Line #45 Main/HijackedByGanon


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9	[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hijackedbyganon.png]]]]
10	[[caption-width-right:350:What? Were you expecting someone else?\
11	Maybe that [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Zant]] guy?[[note]]Left to right, top to bottom: ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures''[[/note]]]]
12
13	->'''Prologue:''' Hey! Did you know that in the last game there was this nutty computer that tried to kill everyone?\
14	'''Yahtzee:''' No, I did not know that. Why did you bring it up?\
15	'''Prologue:''' Errrrmmm, no reason. Here's a totally unrelated plot. Also try not to look at the box art.
16	-->-- ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'', ''VideoGame/SystemShock2''
17
18	A SubTrope of TheManBehindTheMan, where an old villain is behind a new one.
19
20	This is common for iconic villains (such as many of the ones from Creator/{{Nintendo}} games) with JokerImmunity -- no matter how many times the hero beats them, they keep coming back in the next game. Frequently, they even retry the same evil plot.
21
22	Another variant on this trope is when the new villain has no connection to the old one, but the old one manages to dethrone the new one and take over as the main villain.
23
24	This can be a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] of OutsideContextProblem, in that the Outside-Context Problem (the original) is actually subordinate to a villain who is ''not'' outside context. Similarly, it could be that the original Outside-Context Villain is not actually the BigBad, but instead the replacement. See also GreaterScopeVillain, where the greater evil is an OutOfFocus entity that has only an indirect effect on the plot.
25
26	While still a valid trope in other media, in video games, it's on its way to becoming [[DiscreditedTrope increasingly difficult to take seriously]]. Due to just how ubiquitous the twist is, it's often seen as an overused and trite way of attempting a shocking plot twist (with the trope-naming ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' series and other game series like ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man\|Classic}}'' and its follow-ups such as ''VideoGame/MegaManX'', which likewise [[StrictlyFormula used the trope ad-nauseam]], being by far the most infamous abusers of this) that it's no longer considered even mildly surprising to use in contemporary games. Modern games tend to avoid the trope save in series where it's [[GrandfatherClause practically expected]] (such as the aforementioned ''Mega Man'' series) and tend to either play the villains straight, [[TheUntwist subvert the twist]] or [[LampshadeHanging play the cliche for laughs]].
27
28	Also a SubTrope of ObviousVillainSecretVillain. Might be the result of the new villains managing to ResurrectTheVillain or the old villain being a ReturningBigBad. The inversion of MakeWayForTheNewVillains. Contrast NotMeThisTime. See also DiabolusExNihilo and TheManInFrontOfTheMan.
29
30	Nothing to do with HijackedByJesus.
31
32	!!Keep in mind that this trope is about {{plot twist}}s, so EXPECT UNMARKED SPOILERS.
33	----
34	!!Example subpages:
35
36	[[index]]
37	* HijackedByGanon/AnimeAndManga
38	* HijackedByGanon/LiveActionTV
39	* HijackedByGanon/VideoGames
40	* HijackedByGanon/WesternAnimation
41	[[/index]]
42
43	!!Other examples:
44
45	[[foldercontrol]]
46
47	[[folder:Comic Books]]
48	* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': Double subverted in ''Asterix and Cleopatra''. The plot is kicked off by a bet between Cleopatra and series BigBad, Julius Caesar, but for the majority of the story, the antagonists are new characters Artifis and his lackey Krukhut. However, after their schemes are foiled, Caesar sends his army to stop the Gauls from helping Cleopatra winning the bet, leading to the finale of the story being a big battle with Romans. In fact, the last appearance of Artifis and Krukhut is to interrupt the main characters (as they declare, by the names of various gods, that they will fight off Caesar) to ask, "By the way, can we go home?"
49	* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'':
50	** Robotic villain Ultron has this as his trademark plot. In every single issue he EVER shows up in, he ''never'' appears to be the main antagonist the Avengers will be up against, rather evidence will point it to being someone else, before Ultron dramatically reveals himself. Even in his very first appearance as a villain, he wore a disguise and diverted suspicion to Jarvis of all people (successfully at that) before it was revealed it was he.
51	** ''ComicBook/AvengersTheChildrensCrusade'' retroactively paints Doctor Doom as the one behind the Scarlet Witch going insane, leading to ''ComicBook/AvengersDisassembled'' and ''ComicBook/HouseOfM''.
52	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'':
53	** ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'': The entire policy of excommunicating Gotham originally appeared to be a ploy by new face Nicholas Scratch to take control of the city, but by the end of the crossover, it turned out Lex Luthor co-opted Scratch's plan. He was then himself hijacked in the last month of the story by the Joker.
54	** In ''ComicBook/BatmanEternal'', fairly minor villain Cluemaster is revealed as the BigBad of the story who united Batman's RoguesGallery to take down Batman once and for all. However, just as the final battle is about to begin, Lincoln March (who had been serving as Cluemaster's financial backer) sneaks up behind Cluemaster, slits his throat, and hijacks the plot. Lincoln March not only wanted to be the one who killed Batman, but also felt that Cluemaster was missing the point of his own scheme (Cluemaster wanted to be known as a big name villain for his Magnum Opus EvilPlan, which kind of defeated the purpose of concealing his role so thoroughly) and so decided to [[InvokedTrope invoke this trope]].
55	** In the first arc of Creator/JamesTynionIV's ''ComicBook/{{Batman\|JamesTynionIV}}'' run, "His Dark Designs", the main villain is a new foe, the Designer. Having defeated his own archnemesis before Batman even got started, he came up with a plan to take over Gotham City by using other big-name villains to do his dirty work: Penguin would have every politician in Gotham executed and become Mayor himself, Riddler would take over the city's infrastructure, Catwoman would steal Bruce Wayne's fortune, Joker would kill Batman and Robin, and in the new Gotham, all of them would work for him. Unfortunately for him, the Joker had his own plan in mind, and killed him off-screen before puppeteering his corpse with nanites. As Riddler and Penguin went through with their parts of the scheme, Joker used Catwoman's to become a billionaire, take Bruce Wayne's assets, and kick off the next arc, "ComicBook/TheJokerWar". This also bled into the final storyline of ''ComicBook/NightwingRebirth'', in which the Court of Owls give Dick/Ric Grayson FakeMemories so he'll become a new Talon, but then the Joker suddenly turns up and uses the same method to turn Dick into ''his'' sidekick, Dicky-Boy. This continues over in the first major storyline after the ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'' hiatus. In the aftermath of The Joker War and A-Day, Simon Saint begins pushing his super-armored protectorate, the Magistrate, to make Gotham a safe place free from costumed crime and vigilantes. He does this by working with other groups and one special villain, the Scarecrow. In a case of WhatIf, where in ''Future State'', Scarecrow willingly got himself arrested and was "reformed", as seen in the ''Harley Quinn'' portion of ''Future State'', Scarecrow realizes that Gotham is in such a level of fear that there's no way he can just surrender and hijacks the plan, setting up "ComicBook/FearState".
56	* ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer'': Subverted. Olrik turns up working with almost every villain the titular duo face, but he's more often The Dragon than The Man Behind the Man.
57	* ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'': In ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol2016'', the reality-warping villainess Terry None, who is distributing the sinister miracle condiment $#!+, turns out to be the daughter of and frontwoman for the team's long-standing enemy [[spoiler:Mr. Nobody]].
58	* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'': A flaw in the later seasons of the series is that the main villainess Winnowill turns out to be the one behind the machinations for ''every single plot''. Shards? Yeah, that was her, shapeshifted. Wavedancers? Yup, her again. Forevergreen? Oh look, it was her insane minion. Hidden Years? Guess who made all those mutant monsters? It gets old. In the [[CanonDiscontinuity distant future]], residual taint from her evil magics at Blue Mountain is the focus of a major subplot.
