Contrasting Sequel Antagonist / Live-Action TV

Contrasting Sequel Antagonists in live-action TV.

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• American Vandal:
  • Season 1: The Dick Drawer is a vandal that drew dicks on the teachers' cars, a one-time crime. Although the real identity is never found out due to lack of concrete evidence, Peter's best theory is that it was Class Representative Christa, in an act of revenge against the school coach who would have said some terrible thing to her, possibly done something worse, causing her to make an official complaint that the school burned down. She plotted it together with her boyfriend and while he drew the dicks, she deleted the camera footage.
  • Season 2: The Turd Burglar, a vandal that made several pranks involving feces on the school and posted about them both before and after they happened on social media. Unlike before, he was in fact identified as Grayson, an expelled student from the school that became obsessed with social media and decided to take revenge on the school. He would catfish students and then blackmail them after acquiring compromising pictures and videos to pull the pranks on his behalf.
• Arrowverse:
  • Arrow is no slouch in it either.
    • Malcolm Merlyn was an Evil Counterpart to the Hood but had no real conflict with him, mostly operating from the shadows to achieve the Undertaking. Even when he does gain conflict with Oliver, Merlyn's pretty passive about it, only fighting the Hood when he comes to him. Merlyn also has no powers, relying on his training in Nanda Parbat.
    • Slade Wilson wants Oliver dead and wants to destroy his life before he does it. Slade is also empowered by the Mirakuru serum, and unlike Merlyn who has the set goal of the Undertaking, is constantly revising his plan as to whatever he thinks will hurt Oliver the most.
    • Ra's al Ghul is the first big bad to genuinely have no animosity with Oliver. Team Arrow only comes onto his radar because of League business. Unlike Slade, who got his powers from a Psycho Serum, Ra's power is strictly mystical, and he operates on a warped morality as opposed to Slade's Insane Troll Logic.
    • Damien Darhk runs HIVE, an Evil, Inc. organization all about cutting-edge technology as opposed to the League of Assassins' ancient traditions. Darhk is Faux Affably Evil with a sense of humor, as opposed to Ra's humorless stoicism. Ra's intended to take Oliver in as an apprentice, while Darhk wants him dead at the first opportunity. Ra's use of magic pretty much stopped at the Lazarus Pit, while Darhk actually suffers as a result of over-relying on his magic. Their appearances contrast as well: the dark-haired bearded, robed Ra's as opposed to the blond clean-shaven lives-in-a-suit Darhk.
    • Prometheus is established as a street-level villain, in contrast to Darhk's plans of ending the world. Prometheus is a One-Man Army who slaughters dozens of cops in seconds on his own, while Darhk was laid out in an instant the first time he had to fight without magic. Darhk's identity was revealed in the first episode, while Prometheus' identity remained a secret until episode 15. Their costumes are also in contrast: Darhk was a Badass in a Nice Suit, while Prometheus goes back to Merlyn's idea of wearing an Evil Counterpart of the Green Arrow costume, albeit raggedy enough that he could be mistaken for Ragman or even Alchemy over on The Flash (2014).
    • Ricardo Diaz contrasts to him in turn. Prometheus was eventually revealed to be Adrian Chase, who had appeared to be a close friend and ally of Oliver's, whereas Diaz never makes any secret of being a brutal criminal. Diaz came from a poor background in contrast to Chase's affluent lifestyle. Whereas Team Arrow quickly identified Prometheus as the main threat, Diaz fooled them for some time by posing as a low-level member of a criminal cabal until turning out to be the one pulling the strings. While both Chase and Diaz are brutally effective at destroying Oliver's life and sense of self, Chase is doing it for personal reasons after the Hood killed his father, while Diaz is simply being ruthlessly pragmatic in removing the biggest obstacle to his takeover of Star City.
  • The Flash (2014): Each season's Big Bad differs.
    • Eobard Thawne, aka the Reverse-Flash, was the Arch-Enemy of the Flash from the future who went back in time to murder an 11 year old Barry Allen but murdered his mother out of spite. He murdered and stole the identity of Harrison Wells to ensure Barry becomes the Flash so that he can use him to return home. He caused the particle accelerator to happen sooner so Barry can become the Flash and have metahuman foes to fight to increase his power for Thawne to use. While he still hated Barry Allen, he did grow to like him and the rest of Team Flash, but it wasn't enough to not kill them if needed.
    • Hunter Zolomon, aka Zoom, is a speedster from another Earth who didn't hate The Flash until after getting to know him. While Reverse-Flash wore a yellow costume, Zoom wore all black. Eobard Thawne wanted Barry's speed to return home, Hunter Zolomon wanted it to make himself faster and save himself from dying while growing bored with his world. While Thawne stole the identity of Harrison Wells to hide and make sure his plans worked, Zolomon stole the identity of Jay Garrick to amuse himself by pretending to be a hero so he could take people's hope away. He actually employed metas in his world, falsely promising to return them to Earth 2 if they killed The Flash when he really wanted them to fail so Barry's speed could increase. He murders Barry's father out of spite much like Thawne did to Barry's mother, only doing to Barry as an adult. Also, while Thawne did begrudgingly grow to like Team Flash, Zolomon grew to hate Barry and had no such love for anyone (save for Caitlin, for different reasons, but grew out of them when she refused to love him back).
