Most diplomatic main villains

[cider float 2,539]

Which villains do you think can manipulate others very well? And I mean no magic just manipulation with words, gestures, actions etc.

[PiratePony 8,491]

Discord certainly has a great way with words, although it's hard to really be manipulative when you're so wacky. I think Trixie can be rather manipulative, as she was able to get Snips & Snails to do her bidding (which honestly isn't that hard.) Obviously Tirek was able to steer Discord back off the straight and narrow and back to villainy. Starlight Glimmer was able to fool a whole town, and almost Flutters to boot. 

 

The A #1 in my book though: your avatar - Queen Chrysalis as Princess Cadance. She had all of the kingdom fooled, including the other two princesses and Shining Armor. She was the closest to taking over Equestria through sheer manipulation and deceit. 

 

I wouldn't mind a future villain who arrives, and actually pretends to be friendly with Princess Celestia, and then double turns and declares war or double crosses her, trying to take over. Play up the false sweetness, so even the audience is fooled. 

[Castle Bleck 19,455]

Sombra, albeit definitely with actions instead of words.

 

His entire run in TCE was pretty much a multi-Xanatos-Gambit:

 

1. Vs. Celestia and Luna? Either he won, or his backup curse just made their victory pointless anyway.

 

2. Vs. Shining and Cadance? By depowering Shining, Sombra pretty much put Cadance between a rock and a hard place: maintaining her barrier without any more of her husband's support would eventually just leave her too exhausted to be a threat to Sombra anymore, but stopping to recover her energy would only let him return that much sooner.

 

3. Vs. Twilight and Spike? Either Sombra's traps successfully guarded the Heart, or the final one effectively kept it from being used against him regardless -- not to mention how, with the Crystal Ponies still stuck in hopelessness, there wouldn't be any "hope and love" ammo for the Heart anyway.

 

The only reason he ended up losing was a "WTF?!" combination of Spike's kamikaze jump and the wife-throwing part -- both of which no one could've seen coming, really.

Edited April 16, 2016 by A.V.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,164]

Sombra, albeit definitely with actions instead of words.

 

His entire run in TCE was practically one big multi-Xanatos-Gambit:

 

1. Vs. Celestia and Luna? Either he won, or his backup curse just made their victory pointless anyway.

 

2. Vs. Shining and Cadance? By depowering Shining, Cadance was stuck between a rock and a hard place: maintaining her barrier would ultimately just exhaust her too much to be a threat to Sombra anymore, but trying to recover her energy would only let him return that much sooner.

 

3. Vs. Twilight and Spike? Either Sombra's traps successfully guarded the Heart, or the final one effectively prevented it from being used against him regardless -- not to mention how, with the Crystal Ponies currently stuck in hopelessness, there wouldn't be any positive-emotion ammo for the Heart anyway.

 

The only 2 reasons Sombra ended up losing were Spike's kamikaze jump and the wife-throwing part, both of which no one -- let alone Sombra -- could've seen coming, really.

 

Pretty much took the words right of my mouth. I will say that Chrysalis & Tirek come fairly close, but Sombra's depth in planning and execution FAR outweigh the others; IMO.

[VengefulStrudel 1,495]

When it comes to words, I'd say definitely Discord, he can get others to do what he wants, magic or no magic. Tirek also had a way with words, as well as actions - like giving Discord his medallion as a token of their 'friendship'.

 

I also agree with the two posts above on Sombra - that guy had some pretty good long-term planning. Too bad he didn't anticipate to be defeated in the most ridiculous way possible, but then, who would assume "baby dragon leaps to grab the heart while it's in mid-air and is then caught by alicorn tossed from the castle who then flies back to put the heart in place" is even a possibility?

[ScopeEva 38]

Hum... Chrysalis is a good deceiver but is that the same thing as manipulator? 

 

I guess she could be... if her behaviour was deliberately geared to agitate Twilight while she treated everyone kindly so as to divide her from her brother, Celestia and the other Element Bearers.  This is a bit of a leap of faith though as the show only really implies it at best. 

 

Without over analysing it the Sirens from Rainbow Rocks probably come in on top in my opinion.  They did have a great deal of magical control over the school populace but that was only a means to an end; tearing down, dividing and feeding off the human mane six/seven.  In that they were truly manipulative, more so then any other villain observably was. 

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

I'd have to give it to Starlight Glimmer. The offer of "equality" and the idea of living in a society where all lives are valued equally is very, very enticing to any group of ponies that feel cursed by their cutie marks, their role in life, or the uncertainty of not having one. By having ponies join of their own accord without coercion, Our Town's strength in numbers would make it a respectable force. Naturally, the biggest issue with Our Town is the cult of personality surrounding Starlight Glimmer, but the possibility of others keeping the idea of Our Town alive after her fall is possible, in a scenario in which the Mane 6 never brought it down. Then again, the inherent childishness of neutralizing talent and the contradictory notion of a cult of personality surrounding Starlight Glimmer also make the possibility of Our Town defeating itself by stifling the development of any other capable leaders very apparent.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Wind Chaser

[Concerned Bystander 2,905]

I think pretty much the only villain that has exercised sheer guile without using magic is Starlight.  Chrysalis may have been deceitful, but how far do you think she would have got in her natural form?  Not very.  Tirek did fool Discord, but swaying one being by appealing to his greed and vanity doesn't match Starlight's accomplishment of fooling an entire town.  Sombra was certainly successful in the past, but that largely seems to be from intimidation and force rather than by skillful manipulation.  You could of course argue that intimidation is just manipulation by other means, but it still lacks the insidious subtlety of Starlight.