Villain on Leave

Most common in (but not limited to) movie trilogies, this is when a villain plays a major role in the first installment in a series, then in the next goes AWOL (or at least plays a less important role) but then eventually comes back in a later installment to be the big bad all over again. (TV Show examples tend to treat a whole season as the analogy for a single film for this trope)

There are varying reasons why you will see this trope.

• Fans did not enjoy the new villain and demanded the old one back
• The villain was The Dragon in the first installment and later became the big bad
• The Villain was in hiding whilst he was believed dead
• Nostalgia, what better way to wrap up the series than to come full circle and face your old foe one last time
• The interim installment was a B-plot.

A Sub-Trope of Returning Big Bad and related to Interim Villain, whose rise to power is often the result of the previous villain being on leave. Compare Heel–Face Return, when a villain returns to the series in a future installment on the side of the protagonists. Contrast Hijacked by Ganon, where it looks like there is a new villain but the old one turns out to be pulling the strings.

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Examples:

Anime and Manga

• Bleach: In the Bount and Captain Amagai Filler Arcs of the anime, Aizen didn't appear at all.
• Dragon Ball:
  • The Pilaf Gang gets to do this multiple times. After being the bad guys at the end of the very first arc, they get brought back again as the final obstacle in the Red Ribbon Army arc by having the final Dragon Ball. They are then used again as the reason why Piccolo Daimao is back roaming the Earth, although this turns out to be someone they shouldn't have messed with and they get kicked out of their own airship. Finally they are used as the instigators of the the first arc in Dragon Ball GT, bringing things full circle. In modern media, the Pilaf Gang have had more background roles in the story.
  • Frieza is quite possibly one of the most iconic villains in the franchise, serving as the Big Bad during the Namek saga. He gets a brief return in the Androids saga before being killed by Trunks. After that, most of his appearances are relegated to filler episodes in the anime. It isn't until Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' that Frieza gets to be in the Big Bad role again, which gets worked into its own saga in Dragon Ball Super. After that, Frieza would later be revived again to serve as the tenth teammate for the Tournament of Power saga, which allows him to later be the Big Bad of Dragon Ball Super: Broly.
• Gundam: Char Aznable was supposed to be in Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ but when Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack has been green-lit, the writers decided to introduce new villains instead, making Char sit out on the entirety of ZZ.

Film

• Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters are the villains in Cinderella, minor characters in Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, and the villains again in Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.
• The Lion King: In the first film, the main villains are Scar and the Hyenas, but in the Direct-to-Video sequel they don't appear and are replaced with Zira and the Outsiders. In the third movie, Scar and the Hyenas are the villains once again, though the former only makes a few brief appearances. Justified in this case, since the third film is a P.O.V. Sequel retelling the original film from the point of view of Timon and Pumbaa.
• The Dark Knight Trilogy: The League of Shadows are the primary villains of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises, led by Ra's al Ghul in the former and Bane and Talia al Ghul in the latter. The Dark Knight has The Joker and Two-Face, completely unaffiliated with the League of Shadows, instead.
• SPECTRE's agents are the main antagonists in the early James Bond films, except in Goldfinger.
• The Nazis are the main antagonists of the first and third Indiana Jones films.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • Subverted with the Iron Man trilogy: after their absence in Iron Man 2, the Ten Rings terrorist organization returns in full force for Iron Man 3. Except they don't - it's all a false flag set up by Aldrich Killian and AIM.
  • After teaming up with Loki to invade Earth in The Avengers, Thanos sits out Avengers: Age of Ultron (aside from The Stinger). He returns as the Big Bad in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
• While he's more of a Jerkass antagonist than a true villain, Lt. Harris of Police Academy eventually reclaims his spot from Lt. Mauser as the uptight authority figure starting from the series' fourth installment, along with getting a promotion to Captain. Though the movies themselves continued to suffer from Sequelitis, Harris' return went over decently with fans because his loud, abrasive hamminess made him a much more entertaining comic foil for the protagonists' antics compared to Mauser's Smug Snake characterization.
• Star Wars: When viewing the series in numerical order, after serving as the Big Bad during the Prequel Trilogy, Palpatine is completely absent in A New Hope and only appears in one brief scene in The Empire Strikes Back before once again taking the main villain role in Return of the Jedi and after that remains hidden for the first two films of the Sequel Trilogy before being revealed to be behind everything in The Rise of Skywalker.
• X-Men Trilogy: Magneto is the Big Bad of X-Men, but in the sequel this position is taken by William Stryker while Magneto has a smaller role as an anti-hero who helps the X-Men. However, in the third film Magneto becomes the Big Bad once again (although Phoenix is the bigger threat).
• In The Karate Kid, John Kreese and his Cobra Kai dojo serve as the primary antagonists, but Kreese only appears as a supporting antagonist during the first scene of the following sequel, with Miyagi's Evil Former Friend Sato and his nephew Chozen Toguchi temporarily taking Kreese's place as the main antagonists throughout the majority of the film set in Okinawa. However, in The Karate Kid Part III, Kreese (alongside his war buddy Terry Silver) and the Cobra Kai dojo return as the central antagonists, before disappearing again in The Next Karate Kid (replaced by Colonel Dugan and his Alpha Elite recruits) to then reappear in the eponymous Distant Sequel series Cobra Kai.
• In the fist film of the Spider-Man Trilogy, the Big Bad is Green Goblin/Norman Osborn. In the sequel, Dr Octopus takes the role of the Big Bad, but the ending has the ghost of Norman Osborn urging his son Harry to become a new Green Goblin, implying that he's going to be the Big Bad of the following movie. Indeed, Harry Osborn becomes a new Green Goblin in the third film and serves as one of the main antagonists (though he's not exactly the only one) while the ghost of his father continues to influence him.
• The first Superman film has Lex Luthor as the Big Bad. In the second film, Zod becomes the Big Bad while Luthor still appears as a secondary antagonist. In the third film, Luthor no longer appears and is replaced by the similar character Ross Webster. In the fourth film as well as Superman Returns, Lex Luthor is the Big Bad once again.
• The Hobbit: Azog is the more direct antagonist in the first film of the trilogy. In the sequel, he has a less important role as he stops pursuing the protagonists after the beginning of the film and is essentially replaced by his son Bolg. However, he returns in the third film as the primary antagonist.
• Transformers Film Series: In the first movie, Megatron has the role of main antagonist. In the second film, he gets Demoted to Dragon and only serves as a secondary antagonist while his master The Fallen fulfills the role of the Big Bad. In the third movie on the other hand, Megatron is part of a Big Bad Duumvirate with Sentinel Prime (that being said, Sentinel is clearly the most dangerous of the two).
• Halloween: Michael Myers is the Big Bad of the first two films, but doesn't appear at all in the third. From the fourth film onwards, he returns as the main villain.
• Friday the 13th: After he is killed off at the end of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Jason is completely absent in A New Beginning, with the murders instead being committed by a copycat killer named Roy Burns. It's not until Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives that Jason finally returns in his new undead glory.

