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If you're going to take me on, son, you're going to have to bring your game up to a whole different level.
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THE Magnificent Bastard.
See Also:
- John Ross Ewing, II. That is all.
- In the 2012 revival, JR even helps his son achieve his dream of taking over Southfork ranch and tricks his brother into signing over the property to an investor who's secretly one of J.R.'s associates. Taking over Southfork, J.R. starts to drill for oil on it to secure profits while fooling his brother into thinking he was an invalid to throw him off his scent. Discovering he's dying of cancer, J.R. sets about his "masterpiece" and sets about getting revenge on the family's hated nemesis Cliff Barnes, having a minion steal Cliff's gun and kill him in order to frame Cliff for the crime. Ever a man of total class, J.R. even reveals in his will his genuine love for his family and is happy that his son will be following in his footsteps as a master manipulator in his own right.
- In Alphas, Well-Intentioned Extremist Stanton Parrish breaks out all but two inmates of Building Seven, without anybody but the main characters knowing he's involved. He has a lady hypnotize and brainwash anyone in his organization down to the lowest minion to ensure complete loyalty. He lectures the stupid guards as he escapes from custody, and then almost steals psychic's powers. He's had his counterpart's daughter spying for him since before he even knew he existed. And when people finally become aware of his existence, after they foiled a terrorist attack of his that would have murdered an entire city? He hijacks the counter-measures the heroes put in place, and manipulate it so that by defending themselves he can launch an attack that would kill the entire country for what he feels is for the greater good.
- Alfred Bester from Babylon 5 epitomizes this trope. He's a charming psychopath who combines ruthless scheming with an infuriating charisma that drives the heroes crazy even as they are forced to respect his skill. Bester can do this even when his telepathic powers have been removed, frequently arriving on Babylon 5 and twisting events to suit his purposes or the purpose of the Psi-Corps. In one such instance, Bester tricks a prisoner by claiming he can read his mind, even when Bester has been blocked from doing so, relying on bluffs and gambits to get the information he desires when he simply suspected the prisoner must be lying. Bester frequently enacts daring schemes either for the benefit of the Corps or himself, only breaking from his self-serving nature when the woman he loves is threatened by the Shadows, stating that it has made Babylon 5's war his own
- Speaking of Babylon 5...Londo Mollari, despite his buffoonish exterior, steadily grows into true magnificence. In one famous instance, Londo blackmails his rival, the monstrous Antono Refa into helping him because "Because I have asked you. Because your sense of duty to our people should override any personal ambition. And because I have poisoned your drink." He goes on to describe how the poison comes in two parts, one of which was in Refa's drink. If he does not comply, one of Londo's agents in the Royal Court will introduce him to the second half of the poison. Londo proceeds to create a plan to rescue the Centauri from their mad Emperor Cartagia and later arranges a plan to lure Refa to his death at the hands of Narns when Londo believes Refa murdered the love of Londo's life. For this, Londo simply tells the truth about Refa's horrific crimes and vows to free Narn prisoners in exchange for the Narns murdering Refa. Londo later even manages to outwit the Shadows and their servant Morden, blowing up an entire island to wipe out the Shadow presence on Centauri, even ascending to the throne himself. even when the Drakh think Londo defeated and broken, he works against them to ensure the freedom of Centauri, even at the end when it costs his own life with his once greatest enemy turned best friend G'kar of Narn.
- Babylon 5's characters tend to evolve with such complexity that nobody knows just who is going to be the bastard at any given time. Londo careened between comic relief, Magnificent Bastard, and Tragic Villain countless times throughout the series. Word of God has it that their respective actors tossed a coin to see which one of Londo Mollari and his rival G'Kar would be the bad guy. Word of God did not reveal which actor won. Ten years after the show ended, its fans still haven't figured out which character was the bad guy. That's complexity.
- Of course, Magnificent Bastardry seems to be the Centauri's "hat"; What does timid, gentle Vir Cotto do when a madman becomes Emperor and is ordering daily genocides? Make protests? Feed information to La Résistance? Nope! He cooks up a byzantine scheme to secretly relocate hundreds of thousands of would-be victims by pretending to have them killed! He's a nice guy, but he's still a Centauri.
- Morden is another example. For a long time, he successfully manipulated Londo, with the help of his "associates". Until Londo finally Out-Gambitted him in "Into the Fire".
- Speaking of Babylon 5...Londo Mollari, despite his buffoonish exterior, steadily grows into true magnificence. In one famous instance, Londo blackmails his rival, the monstrous Antono Refa into helping him because "Because I have asked you. Because your sense of duty to our people should override any personal ambition. And because I have poisoned your drink." He goes on to describe how the poison comes in two parts, one of which was in Refa's drink. If he does not comply, one of Londo's agents in the Royal Court will introduce him to the second half of the poison. Londo proceeds to create a plan to rescue the Centauri from their mad Emperor Cartagia and later arranges a plan to lure Refa to his death at the hands of Narns when Londo believes Refa murdered the love of Londo's life. For this, Londo simply tells the truth about Refa's horrific crimes and vows to free Narn prisoners in exchange for the Narns murdering Refa. Londo later even manages to outwit the Shadows and their servant Morden, blowing up an entire island to wipe out the Shadow presence on Centauri, even ascending to the throne himself. even when the Drakh think Londo defeated and broken, he works against them to ensure the freedom of Centauri, even at the end when it costs his own life with his once greatest enemy turned best friend G'kar of Narn.
- Doug Judy in Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the Pontiac Bandit, an affable car thief known for stealing 200 cars. Making himself known to Jake Peralta by pretending to be an informant, Doug sends Jake on a wild goose chase to the barber Doug framed, while he slips past him unnoticed. When Doug unexpectedly encounters Jake, he gives him the drug manufacturer of giggle pig in exchange for a four-star hotel suite where he collaborates with the suite's waiter on his escape, with Jake being too busy capturing the manufacturer. When Doug learns of a hitman trying to kill him he contacts Jake for help, making sure to meet Jake on a cruise ship, where Jake has no jurisdiction, while escaping said ship once Jake catches the hitman. When Jake needs Doug’s help to capture his adopted brother, Doug uses this opportunity to get immunity on all 600 crimes he committed in return for his assistance. Getting Jake’s attention again by holding hostages, Doug gets Jake involved in a plan to rescue his mother from a drug lord, before escaping from Jake once more. Always being Jake’s most elusive adversary, Doug Judy’s master planning was only matched by his unlimited charm.
- Grayson of Highlander fame. Grayson was born in Dacia as Claudianus. Becoming immortal, he soon entered into the tutelage of the infamous immortal warlord Darius. When Darius left war behind Grayson was outraged and felt deeply betrayed by it, dedicating himself to warfare and became such an exemplary player of the Game that some believed he may be The One one day. In modern day, Grayson begins murdering Darius's students in the ways of peace to draw Darius off holy ground and destroy him in retribution for his betrayal, until Duncan Macleod interferes. Grayson constantly conducts himself with the utmost politeness with Duncan, at one point informing him he didn't believe men like Duncan still existed as "I've killed so many".
- Luther Graves from Justice. In False Confession, he is able to get an alternate theory across easily, completely tears apart the pompous detective and makes him like a total douchebag in front of the entire jury while said detective can only stew in impotent rage, and he's able to convince the jury that a kid is lying without being a jerk (he simply conveys that the kid was telling the DA what she wanted to hear so that he could get out of his tough situation, and that he lied to the mother simply to prevent her feelings from being hurt.) In Crucified he tears up the profiler, and in Prior Conviction, his closing argument is just a beautifully crafted speech. For a total douchebag, he's got lots of style.
- Ted Roark from Chuck. He is like the mix of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. So selfish and narcissistic, but oh so highly charismatic.
- Also Daniel Shaw of all people, after his Face Heel Turn. He plays Chuck and Sarah like a fiddle.
- Alexei Volkov, so very much. He makes just introducing himself into a terrifying Oh Crap moment.
- Chuck Bass of Gossip Girl is a mixture of this trope, the Handsome Lech, and the Upper Class Wit. His Distaff Counterpart and Love Interest Blair does quite well too.
- In Arrow:
- Slade Wilson/Deathstroke introduced himself as The Man Behind the Man to Brother Blood, who was conducting illegal experiments to raise an army of super-soldiers to take over Starling City. He then kidnaps Oliver's sister and reveals her true parentage to her, all in order to cause confusion among the Queen family while he frees all the inmates imprisoned by the Arrow for his super soldier army. He even had Isabel Rochev usurp Oliver's company so that he could use it for his plans, all of it just to make Oliver suffer. By the time Oliver/the Arrow realised the full nature of his plans, he had already set his army upon Starling City. His biggest mistake was that he underestimated Oliver's allies since he was mainly focused on making him suffer more than anything else.
- Keeping up with his counterparts in other versions, Ra's Al-Ghul has ascended to this position with style towards the end of Season 3. With an objective to secure Oliver as the heir to the League of Assassins, he had his followers impersonate the Arrow to kill several criminals around the city in order to frame The Arrow. He then kidnaps Captain Lance in order to expose Oliver Queen as the Arrow, thus staging a nearly successful gambit where The Arrow would have to accept his terms or rot in prison.
- Justified: In amidst all the white supremacists, drug addicts, stupid crooks, and other human wreckage that comprised the gangsters of rural Harlan County, there was the occasional villain with some charisma and flair, and the according ability to run rings about series' protagonists Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder:
- Mags Bennett was the Big Bad of Season 2 and matriarch of the Bennett family, a Bandit Clan of hillbilly moonshiners and marijuana farmers whose influence was felt throughout Harlan County. Ruling her namesake township of Bennett as not just a Corrupt Hick but an uncrowned Feudal Overlord, Mags controlled the Bennett Police Department through her son, Doyle, and the marijuana trade through his brothers, Dickie and Coover, making her the final arbiter on near everything that happened in town. Rallying the people of Harlan at large and Bennett in particular against Black Pike Mining's attempts to buy up the county, Mags secretly cut a deal with Black Pike behind the backs of her fellow townsfolk, selling most of the county to Black Pike in exchange for extensive personal profits that she planned to use to get her grandchildren out of crime. Staying her hand when her son Coover was killed by Raylan (whose family the Bennetts had long feuded with), Mags returned to action when Dickie started a war with Boyd and proved capable of matching him trick for trick. In the end, only the unexpected return of Mags' foster daughter, Loretta, to Bennett, and the ensuing intervention by the Marshal Service proved able to bring the Bennett township tyrant down.
- Ellstin Limehouse, was the unofficial king of Noble's Holler, the one black community in rural white Harlan. Concerned with keeping his people isolated and safe, Limehouse played Harlan's criminals and law enforcement against one another with seeming impunity, always evading responsibility, and coming out on top. In Season 3 he outmaneuvered Boyd, Robert Quarles, Dickie Bennett and Raylan, setting in motion a plan that saw Quarles killed, Boyd and Dickie imprisoned, and Raylan unable to touch Limehouse. In Season 4, he successfully ripped off Boyd and the Detroit mob both, while at the same time, saving the life of frightened hooker Ellen May and extricating Noble's from the Harlan underworld. Making his final appearance in Season 6, Limehouse again got the better of Boyd, before vanishing from Harlan, one step ahead of the Marshal's Service. No other villain on the show has walked as fine a line between good and evil as Limehouse, and none has ever come close to matching his achievements or his ability to get away with everything.
- Drew Thompson was a Detroit mobster with a unique penchant for taking Refuge in Audacity. After witnessing Theo Tonin commit a murder, Drew realized that he had to get out of town before Theo killed him to cover it up. Shooting Theo in the eye, Drew stole an airplane and faked his own death, shoving his accomplice, Waldo Truth, out of the plane, then parachuting into Harlan County where he exchanged his cocaine and drug money for a new identity, helping Bo Crowder and Arlo Givens become rural mafiosi while he himself became Shelby Parlow of the Harlan Sheriff's Department. Eventually elected Sheriff himself, Shelby used his position to undermine Boyd's control over Harlan and the office of Sheriff alike, while also joining the recently revitalized search for "Drew Thompson" whose survival, but not identity, had been discovered. Found out in the end and arrested by Raylan, Drew Thompson nevertheless enjoyed a decades long career in law enforcement, and his machinations set in motion the eventual collapse of Boyd's criminal enterprises—the very same enterprises Drew had helped Boyd's father Bo, assemble in the first place.
- Loretta McCready was the foster daughter and Bastard Understudy of Mags Bennett, and while she might have sided with Raylan against Mags, the passage of time proves that it was Mags' influence that lasted. Aspiring to become a marijuana kingpin in the same vein as her foster mother, Loretta spent Season 6 buying up agricultural land throughout Harlan County under both her real name and various aliases, and putting herself in direct competition with Avery Markham and the various gun thugs in his employ. Allying herself with Boyd, Loretta turned the entire town against Markham with a single speech at a party that Markham himself was hosting, and bought up most of the land in the county. Even the implosion of Boyd's empire and the loss of his protection could not stop Loretta; when Markham cornered her she persuaded him that she should become his new partner, thus surviving until Raylan and Boyd killed off Markham and his enforcer, Boon. Only a teenager when the series ended, Loretta demonstrated that she was more capable than most of the adult criminals on the show, and was left in a perfect position to pick up where Mags and Boyd left off, as the reigning queen of the Harlan underworld.
- Captain John Hart from Torchwood. A slick, charming, handsome, stylish, pathological liar who enjoys using The Plan to get what he wants (which includes attention from Captain Jack). He poisoned Gwen, shot Tosh, beat up Owen, and threatened Ianto at gunpoint, and enjoyed every minute of it. When he blew up a good chunk of Cardiff, he said, "Let the fun begin! Do I mean fun or carnage? I always get those two mixed up." True, he was acting on orders from Grey, who'd strapped a bomb to his arm, but he was still clearly enjoying watching the city and the Torchwood Team panic.
- Jack Harkness himself can be this when you put him on the spot, especially in his earliest form in Doctor Who. Case in point: starting out as a con man who charmed his victims out of their cash, and ending on Torchwood by killing his own grandson in order to save the planet. I Did What I Had to Do maybe, but... damn.
- Also from Torchwood, Bilis Manger: a polite, unassuming old man who happens to be able to travel through time and space at will. For the duration of the last two episodes of the first season, Bilis plays everyone like puppets from beginning to end, all while remaining cool, calm and elegantly understated. And there was that soft, malevolent smile he'd break into...
