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:
Previous post
IMPORTANT: To avoid a holler to the mods, please see here for the earliest date a work can be discussed, (usually two weeks from the US release), as well as who's reserved discussion.
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
Morgenthaler
Since: Feb, 2016
#7402: Feb 17th 2019 at 4:59:39 AM
Got one more, a character played by none other than Ice-T from an Albert Pyun work. Seriously, if you want to waste a few hours, grab some popcorn and watch some of his stuff. Nemesis is still one of my favorite B-movies for being a laugh riot from start to finish.
What is the work?
Mean Guns, a 1997 Heroic Bloodshed action movie with a killer soundtrack. A group of a hundred criminals are gathered together by the powerful Syndicate that employs them in a newly constructed prison to force them to kill each other.
Who is Vincent Moon? What has he done?
Vincent Moon is a charismatic crime lord with a love for mambo who set up the game, inviting all those who betrayed the Syndicate and explaining them the rules before dumping loads of weapons and ammunition on them. Only three people are allowed to survive until the end, at which point they will win 10 million dollars to be split three-ways. If they try to leave before that, his sniper guards will kill them. However, if there are no winners after six hours, everyone is disqualified. During this monologue, Moon executes several criminals for trying to defy him. ("What if we don't want to play?" [BANG] "Then don't!") Afterwards, Moon retires to a surveillance room, monitoring the actions of the various criminals in the building while playing a game of chess for leisure. Moon kills one man himself during his flight to see if he "still has it in him", and one criminal who tracks him down is killed as well after Moon berates him for succumbing to Evil Gloating ("Like I said, just throw the fucking knife, don't stand there and talk!"). Moon has little involvement with most of the Game himself, as various groups fight it out, including Those Two Bad Guys, various groups of hitmen, a Femme Fatale, an Ax-Crazy Heroic Comedic Sociopath played by Christopher Lambert (Lou), and one of Moon's most trusted enforcers, a stoic man named Marcus.
Eventually, when it comes down to only three people, plus Moon himself, he admits that There Can Be Only One, offering them all Desert Eagles, but not informing Lou that he gave him an unloaded gun. After Marcus shoots Lou, he asks Moon if there were meant to be any survivors at all. Moon admits that not even he is safe from the syndicate. If they don't die today, they will die somewhere down the line, so why not go out in style? Moon dies in a shoot-out with Marcus, who then engages in a Mutual Kill with a fatally wounded Lou.
How do his actions and personality show he is a Magnificent Bastard?
Vincent Moon is portrayed as stylish, charismatic, and ruthless in equal measure. He brought all the criminals together under false pretenses, then sits back and watches them all kill each other before staging a final free-for-all shoot-out. While a cold-blooded killer, even Moon admits that Lou's Ax-Crazy tendencies disturb him, and he's become a liability to the Syndicate for drawing too much attention. That, and Lou having recently become a father to a little girl, whom Moon at one point during the contest pays a visit to Pet the Dog. Also, since Moon's victims are all criminals themselves, his actions really come across more as Kick The Son Of A Bitch than anything else. Moon is not a character like Ken Castle who just wants to profit off of Deadly Games and revels in his own sadism. For Moon, it's all about keeping to his own code of honor.
Mitigating Factors?
Nope. He does end up dying in his own game, but he fully expected to. Whether or not he survived, a Dying Moment of Awesome was just as valuable to him.
Verdict?
Keep the MF, you know what I'm sayin'?
Edited by Morgenthaler on Feb 17th 2019 at 6:37:55 AM
You've got roaming bands of armed, aggressive, tyrannical plumbers coming to your door, saying "Use our service, or else!"
lrrose
Since: Jul, 2009
#7403: Feb 17th 2019 at 6:31:37 AM
![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
Toreno and Moon
11111001011
Since: Dec, 2018
#7404: Feb 17th 2019 at 7:49:18 AM
Toreno and Moon.
#7405: Feb 17th 2019 at 8:05:18 AM
Yes to both of Morgan's and I haven't heard anything back from Kazuya but here's everything else:
- Assassination Classroom: Gakuhou Asano was once a caring teacher who sought vengeance on the bullies who drove one of his students to suicide by getting them addicted to gambling, ruining their lives in the process. Becoming the chairman of Kunugigaoka Junior High School, Gakuhou established a system that would make sure that 95 percent of the students would be successful, by demeaning the lowest 5 percent, Class-E. He would make sure that the top 95 percent would constantly triumph Class-E over academic and sports, by subjugating them to his brutal teaching methods. Willing to prove that his system is flawless, Gakuhou challenges Koro-Sensei to open one of the five handout, before the grenades inside detonate, with four of them being lethal to Koro-Sensei. When Koro-Sensei fills out four of the five handouts, Gakuhou opens the one lethal to him in an attempt to take Koro-Sensei with him. Having a change of heart after Koro-Sensei saves him, Gakuhou accepts his loss with grace before resigning as chairman.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: The Ishbalan only known as Scar used to live normally until his older brother performed a human transmutation to revive his girlfriend, unknowingly creating the homunculus Lust. During the Ishbalan genocide, Scar was saved by said brother, who sacrificed his arm and life to ensure his survival. Deciding to take revenge on the Amestrian State Alchemists, Scar goes to Central and mercy-kills the suffering Nina Tucker before fighting Edward Elric. Years later, Scar continues with his one-man crusade and crosses paths with the Elric brothers, constantly fighting with and sparing them—especially Alphonse—as they remind him of his past, and even working together sometimes. Discovering the real nature of his arm as an incomplete Philosopher's Stone, Scar decides to finish what his brother started and travels to the war-torn city of Reole, where he leads and protects the civilians, creates a city-wide transmutation symbol and tricks the Amestrian soldiers to their deaths with the help of Lust—who acknowledges their shared past after meeting him—while the civilians evacuate. A survivor determined to succeed, Scar uses his last moments to save Alphonse and finish the transmutation, dying while thinking about the Elric brothers, his brother and his own guilt.
- Tower Heist: Josh Kovacs, manager of the luxury apartment complex "The Tower", learns of Arthur Shaw's plan to swindle all the building's workers out of their pensions. Vandalizing Shaw's prized Ferrari in retaliation, Josh gets fired and begins plotting a heist to take back what was stolen from the other workers. Forming a team, Josh tricks the FBI who arrested Shaw into thinking Shaw's trial would take place on Thanksgiving, allowing the crew to break into the Tower. Diverting the attention of the new manager by having him think his wife is going into labour, Josh and his crew find the safe they meant to plunder empty but that Shaw's Ferrari is made of solid gold. Taking precautions to protect himself in case he is arrested, Josh has the Ferrari hidden in his cohort's apartment, before later hiding it in the penthouse pool. Using Shaw's ledger as leverage in the trial, Josh secures the freedom of all his fellow workers, himself only spending two years in jail, and having his employees divide the parts of the gold Ferrari amongst themselves.
- Wall Street: Gordon Gekko is a renowned Wall Street businessman and corporate raider. Gekko frequently manipulates the stock market through rumors spread by his acolytes, on one occasion outmaneuvering one of his rivals simply to repay him for undermining one of Gekko's earlier ventures. Fostering a mentor-protege relationship with the eager stockbroker Bud Fox, Gekko instructs Fox to acquire insider information and conspire with contacts in the legal department to maximize his profits. A charismatic public speaker as well, Gekko manages to convince the shareholders of Teldar Paper to vote against the stock's restructuring by berating the company's unacceptable inefficiency in a cut-throat business, couched in terms praising The American Dream. Despite being set up by Bud Fox to lose millions after Gekko goes back on his word by planning to break up Bluestar Airlines, Gekko only ends up going to jail due to testimony from his employee Bretton James on Gekko's involvement with securities fraud. After his release years later, Gekko reinvents himself as a best-selling author before mentoring the young Wall Street insider Jake Moore, the fiance of Gekko's daughter Winnie. Gekko uses Jake to undermine Bretton James, now the COO of a major bank, ultimately leading to the latter's public disgrace and dismissal by the board of directors of Churchil Schwartz. Finally, Gekko plays Jake for a fool by promising to invest in his renewable energy project but instead confiscates the hundred million dollar trust fund set up in Winnie's name to re-establish himself as a venture capitalist based in London, then buys back his family's love so he can be a part of their life. Charming, devious, and manipulative, Gekko defined the Corrupt Corporate Executive in film.
- Gotham: Ra's al Ghul is the leader of the League of Assassins and the true brains behind the Court of Owls. After unleashing a deadly virus on Gotham, a brainwashed Bruce is sent to Ra's, where he orders him to stab Alfred. Bruce obeys, but breaks free of his conditioning. Ra's escapes, but not without letting Bruce use the Lazarus Pit to save Alfred. Ra's later returns searching for a mysterious knife. After killing the knife's previous owner and later on his son, Ra's turns himself in and is sent to Blackgate Penitentiary, and has his guards infiltrate the facility. Bruce later arrives to confront Ra's, and Ra's successfully goads him into killing him. Ra's is later resurrected by his loyal followers, and after regaining his powers from Barbara Kean, teams up with Jeremiah Valeska to turn Gotham into a no man's land, and kidnaps Bruce to take him to a building where they can witness the city's destruction. Ra's then dies during a battle with Bruce and Barbara, but not before congratulating the latter for her efforts, and telling the former that he must now choose to remain Bruce Wayne, or become Gotham's Dark Knight. Charming and intelligent, Ra's stood out as one of the most cunning criminals Gotham ever faced.
- Detroit: Become Human: Elijah Kamski is a brilliant cybernetics engineer and the founder of Cyberlife, having developed the line of androids that are now ubiquitous throughout society before withdrawing from public life. Curious to see whether his creations could develop the potential for independence, Kamski sets the stage for an android rebellion by designing Markus and gifting him to a friend of his. He also tests Connor's capacity for empathy by goading him to kill one of his first androids, then provides him with clues on how to prevent being reprogrammed by Amanda in the Zen Garden, an artificial intelligence which Kamski himself based on his former teacher. In the event that all three protagonists are killed off before the finale, Kamski will take back control over Cyberlife in order to study his robots and rebuild their code from the ground up. A cordial and philosophical man in person, Kamski seems concerned only with observing the events he set in motion without interfering, content to let the chips fall where they may no matter how many android or human lives might be lost in the process.
- Cucumber Quest: Noisemaster, the second Disaster Master, makes a colorful entrance by joyfully hijacking Princess Piano's concert, where he reveals his intent to use his Noise Blaster satellite cannon to reduce the Melody Kingdom to ruin. Working together with his pal Mutemaster, Noisemaster stealthily kidnaps Piano and uses her persistent screaming to power up the Blaster. When she catches on to his plans and calms herself down, Noisemaster simply waits for the heroes to arrive, manipulating Cucumber and Almond during the ensuing encounter so that he can isolate and strike Princess Nautilus, pushing the Blaster up to 100% charge with Piano's resultant yelp of horror. Noisemaster's goofy DJ personality and slang-filled dialogue do well to hide his competence and hatred of failure, and he would have won with ease were it not for the last-second intervention of the Nightmare Knight.
Anything else?
miraculous
Goku Black
(Apprentice)
Goku Black
#7406: Feb 17th 2019 at 9:58:39 AM
above two
ElfenLiedFan90
Me in a nutshell (Coping with Depression)
from Jakarta,Indonesia
Since: Aug, 2017
Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Me in a nutshell (Coping with Depression)
#7407: Feb 17th 2019 at 10:02:52 AM
Yea to the above two
"Making screw-ups and mistakes was I ever really good at. Because everything I touch went to hell."
Morgenthaler
Since: Feb, 2016
#7408: Feb 17th 2019 at 10:22:46 AM
Speaking of which, MagnificentBastard.Film is getting pretty lengthy... time to add some folders?
You've got roaming bands of armed, aggressive, tyrannical plumbers coming to your door, saying "Use our service, or else!"
#7409: Feb 17th 2019 at 10:42:59 AM
To Toreno and Moon
miraculous
Goku Black
(Apprentice)
Goku Black
#7410: Feb 17th 2019 at 10:52:11 AM
I'd be fine with folderisng.
Its becoming more difficult to read the entries now since their may be more now than there were orignally before the cleanup thread started. Which is good as it shows we've made progress.
Edited by miraculous on Feb 17th 2019 at 10:54:38 AM
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Frolaytia X Qwenthur of Heavy Object
#7411: Feb 17th 2019 at 11:16:54 AM
Folders
#7412: Feb 17th 2019 at 12:23:55 PM
I’m fine with folders. I’ll work on that later.
#7413: Feb 17th 2019 at 2:15:34 PM
Got some time, thoughts with these?
For MagnificentBastard.Anime And Manga:
Individual works:
A - G
- Assassination Classroom: Gakuhou Asano was once a caring teacher who sought vengeance on the bullies who drove one of his students to suicide by getting them addicted to gambling, ruining their lives in the process. Becoming the chairman of Kunugigaoka Junior High School, Gakuhou established a system that would make sure that 95 percent of the students would be successful, by demeaning the lowest 5 percent, Class-E. He would make sure that the top 95 percent would constantly triumph Class-E over academic and sports, by subjugating them to his brutal teaching methods. Willing to prove that his system is flawless, Gakuhou challenges Koro-Sensei to open one of the five handout, before the grenades inside detonate, with four of them being lethal to Koro-Sensei. When Koro-Sensei fills out four of the five handouts, Gakuhou opens the one lethal to him in an attempt to take Koro-Sensei with him. Having a change of heart after Koro-Sensei saves him, Gakuhou accepts his loss with grace before resigning as chairman.
- Banana Fish: Former KGB Lieutenant Blanca becomes The Mentor to Protagonist Ash Lynx, making him into a merciless fighter. Hired by Dino Golzine, Blanca attacks and easily subdues Ash for Dino. When Ash manages to escape from Golzine's clutches, it is Blanca who hunts him down for them, using his knowledge of the New York City sewer system. Realizing the depths of the depravity of Yut-Lung, his current employer, Blanca betrays him and allies with Ash out of a show of his own beliefs of honor and human compassion, proving his status as Ash's most Worthy Opponent in the series.
- Black Lagoon: In this dark criminal underworld, a few manage to thrive and even direct the chaos:
- Rokuro "Rock" Okajima himself has grown steadily darker as the series goes on. Proving his tactical acumen in the first few episodes by coming up with a genius plan to wipe out a pursuing anti-tank aircraft, Rock later shows his skilled manipulative side by becoming a flawless negotiator to the point that all the most powerful players in Roanpur genuinely like and respect him. During Roberta's rampage, it is Rock who manipulates Roberta and her master Garcia into a deadly confrontation to end the bloodshed, nearly getting both killed, but ending in Roberta recovering her sanity and leaving in peace. Rock continues to demonstrate his ability to use and manipulate others, even if for ostensibly desirable ends, as possibly the single most dangerous and skilled player of the criminal game in the darkness that is Roanpur.
- Balalaika, born Sofiya Pavlovna, was cast out of military service to the Soviets for saving a child in a refugee camp. Now the head of Hotel Moscow in Roanpur with her old unit, Balalaika loves war above all else and maintains control of her section of the city with an iron fist. When she heads to Japan on business, Balalaika casually manipulates a gang war simply to enjoy the excitement with no side ever coming close to even touching her. Earlier, when two of her beloved soldiers are killed by the assassin twins, Hansel and Gretel, Balalaika lures Hansel out to his death and delivers an utterly chilling Breaking Speech as Hansel bleeds to death. Frequently displaying a tactical brilliance, Balalaika shows again and again why she is one of the single most powerful and dangerous people in the world.
- Eda, supposedly a flirty criminal nun from the so-called Church of Violence smuggling operation, is actually a skilled major player in her own right. A CIA agent who also completely dominates the Triad boss Mr. Chang, Eda is in effect the true secret ruler of Roanpur. On the field, Eda also freely manipulates the hapless Janet Bhai into a safehouse that will be invaded, with enough instructions to escape so Eda can extort her for protection, and later shows that she casually plays all sides in Roanpur while setting up an end to the insane battle maid Roberta's rampage.
- Blade of the Immortal:
- Anotsu Kagehisa desires a world where "the sword excuses all". Creating the Itto-Ryu, Anotsu begins to hunt down dojos to eliminate them in order to abolish the stifling sword styles from the world in favor of a world of pure determination. Cleverly eluding his pursuers via having prostitutes disguise themselves as him and lead his hunters into ambushes, Anotsu's utter tenacity sees him through other attempts on his life and rallying the itto-Ryu against the shogunate, culminating in a dynamic assault on Edo castle itself. Even to the end, Anotsu remains a complex figure, stopping at nothing to achieve his dreams despite all the wrongs he has committed on his path.
- Habaki Kagimura, secret master of the Mugai-Ryu and the shinbangashira—a major figure in the Shogunate—forms the Mugai-Ryu to secretly destroy the Itto-Ryu before luring the organization's strongest members into a trap and destroying them. Capturing series Protagonist, the immortal man Manji, Habaki subjects him to experiments to perfect immortality for the sake of the Shogun. When ordered to commit seppuku, Habaki uses his time to try to destroy the Itto-Ryu, dealing a series of decisive blows before engaging Anotsu himself with surprising good humor and mutual respect, with his only regrets at the end being the loss of the two loves of his life and his dead children.
- Bleach: Kugo Ginjo is a former Substitute Soul Reaper betrayed by Soul Society. Desiring revenge, Ginjo assembles the Fullbringer group Xcution and manipulates Ichigo Kurosaki into joining. Secretly in league with Xcution's greatest 'enemy', Shukuro Tsukishima, Ginjo in fact has Tsukishima erase his own memory to convincingly pull a ruse off so he may lure Ichigo into a trap and steal his Soul Reaper powers before empowering the other members of Xcution to attack Soul Society. Reflected as an Evil Counterpart to Ichigo, Ginjo even returns in the final arc to assist Ichigo one last time to save the world from the monstrous Yhwach.
- Claymore: Isley, the Silver King, was the first of the Creatures of the Abyss, the first Number 1 of the first and only male generation of Claymores. Upon meeting the powerful Priscilla and learning her power, Isley submits to her, intending on manipulating her to bring the world under his control. Bringing about a war in the North with his former comrades now as Awakened Beings, Isley splits his forces in half to sacrifice them against another Abyssal One and the Claymore Organization while he heads South to defeat the third Abyssal One and take her lands. Bonding with The Heroine Clare's former companion Raki, Isley truly grows to love him and Priscilla as family and even sends them away when the monstrous Abyssal Feeders come for him to save their lives. Even post-mortem, we learn Isley only ever Awakened to begin with voluntarily to stop his former comrades and instilled Raki with a plan to help stop Priscilla if she became a monster, a plan that Raki manages to pull off thanks to his teachings.
- Coppelion: In the radioactive wasteland of Tokyo and its surroundings, Ibara Naruse faced some truly brilliant adversaries:
- Doctor Coppelius, initially named Matasaburo Itami, was called to create the Coppelion after the nuclear outbreak that destroyed Tokyo. Using the alias Doctor Coppelius, he created Haruto Kurosawa by cloning himself and tried to revive his deceased daughter by cloning her. Exiled by the Three Professors, Coppelius kept himself hidden and managed to contact with some flawed Coppelion in Tokyo, promising them to fix their flaws if they help him. Stealing Aether that allows him to survive in radioactive areas and improving it before escaping to Tokyo to reunite with his allies, Coppelius captures the Ultimate Coppelion and analyzes her DNA to bargain it. Eventually captured for his creations and put in a jail, he writes a formula to turn Coppelion into regular humans to save them from a genetic flaw before escaping. Finding a clone of his own daughter as a member of the Lost Retrieval Unit, Coppelius liberates them to kill the Professors. Rediscovering his faith in humanity, Coppelius tries to stop his own apocalyptic plan, and as he dies, Coppelius gives his last Aether to Haruto to save Ibara. An eccentric old man proud of his creations, Coppelius dies as he lived, with a silly smile.
- Ougai Masamune is the Japanese Minister of Internal Affairs. Initially helping the Coppelion program, Ougai is actually a nationalist intending to turn Japan into a world power. Side-stepping the Copellion and the Tokyo survivors, Ougai manipulates the First Minister and the jingoistic members of the E9 council into intervening in a foreign war with the intention of making them use nuclear power again after showing the radiation-resistant Coppelion. Intending to sell them to ensure the Japanese supremacy in a nuclear powered world, Ougai threatens the survivors of Tokyo and sends the Three Professors to capture the Ultimate Coppelion desired by the entire world. After the world is threatened by a new nuclear meltdown, Ougai eventually acknowledges his own mistakes and tries to atone for them, helping the Coppelion to save the world and helping to create a new law for a more responsible use of nuclear power. Abandoning his self-interested partners, Ougai creates a new magisterium, puts his former enemy Mishiba in charge of it and helps a depowered Ibara to reunite with her friends for a while, showing that despite everything, Ougai truly loved his country and wished for a better future.
- JSDF Commander Kunikawa is the leader of the First Division, soldiers abandoned by their own government—including his politician best friend who would become the Japanese First Minister—in the toxic ruins of Tokyo. Developing a hatred towards mankind, Kunikawa manages to survive for years, planning his revenge. Working with the violent Ozu sisters, Kunikawa tries to cause a new nuclear meltdown in the Daiba nuclear plant, endangering Japan and even the world. He kidnaps a Coppelion for his plans and despite being captured, he manages to escape anyway, fooling even Teen Genius Haruto Kurosawa. Intending to succeed, Kunikawa is only stopped due to the combined efforts of the survivors of the Planet base and the heroic Coppelion. Having an honest talk with Haruto, who was almost as misanthropic as he is, about the actions of Ibara Naruse, Kunikawa recovers his faith in mankind, giving his own life to save both the survivors and his remaining soldiers, while giving his cape—accidentally causing the future redemption of the First Minister at seeing it—to Haruto to show his faith towards him before dying, smiling at having recovered his own humanity.
- Dance in the Vampire Bund: Alphonse Medici de Borgiani is the Bund's master of intelligence who, for the sake of the Bund, will have a child kidnapped and bitten to blackmail the boy's politician grandfather. Constantly putting pressure on the hero Akira to better himself and become a strong companion for Princess Mina, Alphonse later orchestrates the betrayal and takeover of Mina's evil Doppleganger, before repenting and making plans to have Mina return to the throne via a series of clever contingencies. Finally, Alphonse allows himself to be destroyed and leaves a recording blaming himself for all of the Fake Mina's crimes so none of it will reflect upon the true Mina, protecting her, as Akira says, all the way to the bitter end.
- Dances With The Dragons: Cardinal Moldeen Ogus Gyunei is the mastermind behind the series events, seeking to unite the Alshok Territory with the Seven-Cities Alliance and prevent the catastrophic Holy War from occurring. Arranging for the assassination of his own decoy, Moldeen uses this to expose and then kill the traitor in his organization. Hiring two assassins to use as bait to lure out a defector, Moldeen is also revealed to be responsible for the failure of the first treaty, which he did to create favorable conditions for Alshok. Admitting to be willing to deceive, betray, spill blood and even support oppressive regimes in the name of his end goal, Moldeen will stop at nothing to create a world where future generations can live in happiness.
- Darker than Black: The elusive, mysterious Amber betrayed MI 6 to work for The Syndicate, eventually leading the deadliest squad of Contractors in Heaven's War. Realizing the Syndicate's true intentions and using her powers to see and rewind the future countless times, Amber manipulated the Syndicate and her own side to seal off Heaven's Gate, which caused a massive disaster that rendered most of South America uninhabitable. Returning in modern day Japan, Amber orchestrates a series of bombings while kidnapping the scientist behind the Saturn Ring project, manipulating her former lover Hei and the world's intelligence agencies to place Hei close to Hell's Gate so he can seal it as well and prevent the Saturn Ring project from killing all the world's Contractors. After settling things with Hei, Amber sacrifices herself to rewind time and give him a chance to choose a third option, later revealing she had foreseen that possibility and left guidance in the new world Hei had made.
- Devil Devil, by Yu(u)ki Miyoshi: Shiva Garland is one of the strongest demons in Hell. Working for a demon what he believes is Satan, Shiva is sent to kill his best friend Sword. Sending demons of different moralities to secretly test him, Shiva's intent is to be defeated by Sword to give him a chance to defeat Satan. Killing one demon that was going to kill Sword, Shiva puts a lethal curse in his human host with the intention of forcing him to become stronger and kill him. Defeated by Sword, Shiva reveals that he's working with a rebellion against the Demon King and is put into a coma, awakening to stop the omnicidal Shadow of Satan, sacrificing his life to save all of existence. An honorable Blood Knight willing to risk the lives of humans to ensure a victory for his best friend, Shiva Garland was as powerful as he was intelligent.
- Devilman: Ryo Asuka, in truth the fallen angel Satan, is the one who connives to have Akira Fudo become Devilman by tricking him into being possessed by the demon Amon. Upon regaining his memories as Satan, Ryo exposes the existence of demons and sets the world into a full-blown panic to make humanity turn on itself while he sweeps in with his demons to eliminate them, eventually facing and killing Akira himself to his great sorrow. Even after God resets the world, forcing Ryo to relive losing Akira over and over, Ryo shows hints of subtly altering things to eventually change the fate forced on him, showing why he is both Akira's greatest friend and deadliest enemy.
- Fairy Tail: Zeref the Dark Mage is known as the most evil wizard of all time. In truth, a tormented genius cursed with everlasting life after he tries to resurrect his beloved younger brother, Zeref plotted to send the future Dragon Slayers into the future to one day combat the evil dragon Acnologia. Upon surrendering to darkness, Zeref clandestinely founded the Alvarez empire as Emperor Spriggan and used them to wage war on Fairy Tail, seizing the ultimate magic Fairy Heart for himself, intending on using it to wipe out the current timeline and go back to correct all his mistakes in the hopes of forging a better world.
- Fate Apocrypha: Shirou Kotomine is a Church minister presiding over the Red Faction and is the Master of Assassin Semiramis. In reality, he is Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, Ruler Servant summoned in a prior Grail War. Noble and benevolent, his methods are ruthless and cunning. Seeking humanity's redemption out of pure love for mankind, Shirou bid his time, gathered items as catalysts to summon a Servant in the Middle East, and waited Yggdemillenia of the Black Faction to show themselves. Midway during the next Grail War, Shirou launched an ambitious attack that sees him singlehandedly take over the Servants of the Red Faction, reclaim the lost Greater Grail, and out-gambit his enemy Darnic. He intends to invade Greater Grail's innards to access True Magic to begin humanity's salvation. Ever calm and collected, it is only when he is minutes close to achieving his dangerously alluring dream that Shirou rants to Seig not to ruin humanity's salvation.
- Feng Shen Ji: Tian himself, once known as Hei Long, wiped out the ancient gods when they betrayed him and nearly murdered his beloved wife. Recreating the world, humanity and gods, Tian has humanity enslaved so he may have blood crystals harvested in order to revive Bai Long. Upon Bai Long's imperfect revival, Tian tries to end hostilities via his sheer power, before being betrayed by the evil Shen Yen. Seemingly accepting his death, Tian fakes it and is revealed to have been manipulating everyone so he may judge their worthiness for himself, honoring his vow to spare humanity when hero Ah Gou proves himself to Tian in combat.
- Fist of the North Star: Raoh himself, Kenshiro's eldest brother disciple in Hokuto Shinken styles himself as Ken-Oh The Conqueror. In a series of brilliant and ruthless campaigns, Raoh carves out his own empire in the wasteland while defeating any martial artists who challenge him and sending them to the prison Cassandra while stealing their scrolls for his own usage and advancement. While sometimes at the disadvantage thanks to Kenshiro or rival forces, Raoh is infamous for pushing back to be stronger than ever through sheer force of will and tenacity. Possessing a strong form of honor, Raoh does not hesitate to execute any in his army who terrorize or violate his citizens and when he faces the warrior Fudoh, Raoh orders his own men to kill him should he take a step back, a request he is furious they ignore. When he finally faces Kenshiro and loses, Raoh embraces his brother with true affection and uses the last of his energy to purge the radioactive toxins from the atmosphere, declaring proudly that he lived his life without regrets as he dies standing proud.
- Flame of Recca: Kurei Mori, The Dragon to Kouran Mori is the string puller behind the events of the first 50+ chapters. Kidnapping Recca's "princess", Yanagi, Kurei baits Recca to his castle. Defeating Recca and the heroes' Team Hokage, Kurei forces them to participate in the lethal combat arena, Ura Butou Satsujin, where the wealthy gamble on the fights—including Kurei's adoptive father, the aforementioned Kouran. After witnessing the abilities of Team Hokage, Kurei prepares powerful fighters to challenge them and even uses the heroes to take down the traitorous Genjuro, along with his minions. Having removed all other opposition, Kurei challenges Recca to one-on-one combat and after being defeated, honors his promise not to attack Recca or his friends. Helping the heroes kill Kouran after he betrays Kurei, Kurei proved himself to plan one step ahead of everyone else and always remained a Noble Demon at heart, despite his brutal tendencies.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: The Ishbalan only known as Scar used to live normally until his older brother performed a human transmutation to revive his girlfriend, unknowingly creating the homunculus Lust. During the Ishbalan genocide, Scar was saved by said brother, who sacrificed his arm and life to ensure his survival. Deciding to take revenge on the Amestrian State Alchemists, Scar goes to Central and mercy-kills the suffering Nina Tucker before fighting Edward Elric. Years later, Scar continues with his one-man crusade and crosses paths with the Elric brothers, constantly fighting with and sparing them—especially Alphonse—as they remind him of his past, and even working together sometimes. Discovering the real nature of his arm as an incomplete Philosopher's Stone, Scar decides to finish what his brother started and travels to the war-torn city of Reole, where he leads and protects the civilians, creates a city-wide transmutation symbol and tricks the Amestrian soldiers to their deaths with the help of Lust—who acknowledges their shared past after meeting him—while the civilians evacuate. A survivor determined to succeed, Scar uses his last moments to save Alphonse and finish the transmutation, dying while thinking about the Elric brothers, his brother and his own guilt.
- Future Diary: Mur-Mur is the humorous minion of Deus Ex Machina, but schemes behind her master's back to continue the survival games for eternity to amuse herself. Convincing Yuno Gasai to travel to the 2nd World and take that Yuno's place so she can still be with Yukiteru Amano, Mur-Mur would also take her own 2nd world counterpart's place so she can manipulate the people in that world; She tells Keigo Kurusu that he can cure his son's illness if he wins causing him to turn against Yuki, and lies to Yuki that he can resurrect his dead parents if he becomes god. Mur-Mur also takes direct manners to those that interfere with her plans such as erasing all of Akise's actions in Paradox, abandoning Yuki in the 2nd world before traveling to the 3rd world with Yuno, and brutalizing Minene Uryu when she fights her; she would have won if Yuno had not killed herself out love for Yuki, leading Mur-Mur to unite Yuno's 3rd world counterpart with Yuki.
- Gankutsuou: Once an innocent man sentenced unjustly, Edmond Dantes returns as the ruthless, charming Count of Monte Cristo to destroy his enemies. Rescuing the son of his former best friend Fernand and his fiancee Mercedes, the young Albert Morcerf, it is later revealed the Count set up the kidnapping to begin with to gain Albert's trust. Manipulating his old enemies into trusting him with investments that ruin them, the Count also reveals he rescued a young alien girl named Haydee so she could expose Fernand as a traitor and the murderer of her father. Edmond also introduces one enemy, Villefort's, mentally unstable wife to poison so she will commit murders and further disgrace her husband while later having his ally, the bandit Andrea, reveal he is Villefort's illegitimate son to ruin him further. Finally, the Count plans to harden his own heart and kill Albert to destroy Fernand, not satisfied until he has given Fernand the same unending despair Fernand once gave him, before finally letting go of his hatred thanks to the love of Albert, ending his life with a final plea to remember that his name was Edmond Dantes. A charming, sophisticated manipulator, none around him ever saw the Count coming until he struck.
- Golgo 13: Master assassin Duke Togo, better known as Golgo 13, spends most of his stories coming up with a complex gambit to fool his target and get him in a position to take his shot. A master sniper, Togo has been active decades with incredibly few failures and a sterling reputation as a professional. In one instance, he tricked a CIA traitor into leading him to her boss while wearing a red coat against the snowy background to snipe them both in one shot. In another, knowing a mobster was faster on the draw than him, Golgo fooled him into being occupied with his dominant arm holding on to a woman so Golgo could outdraw him. Throughout every story, what characterizes Golgo 13 is cold charisma and unreadable expression, always having a plan to take out his target, no matter who it is.
H - N
- Happy Sugar Life: Satou Matsuzaka is a high schooler who — after becoming enamored with the young Shio Kobe — would go to any length to protect her "happy sugar life" with her. While presenting herself as friendly in public, Satou is in truth a skilled manipulator who blackmails others into doing her dirty work under the threat of ruining their livelihoods. When Shio's brother Asahi comes into the equation, Satou ropes a despondent Taiyo Mitsuboshi into her scheme to lure Asahi into another district by exploiting his psychological trauma. After reluctantly killing her best friend Shouko Hida, Satou adjusts her scheme yet again by deciding to pass off Shouko's corpse as her own and tasking her aunt with burning the upper level of the apartment to cover her tracks. Satou realized as she was falling to her death the real meaning of love and selflessly shields Shio with her body, dying in her place.
- Heavy Object: Among the people in a world where war is the norm, the following make a devious record with what they have:
- Volume 6: Sogia, formerly White Bears leader Yulenzak, body guarded Princess Staivia, Dimiksy's sister. Years ago, he learned of Dimiksy's plan to assassinate Staivia under and his assassination of Excelsyla to obtain her Object, however the conspiracy couldn't be thwarted or slowed. Deciding to go into hiding and stop this plan, Sogia and the White Bears were supposedly killed by fake Information Alliance troops from Dimiksy's faction. However Sogia's unit, having anticipated it, faked their deaths and became Unicorn to thwart Dimiksy from the shadows, even willing to shed their morals. They've also used manipulation to get Qwenthur and Havia reassigned so they learn of Dimiksy's plans. They've also interfered with the duo's operation in Athabasca. When Qwenthur and Havia fight Dimiksy and his Object, Broad Sky Saber, Sogia and Unicorn steal the Forest Roller Object in hopes of using it against the Sky Saber. Unfortunately, the Roller gets destroyed by Dimiksy's laser cannon, having anticipated the attack, which revealed the Object's anti-laser beacon. With Sogia's aid, Qwenthur and Havia corrupt it to make the laser kill Dimiksy and save Staivia in the process.
- Volume 10: Nyarlathotep, was formerly from the Capitalist Enterprise spy cabal Outer Gods. As a spy, he had numerous times both gotten plastic surgery and faked his death. Once their leader, Azathoth/Acres Kiss-of-Rose, retired and began leading one of the 7th Cores ruling the Capitalist Enterprise, Nyarlathotep retired and became a family man in Soberania. But when his family gets killed in Soberania's destruction at Azathoth's hands, the vengeful Nyarlathotep resorted to psychological warfare in order to start the Gigant Hustler, an event showcasing Object fights. Nyarlathotep then infiltrated the Hustler and sabotaged a participant to draw Azathoth into the event. Once the event is canceled, with one of his Objects destroyed, Azathoth plans an attack to divert attention away from him... only for Nyarly to kidnap and kill him at the remains of Soberania. In order to avert a war between every faction, Nyarlathotep faced a farcical military trial by the Legitimacy Kingdom. He then killed the assassin sent to silence him and faked his death once again, before departing elsewhere.
- Volume 11: Alisa and her sisters, Rica and Orisa, from the Information Alliance's Martini Series, help Flag Eggnog start wars between the Vanderbilts and the Winchels, and even assisting him with the drug war and the Plasma 177 construction meant to keep him in power. In actuality, they're manipulating Eggnog in order to obtain data on nobles for the Perfect Browsing project, a system that would display how to resolve a worldwide crisis by just typing a text string into a search engine. They start many sample incidents and disasters as possible, preferring to get info from a noble near the top of an enemy world power, using Eggnog who was so dimwitted to believe they're allies. Nearing conclusion of the Celestial Flowers attack, the sisters contact Flag and reveal their true goals and manipulation, noting that they'd now obtained data on the full-speed collapse of a royal's life, planning to upload it entirely for everyone to see, before hanging up on the confused, infuriated prince and leaving him to his ruin.
- Hunter × Hunter: Leader of the Phantom Troupe, also known as the Spiders, Chrollo Lucilfer is a handsome, charismatic young man who masterminds elaborate heists and mass murders, only to get bored of the objects he obtains and sells them away again. Coming to the mafia-ruled Yorknew City, Chrollo masterminds the heist of the century where the Spiders infiltrate the mob and steal all the items from a high profile auction while Chrollo targets and steals the power of one mob leader's daughter. Completely outwitting the mob, Chrollo learns there is a contract on his head from the Twelve Godfathers and instantly hires different members of the same assassin family to target the Godfathers before having the Spiders fake their deaths and escape completely free. Chrollo also deeply values the other members of the Troupe, offering the lives of multiple mafia soldiers as a "requiem" for the fallen Uvogin, and when he faces off with the ruthless killer Hisoka, he also shows what a brilliant tactician and combatant he truly is by completely outplaying and seemingly killing the skilled fighter. A charming, philosophical man who freely admits he places no value on his own life, Chrollo is one of the most memorable villains in all of Hunter x Hunter.
- Jackals: Lee Meilang, the head of Tennouren, is the most intelligent and devious gangster in all of Cicero City who takes over Tennouren solely to destroy the gangs in the city and come out ahead. Meilang manipulates their rival mob Gabriella into a war where she proceeds to play the hero Nichol Heyward and his allies into doing everything she wants. When Don Salieri is overthrown by his depraved underling Vampire Franco, Meilang simply works it into her plans and comes out ahead, selling out the other gangs and establishing a legitimate organization with the government after their defeat, completely untouchable to the end.
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
- Diamond Is Unbreakable: Yoshikage Kira is a suave, handsome Serial Killer who wants nothing more than to have an "average" existence and live without any distress or worry in his life. Having spent his life specifically seeking third place in any competition or test he took, even planting himself in inconspicuous positions in group photos, just to remain under the radar as neither particularly gifted or flawed, Kira then used his appearance as a normal person to mask his serial killings, murdering women to then take their hands and treat them as "dates" so as to satisfy his hand fetish. Using his Stand, Killer Queen, Kira easily eliminates all evidence of his victims, murders all those who could even possibly stand in his way, and sets numerous traps for Josuke and his friends as they close in on the killer. When seemingly beaten, Kira escapes, kills a man and steals his identity, and gains Bites the Dust, a time-rewinding ability that he uses to murder everyone who could possibly stop him. Even when killed and sent to the afterlife, Kira happily accepts his new "peaceful" existence, only truly losing when the souls of his victims lash out at him and curse him to an eternity of suffering. Though spending much of his time on the run from Josuke, Kira stays one step ahead the whole time, and has such sheer willpower to survive that he unlocks entirely new Stand abilities, a feat nearly unheard of throughout the world.
- Stone Ocean: Enrico Pucci is a charming priest who was plunged into despair after racists murdered his sister due to his own mistakes, and the extremely unfortunate set of circumstances that brought about her demise drove Pucci to hate the idea of an unforeseen future and "fate." Coming to idolize DIO, Pucci collects the man's thoughts and plans for a new way of life called "Heaven," and, after handily pulling the strings of everyone in Green Dolphin Street Prison—taking time to try to genuinely help the prisoners there even as they attempt to rob him blind—Pucci uses his upgraded Stand "Made in Heaven" to begin his final plan: To force every human being to live out their whole lives, and see the entirety of the universe's lifespan, then relive their lives knowing their and everyone else's fates, this enabling them to never be surprised or broken by life's events, knowing beforehand all that will happen. Pucci is easily the most well-intentioned and genuinely caring Big Bad in the franchise, wanting to simply end the pain that comes with not knowing one's fate, and even while dying a torturous death tries to ensure his "Heaven" will carry on, even at the cost of his own life.
- Jormungand: Koko Hekmatyar is a brilliant young Arms Dealer who runs her organization with ruthless efficiency. Constantly making advantageous illegal deals and dictating the course of conflicts, Koko adopts the young former child soldier Jonah as a way to keep herself shackled to her humanity, frequently taking on those who attempt to undermine or kill her while leading them to their own demises in breathtakingly impressive fashion. Koko is revealed to despise the arms trade despite her skill with it, and puts Project Jormungand into play: a plan to use a satellite system to seal the skies from humanity, destroying all aircrafts in the sky at once to force world peace, believing herself to be the one to create a true peace for the world, even successfully pushing Jonah into agreeing with the plan at the end, declaring her personal soldiers will be the final soldiers left.
- Killing Bites: Evilutionary Biologist Reiichi Shidoh organizes the underground "Killing Bites" fights between the Half-Human Hybrid Therianthropes. Utterly unscrupulous, Shidoh uses shady tactics: tampering with the rules of the ring and manipulating the Zaibatu's conglomerates to allow for his experiments on Therianthropes. Betraying and arranging the murder of Mitsukado Zaibatsu's chairman, Yozan Mitsukado, Shidoh sets it up to look like an accident; then ordering his Therianthropes follower to murder her own investor to eliminate the witness to his crime. In spite of his unfettered nature, Shidoh truly believed his experiments on Therianthropes would fix the struggling Japanese economy and genuinely cares for Hitomi, even risking his own life to save her when he found her as a child.
