History ManipulativeBastard / WesternAnimation

* [[Characters/AmericanDadRogerSmith Roger Smith]] from ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. In the episode "[[Recap/AmericanDadS5E2TheOneThatGotAway The One That Got Away]]", to get revenge on Sidney Hauffman for using his credit card, he completely ruins every aspect of his life from his job, his garden, his pigeon friends, his fiancée, and his apartment. Only to find out Sidney was one of his personas that had taken on a life of its own.

* [[Characters/AmericanDadRogerSmith Roger Smith]] from ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. In the episode "The One That Got Away", to get revenge on Sidney Hauffman for using his credit card, he completely ruins every aspect of his life from his job, his garden, his pigeon friends, his fiancee, and his apartment. Only to find out Sidney was one of his personas that had taken on a life of its own.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'''s [[Characters/AmphibiaSashaWaybright Sasha Waybright]] is introduced imprisoned, having manipulated her fifth guard into abandoning his post. Throughout her first episode she teaches captain Grime how to earn his soldiers' loyalty and hard work by offering them false praise. Flashback shows that back on earth she was an AlphaBitch who was always pushing her friend Anne around. Even after [[spoiler:Anne stands up to her in the season finale]], Sasha continues her manipulations into season 2, playing the role of TheAtoner so that Anne and Marcy will take her and Grime to the king where they can enact their planned coup. [[spoiler:She finally sees the consequences of her actions when [[CryingWolf Anne refuses to listen to her the one time she was actually telling the truth]], which leads to a series of events that culminate in Anne and her found family being sent back to earth with no way back and Marcy being stabbed, possibly lethally. Afterward, Sasha becomes TheAtoner for real, using her manipulative skillset to become a heroic rebel leader]].
** [[spoiler: [[Characters/AmphibiaKingAndrias King Andrias]]]] proves an even more skilled manipulator than Sasha, having [[spoiler:spent around three to four months making Marcy trust him and see him as a fatherly and kind man even before his introduction. After his introduction, he has the three girls go on a quest that supposedly will restore the power to the music box so they can go home, but actually is aimed as taking away their ChosenOne powers so they can't pose a threat to him, all the while telling Marcy just enough to make her dance after his pipe. Even after he reveals his true colors, he continues with the manipulation by revealing an AwfulTruth about Marcy to sow discord between the girls]].
** Ironically averted with [[spoiler: [[Characters/AmphibiaTheCore The Core]], Andrias' master, a TranshumanAbomination containing the mind of, among others, his father. While the Core can make Andrias follow its orders without question despite his better judgement, this is more a case of Andrias being indoctrinated since childhood. When the Core tries to manipulate Anne, Sasha and Marcy, it falls flat every time. It calls Anne "dumber than a bag of rocks" to undermine her confidence, only to have Anne outsmart it immediately after. It tries to taunt Sasha with a NotSoDifferentRemark, which she ignores as she has gone through enough CharacterDevelopment to know it's false. Finally, it tries to keep Marcy trapped in [[LotusEaterMachine a simulation of her greatest wish]], but she sees through and defies it]].

** Played With with Mel Medarda, the moment Jayce is given a seat on the Council, she wastes no time in manipulating him socially, professionally, and sexually, to get what she wants and broaden her own power and influence. She even sports a certain gleeful disposition as he descends further into political corruption. That being said, she is ultimately a benevolent person as she truly wants what is best for him, Piltover, and Zaun. Her manipulations aren't just the most efficient way of getting what she (and Jayce) want, but also the most assured way that they'll get to keep their heads. She had realized a long time ago that underneath the gold, glitter, and veil of Piltover's "march of progress" is a CrapsackWorld that demands utter ruthlessness simply to survive, and even outright villainy to see your ambitions manifest, no matter how just they may be.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling D.W. Read]] can often be quite the manipulative little bitch as well; quite a few episodes in the series have her get exactly what she wants at the end by tricking others (usually her titular older brother). A notable example of her manipulativeness is in "Prove It", where she intentionally makes up several false scientific "facts" and [[LittleMissConArtist sells them to other kids]] [[spoiler:with the intent of bothering Arthur into taking her to a science museum]]. Even ''[[TheSmartGuy Brain]]'' is unable to refute her "facts" despite knowing she's lying! Oh, and did we mention that this whole scheme was pulled off by a ''four-year-old''? It should also be noted that [[LackOfEmpathy she shows no remorse whatsoever over the fact that she had to knowingly lie to other kids and screw them out of their money to accomplish this]]. Her manipulative side mostly disappeared after the characters' personalities were [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] in later seasons, [[spoiler:but Season 18's "The Pageant Pickle" saw that side of her make a comeback when she uses CrocodileTears to trick Arthur into humiliating himself in front of her preschool spring pageant's audience]].
* [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderPrincessAzula Princess Azula]] of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', no question. As she puts it: "I'm a people person." When she successfully turns the SecretPolice in control of the capital of the kingdom her nation has been at war with for a century against its leader, [[EvilChancellor Long Feng]], he says that she beat him at his own game. Her response?
--> '''Azula''': "Don't flatter yourself. [[MagnificentBastard You were never even a player."]]
** [[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderThePuppetmaster Hama]] deserves a mention here as well. [[spoiler: She endangered Katara's friends just to get her to practice bloodbending.]]
** As does the "very smooth" Jet, on the WellIntentionedExtremist front.
** Azula's old man [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderFireLordOzai Fire Lord Ozai]] fits the bill as well. During the Day of Black Sun, he even deploys a manipulative tactic against Zuko at ''the exact same time'' that Azula is employing a similar one against Sokka. However, that's nothing compared to the event he describes, which involved [[spoiler: manipulating his wife into killing his father for him, and then banishing her. That's how he became Fire Lord in the first place.]]
*** Ozai ''really'' proves he's where Azula gets it from in "The Promise" graphic novel trilogy that take place after the show's conclusion, in which he constantly is able to manipulate Zuko ''from behind bars.''
* Megatron in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' is just as manipulative. The guy managed to convince Silverbolt (''the noblest individual Optimus Primal has ever met'') to become a Predacon when he first met him. In ''Beast Machines'' he later played on Rattrap's insecurity about his now useless robot mode and got him to help him out for a night. After infecting all the Maximals except Optimus with a virus that causes discord he got Optimus to consider (admittedly, for like five minutes) that maybe his vision of forced harmony was the way to go.
** Tarantulas in ''Beast Wars'' was about as talented. More than once he duped Quickstrike into betraying Megatron, and once even got him to go along with a plan that would negate both him and every other Transformer (but Tarantulas) from existence.
* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': [[Characters/BigCityGreensChipWhistler Chip Whistler]] becomes this in the climax of "Reckoning Ball", where he manages to use the Greens' kindness and innocence and makes them believe he's changed and sorry for his actions against him, so he can take over for his retiring father and carry out his revenge without any interference from him. The Greens realize the truth by the time of "Friend Con".
* Dave from ''WesternAnimation/CodeMonkeys'' tends to fall into this territory sometimes, most notably [[spoiler:In the Drunken Office Party episode where he gets Jerry to believe he is responsible for all the horrible things he (Dave) actually did at the Office Party. The whole episode Jerry is racked with guilt and is insulted, physically attacked, thrown up on trying to make up for what he did. He even considers quitting. Because Jerry believes he broke Dave's arm he gives him his ticket to Hawaii and thanks him for being such a good friend. It is only at the end of the episode he realizes Dave was behind it all and the things happening to him were happening because Dave was with him and he happened to be caught in the crossfire. Several of the people he offended were made up and Dave gets go spend two weeks in Hawaii while it all blows over.]]

