History Main / VillainSue

* Mr. Mxyzptlk could be considered a [[ParodySue parody]] of Villain Sues, as his powers are nearly endless, but he always loses because [[ObfuscatingStupidity he finds it more fun to play the fool.]] While Mxyzptlk is easily one of the most powerful characters in the DCU, he deliberately limits himself to stupid games with Superman, knowing that it'd be no fun if he just killed everyone he didn't like. EVERYTHING in the 3rd dimension is a game to Mxy. In ''{{Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow}}?'' a possible future story by Alan Moore, we get a glimpse of what it would be like if Mxy ever actually got serious about villainy. Long story short: [[CosmicHorror it ain't pretty.]]
** While, in the EvanDorkin-scripted "World's Funniest", Mxy and Bat-Mite are clearly revealed as the two most powerful beings in the entire Multiverse, and - in a manner which is both genuinely funny and also downright disturbing - [[spoiler: apparently end up destroying and rebuilding the entire Multiverse on a regular basis just for their own amusement]]...

* The Marquis of Death (Yes that is really his name), Master of Doom. Shows up on earth to berate ''Dr Doom'' because he thinks he's not doing enough [[ForTheEvulz pointless evil]], declaring that the world deserves a [[CardCarryingVillain new menace]], in the form of himself. So he sets [[TheWorfEffect Dr Doom on fire, traps him in a fantasy world, and drops him into some sharks in prehistory]]. The arc is not finished but barring a rather impressive reversal this features a man who has faced beings of ultimate power without flinching being flustered and used as a chew toy by a body double for the Mouth of Sauron, whose motive is [[CardCarryingVillain for the sake of being evil]].

* Doomsday in the Superman comics started out by killing Supes, but as part of the storyline, also soundly beat three Justice Leaguers: Guy Gardner, Maxima, and Booster Gold. The problem? Doomsday had no ranged capabilities other than picking stuff up and throwing it, and all three of these characters had various means to simply pick him up off the ground, rendering him utterly impotent. This got so bad that Doomsday nearly killed Darkseid, who by all rights should have teleported Doomsday across the universe with literally a glance, assuming Darkseid found Doomsday threatening enough to bother with. In another battle, Doomsday somehow outran the ''Flash''.

** Then again, he also loves having them taken down a peg. Again, see [[spoiler:[[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe Eridan]] and [[GroinAttack Gamzee.]]]]

* The original concept of Venom fit this trope in the pages of [[SpiderMan Spider-Man]]. He was Spidey's evil counterpart that was twice as strong, negated his spider-sense, knew his secret identity, and could turn invisible. Spider-Man would usually have to resort to finding outside help, exploiting Venom's weaknesses, or outright running away. He could never beat him on his own despite the fact that Spider-Man has defeated foes far more powerful.
** And then someone thought up Carnage, a villain who had an upper hand on Venom that Venom and Spidey had to team up to defeat him, and who [[MaximumCarnage at one time]] brought together a number of forgettable villains to cause so much chaos, damage, and death ([[IncrediblyLamePun guess he had to live up to his name]]) that Spidey and Venom had to get help from a number of heroes, including CaptainAmerica himself, to stop them.
** When written incorrectly, Norman Osborn stops being a MagnificentBastard and becomes this.

** There is also Sasuke in Part II. After [[spoiler: his betrayal of the village]] Sasuke has used his [[SuperpowerLottery Sharingan]] [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands powers]] to exploit the mistakes of [[AssPull otherwise expert ninja]]. He [[spoiler: beat Deidara's C4 move with his [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands new ability to see microscopic levels of chakra,]] and was also able to escape his [[TakingYouWithMe CO attack]] by [[DeusExMachina summoning Manda (a summon that even Orchimaru had trouble controlling) and brainwashing it with his Sharingan.]]]] Along with this he [[spoiler: killed Danzo, who was a going to be the leader of one of the most powerful villages in a world where [[Ass Kicking Equals Authority]]. This, plus the fact that whenever a woman so much as looks at Sasuke, they have to mention [[SoBeautifulItsACurse how HANDSOME]] he is. Every fight he enters, he always has some new skill that came from his Sharingan. This skill will usually be one of few techniques that the Sharingan has but it will ultimately be warped somehow to counter a certain type of jutsu. Let it also be known that his Sharingan basically covers all his needs in a fight, as it can produce a Susanoo, which is essentially a full body shield, with a sword and bow and arrow, along with Ameterasu, an unextinguishable fire which can be produced antwhere within his eyesight. If not this, then you can trust him to count on his, all too versatile, Chidori technique, that he has "trained" himself to conveniently use to match the exact situation that he's in.

