| 1 | ->''"There's always someone stronger [=w8ing=] to 8e revealed. Jack showed up shortly after that, and he was MUCH stronger. Eventually the curtains get pulled 8ack, and you find out who was 8ehind every [=terri8le=] thing that happened all along. Someone who is [=invaria8ly=] stronger than all other adversaries 8y a wide margin. The supreme villain!"'' |
| 2 | -->-- '''Vriska Serket''', ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' |
| 3 | |
| 4 | The audience is presented with several candidates for the BigBad, the true source of evil actions, typically in succession of each other. As a result, there are ''multiple'' {{Disc One Final Boss}}es. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | The writers are playing the Big Bad Shuffle when Bob, the good guy, defeats Big Bad candidate [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Mr. Corrupton]], but learns that Mr. Corrupton was really just being manipulated by Big Bad candidate [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Dr. Unethik]]. So Bob, the good guy, [[note]][[EpilepticTrees who the audience is now thinking]] might [[VillainProtagonist be a Big Bad candidate himself]][[/note]] kills Unethik, but finds out that Unethik was secretly controlled by the Big Bad candidate OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness, which turns out to have [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Bob's scheming trophy wife as the chairperson]] and who is now -- you guessed it -- a Big Bad candidate. And then it turns out she is a faithful servant of the local EldritchAbomination, who is giving her direct orders to spread its dark influence and is now yet another Big Bad candidate. [[KudzuPlot And so on, with a few station breaks to sell you some of the aspirin you now need]]. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Tropes by which this can be invoked include TheManBehindTheMan, TheManInFrontOfTheMan, TheStarscream, HiddenVillain, TheDogWasTheMastermind, DiscOneFinalBoss and HijackedByGanon. May often involve the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil as one villain is dispatched and the next, more powerful one takes its place. This may be the result of a GambitPileup. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Multiple {{reveal}}s and [[TheUnReveal UnReveals]] are mandatory. Contrast BigBadEnsemble, which is when there are several Big Bads operating at once. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ''Keep in mind that this is about {{plot twist}}s,'' '''''so EXPECT SPOILERS.''''' |
| 13 | ---- |
| 14 | !!Examples: |
| 15 | |
| 16 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 17 | |
| 18 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 19 | * ''Franchise/BlackClover'': |
| 20 | ** The role of the Big Bad of the second saga of the series was thrown around with multiple of villains who could have filled the role but were tossed aside to make way for [[GreaterScopeVillain Greater-Scope Villains]] to directly get involved or were just the ArchEnemy of one of the main characters [[ArcVillain for the Arc]]. The first "Big Bad" was the devil Megicula who resided in the Spade Kingdom and just so happened to be responsible for cursing Acier Silva (causing Noelle's life with her family to be miserable as [[TheScapegoat she was blamed for her death]]) and the Heart Kingdom's queen Loropechika. Then the [[BigBadDuumvirate Dark Triad]] ruling over Spade are revealed and split up to attack 3 locations that the main trio (Asta, Yuno and Noelle) happen to be currently residing at. At the Black Bulls' hideout, it's revealed that Dante Zogratis (their leader, the natural Big Bad) is the [[DemonicPossession host]] to the Devil King Lucifero and the other members are hosts to the other highest ranking devils but he is defeated by Asta and Yami so his brother Zenon teleports to him to [[NoNonsenseNemesis finish the job of kidnapping Yami]] while rescuing and mocking Dante for being defeated, maybe this ominous member of the trio is the real Big Bad? |
| 21 | ** In the next Arc, their EvilPlan to [[spoiler: use the 2 captain's Arcane Dark and World Tree Magic to]] open the {{Hellgate}} is put into motion and the Clover Kingdom's raid team [[StormingtheCastle storm the Spade castle]] to fight the Triad. All is going well until Morris, the MadScientist from the Diamond Kingdom who joined the Triad, uses knowledge he took from Loropechika's mind (which contained the knowledge of every previous queen) after Vanica kidnapped her to accelerate the Tree's growth and the first level of the Underworld opens up, allowing the Dark Triad to power up to 100%. Surely Dante, the leader and the one who is the host the Devil King is still the Big Bad, right? Nope. His role is [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] after he is beaten by [[spoiler:Magna Swing, the ''weakest'' member of the Black Bulls]], before he can even fill his role as Asta's Arch-Enemy in a potential rematch. After Dante is gone, Vanica is next and Megicula takes the opportunity to partially manifest, finally the devil that started off the saga shows up ''and is...'' defeated by Noelle. Zenon makes a [[spoiler: contract with Beelzebub in a]] final stand but is ultimately killed by Yuno, however, the Qliphoth ritual is still accelerating as Morris is the final remaining villain. Not only has Morris been built up since the start of the series but is also the new host to the Devil King and is armed with centuries of knowledge only to end up as a BigBadWannabe who is [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness abandoned by Lucifero so he can manifest himself]]. |
| 22 | ** The "true" final villain, Lucifero, takes his place and [[CurbStompBattle curb stomps all of the Magic Knights present]] including Asta and the captains. A massive battle erupts ending with a VillainousBreakdown in the same fight that the "true" Big Bad finally revealed himself. [[spoiler:It turns out that even the Devil King was susceptible to be an UnwittingPawn to the fourth Zogratis sibling, Lucius, who had [[TheChessmaster manipulated the events]] so that Lucifero would lose, allowing Lucius to gain the Devil King's heart, and now Lucius takes the role of the final villain.]] |
| 23 | * In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', [[TheEmperor Emperor Charles]] is the overarching BigBad for the series, but the title of main antagonist varies quite a bit. First is StarterVillain Clovis, who is killed three episodes in. Then Cornelia becomes TheHeavy for the rest of the first season. Schneizel becomes the Heavy for most of Season 2 while Charles finally takes center stage in Episode 39. [[spoiler:Charles bites it with four episodes and change left to go, leaving Schneizel as the undisputed Big Bad of the next three episodes. He is eventually outmaneuvered and Geassed by Lelouch, leaving Nunnally as the FinalBoss.]] |
| 24 | * ''Franchise/DragonBall'': |
| 25 | ** The Android Saga of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' has an amazingly choreographed version of this, as a result of Creator/AkiraToriyama's former editor complaining about most of the villain's designs, forcing some last-minute introductions. First, it looks like Mecha-Freeza and his father King Cold, but then they get torn apart by Future Trunks, who tells the main characters about the ''real'' villains, the Androids. Then Androids 19 and 20 appear and are total jokes ([[VillainForgotToLevelGrind Dr. Gero didn't level grind enough]]). But those two ''aren't'' the Androids Future Trunks was talking about, who do themselves appear... but turn out to be pretty chill and have no real desire to destroy the world or hurt the protagonists (except Goku because of programming, and Vegeta because the arrogant prat started it). And then Cell (who wasn't supposed to be ready for a while) shows up, having come back in time [[NiceJobBreakingItHero by stealing another version of Future Trunks' time machine]] to take the spotlight as the final villain. |
| 26 | ** ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' has a pretty extensive case of this between Episodes 9-16, where the series plays hot potato with who the main bad guy is. Each episode gives each character their own dramatic reveal as if they were the main villain, before finally landing on the first proper ArcVillain. In order, it's Bon Para, then Mutchy Mutchy, then his whip, then Dolltaki, then Luud, then Dr. Myuu, ''and then'' Baby takes over as the central villain. |
| 27 | ** The Future Trunks saga of ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' initially presents Goku Black as the main villain. Later on though, we learn that Goku Black is actually working with [[spoiler:Future Zamasu]] to exterminate the mortals, though their relationship is left ambiguous. Whis theorizes that Black is actually a servant created by [[spoiler:Future Zamasu]] to act as TheDragon to him. However, it is eventually revealed that [[spoiler:Goku Black is actually an alternate Zamasu, and he is the one who came up with their plan in the first place.]] Despite this, the two seem to have a pretty solid BigBadDuumvirate between them and they later [[spoiler:merge into a singular BigBad, Fused Zamasu]]. |
| 28 | * ''Manga/{{Enigme}}'': The story starts with the main characters believing that the person behind them getting stuck inside the school is a teacher that one of them had problems with. [[spoiler:Then, it's later revealed that the teacher is just someone helping the actual person behind the game, Kijima. Kijima himself, turns out to not be evil, and is actually protecting and training the protagonists to face against the real villain, "Cannibal", who is coming after them.]] |
| 29 | * In ''Manga/FairyTail'', [[BigBadWannabe Jellal]] starts out as the apparent BigBad of the series, trying to get [[GreaterScopeVillain Zeref]] to become the BigBad. Then it turns out he's being manipulated by his right-hand woman [[ManipulativeBitch Ultear]], who is actually TheDragon to Hades, a villain with the same scheme. Then it turns out that Zeref wanted no part of being the BigBad, but is [[BigBadSlippage forced into the position]] upon the emergence of [[BigBadEnsemble two rivals]]: Acnologia, whom he wants to kill; and E.N.D., [[DeathSeeker whom he wants to be killed by]], and also turns out to be TheHero of the series Natsu Dragneel. |
| 30 | * ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': |
| 31 | ** The first half of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' has a bit of this. First, there's Keicho Nijimura, whose rampant use of the Stand Arrow creates most of the enemies that the heroes deal with early on. He's killed very early on though and the first half mainly focuses on tracking down his killer and the one who took the Stand Arrow, Akira Otoishi. However, Akira himself is dealt with at the end of the first half and doesn't really get the chance to do much. After he's dealt with though, the heroes learn about Yoshikage Kira, and the rest of the arc is spent tracking him down. |
| 32 | ** ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureJojolion JoJolion]]'' does this too, to the point where the obscurity of the main villain [[Memes/JoJosBizarreAdventure has become a meme]]. At first, it seems like it's a toss-up betwen Jobin Hishigakata and the Rokakaka Cartel led by Tamaki Damo. Then Damo is forced to reveal himself as the DiscOneFinalBoss, and ''another'' group of Rock Humans, led by the Head Doctor, show up in the plot, working against both Jobin and Josuke. [[spoiler: And the Head Doctor is a decoy, being the stand of the Rock Humans' real leader Tooru.]] |
| 33 | * As the Final Saga of ''Franchise/{{One Piece}}'' unfolds, we gradually learn the top contenders for the primary villain role of the BigBad. First up, there's Marshall D. Teach, aka Blackbeard, who rose to power as one of the Four Emperors after killing Whitebeard and taking over his territory by capturing Ace, Luffy's brother, thus instigating the Marineford conflict. Next on the list is Fleet Admiral "Akainu" Sakazuki, the head of the Marine forces, who is responsible for Ace's death. Finally, there's Imu, the mysterious true leader of the World Government who wields authority over the Five Elders. Who will emerge victorious in the end is yet to be revealed. |
| 34 | * The BigBad of ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' has, at various points, been: [[MadScientist Orochimaru]] (former [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad Akatsuki]] member) -> [[GottaCatchEmAll The Akatsuki]] itself ([[AloofBigBrother Itachi]] being its most visible player) -> [[BigBadWannabe Nagato]] (with [[TheManBehindTheMan Tobi]] as the true BigBad) -> [[NotSoHarmlessVillain Tobi]] ''[[BigBadEnsemble and]]'' [[KnightTemplar Danzo]] -> [[{{Necromancer}} Kabuto]] [[BigBadDuumvirate and]] [[DeadPersonImpersonation Tobi]] -> [[spoiler: [[PredecessorVillain Madara]] [[BigBadDuumvirate and]] [[FallenHero Obito]] -> [[DarkMessiah Obito]] (after he becomes the jinchuuriki of the Ten-Tails and Madara leaves on the background) -> [[GodhoodSeeker Madara]] (after Obito's defeat) -> [[PhysicalGoddess Kaguya]] (after Black Zetsu backstabs Madara) -> [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Sasuke]] (after helping Naruto seal Kaguya) -> [[KnightTemplar Toneri]] (when he tries to crash the Moon into the Earth) -> [[EvilVersusEvil Momoshiki]], (who is Kaguya's rival in monopolizing chakra)]]. |
| 35 | * In ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'' the main BigBad is thought to be Gyokuro Shuzen, comander-in-chief of the monster terrorist organization Fairy Tale, whose plan is to unseal the ancient Shinso Vampire {{Alucard}}. However, it later turns out that there's a person called the Masked King who actually runs the organization, and it seems that Miyabi Fujisaki, the leader of Fairy Tale's first sub-division, seems to have his own agenda. As it turns out, [[spoiler: not only are Miyabi and the Masked King the same person, but he's also Alucard's mind, splintered off from the main body.]] |
| 36 | * The 2007 ''Manga/SkullMan'' anime has quite a complicated villain situation. Initially, the BigBad seems to be the titular Skull Man, a vigilante killing civilians seemingly at random. Then it's revealed that he's only acting in response to the actions of the Otomo Concern, headed by Gozo Kuroshio, who are secretly turning people into mutant monsters as part of a plan to remake humanity in their image. Within Otomo, Gozo's illegitimate son Masaki Kumashiro also steps up as a candidate, forming an alliance with corrupt military officer Kanji Isurugi behind his father's back. To make things more complicated, Otomo Concern's overseas business partners, Brain Gear, also get involved seeking to claim the Skull Man suit so they can study it. Things reach their head in the final episodes which see [[spoiler:Gozo backing out of Otomo's EvilPlan, but his wife Sara and Masaki continuing to go along with it, the Skull Man being revealed as Yoshio and passing on the suit to TheProtagonist Hayato, Isurugi attempting to pull a coup only to be [[EvilerThanThou shut down]] by Van Vogt of Brain Gear, and Masaki hijacking Otomo's EvilPlan for himself, killing Sara and his father in the process.]] To top it all off, the villain who comes out on top in the end is none other than [[spoiler:[[TheProtagonist Hayato Mikogami]] himself, who gets taken over by the Skull Man suit in the finale and remodeled into Skull, subsequently becomes leader of Brain Gear (which by that point has been revealed to be Black Ghost from ''Manga/Cyborg009'') and BigBad of the ''Cyborg 009'' manga.]] How's that for a twist? |
