History Main / UnexpectedCharacter

** Mondo Gecko's announcement as an Ultimate figure in Summer 2020 was no shocker, since he's a fan favorite, but nobody anticipated that he would also come with Kerma, a minor character that had no relevance in the franchise since appearing in the 4 "Planet of the Turtleoids" episodes.
** On February 2022, Zach and Smash were unveiled. While Zach does have some degree of fondness among the fanbase, Smash is a little-known one-shot villain, not to mention that one goon from his Crooked Ninja Turtle Gang would be also coming with a Rock Soldier for a 2-pack.
** On World Turtle Day in May 2022, a 4-pack with pre-mutated human versions of Baxter Stockman, Hamato Yoshi, Bebop and Rocksteady was revealed. This was a pretty big surprise, especially since the latter two already had several other figure sets prior to this.

* ''Comicbook/TwoThousandAD'' prog 2183 ended with a teaser of Comicbook/{{Judge Anderson}} announcing "You'll never guess who's coming to prog 2184!" She was right; nobody expected [[Comicbook/TheGrievousJourneyOfIchabodAzrael Ichabod Azrael]] to appear in next week's ''Comicbook/{{Judge Dredd}}'' story. And he wasn't even the only unexpected character; was ''anybody'' expecting Shako the polar bear to show up later?

* ''Comicbook/AgeOfUltron'', a RedSkiesCrossover, migrates Angela, a Creator/NeilGaiman exclusive character, who was previously part of the ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' supporting cast, into the Franchise/MarvelUniverse.

* ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'' brings [[spoiler: [[ComicBook/TheSandman Dream of the Endless]]]] back into the main DC continuity.

* ''The Order'' began in 2014 as a story about various historical and literary characters resisting the infestation of Earth by [[{{Eldritch Abomination}} Wyrms]]. Then, in a 2018 story, they got attacked by Armoured Gideon, a character last seen in his eponymous series 23 years beforehand.

*** The California version of the ride has since become ''Ride/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyMissionBreakout'', which in and of itself is a bizarre choice. The film was a breakout hit in 2014, but it was by no means the most popular Marvel property, and an odd choice to base Disney's ''first'' ever Disney-Marvel attraction on (before the [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy film]], it would have been pushing it to call them a C- or D-list team). Many fans theorized that this was due to a dispute with Ride/UniversalStudios, who retained the theme-park rights for Marvel characters (''except'' the Guardians - it only specified the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the X-Men) within a radius around Universal Florida that included Walt Disney World, and that the renovation would eventually make it way to the other coast. However, other versions are unlikely to make the switch, as there are currently plans to build a ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' attraction in [=EPCOT=].

** Two of the more notable examples being [[ComicBook/BuckyOHareAndTheToadWars Bucky O'Hare]], coming from a fairly obscure comic and cartoon series from the 70's/90's and took on [[Franchise/{{Star Fox}} Fox McCloud]], and [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Yang Xiao Long]], who is from a web animation series running from 2013 which is growing in popularity but still fairly small and she took on [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Tifa Lockhart]]. [[spoiler:Yang defeated her more popular opponent. Bucky wasn't so fortunate.]]

Normally when time comes for a sequel or adaptation of a franchise, you can have a pretty good idea of who to expect in the returning cast. TheHero, TheLancer, the EnsembleDarkhorse, no one is surprised by their return. However, creators may want to shake things up and include less obvious characters. They could be a OneSceneWonder, someone who had succumbed to ChuckCunninghamSyndrome, or simply a LivingProp, or even someone from outside the franchise.

** The first [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP]] Connor has to deal with? Fernand the Cannibal. Quite a few SCP fans were pleased with this, as many would have expected them to start with the more well-known skips.

* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' occasionally brings in little known and unexpected characters to fight for their lives.

** After ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' finally ended, it was inevitable that the franchise be featured on the show. The title character will be the first to appear, right? Wrong, it was Gaara (Naruto himself was the second, though). Two other unexpected Naruto representatives include Jiraiya and Might Guy.
** The first ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' representative was Toph rather than Aang (who appeared second).