59	* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': This happened in the 'Master of Doom' story arc. The Marquis of Death, who had appeared to have killed Dr. Doom and usurped his power early on in the story, was eventually deposed by his own protége, who happened to be...Dr. Doom, who had [[UnexplainedRecovery somehow]] survived the Marquis' earlier attempt to kill him.
60	* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'':
61	** The very first time the Flash's Rogues have decided to team up, it's revealed that they were being manipulated by Gorilla Grodd.
62	** Eobard Thawne a.k.a. Professor Zoom is a repeat offender, all in the sick game of messing with the Flash Family.
63	*** ''ComicBook/TheReturnOfBarryAllen'': Barry Allen seemingly goes rogue, but then Wally West finally discovers the truth and unmasks him as Eobard Thawne. This is actually Thawne ''before'' he even "met" Barry Allen, and the storyline is his StartOfDarkness.
64	*** While ''Rogue War'', as its title implies, focuses on the conflict between two factions of the Rogues, Hunter Zolomon (Zoom II) easily deals with all the Rogues in the end, and has even recruited Thawne for their own little VillainTeamup to break Wally.
65	*** During ''Finish Line'', Thawne gloats that he used his new MoreThanMindControl powers to subtly influence the various Flashes into committing [[OutOfCharacterAlert questionable decisions]] throughout the ''ComicBook/TheFlashRebirth'' era. He also revealed he was responsible for the incident that killed Zolomon's father-in-law (which became his ThatOneCase) and one of the catalysts to Hunter's StartOfDarkness.
66	** Also from ''Rebirth'' are the Renegades, futuristic HeroAntagonist versions of the Rogues who clashed with Barry Allen. Unbeknownst to even the Renegades, their director, a man previously known only as a "Judge", is later revealed to be a time-displaced Hunter Zolomon/Zoom II.
67	** The first ''ComicBook/TheFlashInfiniteFrontier'' annual reveals that Wally was ''not'' responsible for the electrical storm that killed all the heroes at Sanctuary in ''ComicBook/HeroesInCrisis''. The real culprit is Savitar trying to free himself from the Speed Force.
68	* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': In ''ComicBook/GreenLanternRebirth'', the newly introduced Parallax Entity was directed by Sinestro.
69	* ''ComicBook/{{Grendel}}'': Pope Innocent XLII, the ArcVillain of the 26th century, turns out to be Tujiro, the vampire serial killer from the 21st century arc.
70	* ''The Last Musketeer'': The bizarre, surreal, and hilarious -- as with everything else in the book -- reveal of the Comte de Rochefort as the ManBehindTheMan in Jason's vintage sci-fi adventure comic.
71	* ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'': The penultimate volume ''Century: 1969'' ends with the revelation that the BigBad Oliver Haddo survived his confrontation with the League by escaping to the astral plane and possessing the body of a young [[Literature/HarryPotter Thomas M. Riddle, aka Voldemort]] (the most well-known literary villain of the 21st century). Sure enough, ''Century: 2009'', the final installment, has the League facing off against Haddo inhabiting Voldemort's body.
72	* ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse'': The Phantom Blot sometimes does this, since he's a DiabolicalMastermind with a penchant for working from behind the scenes as either a HiddenVillain or a ManBehindTheMan. In one story, Mickey offered his services as a detective to a movie producer who seemed to be bothered by aliens. It turned out the whole thing was really a conspiracy by his various employees against him for being such a JerkAss, but the Phantom Blot was the one running the show. (He wanted to stop the making of a movie based on true events in which he had lost to Mickey.) In another, old story, the Blot was in prison, but the antagonist was an EvilGenius who Mickey suspected right away, and correctly, to be one of the Blot's subordinates. In a third story, the ''old'' villain Black Pete was acting really strangely while going out robbing things even though he was supposedly demonstrably in prison. It turned out the Blot had hypnotised both Pete and the prison warden as a RedHerring as part of a bigger plan.
73	* ''ComicBook/NightwingNew52'':
74	** The opening arc, where Nightwing is being hunted by Saiko and inherits Haly's Circus before finding a mysterious ledger with his name in it, was revealed to part of the ''Night of the Owls'' storyline that had been building in ''Detective Comics'' as it turned out [[spoiler:Haly's Circus had routinely given a child to the Court of Owls to become a Talon, and Dick was being groomed to be next in line before his parents died]].
75	** The overarching plot of Dick setting out to rejuvenate the Amusement Mile in Gotham with Haly's Circus as the centrepiece, was brought to an end thanks to ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'' (Which saw [[spoiler:Joker attack the circus to get at Nightwing in part of his larger plan to destroy Batman]]) and the subsequent and unrelated [[spoiler:death of Robin]].
76	* ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'': During the "Dead End Kids" arc, the Runaways end up in New York City in 1907. While there, they are told that the criminal underworld is supposedly run by Maneater (a sort of predecessor to the Kingpin) and the Sinners. Chase and Xavin later discover that the Sinners are actually answering to Dale and Stacey Yorkes, the parents of Chase's dead girlfriend, and enemies to the Runaways. They are understandably displeased when they find out that Gert's dead in the present day...The series also had an attempted Ultron hijack at the beginning of the second volume, but his attempt to frame Doctor Doom fails and he gets blown up by Darkhawk.
77	* ''ComicBook/SinCity'': In the story ''Hell And Back'', Wallenquist was revealed as the Colonel's boss, with the Colonel's main assassin answering directly to him.
78	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
79	** ComicBook/NormanOsborn's revival at the end of ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' definitely counts. We in the real world know he was brought in because the story had long since gotten out of hand, and the best way to resolve it neatly was to have one mastermind behind everything. Osborn, a notorious {{Chessmaster}}, was judged the only Spidey villain with the oomph to pull it off (even if they had to bring him back from the dead).
80	** ''ComicBook/SpiderManReign'' at first seems to feature two Original Generation villains alongside the Sinner Six, though it is revealed partway into the story that the mastermind of the plot is Venom.
81	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
82	** Darth Sidious manages to pull this off twice in ''ComicBook/DarkEmpire''. First, he transferred his soul into a cloned vessel and manages to temporarily [[IncorruptiblePurePureness corrupt Luke Skywalker of all people]] before he's killed again by Luke with the aid of Leia and her son Anakin Solo. He then transfers his soul into his final clone body after the rest of them were destroyed by Luke and [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder a couple of his underlings]], only to be KilledOffForReal in a TakingYouWithMe by Jedi Knight Empatojayos Brand.
83	** Dark Jedi Master Cronal was one of Palpatine's followers, a StrawNihilist DarkSide cultist who served as the BigBad of ''Literature/LukeSkywalkerAndTheShadowsOfMindor'' and the GreaterScopeVillain of ''VideoGame/JediKnightDarkForcesII''. After being killed by Luke during the Mindor campaign, he managed to come BackFromTheDead through TheDarkSide and served Sidious once more behind the scenes during ''Dark Empire''. He was finally KilledOffForReal in ''ComicBook/StarWarsTales #19'' after challenging Luke once more and being HoistByHisOwnPetard.
84	** Before his fate was {{retcon}}ned by ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' and ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', Darth Maul came BackFromTheDead several times before being finally reduced to a [[BrainInAJar brain & spine in a bacta tank]] controlling a HardLight hologram in ''ComicBook/StarWarsTales''. Luke Skywalker then finishes him off once and for all by shutting down his life support.
