Basic Trope: The true Big Bad's identity is revealed at the end of the Story Arc.
- Straight: Charlie is revealed to be the Big Bad at the end of the Story Arc.
- Exaggerated: Charlie is revealed to be behind every problem the heroes have faced throughout their entire lives.
- Downplayed: Charlie is only behind the problems of a single episode.
- Justified: Charlie kept his identity hidden to prevent the heroes from coming after him.
- Inverted:
- Hidden Agenda Villain
- Charlie turns out to actually be The Hero's guardian angel.
- Subverted:
- Double Subverted:
- Except that's just what Charlie, the Big Bad, wanted them to think.
- Charlie gets defeated halfway through and reveals he was working for an unknown employer.
- Zig Zagged: Charlie says he's behind all of the problems in the story, but his claims are never confirmed.
- Averted:
- No Antagonist
- Charlie's villainy is out in the open from the very beginning.
- Enforced: "How do we get people to keep watching our show?" "We could keep the Big Bad's identity a secret for most of it."
- Lampshaded: "Charlie was evil? Boy, no one saw that coming!"
- Invoked: Charlie's a Chessmaster who takes great pains to hide his identity from the heroes until his plot has nearly reached fruition- when he lets them discover his identity because their reaction will further his ends.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Charlie dies before the heroes find out about him.
- Discussed: "Who is the Big Bad? Charlie seems like he could be, but I don't know he could be innocent."
- Conversed: "It seems like a lot of villains prefer to remain secret for most of the story."
- Deconstructed:
- The heroes become paranoid that anyone they meet could be the Big Bad.
- A villain chooses to be hidden for a reason. Finding out the reason why a villain does their best to remain hidden will likely hint to their weakness.
- Reconstructed: But they're able to narrow down a list of possible suspects for the Big Bad.
- Implied: The heroes stop the evil plan, but without ever finding out who was behind it. The astutue reader notices that Charlie has been acting suspicious.
Back to Hidden Villain
