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{{trope}}
[[File:Ozymandias.jpg|link=Watchmen|thumbnail|Ozy beat you to it!]]
It would be easier to list the heroes who don't have at least one of these in their gallery. Their villains tend to be larger than life and are often colorful, greatly increasing the likelihood of getting a villain that meets the rest of the criteria.
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** Another [[Batman]] example is Ra's Al Ghul, who, out of all the Batman villains, poses the biggest threat globally. He too, like [[The Joker]], has pulled almost every single plan and gambit one could think of for his final goal of wiping out ninety percent of the world's population. Add his [[Affably Evil|polite exterior]] and cunning mind, and you have one Batman villain who is ''not'' to be trifled with.
** The Riddler almost reached this trope when he teamed-up with him. However he failed to become the [[Chessmaster]] due to the fact that {{spoiler|he used one of Ra's Al Ghul's Lazarus Pits to cure his brain cancer, but didn't manage to hide it, resulting in Batman threatening to disclose it to Ra's, if he revealed the Bat's true identity}}. However, he has proven to be worthy of this title when {{spoiler|he manipulated a black sorcerer, who was one of his former allies, into killing several people, used Dick Grayson to eliminate the magician and escaped with his money. And he almost lost his life TWICE in order to make his plan successful}}.
*** His most Magnificent act of Bastardry was surely his reformation: he still gets to compete with Batman, but now he gets paid to do it, the police don't chase him, and there are many, many fewer Bat-beatings to be endured. The fact that good guy Riddler is an even bigger annoyance to Batman than bad guy Riddler is the icing on the cake.
**** As of the New 52, The Riddler qualifies. Zero Year portraits him as the mind behind Wayne Industries, serving as Philip Kane's consultant. In order to secure Philip's position after Bruce's return, he hires the Red Hood Gang to dispose of the latter, knowing well that the former is a member of the gang and has to comply. When Philip threatens to kill him, he nonchalantly reveals he is aware of the metal piece inside Philip's head and uses a giant magnet to incapacitate him. Then, he causes a massive black-out just before a hurricane hits the city counting on the GCPD to unwittingly give him complete access to every computer system in Gotham by bringing the light back. To be sure Batman doesn't interfere with his plan he also manipulates the desperate Doctor Death by funding his ethically dubious research in order to provide a distraction for the Caped Crusader. And the best part is that he succeeds, and hundreds of people drown in the hurricane as a result. What truly makes him worthy of this trope this time is the fact that, at least for now, he has never shown signs of being a [[Smug Snake]], or losing his temper even when things didn't go as he predicted.
* Prometheus is another one in ''[[The DCU]]''. He's got no superpowers, but he's stampeded through the Justice League three times now, and has pulled off ridiculous stuff like completely disabling the Flash by lying to him, or talking Superman into suicide, or blackmailing the League into letting him go after destroying Star City. He even teamed up with Luthor once (they caused World War III, no big deal), which led to a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] as Prometheus showed Luthor around his "crooked house for a crooked man", as the two masterminds passive aggressively snipe at each other.
{{quote|'''Prometheus''': I built my crooked house here, under the foundations of reality, where I could nibble away at the roots.
'''Luthor''': You wrote ''excruciating'' poetry as an adolescent, I can tell. You were published by your school magazine...
'''Prometheus''': Yeah, I guess we '''are''' pretty similar types, Luthor. Smart kids nobody ever really understood...
'''Luthor''': Mm. }}
* [[Black Panther]] is quite likely the biggest in Marvel ([[Depending on the Writer|sometimes]]). Basically every storyline during his longest run (under Christopher Priest) boiled down to "a bunch of really smart guys have a bunch of really smart, well-thought out, creative plans... that Panther anticipated and is manipulating to his own ends." It's doubly impressive because almost all of Panther's adversary are Magnificent Bastards themselves.
* [[Lex Luthor]], of ''[[The DCU]]''. Since the eighties, he's been well entrenched in Magnificent Bastardry. The [[Diniverse]] version is especially Magnificent, almost becoming the President as a ''distraction'' from his true plan. Though, unknown to him, he had help with that.
