Old Magnificent Bastard thread
Welcome to the Magnificent Bastard proposal thread! This is the thread where new Magnificent Bastard examples are vetted, approved, and written up. If you're looking for the general cleanup thread (for cuts, rewrites, expansions, and the like), please go here
Important: Before suggesting any new examples, please read the Frequently Asked Questions and Common Requests List; if you have any questions, the odds are high they are answered there. Additionally, please check here for the earliest date a work can be discussed (usually two weeks from the U.S. release date) and whether the work has already been reserved by another user.
Here is how the process works:
- If you have a candidate to propose, you can simply come right in and propose them! If the character's run is brief, such as a single issue of a comic book, then a simple summary of their actions and any potential mitigating features will be enough; for longer-running candidates, an effortpost (EP) might be helpful for organizing the proposal. An EP is not outright required, but please be mindful that if a post becomes too clunky and unorganized, it can be very hard for other people to follow.
- After the proposal, there will be a 72-hour discussion and voting period, where people may ask questions and vote on the candidate. The number of upvotes must outnumber the downvotes by at least five for the character to be considered "approved".
- Three days after the proposal has been made, if the character has been approved, you may post the writeup (the text to be posted on the trope page itself) on the thread and send it to the drafts page. Your candidate will soon be added to the MB subpage. If the work has a page, you should add your candidate to the relevant YMMV page. Voila! It's that simple!
Outside of this process, we do have a few ground rules:
- To keep the thread moving at a reasonable pace, there are some restrictions on when a proposal can be made. There should only be a maximum of four EPs posted both per page and per hour to ensure that nothing gets lost in the shuffle; additionally, each individual troper should only be proposing or writing up characters from a maximum of three works at a time (from initial proposals to end of their voting period). If your proposal would fall outside of either of these guidelines, we'd like to ask you to please wait until they would fit within; feel free to type them up on an outside document, and then when the time comes, you can just copy, paste, and post!
- No plagiarism of any kind. This is a very serious matter site-wide, as the website could get in actual legal trouble over this; as a result, this can very quickly lead to mod intervention. This can take many different forms:
- Direct plagiarism, i.e. wholesale copying. This is not only the easiest to find, but is also the most likely to warrant quick moderator intervention. To be clear, quoting in some places is perfectly acceptable, but it has to be very clear you're quoting from something else and it cannot be anything longer than a sentence or two - if you're quoting an entire work summary from Wikipedia, no one is going to believe you've actually consumed the work, so even if you cite your source, your candidate will be downvoted anyway.
- Self-plagiarism. Even if you can prove that you wrote the same text in both places, the site itself can't contain any of the duplicated text. If you already wrote something once before, it's not too hard to write it a second time.
- Using another site's work as a template for a proposal. Just because you don't copy and paste something directly doesn't mean it's any harder to detect if you're basing parts or all of your proposal on text someone else wrote. To be clear, this doesn't violate site rules and won't lead to mod intervention, but just like if you directly plagiarize, no one will believe you've consumed the work if you're clearly basing your proposal on something else. This thread largely operates on the honor system, and tweaking someone else's work to pass it off as your own is one of the fastest ways to lose trust.
- Votes must be for specific candidates, meaning no blanket voting (i.e. "yes to everyone I missed").
- If you are the first person to downvote a candidate, please provide an explanation of why when you do so. We're here for discussions above all, and a hit-and-run downvote doesn't facilitate anything.
- If a work is already reserved by another user, please don't comment on the work or any potential characters worth discussion before the discussion date. We know how exciting it is when a work has a keeper that you're waiting to talk about, but it's not fair to the person who reserved the work who is just as excited to lead the discussion to see the discussion getting spoiled before they get to do it. On the other hand, if the reservation only has one name attached, shoot them a PM - they may be down for a collaboration, which will get you in on the fun as well!
