Line #24 Main/CharacterMagneticTeam


1	Some groups or teams [[JustForFun/HowToGatherCharacters act as a character magnet.]] The group keeps on attracting new members and/or close allies. In {{shonen}} anime, especially, [[HeelFaceTurn a former villain]] of the WorthyOpponent class tends to become [[DefeatMeansFriendship a new teammate]].
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3	This is often used near the beginning of a series to build the cast. When done well, this makes a character's entrance more interesting. When done poorly, it is an {{anvilicious}} way of adding a new character. If it's done often, it will ensure that your series will have a large cast.
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5	Sometimes, this happens to replace other characters in series with high turnover. Usually there's a MagneticHero at the center of the team, though other characters around him will also exert "pull" to attract newcomers.
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7	This is the logical extension of the DebutQueue. Compare HitchhikerHeroes, where the ''team'' is attracted to the new members. See also YouALLShareMyStory for a similar phenomenon.
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9	----
10	!!Examples
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12	[[foldercontrol]]
13
14	[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
15	* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' is perhaps the crowned king of this trope.
16	** At the beginning of the story, it's only Negi. Asuna and Konoka are added to his group fairly quickly. The Kyoto arc adds Setsuna, Nodoka, and Asakura to the main group, while also introducing Yue, Paru, Ku Fei and Kaede. In the festival arc, Yue, Paru, Ku Fei and Kaede, along with Chisame and Kotaro. The Magic World arc adds Chachamaru as well as five ostensibly "normal" girls - Natsumi, Akira, Ako, Makie, and Yuuna.
17	** It also seems his father's group the Ala Rubra was something of this: Rakan ended up joining [[DefeatMeansFriendship after being defeated by Nagi]].
18	* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' used the first arc of its plot solely to do this.
19	** Even after that, quite a few of the foes Yusuke and co. came across would end up joining the group as allies (if not full-time Supporting players). Notably, 6 characters that Team Urameshi beat in the Dark Tournament Saga ended up making return appearances in the final saga to receive training from Genkai. The Chapter Black Saga also had Genkai train 3 people just to test Yusuke's group, and they would all end up helping the heroes for the rest of the arc's run. Then there's also Seaman, who joins them after Kuwabara convinces him to perform a HeelFaceTurn.
20	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Ichigo's group acts as this right the way through the manga. If characters aren't drawn fully into the group, they at least become recurring friends and allies of the group.
21	** Taken further after the Soul Society arc, following which Ichigo's group is unofficially allied with the ''entire'' [[BadassArmy Gotei 13]], many of whom become recurring characters.
22	* ''Franchise/{{Dragonball}}'' is a frequent flyer of this trope, bringing in characters in this manner all throughout the [[Manga/DragonBall first series]] and through ''Anime/DragonballZ''.
23	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', by its nature, is supposed to attract more and more "characters" over time. They do, however, get PutOnABus or eliminated some way more frequently than not. This due to only six being allowed on a trainer's team at any one time. Additionally, [[ResetButton everyone except Pikachu gets sent back to Professor Oak at the end of each series as the franchise makes way for the newest generation's Pokemon by putting the previous generation's on a bus]].
24	* In ''Manga/GetBackers'', the protagonists' villains also often return as allies. As a result, the one arc to feature a large cast is an almost all-villain team.
25	** In a tolerable way, as most of the "villains" are jobbers trying to get paid, just like the heroes. In that environment, the guy you were fighting last week might be a coworker this week.
26	* This occurs gradually over the course of the first half of ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', much to the main character's chagrin.
27	* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' does this profusely (even if the characters aren't immediately allies afterwards).
28	* This happens in ''Literature/MariaWatchesOverUs'', although it's not as bad as it could have been, since the basic team is rather picky about the persons they associate with.
29	* Half of the plot of ''Manga/OnePiece'' is Luffy's search for crew members for his ship.
30	* The majority of the cast of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf '' came on like this. Especially the shonen trope of being enemies first.
