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

Note that Big Bad is not a catch-all trope for the biggest and ugliest villain of any given story. The Big Bad is the one who turns out to be behind several other seemingly independent threats.



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     Transformers 
  • Megatron in almost every incarnation of Transformers, only to usually force an Enemy Mine when Unicron appears.
    • Generation 1: Led the Decepticons on Cybertron and constantly tried all sorts of evil schemes to steal energy from Earth. Since these plans tended to fail, the writers eventually resorted to an Enemy Mine plot every other episode to avoid Villain Decay.
    • In Beast Wars, he was the Big Bad twice. Firstly he's the standard ruler of the Predacons, fighting against the Maximals. During The Reveal, it is shown that the G1 Megatron had orchestrated the plan, ordering the Beast Megatron to go back in time and kill the G1 Autobots while they were in stasis. Only for that plan to be ignored. Beast Wars Megatron only followed this plan as a last ditch effort, in only one plot, which failed. (Thankfully so, or they all would have been killed by Unicron at some point). Other plots include successfully killing both Optimuses (Optimi?), inventing new classes of Transformers (Transmetal 2, Vehicons) and introducing ham to prehistoric Earth.
    • Beast Machines: He succeeds in conquering Cybertron and ruling over a planet of mindless, sparkless drones. All this happens before the series begins. During the series, he absorbs every spark on the planet and comes within a millimetre of godhood.
    • Armada: Leads the Decepticons and gets his servos on the three most powerful minicons in the universe and would probably have destroyed the Autobots if Unicron hadn't forced them into an alliance.
    • Energon starts off with Alpha Q as the Big Bad though once Megatron becomes revived he rallies the Decepticons into once again fighting against the Autobots, and then hijacks Alpha Q's plan to restore his home planet and instead manages to successfully revive and, for a time, control Unicron. Oh, and he reformats Scorponok's and Demolishor's sparks to make them less moral and more loyal to himself.
    • Cybertron: Goes after the Omega Lock and the four Cyber Planet Keys to steal the power of Primus and become a god. He intends to use the Unicron Singularity to destroy the universe and then recreate it as he pleases. Later in the series, Starscream successfully betrays him and becomes a Big Bad in his own right, forming a Big Bad Ensemble.
    • Transformers: Animated: His body was destroyed in the pilot, leaving him a head in a scientist's lab. Hooked into the lab's computers, and with the right words to Professor Sumdac, he spends the first season working on getting a new body and taking shots at the Autobots through intermediaries. When he gains a new body and comes bursting out of Sumdac Tower in the first season finale, the 'bots know exactly how screwed they are. Circumstances still force him to spend most of his time plotting, but it's still a step up from "Decepticons, RETREAT!"
    • Transformers: Prime: Arrives on Earth via space bridge during the Five-Episode Pilot, armed with "Dark Energon", which has the power to revive Cybertronian corpses as mindless berserkers. The mini-series ends with him and an undead army disappearing in a space bridge explosion. Starscream promptly becomes the Dragon Ascendant and takes over as Big Bad for the next several episodes, but Megatron is ultimately revived and retakes the top spot. In the last few episodes of Season 1, though, he's overshadowed by Unicron as the premier threat, only to retake the position in Season 2. This series so far as a pattern of alternating between Megatron and someone else for chunks of episodes, going Megatron-> Starscream-> Megatron-> Unicron-> Megatron.
      • Unicron is the Big Bad of "Predacons Rising", resurrecting Megatron and possessing his body so he can destroy Primus (and by extension, Cybertron) personally, allowing him to bring about an age of chaos and destruction on to the universe.

  • While the heroes of Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers had an extensive Rogues Gallery for a cartoon of The '80s, the one who ruled them all was The Queen of the Crown, a genocidal woman who runs the Crown Empire.
  • Adventure Time:
    • The Ice King served as main antagonist initially, particularly in Seasons 1 and 2 where he often acts as Finn and Jake's main nemesis by kidnapping the Princesses the two have to save. Over time, the Ice King becomes more sympathetic and less villainous, especially after his backstory is revealed, and the role of main villain goes to the Lich, an undead sorcerer who seeks the extinction of all life and is by far one of the most dangerous threats to the land of Ooo.
    • When the Lich isn't the main concern, other villains act as the antagonist for a arc or subplot such as the original Earl of Lemongrab (after losing his sanity and oppressing his Lemon Children), Orgalorg (a power hungry Eldritch Abomination who is the true identity of the Ice King's penguin, Gunter,), the Vamps (a group of five vampires slain by Marceline, only to be accidentally restored to life), and Dr. Gross (the Mad Scientist who unleashed the plague that caused the plot of the Islands miniseries).
    • The final season initially has Gumbald (Princess Bubblegum's creation that went rogue and led an uprising against her), but the final antagonist ends up being GOLB, the primordial entity of discord that destroys whatever world it appears in and is apparently the creator of the Lich.
  • The Amazing World of Gumball: Rob has more or less filled the role since Season 3's "The Nobody", where he vowed to become Elmore's villain and destroy Gumball as revenge for accidentally leaving him behind in The Void and forgetting about him. Since then, he's been Gumball's Arch-Enemy and the most prominent threat on the show.
  • Angel's Friends: Queen Reina, who was once a guardian angel that fell in love with the person that she was meant to protect, thus becoming the enemy of both angels and devils. Turns out that Reina's Start of Darkness was caused by Raf's mother's disappearance, and everything in the series was manipulated by Cassidy and Kubral.
  • Archer: The KGB as an organization is the main opponent, so the Big Bad tends to be whoever's heading it at the time. Nikolai Jakov is this at the start of the series, up until "Crossing Over", where Jakov undergoes Redemption Equals Death and is usurped by Barry Dylan, who in turn in usurped by Katya come "Viscous Coupling".
    • Played with with Malory Archer. While Barry and Katya may be the most obvious opponents of the main characters, Malory Archer has consistently proven herself to be the series' primary conflict creator, often using ISIS and its employees to commit heinous and criminal acts bordering on treason (ranging from the sake of financial gain, to revenge against another, to just getting her sex tape(s) back). To say nothing of how she treats her subordinates, more often than not, she tends to get away with it all most of the time. And that's not even covering the events of the fifth season.
