Line #36 Main/RoguesGalleryShowcase


1	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/SinisterWar https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sinisterwar2021001_wraparound_1_min_1_3.jpeg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:LetsYouAndHimFight (and him, and him, and her...)]]
3
4	->''"Big Boy Caprice, Breathless Mahoney, Flattop, the D.A., Pruneface, Mumbles, Lip Manlis, and the Blank are all out to get the greatest detective of all time!"''
5	-->-- ''Film/DickTracy'' trailer
6
7	This trope deals with individual stories from a series/franchise that feature several members of the property's RoguesGallery. These tales don't necessarily involve VillainTeamUp or LegionOfDoom, which are obviously [[SubTrope Sub-Tropes]]; they just involve adventures in which a ''lot'' of villains appear, whether they're working together or not. Writers sometimes refer to these stories as "gang bangs".
8
9	Video game adaptations of comic book properties tend to indulge in this to take advantage of the source material's rich RoguesGallery.
10
11	See also RunTheGauntlet.
12	----
13	!!Examples:
14
15	[[foldercontrol]]
16
17	[[folder:Comic Books]]
18	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'':
19	** ''ComicBook/BatmanHush''
20	** ''ComicBook/TheLongHalloween''
21	** ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand''
22	** ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' not only introduced the world to Bane, but also hit us with The Mad Hatter, The Ventriloquist, Zsasz, the Joker, Firefly, Poison Ivy, and The Scarecrow, to name just a ''few''. To get a bit more... exhaustive, the [=KGBeast=], Maxie Zeus, Amygdala, the Trigger Twins, Abattoir, Cornelius Stirk, the Riddler, Killer Croc... Essentially, what you're looking at is nearly all of Batman's major villains, a fair number of the more minor ones, and a bunch of new ones!
23	** ''Where Were You on the Night Batman was Killed?'' where several members of Batman's rogues gallery (Characters/{{Catwoman\|SelinaKyle}}, [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler the Riddler]], [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker the Joker]] and, inexplicably, [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]]) claim to have murdered Batman and place themselves on 'trial' before a jury of their peers (The Mad Hatter, [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]], [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow the Scarecrow]], [[Characters/BatmanMrFreeze Mr. Freeze]], the Spook and Signalman) with [[Characters/BatmanTwoFace Two-Face]] as the prosecutor and [[Characters/BatmanRasAlGhul Ra's al Ghul]] as the judge. Most of the rest of the rogues gallery shows up to watch.
24	** And between that one and [[Characters/BatmanBane Bane]]'s debut, ''Detective Comics'' #526 had new threat Killer Croc clash with not only Batman but also a rival group of villains including Clayface II, Mister Freeze, Black Spider, the Penguin, Catman, the Cavalier, the Riddler, the Scarecrow, Signalman, the Spook, the Getaway Genius, the Mad Hatter, Two-Face, Captain Stingaree and Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Oh, and of course [[spoiler: the Joker is there to play both sides against each other for laughs.]]
25	** ''Batman'' #400: Ra's Al Ghul springs literally every single villain from Arkham and Gotham Penitentiary, and even though a good two thirds of them leave partway into the story, around twenty of them stick around and team up to carry out his plan.
26	** ''ComicBook/BatmanTomKing'': ''The War of Jokes and Riddles'' revolves around a gang war between the Joker and the Riddler. Two-Face, the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, the Ventriloquist and Scarface, Poison Ivy, Deadshot, the Scarecrow, Clayface, Man-Bat, Cluemaster, Victor Zsasz, Solomon Grundy, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Deathstroke, Firefly, the Mad Hatter and even Kite Man end up getting involved.
27	** A whole slew of pre-ComicBook/{{Flashpoint\|DCComics}} Batman villains turn up to fight Thomas Wayne in ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'' #3, including Professor Pyg, Man-Bat, Dr Hurt, Una Nemo, Mr. Zsasz, [[spoiler:the Joker]].
28	* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': This was the high concept of the ''Fantastic Four: Foes'' miniseries, as well as the earlier "World's Greatest Comics Magazine" miniseries.
