History Main / StarterVillain

* In ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', ''the Shredder'' himself was this in the original Mirage Comics, where he makes an average showing and gets himself killed rather humiliatingly at the end of the very first issue. A colony of intelligent worms would later assume the mantle of the Shredder (it's a long story), but even they only appeared in a few issues and played a fairly minor role in the comics' plot. However, due to his status as the first villain the Turtles fought and his ItsPersonal ties to their backstory, all subsequent versions (namely the two cartoon series) went and made him the long-running BigBad.

* Admiral Zhao from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender''. While Zuko showed up first, he is initially [[IneffectualSympetheticVillain ineffective]] agains the Gaang, while Zhao is a consistent threat to both the Gaang ''and'' Zuko for the entire first season. He's still too [[SmugSnake confident in his abilities,]] and is ultimately replaced by the ''far'' worse [[HeroKiller Princess]] [[TheDragon Azula.]]

* ''BambooBlade'': Toyama, who was tormenting Dan in the first episode, prompting Tamaki to come to his defense and join the Kendo Club. Later, when the main group is well-established, [[KendoTeamCaptain team captain]] Kirino Chiba has to come up with training regimens for the other members. Her realization that she forgot to make one for him is quickly brushed off, since he only came to practice to pick on the newbies and [[WouldHitAGirl girls]], and never showed up again after Tamaki taught him a lesson.

* ''{{Naruto}}'''s Zabuza and Haku, who are pictured above.

[[{{Naruto}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/startervillain1.jpg]]
[[caption-width:256:Oh, [[ItWasHisSled don't worry]], [[SarcasmMode they'll be fine]].]]

* Shin from ''{{Fist of the North Star}}'', who doubles as a TokenMotivationalNemesis, is the first rival martial artist that Ken faces in the story. He was the one who defeated Kenshiro, stole away his beloved Yuria, and then engraved the seven scars on Ken's chest as a reminder of the humiliation. In the first story arc of the manga, Ken must fight against Shin's four lackeys, each progressively more skilled than the last (culminating with the infamous Mr. Heart, a giant fat man who is seemingly immune to Kenshiro's pressure point techniques at first), before challenge his old rival.

See also: WakeUpCallBoss. Some Stater Villains tend to be [[TokenMotivationalVillain Token Motivational Villains]] as well.

* Shin from ''{{Fist of the North Star}}'', who doubles as a TokenMotivationalVillain, is the first rival martial artist that Ken faces in the story. He was the one who defeated Kenshiro, stole away his beloved Yuria, and then engraved the seven scars on Ken's chest as a reminder of the humiliation. In the first story arc of the manga, Ken must fight against Shin's four lackeys, each progressively more skilled than the last (culminating with the infamous Mr. Heart, a giant fat man who is seemingly immune to Kenshiro's pressure point techniques at first), before challenge his old rival.

See also: WakeUpCallBoss.

* Zeed from ''{{Fist of the North Star}}'' is the first named gang leader Kenshiro faces in the manga. Spade also qualifies, since he is the first of Shin's four underlings and the one who has the most presence in the manga next to Mr. Heart.

** [[spoiler:Mizuki]] is more of the starter villain since he is the first villain Naruto fought

[[spoiler:Mizuki]] is more of the starter villain since he is the first villain Naruto fought

** [[spoiler:Mizuki]] is more of the starter villain since he is the first villain Naruto defeated

* Yamcha from ''DragonBall''.
* [[{{Naruto}} ''Naruto'''s]] Zabuza and Haku, who are pictured above.

* [[{{Naruto}} Naruto's]] Zabuza and Haku, who are pictured above.
* ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': The parasites in the episode ''Conspiracy'' were intended to return, but weren't for budget reasons. They were "replaced" by the Borg and Romulans as the BigBad.
* The Suliban, genetically augmented Gecko-Men, initially filled this role in ''{{Enterprise}}'', but lukewarm reception had them soon replaced with the much more credible Xindi as the series' main enemy race.
* Rider/Shinji in ''FateStayNight''. [[spoiler:Except in Heavens Feel where it turns out she is ''not'' weak. At all.]]
* Grand Fisher (The Hollow who ate Ichigo's mom) in {{Bleach}}. He just sort of disappeared and was forgotten about until he showed up just to die against Ichigo's dad. A case could also be made for Renji and Byakuya, the first enemies to give Ichigo a serious fight.
* Garland from ''{{Final Fantasy|I}}'', [[spoiler:who turns into the BigBad, Chaos, at the end.]]

