History IneffectualSympatheticVillain / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'': Toad and the rest of the Brotherhood, at least by Season two. At first, they were at least even with the X-Men, and were able to over power them in one episode, [[ButtMonkey except for Toad]]. But slowly, each one got more and more Pathetic. Pietro became more cowardly, Blob became more dumb, and Avalanche went through massive character Derailment. In season 3, they were bested by only ''Two X''-Men, one being the weakest member. It was why the Acolytes were introduced, who were definately ''not'' this.

* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'': Series "[[BigBadWannabe main]]" antagonist Lord Hater fell into this after the series premier, going from fearsome tyrant to whining man-child whose only major goals consist of being recognized by the people of the universe, for better or for worse, and destroying his nemesis, titular Wander. At his core, he just wants to be respected, but is so distracted by Wander that he comes off as a joke to everyone instead. [[spoiler: Come the second season and the series [[BiggerBad true]] main antagonist, and he embraces his roll as this for the better...[[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor or not]]...]]

* While he started off as a BadAss and a walking CrowningMomentOfAwesome, 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.

* ''FriskyDingo'''s Killface is a pseudo-cultured, incompetent supervillain whose plans are often derailed by trivial matters and lacks knowledge of common subjects (it's a revelation to him that P.C. stands for "personal computer"). He's still more likable than "hero" Xander Crews, though.

** WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck, initially just a ScrewySquirrel or AntiHero, eventually evolved into one for WesternAnimation/BugsBunny and SpeedyGonzales.

* Harley Quinn of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' tended to fall into this trope, especially when she caught on as a popular character:
** Harley 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.
** In the comic-turned-episode "Mad Love", Harley did manage to succeed in trapping Batman. Batman's only hope was to have her inform The Joker, who he knew would free Batman because ''[[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou it wasn't HIM that defeated Batman!]]'' Batman even admitted that Harley came closer to killing him than the Joker ever did. Harley also suggested [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just shooting Batman]], instead of elaborate death traps. Ironically, at the end of the episode, [[spoiler:Harley almost succeeded in killing Bats with an elaborate death trap, while the ''Joker'', who previously slapped Harley for even suggesting such a thing, tried simply shooting him...and failed.]]

* 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 one of the early World Premiere Toon shorts, the Girls actually commit a bank robbery solely to show the Boys how it's done. When the Girls are brought in for the crime, the boys turn themselves in, in an attempt to appear "big time".
** 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.
** In another episode, the Boys catch a cold while loitering on the grass in yet another attempt at crime. Even though they end up unwittingly mutating the cold into a deadly strain of virus and even more unwittingly starting an epidemic in Townsville, the viewers '''still''' can't help but feel sorry for them.
** And in another episode, they manage to actually ''succeed'' at stealing an orange, for once, and when it splits apart, are reminded that, as amoebae, they are capable of multiplying. There is quickly an army of them, and the only thing they can think to do is to steal '''all''' the oranges in Townsville (although this does cause the citizens to contract scurvy).
** The Gangreen Gang can also qualify as this. While they're not anywhere near as incompetent as the Amoeba Boys, it's pretty hard to take them seriously as actual villains since their crimes are really based on typical bullying, prank calling, vandalism, etc. In fact, in the episode "Aspirations", the girls couldn't even take them seriously as a criminal element and called them nuisances. It also doesn't help that they're teenagers, making them younger than most of the other villains the three superheroes fought.

* Odlaw in the animated series ''[[Literature/WheresWally Where's Waldo?]]'' (''Where's Wally''?). As so many bad things keep happening to him in the name of comedy, and all he ever wants is to commit a single act of theft, you have to feel for the guy. Also, his determination is admirable!
* [[DeathbringerTheAdorable Killgore]] from ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' is an odd example, in that he's ineffectual BECAUSE he's so sympathetic. People are finding him too cute (being that he is a wind-up toy) to see him as a threat, including his self-declared nemesis Jenny. However, he also proves to be a NotSoHarmlessVillain, as he's quite capable of going to extreme lengths, such as somehow managing to rebuild the deadly Armageddroid, to prove he's dangerous.

