Posthumous

Posthumous Villains who either died for real or have an unknown fate yet continue to have lasting impacts and presences from beyond their grave/long-time absence in an earthly and terrestrial way. They can even be deceased from the very beginning and appear primarily as Flashbacks (e.g. Bertrand Zobrist). Their actions, legacies and the harm they caused may continue to have lasting impacts after their demise. A good example of this is Scar of The Lion King, as he died but Zira used her son Kovu to continue his plans. Another good example is Defalt of Watch Dogs, as he died in the DLC Bad Blood but many people are wearing masks similar to his and he has a secret hideout in London, allowing Defalt's legacy to live on.

In regards to what characters can be regarded as posthumous villains, Artificial Intelligences can also apply in spite of being machines and therefore have no bodies nor souls if their actions still has any lasting impact on the story (i.e. the Marvel Cinematic Universe iteration of Ultron, whose actions on Sokovia caused the public view on the Avengers to shift, leading to the Avengers Civil War) as so Forces of Nature if their influence likewise remains on the story (i.g. The Black Mass was destroyed by Samurai Jack's father but it created Aku so he could cause chaos and destruction on to continue with the Black Mass' genocidal rampage).

Evil Organizations can also apply as posthumous villains if they were fully disbanded although not all its members have to die (or have died) yet they still have a lasting impact on the story (i.e. the Galactic Empire, which disbanded after Emperor Palpatine's first death but many of its surviving members went to the Unknown Regions and formed the First Order to replace it).

Note: Characters who came back as Noncorporeals, Zombies, Vampires and so on cannot be Posthumous as actions are still being carried out by them as the Undead UNLESS:

• their Undead forms are also killed off and have such effects afterwards (i.e. Shane Walsh),
• they disappear or withdraw from any action and no longer connect with the plot essentially being permanently removed (i.e. Darth Vader),
• are defeated and sent (back) to an afterlife dimension from which they cannot return (i.e. Imhotep)
• or conflicts take place in an afterlife and do not reconnect with a world of the living (i.e. Ernesto de la Cruz).