History Main / NotSoHarmless

* Abizz Mal of ''{{Aladdin}}'' is mostly by far the least threatening of Aladdin's RoguesGallery, but there are times when he's managed to not only get the upper hand, but come dangerously close to winning, such as when [[spoiler:he took advantage of Jasmine's amnesia in order to brainwash her into a fanatically loyal, nigh-unstoppable [[OneManArmy One Woman Army.]].

** In her debut episode, Toph herself is revealed to be this as well. Awwwww, look at that blind girl, there's no way she can hur - [[OhGodWithTheVerbing SWEET HOLY ROKU, WITH THE]] [[DishingOutDirt EARTHBENDING]] [[CuteBruiser AND ASS-KICKING]] [[CurbStompBattle AND POTENTIAL BREAKING OF BONES!!!]]

* Five words: "[[BewareTheNiceOnes You're...]] [[CuteButPsycho going...]] [[{{Yandere}} to]] '''''[[FreakOut LOVE]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!]]'''''"

* Five Words: "[[BewareTheNiceOnes You're...]] [[CuteButPsycho going...]] [[{{Yandere}} to]] '''''[[FreakOut LOVE]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!]]'''''"

* "[[BewareTheNiceOnes You're...]] [[CuteButPsycho going...]] [[{{Yandere}} to]] '''''[[FreakOut LOVE]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!]]'''''"

* Five words: "[[BewareTheNiceOnes You're...]] [[CuteButPsycho going...]] [[{{Yandere}} to]] '''''[[FreakOut LOVE]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!]]'''''"

* Five words: "[[BewareTheNiceOnes You're...]] [[CuteButPsycho going...]] [[Yandere to]] '''''[[FreakOut LOVE]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!]]'''''"

** In her debut episode, Toph herself is revealed to be this as well. Awwwww, look at that blind girl, there's no way she can hur - [[OhGodTheVerbing SWEET HOLY ROKU,]] [[DishingOutDirt THE EARTHBENDING]] [[CuteBruiser AND ASS-KICKING]] [[CurbStompBattle AND POTENTIAL BREAKING OF BONES!!!]]

* [[DragonBallZ Majin Buu.]] When he first shows up, he acts like an innocent toddler, and everybody's default reaction is "WTF?" (save Supreme Kai, who knows all too well what Buu is capable of). Then he starts effortlessly pwning the strongest characters in the series, devouring thousands of people at a time by turning them into ''candy'', and [[NighInvulnerability shrugging off mortal wounds as though they are nothing.]] Then his [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt evil side is unleashed...]]

* Similar to the Batman example above, ''{{Superman Returns}}'' does this to Lex Luthor. In the Donner films, He was an intelligent villain but was really more the scene-stealing comic relief. Luthor ,as played by Kevin Spacey, is an icy Sociopath with a burning hatred of Superman and a complete and utter lack of morals . While the Donner Films showed him as amoral but cowardly, Luthor here personally lays a beatdown on Superman and even stabs him with a knife made of Kryptonite. It is quite shocking to see in a film which seems to deliberately avoid making the ''Darker and Edgier'' trope.

** Dr. Drakken was never really that competent for 99% of the series, but his scheme in ''[[TheMovie So the Drama]]'' very nearly worked.
** "99%" is a disservice. Most of his schemes ''nearly'' work, but always have some fatal flaw that destroys them, or if not that, then that damn cheerleader always wrecks things. ''[[TheMovie So the Drama]]'' saw him succeed on a grander scale, though, mostly due to [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy finally learning from his past mistakes]].
** You think that was impressive? In the second finale, he underwent a plant mutation that at first made it look like he was [[OneWingedAngel turning into a monster]], but then it appeared to make him look even more ridiculous. Turns out though, this mutation gave him powerful, destructive vines that he used to crush the [[TripodTerror alien walkers]], earning him his very first victory. If the writers had decided to continue the series, he really would be a force to be reckoned with.

** Gil himself was viewed as MostlyHarmless by many of his father's minions. Then [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071126 he dealt with it.]]

* ''{{Collar 6}}'': Butterfly is an extreme example of this. She went from simply being a {{Jerkass}} in her [[http://collar6.com/2009/expensive-toys-10 early appearances]] to sheer HighOctaneNightmareFuel in [[http://collar6.com/2010/collar-6-06-20-2010 this strip]].

* The Box Ghost was a minor incompetent villain, only posing a serious threat to DannyPhantom when he was first starting out. But then he stole Pandora's Box and started releasing SealedEvilInACan all over the place...

* [[KimPossible Dr. Drakken]] was never really that competent for 99% of the series, but his scheme in ''[[TheMovie So the Drama]]'' very nearly worked.

* ''ThePowerpuffGirls'' subverts this with [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain the Amoeba Boys]]. One episode has them unleash a potentially life-threatening virus that quickly spreads throughout the whole city. This would normally make them qualify, except for the facts that A. it was a complete accident on their part, B. they literally had no idea that they were the ones responsible for the outbreak until the Girls convinced them to hope create a vaccine, and C. ''They themselves were infected by the virus''.

