During the investigation of recent hollers in the Complete Monster thread, it's become apparent to the staff that an insular, unfriendly culture has evolved in the Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard threads that is causing problems.
Specific issues include:
- Overzealous hollers on tropers who come into the threads without being familiar with all the rules and traditions of the tropes. And when they are familiar with said rules and traditions, they get accused (with little evidence) of being ban evaders.
- A few tropers in the thread habitually engage in snotty, impolite mini-modding. There are also regular complaints about excessive, offtopic "socializing" posts.
- Many many thread regulars barely post/edit anywhere else, making the threads look like they are divorced from the rest of TV Tropes.
- Following that, there are often complaints about the threads and their regulars violating wiki rules, such as on indexing, crosswicking, example context and example categorization. Some folks are working on resolving the issues, but...
- Often moderator action against thread regulars leads to a lot of participants suddenly showing up in the moderation threads to protest and speak on their behalf, like a clique.
It is not a super high level problem, but it has been going on for years and we cannot ignore it any longer. There will be a thread in Wiki Talk
to discuss the problem; in the meantime there is a moratorium on further Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard example discussion until we have gotten this sorted out.
Update: The new threads have been made and can be found here:
- Why do a cleanup?: This trope definitely exists and has a well documented history of use. That being said, it frequently gets misused to a character who meets one of the components, namely that they are smart, charming while not necessarily even being a villain, or create good plans. While these are components, there is also a certain personality required, not to mention that all of the above are required to be present for a character to be a true Magnificent Bastard. As the trope attracts interest, it unfortunately brings in a lot of misuse and I thought the best way to rectify this would be a Perpetual Cleanup Thread, as is being done and has seen success with Complete Monster.
- What makes a Magnificent Bastard: Below is a list of the individual components to make this character. Note that they must all be present, not just some, which has lead to frequent misuse:
- Must be intelligent: Goes without saying, to be a Magnificent Bastard, the character has to be smart in the first place and use their brain to work towards whatever their end goal may be;
- Must be a Bastard: While going overboard in how vile the character is can be detrimental, a key aspect is the Bastard part of the trope, whether the character is an out-and-out antagonist in the work, some manner of Villain Protagonist, or something in between, they at least have some unscrupulous qualities to qualify for this trope;
- Must not be too detestable: Again, there is a ceiling on how bad the character can be before they just become too nefarious, blocking out the Magnificent part of the trope. A genocidal racist or child-raping Sadist aren't going to make the cut;
- Think on their feet: In addition to being a Chessmaster, a Magnificent Bastard, if the character deals with situations in which their initial plan is ruined, has to be able to pull a Xanatos Speed Chess and at least come up with a competent strategy to make up for lost time, otherwise they fail for being unable to think in tough spots;
- Have charm: Even if they don't necessarily make every character they meet fall in love with them and can even be detested by others, the audience has to find an amicable social relation to the character, or they are failing to make the impact required for this trope.
- What to do if a character is listed on a page but has not been approved?: They need to be removed, all candidates need to come through the cleanup thread first. The character could well count but they need to be analyzed properly and voted on first.
- Do we list Playing With this trope?: No; as a YMMV trope, this cannot be Played With, so we only want examples that are Played Straight.
- What do I do if I want a character to be listed as a Magnificent Bastard?: The greatest success Complete Monster saw for its cleanup effort was from the invention of the effort post format, so, borrowing from that, a troper wishing to propose a Magnificent Bastard will create such a post in the following format:
- Begin by describing The work, this will help establish the setting the character is in and for the reader to understand what kind of a scenario they are in;
- Summarize The character's actions, this will provide a listing for readers to understand what they do and how it applies to this trope because charm and lack of smugness are so crucial, this is a good time to be incorporating exactly the flavor of how they operate to explain this;
- List circumstances in which the character must Think on their feet, these are times where a wrench might be thrown in their initial plan and they have to adapt on the spot or even come up with a new scheme all together, this is also a good time to explain how the villain reacts to defeat when they have to face it, a true Magnificent Bastard won't break down into tears at the thought of death, they should have known such a possibility could occur and be able to handle it with more dignity;
- The competition, similar to the Heinous Standard dealt with for a Complete Monster, this section is to deal with how successful the character is in carrying out their plans compared to other characters. While, as a villain, they probably are going to lose in the end, it is good to explain how other characters handle the same situation. There is no exceptionalism case to be made for this trope but explaining the variety helps the reader have a better understanding of the proposal.