* The Prankster proved to be one of these in "The Art of the Prank", Superman #660, when dealing with Nitro G, a low-rate criminal with explosive powers that tried to strong-arm him into selling copies of his devices as weapons. And given that Prankster is a normal human, he couldn't simply beat Nitro G in a normal fight. So, he had to go by another route. Suffice to say Nitro G ended up naked, scarred, bruised and humiliated, begging Superman to take him to jail, in front of a laughing crowd while the Prankster ended up with more cash and more customers due to the publicity in his distraction-for-money business.
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* [[Sub-Mariner|Namor]], the Marvel king of Atlantis and on again off again super villain can pull this off on occasion. Like when he joined the heroic "Illuminati" of Iron Man and Mr.Fantastic, and the villainous Illuminati of Doom and Norman Osborn immediately after.
* [[Thanos|Thanos of Titan]], another example from the [[Marvel Universe]], and arguably the quintessential one, at least for the company's cosmic landscape. A premier mover and shaker in many important storylines (if not ''the'' main focus altogether), he has a knack for successfully manipulating both sides of the fence (sometimes both at once) time and time again, despite his true nature being common knowledge to everyone.
* General Wade Eiling from ''[[Captain Atom]]''. First, he framed Nathaniel Adam for drug smuggling, mutiny, and murder, when in fact Eiling had been secretly running the conspiracy responsible for those crimes. Then he talked Adam into participating as a guinea pig in the "Captain Atom Project", which led to Adam's apparent death. Then Eiling married Angela Adam, Adam's "widow." Then, when Adam rematerialized eighteen years later, now possessing superpowers, Eiling was able to talk him into masquerading as a superhero to spy on the Justice League as part of the Captain Atom project, by telling him that this would give him the opportunity to clear his name, and even reconnect with his children, who of course thought of Eiling as their father. {{spoiler|Even after Adam did prove his innocence, he never uncovered Eiling's involvement in the frame-up, and continued working for Eiling.}} And this is just the tip of the iceberg. What makes this especially impressive is that Adam is very smart, and is no slouch at political intrigue. Since Eiling was created by Cary Bates and [[Greg Weisman]], who went on to create ''[[Gargoyles]]'' and [[Xanatos Gambit|David Xanatos]], this is probably not surprising.
** Eiling ultimately got his commuppance: dying of cancer, he tried to transfer his mind into an immortal, nigh-indestructible body... that of the Shaggy Man. The process backfired as Shaggy Man's primitive animalistic body quickly turned Eiling into a mindless savage. It didn't help that Batman and Superman, upon fighting Eiling in his new body, promptly teleported him onto an asteroid in the middle of deep space, in order to get rid of him once and for all. Sadly, while Eiling DID eventually escape the asteroid, months of being stuck all by himself on a small asteroid in the silent void of space with a primitive brain effectively drove Eiling insane and caused him to lose his manipulative bastard skills.
* Tao of ''[[Wild CATS]]'' and ''[[Sleeper (Comic Book)|Sleeper]]''. Genetically engineered tactical supergenius turned nearly unstoppable crime lord, Tao wins fights just by opening his mouth - by the time he's done with you, you'll probably have signed up with him. (Failing that, you'll be mindwiped, in a coma, or have been shot by your own allies - going up against this guy just doesn't pay.)
* [[Marx Brothers|Groucho Marx]] plays this role of Lord Julius in ''[[Cerebus]]''. Incidentally, Dave Sim writes and draws a perfect Groucho.
* [[Spider-Man]] villain Roderick Kingsley, the original Hobgoblin, managed to trick Spider-Man and ''the Kingpin'' into believing the Hobgoblin was deceased Daily Bugle reporter Ned Leeds for a good 10 years real time before being caught. He then blackmailed the Green Goblin into breaking him out of prison, and is currently living in luxury in the Caribbean. Not bad for a guy who was originally ''a fashion designer.''
