Predecessor Villain: Difference between revisions
→Tabletop Games
m (→Literature) |
|||
| (7 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
Line 27:
== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' had many. Sauron is the [[Dark Lord]] and [[God of Evil]], but the job was originally held by Morgoth, his old master, who was worse on a grander scale. Other examples of note:
** Anyone who thinks the balrog that Gandalf slew (Durin’s Bane) was terrifying should have seen their king, Gothmog. This fiend was one of Morgoth’s most powerful servants during the First Age, his raw might the entire reason Morgoth appointed him ruler of his kind. Detailing his evil deeds would take far too much time, but suffice to say he was a major figure in many important conflicts during the First Age before he was slain by Ecthelion
** As dangerous as Smaug was, he was hardly the mightiest dragon. The original dragons were created by Morgoth during the first age using a combination of dark magic and elemental fire, and his first success among them was Glauron. Called “the Father of Dragons” (implying he might be [[Monster Progenitor|the progenitor of the entire race]]) Glauron had no wings, but was a cunning fiend with a hypnotic gaze that could enspell entire armies or drive them mad, when he had reason not to incinerate them with his fiery breath. Another of Morgoth’s chief lieutenants, his most notorious deeds was the destruction of the elven realm of Nargothrond and the spell he cast on Niënor, causing her to lose her memory and causing the tragic events of the Children of Hurin. While he was eventually slain by Turin, he clearly left his mark on Middle Earth.
** During the War of Wrath, Morgoth created the stronger winged dragons, and the worst among them was Ancalagon the Black, possibly the mightiest dragon who ever lived. To give an example of how powerful he was, Gandalf claimed “not even” Ancalagon’s breath could harm the One Ring, implying that Ancalagon’s destructive power was second only to Sauron. His entry into the War of Wrath nearly turned the tide in Morgoth’s favor, and seeing as his enemies in that conflict were [[Council of Angels|the Valar]] themselves, it should give you an idea of how deadly he was. His eventual death is what sealed Morgoth’s fate, ensuring his final defeat.
** While Shelob was little more than a [[Giant Spider]], she was spawned from a godlike entity called Ungoliant, an [[Villainous Glutton|embodiment of gluttony and greed]]. Not even the Valar knew where she came from, but most believed she was spawned by the Darkness itself, making her an offspring of [[Pure Evil]]. So powerful that she captured and nearly devoured Morgoth (back when he was still called Melkor), she only failed when the balrogs came to their master’s rescue, but even then, not even the aforementioned Gothmog could slay her, and it was after this battle that [[Monster Progenitor|she spawned many offspring]], including Shelob and the evil spiders of Mirkwood. It is not known how (or even whether) she met her end, but many believe she became so greedy, she eventually devoured herself.
** A more lighthearted example was King Golfimble, mentioned in ''[[The Hobbit (novel)|The Hobbit]]''. An orc chieftain who invaded the Shire in an event called the Battle of the Green Fields, and according to local Shire folklore, he was slain when Bilbo's great-great-granduncle [[Hometown Hero| Bandobras "Bullroarer" Took]] stuck the villain's head clean off with a wooden club. The unfortunate orc's head sailed a hundred yards through the air and fell down a rabbit-hole; which is how the battle was won and [[Just-So Story|the game of golf invented in the same instant.]]
** Also mentioned in ''The Hobbit'', Azog, the orc lord who slew Thrór, Thorin's grandfather. While a version of this character did appear in the movie, it was due to being [[Spared
* In ''[[Harry Potter]]'', Salazar Slytherin and Gellert Grindelwald were both predecessors to [[Big Bad|Lord Voldemort]], but neither were nearly as bad as him. Slytherin (a friend of [[Big Good|Gryffindor]]) is implied to have undergone [[Historical Villain Upgrade]] in-universe; Grindelwald was imprisoned and refused to help Voldemort when Voldemort called on him (Voldemort ultimately got what he wanted anyway, but Grindelwald still didn't help him). Not to mention that it's likely he threw the decisive duel with Dumbledore.
