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
Remember that time when I said I was gonna discuss Azure Striker Gunvolt 3, discussed two candidates from the first game, and then just didn't talk about the third game at all? Fun times.
What is the work?
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 is a game developed by Inti Creates, also known for Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX, and the third instalment in the mainline Azure Striker Gunvolt Series. It features Kirin, a Battle Priestess from Shadow Yakumo, who with the help of a greatly empowered but restrained Gunvolt, aims to stop the rise of Primal Dragons, and the organisation of ATEMS who wants to use that power to unknown ends.
Who is the character?
ZedΩ "The Golden Trillion" is the leader of ATEMS and the Big Bad of the third game. Armed with one of the most powerful Septimas in the world, he wishes to Take Over the World using the power of Moebius to shape a better future for the world.
What does he do?
ATEMS makes their first appearance after the Berserk Adepts have been taken care of, using ballistic missiles to pierce Sumeragi's barrier, allowing them to enter the country.
ZedΩ first physically appears as it is revealed he was the energy source of said missiles, revealing that he was watching the heroes the entire time, using his subordinate Layla and her Septima, "the Djinn" to revive them as a means of studying them. He then fights the heroes to test their strength and, upon being defeated, apologises for the missile strikes and explains they weren't meant as an attack, but as a means of transportation since they couldn't get through the barrier any other way. The Binding Brands that were keeping up the barrier are stolen.
Now with ATEMS established as a threat, ZedΩ orders Grazie to turn the UTU Media Tower into their personal fortress, the Sunrise Palace, and gathers his Knights there. The heroes infiltrate the tower, but he has the Knights intercept them, leaving only Kirin and Gunvolt to face him.
ZedΩ reveals his plan to them, revealing that he has found the true ruler of the Primal Dragons - Moebius (not that one, and definitely not that one), hidden away in Sumeragi's building. Moebius holds a power far beyond a Septima - an "Octima", known as Astral Order, that allows it to see and control the infinite possibilities of the future. He does not want Moebius to awaken into a Primal Dragon, or else it will coat the entire world in Dragon Radiation, and he doesn't trust Sumeragi with that much power, so he wishes to have the Djinn control it and its power, having tested the Djinn on the Berserk Adepts (who were infected by said Radiation), so that he can ensure the future is better than wholesale destruction.
Gunvolt and Kirin object to his plan on the grounds that one man's ego should not rule the world or determine the future, and ZedΩ actually expected this outcome, inviting them to try and stop him. They fight, and the heroes win, but their clash ends up awakening Moebius anyway. With ZedΩ in no position to fight, Gunvolt and Kirin take on Moebius, but when it takes over Gunvolt and his Septima, Kirin is almost killed, only for ZedΩ to save her at the last minute, empowering her with both his Golden Trillion and the Djinn, allowing her to resist Astral Order and eventually win.
In the ATEMS epilogue, ZedΩ reveals that he has managed to secure an Azure Spirit and took it to his researchers, where it was discovered that the Spirit was a fragment of Gunvolt's Azure Striker Septimosome as well as Moebius' Astral Order. He believes that if they gather more of these, they can work out how Azure Striker and Astral Order fused to begin with, and from there work out the root cause of Adepts becoming Primal Dragons. He submits a proposal to exchange research with Sumeragi as a means of buying time, and believes that Sumeragi would try to hide the very existence of Azure Spirits, so he sends Layla to use the Djinn to locate them in hopes that if they can gather the spirits first, they can force Sumeragi to be upfront about them. While things do go wrong thanks to unforeseen circumstances, and the spirits end up scattering off to places unknown, the plan itself was solid, and he manages to hold onto one last Azure Spirit, which he hands over to Kirin.
Is he Magnificent?
