History Main / CharacterFocus

* Creator/RobertAsprin's [[Literature/MythAdventures MYTH series]] is usually narrated by one character, but any books including "M.Y.T.H." in the title (with the periods) are narrated by various other characters, sometimes one per chapter.

* Starting with ''Literature/TheNewProphecy'', each book of ''Literature/WarriorCats'' shifts the focus to a different one of the main characters. In fact, in ''[[Literature/WarriorCatsOmenOfTheStars Omen of the Stars,]]'' the cat on the cover of each book is the focal character for it (except for ''Sign of the Moon'' where the focal character is Jayfeather, not the covercat Stoneteller).

* Creator/StephenKing frequently utilizes this in his stories that feature large casts. Most notably seen in ''Literature/TheStand'', ''Literature/{{It}}'', ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series, and ''Literature/NeedfulThings'', among others.

* Each one of the five ''Literature/{{NERDS}}'' books focuses on a different team member. Book 1- [[NaiveNewcomer Jackson/Braceface]], Book 2- [[BlackAndNerdy Duncan/Gluestick]] Book 3- [[{{Tomboy}} Matilda/Wheezer]], Book 4- [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny Julio/Flinch]] and finally, Book 5 focuses on [[TheLeader Ruby/Pufferfish]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'': The "Six Against Infinity" six-parter had each episode focus on one member of the Super Hero Squad after they had been [[spoiler:stranded in different dimensions by the Dark Surfer]].

* Happens on ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'' fairly often. This can sometimes give away who the next major plotline is about, since a character who usually is OutOfFocus may get brought back into the spotlight for no apparent reason.

* Tabitha from ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'' gets her own spinoff manga.

* ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'': Apart from their respective intro chapters, almost all of the girls have [[CharacterFocus/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou gotten additional focus chapters somewhere down the line]].

* "Detached Service Diary" was a ''Comicbook/{{Blackhawk}}'' feature with solo stories about the individual Blackhawks.
* ''Comicbook/JetDream'' gave Marlene and Ting-a-Ling a couple stories each.
* ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'' had occasional backup strips with solo adventures for the members of the team.
* ''Solo [[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers]]'' (later ''Avengers Spotlight'') was a Marvel book in which Avengers who didn't have their own title got solo stories.
* ''Comicbook/TeenTitans Spotlight'' did the same thing for members of the Titans.
* ''[[Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]] Classified'' did the same thing for the Justice Society. (Although ''[[Comicbook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]] Classified'', the book it was named in imitation of, did stories featuring the whole League, because they almost all had their own titles).

* Liara T'Soni of the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series got a lot of this, starting with the "Genesis" digital comic (which allowed people who hadn't played Mass Effect 1 to play a resume of it in the second opus), it continued with the Lair of The Shadow Broker DLC, in which she plays a central role. This carried over into the third game, in which she is promoted to TheLancer and has more cut-scenes and is required to accompany you to more missions then any other companion. Aria T'Loak is given this treatment in the Omega DLC, and, while [[DownplayedTrope less evident]], Urdnot Wrex is this to the Citadel DLC.

* Season 12 of WebAnimation/RedVsBlue is focusing a lot on Tucker's growth as a leader. There were hints of this in season 11 as well, but focusing more on him as a soldier than a leader and building up to his arc for the next season.

* Certain episodes in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' focuses on each member of the team. "Bereft" was Miss Martian. "Drop Zone" was Robin. "Schooled" was ComicBook/{{Superboy}}. "Infiltrator" and "Secret" were Artemis. "Denial" was Kid Flash. "Downtime" was Aqualad.

* Most episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' spotlight one or two members of the team. On a larger scale, each seasonal arc focuses on a particular character:

* WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom gives, in it's much maligned third season, an inordinate amount of focus on [[SoapBoxSadie Sam Manson]] and her relationship with Danny, while the enemy ghosts had no more motivation than "Take over the world!"

* WesternAnimation/SupaStrikas Each episode tends to focus on a particular character, and they usually make a point of it by making the cold open have a scene that focuses on that character.

** The story chronicles [[SternChase her pursuit of Leina]], while also delving deeper into Elina's character, her motivations, and her attempts to come to terms with [[IncestSubtext her forbidden love]] [[TriangRelations for both her older sisters.]] In addition, she's shown to be [[TookALevelInBadass far more formidable]] here, than in her anime portrayal.

* Nagaru Tanigawa, the guy who created the ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' novels stated that he likes Yuki Nagato, because she is the easiest to write CharacterDevelopment for.
** For that matter, Mikuru gets a Character Focus chapter and an entire novel, too.

* ''[[CharacterFocus/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You]]''.

* Season 12 of Machinima/RedVsBlue is focusing a lot on Tucker's growth as a leader. There were hints of this in season 11 as well, but focusing more on him as a soldier than a leader and building up to his arc for the next season.