- Please keep the thread on-topic. While discussing the trope is fun and we encourage people to enjoy it, questions like "who's your favorite MB" are off-topic and can lead to thumps. That's the kind of question to take to people's PMs if they're willing. Similarly, while we encourage friendliness and familiarity with other users, posts should always have some kind of thread-relevant purpose; for instance, if you want to wish someone a happy birthday, feel free to, but if it's the only thing in the post, it's off-topic and needs something else alongside it. Again, though, while we strive for a friendly atmosphere, this is not Facebook; life updates are fun, but unless they have some kind of impact on your thread participation, please do not bring it here - we have Yack Fest for that.
- Please refrain from asking anything along the lines of "How Did We Miss This One?" In almost every case, the answer is simply "No one thought about it before". This Is a Wiki where everyone has different interests, and the fact that people missed a particular candidate, even one that seems like a textbook example of a trope or a character who is particularly iconic in pop culture, means absolutely nothing. The question is disruptive, has a simple and consistent answer, and provides nothing to any discussion.
- If you are suspended from other parts of the website, it is still possible to participate!
- For users who are suspended from editing the wiki, you still have full access to this thread. You can propose candidates and write them up with no issues whatsoever; while you will have to ask someone else to post the entry to the relevant pages once it is done, all write-ups are considered thread-approved - as in, done by consensus - and thus doing so does not violate any rules regarding meatpuppeting.
- If you are suspended from the forums, your participation is limited but not impossible. It is still possible for a forum-suspended user to assist in creating the write-up for a character who has already been approved; as previously mentioned, write-ups are inherently considered a consensus-based edit and thus not tied to any one particular user. However, you can not assist in the proposal of a character; as a proposal is based around the forum rather than the wiki, doing so with a forum suspension qualifies as meatpuppeting.
- Please keep all discussions "in-house".
- What other wikis use for MB equivalents is irrelevant here.
- Please be wary of using other wikis, Fandom or otherwise, as sources of information. They are just as fallible as a site like Wikipedia in regards to accuracy because they can be edited by any user, just as this site can.
- Do not attempt to force a communication with an author in an attempt to gather evidence or settle a debate; besides the fact that this is a YMMV trope and thus author intent has variable weight depending on the circumstance, doing so may cross the line into drama exportation, which is prohibited site-wide.
If you would like to use an EP for your candidate, here's the general format. This format does not have to be followed exactly, but these are the main topics that need to be covered:
What is the work?
This is a brief summary of the work you're going to discuss. We don't need a full plot summary here, just however much we need to understand going into the discussion — it can even be as simple as quoting the summary on the work's page.
Who is the candidate and what have they done?
This is essentially the character's biography — who they are, their story, their goals and methodology, and, preferably (though not required), what happens to the candidate at the end. It does not have to include every single thing they ever do — for some characters, we'd be here all day if that was the case — but it should include the highlights of their journey.
How are they Magnificent?
This is the point where you highlight the character's brilliance. How to they convey their intelligence and charm to the audience? What makes them stand out among the crowd? What are their goals and how do they go about accomplishing them? This part welcomes a lot of creative thinking — not everyone has to be a Machiavellian Diabolical Mastermind to be worth considering here! This is also the time to showcase how the character can think on their feet if it's necessary.
How are they a Bastard? How are they not too bad?
What kinds of moral lines is this character willing to cross for the sake of their goal? Are they willing to let innocents die? Start wars? Commit crimes? The character has to show some kind of unscrupulousness in order to count as a "Bastard". Notably, this character does not necessarily have to be the villain, and an Anti-Hero can cross the line if they're immoral enough, but they have to be immoral somehow.
This is also the section where you then state your case for why they're not too bad. Perhaps their good intentions help mitigate their crimes. Perhaps others are shown to be much worse than them. Perhaps they're prone to Pet the Dog moments or are even fighting on behalf of loved ones. Whatever the case, there are certain lines that an MB can't cross, but as long as their villainy is reasonable for their goal, they can be considered.
Final verdict?
This is where you post your final conclusion on the character in question. You can continue elaborating on your reasons or even just say a simple "yes" or "no"; at this point, we've heard everything we need to hear.
And that's everything you need to know. Welcome to the thread!
