Wild Kratts has always been famous for its villains. While the brothers' other shows have had animals that seem scary, or predators that threaten to eat the focus animal, we have never had truly evil people until the show came out in 2011.

Gourmand is willing to cook endangered species, Donita likes to make clothes and accessories with live animals, and Zach will use species as components in his inventions and schemes.

The villains, in contrast to the protagonists, are not just proud and greedy, but immature and petty.

In Gourmand's debut episode, it was established he doesn't believe he was at fault for cooking endangered animals despite it being illegal, with not even having his chef's license revoked causing him to reflect on his actions and consider the possibility he did something wrong.

Donita was willing to chase Monarch Butterflies across the country, and she threw a fit about them dying because she specifically wanted living butterflies to turn in jewelry.

Zach of course, has always been the most outwardly childish, with him throwing a tantrum over not being allowed to clean his building, to even threatening to throw an actual child's trophy into the lake, with him then challenging said child to a fishing contest, and then cheating, just so he could win.

In short, my point is that the villains have always been immature and childish, but while they had their childish moments, what made them dangerous is the lengths they would go to for their petty grievances.

The villains have no qualms about hurting others to get what they want. Gourmand has left the brothers to stung by a swarm of bees, Donita is willing to take feathers and silk from birds and spiders, and Zach has tried to drown the brothers, as well as half a herd of walruses, just for a pearl.

While I understand the show was originally for a slightly older audience than PBS' usual demographic, and that as the show became popular, they would want to water things down. 6-year old me got intimidated by some of the things the villains did back in 2011, so I can understand why the brothers and/or the network would want the villains to be a little less intense.

Still, it feels like the villains are barely threatening anymore.

Gourmand has only appeared twice in Season 7 and neither appearance was he that much of a threat. Donita's only prominent role was in the Camel episode, and while she did leave the brothers and Aviva stranded, she didn't feel too intimidating. 

Zach and Paisley both had more intimidating moments and felt like threats, but Paisley got redeemed, and Zach...

Zach's schemes in this season have felt very hit-or-miss. 

Forcing a chimpanzee to be his personal servant felt like a solid plan for Zach, but turning a bunch of bumblebees into a drone, which feels like a more convoluted idea from the writers rather than Zach himself. And Zach seemed more pissy than usual about shapes during the latest episode on Armadillos.

Worse, I feel like the villains' presence actually took away time from focusing on the animals.

What are all of your thoughts?

What is your opinion on how the villains have been handled this season?