History Main / SystematicVillainTakedown

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': The Espadas, a group of the 10 most powerful Arrancar in Aizen's army, are introduced in the Arrancar Arc, and would be the major threat of the manga aside from Aizen and his most direct underlings for said arc up to the SeriesFauxnale. They're separately taken down over the course of these arcs, by multiple different major characters in the story, though some are also taken out by in-fighting, especially where Grimmjow and Nnoitra are involved, and occasionally, there's a fight between a character and a minor Arrancar that isn't an Espada.
* ''Manga/BoBoBoBoBoBoBo'' features this as the main structure. Bobobo and his companions travel around and take out the top generals of [[TheEmpire the Chrome Dome Empire]] before moving on to the [[EliteFour Big Four]] and later [[TheDragon Giga]]. Even when the plot shifts over to the [[FishOutOfTemporalWater Former Hair-Hunt Generals]], [[HiddenVillain Reverse Chrome Dome Empire]] and beyond, the story follows this structure.

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' has La Squadra Esecuzione, a team of seven assassins, originally nine, introduced after the Boss has two of their members killed for trying to find his identity. Bent on revenge, La Squadra tries to take out the Boss's daughter Trish while she is being escorted by Bucciarati's gang, leading to a series of one-by-one fights of La Squadra that ends [[spoiler:with Team Bucciarati killing off the entire La Squadra team, except for their leader, Risotto Nero. Risotto is instead defeated by the Boss.]]

* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'': In the opening of the game, the player learns of the four people with the Lord Souls, Gwyn, The Witch of Izalith, Gravelord Nito and the Furtive Pygmy. In the second half of the game, the player has to collect the Lord Souls from Nito and the witch, and [[spoiler:kill Gwyn who is acting as the Final Boss]]. The Furtive Pygmy plays no role in this story, [[spoiler:aside from the implication he is your ancestor.]]

** ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves'' also has a criminal group called The Klaww Gang who steal and use [[spoiler:Clockwerk's parts]] for their own agendas with [[GRatedDrug illegal spice trade]] being the connecting factor.

** Meanwhile, Orso is doing the same. Styria is a confederation of city-states, and he is winning a war of unification to crown himself the first king of Styria in generations. In some cases, Monza and Orso's systematic takedowns collide, as illustrated by Monza luring Ganmark into an ambush with the Duke of Visserine as bait.

* ''Literature/BestServedCold'' opens on the mercenary general Monzcarro Murcatto and her brother Benna being betrayed by Grand Duke Orso. Benna is killed and Monza survives at the cost of chronic pain, most of the function in her right hand, and miles of crisscrossing scars. The plot of the book is her hatching plans to kill the seven men who either participated in or were present for her attempted murder: Grand Duke Orso, his two sons, his banker, Generals Ganmark and Carpi, his banker, and his bodyguard. The story is a tour across Styria, a FantasyCounterpartCulture of Renaissance Italy, including the warring city-states, as she tracks and kills all seven, culminating in Orso himself.

[[caption-width-right:350:The [[DoubleMeaning stakes]] have been raised -- [[{{Pun}} to drive one through each of their hearts]].]]

This is a trope that occurs when instead of heroes being taken down one by one, this happens to a previously established party of central or secondary villains.

For this trope to be in play, the party of villains must be previously established at the start of an arc or even at the start of the story, and the plot must follow the heroes taking them down one by one (or in groups), either by hunting them down, finding them while looking for something else, finding them at random or being hunted down by them. Often, the existence of a party and their number is made clear, but each antagonist is introduced separately as a character, though in rare occasions, all villains will be introduced simultaneously and afterwards fought one at time. There are times where the existence of a group is mentioned, but neither is their number or the characters belonging to it.

This trope is particularly popular in {{Shonen}} manga for providing a simple and easy to follow structure for an arc and introducing characters for plenty of potential fights that can give all of your main characters some time in the limelight.

This trope doesn't necessarily demands the villains to be killed, they just have to be neutralized as a threat, be it by killing them, [[SealedEvilInACan sealing them away]], arresting them or simply putting them out of commission for the duration of the story. Some stories with non-villainous antagonists can have them simply be defeated in order to proceed.

SubTrope of DwindlingParty. Often crosses with QuirkyMiniBossSquad. Can be used in overlay with TheRestShallPass, if that trope is used multiple times in a single StoryArc. This could lead to an instance of a VillainNoLongerIdle as the BigBad is forced to take action due to his minions being dealt with. Contrast with MookHorrorShow, this trope doesn't focus on {{Mooks}}, but an established party of particularly strong and relevant antagonistic characters, taken out in a specific systematic method. Compare GottaKillThemAll and RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* In ''Videogame/{{Mercenaries}},'' you are given the Deck of 52, which is a series of North Korean military officers and [=VIPs=] that you must systematically take down over the course of the game. They consist of "number" cards, who are minor but important North Korean officers and officials, and "face" cards who are the targets of major story and faction missions. Each act of the game has an "ace" card as well, who is the ClimaxBoss for that particular part of the game. Number and face cards who are not completed before taking down the ace will be lost, encouraging you to [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil work your way up the chain of badguys]] before taking down the ace.