| 37 | * ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' |
| 38 | ** ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', the initial antagonists are Jack Atlas, TheRival, and Sector Security and their leader, Rex Goodwin. Then in the second half of Season 1 the heroes find out Goodwin has been recruiting the heroes to fight the Dark Signers and his brother Roman, the ''real'' villains. Then Goodwin becomes a Dark Signer as well and becomes the FinalBoss of the season. Next season the Three Emperors of Yliaster become the main antagonists, and it is revealed Roman and Goodman were their puppets they manipulated. The Three Emperors in turn are working for the leader of Yliaster, Z-ONE. It is also revealed that the BigBad of the 10th anniversary film, Paradox, was another member of Yliaster. |
| 39 | ** ''Anime/YuGiOhVRAINS'' has multiple {{Big Bad}}s throughout the series. The first season had the Knights of Hanoi led by Revolver, aka Ryoken Kogami, who is following his father's will to destroy the Ignis due to believing they are a threat to humanity. They are competing with SOL Technologies Inc., who seek to capture Ai to regain access to the Cyberse, and the former becomes part of a BigBadEnsemble alongside a mysterious faction led by Bohman, who is revealed to be the DragonInChief to [[spoiler:Lightning, a rouge Ignis who seeks to rule over humanity in a new Cyberse World beyond the human's reach. Lightning is also the GreaterScopeVillain of the entire series, being the cause of all the strife due to his refusal to coexist with humanity. Once he and Bohman are taken out however, the final antagonist ends being none other than Ai, who goes through a FaceHeelTurn after deaths of the other Ignis and becomes the FinalBoss of the series.]] |
| 40 | [[/folder]] |
| 41 | |
| 42 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 43 | * ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' descends into this once original BigBad Adam Susan is killed, with multiple villains attempting to fill in the [[EvilPowerVacuum power vacuum]] caused by his death. |
| 44 | [[/folder]] |
| 45 | |
| 46 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 47 | * ''Fanfic/ChaosTheory'' starts out with the BigBadEnsemble of Kotomine, Gilgamesh, Zouken and [[spoiler: Caster Alter]] being the main antagonists, the latter two working together to fulfill their agendas while simultaneously plotting against the other, while Kirei merely observes and Gilgamesh does whatever he wants. However, after [[WhamEpisode Chapter 31]], [[spoiler:Dark Sakura kills both Zouken and Caster Alter, Kirei becomes TheDragon, and Gilgamesh is reverted to a child after a near-disastrous encounter with Dark Sakura and ends up doing a HeelFaceTurn.]] Near the end though, [[spoiler: Sakura is separated from the Grail's influence, but Kotomine sacrifices himself to incarnate Angra Mainyu as Avenger, whom proceeds to take over as BigBad.]] |
| 48 | * ''Fanfic/FracturedInfinity:'' The villain most involved in leading the assault on the heroes is [[Series/EngineSentaiGoOnger Yogosmacritein]], but then [[spoiler: [[Series/KamenRiderGaim Kudo Kugai]] appears to take over, and after he dies, Yogosmacritein follows not long after, with [[Series/ChourikiSentaiOhranger Buldont]] becoming Dark Guild’s new leader until his demise. And then the final boss the heroes must face is their own former ally [[RogueProtagonist Kumon Kaito]].]] |
| 49 | * ''Fanfic/MiraculousCity'': Following the MassSuperEmpoweringEvent where everyone in Paris gained Miraculous powers, a new Butterfly villain named Chrysalis would rise up, using their power to [[SuperEmpowering akumatize their subordinate crooks]] for crime, [[EvilVsEvil putting them at odds against Monarch]]. While it seemed at first that Monarch [[VillainDecay would lose ground to both Chrysalis and the stronger Team Miraculous]], in chapter 25 [[spoiler:he comes back on top by force akumatizing Chrysalis and taking control of Paris]]. |
| 50 | [[/folder]] |
| 51 | |
| 52 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 53 | * ''Animation/WhiteSnake2019'': The General is presented as the sole BigBad for most of the film, but right after he's defeated, The Master takes over as the new BigBad and orders the snake clan to slaughter all humans in the village, and later betrays all of her snake clan to drain their essences and power herself up. |
| 54 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Tyler, Ming and Grandma Wu are all presented as the primary antagonist but this is ultimately subverted with Tyler just being a redeemed bully, and Ming and Wu, overprotective mothers. |
| 55 | [[/folder]] |
| 56 | |
| 57 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 58 | * The Creator/DanielCraig run of ''Film/JamesBond'' films has played with this. |
| 59 | ** At first, it appears to be following a similar pattern to the early films of the franchise, with Bond defeating various plots from the villainous organization SPECTRE (or this time, Quantum, in its first incarnation), ultimately leading up to his meeting and confronting the leader of the organization, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. However, for the final movie, SPECTRE is [[MakeWayForTheNewVillains unceremoniously wiped out]] by a longstanding enemy with a personal grudge against them, Safin, who goes on to be the final (and arguably most successful) villain of the Craig era. |
| 60 | ** Further complicating things are the villains of ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'' and ''Film/{{Skyfall}}''. In the former case, Le Chiffre is clearly working closely with Quantum, and ultimately disposed of by them, but it's never made clear if he's a member, or if they're simply one of the many organizations that use him to shelter and launder their money. In the latter case, Silva is never shown to have any ties to the organization or to the larger myth arc at all and his motivations are very personal - it's only one movie later that we find out SPECTRE was behind him too, though no specifics are ever given. |
| 61 | * The ''Franchise/StarWars'' Sequel Trilogy goes through a few different {{Big Bad}}s. In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', Supreme Leader Snoke is presented as the overarching villain. Then in ''Film/TheLastJedi'', Snoke gets killed by Kylo Ren, who [[DragonAscendant declares himself]] Supreme Leader and is set up as the new Big Bad. And then in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', it turns out Emperor Palpatine is BackFromTheDead and was running things from behind the scenes all along. Kylo ends up [[spoiler: having a HeelFaceTurn]] while Palpatine is the trilogy's FinalBoss. |
| 62 | * ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'' |
| 63 | ** Mystique and Bolivar Trask compete for title of villain in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''; it's Trask's Sentinels that lead to the BadFuture, but it's Mystique killing him and being captured for experimentation that leads to the Sentinels getting approved by the government, making ''her'' the one whose EvilPlan needs to be stopped. Additionally in the future Trask and Mystique are dead, making the Sentinels themselves the villains. [[spoiler:And then in the past Magneto ends up becoming a ''third'' villain when he decides to kill Trask and the President.]] |
| 64 | ** At first Cable appeared to be the BigBad of ''Film/Deadpool2'', [[spoiler:however, at the beginning of the third act Cable's target Russell is revealed to be the primary threat until his own redemption.]] |
| 65 | [[/folder]] |
| 66 | |
| 67 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 68 | * So, in the ''Literature/MollyMoon'' series, there's Primo Cell, who's really being controlled by [[spoiler:Lucy Logan, the librarian.]] But then we learn that the real person with the strings is [[spoiler: Cornelius Logan, crossdressing as his sister Lucy.]] Okay... And then in the third book, it turns out [[spoiler: Waqt]] hypnotised [[spoiler: Cornelius]] into his StartOfDarkness. Wow. |
| 69 | * ''Literature/TheChathrandVoyages'', which could just as easily be called "GambitPileup -- The Epic Fantasy", despite the action largely being confined to the eponymous ship. |
| 70 | ** [[TheSpymaster Sandor Ott]] wants to start a civil war in the Mzithrin Empire by freeing the Mzithrini tyrant and war-criminal [[GodEmperor the Shaggat Ness]] and returning him to his followers. |
| 71 | ** [[EvilSorcerer Arunis]] tricked Ott into thinking it was a good idea as part of stage one of a plan to recover the Shaggat's ArtifactOfDoom and [[spoiler: destroy the world]]. |
| 72 | ** His on and off co-conspirator and rival [[spoiler: and sister]] Macadra wants the same artifact and sent him to get it, but she wants to rule the world [[spoiler: rather than destroy it]]. |
| 73 | ** The Shaggat himself thinks fate is manipulating all of them to help him fulfill his destiny as a DarkMessiah. |
| 74 | ** Master Mugstur is the psychotic, sentient rat who wants to take over the ship at the head of an army of regular rats because he thinks [[CrystalDragonJesus Rin]] wants him to (and eat the Captain's tongue while he's at it). |
| 75 | ** Lord Talag is the eight-inch-high {{Chessmaster}} who wants to use the ''Chathrand'' to find his people's lost homeland, then scuttle it there and kill everyone aboard except his followers. He's aided and abetted by his son Taliktrum, who starts plans of his own that quickly spiral out of control. |
| 76 | ** [[EldritchAbomination The Swarm of Night]] is the entity Arunis ultimately intends to summon. It doesn't really make anything that can rightly be called "plans" of its own, but the threat it offers to the world is greater than ''all of the above combined'' [[spoiler:and by the end of the third book, it's loose]]. |
| 77 | * ''Literature/WarriorCats'' descends into this in the Dark Forest storyline. Every major villain in the series, and a few new ones, team up to destroy the Clans. The story leads us to think that Tigerstar, Hawkfrost, Brokenstar, or Mapleshade is the villain, without ever giving a definitive answer on who's behind it all. Even Ivypool is confused, and the information she relays to the other characters reflects it. Not that this is a bad thing. |
| 78 | ** Very much so in ''Literature/WarriorCatsDawnOfTheClans''. The first novel sets up [[spoiler:Clear Sky]] as a villain. This continues throughout the second and third novel. However, Clear Sky [[MyGodWhatHaveIdone regrets his actions]] and tries to makes up for them. The fourth book introduces One-Eye and [[spoiler: Star Flower]] as villains, with the former [[spoiler: dying]] that very book. In the fifth book, we are introduced to Slash, and the story makes Star Flower's choice of side unclear. By the last book, Slash is the final boss, and Star Flower is good. |
| 79 | * ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle'' begins with one BigBad, [[SorcerousOverlord Lord Xar]] (though the [[VillainProtagonist main character]] is his [[TheDragon Dragon]]), but as it goes on picks up more main villains with increasingly complicated relationships. The {{necromancer}} [[OmnicidalManiac Kleitus]] is the ruler of [[OurLichesAreDifferent the lazar]] and despises all life and seeks its destruction; when Xar encounters Kleitus he manages to defeat him and force him into servitude, but Kleitus hangs around mostly for the chance to [[TheStarscream kill Xar while his back is turned]] while trying to manipulate him for his own ends. [[TheHeartless The Serpents]] are a timeless force of evil who feed off chaos and negative emotions, and willingly subordinate themselves to Xar in the hopes of manipulating him into causing unprecedented destruction - their leader is the Royal One, but he rarely shows up and plays little direct role, leaving the position of TheFace of Serpents as a faction to [[TheCorrupter Sang-drax]]. Sang-drax and Kleitus don't get along and are seen to try and manipulate Xar in opposite directions, while Xar himself trusts neither of them and generally does what they want only insofar as it suits his goals. ''Then'' there is [[KnightTemplar Samah]] (who is replaced by his son [[DragonAscendant Ramu]] after he dies) who opposes Xar and is ''also'' working with the Serpents, who like to play both sides wherever possible. Needless to say, when they all crash into each other, the worlds barely survive. |
| 80 | * In the ''Literature/ErebusSequence'', it takes until the end of the second book (of three) to be clear on exactly who the main villain is. The King and the Majordomo each seem dismissive of the other's belief that they're the one in charge, and apparent new primary threats (the reactionary Fonteins, the increasingly tyrannical Domina, etc.) turn out to be manipulated by the then-thought-dead Majordomo. |
| 81 | * ''Literature/TheGreenEmber'' has a large amount of villains who all appear to be the "main" villain of each book, but turn out to be an ArcVillain at best, or a MookLieutenant at worst. Even Redeye Garlackson and Lord Falcowit, two dangerous antagonists in the series, are both killed relatively easily and have little screentime. |
| 82 | * ''Literature/TheAscendantKingdomsSaga'' has, at various points, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Pentreath Reese]], [[EvilSorcerer Vigus Quintrel]] [[spoiler: or rather, the demonic being controlling Quintrel]] and [[ShroudedInMyth Thrane]] as architects of different plots trading off the role of main threat; [[AristocratsAreEvil Lord Vedran Pollard]] works with or for all three of the above at various points [[DragonWithAnAgenda to advance his own ambitions]], and [[SorcerousOverlord Nagok]] has a similar relationship with Thrane alone. [[spoiler: However, several characters speculate that Thrane may have been responsible for the magical cataclysm that set the MythArc in motion; if this is true, that probably cements him as ''the'' BigBad of the Saga]]. |
| 83 | * ''Literature/CodexAlera'' combines this with BigBadEnsemble, as some of them overlap: For the first book, it's the Atsurak (with the Aquitaines as the GreaterScopeVillain), then it's Sarl in book two, Lord Kalare and Sarl in Books 3, Kalare and Senator Arnos (with Lady Aquitaine pulling his strings) in Books 4 and 5, it's [[spoiler: the Vord Queen]]. |
| 84 | * ''Literature/ReleaseThatWitch'': In order to survive and protect his lands, Roland has to go through his brother Timothy who appointed himself king, then TheChurch trying to kill all the witches who he's made his allies [[spoiler:and finally the Demons who are hell bent on wiping out humanity.]] |
