History BreakoutCharacter / WesternAnimation

* Along with [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch Stitch]] (as mentioned on [[BreakoutCharacter/{{Film}} the Film page]]), the ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'' franchise's [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries first animated series]] had its own breakout character: Stitch's DistaffCounterpart and LoveInterest Angel, which is impressive considering she was in only two episodes, with a cameo in a third episode and only a minor role in the franchise's [[WesternAnimation/LeroyAndStitch last film]]. Her breakout status was first established when a 2004 Creator/DisneyChannel poll on fans' favorite episodes and experiments of ''Lilo & Stitch: The Series'' showed that she was the most popular one. Since then, [[Anime/{{Stitch}} the anime]] that came afterwards [[AscendedExtra featured her much more often]] (to the point that she had the most appearances among experiments in that show apart from Stitch and Reuben), she was made into a costumed character for the Ride/DisneyThemeParks (and said costume was later given a redesign to be more inline with the Stitch costume design-wise),[[note]]the other experiments apart from her and Stitch to have been made into costumed characters--Felix, Sparky, Sample, Reuben, and 627--still use their original costume designs[[/note]] and she regular appears on lots of merchandise, even in America over seventeen years after the end of ''Lilo & Stitch: The Series'' and the peak of the franchise's success there. Disney even made a dedicated character page for her on the official Disney Store website for the U.S., [=shopDisney=], and she's even found in video games including ''VideoGame/DisneyTsumTsum'', ''VideoGame/DisneyMagicKingdoms'', ''VideoGame/DisneyHeroesBattleMode'', ''VideoGame/DisneyEmojiBlitz'', and ''VideoGame/DisneySpeedstorm'' (which even brought back [[Creator/TaraStrong her original voice actor]] to [[RoleReprise reprise her role]]). All this have allowed the ''Lilo & Stitch'' franchise to defy Disney's tradition of not acknowledging their SequelSeries to [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon their animated films]] years after they ended.

* Along with [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch Stitch]] (as mentioned in Films on the main trope page), the ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'' franchise's [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries first animated series]] had its own breakout character: Stitch's DistaffCounterpart and LoveInterest Angel, which is impressive considering she was in only two episodes, with a cameo in a third episode and only a minor role in the franchise's [[WesternAnimation/LeroyAndStitch last film]]. Her breakout status was first established when a 2004 Creator/DisneyChannel poll on fans' favorite episodes and experiments of ''Lilo & Stitch: The Series'' showed that she was the most popular one. Since then, [[Anime/{{Stitch}} the anime]] that came afterwards [[AscendedExtra featured her much more often]] (to the point that she had the most appearances among experiments in that show apart from Stitch and Reuben), she was made into a costumed character for the Ride/DisneyThemeParks (and said costume was later given a redesign to be more inline with the Stitch costume design-wise), and she appears on lots of merchandise, some of which are even sold in America over fifteen years after the end of ''Lilo & Stitch: The Series'' and the peak of the franchise's success there. In fact, Disney even made a dedicated character page for her on the official Disney Store website for the U.S., [=shopDisney=], and she was even added to video games including ''VideoGame/DisneyTsumTsum'', ''VideoGame/DisneyMagicKingdoms'', ''VideoGame/DisneyHeroesBattleMode'', ''VideoGame/DisneyEmojiBlitz'', and ''VideoGame/DisneySpeedstorm'' (which even brought back [[Creator/TaraStrong her original voice actor]] to [[RoleReprise reprise her role]]). All this have allowed the ''Lilo & Stitch'' franchise to defy Disney's tradition of not acknowledging their SequelSeries to [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon their animated films]] years after they ended.

* Along with [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch Stitch]] (as mentioned in Films on the main trope page), the ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'' franchise's [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries first animated series]] had its own breakout character: [[DistaffCounterpart An]][[LoveInterest gel]], which is impressive considering she was in only two episodes, with a cameo in a third episode and only a minor role in the franchise's [[WesternAnimation/LeroyAndStitch last film]]. Her breakout status was first established when a 2004 Creator/DisneyChannel poll on fans' favorite episodes and experiments of ''Lilo & Stitch: The Series'' showed that she was the most popular one. Since then, [[Anime/{{Stitch}} the anime]] that came afterwards [[AscendedExtra featured her much more often]] (to the point that she had the most appearances among experiments in that show apart from Stitch and Reuben), she was made into a costumed character for the Ride/DisneyThemeParks (and said costume was later given a redesign to be more inline with the Stitch costume design-wise), and she appears on lots of merchandise, some of which are even sold in America over fifteen years after the end of ''Lilo & Stitch: The Series'' and the peak of the franchise's success there. In fact, Disney even made a dedicated character page for her on the official Disney Store website for the U.S., [=shopDisney=], and she was even added to mobile games such as ''VideoGame/DisneyTsumTsum'', ''VideoGame/DisneyMagicKingdoms'' and ''VideoGame/DisneyHeroesBattleMode'', allowing the ''Lilo & Stitch'' franchise to defy Disney's tradition of not acknowledging their SequelSeries to [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon their animated films]] years after they ended.

