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| 5 | %% Image selected via crowner in the Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/ImagePickin/ImageSuggestions59 |
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| 8 | [[quoteright:248:[[WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/77326ccde58ad438f64b444e712e37d1_disney_halloween_happy_halloween.jpg]]]] |
| 9 | [[caption-width-right:248:These cookies aren't evil enough! Add more children's screams to them!\ |
| 10 | [-[[https://www.deviantart.com/amyclark/art/2011-31-Days-of-Halloween-4-263212595 Artwork]] by [[https://www.deviantart.com/amyclark AmyClark]]-]]] |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ->''The unhinged man began to speak, in a phony accent. "I've got a delivery for a Mr. Bludvist, is there a Mr. Bludvist here?"\ |
| 13 | Drago groaned, already tired of this foolishness. Even after ten years, his deranged lackey never got any less annoying.'' |
| 14 | -->-- ''Fanfic/TheDragonAndTheButterflyWhiteout'', "[[Recap/TheDragonAndTheButterflyWhiteoutChapter13 Chapter 13: New Jobs]]" |
| 15 | |
| 16 | In a great deal of media aimed at children or families, there will be more than one villain working together against the hero, and one or more of these villains will be in charge over the other(s). However, the lower-ranked of these villains is meant to be taken far less seriously than the higher-ranked, whether due to being more cowardly, more comical, less powerful, less competent, or even simply less motivated than their dark superior. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | This can have a lot of benefits to the writers, such as averting VillainDecay: no matter how many times the heroes triumph over the lesser villain(s), the fact that a more serious villain (or group of more serious villains) is still part of the same organization means there's still a credible threat that the heroes still need to deal with. Also, for works aimed at especially young children, this also allows the writers to have a genuinely scary BigBad who pushes boundaries, but also make the lesser villain goofy and funny, thus keeping a work lighter and softer and generally less frightening for the kiddies. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | A common, but by no means the only, way to show that the higher-ranked villain is serious is to display the lower-ranked villains afraid of him/her, or show that the higher-ranked villain is a BadBoss who will ShootTheMessenger when brought bad news, or who punishes his minions for [[YouHaveFailedMe failure]] or for otherwise [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness ceasing to be useful]]. It's not really necessary for the higher-ranked villain to be cruel to his or her underlings for the trope to apply, though; it's only really needed for the higher-ranked villain to be played noticeably more seriously than his or her underling(s). |
| 21 | |
| 22 | The laughable lackey can be an IneffectualSympatheticVillain, but it's not necessary for the lackey to be sympathetic at all for this trope to apply, nor is it necessary for the laughable lackey to be ineffectual or a HarmlessVillain: they can even [[TeamRocketWins win at times]], as long as they're noticeably less serious than their superiors. It's not even necessary for the higher-ranked villain(s) to be out-and-out devoid of comedy for the trope to apply, either; a noticeable difference is all that's really needed. A BumblingHenchmenDuo, a QuirkyMinibossSquad, or a GoldfishPoopGang can also fill in the loser villain slot as well as a single villain can. It's also common for the laughable lackey to have an unpleasant, demeaning, or dumb-sounding name. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | The Laughable Lackey can also be TheIgor, TheRenfield, TheImp, a MinionWithAnFInEvil, a SycophanticServant, and/or a PunchClockVillain who only [[PokeThePoodle Pokes the Poodle]], or possibly TheDragon, depending on his/her/their specific role in the evil organization--and in cases where TheDragon is comical due to ineptitude, this overlaps with NumberTwoForBrains. The Laughable Lackey is often the ButtMonkey or TheChewToy, as well, and can also be a BumblingSidekick to the serious villain, though there are more ways of being laughable than just clumsiness. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | They often form a RedOniBlueOni duo. If the villain is also LaughablyEvil, he will usually be the red to the lackey's blue. If the villain is played completely seriously, he will usually be the blue to the lackey's red. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | Compare AbusiveParents, BigBadWannabe, BrainsAndBrawn, EvilDuo, EvilerThanThou, ALighterShadeOfBlack, TheManBehindTheMan, MyMasterRightOrWrong, SlidingScaleOfVillainEffectiveness, SortingAlgorithmOfEvil, SurroundedByIdiots, TheStarscream, WhatMeasureIsAMook A TerribleTrio can have this dynamic if one of them is in charge and meant to be taken more seriously than the other two, though the three of them together can act as the laughable lackey if they have a more serious boss, or they can even together act as the serious villain if they're not PlayedForLaughs and have one or more underlings who are. Sometimes overlaps with VileVillainSaccharineShow and PerkyFemaleMinion. Contrast HypercompetentSidekick and MoreDespicableMinion, where it's the BigBad that's humorous and/or sympathetic and [[TheDragon the main minion]] that's fearsome. Can be a SubTrope of SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain if the lackeys are inherently more sympathetic (not just funnier) than their boss. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | ---- |
| 31 | !!Examples: |
| 32 | |
| 33 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 34 | |
| 35 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 36 | * ''Anime/AnimalDetectivesKiruminzoo'': Misa Hatori is the leader of the animalian revolution and she always does the effort in doing what she must to complete it, but her henchmen, the Kibagumi squad, are a team of [[CasanovaWannabe Casanova Wannabes]] who can hardly bite at least one woman. |
| 37 | ** And then there's Keiko. Whenever Kanon asks her a favor, or whenever they team up as the Beauty Bat duo, all she does is screw up her plans. |
| 38 | * ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'': |
| 39 | ** Demidevimon fills this role for Myotismon. While he keeps the Chosen Children/Digidestined separated while Tai is away, as soon as he comes back, Demidevimon begins comically failing and getting punished by Myotismon for his failings. |
| 40 | ** The two Hagurumon working for [[RoboticPsychopath Machinedramon]] fit this bill too; Machinedramon has incredible firepower and is willing to devastate his own city to get to the heroes. His gear-like minions cower before that plan, even though they aren't even the targets! |
| 41 | * The Namek Saga of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' introduced the audience to Frieza, a GalacticConqueror who exterminates the populations of entire worlds and has destroyed a number of planets as well. His minions for the most part are as evil as one would expect, except, ironically, his strongest warriors the [[BewareTheSillyOnes Ginyu Force]]. They are a QuirkyMinibossSquad whose first onscreen action is to go into a SuperSentaiStance, and before a fight play RockPaperScissors to determine who fights. Despite their comedic quirks, [[BewareTheSillyOnes the Ginyu Force do prove that they are Frieza's strongest warriors]], nearly killing the main characters before Goku arrives. |
| 42 | * The title heroine of ''Manga/ExcelSaga'' is her boss Il Palazzo's biggest obstacle on the path to TakeOverTheWorld, by the "virtue" of being a worthless (if fiercely devoted and energetic) underling. When Il Palazzo finally drops his OrcusOnHisThrone act towards the end of the series and fires Excel, he immediately proves himself a scarily efficient villain on his own (with a little help from Hyatt, who also proves a much more competent minion as soon as Excel is out of the picture). |
| 43 | * ''Anime/MonColleKnights'' has Ruthe, a smart-alecky, whiny-voiced imp, to the fallen angel Zaha, and later to ''his'' superior Reda. |
| 44 | * ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': |
| 45 | ** While Team Rocket members aren't always competent, only the TerribleTrio, and later Butch and Cassidy due to [[VillainDecay characterization changes]], are actually [[GoldfishPoopGang goofy]]. Most members are some level of dangerous. Their boss Giovanni has a case of AdaptationalVillainy as he is more violent than in the games in whenever [[OrcusOnHisThrone he gets up to fight]]. |
| 46 | ** Inverted in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon'' where Jessie captures a [[BedsheetGhost Mimikyu]] who is always portrayed as a fairly competent opponent to Pikachu. Instead of capturing Pikachu, Mimikyu wants to kill him, making it a case of the vile lackey to the Team Rocket Trio’s Laughable villains. |
| 47 | * Team Galactic's boss Cyrus in ''Manga/PokemonDiamondAndPearlAdventure'' is a KnightTemplar OmnicidalManiac. The Galactic executives -- Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars -- are intimidating but this ability does not extend to grunts. B-2 is a near-literal ButtMonkey who is constantly getting attacked on the butt and isn't a real threat. Subverted with some other Galactic grunts though [[spoiler:when they try to bomb a tournament]]. |
| 48 | * A common sight with ''Anime/OnePiece'' [[ArcVillain Arc Villains]], especially early on; after an arc's main villain has been sent packing, it's not uncommon for the Laughable Lackey to get ADayInTheLimelight in the form of a cover arc, and possibly even [[MookFaceTurn redeem themselves somewhat]] (prominent examples being Jango, Hatchan, and Gedatsu). However, note that even the goofiest of them tend to go into BewareTheSillyOnes mode when fighting directly. |