85	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
86	** ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' did this with its final storyline ''Reign of the Supermen'', the story starts out normally with the first two issues of each title attempting to endear us to the four Supermen. Then comes the halfway point of the third month when the Cyborg Superman decides to ventilate the Eradicator and allow Coast City to be destroyed by Mongul. Then, it turns out the Cyborg Superman is an evil and powered-up version of Hank Henshaw, a minor character from a couple of earlier pre-death issues, who was an {{expy}} of [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards]]!
87	** Throughout ''ComicBook/StrangersAtTheHeartsCore'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} gets harassed by a bunch of random villains ({{Phantom Zone}}r Shyla Kor-Onn, Klax-Ar, Gravitron Man...) who are apparently operating independently. The final chapter reveals that ''all'' of them were being manipulated by Supergirl's first nemesis, Lesla-Lar.
88	--->'''Lesla-Lar:''' I still sought your destruction by mentally influencing others...until I became trapped in a Superboy Robot!\
89	'''Supergirl:''' So it was you in all those battles...YOU!
90	** It happens in ''ComicBook/TheEarthwarSaga'' storyline in ''Superboy and the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes''. The Legion fights the Resource Raiders, only to learn they're secretly the advance guard for an invasion by the alien Khunds. Who are being manipulated by the evil Dark Circle. Whose leader had been replaced by the even more evil sorcerer, Mordru.
91	** In the storyline ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar'', Superman bonds with Strange Visitor in a last-ditch attempt to destroy Imperiex. The two succeed, at the cost of Strange Visitor's life; however, at that moment, Brainiac 13 steps in and takes Imperiex's power, having faked his own death and the destruction of Warworld to reach this moment.
92	* ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'': Rastapopoulos makes a few surprise return appearances as the BigBad in a few albums (although not as many as fans seem to think).
93	* ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'': The ''ComicBook/TitansBeastWorld'' event is the culmination of Brother Eternity's actions in ''ComicBook/Titans2023'', but it ends up getting hijacked by the Amanda Waller {{metaplot}}, much to his frustration.
94	* ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvel'': Dr. Doom has pulled this '''twice''' to date: in the ''Ultimate Power'' miniseries and in ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' vol. 3 ''. Which is weird, because he doesn't have nearly as much cred as his [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse 616]] counterpart, and except for those two instances, no one besides the Fantastic Four has dealt with him...but there you have it. The former kind of worked, the latter...[[AssPull not so much]].
95	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': In ''ComicBook/AmazonsAttack'', a brainwashed Queen Hippolyta has led the Amazons of Themyscira to wage war on the United States! BUT WAIT! It turns out that Queen Hippolyta's attack was actually all a SecretTestOfCharacter by the goddess Athena! BUT WAIT! It turns out it was all a convoluted plot masterminded by Granny Goodness of the ComicBook/NewGods while ''disguised'' as Athena and keeping the other Greek gods imprisoned! BUT WAIT! The entire miniseries was actually a tie-in to ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'', where Granny Goodness is training hundreds of women to be female furies in connection to the Death of the New Gods! BUT WAIT! [[FourLinesAllWaiting The Death Of The New Gods/Jimmy Olsen's superpowers plotline]] from ''Countdown'' was actually all part of Darkseid's evil plan involving the Anti-Life equation, and Granny Goodness was just working for him! [[KudzuPlot WHAT.]]
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Fan Works]]
99	* In Part 2 of ''Fanfic/ClashOfTheElements'', the [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Dark Star]] appears to be doing this, but it is {{subverted\|Trope}} a couple chapters later when Chaos Alex regains control of his body from him.
100	* ''Fanfic/DimensionalLinks'':
101	** The fic's initial premise, with Demise (having very, ''very'' slowly managed to extract himself from the seal within the Master Sword) finally getting fed-up with the incompetence of the incarnations of his hatred and hijacking ''all of them''. As the Links find out, this also gives him ''all'' of their powers, on top of the fact that he's a PhysicalGod (they spend most of the [[CurbstompBattle 'fight']] running for their lives and screaming, and they require a literal DeusExMachina from the Goddesses to survive). Doing this also happens to rip open some rather large holes in reality, which expand to consume everything they touch, destroying reality - [[OmnicidalManiac which suits Demise just fine]]. The fact that the Goddesses hijack them as a PortalNetwork for the collected Links, not so much.
102	** 'Lorule Ganon' of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds Link Between Worlds]]'' pulling this on Yuga after the latter's attempted GrandTheftMe is something that Demise approves of. Of course, out of all that his hatred incarnations have come up with, it's the ''only'' thing that he approves of. When the Links encounter him, he gets a good line when 'Sketch', the local Link, asks if it's Yuga in charge.
103	-->"I'm afraid Yuga isn't in right now, can I take a message?"
104	* This trope is referenced in the {{Crossover}} ''[[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/fate-stay-hijacked.237641/ Fate/Stay Hijacked]]'' by Ganon.
105	* Twice in ''Fanfic/MyBravePonyStarfleetMagic'', in fact. Towards the end of "Season 1", Nightmare Moon is built up as the final antagonist, when suddenly Titan reappears. He then returns in "TheMovie", hijacking the role of main villain from Distraught.
106	* Even in [[FanFilm fan-films]], Ganon is true to form. ''[[WebVideo/TheLegendOfZeldaTheSageOfDarkness The Sage of Darkness]]'' has an original villain: Etregun, who is a descendant of Ganon. [[GrandTheftMe Guess what happens?]]
107	* Double subverted in ''FanFic/PerfectionIsOverrated''. Near the end of the fic, the Usurper, in a last bid at defeating the Himes and ruling the world, possesses the Obsidian Lord, who had initially seemed to be the final antagonist the Himes would face. When the Usurper's remaining minions are defeated and the Obsidian Lord is forced out of Reito's body, the Obsidian Lord breaks free of the Usurper's control, killing him, before having one last confrontation with the Himes.
108	* Played with in ''WebAnimation/SonicZombie''. Silver's debut in ''Diaries 3'' has him get hijacked by a new monster antagonist near the end. Then in ''Vengeance'', he comes out of nowhere and interrupts Sonic and Knuckles's fight to steal both of their then-powers and become a OneWingedAngel. His monster form there is the main antagonist. Then in ''Shopping Mall'', he turns out to be the true identity of Metal Sonic, but towards the end a transformed Bowser ends up taking the title of the final villain the heroes have to face. The series being [[StylisticSuck made bad on purpose]], this is all played for laughs.
109	* Princess Jody, the BigBad of ''[[http://alaxr274.deviantart.com/gallery/33810717 Super Milestone Wars,]]'' becomes the TrueFinalBoss in ''[[http://alaxr274.deviantart.com/gallery/36864527 Super Milestone Wars 2.]]''
110	* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' fan season ''Fanfic/TotalDramaLuxuryTour'' briefly sets up Alejandro, who was the BigBad of the season immediately before it, as the main antagonist for the first few chapters. Then he's voted off pretty early thanks to Noah, and for the majority of the story following that, Duncan is geared towards being the villain. And ''then'' Alejandro simply ''bribes'' his way back on the game, [[TookALevelInJerkass takes a serious level in jerkass]], and takes over as the main villain, especially after Duncan himself is eliminated near the end.
111	* ''Fanfic/TheEquestrianWindMage'' actually [[InvertedTrope inverts]] this in regards to the {{Trope Namer\|s}} -- while Ganon is the main apparent threat in Season 2, it's only because [[GreaterScopeVillain Majora's]] followers engineer his awakening in Equestria instead of Hyrule so that A) he'll be out of their way, B) he'll serve as a distraction to Equestria's heroes, and C) they will deal with him and eliminate the competition for them. Also, it's repeatedly mentioned that Ganon is ultimately just a puppet of Demise's reincarnated hatred. During the FinalBattle, Demise is resurrected out of Ganon, acting as the TrueFinalBoss.
