History Main / BitCharacter

** ''Mask of Light'' has the kolhii players Hewkii (with only one line), Hafu, Macku and the unnamed announcer who only show up for the game at the start. Outside the movie, Hewkii, Hafu and Macku were pretty important characters. Of the six Turaga elders, only Vakama gets a major role, though Nokama helps out and Onewa have some lines too, and each give some exposition.

** Most named characters in ''Web of Shadows'' don't get to do much, but they had to appear as they were parts of their respective teams. Of the six Rahaga, Norik is the only important one. Gaaki translates a text that drives the plot, Iruini acts as a flashlight and gets to say one meaningful like alongside Bomonga, Kualus only gets one word and Pouks doesn't say or do anything. Bomonga and Kualus at least have more to do in the MotionComic DVD bonus feature. All of them were flashed out in the books and comics.

* ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'': Space Pirate Captain.

* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'': Yuuko and Aiko, members of Nanami's GirlPosse exist for little other than to pine after Touga and kiss up Nanami.

** Sherri and Terri have been around since the beginnings of the show, but they have never gotten a single ADayInTheLimelight episode (though they get major roles with the other kids in "Das Bus"), nor any characterization aside from "SingleMindedTwins" and "kind of stuck-up."

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[[folder: Western Animation]]

* ''Film/MarsAttacks'': Joe Weinberg only gets about five minutes of screentime. Within those five minutes, he reveals he is [[AcceptableTargets a lawyer]] and offers his services to a Martian who quickly zaps him. They really wanted to make sure the audience didn't [[AssholeVictim sympathize too much]] just before bumping him off.

A Bit Character is a minor character in the cast. They have a slightly larger part than the extra or the SpearCarrier, but isn't a well-known actor taking a small part, like a {{Cameo}}. The British television industry often refers to these as "under sixes" (six being the number of spoken lines required to no longer be a bit part). Similarly in the US, they are "under fives."

While an extra is the guy walking down the hall carrying a stack of papers -- [[LivingProp basically a piece of animated furniture]] -- the bit character is the receptionist who briefly interacts with the heroes, telling them that Mr Jones is too busy to see them right now, before turning to do other things.

A Bit Character is a minor character in the cast. They have a slightly larger part than the extra or the SpearCarrier, but isn't a well-known actor taking a small part, like a {{Cameo}}. The British television industry often refers to these as "under sixes" (six being the number of spoken lines required to no longer be a bit part). Similarly in the US they are "under fives".

Some actors make a decent living playing bit characters throughout their careers, never moving up the hierarchy to "star". Such actors are called "bit players", and can make you wonder why he appears in the background of every movie made in that country. Before she played the lead in the 1957 TV series ''The Adventures of Tugboat Annie'', Minerva Urecal was a bit player in the movies.

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* ''Literature/AdrianMole'': Months after an incident in which William threw his lunch at a goat during a nursery school visit, the teacher makes William play a goat in the Nativity play. Adrian is appalled that his son is playing a lowly goat, and notes that a goat rarely or never appears in pictures of the Nativity. However, he enlists the help of Tania Braithwaite to make a goat costume. He also notes that his other son Glenn is unlikely to be chosen to play any part in a nativity, even a goat.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': With the huge expanse of characters found in the series, there are a number of people that show up for bit parts. Some entire Houses might even be called Bit Characters, usually with a defining characteristic that makes them at least ''slightly'' memorable. Ex. House Smallwood/Lady Smallwood.
* In ''Literature/VampireAcademy'', several of the teachers and students of St. Vladimir's Academy are no more than this. Appearing for one or two scenes and then vanishing into obscurity. A few are more recurring than others. Dr. Olendzki turns up whenever a protagonist is injured or shows signs of mental instability, Deirdre is the therapist appointed to Rose and Lissa, Camille Conta acts as one of the Academy's most popular girls and a power-player in the social scene, Xander Badica is a student who wants to taste what Rose's blood tastes like and figures in social gathering scenes, etc.
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* ''Film/MarsAttacks'': Danny [=Devito's=] character that only gets about five minutes of screentime. Within those five minutes, he reveals he is [[AcceptableTargets a lawyer]] and offers his services to a Martian who quickly zaps him. They really wanted to make sure the audience didn't [[AssholeVictim sympathize too much]] just before bumping him off.

