Tropescilloscope: Big Bad

The ultimate villain of the story, who's causing the problem the heroes must solve. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Russian Films I Did What I Had to Do Heel Realization Let's Get Dangerous! Revenge The '60s Bury Your Gays Bloodless Carnage You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Every Car Is a Pinto Captain Obvious There Is No Kill Like Overkill Wham Line Setting Update Slashed Throat Obstructive Bureaucrat Precision F-Strike Market-Based Title Plot Hole Adaptation Name Change Shout-Out Artistic License – Physics Villain Protagonist The Alleged Car Ass Shove Mistaken for Gay Light Is Not Good Title Drop Five-Man Band Fun with Acronyms Police Brutality Curb-Stomp Battle Have a Gay Old Time Mythology Gag My God, What Have I Done? Improbable Weapon User Heroic BSoD Instant Death Bullet Eiffel Tower Effect Martial Arts Movie Worthy Opponent Crapsack World Does This Remind You of Anything? Celebrity Paradox Disney Death Manic Pixie Dream Girl Only a Flesh Wound Death by Sex In the Back Humans Are Bastards Cool Shades The Smurfette Principle Meaningful Name Fanservice Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Early-Bird Cameo The X of Y Continuity Nod Pragmatic Adaptation Sci-Fi Horror Intergenerational Friendship Green-Eyed Monster Cluster F-Bomb Fate Worse than Death Needs Wiki Magic Love Wicked Cultured Fantasy Films It Will Never Catch On Crazy-Prepared Everyone Has Standards Self-Deprecation Coming-of-Age Story Ripped from the Headlines My Beloved Smother A Date with Rosie Palms Made of Iron Body Horror Diabolus ex Machina Not What It Looks Like The Load Meaningful Background Event Those Two Bad Guys Exactly What It Says on the Tin Gone Horribly Right Danny Peary Cult Movies List No-Sell The Hero Dies Jitter Cam Ironic Echo Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Drowning My Sorrows Slasher Movie Killed Mid-Sentence Would Hit a Girl All Just a Dream Visual Pun Cool Old Lady Loads and Loads of Characters Politically Incorrect Villain Henpecked Husband Death of a Child Black Best Friend Dull Surprise Tranquil Fury Outrun the Fireball Brick Joke folderlabel Four-Temperament Ensemble In Medias Res Heroes Want Redheads The Reveal Dark Is Not Evil Antagonist Title Beard of Evil Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Calling the Old Man Out Serial Killer Logo Joke Adaptational Villainy The Dog Bites Back Beware the Nice Ones An Arm and a Leg Affably Evil Same Language Dub German Films Superhero Bittersweet Ending Science Fiction Films Hate Sink Chase Scene Insane Troll Logic The Dreaded Adult Fear Hooker with a Heart of Gold Storming the Castle Animal Title Index Car Fu Shirtless Scene Gainax Ending More Dakka Jerk with a Heart of Gold Dies Wide Open She's Got Legs Demonic Possession Manipulative Bastard The Lost Lenore Vitriolic Best Buds Cassandra Truth Neck Snap Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Bring My Brown Pants Fantastic Racism The Chessmaster Heel–Face Turn A Father to His Men A.I. Is a Crapshoot Guns Akimbo Jerkass Has a Point Dramatic Irony Karma Houdini Star-Crossed Lovers Crazy Jealous Guy Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Bunny-Ears Lawyer Cruel and Unusual Death One Steve Limit Motor Mouth Awesome, but Impractical Reckless Gun Usage Face–Heel Turn Rape as Drama Character Development Mood Whiplash Eye Scream Spell My Name with an "S" '80s Hair Depraved Bisexual Mooks The Voiceless Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Badass Longcoat Distracted by the Sexy Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Earn Your Happy Ending Up to Eleven Fourth Date Marriage Thriller Pyrrhic Victory Say My Name Bi the Way Genre Shift Actor Allusion Handicapped Badass Vampire Fiction Adorkable Kubrick Stare Evil-Detecting Dog Grey and Gray Morality Tempting Fate Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Death Seeker As Long as It Sounds Foreign The Starscream Villain with Good Publicity Time Skip The Casanova Evil Is Hammy Hell Is That Noise Zombie Stories Crucified Hero Shot Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Fat Bastard Alliterative Name Rule of Three Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Vacation Films Sinister Minister Anyone Can Die The Hero Meet Cute Does Not Like Shoes The Musical Happily Married Femme Fatale Despair Event Horizon Knight Templar Domestic Abuse Eldritch Abomination What Happened to the Mouse? Big Bad Duumvirate Call-Back Department of Redundancy Department Country Matters Mr. Exposition Determinator