History Main / StarterVillain

** Jamaican Danigan's entire role in ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'''s storyline is to chase Kamille and the ''Argama'' until Scirocco, Yazan, Haman and the rest of the actual main villains have arrived. Once that happens he's unceremoniously killed off by one of his own men. Kamille's rival, Jerid Messa subverts this, starting out as a [[TheBully bullying]] JerkJock, but graduating to AcePilot status and remaining a credible threat until the finale.

* ''Literature/NewJediOrder'': Somewhat similar to the above, the first book 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.

* ''Series/TwentyOneJumpStreet'': Tyrell "Waxer" Thompson, a drug dealer harassing a client to pay overdue fees. He never returns after his arrest, but his {{Dragon}} Reggie does.

** The [[BotanicalAbomination Morbuzakh plant]] in the 2004 Metru Nui saga. It's the first challenge of the Toa Metru team, and ties into the true main villain's bigger plot. While the Morbuzakh arc was told in a pair of books, multiple comics and six mini CD games, it is overall so negligible to the main story that in the AnimatedAdaptation ''Legends of Metru Nui'', the Morbuzakh only gets a few second long {{cameo}} and is never mentioned in the dialogue.

** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'': Johngalli A, the man responsible for Jolyne's incarceration. After Jolyne and Jotaro outsmart his Stand early on in the story, [[Characters/JoJosBizarreAdventureEnricoPucci Whitesnake]] finishes the job [[KickTheSonOfABitch by killing him]].

** 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. He's still only strong by East Blue standards.

* Golden Age DC hero the Gay Ghost's first foe was the unnamed leader of a group of footpads who tried to rob the Ghost in life. He manages to kill [[DeadToBeginWith our hero]], and is defeated by a minor character.

* ''ComicBook/BlueBeetle'': Dan Garrett had the White Face, a gang leader who kidnapped an heiress for ransom, but is made short work of and arrested in his debut. Ted Kord had his EvilUncle, Jarvis Kord.

* The Al-Samaad group in ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol''. Almost exclusively found in the first area, they're mostly poorly-trained and equipped.

** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood]]'':

** ''Manga/BattleTendency'':

** ''Manga/StardustCrusaders'': Noriaki Kakyoin serves as the first enemy [[FightingSpirit Stand]] User to attack the Joestar group and the first indication that DIO is actively targeting them. However, as Kakyoin was simply BrainwashedAndCrazy at the time, the following opponent, Gray Fly, is a much better example, being the first truly villainous Stand user the Crusaders encounter. He's also the one who turns a simple flight to Cairo into a journey spanning multiple countries.
** ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable'': The escaped convict and SerialKiller Anjuro "Angelo" Katagiri; Jotaro is partly motivated to travel to Morioh after Joseph's Hermit Purple produces pictures of Angelo and his Stand, Aqua Necklace. He gets quickly defeated by Josuke, and the plot turns to the ''other'' Stand-wielding serial killers in Morioh (plus a few normal people who got mistaken for stand-wielding serial killers), which Joseph had known nothing about.

** ''Manga/StoneOcean'': Johngalli A, the man responsible for Jolyne's incarceration. After Jolyne and Jotaro outsmart his Stand early on in the story, [[Characters/JoJosBizarreAdventureEnricoPucci Whitesnake]] finishes the job [[KickTheSonOfABitch by killing him]].
** ''Manga/SteelBallRun'': Mrs. Robinson is the first truly antagonistic opponent Johnny and Gyro encounter, and the one to show just what the other contestants of the race are willing to do to win. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't have a Stand and only lasts a couple chapters.
** ''Manga/{{JoJolion}}'': Ojiro Sasame is the first opponent Josuke encounters with the intention of killing him, and is also the one who gives Josuke his first clue to his past. Otherwise, he has little to do with the main storyline and his Stand is too AwesomeButImpractical to be of much use for the most part. [[spoiler: He eventually comes back and demonstrates an upgrade to his SituationalSword of a stand, but winds up killed by Jobin. He does get to be a SpannerInTheWorks as a consolation prize, as he leads Norisuke to discovering what Jobin's been up to.]]

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': Asimov Solensan is a rogue Syndicate member who Spike and Jet go after in the first episode. He's taken down in that same episode, but [[spoiler:the Bebop crew don't get the bounty money because he winds up dead]].

* ''LightNovel/HeavyObject'': A nameless Faith Organization Officer in Alaska.

** ''LightNovel/FateZero'': Likewise, [[SerialKiller Ryunousuke]] and Caster Bluebeard. [[spoiler:Though they aren't defeated for good until about the halfway point.]]

