History Main / VillainBasedFranchise

* The ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' series has a different protagonist for (almost) every game, but the villains are always animatronics and ocasionally humans, but the award has to be given to [[AntagonistTitle Freddy Fazbear]] or [[BigBad William Afton]].

** The franchise became a clear-cut example of this with its [[Series/ScreamTVSeries TV adaptation]]. As noted above, the films on their own zig-zag this trope, featuring several recurring characters while Ghostface is a LegacyCharacter. However, the only thing linking the TV series to the films is the presence of a killer named Ghostface who wears a white mask and black cloak, uses a hunting knife as a weapon, and taunts victims through {{Harassing Phone Call}}s before attacking them. It was especially the case with the reboot ''Series/ScreamResurrection'', which not only brought back the original Ghostface mask from the films (the prior two seasons used a different mask due to copyright issues) but also brought back the original voice of Ghostface, Creator/RogerLJackson, while remaining in a wholly separate continuity.

* The ''Franchise/ChildsPlay'' series featuring Chucky, a KillerDoll possessed by the spirit of the SerialKiller Charles Lee Ray. Like with Freddy Krueger in ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'', Chucky has been voiced by Creator/BradDourif in every film. Notably, the series itself calls them "Chucky movies"; every film after ''Film/ChildsPlay3'' has been titled some variation of "''[blank] of Chucky''", and the TV series is titled simply ''Series/{{Chucky}}'', largely due to a [[https://screenrant.com/chucky-childs-play-movie-rights-mgm-universal-mancini/ complicated legal tangle.]][[note]]Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer owns the rights to [[Film/ChildsPlay1988 the first movie]] and the ''Child's Play'' title, but Don Mancini owns the rights to the sequels and the franchise. This is why the [[Film/ChildsPlay2019 2019 remake]] had to heavily alter Chucky's backstory, as using the one from the films would have run up against Mancini's property.[[/note]] The later films ''Film/BrideOfChucky'' and ''Film/SeedOfChucky'' added a secondary villain in Chucky's lover Tiffany, voiced by Creator/JenniferTilly. The first three movies featured a central hero, Andy Barclay, but after the commercial failure of the third movie it was decided to retool the franchise into this (though Andy has returned in the more recent films as an adult after being PutOnABus through the 2000s).

* The ''Warlock'' trilogy featuring the titular character. The origin stories of the character in each film are too inconsistent for it to be the ''same'' Warlock however, making it more a LegacyCharacter.

* ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' trended this way with the later films, with the dinosaurs, particularly carnivores like the ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'', as the iconic villains. The series does have recurring characters like Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, Owen Grady, and Claire Dearing, but they don't appear in every film.

* The ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' series featuring Michael Myers. Laurie Strode and Dr. Sam Loomis did serve as heroes for most of the series, but Laurie was absent from the [[Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers fourth]], [[Film/Halloween5TheRevengeOfMichaelMyers fifth]], and [[Film/HalloweenTheCurseOfMichaelMyers sixth]] films (the "Curse of Thorn" [[AlternateContinuity timeline]]; all of these, incidentally, had Michael Myers' full name in the title), while Loomis was absent from the ''[[Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater H20]]'' timeline (which also includes ''Film/HalloweenResurrection''). Notably, Creator/JohnCarpenter originally wanted to avert this and turn ''Halloween'' into a GenreAnthology series, making the third movie, ''Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch'', about a wholly separate story from the first two. Fan and critical backlash to that film caused him to sell the rights to Moustapha Akkad, who brought Michael back with the fourth film, titled ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'' to signify that The Shape was returning. After that, there was no looking back.

* The ''Anime/TimeBokan'' series has the most focus on the villains than the heroes.

* The ''Film/{{Scream}}'' franchise [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zags]] on this trope. On one hand, the series has a collection of recurring heroic characters like Sidney Prescott, Gale Weathers, and Dewey Riley, and the villain Ghostface is a LegacyCharacter, with the films all having different killers taking up the persona. On the other hand, [[VillainsActHeroesReact the plot of each film is entirely driven by the actions of the villain]], and Ghostface's [[IconicOutfit iconic white mask, black robe]], hunting knife, menacing voice (provided by Creator/RogerLJackson in each film, justified in-universe by the killers using [[VoiceChangeling voice-changer devices]] to mask their identity), and M.O. of making {{Harassing Phone Call}}s are constant throughout the series and collectively treated as a character in their own right. In fact, when ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'' made a ''Scream''-inspired expansion, all they had to do was license the costume (the rights to which are held by a separate company) rather than the movies themselves and create their own original killer inspired by the films, such is Ghostface identified with the series.

* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' is linked by its main villain Dracula. This even extends to the ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Sorrow]]'' games, which are set in the future after Drac being KilledOffForReal. Who is the player character? [[spoiler:His reincarnation!]]

* The ''Film/{{Scream}}'' franchise [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zags]] on this trope. On one hand, the series has a collection of recurring heroic characters like Sidney Prescott, Gale Weathers, and Dewey Riley, and the villain Ghostface is a LegacyCharacter, with the films all having different killers taking up the persona. On the other hand, [[VillainsActHeroesReact the plot of each film is entirely driven by the actions of the villain]], and Ghostface's [[IconicOutfit iconic white mask, black robe]], [[WeaponOfChoice hunting knife]], menacing voice (provided by Creator/RogerLJackson in each film, justified in-universe by the killers using [[VoiceChangeling voice-changer devices]] to mask their identity), and M.O. of making {{Harassing Phone Call}}s are constant throughout the series and collectively treated as a character in their own right. In fact, when ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'' made a ''Scream''-inspired expansion, all they had to do was license the costume (the rights to which are held by a separate company) rather than the movies themselves and create their own original killer inspired by the films, such is Ghostface identified with the series.

** The franchise became a clear-cut example of this with its [[Series/ScreamTVSeries TV adaptation]]. As noted above, the films on their own zig-zag this trope, featuring several recurring characters while Ghostface is a LegacyCharacter. However, the only thing linking the TV series to the films is the presence of a killer named Ghostface who wears a white mask and black cloak, uses a hunting knife as a WeaponOfChoice, and taunts victims through {{Harassing Phone Call}}s before attacking them. It was especially the case with the reboot ''Series/ScreamResurrection'', which not only brought back the original Ghostface mask from the films (the prior two seasons used a different mask due to copyright issues) but also brought back the original voice of Ghostface, Creator/RogerLJackson, while remaining in a wholly separate continuity.

* Each season of ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' has a plot that focuses almost entirely on [[AIIsACrapshoot XANA's]] schemes, attacks and evolution. Which is kind of ironic, considering he is [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen never actually seen]] [[UltimateEvil or heard in person]].

** The franchise became one with its [[Series/ScreamTVSeries TV adaptation]]. While the films on their own are not an example of this, featuring several recurring characters in addition to Ghostface (itself [[LegacyCharacter an identity worn by different people in each film]]), the only thing linking the TV series to the films is the presence of a killer named Ghostface who wears a white mask and black cloak, uses a hunting knife as a WeaponOfChoice, and taunts victims through {{Harassing Phone Call}}s before attacking them. It was especially the case with the reboot ''Series/ScreamResurrection'', which not only brought back the original Ghostface mask from the films (the prior two seasons used a different mask due to copyright issues) but also brought back the original voice of Ghostface, Creator/RogerLJackson, while remaining in a wholly separate continuity.

* The ''Film/{{Scream}}'' franchise [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zags]] on this trope. While the [[VillainsActHeroesReact plot of each films is entirely driven by the action of the villain]]. Said villain is actually a different person in each movies but all taking the persona of Ghostface. Meanwhile, the protagonist, Sidney Prescott, appears in all movies.

* Franchise/UniversalHorror as a whole is an entire [[TheVerse universe]] composed of multiple Villain-Based Franchises, with the monsters having been marketed together by Creator/{{Universal}} ever since TheForties. They eventually tried to revive the concept as a ModularFranchise with the Film/DarkUniverse, though the BoxOfficeBomb of ''Film/TheMummy2017'', intended to lead off the franchise, instead [[StillbornFranchise strangled it in its crib]].

* The ''Film/{{Warlock}}'' trilogy featuring the titular character. The origin stories of the character in each film are too inconsistent for it to be the ''same'' Warlock however, making it more a LegacyCharacter.

** ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', with a host of books and movies based off the bloodsucking fiend. The most famous examples include the Universal films starting with ''Film/Dracula1931'', and the Film/HammerHorror films starting with ''Film/HorrorOfDracula''. This gets turned UpToEleven in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', where the Count is the titled SociopathicHero protagonist [[spoiler: who ends up victorious, lampshading the whole 'Dracula returns' at the end.]]

* In one way or another, the main stories of the ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' and ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' series seem to revolve around Geese Howard. By the time ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters [[DreamMatchGame 2002]]: [[UpdatedRerelease Unlimited Match]]'' comes around, he's also present in that as a secret boss, [[UpToEleven out-bossing]] a considerable cast of {{SNK Boss}}es. Also, in ''[[VideoGame/CapcomVsSNKMillenniumFight2000 Capcom vs. SNK]]'', [[MemeticMutation Geese is Ratio 6]] when fought as a boss, since you fight him twice as Ratio 3, when the highest a character goes in the game, [[Franchise/StreetFighter Akuma (Gouki)]] as a secret character, is Ratio 4.

* The ''Film/ChildsPlay'' series featuring Chucky, a KillerDoll possessed by the spirit of the SerialKiller Charles Lee Ray. Like with Freddy Krueger in ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'', Chucky has been voiced by Creator/BradDourif in every film. Notably, the series itself calls them "Chucky movies"; every film after ''Film/ChildsPlay3'' has been titled some variation of "''[blank] of Chucky''", and the TV series is titled simply ''Chucky'', largely due to a [[https://screenrant.com/chucky-childs-play-movie-rights-mgm-universal-mancini/ complicated legal tangle.]][[note]]Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer owns the rights to [[Film/ChildsPlay1988 the first movie]] and the ''Child's Play'' title, but Don Mancini owns the rights to the sequels and the franchise. This is why the [[Film/ChildsPlay2019 2019 remake]] had to heavily alter Chucky's backstory, as using the one from the films would have run up against Mancini's property.[[/note]] The later films ''Film/BrideOfChucky'' and ''Film/SeedOfChucky'' added a secondary villain in Chucky's lover Tiffany, voiced by Creator/JenniferTilly. The first three movies featured a central hero, Andy Barclay, but after the commercial failure of the third movie it was decided to retool the franchise into this (though Andy has returned in the more recent films as an adult after being PutOnABus through the 2000s).

* The ''Film/{{Scream}}'' franchise became one with its [[Series/ScreamTVSeries TV adaptation]]. While the films had several recurring characters in addition to Ghostface (itself [[LegacyCharacter an identity worn by different people in each film]]), the only thing linking the TV series to the films is the presence of a killer named Ghostface who wears a white mask and black cloak, uses a hunting knife as a WeaponOfChoice, and taunts victims through {{Harassing Phone Call}}s before attacking them. It was especially the case with the reboot ''Series/ScreamResurrection'', which not only brought back the original Ghostface mask from the films (the prior two seasons used a different mask due to copyright issues) but also brought back the original voice of Ghostface, Creator/RogerLJackson, while remaining in a wholly separate continuity.

* The ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' franchise are all linked by the titular alien species that serves as the villains. While the original series all featured Ellen Ripley as the protagonist, the introduction of the prequels, without Ripley, turned it into a villain-based franchise. The aliens also provide the villains in the ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' series since the Predators are the LesserOfTwoEvils between them--as murderous as they are, they can at least potentially be reasoned with.

* The ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise is centered around the PoeticSerialKiller John Kramer, aka Jigsaw, who puts people he thinks are wasting their lives into {{Death Trap}}s that they have to escape, often making a LifeOrLimbDecision in the process, in order to prove themselves worthy of life. He serves as the main plot driver for the first three movies, then [[LegacyCharacter his apprentices and a copycat take his place]].

If the franchise is named after the villain, do not confuse this with AntagonistTitle. If the villain themselves appears as a mascot, they are a MascotVillain. While the recurring villain in a Villain-Based Franchise usually features as the VillainAntagonist in the individual installments rather than as an outright VillainProtagonist, they are still the overarching main character in the series ''as a whole'', disqualifing them from this trope.

* ComicBook/TheJoker had a short comics series of his own in the 1970s, and Eclipso had an ongoing one in the 1990s. While radical in their day, villain-based series have since gotten more common.