39,327
edits
The Chessmaster: Difference between revisions
m
Mass update links
m (Mass update links) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:chessmaster_new_mutants2_8004.jpg|link=New Mutants|frame|[[Black Sabbath
{{quote|'''Danny:''' I don't understand...<br />
'''Vlad:''' What? That I used two fourteen-year-old pawns to turn a knight and topple a king? It's chess, Daniel. Of course you don't understand. But then, you never really did.|''[[
Chessmasters tug at their strings of influence, patiently move their pieces into places that often seem harmless or pointless until the trap is closed, and get [[Horrible Judge of Character|innocent]] [[Unwitting Pawn|Unwitting Pawns]] ([[Chess Motifs|Who else?]]) to do all the heavy lifting. The best will also have [[Kansas City Shuffle|layers upon layers of misdirection]] [[Xanatos Gambit|and backup plans]] in case some unexpected hero appears to [[Spanner in
Chessmasters can [[Guile Hero|sometimes be on the side of good]], but if so they'll almost certainly be the [[Anti-Hero]] or the [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], as it's very hard to plan a Chessmaster scheme that doesn't [[We Have Reserves|sacrifice a few pawns along the way]]. Heroic Chessmasters are very often introduced as a [[Mysterious Employer]]. [[The Svengali]], in acting for the (supposed) good of his protégés, will often be this (and if he isn't, he'll pretend).
Chessmasters can occasionally be [[The Strategist]], although given the volatility of war, most Strategists will only ply their schemes one campaign at a time, with an emphasis on short-term goals (and an eye towards all possible future contingencies). The [[Dungeon Master]] may be a Chessmaster also, but many of them prefer to give their orders more directly. Many chessmasters are [[Villain
Of course, actual [[
If the chessmaster is the villain, when the hero defeats them it's usually via the one move they didn't plan for.
Line 21:
== Anime & Manga ==
* Chessmaster vs. Chessmaster example: Light vs. L in ''[[
** Don't forget Near and Mello.
** L, Near and Mello are clearer examples of Chessmasters, as all three of them carefully and deliberately set the board in the first few episodes from their introduction. Light had to scramble for pieces to put immediately into play; what saved him was that he was a quick study of his opponent and had powerful and unpredictable gambits.
Line 33:
** He even uses novelty trigger switches shaped like chess pieces to set off traps and explosives.
** His brother Schneizel is also a competent Chessmaster in his own right, and is the only one who can take Lelouch on on an even footing.
* Yugi in ''[[Tenchi Muyo!|Tenchi in Tokyo]]'' has a floating crystal formation in her evil lair that represents the relationships between Tenchi and all the other major characters.
* One of the bounties in ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', appropriately named Chessmaster Hex. He set up a revenge plot for a company he worked for by supplying plans for defrauding their customers to several dozen random people on the internet (and provided each of them with a chess piece so the company would know he was behind it). The twist is that he set it up fifty years ago to just happen now and he has since become a senile old man that just plays chess online all day.
* Several characters in ''[[Liar Game]]''. One of the antagonists, while not playing chess, uses chess pieces to demonstrate headcount in a Minority Rule game. The three pieces (rook, knight, bishop) all representing the same person are then dramatically replaced with a king, complete with grand sweeping gesture.
* [[Affably Evil]] Prime Minister Wong Wunfat from ''[[G Gundam]]''. ''Humongous'' chess board included.
* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
* Vampire king Akabara Strauss as well as others from ''[[The Record of a Fallen Vampire]]''.
* ''[[
** Along with the [[Chess Motifs]] scattered throughout the manga and anime (especially the second animation of the opening), there's quite a few chess metaphors and references thrown around.
{{quote| '''Sebastian:''' If it's your wish I will follow you everywhere. Even if your throne crumbles, and your shiny crown turns to rust. Even if the bodies pile up endlessly. Above the bottomless pile of corpses beside you as you lie softly down, I will follow you... Until I hear the words "Check mate."}}
* Father in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
* ''[[
* ''[[SD Gundam Force]]'' has Kibaomaru, who has a ''shogi'' theme. At one point in the Ark arc he plays several games against Shute, effortlessly winning each one. He translates his strategic ability into real life by easily figuring out the Gundam Force's strategy and come up with a counter-plan instantly.
* ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' has [[Dark Messiah|Chairman Gilbert Durandal]], who manipulates both events and [[Manipulative Bastard|people]] with incredible ease; unlike many on this list, he's also a [[Graceful Loser]]. His predecessor as [[Big Bad]], [[Gundam Seed|Rau Le Creuset]] was also one of these, successfully getting the entire world caught up in a war of [[Omnicidal Maniac|mutual extinction]]. Durandal regularly messes around with a chessboard, and at one point they're seen playing against one another. {{spoiler|[[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|Le Creuset]] wins}}.
* Seto Kaiba during the Death-T arc in the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' manga. He gets extra points for having an ''actual chess board'' right in front of him during most of the arc.
* Izaya Orihara from ''[[Durarara]]'', although ordinary chess bores him. He instead uses a bizarre board game, [[Calvin Ball|the rules of which only he knows and which incorporates pieces from at least three different board games]], to illustrate his manipulation of Ikebukoro and its residents.
** To a lesser extent, Aoba as well. Oh, and {{spoiler|Mikado}}. No, seriously.
Line 63:
** Lex Luthor's introduction as the Chessmaster in ''[[Red Son]]'' isn't entirely subtle, but effective: he's just won fourteen simultaneous games of chess on his coffee break, while also reading Machiavelli and teaching himself Urdu by tape "to keep my mind occupied". How good is "Luthor good"? {{spoiler|The end sees Brainiac destroyed, (and apparently Superman too), the world united and ready to accept "Luthorism" to lead it. He regards the chessboard and remarks "It's like it was planned to the tenth decimal point forty years ago."}}
* [[DC Comics]]' [[Darkseid]] is also fond of moving figure of his minions and enemies around on a chessboard when hatching his latest evil scheme.
** Since everything ''[[Countdown to Final Crisis]]'' touches turns to fail, when he does it in that series he just winds up looking like [[Spaceballs
* ''[[Y:
* The very first time we see [[Doctor Doom]], he's toying with chess-piece replicas of the [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]], so that tells you all you need to know. He's usually ranked as Reed Richards' evil ''doppelganger'' regarding intellect, and his plans range from the complicated to the ''really'' complicated to the one that played both [[Satan|Mephisto]] and [[Doctor Strange]] like Stradivarius violins. Simultaneously. With one move.
** ...which is parodied in [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2003/10/16/episode-342-hypothetically-speaking/ these] [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2003/10/18/episode-343-check-mate/ two] ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'' strips.
Line 71:
* Mother Freya, the goddess of love in Mark Crilley's ''Miki Falls'', is eventually revealed to be one of these.
* In the [[Batman]] story ''Hush'', Hush is thought to be it, but it actually turns out to be {{spoiler|The Riddler}} who ironically, Batman had dismissed as a threat earlier on in the story.
* Cyclops from [[X
* In ''[[
== Fanfiction ==
* In ''[[Kyon:
* [[Manipulative Bastard|Checker]] [[The Sociopath|Monarch]], the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Getting Back
== Film ==
* ''Dangerous Moves'' subverts the trope: the two grandmaster chess player protagonists are realistically high strung and emotional, with little aptitude for or interest in the manipulation of people and events. It's the hangers-on and government handlers surrounding them who engage in all the intrigues, scheming, and chess metaphors.
* Kronsteen in ''[[From Russia
** M certainly counts. In ''[[
* Historical gangster "Bumpy" Johnston (played by Laurence Fishburne) is depicted in this manner in the film ''[[Hoodlum]]''. The director even goes so far as to show Johnson playing chess (playing the black pieces, and knocking over the white king) in the film's [[Spinning Paper]] sequence.
* In the film ''[[Jason and
* In ''[[Lucky Number Slevin]]'' there is a scene where Slevin and the Boss discuss how Slevin will kill the Rabbi's son, interposed with a scene where Goodkat tells the Boss how he can manipulate Slevin into performing the murder, while all are playing a chess game. The scene takes on new relevance when {{spoiler|it turns out that "Slevin" and Goodkat were working together from the beginning to manipulate the Boss AND the Rabbi, in order to get revenge for them murdering Slevin's parents}}.
* [[Clint Eastwood]]'s [[No Name Given|Man With No Name]] in ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'' rolls into town, sizes up the situation, and immediately starts playing the two local powerhouses against each other.
** Inspired in part by ''[[Yojimbo]]'' and ''The Glass Key''.
*** Don't you mean ''Red Harvest''?
*** Retold in [[The Coen Brothers]]' ''[[
* Michael Corleone of ''[[
* Lord Cutler Beckett of ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]''. He even had a strategy board, one with a little Beckett piece-. (R.I.P.)
* Allenby and Feisal in ''[[Lawrence of Arabia]]''. They spend as much time plotting against each other as fighting the Turks.
Line 97:
* Miles Cullen, a nebbish bank teller whose two hobbies are tropical fish and chess, suddenly turns into a master of [[Xanatos Speed Chess]] when he decides to horn in on a planned robbery of his bank in ''The Silent Partner''. His chess set is given more screen time than some of the actors, even though he's never actually seen playing it.
* Paul Newman's character in ''Absence Of Malice'' is a good guy (and thoroughly unexpected) Chessmaster. He manages to play the DA, the police, and a newspaper against each other without anyone realizing what he's up to.
* In ''[[
** You have to give Luke Skywalker props for this as well. At the start of [[Return of the Jedi]], his positioning of Artoo, Threepio, Leia, Han, Chewie and Lando in the rescue of Han is actually quite brilliant, as each of his friends ended up with a very particular role to play.
*** Artoo smuggled in his lightsaber; Threepio's obliviousness to the plan ensured Jabba didn't get wise to the other players, either.
Line 109:
* Chili Palmer in ''[[Get Shorty]]'' moreso than in the novel (as mentioned in Literature below); in the movie he seems accustomed to running games on anyone he perceives as a threat.
