Old Magnificent Bastard thread
Welcome to the Magnificent Bastard proposal thread! This is the thread where new Magnificent Bastard examples are vetted, approved, and written up. If you're looking for the general cleanup thread (for cuts, rewrites, expansions, and the like), please go here
Important: Before suggesting any new examples, please read the Frequently Asked Questions and Common Requests List; if you have any questions, the odds are high they are answered there. Additionally, please check here for the earliest date a work can be discussed (usually two weeks from the U.S. release date) and whether the work has already been reserved by another user.
Here is how the process works:
- If you have a candidate to propose, you can simply come right in and propose them! If the character's run is brief, such as a single issue of a comic book, then a simple summary of their actions and any potential mitigating features will be enough; for longer-running candidates, an effortpost (EP) might be helpful for organizing the proposal. An EP is not outright required, but please be mindful that if a post becomes too clunky and unorganized, it can be very hard for other people to follow.
- After the proposal, there will be a 72-hour discussion and voting period, where people may ask questions and vote on the candidate. The number of upvotes must outnumber the downvotes by at least five for the character to be considered "approved".
- Three days after the proposal has been made, if the character has been approved, you may post the writeup (the text to be posted on the trope page itself) on the thread and send it to the drafts page. Your candidate will soon be added to the MB subpage. If the work has a page, you should add your candidate to the relevant YMMV page. Voila! It's that simple!
Outside of this process, we do have a few ground rules:
- To keep the thread moving at a reasonable pace, there are some restrictions on when a proposal can be made. There should only be a maximum of four EPs posted both per page and per hour to ensure that nothing gets lost in the shuffle; additionally, each individual troper should only be proposing or writing up characters from a maximum of three works at a time (from initial proposals to end of their voting period). If your proposal would fall outside of either of these guidelines, we'd like to ask you to please wait until they would fit within; feel free to type them up on an outside document, and then when the time comes, you can just copy, paste, and post!
- No plagiarism of any kind. This is a very serious matter site-wide, as the website could get in actual legal trouble over this; as a result, this can very quickly lead to mod intervention. This can take many different forms:
- Direct plagiarism, i.e. wholesale copying. This is not only the easiest to find, but is also the most likely to warrant quick moderator intervention. To be clear, quoting in some places is perfectly acceptable, but it has to be very clear you're quoting from something else and it cannot be anything longer than a sentence or two - if you're quoting an entire work summary from Wikipedia, no one is going to believe you've actually consumed the work, so even if you cite your source, your candidate will be downvoted anyway.
- Self-plagiarism. Even if you can prove that you wrote the same text in both places, the site itself can't contain any of the duplicated text. If you already wrote something once before, it's not too hard to write it a second time.
- Using another site's work as a template for a proposal. Just because you don't copy and paste something directly doesn't mean it's any harder to detect if you're basing parts or all of your proposal on text someone else wrote. To be clear, this doesn't violate site rules and won't lead to mod intervention, but just like if you directly plagiarize, no one will believe you've consumed the work if you're clearly basing your proposal on something else. This thread largely operates on the honor system, and tweaking someone else's work to pass it off as your own is one of the fastest ways to lose trust.
- Votes must be for specific candidates, meaning no blanket voting (i.e. "yes to everyone I missed").
- If you are the first person to downvote a candidate, please provide an explanation of why when you do so. We're here for discussions above all, and a hit-and-run downvote doesn't facilitate anything.
- If a work is already reserved by another user, please don't comment on the work or any potential characters worth discussion before the discussion date. We know how exciting it is when a work has a keeper that you're waiting to talk about, but it's not fair to the person who reserved the work who is just as excited to lead the discussion to see the discussion getting spoiled before they get to do it. On the other hand, if the reservation only has one name attached, shoot them a PM - they may be down for a collaboration, which will get you in on the fun as well!
