History VillainDecay / ComicBooks

* The Daniel West iteration of Reverse-Flash from ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' has played this trope straight to tragic levels. Initially presented as a new ArchEnemy for Barry in the ''ComicBook/New52'', he was unceremoniously moved to ''New Suicide Squad'' after one story arc to make room for the reappearance of Professor Zoom after the latter [[RealLifeWritesThePlot gained a new level of recognition]] in the 2014 TV series -- then DroppedABridgeOnHim mid-HeelRealisation there. ''Rebirth'' had Barry regain some of his pre-''Flashpoint'' memories and start referring to Thawne as the first Reverse-Flash once more, displacing him completely from even sole use of the Reverse-Flash name. Meanwhile Thawne constantly made [[PretenderDiss snide remarks]] about Daniel's use of the name, not even acknowledging him as a successor like he did Hunter Zolomon, his true successor. On top of all this, Hunter Zolomon was also later revealed to be alive, thus further distancing Daniel from the top of villain chain. Since he was only effective in one arc, he can't even claim to be a recurring villain, let alone a BigBadWannabe now.
* The Franchise/{{Predator}} extraterrestrial embodies this trope after being trounced by virtually every other comic book character in the industry. Despite the incredible awesomeness of the original ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' comics, it later became a check-the-block for every character from ComicBook/{{Superman}} to ComicBook/JudgeDredd beat up a Predator at least once in their career. This trope is somewhat rationalised by the fact that the Predator's code of honor means they must look for a "fair fight."
* Many villains of {{Crisis Crossover}}s suffer this if they are ever seen again. The Beyonder of Marvel's ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'' is a good example. Presented as a mysterious and powerful cosmic being capable of swatting Galactus aside like a fly in the original maxi-series, he assumes human form and becomes mostly a joke in ''ComicBook/SecretWarsII''. One memorable scene involves ComicBook/SpiderMan teaching him how to use the bathroom. It doesn't help that his character was portrayed inconsistently throughout the second maxi-series and the [[RedSkiesCrossover tie-ins]]. In one tie-in, he's murdering the ComicBook/NewMutants (only to bring them BackFromTheDead later), in another he's consoling the Human Torch over the accidental death of a fan. It's little wonder that ''Secret Wars II'' is considered 'drek' by many comics fans. The Beyonder decayed even more after Jim Shooter left the company, with his powers being considerably downgraded.

* Colonel Olrik of ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer'' fame fits this trope to a tee. In his first appearance, he aided TheEmpire in bringing about WorldWarIII and successfully conquering the world. Understandably, his later appearances as a smuggler/thief/spy are not as impressive. Even when [[spoiler:said Empire's bloodthirsty dictator was brought BackFromTheDead via TimeTravel and Olrik joined him once more]] in ''The Strange Encounter'' he was little more than a thug.