* Wrestling/{{WWE}}'s annual Wrestling/RoyalRumble pretty much always features Unexpected Characters in various forms. You're pretty much guaranteed to see one or two returning Legends making a one-off appearance (e.g. Wrestling/HonkyTonkMan in 2000, Diesel\Wrestling/KevinNash in 2011 and 2014, Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage in 2015, Wrestling/JeffJarrett in 2019), there are bound to be one or two main roster wrestlers making an unannounced return (e.g. Wrestling/JohnCena in 2008, Wrestling/{{Edge}} in 2010), and every now and then there are entrants who are unexpected because they generally don't compete against the main male roster (e.g. Wrestling/BethPhoenix in 2010, El Torito in 2014, Wrestling/NiaJax in 2019). Retired or semi-retired wrestlers serving as ringside commentators for the Rumble are sometimes unexpectedly entered into the match, usually resulting in their returning to the announce booth once they're eliminated (e.g. Wrestling/JerryLawler in 1996 and 2012, Wrestling/MichaelCole in 2012, Wrestling/{{J|ohnBradshawLayfield}}BL in 2014). One of the most unexpected (and bemoaned) characters in Rumble history was ''Creator/DrewCarey'' in the 2001 match. However, arguably the two most shocking (or at the very least, surreal) entries, despite the countless rumors, reports, and, in the case of the former, even a statement from the Wrestling/ImpactWrestling website all but outright telling us it would happen, were the debut of [[spoiler:Wrestling/AJStyles]] at the 2016 Royal Rumble in Orlando and the return of [[spoiler:Wrestling/{{Edge}}]] after a seemingly CareerEndingInjury at the 2020 Royal Rumble in Houston.

* ''Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} Wrestling/{{JoshiMania}} Night III'', December 4, 2011, was supposed to have started with The Throwbacks (Wrestling/DasherHatfield and Wrestling/SugarDunkerton) vs. Los Ice Creams (Ice Cream Jr. and El Hijo del Ice Cream), but Sugar was not there for some unannounced reason. As was standard practice in CHIKARA, names were drawn from a hat for a replacement partner for Dasher. Kwang (Savio Vega's masked ninja gimmick from 1994-1995 WWE. References to Kwang and Max Moon [Paul Diamond] are {{Running Gag}}s in CHIKARA.) was drawn, but he was not there. Then they drew Wrestling/KellyKelly, who was also not there. (And [[TakeThatScrappy the crowd booed when Kelly Kelly's name was drawn.]]) Then they drew [[Wrestling/HaniaTheHowlingHuntress Saturyne]]'s name, who ''was'' there, making her surprise CHIKARA debut in only her second match ever, though someone in the crowd asked, "Wrestling/PerrySaturn?"

** [[Webcomic/MobPsycho100 Mob]] and [[Webcomic/OnePunchMan Tatsumaki]] pit two lesser-known characters against each other. While ''One Punch Man'' was bound to get on the show at one point, it caught many off guard that the first character featured wasn’t Saitama or even Genos (although Genos was the second from the series and Saitama appeared later as well). However, few people expected ''Mob Psycho 100'' to ever be featured on the show at all.

* Large-scale tours and festivals are bound to have this. Obviously everyone will know the headlining act, but when an unsigned band makes the line-up, people tend to scratch their heads (especially if they play the main-stage). For instance, Download Fest 2011, main stage with the likes of Music/DefLeppard, Music/SystemOfADown, Music/LinkinPark and... The Pretty Reckless?

* Phase 5 of the ''Music/{{Gorillaz}}'' starts with Murdoc in jail and replaced by Ace, the leader of the Gangrene Gang. Yes, ''[[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls that]]'' Gangrene Gang.

** In universe, everyone's surprised when WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob chooses to cosplay Franchise/IndianaJones, considering that he's not exactly who one thinks of when the topic is "fantasy". Snob justifies it by saying that [[spoiler:[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull surviving a nuclear explosion in a fridge]]]] counts as fantasy. Likewise, they're surprised that the very tall Handsome Tom chose the very short Film/{{Willow}}.

** [[Manga/MobPsycho100 Mob]] and [[Manga/OnePunchMan Tatsumaki]] pit two lesser-known manga characters against each other. While ''One Punch Man'' was bound to get on the show at one point, it caught many off guard that the first character featured wasn’t Saitama or even Genos (although Genos was the second from the series and Saitama appeared later as well). However, few people expected ''Mob Psycho 100'' to ever be featured on the show at all.

* Used towards the end of the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' series. Arbon and Loren, two minor characters who hadn't been seen in years and had little reason to return again, both made surprise reappearances. Weirder still, while Arbron's fate was neatly tied up in the epilogue, Loren wasn't addressed at all, making her a weird case of this character type meeting WhatHappenedToTheMouse

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': The 17th book, ''Literature/{{Battle Ground|2020}}'', features appearances from nearly every significant major and minor character from throughout the series... and then about a third of the way through chooses to introduce [[VampireMonarch Drakul, King of the Black Court]], something that no one was expecting since up until this point he'd only been mentioned a few times but [[TheGhost never seen]].

[[caption-width-right:286:[[VideoGame/MetalGear He]] [[UnexpectedCharacter/SuperSmashBros just opened up a whole can of worms]].]]