- Please keep the thread on-topic. While discussing the trope is fun and we encourage people to enjoy it, questions like "who's your favorite MB" are off-topic and can lead to thumps. That's the kind of question to take to people's PMs if they're willing. Similarly, while we encourage friendliness and familiarity with other users, posts should always have some kind of thread-relevant purpose; for instance, if you want to wish someone a happy birthday, feel free to, but if it's the only thing in the post, it's off-topic and needs something else alongside it. Again, though, while we strive for a friendly atmosphere, this is not Facebook; life updates are fun, but unless they have some kind of impact on your thread participation, please do not bring it here - we have Yack Fest for that.
- Please refrain from asking anything along the lines of "How Did We Miss This One?" In almost every case, the answer is simply "No one thought about it before". This Is a Wiki where everyone has different interests, and the fact that people missed a particular candidate, even one that seems like a textbook example of a trope or a character who is particularly iconic in pop culture, means absolutely nothing. The question is disruptive, has a simple and consistent answer, and provides nothing to any discussion.
- If you are suspended from other parts of the website, it is still possible to participate!
- For users who are suspended from editing the wiki, you still have full access to this thread. You can propose candidates and write them up with no issues whatsoever; while you will have to ask someone else to post the entry to the relevant pages once it is done, all write-ups are considered thread-approved - as in, done by consensus - and thus doing so does not violate any rules regarding meatpuppeting.
- If you are suspended from the forums, your participation is limited but not impossible. It is still possible for a forum-suspended user to assist in creating the write-up for a character who has already been approved; as previously mentioned, write-ups are inherently considered a consensus-based edit and thus not tied to any one particular user. However, you can not assist in the proposal of a character; as a proposal is based around the forum rather than the wiki, doing so with a forum suspension qualifies as meatpuppeting.
- Please keep all discussions "in-house".
- What other wikis use for MB equivalents is irrelevant here.
- Please be wary of using other wikis, Fandom or otherwise, as sources of information. They are just as fallible as a site like Wikipedia in regards to accuracy because they can be edited by any user, just as this site can.
- Do not attempt to force a communication with an author in an attempt to gather evidence or settle a debate; besides the fact that this is a YMMV trope and thus author intent has variable weight depending on the circumstance, doing so may cross the line into drama exportation, which is prohibited site-wide.
If you would like to use an EP for your candidate, here's the general format. This format does not have to be followed exactly, but these are the main topics that need to be covered:
What is the work?
This is a brief summary of the work you're going to discuss. We don't need a full plot summary here, just however much we need to understand going into the discussion — it can even be as simple as quoting the summary on the work's page.
Who is the candidate and what have they done?
This is essentially the character's biography — who they are, their story, their goals and methodology, and, preferably (though not required), what happens to the candidate at the end. It does not have to include every single thing they ever do — for some characters, we'd be here all day if that was the case — but it should include the highlights of their journey.
How are they Magnificent?
This is the point where you highlight the character's brilliance. How to they convey their intelligence and charm to the audience? What makes them stand out among the crowd? What are their goals and how do they go about accomplishing them? This part welcomes a lot of creative thinking — not everyone has to be a Machiavellian Diabolical Mastermind to be worth considering here! This is also the time to showcase how the character can think on their feet if it's necessary.
How are they a Bastard? How are they not too bad?
What kinds of moral lines is this character willing to cross for the sake of their goal? Are they willing to let innocents die? Start wars? Commit crimes? The character has to show some kind of unscrupulousness in order to count as a "Bastard". Notably, this character does not necessarily have to be the villain, and an Anti-Hero can cross the line if they're immoral enough, but they have to be immoral somehow.
This is also the section where you then state your case for why they're not too bad. Perhaps their good intentions help mitigate their crimes. Perhaps others are shown to be much worse than them. Perhaps they're prone to Pet the Dog moments or are even fighting on behalf of loved ones. Whatever the case, there are certain lines that an MB can't cross, but as long as their villainy is reasonable for their goal, they can be considered.
Final verdict?
This is where you post your final conclusion on the character in question. You can continue elaborating on your reasons or even just say a simple "yes" or "no"; at this point, we've heard everything we need to hear.
And that's everything you need to know. Welcome to the thread!