* Dick Dastardly does this to the other members of [[WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines the Vulture Squadron]] in "Home Sweet Homing Pigeon." He plays on the emotions of Klunk, Zilly and Muttley, who are about to be discharged, so they'll stay and help him chase Yankee Doodle Pigeon at least once more. After too many "once mores," the three have had it, so Dastardly gets them to sign his memory book. The joke is on them: [[TeamRocketWins Dastardly tricked them into signing re-enlistment forms for four more years.]]
* [[Characters/TheDragonPrinceViren Lord Viren]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' is an excellent people person. Throughout the second season, he manages to get three of the four other members of the Pentarchy on his side with a stirring speech, and he only fails to convince the last one because she lost her mothers to war and refuses to enter another, and even then he moved her to tears with a heartwrenching story about said mothers. He later phrases Ezran's order to dismiss most of the army in a way that makes sure the remaining soldiers are undyingly loyal to him. His skill is only further enhanced when collaborating with his elven patron, Aaravos, a full-blown [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]].
* Eddy from '' WesternAnimation/{{Ed Edd n Eddy}}''. While other characters like [[{{BitchInSheepsClothing}} Jimmy]] and [[{{SpoiledBrat}} Sarah]] also have manipulation skills, Eddy is the only character in the show to manipulate every main character in the show. Probably [[{{JustifiedTrope}} justified]], since scamming people is his main Shtick.

* At the risk of sounding [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment redundant]], David Xanatos of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''.
** The Archmage takes the cake in the three-part episode "Avalon". He convinces the weird sisters (who don't like mortals telling them to do anything) to do his bidding, while showing his past self the steps needed to obtain unlimited power. When he finally gets his power, he attacks the humans and Gargoyles on Avalon, but spares them so that they can go and get Goliath to help them. With Goliath in the battle, the Archmage can now exact his revenge for supposedly killing him.

* ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'''s Van Kleiss is another one. Rex has no knowledge of his past due to the Nanite Event, so Van Kleiss takes advantage of this and taunts him with bits and pieces of information (at one point using a ''brief comment'' to get Rex to hesitate for one second so he could get away), telling him that he won't give him all the info unless he joins his side. He also manipulates and uses his own minions (and ''they'' are aware of it, and he's aware that they know and doesn't seem to be bothered by it). He's also now trying to drive a wedge of mistrust between Rex and his brother Caesar, and it seems to be working a little. His plans are also primarily [[BatmanGambit Batman Gambits]].
** Rex himself can also be one at times, when he needs to be. The BigBad even complimented him on it in one episode.

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'''s [[Characters/HeyArnoldHelgaGPataki Helga G. Pataki]] is this in the episode "School Play". When Helga learns that Arnold will be playing Romeo, she wants to be Juliet but gets stuck as 4th understudy. So, only in the unlikely event that all four girls, Rhonda, Sheena, Phoebe and Lila[[note]] who was aware of what Helga was up to and willingly gave up her spot for Helga[[/note]], were to all drop out, would Helga be able to play Juliet. It just so happens Helga can be such a Manipulative Bitch.

** Kaeloo herself [[BitchInSheepsClothing has her moments]]. For example, in "Let's Play Courtroom Drama", [[spoiler: she pulls a WoundedGazelleGambit by threatening to leave Smileyland in order to get Mr. Cat to confess to the crime.]]
* Being [[TheChessmaster a chessmaster]] and the successor to Azula in the MagnificentBastard department, [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraAmon Amon]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' continuously played everyone like fiddles. Even Lin Beifong and Korra admit that they played right into his hand after his terrorist attack on the Pro-Bending arena.

** [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraKuvira Kuvira]] to [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Bolin]]. Everyone clearly sees that she is an ambitious, power-hungry conqueror, but Bolin believes her to be a WellIntentionedExtremist and Kuvira is taking full advantage of his [[WideEyedIdealist idealism]] to keep him on her side. This is most prominently shown near the end of "The Coronation" where she tells Bolin that she [[ExactWords wishes to avoid conflict]], then cryptically reveals to Suyin that [[spoiler: she's going after Zaofu]] afterwards. Eventually, Bolin sees through the ruse and [[spoiler: attempts to defect, but fails.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes2006'' has a few, some of the biggest examples are Dr. Londo (during his son's CallingTheOldManOut routine, he mentions that he uses everyone), [[spoiler:Brainiac]], Imperiex and Alexis Luthor.

--->'''Lila''': I only tell people what they want to hear.\\
'''Marinette''': It's called lying!\\
'''Lila''': There's nothing you can do about it, anyway. People can't resist when they hear what they like to hear.

** Sweetie Belle, albeit young, has shown serious potential and could be considered a Manipulative Bitch In Training and might as well have her older sister on a cross and strings. ''[[http://images.wikia.com/mlp/images/1/1e/Sweetie_Belle_S02E12.png This is the face of a filly that will play you like a violin if given the chance.]]''
** [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicDiscord Discord]] is depicted in stained glass window images controlling ponies via puppeteer strings (something we actually see him sort of do) and in the episode itself generally plays ''everypony'' for fools. By the end of the first episode he appeared in, [[spoiler:he's successfully manipulated and ''[[BreakTheCutie broken]]'' the mane cast through his mind games and manipulations.]]
** In the Season 4 finale, we have the [[spoiler:G4 version of Tirek, who manages to play ''Discord'' like a fiddle!]]

** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E20VivaLasPegasus Viva Las Pegasus]]," Gladmane retains his amazing array of talented performers by playing off duos against each other, leaving them too distracted by arguing to make plans to leave. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:he included Flim and Flam in this, and they promptly KansasCityShuffle him out the door]].
** [[spoiler: [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicCozyGlow Cozy Glow]]]] turns out to be ''the'' best one on the entire show. Apparently, it's ''her'' cutie mark talent (along with being TheChessmaster).

** [[Characters/TheOwlHouseEmperorBelos Emperor Belos]] is this in every instance he's shown. Whether it's by telling people what they want to hear, twisting the truth just enough that it doesn't become a lie or just outright lying, Belos will inevitably manipulate people to do his bidding. And woe to anyone who [[DealWithTheDevil makes deals with him]]: once he has what he wants, he will not bother with keeping his end of the bargain unless it helps him manipulate people even more. [[spoiler:Part of it is due to Belos actually being [[DeliberateValuesDissonance a witch hunter from the 17th century]] and [[FantasticRacism seeing the witches and demons of the Boiling Isles]] as AlwaysChaoticEvil, and therefore seeing it as beneath him to honor any deal he cares to make with them. The rest of it is that [[ItsAllAboutMe Belos is so deluded in his belief that he is the hero]] that [[TautologicalTemplar he sees all of his actions as righteous, no matter how vile they really are]]: if he has to lie and kill to reach his goals, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans then lie and kill he will]].]] [[spoiler:Even as he finally finds himself cornered in the finale, [[BadLiar Belos makes up a lie on the fly about how all of his evil deeds were committed because a curse forced him to]]. Luz doesn't buy it for a second.]]
** A lesser example would be Kikimora. In "For the Future", [[spoiler:she completely has Boscha under her thumb and manipulates her into making poor decisions as the leader of New Hexside, while constantly reminding Boscha of [[MyGreatestMistake her failure to save her friends from the Collector]].]] Luz notes that she's just replicating Belos' techniques on a smaller scale, and [[ItsBeenDone calls her out for not even being original]].
* ''WesternAnimation/PepeLePew'': The glass case scene in "For Scentimental Reasons" ended with Pepe putting a gun to his head and supposedly killing himself after Penelope says that she's not coming out because he stinks. Penelope is so distraught that she unlocks the case and runs out -- into his still-alive arms. Turns out the whole thing was a trick to get her out and he missed.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'':
** Him is easily one of the biggest ones. He acts like a Manipulative Bastard to everyone, but mostly to Bubbles, as two episodes of the series involve Him torturing and manipulating Bubbles by using her sweetness, naivete and her extreme emotions to destroy her and her sisters and in one case break them up. But what else would you expect from their world's equivalent of ''{{Satan}}?!''
** Mojo Jojo in TheMovie, which is the girls' origin story. He gets them to believe he's on their side before showing his true colors. [[VillainDecay It was all downhill from there for him, though.]]

