The Magnificent Bastard is the kind of character that you get when you combine
Tricksters, Master Manipulators and Chessmaster-type characters: bold, charismatic, independent, and
audacious. These characters have shown themselves to steal other people's shows through their intellect, boldness of action and manipulation mastery, which often captivates the audience.
They are brilliant and utterly devious, always coming with backup strategies so that they win every time, and not to mention they're smooth operators. They always know exactly what to say and never lose their cool (sometimes unless if it's in certain times when something goes wrong for some of them). The Magnificent Bastards have goals that they don't stop until they accomplish, plus they are charismatic, and almost all of them are often charming. Even at their darkest hours, they have traits that one can't help but admire.
A Magnificent Bastard can be aligned with any side - this category of course deals with the
villainous kinds of Magnificent Bastards. It's also possible for Protagonist
Villains to be Magnificent Bastards, but it's quite rare to find a Magnificent Bastard in one. Sometimes, a villainous Magnificent Bastard can
fall short due to being so arrogant, and sometimes, when said villain goes too over-the-top to be believable, he becomes a Villain Sue. Despite that, said character isn't too likely to be a complete idiot at best.