Tropescilloscope: Manipulative Bastard

A character who manipulates others through elaborate schemes and/or persuasive speaking. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes The Bad Guy Wins Decoy Protagonist Antagonist Title Rewatch Bonus Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold And Starring Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Genre Throwback Berserk Button Posthumous Character Artistic License – Geography Impaled with Extreme Prejudice It Can Think Exact Words No Ending Sequel Hook Have a Gay Old Time Your Cheating Heart Captain Obvious Narrator The Vamp The Atoner Shown Their Work Take That! Crazy Jealous Guy Gender Flip Russian Films Rated M for Manly Gold Digger Mad Scientist Bolivian Army Ending Chase Scene Deliberately Monochrome Actually Pretty Funny Deus ex Machina Same Language Dub Adaptation Expansion Chiaroscuro Badass Normal Not So Different Reality Has No Subtitles The Place Epic Fail Badass in a Nice Suit Kids Are Cruel Ghost Fiction Call-Back Dramatic Gun Cock Camp Gay Credits Gag Guns Akimbo Actor Allusion Foil Badass Bookworm Author Appeal Moment Killer Older Than They Look Failed a Spot Check No Antagonist The Voiceless Disproportionate Retribution The '80s Science Fiction Films Aluminum Christmas Trees Fantastic Racism Taking the Bullet Ms. Fanservice Earn Your Happy Ending Gratuitous English Ass Shove Bait-and-Switch Karma Houdini Body Horror Revenge Works Set in World War II Ominous Latin Chanting Daylight Horror Stock Footage Hell Is That Noise Shut Up, Hannibal! Paper-Thin Disguise Pet the Dog Vacation Films Shout-Out Took a Level in Jerkass Pay Evil unto Evil Brutal Honesty Broken Bird Disappeared Dad Large Ham Love Triangle Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Humans Are Bastards Totally Radical Killed Mid-Sentence Police Brutality Scenery Porn Fanservice Groin Attack Contrived Coincidence Eagleland Calling the Old Man Out "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue My God, What Have I Done? The Stoic The Oner Leaning on the Fourth Wall Eye Scream Fate Worse than Death In the Back In Name Only Ungrateful Bastard Punny Name Face–Heel Turn Gone Horribly Right Amoral Attorney Depraved Bisexual Heroic BSoD Death Glare Together in Death Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Daddy's Girl Tranquil Fury Butt-Monkey Sinister Minister Artistic License – Gun Safety Spiritual Successor Insane Troll Logic Tempting Fate Dull Surprise Conspicuous CG Scenery Gorn Catapult Nightmare One-Word Title Big Fancy House Spiteful Spit Jerkass Well-Intentioned Extremist Character Development Fainting Didn't Think This Through Improvised Weapon Ironic Echo "Well Done, Son!" Guy Leave the Camera Running Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie World of Ham Dies Wide Open Gory Discretion Shot Say My Name Darker and Edgier Creative Closing Credits Light Is Not Good Broken Aesop Bavarian Fire Drill Anachronism Stew Freeze-Frame Bonus Serious Business Translation Convention '80s Hair Every Car Is a Pinto As Long as It Sounds Foreign Italian Films All Just a Dream Immune to Bullets Show Within a Show Bad "Bad Acting" Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Blood from the Mouth Mooks Guile Hero Card-Carrying Villain Dying Moment of Awesome Stealth Pun Creepy Child Only Known by Their Nickname You Killed My Father Very Loosely Based on a True Story Heroes Want Redheads It's All About Me Psychological Thriller The Reveal Romantic False Lead Eiffel Tower Effect Whole Plot Reference Ambiguous Disorder Animal Title Index Mr. Exposition Ambiguously Gay Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Chekhov's Gun An Arm and a Leg Artistic License – Law Stepford Smiler Fun with Acronyms For the Evulz Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Gilligan Cut Armor-Piercing Question Domestic Abuse No OSHA Compliance An Axe to Grind Skewed Priorities Nothing Is Scarier What the Hell, Hero? Stuff Blowing Up You Have Failed Me Bond One-Liner Camera Abuse All There in the Script Fantasy Films Drill Sergeant Nasty Plot Hole Hoist by His Own Petard Foreshadowing Offscreen Teleportation Evil Sounds Deep Big Bad Heroic Sacrifice Beard of Evil Victoria's Secret Compartment Here We Go Again! Would Hit a Girl Diabolus ex Machina Black Dude Dies First Not Quite Dead Those Wacky Nazis Japanese Films Comically Missing the Point Covers Always Lie Expy Logo Joke I Have Your Wife Woman in White Imagine Spot Determinator After the End Evil Counterpart As Himself Artistic License – Physics No Celebrities Were Harmed Amusing Injuries Dogged