History DiscOneFinalBoss / LiveActionTV

** Jim Rice from ''South Pacific'' had all of the tropes required to be considered the main antagonist (including CardCarryingVillain, TheChessmaster, and ManipulativeBastard). However, the co-founder of the Savaii Allaince ended up being the third person voted off after the merge in a 7-3 vote and being the first person eliminated on Redemption Island since the merge.

** ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' follows a similar setup to Build, including the reveal that the terrorist organization the heroes thought they were stopping was actually a false flag operation. In this case, however, the terrorists were being backed by a predatory MegaCorp that takes center stage once their pawn has fallen.

** Happens twice in Season 2 alone; first the Anointed One, who takes charge after the Master's defeat, who himself is killed by Spike a few episodes in. Spike and Drusilla then cause the main trouble of mid-season two. Spike reappears crippled in episode 13, and in the very next episode, Buffy and Angel have their little moment of romance, which triggers Angel's CurseEscapeClause and results in the reemergence of Angelus, who becomes the BigBad for the rest of the season.
** Mr. Trick in the third season is more of a fake [[TheDragon Dragon]]. He joins up with [[BigBad The Mayor]] shortly after his arrival in Sunnydale, but is killed by Faith, who takes over his position with the Mayor.
** In season 4, Dr. Walsh and the Initiative filled the early villain role, though Dr. Walsh wasn't actually out to get Buffy until she became too much of a threat to the Initiative's plans. Then episode 13 comes along, in which Walsh betrays Buffy and is subsequently killed off by the true BigBad, Adam.
** In the 6th season, Warren and his two cohorts appear to be the BigBad for the season... right up until Warren shoots through a second-floor window while trying to kill Buffy, and the bullet meant for her kills Willow's girlfriend Tara instead. [[BewareTheNiceOnes This proves to be a]] ''[[BewareTheNiceOnes colossal]]'' [[BewareTheNiceOnes mistake]], as Willow snaps out, kills Warren, goes after his buddies, and then tries to destroy the world.
** In an example that doesn't follow the formula, in the first episode of the 5th season of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer,'' Dracula is introduced in such a way to make it appear that he'll be a major force in the season, especially with his ability to reform after being killed... then leaves Sunnydale forever at the end of the episode. The actual BigBad, Glory, shows up in episode 5. In a particularly elegant example of misdirection, ''the entire ad campaign'' that had been running in the weeks leading up to the premiere played up Dracula as the season's BigBad. This was really a cross-promotion with the ''Vlad'' miniseries on a neighboring station owned by the same conglomerate.
** In Season 4, after Adam (who is the only BigBad who is killed in an episode other than the finale) is defeated, the spirit of the first slayer acts as a threat for the final episode of the season, as she believes Buffy has too many shortcomings to do her job properly.

** Season 4 has a whole slew of these. It spends the first several episodes building up [[MadScientist Lucy Bauer]] as the main antagonist, in her quest to free herself of her ghost state no matter the cost. However, in Episode 6, she's [[DeaderThanDead destroyed by the Ghost Rider]], paving the way for [[spoiler: [[EvilAllAlong Eli Morrow]]]] to use her experiments for his [[AGodAmI own goals]]. He's soundly defeated several episodes later, at which point [[FaceHeelTurn Holden Radcliffe]] takes over as main villain for a while, before eventually being [[TheStarscream stabbed in the back]] by his [[AIIsACrapshoot robotic assistant]] AIDA, who takes his resources for her own ends, taking over as the FinalBoss of the season.

** Jeb becomes the main antagonist of the first half of Season 9, but [[spoiler: he and the Marauders are killed two episodes before the mid-season finale, allowing the Whisperers to take the spotlight.]]

** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Kuroto Dan[=/=]Kamen Rider Genm drives the plot for the first half of the show, gathering data so he can create the "ultimate game", Kamen Rider Chronicle, as part of his [[AGodAmI raging God complex]]. Then, as Chronicle nears completion, his {{Dragon}} Parado kills him and takes the game for himself. The heroes end up having to revive Kuroto because his programming skills are indispensable, and he becomes an uneasy ally and source of comic relief. Parado is then usurped by Kuroto's father, who has much more corrupt plans for the game. Kuroto steps up to be the final BigBad in the [[PostScriptEpisode post-series movies]], pointing out that he never actually ''reformed'' from his evil ways.

