Follow TV Tropes

Following

Magnificent Bastard / Western Animation

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vlcsnap_2022_06_11_11h19m06s954.png
"I could have taken anything I wanted. But I faced the ultimate high-tech challenge and defeated it, Player. That's what's important."

The animated medium has always been about entertaining not just children but also the entire family. These masterminds have managed to be fun incarnate thanks to their charm, wit, and magnificence in a way that's had plenty staying tuned—even if some have you question What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?

All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!


    open/close all folders 

The following have their own pages:

    Examples 

Individual works:

     A - K 
  • The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius:
    • Zix is the cunning and charismatic leader of a trio of space bandits along with Travoltron and Tee. Failing to steal astrorubies from Jimmy and his friends, he instead makes up a story about Ruby Madness to make the kids paranoid and turn them against one another before trying to steal the rubies again. Upon finding the residents of Retroville shrunken down, Zix, not one to let an opportunity to make some money slide, plans to sell them to alien children as toys. He and his partners later join the League of Villains and help to kidnap Jimmy for their revenge, but when the kids save him and Travoltron from a giant snake, Tee convinces them to turn good, as they have no reason to be villains. After saving the kids from a T-Rex by sending it after Baby Eddie, Zix realizes that Good Feels Good and befriends Jimmy for real. Whether as an enemy or an ally, he is skilled at improvisation and never loses his charming demeanor.
    • "Send in the Clones" & "The Trouble with Clones": Evil Jimmy is a clone of Jimmy Neutron that revels in his own delightfully diabolical nature. Starting out by merely pranking the citizens of Retroville in clever and "classic" ways, Evil Jimmy evades capture alongside the rest of Jimmy's clones and continues to terrorize the Earth in his petty, humorous methods. When caught by Jimmy in an attempt to forcibly reform him, Evil Jimmy distracts Jimmy and tampers with the de-evil machine, faking redemption so he can escape Jimmy's sight and continue his prankster rampage. Soon enough using Jimmy's own tech to create an evil copy of the entire Earth, Evil Jimmy refuses to be captured again and uses a dark matter chip to drag his evil Earth into the dark dimension, where he resides in safety while promising to one day get the ultimate revenge on Jimmy.
    • "One of Us" & "The League of Villains": Grandma Taters is a kindly old lady who, though an alien conqueror seeking the subjugation of Earth, is completely genuine in her sweet nature. Using the Happy Show Show to slowly brainwash all of Retroville into perpetually happy zombies who convince more and more people to watch the show, Taters hopes to hypnotize the whole planet into becoming happy forever. Beaten even after capturing Jimmy and whipping out nunchuks to duel Cindy, Taters later returns as a member of the League of Villains, using her cleverness to take down Goddard while scaring even her fellow villains with how dangerous she is, despite her friendly nature.
  • Adventure Time:
    • Prismo the Wishmaster is a charming Cosmic Entity in charge of granting cosmic wishes which have an ironic twist. In his introduction, Prismo, after befriending Jake the Dog, helps him find a way to save his brother Finn the Human by altering a wish to send them back home to safety. After being killed by the Lich, Prismo concocts an elaborate scheme to bring himself back to life by using Jake the Dog's memories of his friend Prismo to trap an alternate version of Jake in an eternal dream which will revive Prismo. Prismo later uses Jake and Finn to stop Farmworld Lich from ending all life in the multiverse and later skillfully helps edit reality to allow the Farmworld version of Finn a happy ending. In Fionna and Cake, Prismo illegally creates the alternate gender flipped world of Fionna and Cake and helps bravely defend it from the cosmic entity Scarab. Using his powers to gather all of Fionna and Cake's allies across The Multiverse, Prismo helps them earn the right for their universe to become an accepted part of the main multiverse. Prismo ends the series taking Scarab under his wing and teaching him the joy of creating worlds.
    • Stakes miniseries: The Vampire King is Marceline's Arch-Enemy who once led the vampires in hunting the humans of Ooo to ensure his race's survival. Coming into conflict with Marceline after she slays the rest of his kind, the Vampire King allows himself to be stabbed and killed in order to get close enough to bite her, ensuring that there'll always be one vampire. Come present day, when he and his subjects are resurrected, the Vampire King chooses to reject his old ways and try to make peace with Marceline. After his subjects are slain, he attempts to convince Marceline to remove his vampirism and free themselves from their eternal conflict. When Marceline refuses to hear him out and attacks, he chooses to not fight back, defiantly expressing that he can change destiny, and would rather die than be subjugated to the wheel of fortune; which convinces the Vampire Queen to allow Princess Bubblegum to remove his vampirism; leaving him to live the rest of his days as a peaceful lion.
    • Season 9: Aunt Lolly, alongside Uncle Gumbald and Cousin Chicle, was created by Princess Bubblegum to be a part of her family before their attempt to overthrow her led them to be turned into hapless candy people. When the three are restored to their original forms in the present day, Lolly conspires with Gumbald to get revenge on their creator and conquer the Candy Kingdom. Not wanting to go to war, Aunt Lolly forms a plan in which she sabotages the lift Finn, Jake, and Gumbald are on, knowing the duo would save Gumbald from falling, has Gumbald invite them to dinner out of supposed gratitude, then has Chicle douse Finn and Jake with Gumbald's dum dum juice; which would turn PB into a dumb candy person once she makes contact with them; leaving the Candy Kingdom theirs to conquer. After her plan just barely fails, when Bubblegum and Gumbald appear to make amends, Aunt Lolly, seeing through Gumbald's ruse, sabotages his attempts at backstabbing PB and sincerely makes peace with her niece before fighting alongside the heroes against GOLB.
    • "City of Thieves": Penny is a thief and resident of the titular city. Taking advantage of Finn's heroic nature, Penny plays the part of a helpless little girl, tricking him into stealing the King of Thieves' treasure chest for her under the claim that it contained her stolen flower basket. After escaping with the treasure, Finn and Jake soon find Penny and scrub her down in an attempt to purify her. Penny then seemingly goes through a Heel–Face Turn, only to run off with Finn's clothes and continue her thieving lifestyle.
  • Agent Elvis: Elvis Presley himself, famous rockstar beloved by all, moonlights as a badass, crime-fighting Vigilante Man with a massive body count of crooks and drug dealers left in his wake. Always suave yet ruthless when fighting or interrogating criminals, Elvis is recruited into The Central Bureau to protect the world from greater threats, nonchalantly carving a bloody path to safety and freedom for the unsuspecting innocents of the nation. The King's ingenuity and skills prove to be the saving grace of TCB in countless situations, from preventing Las Vegas from being nuked to stopping Nixon from learning of the organization's existence, even as he works behind the scenes to uncover his forgotten, tortuous past in their employ. Nonetheless dedicated to saving the world even after discovering the dark truth, Elvis prevents Malus and his hated rival Goulet from murdering millions before he sacrifices himself to save his friends' lives, proving once and for all the awesomeness of the King of Rock and Roll as he faces seemingly certain death with nothing but a confident smile.
  • The Amazing World of Gumball's "The Vision": In Gumball and Darwin’s Imagine Spot, Alan Keane is a mastermind determined to take over Elmore school and eventually the world in order to eliminate sadness. Changing his face and voice to match his villainous demeanor, Alan manipulates students into suggesting him for school president while making them think it was their own idea. He posts a message on the school message board that causes chaos in the school before announcing his candidacy. Alan uses slander against other candidates to win a election and institutes Happy Camp, where all sad students are sent to be made happy by any means necessary while announcing his intention to spread Happy Camps across the world.
  • Apple & Onion: Jerk Chicken is one of the most bombastic, hilarious foes Apple and Onion have ever faced. After getting a free coupon from Apple and Onion’s pizza delivery business, he finds clever ways to always ensure that the duo come late to give him the pizza to make it free, constantly draining their finances while doing so. When Apple and Onion burn down his house to make the coupon void, Jerk Chicken uses the old scraps of their home that the two had to sell to make ends meet and is able to abuse the coupon again for free pizza. Returning in "Open House Cookies", he manages to bluff Apple and Onion into buying a seemingly great house that he hid the flaws of to make them unable to buy it back. When Apple and Onion attempt to scam him using chocolate coins, Jerk Chicken sees through the lie before Apple’s incompetence accidentally gives him real coins, and Jerk Chicken immediately runs off with the money while the pair are left destitute.
  • Archer:
    • "Tragical History": George Spelvin is a computer programmer who manipulates Cyril Figgis into uploading a computer virus onto ISIS's network on the pretense that he will make Cyril a hero in front of his colleges, also bribing Cyril to unsure his loyalty. After Cyril uploads the virus, Spelvin reveals that he has no intention to help Cyril and his true plan was to use the virus to download the identities of all of ISIS's secret agents onto his servers, then sell them for $50 million to anyone willing to buy. With Spelvin's plans nearing completion, Cyril and Sterling Archer attempt to stop him only for Spelvin to effortlessly defeat Sterling with the help of his two bodyguards, and is only stopped by Cyril shooting at his servers before making his escape.
    • "Movie Star": Rona Thorne is a KGB spy under the guise of a famous movie actress who is assigned to assassinate the Soviet Premier. When she learns that ISIS agent Lana Kane was task with protecting the premier, Rona convinces ISIS's director, Mallory Archer, to allow Rona to tag-along with Lana on her mission, under the pretense that it will help Rona for her upcoming spy movie. Rona also exploits Sterling's jealousy of Lana to have him hinder her mission before injecting them both with tetrodotoxin and would successfully assassinating the premier before escaping.
    • "Helping Hands": Hands is a brilliant inventor who created an exo-suit that not gives the user Super-Strength and giving people with disabilities free mobility. Planning on selling her exo-suit to the highest bidder, Hands laces her villa with lethal traps should anyone try to steal it, as shown with the ISIS agents. When Sterling Archer escapes Hands' traps and meets her, the two hang out before Hands attempts to convince Sterling to abandon his allies when they get into a shoot-out with their rivals, JUNO. When Sterling decides to help his allies defeat the JUNO agents before attempting to steal the exo-suit, Hand activates a failsafe on the suit that immobilizes Sterling before re-activating it to deal with the last JUNO agent standing.
    • "Robot Factory" & "Best Friends": Aleister is an assassin hired to kill the ISIS agent Cyril Figgis. To get close to his target, Aleister exploits a job opening to be Sterling Archer's valet, using his skills and charms to win over everyone in ISIS and get hired. Aleister discreetly plants traps for Cyril and later tries shooting Cyril while he's at the haberdashery before subduing and binding Sterling to bait Cyril. Successfully luring Cyril to his trap, Aleister only fails to kill Cyril due to battling with Sterling, where Sterling declares Aleister to be the best valet he ever had before killing him.
  • The Backyardigans:
    • "International Super Spy": The Lady in Pink is a brilliant criminal mastermind out to obtain the three canisters as her "recipe for disaster." Spying on Agent Secret and using him to lead her to the canisters, the Lady and her Henchman Tyrone routinely give Secret hefty duels over the canisters, from ski battles to dance-offs. Revealed to have concocted a backup plan if Secret got the canisters first, the Lady kidnaps Secret's boss Miss T and threatens Tickle Torture to force Secret into handing the canisters over, at which point the Lady catches him, as well. Astute enough to see through Austin's disguise and thwart his attempted rescue of Secret, the Lady ultimately is redeemed and becomes a super spy alongside Secret, working with him to use the canisters in creating glasses of chocolate milk for everyone.
    • "Le Master of Disguise": The titular antagonist, Le Master of Disguise, is a scheming trickster able to change his appearance with masterful skill. On the run from Paris police Inspector Austin, Le Master disguises himself as the Orient Express's conductor to escape the Inspector before changing his persona to that of a waiter. Further fooling Austin and playing him against the train's passengers, Le Master rounds out the story by pulling off his most ingenious plan yet, disguising himself as Austin and nearly tricking bystanders long enough for him to make his escape in Istanbul.
