What would be the right word for "placeholder vilain"?
What I'm thinking of would be like in a *bigger bad plot twist* situation, the "former" big bad is a "placeholder" for the other villain
The heroes AND the media consumers don't necessarily *know* that big bad is a placeholder, but it isn't forbidden, and the placeholder can pretend to be the big bad
Also this isn't a "the final fight is against a giant monster that just appeared" situation, this is really more like a villain that was pulling the strings that reveal themself, therefore also revealing that big bad wad just some kind of high in command henchman to bigger bad
The placeholder also isn't really anything else than that: a placeholder. A peon before the bigger bad is revealed to the audience
I know this archetype exist, but I don't know what to call it (again, it wouldn't exactly be a plot twist big bad because that refers to the bigger bad and not the placeholder itself)
Edit: FOUND IT!! the black knight!
In the man(badder) behind the man(placeholder), the badder is the chess master and the place holder is the black knight (or man in front of the man) Also the black knight is sometimes just the armor, which is EXACTLY what I needed for a theory I am making