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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]].
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* 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 ''[[
* 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.
* In ''[[Berserk]]'', that would be {{spoiler|The Idea Of Evil}} which also doubles as the story's actual [[Big Bad]] in a way.
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* 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 [[Bigger Bad]] of 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 [[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 -- one of them is a speech he gave, and the other is a [[Backstory]] flashback.
* 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-Up|family]] and [[The Caligula|Gihren]] [[The Evil Prince|Zabi]] in particular become this in the various sidestories set during ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'''s One Year War. ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team]]'' and ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 War in The Pocket]]'' are both examples of this.
== [[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.
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** Later, Unicron, [[Eldritch Abomination]] and Satan-figure, to the franchise as a whole.
* The Lord of the Locusts in ''[[Bone]]''
* [[Crisis
* ''[[
== [[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 ''[[
* ''[[
== Films - Live-Action ==
* [[The Dark Side]] in ''[[
* In ''[[James Bond (
* The [[Mega Corp|Tyrell Corporation]] of ''[[
* [[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 (
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* 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|Big Bads]], 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.
* 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 [[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]] (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.
** 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|Nalar]], Raymond E. Feist's God of Evil, is slowly revealed to fill this role, and being imprisoned in another dimension, can do little more than be the influence for the various Big Bads in his books. Leso Varen, his minion, fills this role as well (making Nalar an Even Bigger Bad).
* In ''[[Percy Jackson
* In [[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|Mind Rapes]] 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.
* 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.
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* {{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|Dean Koontz's]] ''[[False Memory]]'', a semi-fascistic psychology think tank. The main villain of the book, [[Meaningful Name|Mark Ahriman]], is a psychologist who develops a form of mind control and employs it both on behalf of the Institute and for his own deviant amusement; the trouble he causes for the main characters stems from {{spoiler|his grudge against the stepfather of two of them, another academic who spammed Amazon with with negative reviews of Ahriman's work}}. Although we do see Ahriman manipulate a patient into {{spoiler|biting off the nose of the U.S. President}} as a "message", and the Institute's connections are used in the [[Backstory]] to explain how he has escaped any accountability for his murderous pasttime, the Institute's plans have no direct bearing on the novel's events and [[Villain
* 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 Nights Dawn Trilogy]]''; behind him and threatening [[Apocalypse How|the entire universe]] is {{spoiler|the Dark Continuum.}}
* {{spoiler|Florence de Peyser}} in Peter Straub's ''Ghost Story''.
* {{spoiler|The Shard God Odium}} is shaping up to be the most powerful evil in [[Brandon Sanderson]]'s Cosmere [[The Verse|universe]], {{spoiler|taking the role of [[Big Bad]] proper}} in ''[[The Stormlight Archive]].''
* In ''[[
== Live-Action TV ==
* The First Evil from ''[[
** 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 [[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]].
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* 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 [[
* 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]] and [[Warhammer 40000]] (they'd probably be the [[Big Bad]] if they weren't so focused on the struggle for dominance among themselves).
** 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.
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== Trading Cards ==
* The Supreme Monstrosity in [[Dinosaurs Attack]], also named by fans, "Dinosaur Satan."
* The Eldrazi in [[
** ''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.
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== Videogames ==
* 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]] 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}}.
* ''[[
** Ganon in ''[[Zelda II:
** Ganon is this in the first part of ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
** Ganon again in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Oracle
** Malladus from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
** {{spoiler|Demon King Demise}} from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
* The One Being in the ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' series.Although Onaga the original ruler of Outworld and Shinnok the former Elder God would also count.
* The Nightmare in [[Kirbys Adventure]] is merely a [[Sealed Evil in
* Sargeras in the ''[[
* The Mysterious Man in ''[[The House of the Dead (
* Cloud of Darkness from ''[[
* Enuo from ''[[
* [[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 ''[[
* ''[[Phantasy Star]]'' has {{spoiler|The Profound Darkness. The series protagonist's struggle against the Dark Force/[[Spell My Name
* Gerald Robotnik from [[
* The really nasty, powerful vampires and other beings referenced in ''[[
* In ''[[Starcraft
* 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.
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** 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 ''[[.hack GU|.hack//GU]]''. The [[Big Bad]] is {{spoiler|Ovan}}... [[Anti-Villain|sort of]]. After he is dealt with though, Cubia reappears [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere|as a side effect]]. Where AIDA was merely causing some comas, violence, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|graphics glitches]], Cubia comes pretty close to crashing the whole of the Internet... which, in a world where [[Everything Is Online]], would be incredibly devastating.
* 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 [[Bigger Bad]] of the ''[[Dragon Age]]'' universe.
** {{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 ''[[
* ''[[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]]. In the third game {{spoiler|it turns out that Imulsion is actually a planet-wide parasite that infects both Locust and Humans and turns them Lambent.}}
* 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 [[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.}}
** 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 ''Okami'', who's {{spoiler|existence creates all of the evil beings you face in the game, being the root of all evil and all.}} Doesn't appear till the very final battle and is barely hinted at before, also doesn't seem to be a very intelligent being either since it doesn't talk.
* Most of ''[[
== Webcomics ==
* [[Eldritch Abomination|The Snarl]] from ''[[The Order of the Stick
* Similar to the ''[[The Order of the Stick
** 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 ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|8-Bit Theater]]'' is an evil [[Eldritch Abomination]] and embodiment of decay that is the whole reason behind the Light Warriors' quest. Although he ''does'' desire to end (''and'' eternally torment, however that works) existence for no real reason, he does not come into play until the real [[Big Bad]], [[Physical God|Sarda]] accidentally brings him about.
* 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}}.
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== Web Original ==
* In ''[[
== Western Animation ==
* A handful of episodes of ''[[Spider-Man:
* 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 [[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
** ''[[
* 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...
* [[Chronicles of Prydain|Arawn]] is actually portrayed as one in Disney's ''[[
* [[Ultimate Evil|The Lich]] serves as this in ''[[
* Mr. Wilter from ''[[Chalk Zone]]'' is an [[Ax Crazy]] [[Drunk
** 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 ''[[Thundercats
* Krang in ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987
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