History HarmlessVillain / LiveActionTV

** DependingOnTheWriter, they could turn out to be {{Not so Harmless Villain}}s and subvert this especially in those early episodes. Bear in mind most episodes ''do'' end with a cliffhanger in which the heroes are placed in a DeathTrap of an often quite violent nature; even if they always escape it in the next one, that doesn't mean the villains are harmless, only that Batman and Robin are just that awesome / lucky / [[BoringInvincibleHero invincible]]. The Riddler in particular is a giggling '''psychopath''' worse than even SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker (who is not as harmless as he is popularly remembered either, though) and is the one who most clearly enjoys his attempts to kill the duo horribly.

* Robbie Rotten from ''Series/LazyTown''. His primary goal is to get the rest of the town to be lazy like him. His schemes to do so are never successful, despite almost everyone there already being lazy to begin with, and the fact that his nemesis is an InvincibleHero doesn't help. As TheOtherWiki points out, his overly-complex schemes tend to result in him [[{{Irony}} being more active than anyone else in town.]]

* Robbie Rotten from ''Series/LazyTown''. His primary goal is to get the rest of the town to be lazy like him. His schemes to do so are never successful, despite almost everyone there already being lazy to begin with, and the fact that his nemesis is an InvincibleHero doesn't help.

* Robbie Rotten from ''Series/LazyTown''. His primary goal is to get the rest of the town to be lazy like him. His schemes to do so are never successful, despite almost everyone there already being lazy to begin with, and the fact that his nemesis is an InvincibleHero doesn't help.

* Bulk and Skull were never considered "villains" on MightyMorphinPowerRangers but their status as "bullies" in season 1 seem dubious at best. They were pretty ineffectual and more often than not the butt of jokes. It's no wonder that after season 1 the bullies status was all but dropped.

* All of the ''Series/{{Batman}}'' villains from the 60s television series qualify for this trope. Very much so.

** DependingOnTheWriter, they could turn out to be {{Not so Harmless Villain}}s, especially in those early episodes. Bear in mind most episodes ''do'' end with a cliffhanger in which the heroes are placed in a DeathTrap of an often quite violent nature; even if they always escape it in the next one, that doesn't mean the villains are harmless, only that Batman and Robin are just that awesome / lucky / [[BoringInvincibleHero invincible]]. The Riddler in particular is a giggling '''psychopath''' worse than even SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker (who is not as harmless as he is popularly remembered either, though) and is the one who most clearly enjoys his attempts to kill the duo horribly.

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks": Mr. Conklin, when he serves as the antagonist on the series. His schemes usually involve some petty mischief serving his self-aggrandizement or his greed.

** Spike was a genuine threat when he first appeared, but after he got the [[RestrainingBolt chip]] in his head, the idea that he might actually do anything that made a difference was laughable. That is, right up until [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy he used the fact that they no longer considered him a threat]] to break up their group and leave Buffy vulnerable to the season's BigBad.

* In the early days of ''XenaWarriorPrincess'', [[TheScrappy Joxer the Mighty]] tried numerous times, in a single episode, to take Gabrielle prisoner for [[AxCrazy Callisto]]. He failed (hard) each time, to the point where [[TechnicalPacifist Gabrielle]] felt bad for him and tried to cheer him up. At which point, he lunged again, and she punched him in the face...again.

* Subverted in ''TheWire'', where most cops, lawyers, and other drug kingpins treat Marlo Stanfield as a small threat who isn't much to worry about. Then, [[DisposingOfABody they start opening the vacant houses...]]
* After being demoted to producer in ''NewsRadio'', Dave decides to become, in his own words, "pure evil", and ruthlessly work his way back up to the top. But not by getting his replacement Lisa fired - oh, no, that would be wrong. His diabolical scheme involves letting Bill make a fool of himself on the air and thus getting himself fired, get Lisa discredited, and have himself put back on as news director. Unfortunately, [[SpringtimeForHitler Bill's antics garner the station's best ratings ever]], and Evil Dave was foiled forever.

** Spike. [[BadassDecay Oh God, Spike.]] He was a genuine threat when he first appeared, but after he got the [[RestrainingBolt chip]] in his head, the idea that he might actually do anything that made a difference was laughable. That is, right up until [[DangerouslyGenreSavvy he used the fact that they no longer considered him a threat]] to break up their group and leave Buffy vulnerable to the season's BigBad.

* Subverted in ''TheWire'', where most cops, lawyers, and other drug kingpins treat Marlo Stanfield as a small threat who isn't much to worry about. By season 4, you've got AT LEAST 22 vacant houses filled up.

** Probably didn't help that outside of Billy, they were trying to bully people who could easily kick their asses.

-->'''Buffy:''' Harmony, when you tried to be head cheerleader, you were bad. When you tried to chair the Homecoming Committee, you were ''really'' bad. But when you try to be bad? [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech YOU SUCK]].

