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10[[quoteright:350:[[Film/SpiderMan3 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/big_bad_ensemble_2.png]]]]
11[[caption-width-right:350:Which villain will come out on top?]]
12
13->''"What is this, the Bad Guy Olympics!?"''
14-->-- Spider-Man, ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2000''
15
16The story features two or more {{Big Bad}}s, each of whom has their own distinct agenda and resources. The result can be EvilVersusEvil, EvilerThanThou, EnemyMine, VillainTeamUp or BigBadDuumvirate, but it may be the case that none of the villains have anything to do with each other, and may not even be aware of each other. Played straight, each major villain should be of a comparable threat level to prevent one from overshadowing the other(s).
17
18Having multiple main villains can bring new dimensions to the story and make it more complex and less predictable. It can force TheHero to face a range of different challenges -- for example, maybe one villain seeks to TakeOverTheWorld while another is [[ItsPersonal a more personal enemy from his past]], though it's possible for both Big Bads to have identical goals without making the story any less interesting.
19
20The success or failures of one Big Bad can affect the fortunes of another, as they may have to consider each other in their plans, or might try to profit from another's defeat. The hero might defeat one villain before fighting another, or might regard one as more dangerous or important than the others. The SortingAlgorithmOfEvil may be either avoided -- if all the Big Bads are equally powerful and dangerous -- or inverted, if some are more powerful and/or more dangerous than others.
21
22Remember this must be simultaneous -- if a new Big Bad arises only after another is defeated, then this does not count; that's ArcVillain. See also RoguesGallery, which is similar but usually forces established villains to act as MonsterOfTheWeek. When there are so many Big Bads involved that one needs a score card to keep them straight, this is TheBigBadShuffle. See also GambitPileup; something that usually results from this trope when the big bads plot against each other for power in the same way they plot against the good guys, which can also sometimes result in a {{Melee A Trois}} between the heroes and the two big bads. Contrast with VillainExclusivityClause when only one villain is allowed and VillainOfAnotherStory, where other villains appear but their conflicts are not in focus. Contrast with EverythingTryingToKillYou, which is similar but instead involves random, generally unconnected enemies and sometimes even inanimate objects being dangerous to the protagonist.
23
24[[noreallife]]
25----
26!!Example subpages:
27
28[[index]]
29* BigBadEnsemble/FanWorks
30* BigBadEnsemble/LiveActionTV
31* BigBadEnsemble/VideoGames
32* BigBadEnsemble/WesternAnimation
33[[/index]]
34
35!!Other examples:
36
37[[foldercontrol]]
38
39[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
40* ''Anime/AkibaMaidWar'' has two {{Big Bad}}s of the story: Nagi and the Wuv-Wuv Moonbeam Maid. Nagi is the leader of Creatureland Group and the mastermind of the titular 1999 Akiba Maid War, as well as the mastermind of Michiyo's murder, her own mentor, out of spite due to her colliding ideals. She later becomes the sworn enemy of her former sister figure [[spoiler:Ranko]] and the Ton Tokoton staff, due to them being seen as a threat to the company. The maid, on the other hand, is the vengeful [[spoiler:surviving maid of the Wuv-Wuv Moonbeam café]], who is out for revenge against [[spoiler:Ranko for murdering all of her café's staff, thus making her more of a [[ItsPersonal personal antagonist]] to both her and Nagomi]].
41* ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'s'' "Grand Punk Railroad" (1931) arc has three major antagonists with mutually exclusive goals boarding a train -- Ladd Russo, an AxCrazy hitman who intends to kill everyone on the train [[ForTheEvulz just for kicks]]; [[SmugSnake Goose Perkins]], a cult leader who holds the train hostage and kidnaps a senator's family to cow said senator into letting his cult leader out of jail; and Claire Stanfield, one of the train's conductors who wants to kill ''both'' of the aforementioned villains for daring to cause trouble on ''his'' train, and will [[KnightTemplar gladly take out anyone who either works with them or gets in his way]]...except of course, for Goose's [[LoveAtFirstSight silent female ally]]...
42* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' and its spinoff ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'' have a lot of evil people who oppose each other or don't even know about each other, with [[GambitPileup complex plans that intersect and are hard to keep track of]].
43* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'' has the [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Four Horsemen]]. Control is the BigBad of Part 1, and Part 2 centers around War [[spoiler:with Famine showing up soon after, and Death is the GreaterScopeVillain of the entire series]].
44* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': The Britannian Royal Family as a whole count as one, with the most prominent contenders Emperor Charles zi Britannia and his son, Prince Schneizel el Britannia, due to their opposing agendas. Charles [[spoiler:has an AssimilationPlot called the "Ragnarok", where all humans, living or dead, will become one being in an attempt to destroy all gods and unite all humans, with Marianne helping him and moving things along]]. Schniezel [[spoiler:has an AGodAmI mindset, with the plan to launch a KillSat called the Damocles that fires [[FantasticNuke F.L.E.I.J.A.]] missiles, all to unite the world through fear]]. Other contenders include [[spoiler:Charles's wife and partner-in-crime Empress-Consort Marianne vi Britannia]] as well as [[RebelLeader Lelouch vi Britannia/Lamperouge]] Lelouch, who starts out well-intentioned but gradually becomes a VillainProtagonist, [[spoiler:culminating in him enacting a particularly brutal ZeroApprovalGambit]].
45* ''Manga/DeathNote'' has a variation of this. In the second half of the series, VillainProtagonist Light Yagami has to contend with Near and Mello, both of whom are trying and using very different methods to uncover his identity of Kira, while also acting separately from each other. For all intents and purposes, this is the closest example of a Big Bad Ensemble that can be found in a series where the ''[[VillainProtagonist protagonist]]'' is the true BigBad overall.
46* ''Manga/DGrayMan'': While the [[OmnicidalManiac Millennium Earl]] has been the main villain since day one and is still the [[TheHeavy most prominent threat]], recent chapters have [[TheStarscream The Fourteenth]] and [[HumanoidAbomination Apocryphos]] challenging the Earl for the position of Biggest Bad ([[EvilVersusEvil literally]], in the Fourteenth's case). Also, due to the BlackAndGrayMorality of the series, one could also arguably stick Black Order leader [[KnightTemplar Lveille]] on the list as well.
47* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' features one of these in the Dark Masters, a quartet of Mega-level Digimon who serve as the {{Arc Villain}}s of ten episodes. [=MetalSeadramon=], Puppetmon, Machinedramon, and Piedmon each have their own armies and territories and only appear together once, when they're first introduced. Otherwise they appear to function as four separate villains whose mutual goals seem to include ruling over the Digital World and killing the [=DigiDestined=] who are trying to stop them. Otherwise they don't lift a finger to help one another while the children clobber their way up their hierarchy, and in case of [[MonsterClown Piedmon]], he actually seems to ''[[AxCrazy enjoy]]'' watching the other three get obliterated one-by-one. And that's not taking Myotismon, Etemon and Devimon into account.
48* ''Manga/DigimonVTamer01'' technically has three big bads, in Lord Demon, Parallelmon and Metamorphmon. In practice, Lord Demon is the big bad, while Parallelmon and Metamorphmon are both the VillainOfAnotherStory that just so happened to have the misfortune of meeting Taichi and Zero. All the same, the latter two are still credible threats that have absolutely nothing to do with Demon.
49* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' had the Namek Saga, where the Z warriors had to fight the last saga's ArcVillain (Vegeta, not yet at his HeelFaceTurn) and the new villain (Frieza), both of whom aimed to use the Namekian Dragon Balls for their own selfish purposes.
50* In ''Manga/ElfenLied'', Lucy, Queen of the [[{{Mutants}} Diclonii]], is a VillainProtagonist who hates humans and [[KillAllHumans wants them all dead]], and is [[TheHeavy the more personal villain that the heroes fight]]. However, she’s only like that because HumansAreBastards to her; specifically Director Kakuzawa, who runs the institute that tormented her and her fellow diclonii to turn them into his personal MasterRace. He is the embodiment of [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters everything wrong with humans]] in this series. [[spoiler:It’s eventually revealed that his rival is not Lucy, but the [[EnemyWithin Diclonius DNA Voice]] that [[TheManBehindTheMan manipulates Lucy’s cruelty]], and she kills him to become the FinalBoss.]]
51* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', the endgame sets up two {{Big Bad}}s in [[EvilVersusEvil opposition with each other]], and both of whom have served as [[GreaterScopeVillain Greater-Scope Villains]] before becoming active: Zeref, an [[CompleteImmortality immortal]] PersonOfMassDestruction and DeathSeeker who wants to put an end to his own evil in a manner that would [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery wipe out all of humanity]]; and Acnologia, a dragon who WasOnceAMan and is fueled by [[BoomerangBigot his hatred of dragons]] and his [[OmnicidalManiac unquenchable thirst for destruction]]. A third candidate would be E.N.D., the master of the dark guild Tartaros and a demon created by Zeref for his own SuicideByCop, with his guild attempting to [[SealedEvilInACan unseal him from a book]] to wreak destruction on mankind. [[spoiler:That is until he's revealed to be Natsu's SuperpoweredEvilSide that wasn't truly sealed to begin with, and is promptly done away with when Lucy figures out how to sever Natsu's connection to the book.]]
52** The sequel ''Manga/FairyTail100YearsQuest'' sets up ''seven'' new villains following the previous {{Big Bad}}s' defeat: the Five Dragon Gods, five incredibly powerful dragons each said to have Magic Power to rival Acnologia and each a possible threat to the world whether intentionally or not now that their biggest enemy is dead; the WhiteMage, an unnamed KnightTemplar who wishes to steal the Five Dragon Gods' magic and use it to reduce the world to a BlankWhiteVoid; and Georg Raizen, the master of the Dragon Eater guild Diabolos, who want to consume the dragons to gain their power. All their goals clash with each other, as well as Fairy Tail's, who are out to seal the dragons before their power falls into the wrong hands. [[spoiler:The ensemble later shifts after the defeats of Water Dragon God Mercphobia and Wood Dragon God Aldoron to reveal that Moon Dragon God [[TheChessmaster Selene]] has been using the White Mage (actually a mage named Faris [[MasqueradingAsTheUnseen masquerading as the missing real White Mage]]) as an UnwittingPawn after coercing her by threatening her AlternateUniverse home to strike a blow against her rival Dragon Gods. After Faris ends up in Fairy Tail's hands and they help her save her AlternateUniverse, Selene [[BigBadWannabe kills Georg herself]] for a past trangression against her and [[KlingonPromotion takes control of Diabolos]] to continue her goal of defeating Gold Dragon God Viernes and Fire Dragon God Ignia and to TakeOverTheWorld. Meanwhile, Ignia wants Fairy Tail to defeat all the other Dragon Gods before fighting him because he wants to be his foster brother Natsu's FinalBoss and he has his ''own'' plans for the world that involve the return of the dragons, which puts him in [[EvilVersusEvil direct conflict with Selene]].]]
53* ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' has [[EvilInc Medical Mechanica]], who plans to iron out free thought all over the world, and [[spoiler:VillainProtagonist Haruko Haruhara, who wants to steal the power of legendary {{Space Pirate|s}} Atomsk, which unfortunately involves freeing him from imprisonment by the former by helping them along with their plan (and she doesn't really care what happens afterwards)]]. Though in practice, Medical Mechanica never makes a physical appearance, making them more of a GreaterScopeVillain (and it’s ambiguous if they even exist), while [[spoiler:Haruko]] acts as the main BigBad.
54* ''Manga/GoldenKamuy'' has two "bad guy" factions racing Sugimoto and Asirpa for the gold: A group of rogue soldiers from the Japanese Seventh Division, and a band of convicts and other badasses led by an elderly [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Hijikata Toshizo]].
55* The ''Manga/GeGeGeNoKitaro'' manga and its various adaptations have this with [[EvilOldFolks Nurarihyon]], the "Yokai Supreme Commander" who (starting from the third anime) appears in various non-consecutive episodes and gets Yokai to work for him; and [[FantasticRacism Backbeard]], the leader of the Western Yokai, appearing most notably in several ''The Great Yokai War'' and ''Yokai Rally'' adaptations. Uniquely, the 2018 anime adds new villain [[NoNameGiven Nanashi/Nameless]] as the most recurring threat from the very first episode until the end of the first half, while early in the second half [[spoiler:The Four Generals of Jigoku take center stage, and in the final arc it is revealed that Nurarihyon was behind their release, and he later proceeds to revive Backbeard to form a BigBadDuumvirate.]]
56* In the ''Manga/GetterRobo'' manga (but not the anime), the Hundred Demon Empire shows up before the Dinosaur Empire is defeated, leading them to clash both with the heroes and each other. [[VillainPedigree The Dinosaur Empire is the underdog in this fight]], to the point where the Getter Team swear to ''avenge'' the dinosaurs' leader after the demons give him a humiliating death.
57* ''Manga/GTOTheEarlyYears'' has several arcs with multiple villains:
58** The Midnight Angel arc has [[{{Sadist}} Junya]] [[{{Pyromaniac}} Akutsu]] returning from juvie to rebuild the gang, bringing him into conflict with the [[AntiHeroTeam Oni-Baku]] (the protagonists). Meanwhile, another former Midnight Angels leader, [[AxCrazy Toshiki Kamishima]], wants to kill Akutsu for nearly killing him, and doesn't care who gets in his way. A ''fourth'' faction is led by Kunito Nakajo, who's just waiting to see who comes out on top so he can beat them. He doesn't actually become a villain until the end of the manga, though.
