History Main / TheSvengali

* The ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "Story for Steven" revealed that Greg's former manager Marty bossed Greg around without much regard for what his personal or artistic concerns were, at the same time undermining his confidence with constant insults and taking 75% of his profits. Atypically, Marty is not just abusive, but not even ''competent'' as a manager, not having the patience or work ethic to promote Greg properly.

* There was a ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' episode called "Svengali's cat"

* The ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "Story For Steven" revealed that Greg's former manager Marty bossed Greg around without much regard for what his personal or artistic concerns were, at the same time undermining his confidence with constant insults and taking 75% of his profits. Atypically, Marty is not just abusive, but not even ''competent'' as a manager, not having the patience or work ethic to promote Greg properly.

* The ''WesternAnimation/Thundercats2011'' reboot featured the raccoon character Tookit (get it?), a "kleptovoyant" who made friends with the Thunderkittens. A clear expy of Fagin, Tookit tempted WilyKit and Wilykat, as well as other orphans, into stealing for him in exchange for his "protection."

* Rare female example: Series/{{Frasier}}'s evil agent, Beebee.

* Music/RobbieWilliams claims Nigel Martin-Smith as this to the band Music/TakeThatBand.

* "Colonel" Tom Parker was this to Music/ElvisPresley, keeping him as regimented to his own routine as possible. He was the sole reason Elvis never toured outside of the U.S., as he would not allow him to do so.
* Music/KimFowley to Music/TheRunaways, taking advantage of the band to an incredible degree, even allegedly raping member Jackie Fuchs according to allegations she launched at him in 2015. Heavily lampshaded in the recent film, where Fowley also claims IMeantToDoThat in response to their RageAgainstTheMentor dumping of him.

* The exploits of Dr.[[note]]before having his license to practice psychology revoked[[/note]] Eugene Landy with Music/BrianWilson are well-documented (and half the subject of the biopic ''Film/LoveAndMercy''). Hired by Brian's family due to his deeper and deeper descent into schizophrenia, Landy soon took control of his entire life and gave himself legal guardianship of Brian, overmedicating him in order to keep him sedate and compliant. He forced Brian into signing contracts without knowing anything about them, spied on him and had to approve of anyone with whom he would engage in any sort of relationship, and, most notably, kept him separated from his family and refused to allow them to see each other. A fierce legal battle launched largely through the efforts of Carl Wilson and Brian's future second wife Melinda Ledbetter managed to get Landy out of Brian's life.
* Herbie Herbert to Music/{{Journey}}. Dear god, the man claims all the credit for founding Journey, to the point where he was playing group members off each other in a continual power struggle to keep his "creative" vision. [[http://members.cox.net/mrcarty/ Interview here.]]
* Lou Pearlman to the Music/BackstreetBoys and Music/{{NSYNC}}. He was eventually arrested for running a huge Ponzi scheme, and that's just the ''beginning'' of the accusations.
* Tommy Mottola had this reputation when he was married to Music/MariahCarey, and in his own memoir he basically fessed up to it.
* Music/BobDylan eventually concluded that his manager Albert Grossman was acting like one and broke away from him.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* UsefulNotes/CharlesManson, who roped at least two-dozen young people into his murderous "family."
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sobhraj Charles Sobrahj,]] a celebrity confidence man and serial killer who used methods similar to Manson's to prey on Western tourists throughout South and Southeast Asia in the 1970s.
* Eugene Landy, a therapist who actually lost his medical license after it was discovered that he had been manipulating his patient Music/BrianWilson for years in an attempt to leech off of his fame.
* [[UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk Grigori Rasputin]] has been considered one of these. When Tsarevich Alexei, the son of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra suffered from hemophilia, Alexandra sent for Rasputin to pray for Alexei, who miraculously healed the next day, with Alexandra fervently defending him from anyone who dared to question him. Some historians have claimed that Rasputin stopped Alexei's hemophilia by hypnosis. He was accused of lecherous behavior and holding undue political domination over the Russian Imperial family; Rasputin had even cohabited with upper-class women in exchange for political favors, advancing his power amongst the highest circles of Russian society.
* Keith Raniere, the founder and leader of the NXIVM {{Cult}} that became notorious for netting former ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' star Allison Mack, was described as "truly a modern day Svengali" by prosecuting attorney Richard P. Donoghue after being found guilty of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, racketeering, and conspiracy to commit forced labor at the conclusion of his 2019 trial. He has not yet been sentenced, but faces life in prison for his crimes.
[[/folder]]

* Inverted in ''Film/BlackPanther'' Erik "Killmonger" Stevens works for Ulysses Klaue and learns how to be a mercenary and thief, but he real goal is to reclaim the throne of Wakanda. [[spoiler:Stevens turns on and kills Klaue, and uses his corpse to gain access to the otherwise secretive and reclusive Wakanda]].

