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{{trope}}
As the page description for [[Big Bad]] notes, that character may be the one who is directly responsible for the plot, but is not necessarily the most powerful or significant evil presence in the setting. That's where this trope comes in - the setting has a villainous presence that is more significant than the [[Big Bad]] ''in the setting as a whole'', but isn't causing the conflict of ''the story'' (and may have little to do with it at all). Perhaps it's an important [[Sealed Evil in
Note that despite the name, this is ''not'' a subtrope of [[Big Bad]]. A Bigger Bad is a more threatening force of evil in the setting and overshadows it, but due to mindlessness, imprisonment, lack of interest, or other factors it is disconnected on a personal level from the main plot, which is caused by the [[Big Bad]]. A being ''can'' be a [[Big Bad]] in one story and later be [[Kicked Upstairs]] to Bigger Bad (or the reverse), however. Contrast: [[The Man Behind the Man]], where a villain directly tied into the story is revealed to be controlling or manipulating the apparent [[Big Bad]]. In this case, the Man behind the Man is the actual hidden Big Bad ('''not''' a Bigger Bad).
A being who fits this trope is likely a [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|demon lord, archdevil]], [[God of Evil]] or [[Eldritch Abomination]] with a [[Religion of Evil]] and/or [[Path of Inspiration]] built around him/her/it. He/she/it is probably [[Made of Evil]] and will probably exist [[As Long
As a general rule of thumb if you're uncertain whether a character counts as [[Big Bad]] or Bigger Bad- if you can remove the character from the story or replace them with an impersonal force ''without'' dramatically affecting the plot, they're probably this trope. Do not confuse with [[The Man Behind the Man]].
{{examples}}
== Multiple Media ==
* In any work set during [[World War II]], it's a virtual given that the antagonists' marching orders will ultimately come from the leaders of the Axis Powers, and ''especially'' [[Adolf Hitler]], even if they don't physically appear. Rare exceptions include ''[[Catch-22]]'', where the antagonists are corrupt Allied commanders.
* Likewise, it seems to be an unwritten rule for any ''[[Star Wars]]'' work (novels, comics, video games, etc.) set within
== Anime
* When compared to Medusa's villainous progress against the protagonists, this may be the role of Asura in ''[[Soul Eater]]''. He is one of a group of [[Eldritch Abomination
* ''[[Naruto]]'' has the {{spoiler|Ten-Tailed Beast, the original tailed beast, of whom the other nine are pieces of its chakra divided. The [[Big Bad]] wants to reform the Ten-Tails and become its Jinchuriki, so he can enslave everyone with his Mangyeko Sharingan.}}
* The Overdevil in ''[[Overman King Gainer]]''.
* Chaos in ''[[Sailor Moon]]''.
* The Emperor of Darkness from ''[[
** {{spoiler|And again, together with the rest of the Mycean Empire}} in ''[[Shin Mazinger
* In ''[[Outlaw Star]]'', the [[Big Bad]] is a Kei Pirate named Hazanko who seeks to overthrow the Tendo King, an [[The Unseen|unseen]]
* In ''[[Berserk]]'', that would be {{spoiler|The Idea Of Evil}} which also doubles as the story's actual [[Big Bad]] in a way.
* Kardis, the goddess of destruction in ''[[Record of Lodoss War]].''
* {{spoiler|Master Hades}} of ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' is indirectly responsible for half of the [[Big Bad
** {{spoiler|After Hades' defeat, a new enemy appears in the form of Acnologia, although it's not apparent of he's a true
** Zeref is also a
* Millenniumon in ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]''. [[Kicked Upstairs]] variety.
** In [[Digimon Adventure|the original series]], Apocalymon, who [[Diabolus Ex Nihilo|wasn't even so much as hinted at until his appearance.]]
* The World Government is the
* [[Disc One Final Boss|Primal Dialga]] was portrayed as one in the anime adaptation of ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon|Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky]]''. Granted, as he wasn't even the villain of the game.
* In [[Higurashi no Naku Koro
** Takano was seeking for a way to succeed with her goal ''anyway'', Tokyo just used her and her goals to further their own plans. Since those plans are not the focus of the story, they are the story's
* In ''[[Code Geass]] R1'', Cornelia is the one making decisions about how Britannians in Area 11 will deal with Japanese rebels, while [[The Emperor]] of [[The Empire|Britannia]] is far away and sets national policies but gives his children some free rein (within certain boundaries) in how they govern their territories. (This leeway is to see which child can achieve results and prove their worthiness to succeed him.) There are only two scenes in the entire R1 series in which [[The Emperor]] has more than a cameo-like
* The main antagonist of ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'', {{spoiler|the ever-adorable Kyubey}}, plays a role like this in the spin-off ''[[Puella Magi Oriko Magica]]''. In another spin-off, ''[[Puella Magi Kazumi Magica]]'', {{spoiler|he decides to [[Hijacked
* In a similar function to ''Sailor Moon's'' Chaos, Black Hole of ''[[Pretty Cure All Stars]] DX 3'' was this for not only the separate villains, but for those who showed up in even the team up movies. Note, though, that it only applied for the All-Stars movie series.
* In ''[[Inuyasha]]'', {{spoiler|Magatsuhi, the spirit of evil in the Shikon Jewel}}. Does nothing for 90 percent of the show, then shows up and causes trouble. Dangerous, evil, ancient, but its still Naraku driving the [[Evil Plan]].