Literature

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the only book in the Harry Potter series in which Voldemort does not appear in some form, either physically, via flashback, or as a Horcrux.
• In The Thirty-Nine Steps, Richard Hannay defeats a German spy ring at the outset of World War I. The first sequel, Greenmantle, has a new and unrelated group of villains, but then the second sequel, Mr. Standfast, sees the Dragon from the first novel return as the Big Bad, leading a new spy ring in the closing months of the War, and getting his final come-uppance.

Live-Action TV

• Daredevil (2015): Wilson Fisk serves as the main villain of the first season, a minor villain in the second season, and the main villain again in the third season.
• Doctor Who:
  • The Daleks served as the Big Bads of the First Doctor's era, only to be put on leave after the first season of the Second Doctor's era, with the Cybermen taking their place as the arch-enemies of the Doctor. Eventually, the Daleks would return in Season 9, during the Third Doctor's era, and then become the Big Bads again in Season 10.
  • Similarly, the Cybermen were the main antagonists of the Second Doctor's era, but were put on leave for the entirety of the Third Doctor's era because producer Terrance Dicks' disliked them. It wouldn't be until the Fourth Doctor's era that they reappeared.
  • The Master was put on leave after his actor suffered untimely death, and wouldn't appear again until some time into the Fourth Doctor's era.
  • The Eleventh Doctor's tenure saw no appearances from the Master, who had last appeared as a major villain in the Tenth Doctor's era, and wouldn't appear again until the first season of the Twelfth Doctor's era.
• Kamen Rider:
  • After appearing as the Big Bad of the first series and Kamen Rider V3, the Great Leader would sit out Kamen Rider X and Kamen Rider Amazon before making his return in Kamen Rider Stronger.
  • Although Kamen Rider Double set up Foundation X as the overarching villains of the Neo-Heisei era, they would sit out Kamen Rider OOO before returning in Kamen Rider Fourze, and then disappear again and not reappear until Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, five shows later.
• In the first two seasons of Sherlock, Moriarty is the undisputed Big Bad. In Season 3, Charles Augustus Magnussen has taken over that role, but the end of the season implies that Moriarty is going to come back as the Big Bad of the following season. In the end, Moriarty turns out to be dead and the Big Bad of Season 4 is Eurus Holmes, but Moriarty is still largely responsible for the events of the season and also serves more or less as the Big Bad of the special episode "The Abominable Bride" that takes place between Season 3 and 4.
• In the first season of Teen Wolf, Peter Hale and Kate Argent serve as the two primary villains. In season 2 and 3, Peter becomes an anti-hero who is more or less on the same side as the heroes, while Kate doesn't appear. In the fourth season, they are both the main villains once again.