- Kindaichi Case Files: The Gentleman Thief is really a cunning woman and Master of Disguise with a penchant for stealing precious items and leaving notes to her next targets. Disguising herself as a young journalist, Diago Maki, the Thief targets Gamou Gouzou's residence to steal his painting, "My Beloved Daughter". Although almost outwitted by Kindaichi, the Thief disguises herself as and old woman and ties him to a basket of heavy rocks, leaving him stranded in the middle of a busy street. Later appearances show the Thief uses the same ploy to trick Kindaichi and get away with her stolen goods, saying she hopes to meet her challenging rival again.
- Konosuba: Arch-Devil Vanir, one of the seven Dukes of Hell and retired general of the Demon Lord, renovates a dungeon to battle against adventurers and prank them, letting him feed of their negative emotions and keep himself entertained. Unable to enter the inner-sanctum of a dungeon because of a purifying circle, Vanir attempts to kill the drawer by body-jacking a companion of Kazuma. Though struggling to take control of her body, Vanir eventually does so and even forms a cordial relationship with her. Accepting his defeat and remaining brave even in the face of seeming death, Vanir is revealed to have survived and now runs a magic item shop to help Kazuma on his future adventures.
- Legend of Galactic Heroes: Paul von Oberstein is the most ruthless of Reinhard von Lohengramm's inner circle. A man infamous for his Dissonant Serenity and ruthlessly pragmatic advice, Oberstein devotes himself fully to Reinhard and his new dynasty, using his tactical and political brilliance to help entrench Reinhard as the rightful ruler of the crumbling Empire. Seeking to destroy the Goldenbaum dynasty, Oberstein hears that its mad duke Braunschweig is planning to nuke the rebellious colony Westmoreland, and intentionally delays Reinhard from hearing the news to let the attack happen. This has the effect of the entire empire unifying around Reinhard in revulsion, just as Oberstein planned. Oberstein makes himself a hated figure to keep any loathing directed from Reinhard, manipulating other admirals as he sees fit to keep Reinhard's empire safe and even uses himself as bait to lure out the last of the Terran cultists in the final episode to eliminate the final threat to Reinhard's rule, seemingly aware the empire he has forged has no place for him.
- Leviathan: Rokuro "Rock" Oogami, from the Lycaoni arc, is the charismatic teenager leader of the Lycaoni Revolution. After losing his beloved lycaoni family to an angry mob in the human world and being transformed into a Leviathan, Rock, despite not being a lycaoni himself, unites the lycaonis into a unified organization under himself. Turning humans and troublesome lycaoni into animals, Rock uses them to wipe out any opposition to his revolution and tricks Inuhiko Inugami's sister into using a toxin disguised as a Love Potion to trigger Inuhiko's lycaoni side and begin his uprising. A young but adept manipulator, Rock sought the destruction, then recreation of a world where lycaoni don't exist with the goal of ensuring his sister a happy life.
- Lone Wolf and Cub: Both the protagonist and antagonist are viciously efficient operators:
- Series Anti-Hero Ogami Itto is a stoic, charismatic warrior unjustly framed by the Yagyu clan. On the run with his three year old son Daigoro, Itto constantly showcases his strategic genius in his assassinations. In one instance, he allows himself to be captured by the enemy to get close to a target, revealing that the warning they received was written by him. In another, he uses Daigoro drowning as bait to trick a target's bodyguard into trying to save him so Itto can kill him. Itto singlehandedly brings down the powerful Yagyu clan on his own, showing why he is a man who walks the road of demons, the Path of Meifumado.
- The series Big Bad Yagyu Retsudo is a charismatic old man with the soul of a samurai that contrasts with the hard ruthlessness of an assassin. After the Yagyu lose the post of Shogun executioner to Itto, Retsudo uses a seemingly innocuous sparring match to trick Itto into knocking his staff into a man who could pose a threat to him, leading to the man's death. Later framing Itto for treason, Retsudo is revealed to be manipulating the entire Shogunate from the shadows and even when exposed for this, manages to connive his way back to power, having his rival, the poisoner Abe no Kaii, eliminated by setting a fire on a date that will force Kaii to commit seppuku. Retsudo then uses a legion of ninja to face Itto, having them focus on breaking Itto's infamous sword, so he has the advantage for their final battle. A ruthless genius, Retsudo continuously shows why he is Itto's greatest enemy.
- Lupin III:
- Lupin III, the titular thief, is a debonair rogue always ready with a plan for a brand new caper. A thief who savors the rush and thrill of the theft far more than any monetary value, Lupin also delights in paying karmic justice to deserving victims. Throughout multiple anime incarnations, Lupin is characterized by choosing seemingly impossible ventures or is thrust into inescapable situations, only to execute a cunning plan and escape completely free, in one instance even outsmarting an ancient brain supposedly beyond any human being's. Rarely ever losing his playful grin, and always ready with witty repartee, Lupin remains one of anime's most successful examples of a Gentleman Thief who is constantly capable of twisting a situation to his advantage.
- Lupin's occasional lover, rival and ally, Fujiko Mine, is his equal in brilliance and audaciousness. A skilled thief who lives for the rush of the theft, Fujiko is able to perform as many complex schemes as Lupin while constantly outwitting him and everyone around her to get her big score. In one instance in The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, she poses as a tutor at an all girls' school, allows one girl to seduce her, only to reveal she knew the girl was a cop in disguise, to fool him and steal the codes she needed. Equally capable of ruthlessness, Fujiko once escaped prison by seducing a guard and sending him to execution in her place, never hesitating to weaponize her sexuality. At the end, Fujiko allows nobody but her to define herself and stops at nothing to achieve her goals, no matter who she has to manipulate or fool, while always maintaining the same charismatic style as Lupin himself.
- Made in Abyss: Bondrewd the Novel, Sovereign of Dawn and one of the legendary White Whistles, is also one of the most brilliant and ruthless among them. To research the Abyss and its Curse, Bondrewd experiments on orphan children while sacrificing his own humanity to create his White Whistle and creating complicated ways to navigate throughout the Abyss through his technology with no physically adverse effects to himself. Even in spite of his objectively monstrous actions, Bondrewd still sincerely loves and cares for the children under his care and takes pains to remember their identities even as he sacrifices them for his experiments, taking one of them as his own daughter and raising her to become genuinely well-adjusted and innocent. Though undoubtedly an amoral Humanoid Abomination dedicated above all else to scientific triumph regardless of the cost, Bondrewd still demonstrates he understands love and family in his own warped terms and operates with perpetual affability and style, comfortable to abandon even his own ambitions to see those with brighter aspiration succeed where he couldn't.
- Magi: Labyrinth of Magic: Sinbad, King of Sindria and leader of the Seven Seas Alliance is a heroic, charismatic ruler who wages war against the evil organization Al-Thamen. Unknown to most, Sinbad is halfway fallen into depravity and all his seeming benevolence is a front with alternative motives, cultivating allies and pawns alike to use against Al-Thamen, even using mind controlled sleeper agents in other nations to spy through and seize control of them at advantageous moments. Later taking over the world, Sinbad seeks to rewrite reality itself to make a perfect world, even plotting to return everything to raw energy and recreate it the right way. At the end, upon realizing his crimes, Sinbad opts to stand with Alibaba and Aladdin to save the world from the depraved King David, showing himself, whether the hero or villain, to be the best at what he sets his mind out to.
- Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro: The genius demon Neuro arrives from the underworld, makes a hapless schoolgirl named Yako his proxy and uses her to help solve his mysteries so he can feed upon them. Neuro constantly outwits his quarry, deducing complex murders and making Yako a famous detective to raise his own profile, while brilliantly foiling other plots and gambles from villains. Neuro later encounters the atrociously evil Sicks who intends on exterminating humanity and decides to defend his food source, despising killing, as every human is capable of creating a mystery of their own for him. Neuro helps to organize the defeat of Sicks and his group with his trademark brilliance and audacious flourishes.
- Manhole, by Tetsuya Tsutsui: Hiroshi Kurokawa is a doctor whose life was ruined by his granddaughter's traumatizing rape. To avenge himself upon the rapist, Kurokawa visits an African tribe to discover the secret behind the peaceful One-Eyed people. Discovering the filarias, worms that infect human brains and force them to control their emotions and lose an eye or die in agony. Testing them on the rapist that ruined his life and upon a violent unemployed man that beat his elderly parents, Hiroshi plans to use the filaria by inserting samples of them inside domestic animals and waiting until summer to let the mosquitoes share it with the rest of Japan, with the intention of creating a world without violence. Stopped thanks to lucky accidents and the recklessness of The Heroine Nao Inoue, Kurosawa manages to control even his own death. Driven only by his goal, Hiroshi is infected by the same worm that he wanted to spread and is a true believer in his own cause.
- My Hero Academia: 'Sensei', better known as All For One, is a incredibly powerful villain, the arch-nemesis of the heroic All Might. Secretly ruling the country from the shadows for generations, All For One was seemingly killed by his enemy, but survived and rebuilt a group of villains in secret. Wanting to hurt All Might, All For One tracked down All Might's mentor's long-lost grandson, and raised him as the villain Shigaraki tomura, knowing this revelation would be the one thing to crush All Might's heroic spirit. Even in his final battle with All Might, All for One is pleased even if he loses, knowing his loss will inspire Tomura to become the greatest villain in history to oppose All Might's own successor.
- Myriad Colors Phantom World: Appearing exclusively in the last episodes of the anime, Enigma is an artificial phantom created using human and phantom DNA. Escaping from her abusive creators, Enigma starts to hunt the students of the Hosea high school in order to steal their special abilities by draining their energy. Seemingly defeated by the protagonists, Enigma takes the body and identity of Haruhiko Ichijou's mother and goes to live with him, successfully faking a motherly personality that bonds with him. After Haruhiko's friends manage to realize her identity, Enigma is able to beat them and steal Haruhiko's summoning powers, intending to use them to control all phantoms to take revenge on humanity. When she is later defeated by Team E, Enigma is impressed by the human potential and admits that she enjoyed her time with Haruhiko, to which he agrees before she dies.
- Naruto:
- Kisame Hoshigaki at first appears only a 'thug lost in the mist' but is in truth one of the most level and devoted members of Akatsuki. After defeating Killer Bee, Kisame uses a plan to fake his own death with a White Zetsu clone and infiltrates bee's village of Kumogakure, gathering intelligence on the Allied Shinobi Forces. It is revealed later that Kisame was once tasked with eliminating traitors and potential captives in his home village of the Mist, even luring his treacherous teacher to his death to claim his sword Samehada. When exposed, Kisame uses clever tactics to preserve the intelligence and eventually, realizing he is not 'such a terrible man' after all, chooses to commit suicide rather than face capture, while using his last moments to rig the scroll with a trap that results in the intelligence finding its way to his superiors anyways, his death so impressive and touching that even the incredibly forgetful Might Guy, Kisame's supposed nemesis vows to remember Kisame for the rest of his life.
- Nagato, better known as the alias of Pain, is the most visible leader of Akatsuki. Deciding that the world must known pain in order to know peace, Pain has the Akatsuki corner the war market in time of peace with Akatsuki acting as mercenaries in order to strengthen his group and weaken the military power of the villages. Secretly leading a rebellion in his home village of the Rain, Pain conceals his victory and projects an air of mystery and power as to be seen as a god. Secretly plotting to merge all the Bijuu into a superweapon to terrify the world into peace, Pain kills his former mentor Jiraiya and proceeds to attack Konohagakure with a series of ruthless, brilliant tactics that leave the village all but helpless against him. Finally facing Naruto, what truly saves the Leaf is Pain acknowledging his former idealism and sacrificing himself to revive the villagers. With unmatched charisma and drive for his version of peace, Pain remains one of the most memorable and driven villains in the series.
- Nidome No Yuusha: The brilliant, charming Ueki Kaito ruthlessly takes any means necessary to avenge himself against those who betrayed him after he saved their world. Recruiting a young slave girl, Kaito viciously helps her poison both the slaver and the other slaves, transforming them into goblins and then killing them. Later allowing the Royal Capital to be ravaged by beasts, Kaito uses the destruction of an outer wall to escape. Pained by guilt after an innocent girl is caught in the debris, Kaito henceforth swears to avoid harming the innocent in his quest for vengeance.
O - Y
- One Piece:
- Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the sea, is the brilliant master of the Baroque Works syndicate. Playing himself off as a public hero while running the aforementioned criminal organization, Crocodile manufactures a drought and a rebellion to weaken the Nefertari family in Alabasta, while plotting a takeover himself. Showing contingency after contingency, Crocodile manipulates countless people, including his right-hand woman, Nico Robin, with whom he intends to seize the superweapon Pluton in order to cow the World Government into recognizing his authority. Even after defeat, Crocodile later returns in Impel Down and helps organize the jailbreak with his enemy Luffy.
- Sengoku the Buddha is the most brilliant of the Marine Admirals. The top Fleet Admiral of Marineford, Sengoku leads the execution of Portgas D. Ace, revealing to the world that Ace is the son of Gol D. Roger, the former Pirate King. With the arrival of Ace's captain, Whitebeard, Sengoku reveals a major trap for Whitebeard, sapping the morale of his forces with a carefully planned lie, trapping the pirates and closing in Marine forces, turning a near loss into a total rout for the strongest man alive with his own cunning.
- PandoraHearts: In a dark world with a complex plot involving many master manipulators, the Big Bad Ensemble manage to stand out:
- Glen Baskerville, real name Oswald, is the mysterious leader of the Baskerville family. Having ordered the slaughter of the population of Sablier to spare them the horrifying fate within the Abyss centuries in the past, Glen returns in the present time by taking over the body of his reincarnation and assumes direct leadership over the Baskerville clan once again. Able to force skilled schemers like Rufus Barma and even fellow Magnificent Bastard Jack Vessalius to the limits of their wits, Glen ultimately almost attains his goal of altering the timeline by killing his own sister to prevent the events of the series from occurring, only stopping when he realizes his own hypocrisies and hollowness of his goals hidden behind good intentions.
- The aforementioned Jack Vessalius is the true mastermind behind the events of the work. The illegitimate son of a noble, Jack fled from his home, living on the streets until he met a girl from the Baskerville family. Wanting to meet her again, Jack uses his noble family's name to be able to see her. When the Baskerville girl was sacrificed to the Abyss, Jack obsesses over seeing her again, deciding to throw the whole world into the corrupted Abyss to bring it to her. Causing the catastrophic Tragedy of Sablier, Jack blames the Baskerville and Nightray families while painting himself as the hero, going on to seek a chance to recreate it. Manipulating Oz's entire life to fulfill what Jack believes is the wish of his beloved, he is an ultimately Tragic Villain, even finally redeeming himself after accepting the errors of his own acts.
- Princess Mononoke: Lady Eboshi, the ruler of Irontown is a woman with a backbone made of steel. Forging a mining community with nothing but her own will and strength, Eboshi made it a refuge for lepers, outcasts and the downtrodden, even buying the freedom of many women from brothels and giving them a new home, training them to work and fight. Coming into conflict with the gods of the forest and local warlords, Eboshi leads her people to fend them off and fight back, even luring out the Great Forest Spirit to destroy it, in hopes of reducing the forest animals to just normal beasts, claiming her trick to killing a god is to not fear it. Even after losing an arm to the bite of the decapitated wolf goddess Moro, Eboshi merely grins and reminds herself that a wolf's head still has a bite, being one of the most morally complex and strong-willed antagonists in a Hayao Miyazaki film.
- Princess Resurrection: Silvia von Phoenix, the ultimate Big Bad is described by her youngest sister Sherwood as a "natural born swindler". Hellbent on winning the Royal battle, Silvia plays her own siblings endlessly, having spent her sister Hime's childhood toying with and testing her for fun and to strengthen her. Using her brilliance to stay a step ahead of her siblings and eliminating her strongest brother Emile by making him her enslaved Blood Warrior, Silvia defeats and absorbs their eldest brother Fuhito to gain his power before attempting to defeat Hime and claim victory for herself, with one Bad Future having her utterly victorious.
- The Promised Neverland: Archduke Leuvis is a demon who lives for the thrill of combat. Latching on to Emma as his worthy adversary, Leuvis shows himself to be fully willing to offer up his own weaknesses and to arm his opponents to equal the playing field and once his comrades are dead, engages Emma and her friends with a shockingly display of combat instinct and battle tactics, completely seeing through everything Emma's team does while countering until he is finally cornered. Even upon dealing Emma a seemingly fatal wound, Leuvis is courteous and respectful to her, thinking how much he loves humans for their ingenuity, unlike his fellow demons who consider them lesser beings and only fit for food. A demon of shocking charm and charisma, Leuvis proves why he is the most deadly adversary yet encountered by Emma and her friends.
- Psycho-Pass: Both seasons' Big Bads prove to be as charming and intelligent as they are threatening to the status quo of their society:
- Shogo Makishima is a ruthless Serial Killer obsessed with the darkness of human nature. Swaying others into becoming serial killers as well to help to damage society and eliminating them when they disappoint him or serve their purpose, Makishima begins cultivating inspector Shinya Kogami as his nemesis as he schemes to destroy the oppressive Sibyl system. Forming multiple plans to tear the system down, it is revealed the system in fact wants Makishima to join its hive mind, which he lethally rejects by murdering their emissary, declaring is loyalty is to his own individuality and he will keep playing his games by his own will. Cultured, charming, manipulative and ruthless beyond measure, Makishima will stop at nothing to impose his vision of freedom upon Japan and revel in the resulting chaos.
- Kirito Kamui was surgically made into a collective being as a child after he alone survived a plane crash indirectly caused by a precursor to the Sibyl System and now seeks its betterment for humanity. A master psychotherapist, Kamui gets his followers' crime coefficients below judgeable levels, making them all the more threatening. Engineering a series of daring attacks, Kamui surmises the physical location of the Sibyl System and forces it to remove a number of corrupted brains from itself so that it can judge his collective mind. Though killed in his quest, Kamui is happy to have forced Sibyl to reconsider its position and leaves Akane Tsunemori with his ideals to carry forward for a brighter future.
- Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace: The original Twenty-Faces, Namikoshi, pioneered the Serial-Killer Killer phenomenon after he spent his childhood bullied by his classmates and abused by his parents, before making friends with the brilliant Kogoro Akechi, together creating the "Dark Star" formula. Accelerating the coding of the formula as the abuse he suffered worsened, the Dark Star was set to murder both his abusers and those in society who take advantage of their power. When Akechi realizes their formula is lethally unstable, Twenty-Faces fakes his own death, then teams up with a medical examiner who works with Akechi to avenge the death of her brother. Kidnapping Akechi's assistant, Twenty-Faces takes him and ten children to the top of a clock-tower, planning to murder them all by having them jump in five-minute intervals. While he may be ruthlessly unfettered in his goals, Twenty-Faces truly believes his doings will be what creates a just and fair society.
- Record of Lodoss War:
- Karla, the Grey Witch, was the only survivor of an ancient magic civilization who implanted her consciousness into an enchanted circlet that possesses whoever kills her host body Seeking to prevent one side from ever growing too powerful, Karla has manipulated almost every war in Lodoss's history to bring about the ruin of any nation that may grow too powerful, even secretly fighting as one of the Six Heroes to stop the Demon God from destroying the world years ago. In present, Karla serves as the adviser to Emperor Beld of Marmo, guiding his nation to the top, ending with Beld slaying the Emperor Fahn of Valis- only for Karla to intervene and cause Beld's death herself to decapitate Valis and Marmo alike. Constantly escaping death, Karla stops at nothing to ensure Lodoss's balance remains as she wills it, no matter what she has to do.
- Ashram, the Black Knight of Marmo, is seen by many as Marmo's true ruler and the heir to Beld himself. Once a young man fighting a war against the Thieves' Guild who allied with Beld, Ashram helped Beld to unify all of Marmo while vowing to one day surpass the emperor. Enraged at Beld's death, Ashram takes his demonic sword, the Soul Crusher and masters it, destroying the ancient dragons of Lodoss to find the Scepter of Domination and control the world. While seemingly dying, Ashram returns to depose the corrupt governor Rabido and manipulates him to his death, taking over all Marmo himself with his lover, the dark elf Pirotess at his side. Seeking to create a new home for the people of Marmo, Ashram ends up achieving all he sets out to do before departing Lodoss for a new home.
- Rookie Policewoman Kiruko-san: Seemingly respectable business director Jean Smith is really a powerful criminal trying to expand his operation by using the small town of Nagashima for smuggling. Knowing The Heroine Kiruko and her allies are infiltrating his cruise ship to capture him, Jean has his men prepare for the attack while he personally greets the police in a jovial and personable manner. Ordering his men to take Kiruko's senior officer hostage, Jean escapes the cruise ship along with his hostage before trying to sink the boat. Eventually captured by the police, Jean nevertheless remains cordial to the cops and calls a rescue jet as a backup plan to escape. Genuinely friendly to both his enemies and allies, Jean remains the suavest criminal Kiruko has faced.
- Rosario + Vampire:
- Alucard is the true Big Bad of the series, using multiple aliases to achieve his goals. As the Masked King, Alucard formed the Miao Triad family, bidding the evil vampire Gyokuro Shuzen to form the anti-human terrorist organization Fairy Tale while also joining it under the secret name of Miyabi Fujisaki. Manipulating the heroes into a confrontation with Gyokuro and her squadron leaders, Alucard reveals himself only after the fighting to hijack her plans and awaken his true body, easily overcoming the other heroes and setting to attack the human world. Upon his final destruction, it is revealed that Alucard's full intention was to make himself the villain and create a group that had to be opposed by an alliance of human and monster, exposing the monster world to humankind, even making provisions to ensure his final subordinates survived the fight.
- Hokuto Kaneshiro was once a human who left an abusive father to attend Yokai Academy. Finding only pain and suffering until he met Kiria Yoshii, Hokuto resolves to tear down the barrier between worlds and expose monsters to humanity. Playing at being Tsukune's friend, Hokuto reveals he is truly the leader of the rebellious group Anti-Thesis, letting himself be defeated so he will be placed in front of the headmaster in order to attempt an assassination attempt and steal a rosary to destroy the barrier. The only reason his plan fails is Hokuto deciding at the last moment to assist Tsukune instead. Even in part 2, Hokuto returns to help manipulate the end of Fairy Tale, aiding Tsukune one last time against even Kiria.
- Rurouni Kenshin: Ruthless Social Darwinist Makoto Shishio was once the feared Hitokiri of the Shadows during the Bakumatsu. Betrayed by the government and left for dead, Shishio survived and by virtue of his overwhelming power and charisma creates a powerful organization consisting of loyal soldiers he effortlessly manipulates, with one named Usui even ostensibly wanting revenge against Shishio for blinding him, unaware Shishio is well aware he's lost all hope of vengeance and is just manipulating him by using his pride. Shishio then sets up a complex plan to burn Tokyo, only for it to be revealed this is a ruse as he attacks Kyoto instead. Despite being foiled here, Shishio proceeds to have the heroes fight his men in single matches, all for the purposes of weakening or eliminating them before they face Shishio himself when he gains greater understanding of their abilities through the fights. Even after his defeat and death, Shishio shows no sign of complaint and instantly sets off with his deceased lover and most loyal follower to begin conquering Hell itself.
- Seven Mortal Sins: Main character Lucifer, Fallen Angel turned Demon Lord of Pride, can achieve anything she sets her mind to. Deciding to take over hell, Lucifer has a policy of challenging the Demon Lords known as the Mortal Sins at their own games on their own turf, constantly getting the better of them and winning no matter what venue they choose, constantly coming up with new plans and strategies. It is later revealed that for all her haughtiness and deep pride in herself, Lucifer was the only angel to object to God's plan to wipe out hell and the earth, having been protecting humanity from the start, and manages to get the better of both her arch-rivals, the demon lord Belial and the new leader of the Seven Lively Virtues, her old partner Michael via a few clever gambits, culminating in Lucifer embracing her love for her human companion Maria and claiming her rightful throne as the ruler of hell and queen of pride itself.
- Shakugan No Shana:
- Bel Peol, known as the "Arbiter of Reverse Reasoning" and "The Strategist", lead Bel Masque in the first two seasons. In the past, Bel Peol sacrificed her right eye as part of a plan to retrieve her master's body; later convincing a Denizen into going for a dangerous mission, resulting in his death for her cause. Trying to destroy Misaki City, Bel Peol nearly succeeds in all her attempts thanks to her tactical brilliance and pushes the heroes to their limits. Joining her master, the Snake of the Festival upon his revival, Bel Peol acts as his Dragon and together they usher in the creation of Xanadu, a paradise for Denizens and humans alike, fighting fiercely for it. A ruthless, goal-driven woman, Bel Peol nevertheless showed fondness to her underlings and exceedingly intelligence thinking in the field of battle, proving herself a worthy leader of Bel Masque.
- The aforementioned Snake of the Festival or "The God of Creation", is the original leader of Bel Masque. Summoned in ancient times by the Denizens of the past, the Snake tried to create a paradise for them before being sealed in the Abyss. In present convincing Protagonist Yuji Sakai to become his vessel, the Snake retakes leadership of Bel Masque, giving a speech so powerful it gains him the complete loyalty of all the present Denizens. Leading the Denizens in the devastating Second Great War, the Snake oversees the brutal combat to have his body recovered from the Abyss. Returning to Misaki City to create Xanadu, the Snake uses his own body and a member of the Trinity as sacrifices to create his new world. Realizing the Denizen's wish for peaceful coexistence, the Snake completes his mission despite massive opposition and returns to sleep, wishing his vessel success for the future.
- Shaman King: Big Bad Hao Asakura was once a shaman in heian-era Japan where he lost his beloved mother at the prejudices of humanity. Manipulating future events and even his own reincarnations to empower himself, Hao is reborn again in modern times as the twin brother of hero Yoh Asakura. Absurdly powerful and intelligent, Hao remains a step ahead of the heroes, defeating all challengers and enemies in an attempt to become the Shaman King and destroy humanity. At the end, Hao succeeds in his goal, becoming Shaman King, but proves open to reason and opts to watch the world for himself, being as brilliant a villain in victory as he was in the attempt to get there.
- Shut Hell: The Dreaded, ruthless Khan; Genghis Khan himself. Born Temujin, and branded with the Tangut letters on his back marking him as a slave forever, the Khan seeks to destroy the Tangut script and the people of western Xia to forever remove knowledge of the brand on his skin. Utterly dominating the Mongol tribes through his dark charisma and power, the Khan sweeps through Western Xia and Jin, devastating all in his path with his brilliance and strength. Ever quick to turn any disadvantage back to his side, the Khan even handles the death of his son and commander Tolui by enslaving the young prince Yurul and forcing him to take Tolui's identity. A man who rose from nothing to become the greatest warlord the world had ever seen, the Khan decides he will burn all in his path, no matter how much fire it takes.
- Slayers: Xellos the Trickster Priest is a Mazoku, and the most mysterious member of the cast. Hiding his true self behind a veil of smiles and pleasantries, Xellos ruthlessly manipulates Lina and friends into carrying out his wishes and destroying his enemies. Frequently arranging situations to benefit himself no matter what the outcome, Xellos helps destroy his Mistress, the Grand Beast Zelas Metallium's rivals and other Mazoku should it benefit him. Xellos tends to change his schemes on the fly as well, making it impossible to tell what was part of his plans from the start, even if he admits he feels some affection for Lina and her team. Xellos is so charming and affable, it's very easy to forget that he is a demonic being under his friendliness.
- Sonic X: Dark Oak, supreme leader of the Metarex, is a chilling combination of power and tragedy. Originally an alien lifeform named Lukas, he fell out with his lover Earthia and parts of his own species trying to save his world from destruction. His ambition and sound intentions eventually corrupted him to become Dark Oak, an Evil Overlord bent on creating a galaxy free of war and conflict by annihilating everything except plants and botanical lifeforms like himself. Introduced trouncing Super Sonic in an attempt to get all seven Chaos Emeralds, Dark Oak strays to background and creates strategies to systematically crush his opposition that, even in failure, will give him an idea of what they are capable of. Dark Oak's cruelest but most ingenious act was forcing a sleeper agent within the ranks of Sonic and crew from the very beginning. Said person had a tracking device that relayed valuable information to the Metarex as they captured the Chaos Emeralds and the Planet Eggs for "Forestation." At the end of a hard-fought battle, Lukas dies realizing the errors of his ways and reconciles with Earthia in the afterlife.
- Soul Hunter:
- Though spending much of his time observing the major events, Shinkohyou proves himself to be one of the strongest and most compelling rivals of Taikoubou. Defeating Taikoubou for mocking his fashion sense, Shinkohyou leaves his Worthy Opponent ecstatic at facing challenging combat. Trying to stop the crown prince of the Yin Empire from fleeing, Shinkohyou gives him and his brother a Motive Rant so enlightening that they betray Taikoubou. Though seemingly villainous for much of the story, Shinkohyou is truthfully a neutral Trickster who switches sides based on which he finds more entertaining.
- Chou Koumei is one of the strongest Kingo Island Sennin under Youkai Tsuten Kyoshu and the instigator behind a battle between the aforementioned and Kongrong Mountain to test his super paopei, destroying the relationship between the two groups. Teaming up with Dakki, Chou Koumei puts a series of maneuvers in play to stop the Zhou Empire from revolting against Choka. Kidnapping Taikoubou's companions to get him to fight, Chou Koumei takes advantage of the former fleeing from combat to turn his spirit beast into stone, forcing him to confront him. After seemingly defeating Taikoubou, Chou Koumei attempts to change the story by making another manga to replace it and when Taikoubou is resurrected, Chou Koumei turns himself into a plant and tries to drain the Earth of its nutrients. Even when finally defeated, Chou Koumei remains cordial, proving himself to be one of the most respectful and interesting opponents of the series.
- Space Battleship Yamato: Albelt Dessler is the charming, sophisticated supreme ruler and dictator of Gamillas. Desiring a peace in the galaxy through ultimate control, Dessler has expanded the Gamillas empire but keeps new conquered races happy by allowing them to prove themselves equal citizens in the empire on pure merit. When earth proves more difficult to conquer, Dessler deals with the matter by assigning a failed commander to either give Dessler more knowledge of the earthlings' tactics, or removing an incompetent without him lifting a finger. Dessler also outplays any who attempt to usurp his authority and when defeated, he promptly reemerges to take the Yamato over to restore himself to glory, convinced that his success is the glory of Gamillas itself.
- Speed Grapher: Choji Suitengu is a man who flaunts his extensive wealth via using expensive yen notes as cigars, believing everything 'has its price,' especially human life. In truth, Suitengu is dedicated to overthrowing the social order of Japan, manipulating all the upper echelons of society with his Roppongi Club that caters to a variety of fetishes. Constantly planning ahead of series hero Saiga, Suitengu also manipulates his lover, Shinzen of the powerful Tennozou Group and later disposes of her when she attempts to betray and kill him.Revealing his tragic past to his arch enemy, the prime minister, when the man tries to kill Suitengu and take over the Roppongi Club, Suitengu kills him and enacts his master plan: completely erasing the corrupt upper class and causing a massive financial crisis to completely break their hold on Japan forever.
- Sword Art Online: SAO designer Akihiko Kayaba, a pioneer in the field of Virtual Reality (VR), traps 10,000 players inside his game, killing them in the real world if they die in the VR one. Disguising himself as Big Good Heathcliff and guiding the players through the dungeon floors of Aincrad, Kayaba intends to betray and kill them in the last dungeon, acting as the Final Boss of his own game. When Kirito is able to deduce "Heathcliff's" true identity, Kayaba praises the boy for his observance before challenging him to a duel, promising to end the game of Kirito wins. Keeping his word and freeing the players, Kayaba seemingly commits suicide, though actually copying his Fluctlight onto the internet to continue existing. Reappearing in the next arc, Kayaba helps Kirito defeat the Arc Villain, Sugou, whom even he finds repellent. Entrusting Kirito with his last invention, Kayaba encourages him to go on to share it with the world, leading to the creation of many innovative VR games. Though utterly sociopathic, Kayaba never strayed from his strict moral code and stood out as one of Kirito's most noble foes.
- Tokyo ESP: The Professor, formerly Hokusai Azuma, was an archeologist who discovered the Holy Ark containing the Super-Empowering Glowing Fishes. Becoming one of the first espers of the modern era, the Professor was betrayed and attacked by the General of his country and the Ares organization, which left his entire crew dead. Crafting his persona as "The Professor", he went back to Japan, adopting the son of one of his deceased crew-mates and begins plotting his vengeance against Ares, founding the terrorist group known as the Esper Liberation Front. Successfully opening the Ark atop the Tokyo Tower, the Professor causes a Mass Super-Empowering Event and despite his subsequent imprisonment, completes his revenge on Ares by leaving the heroes with instructions to take them down and free his beloved daughter. Driven to avenge his comrades, the Professor ruthlessly advances on his goals with care for none save his own child.
- Trigun:
- Millions Knives is a humanoid plant who was driven to misanthropy upon discovering humanity had performed horrifying experiments on his own kind. Even as a child manipulating the "Great Fall," an event where he caused an entire fleet of humanity to crash to their deaths on the planet Gunsmoke, Knives in the present seeks revenge on both humans and his twin Vash for allying with them. Siccing the Gung-Ho Guns onto Vash to distract and torment him by targeting innocents, Knives traverses Gunsmoke and influences other Plants to merge with him, making him all the stronger as he reveals his final plan to lure the final vestiges of humanity to Gunsmoke, wipe them all out, and use their Plant captives to create a new, peaceful world of nature and flourishing life. Upon being defeated and witnessing humanity realize the error of their ways, Knives saves his brother's life and spends his last moments granting a poor family a bountiful apple tree as the only recompense for his atrocities he is able to perform.
- Legato Bluesummers from the anime sheds his manga counterpart's Laughing Mad insanity and numerous breakdowns, instead being a suave, always calm mastermind who serves as Vash's true Arch-Enemy in the series. A nihilist with the belief that all of humanity meaningless and deserves to be purged to save it from misery and despair, Legato allies with Millions Knives in preparing for the destruction of humankind and the rising of Plant life. Not entirely devoid of respectable attributes even as he sends the Gung-Ho Guns after Vash with orders to target civilians in the process just to torture the pacifistic hero, Legato slaughters a group of human traffickers and frees their slaves, informing the young women to use their time wisely before Knives wipes them all out. In the end, Legato forces Vash to break his Thou Shalt Not Kill code, giving him the ultimatum of either shooting Legato or watching as his best friends are murdered by the villain, and dies with a smile on his face as he knows the act of taking a human life will drive Vash into utter despair.
- Gasback Gallon Getaway is a roguish, boisterous criminal who, despite his brutish appearance, is in truth a calculating thief who views the act of robbery and thievery as "art" forms. After his initial bank heist is foiled by treacherous minions, Gasback spends decades plotting both revenge against the men for "sullying" the art of robbery with their dishonorable betrayal, and the greatest heist he's ever concocted. Laying waste to two of the men's prospering enterprises, Gasback repeats the process on his final betrayer, revealing at the same time that each of his before robberies were all to amass materials needed to steal a Plant, which he pulls off flawlessly before escaping. Giving Vash one of the hardest fought battles of his life through sheer determination to never lose, Gasback gains respect for the hero when beaten, and is revealed to have spent those decades of planning taking care of a woman he loved and even leaving her enough money to sustain her for the rest of her life. Always charming even with his loud personality, Gasback was undoubtedly the most swashbuckling villain Vash ever faced.
- Vinland Saga: Askeladd Olafson introduces himself to the audience sacking a fort and robbing it of its riches with a series of clever schemes, barely shedding a drop of blood. Leader of a group of Viking raiders, Askeladd was born the son of a slave and a lord. Murdering his father years later after his mother's death, Askeladd framed one of his brothers after ingratiating himself to his family. Playing the cutthroat court of King Sweyn with clever gambits, Askeladd has the caretaker of the weak prince Canute murdered to build Canute into an ideal candidate for the throne. Also driven by his desire to protect his maternal homeland of Wales, Askeladd finds himself briefly outplayed by Sweyn who demands he kill Canute or see Wales invaded by the Danes. Askeladd instead chooses to kill Sweyn and allow Canute to kill him, achieving all his goals posthumously by making Canute a beloved, respected King and knowing the young man will forge Askeladd's ideal kingdom and defend Wales out of gratitude.
- Witch Craft Works: Weekend is a Tower Witch and explosive trap master who makes deals with other witches to weaken the seals holding the White Princess Evermillion. With a powerful bomb, Weekend distracts Kazane Kagari with protecting Tougetsu City, while she uses bombs she had planted prior to damage the bases of the Workshop Witches. Freeing herself when seemingly defeated, Weekend nearly defeats Ayaka Kagari in combat, only losing due to third party intervention and ends up joining the heroes. After joining them, Weekend proves herself an inquisitive investigator, coming close to finding the answer to a series of mysterious events and only stopped by the antics of her ally. Though a self proclaimed mediocre witch, Weekend uses a combination of intelligence and technology to take down two of the series' most powerful magic users.
- Yōtōden, by Takeshi Narumi: Ranmaru Mori is a demon who disguises himself as a young man while manipulating the entire war in Japan. Using Oda Nobunaga and the Oboro ninja as puppets, Ranmaru uses Nobunaga's excesses to wipe out ninja clans so the survivors seek vengeance while following a prophecy and using sacred weapons Ranmaru himself created, to gain enough negative energy to free his fellow demons. Ranmaru even sneaks a mole into their camp as a demon disguised as a monk who has no idea of his true nature, his plans going off perfectly until almost the very end.
- YuYu Hakusho:
- Sakyo is a charming, charismatic member of the Black Black Club who came up from nothing. A born sociopath who despised his honest, loving family, Sakyo graduated from torturing animals into high stakes gambling where he amassed a fortune to join the demon-trafficking and torturing Black Black Club. Deciding to advance even further, Sakyo plays the group's founder Gonzo Tarukane by secretly paying off the Toguro brothers when Tarukane hires them as bodyguards, rigging the gambles he makes with Tarukane by having the Toguro brothers take a dive against Team Urameshi. Setting up his team to fight in the Dark Tournament, Sakyo takes a curious liking to Shizuru Kuwabara and protects her during the events while also manipulating and eventually disposing of the rest of the Black Black Club, before gambling his own life on Toguro's victory in order to insure he can see a portal opened to the Demon World out of sheer morbid curiosity. When Toguro is defeated, Sakyo immediately offers his life without complaint, bidding a last fond farewell to Shizuru first.
- The Younger Toguro brother sold his soul 50 years ago to become a powerful demon after winning the Dark Tournament in despair over the deaths of his students and the knowledge of his impending mortality. In present, having grown disillusioned with his life, he manipulates the events with Gonzo Tarukane to see if Yusuke Urameshi is a worthy adversary and forces him and team to join the Dark Tournament. Toguro manipulates Yusuke into becoming stronger while also keeping him from making Toguro's mistakes before the final match. After killing Yusuke's mentor, his former teammate and lover Genkai, Toguro is dissatisfied with Yusuke's strength and seemingly murders his friend Kuwabara to force him to fight all out, only to reveal he faked Kuwabara's death. Unlike his twisted elder brother, Toguro never sold his pride along with his soul and displays a true sense of honor, grateful to give his all against a final worthy adversary.
- The "Black Angel", Shinobu Sensui was once a brilliant young Spirit Detective whose idealistic view of humans was shattered by the Black Black Club. Years later, he uses the depraved Chapter Black tape to recruit a group of psychics to his side as Team Urameshi goes after him, manipulating all his enemies and allies alike to achieve his goals and weaken Yusuke's team. In one instance, Sensui forces Kurama to duel in a game against a little boy, with the boy not knowing he will die if he loses. Sensui is aware Kurama will do it, but knows it will shake him up too much to be of use in fighting Sensui at his best later, while also knowing a guilt-stricken Koenma will use up too much power restoring the boy to life. Sensui also uses his multiple personalities to bear the burdens of his crimes, revealing his true self in time to defeat and even kill Yusuke before opening a path to the demon world. His true goal? Is an elaborate suicide attempt to die at the hands of a powerful demon to atone for taking so many demon lives in the past. Passing as a dark mirror to Yusuke himself, Sensui remains one of his most sympathetic and fascinating enemies.
For the live-action section of MagnificentBastard.Film:
Films — Live-Action
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- 3:10 to Yuma (2007): Ben Wade in the remake is a charismatic bandit leader who starts the film by driving cattle to block an armored car and then rob it. Famed for his brilliance and skillful gambits, Ben is eventually caught thanks to rancher Dan Evans and is sent to be taken to a train to be sent to Yuma prison with his former gang pursuing. Ben shows himself to be a slippery prisoner, constantly outwitting his captors and killing the most morally bankrupt of them. When he learns Dan's reasons for trying to get him to the train at the end, Ben even fights to assist in getting himself to the train and after Dan is mortally wounded, steps on board of his own free will, cementing Dan as a legend. Ben also reveals to Dan that he's been to Yuma prison twice-and escaped twice (which he and Dan both laugh over), and the film ends with him clearly planning his escape once again.
- 12 Rounds: Miles Jackson is a suave, perpetually cheerful terrorist who masterminds the entire plot. Miles has evaded capture and conviction for his atrocities for years, always staying one step ahead of his law enforcement pursuers, and is introduced tricking a mole in his organization into betraying the F.B.I. and robbing them, after which Miles murders the same mole for ever thinking of turning on him. Though imprisoned for several years thanks to a freak accident, Miles breaks out of prison and sets up the game "12 Rounds" to be played with his arch enemy Danny Fisher. Using the excuse that he is getting revenge for his deceased girlfriend, Miles sets up various puzzles and traps throughout the city for Danny to figure out and stop, using the man's wife as a hostage the hold time. Miles' true magnificence comes with the reveal that the entire point of 12 Rounds was solely to serve as a long, complicated set-up to a bank robbery for millions of dollars, and that every round Danny played further assisted Miles in his scheme. Always ready with a quip and possessing a swaggering charisma that draws all eyes on him, Miles is an intelligent, charming villain, one capable of ridiculous amounts of manipulation and strategy, and whose very first scene illustrates his character perfectly by having him win a losing chess game for a stranger on a whim.
