Breakout Villain: Difference between revisions

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'': Both Seto Kaiba and the card game, Duel Monsters (Magic and Wizards back then) were originally [[Monster of the Week|going to appear only once.]] Fans got interested, and sent a cavalcade of mail. Kaiba appeared again as the villain of an arc, and played a card game at the end. Fans went crazy. Then the Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist Kingdom [[Story Arc]] came out, one thing led to another, and before long, Kaiba was arguably the number-three character after Yugi and Jounouchi, and Duel Monsters was the focus of the series. If you tell someone who hasn't read the manga that Kaiba and Duel Monsters were originally one-offs, you may make [[Your Head Asplode|their brain spontaneously combust.]]

 

== Comic Books ==

* Most successful ''[[Batman]]'' villains are Breakout Villains.

** [[The Joker]]: Believe it or not, the villain of villains, the Clown Prince of Crime, the one crazy bad guy who can make Satan pee in his pants just by laughing, was not originally intended to be ''the'' [[Batman]] villain, let alone the most well-known villain in comic history. According to the other wiki: "He was slated to be killed in his second appearance, but editor Whitney Ellsworth suggested that the character be spared. A hastily drawn panel, demonstrating that the Joker was still alive, was subsequently added to the comic." 60 years later, The Joker outshines Lex Luthor, Magneto, et all for "most recognizable villain in comics," and thanks to [[The Dark Knight|a certain recent movie]], has also become infamous as [[Complete Monster|one of the most heinously evil individuals in all fiction.]]

** The Riddler was featured in a whopping ''two'' stories in his debut year (1948) before being promptly forgotten for nearly twenty years. After being brought back into the comics (just in time for the [[Batman (TV series)|sixties show]]), he climbed his way up to the highest tier of the Bat-Rogues almost overnight.

** Scarecrow was featured in only two stories as well, neither of them memorable in the least. Then came a certain issue of ''[[The Brave and the Bold]]'' comic book that gave him his fear gas... and the rest is history.

** In the third Two-Face story, Batman persuaded him to turn himself in and submit to any needed psychotherapy and surgery by loading a coin to land on its edge, and he did it and got better. They brought back another version and then had him revert.

* ''[[Superman]]''

* If you were to watch any modern incarnation of the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', you would think arch-ninja The Shredder is the end-all-be-all of Turtles baddies. Originally, though? He died in the very first issue of the original comic, and was later brought back for a handful of issues—as a clone—only to be killed off again soon after, never to return.

* The Iron Major became a popular recurring villain for [[Sgt. Rock]], despite dying in his first appearance.

* [[Doctor Doom]] is this to the [[Fantastic Four]], appearing in their fifth issue, he took over their second annual by giving [[Death by Origin Story]] background for him and his parents, and has since then had his own book, own team-up series, and antagonized most of the Marvel [[The Verse|verse]] by power hoarding [[McGuffin|Mc Guffins]] and being a [[Chessmaster]] [[Magnificent Bastard]] with [[Power Armor]].

** Lampshaded in Doom's third appearence. [[Stan Lee]] and [[Jack Kirby]] spend some time discussing how good of a villain Doom wound up unexpectedly being and lament killing him off so fast. Doom promptly storms in, very much alive, and berates them for doing the same.

* In the [[Disney Ducks Comic Universe]], Flintheart Glomgold started out as [[The Rival]] to Scrooge for title of Richest Duck in the World. Flintheart only appeared in three stories by his creator Carl Barks , but by his third appearance, he had ascended to Scrooge's [[Evil Counterpart]] and was one of the few villains to demonstrate [[It's Personal|murderous intent]] against Scrooge and his nephews. The Second Richest Duck in the World was mostly forgotten for the next twenty years, until Don Rosa reintroduced him in Son of the Sun. Comics, the cartoon series Ducktales, and video games have since portrayed Flintheart as a step above Scrooge's usual villains to the point of being his [[Arch Enemy]].

** Another breakout villain for Scrooge would be [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|John D. Rockerduck]]. He was originally a one-shot character created by Carl Barks, but for some reason Italian duck artists made him a recurring character decades later.