** There is also Sasuke in Part II. After [[spoiler: his betrayal of the village]] Sasuke has used his [[SuperpowerLottery Sharingan]] [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands powers]] to exploit the mistakes of [[AssPull otherwise expert ninja]]. He [[spoiler: beat Deidara's C4 move with his [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands new ability to see microscopic levels of chakra,]] and was also able to escape his [[TakingYouWithMe CO attack]] by [[DeusExMachina summoning Manda (a summon that even Orchimaru had trouble controlling) and brainwashing it with his Sharingan.]] Along with this he [[spoiler: killed Danzo, who was a going to be the leader of one of the most powerful villages in a world where [[Ass Kicking Equals Authority]].]] This, plus the fact that whenever a woman so much as looks at Sasuke, they have to mention [[SoBeautifulItsACurse how HANDSOME]] he is. Every fight he enters, he always has some new skill that came from his Sharingan. This skill will usually be one of few techniques that the Sharingan has but it will ultimately be warped somehow to counter a certain type of jutsu. Let it also be known that his Sharingan basically covers all his needs in a fight, as it can produce a Susanoo, which is essentially a full body shield, with a sword and bow and arrow, along with Ameterasu, an unextinguishable fire which can be produced antwhere within his eyesight. If not this, then you can trust him to count on his, all too versatile, Chidori technique, that he has "trained" himself to conveniently use to match the exact situation that he's in.

* WerewolfTheApocalypse brings us a whole multi-corporation conglomerate of EvilSues in Pentax, who were at least initially more interested in CartoonishSupervillainy inspired by the bad guys from CaptainPlanet than in actual business. These were people who would scrap an industrial product if it didn't produce enough damage to the environment, and who would actively fund child molesters just cause, all the while getting a KarmaHoudini effect unless the players' characters stopped them. This, despite virtually all of the important members being human or just barely above.
** [[TwoWordsObviousTrope Two Words:]] [[HybridMonster Samuel Haight.]] Started off as a human who was [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent related to werewolves]] [[IJustWantToBeSpecial without actually being one]]. Started drinking [[FantasticDrug vampire]] [[PsychoSerum blood]]. Hunted werewolves, killed them, and skinned them. Used a magic ritual to become a werewolf and kept using the vampire blood afterwards. Started bothering [[MageTheAscension the mages]], including such actions as stealing an archmage's magic powers, and [[TheSandiego binding]] a PlaceOfPower into his [[MagicWand staff]]. Eventually, he became a [[WraithTheOblivion wraith]], and was soulforged into an ashtray. This last was [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing very well-recieved]].

* The demonic SonicTheHedgehog from ''A Sorcerer, A Demon and Emeralds''. For six entire chapters the rest of the Sonic cast do everything in their power to stop him - and this is after they've been upgraded themselves and gotten older - all they do is utterly fail to so much as land a serious blow on him and he defeats every single of them. Oh, and rapes every female character while he's at it too.

** Interestingly, Courtney was one of the most ''[[EnsembleDarkhorse popular]]'' characters from season one, though she was a bit of a BaseBreaker even then. Even her fans widely derided her CharacterDerailment, and so far at least ''Total Drama World Tour'' seems to be trying to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap Rescue Her From the Scrappy Heap]], with no reference to her embarrassing stint as the villain mentioned, instead giving the villain role back to [[TheLibby Heather]] and newcomer [[ManipulativeBastard Alejandro.]]
** And speaking of Alejandro, he's an ''intentional'' example of this trope. Done to show that [[SeriousBusiness he means to win this game]].

* [[Comicbook/TeenTitans Deathstroke]] has an unfortunate tendency to turn into this under a bad writer, with his power of NinetyPercentOfYourBrain allowing him to outplan [[XanatosRoulette Xanatos]] and manage feats the most [[CharlesAltasSuperpower Charles Altas-esque]] characters would find unlikely. A good example would be in IdentityCrisis, where he managed to move faster than TheFlash and make BlackCanary forget she's one of the greatest martial artists in the world.