Nice Guy Evil Laugh Police are Useless Lampshade Hanging Unwitting Instigator of Doom Retirony Small Name, Big Ego Fiery Redhead Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Getting Crap Past the Radar Manly Tears Vomit Indiscretion Shot Manchild Stalker with a Crush Batman Gambit Documentary Only a Flesh Wound Missing Mom Left the Background Music On Sealed Evil in a Can Made of Explodium Adaptational Attractiveness You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Happily Married Adaptational Heroism Brick Joke Insistent Terminology Hypocrite I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Naïve Newcomer Drugs Are Bad Motor Mouth Eldritch Abomination Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Let's Get Dangerous! Annoying Younger Sibling Famous Last Words Those Two Bad Guys He Knows Too Much Star-Crossed Lovers This Is Gonna Suck Hidden Depths Monumental Damage Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Improbable Weapon User Informed Ability Anachronic Order Dark Is Not Evil Fake Shemp Playing Gertrude Cowboy Cop The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Real Life Black and Gray Morality BFG Up to Eleven Really Gets Around Video Credits Canon Foreigner Pretty Little Headshots Zombie Stories Determinator aka: The Determinator Suspiciously Similar Substitute Precision F-Strike Arc Words Politically Incorrect Villain The Casanova Anyone Can Die From Bad to Worse Shell-Shocked Veteran Bare Your Midriff Ripped from the Headlines Obviously Evil Training Montage Darkest Hour Loophole Abuse The Brute Hair-Trigger Temper Television Movie Index The Stinger Soundtrack Dissonance Children Are Innocent Handicapped Badass Better to Die than Be Killed Mama Bear Sacrificial Lion Belligerent Sexual Tension Twist Ending Arranged Marriage Oh, Crap! Eyepatch of Power Driven to Suicide Obfuscating Stupidity Gainax Ending A Father to His Men Enemy Mine Disney Villain Death Plucky Comic Relief Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Dissonant Serenity Offscreen Moment of Awesome Framing Device Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Parental Neglect Meaningful Background Event Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Dirty Coward Christmas Movies Index The X of Y Costume Porn The Ghost 20 Minutes into the Future Never Found the Body Improbable Aiming Skills Reasonable Authority Figure Rule of Three Expository Hairstyle Change Funny Foreigner Cold-Blooded Torture Adult Fear In Medias Res Genre Savvy Pragmatic Villainy Film Series Smug Snake The End... Or Is It? Kubrick Stare Adaptation Name Change Naked People Are Funny Meaningful Name Names to Run Away from Really Fast Refuge in Audacity The Cavalry Alas, Poor Villain NO INDOOR VOICE She Cleans Up Nicely Dirty Cop Does This Remind You of Anything? Man on Fire Death of a Child It Will Never Catch On Empathic Environment Jerkass Has a Point Heel–Face Turn La Résistance Corpsing Jitter Cam The '70s Insult Backfire Alpha Bitch Awesome, but Impractical Did Not Get the Girl Adults Are Useless Hooker with a Heart of Gold Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Beta Couple Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Only One Name The Quiet One Malevolent Masked Men Only Sane Man Easily Forgiven Not So Stoic Facial Horror Important Haircut Bowdlerise Suspiciously Specific Denial Intergenerational Friendship Four-Temperament Ensemble Ascended Extra Obstructive Bureaucrat Flashback Bad Boss All for Nothing Major Injury Underreaction The Bully Re-Cut Took a Level in Badass Flipping the Bird Line-of-Sight Name Cool Car Match Cut Danny Peary Cult Movies List folderlabel Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Soft Glass Brainless Beauty An Aesop Faking the Dead Overly Long Gag The Chessmaster Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Almost Kiss Department of Redundancy Department Award-Bait Song Early-Bird Cameo How We Got Here Bullying a Dragon Not What It Looks Like The Load Our Vampires Are Different Slasher Smile All There in the Manual Adaptational Badass Parental Substitute Animal Motifs Slap-Slap-Kiss As the Good Book Says... Face Death with Dignity Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Not Using the "Z" Word Undying Loyalty Kill It with Fire All Girls Want Bad Boys Bond Villain Stupidity Psycho for Hire Anti-Villain Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Dressing as the Enemy Foregone Conclusion Babies Ever After Big "NO!" Sci-Fi Horror Pyrrhic Victory Truth in Television I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Military and Warfare