Tropescilloscope: Manipulative Bastard

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

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