** Just to drive this point home, because Roddy is so often overlooked: he manipulated and murdered one of Peter Parker's co-workers, killed several dozen people, began a coup to take down the Kingpin, scammed two generations of Osborns, caused a gang war, and served probably ''one month'', comic-book time, in jail for it, before being able to sneak off to the Caribbean. Well, until he returned from retirement and was killed.
*** What makes him even more devious? He's ''franchising'' supervillain identities. He let Phil Urich continue being Hobgoblin after he beat the pretender for a cut of whatever he earns. He apparently has someone in Mysterio's old gear while he's chilling in the ''[[Ultimate Marvel]]'' universe and it seems that it may be the 616 version of Miles Morales.
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* Bomb Queen, the [[Stripperiffic]] [[Villain Protagonist]] of her self-titled [[Image]] Comics book. The iron-fisted dictator of [[Vice City|New Port City]] has, in no particular order: wiped out the rest of her original villain team; turned New Port City into a place where ''nothing'' is illegal in designed "Crime Zones"; stolen {{spoiler|a government supercomputer, the powers of the demon lord Desarak and her clone Bomb Teen (the latter of which was "born" from her supercomputer)}}; kept New Port City's mayor under her control with sex and verbal assaults, casually killing anyone standing near him when she blasts a hole through his office wall (repeatedly to the point of being a [[Running Gag]]); orchestrated terror attacks on the cities of other Image superheroes; {{spoiler|repeatedly foiled the plots of the [[Government Conspiracy]] (which created her) to have her killed}}; and {{spoiler|indirectly killed an innocent girl roped into her co-worker's attempt to interview Bomb Queen for their website}}. She is still a [[Villain with Good Publicity]] within her city, if only because her constituents are [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]] who moved to New Port City in order to indulge in their vilest sins. Outside her city, she has absolutely no protection under US law; she manages to [[Karma Houdini|avoid justly-deserved punishments every time]].
* [[Lucifer (comics)|Lucifer]] is nearly the most Magnificent of ''all'' Bastards. Like a true [[Magnificent Bastard]] he isn't above putting himself on the line of fire, and can [[Xanatos Speed Chess|make and discard a hundred plans in a moment]]. He handily gets the better of just about everything in the universe, but {{spoiler|barely manages to compete in the same league as God}}.
* [[John Constantine]] commits acts of Magnificent Bastardry on a regular basis, but he achieved awe-inspiring heights when, while dying of lung cancer, he risked destabilizing the cosmos by starting a war in Hell when he sold his soul to all three of Hell's most powerful lords--just so he could blackmail them into saving his life. And then he didn't even quit smoking.
** But the thing which truly crowned him as a [[Magnificent Bastard]]? He turned around to the three lords of Hell, the rulers of all of damnation, gave a little smirk, and ''[[Flipping the Bird|flipped them off]]'', stating rather non-nonchalantly "[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Up yours]]."
* [[Knights of the Dinner Table|Gary Jackson.]] It was recently revealed that he {{spoiler|faked his own death, entered the Witness Protection Program to escape the Mob, and is currently buying up his old company}}. He also has a swagger that commands respect from coworkers and fanboys in universe. The game system he created has much of his persona on display.
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{{quote|[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Do you seriously think I'd explain my masterstroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it thirty-five minutes ago.]]}}
* Amanda Waller in ''[[Suicide Squad]]'' and Greg Rucka's ''[[Checkmate]]''. Though she's occasionally played as a [[Smug Snake]] elsewhere, nobody can deny she's one of the few people capable of putting Batman against the wall. She is a heavy-set, nigh-menopausic black woman who escaped the Cabrini-Green area well after she had her children. And she is the leader of the very seriously titled [[Suicide Squad]], capable of commanding both the fear and respect of the supervillains in her employ and staying on top of the pile in the politics game and as a vicious field agent by sheer force of personality, brute intellect, and this trope. [[Determinator|This should]] [[Good Is Not Nice|tell you]] [[Da Chief|what kind]] [[Sassy Black Woman|of person]] Amanda is. To put it in perspective, both [[Lex Luthor]] and Batman have ''long'' since decided not to fuck with Waller. ''By personal experience''.