  • Ben 10: Vilgax. He's wounded grievously in the pilot, drives the plot of most of Season 1 from behind the scenes, and finally shows up in person in the Season 1 finale, bigger, meaner, smarter, and tougher than anything Ben's faced before. From there on out, he's usually put somewhere between appearances that keeps him from getting involved... He's also an Implacable Man and a Determinator, so he HAS to be kept out of the picture for other plot arcs to happen.
    • Season 2 has Kevin 11, an 11-year-old boy with the power to absorb energy. After absorbing some energy from the Omnitrix, he gains the power to turn into Ben's first ten alien forms before losing control of it and becoming an amalgam of those forms. Blaming Ben for this, Kevin spends the entirety of the season seeking vengeance, even going so far as to join forces with Vilgax to take the Omnitrix from Ben.
    • Season 3 has Ghostfreak, Ben's former Ectonurite transformation that actually had the conscious mind of Zs'Skayr. After his demise back in Season 2, Zs'Skayr is revealed to be The Man Behind the Man to the horror-themed aliens that Ben and his team faced throughout the season, and after being resurrected by Dr. Viktor, intends to block out the Earth's Sun with a Corrodium beam so Zs'Skayr can rule the Earth in eternal darkness.
    • Season 4 has The Forever King, who is The Man Behind the Man to recurring villain Enoch. He is revealed to be Driscoll, a disgraced Plumber who joined the ranks of the Forever Knights and became their king. He assembles a team of Ben's Rogues Gallery (consisting of himself, the robotic Red Knight, the Circus Freak trio, Dr. Animo, Charmcaster, Rojo, Sublimino, and Clancy) in an attempt to claim the Sub-Energy and use it to Take Over the World.
  • Ben 10: Alien Force:
    • The first two seasons have the Highbreed, a xenophobic alien race that seeks to exterminate all other life in the universe, seeing themselves as the superior race. The season finale reveals their true motivation was to ensure they don't die alone after many years of inbreeding to remain "pure" has doomed them to extinction.
    • Season 3 has Vilgax once again, having conquered 10 planets and stole the powers of their heroes (including Ultimos) so he takes revenge on Ben. When his attempt to use a Trial by Combat to legally take over the planet fails, he continues to reappear in other episodes going off different plots related to trying to claim the Omnitrix. He uses an alliance with [{Evil Twin Albedo to make Ben give up the Omnitrix in exchange for Gwen and Kevin, forcing Ben to sacrifice the Omnitrix to prevent Vilgax from using it before replacing it with the Ultimatrix.]]
  • Ben 10: Ultimate Alien:
    • Season 1 has Aggregor, an evil Osmosian that seeks to absorb 5 different aliens he kidnapped so he can use their powers to travel to the Forge of Creation and absorb an infant Celestialsapien to gain reality warping powers. While he does succeed in the first step and comes close to acheiving his ultimate goal, Kevin stops him by absorbing by the Ultimatrix's energy, gaining the power necessary to stop him at the cost of his sanity, making Kevin the Final Boss.
    • Season 2 has a Big Bad Ensemble between the Forever Knights , now led by the founder, Sir George, Diagon, an ancient evil worshipped by a cult known as the Flame Keepers' Circle, and Vilgax, who is initially mistaken for Diagon and becomes his herald. Sir George ends up being A Lighter Shade of Black, only seeking to end the threat of Diagon to the point he would cooperate with Ben's team. After Diagon kills George, he is successfully usurped and absorbed by Vilgax, making the latter the Final Boss.
  • Ben 10: Omniverse:
    • Arc 1: Khyber, a hunter of sentient aliens that has made Ben his next target, sending his dog equipped with the Nemetrix (an Omnitrix-like device that can turn the user into the predatory species of Ben's alien forms) after him. It is revealed that Khyber is working for Malware, a psychopathic Galvanic Mechomorph that can absorb technology and the one who provided Dr. Psychobos the blueprints of the original Omnitrix used to create the Nemetrix.
    • Arc 2: Malware takes center stage, working alongside Khyber and Dr. Psychobos to assassinate Azmuth and commit genocide of both the Galvans and the Galvanic Mechomorphs.
    • Arc 3: Emperor Milleous and his daughter Princess Attea of the Incursean Empire, which invade worlds to conquer. They successfully defeat Ben and conquer Earth, but once Ben returns and defeats Milleous, Attea reveals that the whole conquest was part of her plan to overthrow him and take control of the Empire.
    • Arc 4: Albedo, Ben's Evil Twin and Azmuth's former assistant who creates a new Ultimatrix for himself and hires Khyber to help in his evil scheme of regaining his Galvan form, taking revenge on Azmuth and Ben, and making himself the smartest mind in the galaxy.
    • Arc 5: Zs'Skayr, who resurrects Lord Transyl and plans to use an army of Vladats to conquer the entire galaxy.
    • Arc 6: Vilgax and Eon, who assemble a team of evil versions of Ben (including Albedo) to wipe out the main universe Ben Tennyson. Vilgax ends up betraying Eon and the Evil Bens, wiping them out along with every other incarnation of Ben so he can destroy the remaining Ben Tennyson, No-Watch Ben (Ben without the Omnitrix).
    • Arc 7: Proctor Servantis, leader of the rogue Black Ops branch of the Plumbers known as the Rooters, that seek to use Kevin and the Plumber's Helpers to destroy both Ben and the Omnitrix out of paranoia.
    • Arc 8: Mad Ben, one of the evil alternate Bens that helps the evil Chronosapien Maltruant acquire one of his pieces before being left to destroy Ben.
    • Arc 9: Vilgax and Maltruant. The former creates a suit of armor from Malware's remains to once again destroy Ben and claim the Omnitrix. The latter seeks to go back to the beginning of time and create the universe in his image.
  • Ben 10 (2016):
    • While Season 1 is devoid of a main villain, the "Omni-Tricked" special introduces this show's incarnation of Vilgax, this time as a Knight of Cerebus that restores him as The Juggernaut since the original series, and he's been featured in a recurring role since as one of Ben's greatest adversaries.