    • "Robot Rampage": Professor Bug is a self-proclaimed Evil Genius who seeks to take control of every last robot in Mega City. Stealthily infecting various robots with his "bugs" to distract local robot repairman Austin, Bug uses the opportunity to infect all Mega City robots with his bugs and bend them to his will. Cheerfully singing about his newfound power while still avoiding giving Austin any clues to his villainy, Bug—refusing to let even one robot possibly thwart him—focuses all his attention on tracking down uninfected robot Rosco, and sics the powerful Rex Robot onto Austin and his friends when he infiltrates Bug's lair. Even when beaten, Bug simply prompts to assist the heroes in repairing all the corrupting robots, noting that he now has plenty of free time on his hands since his scheme was foiled.
    • "Flower Power": The Gloom Meister is Flower Girl's Arch-Enemy, a cackling, well-dressed supervillain with a hatred for all things pretty and flowery thanks to a fear of them. Causing chaos throughout Garden City to gain Flower Girl's attention, the Meister lures her into a trap that leaves her powerless, with the heroine only escaping thanks to a split-second window of opportunity. The Meister plans to use his Gloomsday machine to plunge Garden City into perpetual gloom, yet quickly turns the machine into a weapon to help him overpower and fight off Flower Girl. After his plan is thwarted, the Gloom Meister overcomes his fear of flowers with Flower Girl's help and rechristens himself the Bloom Meister, becoming a new hero to Garden City in the process to atone for his mistakes.
  • Blake and Mortimer: The animated incarnation of Professor Miloch Georgevitch, faking his death after the events of "Heavy Weather", returns as the main antagonist of "The Infernal Machine". Leaving his time machine to Blake and Mortimer as inheritance, Miloch rigs it in order to leave them stranded in the past forever. He first attempt to lock Mortimer in several eras ranging from prehistoric times to the Middle Ages. When Blake arrives late and manages to send Mortimer back to the present, Miloch takes advantage of Blake checking on the unconscious Mortimer and Princess Agnès to trap Blake in the machine as well before sending them to the future. When Mortimer figures out how to come back to the present, Miloch activates the machine's self-destruct sequence, nearly killing Blake and Mortimer. Surviving the events of this work, Miloch proved to be just as cunning as—if not more than—his late comic self.
  • Bob's Burgers' "Presto Tina-O": Mars Sazerac is a charming magician who takes advantage of Bob Belcher's 50% discount by inviting his friends to Bob's restaurants and performing magic tricks for them. When Bob bans Sazerac from his restaurant, the magician puts Bob's name in his "Enemies of Magic" book, cursing Bob into having to endure magic-related mishaps in his restaurant. Sazerac would also anticipate Bob's attempt to get his name off his book, allowing Louise to steal his book, where he writes Bob a note saying that he farted on the salami Bob had licked.
  • The Boondocks:
    • Reverend Rollo Goodlove is a straw liberal activist whose motivations behind his multiple causes are money and publicity. First appearing in "The S-Word", Rollo convinces the Freemans to sue Mr. Petto for using a "racial slur" on Riley, and prolonging the issue by collaborating with Ann Colter in orchestrating a political debate. In "The Hunger Strike" he convinces Huey to continue his hunger strike in the kid's efforts to boycott BET, only to abandon his cause once the network gives Rollo his own TV sitcom. Helping the Freemans once again in "The New Black", he manages to convince the public that Riley is a special needs child using the word "gay" to describe things he doesn't like, switching their ire to those who sued Riley for saying the slur. While the beliefs in his causes might not be genuine, his charisma and master planning are, making Rollo one of the most likable masterminds on the show.
    • "Riley Wuz Here": The "Art Teacher" is a former veteran-turned-crook who moonlights as an educator. Upon overseeing Riley spray painting a house, he immediately takes a liking to him and takes him under his wing. Teaching Riley basic drawing before moving out a bigger canvas, he has Riley paint several beautiful murals on various homes. Proposing on the last night to paint someone who isn't in the picture anymore, he has Riley paint a mural of his deceased parents. When the police show up, the art teacher shoots their tires and takes off. Despite only appearing in one episode, the art teacher stood out as one of the most soft spoken antagonists and provided one of the most touching scenes in the show.
  • The Boys: Diabolical's "I'm Your Pusher": Taking place in the comic's universe, William "Billy" Butcher is the same charmingly devilish schemer. Looking to kill the depraved supes Ironcast and Great Wide Wonder, Butcher tracks down their drug dealer O.D. and blackmails him into giving information on Wonder's drug of choice, having him spike said drug in order to make Wonder become too high to think clearly. Butcher watches from afar as the drugged-out Wonder flies right through Ironcast, killing both supes in one fell swoop, to Butcher's pleasure.
  • Britannica's Tales Around the World's "The Woodcutter's Wealthy Sister": The "Princess" is a clever monster who assumes a human form to lure in greedy victims by pretending to be their long lost sister. Pulling this con on a woodcutter and his family, the Princess proceeds to fatten them up in a life of luxury. When their heroic cow prevents her from attacking the family, the Princess tricks the woodcutter into slaughtering it for beef with the Woodcutter himself finally falling victim to her once his family escapes.
  • Carol's Christmas Carol for Carol, A Woman Named Carol: Santa Claus, real name Sainta Nick, packs more intellect and abrasiveness than many of his other incarnations. After setting up Human 27's and Carol's relationship, briefly punishing Human 27 for his failures, Santa stages his own kidnapping using his elves, having Human 27 and Carol defeat them to relearn the meaning of Christmas, while having his wife deliver presents in his stead.
  • Casper's Scare School's "Power Outage" 4-Parter: Razznik is a scheming Leprechaun who aspires to be ruler of the Underworld. Aiding Kibosh with his test for the creatures of Scare School, Razznik steals the Kleptor from him via Loophole Abuse. Seeking the powers of ghosts to become invincible, Razznik demonstrates a mastery of learning to control the powers that were stolen and uses them efficiently to his advantage. Escaping into Deedstown, Razznik establishes himself over the human presence there, threatening them to turn over Casper's uncles. During the episode's climax, Razznik utilises the stolen powers against their owners, almost succeeding in rendering their plan to stop him for naught.
  • Central Park's "The Shadow": Hank Zevansky was a cop investigating a string of jewelry thefts in The Brandenham hotel committing by the The Shadow. Witnessing a young Bitsy Brandenham steal, Hank becomes suspicious of Bitsy and orchestrates his own jewelry theft years later, copying The Shadow's MO. Eventually tricking Bitsy into confessing that she was the thief, Hank leaves her alone out of respect for Bitsy's skills, while Bitsy appreciates Hank for being among the first to recognize her.
  • Class of the Titans:
    • Cronus, Lord of Time and King of the Titans, is the ruthless villain who plots his own escape from Tartarus and promptly asks the Oracle of Delphi for what can stop him. Upon learning of the young would-be heroes, Cronus repeatedly showcases new plans that put him close to completely dominating the world with the young heroes struggling to match him. Cronus takes hostages to lure others into traps, including gods and even fakes his own defeat to take over the underworld. Rarely at a loss, Cronus always rebounds from his defeats and even ends the series defeated but alive and powerful as ever, plotting to weaponize the now unknown future to complete all his plans and dominate the world.
    • "Recipe for Disaster": Peirithous is the charming, cunning Evil Former Friend of Hercules planning to exact revenge on him for leaving Peirithous in the underworld's chair of forgetfulness, leading to the end of Peirithous' life. Over millennia, Peirithous gains the knowledge of various skilled sorcerers and botanists to create a plant whose nectar will induce dementia in the gods when they consume ambrosia created from said honey. Setting his plan in motion, he renders Cerebus unconscious with a sleeping drug to escape the underworld and later takes control of a now forgetful Hercules, planning to have him trapped like this forever as payback. Peirithous later tricks Hercules into taking on and nearly defeating the heroes in order to save himself. Ultimately, Hercules revealing his guilt over what occurred causes Peirithous to turn over a new leaf out of guilt and help aid the heroes.
    • "Bad Blood": Autolycus is the mortal son of Hermes, known by his moniker the "Prince of Thieves" due to his mastery of thievery. He is pulled out of time and recruited by Cronus to steal Hercules' "last surviving arrow", in exchange for an immorality granting Golden Apple. Autolycus pulls off two flawless thefts on possible arrows, completely alluding the heroes despite them being tipped off on the second location he would strike. It is only after the heroes are informed of his identity by Hermes himself and his possession of the Helmet of Invisibility are they able to level the playing field and finally capture him. Given a new offer by Jay, he agrees to help them trick Cronus in exchange for another opportunity to steal the Golden Apple, successfully fooling Cronus with a fake arrow and swiping the Golden Apple right from under Cronus' nose.
  • Clone High:
    • "Raisin the Stakes: A Rock Opera in Three Acts": The Pusher, in actuality Larry Hardcore, is a rockstar drug dealer who sells raisins as drugs to teenagers. A loyal fan of the California Raisins who was hired by the raisin council to come up with a plan to sell more raisins to teens, the Pusher takes advantage of the average teenager's rebellious attitude to sell them raisins under the guise of hallucinogenic drugs, having done so to several high schools before doing the same to Clone High. Growing more powerful with each raisin buyer, the Pusher allows Principal Scudworth to create a divide between the students and their parents just to sell the teens more raisins.
    • "Snowflake Day: A Very Special Holiday Episode" & "Saved by the Knoll": The homeless person who may or may not be Mandy Moore encounters Joan on the titular holiday to restore her Snowflake Day spirit. Showing Joan how her fellow homeless friends are able to enjoy the season merely through the company of each other, the homeless girl helps Joan find happiness in the holiday and reunite with her loved ones at Cleo's party. The homeless girl then uses a faulty van to simulate the sound of Snowflake Jake's signature cannonballs outside the house, herding the partygoers downstairs for their "safety" while her friends proceed to rob Cleo and Joan's families blind. Returning nearly two decades later, the homeless girl once again comforts Joan at her lowest, while continuing to show off the innovative ways she finds success on the streets.

  • Close Enough's "Joint Break": Barb leads a crew of elderly women on a series of successful bank robberies to pay off their medical bills, using their guise as elderly folks to avoid suspicion from the police. Befriending Pearle Watson, Barb tricks her into becoming her get away driver and persuades her to join her crew for a job involving stealing an armored truck filled with money. Aware of Pearle's past as a cop, Barb took all the bullets from Pearle's gun when she tries to stop them. Stopped by Pearle's friends on the force, Barb convinces Pearle to let her take one more water aerobics exercise in the ocean, letting the waves kill her and going out on her own terms.
  • Code Lyoko: Aélita Schaeffer's xanafied self combines her good self's intelligence with XANA's ruthlessness. Pretending to be her good self in her first appearance, she manipulates Jérémie Belpois into sending her to Lyoko, talking Yumi Ishiyama into going with them when Jérémie expresses reluctance in Aélita going on Lyoko alone. On Lyoko, XANA-Aélita stays ahead of her fellow Lyoko Warriors through clever uses of her Creativity powers, leading to her all but completing her mission. Returning as a recurring villain, XANA-Aélita works well in tandem with XANA and its monsters, successfully destroying three of the four main sectors and setting up XANA's victory in that season. In her final appearance, XANA-Aélita cleverly reacts to Ulrich Stern's attack, stealing one of his swords and defeating him with only a limited use of her powers, nearly completing her mission. Always thinking on the fly and showing how truly dangerous Aélita's powers could be, her xanafied self proved to be one of the Lyoko Warriors' most dangerous threats.
  • Codename: Kids Next Door:
    • Stickybeard is a boisterous, candy-stealing pirate who nonetheless possesses honor and guile. A frequent foe of the Kids Next Door who often outdoes them with his candy-themed weapons, Stickybeard has swiped all of the candy of their members more than once, using clever tactics to leave them robbed blind. Having a genuine admiration towards and kinship with Numbuh 5, Stickybeard regularly offers her a place by his side on his crew, teams up with her to outsmart and take down the evil Black John Licorice, and saves her and her friends from the Asparagus Sea out of respect for their status as enemies.
