%%
%%
%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
%%
%%
%%
%%
%% Due to the nature of this trope, finding an image will be very difficult.
%% DO NOT add an image to this page without discussion in Image Pickin'.
%% IP thread for reference: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1351865445081400100
%% Subsequent thread did not produce a new image: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1603245601040797900
%%
->'''Taran:''' Another of Arawn's servants?\\
'''Gwydion:''' Gwyn owes allegiance to a lord unknown even to me, and one perhaps greater than Arawn.
-->-- ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain''

Nearly every conflict in fiction is caused by the BigBad, the character directly responsible for the plot and likely sending out various minions and lieutenants to make the hero's life busy. But what about a greater enemy that is ''indirectly'' responsible for the plot? That's where this trope comes in.

A Greater-Scope Villain is a threat/villainous presence that's more dangerous, affects more people, or is more significant than the story's current Big Bad ''in the setting as a whole'', but isn't causing the conflict of ''the immediate story'' (and may have little to do with it at all). While the Big Bad is directly responsible for the current story -- the Big Bad is the villain whom the heroes are attempting to defeat -- a Greater-Scope Villain isn't a major force in the plot, only a major force in the background. They are just responsible for anything evil or fueling at least a part of the fictional setting (how much of it depends on the scale of the Greater-Scope Villain's influence) in which the story takes place. A Greater-Scope Villain may be the Big Bad's superior, but just as often they're completely unrelated -- indeed, a Greater-Scope Villain may threaten the Big Bad just as much as they threaten the heroes. Whatever the relationship between the Big Bad and Greater-Scope Villain, the Greater-Scope Villain is always OutOfFocus -- the threat they pose is general and in the background, while the threat posed by the Big Bad is specific and immediate.

This is ''not'' a SubTrope of BigBad. A Greater-Scope Villain is a more threatening force of evil in the setting and overshadows it, but due to various factors, it is disconnected on a personal level from the main plot, which is caused by the Big Bad. There are different ways this may manifest, for example:
* A SealedEvilInACan which is several steps above the strength of the characters, but the current villain is obsessed with them either to be released or as a threat to everyone else. If they are released, the Big Bad may learn that EvilIsNotAToy.
* A [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils demon lord, archdevil]], GodOfEvil, or EldritchAbomination -- perhaps even TheAntiGod -- with a ReligionOfEvil and/or PathOfInspiration built around them, if they do not appear directly. Their threat is indirect; they work through lesser villains by encouraging them to do evil and their power may be proportional to the evil that is caused, with the Big Bad likely to be the head of their religion. {{Satan}} is often portrayed as such with a UsefulNotes/{{Christian|ity}} bent.
* A [[TheDreaded Dreaded Warlord]] who has much deeper resources or area of influence, inspiring immense fear (or even [[VillainCred admiration]]) from the current but either due to location or the immediate conflict being BeneathNotice neither are quite yet on each other's radar. This furthers the idea that they are on a different level of villainy.
* The EvilOverlord, TheEmperor, TheGeneralissimo, the EvilChancellor, or PresidentEvil in a {{dystopia}} or war/spy story that focuses on a specific conflict within a much larger military or political situation. UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler may play this role in a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII story in which the villain is a [[GeneralRipper Nazi general]]; the conflict of the story is merely one aspect of [[ThoseWackyNazis an immense war machine]] and Hitler may be acknowledged peripherally. The same can be done for stories involving [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Russia]], in which [[UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin Vladimir Lenin]] or [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Josef Stalin]] may play this role, politically or wartime-based.
* An NGOSuperpower or NebulousEvilOrganisation that is aware of and possibly sponsoring/employing the villain but has little connection to the story's specific conflict. The apparent lack of a centralized leadership or location makes it difficult to identify what they are trying to accomplish or if they even exist as an organized committee.
* A SentientCosmicForce (e.g., TheDarkSide) that can't, by any realistic stretch of the definition, be considered a character. It may be a BackgroundMagicField that has made a conflict possible, with others mulling that it may be better if it never existed so that the villain wasn't empowered.
* An OutsideContextProblem that may not be fully accounted for by either the hero or the previous villains, but may have been subtly foreshadowed to emerge as a distant consequence of their actions. Sometimes abstract dangers occur as the underlying threat everyone was trying to avoid, compare SpaceWhaleAesop.
* An evil character who [[FreudianExcuse wronged the other villain(s)]] and [[StartOfDarkness kicked off their initial evil]]. They may be dealing with their own problems and [[ButForMeItWasTuesday unaware that the brat]] they [[KickTheDog kicked]] became a [[FromNobodyToNightmare rabid monster]].
* Depending on the order various installments were released, the main villain of a {{prequel}} may be revealed to have set in motion the events of a work released chronologically earlier but did not appear or is only mentioned briefly in the earlier work. This may also be used when the authors want a villain that can be defeated or avoid conflict with a ForegoneConclusion.
* Conversely, the main villain of the original installment can become a Greater-Scope Villain of the sequel [[PosthumousCharacter after their defeat]], as they may influence a loyal minion [[DragonAscendant to become the new villain]] in their stead.

A Greater-Scope Villain doesn't always have to remain a Greater-Scope Villain. Hinting towards a greater enemy is a common method of {{foreshadowing}} who the next Big Bad is going to be, if the current Big Bad is defeated and the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil kicks in to provide a bigger threat for the heroes to face. Alternatively, the Greater-Scope Villain could show up and try to ruin everyone's day, becoming the new Big Bad and possibly forcing an EnemyMine situation between the heroes and the previous villain. Inversely, a Big Bad can be KickedUpstairs to become a Greater-Scope Villain.

There can also be more than one Greater-Scope Villain -- either multiple Greater-Scope Villains working together (a la BigBadDuumvirate), multiple Greater-Scope Villains each with their own agenda (a la BigBadEnsemble), or in multiple layers of Greater-Scope Villains, each bigger than the last (e.g., the Big Bad threatens a city, the first Greater-Scope Villain threatens the country, and an Even Greater-Scope Villain threatens the whole world).

In a general sense this should also not be considered the same as TheManBehindTheMan, because if they are behind the plot they would be a Big Bad. However, the Man Behind the Man and Greater-Scope Villain can overlap if the Man Behind the Man remains distant enough from the story. The Greater-Scope Villain must not give specific orders to the Big Bad (at least no orders with relevance to the plot), but they can corrupt the Big Bad to make the Big Bad work for them. They allow the Big Bad to act on their own initiative, even if the Big Bad finds it more convenient to claim to be JustFollowingOrders, and don't interfere unless it's in their interests to do so. A Greater-Scope Villain is a frequent ConflictKiller or [[ArcWelding arc welding machine]], especially when used under the right circumstances. The Greater-Scope Villain, if taking advantage of the original BigBad, may create a SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain dynamic if the BigBad becomes more sympathetic and reconsiders their villainy.

Contrast GreaterScopeParagon, which is the GoodCounterpart of this trope. Compare VillainousLegacy, where a villain serves this type of role long after their defeat and/or death. May also overlap with PredecessorVillain, if the predecessor was significantly worse than the current Big Bad and still exists in some form. Suitably powerful Greater-Scope Villains can count as PowersThatBe. If the villain is said to exist somewhere but doesn't appear in person at any point, this overlaps with TheGhost. Can also overlap with VillainOfAnotherStory if the Greater-Scope Villain doesn't antagonize the current story. If they aren't TheUnfought in a video game, then they are usually the TrueFinalBoss.

Compare NotTheFirstVictim, when the ''scope'' of the villain's damage done to other characters was undiscovered for a period of time, but their goal or intention is not necessarily wider.

The mere existence of these villains are often plot-twists, so '''Beware of Unmarked Spoilers'''.

----
!!Example subpages:

[[index]]
* GreaterScopeVillain/AnimeAndManga
* [[GreaterScopeVillain/LiveActionFilms Film — Live-Action]]
* GreaterScopeVillain/{{Literature}}
* GreaterScopeVillain/LiveActionTV
* GreaterScopeVillain/VideoGames
* GreaterScopeVillain/WesternAnimation
[[/index]]

!!Other examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
!!Franchise/TheDCU
* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'':
** In ''ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison'', Dr. Hurt is the main Big Bad, but is revealed to have a Greater-Scope Villain controlling him, who he thinks is the demon Barbatos, but is actually a weapon Darkseid sent back to the dawn of man when Batman was hit by the Omega Effect in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''.
** Later on, it's [[{{Retcon}} retroactively revealed]] that Barbatos was RealAfterAll. Barbatos is an ancient cosmic entity that rules and resides in the Dark Multiverse, the [[DarkWorld dark side]] of TheMultiverse. He's also an object of worship for the Court of Owls, making him the Greater-Scope Villain to them too. In ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'', he finally decides to make his move and attacks the regular multiverse with seven evil Batmen from the Dark Multiverse. It's heavily hinted that he may or may not be directly or indirectly responsible for every bad thing that has happened to Batman in his life, to the point that he even calls himself the "father of Batman" and claims to have been the bat which flew in through the window on the night that Bruce declared "Yes, Father. I shall become a Bat". Obviously, Bruce did ''not'' know which 'father' he was speaking to during that night...
* While not the main villain of the Creator/NeilGaiman-written ''ComicBook/BlackOrchid'', Lex Luthor is this, having been Carl Throne's former boss and the events of the mini are kicked off by the original Black Orchid being killed after she was discovered spying on his organization. Ironic, given Gaiman's famous "skinny Kingpin" comment was actually deriding the CorruptCorporateExecutive version he became since ''ComicBook/TheManOfSteel''.
* In ''ComicBook/DarkNightsDeathMetal'', it's revealed that Perpetua is the creator/mother of the Monitor, the Anti-Monitor and the World Forger. Her goal was to trick her sons into [[SealedEvilInACan freeing her from her prison]] by destroying the current multiverse. When the Anti-Monitor was defeated during the first ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', she chose other "agents" to do her will and she subconsciously influenced them the same way she did for her son. Parallax, the Alex Luthor of Earth-3 and Superboy-Prime, Darkseid and Mandrakk, and Barbatos were all influenced by Perpetua to destroy the multiverse, which makes her retroactively responsible for ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'', ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' and ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal''. The mainline Luthor is also trying to revive Perpetua, which culminated in ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague2018'' and ''ComicBook/DCYearOfTheVillain''.
* In the ''ComicBook/New52'', Darkseid is the first villain faced by the Justice League, has been conquering the multiverse, and is responsible for the invasion and subsequent destruction of Earth-2. In turn, there are two Greater-Scope Villains behind his villainy.
** Believe it or not, there's someone who even Darkseid is afraid of: his father, Yuga Khan. Thankfully for the universe at large, all he cares about is learning the truth about the Source, and was trapped, as most everybody else is, attempting to penetrate it. However, when he freed himself, he briefly terrorized Apokolips [[BetterTheDevilYouKnow even worse than his son did]] and caused Darkseid to attempt to hide. His reign ended when, having learned nothing from his previous attempt, [[TemptingFate he once again attempted]] [[TooDumbToLive to invade the Source and ended up once again trapped]].
** The [[SealedEvilInACan Anti-Life Equation]] that he is constantly after. If Darkseid finally finds it, it would make him gain knowledge to make everyone lose hope and become his slaves.
* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' baddie Krona may well be the Greater-Scope Villain responsible for almost everything wrong with Franchise/TheDCU. While he's not the most powerful villain in the setting (though he's close; in [[ComicBook/JLAAvengers a crossover]] with the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, he [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomps]] Galactus), he's [[TheManBehindTheMan the man behind]] Parallax, the Manhunters, and (indirectly) the Anti-Monitor, as his experiment was the thing that fractured the original Monitor probe in two. In turn, he thus unintentionally caused virtually every CrisisCrossover the DC heroes have ever faced. In his early appearances, it was actually stated that his experiment created ''evil itself'', though this has since fallen by the wayside and may be CanonDiscontinuity.
* ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'': The Empty Hand, the sinister entity that led the Gentry to the invasion of the DC Multiverse. Currently, it's just decided to wait. Probably qualifies as THE Greatest Scope Villain in DC.
* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
** Brainiac, easily number in the top three on this list for ''Franchise/TheDCU'' (along with Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor), has a true form as a giant artificial entity, capturing cities from different timelines and universes before their destruction. The Vril Dox Brainiac is just one of his avatars, similar to the retcon made about Darkseid's nature in ComicBook/FinalCrisis. Brainiac's true form (dubbed "Blood Moon Brainiac" or "Future's End Brainiac" by fans) serves as Greater Scope Villain in ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'', as the reason for why Telos is doing what it's doing. Telos even refers to him as "the master", as he is in charge of every other Brainiac.
** Speaking of Vril Dox, the true Brainiac prior to this story (and his current incarnation as of Rebirth) qualifies. An enormously powerful alien scientist turned conqueror equipped with super strength and toughness surpassing Superman's, psychic powers strong enough to warp reality, super intelligence sufficient to let him store exabytes of data in his brain and build just about anything, and toting some of the most potent tech in the DCU, he was revealed as TheManBehindTheMan to all previous versions of Brainiac in the ''ComicBook/SupermanBrainiac'' story arc. The [[FashionVictimVillain pants-less]] mad scientist in the flying saucer? The SkeleBot? The nanites possessing Milton Fine? The scrawny green guy with the goatee, telekinesis, and cape? The seven-foot tall purple and green humanoid robot? The nanoswarm? All of them and more, despite acting as the BigBad in various storylines from ''Panic in the Sky'' to ''Doomsday Wars'', were simply techno-organic [[ActuallyADoombot probes]] being controlled by the real Brainiac.
** The cause for Krypton's destruction tends to vary from incarnation to incarnation. however, sometimes, a villain is directly responsible for destroying said planet (Especially Brainiac). Said villain then becomes the indirect cause of Superman's story by causing Jor-El to send his son to earth to protect him and by killing Superman's biological parents. This would also by extension make them a greater scope villain for ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} too.
** In the Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis eras, it was Black Zero. In the former era, it was the name of a supervillain whose modus operandi revolved around rigging planets to explode for hire. In the latter era, it was the name of a terrorist organization that fought in a war over the rights of the clones the Kryptonians used as organ banks. They were eventually defeated, but not before they initiated the chain reaction that would destroy Krypton thousands of years later.
