| 1 | %% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1346693059094052900 |
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| 3 | %% |
| 4 | Sometimes, either to promote a product and generate interest in it, or maybe to maintain interest in it, or maybe just for the hell of it, a company will hold a contest in which the winner will get to make a brief appearance in a future work by that company. Sometimes this contest takes the form of a charity auction. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | The contest winner's cameo could turn out to be anything from a simple appearance in the background, to playing a role in an important scene in the story. Or, depending on the tone, [[DeathByCameo to be horribly killed]]. Sometimes the winners' scenes will be cut or the project itself canceled. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | In some cases, appearing in the work is the result of a Kickstarter reward; people who donate to the product's development can win the right to appear in it. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Compare OfficialFanSubmittedContent and MakeAWishContribution. Also compare {{Tuckerization}}, where characters are based on real people who haven't won anything. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ---- |
| 13 | !!Examples: |
| 14 | |
| 15 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 16 | |
| 17 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 18 | * Creator/FUNimation ran a contest in 2003 promising the winner a bit voice role in their English dub of ''Anime/DragonBallGT''. It's unknown who the winner of said contest was or who they voiced. |
| 19 | ** Similarly, Creator/FourKidsEntertainment ran a contest on [=4KidsTV=] promising the winner a voice role in one of their shows. It's unknown who the winner was, who they voiced, or what show they were cast in. |
| 20 | ** Also Creator/SentaiFilmworks ran a contest at a convention promising two winners cameo voice roles in ''Anime/{{Parasyte}}'', though unlike most of these examples, the winners at least had to record an audition in person. |
| 21 | * Okayado has asked fans of ''Manga/MonsterMusume'' to submit self-portraits along with what type of {{monster girl}}s they'd like to be paired up with. This is the source of all the minor human characters that have been popping up in the manga, especially during the Hot Springs arc. |
| 22 | * ''VideoGame/PriPara'': |
| 23 | ** The Prism Idol Trainees in the fourth ending theme were chosen via the Dream Girls Audition. They also played roles in the anime. |
| 24 | ** There was also a contest to design a dress that would appear in an episode of ''Idol Time [=PriPara=]'' in which three winners would be chosen and shown along with the players' characters on TV. The coords they designed would also appear in the final update of the game. |
| 25 | ** The runway sequence at the end of each movie was also comprised of people's characters who won a lottery to have their characters shown in the movie. The most notable example of this was when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg7mRPEvtzQ a famous Western [=PriPara=] blogger]] was shown in the credits to ''Kirarin Star Live''. |
| 26 | * Makoto Hanamatsuura, who appears in a bonus chapter of the ''Manga/SailorMoon'' manga, was a real person who won a 2 million yen bid at a charity auction benefiting the victims of the Kobe Earthquake in 1995. No word on whether he was happy with his "Tubby Mask" scene. |
| 27 | * There was a contest during the Party! season of the ''Manga/ShugoChara'' anime where the winner would become the new Dia in the Shugochara Egg! idol unit. The winner was a girl named Nanami Tanabe. |
| 28 | * ''Manga/TokyoGhoul :Re'' held a promotional event called the [[HunterOfMonsters Ghoul Investigator]] Recruitment Campaign, allowing fans to submit a fake employment application. The 20 winners chosen have a character based on them appear during the ''Auction Arc''. Unfortunately for said characters, they're the members of a RedShirtArmy and a bonus page each chapter tracks their often-brutal deaths. |
| 29 | * While it wasn't a contest per se, a live event open for female fans only was held shortly before the second season of ''Manga/YuruYuri'', during which the crowd's cheers was recorded specifically to be used for an all-female in-universe crowd in the last episode. |
| 30 | * Some children's shows with a DancingTheme as the ending song, like the ''VideoGame/PrettySeries'' and ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'', will have dance contests where people can submit themselves dancing to the song for a chance to be shown on TV and win prizes. |
| 31 | * A variation--Gunpla contest winners have shown up in ''Anime/GundamBuildFighters'' and its subsequent spinoffs, usually as cameos in action scenes. The actual designers are never mentioned or shown in the shows, but their custom mobile suits get to be immortalized in fiction. |
| 32 | * Many of the bit roles in ''Anime/YuGiOhTheDarkSideOfDimensions'' were dubbed by the winners of a ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' contest held at the card game's World Championship events in Orlando and Minneapolis as well as at New York Comic Con. |
| 33 | [[/folder]] |
| 34 | |
| 35 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 36 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': An issue of ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1963'' from the 1970s featured a one-panel cameo of Stan Lee and two contest winners talking about how great Spider-Man is. |
| 37 | * There are occasional charity auctions at UK comic conventions to get characters or Mega-City One Blocks in ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' named after you. |
| 38 | * Kind of in ''ComicBook/KickAss'', but going a bit beyond it: Dave Lizewski, winner of a charity auction and contest to name the main character, named him after ''himself.'' Which is rather fortunate because he could have named the character anything from [[Film/KungPowEnterTheFist Betty]] to Captain Ass if he wanted to. |
| 39 | * In the ''ComicBook/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' comic "Masks," charity auction winner Pete Hottelet (covertly renamed Commander [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Telettoh Telettoh]]) appears, real-world glasses and all. |
| 40 | * Erik Larsen's comic ''ComicBook/TheSavageDragon'' featured a contest where the winner would appear in a future issue of the comic. The winner (James Quentin Manning, if you must know) had a two-panel appearance, the second of which composed of his feet as Dragon knocked him the fuck out. To be fair, the contest announcement was bluntly honest about this, to the point of showing the two panels pre-storyboarded. |
| 41 | ** James wasn't really a fan of the comic, he just entered because ''his'' friend had entered. |
| 42 | * One ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons'' Halloween comic had one of these. She spent her single panel of screentime [[ItMakesSenseInContext running from a crazed Homer driving a clown car named]] [[Film/{{Christine}} Krustine]] and thinking about how she regretted entering the contest in the first place. |
| 43 | * ''Topolino'', the main Italian Disney comic magazine, did it at least twice: |
| 44 | ** Lady Claire, a one-shot character from ''ComicBook/WizardsOfMickey'', was designed after a contest winner. |
| 45 | ** They held a contest for WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck's 80th birthday where readers could send their one-page comics featuring Donald in a bad situation they actually found in their life. The winner appeared in a comic panel where she and Donald exchange greetings. |
| 46 | * ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvelTeamUp'' once had a contest winner [[NoFourthWall brag about getting a cameo]]... and then get [[StrippedToTheBone instantly fried down to a skeleton]] by a Skrull DeathRay in the very next panel. |
| 47 | * ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'' once has a contest, and the winner did not only get a mere cameo, but was the (misguided) villain of Vampirella #112. (Directly after that issue, Warren folded. Probably coincidence.) |
| 48 | [[/folder]] |
| 49 | |
| 50 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 51 | * Readers of ''Fanfic/SkyholdAcademyYearbook'' were invited at one point to leave comments with names they wanted to use, either their own names or those they had created. These were incorporated into a later installment; participating readers were added to the cast of the series as returning graduates of the eponymous school who attend a reunion. |
| 52 | * The authors of ''Fanfic/TimeFixersNicktoonsOfTheFuture'' had a contest and the winner would have their [=OC=] make a cameo. The winner's [=OC=] appeared in the episode "Turnageddon" and had a few lines where he conversed with Tommy. |
| 53 | [[/folder]] |
| 54 | |
| 55 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 56 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie2TheSecondPart'', the credits feature several photos of builders and their models, which were part of a contest to get featured in the credits. |
| 57 | * In a case that's more than a cameo, the Brazilian and French dubs of ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea'' had protagonist Melody voiced by a girl who won a TV contest. |
| 58 | * In the scene in ''WesternAnimation/OverTheHedge'' where RJ and Verne are chased by Nugent the dog through various lawns, there is a man barbecuing who says "Huh?", and a man in a lawn chair who pushes a female companion out of the way with a cry of "Look out!". Both of these men were played by contestants on ''Series/TheApprentice'', and these small cameos were the result of winning a reward challenge. |
