Non-Action Big Bad: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* The Major from ''[[Hellsing]]''. For an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] enamoured of war and carnage, he noticeably lacks any combat involvement and limits himself to inspirational speeches.

** [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Hilariously]], he can't even shoot a disobedient soldier standing ''right in front of him'', despite emptying an entire clip of ammo at him. Eventually, he just has his more loyal [[Mooks]] do the killing for him.

* ''[[One Piece]]''

** The World Nobles; while they do have authority to sic the Marines on anyone who offends, insults, or assaults them, almost all of them are [[Muggles]] who can't fight worth squat, and act like groveling cowards should the Marines be unable to get to them in time.

** Possibly the case of the Five Elder Stars, the council that is presumed to rule the World Government. One does have a sword and two have some scars, indicating they might have combat experience, but they have yet to get involved in any conflict. Of course, they haven't been seen onscreen much.

* Nagi dai Artai in ''[[Mai-Otome]]'', albeit largely because males can't become Otomes.

* Gato in the first arc of ''[[Naruto]]'', which ended up being his undoing after he tried to dispose of Zabuza, only for him to turn on and kill him. After that, [[Authority Equals Asskicking]] took full effect.

** ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' has a [[Big Bad Ensemble]] of [[Complete Monster|Lord Djibril]] and [[Dark Messiah|Gilbert Durandal]]. Both have more than enough resources (and [[Axe Crazy|madness]]/[[Manipulative Bastard|manipulative ability]]) to make up for their lack of frontline combat skills, with Djibril heading a world-wide network of hate-groups, and Durandal as ZAFT's new [[President Evil]].

** Chancellor Wong in ''[[G Gundam]]'' is the bad guy in the second act- he's super manipulative (he even has literal chess-pieces in the shape of the Gundams), is the De-Facto leader of everything and even holds control over [[Old Master|Master]] [[Rated "M" for Manly|Asia]]... However, he hardly stands up from his floaty chair, only sets up fights for Domon, and has an [[Death Note|L]]-Level sweet tooth. Surface to say, {{spoiler|He's almost vaporized by collateral damage, and when he actually gets in a Gundam, he lasts all of two minutes. And most of those two minutes are spent talking.}}

 

* ''[[Sin City]]'' baddies tend to invoke this trope. The Roarks, Ava Lord, Wallenquist, and even the Colonel never get their hands dirty and are likely incapable of doing so. Instead, they send dirty cops, mooks, hitmen, and assassins to do their jobs.

* [[Lex Luthor]] most of the time. He does have a battlesuit, but he tends to get in fistfights a lot less than he uses his [[Manipulative Bastard]] and [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] aspects.

* ''[[Spider-Man]]'' villains:

** The Kingpin is interesting in that he is a very strong and skilled fighter but is usually in the mob boss role. In his earliest appearances, he had legitimate [[Super Strength]] and could fight guys like Spider-Man and even overpower them. Once he became a [[Daredevil]] villain, he was brought down a peg or two and less likely to fight Spider-Man. Instead, when he shows up in Spidey's books now, he is usually employing supervillains to do his dirty work for him.

** Fortunado is a crime boss who, at one time, filled the [[Evil Power Vacuum]] left by the Kingpin. While [[flashback]] stories portray him as a competent fighter in his youth, he's an old man at present whose physical skills have degenerated.

** Silvermane is this when not a cyborg; usually he's running his criminal organization from a wheelchair, being a half-crippled. In one storyline he was even running his organization while bedridden.

 

* ''[[The Snow Queen]]''; neither Gerda not Kai nor any of their animal friends ever confront the eponymous antagonist. It seems Gerda rescues Kai after the Queen leaves him to go attend to something else. This also makes the Queen something of a [[Karma Houdini]], never gaining any comeuppance for kidnapping Kai and possibly other children.

 

* Cutler Becket from the ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' movies. He loves to sit and enjoy his tea while he watches his armies fight against the pirates.

* Dieter von Cunth in [[MacGruber]], for all his fearsome reputation, just stands there and gets his ass kicked when the finale comes.

* Sauron from ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' film series is a partial case. He does come out, and he DOES do some major damage in the prologue against the Last Alliance. But he never comes out to play again during the main story arc; in the film explicitly because his form is just an eye on his tower.

* Grand Moff Tarkin from ''[[Star Wars]] Episode IV - [[A New Hope]]''

* Karl Stromberg from ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me]]''. One of the least physical Bond villains, he prefers to let [[Mooks|his]] [[Femme Fatale|empl]][[The Dragon|oyees]] deal with his enemies while he kicks back and [[Wicked Cultured|listens to some Bach]].

* Christo from ''[[Act of Valor]]'' doesn't even try to resist when his yacht is boarded.

