History MagnificentBastard / AnimeAndManga

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'': SAO designer Akihiko Kayaba, a pioneer in the field of Virtual Reality (VR), traps 10,000 players inside his game, killing them in the real world if they die in the VR one. Disguising himself as BigGood Heathcliff and guiding the players through the dungeon floors of Aincrad, Kayaba intends to betray and kill them in the last dungeon, acting as the FinalBoss of his own game. When Kirito is able to deduce "Heathcliff's" true identity, Kayaba praises the boy for his observance before challenging him to a duel, promising to end the game of Kirito wins. Keeping his word and freeing the players, Kayaba seemingly commits suicide, though actually copying his [[OurSoulsAreDifferent Fluctlight]] onto the internet to continue existing. Reappearing in the next arc, Kayaba helps Kirito defeat the ArcVillain, Sugou, whom even he finds repellent. Entrusting Kirito with his last invention, Kayaba encourages him to go on to share it with the world, leading to the creation of many innovative VR games. Though utterly sociopathic, Kayaba never strayed from his [[MoralSociopathy strict moral code]] and stood out as one of Kirito's most noble foes.

* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
** Original series [[Manga/YuGiOh Manga]] and [[Anime/YuGiOh Anime]]:
*** [[BigBad Dark Bakura/Yami Bakura]] is the malevolent spirit of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Millennium Ring]] who seeks to gather the seven Millennium Items and use them to resurrect [[GodOfEvil Zorc]], his ancient alter-ego. Beyond this he has no set plan and just plays XanatosSpeedChess as opportunities present themselves; he attacks a weakened Pegasus to take the Millennium Eye, he cuts deals with Marik to get his hands on the Millennium Rod, and infuses a piece of his soul in the shattered Millennium Puzzle so he can enter its complete form. He does all this while either (in the manga) faking a HeelFaceTurn and fooling even [[DemonicPossession his own host]] Ryo Bakura into letting him help, or (in the anime) [[HydePlaysJekyll pretending to be his host]] so well almost no one realizes which Bakura they're talking to. Any defeat or setback he suffers never sticks, Yami Bakura always finds his way back from the shadows and gets his Ring about Bakura's neck to take control of him again and keep scheming. He's such a good schemer that he ends up being the final villain of the series, surviving up to the final story arc when he initiates his final game against Yugi and his friends, the Shadow RPG, and [[NearVillainVictory almost destroys all of them]].
*** [[AgentPeacock Maximillion Pegasus]] was one of the series' most fondly remembered BigBad. The inventor of Duel Monsters and CEO of Industrial Illusions, Pegasus used the mind reading powers of his Millennium Eye to control the few things his billions of dollars could not. Making a deal with the Big 5 of [=KaibaCorp=], Pegasus set up a plan to defeat Yugi as a means to gain control of the company and use its technology (and in the dub Yugi's Millennium Puzzle) to resurrect his deceased loved one. Stealing the soul of Yugi's grandfather, Pegasus lured Yugi to his Duelist Kingdom Tournament, where he pitted him against other Duelists and his handpicked team of Player Killers/Eliminators, designed in a way that would leave Pegasus the winner of the tournement no matter what. When Seto Kaiba came to the island for his brother Mokuba, Pegasus used him as a catspaw to damage Yugi's confidence before claiming the former World Champion's soul as well. Only narrowly defeated by Yugi and Dark Yugi/Yami's tag-team dueling strategy, Pegasus set a high bar for subsequent villains to aspire to, and whether as a duelist, corporate raider, or user of Shadow magic, always seemed to be holding all the cards.
** ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'':
*** Sartorius is the head of the [[{{Cult}} Society of Light]], corrupted to evil by the Light of Destruction. Born with the power to see the future, he seeks out promising duelists with the power to defy fate and turn them to his cause so they can't stand in his way and derail his plans. He does this through a combination of lectures and brainwashing, telling his victims that only he can help them get what they want, convincing them they ''[[MoreThanMindControl want]]'' to join the Society. Through these methods he takes over the top dorm of Duel Academy, makes all of its students his loyal followers, and plans to use a KillSat to destroy the world ([[{{Bowdlerise}} mind control humanity]] in the English dub) in the name of cleansing, purifying light. Collected, affable, soft-spoken, and using his prediction powers to stay ahead of the game, Sartorius proves himself the most charismatic and intelligent enemy Jaden and his friends ever faced.
*** Yubel is a demonic Duel Spirit and the mastermind behind the seeming main villain of Season 3, Professor Viper. Making a deal with Viper to revive his dead son in exchange for gathering Duel Energy to regenerate her body, she disposes of Viper and transports Duel Academy to another dimension to continue her plans herself, possessing the body of student Marcel as a host. She orchestrates Jaden's horrific TraumaCongaLine in order to awaken his dormant alter-ego, the Supreme King, so Jaden can complete the Super Polymerization card and then she can take it for herself and use it to fuse the twelve dimensions into one. Why? Because [[ReincarnationRomance she was in love with Jaden's alter-ego in his past life]], and she will do anything to rule over the multiverse with Jaden and keep him all to herself. Yubel is what happens when a love sick StalkerWithACrush decides to conquer what they see in the name of proving their love to someone.
** ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'': Rex Godwin is the head of Sector Security and a member of the secret society of Iliaster. He rose to this position after being stranded and forgotten in the slum of Satellite, and has single-handedly turned Neo Domino City into a classist technological utopia under his control. Using his power he begins gathering the prophesied Signers and awakening their powers, then presents himself to them as a mentor and benefactor who would aid them in their war against the Dark Signers led by his brother Roman. However, Rex is playing both groups against each other to make his own play for power, allowing Roman to kill him so he can become a Dark Signer, and then using Roman's severed arm bearing his Signer Mark to make himself a Signer. Transforming himself into a YinYangBomb with the power of both groups, Godwin seeks to destroy the world and remake it in his image, and almost succeeded if not for ThePowerOfFriendship overriding his willpower to force the Signer marks to obey him.