* ComicBook/{{Ultimate|Marvel}} [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] started off as being so powerful that he easily defeated the entire Fantastic Four with his bare hands, and was only persuaded to spare the city of New York [[VillainousCrush when Susan Storm]] [[ForcefulKiss agreed to kiss him]]. In fact, it was stated that he was the most powerful superhuman on the planet, stronger than even the friggin' [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]. Then when he reappeared during the ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'' crossover, he was easily clobbered and tied up by an unaided Reed Richards.
* Marvel Comics' ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} initially appeared as beyond godlike and it took every superhero on Earth to defeat him. When he did come back, he was the subject of a low-selling mini where he was defeated [[spoiler:far more easily and sent to the Negative Zone]] by ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and some [[CreatorsPet Creator's Pets]]. Not very fitting for a guy who took on the Marvel Universe at one point.
* Dr. Light in Franchise/TheDCU. At first, he was tough enough to take on the whole Justice League, and then declines through the 1980s to the point where he is beaten by the kid ''non-powered'' superhero team, Little Boy Blue and his Blue Boys. This was explained/{{retcon}}ned in the infamous ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis2004'' storyline as the League having given him what amounted to a psychic lobotomy via ComicBook/{{Zatanna}}'s magical powers after he had sneaked aboard the Watchtower and [[MoralEventHorizon raped Sue Dibny]]. It was an attempt to make him a threat again, but it largely didn't work, as his every appearance thereafter was sure to remind the audience that he was a sexual deviant--turning him from a loser to a loser who was really proud of the one time he did something a common street thug could do. He was then turned into a candle by ComicBook/TheSpectre, left unmourned.
* [[spoiler:Gepetto,]] the evil mastermind of ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' contracted a bad case of villain decay.[[spoiler:He'd conquered and ruled countless realms for centuries, but after he lost the first couple battles of the new war, he became depressed and sat about moaning while his Empire fell to pieces, until the heroes came and took him to live in a nice new apartment in New York City.]]
* ''ComicBook/JLA1997'': Villain Prometheus was originally created to be the anti-Batman. He was psychotic, CrazyPrepared, and used a high-tech helmet to [[NeuralImplanting load information and fighting skills directly into his brain.]] He had an [[StartOfDarkness exceptional origin story]], [[HomemadeInventions built his own unorthodox weapons]], and he killed an [[EldritchAbomination evil interdimensional alien monk]] to steal his teleporter. Prometheus took down half the Justice League in his first appearance (even Batman) and then... He became a {{Mook|s}}. [[RetCon Much later]], it was revealed that these appearances were his never before mentioned sidekick [[CostumeCopycat using his gear]] while the real Prometheus was imprisoned in his own mind (and, you know, prison). When he finally escapes, he [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge tracks down his sidekick]] and [[KillItWithFire lights him on fire.]] Then again, the arc also ends with him being shot and killed rather easily by ComicBook/GreenArrow, because his research apparently didn't include that Green Arrow has killed people. It's worth noting, though, that he was always something of a SmugSnake; he was ultimately defeated in his first appearance by ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} and [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} Barbara Gordon]], simply because he was [[CrazyPrepared so prepped-up for his fight with the Justice League]] that he had [[CripplingOverspecialization no planned defense]] against a hacker deprogramming his viruses and [[GroinAttack a bullwhip to the crotch.]]
** This was lampshaded by the [[TortureTechnician Crime Doctor]] in ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' #94. Although that issue uses his Villain Decay to make it that much more shocking when he destroys Lady Blackhawk, ComicBook/{{Huntress}}, [[{{Invisibility}} Mirage]], and ComicBook/LadyShiva.
-->'''Crime Doctor''': You know, Prometheus, I'm almost disappointed...When you first appeared on the scene, we were all mighty impressed. You carry the knowledge of the world's thirty greatest fighters in your helmet, Right? The point is, we thought you'd be a world beater. Then we heard Catwoman tore your manhood. We heard Hush made you his punk.
* Speaking of Lady Shiva, is she the worlds greatest martial artist or not? Honestly, it's hard to tell some times. This is mostly due to her getting hit by the WorfEffect to show how powerful and skilled her opponent is, who just happens to be one of the main characters of the story where the conflict is taking place. To her benefit, at least most writers will offer [[WorfHadTheFlu a flimsy excuse]] to explain her loss (such as poison or mind control), as well as allow Shiva herself to exact some kind of retribution to prove her reputation is still well-deserved.
* The recurring ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' villains are ineffectual and ridiculous in their last appearance in ''Flight 714''. Former BigBad Rastapopoulos is reduced to playground banter ''with his intended victim'' over which of them is nastier, ''and loses'' (although in Rastapopoulos's defence, said banter occurred while he was drugged into total honesty without being able to adopt a more Machiavellian approach). He also becomes a ButtMonkey, with such incidents as getting caught in a grenade blast and having a stalagmite fall on his head. According to WordOfGod, Rastapopoulos ''would'' have been more menacing...if only [[FashionVictimVillain his outfit hadn't ended up looking so utterly daft]]. Herge apparently took one look at his own sketches and was unable to see him as a serious threat ever again. Meanwhile [[TheDragon Allan]], the other most recurring villain in the franchise, gets beaten up by some other henchmen as they try to escape and is reduced to a toothless man who can't even speak properly.
* Herr Starr, in ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'', was actually genuinely menacing in his first appearance (and again in his StartOfDarkness). [[ButtMonkey That didn't last very long at all.]] Not even the fact that he [[EvilerThanThou frequently defeats other villains]] does anything to stop the decay - mostly because poor Starr just [[SerialProstheses can't seem to stop losing body parts...]]
* A rare example of a character suffering this at the hands of their own creator: Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong, AKA The General, was an EnfantTerrible that could have passed for the son of the Joker in his first appearance. His backstory has him ''burning down a building'' at the military academy where he was educated, not because the academy's bullies lived there, but because he was bored. He then proceeds to run away to Gotham with a bunch of guns, shoot rival gang members and law enforcement alike in cold blood, and lays siege to a police station with an ''army'' of gang members armed with ''rocket launchers''. Oh, and he also had the balls to ''smack Batman in the back of the head with a shovel, sending the Dark Knight plunging three stories down'', [[UngratefulBastard after Batman had just saved his life.]] All done at the tender age of 11. Later, when creator Chuck Dixon reused him in the LighterAndSofter ''Robin'' ongoing, he started acting more his age, began to incessantly quote military figures, and was generally PlayedForLaughs a lot more.
* ComicBook/{{Thanos}} was a recurring foe for ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} and ComicBook/TheAvengers, and was so powerful he not only took on multiple teams of superheroes at the same time, but once even ''[[ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet killed half of the known universe]]''. Then during the 90's, he started getting [[TheWorfEffect Worfed]] by characters like [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] (who was never able to match Thanos one-on-one previously) and Ka-Zar (who is just a BadassNormal), greatly diminishing his reputation. This led to Jim Starlin, Thanos' creator, [[ActuallyADoombot retconning those past defeats by claiming they were simply clones]], and that the real Thanos had been been biding his time in the shadows.
* Allegedly Creator/CarlBarks of WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck fame claimed that Magica de Spell "demanded a strong plot", but later writers have had her go after [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Scrooge McDuck's]] lucky dime, again and again. She is now a VillainProtagonist in many stories focusing on new trinkets and gadgets she obtains for this purpose. As a result, her character has mellowed considerably over the years, moving into IneffectualSympatheticVillain territory.
* In the early days of the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse, the Beagle Boys were a serious threat to Scrooge [=McDuck=] and his fortune, even [[TheBadGuyWins getting the upper hand on him]] a few times, usually thanks to Donald's bumbling or sheer bad luck. Later stories had the Beagles gain a bit more characterization (moving on from the nameless army of smug thugs), but also lose a lot of their competence.
* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', we get a good example of this trope in the EvilSorcerer Ixis Naugus. When originally introduced, he was an extremely powerful wizard with power over the elements and who sent Sonic and Tails on a wild goose chase around the world before being [[SealedEvilInACan banished to the Void]]. When he came back a few years later, he soon found himself reduced to Mammoth Mogul's [[TheDragon Dragon]], but was still threatening... at least, until his time as Dr. Eggman's prisoner destroyed his mind, leaving him a mindless beast Mogul kept as a pet. [[spoiler:But as of issue 220, Naugus has had his mind and powers restored by a Chaos Emerald wielded by his [[TheDragon apprentice]] [[FaceHeelTurn Geoffery St. John]], and has set himself up as part of a BigBadDuumvirate with Dr. Eggman. He did pretty well for himself, until Eggman's actions at the end of the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide crossover]] caused a ContinuityReboot that inadvertently put it back into place for the time being.]]
** Series BigBad Eggman himself goes through several instances of this--sometimes in-universe--he'd finally lost his marbles completely and stayed that way for most of a nearly year long story arc. He's largely recovered--both from the in universe decay and the meta version--by becoming the go-to 'event' villain. The last five years or so have involved Eggman launching tremendously huge attacks that significantly alters the status quo--only barely being beaten--then hiding out or otherwise removing himself from direct conflict for a while while Sonic and co. deal with other, lesser (for the most part) villains, then launching an attack that once again significantly alters the status quo.
*** Part of this is due to the writers taking away one of the main reasons he was a threat - his ability to turn people into robots. Then came Sonic Genesis where he [[spoiler:hit a "reset" switch that made it possible to roboticize again.]] While his whole plan didn't pan out [[spoiler:he got a consolation prize in the form of [[HeroicSacrifice Mecha Sally]]]] and the villain decay seems to be wearing off. Even with the aforementioned [[spoiler:ContinuityReboot]] he seems to be doing well, even though [[spoiler:the Freedom Fighters are stronger than ever.]]
** Metal Sonic was hit with this as well. Since his return around issue 150, he had went through eight incarnations after each one is destroyed in combat. Ultimately, Sega told Archie to stop it and stick to one Metal Sonic.
* It's been brought up in-universe that Marvel villain Arcade has never succeeded in killing a superhero, even though that's actually [[ProfessionalKiller his job]]. Justified though, as Arcade doesn't do it for money or out of spite, he does it because he loves the thrill of seeing the superheroes fighting out of his Murderworld amusement park. Now as to why anyone still bothers to hire him remains an untold story. ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'' has Arcade frustrated by this. He decides to reclaim some cred by trapping a bunch of young heroes in Murderworld and force them to kill each other in a tournament ala ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' or ''Literature/BattleRoyale''. Somehow, getting other people to kill for him is going to increase HIS rep as an assassin. Arcade is not exactly mentally stable, so he could believe that himself. This is averted in the sequel, ''ComicBook/AvengersUndercover'', where we find out that his little tournament did absolutely nothing to up his street cred. In-universe, it just made him look like a pathetic bully who had to stoop to murdering inexperienced {{Kid Hero}}es because he wasn't good enough to thrown down with A-listers like the X-Men and the Avengers.
* This was especially obvious with the Disney villain, [[ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse The Phantom Blot]], who was at first a genuinely and believably scary threat to WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse but after the serial in which he first featured ended, he quickly became just another bumbling comic relief villain.
* Doomsday, the monster who [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman killed]] ComicBook/{{Superman}} has been affected by this. What used to be a threat which forced Superman to kill him (and then die after) after tearing through the entire Justice League, and after his first rebirth rampaged throughout Apokolips, shrugged off the Omega Beams and brought ''ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}'' to his knees, became a lackey, mind controlled villain for Darkseid in later series, then could be massacred en masse when an army was created from his tissue, to the point where he was [[TheWorfEffect One-Shotted by Imperiex]] in ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar''.
* The Hank Henshaw Cyborg was the Big Bad in the ''[[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman Reign of the Supermen]]'' storyarc. Since he had Clark Kent's DNA, he had all of Superman's powers and then some. During his first appearances as a villain, he single handedly defeated a team made up of Superboy, Supergirl, Steel and the Eradicator. Subsequent appearances made him less and less of a badass each time, with Superman defeating him with increasing ease. In the end he was working for villains of lesser quality and defeated in only two panels in his final appearance prior to the ComicBook/{{New 52}} reboot. Henshaw's downgrade is lampshaded in the EndingBattle saga:
-->'''Henshaw''': I used to be... greater than... this.
* This trope fell on ComicBook/LexLuthor for the famous ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow'' saga. Luthor was just the means for Brainiac to move and communicate. (Note that Luthor, after [[AndIMustScream having his body co-opted by Braniac]], suffering a FateWorseThanDeath, begged for Lana Lang to [[MercyKill kill him]]. Luthor started Superman's Byrne era as the richest, [[VillainWithGoodPublicity most admired man in the world]]. Some twenty years later and still under the same continuity he was a fugitive who had lost his money and reputation (but he got better).
* Creator/DanSlott has commented on the fact that many supervillains seem to go from being a threat to the hero by themselves to being one of six guys that get taken out by said hero. Given that he also enjoys inflicting BreakTheHaughty on villains who are a major threat, he says he wants to do a story where six supervillains are robbing a bank, and one of them is ComicBook/{{Galactus}}.
* The Wrecking Crew started out as villains for ComicBook/TheMightyThor and could give Thor himself a run for his money. But over the years they became almost throw away villains to be beat up by anyone and everyone including [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} a group of superpowered, but untrained teenagers.]] Worse still, in a recent back-of-the-book ad campaign for Harley Davidson motorcycles, the Wrecking Crew were defeated by a group whose superpowers consist of owning Harley Davidson motorcycles.
* [[{{Satan}} First of the Fallen]] of ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' was intended to be the devil and a major antagonist for Constantine, but a string of constant defeats starting with his first appearance and ending with his death removed any threat.
** Writer Paul Jenkins did tried to return him back to badassery during his run (the First even flipped the finger back on John), but ultimately it was Mike Carey who finally give the John his greatest lost, and the First's most powerful blow on him after getting the soul of John's sister.
* Deliberately invoked and lampshaded with Rasputin in ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'', as each defeat costs him power.
* Parallax, the Green Lantern villain, was introduced in 2005, where he gloated that he had been behind the hero's greatest defeat and no-one had known for years. However, over the next decade, he went from shadowy destroyer, to being Anti-Monitor's Dragon, to being a quite dangerous weapon the heroes could lock up, to finally, being used as an EleventhHourSuperpower by Sinestro.
** It gets worse. He's now no longer merged with Sinestro, but imprisoned within him, serving as an attack dog Sinestro can let out whenever he wants to make a point. It actually kind of works, though, as Parallax was already a FlatCharacter, a monster relying on instinct and just spreading fear.
* The zombies in ComicBook/TheWalkingDead. As the story progresses, the zombies become more manageable, and dangerous people such as The Governor, cannibals, marauders, The Scavengers, and The Saviors are the ones whom the characters and the audience fear most. After all, zombies are incapable of using battle tactics and raping people. Their sanity is never questioned because they have no minds of their own, whereas people themselves are unpredictable. Heck, the storyline introducing The Saviors is called ''Something to Fear.'' After the ''All Out War'' storyline, there is a two-year time skip, implying that life in a world full of zombies has been relatively peaceful until a new threat (sentient beings once again) emerges. Interestingly enough, the zombies physically decay as time progresses, so they may be considered a literal personification of this trope.

