History HarmlessVillain / WesternAnimation

* Dr. Robotnik on the ''AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' version of the show makes incredibly inept robots, repeatedly has crying fits, and is sometimes too distracted with himself to notice that his plan isn't working.

* Bling Bling Boy in ''JohnnyTest''. Johnny is both his archenemy and his only friend. Most of his evil ambitions are done solely for the purpose of getting a date with Susan.

* Dr. Drakken in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' is pretty much the mascot of this trope, if only because that show's PeripheryDemographic makes it so self-aware. You get the feeling that he and Shego aren't even trying to harm Kim, just keep her occupied. He becomes a NotSoHarmlessVillain in some cases, especially in TheMovie "So the Drama". (In fact, being the most recurring villain, he's all over the scale; sometimes he's so ridiculous that Kim hardly needs to bother, but he's also the one who occasionally comes closest to his TakeOverTheWorld goal.) Occasionally he's not so much ''harmless'' as dangerously incompetent, his plans having a tendency to [[GoneHorriblyRight Go Horribly Right]] / GoHorriblyWrong.
** This is because Drakken is an {{Expy}} of [[AustinPowers Doctor Evil]], with Shego taking Scott's place as the more competent one who points out the other's ineffectiveness with snarky remarks.

* Swiper in ''DoraTheExplorer'': any villain who can be foiled by saying "Swiper, no swiping!" isn't going to give Hannibal Lecter a run for his money.

** There's even the MoralDissonance that occurs during ''The Berry Hunt'', in which Dora and Boots sneak onto a hill ''where Swiper '''lives''''', quietly lift a bucketful of berries, then make enough noise that Swiper comes out of his hole...and the heroic duo frown at the thought that Swiper might steal "[[ProtagonistCentredMorality their]]" blueberries. "That Swiper!"

* Glowface from ''WesternAnimation/TheXs'' is one such villain, he even gets upset when his monologues are interrupted, and is perfectly willing to put off villain chores [[VillainsOutShopping to play video games]].

** In Season 3, Sergeant Hatred better qualifies for this trope. He signs up to be Dr. Venture's arch, but then resorts to extremely minor acts of villainy, such as lighting his front-yard shrubbery on fire. By the end of the season, he even lives on the Venture Compound and acts as an [[spoiler:ad hoc bodyguard in the absence of Brock Samson, who is working for an undercover vigilante society.]] Of course, [[spoiler:he only did it to piss off The Monarch, who repeatedly stole tech from him]].

** When Phantom Limb is holding tryouts for his own super villain organization, most of the people that show up are . . . well, it's no wonder the Guild turned them down. Brick Frog, indeed.
* The Hacker in ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'' [[BewareTheSillyOnes isn't entirely harmless]], having gotten close to usurping or destroying Motherboard on more than a few occasions, and [[TheBadGuyWins even succeeded at one point]], [[StatusQuoIsGod if only temporarily]]. Fortunately, he's weighed back by his extreme narcissism and [[JustAKid almost always underestimates the kid heroes]]. Buzz and Delete, along with newer villains like Baskerville, Wicked, and [[AscendedFanboy Ledge]], are also frequently more harmless than not.
* Duke Igthorn in ''AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'' was mostly cartoonishly harmless. At one point, he had captured Granni Bear, and was trying to extract the recipe for the [[SuperSerum Gummi Berry Juice]] from her. Rather than torture, he actually ''tickles her with feathers'' until she gives in. Thankfully, it was an incorrect recipe, proving that the JackBauerInterrogationTechnique (with feathers) is still useless. However, if one looks deeper, one can gain some respect for the man; he seems to keep a legion of superstrong ogres twice his size in line by mere force of personality, is never seen not wearing a suit of chainmail (which is HEAVY), and, at one point, knocks out two armed guards with his bare hands.

* The Amoeba Boys in ''ThePowerpuffGirls''. Their devious plans include crimes such as disobeying a "Keep Off The Grass" sign (*gasp*), jaywalking (*SHOCK*) and...dare we mention it?...''Littering'' (*DUN DUN DUN*). They only turned to such crimes after they tried, and ''failed'', to work up the courage to steal an orange from a produce stand.

** They also sent the Powerpuff Girls voodoo dolls they had made to torment the girls with as a birthday present. When the girls are opening their presents, they see this one marked "From The Ameoba Boys" and are assured by the Professor that the Boys can't do anything right, so the present must be safe to open.