    • Season 2 has Vilgax as the main recurring antagonist, until the finale introduces the High Override, leader of the Fulmini. He used Ben's transformations into Shock Rock and his Omni-Enhanced transformations as a beacon to Earth, plotting to send his army to conquer Earth through the Omnitrix. He's so big and bad that Vilgax actually has to team up with Ben in order to fight him.
    • Season 3 initially has Kevin Levin as a personal enemy of Ben, being his bully who has the Antitrix, an Omnitrix of his own which turns him into modified versions of Ben's starting roster of aliens plus one more, and the Forever Knight, a villain who seeks to recruit Ben to his cause. By the finale, Kevin is Demoted to Dragon and Forever Knight becomes the season's Final Boss.
    • Season 4 has Vilgax again, though he doesn't show up until Ben 10 Versus The Universe: The Movie, which served to close out the season and revealed him to be the one who masterminded the creation of the Antitrix.
  • Bandolero: Don Rodrigo, a cruel and tyrannical general who takes advantage of his job terrorizing the citizens of the land with his sadism and serves as the dragon for governor Campomayor until he betrayed and usurped him as the new governor.
  • Bigfoot and the Muscle Machines: Adrian "Mr. Big" Ravenscroft, a reclusive tycoon who tries to beat our heroes to the Fountain of Youth and does everything in his power to hinder them.
  • Biker Mice from Mars: Lawrence Lactavius Limburger, a member of a race of fish-like aliens called the Plutarkians, who have invaded Mars with Limburger being one of their agents stationed on Earth. Pretty much every episode involves the titular Biker Mice thwarting his attempts to strip mine Chicago of resources that would benefit Plutark and help the Plutarkians continue conquering planets. While he gets replaced by the Catatonians and Ronaldo Rump in the 2006 revival, he does attempt to regain his stride in the episode "It's the Pits" and the first two parts of the three-part episode "Once Upon a Time on Earth"..
  • Blaze and the Monster Machines: Crusher. He's Blaze and AJ's rival who always tries to beat them in races by cheating his way to victory, and is a big Jerkass who only cares for himself. While he can still be this in the recent seasons, he experienced a bunch of Character Development during the show and went from The Bully to a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and the show's Anti-Hero who's more or less on cordial terms with Blaze.
  • Bump in the Night has two: the Closet Monster, a creature made out of wrinkled clothes that inhabits the closet and attacks anyone it feels like, and Destructo, a toy robot who militantly enforces the rules, which often puts him at odds with Mr. Bumpy.
  • Bunsen Is a Beast: Amanda Killman (while being rather ineffective) is the main villain; with her regularly trying to get rid of beasts so Bunsen's kind doesn't increase in the human world, only for Bunsen to constantly get in her way.
  • Danny Phantom: Vlad Masters/Plasmius. A half-ghost genius billionaire who's made it his life goal to take Danny as his own son, as well as kill Jack and marry Maddie. He's Danny's most personal and prominent foe; as well as the one responsible for Valerie becoming a ghost hunter and the release of Pariah Dark.
  • Dex Hamilton: Alien Entomologist: Syrrus, who is capturing and genetically modifying the extraterrestrial insects into living weapons and using them to wreak destruction throughout the galaxy.
  • Dragamonz has Grimserver. He was originally a Wildthorn, until he decided to claim more power. His actions resulted in Dragamar being separated into different islands and Grimserver himself was transformed into a skeletal Dragamon known as a Grimwrath.
  • Dragon Booster has Word Paynn, the Corrupt Corporate Executive of one of the world's largest corporations. He constantly schemes to plunge the world into another Dragon-Human War, intending to take over and rule the planet once the dust settles.
  • The Dragon Prince has Lord Viren. Originally just a Psycho Supporter to King Harrow, whose advice and actions end up inadvertently pushing humanity and the elves towards war, he takes advantage of the king's death and the two princes' disappearances to try and seize power for himself and start that war on his terms, including launching a False Flag Operation on the other human kingdoms to get them on his side. Midway through Season 2, though, this becomes more of a Big Bad Duumvirate, as he strikes an alliance with Aaravos; while the latter is the one who starts coming up with all their schemes, Viren is still the one whose skills and charisma enable them, not least of all due to him needing to act as a Willing Channeler for Aaravos' magic for it to happen.
  • The Dreamstone has Zordrak, the Lord of Nightmares. His goal is to try to get his hands on the titular magical artifact to spread nightmares, though he later decides to set his sights on a larger goal of universal conquest.
  • The Fairly OddParents!: While the show frequently went through a Sorting Algorithm of Evil, Mr. Crocker and Vicky are undoubtedly the best contenders. Early on, Vicky was the de facto villain, being the primary source of Timmy's misery throughout the first few seasons and the reason why he was eligible for fairy godparents to begin with. However, over time, Crocker would overtake Vicky in importance and become the show's most prominent villain and Timmy Turner's Arch-Enemy. His obsession with exposing fairies to the world through Timmy's fairy godparents would become the cause of much of the conflicts in the show, as his success at doing so would cause Cosmo and Wanda to go away forever.
  • Fangbone! has the Evil Sorcerer Venomous Drool, with many of the show's conflicts being driven by the heroes preventing him from retrieving his magical toe.
  • Final Space: The Lord Commander seeks use Mooncake to open a portal to the titular location in order to become a titan. However, the true villain is Invictus, a Satanic Archetype-Eldritch Abomination that is responsible for turning the Titansnote  evil and manipulating events to ensure his escape from his prison so he can feast on all worlds.
  • Freaktown: Princess Boo-Boo, who seeks to turn the eponymous setting into a Sugar Bowl like the rest of her domain and to make make Ben Bones her prince.
  • G.I. Joe
    • Cobra Commander is the overall main villain of most incarnations of the franchise; being the leader of the terrorist organization Cobra, the most prominent enemy that the Joes combat.
    • While Cobra Commander was the main villain of Season 1 of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, by the second season, he ends up getting overthrown by Serpentor, a clone created by Dr. Mindbender to be the perfect warrior and new leader of Cobra. Come the DiC Entertainment continuation, Cobra Commander manages to seize control of Cobra back from Serpentor and goes back to being the main villain.
