History Main / MinorMajorCharacter

** For the majority of the show, [[Characters/TheOwlHouseCamilaNoceda Camila Noceda]] has very little ''physical'' presence, however she has a ''massive'' impact upon Luz's character as a result of how Luz feels heavily disconnected from her mother, in addition to her desperation to get back to Camila to show that she is okay after she destroys the Portal Door in "Young Blood, Old Souls". When the two briefly reunite in "Yesterday's Lie", the sheer guilt that Luz experiences over the grief she accidentally caused her mother indirectly inspires some of her later actions in the series, including opting to travel back in time to learn the secrets of crafting a Portal Door from Philip Wittebane. As a result of the events of "[[Recap/TheOwlHouseS2E21KingsTide King's Tide]]" and "[[Recap/TheOwlHouseS3E1ThanksToThem Thanks to Them]]", this no longer applies due to the Hexsquad getting trapped in the Human Realm in the former, and Camila opting to travel with them back to the Demon Realm in the latter.

* Thanos in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse can be seen as this, built up as the BigBad of the franchise, though his only appearance for a long time (that wasn't a [[TheStinger stinger]]) was in a brief pair of scenes in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', the movie most detached from the MCU at large. This is finally averted in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', where he has a very prominent role and is clearly the central villain of the film.

* In ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' the tendency for most of the factions is that AsskickingEqualsAuthority holds true and the in-lore faction leaders for each faction is usually a fieldable special character (or, in the case of divided factions like the Greenskins, the most powerful living leaders are fieldable). The High Elves, one of the lorewise most powerful and united factions, avert this. Their faction's leader, Phoenix King Finubar the Seafarer, is not a playable character and never has been for any of the game's editions. The Wood Elves also play this straight in later editions as Ariel, the immortal queen of Athel Loren, stopped being a fieldable character after the sixth edition.

** While all nine of the Coven Heads have unique designs, only five of them any real characterization. The other four (Construction, Healing, Oracle and Potions) aren't given any characterization, have no lines, and their names and personalities remain unknown.

* Some of the members of [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Scorpia]] in ''Literature/AlexRider'', namely Mikato and [[http://alexrider.wikia.com/wiki/Levi_Kroll Levi Kroll]].

* Thanos in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse can be seen as this, built up as the BigBad of the franchise, though his only appearance so far (that wasn't a [[TheStinger stinger]]) was in a brief pair of scenes in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', the movie most detached from the MCU at large. This is finally averted in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', where he has a very prominent role and is clearly the central villain of the film.

** Artakha is a mythical force of good and the bearer of the [[MaskOfPower Mask of Creation]], one of the three Legendary Masks in existence, two of which played pivotal roles in the creation of the Matoran Universe. He also created the six Toa Mata, the series' main protagonists, and the Mask of Light, an important MacGuffin. Artakha and his people were isolated from the rest of the MU but would occasionally teleport items or people to wherever they were needed to progress the plot. In person, Artakha only showed up in one scene in a side story that was LeftHanging when the series ended. Similar to the Energized Protodermis Entity, Artakha was invented on the fly as a filler character, which explains their meager story presence.

* The Tripredacus Council in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' are the leaders of the Predacons as a whole, as opposed to the small band that serve Megatron as the show's antagonist. Their only tangible role is in Megatron and [[spoiler:[[EngimaticMinion Tarantulas']]]] backstories, and sending one agent after Megatron in the second season finale.

** Artakha is a mythical force of good and the bearer of the [[MaskOfPower Mask of Creation]], one of the three Legendary Masks in existence, two of which played pivotal roles in the creation of the Matoran Universe. He also created the six Toa Mata, the series' main protagonists, and the Mask of Light, an important MacGuffin. Artakha and his people were isolated from the rest of the MU but would occasionally teleport items or people to wherever they were needed to progress the plot. In person, Artakha only showed up in one scene in a side story that was LeftHanging when the series ended. Similer to the Energized Protodermis Entity, Artakha was invented on the fly as a filler character, which explains their meager story presence.

