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
Put this on the very bottom of the Other Characters section on the Runescape page. 3 in one week is always nice.
Runescape: Ali Morrisane is a shady and opportunistic businessman that more than lives up to his self proclaimed title as "the greatest salesman in the world." Morrisane hires the adventurer to go to his home town of Pollnivneach to find his nephew, and they get involved in the local feud between rival gangs in the process. With everyone in town conspicuously named Ali, the adventurer manages to drive the gangs out all the while being forced to buy a myriad of expensive goods from the town to accomplish their goals. Later revealing his nephew never existed, Morrisane was the ring leader of the entire town and tricked his patsy into getting rid of the hostile bandits all the while fleecing them for all their hard earned gold.
Think you're tough because you made it through Lord of the Rings? Real men survive The Silmarillion.
Woagh
So am I now good to repost my EP since we went to a new page and it's been a few hours?
NOISE IS CALLING, PICK UP PHONE
![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
to Itassis and Nathan
Yeah that’s why I only one EP per a day (maybe two depending on my mood) so that I don’t over flood the thread. Hell I’m still not done with my Megalobox candidates but I’m not going to EP them all at once
Edited by G-Editor on Mar 18th 2022 at 1:25:43 PM
I think so Dood, it's been a couple of hours and there haven't been any since then.
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
Woagh
Right, now here's a fun potential I found.
What's the work?
The Living Tombstone is a particularly popular You Tube musician that makes a living on making ridiculously popular Filk songs. However, did anyone know that, before he made it big, he focused on making My Little Pony songs?
Generally, they tend to be on the Darker and Edgier side because this fandom is wild, but one particularly cheeky song I wanna look at? Guncakes.
Who is the Arms Dealer?
The song focuses on Equestria's local gun dealer, a cheerful chap who deals illegal goods to anyone can afford it.
Oh, and she's also Pinkie Pie.
What's she do?
Right, so the song reveals that Pinkie is secretly running a gun smuggling operation within Equestria, and is willing to sell to anyone who's willing to pay up. Running a bakery as in canon, she uses her baking skills to create pasteries to hide guns in and secretly sell them, affectionately calling them "Guncakes". It's also revealed that she has secret exits in case of any royal guards coming by, immediately bailing when she notices them coming. This is an operation that she's been able to hide from even her friends and has been going on for a while now. The verse also has her conversing with one of her customers, recommending various firearms in detail and informing them what's in stock.
The second verse is dedicated entirely to another fact: that Pinkie is a master assassin if anyone is interested in hiring her, informing them that even guards would cower before her and describing how she fights her opponents by flipping all over the place and protecting herself with a bulletproof vest. By the end of the song, she's still at large, with nobody the wiser about what sweet Pinkie Pie is actually doing behind the scenes.
How smart is she?
She runs a successful gun smuggling business where she hides guns in cakes and treats, uses her sweet demeanor to hide her operations from all of Equestria, and is a master assassin who's able to use her abilities with ruthless efficiency. She's portrayed in the song as a upbeat, personable criminal who'll happily showcase her guns and gives the buyers numerous options.
How much of a Bitch?
Illegal gun runner who's willing to kill people for a price, and is completely shameless about her job. Eyup.
Side note? Similarly to my Nook and Redd candidates, none of the song's contents are taken seriously and the absurdity of the situation is presented in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Considering that it's about a cartoon pony selling guns, that probably to be expected lmao.
Overall?
How's she looking?
NOISE IS CALLING, PICK UP PHONE
Lizzid people!
A hilarious yes there.
Goku Black
Nathan, Hekatoid and Itassis.
Hey guys its my birthday. I'm 24 now. I have an ep for you in a bit after we've cleared up more.
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Lizzid people!
Emperor Georgie Artémis Enkoom Evulz II
Happy birthday miraculous!
Hilarious yes to Pinkie Pie. I might have an Abridged candidate soon...
J’m’arrête pas tant qu’j’vois pas des lignes sur les moniteurs (Not stoppin 'til I see Flatlines)
to Pinkie Pie, never thought I'd see that name on this thread..
Happy Birthday Mir!
Fox, Sakuma, Flagg, Oculous, Serpentina, Nathan, Hekatoid, Itassis and Pinkie
![[tdown]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_down_emoticon_3571.png "[thumb down]"){kind=small}
Magma
Yes to Hekatoid, Itassis and Pinkie.
Classy, Refined, Unstable
Hekatoid, Itassis, Pinkie
Happy birthday Mir!
Oh, Mr. Kennedy, you entertain me. To show my appreciation, I will help you awaken from your world of clichés.
Happy birthday Mir!
What's the Work?
