Quotes / The Man Behind the Man

Anime and Manga

Hot Shot: You're saying Sideways is out there?
Optimus Prime: I am, Hot Shot. But that's not who the Mini-Cons are warning us about. Our real enemy lies even further beyond Sideways; and that's why they want to protect us."

— Transformers: Armada, "Uprising"

Audio Plays

"Sometimes, he's only a shadow, but he's in all of them. Always, dark robes just behind the new president, as if he's whispering in the president's ear."

— Big Finish Doctor Who: Auld Mortality

Comic Books

Lesla-Lar: But I did not die! Instead, I evolved into a new life-form — of pure energy! I still sought your destruction by mentally influencing others... until I became trapped in a Superboy Robot!
Supergirl: So it was you in all those battles... YOU!

— Strangers at the Heart's Core

Fan Fiction

"Dream rules the SMP and the King is there for appearances and for passing down messages. He himself prefers being a faceless type of leader — gives the people someone else to get mad at."

— Eret, Between Heroes and Villains

Film — Live-Action

Loki: I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it...
Thor: Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be King?

— The Avengers (2012)

"Tattaglia is a pimp. He never could have outfought Santino. But I didn't know until this day that it was Barzini all along."

— Vito Corleone, The Godfather

"Ronan was only a puppet. It's really Thanos that I need to kill."

— Drax the Destroyer, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

"As I looked out over that city — nobody knew I was there, nobody could see me, no one was even looking — I had a thought that would guide me for years. Anonymity, Tony. Thanks to you, it's been my mantra ever since. Right? You simply rule from behind the scenes. Because the second you give evil a face — a bin Laden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin — you hand the people a target."

— Aldrich Killian, Iron Man 3

Blofeld: You came across me so many times and yet you never saw me. Le Chiffre, Greene, Silva...
James Bond: All dead.
Blofeld: Yeah, that's right. A nice pattern developed, you interfered in my world, I destroyed yours. Or did you think it was coincidence that all the women in your life ended up dead? Vesper Lynd, for example. She was the big one. Has he told you^note Madeleine Swann about her? And then of course, your beloved M, gone forever. Me. It was all me, James. It's always been me. The author of all your pain.

— Spectre

"We all work for someone."

— Lockdown, Transformers: Age of Extinction

Literature

And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known
(I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Griddlebone)
Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time
Just controls their operations
The Napoleon of crime!

— Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, "Macavity, the Mystery Cat"

Live-Action TV

"It's like I said: I'm just one, small part in a great machine."

— Knox, Angel, "A Hole in the World"

"We all have our keepers, you see."

— Emperor Mollari, Babylon 5, "War Without End, Part 2"

Sam: [Erik's] on every local political board with an extra chair. He's a big deal down at the docks. I guess he even owns part of this golf club. He's a sorry excuse for a man, but he's got a lot of friends. The guy that worries me, though — he's at the bar. Gray suit. That's his brother Quinn. He built this little empire. He does all the heavy lifting, but none of it means anything without Erik's pretty face and clean record. So, he's a little protective.
Michael: The guy behind the guy.
Sam: You got it.

— Burn Notice, "Shot in the Dark"

"You've done well, Kuroto, or should I say, "Dangerous Zombie"... and "Perfect Knock-Out", I have to thank you for doing such a good job while I was in prison... of completing my "Kamen Rider Chronicle". Kuroto's talents and the power of the Bugsters are no more than tools that make products for Genm Corporation. I was the one who built Genm Corporation. You are not its boss, Kuroto, and most certainly not you either. I am the president."

—Masamune Dan, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid

"You get to the top and then you find out that it's only the middle."

— Prime Minister Dawkins, Secret State

Zek: It was a test to see if you were ready to take my place. And you failed... miserably!
Krax: But father, I am ready! I am ready! [Milking the Giant Cow] You saw for yourself. I was about to grab power!
Zek: You don't grab power. You accumulate it quietly, without anyone noticing.
Krax: But... But I don't understand.
Zek: The bar, you fool! That was the key. All those visitors stopping by on their way to and from the wormhole. You could have sat there quietly at your leisure and gathered up all the information you needed about the Gamma Quadrant.
Krax: But what about him? [indicates Quark]
Zek: You could have let him hold the scepter while you controlled everything from the shadows. And then, when everything was running smoothly, only then would you take over.

— Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "The Nagus"

"I always knew there was someone behind Ingram. Like a black hole—invisible, but powerful."

— Special Counsel, Person of Interest, "God Mode"

Music

You're just a microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan
Designed and directed by his Red Right Hand

— Nick Cave, "Red Right Hand"

Tabletop Games

"We want to control the world [rather than rule it]. A fine distinction. Let someone else rule... or appear to. Meanwhile, we make certain that everything works to benefit the Lodge. The rewards of power, without the drawbacks."

— A member of the Black Lodge, Shadowrun

Why rule openly, when one can direct the lords with whispers and riddles and even jests?