    • Savitar has a Powered Armor instead of a speedster suit. He never poses as a kindly mentor, when he uses impersonations, they are more temporary. As a time remnant of Barry Allen, he was not Evil All Along but a genuine hero who became bad after all the misfortune he suffered before and after becoming a time remnant. He could use the Philosopher's Stone to produce Demonic Possession and Telepathy or granting memory and powers from an Alternate Timeline. While Eobard Thawne is the Reverse-Flash and Hunter Zolomon could be seen as a Reverse-Barry, Savitar being a time remnant from the future is a reverse of both sides of the hero.
    • Clifford DeVoe/The Thinker is the first major villain who isn't a speedster. He also breaks the trend of the Big Bad hiding a secret identity underneath a mask, as both his name and face have been shown off since the first episode of the season, while Team Flash tracks him down and confronts him by Episode 7, "Therefore I Am". DeVoe never worked with Team Flash unlike the three previous Big Bads^note Thawne masquerading as Harrison Wells was a founding member and defacto Team Dad, Zoom under the guise of "Jay Garrick" helped fight the Villain of the Week metas and substituted for Barry when the time called, while Savitar being a future time remnant of Barry himself has all of the knowledge of his past self's time as a member of Team Flash. He's also a contrast to Season 1 Thawne. Both use wheelchairs, but in Thawne's case, it was Obfuscating Disability as he could walk. DeVoe on the other hand does need it due to his powers giving him a form of ALS and rather resents having to use a wheelchair. Unlike Thawne, Zoom, and Savitar but conversely very much like Barry, he happens to be in a healthy, loving relationship with someone who knows of and supports everything he does; by contrast, the previous three Big Bads were loners who didn't give a damn about anyone but themselves. Also worth noting, he's the only one of the antagonists who never got close to Caitlin^note Thawne saw Caitlin and Cisco as his own children, Zoom developed feelings for Caitlin and wanted to draw her into his life, Savitar worked closely with Killer Frost after revealing his true identity, and even Julian was yet another love interest of Caitlin. Much like Savitar, he is able to anticipate Team Flash's every move and develop an appropriate way to counter it. However, whereas Savitar could do that because his memories were constantly being rewritten by his past self and thus he could quickly develop a counter-measure, DeVoe really is just that good a planner, being the world's smartest man and all.
    • Orlin Dwyer/Cicada is the first villain of the series who isn't a scientist, but a factory worker prior to getting his powers. He was The Everyman who had a terrible tragedy dealt to him that caused him to vow to kill all metahumans. Furthermore, all of the previous villains were master manipulators who had grand evil schemes and were aware of who The Flash is prior to their first encounter, Cicada is Serial Killer who doesn't even know who Barry Allen is and has no scheme other than his goals of ridding the world of metahumans so that no one else can suffer because of them.
  • Legends of Tomorrow:
    • The Big Bad of Season 1 is Vandal Savage, a millennia-old immortal psychopath with the desire to Take Over the World. The main hero Rip Hunter has a personal score to settle with Savage for killing his wife and son. Two of the Legends (Hawkman and Hawkgirl) also wish to end Savage because he has killed them over 200 times to maintain his immortality and provide longevity to his followers. Later on, Savage gains access to Time Travel and decides to, instead, unravel all of time back to Ancient Egypt and rewrite his own history.
    • The second season borrows villains from The Flash (Eobard Thawne) and Arrow (Damien Darhk and Malcolm Merlyn), forming the so-called Legion of Doom. Unlike Savage, none of the members of the Legion (except, maybe, Darhk) wish for world domination. Thawne wants to survive, as the events of The Flash have left him as a Time Aberration, forcing him to constantly stay on the move lest the Black Flash catch him. He seeks to use the Spear of Destiny to rewrite his own fate and put himself back into the timeline. He recruits Darhk (1987) and Merlyn (2016) by promising to change their future (Darhk's death at the hands of Green Arrow) and past (Merlyn losing his hand and the leadership of the League of Assassins), respectively.
• Boardwalk Empire:
  • Season 1 is the D'Alessio Brothers (backed by Arnold Rothstein). They're Starter Villains who are easily defeated when Nucky forms a truce with Rothstein.
  • Season 2 is a Big Bad Ensemble of The Commodore, Jimmy Darmody and Eli Thompson, with a deeper focus on their personal histories with Nucky. Jimmy functions like an Antagonistic Offspring to Nucky while Eli and Nucky have a Cain and Abel dynamic.
  • Season 3 is Gyp Rosetti, an Ax-Crazy gangster who can't be negotiated with and can only be defeated through a Mob War.
  • Season 4 is a Big Bad Ensemble of Sinister Minister Doctor Narcisse and Rabid Cop Agent Knox. In contrast to the preceding seasons, neither poses a direct threat to Nucky and instead they only indirectly threaten him by targeting his allies (Chalky and Eli, respectively).