* In ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown,'' Jack Spicer, despite being the main villain in some cases, is usually an IneffectualSympatheticVillain, especially in the later episodes.
** This is reinforced by Jack being probably the only fictional character, let alone villain, to have a breakdown failing to interrogate a parrot that simply repeated everything he said.
** The problem is that Jack is 'trying' to be a villain yet is fairly bad at it. When he turned to good for a while before returning to evil, it wasn't that he was planning to betray them from the start, he 'did' try to be good but was afraid he would fail at being good just like he failed at being evil.
* With one exception (The Phantom Limb) and, [[NotSoHarmlessVillain in later episodes]], The Monarch, all the villains on ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' are of this nature.
** Most of them are of the NotSoHarmlessVillain type. It's shown that the reason OSI and such tolerate the supervillains' stupid games is that it keeps them from committing real crimes or blowing up cities. (Those who don't play the game have to deal with SPHINX.) The Monarch, in particular, is a special case. When he was taken off of Dr. Venture, he was unhappy with the normal game and proceeded to kill 5 heroes in a short time.
** Doctor Mrs. The Monarch is the most competent villain and, quite possibly, the most competent character on the entire show. Even the Sovereign of the Guild respects her.
** Doctor Killinger's entire reason to exist seems to be to ''snap out'' villains from this trope and into NotSoHarmlessVillain instead.
*** Doctor Killinger's fourth episode, ''The Doctor is Sin'', makes a pretty persuasive argument that Rusty Venture himself is this. Killinger spends much of the episode giving Venture Industries "efficiency" training, with the true aim of turning Doctor Venture into a real, Guild-bonded supervilain.
* Many ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' villains:[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Elmer Fudd]], who was so ineffectual that WesternAnimation/BugsBunny [[DesignatedHero sometimes came off as a bully when beating him]]. Because of this, Yosemite Sam was introduced as a [[KnightOfCerebus more threatening and less sympathetic foe]]. Though [[{{Jerkass}} less sympathetic]], Sam wasn't that much more threatening after a [[VillainDecay few cartoons]]. Following this, Marvin the Martian was created, who, despite having super advanced planet-obliterating technology at his will, was only ''slightly'' more formidable.

* [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Sideshow Bob]] also frequently veers into this territory. The poor guy can't even win against a rake.

