Bigger Bad: Difference between revisions

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 A Can]] that never gets released, is simply unconcerned with current events, or is a mindless force that can't by any realistic stretch of the imagination be considered a character. Sometimes the real [[Big Bad]] will seek [[Applied Phlebotinum|to exploit or make use of it]], or may [[Dragon -in -Chief|pay lip service to it]], though this doesn't always happen. If the [[Big Bad]] tries to harness the Bigger Bad for his own gain, he'll likely learn the painful lesson that [[Evil Is Not a Toy]].

{{examples|Examples:}}

* 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.

* The [[Mega Corp|Tyrell Corporation]] of ''[[Blade Runner (Film)|Blade Runner]]'', which created the replicants and [[What Measure Is a Non -Human?|the resulting social hierarchy between them and humans]].

* 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 On Drugs?|Dreamland]] story. A literal manifestation of perfect amoral chaos who creates and destroys. Is being kept asleep by the Ultimate Gods with 'pipes and drums' so he doesn't ''eat the universe.''Also Yog Sothoth would also count as a Bigger bad.

** {{spoiler|Demon King Demise}} from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword]]'', and arguably the whole series. {{spoiler|Hyrule's [[Ultimate Evil]], [[Sealed Evil in A Can]], and [[Dragon -in -Chief|Ghirahim's]] master, he is also the source of the continued returns of the series' [[Big Bad]], Ganondorf, having cursed [[The Hero|Link]] and [[Big Good|Zelda]] for imprisoning him.}} You get the picture.

* In the ''[[Baldurs Gate]]'' series, as revealed near the end of the first game, {{spoiler|the dead god Bhaal}} pushed the plot into movement in the backstory, but being dead, takes no active part in the story of the games other than as semi-impersonal power scattered among {{spoiler|his mortal children}}. All the three [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] in the series are after this power in some way or another. (Of course, since [[Forgotten Realms|the setting]] is an established [[Shared Universe]] -- [[The Multiverse|multiverse]], [[Planescape|even]] --, there are plenty of other at least equally powerful Bigger Bads in the setting in general. You can even [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|kill]] [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|one]] [[Bonus Boss|in passing]] later on, and [[Did We Just Have Tea With Cthulhu?|chat]] with [[God of Evil|another]]. But the above holds in the context of what's relevant to the main story.)

* ''[[Phantasy Star]]'' has {{spoiler|The Profound Darkness. The series protagonist's struggle against the Dark Force/[[Spell My Name With an "S"|Falz]], the recurring [[Big Bad]], basically amounts to [[Fighting a Shadow]] of a fraction of the Profound Darkness' own evil and hatred. DF himself is a threat to the entire universe, so nobody wants to find out what the Profound Darkness can do if left unchecked.}}

* 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.

** The six slumbering Celestial Avatars [[Playing With Fire|Ifrit]], [[An Ice Person|Shiva]], [[Blow You Away|Garuda]], [[Dishing Out Dirt|Titan]], [[Shock and Awe|Ramuh]], and [[Making a Splash|Levithan]] could destroy the world easily if they ever woke up, [[Subverted Trope|fortunately, they don't feel like it.]] Part of [[Light 'Em Up|Carbuncle]]'s reasoning for spreading the Summoner job is to show those Avatars that people are actually pretty nifty and that they shouldn't destroy the world when they eventually do wake up.

* ''[[Mega Man Zero (Video Game)|Mega Man Zero]]'' has this in spades. First, we have [[Well -Intentioned Extremist]] Copy X and the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Four Guardians]] at the helm of the plot. After the first game, the [[Big Bad]] is defeated and [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja|Phantom]] has pulled a bungled [[Suicide Attack]]. The remaining three Guardians go on the warpath with Zero and the Resistance, which causes its new leader, [[Knight Templar|Elpizo]], to snap and use the powers of the [[Bigger Bad]], the Dark Elf, for vengeance. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg: the next game introduces [[The Chessmaster|Dr. Weil]], who actually ''created'' the Dark Elf ''and'' shows up with his own ultra-[[Nigh Invulnerable]] version of Zero: [[Super -Powered Evil Side|Omega]]. [[It Got Worse|It gets much, MUCH worse.]] Weil rebuilds Copy X and uses him as an [[Unwitting Pawn]], along with the children of the Dark Elf, Crea and Prea, who never intentionally did anything evil because ''they're mere infants''. When his first world domination scheme fails, he comes back to power with [[Kill Sat|Ragnarok]], a space station armed with a [[Wave Motion Gun]] with the actively-demonstrated power to cause mass-scale destruction- even the [[Endofthe World As We Know It]], plus his own squad of personal Reploid warriors, led by [[The Dragon|Craft]]. In short, the title of [[Bigger Bad]] changes hands with each new game, save for the conclusion.

* Chaos of ''[[Eight 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.