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:
for the earliest date a work can be discussed, (usually two weeks from the US release), as well as who's reserved discussion.
- 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
Jaded Techie Fox
I actually wanted to ask about them actually. Mostly I was wondering if maybe there could be other entries for other incarnations of the Master added. But I'm also not sure how many of them actually would count as M Bs.
Trust you? The only person I can trust is myself.
![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
Skaldak, Hall, Tallis, artie, grendel
And yeah the Masters really need beefing up, they don’t go into detail on what they do at all.
I’ve got more Whovian MBs coming as well
Edited by Snowy66 on Apr 13th 2021 at 12:55:23 PM
The Draftsman of Doom
Yes to Grendel.
For my 25th birthday, April 13, I decided I would do something special. So here's an effortpost with my name on it.
What is the work?
The King of Torts is a Courtroom Drama by John Grisham.
Jarrett Clay Carter II is a public defender in Washington, D.C. After taking on the case of a murderer, Clay discovers a connection between the murder and a drug trial gone horribly wrong. Clay encounters a shadowy figure named Max Pace who arranges for him to make settlements with pharmaceutical companies by informing him of faulty drugs. Clay finds himself moving up—but at what cost?
Who is "Max Pace" and how does he operate?
"Max Pace", real name unknown, is aspiring lawyer Jarrett Clay Carter II's shadowy, mysterious benefactor who uses inside information on faulty medication to make a profit by selling pharmaceutical shares short.
Initially introduced giving Clay information on a faulty drug called Tarvan which causes people to act out homicidally, Max has Clay quit his job as a public defender and start his own firm before arranging payoffs to the families affected by the Tarvan murders.
Subsequently providing information about a carcinogenic drug named Dyloft from Ackerman Laboratories, Max advises Clay as the latter orchestrates an ad campaign which nets a hundred million dollars in a settlement.
As Clay—at Max's suggestion—intends to repeat his success with Maxatil, a drug sold by a company called Goffman, Clay discovers that Max is a con-artist when confronted by the FBI about shorted pharmaceutical stocks. Turns out, Max has disappeared with his own profits and left Clay to take the fall, eventually resulting in Clay declaring bankruptcy and being disbarred.
Intelligence & Charisma?
In terms of intelligence, Max is the one who comes up with the idea of shorting pharmaceutical stocks and having the companies settle out of court. Max stays one foot ahead of the FBI, regularly exploits Clay's ambition and competence as an attorney for his own gain, and ultimately manages to avoid drawing attention to himself, managing to evade capture while leaving Clay to take the fall.Max is also exponentially more charismatic than many of the other characters, despite being a confidence artist who shorts stocks on companies which manufacture faulty pharmaceuticals. Max is polite, witty, and personable, although how much of his affability is genuine appears to be ambiguous. Max is also in a steady relationship with someone who he seemingly cares about, in contrast to Clay's vapid relationship with Ridley and his tenuous relationship with Rebecca Van Horn.
Moral Flexibility?
Max is willing to commit securities fraud, to the point that he convinced Clay to settle out of court with a certain pharmaceutical company, which resulted in the adverse side effects of the drugs going untreated in 50 people due to information being withheld, a few of whom were Clay's clients.Mitigating Factors?
Max has a healthy self esteem for a con-artist, and is nowhere near as situationally egotistical as Clay, being realistically calm, but alert and slightly on edge in many of his more tense interactions with Clay, but at other times laidback.Considering we have had candidates who have literally watered down vaccines, I am not inclined to consider what Max does to be too vile, especially since he is not the one manufacturing the faulty medication; Max may have prevented people from being able to seek proper medical treatment by withholding information, but it is more a consequence of his scam than a deliberate action.
Max is out to make money, but he is regularly courteous, personable, and level-headed. Nothing he does is ever done out of spite.
Competition?
Max is the one with access to all the confidential information on the faulty medication, and the one whose idea it was to make the pharmaceutical companies settle out of court.Clay may be a competent attorney, but his ambition is weaponized by Max so Max can profit off of the settlements. Clay himself eventually develops into kind of an asshat, and he loses his composure when things go down the drain.
Clay's fellow attorneys are too smug despite their competence, while many of Clay's rival attorneys are too upstanding.
Verdict?
He's exponentially more charming than the protagonist, I'll give you that.![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
Thx, Snowy.
