Sometimes you can't beat a good bastard in a story, someone who will do underhanded tactics to win, kick a defeated opponent when they are down or is always about the reward after they complete a quest/job.
Been reading The Greatest Estate Developer and it's your standard Isekai tale, guy wakes up in the body of a lords eldest son he read a fictional story about and knows they are in massive debt, all die to be the catalyst for the knight that serves them who's the MC. So he uses his architectural knowledge to change their fortunes but does it in the most bastard way.
He'll bitch slap an entire college full of stuck up nobles because he can get away with it, kurbstomp his opponent after he wins a duel to then trick him into exile, force a water contract on a rival noble that essentially binds his future generations to pay him extortionate fees and much more. This series jusy passed 100 episodes and has some of the best faces I've seen from a series.
So whether it's Leon from MobuSeka or Amos from The Expanse, who's your favourite fictional bastards?
My favorite has got to go to Elim Garak from Deep Space 9.
Especially the lies
Oh my man, he was SO well acted and written, made the whole audience focus on him whenever he was in the room!
The scene from In the Pale Moonlight where Sisko realizes that he's been made an accomplice to serious crimes... and Garak just smiles.
My friends remember, always provide links to show how GREAT Star Trek used to be.
Loved Sisko's monologue at the end too, if Star Trek carried on this path, it'd still be GOATED.
"Computer... erase that entire personal log..."
That scene between him and Quark has to be one of the best scenes in all of Star Trek, and they basically did it as filler. Goddamn.
That was very naughty, you always provide a link to a god like scene like this for those who never knew a conversation about root beer could be so deep.
I looked it up, that's wrong
Armin Shimerman played Quark in DS9
Nick Stahl played Yellow bastard in Sin city, he apparently played John Connor in Terminator 3.
The Count did nothing wrong and only doled out Divine Justice and revealed the rot of his enemies. Their falls were all due to their own actions.
Obviously it's got to be Kazuma from Konosuba lol the way he just does not take any shit especially from women is hilarious. Also I liked Seiya from Overly Cautious hero. It's interesting as well how the bastard MCs tend to be the most well written ones because the writers don't let them fall into the typical MC tropes and part of their clever writing is mocking the usual stereotypes all the other story writing relies on.
You could even argue Goblin Slayer falls within that category as well, he has to be convinced by the supporting characters to fight more 'honourably' when on an adventure when he just thinks about killing goblins in the most efficient way possible and doesn't fuck around in combat.
Honestly a really good character and the worst I'd say about him is that he's very pragmatic. Goblin Slayer does a very good job showing that the goblins absolutely deserve to be annihilated en masse.
Yeah, that's another case of good villain writing, yes the things the goblins did to women in the anime are horrific and hilariously triggered the SJWs, but that's the point, it gives you a reason to hate the bad guys and treat them as the bad guys. Thanks to triggered retards we don't often get proper mature storytelling anymore.
It's like when Game Of Thrones had the amazing writing up to about I think the battle of the bastards then it all just went to shit. However what kept me hooked and clearly everybody else was the villains especially were so well written. You wanted them fucking dead when their stories were introduced, the writers made you hate them and everyone celebrated when they were killed. On the opposite end though I really appreciate well written villains that can not only do horrible shit but are capable of convincing you they might actually have a point about what they're doing but I think those are rarer and more difficult to write.
Perturabo. Made nine-tenths of his legion kill the other tenth with their bare hands. Created the Iron Cage that broke the Imperial Fists. His sons are some of the most sick and twisted people in the Galaxy (Honsou is the primary example).
I love the fact that he's really the only competent chaos Primarch and he's so done with his brothers' bullshit.
Even as someone who leans heavily toward the Loyalist, Peter Turbo is someone I actually like and respect (even as an Imperial Fist main). It is basically only him and Angron, and then most of the Loyalist. Every other Chaos Primarch I would gladly gun down with a smile on my face.
Since he is also my favorite Villain of all time, it works on both fronts: Iago from the Shakespeare play Othello.
At least to me, he is the definition of "That bastard" because he manages to kill everyone he wanted and achieve his plan, and he literally didnt have to lift a finger. All he did was say a few words to the right people, and they did it all themselves. And his "How am I then a villain?" monologue is probably one of my favorite speeches from a villain in any medium. Then you figure out he did it all because of some petty jealousy, instead of some grand revenge plan? Bastard indeed.
Next on my list of Shakespeare to read
HK-47, meatbags
Hm... very difficult question. There's a lot of fun ones. I prefer the "bastard with a heart of gold" archetype myself.
Off the top of my head from anime:
Onizuka from GTO - The man who'll teach the worst high school shits a lesson, even if he has to get his old gangs that he led involved, go out on dates with their moms, or tie up a bunch of girls, strip them, and... well... I'll just stop there before continuing.
Lelouch from Code Geass - What a guy to watch, I don't want to spoil anything about it.
Alucard from Hellsing Ultimate - You can tell he immensely enjoys the killing, fear, pain and slaughter he gets to inflict.
Naofumi from Shield Hero - His is more just a response to the shitty world, but its funny to see him defy everyone's expectations by being an industrious pragmatist, he never does anything for free, and will bully, threaten, and use slave-binding magic to ensure loyalty
ironically and cleverly his has a positive effect on the world.Others have already said Kazuma from Konosuba, who's an excellent one, very funny.
Lordgenome from Gurren Lagann - Just watch it.
Fuhrer Bradley or Scar from FMAB - Talking about this is kind of a spoiler, so I won't.
Yusuke or Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho - The former is a selfish, uncontrollable and violent (but deep down good-hearted) punk, the latter is a ruthless villain that, well... you'll see. They go through some great character development, especially Yusuke.