Edited by Twiddler on Jan 17th 2024 at 5:40:56 AM
He does fool Spider-man during a meeting and walk away furthering an agenda while posing as both Dr. Connors and Norman.
Ultimate Moral Compass
![[tdown]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thumbs_down_emote.png "[thumb down]"){kind=small}
Chameleon
RIP Toriyama
I sadly don't quite think Chameleon is up to enough impressive feats in a series with so many MBs already.
Edited by Ravok on Apr 4th 2023 at 11:55:40 AM
Tonight I dine on monkey soup.
![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thumbs_up_emote.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
to Yama, Rowton, Yancy, Lazard and Chameleon.
Thanks for the vote MG.
Two things about Warren that just occurred to me: 1) Given the genetic experimentation at the laboratory even before he came and how Kraven tells Warren he can smell Spider-man there, Warren probably thinks that Curt created Spider-man on purpose and is working with him, giving him a more vested interest in wrestling control of the lab away from Curt and running him off (given how he is running afoul of Spiderman and would think Curt is hypocritically blocking his own research to hide that secret). Also, his interactions with various characters (especially Kraven) and comments about animals suggest that he views genetic mutations as being Cursed with Awesome and may not think that its such an awful thing to inflict on someone unless the end result is a Sandman or Electro. Looking at what I wrote down, it doesn’t feel as mitigating for his more awful actions as it did in my head, but I am still curious about your insights, there. If nothing else, the first of those possibilities might be an interesting bit of Alternate Character Interpretation.
Edited by Melinda on Apr 4th 2023 at 1:51:17 AM
Classy, Refined, Unstable
Writeup time I'll do it in the makeshift tree so the swap to the main page is less tedious.
- Tales of Arcadia:
- Morgana, also known as the Pale Lady, Baba Yaga, and by many more names, was a young student of Merlin who despaired at her brother Arthur's persecution of magical beings. Falling to darkness when Arthur died, Morgana would manipulate legions over the ensuing centuries to advance her goals of world conquest, having the troll Angor Rot sell his soul to her to use him as her assassin. Upon returning to life in Wizards, Morgana later repents and joins the heroes to help defeat the evil Arcane Order and the resurrected Arthur, giving her life to destroy him when she realizes he is beyond saving while reconciling with her mentor Merlin and following him into the afterlife.
- Trollhunters: Angor Rot is a tenacious assassin whose cunning and competence helps stand out as one of the Trollhunter's most dangerous foes. Once a noble warrior corrupted by Morgana, Angor leaves a trail of bodies of former Trollhunters before being imprisoned. Free and serving Stricklander to kill Jim, Angor devises many schemes to test Jim's might and manages to steal the ability of wielding Daybreak. Wanting to break free of Stricklander's control, Angor strikes a deal with Jim after filling the school with hallucinogens so he can wander freely within. Forcing Jim and Stricklander to team together, Angor sneaks into Jim's house to strike and later leads an assault on Trollmarket itself with an armada of golems he fashioned after he managed to steal the Horngazel from Claire. Revived by Morgana, Angor joins Gunmar with hunting for the staff of Avalon, ambushing the heroes and fatally wounding Draal. Reminded of his past with a duel against Jim, Angor aids the heroes by striking Morgana. Mortally wounded, Angor provides the heroes the means to stop Morgana's chaotic ambitions, his final moments as the warrior he once was.
Uh... Shortening this one was a toughie, how does it look?
![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
Like that?
Edited by WetFlannels on Apr 4th 2023 at 11:09:02 AM
Oh, Mr. Kennedy, you entertain me. To show my appreciation, I will help you awaken from your world of clichés.
Goku Black
The indentation their is off.
Should be
- Arcadia:
- morgana
- Trollhunters : Angor rot
Edit: ![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Yes.
Edited by miraculous on Apr 4th 2023 at 3:09:37 AM
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Yes to Yama, Yancy, Lazard. No to Rowton and Chameleon.
I'm just gonna sneak in here and reserve The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog for discussion on the 14th...
