Magnificent Bastard/Gundam

Most Gundam series have featured, at some point or another, a Magnificent Bastard as an antagonist.

Treize has you right where he wants you. Always.

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• From the first Mobile Suit Gundam series, we have the guy who set the standard for Magnificent Bastards to come: Char Aznable, who has had many moments of Magnificent Bastardry, one of his best being when he leads Garma Zabi into a trap, politely calls him on the phone, explains his motives, tells him goodbye and leaves him to die. One can't deny the flair of the execution, with Char being one of the single most memorable and archetypal villains in the Gundam franchise for this reason.
• Kycillia Zabi is one of these as well, as evidenced by her lengthy and carefully calculated campaign to seize control from her older brother Gihren, as well as her skill as a battlefield commander. Upon discovering through Colonel Killing's betrayal that Gihren had infiltrated her faction and was preparing to frame her for treason, Kycilia moved swiftly, leaking Char's identity to Gihren's fake conspirators and transforming a sham plot into an actual revolt against his rule. Aware that Zeon could no longer win the war, and that the Federation would never make peace while her brother lived, Kycilia journeyed to A Baoa Qu and, on finding out that Gihren had murdered their father, executed him for patricide and assumed command of what was left of Zeon. Killed when Char Aznable unpredictably betrayed her, Kycilia was nevertheless the only Zabi, or indeed, Zeon Admiral, with both a realistic appreciation of their circumstances, and the ruthlessness and will to act accordingly.
• Not to be outdone, Zeta Gundam featured the deviously intelligent Paptimus Scirocco, who quietly manipulated his way from common lacky to becoming the head of the Titans, killing off everyone else who got in his way with a flair and style that just made it hard not to root for the guy as a villain. A brilliant tactician both in and out of a mobile suit, Scirocco excels at reading potential in his subordinates and outmaneuvers the Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG) to capture the strategic stronghold of the lunar city Von Braun. Leaving the day-to-day operations of the city in the hands of his antagonistic superior, Scirocco divulges the man's schemes to the AEUG and arranges for his death to gain more dominance within the Titans for himself. Forming an alliance with Haman Khan of Neo Zeon, Scirocco bolsters the strength of the Titans with the Axis military and personally assassinates the Titans leader, Jamitov Hymem, assuming command over the syndicate and blaming Jamitov's death on Haman, rallying his forces to fight against her. Giving a former AEUG pilot he corrupted to his side an eloquent lecture on his ambitions for humanity, Scirocco engages the AEUG personally and reveals he has kept his alliance with Haman to revitalize the strength of his fleet. Even with his armada destroyed by the blast of a colony laser, Scirocco continues to fight Kamille Bidan and even in his dying moments, destroys Kamille's consciousness, unrelentingly unwilling to accept his vanquishment. Emotionally manipulative yet charming, charismatic and stylish, Scirocco proves himself to be every bit as brilliantly Machiavellian as he is mysterious.
  • A second one, as well as the Big Bad for Gundam ZZ, is the Axis Zeon leader Haman Kahn. A ruthless Lady of War and Woman in Black who manipulates and outsmarts almost everyone in Zeta, fights with honor in both series, and is so damn stylish at the same time. It rather telling that the one person that Paptimus Scirocco is cautious of (and has a healthy amount of respect for) is her.
• Victory Gundam had Tassilo Vago, the sophisticated, scheming and efficient Starscream of the Zanscare Empire, as either this or a high-functioning Smug Snake.
• In Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Master Asia, seeking to save the Earth's environment, became a willing servant of the Devil Gundam. He used the pretense of the Gundam fight to lure four Gundam Fighters to Shinjuku, where he used DG Cells to brainwash them into becoming protectors of the Devil Gundam. When the Devil Gundam destroys Shinjuku, Master rallies the survivors while secretly leading the Death Army. When Master's student Domon Kasshu comes to Shinjuku to investigate, Master repeatedly lured Domon into traps in the hopes of brainwashing him into another of the Devil Gundam's protectors. Domon's partner Rain revealing Master's duplicity is only a minor inconvenience to him, as he just uses his Master Gundam to easily defeat Domon. Master frequently exploits Domon's anger management issues to bait him into making near fatal mistakes. Master enters an alliance with Prime Minister Wong, who wants to use the Devil Gundam to rule the world. Wong tries to kill Master so he can have the Devil Gundam to himself, but Master outmanuevers Wong. When Domon defeats Master for good, Master realizes that humans are a part of nature and apologizes to Domon for his crimes before he dies, revealing that he is the only character to work with the Devil Gundam without becoming a DG cell infested slave. While Master is ruthless, he remains a man of honor to the very end.