** This is [[Characters/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPowerShadowWeaver Shadow Weaver's]] entire deal. Her most dangerous trait isn't her magical skill, it's her manipulation. Even people who should, by rights, know better, can be sucked in by her deceptions, as shown when Catra brings her sorceress guild badge in return for [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk feigned kindness]]. [[spoiler:And when she switches sides, she turns her attention to Glimmer, who begins to fall under her influence even though she knows full well from Adora how Shadow Weaver operates.]]

** [[Characters/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPowerDoubleTrouble Double Trouble]] is [[MagnificentBastard probably the master]], though. DT uses shapeshifting and a keen understanding of others to raise hell, and even when they're OutGambitted, they ''still'' get what they're after. [[spoiler:They play the Rebellion like a fiddle from "Flutterina" to "Mer-Mysteries", and then after Glimmer hires them, it takes them less than two episodes to utterly break the back of the Horde by luring their forces into a trap, pressing Hordak's BerserkButton and sending him after Catra, and then taking Catra out of play with a BreakingSpeech that leaves her almost catatonic]].
* Despite the series being known for its incompetent or even stupid characters, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' actually has a surprising amount of Manipulative Bastards. Though very few come across as being completely unlikable or evil... a rare thing to have accomplished, the fact is that most of the cast dabbles in deception on more than one occasion. In fact more than 90% of the cast could be considered in this category.
** [[Characters/TheSimpsonsCharlesMontgomeryBurns Mr. Burns]] is an obvious choice. However, many seem acutely aware of Burns's evil ways so sentiments may vary here.
** The Mayor of Springfield, "Diamond" Joe Quimby, makes his living being a Manipulative Bastard. He's a satirical politician after all. Though one must admit, even in the somewhat [[CrapsackWorld morally confused]] world of the Simpsons, many of Quimby's actions are particularly bad. Even the incompetent Chief Clancy Wiggum, whom Quimby seems to have under his thumb, holds a thinly veiled desire to see Quimby answer to karma. Not without moments of sympathy, but a Manipulative Bastard no less.

** [[Characters/SouthParkEricCartman Eric Cartman]] has manipulative abilities to a near-frightening quality. Although many of his victims are indeed gullible simpletons, still his ability to persuade people en masse is shocking. Even those familiar with his methods get dragged in by his way with words.
*** He manages to form a Neo-Nazi organization out of fans of ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'' and lead them on a march chanting anti-Semitic slogans and they never got the slightest idea of what they were nearly dragged into!
*** Cartman also convinced everybody that ginger kids are soulless monsters. In order to teach him a lesson, Kyle, Kenny and Stan make him up as a ginger. Unfortunately Cartman's xenophobic nature doesn't change one bit; all that changes is who he's prejudiced against. He rallies all the ginger kids into a sect and begins an extermination of non-gingers in a drive to make sure that he is not a minority. Mere moments before the extermination commences, Kyle reveals the truth to him. He then has seconds to devise an inspirational speech that usually Stan or Kyle would make. His audience notices his change in tune and press him for some time, but in the end, Cartman ''still'' manages to pull the lie off by manipulating the gingers into joining him in a corny improvised song-and-dance number about loving your fellow man, despite their appearance or skin color.
----> '''Kyle''': [[YouMakeMeSick You are such a manipulative asshole, Cartman.]]\\
'''Cartman''': ''(whispering)'' Yes, but I'm not gonna die!
*** There's also his utterly unsympathetic deconstruction of one of the nannies in "Tsst". He skillfully convinces her that her psychological techniques are working on him, then turns the situation on its head and tears into her brutally by not simply mocking her lack of children, but mocking her ability to judge people. She walks out on her first day in near-hysterics. Then Series/{{Supernanny}} is brought in... briefly. [[NoodleIncident We don't see what he does to Nanny Jo]], but three days later she's shown utterly broken in an asylum, eating her own excrement and sobbing the phrase, "From hell. It's from helllll!"
*** One of Cartman's proudest moments (for him) is in "Cartoon Wars Part II". He sets off to have ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' taken off the air with his Game Face on, ready to spout a sob-story to the writers, the likes of which he's done many times before. Just another job, right? Then he finds out that it gets a little more complicated when you have to pitch a sob-story to ''Manatees.'' And yet he still manages to manipulate a TV executive into not wanting the Manatees to push him around -- when the guy had previously been making a fortune out of allowing them to do so. Anybody can push around humans. He manipulated ''sea-mammals.'' No wonder this was his next line:
----> '''Cartman:''' I did it! I... AM... ''GOD!!!!''
*** And in "Mysterion Trilogy" Cartman befriends/tames Cthulhu. Yes. [[Creator/HPLovecraft THAT]] [[EldritchAbomination Cthulhu]].
** Leslie Meyers, the BigBad of Season 19 proves to be just as manipulative as Cartman, if not more so. She got Jimmy to help her escape from the news anchors that were keeping her in captivity. As soon as she finds a computer, she beats the hell out of Jimmy and starts sending advertisements through it. After she's done there, she sets her sights on manipulating ''Kyle''.
** One of the {{Big Bad}}s of Season 20, Lennart Bedrager, manages to rival both Cartman and Leslie in terms of manipulativeness. He gains political power in Denmark [[spoiler:despite not actually being from there]], manages to convince his new subjects to create a database that can expose the internet history of everybody on earth (which causes enough global tension to potentially start World War III), all [[spoiler:to get a laugh]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Naughty Nautical Neighbors", Squidward is this. He quickly pays for it, though.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama World Tour'''s [[Characters/TotalDramaAlejandro Alejandro]] is a spectacular case. He's masterminded more eliminations than any other villain on the show, and the kicker? Not one person on the remaining cast in the season knew he was evil (except for [[BelligerentSexualTension Heather]]), and those that do find out don't last long or don't find out until it's too late to do squat.
** [[Characters/TotalDramaHeather Heather]] was quite manipulative herself in the first season, but her spark fizzled out afterward, due to everyone now being fully aware of how vile she is and thus never putting even an ounce of trust in her in later seasons. As a result, this makes her attempts at genuine sincerity difficult for others to believe in (such as her attempts to warn others about how much of a threat Alejandro is).
* The version of Megatron in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' was able to convince Isaac Sumdac he was an Autobot and to never mention his name to the Autobots, as well as get the Constructicons on his side with a story of "Autobot oppression" and a couple drinks.
** Getting [[spoiler: Bulkhead]] to build him a space bridge by being the only person who seemed to believe he wasn't a complete idiot, and talking [[spoiler:Omega Supreme right back to Cybertron rather than killing him.]]
** He even managed to convince [[spoiler: ''Starscream'' to join him in conquering Cybertron together after Starscream took over Omega Supreme and had Megatron at his mercy.]]

