History Main / TheUsualAdversaries

Related to AlwaysChaoticEvil, ScaryDogmaticAliens, HardCodedHostility, VillainByDefault, AliensAndMonsters, and TheHeartless.

* Extremist Muslims in the Literature/PaladinOfShadows books, although the subtype varies; terrorists, Chechen paramilitaries and slavers have all shown up.

* The original orcs of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' are distressingly numerous and fertile, and they will not stop attacking humans, elves, and dwarves even when they ''aren't'' enslaved by the current Dark Lord.

** First, trolls. They have different subspecies present in every continent, all of which have a instance dedicated to destroy their empire. Every expansion has added new trolls to kill, to the point that players are now expecting a troll raid dungeon for every new content. Not too bad at first, it becomes especially noticeable in ''Burning Crusade'', where the story stops being about fighting demons and other new enemies in an alien world to be about fighting the same old trolls back home, and in ''Cataclysm'', where the players have to stop fighting a global war against the other faction [[MeleeATrois as well as]] a world-endangering alliance of several independent factions working for the [[EldritchAbomination Old Gods]] to defeat two troll empires that they have ''already defeated'' in the past.

** ''Mists of Pandaria'' have the Mogu, a race of brutish, magically-adept giants who had enslaved the Pandaren thousands of years ago, and the Sha, EldritchAbominations born the corpse of an Old God, which feed on negative emotions.
** ''Warlords of Drenor'' has the Iron Horde; an alternate timeline version of the ''original'' Horde (as in, from Warcraft I).
** While ''Legion'' has many adversaries, the demonic hordes of the Burning Legion are the one threat that looms over everyone.

** Raiders, Gunners, Super Mutants and ghouls gone feral serve this role no matter what faction you pick in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', with the Institute and the Synths under their control serving as the enemy if you pick any faction but them. Depending on the faction, you may also have to contend with the Brotherhood of Steel (who do not like ghouls no matter what their state, or synths whether or not they're under Institute control).

* ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona Persona]]''

** Strega of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', a TerribleTrio of Persona users who antagonize the heroes throughout the game. However, aside from [[spoiler:killing Shinjiro]], they are more a nuisance than anything and usually [[AnticlimaxBoss don't put up much of a fight]], though in their defense you'll always outnumber them and you never fight them all together.

* A specific individual is [[BonusBoss The Reaper]], who appears as a RecurringBoss throughout ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'', including [[UpdatedRerelease FES]], [=P3P=] and ''Anime/Persona4TheAnimation''.
* Strega of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', a TerribleTrio of Persona users who antagonizes the heroes throughout the game. However, aside from [[spoiler:killing Shinjiro]], they are more a nuisance than anything and usually [[AnticlimaxBoss don't put up much of a fight]], though in their defense you'll always outnumber them and you never fight them all together.

* The ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' has HYDRA, the rogue Nazi science division which branched off from the Third Reich after World War II. They have quickly become this trope for the universe as a whole, easily taking the crown of the most frequently occurring antagonistic force. Hydra has appeared in a villainous role in ''Captain America: The First Avenger'', ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', ''Avengers: Age Of Ultron'' and ''Ant-Man'', and play a minor, but significant role in ''Captain America: Civil War'', on top of consistent appearances in ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' The list of named characters who are members of the organization has gotten into the dozens, including the Red Skull, Arnim Zola, Heinz Kruger, Baron von Strucker, Daniel Whitehall, [[spoiler:Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Brock Rumlow/Crossbones, Alexander Pierce, John Garrett/The Clairvoyant, Raina, Grant Ward, Senator Stern, Doctor List, Doctor Debbie, Jasper Sitwell, Marcus Scarlotti/Whiplash, Carl Creel/The Absorbing Man, Donald Gill/Blizzard, Jack Rollins, Sunil Bakshi, Johann Fennhoff/Doctor Faustus, Julien Beckers, Ian Quinn, Edison Po, Toshiro Mori, Vincent Beckers, Octavian Bloom, Mitchell Carson and Agent 33/Kara Lynn Palamas.]] Apparently their threat of "cut off one head and two shall take its place" is ''not'' to be taken lightly.

** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout3}}'''s generic "Raider" [=NPCs=] are the franchise's best example. There are literally ''thousands'' of them, but no interactions are possible other than shooting them. They're mindlessly hostile to every other entity in the game. There's no indication of how they sustain themselves when they're often found in abandoned areas or why they [[ArtifactMook completely outnumber the inhabitants of all of the settlements]], nor are they involved in the main story or even a single sidequest. They don't even get unique factional identities like the various gangs/tribes in ''New Vegas'', ''1'', and ''2''; though disconnected gangs all inexplicably [[YouAllLookFamiliar wear similar-looking clothing]] for some reason.

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': [[AIIsACrapshoot Geth]] (Saren's robot forces, who prior to the events of the game were most famous for driving the quarians off of their homeworld) and husks (humans who have been turned into robo-zombies), the only enemy types to appear in all three games. Subverted in the case of [[spoiler:the geth, who are revealed in the second game to ''not'' be AlwaysChaoticEvil; the geth you fight in the first game were effectively brainwashed by [[BigBad Sovereign]], and the third game reveals that the war between the quarians and the geth is ''much'' more complicated than the narrative most of the galaxy knows.]]
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': Collectors (the story's primary villains), mercenaries (Blood Pack, Blue Suns, and Eclipse; with only a few exceptions, if you're not fighting Collectors, you're fighting at least one mercenary group, and some missions pit you against all three), and husks (who tag along with Collectors and have [[ActionBomb a new explosive variant]]).
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': Cerberus forces ([[spoiler:who, like the geth before them, have been indoctrinated]]) [[RuleOfThree and husks]] (now with different types of husks based on different alien species; woe be unto the player who has to fight [[DemonicSpiders Banshees]]).
* No matter which game in the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' series you play, the demons will be your primary enemies.

* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', the Fiends serve as this to the NCR troops of Camp [=McCarran=] and to the Mojave as a whole. The player can accept bounties on their leaders that will end up weakening them and lead to their defeat in the epilogue.
** For the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series as a whole, the Khans serve this purpose, having been enemies of the NCR since the very beginning and continually surviving despite being nearly purged by both the [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}} Vault Dweller]] and the [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}} Chosen One]] (though the Courier can potentially finish the job). Other contenders are Super Mutants, and the Enclave. By ''New Vegas'', however, neither of them are much up for this anymore - it's made pretty clear that the Enclave is dead and buried, with the only actual members of the group you meet in-game being kind old men and women (after the only remaining group still doing business as usual being destroyed by the [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} Lone Wanderer]]), and the Super Mutants are for the most part trying to settle down away from humans, both peacefully (Jacobstown) and by way of shooting any humans who come nearby (Black Mountain, aka [[{{Egopolis}} the "State of Utobitha"]]).
** Intentionally [[ButForMeItWasTuesday or not]], Ulysses ends up being this for the Courier specifically - every adventure s/he goes on in the game's DLC is sparked off by something Ulysses did before the Courier arrives (telling Father Elijah about the Sierra Madre's fortune from ''Dead Money'', teaching the White Legs how to use modern weapons in ''Honest Hearts'', setting off the Think Tank's potential invasion of the Mojave in ''Old World Blues'', then finally calling the Courier out specifically to the eponymous Lonesome Road).

* And the Goblins fit this trope generally--they're just ''everywhere''.

* ''Webcomic/DMOfTheRings'' lampshades the lack of variety in monster types several times. Since it portrays ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'' as an original D&D campaign, Orcs are pretty much the only enemy encountered.

