During the investigation of recent hollers in the Complete Monster thread, it's become apparent to the staff that an insular, unfriendly culture has evolved in the Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard threads that is causing problems.
Specific issues include:
- Overzealous hollers on tropers who come into the threads without being familiar with all the rules and traditions of the tropes. And when they are familiar with said rules and traditions, they get accused (with little evidence) of being ban evaders.
- A few tropers in the thread habitually engage in snotty, impolite mini-modding. There are also regular complaints about excessive, offtopic "socializing" posts.
- Many many thread regulars barely post/edit anywhere else, making the threads look like they are divorced from the rest of TV Tropes.
- Following that, there are often complaints about the threads and their regulars violating wiki rules, such as on indexing, crosswicking, example context and example categorization. Some folks are working on resolving the issues, but...
- Often moderator action against thread regulars leads to a lot of participants suddenly showing up in the moderation threads to protest and speak on their behalf, like a clique.
It is not a super high level problem, but it has been going on for years and we cannot ignore it any longer. There will be a thread in Wiki Talk
to discuss the problem; in the meantime there is a moratorium on further Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard example discussion until we have gotten this sorted out.
Update: The new threads have been made and can be found here:
for the earliest date a work can be discussed, (usually two weeks from the US release), as well as who's reserved discussion.
- Why do a cleanup?: This trope definitely exists and has a well documented history of use. That being said, it frequently gets misused to a character who meets one of the components, namely that they are smart, charming while not necessarily even being a villain, or create good plans. While these are components, there is also a certain personality required, not to mention that all of the above are required to be present for a character to be a true Magnificent Bastard. As the trope attracts interest, it unfortunately brings in a lot of misuse and I thought the best way to rectify this would be a Perpetual Cleanup Thread, as is being done and has seen success with Complete Monster.
- What makes a Magnificent Bastard: Below is a list of the individual components to make this character. Note that they must all be present, not just some, which has lead to frequent misuse:
- Must be intelligent: Goes without saying, to be a Magnificent Bastard, the character has to be smart in the first place and use their brain to work towards whatever their end goal may be;
- Must be a Bastard: While going overboard in how vile the character is can be detrimental, a key aspect is the Bastard part of the trope, whether the character is an out-and-out antagonist in the work, some manner of Villain Protagonist, or something in between, they at least have some unscrupulous qualities to qualify for this trope;
- Must not be too detestable: Again, there is a ceiling on how bad the character can be before they just become too nefarious, blocking out the Magnificent part of the trope. A genocidal racist or child-raping Sadist aren't going to make the cut;
- Think on their feet: In addition to being a Chessmaster, a Magnificent Bastard, if the character deals with situations in which their initial plan is ruined, has to be able to pull a Xanatos Speed Chess and at least come up with a competent strategy to make up for lost time, otherwise they fail for being unable to think in tough spots;
- Have charm: Even if they don't necessarily make every character they meet fall in love with them and can even be detested by others, the audience has to find an amicable social relation to the character, or they are failing to make the impact required for this trope.
- What to do if a character is listed on a page but has not been approved?: They need to be removed, all candidates need to come through the cleanup thread first. The character could well count but they need to be analyzed properly and voted on first.
- Do we list Playing With this trope?: No; as a YMMV trope, this cannot be Played With, so we only want examples that are Played Straight.
- What do I do if I want a character to be listed as a Magnificent Bastard?: The greatest success Complete Monster saw for its cleanup effort was from the invention of the effort post format, so, borrowing from that, a troper wishing to propose a Magnificent Bastard will create such a post in the following format:
- Begin by describing The work, this will help establish the setting the character is in and for the reader to understand what kind of a scenario they are in;
- Summarize The character's actions, this will provide a listing for readers to understand what they do and how it applies to this trope because charm and lack of smugness are so crucial, this is a good time to be incorporating exactly the flavor of how they operate to explain this;
- List circumstances in which the character must Think on their feet, these are times where a wrench might be thrown in their initial plan and they have to adapt on the spot or even come up with a new scheme all together, this is also a good time to explain how the villain reacts to defeat when they have to face it, a true Magnificent Bastard won't break down into tears at the thought of death, they should have known such a possibility could occur and be able to handle it with more dignity;
- The competition, similar to the Heinous Standard dealt with for a Complete Monster, this section is to deal with how successful the character is in carrying out their plans compared to other characters. While, as a villain, they probably are going to lose in the end, it is good to explain how other characters handle the same situation. There is no exceptionalism case to be made for this trope but explaining the variety helps the reader have a better understanding of the proposal.
