| 1 | %% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1315957677079060400 |
| 2 | %% Please start a new thread if you'd like to suggest an image. |
| 3 | ->'''Quagmire:''' What was [[Music/PaulSimon Simon]] without [[Music/SimonAndGarfunkel Garfunkel]]?\ |
| 4 | '''Peter:''' Wildly successful? |
| 5 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' |
| 6 | |
| 7 | When partnerships break up, the various members of the former group don't always follow the same career path. A Breakup Breakout occurs when one or more members of a dissolved group achieve noteworthy success while other members of the group languish. This can cause all sorts of awkwardness, jealousy and resentment amongst the former colleagues. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | It is very common after TV shows end for one cast member to go on to continued success while the others fade into obscurity. See also TheBandMinusTheFace, BreakoutCharacter, MorePopularSpinoff, and EnsembleDarkHorse. Contrast with ThePeteBest, who is remembered, when they are remembered at all, for leaving (or being ejected from) such a partnership, which then goes on to achieve noteworthy success without them. Also contrast with SoloSideProject, which is where a band member works on solo projects without actually leaving the band (or before a break-up). |
| 10 | |
| 11 | ---- |
| 12 | !!Example Subpages: |
| 13 | |
| 14 | [[index]] |
| 15 | * BreakupBreakout/{{Music}} |
| 16 | * BreakupBreakout/ProWrestling |
| 17 | [[/index]] |
| 18 | |
| 19 | !!Other Examples: |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 22 | |
| 23 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 24 | * Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal once featured three chefs on the box named Wendell, Bob and Quello (their names were written on their hats), but without any personality besides Wendell being the lead chef. At some point, Wendell was given an actual personality and started playing a much bigger role in ads for the cereal while Bob and Quello disappeared. |
| 25 | * Cookie Crisp's capers of the Cookie Crook vs. Officer Crumb (the Cookie Cop) changed a bit when the Crook got a dog, Chip. After 1997, the former two were nowhere to be found, and Chip was the de facto mascot of the brand, howling the name whenever he wanted some (and eventually he'd be changed from a dog to a wolf...) |
| 26 | [[/folder]] |
| 27 | |
| 28 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 29 | * A rare but inverted example would be Creator/{{CLAMP}}. During its early days in 1987 where they were initially a doujinshi circle, there were eleven members. When they became professional manga artists with their original debut manga ''Manga/RGVeda'', the group was reduced to seven members. It's only in 1993 where three members left which leaves the four women (Nanase Ohkawa, Satsuki Igarashi, Mokona and Tsubaki Nekoi) as the only members of the group. As time passed, these four women are recognized and regarded as the true members of CLAMP in the anime and manga industry after the success of their works such as ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' among others. Tamayo Akiyama, a former member of CLAMP who is Ohkawa's childhood friend, was able to publish her works but never reached the same level of success as her former group and the rest of the former members faded into obscurity. |
| 30 | * While most of the ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' cast had success afterwards, even Creator/RebeccaForstadt, they didn't make a dent outside of anime... except for Creator/CamClarke. |
| 31 | [[/folder]] |
| 32 | |
| 33 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 34 | * Part of SidekickGraduationsStick: The sidekick becomes their own hero. At least in theory. Franchise/{{Batman}}'s original ComicBook/{{Robin}} may be an in-universe example as more [[SupportingLeader people trust]] Characters/{{Nightwing|DickGrayson}} than they do Batman. |
| 35 | * While the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica is usually pushed out of the limelight in favor of [[MorePopularReplacement their successors]], the ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, there have been a few members who have managed to maintain their popularity: |
| 36 | ** ComicBook/DoctorFate continues to be ''the'' [[TheArchmage Archmage]] of the DC Universe, even in continuities where the JSA does not exist or not as a member of it. This is because few in the Justice League (or even ComicBook/JusticeLeagueDark, which is supposed to be ''the'' SupernaturalTeam of the DC Universe, of which he is oddly enough not a main member) can match his magical expertise. Even underneath the CoolHelmet, the original Doctor Fate Kent Nelson frequently averts the MorePopularReplacement (in spite of having several replacements over the years) as he is the iteration that most adaptations use (such as in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', ''VideoGame/Injustice2'', ''WesternAnimation/JusticeSocietyWorldWarII'', and ''Film/{{Black Adam|2022}}''), even if he does not stick around for long in-universe [[spoiler:due to ending up as a SacrificialLion]]. |
| 37 | ** Similarly to the aforementioned Doctor Fate, ComicBook/TheSpectre continues to stick around not only due to his prominence in the magical side of the DC Universe, but because he acts as an arbiter of God's judgement and as such functions as one of the BigGood[=s=] in the DC Universe. As with Doctor Fate, in some adaptations he has no ties to the JSA regardless of whether or not they exist in-universe. |
| 38 | ** The original [[ComicBook/TheFlash Flash]] Jay Garrick is more popular than some of his compatriots such as [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Alan Scott]] or [[ComicBook/TheAtom Al Pratt]], who have all been [[MorePopularReplacement replaced by more popular]] LegacyCharacter[=s=] on the Justice League. This continued popularity can be evinced by his appearances in ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'' (as the only member of the JSA still active in the present and even going so far as to join the JLA, something neither Scott or Pratt has done), ''ComicBook/Earth2'', both ''Injustice'' games as a skin for the Flash (''Earth-2'' in the first game, classic in the second), the ''Franchise/{{Arrowverse}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/JusticeSocietyWorldWarII'', often alongside his successor Barry Allen. |
| 39 | ** The original ''ComicBook/InfinityInc'' are a mostly-forgotten set of LegacyCharacter[=s=] to the JSA...with the exception of Atom-Smasher, who would not only go on to join the main JSA but is the one who appears the most outside of comics such as ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', and ''Film/{{Black Adam|2022}}''. |
| 40 | * ''ComicBook/{{Nova}}'': ''ComicBook/Nova2007'' features a bit where his old teammates, the ComicBook/NewWarriors, joke about this, pointing out that he ended up being far more powerful, successful, and noteworthy than anyone else on the team. (It certainly didn't hurt that the New Warriors were pretty much wiped out shortly after he quit). Even outside of the comic, Nova is still the most prominent member of that group, having appeared in media more often such as in ''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}'' and ''[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3 Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3]]''. The fact that he is also the AlternateCompanyEquivalent to ComicBook/GreenLantern as Marvel's resident human SpacePolice further increases his visibility. |
| 41 | * ComicBook/SpiderMan in ''ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumber15''. To the extent that he more or less saved the company. |
| 42 | * Regarding the ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour'', the Human Torch. Since the team's breakup in the ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'' event, Johnny's the only one to have a regular presence in the ComicBook/{{Ultimate|Marvel}} Universe; first as a supporting character in ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' and then in ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen''. |
| 43 | * ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' - Dr. Manhattan and the Comedian are government employees with a public presence, and Ozymandias is a billionaire industrialist, while the other former Crimebusters are unemployed, eager to reconnect with their old identities, and, in the case of Rorschach, a vigilante. |
| 44 | * There's the ComicBook/XMen, and then there's {{Wolverine|Publicity}}. This is an inversion as [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]] started off as a solo character in ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'' and most of the major lifting into making him a more fleshed out character happened in the X books; without that he may have very well ended up on the scrapheap. Even with the X-Men he was initially at risk of such a fate, as it was decided that he and Thunderbird were [[BloodKnight too similar in personality]] and one would be killed off in their second issue as a team. Wolverine was saved from the chopping block because his powers were deemed more interesting and he wasn't [[CaptainEthnic an ethnic stereotype]]. |
| 45 | [[/folder]] |
| 46 | |
| 47 | [[folder:Comedy]] |
| 48 | * Creator/GeorgeCarlin and Jack Burns started out as a pretty raunchy duo, but Carlin went onto superstardom after their breakup and Burns only went to mere stardom, and in fact was most successful as part of another comedy team, with Avery Schreiber. |
| 49 | * The Japanese comedy duo Honjamaka originally started as a troupe of about 10 or 11 comedians, but they only became famous after everybody left except the current two members (Ishizuka Hidehiko and Megumi Toshiaki). On top of that, they both have strong individual careers. |
| 50 | * Creator/RobRiggle and Rob Huebel was a Kansas City-based comedy duo who tried out for ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. Riggle got picked and despite leaving after one season, has had a strong acting career since then. Meanwhile, Huebel has mostly just taken secondary sitcom roles; probably his most visible role has been as A.J., the fairly bland RomanticRunnerUp to Michael Scott for Holly Flax's affections on ''[[Series/TheOfficeUS The Office]]''. |
| 51 | ** It happened again to Huebel several years later when he got his biggest break to date as a member of the comedy troupe ''Series/HumanGiant'' featuring himself, Creator/PaulScheer and Creator/AzizAnsari. Their MTV sketch series was critically acclaimed and all three got decent popularity as equals until the show ended in 2008. Since then Huebel has pursued a lower key career as a comedic actor, while Scheer went on to co-host the popular podcast ''Podcast/HowDidThisGetMade'', and Ansari's popularity exploded after appearing in the film ''Film/FunnyPeople'', the success of his comedy records and his role on ''Series/ParksAndRecreation''. |
| 52 | * Many view Creator/AdamCarolla's comedic partner (and radio buddy from KROQ in LA) Creator/JimmyKimmel as this, as he's gone on to much bigger things than Adam. However, Adam is quite proud of his best friend's success, often remarking he got there with talent and hard work, and he's quite content doing his own thing (which has also been quite a success, [[{{Podcast}} just in a less visual medium]]). |