aka: The Determinator Rewatch Bonus Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Camp Gay The Smart Guy Evil Laugh Obviously Evil Knife Nut Creative Closing Credits Badass Normal Action Survivor Half the Man He Used to Be From Bad to Worse Scenery Gorn Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Sealed Evil in a Can Big Bad Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Novelization Abusive Parents Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Dramatic Gun Cock Contrived Coincidence Red Eyes, Take Warning Facial Horror Casting Gag Manly Tears Funny Foreigner Enemy Mine Action Genre Suspiciously Similar Substitute The Ace Apocalypse How Dark Action Girl Accidental Misnaming Unspoken Plan Guarantee Bavarian Fire Drill Super Strength Asshole Victim Bullying a Dragon Offscreen Teleportation Parental Substitute Scare Chord Ship Tease Roaring Rampage of Revenge Match Cut Cool Old Guy Left the Background Music On Poor Communication Kills All for Nothing Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie The Lancer Woman in White Epic Fail Blood from the Mouth Disguised in Drag Dwindling Party Male Gaze Our Zombies Are Different Evil Sounds Deep Boom, Headshot! Redemption Equals Death Empathic Environment Offscreen Moment of Awesome Not So Stoic Action Girl Bloodier and Gorier Made of Explodium Nice Hat Improbable Aiming Skills Foreshadowing And the Adventure Continues Destination Defenestration Pretty in Mink Leitmotif Deus ex Machina The Remake Extreme Doormat Catapult Nightmare Random Events Plot Pre-Asskicking One-Liner N-Word Privileges Alas, Poor Villain Sacrificial Lion Epic Movie Here We Go Again! Take That! Rasputinian Death Pimped-Out Dress Shoot the Shaggy Dog One-Man Army He Knows Too Much No Name Given Major Injury Underreaction Dark Reprise Kick the Son of a Bitch Race Against the Clock The Chick Big Applesauce Sequel Hook Cool Car Jump Scare Idiot Ball Kick the Dog Too Dumb to Live Undying Loyalty And I Must Scream Reality Ensues Big Eater Missing Mom As You Know Horror Comedy I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Action Prologue Sir Swears-a-Lot Punctuated! For! Emphasis! "Well Done, Son!" Guy "Shaggy Dog" Story The Cavalry Overprotective Dad Parental Abandonment Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Composite Character Fan Disservice Hero Antagonist Translation Convention Daylight Horror Insult Backfire Cat Scare Berserk Button Token Minority Noodle Incident Villain Ball Friend to All Children As Himself Room Full of Crazy Canadian Movies Villainous Breakdown Put on a Bus Almost Kiss Developing Doomed Characters Reasonable Authority Figure Very Loosely Based on a True Story Not Using the "Z" Word Maybe Ever After I Have Your Wife Loophole Abuse Hair-Trigger Temper Malevolent Masked Men Armor-Piercing Question Stealth Hi/Bye Jerk Jock Morality Pet Film Noir Off with His Head! Fatal Family Photo Sports Stories Evil Counterpart Music Stories Disproportionate Retribution The Film of the Book Mind Screw Beauty Is Never Tarnished Daddy's Girl The Cameo Bolivian Army Ending Artistic License – Gun Safety Evil Brit Final Girl Pragmatic Villainy Not So Different Evil Cannot Comprehend Good After the End Film Noir Index Gorn Whole Plot Reference Cain and Abel Real Life Writes the Plot Big Brother Instinct Word of God Took a Level in Jerkass Big Fancy House Red Herring Men Are the Expendable Gender Badass Grandpa Love at First Sight Punny Name "Awesome McCool" Name Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Alpha Bitch Death Glare Creator Cameo You Killed My Father Darker and Edgier Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Married to the Job Fire-Forged Friends Hong Kong Films Dutch Angle Central Theme Naïve Newcomer Extremely Short Timespan Stealth Pun Unresolved Sexual Tension True Companions BFG Man on Fire Hero of Another Story MacGuffin Never My Fault Deliberately Monochrome Taking the Bullet A God Am I Older Than They Look Spared by the Adaptation Cool Guns Affectionate Parody Large Ham The Stoner Naked People Are Funny Shower Scene Animated Credits Opening Slap-Slap-Kiss Dumb Blonde Training Montage Foregone Conclusion Reality Is Unrealistic Black Comedy Rape Fiery Redhead Bitch in Sheep's Clothing The Quiet One Real Life Call-Forward Rich Bitch Evil Plan Chekhov's Gun Punch-Clock Villain My Greatest Failure Trailers Always Spoil I Just Shot Marvin in the Face He Who Fights Monsters The Oner Manchild timeperiod Costume Porn Those Wacky Nazis I Need a Freaking Drink Paper-Thin Disguise Babies Ever After Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Artistic License – History Overly Long Gag Hollywood Darkness Bait-and-Switch Getting Crap Past the Radar Bland-Name Product Easily Forgiven Driven to Suicide Badass Boast "The Reason You Suck" Speech Arch-Enemy Dirty Coward Irony Betty and Veronica British Films Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Blackmail Mama Bear The '50s Dying Moment of Awesome How We Got Here Age Lift In Name Only The Bad Guy Wins Abhorrent Admirer Gratuitous English Intrepid Reporter Biopic Damsel in Distress Recycled IN SPACE! Author Appeal Taking You with Me Anguished Declaration of Love Broken Pedestal Groin Attack Woman Scorned Kids Are Cruel Ms. Fanservice Ungrateful Bastard Military and Warfare Films Adaptation Expansion Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Victoria's Secret Compartment Faux Affably Evil Pet the Dog Informed Ability Fatal Flaw The Bully Disney Villain Death Spanner in the Works Vomit Indiscretion Shot Frame-Up Darkest Hour Romantic Comedy Mighty Whitey Homage Sadistic Choice Pretty Little Headshots O.O.C. Is Serious Business Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane As the Good Book Says... Take a Third Option The Big Guy Actually Pretty Funny Brainless Beauty Lighter and Softer Black Comedy Pay Evil unto Evil Well-Intentioned Extremist Properly Paranoid Broken Aesop And Starring Air-Vent Passageway Madness Mantra Genre Throwback Sanity Slippage Cat Fight Your Head A-Splode Downer Ending Sexy Discretion Shot Psycho for Hire Dogged Nice Guy Bad Boss Sassy Black Woman Really Gets Around Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Bottomless Magazines Love Triangle Adults Are Useless The Stoic Papa Wolf Twist Ending Expy Freeze-Frame Bonus Shown Their Work Badass in a Nice Suit The Mole Based on a True Story Nothing Is Scarier Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other The Brute Funny Background Event Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Ax-Crazy Bald of Evil Demoted to Extra Red Right Hand Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Monumental Damage Wounded Gazelle Gambit Mexican Standoff Stuff Blowing Up The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Unreliable Narrator Batman Gambit The Dragon Running Gag Australian Movies French Films Be Careful What You Wish For Bowdlerise The Ditz Auto Erotica Documentary Chiaroscuro Those Two Guys Cold-Blooded Torture World of Ham Guile Hero "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Break the Cutie Leave the Camera Running An Axe to Grind Agony of the Feet Attempted Rape Straight Gay Truth in Television Not Even Bothering with the Accent Line-of-Sight Name Make It Look Like an Accident Artistic License – Biology Never Found the Body Lock and Load Montage Deadpan Snarker Corrupt Corporate Executive Artistic License – Geography Horror Films Insistent Terminology Together in Death The Un-Reveal Rule of Symbolism Arranged Marriage Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Cowboy Cop Protagonist Title Children Are Innocent Historical Villain Upgrade Did Not Get the Girl Television Movie Index Good Is Not Nice Only in It for the Money Obfuscating Stupidity Drugs Are Bad Big "NO!" Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Psychological Thriller Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Soft Glass Artistic License – Law Disappeared Dad Small Name, Big Ego Hidden Depths Ambiguously Gay Yandere The Ghost Only One Name Implacable Man Broken Bird This Is Gonna Suck Posthumous Character Anti-Villain Foil Annoying Younger Sibling The Mafia Names to Run Away from Really Fast Cloudcuckoolander Catch-Phrase Reality Has No Subtitles Plucky Comic Relief The Sociopath It Can Think Break the Haughty No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Laser-Guided Karma Credits Gag Mundane Made Awesome Dissonant Serenity Ambiguous Ending Off-into-the-Distance Ending Hollywood Law Black Dude Dies First Chekhov's Skill Bad "Bad Acting" Better to Die than Be Killed Amusing Injuries Drill Sergeant Nasty Toplessness from the Back Dirty Cop Gender Flip The End... Or Is It? Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Hypocritical Humor Historical-Domain Character Serious Business For Want of a Nail Gory Discretion Shot Bare Your Midriff Only Sane Man Interrupted Suicide Tap on the Head Early Installment Weirdness Aside Glance An Aesop Bar Brawl Blood Knight Adaptation Dye-Job Tagline Get Out! Shut Up, Hannibal! Bloody Hilarious Show Within a Show I'm a Humanitarian Suspiciously Specific Denial No Celebrities Were Harmed Gold Digger Award-Bait Song Important Haircut May–December Romance Leaning on the Fourth Wall Corpsing Film Series Public Domain Feature Films Sole Survivor Playing Gertrude Determinator Karmic Death Defrosting Ice Queen Hoist by His Own Petard Brother–Sister Incest Spiteful Spit Death by Adaptation Villain Opening Scene Stepford Smiler Red Oni, Blue Oni Not Quite Dead The Place Ominous Latin Chanting Faking the Dead Genre Savvy Honor Before Reason It's Personal Product Placement Kill It with Fire Police are Useless Spiritual Successor Once More, with Clarity! Scary Black Man Would Hurt a Child Last-Name Basis Chewing the Scenery Smoking Is Cool Retcon Deal with the Devil Redshirt Army No Antagonist All There in the Manual Camera Abuse Fish out of Water Amoral Attorney Combat Pragmatist A Minor Kidroduction Breaking the Fourth Wall Badass Bookworm The Vamp Laughing Mad Dirty Old Man Accidental Murder Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Double-Meaning Title Mystery and Detective Films Even Evil Has Loved Ones Even Evil Has Standards Video Credits Heterosexual Life-Partners Captain Ersatz Retirony Big Damn Heroes Hypocrite Historical Hero Upgrade The Atoner Silent Movie Death by Irony Greater-Scope Villain From Nobody to Nightmare Unusually Uninteresting Sight Refuge in Audacity Non-Indicative Name Meaningful Echo Adaptation Distillation The '80s Humiliation Conga Beta Couple Artistic License – Military Fake Shemp Sequel Escalation Rated M for Manly Dramedy Mercy Kill Deconstruction Defiant to the End Evil vs. Evil Bound and Gagged Blatant Lies What the Hell, Hero? Bond Villain Stupidity Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Kill 'em All It's All About Me 20 Minutes into the Future Eagleland Mugging the Monster Drives Like Crazy Double Entendre Fainting Narrator Nice Guy Peek-a-Boo Corpse Shell-Shocked Veteran She Cleans Up Nicely Italian Films Stalker with a Crush Canon Foreigner Parental Incest Adaptational Heroism For the Evulz Villain Song Romantic False Lead Stylistic Suck Big-Bad Ensemble Heroic Sacrifice Our Vampires Are Different Imagine Spot Gilligan Cut Establishing Character Moment Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Skewed Priorities No OSHA Compliance All Girls Want Bad Boys Becoming the Mask Wretched Hive Scenery Porn Creepy Child Wrong Genre Savvy Fingore War Is Hell Neck Lift Riddle for the Ages Mad Scientist Unusual Euphemism Authority Equals Asskicking Advertised Extra Dark and Troubled Past Improvised Weapon Dual Wielding Jerkass Exact Words Ghost Fiction Adaptational Attractiveness What You Are in the Dark Conspicuous CG No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Shipper on Deck Decoy Protagonist Index of Film Westerns The '90s The '70s Male Frontal Nudity Moment Killer The Power of Love Mr. Fanservice Oh, Crap! Chekhov's Gunman Butt-Monkey Black and Gray Morality Works Set in World War II Silence Is Golden Throwing Your Sword Always Works Historical In-Joke Curse Cut Short Took a Level in Badass Adaptational Badass Ambiguous Disorder Belligerent Sexual Tension Didn't Think This Through The Stinger Fanservice Extra Closed Circle Never Trust a Trailer The Faceless Animal Motifs Unwitting Instigator of Doom Grievous Bottley Harm Japanese Films All Men Are Perverts Not So Above It All Lampshade Hanging Your Cheating Heart B-Movie Eureka Moment Comically Missing the Point Rousing Speech Bilingual Bonus Back from the Dead The Great Depression Flipping the Bird Expository Hairstyle Change Aluminum Christmas Trees Parental Neglect Due to the Dead Dressing as the Enemy No Ending Failed a Spot Check Brutal Honesty Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Adapted Out Rule of Funny Bond One-Liner Card-Carrying Villain Only Known by Their Nickname Vomit Discretion Shot Anachronic Order Face Death with Dignity The Alcoholic Re-Cut Book-Ends Christmas Movies Index Author Avatar Arc Words Framing Device Slasher Smile Red Shirt Hope Spot Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Rule of Cool Ascended Extra Flashback Totally Radical All There in the Script Evil Is Petty Stock Footage Immune to Bullets Covers Always Lie La Résistance Soundtrack Dissonance Pre-Mortem One-Liner Famous Last Words Freudian Excuse Wham Shot Dropped a Bridge on Him Retired Badass One-Word Title Anachronism Stew Smug Snake Psychopathic Manchild Eyepatch of Power Race Lift You Have Failed Me NO INDOOR VOICE Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Anti-Hero Suddenly SHOUTING! Deliberate Values Dissonance