* {{spoiler|Jesei}} is spoken of in the third to last episode of ''[[Inukami!]]'' and only after that does he affect the plot directly. The rest of the time he was just an observer and instigator of an unknown part of another character's backstory.
* Each of the three completed ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' series has one:
** The first series has Zorc Necrophades, the demonic being originally defeated by the Pharaoh. He's both [[Ultimate Evil]] and [[The Corruption]], and was literally born of slaughter and genocide. [[Big Bad|Thief King Bakura]] works for him, and at the very end of the final arc Zorc finally takes center stage as a [[Big Bad]] in his own right.
** The Light of Ruin in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]''. The second season's [[Big Bad]] was serving it, and the third season's [[Big Bad]] turned to evil because of it.
** The King of the Underworld in the Dark Signers arc of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!
* In much the same way that [[Adolf Hitler]] will be this by default in almost any story set during WWII, [[Big Screwed-Up Family|the]] [[The Family That Slays Together|Zabi]] [[Royally Screwed
* Giovani in ''[[Pokémon]]'', usually. He rarely appears, and when he does, it's usually just to remind viewers he's in charge of Team Rocket. The only times he's really had an important role (in regards to the plot) is in Seasons 15 and 16.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* In the ''Here Comes Tomorrow'' story arc of [[Grant Morrison|Grant Morrison's]] ''[[X
* [[Eldritch Abomination|The Ogdru Jahad]] tend to be behind most villains in [[Hellboy (
* The other-dimensional demon Zom is an almost literal example of this: When insanely powerful evil sorceress Umar comes to Earth, [[Doctor Strange]] uncorks (almost literally) something which is even far worse than she is to scare her off. It works perfectly. And the consequences of that turn out a lot worse than Umar would have been. ''Groan''.
** Not learning his lesson, Strange does it again in [[World War Hulk]]. Hulk still defeats him, however Zom then inhabits Iron Man's Hulk buster armor, but Hercules took care of him.
** Umar's brother Dormammu usually fills this role as well.
* The Liege Maximo, founder of Jhiaxus's Decepticons (and, possibly, ''all'' Decepticons) in Marvel's ''[[Transformers|Transformers: Generation 2]]''.
** Later, Unicron, [[Eldritch Abomination]] and Satan-figure, to the franchise as a whole.
* The Lord of the Locusts in ''[[Bone]]''
* [[Crisis
* ''[[
* [[Satan| The One Below All]] might be considered the source of all Evil in the Marvel Universe, but seeing as it is the source of gamma radiation mutation and the being who drove Brian Banner insane (the cause of his son Bruce's repressed anger that created the Hulk's personality), it is truly the Bigger Bad for anything involving [[The Incredible Hulk]].
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Discord in the second and third parts of the ''[[
** Arguably, Discord's father Havoc for the series as a whole. After all, he created Discord in the first place, plus he's more or less directly responsible for Discord's original reign over Equestria, as {{spoiler|he fed Discord ''his own brother'' and Havoc's avatar in order to increase his power, then sent him to Equestria.}}
* In the ''[[
* ''[[
== [[Film]]s - Live-Action ==
* [[The Dark Side]] in ''[[Star Wars]]'' is the most powerful evil in the setting, but is a metaphysical force of evil rather than a character. [[The Emperor]] is the [[Big Bad]] of the movies as a whole, and Darth Vader is [[The Dragon]]. See the [[Big Bad]] page for a (largely) complete listing of [[Expanded Universe]] Big Bads. Interestingly, Grand Moff Tarkin rather than the Emperor is the [[Big Bad]] in the original ''[[A New Hope|Star Wars]]'', with Darth Vader still functioning as [[The Dragon]]. The Emperor is the Bigger Bad in that movie, receiving only cursory mention and not having any real bearing on the plot. He doesn't assume a central role until appearing in ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]''.
* In ''[[James Bond (film)|James Bond]]'', this crops up a few times, usually in the early films but it's returned for the Craig movies. Generally the Bigger Bad is either a [[Nebulous Evil Organization]] like SPECTRE (eg. ''[[Thunderball]]'' or Quantum (eg. ''[[Casino Royale]]'') or some unnamed client country that is generally implied to be [[Red Scare|Red China]] (eg. ''[[Goldfinger]]''). ''[[Dr. No]]'' has both, as No works for SPECTRE but it's implied they were hired by China. ''[[You Only Live Twice]]'' has SPECTRE and its chief Blofeld acting as the [[Big Bad]] while working for this Bigger Bad (though, as he blatantly extorts money from them at one point under their protest, this might be more of a [[Big Bad Duumvirate]]).
* The [[Mega Corp|Tyrell Corporation]] of ''[[Blade Runner]]'', which created the replicants and [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|the resulting social hierarchy between them and humans]].
* [[Power Rangers Turbo|Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie]] villain Maligore was the creature Divatox spent most of the movie trying to release. Until her efforts paid off, Maligore was unable to do anything to directly affect the plot.
* Weird example from ''[[Sky High]]'' in the form of {{spoiler|Sue Tenney, the long-gone original Royal Pain, who came up with the [[Evil Plan]] the [[Legacy Character|current Pain]] is trying to implement}}. If that doesn't seem weird to you, keep in mind that {{spoiler|the original and current Royal Pains are technically ''the same person''}}.
* {{spoiler|Thanos}} in ''[[The Avengers (
* ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' had entities called the Dream Demons, which Freddy [[Deal with the Devil| for his powers.]]
* From ''[[Halloween (film)|Halloween]]''; it is revealed in the sixth movie that [[Psycho Psychologist| Dr. Terence Wynn]] is the head of a cult that drove Michael insane and possibly gave him superhuman powers.