    • Jimmy Nixon McGarfield is a corrupt school politician who uses his power to oppress KND and find true love. Introduced as a beloved class president liked by all students including Sector V, Jimmy manipulates Sector V into being his allies long enough to transport him to City Hall, where he then reveals he has teamed up with Father to increase restrictions on local schools and make KND's missions harder. Later, Jimmy uses a vast arsenal of weaponry and tactics to wage war on KND, trying to brainwash Numbuh One's girlfriend into falling for the villain instead, and even when his plans are foiled solely by the trickery of his own aide, Jimmy happily looks forward to prison with her, hoping they can kindle a relationship.
    • "Operation: Z.E.R.O.": Grandfather is the greatest threat the Kids Next Door's entire organization has ever faced in history. An ancient evil who once reigned supreme over the world, Grandfather was supplanted only when one of his own sons betrayed him and stole his powers and memories. Years later restored to his former glory, Grandfather immediately turns the most useful supervillains into his Senior Citizombies, using their talents to spread the infection as fast as possible until nearly all life on Earth is reshaped to Grandfather's whims. Planning to destroy the Book of KND so no hope can survive amidst children, Grandfather is so fierce that he terrifies his villainous son Father, defeats his other boy Monty in combat, and survives the KND space headquarters crashing into him, even facing defeat with just a snark to Monty that he's no longer in the will.
  • Constant Payne: Welton Payne-Smythe is the evil brother of Alex "Doc" Payne. Turning rogue long ago, Welton became a criminal who prefers using his intellect over his fists. Having his men skyjack a ship for important cargo, Welton reveals himself after Alex makes good work of his men, incapacitating him with his soundwave gloves and detonating the generators in an attempt to kill his brother. Successfully making out with his cargo, Welton nevertheless has confidence in his brother’s survival, and holds zero malice toward his niece Amanda, wishing her a simple goodbye as he makes his grand escape.
  • Courage the Cowardly Dog:
    • Shirley the Medium is a Fortune Teller who wields magical abilities that she uses to make money, as well as put gypsy curses on those who cross her, yet always leaves a loophole for her victims to get put of it or will undo the curse herself when she feels they have learned the error of their ways. Among the main characters, Eustace is her primary target putting a curse on him in several episodes such as having a rainstorm follow him wherever he goes until he finds the generosity in his heart and in another episode she sets him up against his wife until he learns to be more empathetic towards her. Becoming a helpful ally to Courage, the two manipulate Muriel into speaking by unleashing a spirit of destruction in the form of a starfish monster on their farm.
    • "The Snowman Cometh" & "Snowman's Revenge": The Snowman is a Mad Scientist with his base of operations in the North Pole. Having lost his beloved girlfriend Ivana and his friends due to the rip in the Ozone Layer, the Snowman resolves to escape the same fate. To this end, he kidnaps Muriel and Eustace—successfully extracting the anti-melting gene from the latter—before getting thwarted by Courage. With the North Pole completely melting, the Snowman invades Nowhere with his creation the Cold Finger, transforming the farm into a winter wonderland and blocking out the sun to make all of Nowhere into the "West Pole". Making the family his servants, the Snowman dubs them his honorary snow-people and gladly ceases being a villain when the Ozone Layer is fixed and his friends are resurrected.
    • "McPhearson Phantom": The McPhearson Phantom seeks revenge upon Muriel under the belief her great-great aunt fed the Phantom's husband to the Loch Ness Monster long ago. Seeking to ruin Muriel's marriage like hers was, the Phantom plants a series of increasingly deadly traps for Eustace while framing Muriel for them to drive them apart. When Eustace's mother arrives to offer her terrible therapy, the Phantom plays off her greed to turn into an ally and uses her to try and sabotage the much more successful marriage counseling offered by Courage. When Ma Bagge unwittingly reveals it was her great-great aunt all along, the Phantom decides to leave the innocent Muriel be and focus her revenge on the much more deserving Ma.
    • "Muriel Meets Her Match": Maria and Mano Ladrones are a criminal couple who seek to use Maria's resemblance to Muriel to con her into being a patsy for their next heist. Maria plays the two off as friendly new neighbors for the Bagges and worms her way into Muriel's trust by complementing her looks and fashion, all the while Mano, a sentient hand, cuts the farmhouse's cable to lure away Eustace to watch TV in their RV. Getting her hair dyed and some clothes from Muriel, Maria becomes her doppelganger while Mano sneaks in at night and steals her documentation to plant at their next heist. Successfully framing Muriel, the pair would have escaped with their loot if a last ditch chase by Courage and Muriel hadn't caused them to crash and be arrested.
  • Craig of the Creek's "Hyde & Zeke": Hyde & Zeke are identical twin brothers who specialize in hide-and-seek. Zeke, who has a piece of the map to the Heart of the Forest on hand, enlists the Stump Kids' help in finding Hyde, claiming he's been lost in a two-summer-long hide-and-seek game. When Craig challenges a still-unseen Hyde to find them, he proves to be just as good at seeking as hiding, capturing the other Stump Kids and tying them to the top of the Counting Tree after blindfolding them. All the while, subtle hints left by Zeke convince Craig that the two are one kid, leading Hyde to easily switch places with Zeke, admit "defeat", and give them the piece. Having gotten the fun game they wanted, the brothers—implied to be part of a whole collective of brothers—proceed to seek out their next victims.
  • The Cuphead Show!: Ms. Chalice is a young con artist who uses her natural charm to manipulate others, introduced tricking multiple citizens into giving her free items with nothing but her charm. Encountering Cuphead and Mugman spying on her, she decides to teach them her tricks out of amusement, training them on charming others and how to escape when caught, sincerely growing fond of the boys in the process. Forced to reluctantly abandon them during a break-in gone awry, she later convinces Elder Kettle to hide her from an angry mob before having fun with the boys as a genuine apology for her actions, saving them from the mob when they find her. Revealing her ghost powers to them, she often accompanies the boys in their antics, showing sincere loyalty to them while never losing her love of troublemaking, to the point she openly defies and nearly beats The Devil when he tries to make her betray her friends.
  • Cyberchase's "Hackerized!" & "The Bluebird of Zappiness": The seemingly friendly Ledge reveals himself as the mastermind behind the outbreak. Devising a machine that transforms its victims into replicas of the Hacker in three minutes, Ledge deceives the Cybersquad into exhausting themselves, nearly succeeding at disposing them. In his next appearance, Ledge decides to outdo his former idol as a villain. Tricking the Hacker into wearing a clown suit, Ledge snaps a picture at his expense and publishes it worldwide. Upon learning of the Blue Bird of Zappiness, Ledge bugs the Hacker and effortlessly manipulates Buzz & Delete to his side, having backup plans in store if they proved to be problematic. Despite his few appearances, Ledge earns the ire of both the Cybersquad and the Hacker and stands as the most competent and dangerous of the series' antagonists for a reason.
  • Dan Vs.: Of the many dubious figures Dan seeks revenge on, a select few are just as crafty and charismatic:
    • "Dan Vs. The Ninja": Ninja Dave is a skilled assassin, clever combatant, and petty thief. Stealing desserts per his oath, he swipes a box of cookies from an unsuspecting Dan with a precise shuriken to his milk and gets away unseen. When Elise, already a target of his clan, gets dragged in, Dave eavesdrops on her, Dan, and Chris undetected and plots to kill the three. He later has two bouts with Elise, showing quick thinking by turning her attacks against her and using the arena to his advantage. Dave only loses his fights when Dan interferes, making a clean getaway the first time, and after his second fight, reveals himself to be the last of his clan, promises to leave his rivals alone, and opens up his own cookie shop.
    • "Dan Vs. Dan" and "Dan Vs. The Telemarketer": The Imposter is one of the friendly antagonists in the show, as well as the most crafty. While the Imposter's MO is stealing people's identities and taking over their lives, he generally goes after people who are isolated from society, winning over the town under their name. Despite being outsmarted by Dan in his first appearance, the Imposter evens the score and then some in his second when he accurately predicts Dan's every move, luring him and Chris into a trapped apartment, before implanting a transmitter into Dan's molar. The Imposter then orchestrates Dan's arrest by Playing the Victim Card in front of an officer.
    • "Dan Vs. Reality TV"
      • Buddy Star is a charismatic producer of Immoral Reality Shows. After setting Dan up to be humiliated on camera, Buddy made up a lie get Dan to come to his house — actually the set of another reality show. Star then filmed Dan's escape efforts as content, and when Dan made it out, impersonated a taxi driver to cancel his progress. After two painful challenges lead to the final round, Buddy rigs the contest, willing to reshoot as necessary. Though Star is ultimately disappointed with his show being cancelled with Dan as the winner, he bounds right back by fooling Dan into yet another show, complete with ravenous coyotes.
      • Kelly, the in-universe equivalent to The Bachelorette, plays a Dumb Blonde for the cameras, but shows subtle cleverness to advance her Immoral Reality Show. When judging a runway contest, she realizes unintended brilliance that allows the preferred contestants to advance beyond the objective best performance. She then brings up the then-unknown grand prize to prevent Dan from blowing up the set, and only finally drops character after the show to state that she's married.
  • Dogs in Space: Kira is a dog who developed an intense resentment towards mankind after she ended up stranded on a hostile alien planet while sent on a mission. After getting found and recruited by the Pluto crew, she proves to be a valuable ally and aids the team in several missions. After some time, Kira convinces hero Garbage to abandon M-BARK's mission and instead find a planet just for dogs. Kira then steals a device that can turn the dogs non-sapient; intending to use it to force the M-BARK's denizens to go along with her plan. When Garbage opposes this, Kira launches him, alongside Happy and Jerry, to a nearby planet. Even when the Pluto crew discovers her plans, Kira is able to evade and outsmart them before using the device to take over the space station. She's only stopped when Garbage proves that her owner still loved her, leading her to realize that she was wrong about humans and surrender herself.
  • Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Wilhelmina is the niece of the Wicked Witch of the West, and seeks to free her and take over Oz. A talented witch with a devious, fun-loving personality, Wilhelmina constantly comes up with plans to one-up Dorothy and cause mischief, putting both her strategic mind and efficient spellwork to good use. Some of her schemes include posing as Dorothy at a festival, creating duplicates of herself to attack Emerald City, and having her favorite band abducted so they can perform for her personally. She’s also quick to react to setbacks, at one point sending herself back in time each time a plan fails and learning from what went wrong last time. At the same time, she shows a sense of honor, genuinely cares for her flying monkeys who help her in her schemes, and has some hidden affection for Dorothy herself, tearing up and hugging her when it looks like she has to leave Oz.
  • DOTA: Dragon's Blood: The Elf known as the Invoker was once a brilliant scholar who gained the affection of the goddess Selemene with whom he had a daughter. When his daughter died as a result of Selemene's pride and ego, the Invoker forms a pact with the demon Terrorblade, manipulating all events of the series and the theft of Selemene's sacred lotuses to initiate a war between Selemene's order and the rest of the region to weaken faith in Selemene. Ending in Selemene's defeat at Terrorblade's hands, the Invoker ends the first season imperiously gazing down at the defeated form of his former lover, his revenge complete at last.
  • The Dragon Prince: The Startouch elf Aaravos, once a beloved figure, is now a prisoner in a magical realm and will stop at nothing to escape. A powerful mage who taught countless others magic, Aaravos was once discovered to be manipulating all the conflicts of the world for a purpose only he knew. Aaravos was then defeated and sealed away for centuries. Reaching out to the mage Viren, Aaravos uses him to plot the seeds of his return. Guiding Viren to the kingdom of the Sunfire elves, Aaravos then reveals himself and kills their queen before taking over the elves' own holiest places. Later guiding Viren's daughter Claudia back to life, Aaravos then takes over the hero Callum before releasing him with promises his return is inevitable.