** As always with Hitler, it's not that simple. The Nazis, while far from a majority in the Reichstag, ''were'' the single largest party, and it would've been impossible to form a stable coalition that excluded both the Nazis and the Communists. Paul von Hindenburg and Franz von Papen's alliance with Hitler seemed a good idea at the time from their perspective. Old Junker conservatives like them were staunchly anti-Communist, so was Hitler. Why wouldn't it make sense to team up with the Nazis? It didn't help that von Hindenburg was already ancient and senile by this point.
** On a larger scale, Germany in 1939, despite huge military efforts, still lagged behind England and France in the number of heavy weapons (no heavy tanks, less and worse cannons etc.) so it was assumed a full-scale war between Germany and Allies would be a German defeat. During his conference in September 1939, for example, Stalin outlined 3 scenarios: Germany loses quickly, becomes France's colony and the USSR has to deal with France and UK, which is BAD, Germany loses a long war and has a communist revolution, which is GOOD, and Germany fights Allies to standstill, which is also generally good, as it opens a way for communist propaganda. The Allies themselves also assumed similar outcomes, though with different appreciation. So when Germany beat the Allies in such a fast and one-sided way it was a huge shock for everyone else.
*** Poland in 1939. Out-numbered, out-gunned (their equipment was way below par), and fighting with an outdated battle plan, they ''still'' managed to give the Germans a bloody nose (285 aircraft lost, 279 damaged, and virtually a whole armoured division worth of equipment).
**** Note: Poland was outnumbered '''40 to 1''' in that battle.
** The Allies thought Japan was inferior compared to the likes of Germany or Italy. They were so dead wrong.
*** This was the result of a combination of Not doing their research and just not understanding the Japanese mentality. The book The Face Behind Japan by Upton Close predicted the Japanese capacity for war years before WWII. It should be noted that the Japanese didn't have the best of equipment. Most of their firearms were lacking (save for the early Arisaka rifles, which were roughly equal to the bolt-action rifles everybody else had.) Their tanks were few and far between with severally limited capabilities. Even the famous Zero fighter was based on the idea of minimize armor, maximize speed ideology and just couldn't keep up with the rapidly advancing allied technology. What they lacked in tech though, they more than made up for in tactics and determination.

* Remember Team Rocket? The bumbling buffoons who stalked a ten-year-old for 13 years? In ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}: Best Wishes'' they are [[TookALevelInBadass taking about a thousand levels in badass]]. This is most noticeable by the fact that they now started to folow orders from [[BigBad Giovanni]], they now try not to go after random Pokémon, and especially they now don't even blast off anymore (they instead escape using jetpacks).

* Prince Schneizel from ''CodeGeass''. There's hints to him being like this early on, but... wow.

** [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext The Lettuce wants to destroy the world.]]
* Etemon of ''DigimonAdventure'' is an Elvis-impersonating monkey with, if you look closely, a teddy bear worn on his belt. (The teddy bear's actually a doll of a teddy bear Mon that also proved Not So Harmless.) You figure he's got no game... until he summons up his Dark Network that lets him control everything electronic in the area, which instantly disables our heroes' digital-EvolutionaryLevels-based powers and destroys the entire village. Later episodes depict him having an army of very large and destructive Mons, and he himself being strong enough to throw around opponents many times his size while shrugging off their best attacks. He's still seen as TheScrappy in the eyes of the fans, but the threat he presented to the team was genuine, and they spent the entire arc running for their lives and finding out that he was one step ahead of them, again.
** Then by the end of the series, he came back more powerful than ever as [=MetalEtemon=]. Unfortunately for him, by that point the kids had become powerful enough that it took only two of them (with some help from Leomon's Mega form) to bring him down again, [[spoiler: even though Leomon did die from his injuries in the fight.]]

** [[DragonBallZ Majin Buu.]] When he first shows up, he acts like an innocent toddler, and everybody's default reaction is "WTF?" (save Supreme Kai, who knows all too well what Buu is capable of). Then he starts effortlessly pwning the strongest characters in the series, devouring thousands of people at a time by turning them into ''candy'', and [[NighInvulnerability shrugging off mortal wounds as though they are nothing.]] Then his [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt evil side is unleashed...]]

* Hellmaster Fibrizo from ''{{Slayers}}''. The first impression of him is just that of a CuteShotaroBoy. This impression fades quickly upon the revelation that he is one of the most powerful Mazoku Lords, a fact he proves by effortlessly killing the previous BigBad Chaos Dragon Gaav, another Mazoku Lord. He plays merry hell with the protagonists as the rest of the season's BigBad, and they are nearly helpless against him. It takes [[spoiler: a literal DeusExMachina to take him down for good]].
** In the manga, he takes the form of a ''little girl''.

* When ''{{Naruto}}'' and friends first come across Kabuto Yakushi, he comes off as an amiable and somewhat less-than-competent fellow (flunking the Chuunin Exams seven times, no less!). Before long, both his affiliations and his abilities prove far more sinister than his appearance would suggest.

*** [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Actually, I believe the term is "scabbard."]]
* Foxy the Silver Fox in ''OnePiece''. Foxy's a flashy, fame-hogging, pigheaded fool. He's pudgy, strange looking, and needs his crew to constantly buff his ego or he'll sink into depression. Oh, and he's also got a really powerful Devil Fruit ability that allows him to get the drop on anyone and pound them into oblivion before they know what's hit them.
** To be more specific about Foxy, his devil-fruit power puts everything on a delay, after the delay is over however everything that would have happened before the delay ''hits all at once'' he used this to beat the living daylights out of Luffy by first hitting him with the power then while Luffy was motionless start comboing him quickly then he took a few steps back the delay wore off and the power caused all those punches to smack Luffy ''all at once''.

