History Main / AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent

* Downplayed in ''VisualNovel/{{Morenatsu}}'', where POV switches to another character for brief moments. The most notable instance is the denouement of Kouya's route where the POV shifts to Kouya [[spoiler:when he visits his father after the [[ConcertClimax big concert]] and begins the process of reconciling with his estranged family]] while the player character waits outside.

* ''CriticalHit''. The game master loves to pull this on the players, giving them a set of different characters to play every once in awhile before switching back to the main party. The goal is to demonstrate different classes and character types in play

You've beaten the first couple of major bosses, you've leveled up, gotten some new [[PowerUp powers]], and your character has gone from pathetic to useful. A big, epic, climactic scene is occurring. Then the scene ends in a {{Cliffhanger}} and you have to start with a brand new character in a somewhat related storyline. Prepare to do this several times for TheRashomon-style storyline to be completed.

* ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'' has the switching between April, Zoe, and Kian. Its sequel, ''VideoGame/DreamfallChapters'', does the same with Zoe, Kian, and a yet-unnamed third PlayerCharacter.

* ''ComicBook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'': The first prologue shows Franchise/{{Superman}}'s side of the story. The second prologue shows what Franchise/SpiderMan was up to while Superman ended his battle against ComicBook/LexLuthor. Finally, the third prologue shows what the villains -- Luthor and ComicBook/DoctorOctopus -- are doing after being arrested and jailed.

* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden Sigma'', the [=PS3=] UpdatedRerelease of the Xbox remake, has you switching between Ryu and Rachel at certain points in the game.
** The sequels, meanwhile, adds [[VideoGame/DeadOrAlive Ayane and Kasumi]] in brief story related missions.

* ''VideoGame/SpiderMan3'' has the player controlling Harry Osborn for a bit during the final battle.
** You could also play as Harry as the second Green Goblin in ''VideoGame/SpiderManTheMovie'' in what was the same story levels but a new story.

** Additionally, the ''Harley Quinn's Revenge'' DLC in ''City'' has the player switching between [[ComicBook/Robin1993 Tim Drake]] and Batman.
** The main story of ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' has Batman and all his allies playable: ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}}, ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}, ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}, ''and'' ComicBook/{{Azrael}}.
*** It goes [[ExaggeratedTrope one further]] and has [[spoiler:Jim Gordon, Hush, Officer Owens and Joker playable in specific parts of the story]] as well as Batgirl and Red Hood in DLC, bringing the total number of playable characters to twelve.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' puts you in the shoes of newcomer Nero for the first ten Missions, after which series lead Dante takes over until Mission 18, when you're back with Nero through to the end of the game. Lucky for the player, though, all Proud Souls (the currency used for leveling up abilities) gathered as Nero transfer to Dante, as do vitality levels and Devil Trigger orbs, and Nero gets a metric shitton of Proud Souls when you switch back to him.
** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Special Edition]]'' adds two other campaigns alongside Nero and Dante's story from the original game, that allow you to play as either Vergil for the full game, or Lady for Nero's levels and Trish for Dante's levels.

* In nearly every ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' game the player mainly controls Ratchet, but at times must directly take control of Clank for various reasons (for example, in the first game at one point there's a planet with a hazardous atmosphere so only Clank can head out on his own while Ratchet must stay behind). The spin-off game ''VideoGame/SecretAgentClank'' inverts this: ''Clank'' is the one played as for the majority of the game while ''Ratchet'' is the one the player briefly controls at various points.

* During three points in ''VideoGame/PokemonRejuvenation'', you play as two different characters other that the protagonist: first as Maria during the intro, and then as Emma as she's investigating Blacksteeple Castle. Finally, [[spoiler:as Melia during her first encounter with Spacea and Tiempa during the events at Amethyst Cave.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/WildArms3 Wild ARMs 3]]'' started off with the cast going on individual flashback missions, each one showing how they ended up on the train they were riding. Eventually they all teamed up and the game started for real.
** The ''VideoGame/WildArms'' series tends to open like this quite frequently, introducing us to the characters in separate missions before they all meet up. You can usually choose the order in which you do this, as well. It's part of the series' emphasis on an ensemble cast, rather than one obvious main character and their group of sidekicks.

** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' has you play the first three memory sequences (about a fifth of the game) as ''Haytham'' Kenway, the main protagonist's father. While Haytham can acquire money and equipment in these sequences, none of it carries over to when you start playing as Connor -- but oddly, any exploration or sidequests that Haytham accomplished do. Connor can get the money Haytham had, however, if the player is able to find the Green Dragon Inn (Haytham's base of sorts during his sequences) and picks the lock on the chest inside.

* In ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar3'' the character each player controls changes depending on who is along for this part of the story with about 8 total playable. Player 1 is always series Protagonist Marcus Fenix with the exception of part of Chapter 1 where they control Augustus Cole.

*** The Aftermath chapter of Judgement is set during the events of the third game and features Clayton Carmine in place of Judgement's [[spoiler:Sophia]].

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' quest "Call of the Tempestarii" you get knocked out when repairing navigation data on the namesake GhostShip. What follows is a PlacidPlaneOfAnkleDeepWater where the player controls Sevagoth's Shadow as he fights off Corpus forces while the quest's antagonist sings a space shanty in the background.

* The Bad Boys Love route of ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'' begins with [[spoiler:the human girl getting killed]]. For the remainder of that route, you play as Ryouta. The protagonist-shift goes hand-in-hand with a GenreShift from a weird dating sim to a weird [[spoiler:murder mystery thriller]].

* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', usually told from JD's point of view with JD's narration, featured an average of one episode per season told from the points of view of other characters with their narration instead.
** After the show's transition to a new network, the final season suddenly switches focus from [[DemotedToExtra established physician JD]] to [[ChangingOfTheGuard new intern Lucy]].

* Many of the ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'' Super Special books contain chapters narrated by people other than the club members (most commonly one or more of the children the club is watching).

** The first chapter of the fourth book, ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', "The Riddle House," is seemingly this, as it is from the perspective of an old man, Frank Bryce, discovering the weakly-revived Voldemort, overhearing a plan to capture Harry, and getting killed by Voldemort. Ultimately, however, this one is a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]], as we discover in the next chapter that it ''was'' Harry's perspective because he was having a vision of it in his dreams.
*** On the other hand, we read enough of Frank Bryce's thoughts about his past, from long before Harry was born, that it wasn't ''entirely'' from Harry's perspective.
* In Geoph Essex's ''Jackrabbit Messiah'', the action mostly alternates point of view between Jackrabbit and Amity Sheridan, almost chapter by chapter. The one exception is the numberless chapter that backtracks "Sixty Paragraphs Earlier" to show what the BigBad was doing during the previous scene with Amity.
** There are also two short chapters where the point of view focuses on news anchor and side character Sam Mercer (name-dropped earlier in the book), reporting on the crazy events that the main characters find themselves wrapped up in.

**

* During three points in VideoGame/PokemonRejuvenation, you play as two different characters other that the protagonist: first as Maria during the intro, and then as Emma as she's investigating Blacksteeple Castle. Finally, [[spoiler:as Melia during her first encounter with Spacea and Tiempa during the events at Amethyst Cave.]]

* The first two ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' games have you play as security guards at a SuckECheeses. [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3 The third game]], however, has you play as an actor ''playing'' the role of a security guard at a horror attraction ([[DistinctionWithoutADifference while also looking over the place at night]]). [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4 The fourth game]], however, appears to be from the perspective of an ordinary child instead (due to the POV being closer to the ground than before, and the assortment of toys around a colorful bedroom).

* Since the end of Episode 10 of Webcomic/SupermassiveBlackHoleAStar, [[spoiler:where it ended with Plank left in the Perriman cloning facility after "killing" Selenis that only activated her next clone in continuing episodes]], the story has been continuing from Selenis' perspective.

* A few issues of the ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'' will switch to Stephanie as the main character with Tim out of focus as a supporting character instead of the usual reverse, and of course there's the three issues where Stephanie was Robin while Tim was briefly retired to civilian life. She was also Robin in the "World Without ComicBook/YoungJustice'' tie-in issue.

** Additionally, the ''Harley Quinn's Revenge'' DLC in ''City'' has the player switching between [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]] and Batman.
** The main story of ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' has Batman and all his allies playable: ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}}, ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}, ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}, ''and'' ComicBook/{{Azrael}}.

** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' has you take control of Rebecca in Chris' scenario if Chris gets poisoned by the giant snake. Depending on your interactions with Rebecca, she'll also show up again to make a chemical compound so she can save Chris from a giant mutant plant.

* Used a couple times in the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series:

** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' has three main storyarcs for Sonic, Shadow, and Silver, though other supporting cast members in the Sonic series will briefly take over as minor playable characters during each story (Tails and Knuckles for Sonic; Rouge and Omega for Shadow, and Amy and Blaze for Silver). Sometimes even one of the main three characters will be playable in another character's story mode: for example, in Sonic's story the player briefly controls Silver at one point.

** ''VisualNovel/GetawayGirls'': The protagonist is Teyana, but you get to plays her sister Maia, their cousin Anita and their friend Dee Dee.

** Subverted in ''VideoGame/Uncharted3DrakesDeception''. After one level of Nathan Drake getting beaten up in an English pub ''ala'' previous games, the second level switches to a kid in South America... but it doesn't take long for the savvy players to notice the FashionableAsymmetry or CatchPhrase and realise they're now playing as young Nate.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'': The player spends the first few hours of the game controlling Roxas before resuming control as Sora from the first game. All of Roxas' stats are transferred to Sora after the switch. Additionally, during the final boss battle, the player character briefly switches to [[spoiler:Riku]] after [[spoiler:Sora is grabbed and starts having his energy drained by Xemnas]]. Also, if Sora falls during specific boss fights, Mickey will leap in action to save him, under the player's control. (Though he lacks a finishing move and must revive Sora to deal the final blow).
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'': Even though Sora is playable through the very end, Riku is playable twice in the Realm of Darkness, fighting the Demon Tower, and again in the [[=Remind=]] DLC, during a OnceMoreWithClarity BossBattle where he and Sora swap party positions. Aqua is also playable in Castle Oblivion during the boss fight against Vanitas and again during Remind. Roxas and Kairi are optionally playable in the [[=Remind=]] DLC. [[spoiler:There's also a segment in Remind where the play controls every keyblade wielder, except Sora and Kairi, at the same time, and then a short segment as Mickey]].

** ''VisualNovel/AcrossTheVoid'': The {{Protagonist}} is Nova, but you get to play as his two siblings, Eos and Pax.
** ''VisualNovel/RulesOfEngagement'': The {{Protagonist}} is Katie, but you get to play as her three siblings, Jess, Nicole and Alex, and in some premium scenes, as their cousin Violet.

** ''VideoGame/FatalFrame1'' has the player control Mafuyu for the introduction, before switching to his sister Miku as the main protagonist.
** ''VideoGame/FatalFrameIIITheTormented'' takes you through the Kuze shrine as Rei, Miku, and Kei, with Rei getting the majority of the screen time. Each serves their own purpose -- Kei can move heavy furniture, for example. Each character opens up more of the shrine and reveals pieces of the puzzle that Rei, on her own, cannot.
** ''VideoGame/FatalFrameIVMaskOfTheLunarEclipse'' makes Madoka the playable character for the introduction. Then the game switches between Ruka Minazuki, Misaki Asou, and Choushiro Kirishima, following their respective investigations into Rougetsu Island.
** ''VideoGame/FatalFrameVMaidenOfBlackWater'' switches between Yuuri Kozukata, Ren Houjo, and Miu Hinasaki as playable characters.

** A late post-game quest has you play as Bonnie after [[spoiler:Belle and Chime enter a portal and don't return for weeks because they were taken captive]].

* In some variants of "The Search for the Lost Husband", the tale focuses on the supernatural husband in animal shape trying to woo a human princess by fulfilling her father's suitor tasks, e.g, building a larger palace, erecting a bridge between their houses, providing mountains of gold, etc. After this section, it segues into their marriage, into the taboo breaking by the princess and his vanishing. The tale, then, flips the perspective to focus on the princess's long journey to get her husband back.

** ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireI':

* ''VideoGame/{{Breath of Fire|I}}'':
** Ryu tours through two city-dungeons on his local continent before arriving at Winlan where the game switches over to Nina, who is at a much lower level, as she goes off on a quest unrelated to the Dark Dragons. And then you have to save her.
** Later on in the same game, you switch to greedy fish-merchant Gobi after the heroes are stranded on a desert island; he's the only one who can venture underwater and pick up the MacGuffin needed to escape.