The Batman (2022) is a movie about Batman in his year 2, where a serial killer named the Riddler is picking off corrupt government officials. In trying to find out the secret of the corruption and what Riddler wants Batman gets caught up with our candidate today Catwoman also known as the Cat or Selina Kyle.
What does she do?
Batman finds his way to Penguins club when pics Riddler released point him there. While talking with Penguin about the woman featured in the pics, Penguin claims not to know who she is. While talking with Batman Selina drops off her drops take and gets Penguin to give her some more. Noticing that she's wearing boots that are also in the pics, Batman decides to follow her back to her apartment.
He sees that Selina very affectionate and tender with the woman, he we learn shortly is named Annika. Watching Selina slip into her Catwoman clothes he follows her to the Mayors house (he'd been murdered the other night by Riddler), to break into his safe to steal Annika's passport so Selina and her can leave town. Learning all this from Selina, when they go back to her apartment they find Annika kidnapped and Selina's phone stolen. Selina decides to help Batman to find out where Annika's been taken.
Using special contacts that Batman can see from she goes inside the club within a club to find out some info on the rat Riddler has been talking about. She meets the district attorney and flirts with him, and he nearly lets slip who it is, but one his companions talks about Annika. Selina breaks off from the DA and goes to talk to her instead, but ends up running into Carmine Falcone and Penguin (The Don and his Dragon). Falcone flirts with her and when Batman confronts her about it, she decides she can't continue, but ends up discreetly keeping the contacts.
Later when some of Riddler's leads have apparently lead to Penguin and his drops operation, Batman runs into her attempting to rob him. While in the process of that she discovers Annika's body in Kenzie's (One of Penguins enforcers) car. This distraction provides time for Penguin and his men to get into a shootout with Batman. While he heads for the Batmobile, Selina uses the distraction to steal the money Penguin had.
She later uses the contacts to contact Batman. Meeting up with him, when he confronts her about the robbery and Falcone, she reveals Falcone's her father and never gave a damn about her after her mother was strangled. She considers the money payment for all those years. She talks about the downtrodden and about the corrupt elite of Gotham and how most them don't give a damn about those who have nothing. She kisses Batman and promises to work with him to take them down and solve Annika's murder.
She later lights the bat signal, having found Kenzie and her phone. Beating him, she plays Annika's final message to herself, Batman and Gordon. They listen to her harrowing final moments as Falcone kills her and is revealed as the rat. It's clear from the message she was strangled and Selina intrinsically knows Falcone was responsible for her mothers death. Kenzie says the entire city works for Falcone, and Selina wants to kill him and Kenzie, especially cause he was intimately involved in Annika's murder. Bruce tries to stop her, claiming there's a better way. Selina distracts them by kicking Kenzie off the ledge they are on, while they save him she goes after Falcone.
She dons a wig and goes into Penguins Club. Playing a concerned friend, she uses the fact that Falcone is interested in her, to get close. When Gordon has the tape leaked, she takes her chance, but at that moment batman cuts the power to the club. Fighting his way up there, Selina tries to kill Falcone and does a pretty good job taking care of other mooks, but she is overpowered and strangled by Falcone. Batman manages to save her and talk her down from killing Falcone. He is shortly thereafter killed by the Riddler.
Meanwhile the Riddler has succeeded in his plan to flood Gotham, and while Selina and civilians evacuate to the main stadium, Riddler's forces have set up shop in the rafters shot to shoot any of the survivors. Batman arrives and battles them, and Selina ends up helping at the end, saving Batman from being killed.
She ends the movie at her mothers grave site preparing to leave Gotham. She tries to convince Batman to come with her, but he declines. Bruce does tell her to take care of herself, and the movie ends with them coming to a crossroads and going their separate ways.
Is she magnificent?
Oh undoubtedly. Zoe Kravitz radiates charisma as Catwoman. She has an undeniable amount of chemistry with Batman. She also wears an assortment of colorful wigs throughout the movie. As for cunning she knows how to work the technology batman gives her, is able to use distractions during the Penguin drug meet to get her loot. And she distracts Batman and Gordon by kicking Kenzie off a ledge to go after Falcone. And of course as always Catwoman is a fantastic fighter and Battle Couple with Batman.
Is she a bitch?
This is the main sticking point for me. I don't think she is enough of one. She is a drops dealer, but this film interrogates Batman's wealth almost more than any other, and she just seems to be doing it to make some cash. She is a Karmic Thief, but the only person she robs in the movie, Falcone, abandoned her and never gave her a cent. She does seem to be a Karmic Thief out of caring for the downtrodden; she herself says she has a thing about strays, so I won't be surprised if the later movies make her an out and out and Just Like Robin Hood character.