* {{spoiler|Inspector Clouseau}} is revealed to have been this all along at the end of the 2006 remake of ''[[The Pink Panther]]'', having {{spoiler|screwed around with his English teacher after taking in the proper pronunciation of "hamburger" (a pronunciation he demonstrates to Dreyfus at the start of the sequel to shut off an alarm) and deliberately caused a scene at an airport checkpoint involving the improper pronunciation of the word "hamburger" after letting a hamburger fall out of his pocket so he'd get photographed at the exact right moment so he could inspect the photograph for an important clue to the murder mystery he's in the middle of investigating (seriously, [[Don't Try This At Home]]; he's a trained professional at pretending to be clumsy for the sake of his investigations)}}.
* Cardinal Richelieu's [[Batman Gambit]] (bordering on [[Xanatos Gambit]]) makes up most of the plot of ''[[The Three Musketeers (2011
* [[Genius Bruiser|Professor]] [[Big Bad|Moriarty]] from ''[[Sherlock Holmes (
== Literature ==
* [[Chung Kuo]] has a ''Go master'', Howard deVore, who compares manipulating people to placing pieces on the Go board
* Romeo Dallaire's ''[[Shake Hands
* K.A. Applegate's ''[[Everworld]]'' series of books. Initially narrated by Senna, who explicitly thinks about how manipulating other people (and gods!) has some things in common with the strategy of chess, but the skills required are different.
* In Kristen Britain's ''Green Rider'' during the final showdown, the protagonist is abruptly yanked away from the action and sees the battle as an elaborate game of that 'verse's equivalent to chess, which is played with 2-4 players. The chessmaster villain invites her to sit and play, as it is the only way for her to break the stalemate and save her friends. Instead, she {{spoiler|smashes the chess board with her sword, causing enough magical backlash to win the day.}}
* [[John Brunner]]'s novel ''The Squares of the City'' not only has an obvious chess metaphor in its title, and many literal chess players and games in the story, it's modelled after a historic chess game between two real world chess masters. {{spoiler|The president of a fictional Latin American country, and his Minister of the Interior, have a severe disagreement about treatment of the poor, serious enough to lead to civil war. But instead, they play a game of chess against each other, on an actual board and then manipulating real people to enact the moves.}}
* While Dumbledore and Voldemort are worthy examples of Chessmasters in a metaphorical sense in the ''[[Harry Potter (
** Not least, they both demonstrate an exceptional chess move: {{spoiler|They realize the best way to win the game is to sacrifice ''themselves'' like a pawn, so that the hero can win.}}
* Although the storyline is purposefully haphazard and dream-like in [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Alice in Wonderland|Through the Looking Glass]]'', all the events take place on a chessboard and every character Alice meets- whether visibly or not- is a chesspiece upon it, including Alice herself. Consequently, although no single person is particularly a villain, the Red Queen, at the beginning of the story, could also be seen as the Chessmaster by telling Alice what route to take on the White piece's side of the board with a view to her own side winning.
* Casper Gutman and {{spoiler|Brigid O'Shaughnessey}} from [[Dashiell Hammett]]'s ''[[The Maltese Falcon]]'' are both opposing chessmasters who manipulate Sam Spade and an entire cast of minor characters in order to obtain the Maltese Falcon for themselves. {{spoiler|Though in the end, they both fail.}}
** Spade himself is this to some degree, as well.
* In the [[James Bond]] novel ''[[From Russia
** The film adaptation took the plan in question, put it in the hands of SPECTRE, and made it even ''more'' complicated. The audience is left in the dark as to just what the bad guys are up to until Bond himself figures it out.
* Moridin in Robert Jordan's ''[[
** Several other characters are Chessmasters, or aspiring Chessmasters. Among the aspiring Chessmasters, Egwene stands out. When she successfully manipulates the heads of two fractions into giving her the power she needs...
{{quote| '''Egwene''': They couldn't have done it better if I had told them what to do.}}
* Subverted in ''Market Forces'' by Richard Morgan, a 2004 sci-fi novel in which [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] types battle for promotion by fighting [[Mad Max]]-style road duels. The protagonist Chris Faulkner has been manipulated into a fatal road duel with his friend Mike Bryant (a more skilled driver) in order to eliminate them both as potential rivals. In a [[Just Between You and Me]] moment the antagonist derides Faulkner and Bryant's chess hobby, pointing out that its restricted field and strict rules make the game useless training for real life.
* In [[Andre Norton]]'s ''Victory on Janus'', Ayyar at one point has a vision of playing a boardgame against THAT WHICH ABIDES, with his own people and the Great Crowns on one side, and the Larsh and enemy robots on the other.
* Lord Havelock Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork and all-around [[Magnificent Bastard]] of the ''[[
** According to ''The Discworld Companion'', Vetinari, in addition to being a Thudmeister, is also a Grandmaster at Stealth Chess, where some pieces ''are not necessarily where they appear to be''.
* Two crazy-awesome examples exist in Sergei Lukyanenko's ''[[Night Watch]] Trilogy'' in the form of the two heads of the Watches; Boris, head of the titular Night Watch and {{spoiler|Zabulon}}, head of the Day Watch. At one point they are even described as two people playing chess with their agencies as the pieces.
Line 154:
* [[Petaybee]]: In ''Powers That Be'', Sean is a very clear example, but he loses that aspect of his character later on in the series.
* Though he is seldom thought of that way, Gandalf of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' has a little bit of the Chessmaster in him. He uses the whole war of the ring as a gambit to get Frodo close to Mt. Doom, and even describes it in chess terms, referring to Pippin as a pawn who was as likely to see as much of the action as the other pieces on the board. If we look at it that way, the whole War of the Ring is a conflict between two spectacularly skillful chessmasters, Gandalf and Sauron. Sauron may be slightly better on the whole, but Gandalf is good enough to take skillful advantage of his [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good|one weakness]].
* Gandalf's ulterior motive for organizing the Thirteen Dwarves and Bilbo's expedition in ''[[The Hobbit (
* In [[Len Deighton]]'s "SS-GB", an [[Alternate History]] novel set in a Nazi-occupied Britian, the character Mayhew is a formidable Chessmaster who uses the German Nazi occupiers and the British anti-Nazi underground for his pawns, and is described as fond of "playing God and writing the future history books". In his master stroke, unfolding in the later part of the book, Mayhew gets the underground to {{spoiler|smuggle King George VI out of the Tower of London where the Germans kept him imprisoned}}; then Mayhew betrays the underground and gets the Germans to {{spoiler|set an ambush, shoot and kill the escaping King}}; then he gets the underground to {{spoiler|rouse the British people against the "Nazi Regicides"}} and create the myth of {{spoiler|a matryred, heroic King}} (when in fact {{spoiler|the poor George VI had been a totally broken man)}}; then he gets the{{spoiler|the young Princess Elizabeth crowned Queen-in-Exile at Australia}}; then he gets the various rivaling Nazi factions in charge of occupied Britian {{spoiler|to engage in bitter infighting, blaming each other for the fiasco, and ending with one group of Nazis summarily executing}} the leader of the other group; and meanwhile, Mayhew's part in all this remains unknown, and he remains on excellent terms with both the Nazis and the underground and free to start working on his next gambit.
* The [[1632]] series is bursting at the seams with these. Mention must be made of Cardinal Richelieu, who is just as good in the new history as he was in the old, and Mike Stearns, who is on the record as trying to set up a more long-term-successful series of gambits than ''[[Otto Von Bismarck]]''<ref>aka, the guy who created the modern state of Germany almost entirely with use of gambits and chessmastery, but may have set up [[World War One]] in the process</ref>.
Line 169:
== Live Action TV ==
* Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor in ''[[Doctor Who]]''. The chess metaphor is part of a [[Story Arc]]; it first appears in "Silver Nemesis", when he moves the pieces on Lady Peinforte's board; in "Curse of Fenric" this is revealed to be how he knew fellow Chessmaster Fenric was the force behind it all. Played with in "Battlefield" when Morgan La Fey taunts "I could always beat you at chess, Merlin" and he retorts "Who said anything about chess? I'm playing poker. And I have an Ace up my sleeve!"
* One of Monk's suspects in ''[[
** After this, Monk then begins to tell off the chessmaster about how it is such poor form to use chess terms when you're talking about people, ending it with [[Monk
* Gideon from ''[[
* In ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' Sylar manipulates Danko into cooperating with him while toying with the pieces on a chessboard.
* Malachi of ''[[Hex]]'', which I suppose must be expected since he is more or less the [[Anti Christ]]. He gains power over people by tempting them with their deepest desires. This leads some characters to believe they will be fine if they just resist when he tempts him, but unfortunately many people don't even understand what their own desires actually are, nor do they realize when it was Malachi who arranged the opportunities for them to follow them. A couple characters went down because they were actually giving into their desires when they thought they were fighting them.
* In ''[[Leverage]]'' Nate Ford is often referred to as a Black King and in the first episode as a white knight. Hardison comments he often plays online chess and in the episode "Juror #6" he and a opposite Chessmaster both use chess metaphors, an actual chess board and when he wins, he throws her a piece (presumably the king)
Line 178:
* ''[[Warehouse 13]]'' has Artie. There is a chessboard just outside the office: he's been playing the same game for months against himself. Good thing he's using these powers for good instead of evil. [[Epileptic Trees|Hopefully.]]
** When {{spoiler|Myka}} gets trapped in Lewis Carrol's Mirror, she makes reference to Artie's Chessmaster tendencies, calling themselves chesspieces on his chessboard.
* "Absolute Justice" from ''[[
* Considering ''[[
* Played completely straight with D. Gibbons in ''[[Flash Forward 2009]]'', who is mentioned as having become a grandmaster at the age of fifteen. Although {{spoiler|he appears to have been out-Chessmastered by an as-yet-unidentified faction of villains, it's worth noting that he knew that he would probably die and likely made plans for the event of his death}}.
* The [[Meaningful Name|appropriately named]] villain Chess in ''[[The Cape (TV series)|The Cape]]''.
* Literal example in former World Chess Champion Arkady Balagan in ''[[
* In ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'', the Sheriff of Nottingham once gave Guy of Gisborne orders while sitting behind a chess board. And then threw one of the pieces at him.
* In ''[[
* Bobby Newport's campaign manager Jennifer Barkley on ''[[
* ''[[Alcatraz (TV series)|Alcatraz]]'' villain Garrett Stillman is an expert at convuluted heists which rely on manipulating others, and was shown discussing chess techniques as a metaphor.