** The ''PowerpuffGirlsZ'' version of the Ameoba Boys has a better grasp of how to be villains, but since they're just barely visible to the naked eye, it's impossible for anyone to take them seriously.
** In "Supper Villain", the Girls' next-door neighbor Harold Smith gets bored with his mundane suburban life and becomes a supervillain, holding Professor Untonium hostage with a ray-gun made from a hair dryer. He's thwarted first because his wife insists they finish dinner first, and then by a [[PieInTheFace pie fight]].
* In [[DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney's]] ''Aladdin'' sequel ''Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'' and [[WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries the TV series]], there's [[PunnyName Abis Mal]]. His patheticness is particularly compounded by being an {{Expy}} of the legendary loser, George Costanza, on ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', since Jason Alexander plays both roles.

** Aladdin also occasionally had to deal with an inept thief named Amin Damoola (nicknamed 'Butterfingers'). The only time Butterfingers was a serious threat was once, when was using magical artifacts supplied by Mozenrath, who had essentially replaced Jafar as Aladdin's main nemesis.

** Like others on this list, he becomes a NotSoHarmlessVillain in an alternate future. Without Omi messing up his game, Spicer steals all the Shen Gong Wu, traps the other {{Big Bad}}s in humiliating circumstances, and conquers the world. His Jack-bots are upgraded to HumongousMecha and he himself uses PoweredArmor that incorporates at least two Shen Gong Wu in its design. Before Omi is able to go back in time to fix things, Spicer actually ''kills'' the other Xiaolin Warriors, albeit offscreen.
* The villain Killface from ''FriskyDingo'' is a good example. He builds a machine that can destroy Earth but freaks out and tries to stop it when someone activates it. Killface also shows some love for Earth, especially its pre-Colombian pottery and literature (but not the hip-hop). Killface becomes best friends with his worst enemy (who is disguised) and refuses to kill him, even after finding out his true identity. Killface has no problem brutally killing his "employees," though. The hero, Xander Crews, actually does more evil and harmful things than Killface.

** In his defense, he's facing a {{badass}} [[EverythingsBetterWithPlatypi Platypus]] who simply handwaves all of his crazy plots with that awesome purr/growl sound of his.

** One Episode had him cloning himself not to make it easier to take over the Tri-State Area, but so he could get errands done quicker such as standing in line.
* It's pretty hard to bring oneself to hate any of the villains in the ''ScoobyDoo'' cartoons, because most of the time, their idea of an evil scheme was to put on a monster costume and chase a bunch of hippies and dogs around. Not to mention, nearly all the time, the motive is to "scare people away" for some reason or other, but never kill.

** One villain in "WhatsNewScoobyDoo" pretended to sabotage a bunch of carnival rides out of jealousy for her sister. They managed to unmask her, but because the rides hadn't actually been sabotaged and she hadn't otherwise broken any laws, they had to let her go.
** This has been [[AvertedTrope averted]] in ''[[ScoobyDooMysteryInc Mystery Inc.]]'' as the villains are ''much more'' willing to kill, or at least maim, the gang. One even tried arson to stop the [[ScoobyDoobyDoors door gag]]. No wonder this Shaggy hates mysteries.

* Grizzle from ''[[CareBears Adventures in Care-a-Lot]]'' is rarely seen as a real threat by the Care Bears, and usually just considered a nuisance or misguided.
* ''KidsNextDoor'' has the Toiletnator. He is as threatening as he sounds. Not only is he harmless to the heroes, his incompetance can be detrimental to other villains; Mr. Boss once alluded to an incident where he let Numbah One into the villains' secret lair when Numbah One's only disguise was a t-shirt with the words "I am not Numbah One" written on it. This becomes DoubleSubversion when he actually becomes competent in one episode - but destroys his own side with his stupidity.

* "The Villain Nobody Took Seriously" on ''TheSecretShow,'' who was able to rule the world precisely because nobody took him seriously. He was just a clown living in an abandoned circus tent, talking about all the things he would do once he ruled the world...and then managed to get elected World Leader by changing his name to "Mark X Here", making confused voters cast their votes for him.
* [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Elmer Fudd]], who was so ineffectual that BugsBunny [[DesignatedHero sometimes came off as a bully when beating him]]. Because of this, Yosemite Sam was introduced as a [[KnightOfCerebus more threatening and less sympathetic foe]]. Though [[JerkAss less sympathetic]], Sam wasn't that much more threatening after a [[VillainDecay few cartoons]]. Following this, Marvin the Martian was created, who, despite having super advanced planet obliterating technology at his will, was only ''slightly'' more formidable.