| 53 | * ''Radio/TheMaryWhitehouseExperience'' featured four young comedians in a show that later transferred to TV. It was really two double acts. Creator/DavidBaddiel and Rob Newman later became the first stand-up comics to sell out tours in massive stadium venues seating ten thousand or more - effectively the first superstar comedians. Their [=TMWE=] colleagues Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis went onto moderate fame (Hugh Dennis is these days a well-thought-of comic TV actor and panel game regular), but neither gained the same dizzying heights as Baddiel or Newman. In a further example, Newman and Baddiel themselves split in the late 90s. Baddiel went on to even greater fame with a new double act partner, Frank Skinner, while Newman - to quote [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] - "largely disappeared from public life, reappearing with solo work marked by a clear social conscience and anti-establishment views". He's no longer the mainstream of comedy, nor does it seem he wants to be. |
| 54 | * While all six members of Creator/MontyPython have had successful solo careers, those of both Creator/JohnCleese and Creator/EricIdle were the two that truly stand out. (Though in the UK Creator/MichaelPalin probably comes next after Cleese due to his popular series of travelogues). Creator/TerryGilliam has had a successful directing career post-Python. |
| 55 | * After Spanish comedy duo Cruz y Raya split up in 2007, Juan Muñoz all but disappeared from the spotlight while his partner Creator/JoseMota embarked in a far more succesful solo career, directing and starring in multiple hit {{Sketch Comedy}} shows. |
| 56 | * Ace Trucking Company was a comedy troupe who gained a bit of a following in TheSeventies, mainly through TV variety show appearances, before breaking up once its members became busy with other acting gigs. Several of the individual members would become somewhat familiar faces: George Memmoli had some memorable parts in TV shows and movies, most substantially in ''Film/PhantomOfTheParadise''. Patti Deutsch became a regular on ''Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'' and a frequent ''Series/MatchGame'' panelist. Bill Saluga created the infamous character Raymond J. Johnson Jr ("you can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay..."). However, Creator/FredWillard became a prolific, much-loved comedic actor and outshone the other Ace members. |
| 57 | * The comedy team of Creator/LorneMichaels and Hart Pomerantz became well-known in Canada with their TV show ''The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour'', specializing in routines in the Creator/CarlReiner[=/=]Creator/MelBrooks mold, with Michaels as the straight man and Pomerantz playing oddball characters (most notably "the Canadian beaver", dissing other animals and patriotic figures). Eventually Michaels turned his focus to production, went to America, and created ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. Pomerantz, who had a day job as a lawyer and was only moonlighting in comedy, stayed in Canada and focused on his legal career, with some occasional TV gigs on the side. |
| 58 | * ''Series/KeyAndPeele''. While their show won many awards, unlike Creator/KeeganMichaelKey, Creator/JordanPeele won an Oscar for ''Film/GetOut2017'' on his own and continues to write and direct high profile projects. |
| 59 | * After the Creator/MarxBrothers retired their family act, Groucho struck out on his own with a long and successful career as a writer and television personality. In the '50s and '60s, he was arguably better-known for hosting ''Series/YouBetYourLife'' than for his movie work. |
| 60 | [[/folder]] |
| 61 | |
| 62 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 63 | * Creator/BenAffleck and Creator/MattDamon were considered this for a while. Used to be that the two of them appeared together in everything - then, each going solo, Matt Damon got the ''Film/OceansEleven'' and ''[[Film/TheBourneSeries Bourne]]'' series. Affleck landed lead roles in a number of major films, but his career never reached quite the height of Damon's. However, he went a different route by directing the critically acclaimed movies ''Literature/GoneBabyGone'', ''Film/TheTown'', and ''Film/{{Argo}}''. |
| 64 | * This gets spoofed in ''Film/MusicAndLyrics'', with Creator/HughGrant's character being the [[LesserStar Andrew Ridgeley]] of the Wham!-like band. |
| 65 | * An interesting case for the main ladies of ''Film/MeanGirls''. After the movie, Creator/LindsayLohan [[HollywoodHypeMachine looked like she was poised for superstardom]]...but things did not turn out that way and her film roles since have not been able to achieve the same success. The other ladies however did well for themselves. Creator/LaceyChabert has been in consistent employment with voice acting and TV-movies, and Creator/RachelMcAdams and Creator/AmandaSeyfried have become two of the most successful actresses of the decade. |
| 66 | * The 1928 film ''Film/OurDancingDaughters'' (and its two successive entries, ''Film/OurModernMaidens'' and ''Film/OurBlushingBrides'', which formed a loose trilogy) paired Anita Page, an actress with an impressive pedigree and a burgeoning career, with an up-and-coming actress who Creator/{{M|etroGoldwynMayer}}GM had taken a liking to. The end result was that Page got upstaged by her co-star (who used the role as a launching pad to greater fame), MGM canned her three years later (despite starring in [[Film/TheBroadwayMelody the first film with sound to win an Academy Award for Best Picture]]), and she more or less disappeared from acting altogether until the early 90s, whereas her co-star, Creator/JoanCrawford, went on to become a superstar. |
| 67 | * Ted Healy decided to split from his back-up comedy players. Healy faded into obscurity. Not so for Film/TheThreeStooges. |
| 68 | * The original ''Franchise/StarWars'' series is a slightly bitty example, with established names Creator/AlecGuinness and Creator/PeterCushing in the cast of the first movie, ''Film/ANewHope'', largely because the backers expected it. Creator/JamesEarlJones[[labelnote:*]]whose performance in ''A New Hope'' originally went '''uncredited'''[[/labelnote]], was lesser known, but became well known as a voice actor. But the rest of the cast were all inexpensive unknowns. Creator/HarrisonFord alone got a leg-up to further major leading roles, most notably as Franchise/IndianaJones, and achieved big box-office fame. Everyone else had to initially contend with [[IAmNotSpock typecasting deadends]] and AdamWesting, or make do with largely unaffected careers. Creator/MarkHamill eventually launched a highly successful voice acting career, most famously voicing [[Characters/DCAUJoker The Joker]]. Creator/PeterMayhew (Chewbacca), returned to civilian life as a hospital porter. [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Peter Griffin]] lampshaded Ford's success in the ''Film/ANewHope'' parody. "I'm Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon and the only actor whose career isn't destroyed by this movie." |
| 69 | * Out from the ''Film/HarryPotter'' film trio, Creator/EmmaWatson seems to be only one who got higher success than the two after working with Creator/SofiaCoppola, Creator/DarrenAronofsky and a [[Film/BeautyAndTheBeast2017 financially successful Disney remake]] among others. Creator/DanielRadcliffe has a pretty good career in theatre and is working in oddball independent films. And Creator/RupertGrint didn't get much success after the franchise ended and several of his movies got panned by critics though like Radcliffe, he ventured to theatre instead. For the supporting cast (with the exception of the adult actors), Creator/RobertPattinson garnered more success and fame thanks to the ''Film/{{Twilight}}'' franchise and further a decade later with ''Film/TheBatman2022''. Creator/TomFelton initially had ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' to start with after the franchise ended and Alfred Enoch (who played Dean Thomas) is one of the lead characters in ''Series/HowToGetAwayWithMurder''. The rest were either focused on modeling or in theatre. Of the unknown adult actors, there were three breakouts: Creator/DavidTennant, Creator/MichelleFairley, and Creator/DomhnallGleeson. |
| 70 | * Creator/ZacEfron is the only ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' cast member to achieve mainstream success with films like ''[[Film/SeventeenAgain2009 17 Again]]'', ''Film/Neighbors2014'', and ''Film/TheGreatestShowman''. Creator/VanessaHudgens has done moderately well with a career in singing and Broadway and Music/AshleyTisdale made a mark on TV, while everyone else has faded into obscurity. |
| 71 | * Among the ''Film/{{Twilight}}'' cast, Creator/AnnaKendrick is the most successful among the supporting cast thanks to starring several films like ''Film/UpInTheAir'' and the ''Film/PitchPerfect'' movies while Creator/LeePace got ''Film/TheHobbit'' trilogy and ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}'' and Creator/BryceDallasHoward has the ''Film/JurassicWorld'' movies and the rest are struggling on TV roles. Among the main trio, Creator/RobertPattinson makes several critically-acclaimed movies for some time and eventually snagging a role in Creator/ChristopherNolan's 2020 movie, ''Film/{{Tenet}}'', and becoming the new Franchise/{{Batman}} in the new Creator/MattReeves [[Film/TheBatman2022 2022 movie]] while Creator/KristenStewart continues getting her indie cred back but Creator/TaylorLautner doesn't do much these days. |
| 72 | * The ''Film/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' movies had three (not counting Rachael Harris and Creator/SteveZahn, who were well-established at the time). Creator/ChloeGraceMoretz, who played the original character Angie in the first film, later shot to superstardom a month after its release with her critically acclaimed turn as Hit-Girl in the R-rated superhero comedy ''Film/KickAss'' and since then has become one of the decade's most popular young actresses. Meanwhile, Creator/{{Peyton List|1998}} and Creator/KaranBrar, who played Holly Hills and Chirag Gupta, respectively, were both cast onto the Disney Channel sitcom ''Series/{{Jessie}}'', where they played two children of a celebrity power couple, and reprised their roles on its camp-themed sequel series ''Series/{{Bunkd}}''. Creator/DevonBostick (Rodrick) has a considerably lower profile, but he's doing well enough on ''Series/The100'', Creator/ZacharyGordon (Greg) shifted to voice acting (his most high-profile work being as [[TheOtherDarrin the second English VA]] of ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'''s Tighnari), and Creator/RobertCapron (Rowley) all but vanished from the spotlight. |
| 73 | * ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' is an inverted case as many of the main cast members have achieved success with some earning awards for their other movies and starring in other franchises. The ones who are struggling their careers are Creator/DominicMonaghan (Merry) and Billy Boyd (Pipin), the latter more so. |
| 74 | * The ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum'' trilogy mostly featured an AllStarCast, led by Creator/BenStiller, but also including Creator/RobinWilliams, Creator/OwenWilson, Creator/SteveCoogan, Creator/DickVanDyke, Creator/MickeyRooney, and Creator/RickyGervais. But it also included a few lesser known actors among the cast. Notable among them is Creator/RamiMalek, who played Akhmunrah, the pharaoh whose mummy was buried at the titular museum. After the final movie, Malek landed a role on the critically acclaimed series ''Series/MrRobot'' and found consistent success in Hollywood, famously playing Music/{{Queen}} frontman Music/FreddieMercury in the 2018 biopic ''Film/BohemianRhapsody''. |
