Magnificent Bastard/Western Animation: Difference between revisions

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**** It is also worthy to note that this Megatron is so incredibly [[Badass]] that he doesn't even bother to remember any of the main Autobot's names unless it suits him (i.e. when he captured Bulkhead and when he fought Optimus Prime one-on-one in the final ever episode). The reason why? He does not consider ''any'' of them to be ''any threat to him''. Only when Optimus fights him one-on-one in the [[Grand Finale]] does Megatron seem to regard him as being above the status of '"annoyance" and equal to "[[Worthy Opponent]]".
**** It is also worthy to note that this Megatron is so incredibly [[Badass]] that he doesn't even bother to remember any of the main Autobot's names unless it suits him (i.e. when he captured Bulkhead and when he fought Optimus Prime one-on-one in the final ever episode). The reason why? He does not consider ''any'' of them to be ''any threat to him''. Only when Optimus fights him one-on-one in the [[Grand Finale]] does Megatron seem to regard him as being above the status of '"annoyance" and equal to "[[Worthy Opponent]]".
*** Also his plan with Soundwave; the first is to use him as replacement body.However,when it clears that Soundwave had grown sentient personality, he changes his plan; he convinced Soundwave ''[[Knight Templar|to fight for the robots]]'' [[Manipulative Bastard|with him]]. Other Megatron usually will fall with his [[Villain Ball]] and continue with their plan; even if it risk that the target will betray them.
*** Also his plan with Soundwave; the first is to use him as replacement body.However,when it clears that Soundwave had grown sentient personality, he changes his plan; he convinced Soundwave ''[[Knight Templar|to fight for the robots]]'' [[Manipulative Bastard|with him]]. Other Megatron usually will fall with his [[Villain Ball]] and continue with their plan; even if it risk that the target will betray them.
** Shockwave is Megatron's "most loyal servant", a manipulative shapeshifter who infiltrates Cybertron as the Autobot Longarm. When Bumblebee learns that there is a Decepticon spy in their midst, Shockwave first tries to murder the bot before framing the innocent Wasp as the spy, successfully protecting his identity to such a point that he murders the current head of Cybertron intelligence to get himself the promotion with no suspicions. Shockwave manipulates the Autobot leadership for years as he orchestrates Decepticons across the galaxy, and always pounces on any potential leaks of his identity, leading Blurr into a lethal trap when he tries to investigate Longarm and cutting off communications with Optimus Prime when his team learn of Shockwave's status as a mole. When realizing he is moments away from being exposed, Shockwave deals a fatal blow to Ultra Magnus, kidnaps Arcee and uses her memories to help Megatron with his plans to clone Omega Supreme, only being beaten after he lures an Autobot team into a trap and nearly murders them all by playing on their compassion.
** Swindle is a fast-talking, smooth arms dealer who plays both sides of the Autobot-Decepticon conflict to bring himself the most profit. Introducing himself by manipulating a group of human villains into building a powerful EMP weapon, Swindle betrays them all and tries to sell the weapon to Megatron, demonstrating its abilities by easily incapacitating the entire Autobot team. Though he is captured thanks to a surprise attack, Swindle bounces right back as he stages a breakout of an Autobot prison ship, taking control and planning to use the Autobot crew as hostages before harvesting their parts for extra cash. Swindle is always ready with a new gadget or weapon to get out of any situation, such as arming the Decepticon prisoners or disabling Jetfire and Jetstorm in a cinch, and he ultimately gets away scot-free, using an Autobot rescue attempt to distract his cohorts, looting the entire prison ship's belongings, and fleeing into space while remarking how much he "loves a shopping spree."
* Impostor Dan, from Dan Vs. After stealing Dan's identity, and endearing himself to everyone in town, he is finally taken down by Dan. Being a Magnificent Bastard, he gets out of prison and becomes a telemarketer. He uses his position to drive Dan insane, using a hidden transmitter to act as the voice inside his head, renting an apartment, just to capture them both, and even knowing the characters so well that he can place traps exactly where they will be. When Dan chases him with a baseball bat, he gets a cop to taser him twice. He even manages to do all this while being completely likable, suave, and normal.
