History Main / NonChessMotifExamples

* The titular PhantomOfTheOpera is initially the {{Chessmaster}} until [[spoiler: the part where Christine rips his [[TheUnmasking mask off]] and the theatre burns down]]. He even has a model of Il Muto where the characters have interchangeable heads to help him in his plans.

* Hikawa from ''ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne'' manipulates people and events from the shadows, never taking any unnecessary actions and always moving towards his goal.

* Edgewood Dirk in ''A Princess of Landover'', by Terry Brooks. After Princess Mistaya gets expelled from school, her father King Benjamin decides to send her to Libiris, a place she is so desperate ''not'' to go that she [[RebelliousPrincess runs away from home instead]]. Along the way, she meets Edgewood Dirk, who, for reasons of his own, offers to help hide her from her father. He explains to her, the only way to hide her from the King, who, after all, has a magic device that lets him scry on almost any place within the kingdom, is for her to go to the absolutely last place where her father would think to look for her: Libiris--where, it turns out, Dirk wanted her to go for those aforementioned reasons of his own.

* The title character of Creator/AlexandreDumas' ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo''.
* Frank Herbert's ''{{Dune}}'' is filled with them, each with varying levels of skill and subtlety.

* ''Literature/JeevesAndWooster'': Jeeves is essentially a Chessmaster who uses his powers for good. His BatmanGambit is always the center of the behind-the-scenes plot, and his philosophy of manipulating people based on the "psychology of the individual" throws a little bit of ClockKing in there too.
* Sauron in LordOfTheRings.
* Zhuge Liang (styled Kongming) is portrayed as a Chessmaster (who skirts into MagnificentBastard territory quite often) throughout most of ''RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' (and [[DynastyWarriors subsequently in Koei's adaptations]]), and probably would have remained one if not for the inevitable weight of history: he dies in the middle of a campaign against his rival Sima Yi, still planning for the future and implementing plans. (Notably however, he has no association whatsoever with chess, since chess is after all not Chinese; his feather fan is far more iconic of him than any board game.)

* In the ''SherlockHolmes'' stories, both Professor Moriarty (Holmes's nemesis) and Sherlock Holmes himself demonstrate considerable Chessmaster talents, most notably in "The Final Problem." Unfortunately, most of the actual plays and counterplays take place offscreen and are merely [[NoodleIncident alluded to by Holmes]].
* Literature/TheContinentalOp of Creator/DashiellHammett's ''Literature/RedHarvest''. [[spoiler:He is hired by a man who is killed before he can give The Op the case, and to deal with this fact, the Op joins every gang in town, convinces each one that the others are playing against them. He almost gets killed, gets everyone else killed, and ends up framed for murder in a way that works out for him]]. The man was the inspiration for the samurai film ''Yojimbo'' which was later adapted into a western, ''A Fistful of Dollars''. Makes you wonder if Dashiell Hammett had this planned from the start...

* Robert Van Gulik's ''JudgeDee'', (based on traditional Chinese mysteries) is a subversion of this trope as he is constantly going up against Chessmasters and defeating them because life is NOT predictable - but chessmasters are, at least to Judge Dee! In his final case Dee is trapped by a chessmaster opponent but because he knows how such villains think manages to turn the trap on his rival.
* Subverted in "The Twisted Thing" by Mickey Spillane. Private eye MikeHammer is going crazy trying to sort out who killed a wealthy scientist in the midst of murder and blackmail attempts by all the potential heirs. He eventually realises that there is no money grubbing EvilPlan but a different motive -- the killer murdered the victim out of revenge, knowing that the crime would be obscured by everyone else scrabbling for his money.

* The BigBad of the ''ChroniclesOfPrydain'', Arawn the Death Lord, is such a master of deception and cunning among the people of Prydain that he is feared by all despite being [[AntiClimaxBoss spectacularly weak]]. Instead of force, he relies on shrewd manipulation of the lesser lords of Prydain into doing his bidding, and in fact comes much devastatingly closer to total victory than most [[EvilOverlord evil overlords]]. If only it weren't for that [[YouMeddlingKids meddling Assistant Pig Keeper...]].
* ''[[{{Ripliad}} The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'' is an interesting variation: he can create elaborate plans on the spur of the moment, then discard then with equal ease and start again. He starts out as a New York City valet and, through fate and quick thinking, [[spoiler: turns into a rich-but somewhat crazy-man living in Italy]].
* In Eleanor Updale's ''{{Montmorency}}'', the titular character has some Chessmaster tendencies, but they are completely trumped by the anarchists in the third and fourth books.
* In Carrie Vaughn's ''KittyNorville'' series, Mercedes Cook is revealed as this through her manipulation of Arturo and Rick into a vampire war. The fact she in turn is [[TheManBehindTheMan working for/being manipulated by]] [[spoiler:Roman]] only adds even more delicious levels of convolution...and since ''he'' is only stated to be a general in [[AncientConspiracy the Long Game]], chances are there's an OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness out there manipulating ''everyone'', which Kitty will [[TheChosenOne inevitably have to face down]].

* A relatively rare female example with Professor Jenna-Jane Mulbridge in Mike Carey's ''FelixCastor'' novels: while the series features demons and undead galore, moreover, it is the two human examples, Jenna-Jane and ChurchMilitant leader Father Thomas Gwillam, who draw the most ire from the protagonist.
* Steven Brust's ''[[{{Dragaera}} Yendi]]''. [[PlanetOfHats Members of House Yendi are famed]] for their machinations that sometimes take centuries to bear fruit (they live for a couple millennia, so they can be patient). It's a saying in the Empire that the only one who can decipher a Yendi's scheme is another Yendi.
* Arguably Gentleman John Marcone, from Jim Butcher's ''TheDresdenFiles''. While neither an antagonist (most of the time) nor a main character, Marcone in eleven books has brought the Chicago criminal underworld under his reasonably organized command, become aware of the supernatural world, [[spoiler: hired a Valkyrie, stole the freaking Shroud of Turin]], saved Harry's bacon several times and collected a large payment for it, and, in ''White Knight'', talked his way into [[spoiler: becoming a freeholding lord in the supernatural world. There are twenty such legal entities; Marcone is the only mortal]].

* Makina Seval of ''TheAssassinsOfTamurin'', whose GambitRoulette has been years in the making, spanning across an empire but never hitting a snag, and using players in the most obscure and unpredictable roles, who know ''absolutely nothing'' about what they're being used for.
* The titular character of the ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' series (being a TeenGenius he is naturally a literal chessmaster as well, though this gets only a passing mention).

* ''[[EndersGame Shadows of the Hegemon]]'' by OrsonScottCard is a [[GambitPileup Chessmaster free-for-all]], with Achilles betraying everyone, Peter playing his own games behind the mask of Locke, Petra working to screw Achilles from underneath him, and Bean formulating his own tactics and webs. The plot is so complex with betrayals, it's like reading a game of risk.
** The opening chapter of ''Ender In Exile'' showcases the Wiggins' chessmaster talents, as used on each other, except for Ender, who doesn't appear in that chapter, though when he does show up, he gets to show off his ability to manipulate others as well, albeit to a slightly lesser extent. Also: Hyrum Graff.

* The Puppeteers from Larry Niven's ''{{Ringworld}}''.
* The Duke of Wellington, as depicted in ''{{Sharpe}}''. To give just one example, he summons Sharpe out of retirement to see him with no explanation, tells him he wants Sharpe to rescue an unnamed missing agent in India, lets Sharpe refuse and walk out... only to find his best friend's wife sitting outside the office. "Oh, didn't I tell you? Mrs. Harper's husband is our missing man." In fairness, that's from the TV adaptation, and it isn't Nosey's idea, but rather the East India Company mandarin's (Wellington is quite uncomfortable the whole idea). A better example from the Sharpe books would be MagnificentBastard Lord Pumphrey in ''Sharpe's Prey'', ''Sharpe's Fury'' and ''Sharpe's Havoc'', who is the only Chessmaster whose schemes can survive Richard Sharpe:

* Kelsier, the main character from the first book of Brandon Sanderson's {{Mistborn}} series, is a nice inversion as a ''heroic'' Chessmaster. He demonstrates his talent through a multi-layered BatmanGambit.

* Waleran Bigod from ''ThePillarsOfTheEarth''.
* Emperor Ezar in LoisMcMasterBujold's ''[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Shards of Honor]]''. He starts a war that he knows he's going to lose, in order to: 1) Kill off his psychopathic son, 2) Discredit his political opponents, 3) Set up Aral Vorkosigan to become regent for his grandson. (Vorkosigan is only man he trusts to a) hold power for 13 years, and b) turn that power over to an 18 year old emperor who will no doubt be an idiot (since everyone is an idiot at 18.))
* 'Sticky Eye' Kawakami in ''CloudOfSparrows'' wants to be one, but he isn't very good at it. He compensates by being a truly fearsome ManipulativeBastard.
* Several characters in Megan Whalen Turner's ''[[TheQueensThief Queen's Thief]]'' series have Chessmaster attributes, if they aren't full Chessmasters - most notably, [[spoiler: the title queen]] in ''The Queen of Attolia''. [[spoiler:Nahuseresh]] in the same book ''tries'' to be one. [[spoiler:Eugenides]] is the best at it, successfully pulling off a BatmanGambit in every book. Interestingly enough, most do it for the purposes of good.
* Ardneh, from Fred Saberhagen's ''Empire of the East''. In the first volume, he actually quotes an ancient (especially by that time) real-world Hindu myth to the villain in order to tell him exactly how he's going to kill him. He then lets said villain get control of the invincible super-weapon in order to kill him in exactly the manner he said he would (with foam). In the process, he liberates the entire west coast from TheEmpire. In the second volume, he manipulates two of the villains from the first volume into {{Heel Face Turn}}s in order to defeat the demon, using the very fact that the main villain of that volume has moved his one vulnerability to a more secure location. And then, in the third volume, he wipes out TheEmpire, and most of the world's most powerful demons, [[ThanatosGambit in a single stroke]].
* Paladine, in the ''{{Dragonlance}} Chronicles'', but especially in the ''Legends''. In the former, he recruits and manipulates the RagtagBunchOfMisfits into saving the world, while [[spoiler:disguised as the [[ObfuscatingStupidity senile pyromaniac Fizban]]]]. In the latter, he actually lets [[spoiler:Raistlin [[ThanatosGambit kill him]] and destroy the world]] in an alternate future, so that when Caramon travels back in time and shows Raistlin said future, Raist finally repents.

* Admiral Sun Ji Guoming from the DaleBrown novel ''Fatal Terrain'' carries out an unconventional warfare plan that succeeds in getting the rest of the world to see China as a VillainWithGoodPublicity even as it [[NukeEm nukes Taiwan]]. This plan also makes Taiwan and the US look like aggressors, at least twice fooling them into misusing their military might. He comes quite close to his goal of retaking Taiwan.