- How do you know when the character's arc is done so they can be proposed? When their tenure as a villain or antagonist finishes. This could happen in a single Story Arc in an entire work, a single work of a franchise, or the whole series in general. We'll show lenience to Long-Runners with constantly recurring candidates or series with outstanding continuities (ex. comic books), and it's entirely possible to count in a work or two but not in general for a reason like Depending on the Writer.
- What about candidates evil because of external sources? Those Made of Evil can qualify if they show enough individuality and tactical acumen — in other words, they have the personality to fulfill the magnificence requirement. Conversely, those brainwashed, especially if they're a better person without it, may fail the individuality aspect and cannot count.
- What if they are under orders from a higher-up? Depends. If the boss created the plans down to the letter and the candidate is just following them, sounds like we should discuss the boss instead. However, if the candidate takes creative liberties with the orders, adds their own charm and flair to them, fills in holes in the orders, and/or actively deals with obstacles their boss did not talk about, the candidate shows enough individual thinking to qualify.
- What about Character Development? An MB is something a character can develop into... a nice person who plots well might become more morally gray as the work goes on and hits the "Bastard" criteria, thus making them viable. Likewise, a Smug Snake might shed their ego, become more understanding of the threat others pose and gain the personality or "Magnificent" criteria, likewise making them viable. Conversely, a character who looks like this trope might suffer from a Sanity Slippage or just get outed as not being as smart as they thought they were and become incompatible with MB.
- Can an MB be a good guy? Not in the conventional sense... it is required they have at least some dubious traits lest they fail the "Bastard" criteria. That being said, a character who pulls a Heel–Face Turn or eventually stops taking villainous actions is still fair game: as there was a point in time where they were both "Magnificent" and a "Bastard" at the same time and they've merely adapted as time goes on. Now... if such a character begins showing other issues (i.e.: becomes prone to freak outs or starts getting outwitted) then they're compromising their Magnificence and will probably be deemed a cut. What's important is stylishly operating while at least for some time being willing to take at best underhanded methods to see a job done. A Heel–Face Turn in itself isn't a disqualifier but they do have to have been "Magnificent" and a "Bastard" at the same time and afterwards can't start slipping on the former front.
- What about characters whose stories can take different routes?: When proposing a character in a form of media that has them in multiple story routes. Said character must be consistent with their characteristics in all routes. (ex.: Can't have an example who shows promise on one route yet fails in another.) The only exception is if a later installment of the series confirms the character's actions which made them worth proposing are the canon route.
- Is there a timeframe rule like with Complete Monster?: Yes, please wait two weeks until after the work has concluded before proposing a character (again, usually using the North American air date). As is the case with CM, we want to give a reasonable time frame so that everyone interested in seeing the work has done so and can participate in the discussion without having anything spoiled.
- What about groups like with Complete Monster?: This is a point of divergence between the two tropes. While CM does not allow for a single entry encompassing more than three characters lest their heinousness for crimes becomes too watered down, with MB as long as they are treated as one "unit" it is acceptable to lump all characters provided they share acts of charm and intelligence.
- Can I propose my own work's character as a Magnificent Bastard?: No, this is a YMMV subject and the creator of a content is way too biased to be able to evaluate the criteria we're looking for without a second opinion taking over. That being said, you are more than welcome to encourage someone to consume your creation and if they feel a character counts, are more than welcome to suggest them.
- My example/edit has been approved, but the example subpage is locked! How do I get it added?: The moderators do not add examples to locked example subpages in the MagnificentBastard/ namespace directly. Rather, you need to do the edit to a sandbox page that follows the format Sandbox.MagnificentBastard<Name of the example subpage> (e.g for MagnificentBastard.Fullmetal Alchemist it's Sandbox.Magnificent Bastard Fullmetal Alchemist) and on a Friday, ask in the locked pages edit requests thread for the content to be swapped in.