| 75 | * ''Franchise/BillAndTed'''s stars Creator/AlexWinter and Creator/KeanuReeves were both seen as up-and-coming talent, but by the time ''Film/BillAndTedFaceTheMusic'' was finally greenlit and released, their careers had gone wildly different paths. Reeves had blown up in recognition due to several successful films such as ''Film/{{Speed}}'', ''Film/TheMatrix'' and ''Film/JohnWick''. Winter, on the other hand, had faded into obscurity following ''Film/{{Freaked}}'' being ScrewedByTheNetwork. |
| 76 | [[/folder]] |
| 77 | |
| 78 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 79 | * In Grady Hendrix's horror novel ''Literature/WeSoldOurSouls'', the public at large ''thinks'' this is the case with protagonist Kris's former metal band Durt Wurk and the [[VillainWithGoodPublicity villain Terry]], the former front man who went on to a meteoric solo career. In reality, Terry ruined the band's prospects by getting them kicked off a lucrative gig with his terrible behavior, then went behind their backs with a sleazy manager to rebrand as nu-metal Koffin, and foisted exploitative contracts on them that just so happened to [[spoiler: sign over everyone's souls in exchange for fame and fortune]] in addition to paying terribly and stealing their copyright. When they called him on being a jerk, he tricked them into signing anyway, then took the deal alone and used his new wealth to hire shady lawyers and force them out of music. Oh, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and he's hopelessly derivative]] and overall a terrible musician without Kris around. |
| 80 | * The novel ''Liverpool Fantasy'' by Larry Kirwan explores an AlternateHistory where Music/TheBeatles broke up almost immediately after being signed, with John storming out and taking George and Ringo with him. Paul remained with the label and became highly successful as a solo artist, while his former bandmates went on to lead unremarkable lives in Liverpool. |
| 81 | [[/folder]] |
| 82 | |
| 83 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 84 | * After ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' ended in 2000, Creator/WillFriedle had a huge success in numerous voice roles. Namely Terry [=McGinnis=] in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', Ron Stoppable of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', Deadpool in ''[[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012 Ultimate Spider-Man]]'', and finally, Star-Lord in ''WesternAnimation/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2015}}''. Other than reprising their roles on ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'', the only other actors to do anything notable were Creator/KristannaLoken and Lee Norris. |
| 85 | * An interesting case with Creator/JasonBateman from ''Series/TheHoganFamily''. During the shows run he snagged a lead role in ''Teen Wolf 2'' but disappeared off the map after ''The Hogan Family'' was canceled with this film not helping matters. By the 2000s, however, he had a steady career being cast in supporting roles in comedies (as well as dramas) alongside a starring role in the sitcom ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' paving the way for leading roles in films by the 2010s thus cementing Jason Bateman further as the breakout star of ''The Hogan Family'' while the rest of the cast (Creator/ValerieHarper and Creator/SandyDuncan being the exceptions) fell into obscurity. |
| 86 | * After ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' ended, Creator/BryanCranston went on to star as Walter White in ''Series/BreakingBad'', a role that he won four Emmy awards for, three of them consecutively, and is now arguably even ''more'' famous for ''Series/BreakingBad'' than ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle''. The rest of the cast has faded into obscurity. Creator/FrankieMuniz invoked this on himself by doing the ''Film/AgentCodyBanks'' movies for tens of millions of dollars, then retiring from acting to drive race cars for fun. |
| 87 | * The only member of the ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' that got regular work after the show ended was Creator/TiffaniThiessen. However, Creator/MarkPaulGosselaar eventually gained traction as an actor during the 2000s, earning starring roles in ''Series/NYPDBlue'' and ''Series/FranklinAndBash''. Creator/MarioLopez has been the host of several shows, including ''America's Best Dance Crew'', was a contestant in the third season of ''Series/DancingWithTheStars'', and has made guest appearances in other programs as well. |
| 88 | ** Another although: The ''first'' SBTB actor to get a major acting role was Creator/ElizabethBerkley. Of course, [[NeverLiveItDown that acting role]] was in ''Film/{{Showgirls}}''... |
| 89 | ** Creator/DustinDiamond and Creator/LarkVoorhies never had any high profile roles since ''SBTB''. Creator/DennisHaskins is still making a living off of his Mr. Belding character. |
| 90 | ** ''[[Series/SavedByTheBellTheNewClass The New Class]]'' sadly hasn't produced any real breakup breakout: Creator/BiancaLawson got regular work on a number of hit TV shows, but nothing major. Creator/SarahLancaster's only other claim to fame is ''Series/{{Chuck}}''. Natalia Cigliuti, Creator/LindseyMcKeon, and Ashley Tesoro got major roles on soap operas. Other than than, nothing. |
| 91 | * Averted with ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', as three of the show's main cast members struggled to find successful roles after the show ended in 1998 (Creator/JerrySeinfeld himself never seemed that bothered, and is the only one who's avoided series television, although he did have a successful web series, ''WebVideo/ComediansInCarsGettingCoffee''), a phenomenon which became known as the "Seinfeld curse". Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus can be considered ''Seinfeld'''s breakout, as she eventually went on to star in ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfOldChristine'' and ''Series/{{Veep}}''. However, it took her almost a decade to finally find a successful post-''Seinfeld'' role. Creator/MichaelRichards is nowadays the only one still completely in the show's shadow. |
| 92 | * ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' averted this for the main four family members. |
| 93 | ** Creator/ChristinaApplegate remained in the spotlight immediately after the show ended with regular lead movie roles and TV shows like ''Series/SamanthaWho'' and ''Series/UpAllNight''. |
| 94 | ** Creator/EdONeill eventually experienced a CareerResurrection thanks to his role in ''Series/ModernFamily''. |
| 95 | ** Creator/KateySagal alternated between TV movies, guest TV spots and voice acting before achieving her breakout with ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', then a lead role in the live action comedy ''Series/EightSimpleRules'' and a lead role in the drama ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy''. |
| 96 | ** While Creator/DavidFaustino had the least amount of success, that success was still a variety of roles, guest spots and voice acting, far more than many people get after leaving a successful show. He eventually got a high-profile role in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. |
| 97 | * After ''Series/That70sShow'' Creator/AshtonKutcher was the breakout cast member, but Creator/MilaKunis experienced a CareerResurrection with her role in ''Film/ForgettingSarahMarshall'', (she was already well known for her work in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'') and has since gone onto a level of fame and success that has arguably eclipsed Kutcher's. Creator/TopherGrace and Creator/LauraPrepon did eventually find their way back into the spotlight, but not at Kutcher or Kunis' level (at least, not until Prepon landed ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack''...). |
| 98 | * ''Series/FullHouse'' had Creator/JohnStamos as the adult breakout, as he is the only cast member who has gotten regular work since the show ended. |
| 99 | ** While Creator/MaryKateAndAshleyOlsen would remain famous throughout the rest of the 90s through a huge amount of work and franchising their name, they would fade into obscurity in the 2000s partly due to them losing interest in acting and maintaining their franchise. |
| 100 | ** Creator/BobSaget would experience a CareerResurrection in the mid-2000s, mainly from AdamWesting his "family-friendly" image from the early '90s. Plus, he narrated [[Series/HowIMetYourMother another long-running hit.]] |
| 101 | ** Creator/CandaceCameronBure has had Hallmark Channel movies to fall back on [[https://nypost.com/2022/11/15/candace-cameron-bure-reveals-why-she-left-hallmark-channel/ until she left the network in 2022 to move over to Great American Family]], as did Creator/LoriLoughlin before the college admissions scandal in 2019. |
| 102 | * ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' had three breakouts - Creator/TedDanson, Creator/WoodyHarrelson, and Creator/KelseyGrammer. |
| 103 | ** The ''Cheers'' spin-off ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' also had two breakouts - Grammer and Creator/JaneLeeves. |
| 104 | ** Creator/JohnRatzenberger is well-known for his work as a voice actor in Creator/{{Pixar}} films. |
| 105 | ** Though not to the extent of Harrelson or Grammer, Creator/DavidHydePierce has kept up a respectable career in theater, eventually earning a Tony for his work in ''Curtains''. |
| 106 | ** Creator/KirstieAlley had a few memorable movie roles for herself. Save for a three year stint in Veronica's Closet on NBC in the late-90's, her career really reached the same nights after "Cheers" ended. |
| 107 | * Averted with ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'', in which all the main adult stars (Creator/RayRomano, Creator/BradGarrett, Patricia Heaton and Doris Roberts) would generally have continued success after the show ended. The only exception is Peter Boyle, who died shortly after the show ended. But even then, he was already an established actor going into the show. |
| 108 | * ''Raymond'''s sister show ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'' had two breakouts -- Creator/KevinJames and Creator/PattonOswalt. |
| 109 | * Creator/RickyGervais (and, later on, Creator/MartinFreeman) in ''Series/TheOfficeUK''. |
| 110 | ** Over on ''Series/TheOfficeUS'', Creator/SteveCarell's level of fame and success so strongly eclipsed that of the rest of the cast that he was established as the show's breakout; this prompted him to leave the show in 2011 to focus on his film career. Many argue that Carell's departure turned the show into a FranchiseZombie. Creator/EdHelms is probably its best known star besides Carell thanks to his roles in ''Film/TheHangover'' trilogy, ''WesternAnimation/CaptainUnderpantsTheFirstEpicMovie'' and ''Film/{{Tag}}''. |
| 111 | *** Though Creator/JohnKrasinski has made several attempts to transition into film, with some success (at the least, he's had the chance to work with actors like Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/AlecBaldwin, and Creator/MattDamon, along with directors like Creator/SamMendes and Creator/GusVanSant). Eventually, he found true success outside of the show in 2018 thanks to the combination of ''Series/JackRyan'' and ''Film/AQuietPlace''. |
| 112 | *** Creator/MindyKaling managed to stay in the spotlight with ''Series/TheMindyProject''. |
| 113 | *** James Spader also, although he was already well-established before going into ''The Office.'' |
| 114 | *** Creator/EllieKemper got an even bigger career boost with ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'', in addition to roles in ''Film/{{Bridesmaids}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretLifeOfPets''. |
