Tropescilloscope: Manipulative Bastard

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

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