Thread rules
When voting a troper must specify the effort post they're voting on and cannot merely vote on "Everything I missed" as in the past it has indicated the poster didn't read the effort post and is guessing instead of analyzing.
Resolved items
In general, a character listed on this trope is considered "settled". This means they should not be challenged unless information used to list them was incorrect or information was missed in the initial discussion.
However, when re-litigating a candidate, the same rules apply for when they were originally proposed. If they do not have five or more upvotes than downvotes for approval upon a re-litigation, including votes from the initial discussion if they do not change, then they are a cut.
This especially applies to the characters listed below, who have been discussed excessively and repeated attempts to get them listed/cut may result in punitive action for bogging down the thread.
Definitely an MB
- Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers: Any sadism Darkrai displays is limited in effect thanks to the game's nature and any cowardice which can be inferred about him is Alternative Character Interpretation about his tactical retreats.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: Azula's Villainous Breakdown is undone in the sequel comic Smoke & Shadow where she regains her composure and ends up stable and in control enough to count.
Definitely not an MB
- South Park: The show's frequent use of vulgar comedy and mean-spirited humor leaves any potential candidates devoid of the dignity or charm to qualify.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Aug 31st 2023 at 4:15:22 AM
Sorry for the wait on this one and for the length of the post. As you can see by the post length, this took a long time to write, in large part because the candidate is the main character of a TV series.
What is the work?
The Thick of It is a British sitcom about the fictional government Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship (DoSAC), led by the lazy and incompetent Hugh Abbot. DoSAC are routinely terrorized by the Prime Minister's director of communications, Malcolm Tucker. After the actor playing Hugh was discovered to be peodphile his character was written out and replaced with the well meaning but still incompetent Nicola Murray and the show was restructured to be more of an ensemble work, with Malcolm as the Villain Protagonist.
Who is the candidate?
Malcolm Tucker, the Prime Minister's exceptionally foul mouthed and Scottish director of communications who will do anything short of actual violence to ensure that his party is victorious.
What does he do?
Just about every episode has Malcolm hatching some sort of magnificent scheme, so I'll just list the highlights in lieu of recapping the entire series.
Julius Nicholson, an ambitious and pompous MP, makes a bid for power and makes it clear that he wants to fire Malcolm and cut DoSAC's budget. Malcolm responds by teaming up with DoSAC for a "circlejerk": which is having DoSAC call up all of their government contacts to ask them about rumors that Julius is going to be named Foreign Secretary. Then, Malcolm calls the Prime Minister and tells him that Julius started those rumors and needs to have his wings clipped. The end result is that Malcolm keeps his job, Julius gets assigned to lead an unimportant government agency, and DoSAC is rewarded with a fancier office and more responsibilities.
The Prime Minister decides to announace an immigration overhaul plan that will serve as his legacy and then resign six months later. Malcolm wishes to delay the Prime Minister's resignation to provide more time for a smooth transition of power, so he has Hugh's advisor Olly leak the legacy immigration plan to Emma, Olly's girlfriend in the opposing party who is an advisor to the Shadow Minister of DoSAC, Peter Mannion, so the opposition will steal the legacy plan, forcing the Prime Minister to delay his resignation. However, the Prime Minister learns of this leak and decides to announce the legacy plan before the opposition can. Malcolm responds by planning to have the incompentent MP Ben Swain leak the legacy plan, but Julius catches them. Just when it looks like Malcolm is fucked, the Prime Minister suddenly announces that he is going to step down in one month, putting everyone's plans into disarray.