| 115 | * Creator/JenniferAniston has been far more successful than her ''{{Series/Friends}}'' co-stars since the show ended. Creator/CourteneyCox, Creator/LisaKudrow and Creator/MatthewPerry have managed to stay in the spotlight as well. |
| 116 | ** Kudrow seems to be on and off with her success, starring in the HBO show ''Series/TheComeback'' for one season before it was cancelled (despite critical acclaim that led to Kudrow receiving an Emmy nomination), and then creating and starring in the successful ''Series/WebTherapy'' on Showtime. |
| 117 | ** Creator/MattLeblanc had trouble getting a successful career going, as the ''Friends'' spin-off ''Joey'' was cancelled after two seasons. After this, he took some time off from acting and appears to be in the middle of a small CareerResurrection with his starring role in ''Series/{{Episodes}}'' (which has earned him his first ever Golden Globe win). |
| 118 | ** Creator/DavidSchwimmer, though far from a public figure, has tried to focus his efforts more into directing, helming ''Film/RunFatboyRun'' and ''Trust'', to respectable reviews. |
| 119 | * While ''Series/FamilyTies'' launched Creator/MichaelJFox's career, everyone else on the show were not as successful as he was. Outside of ''Family Ties'', Michael Gross is probably better-known for playing Burt Gummer in the ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' franchise but otherwise hasn't done anything high-profile since. |
| 120 | * Creator/BlakeLively is by far the most successful among the main cast of Series/GossipGirl, followed by Creator/PennBadgley who bagged the lead role in the very successful Series/{{You}} and Creator/ChaceCrawford who plays The Deep in Series/TheBoys. Ironically the actors who played the most popular characters of the show, Creator/LeightonMeester (Blair) and Creator/EdWestwick (Chuck) didn't do any notable work since the show ended and seems to have found the least mainstream success. |
| 121 | * Creator/AlyssaMilano in ''Series/WhosTheBoss.'' Creator/TonyDanza is the only other notable member of the cast, but he was already an established star. |
| 122 | * Creator/JohnTravolta was the biggest name to come out of ''Series/WelcomeBackKotter'' by far, as his co-stars have long since faded into obscurity. |
| 123 | * Even Franchise/TheMuppets have an example of this: The short-lived ''Series/MuppetsTonight'' introduced the comedy team of Pepe (a prawn) and Seymour (an elephant). Pepe has since gone on to appear in many later Muppet projects, while Seymour vanished without a trace. An [[Series/TheMuppetShow earlier example]], [[SmurfetteBreakout Miss Piggy]]; she gained fame quickly, even though she was originally meant to be a minor character next to Rowlf alongside Janice in the Veterinarian's Hospital sketches. While the latter two eventually made a comeback, it is still surprising to learn Piggy was never thought of as a major character in the beginning. |
| 124 | * A common theme for Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} series with young cast members: |
| 125 | ** ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' was rebooted in the late 90s, and brought back most of the Midnight Society members from the original series. However, one of the "new" society members was played by a little-known actress named Creator/ElishaCuthbert, who shot to stardom two years later after being cast in ''Series/TwentyFour''. The rest of the group never achieved the same level of stardom as she did (although a couple of the cast members were able to make a serviceable career out of bit parts and supporting character roles). |
| 126 | ** Of the teen cast members who starred on the 90s series ''Series/HeyDude'', only Creator/ChristineTaylor (who played Melody) and David Lascher (who played Ted [=McGriff=]) had anything close to successful careers. Taylor is arguably more well-known because of her marriage to Creator/BenStiller and her steady stream of work over the years, while Lascher disappeared during the 2000s after starring in supporting roles in a handful of teen series (''Series/{{Blossom}}'', ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch''). The rest of the ''Hey Dude'' cast, whether by choice or limitations, never acted again in any professional capacity. |
| 127 | ** ''Series/SpaceCases''. Of the main cast, only Creator/JewelStaite (who played Catalina in the first season) (via her roles in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' and ''Series/StargateAtlantis''), Rebecca Herbst (who played Suzee in season 2 and later played Elizabeth Webber on ''Series/GeneralHospital'') went on to become greater stars after the show finished. Walter Jones (of ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' fame) was relegated to bit parts and one-off appearances in various series, and the rest of the cast never bothered to do much after the series ended. |
| 128 | ** ''Series/KenanAndKel''. Since the end of the show, Creator/{{Kenan|Thompson}} has gone on to join ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' and has been a few moderately successful films. Creator/{{Kel|Mitchell}} mostly did guest spots before rekindling his working relationship with Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}. Now the two have come full circle and work together as executive producers on the revival of ''Series/AllThat''. |
| 129 | ** After the end of ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'', Creator/DrakeBell initially had more success, landing roles such as Timmy Turner in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' films and Spider-Man in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'', alongside branching out into music, whereas Creator/JoshPeck mostly did minor roles in various films and TV series. However, this reversed by the 2020s, as in 2021 Bell found himself in serious legal trouble regarding child endangerment, eventually being sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours of community service, putting the brakes on his career for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, Peck's steady work eventually led him to significant roles in several high profile projects, including the 2023 Academy Award Best Picture winner ''Film/{{Oppenheimer}}''. |
| 130 | ** From the cast of ''Series/SaluteYourShorts'' only Blake Sennett (credited as "Blake Soper") and Creator/ChristineCavanaugh had any major notoriety after the show ended. Sennett became a musician and was the co-lead vocalist and guitarist for the indie rock band Music/RiloKiley. Cavanaugh became a well known voice actor, performing the voices of lead characters for ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', among others. |
| 131 | ** Creator/DannyCooksey already had a bit of shine on him from ''Series/DiffrentStrokes'' and ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay''. He's done quite well for himself as well, with voice acting roles on ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'', ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1992}}'', ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'', ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'', ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeRenegades'', and ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness''. Not bad, Budnick, not bad. |
| 132 | ** ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' during its run was one of Nick's most popular live action shows. After it ended in 2013, Music/ArianaGrande embarked on a massively successful music career as pop star, churning out numerous iconic hits in a short time and scoring platinum albums, and has never looked back since. Her meteoric rise has completely eclipsed the show itself, easily becoming the most successful star ever produced by Nick, while the rest of cast (Leon Thomas III, Matt Bennett, Creator/ElizabethGillies, Creator/AvanJogia, Creator/DaniellaMonet, and, [[{{Irony}} most ironically]], the title star Music/VictoriaJustice, who the show was meant to be a vehicle for) have long since faded into obscurity. |
| 133 | ** Avan Jogia is also proving to be something of a breakout star, getting a starring role in the ABC drama ''Series/Twisted2013'' not long after ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' was cancelled (although ''Twisted'' itself was cancelled fairly after one season). |
| 134 | ** Music/VictoriaJustice herself became this from ''Series/{{Zoey 101}}''. None of the other stars, even series star Jamie Lynn Spears, have come close to her success, unless you count Creator/ErinSanders because of ''Series/BigTimeRush''. |
| 135 | * ''Series/InLivingColor'' was an incredibly successful FOX series that launched the careers of several celebrities including Creator/KeenenIvoryWayans, Creator/DamonWayans, Creator/ShawnWayans, Creator/MarlonWayans, Creator/TommyDavidson, Creator/DavidAlanGrier, Creator/KimColes, and Creator/LarryWilmore who went on to decent careers in film and television. Overall though, the most successful cast members who emerged from the series were Creator/JimCarrey, Creator/JamieFoxx (as of 2023, the only cast member to win an [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy Award]]), and Creator/JenniferLopez. |
| 136 | * ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'', the fourth entry of the long-running Canadian teen drama franchise, starred one Aubrey Graham, who would go on to become music superstar Music/{{Drake}}, and later Creator/ShenaeGrimes, who would land on Creator/TheCW's reboot of ''Series/BeverlyHills90210''. |
| 137 | ** With the success of ''Series/TheVampireDiaries,'' we can also add Creator/NinaDobrev, who is second only to Drake in fame nowadays. |
| 138 | ** The producers of ''The Next Generation'' attempted to invoke this for Creator/CassieSteele (Manny Santos) by giving her what amounted as the female lead in ''Series/TheLAComplex''. "Tried" being the operative word. |
| 139 | * Zany UK Saturday morning children’s show ''Series/{{Tiswas}}'' had five regular presenters on the team: Chris Tarrant, Creator/LennyHenry, Sally James, Bob Carolgees (with Spit the Dog) and John Gorman. The first two effectively launched their TV careers from this, and ascended to the ranks of televisual royalty. The rest, while they stayed in TV, didn’t do nearly so well. |
| 140 | ** In its fifth series, Tiswas also had a Scottish circus entertainer by the name of Creator/SylvesterMcCoy appear doing surreal comic interludes. He would go on to achieving lasting fame as the seventh ''Series/DoctorWho''. |
| 141 | * After two years on ''How to Marry a Millionaire'', three of the cast members faded into obscurity, but Creator/BarbaraEden ultimately gained TV stardom on ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie''. |
| 142 | ** After Jeannie, Eden and co-star Bill Daily had moderate success in TV, while Creator/LarryHagman became an 80s pop culture icon playing J.R. Ewing in ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' and pretty much defined the LoveToHate trope during that era. |
| 143 | * ''Series/GetSmart'' pretty much got nobody off the ground except for Don Adams, even though he was typecast as Max, and Bernie Koppell, who later appeared on ''Series/TheLoveBoat'' in the late 70s. (Edward Platt, who had been a film star earlier, died a few years after the show left the air.) |
| 144 | * Music/SelenaGomez and Music/DemiLovato first met on the set of ''Series/BarneyAndFriends,'' became best friends ever since, and have had much more success as Disney-pop stars. Creator/DebbyRyan and Madison Pettit have also found their fair share of success with the Disney Channel machine, though not to the same extent. Everyone else completely faded into obscurity, as they mostly hired local kids from the Dallas-Fort Worth area who never pursued long-term acting careers. |