Edited by Twiddler on Jan 17th 2024 at 5:40:56 AM
Unofficial co-Wiki Curator for Magnificent Bastard
![[tdown]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thumbs_down_emote.png "[thumb down]"){kind=small}
Crow. Bull, I'm sorry for what you had to go through. I hope that the afterlife treats him well.
Insert title here
![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thumbs_up_emote.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
Melody. I'm sorry to hear that, Bull.
The wifi here sucks
Sorry to hear that Bull
Yes to Nosferadon, Wolf and Melody
Can I get more votes on my candidate please?
to Melody
Goku Black
melody.
Sorry to hear that bull
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Buzz
This post was thumped by the Stick of Post Thumping
Yes to Bowser.
Okay, another Golden Kamuy one and then there's two more.
What's the work?
Golden Kamuy, by Satoru Noda. Down-on-his-luck Japanese soldier Saichi Sugimoto, the One-Man Army "Sugimoto the Immortal," is dishonorably discharged and abandoned in Hokkaido, ends up searching for hidden gold. He ends up with a cadre of allies as a years-long scheme unfolds involving multiple parties seeking the gold.
One of his allies is...
Who is Kiroranke?
Once a great ally of Asirpa's father Wilk who joined him in attempting to assassinate Alexander II. After a brutal gunfight with Japanese secret police in which Kiroranke uses quick thinking and a machine gun to take out a large number of them, Kiroranke ends up fighting in the Russo-Japanese War, making improvised grenades and singlehandedly turning the tide in his side's favor. Kiroranke ends up joining Sugimoto's group, standing beside them throughout their pursuit of the gold and deduces some of their enemy Tsurumi's plans to use fake skins to throw the pursuit into chaos. When their ally Shiraishi ends up captured, Kiroranke plays a major role in the plan to get him back— building a canoe before evading questions around his plans even though he proposes leaving Shiraishi behind. Continuing with the group until Abashiri Prison and particularly bonding with Asirpa over their Ainu heritage and Kiroranke's knowledge, they get to the prison, break in to get "Noppera-Bou" out, the 7th Division arrives, everything flies into chaos. Once again, Kiroranke manages to save Shiraishi and Sugimoto through a mix of fast ploys and high explosives, though he pulls Asirpa aside... and starts leaving with her. Y'see...
...he was never on Sugimoto's side. All along, Kiroranke has been working for himself and his own revolutionary agenda. Not only that, but Ogata gunning down Wilk? Kiroranke gave the signal. Kiroranke deceives everyone who sticks with him, keeping Asirpa captive and manipulating her to give him information about the gold while genuinely telling her about his past— but taking care never to hurt her unnecessarily. All the while, Kiroranke aims to break out his former ally and old flame Sofia. During an encounter with the others, Kiroranke is ambushed by former 7th Division member Tanigaki, who he barely fights off. Stabbing Tanigaki and leaving him alive to bait his allies into an explosive trap. While he gets ready to kill another member of the other party, Koito, he is suddenly surprised by a seal that signals his enemy. Nonetheless, the drawn-out fight gives the Tanigaki time to ambush Kiroranke from behind, carrying his own knife no less.
Before passing away, Kiroranke shares one last conversation with Asirpa— though he tells her to run to her own party and escape the danger, they share a quiet discussion where Asirpa thanks him for all he's done for her and Kiroranke softens, gently telling her that he leaves his mission to her just as Wilk did, before murmuring Sofia's name and dying. Despite all he did, Shiraishi and his crew bury Kiroranke under the ice and leave his knife atop the makeshift grave.
Is Kiroranke magnificent?
Kiroranke's a quick thinker who's always ready with a ploy. He aided Wilk, is a skilled hunter, nearly assassinated Alexander II, is responsible for multiple major successes, and turned the tide of a battle with improvised explosives— a talent he repeatedly shows he's pretty damn good with. He's always setting traps and taking pains, not to mention having played Sugimoto's group and collaborated with their sworn enemies to eliminate Wilk. He manipulates Asirpa effortlessly and only ends up dying because of a seal that he could never have controlled showing up and inadvertently signaling the enemy he was about to take out. He's not perfect but he's a great player who legitimately wants societal change.
