History KnightOfCerebus / WesternAnimation

* Surprisingly enough, ''WesternAnimation/MrBogus'' actually gives us one in the form of Bogus's EvilCounterpart, [[MeaningfulName Baddus]]. Introduced in the second season premiere episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS2E1ComputerIntruder Computer Intruder]]", this mean, green, more gremlin-like version of Bogus will often show up, depending on the tone of the episode. Baddus was introduced to indicate that while Bogus is a goodhearted gremlin, Baddus is actually the opposite, striving to make things miserable for Bogus and/or the denizens of Bogusland.

* Surprisingly enough, ''WesternAnimation/MrBogus'' actually gives us one in the form of Bogus's EvilCounterpart, [[MeaningfulName Baddus]]. Introduced in the second season premiere episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS2E1ComputerIntruder Computer Intruder]]", this mean, green, more gremlin-like version of Bogus often shows up, depending on the tone of the episode. Baddus was introduced to indicate that while Bogus is a goodhearted gremlin, Baddus is actually the opposite, striving to make things miserable for Bogus and/or the denizens of Bogusland.

** On a more mundane level, the Red Skull is easily the most vile villain in the show, in spite of, or in part ''due to'' the fact that he is still a mere human (for a [[SuperSoldier measure]] of [[MagnificentBastard "mere"]]).

** Evil Stewie, a clone with all of Stewie's evil traits and ''none'' of his good ones, who goes around killing and maiming and generally causing all sorts of destruction and mayhem [[ForTheEvulz purely for the hell of it]].

** Here's one for the Franchise/{{Transformers}} franchise as a whole: Anytime [[GodOfEvil Unicron]] shows up, things are going to get serious very quickly. This is especially noticable in [[WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie his very first appearence]], which opens up with him destroying an entire planet full of life, helping setting up the [[DarkerAndEdgier tone]] for the first of the movie. He only get's worse from there on out.
** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' is very much DarkerAndEdgier compared to earlier shows in the franchise, but its far more evil depiction of Megatron still puts into their trope, with plans he gets involved with often extending beyond killing the Autobots to wiping out all life on Earth, along with a world of pain for anybody who tries to get in his way that isn't Optimus Prime

* While WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble may not be as intense as WesternAnimation/AvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes, it has a rather dark villain in Hyperion, a KnightTemplar alien "protector", whose idea to eliminate crimes and help people is essentialy enslave everyone and have them submit to his ideal, but if somebody doesn't agree with his methods, then he considers you to be a part of a problem. He also has no problems with attacking children and it's revealed that [[spoiler: he had enslaved his entire home planet and later destroyed it, simply because the people refused to submit to his totalitarian rule]].

** Evil Stewie, a clone with all of Stewie's evil traits and none of his good ones, who goes around killing and maiming and generally causing all sorts of destruction and mayhem [[ForTheEvulz purely for the hell of it]].

** Evil Stewie, a clone with all of Stewie's negative traits and none of his good ones, who goes around killing and maiming and generally causing all sorts of destruction and mayhem [[ForTheEvulz purely for the hell of it]].

* [[MonsterClown Sideshow Bob]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. While still rather slapstick prone and displaying humorous wit (being voiced by KelseyGrammer and all) most of his appearances he attempts to ''kill'' Bart or Krusty The Clown and his intents are (mostly) played seriously with episodes becoming more intense and dark when he appears.

* Him of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', compared to the rest of the show's IneffectualSympatheticVillain cast, had a much creepier presence (even noted frequently by the cast ''and the narrator'') and frequently supplied MindRape or other much deadlier tactics of bringing the girls to an end. Granted he also often supplied in NightmareRetardant and did have the occasional bumbling role (he was CampGay after all) but he was still miles deadlier than most of the RoguesGallery, especially was the villain of the episode, in which none of the scenes with PlayedForLaughs [[note]]if he wasn't the villain, he was just as comical as the other villains[[note]]. And then there's the episode "[[BadFuture Speed Demon]]".

** [[CatsAreMean Mirage]] as well, while most of the villains Aladdin and his friends faced are typical cartoon-y bad guys. Her introduction begins by lighting a village on fire.