Yes, he is. He is by far one of the most overtly likeable of Gunvolt's rogue's gallery, being unfailingly polite and forthcoming with his motives. He has enough charisma that all of his Bodyguard Babes absolutely adore him, even the two who wish to betray him, and he is a Benevolent Boss in turn. The ATEMS epilogue starring him showcases his propensity for gentlemanly flirting, as well as making him the primary source of humour with his carefree personality. Even when he hits on Shiron, he is not put in an undignified light and always remains levelheaded and charismatic.
His dealing with Serpentine is an example of his magnificence, as she was sent by a rival organisation to assassinate him, which naturally ended in her defeat. He then offered to recruit her to ATEMS, telling her that if she so desires, she is free to gain strength and try again whenever she wants. She still serves him loyally to this day, considering it a matter of honour to be the one to kill him.
As for intelligence, he always manages to stay ahead of the heroes, with everything detailed in the "What has he done?" section showing his ability to adapt to changing circumstances and his skill at long-term planning. He is also a skilled and highly powerful combatant, as gameplay supports greatly. He is a very challenging boss, and if Kirin throws talismans at him to render him vulnerable to her attacks but doesn't use Arc Chain quickly enough, he'll just pull them off and throw them back. He takes his defeat with grace, even helping Kirin out when Moebius goes rogue.
Is he a Bastard? Too much?
Well, he broke into a country and is trying to use an Eldritch Abomination to Take Over the World. It's pretty self-explanatory.
However, this is mitigated by his genuine good intentions. The way he sees it, Moebius' awakening is inevitable, and since Sumeragi kept it hidden from everyone, it will almost certainly lead to the world being covered in Dragon Radiation, leading to a mass-Primal Dragonization on a worldwide scale. He wants to prevent that by using the Djinn to control Moebius, and considering the alternative is The End of the World as We Know It, he can be read as genuine even if he does desire to take over the world, too.
He also has plenty of redeeming qualities, as listed in the "Is he Magnificent?" section above, and it helps that of the Gunvolt Big Bads, he's the least heinous by far, being the only one who doesn't want to enslave (Nova) or kill (Asimov and Zonda) an entire race. His good intentions extend to humans and Adepts alike.
What's the competition like?
Well, he doesn't have any real competition, due to being the leader of the only real antagonistic force in the game. He outmanoeuvres the heroes at every turn and frequently does Assassin Outclassin' on Serpentine, so I'd say he does just fine on this front.
Final Verdict?
A happy ![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
to Mr. Zeddy.
Edited by Iceaura39 on Jan 17th 2023 at 11:42:11 AM
It is I, the narrator, categorising addict and writer of books you haven't read.
What's the work?: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a film in which Puss in Boots from the Shrek universe is on his last life and decides to track down a wishing star that will grant him more lives. But he's caught up in a Mêlée à Trois between him, Goldilocks and her three bears, and Jack Horner.
Who's the candidate? Goldilocks is introduced finding Puss's tracks after a giant battle he had. She tracks him to a Crazy Cat Lady home where he has retired and grown a shaggy beard. While she has her three bears interrogate the cat lady she searches herself. One of the bears finds Puss's "grave" (wear he buried his costume) and they come to the conclusion that he's dead. They then decide to go do the heist to find a map that will lead to the wishing star without Puss. Hearing this, Puss decides to get the map himself which will lead him to the star. Unfortunately it is currently in the possession of Jack Horner, and you don't cross him...
Puss and Kitty softpaws (his ex-fiancee) break in to steal the map and get caught up with Goldi and the three bears as well. This causes Puss and Kitty to flee, while both Jack and Gold follow them to the forest where the wishing star resides.
Once one enters the forest and reads the map, the terrain changes in response to who reads it. Perrito, Kitty and Puss' dog companion has by far the most benign terrain so Kitty and Puss decide to have him read the map, and hurry along following him, as Goldi and three bears arrive shortly behind.