    • Instead of Cobra Commander, G.I. Joe Extreme has Iron Klaw as the most prominent threat, being the leader of SKAR (Soldiers of Khaos, Anarchy, and Ruin), which replaces Cobra as the Joes' main enemy.
  • Gigantosaurus:
    • Termy becomes this in the Season 1 finale when she takes over Cretacia after Giganto leaves to retrieve the kids' stuff after he unwittingly knocked it away while he was saving Cretacia from destruction. During her reign, she forces the inhabitants to attend her fitness classes and even tries to demolish the kids' den to make way for a new lake.
    • The Season 2 finale introduces Spino, a Spinosaurus who traps Giganto in his cave so that he can terrorise Cretacia. Pretty much everyone in Cretacia is terrified of him, including the previous big bad, Termy.
  • Hanazuki: Full of Treasures: The appropriately named Big Bad is a terrifying force of darkness that has left many moons destroyed in its wake. The only way to defeat it is by planting the titular treasures into the ground when it glows a color based on a Moonflower's emotion.
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983), as well as its various adaptations has Skeletor, a disfigured sorcerer bent on conquering Eternia.
  • Hero: 108:
    • Season 1 has High Roller, a human who gained the ability to speak in the animal language and tricked the animals into turning against humans, allowing him to become the Emperor of the East Citadel and be free to do whatever he wanted.
    • Season 2 has Twin Masters, High Roller's master who seeks to spread chaos throughout the Hidden Kingdom by transforming animals into monsters and causing disasters. He is this for the whole show, as he was the Greater-Scope Villain of Season 1, and the reason why the 108 heroes must form the Bronze Giant to destroy him.
  • Infinity Train: It's eventually revealed that the Conductor/Amelia is the main villain, as both recurring villains the Steward and the Cat work directly on her orders and is the mastermind of everything on the train.
    • Book 2 has a Big Bad Duumvirate in the Reflection Police agents (or flecs) Sieve and Mace. They act as the most prominent and reoccurring threat to Arc Hero MT, spending the entirety of the season hunting her down for breaking their world's law by escaping from her realm. Mace ends up as the Disc-One Final Boss, with MT killing him in self-defense; leading Sieve to become the season's Final Boss.
    • Book 3 has Simon. While initially a Villain Protagonist and Grace's right-hand man, as the story goes on and as Grace changes for the better, Simon gradually gets worse, beginning with when he murders Tuba and continues as he torments Grace for "changing". By "The New Apex", he cements himself as the season's villain and Final Boss when he takes over the Apex and attempts to kill Grace.
  • Inspector Gadget: Dr. Claw, leader of M.A.D., served as the commanding force behind the organization's plots in every episode of the original series and most of the rest of the franchise.
  • Jackie Chan Adventures:
    • Season 1: Shendu, who is consistently treated as the J-Team's most dangerous individual enemy. While trapped in the form of a statue, he has the criminal organization called the Dark Hand collect the 12 talismans of the Chinese Zodiac to restore his physical form before he double-crosses them and tries to summon his dragon minions to destroy all of Asia to avenge his imprisonment.
    • Season 2: The Demon Sorcerers, Shendu's siblings who force Shendu's disembodied spirit to free them from the Netherworld they were banished to, even casting a spell on him to keep him bound to the human he possesses (which leaves Shendu stuck in Valmont's body when he accidentally enters his body instead of his intended host, Jackie Chan himself). After all of the Demon Sorcerors are send back to the Netherworld, Shendu is given another chance and he possesses Jackie so he can alter the Book of Ages to rewrite history, allowing the Demon Sorcerers to retain their rule of the world and forcing Jade to set things right.
    • Season 3: Daolon Wong, a Dark Chi Wizard that seeks to take the 12 talisman's power for his own. When Jackie destroys the talismans and their powers find new vessels in the most Noble animals, Daolon Wong recruits the Dark Hand Enforcers to help him find the animals so he can extract talismans powers from them. After only succeeding in claiming two talisman powers, he makes a Deal with the Devil with Shendu (resurrecting Shendu in exchange for letting him take the Dragon Talisman power when it appears), only for Shendu to double-cross him and become the Final Boss of the season finale.
    • Season 4: Tarakudo, King of the Shadowkhan and lord of the Oni who recruits the Dark Hand Enforcers to find the 9 Oni Masks his Oni generals are imprisoned in and use their power to summon Shadowkhan to Take Over the World. He succeeds in his goal by letting the heroes take the last mask, since uniting all the masks in one place destroys the mask and frees the Oni generals trapped inside, forcing the J-Team to find his mask so as to imprison him and his army.
    • Season 5: Drago, the son of Shendu from the future. After escaping from Section 13, he seeks to claim the chi of his aunts and uncles, granting him all of the Demon Sorcerer's powers. Once he succeeds, the heroes are forced to unseal Shendu in a Summon Bigger Fish moment to stand a chance against him.
  • Jem: Eric Raymond, who starts off owning half of Jerrica Benton's father's music company Starlight Music before being kicked out and subsequently starting his own company Misfits Music. He is the backer for Jem and the Holograms' rivals the Misfits and he frequently uses underhanded and unfair tactics and schemes to sabotage the Holograms and prevent them from helping people or achieving their goals.
  • Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous: Daniel Kon is the CEO of Mantah Corp who seeks to enslave the Dinosaurs and force them to fight each other for entertainment. While he does not appear until the end of Season 4, his company's machinations instigate a lot of the personal conflicts the Campers go through. In addition, The first three seasons each focus on a separate Arc Villainnote .
    • Season 1: The Indominous Rex appears as the Returning Big Bad. In addition, the campers also have to deal with Toro, a particularly persistent Carnotaurus.
    • Season 2: Tiff and Mitch are revealed to be Evil All Along, being Big-Game Hunters who plan to hunt down and kill the Dinosaurs. A Trio of Baryonyx serve as The Heavy before they reveal their true colours.
