Magnificent Bastard/Comic Books: Difference between revisions
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* 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
* [[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.''
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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.
* Edwin Alva in the series ''[[Hardware (comics)|Hardware]]''. {{spoiler|He catches a case of [[Redemption Equals Death]], unfortunately.}}
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