* ''{{ComicBook/Sabretooth}}'' has suffered this heavily for the last few decades. Originally in the X-Franchise, Claremont wrote him to be Wolverine's [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter superior]], even stating that in all their lives, Logan has never defeated him in a straight up fight. Wolverine was shown defeating Byrne's Sabretooth in the orange costume, and Claremont had intended for that version to be revealed as a Sinister Clone, while the real Sabretooth would've bee the Jim Lee designed one, who hadn't faced the X-Men. However, Claremont left the X-books before he could really expand on the story, and his ideas were dropped or made null & void by future writers & editors. Despite this, he was a big enough threat in the 90's. He was a clear GeniusBruiser, and it's driven home when he manages to outsmart Mr. Sinister of all people. Sabretooth had more popularity in the 90's and early 2000's which spawned guest appearances, his own minis, and a few one-shots. Once Chuck Austen took over the X-Men in 2003, he started Sabretooth's villain decay. He wrote him as a meathead, had Wolverine continuously defeating him with no kind of effort or urgency, and at one point the heroes laugh at him when Wolverine asks him to name a time he was ever a threat. Since then, Sabretooth loses every fight he's in and TookALevelInDumbass to the point Loeb wrote him saying that he was trying to become smarter so he could beat Wolverine. During the 80's and 90's, Sabretooth defeated characters such as Black Panther, Rogue, Psylocke, Omega Red, Wolverine, and Mystique. Post villain decay, he has suffered being slapped around by all of these characters. Despite being known as Wolverine's ArchNemesis, it's subverted in the comics when it's revealed that Logan is more bored with Sabretooth than afraid or concerned about him.
* While Doctor Doom has generally managed to ride out any waves of this and remain one of the big names of the Marvel Universe, Otto "the Handsome" von Doom - his counterpart in the ComicBook/{{Marvel 1602}} universe - goes from requiring all the heroes to bring down and plotting the conquest of the world with [[spoiler:what he thinks is]] the Templar treasure and an army of specially bred slaves, to flying to the edge of the world in a quest to get cosmetic surgery from the king of a lost civilization - not super weapons, not long-lost ultra-science, not an army of mermen or anything like that, but ''cosmetic surgery''.
* David Cain is an in-universe example. He used to be one of the most feared killers in the world, trained ComicBook/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/{{Deadshot}}, and was Ra's al Ghul's right hand man. By the time he actually shows up in the comics, however, he's a melancholy, alcoholic old man, broken by the loss of [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} his daughter]], and though he still occasionally takes jobs, his heart obviously isn't in it. His old protege Deadshot is disgusted by how far he's fallen.
* Mr. Sinister, from the [[ComicBook/XMen X-Men's]] rogues gallery, got this in the '90s. When he was introduced, he was revealed to have ordered the massacre of the sewer-dwelling mutant community, the Morlocks, one of the greatest crises and tragedies the X-Men ever faced with consequences that completely overturned the status quo of the X-Men in multiple ways, and was later shown to have been manipulating Scott (Cyclops) and Alex Summers (Havok) and Jean Grey since they were children. When he's finally confronted, he's able to all but single-handedly hold his own against ''both'' the current and original five X-Men. However, in later stories he mostly became [[CrypticConversation Mr. Cryptic]] who showed up only to drop vague hints about characters' backstories, [[AbortedArc much of which never amounted to anything for many years, if ever, since that was the way of the X-Men comics of the '90s]]. Also at the same time the poor guy ended up accidentally releasing the Legacy Virus and having his laboratory broken into with impunity by the X-Men. In this case, though, the Villain Decay was reversed somewhat once it turned out [[ArcWelding that all along Sinister had been trying to create a mutant powerful enough to destroy his creator and rival, the villain Apocalypse. And he pulled it off.]] [[JokerImmunity Sort of.]]
* Lampshaded in the case of classic JLA villain Felix Faust; much of his power comes from literal deals with devils, and every time one of his schemes falls through, the demons decide to collect on their debts, taking bits of his soul, to the point that he's basically the magical equivalent of a subprime borrower, and the demons now treat him accordingly, granting him increasingly less power.
* The degree to which ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} has fallen is striking. In his original appearances in ''ComicBook/NewGods'', he was a true PhysicalGod; an unfathomably powerful manipulator who sought to dominate all of creation, capable of wiping out any challengers [[EyeBeams with a stare]] and even the [[SuperpowerLottery Bronze Age Superman]] barely able to run damage control against his schemes. Only the other New Gods could even try to work against him, and only his son Orion had any chance of fighting him. His first large-scale usage in the mainline DCU, the Great Darkness Saga, had him battling the entire pre-Crisis ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes (generally considered one of the strongest hero teams ''ever'') while weakened, and very nearly defeating them. This [[BreakoutVillain heavily raised his profile]], but also resulted in him going from a villain of the New Gods to the BigBad of the entire DCU and Superman in particular (spurred on even further by his usage in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''). Consequently, Darkseid was overused almost to the point of comedy, his level of power dropped so that Superman and characters of his level could feasibly defeat him in straight fisticuffs (which proceeded to happen on a regular basis), he was hit with TheWorfEffect by a number of characters (including the above Doomsday), and he suffered heavy-duty MotiveDecay from "find the Anti-Life Equation and corrupt all existence in my image" to "[[GenericDoomsdayVillain invade Earth and smash things because I'm evil.]]" This wasn't helped by the MainstreamObscurity of his original appearances, leaving readers and writers nothing but the decayed Darkseid to go on. Creator/GrantMorrison has done their best to rehabilitate the character, depicting him in ''[[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]]'' as a supreme threat that effortlessly conquered the Earth and broke its heroes in a BadFuture, and in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' as a multiversal EldritchAbomination to which every prior Darkseid was merely FightingAShadow, but his usage in the ComicBook/New52 dropped him right back to GenericDoomsdayVillain status, to the point that he doesn't even ''speak'' for his entire debut arc and gets soundly beaten by the Justice League on their first mission.
* ''ComicBook/BlackMoonChronicles'': Lucifer is flat-out ''terrifying'' during his main series appearances, as a FauxAffablyEvil Prince of Hell with ultimate plans to annihilate the entire human race and a habit of devouring screaming souls. In the SequelSeries, Lucifer and his minions track down Wismerhill and the other survivors to the new Earth, but the entire demonic army is quickly curb-stomped and Lucifer himself is sealed away by Methraton.
* Probably the friggin' Patron Saint of Villain Decay is probably Batman villain Killer Moth. When he first came on the scene, ''he'' was Batman's greatest arch-nemesis, not the Joker. Despite his strange colorful costume, he was a threat, the anti-Batman, and someone criminals ran to. Then, they introduced ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}. Having this amateur crime-fighter kick the ass out of what was supposed to be Batman's greatest foe ''twice'' in her first appearance just killed his credibility overnight and he was seen as a joke in-series as well. Since then, he was only brought up for his FashionVictimVillain status. Not even turning him into the monstrous Charaxas saved him.
* [[Characters/DCComicsMongul Mongul]] in the Pre-Crisis era was so powerful he could beat Superman unconscious during a time when Superman could pull an entire galaxy's worth of planets and sneeze away solar systems. And if Superman was able to beat Mongul, he usually collapsed from exhaustion due to the effort it took to defeat him. From the Post-Crisis onwards, Mongul's character has turned into more of a big alien bruiser whom Superman can typically beat up after a lengthy brawl or worse, gets taken out in the span of a single page. He's also transitioned into a punching bag for other characters like Flash, Green Lantern, Neron, Zod, and Sinestro to beat up on to establish their credibility. These days for Superman and other DC stories, Mongul fills less the role of TheJuggernaut and more of "big, brutish alien villain you can put in a team of other villains in stories with less big stakes than Darkseid or the Anti-Monitor".
* ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}: Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke hasn't decayed into an easy-to-defeat villain all across the board but for certain BadassNormal heroes, particularly Batman and Nightwing, he's no longer a nightmare opponent who can easily manhandle them like in the early years, particularly during his first fight against Batman where Deathstroke relentlessly beat Bruce unconscious. Thanks to ongoing PowerCreepPowerSeep, heroes like Batman or Nightwing have gotten to the point where they can defeat Deathstroke after an intense fight, stalemate Deathstroke while getting in equal or more hits, or in some cases, completely embarrass Slade by taking him out easily in a span of a page, like Batman once did when he [[ConservationOfNinjitsu attacked and defeated Deathstroke and Deadshot together]].
* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': Noted in-universe with Karnazon, who started out robbing Fort Knox and ended up doing anything to defy Winged Victory just to prove the superiority of man over woman.

