History Main / VillainTeamUp

If a SuperHero has a RoguesGallery, it's an obvious plot for the villains to team up. A Villain Team Up is almost always for the sole purpose of ganging up on a hero or hero team and finishing them off ''once[[DramaticPause ...]] and for all!!!'' Villains will almost never team up to rob a bank together, or commit any other crime together. Which makes sense, because the typical RoguesGallery has villains with nothing in common at all, other than hating the hero.

* In superhero movies this seems to be required for sequels. A single villain can occupy for the first movie, but once a sequel comes out you've got to throw more and more villains together. ''Film/BatmanReturns'': Penguin + Catwoman, ''Film/BatmanForever'': Riddler + Two Face, ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'': Mr. Freeze + Poison Ivy (whether Bane is a villain or a henchman, you pick). ''Film/{{Superman}}'': Lex Luthor, ''SupermanII'': Lex + 3 Kryptonians. ''Film/{{Spider-Man}}'' avoided this for the first sequel, but made up for it by throwing in three villains (Sandman, Venom, New Goblin) for ''Spider-Man3'', two of which team up (Sandman + Venom).

* The Disney Fanfic [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6048380/1/The_Hellbound_Hearts The Hellbound Hearts]] consists of several Disney villains forming a loose companionship to get revenge on their enemies, and eventually take over the world. Then there's another group that wants to take advantage of the war to take over the world. And Frollo...he's just...there...

* ''Fanfic/OliviaGoesWest'': After Cat R. Waul from ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail: Fievel Goes West'' rescues Ratigan from ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'' from falling to his death from Big Ben, Waul takes Ratigan to America in a scheme to run him for president and take over the country.

* One story in ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' has [[CardCarryingVillain Fructose Riboflavin,]] the [[SpacePirates Pirates of Ipecac,]] and [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Galatea]] all teaming up although the pirates are there against their will, and it's arguable that Galatea [[UnwittingPawn doesn't really understand what's going on.]]

* As it's based on the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series (specifically the game mentioned above), this happens in ''[[http://as.crowdedstreet.net/Something/ Burning Stickman Presents...Something!]]'', with a third villain, original to the comic, actually being the one to put Sigma and Wily together. Naturally, all three are planning to betray the hell out of each other, though to their credit, they're planning to do it ''after'' the Evil Plan plays out.
* We see that the team of [[BigBad Xykon]] and [[TheDragon Redcloak]] from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' started off as this. The prequel shows that the two first met when Redcloak saw Xykon obliterate a garrison of paladins and, as Redcloak's brother says, "Let's suggest a team-up with him, [[MarvelComics Marvel style]]!"
** And now [[spoiler: General Tarquin]] joined forces with Nale and Linear Guild. Time will show how long will it last.

** Dr. Hell also hires [[LightNovel/FullMetalPanic Gauron]] in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'', works with the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Zeon]] in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' and works with the [[GoLion Galra]] [[{{Voltron}} Empire]] in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsW''.

* Another MassiveMultiplayerCrossover game, the Subspace Emissary mode of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' Brawl, also starts out with one of these, involving [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]], [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], [[VideoGame/WarioWare Wario]], [[VideoGame/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]], Master Hand, and with special guest appearances by Petey Pirahna, [[{{Pokemon}} Rayquaza]], [[{{Metroid}} Ridley]], and [[VideoGame/{{Mother3}} Porky Minch]]. It quickly unravels though when Ganondorf [[HijackedByGanon attempts to backstab everyone]], Dedede [[GoodAllAlong turns out to be a good guy]], and then turns into a full-blown EnemyMine when the ''[[ManBehindTheMan real]]'' BigBad is revealed.
** It also potentially has some lesser versions in event matches and what not. The showdown of Melee has [[SuperMarioBros GIGA Bowser]], [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]] and [[{{Pokemon}} Mewtwo]] as a team vs whatever character you chose. Brawl has the Final Battle (Bowser, Ganondorf and Dedede team up), Two Trouble Kings (Bowser and King Dedede against Mario or Mario and Kirby), and the Final Battle for Two (two chararacters of player choice against Bowser, Ganondorf, King Dedede, Meta Knight, Wolf and Wario).
* Because [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover of the nature of the game]], this also happens in the VideoGame/SuperRobotWars series frequently and in nearly every game. [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment For example]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED ZAFT]] can be found helping the [[MartianSuccessorNadesico Jovian army]].
** Who teams up with who and for what reasons often vary, depending on the game. First game has [[Franchise/{{Gundam}} Principality of Zeon]], [[MazingerZ Doctor Hell]] and [[GetterRobo Dinosaur Empire]] being mind controlled by ancient evil mecha, second game has villains united into Divine Crusaders by Brian Zoldak, an alliance that has fallen apart only in sequel, when Zabi familly took over after Zoldak's death and soon they started fighting each other.From that point different games saw different variations of alliances with varying results, sometimes even fighting other villains.

* The story in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' revolves around DoctorDoom and [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Wesker]] leading a villain team up, which includes {{Magneto}}, [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Super-Skrull]], [[Comicbook/DoctorStrange Dormammu]] and [[StreetFighter Akuma]]. They also hired Taskmaster [[AllThereInTheManual according to the promotional comic]], but he seems to remain neutral to maximize his own personal gain.
* The titular Deadly Alliance in Mortal Kombat 5 consists of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi who form an alliance to kill the two people who possess the biggest threats to them (Liu Kang and Shao Kahn) and conquer the realms using the lost army of the Dragon King.
** Later, in VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon's Konquest mode, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Shao Kahn, and Onaga form an "alliance of traitors", as Onana [[LampshadeHanging refers to it]].

