Line #58 Main/RedHerringShirt


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6	Basically, when someone looks like a RedShirt, a {{Mook\|s}}, or even just an InnocentBystander, but [[SubvertedTrope turns out to be]] a MauveShirt, or even TheHero or the villain, with few or no clues beforehand.
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8	Often involves MookPromotion.
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10	If the supposed Red Shirt is a well-known actor, this may overlap with NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize.
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12	Compare AscendedExtra (where the promotion in importance happens in an adaptation or in later seasons of a long-running series), ChekhovsGunman (where a character is introduced in passing, but is deemed unimportant until later), TheDogWasTheMastermind, NonProtagonistResolver.
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14	Contrast DecoyProtagonist, DiscOneFinalBoss.
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16	'''This is a RedHerring trope so all examples will be spoilers. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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18	%% Because this is a spoiler trope, avoid spoiler-tagging examples.
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20	----
21	!!Examples:
22
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26	* Floch Forster in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. His first appearance is at the end of the "Uprising" Arc where he is stated to be former comrades with the main cast during the training years, thus showing how the main cast has grown and developed though the course of the story, and how they are experienced compared to their naive peers. He is later shown as a CannonFodder during the Battle of Shiganshina where he breaks down in TearsOfFear and participates in Erwin's suicide charge against the Beast Titan, only to end up the SoleSurvivor (and one of the very few in the Survey Corps besides Hange, Levi and the 104th), where he drags Erwin's body and argues for him to be titanized and ressurected, and is seen later in the medal ceremony scolding the rest of the cast. Come the TimeSkip and he is the secondary villain, as he forms a RenegadeSplinterFaction (the "Yeagerists") in the military, assassinates General Zackly, organizes a coup d'etat against the military junta and becomes TheDragon for Eren Yeagar.
27	* The Young Conducter/Claire Stanfield/Vino/Rail Tracer of ''Literature/{{Baccano}}''. The audience is led to believe that he died in the second episode, and has no reason to suspect otherwise until [[WhamEpisode the ninth episode]], despite his heavy involvement in between. To really get the point across, he's one of the 23 characters who appear in the opening credits, but he isn't one of the 17 identified by name. The entire Martillo family appears to be dead after being gunned down by Szilard. A few episodes later, it is revealed that [[{{Immortality}} nothing could be further from the truth]].
28	* Angela from ''Manga/BlackButler'' appears as the [[{{Meido}} maid]] to the BigBad of Episode 7. She's "beautiful" ([[GenericCuteness which is standard fare]]) and a domestic servant -- that was pretty much it. TheStinger, however, is ominous enough and subsequent episodes make it obvious that she's the BigBad of the season.
29	* ''Franchise/DetectiveConan'': Akemi is introduced as a PunchClockVillain working for [[TheSyndicate the Black Organization]] who gets killed by her own employers during her OneLastJob. The anime adaptation disconnected her from the organization and [[SparedByTheAdaptation let her live]]... until sixteen volumes later, the manga abruptly revealed that she was the older sister of Ai Haibara. This resulted in the anime scrambling to bring her BackForTheDead in a {{Filler}} episode, before eventually {{Retcon}}ning their original adaptation of the Billion Yen Robbery case.
30	* In the second chapter/movie of ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'', a seemingly random student at Shiki's school makes a cryptic statement to her in the hallway. Kokutou soon mentions he was at a party for a student named Lio Shirazumi, who was dropping out of school. Neither the name nor the person are ever mentioned again. You later realize that the random student was Shirazumi and that he is actually the murderer behind the events of both the second and seventh chapters. Somewhat less of a surprise in the movie, because Shirazumi is voiced by Creator/SoichiroHoshi, so you figure he's going to show up again and be important later.
31	* The first episode of ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' introduces the VictimOfTheWeek, Erika. Hey, wait a minute, [[SpoilerOpening why is she so prominent in the opening credits]]?
32	* Mikael from ''Anime/ImGonnaBeAnAngel''. In the first season he was nothing more but a background character, sometimes appearing only at the very end of episode or not appearing at all. In the second season, it was revealed that he is one of the three main individuals important to the plot, then he got promoted to a final villian and at the end, it turned out that ''he'', in fact was the main hero of the show -- confirmed by WordOfGod.
