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:
- 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
So now that I'm finally finishing up Saints Row (2022), I had two candidates in mind, but the Boss was already taken care of...
The new Saints Row is a reboot, seeing the new brand of Saints being a small group of college students trying to make ends meet, and resorting to criminal activities. It helps that they're already associated with the local gangs of the Nevada based city, Los Panteros. One of them is the new generations Boss, who was a recruit for Marshall Defense Industries only to get booted when they prioritized saving a life over saving an artifact Marshall wanted.
Anyways, since the next gen Boss is already up there's one other candidate for this game. Enter, Myra Starr.
Who is Myra ? What does she do ?
A member of Marshall's Board of Directors, Myra is a courual and no nonsense woman, who considers Atticus Marshall's antics a thorn in her side, with her being more competent and business oriented, while Marshall was a lot more arrogant and power hungry. At first there's nothing of note about her, but the Boss wins her over when they still worked under Marshall. The Boss meets her while working at a museum party Atticus is hosting, where he plans on presenting a Mayan Artifact he declared Marshall property. This party is soon attacked by two warring gangs, Los Panteros and The Idols.
The Boss manages to fight off the attack even saving Myra's life, though in the process, the Idols manage to steal the artifact. Marshall, infuriated by this, fires the Boss for prioritizing Myra's life over the artifact telling both to their faces that they are replaceable to him. Myra's none too pleased to hear about this and soon begins plotting to take Marshall out of the equation.
Over the game, the Saints war with Marshall's organization along with the Idols and the Panteros. Because of this, Marshall sees the Saints as competition, and tries to buy them out using a legal means; the Boss signed a non-compete agreement when Marshall first hired them, effectively putting the Saints under Marshall's property. The Boss leads an attack on Marshall's headquarters where they encounter Myra in Marshall's office. The Boss is told that Marshall has an army of lawyers backing him up, and that even if they kill Marshall, his next of kin will take his place...so Myra and the Boss decide to oust Marshall from his own company, at which point Myra will take control and free the Saints from their clause.
The plan is simple; with so much dirt of Marshall's that was uncovered, the shareholders are starting to lose faith in Atticus, so they plan to ruin his reputation further while he's hosting a press conference. At Myra's suggestion, the Boss takes control of an AI controlled tank Marshall is supposed to present, and rampages throughout the city. With Marshall's reputation ruined, Myra hosts a meeting where she plans on having Atticus voted out in favor of her own leadership. At first the vote is a tie, before Myra introduces the Boss to the Board; they can either be the deciding vote to fire Atticus or kill him on the spot.
Either way, Myra makes good on her promise to let the Saints go, but tells them that this doesn't make them friends, and warns them not to fuck with Marshall further.
Mitigating Qualities ?
Myra's certainly charming, being a business minded Cool Old Lady, who engineers the downfall of her boss. She's generally affable but professional, and is genuinely grateful for the Boss saving her life, and turns against Atticus when he tells her to her face that she's expendable. Myra isn't very action oriented, but makes up for it with her planning and pragmatism. She explains to the Boss just why going up to Atticus and shooting him won't solve their problems, instead coming up with the idea of ousting Atticus through corporate manipulation, with her coming out on top.
It's just this plan involves the Boss hijacking one of Marshall's AI tanks and going on a rampage, causing a helluva lot of property damage, getting numerous Marshall soldiers killed, and at the very least, endangering innocent people. That's more than enough to put her over the "Bastard" line, but decently tame by Saints Row standards. All this to ruin Atticus' reputation, which either sees him get fired from his own company, or the Boss just killing him.
She also stays true to her promise to release the Saints from their clause, but warns them not to further mess with their company.
Conclusion
Myra's a solid keeper despite her small role.
Besides her and the Boss, there's no other candidates from this game - the closest would be The Nahualli, who is a powerful gang leader himself, and an affable One-Man Army that rivals the Boss, but I found him to be too much of a Psychopathic Man Child towards the ending; he stabs the Boss in the stomach, buries them alive, and keeps their friends hostage, forcing them to act out skits where they are friends.
With that said, I plan on bringing up one more from this franchise, Persephone Brimstone. But I'll get to her when I finish with that game.
