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{{trope}}
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]].
 
Note that despite the name, this is ''not'' a subtrope of [[Big Bad]]. A Bigger Bad is a more threatening force of evil in the setting and overshadows it, but due to mindlessness, imprisonment, lack of interest, or other factors it is disconnected on a personal level from the main plot, which is caused by the [[Big Bad]]. A being ''can'' be a [[Big Bad]] in one story and later be [[Kicked Upstairs]] to Bigger Bad (or the reverse), however. Contrast: [[The Man Behind the Man]], where a villain directly tied into the story is revealed to be controlling or manipulating the apparent [[Big Bad]]. In this case, the Man behind the Man is the actual hidden Big Bad ('''not''' a Bigger Bad).
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As a general rule of thumb if you're uncertain whether a character counts as [[Big Bad]] or Bigger Bad- if you can remove the character from the story or replace them with an impersonal force ''without'' dramatically affecting the plot, they're probably this trope. Do not confuse with [[The Man Behind the Man]].
 
{{examples|Examples:}}
 
== Multiple Media ==
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** The Light of Ruin in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh GX]]''. The second season's [[Big Bad]] was serving it, and the third season's [[Big Bad]] turned to evil because of it.
** The King of the Underworld in the Dark Signers arc of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh 5 Ds]]'', being the force behind the Earthbound Gods and the reason that the Dark Signers can make a [[Deal With the Devil]] and return [[Back From the Dead]]. This one may not qualify, though, as there's no indication it's even sentient and {{spoiler|it, along with its [[Good Counterpart]] the Crimson Dragon, is being played like a violin by the straight [[Big Bad]], Rex Godwin}}.
* 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.
 
 
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* [[The Dark Side]] in ''[[Star Wars (Franchise)|Star Wars]]'' is the most powerful evil in the setting, but is a metaphysical force of evil rather than a character. [[The Emperor]] is the [[Big Bad]] of the movies as a whole, and Darth Vader is [[The Dragon]]. See the [[Big Bad]] page for a (largely) complete listing of [[Expanded Universe]] Big Bads. Interestingly, Grand Moff Tarkin rather than the Emperor is the [[Big Bad]] in the original ''[[A New Hope|Star Wars]]'', with Darth Vader still functioning as [[The Dragon]]. The Emperor is the [[Bigger Bad]] in that movie, receiving only cursory mention and not having any real bearing on the plot. He doesn't assume a central role until appearing in ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]''.
* In ''[[James Bond (Film)|James Bond]]'', this crops up a few times, usually in the early films but it's returned for the Craig movies. Generally the [[Bigger Bad]] is either a [[Nebulous Evil Organization]] like SPECTRE (eg. ''[[Thunderball (Film)|Thunderball]]'' or Quantum (eg. ''[[Casino Royale (Film)|Casino Royale]]'') or some unnamed client country that is generally implied to be [[Red Scare|Red China]] (eg. ''[[Goldfinger (Film)|Goldfinger]]''). ''[[Dr. No (Film)|Dr. No]]'' has both, as No works for SPECTRE but it's implied they were hired by China. ''[[You Only Live Twice (Film)|You Only Live Twice]]'' has SPECTRE and its chief Blofeld acting as the [[Big Bad]] while working for this [[Bigger Bad]] (though, as he blatantly extorts money from them at one point under their protest, this might be more of a [[Big Bad Duumvirate]]).
* 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]].
* [[Power Rangers Turbo|Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie]] villain Maligore was the creature Divatox spent most of the movie trying to release. Until her efforts paid off, Maligore was unable to do anything to directly affect the plot.
* Weird example from ''[[Sky High]]'' in the form of {{spoiler|Sue Tenney, the long-gone original Royal Pain, who came up with the [[Evil Plan]] the [[Legacy Character|current Pain]] is trying to implement}}. If that doesn't seem weird to you, keep in mind that {{spoiler|the original and current Royal Pains are technically ''the same person''}}.
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** Also, Crayak is a [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]] who plays [[The Chessmaster]] throughout the galaxy to encourage mass genocides of entire species for no reason; in a series full of shades of grey he's one of only a handful of characters who qualify as totally evil. However, he only becomes directly involved in the story a handful of times and isn't terribly invested in it. The implication is that he and his [[Evil Counterpart|Good Counterpart]], the Ellimist will continue their long "game" millennia after the Animorphs' series has ended.