59** The Yokohama Cavalry arc has the Oni-Baku facing the BigBadDuumvirate of Nakagaki and Mauchi, the titular Yokohama cavalry, as well as BloodKnight Natsu, though Natsu later becomes less of a villain and fights the cavalry.
60* ''Anime/HellsingUltimate'' has the [[FantasticCatholicism Iscariot]] [[CreepyCatholicism Organization]], a [[AnimeCatholicism Vatican]] military denomination led by [[EvilJesuit Enrico Maxwell]], whose [[TheDragon top enforcer]], [[BadassPreacher Alexander]] [[TheRival Anderson]], is the only man capable of going toe-to-toe with [[ShowyInvincibleHero Alu]][[OurVampiresAreDifferent card]] [[spoiler:and has an [[BadassArmy army of disciples]]]], and Millenium, [[TheRemnant the remains]] of the [[ThoseWackyNazis Third Reich]], led by [[NoNameGiven The Major]], who have an army of [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Nazi Vampires]], a lineup of talented officers and mercenaries, [[spoiler:and [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent a Werewolf]]]]. They both [[spoiler:end up invading (or, in Iscariot's case, crusading into) [[CapitalOffensive London]] at the end]].
61* ''Anime/HighSchoolFleet'' has the unnamed scientists posthumously serving as the franchise's GreaterScopeVillain, [[spoiler:due to being the creators of the [=Totalitarian Disease/RAtT Virus=] that evolved into a vicious HatePlague.]] They also serve as the franchise's TheHeavy, at the same time, due to initiating the 2016 anime's main conflict. On the other side is the [=RAtT=] Virus itself, who is behind the massive brainwashing of many crew members across the Pacific. Then there's Kaoru Furushou, Thea Kreutzer and the Graf Spee crew and the Musashi Crew, but they are ultimately [[spoiler:the brainwashed pawns of the virus themselves, serving as obstacles to the Harekaze.]]
62* The [[CosmopolitanCouncil One Shadow Nine Fists]] in ''[[Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi]],'' consisting of several EvilMentor martial artists, many of which verge into AntiVillain on a handful of occasions, barring Silcardo Jenazad and the mysterious GreaterScopeVillain of the group, [[spoiler: Miu's father, Saiga Furinji]].
63* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' has many antagonists that would fit the criteria of BigBad. [[MonsterClown Hisoka]] an [[CombatSadomasochist insane yet brilliant fighter]] who is the series most prominent antagonists, who waits for the day Gon meets his full potential so they can have their fight to the death. Illumi Zoldyck, the eldest son of the Zoldyck family and [[AloofBigBrother Killua’s older brother]], he desires to ensure Killua remains an assassin and to control their younger sister Alluka in order to gain control of their wish granting power. Chrollo Lucilfer, the [[DiabolicalMastermind brilliant and charismatic leader]] of the notorious criminals the Phantom Troupe that massacred Kurapika’s clan and serves as his personal foe. The [[BigCreepyCrawlies Chimera Ants]] and their [[EvilOverlord King]] [[UltimateLifeform Meruem]] whose goal is to [[TakeOverTheWorld conquer the world]], and are one of the most dangerous enemies the Hunter Association have faced up to that point. In recent events [[BigGood Chairman Netero’s]] son [[HiddenAgendaVillain Beyond]] and the Kakin Empire's Prince [[TheCaligula Tserriednich]] have been shaping up to potentially be this.
64* ''Literature/InAnotherWorldWithMySmartphone'' has [[AGodAmI Yula]] and the [[{{Manchild}} Servile God]] who serve as the primary antagonists of the franchise and are the ultimate threat to Touya and to the inhabitants of the [[spoiler:merged]] world. The former is a Dominant-Class Phrase responsible [[spoiler:for the invasion of the Phrase in the shadows across the multiverse and [[TheStarscream actively deposing Melle as the Phrase's leader]]]]; [[spoiler:the latter is a traitorous former member of the Pantheon, who allies with Yula by backstabbing his fellow Gods for power in his own reasons, until Yula himself betrays him by allowing the Wicked God to devour him, causing the Servile God to be fused into the Wicked God at the end, making him the biggest threat to the heroes after Yula's demise]]. However, after their defeat, they are later relegated to the DiscOneFinalBoss as [[spoiler:the Wicked Devout's five Generals later take the BigBad spot.]]
65* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has Diavolo and Risotto Nero for [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Part 5]]. They are both villainous gang leaders and are opposing threats to Team Bucciarati. Eventually Diavolo becomes the main threat in the second half of Part 5.
66* ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion'' did this with [[EvilPoacher Viper Snakely]] and [[EvilOverlord Claw]].
67* ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaFORCE'' has Curren HĂĽckebein, the leader of the HĂĽckebein Family, and Hades Vandein, the head of the Vandein Cooperation. Both of them are fighting the TSAB, especially Special Duty Section 6, but they also oppose each other. While the HĂĽckebein are huge {{Jerkass}}es, [[AtleastIAdmitIt they admit their actions]], while Hades pretends to be a normal innocent guy despite being ObviouslyEvil, who is even [[EvilerThanThou more evil]] than any of the HĂĽckebein.
68* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'':
69** ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'': The [[StateSec Titans]] are the main threat, but lurking in the background is Haman Karn and her Axis Zeon, who both the Titans and AEUG seek to court. [[spoiler:After Paptimus Scirocco seizes control of the Titans, he's able to forge an alliance with Haman and escalate things into a BigBadDuumvirate.]]
70** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'': Haman Karn is the sole BigBad for the most of the show, but [[spoiler:towards the end Glemmy Toto mounts a coup against her, triggering a split in the ranks]].
71** ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'' has a whole bunch of notable villains with conflicting goals all revolving around the MechanicalAbomination known as the Dark Gundam: [[CainAndAbel Kyoji Kasshu]], who was driven insane attempting to control it after fleeing from the murder of his mother [[spoiler:which he did not in fact actually commit]]; [[PresidentEvil Prime Minister Wong]] of Neo Hong Kong, who simply wants it to be his nation's Gundam Fight representative to keep himself in power for life; [[EvilMentor Master Asia]], who wants to use its regenerative capabilities to restore the Earth's environment and its sheer power to punish humanity's sins, all the while playing DragonInChief to the preceding two in succession; and [[spoiler:the heroes' MissionControl Ulube Isshikawa, who is revealed in the final arc to have manipulated everyone else into annihilating each other while he takes the Gundam as his personal WMD]].
72** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'': Once [[spoiler:Duke Dermail is assassinated]], the BigBad vacuum becomes filled between Treize Khushrenada leading OZ on Earth and [[spoiler:Zechs Merquise]] and Quinze leading the White Fang in space.
73** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED''. The series builds up to a battle between [[TheSociopath Muruta Azrael]] of Blue Cosmos and [[PresidentEvil Chairman Patrick Zala]] of ZAFT, [[spoiler:and Rau Le Creuset is manipulating ''both'' of them in an attempt to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]].
74** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'': Most of the series is defined by a brawl between ZAFT [[PresidentEvil Chairman]] [[DarkMessiah Gilbert]] [[ManipulativeBastard Durandal]] and Blue Cosmos leader [[SmugSnake Lord Djibril]] over control of the world. Interestingly, [[TheChessmaster Durandal]] is much more competent than [[CardCarryingVillain Djibril]], a fact that is made clear from the start. However, despite his StupidEvil status, [[DiabolicalMastermind Djibril]]'s resources, combined with the fact that he's essentially pure evil and is a strong believer in ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill (complete with a WaveMotionGun and a penchant towards [[NukeEm nuclear warfare]]), means that both of them absolutely ''have'' to be defeated in order for the story to end well.
75** Season 1 of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' has Nobliss Gordon, a corrupt billionaire looking to ignite a war in the colonies so [[WarForFunAndProfit he can profit off of it]], Iznario Fareed, a scheming member of the Seven Stars of [[ArmiesAreEvil Gjallarhorn]] looking to garner more influence for himself in the Earth Sphere, and [=McGillis=] Fareed, Gjallarhorn Inspector who is the son of Iznario and seeks to supplant him. Season 2 introduces a new ensemble with Rustal Elion, the supreme commander of Gjallarhorn's largest fleet, and Jasley Donomikols, a scheming member of Teiwaz [[TheStarscream with his eyes on becoming leader]]. [=McGillis=] and Nobliss are still around, but the former has allied with Tekkadan while the latter has taken a step back from the conflict.
76* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', [[spoiler:Shigaraki gains the Quirk All For One during the Paranormal Liberation War arc, which allows All For One himself the opportunity to try and manipulate and control Shigaraki’s body. Since by this point Shigaraki is too independent to be content with giving up his body to his master he resists All For One's control and the two proceed to fight over control of their shared body]].
77* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', [[SmugSnake Orochimaru]] serves as the main villain for Part 1, until he gets saddled with VillainDecay in Part 2, leaving [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad The Akatsuki]] to take over. Partway through the second half, [[EvilOldFolks Danzo]] throws his conniving hat into the mix. It becomes TheBigBadShuffle later on when Orochimaru is killed and replaced by [[DragonAscendant Kabuto]] and [[TheManBehindTheMan Tobi]] is revealed to be the Akatsuki’s true leader. Tobi and Kabuto later form an unstable BigBadDuumvirate during preparations for the Fourth Shinobi World War. The shuffle continues into the final parts of the manga; [[spoiler: Danzo kills himself via a suicide technique, Sasuke helps his brother take Kabuto out of commission, and Tobi’s true identity is revealed to be Obito Uchiha. Obito forms yet another duumvirate with his [[BackFromTheDead resurrected ancestor]] and PredecessorVillain Madara to summon [[EldritchAbomination the Ten-Tailed Beast]]. Then Sasuke revives Orochimaru and the two of them decide to help the heroes take down Obito and Madara. And to make it even more confusing, after Obito has a HeelFaceTurn after being defeated and Madara was fully-revived and activates the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Black Zetsu (literally) backstab Madara and reveal that he isn't a manifestation of Madara's will, but '''''Princess Kaguya's''''', the first chakra user and the mother of the Sage of Six Paths, and the one ultimately responsible for the Ten-Tails' existence]].
78* In ''Franchise/OnePiece'', it’s taken quite a while, but main villains for the series as a whole are [[TheChessmaster Marshall D. Teach]], better known as [[EvilCounterpart Blackbeard]], who became one of the [[EliteFour Four Emperors]] after killing [[spoiler:Whitebeard]] and usurping his territory; [[KnightTemplar Fleet Admiral "Akainu" Sakazuki]], leader of the Marines and the one responsible for [[spoiler:killing Ace, [[TheHero Luffy]]'s brother]]; and [[spoiler:[[ShadowDictator Imu]], the mysterious true leader of the World Government and the only person who can order the Five Elders around]]. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with [[WorldsStrongestMan Kaido]] and [[PsychopathicManChild Big Mom]], while they were major series-spanning antagonists for a long time, their long-awaited defeats kickstart the final saga of the series, leaving them as DiscOneFinalBoss types instead.
79* ''Literature/ReZero'': The series has its share of {{Arc Villain}}s that directly antagonize Subaru, usually assisted by an [[GreaterScopeVillain indirect]] force.
80** In the first instance, Elsa Granhiert, a ProfessionalKiller known as the "Bowel Hunter" who [[FauxAffablyEvil hides behind a false charm]] as she plots to kill Subaru, Felt, and Old Man Rom in Felt's mission to find an insignia for yet-unknown purposes. It later turns out that [[spoiler:Roswaal hired her specifically for that in his plan to resurrect his master, Echidna.]]
81** In the second instance, Subaru has to deal with the Mabeasts and the Witch Cult in their goal to [[spoiler:resurrect [[GreaterScopeVillain Satella]], who gave Subaru his Return by Death powers and brought him to Lugunica because she is obsessively in love with him.]]
82** The overall BigBad turns out to be [[spoiler:Pandora, the [[DeathIsCheap immortal]] Witch of Vanity, who is the cause of everything that has been happening in the backstory of the series and is majorly the reason for the antagonism of the Witches.]]
83* Whenever there's an ArcVillain in ''Manga/SoulEater'', like Arachne, Shaula or Noah (The Tables of Contents), Medusa and Asura are not too far behind, similar to Bakura from above.
84* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' has several major threats throughout the story that poor [[TheHero Ken Kaneki]] has to deal with. The two most prominent are the One-Eyed Owl, leader of [[AntiHumanAlliance Aogiri]] [[TheSyndicate Tree]] who turns out to be [[spoiler: [[DarkActionGirl Eto Yoshimura]]]], and the FinalBoss himself, [[spoiler: [[TheChessmaster Nimura Furuta]]]], '':re'''s main BigBad who manipulates ''[[WildCard everyone]]'' to achieve his goal of [[ForGreatJustice Super Peace]]. In between them is [[spoiler:Dr. Akihiro Kanou, a MadDoctor who is the one who turned Kaneki into a one-eyed ghoul]] and freely switches allegiances between the two as long as it serves his own aspirations, and [[BitchInSheepsClothing Rize Kamishiro]], the FemmeFatale ghoul who attacked Kaneki at the beginning of the story and appears as his EnemyWithin, trying to get him to give in to his violent urges, [[spoiler:and is the PostFinalBoss]]. Above all of them is [[spoiler:CCG Chairman Tsyneyoshi Wasshu, the head of a GovernmentConspiracy that aims to prolong the ForeverWar between humans and ghouls]], but he is more of a GreaterScopeVillain as he never comes into direct conflict with Kaneki.
