Magnificent Bastard/Western Animation/Marvel Animation

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

As in their source material, Marvel animated properties have presented many Magnificent Bastards of their own.

His mug says it all.[1]
  • In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Tombstone was forced to act as a Kingpin stand-in thanks to there being complicated legal issues preventing him from being in the show at the time. And thankfully, the Big Man comes into his own as a scarily competent schemer who made a profitable business out of creating supervillains to unleash on New York. He can also match Spider-Man blow for blow, has played him for a chump on more than one occassion, and has even teamed up with him to stop bigger threats, all while convincing the public that he's truly a nice and charitable man despite being a textbook example of Obviously Evil.
    • Dr. Otto Octavius, AKA Doctor Octopus has also obtained this status, particularly as "the Master Planner" in Season 2. He operates his plan, for the most part, from a mental ward, has Gwen Stacy kidnapped and then has her father betray the law in exchange for her safety, damn well nearly takes over the world in the end... all while managing to casually sit back and drink coffee out of a mug labeled "Evil Genius".
    • Norman Osborn is also up there, playing both sides throughout Season 1--getting paid to make supervillains to fight Spider-Man, and then getting paid to come up with the systems to contain them. In season 2 this continues, plus in "Accomplices" he carries out a beautiful Xanatos Gambit wherein he gets the competition to demolish each other fighting over what is, ultimately, a worthless chip--earning himself half a billion dollars with literally no risk or effort. Oh yeah, and he was the Green Goblin all along, willing to break his son's leg to fool Spidey.
  • Spider-Man: The Animated Series:
    • Kingpin. Runs a criminal empire from the Empire State Building? Has enough money and connections to keep himself out of jail despite all the schemes Spider-Man has foiled? Has the balls to pick a fight with S.H.I.E.L.D? Absolutely, and thanks to his willingness to fight Spider-Man and other superheroes with his own two hands, Kingpin is the perfect mix of a keen strategist and badass brawler, which made him one of the series' most beloved villains.
    • Jason Philip Macendale, AKA The Hobgoblin. In his introductory two-parter, he's a hired mercenary working for Norman Osborn using goblin tech that Osborn created, and assigned to take out the Kingpin. Hobgoblin then doublecrosses Osborn in favor of working for Kingpin against him instead, but then is revealed to be a double agent still working for Osborn. But then he quadruple-crosses both Osborn and the Kingpin, taking over Kingpin's HQ and holding Harry Osborn hostage as leverage so that Norman couldn't stop him. And that's not getting into how effortlessly he plays with circumstances in order to derail Herbert Landon's project in the X-Men crossover two-parter or how he almost gets his hand on the dimensional transporter due to planting a spy in Kingpin's organization ahead of time, or even almost gets Felicia Hardy to marry him so that he can cease her wealth and resources. He unfortunately becomes subject to Villain Decay and The Worf Effect when up against the Green Goblin, but his run was good while it lasted.
    • Doctor Doom, seen in the above series and both The Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk animated series', is as devious as ever, going as far as to nearly have the Hulk destroy Washington DC out of revenge for being tried for war crimes, and stealing the Beyonder's powers.
  • Loki in Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes most certainly fits the bill, first established during flashbacks in his first appearance and cemented when he explains how pretty much the entire twenty-six episode season was the result of his plotting during the first season finale.
    • Baron Heinrich Zemo is the leader of the Masters of Evil and has harbored a grudge against Captain America ever since he foiled his plans in World War II. Zemo relinquished control of HYDRA upon hearing of his return in the 21st century and vowed revenge against Captain America. Zemo infiltrated Avengers Mansion to steal a sample of his blood to help cure his exposure to Virus X. Upon being recruited by the Enchantress to form the Masters of Evil, Zemo quickly established himself as the team leader despite not having any superpowers. He led the Masters of Evil into a break-in of Avengers Mansion, managing to easily incapacitate most of the team. When the Enchantress unveiled her scheme to use the Norn Stones to lead the armies of the Nine Realms to conquer Earth, Zemo anticipated her eventual betrayal. After holding his own against Thor in a duel, Zemo placed a mind-control collar on the Enchantress in an attempt to control the approaching armies for himself. When she came seeking for her revenge, Zemo allied with the Avengers to take her out and kept a Norn Stone as insurance in case they failed. A massive opportunist, Zemo exploits the strengths and weaknesses of both his allies and enemies.
  1. ↑ MOD: His mug says "Evil Genius". That's a different trope.
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