* [[BigBad Prince Phobos]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' is very good at this (though his ego and laziness keep him from being as good at it as he could be), and his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Cedric has his moments. But Season 2's BigBad Nerissa is even better.
** It's even implied that Nerissa was behind Phobos' rise to power to begin with. She's certainly TheChessmaster in Season 2. Right down to ''planning'' [[spoiler: the defeat of both the Knights of Vengeance and the Knights of Destruction]].

** A certain [[EvilMentor Bloodbender]] deserves a mention here too...

* Roger from ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. In the episode "The One That Got Away", to get revenge on Sidney Hauffman for using his credit card, he completely ruins every aspect of his life from his job, his garden, his pigeon friends, his fiancee, and his apartment. Only to find out Sidney was one of his personas that had taken on a life of its own.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'''s Sasha Waybright is introduced imprisoned, having manipulated her fifth guard into abandoning his post. Throughout her first episode she teaches captain Grime how to earn his soldiers' loyalty and hard work by offering them false praise. Flashback shows that back on earth she was an AlphaBitch who was always pushing her friend Anne around. Even after [[spoiler:Anne stands up to her in the season finale]], Sasha continues her manipulations into season 2, playing the role of TheAtoner so that Anne and Marcy will take her and Grime to the king where they can enact their planned coup. [[spoiler:She finally sees the consequences of her actions when [[CryingWolf Anne refuses to listen to her the one time she was actually telling the truth]], which leads to a series of events that culminate in Anne and her found family being sent back to earth with no way back and Marcy being stabbed, possibly lethally. Afterward, Sasha becomes TheAtoner for real, using her manipulative skillset to become a heroic rebel leader]].
** [[spoiler:King Andrias]] proves an even more skilled manipulator than Sasha, having [[spoiler:spent around three to four months making Marcy trust him and see him as a fatherly and kind man even before his introduction. After his introduction, he has the three girls go on a quest that supposedly will restore the power to the music box so they can go home, but actually is aimed as taking away their ChosenOne powers so they can't pose a threat to him, all the while telling Marcy just enough to make her dance after his pipe. Even after he reveals his true colors, he continues with the manipulation by revealing an AwfulTruth about Marcy to sow discord between the girls]].
** Ironically averted with [[spoiler:The Core, Andrias' master, a TranshumanAbomination containing the mind of, among others, his father. While the Core can make Andrias follow its orders without question despite his better judgement, this is more a case of Andrias being indoctrinated since childhood. When the Core tries to manipulate Anne, Sasha and Marcy, it falls flat every time. It calls Anne "dumber than a bag of rocks" to undermine her confidence, only to have Anne outsmart it immediately after. It tries to taunt Sasha with a NotSoDifferentRemark, which she ignores as she has gone through enough CharacterDevelopment to know it's false. Finally, it tries to keep Marcy trapped in [[LotusEaterMachine a simulation of her greatest wish]], but she sees through and defies it]].

* Azula of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', no question. As she puts it: "I'm a people person." When she successfully turns the SecretPolice in control of the capital of the kingdom her nation has been at war with for a century against its leader, [[EvilChancellor Long Feng]], he says that she beat him at his own game. Her response?

** Azula's old man Ozai fits the bill as well. During the Day of Black Sun, he even deploys a manipulative tactic against Zuko at ''the exact same time'' that Azula is employing a similar one against Sokka. However, that's nothing compared to the event he describes, which involved [[spoiler: manipulating his wife into killing his father for him, and then banishing her. That's how he became Fire Lord in the first place.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': [[BigBad Chip Whistler]] becomes this in the climax of "Reckoning Ball", where he manages to use the Greens' kindness and innocence and makes them believe he's changed and sorry for his actions against him, so he can take over for his retiring father and carry out his revenge without any interference from him. The Greens realize the truth by the time of "Friend Con".

* Viren from ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' is an excellent people person. Throughout the second season, he manages to get three of the four other members of the Pentarchy on his side with a stirring speech, and he only fails to convince the last one because she lost her mothers to war and refuses to enter another, and even then he moved her to tears with a heartwrenching story about said mothers. He later phrases Ezran's order to dismiss most of the army in a way that makes sure the remaining soldiers are undyingly loyal to him. His skill is only further enhanced when collaborating with his elven patron, Aaravos, a full-blown [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]].

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'''s Helga Pataki is this in the episode "School Play". When Helga learns that Arnold will be playing Romeo, she wants to be Juliet but gets stuck as 4th understudy. So, only in the unlikely event that all four girls, Rhonda, Sheena, Phoebe and Lila[[note]] who was aware of what Helga was up to and willingly gave up her spot for Helga[[/note]], were to all drop out, would Helga be able to play Juliet. It just so happens Helga can be such a Manipulative Bitch.

* Being [[TheChessmaster a chessmaster]] and the successor to Azula in the MagnificentBastard department, Amon from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' continuously played everyone like fiddles. Even Lin Beifong and Korra admit that they played right into his hand after his terrorist attack on the Pro-Bending arena.

** [[BigBad Hawk Moth]]'s modus operandi is taking advantage of people's negative emotions to turn them into supervillains so they can deal with whatever/whoever caused their negative emotions in the first place, in exchange for them bringing him [[TheHero Ladybug]] and [[TheLancer Cat Noir]]'s [[TransformationTrinket Miraculouses]]. Typically this makes him an OpportunisticBastard who simply waits to pounce on instances of strong negativity, but on several occasions he has used his civilian identity to deliberately set up events to upset people so they'll be vulnerable to Akumatization. In the finale of Season 3, he executes a gambit to deepen [[spoiler:Chloé's]] growing resentment of Ladybug and successfully convinces her to become his ally ''[[NotBrainwashed willingly]]''.
** [[AlphaBitch Chloé Bourgeois]] has picked up a few tips on how to be good at manipulation from her father [[SleazyPolitician André Bourgeois]]. She frequently takes advantage of her [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections social status]] to get out of trouble for things she did and get her schoolmates in trouble instead.
** [[ConsummateLiar Lila Rossi]] is so good at manipulating people that in just a few minutes, she manages to turn the entire class against ''Marinette'', of all people. Summed up by this exchange:

** Adrien's cousin Félix Graham de Vanily from the episode of the same name, who takes advantage of Adrien's kindess to ruin his relationship with his friends [[EvilIsPetty purely out of spite]]. At the end of the episode, [[spoiler:he gives a very sincere-sounding apology to Adrien for what he did, [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk but doesn't actually feel any remorse and was merely taking advantage of his cousin's feelings once again]] in order to get an opportunity to steal his uncle Gabriel's wedding ring (which was his overall goal to begin with)]].

** Rarity is extremely skilled at getting people (especially males) to do what she wants through skilled application of [[IHaveBoobsYouMustObey her abundant charm]] and her ability to read personalities.

