History Main / BreakOutVillain

** Godzilla himself. Originally just meant to be a force of nature and the BigBad of the original 1954 film, his rampant popularity spawned an experimental sequel the next year. Once King Kong vs Godzilla happened his popularity skyrocketed further to the point he became a hero or antihero in all subsequent films, and the rest is history.

* Char Aznable from the first ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' series. Originally TheRival to TheHero Amuro Ray and a minion of the [[TheEmpire Principality of Zeon]], he went on to become a mentor in the subsequent seasons, before snapping and becoming the BigBad of TheMovie. Since then, he's essentially become the face of the franchise, and every season onwards has [[CharClone a character modeled after him]].

* "Western Animation/Wakfu": The main villain of season 1 Nox is so well liked among the fandom so much so that out of all the villains/antagonists in the show he is usually considered the best one due to his complexity and motives leading to him making a flashback appearance and getting mentioned in season 2, his armor and remains of his clock fortress being seen in the OVA's and him finally making a return in season 3 albeit as one of Oropo's illusions. The only other villain to rival Nox in terms of popularity would have to be the season 2 antagonist Qilby who is also popular but is ultimately more irredeemable due to his actions having a more severe impact on the plot and being a much crueler character.

* A very delayed case is Lord Death Man from the 1960s ''Manga/{{Batman}}'' manga. A one-shot villain in the manga, based on a forgotten one-shot villain from the Silver Age ''Batman'' comics called Deathman, he became so popular in the 2000s, after his story was republished in the translated ''Bat-Manga'' anthology, that he was introduced to the main DC universe in ''Batman Incorporated''. A version of the character also appeared in the ''ComicBook/Batman66'' comic series set in the 1960s ''Series/{{Batman|1966}}'' TV continuity.
* Raoh from ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' eventually grabbed the title of the de-facto BigBad for the first series and by the end he had the spotlight as a VillainProtagonist. Raoh was developed quite a lot more than many other villains in the series who often suffered from being heinously evil, sometimes with a tragic backstory tacked on right at the end. As such, Raoh has received more spinoffs than any other supporting character.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
** While Dio Brando may act as the GreaterScopeVillain for the series as a whole, he only acts as the BigBad of the series for ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood Phantom Blood]]'' and ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]''. Despite this, he continues to remain the series' most popular villain and one of its most popular characters, largely thanks to his status as the series [[FountainOfMemes biggest source of memes]], to the point that even people who aren't familiar with the series know who he is. As a result, he continues to have a major role in most of the series' spin-off material.
** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'':
*** Hol Horse was [[HeelFaceTurn originally going to join the Crusaders]], [[WhatCouldHaveBeen but this was scrapped due to Araki feeling he was too similar to Polnareff in personality]]. This didn't stop him from becoming the most popular minor villain in the series, resulting in him becoming the Part's only recurring minor villain, and managing to show up in all of the series [[VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureHeritageForTheFuture spin-off]] [[VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureAllStarBattle fighting]] [[VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureEyesOfHeaven games]]. To put this in perspective, Hol Horse was originally an AssistCharacter to J. Geil in the manga, but in the video games, it's the other way around. He even managed to costar in [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureCrazyDiamondsDemonicHeartbreak his own side story]].
*** Midler only has a very short appearance in the manga and anime, with the audience not even getting to see her face during it. She still became popular enough to get an appearance (and a [[AdaptationalSkimpiness rede]][[SultryBellyDancer sign]]) as a playable character in ''[[VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureHeritageForTheFuture Heritage for the Future]]''.
*** Daniel J. D'Arby is a minor villain whose story arc has little bearing on the plot. He's still the second most popular minor villain behind Hol Horse. As a result, he was one of the two minor villains not omitted from the OVA series (the other being N'Doul), and even became a special PuzzleBoss in ''[[VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureEyesOfHeaven Eyes of Heaven]]''.
** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'':
*** Akira Otoishi may be the Part's DiscOneFinalBoss, but beyond that, he doesn't have that much going for him in terms of the manga or anime. He's still popular enough to be a playable character in both ''[[VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureAllStarBattle All-Star Battle]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureEyesOfHeaven Eyes of Heaven]]''.
*** While Yoshikage Kira may be the BigBad of the Part, he only shows up around the Part's midway point and is also the least relevant main antagonist to the series' [[MythArc overarching plot]]. Despite this, he's probably the series' second most well known main villain behind Dio, thanks to his interesting motivation and, like Dio, one of the series [[FountainOfMemes biggest sources of memes]]. He even managed to get his own spin-off manga.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' has Charlotte the Dessert Witch. Though she only appeared in one episode and was killed off by its end, her act of killing Mami sprung her to popularity levels none of the other Witches could have ever hoped to reach. She got so popular that the series revealed her identity as a Magi!
* In ''Anime/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', though she's not a villain for most of the series, [[spoiler:Shion]] is an iconic and often referenced antagonist character, making it on a lot of "top anime villain" lists too. It helps that the arc that focuses on her as a villain, in a series that's notoriously gory, is notorious for being the goriest storyline.

