"The ultimate villain of the story, who's causing the problem the heroes must solve."

Note that Big Bad is not a catch-all trope for the biggest and ugliest villain of any given story. The BigBad is the one who turns out to be behind several other seemingly independent threats.
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* The ''Franchise/StarWars'' movie saga has three big bads (one is the bad big for four films and TheManBehindTheMan for the other two):
** A New Hope: Grand Moff Tarkin
** The Empire Strikes Back: Darth Vader
** Return of the Jedi: Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious (pictured on the main page)
** The Phantom Menace: Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious
** Attack of the Clones: Supreme Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious
** Revenge of the Sith: Supreme Chancellor Palpatine/Emperor Darth Sidious
* Ernst Stavro Blofeld, from the ''Film/JamesBond'' movies (as well as the books they were based on), up until [[spoiler:he was apparently killed in the opening sequence of ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly''.]] Each ''Bond'' film also has its own BigBad:
** ''Film/DrNo'': [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Doctor Julius No]], though he's working for [[NebulousEvilOrganization SPECTRE]].
** ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'': As far as the plot is concerned, it's [[TheBaroness Rosa Klebb]], however, we're made aware of the mysterious "[[BiggerBad Number One]]" of SPECTRE who issues orders and terrifies even her.
** ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'': [[AntagonistTitle Auric Goldfinger]]. Technically, he's been hired by [[RedChina Communist China]], but it's pretty clear that he doesn't care about causing chaos in the west and is just using them to get richer.
** ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'': Emilio Largo, though "Number One" again appears.
** ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'': Number One takes direct command this time, and he's revealed to be the aforementioned Blofeld. Again, the Chinese are paying him, but he's the dominant partner by far.
** ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'': Blofeld.
** ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'': [[RuleOfThree Blofeld]].
** ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'': [[TheCartel Mister Big, a.k.a. Dr. Kananga]].
** ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'': [[ProfessionalKiller Francisco Scaramanga]]. [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Hai Fat]] would [[BigBadWannabe ''like'']] to be this, but [[DragonWithAnAgenda Scaramanga has other ideas]].
** ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'': [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans Karl Stromberg]].
** ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'': [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Hugo]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans Drax]].
** ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'': Aristotle Kristatos.
** ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'': Prince Kamal Khan [[BigBadDuumvirate and]] [[RenegadeRussian General Orlov]]
** ''Film/AViewToAKill'': [[AxCrazy Max Zorin]]
** ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'': [[MilesGloriosus Brad]] [[TriggerHappy Whitaker]] and [[RenegadeRussian General Georgi Koskov]].
** ''Film/LicenceToKill'': [[TheCartel Franz Sanchez]].
** ''Film/GoldenEye'': [[EvilCounterpart Alec Trevelyan]].
** ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Elliot Carver]].
** ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'': [[WesternTerrorists Viktor Zokas/Renard the Anarchist]] [[spoiler: and [[FemmeFatale Elektra King]]]].
** ''Film/DieAnotherDay'': [[SecretIdentity Sir Gustav Graves]] [[spoiler: (Colonel Tan-Sun Moon)]].
** ''Film/CasinoRoyale'': Le Chiffre is TheHeavy, but like other villains in the series he's been hired by third parties (including a NebulousEvilOrganization called Quantum). Perhaps a better example would be the mysterious Mr. White.
** ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'': Dominic Greene, though other members of [[NebulousEvilOrganization Quantum]] of equal or greater rank than him appear briefly.
** ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'': Raoul Silva [[spoiler:a.k.a Tiago Rodriguez]]
* Colonel Miles Quaritch, head of the RDA Spec Ops (aka the RDA Security Force) in the JamesCameron film ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. A corrupt, fascist, and warmongering SpaceMarine, he is the EnemyToAllLivingThings on Pandora. Initially, it could be argued that he was in a BigBadDuumvirate with the sleazy head of the RDA mining site, Parker Selfridge, but by the film's climax it becomes apparent not only that Quaritch has usurped all the power in the base, but also that Selfridge is very much aware of this fact.
** Selfridge and Quaritch are a great example of a NonActionBigBad and his DragonInChief. Selfridge is nominally in charge, but Quaritch is much more menacing and is ultimately the true threat.
* ''Push'' has Henry Carver, and on a more broad scale, the Division itself.
* Rotti Largo from ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera'' has Big Bad among his many diabolical credentials.
