History Main / BreakOutVillain

* ''KimPossible'''s Shego, originally "just a henchman" to Dr. Drakken who curiously enough has also benefitted from her popularity: even though he gets outshined by his own assistant on the popularity polls it was thanks to this that he also became the second most important villain in the series.

* A remarkably well done example is Bishop Ladja of ''DragonQuestV''. In the original SNES game, while he did have some presence in the plot, he was ultimately a minor villain who showed only a mild evil and [[spoiler:dies less then halfway through the game]]. The DS remake propells him into this, giving him a unique appearence, replacing King Korol with him as TheDragon, giving him much more screentime, and most of all, turning him from a run of the mill villain to arguably the biggest CompleteMonster in the entire series.

* [[MadScientist Wilhelm]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Deathshead"]] [[RetCon Strauss/Strasse]] of the [[ThoseWackyNazis SS Paranormal Division]] gets this in the ''ReturnToCastleWolfenstein'' - Wolf 2009 series, mainly due to his status as being the sole surviving Nazi of any prominance in "Return" besides [[DoomedByCanon Himmler.]]

** Well, considering the circumstances...[[spoiler: He WAS given quite an episode just to himself, and being the Last Angel and most powerful overall...along with actually reaching his objective, along with a host of other elements basically makes him quite a One Episode Wonder. Besides, the Angels DO need a better "face" then Sachiel's Mask so Kaworu gets that role. Considering he also holds the Soul of Adam, the First Angel, there's really no one else suitable to be so important as a potential Antagonist.]]

* ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' - Kaworu Nagisa: Few villainous characters have appeared for so short an amount of time (approx. 12 minutes on-screen of the 24-minute episode), yet left such an impression on any one series. Since Kaworu's appearance, and death, in episode 24 of ''Evangelion'', the fan response to his character has been so abnormally outstanding that Kaworu has appeared as a main character in nearly every subsequent incarnation/retelling/sidestory/etc. of the series, including the ''Evangelion'' manga series, ''AngelicDays'' manga, games, and the upcoming ''RebuildOfEvangelion'' series.

* ''SuperMarioBros'' - Bowser: Before ''Super Mario Bros'', the portly plumber tangled with a lot of nasty foes. Donkey Kong, Foreman Spike, and random unorganized critters (though some did look similar to Koopas). But once ''Super Mario Bros'' hit the scene, it was Mario's defining moment, and from that day forth, the Koopa troop and its fearless leader would be his most prominent nemesis. This seems even more dramatic in America, where Bowser was in fact absent for a game before making a triumphant reappearance in Super Mario Bros 3. In this case it was the unforeseen popularity of the game that caused Bowser to become a Breakout Villain.

** TheJoker: Believe it or not, the villain of villains, the Clown Prince of Crime, the one crazy SOB who can make Satan shit in his pants just by laughing, was not originally intended to be ''the'' {{Batman}} villain, let alone the most well-known villain in comic history. According to the other wiki: "He was slated to be killed in his second appearance, but editor Whitney Ellsworth suggested that the character be spared. A hastily drawn panel, demonstrating that the Joker was still alive, was subsequently added to the comic." 60 years later, The Joker outshines Lex Luthor, Magneto, et all for "most recognizable villain in comics," and thanks to [[TheDarkKnight a certain recent movie]], has also become infamous as one of the most heinously evil individuals in all fiction.

* Murdoc the MasterOfDisguise assassin on ''MacGyver''. Originally a one-episode villain, his use of creative schemes and deathtraps made him a good foil for master-of-improvisation MacGyver himself, so they kept bringing him back about once a season (due to his NeverFoundTheBody and StayingAlive tendencies), and he's now remembered as MacGyver's ArchEnemy.

** Though not a character, Kryptonite was first introduced in the radio series as a way to give Superman's voice actor a rest. This AchillesHeel became a defining element of the Superman mythos. An [[WhatCouldHaveBeen unpublished comic book script]] well before the radio show had something called "K-Metal", which amounted to the same thing as Kryptonite. The reason the script was never published? [[StatusQuoIsGod Lois Lane found out Superman's identity]].

* [[CaptainMarvel Black Adam]]: Captain Marvel was such a [[FunPersonified happy, fun, feel-good-superhero series]] at first... [[SarcasmMode thank Christ]] that Black Adam came along. Originally intended as a one-shot baddy back in the 40's, Black Adam has [[HesBack come back in force]] since ''CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', to become the most powerful villain/antihero of not only Captain Marvel mythos, but also one of the most powerful villains in the whole of the DC Universe.\\

* While Revolver Ocelot manages to survive the events of the original ''MetalGearSolid'', there's really nothing to suggest that he is anything more than a mole planted into Liquid Snake's rebellion by the U.S. President. However, subsequent ''MetalGear'' games depicted Ocelot as a chessmaster who shifts allegiances from one faction to another, while keeping his true motives to himself.

* On ''{{Gargoyles}}'' the [[EvilSorcerer Archmage]] was originally only supposed to be a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Villain Of The Week]], but creator Greg Weisman liked David Wagner'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]].

** Also, [[EldritchAbomination the First Evil]] was originally set to be the BiggerBad--totally evil, but so vast that it wouldn't really show up very much. It eventually returned as the BigBad of the final season, however, mainly due to its ability to appear as all the other Breakout Villains from seasons past.

