TheManipulative Mentor is a manipulative, controlling mentor that exploits the student for his own gain. While emphatically not agood mentor, a Manipulative Mentor is usually not so much trying to pass on his legacy of evil (unlike theEvil Mentor) as control (and exploit) the disciple by any means possible, from just plain being aManipulative Bastard through overtMind Control toMore Than Mind Control, often with a side ofStockholm Syndrome andMind Game Ship. This often also involves beingThe Chessmaster, or at leastThe Strategist, in terms of PR campaigning.

This may cut both ways, though, since the follower sometimes also serves asThe Muse to Manipulative Mentor, who may beHoist by His Own Petard as a result, unable to repeat his success without the student. A Manipulative Mentor is liable to end upmore dependent on the disciple than vice versa. (Lima Syndrome is an occupational hazard, often along with some form ofMuse Abuse, though a Manipulative Mentor may not himself be an artist of any kind.) Expect additional layers of dysfunction if a Manipulative Mentor is also aStage Mom (or Dad, since a Manipulative Mentor is nearlyAlways Male), in which case shades ofKnight Templar Parent are also likely. A Manipulative Mentor also tends to pursue success so ruthlessly that bystanders are maimed. A Manipulative Mentor may also beThe Man Behind the Man.

A Manipulative Mentor is more likely than theEvil Mentor to beObliviously Evil. Watch out for appearances of "But I did it all for you!" and, conversely "Imade you!" (for extra points, add "and I could break you just as easily").

On the other hand, a Manipulative Mentor is relatively unlikely to suffer fromMentor Occupational Hazard, unless it'sDeath by Irony, and may be aKarma Houdini. Occasionally they will have aWhat Have I Done moment, and may beDriven to Suicide by the follower's abandonment, but such crises are almost equally likely to turn into anIgnored Epiphany.

A Manipulative Mentor is a frequent, even near-inevitable, cause ofRage Against the Mentor. Since a Manipulative Mentor job is usually to provide their ward with worldly success, andAmbition Is Evil,What Have I Become? moments (where applicable) tend to turn into What Have You Made Me moments, kind of likeI Hate You, Vampire Dad but with less fangs.

Often claimed aboutReal Life managers of actors and singers/bands, sometimesby the manager, presumably due toEvil Is Cool.

Film

• Peter O'Toole played a (relatively)benign version of this toJodie Foster inSvengali, a movie inspired by butnot based on Du Maurier's novel.
• Josef von Sternberg is often claimed to have been this toMarlene Dietrich.
• In the 1950 movieAll About Eve, the character Bill Simpson (played by Gary Merrill) says to Eve Harrington (played by Anne Baxter), after she tries to seduce him, "Names, I've been called — but never Svengali."
• In aThree Stooges short film "Hokus Pokus" (and Flagpole Jitters), Moe (Moses Horwitz, AKA Moe Howard) introduces actor Jimmy Lloyd, who was portraying a magician, as, "Svengarlic: He'll take your breath away!"
• ArguablyDr. Frank-N-Furter to his harem.
  • He delivers the line above to Rocky:
    • "Imade you, and I can BREAK you just as easily!"
      • Arguably an inversion; the Svengali tends toMan Behind the Man while Franknfurter tends to collect groupies to support his divahood. This line was delivered to a sideshow who was stealing the spotlight.
• In the 1946 filmDeception, composer Alexander Hollenius (Claude Rains) is the musical mentor of Christine Radcliffe (Bette Davis). He is none too pleased when Christine suddenly decides to marry a cellist (Paul Henreid), and he invokes their mentor relationship when begging her to return to him. When that doesn't work, he puts the couple through a series of vicious mind games.
• Arguably, Grizelda inThe Court Jester. There's certainly hypnotism involved.
  • Tails of lizards, ears of swine, chicken gizzards soaked in brine, On your feet, be not afraid; you're the greatest with the blade! *SNAP*