* ''Series/KamenRiderStronger'' has the Black Satan organization as the villains for the first half until they're defeated by Kamen Rider Stronger. After their downfall, their former [[TheDragon top lieutenant]] [[NobleDemon General Shadow]] steps in with his Delza Army to begin menacing Stronger. [[spoiler:And then in the final arc, Shadow gets usurped by Marshal Machine, who is revealed in the final few episodes to be working for the [[HijackedByGanon Great Leader]].]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderSuper1'' has the Dogma Kingdom as the villains for the first half up until Super-1 takes them out, at which point Jin Dogma steps in and becomes the faction opposing Super-1.
* [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Kyoji Murakami]] is the one instigating the Orphnochs' campaign to wipe out humanity for most of the series, up until [[spoiler:the final episodes, where Murakami gives his life to help awaken the [[DarkMessiah Orphnoch King]]. Other foes like [[FaceHeelTurn Yuji Kiba]] and [[BloodKnight Kitazaki]] also briefly take the spot at this time, though they are eclipsed by the power of the Orphnoch King.]]
* Similar to example above, [[spoiler:[[AGodAmI Hiroshi Tennoji]]]] is the one responsible for the [[spoiler:fake]] [[MonsterOfTheWeek Undead]] fight and eventually [[spoiler:[[OneWingedAngel fuses with his creation Kerberos]] to take the heroes head on, but he is killed in the final few episodes by the Giraffa Undead, and the [[GreaterScopeVillain Joker Undead]] becomes the final threat of the series.]]
* The [[KillAndReplace Worms]] are the villain for most of ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'', [[spoiler:but after most of their kind are wiped out, [[TokenEvilTeammate Mishima]] and the Native Worms step up to instigate their plans.]]
* Ryubee Sonozaki is the villain for most of ''Series/KamenRiderW'', [[spoiler:but he dies three episodes before the final episode, at which point Ryubee's benefactors [[NebulousEvilOrganization Foundation X]] come onto the scene and try to complete Ryubee's plans, with Foundation X researcher Jun Kazu serving as the main threat to the heroes for the rest of the series. It's worth noting that Kazu only gets brought down in the penultimate, and the final episode focuses on a street gang as the main villains, though Kazu is still the last major villain faced by Double and the final episode serves more as an epilogue showing [[WhereAreTheyNow what happened to the heroes after the final fight]].
* ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'' has Takatora Kureshima; as the head of the [[MegaCorp Yggdrasil Corporation]], he rules over Zawame City with an iron fist and has open portals into the Forest of Helheim from which the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Invase]] come, and as Armored Rider Zangetsu he's more powerful and experienced than any of the other Riders and [[CurbStompBattle can beat any of them without breaking a sweat]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately it turns out that he's not a villain at all, but is doing everything he can to save humanity -- including shouldering difficult burdens like the fact that Yggdrasil can only save about one billion people at best. When Kouta discovers a way to potentially save everyone, Takatora gladly agrees to team up with him...just in time for his [[DragonWithAnAgenda traitorous lieutenants]] to back-stab him and seize power.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'': [[spoiler:Kazari]] had been the main villain most of the series, and if not him, then the Greeed as a whole. [[spoiler:Then towards the final act, Dr. Maki takes the role by force and killed Kazari.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' has the Heart Roidmude as the BigBad for most of the series, only for [[spoiler:MadScientist Tenjuro Banno]]]] to force Heart into an EnemyMine with the Kamen Riders once he's revived.
* ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'': Chikara Saionji is the villain for the first part of the series, up until he's killed by the Monolith for attempting to make an evil wish with it. Alain of the Ganma then takes center stage, [[spoiler:only to be ousted when his older brother Adel frames him for the death of their father and usurp the Ganma throne. Adel himself later gets usurped by the true {{Big Bad}}s, the Gammaizers.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Kuroto Dan[=/=]Kamen Rider Genm drives the plot for the early part of the series, gathering data so he can create the "ultimate game", Kamen Rider Chronicle, as part of his [[AGodAmI raging God complex]]. [[spoiler:Then, as Chronicle nears completion, his {{Dragon}} Parado kills him and takes the game for himself. The heroes end up having to revive Kuroto as a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Bugster]] because his programming skills are indispensable, and he becomes an uneasy ally and source of humor (mostly by making fun of or deflating his God complex and egotistical ravings). However, the ''Another End'' [[PostScriptEpisode Post-Series Movies]] promote him to BigBad once more by pointing out that he was never reformed, just pulling an extended EnemyMine, and that he can only be trusted so far.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' has a lot of these. [[BatOutOfHell Night Rogue]] is the one menacing the heroes initially until he's overshadowed when Hokuto invades Touto. [[spoiler:Hokuto is then conquered by Seito, who try to take Touto immediately afterward. Seito soon gets taken over from the inside by [[MegaCorp Namba Heavy Industries]], who are later wiped out by the true BigBad Evolto, once he regains his full power.]]