* The treatment of Conrad in ''LightNovel/KyouKaraMaou'' is a strong example of Character Focus, arguably at the expense of the other members of the cast. This anime is quintessentially an ensemble piece, making it difficult to squeeze in Character Focus without becoming {{Filler}}. Yet we still learn all about Conrad's past, his angst and his karmic connection to Yuri. Even Conrad's father gets ADayInTheLimelight - and he died long before the story started. Compare this to Conrad's half-brothers Gwendal and Wolfram, who don't get much CharacterDevelopment after the initial episodes. We don't even know who their dads ''are''.

There's a reason why [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters ensemble series]] are successful. The cast's big enough to allow for a [[PlotThreads multitude of storylines]], the number of cast members makes for dramatic action scenes, ThePowerOfFriendship is accounted for, and most viewers will be able to identify with at least one of the characters.

* Each episode of ''Literature/{{Anpanman}}'' is created by taking two characters (or a defined group of characters and another character) and having them meet each other or work together, playing off their own personality traits. Thanks to the show [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters holding the record for most named characters]], this works out well. When a new character is introduced, they'll get their own starring episode.

* Creator/StephenKing frequently utilizes this in his stories that feature LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters. Most notably seen in ''Literature/TheStand'', ''Literature/{{It}}'', ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series, and ''Literature/NeedfulThings'', among others.
* Creator/HarryTurtledove is absolutely in love with this trope, and given that his books are almost always {{Doorstopper}}s with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, it can get to where it makes your head spin.

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' started out with a five book rotation deciding who narrated (and was the focus of) each book. For the most part, the focus is fairly equal (though Cassie received more AllUpToYou plots than the others--a total of 3). However, there were six characters, so the cycle went Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, Jake, Rachel, Ax, Cassie, Marco--meaning Ax and Tobias only narrated half as many books as the others. One problem with this was that {{Fangirl}} favorite Tobias' books tended to be very emotional, philosophical and dramatic. While his books had comic relief, he never narrated a primarily light-hearted, lower-stakes story. Meanwhile, most of Ax's books, despite the fact that his very first narration established that he ''had'' to kill Visser Three according to Andalite revenge customs, tended towards comedy and {{Filler}}. Near the end, Ax was added to the end of the rotation, however, and that fixed his problems.

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' started out with a five book rotation deciding who narrated (and was the focus of) each book. For the most part, the focus is fairly equal (though Cassie received more AllUpToYou plots than the others--a total of 3). However, there were six characters, so the cycle went Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, Marco, Jake, Rachel, Ax, Cassie, Marco--meaning Ax and Tobias only narrated half as many books as the others. One problem with this was that {{Fangirl}} favorite Tobias' books tended to be very emotional, philosophical and dramatic. While his books had comic relief, he never narrated a primarily light-hearted, lower-stakes story, leading to cries of "{{Wangst}}!" and "[[FanNickname emohawk!]]" Meanwhile, most of Ax's books, despite the fact that his very first narration established that he ''had'' to kill Visser Three according to Andalite revenge customs, tended towards comedy and {{Filler}}. Near the end, Ax was added to the end of the rotation, however, and that fixed his problems.

* Starting with ''Literature/TheNewProphecy'', each book of ''Literature/WarriorCats'' shifts the focus to a different one of the main characters. In fact, in ''[[Literature/WarriorCatsOmenOfTheStars Omen of the Stars,]]'' the cat on the cover of each book is the focal character for it (except for ''Sign of the Moon'' where the focal character is Jayfeather, not the [[FanNickname covercat]] Stoneteller).

* Each one of the five ''Literature/{{NERDS}}'' books focuses on a different team member. Book 1- [[NaiveNewcomer Jackson A.K.A. Braceface]], Book 2- [[BlackAndNerdy Duncan A.K.A. Gluestick]] Book 3- [[{{Tomboy}} Matilda A.K.A. Wheezer]], Book 4- [[TheBigGuy Julio A.K.A. Flinch]] and finally, Book 5 focuses on [[TheLeader Ruby A.K.A. Pufferfish]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}}'' though Lion-O has received the most CharacterDevelopment of the titular group, Panthro's introduction, "Old Friends," delves into his backstory, and that of his EvilFormerFriend Grune. Later, we get two episodes devoted to the Thunderkittens, and one episode for Tygra.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Visionaries}}, six out of the thirteen episodes were largely focused on an individual character. The episodes in question were:

* Each episode of ''{{Franchise/Anpanman}}'' is created by taking two characters (or a defined group of characters and another character) and having them meet each other or work together, playing off their own personality traits. Thanks to the show [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters holding the record for most named characters]], this works out well. When a new character is introduced, they'll get their own starring episode.

* ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' gave separate stories and even full novels to numerous stations and individual engines. Its AnimatedAdaptation ''[[WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine Thomas And Friends]]'' initially followed this formula, though later seasons focus more primarily on the show's BreakoutCharacter.

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': The episode "War Stories" focuses more on the character Wash than most previous episodes, as the pilot of an unarmed ship he was usually away from the action. This led to some frustration on his part and he subsequently demanded to be brought along for a field mission.

* Robert Asprin's [[Literature/MythAdventures MYTH series]] is usually narrated by one character, but any books including "M.Y.T.H." in the title (with the periods) are narrated by various other characters, sometimes one per chapter.