  • Dragons: Riders of Berk:
    • Riders & Defenders of Berk: Alvin the Treacherous is the boisterous, arrogant leader of Outcast Island who seeks to claim Berk as his own. Hiding an intelligent mind beneath his gruff exterior, Alvin devises various schemes to steal the Book of Dragons and, failing at that, Hiccup's knowledge about the creatures. In his master stroke, Alvin uses Mildew as a double agent, pretending to betray the man just so Hiccup will trust and train Mildew how to handle dragons, at which point Mildew imparts the knowledge to Alvin. Though betrayed by Dagur the Deranged, Alvin ends up allying with the Riders of Berk, saving their lives several times, then helping them take down Dagur and proclaim a truce between Outcast Island and Berk forever, Alvin even reigniting his lost friendship with Stoick the Vast.
    • Race to the Edge: Viggo Grimborn is a genius tactician who served as Hiccup's greatest intellectual nemesis. A scheming mastermind who regularly and utterly outwits Hiccup and the Riders to pull off various victories, Viggo rarely suffers a loss for the first large chunk of his appearances, often gaining something even when he seems to lose. Viggo robs Berk of its fortunes, keeps a tight leash on the unstable Dagur to use him as a weapon, and stays one step ahead of the Riders consistently, reacting to his brother Ryker's treachery by using the Riders to eliminate him as a rival. Later showcasing his more honorable traits while allied with Krogan and Johann, Viggo ultimately teams up with Hiccup one last time to tamper with the formers' schemes, Viggo gaining a new appreciation and respect for both Hiccup and dragons, to such a point that when Viggo sacrifices himself to save the day, a vicious Skrill elects to go down with him out of mutual admiration.
  • Dragon Tales' "Do Not Pass Gnome": Simon Says is a friendly, mystical elf who tells Emmy he'll fix the yo-yo her younger brother Max broke if they play a game of "Simon Says". After Simon tricks Max onto the board and reveals he can only get off if he wins the game eventually, the others then agree to play too. Playing a very congratulatory and happy host, Simon trips up several of the players throughout the game with levels like a Twister-like one, an upward path one and a Limbo one. When the players reach the very end, Simon nearly tricks them all into failing before Max catches on and Simon then proudly declares they've won the game and Emmy's yo-yo is fixed.
  • The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants: The Splotch is an alien robe who, after his first defeat, becomes a boisterously affable schemer aiming for world domination. Managing to posses school janitor Mr. Ree, he uses his secret lair to create fabric softener that, when used, allows him to control robes and anyone that wears it, planning to use it at the Robe-O-Con to create an army. Recognizing Captain Underpants as a threat, he successfully frames him for a robbing spree in order to incapacitate him. Upon being found out by George and Harold, a prepared Splotch utilizes his powers to battle the Captain, matching him in skills while using his new robe army to gain an upper hand, only being completely stopped by outside help.
  • The Fairly OddParents!' "The Crimson Chin Meets Mega Mom and Dyno Dad!" & "The Big Superhero Wish!": The Nega Chin is the Crimson Chin's archenemy from an alternate Chinniverse who can match his powers alongside his "devastating good looks and amazing sense of fashion". Accidentally brought outside of the comic book, the Nega Chin takes advantage of the immediate situation by, after mistakenly being magically-empowered by Timmy Turner, wishes his entourage into Dimmsdale as well as nigh-immunity from further magic. Kowtowed by a beatdown of collective Crimson Chins, the Nega Chin plants Short Fuse in Dimmsdale before being sucked into his comic book world to scout out a wish favorable for his return. After Cleft—really Timmy—wishes for a world of superheroes and villains, the Nega Chin disguises himself as the real Crimson Chin and clandestinely teleports Timmy's enemies to his lair. He then constructs a trap where he exploits the mechanics behind wishing to create a world of only supervillains and cleans up his bases by putting Ace and Clefto—Cosmo and Wanda—in an anti-magic bubble. Ultimately defeated by the combined efforts of normal people, the Nega Chin seeks to defy his role as a supervillain by breaking out into the real world to "convince" his writer to pen him a victory.
  • Final Space:
    • Nightfall is a future version of Quinn Ergon who traversed space and time to find a universe where Gary Goodspeed is alive. Initially helping him from the shadows, she makes her presence known by saving him, Little Cato, Mooncake, and KVN after a failed attack on Lord Commander's incinerator. In an attempt to save the universe from Titans, she tries to kill Mooncake as Gary's death at the hands of the Lord Commander would send him on a grief-filled rampage, resulting in him tearing open the breach to Final Space. After being talked into giving Mooncake another chance, she backs down, later saving him from Lord Commander's grasp and re-uniting him with Gary. After Quinn sacrifices herself to close the breach to Final Space, she re-joins the crew to help them rescue her. Despite having lingering feelings for Gary, she acknowledges that he only has eyes for his timelines Quinn and sacrifices her own life so that Gary can be reunited with her. Even after her death, she still manages to help the Team Squad, by having Kevin Van Newton build them a new ship and giving her helmet to Quinn.
    • Bolo is the Team Squad's most powerful ally and was the only Titan not corrupted by Invictus. Before the events of the series, he was imprisoned by his fellow Titans for sealing the portal from Final Space, preventing them from invading the universe. In the present day, he reaches out to Gary Goodspeed and guides him towards the dimensional keys needed to free him, but to ensure that Gary follows through, conceals the fact that a sixth key - a Human Sacrifice - is also needed. After being released, he continues helping the Team Squad, while completing his own agenda of killing his corrupted brethren. When Lord Commander merges with a Titan and destroys the Earth, he orders the Team Squad to flee, and upon being stabbed by him, calmly bids Gary farewell before getting his head ripped off.
  • Firebreather (2010 animated series): This version of Belloc, King of the Kaiju, waged war upon mankind to reclaim Earth for his race, until he fell in love with a soldier, Margaret Rosenblatt, and thus called off his crusade. Desiring an heir to rule over the Kaiju, he tracks down his hybrid son Duncan to train in life-threatening exercises, urging him to become more ruthless and terrorizing one of his friends to unleash his Kaiju rage. Once spotted by a hostile human army, Belloc surrenders himself to remain close and protect Duncan from his rivals, Abaddon and Astaroth, when they inevitably try to overthrow him. Breaking himself out of prison and teaming up with his family to fight the invasive Kaiju, Belloc is impressed when Duncan non-lethally incapacitates them. He gracefully accepts his choice to remain in the human world as their protector, resubmitting himself to captivity so that he can remain close to his loved ones.
  • F is for Family: Nguyen-Nguyen Stevenson is the wife of the Murphy family's neighbor Chet. A Vietnamese immigrant who lost her family during the war, Nguyen-Nguyen prides herself on being "a survivor". Though she suffers through an abusive marriage to Chet, Nguyen-Nguyen remains passive throughout all of it, refusing outside help and assuring others that she has the situation under control. Nguyen-Nguyen systematically poisons Chet to death by lacing his food with drain cleaner, playing up her status as a foreigner and feigning ignorance of the English language to frame the deed as an honest mistake. After she is arrested, Nguyen-Nguyen ends up having other inmates catering to her every whim, having established herself as a dominant figure in the prison hierarchy.
  • Fugget About It's "Al Capone Wears Ladies' Underwear": The titular Al Capone is revealed to have faked his own death, paying a body double to take his place before cryogenically freezing himself so the law would be off his back. After being freed by Jimmy, Cheech and Gina, Al Capone immediately gets back to building his criminal organization while keeping his friendly disposition. Immediately willing to murder Jimmy when learning he was a rat, he managed to sneak into the psyche ward when Jimmy is placed for seemingly being insane. When Gina managed to convince Capone to spare Jimmy underneath a loophole, Capone immediately agrees and frees them all from the psyche ward, parting amicably with the Falcones before fleeing without detection to continue his criminal empire.
  • Futurama:
    • Carol Miller, better known as "Mom", is the head of the massive company MomCorp who hides her ruthlessness behind a grandmotherly facade. Throughout the series, Mom effortlessly manipulates others to her own ends, notably draining Fry’s bank account to protect her oil monopoly, and using the eyePhone to brainwash people into buying the eyePhone 2. Mom even used her control over all robots to enact a plan to conquer Earth, only to relent upon reconnecting with Professor Farnsworth. In "Bender's Game" it’s revealed that Mom uses a massive farm of force fed Nibblonians to monopolize the fuel industry. When she is pulled into Bender's imagination, she is turned into the witch Momon and uses her powerful magic to attain the Die of Power. Later, Mom is revealed to be performing illegal genetic experiments to solve world problems, when Leela contracts Squidification and finds her lab, Mom captures her and uses her DNA to help solve world hunger, and then cures Leela as thanks.
    • Robot Santa, the terrifying monster of Xmas, sees almost everyone on the Naughty List and conducts a terrifying yearly raid that leaves many dead or maimed. Upon judging Fry and friends naughty—save Dr. Zoidberg, who gets a pogo stick—Santa is driven back but vows to return the next Xmas. Seemingly bested in favor of Bender, Santa frees Bender and ropes him in for the rampage before revealing a threat to Bender to never play Santa ever again. Even after being dethroned, Santa is able to launch a plot of revenge after enjoying a rap with the Hanukkah Zombie and Kwanzaa Bot.
    • "Less Than Hero": The Zookeeper is a supervillain who commits crimes with a pack of highly trained animals. Planning to steal the Quantum Gemerald, he causes chaos in the Museum of Natural History by having animals attack the patrons, distracting the New Justice Team long enough for him to grab the Gemerald. When the heroes corner him, he drops the Gemerald off of a balcony which distracts them and allows him to escape. Learning that Leela is Clobberella, the Zookeeper kidnaps her parents and holds them hostage so the New Justice Team will steal the Gemerald for him, and ultimately escapes with the Gemerald.
    • "Stench and Stenchability": Tanya is a little girl competing with Bender in a local tap-dancing competition. Initially seeming to be a sweet girl with a heart condition, Tanya reveals her true devious nature when she breaks Bender's leg right before their final competition. When Bender still competes, Tanya tricks him into knocking himself out, winning the competition. After Bender saves her life, Tanya wins his respect with her evil nature and works with him to mug people using their tap-dancing.
  • Generator Rex:
    • Van Kleiss is the ruthless yet briliant man responsible for the nanite disaster worldwide. Ruling his home nation of Abyssus, Van Kleiss wastes little time in becoming Rex's arch-nemesis by scheming to use Rex as his pawn. When he brings the young Circe into his circle, Van Kleiss plays on her feelings for Rex to use the both of them while constantly outwitting Rex and his organization, even almost taking over the United Nations. Even after losing his abilities to Rex, Van Kleiss simply responds by using a spy to infiltrate Providence and absorb Rex's nanites to not only restore his lost abilities but gain new ones. When sent back through time, Van Kleiss time and time again bends history to his will by manipulating each great human civilisation all across time into doing his biding. Van Kleiss even manipulates Roman Emperor Septimus Severus into allowing him free scientific reign after impressing him. Returning to the present, Van Kleiss feigns insanity to trick Black Knight and the others into lowering their guards, while he secretly helps set up a plan to absorb the powers of the meta-nanites. Eventually betraying everyone, Van Kleiss reveals that after he absorbs the powers of Meta-nanites that he will become a god, and ends the series implied to one day return to power once more.
    • Black Knight is one of the first Evos in existence and the Big Bad of season 3. A cool collected woman, Black Knight acts as main enforcer for the Consortium and helps them in their quests to gather all the Meta-nanites and become gods. Preferring affable manipulation to violence, Black Knight almost convinces Rex to join her. Black Knight is a master at playing people against each other to get what she wants, and is even able to break the trust of the heroes using shapeshifter John Scarecrow. When Black Knight discovers that a member of the Consortium plans to replace her, she instead kills him and pins the blame on the heroes to become a Consortium member. Disabling Rex's powers using a power damping Evo, Black Knight ultimately succeeds in upgrading herself and the rest of the Consortium into godlike biomechanical Evos who very nearly end up in control of the entire world before Rex defeats them. Black Knight is ultimately able to escape while plotting to return to her former glory once more.
