Examples of Returning Big Bad in Comic Books:
DC Comics
- Batman:
- During the New 52 reboot phase (2011-2016), Batman's perennial nemesis, the Joker was the main villain behind two arcs under Scott Snyder's pen: Death of the Family (2012-2013) and later Batman: Endgame (2015).
- Justice League of America:
- Whenever the League faces the Injustice League or the Legion of Doom, chances are Lex Luthor is the head honcho, to mirror Superman as the leader of the League. This happens twice during JLA (1997): Luthor appears the leader of the Injustice Gang during Rock of Ages (issues #10-15), reuniting the JLA's nemeses (Circe, Dr. Light, Ocean Master, Joker and Mirror Master), at the end of which he is defeated, but escapes justice. Later, he returns as the leader of a second incarnation of the Injustice Gang during World War III (issues #34, #36-41), this time alongside Prometheus, Queen Bee, and American Gal. Wade Eiling.
Marvel Comics
- Spider-Man:
- Doctor Octopus is a mainstay in Spider-Man's Rogue Gallery since his first appearance in the 1960s, recurring as a Big Bad in the 60s and 70s. Some of its major recurring appearances include:
- Founding of the Sinister Six ("Amazing Spider-Man Annual" #1, 1964): he is the mastermind behind the joining of forces of Spider-Man's then major villains: Sandman, Vulture, Mysterio, Electro and Kraven the Hunter. He still leads new incarnations of the Sinister Six decades later in two 1990s storylines, in Return of the Sinister Six (ASM #334-339) and Revenge of the Sinister Six ("Spider-Man" #18-23), and Ends of the Earth (ASM #682-687) in 2012.
- The Master Planner Trilogy or If This Be My Destiny...! (ASM #31-33): Dr. Octopus takes on the moniker of "Master Planner", committing heists of technological equipment.
- The Owl vs. Octopus War (The Spectacular Spider-Man #72-76): in the early 1980s, Dr. Octopus comes into blows against The Owl, a Daredevil villain and another aspirant to the position of New York crimelord.
- More recent examples include the last arc of Brand New Day, The Origin of the Species ("Amazing Spider-Man" #641-647), and his Grand Theft Me of Peter Parker's mind (in "Amazing Spider-Man" #699-700 and for the whole of Superior Spider-Man (2013) #1-31, although in the latter he veers on being an Anti-Hero).
- The Chameleon:
- He was the very first costumed criminal Spider-Man has ever faced, in his first issue, even, of his regular comic book, "The Amazing Spider-Man" (not counting retcons).
- During Gerry Conway's second stint in the late-1980s in both The Spectacular Spider-Man and Web of Spider-Man, the Chameleon was one of the masterminds of the Kingpin Vs. Lobo Brothers Gang War, along with Hammerhead (SpecSM #150-154 and WSM #50-55).
- He was also the apparent Big Bad of the long-winded and infamous arc of Peter Parker's parents in the early- to mid-1990s ("Amazing Spider-Man" #365-367, then #386-388) that led to The Clone Saga.
- The Green Goblin is specially (in)famous for this:
- In the 1960s, Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin was tied to a recurring storyline about an aspirant crime lord called Crime-Master and his Enforcers. He goes out with a bang in a explosion in the two-parter "How Green Was My Goblin"/"Spidey Saves the Day!" and loses his memory ("ASM" #39-40).
- The Goblin persona stays dormant until the three-parter where Harry Osborn becomes addicted ("ASM" #96-98), where it returns to the forefront.
- The next major appearance occurs in The Night Gwen Stacy Died (1973), a turning point in the Spider-titles: Green Goblin strikes with a personal vendetta against Spider-Man and takes his then Love Interest, Gwen Stacy, to a bridge. Spider-Man either fails to save her or causes her death, and Norman dies impaled on his own Goblin Planner. Norman-as-Green-Goblin's stint as Spidey's major antagonist ends with his death, until...
- At the end of the two-year-long The Clone Saga (late 1994/Dec. 1996), the editors/writers at the time decide to resurrect Norman as the mastermind behind the events of the long arc. This marks Norman's return as a potential Big Bad for the next two years of the Spider-titles.
