During the investigation of recent hollers in the Complete Monster thread, it's become apparent to the staff that an insular, unfriendly culture has evolved in the Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard threads that is causing problems.
Specific issues include:
- Overzealous hollers on tropers who come into the threads without being familiar with all the rules and traditions of the tropes. And when they are familiar with said rules and traditions, they get accused (with little evidence) of being ban evaders.
- A few tropers in the thread habitually engage in snotty, impolite mini-modding. There are also regular complaints about excessive, offtopic "socializing" posts.
- Many many thread regulars barely post/edit anywhere else, making the threads look like they are divorced from the rest of TV Tropes.
- Following that, there are often complaints about the threads and their regulars violating wiki rules, such as on indexing, crosswicking, example context and example categorization. Some folks are working on resolving the issues, but...
- Often moderator action against thread regulars leads to a lot of participants suddenly showing up in the moderation threads to protest and speak on their behalf, like a clique.
It is not a super high level problem, but it has been going on for years and we cannot ignore it any longer. There will be a thread in Wiki Talk
to discuss the problem; in the meantime there is a moratorium on further Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard example discussion until we have gotten this sorted out.
Update: The new threads have been made and can be found here:
for the earliest date a work can be discussed, (usually two weeks from the US release), as well as who's reserved discussion.
- Why do a cleanup?: This trope definitely exists and has a well documented history of use. That being said, it frequently gets misused to a character who meets one of the components, namely that they are smart, charming while not necessarily even being a villain, or create good plans. While these are components, there is also a certain personality required, not to mention that all of the above are required to be present for a character to be a true Magnificent Bastard. As the trope attracts interest, it unfortunately brings in a lot of misuse and I thought the best way to rectify this would be a Perpetual Cleanup Thread, as is being done and has seen success with Complete Monster.
- What makes a Magnificent Bastard: Below is a list of the individual components to make this character. Note that they must all be present, not just some, which has lead to frequent misuse:
- Must be intelligent: Goes without saying, to be a Magnificent Bastard, the character has to be smart in the first place and use their brain to work towards whatever their end goal may be;
- Must be a Bastard: While going overboard in how vile the character is can be detrimental, a key aspect is the Bastard part of the trope, whether the character is an out-and-out antagonist in the work, some manner of Villain Protagonist, or something in between, they at least have some unscrupulous qualities to qualify for this trope;
- Must not be too detestable: Again, there is a ceiling on how bad the character can be before they just become too nefarious, blocking out the Magnificent part of the trope. A genocidal racist or child-raping Sadist aren't going to make the cut;
- Think on their feet: In addition to being a Chessmaster, a Magnificent Bastard, if the character deals with situations in which their initial plan is ruined, has to be able to pull a Xanatos Speed Chess and at least come up with a competent strategy to make up for lost time, otherwise they fail for being unable to think in tough spots;
- Have charm: Even if they don't necessarily make every character they meet fall in love with them and can even be detested by others, the audience has to find an amicable social relation to the character, or they are failing to make the impact required for this trope.
- What to do if a character is listed on a page but has not been approved?: They need to be removed, all candidates need to come through the cleanup thread first. The character could well count but they need to be analyzed properly and voted on first.
- Do we list Playing With this trope?: No; as a YMMV trope, this cannot be Played With, so we only want examples that are Played Straight.
- What do I do if I want a character to be listed as a Magnificent Bastard?: The greatest success Complete Monster saw for its cleanup effort was from the invention of the effort post format, so, borrowing from that, a troper wishing to propose a Magnificent Bastard will create such a post in the following format:
- Begin by describing The work, this will help establish the setting the character is in and for the reader to understand what kind of a scenario they are in;
- Summarize The character's actions, this will provide a listing for readers to understand what they do and how it applies to this trope because charm and lack of smugness are so crucial, this is a good time to be incorporating exactly the flavor of how they operate to explain this;
- List circumstances in which the character must Think on their feet, these are times where a wrench might be thrown in their initial plan and they have to adapt on the spot or even come up with a new scheme all together, this is also a good time to explain how the villain reacts to defeat when they have to face it, a true Magnificent Bastard won't break down into tears at the thought of death, they should have known such a possibility could occur and be able to handle it with more dignity;
- The competition, similar to the Heinous Standard dealt with for a Complete Monster, this section is to deal with how successful the character is in carrying out their plans compared to other characters. While, as a villain, they probably are going to lose in the end, it is good to explain how other characters handle the same situation. There is no exceptionalism case to be made for this trope but explaining the variety helps the reader have a better understanding of the proposal.
