The Man Behind the Man: Difference between revisions

 

== Anime ==

** [[Up to Eleven|It gets even deeper than that]]. Assuming what he's saying is actually true, {{spoiler|Aizen claims he's basically the man behind the entire series.}}

** What about [[Filler|the Shusuke Amagai arc]]? You spend the entire arc thinking that {{spoiler|Kumoi wants to kill Lurichiyo and control the Kasumioji clan}}, but then when you finally confront {{spoiler|Komoi, Amagai appears out of nowhere, kills him, kidnaps Lurichiyo, and then proceeds to let everyone know his plans to kill Yamamoto, and he used Kumoi and the entire Kasumioji clan to get his hands on a weapon that [[Power Nullifer|somehow disables all but his zanpaktou so he could kill Yamamoto with it]]}}. Of course, Ichigo proceeds to save the day.

* Late in the ''Houshin Engi'' manga, it's revealed that {{spoiler|Dakki is working for Jyoka, one of the [[Precursors|First People]] who was sealed away for wanting to wipe out everything on Earth and make it into their old homeworld. Dakki agreed to help her in exchange for great power, but planned to take over Jyoka's body and use its power to rule the Earth.}}

* In ''[[Gundam 00]]'', who would've thought that {{spoiler|Ribbons Almarck was manipulating Alejandro Corner?}}

** The Special Edition of ''00'' revealed that {{spoiler|Ribbons is literaly this to Alejandro}}.

* In ''[[Gundam Seed]]'', Rau Le Creuset is eventually revealed to be [[The Man Behind the Man]] to [[Arch Enemy|archenemies]] [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Muruta Azrael]] and [[General Ripper|Patrick Zala]], pretending to be [[The Mole]] for the former and [[The Dragon]] for the latter. It's all part of his plan to move both sides in the war to such extremes that [[Misanthrope Supreme|human]] [[Kill All Humans|extinction]] will be guaranteed.

* ''[[Blood Plus|Blood+ ]]'' does this fairly often. In early episodes Van Argeno is set up as the [[Big Bad]], however {{spoiler|after about ten episodes, he's revealed to be working to Solomon. Later, Solomon is shown to actually be the lowest-ranking of five Chevaliers. Then, for a time, their progenitor Diva is expected to be the mastermind, but she turns out to be too crazy to be the leader. By the end it's become apparent that Amshel is calling the shots, whereas Argeno - who was the first supposed [[Big Bad]], remember - is reduced to cowering in fear and begging for his life.}} As a kind of a last hurrah, the final episode also implies that {{spoiler|Nathan}} had been pulling the strings all along.

** Oh, {{spoiler|Nathan}} wasn't pulling strings, [[True Neutral|he was just along for the ride.]]

* In ''[[Gao Gai Gar]]'', the first season [[Big Bad]] Pasdar {{spoiler|turns out to be a subordinate of one of the 31 Primevals, which are themselves fragments of the much more fearsome Z Master.}}

* This is implied near the end of ''[[Fruits Basket]]'', after Akito's {{spoiler|[[Heel Face Turn]], the 'man' in question actually being the Sohma family elders, who criticize Akito for not emotionally destroying the members of the Zodiac.}}.

== Comic Books ==

* The heroes in [[Warren Ellis]]'s ''[[Nextwave]]: Agents of H.A.T.E.'', spend most of the series battling or evading Dirk Anger of the evil Beyond Corporation. Once they beat him, they face the Beyond Corporation's CEO, Number None... who is revealed to be a robot controlled by [[The Man Behind the Curtain|a baby M.O.D.O.K.]], who claims to be the [[Diabolical Mastermind]] behind it all... before being [[You Have Failed Me|shot dead]] by {{spoiler|Devil Dinosaur, the ''real'' lizard behind the man}}.