    • Jungle Cat was once a member of the Pack who Van Kleiss betrayed and turned into a statue. Through sheer force of will, Jungle Cat is able to break free and sets about revenge on Van Kleiss. A charming master of spying and covert operations, Jungle Cat uses voice mimicking to either play Providence against each other or lure the heroes into traps. Jungle Cat even finds a way to disable the base's defenses and later nearly defeats both Rex and White Knight in battle. Deciding to join forces with Rex, Jungle Cat later helps devise a plan to break into Providence and acquires the information needed to find and help capture the Consortium's Meta-nanite, holding his own against the Mooks of the Consortium and helping ensure his allies safe retreat.
    • "Divide By Six": Dos is the second most dangerous man in the world and charismatic de facto leader of the assassins known as the Six. After his mentor One is turned into an Evo, Dos and the others test and capture Rex to see if he's potentially of use in curing his mentor. When it's discovered his mentor One is incurable, Dos plans to Mercy Kill him so he doesn't need to live like this and clashes with Rex and Six, who plan to stop him. Dos is able to hold his own against them despite not not having powers of his own through cunning tricks like sleep powder. A Master Swordsman, Dos is so good that it requires both Rex and Six to work together in order to defeat them and is even able to still hold them off.
  • Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child:
    • "The Emperor's New Clothes": Keiji and Toshio are a pair of common swindlers who charm the clothes-loving emperor of Japan by offering to weave him the "Fabric of Dreams", visible only to the wise. Requesting the finest materials, as well as payment of the entire royal treasury, the two pretend to work tirelessly weaving the fabric over several days—tricking the emperor's staff, the populace, and eventually the emperor himself into thinking they are fools for not being able to see it. While the nearly-naked emperor becomes a public laughingstock, Keiji and Toshio get away scot free, having earned everything for doing nothing.
    • "The Pied Piper": The Pied Piper is a smooth-talking traveling musician who's solved many infestations with his saxophone playing and offers to do the same with Hamelin's rats. Despite the town's doubts, the Piper easily gets every last rat to follow the music out of town by playing at frequencies only they can hear. When the corrupt mayor refuses to pay the Piper the promised amount, he gets his revenge by luring every child in Hamelin out of town. The Piper, however, leaves behind a poor boy he befriended so he'd be the only child in town, making the townsfolk more compassionate and Hamelin a better place—with their only hope being that he will return someday as promised.
    • "The Snow Queen": The Snow Queen herself has a heart made of ice and a personality to match. Having created a magic mirror that would make everything good appear bad just for fun, she grows bored one day and lets it shatter, following its shards towards her next victim. The Snow Queen uses some shards to freeze the young Kai's eye and heart to make him more literally and figuratively cold, then appears to him the next day to appeal to his pride and comfort him with a kiss, erasing his memories. Though she and her army are defeated by the pure-hearted Gerda, the Snow Queen genuinely compliments her on her pluck before melting with her castle.
  • Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: While the Puffy gang often encounter smug Jerkasses, these three are the exception.
    • "Bad Manager": Slick Shady, the "biggest weasel in rock", is a manager who's also an expert rock-paper-scissors player. Coercing the reluctant Kaz into betting his prize money in a game of rock-paper-scissors, Shady easily wins, and gets him to bet Ami and Yumi, whom he also wins. With the duo now his, Shady lavishes them in an ultra-luxurious lifestyle, all while Kaz degrades into a washed up flea circus manager. After Ami and Yumi challenge Shady to a game of rock-paper-scissors for their release, he ups the ante by forcing Kaz to leave the music business should they lose. A man of his word, Shady allows Ami and Yumi to return to Kaz after they beat him, while also leaving his mark as the best manager the duo have ever had.
    • "Phantom of Rock": The titular Phantom of Rock, Johnny Ghost, is a legendary rocker who can get the best out of any band. Working with Kaz to get Ami and Yumi out of their creative stagnation, the Phantom fakes kidnapping Kaz and has the duo go through his deadly haunted castle. At the end of the trail, the Phantom reveals that he had sampled Ami and Yumi's screams and grunts to be used in an enjoyable single, ending the episode willing to collaborate with the Puffy gang again after having so much fun messing with them.
    • "Legend of Mei Pie": The eponymous Master Mei Pie is the greatest guitar maker in the world, and the one Yumi goes to for a new guitar. Mei Pie gives the rocker a list of items that require her to travel around the globe, uncaring that Yumi goes through pain to retrieve them. Once all the items are brought to him, Mei Pie, rather than giving Yumi a new guitar, instead returns her old one to her, stating that the entire thing had been a test to see how much effort she would put into accomplishing her goals, with Yumi playing far better now than she was before thanks to his methods.
  • Infinity Train: Mirror Tulip, aka "M.T.", is the sentient reflection of Tulip, dedicated to asserting her free will and identity. Forced to mirror Tulip's actions against her will by the system of the Mirror World for years, she tricks Tulip into swapping places to pass through the Chrome Car while planning to strand her there, her scheme only failing due to not knowing she is restricted to reflective surfaces. M.T. relents, letting Tulip attach a mirror to her body and travels the train cars for months, evading the Flecs only using a can of black spray paint. Gaining companions and an appreciation for them as she uses her wits to discover the solution for numerous cars, M.T. kills the Flec Mace and even throws an elder passenger from a transport pod in her quest to reunite with her friend Jesse. Her plan halted thanks to her nature as a denizen, M.T. still manages to recover from her Heroic BSoD and outwit the train's robotic conductor to join Jesse in the human world under her new identity, "Lake".
  • Inside Job (2021):
    • Bear-O is the unassuming, overly friendly hugging robot created by Rand Ridley for his daughter Reagan. Spending the series as a background character mostly used for humor, Bear-O is revealed to be The Mole inside Cognito, Inc., stealing secret files and playing the entire organization against itself to dismantle it from the inside. Bear-O intends to annihilate Cognito and all of Reagan's toxic friends, accurately having deduced that without them or her stressful job, she will no doubt have a happier life. When Reagan learns the truth and prevents Bear-O from his master plan to leak Cognito's files, Bear-O simply changes tactics to murdering the staff of Cognito, easily tearing through its defenses and even defeating the Gang's last-ditch ally ROBOTUS, coming within a hairsbreadth of completing his goals to improve Reagan's work-life balance.
    • "Ghost Protocol": Dr. Skullfinger is Rafe Masters' hammy but Affably Evil nemesis, a criminal mastermind with a mind-control plan so good that Cognito Inc. sees him as a rival to be removed. When Cognito teams up with Rafe to arrest Skullfinger, Skullfinger reveals that he can break out of prison whenever he wants, engaging in a sincere conversation with Reagan Ridley that nevertheless ends with him successfully convincing her to essentially become a supervillain to break up with Rafe Masters. Skullfinger breaks out at the end and renews his rivalry with Rafe Masters, realizing for as suffocating as Rafe is, they're soulmates.
  • Inspector Gadget's Last Case (2002): Dr. Claw comes up with his most devious plan yet. Having his men create a transformation serum, he sells it to Metro City's criminals and enacts a crime spree, becoming rich in the process. Launching his true scheme, he uses one potion to disguise himself as superhero Devon Devonare, and stops the crime spree himself, becoming a beloved hero overnight, even recruiting a rejected Gadgetmobile as his vehicle. Tricking Gadget into accidentally causing a prison break and getting him fired, he has Gadgetmobile disposed of, nearly succeeding until the arrival of two cars Gadgetmobile befriended earlier. Even after being figured out and his men arrested, it's implied he either disguised himself as the Chief or had fled before they had arrived.
  • Invader Zim's "The Frycook What Came from all that Space": Sizz-Lorr is a ruthless and cunning Irken "FryLord" who runs Shloogorgh's Flavor Monster on Foodcourtia and Zim's former boss when the Invader was sentenced to Foodcourtia as punishment for ruining Operation: Impending Doom 2, but was trapped by "the Great Foodening" while Zim was able to escape. Much later, Sizz-Lorr tracks Zim to Earth to recapture him and force him to endure the rest of his sentence, while remaining generous and fair to his other employees. Sizz-Lorr installs high-tech traps to ensure Zim can't escape again, and when his prisoner figures a way to bypass the security system, Sizz-Lorr breaks out the heavy artillery and pursues the alien all the way to the planet's Stratosphere, coming within a hair's width of recapturing his quarry before he's thwarted by a stray sign.
  • Invincible (2021):
    • Rudolph "Rudy" Connors, aka "Robot", is an incredibly intelligent deformed man who seeks a new body of his own. Choosing the best heroes he can find to replace the Guardians of the Globe, after Rudy takes notice of Monster Girl and sympathizes with her condition, he sets out to create a proper body for himself. Breaking the Mauler Twins out of prison to make them clone a new body for him, Rudy sneakily takes a blood sample from Rex to be used in the cloning process. Doing what he must to ensure Monster Girl's survival out of genuine affection, once his new body is finished, Rudy transfers his memories over to the clone, knowing that he will die afterwards. Delivering some parting words to his clone, Rudy's clone handily betrays the Mauler Twins by sending out his drones and letting them get imprisoned again, afterwards assisting the Guardians in attempting to stop Omni-Man.
    • Titan is a superhuman enforcer for the crime boss Machine Head. Being forced to serve his boss in order to protect his wife and daughter, Titan only kills those who he feels deserve it, at one point even giving a man money to rent an apartment after burning his old one down. Seeing Invincible as a way to break Machine Head's grip over the city, Titan coerces Invincible into helping him take down his boss with the assistance of the Guardians, even getting his lackey Isotope to abandon him in return for power. Despite everybody suffering major injuries after Machine Head sics his supervillains on them, Titan easily swoops in to take Machine Head's place once he's apprehended, promising to help clean up the city with Isotope and his family by his side.
  • King of the Hill: Chris Sizemore is the "brilliant and charismatic" owner of Sizemore Realties, a successful real estate company where he employs clever but underhanded techniques to sell houses. When Peggy writes a hit piece on him, he has her fired from her job as a journalist only to hire her himself. After Peggy tries to prove herself by doing a TV interview because Sizemore didn't seem to value her as a member of the team, he fires her. However, when Peggy shows the initiative to start selling houses on her own, Sizemore tells her that he won't report her for selling without a license if she joins his team again as a proper realtor. This seems to all have been a part of his plan to motivate her into his greatest asset, and continues in his next appearance where he shows his willingness to pit his employees against one another if it will improve their performance. In his final appearance, Sizemore displays his acting chops and manages to convince Peggy to sell her own house after seeing the large sum that his client was willing to spend on it.

     L - X 
  • League of Super Evil's "The Night Before Chaos-mas": The Kinder Creep is the villain equivalent of Santa Claus, where every Chaos-mas he visits and rewards the villains who committed the most evil deeds. When Kinder Creep visits Skullosus' lair, he finds L.O.S.E. impersonating him, where he proceeds to easily overwhelm them in combat. When Skullosus gets awoken, Kinder Creep puts Voltar on the spot, forcing Voltar to explain to a pissed off Skullosus on where his presents were, along with eating the rancid snacks intended for Kinder Creep. Kinder Creep then pursues L.O.S.E. back to their lair, overcoming their attempts to lock him out by entering via another toilet. While continuing to intimidate L.O.S.E., Kinder Creep also rewards them with presents for being sufficiently naughty this year.
