Evil from the Past

A recurrent type of villain in fantasy, horror, superhero, science fiction and, in some cases, Western fiction, an Evil from the Past is a villain or a monstrous entity who threatened the world before, either many centuries (referred to as an Ancient Evil) or a few decades before the start of the story (referred to as a Modern Evil or as simply New Evil). It was either defeated, sealed away, imprisoned, or even killed one way or another, or it somehow managed to escape, but eventually manages to rise again. These villains can return because of a particular circumstance or through their own efforts, but they are most often brought back by evil beings who seek to rule the world by their side or expect a reward. They also appear in flashbacks.