They eventually come across Jack fighting Kitty and Puss and manage to steal the map in the chaos. Reading it, the terrain changes to the childhood house that Goldi snuck into when she found the bears. Reasonably thinking the forest is trying to trick them, she's still charmed by the memories of her life with them. Eventually the bears get distracted and Puss is able to sneak in an steal the map. Quickly realising this, a fight ensues and Goldi utilizes quick thinking and good use of the environment to nearly steal it back, but it still get's taken by Kitty and Puss. However in the process Goldi manages to kidnap Perrito, constructs a trap that will ensnare the rescuer.
However while arguing with her brother bear, he manages to trigger it. Exasperated she reveals her wish is to have a real human family, hurting her bears feelings. They still decide to help with it anyway.
Finally reaching the Star, she again gets into a fight with Puss' crew and Jack trying to reach the map to use it to make the wish. But when it's a choice between getting the map or saving her younger bear brother, she decides to save her brother, finally realizing the bears are her true family.
Shortly after, Jack turns into a giant, and Perrito distracts him with cute eyes. Jack isn't touched, but more confused, and while that's taking place Goldi works with Puss and Kitty to destroy the map, so no one gets the wish.
She leaves with her three bears, deciding to go rob something else as a family.
Bitch? Too Much? She's a thief and mob boss of sorts, whose in conflict with the main hero and his love interest. That being said she's nowhere near bad as Jack Horner, who's a Bad Boss extraordinaire and who wants to rule the world with a magical iron fist; she even helps take him down at the end. She clearly loves the three bears, even if it takes her awhile to realize it.
Charming? Good Planner? She's very much the brains of her gang, keeping them on task towards tracking puss, and is quite good at thinking quickly in the heat of battle, utilizing her staff to get the map or throw Puss and Kitty, and she even captures Perrito and utilizes him as bait. That only fails cause her brother is kind of dumb. In the end she ends the film to keep being a successful thief/gang leader.
Verdict?
Edited by jjjj2 on Jan 16th 2023 at 2:16:27 PM
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
RIP Toriyama
Goldi's a delightful character and I absolutely think she counts, great work on her proposal!
Tonight I dine on monkey soup.
Good work folks!
Alright, my next EP for Scarlet and Violet.
The greatest twist in the whole game, the cool school boy Clive was none other than the elderly principle of the school, Director Clavell, here too- wait, what do you mean you saw that coming? You mean he's not a villain, just a concerned principal?
Oh well, on to the actual candidate.
Who is Penny/Cassiopeia?
Penny is a bullied nerd. Because of that, she anonymously contacted and gathered up a bunch of other bullied kids under the pseudonym "Cassiopeia". The intent was to confront the bullies and get them to back down, but the bullies not only surrendered before they could do anything, they pulled out of the academy. Suddenly, Team Star looked like the bullies, and although Cassiopeia wanted them to disband to avoid any more trouble, the members were too loyal to the cause and refused, thus spreading throughout the region and skipping out on school. Penny took a year off at the behest of the school's director at the time (who resigned because of this incident), but a mysterious assistant direction expunged all records of the bullying to keep Team Star as the bad guys.
Present day, after seeing the player ward off Team Star grunts unknowingly attacking their leader, Penny contacts the player as Cassiopeia and recruits them into her new plan: Operation Star Fall. The player is to travel across the region to disband the five squads by defeating their leaders, as if they don't disband, they will be expelled. Cassiopeia would reward their efforts with a hefty amount of League Points. In the mean time, she would observe as Penny, claiming to by a supplier for the Starfall. The mysterious student Clive also assisted, although Cassiopeia never intended him to be brought onboard.
After all the teams are fought, Cassiopeia reveals herself as the leader of Team Star and asks the player to fight her at the school's battle court. The player does, finding out Cassiopeia and Penny are one and the same. The battle, recorded by Clive, ends in Penny's defeat, but Clive suddenly reveals himself to be Director Clavell, oh my god what a twist and, having gathered the squad leaders, decides to allow Team Star to stay active, albeit with their purpose now transformed into helping students train. Penny is relieved that everything turned out well, but...she reveals that the League Points she gave to the player were stolen from the League itself. Whoops, that's going to be a conversation with Geeta.