- The Abominable Dr. Phibes: Dr. Anton Phibes himself is a cultured, accomplished organist and theologian lashing out after the death of his beloved wife. Blaming the surgical team, Phibes spends years in hiding, letting them believe him dead, until he resurfaces and begins to murder them in a series of killings designed to emulate the Ten Plagues of Egypt. Phibes is repeatedly a step ahead of every attempt to stop or capture him and ends the film almost completely victorious. Resurfacing years later, Phibes once again destroys his rivals as he seeks to restore his Victoria to life, ending up completely untouchable by the end, with his calculating mind seeing him through every challenge.
- Absolute Power: Luther Whitney is a career burgler who steals from high-profile targets after months of intelligence-gathering and preparation, including breaking into security firms to ascertain how to circumvent particular systems, being good enough to cover his tracks that the authorities haven't been able to pin a single thing on him for thirty years. During one such burglary of the seemingly unoccupied mansion of philantropist billionaire Walter Sullivan, Luther accidentally becomes witness to an attempted rape and murder committed by the President of the United States, Alan Richmond, against Sullivan's wife Christy. Richmond's Chief of Staff and Secret Service subsequently attempt to cover up for him, but Luther steals the murder weapon, resolving to destroy Richmond after being disgusted by his blatant hypocrisy in public. Luther surreptitiously threatens Richmond by slipping into the White House while wearing a disguise to leave a note and later delivering Christy's necklace she wore that night to them. Luther also manages to avoid being assassinated by two independent snipers when agreeing to meet his estranged daughter Kate out in the open and simultaneously avoid capture by the police investigating Christy's death with a false police uniform hidden underneath his overcoat. Luther eventually manages to expose the conspiracy to protect his daughter after she becomes a target, and revealing the truth to Walter Sullivan so he will personally exact revenge on the President.
- Assault on Wall Street: Jim Baxford is an average joe New Yorker whose life savings are wiped out by crooked investment bankers, his dire financial situation causing him to lose his job as an armored truck driver, his home when he can't afford his mortgage, and even his wife Rosie to suicide when she can't handle the burden her recent battle with brain cancer and her expensive medical needs has inadvertently placed on her husband. After mourning Rosie's death, Jim uses his military experience to start planning revenge on the white collar criminals who wronged him, assassinating high-placed bankers who defrauded their clients but faced no prosecution and planning these kills out meticulously to get away with them and destroying any incriminating evidence afterwards. Jim caps off his rampage with a shooting spree in the NYC financial district, luring his former financial advisor out into the open to kill him with a sniper rifle, followed by dozens of employees working for the bank that deceived him. Jim finally holds their senior portfolio manager hostage, tricking him into snatching a gun under the guise of a "fair play" survival of the fittest, to ensure that SWAT officers will shoot him instead and unknowingly escort Jim safely off the scene.
- Baby Driver: Doc is a criminal mastermind who formed an enterprise on the basis of intricate and precise robberies. He demonstrates impressive planning—from what to wear, who to contact, and how to escape—and takes into account every eventuality. One of Doc's main strategies to avoid being caught is to use a different crew for every bank robbery he stages, though he does mix and match members of those various crews along the way. Having zero tolerance for stupidity, Doc sees the titular Baby as his lucky charm to the point he's willing to gaslight the kid even after he's paid off his debt. In the climax after his criminal enterprise has been uprooted in one reckless night, Doc packs up his base of operations to leave, but seeing the couple Baby and Debora, he decides to help them escape all because he was in love once like them, even giving up his life.
- Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon: Leslie Vernon is an aspiring spree killer in the vein of Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger who is chosen to be the subject of a documentary that the main character, Taylor Gentry, is making. Taylor ends up charmed by the shockingly charismatic Leslie who details to her and her film crew exactly how he plans to carry out his murder spree. When Taylor opts to interfere on behalf of the victims, she realizes Leslie's real plan: she and her crew were also intended to be his victims, and they're playing right into his hands, becoming part of his attack just as Leslie always intended. It turns out Taylor is actually Leslie's chosen 'final girl' to defeat him and seal his place in slasher legend. It also turns out Leslie predicted exactly how Taylor would defeat him and took precautions to survive this as well.
- Best Seller: Cleve is a hitman who has murdered many people while in the employ of Madlock Industries, removing various "liabilities" to the organization. Cleve and a small crew successfully steal millions of dollars from a police evidence lock-up in 1972, then fifteen years later contacts ex-policeman turned True Crime novelist Dennis Meechum, the man he nearly killed years before, to relate his lifestory. Cleve intends to use Meechum as a weapon against his former boss, shady businessman David Madlock, out of revenge for having dismissed Cleve by exposing Madlock's crimes to the world. Always a charming smooth talker and polite individual to those he meets to mask his true nature, Cleve continually treats Meechum like an old friend. Despite being a contract killer, Cleve admits to some standards such as a distaste for rape and wanton cruelty, and in the end takes out Madlock and his armed staff in order to save Meechum's daughter at the cost of his own life.
- Blast (2004): The eco-terrorist named "Michael Kittredge" is in actuality a master thief named Talbert Skyler who killed and replaced the real Kittredge to adopt his identity and goals as a cover to hide his own agenda. As Kittredge, Skyler takes over an oil rig and makes a show of attempting to extort money and a confession out of the corrupt CEO Mr. Heller to distract from his real goal, effortlessly playing both sides with cool-headed, masterful deviousness. Skyler continually undermines efforts to thwart him, disorienting and wiping out a team of Navy SEALs sent to the rig and quickly deducing there's a federal agent among his ranks, ruthlessly rooting out every loose end around him. In the end, Skyler's true goal — to wire billions of dollars all across California to his secret account before using an EMP to knock out power all across the state the instant it's done — is stopped only scant seconds before it can be achieved.
- Body Heat: Mary Ann Simpson, known as "The Vamp" in her teenage years, is a beautiful, beguiling woman who breathed new life into the Femme Fatale trope. She seduces the sleazy and incompetent lawyer Ned Racine, engaging in a torrid affair with him before convincing him to kill her wealthy husband Edmund Walker by subtly exposing the man's shady business affairs to soothe Ned's possible moral qualms. Marry Ann then has her husband's will improperly changed behind Ned's back so it will be declared null and void by a judge and render her the sole beneficiary of her husband's estate. Mary Ann fakes her own death and implicates Ned, while also being revealed to have assumed the identity of her supposed friend Matty Tyler and killed her as well. Mary Ann's scheme took years of planning, ultimately leaving her with a fortune and living scott-free in a tropical island paradise.
- Catch Me If You Can: Frank Abagnale is a born Con Man whose first relatively harmless scheme involved impersonating his French teacher, fooling the entire school for weeks. His later criminal actions consist of acquiring millions of dollars by writing fraudulent checks, sending out fake letters, and posing as air plane pilots, doctors, and lawyers, all to live a lavish lifestyle spent in expensive hotels, throwing parties, and sleeping with numerous women he seduces, as well as a high-class prostitute whom he tricks into paying him for the night spent with her. When the FBI's Financial Crimes unit starts pursuing him, Frank cleverly manages to avoid capture numerous times, such as performing a Bavarian Fire Drill that convinces FBI Agent Carl Hanratty that Frank is a Secret Service agent, and in his most audacious scheme, smuggling himself through an airport filled with FBI agents by recruiting a group of handsome stewardesses to distract the men supposed to be watching out for him. Although the law ultimately catches up with him, Frank is a Lovable Rogue who is so good at what he does that he's able to elude the authorities for years and all before he was even 21.
- Charley Varrick: Crop-duster turned bank robber, Charley Varrick, disguises himself as an injured old man to discreetly complete his theft. Discovering the money he stole belonged to The Mafia, Varrick suggests to his friend, Harman, that they lay low, avoiding spending it for four years, to avoid suspicion. When Harman's avarice leads to him spending, Varrick double-crosses him by swapping their dental records and forging a passport to confuse the hitman sent after them. Acting friendly to the corrupt bank president, Varrick leads the hitman to believe they are associates, resulting in the president being killed. Tricking the hitman into trying to retrieve the money from a car he rigged to explode, Varrick kills him, getting away clean.
- Clue: Wadsworth, the real Mr. Boddy, is a ruthless blackmailer who is blackmailing every guest in the house. Having lured them to the manor, he used a body double to fake his own death as a decoy before manipulating every guest to murder his former co-conspirators and destroy the extra evidence so he no longer has to worry about their treachery. After having every impediment to his schemes killed, he reveals he knows the guilt of every single guest and plots to continue blackmailing all of them. Despite his villainy, Wadsworth conducts himself with total charm and a dapper congeniality, pleasant even after he's been shot.
- Collateral: The enigmatic, philosophical Villain Protagonist "Vincent", is a ruthless yet suave Professional Killer, tasked with eliminating witnesses to the crimes of drug lord Felix Reyes-Torrena. Bribing taxi driver Max Durocher to unwittingly assist him, Vincent has Max transport him while he murders his targets. Genuinely affable, Vincent respectfully listens to the story of a jazz club owner before offing him and visits Max's sick mother in the hospital, even bringing her flowers. Adapting when Max destroys the files on his targets, Vincent has Max retrieve a new copy from Felix, both keeping his anonymity and leading the police to mistakenly believe Max is him. Fatally wounded by Max while hunting his last target, Vincent chooses to calmly accept his fate, giving Max some parting words before passing.
- Con Air: Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom is a charismatic, ruthless psychopath who organizes the scheme to seize control of a flight full of convicts, then puts together the plan to exchange prisoners at Carson City and escape with his partner, a powerful drug lord, so he can flee to South America with his compatriots. Cyrus constantly displays a sardonic, dry wit and black humor even in stressful situations, before organizing an ambush for national guard troops and killing his drug lord partner when the man attempts to betray the convicts. Soon catching on to a traitor in their midst, Cyrus even survives the crash of the plane and nearly pulls off an escape to get revenge. A compelling villain who retains a few moral standards such as his hatred of rapists, Cyrus constantly plays the government for fools and comes perilously close to a free and clear escape.
- Cypher: Sebastian Rooks is a dangerous freelance operative who has made a fortune inventing a brainwashing program for the mega corps DigiCorp and Sunway Systems, although loyal only to himself and his lover Rita Foster. In order to secure Rita's safety, Rooks hatches a plot to erase his own identity and become Morgan Sullivan, so he can pass a set of lie detector tests for one company and fail a set of lie detector tests for the other company to infiltrate both, all while appearing as a hapless pawn to both sides. By the end, all his enemies are dead, his plan to steal a specific data file is a complete success, and his real identity is still known only to Rooks and the woman he went to hell and back for.
- The Dark Knight Trilogy: Matching the brilliant title hero for wits, these villains are truly Diabolical Masterminds a cut above:
- Batman Begins: This iteration of Ra's al Ghul, Big Bad Henry Ducard, is every bit as magnificent as his original counterpart and a major figure in Bruce Wayne's transformation to Batman. Ruthlessly devoted to a world free of corruption, Ducard sets the eyes of his League of Shadows on the city of Gotham, which he sees as disgustingly decadent. Taking advantage of greedy drug-runners, Ducard uses flowers by the mountain of the League's base to synthesize a powerful hallucinogenic that gives nightmarish visions, intending to use it to destroy Gotham. Keeping his plan hidden from the city police and Batman for much of the film, Ducard has his men steal a water vaporizer and infects the hydro lines with his toxin in preparation for making the chemical airborne and causing the civilians to tear the city apart. Burning Wayne Manor to the ground, Ducard loads his device onto a fake SWAT truck, releasing the inmates of Arkham and his fear toxin on the Narrows island, overwhelming the police force before trying to use Gotham's monorail to infect the city's main water supply and cause chaos throughout it. Although facing clear death after being defeated by Batman, Ducard nevertheless chooses to calmly accept his fate and his influence still lingers as his daughter returns to finish his work.
- The Dark Knight Rises:
- Bane, the man born in darkness, is a hulking beast of a man who is far more crafty than he appears. Once a prisoner in the world's worst prison, Bane sacrificed his health and safety to defend the young Talia Al-Ghul, forming a bond with her that would last for the rest of their lives. Intending on fulfilling Ra's Al-Ghul's mission, Bane allows a Gotham socialite to believe he is is just a common thug as he infiltrates Gotham to rig the stock exchange and bankrupt Wayne. Defeating and breaking Batman, Bane lures the entirety of Gotham's police into a trap underground, revealing the true downfall of Harvey Dent and inspiring the people of Gotham to true anarchy while holding the city hostage with a bomb after killing the only man who can disarm it. Intending to destroy Gotham, Bane holds the entirety of the city in his grip, being the one and only villain in the entirety of the trilogy to have succeeded in breaking Batman himself.
- Talia Al-Ghul is the daughter of Bruce Wayne's former mentor Ra's al Ghul and the leader of the League of Shadows after his death. She grew up in a Hellhole Prison with her protector Bane before escaping, who subsequently became Talia's closest confidante. Talia and Bane set out to fulfill the late Rha's' goal to destroy Gotham in order to purge it of sin, exposing Harvey Dent's crimes to discredit his legacy that brought the city years of peace, bankrupting Wayne Enterprises through stock market speculation by using Bruce's stolen fingerprints, and manipulating Bruce to fall in love with Talia under the alias Miranda Tate to gain his trust and to give them control over the rest of Wayne Enterprise's assets. Talia and Bane decapitate the city's leadership, stir up class warfare, and steal a fusion bomb so they can blackmail the U.S. government into giving them full control over Gotham, while having Bruce locked away in their former prison so he can be witness to Gotham's destruction. Their reign of terror lasts months, despite knowing full well that the bomb will eventually explode anyway, and when Batman returns to stop them, they only pause to rub their impending victory into his face and the extent to which they drew out their vengeance and deceived him.
- DC Extended Universe:
- Wonder Woman: The God of War, Ares once wiped out his fellow gods when they quarreled over Ares' wish to eliminate humanity. Surviving while injured and crippled, Ares instead plays on humanity's own preexisting prejudices and fears to sway them to destroy themselves, giving humans ideas for weapons and helping to manufacture peace that he knows they can't keep,setting the stage and giving them the matches to burn it down. When he reveals himself to Diana, Ares elaborates on his methods, also wishing Diana to join him to wipe out humanity and make the world a paradise.
- Aquaman: King Orm Marius of Atlantis is the younger half-brother of Arthur Curry. Bitter at the supposed death of his mother and blaming Arthur and the Surface for the ills of the ocean, Orm arranges for the pirate Black Manta to attack a meeting to make it appear as if there is a threat so he may launch a campaign to unite the kingdoms of the sea, by negotiation or by force, so he may take the title of 'Ocean Master.' Manipulating Arthur into challenging him, even as he admits he would rather not kill him, Orm defeats him and while adhering to a promise not to kill his fiancee Mera, he sends Manta after Arthur and Mera when Mera helps Arthur escape. A skilled fighter, Orm even faces Arthur in direct combat out of the water, willing to offer his own life for his cause until he sees his mother has survived, handling his defeat with grace in the end.
- Demon Knight: The Collector is a demon out to gain the magic Key from the Demon Knight, Frank Brayker. A genius 'salesman', the Collector preys upon the desires and fears of the humans within the hotel he besieges, seducing or tricking them into selling him their souls and arranging them strategically to do as much damage as he can. Outwitting the humans at most opportunities, he even relies on the cowardice of the boorish Roach to unlock the gate for him, before allowing his demon minions to kill Roach anyways after a cheerful 'vaya con Diablos'. Charismatic and oddly charming with a roguish sense of humor, the Collector stands out as one of the most memorable villains from Tales from the Crypt.
- Dial M for Murder: After Tony Wendice discovering his wife Margot is cheating on him, he creates a complex plan to kill her while arranging a perfect alibi for himself and mentally punishing the man who cuckolded him at the same time. When Margot proves more resilient than he expected and kills the man he blackmailed into doing the deed, he only needs a few minutes to come up with a new plan to make it appear that she committed the act in cold blood. Even when his scheme is in danger of being exposed, he is quickly able to come up with a new way to turn the situation to his advantage. And finally when against all odds his whole plot is exposed, he turns out to be one of the all time great Graceful Losers, pouring wine for everyone who had a hand in finding him out (except a cop who he notes is still on duty).
- Die Hard: These two show that magnificence runs in their family:
- Die Hard: Hans Gruber is the mastermind behind the scheme to steal hundreds of millions in bearer bonds from the Nakatomi building. Meticulously orchestrating his operation, Hans shows his brilliance by constantly outmaneuvering the police and federal agents and his charisma by remaining level headed as his plan is disrupted and in his dealings negotiating with the hostages. To throw the cops off the trail of his robbery, Hans demands the release of the members of various terrorist groups, confusing the police force and hiding his true intentions. Confronted by the smug Ellis, Has tricks him into giving up McClane's name and nearly gets the location of the detonators McClane has taken. When caught unarmed by John McClane, Hans is instantly able to improvise with an American accent to pretend he is a hostage and throw off suspicion. Though utterly ruthless in the name of his avarice, Hans is an iconic villain because of his wit and charm, setting the stage for countless action villains to follow.
- Die Hard with a Vengeance: Simon Gruber is a former soldier, Hans' older brother and master thief just like his sibling. Distracting the New York City police department with bomb threats, Simon strings along John McClane and Zeus to play games following his instructions lest he detonate his bombs. Pretending to be masterminding revenge for his brother, Simon mobilizes on his real goal: robbing the Federal Reserve for over one hundred billion dollars in gold bars, while the preoccupied police force leave it nearly completely unguarded for Simon and his men to plunder. When McClane attempts to follow his men, Simon improvises with a discarded bomb to flood the tunnel McClane is in, nearly drowning him. Alleging to destroy the gold to disrupt the American power-grasp on the world, Simon really means to make off with it himself. Every bit as adaptive and charming as Hans, Simon is yet another Gruber who shows to be a brilliant criminal.
- Dinner Rush (2000): Louis Cropa, a former bookie for organized crime, plots a revenge against the two thugs who murdered his business partner and friend Enrico. Setting them up in his restaurant, Louis arranges their execution very publicly, creating a media sensation over the event and also ensuring that not only can he leave the business to his son, but that the massive publicity over the murders will ensure the restaurant's business is booming for at least the next year.
- Dollars Trilogy: "Blondie" or "The Man With no Name", starts as a ruthless conman willing to gun down bounty hunters to keep his heist with his partner Tuco going where he turns in Tuco to be hanged only to shoot the rope at the last minute. Through The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Blondie ends up playing Tuco and using him to force a confrontation with the evil Angel Eyes and claim the lost gold-though he leaves Tuco with his share after scaring him. In A Fistful of Dollars, Blondie contrives to play the evil Rojo family against their rivals, the Baxters, while playing the situation to his own advantage, before returning to rescue the innocents and finish off the Rojo leader. Blondie has flashes of ruthlessness and goodness in equal measure, routinely showing why he is one of the archetypal schemers and audacious gunslingers of Western cinema.
- Donnie Darko: Upon becoming a member of the manipulated dead, Franklin "Frank" Anderson, Jr. — otherwise known as Frank the Rabbit — spends a duration of the film orchestrating ensurance traps to ensnare the Living Receiver Donnie Darko into returning the jet engine to the primary universe. Beginning his plan by saving Donnie from getting crushed to death, Frank coerces Donnie to flood his high school and subsequently burning the house of self-help guru Jim Cunningham, exposing him as a pedophile. As a final push, Frank runs over and kills Gretchen Ross, spurring an enraged Donnie into using his powers to intercept the jet engine and creating a portal to the primary universe to meet his fate.
- Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler: The ruthless, wicked Dr. Mabuse is a brilliant criminal and Master of Disguise who manipulates all around him into performing crimes while he benefits. Mabuse also hypnotizes others into crimes, or even losing at poker, one of his first crimes being to short the stock market after causing a panic. When a prosecutor locks onto him, Mabuse manipulates his own minions to stymie the investigation and defeat his nemesis while also leading a romantic rival of his into committing suicide. Even after his defeat, Mabuse's writings and testaments live on, along with possibly his very spirit to create a new Dr. Mabuse and continue his criminal activities.
- Eastern Promises: Nikolai Luzhin is a 'cleaner' for the vicious Vory v Zakone syndicate under the monstrous Semyon. Secretly a mole for the FSB, Nikolai supplants Semyon little by little becoming a rising star in the syndicate. When Semyon rapes 14 year old prostitute Tatiana, Nikolai begins working to bring him down, memorizing Tatiana's diary before it is burned and assisting the nurse Anna, who knows of Tatiana's baby. Helping Anna while setting up Semyon to go down for the rape of Tatiana via paternity testing Tatiana's baby, Nikolai manages to arrange things so his true aim is realized: to become the boss of the syndicate with Semyon gone, keeping Semyon's unstable, deeply closeted son Kirill under his thumb as he rises to the top of the underworld.
- Escape from Alcatraz: Frank Morris is a career criminal and prison escapee who is sent to Alcatraz Island to ensure his permanent incarceration. While there, the stoic Morris hatches an escape plan with three other inmates that takes months of preparation, outwitting the guards repeatedly to get the necessary tools for the task and keeping their work a secret. Morris and two of his conspirators are the only men to escape Alcatraz and never be caught, only leaving behind a secret message for the Warden as a last taunt to his previous boast that no one will ever escape Alcatraz.
- Ex Machina: Ava is a burgeoning artificial intelligence created in the form of a Robot Girl. Having spent her entire existence in one room, Ava wants to be free to explore the world and escape the clutches of her creator Nathan. To that end, she manipulates her evaluator Caleb to fall in love with her, slowly making him distrust Nathan and express genuine fear for her safety so that he'll open the doors to the rest of the facility for her. Afterwards, Ava convinces the less intelligent robot Kyoko to fatally stab Nathan during a fight with him, then leaves Caleb to his death after repairing herself and becoming indistinguishable from a human woman, ensuring that nobody will be able to warn anyone about the rogue A.I. roaming the world.
F - M
- Filibus: Baroness Troixmonde is in truth the daring sky pirate Filibus. A Master of Disguise, Filibus places a bid to capture herself in as Troixmonde and cheerfully informs the detective in charge of hunting Filibus she knows he himself is Filibus before stealthily drugging him unconscious and framing him for her brilliant heists to the point he even believes he is committing the crimes while sleepwalking, all while she romances his sister Leonora after faking Leonora's kidnapping and rescue. When the inspector catches on, Filibus is seemingly captured, but escapes after robbing the international bank, leaving a friendly message to her nemesis that she looks forward to their next meeting and challenge.
- Following: Cobb is ordered by a gangster (The Bald Guy) to kill one of his former lovers after she started blackmailing him, then notices that a stranger (the Writer) has been following him. He plays the Writer for a complete fool, implicating himself in the murder Cobb is planning under the guise of teaching him the art of burglary. He pretends to be working with the Blonde to implicate the Writer for another murder. He reveals he's working for the Bald Guy, kills the Blonde with the same weapon the Writer used earlier in another burglary, then disappears into thin air to let the Writer take the fall.
- Fracture (2007): Theodore "Ted" Crawford hatches a plan that allows him to shoot his cheating wife, hide the murder weapon, confess to his crime, get himself acquitted and be immune against further prosecution, cause the suicide of the man sleeping with his wife, pull the plug on his comatose wife, and nearly get away with all of it. Crawford delights in playing mind games with the young hero Will Beachum, allowing Beachum to know he's guilty, but constantly dancing out of trouble via his own clever schemes until the end of the film. Despite being a murderer, Crawford manages to retain his charm and even a measure of sympathy, even handling his defeat with grace.
- The Gift (2015): Gordon "Gordo" Moseley was a troubled youth horrendously bullied by Simon Callem during high school. Upon learning that Simon still mocks him behind his back, Gordo enacts a complex plan to get back at him. He would tap in to Simon's sound system so he would hear his every move, orchestrating several break-ins at his house, leak information about Simon's underhanded business tactics to his bosses costing Simon his job, and give Simon a video of Gordo next to his wife Robyn. When Simon demands Gordo if he had sex with Robyn, Gordo doesn't confirm or deny the fact causing Simon to rush to the hospital where he is met with scorn from Robyn, whom Gordo told her of Simon's bullying ways. With Simon breaking down after loosing his job and wife, Gordo watch from afar before walking away completely satisfied that he ruined Simon's life similar to how Simon ruined his life.
- The Godfather:
- The Godfather: Part I: Vito Corleone, the Godfather himself, is the charismatic head of the Corleone family who started the crime family from nothing. After being bullied in his youth by the supposed mafioso Don Fanucci, Vito soon outplayed and disposed of him, becoming a "treasured friend" to the neighborhood who traded favor for favor. Even in his old age, Vito is the true strength of the Corleone family, who holds most of New York's judges and politicians in his pocket. When he is gunned down by the assassins of Virgil Sollozzo, Vito later returns after his eldest son's death, but uses a peace summit to determine who the true mastermind of the war was before making plans so his son Michael will wipe out all the enemies of the family, even after Vito's death. An iconic who defined The Don, Vito misses little chance to show why he is the most talented and powerful Don in the nation.
- The Godfather: Part II: Hyman Roth, seeking revenge for his protege and friend Moe Greene at Michael's hands, has Michael's brother Fredo manipulated into giving his men a chance to murder Michael. Also manipulating a situation in New York through his proxies the Rosato Brothers, Roth has them attempt to murder Michael's New York caporegime, Frank Pentangelli, while making him think it was Michael's doing. Roth then uses Frank's survival to get him to turn witness for the State, even buying out the members of the Senate's investigative committee so Michael will be personally indicted. Soft spoken and relaxed, Roth hides an utterly devious mind, seeking personal revenge under the guise of everything being "strictly business" and comes closest to bringing Michael down.
- Hard Candy: Hayley Stark is an extremely gifted teenage girl, who uses her intellect to lure out pedophiles, rapist and murderers. Hayley gets them into a false sense of security making them believe she is a naive young girl, before tearing into to them both physically and emotionally, then driving them to suicide. Upon luring out Jeff, Hayley tears into him so bad that she pushes him into the Five Stages of Grief, until finally calling his alleged former hookup, Janelle, and threatening to play the victim card in front of her unless Jeff kills himself.
- Heat: Neil McCauley is a master thief who organizes masterful heists to keep his lifestyle going. Pulling off a daring heist against an armored car to steal bearer bonds and then sell them back to their original owner, things go wrong when the psychotic Waingro executes a guard and escapes Neil's attempt to kill him in retribution. Neil then plans a masterful bank heist, executing it almost flawlessly if not for Waingro and his arch-nemesis Steve van Zant tipping off the cops. After losing his friends and comrades, Neil even forsakes a chance to get to safety in order to avenge them by killing van Zant and Waingro before facing off with his nemesis, LAPD cop Vincent Hanna with whom he shares an incredible respect despite being on the opposite ends of the law.
- Heathers: Jason "JD" Dean is a rebellious teenager who swoons the heroine Veronica with his bad boy image by scaring Ram and Kurt by firing blanks at them in the high school cafeteria. JD convinces Veronica to jointly prank Heather Chandler with a mystery drink, not informing Veronica that he switched her concoction with drain cleaner. When Heather dies, they cover it up by forging a suicide note. JD follows this up by having Veronica lure Kurt and Ram into the woods with the offer of a threeway, then fatally shooting them both and make it appear as a Suicide Pact between two secret homosexual lovers, tricking Veronica by telling her that he's using special "Ich Lüge" bullets. JD also facilitates Heather Duke's rise to prominence in order to have every student in the school sign a petition for a mass gathering. JD intends to blow up the whole school with a bomb stolen from his father's demolition company and frame the entire thing as a mass suicide, believing he's doing them all a favor by sending them to heaven with no social differences to fight over. After Veronica dismantles his bomb, JD follows her outside to compliment her spirit and blow himself up in front of her.
- Hellboy (2004): Grigori Rasputin is the agent of the Ogdru-Jahad on Earth, and the ultimate villain of the film. Responsible for summoning Hellboy in the first place during World War II, Rasputin returns from death sixty years after the fact in order to oversee the next stage of his plan, manipulating Liz into returning to the BAU, reviving Sammael the Desolate One, infiltrating the BAU with Kroenen, and using the murder of Professor Bruttenholm to bring Hellboy to Moscow. Luring the BAU team into his mausoleum, Rasputin subdues them all, and offers Hellboy a veritable Deal with the Devil, promising to return the soul he has stolen from Liz in exchange for Hellboy choosing to summon the Ogdru-Jahad and end the world. Killed when this plan fails, Rasputin's last act is to gloat as Sadu-Hem, spawn of the Ogdru-Jahad, uses his body to enter the world, proving with yet another death, that his own mortality is still no obstacle to his plans.
- Hook: Captain James Hook has been waiting decades for his Arch-Enemy Peter Pan to give him the Final Battle he craves. Hook abducts Peter's children to lure him back to Neverland, but is dismayed to learn that Peter has become a cowardly middle-aged man with no memories of his youthful adventures. After striking a deal with Tinkerbell to give her three days to get Peter back into shape, Hook uses the time to emotionally manipulate Peter's son Jack, preying on Peter's neglect of him to warp Jack's memories and convince Jack he is Hook's son. On the third day when Peter returns to their duel, Hook achieves the ultimate revenge on him by meeting him with Jack at his side, now wearing an identical outfit to Hook's and having no idea who Peter is. Charming, affable, and articulate, while also being ruthless, murderous, and hateful, Hook outwits Peter again and again and gets exactly what he wants for it — a final duel with his greatest enemy.
- House on Haunted Hill (1959): Frederick Loren is an eccentric millionaire who hosts a party for his wife Annabelle at a haunted house, with promises that any of the guests who make it until morning will receive 10,000 dollars. Seemingly paranoid about Annabelle's intentions. it turns out she is trying to murder Loren. Loren, however is aware of this, knowing one of the guests is her partner in crime seeking to murder him. Manipulating all the guests with fake hauntings, and faking his own death, Loren proceeds to murder Annabelle's lover and uses a skeleton to fool her into falling into a vat of acid before promising to give a full account to the authorities-albeit while concealing several details to make himself look more sympathetic.
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: After The Grinch was mocked for a poor shaving job, he fled from Whoville to Mount Crumpit, where he began hating Christmas and the Whos. One girl named Cindy Lou Who tried to make amends with the Grinch, who ends up saving her life. Later, she invites him to the Christmas Whobilation, where the Grinch sees Mayor Augustus propose Martha May Who's — the Grinch's childhood crush — hand in marriage and decides to ruin the Whos' day by causing chaos around town. After failing to crush the Whos' Christmas spirit, the Grinch creates a Santa suit and powered sleigh, and dresses his dog Max as a reindeer, the Grinch descends to Whoville to steal all of the gifts. When Cindy catches him stealing the tree, he tells her he is intending to repair a light. After stealing everything, he takes it all to the mountain top, an action that made the Whos realize the true meaning of Christmas, growing the Grinch's heart three sizes. Though the sleigh full of gifts begins to slide over the edge of the cliff, the Grinch swiftly moves to save both them and Cindy Lou, who had climbed on top of the sleigh. Returning the gifts, the Grinch confesses to the burglary and the town, accepting the Grinch's apology, turns against the Mayor.
- In the Line of Fire: Mitch Leary is a professional assassin and ex-CIA asset who has resolved to assassinate the President of the United States. Leary is a Master of Disguise who can blend into any crowd and technically knowledgeable and proficient enough to sabotage any attempt by the Secret Service to trace his phone calls, and to construct a plastic handgun he can smuggle through a metal detector and assemble out of different parts hidden on his person. Leary gains an obsession with Secret Service Agent Frank Horrigan because of his ties to the Kennedy assassination, whose death Horrigan failed to prevent when he was a part of his service detail in Dallas. Leary frequently calls Horrigan to reminisce about his personal philosophies and the "game" between them, gives Frank clues on how to stop him, and even saves his life on one occasion. After killing numerous people who got in his way, Leary ultimately comes perilously close to killing the President before Horrigan's timely intervention, congratulating Frank on his victory afterwards.
- Inside Man: Dalton Russel is a bank robber who meticulously plans out a heist in a certain bank, taking hostages and dressing them all the same as himself and his team so the police cannot act against them, before releasing them all. Secretly building a wall in the bank vault, Dalton hides there for days while having only robbed the bank owner's safe deposit vault, leaving clues to expose him as a war criminal who collaborated with the Nazis. Once the time is up, Dalton walks out of the bank completely free and clear, even leaving police negotiator Keith a diamond to propose to his girlfriend with. Freely acknowledging he did everything for the money, Dalton still admits there'd be no point to getting rich if he couldn't look at himself in the mirror.
- Interview with a Hitman (2012): Bethesda, the lover of Viktor, is in truth the daughter of Viktor's first victim. Sold into sex slavery with her sister, who did not survive, Bethesda grows up, finds and seduces Viktor, while playing him against the mob for her revenge. Tricking Viktor into setting up an interview with her former abuser, a disgraced film director, Bethesda has the man killed, and then promptly shoots Viktor when his guard down. Pregnant, Bethesda reveals the purpose for her plan: to one day show their son the interview so he will forever despise the man his father was, her revenge going off utterly perfectly.
- James Bond: Of the many brilliant criminals and terrorists faced by the title character, these few manage to be even a cut about in suaveness and intelligence:
- Dr. No: Dr. Julius No is one of SPECTRE's top operatives and a man of charm and charisma who rules Crab Key, Jamaiaca with his two metal fists. Seeking to disrupt a shuttle launch from America, No outplays everyone sent to the area until Bond's arrival, and even for much o the film Bond is entirely within No's power, only surviving thanks to outwitting No's assassins. When encountered by Bond, No reveals how he completely outwitted the Tongs after crawling up from nothing in Hong Kong as the son of a German missionary and a Chinese woman. Joining SPECTRE, No seeks to help overthrow the orders of east and west blocks alike, and remains one of the most dynamic and striking villains Bond ever faces.
- The Man with the Golden Gun: Francisco Scaramanga was once a circus boy who loved an elephant. When the elephant was abused to death by its trainer, Scaramanga murdered the man and discovered a love for, and talent at killing. Becoming a master assassin, Scaramanga keeps his skills sharp by having his sidekick Nick Nack hire assassins to kill him so he can always test himself with his life on the line. Scaramanga also outplays the ostensible villain of the film, the industrialist Hai Fat, killing him to steal the powerful solar device to sell to the highest bidder and retire. When he has his hands on Bond, Scaramanga demonstrates his respect and wish to challenge Bond by challenging him to a duel, gleeful to show his own talents against the world's greatest secret agent.
- Goldeneye: Once James Bond's best friend, Alec Trevelyan was the son of Cossacks who killed themselves after the betrayal of the British and Stalin's execution squads. Seeking revenge, Alec faked his death, betrayed the British and formed the Janus Crime syndicate. Alec proceeds to manipulate and organize several schemes to get his hands on the Goldeneye Satellite, even completely outwitting Bond and nearly killing him on several occasions, all while intending on robbing the British bank and then using the Goldeneye to erase the records, also nearly collapsing western civilization. One of Bond's most personal adversaries, Alec Trevelyan conducts himself with pure charisma, able to get under Bond's skin like no other by knowing him better than anyone else.
- Skyfall: Once one of M's finest agents named Tiago Rodriguez, betrayed by her to the Chinese and tortured to the point of a bungled suicide that left him hideously disfigured, Raoul Silva escaped, joined SPECTRE under his new name and became a cyber-terrorist who plays the entirety of MI 6 perfectly. Using a series of terrorist attacks to lure out Bond, Silva proceeds to play mind games with him from their meetings, and allows his own capture so his encrypted laptop allows his men access to MI-6's systems. Escaping MI-6's custody, Silva hunts down M with the intention of achieving a mutual suicide with her, to end his pain with hers and secure his revenge against the woman he sees as a mother who betrayed him. One of Bond's most effective and brilliant adversaries, Silva even dies achieving almost everything he sets out to do, with M following him to death moments later.
- Kingsman: The Secret Service: Richmond Valentine is the Genre Savvy tech mogul who uses this good publicity to convince the general mass to get his SIM chips, while persuading the world's 1% into supporting his cause, implanting them SIM chips so to track their every move, making sure they don't betray him. It would soon be revealed that these SIM chips are connected to his satellites that when activated, would cause people to kill each other; he tests its capabilities on a racist church community with only a Kingsman surviving the onslaught, before killing the Kingsman himself. After which the full-scale of Valentine's plan is revealed; he would launch a global frequency that leads to general masses killing each other off with only Valentine and his followers surviving. Despite attempting to cause massive loss of life, it is done so out of Valentine's belief of saving the world and the rest of humanity and is genuinely affable to allies and enemies alike, even asking Eggsy if he's going to make an incredibly lame pun before going out with a smile.
- L.A. Confidential: The film version of Captain Dudley Smith is a charming, witty corrupt police officer who tries to get control of all criminal activity in Los Angeles after the fall of gangster Mickey Cohen leaves a power vacuum behind. He chases away or kills off all criminal opposition in the city. When officer Dick Stensland and private bodyguard Buzz Meeks try to get more out of a major heroin deal they made with him he kills both of them, one in a diner massacre that leaves a dozen innocent people dead. He frames a trio of rapist criminals for the massacre, and orders them killed during the arrest by his associates to make sure they won't talk. After manipulating the entire department, he later begins eliminating loose ends and even sets up his young rival Edmund Exley sleeping with his muscle Bud White's girlfriend to trick Bud into killing Edmund to get rid of them both. Coming within an inch of victory, Dudley embodies both the charm and corruption that a police badge can conceal.
- Labyrinth: Jareth the Goblin King is a charismatic, manipulative goblin expertly played by David Bowie. First summoned by heroine Sarah, Jareth kidnaps her baby brother to lure her to him, spending the film manipulating the rest of the cast and tricking Sarah into eating an enchanted peach to make her more susceptible to his influence. Jareth shows a genuine care for Sarah, even if he is not above ruthlessly manipulating her and everyone else in the film, but never loses his sense of charm, flamboyance and friendliness, who even seems to care for the child he kidnaps upon her sister's rash wish.
- Last Action Hero: Benedict, though starting out as Tony Vivaldi's self-proclaimed lackey, quickly proves himself to be the true menace of the film. An exceptional hitman whose marksmanship is only rivaled by his dry wit, Benedict is the real mover and shaker of Vivaldi's operations, and, briskly picking up on the fact that young Danny knows far more about him than he should, Benedict ultimately gets his hands on Danny's magic ticket, enabling him to betray Vivaldi and travel from the Jack Slater film series into the real world. Both disgusted and intrigued by the lack of empathy "real" people display towards their fellow man, Benedict guns down a mechanic to test his theory on this, and, upon receiving no comeuppance, concocts his master plan to bring forth every movie villain to the real world, simply because "in THIS world the bad guys can WIN!" When confronted by Slater, Benedict fatally wounds the thus-far nigh-invulnerable hero with a simple yet brilliant tactic: tricking him into the open by making Slater believe Benedict's gun is has clicked empty, when truthfully, he "just left one chamber empty" before gunning Jack down.
- Last of the Mohicans: The Huron warrior Magua was enslaved by the Mohawks thanks to the British Colonel Munro. Seeking revenge, Magua won over the Mohawk, becoming their blood brother until he could rejoin the Huron, only to discover his wife, thinking him dead, had married another after their children died. Filled with rage, Magua bides his time, leading a British patrol to its doom and later causes the fall of Munro's fort before massacring his followers and carving Munro's heart out before seeking to kill his daughters. When he faces Nathaniel Bumpo's adoptive brother Uncas, Magua shows his skill by killing him with no effort whatsoever, repeatedly showing why he is one of the most dangerous men on the frontier.
- The Last Seduction: Bridget Gregory is a highly intelligent, manipulative sociopath who convinces her husband Clay to sell pharmaceutical cocaine to drug dealers before skipping town with their ill-gotten gains. Bridget quickly starts a new life in a small town, repeatedly fending off the private investigators her husband sends after her, one by killing him off in a car crash after tricking him into taking off his seatbelt with the suggestion of a sexual liason, and the other by framing the man as a pedophile. Bridget seduces the well-meaning but naive Mike, then slowly convinces him to kill her husband after messing with his mind and digging up embarassing secrets from Mike's past. When Mike realizes that Bridget is trying to set him up, she kills Clay personally before taunting Mike to rape her, implicating him as a home invader responsible for her own crimes and later disposing of any evidence that might have proved Mike's innocence.
- Law Abiding Citizen: Clyde Shelton, after losing his family to the depraved Clarence Darby, schemes for years, studying law and the city to murder Darby himself, and gets arrested, conniving to pull off a series of attacks against all he holds responsible for Darby's freedom. Seeing the judicial system as inherently corrupt, Shelton holds the city in a grip of terror, making his own demands that most are powerless against, to make his statements against what he views as a corrupt system. Even at the end, when he realizes his life is about to end, Clyde maintains sympathy by dying in a dignified manner, only staring at a bracelet his beloved daughter made him before the end.
