After so many years of watching anime, movies, tv shows, and studying other forms of medium I've come to realize this. I think the term recurring villain is a little played out. I know there is an old saying: "His or her villain defines every great hero." It is the villains that help the hero grow and sometimes vice versa, but I just hate how the term recurring villain has been abused.
A hero defeats the villain in an epic battle; a bad guy is either killed or imprisoned. Then ends up being freed or brought back in some ill-conceived manner. The antagonist ends up fighting the hero again, rinse and repeat. Which makes the hero look not only incompetent but erases their previous achievements in defeating the villain.
However, in some works of fiction, a hero ends up fighting a new Big Bad. If there is one thing I liked from Buffy, it is that no matter who her previous villain is there is always a bigger fish.
One exception I'd make is a grand scheme villain. The kind of villain where a hero has to overcome a lot to defeat. Palpatine, DCAU Darkseid, and Hydra from the MCU. Especially since they have that whole cut off one head then more will follow thing going but just picture how sweet it would be when they're defeated for good.
Villains are good when they're needed for a hero to overcome an arc but once they've fulfilled their purpose then pull the plug. To avoid redundancy.
As someone who enjoys a well-written antagonist, a person should take steps to make sure the antagonist doesn't overstay his welcome.
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