  • Legends of Chima: Razar is the gleefully, unrepentantly greedy representative of the Raven Tribe, whose loyalties lie solely on who can make him more profits. An experienced Con Man who makes a living out of regular scams and thievery, Razar and his tribe frequently act as mercenaries to assist Crooler and the brainwashed Cragger in their efforts to conquer Chima, notably stealing Laval's Speedor as a distraction for the theft of a powerful Golden CHI orb. When the ravens are hired to provoke a war between the eagles and wolves by stealing the latter's Mother Tooth, Razar happily enacts a massive scam to play each side against each other and reap payments from everyone in exchange for their aid, before singlehandedly foiling Crooler's more destructive plans upon learning of the danger to their client base. Engaging in countless other schemes, from setting up his own bootleg Speedor tournament, to saving the Raven Legend Beast from brainwashing by using gold paint to provoke its unstoppable greed, Razar always works to ensure greater profits and takes any defeats in stride, merrily continuing to plot scams as both friend and foe to the other tribes.
  • The Little Prince (2010): The Snake, once the first being alive, travels the cosmos to corrupt planets so it may destroy them and bring back the darkness it loves. Using its charisma and intellect, the Snake convinces the worlds to embrace the worst sides of themselves to bring the worlds to ruin, constantly matching wits with the titular "Little Prince" and even using a disguise to lure the Prince to its own trap. After manipulating a civil war on the planet of the beautiful Rose, the Snake only relents to save the Prince when the Rose is threatened, even offering its own life to rescue the Rose as the one being it ever loved.
  • Looney Tunes:
    • Cecil Turtle is a seemingly timid tortoise who has the unique distinction of being the only character to have defeated Bugs Bunny on a consistent basis. Having been challenged to a race on three separate occasions, Cecil was able to outsmart Bugs every single time. In Tortoise Beats Hare, Cecil recruits the help of his identical-looking cousins to fool Bugs into thinking that he was in the lead throughout the race. He managed to sneak past the finish line and forced Bugs to fork over the ten bucks he wagered on their match. In Tortoise Wins by a Hare, Bugs challenged Cecil to a rematch, and he convinced Bugs that his shell was the key to his superior speed. Bugs dresses up as a turtle in order to beat Cecil, but is targeted by the rabbit mob who bet all their money for the rabbit to win. Cecil disguises himself as a rabbit and tricks the mob into helping him win the race. In Rabbit Transit, Cecil uses a jet engine hidden beneath his shell to gain the lead during their race. Bugs manages to cross the finish line first, but Cecil gets him to admit that he was going over the speed limit and has him arrested for speeding. With a perfect track record, Cecil is Bugs' only foe who could beat him at his own game.
    • Bunny and Claude are a pair of infamous rabbit criminals who specialize in stealing carrots from stores. Often robbing multiple stores in a row with ease, the duo consistently outwit the persistent Sherrif, managing to thwart his attempts to catch them even on the odd occasion he corners them. In their second short, they manage to hijack the Carrot Train and successfully steals most of the carrots within, once again outwitting the Sherrif when he attempts to stop them.
    • Hare Brush: Elmer J. Fudd, reimagined here as an "eccentric Millionaire", seeks to avoid paying for his taxes. To this end, he fakes being insane by pretending to be a rabbit and gets sent to a sanitarium, where he tricks a nearby Bugs Bunny into taking his place while he escapes, leaving Bugs to be hypnotized into thinking he's Elmer. Upon being hunted by Bugs, Elmer manages to stay one step ahead of the hunter before Bugs is arrested for tax fraud, scoring one of the character's few victories against Bugs.
  • Love, Death & Robots' "Bad Travelling": Torrin, the helmsman of the Jable Shark hunting vessel, is the man to communicate with the monstrous Thanapod crustacean, learning it desires passage to the populated Phaiden Island for the meat there. Managing to get a gun to control the crew and having the new "captain" thrown to the beast, Torrin intends to spare Phaiden Island, convincing the crew to mark secret ballots where to send the beast. Torrin executes the only two he claimed marked an "X" to send the Thanapod to the populated Phaiden Island, while also preparing for a mutiny and getting the drop on his attackers to kill them. Torrin then throws the final man to the Thanapod, saying every single one of them drew an X, before trapping the Thanapod and burning the ship with oil, escaping with his own life.
  • Men in Black: The Series: Alpha, the devious, deadpan Big Bad of the series, used to be the head of the Men in Black (MiB) themselves, until his greed and ambition grew too great and he betrayed them for his own ends. A Machiavellian genius with an aptitude for alien technology that he exploits repeatedly, Alpha is constantly modifying and improving on his own body with stolen alien body parts, becoming more terrifying with each appearance. Rarely ever at a true loss, Alpha sees through an elaborate fake retirement plan Agent Kay sets up to bait him out, and even when he's rendered immobile in the most secure cell the MiB has, Alpha manipulates Agent Jay through a game of digital chess that he proceeds to hack in order to break out of and restore his body. Alpha makes a deal with the alien invader Vangus in exchange for the prospect of ruling Earth, but when his bloodthirsty partner elects to ignore Alpha's suggestions of Pragmatic Villainy to instead destroy the Earth, Alpha teams up with the MiB, unwilling to rule a torched cinder. Taking even his final defeat with nothing but mild disappointment, Alpha proves every episode he's in why he's the most brilliant enemy the MiB ever fought.
  • Monkie Kid: Six-Eared Macaque is Monkey King's former friend turned enemy who once sought to overthrow the Jade Emperor with his friends, only to be killed once Monkey King is pressed into serving the Heavens. Brought back to life by Lady Bone Demon, Macaque makes a shadow monster and uses it to present himself as a hero, offering to help Monkey King's successor MK with his training in a bid to steal his powers. Defeated, Macaque later returns to trap MK's friends in shadows and uses them to defeat and demoralize him, only to release them upon discerning MK genuinely cares about them. Bound by Lady Bone Demon and sent to hunt the heroes after she takes over the city, Macaque uses both his powers and cunning to relentlessly pursue them. Realizing they seek the Samadhi Fire, Macaque is tasked with retrieving it for Lady Bone Demon, but ultimately helps the heroes defeat his master after escaping his binding and peacefully departs upon saving the world, frequently returning to help when MK needs guidance and aiding in the defeat of Azure Lion.
  • Monster Force: Count Dracul(a) himself, a vicious but elegant pastiche of his Universal incarnation, stands as the Monster Force's most formidable adversary. Dracula constantly executes schemes to net himself more power at any cost, usually running rings around the Monster Force until it's almost too late to stop him, always operating with sadistic charm and rebounding from every defeat. Dracula makes pawns of his other vampire cohorts in a scheme meant to steal their energy so he can become a god, outsmarts Dr. Crawley in the guise of vampire hunter Bram Stoker and nearly drives him to despair, and even mounts a successful invasion of Monster Force's own base in the finale through guile.
  • Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm's "The Secret of Quan-Chi": Quan Chi himself is far less evil but just as cunning and manipulative as his canon counterpart. Quan Chi is a free-roaming sorcerer who wants to conquer Earthrealm. To do so, he waits for the heroes to be distracted by an Outworld attack, then gets the gem of Tetsurri, which is an artifact that brings out the worst traits of a person. Quan Chi disguises himself as an Outworld refugee to trick the heroes so he can secretly use the gem of Tetsurri on them, with his ultimate plan being to make the Earthrealm warriors fight each other, leaving their realm defensless and allowing Quan Chi to take over, a plan which nearly succeeds.
  • My Life as a Teenage Robot's "Puppet Bride": Lil' Acorn was originally a young Nora Wakeman's defense droid she turned into a ventriloquist's dummy, but he grew prideful and blackmailed her for a chance at a solo performance. Booed by the crowed, and running out of batteries after attacking the angry mob, Lil' Acorn seeks revenge in the present after being revived, doing so by stealing Nora's bioprocessors and using them to bring an army of puppets to life. Wanting to make Jenny his bride, Lil' Acorn and his puppets manage to knock her out so he can unveil the wedding ring—one of the bioprocessors, which would give him total control over her—and he holds Nora back with "The Song That Goes On Forever" as a last resort. Despite his villainy, Lil' Acorn's yearning for a bride eventually convinces Nora to make one, for which he sincerely thanks her.
  • My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Adagio Dazzle, debuting in Rainbow Rocks, is the leader of the Dazzlings and the brains behind everything they do. When they realize Equestrian magic has been brought into this world, Adagio swiftly follows threads to locate its source in the Rainbooms and enflare tensions between them to make them fight, letting the Dazzlings absorb their magic and regain their full powers. She balances this with using their singing to drive the school into a competitive frenzy, generating more and more energy for them to feed on while they await the Rainbooms giving into fighting. Calm, confident and in control, even after her initial embarrassing defeat, Adagio even recovers from losing her powers, finding "magic" as a regular musician and promising to regain her abilities.
  • Ōban Star-Racers: Spirit is a silent, enigmatic racer from the shape-shifting species the "Fills", who casts a fearsome presence on the track with his razor wings and polymorphic abilities. Having failed to save Maya Wei on her fatal final race, Spirit competes years later in the Great Race of Oban on planet Alwas, and defeats Prince Aikka on their first match by slashing the legs of his Beetle Mount. Carving his way to the final stretch, Spirit is believed to be responsible for Maya's death by her daughter Eva. When Eva finally faces him on the course and attacks him in revenge, Spirit effortlessly outmaneuvers and disorients his opponent with his powers, eventually causing her racer to crash. Nonetheless a being of honor, Spirit telepathically discovers Eva's strife with him and reveals his side of the story, ultimately winning the race while shedding a Single Tear of sympathy for the girl's tragedy.
  • The Powerpuff Girls franchise:
    • Original show's "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey": The Gnome seeks to create a utopia revolving around himself. To this end, he manipulates the Powerpuff Girls into making a deal with him promising to get rid of the town's villains if they gave him their powers in return. Quickly asserting himself as the ruler of Townsville after vanquishing the other villains, the citizens of Townsville worship the Gnome and establish a cult dedicated to him. In his final moments, the Gnome realized the error of his ways, and willed himself to die, concluding that he couldn't exist in his perfect utopia.
    • 2016 series: Silico is a technological genius who has dedicated his life to destroying the Powerpuff Girls ever since their recklessness led to the destruction of his robot friends. Since successfully having the Amoeba Boys upload his consciousness to the Internet in his debut, Silico has used his know-how on robotics and hologram technology to act as a consistent thorn in the girls' side. His schemes include destroying the Powerpuff Girls' reputation through slanderous articles, tricking the Professor into building him a superpowered suit, taking control of and upgrading a 3D-copy of Bubbles, and disguising himself as Bliss to give away tech that brainwashes Townsville's citizens into trying to kill the girls. Always coming dangerously close to victory and bouncing back from nearly every setback, Silico has proven to be one of the most dangerous and clever foes the Powerpuff Girls have ever faced.
  • Primal (2019): Lula is a sorrowful yet cunning witch who belongs to a coven that performs ritualistic Human Sacrifice to create newborn daughters for their order. Losing her own child to an unfortunate accident, Lula subdues Spear and Fang when they stumble upon the coven and plans to sacrifice Spear to replace her dead daughter. Upon witnessing their close bond, Lula travels into their memories and witnesses the shared loss of their own families and resolves to free the pair out of newfound sympathy. In a clever ambush, Lula attacks her coven while they are distracted by the birthing ritual and slays her matriarch's mount to draw her into a duel. Holding off her former mistress, she sends Fang to rescue and run away with Spear, and she ultimately dies accepting her fate and reunites with her daughter in the afterlife.
  • The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest: Dr. Zin is the chief enemy of the Quest family and a genius scientist and criminal mastermind. Arranging for a military coup in a country developing a powerful satellite, Zin attempts to blackmail the world with it while simultaneously destroying the Quests. Later faking his death to test his twin daughters, Zin reveals his disappointment while sending in a robot double armed with a bomb to kill the Quests, later relying on a mind control device to trick Jonny and friends into a trap while he controls Dr. Bentham and Race into becoming his tools.