Joseph Joestar from Part 2 - He's just great kek. He has no concept of honor in a fight and will use anything and everything to his advantage (including cowardice), along with mentally fucking with his opponents.
With Alucard the bit with the SWAT officers exemplifies his bastardness.
The Bastard Operator from Hell.
http://www.bofharchive.com/
A light topic for the weekend, plus I'd probably be in this category if I ever end up Isekai'd lol.
Are we talking about actual villains as well because a great evil bastard can really make or break a series.
Elijah Cuu from the gaunts ghosts series is a great example I have never hated a fictional character more than that complete and utter bastard but I'll be damned if it didn't make for engaging reading.
They can be good or bad, they just have to be the kind of guy that makes you go 'that bastard'
Whether that's affectionately or cursing is up to the story
My favorite would be Vic Mackey from The Shield. He's a bad person and deserves to have his life completely fall apart at the end. It's a testament to the writing in the show that he got what he wanted in the end, but it cost him everything. Honorable mention would go to Forest Whitaker's character Jon Kavanaugh from the show. He's the primary antagonist for a season, and I ended up hating the character so much. That's when I realized just what a great actor that Whitaker is.
I'd also say Tom Cruise's character Vincent in the movie Collateral. Just an all around badass villain. His character performs what's probably the best Mozambique drill in all of cinema in that film.
Uhtred of Bebbanburg, from the Saxon Tales. He does what he loves and loves what he does. By even a few books into the series he's known far and wide as Uhtred the Wicked, something he takes great delight in. His only moral scruples are not breaking a vow and not beating any of his wives, otherwise it's on like donkey kong.
He kills corrupt priests and pagans alike, he constantly suggests to King Alfred that he should have his nephew murdered, he cucks kings and warlords on a whim and he kills so many people that the self narration openly admits repeatedly that he can't remember most of their names. The man is, simply put, awesome.
There are a few characters I really enjoy watching in anime who fit this description of underhanded bastards.
Ayanokoji from Classroom of the Elite. He is a master tactician who is utterly cold blooded when it comes to winning by any means necessary as his emotions were trained to be repressed in childhood. He is cold and callous and just doesn't give a fuck when it comes to going too far.
Oberstein from Legend of the Galactic Heross. This man is pure pragmatism personified. He will do what is best for the majority of his people at any cost. He will go to any extreme measures to do so.
Aizen from Bleach. This magnificent bastard is the definition of master troll and master tactician. He plans everything down to the last detail, destroys almost all of his enemies and he revels in tormenting them while doing it.
I'm glad classroom of the elite got a second season as I was dreading people not seeing how cunning Ayanokoji is with just 1 season.
Shogo Makishima from Psycho Pass. I love the fact that his whole point is that he is morally repressive and evil. He never denies it, but his purpose is that their society allows him to do everything he does. He is the fly in the ointment and highlights all the problems with that dystopia and the Sybil System. I adore the scene where he rejects becoming a part of the brain collective so much, because it shows that he truly does hold to his principles and isn’t just for show. A great and underrated villain.
I enjoyed the 1st season but the beginning of the second didn't really grab me, does it get better later on as I'm wondering if it's a series I should re-visit as I've heard some telling me the same for SAO to avoid some and skip to certain arcs.
1st season is the best and I prefer to watch it as a sort of standalone.
When it came out I remember s2 dropping like a lead balloon
Richard the Third, from the play, no idea whether he was the same in real life.
Starts a war because he is bored. Kills a woman's husband then smooth talks her into marrying him.
I like Dio from JoJo's part 1. He's such a good villain that he pulls that first part basically all on his own.
His voice actor, Takehito Koyasu, is one I look out for as he usually voices interesting characters. Whenever I hear it, I immediately focus that character as I KNOW they about to start some shit!
Same with Satoshi Hino who voices Ainz in Overlord which is why you can imagine my shock when I heard that voice in Fenrir for Campfire cooking lol
Or the president's dad in Kaguya: Love Is War. That's true Dio dad power, there.
I love how whenever he enters the room he has his own theme music lol
Since Smith1980 brought up Vinland Saga in another topic- Askeladd.
Flashman.
Butcher from The Boys (the comic, not the TV show, I haven’t watched that gay shit) is a total bastard as seen in the last couple pages of this issue. https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/The-Boys/Issue-59?id=52013
Jonathan Glenn from Brain Powerd was a thing. Sleeps with protagonist's mom. And sister. And his whole motivation for joining the side that wants to use humanity as fuel to jumpstart an alien spaceship and fuck off to space? His mom was too busy working for the UN to come home for Christmas.
Griffith from Berserk and Gilgamesh from Fate
Master Kohga from Zelda. I just smile when I see my fat boi. But that could be recency bias. The entire Yiga Clan is basicaly one big Bulk and Skull bit.
Rance, hands down. Uses his party members as meat shields, sends people on suicide missions or as hostages, pushes allies off cliffs, sneak attacks bosses, lies in order to sleep with women, rapes women while they're tied up instead of rescuing them, personally tortures people in order to gain information, abuses his authority whenever he gets to a position of power, uses voice changers and blindfolds to cuck other men, kills people that get in his way or looked at him funny, publicly rapes women in order to humiliate their allies, among other heinous acts.
On the good side, he literally saves the world, he's always there to protect his women, he kills rapists, child abusers, gays, and uglies, he's ripped with Olympic-tier athletic abilities, he pulls the women around him out of depression, he likes to preserve the innocence of young girls, and he's also surprisingly delicate when dealing with abused women.
These lists are not exhaustive, with more than 30 years of history he's had a long career. I once read a rumor that said that popularity polls in adult game mags had to be changed to exclude male characters because he would win 1st place every time otherwise.