* Impostor Dan, from Dan Vs. After stealing Dan's identity, and endearing himself to everyone in town, he is finally taken down by Dan. Being a Magnificent Bastard, he gets out of prison and becomes a telemarketer. He uses his position to drive Dan insane, using a hidden transmitter to act as the voice inside his head, renting an apartment, just to capture them both, and even knowing the characters so well that he can place traps exactly where they will be. When Dan chases him with a baseball bat, he gets a cop to taser him twice. He even manages to do all this while being completely likable, suave, and normal.
* Dolf from ''[[Alfred J Kwak]]''. While he may start off as a mere naughty kid and a bit of a bully, as the series progresses Dolf becomes more and more devious and evil, to the point where he becomes an Adolf Hitler Expy. After years of being abroad, Dolf returns to Great Waterland and manages to stage a coup d'etat, removing the King from his palace and even amassing an army. After falling from power, he returns again after the King has abdicated and now partakes in the first democratic election. In order to get ahead of the other candidates, he hires foreigners to damage the dam that keeps the land from being flooded. He then drops out of the race, saying he has to help the people and can't waste time on elections. He then publicly funds repairs of the dam, making him immensely popular and boosting his chances at the election once he reenters. The only witness, a jellyfish spy called Lispel, attempts to blackmail him, which promptly backfires when Dolf attempts to shoot him to death in order to eliminate any chance of his plans being foiled. Had Lispel not survived the shooting and informed Alfred, Dolf's plan would have succeeded.
* Dolf from ''[[Alfred J Kwak]]''. While he may start off as a mere naughty kid and a bit of a bully, as the series progresses Dolf becomes more and more devious and evil, to the point where he becomes an Adolf Hitler Expy. After years of being abroad, Dolf returns to Great Waterland and manages to stage a coup d'etat, removing the King from his palace and even amassing an army. After falling from power, he returns again after the King has abdicated and now partakes in the first democratic election. In order to get ahead of the other candidates, he hires foreigners to damage the dam that keeps the land from being flooded. He then drops out of the race, saying he has to help the people and can't waste time on elections. He then publicly funds repairs of the dam, making him immensely popular and boosting his chances at the election once he reenters. The only witness, a jellyfish spy called Lispel, attempts to blackmail him, which promptly backfires when Dolf attempts to shoot him to death in order to eliminate any chance of his plans being foiled. Had Lispel not survived the shooting and informed Alfred, Dolf's plan would have succeeded.
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'''Slade:''' "Actually, I'm not such a nice guy myself." (activates hidden explosive and blows demon to cinders) "Don't bother getting up. I'll let myself out." }}
'''Slade:''' "Actually, I'm not such a nice guy myself." (activates hidden explosive and blows demon to cinders) "Don't bother getting up. I'll let myself out." }}
** Despite Slade's rather silly portrayal in ''[[Teen Titans Go!]]'', this, ironically, could very well be the most competent version of him. Under the alias of film director, Jade Wilson, he played on all the superheroes sense of self entitlement by filming movies of them which he used as a front to steal the material he needed for hus Doomsday device, and even tricked them into helping him build it. Coming into conflict with the Titans, he takes advantage of their childishness by playing silly MIND MANIPULATION games on them, however when the Titans wise up and take the crystal he needs to power up his device, he tricks Robin into letting him go by playing on Robin's desire to have his own movie, and under his Jade Wilson persona he goes the Divide and Conquer route to break him up from his friends. While filiming a scene where Robin pretends to open a fake vault. He tricks Robin into letting him into the real Titans vault by setting him up into being knocked by a falling stage light. Upon reacquiring the crystal, he mind controls the entire world, sans the Titans. He also mind controls Robin by playing on his insecurities. Narrowly losing to the Titans after he all, but succeeded in his world domination scheme, Slade goes out a Graceful Loser, claiming that the Titans [["I Am" Song]] was "monumentally dope".
