Bigger Bad: Difference between revisions

* 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|Eldritch Abominations]]s who personify and provoke in humans various forms of madness. So far, his only influence as a threat has been indirect, as upon his release Asura's mere existence empowered a growing group of chaotically dangerous antagonists. That said, he ''is'' certainly a character, albeit a rather sketchy one. Medusa is also trying to harness his power, Arachne wanted to destroy/usurp him, and Noah/Tables of Contents is trying to collect him (For the Book's index's will to teach the world it's madness). Lord Death ''appears'' to want his old friend recaptured, but with him it's [[Obfuscating Stupidity|very]] [[Eccentric Mentor|hard]] to tell.However In The Story Arc on the Moon makes Asura the Big Bad in that arc so this time Asura is the Main Villain in this Arc.Asura is considered to be the entire series's big bad due to being the first Kishin and the DWMA was founded to defeat Kishins.

* In ''[[Outlaw Star]]'', the [[Big Bad]] is a Kei Pirate named Hazanko who seeks to overthrow the Tendo King, an [[The Unseen|unseen]] [[Bigger Bad]]. But there is an even ''bigger'' bad above the Tendo King called the Tenpa Emperor, who is only mentioned once. The identity, powers, and position of these characters is never explained.

* {{spoiler|Master Hades}} of ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' is indirectly responsible for half of the [[Big Bad|Big Bads]]s of the entire series. {{spoiler|He's the [[Big Bad]] of his own arc later, when his guild attacks Fairy Tail directly.}}

** {{spoiler|After Hades' defeat, a new enemy appears in the form of Acnologia, although it's not apparent of he's a true [[Bigger Bad]] or just an [[Eldritch Abomination]].}}

** Zeref is also a [[Bigger Bad]]. It's been 400 years since his death, and people are still fighting against demons and other evil artifacts he made back then. {{spoiler|And it turns out he's still alive, but dormant.}}

* The World Government is the [[Bigger Bad]] of the ''[[One Piece]]'', since they're in direct control of the Marines, and the Seven Warlords of the Sea, which the Straw Hat Pirates have come into conflict with at least three of its members, serve under the Government. They also directly, or indirectly affected the lives of at least three of the main characters because they considered their parental figures or family members as too dangerous. They even stopped the Marines from putting bounties on several dozen global criminals because it would ''hurt their image''.

** 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 [[Bigger Bad]].

* 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 appearance -- oneappearance—one of them is a speech he gave, and the other is a [[Backstory]] flashback.

* Discord in the second and third parts of the ''[[Pony POV Series]]'', while he was the [[Big Bad]] proper in the first part. While {{spoiler|Loneliness}} and then Princess {{spoiler|1=Gaia/Nightmare Whisper}} are the [[Big Bad|Big Bads]]s for the second and third parts, Discord's actions in the first part (and the actual show) are the reason one, possibly ''both'', of them even exists at all and everything in the entire fic can be traced back to Discord, even though he's been [[Sealed Evil in a Can]] the entire time. {{spoiler|He is set free and becomes the [[Big Bad]] for the final arc, however.}}

* [[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]]).

* 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|Big Bads]]s, but is portrayed as being tied to their actions, and at least one (Hellebore of [[The War of the Flowers]]) planned to deliberately unleash it.

* Azathoth in the whole of [[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|Eldritch Abominations]]s (Cthulhu, Shub-Niggurath, Yog-Sothoth...) also take a very distant role in most of Lovecraft's stories, a notable exception being "The Call of Cthulhu". Nyarlathotep is a bit more hands-on, and August Derleth's Mythos stories frequently feature the likes of Cthulhu and even Yog-Sothoth about to personally emerge everywhere before being halted by a [[Deus Ex Machina]] or [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|explosives]].However his power is only surpassed by Yog Sothoth.

* In [[Gone (novel)]], 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|Mind Rapes]]s several main characters including Caine, and looks at the whole situation as a game, but rarely shows up and is usually just a vague threat in the background.

* [[Ultimate Evil|The Void]] of ''[[The Word and The Void]]'' is the [[Bigger Bad]] to each of the trilogy's respective villains. Due to its status as an [[All Powerful Bystander]] it never intervenes in the plot, and as such, has little impact beyond merely existing.

* 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 a Can|imprisonment]], because he's much worse than any of them. {{spoiler|He actually sets a plot to make all parties defeat each other and set him free, but it's hijacked by Soulcatcher.}} One may argue that in ''Shadows Linger'' {{spoiler|he gets upgraded to [[Big Bad]]}}, but with {{spoiler|The Company turning on Lady, it might be said that she takes the role, leaving him to be the [[Bigger Bad]] again}}. In ''The White Rose'' {{spoiler|he starts as a [[Bigger Bad]] and slowly takes the role of [[Big Bad]] from the Lady as the story progress}}. There is also being imprisoned under {{spoiler|The Old Father Tree}}, from ''The White Rose'', who is apparently Dominator's counterpart from acient times {{spoiler|and tries to break free at one point, becoming new [[Bigger Bad]] once Dominator gets promoted to [[Big Bad]] status}}.