So were left with her trying to kill Kenzie and Falcone. She does beat up and terrorize Kenzie, but he was intimately involved in her friend/girlfriends death (the film is somewhat ambiguous about their relationship). We are treated to a lovely voicemail of Annika's final scream. Falcone is the one who did it, in addition to her mother. She states in her desire to kill him when talking with Batman and Gordon that he runs the city, so it's not simply a matter of revenge, though that is clearly part of it. While it is stated that they might never find the Riddler if she does so, they don't actually say that to her, and at the point she does so, they have no idea the depths of Riddlers monstrosity, just that he's a serial killer killing corrupt schmucks, and there's no guarantee that killing Falcone would have stopped them from finding him anyway. When she sees how bad Riddler and his followers are, she does not hesitate in helping Batman.
Verdict? I'm leaning but others will probably disagree. So let the voting begin!
May I request quotes for Redwall and Super Sentai before we do anything else?
Goku Black
I haven't watched the anove yet so I'll abstain.
Here's a list of Capatin Marvelous quotes from Gokaiger. Which do you think is good?
I'm gonna say to Selina. She does enough right now.
What is the work?
Inside Job is an adult sitcom follows the misadventures of Reagan Ridley, an official at Cognito Inc, a shadow government organisation overseeing and covering up conspiracies.
Who is Robo-Reagan?
In "Sex Machina", Reagan takes a bet with her coworkers that she will get a boyfriend in a week. She builds a robot replica of her potential date, Bryan Jacobsen, but ends up covered in tomato sauce and doing a racist Italian impression in front of the real Bryan while trying to sneak out. She then decides to date Bryan-bot, but her neglectful treatment of him leads to him making a robo-replica of his own: Robo-Reagan.
What does she do?
Just as Reagan attempts to abort her replica's creation, Robo-Reagan grabs her hand and destroys the machine. She destroys Bryan-Bot, ties up Reagan and prepares to go on a date with the real Bryan at the Smithsonian. Reagan escapes by severing her ropes with a shard from her broken tablet and goes to save Bryan.
She smooches and flirts with Bryan, complimenting his "amber eyes". Overwhelmed, Bryan goes to the bathroom, but Reagan meets with him there and convinces him that she is the imposter. She goes to deal with Robo-Reagan herself.
Fighting Reagan off with a dinosaur bone, Robo-Reagan crushes her pistol with her bare hands. After a protracted battle, Reagan defeats Robo-Reagan by activating a magnet, slamming Robo-Reagan into the museum exhibit. Damaged, Robo-Reagan admits that her human counterpart is the superior Reagan and tells her to go with Bryan, having taught her all she did, before powering off.
She presumably repowered and escaped, the extraction team unable to find her.
Is she Magnificent?
She is as intelligent as the real Reagan, and much more confident and ruthless. She is able to put up a good fight against Reagan even when Reagan was armed with a gun, and apparently incorporated Reagan's stand mixer into her body. She's also surprisingly familiar with the dating scene for a robot, putting makeup on, untying her hair, dressing sexily and flirting with Bryan from the get-go.
Admittedly, her confident attitude seems to unnerve the actual Bryan on their date together, but it is probably due to his own personality conflicting with hers and more suited to Reagan's more genuine awkwardness. Reagan herself appears jealous of her robo replica's moves.
Is she a Bitch?
She kills Bryan-Bot, imprisons Reagan in her basement and even implies that she would kill Bryan if the date doesn't work out ("I'll send you an invite to the wedding, or the funeral. We'll see how the first date goes).
That said, she doesn't extend her muderous rage to anyone outside of the Reagan-Bryan-Robo Rhombus or whatever it's called, doesn't hurt Bryan and takes her defeat gracefully, even encouraging Reagan to take another chance with Bryan. She's also disappeared and will probably appear in more episodes, but the show won't be returning for a while now.
Overall?
I think she's looking good.
Happy birthday Mir.
Yes to Selina. Here's three write ups. Itassis will follow later.
- Power Rangers Mystic Force
- Oculous, a cyclopian hunter, is a member fo the nefarious underworld monsters, the Ten Terrors. He is the second to fight the Rangers and does so by using teleportation and a de-materializaiton ray ray to stay ahead of them and pick them off one by one while trying to make Nick surrender himself. He relishes fight, but doesn't needlessly kill, as he gives Necrolai a warning to leave while mistaking her for an annoying trespasser and is willing to spare the other Rangers if Nick surrenders, even once Nick is alone and seemingly outmatched.