* After the low-stakes but very personal TokenMotivationalNemesis, ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'' has Riser Phenex, the first foe with a goal that affects everyone on Rias's team, and a squad of his own that can keep up with them in a fight. Since that goal is an ArrangedMarriage with Rias and that squad is his [[ChessMotifs Peerage]], though, all of them survive - he might be the plot's first real challenge, but he's still just a garden-variety selfish asshole and everything he did was technically above-board. [[spoiler:After falling from grace when he loses an EngagementChallenge to Issei, Riser undergoes some off-screen CharacterDevelopment and becomes a huffy but sincere supporter in his future appearances.]]

* ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'': While he's not the first Crimson Lord Shana has faced in her lifetime, plot-wise, [[MarionetteMaster Friagne the Hunter]] is the first villain to present a major threat to Misaki City and the first to be defeated by Shana in tandem with Yuji. Once he's dispatched, he along with Marianne are never heard from again. [[spoiler:Only the ring and altar he leaves behind would prove significant to the plot later on.]]

A Subtrope of ArcVillain, the Starter Villain ranks the lowest on the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil (the heroes have to start off fighting ''someone''). They are the first true threat to the heroes, not just some common {{Mook|s}} who's there to let them show how badass they are. Expect even the weakest member of the heroic team to eventually become more powerful than them (that is, if they survive). The Starter Villain is not always associated with the intended BigBad of the whole series, usually having a whole story arc to themself. If the overall antagonist is TheEmpire (possibly in a setting with some degree of GreyAndGrayMorality), the Starter Villain might be some [[EvilIsPetty petty]] bureaucrat who, in getting TheHero to oppose them; makes TheEmpire oppose them (and vice-versa) on principle.

* ''Anime/SailorMoon'': Jadeite, the only of four sub-villains who didn't have an obvious visual gimmick or theme, with his character's shtick instead being that he was, well, the Starter Villain. The [[Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon live action adaptation]], however, actually kept him around past the start, and thus tossed him "excessive toadying" as his theme (which was admittedly somewhat present in the anime too).

* In ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'', Katsuo Tanaka is a bully at the Arasaka school that David has to contend with in the first episode. He's a smug, classist asshole with some fancy though ultimately impractical plug-ins (indeed, all David would have needed to do to avoid getting the shit beaten out of him would have been to take a step back). After David install Sandevistan and breaks the bully's nose, he never appears in the story again. [[spoiler:His father does however and, as director of the Cyber-Skeleton program, he has ties to nearly every tragedy David suffers after installing the Sandevistan]].
* In ''Anime/RebornToMasterTheBlade'', protagonist Inglis's first real antagonist is the arrogant, cheating son of a merchant, Rahl. At age 5, he initially humiliates her town's knight order and her father, the Captain, by secretly cheating during with magic during a "fair" sparring match. Inglis sees through his trickery and eventually manages to beat him herself and force him to admit defeat. 7 years later, he reappears again, having "generous made an offering" (bribe) to the technologically-advanced Highlander society to become a member himself, and wastes no time abusing his newfound diplomatic immunity and benefits like owning slaves or trying to forcibly take Midlander women for his own. [[spoiler:After he is transformed into a Magic Stone Beast, Inglis fights him again and kills him for good.]]

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': The Snake Baron and the Count serve as this for Guts in the beginning of the manga, while Governor Gennon served as this for the Hawks during the Golden Age arc.

* The Baron of Koka Castle from the Black Swordsman arc of ''Manga/{{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. Chronologically, however, the first major bad guy Guts faces is the warrior Bazuso, whose defeat is what alerts the Band of the Hawk to Guts's talent.

** Superman's first foe was Bea Carroll, a murderess who framed one of her rivals. She's taken care of less than halfway through ''ComicBook/SupermanNumberOne''.

** Emperor Pilaf was the first real villain that Goku and gang faced (after pterodactyls, bear thieves, bandits, boss rabbits and cowardly shape-shifting pigs). In the manga he isn't even an ArcVillain as he shows up at the very end as the final obstacle, while in the anime he and his lackeys makes various off-screen attempts to steal the Dragon Balls over the course of the arc. What makes him this trope over the others is that he sought after the Dragon Balls to take over the world, making him a legit threat despite being the TeamRocket.

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' has an [[ZigZaggedTrope interesting variation]] with Tai Lung, the first proper villain that Po faces in the entire franchise. He's already reached a high level of mastery by the time he's faced Po and the Furious Five and is more powerful and skilled than Shen, the sequel villain. However, threat level-wise, Shen is still greater than Tai Lung because he has an entire army, advanced weaponry, and more grand country-wide ambitions and Tai Lung is completely eclipsed by Kai from the third movie in both threat level and power. On the other hand, taking into consideration the different animated shows, Tai Lung may be far below major villains like Ke-Pa, Jindiao, and the White Bone Demon but is likely still far more dangerous and powerful compared to some of Po's regular RoguesGallery like Fung, Hundun, Tong Fo, Temutai, and Taotie, placing Tai Lung in that unique niche of being a StarterVillain who stays strong relative to the entire franchise since there are later villains who surpass him in power and threat level, but not every single later villain Po faces necessarily reaches his level either.