* Lisbeth Salander of Stieg Larsson's ''MillenniumTrilogy'', if she doesn't start as a chessmaster, certainly ''becomes'' one by the end of the third book. As an example, [[spoiler:she encounters her half-brother Roland Niedemann, who has repeatedly tried to kill her. Now, she could just kill him, and thereby give the authorities cause to start pursuing her again. So, she doesn't do this. She makes an anonymous tip to the gangster scum who previously employed him, and now want to kill him. Then she makes an anonymous tip to the police that said gangster scum have likely murdered Niedemann. In doing so, she manages to wipe out three of her enemies without any of them knowing she is responsible for doing so]].
* "Mister X" in the third ''EmpireFromTheAshes'' book, whose elaborate plans stretch back ten years or more and involve minions buried ''everywhere'' in the government, military, and largest terrorist organization (until they serve their function, at which point [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they inevitably die]]).
* Merlin from ''TheWarlordChronicles'' makes sure that plenty of powerful people on all sides he has influence on owe him favours, and that everybody fears his [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane questionable magical powers]], simply to ensure that he can always recruit people for his personal quest for the Treasures of Britain. If his goals were less abstract and religious, he could have probably controlled the entire island from behind the various thrones.
* From Peter F. Hamilton's HumanxCommonwealth novels, we have [[spoiler:The Starflyer]]. The action starts with this Chessmaster funding an astronomical observation that indirectly kicks off a genocidal war, has minions working at the highest levels of the military (helping humanity just enough so that the two sides can destroy each other), has another minion hosting one of the highest rated news shows, with more minions everywhere you look. [[spoiler: It takes most of two books for all of the good guys to become convinced that the Starflyer even exists. It doesn't appear on stage until near the end of the second book... the only clues to its existence are the behavior of its agents]].

* Viviane in ''TheMistsOfAvalon''. Ultimately to little avail and the general detriment of everyone involved.

* Prince Vassily Kuragin in ''WarAndPeace''. ItRunsInTheFamily too, as Anatole and Elena (not [[UpperClassTwit Ippolit]]) exhibit traits of the Chessmaster, just not to the degree their father does.

* NormanOsborn of ''{{Spider-Man}}'' is another contender in this category. Brought BackFromTheDead when Marvel needed a "[[AuthorsSavingThrow Get Out Of Clone Saga Free]]" card, Osborn has more than made up for lost time. For a while, every other Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}} story was turning out to be some sub-sub-plan of Osborn's.
* TheKingpin is another Chessmaster, especially where {{Daredevil}} is concerned. (Daredevil seems to attract them -- even the two-bit villain Mysterio became one when he took on DD.)
* {{Thanos}} is a staple Chessmaster in many cosmic [[CrisisCrossover crossovers]] in the MarvelUniverse. It's frequently [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] how other characters (especially heroes) exist solely to be manipulated by him for whatever agenda he might have at the moment.
* While the comic series ''{{Sleepwalker}}'' is relatively obscure and ran for only 33 issues, its BigBad Cobweb is a brilliant Chessmaster, [[EvilPlan using Sleepwalker as a way to invade Earth while framing him as the demonic invasion's leader]].

* Destiny Ajaye from Top Cow's ''[[http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?gid=590 Genius]]''

* In the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' fanfic ''The Council Era'', the advisor to the Krogan Overlord, Halak Marr, definitely qualifies as a Chessmaster. In order to bolster his army in preparation for the war with the Citadel, [[spoiler:Marr preserved specimens of the dezba (who would naturally have retained a major grudge against the Citadel over their people's genocide) and began a project to resurrect a dezban chieftain, a la Project Lazarus in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'']]. As mentioned on the UnwittingPawn page, he usurped his superior in order to enact his dreams of the krogan as a MasterRace. He successfully forced Tyrin Lieph to allow his people to take a majority in the Citadel military and give the krogan a Council seat through an excellently-executed plan. He also antagonized the already fragile relationship between the manaba people and the Citadel by faking an attempt on his life by manaban extremists.
* [[spoiler: Jeft]] in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached''. [[spoiler: He maneuvered three of the four into getting their major magic, set up the entire Vasyn quest, fooled the other Fans into thinking it was real by having an AI play the Dalns gods, and moved the Vasyn pieces into “entertaining” places for the four to struggle with. He was so overconfident that during the quest for the third piece, he openly forced the four to travel with his best character, the Hunter, which finally clued Varx and Shag into his duplicity]].
* ''Fanfic/SoulChess'' used to focus on [[MagnificentBastard Lelouch]] and [[GodModeSue Aizen]] trying to [[UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny fight for control over the Soul Society]]. [[spoiler: Lelouch wins, but Aizen comes back from Hell for Round 2]].

* The WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic crossover story FanFic/AHollowInEquestria portrays Princess Celestia as attempting to be this, and failing miserably at every turn.

* In ''LittleSweetheart'' nine year old Thelma (8 and 364 days at the start of the movie) manipulates her new and only friend, her mother, her uncle, the police, the new neighbors who happen to be bank robbers on the run and everyone else she meets throughout the movie. [[spoiler: Only one thing goes wrong: her friend doesn't die after going face down in the ocean after an arm shot and what was either a torso or '''headshot''' for several minutes. The friend is also nine]].

* Scar from ''Disney/TheLionKing''

* For a character who ''claims'' to hate the convoluted plans, ''Film/TheDarkKnight'''s Joker is skilled at making them. Unless he's [[IndyPloy making it up as he goes along]], [[ChaoticEvil which is quite possible]]. [[AxCrazy The Joker's sadism]] also leads him to pull off some [[ShootTheDog nasty]] (although thwarted) {{Evil Plan}}s.
* [[spoiler: Miles Axlerod]] from ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Cars}} Cars 2]]''. In order to turn all the cars in the world away from alternative energy, [[spoiler: Axlerod]] actually invents an explosive chemical called Allinol which he pretends is actually a safe alternative fuel, and he promotes Allinol with the World Grand Prix, a series of races where the world's fastest racecars must compete in three races taking place in different parts of the world. [[spoiler: Axlerod]] then order his [[TheDragon Dragon]], Professor Z and his army of [[{{Mooks}} Lemons]] to use a powerful radiation cannon to blast away said racecars once the race is in session, then makes everyone think that Z is the one behind the evil plot and not him. After the second race, which takes place in Italy, [[spoiler: Axlerod]] tells everyone that Allinol is actually dangerous and forces the racecars to use ordinary fuel, because since [[spoiler: Axlerod]] secretly owns the largest oil supply in the entire world, he and the Lemons will become unstoppable once alternative energy has been shunned from society, but tricks Lightning [=McQueen=] into still using Allinol so that the Lemons can blow him up. Unfortunately for [[spoiler: Axlerod]], Sarge secretly removed the Allinol from [=McQueen=]'s body and instead replaces it with [[TheOtherDarrin Fillmore's]], and as a result he has no other choice but to install a detonator onto Mater's body as a last-minute attempt to kill that racecar.
** Unfortunately for him makes a mistake by leaking oil which allows Mater to move up the board and eventually force him into checkmate.
* [[spoiler: Dylan]] in ''Film/NowYouSeeMe''.
* The RedSkull, as portrayed in ''CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', was so DangerouslyGenreSavvy in [[spoiler:dispersing his resources throughout Europe]] that he was able to make his DoomsdayDevice. [[spoiler:Captain America and his allies were only able to stop his final plan at the last possible moment]].

* Zhuge Liang (styled Kongming) is portrayed as a Chessmaster (who skirts into MagnificentBastard territory quite often) throughout most of ''RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' (and [[DynastyWarriors subsequently in Koei's adaptations]]), and probably would have remained one if not for the inevitable weight of history: he dies in the middle of a campaign against his rival Sima Yi, still planning for the future and implementing plans. (Notably however, he has no association whatsoever with chess, since chess is after all not Chinese; his feather fan is far more iconic of him than any board game.)
** Cao Cao counts as well (especially in real life), but he's given the IdiotBall when confronting Zhuge Liang
* Chessmasters are common in Korean historical epics. Or at least Strategists. Perhaps it comes of the old Far Eastern tradition of cloak-and-dagger stories that goes back to the likes of Sun Tzu.

* [[spoiler:Smerdyakov]] in ''Literature/TheBrothersKaramazov''. He believed he could engineer Fyodor Karamazov's murder via a GambitRoulette which involved [[spoiler:giving eldest son Dmitri all the tools and [[ManipulativeBastard motivational nudges]] necessary to murder the old man - a set of signals to gain entry into the house, certain dates on which Fyodor's servants would be incapable of interfering, and the (later revealed to be false) location in the house of a [[BriefcaseFullOfMoney sealed envelope containing three thousand roubles]]]]. It didn't work out quite the way he expected.
* Prince Vassily Kuragin in ''WarAndPeace''. ItRunsInTheFamily too, as Anatole and Elena (not [[UpperClassTwit Ippolit]]) exhibit traits of the Chessmaster, just not to the degree their father does.
-->"According to his circumstances and his intimacy with people, he constantly formed various plans and schemes which he himself was not quite aware of, but which constituted all the interest of his life. He would have not one or two or these plans and schemes going, but dozens, of which some were only beginning to take shape for him, while others were coming to completion, and still others were abolished."

* [[Literature/JeevesAndWooster Jeeves]] is essentially a Chessmaster who uses his powers for good. His BatmanGambit is always the center of the behind-the-scenes plot, and his philosophy of manipulating people based on the "psychology of the individual" throws a little bit of ClockKing in there too.

* Hari Seldon of Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''{{Foundation}}'' series, who actually figures out the "chess rules" of humanity in the form of psychohistory, then uses that knowledge to engineer the recovery of the Empire after an unavoidable social collapse. Seldon is depicted as good; the AncientConspiracy that follows in his footsteps... sort of.
** Even more so than him, R. Daneel Olivaw. Over the course of his twenty-odd thousand year lifespan (he's a robot) he manages to: Engineer humanity's final exodus to the stars, set up the First Galactic Empire, manipulate Hari Seldon into developing his psychohistory in the first place, make sure the plan goes off as it should, and finally set the universe on track to [[spoiler:evolve into a single, all-encompassing consciousness]]. All this whilst being bound by the [[Creator/IsaacAsimov Three Laws Of Robotics]], which he and a fellow robot manage to subvert by realizing that [[spoiler:a law even more overriding than the one prohibiting homicide is one "the zeroth law" prohibiting harm to the human race]]. This is all well and good until the obvious problem arises: [[spoiler:judging what's good or bad for humanity. Ultimately, the entire unitary-consciousness push is undertaken in order to subsume the zeroth law into the first and resolve the bind they've created for themselves]].
* Frank Herbert's ''{{Dune}}'' is filled with them, each with varying levels of skill and subtlety.
** The Bene Gesserit tried to execute all their schemes through Chessmaster ploys, many of which spanned generations, to prevent people from realizing how much power their organization really had.
** The master of it though would be the God Emperor Leto II, who was so much better than everyone else that [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning even dying was part of his plans]], and didn't seem to hinder his continuing influence much at all.
** The Bene Tleilax also get a lot of this in Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune.
*** They build an intrinsic subversion into their own Chessmastery: it's no fun unless the victim has a possible way out. The thing which fascinates the Tleilaxu is seeing whether said victim can find it.