* The degree to which ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} has fallen is striking. In his original appearances in ''ComicBook/NewGods'', he was a true PhysicalGod; an unfathomably powerful manipulator who sought to dominate all of creation, capable of wiping out any challengers [[EyeBeams with a stare]] and even the [[SuperpowerLottery Bronze Age Superman]] barely able to run damage control against his schemes. Only the other New Gods could even try to work against him, and only his son Orion had any chance of fighting him. His first large-scale usage in the mainline DCU, the Great Darkness Saga, had him battling the entire pre-Crisis ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes (generally considered one of the strongest hero teams ''ever'') while weakened, and very nearly defeating them. This [[BreakoutVillain heavily raised his profile]], but also resulted in him going from a villain of the New Gods to the BigBad of the entire DCU and Superman in particular (spurred on even further by his usage in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''). Consequently, Darkseid was overused almost to the point of comedy, his level of power dropped so that Superman and characters of his level could feasibly defeat him in straight fisticuffs (which proceeded to happen on a regular basis), he was hit with TheWorfEffect by a number of characters (including the above Doomsday), and he suffered heavy-duty MotiveDecay from "find the Anti-Life Equation and corrupt all existence in my image" to "[[GenericDoomsdayVillain invade Earth and smash things because I'm evil.]]" This wasn't helped by the MainstreamObscurity of his original appearances, leaving readers and writers nothing but the decayed Darkseid to go on. Creator/GrantMorrison has done his best to rehabilitate the character, depicting him in ''[[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]]'' as a supreme threat that effortlessly conquered the Earth and broke its heroes in a BadFuture, and in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' as a multiversal EldritchAbomination to which every prior Darkseid was merely FightingAShadow, but his usage in the ComicBook/New52 dropped him right back to GenericDoomsdayVillain status, to the point that he doesn't even ''speak'' for his entire debut arc and gets soundly beaten by the Justice League on their first mission.