| 145 | ** Creator/KylaPratt and Trevor Morgan, both of whom starred in TheMovie, have went on to have reasonably successful acting careers afterwards, with Pratt starring in the popular Disney Channel cartoon ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'' and ''Film/DrDolittle'' and Morgan appearing in such hits as ''Film/TheSixthSense'' and ''Film/JurassicParkIII''. Unlike the kids from the show, the two were professional child actors. However, the other child star in the movie, Diana Rice, was never heard from again afterwards. |
| 146 | * Creator/JosephGordonLevitt from ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun''. A teenager when he started the sitcom, Gordon-Levitt has gone on to become one of the more well-known and acclaimed stars of his generation, earning many positive reviews for his work in ''Film/FiveHundredDaysOfSummer'', ''Film/FiftyFifty2011'', and ''Film/{{Looper}}'', while also working with several high-profile directors, like Christopher Nolan (for ''Film/{{Inception}}'' and ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'') and Steven Spielberg (for ''Film/{{Lincoln}}''). |
| 147 | ** Creator/JohnLithgow has had continued success following the show's finale, earning immense critical acclaim (and an Emmy) for his work in ''Series/{{Dexter}}''. Though it's hard to work Lithgow into this at all, as he was already an Oscar-nominated actor before doing the show. |
| 148 | * The barely-remembered YTV comedy-drama ''Series/BreakerHigh'' featured a group of students onboard a cruise ship who get into all sorts of wacky hijinks. Of the cast members who appeared on the series, only Creator/RyanGosling (who played the wannabe ladies' man/nerd) went on to megastardom, via his decision to appear in more serious, independent films. Tyler Labine and Rachel Wilson built serviceable careers as supporting actors, and Creator/RichardIanCox (who played the activities counselor) went into voice acting, but the rest of the cast never did much of note. |
| 149 | * In the ''WKRP'' franchise: |
| 150 | ** Of the cast members who starred in ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'', Tim Reid (Venus) has had the most consistent and stable career out of the cast, via his supporting roles in ''Series/SimonAndSimon'', ''Sister Sister'' and ''Series/That70sShow''. While Loni Anderson achieved the most fame of her castmates, it didn't translate into any real success and most of her post-''WKRP'' projects bombed. Most of the other cast members never achieved the same level of stardom, although Gordon Jump (Arthur Carlson) achieved some minor fame via his role as the "Maytag Man" in their commercials until his death in 2003. |
| 151 | ** Howard Hesseman, who played Dr Johnny Fever, had a lengthy run as the teacher on ''Series/HeadOfTheClass''. |
| 152 | ** In ''Series/TheNewWKRPInCincinnati'', Mykelti Williamson (Donovan) had plenty of memorable roles after leaving the show, in projects like ''Film/ForrestGump'', ''Series/TwentyFour'' and ''{{Series/Justified}}''. His co-stars (Tawny Kitaen and French Stewart) had comparatively little success besides Stewart's role in the aforementioned ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun''. |
| 153 | * Although the featured actors in ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' and spinoff series ''The Suite Life On Deck'' were. of course, twin stars Dylan and Cole Sprouse (both of whom moved on to college after the latter series ended), its breakout stars were, arguably, Music/AshleyTisdale and her SLOD SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute, Creator/DebbyRyan. Creator/BrendaSong, who already had experience in acting prior to ''Suite Life'' went on to play a role in ''Series/{{Dads}}'' and a PlayingAgainstType role in ''Film/TheSocialNetwork''. |
| 154 | * ''Series/TheBillEngvallShow'' ran on CBS for two years, but was never a very popular show and quickly faded into obscurity after its cancellation. However, one of its cast members, Creator/JenniferLawrence, shot to superstardom with films such as ''Film/TheHungerGames'' and ''Film/AmericanHustle'' and hasn't looked back since, whereas everyone else from the show, including Engvall himself, haven't gone anywhere since. Today, the show is remembered pretty much only for being the launching pad for Lawrence's career. |
| 155 | * ''Series/TheSecretLifeOfTheAmericanTeenager'': Creator/ShaileneWoodley shot to superstardom with ''Divergent'' whereas everyone else from the show have done nothing else of note (not counting, of course, Creator/MollyRingwald, although she is best remembered for the Brat Pack films from the '80s rather than post-''Secret Life'' output.) |
| 156 | * Of the stars of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', the only real post-series success stories have been Creator/DavidBoreanaz (''Series/{{Bones}}''), Creator/AlysonHannigan (''Series/HowIMetYourMother''), and Creator/SethGreen (''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''). While most of the rest of the cast has at least been able to get regular work, it should be noted that Nicholas Brendon's career has effectively stalled to the point that he admitted his inability to find regular work has driven him into alcoholism. Creator/AnthonyHead also didn't do too bad for himself, playing the lead in ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera'' and gaining recognition due to numerous appearances on British television and radio. He had been a musical actor before this, but was generally overshadowed by his brother Murray, who appeared on the original concept albums for ''Theatre/JesusChristSuperstar'' and ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'' respectively. |
| 157 | * The stars of ''Series/BosomBuddies'' were Creator/TomHanks and Creator/PeterScolari. In the first episode, Peter's character talks about how Tom's character is the driving force of the team, and that he'd be nothing without him. Decades later, Tom Hanks is Tom Hanks, and Peter Scolari may not have matched the success of his former co-star, but he did appear in 142 episodes of ''Series/{{Newhart}}'' over seven years. He passed away in 2021. |
| 158 | * ''Series/AllInTheFamily'': Creator/RobReiner was easily the big breakout, not so much for his acting as for his immensely successful directing career. The rest of the cast weren't so lucky. Creator/CarrollOConnor managed to slightly break out with his role on the long-running TV adaptation of ''Series/InTheHeatOfTheNight''. |
| 159 | * ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' had three major breakouts: Creator/JasonBateman and Creator/MichaelCera both went on to have hugely successful Hollywood careers, while the one-two punch of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'' and ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014'' proved to launch Creator/WillArnett's career as a Hollywood leading man in 2014. |
| 160 | ** Not that the rest of the cast have done horribly, though: |
| 161 | *** Creator/DavidCross became known for his work in the ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' and ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' franchises (and was already famous for ''Series/MrShow'' beforehand). |
| 162 | *** Creator/JessicaWalter remained relevant though her role on ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}''. |
| 163 | *** Creator/TonyHale starred on HBO's ''Series/{{Veep}}'', a role which he won two Emmys for. |
| 164 | *** Creator/JeffreyTambor starred on the hit Amazon series ''Series/{{Transparent}}'' and won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his performance. (Of course, he was already known from ''Series/TheLarrySandersShow'' at the time of ''Arrested Development'''s launch.) |
| 165 | *** Creator/PortiaDeRossi hasn't really had another hit since ''Arrested Development'', but she was already established thanks to her role on ''Series/AllyMcBeal'' and continues to stay in the spotlight thanks to her role as Creator/EllenDeGeneres' wife even without any major acting roles. |
| 166 | *** This leaves Alia Shawkat, a.k.a. Maeby, as the Jannetty of the ''Arrested Development'' cast. She has had little to no commercial success outside of her role on the show, though has found some critical acclaim on the indie film circuit. |
| 167 | * ''Series/MySoCalledLife'' had two Breakup Breakouts: Creator/ClaireDanes and Creator/JaredLeto. The rest of the cast faded into obscurity after the show was over. |
| 168 | * ''Series/{{Lost}}'': Creator/EvangelineLilly, Creator/IanSomerhalder kept the highest profile after the show ended, followed by Creator/MichaelEmerson. Creator/MaggieGrace and Creator/DanielDaeKim too, to a lesser extent. |
| 169 | * Out of all the actors to play Franchise/PowerRangers, only Creator/AmyJoJohnson, Creator/JohnnyYongBosch, Cerina Vincent, Creator/EmmaLahana, Brandon Jay [=McLaren=], Ana Hutchinson, Creator/ArchieKao, Creator/RoseMcIver and Creator/EkaDarville have had continued success afterwards (if you count villains, then there's also Creator/AdelaideKane). |
| 170 | * ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': Creator/NeilPatrickHarris was already known for starring in ''Series/DoogieHowserMD'', but ''HIMYM'' enhanced his star enough for Harris to host award shows, his memorable role in ''Film/GoneGirl'', his theater career, and just having a high profile in general. Aside from him, Creator/CobieSmulders is the highest profile among the cast thanks to her role as SHIELD agent Maria Hill in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. Jason Segel's career is composed of several romantic comedies and ventured into serious roles such as the independent drama film, ''The End of the Tour'' while Creator/CristinMilioti received praise for her roles in ''Series/{{Fargo}}'' Season 2 and ''Series/BlackMirror: [[Recap/BlackMirrorUSSCallister U.S.S. Callister]]''. Creator/JoshRadnor went under the radar after the show ended and focused more on directing and theater while Creator/AlysonHannigan became the host of ''Series/PennAndTellerFoolUs''. |
| 171 | * ''Series/GilmoreGirls'': Creator/MelissaMcCarthy is one of the few cast members who got a successful career thanks for her role in ''Film/{{Bridesmaids}}'' and continues her success in several comedy films and her short stint in ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. The other cast members have had varying levels of success. Creator/AlexisBledel tried to find success until her role in ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'' where she won an Emmy while Creator/MiloVentimiglia found success in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' until the show got hit with SeasonalRot and in ''Series/ThisIsUs'', where he earned his first Emmy nomination. Lauren Graham and Matt Czuchry are well known for their main roles in ''Series/{{Parenthood}}'' and ''Series/TheGoodWife'' respectively, while Creator/JaredPadalecki hit sky high with ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. Liza Weil has ''Series/HowToGetAwayWithMurder'' and Sean Gunn is known for as Kraglin in the ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014''. [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse movies]]. The rest of the main cast members don't have success after show ended and the revival was not enough to boost their careers. |