33	* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', [[WorldsStrongestMan Whitebeard]] is first introduced during a scene in which a new recruit of fellow Yonko Shanks boards his ship to discuss a meeting between the two. The first crew member to speak to the recruit ([[SmallNameBigEgo who had been bragging about his fame]]) is a lazy-looking blonde man who mentions that he's never heard of the recruit before. This crew member only has the one line, and is even drawn in a generic, sloppy way in the anime adaptation (complete with incorrect color palette). Several hundred chapters later, and the crew member is revealed to be Marco "[[RedBaron The Phoenix]]", Whitebeard's first mate, and a pirate strong enough to fight two admirals to a standstill!
34	* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'':
35	** The child-like Eto, a seemingly-minor member of Aogiri Tree that acts like a TagAlongKid to the higher-ranking members. Instead, she's not only the [[KingIncognito true leader]] of the organization, she is the legendary One-Eyed Owl and the enstranged, HalfHumanHybrid daughter of [[BigGood Yoshimura]]. Come the sequel, she steps out of the shadows and begins manipulating people openly. Eventually, she even reveals herself to her followers.
36	** Nimura Furuta, an easily-missed young Investigator introduced as the subordinate of the deranged, ObviouslyEvil Shiki Kijima. Once his superior is killed in action, however, he reveals himself to be one of the major players of the story -- a TykeBomb in the service of the organization '''V'''. He's spent the last several years infiltrating various groups, posing as a ghoul named "Souta" in order to join the Ghoul Restaurant and the [[WildCard Clowns Gang]]. Under this guise, he dropped the steel beams on Rize and caused Kaneki's transformation into an One-Eyed Ghoul. While working for the CCG as an Investigator, he's been aiding [[MadScientist Dr. Kanou]] in his experiments, and leaking sensitive information out to Aogiri. Suffice to say, it isn't clear where his true loyalties lie or what his real goals might be.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Comic Books]]
40	* ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'': Nebula, who is a half-zombie for most of the story, grabs the Gauntlet for herself, shifting the position of BigBad from Thanos to herself.
41	* This was a somewhat popular technique in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, and was usually PlayedForLaughs. In one of the earliest ''Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' stories, for example, the heroes take down a nationwide crime syndicate whose leader turns out to be an {{Expy}} of NewspaperComic character Casper Milquetoast who had popped up as a bystander in each prior chapter of the story.
42	* In ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', a short, redheaded man who holds a sign that says "The End is Nigh" is often seen in the backgrounds. He blends in with many of the recurring faces, seemingly just another part of the city's colorful population. He is actually Rorschach with his "face" off to observe without revealing his costumed-vigilante identity.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
46	* Happens in ''Film/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure'', when the two robed executioners turn out to be So-crates and Mr. The Kid in disguise, and they rescue Bill and Ted.
47	* ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' begins with a bank robbery in which disposable thugs kill each other one after another. Finally just two are left, and one realizes the other guy probably has orders to kill him, so he tries to strike first. Unfortunately for him, this other mook is ComicBook/TheJoker, and he was already expecting it and planning to kill the NEXT guy who was coming to kill this guy for him.
48	* In ''Film/FullMetalJacket'', Private Rafterman's insistance to follow Joker when the latter is sent to the field, and Joker's failure to convince Rafterman to not go with him, seem to foreshadow that Rafterman will die before the end of the movie. He's one of the named characters who survive the whole movie.[[note]]He dies in the original novel[[/note]]
49	* One of the party guests in the wedding at the beginning of ''Film/TheGodfather'' looks an awful lot like Frankie Pentangeli, a major character from ''The Godfather Part II''. It's unconfirmed whether it's the same actor, and if so, this was still probably unplanned.
50	* Happened in ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'' near the end, when Shang Tsung was doing some kind of ceremony with the kidnapped Sonya. Some random "evil" cloaked dudes turn out to be Johnny Cage and Liu Kang in disguise. Cue butt kicking.
51	* In ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'', [[spoiler:Alex/Skynet]] can be seen standing among the watching Resistance fighters as Kyle Reese approaches the time machine. The camera does linger on him for a moment, but there's no reason to think anything of it. [[spoiler:Until he attacks John Connor...]]
52	* In ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1993'', when D'Artagnan is led to the chopping block, two of the execution personnel turn out to be Porthos and Aramis in disguise, and they're there to rescue him with help from Athos (who takes care of the escape transportation by appropriating the Cardinal's carriage).