** The Joker went through this after his introduction in the 1940s stories, with him becoming increasingly silly and less dangerous. 1973's "The Joker's Five Way Revenge" returned him to his original personality of scary sadistic madman. [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks From]] [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks then]] [[UsefulNotes/TheModernAgeOfComicBooks on]] there have [[ComicBook/TheKillingJoke been]] [[ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily certain]] [[Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse story]][[Film/TheDarkKnight lines]] [[ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily that]] will ensure that the Joker may never suffer Villain Decay again if we keep going in this direction. Said decay, depending on which continuity you follow, has become a part of Joker's character: He can go from complete comic relief to a serious StrawNihilist psychopath out of the grimmest and darkest of fiction, in an instant and, according to Creator/GrantMorrison, went through the decay because he likes to "reinvent" his act every so often.

** In his earlier appearances, Killer Croc was so brutally strong he was able to manhandle and beat down Batman at his best in most confrontations. Over time, however, Batman's been able to beat him up more and more easily that Croc can get taken down in just one or two hits even when Croc is trying to [[ConservationOfNinjitsu mob attack Batman with other Arkham rogues]]. And in Batman: Europa, a virus-stricken Batman was still able to put him down in a few hits. Then there's the fact that in modern times, Killer Croc can get hit with TheWorfEffect whenever another really strong villain, usually Bane, comes to town to establish himself.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan''.
** The Hobgoblin; [[http://www.spideykicksbutt.com/SquanderedLegacy/SquanderedLegacyPart1.html This page]] tells it all. This isn't about the first (and current) Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley, who is really seen as a MagnificentBastard, but the other schmoes who took up the mask before his reveal.

* The Franchise/{{Predator}} extraterrestrial embodies this trope after being trounced by virtually every other comic book character in the industry. Despite the incredible awesomeness of the original ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' comics, it later became a check-the-block for every character from Franchise/{{Superman}} to ComicBook/JudgeDredd beat up a Predator at least once in their career. This trope is somewhat rationalised by the fact that the Predator's code of honor means they must look for a "fair fight."
* Many villains of {{Crisis Crossover}}s suffer this if they are ever seen again. The Beyonder of Marvel's ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'' is a good example. Presented as a mysterious and powerful cosmic being capable of swatting Galactus aside like a fly in the original maxi-series, he assumes human form and becomes mostly a joke in ''ComicBook/SecretWarsII''. One memorable scene involves Franchise/SpiderMan teaching him how to use the bathroom. It doesn't help that his character was portrayed inconsistently throughout the second maxi-series and the [[RedSkiesCrossover tie-ins]]. In one tie-in, he's murdering the ComicBook/NewMutants (only to bring them BackFromTheDead later), in another he's consoling the Human Torch over the accidental death of a fan. It's little wonder that ''Secret Wars II'' is considered 'drek' by many comics fans. The Beyonder decayed even more after Jim Shooter left the company, with his powers being considerably downgraded.

* Doomsday, the monster who [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman killed]] Franchise/{{Superman}} has been affected by this. What used to be a threat which forced Superman to kill him (and then die after) after tearing through the entire Justice League, and after his first rebirth rampaged throughout Apokolips, shrugged off the Omega Beams and brought ''ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}'' to his knees, became a lackey, mind controlled villain for Darkseid in later series, then could be massacred en masse when an army was created from his tissue, to the point where he was [[TheWorfEffect One-Shotted by Imperiex]] in ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar''.

* David Cain is an in-universe example. He used to be one of the most feared killers in the world, trained Franchise/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/{{Deadshot}}, and was Ra's al Ghul's right hand man. By the time he actually shows up in the comics, however, he's a melancholy, alcoholic old man, broken by the loss of [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} his daughter]], and though he still occasionally takes jobs, his heart obviously isn't in it. His old protege Deadshot is disgusted by how far he's fallen.

