History ChekhovsGunman / AnimatedFilms

* Early in ''WesternAnimation/TheBadGuys'', among the thieves mentioned to have tried and failed to steal the Golden Dolphin is the Crimson Paw, the only one to never have been identified or caught, but also disappeared and never stole anything again. Much later, the Crimson Paw reappears to break the gang out of jail after they're arrested for a crime they didn't commit. [[spoiler:She's really Diane Foxington, the newly elected Governor of California who [[ReformedCriminal renounced her criminal career to become a force for good]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'':

* Master Thundering Rhino first appears in the ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' ChristmasSpecial as a guest at the Winter Festival, where he gets a few lines and is even mentioned by name. He goes on to play a significant ([[SacrificialLamb albeit brief]]) role in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2''.
* From ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'', we have [[spoiler:The Man Upstairs. He's brought up early on in the movie, and we later discover that he is the GreaterScopeVillain for ''everything in the movie'' as he is the father of Finn and the inspiration for Lord Business]].

* In ''Animation/HappyHeroes 3: The Stones'', Superman X, who is integral to aiding the Supermen in stopping the missiles at the end of the film, is [[spoiler:the kid Happy S. told that anyone, even without superpowers, can be a superhero]].

** Stacy Frick briefly appears when Mei (in her red panda form) runs into her in the bathroom. She later reappears during Mei's dodgeball game, where she puts the dots together and realizes that Mei was the red panda she saw two days before. The reveal that she actually finds Mei's red panda form adorable gives Mei and her friends the idea to exploit its cuteness for money.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Stacy briefly appears when Mei (in her red panda form) runs into her in the bathroom. Stacy later reappears during Mei's dodgeball game, where she connects the dots and realizes that Mei was the red panda she saw two days before. The reveal that she actually finds Mei's red panda form adorable gives Mei and her friends the idea to exploit its cuteness for money.

* One of the first characters to appear during ''[[WesternAnimation/TenPlusTwoTheBigSecret 10+2 The Big Secret]]'' is the postman, a bird, who at the beginning of the movie delivers a letter to Professor Aristotle informing him that his niece Milessima will be staying at/attending his school starting the next day. The postman shows up again near the end of the movie, and ends up helping save the day by flying Infinity back to the school and then helping him reach the corrupted Book of Virtues so he can close it.

* Creator/{{Pixar}} likes to do this a lot with characters from their future films starting with ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc''. In that case, it's [[WesternAnimation/FindingNemo Nemo]].
* One of the first characters to appear during ''10+2 The Big Secret'' is the postman, a bird, who at the beginning of the movie delivers a letter to Professor Aristotle informing him that his niece Milessima will be staying at/attending his school starting the next day. The postman shows up again near the end of the movie, and ends up helping save the day by flying Infinity back to the school and then helping him reach the corrupted Book of Virtues so he can close it.
* [[spoiler: [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment The Big Lipped Alligator]]]] from ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven''.

* Chip from ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast.'' Out of the named servants, he‘s the one with the least focus and importance to the plot...that is until the climax where he [[spoiler: frees Maurice and Belle from their cellar.]] Had that not happened, the Beast would have died to Gaston before the curse could be broken.

* Near the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', if you look very closely at the crowd attending Bob/Mr. Incredible and Helen/Elastigirl's wedding, you can actually see several superheroes such as Gazerbeam, Dynaguy, and Stratogale among the crowd. Those superheroes are later revealed by Edna Mode to have been killed by either the Omnidroid or by some cape-related accident.
** Then of course there's Buddy aka [=IncrediBoy=], a big fan of Mr. Incredible who the hero shuns: [[spoiler: he grows up to become [[BigBad Syndrome]]]].
** And, let's not forget, Edna herself, the costume designer for the heroes, is also at the wedding.
** Bob's future case officer Rick Dicker is also present at the wedding sitting next to Edna.

* In ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'', [[spoiler: the Rat]] appears seemingly at random in the beginning. By the climax, it's the last thing on anybody's mind, until it reappears to do harm to the baby!
* If you look very closely when Simba runs up to wake Mufasa near the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', you can actually see Nala sleeping with her mother Sarafina for a few seconds.

** In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'', [[EnsembleDarkhorse DJ PON-3]], whose headphones protected her from the [[OurSirensAreDifferent Dazzlings]]' hypnotizing siren song, is the one who frees the Hu-Mane Six after they are locked in the basement by Trixie, and she converts [[CoolCar her car]] into a mobile sound system for the final battle.
** In the first film, Pinkie Pie hinted at the existence of a human AlternateSelf to Twilight Sparkle, which is confirmed in TheStinger of ''Rainbow Rocks'', and fully debuts in third film, ''Friendship Games''.