112	* ''Fanfic/WarAndPeaceInMind'': With [[{{Technopath}} Royal Pain]] locked up, the hero community turn to the AcademyOfEvil she already had in place as their [[BigBad main crisis target]], along with its secretive Headmaster. When the heroes finally meet him, it turns out Royal Pain had made an ArtificialIntelligence in her own likeness to run the school.
113	* The ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheCitadelOfTruth'' sets Astrum up as the BigBad of the fic with The Lich being defeated and turned into one of the Shards Of Evil early in the plot. But once Astrum makes his HeelFaceTurn, all of a sudden The Lich turned out be alive and quite well as he proceeds to hijack the plot and becomes the FinalBoss of the fan fiction.
114	* In ''Fanfic/TheParselmouthOfGryffindor'', most of Fourth Year has Barty Crouch Jr. as the antagonist, leading the Death Eaters by himself, but then the climactic battle happens without him when Voldemort's own EvilPlan comes to fruition and he summons all of the Death Eaters to him through the Dark Mark.
115	* ''Fanfic/AshesOfThePast'' starts when Cyrus successfully manages to create his new universe sometime during the Unova series and destroys the universe in the process, forcing Arceus to send Ash Ketchum back in time to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong. Ash eventually manages to stop Team Galactic in the new timeline, only for the original Team Galactic from the old timeline to appear through the portal their new timeline counterparts created and continue their plans.
116	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfiction frequently ties new villains (chronologically or by release) to older ones from prior seasons or back to the Generation 1 incarnation of the franchise.
117	** ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum'' has Tirek and his dark magic devices from Generation 1 be responsible for the mental corrupting of Queen Celestia.
118	** ''Fanfic/TheBridge'' canonized versions of Generations 1 through 3 as Equestria's past, with the Grogar from Generation 1 the GodOfDestruction responsible for directly mentoring most of the Friendship is Magic villains; with said villain's combined attack 1,000 years prior bring an elaborate scheme to restore their master.
119	* This is very common in ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'' mods. Ever since WordOfGod and Week 6 revealed that Daddy Dearest is much more than just a BoyfriendBlockingDad, and has actually screwed over people in the past ([[GreaterScopeVillain even responsible for some of the weeks in the full game]]), it's become very common to be revealed in mods that the opponent has been in some way screwed over by Daddy Dearest, and it often involves him trying to get revenge. Just some include [[VideoGame/VsWhitty Whitty]], [[VideoGame/SmokeEmOutStruggle Garcello]], [[VideoGame/VsTabiExBoyfriend Tabi]] and [[VideoGame/FridayNightFunkinENTITY A.G.O.T.I.]]. Jack from ''VideoGame/TheImpostorBoyfriendSaga'' is a rather unique example, as he was hired by Daddy Dearest to kill Boyfriend (much like Pico) rather than having his life screwed over by him.
120	* In ''Fanfic/KillThemAll'' Scion is set up as the main antagonist of the story, as in the original story. However Taylor's visits to Silent Hill end up allowing Samael to breach a path into Earth Bet where he attempts to corrupt and then [[DevourTheDragon consume Scion]], using his death to start spreading across the multiverse.
121	* ''Fanfic/JWITCHSeries'': Just like in canon, Shendu's resurrection by Daolon Wong at the climax of Season 1 sees him easily supplant the wizard and every other villain in the story as [[EvilerThanThou the worst one around]] -- he overpowers [[spoiler: and kills]] Cedric, [[DestinationDefenestration tosses Wong and Miranda out windows]] and ''far'' away from the castle, and blasts Phobos through his own throne.
122	* ''VideoGame/AnnventureNihilism'': Subverted and Defied. Tyrannia, the BigBad of the first two canon games, ''attempts'' to steal the BigBad position from Yoobii by getting Rudy to kill him, but Yoobii realizes what's going on and deletes her for good.
123	* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' fanfic series ''Fanfic/TheWolfInMe'': Downplayed; Livia, the first fic's antagonist, is killed off at the end. Mr. X, the villain for the rest of the series, initially appears to be a completely unrelated villain. It turns out that [[SamusIsAGirl she]] is Livia's adopted daughter who is AvengingTheVillain.
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Films — Animation]]
127	* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'', gangster Salvatore Valestra believes Batman has been murdering his past associates and fears he'll be next. To take out Batman, he turns to another former partner: the Joker, [[EvilIsNotAToy who murders Valestra himself and uses him as bait for Batman]].
128	* ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRunDawnOfTheNugget'' at first sets up [[MadScientist Dr. Fry]] as the new BigBad, being responsible for the mind control collars and all the operations at Fun-Land Farms, with CEO Reginald Smith of [[KitschyThemedRestaurant Sir Eat-A-Lot]] as the GreaterScopeVillain. Then halfway into the film, Dr. Fry introduces Smith to his wife, Mrs. Melisha Tweedy, the original BigBad of the [[WesternAnimation/ChickenRun first film]] and the real brains behind the new farm.
129	* In her backstory, Emily from ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' was murdered by [[TheBluebeard a Bluebeard]] who pretended he wanted to marry her but just wanted to steal her family's money. Lord Bittern, who in the present day wants to marry Victoria, is revealed to be the same guy up to his old tricks.
130	* While it wasn't surprising, as Sephiroth was heavily featured in ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' promotional materials, he didn't show up until the last 15 minutes of the movie to hijack it from the Remnants (bonus points for quite literally hijacking Kadaj's body in the process).
131	* Averted in Mortal Kombat Legends: Slow Blind. After Shang Tsung steals the souls from the Well of Souls, he tries to kill Kano but fails. Notable as Shang Tsung did this trope to Kronika in Mortal Kombat 11, which this film heavily takes elements from.
132	* In ''Tintin and the Lake of Sharks'' (1972) based on an original story, Tintin and friends faces a criminal organization specializing in making art forgeries lead by the mysterious "Shark King". It turns out "Shark King" is Roberto Rastapopoulos, Tintin's most recurring villain.
133	* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' repeatedly mentions a guy called Turbo who tried to relocate to another game and permanently broke both games. Sugar Rush's ruler King Candy later turns out to be Turbo who succeeded at his second attempt.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
137	* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', HYDRA has actually been resurrected amongst SHIELD's ranks ever since the agency's own formation, the mastermind this time being the Red Skull's right-hand man in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', Arnim Zola. This also puts into light certain events in the ''Film/IronMan'' films, such as the deaths of Tony's parents and Senator Stern wanting to get his hands on Tony's tech. The former is actually a MakeItLookLikeAnAccident engineered by HYDRA (since Howard Stark was one of SHIELD's founders), while Stern is in fact one of many HYDRA agents.
138	* ''Film/TheChroniclesOfNarnia: Film/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'' is a sort of meta-example. [[Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader The book]] is mostly a RandomEventsPlot, but here various vignettes are tied together by a mysterious green mist that brings out the characters' worst traits. Furthermore, WordOfGod says that the mist was created by the Lady of the Green Kirtle, the BigBad of [[Literature/TheSilverChair the next book]], though its movie adaptation never got made.
139	* In ''Film/{{F9}}'', it appears that Otto is the BigBad, having hired Jakob to steal Project Aries for him. Then in the climax, it turns out that he released Cipher from her box, and she takes over Otto's spot as the main villain.
140	* ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'', despite being set in the same world as ''Literature/HarryPotter'', features Gellert Grindelwald as the GreaterScopeVillain for the franchise. The first film, however, depicts him as being a VillainOfAnotherStory, with his actions being present but only in Europe. Surprise — the villain isn't a follower, but Grindelwald himself. [[Film/FantasticBeastsTheCrimesOfGrindelwald The sequel]] downright places him as the main antagonist.
