps him from being a total monster), and underestimation of Spider-Man, The Chameleon, and Dr. Octopus put him squarely in this trope.

* Stopwatch of the WhateleyUniverse. Brilliant planner, head of The Masterminds, has managed to hide his best power from the SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy powers testing guys... and gets pwned by Phase in "Ayla and the Networks". He ends up having to beg Ayla for help, and loses control of his own team of supervillains.

* TheMillenniumTrilogy has loads of people who fit this, though each book has a standout:

* Since the Yamiko of ''SailorNothing'' are the personification of their host's id, it's easier to list the ones that don't fall into Smug Snake, namely GenreSavvy Argon, [[PragmaticVillainy Pragmatic Villain]] Cobalt, and Ohta, Cobalt's right-hand man. Dark General Radon is a particularly vile example of {{Smug Snake}}ery, being an arrogant KnightTemplar and EvilMentor before his FaceHeelTurn; afterwards he just gets worse.

** Ironically, all three of these characters are seen actually morphing snakes. Not too subtle, K.A.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' has a lot of these, but bonus points go to Quintus "Snakeboy" Cassius, a Denarian who is not only a clear-cut example of those trope, but a ''[[ScaledUp literal]]'' example as well.

* Dr Bill Tanner from [[AlexRider Snakehead]] is a disgusting scumbag who tries [[spoiler:to sell Alex's organs on the black market]]. He's so smug he brags about how Alex can't escape, which helps him break out. He's so unlikable when [[spoiler: he kills himself, the audience feels no sympathy.]]

* There's several in ''Literature/CodexAlera'', due to a high density of {{Chessmaster}}s and {{Magnificent Bastard}}s. Particularly notable ones include the EvilSorcerer Sarl, who tried to [[spoiler:ally with a HordeOfAlienLocusts to bring down his superior]]; Senators Arnos, an ObstructiveBureaucrat who ordered a village slaughtered so he had an excuse to dismiss an honest officer who would balk at it; and Kalarus Brencis Minorus, who has a WellDoneSonGuy complex to a guy who [[KickTheDog specifically targets orphanages when he attacks a city]].
* Ray Scutter of ''Literature/BlindLake''.

* Zil Sperry from ''Literature/{{Gone}}'', a [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] expy whose plans are mostly either nuisances, with their only major negative effects being unintentional, or things he's tricked into doing by [[BigBad Caine]], yet he thinks he's leading a major, important movement. [[spoiler: When he's killed by Dekka in book 3, [[TheScrappy nobody was upset.]]]]

* Queen Cersei Lannister in ''ASongOfIceAndFire''. Overestimation of her own cleverness is one of her main character traits. There's a prophecy that everything that could possibly go wrong in her life will, so her ruthless methods are understandable, yet her incompetent attempts at manipulation and power-grabbing alienate almost every one of her allies and [[SelfFulfillingProphecy could well lead her to the terrible fate predicted in the prophecy]].

* Depending on who you ask, Senna of {{Everworld}} is either one of these or a MagnificentBastard. Her mother is a straight example.

* [[SinisterMinister Primate Annias]] in TheElenium definitely qualifies. One of the most spectacular examples of this was an attempt to frame the protagonist's fellow knights for a blasphemous massacre. Unfortunately for the plan, the Pandion Knights found out about the impending massacre first and warned the prospective victims, even turning the massacre back on the would be murderers. And unfortunately for Annias, he was relying on the massacre to take place and giving fake evidence of the Pandions' involvement before the Pandions could respond to the event. This doesn't work well for him, as it becomes very obvious to everyone involved that the crime never took place when the 'murdered' duke comes forward to give evidence of what really happened.

* In the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' novels, Quarath, the EvilChancellor to the leader of the CorruptChurch fits this model. His own ambitions for power and wealth are compared to the epic confrontation between ''actual'' {{Magnificent Bastard}}s Raistlin and Fistandantilus of which Quarath is completely unaware. Ended up [[spoiler: being squashed by a pillar as his temple collapsed]] when his master pisses off the gods that Quarath had stopped believing in by this point.

* Vidal Vordarian from Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/{{Vorkosigan|Saga}}'' series. He wants to run Barrayar, but is effortlessly and ''unintentionally'' defeated in his attempt to do it legitimately by Aral Vorkosigan. So he tries a coup, but fails to capture the true heir or assassinate the Regent. He gets the ruling council to go along, but only at obvious gunpoint. And then he [[spoiler: loses his head to [[MamaBear Vorkosigan's wife]].]] His "greatest" achievement is his implied rape of the dowager Empress, who he marries (again, obviously by force). Smug Snake indeed.

* In TheCaineMutiny, Lt Thomas Keefer, definitely. The attorney Barney Greenwald, to some extent.

* Lieutenant Thomas Keefer in HermanWouk's TheCaineMutiny.

* The emperor of France, UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, in ''WarAndPeace''. The characters take up at least a third of the book talking about, predicting the actions of, or plotting against him. When Prince Andrei and later when Balashov, an emissary of the Russian emperor, finally meet him, they're both struck by how disappointing he is compared to his reputation. [[AnAesop He's purposefully portrayed this way.]]

* Vidal Vordarian from LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/{{Vorkosigan|Saga}}'' series. He wants to run Barrayar, but is effortlessly and ''unintentionally'' defeated in his attempt to do it legitimately by Aral Vorkosigan. So he tries a coup, but fails to capture the true heir or assassinate the Regent. He gets the ruling council to go along, but only at obvious gunpoint. And then he [[spoiler: loses his head to [[MamaBear Vorkosigan's wife]].]] His "greatest" achievement is his implied rape of the dowager Empress, who he marries (again, obviously by force). Smug Snake indeed.

