Big Bad

A Big Bad is the most prominent, powerful, and dangerous villain in a story, and is often responsible for most of the conflict that drive the plot. If there is a hierarchy of villains, the Big Bad is at the very top of it, and may be in control of most or all of the heroes' other enemies. Sometimes, the Big Bad can work from behind the scenes. However, as long as the most prominent antagonists of a story work for someone who was present all along, or who is setting their course of action, then this someone is the Big Bad.

In some cases, there may be a Bigger Bad, who is more powerful and/or evil than the Big Bad, but is much less involved in the plot and only appears briefly, maintaining the Big Bad as the most prominent and recurring villain in the story. Although sometimes Bigger Bads can act as the final boss of the story.

There are also the case of the Big Bad Duumvirate when two villains of equal importance form a team and share the role, and the Big Bad Ensemble when several villains of equal importance further their goals on their own, usually in a competion. If there is a Villain based Franchise about the Big Bad appearing the most then they are the Big Bad and Villain Protagonist.

IMPORTANT '''A villain can only truly qualify as a Big Bad if the story has multiple antagonists and is of sufficient "scope". In other words, not all stories have a Big Bad, and villains cannot be labeled Big Bads when they are the only antagonist in the story.''' Big Bads can ONLY be also labeled as Bigger Bads when they are involved in spin-offs in which one of their followers/another villain takes the role of Big Bad.

Big Bad Duumvirate and Big Bad Ensemble DO NOT count when these villain are not on equal footing in term of threat and prominence; or when one of these villains is the biggest threat for most of the story.