- How do you know when the character's arc is done so they can be proposed? When their tenure as a villain or antagonist finishes. This could happen in a single Story Arc in an entire work, a single work of a franchise, or the whole series in general. We'll show lenience to Long-Runners with constantly recurring candidates or series with outstanding continuities (ex. comic books), and it's entirely possible to count in a work or two but not in general for a reason like Depending on the Writer.
- What about candidates evil because of external sources? Those Made of Evil can qualify if they show enough individuality and tactical acumen — in other words, they have the personality to fulfill the magnificence requirement. Conversely, those brainwashed, especially if they're a better person without it, may fail the individuality aspect and cannot count.
- What if they are under orders from a higher-up? Depends. If the boss created the plans down to the letter and the candidate is just following them, sounds like we should discuss the boss instead. However, if the candidate takes creative liberties with the orders, adds their own charm and flair to them, fills in holes in the orders, and/or actively deals with obstacles their boss did not talk about, the candidate shows enough individual thinking to qualify.
- What about Character Development? An MB is something a character can develop into... a nice person who plots well might become more morally gray as the work goes on and hits the "Bastard" criteria, thus making them viable. Likewise, a Smug Snake might shed their ego, become more understanding of the threat others pose and gain the personality or "Magnificent" criteria, likewise making them viable. Conversely, a character who looks like this trope might suffer from a Sanity Slippage or just get outed as not being as smart as they thought they were and become incompatible with MB.
- Can an MB be a good guy? Not in the conventional sense... it is required they have at least some dubious traits lest they fail the "Bastard" criteria. That being said, a character who pulls a Heel–Face Turn or eventually stops taking villainous actions is still fair game: as there was a point in time where they were both "Magnificent" and a "Bastard" at the same time and they've merely adapted as time goes on. Now... if such a character begins showing other issues (i.e.: becomes prone to freak outs or starts getting outwitted) then they're compromising their Magnificence and will probably be deemed a cut. What's important is stylishly operating while at least for some time being willing to take at best underhanded methods to see a job done. A Heel–Face Turn in itself isn't a disqualifier but they do have to have been "Magnificent" and a "Bastard" at the same time and afterwards can't start slipping on the former front.
- What about characters whose stories can take different routes?: When proposing a character in a form of media that has them in multiple story routes. Said character must be consistent with their characteristics in all routes. (ex.: Can't have an example who shows promise on one route yet fails in another.) The only exception is if a later installment of the series confirms the character's actions which made them worth proposing are the canon route.
- Is there a timeframe rule like with Complete Monster?: Yes, please wait two weeks until after the work has concluded before proposing a character (again, usually using the North American air date). As is the case with CM, we want to give a reasonable time frame so that everyone interested in seeing the work has done so and can participate in the discussion without having anything spoiled.
- What about groups like with Complete Monster?: This is a point of divergence between the two tropes. While CM does not allow for a single entry encompassing more than three characters lest their heinousness for crimes becomes too watered down, with MB as long as they are treated as one "unit" it is acceptable to lump all characters provided they share acts of charm and intelligence.
- Can I propose my own work's character as a Magnificent Bastard?: No, this is a YMMV subject and the creator of a content is way too biased to be able to evaluate the criteria we're looking for without a second opinion taking over. That being said, you are more than welcome to encourage someone to consume your creation and if they feel a character counts, are more than welcome to suggest them.
- My example/edit has been approved, but the example subpage is locked! How do I get it added?: The moderators do not add examples to locked example subpages in the MagnificentBastard/ namespace directly. Rather, you need to do the edit to a sandbox page that follows the format Sandbox.MagnificentBastard<Name of the example subpage> (e.g for MagnificentBastard.Fullmetal Alchemist it's Sandbox.Magnificent Bastard Fullmetal Alchemist) and on a Friday, ask in the locked pages edit requests thread
for the content to be swapped in.
Thread rules
When voting a troper must specify the effort post they're voting on and cannot merely vote on "Everything I missed" as in the past it has indicated the poster didn't read the effort post and is guessing instead of analyzing.
Resolved items
In general, a character listed on this trope is considered "settled". This means they should not be challenged unless information used to list them was incorrect or information was missed in the initial discussion.
However, when re-litigating a candidate, the same rules apply for when they were originally proposed. If they do not have five or more upvotes than downvotes for approval upon a re-litigation, including votes from the initial discussion if they do not change, then they are a cut.
This especially applies to the characters listed below, who have been discussed excessively and repeated attempts to get them listed/cut may result in punitive action for bogging down the thread.
Definitely an MB
- Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers: Any sadism Darkrai displays is limited in effect thanks to the game's nature and any cowardice which can be inferred about him is Alternative Character Interpretation about his tactical retreats.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: Azula's Villainous Breakdown is undone in the sequel comic Smoke & Shadow where she regains her composure and ends up stable and in control enough to count.