Edited by SkyCat32 on Apr 13th 2021 at 9:11:48 AM
Feels good, don't it?
Happy Birthday Max! and yes to the EP
Woagh
Sure to Max Pace. Happy Birthday, dude!
NOISE IS CALLING, PICK UP PHONE
Yes to Max and happy birthday.
The Moron
Yes to Max, and happy birthday Max!
Max. Happy Birthday Sky32!
@Deaths, I know mir mentioned the "Missy" Master, I don't know the franchise well enough to personally say if there are any others who'd be viable though.
Gotta love Jaws!
to Max Pace.
Happy birthday, Sky.
"For a second there, I mistook ya for a threat... but you're just a dirty little man!"
Missy I'm very confident is an MB, she will get EPed in due course
Jaded Techie Fox
Yeah I'm sure Missy is an MB. Saxon Master I'm not as sure about. Its been a while since I saw his episodes. Meanwhile I'm pretty sure O Master is a definite no.
Trust you? The only person I can trust is myself.
Gotta love Jaws!
O Master borders on Smug Snake, and Saxon is too sadistic and is also (from memory) misogynistic. YANA doesn't do any scheming.
Honestly I find it bizarre how anti heroic Missy is in comparison to her... other incarnations.
Edited by Amanofmanyinterests on Apr 13th 2021 at 8:48:44 AM
"For a second there, I mistook ya for a threat... but you're just a dirty little man!"
Apparently, Saxon Master was downvoted for being too insane (which I don't really disagree with), and O Master is a bit too spitefully insane too, and just like Saxon, he has never heard of the words "calm" or "composure". As for Missy, I'll likely abstain once her proposal is out.
Sanity or not, Saxon Master just sounds too fucking awful, fun as the work might make him.
Yep, that too. Literally 90% of his crimes are just For the Evulz.
Anyways, having just noticed the EP for Skaldak, to him. Now I really gotta start finding more Doctor Who candidates myself...
Max. Happy birthday Sky!
to Grendel and Max
Happy birthday Sky!
The Draftsman of Doom
- The King of Torts: "Max Pace", real name unknown, is a con artist who offers inside information on faulty medication, ensuring profits by selling pharmaceutical shares short. Enlisting the services of the aspiring attorney Jarrett Clay Carter II, Max has Clay start his own firm, sell pharmaceutical stocks short, and legally settle with the pharmaceutical companies in question, with Clay and his firm paying off people affected negatively by the faulty medication and keeping the rest of the profits. When the FBI pursues him for fraud, Max disappears with his own profits, abandoning Clay and leaving him bankrupt and disbarred.
Count Grendel and Max.
Also a Happy Birthday to Sky.
I rewritten my Stranger EP to shorten it out.
Nocturne is a video game from way back when, brought to you by Terminal Reality. They intended this game to be one of the big horror franchises in the genre along with Silent Hill and Resident Evil. However, it's sequel/spinoff BloodRayne ended up eclipsing its predecessor and ended up becoming a series in its own right. The only other thing Nocturne has to its name is a crossover game with The Blair Witch Project (which isn't considered canon to the movie of course).
Set in the early 20th century, the game focuses on a monster hunting organization called "Spookhouse'', and is told in a semi episodic format, with each episode representing a different case Spookhouse investigated. Enter our protagonist, The Stranger.
Who is the Stranger ? What does he do ?
The Stranger perpetually sardonic and stoic One-Man Army, and Spokhouse's top field agent. No one really knows his past, and he has very few friends within Spookhouse itself, all that's known for sure is that he hates monster, and his claim to fame was partaking in a genocide on tribes of vampires, werewolves and other such monsters. However, Spookhouse has taken to hiring monsters at Agents - including the demon Moloch - which doesn't sit right with The Stranger, but he begrudgingly accepts having to partner up with them.
In the first episode, the Stranger is assigned to investigate a region in Germany with a damphir agent, Svetlana. This region is ruled by the vampire master Count Voicu, who is waring with his exiled father. When they wipe out monsters on both sides, Voicu sets his eyes on Svetlana and plans to make her his newest bride. When Svetlana is brainwashed and kidnapped by Voicu, the Stranger sets aside his disdain for the assassin and sets out to save her. The Stranger eventually fights and kills Voicu, along with all his minions, saving Svetlana and the last surviving kidnap victim. The Stranger and Svetlana leave after agreeing to a pragmatic truce with Voicu's father.