29	* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': The storyline "Rogue War" featured a LegionOfDoom plot with two groups of Flash's Rogues coming together to fight each other, but also involved numerous other, unaligned Flash villains either taking advantage of the chaos or fighting both sides.
30	** The idea of the Rogues Gallery teaming up ''en masse'' actually started out this way in the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] series; the first time more than two of them teamed up was in a one-off story that had them all manipulated into doing so by another baddie, Gorilla Grodd.
31	* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': The 200th issue CrisisCrossover storyline in the mid-1980s has most of the book's recurring villains pressed into service by Guy Gardner as part of an EnemyMine attack on the Anti-Monitor, but ComicBook/{{Sinestro}} is also there to pursue his own agenda.
32	* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': Issues #144 & #145 Tim faced off against twenty-three named villains that had escaped the OMAC Project, some of whom he'd faced before and a few new ones.
33	* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': This is how the 1990s ''Power of Shazam'' series handled the then-Captain Marvel's LegionOfDoom, the Monster Society of Evil; rather than teaming up, it was a number of unconnected villains all being manipulated separately by [[spoiler: Mr. Mind]].
34	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
35	** ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1963'' #100 features Spidey briefly battling various enemies, who call him out on his various insecurities, usually one that they share, finally culminating in his speaking with the recently deceased Captain George Stacy.
36	** There is a story in ''ComicBook/SpiderMansTangledWeb'' where a bunch of villains are talking about how each of them almost got Spider-Man. Then one of them throws off his hat, reveals his hairdo, and says "[[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied I threw his girlfriend off a bridge!]]"...
37	** The ''[[ComicBook/BrandNewDay Origin of the Species]]'' arc featured a whole bunch of Spidey's foes, old and new, hired by Doctor Octopus to kidnap Menace's child.
38	** Creator/MarkMillar featured one in his run on ''ComicBook/MarvelKnightsSpiderMan'', culminating in ''The Last Stand'' where the Green Goblin assembles The Sinister ''Twelve''.
39	** Creator/NickSpencer is fond of these in ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan2018''. ''ComicBook/{{Hunted}}'' features Spider-Man and every animal-themed villain in his rogues' gallery being hunted down by Kraven the Hunter and Arcade. ''ComicBook/SinisterWar'', meanwhile, features Spider-Man versus six different Sinister Six teams.
40	* ''ComicBook/{{Starman}}'': The "Grand Guignol" storyline functions as one for the Jack Knight incarnation of Starman, bringing together Nash/The Mist II, Dr. Phosphorus, Crusher from the Bliss Carnival, the Bodines (from a "Times Past" story), plus [[spoiler: the rejuvenated Rag Doll, the mysterious Culp]], and, in flashbacks, the minor villains Pip and the Prairie Witch. [[spoiler: And to top it all off, the original Mist turns up alive, and Neron is the GreaterScopeVillain]].
41	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': The storylines ''Ending Battle'' and ''ComicBook/SupermanUpUpAndAway'' both showed off virtually the entire roster of Superman villains; both were written by Creator/GeoffJohns.
42	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': In ''ComicBook/WonderWomanCharlesMoulton'', "Battle Against Revenge", Bedwin Footh looks through a filing cabinet full of Wonder Woman villains, before selecting seven to ally with. It later turns out that his allies are actually actor friends disguised as the villains, but the role call of some of her most dangerous foes at the time still starts out the story and even she is tricked for a while.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
46
47	* ''Anime/BatmanNinja'' features ComicBook/TheJoker, ComicBook/HarleyQuinn, ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}, ComicBook/ThePenguin, ComicBook/PoisonIvy, ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}, ComicBook/{{Bane}}, and [[Characters/TheFlashRoguesGallery Gorilla Grodd]] duking it out [[MeleeATrois with the Dark Knight and each other]] in FeudalJapan.
48	* All three films in the ''Batman Unlimited'' canon prominently feature multiple villains teaming up with each other:
49	** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnlimitedAnimalInstincts'' has The Penguin, Killer Croc, Man-Bat, the Cheetah, and Silverback.