* [[Mel Brooks|President Skroob]] is technically the Big Bad in ''[[Spaceballs]]'', despite being [[Harmless Villain|woefully incompetent]] and a [[Dirty Coward]]; he's quite willing to have [[Dragon-in-Chief| Dark Helmet]] and [[The Dragon| Colonel Sandurzs]] do all of the work.

 

* President Snow in ''[[The Hunger Games]]'' has no physical ability, [[Evil Old Folks| being an old man]] who is [[Evil Cripple|stricken with tuberculosis.]]

* Grand Admiral Thrawn from ''[[The Thrawn Trilogy]]''. He's actually implied to be at least a decent fighter, and is described as being powerfully built, but he has no interest in engaging in combat himself- it's strategy and trickery that hold his interest, not brawling. [[All There in the Manual|The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook]] gives him [[Authority Equals Asskicking|ridiculously high stats]], but then again it's made so that fans can roleplay through the events of the trilogy, and they might be able to force a physical confrontation.

** Explicitly averted in one of his later ([[Flash Back|but chronologically earlier]]) appearances. One of Thrawn's intricate plans includes a requirement for an elite bounty hunter's involvement. The bounty hunter is the linchpin of the plan, and would have to be given more information than such an inherently mercenary individual should be trusted with. Thus, Thrawn simply puts on a suit of Mandalorian armor and assumes the role himself.

* Lord Straff Venture in the second ''[[Mistborn]]'' book- he's a thoroughly evil man, but is middle-aged, out of shape, and a Tineye (meaning that he has magical abilities, but they involve [[Super Senses]] rather than anything physical). As such, he prefers to work through his army and his [[Ax Crazy]] [[The Dragon|Dragon]] {{spoiler|and illegitimate son}} Zane.

* The [[Villain Protagonist|title character]] of ''[[Artemis Fowl]]'', largely because he's [[Teen Genius|twelve years old]]

 

* Linderman from ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', who as a [[Affably Evil|seemingly friendly]] old man with [[Healing Hands|healing]] as [[Good Powers, Bad People|his power]] is the only [[Big Bad]] without decent combat skills.

* Obviously the First Evil in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' who having no physical form must resort to [[Mind Rape]] as well as [[The Dragon]] and his [[Elite Mooks]]

* Joffery Baratheon from ''[[Game of Thrones]]''. Notorious for being a cruel sociopath and one of the biggest assholes on the show, he can't fight worth squat, and isn't a good strategist either. At first glance, being as young as he is might be considered an excuse, but given the setting (younger ''female'' characters were skilled at swordplay) it can only truly be attributed to laziness.

 

* Dr. Wily in [[The Protomen]]'s albums. It's lampshaded in Act I.

 

 

* Doctor Robotnik from ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' games. You'll never see him fighting outside an [[Humongous Mecha]].

** Even more so, Dr. Wily from the ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' games. Every lesser baddie is a fighting robot built or commandeered by Wily himself. Since Mega Man himself is this kind of fighting robot, of course Dr. Wily can only be a match for him by fighting in a [[Humongous Mecha]] in the final [[Boss Fight]].

* After spending the second game in an uneasy alliance with Shepard, the Illusive Man becomes this in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', with Kai Leng acting as [[The Heavy]]. It's kind of like they split the role Saren had in the first game into two people - Shepard and the Illusive Man constantly try to talk the other around to their way of thinking, while Leng is an exclusively physical threat who {{spoiler|ends up on the wrong end of Shepard's omni-blade.}}

* Dr. Breen in ''[[Half-Life 2]]''.

* Lionel Starkweather from ''[[Manhunt]]'' has no superpowers, so he remains at his mansion monitoring Cash as he makes his snuff film. It doesn't stop him from being a truly nasty individual, however.

 

 

* Subverted by Tombstone from ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]''. Spider-Man pretty much invokes this trope, right before Tombstone beats him in less than five seconds.

* Another notable subversion, the Gamemaster from ''[[G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Marvel Comics)|G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero]]''. Flint at first assumes this is the case, only to find that the villain is a [[Genius Bruiser]] nearly twice his size.

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'': Mr. Burns is a frail old man, but his vast amount of wealth makes him a threat to those that would cross him. His hired goons are nothing to sneeze at. (Of course, there's Smithers, but he's basically the opposite of his boss, so he's hardly ever evil.) He's not always the villain in the episodes he appears in, however.

* ''[[Futurama]]'' has a few; Mom is pretty much a [[Distaff Counterpart]] of Mr. Burns (the two even dated in the [[Crossover]]) and only slightly less frail. Richard Nixon - the setting's [[President Evil]] via [[Adaptational Villainy]] - is, like most celebrities from the 20th Century, a preserved head in a jar. Zapp Brannigan would have you believe he's a [[Four-Star Badass]], but he is, in effect, a [[Dirty Coward]] and [[Miles Gloriosus]]; indeed, [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain| he's not the best villain either]].

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