* Literature/SisterhoodSeries by Creator/FernMichaels: Charles Martin, former agent of MI6 and Franchise/JamesBond {{Expy}}, is definitely this. He works for the Vigilantes and it could be argued that he uses this trope for good, but he is an AntiHero. He tries his hardest to come up with foolproof plans for the Vigilantes to use in order to succeed in their missions. However, there have been times when those plans go awry, and he ''really'' hates it when that happens. ''Under The Radar'' reveals that he has a large network of contacts and agents who are well-funded and good at their job, which helps to explain how his plans are effective. By ''Vanishing Act'', however, the Vigilantes make it clear to Charles that they call the shots and not him, and that he had best stop lording over them or he will get the boot.
* Edgewood Dirk in ''A Princess of Landover'', by Terry Brooks. After Princess Mistaya gets expelled from school, her father King Benjamin decides to send her to Libiris, a place she is so desperate ''not'' to go that she [[RebelliousPrincess runs away from home instead]]. Along the way, she meets Edgewood Dirk, who, for reasons of his own, offers to help hide her from her father. He explains to her, the only way to hide her from the King, who, after all, has a magic device that lets him scry on almost any place within the kingdom, is for her to go to the absolutely last place where her father would think to look for her: Libiris--where, it turns out, Dirk wanted her to go for those aforementioned reasons of his own.
* Discussed in Lord Chesterfield's ''Literature/LettersToHisSon''. "A man who hath studied the world knows when to time, and where to place them; he hath analyzed the characters he applies to, and adapted his address and his arguments to them" (letter 163)
* ''Literature/SongAtDawn'': Moving pieces and outgambitting are required skills for anyone in this setting: nobles, merchants, bishops, bodyguards, etc. The greatest of them is [[spoiler: al-Hisba who plays everyone to accomplish his own objective while placating his enemies and helping a friend]].
* ''The Hostage Prince'' by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple features the Chessmaster [[spoiler: Jack Daw, who is the only one kind to the hostage prince, Aspen, for many years, and then convinces him that he's about to be assassinated. Aspen runs back to his home kingdom, only to discover that he was actually safe, Jack Daw had lied, and now the two realms of Seelie and Unseelie must go to war because he ran away]].

* Senator/Chancellor/Supreme Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine in the ''StarWars'' prequel trilogy. Got a less-than-scrupulous faction to blockade/invade his backwater homeworld just to get the old leader kicked out and himself elected in the process. Then gets his apprentice to start a war to increase his authority under "wartime powers". Then gets his sworn antitheses to attempt to thwart him so he can declare them enemies of the state and use his "severely disfigured in an attempt on my life" sob story to get enough sympathy to be named dictator for life. While [[PlayingBothSides playing both sides of the board,]] so as to have a backup plan if something went wrong (presumably, just sabotage the clones from the Republic side and conquer the galaxy with droids. Not that he ever needed to.)

* Arguably Gentleman John Marcone, from Jim Butcher's ''TheDresdenFiles''. While neither an antagonist (most of the time) nor a main character, Marcone in eleven books has brought the Chicago criminal underworld under his reasonably organized command, become aware of the supernatural world, [[spoiler: hired a Valkyrie, stole the freaking Shroud of Turin,]] saved Harry's bacon several times and collected a large payment for it, and, in ''White Knight'', talked his way into [[spoiler: becoming a freeholding lord in the supernatural world. There are twenty such legal entities; Marcone is the only mortal]].

** He was stage-managing things before that. He's been running rings around Tom Riddle since Riddle was just a weird kid in an orphanage, though he could never prove Riddle did any of the misdeeds he did whilst in school because Riddle was clever and covered it up. Dumbledore had to change his plans when he confirmed that Voldemort had [[spoiler: created horcruxes,]] and this was at the end of the second book. Despite already having theories years in the making prior to that discovery, he only made ''confirmed'' active moves to find the [[spoiler:horcruxes]] in the sixth book. While he was uncertain of what Voldemort had done in years prior, he did a lot of research on his history and personality to finally vanquish him. Some state that Dumbledore manipulated Harry, however, other argue that he did not. They believe he gave Harry a choice to live or die, and only put Harry with the Dursleys to protect him with the blood connection, rather than having ulterior motives. Dumbledore also suspected Harry was truly safe from Voldemort at the end of the fourth book when Voldemort took Harry's blood.

* ''[[EndersGame Shadows of the Hegemon]]'' by OrsonScottCard is a [[GambitPileup Chessmaster free-for-all,]] with Achilles betraying everyone, Peter playing his own games behind the mask of Locke, Petra working to screw Achilles from underneath him, and Bean formulating his own tactics and webs. The plot is so complex with betrayals, it's like reading a game of risk.

* Captain Benjamin Sisko manages to be one on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', episode "In the Pale Moonlight". In truth, he [[spoiler: asks for Garak's help, who, in the end, proves to be the real chessmaster.]]

** There's also the epic scheming of [[spoiler:Cassidy Casablancas.]] Not only did he kill a dozen people, keep any attention off him for months, manipulate and blackmail his way through the stock market, he's also the only person I can ''ever'' remember lying to Veronica's face and not having her suspect at ''all''. [[spoiler:And he's just 16.]] He's ''good'' dammit.
* Stringer Bell of ''Series/TheWire'' is a cunning and ruthless player in Baltimore's drug game who manipulates and betrays those around him to advance his own goals. That said, he's not quite as good at it as he thinks, and is eventually conned out of a lot of money by the even more shrewd Clay Davis. [[spoiler:His plan to set Omar Little and Brother Mouzone against each other backfires on him fatally.]]
** Stringer has more flash, but he can't hold a candle to Prop Joe [[spoiler:who is the actually the one who came up with the idea of putting Omar on Mouzone, but was smart enough to route the plan through Stringer, and thus avoided all of the blowback. When we first meet Joe, plays Avon and Stringer by getting them to double-down on their basketball bet (by holding back a ringer on his team). Later, runs a fairly brilliant gambit to bring Marlo into the co-op (earning himself a nice little payday in the process). Ultimately, he was too slow in getting out of Marlo's way, but unlike Stringer, he saw his doom coming and managed to die with some dignity.]]

** Gatehouse, who's very skilled at planning events in his favour, to the point where the BBC website actually calls him a puppetmaster. [[spoiler:Indeed, it's his skill at this that ensures his ultimate victory.]]

* Ruby in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. Though there is always suspicion amongst the rest of the characters that she is playing Sam, the enormous scale of her plans aren't revealed until [[spoiler:Sam kills Lilith and it is revealed that Lilith was the last seal all along, and Ruby has been working towards Lucifer's release since the very beginning.]]

* The song ''You're Gonna Go Far Kid'' by The Offspring talks about a chessmaster. ''Another clever word/sets off an unsuspecting herd/And as you step back into line/a mob jumps to their feet....''

** One rilmani of note is Jemorille the Exile, the rilmani assigned to Sigil. He's supposed to be a chessmaster, but if what he says is true, all of his attempts to preserve the Balance have caused [[EpicFail Epic Fails]], causing disasters and cataclysms. (For example, he claims he taught the halfling Rajaat magic, which if true, means he's indirectly responsible for [[DarkSun Athas]] becoming [[DeathWorld the place it is today]], although he insists it [[NeverMyFault wasn't his fault]]. He was assigned to Sigil because the other rilmani thought that would be an easy job, [[spoiler:but he even managed to mess that up, starting the chain of events that led to the Faction War.]]

* ''FinalFantasyTactics'' was completely filled with [[GambitPileup Chessmaster-on-Chessmaster action]]. [[spoiler:The Galbados Church was trying to manipulate commoner legends to set themselves up as faux-saviors in the Lion War. The church's new "Zodiac Braves" were actually the demonic Lucavi, playing the church for fools and using the bloodshed of the Lion War to revive their leader. Both Prince Larg and Goltana were using the recent death of the King to try and place their preferred puppet candidates on the throne, setting themselves up as Regent. Dycedarg was using Larg, hoping to kill him and take his place in the whole plot. And Delita was outmaneuvering them all, using the church and Goltana to set himself as the new king by marrying Ovelia (The fact that he seemed to genuinely like her was almost problematic for him), and using the protagonist to stop the Lucavi, as he couldn't deal with them personally without screwing up the rest of his plans. Delita succeeded, and every other contender was dead when the dust settled.]] About the only people ''not'' trying to screw everyone else like a two-dicked billygoat was the protagonist and his crew, but his actions definitely were manipulated for other peoples' gain.

** Not as though this is his first act of such. He's been doing this for years as revealed in ''VideoGame/BeforeCrisis'' wherein [[spoiler:he was shown to be the financial backer and chessmaster behind the second incarnation of the ecoterrorist group AVALANCHE, simply because he wanted his father out of the way. Though, the whole thing does come back to bite him on the ass with the third incarnation of the group in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' proper.]]
** Though, this trait runs in the family as we see in ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' with [[spoiler:Rufus' all-bastard half-brother Lazard is revealed to be effectively using both SOLDIER and the Genesis Army to play chess ''with himself'' in his efforts to topple the company. But again, it all comes back to bite him in the ass when people start investigating him too closely and he ends up a victim of the very same SendInTheClones style plot he had been orchestrating. It proves though that only by having his ''DNA rewritten'' will he ever stop being a Shinra. Which he absolutely hates being, but in trying to destroy his family, he proves how much of a Shinra he really is.]]