| 59 | * For the Australian version of ''{{WesternAnimation/Robots}}'', the voices of the Watches ("Don't buy us; we're fakes!") in the train station were dubbed by six children who had won a competition to appear in the movie. A voice coach trained them to speak with an American accent to blend in with the rest of the movie. |
| 60 | * In ''WesternAnimation/RugratsInParis'' in the scene where Kimi is in daycare before the Rugrats pick her up in the robotic Reptar, a couple of kids who point this out to her were voiced by kids who had won a contest. |
| 61 | * Some of the additional voices in the Latin Spanish dub of ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'' were done by members of the Parra family, a family from Hermosillo, Mexico who won a contest organized by Disney. Family members César Parra and César Parra Jr. would later advance their career in TheNewTens when their Hermosillo-based [=SDV=] Servicios de Voz company received several high-profile outsourcing jobs, most notably Parra providing additional voices (via [=SDV=]) for the Latin Spanish dub of the 32nd season of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', and being outsourced by [=ZOO=] Digital for a lot of work on Creator/{{Netflix}} productions. |
| 62 | [[/folder]] |
| 63 | |
| 64 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 65 | * The fictional card game in ''Film/TheGamersHandsOfFate'' uses a system based on the ''Legend of the Five Rings'' example below. One of the top tournament players actually uses a deck based around the hero card version of himself, and one of the important historical characters in the setting is revealed at the end to have been the avatar of a player as well. |
| 66 | * Wondering who that mysterious "catching smoke" kid was in the ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' movie? Yeah, it was a contest winner. ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Chamber of Secrets]]'' had another contest winner as an extra. |
| 67 | * A somewhat heartwarming example: around the time ''Film/LicenceToKill'' was released, a woman won a contest and was promised a cameo role in the next [[Film/JamesBond Bond]] film. But there was a ''six-and-a-half-year hiatus'' between that film and ''Film/GoldenEye'', the longest break in the series' history. The heartwarming part? The producers remembered, and she got her cameo! She's in a black-and-gold dress, behind Xenia Onatopp in the baccarat scene. |
| 68 | * Nintendo Power magazine ran a contest for a cameo in the sequel to ''Film/TheMask''. The film proceeded to languish in DevelopmentHell for over a decade, so it was unknown what if anything the winner actually got, before some [[http://www.destructoid.com/meet-the-winner-of-nintendo-power-s-the-mask-ii-contest-287112.phtml detective work]] from the website Destructoid revealed that the winner, Nathan Ryan Runk from Arbutus, Maryland, was eventually given a pile of SNES games and the option to wait indefinitely or settle for a $5000 cash prize. Unsurprisingly, he took the money. |
| 69 | * Averted in ''Film/ResidentEvil2002'': when ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' was released, Capcom held a contest where the winner would get a walk-on role in the upcoming movie. However, after that, the movie underwent a massive retooling, and thus the role was axed. |
| 70 | * In both seasons of the reality show ''Series/ScreamQueens2008'', the contestants were actresses competing in a series of horror movie acting challenges for a role in the upcoming ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' movie. |
| 71 | ** Season one's winner Tanedra Howard, who was [[TheAce one of the most consistently good contestants that season]], went on to play Simone, one of the two people in the opening trap in ''Film/SawVI'', and even returned for the sequel ''Film/Saw3D''. |
| 72 | ** Season two winner Gabby West, however, had been one of the most inconsistent contestants all season, and wound up an EliminationHoudini simply because her worst performances always saw somebody else do even worse. As such, in ''Saw [=3D=]'' she was given the role of Kara, who's one of a group of four people (of whom the main focus was [[Music/LinkinPark Chester Bennington]]'s character Evan) and spends the entire scene tied down and [[ScreamingWoman screaming for her life]] before [[YourHeadASplode her head gets splattered by a car tire]]. |
| 73 | * After the success of ''Film/Scream1996'', MTV held a contest in which the winner would get a role in ''Film/{{Scream 2}}''. The winner ended up playing the movie theater employee who hands out Ghostface masks to Creator/JadaPinkettSmith and Creator/OmarEpps in the beginning of the movie. The young woman even got to speak some dialogue in the film (a rarity for these kinds of contests). |
| 74 | * DC Comics gave away a cameo role in ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' via a contest requiring clipping letters out of comics to spell a word. |
| 75 | * The janitor who gets killed when he steps between the T-1000 and the T-800 in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' in the back hall of the mall was the winner of an MTV contest. |
| 76 | * In ''Film/TronLegacy'', Sam is briefly stuck in gladiator-style games with other programs, with other programs in the audience cheering on the contestants, as well as [[TheDragon Rinzler]]. The chanting was recorded at a panel held for the film at San Diego [=ComicCon=] using the audience. |
| 77 | * In the audio commentary for ''Film/{{UHF}}'', Music/WeirdAlYankovic says that the audience members sitting on either side of "the box" in the "Wheel Of Fish" scene were contest winners. |
| 78 | * The highest reward for backing the ''Film/VeronicaMars'' movie on Kickstarter was starring as a cameo. |
| 79 | [[/folder]] |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 82 | !!Author examples: |
| 83 | * Occasionally when he needs money, Creator/TimDorsey will auction off the opportunity to have a minor character in one of his ''Literature/SergeStorms'' books be named after the winner. This being Tim Dorsey, all these characters tend to die. |
| 84 | * Andy Mangels, who frequently writes for the Pocket Books Star Trek series, has been known to feature names of real people in his books. Sometimes the names are featured because of a high bid in a charity fundraiser, and other times as a thank-you for doing something helpful. |
| 85 | * Ian Rankin has done the charity auction version numerous times, and one time had a prank pulled on him. The winner gave his name as Peacock Johnson and asked for his mate "Wee Evil Bob" to be included as well. Rankin enjoyed writing about Elvis-lookalike ArmsDealer Peacock Johnson and his sidekick Wee Evil Bob in the ''Literature/{{Rebus}}'' novel ''A Question of Blood'', and afterwards he tried to contact Johnson to ask if [[BreakoutCharacter he could include them in other novels]]. The website and the email address he had been given didn't exist, and after doing some sleuthing of his own, Rankin discovered he was the target of a practical joke by Stuart David, the former bass player for Music/BelleAndSebastian. Just to twist the knife, David denied him permission to reuse the character, and went on to write [[http://www.barcelonareview.com/73/e_sd.html a story of his own]] where the character [[RecursiveReality seeks out Ian Rankin himself]] to complain about his portrayal in his novel. Rankin has described the whole situation as "[[MindScrew a mindfuck]]". |
| 86 | * Creator/MatthewReilly auctions character names, ranging from a [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Gandalf]] role spanning a trilogy to a spy killed (by jet engine) in his only scene. |
| 87 | * Not a contest per se, but Creator/BaenBooks author Creator/JohnRingo offered spots in his list of readers for {{Redshirt}}ing or cameos to those who purchased the now-discontinued [[MemeticMutation OH JOHN RINGO NO]] t-shirts, whose profits went to the Helen Bamberg Foundation.[[note]]The Foundation helps, among other people, women abused by the sex trade, which features prominently in several books of the ''Literature/PaladinOfShadows'' series that spawned the OJRN meme.[[/note]] |
| 88 | |
| 89 | !!Book examples: |
| 90 | * ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' had a contest where fans could write a short story about what animal they would want to morph into; the winner, Erek King, gave his name to the eponymous character of book #10, ''The Android.'' Interestingly, the fictional Erek went on to become a major recurring character until the end of the series, rather than a one-off cameo. |
| 91 | * in the mid-to-late 1990s, Michael Stackpole auctioned off a cameo appearance in his ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' novels at the ''GenCon'' charity auction, a few of whom became minor recurring characters. |
| 92 | * Ray Huizenga, a minor character in Creator/StephenKing's novel ''Literature/{{Cell}}'', was named via charity auction. |
| 93 | * In 2002, chuckpalahniuk.net held a raffle to raise money. The six winners had characters in "Diary" named for them. (Nora Adams and Will Tupper are two of them.) |
| 94 | * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels often include characters named after (and perhaps slightly based on) winners of charity auctions. Once they exist, they may appear in later books. Known examples include: |
| 95 | ** Marco Soto in ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'' and ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}''. |
| 96 | ** Dr Follet in ''Night Watch'' (the winner was the author Ken Follet). |
| 97 | ** Dr John "Mossy" Lawn in ''Night Watch'', ''Literature/GoingPostal'', and ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals''. |
| 98 | ** Professor Ladislav Pelc in ''Literature/GoingPostal''. |
