“ | 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. |
“ | You expect victory over Jedi, but all you give me to fight them are battle droids! BAH! | „ |
~ Grievous to Count Dooku about how incompetent Battle Droids are. |
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 henchmen, 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, Eric Cartman and Krang can still be classified as incompetent if they meet any of the previous qualifications, especially if their intelligence varies. However, some incompetent villains can actually be dangerous at times if they really put their minds to it. A good example of this is Zim. 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 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.
Keep in mind that this category only refers to incompetence in terms of villainy and antagonism, not professionalism or occupational skills.
Pure Evil villains will NEVER qualify as they are capable of committing horrific acts and causing serious problems in a story which actually makes them competent and very formidable.
For cases where villains are somewhat incompetent yet still capable of doing horrific acts (e.g. Aku, King K. Rool, Chaka, Iok Kujan, Toplofty and O'Bloat, Colonel Henry Favours, Joffrey Baratheon, Diodora Astaroth and Bob Ewell), 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.
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Soldier Boy -
Jimmy the Polar Bear -
Eric Cartman -
Dennis Nedry (film series) -
Crimson Countess -
Buggy the Clown -
Mind-Droid -
Swatto
All items (2929)
- A.T.P. Engineers
- Abbot & Morley
- Aber Rindt
- Abis Mal
- Abnes
- Abominus
- Abraham Van Helsing
- Abrego
- Abul Abbas
- Achmed the Dead Terrorist
- AD-W4
- Adam (007)
- Admiral Alfonso
- Admiral Kassius Konstantine
- Admiral Ozzel
- Adolf Hitler (Jojo Rabbit)
- Adolf Hitler (Looney Tunes)
- Adon Coborlwitz
- Adrian Black
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- Aegon IV Targaryen
- Aeon the Terrible
- Agent Haggard
- Agent One and Agent Two
- Agent Schmuck
- Aggie (Craig of the Creek)
- Ahgg
- Ahkmou
- Ahmed & Salim
- Ahuizotl (My Little Pony)
- Aidan Maguire
- Air Pirates
- AJ
- Ajax the Gorilla
- Akaba
- Al Capone (Night at the Museum)
- Aladdin (Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier)
- Alan (Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things)
- Alan and Ann
- Albert (A Monster in Paris)
- Albert Böllemann
- Albus and Horace
- Alchemist
- Aleksei Zvonariov
- Alessi
- Alfrid Lickspittle
- Ali and Bobo
- Alice Drablow
- Alien (Red vs. Blue)
- Alien-inator
- Aliens (Robot Chicken)
- Alistair Beldingford
- Allison (The Babysitter)
- Almighty Tallests
- Alonzo
- Aloyse Von Roddenstein
- Aloysius O'Hare
- Amazing Rope Guy
- Amazon Trio
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- American Client
- Amin Damoola
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- Amoeba Boys
- Amos (How to Train Your Dragon)
- Amrok
- Amygdala (DC)
- Anastasia (My Succubus Girlfriend)
- Anastasia Tremaine
- Andrew (The Farm)
- Andrew Kersee Dunstan Francis Barbirolli
- Andrew Oikonny
- Andy Landers
- Andy Prank
- Angelica Pickles
- Anna (Silent Hill)
- Anna Williams (Tekken)
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- Anne Maria
- Annie (Pokémon)
- Anthony Trumper
- Anti Spirit Team (Date A Live)
- Anti-Jorgen
- Anti-Pops' Minions
- Anti-Wanda
- Antonin Dovchenko
- Antonio Lopez De Santa Anna
- Antonio Mancini
- Aoba
- Apostis
- April May
- Aqual
- Arbormon
- Archdemon
- Ares Srowa
- Argo Garcia
- Aria Blaze
- Arlen
- Armando and Tipa
- Arne Darvin
- Arnold "Poet" Jackson
- Arnold Judas Rimmer
- Aroma Bats
- Arro and Braccio
- Arthur Coleman
- Artie Ziff
- Arturo Roman
- Arukenimon
- Asagi Asagiri
- Ashcan and Pete
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- Asian Mother (Mychonny)
- Assorted Monsters in Calvin's room
- Attila, Evita and Todd
- Aubrey James
- August (Borderlands)
- Augustus Steranko
- Aultcray Melromarc XXXII
- Aunt Sponge
- Axe Knight
- Axel (Disgaea)
- Axel (Henry Danger)
- Axel (Tangled)
- Azazel.exe
- Azmorigan
- Azure Blue
- Baboon (Skunk Fu)
- Bacterian
- Badniks
- Baelor I Targaryen
- Baikinman
- Bald Eagle
- Bald Zombie
- Balowski Family
- Balrog (Street Fighter)
- Band of the Bland
- Bandar Log
- Bandit Bob
- Banditto & Gangsteritto
- Bandora
- Bane (Batman & Robin)
- Bannermen
- Bannister Evil Enterprises
- Bannister's Thugs
- Barack Obama (Brickleberry)
- Barack Obama (South Park)
- Barb Mentir
- Barbro Andrean Ield Ryle Vaiself
- Barettar
- Barney Bear
- Barney Rubble (Robot Chicken)
- Baron & Junk
- Baron Bomburst
- Baron Von Sheldgoose
- Baron Von Steamer
- Baroness Bomburst
- Barrels
- Barry the Chopper (Fullmetal Alchemist)
- Bart and Eddie
- Bart Biederbecke
- Bartok
- Barton (Date A Live)
- Basil (The Magic Crystal 2011)
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- Basil Karlo (Gotham)
- Basta
- Bat Cronies
- Batroc the Leaper
- Battle Droids
- Battle Kukku XVI
- Battlesaurs
- Batzarro
- Baxter (Red Dwarf)
- Baxter Stockman (TMNT 1987)
- Baxter Stockman (TMNT 2012)
- Beagle Boys
- Beaky Buzzard
- Beanie the Bison
- Beard Deer
- Beard Hunter
- Bearicorn
- Beast-Man
- Beavis and Butt-head
- Bebop (TMNT 2012)
- Bebop and Rocksteady
- Bebop and Rocksteady (Out of the Shadows)
- Beelzebub (The Wish List)
- Begoniax
- Belch Huggins
- Belson Noles
- Ben Chang
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
- Beni Gabor
- Benito Mussolini (Danger 5)
- Benito Mussolini (Looney Tunes)
- Benji Ashby