** Everything that has happened in the ''KingdomHearts'' saga from ''Birth by Sleep'' onwards can be traced back to Master Xehanort, although [[spoiler: his future incarnations kind of drifted away from his original plan]]. Sheer [[ThePowerOfFriendship Power Of Friendship]] is the only reason his plan to restart the Keyblade War didn't succeed at the Keyblade Graveyard, [[spoiler: and after losing all his memories, he's able to continue his plans in some form thanks to Braig.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' could feature a football team full of chessmasters. Just to name a few who were playing (and they were each manipulating each other): [[spoiler:Miang, Krelian, Grahf]]

* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' (in various timelines), Shu Shirakawa and Ingram Prisken often act as chessmasters, manipulating the protagonists into doing their bidding unwittingly, and with unparalleled amounts of panache (Shu has even garnered an unwanted harem in the past). Interestingly, they take to the field of battle quite often, but this is perhaps solely to show off their (incredibly cool) Humongous Mecha. Due to the crossover nature of the series, Shu and Ingram have butted heads with each other, [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]], [[ZetaGundam The Titans]], [[GiantRobo Big Fire]], and various other factions and have generally come out on top. They could also be considered a subversion of this trope,[[spoiler:because they themselves are being forced to do the bidding of higher powers, and actually fall under direct control of them on several occasions. The protagonists generally end up killing them, or being unable to prevent their deaths. Ironically, after noting just before dying that he was now free of all the chains that bound him, Shu is actually brought back from the dead to resume his previous role. Perhaps proving what a magnificent bastard he is, Shu is actually -released- from his bonds upon his resurrection. Whether or not this was intentional is up in the air, but if it was, it most definitely counts as a GambitRoulette.]]
* ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' has [[spoiler: Dimentio]]. [[spoiler:Not only did he pull all the strings behind the plan to cause [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of all worlds]] with a damned great EvilPlan he tried to get Mario and crew to join him by saying that [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans he was doing the right thing for a perfect world]].]]
* Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Aldersberg in ''TheWitcher'' computer game, who [[spoiler:used crime group ''Salamandra'' along with mad wizard under his power, sparked full-scale racial war and manipulated the whole bunch of people to solidify the power of his Order - and all this just to save humanity from his vision of terrible future, which makes him into WellIntentionedExtremist as well. ]]

** In ''AceAttorneyInvestigations 2'', the chess motif becomes literal, with Edgeworth engaging in "Logic Chess" to get people to talk. There's also a witness who is obsessed with chess, and another who plays long-distance chess with the former. [[spoiler:The real {{Chessmaster}} of the game is the former's best friend and the latter's protege, and the one acting as courier for their games. Amusingly, he himself doesn't particularly like chess. He does, however, take the grandmaster title for the role, masterminding every murder in the game save one and manipulating most of the cast to do his bidding.]]

* [[MagnificentBastard Revolver Ocelot]] of ''Videogame/MetalGearSolid'' was described in one FanFic as "the only person ever to successfully pull off an octuple cross". Said octuple cross must have been a pretty small operation by his standards. [[spoiler:Actually, the worst he manages ''is'' a octuple cross, betraying Colonel Gurlucovitch, Richard Ames, James Johnson, Olga Gurlucovitch, Fortune, George Sears, the Patriots and [[MindScrew the player himself. Let's put it this way, by the end of MGS4, you discover the entire series was about two competing chessmasters...both of them are Ocelot]].]]

** At the end of that same game, He exploited his own cultural influence technologies and a law ''he passed'' at the beginning of the game to override the normal limitations on ship movement in order to place the final starbase he needed in order to wipe out his remaining rivals and end the game. [[http://computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=198344 Day 30.]] I cried at the beauty of the move:

** He's come a long way since his [[http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=161570&site=pcg last GalCiv II game]], then. In that attempt, [[spoiler:it took him the entire game to realize that all of his strategies and tactics were merely a sideshow to some byzantine maneuvering between the [=AI=] opponents, and the only reason he hadn't been exterminated by one faction long ago was because they knew it would allow another faction to win.]]

** On the villain's side, there is [[spoiler: Yu Yevon and Yunalesca.]] The former sacrifices an entire city so that the latter can build a cycle of SenselessSacrifice in his name.

* ''{{Tsukihime}}'' has, of all people, [[spoiler:Kohaku - the cheerful and seemingly carefree maid who ends up single-handedly killing off the entire Tohno family in Hisui's True Ending (and comes close in the other paths too). She gives Akiha her blood to awaken the Tohno blood in her, as well as being responsible for the resultant insanity of the real SHIKI. On top of that, she leads Shiki into believing HE'S the one responsible for all the murders and that it won't stop until SHIKI dies. Oh, and during the final battle, she deliberately gets herself attacked knowing there's a good chance that Akiha will jump in the way and sacrifice herself to save her. All this while [[StepfordSmiler never letting go of that cheerful smile]], even up to her eventual suicide after her revenge is complete.]]
* If you are in a ''{{Suikoden}}'' game and your last name is Silverberg, chances are you're a Chessmaster. If your name is Lucretia Merces, you are a [[GambitRoulette crazy, crazy chessmaster.]]

* A somewhat odd version occurs in ''VideoGame/{{Sanitarium}}''. It initially appears that the BigBad has an incredibly elaborate plan to stop TheHero. However, it later turns out that [[spoiler: there are two versions of the villain: one in the real world and one in a parallel world. Each was attacking the hero independently of the other, meaning that the elaborate plan was actually two simpler plans. Although both versions still fit this trope, the fact that the plan wasn't as elaborate as initially thought makes them somewhat diminished variations.]]

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has the leader of Cerberus, the Illusive Man, who pulls string after string to get things to go as he wants them to throughout the game. He does, however, make one flaw- he under-estimates Commander Shepard. Depending on the player's actions, [[spoiler:Shepard can disobey the Illusive Man by blowing up a "potential resource", after which possibly telling him to "fall in line or step aside- but don't get in my way", and potentially getting Cerberus' most loyal and intelligent operative to disobey a direct order and quit in the same moment.]]
** Harbinger: [[spoiler: Sends Collector's to find and destroy Shepard. Attacks human colonies in order to build Human-Reaper, but eventually decides to use the project to lure Shepard to him. [[XanatosGambit Then he leads the Reapers on a charge to the Alpha Relay, forcing Shepard to either let them through it or destroy it, killing 300,000 batarians and earning the hatred of the whole galaxy.]]]]
** The cake must go to [[spoiler: the Shadow Broker]]. He [[spoiler: killed his master and took control of his information network. He uses that network to keep himself in power, playing rivals off against each other and controlling galactic espionage in order to prevent anyone gaining the upper hand, and thus making sure his service are no longer.]]

* In ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', we have [[CardCarryingVillain Hazama]] / Yuuki Terumi. While one of the most powerful people in the world, Hazama has manipulated dozens if no hundreds of people into furthering his evil deeds. [[spoiler:He even ends up outwitting an omniscient supercomputer that has three minds and runs reality.]] Just don't mention a [[spoiler:[[SpannerInTheWorks certain]] [[PluckyGirl squirrel girl]]]] to him.

* Lord Alden in ''VideoGame/VanguardBandits'' is a literal chessmaster, being the best player on the continent and rumored to be undefeated. [[spoiler: Then [[LoveInterest Milea]] beats him in her second time playing the game at all.]] Meanwhile [[BigBad big bad Faulkner]], is more of the moving and controlling of wars type of Chessmaster. And he's very, very good at it.

** [[spoiler:The Water Dragon]] counts too. [[spoiler:She uses Li's entire gambit to ensure the PlayerCharacter will be bringing her back from the dead. How she pulls this off is a combination of MyDeathIsOnlyTheBeginning with the PC as the guy dying and an UnexplainedRecovery with a little dash of RoaringRampageOfRevenge.]]

* The ending of ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'' reveals that the course of the entire game is orchestrated by [[spoiler:Ray, who is actually Missile from an AlternateTimeline where he did not have the necessary ghost tricks to save anyone, so he goes back in time and waits for ten years for the right moment to come around again, so he could manipulate Sissel's self-interest into saving Lynne and everyone else that could be a lead in Sissel's QuestForIdentity.]]

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': Ganondorf seeks entry into the Sacred Realm so he can claim the Triforce. The entrance is barred by a lock requiring 3 Spiritual Stones and the Ocarina of Time. He allows Link to collect the stones and knew that Zelda would entrust the ocarina to him. Using this to his advantage, he simply waits for Link to bring all of items to the Temple of Time, waits for Link to lift the Master Sword, and then waltz in to steal the Triforce right in front of him after the sword puts Link in a deep sleep. [[spoiler: Ganondorf only obtains the Triforce of Power and he knew Zelda held the Triforce of Wisdom while Link held the Triforce of Courage. Rather than taking Link head on or endlessly search for Zelda, Ganondorf lets Link undo the corruption in the temples so that Zelda could be lured out of hiding, making her believe that Link was making progress. He is proven right and he snatches Zelda away to lure Link to him, having all 3 Triforce pieces in one place.]]
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': Ganondorf's powers are sealed by the Master Sword and the sword needs to be removed from its shinre to restore his powers. Already knowing firsthand at what the sword can do to him, [[spoiler: Ganondorf kills the two sages that are praying for the Master Sword, which is the source of its power. By doing so, the Master Sword would be nothing more than a normal sword. He knows Link would go and obtain the sword to strike him down with, so he lets Link go through his trials to reach the sunken Hyrule and unsheathe the sword. Ganondorf gets his power back and Link can't stop him due to the sword having no power left. Knowing that Zelda has the Triforce of Wisdom and Link has the Triforce of Courage, he lets Link go around the Great Sea obtaining the Triforce fragments and waits for him to return to Hyrule to see Zelda. Once Link does so, Ganondorf snatches Zelda away and then he successfully extracts Zelda and Link's triforce pieces to form the complete Triforce. If the King of Hyrule hadn't stepped in to make his wish to the Triforce first, Ganondorf would have succeeded in his plans.]]
* ''Super Smash Bros Brawl'' had a single-player mode named the Subspace Emissary that actually had a plot, and a good one too, about the various heroes banding together to stop the world being destroyed. In this mode it turned out that [[spoiler: King Dedede, of all people]] was the one with the best plan: he protected himself by [[spoiler: appearing to be a bad guy]], created a backup reserve so that if the rest of the heroes were wiped out then there could still be some left who were ignored before but could now take up the quest and incapacitated some of the other villains as he did this. He did this with [[spoiler: badges on a timer that could restore the defeated fighters he had collected for safekeeping in his castle back to life, so that they would be safe until the time was right and they were needed.]] No-one saw this coming - not even smart characters like Ganondorf. Read the above entry on legend of Zelda, and know that Ganondorf was OutGambitted by this guy.

** Generally [[BigBadWannabe Nale is too unsuccessful to be counted.]] [[LukeIAmYourFather Tarquin is a better example.]]

** And in comic 830, [[spoiler: Red Cloak is revealed to be one who's manipulating Xycon.]]

* Yukizane Masamune from ''NoNeedForBushido'', is also one of the few 'good' Chessmasters. He starts out in the series as being questioned on his leadership capacity due to his silliness and focus on playing Go (the Japanese answer to chess) as opposed to grunting manly and flexing. He, however manages to shine several times and manages to ''deceive a ninja.''
* Parodied or... something... by ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff400/fv00397.htm here.]]

*** [[spoiler:The new ship AI 'Tag" finished to discover his true plan but only revealed the Social Ingenering from the government to let Petey know that he know he is the one the manipulated them into it.]] (ironicly the only clue that permit to the AI "Tag" to come to this conclusion was the analysis that the UNS government leadership is too short-sighted to plan that much.