->''"So long as there are children who can smile innocently as they happily eat sweets, I have a positive opinion of this world. To that end, I have deceived, betrayed, and spilled blood. And I'll likely continue to do so. If that isn't enough, I'll resort to higher reason. "''
-->--'''Cardinal Moldeen Ogus Gyunei''', ''Anime/DancesWithTheDragons''

* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' manga, by Satoru Matsuba:
** Like in the game, Naoya orchestrates nearly every event in the story by creating the Demon Summoning Program. The reincarnation of Cain, Naoya attempts to convince his cousin and reincarnation of Abel, Kazuya, to overthrow God. Naoya manipulates Kazuya into partaking in the Battle of Bel by promising to answer a question of his if he defeats Beldr, and later, forces a confrontation between Kazuya and Jezebel by risking Amane’s life. When the heroes reach the server to send the demons back to the demon world, they find out that Naoya set it up so that only their demons will be sent back. When Naoya arrives, he has Loki brutally beat Kazuya in an attempt to get him consumed by hatred, and lead to Kazuya declaring war on God. Even when defeated, Naoya points out that he made progress to overthrow God next reincarnation now that Abel is the king of Bel.
** The manga interpretation of Belial is far more cunning this his game counterpart. A master of illusions, Belial hypnotizes Haru into using her singing to summon a never ending swarm of demons. While he and his forces overwhelm the heroes, he uses his illusions to gently convince Haru into committing suicide so that he can gain her ability, nearly succeeding until she notices the heroes attempts to save her. When Kazuya attempts to absorb Belial’s soul after seemingly killing him, Belial uses his illusions to weaken Kazuya’s mind in an attempt to consume his soul from the inside. When defeated, [[GracefulLoser Belial accepts it with dignity]], and tells Kazuya that he’s more than willing to lend him his aid.

* ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby'': Ryo Asuka, in truth the fallen angel, {{Satan}}, is the one who connives to have Akira Fudo become Devilman by tricking him into being possessed by the demon Amon. Upon regaining his memories as Satan, Ryo exposes the existence of demons and sets the world into a full-blown panic to make humanity turn on itself while he sweeps in with his demons to eliminate them, eventually facing and killing Akira himself to his great sorrow. Even after God resets the world, forcing Ryo to relive losing Akira over and over, Ryo shows hints of subtly altering things to eventually change the fate forced on him, showing why he is both Akira's greatest friend and deadliest enemy.

