History UnexpectedCharacter / LiveActionTV

*** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks "Genesis of the Daleks"]] was unexpected because the Daleks had previously been established as the end result of [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear-bomb-induced mutations]], not the [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetic creations]] of one MadScientist.

** At the end of series 4, Literature/TristanAndIsolde were introduced. It felt a little random considering a) they bore no resemblance whatsoever to their legendary counterparts, b) they didn't actually contribute much to the plot, and c) they disappeared entirely after their two-episode appearance (Isolde being KilledOffForReal and Tristan disappearing without explanation).

* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** ''Series/TheMandalorian'''
*** The debut episode shocked the ''Star Wars'' fandom when the bounty target was revealed to be a fellow member of Yoda's species, and a baby at that. This is significant as the franchise shied away on expanding the lore related to Yoda or his species.
*** Season 2 threw a few more surprises along the way, with the live-action debut of fan favorite Ahsoka Tano, a still alive Boba Fett, and [[spoiler:Luke Skywalker, looking exactly like he did in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''!]]
** ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'': Given the basic premise of the series — a character study of Obi-Wan during a bleak, uncertain period of time for the Jedi — people assumed, pre-release, that the main plot of the show would involve Obi-Wan watching over Luke. However, the actual adventure of the series involves him protecting ''Leia'', whose involvement in the series was hardly guessed at, especially since Leia and Obi-Wan never directly interacted in ''A New Hope''. However, this storyline does help explain why Leia sounded so excited when she heard that Ben Kenobi came to rescue her, as well as why she would name her son "Ben".

** [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E13SaulGone "Saul Gone"]] has a surprise appearance from [[spoiler: Marie Schrader of all people, there to testify against Saul for his crimes he committed during Breaking Bad as part of Walt's empire.]]

** At the end of series 4, Literature/TristanAndIsolde were introduced. It felt a little random considering a) they bore no resemblance whatsoever to their legendary counterparts, b) they didn't actually contribute much to the plot, and c) they disappeared entirely after their two episode appearance (Isolde being KilledOffForReal and Tristan disappearing without explanation).

** Some members of the Justice Society is slightly more well-known, but they are usually in an alternate dimension or something.

** [[Recap/Saul Gone "Saul Gone]] has a surprise appearance from [[spoiler: Marie Schrader of all people, there to testify against Saul for his crimes he committed during Breaking Bad as part of Walt's empire.]]

* ''Series/TheMandalorian'''s debut episode shocked the ''Franchise/StarWars'' fandom when the bounty target was revealed to be [[spoiler:a fellow member of Yoda's species, and a baby at that. This is significant as the franchise shied away on expanding the lore related to Yoda or his species.]]
** Season 2 threw a few more surprises along the way, with the live-action debut of fan favorite Ahsoka Tano, a still alive Boba Fett, and [[spoiler:Luke Skywalker, looking exactly like he did in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''!]]

* ''[[Series/Legion2017 Legion]]'' has an unexpected ''main character''. When a series set in the ''ComicBook/XMen'' universe was announced, few expected it to star Professor Xavier's son David Haller, an [[StoryBreakerPower immensely powerful and flexible]] mutant who is relatively obscure and known for MindScrew plots about [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind mindscapes]] and multiple personalities.

* The Drake And Josh episode "Honor Council" features an appearance by Addie Singer from Unfabolous, who's apparently friends with Megan. While it's not uncommon for Nick shows to cross over, Unfabulous was not made by Dan Schneider.

* The ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "Cured" is about a space station where scientists have reincarnated history's greatest villains through cloning and genetically cured them of evil. The villains in question are Hitler, Stalin, Vlad the Impaler and Messalina, the last of whom is not only comparatively obscure, but also nowhere near as evil as any of them, leading to speculation that she was only included because the production felt one of them should be a woman.

** For Series 10, it's [[spoiler:John Simm's Master]], who hadn't been seen in seven years and was in ''no'' way expected to return. Especially given the implications: [[spoiler:there's ''never'' been a multi-Master story before]]. It would have been even more unexpected, however, had the BBC publicity department not interfered by announcing his appearance early (although this was to head off the tabloid newspaper ''The Sun'', which was about to leak the story).

** In the second to last episode, "Prophecy", ComicBook/BlackManta, ComicBook/CaptainCold and ComicBook/SolomonGrundy.

** Though it was announced beforehand, those familiar with canon were probably surprised that Non would appear as a major villain, sans his usual boss Zod. (And this is before he's reduced to DumbMuscle.)

** Nobody expected that the brothers would ever [[Recap/SupernaturalS13E16ScoobyNatural team up with the Mystery Inc. gang]] of all characters, especially considering they're from an ''animated'' show targeted toward a completely different demographic.

* The second season of ''Series/{{Sense8}}'' had hacker Nomi Marks reach out to help from someone known only as "the Guy". In a clandestine meeting at the cinema, it turns out to be none other than Troper/{{Anonymous}}, appearing in his familiar Guy Fawkes mask. It's safe to say no one saw that coming!

!!TV series/franchises with their own subpages:

!!TV series/franchisess with their own subpages:

!!Other examples:

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** In an early episode of ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'', the Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles make an appearance. This is even unexpected in-universe, as both the Power Rangers and the Ninja Turtles assumed the other group were just fictional characters.

* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', continuing the tradition of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. These include minor comic characters like [[spoiler:Deathlok, Graviton, Lorelei, Blizzard, Blackout, and some of ComicBook/TheInhumans, most notably Mister Hyde and Quake, who was main character Skye all along.]]

* ''Series/WandaVision'' surprised many when the cast included the return of [[FBIAgent Jimmy Woo]] from ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'' and [[Creator/KatDennings Darcy Lewis]] from the ''Film/{{Thor}}'' movies, both fairly minor characters, and a fully-grown Monica Rambeau from ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'', though that one at least is a proeminent comics character. Yet it all paled compared to something the crew compared to the spoiled example in ''The Mandalorian'' above: [[spoiler:Wanda's twin brother, Pietro a.k.a. Quicksilver BackFromTheDead... only it's the version from the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''!]]

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'':
** Most had Rosario Dawson pegged as Echo, White Tiger, or even Elektra. Nobody considered the possibility of her playing an a more obscure character such as Claire Temple.
** The introduction of the Punisher in season 2 was initially a surprise considering the poor reception to every previous attempt to bring him to the screen.
** Season 2 featured the reappearances of Wilson Fisk, Madame Gao, and Nobu, plus the appearance of Jeri Hogarth from ''Series/JessicaJones2015''. In these cases, Fisk and Gao had been sent away the previous season (in fact, Fisk's return was quite a major twist due to the fact that it was a complete surprise despite the intense scrutiny every MCU property has been put under these days; it helped that a lot of the marketing for season 2 revolved around the addition of the Punisher and Elektra), Nobu was seemingly killed, and Jeri Hogarth was from a different show, making them all a bit of a surprise to many viewers.