| 49 | * ''Anime/SailorMoon'': Sailor Iron Mouse wasn't a very serious villain, but when she failed, she was [[TheMobBossIsScarier rightly terrified]] of [[YouHaveFailedMe how her boss would react]]. Naturally, when Galaxia decided she’d had enough of Iron Mouse's failures, [[spoiler:she promptly appeared before her and removed her bracelets, killing her.]] |
| 50 | * ''Manga/SuperwomenInLove'' has villains that, for the most part, are utterly harmless. One is a [[YuriFan yuri fetishist]] willing to interrupt her own allies when she sees it, one is an {{otaku}}, and one is functionally [[CloudcuckoolandersMinder the otaku's caretaker]]. Only two villains are legitimately threatening: the co-protagonist who [[DefectingForLove defected for love]] in the first chapter, and X, [[BigBad the leader of the organization]]. Unlike the others, X is cunning and ruthless, constantly having the upper hand, willing to get her hands dirty, and very willing to play the long game. Even when she loses, she appears to take it completely in stride and is more amused by it than upset. Even when she just shows up to [[NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine take the main character on a dinner date]] to learn more about her and has no ulterior motives, she's significantly more threatening than the other three villains while fighting. |
| 51 | [[/folder]] |
| 52 | |
| 53 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 54 | * ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkPrinceCharming'' has Archie, a neurotic clown (who's repeatedly tried to commit suicide and failed every time) working for the Joker. And was actually hired because the Joker thought [[ButtMonkey Archie's story was funny.]] |
| 55 | [[/folder]] |
| 56 | |
| 57 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 58 | * ''Fanfic/TheDragonAndTheButterflyWhiteout'': Drago and Dagur seem to have this type of dynamic, Drago being the glower brute that sucks all whimsy from a room while Dagur tries acting all chummy and start small-talk around him (as fruitless as that would be). |
| 59 | * ''Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': The Wolf is a huge, terrifying Champion of Chaos spearheading an invasion of Westeros by the Ruinous Powers. His henchman Einarr is a ButtMonkey who gets yelled at in every chapter, and even the prospect of death doesn't seem to faze him. |
| 60 | [[/folder]] |
| 61 | |
| 62 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 63 | * ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'': |
| 64 | ** Carface is the main villain and he operates a crooked canine casino. When Carface discovers that his former partner has escaped the dog pound and survived an assassination attempt, Carface almost disposes of his henchman, Killer (even though Killer [[NeverMyFault was not responsible for the attempts]]). A myopic, neurotic, weakling of a dog, Killer gets one last chance to avoid the SharkPool: by killing Charlie Barkin with a Flash Gordon thermo-atomic ray gun. |
| 65 | ** Carface himself becomes the laughable lackey to other villains in the sequel media, like Red in ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven2'' and Belladonna in the animated series. Neither character is devoid of comedy, but they are unambiguously wicked and threatening in comparison to the incompetent buffoon Carface [[VillainDecay has become]]. |
| 66 | * The villains of the ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' films have these to varying degrees. Warren in the first film has the bumbling accountant Digit. In the case of Cat R. Waul's lackey Chula in the second film, he only really becomes laughable in the TV series, being AxeCrazy in the film. The third film has O'Bloat, one of Grasping's CoDragons, and Scuttlebutt, the lowest-ranking of all the main villains. |
| 67 | * In ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'', the main villain is Mrs. Tweedy, a deadly serious, totally merciless farmer who abuses her chickens (the protagonists) just because she can. Her HenpeckedHusband Mr. Tweedy is a ButtMonkey who provides some of the funniest lines in the movie. |
| 68 | * ''Franchise/DespicableMe'': The cute and hilarious minions are this for the VillainProtagonist, Gru. While Gru isn't devoid of comedy, he's very competent, unlike the minions who are mostly silly and childish. |
| 69 | * ''Creator/{{Disney}}'' loves this trope: |
| 70 | ** ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'': Cruella de Vil is a crazy and scary-looking RichBitch who wants to skin Dalmatian dogs for her new coat. Horace and Jasper are her [[BumblingHenchmenDuo two bumbling henchmen]]. |
| 71 | ** ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': Jafar is a ComicallySerious Evil Sorcerer, but his sidekick Iago is an upfront comical character. It must be added though that Iago is one of the most intelligent and competent sidekicks that a Disney villain ever had and is also as conniving as Jafar, being actually the one to suggest the idea of Jafar getting the throne by marrying Jasmine. He contrasts Jafar's cold brooding with his hilarious snarking, loud and obnoxious attitude (being voiced by Creator/GilbertGottfried helps in that regard), and being a [[ButtMonkey regular victim of physical comedy.]] |
| 72 | ** ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'': Jafar is still serious and ruthlessly cunning, while his new associate, Abis Mal, is an idiotic, childish BigBadWannabe. |
| 73 | ** ''WesternAnimation/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves'': Sa'Luk is a strong, genuinely threatening villain while the remaining seven thieves who follow him are comical bandits. |
| 74 | ** ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': Lefou and Gaston show this dynamic toward the end of the film when Gaston [[NotSoHarmlessVillain ceases to be]] PlayedForLaughs and becomes dead-set on murdering the Beast while Lefou remains a worshipful ButtMonkey, who as usual follows along. |
| 75 | ** ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeastTheEnchantedChristmas'': The main villain Forte is a downright scary and creepy ManipulativeBastard, while his lackey Fife is a silly MinionWithAnFInEvil who ultimately undergoes a HeelFaceTurn. |
| 76 | ** Pictured above from ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'': Creeper is comically drawn (by comparison) and cowardly and he routinely suffers the abuse of the terrifying Horned King. His eagerness to please his boss makes him paradoxically both a very cruel minion and a ridiculous lap dog. |
| 77 | ** ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'': Lady Tremaine is never PlayedForLaughs, but her awkward daughters and [[BuffoonishTomCat buffoonish cat]] are. In a rarity for Disney, it's actually the buffoonish cat that gets the (apparent) DisneyVillainDeath rather than Tremaine ([[spoiler:he does appear in the sequels so, he survived]]). |
| 78 | ** ''WesternAnimation/DuckTalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp'' Plays with this. Merlock is a cruel, sadistic sorcerer while Dijon is his bumbling henchman who is very incompetent because his kleptomania almost always gets in the way. However, Merlock also has points where [[ButtMonkey he suffers all sorts of abuse]] when he's shapeshifted into a smaller creature such as a mouse or a bug, and [[spoiler:Dijon ends up proving to be a NotSoHarmlessVillain when he gets the lamp for himself and uses it to obtain all of Scrooge's fortune. Of course, he's still a BigBadWannabe compared to his former master, so as soon as Merlock steals the lamp back from Dijon, [[YouHaveFailedMe you know what follows]]...]] |
| 79 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' downplays this trope with Yzma and Kronk. While both are comedic characters, Yzma isn't above regicide, whereas Kronk is a genuinely NiceGuy. |
| 80 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'': The film has the hammy but savvy and menacing villain in Ratigan, but his disabled bat lackey Fidget is just an enforcer with little initiative (while far from incapable of real villainy) and isn't nearly as threatening by comparison, but it is worth noting that Fidget manages to accomplish everything that Ratigan asks him to do. |
| 81 | ** ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': Pain and Panic are comical, slow-witted twerps and very afraid of their boss, the death god Hades. {{Downplayed|Trope}} in that, while much more competent, Hades [[LaughablyEvil isn't any less comical]]. |
| 82 | ** ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'': Downplayed with Alameda Slim and the Willie Brothers. Slim balances being cunning and manipulative with EvilIsHammy (especially when he yodels), while his nephews/sidekicks the Willies are straight-up {{Bumbling Sidekick}}s. |
| 83 | ** {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney''. Minister of Justice Claude Frollo is perhaps the darkest Disney villain of all time with his genocidal agenda and lust for Esmeralda. To contrast, his primary lackeys Brutish and Oafish Guard are certainly unpleasant and dangerous but are subject to a lot more comedic comeuppance (their attempt to chase Esmeralda via CrowdSurfing leads to them receiving a hard landing, Brutish Guard gets sat on twice by Phoebus' horse Achilles). This is played straight with Frollo's {{Mooks}}; the rank-and-file are humiliated much more often while the visored soldiers are [[EliteMooks much more competent and dangerous]], giving Phoebus serious injuries by shooting him and breaking the cathedral's door enough that Frollo can enter. |