** Eda, supposedly a flirty criminal nun from the so-called Church of Violence smuggling operation, is [[ObfuscatingStupidity actually a skilled major player]] in her own right. A {{CIA}} agent who also completely dominates the Triad boss Mr. Chang, Eda is in effect the [[TheWomanBehindTheMan true secret ruler]] of Roanpur. On the field, Eda also freely manipulates the hapless Janet Bhai into a safehouse that will be invaded, with enough instructions to escape so Eda can extort her for protection, and later shows that she casually plays all sides in Roanpur while setting up an end to the insane battle maid Roberta's rampage.

* ''Manga/HappySugarLife'': [[VillainProtagonist Satou Matsuzaka]] is a high schooler who -- after becoming enamored with the young Shio Kobe -- would go to any length to protect her "happy sugar life" with her. While presenting herself as friendly in public, Satou is in truth a skilled manipulator who blackmails others into doing her dirty work under the threat of ruining their livelihoods. When Shio's brother Asahi comes into the equation, Satou ropes a despondent Taiyo Mitsuboshi into her scheme to lure Asahi into another district by exploiting his psychological trauma. After reluctantly killing her best friend Shouko Hida, Satou adjusts her scheme yet again by deciding to pass off Shouko's corpse as her own and tasking her aunt with burning the upper level of the apartment to cover her tracks. Satou realized as she was falling to her death the real meaning of love and selflessly shields Shio with her body, dying in her place.

* ''Manga/{{ERASED}}'': [[spoiler: Gaku Yashiro]] is a psychopathic mastermind who brings excitement into his everyday life by murdering children and expertly framing innocents for the crimes. His genius extending all the way to childhood, where he effortlessly murdered his abusive older brother and made it look like a suicide, he carries his depraved intelligence into adulthood, where he spends years perfecting the art of charming and manipulating others, especially his preferred targets. Be it noticing signs of abuse or taking advantage of their innate naivety, he always gets his target, and in a notable instance, murdered one of his male students who resembled a girl, knowing it would eliminate him from suspicion as a killer who solely targeted females. Despite Satoru's time travel abilities, [[spoiler: Yashiro]] one-ups and outwits him at every turn, never even knowing of the man's powers, just being so naturally adaptable that nothing slows him down. [[spoiler: Yashiro]] is a truly terrifying killer, having not only the smarts and charms to kill whoever he wants with ease, but also the fast-thinking to ensure that he's never caught, no matter what opposition arises.

* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'': In a franchise featuring [[ForeverWar endless wars]], these villains truly stand out for their charisma and intelligence in the field of battle:
** Universal Century:
*** Characters/CharAznable, born Casval Deikun, [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam joins the Zabis]] by hiding his face behind a mask to lure the Zabis to their demise. Famed for his combat prowess and tactical brilliance, Char lures young Garma Zabi to his end, and later forms a deep enmity with Amuro Ray, compounded when Amuro kills Char's beloved Lalah. Breaking from his fight with Amuro, Char teaches Kycilia a lesson on underestimating him by eliminating her, and years later [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam joins the earth resistance forces]] against the Titans. Rising to the leadership there, Char gives an impassioned speech to convince the world to rise against the Titans and to believe in the value of space travel. Finally, in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Char's Counterattack]]'', Char manipulates young Quess Paraya and all of Zeon to try to drop Axis on the helpless earth to force a great migration into space, planning one final battle to achieve his ends. Finally convinced to surrender his life in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Gundam Unicorn]]'', Char makes a final gesture to leave the world to a younger generation, being one of the single most memorable and archetypal villains in the ''Gundam'' franchise.
*** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'': Kycilia Zabi was the last member of her family standing for a reason. Fully aware of her elder brother Gihren's moral depravity and mismanagement of the conflict with the Earth Federation, Kycilia uses the One Year War as a cover for a coup d'etat against him, gathering resources and allies, while undermining Gihren's loyalists. Upon discovering through [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket Colonel Killing]]'s betrayal that Gihren had infiltrated her faction and was [[Manga/ThePlotToAssassinateGihren preparing to frame her for treason]], Kycilia moved swiftly, leaking Char's identity to Gihren's fake conspirators and transforming a sham plot into an actual revolt against his rule. Aware that Zeon could no longer win the war, and that the Federation would never make peace while her brother lived, Kycilia journeyed to A Baoa Qu and, on finding out that Gihren had murdered their father, executed him for {{patricide}} and assumed command of what was left of Zeon. Killed when Char Aznable unpredictably betrayed her, Kycilia was nevertheless the only Zabi, or indeed, Zeon Admiral, with both a realistic appreciation of their circumstances, and the ruthlessness and will to act accordingly.
*** ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'': "The Man from Jupiter" -- [[DarkMessiah Titans Lieutenant Paptimus Scirocco]]--is an EnigmaticMinion who graduates to taking over the organization. A brilliant tactician both in and out of a mobile suit, Scirocco excels at reading potential in his subordinates and outmaneuvers the Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG) to capture the strategic stronghold of the lunar city Von Braun. Leaving the day-to-day operations of the city in the hands of his antagonistic superior, Scirocco divulges the man's schemes to the AEUG and arranges for his death to gain more dominance within the Titans for himself. [[BigBadDuumvirate Forming an alliance with]] Haman Khan of Neo Zeon, Scirocco bolsters the strength of the Titans with the Axis military and [[TheStarscream personally assassinates the Titans leader]], Jamitov Hymem, assuming command over the syndicate and blaming Jamitov's death on Haman, rallying his forces to fight against her. Giving a former AEUG pilot he corrupted to his side an eloquent lecture on his ambitions for humanity, Scirocco engages the AEUG personally and reveals he has kept his alliance with Haman to revitalize the strength of his fleet. Even with his armada destroyed by the blast of a colony laser, Scirocco continues to fight [[TheHero Kamille Bidan]] and even in his dying moments, [[TakingYouWithMe destroys Kamille's consciousness]], unrelentingly unwilling to accept his vanquishment. Emotionally manipulative yet charming, charismatic and stylish, Scirocco proves himself to be every bit as brilliantly Machiavellian as he is mysterious.
*** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'': Axis warlord and Neo-Zeon RegentForLife Haman Khan came closer to conquering the Earth Sphere than any of the despots to come before or after her in the UC timeline. Intervening in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'''s Gryps Conflict on the side of Paptimus Scirocco's Titans, Haman helped turn the battle between the AEUG and the Titans into a full scale civil war within the Earth Federation, from which she emerged as the one true winner following Scirocco's death and the obliteration of the Titans and most of the AEUG. Invading the Earth before the Federation could recover from the war, Haman occupied huge swathes of the planet, and used the Dublin ColonyDrop to terrorize Federation officials into surrendering to her, all while employing sheer force of personality to mask her myriad personal issues and hold the backstabbing house of cards that was Axis-Zeon together. Betrayed at the zenith of her power by Glemmy Toto, and faced with internal rebellion by his supporters, Haman quickly moved to quell the descent, meeting Glemmy in open battle. Confronted by series' protagonist Judau Ashta, Haman was persuaded that humanity did not, in fact, need her jackboot on its throat to [[WellIntentionedExtremist stop them from killing each other]]. The only UC BigBad self-aware enough to come to grips with [[MisanthropeSupreme what she had become]], Haman [[DrivenToSuicide killed herself]] in the name of giving the world a better future.