53	* The "two weeks" scene in the original ''Film/TotalRecall1990''. Averted in the [[Film/TotalRecall2012 2012 remake]]. The "two weeks" lady is normal. She repeats the phrase but only because she was thinking of something else when asked, then corrects herself. The guy after her, though...
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Literature]]
57	* The Worker from ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''. He is, of course, John Galt.
58	* In ''Literature/TheCosmere'' we have Hoid, a man who appears at least once in every series (which, mind you, all take place on different worlds and aren't aware of each other), and so far only plays a major role in one, who is introduced as, among others, a beggar, a storyteller, and an informant. His appearance in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' shows that he is far more important than we are initially lead to assume, and since then, he starts playing more important roles, like in ''Literature/TheBandsOfMourning''. Hoid is even going to be the main character of a future Cosmere series, which will act as a prequel.
59	* ''Literature/TheExpanse'': In ''Nemesis Games'', the midpoint of the series, [[AcePilot Alex]] briefly consults with a Martian Navy military analyst named Winston Duarte about the relatively minor issue of unaccounted-for ships and equipment -- and then there's a [[ApocalypseHow/Class2 Class 2 apocalypse event]], and a space war breaks out, and there are more important things to worry about. The book's epilogue reveals that Duarte was a GreaterScopeVillain of the novel, with plans to set himself up as the ImmortalRuler of an [[TheEmpire evil galactic empire]]. He is the BigBad of the final three novels in the series.
60	* Rashim Anwar joining the team in ''Literature/GatesOfRome'' was completely unexpected. He seemed to just be another OneShotCharacter until he was dragged off by the team back to the archway (and into subsequent books).
61	* ''Literature/PlanetOfAdventure'': ''City of the Chasch'' introduces the command staff of a starship. They send a pair of scouts to explore the mysterious planet below. The reader is likely to assume the scouts are doomed (and one of them is), but one becomes the main character of the novel and its three sequels. The starship explodes in the first chapter.
62	* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' likes these. Wedge Antilles is not a minor pirate but a major Rebel, though any reader who recognized his name would guess that. Domisari seems like an affable bystander and is Vader's assassin.
63	* Tigerclaw was a random prologue character in the first ''Literature/WarriorCats'' book. Fans now know him as the BigBad.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
67	* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': "[[Recap/AndorS1E10OneWayOut One Way Out]]" reveals that the Resistance has a deep cover mole within the Imperial Security Bureau. The mole is a character who has often been seen in the background or in crowd scenes in earlier scenes set at the ISB, but never drawn attention to himself while the story focused on different ISB characters.
68	* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': Angel encounters each one of the members of The Circle of the Black Thorn separately throughout Season Five.
69	* At the end of the first series of ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'', two servants standing in the background turn out to be Percy and Baldrick, who proceed to rescue Edmund... [[BlackComedy almost]].
70	* Jonathan from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' starts out as just a generic Sunnydale High Student/Monster Fodder, being used pretty much as scenery. Then he gets a handful of episodes where his insignificance is played up for all it's worth. Then he becomes a major character. Then he's murdered by one of his best friends.
71	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
72	** "[[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned Voyage of the Damned]]": Midshipman Alonso Frame is shot in the first act to reveal the captain of the ''Titanic''[='s=] treachery. It turns out that he's still alive, and he's one of only a few characters to survive to the end of the episode.
73	** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath Deep Breath]]": Companion Clara is seemingly abandoned in the bowels of a spaceship by a manic and unreliable Doctor undergoing regeneration trauma. She is repeatedly menaced by one particular clockwork android wearing a skinned face resembling the previous actor to play the part of the Doctor, until the suspension has been milked dry, at which point the "android" rips its face off to reveal the new Doctor, with his wits about him for once.
74	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': When Bronn is first introduced, he looks like just another sellsword. The camera doesn't linger on him very much, and he doesn't even have any features or costumes to distinguish him from a commoner other than a dry wit. Then he offers to be Tyrion's champion at the Eyrie, and proves to be more than just a mook.
75	* Megan from ''Series/MadMen''. For most of season 4, she's just a secretary/receptionist at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. In the final episode of the season, Don Draper unexpectedly proposes to her after spending the season in a LoveTriangle with two other women, and she becomes a major character in the final three seasons as Don's second wife.
76	* "Jim from IT" in BBC's ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', who appears as Molly's boyfriend, and whom Sherlock quickly dismisses as gay after Jim gives him his number. Turns out he's actually Moriarty himself.
