Lord Sandwich: I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox. John Wilkes: That will depend, my lord, upon whether I embrace your principles or your mistress.
Fran from Katekyo Hitman Reborn! can piss off the whole Varia squad (or everyone) just by opening his mouth.
Films — Animation
Captain Amelia of Treasure Planet owes her best lines to this trope.
Captain Amelia: Doctor. To muse and blabber about a treasure map, in front of this particular crew, demonstrates a level of ineptitude that borders on the imbecilic. And I mean that in a very caring way.
And later during the same conversation with Doctor Doppler:
Captain Amelia: Let me make this as...monosyllabic as possible. I don't much care for this crew you hired; they're... how did I describe them, Arrow? I said something rather good this morning before coffee.
Mr. Arrow: A ludicrous parcel of drivelling galoots, ma'am.
The French movie Ridicule (often referred to as "Wit" in English-speaking countries) suggests that before the Revolution, the entire French political system revolved around who could do this most effectively.
After the Revolution, most of the entire political systems in the whole world began to revolve around who can do this most effectively...
Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music. This characterization of the Captain is largely thanks to Christopher Plummer, who campaigned heavily for more plot development for his character. Apparently, he thought the original stage Captain was a milquetoast. He and costar Julie Andrews later said that they wanted to give the movie some strength and keep it from devolving into all sweetness and light. It worked — stage revivals largely follow the movie's script and not that of the original stage version.
Alfred Pennyworth is a master of this trope. Particularly evident in The Dark Knight.
Alfred: Will you be taking the Batpod, sir?
Bruce: (Rushing off to protect Coleman Reese) In broad daylight, Alfred? Not very subtle.
Alfred: The Lamborghini, then? (to self) Much more subtle.
Hobson in the film Arthur. So many snarky lines it is hard to pick one.
Hobson: Thrilling to meet you, Gloria.
Gloria: Hi.
Hobson: Yes... You obviously have a wonderful economy with words, Gloria. I look forward to your next syllable with great eagerness.
One of the aspects played up in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes.
Lestrade: In another life, you would have made an excellent criminal.
Holmes: Yes, and you, Lestrade, an excellent policeman.
SUNDAY: “You mean Dr. Bull’s spectacles? …Really, to call them disgusting, before the man himself.”
“Look at my face!”
SUNDAY: “I dare say it’s the sort of face that grows on one. In fact, it grows on you.”
Discworld's Havelock Vetinari. The most magnificent Magnificent Bastard ever, he has a title, and if you actually read what he's saying carefully, he's unbelievably snarky.
This has become a major point of fear for those forced to frequently tell him things he's not going to like:
Colon: [with genuine dread] Lord Vetinari won't stop at sarcasm. He might use — [swallowing] — irony. He's probably going to be satirical, even ...
His lines in the council of war in Jingo are quite possibly the best examples.
Vetinari occasionally says "Please don't let me detain you". Those to whom he says it usually consider exactly what that detention might involve, and then leave immediately.
Lord John Grey in the Outlander series is one of these, though generally managing to keep his words to himself. Claire Fraser has her own moments of Gentlewoman Snarkerishness.
Artemis from Artemis Fowl is a prominent example of this
Artemis: (to Blunt) If you were me, then I'd be you, and if I were you, then I'd hide somewhere far away.
And, Artemis "Shall I walk? Or will you beam me up?
Sir John Babcock in Robert Anton Wilson'sHistorical Illuminatus Chronicles explains at one point to his Italian wife that the British young gentlemen's schools beat out all overt aggression from the boys, so that when grown up they'll make passive-aggressive insults masked as compliments instead of duelling to death like the Italian noblemen do. The main protagonist, Sigismundo Celine manages to be an excellent snarker himself, despite of his Neapolitan upbringing.
Compared to the thuggish characters that populate his world, Philip Marlowe has a lot of tact and wit to his snarks.
Live-Action TV
Simon Tam in Firefly, especially "Objects in Space": "I can't keep track of her when she's not incorporeally possessing a spaceship, don't look at me" along with "Well, my sister's a ship. We had a complicated childhood." And in "Safe": "I'm sorry dad, I would never have tried to save River's life if I had known there was a dinner party at risk."