* ''Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} Wrestling/{{JoshiMania}} Night III'', December 4, 2011, was supposed to have started with The Throwbacks (Wrestling/DasherHatfield and Wrestling/SugarDunkerton) vs. Los Ice Creams (Ice Cream Jr. and El Hijo del Ice Cream), but Sugar was not there for some unannounced reason. Names were drawn from a hat for a replacement partner for Dasher. Kwang (Savio Vega's masked ninja gimmick from 1994-1995 WWE. References to Kwang and Max Moon [Paul Diamond] are {{Running Gag}}s in CHIKARA.) was drawn and he was not there. Then they drew Wrestling/KellyKelly, who was not there. (And [[TakeThatScrappy the crowd booed when Kelly Kelly's name was drawn.]]) Then they drew [[Wrestling/HaniaTheHowlingHuntress Saturyne]]'s name, who was there, making her surprise CHIKARA debut in only her second match ever, though someone in the crowd asked, "Wrestling/PerrySaturn?"

*** When the toy of the Ark was properly revealed, it surprisingly came with Mainframe, a character from the much maligned Action Masters subline from the end of ''Generation 1''. Not only that, Mainframe also ignores the toyline's attempts to adhere to show accuracy as best as possible by being completely yellow rather than blue and red, though this is because he turns into Teletran-1 as an odd instance of CompositeCharacter. The Ark's robot mode itself is another "unexpected homage", as it is modeled after Autonomous Maximus/The Last Autobot, an obscure character from the tail end of the original [[ComicBook/TheTransformers Marvel G1 comic]].

** [[Manga/MobPsycho100 Mob]] and [[Manga/OnePunchMan Tatsumaki]] pit two lesser-known manga characters against each other. While ''One Punch Man'' was bound to get on the show at one point, it caught many off guard that the first character featured wasn’t Saitama or even Genos (although Genos was the second from the series). However, few people expected ''Mob Psycho 100'' to ever be featured on the show at all.

* [[UnexpectedCharacter/AnimatedFilms Films - Animated]]