** Despite Slade's rather silly portrayal in ''[[Teen Titans Go!]]'', this, ironically, could very well be the most competent version of him. Under the alias of film director, Jade Wilson, he played on all the superheroes sense of self entitlement by filming movies of them which he used as a front to steal the material he needed for hus Doomsday device, and even tricked them into helping him build it. Coming into conflict with the Titans, he takes advantage of their childishness by playing silly MIND MANIPULATION games on them, however when the Titans wise up and take the crystal he needs to power up his device, he tricks Robin into letting him go by playing on Robin's desire to have his own movie, and under his Jade Wilson persona he goes the Divide and Conquer route to break him up from his friends. While filiming a scene where Robin pretends to open a fake vault. He tricks Robin into letting him into the real Titans vault by setting him up into being knocked by a falling stage light. Upon reacquiring the crystal, he mind controls the entire world, sans the Titans. He also mind controls Robin by playing on his insecurities. Narrowly losing to the Titans after he all, but succeeded in his world domination scheme, Slade goes out a Graceful Loser, claiming that the Titans [["I Am" Song]] was "monumentally dope".
* In ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', Agent John Bishop is the leader and founder of the Earth Protection Force, an anti-alien task force Bishop designed after undergoing trauma and experimentation at the hands of aliens. Believing that all aliens and mutations are enemies of humanity, Bishop keeps himself alive for centuries to secure humanity's "safety", creating an entire clone army under the U.S. government's nose and even successfully staging an alien invasion to gain more funding for the EPF. Bishop is as dangerous in combat as he is in strategy, as he dances around entire groups of trained combatants including the Turtles, Karai and Hun, always using nothing but his surroundings and quick-thinking to get the upper hand and keep up. By the year 2105, Bishop has come to see the error in his hatred of all aliens, and develops a peace treaty between several alien worlds and Earth, becoming the beloved President of the new galactic federation and keeping the peace with a gentle but firm hand.
* Bizarrely, Zim from ''[[Invader Zim]]'' can be this on occasion, in episodes like "Future Dib." Usually he's [[Too Dumb to Live]].
* Bizarrely, Zim from ''[[Invader Zim]]'' can be this on occasion, in episodes like "Future Dib." Usually he's [[Too Dumb to Live]].
** A more straightforward example would be Tak, who would have succeeded if the [[Villain Ball]] hadn't made her brag to Zim.
** A more straightforward example would be Tak, who would have succeeded if the [[Villain Ball]] hadn't made her brag to Zim.
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* Heloise from ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' has traits of this. She's normally on top, even outwitting [[Satan|her boss]] on multiple occasion, one of which drove him to a [[Villainous Breakdown]].
* Heloise from ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' has traits of this. She's normally on top, even outwitting [[Satan|her boss]] on multiple occasion, one of which drove him to a [[Villainous Breakdown]].
* [[The Powerpuff Girls|Mojo Jojo]] can be this at times. While his plans tend to be hair-brained, sometimes he's shown enough [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|savvy]] and [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulation]] to casually perform things that people rarely notice until they happen (the "Powerpuff Girls Rule!" special is a fine example.) The movie played this straight.
* [[The Powerpuff Girls|Mojo Jojo]] can be this at times. While his plans tend to be hair-brained, sometimes he's shown enough [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|savvy]] and [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulation]] to casually perform things that people rarely notice until they happen (the "Powerpuff Girls Rule!" special is a fine example.) The movie played this straight.
** The Gnome from the [[Grand Finale]] episode "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey," sought to create a utopia revolving around himself. To this end, he manipulates the Powerpuff Girls into making a deal with him promising to get rid of the town's villains if they gave him their powers in return. Quickly asserting himself as the ruler of Townsville after vanquishing the other villains, the citizens of Townsville worship the Gnome and establish a cult dedicated to him. In his final moments, the Gnome realized the error of his ways, and willed himself to die, concluding that he and his perfect utopia couldn't exist in a life that revolves, evolves, and dissolves around opposite forces.