* Windom Earle of ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' is in an ongoing chess game with Coop. Every time Coop loses a piece, Earle kills someone.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In ''[[
* The yugoloths, a race of neutral evil fiends in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', were typically cast as executing secret, evil schemes across time and ''the [[Multiverse]]'', particularly in their most fleshed out appearances in the 2nd Edition ''[[Planescape]]'' campaign setting. In one source book, an illustration (by the impeccable hand of Tony [[Di Terlizzi]]), a pair of arcanoloths, the most ''[[Affably Evil]]'' of these fiends, are shown playing chess with pieces that resemble other races from the setting.
Line 200:
** Interestingly enough, Iago is actually a ''failed'' Chessmaster - he allows his own personal hatred (and thus contempt) for Othello and women to screw up his plans - {{spoiler|for instance, getting Emillia to steal the handkerchief but then thinking he can keep her quiet simply by ordering her to.}} An example of a chessmaster who really does win is [[Magnificent Bastard|Caesar]] from [[Antony and Cleopatra]].
* [[Shakespeare]] re-used the theme with Prospero in ''[[The Tempest]]'' (because Shakespeare re-used, well, ''everything'').
* Molokov and {{spoiler|Walter}} are tag-team Chessmasters who play the protagonists against each other for political purposes in the musical ''[[Chess (
* In the musical Rudolf - Affaire Mayerling - the [[Classic Villain]] Graf Taaffe is playing chess throughout the story, sets [[The Hero]] Rudolf Checkmate during a song with Rudolf's lover Mary Vetsera and is actually revealed to be the one behind everything by having everyone including Rudolf's father Franz Joseph be his pawns.
Line 215:
** And then there's Kreia from the sequel... words do not begin to describe...
* Sandro, the Necromancer Lich, in [[Heroes of Might and Magic|HoMM3: SoD]] tricks several heroes into finding certain artifacts for him that help him almost conquer the whole continent, and perhaps more. And after that fails he comes up with a plan that causes the events of the original campaign.
* Ryuusei Cartwright of ''[[
** Adventure Quest also has [[Exactly What It Says
* Gaia from ''[[God of War (
* Steve Gardner and John Parker from ''[[Metal Gear Ghost Babel]]''. Snake comments in the ending that he plans to make them pay for playing chess with peoples lives and hearts.
* Nemesis in ''[[City of
* Gwyndolin of ''[[
== Webcomics ==
* ''[[
** {{spoiler|Although ''Torg'', of all people, seems to be developing some of these tendencies, [[Out Gambit|Out Gambitting]] one villain after another ever since he joined up with the Minion Master. Perhaps this comes from being [[Genre Savvy]] enough to know that [[Enemy Mine|teaming up with villains]] [[Reliable Traitor|will inevitably lead to being double-crossed]].}}
* ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'' parodies the trope [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/11/20/episode-484-midfighter-vs-thiefollo/ here].
* In ''[[
* Thaco from ''[[
* In ''[[
** The chess theme in Homestuck also persists in terms of the game they play-- a checkered battlefield where white fights black, {{spoiler|and inevitably loses.}} However, manipulating this game of chess is unnecessary, and ultimately futile, unless someone decides to [[Game Breaker|smash the board.]]
** In addition to the chess motifs, Doc Scratch's overall theme (and the theme of Lord English and the Felt in general) is of another strategic game: American eight-ball pool.
Line 236:
== Western Animation ==
* David Xanatos of ''[[
* The Brain from ''[[Teen Titans (
** The final battle against the Brain's Brotherhood of Evil actually takes place in a large room that resembles a gigantic chessboard.
* Vlad Masters of ''[[
* Hades from Disney's ''[[Hercules (Disney film)|Hercules]]'' has a large chessboard at his place in the Underworld, with pieces representing the Olympians and his forces. He usually uses this chessboard in order to think out strategy how to kill Hercules or to attack Olympus.
* Hilariously averted in an episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' where Mr. Burns hires an assassin to kill Grandpa. After two botched attempts, the assassin suggests a [[Rule of Three|third option]] which he describes "as complex and precise as a well-played game of chess." [[Gilligan Cut|Cut]] to him bursting into the retirement home with a machine gun and [[A-Team Firing|firing wildly in all directions.]]
* Lawrence Limburger had a couple of episodes playing several factions against each other in ''[[Biker Mice From Mars]]''. This had to involve a chessboard with the people involved and a lot of [[Evil Laugh|Evil Laughter]].
Line 248:
* [[Otto Von Bismarck]] is depicted in [http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=1341 a contemporary political cartoon] playing against the Pope in chess and winning. He didn't get the nickname "Iron Chancellor" for ''nothing''; he will pretty much be attached to the term ''Realpolitik'' for a long time to come. (Since he didn't exactly operate in the shadows, he has [[Magnificent Bastard]] status, though).
* [http://mthruf.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/job-fails-hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-member-of-marketing-scorned.jpg This woman]
* Roodaka of ''[[Bionicle]]'' describes how she has "spun a web" in one issue where she speaks to a Visorak underling, complete with a board of miniature figurines of the heroes and villains. While it's not actually a chess board [[Call a Rabbit
Line 256:
* Amber/February from ''[[Darker Than Black]]'' is an example of this trope; however, instead of simply using world class intellect to manipulate outcomes in her desired direction, she uses {{spoiler|her ability to rewind time in order to correct failed gambits}}.
** She even pulls off a [[Xanatos Roulette]], managing to {{spoiler|place Hei at the exact place she needs him to be, at the exact right time, in order to allow him to have an epiphany which leads him to the course of action she needed him to make. And all before she ran out of power}} (just).
* Kazundo Gouda from ''[[Ghost in
* Yukihito Tsuge, the [[Big Bad]] of the second ''[[Patlabor]]'' film nearly drives Tokyo into civil war while operating completely behind the scenes.
* Too many to count in ''[[Legend of Galactic Heroes]]''. Often overlaps with [[Magnificent Bastard]].
* ''[[Peacemaker Kurogane]]'': In the manga, Suzu becomes one after he goes insane.
* [[Complete Monster|Johan Liebert, the titular]] ''[[Monster (
* Michio Yuki, the main villain of ''[[MW]]'' plans to use his killings in order to get to the titular chemical warfare and use it to end the world.
* Sousuke Aizen of ''[[Bleach]]''. Also of the [[Manipulative Bastard]] variety and a proven master of the [[Xanatos Roulette]].
** For that matter {{spoiler|Kisuke Urahara}} fits the role well too, though on the non-villainous side. Aside from being opposed to {{spoiler|Aizen}}, it's not really clear what endgame he's playing toward, but that could just be proof of how ''good'' a Chessmaster he is.
* ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'''s Nakago was not only good at directing his own men, he was a master when it came to misdirecting and manipulating the heroes. (Not that the heroes were any sort of brain trust, mind you...)
* Ukyo from ''[[Samurai
* ''[[Sailor Moon]] R'' [[Big Bad]] Wiseman/Death Phantom constructs an elaborate plot that will allow him to destroy the universe of both the past and future which involved him playing the role of the [[Evil Chancellor]] to the Black Moon Clan, having them attack the earth of the future then in traveling back in time to attack the earth of the past, having the Sailor Senshi foil them, then have the Senshi traveled to the future so he could get his hands on the [[MacGuffin Girl]] he needs for his plan, Chibiusa whose power he will feed to his Evil Black Crystal which will then open a gateway of negative energy to to annihilate the universe with.
* Kurama from ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''. A "good guy" example. Even though he has a [[Green Thumb]] (which would [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|seem to be useless in normal circumstances]]), you don't ever want to become his enemy or otherwise try to mess with him. EVER.
* In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'', Alejandro Corner ''thinks'' he's the Chessmaster, hijacking Aeolia Schenberg's {{spoiler|century-in-the-making}} [[Xanatos Roulette]] and arranging to dispose of the late Aeolia's loyal followers so he can take command of the newly-forming Earth Sphere Federation. {{spoiler|He's wrong. Alejandro was actually being manipulated himself every step of the way by his [[The Man Behind the Man|apparent lackey]], Ribbons Almark. The first hint Alejandro gets of this comes seconds before his death when Ribbons radios him to gloat.}}
** Let's give credit to Aeolia Schenberg too, please? He managed to ''accurately'' predict the events of pretty much everything that happened during the first season, and developed effective contingencies for it. What makes him different from all the other different chessmasters? {{spoiler|He's been ''dead'' for ''two hundred years''.}}
** In season two, there are at least three possible Chessmasters, and it's not yet clear which one is winning. Is it season 1 Chessmaster {{spoiler|Ribbons}}, enigmatic Celestial Being backer {{spoiler|Wang Liu Mei}}, or {{spoiler|Ribbons' own apparent lackey Regene Regetta, who happens to also be Gundam Meister Tieria Erde's [[Evil Twin]]}}? Each has already had more than one occasion of seeming to manipulate the others, and it's only eight episodes into the season. And just to make things more confusing, ''all three'' claim to still be following Schenberg's true plan. At least two must be lying or mistaken, but which ones? As it turns out {{spoiler|they all are, not a single one is actually trying to follow the plan and are instead attempting to claim power for themselves (though their individual greed is actually all already factored into the real plan). Regene and Wang Liu Mei get killed by Ribbons' minions after being badly out played by him and Ribbons himself is killed by Setsuna. And in Regene's case, death is less of a setback than you might think.}}
Line 275:
* Amshel Goldsmith from ''[[Blood Plus]]'' is [[The Dragon|Diva's chevalier]], but he is the one who organises most of Diva's plan to replace humanity with Chiropterans. To reach that end, he uses everyone, including Diva's other chevaliers who are on his side. In fact, it is completely plausible to argue that he, instead of Diva, is the main villain as {{spoiler|he and the original Joel's experiments on Saya and Diva completely drove Diva insane and made her into a bloodthirsty monster that she is.}}
** There are a couple of people who know Amshel's game. {{spoiler|Nathan plays along because he feels like it. Diva just doesn't care, being too insane to focus on anything that takes so much time to develop.}}
* Other than Father, ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
** The [[Fullmetal Alchemist (
* In both the manga and the anime versions, Aion of ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' is shown to be a Chessmaster -- in the anime, he manages to manipulate Chrono into giving him exactly what he needs for his plans: {{spoiler|the Holy Maiden, Rosette. He dies in the end, but manages to come back from the dead (and/or become a symbol of evil--it's hard to tell exactly).}} In the manga, he manipulates not only Chrono and his [[True Companions]], but the ''entire demon society'' to {{spoiler|completely obliterate the entire demon race, and nearly the world along with it, [[Utopia Justifies the Means|so that the world can be rebuilt without the "systems" he despises]]. The only thing that stops him is that Rosette is the living personification of [[Chaotic Good]], and his biases against humans stopped him from realizing what a pain in the ass she'd turn out to be.}}
* ''[[Irresponsible Captain Tylor]]'' may or [[Genius Ditz|may not]] be [[Obfuscating Stupidity]], but many both amongst the series characters and the fans believe that he is actually working some master plan of his own, given how he always comes off on top in the end and his opponents invariably find him a [[Spanner in
* Rosalie of the Samura Hiroaki oneshot ''Emerald'' plays this astoundingly well. In only sixty odd pages, she saves a young girl from a life of prostitution, orchestrates the death of a legendary criminal, brings an invincible gunfighter out of [[Retired Badass|retirement]] and brings down the local prostitution ring without once firing a gun. Paying for a tombstone for the aforementioned criminal just might bring her into [[Magnificent Bastard]] territory.