** Lex Luthor can be this in some interpretations of several of Superman's RoguesGallery: through [[EvilInc LexCorp]] he has an either direct or indirect involvement in the origins of the Parasite, Metallo, Bizarro, etc. who pester Superman with or without Luthor's knowledge or involvement.

!! Franchise/MarvelUniverse
* The cosmic beings Death and Oblivion, who are incredibly powerful and exactly what they sound like. They tend to empower mortals to achieve their goals for them; Thanos and Maelstrom, respectively, are their favorite "heralds", each of whom is a universe-threatening BigBad in his own right. The two cosmic beings have each been around for (in our time) decades and have been directly battled only a handful of times.
* The early ''ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian'' comics from Creator/MarvelComics often had the royal family from the Kingdom of Turan.
* As revealed during ''ComicBook/FearItself'', the ''real'' {{Satan}}. The other demon lords hold meetings around his throne sometimes, but it's stated that all of them, including, apparently, [[CosmicBeing cosmically-powered]] ones like Shuma-Gorath and the aforementioned Dormammu, are terrified of even ''trying'' to sit on it. He's been gone from this plane of existence so long that even among the demons themselves it's a common belief that he doesn't actually exist.
* [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools The trope can easily become a problem]] when a bunch of writers work in a shared universe, especially one where the characters are in speaking distance of each other. For example, Marvel kept doing multibook crossovers over the course of the two years Lucifer was, or at least six hundred and sixteen fragments of him were, running wild and free on Earth. With the possible exception of ''Annihilation'', nothing that inspired the crossover events was as bad a problem as this but Ghost Rider was the only one who seemed to care about it.
* ''ComicBook/Spellbound1988'' has the Other, an evil being so strong Zxaxz created the magic rings to stop him, driving most of the series from there.
* Solus in ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse''. He is father to [[BigBad Morlun]] and all the other [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Inheritors]], but doesn't take part in the Great Hunt for totemic beings himself. He also turns out to be a cosmic-scale threat capable of going toe-to-toe with the Spider-Man of Earth-13, a reality where he kept his [[PhysicalGod Captain Universe]] powers.
* ''ComicBook/SubMariner'' has Set, the ancient serpent god loosely adapted from ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian''. Namor has rarely fought Set in person, but Set's servants Paul Destine, Naga, Llyra, and Ghaur have been involved in many of the terrible things that have happened to him and Atlantis over the years.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** The "Here Comes Tomorrow" story arc of ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' gave us the original character John Sublime, who was introduced with the strong suggestion that he may be the greatest overarching threat permeating the X-mythos. A sentient colony of bacteria almost as old as the Earth itself, Sublime was revealed to have orchestrated many major events in the X-Men's past, including the creation of the Weapon X program, all in a bid to wipe the mutant race from the Earth (as they are the only species immune to his mind control). It's implied that he may have even manipulated humanity to create the very idea of anti-mutant prejudice in the first place, thus making him the one villain who has managed to consistently keep the heat up on the X-Men since Day 1.
** Apocalypse is this in ''ComicBook/UncannyXForce''. He himself is [[ZeroEffortBoss killed effortlessly]] in the very first arc as a result of [[ClippedWingAngel rejuvenating himself into a helpless child body]], but almost every subsequent villain is working to either recreate him or find a successor for him. The arc even carried over into Remender's new book, ''ComicBook/UncannyAvengers''. Most ''X-Men'' adaptations set Apocalypse up as this as well.
** Due to the chaotic nature of creative teams on the books at the time, the comics of the '90s featured a lot of these, with a writer introducing a mysterious mastermind character of some sort, then abruptly leaving or being kicked off the book shortly afterward, with the next creative team deciding not to follow up on the plotlines of the previous and [[AbortedArc aborting the entire arc]]. These characters are typically never so much as mentioned again, although Creator/PeterDavid got to revisit one he created, the Isolationist/Armageddon, nearly twenty years after the fact.
** The ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'' comics revealed not only that Weapon X is in fact controlled by an organization of greater scope villains called [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Weapon Plus]], a secret governmental organization hellbent on eradicating mutants, who is responsible (directly or indirectly) for a ''lot'' of the crappy stuff that Wolverine went through in his life, but also that they are (directly or indirectly) responsible for the existence of many heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe, not just Wolverine himself. They created project rebirth, which makes them indirectly responsible for the creation of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and Isaiah Bradley (or, to be more specific, the [[SuperSerum super soldier serum]], a.k.a. Weapon I). They also created Weapon II (a weird squirrel with Wolverine's powers), The Skinless Man (Weapon III), Nuke (one of Daredevil's villains and Weapon VII), X-23, Deadpool, Huntsman (Weapon XII), Fantomex (Weapon XIII), The Stepford Cuckoos (clones of Emma Frost and Weapon XIV), Ultimaton (Weapon XV), Allgod (Weapon XVI) and according to WordOfGod, they are also responsible for creating or empowering many more unknown characters, both heroes and villains. They also created Project:Gladiator, which makes them indirectly responsible for creating Man-Thing. In some comics, it's also implied that they might have been involved with the prison experiments that gave ComicBook/LukeCage his powers, the program that created the Sentinels and the Red Room Black Widow Ops organization that created the multiple ComicBook/{{Black Widow}}s (like Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova). The organization has also been known to work with and provide money and resources to other villainous organizations (especially those that hate the X-Men) like A.I.M., HYDRA, the Hellfire Club, ROXXON, The Purifiers, OSCORP, etc. Later on, it's revealed that Weapon Plus was created and controlled by an even ''greater'' Greater-Scope Villain known as Romulus. He claims to be responsible for ''everything'' that happened in Logan's life and more, with plenty of evidence to back up this claim (such as immense and intimate knowledge of Wolverine's life, for example). The aforementioned John Sublime was pulling strings in the program as well, and to make things even more confusing, WordOfGod from the writer of the very first Weapon X story indicated that the ''original'' greater scope villain was going to be Apocalypse, but this never saw print for unknown reasons.

!!Others
* While [[VillainProtagonist Skinner Sweet]] is the closest thing to a consistent antagonist in ''ComicBook/AmericanVampire'', he is overshadowed by two even greater evils:
** {{Dracula}}, the MonsterProgenitor for the European vampires and regarded as the most powerful and dangerous vampire in the world. He is [[TheDreaded referred in a ominous and dreadful manner by those who know him]] for committing genocide against other vampire species and slaughtering countless vampire hunters. In fact, Skinner (and the entire American bloodline subsequently) owes his existence to Dracula since the vampire who unintentionally sired him belonged to his bloodline. With that said, Dracula is never actually fought by him nor by [[TheHero Pearl Jones]] (he is confronted on a spin-off series focusing on supporting characters) but his shadow falls upon them regardless. In addition to his effect in the storyline, he also served this role for UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper ''of all people'', having driven Albert, Duke of Clarence to madness and made him target prostitutes in the Whitechapel area of London.
** And ''even greater'' than the Dracula is the Beast, an eldritch horror from Babylonian times that spawned nightmarish creatures and demons upon the Earth and it's implied that vampires are actually originated from it. The Vassals of the Morning Sun is said to have been actually founded to fight and destroy the Beast rather than to hunt vampires, but the [=VMS=] have focused their efforts exclusively on them ever since the Beast slumbered.
* For most of the story in ''ComicBook/{{Amulet}}'', all the strife is caused by the [[BigBad Elf King]] waging war...until it's revealed that the spirit of the Amulet (who so far has been a guide of sorts, if somewhat evil in its own special way) is the real cause behind everything. To top it all off, this isn't the first time the Amulet spirit has done this either, having done the exact same thing 500 years prior.
* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': Even when other Romans are the episode's main antagonists, Julius Caesar is very often behind their actions directly or indirectly.
* The conflicts of ''ComicBook/BlackScience'' revolve around jump-to-jump survival and interpersonal strife within the team. In the background is Mr. Block, who financed the pillar's research specifically to steal technology and dominate multiple dimensions.
* The Lord of the Locusts in ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}''.
* [[EldritchAbomination The Ogdru Jahad]] tend to be behind most villains in ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' stories.
* ''{{ComicBook/Laika}}'': Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, is the one who insists that the scientists have to build and launch ''Sputnik 2'' in less than a month, with Laika aboard, in time for the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution. The tight deadline means they can only build a satellite that can go into space, but not come back--meaning Laika will die in it.
* ''ComicBook/LockeAndKey'': The BigBad is Dodge; the Greater Scope Villains are the {{Eldritch Abomination}}s behind the Black Door that he wants to release [[spoiler: one of which corrupted him in the first place]].
* ''ComicBook/TheMiceTemplar'' has the evil serpent spirit Donas, who controls the Nathair and wants to destroy the world through Karic.
* ''ComicBook/NemesisMarkMillar'' features a sinister organization that helps supply the titular supervillain in his criminal activities, but otherwise is never identified or encountered. They send Officer Morrow a letter congratulating him on his victory against Nemesis and promise to leave him and his family alone. However, they also state they will expand their operations and provide bored rich people the opportunity to become super-villains and carry out their psychopathic impulses. He only receives this letter at the very end of the comic.
* ''ComicBook/{{Raptors}}'' has [[VampireMonarch Don Miguel Y Cera]] as the leader of the vampire conspiracy that controls the world and kickstarted the plot by killing [[VillainProtagonist Drago and Camilla's]] [[YouKilledMyFather parents]], pushing the twins to get revenge against him and his minions. With that said, he leaves his CouncilOfVampires to handle the day-to-day politics and [[TheHeavy deal with this threat]] while he stays in his little corner feasting on any food that his servants bring him. In the end, the protagonists don't even kill him, he is dispatched by completely unrelated minor characters.
* ''ComicBook/SatansHollow'': {{Satan}} and [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils the four members of his court]]. While they're the benefactor of the [[LivingShadow Shadow Man]], who is trying to release them onto Earth in exchange for power, they spend their entire screentime in Hell waiting for the portal to be opened.
* Senator Roark and Mob Boss Wallenquist in ''ComicBook/SinCity''. The former is an immensely powerful and unashamedly CorruptPolitician who can get away with anything while the latter is an immensely powerful [[TheDon crime lord]] controlling most of the organized crime in the city. While both men are responsible for the greatest evils in Basin City and perpetuate the CrapsackWorld itself, neither would really qualify as the main villain in any of the stories. Their organizations and influence are so vast that they're usually concerned with larger matters than direct confrontation with the ([[AntiHero Anti-]])heroes.
* An Italian ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' sequel, "Menace of the Witch's Ruby", has the Evil Queen being revealed as merely an underling to the Witch Empress Mammona, with the queen's revenge scheme being an effort to get back into her good graces.
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': One could make an argument that [[MagnificentBastard Mammoth]] [[DevilInPlainSight Mogul]] is this. Thousands of years ago, he founded the Order of Ixis, which eventually led to the creation of [[EvilSorcerer Ixis Naugus]], whose actions, which may include starting the Great War, in turn led to [[BigBad Dr. Robotnik's]] rise to power, who's death ultimately led to nearly every villain in the book today, with Naugus :responsible for the ones that aren't Mogul. Naugus and Robotnik are still quite active (and are, in fact, the current [[BigBadEnsemble top two villains]] of the series), whereas Mogul has semi-retired from active villainy, running a casino and deciding to use his immortality to outlive the heroes and make his move then.[[note]]Though with the Ken Penders lawsuit causing all of Penders' creations, including Mogul, to be ExiledFromContinuity, this isn't the case any more. Funnily, the only thing that could stop Mogul was [[ScrewedByTheLawyers real life]].[[/note]]
* In Creator/AlanMoore's run on ''ComicBook/{{Supreme}}'', The End is an enigmatic villain imprisoned within Supreme's [[MagicMirror Hell of Mirrors]]. He's apparently very powerful and is feared by the other members of Supreme's Rogues Gallery, but he never actually does anything except sit around waiting for an unspecified ''something'' to happen. In fact, he turns down an opportunity to kill a captive Supreme because it isn't time yet and later is notably the only villain who chooses not to escape the Hell of Mirrors during a prison breakout.
* Many of the villains ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' faces are in fact agents working for a superior that either serves as a secondary briefly encountered villain or is never even seen.
** [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch]], the dictator of [[CommieLand Borduria]], is the ultimate authority behind any Bordurian agent Tintin fights over the course of his adventures (with the possible exception of ''King Ottokar's Sceptre'', in which he doesn't seem to already be in power). However, he also never directly takes part in the plans of his subordinates and never makes an appearance outside of the occasional statue or portrait.
** Tom in ''Tintin in the Congo'' is working for Al Capone.
** Allan in ''The Crab with the Golden Claws'' operates a drug smuggling business on behalf of Omar Ben Salaad, a wealthy merchant of the fictional port of Bagghar.
* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW'':
** Shockwave. While Megatron or Scorponok or any other Decepticon are always front and center as the BigBad, Shockwave has always worked behind the scenes with his regenesis project, which is a number of energies which bond to planets and create different Ore. This kicks off the earth conflict, which he is absent for, as the empowering Ore is there and everyone is fighting over it. It kicks off Spotlight Kup, which he is also absent for, because it drives Kup crazy. It is the reason behind the [[ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise Syndromica]] arc, which he has very little to do with. In addition his projects have been behind the destruction of numerous civilizations, which he was also absent for because the Dynobots got to him before he could stabilize them. As of ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron he has subverted the Trope, and stepped up as the major threat, requiring all the Transformers to unite against him.
** The Dead Universe and alternate universe that seeks to consume the one present and mind controls anyone it can reach, even controlling the Decepticons to do its bidding. Later we learn that Shockwave is responsible for its existence.
** In James Roberts and John Barber's run, the role is given to Onyx Prime. He's responsible for a great many things that happen over the course of the series, both good and bad. Garrison Blackrock, the Headmasters, Chela, the Talisman, Eukaris, the Axalon and its crew, Galvatron and Arcee, the Dark Cybertron Prophecy, the Torchbearers, Infraspace, and the Beastformer army were all either indirectly created by his machinations or served him directly. Then it's revealed that, through a complicated series of {{Stable Time Loop}}s, Onyx ''is'' Shockwave...
