History IneffectualSympatheticVillain / WesternAnimation

** The Toilenator badly wants to be a villain, but is far too wimpy, incompetent, and naïve to pull it off. He's a minor inconvenience to the KND, and most of the bad guys try not to be seen with him because of his clingy BumblingSidekick personality. He's a NotSoHarmlessVillain, though, as he's able of using his "toilet powers" to "flush" the entire Grand Canyon with milk. He also managed to defeat the five main characters ''by himself'' on one occasion after getting fed up with being treated like garbage...only not really. He beat the entire team of ''villains'' on his own, stupidly mistaking them for the kids and leaving him out of weapons when the real kids showed up.

--->'''Police Radio:''' Suspect is a male costumed extremist armed with what appears to be a... ''ketchup'' gun.
--->'''Batman:''' It's gonna be one of those nights.
--->(Later, after effortlessly taking him down with a single gut punch)
--->'''Batman:''' Listen, Mustard Man, or whatever your name is, you're obviously new at this so I'm willing to go easy on you if you return the loot and never even think about doing this again!
* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'': Though he ''does'' becomes a threat on occasions (he was actually dangerous in his first two appearances), [[EvilTwin Albedo]] was this from the beginning and becomes more so as the story goes on. He is doomed to be trapped in a human body he despises, and all he wants is getting his original form back. As a matter of fact, when he finally gets his form back in one episode, Albedo makes it clear he has no more reason to fight Ben, and prepares to leave Earth... [[YankTheDogsChain but immediately reverts to human form]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/GoldieAndBear'', TheBigBadWolf, a.k.a. "Big Bad", is this with a heavy dose of JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Sure, he's regularly a pest to both the Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood. However, he schemes are rarely effective and when they do work, he's often regretful. He's also shown several redeeming qualities, including being willing to try niceness and being apologetic and helpful after realizing that he's acted like a jerk.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Sideshow Bob also frequently veers into this territory. The poor guy can't even win against a rake.
* Gargamel in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' (and pretty much most ''Smurfs'' villains except Balthazar and Chlorhydris).
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog''

** Dr. Eggman, on the self-parody series ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' takes this trope and runs with it at...uh, "sonic" speed, to the point where Amy actually pities him. Now being a villain who is AffablyEvil and has civil interactions with Sonic and company when they're not fighting, every other episode, he's in an EnemyMine situation with them, and he now has his CardCarryingVillain tendencies exaggerated. Similar to his ''Adventures of Sonic'' counterpart, he does almost outwit Sonic on a few occasions, though, keeping him NotSoHarmless.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'': Baxter Stockman jumps between this and NotSoHarmless villain. In his first episode, Mikey asked the other Turtles if they should just go buy him ice cream rather than beat him up.

-->'''Control Freak:''' ''The Puppet King?! They fought him ONCE!''

* Tom, from ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'', is so ineffectual and sympathetic that, in some cartoons, Jerry seems UnintentionallyUnsympathetic. Particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} in some of those is that Tom would leave Jerry in peace or ignore him, and Jerry would [[DesignatedHero antagonize him and try to ruin his life.]] The shorts sometimes start with Jerry trying to steal Tom's milk, break into a safe/refrigerator/ship that Tom was guarding or even [[{{Jerkass}} picking on him unprovoked]]. Sometimes Tom's methods can get [[DisproportionateRetribution a bit extreme]], but he's mostly just trying to protect his property or [[PunchClockVillain doing his job]].
** [[DependingOnTheWriter Though there were just as many examples were he was not sympathetic at all]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/UglyAmericans'', there was Twayne Boneraper, a demon who has only managed to claim one soul his entire career, that of a sick cat. His crowning moment of incompetence came when he ensures an utterly incompetent and unelectable politician to become mayor in return for his soul. It's such an EpicFail that he winds up in an infernal court, accused of not worthy of being a demon. (Although, as LaughablyEvil as he is, he ''did'' murder all seven of his brothers, one of whom was the general of Hell's army, so he may have a darker nature underneath than his behavior suggests.)

* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'': Cobra Commander, who was constantly mocked, ignored, or pushed aside not only by other would-be world conquerors but by his ''own minions''.

* With one exception (The Phantom Limb) and, [[NotSoHarmlessVillain in later episodes]], The Monarch, all the villains on ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' are of this nature.