* The main bad guy of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'' cartoons, Bluto, started off as a minor one-shot villain in the original E.C. Segar comics, only appearing briefly in a 1932 story. The Creator/FleischerStudios cartoons upgraded him to recurring villain status, and this made him as iconic as Popeye and Olive.

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', the [[EvilSorcerer Archmage]] was originally only supposed to be a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Villain of the Week]], but creator Creator/GregWeisman liked Creator/DavidWarner's voice acting so much he decided to bring him back, making him the villain of the three-part "Avalon" arc through a StableTimeLoop and a couple [[ArtifactOfDoom Artifacts of Doom]].
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Bill Cipher]] started out as a one-shot antagonist in the first season: though his iconography was [[EasterEgg hidden in the background throughout,]] he was intended to be more of a ChaoticNeutral trickster than a BigBad. But when it turned out the fans loved him, he got a promotion, and ultimately ends up as the greatest evil in the series.
* Negaduck from ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck''. After the Negaduck I episode, Tad Stones (the Show Runner) said he liked Negaduck and wanted him brought back for more episodes; this resulted in Negaduck II, who the fandom embraced as perhaps not just the most popular villain but the most popular ''character'' on the show, period. When [[Comicbook/DarkwingDuck the revival comic book]] came around, the writer has said that he intended to have a F.O.W.L. story for the second arc and a Negaduck story for the third arc, but sheer fan demand made him swap the order. He's also the first DWD villain to get his own comic series, which happened when Dynamite Entertainment got the rights to make a new ''Darkwing Duck'' comic in 2023.
* ''Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls'':
** [[ThePsychoRangers The Rowdyruff Boys]] were originally one-shot {{evil|Counterpart}} [[DistaffCounterpart spear]] counterparts of the titular heroines that got killed off at the end of the episode. Fan popularity ensured that they were brought back several times.
** [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016 In the reboot]], [[MadScientist Silico]] started off as just another new villain in the Powerpuff Girls' RoguesGallery. However, due to being [[KnightOfCerebus a surprisingly serious antagonist]] in an otherwise LighterAndSofter reboot, he quickly became the most popular new villain, resulting in him getting notably more episodes than his contemporaries.
* Plankton (and Karen) of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. According to [[WordOfSaintPaul Plankton's voice actor]] (Mr. Lawrence), Plankton "was only supposed to be in one or two episodes," but since Lawrence was a writer on the show, he wrote more episodes about him. After a while, Plankton and Karen got [[SpotlightStealingSquad more time in the spotlight]], and they were both promoted to the "Main Cast" in the credits of the [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie 2004 movie]]. They have been the show's main villains ever since.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'', while Sgt Blob and his minions Frizz and Nug were always the consistant villains, they were merely mooks to the real BigBad Zordrak initially, with the story designed with Rufus as the intended main character initially. Within a short duration of episodes, both the heroes and Zordrak were DemotedToExtra with Blob's men usually acting as {{Villain Protagonist}}s. In later seasons Urpgor also gets larger roles and sometimes eclipsed even the other Urpney squad in screentime.