  • Season 5 is Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano and Bugsy Siegel. They are the only villains (other than Rothstein as The Man Behind the Man in Season 1) who are Historical Domain Characters throughout the series, and naturally they are destined to be Saved by Canon.
• Breaking Bad:
  • Series 1 introduces the big bad Tuco Salamanca, he is an emotionally unpredictable drug lord who is killed by the cop Hank Schrader when being too cocky.
  • Series 2 introduces Gustavo Fring, he's a kingpin of drug manufacturing who has an uneasy alliance with the Salamanca family. This villain is more professional and is emotionally cool and collected. He proves more of a psychological challenger to the rival and protagonist Walter White.
  • Series 5 Part 1 introduces one of Gus's main suppliers, Lydia Rodarte-Quayle. She is a more hands-off villain and would rather let the drug rivals kill each other, rather than getting drawn into the conflict. The protagonists underestimate her because she's not as intimidating and acts nervous.
  • The final big bad introduced is the neo-nazi Jack Weller. This one is not as prominent or influential, only leading a small gang of outcasts yet they are the most damaging to the protagonists, Walter and his partner Jessie Pinkman. They plan to rob their profits. Jack kills Walt's brother-in-law Hank, which leads to the downfall of Walter's empire and Jessie's lover, Andrea is killed by one of them.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer has a diversity of contrasting Big Bads.
  • Season 1: The Master is an ancient and calculating vampire lord who has very traditional beliefs about prophecies.
  • Season 2: Drusilla, Spike, and Angelus are younger, far more passionate, and emotionally unstable vampires. Whereas the Master favoured archaic ways, they were suited to the modern-era.
  • Season 3: Mayor Richard Wilkins was the first big bad who wasn't a vampire, and unlike the insanely sadistic Angelus, he was a genuinely polite and friendly man who just happened to be evil. His relationship with his fellow villains was also very positive, treating Mr. Trick as a friend and Faith as a surrogate daughter, contrasting Angelus' cruelty to Spike and subtly abusive treatment of Drusilla (she had previously been a victim of unspeakable tortures at Angelus' hands). Simply put, the Mayor is the most human of the show's Big Bads, unlike Angelus, a creature so evil that he literally had no humanity.
  • Season 4: Compared to Mayor Wilkins, a man who was a well-respected public figure and genuinely cheerful and polite evil sorcerer, as well as a long-lived fixture in Sunnydale, Adam doesn't (and honestly couldn't) operate in public, his polite demeanor is a façade, doesn't use magic, and he's only recently come to life (in his current form, anyway) when he first appears. Also, while the Mayor valued his minions and sought to become a demon, Adam treats his mooks as disposable, and already considers himself to be perfect.
  • Season 5: Compared to Adam, a hideous Mix-and-Match Man who was equal parts Dark Messiah and Genius Bruiser, Glory is physically stunning, couldn't care less about the world she's in, and, while she's a nigh-unstoppable brute force, she doesn't quite have the brains to back it up. Whereas Adam was patient and calculating, Glory was impatient and unstable. Being a cyborg, Adam was unemotional, whereas Glory was a delightfully hammy.
  • Season 6: Unlike Glory, an incredibly powerful but rather spacey hell-god, Warren Mears is a physically weak Evil Genius, as well as a normal human. The Scoobies recognised the threat Glory posed from the beginning, while they underestimated Warren until he proved how vicious he really was.
  • Series 7: The First Evil is a Satan-like being, but this one is literally not as personal, taking the form of ghosts and doing whatever it can to enter Earth in a corporeal form. Warren was probably the smallest-scale Big Bad, while the First's plans are apocalyptic in scale. Warren was also the most arguably banal and normal (for a given value of "normal") villain of the series, whereas the First, an eternal primordial being, is easily its most fantastic.
• The Youkai which served as the villains of Choujin Bibyun are very different from the Akuma Clan which served as the villains of its predecessor show Akumaizer 3.
  • The Akuma Clan are a militarized society of corporeal demons. They have a very rigid hierarchy and use a combination of magic and technology.
  • The Youkai, by contrast, are evil spirits who are very loosely organized and have almost exclusively paranormal powers.
• Doctor Who:
  • The various incarnations of The Master all contrast each other in some way:
    • Roger Delgado's portrayal of the Master was a suave, Affably Evil character who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, fighting the Doctor from time to time.
    • Crispy Master (portrayed by Peter Pratt and Geoffrey Beavers) was vengeful and maniacal, actively trying to kill the Doctor through any means necessary.
    • Anthony Ainley's portrayal permanently relegated the character to a Non-Action Big Bad who would run like Hell at the first sign of trouble, while also adding his own spin to the Master by making him a hammy Manipulative Bastard.
    • Eric Roberts' version was, like Crispy Master, more vengeful and bloodthirsty, but had the catch of being in a rapidly-decaying human body. He also displayed the ability to spit weaponized bile and turn into a goo-snake that possesses others through an Orifice Invasion, which is how he got into the human body in the first place. These abilities were never brought up in the show again.