* Tabaqui from the 2012 CGI adaptation of ''Franchise/TheJungleBook'' fits this like a glove. He's Shere Khan's faithful henchman who often tries to trick and manipulate Mowgli in hopes Shere Khan will eat him and give him scraps but he's such a NervousWreck and the butt of slapstick humor that more often then not, he comes across as a JerkassWoobie.

** The episode "Owl's Well That Ends Well" involves the usually-good dragon cub [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicSpike Spike]] [[TemporarilyAVillain temporarily becoming a villain]], but definitely of the "ineffectual sympathetic" variety, [[TheWoobie with the emphasis on "sympathetic"]]. For context, when an owl named [[UnknownRival Owlowicious]] shows up to do some of the work Spike had been typically doing for the girls, Spike ends up getting less attention from them than before, and in turn, [[GreenEyedMonster resents the owl a fair bit]]. After being scolded by Twilight for lying about a book not being there, he thinks the owl set him up, and in turn, tries to do the same to the owl, by planting a fake dead mouse with [[ABloodyMess ketchup blood]] in Twilight Sparkle's room; he gets caught in the act. [[spoiler:After running away, ending up encountering a dragon while gone, and then being saved from the dragon by Twilight and the owl, he apologized for the way he was behaving and is back to being one of the good guys.]]

** Most of the RoguesGallery for the show act as this or mere petty bullies. The foes used in the two-part specials are the only notable exceptions, and even then their [[SmugSnake detrimental arrogance]] and the often humiliating manner they are taken out almost makes you pity them.

* Jack W. Tweeg and his sidekick L.B. from ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTeddyRuxpin''.

** Dark-Heart from the second ''WesternAnimation/{{Care Bears|Movie II A New Generation}}'' film could qualify, too. While he was an effective villain at first, all that went out the window when he almost fell on the side of the boat as a human. Then later on he was little more than a generic SmugSnake who was won over by ThePowerOfFriendship. The Nostalgia Critic said it best.
* Pretty much the ''entire'' ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' rogues gallery is quite harmless. And probably the whole reason that only a bunch of rodents are even bothered to take the time to deal with them. Case in point: inventing a self-propelled walking laser cannon capable of cutting up a ''glacier'', (those things aren't exactly "just" a big ice cube) and only using it to warm up a giant vat of jello used to create an earthquake machine to break open a gold depository. Instead of, y'know, ''blasting your way in'' with said self-propelled walking laser cannon.
* The Toilenator from ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' badly wants to be a villain, but is far too wimpy and incompetent to pull it off. He's a minor inconvenience to the KND, and most of the bad guys try not to be seen with him because of his clingy BumblingSidekick personality. He's a NotSoHarmlessVillain though, as he's able of using his "toilet powers" to "flush" the entire Grand Canyon with milk. He also managed to defeat the five main characters ''by himself'' on one occasion after getting fed up with being treated like garbage. [[spoiler:Only not really. He beat the entire team of ''villains'' on his own, mistaking them for the kids.]]
* The Box Ghost of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' draws the line between this and HarmlessVillain. He has the potential to be a great baddie (if one episode and his [[spoiler: [[FutureBadass badass future self]]]] is any indications), but he just never makes it. Out of all the ghosts Danny has fought, Box Ghost is strictly in the "Who Cares" category, but he tries, he oh so tries. And his love of boxes is reminiscent of [[KidsPreferBoxes a small child who prefers the box to the toy that came in it.]]
* Dr. Reginald Bushroot of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck''. He mutated himself in an attempt to impress a girl. When that went [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption about as well as expected]], most schemes throughout the series involved trying to grow a companion or feed his plants. He certainly seemed like [[AffablyEvil a nice enough guy]] most of the time, only turning violent when Darkwing tried to stop his plans. It should be noted though that for all his [[AntiVillain sympathetic qualities]], Bushroot is one of the few villains who is known to have successfully committed murder. Granted his victims were the jerk doctors who made fun of him, but as the other prominent villain in this category is KnightOfCerebus Taurus Bulba, this is still a rather shocking feat.
* The Tyrannos from ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaucers}}'' are extremely gullible, and it's more or less stated that the Dinosaucers were sent to Earth just to keep a spare eye on them. Of all the groups, only Quackpot has shown instances of competence, and it didn't really stick in the long run.