* Him of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', compared to the rest of the show's IneffectualSympatheticVillain cast, had a much creepier presence (even noted frequently by the cast ''and the narrator'') and frequently supplied MindRape or other much deadlier tactics of bringing the girls to an end. Granted he also often supplied in NightmareRetardant and did have the occasional bumbling role (he was CampGay after all) but he was still miles deadlier than most of the RoguesGallery. And then there's the episode "[[BadFuture Speed Demon]]".

** The RowdyRuff Boys. Three boys that have powers equal to the girls with talents and abilities to match. Despite their achilles heel the first time around; their revival removes that heel at the cost of some personal side effects (Boomer becomes more of a ditz. Brick is twice as cruel, but his guerilla tactics are still strong. Finally, butch's bloodlust has been ramped up way beyond buttercup's own).

** On a more mundane level, the Red Skull is easily the most vile villain in the show, in spite of, or in part ''due to'' the fact that he is still a mere human (for a [[SuperSoldier measure]] of [[MagnificentBastard "mere"]].

* ''AvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' would often slide on how serious its villains got. The most serious were likely the Skrulls, their story arc, the longest in the series, prompted massive ParanoiaFuel and their manipulations nearly succeeded in breaking up the Avengers. Outside of them, the biggest example is [[BiggerBad Surter]]. While he never got the chance to act as a direct antagonist, the episodes that merely dealt with the aftermath of his actions showed he laid waste to the whole dwarven realm, and to reforge his [[BFS giant sword]], he destroyed the star of an inhabited solar system.

** Mrs. Puff becomes one in the infamous Season 8 episode ''Demolition Doofus''. In the episode, Mrs. Puff punctures her inflation sac thanks to her pupil SpongeBob's reckless driving. When she learned that she may never inflate up again, she enters [=SpongeBob=] into a demolition derby and hoped that he would die in it. To her frustration, SpongeBob survived due to his reckless driving, and he becomes a champion of the demolition derby. She then gets into a large monster truck [[MoralEventHorizon and tries to run him down herself]]. She chases his car all the way to the Boating School, and she destroys it. She's able to inflate back up again after this.

** A reason for this is given in the tie-in comics that further emphasizes Ozai's role thus: Zuko's mother, Ursa, [[spoiler:had a lover before the Fire Nation effectively forced her to marry Ozai due to her being Avatar Roku's granddaughter, and [[GildedCage cut off all connections from her old life.]] In an attempt to regain her old life, Ursa wrote [[RedHerring a letter that states Zuko's is her lover's son]] to provoke Ozai into revealing his meddling of letters. She had underestimated [[DisproportionateRetribution Ozai's reaction.]]]] His [[DaddysLittleVillain daughter]], [[TheDragon Azula]], also amped things up in season 2.

* Both lampshaded and played straight in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' episode "Victor Echo November." When Phantom Limb gets in an argument with HarmlessVillain The Monarch, he shows his superiority by calling for the immediate killing of the Venture family, whom the Monarch has ineffectually antagonized for the whole series. When the Guild henchmen prove to be much more dangerous than The Monarch's [[MauveShirt Mauve Shirts]], Dr. Venture asks, "This is different, isn't it, Brock?" Brock replies, "Yeah, we might not win this one."
** Although by season 4 [[spoiler:Limb has become rather comedic due to insanity]].
*** [[spoiler: The Monarch himself has become much more threatening by Season 4. When the person he's after is not Rusty Venture, he can come off as downright scary.]]
* The [[EldritchABomination Web Creature]] from ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot''. The thing itself only appeared in three episodes, all told, but that doesn't matter. [[DarkerAndEdgier The damage had been done]].
** Arguably, Megabyte himself is an example. Despite being there from day one, he [[InvertedTrope inverts]] the typical VillainDecay of 90s animation. He goes from season one's daily nuisance, to season two's master manipulator, [[spoiler: to actually having won in season three.]]

** Wuya deserves special mention. Like Rubilax, her snarking makes her strictly comedic for the most part... Then she gets ''free'' and suddenly [[FromBadToWorse the]] [[DarkerAndEdgier laughing]] [[OhCrap stopped]].