The second episode, the Stranger is sent to the town of Redeye with two partners, to look into reports of zombies in the area, and deal with the problem. On the train ride to Redeye, they are attacked by a pack of werewolves, survivors of a tribe the Stranger previously wiped out, now looking for revenge. The Stranger holds off the werewolf attack on his own before the train crashes. Arriving in Redeye, the Stranger single handedly wipes out the zombies, rescues each civilian before taking them back to the church. The Stranger learns that the outbreak was caused by an Eldritch Abomination called Gardath, deep within the towns mines, and it's high priest. The Stranger fights his way through the mines and learns that Gardath wants him to be his new high priest. The Stranger flatly refused its offer, and with the aid of Samedi (whom The Stranger is aquatinted with), learns how to cut off its power and seal it off from the world.
The third episode doesn't have him do anything special, aside from uncovering and dismantling a Mob conspiracy in Chicago to create zombified mobsters, and allies with one such mobster, Ice Pick. He also constantly fights and kills a mobster called Smiley, eventually destroying him by drowning him in acid.
The fourth episode, the Stranger is sent on a mission to aid former Spookhouse Agent, Hamilton Killian deal with a haunting in his house. Killian quickly revealed is now a Serial Killer and mastermind, keeping monsters trapped and tortured in his HH Holmes style mansion, and now has set sights on the Stranger. Throughout the episode, the Stranger's wits are put through the test as he has to outwit and survive a series of elaborate death traps and puzzles. The Stranger finds Moloch, who has disappeared from Spookhosue previously. Despite their past animosity, the Stranger releases Moloch, and the two work together to corner and Killian. When he reports back to Spookhouse, his boss talks about the kind of person Killian used to be, comparing him to the Stranger, and commending the Stranger for not turning out like Killian.
While the first game had no direct continuation, it did have two follow ups in Bloodrayne and a tie in to The Blair Witch Project, the latter of which gave us a new Spookhouse case the Stranger was involved in (albeit not as the player). Rustin Parr focuses on a Spookhouse investigation of the titular child murderers case and reports of paranormal activity in Burkittsville. We play as Doc Holliday, a supporting character in the first game. The Stranger was assigned to be her partner but doesn't come with as he has a hard time believing in the Blair Witch legend. Holliday spends the next few days looking into the area, and it's history. She discovers the true source of the Blair Witch curse to be Heciatomix, an ancient demon feared by the First Nations people.
Holliday learns that she can sever his power by rescuing the soul of a child he's keeping captive, but arouses suspicion from the townsfolk and is nearly arrested. The Stranger arrives on the scene claiming to be an FBI agent - using a fake badge he picked up at a toy store. Partnering up with Holliday, the Stranger is filled in on the situation and follows Holliday to Heciatomix's realm. She rescues the child Hecistomix is holding captive while the Stranger fights off his minions. They manage to trap Heciatomix in its realm, and give the child a proper resting place, thus vanquishing the curse...that is until 1994, when three college students try to make a documentary about the legend.
Besides that, the Stranger never appears in any further game.
What makes him Magnificent ?
The Stranger is simply put, a Badass Normal. We know nothing of his past or personal life, with people speculating his alleged identity. The Stanger has no supernatural power of his own, although he can quickly do a conjuring ritual when the situation calls for it and at best has to use enhanced weapons, although he mostly uses guns. He has a career of going up against all manner of monsters, demons and such, and always coming out on top despite the odds against him. The only major threat he doesn't kill is Voicu's father, in favour of a pragmatic truce.
That said, he isn't exactly a super genius, instead preceding to go in guns blazing. And what he lacks in long term thinking, he makes up for in quick thinking. He's able to save his friend from being arrested by posing as an FBI agent with a fake badge; spends the fourth episode having to solve and survive a series of death traps, puzzles and mazes throughout an elaborate murder house. He also manages to have such a reputation, that he has the attention of ancient gods such as Baron Samedi. He manages to fight of a werewolf attack and a zombie outbreak in a single case, both of which were unrelated to each other. At one point he's warned that he cannot kill a vampire master for being immortal, and replies "If only you knew how many "immortals" I killed.
