History Main / ToylessToylineCharacter

Compare CanonForeigner.

* The only characters of ''WesternAnimation/ActionMan2000'' to get their own toys were Action Man, Dr. X and Professor Gangrene, with no figures made of Grinder, Fidget, Rikki, Tempest, Asazi or Quake.

* The onee-sans in ''Series/InaiInaiBaa'' used to get a lot of merchandise back in the day (specifically during eras from the Kana-chan era to the Koto-chan era), but once the merchandise decided to just focus on Wanwan and U-tan, they barely got any merchandise, only appearing as images printed on the bonus gifts that come with the magazines and in coloring books. The only onee-san to get merch once Koto-chan left was Yuki-chan, who got an Air Friends doll.

* Despite being one of the title characters, no toys have ever been released for Kazooie of ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''. Banjo got one toy release based off of his ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'' appearance, but because Kazooie was not with him in that game, she was not included. Interestingly, there ''had'' been plans for a Banjo-Kazooie toy to be released, but it fell through and only the finished, painted prototype (which ended up [[http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/now-you-can-own-this-rare-prototype-banjo-kazooie-toy-for-20k/ selling on eBay for a cool twenty thousand dollars]]) was made.

* InUniverse with ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory''. The two fictional [[WesternAnimation/{{Lightyear}} Buzz]] [[WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand Lightyear]] series feature a wide cast of characters. With Pixar seemingly [[ExiledFromContinuity barring elements from the cartoon from showing up in the movies]] and ''Lightyear'' coming out well after ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory4'' ended the mainline ''Toy Story'' movies, only Buzz and the Evil Emperor Zurg are seen as toys, with anyone else seen in either iteration of the Buzz Lightyear mythos nowhere to be found. They aren't even mentioned by Buzz or Zurg.

*** Perhaps the shining example is the Dark Hunter Lariska. She was a prominent player between 2006 through 2008, and yet not only has no toy, but no canon image whatsoever, leading her to being excluded from the Dark Hunter book. Quite unusual to have no image for such an iconic character.

** Korg from ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' was left out of most of the film's merchandise, despite being one of its {{Breakout Character}}s.
This was remedied in subsequent merchandise lines, mainly the one for ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder''.

But not this character. This is the EnsembleDarkhorse of the toyline-driven media, that bursts into the scene like a HighlyVisibleNinja with a rocket launcher and a banner reading, "[[WebAnimation/CheatCommandos Buy all our playsets and toys]]" only, after rushing to the toy store, mouth drooling and brow sweaty, you find out they don't have their own toy. Often they'll be TheAce, appearing for a brief storyline, showing up everyone else, and then never seen again--not in the story and ''never'' in the toy aisles.

It seems bizarre and even out-of-place--which is not to say unwelcome--when an original character does become important. They're not always recurring characters but they sometimes get more development and attention than characters that actually had toys, because there's usually a large cast.

Why this happens varies, sometimes a writer that's been banging their shackles against the wall long enough manages to loosen them enough to get creative and inject a character into the story for the character's own sake. Sometimes a MonsterOfTheWeek winds up getting a little more attention than usual and starts looking {{toyetic}}.

It seems bizarre and even out-of-place--which is not to say unwelcome--when an original character does become important. They're not always recurring characters but they sometimes get more development and attention than characters that actually had toys, because there's usually LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

* Creator/BillMantlo's ''ComicBook/{{Micronauts}}'' series for Marvel featured several original characters, as the toyline from Mego didn't have that many characters to begin with. The series was also integrated into the MarvelUniverse's existing Microverse. The series not only outlasted Mego's ''Micronauts'' toyline, it outlasted Mego itself! And although Hasbro owns the rights to the toyline now and have licensed them to Creator/IDWPublishing, Marvel gets to keep the characters it created (such as Arcturus Rann and Marionette), and any characters that were already renamed and modified from the toyline (e.g. Bug, who was based on the Galactic Warrior figure), and Marvel renamed their Micronauts group the ''Microns''.

* Daisy the Diesel Railcar from ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' oddly lacks a Trackmaster/Plarail toy. She also hasn't had any merchandise since 2009, which is odd considering [[AscendedExtra she appears much more in the newer CGI era than the model era]].