* The Black Thing in ''[[A Wrinkle in Time]]''. IT is the [[Big Bad]], and the Man with the Red Eyes may be ITs [[The Dragon|Dragon]]. [[The Movie]] states that the Black Thing was created by IT, making IT the biggest villain of that adaptation.
* 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.
* The Crimson King was presented as the central evil in [[Stephen King]]'s metaverse; however, in an example of [[The Devil Is a Loser]], when he's finally confronted in the [[Grand Finale]] of the [[Dark Tower]] series he's revealed to be nothing more than an insane old man armed with nothing except [[Harry Potter (Literature)|suspiciously]] [[Shout Out|familiar]] flying grenades, who is promptly defeated in one of the most ignoble manners possible. It's later revealed he had relied on ancient technology to give him most of his seemingly multiverse-spanning omnipotent powers, and when he lost that through the efforts of various heroes on various realities he was -reduced to the pathetic wretch confronted by Roland.
* [[The Riftwar Cycle|Nalar]], Raymond E. Feist's God of Evil, is slowly revealed to fill this role, and being imprisoned in another dimension, can do little more than be the influence for the various Big Bads in his books. Leso Varen, his minion, fills this role as well (making Nalar an Even Bigger Bad).
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** Ganon again in ''[[The Legend of Zelda Oracle Games (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Oracle Games]]'' only appears as a boss in a linked game, and the plot is driven by Twinrova trying to resurrect him.
** Malladus from ''[[The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks (Video Game)|Spirit Tracks]]''. The plot is actually driven by Chancellor Cole trying to resurrect/unseal him.
** {{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.
* The One Being in the ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' series.Although Onaga the original ruler of Outworld and Shinnok the former Elder God would also count.
* The Nightmare in [[Kirbys Adventure]] is merely a [[Sealed Evil in A Can]]- the actual leader of the villains is King Dedede.
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** Professor Hojo is the person responsible for infecting Sephiroth with Jenova cells, and the reason Jenova is even a threat again in the game proper. He's also why Cloud has amnesia. Various other games in the [[The Verse]] elaborate on his deeds and feature him as a [[Big Bad]] in his own right. He comes close to forming a [[Bigger Bad]] [[Big Bad Duumvirate|Duumvirate]] with Jenova.
* Hector is like this in ''[[Yggdra Union]]'' and ''[[Knights in The Nightmare]]''; he is the [[Big Bad]] proper of ''[[Riviera the Promised Land]]''.
* 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.}}
* Gerald Robotnik from [[Sonic Adventure 2 (Video Game)|Sonic Adventure 2]] serves as the bigger bad of the story. The main conflict of the story is against Eggman, but it was Gerald's actions 50 years in the past that caused many of the problems in the game. However, he only appears in the game posthumously and has a rather indirect effect on the story in general. The story doesn't revolve around stopping him (he's already dead by the time the game roles around) and his machinations are only revealed after Eggman accidentally sets off the [[Colony Drop]] at the end.
* The really nasty, powerful vampires and other beings referenced in ''[[Tsukihime (Visual Novel)|Tsukihime]]'' never really progress beyond that. Roa may be the big bad, but he wasn't even invited to the 27 dead apostle ancestors, the top five or so of which could destroy the world.
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* In the first ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' game, the [[Big Bad]] is a mechanical owl named Clockwerk. but in the second game Clockwerk becomes the Bigger Bad because he is now destroyed, shut down, and seperated into several pieces, but still a very dangerous potential threat if he were to be rebuilt (which is what the villains of the game are trying to do).
** Not quite. Most of the bad guys are just using pieces of Clockwerk for their own small-time schemes. It's only Arpeggio that intends to fully rebuild Clockwerk to {{spoiler|take Clockwerk's body for himself to be immortal. Until Neila backstabs him and takes Clockwerk's body for herself.}}
* 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.
* In ''[[Cave Story (Video Game)|Cave Story]]'', Ballos is the inventor of the demon crown and is the [[True Final Boss]], but that doesn't change the fact that the Doctor was the main villain up until he was defeated.
* ''[[Dragon Age Origins]]'' has the Archdemon as the [[Big Bad]]; ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' has {{spoiler|Meredith}}. Side quests for Morrigan and the downloadable content ''Witch Hunt'' suggest that {{spoiler|Flemeth}} may be the [[Bigger Bad]] of the ''[[Dragon Age]]'' universe.