- How do you know when the character's arc is done so they can be proposed? When their tenure as a villain or antagonist finishes. This could happen in a single Story Arc in an entire work, a single work of a franchise, or the whole series in general. We'll show lenience to Long-Runners with constantly recurring candidates or series with outstanding continuities (ex. comic books), and it's entirely possible to count in a work or two but not in general for a reason like Depending on the Writer.
- What about candidates evil because of external sources? Those Made of Evil can qualify if they show enough individuality and tactical acumen — in other words, they have the personality to fulfill the magnificence requirement. Conversely, those brainwashed, especially if they're a better person without it, may fail the individuality aspect and cannot count.
- What if they are under orders from a higher-up? Depends. If the boss created the plans down to the letter and the candidate is just following them, sounds like we should discuss the boss instead. However, if the candidate takes creative liberties with the orders, adds their own charm and flair to them, fills in holes in the orders, and/or actively deals with obstacles their boss did not talk about, the candidate shows enough individual thinking to qualify.
- What about Character Development? An MB is something a character can develop into... a nice person who plots well might become more morally gray as the work goes on and hits the "Bastard" criteria, thus making them viable. Likewise, a Smug Snake might shed their ego, become more understanding of the threat others pose and gain the personality or "Magnificent" criteria, likewise making them viable. Conversely, a character who looks like this trope might suffer from a Sanity Slippage or just get outed as not being as smart as they thought they were and become incompatible with MB.
- Can an MB be a good guy? Not in the conventional sense... it is required they have at least some dubious traits lest they fail the "Bastard" criteria. That being said, a character who pulls a Heel–Face Turn or eventually stops taking villainous actions is still fair game: as there was a point in time where they were both "Magnificent" and a "Bastard" at the same time and they've merely adapted as time goes on. Now... if such a character begins showing other issues (i.e.: becomes prone to freak outs or starts getting outwitted) then they're compromising their Magnificence and will probably be deemed a cut. What's important is stylishly operating while at least for some time being willing to take at best underhanded methods to see a job done. A Heel–Face Turn in itself isn't a disqualifier but they do have to have been "Magnificent" and a "Bastard" at the same time and afterwards can't start slipping on the former front.
- What about characters whose stories can take different routes?: When proposing a character in a form of media that has them in multiple story routes. Said character must be consistent with their characteristics in all routes. (ex.: Can't have an example who shows promise on one route yet fails in another.) The only exception is if a later installment of the series confirms the character's actions which made them worth proposing are the canon route.
- Is there a timeframe rule like with Complete Monster?: Yes, please wait two weeks until after the work has concluded before proposing a character (again, usually using the North American air date). As is the case with CM, we want to give a reasonable time frame so that everyone interested in seeing the work has done so and can participate in the discussion without having anything spoiled.
- What about groups like with Complete Monster?: This is a point of divergence between the two tropes. While CM does not allow for a single entry encompassing more than three characters lest their heinousness for crimes becomes too watered down, with MB as long as they are treated as one "unit" it is acceptable to lump all characters provided they share acts of charm and intelligence.
- Can I propose my own work's character as a Magnificent Bastard?: No, this is a YMMV subject and the creator of a content is way too biased to be able to evaluate the criteria we're looking for without a second opinion taking over. That being said, you are more than welcome to encourage someone to consume your creation and if they feel a character counts, are more than welcome to suggest them.