Is Kiroranke bad?
Again, revolution's a bloody business and Kiroranke's got plenty of blood on his hands— he's treacherous and ruthless, willing to throw just about anyone under the bus and lie to them, with the manga deliberately positioning him opposite Wilk, a comparatively honest (But still fuckin' ruthless!) revolutionary.
That said, Kiroranke is a very complex character given a smorgasbord of redeeming traits like his genuine love of horses— he won't even eat horse meat— his respect for the heroes and even the people he's killed, with him even explaining that he killed Wilk in a manner he thought Wilk would understand, and especially his very real bond with Asirpa that leads him to an ultimate Alas, Poor Villain that he spends talking politely with her, and he even tells her to leave him to die and return to Sugimoto as part of his dying wish.
Conclusion?
Yet another easy keeper.
Not the Eye
Kiroranke
Jogo
Kiroranke
Goku Black
Kiroranke
Is Tsurumi a future ep? He was the only person acrually listed before the thread.
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Buzz
This post was thumped by the Shillelagh of Whackingness
Lies and Violence!
I’m so sorry for your loss, Bull.
Aye to Nosferadon, Wolf, Melody, and Kiroranke. Leaning no for the singer, he just annoys the characters into doing what he wants, no real impressive manipulations there.
Nah, Tsurumi is way, way too unstable (He wears Wilk's face as a mask to taunt Asirpa at one point!) and ends up dying because he just wouldn't let anything go. He's smart enough for sure but there's a big emphasis placed on him being depraved and barely restraining his borderline-feral nature.
The two that are remaining are Boutarou the Pirate and Toshizo Hijikata, just to note in advance.
I’ll take a potato chip… and EAT IT!
Goku Black
Does anyone know how to add a video to image links?
This one from Black knight from Generator Rex.
He/They
OK so not too long ago I proposed Kondo Isami from Like a Dragon: Ishin! here and he got upvoted. But I have another candidate from this game, albeit one I am less sure about.
What's the Work?
Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a spin-off of the Like a Dragon series which is set in the Bakumatsu era of Japan. It follows Sakamoto Ryōma (portrayed here by series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu) as he travels to Kyo (the city which is now known as Kyoto) to search for the man who killed his father figure, and it even takes some liberties in the story rather than following the actual historical events such as having Ryoma join The Shinsengumi under the alias of Saito Hajime.
Who is the character?
Takechi Hanpeita is the game's main antagonist. In this universe, Takechi is Ryoma's adoptive brother as well as the leader of the Tosa Loyalist Party. He is first seen at his dojo, training various Loyalist men. After Ryoma shows up, Takechi talks to him and reveals his and their adoptive father Yoshida Toyo's plans to have their men storm Kochi Castle and confront the elders that rule the Tosa Domain, intending to have the Loyalists overthrow them in order to make Tosa a fairer and more equal land, one without the social class system. When the two men go to visit Toyo at the castle to further discuss their plans, a mysterious masked man appears and murders Toyo in cold blood. Despite Ryoma's efforts, the ninja escapes and him and Takechi have no choice but to leave. Ryoma hides Takechi inside of a shrine so he can't be killed and leaves Tosa to find the man who killed his adoptive father.
A year later, Ryoma would reunite with Takechi in Mukurogai. Takechi tells him that the Loyalists are flourishing and that he is now allies with the Tosa higher-ups. He further explains that he is aspiring to change not just Tosa, but the entirety of Japan, and also he wants to crush the Bakufu and return power to the Emperor. The idea that Takechi is now in leagues with the people who may have been behind Toyo's murder angers Ryoma.
Takechi later is seen alongside treacherous Bakufu member Katsu Rintaro, where he, under the alias of Sakamoto Ryoma, and Katsu collude with Saigo Kichinosuke of the Satsuma Domain, and attempt to recruit him in their plan to invade Edo Castle and destroy the Bakufu, as well as offering him weapons from the British to do so.