* Nagi Sanzenin's grandfather, Mikado Sanzenin, has proved himself one of these in [http://img09.tx.us.mangafox.com/store/manga/708/249.0/compressed/n07.jpg chapter 249] of ''[[
** He also engineered a plot to steal 'the power of the gods' before the story started. Possibly his first, since it failed and got the three who worked together on it cursed.
* Dietrich, one of the younger warriors from ''[[Claymore]]'' qualifies. Figuring out Helen and Deneve's identities within seconds was a foretaste of her analytical abilities. Figuring out the only way to defeat the Luciela-Rafaela spawn for good by siccing {{spoiler|the Abyssal Feeders}} on them was a grandmaster move.
Line 320:
* [[Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|Bruce Banner]] is this, at least under Greg Pak's pen. As we learn in ''[[Fall of the Hulks]]'', Banner's just as dangerous as his savage green alter-ego - if not more so.
* General Wade Eiling definitely fulfills this trope, given the way he manipulates [[Captain Atom]].
* [[Batman]] villain, The Riddler is an accomplished chessmaster, notably for smooth sway over the media, especially post-reformation (a quality of [[Villain
** {{spoiler|In Hush: The Riddler discovers Batman's secret identity and manipulates Bat's oldest friend and his old mechanic, Poison Ivy (who in turn uses Catwoman and SUPERMAN), Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, Clayface, Scarecrow, Ra's Al Ghul. Even the Joker was talked in to going along with his scheme. However, Batman ensures his confidentiality when he exploits the Riddler's compulsion: he can't expose Batman because it would be like giving away the answer to a riddle.}}
** Two-Face can also be a [[Chessmaster]], usually having two plans in motion at once, one often entirely different (but also in some way linked) to the other.
Line 326:
** Hell, [[Batman]] himself is this trope as well. He ''is'' the namesake of the [[Batman Gambit]] after all and he is pretty skilled in chess.
* [[Superman]] enemy Brainiac has often been this, in contrast to [[Magnificent Bastard]] [[Lex Luthor]]. Brainiac has frequently set up incredibly complex plans, using every character as a chesspiece in his efforts to [[Planet Looters|steal cities]]/[[A God Am I|become a god]]/absorb the sum total of all knowledge in the universe (his motive keeps on changing), but has trouble changing them once something goes wrong.
* While mentioned and kind of mocked above, [[Darkseid]] is definitely a very competent and dangerous Chessmaster when he's written correctly. This is perfectly invoked in ''[[Superman:
{{quote| ''"I told you once, [[Superman]], if you would not be my knight, you would be my pawn."''}}
* The Phantom Blot is ([[Depending
== Fanfiction ==
* In the ''[[
* {{spoiler|Jeft}} in ''[[
* ''[[Soul Chess (Fanfic)]]'' used to focus on [[Magnificent Bastard|Lelouch]] and [[God Mode Sue|Aizen]] trying to [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny|fight for control over the Soul Society]]. {{spoiler|Lelouch wins, but Aizen comes back from Hell for Round 2.}}
* Calvin slowly develops into this over the course of ''[[Calvin and Hobbes: The Series
== Film ==
* In ''[[Death Race]]'', the Warden is clearly the Chessmaster, with the way she manipulates the convicts to play in the [[Game Show]] race. In view of the fact that the audience is made not to like her she's also the [[Anti-Hero]], and she's a [[Manipulative Bastard]].
* CRS in ''[[The Game (
* Vito Corleone in ''[[
** Except that he never wanted Michael to become a part of the family business.
* The Oracle from ''[[The Matrix]]'' is a {{spoiler|sentient computer program}} capable of predicting Neo's reactions so well that she essentially made Neo the One. All of Neo's heroics are all essentially part of her chessmaster plan, even Agent Smith.
** Also notable is The Architect, who managed to {{spoiler|manipulate all previous "Ones" into his plan by threatening them with the extinction of the human race.}}
* Scar from ''[[The Lion King]]''
* Rotti Largo from ''[[Repo!
* Both [[Michael Caine]] and [[Laurence Olivier]] are chessmasters in the 1972 version of ''[[Sleuth]]''. The chessmaster in the 2007 version was whoever got me to watch it.
* Senator/Chancellor/Supreme Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine in the ''[[Star Wars]]'' prequel trilogy. Got a less-than-scrupulous faction to blockade/invade his backwater homeworld just to get the old leader kicked out and himself elected in the process. Then gets his apprentice to start a war to increase his authority under "wartime powers". Then gets his sworn antitheses to attempt to thwart him so he can declare them enemies of the state and use his "severely disfigured in an attempt on my life" sob story to get enough sympathy to be named dictator for life. While [[Xanatos Gambit|playing both sides of the board,]] so as to have a backup plan if something went wrong (presumably, just sabotage the clones from the Republic side and conquer the galaxy with droids. Not that he ever needed to.)
Line 369:
* In the ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]'' stories, both Professor Moriarty (Holmes's nemesis) and Sherlock Holmes himself demonstrate considerable Chessmaster talents, most notably in "The Final Problem." Unfortunately, most of the actual plays and counterplays take place offscreen and are merely [[Noodle Incident|alluded to by Holmes]].
* The Continental Op of [[Dashiell Hammett]]'s ''Red Harvest''. {{spoiler|He is hired by a man who is killed before he can give The Op the case, and to deal with this fact, the Op joins every gang in town, convinces each one that the others are playing against them. He almost gets killed, gets everyone else killed, and ends up framed for murder in a way that works out for him.}} Don't forget that the man was the inspiration for the samurai film ''Yojimbo'' which was later adapted into a western mentioned just a few paragraphs ago, ''A Fistful of Dollars''. Makes you wonder if Dashiell Hammett had this planned from the start...
* [[Jeeves and Wooster (
* [[The Shadow]] spends most of his stories manipulating both the cops and the criminals until they are brought to a final confrontation where he will finally get involved personally.
* Essentially, the murderer in ''any'' Agatha Christie novel. One of her most manipulative murderers would undoubtedly have to be {{spoiler|the judge}} from ''[[
* U Po Kyin of Orwell's ''Burmese Days'' quickly establishes himself as a chessmaster as well. He states his plan to worm himself a way into the European Club by libelling the town doctor in the first chapter of the book, but it isn't until later that the sheer brilliance of his plan becomes apparent.
* Robert Van Gulik's ''Judge Dee'', (based on traditional Chinese mysteries) is a subversion of this trope as he is constantly going up against Chessmasters and defeating them because life is NOT predictable - but chessmasters are, at least to Judge Dee! In his final case Dee is trapped by a chessmaster opponent but because he knows how such villains think manages to turn the trap on his rival.
Line 387:
* In Eleanor Updale's [[Montmorency]], the titular character has some Chessmaster tendencies, but they are completely trumped by the anarchists in the third and fourth books.
* In Carrie Vaughn's ''[[Kitty Norville]]'' series, Mercedes Cook is revealed as this through her manipulation of Arturo and Rick into a vampire war. The fact she in turn is [[The Man Behind the Man|working for/being manipulated by]] {{spoiler|Roman}} only adds even more delicious levels of convolution...and since ''he'' is only stated to be a general in [[Ancient Conspiracy|the Long Game]], chances are there's an [[Omniscient Council of Vagueness]] out there manipulating ''everyone'', which Kitty will [[The Chosen One|inevitably have to face down]].
* John Alpha, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[
* A relatively rare female example with Professor Jenna-Jane Mulbridge in Mike Carey's [[Felix Castor]] novels: while the series features demons and undead galore, moreover, it is the two human examples, Jenna-Jane and [[Church Militant]] leader Father Thomas Gwillam, who draw the most ire from the protagonist.
* Steven Brust's ''[[Dragaera|Yendi]]''. [[Planet of Hats|Members of House Yendi are famed]] for their machinations that sometimes take centuries to bear fruit (they live for a couple millennia, so they can be patient). It's a saying in the Empire that the only one who can decipher a Yendi's scheme is another Yendi.
* Arguably Gentleman John Marcone, from Jim Butcher's ''[[The Dresden Files]]''. While neither an antagonist (most of the time) nor a main character, Marcone in eleven books has brought the Chicago criminal underworld under his reasonably organized command, become aware of the supernatural world, {{spoiler|hired a Valkyrie, stole the freaking Shroud of Turin,}} saved Harry's bacon several times and collected a large payment for it, and, in ''White Knight'', talked his way into {{spoiler|becoming a freeholding lord in the supernatural world. There are twenty such legal entities; Marcone is the only mortal.}}
** Also Nicodemus, Daddy Raith and Lara, any of the Sidhe by default, the 'Black Council' (assuming it exists), possibly Cowl, and many more . . . really, Jim Butcher seems to love these.
* Dumbledore in [[
** He was obviously stage-managing things before that. He's been running rings around Tom Riddle since Riddle was just a weird kid in an orphanage, though he could never prove Riddle did any of the misdeeds he did whilst in school because Riddle was clever and covered it up.