** For ''[[WesternAnimation/GIJoeRenegades Renegades]]'', he's being developed into a rich blend of CorruptCorporateExecutive, MagnificentBastard, and VillainWithGoodPublicity; it's ''working''.
*** [[spoiler:In the season finale, he's no longer a VillainWithGoodPublicity now that he's exposed. That also means he won't hold back.]]

** [[FromBadToWorse And then came]] [[BiggerBad Grandfather]]...

* Shere Khan's ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' incarnation is similarly far more serious than than in the first film, and compared to the show's other RoguesGallery is far sinister and dignified ([[TheComicallySerious even if there was some humor generated from this]]). However, in contrast he has a more [[AffablyEvil affable side]], his tendancy to [[EnemyMine side with]] [[PetTheDog Baloo]] [[AntiVillain on many occasions]] may prevent him from ''quite'' entering this trope.

** The finale gives us a final one, though only for its two-part sequence: [[BiggerBad the Nibiru Entity]] [[spoiler: a being whose evil has projected onto everyone, and is responsible for ''all'' the costumes, ''all'' the cruelty, and ''all'' the evil, including that of the previous two. Once freed, he [[EvilerThanThou kills Pericles]], eats the original Mystery Incorporated, and eats all of Crystal Cove. His destruction raises this to a meta-level -- as he was erased from the timeline, all the evil characters grew up to be good, and everyone's lives are for the better, bar Daphne's sisters.]]

** ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' gives us the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Highbreeds]], who opened an entire era of two DarkerAndEdgier seasons in the franchise.

*** Malware, a villain who first appeared in the first episode and whose origins were explained in "Trouble Helix", also appears to be heading this way, due to his origin episode, while showcasing his FatalFlaw (a particularly bad case of boasting and talking on and on), also shows that he has committed murder (though not on-screen; the flashback cuts off before it shows the gruesome details), though the rest of the episode showcases him as what just ''seems'' to be another villain, until [[spoiler:"Of Predators and Prey" reveals that he's the BigBad, and shows that him, Khyber, and Dr. Psychobos forcefully test the Nemetrix on Phil]], with no amount of comedy appearing.
**** Hell, when [[spoiler: Ben sees him again in "Malefactor", his reaction is to back away in ''fear''. And considering how many life-threatening things Ben's been through without flinching, ''that'' really says something about Malware.]]

** The [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E25ACanterlotWeddingPart1 Canterlot]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E26ACanterlotWeddingPart2 Wedding]] introduces us to [[spoiler:the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis]], who plans to [[spoiler:feed off of the love and magic of Princess Cadence's groom, Shining Armor, in order to enable her invading army to breach the magical DeflectorShield that Shining Armor cast over the capital city and seize control over all of Equestria]].

** A reason for this is given in the tie-in comics that further emphasizes Ozai's role thus: Zuko's mother, Ursa, [[spoiler:had a lover before the Fire Nation effectively forced her to marry Ozai due to her being Avatar Roku's granddaughter, and [[GildedCage cut off all connections from her old life.]] In an attempt to regain her old life, Ursa wrote [[RedHerring a letter that states Zuko's is her lover's son]] [[BullyingADragon to provoke Ozai into revealing his meddling of letters.]] She had underestimated [[DisproportionateRetribution Ozai's reaction.]]]]
** His [[DaddysLittleVillain daughter]], [[TheDragon Azula]], [[TheChessmaster also amped things]] [[HeroKiller up in season 2]].
* Amon from the SequelSeries, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' [[MagnificentBastard also]] [[HeroKiller fits]] [[KnightTemplar this.]] The couple of episodes before his first appearance were quite lighthearted. Once he showed up, the series has gotten darker and darker with each episode.

* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' gives us [[BastardBoyfriend Mad Dog]]. He abuses Bunny to the point where he buries her up to her neck in dirt when she tried to escape, he tried to drive her and Courage down with his car, and most importantly, he somehow caused Kitty to be convinced that all dogs were evil. And that, like Katz, he's played dead seriously.

* The second season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Hero 108}}'' gives us Twin Masters, an OmnicidalManiac and embodiment of ChaoticEvil determined to destroy all life in Hidden Kingdom. Their introduction take the show from lighthearted to a more serious action show.

