Villains of Competence

[Neko-]

Nominee: The Homunculus in Full Metal Alchemist. They tended to stay on top of things throughout the series.
Runner-up would be the bad guys in Full Metal Panic. They don't usually stick around that long to actually leave an imprint, but they do tend to have things thought out prior to executing them.

[P.H. Wise]

Largo, from Bubblegum Crisis (the OAV, not the TV series). He had practically the whole world in his pocket before he was defeated.

[Shadell]

Amshel from blood+ -He's only really suffered any important casualties to his side because one ally was pretty disloyal. Given that said ally's cooperation should have been guaranteed; it's easy to see how he failed. Add to that, he has managed to destroy his main opposition, leaving only a few survivors, only two of whom pose genuine threats to his plans.

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

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.

He achieved his ends, being reunited with his wife was his number one goal, he achieved that.
I'd like to nominate the Chairman of Genom (Qunicy) in BGC2032, he manages to stay above it all, except when he encountered Largo the Superboomer, and even then, the heroes showed up to fight his opponent.
Likewise Errol from Card Captors, his goal was to strengthen Sakura, no matter who he hurt or what it cost to the people around Sakura. He succeeded, and managed to leave without someone ripping his smug little face off.
Of course there's always Cthulhu, he's lost every battle in any story written about him, yet he merely waits for the next, and never looses a bit of his menace. I think he rather enjoys the continual tests of humanity, besides in 5 million years, he knows he'll win. So if he wins today, he's just hastening the inevitable.

[Knight of L-sama]

Likewise Errol from Card Captors, his goal was to strengthen Sakura, no matter who he hurt or what it cost to the people around Sakura. He succeeded, and managed to leave without someone ripping his smug little face off.

The point is Erriol isn't a villain. Antagonist or opponent probably but his actions were undertaken for Sakura's benefit. Without him forcing Sakura to transform the cards a greater disaster would have befallen the world.

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

This is getting a little off toic, but . . .

Likewise Errol from Card Captors, his goal was
to strengthen Sakura, no matter who he hurt or what it cost to the people around Sakura. He succeeded, and managed to leave without someone ripping his smug little face off.

The point is Erriol isn't a villain. Antagonist or opponent probably but his actions were undertaken for Sakura's benefit. Without him forcing Sakura to transform the cards a greater disaster would have befallen the world.

Kero would have kept Sakura from such a disaster, and they would have avoided it more easily if they hadn't had to waste time and energy fighting Errol.
It is the means he used that make him a villian. He didn't care who he put in danger or who he hurt to achieve his goal. The real monster never sees a monster in the mirror, they have a good reason for their actions. As for avoiding disaster, he had a sealed card in his mansion he left there as a landmine for Sakura to deal with, which she managed to change to the Hope card only after nearly losing all her friends and the card.
Errol is a successful villian, from the descriptions given, Clow Reed was no saint either.

[Krogoth]

I would have to nominate Zagato from Magic Knight Rayearth. Not only was his objective so unexpected, but even armed with the knowledge of what his motivation was, it didn't help the hero's overcome his plans.

[Knight of L-sama]

It is the means he used that make him a villian. He didn't care who he put in danger or who he hurt to achieve his goal.

Actually the fact that no one was ever seriously hurt distinctly suggests otherwise. Erriol at the time had a vast majority, if not all of Clow Reed's magical power which puts him on even footing or slightly above Subaru and the Sakurazakumori (whose given name I can never remember how to spell properly) from Tokyo Babylon/ X1999 (and in terms of the manga at least they are the same continuity as established by xxxHOLiC). Those two have proven capable of truly massive amounts of damage of which Erriol would be equally capable if he had wanted to create true havoc and devestation.
The very lack of such massive amounts of devestation would instead imply that there was never any attention of doing anyone any serious injury but rather supply the apperance of such menace as an impetus(sp?) to Sakura's growth as a magician. And even Yue and Cerberus admit that Clow Reed was a nutcase with a weird sense of humour and Ichihara Yuuko backs them up on that.
Kotominie from the Fate arc and Fate/Stay Night anime proved to be quite effective and it was only becuase Shirou was able to Trace Avalon (which all facts considered is hardly something one could actually plan for) that he was actually defeated.
The Space Liberation Front in the Planetes anime also proved to be singularly effective and actually forced the major space powers to the negotiating table in the end.

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

It is the means he used that make him a villian. He didn't care who he put in danger or who he hurt to achieve his goal.

Actually the fact that no one was ever seriously hurt distinctly suggests otherwise.