Video games

 * Chaos in Final Fantasy Dissidia and Final Fantasy Theatrhythm. He can also be considered as the Big Bad of the whole Final Fantasy multiverse, controlling all the respective primary antagonist of each game. The Bigger Bad is Shinryu, the one who caused the cycles of war.
 * Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII and it's sequels with Jenova and Hojo as the Bigger Bads.
 * Bhunivelze is the overall Bigger Bad of Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel and the Big Bad of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII: His actions in the past that drives the entire series - particularly his creation of Lindzei, who would go on to destroy Pulse and make the Cocoon fal'cie.
 * Bowser in the Super Mario Bros. franchise.
 * Kamek in the Yoshi series.
 * Fawful in the Mario & Luigi series. The Dark Star/Dark Bowser is the Bigger Bad.
 * Donkey Kong himself was the Big Bad of the classic games.
 * Captain Syrup in in the Wario series.
 * King Boo in the Luigi's Mansion series.
 * King K. Rool (under various aliases) in the Donkey Kong series.
 * Diablo in the titular video game series.
 * Frank Fontaine in Bioshock.
 * Junko Enoshima/Monokuma in the Danganrompa franchise.
 * Ivo Robotnik in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The Bigger Bad is debatedly Dark Gaia.
 * Eggman Nega in the Sonic Rush series sharing with his ancestor Robotnik and the Sonic Rivals series as the sole Big Bad.
 * Metal Sonic in Sonic Heroes and in Sonic Free Riders.
 * Black Doom in Shadow the Hedgehog and the Bigger Bad of Sonic Adventure 2.
 * Mephiles the Dark/Solaris in Sonic Next-Gen and Sonic Generations.
 * Ganondorf/Ganon in the Legend of Zelda franchise, with Demise as the Bigger Bad.
 * Dr. Wily in the Mega Man franchise. His actions sometimes transcend to other characters, often antagonists, in the spin-off series.
 * Sigma of the Mega Man X series with Lumine as the Bigger Bad.
 * Dr. Weil of the Mega Man Zero series. The Bigger Bad would be Omega, as Dr. Weil seemingly holds him in far higher regard then himself, calling Omega the God of Destruction.
 * Master Albert of the Mega Man ZX series. With Dr. Wile as the Bigger Bad.
 * Dr. Wily's Battle Network counterpart: Lord Wily in the Mega Man Battle Network series.
 * Nefarious in the Ratchet & Clank series.
 * Count Vlad Tepes Dracula in the Castlevania franchise in the original series.
 * Satan in the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow reboot. Dracula in the reboot has become a Anti-Hero than a villain even though Dracula was the villain of the Mirror of Fate.
 * Albert Wesker in the Resident Evil franchise, with Ozwell Edward Spencer as the Bigger Bad.
 * The Red Queen in the film adaptations.
 * Dragonlord the representative Big Bad of the whole Dragon Quest franchise, with Nokturnus acting as the Bigger Bad and leader of the series' villains in Dragon Quest Battle Road Victory.
 * Master Xehanort in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, whose many incarnations serves as the primary antagonist of the game they appear in.
 * King Dedede in the Kirby Series, with Dark Matter as the Bigger Bad.
 * Dr. Neo Cortex in Crash Bandicoot, with Uka Uka as the Bigger Bad.
 * Ripto in the Classic Spyro series.
 * Malefor of The Legend of Spyro.
 * Kaos in the Skylanders reboot.
 * Izanami in the BlazBlue series.
 * That Man in The Guilty Gears Series.
 * Jaquio in Ninja Gaiden.
 * Alma Wade and Genevieve Aristide form a Big Bad Duumvirate in F.E.A.R. with Harlan Wade/The Creep the Bigger Bad.
 * Hades in Kid Icarus, since he caused the events of the series.
 * The A.I. Director from Left for Dead given that he is the spawning of the zombies. Though The Tank is more of this to the survivors.
 * Queen Myrrah in the Gears of War games. The Lambent could be considered as the Bigger Bad.
 * Vladimir Makarov in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, with Imran Zakhaev and General Shepherd as the Bigger Bads.
 * Heihachi Mishima  and Kazuya Mishima/Devil being the Big Bad Ensemble of Tekken. however Heihachi's impact seems to degrece from Tekken 5 and Kazuya is more of a serious villain. The Bigger Bads being  Ogre and Azazel as demonic Final Bosses.
 * Since Soul Edge/Inferno and Soul Calibur/Elysium were proven equally evil, both form a Big Bad Ensemble in the Soul Calibur franchise. Algol, creator of both blades is the Bigger Bad.
 * The Prophet of Truth and the Gravemind in the first Halo trilogy, with the Gravemind also a Bigger Bad.
 * The Didact in the second Halo trilogy.
 * Clockwerk in the Sly Cooper franchise.
 * Zeus in God of War.
 * The God/The Demon/Samael in the Silent Hill Franchise.
 * Erol in Jak & Daxter franchise, with the Dark Leader as the Bigger Bad.
 * Mr. Dark in the Rayman games.
 * Gruntilda in the Banjo&Kazooie games.
 * Andross in Star Fox.
 * Wilfre from Drawn to Life.
 * Andrew Ryan in Bioshock.
 * The Enclave in the Fallout series.
 * Xylan AKA The Corruptor in the Spore-like video game Darkspore. The Bigger Bad would be considered to be Zrin.
 * Mundus, along with his Reboot counterpart in the Devil May Cry franchise. With Argosax the Chaos as a Bigger Bad.
 * Sargeras in the Warcraft universe's background mythology.
 * The Old Gods (C'thun, Yogg-Saron and N'zoth) for the entire World of Warcraft.
 * Kil'jaeden in The Burning Crusade.
 * The Lich King as Arthas in Wrath of the Lich King.
 * Deathwing in Cataclysm.
 * Ridley in the Metroid series. With Mother Brain as the former Big Bad, now the Bigger Bad.
 * Metroid Prime/Dark Samus in the Prime Trilogy.
 * Orochi in King of Fighters.
 * Geese Howard in the Fatal Fury series.
 * Sheltem in the classic Might and Magic games.
 * M. Bison in the Street Fighter series, with Akuma as the Bigger Bad.
 * Gill in the Street Fighter III Series.
 * Seth in the Street Fighter IV Series.
 * Garuda in the Street Fighter EX Series.
 * Shinnok and Onaga in Mortal Kombat. The Bigger Bad is One Being.
 * Shao Kahn is the original Big Bad in the series.
 * Natla in the Tomb Raider games.
 * The Combine in the Half Life series, especially the Advisors.
 * GLaDOS in P0RTAL. While Cave Johnson could be considered as the Bigger Bad due to his multiple personalities.
 * Although she only made one appearance Katherine Marlowe can be considered the Big Bad of the Uncharted franchise.
 * The Harbinger in Mass Effect with The Illusive Man in a Big Bad Ensemble, and The Catalyst and The Leviathans as the Bigger Bads.
 * Warren Vidic in the Assasin's Creed series, with Juno as the Bigger Bad.
 * Iris Sepperin in Rosenkreuzstilette.
 * Scolar Visari in The Killzone Series. However,  Stahl seems to be shaping up to be this.
 * Master Hand in Super Smash Bros. Later on, he and Crazy Hand form a Big Bad Duumvirate. Tabuu is the Bigger Bad.
 * Giygas and Porky form a Big Bad Ensemble in Earthbound.
 * Lord Recluse of City of Heroes is not the only evil game-in-town and certainly not the most powerful; But his constant dedication to evil made him the guiding-hand of players that decided to play as villains which made him into the most consistent and competent big name threat and easily cemented him into the game's Big Bad status.
 * Jean Descole in the Professor Layton series, with the Voice of the Azran as the Bigger Bad.
 * In the manga spin-offs, Don Paolo, the primary antagonist fo the first trilogy, is the Big Bad, with Dimitri Allen as the Bigger Bad.
 * A Big Bad Ensemble of Manfred von Karma (with Bansai Ichiyanagi as the Bigger Bad) and Dahlia Hawthorne (with Morgan Fey as the Bigger Bad) in Ace Attorney.
 * In Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the crossover of both series, the Story Teller acts as the Big Bad, with High Inquisitor Darklaw as the Bigger Bad.
 * Superman is the big bad from the Injustice series. The Bigger Bads are Darkseid and Trigon.
 * Tau Volantis Moon   and others Brother moons are Big Bads from Dead Space series.