* In the ''Anime/MazingerZ'' versus ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' feature, Dr. Hell and the demons collaborate to take down Kouji Kabuto and Devilman. It may be subverted, since Hell used a mind-control device to enslave the demons, and he was mainly interested on taking down Mazinger-Z (he only sent some demons and Mechanical Beasts against Devilman because the demons warned him he would interfere).
** Dr. Hell also hires [[Lightnovel/FullMetalPanic Gauron]] in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'', works with the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Zeon]] in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' and works with the [[GoLion Galra]] [[{{Voltron}} Empire]] in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsW''.

** Earlier in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Cell, Frieza and his QuirkyMinibossSquad teamed up to [[LikeABadassOutOfHell take over Hell]]. They got along surprisingly well.
* Final arc of ''TigerAndBunny'' saw a Villain Team Up of BigBad [[spoiler: Maverick]] and villain from one of the earlier episodes, [[spoiler: Doctor Rotwang]]. They got along very well, despite that one of them was [[FantasticRacism NEXT-hater]] and the other was secretely a NEXT himself [[spoiler: until they were at the verge of DisneyVillainDeath, with Rotwang begging Maverick to save him, only for him to reveal he is a NEXT and kick him in the face]].
* [[DefiedTrope Defied]] in Manga/{{Bleach}}: [[BigBad Juhabach]] made a point about visiting the last major villain, Aizen, in his prison cell to offer him to join his army. Aizen refused, presumably because his [[AGodAmI delusions of godhood]] left him too proud to become anyone's henchman, even if the person making the offer was capable of one-shotting an enemy that Aizen wasn't willing to aproach without major preparations.

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Monroe and Randall ally in the second half of the season, starting at the end of [[Recap/RevolutionS1E11TheStand episode 11]].

* ''FanFic/ShadowsAwakening'': [[EvilSorcerer Daolon Wong]] and [[OurGhostsAreDifferent The Phantom]] ally fairly early on in the story, with The Phantom making it perfectly clear that he's only using Wong to further his own agenda.

** Dr. Hell also hires [[Lightnovel/FullMetalPanic Gauron]] in SuperRobotWarsJudgment, works with the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Zeon]] in SuperRobotWarsAlpha and works with the [[GoLion Galra]] [[{{Voltron}} Empire]] in SuperRobotWarsW.

* Because [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover of the nature of the game]], this also happens in the VideoGame/SuperRobotWars series frequently and in nearly every game. [[SuperRobotWarsJ For example]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED ZAFT]] can be found helping the [[MartianSuccessorNadesico Jovian army]].

* ''{{Kamen Rider Den-O}}: Climax Deka'' features the Imagin Negataros forms an "evil syndicate", and to strengthen their numbers, he recruited [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Fangire]] into his cause. In turn, this necessitates the arrival of the Fangires' main enemy, ''KamenRiderKiva'', to come to the aid of Den-O and his allies.

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Monroe and Randall ally in the second half of the season.

* ''Series/{{Defiance}}'': Near the end of the first season, [[TheDon Datak]] allies with the corrupt Earth Republic (represented by Colonel Marsh) in order to [[spoiler: discredit Nolan and Amanda]] and help Datak win the mayoral election. In exchange, the plan is that Datak will help the E-Rep gain control of Rafe's mines (with Datak getting a sizable chunk of the profits).

If a SuperHero has a RoguesGallery, it's an obvious plot for the villains to team up. A VillainTeamUp is almost always for the sole purpose of ganging up on a hero or hero team and finishing them off ''once[[DramaticPause ...]] and for all!!!'' Villains will almost never team up to rob a bank together, or commit any other crime together. Which makes sense, because the typical RoguesGallery has villains with nothing in common at all, other than hating the hero.

* Final arc of ''TigerAndBunny'' saw a VillainTeamUp of BigBad [[spoiler: Maverick]] and villain from one of the earlier episodes, [[spoiler: Doctor Rotwang]]. They got along very well, despite that one of them was [[FantasticRacism NEXT-hater]] and the other was secretely a NEXT himself [[spoiler: until they were at the verge of DisneyVillainDeath, with Rotwang begging Maverick to save him, only for him to reveal he is a NEXT and kick him in the face]].

* In the Franchise/StarTrekNovelVerse, VillainTeamUp is essentially the idea behind the ''Literature/StarTrekTyphonPact'' series, only with a twist. It's uncertain if the Typhon Pact will be an enemy of the United Federation of Planets or not. Politically, everything is highly uncertain, following the formation of the Pact in ''ASingularDestiny'' (a novel detailing the aftermath of ''StarTrekDestiny''). While the Pact members were historically antagonistic, their outlook may be changing, at least in some cases. The extent to which they will remain "villains" is unclear. The Tholians, at least, look set to remain enemies, whether the rest of the Pact follows their lead or reins them in is anyone's guess. As of the most recent books, a division between those members who hate the Federation and those who seek peace and even alliance with it looks increasingly likely.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Films]]

* DoubleSubverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler''. When the evil grand vizier Zigzag goes to join the BigBad, the Mighty One-eye (who has an entire army of monstrous one-eyed men at his command), One-eye is unimpressed and has Zigzag thrown to his alligators. However, with his charisma Zigzag is able to convince the alligators to spare his life and help him out of the alligator pit. This impresses the Mighty One-eye enough to let him join him.

* Another MassiveMultiplayerCrossover game, the Subspace Emissary mode of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' Brawl, also starts out with one of these, involving [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]], [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], [[VideoGame/WarioWare Wario]], [[VideoGame/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]], Master Hand, and with special guest appearances by Petey Pirahna, [[{{Pokemon}} Rayquaza]], [[{{Metroid}} Ridley]], and [[{{Mother3}} Porky Minch]]. It quickly unravels though when Ganondorf [[HijackedByGanon attempts to backstab everyone]], Dedede [[GoodAllAlong turns out to be a good guy]], and then turns into a full-blown EnemyMine when the ''[[ManBehindTheMan real]]'' BigBad is revealed.

