History Main / TheBigBadShuffle

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', in the Subspace campaign, has numerous villains. This stems partly from the nature of the game - as a lumping together of the respective Nintendo mythologies, all the key villains come with their respective heroes. It at first seems that the Subspace Army is led by the Ancient Minister, with Bowser and Wario working with them to take out the other fighters and collect them in their trophy forms. [[spoiler: King Dedede]] is also collecting trophied fighters, but he's competing with the other villains, [[spoiler: and it turns out he's GoodAllAlong, as he was collecting the fighters so that he could give them timed badges that would revive them in case all the fighters were wiped out]]. Then it turns out that the real leader of the Subspace Army is [[spoiler:Ganondorf, and Ancient Minister was ForcedIntoEvil in order to protect the R.O.B.s.]] THEN it turns out [[spoiler:Ganondorf and the other fighters working with the Subspace Army were working under Master Hand, who was in turn being controlled by the true villain Tabuu, the lord of Subspace.]]

* The ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' games, especially the MindScrew of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', and the non-canonical ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel'', where the terrorist general, his mercenary [[TheDragon Dragon]]/manipulator, and the U.S. government all mock the others as fools who are just being played by whoever is doing the mocking at the moment.

Tropes by which this can be invoked include TheManBehindTheMan, TheManInFrontOfTheMan, TheStarscream, HiddenVillain, TheDogWasTheMastermind, DiscOneFinalBoss and HijackedByGanon. May involve the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil as one villian is dispatched and the next one takes its place.

Tropes by which this can be invoked include TheManBehindTheMan, TheManInFrontOfTheMan, TheStarscream, HiddenVillain, TheDogWasTheMastermind, DiscOneFinalBoss and HijackedByGanon.

-->-- '''Vriska''', ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''

* ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' winds up doing one in its final act, due to its enormous GambitPileup finally getting resolved. For most of the game, the apparent BigBad is [[HiddenAgendaVillain Lynx]] - who turns out to be an avatar of the rogue supercomputer [[AIIsACrapshoot FATE]]. Defeating [=FATE=], however, allows the [[GaiasVengeance Dragon Gods]] to return to their true form and busily get to work on destroying humanity. And it's only after you defeat the Dragon Gods that you learn the entire plot was orchestrated as a setup by Belthasar, who himself did it to create a weapon capable of defeating the ''real'' threat, the [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Time Devourer]] (actually Lavos from [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger the original game]]).

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' establishes [[CardCarryingVillain Yuuki Terumi]] aka [[{{Troll}} Hazama]] as the BigBad in ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift Continuum Shift]]'', revealing him to have been manipulating the events of the series from behind the scenes alongside his [[BigBadDuumvirate partner-in-crime]], [[MadScientist Relius Clover]]. At the end of the game the two are revealed to be working for the Imperator of NOL, [[TheSociopath Izanami]], the [[EverybodyHatesHades goddess of death]] possessing Ragna and Jin's sister Saya. She later takes the position of BigBad position from them in ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueChronophantasma Chronophantasma]]'' after [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness abandoning them to their fates]]. Later, in ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueCentralFiction Central Fiction]]'', Izanami's apparent [[TheDragon Dragon]] Phantom makes her plans known and Hazama (who was split from Terumi's body after his apparent defeat) is revealed to have his own agenda as well. Ultimately, once those three are knocked out of the way, the role of final villain is taken over by Terumi in his true identity as [[SatanicArchetype Susanoo]].

