History Main / MakeWayForTheNewVillains

* In ''Film/JurassicParkIII'', the Spinosaurus kills a T. rex [[TheWorfEffect for no reason other than to announce how much more powerful and mean she is than the last big evil dinosaur.]]

** ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' opens with Count Bleck forcibly taking Bowser into another dimension, then mind-controlling Bowser and Peach into marrying each other, causing an interdimensional rip that will destroy all universes if left unchecked. (ItMakesSenseInContext.) Though Mario initially thinks Peach going missing is Bowser's work, he realizes what happened when the two meet in The Bitlands, and the two join forces (among others) to take Count Bleck down. Count Bleck would then be usurped by an even ''more'' recent villain, [[spoiler:Dimentio, who waits until Mario defeats Bleck, then takes the power of the Dark Prognosticus for himself and fuses with Luigi to become Super Dimentio]].

* Happens in the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' novel ''The Darkest Hour'', the final book of the original series. [[spoiler:Tigerstar, the main villain of the series, obtains the assistance of an insane cat called Scourge, and his followers "[=BloodClan=]", in the prologue. Scourge isn't mentioned again until the supposed FinalBattle, where Tigerstar calls him for aid. However, after the protagonist Firestar tells Scourge about Tigerstar's treachery, Scourge realizes that Tigerstar is a terrible boss to have. Stating "Nothing will control me", Scourge rips Tigerstar apart, killing him many times in one blow. Scourge goes on to become the villain of the book.]]

[[caption-width-right:315:[[CardCarryingVillain A villainous pose]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myWEnpN_E1o can't hold a candle]] to a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.]]

* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', [[spoiler:Kyubey]] is, for lack of a better term, [[InvincibleVillain unstoppable]]. Killing him is utterly useless, trying to out-gambit him is nigh-impossible, and while [[spoiler: Madoka's sacrifice]] denies him victory on his terms, he ultimately still gets exactly what he wants. Come ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion'', [[spoiler: [[MadGod Akuma Homura]] reduces him to a quivering, traumatized mess by forcing him to hold all the curses of the world. However how much of a villain Homura is, is up for debate.]]

* In ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' when the Marquis of Death appeared he set Doctor Doom on fire and tossed him into prehistory. Unsurprisingly, he came back.

* When trying to establish Kaine as a credible threat during ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'', the writers had him kill off longtime Franchise/SpiderMan foe Doctor Octopus. [[DeathIsCheap It didn't take.]]
* ''ComicBook/LesLegendaires'' did this in the [[CerebusSyndrome Anathos Cycle]] by having both [[spoiler:[[ArchEnemy Darkhell]] and [[JerkassGod the Guardian]]]] being obliterated by [[GodOfEvil Anathos]] to show how bad the new villain was (though this had already been established by having him effortlessly delivering a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown to the good guys).

* For a brief period in the early '90s ''Comicbook/XMen'' comics, the main villains were the Upstarts, a group of bratty rich mutants who competed with each other to kill other mutants in a "contest" sponsored by an [[TheOmniscient omniscient]] mutant called the Gamesmaster; among the casualties numbered the Reavers, the Hellions, Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, Selene, and even Comicbook/{{Magneto}} himself. This plotline was not well received, all the dead villains but the Hellions came back, and most of the Upstarts ended up meeting ignominious ends themselves. In this case the problem was that the storyline replaced popular characters who had years of character development with relatively generic villains. Most of the Upstarts did not have distinctive personalities.

* In 2003, Mac Gargan replaced Eddie Brock as the new and much more monstrous Venom, and as a result Carnage was killed off in early 2005 since the writers had no more need for him for the time being. After Flash Thompson took over as the more heroic Venom, Carnage quickly returned.