    • Derek Jacobi's portrayal took a unique twist on Roberts' version by having the Master become human through a Chameleon Arch, which also gave him a false set of memories as the benevolent Professor Yana. From the minute amounts of screen time that Jacobi's Master held as the Master, he seemed far colder than previous incarnations.
    • John Simm's Master was a Psychopathic Manchild who wished nothing more than to torment the Doctor and his companions. He was also a bigot, something that Jacobi's Master shared when he returned to being the Master. This portrayal was also far more emotional, being overtaken by rage or sadness in the heat of the moment at times.
    • "Missy", Michelle Gomez's version of the Master, dropped the woman-child aspect while retaining the psychopathy, leaving us with an incredibly batty Violent Glaswegian who enjoys making pop-culture shout-outs, but who's also much more interested in reconnecting with the Doctor than the toxicity of the Simm version...albeit via needlessly convoluted and manipulative ways even by the standards of the Master, at least at first.
    • Sacha Dhawan's incarnation of the Master, unlike Missy, has no interest in trying to be friends with the Doctor, going straight back to trying to kill her and wipe out humanity to spite her. He also has a Hair-Trigger Temper that puts other incarnations to shame.
  • The Daleks and the Cybermen contrast each other too. Both are cyborg aliens who believe themselves to be superior races, but the way they deal with the "inferior" races is different. The Daleks hate and destroy them as a matter of principle, while the Cybermen convert them into more Cybermen to become superior. Also, the Daleks were deliberately created by a Mad Scientist while the Cybermen are the result of a race trying to survive, and Cybermen have no emotions while Daleks have one very strong emotion.
    Missy: Cybermen suppress emotions. Daleks channel it. Through a gun.
• Fargo:
  • Lorne Malvo of Season 1 was an openly sadistic drifter with immense physical skill and a love of watching other people suffer. He spends the series as a solo character; disrupting the police and criminals when it suits him.
  • Ohanzee Dent of Season 2 was the odd-ball of the villains. Unlike the others, his role as the Big Bad wasn't immediately apparent and he only really comes into his role in the final episodes. Hanzee is easily the most sympathetic as he's given a Freudian Excuse and a few Pet the Dog moments. Notably, Hanzee's an all-around joyless individual in contrast to Malvo and Varga who both had their sadistic edges.
  • V.M. Varga of Season 3 was a Non-Action Big Bad. Unlike Hanzee or Lorne who executed their schemes solo, he relied on his criminal organization. Varga also was characterized by playing the long game, having an unethical financial scheme and a goal to make money; while Malvo just drifted about focusing on the short term and Hanzee made it up as he went along.
  • Oraetta Mayflower of Season 4 is, for starters, female, and a much lower-key villain than those before her. Unlike the previous three who act as The Heavy of their respective seasons, Oraetta incites events as an inadvertent consequence of her murders and primarily stays out of the events following them. She's also arguably the sloppiest, most down-to-Earth criminal; while Malvo, Dent, and Varga were implacable forces of chaos, Oraetta spends just as much time trying to cover her crimes up as she does committing them.
• Farscape:
  • Captain Crais, the Big Bad of Season 1 was a ruthless Peacekeeper captain driven to recapture the crew of Moya and take revenge on John Crichton for his role in the accidental death of his brother, Tauvo. Volatile, obsessive and unwilling to see reason, Crais spends the entire season hunting down Crichton, failing in just about every single encounter and taking progressively bigger and bigger risks in his attempts to achieve vengeance, including disobeying direct orders from Central Command. As such, he's eventually arrested by Scorpius when the truth gets out.
  • Scorpius of Seasons 2 and 3; a Sebacean-Scarran hybrid serving the Peacekeepers as a scientist, he's determined to capture the wormhole knowledge in Crichton's brain for the advantage it could give his adopted faction in a war against the Scarrans. In sharp contrast to Crais' explosive temper and blunt-instrument approach, Scorpius is quiet, calculating, and creepily polite; for good measure, he's usually one step ahead of Crichton and co - to the point that he actually ends Season 2 by achieving complete victory over Crichton.
  • Commandant Grayza of Season 4; a Smug Snake par excellence, she spends most of her time smirking over apparent victories - namely bending Crichton to her will, enslaving then executing Scorpius, and arranging a ceasefire/alliance with the Scarrans. However, everything goes wrong for her: Crichton is able to jerry-rig an antidote to the Heppel Oil, Scorpius survives the execution and joins Crichton, and her vaunted alliance ends with her being captured and nearly killed by the Scarran War Minister.
  • Finally, in the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries, the Big Bad mantle is claimed by Emperor Staleek of the Scarran Imperium. Ruthless and fiercely pragmatic, he wants nothing less than total supremacy over the galaxy; if there's a diplomatic means of seizing power, he'll take it, but if a threat presents itself - he'll do everything he can to obliterate it.
• Game of Thrones:
  • In sSeries 3, Tywin Lannister becomes Hand of the King to run the kingdom and is far more capable, experienced and calculating than the more emotionally unstable King Joffrey and his mother Cersei.
  • In Series 5 and Series 6, compared to the controversial reign of Joffrey/Tywin, the humble High Sparrow and his cult are loved by the people, despite them being homophobic and misogynistic.