- My example/edit has been approved, but the example subpage is locked! How do I get it added?: The moderators do not add examples to locked example subpages in the MagnificentBastard/ namespace directly. Rather, you need to do the edit to a sandbox page that follows the format Sandbox.MagnificentBastard<Name of the example subpage> (e.g for MagnificentBastard.Fullmetal Alchemist it's Sandbox.Magnificent Bastard Fullmetal Alchemist) and on a Friday, ask in the locked pages edit requests thread for the content to be swapped in.
Thread rules
When voting a troper must specify the effort post they're voting on and cannot merely vote on "Everything I missed" as in the past it has indicated the poster didn't read the effort post and is guessing instead of analyzing.
Resolved items
In general, a character listed on this trope is considered "settled". This means they should not be challenged unless information used to list them was incorrect or information was missed in the initial discussion.
However, when re-litigating a candidate, the same rules apply for when they were originally proposed. If they do not have five or more upvotes than downvotes for approval upon a re-litigation, including votes from the initial discussion if they do not change, then they are a cut.
This especially applies to the characters listed below, who have been discussed excessively and repeated attempts to get them listed/cut may result in punitive action for bogging down the thread.
Definitely an MB
- Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers: Any sadism Darkrai displays is limited in effect thanks to the game's nature and any cowardice which can be inferred about him is Alternative Character Interpretation about his tactical retreats.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: Azula's Villainous Breakdown is undone in the sequel comic Smoke & Shadow where she regains her composure and ends up stable and in control enough to count.
Definitely not an MB
- South Park: The show's frequent use of vulgar comedy and mean-spirited humor leaves any potential candidates devoid of the dignity or charm to qualify.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Aug 31st 2023 at 4:15:22 AM
![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
to Accuser
May I ask why everyone is abstaining on Juliana?
Edited by G-Editor on Jul 23rd 2022 at 8:52:18 AM
Ayo, back from a completely unplanned and unintended absence lol. Yes to Rufio, the Hackers septet, Julianna, and the Accuser.
I'm also gonna go ahead and call dibs on the Live A Live remake, since nobody else seems to have done so.
EDIT: Per ![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
that, I'll hold off on Julianna for a second.
Edited by DocSharp on Jul 23rd 2022 at 6:06:40 AM
Accuser.
Because G you often have a habit of leaving out relevant info or misinterpreting it. I don't know if that's the case here, but reading the trope page it's possible to interpret Julianna as basically a child unwilling to let go of her fun and her goal is fundamentally a very unhealthy one. She might count in spite of that, but your EP barely touched on that. I'm going to wait for someone more familiar with the game before I vote on that character.
You can only write so much in your forum signature. It's not fair that I want to write a piece of writing yet it will cut me off in the mid
Yes to Matches, Rufio, Julianna, Kate, Joey, Dade, Razor, and Blade. Abstain on Nikon and Cereal since the ep for them is kind of short and I haven't; seen that movie recently enough to remember a lot of what they do.
Work The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon and Son of a Wanted Man are two versions of the same Louis L'Amour book (the latter is an extended version) about young man who is being raised as the heir to an outlaw empire but doesn't want it.
Who are Ben Curry and Rigger Molina
Curry is an outlaw kingpin who came out west before there was much civilization, after growing up very poor and fighting in the Mexican-America war. Roundy, his oldest friend, sys Ben controls more territory than there is in New York State and "he's feared over half the west that know about him, although not many do." almsot a thousand outlaws in many gangs answer to him (counting spies who look out for scores in many towns an riches with hideouts nd fresh horses on standby) and he has them plan and rehearse jobs that might take place as far away as Canada, pul them off, scatter and regroup. His gunslinging skills keep his men in line (Roundy says it's not just the he's fast but he doesn't show one bit of nervousness or distraction once the shooting starts), as does the respect and brilliance he sports.
He has a double life as a rancher who is supposedly away on cattle drives a lot, and has a wife and two daughters. Ben wants to eventually retire to be with them full time in his old age (under an assumed name) and is raising an orphan, Mike Bastion, as his ideal successor, having Roundry train him in leadership, guns, horseback riding and such. Roundy chafes in this role though, feeling Mike deserves to pick his own future and destiny. Most of his people, even Mike, don't know about his wife and daughters. The Mormons, Native mereaicans and isolated ranchers within the remote corner of Colorado where the gang has a mountain headquarters are always left alone. Ben doesn't allow anyone to quit his gng but hesitates when asked if he'd kill Mike to keep him in.
