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
Always happy to see a new Hamill keep, yes to Stickybeard.
![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
Imposter, Stendahl, Shae, Olenna, Valet and Stickybeard
Ultimate Moral Compass
And a mug of sweet, sweet sugar to the keeper Stickybeard
"No running in the halls!"
Stendahl, Shae, Olenna, the Valet, and Stickybeard, who has a freaking dream job really (pirate who plunders candy sounds like a valid career option).
Yes to Olenna, Valet, and Stickybeard.
Shae, Olenna, Valet, & Stickybeard (I remember he was my favorite of the villains as a kid)
Goku Black
valet and Stickybeard.
Wheew, been super busy this week. Here’s a short and easy one from Arrow: Mr. Blank a Villain of the Week from Season 1.
Who is Mr. Blank and what has he done?
Mr. Blank is a contract assassin who has a strict rule that no one is allowed to see his face, or they will be killed. He is hired by Corrupt Corporate Executive, Edward Rasmus, to kill one of the families he had scammed when they try to sue him. Mr. Blank arrives at their home and kills the parents, but the son manages to escape.
Laurel who was the attorney for the family, takes the boy into protective custody. However Blank tracks the boy down to Laurel’s apartment, killing the cops guarding the front and uses a stolen police badge to get Laurel to open the door. However Laurel knowing the cop he was impersonating, realises he’s an imposter because the ID no. doesn’t match. Undeterred, Blank shoots the door open and enters, openly stating he realised it was the badge that blew his cover. While Tommy keeps the boy hidden, Laurel engages Blank with a shotgun but quickly runs out of ammo. Oliver arrives as The Hood, disarming Blank’s with an arrow. Not taking any chances, Blank retreats for now.
By this point, Rasmus had been visited by the Hood, making him confess to his crimes and being detained in an SCPD precinct. Blank arrives posing as his lawyer and meets with his employer in the interrogation room. Rasmus tells him his contract is off and to no longer target the boy. But Blank informs him that’s not an option due to the boy seeing his face, just as Rasmus has. While pretending to make Rasmus sign a legal document on camera, Blank applies a lethal Pressure Point. Blank explains what he did, that his former boss will die in 15 seconds relatively painlessly, and that it was nothing personal.
The boy is now held at Queen Mansion, which is heavily fortified and full of bodyguards. To infiltrate, Blank uses a pizza delivery boy as a decoy to get the bodyguards to open the door. The guards realise something is up when the delivery boy is trembling with fear, to which Blank quickly shoots through the delivery boy to kill the guard. Blank had also tampered with the fuse box to blow the electricity, allowing him to stealthily navigate in the dark.
Shooting a guard, Blank asks him for the boy’s location to speed up his search, but when given no response executes him with another shot. Oliver having barricaded the boy and his friends in a room, goes to hunt Blank himself. Oliver just avoids getting shot by Blank and the two engage in a fairly even fist-fight, with Blank surprised by his combat ability. Oliver is finally able to gain the edge by grabbing a firepoker and using it to impale the assassin, finally killing him.
How is he Magnificent?
Mr. Blank is particularly cunning for a Villain of the Week, using an assortment of clever tactics to infiltrate heavily secure locations such as pretending to be a lawyer or using a pizza delivery boy as a decoy. He is also adaptable as he immediately realises using the police badge against Laurel failed and shoots through the door.
He is sooo damned polite and calm at all times, even as he is killing his targets. There is absolutely no signs sadism at all, with him going about things in a very professional business like manner. He also makes it clear to his old boss that it was nothing personal. Blank also states he is solely targeting the child because he feels it is necessary, not because he wants to. His kills are also very quick and clean, which do not prolong a victim’s suffering.
Competition
He manages to fool multiple cops and the Queen Mansion guards, even walking into a police precinct and killing a guy in custody without them even realising it was murder. While he doesn’t fool Laurel, he quickly realises his mistake and works his way around it.
He also briefly sneaks up on Oliver and nearly gets a shot on him. Ultimately he is defeated not by being outsmarted but being overpowered in an appropriately climactic fight.
Too much of a Bastard?
Now in most cases, killing a kid might be a problem for candidates. But given this is Arrow where we’ve had tonnes of mass murderers who have tried to kill kids before, often in large scale attacks on crowds or sometimes the whole city, Blank’s bastardry really pales in comparison.
In addition, Blank is doing so for very pragmatic reasons. First he was hired to take out a target. Then he has to abide by with his rule that no one can see his face, which just so happens to be a kid. He does not show any particular thrill or enjoyment when he kills, and absolutely no sadism.
Final verdict?
And yes, as others have pointed out he was originally meant to be Onomatopoeia
Edited by Snowy66 on Apr 20th 2022 at 3:05:12 AM
Valet and the sticky pirate
Edited by Snowy66 on Aug 25th 2021 at 4:50:22 AM
Lies and Violence!