Films Mythology Gag Mugging the Monster The Mafia Vampire Fiction Dark Action Girl Grey and Gray Morality Black Comedy Instant Death Bullet Break the Cutie Disney Death Reckless Gun Usage Homage Deliberate Values Dissonance Damsel in Distress Frame-Up Smoking Is Cool Due to the Dead Back from the Dead Historical Villain Upgrade Adorkable Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Adaptation Distillation Mexican Standoff Fingore Taking You with Me Dramatic Irony Double Entendre The Power of Love Setting Update Rich Bitch Hate Sink A.I. Is a Crapshoot Abhorrent Admirer Faux Affably Evil Morality Pet Bury Your Gays I Did What I Had to Do Silence Is Golden Drives Like Crazy Sequel Escalation Manic Pixie Dream Girl Big Brother Instinct Dutch Angle Despair Event Horizon Reality Ensues Big Bad Duumvirate A Date with Rosie Palms Cool Old Guy What You Are in the Dark Villain Ball May–December Romance Bi the Way The Smurfette Principle Punch-Clock Villain Black Comedy Rape Captain Ersatz Hollywood Darkness Horror Comedy Market-Based Title I'm a Humanitarian Deadpan Snarker Anguished Declaration of Love Bottomless Magazines The Great Depression Adapted Out Death by Irony Combat Pragmatist Spared by the Adaptation Auto Erotica Maybe Ever After Off with His Head! The Lost Lenore Curb-Stomp Battle Adaptational Villainy The Dog Bites Back Mr. Fanservice Badass Longcoat Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Blatant Lies Five-Man Band Made of Iron Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy There Is No Kill Like Overkill Breaking the Fourth Wall Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Laughing Mad Villainous Breakdown Cool Old Lady The '50s Beauty Is Never Tarnished Car Fu Developing Doomed Characters Superhero Stealth Hi/Bye Rape as Drama Token Minority Destination Defenestration Sadistic Choice Dropped a Bridge on Him Protagonist Title Even Evil Has Standards Meaningful Echo Cloudcuckoolander Deal with the Devil Country Matters Neck Snap Air-Vent Passageway Stylistic Suck Femme Fatale Demonic Possession Fish out of Water Gorn Deconstruction Sports Stories Artistic License – Biology Pretty in Mink The Ditz Continuity Nod Would Hurt a Child Wicked Cultured Fan Disservice Word of God Slasher Movie Off-into-the-Distance Ending The Smart Guy Sassy Black Woman Action Survivor Age Lift Serial Killer Papa Wolf A God Am I The '60s Extremely Short Timespan Bald of Evil Fatal Family Photo Chekhov's Skill Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Room Full of Crazy Big Eater The Ace Hollywood Law I Need a Freaking Drink Reality Is Unrealistic Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Blackmail O.O.C. Is Serious Business Honor Before Reason Extreme Doormat Last-Name Basis Crazy-Prepared Cain and Abel Scare Chord Big Applesauce Unspoken Plan Guarantee Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Wrong Genre Savvy Break the Haughty Parental Abandonment The Mole Red Oni, Blue Oni You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Random Events Plot Love at First Sight Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Hero of Another Story Jerk Jock Historical In-Joke Race Against the Clock B-Movie Redshirt Army One-Man Army Mood Whiplash Time Skip Agony of the Feet Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Outrun the Fireball Needs Wiki Magic Love French Films Corrupt Corporate Executive Freudian Excuse Implacable Man Too Dumb to Live Abusive Parents Yandere Eureka Moment Music Stories Celebrity Paradox Wretched Hive Evil Plan Evil-Detecting Dog Cool Guns Adaptation Dye-Job It's Personal Real Life Writes the Plot Interrupted Suicide Hong Kong Films Leitmotif The Alleged Car timeperiod Psychopathic Manchild The Sociopath Chekhov's Gunman Rasputinian Death Curse Cut Short The Film of the Book More Dakka Evil Brit Catch-Phrase Bring My Brown Pants Recycled IN SPACE! Friend to All Children Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Cassandra Truth Dirty Old Man Red Right Hand Men Are the Expendable Gender Sole Survivor The Remake Manipulative Bastard Blood Knight Mistaken for Gay Disguised in Drag "The Reason You Suck" Speech Dual Wielding Retcon Rule of Funny Nice Hat He Who Fights Monsters Mercy Kill And the Adventure Continues Take a Third Option Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Bloodless Carnage My Greatest Failure Our Zombies Are Different Thriller Establishing Character Moment Lighter and Softer Broken Pedestal Riddle for the Ages The '90s Idiot Ball Get Out! Unusually Uninteresting Sight The Cameo Death Seeker Alliterative Name A