* The Mall Santa from ''Film/{{Shazam}}'' gets a a small number of lines and a few reaction shots whenever the main villain menaces the public, but doesn't affect the plot or seriously interact with the protagonists.

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* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': [[IronicName Tad Strange]] is a character with just a couple of lines and a small appearence, but he earned a surprising popularity because of his voice actor.

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The Bit Character may have a small role, but that part can move the plot along in some way ([[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom possibly for the worse]]), or let them serve as a {{Foil}} to a major character to flesh out the characterization. They could even be someone who gives the hero a piece of useful information, when the hero's usual source has run dry or is unavailable for whatever reason. While they might have some eccentricity to make them interesting, a bit character is generally a FlatCharacter, to prevent the question of WhatHappenedToTheMouse from arising.

* Daigo Aoki and Shoji Sato from ''Manga/FoodWars'', despite being in the same dorm as the protagonist, their only role in the story is to fool around in comedy scenes and just "be there" cheering for some major character to win a shokugeki or something, and in the last arc they are almost erased from the story aside from some panels here and there.

** Sgt Benton has an interesting relationship to this trope--after playing a yeti, his actor John Levene filled out scenes as a UNIT member extra in "The Invasion" ([[TheOtherMarty still visible crammed right at the back at certain early shots]]), and got bumped up to being a bit character when the director sacked the actor originally cast as Benton. A drastic {{retool}} to focus the show around UNIT meant they decided to make Benton a companion, which he was for seven years. Apparently accidentally landing a large part despite having no acting training beyond some bit-part experience resulted in Levene experiencing severe stress and Impostor Syndrome.

->''"Music/IggyPop was not inexperienced in acting before this. His Website/IMDb page lists all of his numerous previous roles, such as 'Prospective Guest', 'Skinny Player on Road', and -- coming off of his most recent success -- 'Man Eating Bird Leg!' (No hyphen, so I assume he is a man eating a bird leg, but I cannot rule out that he was a bird leg that STALKED AND KILLED HUMANS.)"''
-->-- '''Website/{{SF Debris}}''' on Iggy Pop's ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E10TheMagnificentFerengi turn]].

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': With [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters the huge expanse of characters]] found in the series, there are a number of people that show up for bit parts. Some entire Houses might even be called Bit Characters, usually with a defining characteristic that makes them at least ''slightly'' memorable. Ex. House Smallwood/Lady Smallwood.

->''"Music/IggyPop was not inexperienced in acting before this. His [=IMDb=] page lists all of his numerous previous roles, such as 'Prospective Guest', 'Skinny Player on Road', and -- coming off of his most recent success -- 'Man Eating Bird Leg!' (No hyphen, so I assume he is a man eating a bird leg, but I cannot rule out that he was a bird leg that STALKED AND KILLED HUMANS.)"''

->''"Iggy Pop was not inexperienced in acting before this. His [=IMDb=] page lists all of his numerous previous roles, such as "Prospective Guest", "Skinny Player on Road", and -- coming off of his most recent success -- "Man Eating Bird Leg!" (No hyphen, so I assume he is a man eating a bird leg, but I cannot rule out that he was a bird leg that STALKED AND KILLED HUMANS.)"''
-->-- '''Website/{{SF Debris}}''' on Iggy's ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E10TheMagnificentFerengi turn]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' has Andrea[[note]][[ItIsPronouncedTroPay Ahn-DRAY-uh]][[/note]], a HollywoodPudgy, bitter {{Goth}}. She had a few lines in early episodes and then mostly became a background character, only to unexpectedly gain some moments of prominence in the last two seasons. The creators seem fond of her--she got [[CreativeClosingCredits Alter Egos]] and even some CharacterDevelopment over her few speaking appearances--and she has become an EnsembleDarkhorse among fans as well.