Villains more lighthearted and less dark or evil than what is considered normal for the works in which they appear, having a comedic presence within an otherwise serious story; they are mutually exclusive from and the exact opposites of Game Changers. These villains are usually seen in TV shows as they sometimes become more nasty, depending on the episode. In particular, if a villain falls under Mischievous, Incompetents, Dimwits or Ensembles, they are likely to be part of this (e.g. Condiment King and Tabitha).

It is almost impossible for Big Bads or Bigger Bads to be Comic Reliefs because if a main antagonist is comical, then by default most of the other story elements will be as well and this trope cannot apply. The only exception would be if a story driven primarily by realism or dramas and inexplicably had a comical or cartoonish villain who was the only recurring antagonist but irrelevant to the rest of the plot (e.g. Aku).

Comic Reliefs can and tend to have their more threatening moments (such as when their true intentions are revealed, e.g. GLaDOS, Handsome Jack and Handsome Jack AI) but their comedy must be more prominent and/or remembered.

Villains who are Pure Evil can NEVER qualify because their acts are always taken seriously and/or fearsome in comparison to others. This is applicable even if they appear to be funny because their humor is usually sadistic or twisted and makes them even more threatening. (e.g. Judge Claude Frollo, Emperor Palpatine, Bryan Fury, Dark Danny, Glitchtrap, Mr. O'Bloat, Scar, Hadrian, Ares, Cioccolata, AM, Il Carnefice, Dio Brando, Zhan Tiri, Yuuki Terumi, and PAMA). Even if it is not the case and they really are comedic and funny, their acts are still played seriously in-universe (e.g. Bill Cipher, Percival C. McLeach, Syndrome, It, Kefka Palazzo, most versions of the Joker, Dimentio, Freddy Krueger, Chucky, XANA, the Kurgan, and the Duke), while a Comic Relief's humor and acts are genuinely played off to make them less threatening and can even redeem them (e.g. Cedric the Sorcerer).

Comedy villains and villains from other light-hearted media can never qualify considering if a villain is Comic Relief, it means the story is very serious, but this villain lightens up the story while comedy villains are in a comedy-intended story.

• The only exception is if the story also has a Game Changer and the Comic Relief villain is meant to lighten up the Game Changer's dark villainy (e.g. Katsu Kimura to Killian, Honest John Worthington Foulfellow and Gideon to the Coachman or the Toon Patrol to Judge Doom).