141	* In ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'', Gozer, having been defeated in the [[Film/Ghostbusters1984 first film]], is the mastermind behind the Summerville crisis. There is a RedHerring with Ivo Shandor being the potential new BigBad, but Gozer splits him apart (literally) to be the main villain alone.
142	* In ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'', Godzilla is presented as the BigBad, having done a FaceHeelTurn and is attacking random cities unprovoked. This necessitates Kong being help to find a source of energy as a means of stopping his rampage. However, the reason ''for'' said rampage ends up not being as random as it may seem. That reason being that [[EvilInc Apex Industries]] is constructing their ''own'' kaiju, [[EvilKnockoff Mecha-Godzilla]], and they're using the remains of '''''[[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019 King Ghidorah]]''''' both for the robot itself and its neural interface; Godzilla's attacks on the company were his way of trying to prevent his ArchEnemy from being reborn. Naturally, Ghidorah takes full control of his new mechanical body and re-assumes his role as the BigBad, requiring an EnemyMine from Kong and Godzilla to take him out once and for all.
143	* ''Film/HalloweenEnds'': The majority of the runtime is spent on Corey GainingTheWillToKill before ambushing Michael Myers, stealing his mask and going on a rampage. However, Laurie takes care of him fairly easily and Michael returns to be the FinalBoss of the film.
144	* The ''Film/JamesBond'' movie ''Film/{{Spectre}}'' features the return of SPECTRE, the NebulousEvilOrganisation from the early Bond films and later novels (albeit no longer [[FunWithAcronyms an acronym]]). The movie reveals that Spectre was the true power behind, or was at least strongly connected to, Quantum, the organization whose agents served as the villains of the first two Craig-era movies, ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'' and ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'', as well as Raoul Silva from ''Film/{{Skyfall}}''. However, this trope only applies out-of-universe. The soft ContinuityReboot that occurred in ''Casino Royale'' means that this is the first time James Bond fights Spectre in this continuity.
145	* In ''Film/MurderAtTheBaskervilles'', the filmmakers inserted Professor Moriarty into the events of the Literature/SherlockHolmes short story "The Adventure of Silver Blaze" in order to [[AdaptationExpansion beef up the running time]]. However, for Holmes fans, it seems ludicrous that Moriarty would be taking a personal hand in so trivial a crime as [[FixingTheGame fixing a horse race]].
146	* ''Film/NowYouSeeMe2'' positions Walter as the villain, but it turns out Arthur is his father who is using him to accomplish his revenge plot.
147	* ''Film/ResidentEvilFilmSeries'':
148	** ''Film/ResidentEvilRetribution'' has [[AIIsACrapshoot the Red Queen]], who was previously deactivated at the end of the first movie and was revived presumably between ''Film/ResidentEvilExtinction'' and ''Film/ResidentEvilAfterlife''.
149	** ''Film/ResidentEvilTheFinalChapter'' has Wesker appearing as the main antagonist, [[SummonBiggerFish until he calls on]] the original Dr. Issacs for help.
150	* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
151	** ''Film/{{Solo}}'' deals with Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando, and several other smuggler allies having to do a heist job for Dryden Vos, the public leader of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate. The inner workings of Crimson Dawn are left vague for most of the story (largely because they're too much of TheDreaded for anyone with half a brain to dig into that), but a climactic scene reveals that the syndicate's true leader and the superior to Dryden Vos is none other than Maul, the former Sith Lord introduced in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''. His survival [[ContinuityLockOut having been previously explained in]] ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars The Clone Wars]]'' series.
152	** ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' has Palpatine (who's BackFromTheDead) as the BigBad, with him revealing how he's [[MemeticMutation somehow returned]] and has been [[TheManBehindTheMan behind Snoke]], the First Order, and what happened to Ben Solo (now Kylo Ren) all along.
153	* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014'': Thought [[CanonForeigner brand-new]] villain [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Eric Sacks]] was the BigBad? Nope! He's just a figurehead for the Turtles' most famous ArchEnemy, the Shredder. This is a unique example, in that Sacks was originally meant to be the Shredder himself, before fan backlash caused the two characters to be split in reshoots.
154	* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': ComicBook/{{Magneto}} pulls it twice in the films.
155	** In ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', he works with the X-Men without much protest or animosity to save mutant-kind, but once he foils Stryker's plan, he reminds us that he is the BigBad of the series and turns Stryker's Cerebro on normal humans.
156	** In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he hijacks the Sentinels to try and kill both Bolivar Trask ''and'' UsefulNotes/RichardNixon until Mystique stops him.
157	** In ''Film/TheNewMutants'', Cecilia Reyes is initially presented as the main threat due to being the one keeping the titular team imprisoned at the facility with her mutant power to create force fields. However, the instant [[spoiler:the Demon Bear]], the team's considerably more iconic enemy from the comics, enters the picture, Reyes is quickly disposed of and has her role as the final obstacle firmly supplanted by the beast.
158	* ''Film/{{Zoolander 2}}'' hints that Atoz, the new female fashion designer, is going to be the main villain. Later on, Mugatu becomes freed from prison and is revealed to be the one assassinating the world's most beautiful people in order to kill all fashion designers and models, with Atoz actually being Katinka from the last movie in disguise.
159	[[/folder]]
160
161	[[folder:Literature]]
162	* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Time Paradox'', the apparent villain-of-the-day (or yesterday) Damon Kronski turns out to be the pawn of Opal Koboi.
163	* In Creator/RykESpoor's trilogy ''Literature/TheBalancedSword'', the ultimate mastermind behind all the BigBad's actions is revealed to be the Wolf King, Virigar, the BigBad of the ''Literature/JasonWood'' stories.
164	* In the first three books of ''Literature/TheBlackCompany'', Dominator is a well-known GreaterScopeVillain to Lady's BigBad, so when he tries to hijack the plot in every book, it's this trope in-universe. Subverted later in the series with new BigBad Longshadow. It's heavily hinted he's someone the protagonists have faced before, supported by one of his minions turning out to be a previous antagonist and his own habit of going around in a mask and cloak that completely conceals his appearance. When they finally capture him, however, he turns out to be a complete stranger whose history is entirely unconnected to the previous books.
165	* ''Literature/BooksOfBayern'': In the fourth book, Selia shows up again after having supposedly been executed at the end of the first book...and as if that wasn't enough, the same character claims to have been indirectly responsible for the events of books 2 and 3 as well.
166	* In ''The Crystal Prison'', the second book in the ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' trilogy, Nicodemus, the spirit controlling Madam Akkikuyu, turns out to be Jupiter, the evil god from the previous book.
167	* Replace Ganon with Takhisis and you have the entire ''War of Souls'' trilogy in the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' series.
168	* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'':
169	** The first novel, ''[[Literature/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheSilverEyes The Silver Eyes]]'', ends with William Afton being killed, and [[Literature/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheTwistedOnes the sequel]] shows new, deadly animatronics who seemingly have no relation to him. And then it turns out he created them.
170	** The ''[[Literature/FiveNightsAtFreddysFazbearFrights Fazbear Frights]]'' series originally acts like Afton was long dead by the time the events roll around, with "The Man in Room 1280" even showing how he died. And then it turns out he was a secret, third spirit that was hiding inside the Stitchwraith, the newest animatronic antagonist. He quickly creates a new, stronger animatronic and readies himself to kill Detective Larson. Although in his defence, it was already established a few stories ago that the Stitchwraith is actually the BigGood, rather than the BigBad, and his return was foreshadowed a bit. This however actually ends up being [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in Epilogue 7, where William gets KilledOffForReal in one of the most badass moments in the entire franchise, to which it is then revealed William is simply a BigBadWannabe who could only become Afton’s Amalgamation with the help of an other evil, which is set up to be the true BigBad of the novels.