— Vampire: The Masquerade — Clanbook: Malkavian (Revised)

As firemaster, shaman and head chef, Butchers wield an amount of influence within each Ogre Kingdom second only to the Tyrant himself. Twinned with their malign intellect, it is not uncommon for the hoarse whispers of a tribe's Butcher to dictate the bellowed commands of his Tyrant.

— Warhammer: Ogre Kingdoms Army Book (6th edition)

Video Games

"Hoyt Volker. Stay away from him, Jason. You think Vaas is crazy? All the evil on the island, it comes from Hoyt. He took Vaas's mind away from him. It is he who pulls the strings."

— Dennis Rogers, Far Cry 3

Hades: So this little angel took down big, bad Medusa all by himself. What an accomplishment! Goodness, you should put this on your resume!
Pit: Uh, what's with this guy?
Hades: But before you do, you should know that I whipped up that Medusa especially for you.

— Kid Icarus: Uprising

Despite Basil the Bat Lord seeming like the obvious leader of the terrifying Fright Knights, Willa is the real minifigure behind the curtain in Bricksylvania, pulling on everyone's puppet strings.

— Willa the Witch's description, LEGO Legacy: Heroes Unboxed

"You thought you were using me? ME?! Buddy, I was playing you like a bat fiddle!"

— Bowser to Antasma, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

"No, wait. I was just doin' what I was told. Couldn't refuse. She's someone high up, government, maybe, I don't know... No! I told him nothi—!"

— Don Punchinello moments before being shot, Max Payne

"His friend? You kidding me? That crazy alien bastard was just a pawn. I'm the real king."

— Damon Ricotello, No More Heroes III

"That giant you killed, the one we call the 'Butcher'? He was actually one of our test subjects and was so close to becoming a full-fledged demon himself. Yet you had to seize the demonic ax from S-003's own facility and use the very weapon we were developing to put an end to his life."

— Oliver, Purgatory 2

"Politicians and law enforcement think they rule society. They cannot see their own puppet holes or the desiccated hands jammed inside. Civic planning, excavation rights, gambling, prostitution, black market trade — all of these belong to the Kingdom, and they offer access to it for the right price."

— The Buzzing, The Secret World

Unbeknownst to its own citizens, this society is actually manipulated from behind the scenes by a secretive shadow council. Appearances must be kept, but the tyranny of the majority should also be guarded against. After all, what if the fools vote for the wrong candidate?

— Flavor Text for Shadow Council, Stellaris

Visual Novels

"From the very beginning, you had been at my side like a shadow; staying ever a step behind, always pushing me into the limelight. But who was the true conductor of this opera, I ask? 'Tis a foolish question that needs no answering."

— Reinhard Heydrich, Dies Irae

Web Animation

The leader of leaders, he is the one who pulls the strings, yet prefers to remain in the shadows as the good puppeteer he is.

— The Overseer's bio, Xionic Madness 3

"Someone has been pulling the strings from behind the entire time. Even the Overseer ended up being just a puppet."

— Xero, Xionic Madness 4 Part 3

Webcomics

"Every single time I think I have killed the person responsible for usurping my command, I find there's someone else higher up, still fighting me."

— Martellus "Tweedle" von Blitzengaard, Girl Genius

"Tavros, at this point it should 8e o8vious. I am the unseen hand 8ehind every major event in their session, and to some extent, their whole lives. At least those events not happening 8y the volition of their own natural incompetence! Don't you think this is how it should 8e? Shouldn't the greatest player leave her fingerprints on every step of the rise to power of her ultim8 nemesis?"

— Vriska Serket, Homestuck

"For a little while, I thought he was the supreme menace, and I would have to face him in a final showdown. 8ut it turned out that was just a 8it of standard misdirection. He was just another step up in a typical pattern of escal8tion involving increasingly 'insurmounta8le' threats, which legendary heroes like us have to overcome to achieve total victory over everything."

— Vriska Serket, much later in Homestuck

Web Originals

Fortune: Speaking of manipulation, it's time for me to steal Arsenal since I've been manipulating you from the start!
Solidus: Actually, I tricked Ocelot into manipulating you into manipulating me!
Ocelot: Fools! I've been manipulating everything from behind the scenes!
Magic Hand: But actually, I've been manipulating you!
Raiden: Alright, this has officially become a load of crap.

— Thumbnail Threatre: Metal Gear Solid 2: Part 5

Western Animation

"Hyperion was a hammer. I am an architect."

— Nighthawk, Avengers Assemble, "Nighthawk"

Ruff: You got us. We did send the ransom letter, and we did break in here to kidnap Edmée, but it weren't our idea. We was workin' for someone else.
Arlo: Who were you working for?
Ruff: Well, now, don't judge us. We got the idea from... from, well... the Bog Lady.
[Ruff and Stucky shudder]
Marcellus: You did business with a... Bog Lady?

— I ♡ Arlo, "The Uncondemning"

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