After Penny helps out with the mission into Area Zero, she is forced into reinforcing the League's security system by Geeta, despite her wishing to catch up on anime.
Is she magnificent?
She's a bullied girl who successfully manipulates you into taking down her own organization to save them from expulsion, I think that kind of speaks for itself.
Is she a bastard?
This is a bit harder, but she does trick you into doing her dirty work and baits you with stolen League Points. That's gotta amount for something probably.
Professional Wick Checker
So, this is my first time ever at proposing an MB candidate, and I have an EP ready. Do I wait until I post it or can I post it now? If I have to wait, for how long?
Wait until the next page, there are only 4 EPs per a page/an hour whichever comes first.
Edited by jjjj2 on Jan 16th 2023 at 1:36:26 PM
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
Introduce a little anarchy
Funny, I wasn’t even sure if Goldilocks could have qualified as I thought she didn’t do anything smart enough. May need to either rewatch the movie or recollect it from memory based off that wonderful EP.
~~Agentof Chaosreporting~~
Trying to recall if I said here that there are 20 in pending now or if I accidentally posted that somewhere else.
As I said on Scream 5 at one point, wouldn't be surprised if Sam herself becomes a killer of Ghostface killers and counts. I also have a theory about who the main Ghostface in Scream VI will be too. PM me if you're curious.
Anybody remember when I tried to do Cotton almost three years ago? Haha.
While I want to see The Last Wish before getting in on the Goldilocks vote, since we're reopened now, I wanted to ask about when someone intends to put Humpty from the first film back up. To ~Ravok and ~STARCRUSHER99, if neither of you minds, I can make quick work of this.
Edited by futuremoviewriter on Jan 16th 2023 at 11:07:06 AM
Introduce a little anarchy
I thought Humpty was approved already? Was he removed?
~~Agentof Chaosreporting~~
Goku Black
He uh got approved than cut. Than the person who filed the cut changed their mind I think?
Tbh I would also like if both this lady and Humpty went to the main pages together.
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Introduce a little anarchy
Can I get a link to that EP? I wasn’t able to find it on my own for some reason.
~~Agentof Chaosreporting~~
That'd be three for Shrek along with the Pied Piper.
Also yeah. STAR originally got him approved tentatively, Rav filed the cut and then Ravok some point last year when doing the Piper said he thought the reasons for cutting Humpty didn't actually give the tone of the work enough credit and allowed them to be forgiven. Thus, the plan was for one of them to put him back up eventually.
Edited by futuremoviewriter on Jan 16th 2023 at 11:16:09 AM
The Moron
I can clear it up - basically, I proposed him back in the day, but there was a debate on if he was too cowardly or not. I disagreed at the time and he went up, but I later came to agree that he was too cowardly and cut him myself. He got cut, but we've gotten a bit less strict on that sort of thing in children's movies since then, so Ravok, the person who most fervently argued against his original inclusion, said that he's changed his mind on Humpty and would be willing to see him back.
Basically, I can propose him at some point in the next couple days if people want - I've never been particularly wedded to it, but if someone else from another movie is going up, no reason not to!
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Right. You suggested the cut yourself. My bad.
Not the Eye
I am good with seeing Humpy back up
RIP Toriyama
Yeah, I'm looking forward to your new proposal of Humpty there, STAR!
Tonight I dine on monkey soup.
Classy, Refined, Unstable
@Geode That missing T really changes the character lmao.
Never gonna object to a relitigation though STAR!
Edited by WetFlannels on Jan 16th 2023 at 7:37:39 PM
Oh, Mr. Kennedy, you entertain me. To show my appreciation, I will help you awaken from your world of clichés.
"Cool. Coolcoolcool."
I would be okay with Humpty being discussed again.
