Tropescilloscope: Manipulative Bastard

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

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