Villains of Competence

[bissek]

This isn't so much about non-Ranma or SM anime as it is about ALL anime.
In the SM board it was brought up that intelligent schemes by the villains occurred mainly due to the number of schemes and the law of averages. I am creating this topic for people to name villains who actually get things right.
To qualify for this listing, a villain must:
1: Have a defined objective for his scheming. This objective must not be inherently lame (Example of lame plot: Rockman Axess, Bubbleman attempts to take over the city's water supply so that he can make every toilet in the city backflow).
2: Must have a well thought out plan. 'Go to point X, cause trouble, when hero shows up, kill' is NOT a well thought out plan unless it includes a specific mechanism by which the villain gains a significant edge over the hero.
3: Come close to succeeding, or possibly even succeed.
For starters, I nominate Aion, of Chrono Crusade. His scheme to bring chaos to mankind worked beautifully, indirectly causing the Valentine's Day Massacre, the Great Depression, and WWII. Even after his death, the only thing the hero could claim was a token victory that turned to dust within months. On top of that, his plot was so devious that nobody, not enemy or ally could figure out it's full extent until it was complete.

[WG_Writer]

Despite everything that Happened to him I say Anime Jedite deserves the title of Competence. Here is why... First he learned from his mistakes, kept a low profile, planned in advance, and it (admit it) was for the most part luck that the senshi ever foiled his plans, usually by becoming victims first. He had the ability to telekenetically control Sailor Moon's Tiara, making that attack useless against him. Plus he did something few others had done, he discovered who Sailor Moon and the rest of the senshi were (or was it just moon...)
As for Aion... that is a gimme, given the ending.

[Shadell]

Jedite got all three I think.
I'd nominate:
Aizen from Bleach- So far he hasn't failed. Additionaly he managed to not only join the ranks of his main opposition; but, rise to the highest level of power he could possibly attain. Add to that he managed to arrange events so while his plans were at their most vulnerable stage, almost all of his enemies where busy fighting against each other and generally going after the wrong targets.

[bissek]

Agreed, Aizen is a very smooth operator. His victory wasn't absolute - Hitsugaya's discovering his scheme at the last minute and his mistake in leaving Unohana alive to sound the alarm cost him a base of operations and alerted Soul Society to the fact that they needed to prepare to face him. A little more luck or planning and his cohorts would still be within Soul Society feeding him intelligence while he experimented with his new toy, without Soul Society knowing that they needed to prepare for war.
Still, two minor losses (the utility of his two lieutenants being reduced) and a medium level setback (Soul Society knows he is an enemy and some of what he's capable of) is nothing compared to his major victory - 10% of Soul Society's fighters incapacitated, the entire Judicial branch dead, a major weapon of Soul Society destroyed, the chain of command of three units trashed, several more units having command wrecked to a lesser extent due to injured officers, Uruhara's dangerous creation secured, and himself and his two lieutenants extracted safely. This is not counting the damage he did over the years with his little experiments, which among other things killed a good fragment of one academy class and a sizable amount of 13th squad, including the 2nd and 4th officers. Compared to what he gained, being forced to flee Soul Society is a trivial loss.
Shishio Makoto of Rurouni Kenshin - Severely wounded and set on fire, and he survives. He successfully arranges for his enemy's defense to be concentrated on a decoy attack while he launched his main one. His only real mistake was to not kill Kenshin the first time their paths crossed - with his training incomplete, Kenshin would have been at a disadvantage - which allowed Kenshin to recruit more allies, train up, and figure out the true plot. Even then, at the final confrontation he took a LOT of punishment to take down. The combined efforts of three master swordsmen and a tough street brawler barely took him down, and only because his earlier injuries made it so he couldn't sweat properly. And all four opponents were in very bad shape at the end of the fight. Had he been less crippled, or Kenshin one less ally, Shishio would have killed Kenshin.

