Line #59 Main/CrossoverVillainInChief


1	{{Crossover}}s, more than almost any other kind of story, can get audiences excited based on little more than the idea alone. While that may be a good thing for publicity, a really good crossover can be extremely hard to write. Since you're already working with established characters that have their own stables of fans, you're already dealing with the baggage of fan expectations, and the pressure to get each of their beloved characters ''just right''.
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3	That alone can derail an otherwise promising tale, but one must also consider the more fundamental questions: when you've assembled a nigh-unbeatable squad of heroes, what can you possibly give them that would present them with a credible threat? The simplest, or at least most ''obvious'', answer may be "an equally powerful, united gang of villains." But that raises yet another question: who is going to lead this group of overpowered, antisocial backstabbers? Oftentimes, one villain out of the group gets promoted to '''Crossover Villain-In-Chief'''.
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5	A Crossover Villain-In-Chief is a ''previously established'' villain that, for whatever reason, becomes either the official or ''de facto'' leader of most or all of the other villains in the crossover. There may be a clear reason why they were raised to this position: they may be the most intelligent and/or best strategist, they could have the best (or only) leadership skills of the group, they may be the most skilled in combat, or they may just be so scary that none of the other villains dare challenge them. In more lighthearted or comedic works, they may just be the [[TheBlindLeadingTheBlind the least stupid]] [[PlayedForLaughs or incompetent of the bunch]]. Sometimes, however, they may become the leader for no other reason than being the most popular villain, or even the [[CreatorsFavorite writer's favorite of the bunch]]. In rare cases, this role may be filled by a BigBadDuumvirate, ideally representing characters from more than one universe.
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7	However, the Crossover Villain-In-Chief need not be the [[GreaterScopeVillain ultimate evil entity]] of the overall story; they only need to be the leader of a group of other villains. It's not unheard of for the Villain-In-Chief to be controlled, manipulated, or otherwise employed by a greater malevolent force, be it knowingly and willingly or not.
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9	Sister trope of CrossoverComboVillain, which takes all of the villains (or elements thereof) and rolls them into one character. Related tropes include VillainTeamUp, LegionOfDoom, and MonsterMash. Contrast OriginalGeneration when the writers choose to create a new character (in this case, as the main villain).
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11	!!Examples:
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13	[[foldercontrol]]
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15	[[folder:Comic Books]]
16	* ''ComicBook/HasbroComicUniverse'':
17	** ''ComicBook/Revolution2016'': [[ComicBook/MicronautsIDW Baron Karza]] is the main antagonist, with [[ComicBook/{{MASK}} Miles Mayhem]] as TheDragon along with the [[ComicBook/RomIDW Dire Wraiths]] as his minions.
18	** ''ComicBook/FirstStrike'': The crossover follows a group of various villains who make up an anti-Cybertronian alliance with Baron Ironblood (AKA [[spoiler:[[Franchise/GIJoe Joe Colton]]]]) as the overall leader.
19	* ''ComicBook/JLAAvengers'': Krona fits this role, summoning all of the villains of the DC and Marvel universes as troops to toss against the heroes (and he has the power to make them obey -- the climax happens in his personal palace, made out of ''Galactus' corpse'').
20	* ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'': The crossover series has an alliance of practically '''every villain''' from five different Earths being led by the Superman villains [[Characters/SupermanBrainiacCharacter Brainiac]] and Lex Luthor.
21	* In DC's CrisisCrossover events that involve a lot of villains, like ''ComicBook/SalvationRun'' and ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil2013'', the BigBadDuumvirate of ComicBook/LexLuthor and ComicBook/TheJoker are usually the ones in charge.
22	* ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'': The 12-issue crossover series has the godlike Beyonder abduct many of Earth's mightiest heroes (Fantastic Four, Avengers, the X-Men, Spider-Man) and likewise Earth's most dangerous villains (Absorbing Man, Ultron, Galactus, Enchantress). The two groups are deposited on a distant world, and set to a Goodies versus Baddies free-for-all. The Goodies decide upon Captain America as their leader; the Baddies settle upon ComicBook/DoctorDoom as their chief, though only after Doom orders Ultron to slay Kang the Conqueror as an object lesson.
23	* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite'': [[VideoGame/MegaManX Sigma]] quickly establishes himself as the crossover's primary villain, as he merges Sonic and Mega Man's worlds together, [[MakeWayForTheNewVillains pushes aside both Dr. Wily and Dr. Eggman]], turns the Deadly Six into his servants, and sends an army of Mavericks into multiple universes.