Edited by Scraggle on Apr 4th 2023 at 5:48:28 AM
Ultimate Moral Compass
Hey, been awhile. But now I'm back to kick some butt at MB. Got a new EP for a game that's always mystified me. A game I've heard stories about, but never got into. A game that I'm sure will leave you all hazed.
What’s the Work?
Haze is a game from 2008 that's quite... fascinating. An attempt to deconstruct war games, specifically basing it off of the then contemporary War on Terror, a very rocky production, plus some really weird marketing decisions (Ubisoft hyped the game up as a "Halo Killer" which it... wasn't) resulted in a very stripped down game that played bad, looked bad, and had a plot which felt like proto-''Spec Ops: The Line' with the tone of an 80s anti-drug PSA starring a bunch of Brits poorly pretending to sound American.
The plot itself involves a Sci-Fi setting where the Mantel Corp. send out their shock troops—really just a bunch of immature frat bros and manchildren—to take out a rebel faction that's claimed to have skinned people and engaged in ethnic cleansing. You play as Shane Carpenter, who, along with the other troops, must take the drug Nectar in order to partake in the missions to kill the rebels.
But after the first act, it's revealed in a "shocking" twist that all is not as it seems, as Mantel are revealed to be an evil faceless corporation who have lied about the rebels, forcing its soldiers to take the hallucinogenic Nectar in order to shield them from the atrocities they're committing for the sake of making them richer, with the rebels themselves revealed to be saints who help Shane betray Mantel and take the company down.
Or it would've been shocking if the back of the box
◊ didn't spoil it.
Anyway, I think that there's a guy in here who stands a chance, a character who, despite having two scenes, nevertheless leaves a big impact on the plot.
Who is He?
Lance Corporal Teare is a seemingly simple soldier of Mantel who secretly longs to bring them down.
What does he do?
Introduced adjusting the strap to Shane’s Nectar Administrator before going out on a mission, it turns out that Teare instead adjusted the dosage level of Nectar, which allows Shane to see the world without the effects of Nectar getting in the way, and thus able to feel that something’s not quite right with Mantel and their missions. Teare is kicked out of the mission by Sgt. Duvall for not taking Nectar, but is later found in a shipping container warehouse, with Teare using a distress signal to lure Shane to his location.
It’s here where Teare reveals the truth about Mantel to Shane, how a lot of soldiers end up dying from Nectar overdose and Mantel hides their bodies to keep the troops in line. Teare also reveals that the missions they’ve been assigned to where intended to allow Mantel to hold a monopoly on Nectar development and distribution. The reason why Teare knew all of this was because he had been secretly monitoring his superiors with a radio he installed in one of the shipping containers.
Teare is immediately assassinated by a Mantel sniper after his infodump, but he parts Shane with words of advice about making the right decision, which inspire Shane take down Mantel.
Is he charming? Intelligent? Able to think on his feet?
Teare is able to use his intellect and the soldiers' trust in him to secretly plot Mantel's downfall, such as when he gets Shane to allow him to unknowingly tamper with his Nectar dosage, and was able to discover the company's dark secrets and evil scheme all on his own. Teare pretends to be just like the rest, posing as an insecure manchild, but is hiding the fact that he's smarter than everyone else.
And while he's assassinated by Mantel troops, Teare still goes down ultimately providing help for Shane, making him one of the only useful soldiers in Mantel. And he gets what he wants too, his reveal of the big twist leading to the destruction of Mantel for good.
It also helps that unlike the other Mantel soldiers, he's the most mature of the bunch, showing zero signs of being a Psychopathic Manchild like his peers. Though it helps that he doesn't take Nectar as much as them.
Is he a bastard? Too much of one?
Aside from Shane, Teare is the only good soldier working for Mantel. While he has partaken in some of their firefights and other atrocities in the past, Teare secretly hopes to bring the company down. Plus it helps that Teare's kicked off before the first mission, so we don't see him engage in the type of sick stuff the other soldiers do.
Teare's also willing to Mind Rape Shane by depriving him of his needed dosages of Nectar, forcing him to witness horrific imagery and flashbacks in order to get him on his side. After all, what he's showing him is the truth, and the truth ain't pretty.