{{spoiler|Dumbledore had to change his plans when he confirmed that Voldemort had created horcruxes, and this was at the end of the second book. Despite already having theories years in the making prior to that discovery, he only made CONFIRMED active moves to find the horcruxes in the sixth book. While he was uncertain of what Voldemort had done in years prior, he did a lot of research on his history and personality to finally vanquish him. Though people say Dumbledore manipulated Harry, he did not, he gave Harry a choice to live or die, and he only put Harry with the Dursleys to protect him with the blood connection, nothing else. Dumbledore also recognized Harry was truly safe from Voldemort at the end of the fourth book when Harry said Voldemort took his blood}}
*** Riddle was as smart as Dumbledore (who described him as "probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen.") He just let his arrogance and impatience get in the way of his genius. He didn't seem to fully grasp that if he was just as smart as Dumbledore, the reverse by definition was also true, or that Dumbledore's apparently reactionary policy might be masking a plan longer than Riddle's year-by-year plots. However, Riddle DID take over the ministry in a silent coup that slowly took place during both the 6th and 7th books. We do not know of Riddle's actions during the first war, however, we DO know that when the time was right, he would give the order for Lucius Malfoy to slip the Horcrux Diary into Hogwarts, and basically bring Hogwarts down from the inside. This is Chessmaster worthy thinking on Riddle's part, as he was patiently waiting for the right time to strike, and the plan would have succeeded because there would be no parseltongue-speaking Harry to hear the snake in the walls. This is of course disregarding the prophecy.
* Makina Seval of ''[[The Assassins of Tamurin]]'', whose [[Xanatos Roulette]] has been years in the making, spanning across an empire but never hitting a snag, and using players in the most obscure and unpredictable roles, who know ''absolutely nothing'' about what they're being used for.
* The titular character of the ''[[
** And several others. In fact, most of the books end up as [[Gambit Pileup]], with Artemis [[Out-Gambitted|coming out on top]].
* ''Shadows of the Hegemon'' by [[Orson Scott Card]] is a [[Gambit Pileup|Chessmaster free-for-all,]] with Achilles betraying everyone, Peter playing his own games behind the mask of Locke, Petra working to screw Achilles from underneath him, and Bean formulating his own tactics and webs. The plot is so complex with betrayals, it's like reading a game of risk.
Line 410:
*** ''Sharpe's Fury:''' {{spoiler|Directing the transfer of money to Spanish partisan operations from Cadiz. Recovers important Foreign Office documents using Sharpe, fights personally for once (he's okay at it). Kills all threats to the Crown. Discredits hostile Spanish politicians.}} '' {{spoiler|Mocks Sharpe to his face when the latter finds out about his murder of his Danish friends.}}''
** Pierre Ducos is a sublime Chessmaster. His problem is that Sharpe has a cockroach-like refusal to die at the right time, which means he inevitably survives to muck everything up.
* ''[[
* Kelsier, the main character from the first book of Brandon Sanderson's [[Mistborn]] series, is a nice inversion as a ''heroic'' Chessmaster. He demonstrates his talent through a multi-layered [[Batman Gambit]].
** It's not just him. [[Evil Overlord|The Lord Ruler]], [[Aristocrats Are Evil|Straff]], [[Dungeon Master|Preservation]], [[Omnicidal Maniac|Ruin]], and others all have more than a little Chessmaster in them (of varying degrees of skill), and indeed the whole trilogy can best be described as a bunch of peoples' (and gods') plans running roughshod over each other, with the ending arguably amounting to a [[Gambit Pileup]].
Line 418:
* Emperor Ezar in [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s ''[[Vorkosigan Saga|Shards of Honor]]''. He starts a war that he knows he's going to lose, in order to: 1) Kill off his psychopathic son, 2) Discredit his political opponents, 3) Set up Aral Vorkosigan to become regent for his grandson. (Vorkosigan is only man he trusts to a) hold power for 13 years, and b) turn that power over to an 18 year old emperor who will no doubt be an idiot (since everyone is an idiot at 18.))
* 'Sticky Eye' Kawakami in ''[[Cloud of Sparrows]]'' wants to be one, but he isn't very good at it. He compensates by being a truly fearsome [[Manipulative Bastard]].
* Several characters in Megan Whalen Turner's ''[[The
* Ardneh, from Fred Saberhagen's ''Empire of the East''. In the first volume, he actually quotes an ancient (especially by that time) real-world Hindu myth to the villain in order to tell him exactly how he's going to kill him. He then lets said villain get control of the invincible super-weapon in order to kill him in exactly the manner he said he would (with foam, of all things). In the process, he liberates the entire west coast from [[The Empire]]. In the second volume, he manipulates two of the villains from the first volume into [[Heel Face Turn|Heel Face Turns]] in order to defeat the demon, using the very fact that the main villain of that volume has moved his one vulnerability to a more secure location. And then, in the third volume, he wipes out [[The Empire]], and most of the world's most powerful demons, [[Thanatos Gambit|in a single stroke]].
* Paladine, in the ''Dragonlance Chronicles'', but especially in the ''Legends''. In the former, he recruits and manipulates the [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] into saving the world, while {{spoiler|disguised as the [[Obfuscating Stupidity|senile pyromaniac Fizban]]}}. In the latter, he actually lets {{spoiler|Raistlin [[Thanatos Gambit|kill him]] and destroy the world}} in an alternate future, so that when Caramon travels back in time and shows Raistlin said future, Raist finally repents.
* Both The Ellimist and Crayak are Chessmasters by necessity (though The Ellimist has been one since his space bird gamer days), because a direct fight between them could destroy the fabric of reality and themselves along with it
** The Ellimist is a classic one, though. At one point he reveals the location of the Kandrona (a strategically important target, since it generates the rays Yeerks need to periodically absorb to survive) via a vision of a future where the Yeerks won...
* ''[[
** Chired Anigrel only seems an understudy compared to the Demon Queen he worshipped since childhood. Managing to both attain [[The Man Behind the Man|effective control]] of Armethalieh and come within moments of {{spoiler|handing the whole thing over to Savilla.}}
* Inquisitor Ramius Stele from the ''[[Warhammer 40000]] [[
* Gaius Sextus in the ''[[Codex Alera]]'' is one of these, though the limitations of trying to do this without inexplicable perfect knowledge of all events is clear. A lot of people became extremely angry at these tendencies, and many people considered him less "masterful" than "feeble" and blamed him for the situation of Alera.
** Lord Kalarus tries to be one of these, but while he has a few tricks, he's not nearly in control as he thinks he is. A good example of this is {{spoiler|when he conspires with the [[Wolf Man|Cane]] to raid Alera to distract attention from his rebellion. He expects them to bring a few hundred raiders. They bring ''thousands'' and have no intention of leaving.}}
* Admiral Sun Ji Guoming from the [[Dale Brown]] novel ''Fatal Terrain'' carries out an unconventional warfare plan that succeeds in getting the rest of the world to see China as a [[Villain
** {{spoiler|National Security Adviser Robert Chamberlain}} from ''Act of War'' plays pretty much everyone in his quest to kill [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Harold Kingman]].
* Lisbeth Salander of Stieg Larsson's ''[[Millennium Trilogy]]'', if she doesn't start as a chessmaster, certainly ''becomes'' one by the end of the third book. As an example, {{spoiler|she encounters her half-brother Roland Niedemann, who has repeatedly tried to kill her. Now, she could just kill him, and thereby give the authorities cause to start pursuing her again. So, she doesn't do this. She makes an anonymous tip to the gangster scum who previously employed him, and now want to kill him. Then she makes an anonymous tip to the police that said gangster scum have likely murdered Niedemann. In doing so, she manages to wipe out three of her enemies without any of them knowing she is responsible for doing so}}.
Line 439:
== Live Action TV ==
* Most ''[[
* The ''[[Mission Impossible]]'' series is a rare but well-executed example of non-villain, non-[[Anti-Hero]] chessmastery.
* Likewise the team of [[Hawaii Five
* Linderman of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' seems to have his hooks in everything, especially DL and Niki. His apparent omniscience is helped along by being a collector of art... particularly art made by a guy who paints the future.
** Rebel/{{spoiler|Micah}} is showing signs of this. He certainly prefers to operate by proxy {{spoiler|given that he's a 12-year-old kid with no combat powers}}. He's a [[Technopath]], which enables him to covertly communicate with his "pieces" and listen in on government communications. However, he hasn't done much in the way of manipulation - he prefers to give direct instructions, and his plans tend to be short term. Then again, you don't need to be much of a chessmaster to outsmart the federal government.
* On ''[[Smallville]]'', Lex has used the quote at least once to describe the comparison of his scheming to that of his [[Magnificent Bastard]] father. Then there's [[Complete Monster|Brainiac]] who usually sets his plans in motion months in advance, and Waller of the appropriately named Checkmate.
Line 453:
* CJ Cregg, press secretary on ''[[The West Wing]]'', manages to manipulate both the press and the House of Representatives into making the HR be the one handling the investigation of the president, instead of the Special Prosecutor, because she feels they'll bungle it. And she does it entirely by complimenting the Special Prosecutor and talking up his credentials too!
* J.R. Ewing in ''[[Dallas]]''.
* Captain Benjamin Sisko manages to be one on ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', episode "In the Pale Moonlight". In truth, he {{spoiler|asks for Garak's help, who, in the end, proves to be the real chessmaster.}}
* Seska on ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]''. (Especially when she showed up to torment the crew {{spoiler|three years after her death.}}
* ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' pulls off several of these to catch criminals. The plan she uses to allow Duncan to escape the USA with his child crosses into roulette territory.
** There's also the epic scheming of {{spoiler|Cassidy Casablancas.}} Not only did he kill a dozen people, keep any attention off him for months, manipulate and blackmail his way through the stock market, he's also the only person I can ''ever'' remember lying to Veronica's face and not having her suspect at ''all''. {{spoiler|And he's just 16.}} He's ''good'' dammit.
* Clayton Webb in ''[[JAG]]''. A cold blooded CIA agent who is skilled and subtle in manipulating operations all over the world.
