Magnificent Bastard/Multimedia/Sonic the Hedgehog

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Sonic the Hedgehog has dealt with some way past Magnificent Bastards across mediums:

Even after seeming defeat, Mammoth Mogul triumphs.

Games

  • Ivo Robotnik AKA Dr. Eggman, is sometimes a goofy buffoon who will inexplicably program a deliberate weakness into his machines. Other times, he's every bit as dangerously clever as his 300(!) IQ would imply. Some examples include him controlling the Time Eater with the help of his past self with the goal of undoing his previous defeats in Sonic Generations, tricking Sonic (while in his super form) to let his guard down long enough to extract the energy of the Chaos Emeralds from him and turn him into a werehog in Sonic Unleashed, and faking his Heroic Sacrifice death in order to power up his ultimate weapon while having Sonic get rid of the Deadly Six for him and put his plan back in motion in Sonic Lost World. But his crowning achievement in regards to this trope would be in Sonic Forces, in which Eggman uses the might of the Phantom Ruby and his new right hand man Infinite to take over 99% of the world in months. Not only does he almost kill Sonic, but he pulls out all the stops in keeping his plans running by destroying all Phantom Ruby prototypes so they can't be used against him, keeping secret backup power sources to his most powerful machines, and even tricking Sonic and the Resistance into chasing after a fake Ruby while keeping the real one in his machine, that takes the combined power of both Sonics and the custom hero to stop. The good doctor has been Sonic's Arch Enemy for so long for a reason.
  • Shadow the Hedgehog was actually quite an impressive one in Sonic Adventure 2. He manipulated Eggman into thinking he was working for him so that he could get all the Chaos Emeralds in order to activate the Colony Drop, and even knew about Rouge's attempt to grab the Emeralds herself. In fact, the only reason he didn't succeed was that, with Amy's intervention, he decided to not go through with the plan after all.
  • In Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic imprisons Eggman and does such a good job at impersonating him that no one knows that something's up until after he's been defeated at the end of each team's routes. And under his Eggman disguise, he plans them into chasing decoy versions of Eggman around while he copies their data to power himself up, culminating in his transformation into a huge robotic dragon that puts up a hell of a fight against everyone. Definitely an impressive feat for a robot who once had no free will of his own!
  • As monstrously evil as it is, one has to give The End from Sonic Frontiers credit where it's due: it plays Sonic like a total sap over the course of the game. Having already driven a species of peaceful aliens to extinction through its strength and tenacity, it tricks Sonic into freeing it from its prison by playing off his sense of justice and desire to protect his friends. Upon being freed, it wastes no time in trying to destroy the planet, and proves to be such a tough opponent that Sage is forced to perform a Heroic Sacrifice to vanquish it... and it's hinted that all she and Sonic destroyed was its physical form, not the entity itself, meaning it can eventually come back and give it another shot. And if that wasn't impressive enough, it spends its boss fight giving the mother of all cool Badass Boasts hyping up its Lovecraftian strength, which it very much lives up to.

Anime

  • Sonic X has Luke/Lucas/Dark Oak. His objective to turn the entire universe into one with peace and tranquility and devoid of flesh and blood so that plants can rule is motivated by his love for Hertia/Earthia. Even though he acts like a monster sometimes, deep down, he's rarely cruel and is actually troubled by his past. His smooth operations mainly involve collecting the Planet Eggs as well as the seven Chaos Emeralds, and for good reasons. In the end, following Cosmo's Heroic Sacrifice, he reforms and finally realizes the errors of his ways, and happily departs for the afterlife alongside a vision of Hertia.
  • Rouge the Bat combines her sexy good looks with a silver tongue and sharp mind. When she gets caught in a trap set up by G.U.N, she quickly works it into a win by joining the organization, which allows her to keep any loot she's stolen as long as she works for them. And that's just her most brilliant gambit, other examples include befuddling her opponents in a tournament for a Chaos Emerald by kissing Tails and ringing him out while he's stunned and tricking Knuckles into fighting blind, as well as tricking Eggman into stealing an Emerald in a way that's guaranteed to allow her to steal it from him. While her game counterpart is no schmuck, this Rouge is even brainier and bolder.

Comics

  • In the Sonic The Hedgehog comics, Mammoth Mogul proves to be a textbook Magnificent Bastard, convincing people to do his bidding just through his sheer charisma while running all kinds of schemes that put Sonic through the wringer. If he wasn't pulling this trope off in all that time before, he certainly did when he essentially straight-up told the heroes, "Hey, I just remembered I'm immortal. So here's my new plan: I'll live in this sweet casino I just had built, amuse myself by taking pot shots at you whenever I can, and wait for you all to die of old age. I can beat you by outliving you." You gotta love him for that.
  • Let's not forget Dr. Finitevus, who straddles the line between this and Complete Monster -- he effortlessly manipulates the Guardians (including Knuckles), Dimitri, and two whole factions of the Dark Egg Legion in order to ensure that a new Enerjak can be created. And then he escapes scott free by jumping off Angel Island and disappearing into a Warp Ring with a smirk.
  • Ixis Naugus definitely belongs on this list as well. Following his recovery from madness, he undertook a plan to make himself a Villain with Good Publicity by using Mina Mongoose's music as a conduit for his magic, turning the distrust that the citizens of New Mobotropolis had for NICOLE following her brainwashing by the Iron Queen into 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. 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 Eggman and the Battle Bird Armada, and acting as though his accidental 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 mole to be put on trial and found guilty of treason 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.
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