Novels

 * Sauron, Morgoth's former lieutenant, is the Big Bad of The Lord of the Rings franchise.
 * Morgoth in The Silmarillion, being also the Bigger Bad of the entire Middle Earth universe.
 * Professor Moriarty in the Sherlock Holmes stories, especially in the latter adaptation.
 * The Cthulhu Mythos has the titular Cthulhu (the most famous of the many Eldrich Abominations of the series) and Nyarlathotep (the most reccuring and most active) forming a Big Bad Ensemble. Azathoth and Yog-Sothoth being the most powerful serve as possible Bigger Bads.
 * Randall Flagg in Stephen King's multiverse, with the Crimson King as the Bigger Bad.
 * The Crimson King himself becomes the Big Bad in King's central work The Dark Tower.
 * Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series.
 * Superior Saturday in the The Keys to the Kingdom series, especially in the sixth book. Lord Sunday could be considered the Bigger Bad.
 * Esplin 9466 in the original Animorphs, with Crayak as the Bigger Bad.
 * Opal Koboi in the Artemis Fowl series.
 * President Snow in the Hunger Games trilogy. Alma Coin could be considered the Bigger Bad.
 * The Authority in the His Dark Materials trilogy, with his treacherous lieutenant Metatron as the Bigger Bad.
 * Kronos in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books, with Gaea as a Bigger Bad.
 * Aro Volturi in the Twilight Saga.
 * Jadis the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia (emphasized in the film adaptations), whith the Calormene god Tash as a possible Bigger Bad.
 * Mevolent in the Skulduggery Pleasant series, wit the Faceless Ones as the Bigger Bads.
 * The Gaiaphage in the Gone series, though Caine begins as the Big Bad.
 * The Shadow Lord in Quest for Deltora.
 * The Nome King in the Wizard of Oz novels and a few adaptations; though it's the Wicked Witch of the West who is the most recognizable villain.
 * The Old Kingdom had Orannis the Destroyer.
 * Xayide in The Neverending Story.

Films

 * Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars.
 * In the Expanded Universe Darth Nihilus, The Son, Darth Vitiate, and Marka Ragnos are the Bigger Bads.
 * Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers series with Goldmember as the Bigger Bad.
 * Pinhead in Hellraiser, with Leviathan as the Bigger Bad.
 * Drayton Sawyer in  The Texas Chainsaw Massacre andLuda Mae Hewittin the remake and its prequel. Despite being the most iconic villain in the series, Leatherface takes orders from his senior family members; the Bigger Bad being Grandpa Sawyer.
 * Lord Cutler Beckett in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
 * Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond franchise.
 * There is a Big Bad Ensemble between Viktor and Marcus Corvinus in the Underworld series.
 * John Kramer in the Saw series, with Mark Hoffman taking over after Kramer's death though Kramer is the Bigger Bad posthumously.
 * John Kreese in The Karate Kid series.
 * King Ghidorah in many of the Godzilla films.
 * Ghostface in the Scream series since the antagonists take on the identity, but Roman Bridger stick out.
 * Ricky Chapman in the Silent Night, Deadly Night films with his brother, Billy, as the Bigger Bad.
 * The Ginger Snaps Trilogy has a Big Bad Ensemble between the titular Ginger and Ghost.
 * Hans Gruber can be seen as this in the Die Hard films; despite only appearing and dying in the first film, as he is arguably the more memorable villain in the series.
 * OCP in RoboCop.
 * Mary Lou Maloney can be seen as this in the Prom Night movies as she is the most powerful and only reccuring villain in the series.
 * HYDRA for the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, with the Other and most importantly Thanos as the Bigger Bads.