  • The Real Ghostbusters:
    • "Mrs. Roger's Neighborhood": Wat is a sinister and clever demon lord who wants to Take Over the World. Wanting to get the Ghostbusters out of the picture, Wat creates a house in New York that's actually an elaborate death trap and lures the Ghostbusters into it by hiring them to investigate it while under the guise of an old lady named Mrs. Rogers. Claiming to be too scared to stay at the house, Wat convinces the Ghostbusters to allow him to stay at the Firehouse, where he intends on freeing the ghosts from the Containment Unit to use as his own personal army. When Wat learns that he needs one of the Ghostbusters to open the Containment Unit, he possesses Peter Venkman and nearly succeeds in unleashing the captured ghosts.
    • Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream: The Sandman is a spirit who helps people go to sleep. Upset that humanity constantly fights wars with each other, the Sandman intends to use his powers to put humanity to sleep for 500 years and allow humanity to be replaced by living dreams. When confronted by the Ghostbusters, he decides to deal with them by turning all the harmless dreams into aggressive nightmares and having them attack the Ghostbusters. Later, the Sandman tricks Ray and hits him with his sleeping sand. The Sandman manages to put Peter and Egon to sleep as well. With only Winston and Janine left to oppose him, the Sandman nearly achieves his goal.
    • When Halloween Was Forever: Samhain is a Celtic spirit that is the basis for Halloween. 1200 years Samhain was imprisoned in some ruins in Ireland. In modern times, the ruins were displayed in NYC and Samhain was freed by his minions. Samhain used his powers to create a cloud of darkness that spreads across the world and stops time, trying to make Halloween last forever. Samhain summons all ghosts in NYC to him and deduces that Slimer is an ally of the Ghostbusters, taking him hostage. Samhain also protected his ghost minions from the Ghostbusters seeing them as his children. The Ghostbusters defeated Samhain, but he reappears in the episode Halloween II 1/2. After being freed from the containment unit, Samhain uses his magic to transform the Ghostbusters firehouse into his personal fortress, denying the Ghostbusters most of their resources. Samhain's fortress is surrounded by a forcefield that protects him from the Ghostbusters attacks. Samhain also captures the Junior Ghostbusters to force the Ghostbusters to surrender to him.
    • Halloween Door: Boogaloo is a fun-loving demon lord. 2000 years ago, the world was infested with demons. The Druids struck a deal with the demons, the worst of them would go back to the spirit world and humanity would have one day to remember them, Halloween. Wanting to break the Halloween deal, Boogaloo sends his minion Fairweather to Earth. Fairweather is disguised as a human and helps an anti-Halloween extremist, Dr. Crowley, build an anti-Halloween machine. Crowley activates the machine, wiping out all traces of Halloween, and breaking the Halloween deal. Boogaloo and his minions appear on Earth and Boogaloo has his minions destroy Crowley's machine and free all the ghosts from the Containment Unit. Boogaloo is one of the few villains who almost achieved complete victory.
    • Somethings Going Around: Doctor McCatheter is a ghost who pretends to be a human doctor. In his human form, he sets up a clinic in the Ghostbuster's neighborhood. McCatheter introduces himself to the Ghostbuster's friend, Louis Tully, and gives him free samples of his health food chips. Peter Venkman eats the chips, not knowing that McCatheter had tainted the chips with negative spiritual energy, which makes Venkman allergic to ghosts. McCatheter visits the Ghostbusters on a house call and says Venkman has become allergic to ghosts and needs to quit being a Ghostbuster, he also tells Louis that all the Ghostbusters should eat his health chips to keep up their strength. With all the Ghostbusters infected by the illness created by the chips, they are rendered helpless as McCatheter plans to take over NYC.

  • ReBoot: Megabyte, the Big Bad of the series, is a ruthless, yet charming Virus who intends to siege control of the entire system. Frequently coming up with genius schemes that come within a hairsbreadth of taking over Mainframe itself, Megabyte later allies with the hero Bob to prevent a Web invasion before betraying Bob and ejecting him into the Web, taking over Mainframe to remake it in his image. Eventually, Megabyte plots to simply abandon it to infect other systems before being overthrown. Later returning disguised as a second Bob, Megabyte organizes the complete takeover of Mainframe yet again. The most brilliant foe that Bob and his friends ever face, Megabyte is equal parts sophisticated and vicious, rarely at a loss and quick to recover, intending on bringing all he he can dream of under his control.
  • Regular Show:
    • Thomas is a seemingly average intern revealed to be a skilled Russian spy named Nikolai. Ingratiating himself into the gang's favor by helping fight off a hostile takeover by an army of past foes, Nikolai thwarts any attempt to sabotage his cover while playing the part of an unassuming Nice Guy, all the while covertly setting up machinery to transport the entire park landmass to Russia. Eventually subduing the entire crew, Nikolai discovers his Russian masters' true warmongering intentions and betrays them for his new friends, fighting off fellow spy Natalia and returning the Park to America, before going into hiding as a fugitive traitor.
    • "Temp Check": Doug "The Doppelganger" Shablowski is a shapeshifting Con Artist known for stealing the identities of people all across the country. Hired as a temp by Rigby, Doug wins over the other workers at the park with a friendly, hardworking attitude. While doing Rigby's work for him, Doug slowly mimics Rigby's appearance right in front of the others' eyes, eventually tricking the other workers into thinking he is Rigby and taking his paycheck for himself. When confronted, Doug proves to be an expert in mimicking Rigby when put through a series of tests to determine who's the imposter. After being exposed and arrested, Doug accepts defeat with dignity, and gives Rigby advice about being grateful for what he has.
  • Revolting Rhymes: The Wolf was a creature who lived in his woods with his two foolish nephews, Rolf and Rex. When the two of them failed to heed the Wolf's warnings and left the woods looking for food, they were both ultimately shot dead by Red Riding Hood. The Wolf, being far more intelligent, saw the danger and backed off when he came in contact with Red, and instead waited years for his opportunity for revenge. Waiting outside of a cafe for Red's babysitter to arrive, he sits down with the sitter and tells her his story, which enthralls her and causes her to let her guard down long enough for him to tie her up and steal her clothes. Posing as the babysitter, he then gains access to Red's home and makes a stew with the intention of eating both of Red's children. Telling another story to the children while they wait, he wins them over with his personality as well and eventually decides to spare them. When Red arrives home, he bids her farewell, leaving the normally unflappable woman utterly speechless and terrified before returning to his woods.
  • Rick and Morty:
    • "Evil Morty" is a version of Morty Smith who grew tired of being Rick Sanchez's sidekick and planned to break free from his role by escaping the Central Finite Curve to enter a multiverse where Rick isn't the smartest man. Evil Morty mind controls one universe's Rick, proceeding to kill other Ricks and kidnapping Morties, torturing the Morties to make a force-field to prevent the the Citadel from finding them while framing Rick-C137 and his Morty for the crimes, luring them to their hideout where they scan Rick's mind. Making his brainwashed Rick his scapegoat, Evil Morty hides amongst the kidnapped Morties to go to the Citadel where he runs for president, using his charisma to get the majority to vote for him and killing anyone who could pose a threat to him. Using his position to modify the Citadel into a giant portal gun, Evil Morty invites Rick-C137 for dinner to complete scanning Rick's mind before having the Ricks and Morties killed to use their blood to activate the Citadel's portal gun for him to escape the Central Finite Curve. Matching Rick's intellect and even outwitting him, Evil Morty manages to succeed in escaping the Central Finite Curve and destroy it.
    • "Pickle Rick": Jaguar is a highly skilled and brutal freedom fighter who was imprisoned at a Russian Agency for his crimes against toppling his oppressive government. Taking a deal to earn the freedom of himself and his daughter, Katarina, he hunts down and goes against the Pickle-formed Rick Sanchez, using his acrobatics and gunship to stand on even ground. Realizing the agency lied about his daughter being alive, Jaguar teams up with Rick and tricks the agency director into calling a helicopter, the two hijacking the plane and blowing up the agency building, with the two of them parting on amicable terms. In The Stinger, Jaguar appears and saves Rick and Morty from Concerto, sharing a nod before he leaves, ending up one of the few characters who gained Rick’s respect.
    • "Rick and Morty's Thanksploitation Spectacular": Once a normal turkey before being accidentally turned into a clone of President Curtis, Turkey President quickly begins his plan to have turkeys Take Over the World. He turns turkeys into hybrid super soldiers and takes advantage of the Statue of Liberty to sell New York to France, using the money to buy the loyalty of Congress. Turning the Washington Monument into a laser which will change all turkeys of the world into super soldiers, President Turkey fights Curtis on equal footing, coming within seconds of victory.
  • Roswell Conspiracies: Aliens, Myths and Legends: The ruthless General James Rinaker, secretly a Shadoen agent in disguise named Wraith, is the Alliance's cold, no-nonsense head and a mind more than worthy to lead the Alliance in keeping the masquerade steady. Rinaker's penchant for manipulation and subterfuge leads to countless successful missions with no fear about doing what has to be done in the process, with alliances made and broken at his own convenience and foes to his operation like Hanek swiftly disposed of through his agents. Even when he's ousted, Wraith nearly manages to wipe out everyone who knows his secret, and manipulates even the Shadoen commanders by convincing them humanity will be cowed through one show of force — a ploy that ends with the Shadoen high command wiped out by the ensuing retaliation, allowing Wraith to take over. At the end, it takes the unification of all the alien races Wraith meticulously turned against each other as Rinaker to finally topple the web of deceit he's fostered through decades of cool-headed treachery.
  • Samurai Jack's "Jack and the Hunters": The Imakandi are a quartet of cat-like creatures known as "the greatest hunters in the universe", and they easily prove to be more than worthy of that title. After getting hired by Aku to hunt down the titular samurai warrior and bring Jack to him, they arrive on Earth, sniff out Jack's footprints, sneak up on and capture him with great ease. One of the hunters grabs onto Jack's sword in midair before Jack can swipe him, forcing Jack to run for his freedom, knowing he can't fight the hunters. The hunters pursue an extremely long chase, managing to keep up with Jack despite his attempts to shake them without breaking a sweat. When they finally capture him, they betray Aku and allow Jack to roam free due to him proving to be a Worthy Opponent thanks to their Code of Honour.
  • The Secret Saturdays: Vincent Vladislav ("V.V.") Argost is a well-spoken, charming television show host who uses his status to mask his brilliant schemes in obtaining the power of Kur. Working with his loyal servant Munya, Argost concocts a variety of plans to steal the Kur Stone over the course of 11 years until he succeeds in totally outwitting the Secret Scientists organization, then duels consistently with the Saturday family to track down clues to Kur. Argost will fake defeat to throw his enemies off, manipulate entire civilizations into serving his goals, and uses Cryptid techniques to outpace opponents physically as well as mentally. Revealed to have once been a Himalayan Yeti that repurposed himself to integrate into humanity, Argost eventually convinces Zak Saturday himself into becoming his pupil, encouraging the boy to develop his powers of Kur, then betrays and successfully drains both Zak and his doppelganger's Kur energy to become master of all Cryptids, coming seconds away from completing his goal of destroying humanity and ruling the world.
  • Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters: Jonathan Rook is the CEO of Rook Unlimited as well as the supervillain Stretch Monster. Rook would build up his company to be the most powerful in Charter City. When Rook saw the Flex Fighters, he realized that Flexarium could merge with humans without turning them into monsters. Rook would manipulate the Flex Fighters Into joining him and unleash tons of mutated villains to gather data about the Flex Fighters. Rook has laid out all his plans perfectly so that no matter what, he will win in some way. Rook manipulates the Flex Fighters into helping him to create his army of Flexarium monsters. Rook's plan is foiled, but Rook poisons the Flex Fighters through their snowcones and frames them for the attack when they uncover his identity. When Rook is thrown out of the building by the Tech Men, he teams up with the Flex Fighters to stop them. When the Tech Men are defeated, Rook reveals that he erased the confession that he was forced to record and rigged the device to spray a gas that knocks out Dr. C. Rook now has his company back and has managed to get away with everything.
