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
Any last minute additions to the drafts before I submit?
Here's the batch:
- 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 prince 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.
- 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.
- Justified: In amidst all the white supremacists, drug addicts, stupid crooks, and other human wreckage that comprised the gangsters of rural Harlan County, there was the occasional villain with some charisma and flair, and the according ability to run rings about series' protagonists Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder:
- Mags Bennett was the Big Bad of Season 2 and matriarch of the Bennett family, a Bandit Clan of hillbilly moonshiners and marijuana farmers whose influence was felt throughout Harlan County. Ruling her namesake township of Bennett as not just a Corrupt Hick but an uncrowned Feudal Overlord, Mags controlled the Bennett Police Department through her son, Doyle, and the marijuana trade through his brothers, Dickie and Coover, making her the final arbiter on near everything that happened in town. Rallying the people of Harlan at large and Bennett in particular against Black Pike Mining's attempts to buy up the county, Mags secretly cut a deal with Black Pike behind the backs of her fellow townsfolk, selling most of the county to Black Pike in exchange for extensive personal profits that she planned to use to get her grandchildren out of crime. Staying her hand when her son Coover was killed by Raylan (whose family the Bennetts had long feuded with), Mags returned to action when Dickie started a war with Boyd and proved capable of matching him trick for trick. In the end, only the unexpected return of Mags' foster daughter, Loretta, to Bennett, and the ensuing intervention by the Marshal Service proved able to bring the Bennett township tyrant down.
- Ellstin Limehouse, was the unofficial king of Noble's Holler, the one black community in rural white Harlan. Concerned with keeping his people isolated and safe, Limehouse played Harlan's criminals and law enforcement against one another with seeming impunity, always evading responsibility, and coming out on top. In Season 3 he outmaneuvered Boyd, Robert Quarles, Dickie Bennett and Raylan, setting in motion a plan that saw Quarles killed, Boyd and Dickie imprisoned, and Raylan unable to touch Limehouse. In Season 4, he successfully ripped off Boyd and the Detroit mob both, while at the same time, saving the life of frightened hooker Ellen May and extricating Noble's from the Harlan underworld. Making his final appearance in Season 6, Limehouse again got the better of Boyd, before vanishing from Harlan, one step ahead of the Marshal's Service. No other villain on the show has walked as fine a line between good and evil as Limehouse, and none has ever come close to matching his achievements or his ability to get away with everything.
- Drew Thompson was a Detroit mobster with a unique penchant for taking Refuge in Audacity. After witnessing Theo Tonin commit a murder, Drew realized that he had to get out of town before Theo killed him to cover it up. Shooting Theo in the eye, Drew stole an airplane and faked his own death, shoving his accomplice, Waldo Truth, out of the plane, then parachuting into Harlan County where he exchanged his cocaine and drug money for a new identity, helping Bo Crowder and Arlo Givens become rural mafiosi while he himself became Shelby Parlow of the Harlan Sheriff's Department. Eventually elected Sheriff himself, Shelby used his position to undermine Boyd's control over Harlan and the office of Sheriff alike, while also joining the recently revitalized search for "Drew Thompson" whose survival, but not identity, had been discovered. Found out in the end and arrested by Raylan, Drew Thompson nevertheless enjoyed a decades long career in law enforcement, and his machinations set in motion the eventual collapse of Boyd's criminal enterprises—the very same enterprises Drew had helped Boyd's father Bo, assemble in the first place.
- Loretta McCready was the foster daughter and Bastard Understudy of Mags Bennett, and while she might have sided with Raylan against Mags, the passage of time proves that it was Mags' influence that lasted. Aspiring to become a marijuana kingpin in the same vein as her foster mother, Loretta spent Season 6 buying up agricultural land throughout Harlan County under both her real name and various aliases, and putting herself in direct competition with Avery Markham and the various gun thugs in his employ. Allying herself with Boyd, Loretta turned the entire town against Markham with a single speech at a party that Markham himself was hosting, and bought up most of the land in the county. Even the implosion of Boyd's empire and the loss of his protection could not stop Loretta; when Markham cornered her she persuaded him that she should become his new partner, thus surviving until Raylan and Boyd killed off Markham and his enforcer, Boon. Only a teenager when the series ended, Loretta demonstrated that she was more capable than most of the adult criminals on the show, and was left in a perfect position to pick up where Mags and Boyd left off, as the reigning queen of the Harlan underworld.
- 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.
- Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne: Lucifer orchestrates events to ensure The Protagonist becomes the commander of his demon army. Turning him into a Demifiend after the Conception, Lucifer manipulates the protagonist into investigating the Amala Labyrinth, hoping to make him fight other powerful Friends to test his strength before sending a feared demon hunter after them. If the Deminfiend chooses to break the cycle of the Conception, Lucifer congratulates him, before testing his power in a personal battle. When the Demifiend survives the fight, Lucifer graciously accepts him as the commander of his demon army and rejoices at the thought of beginning the war with what he calls the "Real Enemy". Ever gracious, if the Demifiend chooses any other route than breaking the cycle, Lucifer discretely steps aside and leaves the story, out of respect for his freewill. Manipulative to the core yet gracious and stylish, Lucifer proves himself to be one of the franchise's most dangerous and intelligent plotters.
- Where In The World 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.
edited 27th May '18 7:43:30 AM by 43110
Effort post for The Grey King from The Lies of Locke Lamora. Spoilers ahead.
Who is the Grey King? What has he done?
The Grey King, alias Capa Raza, alias Luciano Anatolius is the son of Avram Anatolius, a merchant who discovered the Secret Peace between Nicovante, Duke of Camorr, and Vencarlo Barsavi, Capa of Camorr. For this, Avram was murdered by Barsavi, along with his wife and younger children. Only the oldest son, Luciano, and his sisters Cheryn and Raiza escaped. Luciano became captain of the pirate ship Satisfaction, in order to earn enough money to return home and gain revenge of Barsavi and all those who benefited from the Secret Peace. His sisters arrived ahead of him, and after establishing reputations as gladiators became Barsavi's bodyguards; in this capacity they slowly poisoned his wife to death.
Luciano arrives in the city and assumes the identity of the Grey King. Hiring bondsmagi The Falconer to aid him, he murders the leaders of numerous Barsavi gangs, and cuts deals with their underlings. He also coerces Locke Lamora, the best actor in the city, into playing the Grey King at a meeting he arranges between himself and Barsavi. He murders Barsavi's daughter, Nazca, in order to send the Capa into a rage, and uses the meeting between Locke and Barsavi to fake his own death. In the meantime, he has his sisters murder Locke's friends Calo and Galdo Sanza.
When Barsavi throws a party to celebrate the Grey King's death, Luciano ambushes him at it. He has the Falconer control a shark into attacking Barsavi, while his sisters murder Barsavi's sons. He then kills Barsavi, though not before whispering why into his ear. He declares himself the new Capa of Camorr and takes on the name Capa Raza. Using Falconer to mind control the Duke's secret police chief, Countess Amberglass, he has statues loaded with Wraithstone used to decorate a massive party the Duke is hosting. When fuses in the statues are lit, the Wraithstone smoke will emerge and "Gentle" (read as: eat the personalities) of all 600 people present.
Locke, his friend Jean, and his apprentice Bug, are ambushed at their hideout by one of the Grey King's men who murders Bug, but is killed by Locke and Jean. Jean later kills Cheryn and Raiza in personal combat, prompting the Falconer to be sent after he and Locke. Locke manages to capture Falconer and tortures Capa Raza's plan out of him. Making contact with Countess Amberglass, he arranges for the Wraithstone statues to be disposed of and the Satisfaction sunk. Jean sends a note to Raza saying that they are coming for him, and Raza returns to his Grey King identity and after setting some mood lighting waits to meet Locke and Jean. Locke arrives and duels the Grey King alone, getting cut to ribbons before, at the last moment, he is able to trick Luciano into thinking Jean has arrived, and knife him in the back when he is briefly distracted.