24	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
25	** In ''ComicBook/SpiderMen,'' ComicBook/{{Mysterio}}'s portal is responsible for Peter getting sent to Miles' universe. He also serves as their primary opposition in getting Peter home.
26	** In ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'', the Spider-Men from the {{Multiverse}} fight against Morlun and his family, the Inheritors, before this villain murders every version of the friendly neighborhood.
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29	* ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesVsStreetFighter:'' M. Bison of ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' is main villain with his lackies being rogues of the ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' like Dr. Baxter Stockman.
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32	[[folder:Fan Works]]
33	* In ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy,'' Mysterio forms a BigBadDuumvirate with the GreaterScopeVillain of the ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' universe, All For One, supplying superpowered weaponry to the local Villains to wreak havoc on Japan. [[spoiler:Unbeknownst to him, All For One doesn't see him as an equal at all, and [[UnwittingPawn just wants to use him]] to further Shigaraki's ascension.]]
34	* ''Fanfic/BoldoresAndBoomsticks'': [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Salem]] manipulates [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Lusamine]] and the Aether Foundation to her own ends. Faba eventually works directly for her and hires Team Skull to attack RWBY and their friends.
35	* In ''Fanfic/DimensionalLinks'', a crossover between all the ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' games, Demise quickly establishes himself as the most dangerous of all villains, and the others are forced to follow his orders.
36	* In ''Fanfic/TheDimensionalWar'', Ganondorf is definetely this. [[spoiler:Though Kylo Ren has some independence, it's clear Ganondorf is the dominant of the two.]]
37	* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14230488/1/ Fairytale of Doom]]'': In the FairyTaleFreeForAll that the ''Manga/FairyTail'' cast are trapped in, Lady Tremaine from ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'' [[EvilLearnsOfOutsideContext discovers that her word is a fantasy and that there is greater power outside]]. She uses her knowledge and possession of the Magic Mirror to rally the other ''Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon'' villains, including far-stronger villains like [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid Ursula]], [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]], and [[WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}} Shan Yu]], to work with her to defeat the Fairy Tail wizards, [[EvilerThanThou defeat the weakened Zeref]], and use Fairy Heart to escape to the real world.
38	* Creator/Iron117Prime's fanfics tend to have only one villain faction come out as the primary villain during the latter parts of the story.
39	** ''Fanfic/FrozenTurtles'': [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 The Shredder (his 2012 incarnation)]] proves himself as the more formidable villain, [[spoiler:outright killing [[Franchise/{{Frozen}} Hans]] (having also terrified him)]] and growing obsessed with obtaining Elsa's power. [[spoiler:By ''Into the Unknown'', he's effectively gained ice powers of his own and, once again, becomes the most dominant force everyone has to face.]]
40	** ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10751266/1/Tangled-with-Ninjas Tangled with Ninja]]'': [[WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}} The Overlord]] becomes the main antagonist after he resurrects [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Mother Gothel]] so he can gain Rapunzel's power to restore himself to his former glory. When Gothel attempts to go after Rapunzel on her own, the Overlord is less than happy, and instills a huge amount of fear in her.
41	** ''Fanfic/WorldsCollideTMNT'': [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 The Shredder (his 2003 incarnation)]] quickly establishes himself as the more formidable villain. Right when he encounters Aang, he brutalizes the young hero in a complete CurbStompBattle. Later on, he [[spoiler:exterminates Long Feng and the Dai Li in order to keep his position and prevent any usurpers from undermining his schemes]]. On the Day of the Black Sun [[spoiler:he launches Operation Dragon Slayer, in which he kills Ozai, orders the Foot Clan to dispose of the War Council, and effectively drain the Fire Nation's resources to unleash Sozin's Comet like an extinction-level asteroid impact]]. Even [[TheDragon Azula]] is terrified by him, [[spoiler:so much that when she learns of Ozai's death by his hand, she loses it and hands it to the heroes to finish him off]].
42	** ''Fanfic/FairyMayCry'': By being the GreaterScopeVillain of the fanfic, [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Mundus]] has taken this position, though not as much as the others as the likes of Zeref and Acnologia are [[EvilVersusEvil technically against him for their own reasons]] and don't even entertain the idea of a team-up. [[spoiler:Zeref outright declares war on him near the end of the first story]]. He's the one who provides Zeref's immortality curse and coerces Precht to turn to the dark side, and during the Edolas Arc his agent/herald Nelo Angelo is working to subjugate Edolas for a demonic invasion in his name. He isn't as active as some of the other villains listed here due to being [[SealedEvilInACan stuck in the Underworld]], though the impact he has on the story is measurable by those characters and their deeds.