** During the first season, Janna was a RecurringExtra who would be lucky to have more than two lines per episode. Her only relevant role in that season was in "[[Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS1E11Mewberty Mewberty]]", but even in that episode she disappeared at the middle of it. Strong fan reactions towards the character turned her quickly into an EnsembleDarkHorse and she became one of Star and Marco's most recurring allies throughout the series. Although it wouldn't be until the final season that she would officialy become a main character.

** Lynn Sr. and Rita Loud were mostly a secondary presence compared to the Loud kids in the first season, no thanks to their obscured faces making it hard to write them as anything more than observers or a source of conflict for their children instead of proper actors. After their face reveal at the beginning of the second season however, they became proper main characters and now star in as many episodes as their children.

* Timmy in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' was initially intended as a one-shot character, but proved so popular (spawning a MemeticMutation, TIMMY!) that he was brought back again and again, and even [[PromotionToOpeningTitles made it into the opening]] in the sixth season, after the departure of Kenny. However, after his brief moment in the sun, he quickly receded into the background again.
%%Needs more context about popularity.** Butters was a LivingProp in the first few seasons, but went on to becoming a RecurringCharacter and quickly to the fifth most prominent character on the show.
%%Needs more context about popularity.** Randy Marsh, who went from a geologist simply named "Randy" to "Stan's dad" (thus giving him a recurring role) to arguably being right behind Butters in terms of prominence.
* Brak was originally a minor character who showed up every once in a while in ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast''. He proved to be so popular that he replaced Moltar in the ''WesternAnimation/CartoonPlanet'' spinoff, and then eventually [[WesternAnimation/TheBrakShow got his own show.]]
%%Needs more context about popularity.* The Simpsons are breakout characters from ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow'', starting out as shorts that were a minor part of the show before getting a whole [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons spin-off series centered around them]].

* ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'': Woody first debuted in the WesternAnimation/AndyPanda short ''WesternAnimation/{{Knock Knock|1940}}'' but ended up becoming so popular that he immediately spawned his own series of shorts, quickly eclipsing the [[PandaingToTheAudience cute little panda]] in popularity.

** Janna, during the first season she was a RecurringExtra that would be lucky to have more that 2 lines per episode with her only relevant role being in ''[[Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS1E11Mewberty Mewberty]]'' and even in there she disappeared at the middle of the episode. Strong fan reactions towards the character turned her quickly into an EnsembleDarkHorse and she became one of Star and Marco's most recurring allies throught the series. Althought it wouldn't be until the final season she would officialy become a main character.
** Tom Lucitor. He was introduced as little more that a minor recurring villain during the first two seasons but his appealing character concept and dynamic with Marco gave him a sizable fanbase and quickly became one of the most popular character of the series. He was given a [[spoiler:RelationshipUpgrade with Star]] in Season 3 and became the tritagonist of the series from that point onwards.
** Hekapoo, like the other members of the [[BoomerangBigot Magic High Commission]] she was introduced by ADayInTheLimelight episode and then hit by TheWorfEffect [[spoiler:once [[KnightOfCerebus Toffee]] appeared]], however her attractive design and personality quickly maked her far more popular that the other members which lead to her getting more roles on her own in comparison to the rest of the Commission, she's also the [[spoiler:only member of the Commission that redeems herself at the end of the series]].

* [[SixthRanger William]] from ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' started out as a secondary character in Season 2. Unlike most breakout characters, William started out being considered a [[DieForOurShip pointless piece of ship interference]]. However, he became more popular in Season 3, where he became a recurring character often helping the heroes. He ends up [[SixthRanger joining the team]]... [[SixthRangerTraitor Before]] being [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] in the season finale by [[BigBad XANA]]. In [[GrandFinale Season 4]], he's been PromotedToOpeningTitles, became a main character and XANA's [[NotHimself unwilling]] {{Dragon}}. His popularity ends up skyrocketing as a result. His absence (barring flashbacks and a small cameo in the first book) in the ''Code Lyoko Chronicles'' novels was noticed (even some of his detractors wished he appeared, if only to replace [[BaseBreakingCharacter Eva Skinner]]). Naturally, his fans rejoiced when he came back in the sequel series ''Series/CodeLyokoEvolution'', this time as a hero.