Minor Kidroduction For Want of a Nail Intrepid Reporter She's Got Legs Pragmatic Adaptation Index of Film Westerns Red Eyes, Take Warning Never My Fault Becoming the Mask German Films Arch-Enemy Silent Movie Fanservice Extra Never Trust a Trailer Martial Arts Movie Even Evil Has Loved Ones Fat Bastard Central Theme Poor Communication Kills Straight Gay Greater-Scope Villain Defrosting Ice Queen Race Lift Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Bittersweet Ending Dumb Blonde Wounded Gazelle Gambit Cruel and Unusual Death Dwindling Party Dark and Troubled Past Tap on the Head Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Slashed Throat Pre-Mortem One-Liner No-Sell Suddenly SHOUTING! Horror Films Meet Cute Vitriolic Best Buds Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Once More, with Clarity! Fatal Flaw Throwing Your Sword Always Works Fourth Date Marriage Australian Movies Title Drop Drowning My Sorrows Final Girl The Alcoholic Big-Bad Ensemble Affectionate Parody Bloody Hilarious Defiant to the End Shower Scene "Awesome McCool" Name And I Must Scream Does Not Like Shoes The Chick Downer Ending Spanner in the Works Cluster F-Bomb Sanity Slippage Spell My Name with an "S" Double-Meaning Title Rousing Speech Villain Protagonist Hero Antagonist Mighty Whitey Chewing the Scenery Tagline Half the Man He Used to Be Knight Templar Madness Mantra Jerk with a Heart of Gold Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Laser-Guided Karma From Nobody to Nightmare Ambiguous Ending Closed Circle Not So Above It All Screw the Money, I Have Rules! The Stoner My Beloved Smother Worthy Opponent Distracted by the Sexy Mind Screw Early Installment Weirdness Self-Deprecation Film Noir The Lancer Kick the Dog Hypocritical Humor Call-Forward Cat Fight Sexy Discretion Shot Attempted Rape Artistic License – Military Non-Indicative Name Canadian Movies Bound and Gagged Composite Character Male Frontal Nudity Woman Scorned Grievous Bottley Harm Advertised Extra Running Gag Creator Cameo Jump Scare Action Girl Exactly What It Says on the Tin Knife Nut "Shaggy Dog" Story Book-Ends Bloodier and Gorier Unreliable Narrator Rule of Symbolism Ship Tease What Happened to the Mouse? Badass Boast Bilingual Bonus Asshole Victim Peek-a-Boo Corpse Action Genre Shipper on Deck Good Is Not Nice Villain Opening Scene Bland-Name Product Villain Song No Name Given True Companions Action Prologue No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Bunny-Ears Lawyer Death by Sex Demoted to Extra Humiliation Conga Noodle Incident Betty and Veronica The Dreaded The Un-Reveal Death by Adaptation Lock and Load Montage As You Know Rule of Cool Mundane Made Awesome Toplessness from the Back Product Placement Coming-of-Age Story Retired Badass The Hero Dies Green-Eyed Monster Pimped-Out Dress Novelization Those Two Guys Casting Gag Hope Spot Roaring Rampage of Revenge Artistic License – History Dark Reprise The Dragon Animated Credits Opening No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Beware the Nice Ones Evil vs. Evil Vomit Discretion Shot Affably Evil All Men Are Perverts Unusual Euphemism Super Strength Boom, Headshot! Funny Background Event Shirtless Scene Heterosexual Life-Partners Romantic Comedy Cat Scare Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Biopic Overprotective Dad Neck Lift Genre Shift Accidental Misnaming Aside Glance Be Careful What You Wish For Wham Line Brother–Sister Incest Everyone Has Standards Male Gaze N-Word Privileges Black Best Friend Bar Brawl Badass Grandpa Dramedy Evil Is Petty Fire-Forged Friends Author Avatar Historical Hero Upgrade Red Herring Your Head A-Splode Authority Equals Asskicking Shoot the Shaggy Dog Henpecked Husband The Starscream Sir Swears-a-Lot Villain with Good Publicity Film Noir Index Big Damn Heroes British Films Visual Pun Loads and Loads of Characters Crucified Hero Shot Wham Shot Heel Realization Crapsack World Historical-Domain Character Married to the Job Epic Movie Storming the Castle Public Domain Feature Films Properly Paranoid One Steve Limit Redemption Equals Death Karmic Death Accidental Murder Red Shirt Anti-Hero The Hero The Faceless Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Trailers Always Spoil Make It Look Like an Accident The Big Guy MacGuffin Scary Black Man Kill 'em All Parental Incest The Musical Kick the Son of a Bitch Nice Guy Ax-Crazy Mystery and Detective Films Based on a True Story Cool Shades Not Even Bothering with the Accent Evil Is Hammy Apocalypse How Only in It for the Money Unresolved Sexual Tension Irony Put on a Bus War Is Hell