History Main / MarionetteMaster

* The Hidden Sand Village from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is renowned for its ninja puppeteers, who typically use puppets full of hidden weaponry, including poison; unlike most examples, said puppeteers, including Kankuro and [[CoolOldLady Chiyo]], are actually fairly heroic ([[HeelFaceTurn eventually, anyways]]). However, the Hidden Sand's greatest puppeteer, Sasori of the Red Sand, is an outright villain who [[PeoplePuppets can turn his victims into puppets]] that still possess any powers they had while alive.

** Screaming Mantis in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' prefers zombie PeoplePuppets, and even controls them with literal puppets. [[spoiler: Using said puppets you can even try it out yourself, though not nearly as well as the bosses.]]

* Dollmaykrs from the {{VideoGame/Doom}} mod {{VideoGame/Angelic Waifus}} are angelic puppet masters responsible for creating the doll armies of heaven. Their primary attack is to summon an endless army of dolls armed with knives, pistols and shotguns.

* [[MeaningfulName Kairaishi]] from ''VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}}''.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Two recent {{Tokusatsu}} series have given this the same twist: the heroes of ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' and ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' can [[PowerCopying assume the forms of their predecessors]]. Each series also has an antagonistic character who uses the same cards / keys but produces "dupes" of the hero in question rather than changing his own form -- respectively, Kamen Rider Diend and Basco ta Jolokia.

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'':

This guy doesn't fight via his own power; he has an army of {{Perverse Puppet}}s--that he controls via [[RazorFloss strings]], [[AWizardDidIt magic]], or [[AppliedPhlebotinum advanced technology]]--to do it for him. [[LivingDollCollector Particularly sadistic ones]] can also make PeoplePuppets. See also EvilPuppeteer.

* Geppeto in ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts''. He attacks by controlling his marionette Cornelia. His [[ImprobableWeaponUser weapon]] is different types of puppet string (his InfinityPlusOneSword is the RedStringOfFate), and his elemental affinity is based on what dress Cornelia is wearing. [[spoiler:His late daughter's soul is inhabiting Cornelia's body, raising the question of just how much Geppeto is actually in control of it. Fortunately, she was a good person in life.]]

* Friagne, the first villain in ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'', controls hordes of exploding dolls ([[PeoplePuppets possibly constructed from torches]]). His goal is to turn Marianne, the Rinne doll he loves, into an independent existence.
* ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'':

%%* Pretty much every named human character other than Narumi in ''Manga/KarakuriCircus''.

A {{Subtrope}} of ArtAttacker and TheBeastmaster. May overlap with RobotMaster or WickedToymaker.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqtlIgj0XEA-Q Zero Hagane]] , a character from the ''Nansei'' series (a set of musical albums and stories inspired by the ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' franchise, but lacking actual games, created by [=LENK64=] aka Miki Hiroyuki) is a doll maker who falls in this trope.
[[/folder]]

* The Peddler in ''Film/TheWiz'' controls two PerversePuppets that start dancing on their own before growing 7 feet tall and chasing the heroes menacingly throughout the SinisterSubway.

* The subway peddler in ''Film/TheWiz'' controls two springy marionettes that start dancing on their own before growing 7 feet tall and menacingly chase after the heroes.

* Toy Santa from ''TheSantaClause2'' taking over the North Pole by creating an army of sentient life-sized toy soldiers that obey him definitely fits the bill.

%%* William Stryker was this in the ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'' movie.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqtlIgj0XEA-Q Zero Hagane]] , a character from the ''Nansei'' series (a set of musical albums and stories inspired by the ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' franchise, but lacking actual games, created by [=LENK64=] aka Miki Hiroyuki) is an doll maker who falls in this trope.

* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'''s Shiki Misaki has her stuffed cat, Mr. Mew.

* ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'': Gepetto, as in the original story, is a master puppet-crafter, and [[spoiler:a WickedToymaker as TheManBehindTheMan for the Adversary]].

** ComicBook/{{Firestorm}} villain ''Black Bison'' can bring to life any inanimate objects to fight for him. These can range from toys, amusement park animatronics, and even the statue of liberty.