* ''Franchise/Ben10'':
** [[DarkMagicalGirl Charmcaster]] initially was introduced merely as a niece and sidekick for Gwen's originally intended ArchEnemy Hex. In the end, Hex only got a few more appearances where he gradually became less and less important over the course of the franchise, while Charmcaster had several additional appearances, CharacterDevelopment and became more of an ArchEnemy to Gwen than he ever was. In the 2016 reboot, Hex is now one of Ben's enemies while Charmcaster, is Gwen's sole ArchEnemy from the start.
** [[EvilTwin Albedo]] was first introduced as a one-episode villain in ''Alien Force'', who came back for the finale of season 3 and had a few appearances in ''Ultimate Alien''. He was so popular the writers eventually ascended him to BigBad for a whole story arc in ''Omniverse''.
** [[VileVillainSaccharineShow Malware]] was one of several new villains introduced in ''Omniverse'', and quickly became the most popular of them all, generally being seen as being tied to the most well-received parts of the series and a competitor for Ben's arch-enemy despite having one series to appear in versus the multiple series that the other villains who compete for the title have appeared in (such as Z'skaryr, the aforementioned Albedo, and mutant Kevin).
** [[GalacticConqueror Vilgax]] earned quite the popularity due to his badass fighting skills, menacing appearance, imposing roles as the [[BigBad main/true main antagonist of so many shows]], JokerImmunity, fearsome reputation to the point where he even inspired fear in Ben himself, and [[Monster/WesternAnimation Darkseid-level monstrosity]]. Though his popularity has waned in recent years due to being one of the tragic cases of {{Flanderization}} and VillainDecay, by the time the reboot has started, Vilgax has once again wowed fans with his menacing and [[KnightOfCerebus dark]] presence. In fact, he was so popular that he was even considered to be the most iconic and recognizable villain in the entire franchise, even surpassing the aforementioned Albedo in infamy.
* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'': Tirac from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyRescueAtMidnightCastle'' was only a one-shot villain who got killed off in his premiere, but he became the most popular villain in the G1 continuity for being [[VileVillainSaccharineShow a surprisingly vile piece of work]]. Fast forward a few decades to ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' and his new incarnation became a SatanicArchetype and the antagonist for the fourth season's finale, as well as a major recurring villain in the final season. Similarly, Grogar from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'' was a oneshot villain from a four-episode serial but was powerful and memorable enough to become the leader of the villains ([[spoiler:or not, as it turns out he was actually Discord in disguise]]) in ''Friendship is Magic'''s final season.
** For an internal example in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is Queen Chrysalis, who has become the series first recurring villain with three full-scale appearances to date[[note]]Not counting enemies that appeared in flashbacks or the altered {{Bad Future}}s, of course[[/note]]. Though she's undergone some VillainDecay as of her third appearance, she's still a dangerous force to be reckoned with who's managed two subsequent {{Near Villain Victor|y}}ies that only failed due to ''sheer luck'' and outright spat in the face of any offers of redemption.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': Knock Out is one of the most popular characters on the show, his hilarious antics and vanity earned him a lot of fans, even amongst the show-runners. This probably contributed to [[spoiler:him surviving to the end and pulling a HeelFaceTurn]], and he even got [[CanonImmigrant immigrated]] to the IDW comics, debuting in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersWindblade''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Mr. Crocker originally was just a back-up villain, really no bigger than [[TheBully Francis]]. Since Season 7 onwards he seems to have replaced Vicky as the main antagonist, appearing in almost every episode, even if they have to make a side story for him.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'':
** Mr. Boss was featured in a single episode in Season 1 as Numbuh 4's dad's boss at work and the primary villain of that episode. He was then used in a single episode in Season 2 with the sole purpose of gathering other recurring villains together for a theater meeting. From Season 3 and onwards, Mr. Boss would be used more often until he was the go-to character if a story needed a VillainTeamUp, and he would be much more active in his leadership role.
** Count Spankulot first appeared simply as a punchline for one scene in which he showed up at the Treehouse, spanked the operatives, and fled, never to be seen for a long time. As the seasons went by, he became notable for being the one villain the main characters never defeated and was given CharacterDevelopment as a TragicMonster later on.
* The Dark Princess in ''WesternAnimation/RainbowBrite'' was originally the antagonist of the movie, with Murky and Lurky being the series' usual villains, but she was brought back for the final TV episode and became the main villain of every reboot of the series.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz started out as the antagonist of the B-Plot involving the boy's secret agent pet, Perry the Platypus. Before long, Doof wound up getting a lot more prominence, with heavier focus on his and Perry's battles, more manically tragic (and hilarious) backstories, a great deal of HiddenDepths, and an increased focus on his equally popular daughter Vanessa and his robot assistant Norm. He even got his own Twitter account, a weekly web series entitled "Doof's Daily Dirt" (for AlliterativeTitle), and a prominent role in the second season of ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw''. His voice actor, series co-creator Dan Povenmire, even does the voice every now and then for his followers on [=TikTok=].
* "Western Animation/Wakfu": The main villain of season 1 Nox is so well liked among the fandom so much so that out of all the villains/antagonists in the show he is usually considered the best one due to his complexity and motives leading to him making a flashback appearance and getting mentioned in season 2, his armor and remains of his clock fortress being seen in the OVA's and him finally making a return in season 3 albeit as one of Oropo's illusions. The only other villain to rival Nox in terms of popularity would have to be the season 2 antagonist Qilby who is also popular but is ultimately more irredeemable due to his actions having a more severe impact on the plot and being a much crueler character.

