Tropescilloscope: Manipulative Bastard

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

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