  • Overall the White Walkers provide the greatest contrast to the scheming politicians and flawed human leaders. They're essentially a walking blizzard, showing no signs of disunity among their ranks.
• In Gotham, Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska serve as the show's two different takes on the Joker, although only one of the brothers survives long enough to actually become him. Jerome, much like the Joker in the Dark Knight, is a laughably evil, Ax-Crazy agent of chaos, who is nonetheless often more calculating than he seems. Jeremiah starts out much more restrained than his brother, although after undergoing some serious sanity slippage sometime between seasons four and five, this starts to change. He also tends to be a much more methodical and calculating planner than Jerome, and sometimes seems to believe that what he's doing is right even while he's crossing the moral event horizon. His brother, on the other hand, is aware that what he's doing is wrong and takes pleasure in it.
• The first three seasons of House each feature a multi-episode arc centered around a single character. In Seasons 1 and 3, the character is an Arc Villain who's actively out to get House, and the plot centers this opposition. In Season 2, the arc character is Stacy, House's more-or-less Amicable Ex, and the arc plot is much less oppositional and more about House and Stacy, in the midst of a complex web of personal and professional factors, trying to sort through the residual feelings from the breakup and figure out where they stand with each other. Unsurprisingly, this arc is quite a bit Lighter and Softer than those on either side of it.
• Führer Geisel, the villain of the Inazuman Sequel Series Inazuman Flash, is almost diametrically different to the original show's Emperor Banba. Whereas Banba was hammy and boastful, Geisel is cold and a ruthlessly pragmatic No-Nonsense Nemesis. Banba sought to Kill All Humans and incorporate mutants into the Neo-Human Empire, while Geisel wants to keep humans alive as slaves and exterminate all mutants. Banba was a self-proclaimed monarch, Geisel is a Generalissimo-style dictator.
• Kamen Rider: The franchise, being a well-known Long Runner in Japanese culture, has notable examples:
  • Kamen Rider Kuuga: Daguva is a Satanic Archetype in the body of an attractive and young Villain in a White Suit. A vicious Blood Knight who wants nothing more than to bring about the "Ultimate Darkness", Daguva is not afraid to massacre his own people, and they don't seem to respect him either. Daguva's tribesmen, the shapeshifting Grongi, are extremely individualistic in their methods and only follow the rules of their sadistic game to kill humans.
  • Kamen Rider Agito: The Overlord is an androgynous avatar of God and wears all-black. A Non-Action Big Bad and an Anti-Villain, the Overlord's minions, the Lords, are angelic descendants of the Grongi's rival tribe, the Linto, and are fanatically devoted to their creator, lacking any sort of distinctive personality. The Lords are also incapable of hiding their appearances, unlike the Grongi, and want to "protect" humanity by any means necessary.
  • Kamen Rider Ryuki: Shiro Kanzaki is an Non-Action Big Bad who willingly gives all of the Kamen Riders their powers in order to create the central Not Just a Tournament. He does this in order to save his little sister from certain death.
  • Kamen Rider Drive: Tenjuro Banno is an Mad Scientist, Insufferable Genius, and is thoroughly lacking in empathy to the point of sticking out in the series's long history. Having directly created the show's Monsters of the Week, Banno steals most of his powers and abilities to the point of becoming a full blown Evil Counterpart to the Protagonist Title of the show.
  • Kamen Rider Ex-Aid: Masamune Dan is an eerily calm Corrupt Corporate Executive with the power to stop and later reverse time. He was introduced as a relatively minor character before The Reveal that he deliberately allowed the inciting event of the series to occur and taking up the mantle of the main antagonist of the series. Also, despite seeing everyone in the setting as "products", Masamune's dead wife showcases great Hidden Depths behind his villainy.
  • Kamen Rider Build: Evolto is an Ancient Evil from another planet and a Space Master. Charismatic, independent, and face-to-face, Evolto manipulates everyone around him to destroy the Earth For the Evulz.
  • Kamen Rider Zi-O: Oma Zi-O is a tyrannical human from another future and a Time Master. Powerful but reserved, Oma Zi-O is a Shadow Dictator for a portion of the series and leaves his followers to do the dirty work for him.
• Legend of the Seeker:
  • Season 1's Big Bad is Lord Darken Rahl, the Evil Sorcerer ruler of D'Hara, who wishes to subjugate the rest of the world and kill the Seeker Richard, who is supposed to end Rahl's rule as per The Prophecy.
  • Season 2 ups the ante by having the Keeper of the Underworld be the main villain with Rahl as his reluctant lieutenant. Unlike Rahl, the Keeper wants nothing less than to kill everything single living thing in the world. He uses various hellish creatures and his ever-growing army of Banelings to achieve this goal.
• The Librarians (for the film series villains, see the Film section):
  • Season 1 has the Librarians fighting the Serpent Brotherhood and their leader Dulaque (actually, Lancelot of the Arthurian myth), who wanted to return the world to the way it was in King Arthur's time: full of magic and under the firm rule of kings.