* [[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.
** His ButtMonkey status comes up for actual discussion in the second season, as "[[BigBad My father]] says [[DaddysLittleVillain Azula]] was born lucky. He said I was lucky to be ''born''." Plus Zuko's RageAgainstTheHeavens when attempting to be struck by lightning, but he can't even get that to go right. (ItMakesSenseInContext.)
** He has a few positive experiences even in the first season, and [[VillainsOutShopping got so much screen time not directly related]] to suffering or fighting the Gaang that he was practically a main character all along. He was even allowed to win against the other villain and get his first CMOA.
* ''FriskyDingo'''s Killface is a pseudo-cultured, incompetent supervillain whose plans are often derailed by trivial matters and lacks knowledge of common subjects (it's a revelation to him that P.C. stands for "personal computer"). He's still more likable than "hero" Xander Crews, though.
** Killface is so sympathetic, especially when compared to JerkAss DesignatedHero Xander Crews, that it's easy to forget that he brutally killed two people in the pilot and has added to his body count throughout the series. It helps that some of the other members of the cast have committed similar misdeeds and/or are {{Asshole Victim}}s.
* ''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.
* [[WesternAnimation/YinYangYo Carl anyone?]] The commercials for the next episode suggest he'll join the heroes so he can keep up with everyone else.
* [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark Professor Chaos/Butters]] is so inept that [[TheWoobie it's cute.]]
* Dr. Drakken from ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' 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.
** Arguably, every villain in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' is like this, aside from Shego, who's the only one with any amount of competence or fighting ability.
*** Keeping Shego on HIS payroll should be considered extremely competent, especially when there are villains like Senor Senior Senior, who has [[{{Fiction500}} Scrooge McDuck levels of moolah]].
** Senor Senior Senior and his son, Senor Senior Junior probably count as this as well. After all, they only got into villainy because [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Ron told them their island home would make a great lair,]] Senior insists on doing things a certain way merely for the sake of villain tradition, and it is said devotion to tradition that keeps [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim leading to their defeat.]]
* ''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''.
** Of course, he was never anything but effective and unsympathetic in the comics, where, among other things, he ''killed his own son''. Oh, and he used to be a ''[[HonestJohnsDealership used car salesman]]'', [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the]] ''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking fiend]]''!
*** He does get the ineffectual part still - sometimes as part of a {{plan}}, sometimes because it's an imposter performing poorly. And sometimes, Destro just plain doesn't like him, and is willing to take the loss just to make him look bad, mostly because of his 'thing' for the Baroness.
** The miniseries ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeResolute'' is also a subversion. Cobra Commander actually has a speech where he claims his previous incompetence was just an attempt to force his minions to think outside the box. [[spoiler:He wipes Moscow from the face of the Earth just to prove that he could, and by the end of the series, [[AxCrazy he's so unhinged that he's hacking his own men apart with a sabre]]. His plan still failed, of course, but holy shit was he badass.]]
* While he started off as a BadAss and a walking CrowningMomentOfAwesome, 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 Kharmic retribution. Pride goeth before the fall, after all, and a HumiliationConga was really no less than Tai Lung deserved at that point.
* The battle droids in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', an entire ''army'' of Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains.
** Until they start gunning down unarmed pacifist, cracking open escape pods so the helpless people on board will die in space, and {{Zerg Rush}}ing that is.
* 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.
*** Plankton himself [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in one episode:
-->'''Plankton:''' Alright Krabs! Now hand over the secret formula!\\
'''Krabs:''' Or...What?\\
'''Plankton:''' I don't know. I never thought I'd get this far.
* Grizzle of ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsAdventuresInCareALot''.
** Of the primary villains of the [[WesternAnimation/CareBears1980s earlier series]], No-Heart and his niece Shreeky don't count. No-Heart was a legitimately powerful and evil sorcerer who had a habit of blasting Beastly with lightning bolts whenever he screwed up; and while Shreeky never actually did anything evil, she was a SpoiledBrat with a voice so loud that she made ''No-Heart'' wince. Mr. Beastly, No-Heart's primary lacky, definately fits somewhere between here and ButtMonkey. In the one episode that Beastly had, with him in the spotlight, him infuriates No-Heart by breaking No-Heart's crystal amulet (which is the source of his shapechanging spells), then breaks No-Heart's throne (something he ''knows'' No-Heart will be livid about), get turned into a horrific mishmash of animals while using No-Heart's broken amulet to catch some of the Care Bears, then be blackmailed into letting the Care Bears go after they tape-record him chanting a litany of "I care" to break the broken spell and be turned back to normal, and then, when No-Heart arrives, having calmed down due to finding an even more powerful crystal, he sits on his crudely repaired throne...and it breaks to pieces. Meaning more electroshocking for Beastly.
** 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.
* 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.]]