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Star Wars]]'' - Boba Fett: Boba Fett's presence in the movies was... minimal, at best. But oooooh, has he become a staple of the ''[[Star Wars]]'' Expanded Universe. Much contention has been made over his survival after being ingested by the Sarlacc ([[George Lucas|Lucas]] [[Word of God|says]] he died; Dark Horse comics along with most fans say he survived), but his popularity cannot be debated. Boba Fett is, to most fans, as integral to the plot as any other characters - in some respects, much more important and likable to the series as a whole.

** Lucas' opinion has recently shifted to "[[Sure Why Not]]?," and he actually considered adding in a scene of him surviving in the 2006 DVD of ''Return of the Jedi''. Tellingly, Boba has a bigger role as a little boy in ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'' than he did as an adult in the original trilogy.

* Agent Smith from ''[[The Matrix]]'' was originally supposed to be a [[Starter Villain]], but due to his popularity with fans he was brought back and incorporated in the storyline of the [[Two-Part Trilogy|next two films]] as the main antagonist.

* Pinhead of the ''[[Hellraiser]]'' series was originally just one of the group of monsters in the original film. He was even {{spoiler|killed off in part 2.}} But Doug Bradley's portrayal of him made him very popular with the fans, and Pinhead today is the de facto villain of the series, and pretty much its mascot.

* Khan from ''[[Star Trek]]'' started out as just another [[Villain of the Week]] for Kirk to defeat. He got to return in ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|The Wrath of Khan]]'' as one of the series' most notable villains.

 

== Literature ==

** Another "villain" to become central to the Holmes Universe (i.e. original canon ''and'' adaptations), despite her one appearance, is Irene Adler, who is the ''only'' woman to ''ever'' outwit Holmes. In Doyle's stories, he does make a few fleeting mentions of her as the only person whom Holmes never beat - though hardly as many as one might be led to expect by adaptations

** [[Fanon]] has retconned both Moriarty and Irene into the Holmes mythos. There is now a timeline of cases where Holmes clashed with Moriarty's organization, and it's a popular theme in homages and pastiches that Sherlock and Irene had a tryst during Holmes's absence after Reichenbach.

** Modern depictions of Mordred usually bump him up to being King Arthur's son with Morgan, which has a number of neat effects. First of all, it ups his status from being a random evil knight into [[Luke, You Are My Father]]. Second, it gives him an actual motivation - he wants to be recognized as the rightful heir but Arthur refuses. Third, it makes Arthur the architect of his own demise, directly. Fourth, it ties him in with Morgan Le Fay, the other popular Moriarty of the series, so everything's wrapped up in a neat little package.

*** This is the [[The Theme Park Version]] by way of the [[One Steve Limit]]. Originally, Mordred's mother was Morgan's sister Morgause, which ends up giving him an entire supporting cast in the form of his (half-)brothers at court - Gawaine, Gareth, Gaheris, and Agravaine. In Malory, at least, they're a bit of a [[Five-Man Band]]. The earliest mention of Mordred is a reference to "The Battle of Camlann" where "Arthur and Medraut died". From the context (or lack of same), it's not even clear that they were on opposite sides!

** In the end, calling Mordred a "breakout villain" is strange, to say the least. You go back far enough, and he isn't even a villain, but ever since Geoffrey brought him in his function has been constant: he kills Arthur. And, interestingly, that's ''all'' he does in most versions. He spends the entirety of Malory hanging around the background, getting constantly mentioned but never doing anything. A byproduct of the fact that there are no "tales of Sir Mordred" since all he ever did was stab his uncle and/or father in the back and try to force Guinevere into marriage.

* ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' - Sauron originated as a relatively minor villain from the earliest version of the legend of Beren and Luthien, and the proto-Sauron was a giant [[Cats Are Mean|cat]], of all things. The character subsequently morphed into the [[Evil Sorcerer]] Thu, and from there into the demonic being known from ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. In the process, he got promoted from one-shot villain to the [[God of Evil]]'s [[The Dragon|Dragon]] to the [[Dragon Ascendant]] and [[Big Bad]] of the most well-known part of the mythology and the second most significant villain in the Middle-earth [[Verse]].

* ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'' - The Wicked Witch of the West, thanks to the popularity of [[The Wizard of Oz (film)|the classic film]], has become the most recognizable of Oz's villains and the [[Big Bad]] of most adaptations of the Oz series (i.e. the 1980s cartoon). In the original novels she only appeared in one chapter in the middle of the first book, during which she was [[Killed Off for Real]]; the closest thing [[Land of Oz|the Oz books]] have to a [[Big Bad]] is actually the Nome King, who appeared in several books to cause trouble for the land of Oz.

 

== Live Action TV ==

* In ''[[Law and Order: Criminal Intent]]'' we have Nicole Wallace, AKA That Evil Aussie Chick. Now, this being a crime show, she doesn't get that many appearances, but if you can outwit [[Crazy Awesome|Goren]]...

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' - The Daleks: Despite challenging the TARDIS for the title of the most iconic element of ''Doctor Who'', they were created in defiance of co-creator Sydney Newman's insistence on writing a non-traditional [[Science Fiction]] serious which would avoid [[Aliens and Monsters|Bug-Eyed Monsters]]. This explains why they ''died'' at the end of their first story with no hint given that they might possibly return. Now these motorised pepper-pots have had more than twenty appearances and posed a threat to the Doctor exceeded only by other Time Lords and similarly [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]].

** Dean Moriarty, though, making this an ''On the Road'' reference, as well as a nod to ''Sherlock Holmes''. (The character from ''On The Road'' was named as a reference to the Holmes villain, it still works as a reference to both.)

* Sigfried from ''[[Get Smart]]'' was originally meant to be a one-time villain, but then popped up again a few times, and is now considered the main villain of the series, even appearing (well, [[In Name Only]]) in the 2008 feature film adaptation.

* Scorpius from ''[[Farscape]]'' was ''supposed'' to be a one-shot first-season villain. The performance was so effective, however, that he returned, quickly usurped the then-[[Big Bad]], and became the biggest [[Chessmaster]] this side of [[Gargoyles|Xanatos]].

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' had Spike. Originally meant to be a one-season villain, and a [[Disc One Final Boss]] at that, he quickly went on to be one of the show's most popular characters, converting to full-fledged [[Anti-Hero]] by the fifth season, and continuing into ''[[Angel]]'' after the series ended.

* ''[[Smallville]]'': [[The Chessmaster|Lionel]] [[Manipulative Bastard|Luthor]], [[Lonely Rich Kid|Lex]]'s [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] [[Abusive Dad]] was originally meant to appear in only a few episodes of Season 1 as a way of making [[Mad Dictators Handsome Son|Lex]]'s [[Freudian Excuse]] seem more poignant. [[John Glover]]'s performance was excellent, however, and the fandom embraced the [[Fan Nickname|Magnificent You-Know-What]] as a [[Love to Hate]] character of the first degree. Lionel was written into Season 2 as a major antagonist and [[Recurring Character]], and became the [[Big Bad]] of Season 3. In the process he gained new dimensions to his character and his own [[Freudian Excuse]] becoming an [[Even Evil Has Standards]] [[Archnemesis Dad]] who was himself the product of [[Abusive Parents]]. He was later [[Demonic Possession|possessed]] by Jor-El and made a [[Heel Face Turn]], becoming a dark [[Mentor]] figure to [[The Hero|Clark]]. [[Killed Off for Real]] in Season 7 by [[Self-Made Orphan|Lex]], Glover and Lionel returned to the show in Season 10 as [[Alternate Universe|Earth-2]] Lionel, an [[Evil Twin|Eviler Twin]] of our Lionel, who was [[The Heavy]] for most of the last part of the show. In some ways Lionel, and not as was originally intended, Lex, became ''Smallville'''s defining villain.

* Emilia Fox as Morgause from ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' was only supposed to be around for a couple of episodes, but ended up being so integral to the episodes she featured in that the writers kept her around for longer.