171	* Played with a few times in ''Literature/HarryPotter:''
172	** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', someone called "the Heir of Slytherin" murdered someone fifty years ago, and now the same thing is playing out again. It's eventually revealed that the Heir, Tom Riddle, was a young Voldemort, and a SoulFragment has come back to do it again. What's interesting is that we eventually confirm that the "real" Voldemort didn't know anything about this, and was actually pissed off, since the Heir's defeat cost him one SoulJar.
173	** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' is the only book where Voldemort isn't involved at all, but it does center around one of his servants, Peter Pettigrew.
174	** Other than ''Prisoner of Azkaban'', ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'' is the only book where Voldemort doesn't appear, though he is running things in the background. The actual main antagonist is, of all people, [[RivalTurnedEvil Draco Malfoy]].
175	* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'': The genetic-slavers (and DesignerBabies) of Mesa and [[EvilInc Manpower Inc.]] have basically been [[TheChessmaster puppeteering]] [[TheGoodKingdom the Star Empire of Manticore]] and the Republic of Haven since near enough the beginning of the series. Their {{plan}}s are almost [[Franchise/StarWars Palpatine]]-esque in their intricacy.
176	* ''Literature/JamesBond'': The original novel of ''Literature/YouOnlyLiveTwice''. So James Bond needs to get his mojo back after Blofeld got away and murdered his wife out of spite last time. Well, through a complicated series of events, Japan tosses him a relatively easy one: Some loon named Doctor Shatterhand is running a poisonous garden and encouraging suicide. Investigating that should jump-start him out of his funk...dum-da-da-da! It's Blofeld again! And he's ''crazy!''
177	* ''[[Literature/KittyNorville Kitty Takes a Holiday]]'' is an interesting example in that "Ganon" is a non-personified antagonist. The opening chapters are about Kitty trying to keep Ben's new lycanthropy infection from [[DrivenToSuicide driving him to suicide]]. After the initial crisis is resolved, the resultant RescueRomance is a B-plot through the remainder of the book. Meanwhile, the A-plot eventually leads Kitty and Ben to TheManBehindTheMan. It turns out that neither party can beat the other, so the good guys have to KnowWhenToFoldEm. The stress of failure causes Ben to wolf out, and the climax of the novel is Kitty chasing Werewolf-Ben through the woods, trying to find him and calm him down.
178	* At least from the perspective of the majority of the world, this is what Satan does to TheAntichrist in the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' series.
179	* In-universe example -- the main threat for most of the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' is [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds the Crippled God]], but in the last few books, his power is usurped by the Forkrul Assail, a KnightTemplar race of AbusivePrecursors, who intend to use it to scour the world of humanity, which they see as irrepairably corrupt. While the Forkrul Assail hadn't previously appeared as villains in the books themselves, they were a threat from the world's prehistory, so many of the characters, particularly the immortals, see it as this trope.
180	* In the ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'' series novel ''Eldorado'', for the first sixteen chapters it looks as if the only antagonist will be Citizen Héron, the head of the Committee of General Security. Then, just as Armand is suffering from a HeroicBSOD, the series villain Chauvelin [[FauxAffablyEvil politely taps him on the elbow and asks if he can be of service]].
181	* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' plays with this:
182	** About half the books introduce a new character that turns out to be Count Olaf in disguise; however, the Baudelaires see through it early on and [[CassandraTruth spend the rest of the book trying to convince]] [[AdultsAreUseless the bumbling adults in charge]].
183	** Also used for Olaf's many minions, at least one of whom always accompanies him in his schemes. Weirdly, the children never really are able to recognize ''them'' until the very end, despite the fact that the children are usually told that Olaf's minions just showed up in the area recently and they quickly notice suspicious characteristics about them. For example, the Foreman with the bad wig turns out to be the Bald Man With The Big Nose, the doctor with the "unusually solid hands" turns out to be the Hook-Handed Man, and Officer Lucinda with her "lipsticked smile" turns out to be Esme Squalor. It's not until the end of the book that the identities are revealed, which leads to the siblings inevitably trusting the newly-captured Olaf into the hands of the kind, innocent doctor or police officer that they just met.
184	** In the last book, there is Ishamel, a man the siblings never heard about from anyone in the vast V.F.D. organization (where everyone seems to know everyone) and who was able to seemingly defeat both the Baudelaires and Olaf — and Kit Snicket. In the end, it also looked like he is the only one of the original people on the island to make it alive to the continent.
185	* ''Literature/DunctonQuest'': In the sequel to ''Literature/DunctonWood'', the moles of the Stone are faced with the threat of the Word, a cult of crusading murderous moles led by [[BigBad Henbane]]. However, it is revealed later that Rune, a main enemy from the first book, is actually it's leader and plans to eliminate all Stone believers, and that Henbane is actually his daughter leading his conquest. His legacy also survives onto his grandson Lucerne in the third book ''Duncton Found''. And while Rune dies in ''Quest'', his wickedness lives on through the actions of his followers of the Word and in his grandson's madness.
186	* ''Literature/TsarGorokhsDetectiveAgency'': Most cases eventually lead back to the EvilOverlord [[OurLichesAreDifferent Koschei the Deathless]]. So much so that the detectives are genuinely surprised when that sometimes turns out to ''not'' be the case, like in ''The Plot of the Black Mass'' (villain is a demon) and ''Bride Elimination'' (villain is an Austrian diplomat). Apparently averted in ''Tsar Koschei's Black Sword'', where Koshei is seemingly killed by the new BigBad [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Zmey Gorynych]], but then it turns out that Koschei was only FakingTheDead and was behind Zmey all along.
187	* ''Literature/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'': While each volume has its own set of antagonists, the White Queen will always be revealed to be behind it all. Justified: she's the strongest being in the setting, so any scheme worth the name will involve her in some capacity. Meanwhile, the Queen is completely obsessed with [[TheHero Kyousuke]], so she goes along with any plan that will let her encounter him.
188	* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': In ''Literature/TheVorGame'', the various plots and counterplots wind up being overshadowed by a Cetagandan plot to re-invade Barrayar.
189	* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': Sol is probably the only villain in the entire series that isn't somehow connected to Tigerstar. And it's still unclear if he actually was or not.
190	[[/folder]]
191
192	[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]
193	* Throughout Literature/TheBible, everyone who commits an act of sin can be said to be tempted by Satan, directly or otherwise. However, the Book of James doesn't buy blaming Satan (or God, for that matter) as a FreudianExcuse:
194	-->When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.
195	* In Myth/NorseMythology, this gets combined ''with'' HijackedByJesus; after the Christianization of Norse Mythology, many stories had Loki written to be a more typical villain rather than the [[FallenHero Fallen]] GuileHero he previously was, leading to one notable example with Baldir's death. Everything in creation (even the flora) have to shed tears to bring the God Baldr back to life, but there is one Frost Giantess who refuses, and as a result, he can't. The Frost Giantess turns out to be Loki, who killed Baldr in the first place, in disguise, both points of which didn't come in until later versions.
196	[[/folder]]
197
198	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
199	* In Wrestling/{{WCW}}, there was the infamous Wrestling/{{Sting}} vs. the Black Scorpion angle. In August 1990, after wrapping up another chapter in his on-again/off-again feud with Wrestling/RicFlair, Sting started being harassed by a mysterious masked man who spoke with a heavily altered voice. The standard "masked wrestler" plotline quickly got out of control, incorporating bizarre promos, "messengers" that attacked Sting at house shows, and ringside stage illusions. After four months of this nonsense, the Black Scorpion was finally revealed to be...Ric Flair. Behind the scenes, this was an AuthorsSavingThrow -- WCW constantly alluded to the Black Scorpion actually being [[Wrestling/UltimateWarrior the Ultimate Warrior]] in an attempt to get Warrior to jump ship from WWF[[note]]Sting and UW started their careers together in California before going to Memphis as the Freedom Fighters and then to "Cowboy" Bill Watts' Mid-South/UWF as the Blade Runners, Flash and Rock, before going their separate ways.[[/note]] When it didn't work, they shoehorned Flair in instead.
