Basic Trope: A character manipulates others in order to further their goals.
- Straight:
- Bob tells Alice that if she doesn't help him defeat Emperor Evulz, she will never be forgiven for her past misdeeds.
- Bob hatches a plan to manipulate Alice into doing what he wants.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob can manipulate The Spock.
- Bob manipulates every other character, both good guys and bad guys, and everything in between.
- Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?
- Downplayed:
- Bob pulls pranks by playing on his subjects' minds.
- Bob is very reluctant to manipulate people, but he will do so if necessary.
- Justified:
- Bob is The Empath, which allows him to take advantage of others' feelings.
- Bob's manipulation was for a good cause.
- Bob is The Sociopath.
- Bob is educated in psychology.
- Bob had a tough childhood where manipulation was needed to obtain his basic needs.
- Inverted: Extreme Doormat
- Subverted:
- Bob wasn't trying to manipulate Alice. He genuinely feels that way.
- Bob wants to be this trope, but is TERRIBLE at it.
- Double Subverted:
- Bob is manipulating Alice into thinking he genuinely feels that way.
- Being terrible at manipulation was what Bob wanted everyone to think all along...
- Parodied: Bob manipulates people into doing things he could do himself in a few seconds: such as picking up a pencil.
- Zig-Zagged: Alice manipulates Bob into thinking he's manipulating her.
- Averted: Bob never manipulates others.
- Enforced:
- Lampshaded: "All you told me were lies! You were just using me!"
- Invoked: Bob studies psychology and applies it to the people he knows.
- Exploited: Alice knows Bob is trying to manipulate her, but plays dumb so that Bob lets his guard down.
- Defied: Alice knows Bob is trying to manipulate her, and calls him out on it.
- Discussed: Bob and Steve talk about the moral implications of manipulating Alice.
- Conversed: "This show is just plain sick! Bob manipulates Alice into doing everything he wants her to do, and Steve treats him like he's in the right."
- Implied: Alice says she'll never perform Action A, but then she does it under Bob's seemingly benevolent gaze.
- Deconstructed: Nobody trusts Bob because he keeps manipulating them.
- Reconstructed:
- Bob plays the long game with his evil or not-so-evil plans and frames other people, so nobody catches on.
- Because no one trusts him, Bob relies almost entirely upon Reverse Psychology instead, to much the same effect as if they did trust him.
- Bob commits using his plans and improvisations to manipulate villains and no one else. The heroes regain their trust in him.
- Played for Laughs: Bob manipulates Alice into doing barely villainous things, like not recycling.
- Played for Drama: Bob manipulates Alice into killing her friend Charlie. When Alice realizes what she's done, she murders Bob.
Wouldn't the world be a better place if you just went back to the Manipulative Bastard main page?