With help from Tosa daimyo Yamauchi Yodo, Takechi fakes his death, which the real Ryoma catches news of, so he can further his plans as Ryoma's impostor. He murders Serizawa Kamo, whom it is revealed was the masked ninja that Takechi himself hired to kill Toyo, and is eventually fought by the real Ryoma at Teradaya, the inn that Ryoma is staying at. After the fight, Ryoma's Shinsengumi ally Okita Soji slices "Ryoma" in the back, which cuts off a piece of his clothes, conveniently allowing Ryoma to see his burn mark and recognise his impostor as Takechi. Takechi then escapes as the Mimawarigumi arrive to investigate the scene. After this it is revealed that Takechi has been using various people as spies to keep an eye on Ryoma, namely Oryo, a maid that works at Teradaya, and Yamazaki Susumu, an inspector in the Shinsengumi.
It is then revealed Takechi's true plans are to start an all out anti-Bakufu national civil war, and that he had been taking advantage of the Satcho Alliance, the newly formed union between the Satsuma Domain and the Choshu Loyalists that formed when Ryoma had a night out drinking with the leaders of said group (yes, really), to do so, in hopes of wearing them out and leading them to their demise so that the Tosa Loyalists can reign supreme. When Ryoma convinces the shogun to execute a Great Restoration where the Emperor's power is restored, and thus remove any reason for the Satcho to go to war against the Bakufu, Takechi has the Shinsengumi set fire to the city of Kyo in order to provide a distraction, while fellow loyalist member Okada Izo goes and murders the Emperor while framing the Shinsengumi chief Kondo Isami for the crime and use it to cause a war between the Bakufu and the Imperial Court. When this fails and Takechi's conspirator within the Shinsengumi, Ito Kashitaro, is outed by himself accidentally, Ryoma and his allies work together in attempt to host a meeting between the Satcho Alliance and "Sakamoto Ryoma" in a newly opened inn named Omiya, in attempt to lure out Takechi. But Takechi sees through this and he badly wounds Nakaoka Shintaro, one of Ryoma's allies. When Ryoma sees Takechi after all this time, he tears up as Takechi has prematurely aged, presumably due to the stress of his actions catching up to him. Ryoma attempts to swing his sword at Takechi but is stopped by Takechi's partners in crime, Ito and Sasaki Tadasaburo. Takechi leaves, but not before giving Ryoma one final task, to meet him in Tosa, the place where it all started. Ryoma and his Shinsengumi allies travel to Kyo as Takechi said, and after battling various foes who have conspired with Takechi, Ryoma eventually comes face to face with him. Takechi reveals his ideals, the reason he had Toyo killed was because he was against causing bloodshed which was something that Takechi deemed necessary for a revolution. In order to settle their conflict and opposing ideals, Ryoma and Takechi battle each other, with the former coming out on top. Despite begging him to do so otherwise, Ryoma spares Takechi and Takechi realises he was a hypocrite for taking advantage of the class system he said before that he despised and wanted to get rid off, and so he pulls a Heel–Face Turn after Ryoma says that he forgives him. The both of them watch the sunrise together, after which Takechi says he wants to clean up the mess he made. He reveals Yamauchi Yodo was the one in charge and that he used both Takechi and Katsu Rintaro to help him gain weapons from the British. Before Takechi can reveal Yodo's ultimate plan, Yodo enters the scene and shoots at Ryoma, which Takechi takes the bullet for. Yodo reveals he knew that Takechi would eventually turn against him. Yodo reveals his plans of selling the entire country of Japan to Britain so that they can colonize it in hopes of him becoming a puppet ruler for Japan. Yodo attempts to shoot Ryoma dead, but he is then cornered by Ryoma's Shinsengumi allies. He cowardly begs Ryoma to spare him, believing he is the only one who can save the country and offering Ryoma and the others a place in his puppet empire, but he gets ignored, instead Ryoma kills him.
In the epilogue, we can see that Takechi has taken Yodo's name and has contributed to Japan's restoration from the shadows.
Is he magnificent?
