History Main / NotSoHarmless

* Alberich in Wagner's DerRingDesNibelungen stats off as a harmless [[ExtrovertedNerd lovesick dwarf]]. Foiled in his amorous attempts, he steals the Rheingold and becomes [[FromNobodyToNightmare absolute ruler]] of the Dwarves. And that's just the beginning...

* Discord from ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipisMagic'' is a deranged MadHatter that thrives on chaos, which can range anywhere from [[PokeThePoodle turning clouds into cotton candy]] to [[MindRape Mind Raping]] you of your key emotions and turning your entire town into a CloudCuckooLand.

* Discord from ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipisMagic''.

* The Decepticons from [[TransformersGenerationOne the original ''Transformers'' cartoon]] were originally portrayed as goofy, incompetent villains who constantly lost to the Autobots every single time throughout the first two seasons, but from ''TransformersTheMovie'' onwards, they actually began killing almost half the original Autobot cast! (out-of-universe, this was actually done by the writers [[MerchandiseDriven just so they can make room for new characters, both 'Bot and 'Con alike) The third and final season, as with the Japanese sequels, actually portrayed all of the 'Cons as true villains.

* ''DevilMayCry 3'' gives us Jester, goofy [[MonsterClown clown demon]] who shows up randomly to annoy Dante and give him advice on how to proceed. Then you have to fight him as a boss and even that ends up being funny due to Jester's [[AffablyEvil personality]], but during TheReveal [[spoiler:you find out he's Arkham's Devil Trigger and has been manipulating Dante, Vergil, and Lady in a XanatosGambit to open the portal to the demon world, give him the sealed power of Sparda, and generally bring HellOnEarth]].

* Dimentio in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' seems to be at first a jester-like character, light-hearted and playful. Later, as his [[TheChessmaster true]] [[TakeOverTheWorld intentions]] [[XanatosGambit unfold]], his true menace becomes apparent.

** 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.

** [[spoiler: [[Music/TheProtomen Doug Fetterman]]]] and his lackeys fall under this too. His two henchmen don't even get names, all three are portrayed as {{Large Ham}}s, and you figure they're no match for the good guys... [[spoiler: Then they assault Commander with a swarm of insects, fry KILROY'S brain and reformat him into a time bomb, and reveal that Panther is apparently [[HeelFaceTurn working for them]]. As Panther kills Dr. Light, [[EyeScream ripping out his eyes]]. And then you realize the extent of Fetterman's XanatosGambit]].

* The BigBad mastermind of ''GaiaOnline''s deicide storyline? [[spoiler: Don Kuro, the [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld perpetually]] [[CuteShotaroBoy five-years-old]] dark elf mob boss who owes Devin favors and is a huge MommasBoy.]]

** Hekate also gets credit, along with Don Sebastaino. [[spoiler: Hekate came perilously close to making Fey into her mind-slave, and actually killed Jade, who got better. Both she and Don were revealed to be rapists, and at a much higher level of villainy. While both ended up defeated, Hekate is now working for a B-List Supervillain, the Necromancer. He's only not A-List because of how big the A-List is.]]

* Due to the semi-serious nature of its first half, followed by the seriousness of the second half, ''GundamZZ'' does this to a few people. In the case of Chara, it was mainly her playing the {{Fanservice}} card with that whip. With Mashimar Cero though, the somewhat-bumbling but honorable and idealistic Neo Zeon officer returns as a brutal and cruel officer that oversees a ColonyDrop.

* Joshua in ''TheWorldEndsWithYou'' is incredibly hard to fight with, until you get him floating, then he can shoot very powerful JesusBeams [[spoiler: not to mention he's actually TheChessmaster for the entire game]]

* ''{{Xenogears}}'':

* ''MegaManX 4'':

** X himself gets this in ''Maverick Hunter X.'' Sigma is the most powerful Reploid in service, Vile is as deadly as he is reckless, and his unit is the best the Hunters had before they rebelled. X is scoffed at for being a low-rank TechnicalPacifist. Then the "weak little B-Class Hunter" blows through Sigma's lieutenants, fortress guardians, and even his dog before his showdown with Sigma. Oh, and his creator? Dr. Light, the guy who created the original ''Game/MegaMan,'' himself an example of Not So Harmless.