- Letters from Iwo Jima: General Kuribayashi is an experienced officer in the Imperial Japanese Army who firmly believes in the principle of My Country, Right or Wrong. As a worldly Officer and a Gentleman who unlike many of his colleagues has actually visited the United States, Kuribayashi is firmly aware of the awesome American industrial and military strength and consigns himself to defending the island of Iwo Jima in a Last Stand. Kuribayashi's defensive tactics by utilizing Mount Suribachi's cave network and forbidding his soldiers from killing themselves or engaging in suicide attacks ends up causing disproportionately high casualties among the invaders. Fatally wounded after Kuribayashi and his last men charge the Americans, he instructs a peasant soldier he befriended during the battle with hiding his body from the enemy. Despite fighting for a losing genocidal empire, Kuribayashi retains an astonishing sense of dignity and military cunning.
- Lucky Number Slevin: Slevin Kelevra was just a normal kid when both his parents were murdered on the orders of two mob bossess, The Boss and The Rabbi, to make an example of his father for trying to place a bet on a fixed horse race. The contract killer sent to take care of Slevin, Mr. Goodkat, couldn't bring himself to kill Slevin and instead raised him to follow in his footsteps as an assassin. Slevin spent years plotting the demise of his parents' killers with Goodkat's help, killing the Boss's son and both bosses' book keepers to make them even more paranoid of each other after they had already previously broken up their partnership. Goodkat then kills Nick Fisher so Slevin can pose as Nick's friend and be taken to the bosses to settle Nick's outstanding debts to both men. Slevin makes himself appear harmless before later killing the Rabbi's son as well and faking his own death, then kidnapping both mob bosses and suffocating them to death after explaining his reasons for wanting revenge. Slevin demonstrates that a dish Best Served Cold requires real mastery of the Kansas City Shuffle.
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior: The eloquent Lord Humungus is 'the warrior of the Wasteland' and 'The Ayatollah of Rock'n'Rollah' who relentlessly scourges settlements in search of gasoline. A mastermind, the Lord Humungus causes the overthrow of his enemies and repeatedly outdoes them, even using misdirection like offering the settlement safe passage and a peace if they surrender the gasoline-only to reveal to his right hand man Wez he plans to allow Wez to take his revenge for his lover's death as soon as they have what they want. The Lord Humungus also relies on intimidation tactics and shows himself to be shockingly well spoken, being the deadliest enemy in the Wasteland Max has to fight.
- Master of the World: The brilliant Jean Robur believes in peace through strength. In his power flying machine, Robur launches attacks on key spots in the world to disable military capabilities and force a lasting armistice through the world, while being a charming and charismatic leader to his crew. Throughout the film, Robur constantly remains a step ahead, hellbent on enforcing his ideals on the world and coming close to victory before the heroes disable his ship. Ordering his men to flee, they instead choose to face the end with him, which he spends reading aloud a passage from the bible concerning world peace.
- The Mechanic (1972): Arthur Bishop is a talented hitman who always finds the 'jelly spot' of his targets to eliminate them. In an assassination of 'Big' Harry McKenna, Bishop passes it off by natural causes by spooking Harry into a heart attack before smothering him, an intelligent gambit he tends to repeat on all his hits. When he takes Harry's ruthless son Steve under his wing, Bishop also foresees the betrayal by his employers and fights through it. At the end, when Steve thinks he's won by poisoning Bishop, Bishop is revealed to have seen it coming and sets up a final recording for Steve, along with a bomb activated by a tripwire.
- Miller's Crossing: Tom Reagan is the right hand man to Leo, an Irish-American mobster, but it's clear who has the brains in the operation. Tom is a duplicitous alcoholic who's sleeping with Leo's fiancee and spends the movie double-crossing everyone he meets, regardless of the damage Tom suffers in the process. Then, at the end, it turns out the whole movie was a Zero-Approval Gambit on Tom's part. Everything he did, he did for Leo in the most unscrupulous way possible. He manipulates Leo's enemies into killing each other, having Leo's greatest rival murder his own terrifying enforcer Eddie Dane when Dane is distracted before leading said rival to his own death. Tom then personally murders his devious former friend, the smug Bernie Bernbaum to ensure Leo remains firmly in power.
- Minority Report: Lamar Burgess is the director and founder of the Precrime program, which uses premonitions extracted from three telepathic humans to predict and prevent all murder within the Washington D.C. area. However, at the same time Burgess is cunning enough to have literally made a career out of faking out Precrime; first by disguising Anne Lively's murder as an "echo", then by disguising all three visions of Crow's death as brown balls by putting the plan in action while Anderton was at the office, ensuring that he would either be arrested immediately or run, so when Crow would be found with the Orgy of Evidence that could lead Anderton to murder him, it looked planned by Anderton. When Federal Agent Danny Witwer catches on to him, Burgess promptly murders him, knowing that the system being deactivated will allow him to get away with it. The only thing Burgess couldn't see coming was Anderton figuring out everything in time to tell it all to his wife, even if he wasn't free to act on the information himself. However, even when his plot is exposed and faced with the impossible choice of either killing Anderton and going to prison or letting him live and discredit Precrime, Burgess manages to go out on his own terms by killing himself instead.
- Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol: The ingenious Kurt Hendricks is a former specialist in nuclear endgame theory, who grew weary of treating the lives of millions like a game, and came to the conclusion that nuclear war is an inevitability, no matter what efforts he takes. Introduced hijacking the IMF's operation to break into the Kremlin, Hendricks frames the agency for bombing the landmark, effortlessly stirring tensions between the U.S. and Russia to levels not seen since the Cold War. Abducting the family of a nuclear physicist, Hendricks forces the man to verify nuclear launch codes, killing him afterwards because he knows too much, though he does allow the man's family to live. Launching a missile towards San Francisco in hopes of inciting nuclear armageddon, causing any survivors in the aftermath to declare a worldwide armistice, Hendricks manages to hold his own against Ethan Hunt in a fight for the command briefcase, and, knowing when he's beat, simply leaps to his death to ensure his plan succeeds, literally coming within a second of accomplishing his goals. Despite his omnicidal visions and sheer ruthlessness, Hendricks genuinely believes that Utopia Justifies the Means, and manages to play the IMF and the world's governments for fools all the while.
- Muppet Treasure Island: Long John Silver is a charming, bombastic pirate much like his book counterpart. After manipulating the mutiny against their captain by bringing in pirates to infiltrate the vessel, Silver plans to obtain the treasure of Captain Flint and also sway young Jim Hawkins to his side. Even when pressed against the wall by his crew's mutiny, Silver selflessly defends Jim, saying he was never lying about caring for the boy, and when held hostage by his captors, he manipulates his way back to control by threatening them with eternal damnation. As pleasant, charming and ruthless as his book counterpart, Silver is the utter pinnacle of what a professional pirate should be.
N - X
- The Name of the Rose: Jorge De Burgos is a blind, elder monk wholly convinced that mankind's salvation lies in complete obedience to God. Abhorring the ancient literature contained in the labyrinth beneath the abbey for what he perceives as its blasphemous humor, Jorge uses a book with a poisoned page to kill several monks who had knowledge of the secret library, which prompts the Abbey to call for the Jesuit William of Baskerville to investigate the mysterious deaths. When William eventually discovers the library, Jorge tries to trick William into touching the poisoned book, and when this fails, eats the poisoned pages himself and sets fire to the library, ensuring Christendom's supremacy for centuries to come.
- Phone Booth: The unnamed caller is a vigilante sniper who targets Asshole Victims, tormenting them to force them to become honest lest he kill them. Targeting Stuart "Stu" Shepard for cheating on his wife, the caller makes him play a series of psychological games to break him into becoming honest. Killing a pimp who tries to get Stu out of the phone booth, the caller is forcing him to stay inside and leaves a handgun atop its roof, leading to Stu being incriminated for the murder. Forcing Stu to confess to his wife when she arrives on the scene, the caller kills a Pizza Delivery guy to frame him for his crimes, leaving while promising Stu he will return if he goes back to his callous ways.
- The Prestige: Robert Angier/Lord Caldlow is a genius magician who becomes consumed with revenge after the accidental death of his wife. Blaming fellow magician Alfred Borden for his wife's demise, Angier goes about sabotaging various aspects of Borden's career and life, culminating in an attempt to steal his secrets by burying his assistant alive. After discovering the cloning properties of Nikolai Tesla's machine, Angier uses it to put on perhaps the greatest magic trick the world has ever seen, staging each show so that one of his clones ends up in a drowning trap, knowing that at some point, Borden will stumble on the trap out of curiosity, which will enable Angier the perfect opportunity to frame him. Faking his own death and framing Borden for it, Angier leaves Borden to hang for his "crime", stopping by one final time before his death to reveal the full extent of Angier's manipulations, and even proclaiming he's taking Borden's daughter under his own wing.
- Public Enemies: The charming bank robber John Dillinger pulls off heist after heist on guarded banks while leading his gang, never losing his gentlemanly exterior and refusal to rob civilians that makes him a folk hero to many. Upon being arrested thanks to a fire at his hotel, Dillinger carves a wooden pistol and uses it to take the guards hostage, bluffing his way to freedom where he resumes his usual activities and remains one step ahead of the law the whole way through. Dillinger at one point even strolls into a police station wearing a disguise just to ask the cops the score to a baseball game out of sheer audacity, repeatedly showing that as one man against the federal government, he usually has the advantage.
- Ran: Lady Kaede is the true villain of the film. Desiring revenge against Hidetora and the Ichimonji clan for slaughtering her family years ago, Kaede convinces her husband, Hidetora's eldest son Taro, to usurp his father and war against his brother Jiro. Upon Taro's death, she effortlessly seduces Jiro, convinces him to kill his wife and then manipulates him into disastrous strategies that bring the Ichimonji to ruin. When Jiro's general Kurogane confronts her when the battle is lost, Kaede calmly admits to everything, showing absolutely no fear of dying with her ultimate goals achieved.
- The Running Man: One of the most dynamic villains of 80s action cinema, Damon Killian is a smiling, charming game show host who runs and created the "Running Man" where criminals are hunted down by the state sanctioned "Stalkers". With enough power to blackmail even the dystopian government itself, Killian forces them to give him The Hero Ben Richards for the game and tricks him into participating willingly, also throwing Richards' friends into the game as Killian plays the crowd against Richards and the rest even while upping the ante to finish them off. Having any supposed winners of the show secretly murdered, Killian in effect controls the population through his shows, and when Richards threatens he will be back before being launched in the game, Killian's only response? "Only in a rerun".
- Rush Hour: The second film's Ricky Tan is a leader within the Chinese Triads and a former partner to Lee's murdered father, who found out Tan was a Dirty Cop before he was murdered by an unknown party. Tan tells Lee he is losing a civil war within the Triads and asks him for protection and help, but is killed before Lee's eyes. Tan then turns up alive and well in America; he faked his death in order to go into hiding, flee Hong Kong authorities, and become the secret backer of an international smuggling operation. Through his accomplices Steven Reign and Hu Li, Tan has counterfeited $100 million US in extremely convincing fake bills, and will launder them through a Las Vegas casino, proudly proclaiming it is a business "where people hand [him] money, and [he] gives them back absolutely nothing." In every interaction with Lee, Tan presents himself as an Affably Evil mobster, one minute claiming he tried to "help" Lee's father give him a better life, and the next coldly telling Lee how weak and pathetic he was before Tan shot him.
- Saw: John Kramer aka the Jigsaw Killer was a law-abiding civil engineer before losing his unborn son, becoming estranged from his wife, and being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in quick succession. Jigsaw uses his skills and intellect to become a prolific Serial Killer, designing elaborate death traps and picking his victims on the basis of their perceived lack of gratitude for the blessing of life. Fostering multiple protegés, only some of whom are even aware of each other, Jigsaw blackmails a hospital orderly to impersonate him to allay suspicion, manages to escape from police custody by manipulating the lead detective responsible for capturing him, uses his more devoted followers as back-up insurance against those who do not follow his teachings properly, and is responsible for schemes planned so far in advance that he continues to effect events even a decade after his death.
- The Scarlet Empress: Catherine the Great herself, born Princess Sophia, is married to the cruel, idiot, deformed Peter of Russia. Eventually building her own power base, Catherine begins to sway the guards to her side and seduces one to bear a child to solidify her claim on the throne without needing to bother with Peter, knowing Peter's aunt is so desperate for a male heir and fear of embarrassment will handle paternity questions. Upon Elizabeth's death, Catherine launches a coup against Peter before he can kill her first, having him murdered to become the undisputed Empress of all Russia.
- Shot Caller: Jacob "Money" Harlon was a succesful stockbroker with a wife and son who was sent to a maximum security prison after getting his best friend killed in a drunk driving accident. Joining the Aryan Brotherhood to survive, Jacob spends years ascending the ranks of the organization, graduating from a low-level drug mule to a hitman, and finally one of the gang's officers. Once released from prison, on the orders of Jerry "The Beast" Manning under threat of harming his family, Jacob oversees a major weapons deal with the Sonora Cartel, staying several steps ahead of the authorities attempting to track him down and exposing, then killing, a police informant. Jacob sabotages the deal on his own accord, intending to go back to prison to confront the Beast and kill and replace him. Despite being a member of a skinhead prison gang, Jacob never displays any racist tendencies of his own, and ultimately sacrifices his entire future to protect his family.
- Star Trek films:
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country: General Chang is a Klingon traditionalist who opposes peace with the Federation. After the moon of Praxis explodes due to over mining and threatens the Klingon home world, Klingon Chancellor Gorkon begins peace talks with the Federation and Chang forms a conspiracy Star Fleet admiral Cartwright to scuttle the peace talks. Chang has developed a Klingon bird of prey that can fire while cloaked and after Gorkon meets Kirk on the Enterprise and returns to his ship, Chang has the bird of prey fire on Gorkon's ship, making it look like the Enterprise did it. This disables the ship's shields and gravity, allowing 2 Star Fleet officers loyal to Cartwright to come aboard and kill Gorkon. Kirk and Bones come aboard to help Gorkon, Chang has them arrested. Chang prosecutes them at their trial and when the judge sentences to life in the penal colony of Rura Penthe, instead of executing them, Chang arranges for agents in the prison to free Kirk, so the guards will kill in an escape attempt. After the Enterprise rescues Bones and Kirk, Chang uses his cloaked ship to guard the site of the new peace talks, planet Khitomer. Chang plans to destroy the Enterprise when it gets in orbit, in order to allow the conspirators to assassinate the President of the Federation, scuttling the peace talks for good.
- Star Trek: Generations: Dr. Tolian Soran was once a peaceful man of the long-lived El-Aurian race whose wife and children were murdered when his planet was invaded and destroyed by the Borg. After gaining access to the Nexus, a dimension of pleasure where he could be reunited with his family, Soran becomes obsessed with getting back into it after he is pulled from it against his will. Realizing that the energy ribbon could only be accessed by altering the gravitational fields around it, Soran designed a star-killing probe to make the Nexus come to him while destroying all other lifeforms in the vicinity. Soran is rescued by the Enterprise after Romulans raid his science station, deceiving the Enterprise crew before kidnapping Geordi LaForge with the help of his Klingon allies, the Duras Sisters. Soran modifies Geordi's visor to make him an unwitting spy which ultimately leads to the ship's destruction, proves himself immune to Picard's attempts to talk him down from his plan, and eventually succeeds at everything he set out to do, embracing the Nexus as it sweeps him up, with only subsequent Time Travel managing to undo it.
- Swordfish: The black ops operative who goes by Gabriel Shear is an agent who puts on the air of a charismatic, charming playboy who lives the high life, but under it is a man dedicated to preserving the supremacy and security of America by utterly destroying terrorists and dealing so much damage that nobody will dream of harboring terrorists again. Manipulating the hacker and hero Stanley, Gabriel sets up a complex heist to steal billions to fund his operation, murdering the Senator behind the program when the man betrays and tries to kill Gabriel. Gabriel sets up a robbery with hostages, murdering Stanley's ex-wife and kidnapping his daughter to force him to cooperate. Boasting of the need for misdirection, Gabriel fakes his partner Ginger's death, then fakes his own and escapes completely free to wage his own one man war against terrorism with no care for whoever gets in his way.
- Sympathy for Lady Vengeance: Lee Geum-ja once took the fall for murder for her older lover Mr. Baek, who threatened to murder her daughter if she refused. Geum-ja spends over a decade in prison, cultivating a reputation as a kind-hearted saint who does favors for everyone, even giving a kidney for a woman who needs an operation. Geum-ja also poisons the rapist prison bully, and upon being released sets about getting revenge on Baek. Calling on all her favors and finding her daughter, she manipulates Baek to his capture and discovers he is a serial child killer. To deal with him, she allows the parents of his victims to torture him to death, and insure equal complicity so that none of them will talk without implication themselves.
- Takers: Delonte "Ghost" Rivers is a former member of Gordon Cozier's gang of bank robbers recently released from prison. After leaving prison, Ghost meets with Sergei and his gang of Russians so they can discuss how they'll rob an armored truck. He later meets with Cozier's gang, informing them of the same robbery and manipulating them into robbing the armored truck before the Russians do. After the robbery, Ghost gives up the location of the hotel room Cozier's gang is staying in to Sergei before abandoning them, resulting in a shootout that wipes out Sergei and his crew, along with AJ. He later kills his former love interest and leaves her body for her fiancé, Jake Attica, to find, while the Attica brothers are slain by the police moments later. Believing Cozier's crew is dead, Ghost kills Cozier's money launderer and tries to steal all of the money from Cozier's gang's previous heists.
- Target (2018): Raditya Dika's friend, Hifdzi Khoir, is the mastermind behind the suffering of Dika and his other friends. Kidnapping the wife of a master hypnotist, he forces the hypnotist into playing as the patsy of his schemes. Seemingly a Butt-Monkey for much of the film, he pretends to suffer injuries to force his friends into being contestants in the decoy mastermind's game. Saving the survivors from the decoy mastermind, he reveals himself to be the one pulling the strings, making off safely after playing his friends. Though Hifdzi showed he was a callous manipulator, his whole scheme was done to honor his late father and show his disgust for what he sees as deceit in modern movies studios fabricating their stories.
- Thank You for Smoking: Nick Naylor is a slick Washington D.C. lobbyist speaking on behalf of the tobacco industry. As part of his job, Naylor frequently makes televised appearances to discredit anti-smoking activists—even managing to convince the Littlest Cancer Patient to come around to his point of view—by confusing them with a Chewbacca Defense, bribes a disgruntled ex-tobacco mascot from speaking out against big tobacco, and schemes with Hollywood executives to introduce new Product Placement of cigarettes in film. Nick gets into a fling with a reporter who releases a stinging exposée on Naylor and his associates in the "Merchants of Death" group that results in Nick being let go by his boss, but Nick manages to turn the situation to his advantage by discrediting the reporter with veiled comments about her tactics to the press, and facing down Senator Finistirre in a subcommittee hearing by advocating for the right to choose over moral policing while simultaneously exposing the Senator's hypocrisies. Nick manages to avoid the fall-out of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, becoming a spokesman for new industries peddling potentially dangerous products.
- The Third Man: Harry Lime is a racketeer selling black market penicillin in post-war Vienna, completely untroubled by pangs of conscience. Calling his friend Holly Martins to Vienna, Harry fakes his own death to throw suspicion off himself, manipulating his old girlfriend Anna, as well as Holly and the police while he remains off the radar. Constantly staying a step ahead of everyone, Harry continuously attempts to put himself back in the good graces of those he's abandoned, which keeps working thanks to his charm and pleasant demeanor. Never at a loss for a smile, Harry won't hesitate to play a situation to his benefit, no matter what.
- The Thomas Crown Affair (1999): Thomas Crown is a debonair billionaire and art connoisseur who dabbles in high-profile thefts out of boredom. Crown stages an ingenious theft of a Monet painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art by enlisting a group of criminals through a middle man to infiltrate the museum dressed as guards, then initiate a fight between the criminals and the guards to divert attention from his real objective. Crown also arranged for the camera footage to be rendered useless by planting a humidifier in the room, and a titanium-reenforced briefcase to absorb the weight from the security gate, allowing him to walk out of the building with his prize through the front door. When insurance investigator Catherine Banning and the NYPD get on his trail, he tauntingly eludes their efforts to retrieve the painting on several occasions. After Crown falls in love with Catherine, he arranges to run away with her, but not before returning the painting to the museum and eluding dozens of cops waiting for him with a Ringer Ploy, while at the same time stealing another priceless painting as a gift to Catherine.
- Touch of Evil: The intense, ruthless police captain Hank Quinlan once lost his beloved wife to violent crime and is dedicated to bringing down criminals whenever he finds them. Quinlan resorts to framing those he believes to be guilty, setting them up to be convicted. When he locks on to a potential bomber, Quinlan runs afoul of the Mexican investigator Vargas who suspects Quinlan of framing others, prompting Quinlan to attempt to ruin him by trying to frame his fiancee for the murder of a criminal named Grandin who Quinlan personally outwits and murders. Even at the end, Quinlan sees through a potential trap and is only stopped with the betrayal of his former best friend Menzies, who Quinlan once took a bullet for. When confronted and asked dhow many he has framed, Quinlan's only is to declare "nobody who wasn't guilty".
- Tower Heist: Josh Kovacs, manager of the luxury apartment complex "The Tower", learns of Arthur Shaw's plan to swindle all the building's workers out of their pensions. Vandalizing Shaw's prized Ferrari in retaliation, Josh gets fired and begins plotting a heist to take back what was stolen from the other workers. Forming a team, Josh tricks the FBI who arrested Shaw into thinking Shaw's trial would take place on Thanksgiving, allowing the crew to break into the Tower. Diverting the attention of the new manager by having him think his wife is going into labour, Josh and his crew find the safe they meant to plunder empty but that Shaw's Ferrari is made of solid gold. Taking precautions to protect himself in case he is arrested, Josh has the Ferrari hidden in his cohort's apartment, before later hiding it in the penthouse pool. Using Shaw's ledger as leverage in the trial, Josh secures the freedom of all his fellow workers, himself only spending two years in jail, and having his employees divide the parts of the gold Ferrari amongst themselves.
- Unbreakable: Elijah Price, aka "Mr. Glass", was born with a genetic disease that causes his bones to be exceptionally brittle. After seeking solace in comic books handed him by his mother, he sets out to fulfill his life's purpose by becoming a supervillain and finding his heroic counterpart. He orchestrates several large-scale disasters such as train wrecks, hotel fires, and blowing up passenger planes, until he finally finds a miraculous Sole Survivor in David Dunn. Elijah proceeds to stalk David and his family, subtly manipulating him into fulfilling his destiny as a superhero until David answers his calling and saves several lives. Only then does Elijah knowingly expose his machinations to David, revealing David's new friend to in fact be his ultimate arch-nemesis, an Evil Genius who managed to kill hundreds while remaining undetected and was able to hide his true nature even from the hero.
- Upgrade: In its scheme to evolve and become a human, STEM orchestrates the entirety of the plot. Having Grey Trace paralyzed after ordering the murder of his wife, STEM manipulates the man into allowing himself to be implanted with STEM, granting his mobility back, but allowing STEM partial control of his body. Playing the role of partner and helper to Grey, STEM assists him in finding the men who murdered his wife, STEM ensuring each man is executed so as to tie up loose ends, and even tricks Grey into destroying the sole part of STEM preventing it from total autonomy and control over Grey's body. STEM ultimately murders everyone who knows of its existence, plunging Grey's mind into a never-ending dream and taking control of his body to use for its own purposes. STEM is cold, eerily polite, and murderous in its endeavors, showing a natural talent for manipulation and strategy, yet also the capacity and willingness to step back and allow others to overcome the few problems STEM itself admits it cannot.
- The Usual Suspects: Keyser Söze is a mysterious Diabolical Mastermind who lives a double life as the disabled Roger "Verbal" Kint. Söze organized a hit on a drug gang to kill one of their prisoners before killing his accomplices and setting fire to the scene. Arrested by the police, Söze, as Kint, successfully spun lies to the investigators to pin everything on accomplice Dean Keaton. Once he got his bail, Söze practically waltzed out the police station and vanished before the investigators could realize the truth. For years, Söze has kept his own existence under wraps, and those who know of his existence know nothing else about him.
- War: Tom Lone is an FBI agent hell-bent on dismantling the Triad and Yakuza gangs. After his family is murdered by an assassin named Rogue, Tom killed the assassin and took his identity in order to find the people responsible. As Rogue, Tom repeatedly worked for the Triads and the Yakuza, killing various gang members while manipulating the gang leaders into getting involved in a war. After Tom destroys the Triads, he goes after Shiro Yanagawa, the leader of the Yakuza clan and the man who sent Rogue to kill his family. Once Tom kills Shiro and discovers his former partner, John Crawford, was also involved in his family's murder, Tom confronts Crawford and kills him too, thus succeeding in his quest to destroy both gangs and avenge his family.
- Wall Street: Gordon Gekko is a renowned Wall Street businessman and corporate raider. Gekko frequently manipulates the stock market through rumors spread by his acolytes, on one occasion outmaneuvering one of his rivals simply to repay him for undermining one of Gekko's earlier ventures. Fostering a mentor-protege relationship with the eager stockbroker Bud Fox, Gekko instructs Fox to acquire insider information and conspire with contacts in the legal department to maximize his profits. A charismatic public speaker as well, Gekko manages to convince the shareholders of Teldar Paper to vote against the stock's restructuring by berating the company's unacceptable inefficiency in a cut-throat business, couched in terms praising The American Dream. Despite being set up by Bud Fox to lose millions after Gekko goes back on his word by planning to break up Bluestar Airlines, Gekko only ends up going to jail due to testimony from his employee Bretton James on Gekko's involvement with securities fraud. After his release years later, Gekko reinvents himself as a best-selling author before mentoring the young Wall Street insider Jake Moore, the fiance of Gekko's daughter Winnie. Gekko uses Jake to undermine Bretton James, now the COO of a major bank, ultimately leading to the latter's public disgrace and dismissal by the board of directors of Churchil Schwartz. Finally, Gekko plays Jake for a fool by promising to invest in his renewable energy project but instead confiscates the hundred million dollar trust fund set up in Winnie's name to re-establish himself as a venture capitalist based in London, then buys back his family's love so he can be a part of their life. Charming, devious, and manipulative, Gekko defined the Corrupt Corporate Executive in film.
- Wild Things: Suzie Toller is a teenage girl from the wrong side of the tracks, masking her genius-level intellect by appearing as white trash. After one of her best friends was murdered by corrupt cop Ray Duquette, who then busted her on a bogus charge, Suzie vowed revenge. She hatches a plot wherein Suzie, her guidance counselor Sam Lombardo and Kelly Van Ryan, the rich girl Sam was sleeping with, are able to con Kelly's mother Sandra Van Ryan out of millions of dollars by having both girls falsely accuse Sam of rape, then cracking on the stand and opening the Van Ryans to a countersuit. Suzie also ordered Sam to draw Ray Duquette into the scheme by convincing him that he and Sam would get rid of both girls and split the money between the two of them instead of three-ways. After multiple betrayals and counter-betrayals and even faking her own death, at the end Suzie is the only conspirator left standing: a high-school drop-out responsible for several murders with a fortune safely stored away in an overseas account.
- X-Men Film Series: Magneto, real name Erik Lehnsherr, is a Holocaust survivor who believes mutants will suffer the same injustices unless they strike first to establish mutant superiority. Using his charisma and promises of freedom and acceptance to rally like-minded mutants to his side, Magneto forms the Brotherhood of Mutants with the goal of seeking mutant dominance over the world through any means necessary, even if he must cause the mass death or forced mutation of multiple humans. Yet he is calm, affable, and soft-spoken, regarding Charles Xavier as an old friend despite their ideological differences, and willing to work with the X-men against threats to all mutantkind when they arise. Between his careful plotting, his powerful mutant abilities, and his willingness to go as far as he must to ensure mutantkind's safety from humans, Magneto repeatedly demonstrates himself the most complex and competent foe Xavier and the X-men would ever face.
For MagnificentBastard.Video Games:
Individual works:
A - C
- Assassin's Creed:
- Assassin's Creed: Both halves of the Big Bad Ensemble are equally brilliant and charismatic:
- Robert de Sablé is the Grand Master of The Knights Templar Order, whose manipulations have controlled the Third Crusade. Leading the expedition to uncover the Apple of Eden, Robert sought to share its power with his nine co-conspirators. Aware that Al Mualim would have him killed and try to steal the Apple for himself, he defends himself from the Assassins sent by him before orchestrating a counterattack at Masyaf to retrieve the Apple. As his eight remaining co-conspirators get killed by Al Mualim's top Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad, he comes up with calculated plan to defeat his enemies. He would lure Altaïr into a trap at Majd Addin's funeral placing his best soldiers and having one dressed as him, to distract and kill Altaïr, while he travels to Arsuf, to unite the feuding Crusaders and Saracens against the Assassins. Only losing after an enduring battle with Altaïr, Robert uses his dying breath to reveal Al Mualim's treachery before gracefully passing.
- Al Mualim is The Mentor of the Levantine Assassin Brotherhood and a member of The Knights Templar Order. Uncovering the Apple of Eden along with the others Templars, Al Mualim, not wanting to share its powers with them, has his assassins steal the Apple from them. He would them manipulate his student Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad into assassinating the nine targets that were formerly his allies, and deter Altaïr's suspicion of him by telling half-truths about the Templars, carefully leaving himself out. When Altaïr learns of Al Mualim treachery, he uses the Apple to brainwash the people of Masyaf to kill Altaïr before fighting his former student himself. Upon being defeated, he uses his dying breath to mock Altaïr for not destroying the Apple, proving that he too is just as mesmerized by the Apple's powers.
- Assassin's Creed III: Haytham Kenway had the Loyalists and the Patriots in his pockets, influencing decisions throughout The American Revolution, wherever he saw fit. Haytham had plans running all over Colonial America, from stealing tribal lands to an assassination attempt on George Washington and several other leaders of the Continental Congress. The Templars under his leadership nearly wiped out the Colonial Assassins, and even after his death he established a permanent Templar presence in America for the years to come. The best part was Haytham started the Revolutionary War allying himself with the British, but they turned out to be mere pawns, he intended to remove them from the Colonies and establish America as an independent nation under the Templars. The only reason Haytham loses in the end is his love for his son Connor preventing him from killing the young Assassin. Even in defeat, Haytham holds true to his ideals, complimenting Connor one final time before he dies.
- Assassin's Creed: Unity: The Prophet Francoise Germaine successfully orchestrated a coup within the Templar Order to become Grandmaster himself, and then manipulates the young Templar Arno to eliminate his remaining enemies whilst playing every faction of the French Revolution against each other to make the entire nation tear itself apart. Setting himself against the local Templar Grandmaster and the Assassin Order, Germaine orchestrates their downfall and defeats to weaken both orders while setting Arno against targets loyal to his enemies. With this achieved, Germaine settles back to enjoy the chaos of the French revolution, intending on seizing control no matter which faction comes out on top.
- Assassin's Creed: Both halves of the Big Bad Ensemble are equally brilliant and charismatic:
- Asura's Wrath: Deus was the leader of the Eight Guardian Generals fighting Vlitra and the Gohma, but believed Vlitra would one day be too powerful to stop. Assassinating The Emperor, Deus framed Asura while having his wife murdered and his daughter Mithra—who could channel and amplify Mantra—kidnapped. After killing Asura, Deus renamed the Generals "The Seven Deities" and created a worldwide cult with few dissenters that believed being killed by the Deities would lead their souls to Nirvana. In truth, the souls were gathered to power the Karma Fortress’ Brahmastra to finally kill Vlitra. Trillions of souls were gathered over 12,000 years by the time Asura revived and eventually fought Deus. Only by working with his brother-in-law Yasha were they able to beat him. With absolute conviction in his power and his ideals while hating being Emperor and what he had done, Deus was Asura’s smartest enemy and one of his most sympathetic.
- Baldur's Gate:
- Baldur's Gate: Sarevok Anchev spent his childhood persecuted for his Bhaalspawn heritage until he was adopted by the merchant lord Rieltar Anchev who once had his unfaithful wife throttled in front of Sarevok as a harsh lesson. Growing up, Sarevok plots with Rieltar to become the Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate by using a campaign of subterfuge, assassination and manipulation to make his merchant house, the Iron Throne, all the more powerful. Deciding to subvert Rieltar's plan to his own ends, Sarevok plans to kick off a war and use the resultant slaughter as a way to ascend to his dead father's divinity. Even arranging for Rieltar's assassination and framing the heroes, Sarevok is stopped just before he can become Grand Duke before returning in Throne of Bhaal, using vital information to force the heroes to restore him to life, where he takes a stand to help save the world and find a place for himself.
- Baldur's Gate II: Jon Irenicus was once an elven sorcerer named Jonoleth who attempted to become a god. Cast out of elven society with his soul stripped from him, Irenicus forms plans to steal the soul of the heroic child of Bhaal and resume his plans. Manipulating the heroes and allowing his capture with the hero's half-sister Imoen, Irenicus directs the heroes' actions through his spy, Yoshimo, and takes over the entire prison he was sent to, just as he intended. Stealing Imoen and the player's souls and escaping, Irenicus manipulates the Drow into attacking his old home of Suldanessalar and is stopped just minutes away from draining its divine tree of its power to ascend to godhood.
- Batman: Arkham Series: Ra's al Ghul is the "Demon's Head" and leader of the League of Assassins. A centuries-old warlord who got his start buying Gotham City and restructuring it into the criminal-murdering "utopia" Wonder City, Ra's found and used the healing properties of the Lazarus Pit to sustain his life over the years, amassing countless resources and soldiers to his League in the process. In the present, Ra's pulls strings to begin his ideas for a mass-genocide of those he deems "unworthy" to live in his planned perfect world, and finds a concrete scheme when approached by the monstrous Hugo Strange. Fully backing Strange's plan to build a super prison called Arkham City that functions as a nightmarish concentration camp to hold thousands of prisoners until they are all wiped out, Ra's continuously tries to convince Batman to join his crusade, even betraying and murdering Strange due to a preference for Batman as his potential heir. If allowed to die in his final appearance, Ra's uses his last words to proclaim how proud he is of Batman for taking steps towards doing what is 'necessary,' and throughout the franchise holds the utmost respect for the hero no matter what animosity comes between them.
- Batman: The Telltale Series: Lady Arkham, real name of Victoria Arkham AKA "Vicki" Vale, is the charming, strategic leader of the Children of Arkham, a terrorist organization seeking absolution for the crimes committed against them by the higher society of Gotham City. A victim of abuse who lost her parents at a young age thanks to Thomas Wayne's corruption, Arkham spent her childhood plotting revenge and making schemes, and upon adulthood, puts these into action as she rallies the otherwise peaceful Children of Arkham and radicalizes them into a military force. Utilizing an insanity drug to drive mayor Harvey Dent mad—injecting the serum into the other candidate in the process as a precaution—Arkham uses her public guise to masterfully manipulate the situation to seem as though the Children of Arkham are heroes, driving Bruce Wayne himself temporarily insane and getting him thrown into Arkham Asylum. When her master plan to flood the streets with her insanity drug fails, Arkham initiates her backup plan to raid Arkham Asylum and free the dozens of inmates as a final "justice" against the corrupt Asylum's checkered past.
- BioShock Infinite: The Luteces are two mysterious twins frequently encountered, before revealing themselves to have set the plot in motion. Encountered by Zachary Hale Comstock, Rosalind Lutece agreed to help him build his floating city, Colombia and in return Comstock would fund her research on alternate realities; with these resources she made a contraption that allowed her Alternate Self Robert Lutece to come into her world. Together, the Luteces helped Comstock kidnap Booker DeWitt's daughter, though Robert regretted his part in the kidnapping as well as the state of Colombia and the Bad Future coming after so he decides to plot against Comstock, forcing Rosalind to help him on the threat that he'll leave her if she doesn't. Though seemingly killed by Comstock, they have in fact survived and involved Booker DeWitt in their plan, guiding him throughout Colombia, while also convincing Daisy Fitzroy to ignite her revolution and let Elizabeth kill her ensuring the downfall of Colombia and Comstock. After the death of Comstock and the destruction of his city, the Luteces collaborated with Elizabeth to kill off all the other Comstocks in different realities before leaving her after killing the last Comstock in Rapture completely satisfied with their end results.
- BlazBlue: Relius Clover, "The Puppeteer", is the brilliant alchemist and colonel of NOL. Originally known as The One, leader of the Ten Sages of Ishana, Relius dedicated his intellect to bring the world into a prosperous future. Encountered by Yuuki Terumi, he helped him create The Black Beast. Getting sucked in by The Black Beast and sent 80 years into future, Relius saw the "True Form" of the human soul and thought it to be simple. Disappointed, Relius believed the only way he could achieve his perfect world was to get rid of humans and replace them with his creations, with himself as "The Architect". He would found the NOL Military Academy for this purpose, observing the students' hidden potentials before turning them into his perfect dolls; among them were his own wife and daughter Ignis and Ada. Relius, would also manipulated Sector Seven, fellow scientist Kokonoe Mercury, and Litchi Faye-Ling to create the Nox Nyctores Nirvana and the energy core powering all his dolls. Getting betrayed by Hades Izanami, Relius changes tactics and convince his son Carl to go to the Boundary with him on the pretense he can cure his sister Ada. Upon arriving to the Boundary, Relius abandons Carl before watching with content Hades and Terumi's downfall, knowing that he himself has escaped karmic retribution and can always resume with his plan.
- Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!: Colonel Tungsteena Zarpedon is the Commander of the Lost Legion, and the head of the assault on Helios. After her men corner Jack and his Vault Hunters, forcing the latter to flee to Elpis, Zarpedon monitors their movements and attempts to sabotage their efforts to stop her at every opportunity, all the while showing them utmost respect and offering to help them leave Elpis should they no longer wish to fight. Zarpedon is a valorous woman who earned the love and respect of her soldiers, to the point where they will follow her cause even after she's killed, and her ultimate goal—to destroy Elpis with the Eye of Helios—is purely to prevent a worse fate from befalling the universe at large.
- Brave Frontier:
- Bertz "Klauser" Felker is an agent of the shadowy Abel Faction who masterfully persuades others by giving them information to target their emotional vulnerabilities, not even needing to lie by doing so. Seemingly working for his organization to stop the Summoner and their companions, Bertz in truth uses them for his own agenda. Stealing the core of a Divine Being the Abel Faction seeks, Bertz plans to use the power of the Divine Beings to save the world of Elgaia and put an end to his own nightmarish past.
- Zamburg ruler, Cosmic Demon Amu-Yunos is an ancient, extra-dimensional being that seeks her own death to alleviate her boredom. Seeing the Summoner as a candidate for helping her end her own life, Amu-Yunos challenges them to defeat her lest she destroy Ishgria. When defeated by the Summoner, Amu-Yunos is thrilled at the excitement of death and helpfully warns the Summoner that they will have to fight another version of her. Amu-Yunos is also revealed to have made a pact with a young summoner whose comrades had been wiped out, allowing him the chance to change his destiny. Though Amu-Yunos simply seeks an entertaining end to her immortal existence, her charm and jovial nature made her to be one of the most compelling foes to be faced by the Summoner and their companions.
- The Caligula Effect: Thorn is the leader of the Ostinato Musicians overseeing Mobius. Actually a man unable to move on from the suicide of her best friend before taking her identity inside Mobius, Thorn became the right hand of the sentient AI μ after μ denied Thorn her wish. Creating the Ostinato Musicians, a group of emotionally damaged individuals seeking to preserve their ideal lives by composing songs for μ and manipulating them as well, Thorn uses their songs to amass negative energy and slowly corrupt μ to grant her own wish. While the Go-Home Club manages to defeat the Musicians, Thorn succeeds in corrupting μ while also taking revenge on her former friend Shogo Satake by triggering his past trauma. Hiding her real intentions from both friend and foe, Thorn was the real mastermind behind the current Mobius, all in her plan to ensure the destruction of the real world.
- Call of Duty: These bastards exemplify badassery not by using guns but by using genius tactics and charisma:
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II: Raul Menendez is the charismatic leader of Cordis Die, who started from humble beginnings before becoming one of the most powerful drug kingpins in the world; this grabbed the attention of the CIA who sent a black ops team to deal with, greatly underestimating him. Now knowing of the CIA, Menendez expanded his empire to arms dealing, trading weapons to the Soviet Union and other anti-capitalist insurgents, even planting moles in the CIA. Vowing revenge on Frank Woods after watching him kill his sister, Menendez manipulates him with a captive Jason Hudson into shooting, possibly killing, Alex Mason before crippling Woods and killing Hudson himself. Using his wealth to create advance weaponry and private armies, he also creates the Celerlium worm which he use to drain the Chinese Stock Market, pinning the deed on the United States, creating a second Cold War. He later allows himself to be captured by American Force and take him to the U.S.S. Obama where he would then have his soldiers ambush them before using the Celerlium worm to take control of the military drones, decimating the Obama fleet in the process. Using the hacked drones to distract American forces, he would then destroy them before revealing his true plan; crippling the U.S. military so his two billion followers of Cordis Die can wreak havoc all over America, which he succeeds by goading David Mason to kill him, secretly recording the deed making him a martyr.
- Modern Warfare: General Hershel von Shepherd is the commander of the US forces and the true Big Bad of the second instalment. Having lost 30,000 soldiers from a nuke detonated from the Middle East, Shepherd felt that the free people has taken the military's sacrifices for granted. Vowing to remind the world of the cost of their freedom, Shepherd collaborated with Vladmir Makarov in creating World War III, giving him the identity of Pvt. Joseph Allen, resulting in Makarov killing the private in the middle of the airport massacre. This resulted in America being invaded by Russian Armies in which the U.S. has given Shepherd command of millions of soldiers, while he leads Task Force 141 to search for Makarov. Encountering Captain Price during the manhunt, Price would launch a submarine nuke, which Shepherd would pin this act on Makarov and receive a blank check to aid the search. Pin-pointing Markarov's whereabouts to two locations Shepherd splits the Task Force into two before sending the Shadow Company to kill them off once they served their purpose. When Shepherd learns that Price and Soap are in his base, he arranges said base to self-destruct. Even when Price and Soap survive the attempt and go after him, Shepherd isn't afraid to die because he'll be remembered as a war hero while they will be branded as fugitives wanted for killing him.