* The ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty:'' ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' games go through several Big Bads. In the first game, Al-Asad, the leader of a revolution in a [[{{Qurac}} nameless Middle Eastern country]] looks to be the BigBad at first. Halfway through, it's revealed that his revolution was being funded by Russian Ultranationalist leader, Imran Zakhaev. After Zakhaev is disposed, one of his CoDragons, Vladimir Makarov, appears to fill the BigBad role in ''Modern Warfare 2''. It's eventually revealed though that Makarov was an UnwittingPawn of [[spoiler:General Shepherd]]. However, ''Modern Warfare 3'' reveals the Makarov may have been using [[spoiler:Shepherd]] as ''his'' pawn, and that [[spoiler:he's the one who detonated the nuke that drove him mad.]] He also [[spoiler:saved Zakhaev when he was shot]], ultimately making him responsible for the events of the ''Modern Warfare'' series as a whole.

* Pretty common in ''VideoGame/TouhouProject''.

** ''VideoGame/DoubleDealingCharacter'': The game kicks off with a youkai uprising, and after fighting through several youkai bosses, our protagonists discover it was caused by Shinmyoumaru Sukuna using the Miracle Mallet to compel them to rampage. Sukuna in turn was being manipulated by Seija Kijin, who in an inversion of the norm is actually confronted and reveals her plans a stage before the protagonists get to Sukuna, the FinalBoss.
** ''VideoGame/LegacyOfLunaticKingdom'': The main antagonist is at first Sagume Kishin, the one in charge of the Lunarian invasion. After she's defeated, it turns out that the Lunarians are invading because they're being driven off the moon by Junko, who turns out to be receiving help from a greater power -- Hecatia Lapislazuli, goddess of the three Hells.

The writers are playing the Big Bad Shuffle when Bob, the good guy, defeats Big Bad candidate [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Mr. Corrupton]], but learns that Mr. Corrupton was really just being manipulated by Big Bad candidate [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Dr. Unethik]]. So Bob, the good guy, [[note]][[EpilepticTrees who the audience is now thinking]] might [[VillainProtagonist be a Big Bad candidate himself]][[/note]] kills Unethik, but finds out that Unethik was secretly controlled by the Big Bad candidate OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness, which turns out to have [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Bob's scheming trophy wife as the chairperson]] and who is now -- you guessed it -- a Big Bad candidate. [[KudzuPlot And so on, with a few station breaks to sell you some of the aspirin you now need]].

-> "There's always someone stronger waiting to be revealed. Jack showed up shortly after that, and he was MUCH stronger. Eventually the curtains get pulled back, and you find out who was behind every terrible thing that happened all along. Someone who is invariably stronger than all other adversaries by a wide margin. The supreme villain!"

** ''Series/KamenRiderFaiz'': In a season where not all monsters are bad and not all Riders are good, multiple candidates are presented to be the main threat. At first it seemed that Kyoji Murakami was going to be the final villain, as he is the standard CorruptCorporateExecutive, but then TheRival Masato Kusaka is introduced and begins screwing up Takumi's friendship with Mari. After some episodes, the menacing Kamen Rider Delta appears, but its user is killed and the belt is given to PsychoForHire Kitazaki, who was mentioned several times in previous episodes and was hyped up to be the series' most dangerous antagonist, until he gets bored and gives the belt to Aki Sawada, a victim of LoveMakesYouCrazy who desperately wants to kill Mari. With Sawada out of the way, MadScientist Masahiko Minami began experimenting on Orphnochs and terrorizing the protagonists, until he is killed by Takumi's EvilFormerFriend Yuji Kiba, who becomes the new chief of Smart Brain. Kyoji comes to the spotlight once again as he attempts to kidnap CreepyChild Teruo, who is revealed to be the Arch-Orphnoch. With this revelation, Kyoji and Kiba sacrifice themselves, but not before the latter snapped Kusaka's neck. Jealous of the Arch-Orphnoch's power, Kitazaki tries to kill him but is finished off, leaving the Arch-Orphnoch as the TrueFinalBoss. ...except, as he's a creepy kid's barely-sentient SuperpoweredEvilSide and not any kind of evil mastermind, maybe you want to consider Saeko, the highest-ranking member of Smart Brain left after Kyoji's death, to be the final BigBad, especially since the series ends with [[spoiler: the Arch Orphnoch dormant and Saeko, who is now cured of the reduced lifespan all Orphenochs suffer from, tending to him]].