* A non-lethal example is in ''Film/BatmanBegins'', when vicious crime boss [[SmugSnake Carmine Falcone]] is trying to {{blackmail}} corrupt psychiatrist Jonathan Crane... [[spoiler:who in turn sprays fear toxin in Falcone's face then and there, forcing Falcone into an intense panic attack and leaving him insane for the rest of the movie]].

* In ''Film/JurassicParkIII'', the Spinosaurus kills a T. rex [[WorfEffect for no reason other than to announce how much more powerful and mean she is than the last big evil dinosaur.]]

** Loki suffers this ''again'' in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', when [[spoiler: Thanos casually breaks his neck ten minutes into the movie for trying to stab Thanos. Ironically, this was a situation where Loki was acting with ''[[RedemptionEqualsDeath good]]'' [[RedemptionEqualsDeath intentions]].]]

* In ‘’Series/AaronStone’’, the mutants first order of business is swiftly killing the Omega Defiance for making them into what they are.

** The Anointed One (a little kid vampire who was held over from season one) is [[spoiler:shoved into a cage and hoisted into sunlight early in season two by Spike.]]
** Spike gets similar treatment in this a quarter into season four where he returns ready to cause trouble for Buffy, only to be tasered and captured by members of the Initiative. He escapes from them in the next episode, but has a chip planted in his head to make sure he can't harm the heroes again, which wound up sending him directly into [[BadassDecay a certain other trope.]]

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' loved to do this. [[ArchnemesisDad Arthur]] announced his prescence by killing [[AGodAmI Adam]], and shortly afterward killing [[MindRape Maury.]] Arthur, in turn, was killed off by [[SerialKiller Sylar]], who had previously disposed of [[FourEyesZeroSoul Bob]]. Then [[KnightTemplar Danko]] was killed by [[KnifeNut Edgar]] on behalf of [[ManipulativeBastard Samuel]]. And that's not even counting all the minor villains killed by Sylar.

** Two episodes later, [[spoiler:God!Castiel is momentarily taken over by Leviathans and unintentionally slaughters a room of innocent people, causing him to have a HeelRealization and voluntarily de-power himself. He is then ripped apart from the inside by the Leviathans.]]

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': The Shadows make their entrance by blowing the [[SpacePirate Raiders']] mothership into tiny little bits.

* The final season of ''Series/Merlin2008'' implies, then outright states, that Morgana (the established BigBad) spent quite some time cruelly imprisoned by a brutal warlord who is an obvious {{Expy}} of [[UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler historical Dracula]]. It's clear that her cause and sanity is significantly worse off as a result, and the show goes out of its way to establish him as a KnightOfCerebus who is much more dangerous, clever and brutal than she ever was [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope only to kill him off]] in the first episode that he actually appears in.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Super Robot Wars Z}}2: Rebirth Chapter'', [[spoiler: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHkSmu91PRc Uther does this to Gaioh]].]]
* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'''s "Ritual of the Mahjarrat" quest officially, and properly, introduces the Dragonkin by having them [[spoiler: gang up on a recently renewed and overpowered Lucien by [[TheWorfEffect kicking him to the curb]] and [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaling him with his own staff]].]]

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyBraveExvius'' does this excellently, in a way that you never see it coming. [[spoiler:Rain and the party have defeated Veritas of the Dark for the final time and succeded in preventing him from shattering the last crystal. The Darklord's identity is finally revealed and it seems like the story is finally complete... when the crystal is suddenly shattered. Just then, the Eight Sages of Hess appear, who up until this point have been seen as a secondary threat, and it is revealed that they were the ones who shattered the last crystal. One of them then proceeds to kill the Darklord.]]
* The ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series has this happen a couple of times. The first was [[Disney/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]] from [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI the first game]] being ousted (but not killed) by Organization XIII in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. Then played with in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth By Sleep]]'' where we find out that she was slightly manipulated by [[BigBad Xehanort]] (of whom the leader of Org. XIII, Xemnas, is his Nobody) who told her about the Princesses of Heart. Then in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]]'' [[spoiler: the trope happens again with both Xemnas and "Ansem" Seeker of Darkness (the Heartless of the aforementioned Xehanort and ''other'' BigBad of the first game) being DemotedToDragon to Xehanort.]] And even in [[RuleOfThree the first game]], Maleficent herself was manipulated by Xehanort's Heartless. Chances are that in these games it's ether this trope or HijackedByGanon with Xehanort.