* The Four Horsemen can be considered the TropeCodifier for professional wrestling. The heel group, known in wrestling as a "stable" or "faction," first formed with RicFlair, Ole Anderson, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. Various incarnations lasted for 13 years; however, they have direct descendants running up to today's current wrestlers.
** The chain goes: NewWorldOrder (nWo), DGenerationX (DX), Evolution (which had Flair as a member), Main Event Mafia, Fortune and Immortal (both of which had Flair as a member). Notable groups that are "nephews" of the Four Horsemen concept are the Dudley Boyz (formed in ECW as a stable of storyline brothers but later reduced to a tag team), the Nexus (a group of rookies that took over WWE Raw for a time), and Wrestling/TheShield (a trio of NXT wrestlers who got together to right the wrongs of WWE).
* ProfessionalWrestling sort of did this when rival heel stables TheCorporation and The MinistryOfDarkness put aside their differences and teamed up to take on their mutual enemies.
** VinceMcMahon was the [[BigBad Higher Power]] controlling both groups the entire time as part of his EvilPlan to get the title off of StoneColdSteveAustin though, so at the very least Vince, [[ShaneMcMahon Shane]], and TheUndertaker were in cahoots the entire time. The members of the Corporate Ministry still didn't get along very well though, especially Undertaker and TripleH, and the group disbanded right after the Austin vs Vince feud ended.
** The Four Horsemen and the Dungeon of Doom created the Alliance to End Hulkamania to finally get rid of BoringInvincibleHero HulkHogan. It failed miserably.
* TheUndertaker and Wrestler/{{Kane}} would alternate between heels and faces during their time as a tag team: the Brothers of Destruction.
* TheMiz and [[RonKillings R-Truth]], two heels in separate stories at the time, somehow found common ground and teamed up in September 2011. They were disqualified from a tag team title match at WWE Night of Champions when Miz attacked a referee. The next night on Raw, then-WWE COO TripleH, sick of their antics, "fired" them. In a reverse [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice Job BreakingItVillain]], this set off a chain of events where most of the WWE roster turned against TripleH, leading to Triple H's ouster as the on-screen authority figure. Miz and Truth returned to WWE TV in mid-October 2011.

** The chain goes: NewWorldOrder (nWo), DGenerationX (DX), Evolution (which had Flair as a member), Main Event Mafia, Fortune and Immortal (both of which had Flair as a member). Notable groups that are "nephews" of the Four Horsemen concept are the Dudley Boyz (formed in ECW as a stable of storyline brothers but later reduced to a tag team) and the Nexus (a group of rookies that took over WWE Raw for a time).

** ''Fantasmic!'' contains one between [[Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs Queen Grimhilde]], [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Ursula]], [[{{Fantasia}} Chernabog]], and [[Disney/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]] in its original California version. For the Florida version, [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} Jafar]], [[Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Frollo]], [[Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians Cruella DeVil]], and [[TheLionKing Scar]] join in as well.

* ''FanFic/ADarkKnightOverSinCity'' has various {{Batman}} villains teaming up with SinCity villains.

* Another MassiveMultiplayerCrossover game, the Subspace Emissary mode of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' Brawl, also starts out with one of these, involving [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]], [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]], [[VideoGame/WarioWare Wario]], [[VideoGame/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]], Master Hand, and with special guest appearances by Petey Pirahna and [[{{Metroid}} Ridley]]. It quickly unravels though when Ganondorf [[HijackedByGanon attempts to backstab everyone]], Dedede [[GoodAllAlong turns out to be a good guy]], and then turns into a full-blown EnemyMine when the ''[[ManBehindTheMan real]]'' BigBad is revealed.

* ''Series/BurnNotice'' had an episode with "Dead" Larry Sizemore and Tyler Brennen, two of Michael Westen's worst enemies, team up. Their partnership lasted just [[IncrediblyLamePun half the episode]], since Larry [[spoiler: never intended to work with Brennen long-term and simply stabs him in the chest, killing him.]]
* The Cardassians and the Dominion form an alliance in the last few seasons of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', which eventually expands to include the Breen.
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Doomsday" subverts this; the Cybermen offer the Daleks an alliance. The Daleks instinctively refuse. The rest of the episode involves the Daleks and the Cybermen kicking the snot out of each other, with the Doctor and the humans trapped in the middle.

* In ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'', there was the United Alliance of Evil, a group formed by Dark Spectre and comprised of the villains from the first five seasons of ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', namely Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, the Machine Empire and Divatox.

* In ''{{Smallville}}'', there have been a few villain team-ups. Firstly, in season 3, three of the meteor freaks Clark Kent had taken down teamed up to steal his powers and escape. There have also been team-ups between Brainiac and Bizarro, Lex and Toyman, and recently several Superman villains from the comics were teamed up by [=LuthorCorp=] to become Smallville's version of the Injustice Gang.
* Subverted in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. Crowley tries to pull one with the Boss Leviathan (he even bakes [[ToServeMan gluten-free baby uvula muffins]] for the occasion!), but gets shot down.

* Season Three of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' is about [[spoiler: every villain still alive being united to serve Arthur Petrelli.]]
* In TV Colosso, there was a sketch named "As Aventuras do Super Cão" (The Adventures of Super Dog). Not ''that'' [[KryptoTheSuperdog superdog]]. In one episode, the villains teamed up and the eponymous hero wasn't worried. The villains argued about who had the idea one of them was presenting.