* Frederick Chilton from ''Literature/RedDragon'' and ''TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', who comes across as a bully as head of the Chesapeake State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. In ''Silence'' he makes the key mistake of handing Hannibal Lecter over to people who don't understand how dangerous he can be, which gives Hannibal the opportunity to escape.

* Mr. Collins in ''PrideAndPrejudice'', whilst not exactly a villain, is rather smug and slimy, with a rather vast (and largely unearned) self-regard that makes him believe that Elizabeth Bennet is rejecting his marriage proposal out of some feminine desire to string him along when she's rather explicitly stating that no, it's because she ''doesn't like him''.
* Duke Telrii from ''{{Elantris}}'' is an example of the "thinks he's a MagnificentBastard" type, though he winds up little more than a pawn of the book's real MagnificentBastard, [[VillainProtagonist Hrathen]]. King Iadon from the same book is also an example- he turns out to be a lot smarter than Telrii ([[ObfuscatingStupidity and a lot smarter than he lets on]]), but his vision is simply too narrow to let him accomplish anything of real significance, and his [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain misogyny]] stops him from realizing Sarene is a threat to him until too late.
* ''RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'': Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu are obvious ones, and Cao Cao has shades of it when he's opposing the nominal protagonist, but even Liu Bei has his moments of snake-ness in the eyes of a modern audience. (But that WhatTheHellHero reaction is probably intentional, as the author was suffering from ExecutiveMeddling.)

* Lord Straff Venture of ''{{Mistborn}}'' is a comparatively competent Smug Snake, being a skilled long-range {{Chessmaster}} and the most powerful nobleman in TheEmpire apart from its PhysicalGod leader. At the same time, though, his arrogance, lack of skill in immediate, detailed manipulations, and the numerous petty and vile traits he shows in his interpersonal relationships keep him out of full MagnificentBastard range.

* Two villains from the ForgottenRealms trilogy ''CounselorsAndKings'' stand out. Lord Procopio Septus is a canny and ambitious politician, but he's shortsighted and very proud, which make it possible for him to be OutGambitted comparatively easily if you know what you're doing. [[spoiler: Dhamari Exchelsor]], though he puts on a friendly facade, is a treacherous and venal little man often compared to a weasel or ferret both in terms of appearance and demeanor. He's sneaky, but he's too petty to have a real MagnificentBastard's grasp of the big picture.

* ''InDeath'': Some of the murderers are definitely this. A notable example is Dr. Waverly in ''Conspiracy In Death''. He is so arrogant and has such a God complex that he simply assumes one of his security droids will handle Roarke easily. He clearly doesn't know Roarke at all. He happily gives the names of the people he's been working with to Eve while he's got a hostage. He had been conducting experiments on regenerating human organs, using sidewalk sleepers and poor people as guinea pigs, and the experimentation resulted in their deaths. He flies into a pompous speech about how his serum can be used on any organ, and eventually will be used on bone, muscle and tissue, which will eventually result in perfect human beings. Oh, and he'll get to decide who will be part of the survival of the fittest, and he boasts that the world will be a better place without the dregs that weigh it down. However, when Eve turns the tables on him, he gets scared, and begs for his life. Yep, he thought he was so great and smart...but he wasn't.

* Majority of the villains in ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' (those who aren't are WorthyOpponents that sooner or later befriend the heroes), but the Holy Therns and the First-Born are ''whole races'' of Smug Snakes. They consider themselves [[AGodAmI divine]] and [[FantasticRacism superior]] to everybody else in Barsoom, either because they were descendants to the {{Precursors}} or are closer to the local deity (The First-Born are particularly bad about it due to latter case). In reality, neither race is anymore advanced than the supposedly savage Red Martians (the most civilized people in the planet), and are in fact, extremely dependent on Red slaves for nearly everything to maintain their society. When the main protagonist leads an massive assault against their strongholds, they fall extremely easily.

** Voldemort himself, with an emphasis on the "[[ReptilesAreAbhorrent Snake]]" part of Smug Snake. Voldemort has all the resources a MagnificentBastard could ever want, but nooooooo... his [[GambitRoulette circuitous plans]] fail utterly at basic logic, and while he is clearly trying for MagnificentBastard he comes off as a third-rate DastardlyWhiplash.
*** Justified by the fact that his making so many horcruxes left him decidedly... [[AxeCrazy unstable]]. The young Tom Riddle is shown to have been a much more smooth and successful schemer, largely because he knew how to keep a cool head and didn't yet [[ObviouslyEvil look like a monstrous snake-human hybrid]]. At any rate, whenever anyone talks about any version of Voldemort's genius, they're generally referring to his ''magical'' genius, which is unquestionable, rather than his ''tactical'' genius, which as has been mentioned above is rather lacking.

* Dr Bill Tanner from [[AlexRider Snakehead]] is a disgusting scumbag who tries [[spoiler:to sell Alex's organ's on the black market]]. He's so smug he brags about how Alex can't escape, which helps him break out. He's so unlikeable when [[spoiler: he kills himself, the audience feels no sympathy.]]

* Prince Regal in RobinHobb's ''Literature/{{Farseer}}'' trilogy. A spoiled, petty, selfish youngest prince, he is obsessed with ruling and having power while being completely incompetent as a ruler. Like the example of Cersei above, he is much less clever than he thinks he is.

*** [[spoiler:Later it's subverted back again by revealing that [[SpannerInTheWorks his lackeys are imprisoned and that there are more Starks alive than thought]]. ]]

* The emperor of France, NapoleonBonaparte, in ''WarAndPeace''. The characters take up at least a third of the book talking about, predicting the actions of, or plotting against him. When Prince Andrei and later when Balashov, an emissary of the Russian emperor, finally meet him, they're both struck by how disappointing he is compared to his reputation. [[AnAesop He's purposefully portrayed this way.]]