History VillainDecay / AnimeAndManga

* ''Manga/FrierenBeyondJourneysEnd'' has a justified example in Qual, a demon who was sealed away 80 years ago infamous for a spell that could kill anyone in a single hit. By the time he was unsealed however, the spell that he was known for has been studied extensively by humans to the point that it's now considered a standard offensive spell that can be reliably defended against. As such, he's a lot less dangerous and was unsealed because he can now be killed without issue.

** The [=CP9=] members, now [=CP0=] dip into this despite their best efforts. When first introduced, they (especially Lucci) delivered a CurbStompBattle to Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Chopper and Franky and it took all the crewmates who fought them getting a NextTierPowerUp to defeat them; and being the SecretPolice, they were for the most part effortlessly in control of the situation even when the Buster Call was accidentally ordered (by their weakling of a boss, no less). In the Reverie, on the other hand, Jabra and Kalifa fail to prevent Wapol from escaping with Vivi; and in Egghead, Lucci and Kaku are mostly beaten up by Luffy and Zoro respectively before Stussy reveals to a DoubleAgent and knocks them out. Probably not helping matters is that they are forced to pull a EnemyMine with the Straw Hats against the Seraphim. Lucci at least fares better than Kaku as he not only does decently against Luffy’s Gear 5, but one-shots Sentomaru and clashes evenly with Zoro; whereas Kaku gets incapacitated again before he can do anything when CombatPragmatist Sanji traps him in a Sea Energy bubble. [[spoiler:However, Saint Saturn’s arrival in [[YourHeadAsplode head-popping]] OneWingedAngel mode inevitably makes Lucci and even Kizaru (who gave Luffy a tougher fight even while in Gear 5) look like mere {{Mooks}} in comparison.]]

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', [[spoiler:Re-Destro]] gets hit ''hard'' with this after the CurbstompBattle inflicted by [[spoiler:Tomura]], which leads to [[spoiler:the Meta Liberation Army being rebranded to the Paranormal Liberation Front under the League of Villains' banner. This causes Re-Destro to become far sillier by becoming a giggling enforcer in fear of Tomura.]] His closest allies even point out how disgusting it is to see their leader become such a mess.

** When a Menos Grande first appeared, Rukia said she'd read in textbooks that only the Royal Guard can fight them. Ichigo could barely scratch it. Now it's been confirmed that was a Gillian, the lowest level of Menos, and that the textbooks were wrong; any high-seated Shinigami can handle Menos Grande if they're Gillian level. As the power levels of the main characters develop to lieutenant and captain levels, the Gillians have accordingly become regarded as {{mook}}-level threats. Even the Adjuchas level of Menos becomes easier to handle as the story progresses.

** When a Menos Grande first appeared, Rukia said she'd read in textbooks that only the Royal Guard can fight them. Ichigo could barely scratch it. Now it's been confirmed that was a Gillian, the lowest level of a Menos Grande, and that the textbooks were wrong; any high-seated Shinigami can handle Menos Grande if they're Gillian level. As the power levels of the main characters develop to lieutenant and captain levels, the Gillians have accordingly become regarded as {{mook}}-level threats. Even the Adjuchas level of Menos becomes easier to handle as the story progresses.

** Mihawk also averts this. His first appearance has him cutting ships in half with his {{BFS}} and blocking katanas with a pocket knife. The next time we see him, he has a brief fight with Luffy which Luffy quickly runs away from seeing that Mihawk is still too strong for him. Then again, he has not suffered a single loss so far in the series...
** Played straight with Caesar Clown. He’s introduced in Punk Hazard as a fairly significant threat being able to KO both Luffy and Smoker with his gas logia. After awhile, it becomes clear he’s really a BoisterousWeakling who is easy prey for Luffy when left without any tricks up his sleeve. His following appearances have him by carted around by the Straw Hats like luggage, used as a hostage by Sanji to allow Nami, Chopper and Brook to escape, and spends most of the latter part of Whole Cake Island being bullied into helping the heroes.

** The [=CP9=] members, now [=CP0=] dip into this despite their best efforts. When first introduced, they (especially Lucci) delivered a CurbStompBattle to Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Chopper and Franky and it took all the crewmates who fought them getting a NextTierPowerUp to defeat them; and being the SecretPolice, they were for the most part effortlessly in control of the situation even when the Buster Call was accidentally ordered (by their weakling of a boss, no less). In the Reverie, on the other hand Jabra and Kalifa fail to prevent Wapol escaping with Vivi; and in Egghead, Lucci and Kaku are mostly beaten up by Luffy and Zoro respectively before Stussy reveals to a DoubleAgent and knocks them out. Probably not helping matters is that they are forced to pull a EnemyMine with the Straw Hats against the Seraphim. Lucci at least fares better than Kaku as he not only does decently against Luffy’s Gear 5, but one-shots Sentomaru and equals Zoro; whereas Kaku gets incapacitated again before he can do anything when CombatPragmatist Sanji traps him in a Sea Energy bubble. [[spoiler:However, Elder Star Saturn’s arrival in [[YourHeadAsplode head-popping]] OneWingedAngel mode inevitably makes Lucci and even Kizaru (who gave Luffy a tougher fight) look like mere {{Mooks}} in comparison.]]