Also, in the episode "Shindig" there's a distinguished old man at the eponymous shindig who comes to Kaylee's aid when she is being mocked by an Alpha Bitch for the store-bought dress that she wore:
Distinguished Old Man: Why, Banning Miller! What a vision you are in your fine dress. It must have taken a dozen slaves a dozen days just to get you into that getup. 'Course, your daddy tells me it takes the space of a schoolboy's wink to get you out of it again.
His Lordship Sir Warrick Harrow in that same episode:
Sir Warrick Harrow: Now, you're going to have to rely on your winning personality to get women. God help you.
Frasier and Niles Crane are the masters of this trope. In fact, the more viciously snarky they are, the politer and more refined their language becomes.
Higgins often did this to Magnum in Magnum, P.I.. He can't do it as well as some.
Bernard Thatch of the White House Visitor's Office in The West Wing:
Bernard: [The painting] was on loan from the Musee d'Orsay to the National Gallery. The President, on a visit to the gallery, and possessing even less taste in fine art than you have in accessories, announced that he liked the painting. The French government offered it as a gift to the White House. I suppose in retribution for EuroDisney. So here it hangs, like a gym sock on a shower rod. C.J.: You're a snob. Bernard: Yes.
The iconic cleric of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, Jozan, has this trope down to a fine art. He doesn't preach or sermonize at people whose behavior he disapproves of so much as he snarks at them. At one point he Stealth Insults an entire town so well that they actually have to collectively pause to decide whether he was cheering them on or rebuking them.
Theater
Anna and Claire of Boston Marriage are rare female examples, and written by David Mamet no less.
Cyrano de Bergerac's wit is as sharp as his rapier, which is saying something.
Video Games
Kings Quest's Prince Alexander is usually more The Comically Serious towards the absurd situations he ends up in than anything, but every so often he shows a very dry, subtly snarky sense of humor delivered with the same quiet poise he says everything else. This is especially true in The Kings Quest Companion, where it gets combined with Sophisticated as Hell and Expospeak Gag.
Red vs. Blue has Delta, an AI which is supposed to be the pure embodiment of logic, and who typically has a very blandly friendly and overly formal and polite personality. He's also the Bond Creature to a very, very snarky soldier. The end result personality mix is rather entertaining, especially when the two Vitriolic Best Buds are snarking at each other.
Western Animation
The Swan Princess has Lord Rogers, Prince Derek's good but sarcastic advisor. For example, after an epic foot-in-mouth scene from Prince Derek:
Lord Rogers: You could write a book. How to Offend Women in Five Syllables or Less.
Several noted English intellectuals, including Chesterton, Orwell, and others.
Field Marshal Mannerheim. He could intimidate Hitler himself, possibly partly because of his Death Glare.
John Wilkes
This was once almost a necessary part of being a high class person and thus political insults of the past were just as common but at least more interesting.
"A true gentleman is one who is never unintentionally rude."
His friend and later enemy James McNeill Whistler was also known for this.
Ironically, Oscar Wilde is often claimed to have said "sarcasm is the lowest form of humor." If he had ever said that (he didn't), he would almost certainly have been saying it sarcastically.
An excellent example: Lincoln thought that his General McClellan was reluctant to engage the enemy, and once sent him a note asking that, if McClellan wasn't using the army, perhaps Lincoln could borrow it for a couple of months?
Tomás Rivera Schatz, President of the Senate of Puerto Rico, once said of another senator: "She reminds me of Mary Magdalene."
William F. Buckley Jr.
The boisterous British House of Commons, which Robin Williams once called "[The US] Congress with a two-drink minimum", has featured many gentleman snarkersnote Technically not many MPs come from the gentry these days, but the kinds of insults they exchange have to fit this tropes to keep things orderly. in the past (some mentioned above) and more than a few today. Just watch the live feed for a while when they are discussing a contentious issue and there are sure to be at least a couple of them on opposite sides having at each other.