| 85 | * In ''Literature/TheBartimaeusTrilogy'' the first book has Simon Lovelace, the leader of a group of magicians attempting a [[TheCoup coup]], as the main antagonist, only for the ending to hint that there was another powerful conspirator who escaped justice. In the second book [[spoiler:Henry Duvall]] seems to be the BigBad, only for the third book to reveal that [[spoiler:Quentin Makepeace]] was TheManBehindTheMan to both of them. Then it turns out his right-hand man [[spoiler:Hopkins, has been possessed by the demon Farqual, Lovelace's top enforcer in the first book]], and has been manipulating [[spoiler:Makepeace]] for his own purposes. Then it's revealed [[spoiler:Farqual]] is really the right-hand man of an immensely powerful spirit known as Nouda, who ends up being the biggest threat in the series. |
| 86 | * ''Literature/SpinningSilver'': The [[TheFairFolk Staryk]] King is framed as the BigBad, both threatening the protagonist Miryem's life and family and working to condemn the human lands to a deadly EndlessWinter. His actions are then revealed to be an attempt to combat Chernobog, a demon who poses a deadly threat to humans and Staryk alike. Once the King is defeated and Chernobog attacks openly, Miryem joins forces with the Staryk against Chernobog and the King [[HeelFaceTurn stops playing a villainous role]]. |
| 87 | * ''Literature/AChorusOfDragons'' has a complex web of antagonists going on, who sometimes work together and sometimes betray each other. The masterminds of the initial plot [[TheHero Kihrin]] finds himself enmeshed in are two evil wizards, Gadrith and Darzin, with Gadrith being the dominant of the two. Then it turns out they're working for a far more powerful wizard, [[TheArchmage Relos Var]], except that Gadrith [[TheStarscream is planning to betray Var and hijack his plans for his own gain]]. Var in turn ostensibly works for [[DarkMessiah Duke Azhen Kaen]], but it's a fairly open secret that Var is [[DragonInChief by far more dangerous and the real driving force behind Kaen's actions]]. Then there's Gadrith's summoned demon [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils Xaltorath]] who it turns out only ''pretends'' to work for Gadrith and is actually running their own web of centuries-spanning schemes. On top of that, [[GodOfEvil Vol Karoth]] is the SealedEvilInACan whose power Var and Xaltorath are both trying to harness for their own purposes. Things get even more complicated in the third book, when [[spoiler: Thaena, goddess of death, [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumps off the slippery slope]] trying to stop Var and has to be defeated herself]]. Ultimately, though, [[spoiler: Var and Xaltorath]] establish themselves as the architects of most of the series' conflicts, opposing both the protagonists and [[EvilVersusEvil each other]]. |
| 88 | * ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': The fate of the Empire after Endor turns the Bantam-era expanded universe into an extended application of this trope. With the Emperor and Darth Vader dead in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', there are no longer any strong figures holding the Empire together. As a result, the whole thing flies apart; a couple dozen Imperial admirals or governors break off from the Empire to become warlords ruling large parts of the galaxy, while what's left of the Empire proper is paralyzed by various persons fighting over the throne. The Rebel Alliance/New Republic spends the next fifteen years slowly battling all of them (plus the various pirates, crime syndicates, or hostile alien factions taking advantage of the chaos) for control of the galaxy, with their primary target changing on a constant basis. Best illustrated in the Wraith Squadron trilogy, where the Wraiths infiltrating Warlord Zsinj's fleet by posing as mercenaries cheerfully participate in an attack on an Imperial facility (their leader explicitly reminding them that even though Zsinj is their overall target, any damage done to the Imperial government is good for the New Republic), only to immediately turn around in the following book and work closely with the Imperial battle group pursuing Zsinj. |
| 89 | [[/folder]] |
| 90 | |
| 91 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 92 | * ''Series/TwentyFour'' does this to at least some extent each season. The usual pattern is that the BigBad at the start of the season will be replaced by someone else halfway through. |
| 93 | ** For example, Ira Gaines was the BigBad of Season 1 until the halfway point when [[spoiler:Andre Drazen]] took over for the second half [[spoiler:and then he himself got replaced by his father Victor Drazen for the last few episodes]]. |
| 94 | ** Season 2 set up Syed Ali as the BigBad of the actual terrorist plot in the first half before the CorruptCorporateExecutive Peter Kingsley took over as BigBad for the second half by trying to manipulate the outcome to his benefit. |
| 95 | ** However, no season ever reached the heights of this that Season 7 did. Dubaku is the BigBad initially, before ultimately playing the role of a StarterVillain as he is quickly replaced by his boss General Juma. Then Jonas Hodges is revealed to be the ManBehindTheMan to Juma and takes over as BigBad once Juma is killed. THEN Jonas Hodges is revealed to be under the control of an OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness led by new BigBad [[BaldOfEvil Alan Wilson]]. AND THEN [[spoiler:[[EvilFormerFriend Tony Almeida]] is revealed to be the ultimate BigBad even though he’s only working for Wilson. He is the one who instigated the whole plot just for a chance to join, betray, and kill Wilson to avenge his wife.]] Five [[BigBad big bads]] at five different points of the season... definitely this trope. |
| 96 | ** Season 8 may rival Season 7, with Samir Mehran set up as the BigBad for the first half of the season. [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins Despite the fact that he even accomplishes what he set out to do]], [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he gets disposed by agents of Mikhail Novakovich]], who was maniuplating him the whole time, but after he's killed even he turns out to be under orders from Russian President and [[FaceHeelTurn former ally]] Yuri Suvarov, [[BigBadDuumvirate who ends up conspiring with]] [[HijackedByGanon Charles Logan]], with current President Allison Taylor [[FaceHeelTurn now going along with Logan]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans in order to preserve her peace treaty]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist even if it means committing treason]]. However for much of the last act of the season everyone ends up getting overshadowed by none other than [[VillainProtagonist Jack Bauer himself]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds who has snapped after one too many loses and betrayals]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge and goes on the warpath with the intent of killing Suvarov and Logan]] [[WorthIt even if it means kicking off WWIII as a result]]. It all ends with both Jack and Taylor each having a HeelRealization in the finale and the former lets himself get taken prisoner while the latter ultimately decides to expose everything that's happened, even if it means the destruction of her own political career. This causes Logan to have a VillainousBreakdown and he decides at the very least he's going to [[TakingYouWithMe have Jack executed]], ultimately cementing Logan as the major antagonist of the season.]] |
| 97 | * ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory1984'': The show starts with two {{Serial Killer}}s haunting Camp Redwood, The Night Stalker, a satanist serial killer with interest in killing Brooke, and Mr. Jingles/Benjamin, the culprit of a massacre that escaped a sanatorium, and they seem to be the BigBadEnsemble of the show. [[spoiler:It's soon revealed that the camp director Margaret is the real Mr. Jingles, as she was the one behind the massacre of 1970 and framed Benjamin and she joins in the killing. Montana and Nurse Rita are then revealed to be in league with the respective serial killers. In the second half of the story, Lavinia Richter is introduced as the person behind the curse that traps ghosts in the camp, the first person to commit a massacre in Camp Redwood, and the one that influenced Margaret's own massacre. And that is ignoring the fact that Satan plays the role of GreaterScopeVillain as The Night Stalker serves him.]] |
| 98 | * ''Series/{{Angel}}'': Darla wants revenge/reunion with Angel. Her actions prompt Sajhan to pull Holtz through time to kill Angel and Darla both. Holtz betrays Sajhan, who then seeks aid from longtime foes Wolfram & Hart, who play off both Sajhan and Holtz. Sajhan discovers this and banishes Holtz to another reality, then duels Angel. In the aftermath of that battle, Holtz returns with a new means of attacking Angel, while Wolfram & Hart lick their wounds. Who was the Big Bad? Not even Creator/JossWhedon could tell you. |
| 99 | ** The writers, same as every season. |
| 100 | ** A later BigBad takes credit for having set all of it in motion millennia ago as part of their plan to (re)enter and take over the mortal plane. The veracity of the claim is never tested but there's no evidence to dispute it either and several of the events involved would definitely make more sense with some otherworldly party pulling strings behind the scenes. |
| 101 | ** Before all that, Season 2 starts with Wolfram and Hart, represented by Holland Manners and his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Lindsay [=McDonald=], bringing Darla back as a human to mess with Angel. About a third of the way through the season, just as Darla is about to pull a DeathEqualsRedemption, Wolfram and Hart arrange for Drusilla to turn her back into a vampire. Darla and Drusilla then [[BigBadDuumvirate team up]] and kill Manners, only to be defeated by Angel in the very next episode with Drusilla PutOnABus, while Lindsay and his rival Lilah Morgan take over Holland's old position and Nathan Reed is introduced as their new superior. During the final third of the season, Lindsay turns out to be working with Darla as well, Darla leaves town after another showdown with Angel, Lindsay ends up on the other side of the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor (leaving Lilah as the sole Head of Special Projects), and the last three episodes instead see Angel tackling evil priest Silas, who represents what seems to be his dimension's version of Wolfram and Hart. |
| 102 | * Season 2 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' starts with the [[EnfantTerrible Annointed One]], who survived the previous season, [[DragonAscendant taking the leadership of the vampires]] and posing as the biggest threat for Buffy and her friends. In the third episode, he hires Spike and his lover Drusilla but, at then end of it, [[TheStarscream Spike murders his master]] and then runs the show for most of the season. That is until the point where [[FaceHeelTurn Angel loses his soul]], joins Spike and Drusilla, takes the leadership and eventually is the FinalBoss. |
| 103 | * ''Series/BurnNotice'': |
| 104 | ** Season 3 starts with a BigGood cop as the potential antagonist, then moves on to an AffablyEvil fixer, followed by a PsychoForHire, and culminating with a [[TerroristsWithoutACause Terrorist Without a Cause]]. |
| 105 | ** Apparently feeling that was too easy, the writers in season 4 go with TheMole, a CorruptCorporateExecutive, a stray SmugSnake, a returning EvilCounterpart, ANOTHER returning EvilCounterpart, all before the reveal of the actual BigBad: [[spoiler:TheMole from the beginning]]. |
| 106 | ** And then again in Season 6. First we have the BigBad of Season 5, followed by a ColdSniper, then the EvilMentor, and finally an InspectorJavert. |
| 107 | * ''Series/GameOfThrones'': The multiple storylines that occur independently of each other, as well as the shifting morality and power structures of the various noble houses and other factions, results in there being several central villains at a time. Among the top contenders across the series are Tywin Lannister (the head of House Lannister and thus an enemy to the Starks and Baratheons), Littlefinger (actively instigated the War of the Five Kings), Roose and Ramsay Bolton (evil overlords of the North and enemies of the Greyjoys), the High Sparrow (religious fanatic who is taking over King's Landing), Mance Rayder (the leader of the Wildlings planning to attack the Night's Watch), and most unquestionably, the White Walkers, who are plotting to invade Westeros and kill them all. [[spoiler:Come the final season, the only one left standing is the Night King and his zombie army. However, the Night King ends up being defeated half-way through the season, leaving [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Cersei Lannister]] as the FinalBoss...until Daenerys Targaryen has a FaceHeelTurn and [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans torches King's Landing to seize the throne]], becoming the PostFinalBoss of the final episode]]. |
| 108 | * Common in ''Franchise/KamenRider'', particularly in later seasons: |
| 109 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderStronger'' starts off with the Great Leader of Black Satan as the BigBad. Then, midway through, General Shadow goes rogue from the Black Satan organization and helps Stronger to take them down, before entering the fray with the Delza Army, whose executives are all competing to become leader by defeating Stronger. Despite this, Shadow remains on top until Marshal Machine arrives and uses Shadow's failures as justification to displace him as the leader. Machine is in turn eventually revealed to actually be a minion of [[HijackedByGanon the Great Leader]] sent to take control of Delza. |
| 110 | ** ''Series/KamenRider555'': In a season where not all monsters are bad and not all Riders are good, multiple candidates are presented to be the main threat. At first it seemed that Kyoji Murakami was going to be the final villain, as he is the standard CorruptCorporateExecutive, but then TheRival Masato Kusaka is introduced and begins screwing up Takumi's friendship with Mari. After some episodes, the menacing Kamen Rider Delta appears, but its user is killed and the belt is given to PsychoForHire Kitazaki, who was mentioned several times in previous episodes and was hyped up to be the series' most dangerous antagonist, until he gets bored and gives the belt to Aki Sawada, a victim of LoveMakesYouCrazy who desperately wants to kill Mari. With Sawada out of the way, MadScientist Masahiko Minami began experimenting on Orphnochs and terrorizing the protagonists, until he is killed by Takumi's EvilFormerFriend Yuji Kiba, who becomes the new chief of Smart Brain. Kyoji comes to the spotlight once again as he attempts to kidnap CreepyChild Teruo, who is revealed to be the Arch-Orphnoch. With this revelation, Kyoji and Kiba sacrifice themselves, but not before the latter snapped Kusaka's neck. Jealous of the Arch-Orphnoch's power, Kitazaki tries to kill him but is finished off, leaving the Arch-Orphnoch as the TrueFinalBoss. ...except, as he's a creepy kid's barely-sentient SuperpoweredEvilSide and not any kind of evil mastermind, maybe you want to consider Saeko, the highest-ranking member of Smart Brain left after Kyoji's death, to be the final BigBad, especially since the series ends with [[spoiler: the Arch Orphnoch dormant and Saeko, who is now cured of the reduced lifespan all Orphenochs suffer from, tending to him]]. |