** At first, it appears to be following a similar pattern to the early films of the franchise, with Bond defeating various plots from the villainous organization SPECTRE (or this time, Quantum, in its first incarnation), ultimately leading up to his meeting and confronting the leader of the organization, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. However, for the final movie, SPECTRE is [[MakeRoomForTheNewVillains unceremoniously wiped out]] by a longstanding enemy with a personal grudge against them, Safin, who goes on to be the final (and arguably most successful) villain of the Craig era.

* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Emperor Charles is the overarching BigBad for the series, but the title of main antagonist varies quite a bit. First is StarterVillain Clovis, who is killed three episodes in. Then Cornelia becomes TheHeavy for the rest of the first season. Schneizel becomes the Heavy for most of Season 2 while Charles finally takes center stage in Episode 39. [[spoiler:Charles bites it with four episodes and change left to go, leaving Schneizel as the undisputed Big Bad of the next three episodes. He is eventually outmaneuvered and Geassed by Lelouch, leaving Nunnally as the FinalBoss.]]

** The Android Saga of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' has an amazingly choreographed version of this, as a result of Creator/AkiraToriyama's former editor complaining about most of the villain's designs, forcing some last-minute introductions. First, it looks like Mecha-Freeza, but then he gets torn apart by Future Trunks, who tells them about the ''real'' villains, the Androids. Then Androids 19 and 20 appear and are total jokes ([[VillainForgotToLevelGrind Dr. Gero didn't level grind enough]]). But those two ''aren't'' the Androids Future Trunks was talking about, who do themselves appear... but turn out to be pretty chill and have no real desire to destroy the world or hurt the protagonists (except Goku because of programming, and Vegeta because the arrogant prat started it). And then Cell (who wasn't supposed to be ready for a while) shows up, having come back in time [[NiceJobBreakingItHero by stealing another version of Future Trunks' time machine]] to take the spotlight as the final villain.

* In ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'' the main BigBad is thought to be Gyokuro Shuzen, comander-in-chief of the monster terrorist organization Fairy Tale, who's plan is to unseal the ancient Shinso Vampire {{Alucard}}. However, it later turns out that there's a person called the Masked King who actually runs the organization, and it seems that Miyabi Fujisaki, the leader of Fairy Tale's first sub-division, seems to have his own agenda. As it turns out, [[spoiler: not only are Miyabi and the Masked King the same person, but he's also Alucard's mind, splintered off from the main body.]]

* ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' descends into this once original BigBad Adam Susan is killed, with multiple villains attempting to fill in the power vacuum caused by his death.

* In ''Literature/TheBartimaeusTrilogy'' the first book has Simon Lovelace, the leader of a group of magicians attempting a coup, as the main antagonist, only for the ending to hint that there was another powerful conspirator who escaped justice. In the second book [[spoiler:Henry Duvall]] seems to be the BigBad, only for the third book to reveal that [[spoiler:Quentin Makepeace]] was TheManBehindTheMan to both of them. Then it turns out his right-hand man [[spoiler:Hopkins, has been possessed by the demon Farqual, Lovelace's top enforcer in the first book]], and has been manipulating [[spoiler:Makepeace]] for his own purposes. Then it's revealed [[spoiler:Farqual]] is really the right-hand man of an immensely powerful spirit known as Nouda, who ends up being the biggest threat in the series.

* The initial BigBad of ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat'' is the Sheriff, though after Hank kills him, his [[TheDragon Dragon]] [[DarkMessiah Jesus]] briefly takes the role. Then [[MonsterClown Tricky]] comes in and kills him, stealing the role from him. It's eventually revealed though, that the overall BigBad was the Auditor, as he was manipulating everything through the Improbability Drive.