Edited by Beast on Sep 23rd 2022 at 2:24:31 AM
"It's like...a cliff, and if I do it, I'm just gonna...fall." "I think we're already falling."Found and cut this unapproved entry on mashed:
- Magnificent Bastard: Tails who turns out to be the version from the Secret Histories videos. After seamlessly pulling a Kill and Replace on the Tails of this world he effortlessly manipulates both Amy and Sonic to get exactly what he wants, only being exposed because he chooses to reveal himself. And when Amy has every reason to want him dead and is literally choking the life out of him he knows just the right words to say to not only defuse her rage but get her completely on his side as a willing accomplice.
Yeah SH!Tails is like a crazy freak, and honestly might even be a Hate Sink.
Alright I’ve got some candidates from a Metro game series I just finished playing and covered on the CM thread. For those who don’t know here what its about
What’s The Work?
Metro is a franchise created by Dmitry Glukhovsky that started off as a series of books for becoming a series of video games. The setting takes place in a post-apocalyptic Russia where survivors live in a system of under tunnels called Metros in order to survive whether it’d be from radiation from the air, mutants, and evil humans. The first game is called Metro 2033 which follows Artyom as he travels through the Metros in Moscow where he can meet this woman my first candidate, Nikki.
Who Is She? What Has She Done?
Nikki is a con-artist living in the Riga Station or Rizhskaya who finds men and lies about offering sex to them in exchange for some Military grade round (MGR) bullets (the currency in the Metro) before taking them into her hideout. Nikki would then tell her customers to close their eyes before having a thug show up (she possibly paid for him) and beat them up (or knock them unconscious at least) before taking all of their MGRs leaving them penniless.
Artyom can in come across Nikki’s path where Nikki pulls her trick on Artyom offering them sex for only 1 MGR. If Artyom choses to accept Nikki will take him to her hideout before having her thug knock Artyom unconscious before taking all of his MGRs.
When Artyom wakes up a man mocks Artyom for falling for Nikki’s ploy and that Nikki has conned many other men out of their money (its implied he fell for Nikki’s trick before) and before Artyom decides to leave Rizhskaya, while Nikki gets away unpunished while continuing to con on other men.
Is She Intelligent? Is She Charismatic?
As a con-artist and Ms. Fanservice, Nikki proves herself to be very cunning and charismatic using her good looks to seduce men into falling for her trap where she would have them knocked-out before taking all of their money, even able to get away with screwing Artyom if he choses to follow her. She’s also popular enough that her likeness is used on a stripper in the sequel redux.
What’s The Competition Like?
While only a minor baddie that you can chose to ignore, I think Nikki is able to do well for herself seducing and conning men of their money and managing to go unpunished, and is possibly the only antagonist to have completely gotten away with screwing Artyom, and even if Artyom choses not to follow her, there’s still many more men for Nikki is screw over and she never goes unpunished for her actions.
Is She a Bitch? Is She Too Much of a Bitch?
Well Nikki is a con-artist and thief who seduces many men before having them beaten up and/or knocked out before stealing all of their money leaving them penniless so yeah she’s a bitch. That said Nikki is far from the worst the world of Metro has to offer, and never goes too far with her action only just knocking them out to steal their MGRs before letting them live so no she’s not too much of a bitch.
Final Verdict?
I'll leave it to you guys.
Edited by G-Editor on Sep 23rd 2022 at 7:02:13 AM
My sandbox of EPs and other stuffEh... to my memory I don't remember Nikki being magnificent, just an attractive woman who repeatedly robs men. Like, not as bad as others and capable of getting away with it but I'm not giving the title to a random encounter whose only feat is to rob unexpecting men by offering them sex. No to Nikki.
@Riley: Not all MBs need to have a big impact as we got many minor characters approved as such nor does everyone need to be enamored by them.
From my standpoint Nikki ticks the boxes. She's an attractive woman cunning and charismatic. She's a bitch in that she manipulates men with her charms before knocking them out a stealing all of their money, while also not being too much of a bitch by not going too far in her crimes (like not killing these men).
Still here's a video link
of her for those to see and judge for themselves
Edited by G-Editor on Sep 23rd 2022 at 10:06:59 AM
My sandbox of EPs and other stuff
Myra.
I have a candidate who might be not dark enough to fit, but — let’s give it a try. Odabella, Attila.
The Work
Attila is a 1846 opera by Giuseppe Verdi, a fictionalised depiction of the last days of Attila the Hun.
