Sometimes they aren't all that powerless though. Used to know a girl solely online who managed to ruin my relation with a whole site, because she felt slighted by me and was better at manipulating and lying than I ever thought. People I thought were my friends on a deeper basis were turned on me, it was like she had a magic wand. Prior she had talked someone into suicide and she also manipulated her "friend" into a serious attempt. So it's not like you have to even go outside to meet them...

Also met several psychiatrists who were either narcissists or psychopaths. They caused a lot of damage to a lot of people, and I'm sure with lives lost. When I realized one of them was narcissistic I totally played her. It's funny but she was totally gullible when it came to flattery....

Those people have decided to live life like that. I have realized I have several conflicting parts of myself and some are better chained down.