* ''VideoGame/NoStraightRoads'': The game follows a pair of heroes taking down a company that is stifling rock in favor of EDM. In order to do that, they start by taking down the company's biggest artists, the 5 Megastars, before taking on the BigBad Tatiana.

** The Council of Villains serves this role in [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI the first game]], being a nefarious group consisting of Disney Villains (to be specific, [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} Hades]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} Jafar]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid Ursula]], [[WesternAnimation/PeterPan Captain Hook]], [[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas Oogie Boogie]], and [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]]), seeking control of the Heartless and access to the titular Kingdom Hearts. The protagonist Sora, along with Donald and Goofy systematically defeat each villain by traveling to their respective worlds and defeating them, either killing them, trapping them, or sending them running.

* In ''Anime/OutlawStar'', the Anten Seven are the Kay Pirate's seven deadliest assassins. They're introduced as a group about halfway through the series and then one shows up (and gets killed off) every few episodes. The final three members actually survive to the end of the series but they're each taken down individually- one by Aisha, one by Gene, and the final one killed when [[BigBad Hazanko]] goes OneWingedAngel and absorbs his own starship into himself to become an EldritchAbomination.

* This trope appears in basically every ''[[Franchise/MetalGear Metal Gear Solid]]'' Game from Part 1 to 4 and their respective groups of elite boss fight units. All of these BossBattle villains are set up at the start of the game and go down one by one. Even the SpinOff games follow this trope.

** ''Videogame/MetalGearSolid2'' has the terrorist group ''Dead Cell'' and the members Fatman, Fortune, and Solidus Snake who find their demise.
** In ''Videogame/MetalGearSolid3'' the ''Cobra Unit'' is introduced at the beginning. Snake kills The Pain, The Fear, The End, The Fury, and at the end The Boss (aka "The Joy"), proving that he truly is Big Boss.
** ''Videogame/MetalGearSolid4'' features the ''Beauty and the Beast Unit'' that are combinations of the bosses from the previous three installments. Laughing Octopus, Raging Raven, Crying Wolf, and Screaming Mantis go down one by one. And Vamp from Part 2 is also killed for good this time around.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' has Big Boss taking on the ''[[ArtificialIntelligence Peace Walker Project AI Weapons]]'' in place of the traditional empowered human units one-by-one, starting with the Shagohod-like [=PUPA=], the agile railgun-wielding [=CHRYSALIS=], the slow yet armed-to-the-teeth [=COCOON=], and Peace Walker/[=AURELIA=] in the end.

%%* This trope appears in basically every ''Franchise/MetalGear'' Solid Game from Part 1 to 4 and their respective groups of elite boss fight units. All of these bossfight villains are set up at the start of the game and go down one by one.
%%** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' has the ''FOXHOUND'' unit with the iconic villains Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, and Liquid Snake who all go down in this installment.
%%** ''Videogame/MetalGearSolid2'' has the terrorist group ''Dead Cell'' and the members Fatman, Fortune, and Solidus Snake who find their demise.
%%** In ''Videogame/MetalGearSolid3'' the ''Cobra Unit'' is introduced at the beginning. Snake kills The Pain, The Fear, The End, The Fury, and at the end The Boss (aka "The Joy"), proving that he truly is Big Boss.
%%** ''Videogame/MetalGearSolid4'' features the ''Beauty and the Beast Unit'' that are combinations of the bosses from the previous three installments. Laughing Octopus, Raging Raven, Crying Wolf, and Screaming Mantis go down one by one. And Vamp from Part 2 is also killed for good this time around.
* ''Videogame/NoStraightRoads'': The game follows a pair of heroes taking down a company that is stifling rock in favor of EDM. In order to do that, they start by taking down the company's biggest artists, the 5 Megastars, before taking on the BigBad Tatiana.

