History DecoyProtagonist / VideoGames

** In ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit of Justice]]'', Phoenix has his name in the title and is the first character you control. However, he ultimately takes a backseat to Apollo Justice, who has a far more personal stake in the game's events and is the player character for the final trial. Of course, Apollo has ''his'' name in the title too...

* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'', Phoenix has his name in the title and is the first character you control. However, he ultimately takes a backseat to Apollo Justice, who has a far more personal stake in the game's events and is the player character for the final trial. Of course, Apollo has ''his'' name in the title too...

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': While the protagonist is clearly Cloud, the initial hero is set to be Aeris, with her being the first character to appear in the game, as she is the AllLovingHero, who [[ChosenOne alone]] has the capability to stop Meteor, due to being the last Ancient in existence. But after Disc One, it is clear that she is not the universe main hero of the story.

* In ''Dead Space 3'' you start off playing as a new character named Private Kaufman. After the breathtaking opening, Kaufman is murdered and the game shifts to another time and location where the real main character, Isaac Clark, is introduced.
* In ''VideoGame/DeadSpaceExtraction'', you first play as a mining employee, who first notices the necromorphs showing up. At the end of the first level, he's killed and his mantle of PC is taken up by the leader of the expedition that killed him.

** In a sense, Desmond Miles is this for the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' franchise as a whole. The original premise was that Desmond was the real hero of the franchise, with his adventures TwentyMinutesInTheFuture as the framing device for ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreed Assassin's Creed I]]''-''III''. However, even by ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' he was being heavily [[SpotlightStealingSquad overshadowed]] by Ezio. Following [[spoiler:Desmond's death at the end of ''III'']], the near future setting was de-emphasised in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIV'' and essentially abandoned in future games as the franchise pivoted to the historical adventures of past assassins.

** In a sense, Desmond Miles is this for the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' franchise as a whole. The original premise was that Desmond was the real hero of the franchise, with his adventures TwentyMinutesInTheFuture were the framing device for ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreed Assassin's Creed I]]''-''III''. However, even by ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' he was being heavily [[SpotlightStealingSquad overshadowed]] by Ezio. Following [[spoiler:Desmond's death at the end of ''III'']], the near future setting was de-emphasised in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIV'' and essentially abandoned in future games as the franchise pivoted to the historical adventures of past assassins.

** In a sense, Desmond Miles is this for the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' franchise as a whole. The original premise was that Desmond was the real hero of the franchise, with his adventures TwentyMinutesInTheFuture were the framing device for ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreed Assassin's Creed 1]]''-''III''. However, even by ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' he was being heavily [[SpotlightStealingSquad overshadowed]] by Ezio. Following [[spoiler:Desmond's death at the end of ''III'']], the near future setting was de-emphasised in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIV'' and essentially abandoned in future games as the franchise pivoted to the historical adventures of past assassins.

** In a sense, Desmond Miles is this for the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' franchise as a whole. The original premise was that Desmond was the real hero of the franchise, with his adventures TwentyMinutesInTheFuture were the framing device for ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreed Assassin's Creed 1]]''-''III''. However, even by ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' he was being heavily [[SpotlightStealingSquad overshadowed]] by Ezio. Following [[spoiler:Desmond's death at the end of ''III'']], the near future setting was heavily de-emphasised in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIV'' and essentially abandoned in future games as the franchise pivoted to the historical adventures of past assassins.

* In ''VideoGame/FarawayStory'', [[spoiler:Pia starts as the main character and seems to fit the role of an ''{{VideoGame/Atelier}}'' protagonist learning to [[ComingOfAgeStory become strong and independent]]. However, she's killed by the Dark Lord at the end of Part 1, forcing her mentor, Ellevark, to turn back time and prevent its resurrection. In the partially complete Part 2, Ellevark is the main character who has to re-recruit all of the party members. Pia rejoins in the fifth chapter, but can no longer be selected as the controllable character and Ellevark is still the default character on non-combat maps.]]

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': While the protagonist is clearly Cloud, the initial hero is set to be Aeris, with her being the first character to appear in the game, as she is the AllLovingHero, who [[ChosenOne alone]] capability to stop Meteor, due to being the last Ancient in existence. But after Disc One, it is clear that she is not the universe main hero of the story.

* In ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars: Days of Ruin]]'', Will is the first character to be introduced, but Captain Brenner is the main playable CO for a good portion of the story until his [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]], after which Will becomes the protagonist and eventual de-facto leader of the unit when Lin realizes she's so [[WeHaveReserves coldly analytical and focused on their eventual goal]] that it's [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal turning their troops against her]].