* ''LeagueOfSuperEvil.'' They not only PokeThePoodle figuratively, they might do so literally, claiming it to be a villainous deed. Which, considering that their previous plots include Voltar using a giant mech so he could play in a dunk contest, rigging a pet show to win, and selling Turnip-ade under the guise of lemonade, might be a step up for them.
* Waspinator from the ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' portion of the ''{{Transformers}}'' franchise often fits this category.
** With the exception of [[AdaptationalBadass his counterpart]] in the ''TransformersAnimated'' series, who was portrayed as deadly, powerful, vengeful, psychotic, and even a little scary - all things his ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' predecessor was not.
* ''StrawberryShortcake'''s [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak]]. In the first two animated specials in the first generation line, he floods Strawberryland to demand its berries as ransom, and cheats to win a bake-off in which the prize is a ''gazebo''. With his associate Sour Grapes, their crimes in the subsequent four shows are: framing Strawberry for taking a bribe as a pet show judge and being complicit in their cheating, stealing a box of recipes, capturing a friendly monster with the intent of selling it to a circus, and trying to use the Berrykins to create a super-perfume. Sometimes, the ''real'' dangers to the heroes are unintentional on the villains' part: Lem and Ada are hiding in the recipe box, and the perfume mixing results in a smelly cloud that threatens to stink up Strawberryland. Also, as far as weaknesses go...in the third special, he crumbles under the heroine's threat to annoy him endlessly with her "berry talk".
** In all fairness, you shouldn't underestimate the potential of a [[http://www.duke.edu/web/DRAGO/humor/gazebo.html Gazebo]].
* The Copper Cranium in ''TheFairlyOddparents'' is defeated so easily, the narrator lampshades it.

* Lucius Heinous VII on ''{{Jimmy Two-Shoes}}'' is pretty much an incompetent version of {{Satan}}. Though, while he's largely ineffective, the fact that he keeps people like [[EnfanteTerrible Heloise]] and [[DrillSergeantNasty Molotov]] under his thumb is probably a sign that he's doing something right.

* In ''WordGirl'', pretty much all of the villains qualify...but ''especially'' Chuck the Evil Sandwich Making Guy. I mean, just look at his name!

* The Urpneys of ''TheDreamstone''. It takes a rather incompetant bunch of mooks to make a SugarBowl world like The Land Of Dreams come off as [[DisproportionateRetribution unneccessarily rough]] on them, and Zordrak's lazy cowardly mooks fit that bill, spending most of their time grudgingly [[PokeThePoodle trying to give the population bad dreams]] before getting their ass handed to them by two {{Muggle}} Noop kids and their dogfish. Even the times they [[NotSoHarmlessVillain do actually prove formidable]], they are [[CosmicPlaything constant victims of circumstance]], fate always unraveling their schemes in [[BornLucky the heroes' favor]].

* Arktos, the evil snowman, from ''{{Tabaluga}}''. He is really silly and his evil antics always end in disaster. And during Season 2, he even sells ice-cream to his enemies and spends half-his time whining about not being able to conquer Greenland.
* Nobody really takes [[WackyRaces Dick Dastardly]] seriously because he's so ineffectual. He couldn't beat himself in solitaire even if he cheated.
* The titular ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim''. If it isn't Dib who stops him, it's because of his own stupidity. Gaz herself lampshades it.

*** And yes, you read that right. They sent the ''voodoo dools'' to their ''targets''. When Mojo Jojo points out that's not how it works, [[TooDumbToLive they're completely baffled]].

** It's also clear that if it hadn't been for the Gummi Bears, he would have taken over Dunwin a long time ago. Even if most people now believe that the Gummi Bears only are fairy-tale characters, they remain a threat to Duke Igthorn, that the king's knights only can dream of being. And there's also one episode, where he blows up a tower and could have killed Princess Calla (she even was unconscious for a while). So yes, Duke Igthorn sure had his dangerous moments.

** It's also clear that if it hadn't been for the Gummi Bears, he would have taken over Dunwin a long time ago. Even if most people now believe that the Gummi Bears only are fairy-tale characters, they remain a threat to Duke Igthorn, that the king's knights only can dream of being. And there's also one episode, where he blows up a tower and could have killed Princess Calla.

** It's also clear that if it hadn't been for the Gummi Bears, he would have taken over Dunwin a long time ago. Even if most people now believe that the Gummi Bears only are fairy-tale characters, they remain a threat to Duke Ightorn, that the king's knights only can dream of being.

* Dr. Drakken in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' is pretty much the mascot of this trope, if only because that show's PeripheryDemographic makes it so self-aware. You get the feeling that he and Shego aren't even trying to harm Kim, just keep her occupied. He becomes a NotSoHarmlessVillain in some cases, especially in TheMovie "So the Drama". (In fact, being the most recurring villain, he's all over the scale; sometimes he's so ridiculous that Kim hardly needs to bother, but he's also the one who occasionally comes closest to his TakeOverTheWorld goal.) Occasionally he's not so much ''harmless'' as dangerously incompetent, his plans having a tendency to GoHorriblyRight / GoHorriblyWrong.