* In spite of her misleading middle name, Pandora Chaos Raven of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' is the ''epitome'' of this trope. As an Immortal who has lived for millenia, her joy comes from ''not'' [[PrescienceIsPredictable knowing what will happen next.]] Despite this, her actions are cold and calculated, and she pulls the strings of everyone she meets. Her tendency to stay behind the scenes is not due to any sort of weakness (Immortals possess near god-like power when on the Spirit Plane, and can use magic without being detected), but rather because the ''other'' Immortals get seriously pissed off if one does anything more than empower or guide people on the Physical Plane. That, and doing everything herself would just be boring to her.

* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' has Dr. Schlock, who seems like a harmless coward and ChewToy with some minor ManipulativeBastard tendencies for a long time until Hereti-Corp finally pushes him too far by becoming a never-ending threat to the one thing he cares the most about (his own well-being). At this point, pushed into a corner, he feels forced to [[spoiler: execute a plot to take over H-C and become the new DiabolicalMastermind behind its schemes, taking everyone by surprise and becoming the closest active character to a BigBad in the comic.]]
* MitadakeSaga: [[spoiler: Keiichi Hideki.]]

* Skerry from ''{{Fite}}'', who uses a more generic gameboard rather than a chessboard. [[spoiler:And really, he's just a doctor trying to wake Lucco from his coma.]]

* The Architect ([[Film/TheMatrix no, not that one]]) is hinted at being this in ShadowhunterPeril. However, he tends to go against the grain of the usual Chessmaster, as he is a genuine hero...he's just hiding a lot. [[spoiler: He's actually a dimension hopper who has visited multiple universes and seen how events will play out depending on the choices made, so he's just really knowledgeable because of his experience.]]

** Her father, EvilOverlord Ozai, prefers the 'set the chessboard on fire and stand back laughing maniacally' approach, rather than messing about with all those fiddly little pieces. [[spoiler: Until her VillainousBreakdown,]] Azula was a genuine (and, fortunately for Ozai, genuinely ''[[DaddysGirl loyal]]'') Chessmaster, so she got to do all the thinking.

**** Effectively, Azula plays this trope straight, using [[BatmanGambit plots,]] [[LackOfEmpathy her skills as]] [[ManipulativeBastard a 'people-person']] and [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy good ol' situational awareness]] to deal with her enemies; [[DarkActionGirl kicking ass]] and [[PlayingWithFire taking]] [[PsychoElectro names]] is more a trump card she keeps close to the vest. Ozai's cunning when he needs to be, but he is much more of an outright bully who uses [[KillEmAll violence]], intimidation and [[KillItWithFire raw displays of power]] to get his way. Ozai's the club, Azula's the rapier.
** [[EvilChancellor Long Feng]] is very good at this too, keeping a city under his control for years with no one but his immediate henchmen the wiser. Really the only things keeping him from being a full fledged MagnificentBastard are underestimating his opponents and not dealing well with sudden reversals- [[EvilerThanThou both of which Azula exploits...]]
* Amon, BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', has claimed himself to be a chessmaster. [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy He has thus far been very convincing at his role.]]
** [[WhamEpisode Episode 6]] sealed his status as not only a brilliant Chessmaster, but also [[MagnificentBastard something more.]]

** Scott Tenorman Must Die is the most chilling example. Even the main group acknowledges how dangerous Cartman is here. To add to it, [[BatmanGambit he even uses Stan and Kyle to rat out his (fake) plan to Scott Tenorman.]] So beyond everything, everyone knew Cartman was up to something. He just took it to the next level.

** The terrorist cell in the Imaginationland trilogy, who orchestrate a war between the Good and Evil characters who were at peace on their separate territories of Imagination, and in order to [[KillEmAll wipe them all out and destroy collective imagination,]] even posthumously as they were killed after they started the war. However, the Good characters get full support in the narrative as if the Evil characters, despite being ObviouslyEvil, were the [[BigBadEnsemble Big Bads]], [[UnwittingPawn but neither side were responsible for the war.]] Also, the gambit failed when Good characters won the war [[BackFromTheDead with all their casualties resurrected,]] while the Evil characters weren't so lucky and their survivors were imprisoned. And the real perpetrators of the war were already dead right after the war started.

* James [=McCullen=] makes a good ''attempt'' at being this in the ''GIJoeRenegades'' episodes, playing the Joes and Cobra against each-other [[spoiler: but gravely underestimates who it is he's really up against in Adam [=DeCobray=].]]

* Makuta (Teridax, specifically) in ''{{Bionicle}}'': As he tells one of the heroes in one of the novels: "Even my...setbacks have been planned for." [[spoiler:Turns out [[GambitRoulette he's right...]]]]

* Wyndham Earl from ''TwinPeaks''.
* Most ''Series/TwentyFour'' {{Big Bad}}s. Though most of them are even better at [[GambitRoulette roulette]].

* Likewise the team of ''Series/HawaiiFiveO''.
* Linderman of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' seems to have his hooks in everything, especially DL and Niki. His apparent omniscience is helped along by being a collector of art... particularly art made by a guy who paints the future.
** Rebel/[[spoiler:Micah]] is showing signs of this. He certainly prefers to operate by proxy [[spoiler:given that he's a 12-year-old kid with no combat powers]]. He's a {{Technopath}}, which enables him to covertly communicate with his "pieces" and listen in on government communications. However, he hasn't done much in the way of manipulation - he prefers to give direct instructions, and his plans tend to be short term. Then again, you don't need to be much of a chessmaster to outsmart the federal government.

* In later seasons of ''Series/BreakingBad'' Walter White becomes a Chessmaster, manipulating Jesse into [[spoiler: killing Gustavo Fring by poisoning Brock, the 9 year old son of Jesse's girlfriend, and making him believe that it was Gus who poisoned him]]
* Benjamin Linus from ''Series/{{Lost}}'' has pulled off at least one GambitRoulette, as well as quite a few plans that are so roundabout and convoluted one has to wonder if he's actually omniscient. Case in point, [[spoiler:in the season 3 finale, he gave advance orders to some of his men to pretend to shoot their captives over an intercom so that he could manipulate Jack, knowing that Jack would assume Ben was bluffing, and having to survive with the guilt of killing three people by not giving into Ben's demands.]]
** Ben Linus also fits in the ManipulativeBastard trope, seeing as most of his schemes have to do with toying with people's emotions.
** Ben always has a plan, but his plan pales in comparison to that of [[spoiler:Jacob's Enemy, [[BigBad The Man In Black]]]]. As of the Season 5 finale, we know that [[spoiler:The Man In Black]] is the true Chessmaster of ''Lost''. The guy's [[ThePlan scheme]] includes everything in Ben's plans, plus some extra behind-the-scenes manipulation of both Locke and Ben to get them in position to execute [[spoiler:The Man In Black]]'s master plan.
*** The Man In Black may be the show's master in terms of raw skill and speed. In The Candidate, we see him discover one of his enemies's plots to kill him, subvert it and then with only minutes to spare [[spoiler: rebuild a bomb that was intended for him into a device that appears active but will only actually activate when someone tries to disarm it, get the main characters he needs to kill to go where he wants them to, slips the bomb into one of their backpacks, and then relies on the fact he knows they will double cross him to keep him clear of the trap he's just set up. The end result: three main characters die at the hands of a master XanatosSpeedChess player]].
** According to [[spoiler:Jacob's enemy]], Jacob has manipulated the main characters' lives so that they would get on Ocean 815 and crash on the island. He proves this by showing [[spoiler:several familiar names written on on a wall in a cliffside cave]].
* CJ Cregg, press secretary on ''TheWestWing'', manages to manipulate both the press and the House of Representatives into making the HR be the one handling the investigation of the president, instead of the Special Prosecutor, because she feels they'll bungle it. And she does it entirely by complimenting the Special Prosecutor and talking up his credentials too!
* J.R. Ewing in ''{{Dallas}}''.

* Clayton Webb in ''Series/{{JAG}}''. A cold blooded CIA officer who is skilled and subtle in manipulating operations all over the world.
* Michael Scofield from ''PrisonBreak'' is a chessmaster on par with people like [[Manga/DeathNote Light Yagami]]. You can be sure that, no matter how short the time is or how hard the creation of a plan is, he ''will'' come up with something. And if his plan fails he ''will'' have a backup-plan ''or'' it was supposed to fail all along. Adding to that, he's sometimes CrazyPrepared.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. This is the job of the 'psychostrategist', a Federation officer whose role is to predict and manipulate people. Unfortunately he's informed too late about a random element and, realising his plan will therefore collapse, smartly decides to vanish before Servalan finds out. Servalan, a bit of a ManipulativeBastard herself, seems amused rather than incensed over his cunning.
** And the Puppeteer in question, Carnell, is also [[SmartPeoplePlayChess very good]] at chess.
--> '''Carnell:''' ''I'm very good, Supreme Commander, believe me. I've taken everyone and everything into consideration. It's all as predictable as... that very expensive chess machine.''
* Number One/Brother Cavil/John in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'' is ultimately revealed to be the mastermind behind "the Plan" that encompassed the near-annihilation of the human race and the subsequent pursuit of the survivors halfway across the galaxy for the next five years. The point of this plan? [[spoiler: ''To prove to Ellen Tigh that humans suck.'']]
* Adelle [=DeWitt=] of ''{{Dollhouse}}'', especially if you believe the WildMassGuessing that [[spoiler:"speaks-through-Echo" was a deliberate false mole to manipulate Ballard into leaving the FBI and "letting the Dollhouse win" to get him off their backs and feed him whatever information they wanted to.]]
* John Connor of ''{{Terminator}}: TheSarahConnorChronicles''. Specifically, John Connor from the future, where one of the resistance fighters even comments on "his chess game with Skynet." Current John Connor seems to be headed that way, too.
* The Shadows and the Vorlons in ''Series/BabylonFive'' are two entire ''races'' of Chessmasters.
** Londo Mollari also has some serious game.
* On the subject of Chessmasters using their powers for good... [[LoveableRogue sorta]]... Mickey from ''{{Hustle}}'' is a pretty good example. For example, he (at the time of writing) [[spoiler:stole from a corrupt banker turned financial consultant and, when arrested, bluffed his way out of it by pretending he'd actually been consulting him on pension schemes - vindicated when the briefcase full of money was opened to show... pension plan leaflets. He does similar '''every episode''']]
* Stringer Bell of ''Series/TheWire'' is a cunning and ruthless player in Baltimore's drug game who manipulates and betrays those around him to advance his own goals. That said, he's not quite as good at it as he thinks, and is eventually conned out of a lot of money by the even more shrewd Clay Davis. [[spoiler:His plan to set Omar Little and Brother Mouzone against each other backfires on him fatally.]]
** Stringer has more flash, but he can't hold a candle to Prop Joe [[spoiler:who is the actually the one who came up with the idea of putting Omar on Mouzone, but was smart enough to route the plan through Stringer, and thus avoided all of the blowback. When we first meet Joe, plays Avon and Stringer by getting them to double-down on their basketball bet (by holding back a ringer on his team). Later, runs a fairly brilliant gambit to bring Marlo into the co-op (earning himself a nice little payday in the process). Ultimately, he was too slow in getting out of Marlo's way, but unlike Stringer, he saw his doom coming and managed to die with some dignity.]]
** Lester Freamon also deserves a mention. Lester, like any good chessmaster, understands that "all of the pieces matter" (as he tells Prez). Though he's obviously a part of a team effort, Freamon plays a huge role in bringing in the victories for his side; like Jimmy and Kima, he contributes good detective work, but beyond that his big picture view, political savvy, and capacity for deception and subtle manipulation (sometimes of his allies and coworkers) are what really allow his investigations to (sometimes) break through the wall; there's a reason why Daniels says to Lester, "as far as I'm concerned, you ARE the Major Crimes Unit."
** Interestingly, when the trope is made explicit by D'Angelo, he, unlike many others who talk about chess metaphors, does not believe he is a Chessmaster. He is fully aware that he is only a pawn, and his growing bitterness with this role, and the callous actions of the "kings" and "queens," fuels much of his growth as a character.

