History UnexpectedCharacter / VideoGames

* In ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris'', one of the alternate Puyo appearances you can unlock is the Morolian set, based on the race of TV-loving aliens from ''VideoGame/SpaceChannel5''. Bear in mind that the Puyo Puyo games rarely, if ever, cross over with anything else (and it's a big deal they did it with Tetris for this one), and Creator/{{Sega}} has not made a ''Space Channel 5'' game in well over a decade, relegating almost every character to obscurity. A later update adds a set of Tetrominoes based on Sega's flagship series, ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'', although given the two franchises' [[VideoGame/DrRobotniksMeanBeanMachine history with each other]], it's not quite as surprising.
* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris2'' goes even further beyond, though- the first post-release update included four new playable characters. Three of them were fairly obvious, those being Lidelle, Ms. Accord and the Ocean Prince, who are all series mainstays. The fourth, though? None other than ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' himself! Even when ''Puyo Puyo'' games DID cross over with other games, it has only been through small references, and never before has it been a [[GuestFighter full-blown player character]] like the Blue Blur (Outside of the spin-off ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoQuest'', that is). Even if one were to actually predict a ''Sonic'' character, one would've probably expected Eggman instead due to ''VideoGame/DoctorRobotniksMeanBeanMachine'', a game that Sonic didn't actually appear in.

** Likewise, VideoGame/PacMan and Red, Chuck and Bomb from ''Franchise/AngryBirds'' (in their ''VideoGame/AngryBirdsEpic'' iterations) also got unexpected limited time crossovers.

** There's also Longclaw from the [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 Sonic movie]], who was added in both games to promote its home media release. While the inclusion of both "Teen" and Baby Sonic was expected, the inclusion of their guardian was not given that [[spoiler:she had only little over a minute of screentime at the beginning of the movie before being seemingly killed off.]]
** The most unexpected characters in both games, however, are definitely Tangle the Lemur and Whisper the Wolf from the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW IDW comic series]], considering that, barring nonplayable cameos from the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Archie]] cast in ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogSpinball Sonic Spinball]]'' all the way back in 1993, characters from the ''Sonic'' comics had never featured in a ''Sonic'' game before.
** Excalibur Sonic, and later Sir Lancelot, from ''[[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Sonic and the Black Knight]]'' in ''Speed Battle'' was an unexpected addition on par with Tangle and Whisper, considering that Sega has barely brought up that game at all since it brought the brief Storybook Series to an end.

** Nobody was really expecting DLC for ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', let alone for it to include new Galarian form Pokémon - but even with the announcment Direct people were still stunned to see Galarian forms of ''all three legendary birds from the first generation''.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', being a spinoff with a more experimental style of gameplay, surprised a lot of people by introducing not just new regional forms, but new regional evolutions--including ones for Stantler and Basculin, two forgettable mons [[LowTierLetdown useful for Pokédex completion and little else]], and which had been largely neglected ever since their debut generations.

** For the August 8, 2023 Pokémon Presents, more news on ''The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero'' was revealed. What people didn't expect was that both Applin and Duraludon would be receiving new evolutions in DLC in the forms of Dipplin and Archaludon.

** In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', Creator/NetherrealmStudios managed to surprise players yet for the third time by giving us Film/TheTerminator, ComicBook/TheJoker, Franchise/{{Spawn}}, Franchise/RoboCop and Franchise/{{Rambo}}. Also, while not as out of left field as the guest characters, few expected [[spoiler:a cyberized Frost]] to show up.

* The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version of ''Band Hero'', a spin-off of ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' aimed at tween audiences, has a secret character who is unlocked by playing enough times as each one of the default characters. Who is this character, you ask? Maybe one of the classic ''Guitar Hero'' characters? Or a real-life rock star? How about [[spoiler:'''''Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}}''''']]? Because [[spoiler: a Great Old One]] is what every kid-friendly rhythm game needs.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' go to great lengths to keep everything contained to Kanto and Kanto-related things. At least, that's what you're led to believe, until you encounter Mina in Vermilion City--the same Mina who lives in [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Alola]] and supervises the Fairy-type trial there. Though there are [=NPCs=] encountered earlier who will trade you Alolan Pokémon for their Kantonian counterparts, they only refer to themselves as having come from elsewhere. Mina is the first character you meet who directly name-drops the region. Another surprise appearance is Green, the DistaffCounterpart of Red from the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance remakes of ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' as a trainer you can battle. Even better is that, much like Red and Blue, she shows up in her [[WhatCouldHaveBeen planned Gen 1 outfit]].