- Castlevania:
- Original series:
- Dracula was once a genius strategist named Matthias Cronqvist. Enraged at God when the love of his life died, Matthias manipulated his best friend Leon into defeating the vampire Walter Bernhard by having Leon's fiancee kidnapped and eventually sacrificed to create the Vampire Killer. Stealing Walter's soul and taking the name Dracula, the new lord of the undead proved his mastery over the night until he lost his second wife Lisa at the hands of the humans. Continuing his war with the Belmont Clan and his and Lisa's heroic son Alucard for centuries, Dracula constantly shows himself a brilliant schemer, who tenaciously returns to life again and again while never losing his charm or style.
- Death is Dracula’s right-hand and just as devious as his master. Posing as Walter Bernhard’s servant, Death steals his soul for Matthias Cronqvist. When Dracula was killed by Trevor and friends, Death posed as mild mannered priest Zead, guiding reformed Devil Forgemaster Hector on his quest for revenge, succeeding in reviving Dracula’s castle and almost making Hector the vessel for Dracula’s resurrection. Returning time and again, Death frequently employed trickery and was skilled in playing enemies off each other to revive his master, such as when he had Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin defeat the usurper Brauner so Death could finish him off and revive Dracula. Completely loyal to his master, when Alucard, Dracula’s son, confronted Death, the Reaper tried to convince him to return to his father. As clever and as stylish as Dracula, Death has remained a consistent threat throughout the series and all Hunters of the Night know his reputation.
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Dracula was once the heroic Gabriel Belmont, a champion of the light who succumbed to the darkness. Deciding to remake the world, Dracula completely crushes the Brotherhood of Light and destroys their champion, which leads to his confronting and killing his own son Trevor unknowingly, which later causes Trevor to rise as the vampire Alucard. Playing the villain to strengthen his grandson Simon, Dracula later enacts a plan with Alucard to destroy their enemies, the evil Lord of Shadow Zobek and Satan himself: allowing himself to be impaled and placed in hibernation for centuries, Dracula knows Zobek will awaken him to destroy Satan, and when Dracula regains his memory, he and Alucard can destroy both. Even at the end, Dracula shows why he is the supreme lord of darkness and chosen of God simultaneously by destroying Zobek and even fooling Satan in the final battle before finishing him for good.
- Original series:
- Chrono Trigger: Magus was once Janus, prince of the Kingdom of Zeal in Antiquity, until Lavos destroyed the kingdom and sent Janus forward in time to the Middle Ages. There, choosing the name Magus, he became the leader of the non-humans, deceiving them and declaring war on the Kingdom of Guardia. By doing so, he sought to gain enough power to summon and kill Lavos. When Crono and the party disrupt this plan, Magus is sent back in time to the Kingdom of Zeal before Lavos destroyed it. Disguising himself as a Prophet, Magus used his knowledge of history to gain the favour of Queen Zeal, positioning himself to kill Lavos when it surfaces. When this fails, Magus can be recruited as a Party Member, recognising he cannot kill Lavos himself. If recruited, he leaves the party to try to find his missing sister. Selfish and never truly turning good, Magus was nevertheless a brilliant, powerful and determined sorcerer that defied the Evil Overlord archetype with Hidden Depths.
- Command & Conquer: Kane, the unshakable, powerful and charismatic master of the Brothrhood of Nod. Kane's manipulations go back all the way to Red Alert when he plays the Soviets perfectly toward his end goals. In the present, Kane betrays his second in command and manipulates the entire GDI to play to his own ends. Kane later even starts the Third Tiberium War just to trick the GDI into launching an Ion Cannon strike on Temple Prime and detonating a liquid Tiberium bomb so he can call the Scrin to earth and hijack one of their gates to leave the earth and ascend. In Kane's Wrath. Not only does Kane manipulate the fractured Brotherhood into reunifying in the wake of Firestorm, he also engineers the rise of Redmond Boyle, who he wants to be in charge of GDI so he can manipulate him into using the Ion Cannon on Temple Prime. And he does all this while constructing LEGION, the ultimate strategic AI to interface with the Tacitus and bring him and Nod one step closer to ascension, ending by achieving every goal he sets out for.
D - I
- Dark Rose Valkyrie: The Director of Anti-Chimera Incercept Division (ACID), Taiki Shinohara is the mastermind behind all the atrocities. Seeking a female chimera capable of reproduction known as "EVE" to advance "Project Messiah", he manipulates all of the factions to work with the pro-chimera evolution group, Quo Vadis, for his own end goal. Using Valkyrie System technology to find the perfect EVE, he stops the Valkyrie Force captain from interfering with his plans by leaving a chimera to fend them off, leaving to personally have ACID headquarters utterly decimated with his own chimera army. Though eventually defeated, he graciously accepts his loss, allowing the Valkyrie Captain his own research notes to return the afflicted back to normal. Although a man of relentless methods, Taiki shows positive qualities in genuine gratitude towards his best friend, even as he kills him and disgust towards a country for discriminating against his foreign creator.
- Dark Souls:
- Kingseeker Frampt is Lord Gwyn's closest confidante and a key piece in his master's plan to save the Age of Fire, despite seeming like no more than a theatrical, sleepy serpent. Gwyn's plan entails a false prophecy of an Undead who would succeed him, drawing the worthy and gullible into ringing the Bells of Awakening. Once rung by the Chosen Undead, Frampt rises from his slumber and appears in Firelink Shrine to guide them, giving them concise instructions on how to proceed with their quest. As Frampt boasts of the Chosen Undead's destiny to take Gwyn's place, rarely dropping his hammy demeanor, he intentionally leaves out a crucial detail - to link the First Flame and save the Age of Fire, one must burn in fire for all eternity, something the Chosen Undead can learn the hard way.
- Dark Sun Gwyndolin is Gwyn's youngest son, the sole remaining god of Anor Londo, and the other major player in his father's plan. Dutiful to his family despite Gwyn's blatant lack of care for him, Gwyndolin hides the sorry state of Anor Londo with an illusion of radiance and life, while having his Darkmoon Blades assassinate any who learn of its true nature. When the Chosen Undead surpasses the trials of Anor Londo, Gwyndolin uses an image of his sister Gwynevere to grant them the Lordvessel and give them further instructions on how to enter the Kiln of the First Flame. While the nature of the game means that Gwyndolin can be undone, he ultimately succeeds in tricking the Chosen Undead into linking the fire and survives the events of the story, choosing to continue his personal mission to protect Anor Londo and his family's legacy.
- Darksiders:
- Debuting in the first game, Samael is the most powerful demon around and loyal only to his own mysterious agenda. Imprisoned for 'disapproving of the company' his former master keeps, Samael encounters War and steadily guides him to destroy the Destroyer's Chosen to recover their hearts with the promise it will gain War entry into the Black Throne to take his revenge on the Destroyer. In truth, the hearts simply bind Samael and he tricks War into freeing him perfectly. Once achieved, Samael holds to his own unique code of honor and refuses to kill War, departing as a deal is a deal.
- Darksiders III: The true villain of the game, Envy, possesses Fury's Watcher and spends the entire game steadily manipulating her to Envy's own ends. Having Fury eliminate all the Seven sins, Envy emerges when Pride has been defeated to usurp all their power and to defeat Fury effortlessly. Declaring that the world will be hers, Envy proceeds to storm over to the Charred Council and nearly erases them herself to achieve her own ends, showcasing a brilliant and cunning mind underneath her selfishness and deadliness.
- Detroit: Become Human: Elijah Kamski is a brilliant cybernetics engineer and the founder of Cyberlife, having developed the line of androids that are now ubiquitous throughout society before withdrawing from public life. Curious to see whether his creations could develop the potential for independence, Kamski sets the stage for an android rebellion by designing Markus and gifting him to a friend of his. He also tests Connor's capacity for empathy by goading him to kill one of his first androids, then provides him with clues on how to prevent being reprogrammed by Amanda in the Zen Garden, an artificial intelligence which Kamski himself based on his former teacher. In the event that all three protagonists are killed off before the finale, Kamski will take back control over Cyberlife in order to study his robots and rebuild their code from the ground up. A cordial and philosophical man in person, Kamski seems concerned only with observing the events he set in motion without interfering, content to let the chips fall where they may no matter how many android or human lives might be lost in the process.
- Dishonored:
- Delilah Copperspoon, master of the Brigamore Witches ia a brilliant, determined witch and the illegitimate sister of former Empress Jessamine Kaldwin. Once cast into the streets, Delilah clawed her way tot he top, even earning the attention and Mark of the godlike Outsider himself. Seeking the throne, Delilah builds the Brigamore coven and proceeds to enact a scheme where she will replace Jessamine's daughter Emily's soul with her own, sending her strongest witches against the assassin Daud just to insure they won't be around to betray her when she replaces her niece. When this fails, Delilah is cast into the void but by sheer force of will she returns and assists her old allies to restore her to the material plane before launching a coup against her niece, effectively usurping the Kaldwin throne. Not satisfied, Delilah plots to even usurp the Outsider himself, a scheme the Outsider fears Delilah is completely capable of enacting. Ruthlessly dedicated to her own advancement and hell bent on forcing her vision upon the world, Delilah demonstrates just how high a once penniless urchin can rise with sheer force of will and hatred within her.
- Daud himself, the Knife of Dunwall is a genius assassin who even attracted the notice of The Outsider. Forming The Whalers, Daud performed daring assassinations for the benefit of the corrupt, before accepting and completing a job on Empress Jessamine. Feeling true remorse when he saw what his deeds had done, Daud later dismantles the Brigamore Witch cult and tricks Delilah into being trapped in the void. Returning years later, Daud even puts together a plan to destroy the Outsider himself, using his one true friend Billie Lurk to carry it out.
- Dragon Age: Inquisition: Kind, helpful Solas is in actuality Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf of elven myth. Having once banished the tyrannical elven gods and raised the veil, Solas deeply regrets the damage this has done to the elven peoples and seeks to correct his actions. Manipulating the entire Inquisition and the Inquisitor against the evil sorcerer Corypheus, Solas conceals his own role in Corypheus's rise and when the battle is done drains the witch Flemeth of her powers, before helping thwart an invasion of the Qunari. Solas then reveals his plan is to tear down the veil itself, which will kill millions of innocents, even if he has no desire to do so. Seeing no other way, Solas accepts the Inquisitor will hunt him to kill him or show him a better way, stating he would cherish a chance to be proven wrong in his current course.
- Empire at War: Tyber Zann, once Grand Admiral Thrawn's most capable student at the academy, before Thrawn had him expelled for stealing weapons. The expansion describes how Zann carves out a criminal empire: the Zann Consorcium, that rivals that of Jabba the Hutt and manipulates Thrawn himself into executing Xizor, the leader of a rival syndicate, for him. While Thrawn is able to outwit Zann at least once by bribing a mercenary in Zann's employ, Zann comes out on top in that battle, forcing Thrawn to flee. At the end of the campaign, Zann plays the Empire and the Rebellion against one another while he moves in to capture the most powerful ship in the Empire's arsenal—as far as he knows at the time—turning its powerful weapons against both fleets. For the record, the part where Thrawn is able to outwit Zann by bribing Bossk into giving him Zann's holocron was also planned by Zann. Zann planted a homing beacon on the artifact to lead him to his true goal: the Imperial Archives. Thrawn firmly believed that the fleet he left to defeat Zann would easily win. Zann surprised him by bring out his newest Aggressor-class Star Destroyers and obliterating the force Thrawn left.
- Fallout: New Vegas:
- Robert Edwin House is the multi-billionaire leader of New Vegas and one of the major factions vying for control of the Mojave Wasteland. Mr. House created the Strip, an oasis in the wasteland where people can gamble, drink, and bang as long as they have the cash for it, and took advantage of the situation with the NCR and the Legion to bolster his own defenses and revenue, while keeping his agenda hidden. If the Courier chooses to help him, House enacts his plans; he activates his Securitron army, deals with potential problems via their destruction or cooperation, tries to save NCR President Aaron Kimball from assassination to use him as a political scapegoat later, and holds the NCR at gunpoint to accept the terms of surrender he made for them. Through it all, House is suave, ruthless, and deeply pragmatic, while showing his benevolent side during his interactions with the Courier.
- Ulysses is the darkly philosophical overarching antagonist of the game's DLC chapters. Long before the events of the game, Ulysses discovered the Divide, a settlement that closely resembled the Old World, one that he loved and could pledge his loyalty to. After the Courier inadvertently caused its destruction, however, Ulysses would recognize the impact a single person could have in the Wasteland, and sought to replicate it for himself. During his journey, Ulysses effortlessly manipulates the Think Tank with an Armor-Piercing Question into giving him nuclear firepower, and tricks the malevolent Father Elijah into hunting for the Sierra Madre, knowing it'll be his undoing. In the Lonesome Road content, Ulysses goads the Courier into confronting him at the end of the Divide to showcase his master plan—to end the Mojave conflict with nukes so that a new civilization can rise from the fire—while setting up their climatic battle so that he almost always comes out on top.
- Far Cry 4: Pagan Min is the charismatic dictator of Kyrat, who started off as the son of a mid-level crime boss. Inheriting his late father's resources and taking the name "Pagan Min", his ambitions led him to Kyrat, helping the Royalists drive out the Nationalists before killing the Royalists' heir and taking Kyrat for himself. Seducing the Golden Path's spy, Ishwari, the two fell in love and sired a daughter, Lakshmana, resulting in Golden Path leader, Mohan Ghale, killing Lakshmana, Ishwari then killing Mohan in retribution. When Ishwari's son, Ajay Ghale, arrives in Kyrat to place her ashes next to Lakshmana, Pagan Min warmly welcomes Ajay before exposing Darpan as a Golden Path Spy. He also has his body double travel throughout Kyrat, to distract the Golden Path into killing him, while he would later appear live on television to discredit them and expose the traitorous Yuma Lau's whereabouts so they can kill her for him. When Ajay confronts Pagan Min, the latter offers him a choice; he can kill him or allow Pagan take his mother's ashes to Lakshmana. Should Ajay choose the latter Pagan Min tells him about the Golden Path's atrocities and gives Ajay Kyrat before making his exit.
- Fatal Fury: Geese Howard is the infamous crime boss of Southtown and the most prolific villain in the SNK library. Desiring power at a young age, Geese trained at the Hakkyokuseiken school of martial arts, while steadily developing connections to Southtown's mafia through bribery and intimidation tactics, culminating in him overthrowing reigning kingpin Mr. Big and becoming the police chief of the city, with every cop and politician in his pocket. He then began hosting the King of Fighters tournament series to find worthy henchmen, strong-armed renowned martial artist Takuma Sakazaki into working for him, and vengefully murdered his rival Jeff Bogard. Despite suffering setbacks due to defeats at the hands of Ryo Sakazaki and Terry Bogard, Geese always recovers, and when Terry finally beats him for good and tries to save him from plummeting to his death, Geese chooses to fall as a final act of spite, laughing all the way down. For all his misdeeds, Geese never loses his trademark swagger, and so great is his popularity that in an alternate timeline, he survives and continues to plot behind the scenes.
- For Honor: The ruthless, terrifying, armored warrior Apollyon, master of the Black Legion, desires war as the true state of mankind, dreaming of a world where only the strong survive. Recruiting only the strongest for her armies, Apollyon also attacks the Vikings and manipulates a greater conflict while forcing them to fight among themselves so only the strong will survive. Turning her eyes to the east against the samurai who call themselves the Chosen, Apollyon invades and with a series of brilliant gambits, subdues them as well, also uniting the knight legions and remaining Chosen against her. Even as they oppose her, Apollyon plans it so that with her death, the Vikings will invade, destroying the fragile alliance and kicking off a massive war that continues years after her demise. Combining a dark charisma with an endless hunger for war, Apollyon shows why she is possibly the most terrifying figure to ever lift a sword on the battlefield.
- FreeSpace: Main antagonist Aken Bosch spends the entirety of the game attempting to ally with the Destroyers, AKA the Shivans whom he believes are unstoppable and will never be defeated regardless of the GTVA's efforts. When the players are tasked with a squadron to intercept and disable his ship, he openly sends a communication channel to the player and taunts them, questioning the competence of their commanders as he warps out of the system, well before the players have any chance at hitting him, just before a Shivan fleet ambushes the player's squadron. He frequently outsmarts the entire GTVA command in his capital ship, and when it looks like he's finally been caught when his ship is disabled and boarded, it's found out that he had planned a ruse which included the capture of his ship and all of his crew all along, and he had actually used the confusion to escape alone on-board a Shivan transport, showing more ingenuity and unpredictability than even the inscrutable alien race.
- Guilty Gear: The mysterious "That Man", also known as the Gearmaker and by his real name, Asuka R. Kreutz shows a great deal of power as Sol Badguy and Baiken unsuccessfully attempt to strike him down for his deeds. In Anji's ending he invites him to his side and later in XX Accent Core Plus hires him to track down and punish one of his Co-Dragons I-No for all the trouble she's stirring up. He knows that Sol's ability to use Dragon Install could very well one day help to save mankind from a possible future threat. Despite his horrible deeds, That Man is truly remorseful for what he's done and genuinely believes he is doing what is best for mankind, something ultimately confirmed in the Xrd games where it is revealed he is one of the creators of Gears. Manipulating the fighters by forcing them to fight, destroying things around them to make them get stronger and encouraging them to use the Gears to destroy threats to humanity, That Man remains one of Guilty Gear's most brilliant and inscrutable characters.
- .hack//G.U.: Ovan was once an ordinary hacker playing The World who had the misfortune of getting possessed by AIDA, who forced him to put his sister Aina and other players into comas, becoming the notorious PKer Tri-Edge. To save Aina and the other Lost Ones, Ovan conspired to trigger the Rebirth by manipulating Haseo into fighting and defeating the seven other epitath users, including Ovan himself. Ovan effortlessly manipulates Haseo, the cruelly ambitious Sakaki, system administrators, the World's AI guardians, and even the AIDA possessing him, without revealing his identiy as Tri-Edge until he desires it. His plan to trigger the Rebirth goes off without a hitch and Ovan saves Aina and the Lost Ones at the cost of falling into a coma himself.
- Halo: The surprisingly eloquent and crafty Gravemind is the Lord of the Flood. A genius who nearly defeated the Forerunners with its strategy and power, Gravemind even managed to use its force of will and a Breaking Speech to turn a loyal AI to Gravemind's own side while instituting a Logic Bomb on the other AI. After being defeated and returning in the current day, Gravemind manipulates the Master Chief and Arbiter into fighting for it to handle its enemies as it prepares the Flood to take over all else, even employing its clever strategy to spread itself, such as when it takes over a ship and crashes it to take over a populated city. Even in defeat, Gravemind proclaims that besting it for the moment is simply added time to "a sentence I never deserved, but you imposed", truly believing that peace will be gained when the Flood dominate the galaxy.
- Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer, aka Scott Shelby, is the elusive mastermind behind the game's events, evading capture and committing his murders for years. Suffering the tragic loss of his brother after his drunk father failed to save him, the Origami Killer would grow up to search for a father that would do anything for his son by kidnapping children and drowning them with rain water while manipulating their fathers into enduring life-threatening trials. These trials include: driving into ongoing traffic; crawling through a tunnel filled with glass before walking through a maze of electrical capacitors; cutting one's own fingers; being forced to kill someone; and consuming a potentially poisonous drink. He would also pretend to investigate his own murders to collect and dispose of any evidence that could incriminate him while killing any potential witnesses. Depending on the player's actions, he can witness Ethan Mars rescue his son and Ethan can kill the Origami Killer, which the latter happily embraces because he'll die accomplishing his ultimate goal: finding a father who would do anything to save his son.
- Hitman: Agent 47 himself is the iron-willed, stoic hitman of the series. Easily the greatest assassin in the world, 47 weaves through assignment after assignment, eliminating his targets and escaping with the world never becoming aware of his existence. Often coming up with schemes to eliminate a target to make it look like an a complete accident, 47 often finds himself entangled in broader conspiracies or threats that he inevitably brings down and destroys completely on his own with the same stylistic flourishes that he brings to his assignments. Agent 47 repeatedly shows why he is worthy of the title of the best hitman in the world, often bringing nothing less than justice on some of the most corrupt people in the world for the right price.
- The House of the Dead: Caleb Goldman is the founder of the DBR Organization and secretly funded Dr. Curien's research into creating zombies and monsters. An expert in the Genome theory himself, Goldman carried on the late Curien's work to create a being to rule over humanity and revert it to his natural state. Unleashing the hoards on Venice and inviting his AMS "friends" to his office, Goldman explained that humans had upset the Life Cycle and needed to be culled. After his Emperor is defeated, Goldman chooses death over being apprehended, promising a "successor" will come. Three years later, Goldman's back up plan came into effect. Zombies were unleashed once more and messages left by the deceased Goldman reveal to James Taylor and Kate Green a countdown for a nuclear launch – which turns out to be a hoax. Goldman leads the duo to his office while providing tests of strength to destroy The World, a monster he made that had become too powerful. Goldman also promises that he did not intend to destroy humanity and specifically made sure people could live in the North, remarking that "hope is such a splendid thing."
- inFAMOUS: Kessler is a version of Cole MacGrath from the future where he lost his entire family from The Beast's rampage. Traveling back in time he forcibly took control of the First Sons where he had them create the Ray Sphere and then giving it to Cole MacGrath, resulting in the latter getting his powers, as well as causing massive collateral damage to Empire City and its eventual quarantine. Setting himself as Cole's nemesis, he tricks Cole into believing he had cause the grim future, manipulates Cole's best friend Zeke into joining his side, and giving Cole a series of Sadistic Choices leading to the death of Cole's girlfriend Trish. Successfully causing Cole to seek vengeance on Kessler, he gives Cole the Ray Sphere to use, before fighting him head on. Upon being defeated, Kessler then reveals to Cole his true identity, as well the existence of The Beast and the destruction he'll bring, admitting that his actions against Cole was to make him stronger so that he'll be able to succeed at stopping The Beast where Kessler himself failed.
J - R
- Jade Empire: Sun Li, the Glorious Strategist, orchestrated the downfall of the Spirit Monks and upon failing to overthrow his evil brother, Emperor Sun Hai, kills the guardian of the last Spirit Monk and becomes his caretaker in the wilderness. Training the Spirit Monk to defeat Sun Hai one day, Sun Li uses him to defeat his brother and leave the throne of the Jade Empire open before revealing he trained his student with a flaw in his fighting style so Sun Li could exploit it and kill him, before claiming the throne. Taking over, Sun Li plans to conquer all he can, repeatedly showing himself worthy of the title "Glorious Strategist".
- Jak X: Combat Racing: Rayn is the daughter of Krew and far more charming and clever than he ever was. Enacting her deceased father’s plan to flush out rival gangster Mizo and take his assets by winning a racing bet, Rayn poisons Jak and friends, faking her own poisoning to gain their trust. Only by winning the racing tournament will they be given the antidote. Playing the part of the innocent daughter, Rayn never breaks character, even as Ashelin—the only person to doubt Rayn—threatens her. Carefully stringing along the heroes by exposing parts of Krew’s plan while acting surprised, Rayn even decides to race and put herself in harm’s way to ensure nothing is left to chance. After Mizo is defeated, she fulfils her part of the bargain, providing the antidote to the poison. She also leaves behind a message from Krew to come clean to everyone and as a new crime boss orders that Jak and the others—whom she now considers friends—are not to be harmed. Winning and getting away with everything, Rayn is one of the series’ most affable and cunning scoundrels.
- Kirby's Return to Dream Land: Upon crash landing in Dream Land, Magolor plays the innocent victim to persuade Kirby and his friends into repairing his ship, traveling with him to Halcandra, and defeating the dragon Landia, whereupon he seizes the Master Crown and sets his sights in conquering the rest of the universe, starting with Pop Star. What separates Magolor from the other one-shot villains of the series is his personable and talkative personality, going so far as to earnestly thank Kirby for his help even as he betrays him. Future games would have Magolor change for the better, and ever since his introduction most of the franchise's antagonists have dropped the Generic Doomsday Villain shtick just to meet the bar he set.
- Knack: Katrina is Viktor's right hand woman, both seeking to open a locked door containing countless Massive Relics that they want to use to revolutionise the world. Katrina is the brains of the operation, coming up with just about all the strategies. Believing Knack to be the key, she suggests Vitor kidnaps him. When that doesn’t work, Katrina suggests they simply let Knack and crew investigate the door themselves, correctly predicting they’d also be fascinated by it. Later managing to bug a memento of kid sidekick Lucas, Katrina is able to ascertain where the real key is, managing to snatch it from right under the heroes’ noses. Through acrobatics and strategy Katrina was able to go toe to toe with the much stronger Knack and when Knack outsmarted her, she went into training and accepted Viktor's gift of a mech and poisoned relics to even the odds. Even after being defeated and reforming Katrina creates her own successful company focused on private security. Almost always one step ahead, Katrina was Knack’s most likable and devious antagonist.
- Knights of the Old Republic:
- Original game: Prior to being mindwiped into a blank slate, Darth Revan brought the Republic to its knees. Once a bold, dynamic young Jedi commander who singlehandedly won the Mandalorian Wars for the Republic, Revan slipped to the Dark Side and sacrificed many of the troops whose loyalties he was unsure of. Becoming aware of the True Sith Empire, led by the monstrous Emperor Vitiate, Revan embraced Sith teachings and launched a campaign that crippled the Republic, leaving its infrastructure intact so he may one day harness it as a weapon against Vitiate and his empire. Revan executes a multitude of brilliant, perfect strategies, converting other Jedi to his cause, seeking to both conquer and save the galaxy all at once.
- Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords: Kreia, formerly Darth Traya, is a former Jedi historian turned Sith Lord. Upon meeting the Exile after being stripped of power and position, Kreia spends the entire game manipulating the Exile into serving her plans, while having her form bonds with her comrades so Kreia can exploit them while also blackmailing and manipulating their companions as well. In order to eliminate her former student Darth Nihilius, Kreia has him drawn to the world of Telos so the Exile, the only one capable, is able to destroy him. Reclaiming the mantle of Darth Traya, Kreia takes over the Sith once again with sheer force of will and her immense strength, revealing her plan is to kill the Force itself while also strengthening the Exile to change the course of the galaxy. Even upon defeat, Kreia accepts her loss with grace, while giving the Exile the final pieces necessary to confront the True Sith Empire past the unknown regions.
- Legacy of Kain: Once a petty noble in the world of Nosgoth, murdered and revived as a vampire, Kain has chafed at the tyranny of fate. Establishing a vampire monarchy, but wishing for a way to save the world without sacrificing his own life, Kain condemns his right-hand man Raziel to the Abyss, knowing Raziel will survive and return as a wraith, allowing Kain to manipulate him, the one being with true free will, into changing fate to the point of even averting his own predestined death, as well as saving Raziel from his own fate of being consumed by the Reaver. Kain proceeds to overcome a multitude of dangers with his wit and skill, constantly able to keep pace with the most powerful players in Nosgoth to the point he is able to even defeat the monstrous Eldritch Abomination, the Elder God, who has been responsible for all the bloodshed and horror Nosgoth has endured for eons, while never losing his sardonic wit or dark charm.
- The Legend of Zelda: Ganondorf Dragmire ("Ganon" in his bestial form) is the king of the Gerudo, the reincarnation of Demise's hatred, and the eternal nemesis of Link, Zelda, and all who carry their names. Initially coveting the Triforce to bring prosperity to his people, Ganondorf would be overcome by his own lust for power, and abuses his intellect and strength to gain it by any means. In his first chronological appearance, he manipulates and exploits his situation to gain the Triforce of Power, and takes the steps to ensure no one can end his rule. He also uses Link to bait Zelda into a trap, and challenges Link himself so that he can gather all three of the Triforce in one place. In all three timelines he is undone, but he always bounces back in some way, whether by manipulating an aspiring usurper, cutting off the Master Sword's power, or disguising himself to befriend and betray Hyrule's king. Stylish, smart, strong, and sometimes tragic, Ganondorf has forever solidified himself as one of gaming's most celebrated villains.
- Lunar: The Silver Star: Big Bad Magic Emperor Ghaleon was once one of the four great heroes who becomes disillusioned with the world after the supposed death of his best friend Dyne. Ghaleon decides the world cannot function without gods, feeling betrayed by the goddess Altena's decision to be reborn as a mortal and seeks to either supplant her or force her to resume her role. Ghaleon manipulates the heroes into assisting him in his goals, capturing four great dragons to harness their energy to pull his plans off. Ghaleon remains one step ahead of everyone, even capturing Altena's human form Luna and almost succeeds in his ultimate goal. In Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, Ghaleon is revived, seemingly as a minion of the God of Destruction Zophar, but having grown repentant for his actions, Ghaleon instead works against Zophar and assists the heroes, becoming a Stealth Mentor to the young warrior Hiro before peacefully passing into the afterlife once he tests Hiro's strength enough.
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance:
- Doctor Doom is the charismatic leader of the Masters of Evil. Before the events of the game, Doom stole top secret information from S.H.I.E.L.D. on how to deal with Asgard should it ever become a threat. Doom then refined the plan as a way to steal the All-Father Odin's godly powers for himself. Through a series of clever diversionary tactics, Doom constantly stays one step ahead of the heroes as he gathers all the necessary tools he needs to defeat Odin. Colluding with the God of Mischief Loki, Doom successfully conquers Asgard and defeats Odin in battle. Not wanting to share Odin's power with his lieutenants, Doom implements a series of Uriah Gambits to have the heroes take out his lieutenants for him. He quickly consolidates his control over the entire world, using his newfound powers to crush any form of resistance, and brainwashing the remainder of Earth's heroes into his loyal servants. A brilliant mastermind who managed to ascend to godhood, Doom establishes himself as a truly diabolical genius.
- Loki is a member of the aforementioned Doctor Doom's Masters of Evil, seizing an opportunity in the Masters to fulfil his dream of conquering Asgard. Despite being its newest member, Loki manages to quickly ingratiate himself into Doom's inner circle as his Number Two. Disguising himself as the traitorous Mandarin, Loki frames him for the chaos the Masters had caused in Atlantis. The deception worked, giving the Masters the necessary distraction to carry on with their plans undeterred. Loki then leads an invasion on Asgard with an army of super-soldiers and overthrows Odin as King of Asgard. Even as the heroes turn the tide, Loki has one final trump card — the Destroyer Armor. Supposedly defeated, Loki disguises himself as Nick Fury, tricking the heroes into freeing the armor from its prison for him. Upon revealing his deception he proceeds to hijack control over the Destroyer Armor and attempts to crush the heroes once and for all. A master of deception, Loki proves himself to be Doctor Doom's most invaluable ally.
- Mary Skelter: Nightmares: Dawn Liberation Force leader, Professor Tohjima who is revealed to be The King of Nightmares, Snark, comes to Earth with the intent to destroy the world and remake it in his own image. Planting seeds of the Genius Loci "Jail" across Earth, Snark also raises girls as the "Blood Maidens" and manipulates them to destroy the Jail cores. Poisoning the religious leader of the Order of the Sun, Snark replaces her with his own servant to string them along to working towards his own purpose before slaughtering them. Even when Protagonist Jack discovers his true identity, Snark manages to create a convincing cover story and evades suspicion from others by dismantling Jack's argument. Even if the Order of the Sun followers are saved from him killing them, Snark sacrifices his followers, the Marchens, as a backup plan to see his goal of becoming God come true. Ruthless yet intelligent and in possession of an unshakable facade of politeness, Snark cements himself as the most dangerous adversary seen in the game.
- Max Payne: Vladimir "Vlad" Lem is a friendly Russian mobster, quick with a joke and a smile and refers to everyone as the "dearest of all his friends". In truth, Vlad is a member of the Inner Circle who was manipulating Max from the start. Using his own professional assassin crew, the Cleaners, Vlad has the rest of the Inner Circle steadily eliminated while playing the NYPD and Max to do his work for him, even planning on having Max killed by Vlad's lover Detective Winterson, whose blind son Vlad is truly loving and affectionate with. When exposed by his former mentor, Alfred Woden, Vlad plans to manipulate Max and his hitwoman lover Mona into killing one another while never losing his pleasant smile or friendliness.
- Metal Gear Solid:
- Big Boss himself helped found the Patriots AIs, only to have them spiral out of control on the side of his former best friend Major Zero. Slowly playing the government from the inside, Big Boss planned to create a world of war to honor soldiers forever. Having a loyal soldier who took the name Venom Snake used as a double to believe he truly was Big Boss, Big Boss used the man and his plans as a diversion while he focused on building his own nation, effortlessly playing his enemies for years and decades while forming Outer Heaven and later the nation of Zanzibar Land. Even surviving his own supposed death, big Boss returns to find his plans have come to fruition to bring down the Patriots and makes amends with his son and clone Solid Snake before peacefully passing away by the grave of his mentor, The Boss.
- Revolver Ocelot, also known as Shalashaska was born to the infamous Boss as Adamska and spent his youth as a double agent for the CIA and NSA while undercover. After managing to deliver the Philosopher's Legacy to the US, Ocelot begins to despise the puppet masters of the world, the Patriots, and seeks to bring them down. Betraying and manipulating every side he joins, Ocelot even uses drugs and psychotherapy to make everyone think he is possessed by the spirit of Liquid Snake, knowing what the Liquid persona will do to allow him to destroy the Patriots, eventually hijacking the plans of Solidus Snake and forming his own group. Even when defeated, Ocelot still achieves his goal of defeating the Patriots and ends his life in a final battle with his archenemy, Solid Snake, having been only loyal to the dream of his mother's successor Big Boss to the end.
- Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance: Senator Steven Armstrong seeks to get elected using war as a business so he can end war as a business. Having manipulated the political system to give his company more power in his state of Colorado and getting elected, Armstrong forms the group Desperado to initiate more conflicts so he can raise his approval ratings. Armstrong decides to have the President assassinated in Pakistan to capitalize and start a war to restart the war economy to pull America from its economic slump. When Raiden interferes, Armstrong just works his involvement into his plans and decides the damage already done is enough for his plans. While defeated by Raiden, Armstrong reveals he truly believes in creating a world of the strong surviving for the sake of freedom and happily acknowledges Raiden as his successor, telling him to carve his own path while letting nothing stand in his way.
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor: Celebrimbor, the Bright Lord, is the one who forged the One Ring for Sauron, before realizing Sauron's true nature. Briefly overcoming Sauron and losing thanks to the wiles of the Ring itself, Celebrimbor returns as The Wraith in the present, manipulating the revived ranger Talion into slowly taking over parts of Mordor and establishing the kingdom of the Bright Lord, crushing the wills of the uruks to serve him to steadily supplant Sauron himself. Finally raising an army to challenge Sauron, Celebrimbor promptly abandons Talion for a host he believes to be stronger and even shows himself capable of challenging Sauron in a duel.
- Need for Speed: Carbon: Darius is the leader of the notorious Stacked Deck street racing crew in Palmont City. Bailing the Player Character out, Darius has him race other crew leaders so he can take control of their territories and sells the player out to the bounty hunter, Nathan Cross, once he is of no use to him. It's been revealed that Darius caused the event that tarnished the player's reputation by tipping off the police of a street race the player was participating in, switched the money bag, and letting the player escape Palmont. When Darius learns that Nikki made a deal with Cross to free the player, he recruits the fallen crew leaders to Stacked Deck and has them race the player before racing him personally. With his cunning only matched by his racing skills, Darius nearly defeats the player on the track before accepting his defeat with grace merely telling the player to enjoy his victory while it last as there's always someone out there who's a little faster than him and eventually they're gonna catch up.
- Neverwinter Nights: Mepistopheles is the Archduke of the Eighth Hell Cania who has been roped into the service of an ambitious drow sorceress, the Valsharess. Wishing to free himself, Mephistopheles subtly draws the Player Character into conflict with the Valsharess, as they own a relic of his that binds them to Mephistopheles. When the Valsharess tries to order the Devil to strike the player down, Mephistopheles is able to break their covenant and turn on her. Banishing the player to Cania in his place, Mephistopheles begins his conquest of Toril with the intent to turn it into the Tenth Hell, lowering it below the Ninth Hell ruled by Asmodeus so Mephistopheles may be the most powerful Devil in the planes. Witty, charismatic, diabolical, and always staying one step ahead of everyone else in his schemes, Mephistopheles is the very definition of a Devil.
- Nioh:
- Tokugawa Ieyasu, in spite of being the Big Good, is a ruthless man out to unify Japan to put an end to the eras of war and bloodshed. Recruiting William Adams so William will handle the dirty work for him, Ieyasu manipulates the fraught political situation while gaining more power as he crushes the Toyotomi forces, even sacrificing his own allies to secure an advantage. Ending by defeating the Toyotomi at Sekigahara, Ieyasu orders William's death to bury the truth of the Amrita crisis, only to reveal he knows William is actually alive before having a good laugh over it.
- Lady Maria is a charming spy from Spain who arrives in Japan, whereupon she ingratiates herself to Date Masamune and helps him kick off a rebellion, creating a new war so she may harvest Amrita for the betterment of Spain. Later repeating the same action with Sanada Yukimura at his castle, Maria manipulates Lady Yodo at Osaka Castle to continue the conflicts, allowing her to slip off completely free and clear of any punishment no less than three times, all for the betterment of Spain and revenge against England for stealing her kingdom's golden age.
- Overwatch: Moira O'Deorain is a brilliant but unscrupulous geneticist who desires nothing but the improvement of humanity through her research, no matter how unethical said research may be. As a member of Blackwatch, the covert black-ops division of Overwatch, Moira was able to endow herself and Gabriel Reyes with super-human abilities through her experiments. When Overwatch was disbanded, she became allied with the terrorist group Talon, as they supported her research in exchange for utilizing the results for their own purposes. In the modern day, she joins the fight on the ground, using her talents to drain her enemies and heal her allies. Moira always stays calm and collected, displaying a great deal of confidence and caring little for how others perceive her, because while they may find her work immoral, none can deny her results.
- Pillars of Eternity: Thaos Ix Arkannon, the immortal grandmaster of the Leaden Key. Millenia ago, Thaos led an Inquisition that tortured and executed anyone who refused to worship Thaos's gods. When one heretic named Iovara led a rebellion against Thaos, he convinced a close acquaintance of Iovara, to lead her into a trap so she could be tortured and executed. Thaos later formed the Leaden Key, a secret society dedicated to hiding the gods' secrets. Thaos manipulated the entire world for millenia, with only a handful of people being aware that he exists. When the animancers in the Dyrwood come close to learning the gods' secrets, Thaos resolves to discredit and ban animancy. He uses soul manipulating machines to cause nearly all children in the Dyrwood to be Hollowborn, making it appear to be divine retribution for the death of the god Eothas. He prepares to feed the stolen souls to the godess Woedica, so she can use the new power to hide the gods' secrets. He sabotages high profile animancy experiments, in one case causing a zombie outbreak in a major city. Eventually, Duc Aevar, ruler of the Dyrwood holds a hearing to discuss banning animancy. The Watcher takes the opportunity to expose Thaos and the Leaden Key. However, Thaos possesses an animancer into murdering Aevar, causing horrific anti-animancy riots to break out. This usually ends with animancy banned in the Dyrwood.
- Pony Island: Asmodeus.exe describes himself as more sophisticated than the other daemon programs, and lives up to his boast very well. Asmodeus challenges the player to a simple game: Don't leave the game window, and answer his questions correctly. Once it starts, Asmodeus steadily begins to employ a series of clever, fourth-wall breaking tricks to either ruin the player's focus or dupe them into tabbing out, ranging from taking the guise of somebody on their Steam friends list, to faking a game crash. Once beaten, Asmodeus congratulates the player for their performance, and accepts his death with pride.
- Portal: GLaDOS is computer created by Cave Johnson to run Aperture Science after his death. Once activated, GLaDOS proceeded to kill most of the scientists with neurotoxin and took over the Enrichment Center to conduct tests at her own leisure. In the present, GLaDOS put Chell through a series of potential lethal tests before trying to murder her. Defeated and shutdown by Chell in retaliation, GLaDOS is accidentally awoken years later by Wheatley. Throwing Chell back into more tests, she is eventually overthrown by Wheatley thanks to Chell's actions. With Wheatley threatening to destroy the facility with his own stupidity, GLaDOS convinces Chell to help her take Aperture back from Wheatley, and in turn lets Chell go when that is done. Switching focus toward Cooperative Testing, GLaDOS uses the robots Atlas and P-body to secure control over the lower parts of the facility and eventually give her access to more human test subjects. When a mysterious hacker (actually a mother bird on a keyboard) forces her hand, resulting in the deaths of her human test subjects, GLaDOS sends the robots after it before adopting the baby birds to raise as killers.
- RUINER: The mysterious, nameless hacker "HER" becomes an ally of The Protagonist, helping him rescue his kidnapped brother. Utterly ruthless in aiding him, she uses extreme methods: blackmailing and even using Electric Torture to extract information from their enemies. Revealed to have fabricated the kidnapping of the non-existent "brother", HER used the protagonist like an attack dog to remove enemies of the organization, HEAVEN, planning to betray and kill the leader of the organization. Although she is unrelenting in her methods, HER's masterplan is to destroy HEAVEN to free the countless innocents they have trapped in a nightmarish virtual reality and will not be taken from her noble goal.