50	** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnlimitedMonsterMayhem'' features the Joker, Solomon Grundy, Silver Banshee, Clayface, and the Scarecrow.
51	** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnlimitedMechsVsMutants'' has a VillainTeamUp between the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Bane, Killer Croc, Clayface, and Chemo -- alongside cameo appearances from Hush, Two-Face, and the Mad Hatter.
52	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanVsTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' has a VillainTeamUp between the Shredder and ComicBook/RasAlGhul, with Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, Bane, and Scarecrow along for the ride.
53	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie'' has the Joker {{lampshade\|hanging}} this via LongList:
54	-->'''Joker:''' Your city is under attack by Gotham's greatest criminal minds, including...ComicBook/TheRiddler! [[ComicBook/TheScarecrow Scarecrow]]! ComicBook/{{Bane}}! ComicBook/TwoFace! ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}! [[OverlyLongGag And let's not forget]] Clayface, ComicBook/PoisonIvy, Mr. Freeze, ComicBook/ThePenguin, Crazy Quilt, Eraser, Polka-Dot Man, Mime, Tarantula, King Tut, Orca, Killer Moth, March Harriet, Zodiac Master, Gentleman Ghost, ClockKing, Calendar Man, Kite Man, Catman, Zebra-Man, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and the Condiment King]]!\
55	[{{beat}}]\
56	'''Hostage:''' Okay, are you making some of those up?\
57	'''Joker:''' [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Nope! They're all real! Probably worth a Google...]]
58	** Later on, Joker goes a step further and recruits villains from ''other'' series to fight Batman.
59	* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndBatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' features cameos from ''nearly every villain Batman has ever faced on the show'', with Riddler and new villain the Crimson Cloak (aka [[spoiler: Clayface]]) acting as the main villains. Catwoman, Killer Croc, Clock King, Scarecrow, King Tut, Deadshot, Crazy Quilt, Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, Firefly, Cavalier, Music Meister, Egghead, Fun Haus, Bookworm, Kite-Man, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Ventriloquist, Two-Face, Joker, Penguin, Bane, Blockbuster, Weeper, King Cobra, Zebra Man, Babyface and his gang, Eraser, Catman, Sportsmaster, Mirror Man, Killer Moth, Mr. Camera, Dr. Double-X, Ten-Eyed Man, the Brand, Gaggy, Polka Dot Man, and Atomic Man all make cameos throughout the film.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
63
64	* ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'' featured a number of Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'s enemies (and allies) being roped into working for the invading alien Xillians. Among those featured were [[GiantEnemyCrab Ebirah]], [[MuckMonster Hedorah]], [[GiantSpider Kumonga]], [[PsychoForHire Gigan]], and of course, [[{{Archenemy}} Ghidorah]]; his friend Anguirus, King Ceasar, and Rodan were also braincontrolled into aiding the aliens. Also included was the 1998 version of Godzilla, here renamed Zilla- who, since no one particularly liked him at the time, was subjected to a CurbStompBattle.
65	* ''Film/BatmanTheMovie'' functions as one for [[Series/Batman1966 the TV series]], since it teams up the four most popular villains: the Joker, Catwoman, the Penguin, and the Riddler.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
69	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
70	** The seventh season premiere closed with a WhamLine, delivered by a shapeshifter (later revealed to be [[spoiler:the First Evil]]) in the form of all of the previous seasons' main villains in reverse order [[spoiler: and ending with Buffy.]] (Because Spike was on the other side of the conversation and Angel was on [[Series/{{Angel}} his own show]], the Season 2 spot was taken by Drusilla.)
71	* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' has several owing to its ConspiracyThriller elements, but the first time this trope was used was in the first season finale, "Firewall," which includes recurring villains HR, Donnelly's F.B.I. team, and [[spoiler: Root]].