* The titular organization of ''WesternAnimation/EvilConCarne''. While Hector's plans are genuinely evil and often threaten lives, they end up being utterly pathetic when acted out. In fact, in one episode, Hector and his army are defeated by angry children and a Fred Rogers {{Expy}}.

* From ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', Professor Chaos/Butters is so inept that [[TheWoobie it's cute.]]

** [[AnIcePerson Ice King]] plays this as a {{Deconstruction}} / ZigZaggingTrope: he wants to force a princess into [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe marrying him]], but he comes across as sincerely lonely and desperate for love. At some points, however, he'll wind up saying or doing something ''really'' messed up, [[DoubleSubversion cluing the viewer in that he's really just a sociopath]]. Of course this all gets flipped on its head once we learn his BackstoryHorror. At that point, not only is the sympathetic part taken to whole new levels, but the protagonists start treating him better and he develops into the TokenEvilTeammate.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': [[OverlordJr Prince]] [[ButtMonkey Zuko]] in the first season of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. The second season puts him in AntiVillain status, with him and his Uncle spending more time being fugitives from [[TheEmpire the Fire Nation]] than trying to capture Aang, along with having CharacterDevelopment and EnemyMine "moments" as sprinkles. And then, about halfway in the final season, said "moments" are what causes Zuko to [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceTurn become Aang's ally]].]] Then, in the series' ending, [[spoiler:he becomes the new Fire Lord]], with things getting better and better for him, effectively ''inverting'' this trope at that point.

** Harley Quinn tended to fall into this trope, especially when she caught on as a popular character. She was often treated as genuinely misguided, so the audience sometimes forgave her for her more violent behavior depending on how softening a particular episode was.

* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' qualifies for this trope most of the time; more often than not, his schemes are thwarted by the Ditz portion of his GeniusDitz personality, rather than by his arch-nemesis or his CloudCuckooLander robot. Of particular note is the episode where he survives a TrainingFromHell in order to receive some {{Humongous Mecha}}s from his leaders, only to be shot into a sun for his troubles.

** The episode "Owl's Well That Ends Well" involves the usually-good dragon cub Spike [[TemporarilyAVillain temporarily becoming a villain]], but definitely of the "ineffectual sympathetic" variety, [[TheWoobie with the emphasis on "sympathetic"]]. For context, when an owl named [[UnknownRival Owlowicious]] shows up to do some of the work Spike had been typically doing for the girls, Spike ends up getting less attention from them than before, and in turn, [[GreenEyedMonster resents the owl a fair bit]]. After being scolded by Twilight for lying about a book not being there, he thinks the owl set him up, and in turn, tries to do the same to the owl, by planting a fake dead mouse with [[ABloodyMess ketchup blood]] in Twilight Sparkle's room; he gets caught in the act. [[spoiler:After running away, ending up encountering a dragon while gone, and then being saved from the dragon by Twilight and the owl, he apologized for the way he was behaving and is back to being one of the good guys.]]
** In part 2 of "The Crystal Empire", his reason for his actions is put in a new light as we learn his greatest fear: [[spoiler:Twilight no longer needing him]].
** Except in the episode "Secrets of My Excess", however this time, Spike is transformed into a gargantuan rampaging beast that almost completely demolishes Ponyville. ''Even then'' he may lean into this since it's all for the sake of [[PokeThePoodle hoarding "gifts"]].

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz is a self-proclaimed evil scientist whose endless string of [something]-inators are perpetual failures. He also had a [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood ridiculously terrible childhood]], [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption never wins any of his battles]], seldom [[ThrowTheDogABone gains any lasting happiness]], and once lost a fight with a ''potted plant''. The only thing saving him from complete [[TheWoobie Woobiefication]] is that he's always back the next episode, enthusiastically hatching yet another evil scheme.

* Plankton from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. After a while, you just start to feel sorry for the guy, especially when compared to how heinous Mr. Krabs' actions to get more money have become. It's more prominent in the [[SeasonalRot post-movie episodes]], where he could easily be one of the Trix Rabbit's drinking buddies. Granted, he gets a NotSoHarmlessVillain moment in the movie, but still. Most of the time, it seems that he just wants some manner of success. In the cruel YankTheDogsChain episode "Plankton's Regular", after getting just ''one'' regular customer, he immediately stops trying to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. Mr Krabs and Spongebob still found it necessary to "thwart" him.