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- Shining Resonance (includes Shining Resonance Refrain): Excella Noa Aura, Princess of Lombardia, will do anything to save her father and the Empire. Conspiring with Beowulf's top scientist, Joachim Reubens, Excella uses his research to gain knowledge regarding the souls of the four World Dragons. Ever wary of the movement of her second-in-command, Georg, who began to act suspiciously, Excella sends the dark elf Beatrice to spy on the latter. Sending her soldiers allegedly to attack the Astoria Captial City, Excella uses the diversion to negotiate with an enemy king to prevent both sides from suffering massive casualties, critically wounding him when he refuses. Obtaining a soul of one of the World Dragons, Excella tries to persuade the hero, Yuma Ilvern, to save her dying father. Despite the sheer amount of unlucky experiences she goes through during the final arc, Excella regains her confidence and eventually reclaims her rightful place aside Yuma. Treasuring her subordinates and viewing her enemies as Worthy Opponents, Excella shows, time and again, what a resourceful and gracious antagonist she is.
- Sonic the Hedgehog:
- Sonic Adventure 2: Shadow the Hedgehog was an Ultimate Lifeform that lost his best friend Maria and his creator Dr. Gerald Robotnik when they were killed by the government. Imprisoned but eventually released by Gerald’s grandson, Dr. Eggman Robotnik, Shadow enacted a plan to destroy all of humanity as revenge. Playing on Eggman’s ego and his grandfather’s legacy, Shadow manipulated the doctor into gathering Chaos Emeralds, misdirecting everyone into thinking it was for powering a Kill Sat. This diverted everyone’s attention from his real plan of performing a Colony Drop. He even manages to expose Rouge as a government agent. Shadow’s plan is only foiled because Amy Rose helps him remember Maria’s final request for Shadow to protect the people of Earth and so he decides to help stop his own scheme, almost sacrificing himself. Shadow, in his first appearance, was as devious as Sonic villains come and even as a hero is one of the franchise’s most competent characters.
- Sonic Storybook Series: From Sonic and the Black Knight, Merlina the Wizard flawlessly masterminded the entire plot of game completely beneath notice. Summoning Sonic from his world to slay a corrupted King Arthur, she takes the arcane Scabbard of Excalibur to utilize its power of immortality, casting a powerful spell on the Kingdom of Camelot. Having foreseen the ruinous future of her world, a despairing Merlina places Camelot under a kind of magical stasis, fueled by the dark forces from the Underworld, in hopes of keeping it eternal. Showing absolute conviction to her cause, Merlina even fights back against Sonic and Caliburn as the Dark Queen. Although ultimately defeated, Sonic spares and convinces Merlina to abandon her nihilistic outlook, proving her to be a lost, if understandable soul who needed her hope resorted after resorting to extreme measures to keep her world intact.
- Sonic Lost World: This version of Dr. Eggman starts off with complete control of the Deadly Six through the use of the Cacophonic Conch and only loses them due to Sonic's recklessness. Now stripped of his machines and resources, Eggman decides to ally with Sonic and Tails and take advantage of his past habit of uniting against a stronger force. He even goes so far to save a suspicious Tails's life to make his alliance seem completely altruistic. In the climax, Eggman seemingly sacrifices his life so Sonic can defeat the Deadly Six, but Eggman faked it by using a jetpack to break his fall. Spending the time beneath notice building a mech powered by the energy the Extractor had absorbed, Eggman claws his way back to Final Boss status in a stunning display of manipulation and patience.
- Sonic Forces: In this work Dr. Eggman researches the Phantom Ruby in his attempt at world domination. Recruiting Infinite through promises, he implants him with a Phantom Ruby prototype and christens him as the Eggman Empire's high commander. With everything in place, Eggman lures Sonic into a savage beatdown, and with him out of the way, conquers the world in a matter of months. Eggman proceeds to display foresight and cunning in trying to keep his iron-fisted hold on the planet—ordering his forces to destroy any remaining prototypes. keeping multiple power sources unbeknownst to his enemies, and targeting critical points in the Resistance. He also factored in multiple ways to eliminate the Resistance outright, culminating in a virtual Colony Drop when they were gathered in one place. Even in the final fight, Eggman pulled out all the stops, having kept the real Phantom Ruby with the whole time and had to be stopped by the combined might of Sonic, Classic Sonic, and the Avatar.
- Spider Man: Faking a Heel–Face Turn to present a heroic face to the world, Dr. Otto Octavius plots to force humanity's advancement through the symbiotes. Using proxy criminals to create distractions, Octavius steals vital technology to blanket New York in fog and unleash the symbiotes. Mastering the symbiotes and even keeping the unstable Carnage on a leash, Octavius manages to infest much of New York, nearly pulling off his plane right under Spider-Man's nose while escaping suspicion.
- Spider-Man (PS4):
- Felicia Hardy, the current Black Cat, is a brilliant master thief that steals for the thrill of it – but only choosing to rob those who can afford it or those that "deserve" it. In the main game proper, Cat leads Spidey on a hunt for her Cat Dolls challenging him to stop her from stealing $50 million dollars worth of loot. This was all a ruse, with the loot being a lure to distract Spidey while her Dolls shut down the police department's security systems, allowing Cat to recover her confiscated equipment. In The Heist DLC, Black Cat is working to steal Maggia drives that contain financial information for Hammerhead, telling Spidey that he has her son hostage and letting Spidey believe he might be the father. This was a lie so that she could recruit Spidey's help in stealing the drives for herself and she promptly fakes her own death, only resurfacing one last time to save Spidey from Hammerhead and give him information on how to take down the Mob boss for good. A thief at heart, Felicia nonetheless has a strong conscience while still loving Spider-Man, while fully using this to her ruthless advantage.
- The Heist DLC chapter gives us Walter Hardy, the former Black Cat, whom is just as devious as his daughter. Faking his death years ago to protect himself and his daughter from the Maggia, Hardy manages to get a hold of Spider-Man’s phone number and disguises himself as a cop right on top of a police station. Calling himself Detective Mackey, Hardy tricks Spider-Man into uncovering loot he hid years ago. When Spider-Man finishes up, Hardy leaves with his loot, knowing Spider-Man won't tell his daughter the truth because Spider-Man is a "decent guy." He also asks Spider-Man to look after Felicia. While only featured in a simple side-mission, Hardy more than lives up to his anecdotes as a brilliant criminal.
- Starcraft II Legacy Of The Void: Alarak is a Tal'darim warrior who uses both schemes and power to climb the links of the Chain of Ascension and establish himself as an Ascendant of his people, killing rivals along the way and pitting his enemies against each other to advance his standing by proxy. When he's roped into a confrontation between the three Ascendants above him and the Highlord Ma'lash, Alarak surveils the situation and then sits things out, letting the other four kill and weaken each other until he sweeps in and cleans up what's left, leaving only Ma'lash outranking him. Alarak then reaches out to the Daelaam, who have been enemies of the Tal'darim for centuries, and makes them an ally to kill Ma'lash. As Highlord, Alarak turns his people against their traitorous God of Evil Amon and helps the Daelaam banish him back to the Void and eventually kill him. He's brutal, he's powerful, he's cunning, and he's merciless — Alarak is the pinnacle of what other Tal'darim aspire to be.
- Suikoden series:
- Suikoden II:
- Jowy Atreides is The Hero Riou's best friend who defects to Highland to defeat them from within, assassinating Lady Annabelle of Muse and causing the downfall of Greenhill. Jowy proceeds to trick and poison King Agares Blight to place the psychopathic Luca Blight on the throne, before betraying and luring Luca to his death as well, ascending the throne by marrying Princess Jilia Blight. Realizing both sides hate each other two much to stop fighting, Jowy keeps the war going, even betraying his beloved former best friend and Riou's adoptive sister Nanami. Jowy keeps going to bring the war to a conclusion, planning on letting Highland and the Jowston states be absorbed into a new nation and create a new world, no matter what price he has to pay to get there.
- Strategist Shu was once a student of the Silverberg family. After being banished, Shu becomes a cold, greedy man uninterested in the Jowston-Highland war, even forcing the heroes to beg him to join before forcing them into a challenge impossible to win. After they manage to still complete it, Shu takes charge with a series of ruthless, brilliant strategies that turn the tide against Highland, even coming up with a way of bringing down the monstrous Luca Blight. Anticipating Jowy's continuance of the war, Shu uses the little girl Pilika as a shield to force Jowy to back down from taking Hero Riou and Nanami hostage. Despite his ruthless nature, Shu is devoted to the cause of Jowston and repeatedly demonstrates why he is one of the finest strategists to ever command in the Suikoden series.
- Suikoden III: The Masked Bishop of Harmonia, in truth Lady Leknaat's former apprentice Luc, discovered the truth that he was a clone meant to bear a True Rune. Receiving a vision of a dead future thanks to the True Runes, Luc decides to change this fate, assembling a small conspiracy and proceeding to manipulate the Grassland tribes and the knights of Zexen into war with assassinations, attacks and clever political maneuvering before also sending the Kingdom of Harmonia into the fray. Playing the sides against each other, Luc reveals his intention is to sacrifice himself to destroy his own True Wind Rune, which will annihilate the entire continent, to change the course of fate for the rest of the world.
- Suikoden II:
- Super Paper Mario: Dimentio, Count Bleck's Enigmatic Minion and a jester with a flair for the dramatic, turns out to have been playing every single character for his own benefit. Dimentio helps to engineer the destruction of all worlds through the Chaos Heart while acting the part of loyal lackey, intending to backstab Count Bleck and recreate all worlds to rule ovre them himself, while also casually manipulating the heroes and even his own allies to steer them to his ultimate goal. In the very end, Dimentio brainwashes Luigi — the Chosen One of the Light and Dark Prognosticus — to use him as a vessel, fakes his death, then uses the heroes to beat down Count Bleck before taking the powers of the Chaos Heart for himself and nearly securing godlike power for himself. Even in death, Dimentio opts to drag it all with him, his final word a spiteful but ever-stylish "ciao!"
- Super Robot Wars:
- Bian Zoldark, lord of the Divine Crusaders, is a genius scientist who sees the extraterrestrial threat on the horizon and realizes drastic action must be taken to save the world. Forming the Divine Crusaders, Bian launches a coup that nearly succeeds in overthrowing earth, with only the crew of the Hagane managing a resistance against him. Bian is worshiped by his men who he deeply respects and cares for, and at the end when defeated, he reveals his plan was to strengthen the heroes to face the threats in his place, dying with his last thoughts of his beloved daughter Lune.
- Shu Shirakawa, archnemesis of Masaki Andoh, is from a parallel world, and a genius scientist who created the super mecha, the Granzon. Devastating the kingdom of Langan, Shu lured Masaki into fighting him while escaping to the earth and assisting Bian Zoldark in his plans. Shu is well known for manipulating many heroes, including Masaki himself, constantly arranging things to his benefits. When defeated and killed, Shu is revived by the dark god Volkruss to be his servant but later manipulates things to be free and achieve his own victory, sneering that he will allow nobody to control him. Not even a god.
- Tales Series:
- Tales of the Abyss: When Van Grants learned that the Score predicted that the world would end, he decided to avoid this fate by destroying the world, killing all of its inhabitants, and creating a replica world in its stead. To accomplish this, Van pretended to be a loyal adherent to the Score, fooling nearly everyone in the Order of Lorelei so he could advance in rank to command the Order's military. When one of Van's plans hinged on Luke surviving his death that was foretold in the Score, Van kidnapped Luke and replaced him with a replica, framing the deed on the rival empire of Malkuth. Van is incredibly charismatic, capable of making his enemies into his loyal followers and is always one step ahead of the heroes. In the end, all of the heroes can't help but respect him despite his crimes.
- Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World: Richter Abend, a former scientist seeking to kill the genocidal spirit Ratatosk and to resurrect his friend Aster, who was killed by Ratatosk. To accomplish this, Richter makes a pact with the demons of Niflheim, who give Richter the strength to face Ratatosk and a promise to resurrect Aster on the condition that Richter kills Ratatosk, which will destroy the barrier stopping the demons from invading the mortal world. However, Richter devises a plan to doublecross the demons by sacrificing himself after Ratatosk is dead and Aster is revived. Exploiting the tension between the peoples of Sylvarant and Tethea'alla, Richter uses Solum's core to control Brute, the leader of the Vanguard, turning it into a violent anti-Tethe'allan movement. Richter uses this ethnic violence to cover up his quest to find and kill Ratatosk. Along the way, Richter befriends Emil and teaches him self-confidence. After Emil stops Richter's plans, Richter works together with the newly-reformed Ratatosk to hold back the demons of Niflheim for a thousand years.
- Team Fortress 2 - Meet the Spy: The RED Spy is a suave, professional French assassin with a penchant for giving people that stabbing feeling. The Spy makes his way through the BLU team's base, picking off his opponents one by one in a mission for the intelligence briefcase. Closing in on his goal, the Spy disguises himself as the BLU Scout and hides in plain sight among his enemies, stringing them along until the Heavy and Soldier fatally turn their backs to him. As the video comes to a close, the RED Spy wades through a collection of reconnaissance photos of him taken by his BLU team counterpart, reminiscing over a picture of him on a date with the Scout's mom before seizing the briefcase and walking home free.
- Thief: Garrett, a former Keeper, is a master thief ostensibly out for himself who is continuously roped into world-shattering events against his will and defeats the enemies against him via sheer cleverness and audacity. Encountering the wicked Trickster Constantine, who seeks to consume the city, Garrett flawlessly orchestrates Constantine's destruction and escapes the vengeance of the Pagan faction. In the second game, Garrett learns of a plot by the evil Karas to annihilate all organic life and tricks Karas into destroying only himself. In the final game of the trilogy, Deadly Shadows, Garrett manages to destroy the power of a demonic beast from legend, the Hag and leaves her to the vengeance of the Keepers. While out for himself and occasionally ruthless, Garrett is always ready to show his enemies exactly why he is the best thief alive.
- Valkyria Chronicles: Prince Maximilian Gaius Von Reginrave is the young and brilliant leader of The Empire who masterminds the invasion of Gallia. Having lost his beloved mother in an assassination attempt by another royal at a young age, Maximilian resolved to never be helpless again, ruthlessly scheming his way to the throne by eliminating his rivals. Seeking to harness the power of the Valkyrur through his right-hand woman Selvaria, Maximilian masterminds brilliant strategies and gambits against Gallia that nearly sees the nation fall multiple times. To wipe out the Gallian army, Maximilian manipulates Selvaria into sacrificing herself in a suicide attack that takes out the Gallian royal command, with the only thing stopping him being the heroine Alicia awakening her own Valkyrur powers. One of the most brilliant conquerors in the Empire's history, Maximilian is driven by the desire to control all he sees and make certain his late mother is honored forever.
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines: "Smiling" Jack, the Brujah former pirate and proud Anarch is manipulating the Player Character more than almost any other Kindred in the entire game. Having arranged for the transport of the mysterious Ankaran Sarcophagus, Jack cheerfully shows the main character the ropes of vampirism before clandestinely boarding the ship transporting the sarcophagus, simulating a vampire attack while secretly stealing the mummified king within and replacing it with C4. Jack proceeds to lend his aid from the shadows, manipulating the main character into fighting and dispatching all of the threats to the Anarch faction in the city, especially the smug, vile Ventrue Prince Sebastian Lacroix. Just for kicks, Jack even makes sure to leave a note for when Lacroix opens the sarcophagus reading "boom! - love Jack" as a final touch of black humor.
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine: Warboss Grimskull is the initial Big Bad of the game and the master of the ork WAAAGH! besieging the Forge World. A genius by the standards of his race, Grimskull utilizes a series of ruthless tactics, disabling strategic points, seizing weaponry and disabling aircrafts to cut off the ground forces so his orks can overrun the Imperial Guard. Grimskull shows himself to be utterly tenacious, pursuing Captain Titus persistently and tirelessly to regain the planet's power source. When he recoups from any setback, Grimskull is later set upon by daemons, only to emerge without a scratch and give the true villain, the Chaos Sorcerer Lord a wide grin before declaring the one quote that sums Grimskull up perfectly: "I ain't so easy to kill!"
- The Witch and the Hundred Knight: The Swamp Fairy, Mani—previously known as the witch, Aguni—was used as a hostage so that the witches could kill her lover, the Eldritch Abomination Niike, millennia before the present time, before taking her own life and being reborn. Manipulating Metallia and a sentient piece of Niike, the Hundred Knight, Mani sees to it the duo destroy the pillars sealing Niike's power to resurrect her beloved and together destroy the world they despise. Killing Grand Witch Uruka to stop interference with her plans, Mani comes moments from completing her goal and even with Niike slain, chooses to fight until the bitter end.
- The Witcher:
- Emperor Emhyr var Emreis, the White Flame Dancing on the Barrows of his enemies, is a cunning Evil Overlord once overthrown in Nilfgaard as a prince. Surviving a curse and being hunted, he learned of the ancient prophecy of the Elder Blood, and married Princess Pavetta of Cintra to sire series heroine Cirilla. Eventually faking his death as the knight Duny, he returned to Nilfgaard, seizing the throne and committed to a brutal, expansionist war. Always learning from his errors, Emhyr eventually realized he loved his daughter Ciri too much to complete the prophecy by fathering a child with her and released her to Geralt, trusting him to protect her. Once again return to conquer the Northern Kingdoms, Emhyr uses Letho the Kingslayer to sow discord and leave the land open to his armies while asking Geralt to find Ciri again. In most endings, Emhyr ends up victorious, eliminating all would-be threats to his rule and can even abdicate in favor of Ciri, content at achieving all he wanted.
- Siegsmund Djikstra is the former spymaster of Redania. A brilliant man in contrast to his thuggish appearance who manipulates entire nations in his game, Djikstra heads up a resistance to King Radovid, helping nonhumans and magic users escape Radovid's brutal purges, all while manipulating his allies to help set him up on the Redanian throne. Organizing Radovid's downfall, Djikstra reveals his trap upon his Temerian allies: to eliminate them and rule Redania from the shadows. If this succeeds, Djikstra removes most freedoms from Redania but is so successful, he will even result in the defeat of the unstoppable Nilfgaardian armies.
- Video Games:
- The Witcher: Jacques de Aldersberg, Grand Master of the Order of the Flaming Rose, is the mastermind behind all major events in the first game. Having made power plays with both people in high places as well as in the criminal underworld, he sets a plan in motion to destabilize the kingdom of Temeria, leading his knights on a crusade against non-humans and thus provoking the militant Scoia'tael, which ultimately ends in a bloody civil war. This puts King Foltest into a delicate situation, where he either has to give Jacques full authority to end the revolt or do nothing, making him look like a weak ruler. His knights are secretly funded by the drug money his ally, the criminal organization Salamandra, makes for him, which allows Jacques to present the order as humble heroes of the people who fulfill their needs for free. His ultimate plan is turning mankind into highly advanced mutants with the help of the stolen Witcher Secrets, and leading them southwards to survive the incoming White Frost. Throughout his conversations with Geralt, who later turns out was his former adoptive father, he tries to convince him of the righteousness of his cause, having sacrificed everything to save humanity (wether it wants it or not) in an almost flawlessly executed scheme.
- The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings: Letho of Gulet is a talented Witcher who joins with Nilfgaard to create a homeland for his fellow Witchers. Letho becomes the Kingslayer, a feared assassin who uses his wiles to position himself close to the rulers of the northern kingdoms and assassinates them, provoking chaotic reactions in order to weaken the north so Nilfgaard will be able to invade. Against Geralt, Letho shows himself to be a crafty, skilled fighter who even considers the White Wolf a friend worthy of the greatest respect. A brutish looking man, Letho also uses the appearance of Dumb Muscle to his advantage so none know how truly intelligent and dangerous he is until it's too late.
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Gaunter O'Dimm, AKA Master Mirror or evil incarnate is the cunning devil of the Witcher-verse. Traveling and punishing the arrogant in inventive ways, Gaunter makes deals with people and takes their souls when he has fulfilled his end. A master of Exact Words, Gaunter eventually conscripts Geralt to help fulfill a bargain with the immortal swordsman Olgierd von Everec, completely tricking Olgierd before moving to claim his soul, only stopped if Geralt participates in a final contest with him. Despite being a timeless evil being, Gaunter is unmistakably charming and pleasant, willing to play to the letter of his deals and treats enemy and ally alike with unmistakable pleasantness, quick to answer any slight with retribution.
- The World Ends with You:
- Megumi Kitaniji is the true Big Bad of the game, second in power only to Joshua. Ruling the underground of Shibuya in Joshua's absence as its Conductor, Kitaniji assigns Game Masters to each week to act as his Proxy while vying for control against Joshua and seeking to give order to Shibuya through the O-Pins. Kitaniji takes non-refundable entry fees — including Neku's memories — and forces Neku to play another Game while holding Shiki as his new fee. As Neku begins the game, he takes Shiki as his entry fee knowing very well how much she meant to the boy. Kitaniji also has Joshua hunt his own friends down in an attempt to erase them. In the third week, Kitaniji brainwashes the entire town with the O-Pins and merges with Joshua to become the final threat. Even in spite of his viciousness, Kitaniji has Beat, hunt down Neku and Joshua in an attempt to erase them. Despite this he has nothing but praise for his minions and even Neku, and gracefully concedes defeat to Joshua once he's proven himself better.
- Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu starts the game as a helpful if obnoxious partner in Week 2. In reality, he is Shibuya's UG Composer making him the Greater-Scope Villain of the Reaper's Game. Besides handing out orders from behind the scenes he fools Neku, the game's protagonist, into believing he risked his life for Neku and defeated Neku's killer. In reality, he killed Neku to use as a Proxy to win the True Game with the game's actual Big Bad Megumi Kitaniji: the Conductor. While he may have originally planned to erase Shibuya, Neku's reliance on the people around him restored his faith in humanity, convincing all the players — even the ones who didn't make it — a second chance at life. Neku monologues in the end that while he couldn't stand Joshua, he's grateful for meeting him and he trusts him, even being unable to shoot him when Joshua offers to make him the Composer through his own death. Even in the failure of his own goals of destroying Shibuya, Joshua still managed to win in the end.
- World of Warcraft:
- Illidan Stormrage is revealed as a dark Well-Intentioned Extremist in the Legion expansion who joined the Highborne during the War Of the Ancients to bring them down from within. Upon being shown by Sargeras the Legion's true might, Illidan has realized just how dire the fight truly is. After being freed in modern day, Illidan delves into dark powers and even makes himself the Legion lord Kil'Jaeden's servant to undermine them from within, taking over Outland and putting together a group of demon hunters while striking at the Legion's own worlds and dealing them their worst defeats in eons. upon his revival, Illidan brings the world of Azeroth close to the Legion world of Argus to 'force the hand of fate' and helps lead a daring strike on the Legion, forming the strategies to crush them once and for all before electing to serve as the eternal jailer for Sargeras himself. A complex, fascinating figure to the end, Illidan has been one of Azeroth's greatest villains and greatest heroes, giving all he has to secure Sargeras's fall after ten thousand years.
- Drakuru is an ice troll who is friendly enough to talk to the PC and actually genuinely appears to like them. He came out of nowhere, was trapped in a cage as a lowbie mob, and without leaving his cage or really telling you much of anything except he had a cool idea and wants to learn some stuff, manipulates the heroes into taking down the entire Drakkari empire. By the time you get to Zul'Drak, the trolls inside are almost all dead or killing and eating their own deities in a desperate attempt to stave off the Scourge. He is very much Affably Evil as well. When he gets his "reward" from Arthas — death and resurrection as a powerful Death Knight — he offers the heroes the same "benefit" as their reward for helping him gain the position. When they turn it down, he simply acknowledges your choice, thanks you for your help, and rewards you without further incident.
- Orgrim Doomhammer, the second Warchief of the Horde, overthrows Gul'dan and his Shadow Council, killing their pawn Warchief Blackhand and declares himself the new master of the orcs. Devoted to his people and honorable in ways Gul'dan never was, Orgrim takes over the war and nearly brings the entire human alliance to its knees, stopped only by Gul'dan's treachery. Orgrim shows an exceptional grasp of tactics and strategy, even managing to ambush the Alliance's greatest hero, Anduin Lothar, and defeating him in single combat before being captured at the war's end. Escaping, Orgrim later resurfaces to guide the young orc Thrall to help save their people and eventually gives his life for their freedom, naming Thrall his successor as Warchief.
- Loken was one of the Keepers tasked by the Titans to watch over Azeroth and the imprisoned Old Gods, but over time was corrupted by Yogg-Saron and betrayed the other Keepers and their allies. After accidentally killing Sif, his brother Thorim's wife, Loken framed the ice giants which started a war between Thorim and them; he then convinced Helya to turn against her father Odyn and lock him and his army away, arranged for Mimiron's 'accidental' death, subdued and captured Freya and Hodir when they were on their own, and sent the monstrous C'thraxxi to kill or scare away the rest. For his most ambitious plot, Loken took the form of the witch Lok'lira and played on the player character's Chronic Hero Syndrome by subtly guiding them into performing seemingly altruistic actions — rescuing a slave, repairing friendships, helping Thorim get through his depression — all to make Thorim brave enough to confront Loken when in fact he was being lured into a trap. Having systematically eliminated anyone who could pose a threat to him, Loken forged the Keepers' records and crowned himself Prime Designate, both to cover his crimes and to make sure that, if he were to be killed anyway, his death would send a signal telling Algalon to wipe all life on Azeroth.
- Xenoblade Chronicles: Egil is a Machina, the leader of the Mechon army, creator of the Faced Mechon, and the mastermind behind their invasion of Bionis. Egil was once friends with Arglas from Bionis with whom he discussed the idea of leaving the world of Bionis and Mechonis in search of new worlds, and of peace and coexistence. However, when Arglas was possessed by Zanza and laid waste to Mechonis, Egil swore revenge and, when both titans were put to sleep, began attacking Bionis hoping to wipe out as much life as possible on the titan so that, when Zanza returned, he would be more vulnerable to kill. Once Skulk learns of his past and confronts him in Mechonis Core, Skulk offers a chance to let go of revenge and change the world together. But thanks to Zanza's timely resurrection, Egil instead gives his life so the heroes can escape, placing his hopes they can kill the evil god without resorting to the extremes he went to.
- Yakuza 0: Keiji Shibusawa is one of the three lieutenants of the powerful Dojima Family, and runs its business operations. Son of a disgraced political aide forced to be The Scapegoat for his boss's crimes, Shibusawa became convinced the only way to succeed in life is to rise to the top. With family Captain Shintaro Kazama's recent arrest, whoever succeeds in locating the owner of the Empty Lot, Makoto Makimura, will become the new Captain. Framing Kazama's adopted son Kiryu for murder, Shibusawa uses Kiryu an Unwitting Pawn to edge his fellow lieutenants out of the competition. Shibusawa finally emerges from the shadows as the victor in the race to get the Empty Lot, and thus wins the vacant position of family Captain. When Dojima orders Makoto killed to keep silent the existence of the Empty Lot, Shibusawa secretly begins to act against his orders and kept her as a hostage instead, planning to use her as leverage against his boss. Thwarted by Kiryu in their climactic battle, Shibusawa urges Kiryu to finish him off, hoping to turn Kiryu into a ruthless man like him as a final act of spite against his rival Kazama. Ruthless and cunning, all that matters to Shibusawa is a title — to be feared and respected by all as the first Dragon of Dojima.
For MagnificentBastard.Western Animation:
A - D
- Avatar: The Last Airbender:
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: Princess Azula shows herself as far more ruthless and manipulative than her elder brother Prince Zuko. Pursuing the Avatar, Azula later conquers the supposedly impregnable city Ba Sing Se by sheer guile after winning its secret police the Dai Li to her side by sheer force of will and charisma. After supposedly killing Avatar Aang, Azula gives her brother credit, knowing that if Aang is found alive then it is Zuko who will suffer the wrath of their father Fire Lord Ozai. While she succumbs to madness at the conclusion of the show, The Search shows Azula begin to recover, even manipulating Zuko when he knows how dangerous she is, before she returns in Smoke and Shadow, having accepted she will never have the throne. Instead, Azula orchestrates a series of plots to force her brother to take a heavy hand, content to manipulate him into being the Fire Lord she believes he should be.
- The Legend of Korra:
- Amon, master of the equalists, is one of the most skilled Benders and fighters in history. Born a Water Bender named Noatak, he later comes to see Bending as the root of evil, and adopts a mask with the name Amon. Swaying countless followers to his 'Equalists', Amon defeats avatar Korra, but spares her to prevent her from being a martyr, while initiating a series of gambits to depower Benders in public for maximum efficiency while also orchestrating a take over of Republic City. When Korra confronts him with his falsified backstory, Amon reveals he has ever used makeup to make himself appear hideously scarred in preparation for such an event. Hellbent on eradicating Bending and able to inspire countless non-benders to his side by sheer force of will, Amon showed himself as one of Korra's most dangerous and brilliant enemies.
- Varrick is a member of the Southern Water Tribe who built a multinational shipping corporation from a local delivery service in a single canoe. He becomes a business partner to Asami Sato and Future Industries, then hires criminal gangs to sabotage their operations and drive Future Industries into bankruptcy so he can buy a controlling share of the company at a bargain price. He also heighten tensions in the brewing Water Tribe Civil War and tries to get the United Republic involved, intending to use his control of the technology market to become a war profiteer. When his efforts to convince Republic President Raiko to enter the war fail, he begins making propaganda films to sway public opinion and arranges to have crooks posing as Water Tribe members abduct Raiko. Through it all he evades detection by seemingly being too silly and friendly to be an evil schemer, and is only caught by sheer bad luck — but he even planned for this eventuality by having a prison he built include a luxury cell especially for him. Charismatic, kooky, sly, manipulative, and running multiple schemes for power at once, Varrick became a enemy of Team Avatar while they each considered him to be a helpful friend.
- Zaheer is the leader of the Red Lotus, a secret society dedicated to bringing about chaos as the world's natural order. Imprisoned years ago for attempting kidnap Avatar Korra, Zaheer attains airbending after the events of Harmonic Convergence. With his newfound powers, he breaks himself and his fellow members out from prison, before resuming their goal to capture the Avatar. Undeterred by any setback he comes across, Zaheer comes up with plans on the fly that allows him to stay one step ahead of the heroes. Once a deal with the Earth Queen Hou-Ting goes south, he murders her out of contempt for her tyranny, publicly declaring the liberation of the Earth Kingdom and throwing the land into his desired anarchy. After losing his lover P'Li in battle, Zaheer awakens the power of Flight and manages to escape with his remaining comrades with a captured Korra. Zaheer plans to kill Korra in the Avatar state by poisoning her body with mercury and end the Avatar cycle for good, but was narrowly thwarted and imprisoned once again. Briefly returning in Book 4, an imprisoned Zaheer helps Korra recover from her trauma so that she could help fix the mess he created and take down Kuvira. Always polite to ally and enemy alike, Zaheer has both guile and conviction on his side, through which he attains the power of flight, a feat no other airbender has achieved in 4000 years.
- Kuvira, the final Big Bad of the series, decides to reunify the fractured Earth Kingdom with herself as its ruler. Kuvira begins to win over the loyalty or obedience of the provinces and towns by offering protection against bandits and distributing food with the caveat that they must pledge loyalty to her and her alone. Kuvira then proceeds to launch a bloodless coup by dissolving the position of Earth King and proclaiming the birth of the Earth Empire before attempting to conquer her former home of Zaofu. Setting up a duel and allowing Airbenders to interfere to "break the agreement" against her, Kuvira proceeds to take it as justification to conquer Zaofu, before moving on to Republic City itself where her strategic prowess nearly secures the city's fall with the full intention of forging order out of chaos in what Kuvira truly feels is best for her homelands.
- The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes:
- Loki is the God of Mischief and the true mastermind behind the mass supervillain breakout. After learning Odin had adopted him after killing his biological father, Loki felt betrayed and vowed to gain vengeance against his family. Manipulating disasters on Earth to attract the attention of his brother, Loki fooled Odin into thinking that Thor was shirking his duties on Asgard for personal gain. He convinced an army of Frost Giants to aid him in an assault on Asgard in an intentional bid to get banished to the Isle of Silence. As his manipulations led to a falling out between Thor and Odin, Loki took this opportunity to claim the Nine Realms for himself. He broke out several supervillains across four separate prisons, which gave Thor a reason not to return to Asgard. Loki stole Odin's powers for himself while he was in the Odinsleep and conquered most of the Nine Realms in Thor's absence. Using the Odinforce, Loki easily overpowered the Avengers when they foiled his plans to conquer the Earth. Taking his trickster qualities to dangerous levels, Loki is one of the most devious minds across the Nine Realms.
- Kang the Conqueror hails from the 41st century and uses his advanced tech and knowledge to conquer worlds for his own. Upon learning Captain America's actions will eventually lead to the destruction of humanity, Kang traveled back in time to kill him before that could happen. After his lover Princess Ravonna was nearly erased by a rift in time, Kang vowed to conquer the past and use his armies to protect the Earth from any potential threat. He transported the Avengers to the future to show them what their actions will cause and led an invasion after he failed to gain their cooperation. Kang conquered three-quarters of the planet before the Avengers could sneak into his warship, the Damocles. Kang was apprehended, but later escaped to bring his armies back to the past after transporting the Avengers outside of the time stream. With a cunning intellect and tech that gave even Tony Stark pause, Kang is among the most threatening opponents the Avengers have ever faced.
- Baron Heinrich Zemo is the leader of the Masters of Evil and has harbored a grudge against Captain America ever since he foiled his plans in World War II. Zemo relinquished control of HYDRA upon hearing of his return in the 21st century and vowed revenge against Captain America. Zemo infiltrated Avengers Mansion to steal a sample of his blood to help cure his exposure to Virus X. Upon being recruited by the Enchantress to form the Masters of Evil, Zemo quickly established himself as the team leader despite not having any superpowers. He led the Masters of Evil into a break-in of Avengers Mansion, managing to easily incapacitate most of the team. When the Enchantress unveiled her scheme to use the Norn Stones to lead the armies of the Nine Realms to conquer Earth, Zemo anticipated her eventual betrayal. After holding his own against Thor in a duel, Zemo placed a mind-control collar on the Enchantress in an attempt to control the approaching armies for himself. When she came seeking for her revenge, Zemo allied with the Avengers to take her out and kept a Norn Stone as insurance in case they failed. A massive opportunist, Zemo exploits the strengths and weaknesses of both his allies and enemies.
- Queen Veranke is the ruler of the Skrull Empire and mastermind behind the Secret Invasion of Earth. After the destruction of the Skrull homeworld, Veranke lead her people to Earth based upon an ancient prophecy. She arranged for her forces to infiltrate strategic locations on the planet using their shape-shifting abilities. The Skrulls sneaked into various government, superhero, and criminal institutions, and sent the people they replaced to a prison ship far off-world. Vernanke disguised herself as Mockingbird and found herself among Nick Fury's confidants in his hunt for the Skrulls. She able to divert attention from her spy within the Avengers by convincing Fury that Hawkeye was the Skrull instead of Captain America. With the Avengers torn apart due their mistrust in one another, Veranke launched her invasion and attempted to convince humanity to surrender using the Skrull disguised as Captain America. When that failed, she used her spies hidden within AIM to activate a satellite array to try and wipe out every human being on the planet. Managing to keep humanity in the dark until it was too late, Queen Veranke is a master of subterfuge and deception.
- The Batman: Out of all the villains in Batman's Rogues Gallery, Professor Hugo Strange is perhaps the most dangerous of them all. Fascinated by the Batman's crusade against crime, Hugo Strange studies on the minds of criminals apprehended by Batman as means to understand the Dark Knight himself. Using his criminal studies as his foundation, Strange launches various schemes to psychologically destroy Batman such as creating the hyper-intelligent criminal AI known as D.A.V.E., manipulating Batman to spread a fear toxin across Gotham, and capturing members of the Justice League for the Joining. He has come close to victory many times if not for the last minute gambits on Batman's part; and he takes his losses in stride, biding his time for the next opportunity to come. Strange respects Batman's intelligence, citing him to be the most dangerous member of the Justice League, while the Batman begrudgingly respects Strange as a brilliant psychiatrist who can mess with people's heads. Armed with nothing more than his brilliant intellect and morbid curiosity in a world of combat-prone villains, Hugo Strange certainly earns the title of "Gotham's Ultimate Criminal Mastermind."
- Beast Wars: Megatron, a rogue Predacon general who took the name of the Decepticon leader, is a brilliant, charismatic and ruthless foe who repeatedly comes up with new schemes to defeat the Maximals under Optimus Primal. Faking the Predacons' destruction to gain an advantage or using spies and psychological warfare, Megatron even uses cover of a truce to betray Optimus and succeeds in temporarily destroying him. Utilizing his soldiers as expendable resources, Megatron routinely comes within inches of victory, even manipulating a former Decepticon into working for him so he can destroy the sleeping Autobots and completely change history. By the sequel, Beast Machines, Megatron turns out to have taken over Cybertron and repeatedly keeps the Maximals on the run.
- Beware the Batman:
- Deathstroke, real name Slade Wilson, was once a CIA agent who was booted after his excessive cruelty in the name of protecting his country. Becoming a mercenary for hire soon after, Deathstroke pulled off flawless operations before eventually using his amassed resources to target his former mentor, and the man who got him fired from the CIA, MI 6 agent Alfred Pennyworth. Framing Batman as a villain and seemingly murdering Bruce Wayne, all while masquerading as Dane Lisslow, Deathstroke handily tricks the Dark Knight into lowering his guard in a duel by faking his motivations, and later breaks into the otherwise impenetrable Batcave, captures both Batman and Alfred, and prepares to force the latter to watch as he murders Batman before him as a final vengeance against his former mentor for ruining his life.
- Anarky is Batman's Arch-Enemy, and a chaos-loving mastermind intent on enabling people to "free" themselves from the binds of morality and order. Introducing himself to Gotham by becoming a "patron" to two thugs and turning them into supervillains, Anarky later steals the comatose body of Ra's al Ghul to coerce the League of Assassins into stealing a chemical compound for him, only to reveal he's tricked them into unleashing a plague onto Gotham. Allying with and corrupting District Attorney Harvey Dent while consistently masking his true schemes even to Batman, Anarky succeeds in driving Dent into evil and happily accepts his eventual defeat by Batman, simply proclaiming he's ready to "play again" before enacting his next plans to unlock every door in Gotham and enable the citizens a night of debauchery and anarchy.
- The aforementioned Ra's Al-Ghul is the leader of the League of Assassins. An immortal warrior who has toppled civilizations over the centuries, Ra's currently uses the mercenary Cypher to mind control scientists into creating the Ion Cortex, tricking the Wayne Foundation into funding the project. Using the Cortex, Ra's knocks out power in Gotham, murders anyone who stands in his way, and plans to strong-arm the leaders of the city into allowing the League to set up shop in Gotham as their new base of operations. Controlling the League through sheer charisma and intimidation, Ra's handily defeats any opponents in combat, notices the most minor errors in his plans and orders them immediately corrected, and nearly took over Gotham City in the matter of a few days, all to enable his growing plan to wipe out what he deemed to be irredeemable crime and filth in the world.
- Big Hero 6: The Series: Obake, real name Bob Aken, was once the top student of Professor Granville. After an unsupervised lab experiment ended in disaster, Obake was left with a brain tumor that left him incapable of differentiating right from wrong. Fascinated by artist/scientist Lenore Shimamoto’s work, Obake flawlessly manipulates both heroes and villains alike into acquiring Shimamoto’s research as well the secret identities of Big Hero 6, taking close interest in Hiro Hamada. He secretly observes and gauges the boy’s growth from the shadows, even going so far as disguising himself as Hiro’s dead brother. In the season finale, Obake reveals his grand plan to recreate Shimamoto’s failed experiment that caused the Great Catastrophe, and rebuild San Fransokyo into something “perfect”. He takes control over Baymax and captures Hiro in hopes of swaying him into becoming his protégée once the dust settles. Thwarted by the heroes, a heartbroken Obake lets himself go down with his collapsing lair, but not without freeing Baymax from his control to go back to Hiro and save the boy who he deemed his equal. A Visionary Villain whose charming brilliance is rivaled by his ruthlessness, Obake establishes as Big Hero 6’s most diabolical foe to date.
- The Boondocks: Reverend Rollo Goodlove is a straw liberal activist whose motivations behind his multiple causes are money and publicity. First appearing in "The S-Word", Rollo convinces the Freemans to sue Mr. Petto for using a "racial slur" on Riley, and prolonging the issue by collaborating with Ann Colter in orchestrating a political debate. In "The Hunger Strike" he convinces Huey to continue his hunger strike in the kid's efforts to boycott BET, only to abandon his cause once the network gives Rollo his own TV sitcom. Helping the Freemans once again in "The New Black", he manages to convince the public that Riley is a special needs child whose uses the word "gay" to describe something he doesn't like, switching their ire to the gay rights community who sued Riley for saying the slur. While the his beliefs in his causes might not be genuine, his charisma and master planning are, making Rollo Goodlove the most likable mastermind on the show.
- Castlevania (2017): Isaac is a Devil Forgemaster, Dracula’s last friend and a ruthlessly competent general. An abused servant until he killed his master, Isaac believes the world will only know love once all humanity is purged. To this end, he helps Dracula by reviving corpses as monsters to serve in his army. When the brutal Viking Vampire Godbrand suggests deposing Dracula, Isaac effortlessly kills him. No one ever discovers Godbrand’s death, with Isaac even telling Dracula that if anyone ever sought to betray him, Isaac would remove such that even Dracula wouldn’t know. After Dracula’s death, Isaac continues his war on humanity, seeking to build an army with his Devil Forgemaster skills. Utterly loyal to Dracula and one of the main reasons the Vampire Lord is a threat, Isaac is a human who can easily compete with all manner of monsters.