  • Season 2 has the Big Bad Prospero try to restore the world to the "idyllic" forest paradise he always imagined, while destroying modern civilization.
  • Season 3 has the Egyptian god Apep try to unleash Pure Evil onto the world in order to destroy it.
  • Season 4 features Nicole Noone as a villain. Unlike the others, she is a Fallen Hero planning to destroy the belief the Library is a force of good after she was never saved after getting trapped in the past. Also, while the Librarians knew the other three main antagonists were villains from their first appearance, Nicole tricked them into thinking she was innocent and it took until the final minutes of the penultimate episode before the Librarians realised she was a villain. She also got redeemed.
• Lost: An interesting example as most of these antagonists are active alongside each other, they just lose and gain relevance as the various parts of the Gambit Pileup play out.
  • The first season and most of the second has the nebulous threat of The Others driving most of the plot. The few times they interact with the passengers they utterly trounce them, but they get a decisive defeat in the third season and don’t really recover from it as the Freighter’s mercenaries and the Smoke Monster begin to tear through their ranks.
  • The second introduces Ben Linus: a coy chessmaster who loves toying and manipulating the people around him, but does get his hands dirty to make sure things go his way. His goal is to keep control of The Others and get the passengers off the island. However, he’s beaten at his own game and has a minor Heel–Face Turn, and his interactions with Alex show that Even Evil Has Loved Ones.
  • The fourth series has Charles Widmore. He’s a Greater-Scope Villain who never interacts with most of the main cast and gets the Freighter crew to do his dirty work. His goal is to take over the island via brute force. Unlike Ben, he does not hold his daughter in high regard and loathes her fiancé just because he’s a common man. He is also far worse of a chessmaster than the other major villains and is unceremoniously killed in the sixth season when his plan goes completely awry.
  • The final episode of the fifth season brings The Man in Black, aka the Smoke Monster to the forefront. He is firmly based in the supernatural elements of the show and is acting entirely of his own accord. His goal is to leave the island and manipulates a large chunk of the cast to do it, although he does it via hallucinations instead of Break Them by Talking.
• The 1998 Magnificent Seven TV show had the two villains of Chris Larabee's story. The first, Fowler, is a minor Villain of the week killed midway through the first season. A Consummate Professional who doesn't bother with any elaborate plans or gimmicks dealing with his enemies, Fowler had no personal connection with Chris and murdered his family simply because someone hired him to. His employer, Ella, is the series' de facto Final Boss who escapes at the end of season 2. A disturbed and deluded Yandere obsessed with Chris, Ella had his family killed and then set up an elaborate ruse to lure him back into her life.
• The first two Netflix-exclusive shows set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe do this.
  • Daredevil (2015) has Wilson Fisk, a soft-spoken Villain with Good Publicity who plans on dramatically rebuilding New York after all the destruction caused by "The Incident", but underneath his technically noble plan is a foundation of murder, extortion, bribery, bid-rigging, drug distribution, and just about every other crime you think of, although Fisk is fully aware that his methods are evil and shows frequent regret at the extremes he feels he has to go to. He also has a genuine soft spot for his girlfriend Vanessa, his mother, and his best friend James Wesley.
  • In contrast, Jessica Jones (2015) gives us Kilgrave, a sociopathic mass murderer and serial rapist with the power of mind-control whose sense of morality is so broken he is incapable of admitting that he is in the wrong. Kilgrave has no love for anyone but himself, though he has an extremely unhealthy obsession with Jessica which he calls love, and he has no goals beyond manipulating Jessica into "loving" him back, but he'll torture, kill, and harm as many innocent people as it takes to push Jessica to her breaking point, in contrast to Fisk who makes it a point to only want an honest relationship with Vanessa, refusing to push when it initially appears that she's turning him down. Additionally, whereas Fisk is physically imposing and willing to do his own dirty work (and also willing to manipulate people through threats), Kilgrave is a small, average-sized guy who uses his power to force everyone around him to carry out his disgusting schemes. The two couldn't possibly be more different.
    • The villains of the two following seasons of Jessica Jones also contrast with Kilgrave and with each other. The villain of season two is a woman with Super-Strength who suffers from uncontrollable bursts of violent anger, making her the opposite of suave and in-control but physically frail Kilgrave. She is also genuinely a victim of circumstance (having had both her powers and her mental instability imposed on her) and genuinely cares for Jessica, both of which Kilgrave only claimed were the case for him. The villain of season three is a Badass Normal who hates superhumans and uses his position as a Villain with Good Publicity to pretend to be victimised by them, while both the previous villains had no official identity and dragging Kilgrave in particular into the light was a big part of the conflict with him.
• Once Upon a Time features a wide array of Big Bads.
  • The first season features a Big Bad Duumvirate of Regina, who is Obviously Evil and short-sighted in her plans which generally involve keeping her son, and Rumpelstiltskin (aka Mr. Gold), who is running a centuries-long Batman Gambit to reunite with his son.
  • Season two features Cora, who does not love her daughter, Regina, (in contrast to Regina and Rumple who do love their children) and Captain Hook, who aims for a villain. After the former is killed and the latter begins a Heel–Face Turn, Greg and Tamara appear. They do not have magic or a magic ally and they turn out to be Unwitting Pawns to...