What's his competition like? How does he perform against them?
The Grey King is the Big Bad of The Lies of Locke Lamora and thoroughly outmaneuvers both Capa Barsavi and the Secret Police. He gains his revenge on Barsavi and comes within millimeters of taking out the whole of the Camorri nobility. He uses Locke like a puppet on a string, and this is the Locke of the first book, who had a legitimate claim to MB status, before the wheel-spinning and inability to learn of the later books reduced him to an antiheroic Smug Snake.
In the wider series, Luciano is the most effective villain to appear in the series. He's much more dangerous than Stragos, Requin, or Rodanov from Red Seas Under Red Skies," and Republic of Thieves lacks a real villain (being mostly concerned with Locke's sad excuse for a love life). Until Thorn of Emberlain'' finally comes out (whenever that may be), the Grey King will be the series' standout villain, and the only one to so thoroughly work over Locke when Locke was at the top of his game.
Is he a Chessmaster? A Manipulative Bastard? Is he capable of thinking on his feet?
Luciano's plan is twenty-two years in the making, and hashed out to the last detail. Cheryn and Raiza became Barsavi's bodyguards eight years before Luciano came back to town, and starting setting the stage for the Capa's fall before Barsavi even knew he had an enemy. The entire first phase of Luciano's plan, from killing Barsavi's wife to suborning his gangs, to bringing down the Capa himself goes off without a hitch.
Luciano manipulated numerous Barsavi underlings into throwing in with him, and played Locke like a lute, persuading the supposed master thief that if he just played along with the con, he'd get out alive, before murdering all Locke's friends and stealing all his money.
As far as thinking on his feet goes, until Locke burns the Satisfaction and stops the Wraithstone attack, Luciano plans so well that he doesn't have to. When the plan does fail, Luciano accepts it with good grace, and rather than immediately fleeing the city, waits for Locke and Jean to find him, something he characterizes as discharging a final personal debt to the two of them after all he's put them through.
How much of a Bastard is he? Does he have redeeming features? Is he capable of being charismatic?
Gentling is a form of murder that happens to leave an ambulatory corpse—it completely erases any trace of consciousness or personal identity and cannot be reversed. Luciano tried to do this to 600 people, many of them children who were not even born at the time of his family's murder. Locke calls him on this, but Luciano responds with a Shut Up, Kirk!, telling him to "save your arguments priest. Don't you think I've had them with myself too many times on too many nights over the past twenty-two years?"
He's acting entirely out of a desire to avenge his family, however, and clearly loved both his dead parents and siblings, and his surviving sisters. He tells Locke that if he could "I would burn this city to the ground and write the names of my family in its ashes." He honours the deals he made with most of the Barsavi men he suborned, and also takes on Barsavi's debts, including honouring the promises Barsavi made to the first man to strike the "Grey King" during their meeting.
Luciano's a significant force of personality, which is why he's able to impress himself on various Barsavi functionaries so quickly. As far as the reader is concerned, even if you're not impressed with him, you will feel sorry for him by the time the story is over, and it takes killing Locke's friends and trying to Gentle the whole nobility to hammer home the point that Luciano is a bad man, because what he does to Barsavi is pretty damn justified, at least by the standards of gang law.
Final verdict?
If anyone from the Gentleman Bastard sequence counts so far, it's the Grey King. Thoughts?
Anything on the Web Original page worth keeping?
- The Gord, of Acts of Gord, especially in the final book. While Gord was on vacation overseas, the person he left the store to (the Guardian) conspired with the Gord's Landlord who had been pocketing money for a while so that Gord would lose his license. When Gord found out the Guardian and the Landlord intended to sell off the property and liquidate everything, the Gord instructed some of his friends to break into his own store and take everything that wasn't nailed down. Since the Gord was still legally the owner of his store and had purchased everything inside it, this wasn't illegal. When the Guardian and the Landlord show up the next day, they find absolutely nothing, meaning they'll both lose their jobs. And they can't report this to the police, or else they'll be arrested for fraud. In the end, the Gord had the last laugh, but got out of the business and left his empty store behind.
- The Chaos Timeline has several of them:
- Maffeo Servitore, of Florence, who's not coincidentally an Expy of Machiavelli.
- Alfred Kleiber, chancellor of German Atlantis (=America), who manages to unite the three Germanies (in Europe, North and South Atlantis) into one great superpower.
- And the New Roman emperors, who make Italy into another superpower owning lands on four continents.
- Michael-lan of The Salvation War, who is able to manipulate an entire interdimensional war to position himself in control of Heaven, and his ambitions might not even stop there.
- Mildly subverted by one of his motives being to prevent angelic extinction — if his "muscle" had gone about their plans unabated, they might have very well taken out his native power base and possibly himself in the process... and, if they ever decide to do kill him, they most likely will succeed.
- Then Elhmas shows up...
- It's to be expected that Neon Genesis Evangelion fanfiction contains a Magnificent Bastard if the author is doing his job, but Gendo Ikari in Aeon Natum Engel puts his narrative predecessor to shame; he actually seems incapable of doing even the most rudimentary of actions without dragging in a multi-layer plan.
- Although given some of the other characters, both Expys and OCs, he has competition. Not enough to lose (because, hey, he's Gendo), but enough that the story becomes a Jigsaw Puzzle Plot.
- On Neopets, there was one villain who was in one of those events where you pick a side in a conflict. Darigan was an early one, and he's notable in that he managed to get most of the players on his side, making him win the war. Yes, through a sob story, a villain managed to convince most of the players to join his side.
- The Manual (Ghost File 1
to be precise) puts Phoenix from Peregrine in this category. The fact that he was executed for Holding Back the Phlebotinum, but had the phlebotinum in question on him when he died is made slightly more impressive when you learn that the phlebotinum is built for playing Grand Theft Me, and he proceeds to use it on the executioner.
- In the same part of the manual, he blows up his new body to get inside a space station commander, kills the commander and uses a spaceship captain to organize a resistance, and then proceeds to hide that resistance for years before using two superpowers against one another, arranging a mass Reverse Mole inside The Empire, stealing their superweapon, and teaming up with the Reverse Moles and The Alliance to completely destroy them. Then he just leaves, dropping in to taunt people every once in a while.
- While Let's Play-ing Within a Deep Forest, DeceasedCrab said of the game's designer "I can't help but respect Nifflas for his superior bastardry. Not saying that you're illegitimate or anything, just that you're utterly heartless, dude." Note the context: DC was LP-ing Within A Deep Forest because he had previously been playing La-Mulana, and he needed a break from its aptly-named Hell Temple. So a comparison of DC's reaction to the two games' difficulty levels is a nice object lesson in the difference between Magnificent Bastardry and plain old bastardry.
- Dusty is probably the rudest, crudest, most perverted and vulgar thing to walk this Earth and not be labeled as evil. And yet he's one of the most loved characters on Matt 'n' Dusty.
- Whateley Universe has multiple ones. Ayla, at the least, is in training as one. Thuban is working his way into this position. The winner, however, is Dr. Diabolik. He initiates a beautiful, three-tiered plan in the latest story.
- http://www.crystalhall.org/SILVERLININGS3.html
- Dr. Diabolik is such a Magnificent Bastard that he uses tropes to manipulate his opponents. His computer system has an auto-gloat system because he knows the heroes expect it of him.
- http://www.crystalhall.org/SILVERLININGS3.html
- Ice in Game 10 of Comic Fury Werewolf. The game needs to be read to fully comprehend it.
- Ranger was nearly this in Game 11, but his plan imploded at the last second due to a Spanner in the Works.
