Scotland's Power100 - 21-30

21 Patrick Harvie

The Scottish Green Party has seen its membership leap to more than 6,000 since September 18, making the environmentalists much harder for their opponents to ignore.

This rise has boosted the profile of its hard-working figurehead Patrick Harvie, 41, MSP for Glasgow and the party's co-convener.

The former charity worker has a strong track record on gay rights and social justice as well as the environment and was willing to take an independent line from the SNP during the referendum, which helped broaden the Yes camp's appeal.

Least likely to say: "I'm not cycling in this weather."

22 David Jones

Grand Theft Auto, the controversial but wildly popular games franchise created by Abertay graduate Jones and his company DMA Design, has sold more than 150 million copies in its many incarnations.

DMA Design became Rockstar North in 2002, but entrepreneur and games producer Jones, 49, founded Realtime Worlds where he created Crackdown for XBox and the massively multiplayer game All Points Bulletin. Realtime collapsed with the loss of more than 100 jobs but Jones has bounced back. He is currently chief creative officer at nWay America, a developer of multiplayer online games.

Watch out for: More world-beating computer-game franchises.

23 Douglas Alexander

The Shadow Foreign Secretary and MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South is one of the UK Labour leadership's inner circle.

Labour's 2015 election coordinator, he held various ministerial posts under the last Labour government, including international development secretary.

The 47-year-old brother of the former Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander is regarded as a heavyweight politician and has attempted to set out a pro-Union left-of-centre alternative to nationalism.

He will need to form a strong partnership with the new Scottish Labour leader, however, to maintain his influence north of the Border.

Least likely to say: "I don't see the difference between nationalism and patriotism."

24 Chris van der Kuyl

Another internationally renowned digital entrepreneur, van der Kuyl, 45, is chairman of 4J Studios, the game development studio that took the award-winning XBox 360 game Minecraft onto consoles.

Van der Kuyl was until last year chief executive of the brightsolid online company, which offers cloud and data-centre services.

Its genealogy division, one of the biggest in Europe with 18 million users comprising findmypast.co.uk, genesreunited.co.uk and Friends Reunited, was split off last summer.

Van der Kuyl is now a strategic adviser to the board of DC Thomson, the owners of brightsolid.

Least likely to say: "Anyone fancy playing a board game?"

25 Nicola Benedetti

The virtuoso violinist, 27, is in demand from the world's leading orchestras and conductors for live performances, but is as committed to music education as to performing, being closely associated with Sistema Scotland which encourages children in deprived communities to take up music.

She does school visits around the world. The winner of Best Female Artist at both the 2012 and 2013 Classical BRIT Awards, her last album, Homecoming: A Scottish Fantasy, entered the UK album charts top 20.

Least likely to say: "I can't be bothered practising tonight."

26 Keith Cochrane

Cochrane, 49, has been chief executive of Glasgow-based engineering giant the Weir Group, a FTSE 100 company, since 2009. With operations in 70 countries, it has more than 14,000 employees.

Cochrane was formerly group chief executive of Stagecoach and then group director of finance of ScottishPower. He was one of the high-profile businesspeople to bring their influence to bear during the referendum campaign, declaring himself against independence due to a Weir Group report highlighting "costs and uncertainties" for business.

Watch out for: How low oil prices might hit Weir's US shale gas operations.

27 Professor Sir Jim McDonald

Principal and vice-chancellor of Strathclyde University since 2009, Professor Sir Jim McDonald, 57, has wide experience in the worlds of academia and industry and in his time at Strathclyde has focused on improving the educational opportunities for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. His influence extends well beyond the campus: he chairs the Scotland Research Partnership in Engineering, he is a member of the Scottish Enterprise Board, and he co-chairs, with the First Minister, the Energy Advisory Board in Scotland.

Watch out for: His new role as a non-executive director of Weir Group, one of the world's leading engineering firms.

28 Alexander McCall Smith

This former professor of medical law is one of the world's most popular novelists. His No 1 Ladies Detective series about Botswana detective, Mma Ramotswe, won him the Presidential Order of Meritorious Service in Botswana, and his comic Edinburgh tales of the inhabitants of 44 Scotland Street offers a gentler version of the capital than in most fiction.

He has been influential far beyond fiction, not least for his idea for the Great Tapestry of Scotland.

Watch out for: Four books in the next year, and possibly more.

29 Frank Mulholland

As a formidable prosecutor, Mulholland, 55, has led some of Scotland's most high-profile cases including the prosecution of killer Peter Tobin, but he is also at the centre of government.

As Lord Advocate, he has the dual role of heading the prosecution service but also acting as legal adviser to ministers. He recently successfully prosecuted the World's End murder trial following the end of the double jeopardy rule, finally bringing Angus Sinclair to justice for the murders of Christine Eadie and Helen Scott in 1977.

Least likely to say: "Case closed."

30 Kevin Bridges

The comedian who grew up in Clydebank is one of the biggest names in British entertainment and next year his 41-date tour will make him even bigger. He has been doing stand-up since he was 17 years old - he's now 28 -  and has stayed self-deprecating as his career has grown. But he is well aware of his reach. "Fourteen nights at the Hydro," he said recently. "Is that 170,000 people? 170,000 people want to see me."

Least likely to say: "Brand Bridges".