* In the ''[[Hellraiser]]'' franchise, the ruler of the Labyrinth - and creator of the Cenobites - in an ancient entity called Leviathan, the setting's equivalent of [[Satan]]
== [[Literature]] ==
* Morgoth was always the ultimate evil presence in Middle-Earth, but after his defeat and imprisonment at the end of ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', Sauron took over the role of the active [[Big Bad]], overlapping with [[Dragon Ascendant]]. Morgoth was not destroyed, however, and Tolkien's writings indicate he will free himself in time to command the forces of darkness once again at the Last Battle.
** Sauron himself as the Necromancer during ''[[The Hobbit]]'' - he definitely exists and will later be revealed as the canonical ultimate evil, but has no direct role in the story's plot, except as a device to give Gandalf a reason to leave the group for chapters at a time to go get information on him.
* In the ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'', the ultimate enemy is Perimal Darkling (think [[The Corruption]] on a cosmic scale), which appears to be largely mindless and is in no sense a "person", nor does it seem to have desires beyond consuming the whole universe. [[Immortality Immorality|Master Gerridon]], nominally [[The Dragon]], generally serves as the primary anatagonist.
* [[The Fair Folk|The Lords of Norsunder]] are the ultimate malevolent force in the ''Inda'' books, but during the timeline of the series are largely uninterested in human affairs. [[Evil Sorcerer|Erkric]], the [[Big Bad]], came up with his schemes on his own but bargained with one of them for his powers, but when he failed to live up to his end [[Evil Is Not a Toy|she killed him]] and then departed.
* The Black Council in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', who have been behind everything, Books one to thirteen inclusive, and are big enough that it warrants [[Celestial Paragons and Archangels|Uriel's]] direct (if sneaky and subtle) intervention.
* Several of [[Tad Williams]]' works feature an entity called Unbeing or Old Night, which is the representation of entropy and ultimate decay. It's never any of the [[Big Bad
* In ''[[The Belgariad]]'' and ''[[The Malloreon]]'', the King of Hell is mentioned several times as a demon god [[Sealed Evil in
* In ''[[
** Also, Crayak is a [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]] who plays [[The Chessmaster]] throughout the galaxy to encourage mass genocides of entire species for no reason; in a series full of shades of grey he's one of only a handful of characters who qualify as totally evil. However, he only becomes directly involved in the story a handful of times and isn't terribly invested in it. The implication is that he and his [[Evil Counterpart|Good Counterpart]], the Ellimist will continue their long "game" millennia after the Animorphs' series has ended.
* The Black Thing in ''[[A Wrinkle in Time]]''. IT is the [[Big Bad]], and the Man with the Red Eyes may be ITs [[The Dragon|Dragon]]. [[The Movie]] states that the Black Thing was created by IT, making IT the biggest villain of that adaptation.
* Azathoth in the whole of the ''[[Cthulhu Mythos]]'', the mad demon-sultan who sort of rules all cosmos or something but never does anything except listens to music. Most of the other powerful [[Eldritch Abomination
** Azathoth is not only the Bigger Bad, but is the one ''who created the universe'' and is so far beyond human conception he exists without a mind and something that might not even be a real body, but some kind unspeakable living black hole; a proper description is never given, all we know is that Azathoth is a formless blight that bubbles and blasphemes at the centre of creation - and that's from a [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made
* The Crimson King was presented as the central evil in [[Stephen King]]'s metaverse; however, in an example of [[The Devil Is a Loser]], when he's finally confronted in the [[Grand Finale]] of the [[Dark Tower]] series he's revealed to be nothing more than an insane old man armed with nothing except [[Harry Potter (
* ''[[The Riftwar Cycle
* In ''[[Percy Jackson
* In ''[[Gone (novel)|Gone]]'', Caine is the [[Big Bad]], the counterpart to the hero, and the one who usually drives the plot. The Gaiaphage is an [[Eldritch Abomination]] that arrived via meteorite, crashed into a nuclear power plant, [[Mind Rape
* In [[The Chronicles of Prydain]], Arawn Death-Lord arguably plays this role in the first 2 books. By Book 5 he's just the [[Big Bad]]. There's also Gwyn the Hunter's unnamed lord. Even Gwydion doesn't know his name or identity, but believes that he's greater in power than Arawn.
* In ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'', {{spoiler|Tash, the chief Calormene god,}} plays this role {{spoiler|until ''[[The Last Battle]]''. Interestingly, we don't even know he's a real being until he enters the story and steps down to [[Big Bad]] status.}}
* In ''[[Dragonlance]]'', the evil deities frequently play this role in the novels, such as Hiddukel in the Taladas Trilogy, or Takhisis in Chronicles. There is also {{spoiler|Morgion}} in the Minotaur Wars Trilogy.
* [[Ultimate Evil|The Void]] of ''[[The Word and The Void]]'' is the
* {{spoiler|The Warren of Chaos}} in ''[[The Malazan Book of the Fallen]],'' chiefly opposed by [[Badass Long Hair|Anomander Rake]] and [[Dark Is Not Evil|the Warren of Darkness]].
* The post-[[World War III]] novel ''[[Malevil]]'' has Vilmain, a rogue military commander with a small roving army. Most of the attention and conflict is focused on Fulbert, a [[Sinister Minister]] abusing a local town. Vilmain's forces simply hadn't entered their region for most of the book but they're the real evil powerhouse when they march in.