* Quinn Dexter in ''Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy'' is a particularly dark version of this. Wherever he goes, he is able to effortlessly recruit an enthusiastic following to his [[HollywoodSatanism depraved religion]], often singling one individual out as a protege. However his disciples are utterly disposable to him, and he thinks nothing of murdering or betraying them when [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness it suits him to do so]].
* The aforementioned Fagin in ''Literature/OliverTwist'' takes in street urchins and teaches them how to become accomplished thieves. He profits greatly from their thefts and simply writes them off when they get caught and executed.
* Erik, the eponymous Phantom from ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' is this to Christine. Since he actually is a good music teacher he may also qualify as a BrokenPedestal. Due to the similarity of the stories some regard the Phantom as being Svengali with the SerialNumbersFiledOff.
* In-universe, the supernatural law enforcement rumor mill in the Literature/AnitaBlake novel ''Skin Trade'' has Edward as this to Anita. Or at least that's one of the rumors. "I heard he was more like your Svengali," is the response of one Las Vegas cop to Anita referring to Edward first as her partner and then as her "rabbi" (mentor, one assumes).
* In Terry Kay's ''Literature/ShadowSong'', the deceased Avrum Feldman may be seen as this to the protagonist, "Bobo" Murphy. While he was a friend, the older Avrum is also shown to be a manipulator whose influence over Bobo's relationships stems from his desire to live vicariously through him and see his unfulfilled romantic fantasies play out for someone else.

* Tedrin in ''Literature/EdenGreen'' infects two young women with his alien needle symbiote and attempts to recruit them into his battle against the horrifying monsters invading their city, with mixed results.
* Justin [=DuMorne=], the first mentor to [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]], possibly ''started'' as this before graduating to an outright evil mentor, but in either case was outright villainous by the time he met his demise at Harry's hands.
* Mastersmith Mylio in [[Literature/TheWinterOfTheWorld The Winter Of The World]] trilogy keeps his two apprentices specialized in separate fields to keep them dependent on him. He also [[spoiler: steals the powerful items forged by the protagonist, and uses them for evil.]]

* In IDW’s ''ComicBook/{{Transformers}}'', Onyx Prime/[[spoiler:Shockwave]] was this to both [[spoiler:Megatronus and Liege Maximo, using their skills for war and deception to ensure the timeline [[StableTimeLoop played out as he remembered it]].]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "Story For Steven" revealed that Greg's former manager Marty bossed Greg around without much regard for what his personal or artistic concerns were, at the same time undermining his confidence with constant insults and taking 75% of his profits. Atypically, Marty is actually very ''incompetent'' as a manager, not having the patient or work ethic to promote Greg properly.

The Svengali is a manipulative, controlling mentor that exploits their student for their own gain. While emphatically not a ''good'' mentor, The Svengali is usually not so much trying to pass on a legacy of evil (unlike the EvilMentor) as control (and exploit) their disciple by any means possible, from just plain being a ManipulativeBastard through overt MindControl to MoreThanMindControl, often with a side of StockholmSyndrome, LimaSyndrome (or both), and MindGameShip. Typically acting as TheManBehindTheMan, The Svengali is often also TheChessmaster, or at least TheStrategist, in terms of PR campaigning.

The Svengali is more likely than the EvilMentor to be ObliviouslyEvil. Watch out for appearances of "But I did it all for you!" and, conversely "I ''made'' you!" (for extra points, add "and I could break you just as easily.").

On the other hand, The Svengali is relatively unlikely to suffer from MentorOccupationalHazard, unless it's DeathByIrony, and may be a KarmaHoudini. Occasionally they will have a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment, and may be DrivenToSuicide by the follower's abandonment, but such crises are almost equally likely to turn into an IgnoredEpiphany.