| 111 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' starts off with [[HiddenAgendaVillain Narutaki]] as the main recurring antagonist up until the midway point when [[LegionOfDoom Dai-Shocker]] and their "[[ProfessionalKiller chief of security]]" Apollo Geist take the lead with their plan to conquer the A.R. Worlds. The [[Film/KamenRiderDecadeAllRidersVsDaiShocker summer movie]] then reveals [[TomatoInTheMirror Decade himself]] was the leader of Dai-Shocker and the mastermind behind their plan before he got amnesia, only for him to be overthrown by [[TheChessmaster Nobuhiko Tsukikage]] after he regains his memory. Returning to the series, Decade himself then briefly becomes at the end, before the shuffle continues on into the {{Crossover}} movie with ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' where Decade is revealed to have been GoodAllAlong and Super Dr. Shinigami and Narutaki gather the remnants of Dai-Shocker under them, only for them to be supplanted the revived [[Film/KamenRiderZO Neo Organism]] as the last major villain. |
| 112 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' starts off with Team Gaim competing against the other Beat Rider street gangs fighting among themselves until the plot shifts to Takatora Kureshima (Kamen Rider Zangetsu) and his [[MegaCorp Yggdrasil Corporation]] as they appear to be behind the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Inves]]. Takatora then turns out to be trying to [[WellIntentionedExtremist save humanity]], only for him to be backstabbed by Ryoma Sengoku and the other members of his inner circle. Then the characters learn that the Inves have intelligent leaders called "Overlords", with whom [[EvilFormerFriend Mitsuzane]] throws his lot in. In the end, TheRival Kaito Kumon (Kamen Rider Baron) is the "final boss" because his SocialDarwinism clashes with TheHero Kouta's more benevolent attitude and they fight for ownership of the Fruit after every proper villain has fallen. |
| 113 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' starts with Heart, the leader of the Roidmude uprising. After [[MadDoctor Medic]] jumps on, she takes the lead with her secret agenda. After Heart reins Medic in, [[TheManBehindTheMan Freeze]] becomes more directly involved with the plot and takes charge. Once he's taken out, Heart resumes the role he had at the start until [[GreaterScopeVillain Tenjuro Banno]] gets set loose and hijacks the Roidmudes to force them to aid him in his own mad scheme. While Banno gets killed in the penultimate episode, his ultimate creation Sigma Circular remains active and becomes the FinalBoss the Riders [[EnemyMine and the Roidmudes]] have to face. |
| 114 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'' starts off with a [[BigBadDuumvirate partnership]] between Chikara Saionji and Alain to gather the 15 Eyecons. While Saionji does himself in by trying to use them, the threat of the [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Gamma empire]] emerges by this time, with Alain being revealed to answer to his father Adonis, the emperor of the Gamma. Adonis is then usurped by Adel, who stays the BigBad until his misuse of his new powers as king causes the Gammaizer golems that he controls to become sentient and [[EvilerThanThou hijack]] him at the end. |
| 115 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' starts off with the Bugsters led by Parado, who is then revealed to be in a [[BigBadDuumvirate duumvirate]] with [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Kuroto Dan]]. Kuroto becomes the more prominent of the two until he's betrayed and killed off by Parado at the halfway point. Parado then briefly becomes the sole BigBad until it's revealed he and Kuroto were really being used by [[TheManBehindTheMan Masamune Dan]]. |
| 116 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' starts with Faust, a NebulousEvilOrganization that are a smokescreen for a renegade Touto government military project. Right when Faust falls, the nation of Hokuto invades Touto and becomes the antagonists. They then get conquered by the nation of Seito, who turn around and declare war on Touto next. This is followed by [[MegaCorp Namba Heavy Industries]] when they hollow out Seito and use it as a puppet state. All of these organizations have Blood Stalk working for them during their time in the spotlight, and sure enough, he turns out to be the [[TheManBehindTheMan actual villain]]. Once he regains his original power, he reveals himself as the Blood Tribe alien [[PlanetEater Evolt]] and becomes the undisputed BigBad. Although if you count the ''New World'' movies, then the shuffle gets one more layer with [[GreaterScopeVillain Killbus]], Evolt's older brother and the king of the Blood Tribe. |
| 117 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' goes from the cyber-terrorist group [=MetsubouJinrai.net=] looking to revive their master, the [[AIIsACrapshoot Satellite Ark]], to the Ark's creator and [[CorruptCorporateExecutive ZAIA Japan CEO]] Gai Amatsu, then back to the Ark when it finally escapes Gai's control. After the Ark is destroyed for good, it leaves behind a successor in the form of As, who corrupts [[TheHero Aruto]] into [[FallenHero Ark-One]] while [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Horobi]] becomes the FinalBoss of the series itself. The shuffle doesn't stop there, as As then empowers S, leader of [[{{Cult}} Thinknet]] and the villain of [[Film/KamenRiderZeroOneRealXTime the epilogue movie]]. S gets usurped by his right-hand man Bell. As survives Thinknet's downfall and tries using ZAIA HQ's CEO Lyon Arkland as her pawn, but Lyon [[EvilerThanThou turns the tables on her]] and brings about Kamen Rider Metsuboujinrai before his own demise, which becomes the FinalBoss for the saga of ''Zero-One'' overall. |
| 118 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' starts out with Kamen Rider Calibur, who is aligned with the Megid executives Storious, Legeiel and Zooous. Calibur turns out to be a WellIntentionedExtremist and points towards a hidden foe within the Sword of Logos, with the the Southern Base members of the Sword of Logos emerging as more dangerous villains than the Megid. They're usurped by their own boss when Master Logos turns out to be the traitor everyone's looking for and takes the lead until he's defeated and Storious swoops in and finishes him off, thereafter becoming the FinalBoss. |
| 119 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' begins with Aguilera, leader of the Deadmans cult and the fiancée of the EldritchAbomination Giff. However, Aguilera is later revealed to be a figurehead for her underling Orteca, who attempts to sacrifice her to revive Giff. After the heroes stop their attempted awakening of Giff, Orteca is revealed to be working for Hideo Akaishi, but stays in the lead until Giff awakens and devours him. Akaishi takes over as the antagonist at that point and begins making preparations for Giff's takeover all while Giff himself lurks in the background. After Akaishi suffers several defeats, Giff begins to directly intervene until he's defeated by the heroes. [[spoiler: George Karizaki, the scientist who developed the Rider Systems, then steps up as an InterimVillain and is defeated within two episodes, after which ''[[{{Deuteragonist}} Vice]]'' becomes the FinalBoss, although he's only doing it to save Ikki (it's complicated).]] |
| 120 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderGeats'' may take the cake for the ''Rider'' series with the most convoluted villain situation. It starts off with the Jyamato as the nebulous antagonists the protagonists need to fight, only for it to be revealed about a quarter of the way in that the Jyamato are being cultivated by Archimedel. Archimedel in turn is revealed to be employed by Girori, the DGP Game Master, to grow the Jyamato so they can be used as enemies for the Desire Grand Prix. Girori is then revealed to be a subordinate of Niramu, the Game Producer, who [[YouHaveFailedMe removes him from his position]] for meddling with the game. Not long after, it also turns out Archimedel is secretly working for Beroba, a DGP sponsor looking to hijack the game who ropes [[TheRival Michinaga]] into their cause. Niramu and Beroba then [[EvilVersusEvil jostle]] for the position for a while until it turns out Niramu answers to Suel, who created the DGP in the first place, who quickly shuts down Beroba's uprising with his intervention. Niramu winds up getting killed and usurped by Samas, his assistant, when he goes against Suel, while Beroba partners with [[EvilAllAlong Kekera]] to continue pursuing their goals. Soon enough, Samas, Beroba, Kekera and a new Game Master sent by Suel named Zitt all align against the heroes, but after the latter three are taken care of Suel intervenes again and becomes the FinalBoss. |
| 121 | * ''Series/MetalHeroes'': ''Series/TokusouExceedraft'' starts out with the terrorist group Spade, headed by Bunta Tazaki. Then he gets defeated 8 episodes in, with the role of the big bad being filled by Carlos Togo, an extraterrestrial with designs on Earth. And in the final third, CorruptCorporateExecutive Iwao Daimon [[spoiler: actually the Devil]] reveals himself as the GreaterScopeVillain, aiming to [[spoiler: cause the apocalypse in a battle with God]]. |
| 122 | * ''Series/OnceUponATime'': |
| 123 | ** Season 5A starts with The Dark Swan and King Arthur as the BigBadEnsemble of this arc. Eventually, it becomes apparent the latter (and Zelena who teams up with him) is just a BigBadWannabe. Then we are introduced to [[spoiler: Nimue]], the very first Dark One who is responsible for all other Dark Ones turning evil in a bid to fulfil her desires. Except [[spoiler: it turns out Hook was turned into a Dark One and he and Nimue]] act as the arc's FinalBoss. |
| 124 | ** Season 6 revolves around the search for a mysterious hooded figure destined to kill Emma Swan. It begins with Mr. Hyde and the Evil Queen as a BigBadEnsemble. [[spoiler: Hyde gets killed four episodes in, leaving the Queen as sole BigBad.]] At which point the hooded figure [[spoiler:(Rumple and Belle's grown up son, Gideon)]] shows up to usurp the role-- except he is just a pawn for the Black Fairy, the FinalBoss of the season. Even after she is defeated, [[spoiler: Emma's death needs to be stopped completely, leaving Gideon as the PostFinalBoss since the FinalBattle between them is one to ensure that neither of their hearts turn dark rather then a battle of good and evil.]] |
| 125 | ** [=Victoria Belfry/Lady Tremaine=] is the initial antagonist of Season 7, given she is in control of Hyperion Heights. Except she did not cast the curse that created the city, that was [[spoiler: her daughter, Drizzella.]] The two proceed to swap between the BigBad position for a while, with Mother Gothel acting as a consul to both of them. The real main antagonist is [[spoiler: Gothel and her Coven of Eight.]] And things get even more complicated when [[BigBadEnsemble two new antagonists are introduced]], Doctor Facilier who wishes to harness the power of the Dark One Dagger, and [[spoiler:[[SerialKiller the Candy Killer]] who is hunting down the witches living in Hyperion Heights.]] In the end, [[spoiler: the Candy Killer is revealed as Facilier's pawn and is killed off, while Gothel dies in the penultimate episode before the two-part series finale, leaving Dr. Facilier as the last man standing... or so it seems, until he ends that same episode getting dispatched by Wish!Rumple, who is the show's TrueFinalBoss.]] |
| 126 | * ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'': King Mondo is the BigBad until he gets destroyed and Rita and Lord Zedd wrest control of the Machine Empire using Louie Kaboom, a robot they built. Then they lose the remote control and Louie goes rogue, only to be bumped out of the spot by Prince Gasket and Princess Archerina, who take over the Machine Empire and become the main villains. At least until King Mondo gets rebuilt and retakes the spot. |
| 127 | * ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'': Scorpius is the Big Bad for the first half, until [[TheStarscream Deviot]]'s scheming leads to him getting killed. It then becomes something of a BigBadEnsemble between Scorpius's daughter Trakeena and Deviot, who is plotting to betray her too, with ArcVillain Captain Mutiny also joining in for a time. In the end it's Trakeena who becomes the FinalBoss, although Deviot still casts a shadow over the finale given his role in corrupting Trakeena via unwittingly [[FusionDance fusing into her]]. |
| 128 | * Dai Shi is the initial and eventual Big Bad of ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'', though the title shuffles frequently. Carnisoar, Jellica and Grizzaka all take their turns on the throne, and it initially looks like the Phantom Beasts are going to take over before they betray Jellica and Dai Shi takes back his title. |
| 129 | * ''Series/PowerRangersMegaforce'' has one, to the point where it's difficult to tell just who the main villain is supposed to be. First, it's Admiral Malkor, with Creepox and Vrak as his CoDragons, though Vrak is very much TheHeavy for most of the season. Vrak also has [[DragonWithAnAgenda ambitions of his own]] and once Malkor is defeated about three quarters of the way in, Vrak simply takes his place for the final episodes of season one, until he's forced to go into hiding by the arriving Armada. Prince Vekar, Vrak's older brother and heir to the throne, steps in as the BigBad for the series, until he gets taken out himself two thirds in... then Vrak comes back ''again'' to claim the BigBad title for the "Vrak is Back" two-parter, until he's finally KilledOffForReal. But that still leaves three episodes left, so Emperor Mavro finally steps into the stoplight as the FinalBoss of the season. |
| 130 | * ''Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge'' sets the record for most complicated villain situation. We start with Sledge the alien bounty hunter, who wants the Energems that power the heroes, so he sends out the MonsterOfTheWeek every episode in the form of his captured alien criminals, who can have their freedom if they manage to bring him an Energem. Standard BigBad yelling "Destroy the Rangers" and this year's version of "MakeMyMonsterGrow" OnceAnEpisode. However, for much of the early days, TheDragon Fury is taken much more seriously, is the cause behind several characters' woes as they happened to be in the way while hunting the Energems. He's why Ivan was sealed away for centuries and the mastermind behind the whole Pterazord plot, he's why Tyler's dad is the [[DisappearedDad disappeared kind]], and he has none of the charm and humor that makes Sledge a very fun character at the cost of some intimidation factor. You could take him for a DragonInChief situation until we learn Sledge indeed has a head on his shoulders and is the boss for a reason. ...Then Sledge is apparently taken out and the most fearsome of his outlaws takes over: Heckyl and Snide, with a SplitPersonality, Heckyl being a careful plotter and Snide being more heavy-handed, but they work together well enough to not get in each other's way too much (one will alter the other's plan, but not outright scrap it in favor of a different one or interfere enough to totally screw it up.) Who are dethroned by... Arcanon, the guy who hired Sledge to capture the criminals in the first place, as he wanted them to be his army. The guy with the biggest ambitions, who was the ManBehindTheMan for BigBad #1 and who easily cast aside BigBad #2 and #3 comes in full force, is powered by the EvilCounterpart of the Rangers' Energems, and reveals that some things that happened long before he was hinted at were part of his plan.. so naturally he lasts five episodes before Sledge takes him out and snatches the BigBad position back for the final episodes. |