* In ''DragonBallGT'', practically everyone the protagonists had ever killed teamed up in Hell to try to get revenge, though most of them were just used as distractions until Dr. Myuu and Dr. Gero could create Super Android 17.
** Earlier in ''Manga/DragonBall Z'', Cell, Frieza and his QuirkyMinibossSquad teamed up to [[LikeABadassOutOfHell take over Hell]]. They got along surprisingly well.

[[folder:Comicbooks]]
* Two of DC's big {{Crisis Crossover}}s, ''InfiniteCrisis'' and ''FinalCrisis'' had ''one'' of the threats being the team up of almost every single villain in the DCU (or the Earth-bound ones, anyway).
** The original ''CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' had this as well -- Brainiac and Luthor took advantage of the chaos caused by the Anti-Monitor to gather an army of EVERY known super-villain on the remaining Earths -- and unleashed it on the worlds left unprotected when the heroes went off to battle the Big Bad. They also cut down on unnecessary duplicates (Earth-2 Luthor, anyone?).
* The SinestroCorpsWar arc of GreenLantern had something similar. While there was plenty of new baddies created as Sinestro Corps members, the main threat was the team up of the major DCU baddies Sinestro, Superboy-Prime, the Cyborg Superman, Parallex, the Manhunters and the Anti-Monitor.
* Marvel has published two bad-guy-focused mini-series under the banner of ''Supervillain Team-Up'': The first was called ''{{MODOK}}'s 11'' and revolves around the titular giant floating head hiring a bunch of D-list supervillains to help him steal a MacGuffin. The second is ''Dr. Doom and the Masters of Evil'', where DrDoom [[TheChessmaster manipulates every other supervillain he can find]] into helping him...well, it takes a while to find out exactly ''what'' his goal is. Both involved many, ''many'' villain-on-villain betrayals.
* ArchieComics's Comicbook/SonicTheHedgehog had a major teamup after Dr. Eggman [[VillainousBreakdown had a bit of a bad day]]. [[TheStarscream Snively]] and the [[DragonLady Iron Queen]] managed to unite the [[MachineWorship Dark Legion]] and four {{Ninja}} clans ([[FaceHeelTurn including Espio's]]), and for a time had the Freedom Fighters on the ropes. But this team up eventually falls apart when several of the Freedom Fighters (with help from Espio, who was a FakeDefector) convince the clans to turn on the Queen; at the same time, the Legion's leader [[TheBaroness Lien-Da]] tries to play TheStarscream, which fails rather [[ExplosiveLeash explosively]] and results in the Legion retreating. With their power base crumbling, Snively flees with a recovered Eggman, leaving the Queen to be defeated.
** The Destructix, being a QuirkyMinibossSquad-for hire, have teamed up with anyone willing to pay them, or who earn their loyalty (Mogul, Finitevus, Scourge, etc). The team actually started out as one of these, when the Fearsome Foursome (Mogul's first QMS) teamed up with Snoop Dawg and Drago Wolf, and it solidified into a team.[[hottip:*: Though it should be noted that those latter two eventually quit, and have now been replaced by Scourge and Fiona.]]
** In the "World's Collide" crossover with ''Comicbook/MegaMan'', Eggman teams up with Dr. Willy to conquer both worlds... and surprisingly, they get along pretty well, with the only hiccup being that they [[RunningGag have trouble]] agreeing on what to name their joint creations.
* In the Archie ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesAdventures'' comic, a time-displaced Shredder teamed up with future supervillains Armaggon and Verminator X (an anthropomorphic shark and cat, respectively), in order to steal and power a time-machine prototype. In the sixth season of the [[TMNT2003 4Kids cartoon]], Big Bads Sh'Okanabo and Darius Dun form a rare successful alliance when they decide to exchange resources.
** Subverted in ''TurtlesForever'', where the 1987 Shredder tries this with his 2003 counterpart, [[spoiler:only to get kicked out of the Technodrome and have his resources taken over, leading to an EnemyMine situation with the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 1987]], [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 2003]], and [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage Prime]] Turtles]].
* {{Daredevil}} actually suffered through this more than once. The first time saw Electro organize a group of villains defeated by Daredevil into the "Emissaries of Evil" to try and get revenge on DD, and the second time would occur a few decades later, when Typhoid Mary would gather several latter-day Daredevil villains into the "Daredevil Revenge Squad".
** It should be pointed out that Typhoid Mary's team was actually a ''subversion'' of this trope in that by cooperating [[TheBadGuyWins they actually succeed in taking down Daredevil]], and leave him bloodied and unconscious for Mary.
* A 1960s [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] comic had the Mandarin team up with the Sandman. It ended with Mandarin sending Sandman into a molten vat turning him to glass.
* Paste-Pot Pete broke another Human Torch foe the Wizard out of jail, however they conflicted due to the Wizard trying to act as leader while Pete wanted them to be equal. They were captured by the Torch, but didn't seem sorry at the team-up ending.
* Marvel had a comicbook series called Super-Villain Team-Up, which despite the name was mostly Doctor Doom hanging out with Namor and fighting every two issues.
* Several of the MarvelUniverse's {{Big Bad}}s all teamed up in the 1980s ''Acts of Vengeance'' CrossOver in a large-scale EvilPlan to destroy each others' enemies by setting the heroes up against villains they'd never faced before. In effect, this was a Villain Team Up of almost '''all''' the human villains of the Marvel Universe, with a team of {{Chessmaster}}s manipulating dozens of lesser bad guys for their own personal agenda. The whole scheme falls apart for the simple fact that all of the villains behind the plot are so egomaniacal that they can't stand not being totally in charge, and they end up turning on each other while struggling for power.