** Demon Lord Clayman outright has the RedBaron "Marionette Master", and true to form his preferred combat style [[spoiler:though not his [[TheBerserker only one]]]] is to use powerful puppets, [[PoweredByAForsakenChild often fueled with souls]] that grants them both increased powers as well as innate healing abilities to anything aside from soul-damaging attacks. His masterpiece is "Viola", a powerful multi-armed puppet with various magical attacks and tricks at its disposal.

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Dave's Bro may or may not have been this with his favourite puppet, [[DemonicDummy Lil' Cal]]. On one hand, he was capable of {{flashstep}}ping [[TeleportSpam so fast]] that he could have been making it look like Lil' Cal was [[CrazyAwesome moving of his own accord]], and initially that's what appears to be happening. On the other hand, there's plenty of evidence and testimony throughout the story that Lil' Cal actually is alive and capable of autonomous movement. We simply can't know for certain, [[ParanoiaFuel and that makes it all the more terrifying a thought]]...

* Geppeto in ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts''.

[[quoteright:300:[[Franchise/TouhouProject'' https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Alice_Doll_Army.jpg]]]]

[[quoteright:300:[[VideoGame/{{Touhou}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Alice_Doll_Army.jpg]]]]

* Evangeline from ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' makes the list as well. One of her [[IHaveManyNames several dozen titles]] is "The Puppetmaster", and at the height of her power she could apparently control an entire army's worth of puppets. Though as a powerful [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampire]] mage, this is mainly a secondary ability.

** Toyman's son Anton Schott a.k.a. the Doll Maker, is an enemy of Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}, who has an army of robotic dolls, as well as human sized robot dolls with children trapped inside as to make it harder for Supergirl to fight them.
** Comicbook/TheFlash villain The Trickster, would sometimes do this. In the game Videogame/DCUniverseOnline he can even be seen commanding robotic action figures of Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman to fight for him.

** Carny, a member of the Extremists in Comicbook/{{Convergence}}. Due to being an extremely loose {{Expy}} of Walt Disney and Comicbook/XMen villain Arcade, he commands an army of ''It's a Small World'' esque robot dolls to fight for him.
** Comicbook/{{Firestorm}} villain ''Black Bison'' can bring to life any inanimate objects to fight for him. These can range from toys, amusement park animatronics, and even the statue of liberty.
** Comicbook/{{Batgirl}} villain Shauna Belzer uses telekinesis to control her puppet Ferdie.

* ''FanFic/LupineTree'' has the timberwolves, the most notable of which being the protagonist himself. The timberwolves are trees that drop "transmission seeds," which can magically gather up plant matter and assemble it into the form of a wolf[[note]]or a lycanthrope or a centaur[[/note]] and puppet the construct within a set radius of where they grow. The wolves hunt for prey and use it to fertilize their controlling tree.

* [[MeaningfulName Kairaishi]] from ''[[VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}} Onmyōji]]''.

* Mishaela in ''VideoGame/ShiningForce.'' [[spoiler: ''Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict'' revealed that the Mishaela you killed in the original was really one of her puppets all along.]]

* Anise Tatlin from ''Videogame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' has a stuffed doll which can grow big enough for her to ride into battle, making her the resident CuteBruiser.
* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' -- Alice Margatroid's main specialty is her Doll Army, two of her most notable dolls being [[ThemeNaming Shanghai and Hourai]]. [[MundaneUtility She also has them help her do chores all over the house, even when she's not in the same room as them.]] The weird thing about it is that they aren't capable of independent action, so she's putting just as much if not more effort into micro-managing them than just doing the work herself. It also makes her habit of holding conversations with them all the more eccentric.'
* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'''s Shiki Misaki has her stuffed [[strike:pig]] cat, Mr. Mew.

* All over the place in ''{{Webcomic/Erfworld}}''. Dollomancy, Croakamancy, and [[spoiler: Decryption]] are all this trope through and through. Even the ''setting'', where soldiers telepathically know their leader's wishes to some extent, counts.
* ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'': Dave's Bro may or may not have been this with his favourite puppet, [[DemonicDummy Lil' Cal]]. On one hand, he was capable of {{flashstep}}ping [[TeleportSpam so fast]] that he could have been making it look like Lil' Cal was [[CrazyAwesome moving of his own accord]], and initially that's what appears to be happening. On the other hand, there's plenty of evidence and testimony throughout the story that Lil' Cal actually is alive and capable of autonomous movement. We simply can't know for certain, [[ParanoiaFuel and that makes it all the more terrifying a thought]]...