* King Ghidorah of the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' franchise fits this trope as he has been Godzilla's greatest rival in six films (one of which he's actually the good guy). He also has faced Mothra in one of her solo movies (and had an {{expy}} face her in another solo film), and fought ''ZoneFighter'', a Toho-produced {{Ultraman}}-like TV show hero. Godzilla himself could be seen as the Big Bad for some of his appearances.
* The Queen alien from ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' counts for this trope, as it ruins the life of the heroine/lays facehugger eggs throughout the movie.
* The ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' have had to deal with two {{Big Bad}}s: Gozer the Gozerian in the first movie and Vigo the Carpathian from the second.
* Almost all the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' movies have one.
** The title character of ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''
** Kruge in ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock''
** Sybok in ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier''. Although, since he doesn't really seem to be ''bad'', being a WellIntentionedExtremist at worst, a better candidate would be the "God" entity manipulating him.
** [[spoiler:General Chang]] in ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry''
** Dr. Tolian Soran in ''Film/StarTrekGenerations''
** The Borg Queen in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact''
** Ru'afo in ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection''
** Shinzon in ''Film/StarTrekNemesis''
** ''Film/StarTrek'' has Nero, possibly the most pissed off Romulan ''ever'', who is determined to [[spoiler:destroy Vulcan and then the rest of the Federation]] because neither managed to save [[spoiler:Romulus from being obliterated by a supernova]]. He's got a decent reason for being so angry, but good grief, he's got to be the new king of [[DisproportionateRetribution disproportionate response]].
** John Harrison in ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness''.
* Most comic book movies have one. [[SuperheroMovieVillainsDie They often die]].
** ''Film/{{Superman}}'', ''SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'' and ''SupermanReturns'' have LexLuthor, ''SupermanII'' and ''Film/ManOfSteel'' has General Zod, ''SupermanIII'' has Ross Webster.
** ''BatmanTheMovie'' has ''four'' villains but The Penguin seems to be most dominant.
** ''Film/{{Batman}}'' has TheJoker, ''Film/BatmanReturns'' has The Penguin.
** ''Film/BatmanForever'' has The Riddler, and ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' has Mr. Freeze.
** ''Film/BatmanBegins'' has Ra's Al Ghul, ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' has TheJoker, and ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' has Bane [[spoiler: [[BigBadDuumvirate and]]/[[TheDragon or]] Talia al Ghul]].
** ''Film/XMen1'' has {{Magneto}}, ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' and ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'' has William Stryker, and ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' has Magneto again, even though the main focus is on Jean Grey/Phoenix. ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' has Sebastian Shaw.
** ''Film/IronMan'': ''Film/IronMan1'' has Iron Monger/[[spoiler:Obadiah Stane]], ''Film/IronMan2'' has Whiplash/Ivan Vanko, and ''Film/IronMan3'' has The Mandarin [[spoiler: who's actually a puppet of Aldrich Killian]]
** ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'' has Kingpin.
** ''Film/{{Elektra}}'' has Kirgi.
** ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' has David Banner, ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'' has The Abombination.
** ''Film/{{Blade}}'' has Deacon Frost, ''Blade II'' has Jared Nomak, ''Blade Trinity'' has Dracula himself! (named "Drake" in the film).
** ''Film/FantasticFour'' has DoctorDoom, while ''Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer'' has Galactus.
** ''Film/{{Spider-Man}}'' has [[NormanOsborn the Green Goblin]], ''Spider-Man 2'' has DoctorOctopus, ''Spider-Man 3'' has {{ComicBook/Venom}}.
** ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' has the Lizard, with Osborn as the looming BiggerBad.
** ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' has The Shredder.
** ''Film/ThePunisher'' (1989) has Lady Tanaka, the 2004 ''Punisher'' film has Howard Saint and ''Punisher War Zone'' has Jigsaw.
** ''Film/{{Thor}}'' and ''Film/TheAvengers'' had [[spoiler: Loki]] as the main villain with [[spoiler: {{Thanos}}]] as the BiggerBad in ''The Avengers''.
** In ''Film/GreenLantern'' Parallax is the main villain
** The RedSkull is the Big Bad of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger''.
** ''Film/GhostRider'' has Blackheart, its sequel, Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance has Roarke/Mephisto.