Malcolm's main underling Jamie becomes convinced that Malcolm somehow engineered the Prime Minister's resignation so that Tom Davis can be the new Prime Minister (Malcolm did not incidentally) and starts plotting to have Cliff Lawton stand for PM as revenge. When Terri leaks Jamie's scheming to Malcolm, Malcolm calls Jamie and makes fun of him for backing a candidate as boring as Cliff, causing Jamie to dump Cliff. When the Daily Mail threatens to run with a story about Tom using antidepressents, Malcolm recommends that Tom's advisor Nick Hanway (who is after Malcolm's job) support Claire Ballentyne as PM. Unfortunately, Claire turns the position down because her addiction to online poker would sink her administration once the media learns of it. The Daily Mail calls Malcolm and informs him that they are not going to run with the story about Tom's mental health. Malcolm tells Nick that the Daily Mail is going to run with the story and they need to get someone else to stand. Nick decides on Ben Swain. A few hours later, Malcolm reveals that the Mail is not going to run with the story and tells N Ick to make sure that Tom knows that Malcolm was the one who made him PM or else Malcolm will tell Nick about his attempted coup with Ben. At the end of the day, Malcolm keeps his job and emerges as the victor, with Jamie and Nick utterly humiliated. Or in Malcolm's words "Wake up and smell the cock!"
Malcolm poaches a speaker from Nicola so the PM can use the speaker for good publicity instead. When Glenn confronts him over this, their argument gets heated an Malcolm punches Glenn in the face. Malcolm offers Glenn a sincere apology and convinces Glenn to appear friendly with him in fronit of the media to contradict leaks of their fight. When Malcolm learns that the speaker leaked the fight, he sends the speaker away and issues a press statement that she was let go due to "extremist views" without specifying that those views are merely her opposition to the metric system.
In Season 3, the Prime Minister hires Steve Fleming, an old rival of Malcolm's that Malcolm previously got sacked, to help work in communications. Malcolm realizes that Fleming is gunning for his job and becomes increasingly distracted. When Nicola says something innocuous that the media interprets as her wanting to be PM, Malcolm repeatedly miscalculates the media's reactions to his attempts to de-escalte the situation. When Terri, the resident The Load, calls Malcolm out on making all the wrong calls, Malcolm takes her aside, warns her never to call him out, and then apologizes to her because she's right. The situation is resolved when the media realzies that Nicola is too incompetent to pose a threat to the PM's leadership.
The Government is caught fudging crime statistics to appear more favorable and Fleming scapegoats Malcolm and gets him sacked. When Malcolm learns of this he yells "You cannot fuck me! You cannot fuck me! I am unfuckable! I have never been fucked. And if you fucking try and fuck me, you'll find my fucking arse will fucking grow fucking fangs and fucking snap your fucking cock off!" Unfortunately, Fleming made sure to anounce Malcolm's sacking in a press release before Malcolm learned about it, so there is nothing Malcolm can do. Malcolm storms out of Downing Street yelling "You will fucking see me again!" He's right.
After getting sacked, Malcolm is shown clearly not knowing what to do without a job. However, he is saved when Julius hires him back to help put down an attempt by Dan Miller to replace the PM. Julius promises that the government's findings on the crime report will be generous to both Malcolm and Fleming. Since he's on probation, Malcolm is kind to DoSAC for the duration of this crisis, which everyone finds creepy. Fleming goes for a walk in the woods with Julius to try and find out what the report says exactly. Malcolm leaks this meeting to the press, who snag a photograph. While Steve didn't do anything illegal, the photograph makes it look as if he was trying to pressure Julius, so Julius is forced to sack Steve despite knowing that Fleming clearly set this up. Fleming retaliates by attemping to support Dan, but Malcolm ruins Dan's plans by convincing the PM to call an election.
The election is indecisive, but the Opposition manages to form a majority by forming a coalition with a third party with opposing political views who are an obvious parallell of the Liberal Democrats. Nicola somehow manages to become leader of the new Opposition, but she remains as incompetent as ever and Malcolm conspires with Olly (who is still Nicola's advisor) to force her to resign.
Malcolm tricks Nicola and her advisor Helen into walking with him into a media ambush where a man dressed up as a porkchop asks her if it is time for her to "get chopped." Not only was this embarassing for Nicola, one of the photographs shows Helen carrying a folder where the term "quiet batpeople" (the unfortunate name of a well meaning program Nicola devised) was written, turning Nicola into even more of a national laughing stock. Malcolm then meets with Dan Miller and tells him that he will back Dan's bid to replace Nicola as party leader.