Literature

• TheTrope Namer, from Du Maurier'sTrilby. (Sidenote: Readers seeking it out should be ready forValues Dissonance, given that Svengali's Jewishness is played out in a pretty similar way to that of Fagin inOliver Twist.)
• Faginmay count as this to his boys inOliver Twist.
• Erik, the eponymous Phantom fromThe Phantom of the Opera is this to Christine. Since he actually is a good music teacher he may also qualify as aBroken Pedestal. Due to the similarity of the stories some regard the Phantom as being Svengali with theSerial Numbers Filed Off.
• In-universe, the supernatural law enforcement rumor mill in theAnita Blake novelSkin Trade has Edward as this to Anita. Or at least that's one of the rumors. "I heard he was more like your Svengali," is the response of one Las Vegas cop to Anita referring to Edward first as her partner and then as her "rabbi" (mentor, one assumes).

Live Action TV

• In an episode of the sitcomSeinfeld, entitled "The Wallet", Elaine refers to her psychotherapist boyfriend as a "Svengali" because he wields a powerful mental influence over her. She mispronounces the word as 'svenjolly', causing Jerry and George to mock her.
• The Master inDoctor Who has svengali traits, being a master of hypnosis. Someone asks the Third Doctor if the Master is "a bit of a Svengali" and the Doctor replies "more of a Rasputin".
• In the season 1 pilot of theMoonlight TV series, entitled "No Such Thing as Vampires", Beth interviews a suspect who refers to another character as a "Svengali" who brainwashed students, using literary references to vampires, sex and dark desires and seduced them into his cult.
• In theNCIS season 3 episode "Silver War", Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs consoles Mossad officer Ziva David about her half-brother Ari Haswari, whom she had killed, by describing him as a Svengali.
• In Season 9, episode 6 ofLaw and Order Special Victims Unit, the captain refers to a perpetrator as a "Svengali".
• Rare female example:Frasier's evil agent, Beebee.
• In Name Only (Entry Pimp) example:Svengoolie took his name in part from Svengali.
• Randall Fuller, the self-help guru with a generous helping ofMore Than Mind Control in theLaw and Order: Criminal Intent episode "Con-Text."

Music

• Malcolm McLaren cast himself as this to theSex Pistols, and later toBow Wow Wow.
• Robbie Williams claims Nigel Martin-Smith as this toTake That the band.
• And "The Colonel" Tom Parker toElvis Presley.
• And Kim Fowley toThe Runaways. Heavily lampshaded in the recent film, where Fowley also claimsI Meant to Do That in response to theirRage Against the Mentor dumping of him.
• The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" is a dialogue between a Svengali and his increasingly-rebellious mentee.
• Considering he was manager of one of the biggest rock acts of all time, Brian Epstein, manager ofThe Beatles, was by all accounts a subversion of this trope, being a rather mild, unassuming fellow genuinely devoted to 'his boys'. While he personally would never have dreamt of exploiting them, it has been noted that his lack of business acumen did see them come much worse off from many business transactions (particularly concerning the rights to their music) where a more savvy manager along the lines of this trope might have been able to get them better deals.
• Eugene Landy toBrian Wilson.
• Herbie Herbert toJourney. Dear god, the man claims all the credit for founding Journey, to the point where he was playing group members off each other in a continual power struggle to keep his "creative" vision.Interview here.

Video Games

• Kriea fromKnights of the Old Republic IIto the main character.Fridge Horror sets in once you've replayed the game and seen just how much of the relationship between these two characters falls underMore Than Mind Control. Depending on the theories you subscribe too, it may have been done all forrevenge orfor the greater good, but only two things are really certain: firstly,that they seem to actually care for each other in a twisted fashion, and secondly,it worked.
• Master Li inJade Empire, so very much.

Western Animation

• In the Season 2 episode ofThe Venture Bros. titled "Guess Who's Coming to State Dinner?", Col. Bud Manstrong angrily calls Brock Samson "Svengali" when the colonel finds his mother passed out in Samson's lap.

Real Life

• Charles Manson, who roped at least two-dozen young people into his murderous "family."
• Charles Sobrahj, a celebrity confidence man and serial killer who used methods similar to Manson's to prey on Western tourists throughout South and Southeast Asia in the 1970s.

• Trope
• Always Male
• Mentors
• Mind Manipulation Tropes
• Manipulative Mentor