Is he Too Much of a Bastard ?
The Stranger, simply put, can be a dick. By his own admission he doesn't like anyone, but especially hates monsters. He is distrustful and disdainful at having to work with them, and his claim to fame is wiping out communities of different horrors prior to the game. The werewolf attack in the second episode was revenge for one of his massacres.
He's perpetually sardonic, stoic and unflappable to all the horrors he encounters; almost always speaking in a deep, monotone voice, and is pretty blunt with everyone he interacts with. That said, he considerably mellows over time, even seeming to befriend as Svetlana and Ice Pick despite his aversion to monsters. He also takes his job as a protector seriously, near single handedly saving survivors of a zombie outbreak and taking them to saftey, expresses concerns that Voicu's father might become a threat, and spared the life of one of Voicu's brides when he was sure she hadn't drank his blood.
In short, as far as being a bastard goes, he's an Unscrupulous Hero mixed with a Noble Bigot.
Edited by Beast on Apr 13th 2021 at 12:02:34 PM
"It's like...a cliff, and if I do it, I'm just gonna...fall." "I think we're already falling."
Max
Gonna wait for more thoughts on Stranger
Leaning yeah there for now. I'm leery of bigotry in general but we've got Megatron up on the basis of a robot hating organics not having quite the real-world punch to it that it could and likewise this doesn't sound like it's made to be a parallel to the Stranger being prejudiced in a truly charm-killing fashion. Helping is the fact he'll also begrudgingly work with them, so he's not rabid about it.
Ah well. A new EP:
What is the work?
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an epic High Fantasy cartoon on Nickelodeon that aired from 2005 to 2008.
In a Constructed World there are four elements of power that can be used by people called Benders, all with a nation attached: the Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. There is a single being that can wield all four: the Avatar, whose duty is to protect and peacekeep amongst the Four Nations. However, the Fire Nation launched an attack on the Air Nomads that resulted in the deaths of all the Air Nomads, before subsequently launching a campaign of conquest against the other two remaining nations. The Avatar was nowhere to be found. 100 years after the genocide of the Air Nomads, two siblings from the Water Tribe, Katara and Sokka stumbled upon a young airbender named Aang, who was frozen in the ice for 100 years and is revealed to be the Avatar. It fall upon Aang and his friends to master all the elements and end the war that has lasted for 100 years before Fire Lord Ozai launches his plans at the end of summer to make the Fire Nation unbeatable.
Who is the Candidate and what does he do?
King Bumi is the king of Omashu, a city in the Earth Kingdom that has resisted the Fire Nation for 100 years, and an Old Friend of Aang's from before he vanished. In the episode "The King of Omashu" (Season 1, episode 5), Aang, Katara, and Sokka show up at Omashu to take rides on the famous mail-chute delivery system (which by the way is powered by earthbending). However, the trio causes a lot of property damage (such as destroying a cart full of cabbages) and are brought before Bumi, who decides to throw them a feast, where Bumi makes Aang reveal himself as an Airbender by throwing a piece of chicken and since all the Airbenders were wiped out, that leaves only one possibility as to who it would be: the Avatar. Informing the trio that the Avatar will face three deadly challenges the next day, Bumi has his guards escort them to a comfortable suite. The next morning, Aang is awoken to learn that Katara and Sokka have been taken hostage by Bumi, with the king having rings of jennamite placed on their fingers; unless Aang completes the tasks, the two will be buried alive in crystal. The first two challenges are to retrieve a lunch key beneath a powerful waterfall and find and return the king's pet gorilla-goat Flopsy. The third and final challenge is a duel, where Bumi give Aang the choice of two opponents; a young, scarred swordsman and a powerfully built man. Aang tries to Take a Third Option by fighting Bumi... big mistake, as Bumi removes his cloak to reveal his powerful build, proclaiming himself as "the most powerful Earthbender [Aang] has ever seen". Bumi dominates most of the fight, with Aang merely dodging most of his blows until he's able to counter and pin Bumi down, with Bumi critiquing Aang ("Typical Airbending tactic, dodge and evade. Sooner or later, you'll have to strike back!"). The fight a draw, Bumi asks one more question of Aang: what is his name? After a few minutes, Aang correctly guesses Bumi, Bumi frees Katara and Sokka as part of the deal (and helps himself to the rock candy), and he and Aang take a ride on the mail-chute system, just like old times, before Aang hits the road again.