| 99 | ** Dr John Hix in ''Literature/MakingMoney'' and ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals''. (The real John Hicks, as Head of Productions and later Chairman of the Discworld Convention, now responds to any complaints with "Skull ring, remember?".) |
| 100 | * Creator/DavidWeber has a standing offer to name a character after whoever is the first to catch and point out a typographical error in a published ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' book. Most such characters are minor ones who die in their first appearance, so this process is known in the fandom as "winning a RedShirt". Sometimes, the character is not immediately killed off, and thus this is known as "winning a pink handkerchief". |
| 101 | * From the children's book ''Literature/HildaAndRichie'': the household servants Richie is shown running past in ''Hilda and Richie's Wizard'' were both rewards for Kickstarter backers. |
| 102 | * Robert Asprin's ''[[Literature/MythAdventures Myth-Nomers and Im-Pervections]]'' features a Pervect cabbie who at one point casually mentions bidding for a cameo in a book at an art auction, before adding that [[NoFourthWall if he hadn't won, Skeeve would be talking to someone else]]. |
| 103 | * Dougie Barr, a major character in [[Creator/AnnCleeves Ann Cleeves']] [[{{Series/Shetland}} Shetland]] novel ''Blue Lightning'' was named for a charity auction winner. The character shares his namesake's love of [[{{UsefulNotes/Scotland}} Irn-Bru.]] |
| 104 | * In ''Sole Survivor'' by Creator/DeanKoontz the character of Barbara Christman was named after a competition winner. The real Barbara had hoped to be portrayed as a psychotic killer, but instead was written as a flight crash investigator. |
| 105 | ** Ditto Linda Paquette, the protagonist's love interest, from ''The Good Guy''. |
| 106 | * Sean Tourangeau won a contest to design the ''Luna''-class of starships for the ''Literature/StarTrekTitan'' novel series. The novel with the design in it also established a Dr. Tourangeau as one of the design team in-story, a man who was [[DeathByCameo killed horribly]] when the USS ''Luna'' suffered a core breach. |
| 107 | * Used in the first book of Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy. Two fans won a charity auction to get their names in the book; whether or not the second one lived or died was up to the first fan. So after [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cris_Pieterson Cris Pieterson's]] tractor beam failed due to a trick of Luke Skywalker's, he tried to pin the blame on his superior officer, [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Colclazure Colclazure]]. Thrawn had Pieterson [[YouHaveFailedMe killed]] for borderline insubordination, failure to adapt, and as a lesson in the difference between mere errors and worse mistakes. Colclazure was merely reprimanded. It's likely that one of the two would have died either way - this was one of Thrawn's important character moments (being the setup for a later scene where an operator who shows initiative in a similar situation gets ''promoted''). |
| 108 | * The ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' series had a competition to ask Thursday any three questions after the ''Eyre Affair'' (book 1). A fan of her work appeared in book 2, at the behest of a public relations agent, and asks three questions, none of which gets answered (she's rather busy at the time), but their presence provides a EurekaMoment for her. Separate contests were held in the United States and Britain, and the name of the fan and the questions asked were different in both editions. |
| 109 | * Several characters in David Gerrold's ''[[Literature/TheWarAgainstTheChtorr A Season For Slaughter]]'' are named after real people who made charitable donations for the privilege. |
| 110 | * ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' started doing this in later books. |
| 111 | * There are a few instances in the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' series where they held contests/auctions where the winner would get a character named after them in a book. The most notable example was Jack Archer, protagonist of the ''Invasion of the Body Squuezers'' two-parter. |
| 112 | * Two of the ''Literature/AlexRider'' books had competitions to design a gadget: the winners were the hand grenade disguised as an inhaler from ''Ark Angel'', and the Hat Nav from ''Scorpia Rising''. (Whilst the inhaler was crucial to the plot, the Hat Nav was never used, because ''all'' of Alex's gadgets are removed by the BigBad before he has a chance to use them.) |
| 113 | * Creator/PeterDavid's ''Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier'' novel series has a minor character, Commander (later Captain) Alexandra Garbeck, who was named after a contest winner. |
| 114 | [[/folder]] |
| 115 | |
| 116 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 117 | * A while back, around 2003, Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} held a competition titled "R U Series/AllThat". The winner, Christina Kirkman, remained in the cast of ''All That'' for its final two seasons. Ryan Coleman, who joined the show's cast midseason, was a finalist in that same competition. |
| 118 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'': |
| 119 | ** The episode "[=ExoGenesis=]" was named by the winners of a contest. |
| 120 | ** The serial murderer being hunted in the Psi Corps episode "The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father" was also named after the winner of a charity auction at a convention. Amusingly, the winner's name was Jonathan Harris, so most viewers thought it was a ShoutOut to ''Series/LostInSpace'', a previous series starring Billy Mumy, who plays Lennier on ''Series/BabylonFive''. |
| 121 | ** Dr. Lillian Hobbes made a very large charitable donation to have a recurring character named after her. |
| 122 | * Actor Creator/JohnBell, better known for his roles as Bain in ''Film/TheHobbit'' and Young Ian Murray in ''Series/{{Outlander}}'', made his career debut as Creet in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia "Utopia"]] by winning a ''Series/BluePeter'' contest to appear in an episode. [[spoiler:He gets turned into a Toclafane offscreen.]] |
| 123 | * ''Series/FamilyMatters'' held a contest for young Urkel impersonators. The best four impersonators appeared in an episode where Carl dreams that Laura and Steve got married and had children (with another on the way). Some of the runner-up entries were shown as the credits rolled in the same episode. |
| 124 | * ''Series/{{Ghostwriter}}'' did this. The winner could be seen rollerblading past the camera at the beginning of one episode. |
| 125 | * ''Series/TheGleeProject'' on Oxygen, was a reality show where the winner(s) would get guest starring roles on ''Series/{{Glee}}''. In fact, all of the top four in season one got at least a guest starring role, and all of the top 3 of the second season got one as well. |
| 126 | ** Similarly, since the 2000's there has also been a flux of reality shows where the winners would get the lead role(s) in a stage musical. Examples include but are not limited to ''Film/{{Grease}}: You're The One That I Want'', ''[[Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?]]'', ''Theatre/LegallyBlonde: The Search For Elle Woods'', ''[[Theatre/{{Oliver}} I'd Do Anything]]'' and ''[[Film/TheWizardOfOz Over The Rainbow]]''. |
| 127 | ** In 2008, Creator/{{ABC}} aired a reality competition themed around ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' where the winner would sing the song that would play over the credits of the then-upcoming ''[=HSM3=]'' ([[LongSongShortScene but was not featured on the soundtrack proper, sadly]]). |
| 128 | * ''Series/GoodEats'' host Alton Brown participated in a Food Network kitchen makeover giveaway. The winner of his design, Nic Sims of Michigan, was also treated to a guest spot as a government agent on the episode "Churn, Baby Churn II". |
| 129 | ** Also, the live 10th Anniversary special ''Good Eats Turns Ten'' held a contest for "superfans" of the series to create videos in order to appear as contestants on the GameShow portion of the special. |
| 130 | * ''Rush'd'' was a reality contest on the ''Series/{{Greek}}'' website where the winner got a walk-on role. The first winner appeared as a judge in the ZBZ "Mr. Purr-fect" competition. |
| 131 | * In another game show example, ''Series/HighRollers'' during 1978 offered a prize where a contestant could appear on ''Project UFO'' if they rolled a certain combination with the dice. The prize wasn't awarded, however. |
| 132 | * The UsefulNotes/MacysThanksgivingDayParade had two "design a balloon" contests during the TurnOfTheMillennium: |
| 133 | ** The first was in 2004 and geared towards children, and was won by a 7 year old from California with a turkey whose feathers were based on international flags. The hosts described the image on air as "join[ing] the dove today as a symbol of world peace." |
| 134 | ** The second was in 2011 and coincided with the parade's 85th anniversary. Macy's hid several blank statuettes modelled after their popular elf balloon in their stores, and invited the public to make their own designs in the hopes that one would be selected for a one-off flight down Broadway. The winning design, "Gazer" by university student Keith Lapnig, becomes heartwarming if you know the story behind it[[note]]it was inspired by the company's founder using the stars to guide him back to his homeland after he got lost at sea; this led Macy's to adopt a star as their official logo[[/note]]. |
| 135 | ** For a few years in TheNineties they had a "Be A Star" campaign where the winners would appear in the parade on several floats in addition to modeling for the company. |