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** Loki played by Creator/TomHiddleston has exploded in popularity as the villain in both ''Film/{{Thor}}'' and ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', becoming probably the most popular character in the universe after Tony Stark. [[https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/03/loki-marvel-cinematic-universe-best-character-challenge-tom-hiddleston In a poll]] published by ''USA Today'' on March 28, 2018, Loki was voted as the most popular MCU character.
** Much later, ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' had Thanos come along and steal the show. It's pretty much [[VillainProtagonist his movie]] with the Avengers themselves reacting to his plans, and the story focusing on his journey to achieving his goal. He's now widely considered to be one of, if not the best MCU villain.
** Nebula, Gamora's antagonistic sister from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', started out mostly as an obstacle for the team to overcome who overall wasn't very important story wise. However, her complex circumstances and the performance by her actress lead her to have increasingly larger roles until she has one of the biggest primary arcs in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' over characters who are full on Avengers.

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': [[TheChessmaster Lionel]] [[ManipulativeBastard Luthor]], [[LonelyRichKid Lex's]] CorruptCorporateExecutive AbusiveDad was originally meant to appear in only a few episodes of Season 1 as a way of making [[MadDictatorsHandsomeSon Lex's]] FreudianExcuse seem more poignant. Lionel was written into Season 2 as a major antagonist and RecurringCharacter, and became the BigBad of Season 3. In the process he gained new dimensions to his character and his own FreudianExcuse becoming an EvenEvilHasStandards ArchnemesisDad who was himself the product of AbusiveParents. He was later [[DemonicPossession possessed]] by Jor-El and made a HeelFaceTurn, becoming a dark {{Mentor|s}} figure to [[TheHero Clark]]. KilledOffForReal in Season 7 by [[SelfMadeOrphan Lex]], Glover and Lionel returned to the show in Season 10 as [[AlternateUniverse Earth-2]] Lionel, an [[EvilTwin Eviler Twin]] of our Lionel, who was TheHeavy for most of the last part of the show. In some ways Lionel, and not Lex as was originally intended, became ''Smallville'''s defining villain. Lionel, and Glover's portrayal of him, resonated so well that he was written into the comics as Lex Luthor's canonical (and deceased) father. While Lex had obviously always had a (deceased by the time of the "present day") father, this character had never had a consistent name or physical appearance and usually had no importance. But ever since ''Smallville'', Lex's father is explicitly named "Lionel Luthor" and flashback scenes have depicted him as looking very similar to actor Creator/JohnGlover. A zombiefied, Black Lantern version of Lionel even showed up for revenge against Lex in ''ComicBook/BlackestNight''.