* This would become a recurring thing in the Mario [=RPGs=], though not all of them:

** ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' opens with Count Bleck forcibly taking Bowser into another dimension, then mind-controlling Bowser and Peach into marrying each other, causing an interdimensional rip that will destroy all universes if left unchecked. (ItMakesSenseInContext.) Though Mario initially thinks Peach going missing is Bowser's work, he realizes what happened when the two meet in The Bitlands, and the two join forces (among others) to take Count Bleck down. Count Bleck would then be usurped by an even ''more'' recent villain, [[spoiler:Dimentio, who waits until Mario defeats Bleck, then takes the power of the Dark Prognosticus for himself and fuses with Luigi to become Super Dimentio.]]

* ''Super Street Fighter II'' cuts to the chase with the now well-known scene of [[spoiler:your final fight with M Bison being interrupted with the death of Bison, at the hands of Akuma.]]
* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' reveals that [[spoiler:TheIlluminati, the antagonist organization of VideoGame/StreetFighterIII, was involved in the events that led to the final end of Shadoloo.]]
* The [[ArcWelding retooled]] ''Anime/ShinMazinger'' plot in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV'' [[ZigzaggedTrope zigzags]] this. At first it seems like Hades and the Myceane will be the villains as in previous games. But then [[Manga/ShinMazingerZero Mazinger ZERO]] shows up and [[CurbStompBattle quickly wipes the floor with Hades]] and replaces him as the main threat of the series. However, after Kouji and ZERO are reclaimed a few stages later, the Myceane return to being the ''Shin Mazinger'' Bad Guys, with Hades himself eventually returning as the Emperor of Darkness to be the Main Antagonist of the ''Shin Mazinger'' plot.

* ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode'', season 2 perferably, has this. Within the first episode, you meet Stella who claims to be your rival, and then [[spoiler:The Admin in episode 5 can destroy Champion City with a simple clap, resulting with Stella to become a JerkassWoobie.]]
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* While it's not revealed until the GrandFinale, this is ultimately why Ronaldo Rump and the Catatonians replace Lawrence Limburger as the BigBad of WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars in the 2006 sequel. The Catatonians help the Biker Mice get rid of Limburger and the Plutarkians, only to betray them later on while Rump steals Limburger's riches. It even happens again when Limburger attempts to get revenge on all three parties, only to end up accidentally helping Rump and the Catatonians, and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness is promptly disposed of soon after]]

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' begins its second season with a species called the Kroloteans secretly infiltrating Earth, before they're finished off by an unknown "Competitor" after three episodes. PlayedWith because these new foes are actually allies of [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness the Light]], the previously-established BigBad of the series.

* Subverted in season 4 of WesternAnimation/TeenTitans, where season 1 and 2 BigBad [[DiabolicalMastermind Slade]], after being DemotedToDragon for the whole season following a DealWithTheDevil, is apparently double-crossed and disposed of by his boss [[{{Satan}} Trigon]]. Turns out Slade saw it coming and [[CrazyPrepared made sure he would be able to escape]], allowing him to make an EnemyMine with the heroes and to get what he wanted from all of this. By the end of the season, Slade is alive and free to scheme again, while Trigon has been obliterated by his daughter.

* The final season of ''Series/Merlin2008'' implies, then outright states, that Morgana (the established BigBad) spent quite some time cruelly imprisoned by a brutal warlord who is an obvious {{Expy}} of [[UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler historical Dracula]]. It's clear that her cause and sanity is significantly worse off as a result, and the show goes out of its way to establish him as a KnightOfCerebus who is much more dangerous, clever and brutal than she ever was [[spoiler:only to kill him off in the first episode that he actually appears in.]]