- Serpentina is a cold-blooded and self-serving member of the Ten Terrors who has little regard for anyone else. However, this attitude also causes her to be less enthusiastic about The Master, his rules, and his imminent resurrection. She repeatedly sends her fellow Terrors to attack the Rangers and weaken or separate them (and steal Nick and Vida's powers) so the Ten Terrors as a whole and Serpentina herself have a better shot at victory. In battle, she separates and effortlessly defeats most of the Rangers and only fails to defeat Nick and Vida because Itassis insists on nullifying Serpentina's strategy by returning their powers for a fairer fight. Even after being defeated, [[Defiant to the End Serpentina defiantly says her friend Megahorn will avenge her.
- Hekatoid initially seems like little more than a lazy glutton who lets Serpentina goad into attacking the Rangers prematurely, but he manages to stela Nick and Vida's powers before being called back from the fight, putting them at a disadvantage. He later goes on to kidnap Udonna as a hostage to us against the Rangers ben though he hasn't yet ben selected to face them. Hekatoid then wears the Rangers down by making them fight clones of themselves and other creatures before capturing them and taking them back home as his prisoners. Once they escape and resist his efforts to recapture them, Hekatoid is prepared to release a bunch of poisonous tadpoles (who he calls his babies) to turn the tide only to be foiled when Udonna arrives as th Cavalry after unexpectedly regaining her powers.
Edited by Melinda on Mar 19th 2022 at 9:41:02 AM
Happy Birthday, Mir!
Unfortunately I'm suffering a case of writer's block for the draft for Jimmy Conlon.
"I'll show you the Dark Side." CM actors and kills
Any ideas for page quotes? I'd like some suggestions before I focus on new effort posts.
for Nathan. to Hekatoid (I'm not feeling any Charm from that one) and Itassis (from what's been said, I don't see her Magnificence and Bastardy going hand-in-hand); and Pinkie (I've checked the song and she doesn't seem to have any Competition).
Regarding Selina, I've got an idea of what my vote's gonna be for her, but before I make it; this entry hints at how she compares Bastardy-wise to others in the setting, but how does she compare Magnificence-wise (i.e. intelligence- and/or success-wise) to other characters? I also haven't seen Inside Job yet beyond a couple You Tube clips, so I'll have to request more info about Robo-Reagan's Competition before I can vote on her.
Also, H.B. to miraculous.
Abstain on Selina due to not having seen the movie
Also miraculous, have a miraculous day and year ahead
I've got another potential candidate from Alex Rider, though this one has an incredibly brief appearance (the first chapter of Point Blanc)
The Work
Alex Rider. The basic concept of the series is there with Yassen's EP. Here is the book for your convenience (relevant pages are 9-21)
The Candidate
The Gentleman is an assassin-for-hire, named because he sends flowers to the families of his victims. In the first chapter of Point Blanc, his victim is Michael J. Roscoe, a billionaire who knows that being rich makes him a target (and was suspicious of his sons behaviour - because he's a clone). Hence, he is very reclusive and follows a strict routine.
The Gentleman enters Roscoe's place of work, disguised as an elevator maintenance engineer called Sam Green (who he had disposed of beforehand). He takes Roscoe's elevator and presses the button for the sixtieth floor. When the lift door opens, The Gentleman turns off the lift, and uses the manual override key to hack into the buildings mainframe and have the lift rise up to the sixty-first floor. He then uses the key to press the button for the fifty-ninth floor and deactivate the lift again. Entering the lift shaft via a trapdoor on the lift's roof, he sets up a film projection system so that it appears that Roscoe's lift is still there, when in reality it is just a hologram. This works, and when Roscoe steps into the lift, he falls to his death. By the time anyone can figure out what happened, the Gentleman had long since reset the mainframe, removed the projector, and left with no one being any the wiser.
Magnificence
The Gentleman had a week to prepare for Roscoe's assassination, and he pulls it off practically flawlessly. He impersonates a life maintenance engineer, exploits Roscoe's routine, and after careful observation, hacks into the buildings lift mainframe to commit a successful assassination that is framed as an accident... and to top it off, he gets away with everything. He is probably the only Alex Rider villain to get away with his crime.
Bastardry
He is an assassin-for-hire, and has committed one extra murder to kill Roscoe, so he fits this criteria well.
Edited by magnumtropus on Mar 21st 2022 at 5:39:55 PM
Woagh
Imma lean on Selina, agree that she doesn't sound quite bad enough at the moment.
Also, Derv0s, I don't think "competition" is as important as your making it out to be. We've had numerous candidates who were the only real schemers in their work.
NOISE IS CALLING, PICK UP PHONE
I have my Selina EP done, but I'll post it tomorrow morning.
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