Tropescilloscope: Manipulative Bastard

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

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