** Canon Frieza does still slide back into his villainous SmugSnake ButtMonkey decay from the anime during the aforementioned ''Super: Broly'' when the titular berserker Saiyan reduces him to a squealing punching bag ''for a full hour'' so really post-Namek it’s extremely hard Frieza to catch a break in both canon and non-canon. In fact it took until the [[Manga/DragonBallSuper Super manga]] for Frieza to finally score a certified win against both Goku and Vegeta in their strongest forms using his own NextTierPowerUp “Black Frieza” which rectifies the decay for now.

*** His decay is fully reversed when he returns in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', as he has fully mastered his golden form and its power, and become a more [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic]], [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] villain who actively tries to avoid making the same mistakes he did on Namek and Earth before. In the end, [[spoiler: he even earns his life back and returns to ruling his galactic empire. Then ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'' happens.

** Played straight with Caesar Clown, he’s introduced in Punk Hazard as a fairly significant threat being able to KO both Luffy and Smoker with his gas logia. After awhile it becomes clear he’s really a BoisterousWeakling who’s easy prey for Luffy without any tricks up his sleeve. His following appearances having him by carted around by the Staw Hats like luggage, used as a hostage by Sanji to allow Nami, Chopper and Brook to escape and spends most of the latter part of Whole Cake Island being bullied into helping the heroes.
** Big Mom comes close to this but ultimately averts it. Compared to Kaido she suffers far more humiliations and gets matched more frequently with Luffy and Sanji blocking her attacks, Nami and Pedro blowing her around, Jinbei punching her off the Sunny, getting knocked off a waterfall by King, essentially knocked out by Queen (whom Sanji later beats), knocked over by Franky and rolled out of the room by Robin. However it is reaffirmed in the roof top battle and in her fight with Law and Kidd that she’s a Yonko for a damn good reason and it takes the combined full might of both Supernovas to blow her into an active magma chamber which ultimately counts as a win.
** The [=CP9=] members, now [=CP0=] dip into this despite their best efforts. When first introduced they delivered (especially Lucci) a CurbStompBattle to Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Chopper and Franky and it took all the crewmates who fought them getting a NextTierPowerUp to defeat them and being the SecretPolice they were for the most part effortlessly in control of the situation even when the Buster Call was accidentally ordered. In the Reverie on the other hand Jabra and Kalifa fail to prevent Wapol escaping with Vivi and in Egghead Lucci and Kaku are mostly beaten up by Luffy and Zoro respectively before Stussy reveals to a DoubleAgent and knocks them out. Probably not helping matters is that they are forced to pull a EnemyMine with the Straw Hats against the Seraphim. Lucci at least fairs better than Kaku as he not only did decently against Luffy’s Gear 5 but one-shotted Sentomaru and equals Zoro whereas Kaku gets incapacitated again before he can do anything when CombatPragmatist Sanji traps him in a Sea Energy bubble. [[spoiler:However Elder Star Saturn’s arrival in [[YourHeadAsplode head-popping]] OneWingedAngel mode inevitably makes Lucci and even Kizaru look like mere {{Mooks}} in comparison.]]

** Big Mom comes close to this but ultimately averts it. Compared to Kaido she suffers far more humiliations and gets matched more frequently with Luffy and Sanji blocking her attacks, Nami and Pedro blowing her around, Jinbei punching her off the Sunny, getting knocked off a waterfall by King, essentially knocked out by Queen (whom Sanji later beats), knocked over by Franky and rolled out of the room by Robin. However it reaffirmed in the roof top battle and in her fight with Law and Kidd that she’s a Yonko for a damn good reason and it takes the combined full might of both Supernovas to blow her into a active magma chamber which ultimately counts as a win.

** Canon Frieza does still slide back into his villainous SmugSnake ButtMonkey decay from the anime during the aforementioned ''Super: Broly'' when the titular berserker Saiyan reduces him to squealing punching bag ''for a full hour'' so really post-Namek it’s extremely hard Frieza to catch a break in both canon and non-canon. In fact it took until the [[Manga/DragonBallSuper Super manga]] for Frieza to finally score a certified win against both Goku and Vegeta in their strongest forms using his own NextTierPowerUp “Black Frieza” which rectifies the decay for now.