* Greg Pak's [[Incredible Hulk|Bruce Banner]] is this after [[Took a Level Inin Badass|taking a level in Badass]].
** To illustrate that point, during the [[Dark Reign]] storyline, Norman Osborn tried to turn Banner(who had been [[Brought Down to Badass]]) back into the Hulk, because he felt that Banner was more of a threat to his plans than the Hulk could ever be.
* A somewhat obscure one, but recurring Cenobite [[Faux Affably Evil|Hunger]] the ''[[Hellraiser]]'' comics by Epic.
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** Given recent events, we can probably add [[Evil Sorcerer|Ixis Naugus]] to this list as well. Following his recovery from madness, he undertook a plan to make himself a [[Villain with Good Publicity]] by using [[Idol Singer|Mina]] [[Unwitting Pawn|Mongoose]]'s music as a conduit for his magic, turning the distrust that the citizens of New Mobotropolis had for [[Hero with Bad Publicity|NICOLE]] following her [[Brainwashed and Crazy|brainwashing]] by the Iron Queen into [[Hate Plague|paranoia and hatred]]. He then appeared before the public and promised to "save" them from NICOLE with his magic if they just agreed to make him their king. {{spoiler|And it ''works'', much to the shock of both the main characters and the readers.}} He's also become a master of [[Xanatos Speed Chess]], apparently, as he's quickly managed to adapt to sudden situations in such a way that only improves the image this plan created for him. This includes defending the city from attacks by [[Evil Versus Evil|Eggman and the Battle Bird Armada]], and acting as though his accidental {{spoiler|deroboticization of Bunnie}} during a publicity stunt was intentional (the look on his face makes it clear, however, that he's as surprised as anyone else).
*** Giving himself some more points in the Magnificent Bastard department, he allows his [[The Mole|mole]] to be put on trial and found guilty of treason {{spoiler|and then uses his position as king to grant him a pardon, thus keeping Geoffrey free without breaking the law}}. It's actually quite impressive.
*** And then there's the fact that he pretty much plotted the Great War between the Mobians of Acorn and the Overlanders. Feeling threatened by the royal court's cheif engineer Nate Morgan's inventions and rise of influence in the king's eyes, he made an alliance with General Kodos, whose hatred of Overlanders Naugus had no problems to use to win him over, and then pulled up a scheme where a patrol of Overlanders and Kodos' patrol, with Morgan in it, would meet with each others and, with the help of his magic, would cause their xenophobia toward each other to turn violent. The outcome worked as it did, leaving only Kodos and Morgan alive, and he and Kodos quickly blamed Morgan for treason, causing him to be kicked out of the kingdom. Not only did this get rid of his main rival in the court and made him the top dog again, but it also made the relationship between the Mobians and the Overlanders go into red alert. Aware that a war was inevitable, he created the Zone of Silence to hide in while the war would go on and wait for the outcome, both of which were win-win to him: if the Mobians win, he'll return and simply take over a much stronger kingdom. If the Overlanders win, he'll return and take over what's left and rebuild the kingdom from the ruins. Only one mistake hindered his plan: he didn't create any way ''out'' of the zone, leaving himself locked in a prison for years to come.
* Mr Natural lives to manipulate people despite his facade of being a little old man, from his early days as a patent medicine salesman to getting Flakey Floont into trouble by forcing him to truly follow the zen practices he cherished.
* [[The Flash|The first Zoom]] could be considered this considering he tricked most of the League (including Wally) into thinking he was Barry back from the dead, killed Iris, and almost killed Barry's second fiance.
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== Newspaper Comics ==
* The megalomaniacal Dogbert, pet of ''[[Dilbert]]''. Though a multi-billionaire and former ruler of the world, he often works as a business consultant simply for the fun of conning people and stirring up trouble.
* Jason from ''[[FoxTrot]]''. He constantly comes up with newer and ridiculous ways to annoy and prank his siblings, especially Paige.