Definitely not an MB
- South Park: The show's frequent use of vulgar comedy and mean-spirited humor leaves any potential candidates devoid of the dignity or charm to qualify.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Aug 31st 2023 at 4:15:22 AM
Cegora, Bakura and Megabyte.
Also found this on Yojimbo
- Magnificent Bastard: Sanjūrō, though he plays down the "bastard" part as the film goes on. Also, Unosuke, what with how he sees through Sanjūrō. But Sanjūrō escapes.
Cut or EP?
Edited by MenInGreyToBlak on Aug 7th 2018 at 5:41:07 PM
Ithink Sanjuro us ultimately too much a Guile Hero, but it's been forveer since I've seen Yojimbo. He's the character The Man With No Name was....'based' on (Fistful of Dollars was a blatant ripoff of Yojimbo to the point Akira Kurosawa sued successfully)
On the other hand? The story that inspired all of it?
YMMV.Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett?
- Magnificent Bastard: The Continental Op is a bastard and he is magnificent, giving us an object lesson in Playing Both Sides.
He is an easy, automatic keep.. One of the most seminal, easy examples in all of Crime fiction.
Edited by Lightysnake on Aug 7th 2018 at 10:32:53 AM
I'm gonna lean to cutting Marcus right now.
Now, another DND example: I give you Bane.
Who is Bane?
Long ago in Faerun, there were three mortal men who came together. They vowed a sacred oath as one: that together they would seize godhood together or die in attempt. These men were the Dead Three: a tyrant, a necromancer, and an assassin. Bane, Myrkul and Bhaal. The Dead Three set their sights on the god Jergal, the god of Strife, Tyranny, Murder and Death.
They journeyed together, having many great adventures, braving countless dangers until they found Jergal himself. The Dead Three challenged him for his godhood...except Jergal? Was just a pleasant kinda guy doing his job and said "yeah, sure, guys. All yours, actually, I'm bored here." The three gambled to see who got what. Bhaal received the portfolio of Murder, Myrkul became God of Death and Bane achieved Strife and Tyranny. They ascended to Godhood, and the alliance ended.
Now, Bane established his central church in the city of Zhentil Keep, with the Zhentarim organization as his chief worshipers. This basically establishes Bane as the chief mortal god of evil in Faerun Now, Bane runs his church and followers with an iron fist. Now, as chief god of evil, Bane inspires his followers to a survival of the fittest mentality, promoting infighting and expansion while frequently playing his enemies to achieve widespread influence. Along the way, he fathered a half-demon demi-god son, Iyachtu Xvim. That'll be important soon.
Now, he and the other Dead Three ended up overreaching when they kinda sorta maybe stole the Tablets of Fate from the Overgod Ao, the big kahuna of Faerun. Ao got angry and this led to the Time of Troubles when all the gods got the boot from the heads. Bane ended up in the body of a mortal follower of his, where he set up leadership in Zhentil Keep, and began to scheme like crazy to conquer Faerun. He almost pulls it off, too. Interestingly? This actually leads to a measure of redeeming qualities for him as he's forced to live with his followers and genuinely begins caring for them.
Finally, near the end of the Time of Troubles? Bane basically drained the life of all the assassins who worshiped Bhaal to empower him. At the same time, the God of Justice, Torm, had his followers sacrifice their lives for his sake, empowering them for a Kaiju-sized god smackdown. And though he was mortally wounded? Torm killed Bane, who Ao left dead when the Time of Troubles ended even with Torm returned to life.
Thiiiis didn't proceed as planned. See, Bane foresaw the idea he might die. An evil mortal, Cyric took all the portfolios of the Dead Three, much to the hatred of the Zhentarim. Until Iyachtu Xvim stepped in to fill dad's shoes. The Zhents deserted Cyric for him ASAP....but it turned on Bane left a bit of himself in Iyachtu Xvim and returned to life by bursting out of his son, reestablished his spot, took his portfolios of Tyranny and Hatred from Cyric and returned to being the top god of evil. Bane then decided to take a look at his church and realized the whole backstabbing infighting thingy? "Uh, okay, guys? Not doing that anymore. Time to cooperate, make evil one big, happy family. We got difference? We're gonna debate 'em like civilized people. Now let's go conquer some new countries, boys and girls!"
Since his return? Bane has been shockingly successful, constantly scheming, forming and betraying alliances...he's notable in that he'll refuse to ever be subservient but he is capable of forming team ups with gods of good if the situation demands it, and does have some honor there. The only gods he'll refuse to work with are guys like Cyric (which is totally reasonable). Since then? Bane has conquered the goblin pantheon and to date is more powerful and dangerous than ever.