* In both the manga and the anime versions, Aion of ''ChronoCrusade'' is shown to be a Chessmaster -- in the anime, he manages to manipulate Chrono into giving him exactly what he needs for his plans: [[spoiler:the Holy Maiden, Rosette. He dies in the end, but manages to come back from the dead (and/or become a symbol of evil--it's hard to tell exactly).]] In the manga, he manipulates not only Chrono and his TrueCompanions, but the ''entire demon society'' to [[spoiler:completely obliterate the entire demon race, and nearly the world along with it, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans so that the world can be rebuilt without the "systems" he despises]]. The only thing that stops him is that Rosette is the living personification of ChaoticGood, and his biases against humans stopped him from realizing what a pain in the ass she'd turn out to be]].

* In the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' fanfic ''The Council Era'', the advisor to the Krogan Overlord, Halak Marr, definitely qualifies as a Chessmaster. In order to bolster his army in preparation for the war with the Citadel, [[spoiler:Marr preserved specimens of the dezba (who would naturally have retained a major grudge against the Citadel over their people's genocide) and began a project to resurrect a dezban chieftain, a la Project Lazarus in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''.]] As mentioned on the UnwittingPawn page, he usurped his superior in order to enact his dreams of the krogan as a MasterRace. He successfully forced Tyrin Lieph to allow his people to take a majority in the Citadel military and give the krogan a Council seat through an excellently-executed plan. He also antagonized the already fragile relationship between the manaba people and the Citadel by faking an attempt on his life by manaban extremists.
* [[spoiler: Jeft]] in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached''. [[spoiler: He maneuvered three of the four into getting their major magic, set up the entire Vasyn quest, fooled the other Fans into thinking it was real by having an AI play the Dalns gods, and moved the Vasyn pieces into “entertaining” places for the four to struggle with. He was so overconfident that during the quest for the third piece, he openly forced the four to travel with his best character, the Hunter, which finally clued Varx and Shag into his duplicity.]]
* ''Fanfic/SoulChess'' used to focus on [[MagnificentBastard Lelouch]] and [[GodModeSue Aizen]] trying to [[UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny fight for control over the Soul Society]]. [[spoiler: Lelouch wins, but Aizen comes back from Hell for Round 2.]]

* In ''LittleSweetheart'' nine year old Thelma (8 and 364 days at the start of the movie) manipulates her new and only friend, her mother, her uncle, the police, the new neighbors who happen to be bank robbers on the run and everyone else she meets throughout the movie. [[spoiler: Only one thing goes wrong: her friend doesn't die after going face down in the ocean after an arm shot and what was either a torso or '''headshot''' for several minutes. The friend is also nine.]]

** The Architect, who managed to [[spoiler: manipulate all previous "Ones" into his plan by threatening them with the extinction of the human race.]]

** [[spoiler: [[WesternAnimation/RobotChicken "Suuuuure, Palpatine. ''You-sa'' manipulated ''me''.]] [[EvilLaugh Mwahahahahaha!"]]]]

* For a character who ''claims'' to hate the convoluted plans, ''Film/TheDarkKnight'''s Joker is skilled at making them. Unless he's [[IndyPloy making it up as he goes along]], [[ChaoticEvil which is quite possible.]] [[AxCrazy The Joker's sadism]] also leads him to pull off some [[ShootTheDog nasty]] (although thwarted) {{Evil Plan}}s.

* The RedSkull, as portrayed in ''CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', was so DangerouslyGenreSavvy in [[spoiler:dispersing his resources throughout Europe]] that he was able to make his DoomsdayDevice. [[spoiler:Captain America and his allies were only able to stop his final plan at the last possible moment.]]

* Literature/TheContinentalOp of Creator/DashiellHammett's ''Literature/RedHarvest''. [[spoiler:He is hired by a man who is killed before he can give The Op the case, and to deal with this fact, the Op joins every gang in town, convinces each one that the others are playing against them. He almost gets killed, gets everyone else killed, and ends up framed for murder in a way that works out for him.]] The man was the inspiration for the samurai film ''Yojimbo'' which was later adapted into a western, ''A Fistful of Dollars''. Makes you wonder if Dashiell Hammett had this planned from the start...

* Essentially, the murderer in ''any'' Creator/AgathaChristie novel. One of her most manipulative murderers would undoubtedly have to be [[spoiler: the judge]] from ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'', who plays off the psychology of each victim [[spoiler: especially Vera Claythorne.]]

* ''The Judge and His Executioner'' by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. Commissar Bärlach [[spoiler:knew that his colleague Inspector Tschanz was a murderer, and manipulated Tschanz into pinning his own crime on a master criminal who couldn't be convicted by legal means, ultimately disposing of both of them.]]

** Even more so than him, R. Daneel Olivaw. Over the course of his twenty-odd thousand year lifespan (he's a robot) he manages to: Engineer humanity's final exodus to the stars, set up the First Galactic Empire, manipulate Hari Seldon into developing his psychohistory in the first place, make sure the plan goes off as it should, and finally set the universe on track to [[spoiler:evolve into a single, all-encompassing consciousness.]] All this whilst being bound by the [[Creator/IsaacAsimov Three Laws Of Robotics]], which he and a fellow robot manage to subvert by realizing that [[spoiler:a law even more overriding than the one prohibiting homicide is one "the zeroth law" prohibiting harm to the human race.]] This is all well and good until the obvious problem arises: [[spoiler:judging what's good or bad for humanity. Ultimately, the entire unitary-consciousness push is undertaken in order to subsume the zeroth law into the first and resolve the bind they've created for themselves]].

* The BigBad of the ''ChroniclesOfPrydain'', Arawn the Death Lord, is such a master of deception and cunning among the people of Prydain that he is feared by all despite being [[AntiClimaxBoss spectacularly weak]]. Instead of force, he relies on shrewd manipulation of the lesser lords of Prydain into doing his bidding, and in fact comes much devastatingly closer to total victory than most [[EvilOverlord evil overlords]]. If only it weren't for that [[YouMeddlingKids meddling Assistant Pig Keeper...]]
* ''[[{{Ripliad}} The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'' is an interesting variation: he can create elaborate plans on the spur of the moment, then discard then with equal ease and start again. He starts out as a New York City valet and, through fate and quick thinking, [[spoiler: turns into a rich-but somewhat crazy-man living in Italy.]]

* Arguably Gentleman John Marcone, from Jim Butcher's ''TheDresdenFiles''. While neither an antagonist (most of the time) nor a main character, Marcone in eleven books has brought the Chicago criminal underworld under his reasonably organized command, become aware of the supernatural world, [[spoiler: hired a Valkyrie, stole the freaking Shroud of Turin,]] saved Harry's bacon several times and collected a large payment for it, and, in ''White Knight'', talked his way into [[spoiler: becoming a freeholding lord in the supernatural world. There are twenty such legal entities; Marcone is the only mortal.]]

** ''Sharpe's Prey'': [[spoiler: Sends Sharpe with John Lavisser with tonnes of gold in order to bribe the Danish Crown Prince, as he doesn't trust Lavisser. Blackmails Sharpe into helping him for free, and then uses him to secure Britain's massive spy ring in the Baltic. Goes behind Admiral Gambier's back and sends a team of Navy men into the city to secure the Danish war fleet for Britain. Sends Sharpe into the city to kill Lavisser and recover the gold. Uses the failure of the Lavisser expedition (not his idea) to remove the rivals for his job. Cleans up the whole thing by murdering and replacing his Danish contacts.]]
** ''Sharpe's Havoc'': [[spoiler: Turns up at the end. Sent by the Foreign Office to defeat fellow Chessmaster Colonel Christopher. Sends Sharpe to kill Christopher and his knowledge with him. Again uses Sharpe to murder threats to his job. As a side project, secures communication and financial links with Spanish and Portugese partisans.]]
** ''Sharpe's Fury:''' [[spoiler: Directing the transfer of money to Spanish partisan operations from Cadiz. Recovers important Foreign Office documents using Sharpe, fights personally for once (he's okay at it). Kills all threats to the Crown. Discredits hostile Spanish politicians.]] ''[[spoiler: Mocks Sharpe to his face when the latter finds out about his murder of his Danish friends.]]''

** Chired Anigrel only seems an understudy compared to the Demon Queen he worshipped since childhood. Managing to both attain [[TheManBehindTheMan effective control]] of Armethalieh and come within moments of [[spoiler: handing the whole thing over to Savilla.]]
* Inquisitor Ramius Stele from the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/BloodAngels'' novels rather masterfully steers the titular Space Marine Chapter towards [[spoiler: Chaos]], though as we are reminded several times, he's still a pawn to a greater power.

** Lord Kalarus tries to be one of these, but while he has a few tricks, he's not nearly in control as he thinks he is. A good example of this is [[spoiler: when he conspires with the [[{{Wolfman}} Cane]] to raid Alera to distract attention from his rebellion. He expects them to bring a few hundred raiders. They bring ''thousands'' and have no intention of leaving.]]

* ''Literature/SongAtDawn'': Moving pieces and outgambitting are required skills for anyone in this setting: nobles, merchants, bishops, bodyguards, etc. The greatest of them is [[spoiler: al-Hisba who plays everyone to accomplish his own objective while placating his enemies and helping a friend.]]
* ''The Hostage Prince'' by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple features the Chessmaster [[spoiler: Jack Daw, who is the only one kind to the hostage prince, Aspen, for many years, and then convinces him that he's about to be assassinated. Aspen runs back to his home kingdom, only to discover that he was actually safe, Jack Daw had lied, and now the two realms of Seelie and Unseelie must go to war because he ran away.]]

