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