  • Peter Pan, whose plot to sacrifice Henry to secure his own immortality drives the first half of Season Three; he holds no value for love and will gladly give family up for power and he is the first villain with no redeeming characteristics at all. The second half features Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West, who plans to change history and win Rumple's favor. Her plans also involve trying to get loved ones.
  • Season four contrasts the Large Ham of Regina and Zelena with Ingrid, a much more soft-spoken antagonist trying to remake her family (albeit on her terms). Rumple is also a villain throughout this season, acting as a Well-Intentioned Extremist instead of having the more selfish desires of past villains. The second half features a Big Bad Shuffle with Rumpelstiltskin and the Queens of Darkness made from Cruella DeVil, Ursula, and Maleficent. Cruella has no redeeming characteristics at all while Ursula and Maleficent are the standard Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds villains with more legitimate beefs with the heroes. We also have the egotistical Isaac who only thinks of himself and Zelena again (see above).
  • The fifth season initially presents Emma as the main villain, who is motivated entirely by love. The second half features the heroes getting into a conflict with Hades, who manipulates love and even fakes a Heel–Face Turn.
  • Season six opens with another Big Bad Duumvirate, the Ambiguously Evil Mr. Hyde (who is actually the good personality this time) and the Evil Queen. They are quickly overshadowed by Gideon, an incredible Tragic Villain who is a pawn of the Black Fairy, who is willing to destroy all the realms to gain ultimate power.
  • Season seven initially positions Lady Tremaine as the main villain. Like Regina, she creates a town with the Dark Curse where everyone is miserable. Unlike Regina, she lacks innate magic, needing magic items instead, and seeks to gentrify Hyperion Heights and drive the denizens of her realm away from each other instead of keeping them in one place but still separated. Her plans also contrast Peter Pan in that she wants to crush the belief of a young child while Pan wanted to use the strength of Henry's belief to gain power. Furthermore, it's revealed that Tremaine is driven by love for her daughter Anastasia, contrasting both Regina (whom she is very similar to) and the Black Fairy (her immediate predecessor). However, it's soon revealed that her daughter Drizella was responsible for casting the Dark Curse this time, as a way to make Tremaine suffer for abusing her. On top of that, she was working under the guidance Gothel, who leads a group called the Coven of Eight, contrasting most of the other villains, who either operated alone or with a few lackeys.
• Only Murders in the Building:
  • Season 1's killer, Jan Bellows is crazy and unstable and heavily implied to have a history of killing their former lovers once they break up.
  • Season 2's killer, Poppy White is more of a Jerkass Woobie, whose history is fraught with abuse from people in their life. Their murder is entirely unsympathetic, but the character itself is much more of a product of a terrible history rather than a madman for no reason like in the first season.
• Peaky Blinders
  • Series 1. The Shelbys are still a fairly low-level crime family and deal with threats appropriate to their level.
    • Inspector Chester Campbell is initially a Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist working directly under Winston Churchill, who is usually seen as a kind of Historical Domain Character Big Good. He has Knight Templar tendencies from the off and becomes more and more of a genuinely bad guy as the series goes on, mostly as a result of handling a romantic rejection very poorly.
    • Billy Kimber is a crass, dim-witted London Gangster Casanova Wannabe prone to temper tantrums, and all-too-reliant on his Hypercompetent Sidekick. He's very powerful at the start of the series, but it's pretty clear he's never more than a stepping stone in the Shelbys' rise.
  • Series 2. The Shelbys expand into London, but also have to deal with an increasingly unhinged Campbell.
    • Inspector Campbell is more overtly villainous this time around. He's now a bitterly-misogynistic Dirty Cop who does some truly unforgivable things.
    • Derby Sabini is basically what Billy Kimber wants to be. Another London Gangster, he's a lot smarter and more dangerous, and with his fancy nightclubs, he's got the level of prestige that Kimber lacks, but he's still a sleazy, bad-tempered bigot.
    • Alfie Solomons is an occasional enemy/occasional ally of the Shelbys, and the leader of London's Kosher Nostra. He's characterized as the most blue-collar of the various crime boss characters, with a distinctly lower-class accent. He's a little nuts, but undeniably Crazy Is Cool, and a clear fan favourite.
  • Series 3. The Shelbys make their way into high society and must deal with greater evil than they've ever faced.
    • Tatiana Petrovna is a sexy Georgian duchess who fled the Bolshevik revolution with her family and is unique among Blinders villains as the only woman, the only aristocrat, the only continental European, and the only villain that Tommy, the protagonist, has had sex with. She's also a bit of a Magnificent Bastard.
    • Father Hughes is a Sinister Minister Pedophile Priest with strong political connections within the far-right Economic League. Among the show's many villains, he stands out as the absolute worst.
  • Series 4. Weakened and divided, the Shelbys are pursued by the most ruthlessly single-minded threat thus far.