31	** Although most of them were also enemies after, at least to someone. Mostly Ranma's and Akane's suitors are allies to their respective loves, and bitter enemies to any of their rivals.
32	* Ditto for ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''. This was more or less the ''only'' way they added cast members up until ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers StrikerS]]'', and they were still doing it then, also. They don't call it "[[DefeatMeansFriendship befriending]]" for nothing.
33	* ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'' is inexplicably able to call upon [[DefeatMeansFriendship former foes]] (the crazier ones, at least) to aid him in battle, or at least act as cannon fodder.
34	* ''Manga/RaveMaster'' starts adding new members in the second volume, and finishes up it accumilation of team mates in volume 28. Characters range anywhere from having been met on the street to being parts of a QuirkyMinibossSquad.
35	* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
36	** Touma and Index. Justified in that the former has an unusual power, and the latter is sought after for her information (and thus protected) by a large part of the world. It eventually reaches the point of being recognized in-universe as the so-called "Kamijou Faction". However, it's far from unified - most members aren't aware that the rest exist (in fact, Touma himself doesn't remember some of them).
37	** Later on, the Kamisato Faction is introduced, centered around Kakeru Kamisato. It consists of him and over one hundred girls who fell in love with him after he helped them.
38	* ''Manga/CodeBreaker'': Similar to the [[Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex To Aru]] example, Sakura and Ogami are unique, as one is a "Rare-Kind", while the other has the most powerful Code ability.
39	* ''Anime/YuGiOh'' has this constantly due to ThePowerOfFriendship and DefeatMeansFriendship being prominent in the series. Most of the magnetized heroes tend to go their own way after each arc, keeping the team from getting overwhelmed, although they often pop up again.
40	-->Duelist Kingdom: [[DefrostingIceQueen Mai]], [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Bakura]], [[TheLoad Mokuba]], and in some ways [[TheRival Kaiba]]
41	-->Virtual Arc (Simlow): Mai, Mokuba, and Kaiba
42	-->Battle City/Battle City Finals: [[DefeatMeansFriendship Duke]], [[TheIngenue Serenity]], and [[MysteriousWaif Ishizu]], along with Mai, Mokuba, and Kaiba again
43	-->Waking the Dragons: [[BrattyHalfPint Rebecca]], [[MentorArchetype Professor Hawkins]], along with Duke, Mokuba, and Kaiba
44	--> KC Grand Championship: Rebecca, [[CoolOldGuy Solomon Muto]], Professor Hawkins, and Duke
45	--> Memory World: [[BlackMagicianGirl Mana]], [[BlackMage Mahad]], and the rest of the Pharaoh's court.
46	** ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'' continues this, with Yuma starting out with only two friends and ending up with 9-12 friends, depending on how you count.
47	* The Morioh gang in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable''. They're the switcharoo type. The same two or three characters are usually always involved, but they're helped each time by different companions.
48	* In ''Anime/{{Endride}}'', the RebelLeader Demetrio has a gift for attracting characters to his cause. When faced with a SadisticChoice between his life in exchange for a major ally for the cause and the freedom of his TrueCompanions, or his freedom but their deaths, the other [[LaResistance Ignauts]] argue that although they've banded together for a greater purpose, without him they have no hope of ever achieving it.
49	[[/folder]]
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51	[[folder:Comic Books]]
52	* The ComicBook/XMen and their affiliates. The sole criteria for being affiliated with the team is that you have to either be a {{Mutant}}, or involved in mutant politics in some way or other (a sympathetic human, an [[DePower ex-mutant]], a genetic experiment from another dimension who happened to get saved by mutants, etc). Since about 10% of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse's population used to be mutants at one point, this meant a great deal of snowballing, and even after the ''[[ComicBook/HouseOfM Decimation]]'' event had over 90% of ''that'' population BroughtDownToNormal, the X-Books' cast is still larger than almost all of Marvel's other properties, ''put together.''
53	* The band of survivors in ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'' runs into new people regularly, most of whom end up sticking around. This is necessary, of course, because established characters die horribly at about the same rate as new ones join.