* [[spoiler:Joseph Allen]] in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'', who is killed off in his [[spoiler:third playable mission]] after leaping the MoralEventHorizon. Also implied with Gary 'Roach' Sanderson, whose role as a playable character seems to be to show off how badass 'Soap' [=MacTavish=] has become. [[spoiler: Confirmed when Roach [[DroppedABridgeOnHim had a metaphorical bridge dropped on him]] so the rest of the game could be told from Soap's perspective.]]
** The first ''Modern Warfare'' game has [[spoiler:Sgt. Paul Jackson]], who seems like he's going to be a second protagonist for the entire game until [[spoiler:he's killed by a nuke]]. After this, the story focuses entirely on Soap's squad (with a flashback from Price in the middle).
** Practically exaggerated in ''Modern Warfare 3''; the game has ''four'' decoy protagonists. The first is Andrei Harkov, bodyguard to President Boris Vorshevsky and his daughter Alena. After Vorshevsky is attacked by Makarov's men, it looks like Harkov's portion of the story will be focused on protecting them [[spoiler: which immediately ends after he gets a bullet in the head and Alena is abducted one mission in.]] Next is Derek 'Frost' Westbrook, who's the decoy ''decoy'' protagonist. His missions aren't of any critical importance to the A plot, [[spoiler: but he doesn't die along with the rest of his squad by the end of the game]]. The most traditional decoy protagonist is [[spoiler: Yuri, who used to be Makarov's partner until his HeelFaceTurn. ([[RedemptionEqualsDeath Guess what happens in the end?]])]] And then there's [[spoiler: Soap, who was the original protagonist in the first two game's after the decoy protagonists were killed. But in this game, he dies ''before you even have the chance to play as him''.]] So who's the ''real'' protagonist in the series? [[spoiler: Captain Price. You only get to play as him ''in three missions in the entire trilogy''.]]

* At first, the titular character of ''VideoGame/{{OMORI}}'' seems to be the games protagonist. But once the tutorial is over, the game suddenly introduces a new playable character in the form of Sunny. As the game progresses and the player alternates between the two, it becomes more and more clear that Sunny is the true protagonist of the story, especially once it's revealed that [[spoiler:Omori is the embodiment of Sunny's subconscious]].

* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'', Phoenix has his name in the title and is the first character you control. However, he ultimately takes a backseat to Apollo, who has a far more personal stake in the game's events and is the player character for the final trial. Of course, Apollo has ''his'' name in the title too...

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' While the protagonist is clearly Cloud, the initial hero is set to be Aeris, with her being the first character to appear in the game, as she is the AllLovingHero, who [[ChosenOne alone]] capability to stop Meteor, due to being the last Ancient in existence. But after Disc One, it is clear that she is not the universe main hero of the story.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' During disc one, Zidane, in universe, is nothing but a thief that helps the Princess escape the clutches of the EvilQueen. As the story progresses, Dagger is the one primed to be the hero of the story, being the summoner and all. This is later flipped once more of Zidane's nature is revealed and he is the ultimate hero of the story.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' While the game takes place through Tidus's viewpoint, Yuna is the clear hero of the story. Being the summoner, on her way to a dangerous pilgrimage to save the world from Sin. Tidus mostly feels like a contemplative TagAlongKid with a sword. This is later flipped once the party meets Yunalesca.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMario64DS'': In a surprise twist of events, '''Yoshi''' becomes the first playable character, as Mario ends up ''captured'' by Bowser, alongside Luigi and Wario. Yoshi must defeat Goomboss to save Mario, who is the only one that can access the final "Bowser in the Sky" level to take down Bowser once again.

* In ''VideoGame/Killer7'', the titular group are seven split personalities all within a crippled man in a wheelchair named Harman, who is the protagonist. [[spoiler: Then the ending comes, which reveals that the leader of the seven personalities and the only one who is shown normally exist seperately of Harman, Garcian, is actually the one with the split personalities under his control, and Garcian ''himself'' is the split personality of the ruthless assassin Emir Parkreiner, and he killed Harman and the recessive six personalities, gaining Harman's power of invoking those personalities and carrying the weapons of the recessive six in his briefcase.]] Their counterparts created by the US military work similarly. [[spoiler: Handsome Red, the supposed leader of the Handsome Men, fights Harman, the supposed leader of the killer7. The last of the Handsome Men-killer7 duels is between Handsome Pink, the real leader of the Handsome Men, and Garcian, which foreshadows Garcian being the true protagonist.]]

* In ''[[VideoGame/AdvanceWars Advance Wars: Days of Ruin]]'', Will is the first character to be introduced, but Captain Brenner is the main playable CO for a good portion of the story until his [[spoiler:HeroicSacrifice]], after which Will becomes the protagonist and eventual de-facto leader of the unit when Lin realizes she's so [[WeHaveReserves coldly analytical and focused on their eventual goal]] that it's [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal turning their troops against her]].

** ''VideoGame/FatalFrameIV'' lets the player control Madoka Tsukimori for the prologue chapter. She gets a worse deal than Mafuyu, as she's playable for less time than he is [[spoiler:before being killed off by ghosts. Madoka becomes a hostile spirit on Rougetsu Island that the actual protagonists needs to fight]].

*** Vaan, Reks's brother, is the first proper character the player is given control of, and is depicted as your typical male ''Final Fantasy'' protagonist. Except his role in the story is, relatively speaking, very minor, as the story revolves around the widowed wife of the aforementioned Rasler, Ashe, who is both TheChosenOne and TheLeader, while the position of TheLancer in the team alternates between Basch and Balthier. Vaan is there until the end, but he's more of a TagalongKid than anything else.

* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': After Keiichi has been the main character for three arcs, his spotlight is taken away for the rest of the series, with three arcs devoted to Akasaka, Shion, and Rena. Then the first episode of ''Kai'' focuses on Akasaka and Ooishi. Then we get an arc centered around Satoko. The eventual main character? [[spoiler:Rika Furude]], a [[TrueCompanions True Companion]] who had received the least attention prior to the reveal. Keiichi still plays a critical role, though, as a source of inspiration and courage.