I see Teare as kind of like Dr. Daniel Schreber; he's working for the villains in their plan, but he's secretly plotting their downfall, up to including secretly informing the protagonist about what's really going on and tinkering with their mind to further his plans.
Verdict?
I think Teare has a chance.
Nope. Once you’re hooked on Nectar, you’re hooked. What Teare did was the only real way to get someone off the drug. The only other way is to destroy a bunch of computers that somehow stop transmitting the drug, but that’s only done in the final level way after Teare’s dead, and it’s heavily guarded to boot.
Edited by therealjackieboy on Apr 4th 2023 at 7:55:44 AM
"No running in the halls!"
Is there any other way to get someone off of the drug? I guess it's bad, but I'm not sure if he's just a ruthless Guile Hero otherwise.
You can only write so much in your forum signature. It's not fair that I want to write a piece of writing yet it will cut me off in the mid
It's now been four days since my second-to-last EP, and I've only just now found a new candidate. It's Babayeva from an episode of Trace (her first name is maybe provided, but I haven't caught it; I'll check it up).
The Work
Trace, a Russian Forensic Drama Long Runner, frequently brought up in the CM thread. The MB candidates are a lot rarer, since with 40-minute-long episodes, the villains rarely have enough onscreen time to display true magnificence. However…The Character
In "The Dangerous Turn", an Asshole Victim businessman Babayev is murdered when 1) his airbag is sabotaged 2) while he is approaching a dangerous turn, someone lights up a firework in front of him, temporarily blinding him and sending the vehicle off the road. The businessman, with no airbag, is killed; his lover, whose airbag is functional, escapes.In the end, the FES learn that the perpetrator was the Babayevs' mechanic/gardener/employee-of-all-trades. In Courtly Love with Babayev's wife, who has no idea of his feelings, he couldn't stand to watch her husband's cheating and abuse and therefore plotted to kill him. He is sent to prison, Rogozina, as usual in the end of an episode, gives the moral about people who want to play God and must be held responsible…
And then we are shown an epilogue in the form of a flashback, and The Ending Changes Everything.
Babayeva was the one who plotted the murder of her husband. She hired the employee to do it, promising him half of her inheritance. She told him the entire plan, down to how to make the firework. In case he was caught, she promised him the best lawyer in Moscow who would ensure him a minimal punishment, and she was the one who suggested the Courtly Love line of defence.
Is she magnificent?
She is a Karma Houdini murderess in Trace. Not only does she escape scot-free, but no one in the FES ever suspects her involvement.Is she a bitch?
She coldly plots the murder of her husband. However, he was a horrid person who beat her and cheated on her (and didn't even treat his lovers any better). As he was abusive and controlling even towards his exes, divorce wasn't exactly an attractive option.She hires her employee to kill Babayev, but promises him a great reward and the best help available even should he get caught; there is no indication she would go back on her word.
In developing her plan, she makes sure her husband's lover survives, although it would have been perfectly easy to disable both of the airbags.
Conclusion?
I think she fits.Edited by AutumnLeaves on Apr 4th 2023 at 6:12:13 PM
I think I'll be an ever so slightly leaning Teare then.
Babayeva.
Not seeing it for Mrs. Babayeva given her husband was a big time asshole victim. Has she killed many other people besides her husband? She's got the Guile but I'm wondering if she would fit Guile Anti Hero better? If that ever becomes a trope as sort of a middle ground to people who don't quite make it as MB but are smart and/or charming enough?
Edited by Klavice on Apr 4th 2023 at 10:00:53 AM
What pushes her over for me Klavice is that she involves the gardener and even if she gives him good legal representation she's still having him take the fall for her.
You can only write so much in your forum signature. It's not fair that I want to write a piece of writing yet it will cut me off in the mid
Jaded Techie Fox
to Chameleon and Teare
to Babayeva
Abstain on Chameleon. He has charm, but isn't that charming.
to Babaeva. It was... a surprising twist, to be honest.
Goku Black
Babaeva
Not quite seeing Teare but yes to Babayeva.
Babayeva. Hespera writeup tonight.
