History Main / PredecessorVillain

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' has a few.
** Pridak, leader of the Barraki, is not the most important villain in Bionicle by any stretch, only truly being relevant during the Mahri Nui arc. [[spoiler: But his bid to overthrow Mata Nui inspired Makuta, the series's true BigBad, to make his own attempt, which was far more successful and serves as the primary conflict of the series. In addition, both are [[SatanicArchetype Satanic Archetypes]]]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': As we find out in his StartOfDarkness episode "[[Recap/AmphibiaS3E25TheCoreAndTheKing The Core & The King]]", [[Characters/AmphibiaKingAndrias King Andrias]] was shaped into the EvilOverlord he is in the present by the [[AbusiveParents emotional abuse he got from his father]]. And then there's also the matter of all their ancestors before them, who were all a bunch of [[PlanetLooters planet-looting]] {{Multiversal Conqueror}}s who lay the groundwork for everything else that happens in the series.

* ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' has one in the form of Succoria, the former [[TheEmperor Emperor]] of the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Tainted Coil]] before [[BigBad Doviculus]] took her place. Bits of lore found throughout the game reveal that some time after the fall of the original [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized Black Tear Rebellion]], Succoria sought to learn the secrets of the [[OurTitansAreDifferent Titans]] in order to secure the Tainted Coil's dominance over humanity and the world for all eternity, and performed a ritual that allowed her to [[TimeTravel travel to the future]] with some of her slaves to do just that. [[spoiler:Her plan hit an unforeseen snag, however, when upon reaching the future she learned that it was not the demons but humanity that ruled the world, and that the demons had faded from memory a long time ago. [[DespairEventHorizon Horrified and broken]], Succoria gave up and released her slaves, unwilling to return to her time knowing that her people were doomed (which allowed Doviculus to take over in her absence). [[GreaterScopeParagon Riggnarok]], the former leader of the Black Tear Rebellion who had snuck among Succoria's slaves with the intent to slay her, [[SympathyForTheDevil took pity on Succoria]] and stayed with her in the future, where the two eventually [[InterspeciesRomance fell in love with each other]] since they were no longer bound by the taboos and prejudices of their time. Their romance culminated in the birth of [[TheHero Eddie]], the game's protagonist, and Succoria's DeathByChildbirth. Years later, Eddie would become a [[TheRoadie roadie]] and accidentally activate Succoria's Idol of Ormagöden during a concert, which sent him back to the past to finish what his father started. Rather [[{{irony}} ironically]], [[StableTimeLoop it was Succoria giving in to despair that sealed the Tainted Coil's defeat.]]]]
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'''s BigBad Demise is not only the forerunner to [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda the series]]' main BigBad Ganon but [[spoiler:he actually created Ganon in order to curse Link's ancestral line for all eternity as revenge for defeating him.]] What [[WasOnceAMan becomes of Ganon]] by ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' could be seen as the essence of that promise.
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'':
** Mandalore and Exar Kun are responsible for separate wars that both led up to the Jedi Civil War. Revan is the one who started the war in the first place, but in his case [[spoiler:he's still around, but no longer on the side of the Sith.]]
** This is the game that introduces Ajunta Pall, the founder of the Sith Order and thus the cause behind the vast majority of ''Franchise/StarWars'' media. However many of his successors are ''much'' worse than he was, and it's possible within the game to help his tortured spirit find redemption.
** [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords The sequel]] has the role thrown onto Malak, who's long dead while his subordinates continue the war.

* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' has Pachacamac, Tikal's father and the chief of the Knuckles Tribe 4,000 years ago, who led an attack on the Altar of the Emeralds to steal the seven Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emeralds. His soldiers trampled the Chao living there, angering the Emeralds' guardian Chaos, who wiped out the entire clan. Tikal was forced to [[SealedEvilInACan seal Chaos and herself in the Master Emerald]] until Eggman freed him millennia later.
* Professor Gerald Robotnik, who was the BigBad of ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' and grandfather to Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik. Eggman looked up to him as his role model and was the reason Eggman went into robotics in the first place, considering Gerald a more competent roboticist than himself. While already dead for 50 years by the start of the game, his [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning plan to posthumously kill off humanity]] was so twisted and so difficult to stop that Eggman, in a major case of EvenEvilHasStandards, formed an EnemyMine with Sonic in order to avert the catastrophe. Eggman has since seen him as a BrokenPedestal.
* Dr. Wily from the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series is responsible for the creation of the Maverick Virus and hence the BigBad Sigma in the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series and all the events that come after, extending into the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' series. He does appear to [[spoiler:Zero, the original carrier of the virus]] in a flashback and is officially given credit in ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX5 X5]]''.
* Lumine in ''Videogame/MegaManX8'' picks up right after Sigma is defeated, who himself was who carried and became a form of the virus created by Dr. Wily.
* Walter Bernhard from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence'' is almost directly a prototype of the series's portrayal of [[Characters/CastlevaniaDracula Dracula]]. They're both vampiric [[EvilOverlord Evil Overlords]] with similar [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver fashion senses]], Walter rules a castle that may be the same one Dracula would later take, his magical powers and [[OneWingedAngel demon form]] resemble clumsier versions of Dracula's signature abilities, and [[spoiler: at the end of the game, Dracula [[YourSoulIsMine steals his soul]] as the final ingredient needed to make himself [[TheAntichrist the true Dark Lord]].]]
* The Bernhard family in the ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow''. They are long gone in Gabriel's time, but their evil still haunts the world. One of their last acts, summoning the Forgotten One, is the sole reason Dracula even exists in the first place [[spoiler:since Gabriel had to sacrifice his very humanity and steal its power to defeat it.]]
* In ''[[VideoGame/MightAndMagic Might & Magic X: Legacy]]'', a war started by the now-dead FallenAngel Uriel has caused most of the crisis currently happening in the Agyn Peninsula. (Uriel appeared in person previously in the ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' line.)
* The ''VideoGame/MassEffect3[=:=] Leviathan'' DLC reveals [[spoiler:the Leviathans, an ancient race who created an "Intelligence" to solve their problem of synthetics wiping out organic races; the Intelligence in turn created the Reapers, who even [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters "reaped" the Leviathans themselves]]]].
* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' the BigBad is Princess Shroob, the Shroob leader. [[spoiler:Except she's only been the main leader since the beginning of the game; Peach sealed her older sister away offscreen at the very beginning of the game.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', [[spoiler:The Butcher]] is the primary reason [[spoiler:his son, Coach Oleander]] is as screwed up as he is, and why he embraces the whole TakeOverTheWorld schtick. In a weird variation, defeating the former (or rather [[spoiler:a mental projection of him]]) is key to defeating the latter.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has Sargeras, the setting's version of TheDevil. While the games feature Archimonde and Kil'jaeden as frequent {{Big Bad}}s, Sargeras is the one, who originally formed the [[TheLegionsOfHell Burning Legion]] after his [[FallenAngel fall]]. He was far more powerful and dangerous than either of his lieutenants. In fact, everything they do is in his name. 10,000 years before the events of the games, Sargeras nearly managed to come through to Azeroth, which would have allowed him to destroy the entire world. At that point, there'd be no stopping him. Luckily, the portal was closed before he made it through (and because of the HeroicSacrifice of one brave Orc). As a matter of fact, [[spoiler:Sargeras is the one, who engineered the Horde's coming to Azeroth by possessing Medivh and sending Kil'jaeden to trick the Orcs (Kil'jaeden also had his own reasons, namely to use the Orcs to slaughter the Draenei)]].