** The Joker went through this after his introduction in the 1940s stories, with him becoming increasingly silly and less dangerous. 1973's "The Joker's Five Way Revenge" returned him to his original personality of scary sadistic madman. [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks From]] [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks then]] [[UsefulNotes/TheModernAgeOfComicBooks on]] there have [[Comicbook/TheKillingJoke been]] [[ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily certain]] [[Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse story]][[Film/TheDarkKnight lines]] [[ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily that]] will ensure that the Joker may never suffer Villain Decay again if we keep going in this direction. Said decay, depending on which continuity you follow, has become a part of Joker's character: He can go from complete comic relief to a serious StrawNihilist psychopath out of the grimmest and darkest of fiction, in an instant and, according to Creator/GrantMorrison, went through the decay because he likes to "reinvent" his act every so often.

* The Franchise/{{Predator}} extraterrestrial embodies this trope after being trounced by virtually every other comic book character in the industry. Despite the incredible awesomeness of the original ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' comics, it later became a check-the-block for every character from Franchise/{{Superman}} to Comicbook/JudgeDredd beat up a Predator at least once in their career. This trope is somewhat rationalised by the fact that the Predator's code of honor means they must look for a "fair fight."
* Many villains of {{Crisis Crossover}}s suffer this if they are ever seen again. The Beyonder of Marvel's ''Comicbook/SecretWars1984'' is a good example. Presented as a mysterious and powerful cosmic being capable of swatting Galactus aside like a fly in the original maxi-series, he assumes human form and becomes mostly a joke in ''ComicBook/SecretWarsII''. One memorable scene involves Franchise/SpiderMan teaching him how to use the bathroom. It doesn't help that his character was portrayed inconsistently throughout the second maxi-series and the [[RedSkiesCrossover tie-ins]]. In one tie-in, he's murdering the ComicBook/NewMutants (only to bring them BackFromTheDead later), in another he's consoling the Human Torch over the accidental death of a fan. It's little wonder that ''Secret Wars II'' is considered 'drek' by many comics fans. The Beyonder decayed even more after Jim Shooter left the company, with his powers being considerably downgraded.
* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': The Marvel supervillain Abomination has probably lost more bad boy status than almost any other. He started out up-powered even by the Hulk's standards, whomping him down in their first encounter. He then had some gamma power stripped, which was added to the Hulk, thus losing in their next encounter. He then suffered a series of beatdowns at the hands of the Hulk, leading to humiliating exposition as his character developed a fear of even encountering the Hulk anymore. But that was not the end of it. Over subsequent years, he became a chew toy to show how badass the lower bricks in the Marvel universe could be, taking solo beatdowns at the hands of both ComicBook/WonderMan and ComicBook/SheHulk, and even getting bested by ''Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}}'' of all people. [[PhysicalGod Hercules]] even one-shot KO'd him with a traffic light once. Oh, true, they ''pulled out all the stops'' in their demonstration of badassery, but the Abomination just can't get any respect, in spite of still remaining perhaps the physically strongest character without some quasi-infinite trick up their sleeve. He got a slightly better treatment in the ''ComicBook/ChaosWar'' [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHercules Herc]] [[BatFamilyCrossover family crossover]], where, after having been killed off a couple years ago by the Comicbook/RedHulk, he [[BackFromTheDead comes back]] as a servant for the BigBad [[EldritchAbomination Chaos King]]. After tearing through a team of Hulks, Comicbook/DoctorStrange states that he was "the Underworld's strongest prisoner". He's still dead again by the end of the story, but he definitely got some cred back.
* Colonel Olrik of ''Comicbook/BlakeAndMortimer'' fame fits this trope to a tee. In his first appearance, he aided TheEmpire in bringing about WorldWarIII and successfully conquering the world. Understandably, his later appearances as a smuggler/thief/spy are not as impressive. Even when [[spoiler:said Empire's bloodthirsty dictator was brought BackFromTheDead via TimeTravel and Olrik joined him once more]] in ''The Strange Encounter'' he was little more than a thug.
* ''Comicbook/SpiderMan''.

* Comicbook/{{Ultimate|Marvel}} [[Comicbook/SubMariner Namor]] started off as being so powerful that he easily defeated the entire Fantastic Four with his bare hands, and was only persuaded to spare the city of New York [[VillainousCrush when Susan Storm]] [[ForcefulKiss agreed to kiss him]]. In fact, it was stated that he was the most powerful superhuman on the planet, stronger than even the friggin' [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]. Then when he reappeared during the ''Comicbook/{{Ultimatum}}'' crossover, he was easily clobbered and tied up by an unaided Reed Richards.
* Marvel Comics' ComicBook/{{Onslaught}} initially appeared as beyond godlike and it took every superhero on Earth to defeat him. When he did come back, he was the subject of a low-selling mini where he was defeated [[spoiler:far more easily and sent to the Negative Zone]] by Comicbook/CaptainAmerica and some [[CreatorsPet Creator's Pets]]. Not very fitting for a guy who took on the Marvel Universe at one point.
* Dr. Light in Franchise/TheDCU. At first, he was tough enough to take on the whole Justice League, and then declines through the 1980s to the point where he is beaten by the kid ''non-powered'' superhero team, Little Boy Blue and his Blue Boys. This was explained/{{retcon}}ned in the infamous ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis2004'' storyline as the League having given him what amounted to a psychic lobotomy via Comicbook/{{Zatanna}}'s magical powers after he had sneaked aboard the Watchtower and [[MoralEventHorizon raped Sue Dibny]]. It was an attempt to make him a threat again, but it largely didn't work, as his every appearance thereafter was sure to remind the audience that he was a sexual deviant--turning him from a loser to a loser who was really proud of the one time he did something a common street thug could do. He was then turned into a candle by ComicBook/TheSpectre, left unmourned.
* [[spoiler:Gepetto,]] the evil mastermind of ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}'' contracted a bad case of villain decay.[[spoiler:He'd conquered and ruled countless realms for centuries, but after he lost the first couple battles of the new war, he became depressed and sat about moaning while his Empire fell to pieces, until the heroes came and took him to live in a nice new apartment in New York City.]]

** This was lampshaded by the [[TortureTechnician Crime Doctor]] in ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' #94. Although that issue uses his Villain Decay to make it that much more shocking when he destroys Lady Blackhawk, ComicBook/{{Huntress}}, [[{{Invisibility}} Mirage]], and Comicbook/LadyShiva.