Takechi is an ambitious and devious mastermind. At multiple times throughout the story he is seen outplaying and tricking others, for example he fools several characters by making them think he is Sakamoto Ryoma to further his plans, and when he fakes his death which actually gets Ryoma to believe he is really is dead for at least some amount of time. I'll admit he does have a few slip-ups, but none of them are ever humiliating and he manages to recover from them. For example he doesn't expect Ryoma to convince the shogun to pull a Great Restoration, which puts a halt to his plans of starting a civil war, but he then decides to burn down the city of Kyo as a distraction while he has the Emperor murdered in attempt to blame Kondo Isami for it and use that for a starting point for a war between the Bakufu and the Imperial Court. And when Ryoma and his allies hold a Satcho Alliance meeting at Omiya to bait him out, he sees through it and instead manages to trick them.
Now, there is one concern I have. After the final boss, Yodo catches Takechi off guard by appearing to shoot Ryoma, and says he anticipated Takechi betraying him. However, while I am not 100% sure, I do think an argument could be made that he manages to recover from this as he doesn't lose his cool despite this, is respected by Ryoma as he is included alongside Ryoma's allies when it cuts to shots of them during Ryoma's speech towards Yodo about the future of Japan, and Takechi takes Yodo's name after Ryoma offs him and uses it to help Japan's rebirth. Plus, he doesn't go out as a Dirty Coward like Yodo does after he is cornered by Ryoma and company.
So while I'm not 100% sure, I think Takechi could be magnificent enough.
A bastard? Too much of one?
Takechi is most definitely a bastard. He had an entire city lit ablaze, had his own adoptive father killed in order to suit his plans, and is planning to launch a national civil war to destroy the Bakufu. So yeah, easily a bastard.
But I would not say he is too much one. For all his awful crimes he legitimately stands as a Well-Intentioned Extremist as he wants to reshape Japan into what he thinks will make for a better country, such as getting rid of the social class system put in place by the shogunate (even if he does end uf being a bit of a hypocrite, which he realises after his boss fight) and he does genuinely care for Ryoma. Katsura Kogoro of the Choshu Loyalists tells Ryoma that he had been told to keep an eye on him after Takechi fakes his death. And he realises the extent of his misdeeds and eventually decides to redeem himself as I said before, swearing to repair the mess he made and helping Japan's reformation after taking Yamauchi Yodo's name.
Verdict?
I'll let you guys decide.
I’ll take a potato chip… and EAT IT!
Sure to Takechi
In honor of Akira Toriyama
for Kiroranke and Takechi Hanpeita.
Goku Black
takechi
My condolences on your cousin, Bull.
@Shadao - do you still argue the Horseman or are you good with him going up? Seeing support for him otherwise, so write-up draft;
- The Headless Horseman was a Hessian mercenary fighting in the Revolutionary War, and was infamous for filing his teeth to points in order to terrify his enemies as he rode across the battlefield chopping off heads. After being run down and killed in the woods on the outskirts of Sleepy Hollow, Mary Van Tassel uses his skull to command him to rise from the grave to kill her enemies. After killing multiple townsfolk with ruthless efficiency, the Horseman's skull is returned to him by Ichabod Crane, breaking Mary's control over him. The restored Horseman spares Ichabod and his friends and instead claims Mary as his final victim, taking her to Hell with a triumphant cry.
No to the Singer but I thiiink I'm fine with Takechi.
To just give myself a brief break from Golden Kamuy... with thanks to Ravok for passing me this candidate...
What's the work? The Chrome Berets is a module for Cyberpunk set in the fictitious country of Malagay Island, in which there is a massive ongoing Civil War. A dirty, grimy grunt war, the story centers the player characters being brought in as foreign contractors to play a role in the war between guerillas and tyrants. In the middle of these two parties, ready to profit off both? Kingpin Chase.
Who is Anastasia "Kingpin" Chase?
- Anastasia Chase is better known on Malagay's streets as Kingpin Chase, a key figure in international smuggling. Chase controls the black markets of Malagay Island, along with most of its legitimate small businesses.
Once, Kingpin Chase was a New York mobster. After going beyond that tier and developing a syndicate of her own, she proceeded to observe and coordinate all variety of crimes. Decisive, tall, and with nothing that can shock her, she is a woman of steel who has no hesitation in her movements and incredible preparedness for any eventuality.
