Villains by Proxy are villains who DO NOT wish to be evil but are pushed into it by circumstance or a story's unique angle; in other words they are not villains by choice.

Villains by Proxy include several kind of characters:

• Pawns: Those who are tricked, manipulated, blackmailed or forced into becoming regular threats to the forces of good against their better judgment. (e.g. Dave, Itachi Uchiha, Marta, Mukuro Ikusaba and Nooroo).
  • Enslaved Species: Minions, evil creations or even entire races who are under the command of a Monster Master, Mad Scientist/Doctor, Brainwasher or Evil Creator. Their masters force them to perform evil acts and they comply because they are either non-sapient, the minions, evil creations or species are just following the master's orders and they don't know that they're actually doing wrong or have no choice in the matter, which usually makes their masters the true villains (e.g. the Animatronics, Cordyceps Zombies, Folded Soldiers, Shroobs, Titans and most Pokémon species).
• Incidental Villains: Villains who are only precisely as evil as they need to be to reach their goals, which are for the greater good. They commit evil acts for purely practical means to an end, similar to Extremists and often overlapping with Rivals, except that it is never personal (e.g. V, Hadir Karim, the SCP Foundation and Sandman).
• Predators: Carnivorous Animals, Ferals and/or Monsters are usually only hostile out of hunger and survival instincts. They usually have no true hatred or dislike for the protagonists; and like incidental villains, it's nothing personal. They simply view their targets as prey and want to eat them, like any real-life wild animal views its prey (e.g. Anacondas, Shark King, Ezekiel and Great White Sharks), unlike these characters who are fully aware of their moral agency (e.g. The Intruder, Critters).
• Unaware Villains: Characters who are unaware of circumstances surrounding what they are doing. They are often Misguided Heroes and nearly always redeem themselves after realizing what they are doing (e.g. Alister Azimuth, Dave, Lee Byeong-chan, N, Freddy Fazbear, and Sid Phillips).
• Possessed/Brainwashed: Individuals who became antagonists due to hypnotism, brainwashing or possession (e.g. Cynder, Vanny, Akaza, 90's Anime's Sailor Galaxia, Winter Soldier, and Boris the Wolf). Regardless of how cruel or unnecessary their acts are, it is never their fault unless they have someone brainwash them.
• Mentally Ill Scapegoats: Characters who lived horrific events and perpetual abuse through their lives which completely shattered their sanity with no hope of recovery (e.g. Hansel & Gretel and Leatherface). These characters, while still dangerous, usually don't understand the difference between right and wrong. As such, the punishments they get from the heroes are not warranted, even though the heroes think that they are.

Whether blackmailed, tricked, amoral, unwell, enslaved or simply by merit of being in a protagonist's way, just about all villains by proxy are antagonists because they need to be and not by their own design.

Notes

• All characters must still function as antagonists. Please do not use this category to try to pass off Antagonist Heroes and/or Antiheroes; Antagonists MUST either have at least some malicious intent or cause serious conflict in order to apply.
• Unless they were tricked into committing atrocities they didn't intend to do, Mercenaries and Assassins are not Villains by Proxy since they willingly choose to work under a villain's orders for some kind of profit or monetary gain.
• Villains that were forced into being evil by circumstance but ”wish” to be evil just as they were forced to (e.g. Metal Sonic, The Batman Who Laughs, Enmu, Lord Commander, Eveline, Giant-Man and Aku) do not count. A Villain by Proxy has to wish that they didn't have to be evil.
• For obvious reasons, it is near-impossible for Psychopaths to be Villains by Proxy because they have the willingness to be evil. however, rare exceptions can exist if the circumstances that lead them into villiany destroys their empathy towards everyone.
• NONE of these characters are Pure Evil since, unlike Villains by Proxy, that category applies to intentional evildoing. The same applies to villains who commit reprehensible actions and their crimes were warranted, even if they are not Pure Evil. In the cases of the Mentally Ill and Delusional, they can count if they do understand the difference between right and wrong and meet all of the criteria.