43	** ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': [[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime Megatron]] is bar-none the biggest threat for the Autobots and the Black Knights to deal with. He's responsible for the problems plaguing Earth as he served as a mentor to [[Anime/CodeGeass Charles zi Britannia]] during the latter's childhood, allowing him to rise to power and become Emperor of Britannia. [[spoiler:Megatron fully cements this by killing Charles and sacking Pendragon because he was disappointed about Charles' ulterior motive in the Ragnarok Connection. This effectively decapitates Britannia, and the Decepticons emerge as the predominant villains of the entire series. He further cements this in the sequel by eliminating all potential competitors for the title after Damocles is first fired]].
44	** ''Fanfic/JWITCHSeries'': The ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' villains take center stage in this fic. Daolon Wong is a servant to Phobos, but he proves to be a far more vile villain than him. [[spoiler:Then [[BackFromTheDead Shendu]] takes the helm...for a grand total of a chapter, but still kills Cedric and nearly kills Miranda.]]
45	*** Though it should be noted that unlike [[spoiler:Hans, Gothel, Ozai, or Charles]], [[spoiler:Phobos manages to survive (albeit depowered).]]
46	** ''Fanfic/AvengersOfTheMultiverse'': [[WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan General Modula]] is the head of the Cabal and the one who brought all the villains together and makes the plans to beat the Avengers. However, it's a tenuous position at best, as all the other villains include the likes of [[WesternAnimation/Ben10 Vilgax]], [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom Vlad Plasmius]], [[WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex Van Kleiss]], and [[WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong the Dark Dragon]], who are predictably vying for some leverage over each other for when the heroes are defeated.
47	* In ''Fanfic/ShatteredSkiesTheMorningLights'', [[Manga/SailorMoon Chaos]] is the force behind Dead End, but as it can't take physical form, it uses [[Anime/SmilePrecure Joker]] as its [[TheHeavy Heavy]] and public face.
48	* The Fanfic/MarvelGemsUniverse story ''Steven Universe: Secret Wars'' features ComicBook/{{Thanos}} bringing together multiple villains to fight [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse the Crystal Gems]] and ComicBook/TheAvengers for him, and becomes the FinalBoss after they're all defeated.
49	* ''Fanfic/GravitySoul'' features the respective {{Big Bad}}s of ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' and ''Manga/SoulEater'', [[EldritchAbomination Bill Cipher]] and {{A\|nthropomorphicPersonification}}sura, teaming up to exact revenge on their enemies by [[DealWithTheDevil Asura making a deal with Bill.]] This causes the two [[FusionDance to merge into Kishin Cipher]], which makes the two more powerful and they begin bringing together antagonists from both shows to serve them.
50	* ''Fanfic/RiseOfTheBraveTangledDragons'' works often cast [[WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians Pitch Black]] as the central antagonist, owing to his status as an immortal representation of fear itself.
51	* ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsAFairlyOddFriendship'': Once [[spoiler:the Dazzlings]] arrive on the scene, they quickly establish themselves as the main threat, proving to be more cunning, powerful, sadistic, and overall more dangerous than any other antagonist in the setting.
52	* ''Fanfic/ThereWasOnceAnAvengerFromKrypton'': [[spoiler:The entire Krypton-verse exist because Doctor Doom and Reed Richards have been [[MergedReality fusing other worlds]] with the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, bringing not just heroes but also villains like [[Franchise/Ben10 Vilgax]], [[WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower the Horde]], [[WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender the Galra Empire]], and the [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse Diamond Authority]]. All of this is for the purpose of [[WellIntentionedExtremist creating a strong enough force on Earth to defeat Thanos and prevent the Snap that devastated Doom's and Reed's timeline]]]].
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55	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
56	* ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever'': While [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 1987 Shredder]] helps to initiate the plot, it's [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 2003 Alien Shredder]] who quickly becomes the main threat to the turtle teams.
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59	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
60	* ''Film/GokaigerGoseigerSuperSentai199HeroGreatBattle'' sees the [[Series/HimitsuSentaiGorenger Black Cross Fuhrer]] assuming leadership of the revived ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' villains. Which is rather appropriate, since he is the original ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' BigBad.