** also applies to his master, Lord Verminaard who served as the Big Bad for the first book.
* [[OnePiece Alvidia and Ax-Hand Morgan]] both apply, as they were said to be extremely strong villains, but are nothing compared to just a few guys down the road.
** They were barely better than thugs, and taken down with no trouble at all. The true example is Buggy the Clown immediately afterwards, the first person introduced, other than Luffy himself, to have eaten a Devil Fruit, and the first to give him any run for his money.
* Udo Jine in ''RurouniKenshin'' is the first villain in the series that Kenshin has trouble defeating and is the first opponent that forces Kenshin to revert back to Hitokiri Battosai.
* ''{{Firefly}}'' had an undercover Alliance agent as the villain of the pilot episode. Although he seems to be built up as a potentially recurring villain, the ending of the episode subverts multiple tropes when, during a PutDownYourGunAndStepAway / WeWillMeetAgain moment, Mal simply walks up and shoots him in the head.
** WordOfGod is that had the show continued past the first season, he would have turned out to have survived the shooting and would have come back (with a cybernetic eye!) to seek revenge on the crew. In fact, this is exactly what happens in "Those Left Behind," a comic book set between the series and the movie.
* In ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', ''the Shredder'' himself was this in the original Mirage Comics, where he makes an average showing and gets himself killed rather humiliatingly at the end of the very first issue. A colony of intelligent worms would later assume the mantle of the Shredder (it's a long story), but even they only appeared in a few issues and played a fairly minor role in the comics' plot. However, due to his status as the first villain the Turtles fought and his ItsPersonal ties to their backstory, all subsequent versions (namely the two cartoon series) went and made him the long-running BigBad.
* Atsurak the leader of a Marat barbarian horde in the {{Codex Alera}} series. The novice spy races against time and an ex-mentor to {{Bring News Back}} to the local Legion's garrison before Atsurak can invade a valley in a rural part of Alera. The {{Farm Boy}} gets used as a pawn by another barbarian, an enemy of Atsurak. Five books later, Atsurak is an afterthought, all the Marat are allies to the Alerans and actually the least important faction in that alliance, and it's not just the valley that's at stake but all intelligent life in the world. If not for the fact that some {{Chessmaster}}s from the first book are still around, the first book could be considered separate from the rest of the series.
* Somewhat similar to the above, the first book of the NewJediOrder introduces Prefect Da'Gara and his Praetorite Vong forces, terrifying aliens from beyond the Rim bent on galactic conquest and possessing powers and weapons far beyond anything the galaxy has ever seen. They live precisely one book- it turns out the Praetorite Vong are only one (largely unimportant) political faction among the Yuuzhan Vong Empire and Da'Gara was just kickstarting the invasion to grab some glory for himself. His troops weren't even particularly well-trained by Vong standards, and the nightmarish EldritchAbomination he had on a leash as his secret weapon was ''defective'' compared to others of its kind. Da'Gara's main purpose was to give the Galaxy a taste of its new threat before being killed off to make way for the ''real'' bad guys.
* Father Cornello in ''FullmetalAlchemist''.
** Isaac [=McDougal=], the Freezing Alchemist, in the remake ''Brotherhood''.
* The Baron of Koka Castle from the Black Swordsman arc of ''{{Berserk}}'' is the first major bad guy Guts faces in the manga. His first encounter with demons period is with none other than Nosferatu Zodd, who has gone on to be a recurring rival and occasional ally of the Black Swordsman.
* The main villain of the 2-part premiere episode of ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' was CanonForeigner Red Claw, a terrorist leader. The villain of the pilot "On Leather Wing" was Man-Bat, a lesser member of the RoguesGallery.
* Chamdar, alias Asharak, from TheBelgariad is an EvilSorcerer and high-ranked priest in a ReligionOfEvil who [[spoiler: killed TheHero's parents]] and follows him around for a while in the early part of the series making a general nuisance of himself [[spoiler: but is killed spectacularly midway through the second of five books after goading TheHero into unlocking his powers]].
* Zeed from ''{{Fist of the North Star}}'' is the first named gang leader Kenshiro faces in the manga. Spade also qualifies, since he is the first of Shin's four underlings and the one who has the most presence in the manga next to Mr. Heart.
* Nrvnqsr Chaos in the Near Side routes of {{Tsukihime}}. Once he is dispatched, Arcueid can concentrate on her main task of finding and defeating Roa.
* Daimonji from ''KenichiTheMightiestDisciple''. Kenichi first got involved in martial arts in part to defend himself against bullies like him. Kenichi's defeat of him is what sets him on his path toward ever greater foes. When Daimonji later comes after him for revenge, Kenichi utterly trounces him, showing how far his training has progressed.
* ''BambooBlade'': Toyama, who was tormenting Dan in the first episode, prompting Tamaki to come to his defense and join the Kendo Club. Later, when the main group is well-established, [[KendoTeamCaptain team captain]] Kirino Chiba has to come up with training regimens for the other members. Her realization that she forgot to make one for him is quickly brushed off, since he only came to practice to pick on the newbies and [[WouldHitAGirl girls]], and never showed up again after Tamaki taught him a lesson.
* EvilSorcerer Victor Sells from TheDresdenFiles is the first bad guy to give Harry Dresden a serious challenge on-page, but doesn't make it past the first book (and there are ''much'' more dangerous things than him out there, anyway). Of course, from Harry's perspective his real StarterVillain was EvilMentor Justin DuMorne, but as Justin's been dead for years by the beginning of the first book, the reader doesn't really experience him that way.
* Two of the origins in DragonAge have the player character face off with a StarterVillain. In the Dwarf Commoner origin, the character will have to take down the crime boss [[SmugSnake Beraht]]. In the City Elf origin, the PC will come up against [[CompleteMonster Bann Vaughan]] in a "right of the lord" scenario. In an aversion, the latter may survive the story if the hero [[WhatTheHellHero takes his bribe.]]
* Any single enemy with a challenge rating of 2 or 3 in DungeonsAndDragons. Anything less would need a group to present a serious threat to even a level one party (Assuming four players, of course).
* Tekkaman Dagger in ''TekkamanBlade'', albeit he was a bit more resilient and annoying than average. He still was far weaker than the rest of villains, who even formed a proper FiveBadBand.
* Doctor Animo was the first proper villain Ben took on in ''{{Ben 10}}''. He doesn't ''die'', but in subsequent appearances, it's pretty clear that he's nowhere near as dangerous as other threats Ben has faced.
* Matthew Patel is the first Evil Ex-Boyfriend of Ramona that ScottPilgrim encounters. He's mostly the equivalent of a WarmUpBoss.