* The final season of ''Series/Merlin'' implies, then outright states, that Morgana (the established BigBad) spent quite some time cruelly imprisoned by a brutal warlord who is an obvious {{Expy}} of VladTheImpaler. It's clear that her cause and sanity is significantly worse off as a result, and the show goes out of its way to establish him as a KnightOfCerebus who is much more dangerous, clever and brutal than she ever was [[spoiler:only to kill him off in the first episode that he actually appears in.]]

Contrast HijackedByGanon.

Compare AlwaysABiggerFish, which sometimes overlaps with this but not always and SortingAlgorithmOfEvil, and BaitAndSwitchBoss. Also TheWorfEffect, depending on how they take them out. In video games, this is often the TrueFinalBoss. If the earlier baddie was a LaughablyEvil HarmlessVillain, this may also be a case of ShooOutTheClowns.

Contrast HijackedByGanon.

This often implies that the new villain is more competent, more evil, or for whatever other reason more threatening, but not necessarily. Cases where the new villain is ''less'' threatening instead can qualify as this trope, too. May be the result of BigDamnVillains.

* In ''MagicTheGathering'', Volrath, TheHeavy of the Weatherlight saga is missing and presumed dead after a climactic showdown near the end of the first half of the story. When he reappears midway through the second half, in sufficiently badass and grandiose fashion, it's only to be killed in a one on one duel to the death by [[spoiler: Crovax]], who becomes the new Ascendent Evincar.

* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' introduces STAG halfway through the game, who arrive to occupy Steelport.

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[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* The last several episodes of the final season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' made way for The Stingers, an already popular band in Europe and yet another rival band to the Holograms versus the perpetual [[CantCatchUp second place]] band, The Misfits. Whereas the latter band had devolved into a liability/nuisance whose antics of their band members and their manager, Eric Raymond, had seriously undermined their credibility, the newer band was more intelligent and business savvy (so much that Eric tried to manage them while leaving his old band more or less high and dry), already well-off and had far more sociopathic tendencies (especially their bassist, Rapture, who displayed this early on by humiliating Pizzazz with a "love potion" to lure in Riot and which made her physically ill all to her and her bandmates' amusement). They soon overtook many of the Misfits qualities to the point they ended up DemotedToExtra. [[BrokenBase If this actually was a good thing or not among fans in the long run remains YMMV.]]

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' loved to do this. [[ArchnemesisDad Arthur]] announced his prescence by killing [[AGodAmI Adam]], and shortly afterward killing [[MindRape Maury.]] Arthur in turn was killed off by [[SerialKiller Sylar]], who had previously disposed of [[FourEyesZeroSoul Bob]]. Then [[KnightTemplar Danko]] was killed by [[KnifeNut Edgar]] on behalf of [[ManipulativeBastard Samuel]]. And that's not even counting all the minor villains killed by Sylar.

* The last several episodes of the final season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' made way for The Stingers, an already popular band in Europe and yet another rival band to the Holograms versus the perpetual [[CantCatchUp second place]] band, The Misfits. Whereas the latter band had devolved into a liability/nuisance whose antics of their band members and their manager, Eric Raymond, had seriously undermined their credibility, the newer band was more intelligent and business savvy (so much that Eric tried to manage them while leaving his old band more or less high and dry), already well-off and had far more sociopathic tendencies (especially their bassist, Rapture, who displayed this early on by humiliating Pizzazz with a "love potion" to lure in Riot and which made her physically ill all to her and her bandmates' amusement). They soon overtook many of the Misfits qualities to the point they ended up DemotedToExtra. [[BrokenBase If this actually was a good thing or not among fans in the long run remains [[=YMMV=]].]]

''Anakin kills Gunray]''