There's a subplot throughout the final season about a nurse named Mr. Tickel, who is protesting the government after they kicked him out of his government housing. Malcolm leaks Tickel's NHS records to show the world that Tickel has depression to make the public more sympathetic to Ticket. The government bulldozes Tickel's house regardless. Shortly after the leak and the bulldozing, Tickel kills himself.
Malcolm has Olly leak an old email where Nicola expresses support for the policy that led to Tickel's conviction. He then has Nicola blame the government for Tickel's death and recommend that Parliament launch an inquiry into the death. To clear the way for Dan Miller's ascension, Malcolm bribes Ben Swain into resigning with a promise to be made Foreign Secretary when the party returns to power, however, Ben demands to be made Chancellor of the Exchequer instead. Malcolm agrees, but promises Dan that Ben won't be in the cabinet. The email leaks, forcing Nicola to step down from leadership for her hypocrisy. Furthermore, the email also shows that Ben supported the policy as well, so Malcolm informs him that he will never be allowed into a position of political authority again.
Despite Nicola's resignation, her request for an inquiry into Ticke's death is granted, but the Prime Minister expands the inquiry's scope to the entire culture of government leaks. During the inquiry, Malcolm leaks negotations testifies under oath that he did not leak Tickel's NHS records. However, the inquiry obtains an uncropped version of the "quiet batpeople" photograph, showing that Malcolm holding a folder clearly containing Tickel's illegally obtained NHS records, proving that Malcolm perjured himself before Parliament. Malcolm tries to bury this story by leaking a crapload of corruption scandals of other politicians, including one of the MPs conducting the inquiry, but it doesn't work and Parliament decides to press charges.
Dan instructs Olly to convince Malcolm to resign. Oly confronts Malcolm, who realizes that Olly is hoping to suceed him, an idea that Malcolm finds laughable. Malcolm launches into an epic rant:
"I don't just take this fucking job home, you know! I take this job home, it fucking ties me to the bed, and it fuckin' fucks me from arsehole to breakfast!... you can't know Malcolm because Malcolm is not here! Malcolm fucking left the building fucking years ago! This is a fucking husk, I am a fucking host for this fucking job!" He then tells Ollie that the job will destroy him too. Malcolm then reveals that he is intending to make a dignified political exit: while Dan is busy doing a photo op at a police station, Malcolm will go to another, out-of-the-way police station and turn himself in while the media is distracted dealing with Dan. Olly, having had enough of Malcolm's bullying, leaks Malcolm's plans to the media. When Malcolm turns himself in, he finds himself swarmed by journalists. Malcolm's lawyer announces that, while Malcolm contests the charges, he has decided to resign and leave politics forever. Malcolm decides to make a statement himself, but at long last finds himself at a loss for words, as there is nothing he can say to make this situation any less embaressing.
Is he a good schemer?
The very best in the series. Nearly every episode has Malcolm hatching some sort of scheme that ends with his party's enemies humiliated and Malcolm triumphant. In the end, he's only undone when Parliament turns on the culture of leaking that sustains the entire political industry.
His main competetion is Stewart Pearson, his Opposition counterpart, who speaks entirely in buzzwords despite his job being to make concepts more clear to others and gets fired in the finale after spending the entire last season creating a series of PR fiascos.
Is he charming, charismatic? Is he a bastard? Too much? Malcolm is very high strung. However, he seldom really loses his temper. The main instances of him actually snapping are (1) the specials, where he's caught leaking the PM's legacy plan but gets saved when the PM unexpectedly resigns, which allows Malcolm to turn the situation to his advantage, (2) when he punches Glenn, but he delivers a sincere apology and gets Glenn to cover the incident up, and (3) the Fleming situation, which Malcolm ultimately turns around and gets Fleming fired. Even on the very rare occasion where he snaps, he manages to quickly regain his cool and outthink his enemies.
Aside from all the swearing, which he uses to intimidate poeple into complying with him, Malcolm is often heard talking on the phone blackmailing MPs into staying in line by threatening to expose their extramarital affairs.
