Magnificent Bastard/Comic Books: Difference between revisions
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* [[The Joker]]. He has pulled every Gambit in [[Xanatos Planned This Index|the book]] in his ''[[Comic Book Time|seventy-year-long career.]]''
** 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.
** Coming into her own [[Villainous Legacy|after her father's death]], Talia Al-Ghul is one of the few to ever pull one over on [[Lex Luthor]], exposing his crimes to the public and transferring his assets way. Talia later takes over the League of Assassins and upon Batman's death, she purges the remnants of the Black Glove, revealing she has installed a device within her own son to allow herself to control him when needed. After Bruce Wayne's reemergence, Talia masterminds 'Leviathan' to wage war against him, bringing Gotham to the brink of destruction, even resulting in Damian's death and Bruce's near demise as well, with Talia being one of the few to ever push him to the brink, showing herself as truly her father's daughter.
** Bane appears to be a hulking [[The Brute|brute]], but is in reality [[Genius Bruiser|far craftier than he appears.]] In his first appearance in the ''Knightfall'' storyline, Bane achieved fame by psychologically manipulating Batman to drive him to the mental and physical brink before revealing Bane had deduced his secret identity. Ambushing Batman, Bane snapped his back over Bane's knee and proceeded to reign over Gotham until his defeat. Since then, Bane has been acknowledged by even Ra's Al-Ghul as one of the few men worthy to succeed him and has learned from every defeat to rise stronger than before. As a member of the [[Secret Six]], Bane displays a [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones|deep affection for his surrogate daughter]] Scandal Savage and shows a [[Even Evil Has Standards|deep sense of honor and loyalty to his team]] until the end when realizing his potential again, Bane manipulates them into one grand battle and defeat to shed all attachments and emerge stronger than before. Of all Batman's foes, only Bane has the distinction of being the man who once broke the bat himself.
** 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.
** Lady Shiva, mother of Cassandra Cain, is the best assassin and best martial artist in the world. Once she lost her beloved sister at the hands of David Cain, Shiva was forced to bear Cain's child, who she intended to use to one day surpass her. Shiva regularly guides other heroes and villains alike to become stronger, with a cult around her that worships her as a goddess. Shiva only uses them as pawns in her own schemes, and when she meets her daughter Cassandra she slowly guides her to become Shiva's own ultimate opponent, admitting that she had Cassandra to one day surpass and kill her. Shiva remains one of DC's boldest and most complex villains, always charismatic and dangerous no matter where she appears.
* 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.
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'''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, running the gamut from [[Diabolical Mastermind]], [[Mad Scientist]], [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]], and even [[President Evil]], surviving every setback and always running the Man of Steel close. Firmly established as the leader of Earth's supervillain community, Luthor has led numerous incarnations of the Injustice Gang, Legion of Doom, and Secret Society of Supervillains, and has taken all-comers, emerging victorious over the likes of Brainiac, General Zod, Grodd and Vandal Savage to claim the title of Superman and one of DC Earth's most deadly villains, even briefly becoming a godlike being. Every bit as unstoppable as his archenemy, Luthor has proven time and again that his incredible mind is more than a match for Superman's physical might.
** General Dru-Zod II is one of Krypton's greatest criminals, and one of Superman's deadliest enemies. Confined to the Phantom Zone after his failed coup d'etat, Zod used his own son as a pawn in his plan to escape into the material realm during the events of ''Last Son'', and forced Superman and Lex Luthor to ally in order to stop his takeover of Metropolis. Released again during ''New Krypton'', Zod effortlessly incorporating the plans of others into his own, using civil unrest in Kandor, Sam Lane's various plots against the city, and Brainiac's invasion to reestablish himself as a populist military hero, and take control of Kandor from Alura Zor-El. Surviving Lane and Luthor's last-ditch effort to annihilate New Krypton, Zod and his surviving soldiers nearly conquer the world in the War of the Supermen, before the efforts of Superman, the JLA, and his own son saw him banished once more to the Phantom Zone. Always a brilliant strategist, and possessed of the raw strength to rival Superman, the Post-Crisis Zod can stand with Luthor as one of the Man of Steel's most capable and versatile foes.
** 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.
* Lord Gerald Shilling is the archnemesis of Revolutionary war hero and frontiersman [[Tomahawk]]. A [[Master of Disguise]] and consummate professional, Shilling is the chief British spy who will kidnap his mark, and perfectly assume their identity so well that it is nigh impossible to tell there has been a replacement. Shilling proceeds to gather information before making his escape, always leaving behind a perforated shilling piece as a [[Calling Card]]. Shilling is also fully capable of daring escapes when his cover is blown, never hesitating to engage Tomahawk in a duel if the situation calls for it and always manages to escape even when captured.
* [[Loki]], [[Marvel Comics|Marvel's]] expert [[Xanatos Speed Chess|free-form, improv manipulator]]. Not only does this guy play the big boys in the Marvel Universe, this is a guy who regularly improvises the [[The End of the World as We Know It|end of freaking nine worlds]] armed primarily with [[Manipulative Bastard|mischief]] and [[Consummate Liar|his lying tongue]]. And he's brought about Ragnarok multiple times. How many baddies have the chops to pull that off? He also lies regularly so well that no one can tell his lies from truth. Loki almost always gets what he wants.
** He's even made a [[Deal with the Devil|deal with Mephisto]] and come out on top.
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** Also, most masterminds would consider the day they successfully conquered a planet as the crowning moment of their career. Doom calls it Thursday.