    • Season 3: Specimen E750/the Scorpius Rex escapes it's contaiment and causes havoc across Isla Nublar and serves in a Big Bad Duumvirate with its own offspring. After their defeat, Doctor Henry Wu takes this role, trying to retrieve his laptop to help create the Indoraptor.
  • Kassai and Luk has Togoum, a fire deity who cursed Marana to turn into a gazelle by day, and tries at every turn to stop the trio's quest to rebuiled the goddess Koori.
  • Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts initially has Scarlemagne, being one of the most powerful mutes around in terms of sheer influence and control, and almost every challenge Kipo faces in these seasons can be traced to him or his underlings. However, in Season 3, after Scarlemagne's defeat, the position is taken over by Dr. Emilia, a human-suppremacist bent on destroying mute-kind who's later revealed to be the show's Greater-Scope Villain; being the one behind Song's transformation in the Mega Monkey, the destruction of Kipo's burrow, and Scarlemagne's Start of Darkness.
  • M.A.S.K. has Miles Mayhem, the leader of VENOM, a terrorist organisation using the same technology as MASK. He is the primary villain of every episode of the first season, and although he misses a few episodes in the shorter second season, the villains who do appear are working for him.
  • Mighty Max: Skullmaster. He was Lemurian and Virgil's best friend and prize student before turning evil and sought to conquer the world, with his machinations led to the fall of Lemuria. Skullmaster is the driving force behind the series. Max was chosen as the Mighty One to stop him, and though there are other villains, it is Skullmaster who poses the biggest threat to the world.
  • Miraculous Ladybug: Hawk Moth. He is directly responsible for akumatizing every other villain that Ladybug and Cat Noir face, and his goal is to steal their Miraculouses to erase something from his past.
  • My Giant Friend: Number 9, the head of the SDC who collects and enslaves aliens who land on Earth, turning them into Living Weapons, in order to one day rule the whole galaxy. However, last episode reveals that he's merely a pawn of Siderno, an Evil Overlord who seeks to rule the galaxy.
  • My Life as a Teenage Robot: Queen Vexus serves as Jenny's Arch-Enemy and the main antagonist for most of the show, seeking to enslave humanity and destroy Jenny or get her to join the Cluster, willingly or not.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic strangely doesn't have one overall or any lasting ones, but there are some examples confined to one season. The movies, due to being self-contained stories, are also prone to this.
  • Ninjago: A staple of the series is to have one main Big Bad driving the events of every season.
    • Pilot: Lord Garmadon seeks the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu in order to open a portal to escape from the Underworld. To do so, he sends the Skulkin, led by Samukai, to Ninjago in order to gather them.
    • Season 1 (Rise of the Snakes): Pythor P. Chumsworth, after being freed from his imprisonment by Lloyd, plans to unite the four Serpentine Tribes, so that he can unleash the Great Devourer, a giant snake that will consume all of Ninjago, to get his revenge on humanity for imprisoning him. When released, however, the Devourer proves to be uncontrollable and eats Pythor, becoming the Final Boss.
    • Season 2 (Legacy of the Green Ninja): Lord Garmadon, using the power of the Mega Weapon, launches various schemes to defeat the Ninja, in order to prevent Lloyd from becoming the Green Ninja and cause his prophesized defeat. When he finds himself on the Dark Island, manipulated by the Overlord, he plans to bombard Ninjago with Dark Matter, reshaping the world in his image. The Overlord plans to use the Dark Matter to tip the balance of Ninjago, allowing him to cross over and possess Garmadon's body.
    • Season 3 (Rebooted): The Overlord, surviving his defeat last season, plots to capture Lloyd with his army of Nindroids, and drain his Golden Power to escape from the Digiverse and become the Golden Master. When the process is interrupted, he uses the Golden Weapons to finish the process, before launching his attack on Ninjago City.
    • Season 4 (Tournament of Elements): Master Chen organizes the Tournament of Elements to lure the Elemental Masters to his island and steal the losers' powers. Using the stolen powers, he plans to cast a spell that will turn him and his followers into Anacondrai. After finishing the spell, Chen leads his army to conquer Ninjago.
    • Season 5 (Possession): The Preeminent seeks the Realm Crystal to escape from the Cursed Realm and curse the 16 realms. To do so, she sends Morro to find the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master, where the Realm Crystal is buried. Morro proceeds to possess Lloyd to find the Tomb, while also motivated by his jealousy at not being chosen as the Green Ninja.
    • Season 6 (Skybound): Nadakhan, after witnessing the destruction of Djinjago, seeks to capture the Ninja in the Sword of Souls to give him enough power to remake Djinjago from pieces of Ninjago. He also seeks to marry Nya, who resembles his lover Delara, in order to make himself king, which will grant him infinite wishes.
    • Day of the Departed: Master Yang tricks Cole into bringing him the Yin Blade on the Day of the Departed. Using the Blade, he summons the souls of deceased villains and offers them a chance to return to the living to distract the other Ninja. Meanwhile, he plans to use the Yin Blade to open a rift that will allow him to return to life.
    • Season 7 (The Hands of Time): The Time Twins, Krux and Acronix, seek to gather the Time Blades containing their Elemental Powers, in order to power the Iron Doom. Using the Iron Doom and their Vermillion Warriors, the two plan to travel to the time of their previous loss and defeat the Elemental Alliance, allowing them to rule Ninjago.
    • Season 8 (Sons of Garmadon): The Sons of Garmadon plan to find the Oni Masks to resurrect Lord Garmadon's Oni side, in order to give Ninjago a strong leader. They are led by the Quiet One, Princess Harumi, whose parents were killed by the Great Devourer. The incident not only led her to worship Garmadon's evil, but also caused her to want to seek revenge on the Ninja for failing to stop the Devourer.
    • Season 9 (Hunted): Emperor Garmadon commands the Sons of Garmadon to relentlessly pursue the remaining Ninja and the Resistance, who plot to overthrow him. Meanwhile, in the First Realm, Iron Baron leads the Dragon Hunters in hunting the other Ninja and Wu, wanting to exploit their powers. When he discovers the latter's identity, he forces Wu to lead him to the Dragon Armor, which will let him control the Firstbourne, allowing him to travel between realms and spread his rule.
