Hidden Villain: Difference between revisions

* In ''[[Hereditary]]'', the face behind the evil force plaguing the protagonists remains unseen, {{spoiler|until the very end, where it is revealed the source was in plain sight the whole time.}}

* [[Humans Are Cthulhu|The Hunter]] in ''[[Bambi]]'' - while many fans regard him as one of the darkest villains in Disney, he's never truly seen, with only a very distinctive [[Leitmotif]] indicating that he's there.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

{{quote|'''Zoey:''' If they take the ship, they’ll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing, and if we’re very, very lucky, they’ll do it in that order.}}

:* They did, however, appear in ''[[Serenity]]'', the follow-up movie.

 

== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==

** In the iconic ''[[Advanced Dungeons and Dragons]]'' module series ''[[Against the Giants]]'', it is hinted in the first part, ''Steading of the Hill Giant Chief'', that there is a "secret force, some motivational power behind this unusual banding of different races of giants." Part two ''The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl'', mentions this again in the prologue. The third part, ''Hall of the Fire Giant King'', specifies that the PCs goal is to find this hidden orchestrator, which is in fact the Drow (making their first appearance in a D&D adventure). This leads to the [[Sequel Series]] where the mastermind is shown to be [[The Man Behind The Man| Enclava]], high priestess of the Spider Goddess Lolth, who is, the ''actual'' [[Big Bad]] of the whole campaign.

** Zariul, the original Lord of Avernus the first Layer of Hell was first mentioned in 2nd Edition ''[[Planescape]]'', but never seen for that Edition and the next two; according to lore, she had been overthrown and imprisoned by her second-in-command, the Warlord Bel, and her rage in her attempts to escape turning Avernus more dangerous and hostile. It wasn't until 5th Edition where she escaped and was finally seen (in ''Mordenkainen’s Tome Of Foes'') in [https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2018/05/dd-check-out-zariel-from-mordenkainens-tome-of-foes.html all her diabolical glory.]

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* In ''[[Wolverine and the X-Men]]'', pretty much the whole first season was masterminded by {{spoiler|the Inner Circle, who wanted to get their hands on the Phoenix}}. They're not introduced until just before the [[Grand Finale]], and aren't truly [[The Man Behind the Man]] because the only character they were directly controlling {{spoiler|was one of the heroes}}.

* During the third season of ''[[Ben 10]]'', horror monster-themed aliens show up performing seemingly random tasks through several episodes. During the season finale, they are revealed to have been building a superweapon to allow [[Enemy Without|Ghostfreak]] to achieve world domination.

* In ''[[Miraculous Ladybug]]'', the identity of [[Big Bad|Hawk Moth]] was a mystery until the premiere of Season 2; {{spoiler|while many fans did suspect he was, in fact, Gabriel Agreste, this (along with Nathalie being [[The Dragon| his accomplice]]) - was confirmed here.}}

* The true [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Rick and Morty]]'' may be {{spoiler| Rick Prime, the sworn enemy of Rick C-137 (the Rick who is usually in the protagonist position on the series), and the biological grandfather of the Morty who usually accompanies him. Rick C-137 started his multiverse-jaunting career out of revenge against Rick Prime, who murdered his reality's versions of his wife and daughter. While referenced to in flashbacks, he does not appear in the flesh until [[The Stinger]] of the season 6 premiere where he murders the Cronenberged Dimension of Jerry; in his defense though, [[Asshole Victim| this version of Jerry]][[Mugging the Monster| was very much asking for it]].}}

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Gambit Index]]

[[Category:Mystery Tropes]]

[[Category:Villains]]