* Starrk, in ''{{Bleach}}'', who despite seeming very lazy, [[spoiler:is the most powerful of the Espada.]]. This also applies to his fraccion, Lilynette.
** And of course, Yammy, rampaging idiot and 10th Espada Zig Zags like all hell with this trope. At first it seems he's incredibly weak, then [[spoiler: he reveals that he's actually the 0th Espada and technically above ''Starrk''. And he still gets his ass kicked. Then he reveals that he's just not at full power and goes to full power mode. And he still gets his ass kicked. Just to drive the fact of Yammy's weakness home, [[BloodKnight Kenpachi]] called their fight "boring", a criterion he applies to any fight where his life isn't in danger at any point.]]

* Although he's frightening to look at, it is easy to underestimate Ryuk of ''DeathNote''. VillainProtagonist Light seems a lot worse, and with his addiction to apples and other humorous qualities, Ryuk tends to come across as PluckyComicRelief and Light's [[TheKidWithTheLeash "pet"]]. Then comes the ending of the series [[spoiler: where Ryuk fulfills his early promise that he will one day write Light's name in his notebook, and casually kills Light, who has just had a pathetic VillainousBreakdown]]. Truly, Light, like the audience, forgot that he was dealing with a ''death god''.

* In ''{{Bakugan}}'' we have Rabeeder. She's a Hybrid Bakugan and servant of Naga. Compared to the other gate keepers, she and her sister are quite ditzy and silly and seems like a pushover when the heroes first meet her, challenging the heroes to... a race? In fact she's pretty much harmless and even hits on the main character. Total joke, right? Nope. When Rabeeder arrives on earth, Alice, while inexperienced at fighting on her own, volunteers to go after her under the impression that she is weak and with a little help seems to be doing fine. But then Rabeeder overhears that her sister had been defeated. Believing her sister to be KIA, she goes on a [[UnstoppableRage ''total rampage'']] where she flings around the [[TheDragon up-until-that-point's main and secondary antagonists' Bakugan]] like rag dolls and is totally unstoppable. She is only stopped by a lucky break when she discovers her sister isn't dead. The two reunite and Rabeeder calms down.
** [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge But if she hadn't...]]
* In ''SonicX'', Eggman alternates between being highly competent and totally [[VillainDecay not competent at all]], so much so that it comes as quite a surprise for some when he talked [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Dark Sonic]] out of a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, while his even more harmless robot buddies ''held off'' a Metarex leader.

* Happens repeatedly in ''{{Kuroshitsuji}}''. [[spoiler: First, we discover all of Ciel's goofy, incompetent staff weren't hired for their talents as servants (Sebastian's contract requires he be able to take care of everything himself anyway) but for their talents in defending the manor; the clumsy maid Mei-rin is a devastatingly skilled sniper, the groundskeeper Finny has superhuman strength, and the cook Baldo is an ex-soldier. Much later on, it also turns out that Ciel's fiancee Elizabeth, one of the only normal people he knows and the only child in the series that acts like one, is in fact an extremely {{Badass}} swordswoman who has been acting like harmless little girl because she was afraid Ciel wouldn't like her otherwise.]]

* Jigsaw in ''ThePunisher'' comics, though it took him several tries to actually reach serious villain status -- indeed, what finally pushed him over the top was the ability to survive meeting the Punisher that many times.
** It's been explained that Frank considers Jigsaw a bane on the Underworld more than innocents. He gets to kill people by proxy letting the lunatic go.
* ''TheFlash'' villain The Top seems like a silly dude with a spinning top gimmick and a stupid suit, until he gets his mind back and turns into a genuinely terrifying villain. The fact that he was given actual superpowers and thus posed a more realistic threat to the Flash may have helped.

* The {{Batman}} graphic novels ''TheLongHalloween'' and ''DarkVictory'' both do this for Calendar Man. Once a campy gag villain who committed relatively harmless crimes while dressing up in costumes based on specific days, his internment at Arkham changed him into a creepy, white-clad inmate who'd mastered the HannibalLecture, already knew the answers to the mystery Batman's trying to solve, and later manipulated a rehabilitated character back into madness. Unfortunately, the change didn't stick.

* The Marvel ''{{GI Joe}}'' comic ignored the cartoon's Cobra-La origin of Cobra Commander, with writer LarryHama instead characterizing him as an ex-hippie used car salesman who wants to {{Take Over the World}}. Initially, the character never strayed very far from the cartoon's GeneralFailure persona, though he eventually evolved into a VillainBall, and even a halfway-competent BigBad, costing the Joes billions of dollars in equipment and an entire squad of team members (though this was actually due to [[PoorCommunicationKills lieutenants misunderstanding his orders]]). The character's final turn into a full {{Villain}} occurred in issue #131 (December 1992) when, [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption after numerous tries]], Cobra located and attacked the Joe team's ElaborateUndergroundBase. After readying the second wave of the attack, the following conversation takes place.

** GeoffJohns has basically built his entire career at DCComics on this trope.

** Interestingly, many fans like to refer to it by the fairly cliche'd silver age style title of "Doctor Destiny's Diner of Death."
* ''{{Batman}}'' #251: After twenty years of campy, oversized set pieces and pies in the face and bloodless bank robberies, TheJoker goes after some of his old henchmen who ratted him out. Audiences are expecting sneezing powder or filling their house with balloons, as Joker hands the first henchman a cigar, he thinks of how "classic Joker" it is. The old [[ExplosiveCigar exploding cigar]]. Except the explosive in this one is nitroglycerin, and when the henchman lights it, waiting for a little "pop", it blows up his head and most of the room. Joker's back.