    • Season 10 (March of the Oni): The Omega leads the Oni in his efforts to destroy all of Creation. To do so, he and the Oni spread their darkness across the realms, planning to blanket all of existence in Destruction.
    • Season 11 (Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu):
      • Fire Chapter: Aspheera is an ancient Serpentine sorceress who was accidentally released from her imprisonment by the Ninja. After stealing Kai's powers, she attacks Ninjago City in order to seek her revenge on the "treacherous deceiver", Sensei Wu, who led to her imprisonment.
      • Ice Chapter: Vex, a Formling who never found his animal form, encountered Zane when he was banished to the Never-Realm. Witnessing his powers, Vex erased Zane's memories and manipulated him into believing he is the "Ice Emperor". He then convinced Zane to overthrow Grimfax as King of the Never-Realm. Using the powers of the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu, Zane has been leading a tyrannical rule of the Never-Realm for decades.
    • Season 12 (Prime Empire): Unagami is the AI in charge of Prime Empire who was shut down by his creator, Milton Dyer, after an accident which resulted in a player being trapped inside the game. Managing to finish his own coding, Unagami plans to spread Prime Empire across Ninjago City, trapping players inside, and turning them into energy cubes in order to build a portal into the real world, where he hopes to confront Dyer on why he was shut down. Meanwhile, the Mechanic serves as his primary enforcer in Ninjago, spreading Prime Empire and building the portal in Ninjago.
    • Season 13 (Master of the Mountain): The Skull Sorcerer, a.k.a. King Vangelis, is the master of the dungeons underneath Shintaro Mountain. Using the powers of the Skull of Hazza D'ur, he enslaves the Munce and Geckles, while stealing the Blades of Deliverance to turn them against each other. He then orders them to mine for Vengestone, which he sells to a mysterious buyer (revealed to be the Overlord) in order to ensure the prosperity of him and his kingdom.
    • The Island: Ronin, initially hired to capture escaped prisoners, instead makes them work for him on a job. Building a fake Wojira, he uses it to trick the Keepers of the Amulet into sacrificing their riches to him. The Keepers' leader, Chief Mammatus, also serves as an antagonist to the Ninja, believing that they're trying to steal the Storm Amulet, though once the situation has been cleared up, he becomes their ally.
    • Season 14 (Seabound): Kalmaar, prince of Merlopia, plots to awaken Wojira, so that the serpent will flood the surface and kill the surface-dwellers. Though he claims it's so that the Merlopians can take their rightful place in the world, he seems to mostly be motivated by his own prejudice. When the Ninja discover his plan and tell his father, King Trimaar, Kalmaar kills him and frames the Ninja, so that he can incite his people to attack the surface.
    • Season 15 (Crystalized): The Crystal King, in actuality the Overlord, plans to destroy the balance of Ninjago and plunge the world in darkness. Resurrecting Harumi, he orders her to create an army made of Vengestone. He then commands her to assemble the Council of the Crystal King, a gathering of the Ninja's old enemies, to steal the Golden Weapons in order to give him enough power to manifest in a physical form. Empowering the Weapons and giving them to the Council, he then launches an attack on Ninjago City with his Council and Crystal Army, all to corrupt Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane, corrupting the Elemental Powers of Creation within them.
  • The first season of Ninjago: Dragons Rising has Beatrix Vespasian-Orus, the Empress of Imperium, who seeks to hunt down the dragons and use them to rule over the merged realms.
  • Nutri Ventures: The Quest for the Seven Kingdoms: Alex, who took over the city after wiping out all traces of healthy foods and replacing them with artificial foods of his own creation.
  • Ōban Star-Racers: Canaletto, an evil avatar who was banished for his universal purification 20,000 years ago, and has manipulated events for centuries by using the racers (especially Molly) for his own will.
  • OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes has several candidates for the role.
    • Season 1 has Lord Boxman, CEO of the villainous corporation Boxmore, who functions as the most consistent threat to the Plaza heroes throughout the season.
    • Season 2 sees Boxman form a Big Bad Duumvirate with his client Professor Venomous, who is revealed to be the Fallen Hero Laserblast and K.O.'s father. But they're also in competition with Foxtail, the mastermind of the season's P.O.I.N.T. Prep arc, and she ultimately becomes the main villain of the finale "Dark Plaza".
    • Season 3 has Shadowy Figure. While he was always a recurring threat in prior seasons, he didn't take center stage until the later half of the final season, where his identity and agenda are finally revealed.
  • Over the Garden Wall: The Beast, a mysterious, silhouetted figure that stalks Greg and Wirt throughout their journey in the Unknown, planning to make them lose hope and transform them into Edelwood trees so the oil from grinding them up can be used to keep his soul lit within the Woodsman's lantern.
  • Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures: Betrayus. He seeks to retrieve the repository containing his and his ghost minions' bodies to reignite the war that he began prior to the start of the show.
  • PAW Patrol:
    • The show's main Big Bad is Mayor Humdinger, Mayor Goodway's rival and the mayor of Foggy Bottom, Adventure Bay's rival town. Over the course of the series, he has wreaked havoc for the citizens of Adventure Bay. His rap sheet ranges from animal abuse to grand theft auto, theft, and kidnapping Ryder.
    • The Big Bad of the Mission PAW arc is Sweetie, the royal pup of Barkingburg. Not happy with being a pet, she has set her sights on the throne, and will stop at nothing to become queen. She's kidnapped Chase and attempted murder on both him and Marshall, abused her power when she was falsely crowned queen, and fled from the scene of her crimes. And that's just her debut episode.
    • Recent episodes gave the Sea Patrol arc a Big Bad; a kleptomaniacal pirate by the name of Sid Swashbuckle. In the few episodes he's appeared in, he's caused mass destruction of Puplantis, (accidentally) kidnapped a giant sea slug, and carjacked (boatjacked?) the PAW Patrol's aquatic vehicle, the Sea Patroller.
  • The Powerpuff Girls (1998) has Mojo Jojo, originally Professor Utonium's lab assistant named "Jojo". After a lab accident that caused his brain to grow, Jojo transformed from a simple simian to an ambititous, megalomaniacal mastermind wanting to destroy the City of Townsville and take over the world by any means necessary. He differs from HIM as the latter just wants to see his victims suffer.