However, he genuinely believes that his party is a force for good in the UK and everything he does is for what he sees as the betterment of his country. He's shown to have a genuine friendship with his secretary, Sam, who is seen crying when Malcolm gets sacked. While Malcolm forces Nicola to put her daughter in a badpublic school instead of a private school to avoid giving the impression that the Government distrusts public schools, when he learns that this is ruining the daughter's life, Malcolm backs down tells Nicola that she can transfer her to a private school in a year's time. And he's genuinely charming towards "civilians", his term for those who aren't involved in politics. That being said, Malcolm leaks Mr. Tickel's private health information just to hurt the opposing party.
Other Mitigating factors
There is a single episode where he calls Ollie trans as a means of demeaning him. It's a shitty transphobic joke, but it only pops up in one episode.
It's implied throughout the series and confrimed by Malcolm himself in the finale, that his life outside his job is virtually non-existant.
Verdict
![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
to the TV incarnation of Malcolm Tucker. And I promise my next EP will be much shorter.
Edited by lrrose on Oct 3rd 2019 at 8:25:18 AM
The Draftsman of Doom
Leaning Malcolm Tucker.
Tentative to Malcolm
Oh hey, I was thinking of him the other day, yes there L!
@ Fan, I'll look it over but going forward please use the get help with English thread I linked you. That's the sort of thing they do there.
"Cool. Coolcoolcool."
Yes to Malcolm. Played by my favorite Doctor.
Fan-Preferred Couple cleanup thread
to Malcolm.
Im leaning as well. However given what I've read about the show, I think you're underselling how angry he can get.
Absolute yes to Malcolm Tucker. No question and unmitigated.
Me in a nutshell (Coping with Depression)
Malcolm in the Middle alias Malcolm Tucker
Goku Black
bell and Malcolm
Since I discussed it on CM today I'll just mention here that no one in Promare counts. You can see my EP on CM for reference on the only real morally dubious enough schemer in the work and as I'm sure you'll be able to infer, Kray is too much of a petty dick with a god complex to be playing to the right tune for this trop.
@43 Should I draft the entire Let's Play section, or just Aodh's entry?
I'll let you do as you see fit though on second thought I'm wondering if a whole section is warranted with the given length of the "Fan Works" section.
The wifi here sucks
Lizzid people!
Found this on the The Offspring page:
- The subject of "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid".
A ZCE example. Essentially, the song is about an unnamed schemer who manipulates people through his words, riling them up against an unspecified target. The only real issue is that it is vague on what the character's motivations are. I could probably do an EP, but overall, it is zero context.
Man, I'll get you to work on trimming Cyrus a bit more but here's the rest:
- Yu Gi Oh The Darkside Of Dimensions:
- Diva was once a student under Shadi, and one of the children that could wield the dimensional powers of the Plana. After Shadi was killed by Dark Bakura, Diva swore revenge on the killer's host, adopting the identity of "Aigami" to get close to him and Yugi. Upon learning of Kaiba's quest to bring back Atem, which would result in the Plana and it's power disappearing, Diva dueled Kaiba in an attempt to stop him, and when that failed stole two pieces of the Millennium Puzzle. Confronting and banishing Bakura to another dimension, Diva was forced into a duel with Yugi by Kaiba, where he attempted to coax Yugi into joining him before trying to kill him. Though the events that transpired resulted in Atem's brief return and the Plana vanishing, Diva ultimately accepted his loss.
- Seto Kaiba is determined to resurrect the Pharaoh by any means necessary, developing highly complex technology in his attempts. When he excavates the Millennium Puzzle, Diva attempts to kill him with the Quantum Cube, but Kaiba repels the attack without effort. Kaiba turns the ensuing duel around by summoning Obelisk the Tormentor, and while Diva escapes, he's unworried. When Kaiba learns Diva stole two of the Puzzle pieces, he kidnaps him and agrees to Yugi's demand to duel Diva at an exhibition. He only briefly loses composure when Yugi reassembles the Puzzle to confirm the Pharaoh cannot return, and his reaction to seemingly losing their duel is a smirk. When Diva returns as a corrupted monster, Kaiba sacrifices himself to keep Yugi in the game, imploring him to call the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh returns and saves everyone, taking the Puzzle with him to the afterlife. Kaiba decides to follow him there, using the Quantum Cube and his own technology to breach through to the afterlife, prepared to duel. Throughout the movie, Kaiba is in control and weathers any setbacks to succeed in getting what he wants.
