Basic Trope: A one-time villain or monster that shows up and is defeated in an episode never to be seen again.
- Straight:
- Bob and his crew of misfits fight against a new monster every week or episode. This week, it's the Condor, a bird-themed villain.
- Alternatively, this week, the villain Bob usually fights takes control of a new object. This week, he's possessing a lost doll.
- Exaggerated: Literally all the villains in the series are episodic, none appear again, to the point that the series does not have a Rogues Gallery, much less a Big Bad.
- Downplayed:
- The heroes only fight a new villain every once in a while, the monsters don't necessarily show up every episode.
- Sub-arc villains: The villains usually appear in small arcs that last between 3 and 5 episodes, and almost never appear again, although a minority return as recurring characters.
- The series has monsters of the week, but they are only a few, most of the time they fight against relevant villains.
- Justified:
- It's a literal monster of the week in that it shows up once a week.
- Each monster will only appear after the previous one is defeated, inadvertently creating this schedule.
- They are all disorganized minions by the Big Bad.
- The Big Bad uses the monster-of-the-week to test the heroes' strengths.
- The city is filled with supervillains, but they set up a schedule so that their schemes don't conflict with one another.
- The monster was Killed Off for Real by the heroes that confronted it.
- The method of creating monsters has a week-long cooldown before it can be used again.
- The villains are taken to maximum security prisons after they are defeated and are not cardboard prisons.
- Inverted:
- The Week Of Monsters, all the monsters attack at once during the duration of one week.
- The entire series is about the battle against one monster.
- The Big Bad is defeated by a new hero every week.
- All the villains are relevant to the plot, and even minor villains are often recurring characters.
- Every week, the Villain Protagonist has to face a new Hero Antagonist bent on stopping him.
- Subverted:
- The monster shows up and is defeated in the course of one episode, but he returns in the very next episode, even stronger than before.
- The Big Bad realizes that sending only one monster is a bad idea, so he sends several at once.
- Double Subverted:
- It was a two-parter. After he's defeated again, he never shows up in another episode.
- Sending multiple monsters at once was only a onetime thing, in subsequent episodes they go back to one monster per episode format.
- Parodied:
- Every monster is a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment.
- Alternately, every monster is treated as if they will return, even though they only ever appear once.
- The monster is actually a Monster of the Weak, and is incredibly easy for the heroes to beat.
- Zig Zagged: The series alternates between one-time foes and recurring villains.
- Averted: The heroes fight the same antagonist or antagonists in every episode.
- Enforced: The producers want the episodes to be able to stand alone in order to be watched or aired in any order in syndication.
- Lampshaded: "There's another themed monster. It must be Tuesday again..."
- Invoked: The Big Bad believes in fighting fair, and because it rarely is just one hero who takes down the monsters themselves, sends only one monster at a time.
- Exploited: The monsters of the week are being used to keep the heroes distracted, the Big Bad knowing that the heroes will be too busy dealing with the minor threats to deal with him.
- Defied:
- The Big Bad sends his monsters out all at once.
- All the monsters survive their introductory episode and become recurring characters.
- Discussed: "Do we do anything except fight random monsters?"
- Conversed: "Why do you still watch that show? It's the same plot every week. A monster shows up and the heroes beat them."
- Deconstructed:
- The cycle of having to face a dangerous monster on a regular basis takes a psychological toll on the heroes as they realize that their individual victories are doing nothing to stop the continued reappearance of a new monster.
- Each and every MOTW is a human being, with hopes, dreams, or that is just doing their job, as evil as it may be.
- Reconstructed: People can get used to anything, and eventually, killing monsters becomes part of the heroes' routines.
The villain links to a new page every week. This time, it's Monster of the Week.