  • ReBoot has Megabyte, a powerful virus who alternatively seeks to take over Mainframe or enter the Super Computer, where he could infect its vast resources to take over the entire Net.
  • Regular Show: While the majority of Regular Show lacked a big bad, the final season has Anti-Pops, Pops' Evil Twin and an Omnicidal Maniac bent on destroying the universe. The park staff spend most of the season trying to find a way to stop him.
  • Robotboy: Dr. Kamikazi, who along with his henchman Constantine, want to capture Robotboy so Kamikazi can reprogram him to Take Over the World. Kamikazi is also responsible for reprogramming Protoboy into a Psycho Prototype, making him indirectly responsible for the evil Protoboy commits.
  • In-between several recurring villains, Monsters of the Week, and personal drama, Roswell Conspiracies: Aliens, Myths and Legends plays with the concept of a Hidden Villain antagonist for the majority of the series in the form of an enigmatic traitor in the Alliance's ranks that drives much of the most important conflicts of the plot. Towards the end of the series, the Big Bad is revealed as none other than General Rinaker, or rather a Shadoen agent named Wraith taking his place, who — being behind both the disappearance of Nick's father, the corruption of the Alliance, and the various acts of sabotage — essentially sets up and drives the series' Myth Arc.
  • Samurai Jack: Aku, an embodiment of pure evil and the titular character's Arch-Enemy. After conquering Jack's home and enslaving his people, Aku is defeated by Jack and is barely able to survive by banishing Jack to the distant future where he now has complete control over the world and is spreading his rule across the universe. Aku serves as Jack's greatest obstacle as the latter tries to find a way back to his time period and finish what he started to prevent the awful future from ever occurring. Fifty years later, with Samurai Jack unable to age as an unforeseen side effect of Aku's spell, Jack must now regain the drive to finish his quest after so many years of failure while fighting against the High Priestess (a Loony Fan of Aku who seeks to kill Jack to gain Aku's favor) and Jack's Inner Self.
  • Scooby-Doo:
    • The notorious Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue! has the distinction of being the first Scooby-Doo show to actually have a main antagonist instead of the heroes going after unconnected one-shot villains as previous series did. The main villain of the show is Dr. Phineas Phibes, a mad scientist who schemes to gain immortality and conquer the world with only Shaggy and Scooby standing in the way of his schemes.
    • Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated:
      • The end of Season 1 revealed that Mayor Jones was the one behind the whole plot, and he actively confronted the gang in the finale. However, it could also be argued that he shared the role with Professor Pericles who is much more active a villain throughout the season. And in any case, at the end of the season the Mayor is arrested, leaving Pericles to take on the role fully.
      • In the second season, Pericles has formed a Big Bad Duumvirate with Mr. E / Ricky Owens, and clearly holds the more dominant position of the two. Basically, Pericles has secured his place as the Big Bad of this show. Though in the final episodes, it turns out Pericles has been serving the Nibiru entity, which in turn has been manipulating events since long before the series started. And in the Grand Finale, it escapes and steals Pericles' body, thus becoming the Final Boss.
    • Velma: Fred’s mother, Victoria Jones, is the serial killer that tried to steal the brains of popular beautiful girls to place in Fred’s body so that someone more competent would run Jones Gentlemen’s Accessories.
  • The Secret Saturdays has V.V. Argost as the main antagonist. He is the Arch-Enemy of the Saturday family who seeks to gain control of the legendary cryptid Kur and uses its power to control cryptids to Take Over the World. After discovering Zak is Kur's reincarnation, he then seeks to find the method to extract Kur's spirit from Zak's body, only to change his plans when he discovers the existence of Zak's anti-matter counterpart, deciding to extract the Anti-Kur spirit from him instead. Once he succeeds in that goal, Rani Nagi (queen of the Nagas) convinces him to instead Kill All Humans to cement his rule permeantly.
  • General Specific is the main antagonist of Sheep in the Big City, as the conflict is driven by his attempts to capture Sheep and use the woolly farm animal in the top secret military organization's sheep-powered ray gun against his will.
  • She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: For most of the series it follows the same format as it's parent show with the Horde's leader Hordak as the main antagonist and Shadow Weaver and later Catra as his dragons however things get more complicated as the seasons go by:
    • In Season 1 and 2 Hordak is the uncontested master of the Fright Zone and, while rarely seen, his orders are absolute. That said he rarely leaves his sanctum and lets Shadow Weaver and Catra do the heavy lifting making them the more direct antagonists for the Rebellion.
    • By mid Season 3, Catra's growing resentment for Adora, combined with her anger at Shadow Weaver leaving her for Adora, and her desire to win, causes her to manipulate the entire cast, including Hordak himself, into opening a reality fracturing portal regardless of the cost making her the seasons main villain.
    • By Season 4, Hordak is browbeat into making Catra an equal partner and the two collectively rule the Horde together this season. However a complication arises when Light Hope is revealed to have been secretly manipulating Adora all along to active an ancient superweapon left behind by the First Ones which, if released, would destroy Etheria and most of the universe. While Light Hope is the most dangerous of the three all of them are defeated by the season finale.
    • After appearing sporadically throughout the series Horde Prime arrives in the last episode of Season 4 in order to use the Heart of Etheria to wipe out his enemies. The conflict with him and the Galactic Horde is the main conflict of the final season and he is such an evil bastard that everyone teams up to take him down.
  • Dragon from Skunk Fu!, who indirectly leads his Ninja Monkey army against the denizens of the valley due to him blaming them for his punishment by the gods and imprisonment, which he seeks to escape. Ironically, he is not The Dragon (that's Baboon).
  • South Park:
    • Eric Cartman himself acts as the main villain whenever he isn't a Villain Protagonist. His manipulations and schemes are the cause of the great deal of the show's conflicts. This is most prominent in the "Coon and Friends" trilogy, as well as Season 21.