The reason for Ben grooming Mike as a successor is that he doesn't trust either of his top lieutenants, Rigger Molina and Kerb Perrin. Molina is nearly as fast as Ben and swagger but doesn't; brag because he doesn't have to. Ben loathes killing and vetoes plans which will kill lots of innocents (although since his men still bother to pitch such plans, this implies he sometimes authorizes plans which hinge on just couple murders), with Roundy claiming Molina would have killed fifty men if not for knowing Ben would kill him once it was done. A saloon girl who knew Molina recalls how he treated her nd the other girls well (unlike Perrin) and has no real enemies but is an unpredticble man who once killed four Posse members before jining Ben but then both twenty miles to the the Sole Survivor to a doctor. Ben also avoids towns where the lawmen strike him as too competent (some of his renegade subordinates die when they raid one of those towns anyway).
Ben is upset when Mike meets and falls for one of his daughters, Drusilla, but calms down when Doc Sawyer (one of the few who knows, due to Ben talking deliriously while healing from a bullet wound) points out the hypocrisy there. He also knows Drusilla is too strong-willed for him to forbid her from seeing Mike.
Molina (unlike Perrin) doesn't seem upset at Mike being publicly named his soon-to-be leader and comments he should have killed a Perrin supporter who tried to draw on him instead of wounding the man, who will want revenge. Molina does want to raid the Mormon ranches they've left alone for so long though, something Perrin considers exploiting. He then tells Rigger he'll let him have a lucrative Train Job that was being reserved for Mike if Rigger rides off and lets him do as he wants (although it's later implied Rigger didn't know about the coup) but lies to Rigger bout how heavily guarded it is to get him killed. However, Rigger is smarter than he looks, figures out the trap, and doubles back as another lieutenant, Dave Lennaker, rides to kill Ben and take over.
Perrin's coup hits a snag when he realizes Ben's house is built so he'd have a sniper position over the door to every other house in their little outlaw town. There is also a safe room with food in the stone house carved into mountain where Ben lives. Unknown to Kerb, Ben hurt his leg falling down the stairs while racing too fast in his old ge to respond to the fighting and can't do anything. Ben learns Perrin hs left to raid the ranch his daughters are at nd sends Mike and his other loyalists to stop him, saying he'll wait for Lennaker and thinks he can take out his gang alone, bad leg or not (he's lying). He adds that if he doesn't though, and Mike has to face Lennaker, to watch his left and s they prepare to duel.
Mike beats Perrin and his men and returns to find Rigger and his men returned and helped Ben (who was surprised at Rigger's loyalty) fight Lennaker. Lennaker outdrew Rigger and shot him five times but Rigger emptied his guns into Lennaker, killing him, then walked up to his corpse, spit on it, and said he deserved to die for double-crossing Ben. It's not explicitly stated that Molina dies from his wounds, although in Son of a Wanted Man, Mike thinks he does and says to put on his grave he was a good man.
Magnificent
Ben has a huge outlaw empire he hs ruled for decades and is very strategic. He started raising Mike out of kindness and cares for his happiness in the end. He's brave and is willing to risk his life by facing Lennaker alone. He's also a Neighborhood Friendly Gangster and Family Man.
Molina hs odd Pet the Dog moments despite his bloody reputation, is loyal to Ben and defends him rather than betraying him, figures out he's being sent on a Uriah Gambit heist, and beats Lennaker with style.
Bastard
Ben runs his gang with an iron fist, raises Mike to be his successor without considering his feelings until years later and doesn't mind robbery one bit.
Molina is another career robber who kills people who try to arrest him if the fight is fair, and regularly proposes jobs with lots of bloodshed before Ben vetoes this.