The Character
Odabella is an Action Girl from Aquileia, which is invaded by the Huns. When her father is killed by Attila and her fiancé is missing, presumed dead, she vows to avenge them (and save the country from the Huns, as a bonus). With an Amazon Brigade (it's implied she leads it, being one of the protagonists) she fights furiously against the Huns and impresses them so much that, rather than kill her and the other girls, they take them captive and bring them to Attila.
Odabella's bravery and Brutal Honesty impress (and attract) Attila as well. He offers her any gift she likes; she demands the return of her sword and he gives her his own instead.
Later, Odabella's fiancé Foresto turns up alive: he has helped evacuating a group of refugees but returned to find Odabella. When he sees her at the Hun king's court, apparently enjoying herself, he is understandably angry, until Odabella reveals her plan: in revenge for her father, she’ll slay Attila like Judith killed Holofernes.
At a Hun feast, Foresto, after meeting with Roman general Ezio who is planning to attack the Huns, arranges a poisoning of Attila. Odabella, however, warns Attila in time: she doesn’t want her revenge to be taken away from her.
Foresto, being the usual Tenor Boy, proudly reveals himself and declares he was behind the poisoning. Attila almost kills him, but Odabella persuades him to give the prisoner to her: she discovered the assassination attempt, she says, so she’ll judge the criminal.
Attila agrees and proclaims he is going to marry Odabella the next morning.
In the morning, Foresto and Ezio lie in wait for the approaching Roman army. Odabella, a Runaway Bride from the wedding that has just begun, appears; Foresto decides it's just the moment to start a jealous quarrel, and the two argue for a while with Ezio begging them to shut up.
Attila arrives, looking for Odabella. The three conspirators each give him a short “The Reason You Suck” Speech, and as they hear the Roman army attack, Odabella stabs Attila, crying that it is a sacrifice to her father.
Is she magnificent?
She is, most definitely. A fierce Action Girl and a brilliant actress who manages to fool Attila the Hun and win his trust. She planned to have her revenge even before she knew that her fiancé was alive and that they were backed by Ezio's army.
Her one less than clever scene, the quarrel mentioned above, was started by Foresto.
Is she a bitch?
She uses definitely sleazy methods to get close to Attila and ends up luring him to an attack where he is outnumbered three-to-one (compared to the fact that he killed her father in battle, as close to honest as one can get in this setting). Obsessed with Leave Him to Me!, she saves his life from an earlier assassination attempt.
Some productions have her start to reciprocate Attila's love for her, but she still goes through with killing him.
Conclusion?
Maybe, if her moral greyness is dark enough.
I'm fine with Odabella but no to Nikki. Like, hard no.
People, let's avoid conflating every "manipulative villain" with "Magnificent Bastard." There has to be some element of genuine, well, magnificence to them.
Myra, Odabella
Gonna abstain on Nikki
Might have a HTTYD Candidate coming up who I don't believe has been discussed judging by the search bar.
Edited by WetFlannels on Sep 23rd 2022 at 3:50:07 PM
What's wrong D-16? Rise up!To be fair, Bob's Burgers' MB farted on salami and got approved, so I guess that's the baseline. As long as they're charming and successful and preferably not a rapist, they should count.
Myra and Odabella,
to Nikki.
So, I was rewatching Beyblade Metal Fusion, and I found a surprising candidate. I was originally considering Doji and Metal Masters' Dr. Ziggurat, but their ends were too undignified for me to be okay with them going up. Ziggurat in particular. After watching the ending to Metal Masters, my brother and I both thought that he went out on such a pathetic note that we actually burst out laughing.
But enough about Smug Snakes with irritating Evil Laughs. I've got an actual potential keeper from that series. Here goes:
What is the work?
Metal Fight Beyblade is a Merchandise-Driven anime about Beyblades. It features a boy named Gingka Hagane, who drifts the world in hopes of becoming the number one beyblader in the world.
This EP will be focused on the first season, Metal Fusion, since he mostly loses the Bastard aspect after that.
Who is the candidate? What has he done?
Kyoya Tategami is the resident Stock Shōnen Rival, and the leader of the notorious Face Hunters, a gang dedicated to picking on weaker bladers and stealing their Beypoints.
