Incompetent

Villains who have a habit of accidentally botching up their own plots than the heroes they are fighting against (unless if said heroes are the same), often due to stupidity, cowardice, weakness, incompetent minions, overconfidence or poor planning on their part.

These type of villains mostly appear in comedies, where it is expected from the audience to see the main evil-doers or their henchmen fail miserably due to their own bumbling; 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 and therefore are more likely to come off as humorous. 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 (especially the trio), the Koopalings, and the Casino Bosses are good examples of this.

Incompetent villains tend to have plans that are ultimately stupid and pointless, have counterproductive effects that they didn't intend, or do little to cause chaos. Sometimes their attempts at evil blow up in their faces by either causing themselves to be left open and vulnerable to great harm or even aiding the heroes; thus, these villains are not really much of a serious threat due to their ineffectual nature and shortcomings resulting in them making a fool of themselves, but they can occasionally be dangerous or even intimidating despite their numerous failings. 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, Newman, 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 useless does not mean that they aren't smart. It is possible for villains to be good in a certain field in villainy, but still are often too cowardly, too arrogant, too misguided, too lazy or otherwise lack too much common sense to get the job done.

For obvious reasons, these villains are likely not successful, and therefore, they can be easily defeated and might the Scapegoat category for their lack of competence with being evil. However, in certain cases, they CAN still succeed in their goals, notably either if they have the help of much more frightening and competent villains, win with luck, or simply 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). However, in some cases, incompetent villains can improve on their competence heavily if their heinous crimes outweigh their slight and former incompetence.

Keep in mind that this category only refers to incompetence in terms of villainy and antagonism, not professionalism or occupational skills (villains who show incompetence at the latter should go under Dimwits, Arrogant or Delusional instead).

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, formidable, and taken seriously at all costs. 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, Lewis Dodgson, Diodora Astaroth, Sal, Patsy, Durand, Bob Ewell and Lacey's Uncle) they are still capable of committing horrific acts and these moments do not detract from the threat they pose. They should go under the Arrogant, Dimwits, Cowards, Weaklings, Egotists, Non-Action and/or Pawns categories instead.

This also applies to villains who are not Pure Evil yet are still extremely dangerous and capable despite their slight incompetence (e.g. Envy, Rob, King K. Rool, Malty S. Melromarc, Dawn Bellwether, Dr. Nefarious, Tighten, Ercole Visconti, Biff Tannen, Li'l Gideon, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, Chloé Bourgeois, Dr. Eggman, Yoru, Jimmy, and Twice).