** In ''Fate'', [[EnfantTerrible Illya]] is the initial antagonist, with [[SmugSnake Shinji]] becoming another contender once his plan is discovered. Then Illya [[KickTheSonOfABitch kills Shinji]], leaving her as the sole antagonist. Once she's beaten, Caster breifly takes the Big Bad position before [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]] is introduced and knocks her away. Then [[BigBadDuumvirate he turns out to be working]] with [[SinisterMinister Kirei Kotomine]], and they summon [[spoiler:the Holy Grail itself]] as a GreaterScopeVillain.

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' starts off by portraying [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]] as the BigBad. Later in the game, it's revealed Maleficent was being manipulated by Ansem, a character mentioned several times before and whose reports you've been collecting this whole time. Then ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' reveals that he wasn't the real Ansem, but the Heartless of his apprentice Xehanort, who stole his name; it also turns out that ''this'' game's main villain, Xemnas, is Xehanort's Nobody and part of a BigBadDuumvirate with the fake Ansem. The games that follow set up Xehanort himself as the true BigBad, who returns from his destruction and recruits vessels and past incarnations of himself--including [[DemotedToDragon Ansem and Xemnas]]--for a final showdown in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII''. Once he's finally dealt with, however, all signs point toward [[spoiler:Xehanort's minion [[DragonWithAnAgenda Xigbar]], a.k.a. Luxu, and the Master of Masters (Luxu's real master) having some hand in the next arc]].

* The BigBad of ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' has, at various points, been: [[MadScientist Orochimaru]] (former [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad Akatsuki]] member) -> [[GottaCatchEmAll The Akatsuki]] itself ([[AloofBigBrother Itachi]] being its most visible player) -> [[BigBadWannabe Nagato]] (with [[TheManBehindTheMan Tobi]] as the true BigBad) -> [[NotSoHarmlessVillain Tobi]] ''[[BigBadEnsemble and]]'' [[KnightTemplar Danzo]] -> [[{{Necromancer}} Kabuto]] [[BigBadDuumvirate and]] [[DeadPersonImpersonation Tobi]] -> [[spoiler: [[PredecessorVillain Madara]] [[BigBadDuumvirate and]] [[FallenHero Obito]] -> [[DarkMessiah Obito]] (after he becomes the jinchuuriki of the Ten-Tails and Madara leaves on the background) -> [[GodhoodSeeker Madara]] (after Obito's defeat) -> [[PhysicalGoddess Kaguya]] (after Black Zetsu backstabs Madara) -> [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Sasuke]] (after helping Naruto seal Kaguya) -> [[KnightTemplar Toneri]] (when he tries to crash the Moon into the Earth) -> [[EvilVersusEvil Momoshiki Otsutsuki]], (who is Kaguya's rival in monopolizing chakra)]].