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* ''Anime/BatmanNinja'' has, among the cast of characters, Gorilla Grodd. He's primarily known as the ArchEnemy of ComicBook/TheFlash, and even though he's often treated as a general DCU villain, he's not exactly a Batman nemesis. Also, while having Tim Drake isn't too surprising, this is one of the few adaptations to feature him in his current identity Red Robin, as opposed to just ComicBook/{{Robin}} (the latter being used by Damian Wayne).
* The main villain of ''WesternAnimation/HappyHalloweenScoobyDoo'' is the Batman villain Scarecrow, and so far, Batman himself isn't confirmed to be in the movie.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueVsTheFatalFive'', based on ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', has plenty of this:
** Jessica Cruz making her debut as the movie's only appearing Green Lantern, and has been described as the lead character of the film.
** Miss Martian, especially since this movie is a DCAU entry, as her existence contradicts J'onn being the LastOfHisKind if she were a Green Martian or would suddenly introduce the White Martians into the DCAU since their place is taken by the similar Imperium in this continuity.
** Mister Terrific as a main cast member, since he was barely seen performing any heroics due to being the League's MissionControl back in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited''.
** The choice of characters in the movie is interesting, given that Jessica, Miss Martian, and Mister Terrific have no connection to each other or Star Boy or the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Fatal Five anywhere else, although Star Boy and Mister Terrific have interacted in one of the ''Justice Society of America: Kingdom Come'' special issues.
** The appearance of Two-Face, Harley, and Ivy as Arkham Asylum inmates in addition to Miss Martian transforming into the second Robin, since the Bat-Embargo restricted any limit or ban the use of Batman-related characters (outside of Batman himself along with his obscure allies and Rogues Gallery) from appearing in the ''Justice League Unlimited'' and it was assumed that this would've carried over into the movie in spirit to keep the Batman mythos and Justice League mythos separate.
** Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner appearing via cameo and being confirmed to become Green Lanterns and members of the Justice League in the near future, as there had otherwise been no solid indication that either of them existed as heroes in the ''DCAU''. Hal was a OneSceneWonder who seemed to [[ForWantOfANail only be a hero if John hadn't]], and Guy was pseudo-canon by the ''Unlimited'' tie-in comics.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse''
** Peni Parker definitely wasn't on anyone's radar. While she debuted the same year as Spider-Gwen, in ''Edge of Spider-Verse #5'', she failed to garner anywhere near the same amount of love. Peni's total number of appearances ''barely'' cracked the double digits by the time of the movie's release, and you could count the appearances in which she speaks even a single sentence on one hand. Her being a main character in the movie was a major surprise, and [[ColbertBump helped raise a lot of interest in her character]].
** While several fans presumed that [[spoiler:Miguel O'Hara]] would at least have a cameo in the movie, even if he wasn't part of the central cast, ''nobody'' was counting on him [[spoiler:running into the 1967 animated version of Peter Parker.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie''
** Batman fights several members of his RoguesGallery that aren't well used outside of their original work, such as [[Series/Batman1966 King Tut]], [[WesternAnimation/TheBatman the Kabuki Twins]], [[ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns the Mutant Leader]], and a few {{Rogues Gallery Transplant}}s like Captain Boomerang. The sheer amount and absurdity of some even leads the Joker to give a NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer while ticking them off in the opening scene.
** Although Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Cyborg, and Green Lantern were [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil seen in the Comic-Con trailer]], most of the rest at Superman's Justice League/Super Friends Party were not, including Martian Manhunter, Wonderdog, El Dorado, Hawkman ''and'' Hawkgirl, Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, Samurai, the Wonder Twins Jayna and Zan, and Gleek.
** The Joker's plan involves getting the help of [[spoiler: [[Literature/HarryPotter Voldemort]], Film/KingKong, [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]], [[Film/{{Gremlins}} the Gremlins]], [[Film/TheWizardOfOz the Wicked Witch of the West]], [[Film/TheMatrix Agent Smith]], [[Film/{{Jaws}} Bruce the shark]], [[Film/JurassicPark cloned dinosaurs]], [[Film/ClashOfTheTitans1981 the Kraken]], and [[Series/DoctorWho the Daleks]]]], all well known villains that Batman hadn't fought before.[[note]][[VideoGame/LegoDimensions Well, a few of them, at least]][[/note]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'' features a variety of characters from LEGO properties and licenses, such as Franchise/{{Batman}} and [[Literature/HarryPotter Dumbledore]]. [[Franchise/StarWars Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, and C3PO]]'s appearance was not advertised, and was assumed improbable thanks to legal issues. The film was produced by Warner Bros., while the Star Wars franchise and its associated characters are owned by Disney, making this a rare "crossover" between the two rival companies. In the background of some crowd shots, you can also spot [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Milhouse Vanhouten]], of all people.
* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndBatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' saw many DC characters appear--including one of the characters announced being Harvey Bullock, who, even with his increased presence on ''Series/{{Gotham}}'', never appeared in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' proper. Likewise, [[spoiler:Professor Milo only appeared in the cold opening for the episode "Gorilla in Our Midst!", where the Spectre turned him into cheese and fed him to mice. While only appearing in a flashback, an earlier encounter with Milo is the crux of the plot.]]
* Creator/StanLee was well known for having a cameo appearance in most Marvel media. However, a lot of people were shocked that he made an appearance in, of all things, ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoToTheMovies'' since he’s considered the face of DC Comics’ known rival.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'':
** ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'' has the title character from ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'' as one of Bonnie's toys. He's visible in a lot of shots but he's also completely voiceless.[[note]]It probably helps that John Lasseter and Hayao Miyazaki are rather close friends.[[/note]]
** ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory4'' features a brief appearance by [[WesternAnimation/TinToy Tinny]] at the antique shop.
* In-universe example in ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': During the party held for Fix-It Felix Jr. near the beginning of the movie, Ralph looks in and is astonished they invited VideoGame/PacMan to it. That said, some of the game character cameos are this for being from lesser known or older franchises, such as Neff (''VideoGame/AlteredBeast'''s final boss) or a random zombie mook from ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead''.
* While Cheetah, Black Mask, Solomon Grundy, Cheshire, and [[spoiler:Talia]] are fairly well-known, ''WesternAnimstion/CatwomanHunted'' also sees the presence of Nosferata, Dr. Tzin, Boss Moxie and La Dama, pretty C-list characters who have no ties to the Leviathan organization (in fact, even including the other five, [[spoiler:TeamMemberInTheAdaptation is in play for all of them ''but'' Talia, as she's the only one who is involved with Leviathan in the comics]]), each other, or Catwoman or Batwoman. The mosy obscure is Oyabun Noguri, who's biggest role in the origins was being the yakuza who kickstarted Tatsu Yamashiro's path to becoming Katana.
[[/folder]]

** Miss Martian, especially if this movie is a DCAU entry, as her existence would contradict J'onn being the LastOfHisKind if she were a Green Martian or would suddenly introduce the White Martians into the DCAU since their place is taken by the similar Imperium in this continuity.

* ''Funkoverse''s roster, is the only board game in existence to pit fantasy and action characters like Franchise/Batman, Literature/HarryPotter or Film/Jaws against Series/TheGoldenGirls, Anime/Aggretsuko or the Kool-Aid Man.