72	* The Season 5 finale of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' featured Oliver having to [[EnemyMine team up with several past enemies]] in order to defeat [[BigBad Prometheus]], who has also gathered several of Oliver's enemies to his side.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Video Games]]
76	* ''[[VideoGame/SpiderMan2000 Spider-Man]]'' on the [=PS1=]/N64/PC featured at least six of Spidey's most famous villains teaming up together (and at least two more pursuing their own agendas).
77	* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries''
78	** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' features the Joker, Harley Quinn, Bane, Victor Zsasz, The Scarecrow, Killer Croc, The Riddler and Poison Ivy, as well as references to everyone else. None of them really team up (other than Joker/Harley as usual) but many either manipulate or take advantage of the other villains plans.
79	** The sequel, ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', is truly a gift for the Rogue-loving fans of Batman. The main story features the Joker, Harley, Two-Face, Hugo Strange, [[spoiler:Ra's Al Ghul, ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul]], Catwoman, Solomon Grundy, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and [[spoiler:Clayface]]. Bane, The Riddler, Hush, The Mad Hatter, Zsasz, and Deadshot are featured in side missions. Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Black Mask, Azrael, and Calendar Man show up in [[TheCameo cameos]] or otherwise short appearances. Most of the others are at least referenced, either via mook dialogues and {{Easter Egg}}s (like Scarecrow) or trophies (like Scarface).
80	** True to form, ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' bases its main plot around the eight assassins (Killer Croc, The Electrocutioner, Deathstroke, Deadshot, Firefly, Lady Shiva, Copperhead and Bane) hired by Black Mask. [[spoiler:Who happens to be the Joker in disguise.]] There's also side-missions involving Mad Hatter, the Penguin, the Riddler (not quite at his Riddler persona yet and under the name "Enigma"), Bird and Anarky, and brief appearances from Calendar Man and Alberto Falcone.
81	** Finally, ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' features Scarecrow, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, the Penguin, and new villain the Arkham Knight [[spoiler: (really Jason Todd)]] in the main game. Side-missions feature Firefly, Professor Pyg, Man-Bat, the Riddler, Deathstroke, Deacon Blackfire, Ra's al Ghul, the Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, and Killer Croc (though the last four are DLC exclusive.) Zsasz and Calendar Man make cameo appearances, and [[spoiler: Batman is haunted by hallucinations of the Joker throughout the game]]. Black Mask also appears in a DLC sequel to the main story.
82	* PlayedForLaughs in the beginning of ''Videogame/CrashTwinsanity'', wherein Cortex reveals that he had organized some sort of bizzaro birthday party, consisting of many boss characters from previous games (complete with [[HeelFaceTurn a confused Crunch Bandicoot]] and a vengeful Polar the polar bear). Ultimately, none of them contribute to the fight and presumably leave when Cortex and Crash leave the area- with Dingodile suggesting to Ripper Roo that they go out for lunch.
83	** Being a MegamixGame for the racing spin-offs, ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacingNitroFueled'' features many of the same playable villains and boss characters, and adds a few that previously weren't in them for good measure: Neo Cortex, N. Gin, Tiny, Dingodile, Ripper Roo, Papu Papu, the Komodo Bros. (Joe by default and Moe as DLC), Pinstripe, N. Tropy, Fake Crash, Penta the penguin, Nitrous Oxide, Zem, Zam, N. Trance, Krunk, Nash, the Norms, Geary, Emperor Velo, Nina Cortex, N. Brio, Koala Kong, Rilla Roo, Megamix and Lab Assistant. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Also]], [[Franchise/SpyroTheDragon the Spyro villain Gnasty Gnorc]]. Uka Uka and the newcomer Apo-Apo act as power-up masks for them all.