* ''ComicBook/TransformersGeneration2'' has the Liege Maximo, founder of Jhiaxus's Decepticons (and, possibly, ''all'' Decepticons). Later, Unicron, EldritchAbomination and Satan-figure, to the franchise as a whole.
* In ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'', Lord Hikiji, the warlord who killed Usagi's lord, [[StarterVillain started off]] as the main villain, but as the story's focus shifted elsewhere, he settled into this role. Nowadays, his plots and schemes are largely relegated to the background and they rarely ever directly affect the main characters. Hikiji himself almost never appears in person anymore with lackeys like [[TheDragon Lord Hebi]] being dispatched to do his bidding for him.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Violine}}'', Muller and Marushka are the main villains in the plot, driving much of the backstory as well as Violine's adventures, especially Muller who actively hunts her and her father down.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/AllForLuz'':
** Tyler Wittebane is this in Season 1, helping AntagonisticGovernor Rodger Maxwell offscreen to set up the [[DeadlyGame Death Camp]] for superhuman kids and sent his own daughter, who gained a quirk of her own, there to die.
** [[spoiler:Emperor Belos]] serves as this during Season 2. He's working with his descendant Tyler Wittebane to kill off people with superpowers, including the new [[AntiHero All For One]], who he even takes a personal interest in having [[EvilVersusEvil fought her predecessor a decade before the story started.]]
** The town of Gravesfield is this even more so than canon. Its Luz's and [[spoiler:Belos']] hometown, is the reason why Luz has self-esteem issues and the Wittebanes are such genocidal, supernatural-hating maniacs. Gravesfield's modern society sees Luz as a weirdo that needs to conform to society by any means necessary, namely forcing her to go to Reality Check Camp, which AntagonisticGovernor Maxwell took over as a Death Camp which causes Luz's permanent mental damage in the first place that [[EvilMentor All For One]] takes full advantage of. Gravesfield is also revealed to have an unsavory history of witch hunting during 17th century, which is referred as the town's favorite tradition. [[spoiler:This time period is where Belos originally came from and Tyler Wittebane tries to restart this only with Quirk users instead of witches. Its eventually this FantasticRacism that leads to the town's demise, due to Luz's destructive fights with Wittebane's superhuman assassins.]]
* ''Fanfic/AlwaysVisible'': In Galbraith's eyes, this is exactly how doctor Baselard.
* ''Fanfic/AlyaAndTheHaremReality'': The new reality created by the Wish introduces an unseen individual [[spoiler:that wiped out the Guardians 200 years ago. A young Fu managed to escape with the Chinese Miraculous Box but lost the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculouses in the struggle, which ended up in the hand of the Agrestes. The entity would soon return in the present day, forcing Fu to scatter and hide the Miraculouses for their potential chosen to find them before he is killed fighting the entity]].
* ''Fanfic/ArrowRebirth'': While Malcolm Merlyn and Tempest are, naturally, the primary threats of the first story, Oliver also has to deal with them while not tipping off the ''other'' future threats, among them Slade, H.I.V.E., and the Ninth Circle. Most of all, he goes through great pains ''not'' to piss off the League of Assassins, because unlike the other organizations, they're integral to the balance of the world, so he can't do anything to get rid of them this time around.
* ''Blog/AskJappleack'': Applelox is revealed to be the father of Discord and Wolfilor, and the one who sent them to Equestria, making him directly responsible for the events in ''WebAnimation/PonyDotMov''.
* ''Webcomic/AutobotAcademy'': While Megatron is the BigBad of the present, he's ultimately overshadowed by Great Convoy, who not only killed him, but became a ruler so tyrannical that the only way to stop him was using time travel to ensure he could never rise to power.
* ''Fanfic/BeingDeadAintEasy'' has the Big Five. They're technically behind a lot of major events in the story, as they're responsible for sabotaging [=KaibaCorp=] and siccing Morrison on Kaiba -- inadvertently starting the entire plot -- but aren't personally involved or seen at all. At most, they get a couple mentions.
* ''Fanfic/TheBridgeMLP'':
** While [[GodOfEvil Bagan]] is the BigBad of the main story, the side story ''Fanfic/TheBridgeHumanitysStand'' has him in this role, as the primary antagonists are the Red Dawn ApocalypseCult he created. And in ''A Shimmer in the Dark'', the crossover with ''Fanfic/TheShimmerverse'', he acts via his [[FightingAShadow Aspect]] Mizu as the benefactor of [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Countess Mircalla]]'s last remaining [[TheRemnant remnant]] of the Nightmare Army.
** Grogar is this for King Sombra, having taught him Dark Magic as his EvilMentor. It eventually turns out that Lord Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, and Discord all learned it from him as well, and he's implied to be the true cause of the outbreak of horrible evils a thousand years ago. More importantly, he's the Nexus of Dark Magic, just like [[GodOfGood Harmony]] and Bagan are for their respective magics implying he's on the [[PhysicalGod same tier]], and Chrysalis is currently attempting to exploit her VillainTeamUp with Bagan to [[TheStarscream restore Grogar to his full power]].
* ''Fanfic/TheCadanceverse'' has Nemesis, the entity/force that corrupted Celestia and Luna, and is still free and on the loose even after they're purified by the Elements of Harmony.
* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': SEELE. In the first story they were [[TheManBehindTheMan behind Gendo]], ordering him around and watching him to ensure he fulfilled their goals, knowing fully well he had an agenda of his and being aware of his project to create a new lifeform to fight them with. In the sequel they remained in the shadow, sending their agents to spy on the heroes and destabilize them as they get ready to fight them and carry forward his plot to create a new god.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'':
** Thanos maintains this status from the canon [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]]. In addition to having sent Loki and the Chitauri to invade Earth in ''[[Film/TheAvengers2012 The Avengers]]'', it's implied that he also sent [[{{Necromancer}} Grave]][[OmnicidalManiac moss]] to Earth as well, confirmed in-universe to have been behind the destruction of [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Krypton]], and WordOfGod is that he also has a connection to [[TheDreaded Gorr]] [[RageAgainstTheHeavens the God Butcher]], who Thor fought in the past (and is still traumatized by). Strange eventually reveals that the entire GambitRoulette LongGame that he's playing is designed to prepare Earth for when Thanos eventually comes for it, which suggests that he'll be the FinalBoss of the series.
** There's also [[GodOfEvil Chthon]]. Gravemoss's use of [[TomeOfEldritchLore the Darkhold]] is allowing his influence to spread throughout the universe, breaking down the dimensional barriers separating Earth from all kinds of scary shit, both of Chthon's making and of various other evil deities (the side story ''Chaos Reigns'' is about one such infestation). There's also the fact that while the various villainous factions at play (the active Death Eater/HYDRA alliance, and all those powers working in the shadows) are fairly limited in scope, only wanting to control Earth, Chthon would destroy and dominate ''everything''. During the FinalBattle of Book 1, he [[VillainOverride seizes control of Gravemoss]] amidst the chaos of HYDRA's downfall, serving as the Book's FinalBoss.
** ''Ghosts of the Past'' brings in Surtur a.k.a. [[spoiler: the first Dark Phoenix]]. His rampage across the universe millions of years ago is what led to the creation of Yggdrasil (as the complex locking mechanism on his [[SealedEvilInACan prison]]) and the ascension of the Asgardians to godhood. And now cracks have started forming in his prison as a result of Chthon's actions in the previous book, hinting that soon Harry and co will have to deal with him too.
* ''Fanfic/{{Cinderjuice}}'' and its sequels increasingly suggest, if not outright state, that ''the plot'' is the ultimate enemy of the heroes. It's treated more and more as a SentientCosmicForce as the stories progress, with WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}} in particular accusing it of ComedicSociopathy for its own amusement. TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou is invoked more than once, implying that even the ''author'' is not safe from the machinations of the plot.
* ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': After hints dropped throughout ''R1'', its final chapter confirms that Unicron is the greatest threat in the setting, beyond the Britannians and even the Decepticons. The Thirteen Primes state to C.C. their belief that Unicron is somehow the source of Geass, which would indirectly make him responsible for much of the plot, while WordOfGod confirms that he's still [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in the Earth's core]], leaving him as a looming threat vs the Deceptions immediate threat. [[spoiler:With Megatron dead and the Decepticon army decapitated by the end of R2, Unicron is now setting himself up as the FinalBoss for the last chapter of the story.]]
* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': In the sequel ''Diplomat at Large'', the Storm King's unidentified master, whose existence is only revealed with his whispered dying words. The epilogue of the fourth story, ''The Diplomat's Life'', reveals that Lady Aputsiaq is working for one; on the same level as the Storm King's unidentified master.
* In ''Fanfic/EarthsAlienHistory'', the Daleks are this, as the Time Lords are [[MergedReality merging universes]] for the purpose of making humanity into the perfect soldiers to face them in the Time War.
** ComicBook/{{Thanos}} seems set up to be this in the ''Andromeda Dreams'' spinoff, given that his presence has already been felt via his minions, in both the Klingon and Romulan storylines, but he's currently occupied in his own fiefdom on the other side of the galaxy.
* ''Fanfic/TheElementsOfFriendship'': It's implied that TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness that Moondancer is part of is in service to one of these, and are manipulating events as part of some plan they put in place long ago.
* ''Fanfic/TheMasksWeWearTeenTitans'': Samantha Vanaver is the true villain, forcing John Grayson to be her assassin since Dick Grayson was born leads to him [[ProtagonistJourneytoVillain betraying the Court of Owls and creating the identity of Slade]]. She also plans to kill all the Titans using her [[ProfessionalKillers Talons]] by pretending to be their friend and installing a security system owned by one of her companies in Titans Tower so the Talons can infiltrate Titans Tower and kill them all.
* In ''Fanfic/TheEndOfEnds'', Trigon created the Dark Prognosticus, thus giving rise to Logan’s power.
* In ''Fanfic/TheEquestrianWindMage'', [[GodOfEvil Majora]] is this for the first two seasons, being responsible for [[ArcVillain Ganondorf's]] arrival in Equestria, as well as ordering [[TheDragon Dethl]] to revive and recruit various antagonists. In Season 3 Majora officially takes over as the BigBad.
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13557611/3/Fate-True-Bizarre Fate: True Bizarre]]'' reveals that [[Literature/FateStrangeFake Francesca Prelati]] had sent the grimoire to serial killer Ryuunosuke Uryu in hopes he will cause chaos in the [[Literature/FateZero Fourth Grail War]]. However, after [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure Jotaro Kujo]] stopped Ryuunosuke from killing a family as sacrifice, she uses the Mystery[[note]]The unnatural element that separates him from Gaia and allows him control of magic[[/note]] of his Stand to make him a Master. She does this so that she can inevitably torture him in the future.
* [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} General James Ironwood]] serves as this for Volume 1 of ''Fanfic/AGirlAndHerBike''. He doesn't have much presence in the story and isn't directly involved in the ongoing plot, but Winter is present on Patch on his orders to investigate the "Mantlite bomb" (aka Bumblebee) and he does have his soldiers form an alliance with the Decepticons to pursue whom they believe is a wanted criminal, meaning that his actions are ultimately what help drive the conflict for the first Volume.
* [[Literature/TheSilmarillion Morgoth]] in ''Fanfic/TheHeartTrilogy'', a series of ''Film/TheHobbit'' and ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' (Creator/PeterJackson versions) fics. [[{{Seers}} Kathryn]] sees him in her visions repeatedly, leading her to learn of [[SealedEvilInACan his imprisonment]] in the void. Gandalf states that should the first Dark Lord ever return, then [[DragonAscendant Sauron]], the current Dark Lord, [[EvilerThanThou would bow to him once again]]. The main goal of Kathryn's main enemy, Fankil, is to release his father Morgoth by using Kathryn's powers to locate the void's entrance, the Door of Night.
* Carmen in ''[[Fanfic/Hottie3TheBestFanFicInTheWorld Hottie 4: Even Better Sequel]]'', who was also the BigBad in ''Literature/{{Hottie}}'' and the last chapters of ''Hottie 3: The Best Fan Fic in the World''.
* ''Fanfic/InkopolisChaos'': If not for Magentark Clover, Natalie wouldn’t have been framed, and as a result, she wouldn’t have met Samuel. Not only that, but his death caused Cyalux’s descent into Villainy, so if not for him, The Octobusters wouldn’t have been founded, so Luke wouldn’t have met Summer. Melissa likely wouldn’t have changed her views on octolings either, as a result of no octobusters for Ruby to save her from. As a result, if not for him, the majority of the events in the story wouldn’t have happened.
** He gaslighted his brother into hating octolings, was responsible for Natalie being framed, tried to kill a dozen octolings, and even in death, his actions haunt the story, with Cyalux being so stubborn in believing octolings were bad, and Ruby feeling responsible for everything. Heck, even Ruby’s emotional breakdown in the oneshot “A Burden To Bear” really solidifies this guy as a scumbag, even though we never see him.
* ''Fanfic/IgnitedSpark'', has the Inner Circle, a NebulousCriminalConspiracy led by All for One, and composed of the Meta Liberation Army, Humarise and the Hero Commission, and those are just the villains we are aware of. The Inner Circle's power also seems to extend beyond Japan, with Vigilantes confirming their activities around China.
* ''Fanfic/InvaderZimABadThingNeverEnds'': Lex is working on behalf of an unnamed new Tallest who has taken over since Red and Purple [[WesternAnimation/InvaderZimEnterTheFlorpus were lost in the Florpus]], and is now working to stop [[VestigialEmpire the Empire's decline]] and revitalize it, which somehow requires [[spoiler: [[LivingMacGuffin Minimoose's]] power source]].
* ''Fanfic/JauneArcLordOfHunger'': While Darth Nihilus is the undisputed BigBad of the story, there are several Greater-Scope Villains present in the setting.
** Next to Nihilus, Salem is one of the greatest threats to humanity's existence on Remnant. Ozpin's focus is on defeating her and Cinder is ultimately carrying out her orders.