- The titular character in Blockhead, despite his overwhelming stupidity everything he does always benifits him and he comes out on top of every situation
- From Red Vs Blue Season 10, we have Sigma, the embodiment of the Alpha's creativity and ambition and the cause of almost every bad thing in the story. In his bid to reunite all the A.I's and become Metastable he easily manipulates and corrupts everyone around him, turning True Companions against each other and bringing about the collapse of Project Freelancer, all while being creepy as hell. While The Director started the situation by torturing the Alpha. Sigma is the one who actually tips things over the edge. And the fans LOVE HIM for it.'' (It helps that he's voiced by heartthrob Elijah Wood.)
- The ending of the Hat Films series Hat Corp has the trio reveal themselves as this. While they lost the war with Kim Richards and Duncan Jones, they were able to claim on the insurance for their base to get a fantastic new one elsewhere, without anyone else knowing this. All this was done by scamming some builders out of their money, meaning that the Sirs are able to resume their efforts for world domination later.
- In If the Emperor Had a Text-to-Speech Device, the Emperor shows himself as this in episode 18. Yes, he is a Jerkass with a bit of Kick the Dog. However, he's been running a Batman Gambit for fourteen episodes and his success may be just the beginning of yet another brilliant plan...
- In X-Ray & Vav, The Mad King turns into this in Season 2 as, in the span of one episode, is able to cast doubt into X-Ray and Vav's bond and get Mogar to free him. by just talking to them. He goes further in later episodes as he's able to take back Monarch Labs by proving Hilda had no idea how to really run a company (and a conspicuous helping of puppies), win the city over and prove X-Ray and Vav incompetent and break up their partnership.
@43110: The carmen sandigo show is called Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?, its the game that's called Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
edited 27th May '18 2:15:27 PM by miraculous
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."![]()
the one that elfen ep'd was from the show. The game and show have major differences, so even if she counts in the game, she'd need a separate write-up for that well this will be exclusively for the show.
edited 27th May '18 2:36:47 PM by miraculous
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."The Anime page is short so I'm just going to grab it all at once. Lighty expressed interest in doing a candidate from Jackals, so taking a look at the whole page, let's divvy this up:
- The main point of Iason Mink's character in Ai No Kusabi is that he is both magnificent...and a complete and utter bastard being the most manipulative person in his world. Only his high status in society lets him get away with it.
- In Ao no Fuuin, we have Takao. This guy's entire actions throughout the story were either orchestrated or predicted by him. Takao is the one who cloned Rago, bringing about the heroine Soko. His role as the Genbu has him work to protect Soko and he uses her to resurrect the Oni tribe, the reason she was cloned for to begin with. Despite Soko refusing to willingly do so, he either forces her to do it or brainwashes her with his Mind Manipulation. And even when it looks like Soko finally got away from him and can be happy with Akira, Takao isn't concerned. He knows Soko is too responsible and will return to his side. And even when Takao is about to be killed, he makes sure his final words will stop her from abandoning the Oni tribe and take up her duty as their leader. This guy is good!
- The most impressive and villainous character in Ashita no Nadja? A 13-year-old girl. Yes, a teen Bitch in Sheep's Clothing and Nadja's Forgotten Childhood Friend: Rosemary. Said character steals the spotlight brilliantly by kicking puppies so well and hard that even the local Smug Snake, who thought the kid would be an easy-to-manipulate puppet at first, in the end utterly fears them. And for all that, the punishment amounts to nothing more than a slap in her face and willingly leaving the mansion. Karma Houdini, indeed.
- Attack on Titan gives us Erwin Smith, the Commander of the Survey Corps. Drawing partial inspiration from the tropenamer, Erwin is a handsome and charismatic leader, noted to always lead from the front and hailed as a strategic genius for greatly improving the survival odds of the Red Shirt Army he commands. He is also completely and utterly ruthless, willing to do whatever it takes for the good of humanity — described in the narrative as a man willing to cover his hands in blood and a man willing to throw away his humanity to win against monsters. Even with humanity facing utter extinction and many a Pyrrhic Victory, Erwin stays cool as a cucumber and remains unshaken in his resolve. When brought before a council and told to explain himself, he states without hesitation that his plan — which left a major city badly damaged and many dead among both the military and civilian population — was a success. The council is forced to agree with his reasoning and let him keep his command.
- The latest Bakugan Big Bad Mag Mel. The guy managed to effortlessly trick the heroes into giving him the power to free himself from his prison before they even know he existed. He proves to be a Manipulative Bastard and Chess Master so cunning that he's always several steps ahead of the group and even the one time thus far he's lost, he still got half of what he wanted and the Brawlers find out while they were fighting his forces on one of their ally's homeworlds, Mag Mel had utterly demolished Bakugan Interspace with another attack that cripples the transporters so no one can get out except his minions, who are free to get in and out at will. While he's not exactly charming, he realized this and made (literally) his Co-Dragons extremely charismatic and planted them in Bakugan Interspace to raise followers and generally cause chaos.
- Souichi of Challengers and The Tyrant Falls in Love is a relatively down-to-earth version of this. When a professor attempts to rape him, Souichi attempts to murder the guy. Morinaga stops him, but Souichi still manages to stab the guy deep in the ass with a pair of scissors. When Soichi and Morinaga witness a guy on his cellphone ignoring the pleas of a woman who has an assistive device in her heart, Soichi gets fed up when the woman collapses and snatches the phone out of the guy's hand then snaps it in half. Soichi is not a supervillain and he hasn't got the world under his thumb, but he's a damned terrifying force when his protectiveness of his brother, his sense of justice or his hatred of gays is crossed, which is often.
- D.Gray-Man: Even though very little is known about him, the more we learn about NEA D Campbell, the more he appears as this. His desire to achieve his ambition, that is to kill the millenium earl and take his place is so fierce that he orchestrated a plan that involved his own death at the end of the earl to be reincarnated decades later with absolutely no guarantee that everything would to just as planned. He is charismatic enough to rally humans to his cause when he himself is a human hater and wishes to kill them all. He has also shown to be very manipulative, impersonating others to reach his ends.
- Sir Isaac Ray Peram Westcott in Date A Live developing a gambit to throw Tohka Yatogami over the edge of the Despair Event Horizon and invoke her Inverse Form that he's been trying to harness after thinking up several ways to get her to do so, including Cold-Blooded Torture. He also goes on a long and detailed list on what he would do Tohka in order to push her to the brink, like electrocution, oxygen deprivation, peeling her nails, ripping out her teeth, and trample her dignity as woman. He subtly manipulates everyone to get what he wants. First, trying to murder Shido just to evaluate Inverse Form Tohka's power. Then, when Roger Murdoch and a few other DEM executives conspire to remove him by all means necessary, he indirectly forces Shido and the Spirits into foiling the assassination plan, given they had to prevent said plan from causing any harm to the city.
- Cell from Dragon Ball: In his imperfect form, Cell runs rings around the Z fighters as he masterfully evades their attempts to ambush him while draining countless cities of their population's bio extract. Upon finding himself sorely outclassed by Vegeta later in the series, Cell tricks the Saiyan prince into allowing him to absorb Android 18 by promising to provide him with an opportunity to test the full extent of his newfound power. In the ensuing rematch, he succeeds in reaping vengeance upon Vegeta by breaking him down physically and psychologically. He then more or less toys with the Z-Warriors by forcing them to play by his own rules in the Cell Games or face outright annihilation. During the Cell Games, however, is when he starts to get more overconfident and the reason he loses in the end ironically enough, is that his plan to push all Gohan's Berserk Buttons in order to make him a worthy challenge ends up working far too well — which, by the way, was essentially Goku's plan. He regains his magnificence, however, when he comes back from the seeming dead, more powerful than ever, and almost defeating Gohan and destroying the planet, all while displaying his trademark Awesome Ego.