* Michael Scofield from ''[[Prison Break]]'' is a chessmaster on par with people like [[Death Note
* Sir Humphrey Appleby in ''[[Yes Minister]]'' and ''Yes, Prime Minister'' pulls off several devious yet intricately devised gambits designed to flummox the far-less intellectually cunning (Prime) Minister Jim Hacker, in order to thwart Hacker's agenda, cement his power and influence over the department and government, and to feather his own nest. However, Hacker - whilst nowhere near Humphrey's level of ability - is not without some low cunning himself, and is occasionally able to pull a fast one on Humphrey, and events occasionally conspire to leave Humphrey spluttering in astonishment as his plan collapses around him.
* ''[[Blake's Seven|Blakes Seven]]''. This is the job of the 'psychostrategist', a Federation officer whose role is to predict and manipulate people. Unfortunately he's informed too late about a random element and, realising his plan will therefore collapse, smartly decides to vanish before Servalan finds out. Servalan, a bit of a [[Manipulative Bastard]] herself, seems amused rather than incensed over his cunning.
Line 474:
** Interestingly, when the trope is made explicit by D'Angelo, he, unlike many others who talk about chess metaphors, does not believe he is a Chessmaster. He is fully aware that he is only a pawn, and his growing bitterness with this role, and the callous actions of the "kings" and "queens," fuels much of his growth as a character.
* Zora, from ''[[Sonny With a Chance]]'' does this once in the episode where she makes Chad believe he's the host of a TV program that plays pranks on celebrity stars. After she has all the characters together, she herself explained that she was manipulating everyone around the whole time, as she is the true host of the program and their true victim was Chad himself from the beginning. Then they stick Chad's feet on the floor, his face on the window and they spill manure over his new car. Chad was not happy. [[Played for Laughs]], of course.
* Molly Hardy, in ''[[
* Katherine Pierce in ''[[The Vampire Diaries]]''. If everyone just accepted that she is always playing them no matter how vulnerable or uncertain she seems, then it probably wouldn't change the actual outcome, but they wouldn't waste time and energy trying to beat her at her own game.
* ''[[
** Gatehouse, who's very skilled at planning events in his favour, to the point where the BBC website actually calls him a puppetmaster. {{spoiler|Indeed, it's his skill at this that ensures his ultimate victory.}}
** Glickman, who actually manages to [[Out-Gambitted|out-plan]] Gatehouse in his first appearance and ultimately proves at least as good at planning as Gatehouse.
Line 484:
** Mycroft even admits to purposefully driving Sherlock into harm's way.
** Irene {{spoiler|fakes her death}} twice, in part to mess with Sherlock's head. Her fatal flaw is that she lets her heart rule her head, and actually is {{spoiler|in love with Sherlock}}.
* In [[Justified (TV series)|Justified]], Limehouse is constantly manipulating the various criminals and other violent elements in Harlan County to keep his own community safe.
Line 497:
* Puerto Rican Wrestler Ray Gonzalez's gimmick is that he's a chessmaster (and a good one at that).
* WWE Wrestler [[The Nexus|Wade Barrett]] had this as his gimmick as the leader of the [[Power Stable]] "Nexus", his "endgame" being winning the WWE Championship. He planned situations masterfully, even exploiting [[Boring Invincible Hero]] [[John Cena]]'s [[Honor Before Reason]] and [[Hot-Blooded]] nature alongside the occasional [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]
* [[Mick Foley]] of all people was revealed to be one in [[TNA]]. He worked his way silently up into the Network as an executive behind Immortal's back, using his position to make them literally [[Screwed
Line 508:
** Cypher. But with a name like that...
* [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rl/20050713a This article] outlines typical manipulators' methods in [[Forgotten Realms]]. Some even legal.
* In ''[[
* ''[[
* The ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' rulebook ''Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells'' explicitly compares Asmodeus' plans to a game of chess. Supposedly his plan to topple heaven is a few centuries ahead of schedule.
** Also, the rulebook ''Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberations'' describes mind flayers - a.k.a "[[Cthulhumanoid|illithids]]" - and their leaders the Elder Brains as often being this. They are manipulating politics and slowly working towards reestablishing the illithid empire that was lost long ago.
** The Illumians, introduced in ''Races of Destiny'', are a species of humanoids organized into cabals where they study and manipulate the world around them, ultimately hoping to accumulate enough power and knowledge to ascend to godhood.
** Dragons play ''xorvintaal'', the Great Game in which they use mortal servants as chess pieces to compete for each others' hoards. The game itself is [[Calvin Ball|far too complex for mortals to understand]], but in the small term can shape entire lives. In the long term, it shapes ''continents'' - [[World War I]] would have been a particularly complex ''xorvintaal'' maneuver, with [[World War II]] being a good counter-move. Just as a consequence of powerful creatures to who [[We Are
*** An example: Dragon A uses his magic to cause a volcano to erupt, wiping out an entire town but forcing Dragon B to evacuate her hoard and leaving her vulnerable to attack by PC mercenaries hired by Dragon A. This would be considered a crude, noobish maneuver. A master of ''xorvintaal'', such as Dragon C, would rush to the volcano, see a family trapped in a burning house, and use just enough magic to save the boy. Over the coming years Dragon C supports the boy as he hones his skills as an adventurer, nurturing his hatred of Dragon A until he's ready to form a party to avenge his parents, afterward continuing as a loyal supporter of Dragon C. That's a character whose entire life was played like a chess piece in a game he may never become fully aware of. And Dragon B? The mercenaries that would have attacked her were instead wiped out by a party sent by Dragon D, a young vassal of Dragon C who is now owed a favor by a powerful rival, who Dragon C only wants around as a buffer against Dragon E...
* [[Seventh Sea]] has {{spoiler|a whole team of them--Novus Ordum Mundi--}}and the biggest and baddest of them all is none other than {{spoiler|Alvara Arciniega}}.
Line 522:
* Lucy is this in ''[[Thirteen]]''. She [[Mind Screw|tells Kendra she shouldn't kiss Brett because she's a good girl]]. Then all she has to do is turn Brett's head for {{spoiler|an [[Accidental Kiss]] between [[Ho Yay|Brett and Archie]] }} then when {{spoiler|Evan reunites Brett and Kendra}} Lucy {{spoiler|[[Gossip Evolution|starts a rumor]] about Kendra and Evan}}
* Edmund, Regan, and Goneril from Shakespeare's [[King Lear]]. They all fully take advantage of their fathers' weaknesses.
* Oberon from ''[[A Midsummer
* Iago from ''[[Othello]]'' plays off of Barbantio's [[Fantastic Racism|racism]], Othello's [[Clingy Jealous Guy|jealousy]] and [[If I Can't Have You|distrust]] in [[Mary Sue|Desdemona]], and [[Cassanova Wannabe|Roderigo's]] love for Desdemona all to destroy a man he hates - but for whom he has no good reason to hate.
Line 529:
* ''[[Fable]] 2'' has Theresa whose also a [[Manipulative Bastard|Manipulative Bitch]] the DLC reveals {{spoiler|That she was the one who gave the music box to murgo, then convinced Sparrow to buy it while manipulating Lucien to become obsessed with the spire and possibly convincing him to kill Rose and try to kill Sparrow. So she could guide Sparrow to become a hero and gather the heroes of legends to claim the spire for her own. May also constitute as a [[Xanatos Roulette]]}}
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' was completely filled with [[Gambit Pileup|Chessmaster-on-Chessmaster action]]. {{spoiler|The Galbados Church was trying to manipulate commoner legends to set themselves up as faux-saviors in the Lion War. The church's new "Zodiac Braves" were actually the demonic Lucavi, playing the church for fools and using the bloodshed of the Lion War to revive their leader. Both Prince Larg and Goltana were using the recent death of the King to try and place their preferred puppet candidates on the throne, setting themselves up as Regent. Dycedarg was using Larg, hoping to kill him and take his place in the whole plot. And Delita was outmaneuvering them all, using the church and Goltana to set himself as the new king by marrying Ovelia (The fact that he seemed to genuinely like her was almost problematic for him), and using the protagonist to stop the Lucavi, as he couldn't deal with them personally without screwing up the rest of his plans. Delita succeeded, and every other contender was dead when the dust settled.}} About the only people ''not'' trying to screw everyone else like a two-dicked billygoat was the protagonist and his crew, but his actions definitely were manipulated for other peoples' gain.
* Rufus Shinra, of ''[[Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children]]'', was a very sneaky, wheelchair-bound chessmaster who, with only four hired goons and his wits about him, manages to fool [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]] Kadaj for the entire movie. While suffering from a ''fatal disease'', no less.
** Not as though this is his first act of such. He's been doing this for years as revealed in ''[[Before Crisis]]'' wherein {{spoiler|he was shown to be the financial backer and chessmaster behind the second incarnation of the ecoterrorist group AVALANCHE, simply because he wanted his father out of the way. Though, the whole thing does come back to bite him on the ass with the third incarnation of the group in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' proper.}}
** Though, it should be noted that this trait runs in the family as we see in ''[[Crisis Core]]'' with {{spoiler|Rufus' all-bastard half-brother Lazard is revealed to be effectively using both SOLDIER and the Genesis Army to play chess ''with himself'' in his efforts to topple the company. But again, it all comes back to bite him in the ass when people start investigating him too closely and he ends up a victim of the very same [[Send in
* Zexion from ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', complete with [[Villainous Breakdown]] when he [[Didn't See That Coming]].