** Of course, it didn't help that Comicbook/{{Loki}} decided that his inner circle should include an [[RedSkull UNREPENTANT FORMER NAZI]] alongside a [[{{Magneto}} HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR]]. Seriously, Loki, we thought you were supposed to be one of the ''clever'' Asgardians...
* It should be noted that villains can and do form their own teams for reasons beyond simply getting vengeance on a particular hero. The Masters of Evil, one of the MarvelUniverse's longest-running supervillain teams, has had various incarnations formed over the years by {{Big Bad}}s who recruit other villains to share in the profits of the leader's evil scheme. The Serpent Society, long a thorn in the side of CaptainAmerica, was a collection of snake-themed villains who essentially formed their own mercenary business, complete with health care coverage, room and board, and a guaranteed GetOutOfJailFreeCard from the team leader, who would use his teleportation powers to free any members who were arrested or captured.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' also did a variation of this in the "Team Penguin" episode, when the Penguin recruits several second-tier Bat villains into a criminal gang as a way of evening the odds against Batman and his sidekicks. The idea is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] at every opportunity, as none of the other villains like the name "Team Penguin" and keep suggesting alternatives, which Penguin shoots down. It's Penguin's vanity that causes the others to abandon the team. [[spoiler:At first.]]
* The ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' had to fight Doctor Doom and the Sub-Mariner at once (in one of the earliest examples), and were saved when Doom betrayed the Sub-Mariner a bit too early, causing him to switch sides. Later, the heroes faced the Frightful Four; a revolving-door group of second-string supervillains that always seemed to betray each other.
* ''Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}}'' had to fight the Sinister Six -- six of his enemies united for the sole purpose of killing him. In a variation, they fail not because they don't trust each other, but because they have such big egos that each one ''has'' to be the one to deliver the killing blow... so they make him RunTheGauntlet instead of ganging up. A later version did fight Spider-Man as a team, but they've had no better luck. The one time it worked and they had Spidey on the ropes, the [[OhCrap Fantastic Four and the Avengers]], all at once, swooped in to save the day. Heroes can play that game too.
** Another Spider-Man example is the Sinister Syndicate, a group of C-List Spidey villains. The difference between this team and the Sinister Six is that the Syndicate try to focus mainly on making money and would rather avoid having to fight Spider-Man.
** A similar thing happened to {{Spider-Girl}} in the MarvelComics2 continuity. It was a RunTheGauntlet style, and Spider-Girl was both exhausted and (unknown to herself) depowered before the last fight...so she calls in a favor from pretty much every hero she's ever met. The last villain wisely surrenders.
* ''GothamCitySirens'' revolves around when [[FemmeFatale Poison Ivy]], [[VillainousHarlequin Harley Quinn]] and [[ClassyCatburglar Catwoman]] decide to team-up and...become roommates?
* Marvel Comics and DC Comics had several crossovers, where heroes from each group teamed up to fight a crossover VillainTeamUp. Every time, the villains lost by betraying each other.
* The {{Flash}}'s RoguesGallery is an exception: the villain team, known simply as "The Rogues", works together all the time with practically no problems whatsoever, and is effectively a standing army of super-villains. As the Flash points out to Batman, in Central City the super-villains and organized crime are one and the same.
* The ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' story "How to Play With Fire" featured several of Constantine's enemies colluding to destroy his life.
* In TheDCU, the ''SecretSix'' are a team of supervillains-for-hire (comprising two Bat-villains, two second-generation versions of JSA villains, and two rotating positions). They'd happily not tangle with ''any'' heroes, but don't mind if it happens. They're also usually in the bad books of other villains as well (especially since they won't join [[LegionOfDoom the Society]]). Unusually, they get on reasonably well with each other (mostly), and have a good sense of teamwork.
* Recent ''{{BPRD}}'' miniseries have focused on a VillainTeamUp between [[spoiler: the frog army led by the Black Flame and the slaves of Hyperboria led by the King of Fear]]. Unlike the average team up, this is proving very successful and has already led to the destruction of one major European city with more carnage on the way.
** The main ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' series also has a VillainTeamUp between [[spoiler: the Fairies, the witches of England, and a growing army of dark creatures. It also has the tacit support of Hell.]]
* In the [[ClassicDisneyShorts Mickey Mouse]] 70th anniversary comic book story "The Past Imperfect," Mickey is captured by a team of his worst comics enemies, including Pegleg Pete, Sylvester Shyster, Eli Squinch, Dr. Vulter, and Profs Ecks, Doublex, and Triplex. Interestingly, the Phantom Blot is ''not'' included, as he was being saved for a different story also published at that anniversary.
* In the 50th anniversary story that DonRosa did for [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Scrooge McDuck]], ''A Little Something Special'', his three main foes--The Beagle Boys, Magica [=DeSpell=], and Flintheart Glomgold--all join forces, and are led by [[spoiler:Blackheart Beagle]]. Incredibly, the three do ''not'' betray one another, but all live up to the deal they made at the start of the team-up. [[spoiler: Of course, once the team-up is over, nothing prevents the Beagle Boys and Magica from joining forces to plunder Glomgold...]]
** Wouldn't that be a case of [[TheBadGuyWins The Bad Guy Wins, Even Though The Hero Defeated Him]]?
** Technically, if it weren't for the fact that the main plot revolved around the villains stealing Scrooge's entire fortune for various reasons: The Beagle Boys because they want to be rich, Glomgold so that he would then be the richest man (er, duck) in the world instead of Scrooge, and Magica just wanted a single coin: The Number One Dime of the world's richest man; which she would then use in a spell to gain the [[BlessedWithSuck Midas Touch]]. Scrooge strikes a deal with Magica after he convinces her the coin will no longer work now that he is poor, and she teams up with the Beagle Boys to rob Glomgold instead.
** The European comics have a story arc setting up a new BigBad, who forced the Beagle Boys, Magica and Phantom Bolt to join him by brainwashing them. This actually led to his undoing as Minnie and Daisy convinced Magica to turn against him and Phantom Bolt was just pretenting to be brainwashed so he could [[HijackedByGanon hijack the plot]] and the two atacked him in the middle of his confrontation with Donald and Mickey.
* In the ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk'' book, there is the Intelligencia, a super villain team made of {{Mad Scientist}}s. So far they've managed to avoid infighting. In fact, they've been able to work perfectly as a unit.