** Interestingly enough, the one main trait of a [[Magnificent Bastard]] that Doom subverts is a lack of pettiness. Doom's main purpose in life is his [[Disproportionate Retribution|completely]] [[Minor Injury Overreaction|petty]] [[Green-Eyed Monster|jealous]] [[Arch Enemy|grudge]] against Reed Richards; he just pursues it in such a grand-scale, [[Memetic Badass|badass]] and [[Large Ham|hammy]] manner that he appears to be the epitome of this trope. Ditto for Lex Luthor.
* The Kingpin, also part of the [[Marvel Comics|Marvel Universe]], until the "Last Rites" storyline. He was a major enemy of both [[Daredevil]] and [[Spider-Man]], yet for the most part avoided being shut down by either and when they do succeed in bringing him down, he always find a way to climb back to the top. As of the end of the ''Shadowland'' arc he's returned to this status in a big way.
* Baron Helmut Zemo, heir to the deplorable Heinrich Zemo, eventually rejects his father's fascist ideology. One of captain America's greatest enemies, Zemo led a near perfect defeat of The Avengers in the Siege arc, ending by engaging Captain America himself and coming close to victory. Constantly returning with daring new schemes, Zemo even kidnapped abused and neglected children to give them a loving home with himself and his wife, and later formed the Thunderbolts as heroes specifically to give them cover for more villainous activities. Eventually deciding to save the world by conquering it, Zemo returns time and time again, sometimes as a deadly enemy and other times ready to defeat more evil villains than he himself, proclaiming he could never harm a world he works so hard to save.
* [[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.
* [[Magneto]] himself is a Holocaust survivor who is hellbent on seeing that no such evil ever befalls the mutants. Becoming a terrorist, Magneto manipulates his followers, allies and enemies alike, constantly waging war to better the lot of mutantkind, even against his best friend Charles Xavier. At one point Magneto even blackmails the world with nuclear weapons to set up a home for Mutants, and even foiled Doctor Doom's attempts at domination at another point. Deciding to protect the world and mutants in his own way, Magneto has returned countless times to commit acts he admits are unscrupulous, but necessary, constantly keeping himself from slipping too far into true evil while protecting his people from all threats.
* [[Iron Man]]'s archenemy, The Mandarin, is his mental and physical superior, and one of the few people who Tony Stark genuinely fears. With looted alien technology at his disposal, and a worldwide network of agents prepared to do his bidding, Mandarin has nearly brought down both the American and Chinese governments, requiring Iron Man to ally with the Chinese Communist leadership and its super teams in order to stop him. Infiltrating SHIELD during the "Extermis" storyline and Iron Man's own mind during "The Long Way Down" and "The Future" Mandarin has a proven ability to turn up in places he should not, and deal incalculable damage while there.
* Kang the Conqueror, born Nathaniel Richards, turned to conquest due to being bored by a utopia in the 30th century. Forging a galaxies-wide, centuries-spanning empire by his tactical genius, Kang routinely returns to the 20th century to engage the Avengers, repeatedly outsmarting them and always coming close to ultimate victory. Combining an insatiable drive to conquer with an odd sense of honor, Kang often fails solely due to future versions of himself interfering. At one point, Kang even manages to divest his destiny from his future self and forms a council consisting of alternate Kangs, only to completely outwit and destroy them. In ''The Kang Dynasty'', Kang razes Washington DC and masterminds a near complete take over of earth, planning even in defeat to leave his empire to his son Marcus, before being forced to kill Marcus for his betrayal when Marcus rescues him. Kang repeatedly shows he is one of the Avengers' most resilient and dangerous enemies, stopping at nothing until all he can imagine falls under his dominion.
* Frank Castle, [[The Punisher]], has waged a one man war on crime for decades as a way to punish both the guilty and himself. At one point, Frank even gets himself arrested and sent to Riker's Island, just so he can put into play a scheme to murder the men who killed his family. Constantly demonstrating a wicked intelligence, Frank constantly manipulates criminals into traps and Out-Gambits others who try to get the best of him, before finishing his enemies off, not afraid to expose himself to injury, torture or death in the process. Even when faced with the unexpected, Frank is constantly able to rebound and get the better of his enemies, often tolerated by the police for his inflexible moral standards even as he leaves a mountain of guilty corpses behind him. In the final arc, Frank goes against The Kingpin himself, who now owns the criminal underworld of New York, deprived of much of his own former assets, and ends up completely destroying his operation before finishing him off, remarking only "Your city, my world."
* 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.
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** [[Depending on the Writer]], [[Norman Osborn]]/the Green Goblin can be this, whereas he's a [[Smug Snake]] otherwise. When Norman isn't acting Insane, he able to even out scam Kingsley! In the earlier example of Kingsley tricking Osborn into helping him escape from prison, Osborn was aware of that and bought Kingsley's company while making Kingsley believe he was falling for his trap.
* 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]].
* In ''I Vampire'', Mary the Queen of Blood was born Mary Seward before being turned by her lover Andrew Bennett. Happily embracing her vampiric urges, Mary spends years plotting and building her forces until she initiates a ruthlessly brilliant gambit that nearly sees the vampires take over the entire world in a single day, before manipulating and playing Andrew as well. When her plans are thwarted, Mary ends up depowered and returned to human form before getting her drive back to stop the corrupted Andrew before he destroys the world, even using her death to become a powerful supernatural being that ends up saving the world and achieving redemption in the afterlife. As Mary herself says "being a vampire gave me powers. Being me made me awesome."
* [[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]]."
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