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has Sir Crocodile. The country of Arabasta sees him as their greatest protector, while he secretly controls the criminal organization Baroque Works, who likewise do not know his real identity. Anything strange that happens in Arabasta can be traced back to Crocodile's plans: from sandstorms to a countrywide drought to the formation of a rebel army. The final plan of Baroque Works boils down to using the peoples' love for their country to destroy it and allow Crocodile to take over a country that loves him. And that's just the beginning. [[spoiler:Arabasta was in no way picked at random. The World Government (which Crocodile also nominally serves as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea) takes a dim view of any revolutionary activity, so once his betrayal became known Crocodile would need to control a nation that would give him the power to stand up to them. Like one that hides the secret to finding the [[LostSuperweapon ancient superbattleship Pluton]]. Guess what's encoded onto a tablet in the Arabasta royal tomb.]]

* V, AntiHero of ''ComicBook/VForVendetta''. In the film, Finch actually figures out part of the plan, but can't do much to stop it by that point.
** In the graphic novel, Finch [[spoiler:goes as far as to almost stumble upon V's lair, but decides his ordeal is over when he fatally shoots V. This was all part of V's plan...]]
** V also uses a Domino motif for his plan.

* While the comic series ''{{Sleepwalker}}'' is relatively obscure and ran for only 33 issues, its BigBad Cobweb is a brilliant Chessmaster, [[EvilPlan using Sleepwalker as a way to invade Earth while framing him as the demonic invasion's leader.]]
* ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' villain Immortus was always a Chessmaster in a big way, but in the ''Avengers Forever'' series it turned out he was a Chessmaster on a far greater scale than anyone had imagined, he [[spoiler:had manipulated virtually every event in the history of the Avengers simply to prevent the human race from becoming dangerous enough that the malevolent Time Keepers would wipe them out to preserve their own existence.]]
* The ComicBook/BlackPanther of the MarvelUniverse is a rare example of this trope who's a traditional superhero, albeit one that is occasionally under fire from his more-idealistic peers, for obvious reasons.
** An example more along the vein of the standard AntiHero would be Adam Warlock, who is often the foil to Thanos.
** Franchise/{{Batman}} is the AlternateCompanyEquivalent for TheDCU.

* Marvel's Grandmaster can come up with some really complicated schemes. Luckily for the heroes he really doesn't care about losing, he just does it for fun. And when he really wants something he's [[UnwittingPawn nice enough to let them think they won]].
* Destiny Ajaye from Top Cow's ''[[http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?gid=590 Genius]]''
* Tao from the Wildstorm comics universe, especially as written by AlanMoore or Ed Brubaker.
* Alex Wilder of ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}''. [[spoiler: It turns out that, not only did he learn the truth about his parents a full year before the other kids, but he set up virtually every single event in the first volume of the series.]]
* [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]] is this, at least under Greg Pak's pen. As we learn in ''FallOfTheHulks'', Banner's just as dangerous as his savage green alter-ego - if not more so.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} villain ComicBook/TheRiddler is an accomplished chessmaster, notably for smooth sway over the media, especially post-reformation (a quality of VillainWithGoodPublicity), and for his previous yet strategically subtle maneuverings of other well-known manipulators and dangerous personas.
** [[spoiler: In Hush: The Riddler discovers Batman's secret identity and manipulates Bat's oldest friend and his old mechanic, Poison Ivy (who in turn uses Catwoman and SUPERMAN), Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, Clayface, Scarecrow, Ra's Al Ghul. Even the Joker was talked in to going along with his scheme. However, Batman ensures his confidentiality when he exploits the Riddler's compulsion: he can't expose Batman because it would be like giving away the answer to a riddle.]]
** ComicBook/TwoFace can also be a ChessMaster, usually having two plans in motion at once, one often entirely different (but also in some way linked) to the other.
** You can't say Franchise/{{Batman}}, chessmaster, and villain in the same sentence without talking about [[GeniusBruiser Bane]]. He managed to beat fellow {{Chessmaster}}, ComicBook/RasAlGhul, at a game of Chess even though he's never seen a chessboard before.
** The daughter of Ra's Al Ghul, Talia, [[GrantMorrisonsBatman has recently proven to be far more cunning than anyone could have suspected.]] It helps that she's just as CrazyPrepared as the Bat himself, and fueled by [[WomanScorned a lot more]] [[WellDoneSonGuy malice than]] [[VisionaryVillain Ra's ever was.]] Talia and her agents have proven so dangerous that [[spoiler: it turns out that the mysterious organization Batman thought dangerous enough to create a massive, worldwide organization of Batmen, Leviathan, [[TheReveal is controlled directly by Talia herself.]]]]
** Franchise/{{Batman}} himself. He ''is'' the namesake of the BatmanGambit after all and he is pretty skilled in chess.

* While mentioned and kind of mocked on the '[[ExamplesUsingChessMetaphors using chess metaphors]]' page, {{Darkseid}} is definitely a very competent and dangerous Chessmaster when he's written correctly. This is perfectly invoked in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''.
--> ''"I told you once, {{Superman}}, if you would not be my knight, you would be my pawn."''

[[TheChessmaster Back to the main page.]]

* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'': AlmightyJanitor Yu Han-Sung. Few people can actually see he is plotting something and those that do are probably [[KansasCityShuffle looking in the wrong direction.]]

* Yukihito Tsuge, the BigBad of the second ''{{Patlabor}}'' film nearly drives Tokyo into civil war while operating completely behind the scenes.

* ''PeacemakerKurogane'': In the manga, Suzu becomes one after he goes insane.

* Sousuke Aizen of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''. Also of the ManipulativeBastard variety and a proven master of the GambitRoulette.
** For that matter [[spoiler: Kisuke Urahara]] fits the role well too, though on the non-villainous side. Aside from being opposed to [[spoiler:Aizen]], it's not really clear what endgame he's playing toward, but that could just be proof of how ''good'' a Chessmaster he is.
** Vandenreich TheEmperor Yhwach fits the role as well also being a ManipulativeBastard.
* ''FushigiYuugi'''s Nakago was not only good at directing his own men, he was a master when it came to misdirecting and manipulating the heroes. (Not that the heroes were any sort of brain trust...)
* Ukyo from ''SamuraiSeven'' constantly manipulates people to serve his own ambitions. Even the shocking news that [[spoiler: he is a clone of the Emperor]] doesn't shock him for long, and he quickly [[spoiler:disposes of the Emperor, possibly causes the death of another of the Emperor's as-yet-unborn clones, and takes over the throne himself.]] The only plan that stops him is a group of samurai who plainly state they ''have'' no plan.

* Kurama from ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''. A "good guy" example. Even though he has a GreenThumb (which would [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway seem to be useless in normal circumstances]]), you don't ever want to become his enemy or otherwise try to mess with him. EVER.
* In ''{{Gundam 00}}'', Alejandro Corner ''thinks'' he's the Chessmaster, hijacking Aeolia Schenberg's [[spoiler: century-in-the-making]] GambitRoulette and arranging to dispose of the late Aeolia's loyal followers so he can take command of the newly-forming Earth Sphere Federation. [[spoiler:He's wrong. Alejandro was actually being manipulated himself every step of the way by his [[TheManBehindTheMan apparent lackey]], Ribbons Almark. The first hint Alejandro gets of this comes seconds before his death when Ribbons radios him to gloat.]]
** Aeolia Schenberg, managed to ''accurately'' predict the events of everything that happened during the first season, and developed effective contingencies for it. What makes him different from all the other different chessmasters? [[spoiler: He's been ''dead'' for ''two hundred years''.]]
** In season two, there are at least three possible Chessmasters, and it's not yet clear which one is winning. Is it season 1 Chessmaster [[spoiler:Ribbons]], enigmatic Celestial Being backer [[spoiler:Wang Liu Mei]], or [[spoiler:Ribbons' own apparent lackey Regene Regetta, who happens to also be Gundam Meister Tieria Erde's EvilTwin]]? Each has already had more than one occasion of seeming to manipulate the others, and it's only eight episodes into the season. And just to make things more confusing, ''all three'' claim to still be following Schenberg's true plan. At least two must be lying or mistaken, but which ones? As it turns out [[spoiler:they all are, not a single one is actually trying to follow the plan and are instead attempting to claim power for themselves (though their individual greed is actually all already factored into the real plan). Regene and Wang Liu Mei get killed by Ribbons' minions after being badly out played by him and Ribbons himself is killed by Setsuna. And in Regene's case, death is less of a setback than you might think.]]