** ''Film/{{Hellboy}}'' has Rasputin and it's sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army has Nuada.
** ''Film/{{Spawn}}'' has The Violater.
** Frank D'Amico in ''Film/{{Kickass}}''.
** [[spoiler:Ozymandias]] in ''Film/{{Watchmen}} Bizarrely, he's also kind of a BigGood.''.
* ''Film/{{Transformers}}'': Megatron in the first movie, The Fallen in ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' (Also doubles as TheManBehindTheMan), and [[spoiler:Sentinel Prime]] in ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon''.
* ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}'':
** The Kurgan in ''Film/{{Highlander}}''.
** General Katana in ''HighlanderIITheQuickening''.
** Kane in ''HighlanderIIITheSorcerer''.
** Jacob Kell in ''HighlanderEndgame''.
** The Guardian in ''Film/HighlanderTheSource''
** Marcus Octavius was the Big Bad for the anime version of the story, ''HighlanderTheSearchForVengeance''.
* [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Lord]] [[SmugSnake Cutler Beckett]] in ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean''. Even though he didn't appear until ''Dead Man's Chest'', you can make a pretty good case for Beckett being Big Bad all along, as he was indirectly responsible for the events of the first movie (branding Jack, initiating the chain of events that made Jack the captain of the Pearl, etc.) despite never appearing or being mentioned, and was pulling everyone's strings in the second. Each movie also has its own individual villain as well:
** Captain Barbossa in ''Curse of the Black Pearl''
** Davy Jones in ''Dead Man's Chest'', until Beckett manages to take control of him at the end.
** Cutler Beckett himself is BigBad directly in ''At World's End''.
** Blackbeard in ''On Stranger Tides'', which is only loosely connected to the previous trilogy.
* ''SkyHigh'' has Royal Pain/[[spoiler:Gwen Grayson]], although the case could also be made for a ''[[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning posthumous]]'' BigBad in the form of [[spoiler:Sue Tenny, the original Royal Pain and Gwen's pre-incarnation]], who set up the EvilPlan in the backstory before [[spoiler:an unfortunate accident involving a weaponized FountainOfYouth set her back a little bit.]]
* ''Film/TheMatrix'' series has Smith. He starts out as just another Agent who gets more character depth than the others (i.e, he's actively disgusted and angered by people instead of just being an emotionless drone), but after he comes BackFromTheDead and starts copying himself, [[spoiler: the Machines are forced to reach a truce with Neo to stop him.]]
* Casanova Frankenstein in ''MysteryMen''.
* The Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangers had [[SealedEvilInACan Ivan Ooze]].
* [[RaulJulia M.]] [[LargeHam Bison]] in ''Film/StreetFighter'', OF COURSE!
* [[spoiler: Robert]] in ''MysteryTeam''.
* ''Film/DieHard'':
** Hans Gruber in ''Die Hard''
** Colonel Stuart in ''Die Hard 2''
** Simon Gruber in ''Die Hard With a Vengeance''
** Thomas Gabriel in ''Live Free or Die Hard''
** Yuri Komarov in ''A Good Day to Die Hard''
* ''LethalWeapon''
** General Peter [=McAllister=] in ''Lethal Weapon''
** Arjen Rudd in ''Lethal Weapon 2''
** Jack Travis in ''Lethal Weapon 3''
** Wah Sing Ku in ''Lethal Weapon 4''
* ''Franchise/IndianaJones''
** Dr. René Belloq in ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''
** Mola Ram in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''
** Walter Donovan in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''
** Irina Spalko in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull''
* [[Creator/MelBrooks President Skroob]] of Film/{{Spaceballs}} in a [[PlayedForLaughs humorous way]].
* ''Film/{{Underworld}}''
** Viktor in ''Underworld''
** Marcus in ''Underworld: Evolution''
** Viktor ([[{{Prequel}} again, sorta]]) in ''Underworld: Rise of the Lycans''
** Dr Jacob Lane in ''Underworld: Awakening''
* The [[MasterComputer MCP]] in ''Film/{{Tron}}'' and Clu 2.0 in ''Film/TronLegacy''
* The InUnverse books in ''AmericanDreamer'' have Count Renalo, whom Cathy imagines looks like her {{Jerkass}} husband. [[spoiler:Later it turns out the is a real villain who is a French drug lord.]]
* [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Darwin Mayflower]] in ''Film/HudsonHawk'', [[BigBadDuumvirate assisted by]] his [[AxCrazy crossbow-crazy]] [[UnholyMatrimony wife Minerva]].