Your friendly neighborhood stank goblin
for Babayeva.
for Lance Corporal Teare. I think he's got the "M" but not the "B" for an MB.
Lies and Violence!
Babayeva
What's the work?
Now for a Ninjago guy I've mentioned a few times before—there are a lot of moving parts here, so sorry if it's a tad long. The villains of season 6 were a crew of sky pirates, and their leader?
- A djinn prince from the realm of "Djinjago," Nadakhan left his world for Ninjago to sate his greed, assembling a loyal crew and becoming the most feared pirate of his time as the captain of Misfortune's Keep. Along the way he fell in love with his quartermaster, Delara, and the two made plans to wed once Nadakhan's father eventually died—which, unbeknownst to the rest of their crew, would grant Nadakhan infinite wishes (djinn normally can't make wishes for themselves).
- Unfortunately, things didn't work as planned. Misfortune's Keep came across a rival crew, whose captain knew the djinn's weakness—tiger widows, a dangerous species of spider whose powerful venom would slow a djinn long enough to, say, trap him in a teapot. Nadakhan was imprisoned, Delara died, and the rest of his crew were banished to other realms...
- Until, centuries later, an evil sorcerer/ghost named Clouse finds the teapot and releases Nadakhan. The djinn immediately sets about fucking with him: Clouse wishes for his spellbook back? It was burned a while ago, so he just gives him a pile of ash. He wishes to return to life? That process hurts like hell. Clouse asks for the agony to go away? Nadakhan steals his soul.
- Nadakhan sets to finding a way to save his crew (they're still alive, time moves differently in other realms), searching for an artifact called the Realm Crystal to traverse dimensions. After doing some research, specifically on how the ninja already foiled one evil plot involving the crystal, Nadakhan uses his shapeshifting powers to frame them for a crime spree, leaving them too occupied with the police to notice him interrogating their allies. Nadakhan manages to steal the soul of their sensei, Wu, offscreen, and then tricks another of their allies into telling him where the crystal is before stealing her soul as well ("Wu already told me where it is." "Ha! Even if you know, Hiroshi's Labyrinth is too well guarded for even you to steal it!" "Hiroshi's Labyrinth, got it").
- At the facility—which has a bunch of holograms and fake crystals—Nadakhan uses his shapeshifting to take the form of the robotic guards' boss, telling them the djinn has already stolen the crystal and following them to the room the real deal is kept in. He then uses his teleportation to bamf around the facility until they all accidentally shoot each other, escaping with the artifact to free his crew. They party a bit before Nadakhan decides to take them back to Djinjago...
- Only to find it crumbling. His father explains that the ninja's shenanigans last season have unwittingly destroyed the realm and gives his son the royal sword, commanding him to power it with more souls so he can rebuild his home. Nadakhan's crew quickly escape back to Ninjago, and the djinn swears revenge, converting their vessel into an airship to sail the skies themselves. Nadakhan begins slowly yet steadily isolating the ninja, twisting their wishes to psychologically torment them until they wish their souls into his sword. With the power this grants him, the djinn begins lifting chunks of the land into the sky, intent on terraforming the whole world into a new Djinjago.
- However, he notices one ninja, Nya, bears a striking resemblance to Delara. No explanation is ever given for this, but the grief-stricken djinn (who also still wants those aforementioned infinite wishes from marrying/becoming king) quickly becomes infatuated and decides to marry her. As such, he begins targeting her boyfriend, Jay. They've been going through a rough patch, so Jay, thinking he's just not impressive enough for her, wishes he wasn't born to junkyard owners.
- He immediately gets a letter telling him he's adopted and that his rich biological father died. No, Nadakhan didn't warp reality, he just revealed a truth Jay never knew about, but still, it fucks him up. After accidentally wasting his second wish on something trivial, Jay wises up to the fact that he really shouldn't be entertaining the djinn and refuses to make his next wish, which leads to Nadakhan capturing him and trying to break him through menial labor and fight rings. The remaining ninja of course rescue him... and, against Jay's protests, immediately use up all their three wishes once they realize he has to grant any wish he hears, even ones detrimental to him. Unfortunately, this causes just as much chaos for them as it does for the sky pirates.