* Herr Starr, in ''Comicbook/{{Preacher}}'', was actually genuinely menacing in his first appearance (and again in his StartOfDarkness). [[ButtMonkey That didn't last very long at all.]] Not even the fact that he [[EvilerThanThou frequently defeats other villains]] does anything to stop the decay - mostly because poor Starr just [[SerialProstheses can't seem to stop losing body parts...]]

* Comicbook/{{Thanos}} was a recurring foe for Comicbook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} and Comicbook/TheAvengers, and was so powerful he not only took on multiple teams of superheroes at the same time, but once even ''[[Comicbook/TheInfinityGauntlet killed half of the known universe]]''. Then during the 90's, he started getting [[TheWorfEffect Worfed]] by characters like [[Comicbook/TheMightyThor Thor]] (who was never able to match Thanos one-on-one previously) and Ka-Zar (who is just a BadassNormal), greatly diminishing his reputation. This led to Jim Starlin, Thanos' creator, [[ActuallyADoombot retconning those past defeats by claiming they were simply clones]], and that the real Thanos had been been biding his time in the shadows.

* It's been brought up in-universe that Marvel villain Arcade has never succeeded in killing a superhero, even though that's actually [[ProfessionalKiller his job]]. Justified though, as Arcade doesn't do it for money or out of spite, he does it because he loves the thrill of seeing the superheroes fighting out of his Murderworld amusement park. Now as to why anyone still bothers to hire him remains an untold story. ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'' has Arcade frustrated by this. He decides to reclaim some cred by trapping a bunch of young heroes in Murderworld and force them to kill each other in a tournament ala ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' or ''Literature/BattleRoyale''. Somehow, getting other people to kill for him is going to increase HIS rep as an assassin. Arcade is not exactly mentally stable, so he could believe that himself. This is averted in the sequel, ''Comicbook/AvengersUndercover'', where we find out that his little tournament did absolutely nothing to up his street cred. In-universe, it just made him look like a pathetic bully who had to stoop to murdering inexperienced {{Kid Hero}}es because he wasn't good enough to thrown down with A-listers like the X-Men and the Avengers.
* This was especially obvious with the Disney villain, [[Comicbook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse The Phantom Blot]], who was at first a genuinely and believably scary threat to WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse but after the serial in which he first featured ended, he quickly became just another bumbling comic relief villain.
* Doomsday, the monster who [[Comicbook/TheDeathOfSuperman killed]] Franchise/{{Superman}} has been affected by this. What used to be a threat which forced Superman to kill him (and then die after) after tearing through the entire Justice League, and after his first rebirth rampaged throughout Apokolips, shrugged off the Omega Beams and brought ''Comicbook/{{Darkseid}}'' to his knees, became a lackey, mind controlled villain for Darkseid in later series, then could be massacred en masse when an army was created from his tissue, to the point where he was [[TheWorfEffect One-Shotted by Imperiex]] in ''Comicbook/OurWorldsAtWar''.
* The Hank Henshaw Cyborg was the Big Bad in the ''[[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman Reign of the Supermen]]'' storyarc. Since he had Clark Kent's DNA, he had all of Superman's powers and then some. During his first appearances as a villain, he single handedly defeated a team made up of Superboy, Supergirl, Steel and the Eradicator. Subsequent appearances made him less and less of a badass each time, with Superman defeating him with increasing ease. In the end he was working for villains of lesser quality and defeated in only two panels in his final appearance prior to the Comicbook/{{New 52}} reboot. Henshaw's downgrade is lampshaded in the EndingBattle saga:

* This trope fell on ComicBook/LexLuthor for the famous ''Comicbook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow'' saga. Luthor was just the means for Brainiac to move and communicate. (Note that Luthor, after [[AndIMustScream having his body co-opted by Braniac]], suffering a FateWorseThanDeath, begged for Lana Lang to [[MercyKill kill him]]. Luthor started Superman's Byrne era as the richest, [[VillainWithGoodPublicity most admired man in the world]]. Some twenty years later and still under the same continuity he was a fugitive who had lost his money and reputation (but he got better).
* Creator/DanSlott has commented on the fact that many supervillains seem to go from being a threat to the hero by themselves to being one of six guys that get taken out by said hero. Given that he also enjoys inflicting BreakTheHaughty on villains who are a major threat, he says he wants to do a story where six supervillains are robbing a bank, and one of them is Comicbook/{{Galactus}}.
* The Wrecking Crew started out as villains for Comicbook/TheMightyThor and could give Thor himself a run for his money. But over the years they became almost throw away villains to be beat up by anyone and everyone including [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} a group of superpowered, but untrained teenagers.]] Worse still, in a recent back-of-the-book ad campaign for Harley Davidson motorcycles, the Wrecking Crew were defeated by a group whose superpowers consist of owning Harley Davidson motorcycles.
* [[{{Satan}} First of the Fallen]] of ''Comicbook/{{Hellblazer}}'' was intended to be the devil and a major antagonist for Constantine, but a string of constant defeats starting with his first appearance and ending with his death removed any threat.

* The degree to which ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} has fallen is striking. In his original appearances in ''ComicBook/NewGods'', he was a true PhysicalGod; an unfathomably powerful manipulator who sought to dominate all of creation, capable of wiping out any challengers [[EyeBeams with a stare]] and even the [[SuperpowerLottery Bronze Age Superman]] barely able to run damage control against his schemes. Only the other New Gods could even try to work against him, and only his son Orion had any chance of fighting him. His first large-scale usage in the mainline DCU, the Great Darkness Saga, had him battling the entire pre-Crisis ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes (generally considered one of the strongest hero teams ''ever'') while weakened, and very nearly defeating them. This [[BreakoutVillain heavily raised his profile]], but also resulted in him going from a villain of the New Gods to the BigBad of the entire DCU and Superman in particular (spurred on even further by his usage in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''). Consequently, Darkseid was overused almost to the point of comedy, his level of power dropped so that Superman and characters of his level could feasibly defeat him in straight fisticuffs (which proceeded to happen on a regular basis), he was hit with TheWorfEffect by a number of characters (including the above Doomsday), and he suffered heavy-duty MotiveDecay from "find the Anti-Life Equation and corrupt all existence in my image" to "[[GenericDoomsdayVillain invade Earth and smash things because I'm evil.]]" This wasn't helped by the MainstreamObscurity of his original appearances, leaving readers and writers nothing but the decayed Darkseid to go on. Creator/GrantMorrison has done his best to rehabilitate the character, depicting him in ''[[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]]'' as a supreme threat that effortlessly conquered the Earth and broke its heroes in a BadFuture, and in ''Comicbook/FinalCrisis'' as a multiversal EldritchAbomination to which every prior Darkseid was merely FightingAShadow, but his usage in the ComicBook/New52 dropped him right back to GenericDoomsdayVillain status, to the point that he doesn't even ''speak'' for his entire debut arc and gets soundly beaten by the Justice League on their first mission.