* The BigBad of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has, at various points, been: [[MadScientist Orochimaru]] (former [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad Akatsuki]] member) -> [[GottaCatchEmAll The Akatsuki]] itself ([[AloofBigBrother Itachi]] being its most visible player) -> [[BigBadWannabe Nagato]] (with [[TheManBehindTheMan Tobi]] as the true BigBad) -> [[NotSoHarmlessVillain Tobi]] ''[[BigBadEnsemble and]]'' [[KnightTemplar Danzo]] -> [[{{Necromancer}} Kabuto]] [[BigBadDuumvirate and]] [[DeadPersonImpersonation Tobi]] -> [[spoiler: [[PredecessorVillain Madara]] [[BigBadDuumvirate and]] [[FallenHero Obito]] -> [[DarkMessiah Obito]] (after he becomes the jinchuuriki of the Ten-Tails and Madara leaves on the background) -> [[GodhoodSeeker Madara]] (after Obito's defeat) -> [[PhysicalGoddess Kaguya]] (after Black Zetsu backstabs Madara) -> [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Sasuke]] (after helping Naruto seal Kaguya) -> [[KnightTemplar Toneri]] (when he tries to crash the Moon into the Earth) -> [[EvilVersusEvil Momoshiki Otsutsuki]], (who is Kaguya's rival in monopolizing chakra)]].
* The 2007 ''Manga/SkullMan'' anime has quite a complicated villain situation. Initially, the BigBad seems to be the titular Skull Man, a vigilante killing civilians seemingly at random. Then it's revealed that he's only acting in response to the actions of the Otomo Concern, headed by Gozo Kuroshio, who are secretly turning people into mutant monsters as part of a plan to remake humanity in their image. Within Otomo, Gozo's illegitimate son Masaki Kumashiro also steps up as a candidate, forming an alliance with corrupt military officer Kanji Isurugi behind his father's back. To make things more complicated, Otomo Concern's overseas business partners, Brain Gear, also get involved seeking to claim the Skull Man suit so they can study it. Things reach their head in the final episodes which see [[spoiler:Gozo backing out of Otomo's EvilPlan, but his wife Sara and Masaki continuing to go along with it, the Skull Man being revealed as Yoshio and passing on the suit to TheProtagonist Hayato, Isurugi attempting to pull a coup only to be [[EvilerThanThou shut down]] by Van Vogt of Brain Gear, and Masaki hijacking Otomo's EvilPlan for himself, killing Sara and his father in the process.]] To top it all off, the villain who comes out on top in the end is none other than [[spoiler:[[TheProtagonist Hayato Mikogami]] himself, who gets taken over by the Skull Man suit in the finale and remodeled into Skull, subsequently becomes leader of Brain Gear (which by that point has been revealed to be Black Ghost from ''Manga/Cyborg009'') and BigBad of the ''Cyborg 009'' manga.]] How's that for a twist?

* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', the initial antagonists are Jack Atlas, TheRival, and Sector Security and their leader, Rex Goodwin. Then in the second half of Season 1 the heroes find out Goodwin has been recruiting the heroes to fight the Dark Signers and his brother Roman, the ''real'' villains. Then Goodwin becomes a Dark Signer as well and becomes the FinalBoss of the season. Next season the Three Emperors of Yliaster become the main antagonists, and it is revealed Roman and Goodman were their puppets they manipulated. The Three Emperors in turn are working for the leader of Yliaster, Z-ONE. It is also revealed that the BigBad of the 10th anniversary film, Paradox, was another member of Yliaster.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhVRAINS'' has multiple {{Big Bad}}s throughout the series. The first season had the Knights of Hanoi led by Revolver, aka Ryoken Kogami, who is following his father's will to destroy the Ignis due to believing they are a threat to humanity. They are competing with SOL Technologies Inc., who seek to capture Ai to regain access to the Cyberse, and the former becomes part of a BigBadEnsemble alongside a mysterious faction led by Bohman, who is revealed to be the DragonInChief to [[spoiler:Lightning, a rouge Ignis who seeks to rule over humanity in a new Cyberse World beyond the human's reach. Lightning is also the GreaterScopeVillain of the entire series, being the cause of all the strife due to his refusal to coexist with humanity. Once he and Bohman are taken out however, the final antagonist ends being none other than Ai, who goes through a FaceHeelTurn after deaths of the other Ignis and becomes the FinalBoss of the series.]]
* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Emperor Charles is the overarching BigBad for the series, but the title of main antagonist varies quite a bit. First is StarterVillain Clovis, who is killed three episodes in. Then Cornelia becomes TheHeavy for the rest of the first season. Schneizel becomes the Heavy for most of Season 2 while Charles finally takes center stage in Episode 39. [[spoiler:Charles bites it with four episodes and change left to go, leaving Schneizel as the undisputed Big Bad of the next three episodes. He is eventually outmaneuvered and Geassed by Lelouch, leaving Nunnally as the FinalBoss.]]