Professional Wrestling

• This a commonly used trope, from the earliest days to now.
• In the Territory Days, it was common for wrestlers to leave one territory for a new one, come back and re-ignite a feud. This trope would apply for face wrestler, who would feud with other heels, but then have another round with their greatest rival.
  • Dusty Rhodes the every man blue collar babyface and his many legendary feuds with the wealthy, show boating Ric Flair.
  • The good Christian Texas born and bred Von Erich family vs. the uncouth Georgia rednecks the Fabulous Freebirds.
• In the modern era, instead of territories, it would be between national promotions that would tour and broadcast from coast to coast. Sometimes when a wrestler returned, the greatest rivalry would be reignited.
  • Sting, WCW's franchise face star vs. Ric Flair the most iconic wrestler, especially as a heel, in NWA/WCW history.
• Sometimes this happens with wrestlers who remain in the same organization, who eventually find a new way to feud with each other.
  • From a story line perspective, The Undertaker's rivalry with Kane is his nastiest, as the long simmering hatred between the two estranged brothers brought out the worst in them. Even when teaming together, Kane would inevitably turn on the Undertaker and his most personal and insane villain would challenge him again.
  • Randy Orton and Triple H are just one example where the villain role changes. Both men have done vile things to each other and their families, depending on who the heel is. Orton's feud with The Fiend is another example, as the latest incarnation has Orton in the heel role, at least according to WWE.^note According to fans in the WWE Thunder Dome, they are instructed to cheer The Fiend and Alexa Bliss and boo Orton.
  • Another straight example is John Cena vs Orton and Brock Lesnar. Once Cena was cemented as a face, his numerous feuds with Orton always had Cena as the hero. Before Lesnar abruptly left WWE in 2004, Cena was the heel, but after his return 2012, Cena was again the hero every time he crossed paths with Lesnar.

Toys

• BIONICLE: Makuta Teridax constantly, whether he was sealed, recuperating, or doing something relating to his plan in the background.

Video Games

• In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Dr Neo Cortex and his cronies attempted an evil scheme at Uka Uka's bidding without Co-Dragon, Dr N Tropy. In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Uka Uka, tired of Cortex's failures, recruits N Tropy to do the next plan solo. Resultantly it is a rare game Cortex is not involved in besides the odd cameo. When N Tropy in turn fails to do any better than Cortex, Uka Uka vows to find a worthy accomplice to do his bidding. This plot point is Left Hanging, with Cortex back as a main villain afterwards (though the premise of Uka trying to find someone more competent perks back up every now and then).
• Five Nights at Freddy's: William Afton made his first on-screen appearance in the second game during the minigames which reveal the backstory of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. In the third game, he's promoted to Big Bad. In the fourth, however, he's reduced to an Easter Egg that appears for a split second, unrelated to the events of the game. Once the sixth game came out, he once again became a unseen Greater-Scope Villain and since then played a major role in every game afterwards, through the Big Bad to even a Villain Protagonist (with one exception, but that's a non-canon spinoff)
• Dr. Wily is the Big Bad of the Mega Man Battle Network series, but isn't present in Battle Networks 4 or 5, though he does appear at the end of the latter. Dr. Regal is the villain that you face in those games.
• Pocky & Rocky: The first SNES game has the Black Mantle as the main antagonist, while the second game has Dynagon. Reshrined, released many years after the second, has the Black Mantle once again as the main antagonist.
• Sort of inverted in the Super Mario RPG / Paper Mario series. Bowser, who is, without fail (unless you count Super Mario USA), always the main villain of the main Super Mario series, is only the main villain once (the original Paper Mario). In the rest of the games he's either the butt end of jokes, or a party member. Or both...
• Mario & Luigi: Fawful is a recurring villain who serves as The Dragon in the first game, gets Demoted to Extra as a shopkeeper in the second game, and then becomes the Big Bad himself in the third.

Web Original

• The sequel to An SMWC Production will feature a new villain named Norveg instead of Bowser, who is vacationing in World 4.

Western Animation

• Slade is the main antagonist of the first two seasons of Teen Titans, but doesn't appear in the third season (except as a hallucination in one episode). However, he comes back in the fourth season as a major villain, albeit not the primary one (that would be Trigon).
• After being the Big Bad of both the Disney movie Aladdin and its first Direct-to-Video sequel, Jafar doesn't appear at all in the animated series and the the third DTV movie (although he's mentioned in both). However, he comes back as one of the two main antagonists (alongside Hades) of the crossover episode "Hercules and the Arabian Night" that takes place after the events of the third film.