Is he charming? Charismatic? A good planner?
Bane was a tyrant in mortal life. He was a strategic genius and it really does show. The campaign setting describes him as bearing an "aura of vast power and cruel intelligence," which is a good w ay to sum it up. But Bane is very erudite and reasonable for an evil god, probably second only to Asmodeus as far as that goes for a Greater God of evil. He is stunningly intelligent and is frequently a chessmaster. Bane thinks outside the box, and is always looking for a way to one up others. Noticeably he never really gets bogged down by scheming for its own sake or falling victim to his own cleverness. Interestingly, this is a product of character development: originally Bane was a pretty generic villain but since the time of troubles he's far more willing to listen to critique and to value his servants more. Now, he did kind of....have a plan backfire when he stole the Tablets from Ao, but he's grown a lot from that. He even had a son to be reborn from should he ever fall, which is...kind of diabolically brilliant.
Is he a bastard? Too much?
Okay, so...he's the evil god of tyranny and hatred. He had a son with full intention of being his sacrificial lamb to be reborn from in a pinch. He wants to conquer, dominate and control everything else. He caused the Time of Troubles. He used a ritual to suck the life out of Bhaal's worshipers to empower himself (okay, this would probably be more evil if Bhaal wasn't completely and utterly monstrous)...Bane is a bad guy, at least as evil as Asmodeus. That said, Bane isn't really too depraved. He wants to rule, but wantonly slaughtered and the best I can liken his despotism to is a divine Doctor Doom. And he's shockingly reasonable with his followers, having realized how self destructive his old ways were and now promotes reasonable discussion and debate to settle disagreements. He's fully capable of honoring his closest followers, especially Fzoul Chembryl, his mortal Chosen who Bane raised as a demigod when Fzoul died in his service. There's also one bit I'm fond of. In the time of Troubles? A mortal follower who saved Bane's life dies suddenly. To his complete and utter shock, Bane finds himself weeping for the man and screaming in grief, without understanding what this feeling is. Suffice to say, upon his return? He values his mortal followers more.
I mean, he does reward treason or failure with death, and he does seek to conquer or destroy other greater powers, but it's what he does.
Conclusion?
Pretty solid yes. Bane might be very, very evil, but he's nowhre near as psychotically depraved as the other two members of the Dead Three who are complete monsters. Myrkul ran his realm with rampant cruelty and sadism, and Bhaal was a serial rapist who plotted to have all his children in a giant blood sacrifice to resurrect himself. At the very least, Bane's church has some legitimate tenets of faith unlike Bhaal's (who's entire religion is "murder time!")
So yeah, keeper.
Bane
Im wondering since were discussing Bakura, What about one of his expies as well. Vector from Yu Gi Oh Zexal is pretty much him with all his intellignce and planning ability with genuine redeeming qualties.
Edited by miraculous on Aug 7th 2018 at 11:56:09 AM
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."I can't help there, I've heard good things about Vector but I never watched Zexal.
On one more subject for Yugioh I think could qualify - Sartorious/Saiou. He's extremely charismatic and manipulative, a great schemer, and a bastard. My hesitation to EP stems from the nature of his villain, in that he's another evil alter ego character who had his alter ego spawned by exposure to the Light of Destruction. As far as I recall, the Light didn't directly control him, it just corrupted him to evil, but I may be mistaken. If it did directly control him, though, we can attribute Sartorious' actions to the Light and so maybe the Light qualifies?
I'm also pondering Yubel but hesitating for the same reason, that being she was corrupted by the Light as the reason for her villainy, but I know for sure it did not possess her, just corrupted her.
And here's my write-ups - Arcturus Mengsk had mixed reactions at best so I won't include him. I'll abstain from Bakura for similar reasons.
Varrick - Legend of Korra
Varrick is a member of the Southern Water Tribe, Varrick built a multinational shipping corporation from a local delivery service in a single canoe. He becomes a business partner to Asami Sato and Future Industries, then hires criminal gangs to sabotage their operations and drive Future Industries into bankruptcy so he can buy a controlling share of the company at a bargain price. He also heighten tensions in the brewing Water Tribe Civil War and tries to get the United Republic involved, intending to use his control of the technology market to become a war profiteer. When his efforts to convince Republic President Raiko to enter the war fail, he begins making propaganda films to sway public opinion and arranges to have crooks posing as Water Tribe members abduct Raiko. Through it all he evades detection by seemingly being too silly and friendly to be an evil schemer, and is only caught by sheer bad luck — but he even planned for this eventuality by having a prison he built include a luxury cell especially for him. Charismatic, kooky, sly, manipulative, and running multiple schemes for power at once, Varrick became a enemy of Team Avatar while they each considered him to be a helpful friend.