- Secret Histories: Grendel Rex, real name Gerard Drood, is a man who desired to be a god and carve his face into the moon after the death of his beloved wife Elspeth. Trying to usurp and recreate humanity, Gerard allowed his family to defeat and seal him away so he could return later when they grew complacent. Gerard manipulates villains such as Edmund Drood, knowing Edmund will require the help of Gerard, and allow Gerard to usurp the plan later. After this, Gerard begins to put his plan into motion, only to cease when he meets Morgana le Fay, the two falling in Love at First Sight. Departing, Gerard leaves the hero Eddie with one last piece of knowledge: that the face he tried to sear into the moon was actually Elspeth's.
- Fringe: William Bell is a brilliant scientist and a who founded the corporation, Massive Dynamic, and is also revealed to be backing the terrorist organization ZFT, using them to test Olivia Dunham into activating her powers to enter the Alternate Universe he resides where he tells her of the upcoming catastrophe her universe will face before sending her back. When Olivia and Walter Bishop arrives in the alternate universe again William Bell would save them and Peter Bishop and bring them back to their universe by sacrificing himself. Though seemingly dead, William Bell had his soul stored inside a bell which possessed Olivia when she activates it, whom he brokers a deal with Walter to return Olivia's body if they transfer his conscious to a computer; he lied about the latter working revealing that he "hates goodbyes". Alive again in an alternate timeline, William would enact his most ingenious and diabolical plan of destroying both Walter's and the alternate universes to create his own universe using Olivia as his catalyst, a plan that nearly succeeds if not for his equally brilliant friend Walter intervening. Always alternating between the Fringe divisions greatest ally to most dangerous enemy, William Bell made his mark as the series' most morally ambiguous yet brilliantly charming character.
- Last Scenario: Augustus works himself to the top so he can become the Empire's minister and seeks to prove that even commoners can achieve the throne. He effortlessly manipulates Felgorn into murdering the Emperor so that the Spoiled Brat princess Helga can take over. He then lets her run the Empire into the ground so that when he covertly assassinates her, the Empire's citizen rejoice and appoint him Emperor. When Felgorn finally wises up and turns on him, Augustus allows Felgorn to kill him, stating before dying that he is content and that, with his desire fulfilled, he has already won.
- Kappa Mikey: Mariko, from season 2's "Back To School" is a student at Mount Lebaniku High School who is behind the DVD bootlegging ring, selling illegal copies of LilyMu all over Japan. When she learns that the LilyMu cast has infiltrated her school and wiretapped her phone to stop her operation, Mariko intentionally misleads the cast to try searching for the pirated DVDs in the school floats, distracting them from her real plan to smuggle thousands of illegal copies in a computer chip inside a football that she plans to give to another school, allowing her to sell more copies while also removing any evidence towards her; She is only stopped by Gonard being Too Dumb to Fool.
- Capital Lights' "Frank Morris" from This Is an Outrage!: Frank Morris was an American criminal sentenced to Alcatraz for grand larceny, armed robbery, and the possession of narcotics. Harnessing an IQ of 133, Morris conspired with the Anglin brothers to enact a great escape. To this end, Morris crafted busts of his and the Anglin brothers' heads as a means of deceiving the prison guards into believing that they were still in their beds. Taking several rubber rain coats and crafting a raft out of them, Morris takes advantage of a blind spot, becoming the first in a long line of inmates to successfully escape Alcatraz.
- GatoPaint's "The Puppet": The eponymous Puppet/Marionette is a mysterious animatronic driven to avenge the deaths of the children murdered by the Purple Man. Granting the spirits of the children life by placing them into the animatronics, the Puppet sends them out to kill the night guard. If they had failed said task during those five nights, the Puppet would take matters into its own hands once its music box stopped.
- Bill Mallonee's "The Ghosts That I Run With" from The Power and the Glory: The elusive D. B. Cooper commences the song by reminiscing on when he hijacked a Boeing 727 plane and escaped with $200,000 in ransom. Having shaken off the dogs that the authorities sent his way and eluding capture for years, Cooper questions his bad behavior ultimately concluding that no answer would suffice. He then concludes the song with the realization that once you commit the perfect crime, you disappear.
