History AdvertisedExtra / VideoGames

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', the legendary Terapagos was a central part of the story and served as the mascot of the ''Indigo Disk'' expansion, but is reduced to a boss battle and [[LivingMacguffin plot device]] for another character's StoryArc with its involvement in the creation of the [[ParadoxPerson Paradox Pokémon]] becoming an AbortedArc.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'': Terapagos, the eventual mascot for ''The Indigo Disk'' DLC, was prominently mentioned even before the DLC itself was released, ranging from being mentioned in the games itself as background info to being featured as an important character in ''Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries'' albeit initially in a different form than what was shown in the DLC trailers. When Indigo Disk finally came out, Terapagos isn't even addressed until the second half of the plot, and even then, it only serves as FinalBoss and plot device for another character's story arc. This is particularly notable as Ogerpon, the mascot of ''The Teal Mask'' DLC which preceded Indigo Disk, received less promotion but is more involved in the plot from start to finish.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'': For all the hype surrounding Terapagos’s status as the mascot of ''Indigo Disk'', even being referenced in the base game and ''Teal Mask'', it's not even mentioned in ''Indigo Disk'' until after you wrap up BB League plot, and when you finally see it, it only serves as the FinalBoss and a plot device to wrap up Kieran's story arc. This is particularly notable when you compare Terapagos with Ogerpon, the mascot of ''Teal Mask'', who is deeply involved in the Kitakami plot.

* ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'' features a nameless bum. He is present in many promotional artworks and UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} emoticons and even serves as the narrator for the tutorial of the game. However, his actual canon-role to the story is to simply get killed in the first level, right after being introduced.

** Like before, characters from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'' were added to ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' before the game's launch. Of these heroes, Lumera was added as a Grand Hero Battle unit, similar to Kronya. [[spoiler: And just like Kronya, Lumera appears early in the game, and is killed only a few chapters later.]]
** ''Engage'' also has Céline, the princess of Firene. Despite being prominently featured in various pre-release material, as well as appearing on the cover of the Divine Edition release of ''Engage'' and having a special countdown illustration posted by Mika Pikazo on Twitter, which all suggest she has a larger role in the game, Céline falls off of the main plot immediately within two chapters, thus giving her the least amount of screentime out of all of the younger royal siblings in the game.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarRagnarok'': In the [[VideoGame/GodOfWar2018 previous game]], the figure of Tyr was discussed at length as a {{Foil}} to Kratos, but never appeared due to being presumed dead; trailers and promotional material for this game made quite a big deal out of the revelation he was alive, and the quest to find him, with quite a bit of material dedicated to it. In the actual game, Tyr is found early on, and revealed to be so mentally broken by his torture at Odin's hands that he refuses to be of much help, and spends most of the game after sitting around Sindri and Brok's home; what's more [[spoiler: this isn't Tyr at all. It's ''Odin'' in disguise to manipulate the heroes]]. You ''can'' [[spoiler: find the real Tyr, but only in the post-game when Odin has already been defeated, and it only amounts to a few brief conversation in various realms, and he never directly interacts with either Kratos or Atreus in any meaningful way]].

** The cover for ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' features Alm, Celica and Valbar. While Alm and Celica are the game's two protagonists, Valbar is just a knight Celica can save during her journey to mainland who doesn't appear in the story after you save him. He was seemingly placed there to fill in the space.

* In true Kodaka fashion, ''VideoGame/MasterDetectiveArchivesRainCode'' features this trope in full force [[spoiler:as Zilch, Melami, Zange, Pucci, and Aphex, who all got introduced in trailers for the game and are all on the game's cover, die before Chapter 0 is finished. Heck you don't even get to meet the real Zilch as the one you meet in-game is a hitman disguised as him]].

** When ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' was coming out, promotional material hyped up Chaos as one of Dr. Eggman's minions. But in the actual game, Chaos plays a minimal role and doesn't even have a boss battle. Classic Sonic manages to defeat him in a single strike during a cutscene.

* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'' prominently features Origami Peach in the prerelease trailers and the box art, but in the game proper, she hardly appears at all. She appears in the opening to ask Mario some ButThouMust questions and then vanishes from the plot until the very end, where [[spoiler: says a few more lines before getting turned into tapestry]].

* PlayedStraight, but later subverted with Classic Amy in ''Sonic Origins'', an UpdatedRerelease of the classic Genesis ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games (and ''CD''): the box art, advertising, and cutscenes made it look like she was one of the main characters, with cutscenes even showing her in battle and adventuring alongside Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Initially, she was purely in her DamselInDistress role in ''CD'', only appearing at the very start and very end of the game, but the ''Plus'' DLC update [[PromotedToPlayable made her a fully-playable character]] in all four games.