Galenth Dysley - Final Fantasy XIII
Galenth Dysley masquerades as the head of Cocoon's Sanctum government and an old, helpless Puppet King of the fal'Cie, but in reality he is Barthandelus, ruler of the Cocoon fal'Cie. Surveiling the heroes from afar to help and hinder them in equal measure, Dysley attempts to groom the group to become Ragnarok and destroy Cocoon, fulfilling his goal to exterminate humanity. At the head of the government and the most powerful fal'Cie in Cocoon, Dysley is constantly on-top of the situation and always has back-up plans ready to deploy when things don't go his way, forcing the party to dance to his tune if they want to keep up with him. Dysley's plans only failed due to a literal act of god when the Goddess Etro intervened — otherwise he got exactly what he wanted, tricking the party into killing him and killing the fal'Cie Orphan, which would have destroyed Cocoon if not for the efforts of Etro, Fang, and Vanille. Dysley demonstrates why humanity both worships and fears the fal'Cie — an arrogant, cruel, manipulative Evil Overlord who sees humans as tools to be used and then discarded when he has no further need of them.
The Emperor - Dissidia Final Fantasy
The Emperor is one of the veterans of Chaos' forces in the cycles of war, but schemes to overthrow the God of Discord. Recognizing potential in the personal relationships between Tidus, Yuna, and Jecht, the Emperor manipulates the three into conflict so he can seize Jecht as his own and have him revived as a Warrior of Chaos in the next cycle of war. His intent in this is to seize the power the goddess Cosmos infused in Jecht, granting the Emperor a Dark Crystal in parallel to the Crystals the Warriors of Cosmos acquire, that has let them survive the death of Cosmos when they would have vanished from the world otherwise. With the power of the Dark Crystal, he intends to allow the heroes to kill Chaos before they vanish from the world, then the Warriors of Chaos will also vanish, leaving the Emperor alive to rule the world alone and unopposed. Considering himself the only being fit to rule existence, the Emperor would betray the Gods of Harmony and Discord alike and let his own allies die to realize his ambitions of ultimate power.
Mephistopheles - Neverwinter Nights
Mepistopheles is the Archduke of the Eighth Hell Cania who has been roped into the service of an ambitious drow sorceress, the Valsharess. Wishing to free himself, Mephistopheles subtly draws the Player Character into conflict with the Valsharess, as they own a relic of his that binds them to Mephistopheles. When the Valsharess tries to order the Devil to strike the player down, Mephistopheles is able to break their covenant and turn on her. Banishing the player to Cania in his place, Mephistopheles begins his conquest of Toril with the intent to turn it into the Tenth Hell, lowering it below the Ninth Hell ruled by Asmodeus so Mephistopheles may be the most powerful Devil in the planes. Witty, charismatic, diabolical, and always staying one step ahead of everyone else in his schemes, Mephistopheles is the very definition of a Devil.
Alarak - Starcraft
Alarak is a Tal'darim warrior who uses both schemes and power to climb the links of the Chain of Ascension and establish himself as an Ascendant of his people, killing rivals along the way and pitting his enemies against each other to advance his standing by proxy. When he's roped into a confrontation between the three Ascendants above him and the Highlord Ma'lash, Alarak surveils the situation and then sits things out, letting the other four kill and weaken each other until he sweeps in and cleans up what's left, leaving only Ma'lash outranking him. Alarak then reaches out to the Daelaam, who have been enemies of the Tal'darim for centuries, and makes them an ally to kill Ma'lash. As Highlord, Alarak turns his people against their traitorous God of Evil Amon and helps the Daelaam banish him back to the Void and eventually kill him. He's brutal, he's powerful, he's cunning, and he's merciless — Alarak is the pinnacle of what other Tal'darim aspire to be.
Rex Godwin - Yugioh 5Ds
Rex Godwin is the head of Sector Security and a member of the secret society of Iliaster. He rose to this position after being stranded and forgotten in the slum of Satellite, and has single-handedly turned Neo Domino City into a classist technological utopia under his control. Using his power he begins gathering the prophecied Signers and awakening their powers, then presents himself to them as a mentor and benefactor who would aid them in their war against the Dark Signers led by his brother Roman. However, Rex is playing both groups against each other to make his own play for power, allowing Roman to kill him so he can become a Dark Signer, and then using Roman's severed arm bearing his Signer Mark to make himself a Signer. Transforming himself into a Yin-Yang Bomb with the power of both groups, Godwin seeks to destroy the world and remake it in his image, and almost succeeded if not for The Power of Friendship overriding his willpower to force the Signer marks to obey him.