The Svengali is a frequent, even near-inevitable, cause of RageAgainstTheMentor. Since The Svengali's job is usually to provide their ward with worldly success and AmbitionIsEvil, WhatHaveIBecome moments (where applicable) tend to turn into What Have You Made Me moments, kind of like IHateYouVampireDad but with less fangs. Not to be confused with a MoochingMaster: the MoochingMaster might take advantage of his student, but he still genuinely cares for him and doesn't actually utilize him as a pawn beyond simple personal gains.

Often claimed about RealLife managers of actors and singers/bands, sometimes ''by'' the manager, presumably because EvilIsCool.

Not to be confused with ''Series/{{Svengoolie}}''. Theoretically can but usually does not overlap with a common use of the term in real life to refer to a mentor or other authority figure who manipulates and grooms their pupil for sex.

* Master Happosai in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', who used his students Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome to steal underwear and take the punishment for it.

* Inverted in ''Film/BlackPanther'' Erik "Killmonger" Stevens works for Ulysses Klaue and learns how to be a mercenary and thief, but he real goal is to reclaim the throne of Wakanda. Stevens turns on and kills Klaue, and uses his corpse to gain access to the otherwise secretive and reclusive Wakanda.

The TropeNamer is a character in George du Maurier's 1894 novel ''Literature/{{Trilby}}'', a hypnotist who makes the eponymous protagonist -- tone deaf without him -- into a famous singer.

* The TropeNamer, from Du Maurier's ''Literature/{{Trilby}}''. (Sidenote: Readers seeking it out should brace themselves for some serious ValuesDissonance, given that Svengali's Jewishness is played out in a [[GreedyJew pretty similar way]] to that of Fagin in ''Literature/OliverTwist''.)

->''"The children who adored you as "father"... The prospects of your pupils... How many did you trample upon...? How many dreams did you exchange for [[MoneyDearBoy riches]]!?"''

Not to be confused with ''Series/{{Svengoolie}}''.

* [[spoiler:Atlas/Frank Fontaine]] to the player character in ''VideoGame/Bioshock1''. Interestingly, he seems to at least partly [[BelievingTheirOwnLies believe his own lies about being a mentor]]; during the climax, he has the audacity to call you ungrateful and even claims that he’s the closest thing to family you have.

* Vergere in ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' is this to Jacen. Probably. Sort of. [[TricksterMentor She's so enigmatic that it's hard to figure out what she already wants]], but it's stated (by a Sith, mind you) that Vergere was a Sith who was attempting to turn Jacen to the Dark Side, and she does certainly want to mold Jacen into ''something.'' Just what that "something" is has fueled fan debates for years.

* The subject of the QuoteSource for this page, Ichiryuusai Madarame from ''VideoGame/Persona5'', is a juggernaut of the art world who maintains his position of prominence by systematically abusing his live-in pupils, plagiarizing their work, and discarding them when they begin to question him. He keeps his only current student, 16-year-old Yusuke Kitagawa, in a state of impoverished semi-starvation while he secretly lives in grandeur, and his Shadow [[spoiler: later reveals that he allowed Yusuke's mother, another of his former students, to die from an epileptic seizure so that he could take credit for her masterwork, the ''Sayuri'', which would launch him to fame.]]

* The subject of the QuoteProvider for this page, Ichiryuusai Madarame from ''VideoGame/Persona5'', is a juggernaut of the art world who maintains his position of prominence by systematically abusing his live-in pupils, plagiarizing their work, and discarding them when they begin to question him. He keeps his only current student, 16-year-old Yusuke Kitagawa, in a state of impoverished semi-starvation while he secretly lives in grandeur, and his Shadow [[spoiler: later reveals that he allowed Yusuke's mother, another of his former students, to die from an epileptic seizure so that he could take credit for her masterwork, the ''Sayuri'', which would launch him to fame.]]

* Madarame in ''VideoGame/Persona5'' was an famous artist who would pass the work of his disciples off as his own and then throw them out on the street once he was done with them.

* ''Music/TheHumanLeague'''s "Don't You Want Me" is a dialogue between a Svengali and his increasingly rebellious protégé.

* There was a ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' episode called "The Svengali cat"

* Peter O'Toole played a (relatively) [[ShooTheDog benign]] version of this to JodieFoster in ''Svengali'', a movie inspired by but '''not''' based on Du Maurier's novel.