- King Piccolo, Cell's predecessor, counts as well. He was truly the original Magnificent Bastard of the entire series. His first course of action upon being reborn is to send out his henchmen to assassinate every great martial artist in order to prevent anyone from using the Mafuba technique against him ever again. When he beats Goku down the first time they met, he checks for a pulse before assuming he's dead. Too bad for him that Goku's heart started again after he left. He was also smart enough to realize the heroes would most likely attempt to stop him with the Dragon Balls either before or after he got his own wish so, at first, he swallowed them. Then he threw them back up once there was sure there was no-one else around left to challenge him and, to finish it off, he killed Chiaotzu when he attempted to give his own wish and interfere with Piccolo's before he could finish. After having his wish granted, he then proceeded to one-hit-kill Shenron with his breath blast just to ensure that none of the heroes could ever attempt to use the Dragon Balls to defeat him.
- While Vegeta was more The Stoic Smug Super in his debut saga, he did show shades of this. Notably when he told Nappa to stop fighting the good guys and wait three hours for Goku to arrive because he wanted to break Goku's spirits by crushing his son and remaining friends in front of him once he got there, when he avoided Goku's spirit bomb and Krillin's disc attack meant to cut off his tail while in Oozaru form, and when he immediately realized his false moon would still be in effect the moment he saw Gohan's tail had grown back, prompting him to attempt to remove it. In the Namek saga, however, he ascended to full Magnificent Bastardry. He successfully hides his true power from Frieza and his men so that not even their scouters detect it, revealing his secret of doing this to the unsuspecting Cui before killing him. He outmaneuvers Dodoria and kills him only after being told a secret about the Saiyans' destruction. Then he implements his strategy for obtaining the Dragon Balls that will allow him to wish for eternal life: he figures he'll take just one Dragon Ball from a Namekian village and hide it underwater, then lie in wait for Frieza to gather the remaining balls. And not only is this exactly what he does, but he ends up acquiring five balls from Frieza's ship when he's taken there after losing to Zarbon in order to have his health restored (Frieza had hoped he'd tell him where his hidden Dragon Ball was), meaning he took them right from under Frieza's nose! He takes the last ball from Krillin after he had made full use of a Saiyan's power growing stronger after a previous defeat by killing Zarbon. The only reason his plan falls apart is because Gohan finds the Dragon Ball hidden underwater using a Dragon Ball locator. Even after this failure and being forced into an Enemy Mine with the good guys, Vegeta continues to employ cunning plans and come dangerously close to having his way. He lost this magnificence after his first revival due to his characterization being altered significantly to being a Hot-Blooded, foul tempered Anti-Hero, but damn if he wasn't impressive as a bad guy.
- As opposed to the Obliviously Evil Majin Buu and Stupid Evil Kid Buu, Super Buu was the smartest villain in the history of the series and he was only person in the history of the series that was able to Out Gambit Piccolo of all people by wiping out all of humanity in only a few minutes when Piccolo was expecting him to take hours to do it, so that Goten and Trunks got extra time to train, and on top of that, never even leaving Kami's lookout while doing it. He then masterfully pulled off a Xanatos Speed Chess, when he noticed Gohan's growing power, and so he fought against Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks and tested the limits of his strength and his weaknesses (e.g. fusion limit). After briefly fighting Gohan and finding himself overwhelmed, he goes through an intentional Super-Power Meltdown, knowing he will regenerate and buys time (and getting Goten and Trunks to recuperate, to fuse again). When he returns he goads Goten and Trunks into fusing again at full power and absorbs Gotenks and Piccolo into his being, deciding 30 minutes is more than enough to handle Gohan, and he was right in that regard. Goku then arrives and the fusion breaks down. Goku says Gohan alone is strong enough to defeat Buu, but then Buu reveals that he planned for this eventuality as well, and had a piece of himself ready to absorb Gohan the whole time, who he goaded into standing still until it was too late. He was also the only villain that did not succumb to Bond Villain Stupidity, which is very atypical for this series. For example, his reaction when Goku attempts to fuse with Gohan?
Buu: Even if you fuse, you'll be no match for me... but why take the chance? I'll kill you both now!
- In Super, Goku Black brings the already post-apocalyptic Earth of Future Trunk’s timeline to the brink of death, killing both Future Bulma and (seemingly) Mai in the process. He's a thorough No-Nonsense Nemesis with a Mysterious Past and is keen on bringing his foes into his traps, such as when he stabbed Vegeta. He was able to create new techniques at the drop of a hat, especially once his Super Saiyan Rose form was revealed and allowed him to decimate Goku, Vegeta and Future Trunks on several occasions. A Faux Affably Evil Soft-Spoken Sadist as well as a Knight Templar, after he fuses with his partner, Future Zamasu and become a new entity, Black confirms his role as a technically Invincible Villain who never truly paid for his omnicidal crimes.
- After years of being one of the most famous of smug snakes in all of anime, Frieza finally ascends to Magnificent Bastard position in the Universe Survival arc of Super, learning to be more cool-headed, patient and manipulative, fighting alongside the heroes in order to get what he wants. And although the plan he had in mind doesn't pan out, in the end, he is still restored back to life and becomes Emperor of the Universe once again.
- Kokujo, of Duel Masters, uses his phenomenal skills in psychological warfare to completely destroy the hero in their first duel. The dub furthers his status by having him shamelessly call himself "an evil genius."
- Durarara has Orihara Izaya. Everything that happens in Ikebukuro is a result of his game of Xanatos Speed Chess. Except in book four, but he makes up for it in five and six because he felt left out.
- ERASED: Gaku Yashiro is a psychopathic mastermind who brings excitement into his everyday life by murdering children and expertly framing Innocents for the crimes. His genius extending all the way to childhood, where he effortlessly murdered his abusive older brother and made it look like a suicide, he carries his depraved intelligence into adulthood, where he spends years perfecting the art of charming and manipulating others, especially his preferred targets. Be it noticing signs of abuse or taking advantage of their innate naivety, he always gets his target, and in a notable instance, murdered one of his male students who resembled a girl, knowing it would eliminate him from suspicion as a killer who solely targeted females. Despite Satoru's time travel abilities, Yashiro one-ups and outwits him at every turn, never even knowing of the man's powers, just being so naturally adaptable that nothing slows him down. Yashiro is a truly terrifying killer, having not only the smarts and charms to kill whoever he wants with ease, but also the fast-thinking to ensure that he's never caught, no matter what opposition arises.
- Proxy One in Ergo Proxy, who is even referenced to be "the winner at the end of the world" (with good reason). Not only is he the master manipulator of nearly everything that happens in the course of the series, but he wins.
- Knight Templar Lieutenant Colonel Dewey Novak of Eureka SeveN, a military commander and aspiring dictator who knows all there is to know about charisma, sophistication, power, influence, and exploitation. And genocide, too. A defining moment for him is when he tells his younger brother Holland that he knows how the masses who consume the various media outlets on which he's made his speeches think - they aren't interested in hearing the truth: if convenient lies resonate emotionally with them and tell them what they want to hear, they'll buy into them. That's why he feels justified in bending the truth or lying to suit his sinister purposes. Even when he seems defeated, he pulls a My Death Is Just the Beginning suicide that very nearly ensures the completion of his goals.
- Hiruma, the team captain and quarterback for the Devil Bats, of Eyeshield 21, will do anything to win short of actually breaking the rules. He'll force players to use secret identities to stop other teams from recruiting them, blackmail players and school authorities alike into giving him what he wants, motivate his teammates via threats, and builds an entire strategy around trick plays and a couple of genuinely talented athletes, all in the name of taking his last place team to the finals.