** Then there's also the God of Darkness. The terentatek that attacked and nearly killed Jaune in "[[Recap/JauneArcLordOfHungerFear Fear]]" was a SuperPrototype he made while experimenting around with various Dark Side creatures prior to his creation of the Grimm. The Temple of Shadows -- a death cult mentioned in "[[Recap/JauneArcLordOfHungerDance Dance]]" and which appears in "[[Recap/JauneArcLordOfHungerLegends Legends]]" -- worshipped him and carried out countless brutal murders in his name. Nihilus's spirit [[GodGuise impersonated him]] after his [[EvilMask mask]] was found by one of the cult's monks and he used his identity to have the cult bring him hundreds of victims to consume during the Great War.
** Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire. Despite only being mentioned once during a flashback, the whole reason that a team of adventurers dumped Nihilus's mask on Remnant was to hide the dark artifact from them.
* ''Fanfic/JusticeLeagueOfEquestria'' would appear to have Darkseid for the series as a whole, judging by [[BigGood Athena]]'s comments about the War in Heaven against his forces. ''Mare of Steel'' ends with him opening a boomtube to Equestria, setting him up to be the BigBad of the main ''Justice League of Equestria'' story.
* In ''Fanfic/LanternsOfEquestriaBlackestNight'', [[EldritchAbomination the Black]] is the true villain, while the Black Lantern of [[FallenHero Commander Hurricane]] serves it and acts as the de facto BigBad of the story.
* In ''Fanfic/TheLionKingAdventures'', the Writer, an AuthorAvatar of [=ThatPersonYouMightKnow's=] dark side, created the entire universe and all the characters in it, as a means of having his own world in which to create chaos and destruction.
* ''Fanfic/LovesSacrifices'':
** Hastur, who serves as a greater threat and the motivation for this fic's antagonists. Having previously attempted to conquer the world, Hastur was slain millenia ago by an earthly hero. Resurrecting and reuniting with him was previously the motivation of his lover, Inanna. In the present day, the Count seeks to awaken him by sacrificing those who made a blood pact with Hastur and Inanna. It is also shown that despite being "dead", he can still manipulate others from beyond the veil, as he apparently saw Bella Conrad dreaming of him from the far past. [[spoiler:Soon enough, he attempts to rope Bella into a blood pact with him.]]
** Hastur's son, Ithaqua, is often mentioned and described as an influential being in his own right, and a mediator between mankind and Hastur himself. However, Ithaqua is currently stated to be sealed in another world, and cannot directly interact with this one. [[spoiler:Even so, he is one of the beings that tried to corrupt and mould Elias throughout his childhood, and would even tempt the boy's father into further madness, as well as disfiguring him.]]
* In ''Fanfic/TheLunarGuardsman'', as more and more is revealed about the rifts that Raegdan came through, there come hints that there is something out there that specifically uses them to destroy worlds, and an organization in another world that uses these rifts to explore is starting to research this possibility. Raegdan might have come into contact with this, and might have either served it voluntarily or not, but he believes it was just something his mind made up. He doesn't believe it was real because going by the description it was [[Literature/TheSilmarillion Morgoth]].
* ''Fanfic/MadWorldInvaderZim'' has [[EldritchAbomination The Thing in the Wall]], which spends the whole story manipulating Dib as it did Nny, but due to being [[SealedEvilInACan sealed]], it can't directly interact with the real world. Until it gets loose during the climax.
* Metal Sonic in ''Fanfic/MarioAndSonicHeroesUnite''. His power is claimed in the description to be "bigger than Eggman and Bowser's powers combined".
* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7628447/1/Memories Memories,]]'' Discord's mother is this. It was because of her that Discord took over Equestria, because of her that Discord "Discorded" the Mane Six, and because of her that Serenity had to die. (she gets better) She appears to be becoming the BigBad in [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7656204/1/From-Here-to-Eternity the sequel]], though.
* ''Fanfic/MischiefMHA'', has Thanos, who isthe one in control of the BigBadEnsemble between his forces, Loki, All for One and [[spoiler:Ultron]], and seeks the power of the Infinity Stones for himself.
* ''Moriarty was there'' was an essay published by Doyle's {{Fandom}} trying to upgrade Moriarty from BreakOutVillain to true BigBad status for the [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Sherlock Holmes book series]] by doing a {{Revision}} about Holmes cases and arguing that Moriarty was there as a Greater Scope Villain for various {{BigBad}}s cases: after all, canon has established him as a DiabolicalMastermind, with vast criminal resources that can be exploited by minor criminals by a fee. For example, the essay proposes that the criminal of the very first novel, A Study in Scarlet, after losing his MementoMacGuffin and recognizing he is LuredIntoATrap by whoever put the ad in the paper to recover it (Holmes), then consulted Moriarty, who commissioned a MasterOfDisguise to pose as an elderly woman to get it (it worked!).
* In ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'', SEELE. While Gendo only wanted to save his wife, they wanted to merge all human souls to create a new god. They were the real employers of [[SmugSnake Kluge]], who spent the whole story looking for ways to destroy NERV. In the final chapter though, [[MakeWayForTheNewVillains they are all]] OutGambitted by [[AIIsACrapshoot the mad A.I.]], the Emerald Tablet, who usurps the role as the true BigBad of the story from right underneath them.
* King Gidorah takes this role in ''Fanfic/TheNewAgeOfMonsters''. While he hasn't shown up yet due to being stuck frozen on Mars, he is clearly being built up as the greatest threat to earth out there and even the other antagonists are wary of him.
* ''New Dawn'' revealed the real villain of the first book was not the cat's paw Nebiros, but rather the insidious New Order, at first seemingly spearheaded by [[SmugSnake Chris]], but in reality controlled by an even Greater Scope Villain: [[TheCorrupter Sharon Tate Roman]]. And to add to the intrigue, it is unknown if Nebiros or Chris even knew she existed.
* The Avatar in ''Fanfic/PerfectionIsOverrated'', having created the [=SUEs=] and the [[BigBad Usurper]] as a means of testing whether a CanonForeigner could compete with a canon character on equal terms, is this.
* Cyrus to Ash in ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines''. While he was the one who set the events of the story in motion (by virtue of causing the collapse of the previous reality), he's not the current main active threat, with that role filled by Giovanni and Team Rocket, and the Bloodline King. It's almost a ForegoneConclusion that Ash will eventually have to face Cyrus when he gets to Sinnoh, though.
* Satan is this in ''Fanfic/ThePrayerWarriors'', since he is said to have created the false gods and had a hand in the rise of communism in Russia, but hardly ever appears.
* ''Fanfic/PrehistoricEarth'' has Percival von Grimm. He's the man that [[TheMole Duncan Kent]] reports to and helps to attempt to sabotage the titular park for, serves directly as TheManBehindTheMan for [[EvilPoacher Frank]], and is the one who both set up the prehistoric animal smuggling ring that Frank serves as immediate supervisor for as well as helped orchestrate a mass breakout at the park for the sake of an attempt at allowing Duncan to get ahold of the main portal technology to use as a replacement for an inferior jury rigged copy that the smuggling ring is forced to use in its place. He eventually graduates to full on BigBad once enough things start heading south to make him feel its time to get directly involved.
* ''Fanfic/QueenOfShadows'' has Shendu. His [[RewritingReality actions]] kicked off the plot, and in the new reality, he's the EvilOverlord of half of Asia. However, he [[OrcusOnHisThrone hasn't really done anything]] since reality was altered, and it's not even clear yet if the Shendu in the new reality is the same one who damaged the Book of Ages.
* ''Fanfic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse:'' Tirek, who has long been sealed away inside Tartarus, and doesn't actually want to leave after Princess Luna stole most of his power. That said, before he was sealed, he planted fragments of his soul everywhere, which cause trouble on more than one occasion. He also backed Grogar's attempt to gain immortality, and indirectly responsible for the creation of Cadence.
* ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/83123/rainbow-in-the-wastes Rainbow in the Wastes]]'' has Queen Chrysalis. The ''entire events of the story'' were all just a hallucination caused by her- Rainbow Dash isn't in the world of ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'', she's in a LotusEaterMachine. The whole thing was a case of TheBadGuyWins.
* ''Fanfic/ARavenUnderTheStarlight'': The [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Kitanen Empire]], a major fascistic and supremacistic power on the Far Side, is the empire which the BigBad Captain Dekutizonke comes from and derives his resources from. Cyclonis observes that the Bone-Wraiths which attack her ship are apparently escaped labrats of the Kitanen Empire, as they're wearing disabled Kitanen control collars.
* ''Fanfic/ThePathOfLilasKarma'': Karma is essentially the overall true villain of ''Fanfic/TheKarmaOfLies'' and the various RecursiveFanfiction, not only [[TheCorruptor twisting various characters into worse versions of themselves]] in both the first story and ''Fanfic/KarmicBacklash'' but also setting up ''the entire show'' by manipulating Master Fu into creating Feast and set it out to devour the Guardians, which would lead to Gabriel and Emilie finding the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous. [[DeconstructedTrope This ultimately backfires]], as one of his UnwittingPawns, Lila Rossi, [[CreateYourOwnVillain would become an even more terrifying force that turns him into her slave and turns the world into her hellish playground]].
* In the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9495178/1/Return-of-the-Hero Return of the Hero]]'', it's revealed that Kyurem joined forces with the [[BigBad Sky Soldiers]] in order to fulfill two goals - a) lure Reshiram and Zekrom out into the open so that it could fuse with them and recreate the original dragon that ruled over Unova, and b) get its hands on the Pixie Plate that represents Fairy-Type Pokemon in order to destroy it and assert the dominance of Dragon-Types.
* ''Fanfic/SavingTheBoy'': President Snow. For all that Misu and the other tributes are threats to Peeta in the arena, Katniss, Haymitch, and the other Victors are well aware that all of them are still at the mercy of the Capitol. To that end, Katniss does everything she can to please Snow, knowing that doing otherwise could doom Peeta like it did Gale.
* Most fics in the ''Fanfic/ShadowchasersSeries'' have one:
** In [[Fanfic/ShadowchasersCyberCommander the original fic]], the true BigBad ultimately answers to [[EldritchAbomination the Light of Ruin]], who had demanded Athentia accept Jamor's challenge in the first place. As Ember guesses, the Earth's destruction [[OmnicidalManiac suits a being like this just fine.]]
** In ''Fanfic/ShadowchasersPowerPrimordial'', The BigBad’s ultimate goal is to free an imprisoned being called Pandorym, who mastered the [[MacGuffinTitle Power Primordial]] better than almost any other being, and used it to challenge [[CouncilOfAngels the Hebdomad]], but lost.
** In both Fanfic/ShadowchasersTorment and Fanfic/ShadowchasersAscension, this role is filled by the MadGod Tharizdun. In the former fic, the villains are cultists trying to free him from his prison where the other gods sent him. In the latter fic, the BigBad plots to kill him to usurp his powers to become a god himself, only to realize, too later, he’s in far over his head.
** The series as a whole seems to have an overall Greater Scope Villain, as it is revealed in Ascension that Tharizdun is a BarrierMaiden of sorts keeping an even greater destructive force, the Great Old Ones of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos from regaining the power they endowed him with.
* ''Fanfic/ShatteredSkiesTheMorningLights'': [[Manga/SailorMoon Chaos]], mentioned above, is one of these not only to the Sailor Moon universe, but to ''every magical girl universe'', claiming to be the ultimate source of all evil and darkness.
* ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/148281/somber-ties Somber Ties]]'' has two. The first, as one might expect from a story that takes place in the Chrystal Empire, is King Sombra. The second (and greater) one is Blackheart, as the evil force behind his rise to power.
* ''Fanfic/SonicXDarkChaos'' has several of these. Maledict is quickly revealed to be this to Tsali and becomes one of the primary villains. However, it's also shown that Jesus and Allysion had quite a large part to do with the Metarex War and the CrapsackWorld as well. And of course, there's [[EldritchAbomination Dark Tails]], who eventually becomes the BigBad [[EnemyMine everyone else winds up fighting]].
* Princess Jody in ''[[http://fav.me/d5kqh6t Supetastic 6: Year Four.]]''
* ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/172088/tales-of-the-oppressed Tales of the Oppressed]]'' has King Sombra. He's the one responsible for everything bad that happened in the story, but 38 chapters in and he's only had one major appearance.
* ''Fanfic/ThereWasOnceAnAvengerFromKrypton'': As per MCU canon, Thanos and his Black Order are the greatest threat looming on the horizon. Even more so here, as he has indirectly caused the actions of at least two other {{Big Bad}}s -- Vilgax's own rampages have been for the sake of getting strong enough to defeat him for revenge, while Doctor Doom's actions are driven by a need to [[spoiler: prevent Thanos from devastating Earth with the Snap the way he did in Doom's original timeline]].
* ''Fanfic/TheTwilightMan'': [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Kars]] still plays the role of Greater-Scope Villain in the ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood Phantom Blood]]'' adaptation ''Blood Obligation'', not only creating the stone mask that is used to create the vampires plaguing England, [[spoiler:but assigning the Pillar Man Santanta to create the vampires and kill their ArchEnemy [[AdaptationalHeroism Wamuu]]]].
* Although the story has yet to get very far, the appointments of the main characters by Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fic series ''Unwilling Service'' is a clear indicator that they will eventually travel to Sinnoh to fight against Team Galactic.
* ''[[http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic/view_ch.php?id=119212&cid=407331 The War of Megazords Vs. Gundams]]'' has ''two'' Greater Scope Villains: Patrick Zala and Mykan Yuki. They fueled each other's hatred towards Naturals and Coordinators receptively and are what sparked their respective wars. In short, ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'' had Zala the BigBad and Mykan its Greater Scope Villain, while Megazords vs. Gundams had the reverse.
* In the ''Manga/MedakaBox'' fanfic ''Fanfic/WorldAsMyth'', Ihiko Shishime seems to be this, as his existence is heavily implied to be the reason for the BigBad's plans.
* In ''Fanfic/YoungJusticeDarknessFalls'': Darkseid serves this role to the first 2 seasons of the show, as Vandal Savage's endgame involved him, making him an essential part of the plan. He also serves as one to Superman, as he was actually behind the destruction of Krypton as well. Although, once his invasion of earth begins, he takes on the role of BigBad as well.