- And now, in Torchwood: Miracle Day, we have Jilly Kitzinger, a devious, sexy, well-dressed PR representative who manipulates Complete Monster Oswald Danes to gain power for herself. She's not pure evil, though; she still privately finds Oswald repulsive.
- Star Trek has entertained us with many a Magnificent Bastard. Such as the villainous Q, introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Omnipotent, yet petty; cruel but not vicious; causing devastation yet helpful at times, you really couldn't help but love the bastard(s).
- Q's villain status, however, is in question. Most of his actions as portrayed on TNG have been in some way beneficial to the resident crew or humanity as a whole. One example is how, as it has been established in canon The Borg Collective was aware of humanity long before humanity was aware of the Borg, Qs forcing a confrontation between Enterprise-D and a Borg cube served as the early warning that allowed Starfleet to avoid complete disaster.
- Q's behavior throughout TNG might be described as "Obfuscating Villainy."
- Season 2's Elementary Dear Data, introduces a hologram of Professor Moriarty, created to be an opponent capable of defeating Data at Holodeck games. Accessing the computer to learn of his past and the ship, Enterprise, Moriarty kidnaps Dr. Pulski, revealing he is self aware, and taking control of the ship's computer. Sealed away until the crew finds a way to free him after making an agreement with Picard, Moriarty returns years later in Ship in a Bottle when he's accidentally released. Angry at the crew's failure to free him, Moriarty demands to be released along with his beloved, Countess Regina Barthalomew. Taking control of the ship when Picard refuses, Moriarty threatens to crash it unless he and his loved one are set free. Although Picard wrestles back control of the ship, Moriarty traps Data and Barclay in an illusion on the Holodeck, before accessing Picard's access codes to the real ship, willing to die alongside everyone on board unless his dreams are granted. Although eventually trapped in virtual reality with the countess, Picard had to compromise by allowing Moriarty to live in the bliss of exactly what he wanted to save his crew from the brilliant criminal.
- One of the best examples from the Star Trek franchise has got to be Elim Garak in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He fits the trope exactly, always being one step ahead of everyone and knowing precisely what to do to turn the tide in his favor. As a Semi-Retired Monster he has a wide repertoire of dirty tricks and knows exactly when his opponents will try to use them against him. Garak's master stroke is forcing the Romulan Empire to declare war on the Dominion, by manipulating Sisko into manufacturing evidence of an up coming attack on Romulus and presenting it to a Romulan Senator. When the Senator decides the evidence is fake, Garak blows up his shuttle, so that the Romulan Empire will think the Dominion killed him and declare war on the Dominion. In the final season, Garak works with Colonel Kira and Legate Damar and uses his skills to help a Cardassian resistance movement overthrow Dominion rule on Cardassia. A walking CMOA, and maybe most importantly he's also one of the franchise's best Deadpan Snarkers.
- Upon hearing The Boy Who Cried Wolf for the first time, Garek decided that the moral to the story was 'Never tell the same lie twice.'
- Another example is Gul Dukat. Even going so far as to turn himself into a Bajoran in order to corrupt their entire religion. And always expects people to be grateful to him.
- Seska from Voyager was a Cardassian spy surgically altered to look Bajoran. After she was busted, she wormed her way into power in a rabidly misogynist society and got them to steal Voyager. Some time after the ship was retaken and she was killed, it was discovered that she had edited a tactical training scenario to trap the author -- Tuvok -- in it and hunt him down and kill him -- after toying with him for a while.
- Lets be honest Cardassians pretty much have Magnificent Bastard as their Hat.
- Q's villain status, however, is in question. Most of his actions as portrayed on TNG have been in some way beneficial to the resident crew or humanity as a whole. One example is how, as it has been established in canon The Borg Collective was aware of humanity long before humanity was aware of the Borg, Qs forcing a confrontation between Enterprise-D and a Borg cube served as the early warning that allowed Starfleet to avoid complete disaster.
- Lionel Luthor from Smallville, played to cold, suave, diabolical perfection by John Glover, is the Trope Codifier. If you are on Smallville you have, at some point, been used by Lionel. Originally created to explain how Lex Luthor grew up to be such a bastard and intended to be a one season character, Lionel became a power unto himself in the show, and for the first three seasons was a virtually untouchable threat who easily undercut any efforts by Lex or Clark to act against him. Jailed in Season 4, Lionel proved he was still capable of reaching out to touch anyone, anywhere, whenever he wanted, and after his release from prison and subsequent Heel Face Turn, remained the show’s most potent manipulator, undermining Lex’s attempts at becoming a threat in his own right, and getting the last laugh on his son when it was he, and not Lex, who was resurrected to serve as the show’s final villain in Season 10. In a show filled with mutants, aliens, and meteor freaks, Lionel Luthor was still the most dangerous man around, and no matter who he was sharing space with, always managed to feel like the most powerful person in the room.
- His Earth-2 counterpart seems to be having a good run, naturally enough. "Cutting out your daughter's heart to save your son because you're a Magnificent Bastard" should be a Facebook group.
- His son, being Lex Luthor, qualifies as well, though he always stands in the shadow of his father. But in all fairness, Lex can hardly be faulted; that's a remarkably large shadow to get out from.
- Major Zod, Season 9's Big Bad is a non-Luthor example, in sharp contrast to his General Ripper genetic source material. He manages to use pretty much everyone in-show, including Tess, and Amanda Waller and Checkmate to fullfill his own ends, and does it all while more or less flying by the seat of his pants. He's less of a Chessmaster than Lionel was, but even more of a Trickster.
- Supergirl Season 2's "Alex" gives us Rick Malverne, a former classmate of the Danvers sisters who bored witness to Kara surviving a horrific accident and using her powers to save people. Remembering this, Rick pieces together her past identity once Kara publicly reveals herself as "Supergirl" to National City. Taking the opportunity to free his criminal father from prison, Rick kidnaps Alex and places her in a glass cage, located in a building laced with lead to deter Kara, while slowly filling it with water. Giving Kara and her friends 36 hours to either free his father or watch Alex drown. After being apprehended, Rick remains calm and sees through J'onn's attempt to shape-shift into his father, failing to trick Rick. Even when his plan is foiled when his father reveals the location of his trap, Rick graciously congratulates Alex for surviving his trap and accepts his imprisonment without malice.
- Azazel of Supernatural is no slouch on the bastardry, but with the revelations of the end of season 4, Fridge Brilliance kicks in, and he becomes the magnificent bastard we know and loathe. For starters, we find out that his master plan, previously hinted at, was to release Lucifer himself, and for kicks, exclusively torment one family. He starts by arranging the release of Lucifer's firstborn, Lilith, who is the LAST of the 66 (of 600+) seals necessary to free Lucifer. He then tricks various parents into signing away their unborn children's futures as incubators for demon blood, specifically so that they can kill said firstborn. The master stroke here being picking a favorite future mother, killing the parents of Mother Mary brutally, possessing the dead father, killing her future husband for the first of TWO times, THEN tricking her into unwittingly signing away her child's future, with a deal of bringing back John, the future husband. This "bargain" was of course done for the sole purpose of creating the child he'd had her sign away. The deal was sealed with a kiss, again, between Mary and her dead father, whom Azazel was wearing. Of course, leaving right afterwards, no doubt making her carry the body away. This takes place a few decades before the series begins. During the course of the show, on the other hand, he has a couple of pet projects: plotting to get his hands on a gun that kills everything, attempting to kill the entire remaining Winchester family, choosing an heir to herald the armies of hell, and attempting to literally open the gates of Hell. He succeeds in ALL OF THEM. The kicker is, his greatest victories, as well our knowledge of ANY of his true plan, only come after he dies, with the knowledge that he's basically already succeeded in everything he set his mind to. MAGNIFICENT.
- And he only died because he made the mistake of underestimating Dean, John happened to raise out of hell at the last minute, and there was one bullet left in the Colt that could kill (almost) anything. Leaving both Dean and John alive and uncorrupted was an integral part of his plan, as one of them would need to be pure so that they could break the first seal by becoming a torturer in hell. Assuming John had remained in hell and would eventually break, Azazel planned to use that last bullet to kill Dean, the future host of Michael, thus ensuring Lucifer's victory in bringing about the Apocalypse. When John escaped without breaking, that left Dean to break the first seal that paved the way to setting Lucifer free.
- It turns out Lucifer's the magnificent bastard behind the magnificent bastard Azazel, since he told Azazel what to do. But Azazel's still the one who set up that plan.
- Also, Crowley. Holy shit, the guy's got style. He starts as a lowly demon salesman who realizes Lucifer's intentions to wipe out humanity. Assisting the Winchesters to help bring Lucifer down, Crowley later relies on his wits and power to ascend to become the King of Hell where he becomes the Winchesters' deadly enemy. Using Castiel to assist him into mining Purgatory for the power of the souls within, Crowley usually manages to stay a step ahead of the Winchesters, frequently coming out on top and strengthening his position while eliminating his enemies and rivals. His Crowning Moment comes in Seventh Season's finale—he plays the Winchesters and Leviathans against each other, and ensures that he ends up being the only winner of the season. By the time the dust has settled, latest Big Bad Dick Roman is dead, Dean and Castiel have been banished to Purgatory, Meg and Kevin are his prisoners, and Sam is alone and powerless. Upon the return of Lucifer, Crowley manages to even outwit and briefly helps imprison the fallen angel before his escape. Even at the end, Crowley manages to achieve a victory against Lucifer by sacrificing his own life, proving that when one faces Crowley, even when he loses, he will win in the end.
- There was also Bela Talbot, a self-interested, opportunistic hunter from Season 3 who had enough charm and intelligence to play the Whinchesters like fiddles on a number of occasions before she decayed into a Smug Snake and met her untimely demise.
- It's debatable that The Trickster AKA the Archangel Gabriel and Zachariah deserve a mention.
- And he only died because he made the mistake of underestimating Dean, John happened to raise out of hell at the last minute, and there was one bullet left in the Colt that could kill (almost) anything. Leaving both Dean and John alive and uncorrupted was an integral part of his plan, as one of them would need to be pure so that they could break the first seal by becoming a torturer in hell. Assuming John had remained in hell and would eventually break, Azazel planned to use that last bullet to kill Dean, the future host of Michael, thus ensuring Lucifer's victory in bringing about the Apocalypse. When John escaped without breaking, that left Dean to break the first seal that paved the way to setting Lucifer free.
- Olivia Pope, the heroine of Scandal is on the verge of being one. Her Arch Enemy is a straighter example.
- Jack from Tru Calling. His Bastardry comes from his mission: to keep the protagonist from saving the lives of the dead people who ask her to do so. His Magnificence comes in the way that he does it. Where Tru tends towards attacking the problem at its source, Jack thinks sideways, poisoning people against Tru before she even shows up. He also tends towards taunting her with little notes and snide commentary. He managed to infiltrate her inner circle with a mole, thus allowing himself to garner all manner of info on her without her knowledge. By the end of the series, he literally has 3 people connected to Tru and her gang that they are entirely unaware of. Imagine the Bolivian Army Ending when the good guys don't even know the army is there.
- The Community season one episode "Physical Education" gives us this example:
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Coach: From now on, you can play pool however you want. |
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- Don Draper of Mad Men is a Magnificent Bastard in the finest sense of the term: He can manipulate almost any antagonist or client alike into falling into a plan of his devising (just observe his Batman Gambit in "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword"), and has a devilish charm which makes him impossible not to admire. Magnificent. He also cheats on his wife with a number of women, and stole his identity from a fellow soldier after said soldier died in war. Bastard.
- Then there's his boss, Bert Cooper, who found about about his past in Season 1, filed that information away, and used it again in Season 3 to make Don sign a contract. There's a reason he's in charge.
- Heroes has several of these. In season one there's HRG, smooth and calculating enough to trick even his employers, although his eventual Heel Face Turn puts an end to his Bastardry. Later, we get introduced to another, Mr. Linderman, the Affably Evil mastermind behind everything. Season 2 brings us a new Magnificent Bastard in the form of the new Big Bad, Adam Monroe. Magnificent and manipulative to boot, Adam recruits resident Idiot Hero Peter Petrelli to be his unwitting dupe, attaining a level of villainous charisma unmatched by any villain in the series since.
- Even after HRG Heel Face Turn he's capable of being a Magnificent Bastard when he threatens his former teacher's family in order to get the information he wants to help keep his family safe
- Due to the fact that HRG's methods in achieving his aims have not changed at all, despite the fact that he changed sides, one could argue he never took a true Heel Face Turn, but counts as just a straight example of this trope.
- Noah "I'm fine with morally grey" Bennet does not even acknowledge the difference between heel and face. He's just that magnificent.
- Let's not forget everyone's favourite Manipulative Bastard and self-described shark politician, Nathan Petrelli. While his bastardry got derailed in seasons two and three, as of season four, he bounced right back to full-on Magnificence.
- Two Words: Angela. Petrelli. Heroes' resident Queen Magnificent Bitch.
- We got this far without mentioning Sylar? Volume One aside, manipulating the Blunder Twins, sometimes just for fun, the end of Volume Three, the whole of Volume Four.
- And now we have Volume 5, where he shows that he can be a Magnificent Bastard, even with his soul being stuck inside of Parkman. Some feats include: making Matt see a dead body that isn't really there to get him to kill a suspect in a crime out of rage and tricking Matt into thinking that alcohol can beat him, slipping in while Matt's passed out and taking control of the body. Of course, Matt's been a Magnificent Bastard right back, tricking Sylar into trying to bring a gun on the airplane AFTER Sylar gained control of the body, and making Sylar get surrounded by cops, and sacrificing himself to kill Sylar (well, trying) by making Sylar look like he's pulling out a gun.
- Volume 5 gives us Samuel Sullivan, a charismatic, manipulative carnie who lures people with powers to join his carnival with promises of a holy land where specials can live free. All to make himself more powerful.
- Even after HRG Heel Face Turn he's capable of being a Magnificent Bastard when he threatens his former teacher's family in order to get the information he wants to help keep his family safe
- Livia in the BBC adaptation of Robert Graves' I, Claudius. She spent years brilliantly and subtly manipulating everyone in the highest level of the Roman Empire, just to get her son Tiberius chosen as Emperor. And that's just a part of what she did.