** Discord is depicted in stained glass window images controlling ponies via puppeteer strings (something we actually see him sort of do) and in the episode itself generally plays ''everypony'' for fools. By the end of the first episode he appeared in, [[spoiler:he's successfully manipulated and ''[[BreakTheCutie broken]]'' the mane cast through his mind games and manipulations.]]

** [[spoiler:[[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon Co]][[FauxAffablyEvil zy]] [[TheSociopath Glow]]]] turns out to be ''the'' best one on the entire show. Apparently, it's ''her'' cutie mark talent (along with being TheChessmaster).

** [[BigBad Emperor Belos]] is this in every instance he's shown. Whether it's by telling people what they want to hear, twisting the truth just enough that it doesn't become a lie or just outright lying, Belos will inevitably manipulate people to do his bidding. And woe to anyone who [[DealWithTheDevil makes deals with him]]: once he has what he wants, he will not bother with keeping his end of the bargain unless it helps him manipulate people even more. [[spoiler:Part of it is due to Belos actually being [[DeliberateValuesDissonance a witch hunter from the 17th century]] and [[FantasticRacism seeing the witches and demons of the Boiling Isles]] as AlwaysChaoticEvil, and therefore seeing it as beneath him to honor any deal he cares to make with them. The rest of it is that [[ItsAllAboutMe Belos is so deluded in his belief that he is the hero]] that [[TautologicalTemplar he sees all of his actions as righteous, no matter how vile they really are]]: if he has to lie and kill to reach his goals, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans then lie and kill he will]].]] [[spoiler:Even as he finally finds himself cornered in the finale, [[BadLiar Belos makes up a lie on the fly about how all of his evil deeds were committed because a curse forced him to]]. Luz doesn't buy it for a second.]]

* Aku from ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' has a terrible case of this. Taking the form of a beautiful woman and making up a fake sob story to gain Jack's trust? Check. Threatening to destroy a scientist's village if the scientist does not build robotic assassins for him? Check. Kidnapping a sentient android's pet dog and threatening to kill it if the android doesn't hunt down Jack? Check. And he ''always'' ends up betraying or screwing his marks over somehow. He destroyed the time travel artifact Jack was seeking. He used the robots the scientist created to destroy the scientist's village. The android's dog is probably already dead. To top it all off, he feels absolutely '''NO''' remorse for doing any of these things and in fact takes great pleasure in letting his victims know just how foolish they were to trust him.

** This is Shadow Weaver's entire deal. Her most dangerous trait isn't her magical skill, it's her manipulation. Even people who should, by rights, know better, can be sucked in by her deceptions, as shown when Catra brings her sorceress guild badge in return for [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk feigned kindness]]. [[spoiler:And when she switches sides, she turns her attention to Glimmer, who begins to fall under her influence even though she knows full well from Adora how Shadow Weaver operates.]]
** Catra turns out to have learned quite a bit from her. From getting Entrapta to switch sides to deceiving Hordak, she gets a lot of mileage out of well-chosen lies [[spoiler:until it all burns down around her ears thanks to Double Trouble]].
** Double Trouble is [[MagnificentBastard probably the master]], though. DT uses shapeshifting and a keen understanding of others to raise hell, and even when they're OutGambitted, they ''still'' get what they're after. [[spoiler:They play the Rebellion like a fiddle from "Flutterina" to "Mer-Mysteries", and then after Glimmer hires them, it takes them less than two episodes to utterly break the back of the Horde by luring their forces into a trap, pressing Hordak's BerserkButton and sending him after Catra, and then taking Catra out of play with a BreakingSpeech that leaves her almost catatonic]].

** Mr. Burns is an obvious choice. However, many seem acutely aware of Burns's evil ways so sentiments may vary here.

** Eric Cartman has manipulative abilities to a near-frightening quality. Although many of his victims are indeed gullible simpletons, still his ability to persuade people en masse is shocking. Even those familiar with his methods get dragged in by his way with words.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama World Tour'''s Alejandro is a spectacular case. He's masterminded more eliminations than any other villain on the show, and the kicker? Not one person on the remaining cast in the season knew he was evil (except for [[BelligerentSexualTension Heather]]), and those that do find out don't last long or don't find out until it's too late to do squat.
** Heather was quite manipulative herself in the first season, but her spark fizzled out afterward, due to everyone now being fully aware of how vile she is and thus never putting even an ounce of trust in her in later seasons. As a result, this makes her attempts at genuine sincerity difficult for others to believe in (such as her attempts to warn others about how much of a threat Alejandro is).

* ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperheroes'' has a few, some of the biggest examples are Dr. Londo (during his son's CallingTheOldManOut routine he mentions that he uses everyone), [[spoiler: Brainiac]], Imperiex and Alexis Luthor.

* Valtor in ''WesternAnimation/{{Winx Club}}'' stands out amongst the series' other villains for being this. In addition to being an immensely powerful sorcerer, many of his plots involve manipulating others, such as using Countess Cassandra and her desire for the Solarian throne to brainwash King Radius of Solaria, or taking advantage of Diaspro's jealousy towards Bloom to have her brainwash Sky.

** A lesser example would be Kikimora. In "For the Future", [[spoiler:she completely has Boscha under her thumb and manipulates her into making poor decisions as the leader of New Hexside, while constantly reminding Boscha of [[MyGreatestMistake her failure to save her friends from the Collector]].]] Luz notes that she's just replicating Belos' techniques on a smaller scale, and calls her out for not even being original.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': [[BigBad Emperor Belos]] is this in every instance he's shown. Whether it's by telling people what they want to hear, twisting the truth just enough that it doesn't become a lie or just outright lying, Belos will inevitably manipulate people to do his bidding. And woe to anyone who [[DealWithTheDevil makes deals with him]]: once he has what he wants, he will not bother with keeping his end of the bargain unless it helps him manipulate people even more. [[spoiler:Part of it is due to Belos actually being [[DeliberateValuesDissonance a witch hunter from the 17th century]] and [[FantasticRacism seeing the witches and demons of the Boiling Isles]] as AlwaysChaoticEvil, and therefore seeing it as beneath him to honor any deal he cares to make with them. The rest of it is that [[ItsAllAboutMe Belos is so deluded in his belief that he is the hero]] that [[TautologicalTemplar he sees all of his actions as righteous, no matter how vile they really are]]: if he has to lie and kill to reach his goals, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans then lie and kill he will]].]] [[spoiler:Even as he finally finds himself cornered in the finale, [[BadLiar Belos makes up a lie on the fly about how all of his evil deeds were committed because a curse forced him to]]. Luz doesn't buy it for a second.]]
** A lesser example would be Kikimora. In "For the Future", [[spoiler: she completely has Boscha under her t humband manipulates her into making poor decisions as the leader of New Hexside, while constantly reminding Boscha of [[MyGreatestMistake her failure to save her friends from the Collector]].]] Luz notes that she's just replicating Belos' techniques on a smaller scale.

* Valtor in ''WesternAnimation/{{WinxClub}}'' stands out amongst the series' other villains for being this. In addition to being an immensely powerful sorcerer, many of his plots involve manipulating others, such as using Countess Cassandra and her desire for the Solarian throne to brainwash King Radius of Solaria, or taking advantage of Diaspro's jealousy towards Bloom to have her brainwash Sky.