** Abrakadaver from the episode of the same name as well.

* The Lich of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' is this, as he manages to [[spoiler:kill and possess Princess Bubblegum, and even after his defeat, he still manages to live on through a certain background character.]] Nevertheless, The Lich is not immune to slapstick comedy and being made a fool of, although he still has absolutely NoSenseOfHumor and its also worth noting that in the pitch of the show, it specifically mentions in bold dripping letters that "The Lich King is not funny." After his return in the season 4 finale, he's still as frightening as ever. He appears in Finn's dream complete with a jump scare, is in possession of the Enchiridion, [[spoiler:currently [[BodySurf possessing Billy]], a famous hero of Ooo, and then manages to trick Finn into giving what he wants]]. Even after being out of the spotlight for nearly two whole seasons, he still shows how DangerouslyGenreSavvy he is through a manipulation of events. He didn't just [[spoiler: possess Billy]]. He ''[[spoiler: killed him and took his skin]]''.

** When Ice King's backstory comes into play, he is mournfully one of the most realistic depictions of dementia on the show.

* Sideshow Bob from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. While still rather slapstick prone and displaying humorous wit (being voiced by KelseyGrammer and all) most of his appearances he attempts to ''kill'' Bart or Krusty The Clown and his intents are (mostly) played seriously with episodes becoming more intense and dark when he appears.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars,'' while DarkerAndEdgier compared to [[TransformersGeneration1 its precursor]], does have several light-hearted moments during the first season. Season two introduces Rampage, a SerialKiller who's an {{expy}} of [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]]. His appearance marked the show's descent into more nightmarish territory, and episodes where main characters such as [[spoiler: Dinobot]] get KilledOffForReal.
** [[spoiler: Tigerhawk, when his shell was possessed by the Vok. His arrival was directly responsible for throwing Beast Wars into the endgame phase and the ''Nemesis'' two-parter that followed contained some of the bleakest moments in the series.]]

** Bertram is actually a subversion. He still is LaughablyEvil, but he is the major threat to the universe in "The Big Bang Theory".
** Brian Griffin is a rare example. While he is more of a [[JerkAss jerkass]] than a villain, several episodes focused on him are pretty dark, especially "Life of Brian".

** Though to be honest, the plot had already become divorced from the High School Drama even before Apocalypse arrived thanks to [[spoiler:the triple disaster from Magneto, Mystique, and Trask. All at same time. Mutants become a hunted by the entire world, the School blows up, and Professor X turned out to be an Imposter and the real one is missing.]] That was not a very good day.
** Actually, two other characters predated '''all''' of them. One was [[spoiler: Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet Witch]], the other was [[spoiler: Mesmero]].
** Before Apocalypse, the series main example this trope was Magneto.

*** The biggest one in the series is [[PsychoForHire Lockdown]]. Unlike the other Decepticons, he has no comedic traits, is only interested in getting paid and getting trophies from his victims, and is often regarded as the most evil of the Decepticons in TFA. Previous evil actions include being the cause of the DarkAndTroubledPast of both Ratchet and Prowl. Any time he shows up, the episode gets MUCH darker. Making things worse is the suggestion that he may not even be a Decepticon; his backstory, altmode, and blank rubsign obscuring his faction brand all seem to suggest he started as an ''Autobot''.

* Chase Young of ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' was introduced as the BigBad in the second season. In the first season, the villain had been [[DitzyGenius Jack Spicer]] who is comically beaten once an episode. While he was partly taking orders from Wuya (an evil spirit with no physical form), she was also strictly comical, except in the Season One finale. Chase, however, was a strictly non-comical and threatening villain.

** His [[DaddysLittleVillain daughter]], [[TheDragon Azula]], [[MagnificentBastard also amped things]] [[HeroKiller up in season 2.]]

** Also happens in ''[[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbTheMovieAcrossThe2ndDimension The Movie]]'', with the twist that the Knight of Cerberus in the movie is actually an alternate universe version of the shows regular HarmlessVillain Dr. Doofenschmirtz. He is far more competent and scarier than the regular Dr. Doof, has actually conquered his dimensions Tristate Area and is now a cruel dictator who uses an army of robots to keep the population under control, turned Perry the Platypus into his loyal cyborg henchman, and is not afraid to try to kill the protagonists.

