Magnificent Bastard/Comic Books: Difference between revisions
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* ''[[Sinestro]]'', post-''[[Green Lantern]]: Rebirth''. The guy organised a war between his new corps and the Green Lanterns. He manipulated [[Emotion Eater|Para]][[Eldritch Abomination|llax]], the [[Technopath|Cyborg]] [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|Superman]], [[Ax Crazy|Super]][[Physical God|boy]]-[[Trapped in TV Land|Prime]] and ''the freaking [[Eldritch Abomination|An]][[Omnicidal Maniac|ti]]-[[Crisis on Infinite Earths|Monitor]]''. And when he's beat? He reveals that, all this time, [[Xanatos Gambit|he was using it]] [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|so that the Green Lanterns become a better police force]], by getting them to subvert their [[Thou Shalt Not Kill]] rule. ''Brilliant!''
** Before that, in ''Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual'' #2 (1986), Sinestro was able to manipulate the omnipotent Sector 3600 into breaking the Sciencells, allowing Sinestro and the sector to escape.
* The titular "V" in ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' is a masked revolutionary dedicating to crafting "The Land of Do-As-You-Please" from the fascist hellhole Britain has become. Destroying Parliament, V later seizes control of the broadcasting center of London to inform the country of his intentions and escapes by having the station head dressed up as him and used as a decoy. Slowly eliminating all of those at the Larkhill Concentration Camp who could have identified him, V is revealed to be manipulating almost everyone else, hacking into Britain's dictator, Adam Susan's supercomputer and guiding a widow of a man he'd killed to eliminate Susan. V proceeds to force Evey Hamilton into being his successor by forcing her to accept her true self under torture, and later even works his own death into his plans to convince Evey to become his successor and tear down the established order.
* {{spoiler|Ozymandias}} from ''[[Watchmen]]''. {{spoiler|Right up until the end, he's the most beloved man on the planet, seemingly admired by everyone but Rorschach and the Comedian. Rich, handsome, a star gymnast well into middle age, and the smartest man in the world, the man's got style and class. And his master plan, which involved manipulating hundreds of scientists and artists and gets both [[Cold War]] superpowers to lay down their arms, succeeds, at least for the time being. And he survives the story, despite an assassination attempt at almost point blank range - he catches the bullet - and getting on a virtual god's bad side.}}
{{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.]]}}
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** Julius Ceasar anyone? It says a lot about the man that after years of publication and having his plans fail constantly, he is still treated as a genuine threat by both the fanbase and the characters. The fact that he is incredibly cool under fire probably helps--when confronted by two (superpowered) heroes, our non-powered viillain states that "If you have come to kill me, I will have you know that I intend to sell my distinguished life dearly." You never doubt him for an instant.
* Writers often try to make [[Mickey Mouse Comic Universe|The Phantom Blot]] a [[Magnificent Bastard]], and sometimes they even succeed. At his best, he [[The Chessmaster|hatches truly convoluted schemes]] that have Mickey Mouse (often portrayed as little short of a [[Great Detective]] himself in such stories) running around clueless for a long time before he even begins to figure them out; and has [[Evil Is Cool|a dark, threateningly cool presence]]. That said, most stories can't pull this off too well.
* Hunter Rose in ''[[Grendel]]'' was born Eddie in New York. A natural genius with exceptional physical talent, Hunter reinvented himself and returned to New York as the mysterious Grendel. Dominating the criminal underworld, Hunter brought most criminal syndicates under his thumb while showing no mercy to traitors, child pornographers or pimps. Viewing everything as a game, Hunter manipulated the cops and criminals alike, as well as his archnemesis, Argent the Wolf. Constantly a step ahead of his enemies, Hunter even tricked Argent into being seen as a savage beast in front of Hunter's adopted daughter, Argent's beloved Stacy, to destroy her love for him. A ruthless, charming manipulator, Hunter reflects the darkness of New York and constantly shows himself a step ahead of all challengers.
* [[God of Evil|Anathos]], from ''[[Les Legendaires]]'', big time. He put in place a [[Xanatos Gambit]] ''years'' before his first appearance in the serie in order to come back amongst the living. Whereas most characters will fall for the [[No Man of Woman Born]] trick, this guy was so [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] he ''used it to his advantage'' as part of his plan B. As a result, the Gambit worked, despite the opposition of the protagonists, the [[Big Bad]] and even an [[Eldritch Abomination]]. Not to mention he scarred the heroes to life and almost [[Omnicidal Maniac|eradicated humanity]]...
== 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.
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