Magnificent Bastard/Tabletop Games: Difference between revisions

* Prince Lucanor Giovanni from [[Anima: Beyond Fantasy]] certainly qualifies. He is effectively the second smartest person in the entire setting, second only to his brilliant but insane mentor. Despite being a normal human in a setting full of supernatural beings and super powered individuals he remains one of the most major political players in the setting due to his near [[The Omniscient|omniscient]] ability to deduct what everyone else is up to. He actively manipulates almost every other side in the setting without them realizing it.

* Asmodeus, ruler of Nessus, Ninth Layer of Baator in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''. He is one of the oldest living things in the multiverse, controlling all of the Nine Hells and standing over every other devil. The gods fear him. He once instigated the Reckoning, an [[Enemy Civil War]], just to root out the more dangerous of his foes... only to promptly step forward and force all of Baator to submit once it stopped being useful to him. His only reaction to [[The Starscream|Mephistopheles]] threatening to take his throne was an amused silence.

** An arguable example is the Demon Lord Dagon. Like other Demons, he is [[Chaotic Evil]]. ''Unlike'' other Demons however, he is intelligent, rational, and above all, ''patient''. He is reported to be the first Demon Lord spawned from the Abyss, and uses his vast knowledge to manipulate the minds of mortals and demons alike. Oh, and his alliance with Demogorgon, which makes him seem like [[The Dragon]]? It's heavily implied that their alliance is part of a greater scheme in Dagon's benefit, and in fact he plays a big role in the continuing feud between Demogorgon's [[Split Personality]] issue. (He only speaks to one of Demogorgon's two minds when giving advice.)

*** And if you look at him, you become terrified of the sea. Did we forget to mention that Dagon lives at the bottom of an Abyssal ocean? ''His very existence insulates him from retribution.''

*** Spoiler, {{spoiler|The prophecies are wrong in this case.}}

**** {{spoiler|The prophecies are wrong}}? What D&D source says that?

* The Dark Powers of the [[Ravenloft]] setting can be Magnificently Bastard-ish when tormenting their darklord captives, playing off weaknesses and hang-ups that the darklords won't even admit they have. Many fans of the setting remain convinced that the DPs are on the side of the angels, simply because it's ''villains'' whom they're hassling with such expertise. The fact that they work in secret rather than stepping onstage doesn't disqualify them from this trope, as their resulting mystique more than makes up for it.

** Some of the domain lords, themselves, also qualify. Azalin, Harkon Lukas, and Strahd von Zarovich probably rate highest in fan admiration for their scheming, as does the non-darklord Gentleman Caller.

** The TRUE [[Magnificent Bastard]] regiment of [[Warhammer 40000]] is, as said above, the Alpha Legion. Contrary to the Thousand Sons' meticulous planning over the years (which gets screwed up anyway), Alpha Legionnaires are trained to think for themselves and to [[Xanatos Speed Chess|improvise in the heat of battle.]] Their combat doctrines include multiple strikes at various enemy weak points at the same time, using cultist regiments that are well-trained instead of mere cannon fodder, and [[Combat Pragmatist|fighting dirty when push comes to shove.]] In an event following [[Horus Heresy]], the Ultramarines clashed with the Alpha Legion and [[Didn't See That Coming|managed to catch them off-guard]] by deploying their best strike force directly to the Alpha Legion's command center. Despite managing to destroy the Alpha Legion's central command which included their Primarch, the Alpha Legion managed to keep their cool and coordination under the circumstances. Using various tactics such as ambush, traps and [[False-Flag Operation]], they managed to almost completely obliterate the remaining Ultramarine force, forcing the Ultramarines to retreat hastily and their Primarch remarking that he "has no interest in a righteous war against such a dishonorable foe"

*** Their magnificent bastardy is enhanced by the fact that that story may well not be true - the only source for it is an Inquisitor who was later revealed to be an Alpha Legion spy.

** The latest Dark Eldar codex is full of them:

** Also, the C'Tan Deceiver. He works on the same level as Tzeentch, playing the other races of the galaxy, including the Necrons themselves, against each other for his own benefit.

** On the subject of divine masters of the various Xanatos tropes, there's Cegorach, the Laughing God. He was the only Eldar god to fully survive the birth of Slaanesh (Isha was captured by Chaos, and Khaine was killed but lives on in some sense through his avatars), and remains the mastermind behind many of the Eldar's most complicated and successful schemes. Arguably fits into the [[Guile Hero]] trope as well, but many a being that qualifies as a "hero" by 40k standards would be hardly better than a [[Complete Monster]] in most other settings.

** So there I was, adding Cadian commander Ursarkar E. Creed to the Magnificent Bastard page, when I realized that my keyboard wasn't actually a keyboard. It was, in fact, a picture of a keyboard drawn on the toe of a [[Humongous Mecha|Warhound Titan]], which proceeded to devastate much of the city. How could a 15-meter-tall war machine just show up out of nowhere like that?! [[Memetic Mutation|Why, you'd have to have some sort of Tactical Genius special rule to...]] [[Skyward Scream|CREEEEEED!!!]]