* ''Series/LukeCage'': Midway through the first season, the apparent BigBad, Cottonmouth, is killed. Enter Diamondback as the new BigBad, who until that point had only been mentioned in passing a couple times.

* ''Film/Yuma1971'': Nels Decker seems like the BigBad of this MadeForTVMovie, but he gets an arrow to the back an hour or so in, and [[spoiler:fellow businessman Mules McNeil is revealed to be the true mastermind]].

** [[spoiler: The Night King]] is the GreaterScopeVillain for the series, the threat of whom is built up from the very first scene. [[spoiler: Him and the White Walkers are defeated halfway through the final season, leaving [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Cersei]] as the FinalBoss of the series.]]

** [[spoiler: The Night King]] is the OverarchingVillain for the series, the threat of whom is built up from the very first scene. [[spoiler: Him and the White Walkers are defeated halfway through the final season, leaving [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Cersei]] as the FinalBoss of the series.]]

** Season 5 technically has two discs. The first one is Gareth, the leader of the cannibals of Terminus who is [[spoiler: killed off three episodes into the season.]] The second one is Dawn, the police officer who is [[spoiler: killed in the mid-season finale.]] The last major villain is DomesticAbuser Peter.

{{Disc-One Final Boss}}es in live-action TV.

[[DiscOneFinalBoss Disc-One Final Bosses]] in live-action TV.

* ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'':
** Emperor Gruumm is played as the main villain for the first half of the series, then starts making veiled references to a "Magnificence" which he worships. Only in the final episode is this revealed to be "Omni", a giant malevolent brain which Grumm has been secretly serving as lieutenant.

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': At first, it looks like Tom Friendly was the show's BigBad, only to have him be reduced to the role of TheBrute in the Others' FiveBadBand under supposed BigBad Benjamin Linus, who in-turn was the alleged [[TheDragon Dragon]] to Jacob. Jacob, it turns out, is actually [[spoiler:the BigGood]], and [[spoiler:the real-true-honest this time BigBad is an entity so far only known as "The Man in Black" / "The Smoke Monster"]]. Other pretenders to the BigBad throne include Charles Widmore, Alvar Hanso, and Richard Alpert.

** Season 5's main antagonist is initially Gareth, the leader of the cannibals of Terminus. However, [[spoiler: he's killed off three episodes into the season.]]

** The back half of Season 5 has General Hale, the last remaining leader of HYDRA. Determined to stop [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar the coming of Thanos]], she hunts Team Coulson to try and force them to help her in the creation of a PersonOfMassDestruction powerful enough to fend off Thanos' armies. However, this culminates in giving GravityMaster powers to [[spoiler: Glenn Talbot]], who is [[WithGreatPowerComeGreatInsanity driven mad by their new powers]] and kills Hale, becoming a greater threat to Earth than Thanos in the process.

** The back half of Season 5 has General Hale, the last remaining leader of HYDRA. Determined to stop [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar the coming of Thanos]], she hunts Team Coulson to try and force them to help her in the creation of a PersonOfMassDestruction powerful enough to fend off Thanos' armies. However, this culminates in giving GravityMaster powers to [[spoiler: Glenn Talbot]], who is [[WithGreatPowersComeGreatInsanity driven mad by their new powers]] and kills Hale, becoming a greater threat to Earth than Thanos in the process.

** Adam from Season 4 (who is the only BigBad who is killed in an episode other than the finale) acts as a disc one final boss to the first slayer, who believes Buffy has too many shortcomings to do her job properly.