Television

 * The First Evil can be seen as the Big Bad of the entire Buffy-verse, as it is the embodiment of evil itself. However, it was not revealed until very late in the story..
 * The Buffy spinoff Angel has the Senior Partners as the Big Bads.
 * Dark Specter is arguably this for the entire Power Rangers franchise.
 * Rita Repulsa on Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers; the Bigger Bad is considered to be Lord Zedd.
 * Lucifer on Supernatural.
 * Rufus Zeno in the first two seasons of House of Anubis; after Zeno's death, Robert Frobisher-Smythe takes the role. The Bigger Bads would be Senkhara and Ammut.
 * Megan Parker on Drake and Josh.
 * Nevel Papperman on iCarly.
 * The Governor, and later Negan, on The Walking Dead.
 * George Hawk from Big Time Rush, with Atticus Moon as the Bigger Bad.
 * Gus on The Troop.
 * Gorog on Wizards of Waverly Place.
 * Kaita on Pair of Kings.
 * Jesse on My Babysitter is a Vampire.
 * Sensei Ty on Kickin' It.
 * Susan Skidmore on A.N.T Farm.
 * Rhoda Chesterfield (for a while) on Jessie. Darla somewhat acted as the Bigger Bad.
 * Douglas Davenport on Lab Rats; Victor Krane is the Bigger Bad.
 * Khan Noonien Singh on Star Trek: The Original Series.
 * Gul Dukat on Deep Space Nine, with the Pah-Wraiths as the Bigger Bads.
 * Borg Queen on Voyager.
 * The Werewolf Syndicite on Big Wolf on Campus.
 * The Vampire Diaries had Niklaus "Klaus" Mikaelson, as he always directly or indirectly involved in all the storyines. However, since Klaus appears to be on the verge of redemption in recent episodes, Silas is shaping up to be this, being the true original vampire.
 * Esther is shaping up to be the Big Bad of The Originals, after previously being the Bigger Bad of The Vampire Diaries.
 * Harry Grout on Poridge.
 * The Cigarette-Smoking Man on The X-Files. The Colonists might be considered a Bigger Bad.
 * A Big Bad ensemble of The Master and the Daleks on Doctor Who, with Davros as the Daleks' Bigger Bad and Rassilon as The Master's Bigger Bad.
 * In the spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, The Trickster acts as the Big Bad.
 * Abaddon (with the Beast as the Bigger Bad) is the Big Bad on Torchwood.
 * As the most powerful and dangerous being in existance, Sutekh could be considered the Bigger Bad for the entire universe.
 * Fenric could be considered a Big Bad for the Seventh Doctor's era.
 * The Silence seem to be this for the Eleventh Doctor's era.
 * Son Hyuk from ATHENA:Goodness of War.
 * The Source of All Evil on Charmed as it's, as it's name says, where all evil comes from in the series' universe.
 * Red John on The Mentalist.
 * Breaking Bad had Gustavo Fring, but after his death, Jack Welker takes over the role.
 * Gerard Argent arugably qualifies for Teen Wolf, as he is responsible for the motives and origins of the other villains on the show.
 * Tywin Lannister on Game of Thrones.
 * Dian Lamitan on Amaya, with Malandok as the Bigger Bad.
 * Moloch on Sleepy Hollow.
 * Lois Wilkerson and Reese (Malcolm In The Middle)on Malcolm In The Middle , with Ida Kenzel as the Bigger Bad.
 * Ren Stevens on Even Stevens.