| 131 | * ''Series/ResurrectionErtugrul'': The first third of season 3 begins with Master Simon, the Bazaar proprietor, and Ural Bey, who serves as TheRival to Ertugrul that season. [[spoiler: Then Ural murders Simon before the plot segues into Vasilius filling in the void.]] |
| 132 | ** This applies to some extent to all of the other seasons except season 2. Unlike season 3, though, they start off with a BigBadEnsemble and whittle it down to the remaining antagonist over the course of the story. |
| 133 | * ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': Season 8 starts off with setting up Tess Mercer as the new BigBad, then establishes that Brainiac is still alive and an active threat. Then after he is delt with at about the halfway point of the season, it turns out Lex Luthor is also still alive and was manipulating Tess all along, so now the heroes need to finish things with him. Then after Lex is delt with, the show finally settles on Davis Bloome/Doomsday as the big bad for the remainder of the season. |
| 134 | * ''Series/StargateSG1'': The overall villains are the Goa'uld System Lords, a very loose coalition of a dozen or so alien overlords that control most of the galaxy and maintain a very tense relationship with each other. Any one of these (or other minor Goa'uld) could serve as the villain of an episode; however, there were usually more specific shuffles even within the long-term story arcs. |
| 135 | ** During the first four seasons: initially, the BigBad of the show was Apophis, a System Lord that most of SG-1's team members had a personal grudge against. In Season 2, he's defeated and apparently killed to make room for Sokar, an even more openly malevolent System Lord who takes over his territories and plots to take over the entire galaxy. However, Sokar is himself overthrown and killed by Apophis (who's revealed to have survived as a slave on his prison planet), who returns more powerful than ever, inherits all of Sokar's forces, and continues with his plans of galactic domination. |
| 136 | ** Seasons 5 through 8 have a similar back-and-forth between Anubis and Baal. Anubis is the BigBad, and the most powerful Goa'uld in the galaxy, through the end of Season 7. After he's defeated, his territories and his superior armies and technology are taken over by Baal... who's eventually revealed to be taking orders from the still-alive Anubis... but eventually works against him when he realizes that his boss' plans to remake the galaxy would leave him dead as well. Anubis' downfall at the end of Season 8 leaves Baal the most powerful Goa'uld in the galaxy, though by this point they've been whittled down so little that it's not saying much. |
| 137 | ** Other factions also appear from time to time who can temporarily take center stage as the villains of the moment, and sometimes even force Stargate Command to cooperate with their Goa'uld enemies temporarily. The two most notable ones are the Replicators (who ultimately do the lion's share of dismantling the Goa'uld empires in Season 8) and the Ori (who take over the Goa'uld role as the primary antagonists in the last two seasons). |
| 138 | * ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': The villain landscape in the Pegasus Galaxy is just as multifaceted, with the Wraith, the Genii, and the Replicators (a different strand from the Milky Way variant) all playing a major role as antagonists to the heroes and to each other. Further complicating matters is that there are different factions within each of these with their own rivalries that can sometimes lead them to seek outside allies. |
| 139 | * ''Series/Supergirl2015'': |
| 140 | ** Season 3 ends with the tease of another Kara appearing in [[DirtyCommies Kaznia]], she then makes a bunch of cameo appearances throughout early Season 4, unknown to our heroes who are dealing with a BigBadEnsemble of Ben Lockwood/Agent Liberty, TheManBehindTheMan Mercy and Otis Graves, and TheDragon Ray Jensen/Parasite. [[spoiler:Shockingly, Mercy and Otis are killed off after just four episodes and Jensen becomes brain-dead two episodes later.]] Meanwhile, as an unintended side-effect of the Graves' antics, the new [[SleazyPolitician President Baker]] assigns AmbiguouslyEvil [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Colonel Hayley]] to oversee the D.E.O. This causes Agent Liberty and Hayley to split the role of BigBad for a while [[spoiler:until episode seven sees Agent Liberty sent to jail, his son [[DaddysLittleVillain George]] takes over as leader of the Children of Liberty, and series supporting character Manchester Black [[BigBadSlippege properly betrays the Superfriends.]] These plot threads are ignored for a while as the season focuses more on Hayley until Manchester brings together a bunch of previous [[MonsterOfTheWeek villains of the week]] and forms [[ThePsychoRangers The]] [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Elite]], making the focus of the season the EvilVersusEvil conflict between The Elite and the Children of Liberty, with Ben Lockwood getting out of jail and gaining political power. The Elite end up [[AntiClimaxBoss being defeated pretty quickly]], leading to episode fifteen where [[HijackedByGanon Lex Luthor]] finally shows up, with [[HesJustHiding Otis]] and [[EvilAllAlong Eve Tessmacher]] as his CoDragons [[Film/SupermanTheMovie (who'd have guessed)]]. Luthor then reveals himself as the true BigBad, having been playing all sides from the very beginning, orchestrating everything from the Children of Liberty, to [[TheHeavy the Kaznian Supergirl]], and [[PresidentEvil Barker's presidency]], in order to make Supergirl a HeroWithBadPublicity, be hailed as a hero for killing her, and be appointed Director of Alien Affairs by the president. After this, Hayley begins to [[TookALevelInKindness take a level in kindness]] and George [[HeelFaceTurn becomes disillusioned with his dad's cause.]]]] |
| 141 | ** Season 4 ends with four more teases for the next season: Lena kills Lex but [[DefiantToTheEnd he refuses to die before]] revealing Supergirl's secret identity to her in the form of a BreakingSpeech, then the Monitor (part of the BigBadEnsemble of that year's [[Series/Elseworlds2018 annual crossover]]) brings Martian Manhunter's evil younger brother Malefic to Earth and takes Lex Luthor's body for unknown purposes, Lena has a FaceHeelTurn but pretends to still be on Kara's side, and Eve is approached by an agent of [[NebulousEvilOrganization Leviathan]] about the failure of Luthor's plan. For the first half of Season 5, Lena, Malefic and Leviathan form a BigBadEnsemble along with Andrea Rojas, [[spoiler:an affiliate of Leviathan who Lena sells Cat-Co to both to spite Kara and for access to the technology she's developing. Halfway through the season, Lena is temporarily defeated and Malefic pulls a HeelFaceTurn; this leads into the ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019'', in which it's revealed the Monitor brought Lex BackFromTheDead and in the ensuing CosmicRetcon, Lex once again becomes a VillainWithGoodPublicity. Lex then [[HijackedByGanon reclaims the role of]] BigBad but spends the season [[EvilVersusEvil competing with Leviathan]], Lena and Andrea eventually pulling {{Heel Face Turn}}s after being used by both sides in different ways throughout the season.]] |
| 142 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': |
| 143 | ** Season 6 starts out with the ArchangelRaphael and the angels whom follow him, as they want to free [[ArchangelMichael Michael]] and [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]] from Lucifer's Cage and restart the Apocalypse, Crowley, who is rounding up the [[MonsterProgenitor Alpha Monsters]] in order to find an entrance to Purgatory, and Soulless!Sam, who lacks a moral conscience without his soul. [[spoiler: Midway through the season, [[TheGrimReaper Death]] retrieves Sam's soul,]] but his spot is soon taken by Eve, Mother of All, who wants to avenge the deaths of her children, AKA all of the monsters. [[spoiler: Eve is killed by Phoenix Ashes, making her a DiscOneFinalBoss, but her spot is soon taken by none other than [[WellIntentionedExtremist Castiel]], who is revealed to be in league with Crowley, as he wants to use the souls within Purgatory to stop Raphael from restarting the Apocalypse. Castiel soon double-crosses Crowley, who then goes over to Raphael, but they are too late to prevent Castiel from absorbing the souls within Purgatory. Crowley barely escapes, but Castiel destroys Raphael, and then declares himself [[AGodAmI as the new God]].]] |
| 144 | ** Season 10 starts out with [[spoiler: Deanmon]], but he gets better in the third episode. His spot is then taken by Rowena, an immortal witch who is Crowley's mother, and soon forms an alliance with him. Metatron returns as a BigBadWannabe, and the [[AncientConspiracy Styne Family]] is introduced in the second half of the season, as a group who wish to get their hands onto the Book of the Damned. And above all of it, the [[TheCorruption Mark of Cain]] is still working its way onto Dean, who is trying to resist its effects until they can find a way to remove it. [[spoiler: Rowena and Crowley's alliance falls flat, with Crowley kicking Rowena out after it becomes apparent to him that she doesn't care about him. Metatron's angelic grace is removed, leaving him human and stranded on Earth with not much to do, and the Styne Family is massacred by a Mark of Cain-powered Dean in the penultimate episode. Ultimately, the SeasonFinale makes it clear that the true BigBad of Season 10 is [[VillainProtagonist Sam and Dean Winchester]] themselves, having long gone before into HeWhoFightsMonsters territory. Season 11 has them having a HeelRealization.]] |
| 145 | * ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' |
| 146 | ** ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger'' starts off with Rio, new head of [[ThugDojo Rinjuken Akugata]], as the BigBad. He later resurrects Kata and Rageku, two of the three original founders of Rinjuken Akugata, to help train him and they are more than happy to pass the torch onto him. After Rio resurrects Maku however, he winds up supplanted as Maku takes back control of the dojo and forces everyone to obey once more. However, after Rio manages to surpass Maku, Maku is destroyed by the Gekirangers and Rio takes back control. Rio also gains a new henchman in EnigmaticMinion Long, who offers to teach Rio a more powerful style than Rinjuken Akugata called Genjuken. However, unbeknownst to Rio, Long is the one who manipulated Maku into starting Rinjuken Akugata in the past and was TheManBehindTheMan to Rio all throughout his life, manipulating him into becoming a "God of Destruction" to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]]. Once Long's machinations are revealed though, Rio turns against him and Long becomes the FinalBoss. |
| 147 | ** ''Series/EngineSentaiGoOnger'' has Yogostein, leader of the three Gaiark Pollution Ministers, initially. After Yogostein is [[DiscOneFinalBoss destroyed]] halfway through, Cleaning Minister Kireizky arrives and takes over the Gaiark, becoming the BigBad for two episodes before being destroyed. It is then that the true BigBad, Yogostein's father Yogoshimacritein, arrives and reveals he was the one giving orders to Yogostein and Kireizky all along. The {{crossover}} movie with ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' adds one more layer onto it, revealing that [[PresidentEvil Pollution President Batcheed]] was the true leader of the Gaiark and that Yogoshimacritein was just a high-ranking member. |
| 148 | ** ''Series/TensouSentaiGoseiger'' starts off with Mons Drake, leader of the [[AlienInvaders Warstar Army]] as the BigBad. After Mons Drake dies a quarter of the way through, the Warstar EvilGenius reveals himself as a Yuumajuu and that he was only using the Warstar to locate the [[SealedEvilInACan box containing the Yuumajuu leaders]], Makuin and Kinggon. The two take over the BigBad role after Buredoran unseals them, though Buredoran hints at several points he may have his own secret agenda apart from them. After Makuin, Kinggon and Buredoran are all destroyed, [[EmperorScientist Robogog]], ruler of the Matrintis Empire, surfaces as the new BigBad and resurrects Buredoran as his {{Cyborg}} enforcer. However, Buredoran manages to turn the tables on Robogog and destroy him, before revealing his true identity to be the fallen Gosei Angel [[SatanicArchetype Brajira of the Messiah]] and that he was really using the Warstar, Yuumajuu and Matrintis all along to accomplish his own goal of remaking the planet [[InTheirOwnImage in his own image]]. |
| 149 | ** ''Series/KishiryuSentaiRyusoulger'' starts off with Tankjoh as the leader of the Druidon Tribe's invasion of Earth. After Tankjoh is destroyed, Wyzul arrives from space to take over the invasion. Later on, Gachireus arrives on Earth as well and causes Wyzul to leave out of annoyance. Gachireus holds the main villain role for three episodes before being destroyed, at which point Wyzul returns and takes over as leader again. However, several episodes later, Gachireus returns after regenerating from the damage he sustained and forms a BigBadDuumvirate with Wyzul, though he hints that another power may also be targeting Earth. Said power turns out to be Pricious, who upon his arrival forces Wyzul and Gachireus into serving him. Pricious eventually reveals that he came to Earth in order to unseal the Druidon Tribe's creator, Eras. Upon her release however, Eras [[spoiler:reveals her own plan to exterminate both the Druidon and Ryusoul Tribes and remake the planet, possessing Pricious and becoming the true BigBad.]] |
| 150 | * ''Series/TomicaHeroRescueForce'' begins with the Three Great Executives of Neo Terror, although its alluded to early on they have a boss above them. Said boss turns out to be Neo Terror's leader, Daen, who promptly takes center stage. Daen is eventually revealed to actually be possessed by a mysterious entity right before he's defeated, after which an AI backup of himself briefly over before its defeated and his "daughter", Maen, becomes Neo Terror's new leader. At the very end however, [[spoiler:Maen turns out to be a puppet of the same entity who corrupted Daen, the ancient supercomputer Batsu]]. |