Edited by DrakeClawfang on Aug 7th 2018 at 4:31:52 AM
I'm inclined to not include it. I like the name and use it for him personally, but on the official level the name has never been directly attributed to him outside the Loose Canon novelizations, its only referrenced as a Mythology Gag.
Yami Bakura.
He is one of these borderline examples, and I never really thought his crimes to be THAT repulsive in comparison to like, Yami Marik.
Edited by Forenperser on Aug 7th 2018 at 10:49:33 AM
Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% ScandinavianBefore I forget I decide to put a MCU tv branch onto the drafts along with my entry. So Ravok I'll leave a space in the branch for you to add Hive.
So here it is:
- Marvel Cinematic Universe: These select few manage to stand out from the crowd due to sheer intelligence.
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Hive (Ravok)
- Luke Cage: Hernán "Shades" Alvarez is a charismatic criminal of Harlem who during his time at Seagate Penitentiary ran a prison fight ring along with Comanche and a corrupt warden. Upon returning to Harlem, he became the Hyper-Competent Sidekick of the Stokes family, the most powerful crime family in Harlem, brokering deals for the family to gain high tech weaponry. Despite his loyalties, he has no problems turning against his masters when they turn against him, such as when he planned to kill Cottonmouth only to find Mariah Dillard committing the act which Shades helped her coverup by framing Luke Cage and Diamondback for the deed, killing any witnesses in the scenes, and successfully sending Luke back to prison. During that time Shades becomes enamored with Mariah helping her become the leader of her crime family with him as her lover, only to become horrified of her decision to massacre an entire restaurant full of innocents, so much so that he orchestrates her entire downfall by becoming an informant for the police. Always maintaining his cool and suave demeanor, Sades even accepts his final defeat with grace.
Also does anyone want to comment of the AHS Cult entries? Here's the link to where I've mentioned them.
'Yes' to the latest Warhammer baddies, cut Marcus.
Now then, for my next Beware the Batman baddie....
Who is Anarky? What makes him a candidate?
Anarky is the Overarching Villain of the series. A softly-spoken, Dissonant Serenity-wielding sociopath with a love for destruction and "freedom," which is truly just his way of saying "Unleash humanity's evil side."
Introduced in the episode Tests, Anarky approaches two crooks Batman has taken down who use "art" as their motif, and promptly becomes their "patron," granting them ever-greater weaponry to allow them to express themselves...which manifests in causing mass destruction and chaos.
When confronted by Batman at a Gotham tram station, Anarky reveals he has planted bombs on two trolleys that will go off when they cross paths, and proclaims that Batman only has time to save one trolley...and if he tries to disable both trolleys, Anarky will detonate both with a dead man's switch.
As Anarky battles Batman the whole way, proclaiming this has all been a "test" to see if Batman was worthy to be his nemesis, Batman manages to disable Anarky's dead man switch, and though Anarky seemingly falls to his death....Batman stops the trolleys and realizes Anarky survived and has escaped.
Next, Anarky captures the comatose body of Ra's Al Ghul, leader of the League of Assassins, and contacts Ra's' second in command Lady Shiva, ordering her to steal for him a chemical substance from a lab in return for Ra's....at the same time, Anarky contacts Batman and his sidekick Katana, informing them of Shiva's planned break-in and sending them after her.
However, as Shiva, Batman, and Katana realize as they break in...Anarky has just tricked them into unleashing the chemical inside the facility as Shiva attempts to steal it, leading to the chemical beginning to transform various people inside the facility into monstrous zombies.
As Anarky then reveals over a call to the trio? The chemical is actually a plague that will slowly be spread if it is not stopped, and challenges the three to do just that....lest the chemical turn all of Gotham into a wasteland, all while noting that the chances of the three getting along long enough to stop it are.....low.
As the trio manage to create an anti-virus that cures those infected before they can spread it, Anarky returns Ra's to Shiva as she arrives back to the League, leaving a note pretty much saying "No hard feeling?"
Later, Anarky bombs the mayor's office and frames Batman for it, attempting to get the new District Attorney Harvey Dent after him (Which works). As Batman kidnaps Dent to throw Anarky's plan into chaos, Anarky personally arrives and attached proximity charges to himself, Batman, Katana, and Dent.