* The ''Film/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' has HYDRA, the rogue Nazi science division which branched off from the Third Reich after World War II. They have quickly become this trope for the universe as a whole, easily taking the crown of the most frequently occurring antagonistic force. Hydra has appeared in a villainous role in ''Captain America: The First Avenger'', ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', ''Avengers: Age Of Ultron'' and ''Ant-Man'', and play a minor, but significant role in ''Captain America: Civil War'', on top of consistent appearances in ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' The list of named characters who are members of the organization has gotten into the dozens, including the Red Skull, Arnim Zola, Heinz Kruger, Baron von Strucker, Daniel Whitehall, [[spoiler:Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Brock Rumlow/Crossbones, Alexander Pierce, John Garrett/The Clairvoyant, Raina, Grant Ward, Senator Stern, Doctor List, Doctor Debbie, Jasper Sitwell, Marcus Scarlotti/Whiplash, Carl Creel/The Absorbing Man, Donald Gill/Blizzard, Jack Rollins, Sunil Bakshi, Johann Fennhoff/Doctor Faustus, Julien Beckers, Ian Quinn, Edison Po, Toshiro Mori, Vincent Beckers, Octavian Bloom, Mitchell Carson and Agent 33/Kara Lynn Palamas.]] Apparently their threat of "cut off one head and two shall take its place" is ''not'' to be taken lightly.

* Absolutely nobody in ''VideoGame/SpellforceIII'' likes [[EvilChurch the Purity]], and almost every mission past the first story chapter has them as the primary antagonists no matter which faction you choose to lead into battle.

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' has the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Covenant]] as the one enemy faction that has appeared in almost ''every single game''. In contrast, the [[TheVirus Flood]] appear in the original trilogy and [[spoiler:''VideoGame/HaloWars'']], but have been absent in every other game with the exception of the "Flood" multiplayer gametype and ''VideoGame/HaloSpartanAssault''[='s=] co-op mode, both of which are presented in-universe as nothing more than training simulations. Forerunner automatons have appeared more often, but are still completely absent in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' and ''VideoGame/HaloReach''. While the Covenant are technically replaced by the Banished in ''VideoGame/HaloWars2'' (with the latter actually originating as an anti-Covenant rebellion), it just so happens that both factions are [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute made up of the same species and have relatively similar technology]].

-->-- ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'', [[{{Pokemon}} "Hokéycon"]]

* The ''Film/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' has HYDRA, the rogue Nazi science division which branched off from the Third Reich after World War II. They have quickly become this trope for the universe as a whole, easily taking the crown of the most frequently occurring antagonistic force. Hydra has appeared in a villainous role in ''Captain America: The First Avenger'', ''Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', ''Avengers: Age Of Ultron'' and ''Ant-Man'', and will appear again in ''Captain America: Civil War'', on top of consistent appearances in ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' The list of named characters who are members of the organization has gotten into the dozens, including the Red Skull, Arnim Zola, Heinz Kruger, Baron von Strucker, Daniel Whitehall, [[spoiler:Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Brock Rumlow/Crossbones, Alexander Pierce, John Garrett/The Clairvoyant, Raina, Grant Ward, Senator Stern, Doctor List, Doctor Debbie, Jasper Sitwell, Marcus Scarlotti/Whiplash, Carl Creel/The Absorbing Man, Donald Gill/Blizzard, Jack Rollins, Sunil Bakshi, Johann Fennhoff/Doctor Faustus, Julien Beckers, Ian Quinn, Edison Po, Toshiro Mori, Vincent Beckers, Octavian Bloom, Mitchell Carson and Agent 33/Kara Lynn Palamas.]] Apparently their threat of "cut off one head and two shall take its place" is ''not'' to be taken lightly.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has bandits. The undead are likely more capital-E Evil, but at least they tend to stay in their crypts and don't bother anyone who doesn't go looking for trouble. Bandits are ''everywhere'', [[MoreCriminalsThanTargets outnumbering both sides of the civil war and all of the game's civilians combined]]. They're also not too bright either because, since you're the Dragonborn, the bandits are ''literally'' BullyingADragon.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has the Fairies. They seem to have no aim in life other than to wear you down before you face the boss of the current stage. They are nowhere near the nastiness of other examples in this page, it's just [[ChaoticNeutral the thing fairies do]]. Oh, and don't feel bad about shooting them down, they are effectively immortal.

** Individual armies have these too. For example, Cadians really hate Chaos as their planet is the first in line whenever a Black Crusade starts up, Crimson Fists and Valhallans had their homeworlds invaded by orks, Khornates hate Slaaneshi and vice versa... Asdrubael Vect, leader of the Dark Eldar, uses his profound knowledge of every race in the galaxy to apply TheUsualAdversaries ''no matter who'' they're fighting.