Poll of the Day > I hate when in a shounen there's a powerful evil group (usually 4 dudes)...

(+) Yeah! (+)

Not on its own, that is... it's a trope and it can work

...

The problem is when individually each member of the group beats up the heroes earlier in the season, but then in the last couple episodes they are all defeated pretty quickly at the same time.

Sure this is to establish how much the heroes have grown... ... but they had no other interactions with the enemy like this, their growth isn't contextual to the plot.

Take Azula from Avatar, for example, she antagonizes the heroes for quite a long time... enough for close escapes to feel like victories

But then take the new benders in Legend of Korra - team of 4, individually very strong.... OOPS

Happened in InuYasha, and I think this was the first time I noticed it... In Season 4 there's the band of 7 and while the first few are weak enough to not care, this was a villain of the week show that failed to villain the week and just dumped the last few of the band of 7 really lazily. Not exactly this trope, but I think this is when the whole thing may have started. Kinda a blend.

But again, it's just a trope - FMA Brotherhood kinda sorta also does this, but does it in a way where everyone gets a satisfying resolution.

edit: I think Naruto does it in about half the seasons.
---