** Everything that has happened in the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' saga from ''Birth by Sleep'' onwards can be traced back to Master Xehanort, although {{spoiler|his future incarnations kind of drifted away from his original plan}}. Sheer [[The Power of Friendship|Power Of Friendship]] is the only reason his plan to restart the Keyblade War didn't succeed at the Keyblade Graveyard, {{spoiler|and even after losing all his memories, he's able to continue his plans in some form thanks to Braig.}}
* [[The Voice|The Administrator]] from [[
* ''[[
* {{spoiler|Wilhelm}} in the ''[[
* In ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' (in various timelines), Shu Shirakawa and Ingram Prisken often act as chessmasters, manipulating the protagonists into doing their bidding unwittingly, and with unparalleled amounts of panache (Shu has even garnered an unwanted harem in the past). Interestingly, they take to the field of battle quite often, but this is perhaps solely to show off their (incredibly cool) Humongous Mecha. Due to the crossover nature of the series, Shu and Ingram have butted heads with each other, [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Gendo Ikari]], [[Zeta Gundam|The Titans]], [[Giant Robo|Big Fire]], and various other factions and have generally come out on top. They could also be considered a subversion of this trope,{{spoiler|because they themselves are being forced to do the bidding of higher powers, and actually fall under direct control of them on several occasions. The protagonists generally end up killing them, or being unable to prevent their deaths. Ironically, after noting just before dying that he was now free of all the chains that bound him, Shu is actually brought back from the dead to resume his previous role. Perhaps proving what a magnificent bastard he is, Shu is actually -released- from his bonds upon his resurrection. Whether or not this was intentional is up in the air, but if it was, it most definitely counts as a [[Xanatos Roulette]].}}
* ''[[
* Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Aldersberg in ''[[The Witcher]]'' computer game, who {{spoiler|used crime group ''Salamandra'' along with mad wizard under his power, sparked full-scale racial war and manipulated the whole bunch of people to solidify the power of his Order - and all this just to save humanity from his vision of terrible future, which makes him into [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] as well. }}
* Freed from the constraints of [[Stupidity Is the Only Option]] in ''[[Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]]'', Phoenix Wright becomes one of the most capable Chessmasters not only of that game, but of the entire [[Ace Attorney]] series. He manipulates every important event towards his own ends, and any major errors on his part are made only when {{spoiler|[[Stupidity Is the Only Option|he's being controlled by the player during the fourth case]]}}.
** The prosecutors of the original trilogy, (excluding Winston Payne) also seem to have Chessmaster-ish qualities, Edgeworth even has a chess set in his office with a suspiciously spiky blue pawn.
** In ''[[Ace Attorney Investigations]] 2'', the chess motif becomes literal, with Edgeworth engaging in "Logic Chess" to get people to talk. There's also a witness who is obsessed with chess, and another who plays long-distance chess with the former. {{spoiler|The real [[Chessmaster]] of the game is the former's best friend and the latter's protege, and the one acting as courier for their games. Amusingly, he himself doesn't particularly like chess. He does, however, take the grandmaster title for the role, masterminding every murder in the game save one and manipulating most of the cast to do his bidding.}}
* [[City of Heroes|Lord Nemesis]]. Anyone who can convince you that ''you're'' a [[Beta Baddie]] deserves a nod. Take a gander at his [[Xanatos Roulette]] entry if you don't believe me.
* This is the whole point of the text adventure ''Varicella'', with the player competing for the role of regent with a whole slew of Chessmasters {{spoiler|which ends up in a magnificent [[Gambit Pileup]]}}
* [[Magnificent Bastard|Revolver Ocelot]] of ''[[
* Hikawa from ''[[Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne|Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne]]'' manipulates people and events from the shadows, never taking any unnecessary actions and always moving towards his goal.
** {{spoiler|Lucifer}} arguably counts as well, attempting to maneuver the player into {{spoiler|unmaking reality and spearheading Armageddon}}. Granted, he more or less admits this upfront and gives the player a choice in the matter. However, failing to follow his plan means the player will miss out on most of the game's backstory and some nice rewards...
* A non-villain example is Sereph Lamington from ''[[Disgaea]]''. His [[Batman Gambit]] was so well executed that he qualifies for this trope. Sending his most loyal angel on a false assassination mission (knowing that she'll take the change in mission he was expecting), turning the ambitions of his 2nd in command to his advantage (humans, angels, and demons had to share in it) which causes said traitor to be exposed to him (and punished). Even his battle with Laharl was part of the plan. There's a reason why he's the Seraph, and this is it. Far more intelligent than he looks.
* Kil'jaeden [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|the Deceiver]] from the [[
** [[Warcraft
** He also managed to enslave an entire race of demons known for their clever trickery.
** [[Eldritch Abomination|The Old Gods]] take the cake, though. First they infest the Titans' newly-created world with "the curse of flesh", causing their mechanical creations to become organic. Then they rig it so that the Titans can't actually destroy them without destroying the world alongside them, forcing them to just [[Sealed Evil in
* The player in this game of ''[http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=195920&site=pcg Galactic Civilizations 2]'', who ended the existence of his galaxy's then greatest military power in a single turn. When his race specialized in cultural influence and entertainment programming, and had ''zero military power whatsoever''. Via a combo of diplomatic, financial, and cultural maneuvering that... seriously, just read it. * g* (The relevant parts are at Day 9 and 10.)
{{quote| '''Player:''' I don't care that my foreign intel reports rate you as the most powerful race in the galaxy. I don't care that I come dead last on that same list. I don't care that I couldn't even fight back if I ''had'' any gunships because of a pledge to spread peace throughout the galaxy. In fact, you know what? That's it. Your race ends this week. When I next click that 'Turn' button, you're out of the game.}}
Line 558:
{{quote| '''Player:''' I'd catapulted the slowest unit in the galaxy 600 trillion kilometers in an instant: right to the sun it was built to destroy.}}
** He's come a long way since his [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=161570&site=pcg last GalCiv II game], then. In that attempt, {{spoiler|1=it took him the entire game to realize that all of his strategies and tactics were merely a sideshow to some byzantine maneuvering between the AI opponents, and the only reason he hadn't been exterminated by one faction long ago was because they knew it would allow another faction to win.}}
* ''[[
* ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' has a heroic Chessmaster tag-team of Jecht and Auron, who pretty much spend the entire game (and the ten years prior to it) preparing Tidus so he'll someday kill Sin, instead of letting it get sealed back into its can.
** One of Auron's moves in the game was {{spoiler|getting Tidus and Yuna alone together in one of the most romantic spots in Spira long enough for the inevitable to happen, ensuring that Tidus would not allow the Grand Summoning to happen as scheduled}}. Bonus points for {{spoiler|sending ''Kimahri'' along as chaperone, the ''only member'' of the party who wouldn't have stopped them}}.
Line 565:
* ''[[Tsukihime]]'' has, of all people, {{spoiler|Kohaku - the cheerful and seemingly carefree maid who ends up single-handedly killing off the entire Tohno family in Hisui's True Ending (and comes close in the other paths too). She gives Akiha her blood to awaken the Tohno blood in her, as well as being responsible for the resultant insanity of the real SHIKI. On top of that, she leads Shiki into believing HE'S the one responsible for all the murders and that it won't stop until SHIKI dies. Oh, and during the final battle, she deliberately gets herself attacked knowing there's a good chance that Akiha will jump in the way and sacrifice herself to save her. All this while [[Stepford Smiler|never letting go of that cheerful smile]], even up to her eventual suicide after her revenge is complete.}}
* If you are in a ''[[Suikoden]]'' game and your last name is Silverberg, chances are you're a Chessmaster. If your name is Lucretia Merces, you are a [[Xanatos Roulette|crazy, crazy chessmaster.]]
* ''[[
* A somewhat odd version occurs in ''[[Sanitarium (
* In ''[[Modern Warfare]] 2'' {{spoiler|General Shepherd sends a CIA agent, Joseph Allen, to infiltrate the terrorist cell of Vladimir Makarov. Makarov reveals he knew Allen was CIA, and kills him after a terrorist attack in a Russian airport; this leads Moscow to declare war on the US and invade the East Coast; which the US manages to repel by the skin of their teeth (and with a little help from Taskforce-141). Anyways, Shepherd is revealed to have planned this all along; after the events of the first ''[[Modern Warfare]]'', he felt that the US public hadn't appreciated the sacrifices his men made. So by starting a war with Russia, he's a hero, and the public has rallied behind him}}.
* ''[[Touhou]]'''s Yukari Yakumo, especially evident in the official [[All There in the Manual|supplementary manga]].
Line 583:
* Malefor from [[Spyro the Dragon|The Legend of Spyro]] trilogy is a shining example. He's such a good example, it's hard to tell what WASN'T a part of his plan did he really intend to kill Spyro in the raid or did he want him alive to {{spoiler|set him free?}} Did Spyro really free Cynder or did Malefor let her free so {{spoiler|he could use her to lure Spyro to the Well of Souls to free him?}} And to top it all off, the [[Hannibal Lecture]] he gives the two when they finally confront them even has them wondering whether they'd done anything but play right into his claws.
* ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'' has {{spoiler|Levin/Raksha}}, [[Gambit Pileup|amongst others]]. Those "pointless" [[Sidequest|side quests]] you've been doing? Not so much.
* And in the ''[[Blaz Blue]]'' corner we have [[Card-Carrying Villain|Hazama]], also known by his true name, [[Complete Monster|Terumi Yuuki]]! He may seem unimpressive at first glance, merely 183 cm/6'0" high and weighing in at 61 kg/134 lbs, but make no mistake folks, this guy has [[Rage Against the Heavens|outmanouvered his universe's equivalence of Gods]]! And it only took [[Not So Omniscient After All|1/470000th of a second of them focusing on something else than their omniscience]] to do so, folks! And that's not even getting into how [[Heads I Win, Tails You Lose|utterly he has owned the mere mortals]] ([[Xanatos Speed Chess|and occasional]] "[[Fantastic Racism|shitty vampire]]") of his universe. Just don't mention [[Spanner in
* There are two real chessmasters in [[Eien no Aselia]], and in general they don't really show up until the last 15% of the game. {{spoiler|Temuorin}} is the big bad and set up the whole plot and {{spoiler|Tokimi}} interfered so that the game doesn't get a downer ending.
* Lord Alden in ''[[Vanguard Bandits]]'' is a literal chessmaster, being the best player on the continent and rumored to be undefeated. {{spoiler|Then [[Love Interest|Milea]] beats him in her second time playing the game at all.}} Meanwhile [[Big Bad|big bad Faulkner]], is more of the moving and controlling of wars type of Chessmaster. And he's very, very good at it.
* The Sith Emperor of ''[[Star
* [[Manipulative Bastard|Lord Fain]] of ''[[Lusternia]]''. Ostracised by his fellows Gods eons ago for his [[I Did What I Had to Do|questionable]] [[Cannibalism Superpower|methods]], upon his return to the First World he adopts the guise of a shadowy manipulator, using mortals and even other Gods as tools to carry out his complex plans. Though progress through his service is characterized by chess motifs, it's just flattery designed to ingratiate him to his more competent followers - to Fain, ''everyone'' is a pawn.
