There are 46 Villains that escaped Cloudcracker Prison. Several of them appear in each chapter of Story Mode. Once you have defeated them, you can place a Trap of the same element into the Traptanium Portal to catch them in the Traptanium Crystal. When they are loaded into a Trap they can be released from the Traptanium Crystal, under your control, and their devastating powers will be used for good. A Villain can be played until their energy is used up and then they retreat back into the Trap. In a co-op game either player can use the active Villain currently placed in the Trap.
All captured Villains are stored in the Villain Vault at the Academy and can be placed in a Trap. Since only one Villain can be in each Trap at a time, The Villain Vault is used to manage which Villain you want to have in a Trap to take on your adventures.
To check on the status of Villains use the Wanted Poster in the pause menu or check the poster pinned to the tree at the start of the Academy. The Wanted Poster tracks which Villains have been defeated and if their quest has been completed. Each Villain has a unique Villain Quest they can complete in Story Mode. Doing so allows the Villain to evolve and sometimes earn a reward.