** Following this, ''Fanfic/YoungJusticeTitans'' has another Greater Scope Villain in the form of [[ComicBook/TeenTitans Trigon]]. The new secondary villains, the Church of Blood, are dedicating their efforts to finding a way to release him on Earth.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Abominable}}'' has the mysterious client who hired Dr. Zara and the Captain to steal Everest the Yeti from Mr. Burnish. They're only ever referred to as "the buyer" and nothing else is ever revealed about them (except that they plan on chopping Everest up for their "experiments" once they get their hands on him), but the fact that they were apparently able to give the two villains a better offer than a billionaire like Burnish certainly implies they're very, ''very'' rich and powerful.
* ''{{WesternAnimation/Alma}}'': Who on earth is running the toy shop that [[spoiler:traps children and turns them into dolls]]? We have no idea.
* ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'': While Carface is Charlie's rival and the villain of the story, after Charlie uses the divine watch to restart his life, giving up his place in Heaven in the process, he starts having nightmares about a terrifying [[SatanicArchetype Satan figure]]--depicted as a titanic BigRedDevil resembling an unholy mix of a {{dragon|sAreDemonic}} and a {{hellhound}}--waiting for him in FireAndBrimstoneHell. It appears after the watch fills with water and stops, ending his life, to [[DraggedOffToHell take him to Hell]]. Fortunately, [[HeroicSacrifice he died trying to save Anne-Marie]], which restores his place in Heaven, and the whippet angel drives the beast away.
** There's also Red's "boss" who "yanks his leash" near the end of [[WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven2 the sequel]], who may or may not be the same demonic creature described above.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'', there's the Dark Forces that Rasputin sold his soul to and gained most of his powers from to get revenge on the Romanov family. The deal he made with them spectacularly backfires; first he's reduced to a decaying zombie stuck in limbo after he drowns and stuck like that until the last Romanov dies, and when his reliquary is destroyed they immediately claim him, and he dies a rather horrific death.
* Played with in the case of the Witch from ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}''. Her magic was responsible for creating the movie's "villain", Mordu and turning the protagonist's mother into a bear, and she's hardly involved the movie's main conflict, but [[ObliviouslyEvil she hardly has any malicious intentions]] and just seems to [[ExactWords misinterpret her patrons' requests.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDeathOfSuperman''/''WesternAnimation/ReignOfTheSupermen'' sees Darkseid as the one responsible for both Doomsday and Cyborg-Superman.
* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe1'': Mr. Perkins, the head of the Bank of Evil, is the largest threat in the franchise because he can finance whatever evil scheme he wishes and, therefore, has the entire criminal underworld in his pocket.
* Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon as a whole seems to have the Chernabog from ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'', who appears to be the Disney version of Satan.
** In ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'', the spirit trapped inside the titular Black Cauldron is one. [[BigBad The Horned King]] wants to use the cauldron to TakeOverTheWorld with an undead army.
** ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'': Captain Flint. A fearsome SpacePirate who terrorized ships for years, the treasure he took from those ships is the stuff of legends and the MacGuffin for the entire plot. Then, it turns out that he rigged the entire planet to explode if anyone found the treasure, and escaping the planet before it explodes becomes the object of the climax.
** The king of France in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}''. [[TheGhost He may not appear in person in the film, only ever being mentioned once by Esmerelda in a passing comment]], but surely ''everyone'', including BigBad Judge Claude Frollo, is subordinate to him, and he's either, at best, completely ignorant of Frollo's oppression of the Gypsies, or at worst, ''fully endorsing it''. On top of that, while Frollo is merely a Minister of Justice and his atrocities are mostly limited to Paris and the surrounding countryside, the king is.... well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the ruler of]] ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin all of France]]'', so there's probably ''a lot'' more Roma and minorities being mistreated under his rule throughout the whole country.
** ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'': The DirectToVideo sequel introduces Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel, Jumba's former partner and the one who funded all of his experiments. He ratted his partner out in an attempt to steal the experiments for himself to have an army to conquer the universe. If it weren't for him, Stitch would never have come to Earth. He remains the BigBad for the rest of the franchise.
** ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' has the Cy-Bugs from the game ''Hero's Duty'', who are powerful and a great threat as a whole, while just being a threat in Ralph's quest and having nothing to do with the situation at ''Sugar Rush''. However, they come back in the climax, when they begin to destroy ''Sugar Rush'', and the BigBad even [[OneWingedAngel fuses with one of them]]!
** ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'': While King Runeard died long before Elsa and Anna were even born, it is his crimes against the Northuldrans, mainly that he killed their unarmed leader in cold-blood and built a dam to subjugate Northuldra, that instigates the natural imbalance that causes the second film's conflict. It's also revealed that the spirits behind Northuldra's power are the source of Elsa's powers, making him this for the first movie too.
** Scar becomes this in both ''Franchise/TheLionKing'' sequels: In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', his death is the reason why [[DragonAscendant his former mate Zira]] and her pride are plotting to get revenge on Simba by killing him and replacing him with Kovu as Scar's successor, while in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneandaHalf'', Scar is reduced to a voiceless cameo in the climax due to him being too busy fighting Simba like in the first movie, while [[HeinousHyena his hyena henchmen]] become the main threat to Timon and Pumbaa in this movie.
* While he appears in only one, albeit [[OneSceneWonder quite memorable]], scene, the very fact ''WesternAnimation/GuillermoDelTorosPinocchio'' is set in fascist Itally makes UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini into this. In fact, two out of three parts of the movie's BigBadEnsemble have motivations tying back to Mussolini - count Volpe wants Pinocchio as his show's star in hopes of getting rich by impressing Mussolini, while the Podestà wants to mold Pinocchio into perfect soldier for Mussolini's army.
* The Gorg from ''WesternAnimation/Home2015''. The conflict of the film is because of the Boov finding refuge from them.
* The humans in the first ''WesternAnimation/IceAge1'' movie. They were the ones who killed Manny's family, and them wiping out half the saber-toothed tigers' pack is ultimately what drives the latter to commit the heinous acts that set the plot in motion, namely trying to steal and kill the baby out of spite. Plus, as we all know, in real life, they were (largely) responsible for the extinction of all mammoths.
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' has [[FeatheredFiend Lord Shen,]] whose actions shaped the story of the film trilogy as we know it. Had he not done what he did, the story of Kung Fu (and Po's destiny) probably would have turned out FAR different.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'', [[BigBad Lord Business']] actions are metaphorically linked to the actions of "The Man Upstairs", a [[HumansAreCthulhu human]] whom the LEGO people regard as a godlike figure. The Kragle is only one of many tubes of Krazy Glue in his possession.
* The prisoners from ''{{WesternAnimation/Megamind}}'' are the reason for the titular VillainProtagonist becoming a supervillain, due to him being raised by them as a child.
* Roar Omega Roar from ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'' appear to be this to Randall Boggs by the time the events of ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'' take place, being the reason why he hates both Sulley and Mike in the present day.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'', Pharaoh Seti I is the main villain during the first half and the man directly responsible for the massacre of Hebrew slaves that led to Moses coming into his care, but he dies offscreen during Moses' exile and it's ultimately Rameses who takes center stage as the antagonist.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': Ego is indirectly responsible for Gusteau's death and, consequently, his restaurant's downfall, allowing Skinner to take over the business.
* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'' has the honor of having ''two'' greater-scope villains: Morgan Moonscar, who invaded the island with his crew and slaughtered ''all'' of the inhabitants except for Simone and Lena and thus is the very reason the latter two became werecats to begin with, and the cat god who cursed them all.
* In the first ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' film, it is briefly mentioned that the curse that causes Princess Fiona to become an ogre every night was placed on her by an evil witch, but said witch never makes an appearance at all in the franchise, leaving her identity and motives unknown. (Some fans have theorized that it was actually [[ManipulativeBastard the Fairy Godmother]] who placed a curse on her, but it is never been directly evidenced.)
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron'' has the US government as the greater scope villains, as the actual villains are the US Military. Though they are never seen, the actual Big Bad, [[ColonelKilgore The Colonel]] comments that there are those among the US government who doubt that the West can be settled. Given that the US army is a long way from Washington, there are obviously those in Washington who disagree, so it's a rare case of where a Greater-Scope Evil is at odds with itself. It might be safer to say that the ACTUAL greater-scope villains are the government members who endorse the Colonel's campaign and actions.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie'' introduced the legendary "Cyclops" as this to the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' universe as a whole. The BigBad of the movie is Plankton, with Dennis serving as TheDragon, but when we finally meet the Cyclops, he absolutely ''dwarfs'' them in scale in a HumansAreCthulhu kind of way -- he's actually the owner of a seaside gift shop that sells dried-out fish and other marine life as souvenirs. Fortunately, the heroes only meet him briefly and manage to escape -- but it's ''really'' tense for a moment there.
* [[EvilSorcerer Rothbart]], the BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'', for the second and third sequel as he worked with the big bads of the first two sequels to gain power, only to [[NoHonorAmongThieves betray them.]] The Forbidden Arts takes this role for the entire franchise as a whole.
* Daisy's parents from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'', by [[spoiler: [[ReplacementGoldfish replacing the first Lotso with another]] after their daughter accidentally left her favorite toy behind during a camping trip,]] is the reason why Lotso is a cruel, remorseless tyrant who constantly abuses the toys at Sunnyside Daycare in the first place.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Grandma Wu serves as a Greater Scope Antivillain as she was the reason why Ming turned out the way she did. Wu antagonized Ming the same way Ming antagonizes Mei.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/BlueOysterCult's RockOpera ''Music/{{Imaginos}}'' (and its sequel ''Music/ImaginosIIBombsOverGermany'') follow the elaborate plans of VillainProtagonist Imaginos to corrupt and destroy humanity. However, everything Imaginos does is on the orders of seven alien deities called Les Invisibles, who only appear (and even then only obliquely) in two tracks across the two albums.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
* According to most varieties of UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}, this is the role {{Satan}} plays in the human world.
** {{Satan}} is this in most of ''Literature/TheBible'' as well, for the most part. The only books in which he's actually the BigBad are ''Literature/BookOfRevelation'', ''Literature/BookOfJob'', and possibly ''Literature/BookOfGenesis'' (if one takes the interpretation he was the Serpent of Eden, though many scholars believe this was a late idea). This is particularly the case in ''Literature/TheFourGospels'', where he ''does'' appear briefly and attempts to tempt UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}, but leaves the narrative almost as soon as he arrives; the main villains of the Gospels are the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, and Pilate.
** In fact, the Gospels depict Satan as the spiritual force truly at work BEHIND apostate Israel and Rome of the first century (the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, the Sadducees et al, and Pilate, representative of Caesar in Judea); flowing from Jesus' understanding of his own vocation--bound up inextricably with the very the purpose and meaning of his death on the cross--so Jesus squarely identifies the BigBad as those vain principalities and powers governing human affairs in the heavenly places, NOT the human groups themselves! Yet, the nature of the Satan as the Big Bad is just OutOfFocus, and in this unique case the Greater Scope Villain is NOT in fact 'other than' the Big Bad.
** This is particularly true of preterist eschatology, where Satan is currently bound in Hell [[note]]Whether or not he will be let out for one last battle is one of the dividing lines between Orthodox or "partial" Preterists and heterodox of "full" preterists[[/note]], and while unable to influence the world directly anymore, [[VillainousLegacy is ultimately responsible for all evil in the world]].
* Angra Mainyu (better known by the Persian name Ahriman) in some forms of UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}}.
* Myth/NorseMythology has Surtr, the king of the Fire Giants of Muspellheim. The {{Big Bad}}s of most myths are the Frost Giants of Jotunheim and, later on, [[TricksterGod Loki]], but Surtr has stood since the beginning of time at the entrance to his realm, immobile and brandishing his flaming sword Laevateinn, just waiting for the end of the world, where he will finally awaken and cause more destruction than all the other villains put together.
* Myth/EgyptianMythology has the serpent Apep, who is the eternal enemy of Ra, as well as Ma'at on the whole. Set, who is often depicted as the BigBad, hates Apep as much the other gods, and when the chips are down, [[EvilVersusOblivion will fight with them]] to stop the serpent.
* Myth/ClassicalMythology
** ''Literature/{{Theogony}}'' has the primordial deities Ouranos and Gaea serve as this role during the Titanomachy and Typhon's assault respectively. Cronus is the BigBad of the Titanomacy due to [[GodEating eating and opposing]] [[ArchnemesisDad Zeus and his other children]], however Cronus was motivated to do so by his own father Ouranos making him paranoid his children would overthrow him [[FallenHero like he did to save his own siblings]]. And while Typhon directly opposes the gods and spawns legions of monsters to later trouble them, Gaea spawned him in the first place out of revenge for the Titans' imprisonment. While they never directly oppose the Olympians (with Ouranos [[GroinAttack permamently]] [[FateWorseThanDeath indisposed]]), the DivineConflict can be linked back to them.
** The Trojan War is traced back to Eris, the goddess of discord. Scorned by being the only divinity not invited to a celebration, she threw an apple with the phrase "To the fairest." into said festivites, resulting in a feud between the various goddesses before being narrowed down to Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. The three goddesses go to exiled Trojan Prince Paris to judge, and he chooses Aphrodite with the caveat that she give him the fairest woman in the land, Helen. The resulting elopement naturally angered her husband, King Menelaus of Sparta, and he rallies the rest of the Greek kings and their armies into going into war to bring her back.
* In Myth/JapaneseMythology, no matter what strange or unique creature you are. Izanami-no-Mikoto will always be the most fearsome and threatening. Why? Well, she's a fallen goddess with an [[FaceHeelTurn eternal hatred towards humanity]]. A hatred her own ex-husband established, when he left her to rot in the Underworld. Ironically, as much as she helped create the world, she can and [[OmnicidalManiac WILL destroy it]], if given the chance.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* In the Audioplay/BigFinishDoctorWho Divergent Universe arc the Kro'ka controls where the Doctor, Charley, and C'rizz go but is working for the Divergence. In [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho063Caerdroia Caerdroia]] he is revealed to be working for Rassilon, who meets the Doctor in the next story.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/BlueRose'' has the seven Exarchs of Shadow, though it's never stated explicitly whether they actually exist or are just a myth.
* ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent'' introduced the concept of [[DeusEstMachina God-Machine]] as the primary antagonist. But the thing is, it is not a single entity that can be confronted, but rather an overarching ''system'' encompassing the entire setting, the sum of all its parts composed of Infrastructures, Occult Matrices, and Outputs. Although, to call it a 'villain' might not give it enough credit, as the rulebook states that at times it works to protect the earth itself.
* The Supreme Monstrosity in ''TabletopGame/DinosaursAttack'', also named by fans, "Dinosaur Satan."
* In ''TabletopGame/DeltaGreen'', [[GodOfEvil Nyarlathotep]] inspired and guided the creations of the [[TheIlluminati Cult of Transcendence]], [[TheMafia The Fate]] and [[Main/{{Ghostapo}} Karotechia]]. Although it mostly stays in the background and leaves the affairs of the cults to its subordinates.
* This is the role the DemonLordsAndArchDevils and [[GodOfEvil Gods Of Evil]] in the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' world are likely to play in most games.
** The best examples may be the Obyriths and their partner Tharizdun. The former are beings that predate mortal life and even gods. The latter is a god seduced by the Obyriths into evil and madness who shares their desire to destroy everything. Tharizdun used a shard of evil to create the Abyss (and by extension all demons), making him responsible for the existence of the greatest evils in the setting.
** Vecna, one of the most notorious [[GodOfEvil evil gods]] in the history of the game, who is known for his [[ArtifactOfDoom dreaded Eye and Hand]], claims to have gained his power from a being he calls simply [[EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity the Serpent]], but the exact nature of this being (which is possibly his only ally) is unknown (including whether it even ''exists'', the only source on its existence being the words of a mad and evil god).
** The Dark Powers in the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting can play this role depending on what type of game the DM is running. On the one hand, they maintain a prison of extremely powerful and evil entities. On the other, for every Darklord trapped in an IronicHell, there are thousands upon thousands of regular people trapped alongside them as unwitting extras in the ghastly charade, stuck at the bottom of the food chain in a CrapsackWorld and subservient to the Darklord's whims.
** On TabletopGame/{{Mystara}} this is built in the system of attaining its equivalent of godhood, Immortality - to become Immortal, you need to pass tests and trials set up by another Immortal, who is your sponsor. This means that pretty much all Immortals from evil Sphere of Enthropy have their sponsor serving as this trope and are this to anyone they may be recently sponsoring or probing to see if they're a good cadidate.
*** However, even among them, [[TheGrimReaper Thanatos]], possibly the eldest Immortal of the Sphere, stands out. Not only has he personally sponsored all big names and main active villains of the Sphere, including Alphaks, Atzanteotl, Demogorgon, Loki and Orcus but also is still active himself. He is responsible for corruption and eventually destruction of both Taymoran and Nithian empires. He created the Burrowers, the main threat to the destruction of the Hollow World and Night Dragons, with their Queen, Synn (BigBad of ''[[VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsChroniclesOfMystara Shadow Over Mystara]]'') currently being his candidate to Immortality. He is also behind [[ANaziByAnyotherName Storm Soldiers]], whose influence has corrupted both entire Hattian culture and the Heldannic Order (FantasyCounterpartCulture for Prussians and Teutonic Knights, respectively). It is easier to list bad things in the setting that aren't somehow tied back to him, that those that are. And these are things we know about. By a principle, only small handful of candidates to Immortality actually succeeds. Him having succesfully sponsored so many Immortals [[FridgeHorror implies a horrifying number of]] mass murderers, [[EvilOverlord Evil Overlords]], warlords, mages and other monsters who failed to meet his expectations.
* The Deathlords of ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' are OmnicidalManiac ghosts granted power by [[EldritchAbomination the Neverborn]] in the name of destroying Creation. The Neverborn themselves, however, aren't much a threat; they're busier spending time coping with the pain of being eternally-dying-but-never-truly-dead and sending strange messages to their servants.
** A far straighter example is the Ebon Dragon, a Yozi (Primordials who, unlike their Neverborn brothers and sisters, survived their overthrowing at the hands their servants the Gods and the Exalted who the Gods made for doing this) who is plotting to take over everything and is egging the Neverborn and the rest of the Yozi (who are stuck in hell) along to spread more misery and to distract them from his plans.
* ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'':
** The [[PhysicalGod Exarchs]], who stormed the Supernal realms and broke reality in the time of Atlantis. Together all eleven of them form the main villains of the setting, responsible for both the Abyss and the depressing state of the world.
** The Greater Abyssal Powers are gangrenous, semi-real universes using lesser entities to spread their influence to the real world; if their servants can be believed, the Anunnaki are even more powerful.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'':
** On Zendikar it's the Eldrazi, until ''Rise of the Eldrazi'' when they actually show up.
** Yawgmoth, who had a similar treatment. For most of the original storyline, the various Evincars of [[{{Mordor}} Rath]] were the setting's primary antagonists, especially Volrath. Rath and its Evincars were essentially satellites to [[PhysicalHell Phyrexia]] and [[GodOfEvil Yawgmoth]], its ruler. While Phyrexia turned up quite a bit throughout the game's history (going at least as far back as [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=1039 Gate to Phyrexia]] in ''Antiquities''), Yawgmoth himself didn't take center stage until the ''Urza's'' Block and then not again until ''Invasion''.
** In many blocks, Nicol Bolas takes this role. While he himself rarely appears, his minions (such as Sarkhan Vol) often do. In the Khans of Tarkir block, he briefly appears in the backstory, killing the BigGood Ugin, setting up the block's situation; Sarkhan (now his own agent) stopping it to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong causes Fate Reforged; and Ugin still being in a magical coma a millennium later results in the situation in Dragons of Tarkir.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'':
** Kazavon in the ''Curse of the Crimson Throne'' campaign, where defeating even a small part of his legacy is an epic adventure for a group of [[OneManArmy 17th level characters.]] A monstrous Blue Dragon and PsychoForHire who once served as Zon-Kuthon's [[TheDragon Champion]], Kazavon was killed long before the story began. His evil persists however, in the form of seven [[ArtifactOfDoom Artifacts Of Doom]] made out of his bones, which are so contaminated by the pure evil of his soul that they [[TheCorrupter corrupt]] all they touch, exacerbating the evil that is already there in the human soul. Queen Illeosa, the BigBad of the setting, is wearing the Crown of Fangs carved out of his teeth; with her defeat the story is over, but the possibility of someone else picking up the Crown (or one of the other six items) remains a very real threat.
** Queen Abrogail II of Cheliax takes on this role in ''Skull & Shackles''. Your main foe in the campaign, and the one responsible for almost everything, from Captain Barnabas Harrigan's treachery, to the confrontation you are forced into with Kerdak Bonefist at the end, is Abrogail's cousin Admiral Druvalia Thrune of the Chelish Navy, who is acting independently of the crown. While Druvalia's defeat will solve most of their problems, the [=PC=]s should step lightly -- flaunting their victory overly much can result in a new war with Abrogail once the campaign comes to an end.
** In ''Iron Gods'', the BigBad [[AIIsACrapshoot Unity]] became evil after an encounter with the Dominion of the Black, an interstellar empire of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s. Though the players only fight a small expeditionary force, the threat of the Dominion hangs over the entire campaign. In fact, the Dominion can be considered this for the entirety of Golarion, as several adventures have hinted that a full-scale [[AlienInvasion invasion]] is coming ''very'' soon.
** Asmodeus, the King of Hell, has made it his personal mission to prove TheEvilsOfFreeWill -- and then expunge it from the universe.
** The god Zon-Kuthon himself has a Greater Scope Villain, being a formerly Good deity who was corrupted by something from beyond the multiverse.
* ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'': [=OblivAeon=]. Some heroes and villains are only around because of him - Parse gained improved powers from his upgrade of Omnitron into Cosmic Omnitron (with some parallel universe Parses being directly empowered by shards), the Void Guard, Proletariat, Infinitor and Captain Cosmic are all empowered by [=OblivAeon shards=], and Visionary, Iron Legacy and Omnitron-X could only travel in time and between dimensions because he shattered the timelines. He upgraded Omnitron to Cosmic Omnitron, he created Progeny as one of his Scions, and his whispers drove Infinitor to madness. His Scions also destroyed the Procitor homeworld, the sole survivor of which would attack Earth as Deadline and then try to save it as Lifeline, and corrupted the organisation FILTER to become [=OblivAeon's=] pawn. And ''then'' he launched his big apocalyptic attack in the [=OblivAeon=] expansion.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}''/''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
** [[GodOfEvil The Chaos Gods]] rarely pay any attention to mortal affairs, spending the vast majority of their time [[EnemyCivilWar fighting each other]], but the powers that are available to mortals because of their very existence (and the [[TheCorruption corruption]] and [[PowerBornOfMadness madness]] that results from them) are the cause of multiple evil factions in both settings.
** ''40K'' has the even ''Greater'' Scope Villain of [[PhysicalGod the C'tan]], who created the Necrons, indirectly created Chaos with their war against [[NeglectfulPrecursors the Old Ones]] (which in turn allowed the Chaos Gods to be born later), and indirectly led to the creation of the Orks and Eldar (as the Old Ones created them to fight against the C'tan). Originally they served as part of the BigBadEnsemble, but then the 5th Edition {{Retcon}} had them be [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu shattered into pieces]] millions of years ago.
** There have been vague but definitely existent hints that [[HordeOfAlienLocusts the Tyranids]] are invading our galaxy because [[InvadingRefugees they're on the run from something even worse in their own]].
* The Wyrm was this for ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse.''
* A somewhat complicated case in ''TabletopGame/AgainstTheDarkYogi'', since the Greater Scope Villain is technically not born yet. Geli the Demon Raja is prophesised to be born as the last of the Eighteen Wicked Kings, and to overthrow the gods and rule for a thousand years of sin and degradation, after which the world will finally end. That makes him a great deal badder than the BigBad of the game, Tamapara the Dark Yogi. However, while Geli's eventual birth is inevitable, it can happen in a few generations (which is Tamapara's goal) or it can be in a distant future (as the player characters are assumed to be trying to make the case by stopping Tamapara).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* ''Theatre/BillyElliot'': Prime Minister UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher is the one who sets the conflict in motion with her privatization of the British mining industry, but none of the on-stage characters so much as lay eyes on her and her stage presence is limited to a giant, caricatured puppet the community builds to make fun of her.
* ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' has the witches, whose SelfFulfillingProphecy causes Macbeth's FaceHeelTurn.
* In ''Theatre/MarginForError'', UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler is obviously the power behind the German Consul, but his presence in the play is limited to a bronze bust and a DroppedInSpeechClip. (Stage directions regarding the latter generally refer to Hitler as the "Awful Voice.")
* ''Theatre/TheResistibleRiseOfArturoUi'': Arturo Ui's rise takes place at the same time as that of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, and almost everything he does is a smaller-scale version of something Hitler actually did. However, Hitler never actually appears.
* ''Theatre/YoungFrankenstein'': The songs "The Happiest Town in Town" and "He Vas My Boyfriend" make it clear that the recently departed Victor Frankenstein was a domestic abuser who relished his experiments, got people killed and maimed, and made the villagers' "lives a living Hell" for decades before leaving a will that will lure his reluctant grandson into the family business.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theme Parks]]
* In the 20th year of [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's]] Theatre/HalloweenHorrorNights, "[[EldritchAbomination Fear]]" was revealed to have been the entity that was secretly pulling the strings of everything that had occurred in the history of the event.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''Franchise/AceAttorney''
** In ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations 2'' the president of Zheng-Fa had an unnamed BodyDouble. The latter had powerful associates in the Prison and Legal systems of Japan/the USA, to the point where one of the {{Big Bad}}s and his [[TheDragon second-in-command]] are subordinates of his. However, despite being an important figure in the game’s plot, he mostly doesn’t directly antagonize Edgeworth, leaving that to Blaise, and his actions also lead to [[AssholeVictim his death]] at the hands of the other BigBad Simon Keyes. The game also introduces former chief prosecutor Bansai Ichiyanagi/Blaise Debeste, the aformentioned subordinate, who has his fair share of responsibility for the whole series happening. Manfred von Karma, BigBad of the first ''Ace Attorney'' game, ended up using evidence forged by Blaise in court, and when Gregory pointed it out, Blaise had to penalize Von Karma [[NeverMyFault in order to divert the blame from himself]], leading the perfectionist prosecutor to start the DL-6 incident, which would change the lives of Miles Edgeworth (and Phoenix Wright by association) and Mia Fey (who also had considerable influence over Phoenix), as well as the rest of the Fey Clan (Misty went missing because of her involvement in the DL-6 incident, which caused the clan to lose prestige and Mia to become an attorney; Morgan and her daughter Dahlia would also have life-changing events happen to them because of this) and Godot/Diego.
** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'':
*** Case 3: Recipe for Turnabout, has Bruto Cadaverini, TheDon of TheMafia (the {{Yakuza}} in the original Japanese version). The killer, [[ReverseWhodunnit Furio Tigre]], is driven to murder to repay his debts to Bruto, but he is TheGhost and not directly involved in the murder.
*** The final case revolves around a BenevolentConspiracy to protect Maya Fey from the murderous spirit of her cousin, Dahlia Hawthorne, who was in turn following the plans of her mother and Maya's evil aunt Morgan Fey (who was arrested in the previous game).
* ''VisualNovel/ChoicesStoriesYouPlay''
** ''VisualNovel/TheCrownAndTheFlame'' has Azura, who was in conflict with the Nevrakises before the events of the series, thus originating the conflict between them and the Ryses. She later becomes the BigBad of Book 3.
** ''VisualNovel/TheFreshman''
*** ''The Freshman: Book 1'' has Shannon Davenport, who is a VillainyFreeVillain but raised Becca to be a {{Jerkass}}.
*** ''The Freshman: Book 2'' has a [[BigBadDuumvirate duumvirate]] formed by Dorian Delacroix and Nathan Sterling, both being the motivation for Sebastian's actions.
** ''VisualNovel/DesireAndDecorum'' has Rupert Foredale, who forced the marriage between his son Vincent and Henrietta after annulling the former's previous marriage to Mary and Duke Richards was his protege, thus originating all the problems Clara has to face.
** ''VisualNovel/RulesOfEngagement'' has Jonathan, Mallory's ex-boyfriend, who convinced her that her family didn't love her, turning her into the BigBad of the series.