- In Spectacular Spider-Man #249-250, he returns and buys the failing Daily Bugle, becoming Peter Parker's boss. During this period, he was the Big Bad for SpiderHunt, Identity Crisis, The Gathering of Five and The Final Chapter (the last of which leading to the cancellation of the Spider-titles in Nov 1998).
- In late-2000 and early-2001, during the Revenge of the Green Goblin mini-series and subsequent two-part arc, Norman has been secretly drugging Peter to prepare him as his heir, then tries to brainwash him in the ancient Osborn Manor.
- Norman returns to pester Peter in Peter Parker: Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #44-47, with "A Death in the Family" arc. In the story, Osborn forcibly makes Flash Thompson drunk and places him in a moving truck, which crashes against a wall. The accident puts Flash in a coma for some time.
- Alistair Smythe and the Spider-Slayers:
- He returned in a two-part arc ("ASM" #291-292) where Mary Jane goes back to Philadelphia to see her sister and father. Alistair goes to Philadelphia and releases his mechanical Spider-Slayers on Spider-Man. This was also the arc that preceded Peter and Mary Jane's wedding.
- He resurfaces later in the early-1990s, with the six-part arc Invasion of the Spider-Slayers ("ASM" #368-373), where his new, deadly batch of slayers attack Spider-Man and friends.
- Doctor Octopus is a mainstay in Spider-Man's Rogue Gallery since his first appearance in the 1960s, recurring as a Big Bad in the 60s and 70s. Some of its major recurring appearances include:
- X-Men:
- Magneto (Erik Magnus Lensherr) is a recurring example, being a mainstay of the X-mythos since 1963:
- In the mid-80s, during Chris Claremont's long run in the main X-book at the time, Magneto is on the road on a Heel–Face Turn: with Xavier's blessing, he becomes the Institute's Headmaster, a member of the Storm-led X-Men and mentor to the New Mutants. This goes on until an Inferno epilogue in The New Mutants #75, wherein Magneto (by then the White King of the Hellfire Club, in a position shared with Storm) expels Shaw and becomes the Gray King.
- As the X-Men march to the end of Claremont's run in the early 1990s, in a subplot in Uncanny X-Men #274-275, Magneto uses his powers to kill Zaladane, despite Rogue's pleas to the opposite. This basically cements him back into enemy territory.
- Then, he was supposed to die for good in 1991, in Chris Claremont's (then) last arc for the X-titles, when Asteroid M crashes on Earth. However, he resurfaces in the 1993 crossover Fatal Atractions, where he suffers a mindwipe by his friend/enemy Professor X and becomes catatonic. For the most of the '90s X-titles, Magnus is down for the count as far as X-Big Bads go. A Red Herring appears in 1996, with Joseph, at first thought to be a younger version of Magnus, but later revealed to be a clone, but he only reappears with a bang with 1999's crossover Magneto War. In the meantime, the X-titles contend with the alien Phalanx (in 1994's Phalanx Covenant), Apocalypse (in 1995's Age of Apocalypse), Onslaught (in 1996) and Bastion/Operation: Zero Tolerance (in 1997).
- Magneto (or someone pretending to be him) is the major antagonist of the Grand Finale to Grant Morrison's run, Planet X: under his Xorn disguise, "Magnus" secretly grooms a group of outcast students as his new Brotherhood, incapacitates Professor X and strands the X-Men on different locations. Left unchecked, he "redecorates" New York City with his magnetic powers, killing millions and preparing a last grand assault on the Homo sapiens.
- Apocalypse:
- The immortal mutant debuted as a X-Factor villain -first- in the late-1980s, during The Fall of Mutants (1987). He later appears as the villain for the last arc for the original X-Factor team before the creation of the Blue and Gold X-Men Teams in 1991.
- Despite a short appearance during X-Cutioner's Song and Onslaught and being Cable's ultimate nemesis, he only comes to the forefront of the X-villains with Apocalypse: The Twelve and Ages of Apocalyse in 2000. It should be noted, however, that The Age of Apocalypse (1995's crossover) does feature him as the Big Bad, but occurs in an alternate reality that is undone by time travel.