* The SilverAge villain "Composite Superman", an ordinary custodian who got [[LightingCanDoAnything struck by lighting while in front of tiny statues]] of {{Batman}}, {{Superman}}, and the LegionOfSuperheroes. This somehow caused him to gain all of their powers, which is exactly as [[GameBreaker Game Breaking]] as it sounds. Oh, and he tried to TakeOverTheWorld. Thankfully for all those involved, his powers eventually faded away, along with the memory of how he got them.

** Dartz was more like a corrupted shell for the power of the Orichalcos, so he never truly intended any harm, making the forgiveness more justified.

* RedHulk. Ever since his debut, he's been beating the living crap out of pretty much everyone effortlessly, regardless of their power levels or how much sense it makes. He has all the powers of the Incredible Hulk, but has consistent intelligence and NewPowersAsThePlotDemands. No one knows who he is. And he has now taken over as protagonist in the Hulk's own book.
** If it's even possible for a character to ''objectively'' be called a Sue, the term almost certainly applies to Red Hulk. For instance, he beat up Thor with Thor's own hammer, despite it having being repeatedly stated and demonstrated that only the pure of heart can lift the hammer. (Even Superman needed permission from Thor to use it at one point.) The Red Hulk did say that since they were fighting in space with no gravity, that rule didn't apply, but the strength required to swing the hammer is separate from the purity of heart needed to even try to lift it. (For instance, Captain America is pure enough to lift it, but not strong enough to swing it properly.) The Red Hulk has since been brought into line, having taken several defeats and being written into a more sympathetic character. Furthermore, it was eventually revealed that the entire reason he ''was'' so powerful was only to create a creature that could kill the Hulk...and then be killed by its own immense power. And the Hulk still won.

*** YMMV on that one, though.

* The Grigari from StarTrek ExpandedUniverse books by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristin Kathryn Rusch are also a race of {{Villain Sue}}s, but change considerably depending on which book they're in - which is okay because the ''StarTrek'' ExpandedUniverse has NegativeContinuity. Most notably in the ''Millennium'' trilogy, in which they easily defeat an alliance of the Klingons, Federation ''[[TheWorfEffect and Borg]]''.

** While Emperor Palpatine in the films can seem Sue-ish, his portrayal in the EU goes BeyondTheImpossible in making him one. According to many EU sources, Palpatine is a prolific author, a renowned scholar and political theorist, an unprecedented archaeologist, an expert award-winning pilot (that's not a joke), possesses a masterful insight into psychology, is multilingual, and is a certified genius. Of course, this all pales in comparison to DarkEmpire, in which [[FanNickname "Wankatine"]] is so powerful that he clones himself back to life, can rip apart space and time with his mind, and is now basically {{Darkseid}}. Puzzlingly, he then gets severe VillainDecay near the end and dies at the hands of {{Muggle}} Han Solo while [[GrandTheftMe trying to possess a baby]]. The EU is [[{{Understatement}} strange]].

* In ''{{Claymore}}'' we are confronted with numerous villains and EldritchAbominations that make you say, "[[NoOneCouldSurviveThat how can anyone defeat this thing?]]" Then Priscilla comes along and flicks them with her wrists and they're dead, while at the same time telling her victims [[EvilGloating how pitifully weak they are compared to her]]. Unlike the rest of the AlwaysChaoticEvil yoma and awakened beings, who only kill their own kind when in they're in some purposeful battle (and it was seen in volume one and onward that yoma sometimes group together), Priscilla kills other awakened beings [[ForTheEvulz just for the sake of doing it]]. Now you have to deal with [[OhCrap her]].

** It's also suggested in ''MK vs DC'' that his strength of will is stronger ''than a god's'', and he's shown in the intro berating Shao Kahn for his failure.
*** Granted, that part was him acting as Shinnok's [[TheDragon enforcer]]. Shinnok, being a fallen Elder God, is probably the only person besides Onaga that could make Shao Kahn rethink his plans. Shang Tsung himself is also shown to never give into The Rage [[spoiler:barring one brief moment when Dark Kahn forces all of the characters to square off, and even then, Shang Tsung quickly recovers, whereas Raiden and Superman are still struggling to ward off Dark Kahn's influence; Quan Chi wasn't even there at that point, having used up his powers to break The Rage's hold on Kitana]].
** He can steal an opponent's powers and weapons, and in ''[=MK9=]'' [[spoiler: can temporarily turn you into a zombie, and managed to turn most of the heroes killed by Sindel into his servants... including Sindel as well]].