Fan-Preferred Couple cleanup thread
Introduce a little anarchy
Yeah can’t wait for him to be rediscussed myself too.
~~Agentof Chaosreporting~~
Introduce a little anarchy
Also I have one question about Goldilocks (this isn’t a vote, not yet at least, just a question): doesn’t she fall for her own bear trap that she herself set up in the movie? Isn’t that disqualifying or does she recover?
Edit: ![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
My bad.
Edited by AgentofChaos41 on Jan 16th 2023 at 11:55:48 AM
~~Agentof Chaosreporting~~
No that is her Brother. I stated that in the EP, also please don't double post unless significant time has passed, just edit your old post.
Edited by jjjj2 on Jan 16th 2023 at 2:50:16 PM
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
RIP Toriyama
Indeed that was Baby Bear who fell for the trap.
Tonight I dine on monkey soup.
you know I must admit that it’s a little frustrating to wait 24 hours until we can vote on candidates, especially since some of these candidates are pretty easy to . Hopefully we can amend that to around 12 hours later down the line after the 2 week trial period has ended
Edited by G-Editor on Jan 16th 2023 at 9:54:45 AM
Last for Twig (technically there are three more, but I don't have effortposts for them ready).
Who is the Duke of Francis?
The first noble introduced in the series, the Duke takes over the Academy the Lambs project is hosted at after the previous headmaster fails to contain a rebellion in a nearby city. He's introduced when it's discovered there's another high-ranking spy that has infiltrated the Academy itself... after they had recently rooted out a massive amount of student traitors. Exasperated at unearthing yet another massive fuck up from the prior administration, the Duke decides to make an example of the previous headmaster and orders him arrested for use as experiment fodder (though letting him say goodbye to his family first, and providing them with enough money to get back on their feet) before making preparations to catch the spy, leaving nothing to chance as he arranges for a massive contingent of soldiers to lock down every possible exit point.
Long story short, he gets into an epic duel with the spy, Avis, who has turned herself into a harpy-bird monster and set a building on fire. It's at this point the Duke cements himself as a Blood Knight who treats getting stabbed 13 times, impaled through the leg, and left bleeding from a massive hole in his cheek as a minor handicap. He proceeds to jump into the flames, decapitates three of her minions with a single swipe of his blade, and personally captures Avis with the help of the Lambs. From there, he has his doctors give her a drug which slows down her perception of time so that even a few minutes will feel like weeks, leaving her in "isolation" until she cracks. It's pretty effective if somehow worse than it already sounds, and after pumping her for the locations of her friends and family, the Duke leaves her in that state—partially in case he needs her again, partially as punishment for her role in kidnapping children to be turned into rebel Super Soldiers.
Fast forward a bit, and this rebel leader, Mauer, creates a bunch of "primordial" superweapons—essentially giant monsters that can regenerate and cause as much damage as a nuke—and leaks their location to the Crown, knowing that they'll come and try to exterminate the entire city they're held at so that no piece of the primordials can escape. The Duke is smart enough to realize Mauer is baiting him into a trap but also recognizes the dangers the primordials pose and commits to the assault, leading to a massive battle as he and Mauer constantly outwit each other: the Duke immediately deduces how Mauer intends to ambush his forces within seconds of laying eyes on the city, Mauer manages to temporarily dispatch the Duke's Dragon, etc.
Mauer releases the primordials, but the Duke effectively hijacks control by isolating them behind his lines. They grow too weak, he feeds them warbeasts, they grow too strong and he has them blasted with artillery. It effectively devolves into a massive game of chicken, neither side willing to strongly commit to seeing the monsters dead before they can be used to decimate the other and effectively waiting for someone to concede before things grow out of hand. Things eventually come to a head, and Mauer and the Duke meet face-to-face, with the latter seemingly the inevitable winner. He dismisses the explosives Mauer's planted at their meeting place, having had his men sneak among the rebels and dismantle them, and demands their surrender.