77	* John Sheppard in the ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' pilot. When the famous O'Neill is flying in a helicopter to meet Weir and company, you pay little attention to his pilot, even when he's given a name. Then he wanders into the Antarctic outpost and activates the control chair by accident, and presto! He's TheHero, ready-made. However, Sheppard has already distinguished himself by managing a HighSpeedMissileDodge in an ordinary helicopter, which is why O'Neill gave him top clearance in the first place.
78	** Halfway through Season One we get a two-part episode where the Genii invade the city. One of Kolya's {{mooks}} is given a handful of lines as an Atlantean tech specialist while Kolya the strike team leader and Sora, his second in command, get all the attention and 95% of the Genii lines. Sheppard could easily have killed him during his counter-attack but instead he just gets knocked out because Sheppard didn't want to give away his position, and he leaves along with Kolya. Fast forward to next season and he's become the ''leader'' of the Genii homeworld.
79	*** Inverted with Sora. At the end of the episode she had been captured on Atlantis by the heroes, and was clearly not comfortable with how Kolya had acted. Despite that and being a unique FieryRedhead ActionGirl with a lot of potential for story lines going forward, Sora is never seen again, gets one mention as still being captured months later with a second cut from an episode for time reasons, requiring WordOfGod to fill in the blanks. It takes a post-series ExpandedUniverse novel series before she becomes part of the story again.
80	* Damar from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. Introduced as merely one of Dukat's henchmen, he goes on to be one of the major drivers of the concluding arc of the show.
81	* Seska from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. She was originally just a red shirt that appeared in a couple episodes as a member of Voyager's crew. As it turns out, she is the main antagonist of the first two seasons.
82	* Marlo Stanfield from ''Series/TheWire''. The first time viewers see him, he looks like an average corner hustler, and he's only shown for a couple of seconds. The first few times he's mentioned, the police on the detail immediately dismiss his crew as a low-tier outfit. Later, it becomes clear that Marlo's crew is actually extremely capable and becomes the dominant criminal force in Baltimore.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Manhwa]]
86	* Taken to the extreme in the first chapter of ''Manhwa/ShinAngyoOnshi''. The main character of the series appears only as some henchman of the unknown evil lord of the city. In chapter 2, after it turns out that the supposed hero from chapter 1 was the evil lord all along, the true main character reveals his identity and kicks some ass!
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Podcasts]]
90	* ''Podcast/TheAdventureZone'' has Barry Bluejeans: first encountered as an irrelevant mercenary hired by [[AdaptationalVillainy Gundren]] and presumed dead in the destruction of Phandalin by the end of the first arc. Over fifty episodes later, he is revealed to be one of the most important characters in the entire show, having traveled to the current universe aboard the same IPRE ship as the protagonists.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
94	* Often, ProfessionalWrestling does this, with a {{Jobber}} that scores a fluke victory and goes on to make something of himself. See: [[Wrestling/SeanWaltman The 1-2-3 Kid]] (later known as [[XPacHeat X-Pac]]) and Wrestling/BarryHorowitz in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} in Wrestling/{{WCW}} (who actually started his win streak with his first televised match, despite getting the JobberEntrance), Wrestling/MikeyWhipwreck in the original Wrestling/{{ECW}}, and Colin Delaney in the WWE {{revival}} thereof. Another popular bit is a fan that somehow gets involved in the action and ends up wrestling; WWE did this bit with Wrestling/SteveBlackman, Zach Gowen, and Wrestling/SantinoMarella, as well as having "celebrity guest" Lawrence Taylor get involved this way.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Theatre]]
98	* In ''Theatre/TheGondoliers'' by Creator/GilbertAndSullivan, the girls who will be the gondoliers' love interests are chosen by a game of blind-man's-buff. Before they are tagged in the game, the female leads of the play have no solos and are not distinguished from the rest of the chorus in any way. Some productions will give them differing costumes or choreography, though, which somewhat ruins the effect.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Video Games]]
102	* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfareII'' has Sergeant Major Rodolfo Parra, Colonel Vargas's second in command and playable character of the ''Borderline'' mission, who seemed to be set up to die in the same mission after Hassan injures him and burns down the house where he's in. However, the good Colonel manages to rescue him from the burning house in time. Later he also managed to evade Shadow Company's betrayal against all odds and provide important support for both Colonel Vargas's rescue operations and the reclamation of Los Vaqueros headquarters.
