Magnificent Bastard/Anime/Gundam

Treize has you right where he wants you. Always.

Most Gundam series have featured, at some point or another, a Magnificent Bastard as an antagonist.

From the first Mobile Suit Gundam series, we have the guy who set the standard for Magnificent Bastards to come: Char Aznable, who has had many moments of Magnificent Bastardry, but one of his best is when he leads Garma Zabi into a trap, politely calls him on the phone, explains his motives, tells him goodbye and leaves him to die. One can't deny the flair of the execution.
- Kycillia Zabi is arguably one as well, as evidenced by her lengthy and carefully calculated campaign to seize control from her older brother Gihren, as well as her skill as a battlefield commander. Gihren himself would count, but his arrogance and Complete Monster status instead leave him as a high-functioning, Love to Hate Smug Snake.
Not to be outdone, Zeta Gundam featured the deviously intelligent Paptimus Scirocco, who quietly manipulated his way from common lacky to becoming the head of the Titans, killing off everyone else who got in his way with a flair and style that just made it hard not to root for the guy as a villain.
A second one, as well as the Big Bad for Gundam ZZ, is the Axis Zeon leader Haman Kahn. A ruthless Lady of War and Woman in Black who manipulates and outsmarts almost everyone in Zeta, fights with honor in both series, and is so damn stylish at the same time. It rather telling that the one person that Paptimus Scirocco is cautious of (and has a healthy amount of respect for) is her.
The big three of Mobile Fighter G Gundam - Master Asia, Prime Minister Wong Yun-Fat, and secret final villain Major Urube Ishikawa.
Gundam Wing: Treize. Khushrenada.. How did he make the Earth Federation fall into OZ's clutches? Freely give the location of the Federation council's meeting to the Gundam pilots. And it ended with the pilot killing the leader who was ready to start peace talks, stripping the pilots from colony support, and making them have a (rather) minor mental breakdown. Considering the goal of the real Operation Meteor, it is possible that his goal is to strip all the bad guys (the Obstructive Bureaucrat Earth Sphere Alliance members, the Romefeller Foundation who had their hand in financing the war, and the war-toting colonist rebels) from their power in one go. And that's just one battle.
- The fact the killing shot came from Heero Yuy, who'd been renamed after an assassinated peacemaker, qualifies as the defining sick irony for the entirety of Gundam Wing. Thanks, Treize!
- He also had rose petals in his bath tub, and knows how to enjoy fine wine and arts.
- The best part is that the only reason Treize didn't take over the entire solar system when he easily could have less than halfway through the series (Lady Une begs him to at one point) is that Treize suffered from severe self-esteem problems. When ~~Zechs~~ Milliardo finally gives him a reason to fight again Treize seizes control of the entire Earth Nation in exactly five minutes.
  - And even after his death, Treize's influence lives on, as Lady Une invokes his name when verbally beating down Mariemeia's claims and beliefs, and not long afterward Dekim is shot by a former OZ soldier out of respect for Treize's legacy.
Next, from Gundam SEED, we have Rau le Creuset, a man so intelligent and erudite he managed to mask his ever encroaching insanity and the fact that he is a clone from all of those around him. Out of all of the Gundam villains, it is quite possible that he is the only one who came closest to his goal, eradicating all of humanity. Gundam SEED Destiny Big Bad Gilbert Durandal may also count; he certainly has the Manipulative Bastard, Chessmaster, and Xanatos Speed Chess ability to make a good try, and has fairly sympathetic goals to boot.
And finally, we have Ribbons Almark from Gundam 00. Prior to his Villain Decay, he proved himself to be a devious and cunning bastard among the rest, when he revealed to Alejandro Corner that it was he who had been slowly achieving his goals via manipulation of Alejandro. He then leaves Alejandro to die as he goes on to enact his plans for the world. Alejandro doesn't take it well.
- And thus one of the fastest spreading memes in the Gundam meta series was born: "FUCKING RIBBONS!!!!!!" Yeah, the revelation was that much of a Shocking Swerve.
Then there is Aeolia Schenberg of Gundam 00. Put simply, the entire series is his plan. Even the people who tried to hijack it were part of it. Oh, and he won.
If you don't believe that he terribly crossed the Moral Event Horizon, then second season!Flit Asuno from Gundam AGE falls in this category.

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