I thought I said as much as I could. I did say that she wants to prevent the time loop from breaking so that she can continue her game of killing Colt because she found it fun (which can be regarded as unhealthy depending on how one may view it) but her other goal is to convince Colt to keep the loop intact so that she and Colt can reconcile as father and daughter so they can enjoy each others company even if it means hunting people in Blackreef and keeping the loop intact. (the trope is called Magnificent Bastard)
Also Colt did kill her first which caused her to resent Colt becoming the reason why she began hunting him down initially but eventually learns to let go of her resentment and in her own way tries to repair her relationship with her father where the two can have fun hunting the people within Blackreef, and if Colt does break the loop, Julianna shows that she does love her father and decides to spare him before leaving Blackreef.
I should also note whatever ending the player choses, it ends with Julianna finding a way to get away with her crimes whether fixing her relationship with Colt and enjoy hunting people in Blackreef together, or leaving Blackreef after deciding to spare Colt's life and if Colt choses not to kill himself after killing Juliana, the loop resets and Juliana continues hunting Colt, so what ever ending you chose Juliana finds a way to avoid the consequences.
EDIT: She not just hunting people, but also trying to reconcile with her Colt in her own way by convincing him not to break the loop so they can have fun in the loop together (though admittedly she does hunt him down because she finds it fun) and even when the loop gets destroy Juliana doesn't suffer any Villainous Breakdown but instead spares Colt while she leaves Blackreef.
I just PM'd NTG to come here since they played Deathloop having discussed it on the other thread. Hopefully they'll come here and give their opinion on whether Juliana counts as a MB.
Edited by G-Editor on Jul 23rd 2022 at 10:25:17 AM
Yes you are right G it is called Magnificent Bastard. Emphasis on both Magnificent and Bastard. Depending on how it's played, someone's goal of just hunting people forever in a time loop could be seen as extremely unhealthy and self destructive not magnificent. I do not know how the game is playing it, but I am going to wait for someone else to chime in who has played it to give their opinion.
Ben, Molina.
Malone, Patrick, Dade, Kate, Joey, Cereal, Nikon, Razor, Blade, Accuser, Ben and Molina
Abstain on Juliana for now
Yeah to Mr. Nick, Juliana, all the Hackers people, and the Criminal Case art murderer.
Gotta love Jaws!
to Matches, Rufio, Dade, Kate, Cereal, Nikon, Blake, the Accuser, Ben and Rigger.
Sure for Juliana for now and yes to the Accuser, Ben & Molina.
- Hackers: The titular group and their allies are genius lawbreakers.
- Dade Murphy is the infamous "Zero Cool", who hacked over 1,500 networks as a child. At the age of 18, Dade joins a group of hackers at school and discovers the villainous Plague's plot to swindle the Ellingson corporation and frame his friends. With the group Dade uses viruses to keep their hunters at bay while his friend finds evidence of the Plague's crimes, ending the film exonerated to do as he pleases.
- Kate Libby, aka "Acid Burn", is a popular hacker whom Dade becomes smitten with. Intrigued by Dade, Kate shows her talents pranking an anti-hacker government agent before working with Dade to expose the Plague's schemes. Directing the other hackers, Kate helps protect the one copying the Plague's files, allowing for the villain to be exposed and arrested.
- Joey Pardella is a talented but initially naive hacker. Caught after incidentally getting evidence of the Plague's crimes, Joey later uses his skills to copy enough of his misdeeds to expose him, freeing his friends and jailing the Plague.
- Emmanual Goldstein, aka "Cereal Killer" and Paul Cook, aka "Lord Nikon", are best friends and Kate's silly-seeming supporting hackers. Geniuses under their goofy facades, the two help Kate prank Agent Richard Gill and latter assist in stopping the Plague: Cereal remaining incognito to grab the disc exposing the villain's plans and Nikon writing viruses to help Joey uncover said disc.
- Razor and Blade are a pair of audacious, influential hackers. Running a show, the duo show aspiring hackers how to successfully break the law. When Kate comes to them for help to stop the Plague, Razor and Blade use their magnetic charm to draw hackers from around the world, protecting the heroes and hacking a broadcast to allow Cereal to expose the Plague as the villain.