Not only is he the one overseeing that, but he makes his official debut having Benkei and his men steal Kenta's bey to get Gingka to meet him at the top of a tower, as a challenge to a one-on-one battle. There, even after learning that Gingka's bey hasn't finished being repaired yet, the Face Hunters threaten to drop Kenta's bey off the tower if he doesn't fight him. They do battle, and Kyoya loses. Though frustrated, he quickly realises that he needs to get stronger.
Sometime later, he encounters the Big Bad of this season, Doji, and quickly surmises that he's up to no good, declining the bespectacled man's offer to work together to defeat Gingka. Doji challenges him to a battle, which Kyoya loses, and subsequently forces him to enter his training program to get stronger.
Said program puts him through Training from Hell, and he came out of it having taken a massive level in jerkass, becoming more violent and merciless, as shown in his rebuffing of his Face Hunters and his now claiming that friends mean nothing. You know, Shonen-rival stuff. He challenges Gingka once again, nearly winning this time, but in the process, he realises his bey didn't want him to be full of hatred and has a change of heart as Gingka teaches him the value of blader spirit and he learns to value his bey, which had always been by his side.
Is he Magnificent?
For someone so feral-looking, Kyoya is most certainly smarter than he seems at first glance. In battle, he is consistently shown to be incredibly skilled at using the terrain to his advantage, such as shattering nearby rocks in the terrain to use as projectiles in his battle against Doji, or luring Gingka to the top of a tower to take advantage of the surrounding wind to power his bey's special moves. Even if he does end up losing both fights, he puts up a pretty good showing regardless. He even develops a new special move to patch up the weaknesses the old one had, and psych out anyone who thought he was still using the Lion Gale Force Wall until it was too late.
Post Heel–Face Turn, he is also shown to be the only one to catch on to Hyoma's lies, setting up rocks in the valley they were travelling in to prove that he was leading them to travel in circles.
He doesn't lose his Magnificence in later seasons, either. His Finishing Move in his battle against Damian in Metal Masters has him riding the wind from his True Lion Gale Force Wall to get high enough in the air to finish him off with an aerial wind attack. Needless to say, it won him the match and was a rather cool moment for him. Meanwhile, in Metal Fury, when he and Gingka's beys suddenly evolve, he is shown to have a better understanding of his bey's newfound power than his rival.
A major factor in his Magnificence is that he's really damn cool. His battles are some of the more interesting to watch throughout the series, he has a cool character design, and combining with his frequent usage of strategy, he comes off as one of the most genuinely awesome characters in the Metal Saga. His Training from Hell, for example, involved him climbing to the top of a dangerous, tumultuous rocky cliff filled with hungry wolves. He survived, personally fending off said wolves and awakening the "fangs of the heart" that Doji described and prompting the aforementioned jerkass-levelling - and badass-levelling. Sure, he's no Ryuga, but he's up there regardless.
His personality isn't unlikeable, either, as while he was somewhat arrogant, he was always genuinely Smug Super, and he isn't delusional about his power. He knows when he needs to get stronger, and he acts on it whenever he can. Plus, his Evil Laugh doesn't suck, either (looking at you, Ziggurat!).
Is he a Bastard? Too much?
About as much as a kid's show's bully character can get. Right off the bat, he leads a gang of bullies, picking on people weaker than them to steal all their points. He's also not above threatening to damage people's beys if it will benefit him, as Kenta can attest to. The Bastard in him really shows after his training with Doji, in which he becomes much more cold and ruthless. He rejects his Face Hunters and brutally defeats Kenta and Benkei, tearing up the arena and attempting to destroy their beys once he's won, and he later goes on to rematch Gingka, laughing maniacally throughout much of the match.
That said, he does get better. He undergoes a Heel–Face Turn, becoming an ally to Gingka and opposing Doji. Even before then, he was charismatic enough to command respect, be it through admiration or fear, from the Face Hunters. They seem to genuinely like him, so I'm leaning towards the former, and while he's shown being a Bad Boss onscreen when they screw up, with Fridge Brilliance applied, one can assume that he wasn't always a total dick to them.
Final verdict?
My vote is yes, but now it's in your hands.
It is I, the narrator, categorising addict and writer of books you haven't read.

Yeah I agree with STAR. All nine entries are up now, so unless anything factually pressing arises, there's no reason for anyone but 43 doing grammatical checks and/or potholing to be in there at this point.
Edited by futuremoviewriter on Sep 23rd 2022 at 12:35:30 PM