| 172 | * Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}'s 2012 sitcom ''Series/MarvinMarvin'' was a massive failure, getting trashed by critics and fans alike and ending the career of Lucas Cruikshank, and was run off the air in only half a year. The only actor from the show whose career survived was Jacob Bertrand, who played Marvin's younger brother Henry. A year after ''Marvin'' ended, Bertrand landed the title role on a single-camera Disney XD show called ''Series/KirbyBuckets'', about a young cartoonist who is able to see his characters come to life. Although it was far from a smash hit, it was much better received than ''Marvin'' and got two more seasons. Following this, Bertrand's career reached new heights when he was cast as Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz in the smash hit ''Film/TheKarateKid'' SequelSeries ''Series/CobraKai''. The only other notable actor from the show is Casey Sander, who plays Bernadette's father on ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', but he already had that role prior to ''Marvin''. |
| 173 | ** As for ''Kirby Buckets'', while Bertrand was the most successful of the shows' lead actors, two of the others have found success afterwards: [=MeKai=] Curtis voices one of the main characters on fellow Disney Channel show ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'', and Tiffany Espensen also stayed in the Disney family with a minor role in ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming''. Cade Sutton, for his credit, appeared on an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'' alongside the other male leads from the show about half a year after ''Buckets'' ended, but hasn't done much otherwise (and Tiffany Espensen would appear on that show later on in a recurring role). Olivia Stuck, on the other hand, fell almost completely off the radar after the show ended (and never got to appear on ''The Lion Guard''). |
| 174 | * Among the cast of ''Series/TheTudors'', Creator/HenryCavill and Creator/NatalieDormer have become the most successful due to the former playing [[Characters/DCEUSuperman Superman]] for the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse and Geralt of Rivia in ''Series/{{The Witcher|2019}}'' and the latter being in ''Series/GameOfThrones'' and the last two ''Film/TheHungerGames'' movies while the rest are still relegated to TV roles. |
| 175 | * On ''Series/{{Community}}'', [[Music/ChildishGambino Donald Glover]] (Troy) could be considered this. Glover left the show in season 5 to focus on his music and a solo television project, which became the FX show ''Series/{{Atlanta}}''. The show premiered to critical acclaim and was on many "Best on 2016" lists. Additionally, he has appeared in several movies and was cast as young Lando Calrissian in ''Film/{{Solo}}''. Creator/TheRussoBrothers, who directed and produced for the show, are technically the most successful of the cast and crew, having went on to direct some of the highest-grossing movies of all time in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. |
| 176 | * Out of the cast of ''Series/ShakeItUp'', Creator/{{Zendaya}} seems to have been the break-out star. She got her own Disney Channel show after the show ended, was a cast member on ''Dancing with the Stars'', and even got cast in ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming''. She also has released music, and was featured in Music/{{Beyonce}}'s short film for her album ''Lemonade''. |
| 177 | * ''Series/TwoGuysAGirlAndAPizzaPlace'' has Creator/RyanReynolds as the big breakout star, having had turns as two different movie blockbuster superheroes, ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' and ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}''. Creator/NathanFillion recurred on the show, then booked ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' and ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}''; Creator/TraylorHoward had modest success, most notably on ''Series/{{Monk}}'', and Richard Ruccolo...faded back into obscurity. |
| 178 | * ''Series/Drive2007'' [[ShortRunners didn't last long]], but the cast members went on to other projects with varying degrees of success. Some did other television shows (Creator/NathanFillion on ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'', Kristin Lehman on ''Series/TheKilling'' and ''Series/{{Motive}}'', Taryn Manning on ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'') Others did movies (Creator/MelanieLynskey in ''Film/UpInTheAir''). But by far, the most successful is Creator/EmmaStone. ([[Film/LaLaLand Yes,]] [[Film/TheHelp that]] [[Film/{{Superbad}} one.]]) |
| 179 | * Newer Music/CardiB fans might not realize she got her start as a cast member on the RealityShow ''Love & Hip Hop: New York''. A lot of the cast are either artists past their prime or upstarts trying to get in the business; Cardi is the only person to get any further than being a MemeticMutation so far. |
| 180 | * ''Franchise/CSIVerse'': |
| 181 | ** Discounting Creator/LaurenceFishburne who is already a star on his own right prior to joining the show, the ''Series/{{CSI}}'' main actors who managed to continue their success after the show ended are Creator/GeorgeEads, who starred in [[Series/MacGyver2016 the 2016 remake of MacGyver]], and Creator/TedDanson, who received critical acclaim in ''Series/{{Fargo}}'' Season 2 and starred in ''Series/TheGoodPlace''. Of course, Danson is already known for his role in ''Series/{{Cheers}}''. |
| 182 | ** On the [[Series/CSIMiami Miami side]], only Adam Rodriguez who joined the main cast in ''Series/CriminalMinds'' and Khandi Alexander who received critical acclaim for her recurring role in ''Series/{{Scandal}}'' and ''Bessie'' were able to continue success after the show ended. |
| 183 | ** The [[Series/{{CSINY}} New York side]] seemed to fair better with Melina Kanakaredes, Hill Harper, Vanessa Ferlito and Creator/SelaWard striving toward continued success. Creator/GarySinise is already famous for his Oscar-nominated performance in ''Film/ForrestGump'' so he's still moving forward. |
| 184 | * Out of the four main protagonists of ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', Creator/ShannenDoherty doesn't have much luck after leaving the show due to her bad behavior on set. Creator/HollyMarieCombs has done better, starring in ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars''. Creator/AlyssaMilano and Creator/RoseMcGowan haven't done much in the world of acting since, but have found more success as political activists in the Trump era. After the Harvey Weinstein abuse scandal broke, [=McGowan=] was one of the first of his victims to come forward and was the most prominent of the bunch in the aftermath, while Milano wrote the tweet that got the [=#MeToo=] movement off the ground. On the supporting casts, Creator/KaleyCuoco is better known for her role as Penny in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' and Julian [=McMahon=] has ''Series/NipTuck'', ''Film/FantasticFour2005'', ''Series/Runaways2017'' where he played as the BigBad in the latter two and currently '''Series/FBIMostWanted''. The rest don't seem to get much work these days. |
| 185 | * The first season of ''Series/TheFactsOfLife'' had four girls in addition to Blair, Tootie, and Natalie. They were replaced by Creator/NancyMcKeon in season two. Three of the girls (Julie Anne Haddock, Julie Piekarski, and Janice Schachter) practically retired from acting after leaving the series, although they did return for a reunion episode in 1986. The fourth, Creator/MollyRingwald, was apparently too busy with her rather [[Film/SixteenCandles successful]] [[Film/TheBreakfastClub film]] [[Film/PrettyInPink career]] to attend. |
| 186 | * ''Series/TeenWolf'': Creator/DylanOBrien. While the rest of the cast have had steady work they've mainly been limited to smaller TV parts with Creator/TylerPosey voicing Tony Torretto in ''WesternAnimation/FastAndFuriousSpyRacers'' and Creator/TylerHoechlin playing Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}} in the Franchise/{{Arrowverse}} shows ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'' and ''Series/SupermanAndLois'', however O'Brien emerged as a rising star in film, headlining the ''Film/TheMazeRunnerSeries'' and ''Film/AmericanAssassin'', and landing roles in a range of high-profile projects including ''Film/DeepwaterHorizon'' and ''Film/TheInternship''. |
| 187 | * This trope, thy name is ''Series/MiamiVice'' and most notably regarding the two leads. Crockett's actor, Creator/DonJohnson, has had a wildly successful career in both movies and television, starring in roles such as ''Tin Cup'', ''Film/DjangoUnchained'', ''Series/NashBridges'' and ''Film/KnivesOut''. Tubbs' actor, Philip Michael Thomas, on the other hand, in best known for said role with his only other career footnotes are providing the voice for [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto Lance Vance]], coining the [="EGOT"=] phrase (despite never so much as being ''nominated'' for any of these awards) and endorsing a psychic hotline. |
| 188 | ** This even extends to [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the actors that were initially envisioned to portray Crockett and Tubbs]], Creator/GaryCole and Creator/JimmySmits. Both men made appearances on the show in a single episode and still have had much more lasting success in Hollywood in the years since over Thomas. |
| 189 | * ''Whitney'', a short-lived sitcom that was canned after two seasons, had its Breakup Breakout in Creator/RheaSeehorn, who landed a much-acclaimed but [[AwardSnub continuously-snubbed]] role in ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' playing fan-favorite character Kim Wexler. Whitney Cummings, while not exactly a household name, went on to have a moderately successful career doing stand-up, co-creating ''Series/TwoBrokeGirls'', writing the ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' revival, and starting a podcast. Chris d'Elia did stand-up comedy and had supporting roles in some popular television shows, though sexual harrassment allegations has put his career on ice. The rest of the cast has fallen into obscurity. |
| 190 | * ''Series/{{Bizaardvark}}'', was, for a long time, best known for being the show that brought rise to highly controversial Internet personality Creator/JakePaul (and, by extension, his equally controversial older brother [[Creator/LoganPaul Logan]]). However, this changed in 2021, thanks to the rapid rise of Music/OliviaRodrigo into one of the biggest music stars in the world (largely helped by the exposure she got from her next major role on ''Series/HighSchoolMusicalTheMusicalTheSeries''). |
| 191 | * After ''Series/TheLikelyLads'' ended (both times), James Bolam went on to appear in series including ''Series/OnlyWhenILaugh'', ''Series/NewTricks'', and ''Series/GrandpaInMyPocket'', while Rodney Bewes was restricted to minor roles and the stage. Due to the well-known HostilityOnTheSet between Bolam and Bewes, Bewes would claim multiple times that Bolam was blocking repeats of ''Likely Lads'' because he didn't need the extra royalties and Bewes did. (It wasn't true - both series were often repeated.) |
| 192 | * ''Series/ItsALiving''. At the time, Ann Jillian was viewed as the show's breakout star, and she eventually left the series, but her attempts to front a sitcom (''Jennifer Slept Here'', ''Ann Jillian'') were both flops, both canceled after 13 episodes, and her career faded after a while. Instead, the real breakout star of the show ended up being Creator/SherylLeeRalph, who was the original Deena Jones in the theatrical version of ''Theatre/{{Dreamgirls}}'', and since then, she has earned further acclaim from ''Series/{{Moesha}}'' and ''Series/AbbottElementary'', the latter which netted her an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy. Most of the show's other stars either became character actors or retired from the business altogether, but two others who managed to have some success outside the show were Creator/CrystalBernard (on ''Series/{{Wings}}'') and Creator/WendySchaal (who found her niche in voice acting, particularly on ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''). |