* [[TheLancer Numbuh 5]] from ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''. She was pretty much the TheQuietOne at the beginning of the series, rarely speaking outside of ADayInTheLimelight. However, from her few times actually speaking, revealing her to be the DeadpanSnarker OnlySaneWoman of the team, fans quickly fell in love with her and the crew picked up on this, giving her ''two'' subplots throughout the series (her history with fellow candy hunter Heinrich and her complicated relationship with her sister Cree) to the point where she was pretty much the second main character by the end of the series.

* [[TheLancer Numbuh 5]] from ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''. She was pretty much the TheQuietOne at the beginning of the series, rarely speaking outside of ADayInTheLimelight. However, from her few times actually speaking, revealing her to be the DeadpanSnarker OnlySaneWoman of the team, fans quickly fell in love with her and the crew picked up on this, giving her ''two'' subplots throughout the series (her history with fellow candy hunter Heinrich and her complicated relationship with her sister Cree) to the point where she was pretty much the secondary main character by the end of the sister.

%%Needs more context about popularity.* [[TheLancer Numbuh 5]] from ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''. She went from barely speaking (outside of ADayInTheLimelight) in the first season to being pretty much the secondary main character by the time the series ended.

%%Needs more context about popularity.* ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBros'': [[OnlySaneMan Luigi]], to the point that he's the only character to appear in every episode of all three shows, and has a speaking role in all but one episode.

** Discord first appeared as the BigBad of the two-parter "Return of Harmony" as essentially a chimeric version of [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Q]], and was so awesome that many fans couldn't help but fall in love with him. Although TakenForGranite at the end of his debut, he was revived in Season 3 to be successfully redeemed ([[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor of sorts]]) by Fluttershy and was promoted to recurring character in Season 4. Hes proven popular enough to receive a supporting role in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyPonyLife''.

* ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'': Woody first debuted in the WesternAnimation/AndyPanda short "Knock Knock" but ended up becoming so popular that he immediately spawned his own series of shorts, quickly eclipsing the [[PandaingToTheAudience cute little panda]] in popularity.

** Discord first appeared as the BigBad of the two-parter "Return of Harmony" as essentially a chimeric version of [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Q]], and was so awesome that many fans couldn't help but fall in love with him. Although TakenForGranite at the end of his debut, he was revived in Season 3 to be successfully redeemed ([[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor of sorts]]) by Fluttershy and was promoted to recurring character in Season 4. Hes proven popular enough to receive a supporting role in pony life.

* Although in ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' Anne and Sprig are the show's main characters, Marcy Wu quickly became the most popular and beloved character despite debuting in the middle of Season 2. She's {{Adorkable}}, clumsy, and a nerdy NiceGirl, but is also a force to be reckon with in combat. One example of her popularity, compare the view counts between [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVSjc4JVULo Sasha's Theme Song Takeover]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYPGZ6zSNdw Marcy's Theme Song Takeover]]. She's also gets her own book, ''[[Literature/MarcysJournalAGuideToAmphibia Marcy's Journal]]'', which goes into further detail into her experience in Amphibia.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' ruthlessly parodied this concept (along with cheap {{Catchphrase}}s) in the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E12BartGetsFamous Bart Gets Famous]]", where Bart accidentally becomes a cast member and breakout star of the Krusty the Clown show. After serving as a last-minute replacement for Sideshow Mel (who gets sick because Bart gave him a sandwich with cheese; Mel is lactose-intolerant), he accidentally destroys the set and says "I didn't do it." That one line makes the entire crowd erupt with laughter, and he quickly gets more roles on the show and tons of merchandise.
%%Needs more context about popularity.** The show was initially centered around Bart, but sooner or later, Homer became the central focus of the series.
%%Needs more context about popularity.** There have been several episodes in the show where the characters have become superheroes for one reason or another (Bartman from [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E21ThreeMenAndAComicBook "Three Men and a Comic Book"]], Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl from [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E4TreehouseOfHorrorX "Treehouse of Horror X"]], and Pie Man and Cupcake Kid from [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E19SimpleSimpson "Simple Simpson"]] being some of the most well-known). While the superheroes in question have never really appeared in the show outside of their debut episodes, other ''Simpsons'' media (especially the comics) loves to make use of them for various stories.

* Although in ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' Anne and Sprig are the show's main characters, Marcy Wu quickly became the most popular and beloved character despite debuting in the middle of Season 2. She's {{Adorkable}}, clumsy, and a nerdy NiceGirl, but is also a force to be reckon with in combat. One example of her popularity, compare the view counts between [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVSjc4JVULo Sasha's Theme Song Takeover]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYPGZ6zSNdw Marcy's Theme Song Takeover]]. She's also set to get her own book, "Marcy's Journal", which goes into further detail into her experience in Amphibia.