    • Luca Changretta is an Italian-American mafioso, so far the only villain with strong ties to America. And while most rivalries with other mobsters are fights the Shelbys pick in their quest for expansion, here, Luca is the one coming after them, and It's Personal. In fact, his motivation is kind of sympathetic, and, as he points out, he and Tommy have a lot in common: they're both sharp-dressed men who love their families, (though Luca is quick to point out that his suits are nicer), and he promises early on that, no matter how bad the blood feud gets, he will never target the Shelbys' children. Given that Luca is played by a pretty well-known actor, he almost feels like the Hero of Another Story.

• Resurrection: Ertuğrul: Petruchio in the first season is thought-oriented, runs the Catholic Knights Templar, and rarely travels alongside his army.
  • Noyan in season two. Whereas Petruchio is in charge of a large military coalition but has very little battle prowess of his own, Noyan is in charge of the Spiritualist Mongol Empire, is an absolute tank of a human being, and frequently joins his soldiers in battle and fighting alongside them.
  • Simon in season three. Unlike the battle-oriented and terrifying Noyan, Simon is an affluent businessman who uses his mind and finances far more often than his swordplay and his ability to instill fear in others (Not that Simon completely abstains from doing it, though), even so much as trying to instill a positive image in the eyes of most the merchants working there.
  • Vasilius at the end of season 3. Even though both he and Simon are known to be incredible behind-the-scenes schemers and are high on the social hierarchy, Simon's power is backed by business and commerce, while Vasilius gains his power from being the governor.
  • Season 4 has Tekfur Ares, who shapes up to be a worthy successor to Vasilius, but unlike his Muslim-loathing-all-the-way predecessor, Ares ultimately gives up his bigoted ways, converts to Islam, and remains that way for the rest of his life.
  • Season 5 has a couple of notable antagonists: Dragos differs greatly from Ares in that although he becomes a Tekfur after assassinating Yannis and is momentarily given a chance to change for the better after being told about Islam, he remains opposed to the Turks to the bitter end. Alincak could serve as this to Noyan in that while Noyan was respected by Ogedei Khan for his commanding skills, Alincak is constantly berated by Hulagu for his inability to properly lead his soldiers due to his multiple failures against the Turks.
  • In terms of right-hand men, there’s Titus and Tankut (Seasons 1 and 2, respectively). While both men display some form of hostility toward their masters, they occur in far different circumstances and result in different outcomes. In Titus’ case, he’s aware of Petruchio’s inability to fight like most of the men who serve him, giving him the initiative to take the helm and eventually succeeding. Tankut, meanwhile, acts rancorously due to his physical abuse at Noyan’s hands, and while he does form a faction separate from Noyan at one point, Sungurtekin defeats him before he can actually become a powerful leader in his own right.
• The third season of Robin of Sherwood replaced the first two seasons' Baron de Belleme with Gulnar in the role of recurring wizard bad guy. The two characters are almost diametrically opposed. De Belleme is an ice-cool, aristocratic, Hermetic magician who goes toe-to-toe with the heroes throwing battle spells at them, while Gulnar is a giggly, down-at-heel Welsh pagan shaman who tends to rely on summoned or created creatures, and flees rather than engage in personal combat.
• Sherlock:
  • The Big Bad for the first two seasons was, of course, Jim Moriarty. A dark shadow of Sherlock, he was an energetic, eccentric, and easily bored man who turns to crime as a way of entertaining himself. His relationship with Sherlock was one of the most engaging things about him.
  • Both Charles Augustus Magnussen and Culverton Smith served as later contrasts. Both were slimy, serial offending Smug Snakes who took pleasure in using connections to escape punishment. You didn't so much want to see their interplay with Sherlock as you wanted to see Sherlock take them down, hard. This served to highlight Sherlock's Character Development; he'd graduated from only caring about intellectual challenges to actually targeting people who deeply deserved justice.
• Star Trek: Picard: During season 3, Vadic is this to General Chang from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Not only is Vadic played by Amanda Plummer, daughter of Chang's actor, Christopher Plummer, but their characters are both leaders to a Renegade Splinter Faction that refuses to recognize peace with the Federation (Vadic being among the changelings who still harbored animosity after the Dominion War, Chang being among those between both the Federation and the Klingon Empire who opposed peace talks between their worlds). But while Chang is Affably Evil, with a surprising admiration towards Captain Kirk, Vadic is Faux Affably Evil, having overt contempt towards Picard, still angry from suffering Cold-Blooded Torture at the hands of Section 31 during the war.
• Stranger Things: Word of God says that the Mind Flayer was designed this way. While season one's Demogorgon which is a vaguely humanoid creature who was just acting on instinct to feed, the Mind Flayer which is an intelligent being that isn't the least bit human looking with a complex plan to take over our world.
• The main antagonists in HBO's Watchmen TV series are "The Seventh Kavalry", a gang of homegrown white supremacist terrorists who commit crimes out of unapologetic racial hatred. They form a noticeable contrast to Adrian Veidt, the Big Bad of the original graphic novel, who was a wealthy and cultured lone Chessmaster who wanted to save humanity from nuclear armageddon. Notably, the group's members model themselves on Rorschach (now deceased), who was depicted as Veidt's ideological opposite.

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