85* In ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'', the Gourmet Corp. lead by Midora, served as the main antagonists of the Human World Act, but when the organization NEO makes an appearance in the Gourmet World Act, they are forced to share the BigBad role with them. [[spoiler: However, both organizations end up being {{Big Bad Wannabe}}s to the real main villains of the Gourmet World Act and the entire series, Acacia and his Appetite Demon Neo.]]
86* ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' did this in a way. Megatron was the obvious one, but Starscream later became a BigBad in his own right after an attempt to backstab narrowly failed. Then there's Sideways and Soundwave, who seem to be avenging their homeworld. The comic adds in [[spoiler:Unicron, BackFromTheDead and going all OmnicidalManiac once again]].
87* ''Manga/VampireKnight'': While he's more of a ByronicHero than a straight-up villain, [[spoiler:Kaname Kuran]]'s more questionable actions and decisions end up driving much of the conflict of the series. He shares this distinction with Shizuka Hio [[spoiler:(who became a DiscOneFinalBoss) and Rido Kuran for the first arc]], yet they're [[spoiler:both]] defeated prior to the end, which leaves [[spoiler:Kaname]] as the FinalBoss.
88* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
89** Dark Bakura does this twice in ''Manga/YuGiOh'' with Pegasus and Dark Marik, respectively.
90** ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'' has [[DiabolicalMastermind Dr. Faker]] and [[MalevolentMaskedMen Tron]], who are opposed to both the protagonists and each other. [[spoiler:Both were beaten by Yuma (through Dr. Faker was the final boss of the first arc), both reformed and both controlled by the bigger bads, the Barians]].
91** ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'' sets up two antagonists in its endgame, Professor Leo Akaba, head of the Academia and [[spoiler:Zarc, the Devil Duelist]]. The Professor is driven to [[spoiler:bring back the original dimension and his daughter Ray and has declared war on all of reality to do so. While Zarc is a duelist that turned into a godlike being and is determined into destroying all of reality. In the end Zarc takes over as the BigBad when he effortless defeats the Professor]].
92[[/folder]]
93
94[[folder:Comic Books]]
95* Almost every superhero worth his salt has his/her own RoguesGallery, so this is played several times. However, most comic villains can only be counted as {{Big Bad}}s within their own stories. The best examples exist when dealing with crossovers and prolonged {{story arc}}s, which can feature multiple villains and can last several months or even up to a year. Some examples from Franchise/TheDCU:
96** ''[[ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand No Man's Land]]'' involves [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]] being abandoned by the US and falling prey to the crazed villains of Gotham, who take over various parts and rule each as their own fiefdoms. The story climaxes with Lex Luthor and the Joker initiating their own unrelated schemes simultaneously and Batman and co. having to stop them, a takeover under the guise of VillainWithGoodPublicity and a plot to murder new-born infants to break Gotham's spirit, respectively.
97** ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'': Chang Tzu, Lex Luthor, Lady Styx, Neron, and [[spoiler: evil Skeets, courtesy of Mister Mind]] are all the main villains to a variety of heroes starring in a number of inter-connected stories.
98** By a similar token is ''Comicbook/SevenSoldiers'', another meta-series about several heroes facing down various loosely interconnected conflicts. [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Gloriana Tenebrae]], queen of the [[PlanetLooters Sheeda]], is the primary villain of the story and is related to all the various subthreads, but other notable antagonists include the Nebula Man, Gloriana's most dangerous accomplice and ArchEnemy to the original Golden Age Seven Soldiers of Victory (most relevant to Shining Knight and Frankenstein's stories); Melmoth, Gloriana's equally evil ex-husband who schemes to take his throne back from her (most relevant to Klarion's story); Zor the Terrible Time Tailor, an insane CosmicEntity whose meddling with the space-time continuum let the Sheeda into reality to begin with (most relevant to Zatanna and Manhattan Guardian's stories); and [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]] himself, who has struck a deal with Gloriana in preparation for [[Comicbook/FinalCrisis his upcoming endgame]] (most relevant to Mr. Miracle's story).
99** [[spoiler: Krona and an undead Swamp Thing, which believes itself to be Nekron]], are the two biggest threats in ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'', but Max Lord, [[spoiler: Eclipso]], [[BigBadDuumvirate Black Manta and Siren]], [[ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} the Queen of Hawkworld]], [[ComicBook/MartianManhunter D'kay Drazz]], and Firestorm (who is actually serving [[spoiler: the Anti-Monitor]]), are all causing all kinds of trouble.
100** The ''Comicbook/NewKrypton'' arc in the ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' comics has Generals [[GeneralRipper Zod]] and [[WellIntentionedExtremist Lane]] opposing [[EvilVersusEvil each other]], though [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] and [[Characters/SupermanBrainiacCharacter Brainiac]] have their own agendas as well.
101** ''Comicbook/FinalCrisis'' has [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]] and [[EldritchAbomination Mandrakk the Dark Monitor]]. They don't interact, one isn't manipulating the other, and it isn't clear whether Darkseid even knows Mandrakk exists, but Mandrakk is all too happy to piggyback onto Darkseid's schemes to further his own.
102*** Mandrakk does it again in ''Creator/{{Dark Matter|2017}}'' book ''The Unexpected'', basically piggybacking on Onimar Synn's own evil plans and setting his return while the heroes are busy stoping Synn.
103** Creator/GrantMorrison's run on ''ComicBook/{{Batman|GrantMorrison}}'' has [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]], [[Characters/BatmanTaliaAlGhul Talia Al-Ghul]], and new character [[LouisCypher Doctor Simon Hurt]].
104** Invoked in ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague2018'' where Lex Luthor requires information only another dangerous villain can provide -- recently imprisoned [[spoiler: the Batman Who Laughs]]. He agrees to give the information on specific terms -- Lex will set him free, accept he has his own plans regarding the Multiverse and the heroes and they may not align with Lex's, stay out of his way and hope he keeps his word to not go after Lex. [[spoiler:Luthor agrees.]]
105* In the IDW Franchise/{{Godzilla}} comic series, we have Space-Godzilla, Monster X, Gigan and Hedorah.
106* It is most fortunate for ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' that he is faster than his own shadow because he often has to deal with enough different villains simultaneously to keep his hands full for a while. Most often, it is stories that feature the Daltons the ones that also have another evil and entirely separate group that often works in much more insidious ways and will at times take over as the primary antagonistic threat. Examples include Justice Poindexter in ''The Treasure of the Daltons'' and the Pacific Railway representatives in ''Nitroglycerine''. This happens even more often in the new adventures animated series and in at least one movie (see below).
107* And from the Franchise/MarvelUniverse:
108** ''ComicBook/{{Annihilators}}'' and its sequel, ''Annihilators: Earthfall'', have separate villains for their respective main and side plots:
109*** In ''Annihilators'', the main plot's villain is Doctor Dredd, who plots to release the Dire Wraiths from their imprisonment in Limbo and restore their power. At the same time, Rocket Raccoon and Groot must contend with the Star-Thief, who tries to manipulate Rocket into releasing him from his imprisonment on Halfworld.
110*** In ''Annihilators: Earthfall'', the main plot's villain is the Magus, who has possessed a huge chunk of the U.S. population after being resurrected by his followers in the Universal Church of Truth. At the same time, Rocket and Groot are captured by Mojo and made to star in his latest life-or-death reality TV show.
111** ''ComicBook/DarkReign'' is about [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Norman Osborn]] accumulating substantial political and military power after he is placed in charge of all superhuman matters in the United States. During this time he forms the EvilCounterpart to [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheIlluminati The Illuminati]], The Cabal, with [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsEmmaFrost Emma Frost]], [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]], and Characters/TheHood, while organizing and running a range of super-teams made up of anti-heroes and lower tiered supervillains. This was a year-long crossover arc that affected several titles, so many heroes in their own stories had to deal both the MonsterOfTheWeek and their own {{story arc}}s while also having to worry about Osborn or his minions.
112** The ''Messiah'' MythArc in ''ComicBook/XMen'', which covers a multitude of story arcs from ''[[ComicBook/XMenMessiahComplex Messiah Complex]]'' up to ''[[ComicBook/XMenSecondComing Second Coming]]'' over a number of years, has the ComicBook/XMen dealing with anti-mutant activists [[spoiler:eventually united under [[KillerRobot Bastion]]]], traitor X-Man [[spoiler: Bishop]] and Stryfe, Selene and her vampiric underling, and appearances by Apocalypse and Sinister amongst others, as well as the possibility that the child they are protecting will grow up to be [[TheAntichrist a mutant Antichrist]]. All of these villains have their own agendas, most revolving around the girl, many of which impact on each other and affect the strength level of the ComicBook/XMen. Some of this also takes place during ''Dark Reign'', which means Osborn and co. factor in too, notably during the ''Utopia X'' story.
113** ''ComicBook/{{Infinity}}'' follows [[TwoLinesNoWaiting two plots simultaneously]], so has one of these by default. Namely, a massive EnemyMine alliance (including the bulk of the Avengers) going up against a universal invasion by the Builders, and the remaining heroes on Earth holding off another attempt by [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]] to regain the Infinity Gems (via an invasion of Earth). And then [[spoiler: [[EldritchAbomination Shuma-Gorath]]]] [[FromBadToWorse shows up...]]
114** In ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' vol.2 at first it looked like the main villain is going to be [[EldritchAbomination the Mother]] but then [[spoiler:Speed got kidnapped]] by what is assumed to be completely different EldritchAbomination posing as [[spoiler: Patriot's impostor]], who seems to happen some nefarious plans for the team, but completely unrelated to Mother's, even if they had one very short VillainTeamUp. And then [[spoiler: adult version of ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMysteryGillen'' character Leah]], whose plans may, but don't have to be aligned with either of them, showed up.
115** From ''ComicBook/AvengersTheKreeSkrullWar'', we have Ronan the Accuser, usurper of the Kree throne, and the Skrull Emperor, opposing both the heroes and each other. H. Warren Craddock, the anti-alien [=McCarthy=]-esque American politician, initially looks like a third contender, but is eventually revealed to be a disguised Skrull agent.
116** ''ComicBook/SpiderManLifeStory'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Norman Osborn]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius Doctor Octopus]] are the series' most prominent antagonists but have shared the position with someone else throughout the story.
117*** Issue #2 has Norman and Dr. Miles Warren.
118*** Issue #5 has Tony Stark and Morlun.
119*** The final issue has Doc Ock (possessing [[spoiler: Miles]]) and Venom (infesting [[spoiler:Kraven]]), with [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]] as the GreaterScopeVillain.
120** In 2018 ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}'' series Knull the Symbiote God is established as the GreaterScopeVillain early on but remains a SealedEvilInACan. ComicBook/{{Carnage}} is working to unleash him, while the Maker, evil Reed Richards from the [[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Ultimate Universe]] has his own agenda concerning Venom.
121* ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'': Due to the EvilVersusEvil nature of the conflict, several factions are running for the position of main villain: {{Dracula}} seemingly serves this role for the entire setting, being a ruthless EvilOverlord that rules over a chaotic society, but other candidates include [[GhostPirate Mother Mitra]], leader of the Ghoul pirates; [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Perfidia]] of [[EvilColonialist Dystopia]], and [[TheConspiracy the Hellfire Club]], a group of vampires headed by [[spoiler:a [[EldritchAbomination Lord of Limbo]]]] conspiring to overthrow Dracula and put a [[PuppetKing figurehead]] in his place. They are also backed by [[MadScientist the Arch-Hierophant]], who provides the technological firepower. All these factions assist each other for the common goal of the vampire king's downfall, but every single one has their own agenda to replace him as the dominant power in RĂ©surrection. Even then, despite being surrounded by all sides, Dracula also has wicked plans of his own: [[spoiler:To return to Earth and make his claim of world domination]].
122* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
123** ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'':
124*** Dr. Robotnik/Eggman has always been the ArchEnemy of the heroes and premier BigBad of the series. However, over the years, more and more villains of equal or greater threat have shown up to rival the doctor -- [[EvilSorcerer Ixis Naugus]], [[MagnificentBastard Mammoth Mogul]], [[PhysicalGod Enerjak]], [[MadScientist Dr. Finitevus]], [[EvilTwin Scourge]], [[DragonLady the Iron Queen]], and most recently, [[FeatheredFiend the Battle Kukku]] -- so you can't call him the sole villain anymore. This has been most apparent in the issues leading up to and following the ''Genesis'' arc, wherein Naugus has currently become the villain most equal to Eggman for the position.
125*** However, as of the CosmicRetcon at the end of the ''Comicbook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'' event, most of the above have been {{retgone}}d out of existence leaving Eggman as the sole BigBad. However, the Battle Kukku and Walter Naugus ([[AdaptationNameChange formerly]] Ixis Naugus) are still around (the former was created and is owned by Sega, the latter was from ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', whereas the retconned characters were lost due to a lawsuit from a writer who had made some of them) and are hinted to be potential [[TheStarscream future rivals]], and right now [[EldritchAbomination Dark Gaia]] is another potential BigBad who's just as big of a threat as Eggman.
126** In ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' quite a few villains try to take the role of BigBad from Robotnik. The first to try is [[EvilKnockoff Emperor Metallix]] then [[DragonWithAnAgenda Commander Brutus]], after that [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Super Sonic]].
127** ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'': Eggman is still the overall main antagonist, but the climax of the [[ZombieApocalypse Metal Virus Saga]] brings in the Deadly Six as a separate group of villains independent of his control, who stick around as a recurring threat from then on. [[spoiler:There's also Dr. Starline, Eggman's former [[TheDragon lieutenant]], who goes rogue after Eggman fires him and becomes determined to prove himself superior to his former master]]. Other small-time villains like Rough and Tumble then join a former criminal arms-dealer, Clutch the Opossum, who become their own villainous faction.
128* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'':
129** Simon Furman's run on IDW's ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW Transformers Ongoing]]'' comics set up a large number of potential villains from the RoguesGallery. Nemesis Prime and the Dead Universe, The Machination, Shockwave, Doubledealer, The Decepticons, the Deathbringer and his Reapers and Galvatron all step up to the plate as the bad guys in the numerous plotlines Furman's run had. By the end of his run all of them except the Decepticons and Galvatron have been taken care of however.
130** This is cropping up again in the new, Post-War ''Transformers'' stories (''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise''). Megatron, Shockwave, Tyrest, the Decepticon Justice Division, and possibly the Galactic Council, all have conflicting plans to control or destroy the Cybertronian race.
131** The post-Dark Cybertron comics see another realignment after Megatron's defection to the Autobots. Multiple, competing factions of Decepticons roam the galaxy. Starscream attempts to consolidate control over Cybertron and annex the lost Cybertronian colonies. Organic led galactic governments also threaten Cybertronian and mechanical life across the galaxy. And the Functionist Council, previously destroyed by the Great War, is given new life and free rein over a newly created parallel timeline. Galvatron leads the "main" Decepticon forces.
132** After the conclusion of ''Robots in Disguise'' and ''More Than Meets the Eye'', we get another reshuffling. Megatron remains an Autobot, but [[spoiler: Tarn and Galvatron are dead, with the latter's army now working together with the Autobots full-time under Soundwave's leadership. Getaway wrests control of the Lost Light away from Rodimus and sets himself up as the successor book's primary known antagonist]]. The Thirteen Primes, such as Sentinel and Liege Maximo, are approaching hostile threats. There are also wild cards like Overlord back in action and as well as the terrorist organization "Mayhem", and the conclusion of ''More Than Meets the Eye'' saw the Galactic Council quietly begin to move towards all-out hostilities towards Cybertronians. Threats from the ''ComicBook/HasbroComicUniverse'' start coming into play, most notably Baron Karza, the Dire Wraiths, and Merklynn. And hidden threats, like the Grand Architect and Unicron, emerge from the shadows signalling the end of the line.
133* ''ComicBook/TheWildStorm'' is centered around two powerful secret organizations. IO, led by Miles Craven, secretly controlling the world and suppressing humanity's advancements. Skywatch, led by Henry Bendix, would gladly raze the world and enslave all survivors. The heroes race to stop the escalation of their growing conflict, but out of them, Jacob Marlowe is more ALighterShadeOfBlack as he [[spoiler: still wants Earth to be assimilated into Kheran Empire, just not as slave race]]. Then there are Daemons although it is unclear whether on they are evil. There is a handful of minor ones, like [[BigBadWannabe Christine Trelane]] or [[AxCrazy Mark Slayton]]. Michael Cray's spinoff adds [[EvilCounterpart twisted versions of several DC heroes]] out of whom [[spoiler: Olivier Queen, Barry Allen and Arthur Curry are quickly dealt with but Diana Prince and John Constantine are a much bigger problem]].
134[[/folder]]
135
136[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
137* ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'': Xibalba is the primary villain, while Chakal and his bandits pose a threat to the characters in the Land of the Living. [[spoiler:Xibalba ultimately [[GracefulLoser admits defeat once it's clear he's out of angles to work]], leaving Chakal as the final boss of the story.]]
138* ''WesternAnimation/GuillermoDelTorosPinocchio'' has Count Volpe, who wants to exploit pinocchio for profit as part of his circus, and the PodestĂ , who seeks to make Pinocchio into a soldier for Italian army, with UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini positioned as their mutual GreaterScopeVillain. There is also the Terrible Dogfish, who is not affilliated with Mussolini in any way [[spoiler:and is the final enemy to go down in the climax of the movie]].
139* ComicBook/LuckyLuke has to deal with two major villainous factions in the movie ''Go West'': the Dalton brothers and the crooked landowner and swindler James Crook, who will do anything to prevent the settlers from reaching their destination in time to claim their land. Fittingly they [[spoiler: are faced by Luke in two consecutive climaxes]].
140* ''WesternAnimation/MadagascarEscape2Africa'' has two primary antagonists. The first is Nana ([[AscendedExtra returning from her minor role]] in the [[WesternAnimation/Madagascar1 first movie]]), who, after having her tour hijacked by the penguins, sets up a survival camp with her fellow tourists that dams up the watering hole. The second is Makunga, a member of Alex's pride who is quite a ManipulativeBastard.
141* Although ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree'' focuses on Gaea Everfree, the eponymous legend, since she's the most immediate threat, the story counts in fact three main villains. First Gaea Everfree[[spoiler:/Gloriosa Daisy, who can be described as a WellIntentionedExtremist]]; then Midnight Sparkle, who's roaming inside Twilight's mind and threatens to break free if she relies too much on magic (which would be infinitely more dangerous that whatever Gaea is doing, given the chaos she caused in the last movie); and finally Filthy Rich, who's the mundane threat to the camp, planning to turn it into a spa resort. All three have to be foiled before the protagonists can claim full victory.
142* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'' has Vincent operating on his own and Gladys Sharp and Dwayne [=LaFontant=] forming a BigBadDuumvirate.
143* In a rarity for a Disney movie, ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'' has a large cast of villains: Honest John and Gideon, Stromboli, the Coachman, and Monstro the whale. Even rarer for a Disney movie, only the last one gets any sort of comeuppance, and the other villains just quietly fade from the movie once Monstro appears.
144* ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'': Puss has to contend with the crime family of Goldilocks and the three bears, and the crime boss "Big" Jack Horner, who has an arsenal of magical weapons and baker soldiers at his disposal, both of whom are also after the Wishing Star for their own ends. There's also a third player in the ensemble in the bounty hunter Wolf, who isn't after the Wishing Star but is hunting Puss down [[spoiler:and is really [[GreaterScopeVillain Death himself]], coming for Puss' final life]].
145* Nigel and Big Boss serve as this in ''WesternAnimation/Rio2'', with Nigel being the primary threat to Blu and Big Boss to the entire rainforest.
146* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' has [[spoiler:Stinky Pete]], who wishes to use Woody's great value to ensure an antique's living regardless of his consent, Al [=McWhiggin=] the collector, who wishes to make a fortune by selling Woody, and Zurg, who is under the delusion that he is the real evil emperor Zurg and stalks Buzz.
147[[/folder]]
148
149[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
150* ''Film/BatmanReturns'' is a chess duel between [[Characters/BatmanThePenguin The Penguin]], Characters/{{Catwoman|SelinaKyle}}, and CanonForeigner Max Shreck. The Penguin is clearly the main villain and certainly the main threat as his plans increasingly escalate to mass murder and eventually destroying Gotham City itself, but the other two (especially Shreck) are formidable problems and all three engage in double-dealing, backstabbing and triple-crossing.
151* ''Film/TheBatman2022'' has [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler The Riddler]], a deranged SerialKiller seeking to expose the corruption in Gotham City, and [[TheDon Carmine Falcone]], the city's top mafia boss and string-puller behind most of its corruption.
152* ''Film/ABayOfBlood'' features [[EvilVersusEvil an ensemble cast]] of [[SlasherMovie slashers]] so large that most of the victims already [[AssholeVictim have their own body count to their name]] by the time they are offed.
153* ''Film/BulletInTheHead'': There's the two factions of UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, both of which are committing war crimes, Y.S. Leong, a crime boss PlayingBothSides, and [[spoiler:Paul]], whose greed ends up getting the trio in all kinds of trouble.
154* ''Film/Carrie1976'': Carrie's life is made miserable by Chris, the AlphaBitch of the bullies at school, and her own {{abusive|Parents}} Christian fundamentalist mother.
155* ''Film/CatsEye'' has Dr. Vinnie Donatti (a PsychoPsychologist who'll do anything to end smoking), Mr. Cressner (a mob boss fond of DisproportionateRetribution) and an unnamed troll tormenting a little girl.
156* ''Film/{{Chappie}}'' has Hippo, a gang leader who demands 20 million dollars in 7 days from Ninja's gang after a failed job, and Vincent Moore, a jealous engineer who wants to do away with Deon's scouts and replace them with his MOOSE robot.
157* Played with in ''Film/Deadpool2''. While the movie makes Cable, Russell, Juggernaut and the Headmaster all out to be the possible main antagonist at different points, there really is no true villain except Deadpool's own inner struggle to try and do something decent. Russell and Cable both step back from the MoralEventHorizon thanks to Wade, while Juggernaut and the Headmaster are both dispatched in overly ridiculous ways that lessen their apparent threat.
158* ''Film/DearGodNo'': Jett—leader of a biker gang on a rape and murder rampage—clashes with [[spoiler:Dr. Marco, a MadScientist who's willing to experiment on his own wife to find the missing link. Meanwhile, the bigfoot that seemed to be protecting Marco's kind daughter ends up ripping her head off, revealing that he's just a monster on a rampage too]].
159* ''Film/EscapeFromLA''. The American President is a religious fascist who turned his country into a police state and is willing to destroy entire countries if necessary to maintain his supremacy. Meanwhile, Cuervo Jones runs the largest gang in Los Angeles and has united Latin America under the Shining Path to invade the United States to get that power himself.
160* ''Film/FasterPussycatKillKill'': A gang of criminal go-go dancers led by the ruthless Varla clash with an unnamed old man who turns out to be a SerialRapist.
161* ''Film/TheForeigner2017'' doesn't have a dedicated central antagonist; the bombers are largely characterized as having the same level of authority, [[spoiler: Hennessy set the plan in motion but didn't intend for people to die]], and [[spoiler: Mary]] acts on a combination of LetNoCrisisGoToWaste and being a ManipulativeBastard. By the trope's definition as the one who instigates the plot, however, there's [[spoiler: Hugh]]. Though it wasn't his plan, he's the one that contributed the explosives, he organizes the bombers, and he was the one who took the plan off track to suit his own agenda (thus making an enemy of Quan).
162* ''Film/FrankensteinsBloodyTerror'': Imre Wolfstein, the werewolf who turned Waldemar in the first place, and Dr. Janos Mikhelov, a vampire occultist taking advantage of the horrors to study lycanthropy, are operating completely independently and equally earn Waldemar's ire.
163* ''Film/FraternityMassacreAtHellIsland'': [[spoiler:Dean Jones]] puts on a clown suit to kill the fraternity, while four ghosts try to get some of them to take their place in a horrific curse.
164* ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'': Seth and Richie Gecko, a duo of VillainProtagonist criminals on the run from the law, run into a vampiric strip club run by Santanico Pandemonium. Fireworks ensue.
165* In ''Film/GingerSnaps2Unleashed'', we are introduced to a werewolf who is simply TheHeavy of the story, but the BigBad who comes out on top is [[spoiler:Ghost]].
166* The ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' movies sometimes feature this, often with Godzilla sharing the center threat with either a human antagonist, another kaiju, or both.
167** ''Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain'' has a new Godzilla returning to cause havoc, while also caught up in fighting [[PrehistoricMonster Anguirus]], with their conflict being the big drive for the story, until Godzilla kills Anguirus halfway through and becomes the sole BigBad.
168** ''Film/MothraVsGodzilla'' has [[BigBadDuumvirate Jiro Torahata and Kumayama]] attempt to exploit Mothra's egg for profit, uncaring that it belongs to her, while Godzilla shows up halfway through and rampages through Japan. Jiro and Kuayama's greed proceeds to be their undoing when the former is killed by the latter to keep all the money, only for Kuayama to end up as another one of Godzilla's victims, cementing the king of the monsters as the big threat of the movie.
169** ''Film/GodzillaVsBiollante'' at first has [[WesternTerrorists John Lee]] and [[MiddleEasternTerrorists SSS9]] competing against each other to get ahold of Godzilla's cells, eventually leading to Lee planting bombs in the volcano Godzilla is trapped in and effectively holding Japan hostage in exchange for the cells. [=SSS9=] kills him before the bombs can be turned off, leading to Godzilla breaking out and the two being the active threats for the rest of the film.
170** ''Film/GodzillaAndMothraTheBattleForEarth'' has Godzilla returning to wreck havoc once more, [[KnightTemplar Battra]], a kaiju whose objective is to protect Earth even if it means annihilating most of humanity, and [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Takeshi Tomokane]], who causes many of the problems in the film due to his reckless destruction of the environment and later kidnapping the Cosmos.
171** ''Film/Godzilla2000'' has [[BlobMonster Orga]], a creature created from copying Godzilla's DNA that causes havoc across the globe, and [[KnightTemplar Mitsuo Katagiri]], whose determination to kill Godzilla causes quite a bit of destruction.