Tori losing his magical powers, and therefore his ability to sense his mom doesn't count? That was to keep Yue from dying. Attempted murder is still a crime, even if it is your own `child.`

Erriol would be equally capable if he had wanted to create true havoc and devestation.

That's not an arguement for him not being a villian, Grand Moff Tarkin only blasted 1 planet with the Death Star, that doesn't make him a paragon of restraint, that only makes him a man with a plan.

The very lack of such massive amounts of devestation would instead imply that there was never any attention of doing anyone any serious injury but rather supply the apperance of such menace as an impetus(sp?) to Sakura's growth as a magician. And even Yue and Cerberus admit that Clow Reed was a nutcase with a weird sense of humour and Ichihara Yuuko backs them up on that.

No desire to wipe out vast numbers of people does not remove the mantle of villian from Errol. He still put those people in danger, and there's no evidence he could have repaired the damage or heal the injuries (either in his powers or intentions) caused by his actions. In U.S. law, anything that happens to someone you put in jeopardy is your responsibility. E.G. You hold up a bank with a toy gun, and somebody has a heart attack which kills them two weeks later, congradulation, that's capital murder.
It's not your intentions, it's what are the actual results. Errol got lucky that Sakura and company were as good as they were and nobody outside their immediate circle got hurt, and that Sakura forgave him.
And you specifically stated serious injury, minor injuries are okay then? Not legally and not morally. For all the rotten things Genma does, he and Cologne go out into the hinterlands to keep from injuring the general populace. Just because the goals are laudable, that doesn't excuse the means used to achieve them, nor does it give you the right to threaten lots of people who aren't involved.
Burning down a condemned building so the firemen don't see you leaving them a present doesn't make you a good person, it makes you a dangerous nutcase, and a villian.

[Knight of L-sama]

Tori losing his magical powers, and therefore his ability to sense his mom doesn't count? That was to keep Yue from dying. Attempted murder is still a crime, even if it is your own `child.

Actually Eriol had nothing to Sakura's inability to provide Yue with enough magic. That was a pre-existing situation and arguably his actions actually lessened the problem since the more cards she transformed the more of Sakura's potential power was realised.

No desire to wipe out vast numbers of people does not remove the mantle of villian from Errol. He still put those people in danger, and there's no evidence he could have repaired the damage or heal the injuries (either in his powers or intentions) caused by his actions.

Well apart from the final challenge there are no innocent bystanders actually involved. And even then he only puts everyone into a deep sleep.

It's not your intentions, it's what are the actual results. Errol got lucky that Sakura and company were as good as they were and nobody outside their immediate circle got hurt, and that Sakura forgave him.

Luck nothing, or need I remind you that he has precognitive abilities. And it's not like he just sets these things up and lets them go without supervision either. He's always monitoring what's going on, either directly or from a distance which would imply an ability to call things off if they got out of hand.

And you specifically stated serious injury, minor injuries are okay then? Not legally and not morally.

The worst that happens to anyone is Meilin bangs up her knuckles on some plastic sheep.

[lwf58]

Time to wrap up the debate about CCS. It's beginning to hijack the thread.
The usual: if you all want to continue this, open a new thread for it.

[Ninsaneja]

If it's not on CCS anymore, I'd like to agree with previous posters about Captain Aizen and add in the that priest from Hellsing, while he might not be a villain (and that's might not as in it's questionable, he may or may not be a villain) he is certainly an antagonist and he comes close to winning...

[Metroidvania]

Judas Priest/Father Anderson?
Not really, at least IMO. He does have his own set of goals, and I guess he does succeed in them, but he fails the orders given to him by Maxwell.....and he never does kill off Alucard, at least, I have all the volumes out, and he hasn't yet.....He's competent, I suppose, but not nearly as much so compared to some of the others on this list. But again, just my opinion.
Technically, Lupin is one of the most competent villans out there, even if he's more of an anti-hero.

[lwf58]

Lupin is questionable. He's too much of a good guy. Not the anti-hero bit, but the fact that he allows his morals and sympathy towards others to foil his own plans too often. In many of the episodes and movies, he walks away (or runs, as often as not) without a thing to show for his efforts except maybe the satisfaction of knowing someone else is better off for his being there. That may be all the profit a comic book hero needs, but Lupin has a gang to feed and a girlfriend who is very expensively high-maintenance. He's a success at being a great guy, and a failure at profiting from his plans.

[Metroidvania]

That's true, but he is still on the wrong side of the law, which makes him a villan nonetheless, and his plots almost, if not always, work......
But I digress, to avoid the same type of aforementioned CCS debate.