History BigBad / AnimeAndManga

* The closest thing PuellaMagiMadokaMagica has to a main villain is adorable but duplicitous and secretive little WeaselMascot Kyubey, who doesn't tell the {{Magical Girl}}s he creates certain key facts, including that [[spoiler:Magical Girls are essentially liches, or that every Magical Girl is doomed to become a [[EldritchAbomination Witch]] like the ones they fight]], and doesn't care one whit about humans [[spoiler:as long as the universe itself continues to exist]]. It's also arguable that the ''real'' BigBad is [[spoiler:TheCorruption that's responsible for Magical Girls becoming Witches, which Madoka eventually wishes out of existence]].

* The closest thing PuellaMagiMadokaMagica has to a main villain is adorable but duplicitous and secretive little WeaselMascot Kyubey, who doesn't tell the {{Magical Girl}}s he creates certain key facts, including that [[spoiler:Magical Girls are essentially liches, or that every Magical Girl is doomed to become a [[EldritchAbomination Witch]] like the ones they fight]]. It's also arguable that the ''real'' BigBad is [[spoiler:TheCorruption that's largely responsible for the latter, which Madoka eventually wishes out of existence]].

* ''[=~Ranma ½~=]'' has Pantyhose Taro, Herb, and Saffron.
* Akio Ohtori of ''RevolutionaryGirlUtena''. He [[spoiler: loses Anthy]] but it could be rightly said that otherwise, he [[KarmaHoudini got away with everything]], including being responsible for probably hundreds of deaths, if not thousands.
* ''RurouniKenshin'' had Makoto Shishio and Enishi Yukishiro.
* Most action anime tend to revolve around this concept, as do most ongoing MagicalGirlWarrior series. ''SailorMoon'', for example, has:
** First season: Queen Metaria
** ''Sailor Moon R'': Ail and En in Part One, and [[spoiler:Death Phantom]] in Part Two
** ''Sailor Moon S'': [[spoiler: Pharaoh 90]]
** ''Sailor Moon [=SuperS=]'': Queen Nehellenia
** ''Sailor Stars'': Chaos (the manga states that Chaos is the source of all other Big Bads)
*** ''CodenameSailorV'', the manga that began before ''SailorMoon'' but that ended after it has Danburite as its Big Bad. Though in the scheme of things he's a small fry, being an underling of one of the members of the very first QuirkyMinibossSquad.

*** As you can imagine, given Bleach's use of blending in different tropes and archetypes together for its characters, all this has consequently caused [[BaseBreaker fans to be split on]] criticizing him as [[InvincibleVillain uninteresting or one-dimensional]], [[OrcusOnHisThrone for barely involving himself in anything personally]] or [[VillainSue being TOO powerful and intelligent, with plans and explanations so convoluted or retconnish that they're bordering on ridiculous]], [[CompleteMonster eagerly anticipating and cheering for his downfall]], [[MagnificentBastard or praising him for his memorable lines]], [[EvilIsStylish stylish white-colored uniform]], [[EvilIsSexy good looks]], [[EvilIsCool calm and confident demeanor, impressive intellect]] and/or [[BadAss overwhelming power]], [[DracoInLeatherPants sometimes taking it to extreme levels]]. As for the last big bad tropes, Aizen defected from the law-abiding Soul Society and organized his own army of murderers and cannibals to deal with their best fighters, so he could be counted as a [[DiabolicalMastermind scheming criminal mastermind]], and although there are plenty of characters that have something personal against him, he never earned enough of the main character's hatred to take his place as Ichigo's [[ArchEnemy primary antagonist]].
* In regards to non-manga material for ''{{Bleach}}'', the FillerVillain Big Bads are [[OmnicidalManiac Jin Kariya]] for the Bount arc, [[TheManBehindTheMan Shusuke Amagai]] and [[AristocratsAreEvil Gyokaku Kumoi]] for the New Captain arc, and most recently, [[AlasPoorVillain Muramasa]] with [[SmugSnake Kouga Kuchiki]] for the Zanpakuto Unknown Tales arc.
** For the movie villains, there are [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Ganryu Ryodoji]] for ''Memories of Nobody'' (first movie), [[RivalTurnedEvil Sojiro Kusaka]] for ''The Diamond-Dust Rebellion'' (second movie), [[ClingyJealousGirl Homura]] [[BigBadDuumvirate with]] [[TheStoic Shizuku]] for ''Fade to Black'' (third film), and finally, [[EvilisHammy Shuren]] for ''Hell Chapter'' (fourth movie).

* ''{{MW}}'' has Michio Yuki, who was the inpiration for [[{{Anime/Monster}} Johan.]]

* ''MahouSenseiNegima'' has Fate, [[spoiler:who may or may not be the biggest threat.]]

** Arguably, [[spoiler:Lelouch]] becomes this in the last 5 episodes of season 2 where he [[spoiler:becomes an EvilOverlord bent on dictatorship.]]

** YourMileageMayVary, but the ''true'' big bad of the series? The concepts of evil and injustice themselves. To the point that when Lelouch [[spoiler:begins to embody these two things by becoming the most brutal dictator in the history of the world, he is murdered by Suzaku... which [[XanatosRoulette was his plan to defeat the world's evil all along]].]]