| 84 | ** {{Inverted|Trope}}, but {{downplayed|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989''. Ursula is a cunning, manipulative BigBad, but has a bombastic, hammy, and snarky personality to boot. Her eel minions, Flotsam and Jetsam, are creepy with only sporadic moments of comedy, and they’re also pretty good at their jobs, as they rarely make any mistakes when Ursula commands they do something. |
| 85 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': The cunning, manipulative Scar has three stupid, unfocused, and constantly bickering hyena minions. Very much downplayed, as the hyenas, despite their stupidity, [[NotSoHarmlessVillain can pose a real threat to the protagonists]] and in the end [[spoiler:they turn against their master and kill him]]. |
| 86 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'': Zira is a female Scar, but more disturbingly AxCrazy. Played with concerning her CoDragons. Her son Nuka is vicious but also a bumbling, immature BoisterousWeakling who just wants to please her mother. Vitani by contrast is TheComicallySerious but almost as menacing as Zira. |
| 87 | ** Averted with the Hun army from ''{{WesternAnimation/Mulan}}'', as well as Shan Yu's pet falcon Hayabusa, who are all just as terrifying as Shan Yu is, with no comedic moments whatsoever... [[spoiler: or at least until Mushu [[InstantlyDefeatheredBird burns Hayabusa's feathers off.]]]] |
| 88 | ** Averted in ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany''. Sikes' dogs Roscoe and [=DeSoto=] are every bit as competent and menacing as he himself is, providing very little in the way of comedy outside bleak sarcasm. |
| 89 | ** ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'': Captain Hook and Smee have this dynamic. {{Downplayed|Trope}} since Hook (at least in the Disney movie) is [[LaughablyEvil laughable and ridiculous]] as well, but [[NotSoHarmlessVillain can be menacing]] unlike his BumblingSidekick Smee. |
| 90 | ** In ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', Dr. Facilier, the wicked and manipulative WitchDoctor, is assisted by the portly, bumbling, cowardly Lawrence (who was initially Prince Naveen's valet but did a MistreatmentInducedBetrayal). |
| 91 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers'': Snoops, with his stammering speech, name, softness relative to [[BigBad Medusa]], and ButtMonkey status, is laughable. Medusa herself is cruel, greedy, and emotionally manipulative -- and has ''far'' fewer funny moments. |
| 92 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'' has an even more extreme variation than the first film. Joanna the Goanna, while vicious, is a bumbling, stupid animal who spends most of her screentime [[TheMillstone screwing up her boss's plans]] and being abused by him [[ButtMonkey verbally and physically.]] Her boss, a nasty poacher named [=McLeach=], by contrast, is an unhinged ''lunatic'' bent on hunting down the last of an endangered species of giant eagle at all costs, [[EgomaniacHunter solely for the bragging rights]], and doesn't care who he has to kill to do so, [[WouldHurtAChild including children.]] |
| 93 | ** ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'' has Prince John and Sir Hiss, presented in a case similar to ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan''. Prince John is a LaughablyEvil type and also a LargeHam, while Sir Hiss is a more quiet and nervous type, but is definitely much less threatening than Prince John can be. The FauxAffablyEvil but ruthlessly money-raking Sheriff of Nottingham has this dynamic with the vulture guards [[DumbMuscle Nutsy]] and [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace Trigger]] as well, for that matter. |
| 94 | ** Maleficent from ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'' is considered one of the most (if not ''the'' most) dangerous villains in all of Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon. Her Goons however don't even understand that babies grow up -- even after sixteen years they are looking for a baby. However her ''other'' lackey Diablo the raven averts this trope; he has very few comedic moments and proves to be her most capable minion as he finds Aurora very quickly once he's sent to find her, coordinates the Goons into a legitimate threat to Phillip's escape, and wakes Maleficent up, leading to the FinalBattle. |
| 95 | ** [[HypercompetentSidekick Inverted]] in ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons''. "Bowler Hat Guy" is a [[LaughablyEvil laughably]] [[BigBadWannabe incompetent]] [[HarmlessVillain doofus]] who wastes a huge amount of time on plans that are either [[EvilIsPetty petty]], impractical or both, and never work because he [[DidntThinkThisThrough never actually plans ahead]]. [[spoiler:[[TheDogWasTheMastermind DOR-15]], on the other hand, is the [[DragonInChief real brains behind the operation]], a [[AIIsACrapshoot murderous robot]] using Bowler Hat Guy as a [[UnwittingPawn pawn in her schemes]] to take over humanity and rebuild it as a [[BadFuture terrifying, smog-choked dystopia]] in [[{{Egopolis}} her own image]]. DOR-15 has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and once a [[EvenEvilHasStandards horrified Bowler Hat Guy]] has served her purpose in her plans for the Bad Future, she promptly [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness disposes of him]]. Unsurprisingly, when this future is prevented by DOR-15's defeat, Bowler Hat Guy makes a HeelFaceTurn, horrified at what he assumed to be his partner wanted.]] |
| 96 | ** In ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'', Hopper is a cruel, sadistic, and dead-serious grasshopper, but his brother Molt is a bumbling and amicable MinionWithAnFInEvil. This trope is actually the reason he was written as Hopper's brother: during the movie's development it became apparent that a murderous psycho like Hopper wouldn't put up with Molt's buffoonery without a good reason, so it was explained that the only reason Hopper didn't kill him was because their dying mother made him promise not to. [[spoiler:Molt pulls a HeelFaceTurn at the end of the film after Hopper is lured into a trap and eaten by bird chicks.]] Thumper, Hopper's ''other'' henchman, on the other hand, averts this trope, being even more evil than Hopper is. |
| 97 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'': Grubber is a comical, cowardly, un-threatening hedgehog. But he works for the dead-serious Tempest Shadow and her threatening-but-not-quite-so-serious Storm King boss. Tempest's utter humorlessness, when contrasted with the Storm King's more comedic nature, could be considered an [[InvertedTrope inversion]]. |
| 98 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'': The Egyptian priests Hotep and Huy, being voiced by Creator/SteveMartin and Creator/MartinShort respectively, have their funny moments. Neither of the two Pharaohs that they work for do. |
| 99 | * Creator/DonBluth's ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle'' has the Grand Duke as the main villain, whose weather machine clouds out the sun and floods the valley, making the small farm animals easy pickings for himself and his owl {{mooks}}. His diminutive but eager nephew Hunch is tasked with intercepting the party of heroes seeking to retrieve Chanticleer, Hunch is woefully outclassed, as even Patou narrates: "He's more a hoot than horrible..." and he's voiced by the late Charles Nelson Reilly. |
| 100 | * ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheReluctantWerewolf'' had the Hunch Bunch, a pair of hunchbacked lackeys to Dracula who orders them to make Shaggy lose an auto race in order to change into a werewolf. Their constant bumbling is a source of irritation to Dracula. |
| 101 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'': Downplayed with Bowser and Kamek: Bowser is huge, strong, ambitious, ruthless, unhinged, and has both dangerous [[BreathWeapon fire breath]] and a willingness to use it even on minions who so much as annoy him. His [[TheDragon dragon]] Kamek has powerful magic that includes flight, teleportation, and telekinesis, and probably includes object transformation if the games are any indication. Both have plenty of comical moments, but Bowser is clearly the one in charge and more dangerous than Kamek, as the scene were they play piano and Kamek's fingers are slammed under the key cover (and [[KickTheDog kept there at Bowser's command!!]]) clearly demonstrates. |
| 102 | * ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie'': Aunt Figg is the primary antagonist: fat, abusive, ill-tempered and wants nothing more than to claim Robyn's inheritance. Her [[RightHandAttackDog dog, Ferdinand]], is just as evil as she is and also quite competent. However, his weight is played for laughs, needing a skateboard to get around because he can't use his legs. |
| 103 | * Larry, from ''WesternAnimation/{{Wizards}}'' is an Igor-like lizard creature that adores his master, Blackwolf: an undead wizard who wants to revive the FourthReich with irradiated mutants as its master race. |
| 104 | * Max, from ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'', is usually at the end of a bitch slap from his boss, the Chief Blue Meanie, especially when Max says "yes" instead of "no". |
| 105 | [[/folder]] |
| 106 | |
| 107 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 108 | * ''Film/OneHundredAndTwoDalmatians'': This Disney live-action sequel sees Cruella's butler Alonzo taking the role of the laughable lackey instead of Jasper and Horace. He has repeated ButtMonkey moments where his hand gets hurt in slapstick moments, particularly during his heists of puppies for Cruella's latest fur coat idea that requires the eponymous 102 Dalmatian puppies' skins, and it almost seems like his injured hand was intended to be symbolic of his villainy, [[spoiler:as he throws his sling off just as he's cementing his HeelFaceTurn near the film's climax]]. |