  • Tales of Arcadia:
    • Morgana, also known as the Pale Lady, Baba Yaga, and by many more names, was a young student of Merlin who despaired at her brother Arthur's persecution of magical beings. Falling to darkness when Arthur died, Morgana would manipulate legions over the ensuing centuries to advance her goals of world conquest, having the troll Angor Rot sell his soul to her to use him as her assassin. Upon returning to life in Wizards, Morgana later repents and joins the heroes to help defeat the evil Arcane Order and the resurrected Arthur, giving her life to destroy him when she realizes he is beyond saving while reconciling with her mentor Merlin and following him into the afterlife.
    • Trollhunters: Angor Rot is a tenacious assassin whose cunning and competence helps stand out as one of the Trollhunter's most dangerous foes. Once a noble warrior corrupted by Morgana, Angor leaves a trail of bodies of former Trollhunters before being imprisoned. Free and serving Stricklander to kill Jim, Angor devises many schemes to test Jim's might and manages to steal the ability of wielding Daybreak. Wanting to break free of Stricklander's control, Angor strikes a deal with Jim after filling the school with hallucinogens so he can wander freely within. Forcing Jim and Stricklander to team together, Angor sneaks into Jim's house to strike and later leads an assault on Trollmarket itself with an armada of golems he fashioned after he managed to steal the Horngazel from Claire. Revived by Morgana, Angor joins Gunmar with hunting for the staff of Avalon, ambushing the heroes and fatally wounding Draal. Reminded of his past with a duel against Jim, Angor aids the heroes by striking Morgana. Mortally wounded, Angor provides the heroes the means to stop Morgana's chaotic ambitions, his final moments as the warrior he once was.
  • The Tick:
    • Chairface Chippendale is a deviously diabolical genius out to pay back the world for rejecting his glorious furniture head. So respected and feared by the criminal community as one of the world's greatest villains that a massive gathering of crooks and ne'er-do-wells throw him a surprise party, Chairface takes the opportunity to trap the Tick and his partners while carving his name into the moon with a super laser, partially succeeding before being stopped. Undeterred by his initial defeat, Chairface goes on to concoct a brilliant plot to drive Dinosaur Neil into his mutated form once more by sabotaging the man's wedding, Chairface forming a Villain Team-Up to then take control of Neil. In his final scheme, Chairface uses his ally Professor Chromedome to obtain a body-swapping device, then transfers his mind into the form of the Tick, intending to destroy the machine to ensure its effects are never reversed. Wicked Cultured and always facing defeat with mere annoyance before continuing his ingenious ways, Chairface is the closest thing the Tick ever has to a true Arch-Enemy.
    • The Breadmaster is one of the few recurring villains in the series, and always presents a major threat with his culinary schemes. Thrown out of Baking College for using his unrivaled cooking skills for evil, the Breadmaster stages a series of "bread bombings" throughout the City, destroying bakeries that he chastises for falling short of cooking perfection. Tricking the City into supplying him with tons of baking materials, the Breadmaster nearly destroys the entire City with a giant, growing souffle. Later teaming up with Chairface and El Seed for a time to masterfully disrupt Dinosaur Neil's wedding, the Breadmaster then goes about sending killer gingerbread men to heroes throughout the City, his baking pride ensuring that the cookies taste delicious and go properly stale without artificial preservatives. The Breadmaster then uses a cookie tank to nearly destroy the City's new hero Eclair, having adapted it to deflect all manner of her powers.
    • "The Tick VS Reno, Nevada": The Fin was once a trained show fish named "Mr. Smartypants", run through hoops of fire and other humiliating, dangerous torments by his trainers Soren and Frederica. Escaping from his trainers by staging a "kidnapping" of himself, the Fin uses his cultist followers to pull off heists throughout Reno and bring him the necessary technology to construct a "fish magnet." Capturing Soren and Frederica, the Fin uses the magnet to rain down tons of fish into Reno, hoping to flood the whole city with his favorite snack. Dueling the Tick in a breath-holding contest for the fate of Reno, the Fin winds up back in Soren and Frederica's care, but with a decidedly more suitable role as an entertainer: to fling mocking taunts at his trainers and the audience for laughs.
  • Total Drama: Bowie, debuting in the 2023 Island reboot season, quickly establishes himself as an ambitious team player by orchestrating the first elimination of the season by convincing his team to vote off Caleb, lest he become a threat. Throughout the season, Bowie forms good relationships with other campers, invoking the Gay Best Friend image to befriend Emma and developing a mutual attraction with Raj. However, he sets boundaries to prevent personal feelings from complicating his gameplay. At the final four, Bowie fakes an alliance with Julia to sabotage her gameplay, secretly allying with Priya and Millie to vote her off. Immediately after this, he uses the information from MK's recorded confessionals to covertly reveal Millie's unflattering psychology report to Priya. He even makes a point to rip out the last page where Millie admits she was too mean in her report, ensuring she comes out looking bad and throwing both girls off their game, securing Bowie's spot in the final two. Despite his shady behavior, Bowie maintains a sense of dignity, morality, and amusing sarcasm, making him one of the most likable and subtle antagonists in the franchise.
  • Totally Spies!: Kyle Katz is a thief the WOOHP could never catch as he committed countless jewelry heists throughout the world. Targeting the Uzbekistan Pearl, Katz seduces the three spies with his gentlemanly charm and putting the Pearl in his grasp. As the spies enter the vault to stop Katz, he steals the pearl and locks them inside while he makes his escape. Although defeated and caught in the end, Katz never sheds his affability, even throwing the girls a rose. Despite only having one appearance, Katz remains one of the suavest antagonists faced by the spies.
  • VeggieTales:
  • Voltron: Legendary Defender:
    • Prince Lotor is the handsome, charismatic son of Zarkon and Honerva. Returning when his father is incapacitated, Lotor uses his charisma to win the Galra to his side and proves a deadly enemy of Voltron with his brilliance. Even when Zarkon awakens, Lotor changes gears to ally with Voltron, eventually killing his father and becoming the new head of Galra. Manipulating the Paladins, it is eventually revealed Lotor has preserved the Altean race, albeit while harvesting some for their Quintessence, leading to a massive confrontation. Despite his evil actions, even Allura acknowledges Lotor's good intent in the end, and he remains one of Voltron's most utterly brilliant and capable adversaries.
    • Honerva, aka High Priestess Haggar, is Prince Lotor's mother and the ruthlessly capable force behind Zarkon's throne. Nearly eliminating Voltron and all of her opponents in one fell swoop during one gambit, upon regaining her memories, Honerva ends up manipulating the entire Altean colony founded by Lotor into her pawns by using their belief of Lotor as a savior. Using them to assist her in opening up the path to reality itself, Honerva intends to find a reality where she is happy with her husband and son, deciding the rest can burn, before realizing her errors and having a chance to fix it at cost of her life.
  • Wakfu:
    • Nox, the mad Xelor and keeper of the Eliacube who serves as the Big Bad of the first season, is an audacious and brilliant Time Master who devotes himself wholly to one thing: to turn back time two-hundred years, back to when his Eliacube-induced insanity resulted in the death of his family. Nox drains the wakfu from entire countries and leaves all around him in ruin to store the captured wakfu in the Eliacube, affording himself no setbacks and firmly convinced turning back time while simultaneously erase all of his own atrocities, allowing him and the World of Twelve a fresh start. With his ruthless, unfettered agenda leading to the defeat of everyone who tries to stand up against him—with Nox effortlessly tricking the entire Sadida military into wasting their soldiers on a diversion Nox sets up, and even defeating the ancient dragon Grougaloragran and Yugo himself — Nox's defeat only comes when it's revealed he never could have gotten enough wakfu to bring his family back, even his final defeat cast in an immensely sympathetic light.
    • Oropo is the remaining Eliotrope, a species created by Yugo's fight against Ogrest, and founder of The Siblings. Aiming to replace the gods, who ignored his people's extinction, Oropo weakened their standing by causing Ogrest's Chaos and Nox's Eliacube-induced insanity. Executing his plan to destroy the gods' realm with an Eliacube-bomb, Oropo stays one step ahead of the Brotherhood of Tofu, exploiting their fears and regrets, nearly swaying Amalia to his side and defeating Yugo by predicting his every move. Showing unexpected vulnerability and care towards the Brotherhood and Siblings alike, Oropo only loses when he gives up on his life-long goal to spare their lives, reconciliating with his partner Echo as they die together.
  • We Bare Bears:
    • "Googs": Ari Curd is the founder of the Googs headquarters. Designing the virtual reality goggles, she throws a contest with the offer being a tour around the facility. When the bears win, she tricks them into being her test subjects and through her online avatar, she plays on Panda's frustration with his brothers to send him on a rocket to the moon and later, the sun while he's vulnerable. Ending the simulation Ari cheerfully greets the Bears and offers to give them the real tour, albeit oblivious to their trauma.
    • "Christmas Movies": Harry is a thief planning to steal the baby bears' video store by disguising himself as Santa Claus and asking for movie tapes he claims he'll give to kids around the world. When his facade is dropped, Harry chases the bears through the store for the door keys and traps them after fooling them with a cardboard cutout. After being talked to by the bears about what Christmas is about and reminiscing about his childhood, Harry realizes the wrongness of his actions and is given a role as a Mall Santa for the store by the bears.
  • Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?: Carmen Sandiego is a rogue ACME agent who became the world's most successful master thief just for the sake of the thrills. To this end, Carmen stole famous landmarks and objects across the world, leaving difficult-to-follow clues and patterns to challenge herself with cunning pursuers. Having a strict moral code, Carmen only steals her items for the thrill, later returning them, and despises violent measures. Treating her thievery hobby and escapades more like a mental game than anything else and remaining affable to her companions and her enemies alike, Carmen is one of the most worthy adversaries for the ACME agents and the players in the show.
  • The Wrong Trousers: Feathers McGraw is a penguin who imitates a chicken while committing robberies. Taking advantage of Wallace’s hospitality, Feathers drives Gromit out of the house by making him think he’s being replaced and then traps Wallace in the reprogrammed electronic trousers that Wallace gave Gromit as a birthday present and runs him wild through the town. Feathers then uses Wallace to steal a diamond from the museum and when confronted by Gromit with a rolling pin, pulls a gun on Gromit. Feathers then narrowly escapes during a harrowing pursuit on a train set while nearly outsmarting Gromit at every turn.
  • Xiaolin Showdown:
    • Once the greatest hero to have ever lived, Chase Young was tempted into drinking the Lao Mang Lone soup which gave him eternal youth in exchange for corrupting his soul to the Heylin side. Betraying his benefactor, Chase spent 1500 years honing his own skills while maintaining his youthful appearance. Seeking world domination, Chase saw interest in Omi, whom he constantly helped deal with common threats earning the young monk's trust. Chase eventually tricked Omi into defecting to his side by trapping Master Fung into the Ying-Yang world, forcing Omi to use the Ying Yo-Yo to rescue him, unaware that his good chi will be left behind. Even after Omi reverts back to the Xiaolin side, Chase took advantage of Omi's adherence by showing him a vision of his Heylin self pledging his loyalty to him, causing Omi to reluctantly remain by his side. When the Xiaolin monks defeats him in a showdown, Chase accepts his loss and releases Omi from his grasp. A ruthless, self-serving yet charismatic and honorable Heylin warlord, Chase Young stood out as one of the Xiaolin's greatest foe, never being truly defeated in the end despite suffering numerous setbacks.
    • "The Black Vipers": Jesse Bailey is Clay's younger sister and leader of the titular Black Vipers. Holding resentment towards Clay for being the favored child, Jesse researches the Shen Gong Wu on her own, intending to use them to force Clay into a Xiaolin Showdown. After imprisoning the monks, Jesse allows them to escape while tailing them to the newly revealed Sphere of Yun. When Jack Spicer takes over her biker gang, Jesse and Jack trick the monks into revealing all their Shen Gong Wu, only for Jesse to betray Jack and steal them all for herself while still getting back control over her gang. After finally defeating Clay, Jesse realizes how much she cared for her older brother, and willingly sends nearly all the stolen Shen Gong Wu back to the monks, though keeping the Wings of Tinabi for herself.

Top