Magnificent Bastard/Western Animation: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|'''Lex Luthor:'''"President? Do you have any idea how much power I'd have to ''give up'' to be President? That's right, conspiracy buff. I spent ''$75 million'' on a ''fake presidential campaign''. ''All just to tick Superman off''."}}
** Just as ruthlessly efficient as her comics counterpart, Amanda Waller is one of the few to stare Batman down without being remotely intimidated. Waller repeatedly acts to keep the League and other superpowered beings under control, creating multiple countermeasures and plans against them, even designing disposable superheroes with short lifespans as Project Cadmus's own personal attack force. Even in old age, Waller manipulates the implantation of Bruce Wayne's DNA into a man to father a child who will be Bruce's son, while planning to have the parents murdered to recreate Batman for the future.
** Granted immortality as a caveman, Vandal Savage spent millennia educating and bettering himself in countless aspects of human culture 'til making his move for global domination by using a time machine to grant a version of himself during World War II knowledge of future events and weapons. Taking over the Nazi regime, dubbing Hitler a "raving lunatic" as he overthrows him, Savage slowly but surely turns the tide of the war in his favor, reformatting the Nazis into his own army before being stopped solely by the arrival of a time-travelling Justice League. In the present, Savage maneuvers himself into marrying into Kaznian royalty, posioning the current king to grant himself the throne before trying to use a rail gun to wipe out Paris and cow the world into submission. In his final appearance in a future timeline where Superman was seemingly killed, Savage easily murdered the entire Justice League and conquered the planet, only for his technology to go out of control and wipe out humankind except himself. Spending tens of thousands of years in isolation, Savage rebuilds cities, amasses libraries, and builds massive gardens to try to make amends for his crimes, and sacrifices himself to bring Superman back to his own time and stop his younger self from killing the League, thus saving humanity, with his final words thanking Superman for fulfilling his wish.
* In ''[[Justice League Doom]]'', Vandal Savage, the [[Big Bad]], steals all of Batman's plans aimed at incapacitating the [[Justice League]] should they ever turn to darkness or prove too dangerous, taking them and making them far more lethal and dangerous. Recruiting his very own [[Legion of Doom]], Vandal has them lure the League into traps before putting the countermeasures into placing, nearly killing every single member of the League in a single night. Vandal reveals his true plans to cause a solar flare to strike earth so he may cause the conflict that he feels is necessary for human advancement and cause the world to submit to his rule, offering to share the rulership with his new Legion. A charming, sophisticated villain, Vandal shows he has surpassed the savagery he has born into, nearly completely erasing the League in one fell stroke with the world falling perilously close to Vandal's utter victory.
* Surprisingly enough, The Riddler of the ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' universe tiptoes around this trope. Especially in his [[Start of Darkness]] episode, he shows several traits of magnificent bastardry: he delivers an ominous riddle to his former boss knowing he'll come after him, and forcing Batman to choose between Robin's life and said boss', knows the hero will choose the former; he has the dynamic duo leave their utility belts behind; and finally, even though his plan is thwarted, manages to avoid capture and emotionally scar his target forever. And in his third and last episode, he almost kills Batman! Two times out of three, the Caped Crusader is able to overcome his adversary thanks to some convenient object at his disposal (namely a micro-computer and an explosion-resistant safe). To top it off, he's voiced by Lionel Luthor himself, John Glover!
** The urbane, sophisticated Ra's Al-Ghul is acknowledged by Batman as his greatest and most deadly adversary. Forming the worldwide, powerful League of Shadows, Ra's secretly tests Batman with a series of clever plots to determine if he is worthy to be his heir in the League and inherit Ra's own wish to save the planet. When Batman refuses, Ra's decides to enact a plan to wipe out most of humanity for the betterment of the world, and each time returns to drive Batman to his limits. Even after his seeming death, Ra's survives by ordering his daughter Talia, Bruce's onetime lover, to allow him to possess her body, so he may rejuvenate and possess Bruce himself in the future. Time and again, Ra's shows exactly why Batman himself calls him his greatest enemy.
** And of course, there's also [[The Joker]], particularly for his actions in ''Mask of the Phantasm'' and ''Return of The Joker.''