* From the ''Dragon Crown War'' series, the actions of a [[Sorcerous Overlord]] named Kirun play a large role in shaping the settings' history, but the [[Big Bad]] is his ex-[[Bastard Understudy]], Chytrine.
Line 44:
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* In an old series of ''[[Garfield]]'' strips, [https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/garfield/images/7/7c/1979-08-08.gif/revision/latest?cb=20180809184827 Garfield relates] how, during the [[Dark Ages]], the legendary rat catcher Fluffy the Fierce killed every rat but one, before being defeated by [[Rodent of Unusual Size|Matt the Rat]]. Who not coincidentally, coined the phrase, "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!"
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Planescape]]'':
** Probably Aoskar, the god of portals. It's never stated whether he was a force for Good, Evil, or neither, but he was clearly a danger to Sigil when he tried to usurp the Lady's rule. Whatever the case, he failed; the Lady killed him, his cult is extinct and his temple is destroyed, now used as the headquarters of the Athar, who use it as "proof" of their claims that the gods are frauds. Most of the time, Aoskar is spoken of as a precautionary tale for other would-be usurpers.
** Cantrum, the founder and original leader of the Dark Eight, who was assassinated early on (some say by a heroic and mighty paladin, others say by an abishai who got lucky). Whatever the case, his death serves to remind devils that, no matter how strong you are, you are ''never'' invincible.
* In ''[[Dark Sun]]'' setting, the halfling sorcerer king [[A Nazi By Any Other Name| Rajaat]] is the biggest reason Athas became the post-apocalyptic [[Death World]] it is today. Obsessed with returning the world to its Blue Age, an period when the world was covered by a vast ocean and ruled by halflings, Rajaat orchestrated the [[Would Be Rude to Say Genocide|Cleansing Wars]], where he sought to exterminate all of the "impure" races. He ordered his army to wage a war of genocide against all non-humans, but eventually they turned against humans as well. Eventually, his own generals turned against him, defeating him and sealing him in some extra-dimensional prison, but before that happened, the war had caused the extinction of all gnomes, orcs, goblins, kobolds, ogres, lizard men, fey races, and trolls on Athas, while the populations of the dwarves, elves, and giants had been reduced dramatically. Rajaat's own people, the halflings, fared the worst; they survived, but degenerated into savage cannibals. Worst of all, Rajat [[Enemy to All Living Things| introduced Defiler magic to Athas]], a form of sorcery that use life itself as fuel, which reduced Athas to the barren wasteland that it is today.
* The Slarecans in ''[[Scarred Lands]]'' setting were a race of [[Evil Sorcerer]]s who refused to ally themselves with the gods ''or'' the titans, and as a result, were wiped out in the war that reduced Scarn to its current state. While believed extinct, their wicked legacy survives in the monsters and cursed artifacts they created. Sages often point to these fiends as proof that Scarn's current state is not as bad as the alternative might have been, as subjugation and enslavement by the Slarecans might have been far worse.
== [[Video Games]] ==
Line 60 ⟶ 67:
* Both [[Big Bad]]s of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'', [[Fallen Hero|Nightmare Moon]] and [[God of Evil|Discord]], were originally the enemies of Princess Celestia, [[The Hero|Twilight Sparkle's]] mentor. In the latter case, Discord was also an enemy of Luna, who became Nightmare Moon.
* In ''[[The Legend of Korra]]'', Yakone is this to both [[Big Bad|Amon]] and [[Big Bad Wannabe|Tarrlok]].
* Ragnar the Wretched, ''[[Amphibia (TV series)|Amphibia]]''. Little is known about him, but seeing as General Yunan will [[Large Ham|''never'' let you forget]] she is the one who defeated him, he must have been ''one'' bad amphibian.
{{reflist}}
| |||