Work
The Burning Hills is another L'Amour novel about Trace Jordan, a man who tries to retrieve some stolen horses and avenge his partners murder, only to inadvertently get into a duel with Bob Sutton, a Cattle Baron relative of some of the thieves. Trace kills Bob in self-defense and finds himself chased by the man's relatives and employees (both innocent and guilty ones). Jordan seeks refuge with a Mexican family who have a bad history with his pursuers. falling in love with the family leader, Maria Cristina.
Character
Jacob Lantz is a Scarily Competent Tracker working for the Suttons. He tracks Jordan for a long time while not caring too much about his reasons, as he's tracked so many others hsi employees want dead for one reason or another. He loses the tril for a while due to rocks but gets to the general area and suspects Maria Cristina and her brothers re hiding Jordan, sitting on cliffs nearby to carefully watch them even when his employers think Jordan is elsewhere. When they all flee in the night and separate he is the first to notice in the morning, searches hard for tracks and is impressed that rags are tied around the hooves to void tracks when he finds a thread. He uses his knowledge of the are to figure out likely places to head their quarry off.
When they corner Trace he proves that he was justified in shooting Bob and that his horses were stolen by Suttons. There's a Mexican Standoff before Lantz rides off to the side just before one of the killers, a Sutton nephew, draws, leading to Trace killing or wounding all of the others. Lantz then returns to treat the wounded and sys he agreed to track down Trace, not to fight him. He agrees to ride ahead for his wounded leader to tell other Sutton outfit members the fight is over. However, he runs into an Apache war party offscreen who kill his hose and wound him. Lantz continues on foot for a day but then is cornered again and killed.
Magnificent
He's a methodical tracker with a good grasp of human nature and anticipating what people will do. He dies an abrupt, off-screen death but doesn't go down easily. He knows when his companions will start a fight that he doesn't want for various reasons and gets out of it upon seeing Jordan is both innocent and a fierce fighter. He does care about helping his wounded companions some.
Bastard
He has a reputation for helping track and implicitly kill people just for being enemies of the heavy-handed Suttons.
6 mbs in one movie? Dang! Hackers must be some kind of film.
Professor Gigachad
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
You seem to have miscounted as I only see five. Wait nevermind I see one is a duo.
Edited by Ordeaux26 on Jul 23rd 2022 at 9:28:45 AM
CM Sandboxes, MB Sandboxes
Goku Black
Jacob, Ben and Molina and The Accuser
43,
Are you sure Plague wouldn’t count as a seventh Hackers candidate. From what I remember (although it has been a while) he is arrogant but he has the skill to not be a Smug Snake, thinks on his feet fast, only gets beaten because he’s f the sheer number of hackers opposing him, he does make have some oddly charming wittiness, a snarky line upon being captured, and no Moral Event Horizon (or at least not a really awful one).
the hacker’s candidates
Anymore votes on Julianna? She had a recent uptake on votes but I'll wait a little while longer to see if anyone else wants to vote on her
Showtime!
to the Accuser and the L'Amour candidates
Waiting for more info on Juliana
Absolute destiny... apeachalypse?
Yes to Lantz. The Plague I remember the least so I’ll have to double check!
There are actually two duos... he'd be the eighth if he counts.
Edit: Alright, his final scene has him arrested while he tries to flee by plane and while being handcuffed he starts freaking out, the last line of which is “I’m never flying this airline again!” It’s funny but I’m not sure if that undoes the fact he's panicking while getting taken in. Otherwise he’s got an ego but he’s funny so I’ll pose it to the thread and ask if they think he cuts in based on the sounds of that. Mel is right it takes lots of hackers to take him down but he’s also cocky enough to think his skills alone can stop anyone. I could see this case of Awesome Ego landing on either side.
Edited by 43110 on Jul 24th 2022 at 1:08:38 PM
Lies and Violence!
Matches, Rufio, Dade, Kate, Joey, Cereal, Nikon, Razor, Blade, Accuser, Ben, Rigger, Lantz. Tentative sure to Julianna for now.