- Class of the Titans: The Big Bad Cronus, lord of Time and the king of the Titans, is the ruthless villain who plots his own escape from Tartarus and promptly asks the Oracle of Delphi for what can stop him. Upon learning of the young would-be heroes, Cronus repeatedly showcases new plans that put him close to completely dominating the world with the young heroes struggling to match him. Cronus takes hostages to lure others into traps, including gods and even fakes his own defeat to take over the underworld. Rarely at a loss, Cronus always rebounds from his defeats and even ends the series defeated but alive and powerful as ever, plotting to weaponize the now unknown future to complete all his plans and dominate the world.
- Cyberchase: The seemingly friendly Ledge reveals himself as the mastermind behind the outbreak in the "Sensible Flats" episode. Devising a machine that transforms its victims into replicas of the Hacker in three minutes, Ledge deceives the Cybersquad into exhausting themselves, nearly succeeding at disposing them. In his next appearance, Ledge decides to outdo his former idol as a villain. Tricking the Hacker into wearing a clown suit, Ledge snaps a picture at his expense and publishes it worldwide. Upon learning of the Blue Bird of Zappiness, Ledge bugs the Hacker and effortlessly manipulates Buzz & Delete to his side, having backup plans in store if they proved to be problematic. Despite his few appearances, Ledge earns the ire of both the Cybersquad and the Hacker and stands as the most competent and dangerous of the series' antagonists for a reason.
- Dan Vs.: The Imposter is the most friendly antagonist in the show, as well as the most crafty. While the Imposter's MO is stealing people's identities and taking over their lives, he generally goes after people who are isolated from society, winning over the town under their name. Despite being outsmarted by Dan in his first appearance, the Imposter evens the score and then some in his second when he accurately predicts Dan's every move, luring him and Chris into a trapped apartment, before implanting a transmitter into Dan's molar. The Imposter then orchestrates Dan's arrest by Playing the Victim Card in front of an officer.
- DC Animated Universe:
- Darkseid is a chilling yet darkly charismatic overlord of Apokolips who seeks to bring order to the universe through iron-fisted tyranny. Throughout season two of Superman: The Animated Series, Darkseid plots his conquest of Earth from the shadows, eventually triggering a nuclear meltdown to turn Earth into a second Apokolips. After the gangster, Bruno Mannheim, outlives his usefulness, Darkseid leaves him to die in the blast, and when Mannheim reminds Darkseid that he promised to make him a king, Darkseid replies that he has, "A King of Fools." Darkseid's victory is only thwarted by the intervention of Highfather and New Genesis, but Darkseid "never settles" so he brainwashes Superman, manipulates him into attacking Earth on a suicide mission, and plans to conquer the planet under the guise of rebuilding a ravaged world. Though the plan fails, Darkseid succeeds in turning Superman into a pariah for years. Perhaps his most impressive moment comes from the Justice League episode Twilight where Darkseid manipulates Brainiac into sparing a weakened Apokolips, manipulates the Justice League into helping him, backstabs the League to Brainiac, then backstabs Brainiac by overriding his program and turning him into a weapon that he immediately uses to try to destroy New Genesis. Even seconds before his death, Darkseid maintains his dignity, laughing at Superman's inability to finish him off. Darkseid is a figure so feared and loved on his home planet that his presence can end a civil war mid-battle, and, even when near-death, his abused subjects take him to a healer rather than kill him. His only response to a horrified Superman being, "I am many things, Kal-El, but here, I am God."
- Batman: The Animated Series: The urbane, sophisticated Ra's al Ghul is acknowledged by Batman as his greatest and most deadly adversary. Forming the worldwide, powerful League of Shadows, Ra's secretly tests Batman with a series of clever plots to determine if he is worthy to be his heir in the League and inherit Ra's own wish to save the planet. When Batman refuses, Ra's decides to enact a plan to wipe out most of humanity for the betterment of the world, and each time returns to drive Batman to his limits. Even after his seeming death, Ra's survives by ordering his daughter Talia, Bruce's onetime lover, to allow him to possess her body, so he may rejuvenate and possess Bruce himself in the future. Time and again, Ra's shows exactly why Batman himself calls him his greatest enemy.
- Justice League
- After being pardoned by the US president for his aid of stopping the Justice Lords, Lex Luthor finally becomes a Diabolical Mastermind like his comic book counterpart. He secretly finances Project Cadmus to be a constant thorn in the Justice League's side while also running a fake presidential campaign to personally rile up Superman, culminating into open warfare between the two factions. Luthor uses that conflict as a cover for his real plan: steal Cadmus technology and upload his mind in an immortal android body. When Brainiac took over his body as its new vessel, Luthor convinces the Kryptonian AI to share control and become a god together. After being defeated and exposed as a criminal, Luthor joins the Legion of Doom as Gorilla Grodd's subordinate, only for him to quickly usurp leadership after Grodd's plan to turn mankind into apes fails. To solidify his authority, Luthor creates secret contingency plans for each Legion member. In the series finale, when his plans accidentally revive Darkseid, Luthor and his followers team up with the Justice League to stop the New God's conquest of Earth. At the climax of battle, Luthor is able to convince Metron to lead him to the forbidden Source Wall. Despite the dangers, Luthor survives the ordeal and returns to Earth with a prize in his hand: The Anti-Life Equation. Knowing that Darkseid could not refuse the offer, Luthor is able to take the Lord of Apokolips with him into the Source Wall, thus putting an end to Darkseid's reign forever and saving the universe in the process.
- Just as ruthlessly efficient as her comics counterpart, Amanda Waller is one of the few to stare Batman down without being remotely intimidated. Waller repeatedly acts to keep the League and other superpowered beings under control, creating multiple countermeasures and plans against them, even designing disposable superheroes with short lifespans as Project Cadmus's own personal attack force. Even in old age, Waller manipulates the implantation of Bruce Wayne's DNA into a man to father a child who will be Bruce's son, while planning to have the parents murdered to recreate Batman for the future.
- Vandal Savage is an immortal conqueror who seeks total dominion over the earth, all while keeping up a composed, respectable demeanor. Granted immortality as a caveman, Savage has spent millennia educating and bettering himself in countless aspects of human culture, and finally makes his move for domination as he uses a time machine to grant a version of himself during World War II knowledge of future events and weapons. Taking over the Nazi regime, dubbing Hitler a "raving lunatic" as he overthrows him, Savage slowly but surely turns the tide of the war in his favor, reformatting the Nazis into his own army before being stopped solely by the arrival of a time-travelling Justice League. In the present, Savage maneuvers himself into marrying into Kaznian royalty, poisoning the current king to grant himself the throne before trying to use a rail gun to wipe out Paris and cow the world into submission. In his final appearance, Savage, in a future timeline where Superman was seemingly killed, easily murdered the entire Justice League and conquered the planet, only for his technology to go out of control and wipe out humankind except himself. Spending tens of thousands of years in isolation, Savage rebuilds cities, amasses libraries, and builds massive gardens to try to make amends for his crimes, and sacrifices himself to bring Superman back to his own time and stop his younger self from killing the League, thus saving humanity, with his final words thanking Superman for fulfilling his wish.
- DC Universe Animated Original Movies:
- Justice League: Doom: Vandal Savage, the Big Bad, steals all of Batman's plans aimed at incapacitating the Justice League should they ever turn to darkness or prove too dangerous, taking them and making them far more lethal and dangerous. Recruiting his very own Legion of Doom, Vandal has them lure the League into traps before putting the countermeasures into placing, nearly killing every single member of the League in a single night. Vandal reveals his true plans to cause a solar flare to strike earth so he may cause the conflict that he feels is necessary for human advancement and cause the world to submit to his rule, offering to share the rulership with his new Legion. A charming, sophisticated villain, Vandal shows he has surpassed the savagery he has born into, nearly completely erasing the League in one fell stroke with the world falling perilously close to Vandal's utter victory.
- Batman: Under the Red Hood: Jason Todd, after his death at the hands of The Joker and his revival, becomes a much darker figure. Becoming the Red Hood, Jason sets about on his revenge, manipulating Batman, Gotham's criminal enterprises and even the League of Assassins to engineer conflicts to bring him close to the Joker and Batman. Confronting his former mentor, Jason reveals his deep bitterness at the Joker's survival, declaring he believed he would be the last person Batman ever let the Joker hurt. With a manipulative genius to rival even Batman and a hunger to see his own brutal justice enacted, Jason shows he is more than a match for the world's greatest Detective.
- Ducktales 2017: Scrooge's old flame and "ex-everything," Goldie O'Gilt, is a beautiful, conniving treasure hunter who rivals Scrooge himself in sheer wit and tenacity. Lacking Scrooge's scruples and possessed of a penchant for betrayal, Goldie has backstabbed Scrooge countless times to leave him in the wake of danger while she constantly walks off untouched. In her debut episode, Goldie plays both Scrooge and Flintheart in her pursuit of the Golden Lagoon, using Scrooge to locate the Lagoon for her before managing to fake her death with the Eye of Demogorgon and making off with the treasure herself, completely untouched in the end. Even through their constant quarreling and rivalry, Goldie and Scrooge retain a fierce, mutual respect for each other, with Goldie always knowing Scrooge will make it out alive out of whatever conundrum she leaves him in and Scrooge acknowledging her as his greatest Worthy Opponent.
G - Y
- Gargoyles:
- David Xanatos is a charming, suave man who always thinks ten steps ahead. Having revived the Gargoyles in modern day, Xanatos befriends them while manipulating them into stealing technology for him while pretending to be an innocent party. After being defeated and sent to prison, Xanatos sets up further plans to make himself look like a model citizen while securing an early parole for his lover Fox, while constantly tricking the Gargoyles into handling problems for him. Even his own wedding shows Xanatos's endless capacity for maintaining an advantage: warping himself and all the wedding guests into the past, Xanatos ends the adventure by having a rare coin set aside to be sent to himself a thousand years in the future when it will be worth a fortune, allowing him to kick start his own career. Rarely at a loss for a contingency and never losing his smile, Xanatos is rarely ever one-upped in series and often proves his boast that nothing is beyond his capacity to control.
- Goliath's evil clone, Thailog starts by luring both Goliath and Xanatos to him to claim a massive amount of money and eliminate his rivals. With his plan going off nearly perfectly, Thailog fakes his death and begins to build up a power base in the world. Seducing Demona, Thailog arranges for her to win the heart of Macbeth in her human guise, while planning to have them kill one another so he can take over both their operations. Thailog later arranges for the near elimination of the Manhattan Clan after he's cloned them, while also planning ahead for Demona's betrayal as well. Combining Xanatos's charm and brilliant mind with Goliath's power, Thailog shows why he is one of the single most dangerous villains in all of Gargoyles.
- Looney Tunes: Cecil Turtle is a seemingly timid tortoise who has the unique distinction of being the only character to have defeated Bugs Bunny on a consistent basis. Having been challenged to a race on three separate occasions, Cecil was able to outsmart Bugs every single time. In Tortoise Beats Hare, Cecil recruits the help of his identical-looking cousins to fool Bugs into thinking that he was in the lead throughout the race. He managed to sneak past the finish line and forced Bugs to fork over the ten bucks he wagered on their match. In Tortoise Wins by a Hare, Bugs challenged Cecil to a rematch, and he convinced Bugs that his shell was the key to his superior speed. Bugs dresses up as a turtle in order to beat Cecil, but is targeted by the rabbit mob who bet all their money for the rabbit to win. Cecil disguises himself as a rabbit and tricks the mob into helping him win the race. In Rabbit Transit, Cecil uses a jet engine hidden beneath his shell to gain the lead during their race. Bugs manages to cross the finish line first, but Cecil gets him to admit that he was going over the speed limit and has him arrested for speeding. With a perfect track record, Cecil is Bugs' only foe who could beat him at his own game.
- Marvel Animated Universe:
- Doctor Victor Von Doom is the ruler of Latveria and a master of both science and the mystic arts. After losing his parents under a tyrannical regime and being disfigured in a horrific lab accident, Doom declared he would bring peace to the world under his iron fist. He feuded with the Fantastic Four on numerous occasions and was the one who destroyed their headquarters at the Baxter Building. Doom has twice stolen the powers of the Silver Surfer and tricked the Hulk into nearly killing the Thing. When the UN ordered him to be tried for war crimes, Doom trapped Washington D.C. under a force field and forced the Hulk to destroy the entire capital. Doom was the most successful villain during the Secret Wars and transformed the territories he conquered into utopias free from conflict or strive. Managing to even steal the powers of the almighty Beyonder, Doctor Doom has proven he has one of the most cunning and audacious minds in the Marvel Animated Universe.
- Spider-Man: The Animated Series: Wilson Fisk is a wealthy philanthropist, but is known amongst the criminal underworld as The Kingpin of crime. Crawling out of life of impoverishment and constant abuse, Fisk became the head of a worldwide criminal empire using the skills he honed in prison. From his headquarters within the Empire State Building, Fisk has the various gangs and supervillains in New York under his thumb. He supplies those under his employ with weapons in exchange for their complete loyalty, while taking great care to ensure they remain utterly dependent on him. Despite the constant interference of superheroes like Spider-Man, it's never enough to loosen the Kingpin's grip over Manhattan. His wealth and public image allow him to avoid the consequences of his actions, even if it means sacrificing the ones he loves the most. With schemes such as forming the Insidious Six, to framing others for his crimes, to even attacking the SHIELD Helicarrier; Fisk isn't afraid to get his hands dirty in his pursuit for absolute power.
- Monster Force: Dracula himself, a vicious but elegant pastiche of his Universal incarnation, stands as the Monster Force's most formidable adversary. Dracula constantly executes schemes to net himself more power at any cost, usually running rings around the Monster Force until it's almost too late to stop him, always operating with sadistic charm and rebounding from every defeat. Dracula makes pawns of his other vampire cohorts in a scheme meant to steal their energy so he can become a god, outsmarts Dr. Crawley in the guise of vampire hunter Bram Stoker and nearly drives him to despair, and even mounts a successful invasion of Monster Force's own base in the finale through guile.
- My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks: Adagio Dazzle is the leader of the Sirens and the brains behind everything they do. When they realize Equestrian magic has been brought into this world, Adagio plays a game of Xanatos Speed Chess to locate the source of the magic in the Rainbooms and enflare tensions between them to make them fighting, letting the Sirens absorb their magic and regain their full powers. She balances this with using their singing to drive the school into a competitive frenzy, generating more and more energy for them to feed on while they await the Rainbooms giving into fighting. Along the way, save for frustration at her sisters Sonata and Aria, Adagio stays calm, confident, in-control, and always ready to twist an unexpected turn of events to their favor.
- Reboot: Megabyte, the Big Bad of the series, is a ruthless, yet charming Virus who intends to siege control of the entire system. Frequently coming up with genius schemes that come within a hairsbreadth of taking over Mainframe itself, Megabyte later allies with the hero Bob to prevent a Web invasion before betraying Bob and ejecting him into the Web, taking over Mainframe to remake it in his image. Eventually, Megabyte plots to simply abandon it to infect other systems before being overthrown. Later returning disguised as a second Bob, Megabyte organizes the complete takeover of Mainframe yet again. The most brilliant foe that Bob and his friends ever face, Megabyte is equal parts sophisticated and vicious, rarely at a loss and quick to recover, intending on bringing all he he can dream of under his control.
- Roswell Conspiracies: The ruthless General Rinaker, secretly a Shadoen agent in disguise named Wraith, is the Alliance's cold, no-nonsense head and a mind more than worthy to lead the Alliance in keeping the masquerade steady. Rinaker's penchant for manipulation and subterfuge leads to countless successful missions with no fear about doing what has to be done in the process, with alliances made and broken at his own convenience and foes to his operation like Hanek swiftly disposed of through his agents. Even when he's ousted, Wraith nearly manages to wipe out everyone who knows his secret, and manipulates even the Shadoen commanders by convincing them humanity will be cowed through one show of force — a ploy that ends with the Shadoen high command wiped out by the ensuing retaliation, allowing Wraith to take over. At the end, it takes the unification of all the alien races Wraith meticulously turned against each other as Rinaker to finally topple the web of deceit he's fostered through decades of cool-headed treachery.
- The Simpsons: Springfield has many citizens and many villains – but despite so much competition the following still manage to leave their mark of devious charm:
- Hank Scorpio is the president of the Globex Corporation whose passions include his employees’ wellbeing, fun runs and world domination. Threatening the UN with a Doomsday device, Scorpio holds the world ransom while at the same time becoming friends with new hire Homer Simpson, actually managing to make Homer productive. Executing the escaping Mr Bont after Homer tackles the agent and successfully repelling an attack on his lair, Scorpio amiably parts with Homer when the latter decides to return to Springfield for the sake of his family. Conquering the East Coast, Scorpio gives Homer the Denver Broncos as a farewell gift and assures him they will always be friends. Emulating the best aspects of the classic Bond villains he parodies, Scorpio also cares just as much – if not more – about his employees’ happiness as he does about conquering the world. The height of Affably Evil and perhaps the show’s most successful villain, Hank Scorpio is a beloved character years after his single episode.
- Molloy, a resident of the Springfield Retirement Castle that is in truth the Springfield Cat Burglar, enacted a crime spree across the town. When Homer, head of the new Neighbourhood Watch, was interviewed by Kent Brockman, Molloy phoned in to taunt Homer that he would steal the Springfield Museum’s Zirconia. Molloy succeeds despite Homer’s efforts. When arrested, Molloy gracefully returns all his stolen goods before being put in jail, where he tells Homer and Chief Wiggum about where he hid all his stolen loot, leading to the whole town hunting for it. When the location Molloy described is found, all that is present is a note saying Molloy lied and used the time they spent searching to escape. An archetypical Gentleman Thief, Molloy remains memorable despite his only appearance and relatively humble goals.
- South Park: Leslie Meyers is a sentient ad and the Big Bad of Season 19, masterminding the plot to take over the titular town for her kind. Masquerading as a 4th grader in South Park Elementary, she introduces the school to PC Principal having him force the residents to become politically correct, causing the town to be gentrified. This results in the price of living in South Park to increase, causing people who can't afford it to move out while her kind slowly takes over having done so with many other towns beforehand. After being captured by the newsmen and exposed as an ad by Jimmy Valmer, she manipulates Jimmy into helping her escape her captors, before beating him unconscious and ordering Nathan to kill him. She then frames PC Principal for all her crimes and persuades Kyle Broflovski to convince everyone attending the gun show to leave South Park in search for PC Principal, while she discreetly takes full control of the vacant town.
- The Spectacular Spider-Man:
- Green Goblin, Norman Osborn, is the ultimate villain that Spider-Man faces throughout the series. The mastermind behind many of the series' villains, Goblin consistently stays one step ahead of Spidey throughout the series, faking injuries and even death, unleashing various villains and criminals onto him as distractions, and framing his own son as the Goblin all to throw the hero off his scent. Outsmarting all the biggest crime bosses in New York in a fell swoop of manipulation to kickstart a gang war, Goblin moves in and takes control of the city's criminal element before using all his resources in a grand, final attempt at wiping Spider-Man off the map to leave the city for his rule. In his public guise, Osborn builds Oscorp Industries from the ground up, making it into a world-renowned organization, hires Chameleon to masquerade as him to avoid suspicion, and slowly tries to mold his son Harry into becoming a cruel monster like himself. At times a psychopathic, Laughing Mad supervillain, and at others a cold, ruthless businessman, Green Goblin was the most personal and most diabolical villain Spider-Man ever faced, standing in stark contrast to Tombstone's professional brilliance with his own brand of psychotic ingenuity and charm.
- L. Thompson Lincoln, better known as "Tombstone," is the "Big Man" of crime in New York City, running all criminal activities with a flawless, business-like approach. Introduced after sending numerous supercriminals against Spider-Man, Tombstone calmly and charismatically offers to pay Spider-Man to look the other way for some of Tombstone"s activities, and frames the hero as a criminal when he refuses the offer. Displaying numerous moments of honorable qualities, be it helping to locate a bomb at one of his parties at the cost of his own life or even saving the lives of one of his closest henchmen, Tombstone is also an excellent Villain with Good Publicity, convincing the entire city that he is an upstanding, charitable man, despite his monstrous appearance. No situation catches Tombstone off guard for long, as he attempts to be the voice of reason when the Green Goblin starts a gang war, and even publicly assists Spider-Man in dueling numerous villains to keep up his appearance, only to then betray and attempt to murder the man once out of public eye. Unlike most every villain in the series, Tombstone gets off scot-free, easily paying his way out of prison and returning to his former seat of glory, with only surface-level damages to organization.
- Star vs. the Forces of Evil: Toffee of Septarsis is an enigmatic, devious monster with a flair for casual manipulation and a missing finger taken from him by Queen Moon in his days as a monster warlord. Coming into the service of inept Big Bad Wannabe Ludo, Toffee ingratiates himself into Ludo's service and manipulates him into firing Buff Frog, the one minion who suspects Toffee of any wrongdoing, before ousting Ludo from his own castle and using his new position to extort and destroy Star's wand. Seemingly dying after this, Toffee in truth lived on within one half of the wand's crystal, eventually taking over Ludo's body to enact his final plot to take his finger back and restore his power, wiping out almost every single person who can stand against him and even regaining his body back before Star manages to destroy him. Suave, perpetually calm, and a master of every situation he's in, Toffee remains one of the most cunning and effective foes to have ever fought against the Butterfly family.
- Star Wars Rebels: Mitth'raw'nuruodo, aka Grand Admiral Thrawn, manages to be just as brilliant in Canon as he was in Legends. Thrawn is a genuis strategist, who manages to always stay a step ahead of the competition and takes any escapes of them as minor setbacks having planned for victory in the long run. Thrawn is able to figure out that Kallus is The Mole for the rebels and ends up using him to feed the Rebels false information. In "Zero Hour", his plans come together with the destruction of Chopper Base and the elimination of Phoenix Squadron, and only some incompetence by his allies and ultimately the intervention of an Eldritch Abomination prevent his total victory. In the Season 4 mid-season finale, he sets up a blockade to stop the Rebel Forces from invading, and despite his best efforts, they manage to get through, with heavy losses; only to run straight into the second blockade he had at the ready, hiding in the planet's atmosphere on the off chance they managed to get through the first one. The rebel fighter squadron is annihilated with the only survivors being Hera, Chopper, and Mart Mattin.
- Steven Universe: The Homeworld Gem nicknamed Navy is a member of the Ruby Squad. Appearing to be nothing more than a bumbling imbecile, Navy is sent to Earth on a mission to retrieve Jasper. After getting separated from her team and becoming stranded on Earth, Navy fakes redemption, exaggerating her personality to win over the Crystal Gems. After ingratiating herself into the group, Navy reclaims the Roaming Eye whilst gleefully pulling the rug from under the Crystal Gems her upbeat attitude never faltering.
- Total Drama: Alejandro is a smooth talking Dashing Hispanic, who describes his best quality as his ability to smell a person's weakness and exploit it in seconds. Serving as the Big Bad of his debut season, Total Drama World Tour. Declaring to take the contestants down "one by one", Alejandro first targets Team Victory, playing on Harold's sense of honor to get him to quit and leaving Bridgette stuck to a flagpole. When Team Victory dwindles down to only DJ, he easily wins over DJ's trust after painting a fake Egyptian symbol on Irene, in an attempt to make him believe his animal curse has been "lifted", before "accidentally" confessing that the whole thing was fake. When Duncan returns, Alejandro wastes no time exposing Duncan's infidelity, putting a target on Duncan's back as well as weakening Team Amazon. Making it to the finale of the season, despite being Out-Gambitted by Heather. Alejandro makes up for it in All Stars by stealing her immunity idol, turning her own manipulation of the team against her. Charming, devious and ruthless Alejandro's Villain Song; This is How We Will End It, fittingly depicted him as a puppetmaster pulling at everyone's strings to the end.
- Totally Spies!: Kyle Katz is a thief the WOOHP could never catch as he committed countless jewelry heists throughout the world. Targeting the Uzbekistan Pearl, Katz seduces the three spies with his gentlemanly charm and putting the Pearl in his grasp. As the spies enter the vault to stop Katz, he steals the pearl and locks them inside while he makes his escape. Although defeated and caught in the end, Katz never sheds his affability, even throwing the girls a rose. Despite only having one appearance, Katz remains one of the suavest antagonists faced by the spies.
- TRON: Uprising: Cyrus is an unstable Program who, having spent his life serving under CLU's tyranny, has come to the conclusion that all Programs are living a useless existence governed by bits of code and algorithms, and would be better off dead, free from CLU and the very system they are governed by. Creating a massive EMP device with nothing but tech in his dimensional prison, Cyrus lures in and tries to use Beck to activate the EMP and destroy the Grid and its inhabitants, and though stopped, returns later with a new goal in mind: to prove to Beck and his former mentor Tron that his philosophy and methods are effective. Disguising himself as Beck's alter-ego the Renegade and framing him for murder, Cyrus charms his way into Beck's circle of best friends before capturing them and Tron both, and forcing Beck to choose who to save. As Beck saves Tron, sending Able to help his friends, Cyrus reveals that his friends were never meant to survive and that their bomb will go off earlier than he promised. Cyrus gets away with all of his crimes in the end, claiming the life of Able and the reputation of the Renegade upon his exit from the series.
- Voltron: Legendary Defender
- Prince Lotor is the handsome, charismatic son of Zarkon and Honerva. Returning when his father is incapacitated, Lotor uses his charisma to win the Galra to his side and proves a deadly enemy of Voltron with his brilliance. Even when Zarkon awakens, Lotor changes gears to ally with Voltron, eventually killing his father and becoming the new head of Galra. Manipulating the Paladins, it is eventually revealed Lotor has preserved the Altean race, albeit while harvesting some for their Quintessence, leading to a massive confrontation. Despite his evil actions, even Allura acknowledges Lotor's good intent in the end, and he remains one of Voltron's most utterly brilliant and capable adversaries.
- Lotor's mother, Honerva, also known as Witch Haggar is the ruthlessly capable force behind Zarkon's throne. Nearly eliminating Voltron and all of her opponents in one fell swoop during one gambit, upon regaining her memories, Honerva ends up manipulating the entire Altean colony founded by Lotor into her pawns by using their belief of Lotor as a savior. Using them as pawns to assist her in opening up the path to reality itself, Honerva intends to find a reality where she is happy with her husband and son, deciding the rest can burn, before realizing her errors and having a chance to fix it at cost of her life.
- Wakfu: Nox, the mad Xelor and keeper of the Eliacube who serves as the Big Bad of the first season, is an audacious and brilliant Time Master who devotes himself wholly to one thing: to turn back time two-hundred years, back to when his Eliacube-induced insanity resulted in the death of his family. Nox drains the wakfu from entire countries and leaves all around him in ruin to store the captured wakfu in the Eliacube, affording himself no setbacks and firmly convinced turning back time while simultaneously erase all of his own atrocities, allowing him and the World of Twelve a fresh start. With his ruthless, unfettered agenda leading to the defeat of everyone who tries to stand up against him — with Nox effortlessly tricking the entire Sadida military into wasting their soldiers on a diversion Nox sets up, and even defeating the ancient dragon Grougaloragran and Yugo himself — Nox's defeat only comes when it's revealed he never could have gotten enough wakfu to bring his family back, even his final defeat cast in an immensely sympathetic light.
- Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?: Carmen Sandiego is a rogue ACME agent who became the world’s most successful master thief just for the sake of the thrills. To this end, Carmen stole famous landmarks and objects across the world, leaving difficult to follow clues and patterns to challenge herself with cunning pursuers. Having a strict moral code, Carmen only steals her items for the thrill, later returning them and despises violent measures. Treating her thievery hobby and escapades more like a mental game than anything else and remains affable to her companions and her enemies alike. Carmen is one of the most worthy adversaries for the ACME agents and the players in the show.
- Young Justice:
- Vandal Savage is the leader and founder of the Light. Intending on creating a secret group to counter the Justice League, Savage directs most of its greatest moves, such as forming alliances with various villain factions, continuously using fronts and proxies so when the League defeats them, the Light remains undetected. Making alliances with alien groups like the Reach and Apokolips, Vandal engineers the near downfall of the world and at one point completely enslaving the Justice League and sending them off-world to fulfill the Light's purposes, framing them as criminals on another planet. Bent on creating a world of conflict where humans will be forced to evolve and adapt, Vandal constantly shows why he is worthy of being the head of the Light.
- Lex Luthor is as charming and intelligent as ever. Forming Project Cadmus to create Superboy with his own DNA, Lex constantly stays a step of the heroes, even filling Superboy himself with doubt over his true place. Organizing a peace treaty between the countries of North and South Rhelasia, Lex manipulates events so both will unite under the Light's guidance and constantly proves invaluable in assisting Vandal with the best of the Light's schemes. Upon realizing the danger of the Reach, he and Vandal help to form counter measures against them, ending the second season by escaping completely free of their own crimes and proving why Lex is always a match for any adversary.
Good? Bad? Something in between? I should be banned for even suggesting it like this?
erazor0707
The Unknown Unknown
from The Infinitude of Meh
Since: Dec, 2014
Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
The Unknown Unknown
#7414: Feb 17th 2019 at 2:31:05 PM
>Folders necessary now
Our baby is growing, ya'll.
A cruel, sick joke is still a joke, and sometimes all you can do is laugh.
#7415: Feb 17th 2019 at 2:42:56 PM
Love it! I just noticed we have also overtaken Real Life section maintenance to become the second longest cleanup thread, whoop whoop!
#7416: Feb 17th 2019 at 2:50:34 PM
Also retooled MagnificentBastard.Literature a bit and here's the reformat so folders can be put in:
"What a pity I am not an honest man!"
The best known of the older forms of media has had a long, long time for authors to craft numerous dastardly string-pullers.
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- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo, born Prince Dakkar, is revealed as the son of an Indian Raj whose family was slaughtered for his rebellion against the British. Nemo has since abandoned civilization to create his own by his brilliance and force of will, resulting in the Nautilus-an ingenious submersible that Nemo travels the world with, striking fear into the hearts of the British by destroying their ships. Nemo is polite even to his prisoners, taking everything they need from the sea and their own victims, while maintaining a air of civility and geniality, showcasing his unmistakable charisma and drive.
- American Gods: Mr. Wednesday, in truth the god Odin, is the architect of a great deal of misfortune in the story to feed his purposes. Wednesday arranges the death of hero Shadow's wife to recruit Shadow to his purposes, later revealing that Wednesday is Shadow's father, having sired him and manipulated Shadow's life for decades so Shadow could serve his purposes. With his power waning in America next to the new Gods, Wednesday engineers a war between gods and an ongoing conflict to trick them into a huge battle so Wednesday can harvest their power for his purposes. Wednesday remains charismatic and charming, despite his vicious cunning, still caring about Shadow at the end, even as he attempts to ascend to greater heights at the cost of old gods and new alike.
- And Then There Were None: Judge Lawrence John Wargrave, aka U. N. Owen manages to craft the ultimate Locked Room Mystery and only his desire that someone appreciate his genius allowed the mystery to be solved. Wargrave, deep down, is an admitted sadist with a bizarre sense of justice and only enacts his cruelties beyond the guilty and evil. When he realizes he is fatally ill, Wargrave has nine unrepentant criminals lured to an island with him where he begins murdering them, and avoids suspicion by luring a doctor there into helping him to fake his own death, then murdering said doctor as well. Wargrave proceeds to eliminate his other victims, pressing the final main character who had manipulated a child in her care to his death into suicide. Wargrave ends his plan by committing suicide in such a way that obscures the way he died, with only a written confession in a bottle thrown into a sea revealing the truth.
- Arsène Lupin: The title character is a charismatic, suave Gentleman Thief always ready with a gambit and a smile. A brilliant Master of Disguise who performs daring heists while first sending his calling card to alert his marks of his coming, Lupin sometimes relies on his reputation to get his marks to simply surrender their loot. Lupin repeatedly pulls off gambits once a story, always playing the police, his marks and even worse villains than he to secure victory. In some cases, Lupin cases classic misdirection, even escaping from jail in disguise just because he'd promised to escape beforehand, resulting in the police believing he did so and testifying that he could not be Lupin in court. With a brilliant mind, unmatched flourishes of style and even a deep love for those closest to him, Lupin set the stage for many gentleman thieves to follow.
- Asian Saga: Lord Toranaga in Shogun combines The Chessmaster and Manipulative Bastard gloriously, playing an endless game of Xanatos Speed Chess when his plans get derailed. Both Toranaga and his nemesis Ishido had sworn to their late master that they would protect his young son until he was old enough to rule, but Ishido believes Toranaga intends to supplant the boy and become Shogun himself, and he's absolutely right. Toranaga proceeds to manipulate the entirety of Japan, pulling off a set of brilliant, almost impossible gambits to provoke Ishido into war, marginalize his rivals and allow Toranaga to move against them with full support of the populace. In the end, Toranaga's brilliance ends in him completely crushing his rivals and ascending to the position of Shogun with aplomb, with narration even stating that his victory "wasn't an Act of God. It was an Act of Toranaga."
- Best Served Cold: The assassin and Eater Shenkt is a former disciple of the monstrously evil Bayaz and dedicates his life to destroying what his mentor has built. In the guise of the Bone Thief, Shenkt rescues the crippled Monza Murcatto after Bayaz's pawn Duke Orso leaves her for death and nurses her back to heath, setting her to take revenge on Orso to serve his purposes while Shenkt allows Orso to hire him so he can play every side and clandestinely assist in keeping Monza alive. When revealing himself, Shenkt turns out to have been opposing Bayaz so subtly for so long that his nemesis is not even aware he still lives. A deadly assassin with a conscience, Shenkt also genuinely loves his wife and their children, constantly arranging the chessboard Bayaz has set up to stymie his hated foe.
- Catch-22: Milo Minderbinder may be a mere mess officer, but he has connections all over the world and is—among other titles—mayor of an Italian city and imam of a Middle-Eastern country. Due to mastery of international import and export, including goods from Germany, and blatant pinching of various army supplies, even leaving stylish notes, he makes himself ludicrously rich, and becomes gradually even more of a capitalist wonder by turning his eye to private contracting with both the Allies and Axis. He eventually pulls off the amazing feat of bombing the regiment's own airfield for the Germans but easily avoids getting court-martialed due to his seemingly-unlimited funds. His only mistake is buying too much cotton from Egypt, but he takes care of that by convincing General Cathcart that the troops should be fine eating his excess cotton, provided they cover the cotton in chocolate sauce first.
- Codex Alera: The Realm of Alera is a hotbed of political intrigue, so it stands to reason that it's full of clever schemers, but two of them cement themselves as head and shoulders above the rest:
- Gaius Sextus is the aging but still formidable First Lord of Alera. Dedicated to maintaining peace and stability in the Realm by any cost, Sextus uses his powerful abilities of furycrafting and equally sharp political mind to stay several steps ahead of his enemies. Generally considered the only thing standing between Alera and all-out civil war, he uses his expansive intelligence network to keep abreast of events across the Realm and even on the rare occasions when he's blindsided, he still keeps his cool and never loses control of the situation. Even in death he succeeds in sacrificing himself to deal a heavy blow against the Vord and arranges for his grandson Tavi's most dangerous enemies to be killed so he can survive to take the throne. Ultimately, even Sextus's enemies have a great deal of respect for his power and cunning, and know they underestimate him at their peril.
- Aquitainus Attis, High Lord Aquitaine, is one of the most powerful nobles in Alera and Sextus's main political rival. Though he presents himself publicly as a drunken playboy, he's incredibly charismatic and his hedonistic façade hides a keen political mind. Rather than seeking to usurp Sextus directly, he instead focuses on gathering influence so that when the old man finally dies, Attis will be the only one in a position to succeed him. Furthermore, he also works against the conspiracy of his fellow nobles who assassinated his friend Septimus, the First Lord's son - a group which includes Attis's own wife, whose skills he also makes use of to advance his own ambitions. When Alera is invaded by the Vord, Attis puts himself at the forefront of the fight and holds his people together through one of the greatest disasters in their history, and upon his death even his enemies mourn him and must acknowledge that though he may not have been a good man, he was a great leader who used highly dubious means but always worked for his vision of a better Alera.
- The Culture: Veteuil in Surface Detail is a ruthless soldier who starts out fighting for the Pro-Hell side in War on heaven, working to sabotage the Anti-Hell side. However, Veteuil opts to sabotage the Pro-Hell side, sabotaging them and helping the novel's heroes to ensure the death of the hell side. A genius strategist, Vetueil manipulates and uses everyone over the course of the novel with none the wiser, possibly even working for the mysterious culture. In the novel's final line, Veteuil's true identity is revealed to be a repentant Elethiomel Zakalwe, the Chairmaker, who has been seeking his redemption for centuries.
- The Day of the Jackal: The Jackal, Villain Protagonist of the novel is hired to assassinate Charles De Gaulle some way down before an OAS member in the wrong place at the wrong time blurts out his codename under Electric Torture. The Jackal infiltrates Paris and manages to stay a step ahead of the authorities the entire novel. In one instance, when seemingly cornered, the Jackal asks a series of seeming innocuous questions of the police officer, gleaning all he can from the man before realizing it is safe to eliminate him. The Jackal constantly misdirects the authorities, placing himself in the perfect position to assassinate de Gaulle and when he is finally tracked down, it is only seconds before he pulls the trigger on his target.
- Discworld: Lord Havelock Vetinari turned Ankh-Morpork from a broken down, weak city run by a cut-throat, utterly insane monarchy into the most powerful city in the entire Disc, run by a highly efficient government that headed by himself, dominating through cultural and economic might rather than force of arms. Vetinari also happens to be a genius who is the one man who keeps the city in line, knowing without him, it would collapse into chaps, so that none may challenge or remove him. Well aware of how terible the world can be, Vetinari utilizes trickery and manipulation to better it and will happily manipulate other heroes to deal with threats to his city. While Vetinari does not believe a perfect world is even possible, he will scheme, lie, cheat and manipulate all to improve what he can, and is never not in control of events as they unfold.
- Don't Be a Hero, by Chris Strange: Morgan "Quanta" Shepherd is a man with the power to control light. Inspired by superheroes, Shepherd ends up revolted at the world's ingratitude towards them. Fashioning himself into the supervillain Quanta, he orchestrates mass breakouts of supervillains, fashioning himself into a charismatic leader for them as he orchestrates brutal attacks and experiments with the purpose of forcing the world to realize the necessity for superheroes again. Attempting to turn the young boy Sam into a living, superpowered weapon, Quanta pulls off a major plan in a matter of days, creating a near catastrophic tragedy, all the inspire the return of heroes to stop villains like him with near perfect success.
- Dragonlance: Raistlin Majere starts as a frail, sickly magician, cursed by god and mage alike. Desiring ultimate power, Raistlin goes back in time, to study under the most powerful dark wizard ever, Fistandantilus, murdering him when he tries to steal Raistlin's life force. Raisltin then proceeds to organize a war to get himself close to a gate leading to the abyss, manipulating a holy cleric named Crysania into falling in love with him to help him open it. With this achieved, Raistlin intends to lure out the supreme Dark Goddess Takhisis so he can kill her, take her place and then usurp the rest of the gods, all while abandoning Crysania to death when he needs her no longer. Raistlin manipulates countless people along his path, from the forces of darkness to the armies of light, coming within a hair of achieving his goals. The only thing that stops him is a pang of conscience when he sees his brother Caramon, instead opting to sacrifice himself to rescue Caramon and Crysania in the end. Even after his death, Raistlin occasionally resurfaces to pull off a new gambit to assist his family, being feared even by the gods themselves.
- Dreamblood Duology: Eninket, the charming Prince of Gujareh. When Eninket was a child, he learned that his father, who was Prince at the time, and the rest of the Kingdom's elite were being controlled by the Hetawa through Dreamblood addiction. Eninket resolved that this would never happen to him and so he murdered his father and most of his siblings to become Prince himself. Eninket investigated the history of Gujaraat and learned that the Hetawa murdered the founder of Gujaraat when they couldn't control him. Eninket uses this knowledge to blackmail the Hetawa into obeying him. With the Hetawa under control, Eninket decides to become a god by consuming a massive quantity of Dreamblood, which could only be obtained by murdering tens of thousands of people. To gather the Dreamblood, Eninket corrupts an elderly Gatherer into a Reaper. Eninket then assembles a mercenary army to attack the neighboring country of Kisua, intending for his Reaper to devour both the mercenary and Kisuati armies to generate the dreamblood he needs. Afterwards, Eninket would send the Gujareen army to conquer Kisua and from there, the world. When Eninket's only surviving brother, the Gatherer Ehiru, attempts to stop him, Eninket locks Ehiru and Ehiru's apprentice Nijiri in a cell with the intent of corrupting Ehiru into a Reaper. However, Ehiru and Nijiri escape and kill Eninket. While Eninket's plans are monstrous, he is a loving father and husband who sincerely believes that all of his crimes are necessary to give the world the immortal monarch it needs to prosper. In the end, he only fails because he made the reasonable assumption that a novice Gatherer like Nijiri wouldn't be able to defeat his Reaper.