* [[Snakes Are Evil|Set]] in [[Robert E. Howard]]'s ''[[Conan]]'' and ''[[Kull]]'' stories.
* Dominator in the first ''[[Black Company]]'' book. [[Black and Gray Morality|It's hard to tell]] [[Gray and Gray Morality|who exactly is supposed to be the]] [[Big Bad]] of it, but no one wants him to get free from his [[Sealed Evil in
* The Bellon-Tockland Institute in [[Dean Koontz
* The Otherness from the [[Repairman Jack]] series is a perfect example of this trope: a vast, impersonal cosmic force locked in an endless war to conquer the multiverse. In our world, its goals are carried out by the immortal [[Big Bad|Rasalom]] and his disciples.
* Quinn Dexter is the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[The
*
*
* In ''[[
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* The First Evil from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', introduced as the [[Made of Evil|ultimate evil]] in the third season but not taking on a direct [[Big Bad]] role until the seventh (and even then its lack of physical presence meant it had to work through others).
** While Angel acts as [[Big Bad]] in Season 2, he seeks to release a Bigger Bad called Acathla in order to destroy the world.
** ''Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 8'' has out big badded all the big bads with {{spoiler|the next universe trying to end ours so the natural cycle of universes can continue. It fails, but makes Angel kill Giles.}}
** From his own show, ''[[
* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'': {{spoiler|Lucifer}}, up until Season 5 when he stepped down to [[Big Bad]].
* In ''[[Smallville]]'''s fifth season, [[Robotic Psychopath|Brainiac]] is the [[Big Bad]]. He's behind every nasty thing that goes down that season, and is one of the greatest threats Clark ever encounters. His goal, however, is to [[Sealed Evil in
* It is implied that the [[Mega Corp|Blue Sun Corporation]] was going to end up like this for ''[[Firefly]]'', essentially being [[The Man Behind the Man|the true power behind]] [[The Empire|the Alliance]]. [[Too Good to Last|We all know the rest of that story...]]
* For the first season-and-a-half of [[Nikita (TV series)|Nikita]], [[Omniscient Council of Vagueness|Oversight]] was this to [[Government Conspiracy|Division]], officially giving Percy his orders even as he was recognized as series [[Big Bad]]. As time went on, and Percy started overstepping his boundaries, Oversight grew more wary of him, and by the time Season 2 started, they had Percy locked up and replaced by [[The Starscream|Amanda]]. And now, as of the midway point of the season, {{spoiler|Oversight is defunct, the Guardians having killed most of them in a (successful) plot to free Percy; this has resulted not only in Amanda taking Division rogue, but in the last remaining Oversight member to [[Enemy Mine|join forces]] with Team Nikita.}}
* [[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]: Lord Zedd was originally a
** And the ''[[Power Rangers Turbo]]'' finale takes this [[Up to Eleven]] by revealing Dark Specter, the
* ''[[Power Rangers SPD]]'': [[Big Bad]] Emperor Gruumm was the leader of the Troobian Empire but was just collecting power for the Omni.
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
* Acording to most varieties of [[Christianity]], this is the role [[Satan]] plays in the human world.
* Angra Mainyu (better known by the Persian name Ahriman) in some forms of Zoroastrianism.
* Apep in [[Egyptian Mythology]].
* Nidhogg in [[Norse Mythology]], who gnaws at the roots of the [[World Tree]] and even survives after [[The End of the World
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* This is the role the [[Demon Lords and Archdevils]] and [[God of Evil|Gods Of Evil]] in the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' world are likely to play in most games.
* The Deathlords of ''[[Exalted]]'' are [[Omnicidal Maniac]] ghosts granted power by [[Eldritch Abomination|the Neverborn]] in the name of destroying Creation. The Neverborn themselves, however, aren't much a threat; they're busier spending time coping with the pain of being eternally-dying-but-never-truly-dead and sending strange messages to their servants.
** Averted with the Ebon Dragon, who would desperately ''like'' to convince everyone that there is evil and he is the ultimate source of it, but ultimately he's just kind of pathetic.
* The [[Physical God|Exarches]] from ''[[
** The Wyrm was this for the now defunct ''[[
* The Chaos Gods serve this role in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] and [[Warhammer
** The C'tan [[Ultimate Evil|Void Dragon]] is a strong contender.
* ''[[
* The Darklords in [[Ravenloft]] can play this role, or even the Dark Powers themselves depending on what type of game the GM is runing.
* Kazavon in ''[[Pathfinder]]'''s ''Curse of the Crimson Throne'' campaign. A monstrous Blue Dragon and [[Psycho for Hire]] who once served as Zon-Kuthon's [[The Dragon|Champion]], Kazavon was killed long before the story began. His evil persists however, in the form of seven [[Artifact of Doom|Artifacts Of Doom]] made out of his bones, which are so contaminated by the [[Pure Evil]] of his soul that they [[The Corrupter|corrupt]] all they touch, exacerbating the evil that is already there in the human soul. Queen Illeosa, [[The Big Bad]] of the setting, is wearing the Crown of Fangs carved out of his teeth; with her defeat the story is over, but the possibility of someone else picking up the Crown (or one of the other six items) remains a very real threat.
* The Supreme Monstrosity in [[Dinosaurs Attack!]], also named by fans, "Dinosaur Satan."
* The Eldrazi in [[Magic: The Gathering]], until ''Rise of the Eldrazi'' when they actually show up.