** While Angel acts as [[Big Bad]] in Season 2, he seeks to release a [[Bigger Bad]] called Acathla in order to destroy the world.

* 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 a Can|release]] General Zod, a [[Bigger Bad]] who was trapped in the Phantom Zone on Jor-El's orders. Since Zod can't do anything--andanything—and in fact is unable to even communicate with Braniac--itBraniac—it's very much this trope. General Zod's status as the series' [[Bigger Bad]] is further emphasized due to him being the ultimate source of the Big Bads from almost all later seasons; his son Doomsday and his younger clone Major Zod. Darkseid steps in as the final villain of the series in the last season, though.

* [[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]: Lord Zedd was originally a [[Bigger Bad]] as [[Big Bad]] Rita Repulsa was trying to take over the Earth under his orders while he was conquering other worlds. Once he decided to step in, the Rangers had to upgrade their Zords and he became a [[Big Bad]].

** And the ''[[Power Rangers Turbo]]'' finale takes this [[Up to Eleven]] by revealing Dark Specter, the [[Bigger Bad]] behind Zedd, Rita, the Machine Empire, and Divatox, who becomes the [[Big Bad]] proper in [[Power Rangers in Space|the next season]].

* 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|Big Bads]]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}}.

** 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.

* 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|Big Bads]]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.)

* In ''[[Starcraft|Starcraft I]]'' and ''[[Starcraft II|II]]'', the [[Big Bad|Big Bads]]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}}.

* ''[[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 [[Bigger Bad]] of the ''[[Dragon Age]]'' universe.

* In ''[[Infamous (video game series)|In Famous]] 2'', the Beast is the [[Bigger Bad]] of the game (and you do end up having to confront him), but for much of the plot of the game, the [[Big Bad]] is [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Joseph Bertrand III]], who leads the Militia {{spoiler|and is responsible for the creation of both the Corrupted and the Ice Soldiers.}}

* Shows up in ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver]]'' (and their [[Expansion Pack|Expansion Packs]]s, [[Video Game Remake|remakes]], etc.) of all places. Giovanni, the [[Big Bad]] of the original ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue]]'' games, is AWOL in this entry but his organization is still committing crimes and experiments in his name. The [[Big Bad]] of these games is the [[Dragon Ascendant]], who went nameless in the original ''Gold'' and ''Silver'' editions but was named Archer in the remakes.

* ''[[Mega Man Zero]]'' has this in spades. First, we have [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] Copy X and the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Four Guardians]] at the helm of the plot. After the first game, the [[Big Bad]] is defeated and [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja|Phantom]] has pulled a bungled [[Suicide Attack]]. The remaining three Guardians go on the warpath with Zero and the Resistance, which causes its new leader, [[Knight Templar|Elpizo]], to snap and use the powers of the [[Bigger Bad]], the Dark Elf, for vengeance. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg: the next game introduces [[The Chessmaster|Dr. Weil]], who actually ''created'' the Dark Elf ''and'' shows up with his own ultra-[[Nigh Invulnerable]] version of Zero: [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Omega]]. [[It Got Worse|It gets much, MUCH worse.]] Weil rebuilds Copy X and uses him as an [[Unwitting Pawn]], along with the children of the Dark Elf, Crea and Prea, who never intentionally did anything evil because ''they're mere infants''. When his first world domination scheme fails, he comes back to power with [[Kill Sat|Ragnarok]], a space station armed with a [[Wave Motion Gun]] with the actively-demonstrated power to cause mass-scale destruction- even the [[Endofthe World As We Know It]], plus his own squad of personal Reploid warriors, led by [[The Dragon|Craft]]. In short, the title of [[Bigger Bad]] changes hands with each new game, save for the conclusion.

** ''[[Mega Man ZX]]'' has Model W as a driving antagonistic force, though individual games focus more on their direct [[Big Bad|Big Bads]]s. ''Advent'' implies that Model W is {{spoiler|Dr. Weil, [[Back From the Dead]].}}

* In ''[[Mass Effect]]'', {{spoiler|The Reapers are the [[Bigger Bad]], since they are in dark space, and the entire goal of the [[Big Bad]] (who is an individual Reaper) is to bring the rest of them to the galaxy. In the second game, the Reapers are controlling the Collectors, but don't really come into play until Arrival, and are still in dark space. In the third game however, the Reapers have arrived, and serve as the [[Big Bad]] this time.}}

** Hordak himself is the [[Bigger Bad]] in the 2000's series. He plays a prominent role in the backstory as the [[Arch Enemy]] to King Greyskull (and oddly enough to fellow archvillain King Hiss as well) and the one who transformed the dying Keldor into [[Big Bad|Skeletor]]. In the series proper he is a [[Sealed Evil in a Can]] who only briefly appears as gigantic cloudlike apparition during an attempt to release him only to fade away once the attempt is foiled. Had the series continued Hordak would have been freed and become the [[Big Bad]] proper for an entire season {{spoiler|before being defeated by Skeletor.}}