** Squidward could also count. He may be an egotistical, grouchy Jerkass, but he can't get any peace and quiet [[ButtMonkey and is always the subject of abuse from other people and things]], and he is ''constantly'' interrupted by [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick's obnoxious behavior [[SurroundedByIdiots and it's very obvious why he hates them]].

** Despite her first few appearances [[TheDreaded striking absolute horror]] into the Crystal Gems, Peridot amounted to this immediately upon entering a combat situation, being not much of a match for the Crystal Gems even with substantial technological advantages. And without anything to hide behind, all of her revealed abilities are mostly there to help her run away. She also has the attitude of a high-strung desk worker more than a potentially world-destroying supervillain, which made even her moments of NotSoHarmlessVillain prior to her HeelFaceTurn hard to take seriously.
** Jasper starts out as one of Yellow Diamond's high-ranking officers. Even though she is considered one of the greatest soldiers made on Earth at the Kindergarten, she still feels held back with the need to go further to get ahead, oppressing, and bullying other Gems. Even though she considers fusion a despicable action on Homeworld, [[{{Hypocrite}} she is ready to abandon this in order to gain a victory and come out on top]], After the Jasper-Lapis Lazuli fusion results in Malachite, with Lapis attempting to maintain the fusion to prevent Jasper from gaining the upper hand. After Lapis is rescued, she later fuses with another Jasper, becoming corrupted and mutated. In "Change Your Mind", Jasper joins the other Gems at Rose's fountain and accepts healing.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'': Robotnik's Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad (or S.S.S.S.S) play with this. They are largely incompetent at their jobs and when not being taken down by Sonic? Are often taken out by random civilians [[NiceJobFixingItVillain or their own bumbling.]] But even with that in mind, [[BewareTheSillyOnes all three can be pretty nasty when they're given the right tools.]] Coconuts easily fits this the best though, as while he's the most crafty and focused of the trio? All he really wants is Robotnik's respect and a promotion.

* Dr. Ivo Robotnik and his henchmen from ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog''. While Robotnik often tries to do something rrrrotten, he ALWAYS fails horribly, and Sonic torments the doctor so sadistically, that it becomes hard to sympathize with the heroes. He makes incredibly inept robots, repeatedly has crying fits, and is sometimes too distracted with himself to notice that his plan isn't working.
** Granted a lot of Robotnik's harmless streak is implied to be solely because of [[InvincibleHero Sonic]]. Many episodes show Sonic encountering civilians that have been [[BewareTheSillyOnes successfully terrorized or enslaved by Robotnik without his help]], while in other episodes he actually manages to pull off cunning plans that temporarily [[NotSoHarmlessVillain dispose of his foe]]. His henchbots Scratch and Grounder, however, were definitely incompetent, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain often destroying their own schemes]] before Sonic even got the chance to stop them. While Robotnik could at least genuinely cook up a malicious plan every now and then, his duncebot's Wile E Coyote-esque traps hardly ever worked on anyone but themselves. At one point he claims [[BlatantLies that he purposely made his robots dumb, so they would be too incompetent to ever consider betraying him]] in a rather unconvincing tone.
* Note that in the ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' series that was aired around the same time, Robotnik is...very much not harmless. ''[[VillainWorld At all.]]'' Snively though is a reedy and sneering little man who is always consumed by his Uncle Robotnik's quite massive shadow. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Also, he's a baldy.]] [[spoiler: However, he turns out to be a NotSoHarmlessVillain when he manages to slip out before his uncle is killed, and return as a TheEndOrIsIt cliffhanger for a season that we will never receive.]] [[WordOfGod In one interview with screen-writer Ben Hurst]] regarding the third season that never arrived, it was revealed that Snively was going to take a shot at becoming the new BigBad, only to be shortly upstaged by Ixis Naugus, and would later make a HeelFaceTurn and join the Freedom Fighters.
* Dr. Eggman on the self-parody series ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' takes this trope and runs with it at...uh, "sonic" speed, to the point where Amy actually pities him., now being a villain who is AffablyEvil and has civil interactions with Sonic and company when they're not fighting, every other episode he's in an EnemyMine situation with them, and he now has his CardCarryingVillain tendencies exaggerated. Similar to his ''Adventures of Sonic'' counterpart, he does almost outwit Sonic on a few occasions though, keeping him NotSoHarmless.