** ''Magic'' previously had Yawgmoth, who had a similar treatment. For most of the original storyline, the various Evincars of [[Mordor|Rath]] were the setting's primary antagonists, especially Volrath. Rath and its Evincars were essentially satellites to [[Physical Hell|Phyrexia]] and [[God of Evil|Yawgmoth]], it's ruler. While Phyrexia turned up quite a bit throughout the game's history (going at least as far back as Phyrexian War Beast in ''Alliances''), Yawgmoth Himself didn't take center stage until the ''Urza's'' Block and then not again until ''Invasion.''
*** In regards to Yawgmoth's power level, "Yawgmoth's" is one of three words found in the title of the majority of banned/restricted card names, prompting the joke that "Yawgmoth's Time Mox" would be the most banned card ever. Note that neither "Time" nor "Mox" are characters in the setting, and you get the idea.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* The Patriots in the ''[[Metal Gear]]'' saga. A faceless, all-powerful of power brokers that rule America from the shadows, the Patriots are the biggest overarching threat pervading the series, though Snake doesn't directly come into conflict with them until the final game. Ironically, most of the [[Big Bad]]s that he faces before then are actually battling the Patriots themselves for their own reasons. The Patriots simply stay in the shadows and don't get involved personally. {{spoiler|1=The label becomes a lot more appropriate when you learn that they're not even human: they're a nebulous system of AIs that are far beyond any one person's control}}.
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' has several ones that the [[Big Bad]] wants to unseal or resurrect:
** Ganon in ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link]]'' is the force motivating all the other bad guys rather than an actual character in the game but he didn't actually tell anyone to do anything. Who the Big Bad in Zelda II is, is up for debate.
** Ganon is this in the first part of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past|A Link To The Past]]'', until Agahnim succeeds in unsealing him and leaves the spotlight to him (Agahnim isn't mentioned again until encountered in the final dungeon).
** Ganon
**
** {{spoiler|Demon King Demise}} from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword]]'', and arguably the whole series. {{spoiler|Hyrule's [[Ultimate Evil]], [[Sealed Evil in a Can]], and [[Dragon-in-Chief|Ghirahim's]] master, he is also the source of the continued returns of the series' [[Big Bad]], Ganondorf, having cursed [[The Hero|Link]] and [[Big Good|Zelda]] for imprisoning him.}} You get the picture.
* The One Being in the ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' series.Although Onaga the original ruler of Outworld and Shinnok the former Elder God would also count.
** ''[[Mortal Kombat|Mortal Kombat 11]]'' reveals {{spoiler|that [[Our Titans Are Different| Kronika]] is this for the entire franchise. She's ultimately behind restarting and reshaping the timeline in an attempt to perfect it. She purposely pits the forces of Good and Evil against each other in an attempt to achieve [[Balance Between Good and Evil]], but her constant attempts have clearly resulted in madness, something [[The Dragon| her own servant Geras]] even admits.}}
** Also, while ''11'' seems to serve as a [[Grand Finale]] (at least for this timeline) {{spoiler| the Arcade Ladder endings of some characters show that there are ''other'' Titans besides Kronika.}}
* The Nightmare in ''[[Kirby's Adventure]]'' is merely a [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]- the actual leader of the villains is King Dedede.
* Sargeras in the ''[[Warcraft]]'' universe. He's the founder of [[Demonic Invaders|The Burning Legion]] and the most powerful being ever (save perhaps the Old Gods), but has never directly appeared in any of the games as of yet, due to his physical body having been destroyed when he attempted to access Azeroth as part of a [[Thanatos Gambit]] gone wrong. At present he's a trapped spirit in the Twisting Nether, and the Burning Legion instead is under the command of Kil'jaeden. {{spoiler|Based on the text files it appears that [[Evil Chancellor|Varimathras]] was acting under orders from Sargeras when he betrayed the Forsaken, and was attempting to summon him back to the world in some form.}}
* The Mysterious Man in ''[[The House of the Dead (series)|House of the Dead]]'' series.
* Cloud of Darkness from ''[[Final Fantasy III]]'' and Necron from ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' are both world-devouring final bosses who [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere|don't actually affect the plot before their last-minute appearances]].
* Enuo from ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'' was the evil wizard who was originally responsible for {{spoiler|[[World Sundering|the world being split into two separate dimensions]]}}, and though he is never seen in-game {{spoiler|due to the fact that he's been dead for a thousand years}}, he is implied to have been a much more fearsome villain than {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Exdeath]]}}, requiring the use of {{spoiler|the [[Sword of Plot Advancement|Twelve Legendary Weapons]]}} to defeat. A sub-plot involving his return and a battle with him appears as a bonus area in [[FF 5]] Advance.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'': [[Word of God]] confirms that Sephiroth is in control, but all of his powers, most of Shinra's military might, and the reason for the Weapons' creation is Jenova.
** Professor Hojo is the person responsible for infecting Sephiroth with Jenova cells, and the reason Jenova is even a threat again in the game proper. He's also why Cloud has amnesia. Various other games in the [[The Verse]] elaborate on his deeds and feature him as a [[Big Bad]] in his own right. He comes close to forming a Bigger Bad [[Big Bad Duumvirate|Duumvirate]] with Jenova.
* Hector is like this in ''[[Yggdra Union]]'' and ''[[Knights in The Nightmare]]''; he is the [[Big Bad]] proper of ''[[Riviera: The Promised Land]]''.