...Eh, sure, for guy-who-was-intended-to-be-Onomatopoeia.
Harley Quinn (2019) again. Continuing with more villains who normally don't count, Mr. Freeze!
The Candidate
Mr. Freeze, as usual, became unable to live in anything but incredibly cold environments after a tragic accident, becoming a supervillain and member of Gotham's organized crime.
- Freeze: I'm not in organized crime. I'm actually trying to find a cure for my wife's terminal illness.Penguin: And how are you funding that?Freeze: Uh... through organized crime.
With Gotham currently a No Man's Land and Harley convincing all their goons to turn on them, Freeze and some of the other remaining supervillains band together as the "Injustice League" to get rid of her. The other villains want to just kill her, but Freeze convinces them to instead allow him to freeze her in a block of ice, correctly assuming they'd prefer turning her into an object of mockery.
When Harley inevitably escapes she heads out for revenge. Freeze proves more difficult than expected, the walls of his fortress so thick they have to find a flamethrower powerful enough (one of Firefly's) to melt through, and even after they kill a bunch of his minions Freeze effortlessly incapacitates all of them.
He explains how he's been experimenting on rats (showing off a huge pile of dead "subjects") before telling Harley he's decided to move onto human experimentation, planning to use her as his first subject. She is the optimal subject to start on, as a blond, white, human woman — his only other options at the moment are a man-shark, a male dwarf, and a clay monster.
Harley offers to call Ivy over and help find the cure. Freeze agrees and decides to host lunch for his prisoners, freezing them in chairs so they don't run away. During the (apparently very good) meal, Harley becomes convinced Nora is just some random lady he froze like in the New 52 — and, admittedly, she does have a frozen look of terror, and a... suspicious... feeding hole. Harley manages to get out and free Nora... and yeah, she really is dying. An enraged Freeze threatens to blow up his base and kill everyone inside if Ivy doesn't find a cure.
While Ivy works, Freeze explains how he saved Harley's life (King Shark berating her for "falsely accusing the most woke ice-themed villain in all of Gotham"). Ivy actually manages to find a cure, but it requires giving Nora a blood transfusion — one that will kill whoever gives the blood. Freeze agrees to do it, stating that the only reason he's continued living in his "godforsaken" cryo-suit is to cure her. He shares one last look with his wife, saying goodbye before dying.
Is he magnificent?
Freeze is one of the most affable and actively politically correct villains in Gotham, the latter of which is surprisingly rare in this series. He's a badass who can easily defeat his enemies, is polite to his "guests", agreeable to their alternative solutions, and has yet to actually experiment on any humans.
Two quick mitigating factors:
- He seems a bit incompetent at science, but in this continuity he used to be a businessman while Nora was the scientist, so I feel that's understandable.
- He does have a freak-out when Nora is unfrozen and threatens to murder everyone with a suicide bomb, but she's literally the only thing he has left to live for and Harley broke his freeze gun, so he can't exactly put her back on ice. Again, understandable reaction.
Is he a bastard?
Supervillain who's part of organized crime, even if it's for a good cause, and while he hasn't done human trials yet he fully intends to experiment on Harley.
Thoughts?
Freeze. Is this the first Freeze to keep?
Goku Black
Onomatopoeia I mean Mr Blank and Freeza (Third for Alfred Molina right?).
Stickybeard, arr! And Freeze and a weaker one to Blank.
Mr. Blank and the man who incorrectly claimed that the ice age killed the dinosaurs just to make a bad pun.
Blank & Freeze
The Moron
Good lord I can't believe I'm already back with another proposal, but Angel churns out potentials like wildfire. Let's give the shakedown to one of the villains from "Blood Money".
Who is Boone? What does he do?
Boone is a demon from Angel's past who has an unfinished rivalry with him. In the present day, Boone tracks down Merl, a demon snitch whose worked for Angel a few times now, kicks in his door, and physically threatens him in order to get Merl to tell him what he did for Angel - Merl responds that he's making moves against Wolfram & Hart and especially Lindsey McDonald and Lilah Morgan, so Boone goes to the law firm to confront the two lawyers.
After forcing his way past the secretary, Boone confronts the two and says that he'll help them in their scheme as long as long as he gets a fight with Angel - in the past, the two had a fight over a woman, but the battle lasted so long the sun came up and Boone thought that was too easy, so he let Angel live. Determined to see who's the better fighter when the footing is even, Boone agrees to essentially be their attack dog as long as he gets that fight. He gets it that night when Lindsey has him attack Angel at a charity center W&H plan to steal from at a fundraiser, and although Boone puts up a great attack, Angel escapes and Lindsey tells him to let him go.
