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Five Bad Band
Heroes aren't the only ones who enjoy bonding in groups of five. Villains do it, too! This isn't necessarily done to mirror the heroes or provide any sort of advantage; in fact, many Five Bad Bands are in place even before the Five Man Band is. Note also that Five Bad Bands are more fluid than Five Person Bands, open to more roster changes, and there may not even be five of them, though there are never fewer than four.

The roles in a Five Bad Band are:

  • The Big Bad - Counterpart to The Hero. Large and in charge, with an inner circle of mooks to do their bidding and often also an Evil Army as well. Often will be more difficult to identify early on because of the very nature of a Bigbad. Occasionally pulls double duty as the Evil Genius.
  • The Dragon - Counterpart to The Lancer. Usually more physical than their boss, and commonly the most trusted member of the bunch. Good for leading Mooks, and sometimes the most 'classy' looking. Much like The Lancer, in the absence of a Sixth Column, The Dragon is the most likely to betray the team (especially if they're The Starscream), and may bear their share of resentment towards the Big Bad. More likely to be The Hero's Evil Counterpart or Worthy Opponent within the context of the story than the Big Bad is.
  • The Evil Genius - Counterpart to The Smart Guy. Operates the weapons or acts as Mission Control for the others. Often essential to the evil scheme; their screwing up could mean the entire thing falls apart. Most likely of this group to be Bad Boss'd for this very reason. Ironically, being less manically evil doesn't make them a better candidate for a Heel Face Turn, as they are often just completely amoral. More prone to insanity or other quirks then others. Very likely to be a Mad Scientist.
  • The Brute - Counterpart to The Big Guy. If the Dragon doesn't lead the Mooks, they will. While likely not better in a fight then The Dragon, is often the most physically powerful and often the most sadistic. Likes to fight and get his hand dirty, and is usually second best to the Dragon at doing so. Oh, and they are big, and sometimes (but not always) pretty dim.
  • The Dark Chick - The counterpart to The Chick, they can vary quite significantly, and is chiefly defined by looking or acting wildly different from the other members, adding color to the group. It's this member that stands out for one reason or another, and may be considered the "freak" or loose cannon of the group, particularly by her own members. If in an optimistic setting, she will be the one most likely to be redeemed and not die horrifically. If not, then she becomes a one part Dominatrix and one part Yandere for The Hero (if male) if she holds any type of romantic interest towards him at all. Or just one or the latter.

Also frequent is for the group to get a Sixth Ranger or Sixth Column of its own. Sometimes there'll even be a more classical Lancer. Just like with the Five Man Band, the former can either be a Face Heel Turn or just simply a third entity that eventually joins them and the latter is a member that undergoes a Heel Face Turn (although the member doesn't necessarily have to join the heroes opposing the organization). It's extraordinarily rare for a Five Bad Band to get a Team Pet, though. However, when they do, it will be out on the field of battle trying to ream redshirts of the team to death or is seen consuming mooks like treats.

In general this team is the ultimate enemy to defeat, being equal and opposite their enemies. However, if they are a group sent out by the Big Bad and have a leadership structure but are nothing more then a dangerous group to cause trouble then it is a Quirky Miniboss Squad. A Five Bad Team can double as The Psycho Rangers, the collective Evil Twin of a Five Man Band.

When adding entries to this list, please follow the order as listed above. Also remember, the individual character tropes are very specific character types. It is tempting to match one or two possible characters and then shove other characters in a Quirky Miniboss Squad to fit this trope. Like the Five Man Band, they have a team dynamic, not just vague personality quirks.

Similarly, neither all evil Five Person Bands nor all groups of The Psycho Rangers are necessarily Five Bad Bands.

Examples:

Comic Books

Fan Fiction
  • The Frightful Four 2099 seen in Fantastic Four 2099UGR not only plays the trope straight, but plays with it as well. For starters, they can't stand being called the Frightful Four (even though that nickname is applied to them), as their goal is to usurp the team name Fantastic Four from the current bearers of that name (four clones of the original FF team). Second, they're all Mad Scientists, so they all share the Evil Genius trope.
    • The Big Bad - Ian "Fantastic" Hyde, whose speed and strength finally match the size of his ego.
    • The Dragon - Jesse "Invisible" Stamp. He starts off as a shy introvert who has difficulty with eye contact. Once he develops the power to edit himself from the perceptions of other people and electronic equipment, his confidence and sadism grow (now that nobody's looking at him). His rivalry with Ian Hyde (especially over the affections of Michaela Bailey) grows as well, to the point that he openly challenges Hyde for leadership.
    • The Dark Chick - Michaela "Thing" Bailey. She shapeshifts different parts of her body into that of different members of the animal kingdom, but her inability to revert to human form causes her to consider herself the Freak of the group. Her relationship with Ian Hyde becomes a focal point of his rivalry with Jesse Stamp.
    • The Evil Genius - Everyone on the team, as they're rogue geneticists who have been dealing under-the-table with organleggers for years. But Ian Hyde is convinced he's far more brilliant than the rest of them.
    • The Brute - Christi "Torch" Wood. This has nothing to do with her physical stature (she's petite), and everything to do with her ability to cause intense agony in the minds of others. She even uses this ability on members of her own team when they annoy her, but for the most part she's content to be a team player.

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