* {{spoiler|Master Li}} from ''[[Jade Empire]]''. They don't call him {{spoiler|the Glorious Strategist}} for nothing.
Line 593:
== Visual Novels ==
* ''[[Maji
== Webcomics ==
* [[
* In ''[[Order of the Stick]]'', Lord Shojo provides an interesting example of the non-villainous chessmaster, ruling Azure City and the Sapphire Guard with the aid of a series of deceptions.
** And Nale, especially at the Cliffport arc, gives us the more traditional villainous one.
Line 606:
* In the SNAFU hosted webcomic The Grimm Tales From Down Below, Grimm's journal reveals that Mandy, had planned a series of events to convince Grimm to give Billy his powers for a day. Then when done, she convinces him to give his powers to her to make it fair. Later, while snooping through her room, Grimm finds plans for initiating the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon. Her plans also included the United State's response: Operation Iraqi Freedom BEFORE it happened.
* Yukizane Masamune from ''[[No Need for Bushido]]'', is also one of the few 'good' Chessmasters. He starts out in the series as being questioned on his leadership capacity due to his silliness and focus on playing Go (the Japanese answer to chess) as opposed to grunting manly and flexing. He, however manages to shine several times and manages to ''deceive a ninja, of all things.''
* Parodied or... something... by ''[[
* The [[A God Am I|nigh-omnipotent]] AI Petey from ''[[
** convincing all [[A Is]] to join him and mutiny against their captains, forming an instant galactic power for the purposes of combating an enormous threat to said galaxy.
** Refused to pay the main characters for their ship, which blew up while carrying out his orders, then bribed a few councilmen to get them a new one anyway (at the expense of most of their savings). While keeping it all under the table in an attempt to force the company's AI to act as his spy.
Line 618:
"Oh no! No, I got ''paid'' to turn it into a no-lose situation. :)" }}
* {{spoiler|Biggs}} from ''[[DMFA]]'' appears to be leaning in this direction. Even his sister, who is well-aware of his deviousness, falls for his tricks.
* In spite of her misleading middle name, Pandora Chaos Raven of ''[[
* Sonorous Aria, from ''[[Keychain of Creation]]'', is stated to be one. Most of her chessmastery is offscreen, so far.
{{quote| '''Marena: ''' Everything she does is layer on layer of sheer '''deviousness'''.<br />
Line 627:
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' has Dr. Schlock, who seems like a harmless coward and [[Chew Toy]] with some minor [[Manipulative Bastard]] tendencies for a long time until Hereti-Corp finally pushes him too far by becoming a never-ending threat to the one thing he cares the most about (his own well-being). At this point, pushed into a corner, he feels forced to {{spoiler|execute a plot to take over H-C and become the new [[Diabolical Mastermind]] behind its schemes, taking everyone by surprise and becoming the closest active character to a [[Big Bad]] in the comic.}}
* Mitadake Saga: {{spoiler|Keiichi Hideki.}}
* Mojo Nixon from ''[[
* Skerry from ''[[Fite]]'', who uses a more generic gameboard rather than a chessboard. {{spoiler|And really, he's just a doctor trying to wake Lucco from his coma.}}
== Web Original ==
* In ''[[
* The [[Big Bad]] and fake-out [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Broken Saints]]'' both fit the bill here, but, naturally, the real [[Big Bad]] does ''more''.
* The Snake in ''[[Above Ground]]'' is a prime example, particularly because he can use magic to enslave others into doing his will.
Line 638:
* {{spoiler|Ganondorf and Kirby even moreso}} in ''[[There Will Be Brawl]]''
* Ice and Ranger are often this in [[Comic Fury Werewolf]]
** Espeh also managed to do this from [[My Death Is Just the Beginning|Beyond The Grave]], to throw a [[Spanner in
* Nick Fury, Charles Xavier {{spoiler|Sr.}}, Forge, Tzigone, Vengeance and many others from [[Marvels RPG]].
* Regine in ''Addergoole'' - the entire school, and the students, exist to fulfill her plans.
Line 645:
== Western Animation ==
* Megatron of ''[[
** This role almost equally describes Tarantulas - who was a third party in and of himself, only pretending to work with the Predacons. He frequently even pulled one over on Megatron. At one point Megatron was sitting in his throne all impressed with how brilliant he was because he managed to a way to spy on Blackarachnia... and then we cut to Tarantulas spying on 'him.'
** Tankor, [[Dumb Muscle|of all characters]], became one in ''[[
* Azula of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' -- [[The Vamp]], [[Magnificent Bastard]], and [[Psycho for Hire]] all rolled into one.
** Her father, [[Evil Overlord]] Ozai, prefers the 'set the chessboard on fire and stand back laughing maniacally' approach, rather than messing about with all those fiddly little pieces. {{spoiler|Until her [[Villainous Breakdown]],}} Azula was a genuine (and, fortunately for Ozai, genuinely ''[[Daddy's Girl|loyal]]'') Chessmaster, so she got to do all the thinking.
*** Oh, Ozai ''can'' scheme fine (note the flashback in "Zuko Alone", where he very clearly exploits the weak spots of everyone around him to get ''exactly'' what he wants, and he managed to keep Azula under control for years- no mean feat!). Problem is, he's usually far too [[Drunk
**** Effectively, Azula plays this trope straight, using [[Batman Gambit|plots,]] [[Lack of Empathy|her skills as]] [[Manipulative Bastard|a 'people-person']] and [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|good ol' situational awareness]] to deal with her enemies; [[Dark Action Girl|kicking ass]] and [[Playing
** [[Evil Chancellor|Long Feng]] is very good at this too, keeping an entire city under his control for years with no one but his immediate henchmen the wiser. Really the only things keeping him from being a full fledged [[Magnificent Bastard]] are underestimating his opponents and not dealing well with sudden reversals- [[Eviler Than Thou|both of which Azula exploits...]]
* Amon, [[Big Bad]] of ''[[
** Episode 6 sealed his status as not only a brilliant Chessmaster, but also [[Magnificent Bastard|something more.]]
* Loki from "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes".
* Nerissa from ''[[WITCH (
* Cartman from ''[[South Park]]'' is the chessmaster in quite a few episodes.
** Scott Tenorman Must Die is the most chilling example. Even the main group acknowledges how dangerous Cartman is here. To add to it, [[Batman Gambit|he even uses Stan and Kyle to rat out his (fake) plan to Scott Tenorman.]] So beyond everything, everyone knew Cartman was up to something. [[Complete Monster|He just took it to the next level.]]
** Kyle's also shown to be quite capable of this, usually as [[He Who Fights Monsters|direct opposition]] to Cartman's elaborate [[Complete Monster]] moments. This is best seen in Le Petit Tourettes where he orchestrates an entire series of events to stop Cartman's faking of the disorder.
* Anti-Cosmo and HP on ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'' could both qualify, usually tricking Timmy or some other third party into helping with their plans.
* Xanatos isn't the only one ''[[
* James McCullen makes a good ''attempt'' at being this in the ''[[G.I. Joe: Renegades]]'' episodes, playing the Joes and Cobra against each-other {{spoiler|1=but gravely underestimates who it is he's really up against in Adam DeCobray.}}
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** The [[Big Good]], [[Everything's Better
** Celestia's old [[Arch Enemy]] Discord -- a being so [[Knight of Cerebus|dangerous]] and [[Magnificent Bastard|chaotically ingenious]] that he's actually able to catch her off balance and [[OOC Is Serious Business|unnerve her]] -- [[Battle of Wits|plays a round against her]] in "The Return of Harmony", with the main characters as pawns. (Although, if we're doing [[Chess Motifs]], there's more than one reason why it might be fitting to call them Celestia's knights.<ref>If you want to know... "pawns" is a metaphor for ones regarded as mere tools and not valued, and knights are also more powerful; Celestia actually does a "knighting" gesture to Twilight Sparkle before sending them out; and, of course, the characters in question are miniature horses.</ref>) Discord's plan aims at making sure that the ponies will be [[Break the Cutie|psychologically]] [[Despair Event Horizon|broken]] and unable to use the only thing that can stop him even after they do find it, although [[The Omnipotent|given his power]], it looks like he's also [[Just Toying
** Then we have {{spoiler|Changeling Queen Chrysalis in the season 2 finale. She somehow managed to kidnap Princess Cadence, take her place, turn Twilight against all of her friends, and siphon enough energy off of Shining Armor (while masquerading as his fiancee) to ''defeat Princess Celestia'', all without anypony except Twilight being even slightly suspicious of her.}}
* The supercomputer from ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' is a rare benevolent example.
Line 678:
* The Athenian politician Themistocles.
* [[Richard Nixon]] was quite the chessmaster; he just forgot what happens when you let a minor pawn get up the board.
* [[John F Kennedy]] as well, based on his expert handling of the [[Reds
* [[Bill Clinton]] fits this trope in his handling of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and his subsequent impeachment. What was intended to be Clinton's downfall instead lead to the downfall of his main political rival, [[Newt Gingrich]].
* William Pitt the Elder can be credited for founding [[The British Empire]] with [[Plunder|conquests]] in the Seven Years War. He was Britain's and maybe the world's greatest Chessmaster of the eighteenth century and at least verges on being a [[Magnificent Bastard]].
Line 687:
* Niccolo Machiavelli's book ''[[The Prince]]'' is another guide to this trope (or else a parody of such politicians). While Sun Tzu focused more on military strategy, Machiavelli focused more on political strategy and how to use them in order to gain power and how to keep it for a long time.
* The I Ching is a great book for Chessmasters.
* Louis XI, [[Useful Notes/L
** Although to be fair his kingdom was a bit stronger and more powerful than it had been under his predecessors (it was only his father who saw the English presence in France reduced to just Calais) and that Louis was helped to a large degree by Charles of Burgundy being his own worst enemy ("téméraire" means "reckless, rash" as well as "bold"). Also, the larger half of the duchy of Burgundy ended up in the possession of the another powerful neighbor, the Habsburgs.
* [[Otto Von Bismarck]], who orchestrated several ''wars'' among Europe to manipulate the populace and political power to unite the German states into the nation that exists today.
| |||