Overarching Villain can refer to:
- Antagonist Title: A villain so important to the work that it's titled after them.
- Arc Villain: Standalone villain of a single story arc in a much longer story.
- Big Bad: The cause of all the story's bad events which the hero(es) must resolve.
- Breakout Villain: A villain becomes a series mainstay in response to their fan popularity.
- Demoted to Dragon: When a past Big Bad returns as The Dragon to a new Big Bad.
- Ex-Big Bad: A former Big Bad returns but is no longer the main threat, being overshadowed by a new Big Bad.
- Greater-Scope Villain: A threat/villainous presence that's more dangerous, affects more people, or is more significant than the story's current Big Bad in the setting as a whole, but isn't causing the conflict of the immediate story.
- The Heavy: The villain that moves the plot forward and gets the most focus among the antagonists, even if they are not the Big Bad.
- Hijacked by Ganon: An old villain turns out to be behind a new threat.
- Joker Immunity: Villains who are too good or too popular to be Killed Off for Real.
- The Man Behind the Man: A bigger villain is revealed to be behind the actions of the original villain.
- The Man Behind the Monsters: A human (or something resembling a human) leads an army of monsters.
- Mascot Villain: A villain who serves as a Series Mascot.
- Returning Big Bad: A previous Big Bad returns to be the main threat later on in the story.
- Villain on Leave: When a Big Bad is absent for the second installment, but is present in the first and third.
- Villainous Legacy: The villain is no longer around, but the plot continues to be driven by things they did while alive.
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