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
*** Raina was originally intended to be a minor villain, but the writers and fans found the character so entertaining that she was given a greatly expanded role in the plot, until pulling off a memorable RedemptionEqualsDeath.
*** Grant Ward is an unusual case in that he was on the show as a regular from the pilot, but ostensibly as one of the heroes. Then around two-thirds of the way through the first season, it's suddenly revealed that he was a member of HYDRA and TheMole on Coulson's team. By WordOfGod, the point of the character was to add weight to the reveal HYDRA had taken over S.H.I.E.L.D. by having a close and personal betrayal amongst the main cast, there were no long-term plans for the character and as originally scripted he would have died in the season 1 finale. However, after seeing the impact the twist had on the show, the character's [[DracoInLeatherPants newfound popularity]], and Brett Dalton's CreepyAwesome portrayal of Ward post-turn, they decided to keep him around as a recurring antagonist for season 2. Eventually he was killed off in season 3... Only for his body to come back possessed by the GreaterScopeVillain. And then in the S3 finale, his possessed body was blown up ''in orbit'', finally stopping him from ever reappearing in the show...[[spoiler: until in S4 the characters venture into a virtual alternate reality, and guess who's back '''again.''']]
** Agatha Harkness from ''Series/WandaVision'' is one of the more popular MCU villains thanks to Creator/KathrynHahn's acting as well as her incredibly catchy VillainSong that went #1 on iTunes. Because of this, she is one of the few MCU villains to actually get their own Creator/DisneyPlus show as of 2021.[[note]]The other two MCU villains to get their Creator/DisneyPlus shows at the time of the announcement of Agatha's own show are Loki (who is a BreakoutVillain for the MCU films) and Echo (in which her series was announced before [[Series/Hawkeye2021 the series she debut]] even aired).[[/note]]
* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'':
** '''Malcolm Merlyn.''' He was obviously intended to be killed off at the end of the first season of {{Series/Arrow}}, left for dead by Oliver. And then he showed up again in season 2, alive and well, without any real explanation. Then he got an even bigger role in season 3 as the TokenEvilTeammate, culminating in him taking over the League of Assassins. Then, after losing that position in season 4, he spitefully joined forces with that season's BigBad Damien Darhk. ''Then'' he showed up in Series/LegendsOfTomorrow as part of the Legion of Doom, slowly making his way back through the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor. His last proper appearance was at the end of Arrow season 5, where he sacrificed himself to save his daughter Thea's life.
** Speaking of Damien Darhk, after dying at the end of Arrow season 4, he was ''also'' brought back to be part of the Legion of Doom on Legends of Tomorrow. And then he was brought back again the next season as the servant of Demon Lord Malus. His last appearance (so far) was in season 5 of Legends. Raised from hell to... raise some hell, he instead reconciled with his daughter and apologized to the Legends, before killing himself again with a soul-destroying sword.
** The Reverse Flash. While he is the Flash's arch-nemesis in the comics, He was ''literally'' erased from existence at the end of season 1. That didn't stop the writers from bringing him back in season 2 via time travel. And again in season 3. And in season 2 of Legends of Tommorrow, where he was, '''''again''''', erased from existence. Then he showed up (with barely a hand-wave) during the 2017 [[Series/CrisisOnEarthX cross-over]]. He showed up in season 5 of the Flash and became the BigBad again. His latest appearance, [=Post-Crisis=], he's been reduced to the equivalent of a ghost trying to possess Nash Wells' body. Though the Reverse Flash's spirit was exorcised, no-one in-universe or out believes he's gone for good.
** Jon Cryer's Lex Luthor on ''{{Series/Supergirl}}'' seems to be one of these, helped by the fact that the actor seems to be having a ball with the role. He appeared as the BigBad at the end of season 4 and was killed by his sister Lena... but was then revived by The Monitor to participate in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. Where he ''literally'' wrote himself to be one of the saviors of the multi-verse. And made himself Supergirl's boss in the revived universe. Since then, he's been a regular on ''Supergirl'' season 5, scheming to gain even more power.