Unfortunately, the Duke discovers in rapid succession two very problematic trump cards Mauer was holding close to his chest:
A few months later, the Lambs visit the Infante, the highest-ranking noble in the states, and see the Duke is still a vegetable... at least, that's what he wants everyone think. When they're alone, the Duke reveals he regained consciousness a while ago and has been hiding it from the Infante, whose plans to commit genocide on the Crown States he seeks to subvert. He convinces them to bring him a drug that can speed up his damaged brain before warning them of the Infante's plans, sending them to rescue one of his personal doctors/attendants so he can be fully repaired and call in some favors from higher-ranking relatives to stop the plot.
As he recovers the Duke and the Lambs have a bit of secret correspondence over the months through coded letters. Unfortunately, there apparently just so happens to be one Academy doctor with a stealth-lizard experiment running around that just so happens to witness the Duke's duplicity, and the Infante finds out. In the climax, when the Lambs have rallied an army to march on one of the last remaining Academies in the Crown States, the Infante summons the Duke and his personal doctors and tells them that they shall march to their deaths against Sy's forces, and if they have the gall to survive then everyone they love will be sent to become slaves in the Crown's "pits."
Naturally, this is quite the incentive. The Duke and his doctors meet Sy in the middle of the battlefield and have a negotiation: the Infante will never allow their loved ones to live, but if they comply with his orders then maybe they'll at least be granted a quick death. His doctors, who do most of the talking because of the brain damage, are reluctant to even attempt to assassinate the Infante if it means risking something worse. But no matter what they do, it will still lead to the destruction of the Crown States as it is now, something the Duke has put his entire life into building. His era is over... but maybe he can take a chance and pass the baton down to the next generation. A generation that won't consist of complete assholes.
The Duke has his doctors give him a last-minute strength drug and charges to his death against the Infante and his personal giant octopus monster warbeast, the latter of which the Duke holds at bay while the Lambs deal with the noble. He surprisingly does a pretty good job of dueling with it, only relenting to take a strike at the Infante when he's about to kill Sy. This breaks his momentum enough to be disarmed and knocked flat on his ass.
"Wanted-" the Duke said. He looked at the Infante.
I filled in the gap. I wanted to stop him.
"We will," I said. Somehow.
"Was it- worth it?" the Duke asked.
"None of you survive the day," the Infante said. "'Worth' is irrelevant."
"Absolutely worth it," I said.
The Infante reached out for the Duke, using his plague-ridden hand to seize the man by the face. There was almost surrender on the Duke's face as he was seized. No fight, no effort to defend himself. He'd spent all he had.
No. Not quite. He reached out and grabbed the Infante's arm, brought a leg around and hooked the Infante's. He was holding on, burdening the High Noble, hampering him so we could run.
That didn't stop the Infante for telling the Calf to come after us. It barely hampered the Infante from turning, walking as if there was barely any obstruction.
But he wasn't running. That counted for something.
Long story short, the Infante is finally killed... in no small part thanks to the giant "TITS" Sy almost got himself killed carving into the back of his head, causing his troops to hesitate in taking him seriously. Absolutely worth it.
Any mitigating features?
Now, the Duke is creepy as all hell in the beginning, but when compared to the other nobles he's so much more competent and reasonable. In more detail:
Overall, the Duke is an efficient bastard who is almost heroic compared to his brethren. His fight with Mauer is a brilliant chess match that he loses because of a completely unheard of technology, and even with permanent brain damage he can get right back to strategizing, ultimately going out like a boss to save the future. As twisted as he is in the beginning, he's honorable and beloved by the entire Crown States for protecting them from the hedonism of minor, far less powerful yet far more depraved nobles, such as one who... *checks notes*... takes random women off the streets, removes all their organs and inside bits until they're nothing more than skin and brains, and uses them as living dolls. Taking the rest of his family into consideration, the Duke's a saint.