- Benjamin Linus from Lost is notorious for being a magnificent bastard. His entire character revolves around manipulating others into doing his bidding, constantly lying, and emotional blackmail. Among his accomplishments:
- Season 2: Gets captured by Danielle Rousseau (Word of God is that he was legitimately captured, some fans think it was all part of the plan), then calls himself "Henry Gale" and concocts an intricate fake backstory for himself that doesn't crack even under torture. Of course, his true identity as a member of the Others is eventually discovered, at which point he starts emotionally playing with John Locke's inferiority complex. Locke will end up becoming Ben's archnemesis and whipping boy. Ben eventually escapes when Michael shoots and kills Ana-Lucia and Libby, and is then revealed as the Others' leader. He has Michael lead Jack, Kate, and Sawyer into a trap, and captures them.
- Season 3: Ben intentionally allows Kate and Sawyer to sleep with each other to emotionally force Jack into doing surgery on Ben's tumor. Later, when Locke arrives at the Others' camp, he begins forcing Ben to do his bidding as the Others start to believe Locke is their "chosen one" and not Ben. Locke eventually demands that Ben bring him to the mysterious Jacob, and Ben does so (season 5 reveals this was all some kind of elaborate ruse gone wrong). Ben then proceeds to shoot Locke and leave him for dead when he discovers the latter heard (the alleged) Jacob speak. Ben eventually gets captured by the survivors again, and they refuse to listen to him when he tells them the people coming to rescue them are actually dangerous.
- Season 4: Even though he's captured, a member of the Others describes Ben as being "right where he wants to be." Once again, Ben begins manipulating Locke, explaining the freighter was sent by his archenemy, Charles Widmore. Eventually, Ben and Locke team up to take down the freighter mercenaries, and (the person claiming to be) Jacob tells Locke to move the island. Ben decides this means he has to move it, and proceeds to do so, getting banished from the island in the process. Season 4 is the first time where one of Ben's Evil Plan moments blows up in his face: his attempt to bluff the mercenaries results in his daughter getting executed in front of him. When banished from the island, Ben begins blackmailing Sayid into assassinating alleged Widmore goons on his behalf, all because Sayid's girlfriend Nadia was killed by someone Ben claims worked for Widmore. Word of God states that Nadia's suspected killer indeed killed her and indeed worked for Widmore
- Season 5: Once Locke banishes himself from the island (having been told to do so by Richard, who was told in turn by Locke himself...or was he?), he encounters Ben again. Locke tries to reunite the Oceanic Six and fails. Just as he's about to kill himself, Ben appears, talks him out of it, gets some information...and then strangles Locke to death. Ben then attempts to kill Widmore's daughter Penelope, in what would have been a Kick the Dog moment if it wasn't for the intervention of Desmond (though Ben seemed reluctant when he saw Penny's son, showing Even Evil Has Standards). Upon return to the island, Locke comes back to life and reverses the roles, manipulating Ben with his newfound knowledge of the island and claiming Ben is going to have to kill Jacob. When they find the real Jacob, a huge twist occurs: the resurrected Locke was actually a previously and briefly introduced character in disguise (READ: the fucking Smoke Monster), masquerading as Locke to manipulate Ben, Richard, and the Others. He told Richard to tell the time travelling Locke to leave the island and kill himself, a predestination paradox that would allow the man to use Locke's body. The man then uses Ben, still unaware of "Locke"'s true identity, to kill Jacob.
- Speaking of Lost, this trope also belongs to UnFlocke. Manipulative Bastard? Check. And as The Candidate shows, he is one hell of a Chessmaster ( even if it didn't work fully, it was still a badass plan). The way he manipulated Ben to kill Jacob was just classic.
- I would say Sawyer counts as well. The episode where he manipulated almost all the main characters so he could get the guns and take over the group is still this tropers favorite moment in the series.
- Catherine Packard Martell in Twin Peaks. It's not just everyone who can fake their own death in a mill fire, come back to town in drag to foil the plans of everyone looking to profit off the land, and then plot with their Not Quite Dead brother to seek revenge on his treacherous wife.
- Damages featured a brutal winner-takes-all war fought between the magnificent bastard Arthur Frobisher and the magnificent bitch Patricia "Patty" Hewes. Continued into Season 2 with Patty vs. David Pell and Walter Kendrick's energy-manipulation scheme.
- Francis Urquhart in House of Cards (British series). He plots, schemes, manipulates and backstabs his way up the political chain in the hopes of becoming Prime Minister; remaining above suspicion among all of his colleagues. He does it with class, skill and style, all the while giving conspiratorial No Fourth Wall asides to the audiences, explaining his thoughts on his opponents and next steps. He commits terrible deeds, frequently exposing scandals of rivals and supposed friends, manipulating others into doing his bidding and in some cases resorts to outright murder to get his way. but the audience has to forgive him, because his charm and panache are too overwhelming for him to be hated. Urquhart ends up as Prime Minister, determined to remain in office longer than even Margaret Thatcher, a goal which he absolutely achieves by the end, showing himself no less a cultured player of the grand game in the office as he was outside it. Even after his assassination, his machinations have ensured he will be remembered as a beloved figure in English history, his true villainy always concealed beneath the one line: "you may very well think that. I could not possibly comment."
- Richard Cross in Murder One. A fabulously rich developer with a love of fine wine and Renaissance art, who has a marvellous public image through his various donations to charities. He also helps out South American drug lords just for the hell of it, and after one of these affiliations goes very, very wrong he spends the entire first season wildly improvising to keep himself and his associates in the clear, all while appearing completely unruffled and dangling his involvement in the faces of the show's heroes. It also doesn't hurt that he's played by the indescribably charismatic Stanley Tucci.
- The Devil in Reaper not only arranges for Sam to get an apartment next to a pair of rebel demons whose plan to destroy him would actually have worked, and manipulates Sam into infiltrating the rebellion with a new (doomed) plan to kill him, he also signs Sam's lease with his name and sends him clues as to what is going on that Sam, Sock and Ben can only work out moments after it is too late to do anything about it. Then repeats this plan with the few survivors of the rebellion, and is still witty, charming and diabolically affable. Ray Wise's portrayal is just so good that fans now think he may actually be The Devil.
- How about another Devil, The Devil from Brimstone? He manipulates The Hero, Zeke Stone, into going to earth to reclaim 113 damned souls who fled hell, holding out the promise of a new hope of heaven over Stone's head. Throughout the series, the Devil is charming, witty and sarcastic, constantly monitoring events and arranging things to have Zeke return his quarry to hell while demonstrating a frightening amount of insight, while always teasing Zeke and pushing him to do his job. While playing Zeke constantly, the Devil 's main interest is keeping the status quo, while always willing to welcome the new damned souls into his domain. Also happens to be another Magnificent Bastard played by John Glover.
- Ryan O'Reilly from Oz is an Irish convict in the Emerald City wing of the Oswald State Correctional Facility who controls the prison's drug trade, has all this rivals killed by other people, starts gang wars between the ethnic clans and is one of the few characters to survive the show's entire run, and never has anyone other than his mentally retarded brother for muscle. As he replies when one character asks him how he became a leader of the prison riot despite his lack of a gang: "I'm like the Lord of the Fucking Dance. I've got moves." Ryan O'Reilly possesses a sense of charm and bravado unmatched by many of the thuggish inmates in Oz, and his uncanny ability to get others to do his dirty work for him and turning his enemies against each other makes him one of the few characters to successfully survive the entire run of the show.
- Enrique Morales establishes himself as one of the most cunning and pragmatic prisoners on the show. After arriving in Oswald State prison, he usurped control over the Latinos by forcing the kindly old prisoner Bob Rebadow to kill his unpopular predecessor El Cid, then takes over the drug trade inside the prison with the Homeboys and Italians and proves himself more wary to attempts by the authorities to infiltrate the organization than his associates. When Morales develops a feud with Homeboys leader Burr Redding, he manipulates Chinese refugees housed in the prison against him with false claims of race hatred and attempts to have Redding framed for a murder. A capable fighter as well when the chips are down, Morales swiftly foils an attempt on his own life by killing the assassin, and lulls his late sister's abusive husband into a false sense of security before pounding the everloving crap out of him. Always a persuasive and purpose-driven man despite being a murderer and gang leader, under the clever rule of Morales, El Norte truly became a force to be reckoned with within Oz.
- Jim Profit of Profit is an amoral sociopath whose life's goal is to become President of Acquisitions at the multinational company Gracen & Gracen Enterprises, thus giving him control over one of the most powerful economic entities in the world. He uses various schemes such as leaking bad stories to the press and blackmailing his predecessor's secretary in an attempt to get him fired before later having him framed for murder to permanently dispose of him. Jim also ingratiates himself with the company elites and their loved ones, zeroing in on their personal demons and shortcomings to use against them and sow discord, such as causing a falling out among the Gracen brothers to maneuver himself into becoming the CEO's right hand man and using his equally manipulative stepmother Bobbi to seduce and further control his boss. When the head of security catches on to his scheming, Jim forces her psychologist to perform hypnosis on her and then presents himself as her rescuer to discredit her claims against him. Jim Profit is an expert manipulator and schemer whose machiavellian plots allow him to get away with murder, extortion, and ruining people's lives multiple times and always has more cards left to play when faced with adversity.
- The title of greatest Super Sentai Magnificent Bastard goes to Dr. Mikoto Nakadai of Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger, an Insufferable Genius who takes on the mantle of AbareKiller, the Evil Counterpart of the Abaranger. Within five seconds of his introduction, he captures the Monster of the Week and turns the poor thing into his personal maid, complete with apron. He sets up a series of Deadly Games for the heroes just to amuse himself and demonstrate that Humans Are the Real Monsters to the Wide-Eyed Idealist heroes. He seizes control of three of their (sentient) zords via More Than Mind Control. He decides to take over the villains' headquarters and install himself as their new leader just for kicks. Oh, did I mention that the Super Prototype Transformation Trinket he uses will eventually blow up with the force of a nuclear warhead and that not only is he fully aware of this, he doesn't mind one bit?
- Some other Super Sentai villains fall into this every now and then, such as Meemy from Mahou Sentai Magiranger and Burajira from Tensou Sentai Goseiger
- Naturally, Deviot of Power Rangers Lost Galaxy fits this trope to a T. He sets up the rangers to kill the Big Bad himself, and tries to kill his daughter, without her noticing...for a while. And even when she does notice, he manages to take control of her.
- There was also the fabulous and highly competent Astronema from Power Rangers in Space, self-proclaimed "Princess of Evil" and the second in command of the United Alliance of Evil. Tasked by Dark Specter to destroy the Space Rangers, Astronema would fight many battles with the Space Rangers before finding out her identity as Andros' long lost sister Karone, leading to her defection to the Rangers. Upon being kidnapped by a reprogrammed Ecliptor and installed with neural implants to keep her on the side of evil, Astronema decides to kill both the Space Rangers and and Dark Specter in order to usurp the latter's position as Grand Monarch of Evil through creating the Psycho Rangers, whom beat the Rangers to an inch of their lives in their earlier encounters and drew their power from Dark Specter's life force until the Rangers were able to defeat the Psychos by changing their tactics in engaging them and exploiting their lack of ability to work as a team. Despite this defeat, Astronema would continue to inflict significant damage on the Rangers, successfully luring the Rangers into a trap that saw the destruction of the Delta Megazord by Ecliptor, and destroying the Mega Voyager using Tankenstein in the subsequent episode. Never suffering any significant Villain Decay throughout the series, Astronema would be regarded as one of the most iconic villains in Power Rangers.
- Onikage in Power Rangers Wild Force introduces himself as a ninja loyal to Mandilok and conjures schemes to kidnap Princess Shyla. When Toxica fumbles his first plan, Onikage promises he can redeem her if he cuts off her horn to render her immune to the Sacred Water of Animaria, lying that Duke Orgs' horns grow back. This leads to Toxica's death and Shayla's capture. On the verge of defeating the Power Rangers, Onikage reveals his true allegiance as Master Org's right hand man, rendering Mandilok defenseless and resulting in their death. Onikage is defeated in the end mostly by luck but succeeds in almost all his goals, setting the stage for the rest of the season despite only appearing in two episodes.
- Lothor of Power Rangers Ninja Storm. His massive series-long Gambit Roulette and quirky sense of humor made him one of the franchise's most memorable villains.
- Scorpius of Farscape fame spent the entire run of the series, plus the Made For DVD Movie holding allegiance only to himself, and doing his darnedest to manipulate every side in his favour... and more or less succeeding by series end. And he accomplished his goals with such intelligence and charm, even his apparent Freudian Excuse is transformed into a rational explanation.
- That said, although each action of his shows his badge of MagnificentBastardry clearly, it's only by the end of season 4 that you can look back and see how insanely Crazy Prepared and manipulative he was. Mostly because he managed to survive: 1) the blowing up of a Gamack base, 2) the blowing up of a Shadow Depository, 3) the blowing up of a Peacekeeper Command Carrier and 4) the blowing up of the entire Scarran secret base (Yes, John likes his explosions). Oh, and being buried alive. But it's true that when you see how he grew up, it all starts to make a lot more sense.
- Not to mention the almost casual reveal in the final episodes that while he was securing his position in the upper echelons of Peacekeeper Command, he was a spy for the Scarran Emperor himself.. Now that's chutzpah.
- The canonical Scorpius comic book takes his Magnificent Bastardry to a whole new level. Stranded on a snow planet with nothing but his suit and a single cooling rod when a militarised alien fleet stops for repairs? He takes total control of it. At the mercy of invincible aliens? He becomes their dragon. Stuck in orbit around the Scarran homeworld in a deserted ship he can't control? He talks the Emperor into surrendering the entire Scarran Empire. If that's not magnificent, what is? It also helps to establish the new villains credentials, as when Scorpius admits he's having trouble outsmarting them, you know they're scary.
- That said, although each action of his shows his badge of MagnificentBastardry clearly, it's only by the end of season 4 that you can look back and see how insanely Crazy Prepared and manipulative he was. Mostly because he managed to survive: 1) the blowing up of a Gamack base, 2) the blowing up of a Shadow Depository, 3) the blowing up of a Peacekeeper Command Carrier and 4) the blowing up of the entire Scarran secret base (Yes, John likes his explosions). Oh, and being buried alive. But it's true that when you see how he grew up, it all starts to make a lot more sense.