172** ''Film/GodzillaVsMegaguirus'' has Godzilla once again rampaging through Japan, [[HiveQueen Megaguirus]], a kaiju that emerges from an attempt to kill Godzilla with an artificial black hole and is also a threat to the country, and Motohiko Sugiura, an executive who created energy reactors that attract Godzilla and still kept them operational even after discovering that so he could continue making a profit off it.
173* ''Film/TheHobbit'' has ''three'' {{Big Bad}}s and one of them serves as the GreaterScopeVillain. The dragon Smaug serves as the overarching villain for the entire trilogy and the ultimate obstacle for the protagonists attempting to retake Erebor. Azog the Defiler serves as a more [[TheHeavy "direct threat"]] villain, spending most of the films hounding the heroes. Finally, there's the Necromancer, who is responsible for the corruption of Mirkwood, and [[spoiler:is revealed to be [[GreaterScopeVillain the Dark Lord Sauron]] preparing for his big comeback and rebuilding his armies. He's also Azog's boss, but Azog is still acting on his own]]. In the beginning of [[Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies the third film]], [[spoiler:Smaug is killed by Bard and Sauron is forced to flee back to Mordor, leaving Azog as the main villain as he leads his army of Orcs against the Lonely Mountain]].
174* ''Film/HorrorExpress'' has the alien creature as its dominant threat and the reason of the horror part of the title but the Cossack officer Captain Kazan does manage to become something more than a mere AssholeVictim to the creature by menacing the passengers and expressing his desire for a scapegoat by good ol' ColdBloodedTorture.
175* The ''Series/{{Inazuman}}'' 3D movie (which was made as a preview for the SequelSeries ''Inazuman F'') saw Inazuman having to face both his original nemsis Emperor Banba and new villain FĂĽhrer Geisel.
176* ''Film/InterviewWithTheVampire'': Lestat de Lioncourt, Louis' sire who wants to corrupt him into ruthlessness, and Armand, leader of the Parisian vampire population.
177* In ''Film/JupiterAscending'', Balem is one of the three Abrasix siblings competing for Jupiter's inheritance and is the most evil of them as he's trying to harvest Earth after she gives him the planet while [[spoiler:Titus]] is [[spoiler:another one of those siblings and is also trying to kill Jupiter]]. The fact that they’re also at odds with each other is the only reason Jupiter has a chance in hell of staying alive.
178* ''Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle'' has [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer Poppy Adams]] and [[PresidentEvil the President of the United States]]. The former has infected all drugs in the world and holds millions of people hostage in an effort to make all drugs legal and become the leader of the world drug market, while the latter is fully willing to let all of them die so he can finally "win" the war on drugs.
179* ''Film/LayerCake'' features a Serbian drug trafficker, Eddie Temple, and [[spoiler:Jimmy Price]]. All three are leaders of prominent criminal organizations, with various motivations for inciting the plot. Eddie Temple is the most benevolent one, and X comes to work for him.
180* ''Film/TheLifeAquaticWithSteveZissou'' has the [[ThreateningShark Jaguar Shark]] that ate Zissou's best friend and which he's sworn to kill; [[RuthlessModernPirates the Pirates of Little Ping Island]], who drop into the movie midway to kidnap Bill the Bond Company Stooge; and Zissou's SmugSnake rival documentarian Alistair Hennessy. [[spoiler: Both the shark and Hennessy are ultimately subversions - the shark is simply a hungry animal that Zissou finds he can't bring himself to kill, as despite what it did to him he loves all creatures of the sea including it, while Hennessy is just a jerk rather than a villain and makes amends with Zissou after the latter saves him from the pirates, the only truly malevolent characters in the movie]].
181* ''Film/LoversLane'' features three distinct killers; Doctor Jack Grefe, his daughter Chloe, and sexual sadist Ray Hennessey. All three of them use [[HooksAndCrooks hooks]] though.
182* ''Film/{{Mallrats}}'' has Jared Svenning, a TV producer who hates TS Quint for unknowingly killing one of his game show contestants and plots to keep him apart from his daughter Brandi; and there's Shannon Hamilton, manager of a clothing shop who despises Brodie Bruce for "not having a shopping agenda" and schemes to steal his ex and have sex with her "in a very uncomfortable place" ([[RunningGag no, not the back of a Volkswagen]]).
183* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
184** ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'' has [[{{Intangibility}} Ghost]] and [[ArmsDealer Sonny Burch]] as the main antagonists, both wanting Hank Pym's technology for their own personal reasons. The final showdown is in fact a MeleeATrois ChaseScene with our heroes having to deal with ''both'' of them.
185** By the mid-way point of ''Film/{{Eternals}}'', there are three major villains. Kro is the Deviant who [[spoiler:killed Ajak]] and, realizing their existence is futile, swears revenge for the Deviants that were slain over the millennia; [[spoiler:the Celestials placed Tiamut within Earth for it to grow, and its Emergence in modern times threatens to [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroy the planet]]; finally, Ikaris is TheHeavy, feeding Ajak to Kro and fighting his former comrades due to his Celestial masters being unaware of their betrayal]]. All of these threats are tied together by [[spoiler:the Celestial leader Arishem — he personally seeded Tiamut within Earth and created both the Deviants and the Eternals to ensure its rise. Ikaris turns against his fellow Eternals out of UndyingLoyalty to him.]]
186** ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' has multiple villains [[IntercontinuityCrossover crossing over]] from the previous two ''Spider-Man'' movie franchises; the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Sandman from the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', and the Lizard and Electro from ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries''. Each of them has their own agenda, though ultimately the Green Goblin becomes the biggest threat and the MCU Spider-Man's ArchEnemy after he [[spoiler:murders Aunt May in cold blood]].
187* ''Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries'':
188** ''Film/MissionImpossibleRogueNation'' has Solomon Lane and [[spoiler: Attlee]]. The former is a [[spoiler: rogue [=MI6=] agent who's gone completely off the grid and took over an unsanctioned branch the agency and plans to secure funds from the prime minster as a means of expanding The Syndicate]]. The latter, meanwhile [[spoiler: is [[NiceJobBreakingItHero responsible for creating it in the first place]] and is ruthless in his ways of trying to contain his mess]].
189** In ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout'', the remnants of the Syndicate, now named the Apostles, are looking to break their leader Solomon Lane out of custody, and are now on the payroll of mysterious anarchist John Lark, who is looking to use stolen plutonium to carry out a massive nuclear attack that only Ethan's team can stop. Further complicating matters are the White Widow, an arms dealer who's brokering the deal between Lark and the Apostles to break Lane out of custody in return for the plutonium, and August Walker, a CIA assassin assigned to oversee Ethan's mission and possibly kill him if he goes rogue. [[spoiler: In the end, it is revealed that the White Widow was actually collaborating with the CIA from the start, and Walker is the actual identity of John Lark, with the real deal being framing Ethan in exchange for Lane providing him with nuclear bombs.]]
190** ''Film/MissionImpossibleDeadReckoning'' has Gabriel, the [[MouthOfSauron representative]] of the Entity out to get the [[{{Macguffin}} Key]] by any means necessary, and [[spoiler:the White Widow again]], who is also looking to claim the Key and sell it to the highest bidder. There's also the CIA who, [[HeroAntagonist while not explicitly villainous]], are still looking to claim the Key for their own ends and are hunting down Ethan, as well as the buyer in the first act and whatever interests he represented.
191* ''Film/TheMonsterClub'': The plots are driven by George, Angela's boyfriend who comes up with the scheme to con [[TragicMonster Raven]],  [[VampireHunter Pickering]], committer of VanHelsingHateCrimes, and the unnamed innkeeper who appears to be the acting leader of the ghouls.
192* Film/MonsterVerse:
193** ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' has Colonel Packard as the human antagonist, who develops an insane obsession for killing Kong at any cost, and Ramarak, the alpha [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent Skullcrawler]], who is Kong's ArchEnemy that will lead the skullcrawlers in decimating Skull Island and possibly the rest of the world, if left unchecked.
194** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': Jonah Alan, Emma Russell and King Ghidorah serve as this. It's the first two who set Ghidorah free, so he could serve as their agent in bringing balance back to the world's ecosystem. But then Ghidorah turns out to have his own plans, and wakes all the Titans at once to wipe out humanity - by the end of the film he's the only active threat, with Emma [[spoiler: having a HeelRealization and Jonah content to passively let Ghidorah annihilate everything without doing anything by himself. Out of the three, Jonah is the only one to survive the film, as Emma is killed by Ghidorah and Ghidorah is brutally incinerated to death by Godzilla.]]
195* ''Film/NoEscape1994'': [[WardensAreEvil The Warden]], who runs Absolom, and [[AxCrazy Merek]], who leads the Outsiders, are the two villains.
196* ''Film/NoTimeToDie'': SPECTRE are the bad guys for the first act of the movie, as they attack Film/JamesBond in the ColdOpen and later steal the MacGuffin that kicks off the main plot. Safin, though, is the actual BigBad of the movie and sees SPECTRE as his enemies, sabotaging their plans for his own sinister scheme of destroying the world.
197* As ''Film/PansLabyrinth'' showcases both the horrors of war and the horrors of the fairy world, the abominable Pale Man is juxtaposed with Captain Vidal, a simply very abominable man.
198* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'':
199** ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides'' involves a three-way struggle between Blackbeard, Barbossa, and the Spaniard. All three want to get to the Fountain of Youth, albeit for different reasons, and all oppose each other- with [[LovableRogue Jack Sparrow]] and [[TheLancer Gibs]] caught in the middle of this little war.
200** Before this there is ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'', where Davy Jones casts a considerable (with the help of the Kraken) shadow over the film, but Will, the Swans and most significantly [[spoiler: Norrington]] know too well that in the background Lord Beckett is also waiting and pulling strings to reach the power of Jones.
201* ''Film/ThePumpkinKarver'': [[spoiler:Ben Wicket]] is murdering everybody while Alec's vengeful ghost torments Jonathan.
202* ''Film/ThePurgeElectionYear'' has [[SinisterMinister Minister Edwidge Owens]] and [[PresidentEvil Caleb Warrens]], though they have a common goal and employ [[ThoseWackyNazis Earl Danzinger]] as muscle.
203* In ''Film/SatansPlayground'' we get the psychotic Leeds family, a group of Satanists, and TheJerseyDevil.
204* ''Film/ScaryOrDie'' has Buck (a SerialKiller targeting undocumented immigrants), [[spoiler:Min-ah (a seductive vampire)]], Detective Franks (DirtyCop turned ProfessionalKiller), an unnamed were-clown and Romano (a {{Domestic Abuse}}r who'll kill a woman for telling him to not cheat on her).
205* ''Film/SpiderMan3'': The film, [[RuleOfThree fittingly enough]], has three villains: Harry taking on the mantle of the Green Goblin (dubbed here the "[[LegacyCharacter New Goblin]]"), [[DishingOutDirt Sandman]], and [[Characters/MarvelComicsVenom Venom]]. By the time the final act starts, Venom wins the role, and he also takes the spot as FinalBoss of the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy''.
206* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
207** ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'': While the Klingon General Chang is the most prominent villainous leader, the conspiracy also includes a high-ranking Federation officer ([[spoiler: Admiral Cartwright]]) and the representative of a third country ([[spoiler: Romulan ambassador to the Federation Nanclus]]). None of them answer to the others, and their motives and resources are different -- they only work together because they have a common goal for the moment.
208** ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'': Khan and Admiral Marcus. The former wants to revive his crew of superhumans and take over the Earth, while the latter plans to sacrifice the ''Enterprise'' so he can start a war with the Klingons.
209* ''Film/{{Taken}}'' has the hero going after the man that has [[TitleDrop Taken]] his daughter, who you would think he would fight at the end. But no, he turns out to be just a DiscOneFinalBoss, and old Brian must go after another villain, who is auctioning off the girls the leader of the kidnapping ring takes.. and then he has to face the guy who actually bought his daughter in the climax.
210* ''Film/TintinAndTheBlueOranges'' has two villains who seek to use the blue oranges for their own benefits: [[spoiler:Oranges Inc., who initially kidnap the professors, and the Emir of Sakali, who comes into play later in the movie and has them re-kidnapped just before Tintin and Haddock arrive to rescue them]].
211* ''Film/TwoGuns'' has the heroes going up against no less than three different villainous factions -- a cartel boss, a corrupt Navy commander, and a dirty CIA operative. The final shootout is between [[MeleeATrois all four groups]].
212* Feuding [[TheDon crime kingpins]] "Bull" Weed and "Buck" Mulligan in ''Film/Underworld1927'', the first-ever gangster movie. Bull is much more important to the plot as the protagonists' employer whom they're trying to get away from, but Buck is far crueler and will cross any line imaginable to get even with Bull.
213* The various conflicts in ''Film/{{VHS}}'' are driven by [[spoiler:Lily, Stephanie, her unnamed lover]], [[HumanoidAbomination the Glitch]], a group of {{aliens|AreBastards}}, and a demon.
214* ''Film/WithoutWarning1980'' has the alien who is hunting the protagonists and the psychotic ShellShockedVeteran who thinks that the said protagonists are in cahoots with the alien.
215* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
216** ''Film/X2XMenUnited'': Stryker and Magneto share the same role as they both want to use a machine called Dark Cerebro. The former wants to use the machine to kill all mutants, while the Latter wants to use it to kill all humans.
217** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' has three villains who are acting largely independently and are often at cross-purposes, and their deeds lead to the BadFuture: [[MadScientist Bolivar Trask]], [[DarkActionGirl Mystique]], and [[spoiler:[[DarkMessiah Magneto]]]].