* Out of all the villains in Batman's [[Rogues Gallery]] to be featured in ''[[The Batman]]'', Professor Hugo Strange is perhaps the most dangerous of them all. Fascinated by the Batman's crusade against crime, Hugo Strange studies on the minds of criminals apprehended by Batman as means to understand the Dark Knight himself. Using his criminal studies as his foundation, Strange launches various schemes to psychologically destroy Batman such as creating the hyper-intelligent criminal AI known as D.A.V.E., manipulating Batman to spread a fear toxin across Gotham, and capturing members of the Justice League for the Joining. He has come close to victory many times if not for the last minute gambits on Batman's part; and he takes his losses in stride, biding his time for the next opportunity to come. Strange respects Batman's intelligence, citing him to be the most dangerous member of the Justice League, while the Batman begrudgingly respects Strange as a brilliant psychiatrist who can mess with people's heads. Armed with nothing more than his brilliant intellect and morbid curiosity in a world of combat-prone villains, Hugo Strange certainly earns the title of "Gotham's Ultimate Criminal Mastermind."
* ''Beware The Batman'': Anarky is Batman's [[Arch Enemy]] on this show, and a chaos-loving mastermind intent on enabling people to "free" themselves from the binds of morality and order. Introducing himself to Gotham by becoming a "patron" to two thugs and turning them into supervillains, Anarky later steals the comatose body of Ra's Al-Ghul to coerce the League of Assassins into stealing a chemical compound for him, only to reveal he's tricked them into unleashing a plague onto Gotham. Allying with and corrupting District Attorney Harvey Dent while consistently masking his true schemes even to Batman, Anarky succeeds in driving Dent into evil and happily accepts his eventual defeat by Batman, simply proclaiming he's ready to "play again" before enacting his next plans to unlock every door in Gotham and enable the citizens a night of debauchery and anarchy.
** Ra's Al-Ghul has toppled civilizations over the centuries, uses the mercenary Cypher to mind control scientists into creating the Ion Cortex, tricks the Wayne Foundation into funding the project, and plans to strong-arm the leaders of the city into allowing the League to set up shop in Gotham as their new base of operations. Controlling the League through sheer charisma and intimidation, Ra's handily defeats any opponent in combat, notices the most minor errors in his plans and orders them immediately corrected, and nearly took over Gotham in the matter of days, all to enable his growing plan to wipe out what he deemed to be irredeemable crime and filth in the world.
** Deathstroke, real name Slade Wilson, was once a CIA agent who was booted after his excessive cruelty in the name of protecting his country. Becoming a mercenary for hire soon after, Deathstroke pulled off flawless operations before eventually using his amassed resources to target his former mentor, and the man who got him fired from the CIA, MI-6 agent Alfred Pennyworth. Framing Batman as a villain and seemingly murdering Bruce Wayne, all while masquerading as Dane Lisslow, Deathstroke handily tricks the Dark Knight into lowering his guard in a duel by faking his motivations, and later breaks into the otherwise impenetrable Batcave, captures both Batman and Alfred, and prepares to force the latter to watch as he murders Batman before him as a final vengeance against his former mentor.
* Slade from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' normally falls on the [[Smug Snake]] side of things, due to his overconfidence and habit of grabbing the [[Villain Ball]] at inopportune moments, but in the three-part season finale "The End" he graduates to full [[Magnificent Bastard]] by orchestrating the downfall of a nearly all-powerful demon at no real cost to himself, getting his humanity back (which was his main goal all along) and doing it with ''style''. Of course, being voiced by [[Ron Perlman]] helps.
{{quote|'''Demon Warrior:''' "Fool. You cannot hope to defeat ''pure evil''!"
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** He not only had a girl fake a serious injury so Huey would quit the kickball team, thus restoring the curve, but then blackmailed him to play again.
** Finally, he had Ed and Rummy set up a bomb in one of his buildings, and then calmly reveals when Huey and super agent Jack Flowers foil this plot that it was designed to inspire patriotism, sell merchandise, and make a movie about an obnoxious security guard who would have died in the explosion. And to top it off, when Flowers counts down 3 seconds before he shoots him, Wuncler calls PRESIDENT FUCKING OBAMA to stops him, then calmly tells them to let themselves out. And does all of this just by being crafty, evil and obscenely wealthy. [[Magnificent Bastard]] indeed.
** Rollo Goodlove, the self-serving black liberal activist, also qualifies. In his first appearance, he manages to come out on top in his first appearance, when he is revealed to be partners with Ann Coulter, who plays the part of a conservative nemesis to get "redneck money". In his second appearance, he hijacks Huey's anti-BET campaign to promote himself, and then received a job from the network. While the his beliefs in his causes might not be genuine, his charisma and master planning are, making Rollo Goodlove the most likable mastermind on the show.
