Magnificent Bastard/Western Animation: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|"I am many things, Kal-El, but here...I am God."}}
** Arguably just as impressive (even if it didn't succeed) was his brilliant [[Evil Plan]] in the ''[[Justice League]]'' episode, Twilight: [[Playing Both Sides]] in the conflict between Superman and Brainiac. He successfully manipulates both [[Superman]] and Brainiac into believing he's on their side, pitting them against each other and playing both sides. He boxes them both into this even though both Superman and Brainiac know that they can't trust him and know that he'll betray them. But appealing to Superman's (and the Justice Leagues') sense of morality and Brainiac's self-preservation he does it. By the end, Superman is incapacitated and Brainiac is under Darkseid's control with him moments away from achieving his ultimate goal. [[Big Damn Heroes|Only the last minute arrival]] of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Orion (which nobody could've forseen) foiled him.
** [[Lex Luthor]] from the same series tends to shift between [[Magnificent Bastard]] and [[Smug Snake]] constantly, usually depending on his current plan. He was clearly in the [[Magnificent Bastard]] zone in ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', where he secretly finances Project Cadmus to be a constant thorn in the Justice League's side while also running a fake presidential campaign to personally rile up Superman, culminating into open warfare between the two factions. Luthor uses that conflict as a cover for his real plan: steal Cadmus technology and upload his mind in an immortal android body. When Brainiac took over his body as its new vessel, Luthor convinces the Kryptonian AI to share control and become a god together. After being defeated and exposed as a criminal, Luthor joins the Legion of Doom as Gorilla Grodd's subordinate, only for him to quickly usurp leadership after Grodd's plan to turn mankind into apes fails. To solidify his authority, Luthor creates secret contingency plans for each Legion member. In the series finale, when his plans accidentally revive Darkseid, Luthor and his followers team up with the Justice League to stop the New God's conquest of Earth. At the climax of battle, Luthor is able to convince Metron to lead him to the forbidden Source Wall. Despite the dangers, Luthor survives the ordeal and returns to Earth with a prize in his hand: The Anti-Life Equation. Knowing that Darkseid could not refuse the offer, Luthor is able to take the Lord of Apokolips with him into the Source Wall, thus putting an end to Darkseid's reign forever and saving the universe in the process.
{{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.
* 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.''
* 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.
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** 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.
* Chase Young from ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]'', mostly during the second season in which he debuted, would meticulously manipulate events so that even if the monks won, Chase would benefit from it, mostly with regard to his plans to corrupt Omi. This lead to him, on several occasions, helping the monks in order to gain Omi's trust, as well as manipulating other villains to force Omi into situations where he would have to resort to underhanded tactics not approved of by his friends.
* Alejandro from ''[[Total Drama World Tour]]''; at least by the usual standards of ''Total Drama''. He manipulates more successfully than other antagonists in the past, and is responsible for more eliminations than anyone else. Declaring to take the contestants down "one by one", Alejandro first targets Team Victory, playing on Harold's sense of honor to get him to quit and leaving Bridgette stuck to a flagpole. When Team Victory dwindles down to only DJ, he easily wins over DJ's trust after painting a fake Egyptian symbol on Irene, in an attempt to make him believe his animal curse has been "lifted", before "accidentally" confessing that the whole thing was fake. When Duncan returns, Alejandro wastes no time exposing Duncan's infidelity, putting a target on Duncan's back as well as weakening Team Amazon. Making it to the finale of the season, despite being Out-Gambitted by Heather. Alejandro makes up for it in All Stars by stealing her immunity idol, turning her own manipulation of the team against her. Charming, devious and ruthless Alejandro's [[Villain Song]]; This is How We Will End It, fittingly depicted him as a puppetmaster pulling at everyone's strings to the end.
** ''Total Drama's'' original manipulator, [[Alpha Bitch|Heather]], is arguably able to match him (and beat him, in the US ending) in the same series.
* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'', the organized crime community as a whole shows signs of this, but outside of the organized crime community there's also Sideshow Bob, and the Springfield Cat Burglar.
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* 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.
* In ''[[Class of the Titans]]'', the [[Big Bad]] Cronus, lord of Time and the king of the Titans, is the ruthless villain who plots his own escape from Tartarus and promptly asks the Oracle of Delphi for what can stop him. Upon learning of the young would-be heroes, Cronus repeatedly showcases new plans that put him close to completely dominating the world with the young heroes struggling to match him. Cronus takes hostages to lure others into traps, including gods and even fakes his own defeat to take over the underworld. Rarely at a loss, Cronus always rebounds from his defeats and even ends the series defeated but alive and powerful as ever, plotting to weaponize the now unknown future to complete all his plans and dominate the world.
* [[Code Lyoko|XANA]] wasn't initially much of this, but four seasons of evolution through Jeremy's abuse of the Return to the past made it gradually smarter and more powerful, turning him into a [[The Chessmaster|Chessmaster]], then a [[Manipulative Bastard]], and eventually going toward [[Magnificent Bastard]] territory. His status is best shown when he succeeds at destroying the core of Lyoko and takes possession of new Lyoko warrior William Dunbar to serve as his personal avatar to carry out his plans in the final season.
** And just how do we know that all those times it caused all those calamities which forced Jeremy to use Return to the past weren't part of a [[Batman Gambit]] to make itself more powerful in the first place?
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** Proctor Servantis, the creepy yet charismatic leader of the Rooters, is also a qualifier considering just how far and how long his master plan spanned.
* Greg Weisman, responsible for the above Magnificent Bastards of ''[[WITCH (animation)|W.I.T.C.H.]]'', ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'', and ''[[Gargoyles]]'', has also produced The Light of ''[[Young Justice]]'', a Legion of Doom note to erase any conception of the Legion of Doom as campy or incompetent. Vandal Savage and Lex Luthor in particular stand out as this trope.
** Vandal Savage is the leader and founder of the Light. Intending on creating a secret group to counter the [[Justice League]], Savage directs most of its greatest moves, such as forming alliances with various villain factions, continuously using fronts and proxies so when the League defeats them, the Light remains undetected. Making alliances with alien groups like the Reach and Apokolips, Vandal engineers the near downfall of the world and at one point completely enslaving the Justice League and sending them off-world to fulfill the Light's purposes, framing them as criminals on another planet. Bent on creating a world of conflict where humans will be forced to evolve and adapt, Vandal constantly shows why he is worthy of being the head of the Light.
** Lex Luthor is as charming and intelligent as ever. Forming Project Cadmus to create Superboy with his own DNA, Lex constantly stays a step of the heroes, even filling Superboy himself with doubt over his true place. Organizing a peace treaty between the countries of North and South Rhelasia, Lex manipulates events so both will unite under the Light's guidance and constantly proves invaluable in assisting Vandal with the best of the Light's schemes. Upon realizing the danger of the Reach, he and Vandal help to form counter measures against them, ending the second season by escaping completely free of their own crimes and proving why Lex is always a match for any adversary.
* Abraham Kane of ''[[Motorcity]]''. He's a [[Villain with Good Publicity]] and lots of money, usually able to talk to the Burners through a screen (to make himself appear larger) rather than face to face, which makes him look impressive. The Duke of Detroit is also this at times, although more of a [[Friendly Enemy]]. As he's a [[Large Ham]], he often likes to oppose the Burners in style, particularly with lots of lights and music, as well as firing at the Burners with limousines as ammo.
* In an episode of ''[[Archer]]'', Lana decides to get even on Cyril for cheating on her by having sex with everyone else in the office. At least that's what she tells Cyril. In reality, she makes all the guys pay her for the privilege of saying they had sex with her. Gillette flat out calls her a "magnificent bastard" for this.
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