- Forever Knight: The sire of Nicholas Knight, Lucien LaCroix was a brilliant Roman general turned into a vampire by his own daughter Divia. Horrified at the corruption Divia succumbed to, with her even suggesting they become lovers, LaCroix seemingly destroyed and entombed her. Becoming a brilliant, dangerous vampire, LaCroix once arranged for Nick to be hanged by peasants to trick him into succumbing to his killer instinct once Nick renounced his old ways. In the present, LaCroix frequently manipulates Nick and all around him, even having his own radio show as the Night Crawler where he frequently talks about his philosophies and his schemes. Always charismatic and compelling, LaCroix also admits to certain standards and always maintains his complex relationship with Nicholas.
- Sheriff Lucas Buck of American Gothic fulfills this trope again and again throughout the series. Among the worst (or best, depending on your point of view) offenses would be his Mind Rape of Dr. Crower, beginning with forcing him to relive his past tragedies (his alcoholism, its destruction of his career, and the terrible accident which cost him the life of his wife and daughter), which nearly makes him fall Off the Wagon again. This then continues on to the convoluted Gambit Roulette wherein he convinces Dr. Crower via a woman who claims to be his mother that he is the Devil Incarnate. Armed with this Cassandra Truth, Matt morphs into a Stalker with a Crush (only without the crush, unless you take it to mean wanting to crush Buck to death), so that in the end he gets dragged away, having gone off the deep end, and is last seen locked away in an insane asylum. Talk about a Downer Ending...but so ingeniously pulled off.
- Roman Grant in Big Love: the patriarch of a polygamist compound who stole the title of Prophet from the hero's grandfather. He's also an extremely cunning businessman, who manages to one-up the hero, Bill, throughout the first season - in one case, just when Bill appears to have blackmailed him into giving up his financial interest in Bill's business, by threatening to destroy a guitar he particularly likes, he makes a deal with Bill that appears to give Bill everything he wants - a third outlet of Bill's "Home Depot" style store. Except then he gets the government to declare the land Bill has already bought an historical site. Despite being a thorough swine, he also believes deeply in the importance of family and calls to commiserate for Bill when Bill's family is exposed as polygamists. Of course, he exposed them...
- Honorable mention also goes to the number Buck pulls on the orderly in "Eye of the Beholder", Carter in "Damned If You Don't", and the talk show host in "Resurrector" he forces to kill his wife...or at least, he thinks he does.
- Avon, of Blake's Seven, is an example of a Magnificent Bastard protagonist.
- Whatever Avon did though; Servalan did better, and in high heels.
- Hannibal: Hannibal Lecter himself maintains a sense of charm and genteelness that is unmatched in other portrayals, despite being a cannibalistic Serial Killer. Hannibal delights in nothing more than 'winding others up to watch them go' and manipulates events, gaslighting people and driving them to insanity or horrible deeds simply to watch what will unfold. Manipulating the FBI perfectly, especially Will Graham who Hannibal fixates on, he manages to elude suspicion for a frighteningly long time, even triggering one captured FBI agent with a trigger to shoot Dr. Chilton who he has a special contempt for. Hannibal also manipulates the dysfunctional Verger siblings until their relationship is at a bloody head before he mutilates and paralyzes the sadistic Mason Verger solely due to dislike of him. Hannibal does rouse himself to save the life of Will from a vengeful Mason later, and in the series finale proves his care for Will and desire for them to become a murderous couple when he rescues Will from the Red Dragon serial killer. A killer with a god complex and Satanic Archetype who views the world as full of food or toys for him, Hannibal repeatedly demonstrates his joy in manipulating others.
- Joey Heric from The Practice gleefully eludes justice for one blatant murder after another with his expert manipulation of the legal system, confounding both the district attorney's office and his own defense firm with theatrics, misdirection, and at times even the truth. His ability to shed reasonable doubt into just about everything he does is so uncanny, he can even imply responsibility for crimes he's legitimately not involved in and still have people conviced he might have something to do with it.
- T-Bag from Prison Break. This guy has built his house behind the Moral Event Horizon.. Or so you'd think. He sexually abuses prison mates. He raped children and killed them. He's racist. And yet, you still somehow find him awesome. Maybe you can stand him because he more than once got what he deserved. (One hand hacked away, for example). Maybe it's because no matter how often he gets beaten, he always rises from the ashes and continues his magnificent plans.
- There are several others in the series. Such as John Abruzzi. Let's review that the guy is solely responsible for T-Bag getting his ass handed to him for like 2 or 3 times in season 1, like he so richly deserves. Then there's the whole thing with putting up a fake personality of now being a devout Christian seeking forgiveness... While planning to get rid of all the "extra luggage" (extra luggage being the majority of the escapees) and kidnapping Veronica to force Michael into revealing where Fibonacci is. In season 2 he regains most of the power he once had as a mob boss and when Mahone hunts him down, he calmly claims "I only kneel to God... And I don't see him here" before attacking the police, fully knowing he'd be shot immediately by them.
- On the same note, Mahone also works, as he deliberately set up this situation knowing Abruzzi wouldn't surrender. When IA comes calling, the investigator points out that there were other ways of getting Abruzzi that wouldn't lead to his death.
- Edmund Blackadder, the third incarnation of the titular character, is the butler to the idiotic Prince George of Regency England. A roguish cheat who constantly scams money out of his employer, Blackadder is also left with the task of running the country, manipulating the election of his completely idiotic sidekick Baldrick to the House of Commons to vote down a measure harmful to the prince by setting up a Rotten Borough and taking over the position as the only voter as well as the supervisor of elections by murdering his predecessors. When a bet is made for him to one-up the Scarlet Pimpernel, he simply opts to head down to a coffee house and find an aristocrat at the French embassy. When the real Scarlet Pimpernel is about to reveal his treachery, Blackadder promptly murders him and wins a great award from Prince George by claiming to be the true Scarlet Pimpernel. Even in the finale, Blackadder sees Prince George dead when they've switched identities and takes the chance to claim to be the real prince to the insane King George III, gleefully ascending to the throne of England several years later.
- In The Blacklist, Raymond "Red" Reddington starts the show by turning himself over to the FBI to assist them in taking down a supposedly-dead terrorist, who is just the first out of many in the eponymous Blacklist. He follows that up by constantly manipulating the Feds and criminals to pursue his own agendas. Raymond goes against the worst criminals in the world, constantly outplaying them and leading them to ruin while working towards his own master plan, using others as bait or pawns in his schemes. In one famous incident, he outwits human trafficker Floriana Campo and leaves her poisoned out of his revulsion towards her business, but not before destroying her good name and watching her beg for her life. Despite his ruthlessness, Raymond truly respects those who work for him and cares greatly about series heroine and FBI agent Elizabeth. A man with nerves of steel, Reddington rarely ever loses his temper or composure, frequently playing cop and criminal for his own mysterious ends.
- In Veronica Mars, Clyde Prickett is an amiable ex-convict who used to rob banks without even using a gun. Sentenced to ten years for racketeering, Clyde pays off some other inmates to threaten the recently imprisoned real estate mogul "Big" Dick Casablancas Sr., so Clyde can offer him "protection" in exchange for getting a job at Dick's company out of prison. Clyde becomes Dick's highly efficient Fixer, as well as engaging in some extralegal activities by paying the PCH biker gang to increase petty crime across Neptune to drive down real estate prices, which are then bought up through shell companies owned by Casablancas. Clyde becomes unlikely friends with Keith Mars, even as Clyde becomes a major suspect in the spring break bombings. Disgusted with Dick's involvement with the bombings, which Clyde had been kept out of the loop on, and worried that he won't keep his promises to Clyde, he arranges his death by selling Dick out to the Mexican cartel. Clyde gets away scott-free, ending his friendship with Keith on reasonably amicable terms, and starting a classic car shop.
- The Marquis de Carabas from Neverwhere makes his living by trading favours, and will call them in whenever he likes, however he likes, whether the debtor likes it or not. He's also been known to orchestrate the situation that leads them into his debt in the first place.
- Al Swearengen from Deadwood slowly earns this title over the course of the second season when it becomes clear he's trying to bring order to the horrible frontier town in order to protect his dominance. Sure he orders hits on little girls, kills innocent people and generally does horrible things to everyone. Compared to Hearst and his cronies, Swearengen is practically a populist man of the people.
- Season 2? In just season 1 alone he is shown to be behind almost every scheme that the protagonists run into, from the murder of the Norwegian settlers by road agents to the swindling and murder of Brom Garrett. All the while he insults Starr and Bullock to their faces while refusing to sell them their land, belittling and insulting his cronies. And he doesn't even need to pull a Karma Houdini, because he's easily the most popular character on the show!!
- Commander Cain, commanding officer of the battlestar Pegasus in the original Battlestar Galactica, certainly qualifies. He was based on Patton, after all. His counterpart in the re-imagined series, Admiral Cain, is more of a General Ripper.
- Starbuck calls Apollo this in the new series after he flies through a conveyor system to fly under a Cylon base's defences and blow it to bits. More a congratulatory term for pulling off something insane brilliantly, but still.
- Gaius Baltar of the new Battlestar Galactica has demonstrated an amazing ability to weasel, connive, and adapt every adverse situation to his own personal advatage. Even when he has been called out on his manipulations and lies and has grudgingly admitted to it, he has been able to show his opponents how it is to their advantage to grant his wishes, just this one more time. At the start of the series, a Cylon gulls him into giving her the codes for the Twelve Colonies' defence mainframe allowing them to subvert it and invade. As the human race evacuate the planet of Caprica, a Viper pilot gives up his seat for Baltar because Baltar is the most intelligent man in the universe and therefore of great use to the human race. While onboard Galactica, Baltar creates a fake Cylon detector and incriminates a man as a Cylon because this man was previously suspicious of Baltar. As providence would have it, this man actually is a Cylon although Baltar can't really take credit for that. He also exposes a Cylon device concealed aboard the ship, further gaining favour with the fleet. Later in the series, he runs for Presidency of the Twelve Colonies and gets elected based on charisma alone. He then orders the colonisation of a planet which he names New Caprica. The occupation of the planet is not a success. The planet turns out to be extremely hostile and Baltar just showers himself in oppulence while his subjects suffer and starve. Then the Cylons invade and make Baltar their political puppet, forcing him to sign executions and using him as a scapegoat but Baltar secretly feeds information to the resistance movement until Galactica arrives and drives away the Cylons. Baltar then joins the Cylons and forces the mentally unstable Sharon Agathon to turn the human/Cylon hybrid baby, Hera over to the Cylons who take care of her. When Baltar is recaptured by the humans who try to torture him for information, he refuses to crack and demands a trial. During his incarceration he releases a book which causes a mutiny in the fleet but also provides the information necessary to restore order, gaining a fanatical cult that worship Baltar as the Messiah and also forcing President Laura Roslin to give Baltar a trial. Baltar hires the best lawyer in the business and gets off scot-free. When he is released from gaol, he joins his cult for protection and when that cult is threatened by dangerous fanatics, Baltar threatens to provoke a religious war unless he and his people are left in peace. And at the end of the series, he settles down to live quietly as a farmer with the love of his life! Watch his hair. When it's slicked back, he's about to pull something underhanded. When it's not, he already did.
- Jack Donaghy - Titan, maverick, lover - from Thirty Rock ultimately personifies this trope, being a motivated, cutthroat corporate head who usually finds incredible ways to benefit both himself and his favorite underlings, usually while sounding totally ridiculous (see Season 2's scene in which he imitates Redd Foxx in order to aid a black movie star under his employ in coping with his family issues.... and actually manages to make it work. DY-NO-MIIITE!)
- Also from the same show, Devon Banks - Jack's archrival who manages in Season 2 to seize control of NBC from Jack by marrying his bosses daughter and convincing the board to accept her as the new head who he then controls as a puppet. He eventually forces Jack (!) to resign from GE by moving his office to the 12th floor. .
- The System Lord Ba'al from Stargate SG-1. What, you DARE mock him??
- RepliCarter. Just by being polite, she maneuvered herself into a) becoming immune to the anti-replicator superweapon, b) passed on that immunity to her fellow machines, and c) eliminated what she saw as the only real stumbling block to replicator rule over the Milky Way galaxy.
- As of the episode "Earth" on Stargate Universe, Dr. Rush is this. And we love him all the more for it.
- Since the second season, Rush has kicked the magnificent bastardry into overdrive. Not only does he crack Destiny's master code without telling anyone, he also manages to divert suspicion away from him by using Chloe as a scapegoat and then manipulating Chloe into helping him with her subconcious knowledge all while making it seem like he actually cured Chloe. Respect, Doctor Rush.
- Parodied humorously in That '70s Show when Fez calls Hyde a magnificent bastard. Which leads to the response "Sorry buddy. By the way it's pronounced 'bas-TARD'."
- King Silas in Kings is a brilliant, Machiavellian ruler who spends the season destroying his enemies and securing his crown. Silas presents as a ruthless mastermind, though he is in truth far more given to self doubt of the favor of God. Silas attempts to overcome his destined successor David, even succeeding in bringing David down temporarily before an assassination attempt is made on Silas. At the end, Silas has decided he answers to nobody for his crown, not even God himself. As one fan put it, "Never try to outsmart Ian McShane. He is smarter than you." So much so that we root for him even though the Bible itself tells us he's doomed.
- The finale just cements his Magnificent Bastardry. As of the finale, he is still alive and kicking, having returned from two assassination attempts, done an amazing Unflinching Walk past a battalion of armed soldiers to retake his crown, has scared William Cross into hiding, apparently plans to wall his own son up in a cell ALIVE for treason, and has sent David on the run. Bible, schmible. Silas is pretty awesome.
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Silas: "Oh, William . . . bringing guns to a tank battle." |
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- Flavius Aetius of Attila is a Roman general and strategist whose patriotism is matched only by his cunning and charisma. Released by Emperor Valentinian's mother Placidia from prison to fight their enemies, he implicates Placidia in an assassination that Aetius foils to isolate her from the emperor. To deal with the Visigoths and the Huns, Aetius desecrates Hunnic corpses and makes the Visigoths look responsible to forge an alliance with the Huns, and takes Attila to Rome to impress the young prince with its splendor. After Attila, now king, builds up the Hunnic Empire and turns on the Romans, Aetius orchestrates a plot to assassinate Attila by convincing a slave girl with a grudge against the Huns to seduce Attila and kill him on their wedding night. Even when Aetius is forced to sacrifice his daughter for the good of Rome, he ensures that the man who took her from him, King Theodoric, will be killed in the final battle against the Huns. Aetius returns to Rome in triumph, and his murder at the hands of the emperor signals the final nail in the coffin for the once mighty empire, for there were no more men capable of defending it.