- Fairy Tail: Future Rogue. The guy manipulated the entire Fiore Royal Family into using an Artifact of Doom powered by Zeref's magic and Celestial Spirit Magic by telling them it would save their country from a swarm of dragons coming to destroy them. In reality, using the Artifact of Doom was what caused the dragons to appear, and he promptly used a Compelling Voice spell to force the dragons into becoming his submission, as part of a ploy to kill Acnologia and take his place as the Dragon King. The dragons he summons proceed to curb-stomp the very mages whose magic is designed to kill them, while Future Rogue wipes the floor with Natsu. The only reason his plan didn't succeed was due to The Power of Friendship causing one of his dragons to rebel against him.
- 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.
- Gundam:
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: No one hides their true intentions quite like Rau Le Creuset, ZAFT Commander and defective clone. Lacking his own sense of identity, and seeing the face of his "father" every time he looks in the mirror, Le Creuset believes the rest of humanity is suffering just as much as he is, and sets out to put the entire species out of its misery. Playing the role of Patrick Zala's right-hand man, Le Creuset sells ZAFT secrets to Blue Cosmos headman Muruta Azrael, prolonging the Bloody Valentine War, and ensuring that the conflict ends with mutual attempts at genocide, as Azrael tries to nuke the ZAFT colonies and Patrick fires his Wave-Motion Gun at Earth. Successful at masking his encroaching madness until the very end, Le Creuset dies smiling, convinced that the entire world will shortly be following after him
- Gundam SEED Destiny: ZAFT Chairman Gilbert Durandal sees himself as the saviour of Earth and nearly persuaded most of the planet to go along with it. Presenting himself as a moderate and a pacifist, Durandal made use of Lord Djibril and Blue Cosmos' blatant evil to launch an invasion of the Earth Sphere disguised as a liberation, using his own reputation for honesty and the services of Lacus Clyne impersonator Meer Campbell to camouflage his intentions, and scattering agents of FAITH throughout the ZAFT military to keep an eye on its loyalty. Preying on the emotional insecurities of those in his service, Durandal turned Decoy Protagonist Shinn Auska into the very thing he hated most, and kept veteran characters like Kira, Athrun, and Lacus out of the picture or unsure if they should oppose him for most of the series. Only killed when he loses the faith of his most loyal enforcer, Rey, Durandal dies convinced that he was right and that without his Destiniy Plan the world is doomed.
- Ryoko Asakura of Haruhi Suzumiya fame has some qualifications down. Not only is she intelligent, but her charismatic and cheerful personality makes it so easy for one to lower their guard around her. She had Kyon and the audience fooled twice. Even though we should know better by the second time, she has us fooled anyway. Haruhi Suzumiya herself displays tendencies of this on occasion. She's at least got the ruthless, bold and charismatic part down.
- Amusingly, Hayate the Combat Butler has a character who straddles the line between this and Guile Hero. Miki Hanabishi is known for her plots to make trouble for Hinagiku, in fact it's clearly stated in her profile that she enjoys it, but generally seems to be using such tactics to push Hina to the forefront of the competition for Hayate's affection. While at the same time pursuing Hinagiku with her own romantic interest
- Miyo Takano from Higurashi: When They Cry certainly counts. She masterminded the events of the first six arcs, and loves frightening people with tales of Hinamizawa's past. She's a Well-Intentioned Extremist who goes so far as to help cause the Great Hinamizawa Disaster just for the sake of proving her grandfather's research, and the plans she makes to do so are magnificent indeed. Definitely a Magnificent Bitch. Also manages to be COMPLETELY EVIL (but mostly because of what the orphanage leader, Nomura, and Tokyo did to her).
- Interestingly, Takano's magnificence is heavily influenced by a Greater-Scope Villain and fellow Magnificent Bitch, her employer, Nomura. She demonstrated a plan to close up a company by tricking Takano into helping her and manipulating everything in order to cause the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, and nobody even seemed to notice that she was behind it all (which makes her a Karma Houdini as well). Another perfect example. Helps that she has a great evil voice provided by Rie Tanaka..
- Shion Sonozaki tries her hand at being this in the first half of Musubienishi-hen, disguising herself as her sister to manipulate Keiichi into pretending to be her boyfriend and hero. At least until she resigns from her mischief after Keiichi blows her cover and realizes who she really is, after which she really opens up to him in tears after hearing him say "That's why... this one's on me..." before his loss of consciousness. She displayed further shades of this trope in Meakashi-hen where her premeditated torture and killing spree in the name of getting answers and taking revenge on those who'd wronged her and her beloved Satoshi ends up a complete success, leaving the entire main cast sans Rena dead.
- Similarly, Umineko: When They Cry gives us Beatrice, an Anti-Villain with standards who, as a Game Master, often clashes with Battler and uses magic to elegantly commit a series of bizarre murders on Rokkenjima. She's truly impressed by Battler's performance, and often looks for ways to make him surrender as best as possible. Oh, and she's also a Laughably Evil Large Ham.
- Bernkastel counts as well. Using Ange, Erika, and most other people as pawns for her plans, and planning to keep Beatrice in the game and torture her for all eternity? She definitely deserves a praise for those.
- Higanbana of her self-titled series counts as well. Offering Marie a chance to become Mesomeso and acting as a villain against heroic characters or an Anti-Hero against villainous characters is definitely saying something.
- Naraku from Inuyasha is definitely one, if you can look past his For the Evulz and Villain Ball tendencies, especially during the Mt. Hakurei Arc, in that he manipulated a priest and a powerful group of super powered bandits into becoming his Quirky Mini Boss Squad with a few words to earn their loyalties.
- In Jackals, Lee Mei Lang is so skilled and awesome in her absolute villainy that you can't help but root for the total bitch she is. Even better, the reason she took over Tennouren to begin with was to destroy every gang in the city including her own. All in order to essentially gain an ARMY * . To wit, she and her spider-whip henchgirl are the only people to walk away from the gang wars completely unscathed.
- Satsuki Kiruyin from Kill la Kill. She takes advantage of Ryuko Matoi's arrival at Honouji Academy, using Ryuko's battles with her Absurdly Powerful Student Council to make the final adjustments to her Goku Uniforms to stage a full scale invasion of Japan, while also purging the system of any dissenters for good measure. Ryuko herself later points that out.
- 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.
- Saralegui from Kyo Kara Maoh. In one move, he made sure that Yuuri's crew all trusted him and wiped out Large Shimaron's army by by having his own servant shoot him in the chest with an arrow, making it appear as if the arrow was aimed for Yuuri and that he had thrown himself in the way to protect Yuuri, causing Yuuri to go into Maoh mode and destroy all of Saralegui's enemies for him. He then followed that up by hypnotizing Yuuri into wiping out Large Shimaron's navy for him. Remarkably, he still managed to finish up the series with Yuuri trusting him completely until the very end.
- Murata also was pretty sneaky, carrying out a 4000 year plan with Shinou in order to destroy the Originators by trapping them inside Shinou, and in turn trapping Shinou inside Yuuri to get Yuuri to destroy them both. He isn't the Great Wise Man for nothing.
- 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 prince 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.
- Lupin III: The titular Lupin the III creates intricate heist plans, anticipating the efforts of his enemies to capture him, consistently proving he is the greatest thief to ever live. Lupin is a Villain Protagonist who is avoiding arrest, assassination, or traps at least Once an Episode. Inspector Zenigata, who is always trying to capture him, is often left in the dust, screaming Lupin's name while the Villain of the Week is left tied up to go to prison.