* Dr. Drakken in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' is pretty much the mascot of this trope, if only because that show's PeripheryDemographic makes it so self-aware. You get the feeling that he and Shego aren't even trying to harm Kim, just keep her occupied. He becomes a NotSoHarmlessVillain in some cases, especially in TheMovie "So the Drama". (In fact, being the most recurring villain, he's all over the scale; sometimes he's so ridiculous that Kim hardly needs to bother, but he's also the one who occasionally comes closest to his TakeOverTheWorld goal.)

** He is also viewed this way in [[ComicBook/TeenTitans the comics]] up until ''IdentityCrisis'', where he TookALevelInBadass (one that required blatant ignoring of established canon to happen). The same happened to Cat-Man.

* Butters' "Professor Chaos" alter-ego from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''.

* WesternAnimation/{{He-Man and the Masters of the Universe}} villain Skeletor, despite having a face that Standards & Practices must have had fits over, was thoroughly incompetent. He was so feeble at villainy, in fact, that the show resorted to two replacement villains: King Hiss of the Snake-Men, and Hordak, who suffered severe VillainDecay after his introduction. Neither were exactly scary themselves, but miles ahead of Skeletor.

* In [[DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney's]] ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' sequel ''Return of Jafar'' and the TV series, there's [[PunnyName Abis Mal]]. His patheticness is particularly compounded by being an {{Expy}} of the legendary loser, George Costanza, on ''{{Seinfeld}}'', since Jason Alexander plays both roles.

*** He also went back in time and rewrote Agrabah's entire history in one episode so that he could be Sultan.

** He also once developed a device for insulting whales ([[FreudianExcuse because, years earlier, a whale stole his girlfriend]]). [[AnyoneHasStandards Perry actually]] ''left'', which caused Doofenshmirtz to chase him around, demanding that his plot be foiled.

** He also once developed a device for insulting whales ([[FreudianExcuse because, years earlier, a whale stole his girlfriend]]). Perry actually ''left'', which caused Doofenshmirtz to chase him around, demanding that his plot be foiled.

** In Season 3, Sergeant Hatred better qualifies for this trope. He signs up to be Dr. Venture's arch, but then resorts to extremely minor acts of villainy, such as lighting his front-yard shrubbery on fire. By the end of the season, he even lives on the Venture Compound and acts as an [[spoiler:ad hoc bodyguard in the absence of Brock Samson, who is working for an undercover vigilante society.]] Of course, [[spoiler:he only did it to piss off The Monarch, who stole tech from him once]].

** They almost crossed the line to NotSoHarmlessVillain in one episode, where they were able to create an army of duplicates of themselves using mitosis, and then stole all the oranges in Townsville, resulting in almost all the populace getting sick with scurvy (a clear-cut case of RuleOfFunny). It was rather easy for the Girls to beat them to a pulp, but in the end, that was what they had wanted all along.

* The Hacker in ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'' [[BewareTheSillyOnes isn't entirely harmless]], having gotten close to usurping or destroying Motherboard on more than a few occasions. He even succeeded at one point, [[StatusQuoIsGod if only temporarily]]. Fortunately, he's weighed back by his extreme narcissism and [[JustAKid almost always underestimates the kid heroes]]. Buzz and Delete, along with newer villains like Baskerville, Wicked, and [[AscendedFanboy Ledge]], are also frequently more harmless than not.

* The Hacker in ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'' [[BewareTheSillyOnes isn't entirely harmless]], having gotten close to usurping or destroying Motherboard on more than a few occasions. He even succeeded at one point, [[StatusQuoIsGod if only temporarily. Fortunately, he's weighed back by his extreme narcissism and [[JustAKid almost always underestimates the kid heroes]]. Buzz and Delete, along with newer villains like Baskerville, Wicked, and [[AscendedFanboy Ledge]], are also frequently more harmless than not.

* The Hacker in ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'' [[BewareTheSillyOnes isn't entirely harmless]], having gotten close to usurping or destroying Motherboard on more than a few occasions ([[TheBadGuyWins and has even succeeded on one), though he's weighed back by his extreme narcissism and [[JustAKid almost always underestimates the kid heroes]]. Buzz and Delete, along with newer villains like Baskerville, Wicked, and [[AscendedFanboy Ledge]], are also frequently more harmless than not.

* The Hacker in ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'' [[BewareTheSillyOnes isn't entirely harmless]], having gotten close to usurping or destroying Motherboard on more than a few occasions ([[TheBadGuyWins and has even succeeded on one), though he's weighed back by his extreme [[Narcissist narcissism]] and [[JustAKid almost always underestimates the kid heroes]]. Buzz and Delete, along with newer villains like Baskerville, Wicked, and [[AscendedFanboy Ledge]], are also frequently more harmless than not.

* The Hacker in ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'' is usually a harmless villain, though he does occasionally try to destroy Motherboard. Same goes for his henchmen, Buzz and Delete, along with newer villains like Baskerville, Wicked, and [[AscendedFanboy Ledge]].