Western Animation

 * Count Dooku in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, with Darth Sidious  and the Son as the Bigger Bads.
 * The Shredder in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles  series, under variable aspects following the versions but often in a Big Bad Duumvirate with Krang.
 * Slade in Teen Titans, with Trigon as the Bigger Bad.
 * The Light in Young Justice.
 * Atrocitus in the Green Lantern Series.
 * Robotnik n Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
 * Likewise, the more sinister version of Dr. Robotnik in the 1993 animated series thought Ixis Naugus who have taken the role had the series not been canceled.
 * Ivo Robotnik in Sonic Underground.
 * Ivo Robotnik in Sonic Boom.
 * Megatron in the Transformers franchise, after his death he is reincarnated/evolved as Galvatron who takes the role. The Bigger Bad would be Unicron.
 * Tirek in the original My Little Pony. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic does not have a Big Bad but many Arc Villains.
 * Sunset Shimmer in My Little Pony: Equestria Girls.
 * Nergal on The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy with Boogey Man serving as the Bigger Bad.
 * Aku on Samurai Jack.
 * Dan from Dan Vs. with Imposter Dan as the Bigger Bad.
 * Mandark on Dexter's Laboratory.
 * Mojo Jojo from The Powerpuff Girls. HIM serves as the Bigger Bad.
 * Vilgax in the Ben 10 franchise as a whole. The Bigger Bad would be Diagon, although a rare example of a Bigger Bad defeated by the Big Bad.
 * Professor Pericles on Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated. Fought in the first season, he was in a Big Bad Ensemble with Mayor Jones due to him being the true mastermind behind the plot and later in Season 2 Pericles is in a Big Bad Duumvirate with Mr. E. The Bigger Bad is The Evil Entity.
 * Father on Codename: Kids Next Door. A good example of the Bigger Bad would be Grandfather.
 * The Ice King on Adventure Time, with The Lich as the Bigger Bad. Though, this seems to have flipsided as the Lich is shaping up to be the Big Bad.
 * The Kanker Sisters on Ed, Edd & Eddy, with Eddy's Brother as the Bigger Bad.
 * Van Kleiss on Generator Rex. The Bigger Bad would be Consortium.
 * Di Lung, Katz, and Le Quack from Courage the Cowardly Dog.
 * Miss Censordoll on Morel Orel.
 * Firelord Ozai on Avatar: The Last Airbender. The Bigger Bad would be his ancestor Firelord Sozin since he caused the war.
 * Vaatu In The Legend of Korra, being also the Bigger Bad of the The Last Airbender universe as a whole.
 * Vlad Masters/Vlad Plasmius on Danny Phantom. Pariah Dark is the Bigger Bad.
 * Finbarr Calamitous on Jimmy Neutron.
 * Sheldon James Plankton on Spongebob Squarepants. With The Flying Dutchman as the Bigger Bad.
 * Fairly Odd Parents has a Big Bad Ensemble between Denzel Crocker, Vicky, and Anti-Cosmo.
 * The Almighty Tallests on Invader Zim.
 * Cheif and Lok form a Big Bad Ensemble in Tak and the Power of Juju
 * Rancid Rabbit on CatDog.
 * The Sorcerer on Randy Cunningham.
 * 'Lil Gideon on Gravity Falls. However as the most powerful being, Bill Cipher probably counts as the Bigger Bad.
 * The Huntsman on American Dragon: Jake Long with Dark Dragon as the Bigger Bad.
 * Heinz Doofenshmirtz on Phineas and Ferb, with Aloyse von Roddenstein and Mitch as the Bigger Bads.
 * Kim Possible has a Big Bad Ensemble with Dr. Drakken and Monkey Fist.
 * NegaDuck on Darkwing Duck, with Taurus Bulba as the Bigger Bad.
 * Diesel 10 on Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Misty Island Rescue and Day of the Diesels. Well as Diesel, in Thomas and Friends, Spencer in Hero of the Rails, and George the Steamroller in Steamroller.
 * Chris McLean on the Total Drama series. From the third season foward, Ezekiel can be considered the show's Bigger Bad.
 * The Hacker on Cyberchase. Though, Ledge would be the Bigger Bad.
 * Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.
 * Futurama has a Big Bad Ensemble between Mom and Richard Nixon.
 * Though one of the main characters, Eric Cartman can be established as the Big Bad in South Park, given that he is the most frequent (and often the most dangerous) foil faced by the protagonists. In South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Saddam Hussein is the Big Bad.
 * Even though each season has it's own main villain, Shendu is definitely the Big Bad in Jackie Chan Adventures.
 * Senator Skull in TWF while Bucks Gazillion acts as a Bigger Bad.
 * Family Guy intially has Stewie Griffin, but over time, he became less evil and Carter Pewterschmidt eventually took the role. Ironically, Carter also became more comical and light-hearted when he took the role.
 * No Heart to the Care Bears with the Evil Spirit and Dark Heart, antagonists of the first two films, acting as the Bigger Bads.
 * Grizzle in the updated version.
 * Duke Sigmund Igthorn to the Gummi Bears.
 * Pete is arguably the Big Bad of Mickey Mouse's section of the Disney universe.
 * The Phantom Blot is a strong candidate too, particularly in the comics.
 * Skeletor in the Masters of the Universe cartoons (and other media as well). Hordak is the Big Bad in Shera, with Horde Prime the Bigger Bad.
 * The Venture Bros has an Big Bad Ensemble of Phantom Limb and The Monarch, but Phantom Limb is more evil and competent. The Sovereign is the Bigger Bad as he is the leader of the Guild of Calamatous Intent.
 * Barry Dylan gradually became this in Archer. Katya Kasanova later takes the role and Barry became a dragon instead.
 * Xiaolin Showdown has a Big Bad Ensemble of Chase Young, Wuya and Hannibal Roy Bean.
 * The sequal has Chase Young as the antagonist with him taking center stage and Wuya is still competing with him.
 * The Overlord on Ninjago.
 * Ed Wuncler, Sr. on The Boondocks with Colonel H. Stinkmeaner as the Bigger Bad.
 * Originally Lord Betrayus in Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, but later revealed to be Apex as he has an even more important part of the plot than Betrayus.
 * Major Nixel in the Mixels franchise.