- Gyokuen Ren from Magi is not called the Ko Empire's Witch for nothing. She married the emperor and gave him four children. She then lit an arson in which she had the emperor and their two eldest son burn in the fire with the youngest son watching in order to nurture his rage and desire for revenge. She then married the new emperor, her brother-in law. All this allowed her to extend her influence in the world and cause many wars with her evil cult to advance her plan. She also kidnapped Judar, the new magi, just when he was born to have him open dungeons for the empire army in order to reinforce the empire. Then, she poisoned her new husband after making him write a last will that decrees her the new empress of the most powerful country in the world. Then it is revealed she is actually Queen Arba, the magi of Solomon, whom she betrayed. She has been swapping her mind from mothers to daughters for centuries to enact her revenge against Solomon. Even when her plan to manipulate Judar and Hakuryuu's desire for revenge to corrupt them backfires and has her host Gyokuen killed, she still comes back in Gyokuen's daughter Hakuei's body with a new plan. This time with her former enemy Sinbad.... A total insane magnificent bitch indeed.
- Mahou Sensei Negima!: Although she is one of the good guys, Haruna Saotome herself is this in regards to pactios, or anything involving magic. Ships everyone with Negi, DRAGS him to a Comiket event, and makes plans to conquer the entire Magic World.
- Masako Natsume from Mawaru-Penguindrum showed quite the flair for this. Her method of erasing people's memories is a little... odd, but the rest of her actions are very effective. Kidnapping a boy to blackmail his brother and friend/prospect girlfriend? Not good. Kidnapping a boy to get the attention of his brother, staging a whole chase so said brother will remember her from his past, and then letting the kidnapped guy go... but not before giving his rescuer a Forceful Kiss, which was her intention all along? Fucking awesome.
- Sanetoshi Watase is actually the Magnificent Bastard here. In his quest to regain contact with his lost "soulmate" and then bring The End of the World as We Know It, he has managed to stylishly appear to Himari in a dream, give her a new Penguin Hat, and almost get away with giving her a kiss. Later he brings Himari Back from the Dead with a mysterious serum, managing to rope her protector/brother/possible love interest Kanba into a Deal with the Devil to keep her alive. And later it's revealed that some time ago he actually forced Masako into the same Deal with the Devil so she could keep her young brother Mario alive as well. Thus, he has almost completely outgambitted both Kanba and Masako to different degrees, all while looking fabulous in that coat and pink hair of his, and specially in now hospital-confined Himari's eyes. Hmmmm!
- Perhaps the most impressive and villainous character in Mon Colle Knights happens to be Redda, the Big Bad and final villain. He has a deviously cruel sense of chessmastery and mastery of manipulation, is Bishounen in appearance (especially behind that scary mask of his), and shows a nice plan starting with the part where he uses Rockna as bait to lure Mondo and all his monster friends to him, forcing him to give up all of his collected Monster Items so far and handing over to him a fake Rockna that was actually a rat in disguise. Then he summons Dread Dragon and traps Rockna within its neck, and tells Mondo that he can either destroy it and Rockna with it, or get killed himself while trying to save her without harming Dread Dragon, and orders Dread Dragon to create a wormhole that sucks up all of Mondo's monster friends. And, even when Gabriolis shows up and helps him save her so the two can fuse with him to destroy Dread Dragon, this still provides enough of a distraction so Redda can get the last Monster Item, and he succeeds in collecting it so he can finally summon Oroboros to destroy everything and create in their place a world made of nothingness, which was his ultimate goal all along. And if that's not enough, since Oroboros needs a new body in order to be resurrected, Redda revives Dread Dragon and fuses Oroboros with it to create Doomsday Dragon. Even the Laughably Evil Terrible Trio of Villains Out Shopping fear him.
- Johan Liebert - the Monster. He manipulates everyone he encounters as they were puppets on a string and then disposes of them without a second thought, defies every Pet the Dog moment he's given in chilling ways, and never loses that Dissonant Serenity permanently affixed to his face. The problem is, the straight treatment the series gives his activities also makes him freaking scary to behold.
- Michio Yuki from MW. He kidnaps his victims in order to extract money from the corrupt politicians who covered up the titular chemical warfare that took away his conscience. He even impersonates the women he killed as part of his plan.
- 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.
- Neon Genesis Evangelion has Gendo Ikari, the leader of the NERV organization. While far from his only ploy, the greatest reason he is on this page is for his involvement in the Human Instrumentality Project, even though he wasn't the one in charge. He was enough of a key factor to be considered the one most responsible for it, and he even had his own motive for manipulating its execution: to be reunited with his dead wife Yui.
- Rebuild of Evangelion took his badassery to new heights. If you think back to it, it's obvious he scheduled Unit 03's activation test onto the same day as Rei's meal party on purpose so that Asuka would volunteer for Shinji and Rei's sake. Once Unit 03 was overtaken by Bardiel and Shinji refuses to fight out of fear, Unit 01's dummy plug was activated so that Asuka will be severely injured (putting her away for a while) and Shinji necessarily traumatized for him to resign from NERV and leave the city. Cue Zeruel's arrival to abort his departure, him emerging from the shelter just in time to see Unit 00 get eaten by Zeruel and finally getting the motivation to grab Unit 01 and kick Zeruel's ass, saving Rei and infusing the Angel into Unit 01, "awakening" it without thinking about the consequences. Cue Gendo remarking that "just a little more until our project is complete". Hoo-lee shit, is this guy awesome or what?!
- Altena from Noir plays the Mama Bear role for the young saplings. However, she intentionally manipulates both the Sodats and the three saplings (Kirika, Chloe and Mireille), in order to achieve her master plan—which is to recreate the bloody history of the Sodats. She's completely dedicated and willing to die for her goal. And in the end, she does.
- From Ouran High School Host Club: Everything Kyouya did had a purpose that would benefit him in the long run (with one or two notable exceptions). He even used the Host Club profit to buy out his father's company unbeknownst to his dad, who thought of him as a loser because of the Club itself. Character Development later turns him into a Guile Hero.
- Shogo Makishima from Psycho-Pass is Wicked Cultured and highly knowledgeable in literature, music, theater and ass-kicking (he at first seems like a Non-Action Big Bad, but turns out to be a Blood Knight who is simply bored of most fights because almost no one is good enough to land a hit on him). He desires to bring down the Sibyl System that controls the futuristic Dystopia he lives in, at any cost. He also enjoys getting people to submit to their worst impulses and then disposes of them once they've lost his interest. Despite being villainous for that last part, he does care for people in his own twisted way....he believes the Sibyl System has regressed humanity by suppressing humanity's darker instincts along with their freedom of expression and ability to make their own choices. Makishima is also a master of Xanatos Speed Chess, the Indy Ploy, making allusions to classic literature (especially Dystopian literature) and making TheReasonYouSuckSpeeches to anyone. To top that off, he is an Übermensch who is literally unable to be judged by the slave morality of his world (the Sibyl System), similar to how Nietzsche himself described the Übermensch. He also becomes a Hero Killer as well, both in that the protagonists take extra caution when dealing with him and the literal sense.
- Kirito Kamui in Season 2. In fact, he pulled many a Xanatos Gambit at the start of Season 2 and outsmarted the goddamn Sibyl System to boot by forcing them to eliminate several of their defective brains.
- Kyuubey from Puella Magi Madoka Magica. So far his plans are very cruel and have had huge consequences (like tricking young girls with deep wishes into becoming pretty much liches, then withholding info about the tremendous disadvantages of the Magical Girl job, and watching as they become witches and end up killing or being killed), but except for Madoka (the girl with the most potential) not making the contract (and once only because Homura stopped her from doing so), it has all gone just as planned. It's even better/worse when you see that his goals aren't 100% self-serving... but very akin to those of the Anti-Spiral: sacrificing some... to save everyone. And for that, he had Sayaka become a witch, then Kyoko join her in death... and thus, he left Madoka and Homura in such a position that if Madoka doesn't become a Puella Magi, the universe will die.