| 109 | * ''Film/{{Beethoven}}'': |
| 110 | ** In the first movie, the veterinarian's goons' bumbling and cowardice were PlayedForLaughs, but the veterinarian himself was not. |
| 111 | ** In the second movie, Floyd's stupidity was PlayedForLaughs, but his greedy girlfriend Regina was much more cruel and intentional than he was. |
| 112 | * ''Film/Carrie1976'': While [[AlphaBitch Chris Hargensen]] is [[AdaptationalJerkass even more horrible here than in the book]], her boyfriend Billy Nolan has been DemotedToDragon in this version and is a dim-witted buffoon who is mainly comic relief, with Chris [[ManipulativeBitch playing him like a fiddle]] throughout the whole movie. |
| 113 | * ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': PlayedWith by [[Characters/MonsterVerseKingGhidorah King Ghidorah]]'s MultipleHeadCase. Ghidorah overall is extremely malevolent and dangerous, but the head named San/Kevin (the left-side head) is generally a goofball and a dunce, and for it, he gets bitten and pushed around by the central head Ichi (who acts more serious and much more {{sadist}}ic). |
| 114 | * ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'' and ''Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies'': The Master of Laketown is uncaring about his people, enriching himself while the people starve and become poorer. He has a more comical lackey, Alfrid, who is cowardly enough to use a PaperThinDisguise, pretending to be a woman to avoid going into battle. The difference is shown in their deaths: [[spoiler:While the Master’s death is portrayed as karmic, Alfrid's death is used entirely for comedy.]] |
| 115 | * In ''Film/{{Krampus}}'', the [[AntagonistTitle eponymous villain]] is a terrifying and satanic figure, the EvilCounterpart of [[BigGood Santa]] [[NobleProfession Claus]]. His minions, on the other hand, are evil spoofs of things traditionally associated with Christmas, up to and including crazy killer gingerbread men. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since it is a horror/comedy movie. |
| 116 | * ''Film/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'': The film's version of Ginnabrik, Jadis's dwarf lackey, is a downplayed example of this. He's a lot more petty and taunting than Jadis is and has a few ButtMonkey moments, though he WouldHurtAChild and is still as cruel as his book counterpart. |
| 117 | * ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'': Although widely viewed as the campiest film of the Film/JamesBond franchise, its BigBad Hugo Drax is possibly the most chilling villain in Bond's rogues gallery. As a cold, snobbish, understated executive, Drax wishes to exterminate the human race, except for those he considers "superior beings". He hires Jaws, TheDragon from [[Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe the previous film]] to be his own. However, this time, [[VillainDecay Jaws is much less menacing]], almost going into Wile E. Coyote levels of ineptitude, and even [[spoiler:performs a HeelFaceTurn towards the end]]. |
| 118 | * ''Film/{{Mowgli}}'': The BigBad Shere Khan is an enormous tiger who is genuinely threatening [[HandicappedBadass despite his crippled foreleg]], and is a {{sadist}} who breaks the Jungle Law just for his own pleasure. His minion Tabaqui is a snivelling, cowardly hyena who always stays in Khan's shadow and runs at the first sign of danger. |
| 119 | * ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018'': [=I-R0k=] qualifies, and is a downplayed example in that, despite being a HypercompetentSidekick for all things in-game in the [=OASIS=], [=I-R0k's=] neck issues and occasional immaturity are PlayedForLaughs, but his ruthless CorruptCorporateExecutive boss Sorrento is ''never'' funny. |
| 120 | * ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'': Salacious Crumb is a tiny bird/monkey creature that laughs at Jabba's victims. He's no threat, himself, and gets a ButtMonkey moment when [=R2D2=] electrocutes him, but Jabba is a powerful and wealthy Hutt gangster who keeps Crumb around for no other reason than [[JustifiedTrope because he finds him amusing]]. |
| 121 | * ''Film/{{Scream}}'': Most of the films have a BigBadDuumvirate donning the identity of the masked killer Ghostface, with one of them as the [[BigBad mastermind]] and the other as the [[TheDragon accomplice]]. Barring the fifth film where the killers were presented as equals, the mastermind is usually a straight-up psycho with a [[ItsPersonal personal]] and/or [[EvilIsPetty petty]] motive for the killings, while the accomplice is usually LaughablyEvil. Even when they're in costume as Ghostface before TheReveal, the masterminds' [[HarassingPhoneCall phone calls to their victims]] sound more vicious, angry, and threatening, while the accomplices are often more theatrical and gleefully mock and cackle at their victims. |
| 122 | * ''Film/SkyHigh2005'': Royal Pain is a supervillain whose [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds sympathetic backstory]] produced a lifetime of bitterness and a desire for vengeance, and who turns [[FauxAffablyEvil genuinely nasty]] during a climax that comes as close to evoking a [[SpreeKiller school shooting]] as you can get in a PG-rated Disney family comedy. Royal Pain's henchman Stitches, meanwhile, is PracticallyJoker minus any of the competence, existing mainly as the butt of jokes, his master's [[TheChewToy chew toy]], and [[spoiler:a cover story for Royal Pain's SecretIdentity as Gwen Grayson, posing as her father]]. |
| 123 | * ''Film/TrickyPeople'': Reginald Charming is a ruthless, manipulative pedophile who uses pictures of his victims to blackmail them into silence. His sidekick Wendell is the cheerful, clumsy PluckyComicRelief who exists mostly to provide {{slapstick}}. Given the film's deadly serious treatment of Charming and his victims, Wendell's presence seems downright bizarre. |
| 124 | [[/folder]] |
| 125 | |
| 126 | [[folder:Literature ]] |
| 127 | * In ''Literature/PeterPan'', Captain Hook is a calculating and menacing foe. His sidekick, Smee, while desiring to be evil, is so genial that the captive children are said to not have the heart to tell Smee that they find him lovable instead of frightening. |
| 128 | * In the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'', [[EvilOverlord Supreme Overlord Shimrra]] is the [[TheCaligula monstrous and tyrannical]] GodEmperor of the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]], and his sidekick and constant companion is Onimi, a capering, absurd jester who speaks in RhymesOnADime. However, it gradually becomes apparent that Onimi is much smarter than he looks [[spoiler:and this is ultimately subverted when it turns out he was secretly controlling Shimrra all along, meaning that all of Shimrra's vile acts were really on Onimi]]. |
| 129 | * ''{{Literature/Redwall}}'' loves this trope. Even the more competent and threatening of the {{Mook}}s aren't above getting involved in physical comedy; see Fangburn and Sela telling BlatantLies about Redtooth's mysterious death, or Ripfang and Doomeye struggling to break into the hares' cell, in particular. |
| 130 | [[/folder]] |
| 131 | |
| 132 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 133 | * In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E2DinosaursOnASpaceship "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship"]], the SpacePirate Solomon is one of the more sinister villains the Doctor has encountered, while his two robots are bungling, squabbling dimwits, whom the Doctor describes as "tantrum machines". And they're voiced by [[Creator/DavidMitchellActor Mitchell]] and [[Creator/RobertWebb Webb]]. |
| 134 | * ''Series/HRPufnstuf'': [[WickedWitch Witchiepoo]] had her comical moments to be sure, but she was conniving, greedy, and did wield powerful and dangerous magic. But she also had a minion named, [[SincerityMode we kid you not]], "Stupid Bat". Downplayed with her other two minions, who were generally more competent, though this didn’t stop her from hitting them whenever things didn’t go her way. |
| 135 | * ''Series/KingdomAdventure'': It seems like each villain who is under the last villain is one of these in comparison to his superior: |
| 136 | ** [[TheDragon Magistrate Pitts]] has two dimwitted DumbMuscle guards, and compared to them, Pitts is greedy, intentional, and cruel. |
| 137 | ** Pitts himself answers to a demonic warlock named [[{{Satan}} Zordock]], and compared to him, Pitts is cowardly, weak, stupid, and clumsy. |
| 138 | ** Dagger's squeaky voice, clumsiness, cowardice, and the fact that he never shuts up (even when he [[AgonyBeam really]] [[YouHaveFailedMe should]]) make him laughable next to Zordock, as well. |
| 139 | * ''Series/NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation'' has the threatening Dragon Lord and his puny minion Wick. |
| 140 | * ''Franchise/PowerRangers'': |
| 141 | ** ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': Squat and Baboo are bumbling villains compared to Rita, Zedd, and Goldar. |
| 142 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'' has [[DaddysLittleVillain Nadira]], the daughter of [[BigBad Ransik]]. While a legitimate threat, Nadira is nonetheless a BrattyTeenageDaughter whose villainy mostly involves petty crimes like stealing clothing and jewelry. This is in sharp contrast to Ransik's supervillainy, whose only comedic moments involve doting on Nadira. |
| 143 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'': Flurious is one of the most dangerous villains of the show, and his bumbling sidekick Norg who is a MinionWithAnFInEvil. |