* Becky Pamintuan of MoronFiveAndTheCryingLady.
* Most horror movie franchises have Big Bads:
** Freddy Krueger in the ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' series.
** Jason Voorhees in the ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' movies.
** Michael Myers in the ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' films.
** Death itself in the ''Film/FinalDestination'' movies.
** Pinhead in the ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}'' series.
** Chucky in ''Film/ChildsPlay''.
** The Sawyer family in ''Franchise/TheTexasChainsawMassacre''. The Hewitts in the remakes. The latest film has Leatherface, [[spoiler:but he is upstaged by the mayor Burt Hartman.]]
** Jigsaw aka John Kramer [[spoiler: but after his death in the third film he is followed by Mark Hoffman]] in ''Film/{{Saw}}''.
** The Creeper in ''Film/JeepersCreepers''
** ''Film/TheLostBoys'' movies have [[spoiler: Max]] in the first movie, Shane Powers in the second movie and [[spoiler: Peter Leiber]] in the third.
** ''Film/FrightNight'' has Jerry Dandridge, and its sequel has his sister Regine.
** David Kessler was more of a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds in ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInLondon'' but it's sequel ''Film/AnAmericanWerewolfInParis'' has [[spoiler: Claude]] as it's Big Bad.
** [[spoiler: Billy Loomis]] in the first ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'' movie, [[spoiler: his mother]] in [[Film/{{Scream 2}} the second movie]], [[spoiler: Roman Bridger]] in [[Film/{{Scream 3}} the third]], and [[spoiler:Jill Roberts]] in [[Film/{{Scream 4}} the fourth movie]]. [[spoiler: (all but the third [[BigBadDuumvirate have help]], but the comrades die before them - in Jill's case, by her own hand so she would pass as a FinalGirl)]]
** In ''Film/GingerSnaps'', Ginger Fitzgerald was TheHeavy and FinalBoss at best, but it's sequel ''GingerSnapsUnleashed'' has [[spoiler: a seemingly innocent girl named, Ghost]] and it's prequel ''GingerSnapsBackTheBegining'' has Reverend Gilbert.
** Ben Willis in ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer''.
** Pumpkinhead in ''Film/{{Pumpkinhead}}'' of course.
** The Demon in ''Film/ParanormalActivity''.
* In the ''Film/ResidentEvil'' films, the [[MegaCorp Umbrella Corporation]] is the source of everything bad that happens, with each movie having an individual main antagonist working for Umbrella:
** ''Film/ResidentEvil'': [[AIIsACrapshoot The Red Queen]]
** ''Film/ResidentEvilApocalypse'': [[SociopathicSoldier Major Cain]]
** ''Film/ResidentEvilExtinction'': [[MadScientist Dr. Issacs]]
** ''Film/ResidentEvilAfterlife'': [[BadassAbnormal Albert Wesker]]
** ''Film/ResidentEvilRetribution'': [[KillAllHumans The Red Queen]] again, having seized control from Wesker.
* Every single ''KamenRider'' Movie War films has had a BigBad
** ''Movie War 2010'': [[LegoGenetics Ultimate D]]
** ''Movie War Core'': [[EvilKnockoff Kamen Rider Core]], although [[KamenRiderOOO Giru the Dinosaur Greeed]] made his presence known and The OOO portion of the film had [[HalfHumanHybrid Nobunga]] as the BigBad
** ''Movie War Megamax'': [[AxCrazy Lem Kannagi]]/[[OneWingedAngel Super Galaxy King]]
** ''Movie War Ultimatum'': [[AdaptationalVillainy The Akumaizer]] along with the [[KamenRiderFourze Hercules Zodiarts]].
* The Brain Bug in the first ''Film/StarshipTroopers'', which leads the other Bugs. The third film reveals that [[spoiler:the Brain Bugs are actually in thrall to an even higher leadership caste of which there is only one member, the humongous Bug God Behemecoatyl.]]
* ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'': Destro [[spoiler:at first. Later The Doctor/Cobra Commander]] in both this movie and ''GIJoeRetaliation''.
* [[spoiler: The Tet]] from ''Film/{{Oblivion 2013}}'' .
* [[EvilOverlord The Dark Master]] in ''Film/BridgeToTerabithia''... [[YourMindMakesItReal if he exists]]. [[spoiler:Arguably, the crippling father-issues he represents are the ''real'' villain here]].
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