    • The movie saw a Big Bad Ensemble between Sheila, Satan, and Saddam Hussein. Shelia is the one who drives much of the film's conflict; leading a crusade against Canada for creating the Terrence and Phillip show, which she's convinced is corrupting the children of South Park; with all of this culminating in Terrance and Phillip's execution. Meanwhile, Satan plots to go to Earth, with a prophecy allowing him to do so if Terrence and Phillip were to get killed. Then there's Saddam Hussein, Satan's Domestic Abuser, who manipulates him into bringing him along. In the end, Saddam becomes the Final Boss and kickstarts his takeover of Earth; with Satan getting kicked to the curb and Sheila realizing the damage she's caused.
  • Super Giant Robot Brothers!: Overlord Master is the leading alien who not only sends the Kaiju after earth but is the direct superior of the alien spy that is directly causing trouble for the heroes. He finally attacks Earth himself in the season one finale with a mechanical weapon of mass destruction: Kalaxian Obliterator.
  • Sym-Bionic Titan: General Modula serves as the show's main villain. He's the driving force that caused Lance, Ilana, and Octus to flee Galaluna after bringing it to ruin and sends Mutraddi monsters to Earth in order to kill them.
  • Tales of Arcadia:
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles usually has Shredder as the Big Bad, but in the cartoons he is often topped by some alien threat.
    • The 2003 cartoon firmly cements Shredder/Ch'Rell as the main villain of the first three seasons, being a far more dangerous foe than previous incarnations. Season 4 has Bishop, a government agent who'll go to extremes to protect Earth from alien threats, Season 5 has The Tengu (the demon whose legend inspired the Shredder), and Season 6 has Darius Dun. By Season 7, the original Shredder made his triumphant return as a digital program and in the flesh in the concluding film.
    • The 2012 cartoon initially features a Big Bad Ensemble between The Shredder and Kraang Prime. In Season 4, the Triceratons briefly take over as the villains, then once they're defeated Shredder returns to the position.
    • Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has new character Baron Draxum, a mutant warrior alchemist responsible for all of the mutations throughout the series who eventually takes over the Foot Clan and seeks to complete the Shredder armor so he can use it to exterminate humanity. However, at the end of the Season 1 finale, he ends up getting overshadowed by The Shredder himself. After he's dealt with in the Season 2 premiere, the position goes to Big Mama, the most feared mob boss in the Yokai world who runs the Battle Nexus, takes control of Shredder, and kidnaps several villains to partake in her games. However, after "Battle Nexus: New York", The Shredder hijacks the position (again) after Foot Recruit frees him from her control, with the remaining episodes focusing on the Turtles stopping his plot to eradicate humanity.
  • Thunder Cats
  • Total Drama overall has Chris McLean, the host of the in-universe series the show is based around, who's willing to go to any lengths to make himself the most famous TV show host in the world. However, while Chris himself may be the villain of the series overall, each individual season has its own main villain in the form of one of the contestants, usually being the one that's causing the most trouble and acting as the main source of conflict for that season.
    • Island (2007): Heather serves as the main antagonist of the season, and is by far the most iconic one among the contestants.
    • Action: Courtney is this for the second half of the season (and can be considered the main villain of the season overall), after being re-added onto the show and getting Justin eliminated.
    • World Tour: Alejandro, being the source of almost all of the conflict of the season, as well as being responsible for eliminating nearly every other contestant. He proves to be Eviler than Thou to every other character on the show, forcing Heather to take on an Anti-Hero role for the season.
    • Revenge of the Island: Scott, being the most devious of the season's contestants, willing to actively throw challenges for his team if it means furthering his own goals. However, Scott ends up getting eliminated by the third to last episode, but unlike other seasons where the main villain doesn't make it to the finale (which have a Good Versus Good, or at least morally grey, conflict), this season suddenly gains a new villain in Lightning, who Takes a Level in Jerkass and ends up as the final villain of the season.
    • All-Stars: Mal, Mike's dormant Split Personality who takes over his body, and overall acts as the primary source of conflict in the season.
    • Pahkitew Island: This season has a Big Bad Ensemble in Sugar and Scarlett. Between the two, Sugar is the more openly antagonistic, whereas Scarlett doesn't reveal her true nature until the near the end of the season, and ends up lasting the longer of the two. However, once Scarlett does reveal her true self, she proves to be the much bigger threat of the two.
    • Island (2023): Like Pakhitew Island, this season has a Big Bad Ensemble in Julia and Bowie. Julia is the more outwardly antagonistic after she lost all of her followers, while Bowie has been acting from the first elimination onward, and is more of a strategist instead of an outright jerk, as he doesn't actually wish ill upon the other contestants, he is just very competitive. Both Julia and Bowie clash with each other and spend a good part of the game trying to get each other eliminated.
  • There are several examples of this in Tom & Jerry Kids and its spinoff, Droopy, Master Detective: While the Droopy and Dripple shorts consisted of many one-episode antagonists, McWolf is the most prominent and recurring antagonist of them all, with almost all of the shorts featuring him as one. From trying to take over the world or becoming the best business over his rivals, he would do anything to get what he wants.
  • Toxic Crusaders has Dr. Killemoff, who seeks to pollute Tromaville, the home of the Toxic Avenger and the other Toxic Crusaders, to the point that it can be invaded by his fellow bug-people from the planet Smogula.
  • Tutenstein has Set, the Egyptian God of Chaos, Destruction and Disorder who wishes to obtain the Scepter of Was so that he may conquer both the Underworld and the Overworld.
  • The Venture Bros. has had the Monarch through the series, though often in a Big Bad Ensemble with another villain. In Season 1, Monarch was more of a Big Bad Wannabe and was competing with more-threatening Baron Ünderbheit to be Rusty Venture's primary arch. In Season 2, he took on more of a Villain Protagonist role with Phantom Limb taking over as the main Big Bad. Come Season 3, Monarch was barred by the Guild of Calamitous Intent from arching Dr. Venture, with the Affably Evil Sgt. Hatred becoming Rusty's Guild-sanctioned arch enemy. Monarch retakes his status as the main Big Bad in Seasons 4 and 5, though occasional Arc Villains like the returning Phantom Limb, Monstroso, and Molotov Cocktease get their share of focus as well.

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