- Jay and Nya just barely escape, while Nadakhan forces the one member of his crew who hasn't used any of his own three wishes to wish for the souls of the ninja who stayed behind to be taken. After interrogating some of their allies, learning the ninja have found tiger widow venom, he then makes the same crewmember wish to know Jay and Nya's location. Jay tries to wish that Nadakhan wasn't a djinn in the ensuing battle, but Nadakhan quickly realizes what he's doing and keeps bamfing away at the last second so he can't hear the wish, successfully escaping with Nya.
- Long story short, Jay sneaks his way onto New Djinjago and steals the Soul Sword to free the others—Nya distracts the djinn from this by pretending to be Delara, which somehow works. Still, it's not enough to stop the wedding ceremony from going through, and Nadakhan gains his wishes. His first act? Well, he's been increasingly harsh and condescending to his crew in their search for Nya, and at this point they confront him over how he doesn't care about making the pirates a new home—he just wanted to become all powerful. Nadakhan happily agrees and banishs them back to the other realms. His second act? Resurrecting Delara's consciousness in Nya's body, tearfully reuniting with his lost love at long last (to be clear, she's just as evil, power hungry, and apathetic to the rest of the crew, but also just as genuinely in love).
- Fight scene ensues as the ninja confront him one last time. Nadakhan blasts them with wishes to turn them to solid gold, slowly eliminating them one by one. But before he can strike the final blow, his former first mate, who evaded getting banished, snipes him from afar with the tiger widow venom—accidentally hitting the possessed Nya at the same time. Nadakhan is weakened enough that he can't teleport away and will be forced to hear Jay's last wish, but the poison is fatal to Nya, and the djinn lays out his apparent only choices for the wish—finally defeat Nadakhan, or waste it on saving Nya's life.
- Jay, in a rare moment of big brains, instead wishes that Clouse never found Nadakhan's teapot, undoing all the events of the season. Nadakhan, defeated, collapses as he sadly grants this to be.
Mitigating qualities?
Intelligence? No issue here. Dude's constantly outwitting his enemies, effortlessly fucking over everyone to gradually accomplish his goals until he reaches omnipotence. Even then, he has to be clever as to how he uses his ultimate power, twisting words to screw over detrimental wishes and doing everything he can to avoid those knows he won't be able to twist. His one real stumbling block is Nya briefly tricking him into thinking she's really Delara near the end, and that does nothing to stop him in the end. He's a charismatic, fun as hell bastard, and comes the closest to victory than almost any other villain save the Time Twins.
As for other stuff:
- Forcing Nya to marry him? Creepy, sure, but it's treated like a PG, Saturday morning cartoon villain plot, and in any case it was all ultimately done to resurrect his actual lover, which I feel—somewhat—lessens the creepiness.
- His treatment to his crew? At the start of the season he's a Benevolent Boss, going as far out of his way as possible to rescue them, but after seeing his entire home be destroyed and learning of Nya's resemblance to Delara, he starts going through Sanity Slippage and becomes obsessed with the ultimate power he and his lover once dreamed of, becoming increasingly abusive and cruel (nothing disqualifying in and of itself, but he's still noticeably meaner in response to failures/disobedience) until gleefully turning on them in the finale. Still, I think there's enough weight afforded to his relationship with Delara that this doesn't overshadow his magnificence. Despite everyone claiming he only wanted them for power, he clearly loves her and his home, and is left devastated by the loss of both to the point where he enacts all this just to bring them back. His crew is a lower priority, but he still has things he loves and will do anything to save, and that allows him to maintain a lot of sympathy.
Goku Black
Happy yes to Nadakhan.
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Not the Eye
Yes to Djinn Pirate. He was always one of my favorites from the show.
He does plan and scheme, but most of them don't seem to work out in the long run. To be properly magnificent, I feel an MB should at least have 1 or 2 wins over the hero even if they inevitably get defeated at the end.
Edited by Snowy66 on Apr 4th 2023 at 7:54:49 AM