Revealing that if Batman gets too far from Dent—or Katana gets too far from Anarky—their respective charges will detonate, Anarky orders Batman to take Dent to Symbion Park to receive a clue as to how to stop another bomb he has placed elsewhere in the city, all while dropping subtle hints to unlocking the proximity charges.
While Katana rushes to save Batman after Anarky reveals to her it's a trap, Anarky gleefully chases her the whole way to keep the proximity charges in range, having the time of his life as the possibility of dying at any second at random makes him laugh.
Arriving at Symbion Park, Anarky realizes Batman cracked his hints about the proximity charges and has removed them from himself, Katana, and Dent, leaving Anarky with only his left on.
As the GCPD arrives, Anarky reveals the truth...the final bomb he planted is in Symbion park, and, setting it and the proximity charges to blow, he reveals that his plan the entire time was to get Batman, Katana, Dent, and the GCPD in one spot to all be blown to kingdom come.
However, as Batman had already puzzled this together, he manages to give everyone a headstart to flee the area before the bombs blow, seemingly catching Anarky in the blast......only for him to escape through a sewer.
Confronting and convincing Dent some time later that they should work together to take down Batman, Anarky assists Dent in his brash, stupid strategies just for the fun of it, always noting how it's doomed to fail, until finally coming up with his own plan.
Hiring the mercenary Deathstroke to become Gotham's new hero and incriminate Batman, Anarky realizes Deathstroke has his own agenda and attempts to murder him, though Deathstroke's superior combat skills enables him to escape and take Dent with him.
Though nearly captured by Batman, Anarky reveals the location of Dent and Deathstroke, forcing him to leave Anarky to escape and save Dent.
After Dent is rescued, Anarky continues to manipulate him into more and more violent actions and methods until, though Anarky warns against it, Dent rushes into a firefight between Deathstroke and Batman...and is caught up in an explosion that burns off half his face.
With Dent now completely insane thanks to both the explosion and Anarky's continued psychological games, Anarky gleefully assists the now power mad Dent in intimidating, threatening, and assaulting various Gotham politicians to institute martial law in the city and give a kill-on-sight order for Batman.
Ultimately, Dent attempts to betray Anarky, which...completely fails, as Anarky gets the upper hand, proclaiming "Did you really think I couldn't kill you just as easily as I CREATED YOU?!" before attempting to murder the man...just I time for Commissioner Gordon to arrive and chase Anarky off, with Anarky giddily stating "Welcome to the game, Harv~" before fleeing.
In the final scene of the series, Anarky is seen with a chessboard, the pieces being himself as the White King, Batman as the Black King, and all the villains and heroes being other pieces. Knocking over his own piece and accepting he's been defeated this time, Anarky slyly states "Shall we play again?" before beginning to reset the pieces....the implication from both the scene and various narrative plot points being that Anarky masterminded a big chunk of the series, but this isn't confirmed so we'll just put it as him changing the board as Batman did his own thing.
In his final appearance, Anarky appears in the tie-in comic of the same name, disguising himself as corporate scumbag Simon Stagg's advisor, then hacking into Stagg's new door-locking system implemented throughout the city.
Anarky plans to drop Stagg to his death in a crowded population, set off explosives throughout the city, and display a message from himself on every screen throughout Gotham.....at the same time as he unlocks all of the doors in Gotham, knowing that all for these events out together will throw the city into chaos and anarchy (hehe) as looting, robberies, and other atrocities are carried out by a "free" Gotham.
And though Anarky's unlocks every door...he is stopped from murdering Stagg or setting off the explosives, as Batman plays his OWN message pretty much daring criminals to break into houses......if they want to deal with Batman himself.
This serving to adequately terrify the city into nearly no one taking advantage of the unlocked doors, Anarky sets off one final explosion with his own hands in an attempt to kill Batman...with him possibly being consumed in the explosion himself....
Is Anarky a Chessmaster? Manipulative Bastard? Capable of Xanatos Speed Chess?
Hearty, handy yes to all of the above. Anarky LIVES for chess, even referring to himself and Batman as the Black and White Kings and referencing chess on a regular basis while he seamlessly concocts various genius schemes. He easily manipulates Batman on numerous occasions without ever revealing his true goals, playacts in disguises enough to trick everyone except Batman himself, and he always, always is ready with a backup plan or scheme, and on the few occasions he's not? He takes it in stride and just starts planning his next maneuver.
What's his competition?
Like I said in my Deathstroke proposal? The series has a surprising amount of charming and otherwise intelligent baddies, but Anarky solidly puts himself in a nice little spot of never once experiencing a lost he didn't immediately bounce back from or still ultimately get what he wanted with except for his final appearance...where he simply accepts he lost, and prepares to "play again."