| 193 | [[/folder]] |
| 194 | |
| 195 | [[folder:Sports]] |
| 196 | * Inverted with Jose Canseco and Mark [=McGwire=], the Oakland A's "Bash Brothers". Canseco had a relatively decent career; [=McGwire=] broke the single-season home run record in 1998 that was held by Roger Maris. Nowadays, their impact on baseball can be measured for what they did after their playing days. Canseco's book ''Juiced'' opened the floodgates on steroid questions, which of course put [=McGwire=] in the crosshairs. As of 2016, the steroid issue has to date kept both men out of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Canseco dropped off the Hall ballot after his first appearance, and [=McGwire=] failed to gain anywhere close to the needed support in the maximum of 10 appearances). |
| 197 | * Played perfectly straight with twin brothers Jose and Ozzie Canseco. |
| 198 | * Played straight with Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla during their Pirates days. Bonds became the single-season and career home run record holder even under questionable circumstances; Bonilla went floundering around teams looking for work. However, Bonilla does have a World Series ring (with the 1997 Marlins), while Bonds does not. |
| 199 | * Speaking of the Marlins, Wayne Huizenga broke up nearly the entire 1997 World Series team. |
| 200 | * Played straight with Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. Favre (as expected) entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016. And the Packers have already won a Super Bowl with his replacement, Aaron Rodgers. |
| 201 | * The stars of the St. Louis Rams "Greatest Show On Turf": Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim and Ricky Proehl. Faulk, Warner, and Bruce are now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Torry Holt is a maybe. Proehl, although not as well-known as the other four, played in four Super Bowls and won two. Hakim did very little after leaving the Rams. |
| 202 | * When Joe Montana left the San Francisco 49ers for the Kansas City Chiefs, whether he or the 49ers became the breakup breakout could be viewed either way. On one hand, Montana's Chiefs beat the 49ers every time the two teams played. On the other hand, Montana never got the Chiefs all the way to the Super Bowl, and Young's 49ers won the Super Bowl in 1994. |
| 203 | * Inverted with the 1990s Chicago Bulls: UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan, Scottie Pippen and Creator/DennisRodman. Michael Jordan is Michael Jordan, of course. When Michael retired from the Bulls for the last time, Pippen jumped teams. Dennis Rodman joined them for the second half of the Bulls' title run, having already been on the Pistons championship teams. All three men got into the Hall of Fame regardless. |
| 204 | * Averted with Karl Malone and John Stockton: the Utah Jazz were relevant almost single-handedly because of them. |
| 205 | * Averted with Steve Young and Jerry Rice, although Rice had the longer career and played for three different teams. |
| 206 | * The city of Cleveland and its original football team, which moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens, with their two Super Bowl championships. Cleveland, meanwhile, only made the playoffs once in the first two decades of their new team's run (given under the...less than upright circumstances of the move), and only started to really come into their own in 2020, their 22nd season since the rebuild. Even worse...the last coach of the old Cleveland Browns? Some guy named Bill Belichick. Who had, for awhile, a pretty good assistant coach named Nick Saban. |
| 207 | * Four young women in UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts formed a stable of sorts called the Four Horsewomen, after the pro wrestling stable Wrestling/TheFourHorsemen. Of the four of them, Creator/RondaRousey nearly single-handedly mainstreamed women's MMA and built up an impressive streak of very fast wins. Wrestling/ShaynaBaszler is a very distant second - she's respected as an innovative submissionist, but never had a good enough standup to really succeed in MMA. Baszler has achieved success outside of MMA in UsefulNotes/{{catch as catch can}} circles that eventually translated into professional wrestling, becoming associated with Wrestling/RingOfHonor TagTeam Wrestling/{{reDRagon}}, a Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} [[PowerTrio Trio]], winning quite a few belts on the US independent circuit (PREMIER, AIW, [=QPro=]) and Australia (NHPW), as well as making enough splash in World Wonder Ring STARDOM to win Wrestling/{{D|ramaticDreamTeam}}DT's infamous Ironman Heavymetalweight belt. As for the other two, Jessamyn Duke was known for being pretty and turning out to have a glass jaw that stopped her career in her tracks, and Marina Shafir is known only for being the fourth woman in the Four Horsewomen. |
| 208 | ** Their professional wrestling careers followed a remarkably similar path. Baszler got an early start and built up a good reputation with hardcore fans before joining WWE and dominating the NXT Women's division. Then Rousey signed with WWE, skipped developmental and [[Wrestling/RondaRousey skyrocketed to superstardom]] (a nearly year-long reign as Women's Champion plus being in the first women's match to main event Wrestlemania), before burning out (when the fans started preferring Wrestling/BeckyLynch to her, she took it so personally she lost interest in wrestling). Meanwhile Duke and Shafir never got beyond WWE developmental, and while Duke seemed to have some potential it never really manifested, all the while Shafir was just kind of there. While they were both cut during the early 2021 COVID cuts, Shafir would eventually return to wrestling, joining [[Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling AEW]] in late 2021. Rousey would return to WWE in January 2022, and stuck around until retiring in October 2023... a retirement which lasted about two weeks, as she quickly showed up in the indies. |
| 209 | * The Oklahoma City Thunder featured three up-and-coming stars in Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden from 2009 to 2012, where they ended up making the NBA Finals and losing to the UsefulNotes/LeBronJames-led Miami Heat, upon which Harden was traded a few months later to the Houston Rockets. All three ended up winning an MVP (Durant in 2014, Westbrook in 2017 after Durant had left for the Golden State Warriors, and Harden in 2018) but Durant has had the most postseason success, winning two championships with the Warriors while Westbrook and Harden have yet to win a title. Even more intriguing, however is the fact that Harden ended up teaming up again with the other two on two separate occasions, with Westbrook joining him on the Houston Rockets for the 2019-20 season and Harden joining Durant on the Brooklyn Nets in 2021 before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers halfway through the next season. |
| 210 | [[/folder]] |
| 211 | |
| 212 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 213 | * In the ''Franchise/GIJoe'' toyline, the Cobra ninjas [[http://yojoe.com/action/92/slice.shtml Slice]] and [[http://yojoe.com/action/92/dice.shtml Dice]] were introduced in 1992 to offset Storm Shadow's HeelFaceTurn from the Cobras to the Joes. The Slice figure had six reissues since the original, while Dice has only had one. It helps that Slice actually resembles a ninja. Ironically, Dice's mold was used to make a different character named Red Ninja who, like Slash, had six reissues. |
| 214 | * ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' is fond of the CastHerd method of introducing new characters, which can result in this when one member of a particular team or subgroup has a writer taking a shine to them. |
| 215 | ** Swindle is far more famous than any other member of the Combaticons, being one of the few cases of a member of a combiner team who has been introduced as a solo operator in multiple continuities such as ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated Animated]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersEarthspark Earthspark]]''. His characterization as an arms dealer and black-market expert gives him a fairly sturdy niche. |
| 216 | ** Despite Scourge and Cyclonus being introduced as partners in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', Cyclonus has been far more prolific in most material, getting multiple new toys and a number of focus appearances, as well as being a major player in IDW's comics. This is due largely to his NobleDemon and NobleTopEnforcer traits being much more appealing to work with, while Scourge is just kind of a jerk. The fact that other iterations of Scourge frequently [[InNameOnly do not adhere]] to the original and are essentially the name being given to completely different characters as a means for Hasbro to maintain the trademark (his ''[[Anime/TransformersCybertron Cybertron]]'' incarnation was a ProudWarriorRaceGuy who turned into a three-headed dragon, while his ''[[Anime/TransformersRobotsInDisguise RID 2001]]'' and [[Film/TransformersRiseOfTheBeasts film]] incarnations turned into long-nosed trucks, the former being an EvilKnockoff to Optimus Prime) does not help his case. |
| 217 | ** While the Pretenders were not that popular among the original G1 cast, Bludgeon has continued to maintain quite the popularity among the fandom, in part because Creator/SimonFurman made him a prominent Decepticon in the later half of the Marvel comic and also due to his admittedly cool design (a robotic skeletal samurai). As such, he has made frequent appearances in different toylines, comics, and eventually an animated appearance in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersCyberverse''. Almost all of his toys since have skipped the inner robot and are based on his Pretender shell (albeit with his tank alt mode). To a lesser extent, the Japanese-only Autobot Pretender Metalhawk has held some semblance of popularity compared to his fellow Pretenders, in part because he was the [[DecoyProtagonist initial leader]] in [[Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce Masterforce]]. He has made several appearances in comics as well as a few toys in the ''[[WebAnimation/TransformersPrimeWarsTrilogy Prime Wars Trilogy]]''. |
| 218 | ** Speaking of Pretenders, Thunderwing was essentially the ArcVillain for a swathe of the later Marvel comics, has received multiple new toys, ended up instrumental to the plot of early IDW (being depicted as a world-wrecking monster), and ended up being the final boss of the ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' videogame. No other member of his subgroup, the Mega and Ultra Pretenders (Pretenders with transforming shells), has received anywhere near as much focus; the next most notable is probably Crossblades, who featured in a few bits of Collector's Club fiction and had a brief appearance in the Marvel comics where he died. |
| 219 | *** It seemingly transferred over to his retool Black Shadow, who has made far more appearances and even received a couple new toys, while his partner and fellow Crossformer Blue Bacchus hasn't gotten significant acknowledgement since ''Anime/TransformersVictory.'' This is mainly a result of him having been something of a MemeticBadass as a result of wonky translation in the early fandom. |