* In the ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' series, as revealed near the end of the first game, {{spoiler|the dead god Bhaal}} pushed the plot into movement in the backstory, but being dead, takes no active part in the story of the games other than as semi-impersonal power scattered among {{spoiler|his mortal children}}. All the three [[Big Bad]]s in the series are after this power in some way or another. (Of course, since [[Forgotten Realms|the setting]] is an established [[Shared Universe]] -- [[The Multiverse|multiverse]], [[Planescape|even]] --, there are plenty of other at least equally powerful Bigger Bads in the setting in general. You can even [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|kill]] [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|one]] [[Bonus Boss|in passing]] later on, and [[Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?|chat]] with [[God of Evil|another]]. But the above holds in the context of what's relevant to the main story.)
* ''[[Phantasy Star]]'' has {{spoiler|The Profound Darkness. The series protagonist's struggle against the Dark Force/[[Spell My Name with an "S"|Falz]], the recurring [[Big Bad]], basically amounts to [[Fighting a Shadow]] of a fraction of the Profound Darkness' own evil and hatred. DF himself is a threat to the entire universe, so nobody wants to find out what the Profound Darkness can do if left unchecked.}}
* Gerald Robotnik from [[Sonic Adventure 2]] serves as the bigger bad of the story. The main conflict of the story is against Eggman, but it was Gerald's actions 50 years in the past that caused many of the problems in the game. However, he only appears in the game posthumously and has a rather indirect effect on the story in general. The story doesn't revolve around stopping him (he's already dead by the time the game roles around) and his machinations are only revealed after Eggman accidentally sets off the [[Colony Drop]] at the end.
* The really nasty, powerful vampires and other beings referenced in ''[[Tsukihime]]'' never really progress beyond that. Roa may be the big bad, but he wasn't even invited to the 27 dead apostle ancestors, the top five or so of which could destroy the world.
* In ''[[StarCraft|Starcraft I]]'' and ''[[StarCraft II|II]]'', the [[Big Bad]]s are the Zerg Overmind, Sarah Kerrigan and (in ''Wings of Liberty'') Arcturus Mengsk. The Zeratul side missions (starting in ''Brood War'' and continuing in ''Wings of Liberty'') reveal a nebulous Bigger Bad looming in the horizon: {{spoiler|the Dark Voice}}.
* In ''[[Resident Evil]]'', Ozwell E. Spencer is one of the founders of the Umbrella Corporation, who murdered his rivals to gain total control. {{spoiler|He was also into world domination.}} However, he never interacts with or even takes notice of the protagonists, and the various biohazards of the games are instigated by underlings with their own motives.
* Kalibaar's Master from ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]] 4'' is set up to be this. But it's never really explained what happened to him.
** The Creators served as this between ''Might and Magic I'' and ''V'', but might have been retconned out by VI - in the early games, they were an enemy race to the Ancients, stated to be evil and of fairly equal power to the Ancients (who created both the Big Bad, the Big Good, and the worlds the games take place on), but with absolutely no relation to the games whatsoever except possibly the war with them being the reasons the Ancients doesn't put more effort into correcting the Sheltem situation. The exposition of the backstory in VI contradicts their existence, or at least the war with them, however.
** The Kreegan were sort-of this in ''Might and Magic VII'' - as far as the game is concerned, the Kreegan are just hanging out in the Land of the Giants, being a threat greater than the ones that comes closest to being the Big Bads for the game and keeping someone they kidnapped before ''Might and Magic VI'' with them. Their king gets killed, but before and after that he has no relation to the plot of the game, and Armageddon's Blade showed his death did little to slow the Kreegans.
* In ''[[Opoona]]'' the [[Big Bad]] is {{spoiler|an [[Artifact of Doom]] and the sages under [[The Corruption]]. Said artifact was created by The Dark Emperor, the setting's ultimate [[Big Bad]], however he never appears in the game proper.}}
* In ''[[Castlevania]]: [[Chronicles of Sorrow]]'', Dracula is this, since the only time he ever comes out to play is a [[Nonstandard Game Over]].
** {{spoiler|Chaos}} is pretty much this for the entire series.
* In the first ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' game, the [[Big Bad]] is a mechanical owl named Clockwerk. but in the second game Clockwerk becomes the Bigger Bad because he is now destroyed, shut down, and seperated into several pieces, but still a very dangerous potential threat if he were to be rebuilt (which is what the villains of the game are trying to do).
** Not quite. Most of the bad guys are just using pieces of Clockwerk for their own small-time schemes. It's only Arpeggio that intends to fully rebuild Clockwerk to {{spoiler|take Clockwerk's body for himself to be immortal. Until Neila backstabs him and takes Clockwerk's body for herself.}}
* Cubia in ''[[
* In ''[[
* ''[[Dragon Age: Origins]]'' has the Archdemon as the [[Big Bad]]; ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' has {{spoiler|Meredith}}. Side quests for Morrigan and the downloadable content ''Witch Hunt'' suggest that {{spoiler|Flemeth}} may be the
** {{spoiler|The first Archdemon, Dumat, may also fit. Corypheus revealed that Dumat promised him and the other Magisters the Golden City, but was "betrayed" and returned as one of the first Darkspawn. Further more Corypheus frequently commands "Dumat, grant me your powers!" during battle to which a power is always granted. The quest Altar of Dumat can result in an amulet if sacrifices are made. Both of these events suggest that Dumat still has some form of presence in the world despite being slain.}}
* In ''[[Bully (
* ''[[Ace Attorney Investigations|Ace Attorney Investigations 2]]'' has {{spoiler|Teikun_Ō,}} who not only took the identity of {{spoiler|the president of Zheng-Fa}} but also had powerful associates in the Prison and Legal systems of Japan/USA. However, his actions also lead to {{spoiler|his death at the hands of the [[Big Bad]]: Sōta Sarushiro}}
* {{spoiler|Prime Minister Bill Hawks}} in ''[[Professor Layton and
* The main villain of ''[[Homestar Runner|Stinkoman 20X6]]'', due to the game not having a final level.