- Adelle DeWitt has ascended to Magnificent Bastardry in the last couple episodes of Dollhouse The woman took a bullet and proceeded to watch her former right hand man be lobotomized then carried on a conversation as cool as ice cream!
- Her reputation as this has been solidified for sure in the later episodes. Turning in the one piece of technology that could end the world to her less than cautious superiors to regain control of her house? That's one thing. Doing it to regain a foothold large enough to send Echo to the Attic and have her bring enough new and devastating information to bring them down? Magnificent.
- It turns out, however, that she and everyone else have been played by Boyd Langton, who had evidently intentionally sent Caroline to the LA Dollhouse to become Echo because he apparently expected exactly what happened with her to happen, then he became her handler and later head of security which allowed him to directly manipulate the rest of the main cast while pretending to be a part of their budding resistance movement. Boyd is revealed to be the head of Rossum Corporation, and everything that Adelle has done toward bringing the company down has apparently been all a part of his plan. Revealing that the Magnificent Bitch has been the Unwitting Pawn all along? Magnificent!
- Of course, Boyd doesn't see it that way. He was mentoring her to let her grow into her magnificent potential. Scariest family ever, Boydster.
- No love for Alpha? He masterminded the events of season one to get into the Dollhouse, got Echo out, all while playing Ballard for a fool. In season two he pulls off another amazing plan to get back into the Dollhouse all while playing the main cast for suckers.
- Colonel Montoya, the Big Bad of the cheesy TV show Queen of Swords. Possibly as a result of being played by one of two decent actors on the entire show, and being one of two intelligent characters.
- The season two finale of Gossip Girl manages to turn its title character into one while still keeping her The Unseen. First everyone gets a text during graduation of Gossip Girl's own judgements about their personality flaws. When some of them team up to try to discover her identity, she retaliates by printing all of the most hurtful information she's held back on. Finally Serena tries to bluff her into a private meeting at a coffee shop, saying she knows her identity, but instead Gossip Girl arranges for the whole class to go to the coffee shop, then sends them another text saying that they're all looking at Gossip Girl right now, as the only reason she can do so much is that people keep sending her information. She goes on that they're not rid of her yet, and she'll still be keeping tabs on them all in college.
- Holly Day from Slings and Arrows. Neither as evil nor as magnificent as many on this list, she still earns her place by managing to display exactly how batshit insane corporatization and commodity culture are, and how they can seem perfectly reasonable and good from the inside. And for taking a bright and sunny disposition far beyond Affably Evil. And for just being so over-the-top as to gush about her plans for the New Burbage Festival in the middle of her sex scene with her Bastard Understudy.
- The Wire:
- Omar Devon Little is a "stick-up man" in Baltimore who robs drug dealers for a living. His first episode has him robbing one of Avon Barksdale's Stash houses. Avon puts out a hit on him and his crew and manages to succeed in killing one of his crew and torturing Omar's boyfriend to death. Over the course of the next three seasons, Omar retaliates against the Barksdale organization, culminating in him killing Stringer Bell, Avon's right-hand man. In part due to Omar's actions, the Barksdale organization collapses soon after. In season 4, Omar robs Marlo Stanfield, a new West Side kingpin. Marlo, wanting revenge, frames Omar for murder. Omar beats the charge, and then blackmails Proposition Joe, another kingpin, into giving up Marlo's new drug shipment, though Omar double-crosses Joe and then steals a much larger shipment instead of Marlo's. Omar then sells it back to Joe and announces his retirement. In season 5, Marlo, who still wants revenge, has Omar's mentor killed. Omar returns to Baltimore, but he is briefly outgunned. He then goes on a warpath and calls Marlo out to face him. While he dies before this can come to fruition, the taunts prove to be very effective, as by the end of the series Marlo has faded into obscurity whereas Omar has become a legend.
- Brother Mouzone, a legendary hitman from New York, is called down to Baltimore by Avon Barksdale to deal with Proposition Joe's drug dealers in season 2. He first shoots Cheese, Joe's nephew, with a rat shot, and is then able to intimidate Joe's gang into staying away with his presence alone. Stringer Bell, Avon's right-hand man, had cut a deal with Joe, and manipulates Omar into attacking Mouzone, claiming Mouzone tortured Omar's lover to death. Omar shoots Mouzone but realizes the man is innocent and calls an ambulance for him. While in the hospital Mouzone is able to deduce that Stringer was responsible but keeps this information to himself. Returning in season 3, he tracks Omar down, asking him for help killing Stringer. He then blackmails Avon into giving up Stringers location. Together, he and Omar ambush Stinger and kill him at his condo developments. Affably Evil and Wicked Cultured, Mouzone showed why he was so feared as a hitman.
- Michael Lee is a kid just trying to make his way in Baltimore. Looking not to be beholden to anyone, he stares down Marlo Stanfield, who, suitably impressed, tries to recruit him. When his stepfather, who is strongly implied to have molested him, comes home, he becomes desperate to get rid of him and takes Marlo up on his offer. Growing into a criminal, he still constantly questions Marlo's orders, until he finally questions too much. Marlo orders his execution, but Michael realizes this and outwits the assassin. Going on the run, he makes sure his friends and family are safe and with Omar dead decides to become Baltimore's next legendary Karmic Thief.
- Strangely, one of the biggest ones in the series is one of the few examples of a good guy being a Magnificent Bastard. Lester Freamon is, without a doubt, the most intelligent character in the series. He's a cop who moves everyone, whether they be criminals, politicians, or fellow cops, on the board like they were chess pieces. He even outwits Clay Davis. He's also manipulative, just not in a negative way and plays himself off as a harmless old detective that won't give much trouble. But if he's after you, your days as a free man are numbered.
- Malcolm Tucker from The Thick of It and The Movie, In the Loop. As the Prime Minister's chief spin doctor he has made a whole career out of Magnificent Bastardry, and MP Hugh Abbot even coined the term "Malciavellian" to describe his particular brand of it. He gets by on his frankly terrifying degree of charm, which he greatly enjoys abusing. Considered a bastard even by the standards of other spin doctors, his colleagues can't help but grudgingly admire him:
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Nick Hanway: "Fuck you very much, you unscrupulous bastard." |
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- Even his choice of understudy is bastardly: he appointed the Violent Glaswegian Jamie, knowing that he lacked the charm and intelligence that would be required to overthrow him.
- In George Lopez, there's an episode where George and Vic get into a fight, and Vic puts a lock on George's garage because George could only build it because of a loan Vic gave him. George spends a few minutes trying to get the combination to the lock, he finds out his son Max was given the combination. But he runs into some problems.
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"He gave the combination to a dyslexic fifth grader. The man is an EVIL GENIUS! |
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- Hugo deVries in the Inspector Morse episode "Masonic Mysteries". Basically spends the entire episode ten steps ahead of everyone, jerry-rigs Morse's home stereo to play really awful Opera (LOUDLY), sets Morse's house on fire with Morse inside, frames Morse using the Internet, and delivers some utterly fantastic monologuing and Deadpan Snarkery to boot. The fact that he's being played by Large Ham Supreme Ian McDiarmid is really just gravy at this point.
- Iris Crowe in Carnivale is a fairly spectacular example. The sweet, innocent spinster sister of Brother Justin? Has not only spent her entire life playing Xanatos Speed Chess with her brother's true nature, but burned down her brother's church to get him publicity, allowed an innocent man to go to jail and eventual execution for what she did, lured an innocent woman out beyond the camp and then bashed her over the head with a boat oar, to keep her from talking about how evil Justin really is and kept the secret of Sofie's paternity from everyone. After the big battle, when Ben and Justin are lying dead in the cornfield, the New Canaan faithful have almost been completely slaughtered by Justin, and the Carnivale has had to slip away for fear of the authorities in the early morning hours, what is Iris doing? Cooling her heels as the Last One Standing.
- Must run in the family, considering the entire events of the series are masterminded by "Management", aka Lucius Belyakov, Justin and Iris's father. He plays everyone, up to and including Samson and Ben, and even plots out his own death in order to get Ben to full Prince status.
- Criminal Minds has had its share of Big Bads, but the crown has to go to the Boston Reaper (aka George Foyet), who just escalates with every appearance. Not only has he evaded capture for over ten years, but he passed himself off as his own victim by stabbing himself multiple times.
- In "Omnivore", he blackmailed the lead detective at the time into dropping the case and stopped killing for ten years just to watch the detective self-destruct out of guilt. He comes out of hiding to offer the same deal to Hotch, but when Hotch refuses, kills an entire bus full of people. He knocks out Morgan and steals his credentials, but leaves him alive, to live with the knowledge of how close he was to dying. He allows the team to capture him only because, in the interim ten years, he's memorized the schematics of every single prison in the state of Massachusetts, and bites his own wrists to fake a suicide attempt. He escapes.
- In "...And Back", he returns to attack Hotch in his apartment after the Turner case.
- In "Nameless, Faceless", he shoots at Hotch at point-blank range, then overpowers him physically, stabbing him nine times and sadistically torturing him. He then leaves a nearly-dead Hotch at the door of a hospital with a page missing from his day-planner: the one with his ex-wife's address. Foyet's message is clear - he's targeting Hotch's family next - and so Hotch puts Haley and Jack into protective custody, meaning as long as Foyet is at large, Hotch can never see them again.
- In "Outfoxed", he's not even IN the damn episode, and he's pulling the strings, by sending letters to an UnSub that the team had caught four years ago (S1's "The Fox"), bragging about what he did to Hotch, knowing that Hotch would come to see the Fox himself and have to face up to the fact that Foyet's winning.
- Finally, in "100", he targets and kills the federal marshal charged with protecting Haley and Jack, and doesn't even expend the effort to kidnap them by force. Instead, he impersonates another marshal, telling Haley that Hotch is dead, and he's going to bring her someplace safe. Haley goes to him of her own accord, only realizing when Foyet calls Hotch to gloat that he's the killer that's been hunting them. Foyet makes Hotch listen as he threatens Haley and Jack, and while Jack escapes, Foyet shoots Haley while Hotch is still on the line. When Hotch reaches the house, Foyet leaves Haley's body in her bedroom, and hides and waits for Hotch to shoot him - knowing Hotch is so grief-stricken that he'll empty his entire clip - and springs right back up when Hotch goes to confirm the kill: he's wearing a bulletproof vest. Unfortunately, Hotch is way beyond reason, and beats Foyet to death with his bare hands.
- April Devereux of Half Moon Investigations gets this, despite being, at most, 15. While Half Moon can figure out what she's done all the time, she's never close enough to the action to be convicted, and in the rare case when she is, she's managed to make it so that no one is willing to turn her in. Plus, after Fletcher helps her win back her posse, she asks him to dance and, in a classy move, informs him she's going to get him excluded or discredited the next term.
- From the remake of V comes Anna, High Commander of the Visitors (played by Morena Baccarin), who is quickly establishing herself as quite the Magnificent Bitch. "A Bright New Day" should leave no doubt in anybody's mind, between her convincing the staunchest anti-V protester to change her mind AND gaining support from the public by responding magnanimously to an assassination attempt on her right-hand man--an assassination that she planned.
- Just watching her practice her speech before she meets with the protestor blows this troper's mind.
- This troper was under the impression Anna had drugged or replaced the protestor with a duplicate before she spoke, seeing as she was led into a stairwell away from prying eyes.
- Hansi von Spitzmark, from the still-quite-obscure short series called Dreaming in Mono. He has a gold medal from every contest he entered, he's a best-selling author, poet, singer, and won the competition that blew the losing protagonist to pieces—and he doesn't even think that much about it. When you've listened to the protagonist's dramatic, tragedy-filled, extensive, long ramblings about the contest, an interview with von Spitzmark rolls. He has only this to say about it.
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Spitzmark: What happened in '74? ...Well, I won. Simple as that. |
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- Not to mention that, after hearing about the protagonist's new goal in life, has this to say to him:
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Spitzmark: Alain...please, my friend, get a life. I am serious. Okay? Are we done? |
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- On Leverage, other than the obvious main character and resident mastermind, Nate Stark, we have Jim Sterling, Nate's Not So Different Evil Counterpart and insurance investigator turned Interpol officer, played by none other than the extremely smirk-ey Mark Sheppard. The universal rule of Sterling's appearances on the show is that Sterling never loses, meaning he's immune to Villain Decay. The only way the gang can win when Sterling shows up is to make sure that he wins, too.
- Hardison aspires to running his own crew one day but Nate advises him he doesn't have what it takes (at least not yet) because he can't pull off the "Bastard" part of this trope in order to manipulate his crew as the job requires. A later episode shows Hardison has been working on the "Magnificent" part, coming up with a brilliant but overly-complicated plan for one of the crew's jobs. Nate admits it was pretty good, but he still needs experience to learn how to really make the plan work for any contingency.
- The X-Files.
- The Cigarette Smoking Man. His scheming villainy and Faux Affably Evil demeanor became one of the prime reasons to watch the show, even as Seasonal Rot set in. The fact that he plays both his sons - Agents Mulder and Spender - off each other, as well as running the Government Conspiracy? If TV Tropes had existed when this show was on, there's no doubt he would have been considered the Trope Codifier.
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"Don't threaten me, Mulder. I've watched Presidents die. If men were to know of the things I know, it would all fall apart." |
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- Alex Krycek, who is consistently loyal only to whichever party will benefit him most, tries very hard to be as magnificent as the CSM, but ends up as The Chew Toy instead. He ends up, on various occasions, beaten within an inch of his life ("Krycek gets punched" ought to be a drinking game), on the run from the law, having his arm amputated, being possessed by the black oil virus and trapped in an underground bunker with no hope of rescue.