* Harley Quinn, everyone's favorite VillainousHarlequin ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. She was originally invented as a one-shot female henchmen to leap out of Commissioner Gordon's cake (the censors allowed The Joker to do it instead), and an overwhelming fan response turned her into a recurring villain and a CanonImmigrant into the comics. She even went on to be one of the few villains to [[BatmanGambit Out-Batman Gambit]] Batman himself and come ''this close'' to actually killing him. In 2016, she became the breakout star of ''Film/{{Suicide Squad|2016}}'' -- Creator/MargotRobbie's performance as her was one of the few things universally praised about the otherwise divisive film, even managing to steal the show from the long-awaited cinematic return of ''The Joker himself''.

* Mad Stan from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' was originally a one-shot joke villain thrown in to make Terry miss his date with Dana. The fans [[LargeHam loved him]], and he eventually became a regular member of the RoguesGallery.

* "Western Animation/Wakfu": The main villain of season 1 Nox is so well liked among the fandom so much so that out of all the villains/antagonists in the show he is usually considered the best one due to his complexity and motives leading to him making a flashback appearance and getting mentioned in season 2, his armor and remains of his clock fortress being seen in the OVA's and him finally making a return in season 3 albeit as one of Oropo's illusions. The only other villain to rival Nox in terms of popularity would have to be the season 2 antagonist Qilby who is also popular but is ultimately more irredeemable due to his actions having a more severe impact on the plot and being a much crueler character.

** Khan started out as just another VillainOfTheWeek for Kirk to defeat in [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original TV series]]. He got to return in ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan The Wrath of Khan]]'' as one of the series' most notable villains. [[spoiler: He even got to show up in ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'' as [[BigBadEnsemble one of the main villains.]]]]

** Khan started out as just another VillainOfTheWeek for Kirk to defeat. He got to return in ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan The Wrath of Khan]]'' as one of the series' most notable villains. [[spoiler: He even got to show up in ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'' as [[BigBadEnsemble one of the main villains.]]]]

*** Midler only has a very short appearance in the manga and anime, with the audience not even getting to see her face during it. She still became popular enough to get an appearance (and a [[AdaptationalSkimpiness rede]][[BellyDancer sign]]) as a playable character in ''[[VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureHeritageForTheFuture Heritage for the Future]]''.

* On ''Series/ICarly'', Neville was originally going to be a one-shot villain, but he had since become a recurring villain out and the gang's ArchEnemy. Creator/DanSchneider even called him ComicBook/TheJoker to Carly's Franchise/{{Batman}}.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Similar to Ridley, Metal Sonic was originally just TheDragon to Dr. Eggman, appearing only as a boss in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD, and just one in a long line of [[RobotMe robotic ripoffs of Sonic]]. Eventually, his popularity skyrocketed to the point where [[spoiler: he was made the BigBad of ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes''.]] He's generally considered the second most prominent villain after Eggman himself.

** VideoGame/{{Wario|Land}}. The ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'' games felt like {{Gaiden Game}}s to the main franchise, and then part 2 featured this fellow, and the next one starred him, and he turned AntiHero. Since then he's been a mainstay of the ''Mario'' franchise.
** You also have Wario's partner/possible brother Waluigi. He debuted in one of the ''VideoGame/MarioTennis'' games, and since then has appeared in every spinoff game without fail, gaining loads upon loads of fans.

** In the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation version of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'', Albert Wesker was just a standard horror movie stock character (the obligatory traitor who gets eaten by the monster in the end, Paul Rieser's character from ''Aliens''). However, following his return in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'', he managed to pretty quickly be built up to be the BigBad of the entire series over the course of the following decade up until his last appearance in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5''.

* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'': Oersted’s whole story and significance to the game’s overarching plot became ''the'' main attraction of the title in the opinion of many fans, due the extreme tragic nature of his character and what drove him into villainy; indeed, it is as Oersted is the reference of choice in ''Final Fantasy Legends'' and ''Theatrhythm Final Fantasy'' for smartphones to celebrate ''Live A Live''’s 20th anniversary, a boss fight against him is the feature in ''Legends'' and a stage featuring Oesrted in the background in ''Theatrhythm'' with two songs from the game, Odio’s themes. It even culminated in him getting equal billing with the seven heroes when the 2022 remake for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch had been announced.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Similar to Ridley, Metal Sonic was originally just TheDragon to Dr. Eggman, appearing only as a boss in Sonic CD, and just one in a long line of [[RobotMe robotic ripoffs of Sonic]]. Eventually, his popularity skyrocketed to the point where [[spoiler: he was made the BigBad of ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes''.]] He's generally considered the second most prominent villain after Eggman himself.
** This also seems to be happening with Zazz and Zavok, two members of the Deadly Six from ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld''. Zazz appears in ''VideoGame/SonicDash'' as the only boss other than Eggman, he also appears in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games]]'' as a playable alongside Zavok, and is also the focus of an event in ''VideoGame/SonicRunners''. Zavok also returns as one of the main villains in ''VideoGame/SonicForces'', [[spoiler:albeit as a fake projection]] and as a playable character in ''VideoGame/TeamSonicRacing''. Thereby making them the only two members to appear in other subsequent games so far.

* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' has [[TheBaroness Selvaria Bles]], a General serving the Imperial Alliance [[PhysicalGod and is a Valkyrur]], making her the most powerful threat Squad 7 and Gallia as a whole to face. She is very popular with fans for [[MsFanservice her curvaceous design]] and [[AntiVillain backstory]], receiving plenty of merchandise and DLC focusing on her. She also makes several non-canon and canon appearances in further games in the series [[spoiler:despite dying as a FantasticNuke in the first game]] as well as guest appearances in other games such as ''VideoGame/SEGAHeroes'' as part of the ''Valkyria Chronicles'' team as their Legendary unit.

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' the [[EvilSorcerer Archmage]] was originally only supposed to be a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Villain Of The Week]], but creator Greg Weisman liked David Warner's voice acting so much he decided to bring him back, making him the villain of the three-part "Avalon" arc through a StableTimeLoop and a couple [[ArtifactOfDoom Artifacts of Doom]].

* ''Series/{{Justified}'':

** Although Gul Dukat appeared in the pilot episode, he was never intended to be a recurring character...but Marc Alaimo just played him so ''well''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'': Old game it may be, there are some bosses that becomes really memorable that they may end up getting re-used for future titles.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': Hades, despite having no redeeming qualities whatsoever, Creator/JamesWoods' spirited portrayal of him made Hades one of the most iconic and popular Disney villains. He's even the star of the stage musical ''Villains Tonight!'' That has to say something considering the competition from other Disney villains.

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':

** While Dio Brando may act as the GreaterScopeVillain for the series as a whole, he only acts as the BigBad of the series for ''Manga/PhantomBlood'' and ''Manga/StardustCrusaders''. Despite this, he continues to remain the series' most popular villain and one of its most popular characters, largely thanks to his status as the series [[FountainOfMemes biggest source of memes]], to the point that even people who aren't familiar with the series know who he is. As a result, he continues to have a major role in most of the series' spin-off material.
** ''Manga/StardustCrusaders'':

** ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable'':

* ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'': The series has many staple antagonist who are loved by the fan base, this includes: Daisaku Kuze from ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'', Akira Nishikiyama from ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'', Ryuji Goda from ''VideoGame/Yakuza2'' and more. The latter 2 are known for appearing in subsequent games besides the remakes of their debut titles, Nishiki in ''0'' and Ryuji in ''VideoGame/YakuzaDeadSouls''.

* Despite being one of the most famous elements of the franchise, Cuca from the Brazilian children book series ''Literature/SitioDoPicapauAmarelo'' actually only appeared by the end of the book "O Saci", and while she was more dangerous and proeminent in the story than the other creatures from Myth/BrazilianFolklore Pedrinho and Saci had encountered by then, she was defeated rather easily, being wrapped up in vines while she was sleeping. The TV adaptations however, turned the alligator-headed witch into the [[BigBad main villain of the series]] and a recurring antagonist, causing most of the problems for the protagonists in the farm. Most subsequent adaptations continued to use the her as one of the main characters.