| rdfs:comment
| - At some point in the backstory, a villain existed who was the forerunner to the current Big Bad- either because they were both part of a direct line of succession, or just because the Big Bad uses similar methods and espouses similar beliefs. The Predecessor Villain may appear in flashbacks, but will usually have no direct role in the story (unless it turns out to be Hijacked by Ganon, from an in-universe standpoint)- usually, though not always, they are a Posthumous Character. Examples:
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| abstract
| - At some point in the backstory, a villain existed who was the forerunner to the current Big Bad- either because they were both part of a direct line of succession, or just because the Big Bad uses similar methods and espouses similar beliefs. The Predecessor Villain may appear in flashbacks, but will usually have no direct role in the story (unless it turns out to be Hijacked by Ganon, from an in-universe standpoint)- usually, though not always, they are a Posthumous Character. May be used to reinforce a theme of history being cyclic, or just to give the current Big Bad a well of secrets and power to mine. Sometimes, particularly if the current Big Bad is the Evil Counterpart to The Hero, then the Predecessor Villain will be the same to the mentor- and may have been their Arch Enemy at one point. Compare and contrast Bigger Bad for a somewhat similar idea, except that the Bigger Bad still exists during the story but takes little to no active role in it, rather than having existed in the story's past. For cases where the Big Bad goes down and is replaced by a Bastard Understudy or underling during a work, see Dragon Ascendant. Examples:
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