* ''VideoGame/{{Darksiders}}'': The game starts with War having to defeat the Forces of Hell by taking down their generals, The Chosen. He strikes a deal with Samael to give him the hearts of four of them so he will open a portal to escape and to let War fight the last one, Straga. While their numbers is established early, War only learns about each of their natures when going to fight them. Wicked K, one of the Chosen, however, is a BonusBoss that doesn't need to be fought, and when fought, it won't be killed and just reward the played with more souls, being able to be fought again for more rewards.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': The Espadas, a group of the 10 most powerful Arrancar in Aizen's army, are introduced in the Arrancar Invasion Arc, and would be the major threat of the manga aside from Aizen and his most direct underlings for the next arcs leading up to the SeriesFauxnale, Hueco Mundo, Fake Karakura Town and Deicide. They're separately taken down over the course of these arcs, by multiple different central characters in the story, though some are also taken out by in-fighting, especially where Grimmjow and Nnoitra are involved, and occasionally, there's a fight between a character and a minor Arrancar that isn't an Espada.

** The Twelve Kizuki, the twelve most powerful members of the demon race and direct underlings of the demon progenitor Muzan. [[spoiler: The 12 are taken down over the course of entire MythArc, with Tanjiro needing to collect their blood in order to search for a cure for his sister's demon transformation, though a few of them are killed by Muzan himself deciding to dissolve the Lower Ranks. In the final arc, only three of the Upper Ranks remain, and Muzan brings two more to make up for him losing members. They're separately taken down for the arc]].
** The Spider Family in the Mount Natagumo Arc. The members are introduced early, with the revelation that among them, [[spoiler: one is a Lower Rank. The members of the family get separately taken down by different characters over the course of the arc]].

* ''Manga/DragonBallZ'': The Frieza force greatly outnumbered the heroes at first, but over the course of the arc, their numbers keep dropping as they get taken out by either the [[MeleeATrois Z-Fighters or Vegeta]], first with many minions, followed by lieutenants Dodoria and Zarbon, and finally the [[EliteMooks Ginyu Force]]. Eventually Frieza is the only one left and the Emperor finds he has to do the grunt work himself.

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' has La Squadra Ezecusione, a team of seven assassins, originally nine, introduced after the Boss has two of their members killed for trying to find his identity. Bent on revenge, La Squadra tries to take out the Boss's daughter Trish while she is being escorted by Bucciarati's gang, leading to a series of one-by-one fights of La Squadra that ends [[spoiler:with Team Bucciarati killing off the entire La Squadra team, except for their leader, Risotto Nero. Risotto is instead defeated the Boss.]]

** The League of Villains starts slowly taking this route, since instead of a single arc, they lose members rarely, but every few arcs. In the introduction of the modern incarnation of the league, Muscular, Mustard and Moonfish are arrested, and after that [[spoiler:in the Internship Arc, Magne is killed by Overhaul, and in the Paranormal Liberation War Arc, Hawks kills Twice.]]
** For a StoryArc example, the 8 Bullets of the Shie Haissakai. The 8 are members of a Yakuza group that are specifically described as being expendable, and their job is to delay the heroes' just enough for their boss to flee. Unlike most examples, instead of the 8 members being taken down one by one, they're actually dealt with in small groups since they seem to organize themselves in units. Tamaki takes out three that work as a unit called Garbage Trio, Fatgum and Kirishima work together to take down the Shield and Spear duo, Rappa and Tengai, Mirio takes out a duo of Deidoro and Nemoto. Rikiya is the only one to work alone. The other three members of the Shie Hassaikai, which are the leaders Mimic, Chronostasis and Overhaul are also taken down separately in order of their importance to the group.

** Arlong Town arc: Fishmen Pirates

** Skypeia arc: Eneru's Priests (also the first arc where someone outside the main group takes out one of them).

* ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt'': In the game, the protagonist's main mission, aside from protecting Joule, is to defeat the Sumeragi Swordsmen, a part of the Sumeragi group that is led by Nova and his direct underlings, the Sumeragi Seven, a group of Adepts who had their powers physically extracted into swords known as Glaives, with the intention of controlling and weaponizing Adepts. Each of the game's seven major missions is about finding and taking down the Sumeragi seven in each mission, with the final one going after Nova. [[spoiler:It's revealed that the Sumeragi group could clone the Sumeragi Seven, so there's a BossBonanza in the game's final missions, defeating those seven bosses again. Nova also turns out to not be the FinalBoss of the game, with a TrueFinalBoss after him in the true ending.]]

* The Big Five in ''Anime/YuGiOh'''s "Noah's Saga" are one of these; they appear early in the arc and are taken down one by one as Our Heroes navigate the virtual world. They do pop up one last time in merged form before being squashed permanently.

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** ''VideoGame/DarksidersIII'' has Strife going after personifcations of TheSevenDeadlySins.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'': The final arc of the story introduces the Dark Masters, a group of 4 extremely powerful digimons that took over the digiworld while the kids were away. They attack as a group and are able to wipe the floor with the digi-destined, so their plans shift to take them down one by one.