| 151 | * ''Franchise/UltraSeries'': |
| 152 | ** ''Series/UltramanNexus'': The mastermind behind the Space Beast attacks at first appears to be Dark Faust, until he's revealed to be a creation of Dark Mephisto. Dark Mephisto then turns out to be a servant of Dark Zagi, the true mastermind behind the Space Beasts attacking. |
| 153 | ** ''Series/UltramanMebius'': Bogarl is the villain at first, but after she's defeated the main villain spot is vacant until Yapool arrives and begins terrorizing GUYS. Yapool is them revealed to be part of a group known as the [[EliteFour Four Heavenly Kings]], who turn out to be CoDragons of [[GalacticConqueror Alien Empera]], who [[TheManBehindTheMan used]] them and Bogarl to herald his arrival. |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 157 | * ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' establishes [[CardCarryingVillain Yuuki Terumi]] aka [[{{Troll}} Hazama]] as the BigBad in ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift Continuum Shift]]'', revealing him to have been manipulating the events of the series from behind the scenes alongside his [[BigBadDuumvirate partner-in-crime]], [[MadScientist Relius Clover]]. At the end of the game the two are revealed to be working for the Imperator of NOL, [[TheSociopath Izanami]], the [[EverybodyHatesHades goddess of death]] possessing Ragna and Jin's sister Saya. She later takes the position of BigBad position from them in ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueChronophantasma Chronophantasma]]'' after [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness abandoning them to their fates]]. Later, in ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueCentralFiction Central Fiction]]'', Izanami's apparent [[TheDragon Dragon]] Phantom makes her plans known and Hazama (who was split from Terumi's body after his apparent defeat) is revealed to have his own agenda as well. Ultimately, once those three are knocked out of the way, the role of final villain is taken over by Terumi in his true identity as [[SatanicArchetype Susanoo]]. |
| 158 | * In ''VideoGame/BloodOmenLegacyOfKain'', the less lucid members of the Circle of Nine have varying schemes, and are dealt with in succession along with their guardian Malek. The Nemesis then steps up as a bit of an OutsideContextProblem, invading from the north, and combating this fearsome tyrant consumes much of the late game... until it turns out that he -- and, more importantly, you -- are pawns on the board for Moebius of the Circle, who tricks you into assassinating the Nemesis as a younger man and thus give him the impetus to rally Nosgoth on a vampire-hunting crusade. Kain then slays him too, and returns to the Pillars to reunite with his maker, the necromancer Mortanius... who is revealed to have killed you in the first place, as part of a plot to unleash a vengeful Kain against the crazed Circle and thus allow a new generation of guardians, untainted by Nupraptor's madness, to take their place. But ''then'' it turns out that Mortanius is housing a demonic entity -- identified later games as the Hylden Lord -- who fought to possess his body and manipulated the circle into madness to begin with; this monster is your FinalBoss. |
| 159 | * The ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' games go through several Big Bads. In [[VideoGame/CallOfDuty4ModernWarfare the first game]], Al-Asad, the leader of a revolution in a [[{{Qurac}} nameless Middle Eastern country]] looks to be the BigBad at first. Halfway through, it's revealed that his revolution was being funded by Russian Ultranationalist leader, Imran Zakhaev. After Zakhaev is disposed, one of his CoDragons, Vladimir Makarov, appears to fill the BigBad role in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2 Modern Warfare 2]]''. It's eventually revealed though that Makarov was an UnwittingPawn of [[spoiler:General Shepherd]]. However, ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare3 Modern Warfare 3]]'' reveals that Makarov may have been using [[spoiler:Shepherd]] as ''his'' pawn, and that [[spoiler:he's the one who detonated the nuke that drove him mad.]] He also [[spoiler:saved Zakhaev when he was shot]], ultimately making him responsible for the events of the ''Modern Warfare'' series as a whole. |
| 160 | * ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseMysteriesOfThePast'' has the corrupt Concordian Police Department (led by [[spoiler:Edward Whimple and Eleanor Halsted]]) as the main antagonists at the beginning of the game. Then [[spoiler:Eleanor]] is arrested and reveals that a big portion of the corruption has been coming from the [[TheIrishMob Irish gang]] (led by Finley and Fiona Flanagan) bribing the police to carry their illegal business in [[TheCityNarrows Sinner's End]]. Then after [[spoiler:Fiona's death and Finley's arrest]] you learn from the latter that the [[TheMafia Italian gang]] (led by [[TheDon Vittorio Capecchi]]) has a stronghold over [[TheWildWest Coyote Gorge]], and is using said control to kick people out of their homes to sell their lands to a railroad company. ''And then'' you learn that Vittorio had been doing said business with the [[BigScrewedUpFamily Rochester family]], with [[ThePatriarch its patriarch]] Horatio Rochester [[spoiler:revealing during his arrest that he's the one who instigated the MobWar between the Irish and the Italians ''and'' the land theft in Coyote Gorge for his own benefit]]. Finally, [[spoiler:[[MayorPain Mayor Justin Lawson]]]] undergoes a BigBadSlippage and [[spoiler:becomes a dictator]] after witnessing the wave of crime and corruption brought by so many criminals, turning him into [[FinalBoss the main antagonist of the game's last stretch]]. |
| 161 | * ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'': The role of BigBad gets tossed around a ''lot'' during the climax. First, Kirby and the gang are attacked by the four-headed dragon [[HeroAntagonist Landia]], who shoots down Magolor's ship the Lor Starcutter, sending Kirby and his friends on their mission to stop him. However, when they successfully defeat the dragon, [[EvilAllAlong Magolor]] appears and takes the Master Crown for himself, revealing him to be the true villain and having tricked the four heroes into fiving him the crown so he can conquer the universe. ''Then,'' when the heroes defeat Magolor at the end of the game, it leads directly into the Magolor Epilogue, where it reveals the [[ArtifactOfDoom Master Crown]] to ultimately the ultimate BigBad of the entire game, corrupting Magolor and eventually trying to finish him off in one final battle in the depths of Another Dimension after taking control of a Gem Apple Seed. |
| 162 | * The ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' games, especially the MindScrew of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', and the non-canonical ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel'', where the terrorist general, his mercenary [[TheDragon Dragon]]/manipulator, and the U.S. government all mock the others as fools who are just being played by whoever is doing the mocking at the moment. |
| 163 | %%* Untangling who stands behind whom, with many false leads, is the entire point of ''VideoGame/DeusEx''. (ZCE- please elaborate.) |
| 164 | * ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' has numerous villains in the Subspace Emmisary mode. This stems partly from the nature of the game - as a lumping together of the respective Nintendo mythologies, all the key villains come with their respective heroes. It at first seems that the Subspace Army is led by the Ancient Minister, with Bowser and Wario working with them to take out the other fighters and collect them in their trophy forms. [[spoiler: King Dedede]] is also collecting trophied fighters, but he's competing with the other villains, [[spoiler: and it turns out he's GoodAllAlong, as he was collecting the fighters so that he could give them timed badges that would revive them in case all the fighters were wiped out]]. Then it turns out that the real leader of the Subspace Army is [[spoiler:Ganondorf, and Ancient Minister was ForcedIntoEvil in order to protect the R.O.B.s.]] THEN it turns out [[spoiler:Ganondorf and the other fighters working with the Subspace Army were working under Master Hand, who was in turn being controlled by the true villain Tabuu, the lord of Subspace.]] |
| 165 | * ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'' has this in spades. The game begins when you meet [[ObviouslyEvil two imprisoned brothers]], each of whom tries to convince you that his brother is the one behind the disappearance of their father. As you complete the various stages to slowly free the brothers, you encounter clues to help you finally decide which of the two is the actual BigBad. [[spoiler:Turns out, [[TakeAThirdOption they BOTH are]].]] |
| 166 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' has a few of those: |
| 167 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' introduces Shinra as the MegaCorp oppressing the world. The it turns out Sephiroth is Cloud's ArchEnemy and the real threat. But it turns out the Shinra scientist Hojo created Sephiroth by experimenting on Jenova, but Sephiroth is still the bigger threat than either of them. And the party continues to come into conflict with Shinra throughout the game as they search for Sephiroth. |
| 168 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has the Galbadians and President Deling as the Disc 1 villains, only to kill him off and reveal Sorceress Edea as the real villain at the end of the disc. Then Disc 2 ends with Edea's defeat and Disc 3 reveals she was under DemonicPossession by the ''real'' villain Ultimecia. |
| 169 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': Initially, the antagonist is the tyrannical Queen Brahne, until she gets killed by her weapons supplier Kuja. Kuja himself turns out to be working for Garland, but eventually betrays him and tries to destroy the world. After he is beaten, the FinalBoss is Necron, a being [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere with no involvement in the plot until then and isn't actually orchestrating anything]] (Necron is implicitly a personification of death/the reaper... [[MindScrew probably]]). |
| 170 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. The game starts off with a series of [[TheEmpire Garlean]] superior officers on the surface - Nael van Darnus in 1.0, who along with Bahamut caused the Calamity; Gaius van Baelsar in 2.0 who acts as the Empire's GeneralBadass as they invade Eorzea; Regula van Hydrus in 3.0 who replaces Gaius and even brings along Emperor Varis as the GreaterScopeVillain for the Empire. The Ascians, with Lahabrea, Nabriales (pre-3.0), and Igeyorhm (during 3.0), working from the shadows form the majority of the overall conflict of the story. Then 3.0 reveals that King Thordan of Ishgard is driving most of the plot and is the true BigBad of the 3.0 plotline, manipulating the Ascians while they think they're manipulating him. Meanwhile, each of the city-states have their own minor antagonists (who are usually underlings to one of the above), but Lord Lolorito of Ul'dah has been orchestrating a lot behind the scenes and may be a step ahead of them all if he gets Omega in possession like he's planning to. |
| 171 | * In ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'', there is Baron Praxis who is the tyrranical ruler of Haven City and whom Jak hates for [[ItsPersonal personal reasons]]. There is also Metal Head Leader who tries to invade city [[spoiler: and who is actually one of your allies - Kor, who also kills Praxis near the end of the game and happens to be FinalBoss]]. One can also consider Krew, the boss of local mafia, as another candidate for BigBad [[spoiler:as he tries to outplay both sides and his actions actually do the most harm]]. |
| 172 | * ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'' has three possible {{Big Bad}}s, each with their own [[TheDragon dragons]] and {{Mooks}}. About halfway the game, one of them will eliminate the other two (which one depends on your choice of main character), but until that time the whole game is a tangle of their conflicting plots. |
| 173 | * ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'': The Templars/Abstergo are the oldest enemies of the Assassins and seem a lock for the position of {{Big Bad}}s. But that's before you learn the AbusivePrecursors who made the Pieces of Eden. Even then, it's a toss-up between [[spoiler: Minerva and Juno]] until the end of III, which pretty clearly cements the latter. |
| 174 | * ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' has [[PsychoPsychologist Hugo Strange]] and ComicBook/TheJoker competing for the position of BigBad, [[spoiler: with Ra's al-Ghul proving to be Strange's [[TheManBehindTheMan hidden benefactor]]]]. In the end, [[spoiler:Strange is defeated by Batman and killed by Ra's [[YouHaveFailedMe for his failure]], and then Ra's stabs himself while fighting Batman, leaving Joker as the subject of a PostClimaxConfrontation]]. |
| 175 | * ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': the first game starts off by portraying [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]] as the BigBad. Later in the game, it's revealed Maleficent was being manipulated by Ansem, a character mentioned several times before and whose reports you've been collecting this whole time. Then ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' reveals that he wasn't the real Ansem, but the Heartless of his apprentice Xehanort, who stole his name; it also turns out that ''this'' game's main villain, Xemnas, is Xehanort's Nobody and the leader of Organization XIII. The games that follow set up Xehanort himself as the true BigBad, who returns from his destruction and recruits vessels and past incarnations of himself--including [[DemotedToDragon Ansem and Xemnas]]--for a final showdown in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII''. Once he's finally dealt with, however, all signs point toward [[spoiler:Xehanort's minion [[DragonWithAnAgenda Xigbar]], a.k.a. Luxu, and the Master of Masters (Luxu's real master) who were both revealed to have been manipulating Xehanort the whole time and having some hand in the next arc]]. |
| 176 | * ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'': |
| 177 | ** ''VideoGame/Persona3'' has this in spades. At first the Full Moon Shadows serve as the collective BigBad of the game, being the source of the Dark Hour. Then you meet Strega, a fellow group of Persona users who want to stop you from getting rid of the Dark Hour, but they aren't affiliated with the Shadows at all, they just want to keep using their powers for petty reasons (which mostly involve killing people). Their leader Takaya [[spoiler: eventually manages to inflict a PlotlineDeath on one of your party members]] and is the closest thing the game has to a human villain. Then you kill all the Full Moon Shadows and [[spoiler:Shuji Ikutsuki, your MissionControl, reveals himself as EvilAllAlong and that he was just using the party to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.]] This character becomes the clear new BigBad... for all of one cutscene, after which they're quickly killed off and the game has NoAntagonist for a while. Then we meet [[spoiler: Ryoji, who turns out to be the avatar of Nyx, a godlike being that will bring about the end of the world.]] Takaya becomes TheDragon to this new BigBad, and said new BigBad is the FinalBoss. However, the PlayableEpilogue added in the UpdatedRerelease reveals that [[spoiler: Nyx wasn't really evil and the ''true'' BigBad, Erebus, was just using her to destroy the world. Though Erebus is more of an animalistic force born from humanity's collective despair than an actual sentient being, complicating things further.]] |