- Akio Ohtori from Revolutionary Girl Utena. He seduces multiple women including Utena, his sister Anthy, and his fiancee Kanae's mother as well as some guys Touga. He also: rigs the entire series of duels; creates a false timeline; convinces his own sister to stab Utena; and runs a private school in his spare time. And he gets away with all of that. ( Well, almost all. Anthy does shake off his mind control in the end and leaves him to find Utena.
- Lord Laertes Van Di Montague from Romeo × Juliet, who pretty much rose from the slums after the death of his prostitute mother, infiltrated himself in the Montague clan as a kid, killed its leader when he was of age, slaughtered the rival clan of the Capulets both to gain power and as revenge for his destitute origins, and ruled Neo Verona with a hand of steel for almost 15 years. And that's just the beginning...
- Rurouni Kenshin's Shishio Makoto came up with the plan to burn Kyoto right to the ground as a DISTRACTION while he and his minions sailed a warship into Tokyo and let sheer panic rip the government apart. This is just his biggest, most expensive example though. He practically lives for this trope.
- Sailor Moon:
- Kunzite from the first Sailor Moon anime. After over a season of Monsters Of The Week, most of the Shitennou repeatedly showing themselves to be incompetent, and Usagi continuing to win and even gain ground against the Dark Kingdom, it was a breath of fresh air to see Beryl's Dragon catch the entire team and almost finish them off (and only fail because of a Guardian he didn't know about), take all seven Rainbow Crystals (with Zoisite's help) and thus almost claim the Silver Crystal for the Dark Kingdom, defeat and nearly kill all of the Sailor Guardians in battle, come up with a nearly successful way to zero in on Sailor Moon and get her to expose her true self, set clever and efficient traps for the Sailor Guardians, tear through Usagi's obvious Out-Gambitted ploy like it was made of wet paper, and finally go down fighting against Sailor Moon instead of getting the You Have Failed Me treatment. Even if he's not as awesome as some of the examples on this page and went through a five episode period of Badass Decay, the series could've used more like him.
- Professor Tomoe in the third season also qualifies. Not only was he a brilliant Mad Scientist, but he subverted the anime's long-standing Bad Boss tradition, which earned him his minions' loyalty and allowed them to accomplish his goals for him before killing each other off.
- Cele Cele of the Amazoness Quartet showed qualities of one in episode 156 when she successfully manipulates her target into betraying his own dream while in the guise of a sympathetic and charismatic Rich Bitch.
- Sailor Galaxia in the final season. Her super effective manipulations of all of her soldiers in the manga (and Queen Nehelenia, in the anime) as well as her sheer power puts her squarely here in this trope.
- Souma Saiki from Sakura Gari is mostly a Broken Ace, but shows shades of this — specially when he deals a spectacular and fatal Humiliation Conga to his ex-lover Katsuragi for raping/torturing Masataka, his Morality Pet.
- Sgt. Frog: One manga had Momoka's father try to force her into another private school, causing Fuyuki and the others to stand up to him. The end reveals that Dark Momoka planned the whole thing. She told her dad that she wanted to go to a private school so he could meet and gain respect for Fuyuki.
- Xellos for Slayers fits this bill quite nicely, even moreso in the original novels.
- Jillas from Slayers TRY, likewise. You would normally think a Goldfish Poop Gang member would be unable to manipulate the entire party against their actions. Think again.
- 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.
- Kanako from Star Driver, you are fighting against the Ginga Bishounen who has beaten everyone else, and you are inevitably next on the chopping block? Why betray your call to be "professional" (splitting real life from your life in the Crux) and steal the first kiss of the Ginga Bishounen? (Without using a glass wall to make it innocent.)
- Tokyo Ghoul and its sequel has several of these running around.
- The Clown Gang. In a Cruel Twist Ending to the original series, it turns out that they have been around the entire time and manipulating everyone. Uta and Itori have spent the series steering Kaneki along through various encounters, with Roma spying on Anteiku, Nico spying on Aogiri and later giving Kaneki information about them to steer him along, and Souta being the one that dropped the steel beams on Rize and started the whole thing. In the sequel, they begin messing with the heroes again for purposes still not fully understood.
- The One-Eyed Owl, Eto / Sen Takatsuki. There since the very beginning, they've been quietly manipulating events. Even when they seemingly lose, they still manage to come out with some gain while further sowing seeds of discord and doubt in everyone involved. Along the way, they've managed to manipulate Hinami into her eventual Face–Heel Turn, plant seeds of doubt in Amon's mind about the CCG, made Kuro and Shiro realize they were being manipulated by Dr. Kanou, manipulated Takizawa and Kanae into fighting a mentally-unstable Sasaki, and (in the anime at least) exposed Anteiku in order to capture her father and create a power vacuum in Tokyo.
- In the sequel, we have Nimura Furuta. Seemingly a minor background character, they turn out to be a sinister Red Herring Shirt that masterfully manipulates everyone around them. Mid-battle, he casually drops the meek and clumsy personality......by shoving a comrade into the path of a fatal blow, and using it to take down Matsumae. He reveals that he knows Tsukiyama from his days at the Ghoul Restaurant, and cheerfully kills Matsumae before using her kagune to finish off the only witness. By the time backup arrives, he's beaten himself up and tells a sob story about being the only survivor. This fools his superiors, and he pretends to become hysterical with grief over the death of his partner.....but is actually laughing over it all.
- Millions Knives from the Trigun manga. A frighteningly superpowered badass with charisma to spare and the flaws of a Shakespearean character.
- Legato Bluesummers from the anime. An utterly terrifying, nihilistic, relentless agent of death with the ability to mentally control any villager--man, woman, or child—to their deaths. His first appearance absolutely terrifies Vash, whom he makes his mission to completely break. And by forcing Vash to kill him, as far as he knows, he wins.
- 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.
- Yuto Kigai and Seishiro Sakurazuka from X/1999. Yuto is polite, softspoken, a little snarky, very caring towards Satsuki and yet is able to carry out Kanoe's instructions flawlessly without even getting his suit dirty. Seishirou is a charismatic Serial Killer with a charming smile, a Star-Crossed Lovers bond with Subaru Sumeragi, very cruel and very stylish puppy-kicking acts under his belt, and in the end he manages to play one Hell of a Thanatos Gambit to die exactly in the way he wanted to, also ensuring that his killer will be the only person he ever sort-of cared for, Subaru... who will end up as the next Sakurazukamori as well..
- Yu-Gi-Oh!: Maximillion Pegasus was the series' first genuine Big Bad and one of its most fondly remembered. The inventor of Duel Monsters and CEO of Industrial Illusions, Pegasus used the mind reading powers of his Millennium Eye to control the few things his billions of dollars could not, and planned to use KaibaCorp technology and Yugi's Millennium Puzzle to resurrect his deceased wife. Stealing the souls of Yugi's grandfather and of Mokuba Kaiba, Pegasus lured Yugi and Seto Kaiba to his Duelist Kingdom Tournament, where he pitted them against one another and his handpicked team of Eliminators, using Kaiba as a catspaw to damage Yugi's confidence before claiming the former World Champion's soul as well. Only narrowly defeated by Yugi & Yami's tag-team dueling strategy, Pegasus set a high bar for subsequent villains to aspire to, and whether as a duelist, corporate raider, or user of Shadow magic, always seemed to be holding all the cards.
- Sakyou from YuYu Hakusho. Even before his main role in the Dark Tournament arc, he effortlessly used Yusuke's team to cause the downfall of one of his rivals.
- And later, we have the only living being able to Out Gambit Kurama and get away with it: King Yomi. Not only he did that, but he forced Kurama to work with and for him! Fucking awesome.