** His image problem was remedied in ''The New Batman Adventures'', apparently as a cross between Herbert West, [[WhoFramedRogerRabbit Judge Doom]], and a corpse cut down from the gallows. Yeesh. He ended up literally making Batgirl live her worst nightmare after that, though at that point he'd been recognized as a pretty significant threat.

** This arguably applies to nearly ALL of the members of Batman's RoguesGallery, at least on first impression. The foppish Riddler, the aforementioned Penguin, the Ventriloquist and Scarface, and even the Joker look more ridiculous and goofy than scary at first... at first. Then they start coming up with deadly {{Xanatos Gambit}}s, reveal frightening skills and/or powers, and rack up ridiculous body counts. Even minor villain the Condiment King, who uses condiment based weaponry, was noted by Robin to be able to ''blind and choke'' people with his spicy weapons. Also see Polka Dot Man, a villain so lame Batman claimed he was ''stuck in traffic'' rather than admit fighting him. And kills people with polka dots. Somehow.

* The Violator from ''{{Spawn}}'' looks like a harmless, morbidly obese, clown with hygiene problems, but he is super strong and capable of ripping a man in half with his bare hands. His true form is absolutely frightening.

* The Intelligencia from ''FallOfTheHulks''. The team is made of {{MODOK}}, Leader, Wizard, Red Ghost, and Mad Thinker. Together they have become a pretty deadly force.
** How deadly, you ask? They managed to [[OutGambitted out gambit]] ''Doctor freakin' Doom''.

* In a lot of the Marvel/DC crossovers, the BadassNormal characters of one universe would always be looked down upon by the living god (sometimes literally) characters of the other. One particular example: {{Spider-Man}} is following Carnage as he's being transported to a prison across the country; along the way it passes through [[{{Batman}} Gotham City]], and Bats is ''very'' displeased with having the wall-crawler on his turf. However, Cassidy figures out a way to escape and goes bloody crazy at a time that the Joker also happens to be active, and rather unintentionally the heroes end up switching their villains. Carnage laughs off the Bat until he's taken down with [[CrazyPrepared expert planning,]] and Spider-Man really, really doesn't seem to perceive Joker as a physical threat, but Joker just won't ''stop'', and dances happily across the MoralEventHorizon numerous times. After realizing just how similar he really is to Cassidy, down to hallucinating Joker's smile as Carnage's symbiot-grin, he [[BewareTheNiceOnes almost beats Joker to death]] before Batman gets him to stop.
** Really, through the whole thing, nobody took anyone else seriously before the ass-kicking started except, of course, Batman.

* Those three hyenas from ''TheLionKing''. At first, they seem like a bunch of idiots who always fail every time, but at the end of the film, they all show their true dangerous selves when they [[spoiler: kill Scar.]]

* ''{{Megamind}}'' gives us the titular VillainProtagonist, a super-intelligent GadgeteerGenius and MadScientist. He seems harmless because he always gets defeated by that FlyingBrick, Metro Man. But then he [[spoiler:apparently]] gets Metro Man out of the way with a KillSat...

* Disney's ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' has the villain Gaston, who starts out as just a vain, preening buffoon, certainly malicious, but more ridiculous than anything else. Then he incites a riot and leads a lynch mob against The Beast, and very nearly kills him.
** Which is cut short by the staff of the castle, men, women, and children who've been transformed into anthropomorphic household objects, banding together and utterly wiping the floor with the mob's collective ass.
* [[{{Cars}} ''Cars 2'']] has Grem and Acer, a pair of bumbling villains who appear to be based on two of the worst cars ever made. But then we see them kill Rod "Torque" Redline...

* Shere Khan, the BigBad of ''Disney/TheJungleBook'', in spite of his occasional hammy and whimsical nature, is actually an evil bloodthirsty tiger bent on killing any human that's still in his jungle, especially the mancub he sees as Mowgli. In the sequel, [[KnightofCerebus he drops the hammy and whimsical aspect altogether.]]

* Subverted then lampshaded in ''Film/MenInBlack''. When Jay is being tested and they hit the firing range, [[spoiler:he ignores the military examples shooting all the alien targets and fires one shot. Once asked why Tiffany had to die, Jay completely dismantled the aliens as doing harmless activities and notes the books on advanced physics, books ''way'' too advanced for a kid her age, finishing that she's there to cause some trouble]]. Genre Savvy as that was, Jay still underestimated such issues as birthing aliens and the Noisy Cricket, but the biggest example of Not So Harmless was [[spoiler:the coroner finishing off the BigBad Bug]].

* ''[[TheDarkKnightSaga Batman Begins]]'' gives the Scarecrow this treatment. Prior to this movie, he was best known as the go-to incompetent villain on ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. In the movie, he's introduced as a skinny and unintimidating psychologist with big pretty eyes. And then he goes all HighOctaneNightmareFuel on us (literally) and sets Batman on fire.
** He still gets defeated pretty much instantly.
*** ''[[ThisIsSparta He. Set.]] [[WesternAnimation/TheBatman BATMAN.]] [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu ON. FIRE.]]''