| 144 | * ''Series/TalesOfTheTinkerdee'': [[WickedWitch Taminella]] has an ogre henchman, Charlie, who's played by a human actor, but is only visible from the waist down. And while Taminella is fully capable of coming up with and adjusting schemes that come dangerously close to working and wields dangerous and effective magic, Charlie is a DumbMuscle dimwit who frequently receives abuse from his boss when he says or does something idiotic. |
| 145 | [[/folder]] |
| 146 | |
| 147 | |
| 148 | [[folder: Professional Wrestling]] |
| 149 | * Wrestling/SwerveStrickland is the NoNonsenseNemesis in wrestling who loves brutalizing his enemies, playing mind games, and doing any vile thing he can to win. His manager Wrestling/PrinceNana is the goofy ButtMonkey who acts as the bumbling sidekick who does funny dances to the ring, gets beaten up easily by Swerve's opponents, and gets regularly humiliated on the mic, like when Wrestling/AdamPage once talked about how Nana needed to buy drugs from high school students, causing Nana to freak out. |
| 150 | [[/folder]] |
| 151 | |
| 152 | [[folder: Tabletop Games]] |
| 153 | * On ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'', King Thar is a ruthless Orc Warlord whose dreams of leading TheHorde to RapePillageAndBurn every human, Elven Dwarven or Halfling nation in his sight. He combines strength, cunning, charisma and force of will that allowed him to unify monstrous races of [[{{Mordor}} the Broken Lands]], be them Orcs, Ogres, Goblinoids, Trolls, Gnolls or Kobolds. He is also a [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapist]], who once assaulted a noblewoman from one of Principalities of Glantri, prompting its Prince, who happenned to be a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Nosferatu]] to [[EvenEvilHasStandards personally try to kill him]] by draining all blood of his body. Unfortunatelly, Thar has survived and became a Nosferatu himself. The main reason why Thar hasn't yet burned down the whole world is that...his forces are composed of absolute buffoons, each of his generals is just the least buffoonish of their people (and the most competent one defected to Glantri at first opportunitty), and even the tribes descending from past great warlords are now only interested in comitting [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain cultural appriopriation]] of people their ancestors raided and conquered. To his frustration, Thar not only doesn't have army competent enough to conquer anything, he doesn't have army good enough to not [[DemotedToDragon get bullied into service by other villains of the setting]]. |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 157 | * ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm:'' |
| 158 | ** The Social Justice Warriors are comedic bumblers who serve to parody Tumblr misandrists and make silly quips whenever you fight them -- even Anita and Laci aren't taken too seriously. Their leader Mother, however, is ''never'' played for comedy, instead being [[spoiler:a terrifying DraconicAbomination who seeks to vaporize all men and almost succeeds in her goal]]. |
| 159 | ** The Phishers, a gang of minor villains lurking in an area of the Deep Web, kidnap and attempt to impersonate your party members but are [[PaperThinDisguise comically bad at it]]. The Phisher King is more threatening and creepy. |
| 160 | * ''VideoGame/BugFables'': The Wasp King is a vile tyrant who is unfailingly brutal to his allies and enemies alike, and darkens every scene he appears in. His right-hand man General Ultimax is a shrill goofball who thinks he's tougher than he really is, and when his boss fights go poorly for him, he's reduced to a cowering wreck who can only fight by frantically slapping the heroes in a mad panic. |
| 161 | * ''VideoGame/CaveStory'': Balrog is an anthropomorphic soap bar and a one-man GoldfishPoopGang who's pretty friendly to the heroes. He's partnered with Misery, a sorceress with a no-nonsense personality who forces Balrog to do all the grunt work; however, both of them are subservient to the wearer of the Demon Crown. That person is Dr. Fuyuhiko Date, a MadScientist out to TakeOverTheWorld by turning the cute Mimigas into his personal zombie army. |
| 162 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' has Exdeath and Gilgamesh, the BigBad and TheDragon respectively. While Exdeath is an amalgamation of evil spirits and is a serious enough villain to [[HeroKiller kill one of the main characters]], Gilgamesh is presented as a comical villain who [[BraggartBoss brags about his abilities]] only to embarrass himself in front of the heroes. |
| 163 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': Fandaniel is TheGadfly and a playfully flamboyant hooded underling of Zenos yae Galvus, a BadBoss and an imposing and violent schemer who's not afraid to hurl weapons at Fandaniel when he annoys him. |
| 164 | * ''VideoGame/FreddiFish'': The main antagonists in the first couple of games are two sharks named Spongehead and Boss. Their names tell you a lot about the dynamic between them, but interestingly, they both answer a larger and even more sinister-looking villain called [[TheDon Squidfather]], who ticks the BadBoss checkbox on top of being LargeAndInCharge! |
| 165 | * ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' has Serpentine, a barely competent cyborg snake, to Lord Arktivus Brevon, a cruel badass whose first act onscreen is to slay the king of Shuigang, and who demonstrates his power rather effortlessly when Lilac confronts him for the first time before torturing her. |
| 166 | * ''VideoGame/HeartOfDarkness'': TheMaster is a terrifying figure, but his most direct underling is a pink trunk-nosed servant, who looks and sounds comical, cowers in fear before the BigBad or the hero, and ends up helping Andy defeat his boss. |
| 167 | * ''VideoGame/JimmyAndThePulsatingMass'': The Petty Thugs are, as their name suggests, a group of petty thugs who mainly engage in PokeThePoodle acts like shaking people. Their employer, the titular Pulsating Mass, is a genuinely terrifying EldritchAbomination who aims to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]] and single-handedly takes the game into surprisingly creepy territory. |
| 168 | * ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]] again. She's just as dangerous as in her original film and significantly more ambitious. Her sidekick? The bumbling WesternAnimation/{{Pete}}. To a lesser extent, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2 the Gullwings]] also count but they quickly [[HeelFaceTurn switch sides]]. |
| 169 | * ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'': Joker is definitely evil and cruel and more than willing to kill to get what he wants, but he has [[ButtMonkey his comical moments]]. His OmnicidalManiac boss Ghadius, however, is utterly devoid of comedy. |
| 170 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'' [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzag]] this with the Yiga Clan. It's {{Inverted}} in the relationship between their leader, Master Kohga, and the rest of the clan; while the generic Yiga Footsoldiers and Blademasters are portrayed as a genuinely dangerous threat (albeit with a few comedic quirks), Kohga is a portly, lazy, incompetent goofball who's played mostly for laughs. However it's PlayedStraight as the clan as a whole is working in service to the main antagonists of each game (an AnimalisticAbomination MadeOfEvil and the DemonKing Ganondorf, respectively), both of whom are absolute monsters who don't get even a single moment of levity (and for added insult, don't even know that the Yiga Clan exists in the first place). |
| 171 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games love to do this with their villain teams. The grunts are almost always low-leveled, bumbling StupidCrooks with humorous dialogue, while the leaders are dead-serious and present a genuine threat to the region. |
| 172 | * ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' has multiple examples of this: |
| 173 | ** ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002'' has Chairman Drek and [[spoiler:Captain Qwark]]; while the former is a CorruptCorporateExecutive ruling over a species of PlanetLooters and destorying multiple occupied worlds to make a new home for his people [[spoiler:[[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist and get rich off the real-estate sales]]]] with very little comical presence, [[spoiler:Qwark is a [[WhiteDwarfStarlet past-his-prime superhero]] who [[OnlyInItForTheMoney was offered an endorsement deal by Drek]] that Qwark hoped to use to fiance his big comeback, not really thinking of how the people would respond to him siding with a planet-destroying maniac]]. |
| 174 | ** ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando'' zig-zags this quite a lot, originally the antagonists were the Unknown Thief that stole a [[AdorableAbomination biological experiment]] from MegaCorp and the Thugs-4-Less leader, one an manipulative but [[TheKlutz clumsy]] obstacle who managed to kidnap Clank, and the latter an AffablyEvil warmonger who [[MurderInc runs a formidable mercenary business]]. Both are [[LaughablyEvil menacing but also have comical means]]. This changes halfway through, when after Ratchet defeats the Thief and gives it back to MegaCorp's CEO Mr. Fizzwidget, [[spoiler: the Thief, [[SamusIsAGirl a female Lombax named Angela Cross]], reveals that MegaCorp was [[NoProductSafetyStandards going to sell the biological experiment]] (now called the Protopet) as a marketable household companion, [[KillerRabbit despite how dangerous and aggressive the experiment is]]. [[GoodAllAlong She was actually a hero in disguise trying to prevent a galaxy-wide cataclysm]]. It is also this time that MegaCorp later hires the Thugs-4-Less company to be their [[TheDragon dragon]] and betray Ratchet and Clank.]] [[spoiler:Even more surprising is that Mr. Fizzwidget was really [[DragonAscendant Captain Quark]] from the first game in disguise, using EngineeredHeroics to create the Protopet Crisis so he could stop it and become famous. And [[NearVillainVictory he actually would've won]]... if the batteries to the Helix-o-morph weren't backwards, causing him to be devoured alive by a mutated and massive Protopet]]. |