* ''VideoGame/AceCombat'':
** Belka had fought and lost a war against Osea and Yuktobonia in ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar''. In revenge, a group of Belkans called ‘The Grey Men’, had manipulated events behind the scenes to make Osea and Yuktobonia go to war on one another in ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar''.
** In ''VideoGame/AceCombat2'', and its remake ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizonLegacy'', the rebels are supported by an ArtificialIntelligence called the Zone Of Endless. After Scarface One shoots it down, the program disappears for a time before returning in ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'' and is given to Erusea, who uses it to control an army of drones. The [=AI=] is gradually improved upon throughout the war, [[spoiler: and eventually results in [[FinalBoss Hugin and Munin]], [[SuperiorSuccessor who are far more intelligent]] than the original Zone of Endless, [[AIIsACrapshoot and try to spark a]] RobotWar against humanity.]]
*** It is also heavily implied that the Zone of Endless, [[spoiler: and Hugin and Munin are the predecessors to [[PlayerCharacter Nemo]], who is revealed to also be an ArtificialIntelligence in ''[[VideoGame/AceCombat3Electrosphere Electrosphere’s]]'' OmegaEnding.]]
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil0'' introduces us to [[spoiler: James Marcus. Or, rather, his Queen Leech taking on his form.]] His revenge plot against Umbrella was the direct cause of the mansion outbreak from the first ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'', though he dies before that game properly begins.
* Archibald Henderson serves as this to both ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' and ''VideoGame/ThePark.'' A powerful sorcerer trained by the Illuminati, his insane obsession with "protecting" his family resulted in a reign of terror over Solomon Island that left the locals too scared to even build on his land over fifty years after his death. It's his experiments on the island's hidden power that paves the way for Nathaniel Winter to build the AmusementParkOfDoom on Henderson's land [[spoiler: and transforming into the Bogeyman that is the BigBad of ''The Park'' and an early menace in ''The Secret World'']].
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'' has the demon lord Calasmos, who fought the protagonist's predecessor, Erdwin, and [[spoiler: corrupted Erdwin's wizard friend into the contemporary BigBad]].
* The ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' series:
** Arkham is one half of the BigBadDuumvirate in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' and a human who wants the power of the demon Sparda for himself. While ''3'' is the third game in the series, it is [[NonLinearSequel chronologically]] the first time Dante fights an evil human who seeks to gain demonic powers.
** The ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' prequel novel, ''Before The Nightmare'', reveals that [[MadScientist Agnus]], one of the villains from [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 the fourth game]], once worked for Uroboros. Uroboros was an international enterprise run by Arius, the villain from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'', who was able to create artificial demons. This makes Arius a predecessor villain to Agnus and by extension, [[CorruptChurch the Order of the Sword]] as Arius was tasked by Sanctus, the main villain of ''4'', to do the same thing. On a meta-level, Arius can be considered a predecessor villain to Arkham and Sanctus by being the first human villain with a goal of becoming a demon in the series. In fact, Arius' role in the game would be repeated beat-for-beat by ''3'' and ''4''; defeating Dante's main ally in the game, attaining demonic power, being defeated by Dante, and then killed off permanently by the co-protagonist.
** In ''Devil May Cry 5'', the main villain Urizen [[spoiler:a.k.a. Vergil's demonic half made flesh]] consumes a fruit from the [[WorldTree demon tree]] Qliphoth in order to become the all-powerful ruler of the demon world. According to Trish, this was how Mundus, the main villain from the [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 first game]], became the ruler of the demon world. Supplementary material of the game extended it further; there was a previous [[MaouTheDemonKing Demon King]] before Mundus ate the Qliphoth fruit in order to take his position by force.