84	* ''VideoGame/CaptainAmericaAndTheAvengers'' features Klaw, the Living Laser, the Whirlwind, the Wizard, the Grim Reaper, the Mandarin, the Juggernaut, Ultron and Crossbones, all being controlled by the Red Skull.[[note]]Well, considering his canon characterization, Crossbones was PROBABLY working under Skull willingly...[[/note]]
85	* Each of the "superhero" games in the ''VideoGame/LegoAdaptationGame'' series (''VideoGame/LegoBatmanTrilogy'', ''VideoGame/LegoMarvelSuperHeroes'', ''VideoGame/LegoMarvelSuperHeroes2'', ''VideoGame/LegoDCSuperVillains'') feature extensive showcases of the rogues galleries for every hero present, including some cases of villains having more story relevance than the hero they're associated with. ''DC Super-Villains'' being about {{Villain Protagonist}}s also does a partial {{inver\|tedTrope}}sion of the trope by having a wide range of {{Hero Antagonist}}s appear in the story mode.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Western Animation]]
89	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'':
90	** "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE46AlmostGotIm Almost Got 'Im]]": The Joker, Killer Croc, Penguin, Two-Face, and Poison Ivy all meet at a poker table, each telling a tale of times when they almost defeated Batman. At the same time, ComicBook/HarleyQuinn is about to kill ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}.
91	** "[[Recap/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobinE3Trial Trial]]": Batman is tried by a KangarooCourt consisting of the Joker ([[JokerJury who functions as the judge]]), Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Riddler, Killer Croc, Ventriloquist, Poison Ivy, the Mad Hatter and a bunch of {{mook}} extras. They kidnap Gotham City's new District Attorney, Janet Van Dorn, to defend him, as she has publicly claimed Batman is [[CreateYourOwnVillain responsible for creating these villains]]. As she defends him, she realizes the error in her judgment, and the Rogues jury agrees and finds Batman not guilty...and then decide to execute him anyway.
92	* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'': In the episode "Birds of a Feather", several of the series' recurring villains are all after the same MacGuffin.
93	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': "The Greatest Fear of All" involves a prison break when the ninja visit Kryptarium Prison to get a specific villain's help, which includes members of every enemy faction for the series so far, though most of them are {{mook}}s or one-off [[MonsterOfTheWeek villains of the week]].
94	* ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'':
95	** In "[[Recap/SWATKatsS1E13Katastrophe Katastrophe]]", Dark Kat, Dr. Viper and The Metallikats join forces to "Destroy the SWAT Kats!" (Cue {{Evil Laugh}}s all around).
96	** In "A Bright and Shiny Future", The Pastmaster teams up with The Metallikats to...well, you know the drill.
97	* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Revved Up" had most of the show's minor villains competing in a ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces''[=/=]''Film/TheCannonballRun''[=/=]''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'' style race to see who got ComicBook/{{Robin}}'s most prized possession.
98	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' includes this in "Relax-o-Vision". Because all the fight scenes have been replaced with "relaxing" images so as not to frighten the kiddies, we see little to nothing of the actual fighting.
99	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': "Death Race to Oblivion!"
100	* The ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' DirectToVideo movie ''WesternAnimation/MickeysHouseOfVillains''. Pretty much every Creator/{{Disney}} villain shows up.
101	* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', the Decepticons are much stronger and usually ''one'' is enough to be the villain of the week. They're not all on the same page, either. This means "Megatron Rising", the only episode where all five main 'cons appear at once, is one of these. They don't really 'team up' so much as you have Lugnut and Blitzwing looking for Megatron, then Megatron enacting his plan to steal the MacGuffin, TheStarscream serving himself as always, and Blackarachnia...trying to steal the MacGuffin before Megatron gets to it. Five villains, four goals, though obviously the "trying to find and restore Megatron" goal leads into Megatron's plan once he is restored. Also, "Decepticon Air," involving Decepticon prisoners breaking out during a space flight back to Cybertron for imprisonment, involves a team up of 'cons who aren't usually one big team; wanting to escape is about all any one of them has in common with any of the others, though they do team up.
102	* ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' has the episode "Reckoning", where Ra's al Ghul recruits previously-defeated villains like Professor Pyg, Mister Toad, Magpie, Tobias Whale, Phosphorus Rex, and Cypher to bring Batman to him, dead or alive. Lady Shiva is also in the episode, but has no direct role in that plot.
103	* In ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', this is Mister Boss's MO. Whenever he is the villain of an episode, expect at least five other villains to show up in it, though not necessarily aligned with him.
104	[[/folder]]

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