Thread:Balthus Dire/@comment-24758512-20140927193003/@comment-1969141-20140928123432

It really depends on the story, truth to be told. Most of the time, there is no Bigger Bad, when the story has them there is usually only one, but well... this is a really confusing stuff, hard to explain clearly. The barrier between Big Bad and Bigger Bad can be flimsy for instance. Especially considering the Big Bad Duumvirates and Big Bad Ensemble, and the role of the right hand.

What really defines a Bigger Bad in fact is the role it has in the story from beginning to end, I guess you already know. A Bigger Bad is more powerful but does less and has less screen time. But if the story and characters mention the villain from the start and make clear who is calling the shot, even before the villains first on-screen appearance, this cannot be a Bigger Bad.

When citing Star Wars and other huge franchises, you must keep in mind that there are several stories, spin-offs and such; most written after the original, which make impossible to take a sole Big Bad/Bigger Bad for the whole. Palpatine is the Big Bad for the six movies, but becomes the Bigger Bad in the Clone Wars spin-off due the conflict being concentrated against Dooku's separatists. Darth Nihilus is the Bigger Bad of the games, but has nothing to do with the movie and the stories set after. As for the Dark Side, it cannot be considered a Bigger Bad, because it is not a character. It is a component of the universe, and takes a cosmic role, but has no goal, no personality, no motiviation, and mostly serves as the source of power/corruption to the Siths.