| 175 | ** ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal'': Dr. Nefarious is a truly threatening mad scientist who seeks to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy all organic life]], but he is also LaughablyEvil, and the target of the jokes from his lackey hench-robot butler Lawrence. Despite Dr. Nefarious being a serious danger to the galaxy, Lawrence [[ServileSnarker isn't afraid to snark at him]], and [[PunchClockVillain doesn't really care for Nefarious's schemes]]. |
| 176 | ** ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction'': while [[BigBad Tachyon]], the true antagonist of the game, has no named lackeys, the robotic SpacePirates play this nearly-straight with Captain Slag (Scourge of the Galaxy!), a FatBastard who acts as [[ArcVillain the primary recurring threat]] for much of the game, and is a formidable force to be reckoned with. His first-mate, Rusty Pete, is [[MinionWithAnFInEvil far less intimidating]]. |
| 177 | * ''VideoGame/RocketKnightAdventures'': The original game has the TerribleTrio of Emperor Devligus Devotindos, Axel Gear, and Captain Fleagle. This game provides a rare example of two vile villains and one laughable lackey. Emperor Devligus is the leader of the Devotindos Empire, and his motive is to reactivate the Pig Star so that he can use it to destroy Planet Elhorn. Axel Gear is Sparkster's arch-rival and EvilCounterpart, and [[BlackKnight a Rocket Knight gone rogue]]. He serves as TheDragon to Devligus, and his motives include destroying Sparkster, helping Devligus achieve his goal of reactivating the Pig Star, and eventually [[TheStarscream taking over the Devotindos Empire once Devligus is out of the picture]]. Captain Fleagle is a clumsy oaf who suffers a series of AmusingInjuries in his attempts to defeat Sparkster, and is comically represented by a tinny rendition of "Shave and a Haircut (Two Bits)" whenever he loses. |
| 178 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': |
| 179 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'': in Nimbus Land, Valentina was a scheming, seductive usurper, but she had a lazy, fat, bumbling lackey in Dodo whose size and temper were PlayedForLaughs. |
| 180 | ** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' has the duo of Cackletta and Fawful. Despite her name, Cackletta was one of the nastiest and most dangerous foes the Mario Bros. had ever fought, while her [[TheDragon Dragon]] Fawful was always played for laughs thanks to his [[IntentionalEngrishForFunny unusual speech patterns]]. However, [[BewareTheSillyOnes being goofy didn't make him any less of a threat than his boss]]; ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' gives him a shot as the BigBad, and without losing any of the silliness, he's just as dangerous as Cackletta was, if not more so. Further, Fawful's chief enforcer, Midbus, doesn't qualify as this, as though he isn't bright, he proves to be quite resourceful in combat. |
| 181 | ** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'': Sir Grodus, leader of the X-Nauts, is consistently portrayed as a dead serious villain, while Lord Crump is more of a bumbling lackey who at one point even [[BreakingTheFourthWall warns the player]] not to tell Mario about his PaperThinDisguise, the Shadow Sirens are a comically inept TerribleTrio, and the grunts have numerous dialogue. [[spoiler:At least until Beldam, leader of the Sirens, is revealed as the ''real'' mastermind -- but even she is this compared to [[GreaterScopeVillain the Shadow Queen]] she serves, as the Queen is one of the deadliest and most serious threats that Mario ever faced.]] |
| 182 | ** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'': King Olly is a serious villain who brainwashes Bowser's army into becoming his minions and aims to [[spoiler:exterminate the Toads]], while the Legion of Stationary are a team of {{Animate Inanimate Object}}s who, aside from Scissors and [[spoiler:Stapler]], are a funny QuirkyMinibossSquad. |
| 183 | * ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': Downplayed with The Administrator and Miss Pauling. The Administrator is an IronLady who is controlling everything the RED and BLU teams are doing, whereas Miss Pauling, while not exactly laughable, and is in fact very competent, is much more of a PunchClockVillain. |
| 184 | * Zed from the first ''VideoGame/WildArms1'' game is more or less a LargeHam HarmlessVillain who fits squarely into the role of comic relief, in contrast to all the other demons. It's most notable with [[TheDragon Zeikfried,]] who is far more serious, focused and ruthless. |
| 185 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': a few boss encounters have this dynamic: |
| 186 | ** The dialog after the Krick is defeated in Pit of Saron shows Krick as a coward, ready to give out information on his dead-serious Lich King superior. |
| 187 | ** Koramar, the captain of the ship at the Iron Docks, is confident in his army, even as the players slaughter them while working their way through the instance. His first mate Zoggosh is much savvier than his captain and is thus afraid of the players. As justified as his fears are, Zoggosh's cowardice is PlayedForLaughs, giving the two of them this dynamic. |
| 188 | [[/folder]] |
| 189 | |
| 190 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 191 | * Faz to his stepfather Blaine in ''WebComic/DumbingOfAge'': while Blaine is truly evil, works for the mob, and has resorted to kidnapping, blackmail, and [[spoiler:murder]] to achieve his goals (namely getting his daughter to drop out so he didn't have to pay her tuition) Faz is more the goofy SmugSnake with NoSocialSkills who tries to get laid. This gets [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed later]]: [[spoiler:It's been implied Blaine is just as much an AbusiveParent to Faz as he had been to Amber, Faz is more or less forced into helping Blaine out, and Faz knows Blaine is evil but is also the sole breadwinner in the household, so will help him to try to keep him out of jail. Blaine, for his part, is willing to risk Faz's own safety to ensure he gets away.]] |
| 192 | * In ''Webcomic/JennyAndTheMultiverse'', [[BigBad the Man in Grey]] is a DeliberatelyMonochrome HumanoidAbomination and serious as a heart attack, while [[TheDragon Colonel Major]] is a rotund, comical, colourful mook. |
| 193 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Hel and Thrym in the sixth arc. Hel is the serious villain working towards her goal of [[spoiler:ending the world so all of the souls of the dwarves are condemned to her realm]] while her underling Thrym is a goofy DoggedNiceGuy who isn't taken seriously by Hel or Thor. |
| 194 | [[/folder]] |
| 195 | |
| 196 | [[folder:Web Video]] |
| 197 | * ''WebVideo/{{Fanscription}}'': In ''What if a Live-Action Film/SuperMarioBros1993 2 Happened,'' Wario and Waluigi are a quirky and bombastic duo (though [[BewareTheSillyOnes plenty dangerous in their own right]]). [[BigBad King Wart]], on the other hand, is a grim and unsettling presence even when talking to his CoDragons. |
| 198 | * ''WebVideo/OverlordDVD'': Harvey Cthulhu and the Skull of Calderón were probably meant to invoke this trope's feel; they're both imprisoned and can't do more than join Overlord DVD in snarking at corporations' greed and idiocy, but technically they're his defeated enemies, not his minions: only Omnivac can really be called his minion, and [[TheStarscream given his motivations]], even he counts as a defeated and imprisoned enemy. That said, Doomcock only tends to fire up Omnivac when it's time to crunch numbers, and Omnivac thinks this is so far beneath him that most of Omnivac's dialog consists of hilarious tirades that eventually end with him acquiescing and discussing the numbers. |
| 199 | [[/folder]] |
| 200 | |
| 201 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 202 | * ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'': Toady is a SycophanticServant and regularly suffers abuse from Duke Igthorn, who despite being LaughablyEvil himself, is nevertheless ambitious and has his [[NotSoHarmlessVillain legitimately dangerous]] moments. |
| 203 | * ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'': In the show, Xerxes, the flying eel, is this to SorcerousOverlord Mozenrath, usually providing more slapstick humor while his master is the serious KnightOfCerebus antagonist. |
| 204 | * ''WesternAnimation/AvengerPenguins'': Harry Slime is a dense MinionWithAnFInEvil who routinely suffers abuse from his CardCarryingVillain boss, Caractacus P. Doom. |
| 205 | * [[Characters/DCAUHarleyQuinn Harley Quinn]] in some of her appearances is this to [[Characters/DCAUJoker The Joker]] in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' thanks to her often being PlayedForLaughs in a less harmful way than The Joker usually is. |
| 206 | * Igor, a bumbling dumb news reporter wannabe to Dr. Gangrene in ''WesternAnimation/AttackOfTheKillerTomatoes'' |
| 207 | * ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': Once Waspinator's role as ButtMonkey was established, he had this dynamic with Megatron. |
| 208 | %% * Shecky the Jester to King Max in ''WesternAnimation/TheBiskitts''. |