* The Shadow Queen from ''[[Paper Mario:
* ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' enjoys this trope immensely.
** The six slumbering Celestial Avatars [[Playing
** The return of the Shadowlord the [[Big Bad]] of the game's original story arch was orchestrated by {{spoiler|the [[Abusive Precursors|Zilart princes]] [[Aristocrats Are Evil|Kam'lanaut]] and [[Creepy Child|Eald'narche]]. They become the Big Bads of the first expansion ''Rise of the Zilart'', but their plans unwittingly (though perhaps they were influenced by him) to allow the [[God of Evil|Big Bad]] from the second expansion ''Chains of Promathia'' back into the world.}}
** Ultimately, pretty much all of the troubles that happened in the game stemmed from the pact made by the Shadowlord with {{spoiler|the Celestial Avatar [[Casting a Shadow|Odin]]. Odin gave Raogrimm the power to get revenge for his murder in exchange for releasing Odin from his slumber, this revenge and its consequences nearly lead to the destruction of Vana'diel at least half a dozen times since then, but none of that was ever part of Odin's goal. Odin is also [[Dark Is Not Evil|not too bad of a guy]] if you get to know him.}}
* In ''[[
* ''[[
* As told by ''[[Tekken]] 6''{{'}}s Scenario Campaign mode, Jin Kazama is the one who set the world into chaos (and thus the actual antagonist) but only did so in order to awaken the monster Azazel. This is most apparent in the story mode, where Azazel is taken out almost casually a short while before the true final battle against Jin.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories]]'' had hints of this when it ultimately was revealed that Marluxia, the game's [[Big Bad]], was a [[The Starscream|Starscream]] trying to overthrow the leader of Organization XIII (simply called the Organization back then).
* In ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'', the player is likely to assume earlier that either [[Sealed Evil in
** However this trope get's played interestingly in the Demon Path, {{spoiler|Drazil is the [[Big Bad]] however [[Villain Protagonist|Re]][[Complete Monster|vya]] turns out to outdo him and be an even greater threat so much so that Drazil pulls a [[Heel Face Turn]].}}
* ''[[Gears of War]]
* Shows up in ''[[
** And in the remakes, {{spoiler|it's possible to encounter and battle Giovanni, but you need an event Celebi to do so. You travel back through time to the period where Team Rocket was taking over Goldenrod City so you can fight him while your past self fights Team Rocket.}}
* {{spoiler|Darkrai}} from the ''[[Video Games/Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers|Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers]]'' games (as mentioned above, Primal Dialga isn't the villain).
* In the ''[[
* ''[[
** ''[[
* Bass.EXE from ''[[
* The [[Infocom]] game ''Enchanter'' has a [[Cosmic Horror]] [[Sealed Evil in
* ''[[Solatorobo]]'' has {{spoiler|Baion, who sees no need to learn to control Lares (since Nero and Blanck can do that for him already) or chase the protagonists as Bruno did; instead, he just wants to summon Tartaros and bring about [[The End of the World
* {{spoiler|The Golden Spider from ''[[Asura's Wrath]]'', who is revealed to be [[God]], allowed the Deities of the game to use Mantra to begin with, and was the reason the Gohma were rampaging in the first place, so he could test the power of the Deities.}}
* In ''[[Mass Effect]]'', {{spoiler|The Reapers are the
** The [[Mass Effect 3|third]] game still has a bigger bad. {{spoiler|An AI known as The Catalyst, who created the Reapers to ensure the preservation of the genetic material and experiances of each race harvested.}}
* Implied in ''[[Portal (
* Easily {{spoiler|Yami}} from ''
* Most of ''[[
* In ''[[Five Nights at Freddy's]]'', either the Purple Guy {{spoiler|who murdered all those children and stuffed them into the costumes}} or the Puppet {{spoiler|who is implied to be somehow behind whatever is influencing the animatronics}} qualifies as this.
* In ''[[Skullgirls]]'', Marie - the current Skull Girl - is the main antagonist, but she is under the control of the Skull Heart, a sentient [[Artifact of Doom]]. The Skull Heart, however, was created by the Trinity, three dark goddesses named Venus, Aeon, and Lamia, who built it with the intent of destroying humanity. Outside of the Grand Cathedral (where they are shown in artwork) Venus and Aeon are only seen in Double's and Robo-Fortune's story mode endings.
** Not to mention that ''they'' may answer to a more powerful entity that Venus and Aeon call "Mother", who may or may not be Lamia. "Mother" is only briefly seen in the aforementioned Story Mode endings (telling them to stop playing video games and come to dinner, implying she literally is their mother), although if she ''is'' Lamia, Double might be her avatar or vestige.
* In the 7th, and 8th (and probably upcoming 9th) ''[[Resident Evil]]'' games, the mold that causes the zombie infections, are spawned by at least two (possibly three) fungal supercolonies called Fungal Roots, one of them referred to as [https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Fungal_Root the Black God]. Whether these are intelligent beings is debatable (the Black God is certainly not divine, despite being worshipped by a cult) but are still the source of the overall crisis.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [[Eldritch Abomination|The Snarl]] from ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' is the most powerful and malevolent presence in the series, and the whole reason everything is happening, but appears to have no real mind or personality of its own; there are some hints as of [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0672.html this comic] (major spoilers ahoy) that this might not be the case; but regardless, the actual [[Big Bad]] is [[Evil Sorcerer]] Xykon. Furthermore, the Dark One can be seen as this, but it's almost certainly an iffy issue; it's hotly debated on the webcomic's forums to boot.