One season later in the episodes "The Cave of Two Lovers" and "Return to Omashu", Aang, Katara, and Sokka return to Omashu to seek Bumi's guidance in finding an earthbending teacher. However in the interim, Omashu has been conquered by the Fire Nation. When asked what to do by his captain, Bumi tells him to do nothing and surrenders, with the captain leading La Résistance inside the city. This is part of the plan. The captain and Team Avatar smuggle the civilians out, but the Fire Nation's governor's son Tom-Tom wanders into their midst. A Prisoner Exchange between Bumi and Tom-Tom is set up between Team Avatar and the governor's daughter Mai, "assisted" by the Fire Nation's Princess Azula and Mai's other friend Ty Lee, with Bumi being transported in a coffin-shaped box. When Azula "questions" the deal, the deal is off and the chase is on, with Aang attempting to escape with Bumi and being pursued by Azula through the chute system. However, Bumi, whose head is uncovered, drops a rock between Azula and Aang, smashing her cart and forcing her to break off the pursuit. Now with enough time to talk, Bumi informs Aang that he will not be leaving Omashu, but is waiting for the right time to strike, that in an Earthbending master, Aang must find someone with neutral jing; someone who waits and listens before acting (this turns out to be Toph) before placing himself back in Fire Nation custody.
Bumi remains captive for several weeks until the Day of Black Sun, a solar eclipse that takes away the Firebenders' power (firebenders draw their power from the sun). He then breaks out of his prison. When one of the firebending guards asks him what he's doing, Bumi replies "Taking back my city. You've got no firepower and it's payback time", then proceeds to chase the Fire Nation contingent there out of the city, wrecking factories and personally dumping the statue of Fire Lord Ozai off a cliff. A few days later, when Sozin's Comet returns for the Grand Finale, Bumi is revealed to be a member of the Order of the White Lotus, a multi-cultural peacekeeping society whose leaders consist of Old Masters, led by Fire Lord Ozai’s brother Iroh; Bumi jokes that all old people know each other since other members of the White Lotus are some of Team Avatar's mentors. Bumi participates in the Order of the White Lotus' assault to free the Earth Kingdom's capital Ba Sing Se from Fire Nation control, with Bumi notably defeating several Fire Nation tanks by stacking them on top of one another.
By the time of the sequel series The Legend of Korra, Bumi has died (can you blame him, he was 112 in the main series) and Aang and Katara have named their eldest son after Aang's friend, and is just as Crazy Awesome as his namesake.
Magnificent?
Bumi is proclaimed to be a "mad genius" and this is not disputed at any point, wearing hats of the Trickster Mentor and Stealth Mentor and always plans ahead, with his mind open to all possibilities. Bumi's tests are designed to change Aang's way of problem-solving such as working with a time limit, which foreshadows the return of Sozin's Comet, the phenomena that was used to wipe out the Airbenders 100 years before. He's very good at playing dumb/crazy before revealing his true power, waiting until the eclipse to escape and retake Omashu; the only reason why the Fire Nation can hold him prisoner is because he allows them to. And powerful he is; most earthbenders rely on powerful moves to bend while Bumi can earthbend with his head/neck. Think on his feet? He's of the type that it isn't clear that there's a plan at all until it all comes together, crashing around your head.
Is he a bastard? Too much?
This is tricky if he's enough of one. He's on the side of good, but is perfectly willing to endanger Katara and Sokka's lives (both are 15 at most) to teach Aang and grow a bit more of his rock candy. He might have killed some civilians when he collapses several buildings with smokestacks (factories?) when he retakes the city.
Competition?
Bumi's tricks are not on the scale of Azula, but he does quite well in his territory and fills his own part in plans to the letter.
Edited by k410ren on May 10th 2022 at 6:53:41 AM
"I'll show you the Dark Side." CM actors and kills
Yes to Max, abstain on Bumi and The Stranger. Leaning yeah for Bumi as his plans don't intersect with Azula.
Happy birthday Sky!
Edited by Klavice on Apr 13th 2021 at 1:01:33 AM
Btw should we be expanding the Masters? Currently they're both much shorter than the Villain of the Week keeper we've got alongside them or should that one be getting cut back?