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?
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.