Later, at the fundraiser, Angel manages to sneak in while pretending to be the vampire detector W&H hired - Boone spots him moving towards the crowd and strikes first, causing a massive brawl. The two's fight ends up in the middle of the charity ball, forcing Lilah and Lindsey to intervene to break it up. Angel then reveals that he gave a tape of Lilah and Lindsey talking about stealing the money to Anne, the girl running the charity, and she's going to play it in public, so the two move to stop her just a bit too late - but the tape is of Cordelia's shitty audition practices? What happened here?
Simple: the plan wasn't to play a tape of their confession at all - it was a massive distraction so that Boone, having been forgotten by now, can take all of the money W&H wanted to steal and escape completely unseen. Angel and Boone had been working together all along with the plan to shake up the evil lawyers, who Boone had previously decried as having no honor, and take all of the money they were originally going to steal, meaning everything he said about working for W&H as long as he gets his fight was completely BS.
However, because Boone still didn't get that fight, he tracks Angel down to the Hyperion Hotel where he's staying with the full $2 million. After putting it down on the ground, he squares up with a wager - they have their fight, and whoever is the best after all of that gets the money. Angel agrees, and the two launch at each other - and while we cut from the launch to Angel dropping the money back at the charity center, we see that Angel's face is incredibly bruised to indicate it was a hell of a fight, and we don't know whether or not Boone was killed or spared.
Is he Magnificent?
Although the plan is almost certainly Angel's, Boone plays his part perfectly and fools Lilah and Lindsey into losing the money himself. He plays the "rival" card in front of Merl, then plays the Noble Demon card in front of the lawyers to essentially air his true intentions right in front of them, all while buttering them up and acting like he's on their side. He keeps playing that role both in the charity center and then in the fundraiser, waiting until the exact moment everyone's distracted to steal the whole $2 million right out from everyone's noses and escape unaccosted, humiliating the two lawyers. Then, he tracks down Angel again so they can finally have their big fight with a smile on his face, and though it's a Battle Discretion Shot, we see that Angel's face is essentially one giant bruise afterwards, so it was clearly a good fight - and we don't even know if he was necessarily killed at the end of it. Overall, for being largely a pawn in Angel's scheme, Boone gets the harder part of the job yet plays his role perfectly, with Wolfram and Hart not suspecting a thing until he's already long gone, and gives Angel a fight to remember while remaining honorable and charming as hell.
Is he a Bastard?
Even discarding two fights against Angel that are part of the plan, he still comes back afterwards to fight him for real just because he wants to see who's better, and ultimately the only reason why he returns the money from the charity event isn't altruism, it's essentially a gigantic wager - it's made clear that if Boone had won the fight, he'd have taken it for himself. Plus, while we don't know if the encounter with Merl is part of the plan or not, it doesn't take away the fact that he steps on Merl's hand to get him to cooperate and almost breaks it, so he's got some ruthlessness even if he's honorable overall.
Final verdict?
I think another yeah - what about you?
to Shae, Olenna, Valet, Stickybeard, Mr. Blank, Boone and Freeze
Edited by G-Editor on Aug 25th 2021 at 11:34:29 AM
Lies and Violence!
Wait how competent is Freeze as a scientist? I was prepared to give an , but if he's just blindly throwing things at the wall and none of them are sticking I'm not sure how magnificent he is. I want cunning or smarts. It he seems like he's just competent as a supervillain, but I'm not getting much trickery.
Mr. Blank, Boone.
Edited by jjjj2 on Aug 25th 2021 at 11:39:42 AM
You can only write so much in your forum signature. It's not fair that I want to write a piece of writing yet it will cut me off in the mid
The Moron
Oh, and Blank's an easy keep - and a yes to Freeze for now
Lies and Violence!
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Nevermind on the incompetence part. He said the rats he experimented on shared 98% of their DNA with humans, which I... wasn't exactly sure on. Looked it up, and apparently that's an actual thing. The more you know, amirite?
And he does exhibit some trickery, he convinces the rest of the Injustice League to just let him freeze Harley instead of outright murdering her.
Edited by EmeraldEmperor on Aug 25th 2021 at 8:48:05 AM
Goku Black
Boone
Mammals share a lot of DNA. We're quite close genetically to each other.
Vote on Olenna soon. Sorry for the delay.
Alright. Let's see if Pixar can match female MBs to male CMs now—apologies if someone had her on their To Do List—I looked and didn't find her though. She was probably dismissed in the past for either not standing out enough or being too much of someone else's associate, but I think the Hypercompetent Sidekick angle is very much in her favor though.
I think she can be judged differently than Screenslaver as well since they each operate in different ways. Well while I didn't get Evelyn since I passed her on, hopefully I get this one instead:
What is the work?