** ''VisualNovel/TheRoyalMasquerade'' has Damon Fierro, who motivated [[spoiler:his daughter Renza to become queen at all costs.]]
** ''VisualNovel/TheRoyalRomance'' has the Queen Sigrid Runarsdottir who literally rules the world via the Via Imperii secret society, which is responsible for each and every threat to Cordonia. The society in which she is leader chooses "the right people" to rule a monarchy and these people are those that belong to the society. Beyond her is Julius Caesar, the BigBad of ''VisualNovel/ACourtesanOfRome'', who was revealed to be a member of Via Imperii and since no older members are known, he might be the founder.
** ''VisualNovel/HighSchoolStory''
*** ''Book 1'' has Rodger and Loretta Crandall, the BigBadDuumvirate of Class Act, Book 3, who raised their son Brian to be a Jerkass.
*** ''Book 2'' has Blackbird and Phantom, two criminals BigBad Principal Isa became indebted with.
** ''VisualNovel/ItLives''
*** It Lives in the Woods has Douglas Redfield, the original Mr. Red. Jane takes his place after her death.
** In ''VisualNovel/{{Bloodbound}}'', the Greater Scope Villain of each book becomes the BigBad in the next one.
*** ''Book 1'' has Gaius Augustine, who, among other things, ordered Jameson to bite Lily.
*** ''Dark Solstice'' has Count Grisha Nikolaus, whose amulet was stolen by Greg Pfoznik, turning him into the new Red Saint.
*** ''Book 2'' has Rheya Apostolous, who motivated all of Gaius' evil actions.
*** ''Book 3'' has the Sons of Ares, who attacked Rheya's village, thus turning her into the evil monster she was.
*** Then there's the one who started it all: King Kaelisus of Mydiea, who made unwanted advances towards Rheya and exiled her when she rejected him, resulting in her discovering the Tree of Life and becoming the First Vampire.
** ''VisualNovel/{{Nightbound}}'' has the shadow monster who killed Thomas and his family, causing him to [[BoomerangBigot hate all the supernatural creatures]]. Since Josephine Vance's appearance suggests the book takes place before ''VisualNovel/ItLives Beneath'', and thus before ''VisualNovel/{{The Elementalists}}, Book 1'', this shadow monster might have been summoned by Raife Highmore.
** ''VisualNovel/VeilOfSecrets'' has Margaret Sterling, who ordered the hit on Jeff's mother, making him become the BigBad.
* ''VisualNovel/Ever17'' has NoAntagonist, but there is plenty of OffscreenVillainy provided by {{Megacorp}} Leiblich Pharmaceutical, which serves as backstory for several characters. Among others they were studying Tief Blau virus to sell it as bioweapon, which made them responsible (by negligence, not malice, but still) for outbreak that killed several thousands of poeple including You's parents and experiments related to Cure virus on Tsugumi and later her children.
* ''VisualNovel/ExtraCaseMyGirlfriendsSecrets'': Nya is the one sending Marty back in time whenever he regrets his decisions. Additionally, their cult recruited Sally's mother and caused the latter to neglect her daughters, [[spoiler:depriving Sally and Seira of the emotional support they needed, which contributed to Sally developing a violent SplitPersonality, Shadow, out of the belief that she isn't loved. However, Shadow herself is killing Sally's boyfriends for her own purposes and has no direct connection to Nya.]]
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' gradually reveals over the three routes that the source of the Grail's corruption is Angra Mainyu, who will be reborn if any of the {{Big Bad}}s succeed in their plans.
* The first ''VisualNovel/GalaxyAngel'' trilogy has the Valfask race as a whole. For starters, they were the ones behind the Chrono Quake catastrophe that caused LostTechnology to be lost in the first place, and the collapse of the EDEN civilization that came with it six centuries before the start of the story. This in turn led to Eonia's motivation in the first game to turn the Transbaal Empire into warmongers for the sake of the Lost Technology's promise of increased prosperity, and while he was partially manipulated by the Noah interface, her reason to act that way was because she and the Black Moon were originally created as a defense mechanism against the Valfask (which required merging with the White Moon in order to create the ultimate weapon against the Valfask). For a straighter example of a Greater-Scope Villain, there's Gern, the Emperor of the Valfask and the final opponent that Tact and the Angels must face in the third game.
* In both games of Kyle Hyde's story, the criminal organization Nile is the one responsible for the character's woes despite never being confronted in-game. ''VisualNovel/HotelDuskRoom215'' has them be the ones behind the murders that ultimately set off the plot while ''VisualNovel/LastWindow'' shows them as TheManBehindTheMan for the Condor group.
* ''VisualNovel/MinotaurHotel'':
** The ancient gods, who created the labyrinth to imprison Asterion for all eternity, and make him a slave for any human that comes across him. The lack of free will Asterion has because of them combined with how he's been abused over centuries shows how ruthless the gods were towards Asterion. [[spoiler:In the main route, it's in the best interest for the protagonist to figure out enough loopholes in the system to get Asterion out of the cycle]].
** Clement. Although there were mean and abusive masters before him, he's particularly awful in that he kicked out all the guests and employees out of the hotel, without paying them, and keeping Asterion in a cold room for over half a century. Not only did this remove all the progress the hotel has made over the centuries, but it also caused [[spoiler:Pedro's grandfather to have a major falling out with his family and make everyone in it hate each other]], on top of whatever happened to the numerous other guests and employees. His actions more or less kickstart the events of the game, as you would have never become the master and restore the hotel, and [[spoiler:Pedro would have never started his journey to look for the hotel where his supposed inheritance laid.]] The worst part about him is that he's so old and senile at the start of the game, that doing anything to him (killing him, punishing him, imprisoning him, etc.) would be utterly pointless besides some small catharsis. It says something that even the ''hint'' that he's still alive is enough to send Asterion into a funk.
* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVsPhoenixWrightAceAttorney'': The supposedly MedievalStasis town of Labyrinthia was funded by the British Government (whose Prime Minister might be the same one from Layton's ''Unwound Future'', see the Video Games section) as an experiment on MassHypnosis. The game's actual antagonists have much more personal reasons for maintaining the ruse, which form the main conflict of the story.
* ''VisualNovel/{{Psycholonials}}'': Z is a VillainProtagonist, but much of her evil comes at the urging of Riotus, who interacts with the story only through her dreams. Riotus is the avatar of an ancient cosmic force, the spirit of evil clown culture, who seeks to spread his ways throughout the galaxies. At the end of the story, Z turns away from the ways of the Jubilities and declines to become the Successor to Riotus, but the ending shows the spirit of the Jubilites spreading from planet to planet regardless.
* ''VisualNovel/ScienceAdventureSeries'' has the always offscreen [[NebulousEvilOrganization Committee of 300]] who plan to reduce humanity to a population of one billion and unite the remainder under a single totalitarian government. Although they are directly responsible for Project Noah, Project Mars, Project Atom and Sern's Z-Program they only act by proxy and are never shown or identified.
* TheStinger of ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}} Liberation Day'' has Crow Harbor, [[LivingRelic Sola]]’s EvilUncle and a time traveller who ends up stranded in the present after a failed attempt to alter the outcome of a battle in his favor. Since he can’t go back to the past due to his time machine having broken, he decides to conquer the galaxy and rebuild the Holy Ryuvian Empire with his Ebon Fleet. Apart from this making him an OutsideContextProblem due to [[TechnologicallyAdvancedFoe possessing advanced technology leagues beyond what anyone else in the setting has]], his mere presence in the current time threatens to create a RealityBreakingParadox. Averting said paradox is the entire reason that [[TimeMaster Claude]] gets involved in the plot, and part of the reason why the villainous [[ArtificialHuman Prototypes]] are trying to unify humanity under their rule is to get them ready to fight the Ebon Fleet. The failure of Crow’s time machine is also implied to have transported Sola into the present.
* Multiple examples from the ''VisualNovel/ZeroEscape'' series:
** Lord Gordain, a British Lord who survived the sinking of the Titanic, became obsessed with the ship that he tried to collect anything related to it, including one of its sister ships, the Gigantic. He created the Nonary Games as a means of [[EvilDebtCollector getting young English men to work off their debts, making it a major source of entertainment for the British Peerage.]]
** Gentarou Hongou, the CEO of Cradle Pharmaceutical, wanted to test a particular phenomenon. So, to do that, he set up the Nonary Game from 9 years ago, which got one of his subjects killed. The current Nonary Game is to both SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong as well as to get {{Revenge}} upon him. Subverted a bit - he was also a Nonary Game player back when Gordain ran the show and the BigBad of the current Nonary Game when Zero isn't running the show.
** Brother is the leader of Free the Soul and is responsible for the events of the trilogy, indirectly so for ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'' and ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'', and directly so for ''VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma''. Most of his motives and backstory are explained in ''Zero Time Dilemma''. In ZTD, he calls himself Q, and is later revealed to be Zero II, the BigBad of the game, and Delta, Phi's twin brother and Diana and Sigma's son. He was born in 2029, November 16, and was sent to the past with his newborn sister, to 1904. He was adopted by a couple of researchers and their son, Left. In 1920, Left is murdered, and it leads Delta into creating the Free The Soul organization. Free The Soul then funds Gentarou Hongou's Nonary game, which leads into the events of 999. In 2028, through the Decision Game described in Zero Time Dilemma, Delta also liberates the Radical-6 virus, thus leading to the events of Virtue's Last Reward. His motive for releasing the virus is that it could kill a religious fanatic that would, through butterfly effect, lead mankind to destruction, but it is unknown if he tells the truth or not. Another of his motives to creating the Decision Game is so that he could be born, as Diana and Sigma give birth to Phi and Delta during one of the timelines described in the game.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/GamingAllStars'': Andross serves as a powerful but largely indirect threat for much of the story. He pulls the strings on the entire plot by waiting for one of the lesser villains to pull the moon into Earth's orbit so he can cause a worldwide cataclysm, crafts an alliance with Polygon Man under the pretense that the latter would grant said lesser villain a massive power boost, and yet he doesn't get himself directly involved in the heroes' affairs until all is said and done.
* ''WebAnimation/{{Glitchtale}}'' has two examples.
** The creator behind [[ArtificialHuman Bête Noire]] (Season 2's BigBad) and [[TheWomanBehindTheMan the reason]] [[TheCorrupter for her evil actions]] is Agate Lightvale, the Wizard of Bravery who reversed her magic trait to Fear and made Bête using her own soul to carry out her will to wipe out monsterkind (and therefore Agate has control over Betty by technically being part of her).
** The second one, which counts as an example for the entire series, is HATE, a fully sentient EldritchAbomination and OmnicidalManiac spoken of by Agate as a power greater than Fear that Betty may use to gain control over the entire planet. HATE was behind Chara's corruption in Season 1 and gains physical form in Season 2 after absorbing Betty's remains and magic, desiring nothing less than the complete and total erasure of absolutely everything in existence.
* The Paul Mask of ''WebAnimation/LlamasWithHats'', as it's the one ordering [[VillainProtagonist Carl]] around from episode 8 onwards.
* ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat'' has the Higher Powers, [[TheGhost unseen entities]] who pull the strings behind the world and occasionally revive the main characters to allow them to continue fighting, for no other reason than [[ItAmusedMe they find their constant violence amusing]].
* ''WebAnimation/NomadOfNowhere'': King El Rey is the one who actually wants the Nomad Of Nowhere, but being the king, and therefore presumably handling other matters, he's mostly just mentioned in passing and [[BigBad Don Paragon]], the tyrannical ruler of the Oasis, is the one sending his soldiers and offering rewards to {{bounty hunter}}s to capture the Nomad, pretty much just because he knows ''the king'' wants him and he hopes to become one of The King's CoDragons, as a reward for his capture.
* ''[[WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]]'' has [[KnightOfCerebus Zero]], a malevolent virus from an alternate universe who has been going around destroying universes for god knows how long. However, the destruction of one specific universe ([=SMG1=] and [=SMG2=]’s universe) would cause Luke Lerdwichagul to create the [=SMG4=] universe, which would cause the events of the series.
* The Fallen was revealed in ''WebAnimation/TheTransformersTitansReturn'' to be the one responsible for Trypticon's rampage, Overlord's plans, and the events of the prior series ''WebAnimation/TheTransformersCombinerWars'' before becoming the main villain of ''WebAnimation/TheTransformersPowerOfThePrimes''.
* ''WebAnimation/WolfSongTheMovie'':
** Cerberus is the one who tasks the Death Alpha with collecting 3 important items to escape, kickstarting the plot by doing so. He is indirectly behind all the conflict in the film, yet it’s his brother The Death Alpha who the heroes are trying to beat. It is implied that Cerberus is even more dangerous than his brother should he leave the Gates of Hell
** There's a group of humans known as the hunters. We don’t know who they are, how many they are and their entire motive and they aren’t even seen in the film, only being mentioned in a single conversation, but the fact that the protagonists, two dogs, are content with going with joining a wolf pack, really says something, especially as one of them mentions the hunters possibly gunning them down without second thoughts clearly shows just how bad those guys are. And this is a film about wolves where one greater scope villain has no qualms with killing dogs, it really shows how even off screen antagonists are forces of evil not to be trifled with. Sure, the hunters aren’t as prominent as Cerberus, but their impact in a single decision in the film, though indirect, ultimately sets in motion almost every event after this. They are also the only antagonists with no connections with the Death Alpha, meaning that Wolf Song technically has an albeit loose BigBadEnsemble. Until a sequel for Wolf Song is made, we may never know who they are or why they are doing what they’re doing, or what else they have in store.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Chaos of ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' is an evil EldritchAbomination and embodiment of decay that is the whole reason behind the Light Warriors' quest. Although he ''does'' desire to end (''and'' eternally torment, however that works) existence for no real reason, he does not come into play until the real BigBad, [[PhysicalGod Sarda]], accidentally brings him about. Who was himself indirectly created by Black Mage.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'', the eponymous world is heavily implied to be a GeniusLoci. Fate, the guiding intelligence behind this world, manipulates events to enforce prophecies like a {{Railroading}} game master. Charlie, the BigBad, is responsible for many reprehensible acts, but he wishes Parson, the protagonist, no personal harm, and is only trying to stall Parson's fate to kill him for as long as he can. But as long as Fate continues to manipulate events, conflict between him and Parson is inevitable.