* Although [[TheCaligula "Mad King"]] Aerys II Targaryen was overthrown and killed fifteen years before the events of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', many characters who lived through the rebellion, such as Ned Stark and Jaime Lannister, are still haunted by memories of him. [[spoiler:When [[RoyalBrat Joffrey]] becomes king following the death of Robert Baratheon and reveals himself as one of the worst rulers in the history of Westeros, it doesn't take long before some disturbing similarities between him and Aerys become apparent.]]

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Long before [[UberMensch Sosuke Aizen]] engineered a conspiracy against the Seireitei and defected from the Gotei 13, [[AGodIAm Yhwach]] - the Quincy King - conquered the human world and waged a bloody war of annihilation against both Hollows and Soul Reapers alike. His rivalry with Yamamoto was said to be legendary, and Yhwach's defeat eventually led to genocide against the Quincy. Yhwach's cruelty and brutality were so extreme, even Yamamoto and Unohana, both said to be little more than thugs and mass murderers, willingly TookALevelInKindness to avoid such a catastrophic war ever again. But there's a catch: we never find out about this until after Yhwach himself is introduced in the main story. This means Yhwach is the PredecessorVillain, the ultimate BigBad of the story, ''and'' the FinalBoss of the series.

May be used to reinforce a theme of a ViciousCycle, or just to give the current BigBad a well of secrets and power to mine. Sometimes, particularly if the current Big Bad is the EvilCounterpart to TheHero, then the PredecessorVillain will be the same to PrecursorHeroes--and may have been ''their'' ArchEnemy at one point.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' and its relentless GambitPileup makes it difficult to work out who's who at first glance, but ultimately the ''true'' Predecessor Villain turns out to be [[spoiler:Princess Kaguya Otsutsuki, the PhysicalGod ancestor of the Uchiha and Senju clans]], who gave the BigBad his powers and who he (unknowingly) seeks to resurrect with his plan.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' games have Emperor Galle of the Loptrian Empire. On an expedition to a different continent (implied to be [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Archanaea]]), he met the Dark Dragon Loptous and made a DealWithTheDevil with him, giving him the power to conquer his home continent upon his return. His empire endured for several generations before being overthrown by the Twelve Crusaders, who would then found the current noble houses of Jugdral, and while his own bloodline has almost completely died out by the time of the games, the revival of his empire is what BigBad Manfroy is working toward.

* ''VideoGame/AceCombat''

** [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraZaheer Zaheer]], ArcVillain of season 3, plays this role to [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraKuvira Kuvira]], as it was his [[BombThrowingAnarchists anarchist revolution]] that allowed her to rise to power. He is very upset with this, however, as it was the exact opposite of what he wanted.

** Fire Lord Sozin was the one who began the war of conquest that dominates the series, but by the time the series begins, he's long dead of old age, and the Fire Nation is ruled by his grandson, Fire Lord Ozai.

** Zaheer, ArcVillain of season 3, plays this role to Kuvira, as it was his [[BombThrowingAnarchists anarchist revolution]] that allowed her to rise to power. He is very upset with this, however, as it was the exact opposite of what he wanted.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has Wainwright Montgomery Burns, grandfather of Mr. Charles Montgomery Burns. He's the reason why Mr. Burns became a malicious and greedy old man since Wainwright took Charles away from his parents and raised him to be selfish.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' reveals Nathaniel Northwest in "Northwest Mansion Mystery", responsible for why the Northwest family are [[TheSociopath uncaring and unloving]], to both [[AbusiveParents their daughter Pacifica]] and the people of Gravity Falls. As revealed in Season One, his being the founder of Gravity Falls was a lie and was given money for the cover-up. [[spoiler:He abused his wealth by having the townsfolk build him his mansion in exchange for letting them be invited to his annual parties, a promise he gleefully refused to keep. This act is also what caused the MonsterOfTheWeek, a Lumberjack ghost, to threaten the lives of his successors]]. His cruel and uncaring ways were passed down for generations, with Pacifica's parents being the current heads of the family and emotionally abusing their daughter into following their legacy.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'': The Demon Shredder was the inspiration for Ch'rell, the Utrom Shredder, and his reign resulted in the creation of the Ninja Tribunal, whose servant adopted Hamato Yoshi, the Utrom Shredder's eventual victim, which in turn led to Yoshi's pet rat Splinter and four baby turtles to being mutated. Five of his minions were enslaved by the Utrom Shredder, but once he is defeated and they break free, they start reviving their master and he assumes BigBad status for season 5.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'': Shredder is killed off at the end of Season 4, but he serves as this for the first arc of Season 5. The Foot Cultists who worship him are revealed to be pseudo-clones of him who were mutated by coming into contact with Shredder's mutagen-tainted blood, which was spilled during his battle with Splinter, and Tiger Claw leads said cultists and seeks to resurrect him using [[DragonsAreDemonic Kavaxas]]' power.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': As we find out in his StartOfDarkness chapter, Andrias was shaped into the EvilOverlord he is in the present by the [[AbusiveParents emotional abuse he got from his father]]. And then there's also the matter of all their ancestors before them, who were all a bunch of [[PlanetLooters planet-looting]] {{Multiversal Conqueror}}s who lay the groundwork for everything else that happens in the series.

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Morgoth has a short summary of whom he was and he did in the introduction made by Galadriel. He was barely defeated in the War of Wrath, and Sauron took his place after, but following his own agenda of reshaping Middle-earth.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': BigBad, Scar, becomes this in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', with the BigBad wanting to avenge him.