- Sheriff Hartwell in the episode "Bad Blood" seems to at first be the ally of Mulder and Scully, but is in reality a cunning yet polite vampire. Charming and gentlemanly in Scully's interpretation yet foolish and simple in Mulder's, Hartwell deceives both and leads them away from the vampiric Serial Killer Ronnie Strickland, effortlessly cloaking his vampiric nature all the while and delaying them until they seemingly kill Ronnie. When they return to hunt down Ronnie once again, as he remains alive, Hartwell politely works alongside them. Nonchalantly sending Mulder into a trap, leaving him unconscious, Hartwell explains to Scully the truth, admitting that the entire community is composed of vampires. Hartwell states that while he cannot approve of Ronnie's murderous actions, he is nonetheless a community member who must be protected. Drugging Scully and leaving both herself and Mulder unharmed, Hartwell disappears with his community, Ronnie included, fully achieving his goals and escaping any form of justice.
- Glee's cheerleading squad coach Sue Sylvester sinks her teeth into the vicious pettiness of small town high school power politics with a relentlessness that leaves her adversaries stunned by its imperviousness to defeat, deterrence, or sheer weight of the extensively documented evidence of her many crimes.
- Santana's ploy in the episode "Born This Way" makes it clear that Santana has picked up a thing or two from her old coach.
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- The titular character of House, Dr. Gregory House, manages to be this to a certain degree, though his personality and social skills leave much to be desired. The other doctors who interact with House sometimes have their moments, though generally only against one another. Anyone who tries to pull this on House has it reversed on them immediately. Except Wilson. He's the only one to be able to keep up with the title character; he usually chooses not to.
- Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother often fits into this trope, mostly with his schemes to get laid. In one instance, he was in danger of losing a bet to see who had "more game", himself or main character Ted. The two bet to see who could have sex with a pre-determined woman at the bar first. After approaching her and getting slapped, Barney revealed that he had slept with her before, and that he had technically already won the bet. This did not fly, however, and so Ted would go on to get in a relationship with the girl. However, Barney managed to stop Ted from sleeping with her by reminding him that he had already done everything with her. Ted immediately broke up with her. Barney then reveals that he had never slept with her, and had actually set up the aforementioned slap, asking the girl to slap him to "make his friend (Ted) feel better." He also utilized information from Ted's phone conversations with her to get to know her interests and grow closer to her. Immediately after Ted breaks up with her, she calls Barney over and the two date. The only thing that goes wrong is that the girl refuses to get intimate for some time after, due to the betrayal, and thus Barney, ever the Butt Monkey, is forced to endure a very painful relationship.
- "Thank God we're alive sex! It's even better than 'I can't believe you just proposed to me' sex, which I've only had like, four or five times. "
- One word: Playbook. That Is All.
- And in "The Ducky Tie" it's revealed that Barney actually uses Pavlovian conditioning on his friends so he can con them more easily in the future.
- And let's not forget Lorenzo von Matterhorn.
- Breaking Bad: Gustavo "Gus" Fring, owns a successful chain of chicken restaurants, organizes anti-drug fun runs, oh and is now the sole volume source of meth in the Southwest whose meth operations make around 1 million a day. Gus further cemented his Magnificent Bastard status by singlehandedly decapitating the Mexican drug cartel who was disrupting his business, and whose Don had killed his business partner 20 years ago. He does this through his gift bottle of tequila to poison the Don and the rest of the upper management of the cartel. To get them to drink, he poisons himself first and then excuses himself to meticulously vomit out the poison. Do not screw with Gus Fring.
- Jim Keats of Ashes to Ashes. Starts out as a nerdy Obstructive Bureaucrat obsessed with rules and regulations, charming his way into CID, and at the end of 3.01, pulls one of the fastest (practically nonverbal) Face Heel Turns in history. He continues to gain the trust of the team - particularly Alex - and all seems well until the end of 3.04, where he cradles the dying Louise in his arms and seemingly acts as an Angel of Death for her. He gets a hell of a lot darker and more sinister in 3.06, when he lets Viv die alone and frightened, cheerily whistling as Viv - who has sinned in allowing a gun into a prison and covering it up, thus facilitating a riot - screams in terror. It's finally revealed in 3.08 that Keats is quite possibly the Devil himself, and when the truth of the world is revealed - that everyone is dead and Gene is supposed to help them move on - loses his shit in fairly spectacular fashion. He breaks the world. He even manages to headbutt Gene and proceed to deliver a terrifying No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to him. While he doesn't win - Alex fixes the world by helping Gene believe in himself and his team again, then crosses over instead of joining Keats - he does slink off into the night promising Gene they'll meet again.
- Brian Moser, the Ice Truck Killer, in Dexter. He finds Dexter, leaves little notes and messages for him via his kills, and even gets engaged to his sister, all in order have a beer with him.
- Twenty Four: Sherry Palmer, nicknamed Lady MacPalmer. Even in the World of Badass that is this show, she stands out: a master manipulator, cunning and vengeful, capable of blackmail and backstabbing while maintaining a sweet, calm, would-be First Lady smile. And does she ever feel bad about it? Hell, no. Somehow, whenever Sherry very calmly says "Let me help you" to anyone, it's nearly as terrifying as Jack Bauer screaming that he's A FEDERAL AGENT! She's so magnificent that her (ex-) husband David Palmer knows she's about to stomp all over the Moral Event Horizon but keeps calling her back for help anyway.
- She killed a guy by talking to him. If that doesn't qualify her as a Magnificent Bastard, I don't know what would.
- Russell Edgington, the King of Mississippi, from season three of True Blood. He's honed his skills over several millennia and has gained the eternal obidience of a cadre of werewolves by addicting them to his own blood before we even meet him. From there it just gets better. He's also easily able to beat up Bill Compton, unlike just about everyone else in the show.
- He does, however, go through a huge Villainous Breakdown near the end of the third season on account of Talbot being staked, thus quite effectively stripping him of his magnificence.
- Most Soap Operas are positively swimming with these types as any villian with Flair and wit tend to be long runners. A few notable examples, both male and female:
- Stefano DiMera and Sami Brady from Days of Our Lives.
- Victor Newman from The Young and The Restless.
- Adam Chandler and Erica Kane from All My Children.
- Carly Corinthos from General Hospital.
- On The Tudors, Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell definitely apply, as does Edward Seymour. (Truth in Television for Wolsey and Cromwell; harder to say for Edward, who has trouble following through when he most needs to.) Note that these guys are each involved in each other's takedowns - and were allies before that. This is more pronounced for Wolsey and Cromwell - Cromwell owes his start in royal service to Wolsey. Edward and Cromwell were allies of convenience; no way it was going to last on this show.
- Katherine from The Vampire Diaries is properly introduced into the series by making perfect use of her resemblance to Elena. She only gets more impressive from there, particularly when we find out she's immune to the vampire Achilles Heel of vervain due to having taken increasing amounts of it for over a century to build up her tolerance. And then there's her Xanatos Speed Chess coup in the aptly titled "Plan B." Holy crap.
- Klaus has far and away eclipsed Katherine in his magnificent bastardy. Made all the scarier by the fact that he's now immortal
- In the HBO series Rome, Gaius Julius Caesar conquers the entire land of Gaul, while masterfully manipulating the Roman senate into declaring him a criminal to give him an excuse to march on Rome, scattering the Senate and seizing ultimate power while acting humble to continue winning the love of the populace. Caesar continues a series of masterful political maneuvers to entrench himself while maintaining the loyalty of his soldiers and closest allies, even rewarding a veteran for defying his explicit orders when the man's actions win favor with the crowd, securing himself a trusted bodyguard in the process. In almost every moment, Caesar continues to show how he is the true master of Rome and is seen as almost divine even before his assassination.
- We get a load of these in this series. Mark Antony is perhaps a bit less Chessmastery, but he gets his share of the scheming, even if it bites him in the arse in the end. He is only defeated by the more calculating and manipulative Octavian, who in turn inherited his position from Caesar, who was so magnificent in his bastardry that this adoptive son of his was going to further some of his plans even after his death. Pompey is seen as more of a former magnificent bastard, although in reality he was just as magnificent a bastard as Caesar to the end. Then there's Atia, the ultimate one, who uses manipulation, assassination, torture and her charms, not to mention sexual prowess, to have her way, and that's where Octavian probably gets it in the first place (they're all family with Caesar and through that, Mark Antony, which makes Antony's and Atia's relationship interesting, although Romans had a different view on sex and family). Servilia of the Junii, Atia's rival proves herself as malevolent a manipulator as Atia after Atia exposes her affair with Caesar, causing him to break off the affair. Aware that Caesar has a dark secret, she seduces Atia's daughter and persuades her to seduce her brother, Octavian in order to find it out (the secret is that Caesar has epilepsy). The plan fails and Atia hires a band of thugs to beat up Servilia in broad daylight. Aware that Atia ordered the hit, Servilia persuades her son Brutus to murder Caesar, costing Atia her political power. While Atia survives and Servilia ultimately commits suicide after Brutus's death, Atia acknowledges her as a worthy opponent. Even Titus Pullo, an archetypal Boisterous Bruiser at first glance, does a bit of magnificent bastardry on a smaller scale, though being the closest thing to a protagonist besides Vorenus he is more like a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, and most of the time he's not quite on the ball as to be a true example. He gets an honourable mention.
- Kougami from Kamen Rider OOO is this while masquerading as a Bunny Ears Lawyer. Why? Because of one episode where Eiji couldn't activate the Ride Vendor (yes, a vending machine that turns into something he could ride, namely a bike), and his "friend", who is also a Magnificent Bastard in a sense, and a living incarnation of greed known as a Greeed, Ankh is talking with Kougami about declining a deal where he gives 70% of his winnings to him (winnings being Cell Medals, long story short...), and even considers killing Kougami and calling the deal off. Kougami then shows Ankh a clip of Eiji trying to get the Ride Vendor to work and tells him that if he does kill him, then the system that allows the Ride Vendors to work will deactivate due to it working on his own will power. It soon turns to a haggle ending on Ankh having to give only 60% of the cell medals he gains and has to pay a 100 Cell Medal advance fee as well. Kougami then claps his hands and allows the Ride Vendor to work. However, unbeknown to Ankh, Kougami was simply having some guy, who was nearby Eiji, use a remote that activates and deactivates Ride Vendors at will. Yes, that's right... He just tricked a living embodiment of greed into giving him his equivalent to food. Damn. And that is early on in the show too!
- You missed the best part: after Ankh agrees to handing over sixty percent of his winnings, Kougami pulls the lid off a box in front of him, revealing a cake signed with that number, and shouts "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!". Damn.
- Don't forget Kazari. Absolutely no one considered him to be the biggest threat. Then he started talking with Dr Maki. He then managed to trick Eiji and Ankh into stealing a majority of their medals, including one of Ankhs. It Gets Better. He also manages to trick Uva and Gamel into going ahead, and then seriously injuring Mezuru and taking all but one of her medals. For those of you who don't know what this means, its the closest equivalent to ripping out her organs and leaving her with barely enough to live. It gets better. He then pins it on Eiji to Gamel into order to keep him busy and get a few more Cores (Eiji got a few back as well). And when Mezuru goes to Uva to explain this situation and get help, Uva gets the idea to go after her. It gets better. Kazari then loads Gamel so full of Cores that he goes insane and kills himself to heal Mezuru. Mezuru, loaded with Medals of both her and Gamel, as well as two of Uva's thrown in at the last minute then turns into a huge monster so strong that it took Eiji as GataKiriBa and a Cell Burst from Birth, his premire by the way, to take it out, and Kazari just watches and takes most of the Cores, with Ankh and Uva only able to steal like three. Magnificent doesn't cover it. He then manages to very nearly steal all but one of Eiji's medals. Granted, Ankh loaded the case with cells and Ankh stole on of his own medals back, but Kazari still managed to regain all but one of his own. That one being of course, Eiji's Tora Medal.
- What makes Kazari fit the Magnificent part is he's just so dang entertaining to watch. The guy is a Chaotic Evil Complete Monster, but he's just so fun to watch do it!
- Desperate Housewives has, in it's seventh season, Paul Young, who returns to Wisteria Lane after being falsely incarcerated. After no one came to visit him in jail, or supported him, he decided to punish the responsible parties by making them suffer. As such, he engineers gambits to own enough house to open a halfway house for convicts, seeding seeds of distrust among the neighbors to make them hate each other. And it works, Lynette invites people to start it who cause a riot (spurred on by Bree attempting to break up a fight), it knocks Susan unconscious, another neighbor incites them to attack Lee, who was tricked into selling (and also attempt to hurt both Lee's boyfriend and a 7-year-old girl), and causes a real mess of things. Perhaps his most brilliant manoeuvre ever.
- Bill McNeal from News Radio is an arrogant, blusterous radio newscaster who delights in spreading mischief around the station where he works, and generally torments the his co-workers whenever possible. Special targets include his boss, Dave, whose attempts to control his actions are often thwarted, and the "office spaz" Matthew, whom Bill exploits due to Matthew's sycophantic attitude towards the newscaster. His exploits include bringing a piano to the office and playing Mark Russell-style political satire songs during working hours, (damaging Dave's reputation with an efficiency expert who has the power to fire or demote him). He also "outfoxes the foxes" when he is temporarily installed as news director by the two co-workers who had previously held the title (Dave and Lisa, respectively) to teach him a lesson about the difficulty of being the boss; instead, he glories in it and manages to win over part of the staff by giving them pointless busywork which they think is real, thus motivating them to work for him, and turning them against Dave when he tries to expose Bill's chicanery.
- A Law & Order: Special Victims Unit example is Darius Parker. He plays the police and the DA's office, basically gets away with double homicide, and forces his mother (who hated him all his life and gave him to her mother to raise because he was the result of rape) to acknowledge him in open court by bringing all the secrets and lies to light.
- Also Merrit Rook, a brilliant manipulator who drove the doctor who caused his wife and son's deaths during childbirth to suicide, basically re-created the infamous Strip Search Caller Scam case in the L&O setting, used his own trial to expand his anti-authority ideas and got the jury to side with him despite Casey's efforts, and at the end captured BOTH Olivia and Elliot and subvjected the latter to quite the mundane Mind Rape to test his will. When that fails, with Elliot as the only one able to out-gambit him, he lets himand Olivia go... and disappears in an explosion. The fact that he's played by the late Robin Williams adds to the awesomeness.
- In his very first appearance in the 1960s Batman series, the Penguin gets Batman and Robin, by means of a well-placed bug, to plan his own crime for him.
- Then there's Ma Parker, who arranges for a takeover of the state Penitentiary. Even Batman and Robin are Unwitting Pawns in her game—at first...