Avatar. We all know it. I really don't think I need to explain it. However, what I do think I need to explain is a few of the graphic novels. Most of them have been released in trilogies set after the original show, but a recent standalone comic set sometime in Season 2—Katara and the Pirate's Silver—follows Katara as she finds herself wrapped up in the misadventure of a pirate crew.
Who is Jiang?
The young captain of her crew, Jiang was a proud pirate for many years, stealing whatever she wanted and selling it to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, the war against the Fire Nation finally reached her little corner of the Earth Kingdom, and—after fending them off when they tried to commandeer her ship—she vowed to defend her people from the invaders. As such, she began robbing Earth Kingdom supply ships, happy to relocate medicine and food to the poor citizens outside of Ba Sing Se's walls whom the military had decided to forget about in their war. So long as she's paid, of course.
On one particular smuggling job in a Fire Nation colony, Jiang realized they could use a waterbender in the very likely event they got busted, and—after seeing a lost Katara waterbend a soldier—offers to help her find her friends in exchange for her help. She agrees (though is disgusted by Jiang's insistence that she only ever does jobs if she's paid), and sure enough they're recognized while trying to sail away. Fortunately, because Katara's awesome, she manages to fight them off and steal a Fire Nation ship when Jiang's is sunk, with Jiang using its catapult to take out their remaining pursuers. They proceed to sail off to a nearby village with the supplies, Jiang already dreaming about the silver she's going to be paid in...
Silver lilies, of course. Katara's a bit surprised she's taking payments in flowers, but Jiang makes clear she absolutely despises the Fire Nation and, pirate or not, loves her people. She makes Katara an honorary member of her crew and departs, still contemplating whether or not she'll go back to an unrepentant life of crime once the war ends.
Is she magnificent?
Fun pirate captain with a patriotic sense of honor, preemptively plans for a rough getaway when faced with strong opposition, leads Katara on about being motivated only by greed only to pull the rug out from under that assertion at the last moment for seemingly no other reason save for kicks and giggles. Check, check and check.
Is she a bastard?
She's a pirate captain. She makes it clear that if there wasn't a war going on and she wasn't a patriot, she'd still be out there plundering towns. Also, when the previous waterbender they had hired before Katara turned out to be a fraud, it's heavily implied she fed him to a saber-tooth moose lion. So... yeah.
Verdict?
Solid yes from me.
to Jiang
Goku Black
Jiang.
Yes to Jiang, any thoughts on the Plague? On the flip side I can see it being so lighthearted it’s not much of a “breakdown”, just rather ambiguous.
Goku Black
Bump. So the ep isn't at the bottom of the page
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Sure to all the Hackers candidates, though some of these are definitely gonna have to be shared entries.
Anyways, I'm back to doing Warcraft candidates. These next two are exclusively from the recent Shadowlands expansion depicting some of the many afterlives. One such afterlife is Revendreth, Warcraft's version of Limbo, where evil souls are sent for torture and eventual redemption for a life of wickedness. Ruled over by Denathrius, he created the Venthyr to rehabilitate souls by expunging them of their sins and using the anima created as a by-product as a major resource for the rest of the Shadowlands. Souls have all their sins written down on Sinstones to remind them of their past follies and are sent to one of seven Harvesters preceding over various sins for atonement. Souls that atone are sent back to the assigned a new afterlife while those that don't are condemned to eternal suffering in the Maw. Eventually, Denathrius begins to horde anima and creating a drought to empower his brother and ruler of the Maw, Zovaal the Jailer, and corrupts Revendreth's purpose in the process. This leads the first Venthyr Prince Renathal to spark a rebellion against him, and my candidate today is by far the most competant member of Renathal's rebellion.
Who is the Accuser?