| 136 | ** In 1993 the kids who selected the name for the Atlanta 1996 UsefulNotes/OlympicGames mascot (Izzy) appeared in a "rocket car" ahead of the newly-debuted Izzy balloon. |
| 137 | ** From 2012-2014 one act performing in the parade was selected by the public through the ''Macy's [=iHeartRadio=] Rising Star'' contest. Megan and Liz were the first winners to perform in the parade; in 2013 it was The Summer Set, and in 2014 it was Before You Exit. |
| 138 | * FOX held a [[WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill Hank Hill]] look alike contest on their network at one point where the winner gets to cameo on an episode of ''Series/MadTV1995''. |
| 139 | * ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' takes the first however many people to respond who fit their requirements when they need a really big crowd for something, though not all of them will appear in the episode. They'll also take the old cars of fans who really want to see their automobiles have a DyingMomentOfAwesome as they're blown up or smashed to bits as part of the testing of a myth. |
| 140 | * Creator/{{NBC}} had a sweepstakes sponsored by Sears in the early 1990s where the winner would cameo on one of NBC's shows. |
| 141 | * More than a few times, ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' has offered Walk-On roles on various CBS soap operas as part of a prize package. The only one that has been won so far as of this writing was for ''Series/TheBoldAndTheBeautiful'', where the winner could be seen in a party scene in the episode shown later in the day. |
| 142 | ** And on ''Price'' itself… in December 2003, Jackie Amacher won a contest on the ''Oprah Winfrey Show'' and got to call a contestant to "come on down" in one show. |
| 143 | * ''Series/{{Psych}}'' held a contest for fans to get their colleges mentioned in the show. The winner, Brigham Young University, was briefly featured in season six episode "Neil Simon's Lover's Retreat". The cameo quickly got flak from BYU fans, however--said feature was on a couple of bar patrons' t-shirts. BYU is a private school owned by [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], which is known for teaching abstinence from alcoholic beverages; such abstinence is also required as part of BYU's honor code. |
| 144 | * ''Series/PunkyBrewster'' had a contest where kids could suggest a story to be made into an episode. The winner got to appear in the episode that got based on his story, about Punky having to learn CPR so she can later apply it on her friend Cherie (who ended up [[LockedInAFreezer trapped in an old fridge]]) to save her life. |
| 145 | * The ''Series/RedDwarf'' [[HilariousOuttakes Smeg Ups]] VHS tape included a competition where participants would go in the draw to appear in a future episode. The winner ultimately appeared in the Series VII episode "Stoke Me a Clipper" as an extra in the artificial-reality Camelot jousting sequence. |
| 146 | * Back when ''Remember WENN'' was Creator/{{AMC}}'s only original programming, they ran a contest to win a walk-on role in the following season. AMC ended up futzing with the contest (apparently editing out a scene that was supposed to answer a question), and cancelling the show, thus precluding the prize altogether. [[http://www.post-gazette.com/magazine/19980929owen3.asp This article mentions (among others) the walk-on contest.]] |
| 147 | ** A similar offer for ''Series/MadMen'' went by without any problems. |
| 148 | * In 1977, ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' held a contest for the GuestHost spot on that year's Christmas episode called the "Anyone Can Host" contest, where an average person gets to be an ''SNL'' guest host. The winner of that contest was Miskel Spillman, an 80-year-old grandmother from New Orleans who happened to be a fan of the show (and still was until she died in the early 1990s). After learning that an old lady won the contest, the ''SNL'' production team tried to get the Music/SexPistols on as the musical guest (as it would drum up more publicity and be hilarious to have a controversial punk band as the musical guest for a show hosted by an old lady), but visa problems caused them to pick Music/ElvisCostello and the Attractions instead. Costello's infamous performance where he stops his planned performance of "Less than Zero" to play "Radio Radio" (a song which was considered too "anti-media" to play on mainstream television at the time) instead has become one of the most iconic in the show's history. Even though Miskel Spillman lives on as ''SNL'''s only non-celebrity to host an episode, her place as the oldest host (which actually once belonged to Ruth Gordon before Spillman usurped it) was usurped years later by another old lady host: Creator/BettyWhite. |
| 149 | * ''Series/StargateSG1'' and ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' have done this for several seasons now on Sci Fi. The contest winner has a walk-on cameo appearance in one episode of each show. One winner was the wife of the Ori religious zealot in the Season 9 premiere three-parter. |
| 150 | ** The DVD Commentaries for the episode usually reveal the identity of the winner. In "Lost City", it's the woman who enters the Oval Office and shakes Hayes' hand after his meeting with Weir. Later, in "Camelot", director Martin Wood specifically made the contest winner John Noble's wife so "she wouldn't get cut," seeming to imply that other contest winners have had their scenes cut. |
| 151 | * ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' had a contest tied in with the release of their new game [[ColonCancer Star Trek: Voyager: Elite Force]] The winners cameoed during the academy scene in the final episode. |
| 152 | ** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' had a couple of Engineering crew who were winners of the USS Enterprise's (the aircraft carrier) Crewman of the Year competition, and a radio contest winner played a female engineer. |
| 153 | ** Similarly, the online animated spoof ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Trek Stone Trek]]'' has a feature where fans can submit photos of themselves so that they can be drawn and featured as the show's {{Red Shirt}}s. |
| 154 | ** Actually subverted way back at the beginning of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s run, when General Mills held a [[CompetitionCouponMadness contest]] via Cheerios cereal to win a walk-on role on an episode. The subversion came when the winner, another old lady (see the ''SNL'' example), declined the appearance in favor of the alternate cash prize. |
| 155 | * An in-universe example occurs on an episode of ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'', where Cory wins a trip to Hollywood to cameo on a popular sitcom. [[PoorlyDisguisedPilot The episode in question focused on the star of that show as she went through her daily life]] (the concept would later morph into another Disney Channel show: ''Series/HannahMontana''.) |
| 156 | * The ''Franchise/UltraSeries'', being a {{toku}} long-runner, occasionally held their own "design-a-monster" contest for fans, where the winning submission would end up being designed into a suit as the next MonsterOfTheWeek. |
| 157 | ** They have been doing this since the ''60s'', as early as ''Series/{{Ultraseven}}'', with the underwater monsters Tepeto and Guyros being the winner and runner-ups of a context where fans can submit their own alien designs for the show. |
| 158 | ** In ''Series/ReturnOfUltraman'', the winning submission comes from a script-making contest featuring Leogon, a {{Planimal}} monster in the episode "The Life that Can't be Forgiven". It's notable that the winner in this case is a then 16-year-old Shinichiro Kobayashi, who would later create a similar script for Toho Studios in the 1980s, resulting in ''Film/GodzillaVsBiollante''. |
| 159 | ** Taraban from ''Series/UltramanTiga'' comes from a Create Your Own Monster contest. |
| 160 | ** The ''Series/UltramanGaia'' episode "I Want to See Gaia!" features children going on a field trip to visit the XIG Aerial Base, coinciding with the monster Pazgeek attacking XIG at the same time. The children cameo-ing in the episode are winners of a magazine contest to appear in the show itself, with the "champion" playing a kid named Taro who gets captured by Pazgeek requiring Ultraman Gaia to rescue him. |
| 161 | ** Ruganoga the planet-destroying monster from ''Series/UltramanMax'' comes from a Tsuburaya-sponsored contest to have their own monsters, complete with backstories and bios, featured in the show. |
| 162 | * German TV Quiz ''Wer hat's gesehen?'' (''Who watched it?'') has the top price of winning a cameo on a ''Tatort'' (German police procedural) of the candidate's choice. |
| 163 | * In 2011, ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' had a "Vanna for a Day" contest, which allowed home viewers to submit videos for a chance to replace LovelyAssistant Vanna White for one episode. The winner was Katie Cantrell, who took Vanna's place for two rounds of an episode. The other four finalists got to sit in the audience. |
| 164 | * One of the prizes for winning ''Series/WhoWantsToBeASuperhero'' was a cameo appearance on a Sci-Fi Original Movie. |
| 165 | * Spoofed in an episode of ''Yes, Dear'' where the actors talk about how they could not find a place to fit him in, so they just had the winner standing there in the last scene, then asked him to move over into HD. |
| 166 | [[/folder]] |
| 167 | |
| 168 | [[folder:Magazines]] |
| 169 | * The Franchise/{{Lego}} company had a little comic in ''Disney Adventures'' magazine involving a hero transported to a Lego-themed world and having to fight evil. Seriously. The comic had a contest in which the winner would appear in the comic, and he later did, helping out the hero at a crucial moment. |
