History Main / UnexpectedCharacter

* 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|Wrestler}} 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|Wrestler}}]] after a seemingly CareerEndingInjury at the 2020 Royal Rumble in Houston.

* Used towards the end of the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' series. Arbron 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

** Not to be outdone, the MLP cast gets a case of this in "A Real Mother" through Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty, Scootaloo's aunts, who were [[OneShotCharacter One-Shot Characters]] in the cartoon but get ADayInTheLimelight fighting Killmaster (who himself is a case of this, as this is his first appearance outside of the IDW 2005 continuity, where he was first introduced) with Arcee and Greenlight. Near the end of the story, Scootaloo arrives with a few new friends. One of them is Sureshock from ''Anime/TransformersArmada''.

** Not to be outdone, the MLP cast gets a case of this in "A Real Mother" through Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty, Scootaloo's aunts, who were [[OneShotCharacter One-Shot Characters]] in the cartoon but get ADayInTheLimelight fighting Killmaster (who himself is a case of this, as this is his first appearance outside of the IDW 2005 continuity, where he was first introduced) with Arcee and Greenlight.
*** Near the end of the same story, Scootaloo arrives with a few new friends. One of them is Sureshock from ''Anime/TransformersArmada''.

** [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda Po]] showing up to take on ComicBook/IronFist caught many fans off guard as, while as the match up was popular, an animated film character had never been used on the show prior to that point and many assumed that if one did appear, then it would be a Creator/{{Disney}} character first.

** ''Pandora - The World of Avatar'' getting in over Beastly Kingdom as the replacement to Camp-Minnie-Mickey was a bit odd, and Disney would buy 21st Century Fox 5 years later.
** The early days of ''Disney's Hollywood Studios'' featured characters like ComicStrip/DickTracy, the Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles, and the Franchise/PowerRangers[[note]]Disney did own the rights to the Power Rangers franchise in the 2000s following their purchase of Saban. However, they sold off the property in 2010. The rights are currently owned by Creator/{{Hasbro}}.[[/note]]. There were also attractions based around ''Who Wants to be a Millionaire'' and ''American Idol''[[note]]Keep in mind that Disney didn't own the rights to the series at that time. American Idol was rebooted for Creator/{{ABC}} not long before the aforementioned 21st Century Fox purchase.[[/note]].

** Who would have thought that '''any''' characters from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' would ever step into ''Death Battle''? Yet, there have been four so far: [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicRainbowDash Rainbow Dash]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicPinkiePie Pinkie Pie]], [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicTwilightSparkle Princess Twilight Sparkle]], and [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicDiscord Discord]] who respectively fought [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Starscream]], ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'', ComicBook/{{Raven}}, and Bill Cipher.