| 220 | ** While the Japanese-only G1 characters are usually not very well known among the fandom at large, [[Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce Overlord]], [[Anime/TransformersVictory Star Saber]], and [[Anime/BeastWarsII Lio Convoy]] are perhaps the most prominent of these characters among the fandom, the latter two being the first and second Japanese-only characters respectively to receive Masterpiece figures. Overlord is infamous for being a recurring HeroKiller KnightOfCerebus in IDW's first G1 continuity, especially as the BigBad of ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers Last Stand of the Wreckers]]''. Star Saber is popular for being a badass {{Super Robot|Genre}}, MasterSwordsman, and OneManArmy, to the point that his name was given to a recurring CoolSword in the franchise which is basically the Cybertronian Excalibur. He also became the first Japanese-only G1 character to receive a Masterpiece figure for the ''Thrilling 30'' line and the second Transformers project on Has[=Lab=] (the first project being for the GreaterScopeVillain Unicron) for the ''Legacy'' line. Lastly, Lio Convoy has played a prominent role in many later ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' fiction such as IDW's comics and ''ComicBook/BeastWarsUprising'' and would receive multiple figures in both Japanese and American toylines. Like the aforementioned Star Saber would become the second Japanese-only G1 character to receive a Masterpiece figure. |
| 221 | ** ''Generation 2'' is usually viewed as an AudienceAlienatingEra among the fandom, but Dreadwing and Ironfist/[[WritingAroundTrademarks Fisitron]] (both of whom technically debuted in G1 depending on one's interpretation), have become EnsembleDarkhorse[=s=]. The former is infamous for his SoBadItsGood rap theme and his NobleDemon portrayal on ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime Prime]]'', while the latter entered the limelight through his portrayal in ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers Last Stand of the Wreckers]]'' and would make the jump to both the ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated Animated]]'' and Aligned continuities. |
| 222 | ** Out of all the characters [[CanonForeigner who debuted]] in IDW's [[ComicBook/HasbroComicUniverse G1 continuity]], Drift and Tarn are perhaps the most well remembered. The former has made the jump to multiple continuities, such as the live action films, ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise2015 RID 2015]]'', and ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersCyberverse Cyberverse]]'' with all the merchandise that entails. Meanwhile, the latter is popular for similar reasons to the aforementioned Overlord, and not only has received more merchandise than most comic-only characters barring Drift, but also made the jump to ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersCyberverse Cyberverse]]'' as the BigBad of its FinaleMovie. |
| 223 | ** While ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' is one of the most contested entries in the franchise due to its controversial storyline and redesigns, the hulking female Vehicon/Decepticon commander Strika has proven popular enough to show up in several other continuities, such as ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated Animated]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersCyberverse Cyberverse]]''. Oddly enough, she has not gotten any major toys for general retail since, but her fellow Vehicon Tankor did get a toy in the ''Thrilling 30'' line. |
| 224 | ** Nearly every character from ''Anime/TransformersRobotsInDisguise'' is forgotten except Sky-Byte, the show's main GoldfishPoopGang character--he's gotten multiple new incarnations in multiple media, and far more toys than he ever had from the show itself. To a much lesser extent, its aforementioned iteration of Scourge is the only [[EvilCounterpart "evil Optimus Prime"]] character to have gotten new toys of his own. |
| 225 | ** The ''[[Anime/TransformersArmada Armada]]'' iteration of Starscream is usually viewed as the standout character of the show due to his tragic character arc as a NobleDemon which many have compared to [[WesternAnimation/BeastWars Dinobot's]], to the point that he received new figure in the MilestoneCelebration ''Thrilling 30'' and ''Legacy'' lines. The only other ''Armada'' characters to make that jump since the line's conclusion are Hot Shot (the line's substitute for Bumblebee), Tidal Wave, and its iterations of Optimus and Megatron. |
| 226 | ** Bulkhead and Lockdown from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' are perhaps the most popular characters to come out of that show, having made the jump to multiple continuities since. Lockdown showed up in ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersCyberverse Cyberverse]]'', Bulkhead showed up in the Aligned continuity, and both showed up in the live action films (though Bulkhead became a CompositeCharacter with Hound, which received a roundabout homage in the 2022 ''Legacy'' line with ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime Prime]]'' Bulkhead turning into a truck similar to ''[[Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction AOE]]'' Hound's alt mode) and became CanonImmigrant[=s=] to G1 via the IDW comics. To a lesser extent, [[DumbMuscle Lugnut]] and [[TheSmurfettePrinciple Slipstream]] have also made recurring appearances in other continuities, with Slipstream in particular becoming the go-to female Seeker. |
| 227 | [[/folder]] |
| 228 | |
| 229 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 230 | * Even though twin brothers Yun and Yang debuted together in ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterIII Street Fighter III: New Generation]]'', Yun had more appearances as a player character thanks to his inclusion in ''[[VideoGame/CapcomVsSNK2MarkOfTheMillennium Capcom vs. SNK 2]]'', the portable ports of ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Street Fighter Alpha 3]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/CapcomFightingEvolution Capcom Fighting Jam]]'', with Yang being reduced to an [[DemotedToExtra assist character]]. Yang would make a proper return as a player character in ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterIV Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition]]''. |
| 231 | * Founding members of id Software, Creator/JohnRomero and Creator/JohnCarmack, are an interesting case after they split up. While Romero is more infamous, Carmack earned respect in the industry for his pioneering work on game engines, [[VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena of which several games]] were made using his work as a base. The general gaming public may not know much about Carmack, but in the end he was the more successful, if humbly so, of the two. |
| 232 | * ''VideoGame/TheIdolmasterDearlyStars'' starred a trio of idols starting up work at 876 Productions. They formally became their own unit (also titled "Dearly Stars") in ''ONE FOR ALL''. When Ryo Akizuki left the group for 315 Productions in ''VideoGame/TheIdolmasterSideM'', his influence magnified: He's the reason [[WholesomeCrossdresser Saki Mizushima]] decided to perform as a crossdressing idol, and his unit-mates in F-LAGS were inspired to get into the business through his actions. As a solo idol and a member of F-LAGS, he's become widely successful. His old groupmates Ai Hidaka and Eri Mizutani, on the other hand, haven't gotten much work other than a crossover event with ''VideoGame/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls'' and the occasional cameo in Ryo's cards. This might even be an exaggerated version of the trope, studio-wise; after Ryo left, 876 Productions and the talent under it has largely been ignored. |
| 233 | [[/folder]] |
| 234 | |
| 235 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 236 | * ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'' started out as a collaboration between Fred Gallagher and Rodney Caston for the first two volumes. Rodney Caston left before the most successful years of the comic (though there is some controversy as to how amicable the split ended up being). As with Carmack/Romero situation, it can also be considered a subversion - Fred Gallagher's take on ''[=MegaTokyo=]'' eventually became highly infamous in the medium, while Rodney Caston found a modest-yet-respected position in video game development, getting to work on ''VideoGame/SecondLife'' and ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends''. |
| 237 | [[/folder]] |
| 238 | |
| 239 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 240 | * As chronicled in ''Literature/TheAccidentalBillionaires'' and ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss approached Mark Zuckerberg to help them create a new social network called [=ConnectU=]. Their partnership lasted for three months, and ended acrimoniously when Zuckerberg went behind their backs and started his own social network. That network, Facebook, is the largest social website in the world, while [=ConnectU=] maintained a comparatively-miniscule user base before going inactive. |
| 241 | * Website/{{Wikipedia}} was started to incubate content for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nupedia Nupedia]], which Wales and Sanger ''et al'' considered their real project. Within months there were 600+ Wikipedia articles, whereas almost a year after the more formal Nupedia was started only two articles had been accepted as final. Wikipedia is currently among the ten most visited sites on the entire Internet; Nupedia was shut down in 2003. |
| 242 | * When the LetsPlay group ''WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay'' broke up in 2018 and Matt, Pat, Woolie, and Liam all went their separate ways, Matt would ultimately find the most success of the four, with his "[[https://www.youtube.com/@MattMcMuscles/videos What Happened?]]" video series routinely getting hundreds of thousands of views per video and him having the most subscribers of the four's [=YouTube=] channels. While Pat, Woolie, and Liam have attained some success on their own, none of them have reached the same level of views or subscribers as Matt. |
| 243 | [[/folder]] |
| 244 | |
| 245 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 246 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' has something like this in-universe, as the other members of the original Team Venture never achieved the same level of success as Jonas Venture and have mostly fallen on hard times. |
| 247 | * The musical incidents of this are parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS11E13GuitarQueerO Guitar Queer-O]]", in which Stan and Kyle are a ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' duo that break up when Stan gets a sponsor, leaving Kyle playing in bowling alleys. |
| 248 | [[/folder]] |
| 249 | |
| 250 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 251 | * Averted with UsefulNotes/SteveJobs and Apple. Jobs left Apple in '85 after a power struggle, bought Pixar, and founded his own computer company. Apple, on the other hand, went on to have success with the [[Platform/AppleMacintosh Macintosh]], but started floundering. But just as it was about to slip into this trope, Apple bought Steve Jobs' computer company. Jobs was then reinstated as CEO, and Apple made its comeback. Played straight, however, between Steve Jobs and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Wozniak has his reputation as a jovial geek icon and oodles of Apple stock to fall back on, but he had nothing to do with the company's late '90s resurgence. |
| 252 | [[/folder]] |
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