** Lynn and Rita Loud were mostly a secondary presence compared to Lincoln and his sisters in the first season, no thanks to their obscured faces making it hard to write them as anything more than observers or a source of conflict for their children instead of proper actors. After their face reveal at the beginning of the second season however, they became proper main characters and now star in as many episodes as their children.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' ruthlessly parodied this concept (along with cheap {{Catchphrase}}s) in an episode where Bart accidentally becomes a cast member and breakout star of the Krusty the Clown show. After serving as a last-minute replacement for Sideshow Mel (who gets sick because Bart gave him a sandwich with cheese; Mel is lactose-intolerant), he accidentally destroys the set and says "I didn't do it." That one line makes the entire crowd erupt with laughter, and he quickly gets more roles on the show and tons of merchandise.

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' ruthlessly parodied this concept in an episode where Bart accidentally becomes a cast member and breakout star of the Krusty the Clown show.

** Lynn and Rita Loud were mostly a secondary presence compared to Lincoln and his sisters in the first season, no thanks to their obscured faces making it hard to write them as anything more than observers or a sourceof conflict instead of proper actors. After their face reveal at the beginning of the second season however, they became proper main characters and now star in as many episodes as their children.

** Lynn and Rita Loud were mostly a secondary presence compared to Lincoln and his sisters in the first season, no thanks to their obscured faces making it hard to write them as anything more than authority figures who had more of an observing role than proper actors. After their face reveal at the beginning of season 2 however, they became proper main characters and now star in as many episodes as their children.

** Michigan J. Frog. He appeared in exactly only ''one'' cartoon -- "WesternAnimation/OneFroggyEvening", yet he endeared himself to audiences so much that they convinced himself he appeared more than once. In the 1990's he eventually became one of the starring characters when he came the mascot for Creator/TheWB Network.

* Although in ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' Anne and Sprig are the show's main characters, Marcy Wu quickly became the most popular and beloved character despite debuting in the middle of Season 2. She's {{Adorkable}}, clumsy, and a nerdy NiceGirl, but is also a force to be reckon with in combat. One example of her popularity, compare the view counts between [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVSjc4JVULo Sasha's Theme Song Takeover]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYPGZ6zSNdw Marcy's Theme Song Takeover]].

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': The clones of Domino Squad were originally created as one-shot characters for the episode "Rookies". However, due to the episode and the squad proving so popular among fans, Season 3 started with a flashback episode showing their backstory. Fives and Echo, the only surviving members of the squad, became recurring characters with their own subplot from that season onwards, with Fives eventually serving as the main character of the Order 66 arc, and Echo becoming one of the leads in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheBadBatch''.

* While ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' was always intended to be a series of shorts with many different characters, the incredible popularity of the ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' shorts led to them appearing in significantly more episodes than the other skits. They were also the only ones to spin-off into their own show.

* WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck upon his second appearance, (and his first on a WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse cartoon) where he effortlessly steals the picture away from everyone. It wasn't long before he became much more prominent on [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts the cartoons]] than the Mouse himself, before serving as a the centerpiece for [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse an entire comic book universe]] that is ''overwhelmingly'' adored in Europe. Walt Disney is on record as saying that he never quite understood why people became so attached to the character.
** While Donald is the biggest example, many well-known characters of the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts started out as side characters and part of the supporting cast of Mickey Mouse before starring in their own series of shorts, most prominent are WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}, WesternAnimation/MinnieMouse, WesternAnimation/Daisy Duck and [[WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup Pluto]] who nowadays all are recognizable characters of their own.
*** WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} even proofed popular enough to got his own TV-show, ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' and it's [[WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie sequel]] [[WesternAnimation/AnExtremelyGoofyMovie movies]].
*** Speaking of WesternAnimation/GoofTroop, Max Goof was originally an {{Expy}} of Goofy Jr., Goofy's son from the classic shorts. However, Max became a popular character of it's own and made a lot of appearances in the early 2000s like in ''WesternAnimation/MickeysOnceUponAChristmas'' and it's [[WesternAnimation/MickeysTwiceUponAChristmas sequel]] and ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' before vanishing into obscurity after his short life in the limelight.
*** The Donald Duck shorts inteoduced it's own breakout characters, like his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie who were just occasionally supporting characters before they were popular enough for Donald to officially ''adopt'' them in-universe, making them part of Donald's direcr family.
*** WesternAnimation/ChipAndDale originally were antagonists for Pluto and later Donald, but soon got their own classic shorts. Kids of the 90's learned to love them from their own animated series, ''WesternAnimation/ChipAndDaleRescueRangers'' which they still are wildly known for nowadays.
*** Scrooge [=McDuck=] already was a breakout character in the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse, but he got a second chance to break out thanks to the popularity of the animated series ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|1987}}'' which launched the now famous Disney Afternoon and cemented Scrooge as a big character in Disney's animation as well as the comics.