Villains Wiki

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My God, man, what am I going to do with you?! You've done nothing but screw up! You've walked off of mesas, been smashed by boulders and run over by diesel trucks! And don't blame the equipment! The equipment is good! It's ACME equipment! You're a coyote! Be wily!
~ Mr. Chairman ranting to Wile E. Coyote about his incompetence.
Vader: The rebels are alerted to our presence. Admiral Ozzel came out of light-speed too close to the system.
Veers: H-He felt surprise was wiser...
Vader: He is as clumsy as he is stupid.
~ Darth Vader to General Veers regarding Admiral Ozzel's incompetence.

Villains who are more likely to accidentally foil their own plots than the heroes they're fighting against (unless if said heroes are the same) due to stupidity, cowardly behavior, weakness, incompetent minions, and/or overconfidence. Thus, they can be easily defeated and often hit the Scapegoat category because of this.

Incompetent villains mostly appear in comedies, where it is expected from the audience to see the main evil-doers or their henchmen fail miserably (such as Bebop & Rocksteady and Dr. Robotnik) - and most cartoons (e.g. many Looney Tunes villains), but can appear as well in serious or even mature stories. If this is the case, they are often comic reliefs due to their incompetence contrasting the work's overall tone. An example is Phil Cassidy. Evil organizations and corporations can also be labeled as incompetent if most or all of their agents/superiors are themselves incompetent. Team Rocket, the Koopalings, and the Casino Bosses are good examples of this.

Incompetent villains can also be characters who have schemes that are ultimately stupid, pointless or do little to cause chaos. Sometimes their attempts at evil blow up in their faces by either causing them great harm or even aiding the heroes; thus, these villains are not really much of a threat but they can occasionally be dangerous or even intimidating. Additionally, characters who are stated or made out to be smart in the media they appear in, or even masterminds, such as Dr. Neo Cortex, Wile E. Coyote, Sideshow Bob, and Krang can still be classified as incompetent if they meet any of the previous qualifications, especially if their intelligence varies. Also, as mentioned, just because they are incompetent does not mean that they aren't smart. It is possible for villains to be good in a certain field, but still are too cowardly, lacking in common sense, or too arrogant to get the job done.

For obvious reasons, these villains are likely not successful, but in certain cases, they CAN still succeed in their goals, notably either if they have the help of much more frightening and competent villains, just with luck, or by learning from their own mistakes to become better (e.g. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, Plankton, Shredder (1987), Bowler Hat Guy, Zim and Agent One and Agent Two).

Keep in mind that this category only refers to incompetence in terms of villainy and antagonism, not professionalism or occupational skills.

Pure Evil villains are NEVER Incompetent as they are capable of committing horrific acts and causing serious problems in a story which actually makes them competent and very formidable. In rare cases where Pure Evil villains are somewhat incompetent (e.g. Chaka, Babidi, Nobuyuki Sugou, Keera L. Greenwood, Screwball, Dolores Umbridge, Edgar Fromware, Joffrey Baratheon, Diodora Astaroth, Sal, and Bob Ewell) they are still capable of committing horrific acts. They should go under the Arrogant, Dimwits, Cowards, Weaklings, Non-Action and/or Pawns categories instead. In some cases, some can improve on their competence heavily if their heinous crimes outweigh their slight and former incompetence. This also applies to villains who are not Pure Evil yet are still extremely dangerous and capable despite their slight incompetence (e.g. Homelander, Envy, Li'l Gideon, Rob, King K. Rool, Dr. Nefarious, Tighten, Ercole Visconti, Big Jack Horner, Dru Gru and Dr. Eggman).

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