** The literal devil Him and the devilish gnome from the [[Series Finale]] [[Musical Episode]] are qualifiers as well.
* [[The Sociopath|Eric Cartman]] from ''[[South Park]]'' is this in a few episodes. While he acts like a [[Smug Snake]] or a [[Too Dumb to Live]] idiot many times, he displays an uncanny level of charisma and social savvy. Very often, he is shown to be capable of manipulating hordes of people into going along with his latest audacious plan, whether they are aware of it or not, and treat it like sheer child's play. A few shining examples can be found where he staged the utter ruining of a teenager who scammed him out of sixteen bucks and manipulating Cthulhu itself into siding with him just to get back at people who pissed him off.
* [[The Sociopath|Eric Cartman]] from ''[[South Park]]'' is this in a few episodes. While he acts like a [[Smug Snake]] or a [[Too Dumb to Live]] idiot many times, he displays an uncanny level of charisma and social savvy. Very often, he is shown to be capable of manipulating hordes of people into going along with his latest audacious plan, whether they are aware of it or not, and treat it like sheer child's play. A few shining examples can be found where he staged the utter ruining of a teenager who scammed him out of sixteen bucks and manipulating Cthulhu itself into siding with him just to get back at people who pissed him off.
** Wendy Testaberger is no slouch at this either when she puts her mind to it. After all, she sent a substitute teacher ''[[Murder the Hypotenuse|into the sun]]'' because she'd [[Hot for Teacher|caught Stan's eye]]. Nevermind that she didn't show any interest in return.
** Wendy Testaberger is no slouch at this either when she puts her mind to it. After all, she sent a substitute teacher ''[[Murder the Hypotenuse|into the sun]]'' because she'd [[Hot for Teacher|caught Stan's eye]]. Nevermind that she didn't show any interest in return.
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** The second season features the machinations of the Skrull Captain America, who really utilizes people's trust in Cap well in order to further the Skrulls' plot for Earth. Preying on the Avengers' trust in the real Cap to keep them under surveillance without Iron Man to get in the way of plans, as well as dealing with the Hulk by having him voluntarily revert to Bruce Banner and letting Gen. Ross's Hulkbuster units detain him are two instances of this star-spangled phony's magnificence in bastardry.
** The second season features the machinations of the Skrull Captain America, who really utilizes people's trust in Cap well in order to further the Skrulls' plot for Earth. Preying on the Avengers' trust in the real Cap to keep them under surveillance without Iron Man to get in the way of plans, as well as dealing with the Hulk by having him voluntarily revert to Bruce Banner and letting Gen. Ross's Hulkbuster units detain him are two instances of this star-spangled phony's magnificence in bastardry.
** Queen Veranke is the ruler of the Skrull Empire and mastermind behind the Secret Invasion of Earth. After the destruction of the Skrull homeworld, Veranke lead her people to Earth based upon an ancient prophecy. She arranged for her forces to infiltrate strategic locations on the planet using their shape-shifting abilities. The Skrulls sneaked into various government, superhero, and criminal institutions, and sent the people they replaced to a prison ship far off-world. Vernanke disguised herself as Mockingbird and found herself among Nick Fury's confidants in his hunt for the Skrulls. She able to divert attention from her spy within the Avengers by convincing Fury that Hawkeye was the Skrull instead of Captain America. With the Avengers torn apart due their mistrust in one another, Veranke launched her invasion and attempted to convince humanity to surrender using the Skrull disguised as Captain America. When that failed, she used her spies hidden within AIM to activate a satellite array to try and wipe out every human being on the planet. Managing to keep humanity in the dark until it was too late, Queen Veranke is a master of subterfuge and deception.