* Voltar and the ''WesternAnimation/LeagueOfSuperEvil''. Guy is just so very motivated and happy about every plan or scheme he thinks up, no matter how trivial, that you just have to root for him. I mean, how many villains are ecstatic about throwing an 'EVIL' barbeque and not inviting their uncaring neighbors?
** One of the episodes involves a highly convoluted plot by the League...to make the pizza delivery boy late so that their food will be free!
* 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 despose 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 inconvincing tone.
* Note that in the ''[[WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM SatAM]]'' 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.]]
** [[spoiler:Nope, he was still going to retain this role. [[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 ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' takes this trope and runs with it, 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.
* Jack W. Tweeg and his sidekick L.B. from ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTeddyRuxpin''.
* ''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.
** 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.
* Sandman in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' can never quite get his big score. Before his superpowers, Spider-man jokes about how many times he's been caught. After, he can actually fight Spidey, but then proceeds to forget or be unable to keep his take when he escapes down the drain. He also gets a couple of PetTheDog moments when it's revealed that while he cares a lot about the Big Score, he doesn't really want to hurt anybody (other than Spider-man, of course).
* The Lobe, archnemesis of the titular character in ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' Despite being fiendishly brainy (quite literally - pretty much his entire head is made up of brain), he's extremely sensitive and insecure, and Freakazoid was once able to defeat him with nothing more than some harsh verbal criticism of his scheme.
* 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 of schemes throughout the series involved trying to grow a companion or feed his plants. He certainly seemed like a nice enough guy most of the time, only turning violent when Darkwing tried to stop his plans.
* 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.]]
* Skeletor in ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983''despite having a face that Standards & Practices must have had fits over, was so ineffective that the writers felt sorry for him. One stated in an interview that part of the reason they wrote a few EnemyMine episodes was that it was the only way they were allowed to have Skeletor come out ahead for once. He was so feeble at villainy, in fact, that the show resorted to two replacement villains: King Hiss of the Snake-Men, and Hordak, who suffered severe VillainDecay after his introduction. Neither were exactly scary themselves, but miles ahead of Skeletor.
** Subverted in the 2000-era re-imagining. While Skeletor's still a CardCarryingVillain SurroundedByIdiots, and Evil-Lyn is clearly his mental superior, Skeletor's clearly a threat this time around and every bit as powerful, terrifying, and evil as he claimed to be, having destroyed half of Eternia before the show starts, and twice defeating the BigBad that the heroes themselves could not. While still sometimes played for laughs, and never shown as even 1/10 as threatening as Hordak, Skeletor crossed the line, at least.
* 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.
%%* ''WordGirl'''s Chuck the Evil Sandwich Making Guy.
* Lucius Heinous VII on ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes''. Despite literally ruling Miseryville, the main characters either don't fear him or don't respect him. He desperately tries to be the BigBad, but fails horribly. He is pretty much an incompetent version of {{Satan}}. Though, while he's largely ineffective, the fact that he keeps people like [[EnfanteTerrible Heloise]] and [[DrillSergeantNasty Molotov]] under his thumb is probably a sign that he's doing something right.
* Tom, from WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry, was so ineffectual and sympathetic that, in many cartoons, one failed to see how Jerry was even a victim. Particularly {{egregious}} examples, in fact, would cite that he wanted nothing more than to leave Jerry in peace, and Jerry could not stop [[DesignatedHero antagonizing him and trying to ruin his life.]] Often, the shows started with Jerry trying to steal Tom's milk, break into a safe/refrigerator/ship that Tom was guarding or just being a [[JerkAss dick in general]]. Granted, sometimes Tom's methods can get [[DisproportionateRetribution a bit extreme]], he's 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]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''