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has Sir Crocodile. The country of Arabasta sees him as their greatest protector, while he secretly controls the criminal organization Baroque Works, who likewise do not know his real identity. Anything strange that happens in Arabasta can be traced back to Crocodile's plans: from sandstorms to a countrywide drought to the formation of a rebel army. The final plan of Baroque Works boils down to using the peoples' love for their country to destroy it and allow Crocodile to take over a country that loves him. And that's just the beginning. [[spoiler:Arabasta was in no way picked at random. The World Government (which Crocodile also nominally serves as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea) takes a dim view of any revolutionary activity, so once his betrayal became known Crocodile would need to control a nation that would give him the power to stand up to them. Like one that hides the secret to finding the [[LostSuperweapon ancient superbattleship Pluton]]. Guess what's encoded onto a tablet in the Arabasta royal tomb.]]
** Naturally, Baroque Works' [[HeelFaceTurn former]] [[TheDragon vice president]], Nico Robin, qualifies as well, preferring to manipulate her enemies before resorting to violence. She maintains this trait as a main protagonist and member of the Straw Hat Pirates.
* Amshel Goldsmith from ''BloodPlus'' is [[TheDragon Diva's chevalier]], but he is the one who organises most of Diva's plan to replace humanity with Chiropterans. To reach that end, he uses everyone, including Diva's other chevaliers who are on his side. In fact, it is completely plausible to argue that he, instead of Diva, is the main villain as [[spoiler:he and the original Joel's experiments on Saya and Diva completely drove Diva insane and made her into a bloodthirsty monster that she is.]]
** There are a couple of people who know Amshel's game. [[spoiler:Nathan plays along because he feels like it. Diva just doesn't care, being too insane to focus on anything that takes so much time to develop.]]
* Other than Father, ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has a large number of heroic Chessmasters, including [[ColonelBadass Roy Mustang]], [[LadyOfWar Olivia Mira Armstrong]], [[ObfuscatingStupidity General Grumman]], and of all people, [[spoiler:[[CloudCuckoolander Hohenheim]]]], who is revealed to have been planning a counter to Father's moves for years.
** The [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime version's]] villain, [[spoiler:Dante]], is also a pretty classic example, having manipulated Amestris, its military and above all its alchemists, behind the scenes for centuries.
* In both the manga and the anime versions, Aion of ''ChronoCrusade'' is shown to be a Chessmaster -- in the anime, he manages to manipulate Chrono into giving him exactly what he needs for his plans: [[spoiler:the Holy Maiden, Rosette. He dies in the end, but manages to come back from the dead (and/or become a symbol of evil--it's hard to tell exactly).]] In the manga, he manipulates not only Chrono and his TrueCompanions, but the ''entire demon society'' to [[spoiler:completely obliterate the entire demon race, and nearly the world along with it, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans so that the world can be rebuilt without the "systems" he despises]]. The only thing that stops him is that Rosette is the living personification of ChaoticGood, and his biases against humans stopped him from realizing what a pain in the ass she'd turn out to be.]]
* ''IrresponsibleCaptainTylor'' may or [[GeniusDitz may not]] be ObfuscatingStupidity, but many both amongst the series characters and the fans believe that he is actually working some master plan of his own, given how he always comes off on top in the end and his opponents invariably find him a SpannerInTheWorks. A {{Fanon}} theory is that Tylor has somehow become enlightened as a boddhistava, and that the beginning and end of the opening trailer showcases both his enlightenment and his plan for the Soyokaze; to lead the RagtagBunchOfMisfits into enlightenment.
* Rosalie of the Samura Hiroaki oneshot ''Emerald'' plays this astoundingly well. In only sixty odd pages, she saves a young girl from a life of prostitution, orchestrates the death of a legendary criminal, brings an invincible gunfighter out of [[RetiredBadass retirement]] and brings down the local prostitution ring without once firing a gun. Paying for a tombstone for the aforementioned criminal just might bring her into MagnificentBastard territory.
* Nagi Sanzenin's grandfather, Mikado Sanzenin, has proved himself one of these in [[http://img09.tx.us.mangafox.com/store/manga/708/249.0/compressed/n07.jpg chapter 249]] of ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler''. In past chapters he essentially plays with Nagi, making her a target for people after the inheritance, which is reason enough. In the latest, he forces Hayate, her butler, into deciding her lifestyle, forcing him to choose between protecting a stone which has become the symbol of the Sanzenin inheritance, or breaking it to save his former lover's life. And to make it even worse, [[http://img09.tx.us.mangafox.com/store/manga/708/249.0/compressed/n09.jpg he admits to]] manipulating the boy's life ever since he can remember by posing as innocuous figures. The only good thing about him is the fact that he genuinely loved his daughter, [[MoralityPet favors his granddaughter's maid]], and taught said [[PetTheDog granddaughter how to invest]].. so she's not rendered completely poverty-stricken [[spoiler: [[http://img16.tx.us.mangafox.com/store/manga/708/252.0/compressed/o11.jpg ''when'']]]] the inheritance gets taken away from her.
** He also engineered a plot to steal 'the power of the gods' before the story started. Possibly his first, since it failed and got the three who worked together on it cursed.
* Dietrich, one of the younger warriors from ''{{Claymore}}'' qualifies. Figuring out Helen and Deneve's identities within seconds was a foretaste of her analytical abilities. Figuring out the only way to defeat the Luciela-Rafaela spawn for good by siccing [[spoiler:the Abyssal Feeders]] on them was a grandmaster move.
* ''LiarGame'' is all about games of XanatosSpeedChess between opposing Chessmasters. Akiyama stands out as the first and the most prominent heroic example, [[spoiler: joined later by Fukunaga, though he's not nearly as good]]. Opposing him is Yokoya, and [[spoiler: as of round 4, a cult leader assigned the CodeName "Robes".]]
* Toua Tokuchi from ''OneOuts'' (an earlier work by the mangaka of Liar Game) is a baseball player version of this; an adept user of [[GambitIndex gambits]]. He uses so many in the index, andn so well, that he crosses over into MagnificentBastard territory. (And no, he's ''not'' the catcher!)
* In ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' Rock is getting to this point. Depending on your interpretation of the ''Baille de la meurte'' arc, he is either a budding chessmaster who set up nearly the entire ending with a few choice words and a really accurate prediction of how people would act, or he was a ManipulativeBastard playing on a BatmanGambit. However, considering that he seems to have deduced that [[spoiler: Eda is a CIA agent]] and used that to his advantage to shape the end-game...
* Hellmaster Fibrizo from ''{{Slayers}}'', who manipulates nearly all the events in ''Next''. He even gets a VillainousBreakdown.
* Naraku of ''Manga/InuYasha'' manipulates, schemes, lies, cheats and cons ''every'' member of the cast, pitting hero against hero and tricking them into doing his dirty work. The only time the heroes get to confront him face-to-face is when he wants them to, or when he think he's gotten strong enough to finally finish them off. The heroes spend a lot of time seeking out {{Cosmic Keystone}}s that could weaken him, but by the time they get there he either knows and has destroyed or is about to destroy it, or doesn't care because he's too strong for it to work against him anymore. The pinnacle of Naraku's plans comes when he plans for the heroes to kill him as part of a scheme to exist forever. His schemes ''finally'' fall apart here: [[spoiler: he wanted Kagome to make a selfish wish on the Shikon-no-tama, which would allow him to draw her into the jewel and the two of them would exist inside it in eternal battle. He didn't count on Inuyasha making it to her and convincing her otherwise though, so once Kagome made an unselfish wish]], Naraku's plan was broken and he stayed dead at last.
* Treize Khushreneda of ''GundamWing'', though that's just par for the course when you're that {{magnificent|Bastard}}.
* Rau Le Creuset of ''GundamSeed'' nearly [[OmnicidalManiac destroyed the world]] by manipulating nations into slaughtering one another. He gains a chess-motif in the sequel.
* The only 2 chapters we see Konata from ''Oto x Maho'' involve her advancing her exceedingly convoluted 7+ year long GambitRoulette to force her son Kanata to become a {{Magical|Girl}} [[GenderBender Girl]], which goes off without a hitch. The fact that she can pull off such a plan can only be explained by her being a Chessmaster.
* AleisterCrowley of ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' is TheManBehindTheMan to all of Academy City. He executes several plans at once, some of which are designed to fail in order to further another, and it's not sure whether the failed plan is an actual failure. A character comments that, for Aleister, even the entire planet could just be a resource waiting to be used and discarded.
* Several people from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', such as Shikamaru when [[spoiler: he tricked Hidan into injuring Kakuzu by making Hidan drink Kakuzu's blood, then having him perform his {{Synchronization}} schtick.]]
* Gendo Ikari from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' even though he was out gambitted in the end [[spoiler: by Rei who also out gambitted Seele.]]
* [[spoiler:Myotismon]] from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02''. All the main things that happened in the series were plotted by him in his own designs, both directly and indirectly, and his plans worked so well that the writers were forced to use some half-assed DeusExMachina just to make sure he wouldn't win.

* The BlackPanther of the MarvelUniverse is a rare example of this trope who's a traditional superhero, albeit one that is occasionally under fire from his more-idealistic peers, for obvious reasons.

** Dragons play ''xorvintaal'', the Great Game in which they use mortal servants as chess pieces to compete for each others' hoards. The game itself is [[CalvinBall far too complex for mortals to understand]], but in the small term can shape entire lives. In the long term, it shapes ''continents'' - WorldWarI would have been a particularly complex ''xorvintaal'' maneuver, with WorldWarII being a good counter-move. Just as a consequence of powerful creatures to who WeAreAsMayflies getting bored.

* ''Sisterhood'' series by FernMichaels: Charles Martin, former agent of MI6 and JamesBond {{Expy}} is definitely this. He works for the Vigilantes and it could be argued that he uses this trope for good, but he is an AntiHero. He tries his hardest to come up with foolproof plans for the Vigilantes to use in order to succeed in their missions. However, there have been times when those plans go awry, and he ''really'' hates it when that happens. ''Under The Radar'' reveals that he has a large network of contacts and agents who are well-funded and good at their job, which helps to explain how his plans are effective. By ''Vanishing Act'', however, the Vigilantes make it clear to Charles that they call the shots and not him, and that he had best stop lording over them or he will get the boot.

* The WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic crossover story AHollowInEquestria portrays Princess Celestia as attempting to be this, and failing miserably at every turn.

* In later seasons of "BreakingBad" Walter White becomes a Chessmaster, manipulating Jesse into [[spoiler: killing Gustav Fring by poisoning Brock, the 9 year old son of Jesse's girlfriend, and making him believe that it was Gus who poisoned him]]

* Rufus Shinra, of ''FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'', was a very sneaky, wheelchair-bound chessmaster who, with only four hired goons and his wits about him, manages to fool WhiteHairedPrettyBoy Kadaj for the entire movie. While suffering from a ''fatal disease'', no less.

** He was obviously stage-managing things before that. He's been running rings around Tom Riddle since Riddle was just a weird kid in an orphanage, though he could never prove Riddle did any of the misdeeds he did whilst in school because Riddle was clever and covered it up. [[spoiler: Dumbledore had to change his plans when he confirmed that Voldemort had created horcruxes, and this was at the end of the second book. Despite already having theories years in the making prior to that discovery, he only made CONFIRMED active moves to find the horcruxes in the sixth book. While he was uncertain of what Voldemort had done in years prior, he did a lot of research on his history and personality to finally vanquish him. Though people say Dumbledore manipulated Harry, he did not, he gave Harry a choice to live or die, and he only put Harry with the Dursleys to protect him with the blood connection, nothing else. Dumbledore also recognized Harry was truly safe from Voldemort at the end of the fourth book when Harry said Voldemort took his blood]]

* Cardinal Richelieu of France was a startling example of this trope. The man was the world's first Prime Minister, and raised up alliance after alliance during the ThirtyYearsWar. He's the main reason that France became as powerful as it did.

* [[spoiler: Biggs]] from ''{{DMFA}}'' appears to be leaning in this direction. Even his sister, who is well-aware of his deviousness, falls for his tricks.

* ''FrozenSynapse'''s Charon's Palm can be seen as a chessmaster with a perhaps unique twist; [[spoiler:it splintered itself in two to create Tactics and assist Graham Nix with his coup, creating more destruction and death of innocent and guilty lives than was necessary. Why? Because it was ''bored'']]

* In the ''Videogame/MassEffect'' fanfic ''The Council Era'', the advisor to the Krogan Overlord, Halak Marr, definitely qualifies as a Chessmaster. In order to bolster his army in preparation for the war with the Citadel, [[spoiler:Marr preserved specimens of the dezba (who would naturally have retained a major grudge against the Citadel over their people's genocide) and began a project to resurrect a dezban chieftain, a la Project Lazarus in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''.]] As mentioned on the UnwittingPawn page, he usurped his superior in order to enact his dreams of the krogan as a MasterRace. He successfully forced Tyrin Lieph to allow his people to take a majority in the Citadel military and give the krogan a Council seat through an excellently-executed plan. He also antagonized the already fragile relationship between the manaba people and the Citadel by faking an attempt on his life by manaban extremists.