** [[AnIcePerson Ice King]] plays this as a {{Deconstruction}} / ZigZaggingTrope: he wants to force a princess into [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe marrying him]], but he comes across as sincerely lonely and desperate for love. At some points, however, he'll wind up saying or doing something ''really'' messed up, [[DoubleSubversion cluing the viewer in that he's really just a sociopath]].
*** Of course this all gets flipped on its head once we learn his BackstoryHorror. At that point, not only is the sympathetic part taken to whole new levels, but the protagonists start treating him better and he develops into the TokenEvilTeammate.
** The Cute King and his subjects are trying ''so hard'' to be threatening in spite of their inability to charge down a hill without literally coming apart. Finn and Jake take pity on them, on the basis that they'll either win or die, and they're not going to win, and convince a bunch of people to let themselves be "killed", using ketchup to fake the wounds.
*** When that didn't work, they teach the Cute King and his subjects to [[CutenessProximity weaponize their cuteness itself instead]] and point them at a known villain for manipulation: [[spoiler: The Ice King]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
** [[OverlordJr Prince]] [[ButtMonkey Zuko]] in the first season of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. The second season puts him in AntiVillain status, with him and his Uncle spending more time being fugitives from [[TheEmpire the Fire Nation]] than trying to capture Aang, along with having CharacterDevelopment and EnemyMine "moments" as sprinkles. And then, about halfway in the final season, said "moments" are what causes Zuko to [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceTurn become Aang's ally]].]] Then, in the series' ending, [[spoiler:he becomes the new Fire Lord]], with things getting better and better for him, effectively ''inverting'' this trope at that point.

* The Professor from the [[WesternAnimation/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat TV Felix the Cat cartoons]]. While he's a crook, he's also one of the most pathetic villains in all of western animation. In over 120 episodes of his series, [[ComicallyLopsidedRivalry he never earned a single victory over Felix the Cat]] and almost never even comes close, and couldn't have won anyway [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption since the Magic Bag of Tricks won't work for him]]. Personality-wise, he's a petulant ManChild who throws tantrums and literally tortures himself over his failures. His crimes also tend to be really petty misdeeds like [[PokeThePoodle cornering the market on rubber for toys]]. On top of that, Felix himself rarely even takes him seriously as a bad guy, just seeing him as a friendly enemy or nuisance at worst.

** Dr. Drakken never gets the respect he thinks he should have; he always fails his capers, sometimes even without the help of Team Possible. He often gets mistaken for the more respected Dementor and, at the end of the series, he is outright told how much of a failure of a villain he has been (despite having come closer to [[TakeOverTheWorld taking over the world]] than any of his peers and ending up with [[spoiler: much of the credit for saving the world from the AlienInvasion]]). If it wasn't for his [[TheDragon Dragon]], Shego, he wouldn't be a villain at all. Keeping Shego on his payroll is possibly an impressive show of competence, especially when there are villains like Senor Senior Senior, who has [[{{Fiction500}} Scrooge McDuck levels of moolah]], since apparently Shego likes the contract they have and that he sticks to.

* Waspinator from ''{{Transformers}}: WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' is one of these, being a ChewToy on the side of the bad guys.

* Hack and Slash, the bumbling minions of Megabyte, in ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot''. In fact, they are justified in being bad guys by the fact that the heroes always stop them before they could do anything really awful. When the heroes fail to arrive to stop them from killing a traitor to Megabyte, [[spoiler:they let him go off on their own and undergo a HeelFaceTurn.]]

* Note that in the ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' series that was aired around the same time, Robotnik is...very much not harmless. ''[[VillainWorld At all.]]'' Snively though is a reedy and sneering little man who is always consumed by his Uncle Robotnik's quite massive shadow. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Also, he's a baldy.]] [[spoiler: However, he turns out to be a NotSoHarmlessVillain when he manages to slip out before his uncle is killed, and return as a TheEndOrIsIt cliffhanger for a season that we will never receive.]] [[WordOfGod In one interview with screen-writer Ben Hurst]] regarding the third season that never arrived, it was revealed that Snively was going to take a shot at becoming the new BigBad, only to be shortly upstaged by Ixis Naugus, and would later make a HeelFaceTurn and join the Freedom Fighters.]]

* [[ThoseTwoBadGuys Aresko and Grint]] from ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' are perhaps the two least competent Imperials on Lothal--until [[spoiler:Tarkin has the Grand Inquisitor [[YouHaveFailedMe execute them for their failures]]]].