- One of the Villains of the Episode (Flame Red) in The Mentalist, was this. Specifically Tommy, who donned a perfect persona and lived as a mentally ill person for years, tricking everybody, in order to do as he liked and later for revenge.
- Percy, the Big Bad of Nikita, has spent most of the first season working his way to this status, but finally earned it in the second-to-last episode, "Betrayals". To sum up, he reveals that he's been aware of Michael's Heel Face Turn since it happened, and of Alex's status as the Reverse Mole almost as long. He let them continue to believe he was unaware until he had used them to set up his Batman Gambit against the government - he let them capture one of his Black Boxes and the only person capable of decrypting it, and then let them hand both over to the CIA, because the box is a Trojan Horse. And then, on top of all that, he manages to turn Alex into a Double Agent through a combination of a threat on her life and The Reveal that Nikita was the Division agent who killed her father. God damn, this man could give Lionel a run for his money... and there's still one episode left in the season for him to do even more!
- His plan is just barely stopped in the season finale, and by the following season premiere his superiors have locked him away. However, that is literally all they can do to him, since if he dies the information on the Black Boxes will be released and bring down the government. So, now he spends his days mocking Amanda from his cell, calmly threatening to one day take his revenge, while only sharing his information on missions in exchange for concessions. Most recently, he talked his way into getting his own clothes back (as opposed to a prison uniform) and managed to make something as simple as putting on a suit look badass. So, yeah. Magnificent.
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"It's a start." |
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- More recently, he carried out a rather effective Batman Gambit, manipulating Alex, Amanda and Nikita with the end result of now being in a position to blackmail Alex into doing whatever he wants. This is impressive, but it gets even better when one realizes that he did all this from the confines of his cell.
- That's nothing compared to the gambit he carries out during the entire first half of the season, discreetly giving orders to the Guardians via Roan—by the time it's done, he's free from his cell to plot his revenge, and all his superiors in Oversight are dead.
- And he just topped himself again in episode 2x18, where he managed to retake control of Division. How? When his mole informs him that Amanda's out of headquarters, he lets himself be captured, and then Hannibal Lectures the agents assigned to kill him into switching loyalties back to him. Then he strolls into Operations with them at his back and, ignoring the Mexican Standoff around him, exposes Amanda's secret alliance with Ari, winning back the loyalty and control of Division. The look on Amanda's face when she realizes what's happened is what seals the deal.
- Icing on the cake? 2x21 reveals that Percy's gambit in Season One partially suceeded; while he wasn't able to gain access to the CIA's black budgets, the CIA's director was replaced—with a Division mole. And he can't betray Percy because he has a kill chip implanted in his pacemaker: his life is literally in Percy's hands. Fortunately, Team Nikita was able to neutralize it.
- He hits his masterstroke in the last two episodes of the season. By taking control of an old Cold War-era Kill Sat and threatening to destroy cities via blowing up nuclear reactors with it, he essentially makes the President of the United States his bitch. The kicker comes after Nikita and Michael infiltrate Division to destroy the satellite's control system and the President sends in the Marines to take Division down -- the satellite was a dud that Percy was using to cover his real means of destroying the reactors, and Roan has orders to destroy one in D.C. if the President doesn't grant Percy amnesty and let him walk away. When Nikita corners him, and forces him to confess to Division that he's been lying to and manipulating them, he does so in such a way that they all want to kill him, forcing Nikita to keep him alive and help him escape, because if he dies, Roan gets the signal to carry out his orders. He very nearly ends up walking away free and clear, but he chooses this exact moment to shift from MB to Smug Snake and screws himself -- once he's out of Division, he attempts to finally kill Nikita (probably believing his deal with the President will protect him), and in their struggle ends up dangling over the edge of Division's missile silo. He tries to talk Nikita into helping him, but she instead lets him drop, so Birkhoff can track his death signal and use it to lead Alex and Sean to Roan to stop him.
- That's nothing compared to the gambit he carries out during the entire first half of the season, discreetly giving orders to the Guardians via Roan—by the time it's done, he's free from his cell to plot his revenge, and all his superiors in Oversight are dead.
- Nikita herself, in her dealings with Division, Oversight and Gogol. Her former handler/teacher and lover, Michael, shows some signs of this as well. Her adversaries - Percy, Amanda and, to a lesser extent, Ari Tasarov - are this as well.
- More recently, he carried out a rather effective Batman Gambit, manipulating Alex, Amanda and Nikita with the end result of now being in a position to blackmail Alex into doing whatever he wants. This is impressive, but it gets even better when one realizes that he did all this from the confines of his cell.
- Sanctuary has an intermittent Magnificent Bastard in Nikola Tesla. Yes, that Nikola Tesla. The vampire one.
- Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place often has her moments as this due to how sly and manipulative (and good at it) she can be, with Selena Gomez relishing every second of playing the part.
- Morgan Pendragon from the Starz television series Camelot is the daughter of the former king and the legitimate heir to the throne of England. Ambitious, intelligent, ruthless and a great manipulator with a talent for the The Plan, she'll stop at nothing to become queen and gets most of the English people on her side, given the fact that in this show, King Arthur is apparently useless. Morgan is seemingly intended to be a villain but her incredible charisma, the fact that she's actually more relatable than the supposed protagonists and being played by Eva Green mean that most of the fans are cheering her on. In fact, most of the people on the show are even cheering her on.
- Helen Cutter of Primeval is a perfect example. So much so that even though she dies in the end of Season 3, the extent of her manipulations and future planning means that she arguably remains the villain right up to the end of Season 5.
- Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith of The A-Team. His tagline, "I love it when a plan comes together," usually uttered around a giant cigar and a grin is classic Magnificent Bastard.
- Kenny Hotz of the Canadian series Kenny vs. Spenny. He's ruthless, underhanded and, he rarely loses!
- Dracula, as the final villain of the series Penny Dreadful, kidnaps and turns Mina Murray to manipulate the heroes into chasing her in order to lure his true quarry, Vanessa Ives, into his grasp. While also outplaying his brother Lucifer, Dracula becomes close to Vanessa under his mortal guise of Dr. Alexander Sweet, while genuinely falling for Vanessa. Even after she discovers his true identity, Dracula still wins her to his side with the strength of his charm and charisma. Dracula then sets about his conquest of the world, so powerful that none of the heroes are able to even touch him, only departing to honor Vanessa's promise not to harm her friends after Vanessa's Heroic Sacrifice.
- Certain contestants on Reality TV competition programs can be Magnificent Bastards if they win in an impressive manner, or if they didn't win, came very close to doing so. Good examples include Richard Hatch, Brian Heidik, Parvati Shallow and "Boston" Rob Mariano from Survivor, Tiffany "New York" Pollard from Flavor of Love and I Love New York, and Dr. Will Kirby from the American version of Big Brother.
- Emily Thorne of Revenge. A Distaff Counterpart to Edmond Dantes, she effortlessly pulls off one Batman Gambit after another to take down anyone who had a hand in sending her father to prison. She belongs here rather than Guile Hero because of her complete lack of concern for any innocent bystanders who get hurt along the way, but pulls all her schemes off with such panache you can't help but root for her.
- This seems to be a requirement to be the Big Bad on Warehouse 13, as, to date, all three of them (James MacPherson, HG Wells, Walter Sykes) have spent their respective seasons carrying out elaborate plots against the Warehouse agents, always staying one step ahead of them, and ultimately only being stopped by unforeseen circumstances (and in Sykes' case, isn't stopped at all; he dies, but his plan still succeeds, granting him a post-mortem victory).
- Eastenders has known its fair share over the years, but Dirty Den was probably the best out of them all. A sharp-suited, womanizing Deadpan Snarker who managed to play everyone for fools, even the audience but still had moments of philanthropy. He was to Walford what Lionel Luthor is to Smallville, complete with his own Lex Luthor in the form of Dennis Rickman! In the end, though, Den gets outplayed by his wife, Chrissie Watts.
- Patrick Jane, from The Mentalist, is the epitome of this trope. He is brilliant, charismatic and manipulative. He runs rings around poor Lisbon, the rest of the team and the criminals. Nobody ever knows the full plan except him and, on the rare occasion something goes wrong, he will get out somehow. The audience want Patrick to succeed in catching the murderers and to eventually get Red John even though his methods are often questionable.
- Ming in the re-imagined Flash Gordon series. Unlike his comic book or movie portrayal, this Ming doesn't look like a Fashion Victim Villain and try to out-ham everyone. Instead, he dresses and acts like a third-world dictator by relying as heavily on propaganda and the media as on his Patriot troops. He wears a (mostly) plain military uniform, except for one episode where he wears a ceremonial cloak for a day of rememberance. He can be ruthless or kind (although, he usually leans towards the former). In one episode, a man is caught smuggling ice, a crime punishable by death on Mongo, as most of the water on the planet is contaminated. When the man pleads that he only did it to save his sick daughter, his words seemingly fall on deaf ears. Then, on the day of the public execution (via a gas chamber), Ming addresses the wife and daughter of the man, publicly promising them several rations of water in order to cure the girl... and then orders the execution of the man anyway. After all, a crime is a crime, no matter the reasons. The name "Ming the Merciless" does show up in an episode, which is revealed to be a nickname given to him by the poor. When he finds out, he personally chokes the entertainer who speaks it. Ming usually prefers "Benevolent Father", and you better use it.
- Ron Sandoval of Earth: Final Conflict played virtually everyone else in that series like cheap flutes - Taelon, human, and Jaridian. Mostly, it appeared he was playing them all against each other for mutual destruction out of revenge for the Taelons manipulating him and him being too much of a bastard for most humans' standards.
- Rumplestitskin (or Mr. Gold) in Once Upon a Time has mastered the art of the deal, suckering virtually every fairy-tale character into his plans in one way or another. Even from behind bars, he was cheerfully cutting deals and calling the shots! In the Storybrooke reality, he literally owns the town, and has ensnared both Emma and Regina into oweing him favors. Usually while maintaining a smooth, charismatic, occasionally generous and affable persona. It turns out that the entire story of the first season is his Batman Gambit that will result in him being able to find his lost son AND being free to keep his magic powers. And no matter how many people manage to get the drop on him, he manages to rebound and comes out on top.
- Speaking of Regina Mills, she could be quite the Magnificent Bitch in her own right in Season 1; even getting the drop on Rumplestiskin twice. In the fairy-tale world she manipulates Belle into almost stripping him of power, and in the Storybrooke world arranged for his Tragic Keepsake to be stolen, helped him get arrested, and then forced him to reveal that he was unaffected by the curse like she was. She tried to manipulate Emma and Henry by arranging so Henry would overhear Emma doubting his belief in the curse. She also arranged for the genie of Agrabah to murder her husband via a Wounded Gazelle Gambit, then tricked him into becoming her magic mirror. Regina and Gold are basically a Magnificent Bastard tennis match with everyone else in town as the tennis balls.
- Even worse? Cora (Regina's Mother) manages to manipulate both of them. She becomes Rumpelstiltskin's lover to gain magic power, and then promptly double-crosses him on a deal (after the influential King Xavier gives her the option to), using his own tactic of Exact Words, marries a docile and easily-led prince, and Regina's birth was just one more element in a grand scheme to have everyone else in the universe kissing her ass in revenge on the world for slighting her low birth as a miller's daughter. She will and does do absolutely anything in the name of getting ultimate power and status. The only thing that manged to stop her? Snow White taking a few levels in this herself, tricking Regina into killing her own mother. Granted, as Regina set up Snow's dad to be killed, Cora killed Snow's mum, and the pair of them just killed Snow's old nanny in front of her For the Lulz, it's a pretty good case of Pay Evil Unto Evil.
- Peter Pan is quite literally the biggest Magnificent Bastard on the show. He kidnapped Henry using a Wounded Gazelle Gambit, managed to manipulate and play literally every single character to his own ends, always staying 2 steps ahead of every one of them. He's probably one of the very few characters that is capable of outwitting Rumpelstiltskin multiple times, who happens to be his own son. All of it in a grand scheme to gain immortality, one in which he very nearly succeeded with style. And even when that didn't work out he exchanged bodies with Henry thus still staying ahead of everyone else whilst he still happens to manipulate them to his favor with ease as part of initiating his Plan B - one that puts everyone and everything in Storybrooke at risk.
- Ingrid the Snow Queen in Season 4 has become a major one, with some fans calling her the best villain the show has had since Cora or Pan. She almost effortlessly accomplishes everything she sets out to do, and the fact that she and Rumple seem to view each other as equals (even as he is on the verge of achieving greater power than ever before) speaks volumes.
- Hades in Season 5 is up there with Pan in terms of magnificence. All you really need to know about his status as this trope is that he actually out-Rumples Rumple, deceiving and enslaving him through methods that Rumple himself is accustomed to using.
- Colonel Adam Desai, in the third season of Grimm, blamed himself for being unable to achieve justice for Frankie Gonzales after she was gang-raped by four PMCs. Learning he was dying from cancer, Desai begins to hunt down and kill the four men responsible, luring one into his house by breaking his medals before stabbing him. When Portland police contact him about the rape, Desai tells them all he knows while tricking them into believing he's in the hospital while he's really in Portland. When one of the other contractors is killed along with his wife and Frankie is arrested, she calls Desai, who allows the Portland police to track his call, then confronts the last remaining rapist and reveals that he knows that he killed the contractor and his wife before engaging in a fight to the death. In the end, Desai deliberately leaves himself open for a killing blow, declaring that "You can't arrest him for what he did to Frankie, but you can for what he did to me." Colonel Desai is shown to be the cleverest Manticore depicted in the show and meets his end on his terms.
- Boardwalk Empire:
- Arnold Rothstein, Kingpin of New York, running an empire of gambling, prostitution, drugs, booze, and crime - all with impeccable manners and a sense of style. Steal from him? You're a marked man. Kill one of his business partners? He may have you killed immediately, or he may let you swing when it becomes more politically expedient. Because if he'll watch a man choke to death for his own amusement, what do you think he'll do to someone who crosses him? It takes until the end of season two for him to hit full Magnificent Bastardry, but Enoch "Nucky" Thompson gets there in spectacular fashion. When his protege, Jimmy, betrays him (after screwing up numerous business deals for him in season one) and teams up with the Commodore and Eli to bring Nucky down, Nucky predicts he'll ruin Jimmy. After surviving a second assassination attempt, Nucky starts cutting deals in spectacular fashion: bringing in Torrio and Rothstein for advice (and taking it), using his ties to Chalky to incite a race riot, and calling in the favors the IRA owes him and selling them guns in exchange for booze. Nucky doesn't have to do much else before all of Jimmy's deals start to backfire and he spirals out of control - but shooting Jimmy himself in the head sends the message that he's back in charge of AC.