** Not only that, but they apparently worked together for years, and various instances when they fought each other were retconned to be set-up so nobody would suspect a thing.
* [[JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA Classified]] had an arc [[VillainProtagonist focused]] on the Injustice Society. Unlike some cases, they're very professional about teaming up, with the expressed belief that having a competent pro watching your back beats "every man for himself" any day.
* ''{{Irredeemable}}'' played with this with members of Plutonian's RoguesGallery offering to join him in his new FaceHeelTurn; [[spoiler: being DangerouslyGenreSavvy he decided to test their loyalty, by offering each of them a button that, when pressed, would render him completely powerless. They betrayed him before he could even finish the sentence. He then revealed they just triggered the destruction of the facility they were in]].
** This is apparently how various supervillains get to know Max Damage from ''Incorruptible'' - in his villainous days they would often team up. One flashback shows Max teaming up with another villain and then them both betraying each other because they just didn't like each other.
* ComicBook/DarkReign featured a lot of those
** DarkAvengers were in fact a team up of the more villainous members of the {{Thunderbolts}} with antiheroes Comicbook/{{Ares}} and TheSentry, young and misguided Marvel Boy (who quit the moment he found out what he gotten himself into) and {{Daken}}
** Cabal was this between NormanOsborn, Comicbook/{{Loki}}, TheHood, DoctorDoom, [[{{Sub-Mariner}} Namor]] and Emma Frost and later Taskmaster, with a lot of betrayals and schemes in it.
** One of the tie-ins featured a team of supervillains, Lethal Legion, who decided they don't like Norman being in charge and want to [[EvilVersusEvil team up against him]]. [[spoiler: It was all a plot set by Norman to make himself look better]].
** There were also lesser team ups between Doctor Doom and Dracula or Loki, Hela and Mephisto
** [[IncredibleHercules Hera]] teamed up with Typhon during that arc and tried to team up with Norman Osborn but, after finding out what her plan was about he decided to send [[EvilVersusEvil his team against her]].
* The {{Superman}} [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Revenge Squad]]. Originally made up of aliens from planets that Superman had prevented from conquering earth, it later became a team of Metropolis supervillains.
* Comicbook/DoctorStrange's enemies Dormammu and Umar are a brother/sister pair of {{Dimension Lord}}s. Usually they don't cooperate, which is good because it goes badly for him when they do. (Subverted in nearly all instances, since Umar is more clever, though less powerful, than her brother and wants to see Dormammu fall more than she wants to defeat Strange.)
* Very quickly subverted in a JusticeLeagueOfAmerica story. GreenLantern calls into JLA and says that seven supervillains are trying to kidnap the President at the White House and that he and TheFlash need support. The others assume it is this trope, but GreenLantern quickly cuts them off: they all got the idea independently at the same time, and are currently trying to kill each other for "stealing my idea!" He and Flash need help saving civilians from their crossfire, the president is safe. This turns out to be one of many signs someone has been misusing powers of probability manipulation.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* "The League of Villains" from ''TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutron''.
** Unlike other villain team ups however, these villains actually trusted each other (although some of them didn't get along very well) The only reason Tee betrayed them was because they all belittled him, and Zix and Travoltron only left because Tee convinced them to do so. Other than that, the only reason they lost was because Jimmy outsmarted them all one at a time.
* This trope was spoofed MERCILESSLY in the ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' episode "The Last (Expletive Deleted) One of 2003" when the ATHF's "Rogue's Gallery" formed a group called Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday.
* In "Back With a Vengeance," the second season finale of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'', Ben's two worst enemies, Kevin 11 and Vilgax, team up. They play this trope as described, getting into two knock-down brawls with each other before ganging up on Ben. In the end, Kevin tries to steal the ClingyMacGuffin that Vilgax wanted off of Ben and leave Ben and Vilgax TrappedInAnotherWorld, [[BondVillainStupidity instead of just killing Ben like he'd wanted to earlier.]] Then he goes right back to trying to kill Ben and, predictably, this is his downfall.
** The next to last episode of the series had a group called the Negative 10 composed of most of the lesser villains Ben, Gwen and Max faced through the series headed by new villain, the Forever King. They actually manage to work together rather well but end up outsmarted in the end.
** Also, in the Alien Force season 3 finale, Vilgax teams up with Albedo in order to steal Ben's Omnitrix, so Albedo can go back to his original form, while Vilgax claims that he isn't interested in the Omnitrix anymore, and just wants to see Ben dead. Predicably, when Vilgax got the Omnitrix, he immediatly betrayed Albedo.
* ''CaptainPlanet'' combined this trope with the EvilCounterpart trope when several members of Captain Planet's RoguesGallery stole the Planeteers' rings and created the evil Captain Pollution.
** Actually various villains would team up all the time; Dr. Blight in particular often worked with one or two others on a project. The only time all seven of the main Eco-villains got together was in the two-part "Summit to Save Earth," with Zarm as the de facto boss.
* In an episode of ''CourageTheCowardlyDog'' Eustace decides to take out Courage by gathering a group of villains from previous episodes in an alliance against that stupid dog (ignoring the fact that these villains have also endangered his own life in the past).
* Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy first became partners in the "Harley and Ivy" episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. The two teamed up frequently in this and various other {{Batman}}-related media, including the mainstream comic book, usually when Harley was seperated from the Joker (either because he's in Arkham or after a fight with him).
* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' had a tribute to/parody of the Sinister Six: the Fearsome Five, consisting of [[PsychoElectro Megavolt]], [[VillainousHarlequin Quackerjack]], [[CorruptCorporateExecutive The Liquidator]] and [[GreenThumb Bushroot]], as led by [[EvilCounterpart Negaduck]]. In one Fearsome Five episode, Negaduck betrayed the other four and stole their powers for himself. The depowered fearsome four teamed with Darkwing to stop him.
** In the revival comic, Negaduck has teamed up with [[spoiler: [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales Magica DeSpell]]]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'', the Beagle Boys were sometimes hired by Magica [=DeSpell=] or Flintheart Glomgold to help pull off their latest evil deed to be done to Scrooge [=McDuck=]. Eventually, all three parties teamed up to really rain on Scrooge's parade in a seven-issue story arc, ''Scrooge's Quest'', that ran in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' comic book (this was done seven years prior to the above-mentioned DonRosa story). It's a minor case of WhatCouldHaveBeen, though, as the Beagle Boys are just depicted as hired thugs for the other two, not with their traditional knack for over-the-top heists; and Magica and Glomgold don't really ''cooperate'', they just agree to time their attacks on Scrooge at the same time. No real planning or joining of forces.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' episode "The Reckoning" featured a collaboration by just about every major villain this side of David Xanatos, with a few [[ThePsychoRangers clones]] tossed in for good measure.
** An earlier example in the series is "High Noon", with a team-up between Demona, Macbeth and Iago/Coldsteel, with the Weird Sisters manipulating them behind the scenes.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' faced [[HarmlessVillain Drakken, Killigan, and Monkey Fist]] during "[[TheMovie A Sitch in Time]]". In the end, Shego betrayed them in order to TakeOverTheWorld herself.
** The page quote comes from the episode "Steal Wheels", where Dr Drakken and Motor Ed team-up. In this partciular case the answer turns out to be 'because they're [[TalkingToHimself cousins]]'.
* The ''PowerpuffGirls'' had to fight a team-up of Mojo Jojo, Him, Princess Morbucks, and Fuzzy Lumpkins that ultimately broke up because, in the end, they were just a giant parody of The Beatles ("The Beat-Alls"). This is how the Girls actually beat them-the villains actually work very well together and the Girls can't beat them in combat. Instead, they find a female monkey who becomes a literal YokoOhNo and causes the team to fall apart on its own after Mojo Jojo falls in love with her.
* Subverted in ''{{The Spectacular Spider-Man}}'', as the Sinister Six is well-planned, has [[ItOnlyWorksOnce removed all their old weaknesses]], and their members go out of their way to avoid intentionally hurting each other. It nearly works, until Spidey's EvilCostumeSwitch kicks in.
* The second-string ''TransformersAnimated'' villains Professor Princess, Angry Archer, Nanosec, and first-timer Slo-Mo team up to form the Society of Ultimate Villainy (SUV) in the episode of same name.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' had Baron Underbheit consider an alliance with the Monarch in order to defeat Dr. Venture, only to be stymied by [[WeirdTradeUnion union bylaws]]... which they laugh at and plan on teaming up anyway.
* Played straight, subverted, and lampshaded in ''JusticeLeague''. The original villain group that went up against the Justice League (the Injustice Gang), organised by Lex Luthor, was held together solely by money. This made it easy for Batman to play them against one another. The follow up team dropped the Injustice Gang moniker for the name "Secret Society". While the only thing really holding them together was their hatred for the League, their leader (Gorilla Grodd) was smart enough to take them through various team building exercises that kept them from falling apart, knowing full well that it's "not the easiest thing for loners, sociopaths, and psychos". The subversion is that he also uses his mental powers to sow seeds of distrust among the League: they fall apart in the same way a villain team usually falls apart, only to reassemble in the final act.
** ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' plays it straight, but justifies it more than most villain teams. While the team does eventually break up in a brutal villain civil war, they're not joined by a hatred of the JLU. Rather, the villain team is a protection racket: since it's impossible to commit a crime against a group as efficient as the JLU, Grodd set up a co-op. All it cost was 25% of your gross criminal profits, and you could expect back-up if the League got in the way of your average bank robbery.
** Earlier, they had a team-up of old Comicbook/{{Superman}} villains in the {{DCAU}} version of the Superman Revenge Squad. In a subversion, this Squad was taken out not by Superman himself, but by his fellow Leaguers. Lobo even [[GuestStarPartyMember temporarily joined the League]], and defeated Kalibak [[CrowningMomentofAwesome by burying him under an ever-growing pile of smashed cars until Kalibak finally said "Uncle".]]
* Happens a couple of times on ''SushiPack''. In "The Yam Yakkers," Titanium Chef, Oleander, and Sir Darkly team up to create the titular creatures, and in "Fair Share For Sure," Apex partners with Sir Darkly to fund his FountainOfYouth-style laser.
* The 1960s {{Spider-Man}} cartoon shows why ganging up on the hero doesn't necessarily work any better than making him or her RunTheGauntlet. When [[CanonForeigner Dr. Noah Boddy]], an invisible man created by the show's writers, busts Electro, the Green Goblin and the Vulture out of prison to get revenge on Spider-Man, they actually take the time to weaken Spider-Man beforehand by knocking out his spider-senses and reducing his SuperStrength. Unfortunately, the villains are also shown constantly arguing with one another. Spider-Man exploits this by using ventriloquism to make it sound as if they're insulting each other, and the villains end up taking ''each other'' out.