** After Colony:
*** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'': Treize Khushrenada, the leader of OZ, is a [[OfficerAndAGentleman brilliant military leader with a chivalrous spirit]]. Masterminding a purge of his rivals to rise even higher, Treize learns of the Colonies deploying the Gundams against the Earth Government, and conceals their existence to better use them as an advantage, even tricking Gundam pilot Heero into killing the leader of the earth alliance who was planning on making peace with the Colonies. Rebelling against OZ when the Romefeller Foundation takes over and institutes the AI mobile dolls, Treize systematically plays the entire war with his best friend Zechs Merquise to put themselves on opposite ends of the war and create a final, cataclysmic conflict to [[WellIntentionedExtremist traumatize humanity off war forevermore]]. Combining a brilliant mind with a sense of chivalry, Treize is even able to recall the names and faces of every man who has ever died to make his dreams a reality and considers [[{{Determinator}} no price too great for peace]], even his own life.
** Correct Century:
*** ''Anime/TurnAGundam'': Guin Sard Lineford is the former lord of the Principality of Inglessa, falling into disgrace with the defeat of his country, though managing to keep his influence thanks to his friendship with the Luziannan princess Lily Borjano. A young, ambitious and visionary lord, Guin successfully leads the forces of Earth against the technologically advanced Moonrace and study their advanced weapons. One of the heroes' smartest allies, Guin eventually betrays them to join Gym Ghingham, taking a role as the leader of a new technological revolution, which only fails because of the barbaric behaviour of the latter. Accepting his defeat at the hands of his former friend and political ally, Lily, Guin saves the protegee of Gym and escapes with her.
** Cosmic Era:
*** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'': No one hides their true intentions quite like Rau Le Creuset, ZAFT Commander and defective clone. Lacking his own sense of identity, and seeing the face of his "father" every time he looks in the mirror, Le Creuset believes the rest of humanity is suffering just as much as he is, and sets out to put the entire species out of its misery. Playing the role of Patrick Zala's right-hand man, Le Creuset sells ZAFT secrets to Blue Cosmos headman Muruta Azrael, prolonging the Bloody Valentine War, and ensuring that the conflict ends with mutual attempts at genocide, as Azrael tries to nuke the ZAFT colonies and Patrick fires his WaveMotionGun at Earth. Successful at masking his encroaching madness until the very end, Le Creuset dies smiling, convinced that the entire world will shortly be following after him.
*** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'': ZAFT Chairman Gilbert Durandal sees himself as [[DarkMessiah the saviour of Earth]] and nearly persuaded most of the planet to go along with it. Presenting himself as a moderate and a pacifist, Durandal made use of Lord Djibril and Blue Cosmos' blatant evil to launch an invasion of the Earth Sphere disguised as a liberation, using his own reputation for honesty and the services of Lacus Clyne impersonator Meer Campbell to camouflage his intentions, and scattering agents of [[StateSec FAITH]] throughout the ZAFT military to keep an eye on its loyalty. Preying on the emotional insecurities of those in his service, Durandal turned DecoyProtagonist Shinn Auska into the very thing he hated most, and kept veteran characters like Kira, Athrun, and Lacus out of the picture or unsure if they should oppose him for most of the series. Only killed when he loses the faith of his most loyal enforcer, [[BastardUnderstudy Rey]], Durandal dies convinced that he was right and that without his Destiniy Plan the [[WellIntentionedExtremist world is doomed]].
** Post Disaster:
*** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'': Rustal Elion is one of the Seven Stars who lead the military police force Gjallarhorn. A charismatic nobleman and brilliant military strategist, Rustal has the complete trust of his subordinates. When Rustal's rival in the Seven Stars, [=McGillis=], moves against him, Rustal engineers a small scale war to turn [=McGillis=]' allies, Tekkadan, against [=McGillis=]. While the war fails to break [=McGillis=] and Tekkadan's alliance, it does force Tekkadan to shut down their Earth branch, weakening the organization considerably. When the tensions between Rustal and [=McGillis=] lead to civil war, Rustal has one of his subordinates infiltrate [=McGillis=]' forces, [[FalseFlagOperation fire an illegal Dainsleif railgun]] at Rustal's fleet and commit suicide, giving Rustal [[PretextForWar justification to annihilate]] [=McGillis=] and Tekkadan. While political tensions ultimately force the Seven Stars to disband in favor of democratically elected leaders, Rustal still comes out ahead as he is elected leader of Gjallarhorn. Rustal remains a hero to the public and becomes the first BigBad of the franchise to win in the end.

* ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'': Kisame Hoshigaki at first appears only a 'thug lost in the mist' but is in truth one of the most level and devoted members of Akatsuki. After defeating Killer Bee, Kisame uses a plan to fake his own death with a White Zetsu clone and infiltrates bee's village of Kumogakure, gathering intelligence on the Allied Shinobi Forces. It is revealed later that Kisame was once tasked with eliminating traitors and potential captives in his home village of the Mist, even luring his treacherous teacher to his death to claim his sword Samehada. When exposed, Kisame uses clever tactics to preserve the intelligence and eventually, realizing he is not 'such a terrible man' after all, chooses to commit suicide rather than face capture, while using his last moments to rig the scroll with a trap that results in the intelligence finding its way to his superiors anyways, his death so impressive and touching that even the incredibly forgetful Might Guy, Kisame's [[UnknownRival supposed nemesis]] vows to remember Kisame for the rest of his life.

* ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'': Paul von Oberstein is the most ruthless of Reinhard von Lohengramm's inner circle. A man infamous for his DissonantSerenity and ruthlessly pragmatic advice, Oberstein devotes himself fully to Reinhard and his new dynasty, using his tactical and political brilliance to help entrench Reinhard as the rightful ruler of the crumbling Empire. Seeking to destroy the Goldenbaum dynasty, Oberstein hears that its mad prince Braunschweig is planning to nuke the rebellious colony Westmoreland, and intentionally delays Reinhard from hearing the news to let the attack happen. This has the effect of the entire empire unifying around Reinhard in revulsion, just as Oberstein planned. Oberstein makes himself a hated figure to keep any loathing directed from Reinhard, manipulating other admirals as he sees fit to keep Reinhard's empire safe and even uses himself as bait to lure out the last of the Terran cultists in the final episode to eliminate the final threat to Reinhard's rule, seemingly aware the empire he has forged has no place for him.

*** ''Anime/GundamSEEDDestiny'': ZAFT Chairman Gilbert Durandal sees himself as [[DarkMessiah the saviour of Earth]] and nearly persuaded most of the planet to go along with it. Presenting himself as a moderate and a pacifist, Durandal made use of Lord Djibril and Blue Cosmos' blatant evil to launch an invasion of the Earth Sphere disguised as a liberation, using his own reputation for honesty and the services of Lacus Clyne impersonator Meer Campbell to camouflage his intentions, and scattering agents of [[StateSec FAITH]] throughout the ZAFT military to keep an eye on its loyalty. Preying on the emotional insecurities of those in his service, Durandal turned DecoyProtagonist Shinn Auska into the very thing he hated most, and kept veteran characters like Kira, Athrun, and Lacus out of the picture or unsure if they should oppose him for most of the series. Only killed when he loses the faith of his most loyal enforcer, [[BastardUnderstudy Rey]], Durandal dies convinced that he was right and that without his Destiniy Plan the [[WellIntentionedExtremist world is doomed]].

*** ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'': [[DarkMessiah Titans Lieutenant Paptimus Scirocco]] is an EnigmaticMinion who graduates to taking over the organization. A brilliant tactician both in and out of a mobile suit, Scirocco excels at reading potential in his subordinates and outmaneuvers the Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG) to capture the strategic stronghold of the lunar city Von Braun. Leaving the day-to-day operations of the city in the hands of his antagonistic superior, Scirocco divulges the man's schemes to the AEUG and arranges for his death to gain more dominance within the Titans for himself. [[BigBadDuumvirate Forming an alliance with]] Haman Khan of Neo Zeon, Scirocco bolsters the strength of the Titans with the Axis military and [[TheStarscream personally assassinates the Titans leader]], Jamitov Hymem, assuming command over the syndicate and blaming Jamitov's death on Haman, rallying his forces to fight against her. Giving a former AEUG pilot he corrupted to his side an eloquent lecture on his ambitions for humanity, Scirocco engages the AEUG personally and reveals he has kept his alliance with Haman to revitalize the strength of his fleet. Even with his armada destroyed by the blast of a colony laser, Scirocco continues to fight [[TheHero Kamille Bidan]] and even in his dying moments, [[TakingYouWithMe destroys Kamille's consciousness]], unrelentingly unwilling to accept his vanquishment. Emotionally manipulative yet charming, charismatic and stylish, Scirocco proves himself to be every bit as brilliantly Machiavellian as he is mysterious.