54	* One of the common criticisms of Creator/BrianMichaelBendis's ''[[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]]'' run is the frequency with which characters join the team only to proceed to stand around in the background with nothing to do except interject an occasional one-liner or get punched in one panel of a team fight while the lead characters do all the heavy lifting - if they even appear in the book at all (Daredevil at one point joined the team then didn't appear again for several issues).
55	** Even before Bendis's run on Avengers, they had one of the largest lineups in Marvel. At one point, before the X-Men decided that ALL good guy mutants were X-Men, the Avengers' roster was larger than nearly all other Marvel hero teams, combined.
56	[[/folder]]
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58	[[folder:Film]]
59	* ''Film/StarWarsEpisodeIThePhantomMenace'' starts with just the two Jedi. While they join Queen Amidala's team by design, they also accidentally acquire first Jar Jar and later Anakin along their journey. While [[MagneticHero Qui-Gon]] is happy to accept everyone, [[OnlySaneMan Obi-Wan]] is more reluctant.
60	--> '''Obi-Wan''': Why do I sense we've picked up ''another'' pathetic lifeform?
61	* In ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', Robin finds Achoo, then Blinkin, then adds Little John, Will, and the rest of the Merry Men (and Marian, Broomhilde, and Rabbi Tuckman) as he goes along.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Literature]]
65	* The rabbits in Richard Adams' ''Literature/WatershipDown'' start out as a small group and add several other characters to their number over the course of the book.
66	* In Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' Frodo and Sam set out from the Shire alone, but collect Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Gandalf, Gimli, Boromir and Legolas in the formation of the titular fellowship before they part ways at the end of the book. And then, when they are split up, accrue everything from a TokenEvilTeammate to walking trees to the AffirmativeActionGirl.
67	* Creator/RobertAsprin's ''Literature/MythAdventures'' series frequently features a villain from the preceding book as an ally, resulting in the cast growing in almost all of its earlier books. Most of Skeeve's allies have wanted him dead at some point...
68	** Which is subverted in ''[[spoiler:Little Myth Marker]]'', when Skeeve refuses to let the BigBad of the book join the group because [[spoiler: he won't associate with someone who thinks being TheMole for hire is an acceptable way to make a living]].
69	* The Tanith First-And-Only Regiment of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: Literature/GauntsGhosts'' not only has twice taken on a great deal of new blood to replace losses they've suffered, but Gaunt himself also tends to attract any individuals he encounters to join up: be it a grouchy priest, an albino doctor, a savage tribal, or great many fellow commissars, if a character helps him out in a book in any significant way, they'll assuredly have joined the Regiment in full by the next book.
70	* Rogue and Wraith squadrons in the ''Franchise/StarWars: [[Literature/XWingSeries X-Wing]]'' novels both function this way, with pilots from lesser squadrons jockeying for positions in the group. Rogue is officially the "top gun" fighter squadron of the entire New Republic fleet, so this makes plenty of sense. Wraith... [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Not so much]], but they do at least have a famous commander and a rep for getting stuff done (and [[StuffBlowingUp blowing stuff up]]). [[AnyoneCanDie Plenty of turnover]] in both groups, too.
71	* In ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', this happens twice. The first time, it was done intentionally by Belgarath to "fulfill the prophecy". In The Mallorean the trope is followed correctly, even if [[DeadpanSnarker Prophecy]] itself [[YouCantFightFate has to intervene]] at times.
72	* The Ankh-Morpork City Watch in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels. Initially it comprises four members: Vimes, Nobby, Colon and Carrot. In their second appearance they add Angua and Detritus. From then on new members are mentioned every book, until the Watch had expanded to the point where Sir Terry didn't need to say "X was a new recruit"; it was acceptable there were watchmen who we simply hadn't met before because of the size of the organisation.
73	[[/folder]]
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75	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
76	* Every single series of ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' has the FiveManBand joined by at least one SixthRanger. Some recent series start with only a PowerTrio, and occasionally don't stop at six, allowing two to sometimes four Sixth Rangers. Of course, the whole reason to do this is [[MerchandiseDriven to have more people to make action figures of.]]