** [[AnIcePerson Ice King]] plays this as a {{Deconstruction}} / ZigZaggingTrope: he wants to force a [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses 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 it's 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 point the Cute King towards the one person he has any chance of defeating. [[spoiler: The Ice King. ''And he does.'']]
* Zordrak's minions, the Urpneys (and sometimes even the former himself) of ''TheDreamstone'', are a mix of this alongside the MinionWithAnFInEvil category. The fact that their overall goal usually amounted to little more than [[PokeThePoodle giving people scary dreams]] didn't help much. Granted since Rufus and Amberley are often [[TheMeddlingKidsAreUseless Ineffectual Sympathetic Heroes]] they do at least briefly get the upper hand every now and then.
* 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/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, he makes it clear he has no more reason to fight Ben, and prepares to leave Earth... [[YankTheDogsChain only to immediately revert to human form]].
* 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.
* Killer Moth from ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' is given this treatment when he joins "Team Penguin". All he's ever shown doing is using a cocoon gun that continuously backfires on him and make coffee for the Penguin. This changes however, when some chemicals [[TookALevelInBadass change him into a giant moth mutant.]]
* Bull Gator and Axl in ''WesternAnimation/TazMania''. In the very meta episode "Retakes Not Included", Bull even observes that they are what passes for villains on the show.
* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' 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 are 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"]].
** 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.
* Gargamel in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' (and pretty much most ''Smurfs'' villains except Balthazar).
* ''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.
** In the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 original cartoon]], ArchEnemy Shredder was many times this, particularly in later crossover after the initial story arc of the first season. Only in that one though; the other media tends to show him as a real threat.''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever''.
* ''WesternAnimation/AngelaAnaconda'': Nanette Manoir may come off as this, since, while she is an AlphaBitch, her actions are rather tame and in-line with what would be expected of kids her age. Angela, meanwhile, fantasizes about humilating her, tormenting her or even sometimes ''killing her'' in the most brutal ways she can think of.
* Like Tom above, ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'' can sometimes come off this, especially when he crosses paths with ''WesternAnimation/ChipAndDale''. Sometimes Donald ''does'' start the fight, other times he just ends up getting picked on and losing.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Despite her first few appearances [[TheDreaded striking absolute horror]] into the Crystal Gems, Peridot seems to amount to this, 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 makes even her moments of NotSoHarmlessVillain harder to take seriously.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'''s [[spoiler:bumbling time traveler Blendin Blandin]], in his second appearance as an antagonist. Made more sympathetic by the fact that he's mostly right: the kids did ruin his life, and stealing the time machine and intentionally ruining the past were objectively crappy things to do.
* The titular organization of ''WesternAnimation/EvilConCarne''. While Hector's plans are genuinely evil, when they end up being utterly pathetic when acted them out. In fact in one episode, Hector and his army are defeated by angry children and a Mr. Rogers {{Expy}}.
* Pretty much the ''entire'' ''WesternAnimation/RescueRangers'' 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.
* In [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney's]] ''Aladdin'' sequel ''Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'' and [[WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries the TV series]], there's [[PunnyName Abis Mal]]. His patheticness is particularly compounded by being an {{expy}} of the legendary loser, George Costanza, on ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', since Jason Alexander plays both roles.
** He does get at least one NotSoHarmlessVillain moment in [[RecycledTheSeries the series]], in which he gets a hold of another lamp and wishes that the protagonists get smashed like bugs. When told that genies can't kill, he has a moment of brilliance and asks for the protagonists to be turned into bugs so that ''he'' can smash them like bugs.
*** He also went back in time and rewrote Agrabah's history in one episode so that he could be Sultan.
** Aladdin also occasionally had to deal with an inept thief named Amin Damoola (nicknamed "Butterfingers"). The only time Butterfingers was a serious threat was once, when was using magical artifacts supplied by Mozenrath, who had essentially replaced Jafar as Aladdin's main nemesis.
* 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.
* 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.
* Tabaqui from the 2012 CGI adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/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 eats him and gives 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.