* The Toilenator from ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' badly wants to be a villain, but is far too wimpy and incompetent to pull it off. He's a minor inconvenience to the KND, and most of the bad guys try not to be seen with him because of his clingy BumblingSidekick personality. He's a NotSoHarmlessVillain though, as he's able of using his "toilet powers" to "flush" the entire Grand Canyon with milk. He also managed to defeat the five main characters ''by himself'' on one occasion after getting fed up with being treated like garbage. [[spoiler:Only not really. He [[WhatAnIdiot beat the entire team of]] ''[[WhatAnIdiot villains]]'' [[WhatAnIdiot on his own, mistaking them for the kids]].]]

** On the other hand, his alternate-universe counterpart was a genuine threat and not sympathetic at all, caused entirely by him losing a toy train as a child.
* The wolves Huff and Puff from ''WesternAnimation/PiggsburgPigs''. They're always trying to catch and eat the main characters, but they're nothing compared to all the swamp monsters, demons, and undead beasties lurking in the ForbiddenZone outside town.
* Leonard [=McLeish=] from The Hub's ''[[WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies2010 Pound Puppies]]'' series. He's self-centered, short-tempered, and clearly more concerned with impressing people and getting promoted than actually doing his job as head dog catcher, but he's not really a ''bad'' guy.
* The Amoeba Boys in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''. While the Powerpuff Girls are out beating up real criminals, the poor Amoeba Boys can't get the girls' attention, despite committing [[SarcasmMode "heinous"]] acts such as [[PokeThePoodle littering, jaywalking, and disobeying a "Keep off the grass" sign.]]

** In another, during the actual series, the Boys stumble upon Mojo Jojo's {{Deathtrap}} plans, and they, along with the Girls, mistake it for a "scavenger hunt" -- so they find all the things it calls for and put it together, and once it's assembled, the Girls think it's a theme-park ride, so they willingly submit to the plan intended to destroy them.

** On the other hand, his alternate-universe counterpart, with just [[TheLastStraw one]] [[ForWantOfANail more]] [[ChekhovsGun humiliation]] during the TraumaCongaLine that was his childhood, was a genuine threat and not sympathetic at all.
*** Actually, losing the toy train was literally Doof-2's only unhappy childhood event, with him even stating to Doof-1 that none of those humiliations happened to him. That's kind of the joke, Doofenshmirtz with a FreudianExcuse filled past is an incompetent loser, while Doofenshmirtz with a single lost toy and nothing else wrong with his life is a card carrying MagnificentBastard.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'':
** Control Freak from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''. Despite being able to animate the inanimate to do his bidding and inadvertently altering television frequencies to literally rot people's brains, he STILL didn't get on the Titans' list of main villains.
-->'''Control Freak:''' ''The Puppet King?! They fought him ONCE!!''
** In later seasons, Dr. Light is similarly ineffectual. Though he does get one major NotSoHarmlessVillain moment.

* While he started off as a badass, by the end of ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', [[BigBad Tai Lung]] had become this due to a combination of FreudianExcuse, SympathyForTheDevil, revealing his StartOfDarkness and WellDoneSonGuy status, and an EtTuBrute from his past. This may have something to do with the HumiliationConga and KickThemWhileTheyAreDown which some viewers see in the final battle--it certainly can't be denied that what had once been a chillingly effective villain seemed rather pathetic and easily defeated, Po's [[BeYourself understanding of the Dragon Scroll]] notwithstanding.
** Of course, after his ArrogantKungFuGuy resume is firmly established and he has shamelessly brutalized the entire rest of the cast, others see this as simple karmic retribution. Pride goeth before the fall, after all, and a HumiliationConga was really no less than Tai Lung deserved at that point.

** "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE51TheManWhoKilledBatman The Man Who Killed Batman]]" was focused on Sidney Debris AKA "Sid the Squid", a nebbish and meek bumbling mob underling who dreams of being a bigshot. He gets his wish when Batman is apparently killed and his gang believes Sidney did it. Unfortunately, as Sid finds out, that reputation comes with a price... [[spoiler:The episode has a happy ending for Sid, however. He still goes to jail, but Batman lets everyone keep believing that he almost killed Batman and made a fool out of the Joker, turning Sid into a celebrity in prison.]]