[mondu_the_fat]

Kefka of FF6? While not anime, he technically got away with wiping out most of the world and ruling it. The heroes then became tasked to killing him, as opposed to righting a wrong or preventing his schemes -- even after they did, it was definitely a phyrric victory.
Kor-ah and Kzer-ah of Starcontrol II. Again, not an anime. But they did manage to wipe out/enslave a significant portion of the galaxy. Very, very efficient, intelligent, ruthless, and xenophobic, with some of the best lines I've read anywhere. Thier plans were well thought out and executed flawlessly. Their downfall was their personal differences and philosophies, and, ironically, their willingness to see and respect each other's viewpoint.
Gendo of NGE. He won. He got everything he wanted, at the cost of the entire human race and his own son.

[camk4evr]

Gendo of NGE. He won. He got everything he wanted, at the cost of the entire human race and his own son.

I dunno if Gendo should count since he was killed at the end.

[Atlan]

dunno if Gendo should count since he was killed at the end.

I dunno about that. The end episodes are a different ending to the movie ending, and the TV version has Gendo's plan working.
I nominate: Kujua from ff9. He was briliant- creating weapons, causing two out of four kingdoms to be distroyed, capturing the Summons, and gennerally succeding, untill the end. Yes, it's not anime, but it is anime style, sort of.
As for another competant villian, Pist from Final Fantasy Unlimited. He managed to trap the heros in the ocean puzzle, and found out the fate of omega. If not for an outside agent who had been pretending to be evil, the good guys would never have found their way out of the ocean puzzle.

[antimatterenergy]

Hellmaster from Slayers just about all his plans worked except what couldn't be planned for i.e. the giga slave summoning the Lord of Nightmares instead of just destroying the universe.
Naruka from Inuyasha he had several pretty good plans.
Dante from Full Metal Alchemist

[Alathon]

Treize Khushrenada from Gundam Wing. As long as he was a villain, he got pretty much everything he was aiming for, up to and including world domination by the Romefeller Foundation and Oz. As the plot shifted and cast him in a more positive light, he still got the final war between Earth and the Colonies, and the duel and warrior's death he wanted.
I think the only thing he really lost out on, was that he may have had intended Hiro and Zechs' roles to be reversed, and didn't count on them 'trading'.

[Knight of L-sama]

Joker from R.O.D. The TV
If it weren't for Anita, Maggie and Michelle's sheer stubborness at the end who would have succeeded completely after succesfully pulling a fast one over pretty much the entire world.

[Jester_of_doom]

So it kind of pains me to nominate them but Butch and Cassedy from pokemon while not always very smart came up with several good plans for pokemon theft, such as a fake pokemon spa. They went to the trouble of actually making a lot of the pokemon have makeovers and were stealing ones that were booked in the spa for an extended stay and only taking rare ones. Were it not for misty breaking in they would have gotten out of there with tons of rare pokemon. I know they had a few other good plots but I forget exactly what.
Also I think Grineed from Beet may deserve the title. He used basic tactics like spamming cheap units, forcing beaten oppoents into his service via magic, picking off heros while they're young and inexperienced, and making the land only inhabitable by his troops. Nothing briliant but still he was very compitent.

[Zwzn]

Despite everything that Happened to him I say Anime Jedite deserves the title of Competence. Here is why... First he learned from his mistakes, kept a low profile, planned in advance, and it (admit it) was for the most part luck that the senshi ever foiled his plans, usually by becoming victims first. He had the ability to telekenetically control Sailor Moon's Tiara, making that attack useless against him. Plus he did something few others had done, he discovered who Sailor Moon and the rest of the senshi were (or was it just moon...)
As for Aion... that is a gimme, given the ending.

Anime Misstress 9 deserves the title of Competence for similar reasons.

[TerraEpon]

I'm wanting to say Ilpalazzo....but sometimes tells me I'm way off.
-Joshua

[Bliss]

*shrugs* I would have said Sid Vicious from Cowboy Bebop... but really.... trying to kill your comrade/friend over a woman is sort of lame....

[GenocideHeart]

I'll nominate Dhaos, the 'God of War' of Derris-Kharlan from Tales of Phantasia (which also had an anime version). Even though he lost, in the end he got exactly what he wanted - the safety of his world.
He never WANTED to be a monster, but chose that path for the sake of his people. And most of his plans were well thought out and only ruined by complete chance and timetraveling messes.
Indalecio from Star Ocean EX also had excellent plans. The only reason why he lost in the end was because odds were heavily stacked against him, and the Nedians had a secret contigency plan to counter his own.