61	* ''Film/KamenRiderXSuperSentaiSuperHeroTaisen'' reintroduces Dai-Shocker from ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' and introduces a new LegionOfDoom of ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' villains called Dai-Zangyack. Their leaders, bizarrely enough, aren't past villains but two past ''heroes'' gone astray - Tsukasa Kadoya/Kamen Rider Decade and Emperor (formerly Captain) Marvelous/Gokai Red respectively. [[spoiler:Except it later turns out they're really puppets for the true masterminds - Narutaki and Bio Hunter Silva. Of all villains to helm a LegionOfDoom, those are two pretty bizarre choices considering the former was just Decade's annoying ArchEnemy for the first half of his series and the latter was the WildCard in ''Series/ChoudenshiBioman''.]]
62	* ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' brings supervillains from the Film/SpiderManTrilogy (Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Sandman) and Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries (Lizard and Electro) into the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse due to a botched spell by Doctor Strange. By the midway point, [[spoiler:the Goblin quickly establishes himself as the biggest threat of the visitors, convincing the others to reject Peter's cures and killing Aunt May just to make sure that ItsPersonal between him and this world's Peter. After that, he serves as the FinalBoss after all the other villains (except Doc Ock, who did a HeelFaceTurn earlier in the film) have been BroughtDownToNormal.]]
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65	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
66	* ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'': [[Series/KamenRiderX Apollo Geist]] is the one leading Dai-Shocker, [[LegionOfDoom an alliance of numerous past villains and monsters]]. Technically, the original leader of Dai-Shocker was [[spoiler:a pre-amnesia Tsukasa Kadoya]], but he's out of the picture by the time the story begins and Geist seems to be the one who's taken over as acting leader.
67	* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'': Season 2 has the Legends battling the Legion of Doom, a team up of major villains from its parent shows ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' and ''Series/TheFlash2014''. As [[TokenSuper the only one with powers]], The Reverse Flash [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership pretty firmly establishes himself as the leader of this villain pack]], much to the others' annoyance, as they don't like being treated as lackeys.
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70	[[folder:Video Games]]
71	* Ganondorf is the ''de facto'' leader of the enemy forces in ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', where he is leading past ''Zelda'' villains such as [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Zant]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Ghirahim]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds Yuga]], and original villains developed specifically for the game. Some new villains were arguably necessary, as the ''Zelda'' franchise hasn't featured very many villains not named "Ganondorf" or his beast form, "Ganon."
72	* ''VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureEyesOfHeaven'': Heaven Ascension DIO, an alternate version of Part 3 DIO that defeated the Manga/StardustCrusaders, is the master of the various villains from across the eight parts of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''.
73	* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'': while not technically the leader, Ganondorf is still TheDragon to CanonForeigner Tabuu, putting him at the head of an army that includes other franchise villains [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser, Wario, Petey Piranha]], [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Ridley]], and [[VideoGame/Mother3 Porky Minch]].
74	* While she isn't the GreaterScopeVillain of the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]] certainly fills this role at various points throughout the series. [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI In the original game]], she's leading WesternAnimation/{{H\|ercules}}ades, [[Franchise/{{Aladdin}} Jafar]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Ursula]], [[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas Oogie Boogie]], and [[WesternAnimation/PeterPan Captain Hook]] (and WesternAnimation/{{Pete}} wandering about off-screen) in an effort to find the Seven Princesses of Heart and unlock the gate to Kingdom Hearts, a vast repository of knowledge and power.
75	* While it's barely touched upon in the actual gameplay, the backstory of ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' has [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Albert Wesker]] and [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Doctor Doom]] leading villains from their respective worlds to conquer both, only to draw the attention of Galactus.
76	* Ganondorf heads the LegionOfDoom in ''VideoGame/RakenzarnTales'' and serves as the BigBad overall for the game.
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79	[[folder:Western Animation]]
80	* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'' has [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Mother Brain]] as the series' primary head villain. This is mostly PlayedForLaughs, as calling her henchmen -- [[VideoGame/PunchOut King Hippo]] and [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Eggplant Wizard]] -- incompetent would be a gross understatement. It's saying something that the character who's little more than a brain in a jar is a bigger threat than either of her able-bodied underlings.
81	* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbMissionMarvel'', Dr. Doofenshmirtz tries to team up with the other many villains of Creator/MarvelComics to take over the Tri-State Area, but ComicBook/RedSkull takes one look at Doof's [[HarmlessVillain utter lack of threat]] and, after stealing Doof's latest [[DoomsdayDevice "-Inator" gadget]], and [[MakeWayForTheNewVillains putting him out of the game]] ([[LighterAndSofter non-lethally, of course]]) leads the rest of the Marvel villains to raise some hell.
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Context Main / CrossoverVillainInChief