| 178 | ** ''VideoGame/Persona4'' is filled with this as well. First it seems that [[spoiler:Kubo]] is the killer but [[spoiler:he only killed your teacher and wanted attention]]. The murder attempts continue and you eventually find out that the one doing the deeds was [[spoiler:Namatame]] but then it turns out [[spoiler:that he thought he was doing good and something made him snap]]. The person who made him snap was [[spoiler:Adachi]] who [[spoiler:did the first two killings while Namatame did the rest, plus he threw Kubo in the TV world]]. AND THEN [[spoiler:he gets possessed by Ameno-Sagiri, a creature that had been causing the fog and was using Adachi to raise paranoia and chaos among the town to begin to create a world full of shadows]]. And finally, [[spoiler:Izanami, one of the two gods in Japanese myth that birthed humanity, gave personas to you, Namatame, and Adachi to do what they did for her goals and is the master of Ameno-Sagiri]]. |
| 179 | ** ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Each ArcVillain was being pressured into TheConspiracy by someone in a "Black Mask". The Black Mask was in fact [[spoiler:a police detective who has been making mental shutdown crimes himself and has joined the Phantom Thieves in an attempt to lure the protagonist to be arrested and his true boss is Masayoshi Shido, an ultra-nationalist politician who wants to unleash a facist regime via a soft coup. It turns out that both the villains ''and'' the heroes were being manipulated by the real BigBad, Yaldabaoth, the God of Control who comissioned the protagonist to take down the villains because they are causing chaos in society, and once that is done for he blatantly turns on the heroes with his grand plan of control by melding his Palace into the real world, tricking everyone into thinking everything is normal and wiping out all the heroes.]] |
| 180 | *** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Royal]]'' adds to the above with [[spoiler:Takuto Maruki, your school's temporary guidance counselor, who awakened to his Persona and took on the power of the Holy Grail after Yaldabaoth's defeat. What makes him different is that [[HeroAntagonist his actions are thoroughly altrustic in motive]], and you can choose to agree or disagree with his actions in the end.]] |
| 181 | ** ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'': By the [=5th Jail=] a corrupt politician named Jyun Owada will be built up as a major threat, [[spoiler:being responsible for the death of Zenkichi's wife, covering it up and preventing its investigation, and issued a half-assed arrest warrant against the Phantom Thieves. However, he fades away after the game's DiscOneFinalDungeon and was promptly arrested by the epilogue.]] After [[spoiler:saving Zenkichi's daughter]], the attention turns to Owada's accomplice, Akira Konoe, [[spoiler:the Maddice tech firm CEO who was suspected to be the true culprit, a WellIntentionedExtremist who seeks to use EMMA to brainwash the masses so they no longer commit crimes. After defeating him, the party believes that they caught the real culprit and head back from Osaka to Tokyo -- only for EMMA herself to spring right into action and merge the Metaverse with the real world, followed by her creator (which has been doing close to nothing by this point, despite being built up as a major character) Kuon Ichinose antagonizing the Phantom Thieves and quickly getting a HeelFaceTurn.]] Despite [[spoiler:Ichinose was defeated before the FinalBoss battle against EMMA, she was still [=EMMA's=] developer and is thus the GreaterScopeVillain and the true culprit proper.]] |
| 182 | * The third game in ''VideoGame/TheSecondRealityProject'' series is slated to have this, according to [[http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=viewthread&t=25863 this old thread at SMW Central]]. The first world takes its time to set up the game's premise. Bowser, the BigBad of the first game, returns to the Second Reality with the intention to take back the Power Supply Switch from the Catgoom Kingdom. Then it was discovered that Zycloboo, the second game's BigBad, has been revived, and he too wants the Power Supply Switch. With both villains vying for the switch, Mario and his friends have no choice but to go on a quest to destroy it. |
| 183 | * ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'', the expansion ''Shadows of the Undrentide'' opens with a tribe of kobolds attacking your home and stealing several artifacts. As you pursue them you find evidence that they came into conflict with some bugbears and each made off with at least one artifact. The kobolds are employed by the dragon Tymofarrar, but he ordered the attack because he was in alliance with J'Nah, the leader of the bugbears. Then you find out J'Nah is collecting the artifacts for an unknown third party. |
| 184 | * ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' winds up doing one in its final act, due to its enormous GambitPileup finally getting resolved. For most of the game, the apparent BigBad is [[HiddenAgendaVillain Lynx]] - who turns out to be an avatar of the rogue supercomputer [[AIIsACrapshoot FATE]]. Defeating [=FATE=], however, allows the [[GaiasVengeance Dragon Gods]] to return to their true form and busily get to work on destroying humanity. And it's only after you defeat the Dragon Gods that you learn the entire plot was orchestrated as a setup by Belthasar, the creator of FATE, who himself did it to create a weapon capable of defeating the ''real'' threat who created the Dragon Gods, the [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Time Devourer]] ([[HijackedByGanon actually Lavos]] from [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger the original game]]). |
| 185 | * In ''VideoGame/GuildWars Prophecies'', the first campaign, the game begins with the Charr being set up as big bads and destroyers of the player characters' home kingdom. Then they travel through the Shiverpeak mountains with the Stone Summit Dwarves taking over their role as primary antagonists, especially when they [[spoiler: kill Prince Rurik.]] When the PC's arrive in Kryta however, the undead and the Lich Lord pop up as a new bad until [[spoiler: they find out the truth about and are betrayed by the White Mantle]] who then proceed to hunt them down for a good portion of the game. The player characters then go through a lot of trouble to Ascend and be able to see and fight their "gods" [[spoiler: the Mursaat]], when suddenly they're thrown back against the Stone Summit Dwarves and finally deal with their leader, then back to the [[spoiler: Mursaat. Then out of the blue it turns out that one of their closest allies of the last half of the game was in fact the Lich Lord in disguise and he uses their actions to take control of the Titans, another race of superpowered baddies,]] and they end up facing him as the final big bad. |
| 186 | * ''VideoGame/Halo2'' starts off with the three Covenant High Prophets in a BigBadTriumvirate. However, [[spoiler:the Prophet of Regret gets killed by Master Chief]] and [[spoiler:the Prophet of Mercy gets devoured by [[TheVirus the Flood]]]], leaving the [[ManipulativeBastard Prophet]] [[AxCrazy of Truth]] as the sole BigBad. He soon forms a BigBadEnsemble with the [[HiveMind Gravemind]], though in ''VideoGame/Halo3'' [[spoiler:the Gravemind and the Flood briefly team up with our heroes to stop Truth from activating the Halo Rings]]. After this gets accomplished, the Gravemind takes over as the sole BigBad. |
| 187 | * In ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'', the initial leader of the machine lifeforms is Adam. After he bites it, [[spoiler:a deranged and vengeful Eve serves as the FinalBoss of the route. After he bites it, Terminals Alpha and Beta are revealed as the true leaders of the machines. You destroy them halfway through the final dungeon, leaving a deranged and vengeful 9S as the FinalBoss (unless you choose to play as him, in which case A2 becomes the FinalBoss).]] |
| 188 | * In ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'', at least three characters are presented as candidates for being the BigBad of the story: |
| 189 | ** David's paranoia and rudeness towards Kate make him look suspicious, along with a vague connection to Nathan. However, he turns out to be a misunderstood JerkWithAHeartOfGold. |
| 190 | ** [[spoiler:Frank is shown wearing Rachel's bracelet which immediately makes him a prime suspect. However, the bracelet turns out to be a gift from Rachel who was dating him. This leaves Frank as an unintentional accessory through his drug dealing.]] |
| 191 | ** [[spoiler:Nathan seem to be the most evident suspect of Rachel's disappearance due to his reckless gun usage on Chloe as well as Kate's testimony about the [[SlippingAMickey drugging incident]] at the Vortex Club party. However, as revealed in Episode 4, Nathan is only TheDragon to Mr. Jefferson, who manipulated Nathan.]] |
| 192 | * ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' changes main antagonists like most people change socks. First Medusa invades the human world. Once Pit defeats her, [[spoiler:Hades turns out to be TheManBehindTheMan to Medusa]]. Once he steps up, nature goddess and divine eco-terrorist Viridi throws her hat in the ring and turns the game into a MeleeATrois. Then [[spoiler:the Aurum]] show up, forcing the three factions to form an EnemyMine against them. After defeating them, [[spoiler:Pit's soul is sealed in a ring for three years, during which time Palutena pulls an apparent FaceHeelTurn and starts attacking humanity]]. Pit allies with Viridi to fight her, and learns [[spoiler:the Chaos Kin is possessing her]]; he defeats it. Finally, Pit, Palutena, and Viridi all team up to face down [[spoiler:Hades]] as the FinalBoss. |
| 193 | * ''VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries'': For the final game ''Completing the Mission'', whoever the BigBad is depends on what endings are used from ''Infiltrating the Airship'' and ''Fleeing the Complex''. |
| 194 | ** Most of the pathways have a member of the [[NGOSuperpower Toppat Clan]]. If it diverges from the [[spoiler:"Pure Blooded Thief"]] ending of ''Airship'' plus [[spoiler:"The Betrayed" ending of ''Complex'']], it'll be [[spoiler: Reginald Copperbottom, the BigBad of ''Airship'']]. If it diverges from the [[spoiler:"Relentless Bounty Hunter"]] ending of Airship, it'll typically be [[spoiler:the Right Hand Man, Reginald's [[TheDragon Dragon]] from ''Airship'', who [[DragonAscendant takes the mantle]] after being rebuilt as a {{Cyborg}}]]; the exception is the [[spoiler:"Little Nest Egg" pathway where the Right Hand Man is only heard on a comlink and Toppat train driver Mr. Macbeth takes TheHeavy role]]. If both Reginald and the Right Hand Man are arrested after the [[spoiler:"Government Supported Private Investigator"]] ending of ''Airship'', then the role will be filled by [[spoiler:Sven Svensson, who is trying to get the Toppats into space to avoid the world's governments]]. |
| 195 | ** If Henry chose to become a Toppat in the [[spoiler:"Rapidly Promoted Executive"]] ending of ''Airship'', [[spoiler:[[HeroAntagonist General Galeforce]] leads the Government against the Toppats]]. |
| 196 | ** [[spoiler:Dmitri Johannes Petrov]], the Warden of [[TheAlcatraz The Wall]] (the prison Henry was escaping from in ''Complex''), is the main villain in the "Thief/Allies" route. |
| 197 | * ''VideoGame/WitchsHeart'' initially presents the witch Dorothy as the one who trapped Claire and the four men inside the mansion and summoned the demons to kill them. [[spoiler:It is eventually revealed that she is both DeadAllAlong and GoodAllAlong. Ashe Bradley, one of the men, turns out to be AxCrazy and seems like another contender, but he is clearly being manipulated by the four demon girls, who are the ones who really trapped the five in the mansion. Their leader, Rogue, would thus seem to be the villain, but she doesn't partake in the activities of the others and shows distaste for it. Instead, it is Lime, one of her subordinates, who [[DragonInChief is the ultimate villain]], having manipulated events to ensure that everyone would be trapped in the mansion so she can manipulate them into killing each other. Further complicating this is the presence of Mayor Nicholas Levine, the [[PosthumousCharacter deceased]] true perpetrator of the massacre, who is implied to have also been the one behind the imprisonment, torture, rape, and execution of Lime and several other "witches", which is what drove Lime to evil in the first place.]] |
| 198 | * ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'' has a quadruple one that starts with Bishop Alexandar, overseer of the FinalSolution against Sourcerers like the player character. After his temporary defeat as DiscOneFinalBoss, his DragonAscendant Dallis betrays him, takes over, and becomes TheHeavy for the rest of the game. In the [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon endgame]], she appears alongside Lucian from ''VideoGame/DivineDivinity'', now revealed as a RogueProtagonist and the HiddenVillain who orchestrated everything with one "Master Vredemen's" help. Finally, the whole thing is HijackedByGanon when Vredemen is revealed to be a resurrected Braccus Rex, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSin'', now enslaved to Dallis via RestrainingBolt; he disables the device, calls on the GreaterScopeVillain for power, and initiates the final battle. |
| 199 | * ''Videogame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'' repeatedly shifts the position of main villain. In the main game, the antagonist is the HiddenVillain behind the storms that are destroying [[{{Cyberspace}} the Internet]]. It is soon revealed to be a giant botnet called STORM- but a little later, it turns out that it's being used by Arianna, the girl the party met in Chapter 2. Once the party travels back in time to the First Internet in Chapter 7, [[DestroyerDeity Legion]] temporarily takes on the role of villain until they manage to escape. Then Dr. Stephen Wolfram reveals he has been planning to betray Arianna from the start and take over the net himself, but he's [[BigBadWannabe promptly betrayed by his machine before he can do anything]]. Once Arianna and STORM are beaten, it seems everything is fine... until it turns out that the Pale Wraith, who masterminded the [=YouTube=] crisis, is Boxxyfan, the villain from the first game and is the one who awakened Arianna and STORM as part of his own plan to destroy the net. He becomes the villain of the post-game, but the DLC also brings back two previous villains as equally big threats; Mother Zoe, leader of the Social Justice Warriors who wants to enact {{Gendercide}} of all men, and Rcoastee, the other villain of the first game who wants revenge on the heroes for beating him. Boxxyfan ultimately becomes the last one standing... only for him to accidentally revive Legion, who becomes the TrueFinalBoss and the definitive final threat. |