Let's Play:
- Crusader Kings 2 After-Action Report Anscarid d'Ivrea, the Free Count of France: Guy d'Ivrea shows how far intelligence, charisma and patience can take somebody. Starting as the ambitious Count of Mâcon, he works to gain power and prestige in an increasingly divided and turbulent France. Becoming House de Bourgogne's chancellor at an early age due to his silver tongue, Guy increases his demesne through private wars and establishes cadet branches for House d'Ivrea. During a long and brutal Civil War, Guy becomes a duke and gains widespread respect among the French. When King Renaud unexpectedly demands Mâcon from Guy and brands him a traitor when he refuses, Guy quickly turns the situation in his favor, defeating him in war and taking the French throne. Now King, Guy works towards France's benefit, expanding its territory and taking steps to safeguard his successors' power. By the time he passes on, Guy has set a good example for his heirs to follow and returned the Anscarid dynasty to its former glory.
- Medieval II: Total War Let's Play A Scotsman in Egypt: Aodh Canmore, the devoutly religious younger brother of King Domnall, proves to be one of the king's greatest assets. Starting out inexperienced and unsure of himself, he quickly grows into his own, repeatedly using underhanded means to solve problems he faces and advance what he considers the interests of the Scottish Empire. Through diplomacy, intrigue and military force, he plays a major role in defeating multiple nations in Europe and the Middle East, manipulates his older brother in order to keep him as an object of fear, puts the Catholic Church under the permanent control of the Scottish monarchy, and wipes out a Timurid invasion by luring it into a trap. As one final gambit, he manipulates his cousin Kirk and some of Kirk's friends into discovering new lands for Scotland to conquer. Supremely intelligent and very persuasive, Aodh Canmore plays a key role in cementing Scottish domination over much of the world.
Anything else?
Edited by 43110 on Oct 6th 2019 at 10:12:50 AM
I think I found an unapproved example on YMMV.Hogans Heroes:
- Magnificent Bastard
- Hogan. As an Allied officer remarks, "If you weren't in one of their prisons, you'd be in one of ours."
- An undercover general that is in camp on a mission is almost accidentally transferred to another camp. The boys sabotage every vehicle in the motor pool.
General Walters: You know, I'd hate to be in a war with you boys on the other side.
To me, Hogan's kind of like Oskar Schindler, in that he has a lot of the qualities you'd expect from an MB... but isn't enough of a bastard to count. Marya might qualify, though.
Yeah, go for a cut.
The wifi here sucks
I found this on Dragnet.
- Magnificent Bastard:
- The sweet little old lady from "The Big Grandma", whose half-professional, half-amateur MO for check forging made her very hard to identify, let alone catch.
- The swindlers in "The Phony Police Racket" who successfully produced a swindle that appealed to the selfish and selfless alike. For the selfish, there was a card that supposedly entitled the bearer to preferential treatment from police nationwide. For the selfless, all monies spent were supposedly to help the next of kin of cops killed in the line of duty.
I haven't seen Dragnet myself but I plan to some time in the future, I'll throw in onto my To-Do list. It's unapproved so I'll cut it.
Hope your prepared for an unforgettable luncheon
Sounds good!
Lizzid people!
Almost completely forgot: since it's been two weeks since Final Space season 2 had been out, thus far, no one counts. I mean, I'm kinda tempted a bit on one character, but for the most part, no contenders.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
who is this one character? He/she might count
for Malcolm Tucker.
Also I think Goldie O'Glit may have been deleted from the Western Animation page by mistake. She's still on the DuckTales (2017) page and looking back-a-ways over the thread, I see no indication that the cut was requested. Looking at the page history, I think what's happened is when the DC Universe Animated Original Movies examples got moved to the Film page, she accidentally got deleted by mistake.
Just wanted to make sure.
Okay, I altered Augustus' writeup a little.
I replaced The Chessmaster with Evil Chancellor. Okay, like you said, you do the rest. My English isn't very good.