** The [[spoiler:funny-looking jester]] turning out to be a badass is pretty common. It also happens to [[spoiler:The Mule]] in ''{{Foundation}}'' and [[spoiler:the King's Fool]] in ''{{Tigana}}''.
* In most of the ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' codices and fanbase, da Orks are usually considered the {{comic relief}} race, with an endearingly insane viewpoint on their thoroughly insane world. (They're the only ones really having fun.) But when portrayed in ''CiaphasCain'', the Orks are absolutely not endearing, harmless, or funny; they're brutal, disgusting, and completely psychopathic.

* If your first thoughts upon completing ''[[ASongOfIceAndFire A Storm of Swords]]'' aren't "''holy crap! [[spoiler:Littlefinger]] is a psycho!''", then you should seriously consider re-reading. I mean, we always knew he was a [[ReliableTraitor traitorous bastard]], but he had a [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend sympathetic backstory]] and was one of the most [[AffablyEvil genuinely likeable]] characters in the series. But seriously, who knew he would go [[MoralEventHorizon that far?]]

* Warren and the other Nerds of Doom in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. At first, they're kind of silly with their arguments over ''StarTrek'' and the best actor to play JamesBond, and their kinda weird attempts to challenge Buffy in ways that, really, were nothing compared to five seasons of big bads and various monsters of the week. Warren stops being funny when he tries to rape his ex via mind control and kills her when she tries to escape, and near the end of the season [[spoiler: he shoots Buffy and murders Tara Maclay]].

** Oh for the days when kids' shows had suicide bombers...
* The Daleks of ''Series/DoctorWho'' are a meta-example. While the characters rarely reacted with anything but terror, their numerous appearances over the original series' [[LongRunner twenty-six year run]] heavily diluted any fear to be had from the motorised pepper pots. Thus the new series episode "Dalek" was written with the sole intention of showing a new generation that the Daleks were Not So Harmless, with a single imprisoned, crippled, powerless Dalek killing hundreds of people effortlessly.

*** Since then they may have been defeated several times by the Doctor, but in each case only after they caused massive damage. In their second appearance alone they annihilated the surface of Earth with such prejudice that it ''deformed the continents''.

** This could actually describe all trickster gods in mythology. Most of the time they just perform harmless and amusing pranks. Then they commit deeds of mayhem and murder that only they find funny. The worst of them are essentially TheJoker armed with divine powers.

** Somewhat explained by the fact that in the Hebrew Bible, Satan was NOT the name of the devil. The Satan in the Job story was originally an angel whose job was to travel around inspecting mankind. "Satan" in Hebrew means something along the lines of "accuser" or "adversary," and indicated that the angel in question acted as prosecutor or "devil's advocate" in God's court. Christianity interpreted it differently.

** While TheMiz still seems to be playing this trope hard, he ultimately had his Championship reclaimed by Cena, albeit only to have it snatched by...

** Kobolds, before [[RunningTheAsylum attempts to buff them into dragons-lite]], were introduced as lizard-dog humanoids so small they got ''half''-hit dice. CannonFodder for rookie adventurers to sweep up without a fuss. However, being too pathetic to have a chance in the open combat, kobolds got an affinity for [[TrapMaster filling their lairs with traps]]. They also hurl incendiaries or poisonous insects at the enemies and dare to attack only in overwhelming numbers, using thrown weapons. In the hands of a particularly clever or vindictive GameMaster, even an encounter with a lowly band of kobolds can be turned into a nightmare. Add some armor and you'll get [[http://www.tuckerskobolds.com/ Tucker's Kobolds]] -- the party chose to carve their way through demons over ''that''.
*** [[http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/File:MPost679-Kobolds.jpg Demotivator]] helpfully depicting how such encounters can end up.

** Greatest of all is [[http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=491801 PunPun]], the most powerful character ever.
*** While the above is technically accurate, it should be noted that "Theoretical Optimization" characters like Pun-Pun are never actually used in games, so their effective threat level is zero.

** ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'' also has an example within its own bounds. The Keepers of the Source are a group of feel-good [[NewAgeRetroHippy New Ager neo-hippie]] types based out of San Francisco. They also believe that mages and other practitioners draw upon the life energy of Gaia in order to power their magic, and really, ''really'', '''''really''''' aren't happy with this arrangement.

* In ''JuliusCaesar'', the conspirators against Caesar consider Marc Antony no threat, saying, "He can do no more than Caesar's arm when Caesar's head is cut off". In fact, they're so unafraid of him that Brutus lets him speak at Caesar's funeral! Whatever speech he can make will pale in comparison to the unparalleled generosity of letting him speak at all, right?! [[spoiler: Friends, Romans, Countrymen!]]

* Kefka, of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', to a certain extent. Comically-loony jester sidekick of the real villain? [[EvilLaugh Uwa, ha ha]]. '''[[OmnicidalManiac W]][[NietzscheWannabe R]][[BigBad O]][[MonsterClown N]][[OneWingedAngel G]][[AxCrazy !]][[MoralEventHorizon !]]'''

*** What's more, in the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' series, Tonberries are among the most powerful enemies, capable of doing up to ''999'' damage with ''100%'' accuracy.
*** And for the people who don't know, that is ''all'' of the damage. At least, that can be done in any one attack.

* Jr. Troopa in ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' is a baby koopa fresh from the nest (with most of his egg's shell still on him) and a comic relief RecurringBoss who can actually be a real hassle to beat at many stages of the game.