** [[AlphaBitch Chloé Bourgeois]] has picked up a few tips on how to be a Manipulative Bitch from her father [[SleazyPolitician André Bourgeois]]. She frequently takes advantage of her [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections social status]] to get out of trouble for things she did and get her schoolmates in trouble instead.

* Eddy from '' WesternAnimation/{{Ed Edd n Eddy}} ''. While other characters like [[{{BitchInSheepsClothing}} Jimmy]] and [[{{SpoiledBrat}} Sarah]] also have manipulation skills, Eddy is the only character in the show to manipulate every main character in the show. Probably [[{{JustifiedTrope}} justified]], since scamming people is his main Shtick.

* Slade from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' definitely goes here. Manipulating others and making them suffer for it is what he does best. Unfortunately he cannot see outside of his big plans, so his manipulations usually come with a [[VillainBall price]].

* Eddy from '' WesternAnimation/{{EdEddnEddy}} ''. While other characters like [[{{BitchInSheepsClothing}} Jimmy]] and [[{{SpoiledBrat}} Sarah]] also have manipulation skills, Eddy is the only character in the show to manipulate every main character in the show. Probably [[{{JustifiedTrope}} justified]], since scamming people is his main Shtick.

* Eddy from ''WesternAnimation/{{EdEddnEddy}}. While other characters like [[{{BitchInSheepsClothing}} Jimmy]] and [[{{SpoiledBrat}} Sarah]] also have manipulation skills, Eddy is the only character in the show to manipulate every main character in the show. Probably [[{{JustifiedTrope}} justified]], since scamming people is his main Shtick.

I’m

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'':
%%** [[RichBitch Muffy Crosswire]], who will do anything to get her way, even if it means lying.
** [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling D.W. Read]] can often be quite the manipulative little bitch as well; quite a few episodes in the series have her get exactly what she wants at the end by tricking others (usually her titular older brother). A notable example of her manipulativeness is in "Prove It", where she intentionally makes up several false scientific "facts" and [[LittleMissConArtist sells them to other kids]] [[spoiler:with the intent of bothering Arthur into taking her to a science museum]]. Even ''[[TheSmartGuy Brain]]'' is unable to refute her "facts" despite knowing she's lying! Oh, and did we mention that this whole scheme was pulled off by a ''four-year-old''? It should also be noted that [[LackOfEmpathy she shows no remorse whatsoever over the fact that she had to knowingly lie to other kids and screw them out of their money to accomplish this]]. Her manipulative side mostly disappeared after the characters' personalities were [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] in later seasons, [[spoiler:but Season 18's "The Pageant Pickle" saw that side of her make a comeback when she uses CrocodileTears to trick Arthur into humiliating himself in front of her preschool spring pageant's audience]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
** Eric Cartman has manipulative abilities to a near-frightening quality. Although many of his victims are indeed gullible simpletons, still his ability to persuade people en masse is shocking. Even those familiar with his methods get dragged in by his way with words.
*** He manages to form a Neo-Nazi organization out of fans of ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'' and lead them on a march chanting anti-Semitic slogans and they never got the slightest idea of what they were nearly dragged into!
*** Cartman also convinced everybody that ginger kids are soulless monsters. In order to teach him a lesson, Kyle, Kenny and Stan make him up as a ginger. Unfortunately Cartman's xenophobic nature doesn't change one bit; all that changes is who he's prejudiced against. He rallies all the ginger kids into a sect and begins an extermination of non-gingers in a drive to make sure that he is not a minority. Mere moments before the extermination commences, Kyle reveals the truth to him. He then has seconds to devise an inspirational speech that usually Stan or Kyle would make. His audience notices his change in tune and press him for some time, but in the end, Cartman ''still'' manages to pull the lie off by manipulating the gingers into joining him in a corny improvised song-and-dance number about loving your fellow man, despite their appearance or skin color.
----> '''Kyle''': [[YouMakeMeSick You are such a manipulative asshole, Cartman.]]\\
'''Cartman''': ''(whispering)'' Yes, but I'm not gonna die!
*** There's also his utterly unsympathetic deconstruction of one of the nannies in "Tsst". He skillfully convinces her that her psychological techniques are working on him, then turns the situation on its head and tears into her brutally by not simply mocking her lack of children, but mocking her ability to judge people. She walks out on her first day in near-hysterics. Then Series/{{Supernanny}} is brought in... briefly. [[NoodleIncident We don't see what he does to Nanny Jo]], but three days later she's shown utterly broken in an asylum, eating her own excrement and sobbing the phrase, "From hell. It's from helllll!"
*** One of Cartman's proudest moments (for him) is in "Cartoon Wars Part II". He sets off to have ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' taken off the air with his Game Face on, ready to spout a sob-story to the writers, the likes of which he's done many times before. Just another job, right? Then he finds out that it gets a little more complicated when you have to pitch a sob-story to ''Manatees.'' And yet he still manages to manipulate a TV executive into not wanting the Manatees to push him around - when the guy had previously been making a fortune out of allowing them to do so. Anybody can push around humans. He manipulated ''sea-mammals.'' No wonder this was his next line:
----> '''Cartman:''' I did it! I... AM... ''GOD!!!!''
*** And in "Mysterion Trilogy" Cartman befriends/tames Cthulhu. Yes. [[Creator/HPLovecraft THAT]] [[EldritchAbomination Cthulhu]].
** Leslie Meyers, the BigBad of season 19 proves to be just as manipulative as Cartman, if not more so. She got Jimmy to help her escape from the news anchors that were keeping her in captivity. As soon as she finds a computer, she beats the hell out of Jimmy and starts sending advertisements through it. After she's done there, she sets her sights on manipulating ''Kyle''.
** One of the {{Big Bad}}s of season 20, Lennart Bedrager, manages to rival both Cartman and Leslie in terms of manipulativeness. He gains political power in Denmark [[spoiler:despite not actually being from there]], manages to convince his new subjects to create a database that can expose the internet history of everybody on earth (which causes enough global tension to potentially start World War III), all [[spoiler:to get a laugh]].

* Being [[TheChessmaster a chessmaster]] and the successor to Azula in the MagnificentBastard department, Amon from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' continuously played everyone like fiddles. Even Lin Beifong and Korra admit that they played right into his hand after his terrorist attack on the Pro-Bending arena.
** Tarrlok is a Manipulative Bastard par excellence. Apart from Tenzin, he's got the whole United Republic Council on a string - their sole purpose seems to be supporting whatever Tarrlok is proposing. He cleverly takes advantage of anything and everything that might help him gain more power. Through his smooth talking and media play he manoeuvred even Korra into joining him (albeit temporarily). After Lin Beifong's resignation, he virtually took control of the metalbending police and began imposing his iron-fist régime on the city.

* Slade from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' definitely goes here. Manipulating others and making them suffer for it is what he does best. Unfortunately he cannot see outside of his big plans, so his manipulations usually come with a [[VillainBall price]].
* Chase Young from ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown''. His main goal during his Season 2 debut is to manipulate Omi into joining the Heylin side. When that didn't work, he took matters into his own hands and concocted a complex plan that led to Omi's eventual FaceHeelTurn, [[spoiler:but against his will.]] Chase is even classified as a MagnificentBastard because of this.