The Incredibles is of course the 2004 animated superhero epic—first PG-rated movie by Pixar as well—about superheroes being disbanded and forced into hiding when damage caused by them during too many lifesaving occasions ends up being far too costly to pay for. Mr. Incredible, real name Bob Parr, has been struggling with this for 15 years despite clearly loving his family, including his wife Helen—formerly Elastigirl—and kids Violet, Dash—each super-powered—and the seeming normal baby Jack-Jack as well. Bob of course leaps at the chance to be secretly recruited back into the superhero life and finds he's actually signed on to more than he's bargained for.
Who is she and what has she done?
Mirage is the primary associate to Syndrome/Buddy Pine in his scheme to wipe out the "Supers" and to stage a fight with the destructive Omnidroid he designed in order to take on the role of Super himself. Mirage on his behalf has been going around and tracking down different Supers in hiding and after observing them for a bit, sending them each a personally recorded recruitment message while also making sure the device only plays when they've been properly identified and the location is safe and then leaving a contact number right before the message self-destructs too—this is all seen in the scene where she recruits Bob. Mirage is first seen trailing and observing Bob's best friend Lucius Best since she's figured out that he's Frozone and through observation, discovers who Bob really is and decides to switch focus from Lucius to him ("Believe me, THIS is the one he's been looking for").
Mirage makes arrangements for Bob to travel to the island in his suit, meets with him and pitches him about how the Omnidroid they designed has become self-aware and they've "lost control" so that he'll fight it and either it'll kill him or he'll beat it—the latter happens. She then meets him for dinner and tells him they'll keep a direct line to him in the event that they need his services again. She calls him to bring him back and then he's nearly killed by both an improved Omnidroid and Syndrome who also confronts him.
Having faked his death to escape, Bob ends up in the control room learning about all the other Supers who were recruited and killed—with the caveat that even if some of them beat the Omnidroid initially, they still eventually got killed when recruited for another fight against a more-advanced version of the Omnidroid and Mirage observes as Bob is caught and subdued when he accidentally sets off the sensors. Mirage is then in the room when Syndrome later shoots down the plane Helen, Violet and Dash are heading to the island in with a missile and sadly reports on the plane's destruction—everyone believing they were all killed. Mirage then pushes Syndrome out of the way when an enraged Bob is able to overpower his restraints temporarily and he ends up grabbing her and threatening to crush her to death unless he's set free—which Syndrome with both cold satisfaction and indifference dares him to do only for Bob to futilely realize he can't.
Angered and betrayed by how Syndrome was willing to throw her life away like that, Mirage—who also observed one or two things on security footage too if I'm not mistaken—goes back later and sets Bob free—who nearly strangles her to death at first until she reveals his family's alive—and he gratefully hugs her—only for Elastigirl to then punch her in the face when she arrives immediately after that. Mirage tells them their kids "probably triggered the alert" and later provides them the means of using a rocket to follow the Omnidroid to the city—through either access to the computer or the codes to the other rocket launch. Though Mirage herself is not seen again the rest of the movie, her part in helping the family does eventually lead to both the destruction of the Omnidroid and the demise of Syndrome himself too.
Is she magnificent?
While Syndrome—the utterly Psychopathic Manchild and deluded individual he is—is the one behind everything financially and probably intellectually too, Mirage is basically the architect to his architect. Mirage plays her part very well in being able to track down and recruit the Supers at each and every turn, she's the contact who does the sales pitch, she plays the part of the host in Syndrome's absence—whether or not anyone else but Mr. Incredible caught on that she was working for someone else is not specified—and she arranges the fights with the Omnidroid each and every time be it to the benefit of the Omnidroid or to each Super that fights it. While it doesn't seem like much, her parts in setting Mr. Incredible free, revealing his family survived and then helping him and his family return to the city to stop the Omnidroid are also crucial plot points too.
Bitch? Too much?
She's still clearly setting up both the Supers and the city for failure against the Omnidroid in favor of Syndrome boosting himself up, but she's more in the mindset of Just Business than petty revenge unlike her superior/supposed boyfriend. Mirage shows clear and total horror and sadness at Syndrome later for both seemingly killing the family just to hurt Bob and then completely turns against him in both revulsion and disgust when he calls Bob's bluff about whether or not he'll kill Mirage with his bare hands—not to mention he didn't even thank her for keeping Bob from nearly killing him too. Despite the crucial role in helping a lot of what Syndrome does, Mirage—without a doubt—is not a malicious or cruel person by nature and the charm both before and after her Heel–Face Turn always shines through.
Verdict?
I say . Either way, God rest Elizabeth Peña.
Edited by futuremoviewriter on Aug 25th 2021 at 9:06:56 AM
Boone
Ah yes very good, to Mirage. This is a similar situation to Don Rafael where an MB works with a CM towards the same goals, but shows discomfort over the CM's vileness.
Yo ho, yo ho, and Stickybeard's a keep!