** Somewhat subverted by, of all people, the Penguin! The Penguin was one of the few Batman villains more closely resembling mob bosses in the ComicStrip/DickTracy style than murderous psychopaths of pulp era, and writers had been writing such characters for decades on television despite the limits of violence allowed. The Penguin's crimes were still over the top, but he was usually the ringleader in stories with multiple villains, and his crimes, while still campy, were typically more threatening than his fellows', like stealing a nuclear sub or engaging in brainwashing and blackmail. It's telling that the DarkAge Creator/TimBurton appearance of the character surprised so many people, as many fans thought the Penguin needed little such change.

* "The Hierarchy" from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. Think ''DoctorWho'''s Sontarans if they were spineless Chess Club members with a grudge against the football jocks. Actually, despite being ripoffs of the Sontarans visually, they are actually a blend of TNG's Pakleds (slow-witted) and Ferengi (greedy scavengers). They remain the only race in ''Trek'' to be thwarted by a home video of someone [=LARPing=]. With this said, they ''do'' have genuinely threatening technology (even if they stole most of it -- which is entirely possible, them being greedy scavengers and all -- they do know how to maintain and replicate it, which is more than can be said for the Pakleds).

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** Warren and his fellow members of the Trio started out this way. They were [[BigBadWannabe Big Bad Wannabes]] that Buffy didn't take all that seriously. Warren's evolution into a genuine villain (so much so that he's a sinister MadScientist type working for the government in the canonical season 8 comics) was a major part of his character arc, while Jonathan remained this trope perfectly and Andrew wound up carrying out a HeelFaceTurn (though he was never really all that much of a heel to begin with. It was more of a case of LoveMakesYouEvil as he was obviously in love with Warren).

* Josh Koscheck was all set to be the villain of ''TheUltimateFighter'''s Season 12, having graduated the first season as a JerkAss who'd defeated the sympathetic Chris Leben and remained perpetually at the top echelon of his division (despite stinging losses to Georges St-Pierre and Paulo Thiago), and even openly admitted that he was playing the villain to hype the eventual title fight with St-Pierre...only to appear as one of the show's worst-ever coaches, gullible enough to abandon his intended first draft pick [[WhatAnIdiot because he saw another fighter atop GSP's "draft list" in big bold letters]], an advocate of "mindless training", unable to impart his own winning ways onto his roster, encouraging his team to behave disrespectfully (culminating in the team banging on the wall separating the teams to taunt the losing Team GSP fighter), and whose attempted insults or pranks were almost always effortlessly brushed off, leaving Koscheck either looking like an inept high school jock stereotype or [[FoeYay oddly fixated on GSP's tight short-shorts and body, and wanting to get his hands on GSP's sixth-picked fighter]]. So much for OlderAndWiser...

* Harmony from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', so much so that Buffy outright laughed her ass off when told that Harmony could be a threat to her. ("Harmony has MINIONS? BWAAAAHAHAHAHAH!!") If not for the fact that she ''has'' killed and fed on a few civilians (which she really only did because, well, she's a vampire) you'd feel sorry for her.

** DependingOnTheWriter, they could turn out to be {{Not so Harmless Villain}}s, especially in those early episodes. Bare in mind most episodes ''do'' end with a cliffhanger in which the heroes are placed in a DeathTrap of an often quite violent nature; even if they always escape it in the next one, that doesn't mean the villains are harmless, only that Batman and Robin are just that awesome / lucky / [[BoringInvincibleHero invincible]]. The Riddler in particular is a giggling '''psychopath''' worse than even SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker (who is not as harmless as he is popularly remembered either, though) and is the one who most clearly enjoys his attempts to kill the duo horribly.

** Warren and his fellow members of the Trio started out this way. They were [[BigBadWannabe Big Bad Wannabes]] that Buffy didn't take all that seriously. Warren's evolution into a genuine villain (so much so that he's now a sinister MadScientist type working for the government in the canonical season 8 comics) was a major part of his character arc, while Jonathan remained this trope perfectly and Andrew wound up carrying out a HeelFaceTurn (though he was never really all that much of a heel to begin with. It was more of a case of LoveMakesYouEvil as he was obviously in love with Warren).
** Also, most vampires. They act tough, and do regularly murder people, but only handful last more than one appearance before being dusted, posing little threat to Buffy.

** Somewhat subverted by, of all people, the Penguin! The Penguin was one of the few Batman villains more closely resembling mob bosses in the ComicStrip/DickTracy style than murderous psychopaths of pulp era, and writers had been writing such characters for decades on television despite the limits of violence allowed. The Penguin's crimes were still over the top, but he was usually the ringleader in stories with multiple villains, and his crimes, while still campy, were typically more threatening than his fellows', like stealing a nuclear sub or engaging in brainwashing and blackmail. It's telling that the DarkAge TimBurton appearance of the character surprised so many people, as many fans thought the Penguin needed little such change.

* "The Hierarchy" from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. Think ''DoctorWho'''s Sontarans if they were spineless Chess Club members with a grudge against the football jocks. Actually, despite being ripoffs of the Sontarans visually, they are actually a blend of TNG's Pakleds (slow-witted) and Ferengi (greedy scavengers). They remain the only race in ''Trek'' to be thwarted by a home video of someone [=LARPing=].

* Harmony from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', so much so that Buffy outright laughed her ass off when told that Harmony could be a threat to her. ("Harmony has MINIONS? BWAAAAHAHAHAHAH!!")