* The version of Megatron in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' was able to convince Isaac Sumdac he was an Autobot and to never mention his name to the Autobots, as well as get the Constructicons on his side with a story of "Autobot oppression" and a couple drinks.
** Getting [[spoiler: Bulkhead]] to build him a space bridge by being the only person who seemed to believe he wasn't a complete idiot, and talking [[spoiler:Omega Supreme right back to Cybertron rather than killing him.]]
** He even managed to convince [[spoiler: ''Starscream'' to join him in conquering Cybertron together after Starscream took over Omega Supreme and had Megatron at his mercy.]]
* Megatron in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' is just as manipulative. The guy managed to convince Silverbolt (''the noblest individual Optimus Primal has ever met'') to become a Predacon when he first met him. In ''Beast Machines'' he later played on Rattrap's insecurity about his now useless robot mode and got him to help him out for a night. After infecting all the Maximals except Optimus with a virus that causes discord he got Optimus to consider (admittedly, for like five minutes) that maybe his vision of forced harmony was the way to go.
** Tarantulas in ''Beast Wars'' was about as talented. More than once he duped Quickstrike into betraying Megatron, and once even got him to go along with a plan that would negate both him and every other Transformer (but Tarantulas) from existence.
* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': [[BigBad Chip Whistler]] becomes this in the climax of "Reckoning Ball", where he manages to use the Greens' kindness and innocence and makes them believe he's changed and sorry for his actions against him, so he can take over for his retiring father and carry out his revenge without any interference from him. The Greens realize the truth by the time of "Friend Con".
* Dave from ''WesternAnimation/CodeMonkeys'' tends to fall into this territory sometimes, most notably [[spoiler:In the Drunken Office Party episode where he gets Jerry to believe he is responsible for all the horrible things he (Dave) actually did at the Office Party. The whole episode Jerry is racked with guilt and is insulted, physically attacked, thrown up on trying to make up for what he did. He even considers quitting. Because Jerry believes he broke Dave's arm he gives him his ticket to Hawaii and thanks him for being such a good friend. It is only at the end of the episode he realizes Dave was behind it all and the things happening to him were happening because Dave was with him and he happened to be caught in the crossfire. Several of the people he offended were made up and Dave gets go spend two weeks in Hawaii while it all blows over.]]
%%* Digeri Dingo from ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'' is a milder, more lovable example of this
* Despite the series being known for its incompetent or even stupid characters, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' actually has a surprising amount of Manipulative Bastards. Though very few come across as being completely unlikable or evil... a rare thing to have accomplished, the fact is that most of the cast dabbles in deception on more than one occasion. In fact more than 90% of the cast could be considered in this category.
** Mr. Burns is an obvious choice. However, many seem acutely aware of Burns's evil ways so sentiments may vary here.
** The Mayor of Springfield, "Diamond" Joe Quimby, makes his living being a Manipulative Bastard. He's a satirical politician after all. Though one must admit, even in the somewhat [[CrapsackWorld morally confused]] world of the Simpsons, many of Quimby's actions are particularly bad. Even the incompetent Chief Clancy Wiggum, whom Quimby seems to have under his thumb, holds a thinly veiled desire to see Quimby answer to karma. Not without moments of sympathy, but a Manipulative Bastard no less.
** Being a comedic center of a lot of villainous staples, Sideshow Bob has dabbled in the art of the manipulative bastardry on more than one occasion.
** Krusty the Clown, Springfield's resident celebrity, will do almost anything to keep his fame and fortune in check. Much like Quimby in a sense, Krusty in a way makes his living off of being a Manipulative Bastard.
%%** In many situations, Homer slimed his way out of by playing on people's emotions.
%%** Bart knows how to play on people's sympathies.
* At the risk of sounding [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment redundant]], David Xanatos of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''.
** The Archmage takes the cake in the three-part episode "Avalon". He convinces the weird sisters (who don't like mortals telling them to do anything) to do his bidding, while showing his past self the steps needed to obtain unlimited power. When he finally gets his power, he attacks the humans and Gargoyles on Avalon, but spares them so that they can go and get Goliath to help them. With Goliath in the battle, the Archmage can now exact his revenge for supposedly killing him.
** Thailog's a definite example as well -- he's ''at least'' as good as Xanatos, and possibly better. Demona's got a manipulative streak as well, but as usual she's her own worst enemy, and her bad temper and bouts of genocidal insanity often wind up shooting her in the foot at key stages.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'':
** Him is easily one of the biggest ones. He acts like a Manipulative Bastard to everyone, but mostly to Bubbles, as two episodes of the series involve Him torturing and manipulating Bubbles by using her sweetness, naivete and her extreme emotions to destroy her and her sisters and in one case break them up. But what else would you expect from their world's equivalent of ''{{Satan}}?!''
** Mojo Jojo in TheMovie, which is the girls' origin story. He gets them to believe he's on their side before showing his true colors. [[VillainDecay It was all downhill from there for him, though.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Zoidberg apparently acts pathetic to make sure people don't bully him.[[note]]This may extend to taking a little bullying now to save a lot later.[[/note]] This means that, conceivably, ''every time Zoidberg has ever seemed pathetic, he was pulling this.'' And this is Zoidberg. That's 98% of his screen time.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama World Tour'''s Alejandro is a spectacular case. He's masterminded more eliminations than any other villain on the show, and the kicker? Not one person on the remaing cast in the season knew he was evil (except for [[BelligerentSexualTension Heather]]), and those that do find out don't last long or don't find out until it's too late to do squat.
** Heather was quite manipulative herself in the first season, but her spark fizzled out afterward, due to everyone now being fully aware of how vile she is and thus never putting even an ounce of trust in her in later seasons. As a result, this makes her attempts at genuine sincerity difficult for others to believe in (such as her attempts to warn others about how much of a threat Alejandro is).
* ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperheroes'' has a few, some of the biggest examples are Dr. Londo (during his son's CallingTheOldManOut routine he mentions that he uses everyone), [[spoiler: Brainiac]], Imperiex and Alexis Luthor.