* Although not originally, this happens on occasion on {{Wordgirl}}. Tobey and Dr. Two-Brains team up in ''Mousezilla'', but their tandem quickly falls apart due to them mocking each other about Two-Brain's fear of cats and Tobey's love of Wordgirl. The Whammer has teamed up with Chuck (both reluctantly on the latter's part) in ''Thorn in the Sidekick'' and ''Escape Wham.'' And in the recent episode ''Too Loud Crew'' the Whammer & the Butcher joined forces thanks to a supervillain manual.
* Happens a few times in ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'':
** In "Night of the Dark Kat" Dark Kat teams up with super-hacker Hard Drive to steal the Turbokat and use it to hold the city hostage and ruin the SWAT Kats' reputation.
** In the season 1 finale "Katastrophe" Dark Kat teamed up with Dr. Viper and the Metallikats to destroy the SWAT Kats. This plays the trope extremely straight because Dark Kat does betray his comrades as soon as they've (apparently) captured all the heroes, stalling them long enough to salvage the situation.
** In ''A Bright and Shiny Future'' Pastmaster aligns with the Metallikats, giving them control of Megakat City in a BadFuture so long as they'll kill the SWAT Kats from the present. Betrayal plays in here, too, where the Metallikats have the Pastmaster disarmed as soon as he delivers the present SWAT Kats to the future, prompting Pastmaster to help the heroes stop them.
* The 1987 ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|1987}}'' has the Rat King and Leatherhead teamed up to fight against the turtles in one episode. In "Night of the Rogues", Shredder hires the past villains (including the mentioned two) to eliminate the turtles.
* ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' had a villain team up episode where [[HarmlessVillain Abis Mal]] had gotten some magical device but didn't know how to get it where he wanted it, and [[EvilGenius Mechanicles]] just happened to walk into the BadGuyBar with some mechanical insects at the right time.
* ''JohnnyTest'' has the "Johnny Stopping Evil Force 5," a team-up of Wacko, the Beekeeper, Brain Freezer, Mr. Mittens (and his butler Albert), and Zizrar the king of mole-people.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' has had a couple of team ups involving [[TerroristsWithoutACause MECH]]. First, in "Crisscross", they allied with [[DarkActionGirl Airachnid]] in order to capture Arcee and Jack (Airachnid wanted revenge, MECH wanted the technology in Arcee's body). This ended when [[BigDamnHeroes Agent Fowler showed up with reinforcements]], and the villains fled separately. Then, in the "Operation Bumblebee" two-parter, they formed an alliance with [[spoiler: [[DangerousDeserter a renegade]]]] Starscream, who offered his knowledge in exchange for a share of the energon they'd need for their own plans. This lasted until [[spoiler: Silas got sick of Starscream, stole his T-Cog, and then ditched him]]. Then, in "The Human Factor", [[spoiler: Silas, having been grafted into Breakdown's corpse after he was traumatically injured, decides that MECH has outlived its usefulness and destroys his own followers. Then, he attempts to join the Decepticons; but when his plan to get them a KillSat fails, [[AssholeVictim Megatron decides to let Knock Out vivisect him]]]].
* The villians from CodenameKidsNextDoor have done this quite afew times, justified since the heroes they're fighting are part of a military organization.
* A crossover episode had Disney's [[Disney/{{Hercules}} Hades]] team up with a recently deceased [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} Jafar]] in an attempt to kill one another's arch nemesis by pitting them against one another. While it was a deadly alliance (the heroes almost killed each other), the heroes figure out they were being played and Hades drastically underestimated [[KarmicTrickster Aladdin's]] wit, resulting in Jaffar's staff being broken and him being dragged into the styx, becoming just another mindless soul swirling in eternity.
* ''SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries''
** The first time was when Rhino and Shocker teamed up against Spidey. It'd be the hero's end if Venom didn't consider himself TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou.
** The Insidious Six (first with Rhino, Shocker, the Scorpion, Doctor Octopus, the Chameleon and Mysterio; later, the Vulture would replace Mysterio)
** The Scorpion and the Vulture
* ''DynoMuttDogWonder'': Six villains previously defeated by Blue Falcon teamed up to get rid of him. When they thought they got rid of the heroes, they divided themselves in three pairs to commit crimes and the heroes decided to trick the villains into meeting to capture all of them. (Blue Falcon believed that, if he went and captured one of the pairs, the others would learn he escaped and would vanish)
* ''EvilConCarne'': Hector decided to found the League of Destruction. It started crumbling down when the villains argued among themselves over who'd lead them. By the time the hero assigned to destroy the league arrived at their headquarters, the villains were already beaten.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstoneKids'': Captain Caveman's enemies united themselves against him. They spent a whole day trying to destroy the hero, failing to even get his attention.
* The final season of WesternAnimation/TeenTitans builds to a climax as the Brain leads a team up of nearly every villain in the show's run to capture the Titans and all their allies. Except the [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass harmless]] [[BewareTheNiceOnes ones]].
* [[spoiler:Abraham Kane and the Duke of Detroit]] in the two-part finale of ''{{WesternAnimation/Motorcity}}''. Earlier on, [[spoiler:Abraham Kane and "Red"]].
[[/folder]]

* In the StarTrekNovelVerse, VillainTeamUp is essentially the idea behind the ''StarTrekTyphonPact'' series, only with a twist. It's uncertain if the Typhon Pact will be an enemy of the United Federation of Planets or not. Politically, everything is highly uncertain, following the formation of the Pact in ''ASingularDestiny'' (a novel detailing the aftermath of ''StarTrekDestiny''). While the Pact members were historically antagonistic, their outlook may be changing, at least in some cases. The extent to which they will remain "villains" is unclear. The Tholians, at least, look set to remain enemies, whether the rest of the Pact follows their lead or reins them in is anyone's guess. As of the most recent books, a division between those members who hate the Federation and those who seek peace and even alliance with it looks increasingly likely.