Tropescilloscope: Greater-Scope Villain

An evil that is greater than the Big Bad in some way, but is not directly causing the conflict of the story. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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