• Gundam Wing: Treize. Khushrenada.. How did he make the Earth Federation fall into OZ's clutches? Freely give the location of the Federation council's meeting to the Gundam pilots. And it ended with the pilot killing the leader who was ready to start peace talks, stripping the pilots from colony support, and making them have a (rather) minor mental breakdown. Considering the goal of the real Operation Meteor, it is possible that his goal is to strip all the bad guys (the Obstructive Bureaucrat Earth Sphere Alliance members, the Romefeller Foundation who had their hand in financing the war, and the war-toting colonist rebels) from their power in one go. And that's just one battle; Treize systematically plays the entire war with his best friend Zechs Merquise to put themselves on opposite ends of the war and create a final, cataclysmic conflict to traumatize humanity off war forevermore. Combining a brilliant mind with a sense of chivalry, Treize is even able to recall the names and faces of every man who has ever died to make his dreams a reality and considers no price too great for peace, even his own life.
  • The fact the killing shot came from Heero Yuy, who'd been renamed after an assassinated peacemaker, qualifies as the defining sick irony for the entirety of Gundam Wing. Thanks, Treize!
    • He also had rose petals in his bath tub, and knows how to enjoy fine wine and arts.
    • The best part is that the only reason Treize didn't take over the entire solar system when he easily could have less than halfway through the series (Lady Une begs him to at one point) is that Treize suffered from severe self-esteem problems. When Zechs Milliardo finally gives him a reason to fight again Treize seizes control of the entire Earth Nation in exactly five minutes.
    • And even after his death, Treize's influence lives on, as Lady Une invokes his name when verbally beating down Mariemeia's claims and beliefs, and not long afterward Dekim is shot by a former OZ soldier out of respect for Treize's legacy.
• ∀ Gundam: Guin Sard Lineford is the former lord of the Principality of Inglessa, falling into disgrace with the defeat of his country, though managing to keep his influence thanks to his friendship with the Luziannan princess Lily Borjano. A young, ambitious and visionary lord, Guin successfully leads the forces of Earth against the technologically advanced Moonrace and study their advanced weapons. One of the heroes' smartest allies, Guin eventually betrays them to join Gym Ghingham, taking a role as the leader of a new technological revolution, which only fails because of the barbaric behaviour of the latter. Accepting his defeat at the hands of his former friend and political ally, Lily, Guin saves the protegee of Gym and escapes with her.
• From Gundam SEED, we have Rau le Creuset, a man so intelligent and erudite he managed to mask his ever encroaching insanity and the fact that he is a clone from all of those around him. Out of all of the Gundam villains, it is quite possible that he is the only one who came closest to his goal, eradicating all of humanity. Successful at masking his encroaching madness until the very end, Le Creuset dies smiling, convinced that the entire world will shortly be following after him.
• Gundam SEED Destiny Big Bad Gilbert Durandal may also count; he certainly has the Manipulative Bastard, Chessmaster, and Xanatos Speed Chess ability to make a good try, and has fairly sympathetic goals to boot. He made use of Lord Djibril and Blue Cosmos' blatant evil to launch an invasion of the Earth Sphere disguised as a liberation, using his own reputation for honesty and the services of Lacus Clyne impersonator Meer Campbell to camouflage his intentions, and scattering agents of FAITH throughout the ZAFT military to keep an eye on its loyalty. Preying on the emotional insecurities of those in his service, Durandal turned Decoy Protagonist Shinn Auska into the very thing he hated most, and kept veteran characters like Kira, Athrun, and Lacus out of the picture or unsure if they should oppose him for most of the series. Only killed when he loses the faith of his most loyal enforcer, Rey, Durandal dies convinced that he was right and that without his Destiniy Plan the world is doomed.
• In Gundam 00, the true Magnificent Bastard turns out to be Aeolia Schenberg. Put simply, the entire series is his plan. Even the people who tried to hijack it were part of it. Oh, and he won.
• Iron-Blooded Orphans: Rustal Elion is one of the Seven Stars who lead the military police force Gjallarhorn. A charismatic nobleman and brilliant military strategist, Rustal has the complete trust of his subordinates. When Rustal's rival in the Seven Stars, McGillis, moves against him, Rustal engineers a small scale war to turn McGillis' allies, Tekkadan, against McGillis. While the war fails to break McGillis and Tekkadan's alliance, it does force Tekkadan to shut down their Earth branch, weakening the organization considerably. When the tensions between Rustal and McGillis lead to civil war, Rustal has one of his subordinates infiltrate McGillis' forces, fire an illegal Dainsleif railgun at Rustal's fleet and commit suicide, giving Rustal justification to annihilate McGillis and Tekkadan. While political tensions ultimately force the Seven Stars to disband in favor of democratically elected leaders, Rustal still comes out ahead as he is elected leader of Gjallarhorn. Rustal remains a hero to the public and becomes the first Big Bad to win in the end.