* Similar to ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' example: [[Eldritch Abomination|Lord English]] from ''[[Homestuck]]'' is the most powerful character in the setting, but remained [[The Unseen]] until ''very'' recently, despite a great impact (mostly in the form of his chief servant, [[The Chessmaster|Doc Scratch]]) on the plot. The [[Big Bad]] is [[Physical God]] Jack Noir, stab-happy treacherous Archagent, who the protagonists have much more motivation to destroy.
** On the other hand: {{spoiler|Jack rebelled because John prototyped the clown doll; he got the clown doll because of the clown scribblings on his wall; he scribbled them because of the doll that Gamzee rage'd into existence next to his dream self; Gamzee did it because Dave sent him the prerelease of Miracles; Dave had it because Betty Crocker 'tweeted' him it; Betty Crocker is Her Imperial Condescension, under the employ of Lord English. So, LE MAY have masterminded the whole thing. Maybe.}}
* Chaos of ''[[
* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' the Demon King of the Dimension of Pain generally plays this part in Dimension of Pain arcs. The demon lord Horribus serves as [[Big Bad]]. {{spoiler|Presumably Psykosis will be replacing him in future Dimension of Pain appearances.}}
* ''[[Brawl in
** Of course, this conflicts with the official ''Zelda'' plot. In ''[[Skyward Sword]]'', {{spoiler|Demise was the Bigger Bad behind Ganondorf. If Dark Matter was the one that possessed him, where did Ganon come from then?}}
*** Possibly {{spoiler|Ganon saw the evil forces (DM) inside of Ganondorf and decided that he would be a good pawn}}.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* In ''[[The Gamers Alliance]]'', the [[Ultimate Evil|Nameless Evil]], which later took over the god Dreamweaver's body and became known as Death, has been behind all atrocities which have taken place in various eras, subtly influencing events to its liking.
* In the [[Creepypasta]] ''[http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Burgrr_Entries The Burgrr Entries]'', the big bad ''seems'' like it's the character [http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Harmburger Harmburger], as he's controlling the whole factory, but [[Word of God]] and the semi-sequel ''Awful Hospital'' [http://www.bogleech.com/awfulhospital/158.html confirms] that the ''true'' mastermind is {{spoiler|the horrible green doors}}.
==
* A handful of episodes of ''[[Spider-Man: The Animated Series]]'' feature [[Evil Sorcerer|Baron Mordo]] as the [[Big Bad]], who is trying to unseal his demonic master Dormammu. Dormammu is a presence in the episodes, but the sorcerer is the primary villain.
* Unicron of ''[[Transformers]]'' is the ultimate evil in the metaseries, but is usually a distant figure, with Megatron (or his replacement as Decepticon leader) being [[Big Bad]]. The exception is ''[[Transformers Armada]]'', where Unicron is the [[Big Bad]] all along, orchestrating the conflict for his own purposes.
** Also, the "Cloaked Mystery Villain" from the Japanese opening of ''[[Transformers Animated]]''.
* In the ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (
* Horde Prime served this role in the universe of the 80's ''[[He
** Hordak himself is the
** ''[[
* On ''[[Invader Zim]],'' [[Villain Protagonist|Zim]] could probably be seen as the [[Big Bad]] focusing on Earth, with the Irken Empire itself (including [[Big Bad Duumvirate|the Tallests]] and Control Brains) as the Bigger Bad out to conquer the rest of the universe. (Especially since technically, Zim conquering Earth wasn't even part of the Empire's plans.)
* Lucius Heinous I on ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]''. So far, [[Human Popsicle|he's always been frozen]], but every subsequent member of the Heinous line fears him, including the current [[Big Bad]], Lucius VII. [[Word of God|Edward Kay]] has stated he might get unfrozen one day...
*
* [[Ultimate Evil|The Lich]] serves as this in ''[[
* Mr. Wilter from ''[[
** The Red Chalk may count. It's not entirely clear whether or not it's sapient.
* Nester's Mother from ''[[
* Grandfather from ''[[Codename
* Ixis Naugus from ''[[
* The Friends on the Other Side from ''[[The Princess and
* The Nightmare Prince's mother from ''[[Potsworth and Company]]''.
* ''[[Ninjago]]'' {{spoiler|The Great Devourer is the one who turn Lord Garmadon evil}}
* The [[Big Bad]] Mumm-Ra of
* Krang in ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987
* [https://scoobydoo.fandom.com/wiki/Coco_Diablo Coco Diablo] could be considered this for the [[Scooby-Doo]] franchise; a fashion designer and crime boss, it seems that (as shown in the special ''[[Trick or Treat, Scooby-Doo]]'') that she designed the costumes for almost ''every'' [[Scooby-Doo Hoax]]-perpetrating crook in their long careers, meaning she has aided and abetted most of the criminals in the franchise. {{spoiler|Ironically, though, she is only a [[Dragon-in-Chief]] in the story where she appears.}}
* Bill Cypher was presented as a recurring villain in ''[[Gravity Falls]]'', not confirmed until halfway through season 2 as the true [[Big Bad]] of the series, and likely the source of all the evil surrounding the eponymous town.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Villains]]
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[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]
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