** However, it should be noted that several characters ''have'' gotten the upper hand on Quan Chi. In fact, while Quan Chi OutGambitted Shinnok in ''Mythologies'', it was ultimately ''Shinnok'' who had the last laugh in ''Armageddon''; [[spoiler:Shinnok was ''[[GenreSavvy expecting]]'' the villains to all turn on each other after their brief EnemyMine so he sent [[ActuallyADoombot a clone of himself]] to fight in his stead and die, leaving him as one of the four survivors of ''Armageddon'' (alongside Shao Kahn, Taven, and Liu Kang's spirit) and cementing himself as a MagnificentBastard]]. Oh, and he wasn't expecting Sareena to make a HighHeelFaceTurn and [[BigDamnHeroes come to Elder Sub-Zero's aid]] and uppercut him off of a ledge with a hooksword. Not to mention, that Scorpion utterly beat the white out of Quan Chi's skin between ''4'' and ''DA'', as shown in ''Deception''[='s=] Konquest mode.

** Terumi is actually something of an invoked version. He ''made himself'' into a VillainSue because he can ''only'' exist in the world if somebody, somewhere, is hating him. Although, to be fair, he has yet to hit Aizen level since he ''can'' legitimately be defeated [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer with copious amounts of Azure Grimoire]]. And Kokonoe actually ''does'' have a foolproof plan to kill him: [[spoiler:[[NukeEm she plans to use an arsenal of nuclear warheads if all else fails]]]].

* DoctorDoom can sometimes approach this DependingOnTheWriter. One story even claimed that the machine he built that exploded upon activation (the one that scared his face and served as almost the point for his entire motivation) actually worked flawlessly, and the burn to his face was caused by Mephisto who the machine allowed him to make contact with. This totally removes any reason he would have to hate [[FantasticFour Reed Richards]] (as he convinced himself Richards altered the machine to explode), while at the same time retconning away the biggest and most impossible to ignore failure on Doom's part, and the character-defining disproportionate grudge that is ''the whole point of Doom's character in the first place''. Doom is a very powerful and dangerous villain though, so it's understandable some writers might not know when to scale it back.

** Also, he's been [[ShillingTheWesley added into the plot of practically every game, whether it makes sense for him to be in there or not]]; as noted, he's the only post ''[[MortalKombat3 3]]'' character to appear in the recent reboot (barring DLC fighter [[MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance Kenshi]]), with a large portion of the plot retconned into being his plan. Honestly, his only real flaw so far is that [[WordOfGod Ed Boon has gone on record saying he has the worst fatality in the series]] (''[[MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance MKDA]]''[='s=] neck stretch]], but that's balanced out because he also has the best one as well (''[[MortalKombat 4]]''[='s=] leg beatdown).
** However, it should be noted that several characters ''have'' gotten the upperhand on Quan Chi. In fact, while Quan Chi OutGambitted Shinnok in ''Mythologies'', it was ultimately ''Shinnok'' who had the last laugh in ''Armageddon''; [[spoiler:Shinnok was ''[[GenreSavvy expecting]]'' the villains to all turn on each other after their brief EnemyMine so he sent [[ActuallyADoombot a clone of himself]] to fight in his stead and die, leaving him as one of the three survivors of ''Armageddon'' (alongside Shao Kahn and Liu Kang's spirit) and cementing himself as a MagnificentBastard]]. Oh, and he wasn't expecting Sareena to make a HighHeelFaceTurn and [[BigDamnHeroes come to Elder Sub-Zero's aid]] and uppercut him off of a ledge with a hooksword. Not to mention, that Scorpion utterly beat the white out of Quan Chi's skin between ''4'' and ''DA'', as shown in ''Deception''[='s=] Konquest mode.

->"There's smart's villains, there's clever planning, and then there's just pulling crap out of your ass!"
->-- '''[[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]'''