* For most of ''{{Bleach}}'', the BigBad was TheChessmaster Sosuke Aizen. That particular [[TheReveal Reveal]] came as a WhamEpisode. In fact, believe it or not, Aizen wasn't originally supposed to be a villain, [[WordOfGod according to]] the author, Tite Kubo himself - such would happen only until ''after'' his "death", which makes [[TheReveal the subsequent revelation]] all the more [[MostTriumphantExample memorable]]. It seems, however, that [[spoiler: Ichigo and Urahara have defeated him for good, leaving the slot open.]]

* ''{{MW}}'' has Michio Yuki, who was the inpiration for [[{{Monster}} Johan.]]

* Johan Liebert, the ''{{Monster}}''.

** ''GundamZZ'': Haman Kahn... however, the other Big Bad of the series is arguably a subversion of this trope as Glemy Toto started off as a named [[EliteMooks Elite Mook]] who also moonlighted as a ButtMonkey.

*** ''PokemonTheFirstMovie'': Mewtwo(the only Pokemon movie villain to be a Pokemon himself)

*** ''PokemonRangerandtheTempleoftheSea'': [[ADisgracetoBlackbeard The Phantom]]
*** ''PokemonGiratinaandtheSkyWarrior'': [[MyHeroZero Zero]]
*** ''PokemonArceusandtheJewelofLife'': [[strike: [[GodisEvil Arceus]]]] [[spoiler: Marcus]]
*** ''PokemonZoroarkMasterofIllusions'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Kodai]]

** Fishman Island arc: Appears to be a BigBadDuumvirate of [[spoiler:Vander Decken]] and [[spoiler:Hodi Jones]].

*** There are many hints (or red herrings) as to who the Big Bad for the entire series will be, the most likely suspects being [[spoiler:The World Government]] and [[spoiler:Blackbeard]].

*** ''PokemonTheFirstMovie'': Mewtwo(the Pokemon movie villain to be a Pokemon himself)

** All the Pokemon movies except the [[PokemonDestinyDeoxys seventh]], [[PokemonLucarioandtheMysteryofMew eighth]], and [[PokemonTheRiseofDarkrai tenth] have a (usually a human) Big Bad.

** All the Pokemon movies except the seventh, eighth, tenth, and thirteenth have a Big Bad.
*** ''PokemonTheFirstMovie'': Mewtwo
*** ''{{Pokemon2000}}'': Lawrence III
*** ''{{Pokemon3}}'': The Unown
*** ''Pokemon4Ever'': The Iron Masked Marauder
*** ''PokemonHeroes'': PunnyName Annie and Oakley
*** ''PokemonJirachiWishMaker'': Butler
*** ''PokemonRangerandtheTempleoftheSea'': The Phantom
*** ''PokemonGiratinaandtheSkyWarrior'': Zero
*** ''PokemonArceusandtheJewelofLife'': [[strike: Arceus]] [[spoiler: Marcus]]

*** ''Pokemon2000'': Lawrence III
*** ''Pokemon3'': The Unown

*** ''PokemonTheMovie2000'': Lawrence III
*** ''PokemonTheMovie3'': The Unown

** Arguably, the main character of the series becomes this in the last 5 episodes of season 2 where he becomes an EvilOverlord bent on dictatorship.

*** [[spoiler: Well, [[ClippedWingAngel "a more powerful form"]].]]
** ''Tamers'' has first had Zhuqiaomon, and after this the D-Reaper
** ''Frontier'' have Lucemon.
** ''X-Evolution'' had Yggdrasil.
** ''Savers/Data Squad'' had Akihiro Kurata and finally [[spoiler:Yggdrasil (again)]].
** ''Xros Wars'' has Baguramon.

** C'mon Digimon Shin and Desmon
** ''Digimon V-Tamer'' has Daemon

** ''CharsCounterattack'': Char Aznable, of course.

** ''GundamSeed'': [[spoiler: Rau Le Creuset]].
** ''GundamSeedDestiny'': YourMileageMayVary on this one, as it's either WellIntentionedExtremist Gilbert Durandal or CompleteMonster Lord Djibril.
** ''{{Gundam 00}}'': [[spoiler: Ribbons Almark]].

* The Claw from ''GunXSword'' [[spoiler: is a sweet old man,]] with a track record of crimes agains the protagonists as long as his artificial right arm. ''Every'' single bad thing in the series ultimately traces back to him.
* In ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', the BigBad is [[spoiler:nurse Miyo Takano, in what is a MilkmanConspiracy]].

** An even better example might be [[spoiler: the [[ManBehindTheMan Shikon]] [[ArtifactOfDoom no]] [[SealedEvilInACan Tama]], when it's revealed to have a mind of its own -- one that isn't very nice]].
*** [[spoiler: the [[ManBehindTheMan Shikon]] [[ArtifactOfDoom no]] [[SealedEvilInACan Tama]] is more like ''AppliedPhlebotinum'']]

* ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' likes using {{Mad Scientist}}s for their Big Bads, what with Precia Testarossa in season 1 and Jail Scaglietti in season 3. Meanwhile, the second season arguably [[RousseauWasRight lacked a proper Big Bad.]]