| 170 | ** ''Disney Adventures'' also featured a short comic in which the magazine's writers and editors fought against a team of four villains designed by readers for a contest. |
| 171 | ** And once they did a Design-a-superhero contest, with the winner having a short comic in the magazine. The winner's hero was surprisingly awesome, compared to the other kids' entries. |
| 172 | *** In yet another DA contest, a girl appeared in a short "Kim Possible" comic. |
| 173 | * ''Series/RobotWars Magazine'' once ran a competition to be on the Panic Attack team during the 4th season. |
| 174 | ** Another competition was to design a robot for the video game ''Arenas of Destruction'', the winner (Thor) was an unlockable robot in the game. |
| 175 | * The short-lived Sega themed magazine ''Sega Visions'' gave a cameo in an entire strip (the size of two pages) of their recurring comic "Niles Nemo in Sega-Land" to a contest winner. The strip involved the winner, Kuanray Huang, and Niles meeting Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog... and then waking up to discover it had all been a pizza-fueled dream. |
| 176 | * ''Magazine/DisneyAdventures'' had a contest where readers submitted their best original villains. The winning villains would be part of a special comic printed in the magazine. The grand prize winner's villain was a guy who always entered ''Disney Adventures'' contests but never won. Since he lived in New Jersey, and ''Disney Adventures'' was published in New York City at that time, they had him come in and play his villain himself (the comic involved [[RogerRabbitEffect live action photos of the DA staff fighting against the (animated) winning villains]]). |
| 177 | * In the mid-'80s, ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' Magazine held a "Spy vs. Spy" contest. The winner was rendered by artist Angelo Torres into the mag's satire of ''Series/MiamiVice''. |
| 178 | * ''Fox Kids Magazine'' had a contest winner appear in a short "NASCAR Racers" comic that was in the Spring 2001 issue. |
| 179 | [[/folder]] |
| 180 | |
| 181 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 182 | * The beginning of the music video for Loverboy’s 1983 single "Queen of the Broken Hearts" features a bit of a young woman operating a futuristic machine. This was the winner of an {{Creator/MTV}} contest. |
| 183 | * Music/DieKrupps held a video-making contest for their song "Schmutzfabrik". The winning entry became the official video. |
| 184 | * In 2022, Newport Folk Festival started the Music/JohnPrine Songwriter Fellowship, where a new artist who embodied Prine's spirit would be [[https://newportfestivals.org/prine-fellowship-2022 selected to play a main stage set at the festival]] (in addition to a week-long songwriting residency). Leith Ross was the first winner. |
| 185 | * When Susan Boyle was recording her album ''The Gift'', she started a contest called "Susan's Search", in which members of the public were invited to upload a video of themselves singing "Silent Night" to her Platform/YouTube channel. The winner, New York paramedic Amber Stassi, got to sing with Boyle on a version of "Do You Hear What I Hear". |
| 186 | [[/folder]] |
| 187 | |
| 188 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 189 | * ''Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This At Home'' features wrestling fan Josh Asbill, who won a spot on the game's roster from a sweepstakes. |
| 190 | * At ''Wrestling/{{WCW}} Halloween Havoc 95'', [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-h.html WCW World Heavyweight Champion]] Wrestling/HulkHogan and manager Jimmy Hart presented a motorcycle to a contest winner. |
| 191 | [[/folder]] |
| 192 | |
| 193 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 194 | * Winners of the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' Invitational tournament get to make their own card, the image of which is based on their appearance. |
| 195 | ** Which caused much hilarity when Wizards decided to reprint "Chris Pikula" (Meddling Mage) in ''Alara Reborn''. With new art. Depicting a woman. Boy, how harsh time's been on old Chris... |
| 196 | ** And much consternation when "Bob" (Dark Confidant, designed by Bob Maher, Jr.) was reprinted in ''Modern Masters'' with new art. |
| 197 | ** Weirdly, not near as much was said when Solemn Simulacrum (designed by Jens Thoren) was reprinted with new art in a Core Set. |
| 198 | * Similar things are a major part of the ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'' CollectibleCardGame tournament scene, with winners getting to create cards and, at high enough levels of competition, actually help determine the products' storyline. |
| 199 | * The awesomest version of this, though, is the prize for high-end ''Universal Fighting System'' tournaments - the winner gets a character card made of themselves, complete with art even more like the winner than the ones for ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' and the player's name as the card name. This leads to basically anyone who decides to use the championship cards referring to their deck by the champ's name. |
| 200 | * Donate at least ten bucks to the Comic Book Defense League through Hero Games official website and you'll have one of the company's official [=NPCs=] named after you. |
| 201 | [[/folder]] |
| 202 | |
| 203 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 204 | * The Broadway Flea Market, held every year to raise funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, tends to offer walk-on roles in Broadway shows as part of their auctions. |
| 205 | [[/folder]] |
| 206 | |
| 207 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 208 | * Magazine/NintendoPower ran a contest in the late 1990 where anyone who met the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' OptionalBoss Warmech and sent in a photo of themselves posing with it would win the honor of having themselves programmed into a future game. The winner, Chris Houlihan, had his name and a message ("My name is Chris Houlihan. This is my top secret room. Keep it between us, OK?") programmed into ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' in a secret room, and it inspired much discussion and strategy over how to get to the room in the first place. It doesn't help that the "secret area" is actually, in programming terms, an error handler function which the game sends you to if an error occurs in loading an area to prevent a GameBreakingBug, making it tricky to get to on purpose. With Nintendo Power being a firmly American magazine, none of the translations in other languages use his name. The Game Boy Advance remake has the room, but also doesn't use his name in English. |
| 209 | * The ''Franchise/MegaMan'' series is well known for having fans create and name Robot Masters, but only two were by fans from outside of Japan, both in ''VideoGame/MegaMan6'': Wind Man, by Michael Leader; and Knight Man, by Daniel Vallee. Both won a design contest in ''Nintendo Power''. When Capcom decided not to publish the game in North America (due to it being the very end of the NES' lifetime), Nintendo published it themselves so the game winners could see their own Robot Masters. |
| 210 | * The PC ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' games have tons of games with this. Examples include The Silent Spy and Alibi in Ashes. |
| 211 | * For ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'', Sanzaru Games ran a contest where people can submit pictures of their own designed treasure loot. The winners chosen had their loot featured in the game. |
| 212 | * The ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' OptionalBoss Kurt Zisa is named after a contest winner. |
| 213 | * In ''[[VideoGame/{{Turok}} Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil]]'', entering "Juan's Code" placed the face of Juan, a contest winner, on the health icons. |
| 214 | * The ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' character Katina Tarask, debuting in the TradingCardGame spin-off ''Super Robot Wars Scramble Gather'', was the winner of an original character design contest. |
| 215 | * Konami: |
| 216 | ** The company held contests for various versions of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' and ''[[VideoGameRemake The Twin Snakes]]'' where the (numerous) winners would have mooks named after them by way of dog tags you can steal from them. For ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', they held a camouflage designing contest, with winning designs appearing in the game. |
| 217 | ** During the popularity peak of the ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' series, Konami organized the "Tokimeki Teens" marketing program. In there, they selected one idol among a bunch of candidates, and this idol would get [[AsHimself her fictionalized version of herself]] in the ''Drama Series'' games of the series, as well as being able to produce various songs. The winner of this contest was Mie Kuribayashi. Let's just say she quickly fell back in the shadows after the ''Drama Series'' were done. |
| 218 | * Several {{NPC}}s in ''VideoGame/FableII'' are named for people that won lots at the ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' MediaNotes/{{ChildsPlay|Charity}} charity auction. |
| 219 | * A few {{NPC}}s in ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIII'' are named after contest winners. These same people also named some in-game items and a few fish. |
| 220 | * ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'': There are a set of stairs near Clayface's cell that lead to a cell where a creepy prisoner is held; he is actually the winner of a [=GameSpot=] contest, and is mentioned on Joker's party list as Luke Oliver. |
| 221 | * The [[Platform/ThreeDOInteractiveMultiplayer 3D0]] version of ''VideoGame/StarControlII'' included two new songs by Finnish contest winner Riku Nuottajärvi. |