77	** ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'' began looking like it would be a particularly bad example, as the toy line added three Rangers (based on secondary mecha from ''Gekiranger'') to the existing five, and it was confirmed they'd appear on the show. It ultimately turned out that these three ''weren't'' new characters, but rather spiritual manifestations that the PowerTrio or their respective mentors could summon into battle.
78	** ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' narrowly avoided being an even worse example; the original ''Go-Onger'' expanded from three to five to ''seven'' Rangers, and the toy line added three more on top of that for a total of ten. Thankfully, these three stayed as toys and never appeared on the show.
79	* ''Series/DoctorWho'' gains new companions and loses old ones constantly, more so in the original series than the new one.
80	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Most notably happens in season seven, where new potential slayers are collected every episode, along with characters like Andrew and Wood, and old recurring characters like Faith coming back.
81	** ''Series/{{Angel}}'' does that, too, to a smaller extent. At the beginning of the first season, there were three main characters with no real minor or reoccurring characters yet. By the end of the fifth, there were eight (if you count Fred and Illyria separately), as well as two dead main characters, two or three non-main characters working with the team (depending on when you count it), Conner, and more minor reoccurring characters like Knox, Nina, Anne, Conner's "parents", and a few other random Wolfram and Hart employees. The cast never got as big as Buffy's, though.
82	** Both shows are notable in that they need to keep picking up new team members because old ones have a nasty habit of [[KilledOffForReal dying]], [[PutOnABus being put out of commission]] or running away to the spinoff.
83	* ''Series/{{ER}}'' it is always gaining new members, if only to replace old ones. It had 100% turnover over 10 seasons--done gradually.
84	** And if you've worked in a hospital, you know that's TruthInTelevision.
85	* ''Series/TheOC'' has this thing going on where nearly every new character, even when they start out as antagonists, gets assimilated into the Cohen clan sooner or later.
86	* The duo of Merlin and Arthur from ''Series/{{Merlin\|2008}}'' have steadily accumulated a team of knights, most of which turn up in the [[BackForTheFinale two-part finale]] of the third season to help Arthur win back Camelot.
87	* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis''- Sibuna seems to grow larger each season, either by gaining new allies or actual members. What started out as a PowerTrio became a FiveManBand, and by ''[[TheMovie The Touchstone of Ra]]'', everyone in the house had been involved at some point in Sibuna. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Except Mick.]]
88	* Despite the astronomically high death rate of their allies, Sam and Dean of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' can usually convince anybody who actually knows about the supernatural to work with them, sometimes including the "bad guys."
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Podcasts]]
92	* At the beginning of the first season of ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives'', the main team consists of [[TheLeader Jon]], [[BumblingSidekick Martin]], [[DeadpanSnarker Tim]], and [[TheReliableOne Sasha]]. Over the course of the next two seasons, [[spoiler:Tim and Sasha are killed off and [[FriendOnTheForce Basira]], [[HunterOfMonsters Daisy]], and [[ParanormalInvestigation Melanie]] join the team in their stead]].
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95	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
96	* Common in TabletopGames. When a player's character dies but he/she does not wish to leave the game, the group will traditionally encounter another adventurously-minded type in short order by complete coincidence.
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99	[[folder:Video Games]]
100	* A common feature in {{RPG}}s, where the player starts out in control of one character but has a veritable army by the time they face the BigBad.
101	** Probably two of the most striking examples of this in {{RPG}}s are ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'', which has 45 characters total, and the ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series, which has 108 (although, to be fair, the vast majority of the 108 are minor characters). Also notable are the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series, while having a reasonably small amount of characters, have hundreds upon hundreds of {{Mons}} that may be convinced to ally with the player.
102	** Heroes in ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'' can just about always run into somebody willing to join them for little reason than their own boredom. But really, being that the multiverse has a population of about 100, it's a nice thought that an actual statistically significant number of people are willing to get off their duffs and help save the world. Not quite the usual "5 plucky youths vs. the world while everyone else is busy dying in droves".