** So far the Shredder in the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 2012 series]] has been this. Even with the show operated on RuleOfFunny, none of the scenes with him were PlayedForLaughs. When the Turtles actually face off against him for the first time, they end up getting their shells handed to them; they only manage to escape because the Shredder was distracted by Xever and Bradford [[spoiler:mutating]]. Following that, the show got darker with the other main villains the Kraang becoming for more of threat with the gradual reveal that their plan was to terraform the entire Earth to suit their needs and that in failed experiments with mutating the planet have brought about, NightmareFuel.

* Sideshow Bob from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. While still rather slapstick prone and displaying humorous wit (being voiced by KelseyGrammer and all) most of his appearences he attempts to ''kill'' Bart or Krusty The Clown and his intents are (mostly) played seriously with episodes becoming more intense and dark when he appears.

** [[BigBad Mr. Burns]] also qualifies, at least in seasons 1-8. While he does have some comical traits and funny quirks, the episodes with him are more serious and dramatic than any other episodes and his actions are played seriously. Most notable examples are "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" two-parter, where he screws over all other characters and finally [[MoralEventHorizon blocks all the sunlight from Springfield]] and this was so evil that [[EvenEvilHasStandards his loyal doormat Mr. Smithers objects to this]] and all of his actions are played seriously and episode is dramatic and intense, not to mention that it is the ''only'' ''two-parter'' episode in the series; "The Curse Of Flying Hellfish" where he crosses MoralEventHorizon by attempting to [[WouldHurtAChild drown Bart]] and in "Mother Simpson" where he worked on biological warfare and made Mona Simpson, Homer's mother, run from the law and hide from the rest of her life, meaning that Mr. Burns is responsible for Homer losing his mother and setting some of the series plots in motion.

** Trip Larson from ''Pigmalion''. He is presented as a normal guy, but as time goes on, he shows deeper signs of dementia, such as keeping a pig in his mansion and having Luanne dress as the woman on his company's logo. He dresses as a pig and claims that he want Luanne to marry a boy who resembles the farmer on the logo and that they could live as a family based on the logo (with Trip as the pig). She naturally and sanely refuses, but Trip chases her into a slaughter house, and when the machines are activated, he attempts to pull Luanne with him so they can become the very meat they sell to the public. Is it a wonder that he gets killed in the one episode he appears ?

* While WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble may not be as intense as [[WesternAnimation/AvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes]], it has a rather dark villain in Hyperion, a KnightTemplar alien "protector", whose idea to eliminate crimes and help people is essentialy enslave everyone and have them submit to his ideal, but if somebody doesn't agree with his methods, then he considers you to be a part of a problem. He also has no problems with attacking children and it's revealed that [[spoiler: he had enslaved his entire home planet and later destroyed it, simply because the people refused to submit to his totalitarian rule]].

* The BadSanta of WesternAnimation/AxeCop. In "Birthday Month" he kidnaps children to make his weapons, wants [[InsaneTrollLogic to kill God to become Jesus]] and killed Axe Cop's parents in a failed attempt to kill Axe Cop himself.
* ''AvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' would often slide on how serious its villains got. The most serious were likely the Skrulls, their story arc, the longest in the series, prompted massive ParanoiaFuel and their manipulations nearly succeeded in breaking up the Avengers. Outside of them, the biggest example is [[BiggerBad Surter]]. While he never got the chance to act as a direct antagonist, the episodes that merely dealt with the aftermath of his actions showed he laid waist to the whole dwarven realm, and to reforge his [[BFS giant sword]], he destroyed the star of an inhabited solar system.

** Here's one for the Franchise/{{Transformers}} franchise as a whole: Anytime [[BiggerBad Unicron]] shows up, things are going to get serious very quickly. This is especially noticable in [[WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie his very first appearence]], which opens up with him destroying an entire planet full of life, helping setting up the [[DarkAndEdgier tone]] for the first of the movie. He only get's worse from there on out.

** Brian Griffin is a rare example. While he is more of a [[JerkAss jerkass]] than a villain, several episodes fecused on him are pretty dark, especially "Life of Brian".