218 [[/folder]]
219
220[[folder:Literature]]
221* ''Literature/TheAffix'' has about a dozen antagonists or near-antagonists, four of whom are at the top of the dogpile: Ruthless [[CollectorOfTheStrange collector]] Sean Kilraen, his [[AffablyEvil charming]] but much worse mentor "Professor" J. P. Wallace, drug baron [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Bloody"]] Carlos Sanchez, and the [[FauxAffablyEvil supportive and friendly]] Henry Bartlett. This trope is a staple of the series.
222* ''Dragon Avenger'', the second ''Literature/AgeOfFire'' novel, has two {{Evil Overlord}}s who, between the two of them, are responsible for all the terrible things that happen to [[ActionGirl Wistala]] in the book -- Gobold Fangbreaker of the Wheel of Fire dwarfs, who organized the attacks that killed Wistala's parents and sister and scattered her and her brothers, and Thane Hammar, the northern Hypatian warlord who kills her ParentalSubstitute. Wistala actually takes advantage of this trope to get her revenge, by [[PlayingBothSides playing the two of them against each other]] in order to engineer their downfalls.
223* ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'': Beowulf battles [[TheDescendantsOfCain Grendel]], [[MamaBear the she-ogre]] and [[OurDragonsAreDifferent the dragon]] throughout the poem.
224* ''Literature/BoysLife'': The murderer, TheKlan, and the redneck outlaw Blaylock family are all independent, prominent antagonists who threaten Cory and/or his friends and family across the year.
225* In ''Literature/CodexAlera'' there are numerous villains active throughout the series, mostly independent of one another if prone to making and breaking alliances at whim -- [[MagnificentBastard High Lord Aquitaine]][[note]]the initial apparent BigBad, though he's eventually revealed to be an AntiVillain and WellIntentionedExtremist[[/note]], [[ManipulativeBitch Invidia Aquitaine]][[note]]technically her husband's Dragon, albeit a DragonWithAnAgenda, and later is forced to play the same role to the Vord Queen, but a scheme she did years ago is eventually revealed to have set much of the series in motion before she was allied to either[[/note]], High Lord Kalarus[[note]]the most visible villain of the middle three books, and easily the most psychotic and depraved of the entire ensemble, if ultimately a rather clumsy and obvious foe[[/note]], [[EvilSorcerer Sarl]][[note]]only lasts two books, but his actions very nearly set the stage for TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, earning him his position here; also notable as the first major villain Tavi takes down entirely on his own devices[[/note]], and [[HiveQueen the Vord Queen]][[note]]who builds up slowly across the series, but is the ultimate final villain and most dangerous threat to the world at large[[/note]] are the biggies, and High Lord Rhodes is billed as one, despite [[HufflepuffHouse very limited development and pagetime]].
226* The ''Literature/CommonwealthSaga'' has [=MorningLightMountain=] and [[spoiler: the Starflyer]], with one as the xenophobic alien invader and the other as the insidious infiltrator who clearly does not have humanity's interests in mind but would prefer humanity to remain alive until it can finish its own plans. The second is actually implied to be an incarnation of the first, but due to how the Primes work and how far they'd have diverged, that would have made them the direst of enemies if only [=MorningLightMountain=] had known about [[spoiler: the Starflyer]].
227* ''Literature/DanielFaust'' has so many {{Big Bad}}s it will make your head spin: An unspecified number of demon princes, the Enemy, the Network and the nine Kings of Man, and Naavarasi, all of whom are working against eachother, in open or in secret, to either conquer or destroy all of existence.
228* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' is pretty bad with this, mainly because Harry Dresden makes a lot of powerful enemies. Most of whom are also enemies with each other. To wit:
229** The Red Court of vampires wants him dead.
230** The Black Court of vampires wants him dead.
231** Both factions of Denarians want him either dead or [[DealWithTheDevil turned]].
232** Various [[TheFairFolk Unseelie]] of the Winter Court think he's inconvenient.
233** The three [[EvilSorceror Kemmlerites]] are ''very annoyed'' with him.
234** The Outsiders are continuously trying to invade reality.
235** The Chicago Mafia definitely has plans to have him killed.
236** And that's not even going into the [[MonsterOfTheWeek various minor one-off villains]] who pop up every other book.
237** Later books feature [[spoiler:the total destruction of the Red Court, the deaths of two Kemmlerites, and Harry [[TeethClenchedTeamwork sort-of allying]] with both the Winter Court and the Mafia, but balances this out with the Fomor and the Black Council emerging as new, recurring threats]].
238* In ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'', there are several villainous characters (the majority of the [[JerkassGods gods actually fall under this]]), but the most prominent are [[AntiVillain Loki]], [[EldritchAbomination Ka Anor]], and [[spoiler: [[MagnificentBastard Senna]]]].
239* Creator/RobinHobb did this in the ''Literature/{{Farseer}}'' trilogy with Prince Regal and the Red Ships.
240* Since ''Literature/GuardiansOfGaHoole'' series is basically "World War II [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace WITH OWLS]]", it makes sense that we'd get two groups of villains who directly oppose each other--[[ANaziByAnyOtherName the Pure Ones]], a grouping of Tytoninae owls who preach Tyto superiority (representing Nazi Germany) and St. Aegolius, a greedy mixed group of owls who function like a reeducation camp (representing the Soviet Union). Subverted later on, when the Pure Ones [[EvilerThanThou end up occupying St. Aegolius' base of operations and drive its surviving members out]], reducing its leader Skench to a BigBadWannabe who ends up being easily killed later in the story.
241* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': While the series as a whole has Voldemort as the BigBad, a couple books have him sharing the central antagonistic role:
242** Unlike the previous school years, during the events of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' Voldemort makes no attempt to seize power and remains the GreaterScopeVillain whose supporter lurks around Hogwarts and is a threat to Harry and co. Thing is [[spoiler: this supporter is NOT the titular prisoner Sirius Black but rather Ron's pet rat Scabbers who is actually a man called Wormtail and whose crimes are revealed during a plot-changing chapter]]. As if the threat of a mass-murderer and the sudden light into the nebulous past isn't enough to darken this year, there is also the fact of the soul-sucking fiends, the Dementors, that are supposedly there to protect students from the criminal but actually only see tasty, tempting little souls and manage to present a gloomy threat instead of a comforting shadow. And apart from the strain of having them around, Harry, Ron and Hermione also spend a decent part of their spare time, trying to save Hagrid's pet hipogriff from the executioner's chopping block, which the Malfoys are ecstatic to set.
243** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', the Big Bads are Lord Voldemort and [[HeadInTheSandManagement Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge]] (with [[SadistTeacher Dolores Umbridge]] as Fudge's DragonInChief, though she commits crimes she knows [[EveryoneHasStandards Fudge wouldn't approve of]]), though they have nothing to do with each other. For most of the book, Voldemort is willing to sit back and allow Fudge and Umbridge to discredit [[TheMentor Dumbledore]] and [[TheHero Harry]] to weaken his opposition.
244* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': President Coriolanus Snow [[spoiler:with President Alma Coin in ''Mockingjay'']].
245* ''Literature/JaneEyre'' has Aunt Reed who abuses the titular character and serves as a GreaterScopeVillain, and [[AxCrazy Bertha Mason]] who serves as a threat to Mr.Rochester and his relationship to Jane.
246* ''Literature/LesMiserables'' has two main antagonists: the [[AntiVillain misguided police officer]] InspectorJavert, who is out to [[HonorBeforeReason nail Jean Valjean for a crime he's repented for dozens of times over]], and the [[HateSink genuinely loathsome]] crime boss [[SmugSnake Monsieur Thenardier]], who the main characters run into several times by sheer coincidence, each time working a despicable hustle in an attempt to either get rich or get {{revenge}} against someone who prevented him from getting rich.
247* In ''Literature/LetTheRightOneIn'' and its film adaptations, there is Conny/Kenny, the main character's bully. There is also Lacke who tries to kill the main vampiric character. In the American adaptation, Lacke is replaced by an unnamed police officer who is a Designated Villain at best. There is also Jimmy, who is the FinalBoss and Conny/Kenny's BigBrotherBully, and he takes the role of the BigBad by storm.
248* In the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' the Crippled God is [[DiscOneFinalBoss built up to be the villain]], only to get his plans hijacked by a BigBadDuumvirate of Forkrul Assail, K'Chain Nah'ruk and Tiste Liosan as well a gang of Elder Gods led by Errastas, each party planning TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt in their own way.
249* ''Literature/MasksOfAygrima'': In ''Faces'' The Autarch and [[spoiler: [[BigBadFriend The Lady of Pain and Fire]] who both want to take over Mara's body and rule Aygrima forever]].
250* Swedish writer Simona Ahrnstedt gives us three villains in her debut novel ''Literature/{{Overenskommelser}}''. We have Wilhelm Löwenström, the abusive head of the household, his son Edvard, a serial abuser sadistic [[TheSociopath sociopath]], and last but not least Carl-Jan Rosenschiöld. And what is their common goal? To use the female protagonist Beatrice for their own gain or pleasure! (Wilhelm and Edvard, her own uncle and her own cousin, want to marry her off to Rosenschiöld...)
251* ''Literature/RavenQuest'' has [[spoiler: Grakk, Lord Groh]] and the humans. [[spoiler: Grakk]] frames the main character for murder in an attempt to get him executed and [[spoiler: Lord Groh]] simply wants to kill Tok. The humans destroy the wolves' habitat and destroy the crows' roosting tree.
252* For most of ''Literature/TheRiddleMasterTrilogy'', [[TheChosenOne Morgon]] and Raederle have to deal with the separate threats of [[EvilSorcerer Ghisteslwchlohm]] and the [[AbusivePrecursors Earth-Masters]], who are apparently led by [[HotWitch Eriel]]... up until about the last third of the last book, when Eriel captures Ghisteslwchlohm and [[MindRape forcibly]] [[DemotedToDragon demotes him to her Dragon]].
253* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has several major antagonists for each StoryArc:
254** The Lannisters, led by TheChessmaster [[ThePatriarch Tywin,]] are the main opponents of the heroic Starks during the [[CivilWar War of the Five Kings.]] Both [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Cersei Lannister]] and her son [[TheCaligula Joffrey]] try to be {{Big Bad}}s in their own right, but aren't nearly as competent as Tywin.
255** King's Landing has the two resident Chessmasters [[FauxAffablyEvil Petyr]] "[[NotSoHarmlessVillain Littlefinger]]" [[ManipulativeBastard Baelish]] and the mysterious [[TheSpymaster Varys]], called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "the Spider."]] Varys is revealed to be in league with [[spoiler:Young Griff / Aegon]], while Littlefinger is out only for himself.
256** At Storm's End you have KnightTemplar Stannis Baratheon and his WellIntentionedExtremist advisor [[HotWitch Melisandre.]] Subverted in that he's effectively a HeroAntagonist for the VillainProtagonist, Tyrion. In book five he's more of the BigGood as the leader of the anti-Bolton coalition.
257** At the Iron Islands, you have BigBadWannabe Balon Greyjoy, fighting all on his own. [[spoiler: He is later succeeded by his far more ruthless brother, pirate king [[AxCrazy Euron]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Crow's Eye".]]]]
258** In Robb Stark's army you have [[TheSociopath Roose Bolton]] and [[EvilOldFolks Walder Frey]], who [[spoiler:betray and murder Robb in order to form an alliance with Tywin Lannister]]. Roose and Walder each have henchmen of their own, including Ramsay Snow, a {{Sadist}}, and Black Walder, a GeneralRipper, and Roose joins the two houses via marriage alliance. Roose is effectively the main villain of the whole Northern story line from book three onward (with Frey being more of an opportunistic lackey); while he's technically [[spoiler:in service to the Lannister regime, his power base is completely independent and the two don't interact much besides giving each other customary recognition (the Lannisters grant him the title Warden of the North, and he in turn acknowledges Joffrey / Tommen as king)]].
259** Beyond the Wall you have the wildlings, lead by former Night's Watch ranger Mance Rayder, who are trying to invade Westeros in order to flee from The Others, a GreaterScopeVillain army who are reanimating the dead in order to cause a ZombieApocalypse.
260** By the start of the sixth book, the only faction leaders in Westeros who are both unambiguously villainous and powerful enough to actually matter are Roose Bolton and Euron Greyjoy. Thus, they move from side villains in previous books to the main antagonists of ''A Feast for Crows'', ''A Dance With Dragons'', and ''The Winds of Winter''. More specifically, Roose is the main antagonist for the North storyline, which involves the POV characters and attendant chapters of Davos, Asha, Theon, Jon Snow, and Melisandre. Of the two, Euron is currently in the best position to take over as the overall main human villain of the saga due to not being in a compromised position like Roose, and his possible magic abilities and apocalyptic ambitions for godhood.
261** Beyond Westeros you have yet another Chessmaster named Magister Illyrio, who is working with Varys. [[BigBadWannabe Viserys]] [[TheEvilPrince Targaryen]] and [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Dothraki warlord]] [[BloodKnight Khal Drogo]] are set up as major threats early on, [[spoiler: but none of them lasts beyond the first book]]. Later antagonists of the Essos storyline include a warlock named Pryat Pree, who represents a group of HumanoidAbomination's called the Undying, a collective of [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil slave masters]] ruling over the cities of Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen, and a mysterious terrorist leader called [[TheGhost the Harpy.]]
262* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
263** The initial antagonists of ''Literature/StarWarsKenobi'' are a tribe of Sand People a.k.a. Tusken Raiders led by A'Yark, {{Knight Templar}}s who consider the settlers blasphemous and attack them every so often. In response, Orrin Gault set up the Settlers' Call Fund for organized defense. Later in the novel it turns out that Orrin has huge debts, most notably to Jabba the Hutt, represented by Mosep Binneed. [[spoiler:Who's something of a decoy; it's a desperate Orrin who takes over as the antagonist. He has been SlowlySlippingIntoEvil for years by embezzling funds and staging raids to keep them coming. At the climax, Orrin and his kids have become outright murderous towards anyone they perceive as a threat, leading to EnemyMine between Ben and A'Yark.]]
264** ''Literature/TheCourtshipOfPrincessLeia'': The villains in the main part of the novel are Warlord Zsinj and Gethzerion, leader of the Nightsisters; they form something of an alliance but don't trust each other at all. People who are partially responsible for why the heroes go to Dathomir in the first place and can be considered antagonists are [[spoiler:Ta'a Chume]], who sends assassins after Leia, inadvertently driving her into Isolder's arms, Threkin Horm, who apparently attempts to send Han on a long mission to separate him from Leia, and possibly Omogg, a previous "owner" of Dathomir, who [[{{Retcon}} according to a later sourcebook]] lets Han have it specifically to get back at Zsinj.
265** ''Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy'': Admiral Natasi Daala is accidentally discovered guarding a secret Imperial weapons lab inside the Maw black hole cluster with four star destroyers, and has been out of contact since the first Death Star was destroyed; once she escapes the Maw, she conducts a ([[GeneralFailure brief and ineffectual]]) rampage across the New Republic. Meanwhile, Ambassador Furgan of the Imperial Remnant-aligned MilitaryAcademy planet Carida poisons New Republic Chief of State Mon Mothma before [[spoiler:trying to kidnap the infant Anakin Solo to raise him as a replacement Emperor]]. Thirdly, the 4000-year-old ghost of the Sith Lord Exar Kun haunts the Yavin temples where Luke Skywalker builds the eponymous Jedi Praxeum, and works to turn Luke's students to the dark side.\
266The POVSequel ''Literature/IJedi'' adds a fourth, Moff Leonia Tavira, an Imperial admiral-turned-SpacePirate queen who takes protagonist Corran Horn's wife Mirax Terrik prisoner when she tries to infiltrate Tavira's syndicate.
267** ''[[Literature/StarWarsRazorsEdge Razor's Edge]]'': Imperial Commander Degoren is trying to capture or kill Leia, who's high on the Empire's Most Wanted list. {{Space Pirate|s}} leader Aral tukor Viest expects personal loyalty from Alderaanian Captain Metara in exchange for upgrading her ship, the ''Aegis'', and doesn't want Leia interfering. Han and Leia must deal with each in turn in order to escape the situation they've found themselves in. The two are aware of each other (Viest has sold out opponents to the Empire in the past), but are not allies, and Degoren would rather keep Leia out of Viest's clutches so that he can nab her himself.
268* ''Literature/{{Tigana}}'' has one of these owing to the fact that the peninsula in which the novel is set was conquered a generation ago by two rival {{Sorcerous Overlord}}s, [[AntiVillain Brandin of Ygrath]] and [[TheCaligula Alberico of Barbadior]]. This set-up ends up being central to the plot; either of them by himself is too much for LaResistance to handle, and if they ''did'' manage to overthrow one it would only hand the entire peninsula to the other. Fortunately for everyone else, they ''hate'' each other, and so exiled prince Alessan decides the best way to solve the problem is to [[EnemyCivilWar manipulate them into fighting it out for good]].
269* In ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'', the heroes must simultaneously deal with the traitorous archmage Thorn and his army of Wild creatures, who seek to destroy Alba, and fanatically anti-magical Jean de Vrailly and his men, who want to take Alba over. [[spoiler:Subverted when it turns out that both Thorn and de Vrailly are being manipulated by the true Big Bad, Ash.]]
270* ''Literature/TheVillainessLivesAgain'': While preventing Laurence from ascending the throne is one of Artezia's primary goals, he's not the only threat, especially since he was only able to become Emperor with Artezia's help. Roygar, Cedric and Laurence's uncle, is another contender for the throne and an equally disastrous prospect because of his greed. Then there is Emperor Gregor, who is Laurence's primary benefactor and the one who killed Cedric's parents; he is arguably the greatest threat, because he has near total control over the empire already, no intention of losing any power until his dying breath and [[PragmaticVillainy isn't a completely self destructive psychopath.]]
271* ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheJerleShannara''. There's the [[DarkMagicalGirl Isle Witch]] and her [[EvilMentor former mentor]] The Morgawr, who form a BigBadDuumvirate, and are plotting against both the heroes and one another in their race to claim the books of magic that the ''Jerle Shannara'' is voyaging to find. There's also [[DiscOneFinalBoss Antrax]], the KnightTemplar computer system that guards the books against all comers, and operates completely independently of the other two. Between them, they manage to do a whole lot of damage to the heroes and one another.
272* In the first MythArc of ''Literature/WarriorCats'', Tigerclaw and Brokenstar were this for a while. [[spoiler: Then they teamed up and Brokenstar died.]] In the ''Power of Three'' arc, both [[spoiler:Sol and Tigerstar]] were vying for the spot, and the arc ends with [[spoiler:[[ButNowIMustGo Sol leaving]]. However, he has been confirmed to return in book five of the Omen of the Stars arc, and Tigerstar is still around]]. And then you've got the end of the ''Omen of the Stars'' arc, which brings ''all'' the {{Big Bad}}s back to try and get revenge from beyond the grave.
273* The ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' has a ridiculous number of potential {{Big Bad}}s. The most prominent is [[TheFaceless Hekate's Master]], but there's also [[EvilSorceress Lady Jettatura]], [[AIIsACrapshoot The Palm]], [[EvilSorcerer Necromancer]], [[WhatMeasureIsaNonHuman Dr. Emil Hammond]], [[TheSyndicate Dominus]] and whatever Bladedancer saw in her [[DreamingofThingstoCome dream]], plus dozens of smaller bads. The only reason the world didn't implode by now is because there's also a ridiculous amount of heroes and other elements to balance things out. In particular, in "Ayla and the Birthday Brawl", Hekate and The Necromancer team up to attack Team Kimba. Hekate is stuck hiding in a magical bunker, and The Necromancer is using her talents since it's his bunker: he owes Hekate's Master a huge favor. And this leads to another supervillain stepping in, during the big battles, and the Necromancer doesn't like him, so things get confusing.
274* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'':
275** At the start, there are ''three'' {{Big Bad}}s, all of them supervillains bent on control over the city of Brockton Bay. First there's Kaiser of [[ThoseWackyNazis Empire Eighty-Eight]], a Neo-Nazi organization that, thanks to his prolific recruiting, is one of the single largest parahuman groups in the country. Second is Lung, an Asian gang-leader with the power to turn into a dragon, who relies upon this, a few parahuman underlings, and a small army of gang members to hold his own. Finally, there is Coil, a DiabolicalMastermind with a ''literal'' private army of mercenaries, who has declared war upon Kaiser and has even greater long term plans. All three hate each other.
276** As the story goes on, however, its perspective expands, and we are introduced to the world-scale {{Big Bad}}s, of which there are also three. First are the Endbringers, a group of three {{Kaiju}} with ruinously powerful superpowers which are bent on destroying humanity for unknown reasons. Second is the Slaughterhouse 9, a group of psychopathic superpowered murderers who are predicted to be the ones to cause the end of the world. Finally, there is Cauldron, a NebulousEvilOrganisation with the ability to create a SuperSerum which it has leveraged to [[spoiler:gain control over the majority of the most powerful heroes in the world,]] and whose ends remain unknown.
277[[/folder]]
278
279[[folder:Music]]
280* ''Music/JesusChristSuperstar'': Judas, [[BigBadDuumvirate Caiaphas and Annas]], Pilate, and Herod all participate equally as villains toward Jesus, the protagonist. All are sympathetic to a degree [[HateSink except Herod]] (Caiaphas and Annas want to protect the Jewish people, Judas is concerned that Jesus is bigger than even he can handle, and Pilate only sentences Jesus to death because Jesus refuses to fight back), but all contribute to Jesus's crucifixion.
281[[/folder]]
282
283[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
284* GAEA had Wrestling/LionessAsuka, a veteran partner of the company's founder who was still bitter at being forced to retire from [[Wrestling/AllJapanWomensProWrestling Zenjo]], Mayumi Ozaki, the leader of a hostile invading force that passed through several enterprises before paying GAEA special attention and Akira Hokuto, who in turn was using GAEA as a base to establish her own hostile force to eventually invade elsewhere. Asuka eventually reconciled with Chigusa Nagayo and underwent a HeelFaceTurn to help deal with the other two.
285* Wrestling/LuchaUnderground has a {{downplayed|trope}} example in that Dario Cueto is the owner of the temple and thus the biggest bad, as he wanted things to go wrong for everyone else from the start. Still, not ''everything'' can be linked back to him, as [[Wrestling/KarleePerez Catrina]] may have had her own plans going on longer than his, definitely would have been up to something elsewhere if he hadn't drawn so many fighters to the temple. Going on, everything in the temple would have been as fine and orderly as a lucha libre/pro wrestling show could possibly be after Cueto departed if Catrina hadn't taken his place in a takeover that eventually resulted his return to oust ''her''. That's where it breaks down as while she avoided BigBadWannabe by being fairly difficult for Cueto to completely be rid of, [[spoiler:proving capable of surviving what until then had been [[KilledOffForReal a guaranteed death]] on Lucha Underground]] via LightFlickerTeleportation, it's also where EvilVersusEvil really kicks in.
286[[/folder]]
287
288[[folder:Roleplay]]
289* The commanding officers of the [[DesignatedVillain Army of Shadow]] in Website/{{Rplegacy}}'s ''Dark Clouds Gathering'' fantasy crossover [=RPG=] are comprised of various Big Bads and their [[TheDragon Dragons]] from fiction, including [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganon]], [[Literature/TheSilmarillion Morgoth]], [[VideoGame/{{Darksiders}} Absalom]], and of course [[GreaterScopeVillain the Army's leader, the Phantom-lord Grogna]].
290* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', many major antagonists are working for different goals separate from one another during the Godslayer era:
291** [[DarkMessiah Glaurung]], leader of the [[LegionOfDoom Crimson Coalition]]
292** [[AboveGoodAndEvil Godslayer]] and its high prophet [[ManipulativeBastard Xerathas]] of the Grey Cult
293** [[WellIntentionedExtremist Jemuel]], lord of [[TheMagocracy Alent]]
294** [[FourStarBadass Malphas]], leader of the [[TheLegionsOfHell Northern Horde]]
295** [[MagnificentBastard The Master]] of the [[ReligionOfEvil Totenkopf cult]]
296** [[JerkassGods Nergal]], [[WarGod god of war]]
297** [[VisionaryVillain Vaetris]], leader of the Eastern Horde
298* It seems the Big Bads in ''Roleplay/PokemonRiseOfTheRockets'' only ever come in groups, with different ones coming and going as time goes on and plots are resolved:
299** The four Shadow Admins--Sleight, Joker, Ace, and Bounty[[spoiler:--for the first arc, though they all eventually took a HeelFaceTurn (with the exception of Ace, who was KilledOffForReal early in the story.)]]
300** The Ancient Darkrai, a group of Darkrai so powerful that in ancient times they managed to almost usurp Arceus himself and have returned to take over the world for real this time. [[spoiler:Later defeated along with his followers, after three years real-time of slowly taking over Hoenn and Sinnoh.]]
301** John Ford, a terrorist and mastermind who effectively organized his own takeover of Hoenn alongside countless attacks on various characters and groups. Along with his [[FourIsDeath four Agents]], he has effectively taken over as the main villain of the story, though is certainly not the only one.
302** Gerald Hikari, who orchestrated a mass devastation in Unova at the same time that Ford's Agent, Maddison Hayes, was acting to make the Unovan government acknowledge the Rocket-Liberty War.
303** [[spoiler:The SevenDeadlySins, trainers who were somehow corrupted by the Ancients during their takeover of Hoenn and Sinnoh, although the Sins do not appear to bear any relation to the Ancients in terms of motives. While they act independently of each other and thus could be considered to share the status with each other (lower on the totem than Ford), Sloth appears to be the leader of the group itself, or at least the most powerful.]]
304[[/folder]]
305
306[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
307* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', it's not a question of who's trying to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy Creation]] -- it's a question of who's pulling ahead in the race. The Deathlords want to feed the world into the great cosmic garbage disposal in the name of their eternally-dying-but-not-yet-dead god bosses, the Yozis want to make Creation indistinguishable from Hell on the ''very'' off chance that they might be allowed to move in then, and TheFairFolk view Creation the same way one would view a turd in the swimming pool and want it to stop ruining their beautiful chaos.
308* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', [[GodOfEvil Yawgmoth]] was the main villain before he got wiped from existence. Now the story has this trope between [[FromASingleCell the remains of]] [[TheVirus Phyrexia]], [[SealedEvilInACan the Eldrazi]], and [[TheChessmaster Nicol Bolas]].