** Fellow movie villain Broly (before his canonization in a ''Super'' movie) also suffers from this. [[Anime/DragonBallZBrolyTheLegendarySuperSaiyan First appearance?]] Singlehandedly flattens the Cell Saga's protagonists without even taking visible damage, and it requires the power of all the Z-Fighters transferred into Goku to put him down. [[Anime/DragonBallZBrolySecondComing Second?]] Stays fairly physically dominant (only being fought somewhat evenly by Gohan, and only due to holding back), but spends about half the movie somehow failing to kill the {{Tagalong Kid}}s and gets beaten by a few Kamehamehas firing him into the sun. [[Anime/DragonBallZBioBroly Third?]] Gets brought back as a clone that degenerates into a walking sludge pile that those same kids can now seriously injure, and is ultimately killed by ''[[KillItWithWater water]]''. On top of that, his personality also degraded. In his first outing, he was a sadistic brute with some mental issues, in his second, he's completely inarticulate and crazy, and in the third, he has exactly one line in the film and it's screaming Goku's name.

*** His decay is fully reversed when he returns in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', as he has fully mastered his golden form and its power, and become a more [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic]], [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] villain who actively tries to avoid making the same mistakes he did on Namek and Earth before. In the end, [[spoiler: he even earns his life back and returns to ruling his galactic empire.]]
** It should be noted that most of Frieza's above-mentoined decay is exclusive to anime-only {{Filler}} and the non-Canon ''GT'' and does not apply to the Frieza that appears in most modern ''Dragon Ball'' media. In the original manga, which all of Frieza's post-''Resurrection F'' appearances are based on, Frieza only lost to Goku on Namek and was used in a meaningful form of TheWorfEffect against Future Trunks before disappearing from the plot completely.

* Hit [[spoiler:Monaca Towa]] hard in ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool''. In ''VideoGame/DanganronpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls'', [[spoiler: she was a legitimately intelligent ManipulativeBastard who has the entire cast around her finger, pulling off an EvilPlan that is possibly the closest any villain in the franchise to actually winning]]. In the anime [[spoiler:she's reduced to a BrattyHalfPint and BigBadWannabe who just kinda gives up and leaves to become a NEET halfway through.]]

* Hao from ''Manga/ShamanKing'' gets hit by this hard at the very end. He is a thousand years-old (by virtue of special reincarnation) Shaman and Onmyoji who controls the fundamental spirit of fire (which eats souls), willing to wait a long time for his plans to succeed and very calm and calculating. There was no way for our heroes to succeed in the final showdown, even with superior numbers. So at the end he loses his cool, calm and collected demeanor and loses largely because of that. This only happens in the 2001 anime, though, as Hao in the manga (and 2021 anime) actually was unbeatable [[spoiler:and became the titular Shaman King]]. The first anime had [[GeckoEnding to pull a stock shonen ending]] instead of that, though, since the manga ending hadn't come out at the time, so they needed to make him lose, somehow.

** StarterVillain Jadeite started off a competent threat. He had powerful minions, [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] Sailor Moon during their first meeting, and actually managed to succeed in getting away with human energy in one scheme, earning [[BigBad Queen Beryl]]'s compliments. But right after that last event, things began to go downhill for Jadeite. [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Very downhill,]] as he stubbornly refused to evolve his plans and strategies even when they clearly weren't working. Once he got HoistByHisOwnPetard for the last time, Queen Beryl [[YouHaveFailedMe "decommissioned" him for good]]. The rest of the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Shiten'nou]] avoided the trope, with Nephrite and Kunzite never ceasing to be threats (though Kunzite slips when he gets his own arc, there is more of a justified in-story reason for it), and Zoisite being more bark and dirty tricks than bite until the last few episodes of his arc.
** Queen Beryl actually comes off as weaker than Kunzite in the anime and number of his plans end failing due to her sending the brainwashed Endymion out with him, compared to the manga where she was shown to stronger than him.

** The BigBad [[spoiler:Junko Enoshima]] was also affected by this. In the games she's portrayed as a [[ManipulativeBastard master manipulator]] able to bring over anyone to her side and [[TheCorrupter turn them into someone eager and willing to commit evil]]. However, while she has her moments the anime retcons it so that virtually everything she accomplished was through a MindControlDevice with no real effort or skill on her part.

* Omega Red gets hit by this in the ''Anime/{{Wolverine}}'' anime. When Omega Red first appears, Wolverine spends an episode fighting him (in a series that is only 12 episodes long) and has to finish the fight at the start of the next episode. Logan only wins because he catches a lucky break and a vital part of Omega Red's equipment malfunctions. Omega Red is repaired and made better than ever with a new arm and sent after Wolverine again, ''and gets killed in about ten seconds.''