- Charlie "Lucky" Luciano and his best friend Meyer Lansky spend the first four seasons learning at the sides of the greatest mobsters of the age and put their lessons into ruthless practice in season 5. Luciano has his former mentor and boss Joe Masseria assassinated after manipulating him to his death, seizing control of his outfits and having his rivals killed. Luciano and Lansky proceed to force the other mobsters to submit to them or convince them it is in their best interest to give in and 'partner' with them before forcing Nucky Thompson's capitulation by kidnapping his nephew to use as leverage. Realizing that the criminal Valentine Narcisse may also prove a problem, Luciano and Lansky allow him to think he is safe for a time before having him publicly assassinated, ending the season as the dominant masters of organized crime, sitting down to do business with a new coalition of their making.
- Game of Thrones:
- Arya Stark is the second daughter of Lord Eddard Stark. Ever a willful, tomboyish girl who disdains the ladylike pursuits of her elder sister Sansa, Arya eludes capture by the Lannisters to go on a journey where she undergoes numerous traumas, eventually leading her to be trained by the Faceless Men of Braavos. Keeping her individuality and taking their skills, Arya infiltrates a brothel to murder Ser Trant, the man who killed her sword instructor Syrio Forel. Refusing to murder a innocent woman, her brutal tutor the Waif tries to murder her, prompting Arya to lure her into a blind duel to kill her. Returning to Westeros, Arya kills the chief lieutenants of Lord Walder Frey, feeds them to him in a pie and kills Walder as punishment for killing her family before poisoning his entire house wearing his face at a feast. Returning North, Arya helps to trap Lord Petyr Baelish in his schemes and personally executes him, later even killing the Night King with a skilled ambush, saving the North and all of Westeros from the threat of the White Walkers.
- Sandor Clegane, "the Hound", is a man scarred inside and out from the abuse of his monstrously evil brother Gregor. A talented fighter who takes jobs that make it socially acceptable for him to kill, Sandor lends the captive Sansa Stark the aid he can during her imprisonment by Joffrey and eventually deserts the Lannisters, rescuing Arya Stark and forming a strange bond with her when his attempts to ransom her fail. Sandor displays a powerful command of combat ability and pragmatism, outfighting and outthinking many of his opponents. Returning after his attempts to live a life of peace fail, Sandor captures a wight to prove to King's Landing the threat of the Night King, before eventually returning to face his monstrous, undead brother to destroy him at cost of his own life.
- The Twilight Zone:
- The titular character in "The Howling Man" is the ruthless Devil himself, locked away by devout monk Brother Jerome. Playing at being an innocent victim to convince the protagonist, Ellington, to open his cell, the Devil promptly reclaims his role as lord of evil while helping to inflict misery on the world. Though Ellington is eventually able to recapture him, the Devil is then able to influence Ellington's maid into unlocking his cell at the very.
- The Devil later appears as an affable, portly man named Cadwallader in "Escape Clause". Making an offer of Immortality to hypochondriac Walter Bedeker in exchange for his soul, Cadwallader plays to Bedeker's ego to get him to accept the deal, also explaining that there is an "escape clause" that will have him kill Bedeker if he requests. Bedeker quickly uses his newfound immortality to throw himself into dangerous situations for a thrill, eventually trying to get himself executed in the electric chair. However Bedeker is instead sentenced to life imprisonment and is crestfallen, calling Cadwallader to enact the escape clause which he does, with the Devil getting everything he wanted without ever telling a lie.
- In "Printer's Devil", The Devil takes the form of a charming, eccentric old man named Mr. Smith, played by Burgess Meredith. Talking Doug Winter, the head of a failing newspaper, out of suicide, Smith agrees to work for him. Smith modifies the newspaper's equipment so that anything he writes comes to pass, causing a series of disasters to boost the paper's sales. When the smug head of a rival paper threatens to ruin them, Smith arranges for a fire to take out his offices. Smith manipulates Winter into a bargain for the soul, getting him to sign on the premise that an educated man like him can't be foolish enough to believe in the Devil. When Winter tries to fire him, Smith arranges for Winter's assistant to be in a car crash, offering to spare her life if Winter surrenders his soul as agreed. Never losing his charm, Smith sincerely wishes Winter good luck in his last-minute efforts to stop him.
- Haley, the diner cook in "Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?", is far more than he initially appears. Against the hidden Martian going by the name "Ross," Haley allows him to seemingly manipulate the situation to cause the deaths of any witnesses nearby before revealing that Haley had been playing Ross and in fact had been setting up earth for conquest and colonization. Revealing a third eye, Haley states he is from Venus and his fleet has intercepted the Martians' own, with Haley's plot for an invasion imminent.
- Jared Garrity of "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" is a charming, slick con man who tricks entire towns into believing he has the power of resurrection to swindle them. Garrity rides into the town of Happiness, Arizona, and quickly goes about enacting scenarios involving his trained dog and partner in crime to convince the citizens of his powers. Then using his personal knowledge of the people, Garrity manipulates them all into paying him to not revive their former neighbors and enemies, raking in a fortune before moving on to the next town, Garrity always polite and keen on finding his next target.
- Talky Tina, the titular "Living Doll" who feels protective of her owner Christie while loathing the girl's volatile and abusive stepfather, Erich. She begins gaslighting Erich by taunting him when they're alone together, making him suspect that his family is behind it, while his aggressive response to the doll alienates them further. When Erich tries to throw her away, Tina escapes and evades a number of attempts to destroy her, before she fulfills her threats by tricking Erich into falling to his death. With a playful charm that belies her vindictive cruelty and homicidal nature, Tina cements herself as one of the show's most memorable characters.
- The titular character in "The Howling Man" is the ruthless Devil himself, locked away by devout monk Brother Jerome. Playing at being an innocent victim to convince the protagonist, Ellington, to open his cell, the Devil promptly reclaims his role as lord of evil while helping to inflict misery on the world. Though Ellington is eventually able to recapture him, the Devil is then able to influence Ellington's maid into unlocking his cell at the very.
- In Taboo, James Keziah Delaney is a brooding Byronic Hero who returns to London after the death of his father to take over his trading business and his land claim to Nootka Sound, a strategic area in the Pacific Northwest contested between the British Crown, the East India Company, and the United States of America. James proceeds to play all factions against each other to set up his own monopoly trade, enlisting figures in the city's underworld to do his bidding, surviving multiple assassins going after him, executing a daring raid of an EIC compound so he can manufacture more explosives, and using various mind games to gain access to his half-sister Zilpha's bedchambers. After being captured on orders of the King and tortured in the Tower of London, James refuses to break and secures his own release. James emerges from the intrique as the triumphant party, leaving London with all of his allies on a ship bound for the new world after killing The Mole who spied on him for the EIC and ensuring that his chief enemy, EIC director Sir Stuart Strange, will be bombed in his own office.
- Rin Setsua of Thunderbolt Fantasy is the beautiful, playful young man who involves himself in Tan Hi's quest to keep a magic sword holding back a demon god out of the hands of the wicked Betsutengai. Rin Setsua manipulates fighters into joining the quest, including the vicious Screaming Phoenix Killer by promising him a match at the end. Rin Setsua then proceeds to double cross the team for Betsutengai's Onyx Demons, then betrays the Onyx Demons again after luring out potential traitors in Tan Hi's group. Finally facing Betsutengai, Rin Setsua proceeds to utterly humiliate him in combat, revealing his greatest pleasure is to humiliate and humble the proud and haughty.
- "Fred" from Unforgettable not only manipulates three separate people into being killers (one a serial), he chooses to out himself Carrie and her team, knows they're utterly unable to pin a single thing on him, and cheerfully implies he'll look forward to more fun.
- Vikings: Ragnar Lothbrok is a bold young Viking who schemes his way into being challenged by Earl Haraldson of Kattegat to kill him and take his place. As the Earl, Ragnar faces threats from men such as Jarl Borg and King Horik of Denmark, but manipulates, betrays and destroys them too, in the case of Horik even allowing the king to believe he has turned Ragnar's allies against him before revealing they were secretly Ragnar's spies against Horik. Even managing to sack Paris by faking his own death so his "boy" will be brought before the rulers so he can take Princess Gisla hostage and force the city's gates open, Ragnar later becomes broken in his later years, but schemes to create a new Viking age by turning himself over to the Saxons for execution so his sons will avenge his death, achieving everything he sets out to accomplish. A cunning, ruthless, occasionally brutal man who is dangerous to friend and foe alike, Ragnar exemplifies both the best and worst of the Viking age.
- Robert Ford is the brilliant creative director of the titular theme park in Westworld. Having created the park alongside Arnold, the two had several arguments over how to treat the hosts that inhabit the park, which led to Arnold's suicide. After grieving his partner's death and showing disgust for how the park's guest abuse the hosts, Ford decides to complete Arnold's dream of making the hosts fully sentient and free them from humanity's control. He does so by creating a new narrative for the hosts, instructing them to rebel against their oppressors and kill everyone inside the park, including himself. It's also revealed that Ford downloaded his conscience onto the Cradle so that he can observe the events after his death, still manipulating hosts and guests alike.
- In The People VS O.J Simpson, Johnnie Cochran is a criminal defense attorney who considers himself a black advocate. Seeing the impending O.J. Simpson trial as a perfect opportunity to push his political agenda, Cochran manages to become lead council of the Dream Team by outmaneuvering his predecessor Robert Shapiro. Cochran further outwits the prosecutors repeatedly with clever schemes that damages their own case, confuses the jurors with a prolonged Chewbacca Defense, redecorates O.J.'s mansion before a guided tour to make O.J. appear to be an active member of the African American community, and uses political leverage to threaten a race riot over the release of the Fuhrman tapes. Cochran's fiery rhetoric and dominant personality allows him to secure a not guilty verdict for a double murderer, something he considers a small price to pay as he goes on to celebrate his triumph.
- Person of Interest: Carl Elias, a New York City crime boss and the illegitimate son of Don Gianni Moretti, evaded his father's attempts to kill him after witnessing the latter having his mother killed and spent decades building his own power base, even using a job as a teacher to siphon off mob recruits. Evading arrest after killing his mother's assailant, Elias later assists, then double-crosses Reese, forcing him to give Elias his father's hiding place, going on to take control of much of the city's crime scene while having his right-hand man kill his hated father while Elias seemingly quietly surrenders to the police. In prison Elias expands his business, even helping Team Machine from behind bars and when nearly killed by Russian mobsters, prepares to calmly accept his fate. When rescued, Elias works with Carter to turn HR and the Russian Mafia against one-another and when faced with the challenge of yet another gang, prepares swiftly to fight them when they kill his loyal right-hand, even outwitting their leader Dominic while under torture. After surviving an assassination attempt by Samaritan, Elias goes underground with Team Machine's help and dies giving his life to protect Finch from the rogue A.I.
- The Mist: Wes Foster is a member of the mall survivors who hides a secret from the rest. Claiming to merely be a Private who knows nothing of the situation, in truth he is a member of the Arrowhead Project, sent into Bridgeville to locate Jonah Dixon and bring him in. After catching him looting, Wes plays dumb to catch him off guard and knock him out, revealing his true purpose inside the mall to him when he wakes up. After letting Jonah have power over him and releasing him, Wes reveals that the doctor at the Project can restore his lost memory, intriguing him enough to convince Jonah to ditch his newfound friends. After revealing that he knows more about the mist than he is willing to admit, Wes departs the mall and escapes the massacre with Jonah in tow.
- The Muppet Show Season 4, Episode 14: The unnamed critics, played by Statler and Waldorf, are a duo who absolutely despise the shows the nameless theatre troupe preform. Seeking to end their shows for good, they go about stealthily and systematically murdering the cast members via guns, knifes, and poison. The two are only foiled when Liza O'Shaughnessy fakes her death, causing them to reveal themselves since they had no intentions of killing her. When O'Shaughnessy reveals she tricked them and has the two arrested, the critics take their defeat well, genuinely applauding her acting skills and even cracking a joke about their own imprisonment.
- Spooks:
- "Road Trip": Ali Mohammed Yazdi is an assassin working for the the Al-Kahf terrorist cell. After receiving a contract to murder Middle-Eastern diplomat Prince Hakim, Yazdi uses his connections with a smuggling operation to sneak into Britain. Upon being discovered by Adam Carter and offered a deal to become a double agent, Yazdi begrudgingly takes the deal to fool MI-5 into believing he's turned. While working for MI-5, Yazdi gives up the name of one of his contacts and surreptitiously forces him to give up Prince Hakim's name, all while pretending that the Al-Kahf are planning another terrorist attack to divert MI-5's suspicion. Once MI-5 brings Prince Hakim in for questioning and put him in the same room as Yazdi, Yazdi swiftly kills the prince using nothing but his own glasses.
- The Greater Good: Adem Qasim is the charismatic leader of a Middle-Eastern terrorist cell opting to dismantle the British government. After Qasim is broken out of a prison transport, he resumes his plans to attack the government while also figuring out that Erin Watts was working undercover in his organization. After mortally wounding Erin and forcing Harry Pearce to execute her, he agrees to help Harry expose a traitor in MI-5 in exchange for being reunited with his wife. Qasim also has a suicide bomber kill the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and releases a live video requesting for the public to stand up against their oppressors. Upon learning that his wife was killed, Qasim accepts Harry's second offer to infiltrate MI-5 headquarters so long as he calls off his impending bombing on Oxford Circus. Qasim gives up his own men planning the bombing while simultaneously attacking MI-5 headquarters, successfully killing several MI-5 personnel during his siege.
- The Whitest Kids U' Know: "Sniper Business": Mr. Welburn is a hilariously ruthless, business minded corporate overlord. When his rivals at Bergman-Sachs hire a sniper to kill him, Welburn uses the situation as an opportunity to espouse his business ideals and rhetoric to his employee Jenkins while deftly outmaneuvering the sniper. Sacrificing a hapless intern to distract and kill the sniper, Welburn then uses more weaponry and stoicism in the face of danger to negotiate a truce with his rivals, considering the entire ordeal just another part of running a business and having no hard feelings about the situation.