* Demyx from ''KingdomHeartsII''. When he's first seen, he acts like a clumsy coward, running away and stumbling everywhere. His in-game profile even calls him a joke. However, when accused of being a truly emotionless being, he ditches the act. Suddenly he's leaping around all over the battlefield and using his sitar to unleash a huge barrel of watery whoopass on Sora and company. Many players were unpleasantly surprised, to say the least.

* Nythera from ''VideoGame/{{Dragonfable}}''. Starts off as a somewhat bratty and powerless apprentice to Warlic, the greatest mage in the world. She's pretty blatant about wanting Warlic to give her her powers back, and insinuates that she'll take his powers if he doesn't. This is all played for laughs at first. Then she kills Warlic and steals his powers and issues a challenge to all of the Elemental Lords at once, which drives them to attack your town. To add insult to injury, she even thanks you, since she used the potions YOU helped her to make to finish off Warlic. NiceJobBreakingItHero.

*** Actually, [[spoiler: you can win as Nythera, and get loads of experience from it.]] It doesn't stick, but some people even find it ''easier'' [[spoiler: to fight as Nythera than as Warlic.]]

* Guilty Spark from ''{{Halo}}''. Sure, he originally seemed like [[TheScrappy annoying sidekick]] (basically C-3PO's floating head), until you realize ''he was leading you into destroying all life in the galaxy''. When Master Chief and takes Cortana and refuses to activate Halo, Spark's tells the Setinels "Save his head... dispose of the rest.". His sociopathy almost makes up for him being annoying as hell... almost.

* You wouldn't imagine that Glass Joe of ''PunchOut'' fame, the shining example of a WarmUpBoss, could ever put up a fight. When he returns for a rematch in the Wii game's Title Defense mode, however, he's equipped himself with a helmet that deflects all jabs, and has added a surprisingly effective fake-out punch to his arsenal. As a result, he often ends up defeating players who were able to defeat Mr. Sandman, ''the Champion and FinalBoss''.
** Ever noticed that Joe has a 1-99 KO record? ''WordOfGod'' says that one KO he managed to land was on the ''BigBad'' of Super Punch-Out.

* Miang from ''{{Xenogears}}'' is introduced as the unassuming girlfriend of the WhiteHairedPrettyBoy Ramsus. Much later, it is revealed that [[spoiler:she is the BigBad, the human form of the creator "god," and has existed for 10000 years via [[BodySurf body surfing]]. It also doesn't hurt that the battle against her gear is one of the hardest in the game.]]

* ''{{Pokemon}}'''s Team Galactic. Just another goofy Team Evil capable of only doing mainly ineffectual things like hijacking windmills, stealing honey, and trying to beat you at Pokémon matches? Sure, you might think that, until they ''bomb one of Sinnoh's Sacred Lakes'', kidnap all of the sacred sprites, and begin summoning one-to-two Pokémon capable of ''undoing the world''.

* ''MegaManX 4'' features [[MeaningfulName Double]], a [[TheHunter rookie Hunter]] that was assigned to be the title character's MissionControl. Obese, clumsy, incompetent, and not-too-bright, so what's so meaningful about his name? [[spoiler:He's [[BigBad Sigma's]] [[TheMole mole]], assigned to throw X off Sigma's tracks, AxCrazy, and is capable of annihilating a dozen Hunters on his own.]]

* ''BatmanArkhamAsylum'' gave this treatment to ''The Riddler'', of all villains. Although you never encounter him directly, he manages to be a legitimately scary villain once you think about how some of the riddles were set up, especially the ones involving dead bodies. There is no way he could have predicted when and where those people would be killed by Joker's thugs, so the only explanation is that he murdered them and posed them there himself. He also gives a [[NightmareFuel rather disturbing]] answer to the classic riddle: "What walks on four legs, then two legs, then three?" Dr. Young says it's a human being (crawls as an infant, walks on two legs as an adult, uses a cane in old age), but the actual answer is [[spoiler: a baby with its legs cut off who has been given a crutch.]] It's clear why he belongs at Arkham.

* Nazrin from ''{{Touhou}} Seirensen ~ Undefined Fantastic Object'': She's a pathetic Stage 1 mid-boss and boss, with easy to dodge horizontal patterns, and she shows up later as the Stage 5 mid-boss and absolutely murders you with curvy and splitting lasers.

* The lich sorcerer Xykon from ''OrderOfTheStick'' is an extreme example. His humorous dialogue and status as a CardCarryingVillain along with the fact that he rarely fights directly (in anything but an instant win) lead many people to believe he was much less serious or at least genuinely malevolent than he really is. Then he's pushed into exerting himself... As Redcloak puts it: "I know he seems funny and charming, but believe me, when you see for yourself the depths to which he'll sink, you will never sleep well again."

* The {{Walkyverse}} is full of these, including the nigh-omnipotent but unfortunately-textured {{Knight of Cerebus}} we refer to as The Cheese and the surprisingly cunning Monkey Master, a robot ape whose cannons shoot actual monkeys. The grand tamale of them all, however, has to be the Head Alien, a tiny purple guy with a flair for the over-dramatic whose preferred method of torture involves ''TheSoundOfMusic''. And then you find out it's his Xanatos Gambit that's driving the entire strip, and that he's a lot more competent than he seems at first. Remember all those BrainwashedAndCrazy friends you had to kill? Yeah, he set that up years in advance.