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Literature/DeadBeat'', the necromancer Kemmler. He orchestrated World War I and caused absolute havoc during World War 2, and he was such a horrible person that even usually amoral entities like Bob and [[TheFairFolk Queen Mab]] unironically call him a [[CompleteMonster monster]]. It took the entire White Council ''[[RasputinianDeath seven tries]]'' to make his death stick, but stick it eventually did, and now his influence is felt mostly through his surviving students.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' and its relentless GambitPileup makes it difficult to work out who's who at first glance, but ultimately the ''true'' Predecessor Villain turns out to be [[spoiler:Princess Kaguya Otsutsuki, the PhysicalGod ancestor of the Uchiha and Senju clans]], who gave the BigBad his powers and who he (unknowingly) seeks to resurrect with his plan.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Long before [[UberMensch Sosuke Aizen]] engineered a conspiracy against the Seireitei and defected from the Gotei 13, [[AGodIAm Yhwach]] - the Quincy King - conquered the human world and waged a bloody war of annihilation against both Hollows and Soul Reapers alike. His rivalry with Yamamoto was said to be legendary, and Yhwach's defeat eventually led to genocide against the Quincy. Yhwach's cruelty and brutality were so extreme, even Yamamoto and Unohana, both said to be little more than thugs and mass murderers, willingly TookALevelInKindness to avoid such a catastrophic war ever again. But there's a catch: we never find out about this until after Yhwach himself is introduced in the main story. This means Yhwach is the PredecessorVillain, the ultimate BigBad of the story, ''and'' the FinalBoss of the series.

* In a case of where the villain is still alive, in the ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' episode "Bohemian Rhapsody," a series of warp gate bombings provoke the ''Bebop'' crew to find the man responsible for those incidents. As it turns out, he had already set the plan in motion 50 years prior and has since [[spoiler:grown senile, having no knowledge or recollection whatsoever of this plan. All that he knows how to do anymore is [[ChessMotifs play chess]].]]

** While it is the third game in the main series, ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' is [[NonLinearSequel chronologically]] the first time Dante fights an evil human who seeks to gain demonic powers, Arkham.
** The ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' prequel novel, ''Before The Nightmare'', reveals that [[MadScientist Agnus]], one of the villains from [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 the fourth game]], once worked for Uroboros. Uroboros was an international enterprise run by Arius, the villain from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'' who was able to create artificial demons. This makes Arius a predecessor villain to Agnus and by extension, [[CorruptChurch the Order of the Sword]] as Arius was tasked by Sanctus, the main villain of ''4'' to do the same thing. On a meta-level, Arius can be considered a predecessor villain to Arkham and Sanctus by being the first human villain in the series with designs on becoming powerful by becoming a demon themselves. In fact, Arius' role in the game would be repeated beat-for-beat by ''3'' and ''4''; defeating Dante's main ally in the game, attaining demonic power, being defeated by Dante, and then killed off permanently by the co-protagonist.
** In ''[=DMC5=]'', the main villain Urizen [[spoiler:a.k.a. Vergil's demonic half made flesh]] consumes a fruit from the [[WorldTree demon tree]] Qliphoth in order to become the all-powerful ruler of the demon world. According to Trish, this was how Mundus, the main villain from the [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 first game]], became the ruler of the demon world. Supplementary material of the game extended it further; there was a previous [[MaouTheDemonKing Demon King]] before Mundus had to eat the Qliphoth fruit in order to take his position by force.

* ''Series/CobraKai'': The third season features a few flashbacks to [[BigBad John Kreese]]'s time in the Army during the Vietnam War. His commanding officer, Captain Turner, was a ruthless BadBoss whose [[TheSocialDarwinist teachings]] (and [[BadassInCharge training in Tang Soo Do]]) turned Kreese from a kindly waiter to the monstrous asshole he was by the time of ''Film/TheKarateKid1984'', and still is by TheNewTens.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' has Enuo, a wizard who used the power of the Void to wreak havoc until he was defeated by twelve heroes. To prevent another from taking the power of the Void, [[spoiler:the world's crystals were split in two, creating the Interdimensional Rift, and the power of the Void was sealed within]]. The re-releases on the GBA and mobile platforms [[spoiler:let you fight him as a BonusBoss]].