Tropescilloscope: Manipulative Bastard

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

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