* ''Carmen Sandiego''. In the mid-90's cartoon version, ''[[Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?]]'', she was as slick and suave as a female James Bond, but would steal priceless artifacts either just for the thrill or for a huge not-so-evil plan (in one episode, she stole several rare statues to make the worlds largest chess game) and would constantly bait and taunt the two detectives trying to catch her, all for the sport of the hunt (even though she was the prey.) And said detectives actually greatly ''respect'' her for this!
** Her eviler counterpart, Maelstrom, also qualifies. To put it clearly, he was for Carmen in her ACME detective past what Carmen herself is to ACME detectives now.
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* ''[[Spider-Man: The Animated Series]]'' gives The Kingpin and The Red Skull this treatment. The former is a crimelord who is behind almost every godawful thing that happens in-series, mastermind [[The Syndicate]] and the Insidious Six from the shadows, consistently evading incarceration, and frustrating Spider-Man at every turn. The latter's a Nazi spymaster who has backup plans for every situation, anticipates every contingency, and is only taken out via Captain America's [[Heroic Sacrifice]].
** The Hobgoblin retains his status as one from the comics as well. 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 seres', has twice stolen the powers of the Silver Surfer and tricked the Hulk into nearly killing the Thing. When the UN ordered him to be tried for war crimes, Doom trapped Washington D.C. under a force field and forced the Hulk to destroy the entire capital. Doom was the most successful villain during the Secret Wars and transformed the territories he conquered into utopias free from conflict or strive. Managing to even steal the powers of the almighty Beyonder, Doctor Doom has proven he has one of the most cunning and audacious minds in the Marvel Animated Universe.
* Jerry Mouse in ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'' can be this depending on the situation and how his actions are presented. Other times, he's a [[Guile Hero]].
* While [[Cyberchase|The Hacker]] suffered from [[Villain Decay]], a new villain named Ledge becomes this when he {{spoiler|tricks the Cybersquad, and Hackerizes them (minus Inez)}} and he {{spoiler|Hackerizes almost all of the citizens in Sensible Flats,}} [[Disproportionate Retribution|all to impress Hacker]]. And, that he succeeded in hurting the Cybersquad more than Hacker ever did made him a dangerous foe.
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* La Sombra the river pirate in ''[[Hey Arnold]]'' ''The Jungle Movie''. {{spoiler|He took over the group that Arnold's parents' friend Eduardo worked for in order to arrange the [[Rigged Contest]] for the San Lorenzo field trip, naming the PS-118 class the winners when he sees Arnold is with them. He impersonated Eduardo himself to take the kids on his riverboat, manipulating Arnold into confiding in him and keeping the knowledge of La Sombra being after him a secret from his friends, and when a boat carrying men working for the real Eduardo came in pursuit, he claimed they were La Sombra and his crew and that he was changing course to get the class to safety when it reality he was luring them into his pre-arranged trap. When Arnold, Gerald, and Helga escape from their imprisonment, La Sombra had anticipated this happening and had already placed a tracking device on Arnold. As he and his crew followed the kids' trail, La Sombra anticipated all the booby traps and had his crew members take all the blows instead. He very nearly succeeded in taking the Corazon of the Green-Eyed People for himself, even narrowly averting a [[Disney Villain Death]] (at first) and prolonging his own death by poison just for one last shot at taking it.}}
* In ''The Loud House'', Luan Loud becomes one of these every April 1st. In "April Fools Rules" she rigs the entire Loud household and even outside of it with elaborate [[Crazy Awesome]] pranks for her own amusement, watches the pranks go off on their victims with diabolical glee (and bad puns, of course), is [[Crazy Prepared]] for nearly everything, pulls one big [[Batman Gambit]] on Lincoln by inviting Ronnie Anne to come over on that day (ensuring he takes all the pranks willingly) and [[Karma Houdini|gets away with all of it in the end.]] Her second pranking spree in "Fool's Paradise" starts with a well thought-out plan to get her family into a motel where she could then trap them into dangerous pranks that she'd already set up there, the whole affair playing out as a G-rated ''Saw'' movie with Luan as the [[Diabolical Mastermind]]. During her third one, she completely [[Out-Gambitted]] her family's plan by paying the stunt doubles they hired to put them on humiliating situations, before finally being [[Out-Gambitted]] herself when her family makes a plan to [[Xanatos Speed Chess|prank her back]] by pretending they're moving away due to their maligned reputations.
* 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 his father's disappearance, easily besting Throk in battle and also a master of portraying himself as a benevolent ruler who many planets would prefer to risking rebellion with Voltron. 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.
{{reflist}}
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