The Bad Guys books in order follow a group of notorious animal criminals who decide they want to become heroes. Aaron Blabey writes and illustrates the fast-paced graphic chapter-book series, which mixes outrageous comedy with friendship, redemption, and second chances.
Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, and Mr. Piranha make up the original crew, with Mr. Tarantula joining them early in the series. The illustrated books are generally aimed at readers in grades 2–5, but their humor and action have made them popular with a much wider audience.
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- The Bad Guys Books in Order
- Cat on the Run Books in Order
- The Bad Guys Movie and TV Tie-In Books
- The Bad Guys Movies and TV Adaptations
- About Aaron Blabey
The Bad Guys Books in Order
The original Bad Guys series contains 20 numbered books. The Bad Guys in One Last Thing is Book 20 and the final episode, so there is no original Book 21.
I recommend reading the books in the numbered publication order below. The adventures become increasingly serialized, with continuing storylines and cliffhangers, so they don’t work well as standalones once the larger plot gets moving. The story’s chronological order is the same as its publication order.
- The Bad Guys (2016)
- The Bad Guys in Mission Unpluckable (2017)
- The Bad Guys in The Furball Strikes Back (2017)
- The Bad Guys in Attack of the Zittens (2017)
- The Bad Guys in Intergalactic Gas (2017)
- The Bad Guys in Alien vs Bad Guys (2018)
- The Bad Guys in Do-You-Think-He-Saurus?! (2018)
- The Bad Guys in Superbad (2018)
- The Bad Guys in The Big Bad Wolf (2019)
- The Bad Guys in the Baddest Day Ever (2019)
- The Bad Guys in Dawn of the Underlord (2020)
- The Bad Guys in The One?! (2020)
- The Bad Guys in Cut to the Chase (2021)
- The Bad Guys in They’re Bee-Hind You! (2021)
- The Bad Guys in Open Wide and Say Arrrgh! (2022)
- The Bad Guys in the Others?! (2022)
- The Bad Guys in Let the Games Begin! (2023)
- The Bad Guys in Look Who’s Talking (2023)
- The Bad Guys in the Serpent and the Beast (2024)
- The Bad Guys in One Last Thing (2024)
Scholastic is also rereleasing the series in full-color hardcover editions. These contain the same stories as the original books and are not additional installments, so they are not included in my list.
Cat on the Run Books in Order
Cat on the Run is a three-book graphic chapter-book series set in the world of The Bad Guys. It follows Princess Beautiful, an internet-famous cat accused of a crime she didn’t commit.
- Cat on the Run in Cat of Death! (2023)
- Cat on the Run in Cucumber Madness! (2024)
- Cat on the Run in Hidden Layers! (2025)
The trilogy can be read separately from the original series. No official source places it at a required point within the 20-book chronology.
The Bad Guys Movie and TV Tie-In Books
These books are based on the DreamWorks screen versions of the characters. They follow the movie and television continuity rather than continuing Aaron Blabey’s original story after Book 20.
Movie and Special Novelizations
- The Bad Guys Movie Novelization (2022)
- DreamWorks The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday Novelization (2023)
- DreamWorks The Bad Guys: Haunted Heist (2024)
- Bad Guys Movie 2 Novelization (2025)
The Bad Guys TV Chapter Books
Maria S. Barbo writes these chapter books based on the Netflix animated series. They tell stories from the screen crew’s early criminal career and aren’t Books 21–23 of Aaron Blabey’s series.
- Bad Guys TV Chapter Book #1: Best of the Worst (2026)
- Bad Guys TV Chapter Book #2: Moving On Up (2026)
- Bad Guys TV Chapter Book #3: Crime After Crime (2026)
The Bad Guys Movies and TV Adaptations
- The Bad Guys (2022)
- The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday (2023)
- The Bad Guys: Haunted Heist (2024)
- The Bad Guys 2 (2025)
- The Bad Guys: The Series (2026)
The screen stories are loose adaptations rather than direct versions of individual numbered books. The first movie uses the series’ central idea and characters but turns their decision to become good into an origin story. It also changes Mr. Tarantula from the books into Ms. Tarantula, better known as Webs, while The Bad Guys 2 continues the movie storyline and introduces the Bad Girls.
The holiday and Halloween specials share the screen continuity. The Bad Guys: The Series, which DreamWorks also promotes with the Breaking In label, is a prequel set before the two movies. None of these screen stories should be inserted into the original 20-book reading order.
About Aaron Blabey
Aaron Blabey is an Australian author and illustrator known for funny, highly illustrated children’s books. He created The Bad Guys, Cat on the Run, Pig the Pug, and Thelma the Unicorn, among other popular titles and series.
The Bad Guys begins with Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, and Mr. Piranha trying to leave their criminal reputations behind. Mr. Tarantula joins the team in Book 2, and the group’s repeated attempts to do good drive the series’ mix of comedy, action, friendship, and redemption.
Looking for more books in order?
If you want more authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Books in Order index.