103	** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'', if there's a named character on the field, good odds point to that character either joining you or being the boss of the level. In ''Path of Radiance'', many characters decide to join your army for the flimsiest of reasons regardless of any protestations from your characters.
104	*** {{Lampshaded}} in ''Radiant Dawn'' when [[spoiler: Oliver, a villain from ''Path of Radiance'' appears again as a boss, joins when he sees a beautiful heron in your party.]] If you initiate a talk between him and Ike, Ike will ask him to please rejoin the enemy.
105	*** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Sacred Stones]]'' features two paths, during which you recruit every possible character, despite said paths taking place simultaneously on opposite sides of the continent, with the path you don't choose having a HandWave explantion as having had a small escort, which you never see when the paths intersect later, leaving you to presume they all died.
106	* The player character in ''Franchise/MassEffect'' could be considered an almost literal interpretation of this trope, seeing as, in the space between [[spoiler: Shepard's death]] and subsequent return, the group you had collected in your first adventure are scattered to the four winds, [[MagneticHero no longer held together by their magnet.]]
107	** When Shepard asks Joker about the old crew, [[WeWereYourTeam he tells him/her just as much.]]
108	** The sequel pretty much plays it straight. Two of the characters join without hesitation once cleared of other duties, and everyone else from shady figures to wanted fugitives that actively despise the organisation you're working for and still sign up with no hesitation.
109	* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' has both the titular mode, which will constantly attract new migrants as it grows, and the Adventure mode, where you can recruit more members in any town to replace those that fell to giant spiders.
110	** And trolls. And troglodytes.
111	* Deconstructed in both ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' and ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords''. The respective PlayerCharacter's magnetism is revealed to not be just an [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality Acceptable Break from Reality]], but an actual ability to influence others to join them. In ''The Sith Lords'', it's a one-of-a-kind Force power that the protagonist uses unconsciously. In ''Planescape'', [[spoiler:the Mark of Torment tattooed on the Nameless One's left shoulder is a magical rune that draws tormented individuals to him. That's how he always manages to assemble a group of companions for his journeys-- if you have a DarkAndTroubledPast, you'll feel ''compelled'' to help him, even if it leads to your death]].
112	* Ramza's party from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' is a straight example. At the end of the game you can have a whole squad of recruited allies.
113	[[/folder]]
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115	[[folder:Webcomics]]
116	* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' sorta does this, as the strip started with just two characters but has added dozens to the main cast as time went on. However, since characters [[PutOnABus tend to leave]] just as often as they come in, the cast size at any one time is usually no more than six people.
117	* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', periodically adds supporting characters to the list of close allies of one or more members of the main eight characters either by doing so soon after they debut or by fleshing out former minor characters.
118	* ''Webcomic/BattleKreaturez'': The Wyldcard team starts out with just four members in the early chapters, but three more are added over time.
119	* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' has a large cast, and it seems like a majority of them join Bam's team at some point, and usually stay allies afterwards.
120	[[/folder]]
121
122	[[folder:Web Original]]
123	* Team Kimba is still doing this in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''. First it was Chaka, Fey, Tennyo, Generator and Shroud, Phase, and Lancer. Then they pulled in Carmilla, then Bladedancer. Then Carmilla and Bladedancer pulled in more, to the point that both have been split off with their own teams. Now there's Vamp and the Crimson Comet.
124	* ''Podcast/FalloutIsDragons'' has the Dragon Mawlers Incorperated, much to the frustration of the game master.
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:Western Animation]]
128	* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTeamAvatar Team Avatar]] has Aang, Katara, and Sokka first season. By the end of the series they have acquired Toph, [[spoiler: Zuko]], Suki, and several other characters they had previously encountered.
129	** The sequel series, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', is even more extreme, with the starting four of [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraNewTeamAvatar New Team Avatar]] (Korra, Asami, Mako and Bolin) expanding to include Tenzin, all three of his kids and both of his siblings, Varrick, Jhu Li, Toph, Lin, and Opal Beifong, and the airbender Kai.
130	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / CharacterMagneticTeam