Manga/Anime

 * The God Hand from Berserk are the ringleaders of the Apostles and four of the previous members are responsible for Griffith becoming Femto.
 * The Idea of Evil is the Bigger Bad to the God Hand's Big Bad.
 * Emperor Charles zi Britannia and his son, Prince Schneizel El Britannia form a Big Bad Ensemble in Code Geass.
 * Ivo Robotnik and later Dark Oak in Sonic X.
 * Frieza in the entire Dragon Ball series since he indirectly caused the events of the series, and the series was to originally ended on Namek after his defeat. His DNA was also used to create Cell. He is also the most recurring villain in the franchise and main villain of most video games. Beerus could be seen as a Bigger Bad, but he is not a true villain.
 * King Piccolo/Piccolo  would be considered the Big Bad for the classic Dragon Ball series, as he controlled one of the previous major villains and had the most Sagas associated with him.
 * Baby in Dragon Ball GT as his role in the series parallels Frieza's. Syn Shenron is the Bigger Bad.
 * Naraku in Inuyasha.
 * Dio Brando/Diego Brando, the first and foremost villain of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventures manga, who influences the entire plot, even when not in charge or after his definite demise. Kars is the Bigger Bad.
 * Funny Valentine in Part 7:Steel Ball Run.Diego "Dio" Brando was working for him.
 * Undertaker is shaping up to this in the Black Butler Manga.
 * Angela Blanc and Ash Landers form a Big Bad Duumvirate in the Black Butler Anime.
 * Light Yagami in Death Note, unusually since he's the protagonist, with Ryuk and the Shingami King as the Bigger Bads.
 * Father in Fullmetal Alchemist.
 * Dante plays the role in the first anime series.
 * Tobi and Madara Uchiha form a Big Bad Duumvirate in the Naruto franchise, Tobi enacting the plan that Madara devised. Kaguya Otsutsuki and her enforcer Zetsu serve as the Bigger Bads and final antagonists.
 * Most likely Marshall D. Teach in One Piece, although currently he is in an Ensemble with Akainu. Which one is the biggest evil of the two has yet to be revealed. The Bigger Bads are the Five Star Elders and Kaido.
 * Ragyo Kiryuin in Kill La Kill.
 * Asura can be considered as the Big Bad in Soul Eater, being the most prominent, powerful and dangerous villain of the series.
 * Rinichiro Hagire in Deadman Wonderland.
 * Zeref in Fairy Tail, with Acnologia as the Bigger Bad.
 * Sōsuke Aizen and later Yhwach, who also counts as a Bigger Bad, in the Bleach franchise.
 * Alucard in Rosario+Vampire.
 * The Major in the Hellsing manga and OVA series.
 * Incognito in the anime adaptation.
 * The Black King in Drifters with Easy as the Bigger Bad.
 * The Mage of the Beginning in Negima! Magister Negi Magi.
 * Ruby Eye Shabranigdo for the whole Slayers franchise.
 * Zorc Necrophades, mostly acting through his avatar Yami Bakura, in Yu Gi Oh!.
 * Nightshroud in the Yu-GiOh! GX anime. Tragoedia in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga.
 * Z-ONE in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds.
 * Creed Diskenth in Black Cat.
 * Vearn in Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. Although equal in power and influence, Velther counts as the Bigger Bad.
 * The Millennium Earl in the D.Gray-man franchise however he is in a Big Bad Ensemble against Nea Walker the 14th who is trying to take over his host Allen the protagonist and the Apocryphos The "Third side of War" as well as a living innocence, so far he's losing ground to both of them.
 * Bernkastel and Lambdadelta form a Big Bad Ensemble in Umineko, restarting time in every game and playing Beatrice (who seemed at first to be the Big Bad). Featherine Augustus Aurora is the true Bigger Bad.
 * Miyo Takano in Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni and Kai. Though, Tokyo and Nomura would be the Bigger Bads.
 * Brian J. Mason throughout the entire Bubblegum Crisis series, with Quincy as the Bigger Bad in the first series and Galatea as the Bigger Bad in the 2040 series.
 * The closest thing Puella Magi Madoka Magica has to a Big Bad is Kyubey, who hides facts from the Magical Girls and does not care about mankind.
 * Roa/SHIKI in Tsukihime.
 * The Night of Wallachia, then White Len, in Melty Blood. It's taken over by the Dust of Osiris in Actress Again.
 * Kotomine and Gilgamesh in Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero.
 * In Heaven's Feel, the Big Bad is Zouken Matou, although both Kotomine and Dark Sakura could also be seen as this.
 * Souren Araya in Kara no Kyoukai. Notably, he was confronted about halfway through the series and never heard from again.
 * Myotismon in Digimon Adventure and its continuation Digimon Adventure 02. Apocalymon counts as the Bigger Bad in Digimon Adventure.
 * D-Reaper in Digimon Tamers.
 * Lucemon in Digimon Frontier.
 * Akihiro Kurata in Digimon Data Squad
 * Quartzmon in Digimon Fusion.
 * Moo in Monster Rancher.
 * The Swamp Witch in the Queen's Blade series.
 * The Beast Titan is shaping up to be this for Attack on Titan.
 * King Dedede in Kirby: Right Back At Ya! sends monsters after Kirby in nearly every episode. The evil entity whom he buys the monsters from, Nightmare, is the Bigger Bad.
 * The Pretty Cure series, as it spanned for various iterations, have a lot of these:
 * The Dark King of the Dusk Zone in Futari wa Pretty Cure and its sequel Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart.
 * Go Hojo in Initial D. He's using other teams throughout Kanto (from the Myogi NightKids to Sidewinder; excluding the Akagi RedSuns, Akina SpeedStars, Impact Blue, Kyoko Iwase of the Northern Saitama Alliance, or Shinji Inui; but also including the Imposter Project D and his own older brother Rin) to defeat Project D, Takumi Fujiwara, or Keisuke or Ryosuke Takahashi in a race, all of whom are defeated by the likes of Project D.
 * Director Kakuzawa in Elfen Lied, with the bullies, led by Tomoo as the Bigger Bad since they are the cause of Lucy's demise.