** Also, [[EldritchAbomination the First Evil]] was originally set to be the BiggerBad--totally evil, but so vast that it wouldn't really show up very much. It eventually returned as the BigBad of the final season, however.

* ''StarWars'' - Boba Fett: Boba Fett's presence in the movies was... minimal, at best. But oooooh, has he become a staple of the ''StarWars'' Expanded Universe. Much contention has been made over his survival after being ingested by the Sarlacc ([[GeorgeLucas Lucas]] [[WordOfGod says]] he died; Dark Horse comics along with most fans say he survived), but his popularity cannot be debated. Boba Fett is, to most fans, as integral to the plot as any other characters - in some respects, much more important and likable to the series as a whole.\\
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Lucas' opinion has recently shifted to "SureWhyNot?," and he actually considered adding in a scene of him surviving in the 2006 [=DVD=] of ''Return of the Jedi''. Tellingly, Boba has a bigger role as a little boy in ''AttackOfTheClones'' than he did as an adult in the original trilogy.\\
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Remember the scene in ''A New Hope'' where Han and Jabba converse in the hangar bay? Originally Boba Fett wasn't in the scene. He was added when the scene was finished for the 1997 re-release, partly to include another joining thread in the trilogy and partly because of how popular he is (The scene ends with him actually nodding to the camera). Most likely, this has a lot to due with the original toy, which was not originally available through normal retail outlets. You had to send in proofs of purchase (or something like that) from other Star Wars toys. This raised interest in the character because such a big deal was made out of the toy.

** In the first Two-Face story, Batman persuaded him to turn himself in and submit to any needed psychotherapy and surgery by loading a coin to land on its edge, and he did it and got better. They brought back another version and then had him revert.

Remember the scene in ''A New Hope'' where Han and Jabba converse in the hangar bay? Originally Boba Fett wasn't in the scene. He was added when the scene was finished for the 1997 re-release, partly to include another joining thread in the trilogy and partly because of how popular he is. Most likely, this has a lot to due with the original toy, which was not originally available through normal retail outlets. You had to send in proofs of purchase (or something like that) from other Star Wars toys. This raised interest in the character because such a big deal was made out of the toy.

* [[CaptainMarvel Black Adam]]: Captain Marvel was such a [[FunPersonified happy, fun, feel-good-superhero series]] at first... [[SarcasmMode thank christ]] that Black Adam came along. Originally intended as a one-shot baddy back in the 40's, Black Adam has [[HesBack come back in force]] since ''CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', to become the most powerful villain/antihero of not only Captain Marvel mythos, but also one of the most powerful villains in the whole of the DC Universe.\\

* Professor James Moriarty, created by Sir ArthurConanDoyle to be a one-time opponent of SherlockHolmes, and to bring about Holmes' demise. In fact, Moriarty was only given more than a passing mention ''three times'' in Doyle's work - the story where he appeared, and apparently killed Holmes; and the following story, which brought Holmes BackFromTheDead, and in this it's only Moriarty's men; a third story, written much later but set earlier, uses him as a brief DiabolusExMachina. ''Every'' author, director, fan, etc. afterwards, though, has made Moriarty ''the'' villain of Sherlock Holmes, lifting him to the point of mythical status among literary characters; to the modern viewer, it's inconceivable to have an original Holmes movie or television series with original Holmes mysteries without having Moriarty as the central, most important villain.\\
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Another "villain" to become central to the Holmes Universe (i.e. original canon ''and'' adaptations), despite her one appearance, is Irene Adler, who is the ''only'' woman to ''ever'' outwit Holmes. In Doyle's stories, he does make a few fleeting mentions of her as the only person whom Holmes never beat - though hardly as many as one might be led to expect by adaptations\\
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{{Fanon}} has retconned both Moriarty and Irene into the Holmes mythos. There is now a timeline of cases where Holmes clashed with Moriarty's organization, and it's a popular ttheme in homages and pastiches that Sherlock and Irene had a tryst during Holmes's absence after Reichenbach.\\
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Colonel Sebastian Moran, Moriarty's [[TheDragon right-hand man]]. The story that brought about Holmes's resurrection established that he was there when Holmes killed Moriarty, even spontaneously attempting to finish the job, then proceeds to become a Breakout Villain himself. One of the few characters that gets mentioned in several stories, despite only appearing in one, to the point where he's sometimes Watson's full blown EvilCounterpart.

** TheRiddler was featured in a whopping ''two'' stories in his debut year (1948) before being promptly forgotten for nearly twenty years. After being brought back into the comics (just in time for the [[{{Series/Batman}} sixties show]]), he climbed his way up to the highest tier of the Bat-Rogues almost overnight.
** [[JonathanCrane Scarecrow]] was featured in only two stories as well, neither of them memorable in the least. Then came a certain issue of ''{{The Brave and The Bold}}'' comic book that gave him his fear gas... and the rest is history.

Not every hero has an archvillain... initially. Sometimes, though, a villain will be introduced who ends up being a BreakoutCharacter in his/her own right, and thus a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Villain of the Week]] becomes ''the'' villain of the ''series''.

Note that this is the '''accidental''' creation of an archenemy, not ExecutiveMeddling of "let's make an archenemy for X-character": a Breakout Villain is one who was meant to be a one-shot throw-away that, through fan/author/executive/all-of-the-above response became not only a staple villain, but ''the'' villain of the series.