No one is able to one-up Anarky except Batman and Deathstroke, with the latter only managing to do so through better physical prowess, while the former....well, he's Batman.
How much of a Bastard is he? Is he charming? Does he have any traits worthy of respect?
Now, Anarky, right off the bat? Is a Complete Monster, a monstrous sociopath who's goal is pretty much For the Evulz and who endangers the entirety of Gotham with a plague and corrupts various "normal" jerks or crooks into becoming full-fledged supervillains.
However, he never veers into overly vile or sadistic territory. Each and every one of his crimes is based around his idea of chaotic freedom, where life and the universe is chaotic and things like murder or death aren't EXPLICITLY his goals, as he himself puts it?
Batman: "Bystanders could have been hurt."
'Anarky: "Oh, I would have been fine with that. It's the kind of...random action that makes me the better player!"
Now, in his debut episode, Anarky...DOES has a split second breakdown when Batman pretty much mocks his whole schtick, with Anarky losing his polite, calm demeanor for the first and...really ONLY time in the series, as he growls "Do you have any idea...what an HONOR it is to be CHOSEN by me?.... it's a REALLY. BIG. DEAL."
If this characterization continued? Anarky wouldn't count, cause this was a pretty Petty and childish thing to get pissed over.
But....after this? Anarky develops into an MB. He slowly but surely learns to accept defeat in stride, and just laughs off Batman's "mockery" after that. I chalk this up to a villain going from a high-functioning Smug Snake to a full-fledged MB after the first episode.
Beyond this? Anarky is charming, polite, serene beyond belief, and comes to be a Graceful Loser who accepts losses as just the chaotic nature of the universe. He is a genius planner, a charming manipulator, and has a DAMN calming voice, lol.
While he's a CM, he's a damn cool, smooth one, with no downright awful crimes and a very pragmatic, strategic mind about his crimes.
Final Verdict?
I say Keep to my second Beware the Batman candidate, but not the last.
No! That is NOT Solid Snake! Stop impersonating him!Okay, writeup time:
- Warhammer: Cegorach the Laughing God is one of the few Eldar deities to survive the birth of Slaanesh. In the past, Cegorach even convince one C'tan god to devour others to weaken the pantheon in one of his finest schemes. Worshiped by the Eldar Harlequins, Cegorach is a mad genius with a habit of forming audacious schemes, especially in the pursuit of fighting Chaos. Defending his followers from Slaanesh's hunger, Cegorach organizes schemes to lure the forces of Chaos into doing his work for him. One of the best schemers in all the universe, Cegorach even manages to take a hold in the Dark Eldar to potentially manipulate them, willing to stop at little to ensure the fall of Slaanesh in the end.
- Forgotten Realms: Bane, god of Strife, Tyranny and Hatred was once a mortal man who achieved godhood. A brilliant chessmaster and strategist who frequently plays other gods against one another, forming and betraying alliances as proper, Bane even leaves a way to return post-mortem after his death after the Time of Troubles, being reborn from the body of his own son. Learning from his defeat, Bane promotes understanding and cooperation among his clergy who are now likely to settle conflict with reasonable debate to stay united against their enemies. Bane shows himself to be as brilliant and dangerous as ever, even subjugating the goblin pantheon to him, stopping at nothing to dominate all other powers before him.
- Red Harvest: The Continental Operative arrives in 'Poisonville' and sets about to rid it of the cruel gangs who control it. A ruthless, brilliant operator, the Op extracts incriminating information of the gangs and spreads them to their enemies to play all sides against one another, even revealing one bank robbery was staged by one mob group and the police to spark a gang war and bring the corrupt police into it. Playing the gangs into whittling one another down until he's finished them all, the Op blackmails one of the town's chief members who first hired him and invited the gangs there into calling the governor to send in the national guard, declare martial law and clean up the town to give the man his town back, while removing his control of it at the same time.
for your Anarky Ravok and don’t forget to add your Hive to my MCU tree
Were Hazama, Terumi and Relius Clover discussed? Because since Hazama has been freed of Terumi's corrupt influence, he's a bastard but compared to the spirit controlling him is Affably Evil. Also I think Kokonoe might count too as while she's a horrible person, she's leagues better than Terumi and Relius.
I'm gonna say yes to all of Lighty's examples and a resounding no to Yami Bakura. But I would like someone to write up TK Bakura in the manga.
Edited by Klavice on Aug 7th 2018 at 8:40:04 AM

Not sure about Yami Bakura... he's pretty sadistic and evil but yes to Cegorach.