Best instance of a side character being a main villain

[Kuro]

Inspired by this



What are instances in which an antagonist is bested by anyone other than main character

[Dark Soul # 7]

In Naruto, big bad Madara was beaten by Zetsu and then the main cast had to fight a crazy blob of evil woman from space. It was weird.

[Guy1]

Probably counts I think? The first Junko revealed to be her sister in disguise while the real Junko was chilling behind the scenes and operating behind Monokuma.

[Guy1]

A better example. Aizen FTW.

[Guy1]

[Dark Soul # 7]

A better example. Aizen FTW.

Wait, which villain?

Aizen dicked around with Yhwach but couldn't actually hurt him. It was up to Ichigo and Uryu to win that fight.

[Guy1]

Wait, which villain?

Aizen dicked around with Yhwach but couldn't actually hurt him. It was up to Ichigo and Uryu to win that fight.

True but he was the arc villain for a good chunk of the series.

[Dark Soul # 7]

You know, in the grand scheme of things Son Gohan is a side character in Dragon Ball and he defeated Cell.

And ultimately it was one of the Zenos that killed Zamasu.

[Guy1]

You know, in the grand scheme of things Son Gohan is a side character in Dragon Ball and he defeated Cell.

BULMA: Those machines are the ones expelling the gas. It's some kind of aerosolized coal particulates, but...something's weird about it.

TRUNKS: So what? Is someone trying to kill the whole world with Miner's Lung?

GOKU: *gasps* Be careful, Gohan! You're a minor!

GOHAN: (taken aback) I'm...surprised you knew that--

GOKU: So, is Piccolo...and Bulma!

GOHAN: (disappointed) Oh... You meant character.

GOKU: And Vegeta!

VEGETA: (walks in from the other room) The f**k I am!

[Jackalope89]

In Naruto, big bad Madara was beaten by Zetsu and then the main cast had to fight a crazy blob of evil woman from space. It was weird.

Yeah, it threw me for a loop when I read the manga way back when.

Zootopia when its shown the little sheep is actually the one responsible.

And I know I've seen others, but I can't for the life of me remember what they were.

[Dark Soul # 7]

Zootopia when its shown the little sheep is actually the one responsible.

I don't think that fits.

Bellwether was the big bad all along and was ultimately defeated by the two main characters.

[greatmetropolitan]

Not a main villain, but my favourite villain reveal is Sobek in 52, from comic relief crocodile to....that.

[Beadle]

Not really in fiction, but when our D&D group played through the 5e starter adventure, Lost Mine of Phandelver, we decided not to rest before facing the final bad guyspoilers:

, The Black Spider

end of spoilers, but when we went in there, we utterly destroyed the guy before he got to even act once (after letting him monologue a bit). The DM was gutted, because he’d really been looking forward to trying some of the guys funky abilities out. But no. He was toast.

However...

... we mostly didn’t even get out of the room. The remaining mindless mooksspoilers:

, seriously - just giant spiders,

end of spoilers completely ripped us to shreds and we just kept on missing them. And when we started falling, our rogue thought “screw this for a game of soldiers” and promptly legged it, leaving the rest of us to just die.

[Beadle]

Inspired by this



What are instances in which an antagonist is bested by anyone other than a non main character

Wait - I’m a little confused. The title says a side character being the main villain, but then the OP says when a non-main character bests the antagonist (in which case the non-main character is heroic, or accidentally so).

Did you mean bests the protagonist?

In which case, do we count Verbal Kint / Kaiser Sose? I mean he’s a prominent character, but always presented as otherwise.

[Riv86672]

Not a main villain, but my favourite villain reveal is Sobek in 52, from comic relief crocodile to....that.

^^^that was a GREAT scene. It took its sweet time getting there and then hit us right in the teeth.

My submission...:



Hyrax.
She was a pretty generic villain in a pretty generic story.
At least until she wound up causing Green Arrow’s death. A death that stuck for nearly a decade if my memory serves. Pretty big impact from a throwaway character.