* Speaking of ''Mega Man'', [[Game/MegaMan Dr. Wily]] falls under this. In ''Mega Man and Bass'', one of his creations, King, ''chopped Protoman in half''. In ''9'', he managed to con the world into thinking Dr. Light was after world domination, getting the good doctor arrested. And in ''10'', [[spoiler: if not for Roll, he would've won]]. And this is just in the Classic series. In the ''X'' series, he is responsible for TheVirus that causes much of the conflict. Plus, it's hinted that [[BackFromTheDead he may still be alive]]...

** Ghetsis as well. Although Ghetsis was treated as any other member of Team Plasma by the main cast and N was built up to be the real threat; when he actually throws out his Pokeomon, he hits you with a dragon pokemon with maxed stats for that specific pokemon, making it by far one of the HARDEST battles in the game due to it being capable of taking down Pokemon 10 levels higher than it without too much effort.

** Not wanting to be outdone by Starrk, the normally easygoing Kyoraku makes some use of this trope himself by [[spoiler: releasing his Zanpakuto and utterly owning Starrk. With children's games.]]
** Wait... [[spoiler: Isshin Kurosaki]] is a Shinigami? Well, he's still nothing but a bumbling father, how good can he really- HOLY HARUHI, he just cut a skyscraper-sized Hollow in half!
** When Yumichika and Ganju fought, it was clear from the outset that Ganju didn't have the power or ability to defeat Yumichika. All he could do was deliberately play the ObfuscatingStupidity game to try and make Yumichika drop his guard and not take him seriously. His trick worked, allowing him to throw a firework at [[TheDandy Yumichika's hair]] and win.

* Xin Fu and Master Yu from ''AvatarTheLastAirBender'', the two goons hired to bring Toph back for her parents, seem harmless and not very intelligent at first, but are shown to be relatively competent earthbenders if given their chance to shine, and did in fact even manage to briefly capture their quarry at one point.

* In the ''{{He-Man|AndTheMastersOfTheUniverse}}'' universe, Hordak managed to share the same fate as Ixis: In the 2002 series, he was used relatively minorly in the series, but would have been more important in the unmade S3.

* Shredder of the 1987 ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' cartoon is similarly considered a heavy downgrade from his fearsome alternate counterparts, but he still possesses combat skills that usually only Master Splinter can rival, and his schemes, though cartoony, range anywhere from pitiful to [[BewareTheSillyOnes potentially deadly]].

-->'''Shredder:''' I never bluff...

* Shredder of the ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' cartoon is similarly considered a heavy downgrade from his fearsome alternate counterparts, but he still possesses combat skills that usually only Master Splinter can rival, and his schemes, though cartoony, range anywhere from pitiful to [[BewareTheSillyOnes potentially deadly]].

** There's also Mechanikles. [[spoiler:Like Abizz Mal, his one episode where he's a major threat involves brainwashing. Unlike Abizz Mal, however, he doesn't brainwash just Jasmine, but ''everyone in Agrabah except Aladdin and Genie''.

* Zigzag, the grand vizier, in ''TheThiefAndTheCobbler'' seemed, at first, an egotistical TedBaxter who spun RhymesOnADime. Then he stole the golden balls protecting the city, giving them to BigBad and EvilOverlord One-Eye. One-Eye is unappreciative, and has him thrown to the alligators... Zigzag ''tames'' them, going on to tell One-Eye "''One'' mistake will suffice! ''Don't treat me lightly'' '''''twice!'''''"

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** The better Homestuck example is [[FantasticRacism Troll Racist]] Eridan Ampora. After spending most of Act Five failing at genocide and wallowing in [[RunningGag exaggerated emotional theatrics]], [[spoiler:he decides that his best chance of survival after everything goes to hell is to [[FaceHeelTurn side with]] [[BigBad Jack]]. When Sollux and Feferi try to stop him, he knocks the first one out and ''[[MoralEventHorizon kills]]'' [[KillTheCutie the latter]].]] Then, when [[spoiler:Kanaya, who he had previously shown to be the landdweller who he cares about the most(in that he would [[YouWillBeSpared spare her when he commits genocide]])]] tries to stop him, he [[spoiler:destroys the Matriorb, thereby destroying the last hope the trolls as a race had of surviving, then ''blasts a hole through her stomach''.]]

** Courtyard Droll would like to remind you that he's Clubs Deuce's alternate by [[spoiler:blowing up Jade to death]].