** In the next Arc, their EvilPlan to [[spoiler: use the 2 captain's Arcane Dark and World Tree Magic to]] open the {{Hellgate}} is put into motion and the Clover Kingdom's raid team [[StormingtheCastle storm the Spade castle]] to fight the Triad. All is going well until Morris, the MadScientist from the Diamond Kingdom who joined the Triad, uses knowledge he took from Loropechika's mind (which contained the knowledge of every previous queen) after Vanica kidnapped her to accelerate the Tree's growth and the first level of the Underworld opens up, allowing the Dark Triad to power up to 100%. Surely Dante, the leader and the one possessed by the Devil King is still the Big Bad? Nope. His role is [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] after he is beaten by [[spoiler:Magna Swing, the ''weakest'' member of the Black Bulls]], before he can even fill his role as Asta's Arch-Enemy in a potential rematch. After Dante is gone, Vanica is next and Megicula takes the opportunity to partially manifest, finally the devil that started off the saga shows up ''and is...'' defeated by Noelle. Zenon makes a [[spoiler: contract with Beelzebub in a]] final stand but is ultimately killed by Yuno, however, the Qliphoth ritual is still accelerating as Morris is the final remaining villain. Not only has Morris been built up since the start of the series but is also the new host to the Devil King and is armed with centuries of knowledge only to end up as a BigBadWannabe who is [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness abandoned by Lucifero so he can manifest himself]].

** The role of the Big Bad of the second saga of ''Manga/BlackClover'' was thrown around with multiple of villains who could have filled the role but were tossed aside to make way for [[GreaterScopeVillain Greater-Scope Villains]] to directly get involved or were just the ArchEnemy of one of the main characters [[ArcVillain for the Arc]]. The first "Big Bad" was the devil Megicula who resided in the Spade Kingdom and just so happened to be responsible for cursing Acier Silva (causing Noelle's life with her family to be miserable as [[TheScapegoat she was blamed for her death]]) and the Heart Kingdom's queen Loropechika. Then the [[BigBadDuumvirate Dark Triad]] ruling over Spade are revealed and split up to attack 3 locations that the main trio (Asta, Yuno and Noelle) happen to be currently residing at. At the Black Bulls' hideout, it's revealed that Dante Zogratis (their leader, the natural Big Bad) is the [[DemonicPossession host]] to the Devil King Lucifero and the other members are hosts to the other highest ranking devils but he is defeated by Asta and Yami so his brother Zenon teleports to him to [[NoNonsenseNemesis finish the job of kidnapping Yami]] while rescuing and mocking Dante for being defeated, maybe this ominous member of the trio is the real Big Bad?

* ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseMysteriesOfThePast'' has the corrupt Concordian Police Department (led by Eleanor Halsted [[spoiler:and later Thaddeus Mulroney]]), the Irish gang (led by Finley Flanagan [[spoiler:and later Seamus O'Neill]]), the Italian gang (led by Vittorio Capecchi [[spoiler:and later Franca Capecchi]]), and the morally rotten Rochester family (led by Horatio and Malcolm Rochester) as the main antagonists at some point in the season, with all of them causing equal amount of trouble for the player and their team. [[spoiler:In the end, all of them are defeated either by the arrest or death of their leaders, making path for the FinalBoss to step in: Mayor Justin Lawson, who decides to become a dictator after witnessing the wave of crime and corruption brought by so many criminals.]]

* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', the initial antagonists are Jack Atlas, TheRival, and Sector Security and their leader, Rex Goodwin. Then in the second half of Season 1 the heroes find out Goodman has been recruiting the heroes to fight the Dark Signers and his brother Rudger, the ''real'' villains. Then Goodwin becomes a Dark Signer as well and becomes the FinalBoss of the season. Next season the Three Emperors of Yliaster become the main antagonists, and it is revealed Rudger and Goodman were their puppets they manipulated. The Three Emperors in turn are working for the leader of Yliaster, Z-ONE. It is also revealed that the BigBad of the 10th anniversary film, Paradox, was another member of Yliaster.