200	* In early 1993 Wrestling/{{WWE}}, manager Wrestling/HarveyWippleman was not happy about how Wrestling/TheUndertaker had defeated Wippleman's man Wrestling/{{Kamala}} in the Casket Match at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 92'', leading to Kamala's [[HeelFaceTurn face turn]] and siding with [[Wrestling/{{Slick}} Reverend Slick]]. On the January 16, 1993 (taped December 14, 1992) episode of ''WWF Superstars'', Wippleman announced that the [=WWF=] would never be the same after he dropped "the big bomb." At the ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble,'' January 24, 1993, Wippleman revealed what "the big bomb" was: the 7'7" (billed as 8'0"), 400 lbs.+ Wrestling/GiantGonzalez (real name Jorge González, formerly Wrestling/{{WCW}} [[{{Face}} babyface]] El Gigante), who interfered in the match and eliminated the Undertaker! May he rest in peace.
201	* Another WWE mystery: "Who ran over [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin "Stone Cold" Steve Austin]]?" Well, the man driving the car was revealed to be Wrestling/{{Rikishi}}, whose lame MotiveRant killed any potential heat. Rikishi was so ill-fit for the {{Heel}} role that after one month the much better established Wrestling/TripleH was revealed to be TheManBehindTheMan. In reality, the mastermind couldn't have been anyone BUT Triple H. Triple H assaults Austin backstage, runs off, lures Austin out into the parking lot, where Rikishi just randomly happens to be in a car in the parking lot ready to run him over. Despite Triple H's insistence right before Rikishi's reveal that he was planning to lead to Austin to a beatdown, the variables are just too unlikely for it to be anybody but Triple H.
202	* In 1999, ''Wrestling/{{WWE}}'' featured a long and convoluted storyline about Wrestling/TheUndertaker and his Wrestling/MinistryOfDarkness attempting to seize control of WWE from Wrestling/{{Vince McMahon}} under the orders of a mysterious figure known only as "The Higher Power". This "Higher Power" turned out to be...[=Vince McMahon=]. The Ministry Of Darkness then merged with Wrestling/TheCorporation to become the Corporate Ministry, and about five months of storyline were thrown out the window. To be fair, this wasn't the original plan - Mick Foley was originally planned as the higher power, but he turned down the angle because he felt he was too physically broken down to do the angle justice. Going with Vince was Plan B.
203	* Wrestling/MollyHolly tried to hijack [[Wrestling/LisaMarieVaron Victoria]] by giving her further training and direction, but it didn't work, as she really couldn't control Victoria at all. She later did gain the servitude of Wrestling/GailKim by threatening to beat Gail up until she got it.
204	* In Wrestling/{{TNA}}, "Father" Wrestling/JamesMitchell took the Gathering (CM Punk and Julio Dinero) away from Wrestling/{{Raven}}, who had originally {{brainwashed}} them.
205	* In 2003 WWE, Sean O'Haire was starting a [[TheCorrupter Corrupter]][=/=]Devil's Advocate gimmick, where he would tell people to do unusual or outrageous things, topping it off with his catchphrase, "I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know." On the February 6th ''[=SmackDown!=]'' he convinced [[Wrestling/LondonAndKendrick Brian Kendrick]] to streak after A-Train {{Squash\|Match}}ed Shannon Moore. On the March 13th show, he convinced Wrestling/DawnMarie, a {{Heel}} herself, to "flash" the crowd[[note]]This was the same night that Wrestling/TorrieWilson, Wrestling/StacyKeibler, and Wrestling/{{Nidia}} all appeared on the ''Girls Gone Wild'' [=PPV=], though none of them actually got naked. Dawn had tape over her breasts and the rope was in the way.[[/note]] Then [[Wrestling/RoddyPiper "Rowdy" Roddy Piper]] returned to WWE during the Wrestling/HulkHogan vs. Vince [=McMahon=] match at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} XIX'' on March 30th as a heel, attacking both guys. O'Haire got turned into Piper's lackey as part of the whole ridiculous feud with Hogan[=/=]Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon[=/=][[Characters/WWERuthlessAggression Zach Gowen]] vs. Vince/Piper/Wrestling/{{Sable}}[=/=]O'Haire[=/=]A-Train[=/=]Wrestling/TheBigShow and maybe some other people. Even after Piper was fired in June, O'Haire never really got any kind of chance to revisit the gimmick and left in 2004.
206	* Legendary manager "Playboy" Gary Hart sent [[Wrestling/NelsonErazo Homicide]] and Wrestling/LowKi to attack Wrestling/TerryFunk at ''Wrestling/{{MLW}} Reload'' on January 10, 2004. Homicide and Funk had issues going back at least one year but ''this'' was Hart's [[DisproportionateRetribution retribution for Funk losing the "I Quit" Match]] to Wrestling/RicFlair at ''NWA Clash of the Champions IX'' on ''November 15, 1989''.
207	* Wrestling/{{Christian}} did this to WWECW upon his 2009 return. In fact, one could argue that he and [[Wrestling/TheWorldsGreatestTagTeam Shelton Benjamin]] were the only reason anyone would watch the show by that point.
208	* Wrestling/TheNexus was a group of scorned rookies out for revenge against the mainframe of the WWE...only for them to eventually become lackeys of the already well-established Wrestling/CMPunk, one of the original NXT mentors, after he disposed of their initial leader, Wrestling/WadeBarrett. Barrett would form the Corre in an attempt at revenge.
209	* By 2012, the Canadian Ninjas had been campaigning on and off against Wrestling/CheerleaderMelissa for two years. After their attack on Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} Volume 45, it was revealed they were after a bounty put on Melissa by Sweet Saraya, an opponent she hadn't faced in ''five years''.
210	* In Ohio Valley Wrestling, it was originally assumed Kevin Thorn had turned Shelly Martinez into the {{wrestling\|monster}} vampire Ariel but in the lead up to Wrestling/{{N\|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Vendetta Pro's 2013 ''Immortal Fear'' event, it was revealed she was instead turned by and still loyal to the much longer established Billy Blade.
211	* When [[Wrestling/{{FMW}} Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling]] was revived in 2015, one of the first things the returning FMW Seikigun had to deal with was NOSAWA's new Monster-gun faction, which would quickly be converted into the WING Monster-gun by long established FMW figure WING Kanemura.
212	* Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra's interference in the finals of the ''Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic'' forced O'Reilly and Cole to defend their tag team championships against the tournament's finalists ([[Wrestling/BritishStrongStyle Pete Dunne]] and Wrestling/RoderickStrong, and the Authors of Pain) at ''NXT [=TakeOver=]: New Orleans'' in a match also meant to determine the Classic's winner. Despite Cole forced into double duty after going through a brutal Ladder match to win the NXT North American Championship, they won when Strong betrayed Dunne. This not only allowed the group to win a tournament which they ''did not'' participate in, but allowed Strong to technically become a champion by using the Freebird Rule, all by intentionally throwing a match.
213	[[/folder]]
214
215	[[folder:Radio]]
216	* In the AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho story "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho030SeasonsOfFear Seasons of Fear]]" it turns out that Sebastian Grayle's masters are the Nimon.
217	* Parodied in an EasterEgg on the old ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'' website where, among other tomfoolery, arch-villain Dr. Blackgaard turns out to be the mastermind behind the Novacom Saga...with a possible reference to the fact that there ''were'' plans for Mayor Margaret Fey to be the ultimate villain. Somehow.