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* The Shadow Queen from ''[[Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door (Video Game)|Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door]]'' takes this role, being a [[Sealed Evil in A Can]], and is most likely the catastrophe that destroyed the ancient town. Grodus, the actual [[Big Bad]], seeks to free her so he can use her for his own ends. [[Evil Is Not a Toy|This proves unfortunate]].
* ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' enjoys this trope immensely.
** 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.
** The return of the Shadowlord the [[Big Bad]] of the game's original story arch was orchestrated by {{spoiler|the [[Abusive Precursors|Zilart princes]] [[Aristocrats Are Evil|Kam'lanaut]] and [[Creepy Child|Eald'narche]]. They become the Big Bads of the first expansion ''Rise of the Zilart'', but their plans unwittingly (though perhaps they were influenced by him) to allow the [[God of Evil|Big Bad]] from the second expansion ''Chains of Promathia'' back into the world.}}
** Ultimately, pretty much all of the troubles that happened in the game stemmed from the pact made by the Shadowlord with {{spoiler|the Celestial Avatar [[Casting a Shadow|Odin]]. Odin gave Raogrimm the power to get revenge for his murder in exchange for releasing Odin from his slumber, this revenge and its consequences nearly lead to the destruction of Vana'diel at least half a dozen times since then, but none of that was ever part of Odin's goal. Odin is also [[Dark Is Not Evil|not too bad of a guy]] if you get to know him.}}
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* {{spoiler|Darkrai}} from the ''[[Video Games/Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers|Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers]]'' games (as mentioned above, Primal Dialga isn't the villain).
* In the ''[[Mega Man X (Video Game)|Mega Man X]]'' series, Sigma is the [[Big Bad]]. His actions are tied to the Maverick Virus, which was created by [[Mega Man (Video Game)|Dr. Wily]]. He only interacts with the plot directly in ''X5''.
* ''[[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.
** ''[[Mega Man ZX (Video Game)|Mega Man ZX]]'' has Model W as a driving antagonistic force, though individual games focus more on their direct [[Big Bad|Big Bads]]. ''Advent'' implies that Model W is {{spoiler|Dr. Weil, [[Back From the Dead]].}}
* Bass.EXE from ''[[Mega Man Battle Network (Video Game)|Mega Man Battle Network]]''. He appears in each game at least once as an optional boss that outranks all the other bosses in sheer difficulty and intense power, dealing far more than any other enemy in the franchise can (and has the biggest possible health bar). He does appear as a main plot point in [[BN 3]], where he's still threatening, but even then he appears again as an optional boss in post game with entirely new powers. Even after [[BN 3]], he goes on to appear in [[BN 4]]-6 and also appears in Network Transmission, although in Network Transmission he isn't actually killed, he just leaves, although he's still the strongest opponent in the game.
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* Similar to the ''[[Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'' example: [[Eldritch Abomination|Lord English]] from ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'' is the most powerful character in the setting, but remained [[The Unseen]] until ''very'' recently, despite a great impact (mostly in the form of his chief servant, [[The Chessmaster|Doc Scratch]]) on the plot. The [[Big Bad]] is [[Physical God]] Jack Noir, stab-happy treacherous Archagent, who the protagonists have much more motivation to destroy.
** On the other hand: {{spoiler|Jack rebelled because John prototyped the clown doll; he got the clown doll because of the clown scribblings on his wall; he scribbled them because of the doll that Gamzee rage'd into existence next to his dream self; Gamzee did it because Dave sent him the prerelease of Miracles; Dave had it because Betty Crocker 'tweeted' him it; Betty Crocker is Her Imperial Condescension, under the employ of Lord English. So, LE MAY have masterminded the whole thing. Maybe.}}
* 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.
* In [[Sluggy Freelance]] the Demon King of the Dimension of Pain generally plays this part in Dimension of Pain arcs. The demon lord Horribus serves as [[Big Bad]]. {{spoiler|Presumably Psykosis will be replacing him in future Dimension of Pain appearances.}}
* [[Brawl in The Family|Cocoon Academy]] reveals that, behind all the villainous plans Nintendo villains have come up with was {{spoiler|{{Kirby Dark Matter}}, who possessed them all.}}
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