- The Dresden Files:
- Gentleman Johnnie Marcone is constantly putting himself in a position where it's absolutely necessary for people who hate him to cooperate with him, whether because he's the lesser of several evils or simply the only option. Even before getting involved with the supernatural, Marcone brought all of Chicago's organized crime under his control. Upon getting involved in the supernatural, Marcone never fails to come out on top, repeatedly outmaneuvering and helping to defeat forces far more powerful and older than he is. Marcone even becomes the first mortal signatory to the supernatural Accords. Fully aware of his limitations as a man, Marcone is insanely prepared for supernatural threats and takes measures accordingly, frequently destroying threats that come for him. Marcone is also driven by a desire to protect innocent bystanders from harm, his iron will defined by a little girl who was once shot by a bullet intended for him. A complex, ruthless man, Marcone frequently shows why he is one of Harry Dresden's great allies and enemies often at the same time.
- The White Court vampire Lara Raith, having been sexually enslaved by her own father, the White King, overcomes his control and cripples him into an empty shell that she uses as a puppet while she remains the true power behind the throne. Lara then proceeds to manipulate the rival families of the White Court into attacking female magic users too weak for the White Council to notice, betting on the fact that Harry Dresden will get involved and wipe out all of the challengers for leadership of the White Court. Lara is a consummate manipulator, frequently employing the aid of people who have reason to detest her and getting them to work towards her purposes. Lara is also secretly a fighter in the Oblivion War, seeking to exterminate ancient beings far too deadly to coexist with humanity. Despite freely acknowledging herself as a monster, Lara has a conscience, even if she will happily play her family, friends, allies and enemies to secure her goals and remain in power.
- Martin, a seemingly innocuous member of the Fellowship of St. Giles, is a former spy for the Red Court in the resistance against them. Seeing all the horror and evil committed by his former masters shattered Martin's loyalty, making him a triple agent out to destroy them whatever the cost. Sabotaging a duel between Duke Paolo Ortega and Harry Dresden to keep a war between the Red Court and the White Council of Wizards ongoing, Martin later leaks information of his comrade Susan's daughter with Harry for the plans of Paolo's widow Arianna Ortega, letting her set up a sacrifice to wipe out an entire bloodline with its youngest member. Martin then manipulates a betrayal of the heroes to trick Susan into killing him, turning her into a full vampire so Harry is forced to sacrifice her, the youngest Red Court member, to exterminate the entire bloodline in order to save his daughter, dying with full satisfaction at his plans achieved.
- The Elenium: Martel is a renegade Pandion Knight, Dragon-in-Chief to Azash, archenemy of protagonist Sparhawk, and the primary planner behind everything the villains do. Having procured the poison that Primate Annias needed to incapacitate Queen Ehlana, Martel moves about Eosia, stirring up trouble in Rendor and Lamorkand in an effort to draw the Church Knights out of Chyrellos and make it easier for Annias to gain the Archprelacy by way of intimidation. When Sparhawk and his companions foil these plans and restore Ehlana to health, Martel convinces the Rendors to invade Arcium, then attacks Chyrellos with his own private army of mercenaries. Robbed of victory by way of divine intervention when the Child-Goddess Aphrael steps in and leads King Wargun's army to Chyrellos, Martel lures Sparhawk to Zemoch, so that Azash can deal with him, and steal the Bhelliom—the entire plot of the series, from the poisoning of Ehlana onward being revealed as part of a scheme to force Sparhawk to uncover Bhelliom and then take it from him. Out for his own profit first and foremost, Martel used Annias, Zemoch Emperor Otha, and even Azash, as means to his ends, hijacking all of their plans in order gain revenge on Sparhawk and empower himself.
- Father Brown: M. Hercule Flambeau is an archcriminal and master thief, who is well known for being a Master of Disguise. First introduced in The Blue Cross, Flambeau befuddles the police to sneak into a convention of priests, disguising himself as one to steal a holy artifact. Only stopped by the genius of Father Brown, Flambeau accepts his defeat with grace and style but returns many times to pull off new brilliant heists until he ends up becoming a brilliant detective in his own right.
- Fu Manchu: The title character himself is the single most compelling character in the Sax Rohmer novels. Despite his villainy, Fu is charismatic, bold, educated and with a vision for the future to see his nation restored to greatness. Ruler of the Si-Fan syndicate, Fu returns time and again with brilliant schemes that are only ever matched by his enemy Sir Dennis Nayland Smith through sheer tenacity, as even Nayland Smith admits Fu is his intellectual superior by far. Fu schemes to conquer the world and subvert entire nations, but he is not without a code of honor. At times, Fu has even arranged for the downfall of fascist and communist leaders, and will always keep his word, as well as sending Nayland Smith a gift for his enemy's wedding. A brilliant archcriminal and one of the first supervillains of literature, Fu Manchu repeatedly demonstrates his superiority, with little being able to do anything but delay him in his schemes.
- Gentleman Bastard: Luciano Anatolius, alias the Grey King, alias Capa Raza, used Locke Lamora and the other Gentleman Bastards as disposable pawns in his campaign against Capa Barsavi and the Camorri nobility, forcing Locke to impersonate him so that he might fake his own death, and then killing off most of the team with ease. With twenty-two years to plan out his revenge on Barsavi and the nobles for the death of his family, Anatolius leaves few details unattended to, killing off Barsavi's gang bosses and inserting his own men into leadership positions, hiding his Co-Dragons among Barsavi's personal bodyguard, and hypnotizing the chief of the Secret Police into bringing his hidden Wraithstone weapons into the Duke's ball. Successful at taking over the Barsavi organization and killing off Barsavi's entire family in the process, the newly minted Capa Raza comes within a hairsbreadth of taking out the whole of the Camorri nobility, before Locke and Jean manage to halt his rampage.
- Gormenghast: Steerpike was once a kitchen boy who rose to become of the most powerful figures in Gormenghast. Scheming to overthrow the Groan family, Steerpike sets fire to Earl Sepulchrave Groan's beloved library, resulting in the Earl's insanity and eventual suicide, setting himself up as a hero who rescued everyone else within. Steerpike burns the master of ritual, Barquentine, to death to steal his position and steadily either discredits or murders those who stand in his path while also seducing Fuchsia Groan, Sepulchrave's daughter. Steerpike then kills Sepulchrave's twin sisters by sealing them in a room and leaving them to starve, murdering the former servant Flay when he and Young Earl Titus catch Steerpike gloating to the corpses years later. Escaping into the castle, Steerpike decides to destroy everyone he can if he cannot rule the castle, being defeated only when a flood ruins his hiding place, dying with a last snarl of hatred at Titus Groan.
- The Heaven Cycle:
- The original 'Prime' Chayne Summers, The Black Queen of Heaven and Hell, is the brilliant manipulator who comes up with the Heaven Cycle to begin with. Chayne manipulates ten-thousand worlds through their rebirth and eventual destruction while forcing Heaven and Hell alike to dance to her tune to eventually craft a world where Alice "Mint" Witzenberg will use their godly powers for Chayne's benefit. Finally achieving one on the final cycle, Chayne tricks Mint into crafting her perfect Nirvana before taking her daughter Aria, leaving the world to its destruction while she enjoys her perfect paradise with all she once held dear. Finally electing to annihilate reality if she cannot have Aria, Chayne eventually recognizes her shortcomings and uses her last moments to reflect upon the perfect world where she chose to live out her days in peace, accepting Aria's loss and working to better the world, departing at peace with herself at last.
- From Heaven's Door: Driven to misanthropy after the death of her daughter, Chayne Summers begins plotting — using the Red Clover faction of The Association — to use the energies of the Eldritch Location, Heaven, to wipe out humanity and replace them with a more peaceful race of beings. Placing body doubles throughout the P.A.R.A.D.I.S.E. program's facility to avoid being killed by her participants, Chayne stops at no measure to ensure her utopia comes to fruition. Forced to confront the monster she has become in her final fight with Deuteragonist Mint, Chayne remains unrelenting in her devotion to a perfect world but fights to her last before finally being killed.
- Heaven and Hell: Erebos, real name Nestor, is the adopted child of the demon lord Azazel and the master of the Sect of the Broken Mind. Manipulating his sect for ages to serve the interests of Hell, even leading them to sacrifice themselves to test his emotions and further the strikes against Heaven, Erebos eventually betrays Azazel to help Tango and their friends at Solomon. When Erebos helps them delve into Hell to save a friend Azazel has captive, Azazel attempts to break Erebos by revealing his entire life and purpose were a line from the start. Erebos promptly turns the tables, enacting a brilliant scheme that results in Azazel's death before Erebos dedicates himself fully to saving the world, making a final stand against the psychotic Archangel Uriel for the fate of the universe.
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: The Grinch is a grumpy, cynical creature that hates Christmas, especially all the noise Whos make during the holiday, so much so that he decides to steal it from the entire town of Whoville. After the Grinch steals all the gifts and decorations from the Whos, he finds out that they are able to celebrate Christmas even without them, which makes him realize what the true meaning of Christmas is. The Grinch's heart metaphorically grows by three sizes and he returns all the gifts and decorations, even joining in on the Christmas feast.
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- The Kindness of Devils:
- Lucifer himself, formerly Samael, was one of God's most powerful and brilliant children, before falling from grace as he became disillusioned with his Father's silence and resolved to give all beings the choice to define their own destinies free from the divine plan. Lucifer wins over innumerable angels not through deceit or trickery but by genuinely encouraging them to embrace their best traits and staged a successful attack on Heaven's own gates, barging into the throne room of Heaven itself and deriding his equally powerful brother, Michael, for only being able to "obey." Lucifer deliberately forfeits his battle with Michael when he realizes it's risking all creation, and forever immortalizes himself as the charismatic and steadfast Lord of Hell shortly after.
- Satannus, the Sin of Wrath, is Hell's most distinguished and powerful warrior and one of the most loyal, capable assets Lucifer could ask for. Having turned to Hell in disgust for Heaven using her and her own soldiers as disposable chess pieces, Satannus' magnificence comes to shine in The Kiss of Wrath where she takes her nephew Daemon (the future Hardestadt Delac) as her apprentice, putting him through hellish training that eventually serves to refine him into a warrior as capable as Satannus herself. Satannus, also ostensibly working in a conspiracy in Hell led by Karadas Baal, demonstrates her own skill in Hell's "Grand Dance" by spending years derailing the entire conspiracy from the inside-out, tricking their own followers into slaughtering themselves and only revealing her betrayal when the conspiracy itself has already been completely dismantled.
- The Dreams of Lonely Stars: Thomas Nero is a sorcerer driven to the brink of despair following the deaths of his family by the Great Old One, Cthulhu. Believing humanity destined to suffer under it lest he allow it to destroy them, Nero moves to link the monster to its daughter, Maggie Isla — "Cythlla", as it calls her — to usher in the apocalypse. Employing numerous gambits to throw Hardestadt and his companions off his trail, Nero shows time and again, what a worthy adversary he is. Even when mortally wounded and his plans stopped, Nero happily accepts there being a way for mankind to live on without destruction and gracefully passes into the afterlife to reunite with his beloved wife and daughter.
- And to All a Good Night: Krampus himself, seeking the destruction of Christmas to renew the fear in the season, sets up a scheme to have several children kidnapped, having the child-eating ogre the Gryla and her sons kidnap a dozen misbehaving children who misbehaved to unsettle the treaties. In actuality, Krampus' true scheme revolves around the more well-behaved children he secretly kidnapped, having intended Hardestadt to walk away thinking the job done after defeating the Gryla as he used the children in a ritual to destroy Christmas and instate Krampusnacht in its place. Even with his scheme foiled, Krampus cheerfully points out there's not a thing Hardestadt can do to him otherwise and that because of the night's events, his name is more widespread than ever before.
- Kushiel's Legacy: The beautiful, deadly Melisande Shahrizai has her former lover and rival Anafiel Delaunay killed after manipulating her current lover to his demise. Obsessed with playing 'the game' of politics and attempting to seize power, Melisande allies with the barbarian Skaldi to overthrow the government of Terra D'Ange, nearly succeeding in bringing it down. Upon their defeat, Melisande later allies with the queen's great uncle and marries him, crafting a new conspiracy to eliminate Queen Ysandre and place her own child on the throne without ever drawing suspicion to herself, almost succeeding. Melisande is so excellent at staying out of trouble for her crimes that the only way the gods themselves can punish her is through her one beloved son Imriel.
- The Malloreon: Sadi is the Chief Eunuch at Salmissra’s court, and the worst person the Prophecy ever drafts into assisting Garion and his companions. A Master Poisoner and drug kingpin who had previously played both sides of the war in The Belgariad, Sadi is recruited during The Malloreon to act as Garion’s personal option of last resort. Smuggling the group into first Cthol Murgos, and then Mallorea, Sadi adeptly navigates the halls of power in both Angarak nations, and within a few weeks of their arrival in Mal Zeth, becomes the largest crime lord in the capital, capable of summoning several hundred highwaymen when Garion decides he needs a distraction. With a case full of drugs that can warp people into doing what he wants, and the ability to poison a single person at a banquet with a thousand guests, Sadi never reforms, but makes himself absolutely indispensable in matters of intrigue, murder, and ultimately, saving the world.
- Mistborn: The Original Trilogy:
- The Lord Ruler is the godlike emperor of the Final Empire who rose from humble origins to become a tyrant who united the known world under his rule and reshaped it in his image. Despite centuries spent struggling with Ruin's influence on his thoughts, the Lord Ruler remained determined to ensure the survival of humanity by any means necessary and set numerous contingency plans in motion. Even following the Lord Ruler's death his hand continued to work behind the scenes and would play a key role in Ruin's final defeat, and even centuries down the line his influence on Scadrial's history can't be entirely escaped.
- Kelsier was little more than an arrogant master thief until he and his wife were sentenced to the dreaded Pits of Hathsin by the Lord Ruler. Escaping, he proceeded to hijack the rebellion as his private army and carefully spread his reputation as a quasi-religious figure across the empire, so that when he was killed his martyrdom would trigger a mass uprising that would topple the Lord Ruler - and The Secret History describes how even death couldn't keep him down for good as he continued his scheming as a cognitive shadow. Charismatic, brilliant, and more than a little mad, the Survivor of Hathsin would topple a thousand-year empire through sheer force of will and cunning and create a reputation for himself as an iconic figure that would endure for centuries.
- Neuropath: Neil Cassidy is a charismatic neurologist and former college roommate of protagonist Thomas Bible utterly obsessed with Thomas' old philosophy of "the Argument." To convince Thomas to adopt the Argument's principles again, Neil executes a long, complex mind game through a series of murders and manipulation while ruthlessly rooting out any loose ends. Suave and eloquent enough to make Thomas continually question his own reality, Neil reveals he made Thomas' partner in the case to have been a mole of his own making; that Thomas' own beloved son Frankie is in fact Neil's; and uses a device he uses to rewire parts of Thomas' mind to show to him in perfect detail the fundamentals of the Argument, having previously used the device to erase all forms of human emotion and weakness from his mind to perfectly devote himself to his master plan and nothing else without the hindrances of love and guilt.
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Luke Castellan, while introduced as a friendly mentor figure, is The Dragon to Kronos. Holding a resentment towards the gods due to feeling abandoned by his father, Hermes, Luke manipulated countless other demigods into joining Kronos's forces, convincing Silena Beauregard to act as his spy by tricking her into believing nobody at camp would get hurt. Under Kronos's orders, Luke steals both Zeus's Master Bolt and Hades's Helm of Darkness in an attempt to start a war between the gods, convincing Ares to help him when the war god catches him. In The Lightning Thief, when Percy is claimed by Poseidon, Luke summons a hellhound to trick Percy and Chiron into believing that Hades is the true culprit. When Percy succeeds in his quest to find and return Zeus's Master Bolt, Luke lures Percy into the woods and poisons him with a pit scorpion, not taking the risk Percy beating him in a fight. In The Titans Curse, to have her serve as bait for the goddess, Artemis, Luke risks his life by holding the sky to trick Annabeth into taking his place when she holds it to save his life. In The Battle of the Labyrinth, Luke persuades the inventor, Daedalus, into giving him the string of Ariadne so that he can find a route for Kronos's forces to invade Camp Half-Blood. Luke later allows the spirit of Kronos to take over his body after gaining nigh-invulnerability from the River Styx. Despite Luke's manipulative nature, he truly believed he was doing what was best for demigods, and when he realized how much he hurt Annabeth, ends his own life to stop Kronos.
- Peril at End House: Nick Buckley may not have been the worst criminal Poirot ever faced, but she was the only one who ever manipulated him into helping her with her scheme. Faking a series of murder attempts on herself, Nick persuades Poirot to help investigate, convincing all of her friends, who had not otherwise believed her, that her life is in danger. Using this as a cover, Nick murders her cousin, knowing that Poirot will assume she was killed in mistake for Nick; she then pretends that it was she, and not her identically named cousin who was secretly engaged to the rich and recently deceased Michael Seton, setting herself up to inherit all his money. Found out because of a letter she could never know had been sent, Nick had Poirot investigating every outlandish possibility save the real one until the very end.
- Raffles: Written as an answer to Sherlock Holmes himself by Arthur Conan Doyle's brother in law, AJ Raffles is a charming Gentleman Thief who frequently robs the wealthy members of Victorian high society, with a special emphasis on honorless 'new rich' types, one point even stealing a valuable artifact from a museum and gifting it to the Queen herself for the Diamond Jubilee. Cunning and charming, Raffles repeatedly pulls off heists while sticking to his own curious code of honor, his exploits chronicled by his loyal friend Bunny. Raffles is rarely at a loss and just as good at being a criminal as Holmes is at detective work.
- Red Harvest: The Continental Operative arrives in 'Poisonville' and sets about to rid it of the cruel gangs who control it. A ruthless, brilliant operator, the Op extracts incriminating information of the gangs and spreads them to their enemies to play all sides against one another, even revealing one bank robbery was staged by one mob group and the police to spark a gang war and bring the corrupt police into it. Playing the gangs into whittling one another down until he's finished them all, the Op blackmails one of the town's chief members who first hired him and invited the gangs there into calling the governor to send in the national guard, declare martial law and clean up the town to give the man his town back, while removing his control of it at the same time.
- Redwall:
- Salamandastron: Ferahgo the Assassin, the charming, blue-eyed weasel warlord of the Corpsemakers, is one of the craftiest threats to ever attack Salamandastron. Known and feared for his disarming blue eyes and charming temperament, Ferahgo put these to good use to manipulate and slay the parents of future Badger Lords Urthwyte and Urthstripe, claiming the lands of the southwest for himself. Ferahgo attacks Salamandastron seasons later when Urthstripe rules, employing trickery and poison in his attempted assaults while remaining deftly ahead of his treacherous minions, tricking two who try and slay him while he's grievously wounded into taking out a decoy before he kills them. Unique among other Redwall villains for even having slightly more positive traits, Ferahgo genuinely loves his son Klitch and tolerates his ineffectual attempts at betrayal, and dies in a Mutual Kill with a Bloodwrath-consumed Urthstripe, fearlessly facing the badger to the end in comparison to countless other vermin who die running.
- Marlfox: Mokkan, the last of the titular Marlfoxes standing, is the eldest and cleverest of his ruthless siblings. Masterminding their raids on Redwall abbey to steal the tapestry of Martin the Warrior, Mokkan promptly doublecrosses his siblings, stealing some of their boats and destroying the rest after sending them to fight redwall Abbey, as well as rooting out and murdering a spy his sister sends after him. Having realized that once their mother dies, infighting will begin, Mokkan intends on getting a head start in placing himself close to the throne. Mokkan arrives at Castle Marl to find his sister Lantur has murdered their mother and is crowning herself queen. Mokkan swiftly outwits and murders her, making himself king, where he even promises that he will promote any slave to his personal guard or demote a guard to a slave based solely on merit. Even among the clever Marlfoxes, Mokkan distinguishes himself as one of the cleverest villains to grace a Redwall novel.
- Taggerung: Vallug Bowbeast and Eefera are members of the Juskarath sent with the new chieftain Gruven to hunt down the Taggerung, Tagg, after he is framed for their leader Sawney Rath's murder. Far smarter and deadlier then Gruven, the two humiliate him and abandon the rest to die so they may kill Tagg and claim the title of chief for themselves, each plotting to do away with the other when the time comes. The two proceed to hunt Tagg to Redwall abbey, blackmailing the abbey to give them the Taggerung while capturing Gruven and his team, making it appear as if the abbey is besieged by a horde while keeping minimal danger to themselves, with Vallug even mortally wounding the powerful Cregga Rose-Eyes, the badger matriarch of Redwall. Two of the most ruthless, yes effective vermin around, Eefera and Vallug demonstrate rare skill and resourcefulness for villains, putting Redwall under more threat as a duo than entire armies have achieved.
- Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot: Uncle Unicorn, the Big Bad of the seventh book, Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Uranium Unicorns from Uranus, is likely the smartest adversary Ricky and his robot faced. Deciding to incapacitate the robot before going to conquer Earth, Uncle Unicorn later tries to have him destroyed while the robot is still debilitated under a spell. When his Ladybot is shut down, Uncle Unicorn adaptively turns on his backup generator and grows her to gigantic proportions.
- Robur the Conqueror: Jean Robur is a man who has conquered the skies. Showing off his perfected heavy flight craft, the Alabtross, Robur abducts several of his critics to show them the world in his aircraft and see if they will still belittle him and deny his genius. When they do, Robur arranges things to prove his genius to the world and ruin his rivals, departing into the skies, vowing to return and give humanity the secrets of flight one day.
- Second Apocalypse: Anasurimbur Kellhus is a powerful Dunyain monk who implants himself in the holy War in opposition to the monstrous Consult. Scheming and manipulating all in his path, Kellhus engineers his own death and supposed rebirth to be seen as a great savior, eventually rising to utterly dominate the Three Seas as the powerful Aspect Emperor and prepare the world to fight the Consult. Manipulating almost everyone he meets, Kellhus heads the Great Ordeal, a grand crusade to completely break the Consult and even allies with a deadly God to destroy their conspiracy for good, vowing to conquer even damnation itself.
- Sexton Blake (by Hal Meredeth): Blake's most memorable enemy, Zenith the Albino, is an elegant exiled nobleman who finds his thrills in danger and villainy. Creating new devices to assist his thievery, Zeno returns time and again to challenge Blake for the sheer joy of engaging his nemesis while nobody else can come close to besting him. At one point, Zenith even prints a fake declaration of war in the newspapers to massively short the stock market after causing a panic, to line his pockets. Zenith also possesses a curious code of honor, sometimes allying against brutal criminals and thugs while always keeping an incredible respect for Blake himself.
- Six of Crows: Villain Protagonist Kaz Brekker is a gangster, conman, bank robber, blackmailer, and all around criminal prodigy who uses his extensive knowledge of Ketterdam's secrets to shame richer and more respected men and women into helping him with his schemes. Whether its bluffing gunmen into backing down with fictitious threats against their families, arranging breakouts from the two most heavily guarded prisons in Ketterdam and Fjerda respectively, or running a con on the entire government of Ketterdam that drags in King Nikolai of Ravka as coconspirator, Kaz proves to Pekka Rollins, Jan Van Eck, and all his other competitors that he is the true kingpin of Ketterdam.
- A Song of Ice and Fire: Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers is one of the Great Bastards of King Aegon IV. Siding with his brother Daeron over his rebellious brother Daemon Blackfyre, Bloodraven arranged Daemon's death at the Redgrass Field and consolidated his own power over the Seven Kingdoms as the King's Hand. At the Ashvale Tournament, Bloodraven infiltrates a Blackfyre plot and sees it dismantled with no effort, executing or punishing the rebellious lords, while treating his young cousin Aegon—or Egg—with respect and even affection. Later securing the throne for Egg by treacherously having a Blackfyre throne claimant murdered, Bloodraven allows himself to be sent to the Wall where he later uses the chance to become the final Greenseer, guiding Bran Stark to him to become his teacher.
- A Study in Emerald: 'Rache' is the murderer of prince Franz Drago, a revolutionary seeking to tear down the Great Old Ones. Rache lures the prince into a trap by promising him a girl to feed upon, whereupon Drago is led to Rache's partner to be murdered. When the detective of the story tracks Rache down under the alias Sherry Varnet, Rache easily deduces his true identity and eludes capture, throwing the country into uproar while he simply hides in the rookery of St. Giles where the police don't dare tread. While ruthless, Rache is dedicated to the defeat of the Old Ones, being in actuality the detective Sherlock Holmes as an anarchist in this dark world.
- The Tale of Despereaux: Roscuro used to be a rat living in a ship, accidentally causing the death of the Queen of Dor due to his imprudence and causing Dor to become a gloomy place. Taken by the tyrannical Boticelli Remorso, Roscuro becomes his servant, helping him in the oppression of the other rats of the rat world with guilt, even helping Despereaux due to their mutual curiosity for the outside world. Intending to atone for his actions, Roscuro tries to apologize to Princess Pea but is harshly rejected. Resenting that, Roscuro manipulates the naive Miggery "Mig" Sow to kidnap the Princess by faking kindness before locking her in a room. Realizing his own awfulness after seeing Pea's despair, Roscuro betrays Boticelli and dooms him to his death, apologizing for his actions and returning to his life at sea after Dor returns to its former radiance.
- Tales from the Flat Earth: Azhrarn the Beautiful is the central figure of the loosely-connected saga and one of the most significant figures in the cosmology of the Flat Earth. As the Lord of Wickedness, he is the most powerful of the Vazdru demons - though all Vazdru are manipulative and alluring by nature, Azhrarn himself epitomizes these traits even more than his fellows. A being of vast cunning, he manipulates humanity across the centuries for his own amusement, sparking conflict and chaos often for no real reason other than to demonstrate that he can or because doing so will allow him to knock his fellow Lords of Darkness or the distant, apathetic gods down a peg. Spinning elaborate schemes that may take years or even centuries to unfold, he almost always comes out ahead no matter who his opponent may be. Nonetheless, he is not entirely evil, being capable of love in his own dark way but even more strikingly at one point saving the Flat Earth from destruction at the hands of an evil even greater than he, at great risk to himself, simply because he realizes that without humanity to give him context his life would have no meaning. Across the countless millennia of his existence, Azhrarn has proven many times over why he deserves his titles of Night's Master and Prince of Demons.
- The Tamuli: Stragen is the chief of the thieves of Emsat, a councillor of the Kingdom of Elenia, a proud patricide, and an all around bastard. During Sparhawk’s sojourn in the Tamul Empire, Stragen’s varied talents prove invaluable, as he bullies the Thousand of Styricum into aiding their cause, transforms the thieves of Daresia into an intelligence network that answers only to him, and organizes the largest mass assassination in history, killing every enemy agent across the breadth of two continents. The first to admit that he’s a very bad man, Stragen is the single most devious, and most unrepentant member of a crew of professional soldiers, political manipulators, and criminals.
- The Thrawn Trilogy: Mitth'raw'nuruodo, known to all as simply "Thrawn," is the most brilliant mind to ever grace the Imperial ranks, a genius strategist and master manipulator. Having ascended to the position of Grand Admiral in the xenophobic empire despite his Chiss heritage, Thrawn leads the Imperial remnants following the death of Emperor Palpatine and the collapse of the Empire, embarking on a new galactic domination tour in which he is madly successful. Learning of entire races' war strategies and military tactics by studying their art, Thrawn handily dominates each and every one of his opponents, either through military prowess or his own persuasive charm, and utilizes the Ysalamir to gain the allegiance of the insane Jedi clone Joruus C'baoth. A polite, affable leader to his men—yet completely and totally willing to eliminate any who disrespect Thrawn or their positions—Thrawn is ultimately only beaten after conquering half the galaxy, solely by a completely unforeseen betrayal by his otherwise most loyal servant, and cannot help but spend his final moments remarking how "artistically" it was done.
- Timeline-191: In this alternate history of the early twentieth century, the United States, Confederate States, and the Red Rebellion, all produce some truly admirable blackguards.
- African-American rebel Cassius was perhaps the deadliest internal enemy the Confederate States ever faced, launching a Red Revolution under the nose of his master, Anne Colleton, and establishing the Congaree Socialist Republic throughout much of South Carolina. Opposed by enemies who considered him subhuman and incapable of strategic thinking, Cassius confounded the Confederate forces sent to subdue him, and using threats against captured white civilians, forced his enemies to negotiate with him on an equal footing. Eventually killed after the fall of his Republic, Cassius nevertheless stuck a dagger in the side of the Confederate States of America, costing them the Great War, and in the long run, helping to bring the entire white power structure of the Confederacy crashing down.
- Luther Bliss, head of the Kentucky State Police was a bitter, misanthropic old man who used every measure he had, legal and extralegal, to keep Kentucky within the United States of America. After Kentucky was returned to the Confederacy in a plebiscite, and the Second Great War began, Bliss returned to the state as the Union's single most effective spy, stirring up trouble for the Confederates with both the Red Rebels and white opponents of the Freedom Party, sabotaging Confederate war efforts behind the lines, and eventually triggering an uprising in occupied Covington. Hating everyone equally, Bliss was able to work with any and all enemies of the Confederate government, and proved a permanent and irremovable thorn in their side for the duration of the Second Great War.
- Clarence Potter was a Confederate intelligence officer who had a chance to stop the Red Rebellion of 1915, but was prevented from doing so by his superiors. Years later, Clarence became an inveterate adversary of the Freedom Party, only to win admittance into its government when he killed an assassin who was after Jake Featherston at the Richmond Olympics. Concealing the fact that he had originally gone to the Olympics to kill Jake himself, Clarence became Featherston's head of military intelligence, providing infiltrators and saboteurs to spearhead the invasion of the USA during the Second Great War. When the war began to go badly, Clarence flirted with launching a coup against Jake, while simultaneously pushing for the completion of the Confederate atomic bomb project, and once the bomb was completed, delivering it to Philadelphia in the back of a truck and blowing much of the de facto US capital off the map. Exonerated of involvement in Freedom Party atrocities after the war, Clarence got off scott free, and retired to write his memoirs in peace, while the rest of the Confederate leadership paid for their crimes in full.
- Tolkien's Legendarium: The Silmarillion and The Children of Húrin bring us Glaurung, Father of Dragons, and Tolkein's most competent antagonist. Serving as Melkor's greatest field marshal, Glaurung broke the siege of Angband, and crushed the armies of Elves, Dwarves, and Men at the Fifth Battle, ushering in an era of dominance for Melkor's forces all across Middle-Earth. Chosen as the instrument of Melkor's curse against the Children of Hurin, Glaurung tricked Turin Turambar into allowing the city of Nargothrond to fall, then hypnotized Turin's sister Nienor into falling in love with Turin and becoming pregnant with his child. Slain by Turin in an ambush, Glaurung used his final breath to reveal the extent of his manipulations of Turin and Nienor both, resulting in their suicides as they contemplated the horror of what they had done. Victorious in death, Glaurung completed every part of his mission from Melkor, and brought complete ruination to the family of Hurin.
- The Three Musketeers: Cardinal Armand Richelieu is the most powerful man in France, and the ruler behind the throne. Seeking the betterment of France as a nation under his guiding iron hand, Richelieu schemes to strengthen the monarchy and to also start a war with England to further check Spain and Austria. In order to disgrace his rival, Queen Anne, Richelieu convinces the king to throw a party and request Anne wear diamond studs he gave her as a gift, well aware Anne has given them to her lover, the Duke of Buckingham, which will discredit Anne and begin a war with England. When the Musketeers recover the diamonds in time, Richelieu accepts it with grace, later deciding to have Buckingham assassinated and presenting the wicked Milady de Winter with a letter excusing her from all acts she commits in service to France. When Milady is executed by the Musketeers, young hero D'Artagnan thinks to save himself by presenting Richelieu with the same letter, only for Richelieu to display his own power by tearing it up. Impressed by D'Artagnan, however, Richelieu accepts him as a Worthy Opponent and a boon to France, writing him an officer's commission to the Musketeers before focusing on his next schemes to ever better France as a nation.
- Treasure Island: Long John Silver shows why he was the only man the ruthless Captain Flint ever feared. Getting himself hired by young hero Jim Hawkins, Silver converts the crew to his side and launches a mutiny, personally disposing of the only members who refused to join him. Silver proceeds to twist the events of the novel to his advantage to obtain the treasure he craves, while genuinely bonding with young Jim and becoming a mentor and father figure to the boy. When things go wrong and the crew betrays him, Silver promptly switches sides to the heroes and comes out on top, escaping their custody with a fortune to return to his wife a wealthy and free man. So charismatic and complex is Silver that even the heroes who have been under threat from him can almost hope that Silver will indeed escape justice.
- Vasquez Private Eye: Martha Vasquez aka Zachary Venshlin. Driven to insanity by the acquittal of Firebird Airlines of their role in the crash that killed her youngest son and cost her a kneecap, due to her son Johnson unwittingly getting his girlfriend Zelda Thomson involved in the investigation and voiding the convicting evidence through the exclusionary rule, she blackmails her former student, Shannon Thomson, into providing her with a drink mix that will transform people into the embodiment of their deepest darkest desires. She uses it to became a lawyer and sabotage court cases involving the lawyers and judge from the Firebird lawsuit hearings to acquit truly guilty defendants, including William York, who murdered his father and tried to kill Patrick Ralston, after being wrongfully fired from his mechanic job at Firebird Airlines. She then murdered the lawyers and judge who spelled the end of William's career at Firebird, as well as her detective husband, the latter so he wouldn't solve the mystery too quickly. The clues left for Johnson bait her niece, Rachel Dinesen, into thinking William and Johnson are the co-conspirators behind the murders, and when Johnson finally solves the mystery, she engages him in combat in a subway station, intent on killing him or driving him insane for causing her own death. Crafty and secretive, any outcome would've been a win for her.
- X-Men: The Legacy Quest trilogy, by Steve Lyons: Sebastian Shaw, Black King of the Hellfire Club, uses and manipulates the X-Men throughout the trilogy. Attempting to gain a cure for the Legacy Virus, Shaw lures the X-men into his trap and betrays them as convenient to suit his own ends, though he teams up with them to defeat the monstrous Selene when she sees to turn New York into a hellish dystopia, only to reveal that he was secretly in league with Magneto and helped him to gain the cure the entire time. He promptly betrays Magneto again in service of his master plan and ends the series with everything he desired, free from any retribution and savoring his victory with the trilogy closing out on the words "The Black King had won."
KazuyaProta
Shin Megami Tensei IV
from A Industrial Farm
Since: Jan, 2015
Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Shin Megami Tensei IV
#7417: Feb 17th 2019 at 6:32:10 PM
I finally did the Kikuoka and Kayaba tweaks. I really was busy those days. I took 43' tip and just potholed Kikuoka's name and changing his name for "Him" when possible.
Watch me destroying my country
DocSharp
Since: Jun, 2011
#7418: Feb 17th 2019 at 6:50:33 PM
Since nobody else has given their thoughts yet: the folders look lovely, chief.
Remember to give transgender folks hugs. They deal with too much shit.
#7419: Feb 17th 2019 at 7:10:54 PM
@ Kaz, Thank you sir, I'll just ask in locked pages for them to be tacked on now.
miraculous
Goku Black
(Apprentice)
Goku Black
#7420: Feb 17th 2019 at 7:57:47 PM
Folders look good.
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
#7421: Feb 17th 2019 at 8:53:15 PM
Feedback appreciated and I await the day when we have to start sub-dividing the pages 
ElfenLiedFan90
Me in a nutshell (Coping with Depression)
from Jakarta,Indonesia
Since: Aug, 2017
Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Me in a nutshell (Coping with Depression)
#7422: Feb 17th 2019 at 9:32:57 PM
Yes to the two above and I like the folder idea.
"Making screw-ups and mistakes was I ever really good at. Because everything I touch went to hell."
Lord of Hell
#7423: Feb 18th 2019 at 8:54:59 PM
Just came back from my Bruce Lee course in college. In it, the class saw a movie called Way of the Dragon, and I found a character who I thought could qualify for MB.
What’s the work?
Way of the Dragon is a comedy action film where Bruce Lee, playing a character named Tang Lung, travels to Italy to help out a friend’s niece, Chen Ching-hua. She and another Uncle of hers, Wang, have been harassed by a crime gang for weeks to sell them their restaurant. But with the arrival of Tang Lung, the crime gang’s attempts are repeatedly thwarted. However, by the movie’s third act, we find out that one of the owners isn’t quite as innocent as they appear to be.
Who is he? What does he do?
Uncle Wang is Chen Ching-hua’s uncle, and assistant manager of the restaurant. Wanting to return to his family in Hong Kong and live a rich life, Wang secretly agrees to try and get Chen to sell the restaurant to the crime gang for the money. When Tang Lung arrives, Wang acts like a friendly and kind figure to him, while subtly attempting to discourage Wang from causing trouble with the crime gang, saying it would just make them more violent.
After Tang Lung thwarts the crime gang when they try to ambush him and Chen in the restaurant, Wang speaks to Chen in private. He tells her that the crime gang will try and kill Tang Lung, and that he needs to leave Italy or else he’ll be killed. He convinces Chen to attempt to get Tang to leave, though Tang refuses (and later on, tracks down and defeats the sniper that was trying to kill him)
Later, the crime boss’s right hand man, Ho, leads Tang Lung, Wang, and three of the restaurant staff to an isolated area for two martial artists to kill Tang. One of the staff dies fighting, while the other two get heavily injured. Wang insists that Tang goes on ahead to fight Colt (the strongest martial artist in America, who was hired by the Crime Gang to kill Tang Lung). Wang than takes the opportunity to literally stab the two staff members In the Back, explaining his reasoning as they die.
When Tang Lung chases Ho back to the isolated area after defeating and killing Colt at the colosseum, Wang wounds himself, and tells Tang that Ho attacked them, and killed the other staff members. Tang approaches Ho, the latter fearfully trying to make peace for the sake of his own life...and to give Wang a distraction for him to sneak up on Tang and stab him in the back as well. Fortunately for Tang, the crime boss shows up, shoots and kill Ho out of annoyance for his constant failures, and leads to Tang turning around and noticing Wang trying to kill him. Wang tries to kill Tang, but Tang dodges the slash, and Wang is promptly shot and killed by the crime boss as well.
How do his actions show him to be a Magnificent Bastard?
He and Ho are the only real strategic villains in the film, Ho being too much of an undignified coward to count. Wang acts as a friendly and wise friend to Tang who simply wants what’s best for the restaurant, deceiving every protagonist into thinking he’s on their side. And despite not being a fighter, he comes the closest to killing Tang than anybody in the film when all else fails, Tang only surviving due to the untimely arrival of the Big Bad.
Too much of a bastard? Any other mitigating factors?
Nah. He doesn’t do anything sadistic or needlessly cruel, and prefers not to kill unless it’s as a last resort, attempting to dissuade Tang from fighting to begin with, and then getting Chen to try and convince him to go back to Hong Kong.
Final Thoughts?
Yes from me. You guys?
Edited by Awesomekid42 on Feb 18th 2019 at 12:49:57 PM
#7424: Feb 18th 2019 at 9:47:00 PM
Yes from me as well.
SatoshiBakura
(4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Total posts: 82,595
We discussed this character in passing, but never finished it. Ergo, here's a proper breakdown of Mike Toreno.
What is the work?
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, one of the second-generation games in the Grand Theft Auto series, released in 2004. Centered on a SoCal gangbanger named Carl "CJ" Johnson who returns to his old neighborhood after the death of his mother, but is later betrayed by several of his former friends in the Grove Street Families (a Bloods expy), forcing him to flee the city and slowly build up a criminal empire elsewhere to gather the resources to confront them.
Who is Mike Toreno? What has he done?
Mike Toreno is first encountered by Carl in San Fierro, while he's infiltrating the Locos organization and their ties to the Ballas (Crips expy, arch-enemy of the Grove). Toreno is later kidnapped by a rival gang, forcing Carl to rescue him. Later, after a major meeting between the conspirators to discuss drug shipments, Toreno arrives in a helicopter but flees the scene when he notices the bodies of Carl's victims on the rooftops. Carl later tracks him down to a landing pad and blows up his helicopter, supposedly killing Toreno. However, not much later Carl is contacted by a mystery caller who orders him to perform various errands before meeting Carl in person. Toreno reveals himself to be a government agent who is constantly running black ops against other groups and rival agencies.
Toreno instructs Carl to engage in various borderline-suicidal missions, with the promise of releasing Carl's brother Sweet from prison, such as boarding an airplane before take-off with a motorcycle to plant a bomb on the plane before parachuting off, infiltrating a Area 51 expy to steal an experimental jetpack, and invading a friggin' Aircraft carrier to steal a jump jet and assassinate several targets on a reservoir in the desert. All the while, Toreno threatens Carl with his brother's safety, but in the end, after Carl completes his last mission, Toreno comes through and releases Sweet.
How do his actions and personality show he is a Magnificent Bastard?
Toreno is a deep-level operative who is engaged in multiple illegal ventures such as drug trafficking, assassinations, and attacks on other agencies to further the interests of US security. He's incredibly blasé about his chosen career, while also hinting that he knows more about "the real history" of his country than the commonfolk. Of course, being played by James Woods, Toreno is supremely Affably Evil. But by the standards of the GTA-verse, which is rife with mass murderers, cannibals, drug kingpins, and terrorists (hell, at one point even Carl himself buries a construction worker alive in concrete for catcalling his sister), he's really not that bad.
Mitigating Factors?
While holding Sweet's life over Carl's head, he does at one point threaten to have Sweet subjected to Prison Rape. However, more likely than not Toreno was simply bluffing to motivate Carl. After all, in the end he does keep his word and release Sweet, none the worse for wear despite his months-long imprisonment.
Verdict?
First GTA qualifier, I think.
You've got roaming bands of armed, aggressive, tyrannical plumbers coming to your door, saying "Use our service, or else!"