* For most of ''SluggyFreelance'', Dr. Schlock was more or less a good guy, though he would sometimes betray the good guys on account of being a coward. It never mattered much, though, since his one skill (creating inflatable technology) can be neutralized quite easily (by anything with a sharp edge). Then he actually manages a hostile takeover of Hereti Corp, one of the series' main {{Big Bad}}s, orders the assassination of several FBI agents to cover his tracks, and states, "If we're going to 'take over the world' we're going to do it ''right''."

* In ''{{Dead of Summer}}'', Alan Stone falls under this. While not physically imposing [[spoiler: at first]], he beats the tar out of a sympathetic character, and is revealed to have SinisterSurveillance almost everywhere, which lets him know a great deal of secrets. A crossing of the MoralEventHorizon later and it's hard to remember that he seemed wimpy at first.

* Zola of ''GirlGenius'' goes from being an IneffectualSympatheticVillain who constantly [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090727 needs to be rescued by the heroes]] to [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100712 faking out]] the BigBad (yes, the BigBad is one of the heroes; {{It Makes Sense in Context}}).

* Okay, pretty much nobody considered KnifeNut [[EvilChancellor Archagent]] Jack Noir of ''{{Homestuck}}'' to be ''harmless'', but then he [[spoiler:ascended to BigBad status, killed off the previous Big Bads, massacred a huge army from both Kingdoms and wrecked two planets]].

* Jade from the ''WhateleyUniverse'' could also qualify, as her only power is rather weak on its own, being "[[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway What a lame power is heart]]". She's also gained regeneration, but that's not direct damage... except she's got a {{mad scientist}} on call to make her [[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys wonderful toys]], and she is VERY clever with using her powers. Amongst other things, she shot someone in the face (Stun), has no qualms about killing enemy mooks if necessary, is known to be a MamaBear, is working directly for a CosmicHorror that exists solely to EAT COSMIC HORRORS! Oh, and she once trapped a demon in the body of an infant... Twice. (Forced it to reform itself in an infant body by threatening it... Then trapped it in that body by breast-feeding it... Regenerator milk has very strange properties.)

* Cobra Commander may seem like a complete idiot, but remember that he is a notorious international terrorist with an army at his side. If not for the [[BigDamnHeroes GI Joe team]], he likely would have won in the first episode.
** This is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in the DarkerAndEdgier ''GIJoeResolute'' in which he explains that he only acted stupidly and cowardly so that his troops will know how not to behave.
* The Monarch of ''TheVentureBrothers'' is thought of as a HarmlessVillain...until he starts killing people with poison darts and elaborate {{deathtrap}}s.
** And there was his "[[http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=a0d1ed018e2470b11d4c073403b10822 minty fresh entrance]]".

*** In his defense, he seems to be a quasi-recovered one. Well, he tries. There's also the fact that [[spoiler:he's just nice to Venture to piss off the Monarch as revenge for him stealing technology.]]

* John Dee/Dr. Destiny on ''JusticeLeague'' went from sadsack prison inmate to dream-invading psychopath very quickly, though the clear impression is given that he was always that person. After he escaped from prison, Green Lantern wasn't at all concerned because Dee was "a nobody". [[GenreSavvy Batman]] then reminds him [[Literature/TheOdyssey the Cyclops considered Ulysses "a nobody" and lost its eye.]]

*** "Almost" squicky? Have you read "24 Hours?"

* ''WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM'''s Ixis Naugus was on his way to becoming this (along with Snively), but {{cancellation}} and the PowerRangers [[ScrewedByTheNetwork got in the way]]. He had only appeared in one episode, and was such a dark horse that viewers had initially speculated that his glowing red eyes at the end of the last episode were Knuckles'.

*** Not to mention that his skills at timing and planning allowed the Suicide Squad (er, Task Force X) to break in the Justice League Watchtower and steal a god-made all-powerful armor.
* When the first cross-overs between the animated series of ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Batman]]'' and ''[[SupermanTheAnimatedSeries Superman]]'' started, Batman fought Lex and won quite effortlessly when Superman thought he couldn't handle him. And then Superman, who had absolutely dismissed The Joker as goofy-looking nobody, is then nearly defeated by the psycho (not to mention he nearly kills LoisLane and a few hundred other people while pinning Super down).

* Charles Foster Ofdensen in ''{{Metalocalypse}}'' goes 19 episodes before anyone even says his name; he's the annoying, nasal-voiced nerd lawyer who serves as a voice of reason to the otherwise stupid and possibly insane metal band. And then he has his CrowningMomentofAwesome, and we find out that he's actually been a badass all along, and the villains of the series consider him a bigger obstacle in the way of Dethklok's destruction than Dethklok itself.

* ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' had teenage wanna-be villain Jack Spicer, who underwent VillainDecay almost the moment he was introduced in the pilot, and quickly became a one-man GoldfishPoopGang. At least, until the penultimate episode, when a BadFuture shows that, in a timeline where the heroes weren't around to constantly thwart him, he'd actually defeated all the major villains who were taken more seriously than him, conquered the world, and rechristened himself the Emperor of Darkness.

* ''TransformersAnimated'' [[AdaptationalBadass appears to be doing this cross-shows]] with Wasp(inator). The ''BeastWars'' character he was based on was the ChewToy and the definition of a HarmlessVillain with a weird speech pattern, but this version is dangerously deranged and the way he talks is a result of [[spoiler:insanity brought on by years of imprisonment for something he didn't do.]]