- After apparently dying for good in the 2001 sequel mini series "The Search for Cyclops", he returns after the House of M/ Decimation in the arc The Blood of Apocalypse: he leads a new incarnation of his Four Horseman (Gambit as Death, Gazer as War, Polaris as Pestilence and Sunfire as Famine) and tries to convert some of the (then) remaining 198 mutants to his cause. ((Adjectiveless) X-Men #182-186)
- Mr. Sinister is a geneticist/Mad Doctor introduced as the Marauders' mysterious leader in Uncanny X-Men #213 (1987), making him the Greater-Scope Villain of the Mutant Massacre. He is fully introduced in "UXM" #221-222, and takes on the mantle of main X-Men enemy (since Magneto was undergoing a Heel–Face Turn - see above). He later shares the spotlight with Madelyne Pryor, and Limbo demons Sym and N'astirth during Inferno (1989). After Maddie is down for the count in X-Factor #38, Mr. Sinister becomes the Final Boss of the crossover, being destroyed by Cyclops's optic blasts in a battle among the ruins of the Xavier Mansion.
- Mr. Sinister returns in a big way with 4-part Blinded by the Light, a lead-in to Messiah CompleX: he assembles the Marauders again, with some additions (Gambit, Sunfire, Mystique, Lady Mastermind, Exodus and his Acolytes), to attack precognitive mutants and get Destiny's Diaries before the X-Men recover them.
- Mystique, Rogue's adoptive mother and Nightcrawler's biological mother:
- After she was transplanted to the X-corner of the Marvel Universe, she led an incarnation of the Brotherhood of (Evil) Mutants to attack presidential candidate Senator Robert Kelly in the present time timeline of Days of Future Past (1981). The group comes and goes as far as villain teams go, until she makes an offer to Valerie Cooper to turn the Brotherhood into a mutant-hunting, law-enforcing team named Freedom Force (UXM #199-200).
- In the meantime, in the late-1980s and early 1990s, after losing her beloved Irene on Muir Island, she goes on to live with Forge. Either faking or undergoing a mental breakdown, she and Forge begin something of a relationship. Despite a brief attempt to return to the forefront in the Saga Legion Quest (a lead-in to Age of Apocalypse), by late-1995, she is forcibly drafted to the new X-Factor as a member, where she stays until 1998 (X-Factor #112-137).
- In the 2001 X-over Dream's End, Mystique returns as leader of another incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants with a new plan: send part of her team to attack Senator Kelly (again), while she releases an altered version of the Legacy Virus that affects only humans.
- After being incapacitated by her own daughter Rogue in the aforementioned crossover, she assumes the identity of Surge, an electrokinectic mutant again forcibly drafted to Banshee's new militaristic team, the X-Corps. She turns the tables on Banshee and a few of the more heroic mutants working for X-Corps, releases the female Mastermind (who was brainwashing the former members of the Brotherhood to comply with Banshee's orders) and commands her fellow Brotherhood members to attack Paris. (Uncanny X-Men #401-406)
- Magneto (Erik Magnus Lensherr) is a recurring example, being a mainstay of the X-mythos since 1963:
Other publishers
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics): In #200, Eggman is seemingly defeated for good, and mentally breaks down after too many defeats at the hands of Sonic. After several issues of Eggman being locked in asylum, he slowly starts to regain his sanity, and after many more issues of the Freedom Fighters facing various different threats, Eggman finally returns in #224 to reclaim his role as the main villain.
- Dark Empire: Emperor Palpatine is Back from the Dead in clone bodies while still commanding a large military, and he has more super-weapons than ever before.
- The Shredder was the Big Bad of the first issue of the Mirage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in which he was killed off. He returned several story arcs later and took up his role as the Turtles' main adversary once again.Also in the Archie comics and IDW comics versions.
- Spawn: Malebolgia was the first big bad comes back in the downing arc.