| 222 | * Cameron and Lucas, two characters in the FirstTown of ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', are named after Cameron Rapmund and Łukasz Kawarski, the winner and runner-up of the official ''Fallout'' trivia challenge. In the unpatched game, they are called Dumar and Standing Fist. |
| 223 | * VideoGame/{{Bemani}} has had a few contests that saw their winner songs being included in the games: |
| 224 | ** ''VideoGame/BeatmaniaIIDX'': |
| 225 | *** "Clione" and "starmine" from ''4th style'' were winner songs of the Membership Trial, held in 2000. Not only the songs got included in the game, but their composers, Kosuke Saito (kors k) and Ryutaro Nakahara (Ryu☆), respectively, [[PromotedFanboy became Bemani's permanent in-house composers]]. |
| 226 | *** Creator/{{Konami}} also held a contest for a fan to get their music into [=IIDX=] [=RED=]. This led to a [[http://vjarmy.com/wiki/index.php/Inside_Jokes#Kyle_Snyder_.2F_Mirror_Force_.2F_Engulfed_Beam_.2F_You_Can.27t_Escape_Me meme]] in the fandom. |
| 227 | ** ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'': |
| 228 | *** The song "[=PARANOiA=] ETERNAL" was the winner of a contest held by Konami prior to the release of ''[=5thMIX=]''. The song's composer, Takeshi Matsumoto, also designed all of the song's stepcharts (though all of them sans Single Basic were replaced by Konami-designed ones from ''EXTREME'' onwards). |
| 229 | *** Konami held several contests with Broadjam from 2006 to 2008, with the winner songs appearing in the American DDR games. These included "There's a Rhythm", "GO! Mahalo Mix", "Grandolin", and "Race Against Time" from ''[=ULTRAMIX4=]''; "[=EternuS=]" and "Until Forever" from ''[=SuperNOVA2=]''; and "30 Lives" and "Till the lonely's gone" in ''X'' and ''[=UNIVERSE3=]''. |
| 230 | * In ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'', the unfortunate Brian Norris was named and designed after the winner of a contest Looking Glass held with the name of ''Get Killed by SHODAN''. |
| 231 | * ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder'' did this with Austin and Amanda, two characters in the pie shop, both of whom were winners of the "Be a Character in King's Quest V" contest in InterAction Magazine. Entrants had to submit photos of themselves in outfits that would fit into the King's Quest world -- those costumes are exactly what the characters are wearing. |
| 232 | * ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryV'' also did this -- Wolfie was a fan who sent cartoon sketches of his character to the game's creators, the Coles. They used those sketches to create a full-fledged character without whom the game is unwinnable! How's that for a cameo? |
| 233 | * Dan Emmerson won a contest for his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_AexmWZZL4&feature=player_embedded Meat Cello]] entry and wound up in the second level of ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2''. The name of the contest, [[DeathByCameo "Get Dismembered in Dead Space 2"]], gives away what would happen to him. |
| 234 | * ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' has Nikko, a pazaak player who appears on Onderon during the course of the game. His appearance was based off the likeness of a contest winner named Paul Keeler, who also won a trip to the Creator/LucasArts studios in the deal. |
| 235 | * ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'': Lizink's Wig of Foppery, [[spoiler:which Bailiff Killick Hardtack is compelled to wear after losing his case against Guybrush]] in Chapter 4, is named after the [[http://www.telltalegames.com/community/blogs/id-498 screen name of Liz Johnston]], [[http://pc.ign.com/articles/102/1027699p1.html a native of British Columbia]], Canada, and Telltale Games' winner of the "How Has Guybrush Wronged You Competition" in the "Game Designer for a Day" contest ([[http://www.telltalegames.com/community/blogs/id-474 which started on July 14, 2009, a week after the release of Chapter 1]]); her winning line, "He dug up my perfectly good X!", appears in Hardtack's accusation against Guybrush. Not only that, but her name also appears on the list of "Designer for a Day Finalists" in the end credits of Chapter 4. |
| 236 | * ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'': |
| 237 | ** A contest was held to get a fan's name in the game. The winner was a fellow named Payton Lane Easter who is now the proud owner of a [[http://irrationalgames.com/files/2011/05/paytonlaneeaster_finalasset.jpg robot horse company]]. |
| 238 | ** They held a [[http://www.bioshockinfinite.com/news/bioshock-infinite-casting-at-pax-east-2012-the-results contest at PAX East 2012]] to find people's ''faces'' to add to the game. |
| 239 | * The winner of a contest at E3 2009, Charlie Malone, was made into a patient in ''[[VideoGame/TraumaCenter Trauma Team]]''. |
| 240 | * Felix the Fish, the mascot of Big Fish Games, was concealed in one of the HiddenObjectGame scenes of ''VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles: Ravenhearst.'' Finding and clicking on him opened a screen which enabled the player to enter a contest, the winner of whom got to have their likeness included in a later MCF game. (Humorously, the contest ended in March 2007 - but they never removed the contest from the game. This means that if you buy the game even now, Felix is in there and clicking on him will still bring up that screen.) |
| 241 | * As part of the RetroactiveLegacy related to ''VideoGame/DarkVoid Zero'', Capcom created a fictional contest that a young Creator/JimmyFallon won to get an appearance in the game. Said "cameo" consisted of him being unceremoniously killed off before the main character could find him. |
| 242 | * To promote ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'', Rockstar ran a contest a few months before the game came out for people to have their faces scanned into the game, where they will appear as members of [[ChurchOfHappyology the Epsilon Program]]. The five winners can be seen [[http://www.cultstoppers.com/ here]]. |
| 243 | * People who donated a certain amount of money to the Kickstarter project for ''VideoGame/MightyNo9'' were given the right to have their likeness appear in the game, in what the Kickstarter page described as a place where they would be easily noticeable, and yet not distracting to players who don't want to see cartoonified Kickstarter backers. |
| 244 | * Season 1 of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadTelltale'' had a contest where the winner would show up, get killed, turned into a zombie, and killed again. The winner of this was [[spoiler:Brie]] in the game. There's also [[https://walkingdead.fandom.com/wiki/Notable_Zombies_(Video_Game)#Contest_Winners four zombies]] based on other contest winners. |
| 245 | * The creator of ''[[VideoGame/PokemonPrism Pokémon Prism]]'' held a Facebook contest involving [[OfficialFanSubmittedContent custom moves]]. The 13 winners, in addition to having their moves put in the game, got the opportunity to cameo as AI-controlled trainers. |
| 246 | * Parodied in ''VideoGame/{{Deadpool}}'', when Deadpool encounters and kills the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadpool_(video_game)#Marketing contest winner who was supposed]] [[NoFourthWall to appear in this game]]", whose head seems to be crudely pasted onto a generic flying enemy. |
| 247 | * ''VideoGame/TinkerQuarry'' had two YCH (your character here) raffles over the course of its development: |
| 248 | ** On July 5th, 2017, Wraith, the developer, announced a raffle for fans of the game to send in their ideas for characters. On the 15th, three characters (Tenor, Camime, and Charles) were chosen randomly to receive NPC roles in the game, and they were added in an update on September 4. |
| 249 | ** From December 10-20 of the same year, Wraith held another YCH raffle, this time for fans to submit their own shopkeeper character, only this time, Wraith added an extra rule: The character's name had to start with W, to fit with the AlphabeticalThemeNaming of the other shopkeepers in the game. The winner was an airplane-like toy named Wemblin, who was added to the game in a later update. |
| 250 | * In ''VideoGame/BattleTech'', UsefulNotes/{{Kickstarter}} backers of a certain tier or higher were rewarded with the opportunity to design a hirable pilot and characterize them. |
| 251 | * The Hall of Champions in ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'' is a place where people who donated at least $200 to the Kickstarter campaign are immortalized on portraits. Higher-level donors, meanwhile, had their own boss characters added to the game (Reize Seatlan, Mr. Hat, The Baz, and Phantom Striker - like Kick-Ass's real name and Erek King above, Reize ascended into a plot-critical character in the ''Specter of Torment'' campaign.) |
| 252 | * The 2010 remake of ''VideoGame/NBAJam'' held a contest for fans to submit new catchphrases for the game, and the winners received a "Special Thanks" in the credits. [[RetroactiveRecognition One of the winners was a young man named Austin Hargrave, better known later on as]] WebVideo/PeanutButterGamer. |
| 253 | * In Madden12, Hope Bromley won a contest and got her likeness put into the game as a free agency quarterback. |
| 254 | * During the development of ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'', SEGA held an open audition for a potential female party member. The top four runner-ups were given parts as [=NPCs=] in which they played fictionalized versions of themselves while the winner Eri Kamataki was not only made an OptionalPartyMember but also the central figure of the business minigame questline. |
| 255 | * ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'': |