* [[spoiler:Pettigrew/Wormtail]] from ''Literature/HarryPotter''. All accounts of his past portray him as a simpering incompetent little coward who hid in the shadow of more powerful friends. While this is mostly true, he's far from harmless. [[spoiler:When he's revealed to be the one who really betrayed the Potters it's also shown that he killed about a dozen people to cover his escape]]. He also managed to overpower a Ministry official (admittedly a somewhat scatterbrained one) that happened to know information that Voldemort could use. Then he [[spoiler:killed Cedric on Voldemort's orders]]. He may be the least competent of Voldemort's Death Eaters, but he's still a Death Eater to the core. And EVERYONE seems to forget he became an Animagus at 15; sure he had a ton of help, but isn't that a slight hint he might be more powerful than expected?

* In ''JLA: New World Order'', the White Martians invade and incapacitate all the superpowered heroes, but ignore {{Batman}} because he has no powers and they believe he can do nothing to stop them (to be fair they did think he was dead, but they were not worried by the possibility that he survived). Protex, launches into a rant about how Batman can do nothing against them which causes {{Superman}} to retort that Batman is "the most dangerous man on Earth". [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Batman proceeds to prove him right as he single-handedly turns the tide and turns the White Martians into terrified and paranoid wrecks.]]

* In ''JLA: New World Order'', the White Martians invade and incapacitate all the superpowered heroes, but ignore {{Batman}} because he has no powers and they believe he can do nothing to stop them (to be fair they did think he was dead, but they were not worried by the possibility that he survived). Protex, launches into a rant about how Batman can do nothing against them which causes {{Superman}} to retort that Batman is "the most dangerous man on Earth". Batman proceeds to prove him right as he single-handedly turns the tide and turns the White Martians into scared, paranoid wrecks.

* Porky from ''{{Earthbound}}.'' He starts out as Ness's friend, and even after he [[FaceHeelTurn turns]], he's still just a harmless nuisance. By the end of the game, though, he's BigBad Giygas's right hand-man. There's a reason his theme song for your final battle against him is called "Porky Means Business!" (although the name is unofficial, the Japanese track is cease to exist, referring to what Porky wants Ness and his friends to do.)And if you believe in alternate character interptation he is the true big bad of the game with giygas as his dragon. [[spoiler:In ''{{Mother 3}}'', he's a full-on BigBad himself. Who manages to take over the world.]]

*** This was the result of a combination of Not doing their research and just not understanding the Japanese mentality. The book The Face Behind Japan by Upton Close predicted the Japanese capacity for war years before WWII. It should be noted that the Japanese didn't have the best of equipment. Most of their firearms were lacking (save for the early Arisaka rifles.) Their tanks were few and far between with severally limited capabilities. Even the famous Zero fighter was based on the idea of minimize armor, maximize speed ideology and just couldn't keep up with the rapidly advancing allied technology. What they lacked in tech though, they more than made up for in tactics and determination.

[[folder:General]]
* You could say that humans ''in general'' fall into this category. We're fleshy meatbags of 70 percent water, have relatively few physical defenses of any kind, are particularly vulnerable in childhood, and a hardier alien race might look at us and go "Huh? THAT'S the dominant species on the planet?" We are also highly intelligent beings capable of surviving incredibly harsh conditions, and killing millions of people in a matter of moments given the right tools and enough time to figure out how something works. We can improve on these tools to give us modern technology, develop complex languages and systems, and given enough training, can form a reasonably competent defense force
** Except that we also have excellent stamina, long lifespans, handle injury well, heal fast (with scars as a side effect of our fast healing), are able to digest many forms of food, possess incredible dexterity and flexibility with our arms and manipulators, bipedal with all the numerous advantages this grants us, such as having two extra manipulators available... The list goes on. We have a lot of advantages that bought us up on top aside of just being "smart".[[/folder]]

* There once was a low-level biomage named Fleshmaster in ''{{Empowered}}''. After being humiliated by his peers, he finally dared to use his powers on himself, and returned as the new superhero [[spoiler:dWARf!. But since he was still being pissed off, he cooked up a really BigBad-worthy scheme. Which was about killing all his peers at the same place where they once had humiliated them, the Capeys Awards.]]

** While TheMiz still seems to be playing this trope hard, he ultimately had his Championship reclaimed by Cena, albeit only to have snatched by...
* Alberto De Rio. Much like The Miz, his "Juan Bradshaw Layfield" is incredibly narcissistic and [[DirtyCoward will frequently bawk from a match]]. When riled enough however, he is disturbingly ferocious. Cena labelled De Rio pathetic for cashing in his Money In The Bank match on a champ post match and swiped it back, a few nasty beatdowns later De Rio won it ''again''.

* Ah, the ''{{World of Darkness}}'' games. Humans are slow, feeble, ignorant, nearly powerless, and only an actual danger to supernaturals in significant numbers. Until the supernaturals find themselves facing [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil the exceptions]], who are ''very'' capable of fighting the supernaturals on their own turf and winning, by means as diverse as Task Force: VALKYRIE's plasma cannons and bullets that phase into the spirit realm and harm incorporeal entities, to the Malleus Maleficarum's habit of calling down the literal wrath of God, to an insanely brave and fiendishly clever group of everyday men and women who have gotten fed up with the things that go bump in the night and broken out whatever weapons or tools that are handy.
** ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'' also has an example within its own bounds. The Keepers of the Source are a group of feel-good New Ager neo-hippie types based out of San Francisco. They also believe that mages and other practitioners draw upon the life energy of Gaia in order to power their magic, and really, ''really'', '''''really''''' aren't happy with this arrangement.