| 209 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheBluffers'': Clandestino is a greedy, polluting executive, and has a guard dog named Glum who is a MinionWithAnFInEvil and is frequently mistreated. |
| 210 | * In ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'', the alliance between NOS-4-A2 and XL in the episode "Revenge of the Monsters" plays out like this. XL is a comical villain who usually gets the most laughs in any episode he's in, while NOS-4-A2 is one of the most dangerous and seriously taken villains in the show, along with Evil Universe Buzz. They insist to each other they're actually partners throughout the episode, but it's clear who is calling the shots and who is probably going to be betrayed. In the end, the fear of being turned on causes XL to have a HeelFaceTurn and join Star Command. |
| 211 | ** Also Zurg, while having comedic traits, is quite evil and sinister compared to his Brain Pod and Grub henchmen, who, while having moments of competence, are almost purely comical. |
| 212 | * In ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster,'' Mother Brain may not be as dangerous as her ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' counterpart, but she is treated as a genuine threat by the characters. Her minions, [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Eggplant Wizard]] and [[VideoGame/PunchOut King Hippo]] however, are total failures whose antics provide most of the show's slapstick humour. Mother Brain both verbally and physically abuses the pair constantly. Averted whenever [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Dr. Wily]], [[Franchise/{{Castlevania}} Dracula]] or VideoGame/DonkeyKong show up, as they’re usually portrayed as more competent than King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard. |
| 213 | ** In the episode 'Germ Wars', Viroid wages a war to take over Kevin's body and gets quickly frustrated with his timid "Miserable excuse for an assistant". Said assistant asks Kevin's lead cell for forgiveness afterwards. |
| 214 | * ''WesternAnimation/CareBears1980s'': |
| 215 | ** Professor Coldheart is a scheming CardCarryingVillain but has a goofy and idiotic sidekick named Frostbite whose very character design is comical. |
| 216 | ** Beastly and Shreeky function as Laughable Lackeys who bicker with each other and consistently lose to the Care Bears, but Shreeky's uncle Lord No Heart remains a credible threat. |
| 217 | * During the early seasons of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'', [[BigBad The Hacker]] was an extremely serious and dangerous threat who was [[TheDreaded feared]] throughout Cyberspace. Despite his imposing status, his two main lackies, Buzz and Delete, are always protrayed as comedic villains where the former is interested in [[TrademarkFavoriteFood eating donuts]] and the latter is more interested in petting bunnies. Buzz and Delete are, a most times, the cause for The Hacker's plans to fail. As a result, The Hacker often punishes the two for their screwups (even temporary replacing them with a more serious and competent minion in an episode). However, in the later seasons, The Hacker lost a [[VillainDecay lot of his imposing status]] and is now as comedic as Buzz and Delete. |
| 218 | * ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'': [[VileVillainSaccharineShow Taurus Bulba]] is a pretty intimidating and uncomical villain, whilst his trio of henchmen, Hammerhead, Hoof, and Mouth, are depicted as pretty goofy. |
| 219 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Dragamonz}}'': Wormskull is a comical young Grimwrath who is the servant to [[BigBad Grimserver]], the evil leader of the Grimwraths. He is often on the receiving end of Grimserver's abuse, which soon results in him pulling a HeelFaceTurn during the final battle. |
| 220 | * Clumsy and fearful Toad was often at the receiving end of abuse from his DiabolicalMastermind boss, Dr. Dred, in ''WesternAnimation/DrakPack''. |
| 221 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'': The Urpneys are comical. The BigBad they work for, Zordrak, looks like an EvilSorceror T-Rex, and, while supplying much SurroundedByIdiots humour, is played deadly seriously as a villain. |
| 222 | * ''WesternAnimation/FlyingRhinoJuniorHigh'': Earl P. Sidebottom is an EvilGenius with a RealityWarper machine at his disposal, capable of putting the students in life-threatening situations. Though he fails pretty much OnceAnEpisode, he's still far more of a threat than his MinionWithAnFInEvil, Ratticus. |
| 223 | * ''WesternAnimation/GetEd'': Crouch is a robot minion that often fails against Ed and his friends, and who is easily frightened into launching toast out of his head. Bedlam, his employer, is a more serious villain who has admitted that he mainly keeps him around because he likes the toast. |
| 224 | * In ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters'', Prime Evil, the undead robotic skeleton overlord of the evil ghost afterlife, has two direct subordinates Bratarat, who's a small, bulbous, rat/worm hybrid that flies that only snarks at things, and Scared Stiff, a lesser robot skeleton who routinely falls apart out of fright. They sometimes have to perform menial tasks for Prime Evil. They tend to muck it up a lot. |
| 225 | * ''WesternAnimation/GreenEggsAndHam'' (the Creator/WarnerBrosAnimation series) has the BADGUYS be like this through and through, with the SeriousBusiness [=McWinkle=] and his partner the optimistic CloudCuckoolander Gluntz. Subverted by [[spoiler:the reveal that the BADGUYS are not the bad guys, although they still have this dynamic]]. |
| 226 | * With minions like Dr. Claw's who consistently lose to the hapless ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' (or his niece), who needs enemies? |
| 227 | * ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' is an unusual case in several ways. [[Characters/InvaderZimZim Zim]] is a VillainProtagonist and an underling for TheEmpire, and characters from TheEmpire higher up than him are indeed far, ''far'' more capable, competent, and serious than Zim is. However, they don't actually care about conquering Earth: sending Zim to Earth is their idea of making him ReassignedToAntarctica. |
| 228 | * ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': [[MookCarryover Throughout the five seasons]], the Dark Hand [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Enforcers]] serve as easily beatable comic relief henchmen for the {{Arc Villain}}s. |
| 229 | * The Copycats are the typical cartoonish slapstick villain (like the Coyote) in ''WesternAnimation/KiddVideo'' and serve this role for the much menacing Master Blaster. |
| 230 | * ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': {{Inverted|Trope}}. Drakken is the apparent BigBad, but given his immaturity and tendency to go off on tangents, he's not a very serious villain. His [[TheDragon dragon]] Shego, however, is an intelligent, competent combatant and is either a supervillainess in her own right or wields powerful fist weapons. Either way, she gives Kim Possible a real fight. (They maintain their respective roles by mutual preference: Shego lacks vision and ambition, and would rather be a well-paid dragon who can snark at her boss than have to pay somebody else to do the planning for her -- as well as that worked the one time she tried it.) |
| 231 | * ''WesternAnimation/LadyLovelyLocks'': Hairball is the Laughable Lackey to Duchess Ravenwaves. While not incompetent, his voice, cough-like laugh, and appearance make him less of a threat than she is. |
| 232 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda1989'': Ganon was a competent, cruel villain, exasperated by his idiotic, bumbling moblin minions. It even got to the point where, when they invaded Link's bedroom in Hyrule Castle, Link didn't even need to get up from his bed: they managed to off ''each other'' with their clumsiness! |
| 233 | * ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'': Experiment 625, AKA Reuben, works for the series' main villain Gantu. While Reuben has all of Stitch's abilities, he has zero motivation and isn't serious at all. Played around with since Reuben's laziness often led to Gantu being the sole ButtMonkey of all their failed schemes, with a lot of the former's snark stemming from it while in turn making Gantu the Laughable Lackey to the show's GreaterScopeVillain, Dr. Hamsterviel. |
| 234 | * ''WesternAnimation/LoliRock'': [[BigBad Gramorr]] is a ruthless and treacherous EvilSorcerer who will stop at nothing to take over Ephedia by destroying the princesses and acquiring the [[MineralMacGuffin Oracle Gems]]. He would have to rely on [[BrotherSisterTeam Praxina and Mephisto]] to accomplish this, but their track record of being defeated by the princesses every single time leaves them much to be desired. And while Praxina is at least [[DarkActionGirl competent and wicked enough to be a challenge]], the same can't be said about [[MinionWithAnFInEvil Mephisto]]. [[spoiler:Come the end of Season 2, when Gramorr dies and Mephisto is seemingly killed as well, Praxina actively takes up his mantle.]] |
| 235 | * ''WesternAnimation/MadJackThePirate'': Jack is a VillainProtagonist, and is generally more threatening than his dense Funny Animal first mate, Snuk. |
| 236 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheMagician'': Downplayed with Spade and Diamond. They're armed, dangerous, and generally competent, but their back-and-forth with each other is occasionally PlayedForLaughs, whereas their scheming mobster boss Black Jack is ''never'' funny. |
| 237 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'': Many of the show's villains have a lackey with whom they share this dynamic: |