** The whole story can be traced back to the [[{{Precursors}} Great Beings]] and their attempts to study the silvery liquid [[{{Phlebotinum}} Energized Protodermis]], which unknown to them was [[SentientPhlebotinum sentient and malicious]]. The Great Beings were alluded to be all powerful "gods" in early media, later story revealed they were actually former rulers who turned to a life of science, unable to stop the Energized Protodermis' unstable power from splitting their home planet Spherus Magna apart. They created the Matoran Universe, the setting of the story's first 8 years and almost all who lived there, but only a few Great Beings showed up in the story and they rarely interacted with others. Though they were part of the franchise's core concept since the start, Toys/{{LEGO}} [[ExecutiveMeddling specifically ordered]] them to be [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen featured as little as possible]]. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen They were meant to be]] explored fully had the franchise continued. [[spoiler:The villager Velika [[WordOfGod was revealed by the writer]] to be a [[GodInHumanForm GB in disguise]] after the cancellation, but the story never reached this twist.]]
** Despite Energized Protodermis and its powers being a constant presence in the plot, essentially being one of the absolute most crucial driving forces of the whole story, the EP Entity itself is a minor FillerVillain at best, mostly [[AllPowerfulBystander observing the goings-on]] and only revealing itself to a handful of characters before disappearing. It never plays a conscious role in any of the main plots and is arguably one of the franchise's most obscure characters.
** Annona was something of an ancient EldritchAbomination who lived alongside the EP Entity within Spherus Magna. Her attempt to [[DreamStealer eat the Great Beings' dreams]] was the cause for the Great Beings turning their backs on their world and devoting themselves to science. Meaning she arguably is the most important character for unwittingly setting the story in motion and making the Matoran Universe's existence possible. Yet, she only briefly shows up in a side story near the very end of the franchise and is immediately defeated by being locked in a dream-dimension, never meeting any important characters.
** Artakha is a mythical force of good and the bearer of the [[MaskOfPower Mask of Creation]], one of the three Legendary Masks in existence, two of which played pivotal roles in the creation of the Matoran Universe. He also created the six Toa Mata, the series' main protagonists, and the Mask of Light, an important MacGuffin. Artakha and his people were isolated from the rest of the MU but would occasionally teleport items or people to wherever they were needed to progress the plot. In person, Artakha only showed up in one scene in a side story that was LeftHanging when the series ended. Along with the EPE and Annona, Artakha was also invented on the fly as a filler character, which explains their meager story presence.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': While all nine of the Coven Heads have unique designs, only five of them any real characterization. The other four (Construction, Healing, Oracle and Potions) aren't given any characterization, have no lines, and their names and personalities remain unknown.

* ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia2017'' has the Nine Witches, the founders of Luna Nova Academy and some of the most powerful magic users ever. Only two of them are named and are involved in the plot to varying degrees, but nothing is known about the other seven (except for, of all things, their [[NiceHat hats]]).

* In ''Anime/PokemonGenerations'', despite his central role in events and character motivations, Red's face is mostly obscured, he never speaks, his name is never said out loud and his onscreen appearances mostly have him in the background. While he is responsible for the downfall of Team Rocket, Looker and the police don't appear to even know who he is.

* Hooded Justice in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' only appears in a flashback and is reference a scant number of times, yet he's also the reason for the setting's AlternateHistory, since he was the first to truly take up the mantle of a superhero when he stopped a robbery in October 1938, just four months after the release of ''Action Comics #1.''

* In both the "Dead Man's Switch" and "Dragonfall" campaigns for ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns'', a representative of [[MegaCorp Saeder-Krupp Heavy Industries]] named Hans Braukhaus makes an appearance. He doesn't do much aside from provide some exposition in both cases, but it's strongly implied that [[spoiler:he's actually the Great Dragon, Lofwyr, CEO of S-K and the wealthiest entity in the Sixth World.]]

* ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'': Browning is one of two [[DeityOfHumanOrigin gods]] in the series, with the other being Mauser. However, while both have religious followings in their name, [[HeroWithBadPublicity Browning]] is nowhere near as significant to the plot [[BigGood as Mauser]] and only comes into the picture during the final 3 episodes, where his [[AMechByAnyOtherName Gigantes']] are used to [[spoiler: battle the Peacemakers]].

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]

** Despite being the head of the organization responsible for literally every problem in the game, the main character only meets King Korol once, after which Korol's entire presence becomes overshadowed by [[TheDragon Ladja]]'s.

A character who, though holding an important position within the world of the story, holds, at best, a minor role and more usually a few lines of dialogue in a single scene. May turn out to be ChekhovsGunman or become an AscendedExtra in other works. {{Greater Scope Villain}}s usually qualify, as do most members of the OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness and some occurrences of the SpecialGuest. Even the BigBad and BigGood can qualify in some works.

* [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness The SEELE Committee]] from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. They seem to basically run the world, but we only see a few of their faces, and only their leader, Keel Lorenz, even has a name.