* Doctor "The Shadow Man" Facilier, the villain of ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', is first seen as a customer at the restaurant Tiana is working at as a waitress.
** Even before then, Facilier can be seen a couple times in ''Down in New Orleans'', the song that plays while Tiana is on her way to work.

* ''Film/TheThreeStooges'' has a little orphan named Teddy who gets adopted by a rich couple at the beginning. Turns out that Teddy later shows up when the Stooges are adults- and is at the center of the film's plot, without his knowledge!
* Just right before the BigLippedAlligatorMoment from the infamous animated film ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie'', Puggsy actually gets captured by a pair of dogcatchers. Those two are later revealed to be working for none other than Doctor Applecheeks.

* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' had a very interesting variation. In the beginning of the movie, [[VideoGame/StreetFighterII M. Bison]] warns Ralph of "going turbo", making one think that it was a ShoutOut to his own games and how they had the "Turbo" title slapped on. When VideoGame/QBert warns Felix that Ralph ran into ''Hero's Duty'', the Nicelanders panic, making it think that "going turbo" means "game hopping". [[spoiler: When Felix and Calhoun end up in ''Sugar Rush'', he tells her the tale of Turbo, a video game hero whose AttentionWhore attitude caused him to invade another game and cause it and his game to be unplugged, thus making "going turbo" mean "going '''Turbo'''." Then, during the climatic race between Vanellope and King Candy, we learn the man's [[BigBad true identity]], Candy was a disguised Turbo...]].
** Similarly, when Ralph gets his medal from ''Hero's Duty'' he gets attacked by a Cy-Bug and the two of them end up getting into a shuttle that takes them to ''Sugar Rush'', where Ralph assumes the Cy-Bug died when it fell into a taffy swamp. [[spoiler: Later, it turns out to be very much alive and also having made a ''huge'' colony of eggs, which later cause a SugarApocalypse and transform Turbo / Candy into one]].
** In [[WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet the sequel]], Yesss plays up this role near the movie's climax to [[spoiler: get all the Ralph clones to the Antivirus District]].

* The cat in the film adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}''.
* Marigold Girl from ''WesternAnimation/Epic2013'' [[spoiler:who becomes the queen at the end of the movie]].

** Then of course there's Buddy: [[spoiler: aka [[BigBad Syndrome]]]].
** And, let's not forget, Edna herself is also at the wedding.

* From ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'', we have [[spoiler:The Man Upstairs. He's brought up early on in the movie, and we later discover that he is the GreaterScopeVillain for ''everything in the movie'']].

* [[BigBad Mother]] [[MyBelovedSmother Gothel]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', according to the film's prologue.

** When you're watching [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory3 the third film]], remember the cute little girl playing with a monkey who has cymbals, because she'll be coming back, as will the monkey with cymbals.
* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' had a very interesting variation. In the beginning of the movie, [[VideoGame/StreetFighterII M. Bison]] warns Ralph of "going turbo", making one think that it was a ShoutOut to his own games and how they had the "Turbo" title slapped on. When VideoGame/QBert warns Felix that Ralph ran into ''Hero's Duty'', the Nicelanders panic, making it think that "going turbo" means "game hopping". [[spoiler: When Felix and Calhoun end up in ''Sugar Rush'', he tells her the tale of Turbo, a video game hero whose AttentionWhore attitude caused him to invade another game and cause it and his game to be unplugged, thus making "going turbo" mean "going '''Turbo'''." Then, during the climatic race between Vanellope and King Candy, we learn the man's [[BigBad true identity]]...]].
** Similarly, when Ralph gets his medal from ''Hero's Duty'' he gets attacked by a Cy-Bug and the two of them end up getting into a shuttle that takes them to ''Sugar Rush'', where Ralph assumes the Cy-Bug died when it fell into a taffy swamp. [[spoiler: Later, it turns out to be very much alive and also having made a ''huge'' colony of eggs, which later cause a SugarApocalypse]].
** In [[WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet the sequel]], Yesss plays up this role near the movie's climax to[[spoiler: get all the Ralph clones to the Antivirus District]].

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* If you look very closely when Simba runs up to wake Mufasa near the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'', you can actually see Nala sleeping with her mother Sarafina for a few seconds.

* In ''Animation/HappyHeroes3TheStones'', Superman X, who is integral to aiding the Supermen in stopping the missiles at the end of the film, is [[spoiler:the kid Happy S. told that anyone, even without superpowers, can be a superhero]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Minions}}'' shows a boy observing a FreezeRay at Villain-Con. Both the FreezeRay and the boy show up at the end of the film to [[spoiler:freeze the Overkills solid]], where the boy is revealed to be [[spoiler:a young Gru.]]