** Also appearing in ''All Stars Racing Transformed'' is AGES, who changes between a UsefulNotes/{{Dreamcast}} controller, a [[VideoGame/DaytonaUSA Hornet]], and an [[VideoGame/AfterBurner F-14 Tomcat]], as well as WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph.

** The ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' characters and VideoGame/FootballManager in the UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} release of the game.
** ''VideoGame/SegaHeroes'' features characters from the first two VideoGame/PhantasyStar games as well as [[VideoGame/JetSetRadio DJ Professor K]], whose only other playable appearance was in Jet Set Radio's UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance port.

** ''Soul Calibur II'' kicked off the tradition with a unique and wildly out-of-left-field guest fighter for all three major console versions. The [=PS2=] got [[Franchise/{{Tekken}} Heihachi Mishima]], the Xbox got ComicBook/{{Spawn}}, and the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube got [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]].

* ''VideoGame/SuperMonkeyBall: Banana Mania'' features a host of unusual character choices, both in the base game and as DLC. [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic, Tails]], and [[VideoGame/JetSetRadio Beat]] have crossed over with ''Super Monkey Ball'' before, and Sonic was already in the HD version of ''Banana Blitz''. [[VideoGame/Persona5 Morgana]] is a little more out there, but he is from a popular Sega-owned game and at least fits aesthetically. [[VideoGame/{{Yakuza}} Kiryu]], though, was a shock to everybody, hailing from a dark, mature series that clashes heavily with ''Monkey Ball''[='s=] lighthearted tone. Then there's the AnimateInanimateObject versions of Sega consoles. And Franchise/HelloKitty. And (perhaps the biggest surprise of all) a Suezo from ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher'', which is not only entirely unconnected to Sega but hadn't seen a new game in almost a full decade at the time of its reveal.

* ''VideoGame/Yakuza5'' has a five-chapter story that involve a different character, which include two men associated with the yakuza, a loan shark, a former baseball star, and Haruka Sawamura: Kazuma Kiryu's dear niece and an up-and-coming IdolSinger, whose chapter involves [[UnexpectedGameplayChange no street brawls whatsoever]].

* ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'' is no stranger to crossovers, having incorporated ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'', ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre1974'', ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'', and ''Film/{{Ringu}}'' among numerous others. But absolutely ''nobody'' was expecting Creator/NicolasCage ''AsHimself'' to be a playable Survivor.

* An extended gameplay trailer for ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' shows that Charlie, considered dead in-universe since ''Alpha 3'', will return to the series. [[note]] An official Character Relationship chart revealed he was alive shortly after the release of IV, but since it was in Japanese, it was less then common knownledge.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters XIV'' features the "Another World Team", a trio of time-displaced characters. Aside from [[VideoGame/SamuraiShodown Nakoruru]] (easily the least unexpected of the three), the team also consists of two characters from Japanese-only pachinko and pachislot games, Mui Mui and Love Heart.
* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters XV'' added a new character named Krohnen, where looking at his moveset instantly gives it away that he's a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to K9999 from ''[=KoF=] 2001'' and ''2002''. As a [[CaptainErsatz blatant ripoff]] of Tetsuo from ''Anime/{{Akira}}'', K9999 was ExiledFromContinuity by SNK, even going as far as [[BuryYourArt being edited out of promotion art, it being alleged company policy that referring to him by name was forbidden and has been officially stated as "gone for good"]]. His immediate substitute, Nameless, didn't make any future appearances in the series, either. So seeing SNK bringing back a character who they won't even mention by name in another way is a pretty big surprise. [[spoiler:In a shocking twist, it's not only revealed [[CanonCharacterAllAlong Krohnen is K9999 in disguise]], ''[[TrollingCreator SNK was the one who made up the rumors about K9999 being blacklisted for legal reasons]]''.]]