DC

 * Darkseid to the entire DC universe The Bigger Bads being Nekron, Krona, and Yuga Khan.
 * Lex Luthor to Superman with the aforementioned Darkseid as the Bigger Bad.
 * Alexander Luthor, Jr. forms a Big Bad Ensemble with Superboy-Prime and Brother Eye in Infinte Crisis.
 * General Zod in Last Son and New Krypton.
 * Imperiex in the Worlds of War crossover.
 * Brainiac to Supergirl.
 * The Joker to Batman, with Ra's al Ghul as the Bigger Bad.
 * Derek Powers to Batman Beyond.
 * Black Mask to Catwoman.
 * Blockbuster II and Saiko form a Big Bad Enseble in the Nightwing spin-off series.
 * Bane in Knightfall.
 * Ares to Wonder Woman.
 * Circe as well in Amazons Attack and Battle of the Gods.
 * Doctor Sivana to Shazam.
 * Deathstroke to The Titans with Trigon as the Bigger Bad.
 * Black Manta to Aquaman.
 * Sinestro to the Green Lanterns with Anti-Monitor as the Bigger bad.
 * Parallax to The Spectre.
 * The Manhunters in the Millennium crossover.
 * Volthoom in The Rise of the Third Army and first Lantern Crossover.
 * The Guardians of the Universe in The Rise of the Third Army crossover and the events leading up to it.
 * Atrocitus in Rage of the Red Lanterns.
 * Vandal Savage to the Justice League.
 * Ozymandias in Watchmen.
 * The Time Trapper and Mordru in Legion of Superheroes.
 * Tharok in the comics and Emerald Empress in the adaption for the Fatal Five as thier the most frequent enemy.
 * Glorith of Glorithverse.
 * Praetor Lemnos in Threebootverse.
 * Cosmic King in Silver Age, as the leader of the leagues of super-villains that are involved in the stories.
 * Despero to Martian Manhunter.
 * Killer Frost to FireStorm.
 * Professor Zoom to Flash as well as Flashpoint.
 * The Brain to the Doom Patrol.
 * General Wade Eiling to Captain Atom.
 * Queen Bee in Justice League Europe and with The Light.
 * Quentin Turnbull to Jonah Hex.
 * Wotan to Doctor Fate, although in a Big Bad Ensemble with Klarion the Witch Boy and The Light.
 * Merlyn the Archer to Green Arrow.
 * Anton Arcane to Swamp Thing.
 * Mr. Thunderbolt to Robby Reed.
 * Ebon to Static.
 * Lucifer Morinngstar to The Sandman.
 * The Negotiator leader of The Reach to Blue Beatle.
 * Mr. Starr and Lyrl Dox to The L.E.G.I.O.N.
 * Cheshire to The Secret Six.
 * Argh!Yle! to Ambush Bug.
 * Eclipso from the titular series and the Darkness Within.
 * Neron in Underworld Unleashed and one crossover.
 * The Centre in the New Frontier.
 * Hath-Set in Hawkman.
 * Byth Rok to Kater and Shyera.
 * The Dominators in the invasion crossover.
 * Ex Nihilo to Nelson Jent
 * The IU7 to Zeta
 * The Master to Chris King and Vicki Grant.
 * The Crime Syndicate in the Forever Evil series form a Big Bad Ensemble with Blight. Alexander Luthor, Sr. and the Anti-Monitor are the Bigger Bads.