* ComicBook/TheJoker went through this after his introduction in the 40s ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' stories, with him becoming increasingly silly and less dangerous. 1973's "The Joker's Five Way Revenge" returned him to his original personality of scary sadistic madman. [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks From]] [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks then]] [[UsefulNotes/TheModernAgeOfComicBooks on]] there have [[Comicbook/TheKillingJoke been]] [[ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily certain]] [[Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse story]][[Film/TheDarkKnight lines]] [[ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily that]] will ensure that the Joker may never suffer Villain Decay again if we keep going in this direction.
** Said decay, depending on which continuity you follow, has become a part of Joker's character: He can go from complete comic relief to a serious StrawNihilist psychopath out of the grimmest and darkest of fiction, in an instant and, according to Creator/GrantMorrison, went through the decay because he likes to "reinvent" his act every so often.
** As to the 60s show, it actually ''reversed'' the Villain Decay of a lot of villains; it didn't cause it. ComicBook/TheRiddler and ComicBook/MrFreeze in the show might seem goofy today, but prior to the show both characters had only appeared in a handful of issues and the TV series is actually what established them as major rogues. They might have been silly, but that's better than being forgotten and forgettable, plus no bad guy on the show was quite the HarmlessVillain they have been remembered as -- it may have been light-hearted entertainment, but they ''did'' nearly kill Batman and Robin in various horrible and sadistic ways at the end of every other episode, after all. Especially the Mad Hatter, who, in the comic book introductory story that provided fodder for ''both'' of his televisual appearances, was merely an essentially harmless exotic hat collector who was not above stealing some of his prized treasures; whereas onscreen he sported an instant-knockout hat which he used to kidnap the jury that had previously convicted him, as well as planning Batman's demise on a specially-designed, vicious ConveyorBeltOfDoom (managing to put Robin on it in the climactic scene).
* ComicBook/{{Bane}} just might have it worse than the Joker. In his debut he uses a whole slew of preexisting villains as pawns and puts the Bat out of commission for a good chunk of time. He was subject to the WorfEffect a few times, but got the worst of it in adaptations, where he's usually relegated to the main villain's muscle, even when he's not DumbMuscle.
* In his first appearance, Victor Zsasz was a SerialKiller so dangerous that he had to be kept completely immobile while awake and a criminal mastermind so brilliant that Batman had to get himself committed to Arkham just to get close enough to figure out how Zsasz was seemingly killing from within the Asylum. Since then he's been strictly VillainOfTheWeek material, or briefly served as TheBrute to the latest ArcVillain.
* The Daniel West iteration of Reverse-Flash from Franchise/TheFlash has played this trope straight to tragic levels. Initially presented as a new ArchEnemy for Barry in ''ComicBook/TheNew52'', he was unceremoniously moved to ''New Suicide Squad'' after one story arc to make room for the reappearance of Professor Zoom after the latter [[RealLifeWritesThePlot gained a new level of recognition]] in the 2014 TV series -- then DroppedABridgeOnHim mid-HeelRealisation there. ''Rebirth'' had Barry regain some of his pre-''Flashpoint'' memories and start referring to Thawne as the first Reverse-Flash once more, displacing him completely from even sole use of the Reverse-Flash name. Meanwhile Thawne constantly made [[PretenderDiss snide remarks]] about Daniel's use of the name, not even acknowledging him as a successor like he did Hunter Zolomon, his true successor. On top of all this, Hunter Zolomon was also later revealed to be alive, thus further distancing Daniel from the top of villain chain. Since he was only effective in one arc, he can't even claim to be a recurring villain, let alone a BigBadWannabe now.

* Dr. Light in Franchise/TheDCU. At first, he was tough enough to take on the whole Justice League, and then declines through the 1980s to the point where he is beaten by the kid ''non-powered'' superhero team, Little Boy Blue and his Blue Boys. This was explained/{{retcon}}ned in the infamous ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'' storyline as the League having given him what amounted to a psychic lobotomy via Comicbook/{{Zatanna}}'s magical powers after he had sneaked aboard the Watchtower and [[MoralEventHorizon raped Sue Dibny]]. It was an attempt to make him a threat again, but it largely didn't work, as his every appearance thereafter was sure to remind the audience that he was a sexual deviant--turning him from a loser to a loser who was really proud of the one time he did something a common street thug could do. He was then turned into a candle by ComicBook/TheSpectre, left unmourned.

* This was especially obvious with the Disney villain, [[Comicbook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse The Phantom Blot]], who was at first a genuinely and believably scary threat to MickeyMouse but after the serial in which he first featured ended, he quickly became just another bumbling comic relief villain.

* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': Done in-universe with Karnazon, who started out robbing Fort Knox and ended up doing anything to defy Winged Victory just to prove the superiority of man over woman.

* Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} villain Prometheus was originally created by Creator/GrantMorrison to be the [[DiabolicalMastermind JLA's Moriarty.]] He was a [[BloodKnight psychotic]] [[CrazyPrepared anti-Batman]] who used a high-tech helmet to [[NeuralImplanting load information and fighting skills directly into his brain.]] He had an [[StartOfDarkness exceptional origin story]], [[HomemadeInventions built his own unorthodox weapons]], and he killed an [[EldritchAbomination evil interdimensional alien monk]] to steal his teleporter. Prometheus took down half the Justice League in his first appearance (even Batman) and then... He became a {{Mook|s}}. [[RetCon Much later]], it was revealed that these appearances were his never before mentioned sidekick [[CostumeCopycat using his gear]] while the real Prometheus was imprisoned in his own mind (and, you know, prison). When he finally escapes, he [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge tracks down his sidekick]] and [[KillItWithFire lights him on fire.]] Then again, the arc also ends with him being shot and killed rather easily by ComicBook/GreenArrow, because his research apparently didn't include that Green Arrow has killed people. It's worth noting, though, that he was always something of a SmugSnake; he was ultimately defeated in his first appearance by ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} and ComicBook/{{Oracle}}, simply because he was [[CrazyPrepared so prepped-up for his fight with the Justice League]] that he had [[CripplingOverspecialization no planned defense]] against a PlayfulHacker deprogramming his viruses and [[GroinAttack a bullwhip to the crotch.]]