| 256 | ** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreMasterOfArena''s EX Arena includes an arena featuring designs from the winners of various ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreProjectPhantasma'' tournaments as well as a "Guest" arena featuring selected reader-submitted designs from Japanese game magazines. |
| 257 | ** Some of the designs in the ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreNineBreaker'' arena are reader-submitted designs from the ''Dengeki [=PS2=]'' magazine. |
| 258 | * ''VideoGame/Splatoon1'': |
| 259 | ** The Japanese magazine ''Famitsu'' ran two gear design contests, one for the first game and another for [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 its sequel]], where the winning designs would be added to the game. The first contest was held in 2015, with the winning design being based off a traditional Japanese chef. The winner of the second contest, held in 2017, was based on a ghillie suit. ''Famitsu'' also held a graffiti design contest for ''Splatoon 2'' at the same time; of which the winning entry was featured in the Walleye Warehouse stage. |
| 260 | ** [=CoroCoro=], a Japanese manga magazine that publishes the official Splatoon manga, held a design contest of their own in 2019, where participants were given a template to make a design from. The winning design was a {{Mecha}}-inspired armored suit with a huge claw, and was added into ''Splatoon 2'' as a set of gear items. However, it could only be obtained via an exclusive code from [=CoroCoro=] for a limited time, and [[NoExportForYou the codes would only work for Japanese copies of the game]], making the gear unobtainable for the rest of the world. |
| 261 | [[/folder]] |
| 262 | |
| 263 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 264 | * While most of the characters in ''VisualNovel/TyrionCuthbertAttorneyOfTheArcane'' were designed by the developer, three characters were designed by Indiegogo backers as a reward for pledging at high tiers. Specifically, the backer characters are [[spoiler:Stefanic Dracogen, the case 3 refinery owner; Mosourika Tudor, the case 3 {{Chuunibyou}} cafe owner, and Laefe Frega, the middle sister of the Frega family who first appears in case 4]]. |
| 265 | [[/folder]] |
| 266 | |
| 267 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 268 | * ''Webcomic/AvasDemon'' held a Kickstarter and the highest donators received portraits of themselves by the artist as well as their own fan demon. Seems mundane, up until the donators appeared again - ''in [[BigBad Titan]]'s base.'' |
| 269 | * ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' readers are able to buy their way into the story, to fill character slots needed for larger chapters, where too many characters will be needed for the writers to create themselves. The readers who do so create their own character fitting the canon of the Drowverse, which are then included and put into the story. These roles can range from the reader created cameo appearing in a single panel in the background, to a small spoken role, to a side character for that chapter. |
| 270 | ** A fan run competition is currently being held up until December 28th, to create a character and put it up for voting, the winners of which will get their way into the story with their character paid for by the competition runners. |
| 271 | * ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' occasionally features characters based on fans who contribute to the fandom in some extraordinary way, usually as background characters during Halloween Party strips, or as minor characters who get killed off in some messy fashion. |
| 272 | * ''[[http://www.electric-manga.com/ Kagerou]]'' has a contest to be killed on panel. The winner (and explanation) can be seen [[http://www.electric-manga.com/41/12.html here]]. |
| 273 | * Every year, ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' auctions off an appearance in their comics for charity. The first time got amusingly [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/02/06/ meta]]. |
| 274 | ** As have [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/12/9/ some]] [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/12/9/ other]] strips. |
| 275 | ** In the first episode of ''VideoGame/PennyArcadeAdventures'', there is a listing in the credits with the title: "That guy who paid us a lot of money to be in the game." |
| 276 | ** Several of the auctions have been won by a guy named Wil Shipley, who writes software for Macs, or to put it another way, [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/docs/7-2-07b.jpg gets HAND jobs from STEVE Jobs]]. |
| 277 | * ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' pretty much got its start this way... |
| 278 | * ''Webcomic/IslaAukate'' uses this frequently to populate minions as background extras. Some have even become [[AscendedExtra Ascended Extras]] to the point of having their own (commissioned) story arcs. |
| 279 | * Toward the end of ''Webcomic/ItsWalky'', many of the die-hard message board fans were made into members of the army, and were, naturally, horribly killed. |
| 280 | * ''Webcomic/TheCyantianChronicles'': There's several instances, but the most notable is the fan scripted bonus comic at the end of Akaelae # 5. Although, The Scripting Game only let me cameo as the writer. It didn't get a character included. |
| 281 | * Connecticon '07 auctioned off a guest spot in ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive''. Randy [[https://somethingpositive.net/comic/charity-begins-somewhere-else/ put the winner in]] and hung perhaps the [[LampshadeHanging world's biggest lampshade]] on the practice. |
| 282 | * ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' has had a number of these. |
| 283 | * ''Webcomic/LeastICouldDo'': For its ValentinesDayEpisodes, there's a contest where the winner gets to go on a date with a character of their choosing (which means, yes, they get to live out their PerverseSexualLust). Interestingly, ButtMonkey John has had the most luck so far with two dates; protagonist Rayne has also had two, but one was with a [[HoYay gay man]] and the other was with a beautiful blonde, but the rest of the cast did their best to sabotage it. |
| 284 | * As a joke for ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'''s [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game Kickstarter Project]], Creator/AndrewHussie offered to canonize the [[OriginalCharacter fantroll]] of anyone who donated $10,000 or more. Well, two people took him up on that offer. [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=007866 And here they are!]] [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=007867 And now they aren't.]] (They didn't donate enough to have them survive for more than a single panel). |
| 285 | * Similarly, ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'' offered an appearance in the strip as a reward in their Kickstarter, which several people took them up on. They were all eaten by zombies. Later Kickstarter backers have mostly survived, although one was turned into a dragon. |
| 286 | * [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-7-3/ Slobber]], a ridiculously cute pug-faced gnoll from ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'', [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-7-11/ turns out]] to be based on a winner's pet. |
| 287 | * The top reward in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'''s Kickstarter drive was a walk-on cameo, eventually fulfilled with [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0986.html Veldrina the elven priestess]] (who Rich Burlew decided to give a larger role than originally planned). Veldrina's bodyguard Wrecan is a tribute to a late member of the comic's forum. In typical style, Rich [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0987.html pokes some fun at himself]] for how long it took to get there. |
| 288 | * The biggest backer of the Kickstarter for ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'' got to go on a date with the title character. It ... [[http://nonadventures.com/2015/08/15/expiration-date/ didn't go well]]. |
| 289 | * Neo Yi, of ''Webcomic/ChessPiece'', had a couple of contests, the winners of which would have their [=OCs=] featured. Said [=OCs=] only appeared in one page and got two or three lines, but still. |
| 290 | [[/folder]] |
| 291 | |
| 292 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 293 | * [[http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/dan/ This]] ''WebAnimation/WeeblAndBob'' cartoon had the winner of an Ebay charity auction animated into it. Yes, that's his face with rocket parts on it, being driven by aliens going ''shopping''. |
| 294 | * ''AudioPlay/WereAlive'' auctioned off a cameo role on eBay to help pay for tickets to the Audie Awards. The winner showed up as Dr. Guin in Chapter 29-3. |
| 295 | * ''WebAnimation/HowItShouldHaveEnded'' had a contest to celebrate their 100th video. The contest winner had his likeness drawn into the ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' spoof, as the Imperial Officer who reports to Palpatine that the exhaust ports have been replaced with a giant passageway straight to the core reactor on the new Death Star. |
| 296 | * One of the authors of ''Roleplay/DarwinsSoldiers'' [[http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=34692436&postcount=635 auctioned off]] a [[http://gangoffive.net/index.php?showtopic=7319&view=findpost&p=22033253 background character name]] for ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' items. Only two people bid, so second place got in for free. |
| 297 | [[/folder]] |
| 298 | |
| 299 | [[folder:Web Video]] |
| 300 | * ''WebVideo/EconomyWatch'': David made an Instagram story in December 2022, asking viewers if they wanted to have a brief cameo in the Season 2 finale, and hosting a competition for it. User "Ebbflick Productions" on Instagram won, and he had a cameo in the episode. |
