History Main / StarterVillain

* ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': The main villain of the two-part premiere episode of was CanonForeigner Red Claw, a terrorist leader. The villain of the pilot "On Leather Wings" was Man-Bat, a lesser member of the RoguesGallery.
* ''{{Ben 10}}'': Doctor Animo was the first proper villain Ben took on. 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.

* A almost annual rite of passage for initial villians at the start of about half the seasons in BuffyTheVampireSlayer: The Anointed One gave way to Spike who gave way to [[spoiler: Angelus]] in the 2nd, Mr. Trick--->The Mayor and [[spoiler: Faith]] in 3, and The Trio begat [[spoiler: Dark Willow]] in 6.

** Isaac [=McDougal=], the Freezing Alchemist, in the remake ''Brotherhood''.

* Papillion is the first major villain of BusoRenkin, eventually succeeded by [[spoiler: the LXE, the Alchemist Army, and finally Victor.]]

* 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 and the first two movies) went and made him the long-running BigBad.

** Garland from ''{{Final Fantasy|I}}'', [[spoiler:who turns into the BigBad, Chaos, at the end.]]
** Kefka from ''FinalFantasyVI'' is a notable aversion, in that he's definately StarterVillain material for most of the game, only to evolve into the game's true BigBad.

* [[EvilOldFolks Lundgren]] from [[FireEmblemElibe Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword]], Lyn's [[EvilUncle great uncle]]. His plot to take over Caelin has nothing to do with the overarching Black Fang plotline, but he's the [[DiskOneFinalBoss final boss]] of Lyn's Story, the first ten chapters of the game, and a dangerous villain and schemer in his own right.

** [[Disney/Tarzan Clayton]] is the first Disney villain you fight, and the first enemy who isn't just MadeOfEvil or a vicious animal. In a series where the villains include gods and evil sorcerers, he's just a stuck-up guy with a gun who needs a Heartless ally to put up a good fight.

* ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': The main villain of the two-part premiere episode of was CanonForeigner Red Claw, a terrorist leader. The villain of the pilot "On Leather Wing" was Man-Bat, a lesser member of the RoguesGallery.

** Judge Ghis from ''FinalFantasyXII'', the first noteworth villain the party confronts directly.

** ''FinalFantasyVI'', Kefka is a notable aversion, in that he's definitely StarterVillain material for most of the game, only to evolve into the game's true BigBad.

* Emperor Pilaf from ''DragonBall'', Raditz in ''DragonBallZ''.

* A almost annual rite of passage for initial villians at the start of about half the seasons in [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer]]: The Anointed One gave way to Spike who gave way to [[spoiler: Angelus]] in the 2nd, Mr. Trick--->The Mayor and [[spoiler: Faith]] in 3, and The Trio begat [[spoiler: Dark Willow]] in 6.

* 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.

See also: WakeUpCallBoss. It's not uncommon for Starter Villains to be [[TokenMotivationalNemesis Token Motivational Nemeses]] as well.

* Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb in ''CodeNameKidsNextDoor'', the first villains Sector V ever faced. They later appear in the series as hired thugs, but they spend most of their time minding their own business otherwise and only attack if provoked.

** In a way, [[spoiler: Quirrel]] in the first book. Despite [[spoiler: being posessed by Voldermort himself]], he is fairly easy to defeat by ThePowerOfLove, and it's even implied that [[Chessmaster Dumbledore]] set up their confrontation as a test for Harry and a warmup for what lay ahead of him.

* ''{{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.\\

* ''{{Farscape}}'' had Bialar Crais, a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Peacekeeper]] captain whose brother accidentally died in the pilot episode when his ship ricocheted off Crichton's, which had accidentally gone through a wormhole and emerged in the middle of a space battle. Crais went into [[ItsPersonal Captain Ahab mode]] and spent the rest of the first season chasing Crichton and his new friends. At the end of the season, Crais is replaced as by [[MagnificentBastard Scorpius]], a Peacekeeper scientist intent on getting information about [[WeaponOfMassDestruction wormhole technology]] that had been implanted in Crichton's brain. Scorpius went on to be the show's BigBad, while Crais underwent a HeelFaceTurn.

** Speaking of Mario, Browser has a trend to be the starter villain in rpgs, instead to be as the big bad as in the platform game series. Eg''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi Mario & Luigi]]''.

* Durza in ''Eragon''.

** Speaking of Mario, Browser has a trend to be the starter villain in rpgs, instead to be as the big bad as in the platform game series. Eg''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', ''MarioAndLuigi''.

* Admiral Zhao from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender''. While Zuko showed up first, he is initially [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain ineffective]] against 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.]]