* Dai Shi is the initial and eventual Big Bad of ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'', though the title shuffles frequently. Carnisoar, Jellica and Grizzaka all take their turns on the throne, and it initially looks like the Phantom Beasts are going to take over before they betray Jellica and Dai Shi takes back his title.
* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':

** ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' starts with Heart, the leader of the Roidmude uprising. After [[MadDoctor Medic]] jumps on, she takes the lead with her secret agenda. After Heart reins Medic in, [[TheManBehindTheMan Freeze]] becomes more directly involved with the plot and takes charge. Once he's taken out, Heart resumes the role he had at the start until [[GreaterScopeVillain Tenjuro Banno]] gets set loose and hijacks the Roidmudes to force them to aid him in his own mad scheme. While Banno gets killd in the penultimate episode, his ultimate creation Sigma Circular remains active and becomes the FinalBoss the Riders [[EnemyMine and the Roidmudes]] have to face.
** ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'' starts off with a [[BigBadDuumvirate partnersip]] between Chikara Saionji and Alain to gather the 15 Eyecons. While Saionji does himself in by trying to use them, the threat of the [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Gamma empire]] emerges by this time, with Alain being revealed to answer to his father Adonis, the emperor of the Gamma. Adonis is then usurped by Adel, who stays the BigBad until his misuse of his new powers as king causes the Gammaizer golems that he controls to become sentient and [[EvilerThanThou hijack]] him at the end.

** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' starts with Faust, a NebulousEvilOrganization that are a smokescreen for a renegade Touto government military project. Right when Faust falls, the nation of Hokuto invades Touto and becomes the antagonists. They then get conquered by the nation of Seito, who turn around and declare war on Touto next. This is followed by [[MegaCorp Namba Heavy Industries]] when they hollow out Seito and use it as a puppet state. All of these organizations have Blood Stalk working for them during their time in the spotlight, and sure enough, he turns out to be the [[TheManBehindTheMan actual villain]]. Once he regains his original power as an alien superweapon, he effectively resurrects Faust with himself at the helm and becomes the undisputed BigBad.

** ''Series/KamenRiderRevice'' begins with Aguilera, leader of the Deadmans cult and the fiancée of the EldritchAbomination Giff. However, Aguilera is later revealed to be a figurehead for her underling Orteca, who attempts to sacrifice her to revive Giff. After the heroes stop their attempted awakening of Giff, Orteca is revealed to be working for Hideo Akaishi, but stays in the leaduntil Giff awakens and devours him. Akaishi takes over as the antagonist at that point and begins making preparations for Giff's takeover all while Giff himself lurks in the background. After Akaishi suffers several defeats, Giff begins to directly intervene until he's defeated by the heroes. [[spoiler: George Karizaki, the scientist who developed the Rider Systems, then steps up as an InterimVillain and is defeated within two episodes, after which ''[[{{Deuteragonist}} Vice]]'' becomes the FinalBoss, although he's only doing it to save Ikki (it's complicated).]]
* Series/MetalHeroes: Series/TokusouExceedraft starts out with the terrorist group Spade, headed by Bunta Tazaki. Then he gets defeated 8 episodes in, with the role of the big bad being filled by Carlos Togo, an extraterrestrial with designs on Earth. And in the final third, CorruptCorporateExecutive Iwao Daimon [[spoiler: actually the Devil]] reveals himself as the GreaterScopeVillain, aiming to [[spoiler: cause the apocalypse in a battle with God]].

* ''Series/Smallville'': Season 8 starts off with setting up Tess Mercer as the new BigBad, then establishes that Brainiac is still alive and an active threat. Then after he is delt with at about the halfway point of the season, it turns out Lex Luthor is also still alive and was manipulating Tess all along, so now the heroes need to finish things with him. Then after Lex is delt with, the show finally settles on Davis Bloome/Doomsday as the big bad for the remainder of the season.