| 238 | ** The witch Hydia is scheming, calculating, and evil, and has two inept daughters with no motivation for villainy who tend to serve as the butts of jokes and the target of their mother's abuse. |
| 239 | ** The catwoman sorceress, Catrina, is a vicious, violent slave driver whose overall behavior reeks of drug addiction and domestic abuse, but her lackey, Rep, is a NiceGuy who loses a fight to a filly. |
| 240 | ** Squirk is an immortal squid monster who wants to flood Dream Valley, and is assisted by the much smaller and less effective Crank, a miniature lobster, who spends most of his time on air getting punched about by his boss and their enemies. |
| 241 | ** Arabus is a greedy and corrupt cloud wizard who likes to eat pony shadows, thereby removing the happiness from the pony in question. However, he is aided by a stupid and lazy zebra named Zeb. |
| 242 | ** The very dangerous and competent Grogar, ruler of the evil kingdom of Tambelon, has as a minion the bumbling and cowardly donkey Bray. |
| 243 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyMakeYourMark'': Both [[BigBad Opaline]] and her lackey Misty have comical moments, given Opaline's tendencies to start ChewingTheScenery and Misty's BumblingSidekick moments. But considering Opaline is an out-and-out ''[[PhysicalGoddess alicorn]]'' implied to have [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld lived long enough]] to have met Twilight, and Misty's a unicorn without so much as a cutie mark, it's no surprise Opaline is a far more serious threat! |
| 244 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'': |
| 245 | ** Episodes with villains were few and far between, but one had a giant monster made of goo named "Crud", who had a hyper, overenthusiastic, comical lackey named Smudge. |
| 246 | ** Similarly Stan and Heff, a Heffalump and Woozle duo appeared in a couple of episodes. While both of them were bungling crooks, Stan was far more of a devious CardCarryingVillain than Heff, an agreeable DumbMuscle Heffalump with several phobias. |
| 247 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfZorro1997'': Captain Montecero could stand toe-to-toe with Zorro in a swordfight and was ruthless and ambitious, but Sergeant Garcia in this incarnation was a fat, comical bumbling henchmen who rarely had any moments of competence. |
| 248 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': [[Characters/TheOwlHouseEmperorBelos Emperor Belos]] serves as the series' very stern and serious KnightOfCerebus [[BigBad main antagonist]] who lacks any quirks or visible redeeming qualities and whose ultimate goal [[spoiler:is [[FinalSolution the complete annihilation of life in the demon realm]] with only a scant few of its inhabitants aware of his monstrous plan]]. Meanwhile, the rank-and-file coven scouts and coven guards often have comical personal behaviors and their own personalities, with even the coven heads possessing some of their own quirks and behaviors, with even the most bloodthirsty one, Terra Snapdragon having her own funny BlackComedy type moments, something not even Belos has. |
| 249 | * Smee, as in all other representations, to Captain Hook in ''WesternAnimation/PeterPanAndThePirates''. |
| 250 | * ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'': While neither one is very threatening physically (what with being lab mice and all), [[VillainProtagonist the Brain]], with his serious demeanor and great intellect, is far more of a threat than the spastic, dimwitted Pinky, [[MinionWithAnFInEvil who isn't even aware that he's a villain.]] |
| 251 | * The incompetent pig henchmen of the determined CorruptCorporateExecutive Cyril Sneer in ''WesternAnimation/TheRaccoons'' fill the trope entirely. |
| 252 | * ''WesternAnimation/RainbowBrite'': It's often hard to take Murky Dismal seriously, even if he is Rainbow Brite's nemesis throughout the series. In the premiere, he was working for an evil sorceror only known as "The King of Shadows" and while this setup lasted, Murky and the King of Shadows had this dynamic. After the King of Shadows' death and [[DragonAscendant Murky's promotion to]] BigBad status, Murky's idiotic assistant Lurky is even harder to take seriously than Murky, so he ends up creating this dynamic with him. |
| 253 | * ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'': Megabyte could be a dangerous villain when he wanted to be, but his bumbling robotic henchmen Hack and Slash provided some of the show's best comedy. |
| 254 | * ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'': Boris Badinov and Natasha Fatale often fail against Rocky and Bullwinkle, but their Potsylvanian superiors, Fearless Leader and Mr. Big, stay more believable as a threat. |
| 255 | * ''WesternAnimation/RosePetalPlace'': Horace is the laughable lackey to Nastina's vile villain. While not incompetent, his voice and mannerisms make him much less of a threat than she is. |
| 256 | * ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': [[Characters/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPowerHordak Hordak]] and [[Characters/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPowerShadowWeaver Shadow Weaver]] are cold, cruel, and menacing, and [[Characters/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPowerCatra Catra]] is self-destructive in ways that can be uncomfortable to watch. However, the bad guys also have Scorpia (who's big, kind, and ditzy) and Entrapta (a GenkiGirl MadScientist) to lighten the mood a bit. |
| 257 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Silverhawks}}'' has Mon*Star, his gang consisting of hardened, monstrous badasses with lethal machinery, all dangerous. Except for Mon*Star's YesMan (actually ''named'' Yes-Man), a timid, [[SnakePeople snake-like]] humanoid whose sole purpose seems to be operating the machine that exposes the Moon Star of Limbo's energy conveniently to Mon*Star's throne, and agreeing with everything Mon*Star says. |
| 258 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': [[Characters/TheSimpsonsCharlesMontgomeryBurns Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns]] is a horrible person who is willing to harm anyone and everyone for his own personal gain. His right-hand man, Waylon Smithers, on the other hand, is a genuinely nice guy (obedience to Mr. Burns and his creepy crush on him notwithstanding) who tries his best to help others, and is only evil due to his UndyingLoyalty to Burns. |
| 259 | * Scruple, a snarky, delinquent wizard-school dropout, is this to the vengeful Gargamel in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981''. Gargamel himself is [[ButtMonkey not]] [[DirtyCoward without]] [[BrilliantButLazy his]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption comical]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard moments]], and acts as a laughable lackey to his abusive godfather Balthazar in every episode the latter is in. |
| 260 | * ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': |
| 261 | ** ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'': Scratch and Grounder have this dynamic with Dr. Robotnik. The pair are cartoonishly gormless goons, that even little children were meant to laugh at, unlike Robotnik who, while comedically conceited and blundering, can be a very dangerous and worthy foe for a superhero like Sonic. |
| 262 | ** ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'': [[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl Snively]] was comical compared to his ruthless and evil uncle, Dr. Robotnik, who was treated as the clearer threat as a ruthless EvilOverlord in this take. However, Snively was known for insulting Robotnik behind his back and did have plans to overthrow him. |
| 263 | ** ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'': Dingo was childish DumbMuscle, and far less intelligent than his clever, backstabbing partner mercenary Sleet. Both of them played comic relief lackeys to Robotnik however, who retains the same EvilOverlord role as in ''Satam''. |
| 264 | * The cowardly Blub Blubs are this to the always-hungry warlord Momo in ''WesternAnimation/StarStreetTheAdventuresOfTheStarKids'' |
| 265 | * ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'': Ivanod Spigot and Dunder, the two bumbling [[RedScare Thembrian air force men]], are very comedic. Spigot is much more cruel than Dunder, but they both contrast with the much more threatening High Marshal. |
| 266 | * ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' has Shredder and his henchmen, Bebop and Rocksteady. Shredder is usually portrayed as competent, though he can provide comic relief, while his henchmen, a menacing anthropomorphic boar and rhino, are actually clumsy and cowardly. |
| 267 | * ''WesternAnimation/WhereOnEarthIsCarmenSandiego'': A one-off villain from the past named Maelstrom had a lackey with a strange name: Bilge. Downplayed, in that Bilge's only comical aspects were his name and the fact that he is afraid of a giant squid kept in the ship's hold who [[ProperlyParanoid attacks the heroes at one point]]. |
| 268 | * ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'': |
| 269 | ** In Season 1, the Trix act as the Serious Villain, with their ogre Knut a more comical villain [[spoiler:who eventually underwent a HeelFaceTurn.]] |
| 270 | ** In Season 2, the Trix were DemotedToDragon and the status stuck, but they weren't laughable until Season 3 when they repeatedly lost battles immediately upon engaging the Winx and began some minor infighting. |
| 271 | ** In Season 7, Brafilius is a comical, bumbling villain who acts as a lackey for his more serious sister Kalshara. [[spoiler:He eventually ends up having this dynamic with the Trix, who are once again serious.]] |
| 272 | [[/folder]] |
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