| 301 | * A staple in many ObjectShows: Recommended characters submitted by the subscribers. How they're submitted is dependant on the show. Played straight when said characters have a chance to actually join the show. |
| 302 | [[/folder]] |
| 303 | |
| 304 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 305 | * ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' had a contest sponsored by Burger King for the role of Carl in their live action episode. |
| 306 | * ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' had an Omaze campaign leading up to its final season, where the winner would not only attend the wrap party, but have a background character modeled after them. The winner was a woman named Charlie. |
| 307 | * ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'' did this twice. The first time, the contest winner had their spleen ripped out by John Tesh after they requested it, feeling that it would be an honor. The second time, the contest winner's soul was sold to the Devil by the hosts in exchange for the Music/BackstreetBoys and *Music/{{NSYNC}}, who fans had requested to fight each other (both having been killed in previous matches -- the Backstreet Boys by Music/BeastieBoys, and *NSYNC by Music/{{KISS}}). |
| 308 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' featured a brief cameo from a contest winner, who was put in the show as "Numbuh 24". He stood out because the design of his character's face had a lot more detail than the rest and, after he did his bit ("check to make sure the way is clear" or something) he popped up for a split second to give the audience a thumbs-up. |
| 309 | * The ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' episode "Dexter and Computress Get Mandark" was based on a story written by a kid who submitted a story for the show and he himself narrated the episode. |
| 310 | * ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' did one of these at the insistence of the network, which the creators were not happy about. The eventual winner was featured in a scene in the episode "Spelling Applebee's" as a waiter who makes out with Captain Hero then later masturbates into his food. |
| 311 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstoneKids'' had an in-universe example. Fred and Barney won a contest to appear in an episode of Captain Caveman and Son. They just cameoed. |
| 312 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' episode "A Visit To Anthony's" the boy Anthony was a winner of a contest to appear on the show. |
| 313 | * ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' once had a contest winner appear on the show... only to get murdered on-stage by Creator/SethGreen. But hey, least he also got a Platform/PlayStation3 out of the deal, too. |
| 314 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 315 | ** The two-parter "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" had a contest wherein the person correctly guessing the resolution to the season-ending CliffHanger would be animated into an episode. But nobody won the contest: Only one viewer correctly followed the episode's trail of evidence and concluded that [[spoiler: Maggie]] did the deed, but that person never signed up for the contest. |
| 316 | *** Much to {{showrunner}} David Mirkin's chagrin, the terms of the promotion forced him to declare a winner out of a batch of one thousand random samples, all incorrect. As he notes in the season 7 DVDCommentary, they just picked a woman who guessed that Smithers (who shot Mr. Burns in an alternate ending created as FoilerFootage) did it, paid her off, and no one even noticed. |
| 317 | ** Also the episode "Million Dollar Maybe" was part of The Simpsons "Best. Character. Ever." contest. The winning character "Ricardo Bomba" was shown for less than 30 seconds before crashing his car, which also explodes. |
| 318 | ** Another ''Simpsons'' contest they had was the "Create-A-Couch-Gag" contest where the winner gets their {{couch gag}} animated onto the last episode of the 24th season. The winner in America was a woman named Cheryl Brown, and her couch gag had five dandelions on the couch, and the screen filling with tiny airborne Homers, Marges, Barts, Lisas, and Maggies when the TV sneezes. In Canada, the winning CouchGag was a simple one where The Simpsons share the couch with a Canadian loon, John A. [=MacDonald=], a hockey player, and a Canadian beaver. |
| 319 | * PlayedForLaughs in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Red Man's Greed". Throughout the episode, we see a random kid with "ALEX" written on his shirt, who gives [[MandatoryLine fairly pointless lines]] that could have been cut. He does, however, manage to give AnAesop at the end, leading to the very last exchange of the episode: |
| 320 | -->'''Stan:''' ...Dude, who the hell are you?\ |
| 321 | '''Alex:''' Alex. Alex Glick? ({{Beat}}) I got to come on and do the [[BuffySpeak guest voice thingy]].\ |
| 322 | '''Kyle:''' What?! Get the hell out of here!\ |
| 323 | '''Alex:''' ''(walks off-screen waving)'' [[HiMom Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Hi Jill!]] |
| 324 | ** Also done for the opening crowd shot for season 14's premiere. |
| 325 | ** [[https://southpark.fandom.com/wiki/Hugh A background character]] in Season 22 was the winner of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Ps4dH-Sm4 an Omaze campaign.]] |
| 326 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' episode "Gangland" had a cameo from a school which won a contest to be animated in the series. |
| 327 | * ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' did this in the season finale, with the winner of an online contest being used as a test subject for part of their final DeathCourse. Of course, they just ''had'' to make the winner get to fall into a gorge, and it is inferred he was eaten by sharks. |
| 328 | * On a weekend morning show in the UK, there was a contest where a kid could have a background character in ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'' based on them. It's not known if they ever went through with this. |
| 329 | * Towards the end of 1998, Disney and UsefulNotes/McDonalds ran a promotion where a kid (three to twelve years old) would get to appear on an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' in the show's third or fourth season (both ran at the same time; season three on ABC and season four on UPN/syndication), as well as winning a trip to Disneyland (and the second prize winners were given a ''Recess'' themed birthday party). The winner, Morgan (last name currently unavailable), appeared in season four's "The Rules" (he was the kid playing the crabgrass). |
| 330 | * The PBS show ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' featured an episode in which the cast entered a contest to propose a story idea, which was won by the avatar of the girl who submitted the premise for that episode. |
| 331 | * The rampaging Drone from the ''Toys/HeroFactory'' TV mini series was designed by a member of the Platform/BZPower forums for the official Toys/{{Bionicle}} Building Contest #53. It appeared in a flashback in episode 3, and later, rebuilt as a monument, in episode 4. |
| 332 | * ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}} 6teen]]'' had at least two of these during its run. The first winner appeared as Jonesy's boss in the episode "Snow Job". The other one showed up sometime during season 3. |
| 333 | * When Creator/KidsWB first came out, they had a [[http://www.platypuscomix.net/kidswbyourself/KidsWBAd_1995.jpg contest]] tying in with its premiere which invited kids to answer questions related to the shows they were offering. If you got them all correct, you'd be entered to win a trip to Hollywood and (among other things) have a caricature of yourself appear in one of Kids WB's shows (exactly which one they appeared on, if at all, is currently unknown). |
| 334 | * ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' |
| 335 | ** In the episode "Tour de Ferb", there is a Fireside Girl with light brown hair who was designed after the winner of a Radio Disney contest. |
| 336 | ** In the Italian dub, the kid who rips away the rollercoster poster in the first episode and thanks Phineas for the ride at the end was voiced by a contest winner. |
| 337 | * Actor David Castro's career started when he won a Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} contest to appear in a ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' commercial. |
| 338 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'''s GrandFinale movie "[[WesternAnimation/DariaIsItCollegeYet Is It College Yet?]]" included some new backgrounders who were this. ("Alien Victory" and "Winner" on [[http://www.thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=44144 this list]].) |
| 339 | * A re-run of the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' episode "Beast Girl" on March 2, 2018 ended with a promo showing winners of a drawing contest that the network held to promote the episode. |
| 340 | * ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' once had a contest where the winner would do the voice for an alien who wanted to be killed by Rick. |
| 341 | * The girl Marcie who narrated the opening to the Romeo and Juliet play in the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode “School Play” was voiced by a girl who had won a contest to appear on the show. |
| 342 | * [[http://www.animeexpressway.com/rugrats/rrat10a.htm According to this article]], Embassy Suites held a contest where the winner would star in a three-minute ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' short. It is unknown if the short was ever made and who the winner was. |
| 343 | [[/folder]] |
| 344 |
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