* Yamcha from DragonBall.

* StarTrekTheNextGeneration: The parasites in the episode ''Conspiracy'' were intended to return, but weren't for budget reasons. They were "replaced" by the Borg and Romulans as the BigBad.

* Rider/Shinji in FateStayNight. [[spoiler:Except in Heavens Feel where it turns out she is ''not'' weak. At all.]]

* Garland from ''[[FinalFantasyI Final Fantasy]]'', [[spoiler:who turns into the BigBad, Chaos, at the end.]]

->''(referring to the Saibamen) That's right. He was so weak, we could actually grow Raditzes!''
->--'''Vegeta''', DragonballZAbridged

* As the quote above states: Raditz from DragonballZ.

* ''BambooBlade'': The bully, [[WhoIsThisguyAgain whose name this troper cannot recall]] who was tormenting Dan in the first episode, prompting Tamaki to come to his defense and join the Kendo Club. Later, when the main group is well-established, team captain Kirino Chiba has to come up with training regimens for the other members. Her realization that she forgot to make one for him is quickly dismissed, as he never showed up to practice anyway, even before Tamaki defeated him.

* Anything with a challenge rating of 1 or under in DungeonsAndDragons.

* Anything with a challenge rating of 1 in DungeonsAndDragons.

* Nero Chaos in the {{Tsukihime}} anime. Once he is dispatched, Arcueid can concentrate on her main task of finding and defeating Roa.