* When you're watching ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'' remember the cute little girl playing with a monkey who has cymbals, because she'll be coming back, as will the monkey with cymbals.

* Marigold Girl from ''{{WesternAnimation/Epic}}'' [[spoiler:who becomes the queen at the end of the movie]].

** In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'', [[EnsembleDarkhorse DJ PON-3]], whose headphones protected her from the [[EnthrallingSiren Dazzlings]]' hypnotizing siren song, is the one who frees the Hu-Mane Six after they are locked in the basement by Trixie, and she converts [[CoolCar her car]] into a mobile sound system for the final battle.

* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' had a very interesting variation. In the beginning of the movie, [[VideoGame/StreetFighterII M. Bison]] warns Ralph of "going turbo", making one think that it was a ShoutOut to his own games and how they had the "Turbo" title slapped on. When VideoGame/QBert warns Felix that Ralph ran into ''Hero's Duty'', the Nicelanders panic, making it think that "going turbo" means "game hopping". [[spoiler: When Felix and Calhoun end up in ''Sugar Rush'', he tells her the tale of Turbo, a video game hero whose AttentionWhore attitude caused him to invade another game and cause it and his game to be unplugged, thus making "going turbo" mean "going '''Turbo'''." Then, during the climatic race between Vanellope and King Candy, we learn the man's [[TheMole true identity]]...]].

* The wolf in the ''WesternAnimation/TheRugratsMovie'' is first properly seen when Spike pulls Angelica away from it. It later reappears in the climax on the bridge about eat the babies before Spike intervenes.

* During the scene where the explorers are travelling to Atlantis via an ancient highway through several underwater caves in ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', several masked warriors can be seen running away from their trucks as they approach. One of the warriors looks at the passing trucks before she runs off into the caves. This warrior is actually the film's heroine, Kida.

* In ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp'', [[spoiler: the Rat]] appears seemingly at random in the beginning. By the climax, it's the last thing on anybody's mind, until it reappears to do harm to the baby!
* If you look very closely when Simba runs up to wake Mufasa near the beginning of ''Disney/TheLionKing'', you can actually see Nala sleeping with her mother Sarafina for a few seconds.
* The dragon incense burner from ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'' turns out to be Mushu.

* Doctor "The Shadow Man" Facilier, the villain of ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', is first seen as a customer at the restaurant Tiana is working at as a waitress.

* [[BigBad Mother]] [[MyBelovedSmother Gothel]] from ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'', according to the film's prologue.

* ''Disney/WreckItRalph'' had a very interesting variation. In the beginning of the movie, [[VideoGame/StreetFighterII M. Bison]] warns Ralph of "going turbo", making one think that it was a ShoutOut to his own games and how they had the "Turbo" title slapped on. When VideoGame/QBert warns Felix that Ralph ran into ''Hero's Duty'', the Nicelanders panic, making it think that "going turbo" means "game hopping". [[spoiler: When Felix and Calhoun end up in ''Sugar Rush'', he tells her the tale of Turbo, a video game hero whose AttentionWhore attitude caused him to invade another game and cause it and his game to be unplugged, thus making "going turbo" mean "going '''Turbo'''." Then, during the climatic race between Vanellope and King Candy, we learn the man's [[TheMole true identity]]...]].

** In [[Disney/RalphBreaksTheInternet the sequel]], Yesss plays up this role near the movie's climax to[[spoiler: get all the Ralph clones to the Antivirus District]].

* ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}''

* ''Disney/FrozenII'': Mattias can be seen on a portrait in the library during the charades scene, long before Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and Olaf properly meet him in the enchanted forest.

*** When Flippers makes the reveal, all four of the characters' encounters with Boingo are shown OnceMoreWithClarity: in Red's encounter, we see that Red fell not because of the doors malfunctioning, but because Boingo used his ear to depress a release lever. In Kirk's encounter, we see him lurking in the bushes as Kirk discovers the damage to his truck. In Granny's encounter, we see Boingo passing something off to one of the ski team members right before he asks her for her autograph.

** In [[Disney/RalphBreaksTheInternet the sequel]], Yesss plays up this role near the movie's climax to[[spoiler: get all the Ralph clones to the Antivirus District]]

** While chasing Weaselton, Judy saves the life of Fru-Fru, a young female shrew. She turns out to be the daughter of a prominent [[TheDon mob boss]], placing the mobster in Judy's debt. This comes in handy more than once.