** [[spoiler: With Pain gone, his place as the biggest threat has been taken by Madara, and what's left of Orochimaru is still running around somewhere.]]

*** [[spoiler: Even then, Orochimaru and Madara are the ones that follow better the trope. Orochimaru was the one responsible for almost everything bad that happened before the time skip, including the invasion to Leaf village, the murder of the 3rd Hokage and convincing Sasuke of defecting to his side. After the time skip, Madara is revealed to be the source of all evil, given that he created the Akatsuki organization, sent the 9 tails to attack the Leaf and was partially responsible of the Uchiha massacre. If Sasuke ever raises as Big Bad it will more likely be a result of being a DragonAscendant.]]
*** [[spoiler: Kabuto has recently shown that he possesses something that is capable of shocking Madara, so needless to say we should be keeping our eyes on him. Despite this, he seems more interested in gaining vengeance on Sasuke than turning against Madara, and recent chapters are stressing Madara's influence over the backstory. Only time will tell how this plays out.]]

** Captain Morgan arc: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Captain Morgan, a dirty Navy official with an axe for an arm]].

** Captain Kuro arc: [[FourEyesZeroSoul Kuro of the Thousand Plans, a retired pirate who gets his crew back together for one last pillage]].
** Baratie arc: [[TheCombatPragmatist Sneak Attack Don Krieg, self-proclaimed "pirate admiral"]].

** Laboon arc: [[FragileSpeedster Mister Nine, an agent of Baroque Works. Eventually redeems himself in an apparent HeroicSacrifice]].

** Drum Island arc: [[AdiposeRex Wapol, the former king of Drum Island, attempting to reclaim his kingdom after previously abandoning it when the Black Beard Pirates attacked]].

** Skypeia arc: [[AGodAmI Enel. And how]].

** Thriller Bark arc: [[LivingShadow Gecko Moria]].

** Marineford arc: A tie between [[GeneralRipper Akainu]] and [[DarkIsEdgy Blackbeard]], both of which committed the unforgivable taboo of [[spoiler:''[[NeverSayDie killing]] [[DisneyDeath someone]] in OnePiece'']].

* In the ''{{Pokemon}}'' manga, Giovanni (or Sakaki, if you're going by the Japanese) pulls this off just like his anime counterpart should be doing, and Mask of Ice possibly outdoes him by making so much trouble and just about killing the heroes tons of times.

*** For this reason, [[YourMileageMayVary it may be possible]] to consider CompleteMonster Medusa the BigBad instead. ''Much'' more proactive than Asura, considering she [[SealedEvilInACan woke him up]], and a more active presence in the series in general, especially in the manga.
**** *** Also worth considering that manga-verse Asura is an anthropomorphic personification of madness of some kind (one of eight, most likely 'terror'). Being the manifestation of something abstract, it'd make some kind of sense for him to only have an indirect effect on proceedings - most of his 'actions' have been what his prescence has caused others to do. The only direct one was when he fought fellow {{Eldritch Abomination}}, Lord Death.

** [[FillerArc Doma/Waking The Dragons(Season 4)]]:[[UltimateEvil The Great Leviathan]].

** Memory World (Season 5 part 2): Dark Bakura/ Zorc.

** Well, the Ending occurs when Shinji's Mind undergoes SOME kind of Transformation, so for Thematic Reasons, it's definitely his own self-esteem issues which is the core of the series. Everyone else is just there to further drive Shinji's Own Rampant Insanity further, even though from a literal standpoint, it's probably Keel Lorenz and Gendo Ikari holding equal positions.

** Season 1: Godwin starts off looking like one, but turns out to be more of a StealthMentor. In the second half of the season, Rudger seems to take over, until it turns out that [[spoiler:nope, it really was Godwin the whole time, with [[EldritchAbomination the King of the Underworld]] thrown in for good measure.]]
** Season 2: Currently, the [[BigBadDuumvirate Big Bad Triumvirate]] of Placido, Lucciano, and Jose hold the spot, with Placido as the [[ArchNemesis most direct opponent]] and Jose as the DiabolicalMastermind, but there have been hints to a higher power.
** Generally, it can be argued that the biggest bad of the original series is Bakura/Zorc, and the biggest bad of ''GX'' is the Light of Ruin (while not the final adversary, and in fact [[MissedMomentOfAwesome beaten offscreen]], it is Judai's ArchNemesis BecauseDestinySaysSo and responsible for two seasons worth of strife, the other two villains only getting one). The biggest bad of ''5D's'' has obviously not been revealed for sure yet, but it looks to be either [[spoiler:[[UltimateEvil the Yliaster Leader]]]] or [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination ZONE]].]]

*** Sensui is the unquestioned leader of the villains, but another BigBad could be [[spoiler:Elder Toguro, who, seeing himself as Sakyo's successor, gave Sensui the idea for the EvilPlan.]]

** however Keel Lorenz fits the bill