Magnificent Bastard/Western Animation: Difference between revisions

'''Alice:''' Just because it's written on a bathroom wall doesn't mean it's true.

'''Dilbert:''' ''[[Card-Carrying Villain|He]]'' [[Card-Carrying Villain|wrote it!]] }}

** Dr. Octopus as "The Master Planner" has also obtained this status. 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 "[[For the Evulz|Evil Genius]]".

* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' has an intriguing one: Vlad Masters/Plasmius. He wants to marry Danny's mom, adopt Danny and kill Jack, not exactly in that order. A lot of his lesser plans work, but the main ones probably would if he had better control of his emotions and kept his priorities straight.

** For a more straightforward example, there's "Reign Storm" where Vlad's biggest plan then succeeded in spades, manipulating nearly everyone to get what he wants.

* In the 2017 reboot of ''[[DuckTales]]'', Scrooge's old flame and "ex-everything," Goldie O'Gilt, is a beautiful, conniving treasure hunter who rivals Scrooge himself in sheer wit and tenacity. Lacking Scrooge's scruples and possessed of a penchant for betrayal, Goldie has backstabbed Scrooge countless times to leave him in the wake of danger while she constantly walks off untouched. In her debut episode, Goldie plays both Scrooge and Flintheart in her pursuit of the Golden Lagoon, using Scrooge to locate the Lagoon for her before managing to fake her death with the Eye of Demogorgon and making off with the treasure herself, completely untouched in the end. Even through their constant quarreling and rivalry, Goldie and Scrooge retain a fierce, mutual respect for each other, with Goldie always knowing Scrooge will make it out alive out of whatever conundrum she leaves him in and Scrooge acknowledging her as his greatest [[Worthy Opponent]].

* In ''[[Voltron]]'': ''Legendary Defender'', Prince Lotor quickly ascends to the position after the disappearance of his father Emperor Zarkon, easily besting Throk in battle, and also proves himself a master manipulator, portraying himself as a benevolent ruler who many planets would prefer to submit to rather than risking rebellion with Voltron. When he first goes up against the Paladins of Voltron, he sets traps and deploys clever strategies that get the Paladins working against themselves and soon sees them divided in a dangerous, toxic environment where Lotor could easily kill them all one by one. After failing to do so, he sees Voltron's resurgence as not a setback, but "an opportunity." He goes on to launch a highly audacious [[Xanatos Gambit]] involving a parallel reality, and sure enough one of the ways he could win pans out. He eventually forges an alliance with the Voltron Coalition, managing to save the life of Keith and the entire crew at least twice and even killing his father in a battle. Beating out Sendak and all other challengers for Zarkon's throne, Lotor becomes the new ruler of the Galra Empire and, keeping the alliance with the Coalition going, persuades Princess Allura into assisting him in unlocking the Quintessence Field of Oriande, where Lotor sought to power his Sincline ships, specially made to form into a new defender robot, in order to bring about his own rule over the galaxy, where he could position himself as a benevolent peacemaker despite wishing to expand a new Altean Empire and wipe the universe clean of all who were opposed to him and he felt were unneeded in his new reign. {{spoiler|It was revealed to the Paladins by the Altean girl Romelle that in the past, Lotor had rescued thousands of Alteans and kept them living in a hidden colony, making them look upon him as their savior and leader only to deceive many of them into volunteering to go to his "second colony", which was actually a facility where the Alteans had their Quintessence forcibly drained from them and harvested for Lotor's own purposes, with Romelle's younger brother Bandar being among the victims. Lotor kept these activities well concealed and was on the verge of achieving total success with Allura when the Paladins found out the truth. Even when captured by his own former generals and brought before his mother Honerva, Lotor remained defiant and dignified, with Axca and the other two generals switching their allegiance back to him once Honerva fled the scene.}} Believing his cause to be noble, having a very sincere affection for Altean culture and Allura that he used to his best advantage in order to win the princess over to his side, and possessing such charisma, intellect, and firm convictions that he even had the Paladins fooled, and with Allura even acknowledging his good intent in the end, Lotor remains one of Voltron's most utterly brilliant, dangerous and capable adversaries.

* In Disney's ''[[Big Hero 6]]:'' ''The Series'', the first season's [[Big Bad]], Obake, real name Bob Aken, was once the top student of Professor Granville. After an unsupervised lab experiment ended in disaster, Obake was left with a brain tumor that left him incapable of differentiating right from wrong. Fascinated by artist/scientist Lenore Shimamoto’s work, Obake flawlessly manipulates both heroes and villains alike into acquiring Shimamoto’s research as well the secret identities of Big Hero 6, taking close interest in Hiro Hamada. He secretly observes and gauges the boy’s growth from the shadows, even going so far as disguising himself as Hiro’s dead brother. In the season finale, Obake reveals his grand plan to recreate Shimamoto’s failed experiment that caused the Great Catastrophe, and rebuild San Fransokyo into something “perfect”. He takes control over Baymax and captures Hiro in hopes of swaying him into becoming his protégée once the dust settles. Thwarted by the heroes, a heartbroken Obake lets himself go down with his collapsing lair, but not without freeing Baymax from his control to go back to Hiro and save the boy who he deemed his equal. A [[Visionary Villain]] whose charming brilliance is rivaled by his ruthlessness, Obake establishes as Big Hero 6’s most diabolical foe to date.

* ''[[Castlevania]]'' (2017): Aside from the dreaded Count Dracula himself, the series gives us Isaac, a Devil Forgemaster who is Dracula’s last friend and a ruthlessly competent general. An abused servant until he killed his master, Isaac believes the world will only know love once all humanity is purged. To this end, he helps Dracula by reviving corpses as monsters to serve in his army. When the brutal Viking Vampire Godbrand suggests deposing Dracula, Isaac effortlessly kills him. No one ever discovers Godbrand’s death, with Isaac even telling Dracula that if anyone ever sought to betray him, Isaac would remove such that even Dracula wouldn’t know. After Dracula’s death, Isaac continues his war on humanity, seeking to build an army with his Devil Forgemaster skills. Utterly loyal to Dracula and one of the main reasons the Vampire Lord is a threat, Isaac is a human who can easily compete with all manner of monsters.