| 200 | * ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot4ItsAboutTime'' has quite a few main villains over the course of its story. At first, it's a BigBadDuumvirate between [[MadScientist Doctor Neo Cortex]] and [[TimeMaster Doctor Nefarious Tropy]], having invented the Rift Generator to get revenge on Crash Bandicoot for [[TheSlowPath trapping them in the past]] after ''[[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot3Warped Warped]]''. But after Cortex gets defeated, N. Tropy reveals that he teamed up with another villain - namely, a DistaffCounterpart of himself - to use the Rift Generator to rewrite time InTheirOwnImage and [[AGodAmI rule it as a god]], so Cortex forms an EnemyMine with Crash and Coco to stop the two N. Tropies. After they get defeated and Team Crash decides to celebrate their victory with food trucks, Cortex decides to use the Quantum Masks to [[MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight travel back in time and destroy Crash before he's been created in the first place]], cementing himself as the sole BigBad and the FinalBoss. |
| 201 | * Pretty common in ''Franchise/TouhouProject''. |
| 202 | ** ''VideoGame/TouhouYouyoumuPerfectCherryBlossom'': Initially the winter youkai, [[{{Yukionna}} Letty Whiterock]], seems to be the one responsible for the everlasting winter, before it turns out to have actually been caused by [[CuteGhostGirl Yuyuko Saigyouji]] and her attempts to uncover the body beneath Saigyou Ayakashi. In the extra stage, it's revealed that Yuyuko was being helped by Yukari Yakumo, the Youkai of Boundaries. |
| 203 | ** ''VideoGame/TouhouKishinjouDoubleDealingCharacter'': The game kicks off with a youkai uprising, and after fighting through several youkai bosses, our protagonists discover it was caused by Shinmyoumaru Sukuna using the Miracle Mallet to compel them to rampage. Sukuna in turn was being manipulated by Seija Kijin, who in an inversion of the norm is actually confronted and reveals her plans a stage before the protagonists get to Sukuna, the FinalBoss. |
| 204 | ** ''VideoGame/TouhouKanjudenLegacyOfLunaticKingdom'': The main antagonist is at first Sagume Kishin, the one in charge of the Lunarian invasion. After she's defeated, it turns out that the Lunarians are invading because they're being driven off the moon by Junko, who turns out to be receiving help from a greater power -- Hecatia Lapislazuli, goddess of the three Hells. |
| 205 | [[/folder]] |
| 206 | |
| 207 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 208 | * ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' does this over the course of the three routes. |
| 209 | ** In ''Fate'', [[EnfantTerrible Illya]] is the initial antagonist, with [[SmugSnake Shinji]] becoming another contender once his plan is discovered. Then Illya [[EvilerThanThou kills Shinji]], leaving her as the sole antagonist. Once she's beaten, Caster breifly takes the Big Bad position before [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]] is introduced and knocks her away. Then [[BigBadDuumvirate he turns out to be working]] with [[SinisterMinister Kirei Kotomine]], and they summon [[spoiler:the Holy Grail itself]] as a GreaterScopeVillain. |
| 210 | ** In ''Unlimited Blade Works'', Caster appears to usurp the position from Kotomine, even seemingly killing him. Then once she's beaten, [[spoiler:''Archer'' betrays the party and]] kidnaps Rin. Then he [[spoiler:[[VillainTeamUp joins forces with]] Shinji, Gilgamesh, and [[NotQuiteDead Kotomine]]]]. Eventually [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] is left as the sole antagonist with the others dead... until [[spoiler:he summons the Holy Grail]]. |
| 211 | ** Finally, in ''Heaven's Feel'', [[EvilOldFolks Zouken Matou]] is introduced, and he [[EvilVersusEvil competes with Kotomine and Gilgamesh]] before Sakura [[FaceHeelTurn becomes Dark Sakura]] and [[MakeWayForTheNewVillains kills them all]]. But Zouken survives, and attempts to take over Dark Sakura- so she kills him ''again''. Then, when she's defeated, Kotomine returns for one last battle. |
| 212 | * Due to [[MoralityKitchenSink how morally complex the story is]], ''VisualNovel/FullMetalDaemonMuramasa'' is a doozy with it introducing Big Bad candidates left, right and center which gets even more complicated depending on the route. The common route already introduces the ruthless conquer [[EvilOverlord Moriuji Ashikaga]] and his entourage, the mysterious and destructive silver star [[OmnicidalManiac Ginseigo]], the leader for the invading allied powers with General [[WellIntentionedExtremist Charles Willow]] and finally the old yakuza [[TheQuisling Ichizo Sorimachi]] who seems just a little ''too'' on top of things. [[spoiler:Moriuji and Charles are both BigBadWannabe's. The seeming ally [[SatanicArchetype Chachamaru]] is in reality allied with Ginseigo, a.k.a. the main characters [[CainAndAbel sister Hikaru]], and the real brain of the two. The two possible main love interests, [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity Ichijo Ayane]] and [[MoralSociopathy Kanae Otori]], become the respective Big Bad's of their own routes as [[BigBadSlippage they succumb to extremism]]. Ichizo stays mostly in the background but is ready to pounce on the main character when it will hurt the most and remains a personal threat throughout. And then the final reveal makes it clear that the true Big Bad of this entire thing was none other than the main character Kageaki Minto himself and that [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain he had simply refused to accept it]]]]. |
| 213 | * ''VisualNovel/ParanormasightTheSevenMysteriesOfHonjo'': [[SerialKiller Fumichika Nejima]] is presented as the main threat throughout much of the game, as he is planning to use his curse echo to commit a massacre of hundreds in Honjo and get revenge on everyone who got him arrested, but it gradually becomes clear that he's being enabled by some third party. The heroes initially suspect said person to be Natsume Yamamori, the CEO of Hihaku Soaps, but it turns out that while she has her hand in some of the happenings, she has nothing to do with Nejima. Then, Ayame Tono is built up as the mastermind of the entire Rite of Resurrection, but she also turns out to not be Nejima's supplier. The game's true villain turns out to be [[BitchInSheepsClothing Yoko Fukunaga]], who orchestrated the entire game in order to resurrect [[GreaterScopeVillain Lady Ashino]] from the dead. |
| 214 | [[/folder]] |
| 215 | |
| 216 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 217 | * The initial BigBad of ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat'' is the Sheriff, though after Hank kills him, his [[TheDragon Dragon]] [[DarkMessiah Jebus]] briefly takes the role. Then [[MonsterClown Tricky]] comes in and kills him, stealing the role from him. It's eventually revealed, though, that the overall BigBad was the Auditor, as he was manipulating everything through the Improbability Drive. |
| 218 | * While ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' makes it very clear that Salem is ''the'' BigBad of the show and has Volume 8 be her VillainNoLongerIdle moment, near the end of the Volume, [[spoiler:she's blown up by Ozpin's cane. The rest of the Volume is Ironwood and Cinder practically competing to fill in for the short time she's out of commission]]. |
| 219 | [[/folder]] |
| 220 | |
| 221 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 222 | * While The Other seems like the ultimate villain of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' it is largely hands off. The role of primary villain in the comic aside from The Other jumps around quite a bit with the current set up seemingly having Zola, Martellus, [[spoiler: Beausoleil]] and his masters, and possibly [[spoiler: Queen Albia]] all seemingly playing things for their own gain |
| 223 | * ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' does this quite a lot. So, the BigBad and FinalBoss of the Game is the Black King. Except before they can fight him, he gets killed by [[spoiler:Jack Noir]], who's the REAL big bad that all the heroes and other villains are trying to stop. Except [[spoiler:the whole thing was a set-up by Vriska Serket]]. Until it [[spoiler:Jack]] stops following her plans. And then it turns out that they were both under the control of [[spoiler:Doc Scratch]], even though [[spoiler:Jack]] is actually more dangerous than him, except he's not because everything he does is part of The Plan, and it eventually turns out that [[spoiler:Scratch was behind everything]]. BUT WAIT! He was doing everything to summon his Master, [[spoiler:Lord English]], whose actions also provoked the Horrorterrors, pretty much the only party not being manipulated by someone. But then, Act 6 introduces ''even more'' villains while still keeping one or two of the old ones around, [[spoiler:but all of them can be traced back to Lord English]]. |
| 224 | [[/folder]] |
| 225 | |
| 226 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 227 | * One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' featured six villains, each revealing one after the other that the previous villain wasn't actually that episode's BigBad. |
| 228 | * ''WesternAnimation/MastersOfTheUniverseRevelation'': Skeletor is the classic archnemesis for He-Man and leader of the evil warriors. [[spoiler:But he is killed along with He-Man in the first episode. The next BigBad we're introduced to is Tri-Clops, who is worshipping a mechanical being called Motherboard and forcefully converting others, and Mer-Man, who attacks them with his Aquatican mooks. After that, Scare Glow menaces the heroes when they journey to Subternia, before Skeletor suddenly reemerges as the BigBad and remains that way for most of Part 2. He is then co-opted by Evil-Lyn, who remains the principle antagonist for the remainder, although Skeletor still attempts to be a menace to He-Man on his own terms. The finale then reveals that Hordak is [[TheManBehindTheMan the real force behind Motherboard]] as a SequelHook]]. |
| 229 | * ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': ''Pahkitew Island'' ends up going through four Big Bads. First, you have Amy, who is eliminated in "Twinning Isn’t Everything" after her sister Samey outwits her and takes her place with almost nobody being the wiser until "A Blast from the Past" when Amy returns to fight Samey again. From there, Sugar becomes the new Big Bad, before being usurped in "Scarlett Fever" by Scarlett. After Scarlett is eliminated for her attempts to destroy the island, Sugar resumes her role as Big Bad before being eliminated in the penultimate episode. After that, the final episode has no Big Bad for the first half until Dave assumes the role after Chris reveals that Sky has been with someone other than him. |
| 230 | * ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': The series starts with a pretty traditional set-up: Hordak is the BigBad who [[OrcusOnHisThrone spends most of his time working in the background]], while his minion Catra is a [[TheHeavy more direct antagonist]]. Then things get a little complicated. [[spoiler:Catra works her way up the ranks until she eventually forces Hordak to acknowledge her as an [[BigBadDuumvirate equal partner]]. Then it turns out that Light Hope was [[EvilAllAlong a bad guy the whole time]], and she has her own evil plan independent of the Horde and directly at odds with them. And as soon as She-Ra beats Light Hope, Horde Prime arrives on Etheria, forces Hordak and Catra to get in line, and cements himself as the true BigBad of the story.]] |
| 231 | * ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' |
| 232 | ** Season 20 first presents a BigBadEnsemble between [[{{Troll}} SkankHunt42]] / [[spoiler:Gerald]] and Mr. Garrison, who are soon joined by the Memberberries. A few episodes later, they are also joined by Lennart Bedrager, head of [=TrollTrace=].com, who eventually takes [[spoiler:Gerald]] out of commission. Mr. Garrison, meanwhile, ends up becoming a pawn of the Memberberries, who are also revealed to be led by the [[TheDon Don Memberberry]]. However, the Memberberries become OutOfFocus when Lennart and [=TrollTrace=] take center stage, leaving Lennart as the FinalBoss of the season. |
| 233 | ** Season 22 does this again. At first the BigBad seems to be whomever is causing the school shootings. Then they are pushed aside in episode 6 for [=ManBearPig=] whose revealed to be RealAfterAll and is causing chaos throughout the town. However [=ManBearPig=] signs a contract with the Boys to leave the town 2 episodes later, and [[FatBastard Eric Cartman]] takes over, convincing everyone in South Park to wear Buddha Boxes to "deal with their anxiety". Then an episode later Cartman gets pushed aside for Amazon.com CEO [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Jeff Bezos]] whose Amazon Fulfillment center is shutting down businesses throughout South Park making Bezos the BigBad for the [[FinalBoss final]] two episodes. |
| 234 | * In the second season of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', Tombstone, Doctor Octopus and Silvermane all take BigBad status for an arc or two and eventually literally end up fighting for the role full time. But they are all being played by the ''real'' BigBad: [[spoiler:the Green Goblin]], who takes over all their territories after Spidey takes the trio down. |
| 235 | * ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' presents multiple {{Big Bad}}s throughout the series. While the most prominent threat is [[NebulousEvilOrganization the Light]], their membership is fluid and can change in and out, with the four constants being Vandal Savage, Lex Luthor, Queen Bee, and Klarion the Witch Boy. In ''Invasion'', The Light form a BigBadDuumvirate with [[AlienInvasion the Reach]], and the time is split between the two sides, until it's revealed both were just using each other, and the Reach try to destroy the world. They get dealt with, and The Light goes back to being the main menace in ''Outsiders'', except they have a partnership with an even more dangerous threat: Darkseid, although the Apokoliptian agent assigned to the group, Granny Goodness, then goes rogue and has to be defeated. All in all, there isn't a single big bad, as the spot seems to vary depending on episode or arc. A given, considering the sheer magnitude of the cast. The fourth season, ''Phantoms'', initially focuses on various threats connected to the Light or Apokolips, aside from the Lord of Chaos known as Child, but another major threat emerges with the arrival of Lor-Zod from the future to free his father General Zod, who is the climactic final encounter of the season. |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
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