** Similarly, despite the ''Superman: The Man of Steel'' toyline being being based on ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' (as well as the ''ComicBook/SupermanDoomsdayHunterPrey'' miniseries and ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfClarkKent''), Cyborg-Superman is the only one of the temporary Supermen not to get a figure, despite the Eradicator getting a figure, and Steel and Superboy getting multiple ones.

** A toyline based on ''ComicBook/JLA1997'' run, which would involve repaints of the ''Total Justice'' figures was made and would later incorporate ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' into this. However, Oracle again, Hippolyta, ComicBook/{{Aztek}}, Tomorrow Woman, [[ComicBook/NewGods Orion, Big Barda]], ComicBook/TheRay, Lagoon Boy, and the female members of Young Justice never got figures. Box set would do exclusive figures based on the "Rock of Ages" arc, but likewise, despite most of the holograms of the "big seven" the Injustice Gang used, as well as ComicBook/LexLuthor and ComicBook/TheJoker, getting figures, the Wonder Woman hologram, the arc's true villain ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} (despite the JLA toyline mostly being repaints of the figures in Total Justice toyline, where he was the BigBad), and Luthor and Joker's Injustice Gang cohorts (Circe, Ocean Master, Mirror Master, Dr. Light, and the mind-controlled Jemm) didn't.

* The various DLC for ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuthHackersMemory'' included SuperDeformed versions of Alphamon, Omnimon, and Gallantmon based on the NXEDGE Style figures released around the same time. The DLC also included similar versions of Crusadermon and Leopardmon despite them not having figures in the toyline.

* Speaking of which, ''Comicbook/SecretWars1984'' only existed to push a line of Marvel action figures from Creator/{{Mattel}}. Despite this, a ''lot'' of prominent characters from the series never got their own figures, including most of the Avengers and X-Men. What makes this so jarring is that a few characters who didn't appear in the comic ''at all'' like Comicbook/TheFalcon, Baron Zemo, and Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} ''did'' end up getting figures.

* The villains from the ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}'' movies rarely have toys made of them. When they do, it's only when they were brainwashed and good all along, such as Princess Graciella from ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAFairySecret''.

** A toyline based on ''ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsJLA'' run, which would involve repaints of the ''Total Justice'' figures was made and would later incorporate ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' into this. However, Oracle again, Hippolyta, ComicBook/{{Aztek}}, Tomorrow Woman, [[ComicBook/NewGods Orion, Big Barda]], ComicBook/TheRay, Lagoon Boy, and the female members of Young Justice never got figures. Box set would do exclusive figures based on the "Rock of Ages" arc, but likewise, despite most of the holograms of the "big seven" the Injustice Gang used, as well as ComicBook/LexLuthor and ComicBook/TheJoker, getting figures, the Wonder Woman hologram, the arc's true villain ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} (despite the JLA toyline mostly being repaints of the figures in Total Justice toyline, where he was the BigBad), and Luthor and Joker's Injustice Gang cohorts (Circe, Ocean Master, Mirror Master, Dr. Light, and the mind-controlled Jemm) didn't.

* Karg from ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'' never had an action figure made of him, although his fellow movie characters Blade and Saurod did.
* This was rectified in 2019, with him finally getting a movie accurate figure as part of the final wave of Masters of the Universe Classics.
* The toyline for ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' only featured a portion of the cast, meaning a lot of characters like Comicbook/{{Storm}}, Comicbook/JeanGrey, Comicbook/{{Mystique}} and Pyro were omitted anyway. But the real surprise is that Lady Deathstrike, a cool villain who was featured very prominently in all of the marketing for the film, didn't get a single figure to her name.

** Generally speaking the Classic line spends a lot of its time correcting this, giving toys to either previously-toyless yet recurring characters from both cartoons (like Queen Marlena and Count Marzo) or one-off villains from the original series (like Icer, Fang Man, Batros, and the above-mentioned Strongarm and Lizard Man), and the two Evilseed's. Filmation Count Marzo, Shakra and the others are still waiting, though.

* Neither Squeaky Cleen nor any of the female characters (Mainframe, Nightshade, Ms. Demeanor and Mirage) from ''WesternAnimation/COPSAnimatedSeries'' were action figures to start with. And we do mean "start with"; like ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' and ''Franchise/GIJoe'', [[MerchandiseDriven the toys came first]].

** Of course, the bulk of the merchandise are in the form of Xros Loader and the arcade card game ''Digica Taisen'', with the combining toys merely just a bonus. With that said it is clearly a waste not to see well-defined figures for the various mecha characters.