218	* The ''Quintessential Phase'' of ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1978'' gave Vann Harl the first name "Zarniwoop" and made him a Vogon (one of the aliens that destroyed Earth in the beginning). In the books Vann Harl and Zarniwoop were two unrelated villains with no specified race.
219	[[/folder]]
220
221	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
222	* After the release of Infernals in the second edition of ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', the Ebon Dragon seemed to have his hand in everything. He created the Unconquered Sun (Okay, that had been there since early first edition). He made contact with the Neverborn for the purposes of creating the Infernal AND Abyssal Exalted. He abducted the Scarlet Empress. He contacted the Viator of Nullspace and set him on his current quest to remake the Great Maker. Certain lines in Return of the Scarlet Empress -- the storyline in which one has at least four other Yozis to worry about, along with their own forces and those with the Realm, and he still manages to arise as the clear dominant villain of the entire game -- even strongly suggest he was behind the Great Curse.
223	* ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'' Gold Edition story arc introduced Daigotsu, the mysterious new lord of the Shadowlands. Daigotsu was able to dispatch the venerable powerhouse characters Toturi and Kyoso no Oni with ease and brought with him never-before-seen monsters such as the Tsuno and Onisu. He even managed to level Rokugan's capital city of Otosan Uchi...at which point he released [[GodOfEvil Fu Leng]], the setting's de facto BigBad from the realm of the dead and who then took on the role of the arc's FinalBoss. Interestingly, Daigotsu played an indirect role in Fu Leng's defeat thanks to [[MagnificentBastard Hantei Naseru]] running a successful BatmanGambit on the latter regarding the former's loyalty.
224	* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' had some sets in which [[BigBad Nicol Bolas]] ended up being behind the plane's big plot. This involvement is no secret for the audience, who can see it plainly, but for people on those worlds he is often an OutsideGenreFoe. Some examples:
225	** Kaladesh's main conflict revolves around free access to technology and rebellion against the government...but the revelation of a device for inter-planar transport reveals Nicol Bolas' agents have been waiting for exactly this the entire time to steal this technology.
226	** Ixalan's factions are obsessed with finding the Immortal Sun, an artifact of incredible power that also keeps plane-hopping planeswalkers imprisoned. The most powerful thing on this plane is actually an ancient trap for Nicol Bolas that never triggered - and now he's stealing it to re-use it for his plans.
227	* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', especially with later storylines Chaos becomes the main threat not only for humanity and Eldar, but other races as well.
228	** The Chaos Gods and their minions tend to show up in the 3rd act of many campaigns and stories to add an additional level of danger. Humans in the setting refer to Chaos as the Primordial Annihilator or the Archenemy.
229	** In the Sanctus Reach campaign supplements, the first books cover a war between the Imperium and Orks. The second book, however, ends with the Imperium fighting Daemons that accidentally got summoned by the Orks somehow.
230	** With the Great Rift opening, Chaos has flooded most of the galaxy. Including engaging in encounters that didn't involve them at all. Such as Armageddon another Ork vs Imperium world being sieged by Khorne Daemons and the Blood Angels being saved from war with Tyranids because Daemons decided to intervene.
231	** This extends to the 40k video games as well, many of which start with a Xenos threat, only for it to have been orchestrated by Chaos Space Marines and Daemons in order to weaken the Imperium for their own invasion.
232	[[/folder]]
233
234	[[folder:Toys]]
235	* Makuta from ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' got into the habit of this. After the Bohrok arc, it was revealed that he released them in the first place to buy time to recover from his prior defeat. In Metru Nui, he was the mysterious mastermind behind everything. And then when a group of thugs called the Piraka went after a treasure called the Mask of Life, we eventually found that Makuta manipulated them into doing so. Most of the other arcs, though, stated up front that Makuta was at least in charge of the other villains even if he didn't appear personally (with two exceptions - he was unaffiliated with the Barraki, and even quietly supported the heroes against them for his own reasons; and in the first arc on Bara Magna he just plain wasn't involved). This ends up being a [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstruction]]; a [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] like Makuta would only be willing to suffer defeat after defeat if he could end up factoring them into his long-term plan or even being outright prepared for them - and come 2008, [[TheBadGuyWins his plans ended up fully realized]].
236	[[/folder]]
237
238	[[folder:Webcomics]]
239	* In ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}'', Khrima was the first villain, only to later be hijacked by Eternion. This is parodied, like everything else in ''Adventurers!'', when Khrima and Eternion have an election campaign on who gets to be the FinalBoss. Eternion got his boss fight, but Khrima afterward comes from out of ''nowhere'' with a VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon and the FinalBoss fight.
240	* The "Army Of One" storyline in ''[[Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja Dr McNinja]]'', where the antagonist(s) seem to be a bunch of sky pirates who have kidnapped a clone of Doc, but the whole thing is really a plot by Frans "I was pretty sure you were dead" Rayner, the main villain of the D.A.R.E. plotline from years ago.
241	* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', the "wraiths" attacking the [[AnotherDimension other dimension]] in the "[[http://beta.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=070205 Aylee]]" arc are actually members of Aylee's species, who, not counting Aylee's evil clone, hadn't appeared since Aylee was introduced 10 years previously.
242	** Not to mention several dangerous situations set up by demons who appear to be fragments of K'Z'K', the demonic BigBad from several early arcs.
243	** And then there's [=HeretiCorp=], which at least usually has its logo on everything, except during its man-behind-the-man-who-was-actually-behind-the-first-man-anyway plots. Really, it's getting less "Is this _____ or a new enemy?" and more "Is this ____ or ____?"
244	[[/folder]]
245
246	[[folder:Web Original]]
247	* In ''WebVideo/ArbyNTheChief'', Chaos Theosis, the main antagonists of Season 6, were actually working for Trent Donnovich, who was the main antagonist of Season 5.]
248	* In ''Literature/ChaosFighters II''-Chemical Siege, after the true villain is revealed as Etphan Signis, when Enrei and Gareia finished him, it was revealed that Thanic Snader, the BigBad of ''Cyberion Strike'', did everything, including mind-controlling Etphan so that he can leave Etphan doing the dirty work.
249	* In ''WebAnimation/{{Ducktalez}} 7'', The Beagle Boys were run by Julia Roberts, who was reconstructed by Eric Roberts after the sun nearly killed Julia in 3.
250	* At the conclusion of ''Blog/{{Moonstuck}}'', the "Nightmare Woona" who has caused most of the trouble is revealed to actually be Discord.
251	* In ''WebVideo/ThereWillBeBrawl'', we do end up getting a non-Zelda example for the TropeNamer, Ganondorf. Then we're given another example in-universe when ''he'' is hijacked by ''[[SerialKiller Kirby]]'', who had been a problem to the kingdoms in the past.
252	* Parodied in ''[[WebAnimation/SoThisIsBasically So This Is Basically Legend Of Zelda]]'', which describes Ganondorf as having the evil power of plagiarism and shows him dangling the deed to the Twilight Realm above Zant's head.
253	[[/folder]]
254
255	[[folder:Real Life]]
256	* The Lockerbie Bombing was planned by the IRA but they turned out to be funded by Muammar al-Gaddafi.
257	* It’s been speculated not only that Hamas’s ongoing attack on Israel is funded by Iran but that Iran are being given the money to do so by Vladimir Putin, [[TheChessmaster in order to make America channel resources into supporting Israel]], thereby leaving them with less resources to put into defending the Ukraine, thereby enabling Putin to continue [[AssimilationPlot his attempts to annex them]] [[IfICantHaveYou with impunity]].
258	[[/folder]]

Context Main / HijackedByGanon