** Queen Veranke is the ruler of the Skrull Empire and mastermind behind the Secret Invasion of Earth. After the destruction of the Skrull homeworld, Veranke lead her people to Earth based upon an ancient prophecy. She arranged for her forces to infiltrate strategic locations on the planet using their shape-shifting abilities. The Skrulls sneaked into various government, superhero, and criminal institutions, and sent the people they replaced to a prison ship far off-world. Vernanke disguised herself as Mockingbird and found herself among Nick Fury's confidants in his hunt for the Skrulls. She able to divert attention from her spy within the Avengers by convincing Fury that Hawkeye was the Skrull instead of Captain America. With the Avengers torn apart due their mistrust in one another, Veranke launched her invasion and attempted to convince humanity to surrender using the Skrull disguised as Captain America. When that failed, she used her spies hidden within AIM to activate a satellite array to try and wipe out every human being on the planet. Managing to keep humanity in the dark until it was too late, Queen Veranke is a master of subterfuge and deception.
* In the ''[[Guardians of the Galaxy]]'' animated series, Loki is the suave and cunning God of Mischief, and the Arc Villain of the Asgard War arc. Amidst rising tensions between Asgard and Spartax, Loki manipulates the Guardians into exposing Emperor J'Son for stealing the Cosmic Seed from Asgard years ago. In reality, Loki had stolen the Seed back from J'Son, intending to start a war between Asgard and Spartax. When Thor goes to war, Loki hijacks the Destroyer Armor and tries to eliminate his brother which would leave him Asgard's wartime leader and sole heir to the throne. Although exposed by the Guardians, Loki "redeems" himself by aiding in stopping Thanos from invading Asgard. Later imprisoned for unknown crimes, Loki forms an Enemy Mine with the Guardians when Asgard was invaded by symbiotes, only to later betray them and attempts to send the symbiotes to Midgard instead. Thwarted and captured, Loki uses a binding spell he had casted on Star-Lord earlier, influencing him to request Loki be pardoned once again. A smooth-talker and opportunist, Loki always weasels his way out of any situation, claiming to be acting for what's best for Asgard.
* Discord from the opening episode of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' season 2. He's as old as-possibly older than-both Luna and Celestia and the Avatar of Disharmony that ruled Equestria in an endless maelstrom of anarchy and madness and led to the discovery of the Elements of Harmony; yet he's also one of the [[Large Ham|Largest Hams]] available, while still being incredibly sneaky and evil. By the end of the first episode, he's played ''everyone'' for fools ''without even trying'', all the while enjoying every second and relishing in the mayhem and suffering he causes. It helps greatly that he is both [[Word of God|apparently inspired by]] and shares actors with another magnificent bastard, [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Q.]]
* Discord from the opening episode of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' season 2. He's as old as-possibly older than-both Luna and Celestia and the Avatar of Disharmony that ruled Equestria in an endless maelstrom of anarchy and madness and led to the discovery of the Elements of Harmony; yet he's also one of the [[Large Ham|Largest Hams]] available, while still being incredibly sneaky and evil. By the end of the first episode, he's played ''everyone'' for fools ''without even trying'', all the while enjoying every second and relishing in the mayhem and suffering he causes. It helps greatly that he is both [[Word of God|apparently inspired by]] and shares actors with another magnificent bastard, [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Q.]]
** Queen Chrysalis is a more straightforward example. She shapeshifts into the exact lookalike of Princess Cadence in order to marry then bump off Prince Shining Armour so that she can rule Equestria. She's also an [[Emotion Eater]] who possesses the ability to gain power from other people's love. When her true identity is exposed she reveals her [[Xanatos Gambit]]: using the power she's gained from Shining Armour's love to [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|defeat Celestia]] and take Equestria by force.
** Queen Chrysalis is a more straightforward example. She shapeshifts into the exact lookalike of Princess Cadence in order to marry then bump off Prince Shining Armour so that she can rule Equestria. She's also an [[Emotion Eater]] who possesses the ability to gain power from other people's love. When her true identity is exposed she reveals her [[Xanatos Gambit]]: using the power she's gained from Shining Armour's love to [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|defeat Celestia]] and take Equestria by force.
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