A Wild Card in the conflict between parties and the Players' main source of illegal activity in the warzone, Kingpin Chase is dedicated to making herself the most profit off the war while maintaining as much class as possible. Running the Midnight Plaza Casino, a casino famously never scratched by artillery fire from either side, Chase can only be spoken to after a certain amount is spent at the Casino, and can be an ally or enemy. When the module starts, she's on the side of the guerillas as she sees it as more profitable, but with a little persuasion, she can end up on whatever side the party wants. If they sufficiently destabilize the guerillas, Chase can refuse to supply the guerillas if they pay her enough. Chase can also coordinate arms deals and further crime, not to mention smuggling refugees off the island (for a price) and assisting the party from afar with utter pragmatism. Fighting Chase, however, is inadvisable: Chase knows everything, with government connections and influence, not to mention a network on the streets, and she almost certainly will discover you're against her. Conveniently, knowing she's not much of a fighter, Chase will "coincidentally" be gone when you raid her headquarters with a very, very low chance that your plan has gone undetected.
Employing numerous natives as her hitmen, Chase runs a wide-spanning criminal network and nonetheless centers her business around pragmatism and class. She's Crazy-Prepared and never without her personal guard, with a headquarters absolutely laden with security measures, secret exits, and ambushes around every corners. To side against Kingpin Chase is to risk everything on an extreme gamble that she may even be present.
Is she magnificent?
- This woman turns even the ongoing unrest to her advantage, using the guerillas to create zones free from the law. (...) Chase can arrange to purchase absolutely anything, and she can deliver messages to anyone in Malagay. Her elite hit men insure her control over matters which concern her.
Bluntly, the way Chase is written is that of a classic Diabolical Mastermind and a classical example of the archetype. Her profile describes her as having Nerves of Steel and being able to stand and deliver in conversation with much more dangerous people than she is, she's profiting off every side, it's nigh-impossible to kill her due to how Crazy-Prepared she is, and she's a fast thinker who will always take the profitable and pragmatic option. She can be a valuable ally or a dangerous enemy, and will only break her deals if her hand is forced. Chase is badass, smooth, and a top-tier manipulator of the war who really puts the "king" in kingpin and can take out her enemies while coordinating the war, and the party can barely even arrest her legally despite her crimes thanks to her hand in the government, and a failed attempt will lead to her prosecuting the party. She's a pragmatist who books it if she's put in a dangerous situation if she can, but will confront the party and try to negotiate if she's cornered, and is willing to fight—but not to the death if that would be wasteful. It's also explicit that her running and only negotiating through messengers or with bodyguards is because of pragmatism rather than cowardice; you can't exactly profit if you're dead, after all. Plus, she's charismatic enough to run her criminal empire as essentially a neutral party in a civil war, supplying whoever pays her the best, and said charisma has even let her recruit a number of natives to work for her.
Is she bad?
- When fighting with a determined opponent, Chase does not insist on a battle to the death. If the party survives an assassination attempt, she may offer to negotiate terms of settlement.
Chase is Pragmatic Villainy to the core. Nothing she does is without purpose, but she will happily commit assassinations on anyone who troubles her, no matter their innocence, is indirectly responsible for many casualties through her willingness to deal arms and do just about anything to turn the wheels of her finance, and shows zero hesitation in being a high-class criminal. That said, Chase doesn't like wasting time, effort, or potential assets and never does anything bad just for the sake of it. She's polite and practical, and will do good things for money just as much as she'll do bad things; sure, it'll cost you an arm and a leg, but that's business. Kingpin Chase is all business, and you can be sure she'll play for whoever's side is best for it—but she'll never do anything pointlessly cruel to compromise it.
Conclusion? Easy, easy keep.
Caesar
Indeed a very easy keep there and great work on that one!
WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!
Not the Eye
Takechi and Chase
Goku Black
chase
![[tdown]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thumbs_down_emote.png "[thumb down]")
Crow. My condolences for your loss, Bull.
He/Him