* In ''[[Untold Tales of Spider Man]]'', the person backing the Headsman is eventually revealed to be {{spoiler|The Green Goblin.}}

* In [[Grant Morrison]]'s ''New [[X-Men]]'', {{spoiler|John Sublime}} is the Man Behind the U-Men, the Weapon Plus Project, Kid Omega, and Xorn. About the only major villain that ''can't'' be traced back to him is Cassandra Nova.

* ''[[Meet the Robinsons]]'' had a rare case of the {{spoiler|''hat'' }} behind the man.

* In ''[[Spy Kids (Film)|Spy Kids]]'', it turns out that {{spoiler|all Floop wanted to do was make his kids' show. Mr. Minion was actually the mastermind.}}

* Mr White, from ''[[James Bond (Film)|James Bond]]''. He first appears as the intermediary between Le Chiffre and the African warlords in ''[[Casino Royale (Film)|Casino Royale]]'', working on behalf of the shadowy terrorist organization Quantum. He only meets Bond once the film, when he kills Le Chiffre as punishment for his failures. Even after Bond captures him in ''[[Quantum of Solace (Film)|Quantum of Solace]]'', White escapes before he can give information, and also eludes Bond at a later point. It is suggested that White is one of the more mysterious leaders of Quantum, as he manipulates both the heroes and villains to his gain, repeatedly.

* Inverted in the fourth ''[[The Fast and The Furious]]'' movie, where Dom and Paul try to find the identity of the one running the drug cartel by tracking their handler, but it turns out that the handler was the leader all along.

* In [[WWE]] in 1998, [[Vince McMahon]] underwent a [[Heel Face Turn]] after his son [[Shane McMahon]] took over his stable, [[The Corporation]], and merged it with [[The Undertaker]]'s pseudo-Satanic cult, The [[Ministry of Darkness]], to form The Corporate Ministry. While Shane and [[The Undertaker]] usurped control of Vince's company and kidnapped his daughter [[Stephanie McMahon]], Vince was forced to make peace with all the wrestlers he'd spent the past few years screwing over time and time again, and unite them against this new threat. Then, Undertaker started speaking of a "higher power" he served -- who turned out to be Vince himself, a [[Shocking Swerve]] that wrestling fans are still mad about.

* For the first season and a half of [[White Collar]], it seemed that {{spoiler|Garrett Fowler}} was the man running things. Halfway through the second season, in ''Point Blank,'' {{spoiler|Fowler reveals he's being blackmailed by Neal's old boss, Vincent Adler.}}

** Not to mention that the Jagrafess was the Man Behind the Man to the Editor in "The Long Game," making {{spoiler|the Daleks}} the Man Behind the Man Behind the Man.

** And {{spoiler|Rassilon}} was the [[Man Behind the Man]] to the Master, having {{spoiler|used the time vortex to give him the continuous sound of drums in his head, effectively torturing him into insanity}}

* The Prime-Time Premiere of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' second season reveals that Lord Zedd was Rita's [[Big Boss]], by imprisoning her in another dumpster.

== Web Original ==

* Stacy Bradshaw is this to Bridget in ''[[Sorority Forever]]''.

** More recently there's been a story about a villain who became the Man Behind The Man by ''accident'' - basically bluffing a smallish gang and checking up on them later to discover they'd set up the international 'Master of the World Network', with thousands of pawns, all channelling money and information back to that one gang leader, who was more than happy to give it all to his 'Master'. Later on in the story this villain does a similar thing, except this time ''he actually does control it all''.

* Semi-invoked in ''[[Broken Saints]]'': The two [[Chessmaster|Chessmasters]] behind the Big Plan are presented as equal threats, only differing in that one stays more mysterious for longer than the other. Then, naturally, it turns out the more mysterious one, {{spoiler|Lear, was just manipulating his more active partner Palmer, whom the heroes thought was the [[Big Bad]]. Lear betrays and murders Palmer, revealing himself to be the real [[Big Bad]].}}

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:The Man Behind The Man]]