Marvel

 * Galactus, Doctor Doom and Thanos to the entire Marvel universe, the Bigger Bads being Shuma-Gorath, Lady Death and Oblivion
 * Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin to Spider-Man.
 * Carnage to Venom.
 * Magneto and later Apocalypse to the X-Men, with Sublime and the Celestials as the Bigger Bads.
 * Elias Bogan in X-Treme X-Men.
 * Mystique to Ms. Marvel.
 * Sabretooth to Wolverine.
 * Quicksilver in House of M.
 * Scarlet Witch after being corrupted by the life force in Avengers Diassembled.
 * The Adversary in Fall of the Mutants.
 * Stryfe to the X-Force.
 * Cameron Hodge to X-factor.
 * The Fury to Excalibur.
 * Black Swan to Deadpool.
 * Master Mold in Wolverine and the X-Men.
 * Red Skull to Captain America.
 * Loki to Thor with Surtur as the Bigger Bad.
 * Mandarin to Iron Man.
 * The Leader to Hulk.
 * Miek in World War Hulk.
 * Mephisto to Ghost Rider.
 * Kingpin to Daredevil.
 * Doctor Doom to the Fantastic Four with Galactus as the Bigger Bad.
 * Dormammu to Doctor Strange with Chthon as the Bigger Bad.
 * Ultron to Hank Pym and the Avengers.
 * The Hood to The New Avengers.
 * Dark Phoenix or rather the Phoenix Force in the Crossover Avengers vs X-men when using Cyclops.
 * Baron Von Strucker to Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Klaw to Black Panther.
 * Jigsaw to Punisher.
 * Onslaught in the titular crossovers.
 * Dracula to Blade.
 * Beyonder in Secret Wars.
 * Attuma to Namor.
 * Titania to She-Hulk.
 * Kirigi to Elektra.
 * Magus to Adam Warlock.
 * Maelstrom to Quasar.
 * Amatsu-Mikaboshi to Hercules and Ares in the last series.
 * The Many-Angled Ones in the Thanos crossover.
 * The Goddess in The Infinity War.
 * The Serpent in Fear Itself.
 * Empress Veranke in Secret invasion.
 * Geoffery Wilder in Runaways with Gibborim as the Bigger Bad.
 * Modok in Fall of the Hulks and Leader of Intelligencia.
 * Immortus in the Crossing.
 * The High Evolutionary in the Evolutionary war and Spider-man unltimated series
 * Purple Man to Jessica Jones.
 * Chemistro to Luke Cage.
 * Steel Serpent to Iron Fist.

Other

 * Mammon in Spawn. God and Satan are the Bigger Bads.
 * Noah Adam Mahn to the Extinctioners.
 * Judge Death to Judge Dredd.
 * Gideon Graves in the Scott Pilgrim series.
 * Lu-sho from Foldabots.
 * Chef Piggy in Cooking with Chef Piggy.
 * The Lord of the Locusts in the graphic novels Bone,both its  prequels and sequels.
 * Dr Eggman /Dr. Ivo Robotinik/Robotink Prime  in the Sonic comics.
 * Dimitri the original Enerjak orginally in the Knuckles Spin-off series.
 * Doctor Finitevus in Enerjak Reborn and Bigger Bad to Dmitri.

European comics

 * Rastapopoulos in The Adventures of Tintin.
 * Julius Caesar to Asterix.
 * Darkhell in Les Légendaires (The Legendaries), with Anathos as the Bigger Bad.

Webcomics and web-films

 * Nazo in the Sonic: Nazo series.
 * Count Vile in the Press Start movies and YouTube videos.
 * Xykon in the Order of the Stick webcomic.
 * Drip Tiberius Rat in Jack, with Satan as the Bigger Bad.
 * Destioss in Positoss, with The Shadow as the Bigger Bad.
 * The Auditor in Madness Combat.
 * HABIT in EverymanHybrid, with Slender Man as the Bigger Bad.
 * Patrick Andersen in MLandersen0, with Slender Man as the Bigger Bad.
 * Alex Kralie in MarbleHornets, with The Operator as the Bigger Bad.
 * The Observer in TribeTwelve, with Slender Man as the Bigger Bad.
 * The Devil in the webcomic Sinfest.
 * Count Sigeeyai on the Fellow in the Coat website.

Religion and mythology

 * The Devil in the Bible and the Christian Religion in general.
 * God in the Maltheism current.
 * Iblis in the Muslim religion.
 * Cronus in Greek/Roman mythology. The Bigger Bad would Gaia.
 * Loki was originally a Trickster God. But as time went on, he was eventually regarded as the Big Bad of Norse Mythology, responsible of the Apocalyptic battle of Ragnarok. The Bigger Bad would be Niohoggr.
 * Apep/Apophis in the original Egypian Mythology. As time went on, as more and more invaders came from the desert, the Desert God Set took his place as the Big Bad.
 * Izanami no Mikoto in Japanese Mythology with Amatsu-Mikabushi as the Bigger Bad.