** The true Magnificent Bastard of the Warhammer 40,000 and Horus Heresy universe is Erebus. He corrupted not one but TWO Primarchs, both his own Lorgar and Horus; convinced Horus that the Emperor was his enemy by endearing himself to the Luna Wolves Legion and was able to get Horus to trust him over his brother Magnus the Red; he helped plan the Istvaan Massacre and taught Horus everything he knows of Chaos; During the battle of Calth he used his own forces as a distraction to cast a powerful ritual that made warp travel near impossible through the Imperium and prevented communication, so that Horus's treachery would remain secret for longer and the Loyalist forces could not strategize with each other long-range. If it weren't for Erebus the Horus Heresy would never have happened, he is responsible for the crapsack state of the 40k galaxy. And to make him even more magnificent he survives the Heresy and goes on to be one of the two most powerful figures in the Word Bearers legion, possibly one of the most powerful warriors alive, and is still a Magnificent Bastard; he and Kor Phaeron using the entire Legion in a civil war as part of a game between them that in Erebus's own words "means nothing,", a war which his side won, and possibly planning Abaddon the Despoiler's downfall as his next move. Truly a more Magnificent Bastard has never lived, once that ruined a galaxy just to gain power.

* Khazrak the One-eye, a beastmen leader from ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]''. A ruthlessly efficient beastmen who uses simple yet effective ambushing tactics. He has a rather one-sided [[Friendly Enemy]] relationship with the count of Middelland and really believes in an eye for an eye. Even though the count sends knights, soldiers and mercenaries his way, and has put a price of a whopping 10 000 gold pieces on his head, Khazrak keeps one-upping everyone he meets (and even if he somehow gets caught, he will escape and exact revenge on whoever caught him). The fact that he's from a race that's not too good when it comes to smarts is just icing on the cake.

* ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'' has the Scorpion Clan, which basically trains every single member from birth to try to live up to this trope, with a frightening degree of success. However while the Scorpion Clan might specialize in it (and get the most attention for it), just about every major organization in the setting has a good half-dozen or so examples that qualify. Of course, there's also the [[Ancient Conspiracy|Kolat]], who tend to be as magnificently bastardy as the Scorpion Clan but for entirely different reasons. That is, until the Scorpion Clan found the Kolat's [[Supervillain Lair|secret hideout]] and, in a suprisingly unsubtle but extremely effective maneuver, sent in a crack team of killers to wipe out as many Kolat as possible and stole the Kolat's [[Crystal Ball|magic scrying device]] that they needed to remain the [[Palantir Ploy|super-secret all-knowing conspiracy]], thus giving the Scorpion Clan a monopoly on Magnificient Bastardry within the Empire.

*** Mostly because one of the most common tactics for a good Scorpion is to pretend to be a [[Defector From Decadence]] or some similar type - basically convincing their marks that they're not like the rest of the OBVIOUSLY untrustowrthy Scorpion Clan, they're different, honest! Also, despite being Magnificent Bastards, most have as the goal of their schemings 1 ) Personal power and glory, and 2 ) The survival of the Scorpion Clan, and 3 ) The survival of the Empire. They may be nasty sons of guns, but they're still (mostly) loyal.

*** Also, the ones who aren't pretending to be [[Defector From Decadence]] instead just master [[Batman Gambits]], by being trustworthy when you expect them to be untrustworthy. The Scorpion book is basically a guide to how to follow this trope.

* If you play ''[[Diplomacy]]'' and aren't a [[Magnificent Bastard]], you lose. End of story.

* Nicol Bolas of ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' is slowly becoming one. The oldest being in the multiverse, he successfully manipulated other planeswalkers into sacrificing themselves to fix universes, as well as having deceived [[Closer to Earth|Sarkhan Vol]] into becoming his stooge and awaken the [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldrazi]] for a yet-to-be-revealed scheme He's such a [[Magnificent Bastard]] he bullied, coaxed, or conned the designers to give him a card that, for raw power (though probably not game-breaking effectiveness like Jace), is probably stronger than any other Planeswalker yet printed.

** [http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/sf/33a In one article], written in character, Nicol Bolas actively encourage players to cheat whenever possible, saying that it wasn't against the rules as long as you don't get caught. Of course a bastard as magnificent as he could never be caught.

*** Actually, Bolas points out that cheating, while a path to assured victory, is also the least reliable. A bastard as magnificent as he can screw you over perfectly fine ''without even bending the rules.''

* The [[New World of Darkness]] sourcebook ''Mirrors'' includes the Merit "[[Invoked Trope|Magnificent Bastard]]", which means that a character suffers from no situational penalties for attempts to Sway others (i.e. no matter how guarded a person is due to warning, previous betrayal, or catching the character in a compromising position, the character will always find a way to get in with them).