- There's also Shinobu Sensui, who expertly manipulated disadvantaged superpowered youths into heinous acts in an attempt to stall the good guys, forced Kurama into a situation where he would have to kill a young child in order to proceed, tricked Makihara/Gourmet into eating Elder Toguro, who took control of him and killed him, and kidnapped Kuwabara so that Gourmet/Toguro could eat him and absorb his newfound dimension cutting powers in order to destroy a powerful barrier. Later, after killing Yusuke, Sensui manipulates Kuwabara into cutting down the Kekkai barrier, which is the only thing preventing not only Sensui's plan, but also preventing Kurama and Hiei from crossing over to try and exact revenge. Total asshole? Indeed. Absolutely stylish in all of these actions? You bet your ass.
- Suzaku and Younger Toguro also qualify. The former for being the first villain to really get to Yusuke on a personal level, and the latter for being the true puppet master of the Dark Tournament, Out Gambitting even Sakyou!
I know a few of those have been approved here so we can just ignore them.
edited 27th May '18 3:39:00 PM by 43110
Mmm...
Izaya from Durarara can probably stay. So can Altena from Noir, Lee Meilang from Jackals is an easy keeper and I'd lean yes to Shogo Makishima counting as well. Xellos from Slayers is a pretty clear and easy keeper....the Yu yu Kausho ones should be discussed.
did I write Makoto Shishio up? I can't remember. If I didn't:
- 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.
edited 27th May '18 4:20:59 PM by Lightysnake
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I'd suggest cutting the Inuyasha example. Naraku's issue is that he's completely evil and is motivated by no reason other than For the Evulz. He's Inuyasha's enemy because he fancies himself as a love rival (over Inuyasha's first love, Kikyo), but that just explains how he and Inuyasha are connected; it's got nothing to do with why he's evil. He also has no end-goal beyond wanting to be able to commit evil against people for the rest of time (as long as the heroine, Kagome, is forced to join him in eternal good versus evil combat, of course — if he can't have Kikyo, he'll take her reincarnation, Kagome, instead). Remember that overused quote from The Dark Knight, that some people just want to watch the world burn? That's Naraku.
He is a manipulative bastard. I'm just not sure he's a Magnificent Bastard.
edited 27th May '18 4:48:55 PM by Wyldchyld
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.I'd reserve the X1999 example, ok?
And yeah, Naraku is way too evil for this trope
edited 27th May '18 4:49:23 PM by KazuyaProta
Watch me destroying my countryOne example to propose: from the Forgotten Realms DND setting. For those that don't know? Below the earth is the Underdark, a place of danger and treachery. The dark elves, or drow, were driven below long ago and mostly worship a very evil goddess named Lolth, the demon queen of spiders. The most powerful Drow city is Menzoberranzan, a cutthroat land where treachery is commonplace, and chaos is beloved. One powerful house, Baenre, has ruled the city in all but name for thousands of years, and the most famous good drow renegade, one Drizzt Do'Urden, is a refugee from the city...so let's talk about our magnificent bastard, shall we? Jarlaxle Baenre.
Who is Jarlaxle Baenre?
Okay, so Lolth is a biiiit of a pain to work for. She's virulently misandrist, with males relegated to second-class status at best. One of her edicts? Every thirdborn male child will be sacrificed. No exceptions....save one. Matron Mother Yvonnel Baenre has 20-something kids, mostly daughters, all occupying powerful roles in Drow society....Jarlaxle is secretly her second eldest son. Originally the third son, Yvonnel attempted to sacrifice him, only for a psionic of another house to secretly shield him as a lark, which killed one of his elder brothers. The drow decided he was blessed by Lolth and spared him, and Lolth rolled with it out of amusement.
As he aged? Jarlaxle left the Baenre household. Nobody, save Yvonnel and his elder brother Gromph know his true origins. Jarlaxle is basically n anomaly. He's a fine-dressed dandy with a shaved head (haircuts determine your status and standing in Menzoberranzan. Jarlaxle is basically stating he rejects the system)...and he also formed an all-male mercenary group called the Bregan D'aerthe. Jarlaxle has basically gone as high as you can in Drow society for a male save Gromph, who's the archmage of the city, and is an utterly charming, pleasant rogue who loves sowing discord and chaos.
Now, when introduced? Jarlaxle is selling his services toHouse Do'Urden in their war with a rival house...only for that rival house to attack all of a sudden. Jarlaxle is about to take his leave, roll out the door...until Matron Mother Malice Do'Urden frantically offers to increase his pay. Jarlaxle promptly blows a whistle and...half of the attacking House's forces fall on their allies, Jarlaxle having been merrily playing both sides. When House Do'Urden fails its final test later, Jarlaxle cheerfully assists the Baenres in wiping them out and spares their only surviving son Dinin because he likes him and wants to recruit him.
Now, Jarlaxle proceeds to align against Drizzt and friends by sheer circumstance, but constantly works every angle he can to come out on top. When Drizzt's archenemy, assassin Artemis Entreri is supposedly killed, Jarlaxle saves him and keeps him around as he's useful. After the big conflict that sees Menzoberranzan devastated in a war, Jarlaxle is still able to come out on top.
When he starts doing business on the surface in other crime cities, a few of Jarlaxle's lieutenants think he's going soft and plot against him. Jarlaxle ends up deposed from Bregan D'aerthe's leadership...only to later spin around, lure said traitors to their death and reveal he was absolutely fine with it, because he gets a vacation and he's also leaving behind the one guy he can actually trust as the 'leader'....he then proceeds to manipulate a huge conflict between one of the strongest kingdoms in the realms against the remnants of their old enemy, two ancient dragons and more all to his own benefit before skipping away free and clear.
In one of his more audacious moves? He also engineers ahuge war in a port city to take it over from the shadows, and wins out completely, even convincing Drizzt of his relative innocence and suffering zero consequences for it. When we last see him, he's back in Menzoberranzan, his best friend has returned to him from the dead and he's in full control of his own fate. Life is good when you're Jarlaxle.
Is he charming? Chrismatic? Able to think on his feet?
Jarlaxle is nothing but charming and witty. He is exceptionally clever, fun to be around and in a noteworthy scene? Strollls into a tavern and manages to win over everyone there despite the massive (usually justified) prejudice against Drow in minutes by having a man who draws steel on him thrown out and buying everyone a round before proceeding to make everyone crack up with witty banter and jokes.He maintains control over a dangerous group of cutthroat Drow with sheer brilliance and skill, and even his enemies find him hard to dislike. The ones who dislike him tend to be priestesses of Lolth who despise such an 'uppity male', but his usual response is basically just more witty dialogue.
As for thinking on his feet? It gets hard to know what he's planned out in advance, what's a contingency and what he just made up on the spot. Jarlaxle is godly at that to the point his own mother wonders if he's blessed by the Goddess of chaos herself, and she has no real love for him whatsoever. The only guy capable of one-upping him is his elder brother Gromph and Gromph is possibly the second most powerful mage on the planet.
Is he a bastard? Too much?
Okay, so Jarlaxle is a ruthless mercenary who, despite that friendly, charming smile, will slit your throat open if it benefits him in some way. He plays houses against eachother, happily betrays his allies for a bigger payday (being fair, this is practically undying loyalty by Drow standards), and manipulates wars where innocent people suffer and die solely to improve his own standing. That said? Jarlaxle is oddly loyal to the few friends he makes. He dearly cared for Drizzt's late father Zaknafein, and is overjoyed to see him revived. He cares for Entreri and helps him be a better person (he'll manipulate him too, but still), and he also has a serious sense of honor. He'll generally keep his word one on one when he actually gives it, and he's pretty chivalrous at other times.
I should also note? Drow tend to have no issue with rape as a rule, but Jarlaxle has nothing but disdain for it. When he has Drizzt's girlfriend captive, she can clearly tell he's attracted to her, but she feels much safer with him than other Drow because Jarlaxle's sense of honor means he utterly refuses to ever touch a woman against her will, a standard he always keeps to.
Conclusion?
I'd say an easy keeper.

Holtz
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."