In her mortal life, she was Harriett the Crimson Shade and an infamous assassin belonging to an unknown race. No target was too innocent and even children were considered worthy targets if she was paid. This led to her one day being tricked into murdering her own daughter, a regret she carried throughout her life and into the next. For her heinous crimes, she was condemned to Revendreth and eventually atoned and chosen to become one of the Venthyr, eventually working her way up to the Harvester of Pride. She took to her new role with gusto and redeemed countless souls over the eons through brutal tortures that stripped them of their pride. Truly believing in Revendreth's purpose, she joined Renathal in open rebellion by using her territory in the Ceremony Ward as a stronghold, and thus remained his only major ally to not be thrown in the Maw or the Ember Ward when the Rebellion was put down. The player eventually makes their way to Revendreth investigating the anima shortage and is tricked to Denathrius's side at first.
They are tasked to aid the Lord Chamberlain with the capture of the Accuser, but she doesn't make their job easy. The Accuser proudly displays her massive sinstone for all to see to prove her atonement, and protects both it and herself behind a powerful magic ward bound to two of her loyal inquisitors themselves protected by wards. The player must travel around the Ward to track down the inquisitors' hidden sinstones to have them read off to expose and kill them. The Lord Chamberlain eventually gets his hand on the Accuser's sinstone and tries to read it off to stun her, but she retorts that she feels no remorse for her crimes in life and is unaffected. Although, she is eventually defeated when the Chamberlain creates an illusion of her daughter weakening her enough to be captured. The Lord Chamberlain is named the new Harvester of Pride while the Accuser is sentenced to be hunted for sport by the Fearstalker, the Harvester of Dread.
After defiantly mouthing off to Denathrius, the Accuser is hunted by the Fearstalker and the player, but even in her weakened state she proves far more cunning than they give her credit for and she lures them into a trap. She drops a teleportation mirror on the Fearstalker to force her away and convinces the player to turn to her side by leading them to another mirror deep beneath Castle Nathria. Here she exposes to the player Denathrius is behind the drought and recruits them to help take out the Fearstalker. Assisted by the gargoyle General Draven, the Accuser sets up an elaborate trap in the Fearstalker's own hunting lodge. First luring in the Fearstalker by having the player kill her top hunters, the Accuser has anima containers strategically placed around the lodge to lure in devourers from beyond reality. When the Fearstalker and her minions arrive, the anima is released and devourers swarm them and kill her forces while severely injuring her. The player, Draven, and the Accuser finish off the wounded Harvester of Dread.
With some time to regroup, the Accuser sends the player off to the Ember Ward to find an insane ally named Duke Theotar and find out where Renathal is being kept. A side trip to the Maw sees Renathal rescued, and, in the meantime, the Accuser rounds up rebel forces and reclaims their old base at Sinfall. The revived rebellion launches an attack on Denathrius's forces but arrive too late to witness him flooding all the stolen anima into the Maw to empower the Jailer. Retreating back to Sinfall, the rebellion makes strategic attacks to amass all the Medallions that each Harvester bears with the Accuser sending the player off to kill the Lord Chamberlain to retrieve the Medallion of Pride. In the first raid, players defeat Denathrius and the Accuser comes into the care of of the soul of former Blood Elf Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider that was rescued. She has remarkable success at redeeming him and guides him to aid the player into uncovering a plot between the remnants of Denathrius's loyalists and the forces of the Jailer. By the end of the expansion, she has fully reclaimed the Ceremony Ward and is back to putting souls back on the path of their torturous atonement.
Is she magnificent?
The Accuser has a powerful and intimidating personality and mouths off to Denathrius himself even when captured, and remain coolheaded enough to secure her own escape while turning the player to her side. She also proves a brilliant schemer and in many ways the only reason the rebellion hung on for so long.
Is she a bitch?
She was evil enough is life to get sent to the equivalent of Limbo and flat out states she holds no regrets for her crimes other than accidentally murdering her own daughter. Even in her afterlife, she takes great satisfaction in torturing souls and drawing anima from them in the well-intentioned goal of guiding them towards atonement. The Accuser proves a very morally dubious if necessarily evil ally of the player.
Final Verdict?
Another easy![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]")
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Think you're tough because you made it through Lord of the Rings? Real men survive The Silmarillion.