* The Creeper from ''WesternAnimation/{{Animalia}}''. One of his favorite methods includes [[CrocodileTears fake crying]] to trick the heroes.
* [[BigBad Prince Phobos]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' is very good at this (though his ego and laziness keep him from being as good at it as he could be), and his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Cedric has his moments. But Season 2's BigBad Nerissa is even better.
** It's even implied that Nerissa was behind Phobos' rise to power to begin with. She's certainly TheChessmaster in Season 2. Right down to ''planning'' [[spoiler: the defeat of both the Knights of Vengeance and the Knights of Destruction]].
* Roger from ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. In the episode "The One That Got Away", to get revenge on Sidney Hauffman for using his credit card, he completely ruins every aspect of his life from his job, his garden, his pigeon friends, his fiancee, and his apartment. Only to find out Sidney was one of his personas that had taken on a life of its own.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
** Rarity is extremely skilled at getting people (especially males) to do what she wants through skilled application of [[IHaveBoobsYouMustObey her abundant charm]] and her ability to read personalities.
** Sweetie Belle, albeit young, has shown serious potential and could be considered a Manipulative Bitch In Training and might as well have her older sister on a cross and strings. ''[[http://images.wikia.com/mlp/images/1/1e/Sweetie_Belle_S02E12.png This is the face of a filly that will play you like a violin if given the chance.]]''
** Discord is depicted in stained glass window images controlling ponies via puppeteer strings (something we actually see him sort of do) and in the episode itself generally plays ''everypony'' for fools. By the end of the first episode he appeared in, [[spoiler:he's successfully manipulated and ''[[BreakTheCutie broken]]'' the mane cast through his mind games and manipulations.]]
** In the season 4 finale, we have the [[spoiler:G4 version of Tirek, who manages to play ''Discord'' like a fiddle!]]
** Diamond Tiara is great at manipulating others, especially for a filly. Apparently, manipulating others is her cutie mark talent. [[spoiler:It's not.]]
** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E20VivaLasPegasus Viva Las Pegasus]]," Gladmane retains his amazing array of talented performers by playing off duos against each other, leaving them too distracted by arguing to make plans to leave. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:he included Flim and Flam in this, and they promptly KansasCityShuffle him out the door]].
** [[spoiler:[[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon Co]][[FauxAffablyEvil zy]] [[TheSociopath Glow]]]] turns out to be ''the'' best one on the entire show. Apparently, it's ''her'' cutie mark talent (along with being TheChessmaster).
* ''WesternAnimation/PepeLePew'': The glass case scene in "For Scentimental Reasons" ended with Pepe putting a gun to his head and supposedly killing himself after Penelope says that she's not coming out because he stinks. Penelope is so distraught that she unlocks the case and runs out — into his still-alive arms. Turns out the whole thing was a trick to get her out and he missed.
* Pete on ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' prides himself on tricking the people around him into doing his bidding or giving their things up to him by exploiting their weaknesses. His neighbor Goofy is [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} really dumb]] so he just tells him BlatantLies. If he's attempting to trick Goofy's [[HighSchoolHustler ambitious son]] Max, he will often try to entice him with false promises and then take it back. His own [[NiceGuy sweet, vulnerable son]] PJ? [[AbusiveParents The way to go is guilt-trips, intimidation, and false or out of reach signs of affection, all the way.]] Then there's [[HonestJohnsDealership his job]]...
* Aku from ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' has a terrible case of this. Taking the form of a beautiful woman and making up a fake sob story to gain Jack's trust? Check. Threatening to destroy a scientist's village if the scientist does not build robotic assassins for him? Check. Kidnapping a sentient android's pet dog and threatening to kill it if the android doesn't hunt down Jack? Check. And he ''always'' ends up betraying or screwing his marks over somehow. He destroyed the time travel artifact Jack was seeking. He used the robots the scientist created to destroy the scientist's village. The android's dog is probably already dead. To top it all off, he feels absolutely '''NO''' remorse for doing any of these things and in fact takes great pleasure in letting his victims know just how foolish they were to trust him.
* Tangier in ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'', a modeling dog who hates rookies entering the pet photography circuit. When Russell joins, Tangier repeatedly plays Oliver, the photographer, against Russell while playing himself up to be polite and helpful to maintain Oliver's favor. Tangier is only undone because he respects Zoe as a fellow veteran, not realizing Zoe doesn't share the same attitude as him.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollz}}'' has Mica and his girlfriend Shale, who exploit Sapphire's crush on Mica and fake Shale breaking up with him to use her for their own means.
* Dick Dastardly does this to the other members of [[WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines the Vulture Squadron]] in "Home Sweet Homing Pigeon." He plays on the emotions of Klunk, Zilly and Muttley, who are about to be discharged, so they'll stay and help him chase Yankee Doodle Pigeon at least once more. After too many "once mores," the three have had it, so Dastardly gets them to sign his memory book. The joke is on them: [[TeamRocketWins Dastardly tricked them into signing re-enlistment forms for four more years.]]
* The Stingers from ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' are so manipulative that one of their songs, "Mind Games", is even about it. All three Stingers are quite intelligent and manipulative - [[TheCasanova Riot]] and [[TheVamp Minx]] with their sex appeal while [[PhonyPsychic Rapture]] with her NewAge schemes - but cast aside people once they've met their goals. There are some [[FreudianExcuse implications]] that their reasons for being manipulative is due to being poor {{Street Musician}}s (and whatever else with Minx and Riot, as their pasts were never explained) however it doesn't give them an excuse for being so manipulative.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheCrumpets'': In "Amenez-zique !", one member of a popular male music duo crashes his helicopter outside the Crumpets' house. Caprice, who is a big fan of the duo, gets involved in rescuing him, who is left with IdentityAmnesia after waking up. She explains to him that they've been in a romantic relationship. Hoping to keep him as her "ideal boyfriend", she hides him in her bedroom, altered his clothes and hair to match her own colors, and gives him a different name. Caprice's cousin Cordless, who also took part of the rescue, feels anxious due to his guilt for assisting her scheme despite his initial opposition. At one time when the amnesiac man gets left unattended, the TricksterTwins tell him that he had robbed farmers (influencing him to steal Pa's basket of strawberries) and that he was a bartender.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'':
%%** [[RichBitch Muffy Crosswire]], who will do anything to get her way, even if it means lying.
** [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling D.W. Read]] can often be quite the manipulative little bitch as well; quite a few episodes in the series have her get exactly what she wants at the end by tricking others (usually her titular older brother). A notable example of her manipulativeness is in "Prove It", where she intentionally makes up several false scientific "facts" and [[LittleMissConArtist sells them to other kids]] [[spoiler:with the intent of bothering Arthur into taking her to a science museum]]. Even ''[[TheSmartGuy Brain]]'' is unable to refute her "facts" despite knowing she's lying! Oh, and did we mention that this whole scheme was pulled off by a ''four-year-old''? It should also be noted that [[LackOfEmpathy she shows no remorse whatsoever over the fact that she had to knowingly lie to other kids and screw them out of their money to accomplish this]]. Her manipulative side mostly disappeared after the characters' personalities were [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] in later seasons, [[spoiler:but Season 18's "The Pageant Pickle" saw that side of her make a comeback when she uses CrocodileTears to trick Arthur into humiliating himself in front of her preschool spring pageant's audience]].

* Viren from ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' is an excellent people person. Throughout the second season, he manages to get three of the four other members of the Pentarchy on his side with a stirring speech, and he only fails to convince the last one because she lost her mothers to war and refuses to enter another, and even then he moved her to tears with a heartwrenching story about said mothers. He later phrases Ezran's order to dismiss most of the army in a way that makes sure the remaining soldiers are undyingly loyal to him. His skill is only further enhanced when collaborating with his elven patron, Aaravos, a full-blown [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]].

** Let's not kid ourselves... Homer Simpson may be the de-facto main character and the big doofus ({{Jerkass}} most of the time...) we all love...but at the end of the day he's one Manipulative Bastard. Just consider how many situations Homer slimed his way out of by playing on people's emotions... whether it'd be Marge, the townsfolk, or even [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou YOU!]] This doesn't mean he's a bad man, anyone who's watched the show knows that he's got a good heart somewhere in there... but he really is a manipulative man in many ways. Thinking otherwise means you're under his spell most likely.
*** Bart. Though not as shameless perhaps as his dad, and with a little more of an apparent heart of gold most of the time, entire episodes have been spun around the fact Bart gets by so much because of the fact he knows how to play on people's sympathies. Although not truly evil by any extent like with most of the characters, still a true little bastard to the very end.

* Vlad Masters/Plasmius from ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' does this all the time, especially with the main character whom he likes to play up the [[NotSoDifferent similarity between the two]] in order to get him on his side.