309* ''TabletopGame/{{Talisman}}'' this is possible with enough expansions that often add their own threats and villains, including TheGrimReaper, [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent the Werewolf]], [[OurGhostsAreDifferent King of the Dead]], [[AnIcePerson Ice Queen]], [[OurGeniesAreDifferent the Efretti invasion]], [[{{Kaiju}} the Great Beasts]], [[OurDragonsAreDifferent the Dragon King]] and so on.
310* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Fantasy'' has no main villain. Monsters are dime a dozen, but among the big threats there are at least five major power blocs (Chaos,[[note]]Subdivided into the Warriors of Chaos, Daemons of Chaos, and Beastmen of Chaos; and further divided into the monogod affiliations.[[/note]] Skaven, Greenskins, Undead, and Dark Elves), and each are bitterly opposed to each other at least as much as they are to the heroes. Moreover all of the villainous races are, by definition, [[AlwaysChaoticEvil chaotic]], composed of countless feuding tribes (literally thousands, in the case of the Skaven clans) who spend most of their time fighting one another. As a result they're usually decentralized bands under low-level warlords that act independently and only occasionally join together in loose coalitions when [[GenghisGambit one particularly powerful/charismatic leader manages to point them in the same direction]]. The most notable examples of thus would be the Skaven Council of Thirteen, the [[TheAntiChrist Everchosen of Chaos]] (most recently Archaon), the Lord of the Undead Nagash, and the Dark Elf Witch King Malekith. Emphasizing this trope is the fact that the heroes are often saved by one or more villainous factions screwing each other over; the ''Storm of Chaos'' continuity climaxed with Grimgor (the most powerful living leader of the Greenskins) defeating Archaon, whereas in the backstory Nagash was only foiled in his attempt to conquer the world by the intervention of the Council of Thirteen, who [[GodzillaThreshold banded together for the only time in their history]] to help his enemies stop him.
311** Malekith has the best claim of the current crop, as he was responsible for the Sundering, the War of the Beard, the breakdown of the Elf-Dwarf alliance, and the spread of Chaos, the Skaven, and the Greenskins directly enabled by those events, on ''top'' of all the schemes the Dark Elves got up to on their own like their many invasions of Ulthuan, omnipresent raids around the world, and their alliances with Chaos. Equally importantly, Malekith and Nagash are the only evil faction leaders who are not replaceable [[LegacyCharacter Legacy Characters]] (there have been many Everchosen and Councilors, but only one Witch King) due to using magic to artificially extend their lives ([[TimeAbyss Malekith is about 7,000 years old]]).
312* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', had this as well, mostly inspired by those above: at the very top of the SlidingScaleOfVillainThreat are [[EldritchAbomination the Chaos Gods]] and the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranid]] HiveMind, and going down there are the [[OneWingedAngel Daemon Primarchs]], Chaos Lords, C'tan shards (who were right up there with the Chaos Gods and Hive Mind when they were still whole), Ork Warbosses, Dark Eldar Archons and the various sundry madmen and psychopaths the galaxy breeds like mosquitoes. The most notable 'humanoid' antagonists would be Ezekyle Abaddon (leader of the Black Legion of the Chaos Space Marines and the figurehead of the thirteen Black Crusades that have tried to overthrow the Imperium), Asdrubael Vect (the leader of the most powerful kabal of the Dark Eldar and the de facto leader of the entire Dark Eldar race), and Ghazghkull Mag uruk Thraka (one of the most powerful Ork Warlords ever and the leader of the largest Waaagh! in history).
313* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'' has a lot of villains, but the biggest ones (each on roughly equal ground) are Archaon (the [[AntiChrist Everchosen of Chaos]] who has grown in power to the point he's feared by the Chaos Gods themselves and [[DragonWithAnAgenda has his own agenda]]), the three old Chaos Gods (Slaanesh having been [[PutOnABus imprisoned and tortured by the aelven gods]] for the last few thousand years), the Great Horned Rat (the patron deity and leader of the Skaven, recently promoted to the level of the original four Chaos Gods), and Nagash (a very powerful necromancer who has ascended to god and Supreme Lord of the Undead).
314[[/folder]]
315
316[[folder:Theatre]]
317* ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', in an example that WordOfGod states was inspired by ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', has Aaron Burr, UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson, UsefulNotes/JamesMadison, and King George III, whose roles roughly correspond to Judas, Caiaphas, Annas, and Herod respectively. Even in comparison to their ''Superstar'' counterparts, however, Burr, Jefferson, and Madison are sympathetic, while King George is genuinely insane, as he was (in old age anyway) in RealLife.
318* ''Theatre/TwistedTheUntoldStoryOfARoyalVizier'': The two main villains of the show are Prince Achmed, who wants to wage war against the Magic Kingdom in the hopes of making the Princess love him, and [[AdaptationalVillainy Aladdin]], who tries to take advantage of the Princess' naivety for his own selfish ends. While they're not working together and their goals are mutually exclusive, they're painted as similarly dangerous, if in different ways.
319[[/folder]]
320
321[[folder:Web Animation]]
322* ''WebAnimation/GamingAllStars'': [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Dr. Eggman]], [[VideoGame/HalfLife G-Man]], and [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot Cortex]]]], (Though the latter doesn’t become involved until much later in the animation) in ''The Ultimate Crossover'', before graduating into a BigBadDuumvirate near the end. ''Remastered'', contrarily, has Eggman and Radec, [[spoiler: who ''don't'' form an alliance this time around]].
323** ''2'' has [[VideoGame/SaintsRowIV Zinyak]] and [[VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero Shinnok]], neither one allied with the other but both having an undying hatred for humankind.
324* After the Sheriff's demise and the activation of the Improbability Drive in "Madness Avenger", three villains emerge to oppose Hank J. Wimbleton in ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat'':
325** [[DarkMessiah Jesus]], originally TheDragon to the Sheriff, who seeks to kill Hank to keep order in Nevada, though he later diverts his attention to opposing the other two Big Bads listed below.
326** [[MonsterClown Tricky]], an assassin clown killed by Hank but revived as a zombie and given [[RealityWarper reality-warping]] powers by the energy of the Improbability Drive, who seeks to get revenge on Hank by killing and reviving him over and over.
327** [[SinisterSilhouettes The Auditor]], the new leader of the AAHW who controls the Master Improbability Drive and only seems interested in ensuring that the madness and chaos continues on.
328* ''WebAnimation/HowItShouldHaveEnded'' features a sub series called "The Villain's Pub". A pub featuring an assortment of big bads from different franchises. Often talking about the outcome of the movies they starred in or getting into crazy shenanigans. Headed by none other than Emperor Palpatine of Franchise/StarWars
329[[/folder]]
330
331[[folder:Webcomics]]
332* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' had a sort of "guess the BigBad" thing going on with several characters being built up as potential "FinalBoss" candidates:
333** Black Mage, VillainProtagonist and hinted at eventually ([[CerebusSyndrome seriously]]) betraying his comrades. [[spoiler:Which does happen before the plot gets [[HijackedByGanon Hijacked By Sarda]].]]
334** The Dark Warriors. In the beginning, Garland seemed to be a joke villain who had a greater role in the story. [[spoiler:It turns out their purpose was to become {{Fake Ultimate Hero}}es.]]
335** Sarda, the biggest threat whose motives were hidden, but came across as a TricksterMentor. [[spoiler:He turns out to be the "real" BigBad but is assimilated by Chaos.]]
336** The Fiends, who were teaming up in Hell as they were killed. [[spoiler:Killed by Black Mage.]]
337** "Darko," who was TheDragon to GreaterScopeVillain Chaos and trying to manipulate Black Mage [[spoiler:(and previously Garland)]] into bringing about his plans. [[spoiler: He eventually gives up.]]
338** And finally, Chaos, said GreaterScopeVillain the villains were destined to eventually face. [[spoiler:They do, at a point in time they're woefully unprepared for it. Chaos is killed off-screen by White Mage instead, saving the world and setting up the Dark Warriors as the ones who defeated him.]]
339* The Other is probably the most consistent threat in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', but due to the hydra-headed nature of the Knights of Jove, there's a lot of other significant threats to world peace. Zola Malfeazium in particular has been set up as a serious future threat (and one capable of [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu controlling the Other]]), and Martellus von Blitzengaard may be a contender by virtue of [[NotSoHarmlessVillain not being the idiot he seems]]. Unrelated to and opposed to the Other is AntiVillain Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (followed by [[spoiler:a BrainwashedAndCrazy Gilgamesh Wulfenbach,]] post Vol. 13), who is the head of TheEmpire.
340* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', has [[EvilOverlord Lord Tedd]], [[HiddenAgendaVillain Pandora Raven]], [[BigBadDuumvirate Sirleck and Magus]] and [[spoiler:formerly]] [[AGodAmI Damien.]]
341* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' originally set up the Black King as the BigBad, but then is killed when [[spoiler:[[TheStarscream Jack]] [[AxCrazy Noir]]]] goes rogue, leaving Act 5 as a struggle between [[spoiler:Jack]], [[ManipulativeBastard Vriska]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist Serket]], and [[TheChessmaster Doc]] [[AffablyEvil Scratch]]. It turns out that [[spoiler:Scratch was manipulating everybody, including the other villains, and sacrifices himself, leaving his master [[EldritchAbomination Lord]] [[MultiversalConqueror English]] as the sole BigBad]]. As of Act 6, [[spoiler:English]] is the only BigBad, since [[spoiler:Jack is being manipulated by him, [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Her]] [[EvilOverlord Imperious]] [[GalacticConqueror Condescension]] is working for him, and [[PsychopathicManchild Cal]][[SmugSnake iborn]] is his past self]].
342* The [[GodEmperor Seven Black Emperors]] from ''WebComic/KillSixBillionDemons'' -- [[EvilDiva Gog-Agog]], [[SatanicArchetype Incubus]], [[TheOmniscient Jadis]], [[TheJuggernaut Jagganoth]], [[CorporateDragon Mammon]], [[PlanetLooters Mottom]] and [[KnightTemplar Solomon David]]. They are the last [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Demiurges]] remaining ever since the rest wiped themselves out in the GreatOffscreenWar, and each currently rule one seventh of TheMultiverse according to a ceasefire they made with each other to maintain the BalanceOfPower between them. While the Seven are prophecied to be annihilated by TheChosenOne, amongst themselves they are more concerned that [[OmnicidalManiac Jagganoth has gone rogue and has tipped the balance]]: He is currently about as powerful as the other six combined and is building his power further in preparation for a new war.
343* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', there are several factions, both good and evil, and most of the evil ones can qualify as independent big bads:
344** Lord Xykon is the most prominent throughout the story, though he might not be the ultimate big bad. Stopping him has been the Order's goal from the very beginning.
345** Redcloak is Xykon's DragonWithAnAgenda, working to advance Xykon's goals for his own reasons. [[spoiler: Actually, he's been lying through his teeth about the "goals" part, which is going to come to a head at ''some'' point.]]
346** The Inter-Fiend Cooperation Commission is a BigBadTriumvirate, whose long-term goals are incompatible with the Order ''or'' Xykon flat-out winning.
347** As revealed in ''[[Recap/TheOrderOfTheStickStartOfDarkness Start of Darkness]]'', [[spoiler:the Dark One, the goblin deity. Redcloak is really ''his'' [[TheDragon Dragon]]]].
348* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', the most significant threats have been the evil corporation Hereti-Corp, bent on [[TakeOverTheWorld taking over the world]] and later threatening to cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and K'Z'K, a demon who's also into both of those things. Beings in charge of the threads of fate are shown fearing that Hereti-Corp coming in contact with the cult of K'Z'K is going to collapse the whole fate-web somehow.
349* In ''Webcomic/SonicTheComicOnline'' with Robotnik driven insane several characters have taken the place of the BigBad: [[OmnicidalManiac Dr. Zachary]], [[TheDon Don Long-Legs]], head of [[TheMafia The Family]], [[spoiler:[[EvilGenius Grimer]]]], [[spoiler:[[OmnicidalManiac Dr. Robotnik]]]] and [[spoiler:[[TheEmpire The Drakon Empire]]]].
350[[/folder]]
351
352[[folder:Websites]]
353* Due to lack of concrete canon ''Website/SCPFoundation'' managed to amass a large number of them. Varying from various SCP, especially of Keter and Apollyon class, to a number of Groups of Interest like Marshall, Carter and Dark Ltd., the Black Queen, Chaos Insurgency, Church of a Broken God, Sarkic Cults, Global Occult Coalition, the Factory or the Fifth Church, not to mention recurring greater-scope threats like the Fairies, the Scarlet King or the Hanged King.
354[[/folder]]
355
356[[folder:Web Videos]]
357* ''WebVideo/EverymanHYBRID'': {{Franchise/The Slender Man|Mythos}}, Literature/TheRake, and original character [[BodySnatcher HABIT]] all menace the three-man team of the fitness and exercise blog.
358* ''WebVideo/{{Petscop}}'': Marvin V. Mark is the primary, in-game threat, as he is [[MysteriousWaif Care]] and [[spoiler:Belle]]'s abusive father (and kidnapper in Care's case) who wants to [[spoiler:"rebirth" Care, believing her to be he reincarnation of Lisa Lezkowitz]], and all the mysterious happenings in the game tie back to him. In the real world, [[spoiler:Aunt Jill, leader of The Family, took over the Petscop [=YouTube=] channel and is holding Paul hostage, forcing him to play the game for some reason]].
359[[/folder]]

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