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

** The miniseries ''GIJoeResolute'' is also a subversion. Cobra Commander actually has a speech where he claims his previous incompetence was just an attempt to force his minions to think outside the box. [[spoiler:He wipes Moscow from the face of the Earth just to prove that he could, and by the end of the series, [[AxCrazy he's so unhinged that he's hacking his own men apart with a sabre]]. His plan still failed, of course, but holy shit was he badass.]]

* The battle droids in ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'', an entire ''army'' of Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains.

* Voltar and the ''LeagueOfSuperEvil''. Guy is just so very motivated and happy about every plan or scheme he thinks up, no matter how trivial, that you just have to root for him. I mean, how many villains are ecstatic about throwing an 'EVIL' barbeque and not inviting their uncaring neighbors?

* Hack and Slash, the bumbling minions of Megabyte, in ''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.]]

** 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 DangerouslyGenreSavvy plans that temporarily [[NotSoHarmlessVillain despose 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 inconvincing tone.

** All of them, however, have to be topped by Wile E. Coyote, the epitome of the villainous ButtMonkey.In fact, one of the laws of the Road Runner cartoons is "The audience's sympathy must remain with the Coyote."

* 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.

* 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.

* Grizzle of ''[[CareBears Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot]]''.
** Of the primary villains of the earlier series, No-Heart and his niece Shreeky don't count. No-Heart was a legitimately powerful and evil sorcerer who had a habit of blasting Beastly with lightning bolts whenever he screwed up; and while Shreeky never actually did anything evil, she was a SpoiledBrat with a voice so loud that she made ''No-Heart'' wince. Mr. Beastly, No-Heart's primary lacky, definately fits somewhere between here and ButtMonkey. In the one episode that Beastly had, with him in the spotlight, him infuriates No-Heart by breaking No-Heart's crystal amulet (which is the source of his shapechanging spells), then breaks No-Heart's throne (something he ''knows'' No-Heart will be livid about), get turned into a horrific mishmash of animals while using No-Heart's broken amulet to catch some of the Care Bears, then be blackmailed into letting the Care Bears go after they tape-record him chanting a litany of "I care" to break the broken spell and be turned back to normal, and then, when No-Heart arrives, having calmed down due to finding an even more powerful crystal, he sits on his crudely repaired throne...and it breaks to pieces. Meaning more electroshocking for Beastly.
** Dark-Heart from the second Care Bears 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.

* Note that in the ''[[WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM SatAM]]'' 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.]]

** Yosemite Sam was actually a deliberate subversion of the trope, because audiences were starting to favor Elmer too much. It's very difficult to hate the likes of Marvin the Martian and Elmer Fudd. The idea was to feel sorry for the guy, but it was getting to the point where Bugs was starting to look like a relentless bully instead of a wiseacre outwitting the buffoon who was trying to victimize him. Sam was both smarter and more belligerent than Elmer, meaning that Bugs was free to lead him on all he wanted. But even Yosemite Sam, while pretty dark for a Looney Tunes villain, was still fairly ineffectual compared to the average non-Looney-Tunes villain.

* ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' Dick Dastardly. It wasn't for nothing that he had a whole trope [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat named after him]].

* Snively from ''WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM''. He 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.]]
** [[spoiler:Nope, he was still going to retain this role. [[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.]]

** Note that in the ''[[WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM SatAM]]'' series that was aired around the same time, Robotnik is...very much not harmless. ''[[VillainWorld At all.]]''

* Skeletor in ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' was so ineffective that the writers felt sorry for him. One stated in an interview that part of the reason they wrote a few EnemyMine episodes was that it was the only way they were allowed to have Skeletor come out ahead for once.
** [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2002 His 2002 incarnation]], on the other hand, was every bit as powerful, terrifying, and evil as he claimed to be.

* Lucius Heinous VII on ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes''. Despite literally ruling Miseryville, the main characters either don't fear him or don't respect him. He desperately tries to be the BigBad, but fails horribly.

** In the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 original cartoon]], ArchEnemy Shredder was many times this, particularly in later crossover ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever''.
* ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'': Eggman is this to the point where Amy actually pities him.

** Aladdin also occasionally had to deal with an inept thief named Amin Damoola (nicknamed "Butterfingers"). The only time Butterfingers was a serious threat was once, when was using magical artifacts supplied by Mozenrath, who had essentially replaced Jafar as Aladdin's main nemesis.

In [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney's]] ''Aladdin'' sequel ''Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'' and [[WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries the TV series]], there's [[PunnyName Abis Mal]]. His patheticness is particularly compounded by being an {{expy}} of the legendary loser, George Costanza, on ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', since Jason Alexander plays both roles.

** 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 DangerouslyGenreSavvy plans that temporarily [[NotSoHarmlessVillain despose 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 that he purposely made his robots dumb, so they would be too incompetent to ever consider betraying him in a rather inconvincing tone.

----

** And Sylvester prety much defines this trope and was usually depicted as one of these.

** Yosemite Sam was actually a deliberate subversion of the trope, because audiences were starting to favor Elmer too much. The idea was to feel sorry for the guy, but it was getting to the point where Bugs was starting to look like a relentless bully instead of a wiseacre outwitting the buffoon who was trying to victimize him. Sam was both smarter and more belligerent than Elmer, meaning that Bugs was free to lead him on all he wanted. But even Yosemite Sam, while pretty dark for a Looney Tunes villain, was still fairly ineffectual compared to the average non-Looney-Tunes villain.

* Many ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' villains:
** Wile E. Coyote. In fact, one of the laws of the Road Runner cartoons is "The audience's sympathy must remain with the Coyote."
** Sylvester the Cat was usually depicted as one of these.
** It's very difficult to hate the likes of Marvin the Martian and Elmer Fudd.