
Big Bad is a term to describe a major recurring adversary, usually the chief
villain
A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...
or
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.[television series
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...](_b ...<br></span></div> in a <div class=)
or a particular broadcast season of a series, originally used by the series ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...
''.
[MacNeil, W. P. (2003). "You Slay Me: Buffy as Jurisprude of Desire". ''Cardozo Law Review'', Vol. 24(6), pp. 2421–2440.][Brannon, J. S. (2007).]
It's About Power: Buffy, Foucault, and the Quest for Self
". ''Slayage'', v. 24. It has since been used to describe annual villains in other television series, and has also been used in scholarly work discussing ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''.
In gaming, this term is often abbreviated BBEG, which stands for "Big Bad Evil Guy/Gal," a tradition that began on message boards for the tabletop role-playing game
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
.
On ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''
The term "Big Bad" was originally used on American television program ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (which aired 1997–2003). According to author Kevin Durand (2009), "While Buffy confronts various forms of evil during each episode, each season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer had its own 'big bad' villain who dominates throughout the season. The power of the 'big bad' always threatens to end the world, but Buffy ultimately overcomes him or her in the season finale."
The series balanced its episodic stories with advancing that season's big bad story arc.
The term was originally used in the episode "
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", in which Buffy Summers describes the newly soulless
Angel
An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...
as "the big, bad thing in the dark".
The prior episode, "
Phases
Phase or phases may refer to:
Science
*State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist
*Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform
*Phase space, a mathematica ...
", has
Xander Harris
Alexander Lavelle Harris is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). He was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the television series by Nicholas Brend ...
"being" the
werewolf
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...
and saying, "I'm the big, bad wolf." The phrase may originate in various fairy tales (particularly "Three Little Pigs" and the related song) about the "
Big Bad Wolf
The Big Bad Wolf is a fictional wolf appearing in several cautionary tales, including some of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales''. Versions of this character have appeared in numerous works, and it has become a generic archetype of a menacing predatory ant ...
". The phrase "big bad" by itself as a noun was first used on screen in Season 3, in the episode "
Gingerbread
Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger root, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly ...
" where Buffy says that an occult symbol is harmless, "not a big bad". Slang generation was encouraged in the writers' room.
Marti Noxon
Martha Mills Noxon (born August 25, 1964) is an American television and film writer, director, and producer. She is best known for her work as a screenwriter and executive producer on the supernatural drama series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' ( ...
, writer and eventually
showrunner
A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...
, said that "Big Bad" was used "long before the characters themselves started using the phrase".
Using "big bad" as a noun instead of using as an adjective is a
functional shift, which was done often on the show.
The first "Big Bad" villain on the program was
The Master,
played by
Mark Metcalf
Mark Metcalf (born March 11, 1946) is an American television and film actor often playing the role of an antagonistic and aggrieved authority figure.
He is best known for his role as sadistic ROTC officer Douglas C. Neidermeyer in the 1978 Amer ...
. According to author
Jan Jagodzinski, the battle between
Buffy and the evil Master is "the central issue of
season one Season One may refer to:
Albums
* ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004
* ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012
* ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012
See also
*
*
* Season 2 (disambiguation) Season 2 may refer to:
...
"; The Master, like all the "big bads", is a "symptom of postmodernity".
David Sims of ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 185 ...
'' wrote that
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon ( ; born June 23, 1964) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. He is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ...
, creator of the series, made the model for the
Golden Age of television
The first Golden Age of Television is an era of television in the United States marked by its large number of live productions. The period is generally recognized as beginning in 1947 with the first episode of the drama anthology '' Kraft Televi ...
:
On other television and film series
The use of Big Bads has become common in TV science fiction and fantasy series, especially with more
binge-watching
Binge-watching (also called binge-viewing) is the practice of watching entertainment or informational content for a prolonged time span, usually a single television show.
Statistics
Binge-watching overlaps with marathon (media), marathon viewin ...
of
serialized shows.
In the
Arrowverse
The Arrowverse is an American Superhero fiction, superhero media franchise and shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series ...
, after 8 years and 20 collective seasons, the series ''
Arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
'', ''
The Flash
The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
'', ''
Supergirl
Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...
'' and ''
Legends of Tomorrow
''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American Time travel in fiction, time travel superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer, ...
'' had 22 Big Bads, which
TVLine
''TVLine'' is a website devoted to information, news, and spoilers of television programs. It covers various topics including the latest news on television, reviews, latest releases, and more.
History
In late 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly''s ...
ranked based on "Compelling Backstory, Fearsome Appearance, Powers/Skills, Utter Ruthlessness, Eeeevilness of Agenda, Despicable Damage Done".
But
Den of Geek
''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine.
History
''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...
's Dave Golder questioned the continued use of the "season-long baddie" plot device.
The ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' revival has occasionally used Big Bads. Jef Rouner of the ''
Houston Press
The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown Houston, Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017.
The publication is supported entirely ...
'' wrote how
''Doctor Who'' series 6 succeed with the "proper format," beginning with a new villain to the series,
the Silence
Silence is the lack of audible sound.
Silence or The Silence may also refer to:
Places
*Silence, a district of southern Brussels, Belgium
People with the name
*Silence Dogood, a pen name of Benjamin Franklin
* Silence Mabuza (born 1977), South ...
. He also wrote that for
series 11, "The main villain is regular old human cruelty and apathy to suffering", adding this had some similarity to
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' season 6's Big Bad, “life.” But Lacy Baugher wrote on
Syfy Wire that the show can have the smaller personal, emotional stories, and doesn't need the "big, sweeping arcs and grand monsters". "Each Big Bad the Doctor faced had to be the most dangerous in the universe."
In the
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...
, the Big Bad for "
The Infinity Saga" was
Thanos
Thanos () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-artist Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in '' The Invincible Iron Man'' #55 (cover date February 1973). An Eternal– Devia ...
. In "The Multiverse Saga", the current one, the new bad guy is Kang the Conqueror.
See also
*
Boss (video gaming)
In video games, a boss is a significantly powerful non-player character and computer-controlled enemy created as an opponent to players. A fight with a boss character is referred to as a boss battle or boss fight. Bosses are generally far stro ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
TV Tropes: Big BadThe Buffy Formula: Patterns in the Buffyverseon SpoilerSlayer.com
Opposing Buffy: Power, Responsibility and the Narrative Function of the Big Bad in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' Master of Arts Thesis by Joseph Lipsett
{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffyverse
Supervillains