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' - Bowser: Before ''Super Mario Bros.'', the portly plumber tangled with a lot of nasty foes. [[Donkey Kong]], [[Wrecking Crew|Foreman Spike]], and random unorganized critters (though some did look similar to Koopas). But once ''Super Mario Bros'' hit the scene, it was Mario's defining moment, and from that day forth, the Koopa troop and its fearless leader would be his most prominent nemesis. This seems even more dramatic in America, where Bowser was in fact absent for [[Super Mario Bros. 2|a game]] before making a triumphant reappearance in ''[[Super Mario Bros 3]]''. In this case it was the unforeseen popularity of the game that caused Bowser to become a Breakout Villain.

* While Revolver Ocelot manages to survive the events of the original ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', there's really nothing to suggest that he is anything more than a mole planted into Liquid Snake's rebellion by the U.S. President. However, subsequent ''[[Metal Gear]]'' games depicted [[Magnificent Bastard|Ocelot as the ultimate chessmaster who shifts allegiances from one faction to another, while keeping his true motives to himself.]]

* ''[[Warcraft]]'' - Sargeras started out as little more than a footnote in the lore, as a [[Sealed Evil in a Can]] demon lord whose powers [[Evil Sorcerer|Gul'dan]] tried to harness. The revelations of his origins as a fallen [[Physical God|Titan]] and creator of the [[The Legions of Hell|Burning Legion]] elevated him to [[Bigger Bad]] of the ''entire franchise''.

* [[Mad Scientist|Wilhelm]] [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|"Deathshead"]] [[Retcon|Strauss/Strasse]] of the [[Ghostapo|SS Paranormal Division]] gets this in the ''[[Return to Castle Wolfenstein]]'' - Wolf 2009 series, mainly due to his status as being the sole surviving Nazi of any prominance in "Return" besides [[Doomed by Canon|Himmler.]]

* A remarkably well done example is Bishop Ladja of ''[[Dragon Quest V]]''. In the original SNES game, while he did have some presence in the plot, he was ultimately a minor villain who showed only a mild evil and {{spoiler|dies less then halfway through the game}}. The DS remake propells him into this, giving him a unique appearence, replacing King Korol with him as [[The Dragon]], giving him much more screentime, and most of all, turning him from a run of the mill villain to arguably the biggest [[Complete Monster]] in the entire series.

 

== Webcomics ==

 

== Western Animation ==

* Ixis Naugus was on his way to becoming this on ''[[Sonic Sat AM|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' (SatAM) when Sonic and friends defeated Robotnik, but [[Cancellation]] [[Screwed by the Network|screwed him over]]. The Archie comics took note of this however and made him a recurring villain, even if not enough to rival Eggman as Sonic's true arch nemesis.

* ''[[Kim Possible]]'''s Shego was originally "just a henchman" to Dr. Drakken, but later developed into a competent but [[Brilliant but Lazy|unambitious]] villain who entertained herself (and the audience) with her incessant verbal jabs at [[Deadpan Snarker|Drakken]] and [[I Shall Taunt You|Kim]]. Drakken's own standing has curiously enough has also benefited from her popularity: even though he gets out-shined by his own assistant on the popularity polls it was thanks to this dynamic that he became the second most important villain in the series.

* Mad Stan from ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' was originally a one-shot joke villain thrown in to make Terry miss his date with Dana. The fans [[Large Ham|loved him]], and he eventually became a regular member of the [[Rogues Gallery]].

* Negaduck from ''[[Darkwing Duck (animation)|Darkwing Duck]]''. After the Negaduck I episode, Tad Stones (the Show Runner) said he liked Negaduck and wanted him brought back for more episodes; this resulted in Negaduck II, who the fandom embraced as perhaps not just the most popular villain but the most popular ''character'' on the show, period. When the revival comic book came around, the writer has said that he intended to have a F.O.W.L. story for the second arc and a Negaduck story for the third arc, but sheer fan demand made him swap the order.

* In ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'', [[The Psycho Rangers|The Rowdyruff Boys]] were originally one-shot [[Evil Counterpart|evil]] [[Spear Counterpart|spear]] counterparts of the titular heroines that got [[Killed Off for Real]] at the end of the episode. Fan popularity ensured that they were brought back several times.