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'':
** {{Subverted|Trope}} with the Other, who plays a nebulous background role through Volumes I-IV. All that we know about them is that they created the [[PuppeteerParasite slaver wasps]] & [[ParasiteZombie revenants]] our heroes fight and that they caused the terrible war that [[AntiVillain Baron Wulfenbach]] had to stop. But then in Volume V, the Other steps on the stage in person - or rather [[DemonicPossession in a person]] - serving as the BigBad for the rest of the comic. However, even then they are mostly stuck manipulating events whenever they get the chance to.
** Played straight, albiet to a {{downplayed|Trope}} degree, with [[spoiler:Dr. Dimitri Vapnoople]]. He was the teacher of ArcVillain Martellus von Blitzengaard, knew many of the Old Heterodynes and Mongfishes personally (even creating the Sparkhounds that Dr. Mongfish used as EliteMooks), and was aware of [[spoiler:Lucrezia Mongfish]]'s true identity as [[BigBad the Other]].
* ''Webcomic/HardcoreLevelingWarrior'': The Witch, who is behind the existence of Lucid Adventure, and whose motives remain largely unknown except for her vague interest in seeing how things turn out. In season 2, she seems to be aware that her actions will have consequences that could potentially destroy both worlds, the game one and the real one.
* [[EldritchAbomination Lord English]] from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' is the most powerful character in the setting, but remains TheUnseen until after Act 5, despite a great impact (mostly in the form of his chief servant, [[TheChessmaster Doc Scratch]]) on the plot. The BigBad is initially thought to be [[PhysicalGod Jack Noir]], stab-happy treacherous Archagent, whom the protagonists have much more motivation to destroy but who has since lost focus in the story as Lord English's machinations become more and more obvious as well as his possible origin.
* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': With the reveals in ''Breaker of Infinities'', [[spoiler:Metatron 1 is revealed to be either this, or a ''very'' twisted form of BigGood. He gave the Master Key to creation to Zoss, and through him controls the EternalRecurrence the universe is stuck in, but ''cannot'' get directly involved in the plot due to being TheFettered. With his current motivations for permanently sticking the multiverse in 'reset mode' unknown, and direct confrontation with him still a far way away (Metatron is likely the most powerful currently living being in the setting [[WordsCanBreakMyBones because he possesses YISUN's true voice]]), whether or not he'll transition into an actual BigBad of the story is unknown.]]
* ''Webcomic/KlonoaDreamCrusaders'': While Tenebrae Hue drives the plot with his mysterious, ambitious plans, Claire the Ancient is a far more evil being who was [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away long ago]], and easily attacks Hue when she is released.
* ''Webcomic/TheLegendOfSpyroZonoyasRevenge'': Not only was Malefor responsible for everything that happened in the games, he brainwashed Cynder into slashing out the eye of Zonoya, her best friend, which was Zonoya's StartOfDarkness. Zonoya was also in love with him, leading to many of her actions in addition to her revenge plot, making him responsible for most of the plot.
* [[ColonelBadass Commander Badass]]'s superiors in the Nomura Syndrome arc of ''Webcomic/ManlyGuysDoingManlyThings''. They were the ones that hired the BigBad Creator/{{Gackt}} to release TheVirus and turn Commander Badass into a {{Bishonen}}. And it's just so they can market new merchandise.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
** The Snarl, a God-killing EldritchAbomination, is the most powerful and malevolent presence in the series, and the whole reason everything is happening, but appears to have no real mind or personality of its own; there are some hints as of [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0672.html this comic]] (major spoilers ahoy) that this might not be the case.
** The IFCC Directors are three fiends who are rather, were TheManBehindTheMan to the Linear Guild, but they themselves refer to more powerful fiends ("the Lower Downs") from whom they are attempting to gain support for their venture, using their corruption of Vaarsuvius as proof of concept.
* The Scarecrows are the EldritchAbomination villains of ''Webcomic/TheSanityCircus'', but their creator The Last would be the even bigger threat if they hadn't died millennia ago.
* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' the Demon King of the Dimension of Pain generally plays this part in Dimension of Pain arcs. The demon lord Horribus serves as BigBad. Presumably Psykosis will be replacing him in future Dimension of Pain appearances.
* Altair in ''Webcomic/WhiteDarkLife'' is a far more villainous character than Dark Matt or Artemis. The latter are simply selfish and commit evil to keep Dark Matt from being erased once he is finally purified and are rather comical at times. The former on the other hand wants to murder all the demons, little children included.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Literature/ThreeHundredThirtyHours'': The Yofren government as a whole, as the ones who created the program in the first place and the ones behind [[BigBad Don]], though they don’t play an active role in the conflict. They gain a more proactive role in the sequel ''Literature/ThreeHundredThirtyHoursRevolution''.
* ''WebVideo/ArbyNTheChief''
** Seasons 6 and 7 both had Justin, the programmer who developed the Fragban hacks that Chaos Theosis used in Season 6, and which Colin Hunt used as the basis to create his own "Fragban 2.0" in Season 7.
** The finale of Season 8 reveals [[spoiler:Adam [=McIntyre=] got his EvilPlan and the resources needed to complete it from Colin Hunt, who devised it as a means to get revenge on Arbiter and Master Chief.]] And right after that Arbiter and Chief meet the even bigger force behind everything they've faced -- [[spoiler:the [[AuthorAvatar creator of the series]], Jon Graham.]]
* ''WebVideo/AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses'':
** The series doesn't really have a plot, so it's hard to call any character the BigBad, but the closest thing is the titular Ask That Guy. However, even Ask That Guy is horrified by the depravity of Bennett the Sage.
** {{Satan}} also appears as a background character.
* The Lord Vyce story arc of ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' has the MultiversalConqueror Lord Vyce the BigBad, but his goal in conquering is to in fact protect dimensions from, and eventually track down and kill an EldritchAbomination that he simply refers to as "The Entity", which devours entire planets, and eventually universes. Later it turns out the Entity came to our universe as a BatmanGambit in hopes Linkara would defeat Lord Vyce, since it considered fighting him to be too inconvenient.
* Tyrant and the King in Winter of {{Literature/Citadel}}. One holds the entire population of Europe in mental thrall while the other is responsible for freezing a large chunk of the Northern Hemisphere.
* In ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', the lich Vecna is the greater scope villain for the [[UnholyMatrimony married]] [[AristocratsAreEvil evil aristocrats]] Silas and Delilah Briarwood. It's eventually revealed that the reason they conquered Whitestone is because there's a corrupted temple to the goddess Ioun beneath Whitestone's royal castle and they plan to use it to help him become a full-fledged god. Vecna himself is the villain of the final story arc of the first campaign, and the Briarwoods return as some of his CoDragons.
* The Evil Entity of Markiplier Manor is this in ''DAMIEN'', one of the side stories of ''WebVideo/WhoKilledMarkiplier''. While they were responsible for all of the events of ''Who Killed Markiplier?'', they really aren't present in ''DAMIEN''; rather, it's Mark the Actor who is responsible for the main conflict in that story
* The BigBad of "[[WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared Don't Hug Me I'm Scared 3]]" is Shrignold the butterfly, but he is just a servant of Malcolm, king of the Love Cultists.
* ''WebVideo/DrHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' has Bad Horse, leader of the [[LegionOfDoom Evil League of Evil]] the titular ({{Ineffectual Sympathetic|Villain}}) VillainProtagonist wants to join.
* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', the Nameless Evil, which later took over the god Dreamweaver's body and became known as Death, has been behind all atrocities which have taken place in various eras, subtly influencing events to its liking.
* WebVideo/HeroHouse gives us both Dio and Big Boss who seem to be operating on a scope well beyond Kratos.
* Himmler in the ''WebVideo/HitlerRants'' parodies is this, having been the one that mentored and teached antics to Fegelein, the series' BigBad and resident {{troll}}.
* [[TheHeavy Alex Kralie]] is the main antagonist of ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'', but [[HumanoidAbomination The Operator]] is clearly the one pulling his strings. Same goes with any [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]] series where a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy proxy]] is the main bad guy.
* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'':
** The Director, as most of the things that happened to the Blood Gulch Crew and Freelancers were caused by him and his plans.
** The Chairman serves as a HeroAntagonist Greater Scope Villain when he sends that BigBadDuumvirate of Wash and the Meta to find Epsilon with the ultimate goal of arresting the Director. Actually, he's not a hero at all when the Season 12 finale reveals that he was the BigBad "Control". He is also the Greater Scope Villain for the overall series when it's revealed that he funded the Insurrection that the Freelancers fought against.
** Flashbacks in Season 10 show that the A.I. Sigma qualifies for the Recollection Trilogy as a whole; he's technically the BigBad of ''Reconstruction'', but he is killed after those events. However, his influence on the Meta still remains in ''Recreation'' and ''Revelation''.
** In Seasons 11 and 12, General Doyle takes this role on the account of being the leader of the Federation Army. However, he can be ''hardly'' be considered a fighter, and he has ''no'' control over Locus. Locus is working under the orders of the BigBad, Control, and Doyle's role is subverted when it's revealed that Locus and Felix are manipulating the CivilWar on the planet Chorus under Control's orders.
** Played with later on in season 15 with the Blues and Reds, the [[EvilCounterpart Evil(?) Counterparts]] of the Reds and Blues. While they didn't cause the main events of the series, they would be used as models for every subsequent simulation outpost, which plays a big hand in the events that would follow over the years. This also means that they were indirectly responsible for the formation of the Blood Gulch Crew.
* ''WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemon'' saw some weird ROM glitches in each of the first two runs of Season 2, but it was only in the third run[[note]]Which, while randomized, didn't really have any noticeable glitches...at least, they wouldn't have been noticeable if the starter hadn't evolved into a Defeatist Lampent, necessitating the acquisition of a Dusk Stone[[/note]] that the events were tied together and their cause also retroactively blamed for something in the [[WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemonPlatinum fifth]] run of Season 1. The exact identity of this guiding force, however, remained unnamed until the [[WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemonCrystalAnniversary beginning]] of Season 3, when it finally intervened with a protagonist directly. Complicating matters further was that the timeline, muddled as it may be, seemed to place the start of Season 3 chronologically ''before'' most of Season 2, so OLDEN ''not'' being defeated was a ForegoneConclusion. Evan becoming a servant of OLDEN, whether willingly or forcibly, though...''that'' was still a twist.
* ''WebVideo/UnwantedHouseguest'': The Shadow Demon was apparently summoned by one of these. [[spoiler: The phone line is cut before DoctorWolfula can reveal who or what it is.]]
* ''Roleplay/WeAreAllPokemonTrainers'':
** Cipher serves as one for the entire RP in general, often acting through proxies instead of fighting the J-Team directly, having a hand in the backstories of several characters, and even created 'M which antagonized the J-Team during the Unova arc. For Orre they end up becoming the Big Bad of the arc.
** OLD MAN's nemesis, the Magikarp Salesman, a powerful demon who doesn't really concern himself with the J-Team's antics at all.
** The Seven Jerk Dragons serve as this for the PMD-R arc. While they don't make a direct appearance, their actions are directly responsible for the state of PMD-B when J-Team members visit it.
* ''WebOriginal/WellBeRightBack'': At first, Val was just a creepy face who only appeared for a split second in various anomalies. As the series progresses however, it soon becomes obvious that there is more to her than meets the eye, with it finally culminating in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIA9E3KWYaY Abstract Idents (2003)]]", where she reveals herself to be the entity responsible for the broadcast anomalies.
* ''ARG/WhySoSerious'', the promotional ARG for ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', has the Joker serve as this. While he's responsible for several petty crimes, he spends most of the ARG building his own power base and setting up the plans he enacts in the film proper while Gotham is distracted by the ongoing mob war.
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'':
** [[ThoseWackyNazis Empire 88]] are an offshoot of a more established German organisation called Gesellschaft, who sometimes send cape assistance over but are never confronted directly by Taylor.
** [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Cauldron]] is this for a large part of the story. Long before they directly come into the picture, they indirectly aid and abet a lot of the antagonists.
** The [[DiabolicalMastermind Simurgh]] is a greater scope villain for much of Arcs 17-30, since her actions of providing the Travellers with Cauldron vials in Madison eventually results in the reveal of the Triumvirate's association with Cauldron and significantly weakens the Protectorate. Moreover, the Simurgh's screams reminds Tattletale of her brother's death and Taylor of Dinah's note, thus resulting in the Rise of Khepri and the eventual defeat of [[EldritchAbomination Scion]].
* The ''Website/SCPFoundation'''s lack of canon means that it lacks a true BigBad, but there are several characters that are implied to be behind some of the worst [=SCPs=] but are beyond the Foundation's reach.
** MEKHANE and Yaldabaoth, gods of technology, reason, logic and sapience and flesh, instinct, nature and savagery respectively. Some of the most powerful and dangerous objects in the Foundation are creations of either them or their cults. Often subverted, however, as both are frequently portrayed in a more positive light; MEKHANE gave humans sapience, and is interested in keeping them alive. He even "broke" himself to protect us, thus why he is referred to as the "Broken God". His artifacts are only dangerous when misused by people who don't know what they're doing. Yaldabaoth, on the other hand, is truly mindless and doesn't understand that it is threatening humanity. It merely exists and eats, like a wild animal. Its cultists, Sarkicism, is far more dangerous.
** The Scarlet King plays the trope entirely straight. Depending on your preferred canon, he's either a member of TheOldGods who believe that existence is suffering and wants to end it all, or a personification of the chaos and destruction caused by the conflict between modernism and pre-modernism. Either way, several extremely dangerous SCP's are associated with him.
** The evil psychosphere entity that plagues humanity, as revealed in the now-erased timeline of SCP 5000, also plays this trope straight. It was able to ensure it’s existence and grand plan by manipulating Pietro Wilson into resetting the timeline before it was discovered by the Foundation. Despite only having one prominent role, the entity is considered one of the overarching antagonists of the entire SCP mythos, due to still being at large with the Foundation none the wiser. It is also heavily implied to be the reason why 682 is violently appalled by mankind, making the entity indirectly responsible for ALL of 682’s atrocities.
[[/folder]]
----