103	* This trope is what makes the Imperial Guard campaign of ''[[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Dawn of War II: Retribution]]'' so satisfying. The faction universally considered the weakest and the biggest joke in the entire setting, usually existing only to be [[RedShirtArmy utterly crushed to display how awesome the opposing group is,]] can go on to single-handedly defeat fallen Space Marines, escape a planet undergoing [[EarthShatteringKaboom Exterminatus,]] survive a [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Space Hulk]], and finally wind up defeating a [[BigBad demon]].
104	* ''VideoGame/DontStarve'': Robert Wagstaff was initially mentioned in passing as the one who'd invented the radio that Maxwell used to communicate with Wilson. While the series' LetterMotif hinted that he might eventually be playable, especially since he'd mysteriously disappeared, it took six years before he finally appeared in game... and revealed that he'd managed to reach the Constant ''without'' Maxwell's help, making him a HeroOfAnotherStory.
105	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', one of the Shinra guards in some flashbacks turns out to have been Cloud the whole time.
106	* Marx from ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', who at first glance appears to be nothing more than a generic resident of Pop Star. Turns out, he was actually the BigBad who staged the whole thing, and was manipulating Kirby into awakening Nova so he could use its power to seize control of Pop Star. Especially since unless you waited at the title screen, he doesn't even appear in the game proper beforehand.
107	* When the Fold take over the nanite-controlled supervillains in ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance 2'', Bullseye kills a large number of Red Shirts with [[DeadMansHand his lethal playing cards]]. The only one that gets back up? A disguised Comicbook/NickFury (who turns out to be an LMD, as per usual).
108	* On rare occasions, an orc captain in ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor'' or ''[[VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar Shadow of War]]'' will show up already scarred and swear vengeance upon Talion, implying that he was one of the many rank-and-file grunts who was thought to be slaughtered by the undead ranger. Of course, [[SubvertedTrope he might just turn out to still be cannon fodder]] if he doesn't put up enough of a fight.
109	** This can also happen with more minor captains with easily exploitable weaknesses who come BackFromTheDead after you kill them. That random captain who got {{One Hit Kill}}ed by a stealth attack? He's back with a new scar, an immunity to his previous AchillesHeel, and a massive level boost. Of course, just like the above example, [[NegatedMomentOfAwesome it's also possible he still has crippling weaknesses that let you dispose of him just as easily the second time]].
110	* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil runs: Mitsuo, a creepy kid who shows up once on your first day of school and appears in the shopping district every now and again, Namatame, a character mentioned in the throwaway news reports near the beginning of the game and sometimes shows up around town, Adachi, Dojima's bumbling PluckyComicRelief of a partner, and Izanami, the gas station attendant who greeted you at the beginning of the game.
111	* The ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' remakes has Zinnia who had cameo appearances as a Team Magma/Aqua grunt before becoming important in the post-game Delta Episode.
112	* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVsAceAttorney'' features a new "Mob Trial" system, where Phoenix has to cross-examine several witnesses at once. To keep this from being too overwhelming, the individual witnesses in each "mob" are generally flat, generic characters with very basic portraits and personalities. Of course, in the first trial involving the system one of the seemingly generic witnesses turns out to be the real killer. They get a lot more expressive after you start to PullTheThread.
113	* One of they playable characters in ''Return of Heracles'' is named Palaemon. Familiarity with Greek myth, however, will tell you long before the game does that the seemingly weak man initially trapped with two serpents is actually the titular Heracles as an infant, and he receives his more familiar alias as you progress.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Web Comics]]
117	* In ''Webcomic/ErrantStory'', an inept and cowardly guard from the Veracian Church, named Sandel, suddenly turns out to ''actually'' be an undercover spy for the Ensigerum Time-Ninja-Monks! Still only a MauveShirt, but that's a hell of a lot better than being an NPC Guard.
118	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
119	** PlayedWith when two soldiers [[YouShallNotPass holding off bad guys for the heroes]] turn into supporting characters as soon as we [[NominalImportance learn their names]]. In fact, one of them has been mortally wounded just as he is about to introduce himself, and as he lay dying, he happens to mention his first name, then immediately realizes it was OnlyAFleshWound. He decides to save revealing his last name for an emergency. Also, [[MemeticBadass O-Chul]].
120	** A less meta example is Minrah, who initially seems to just be, at most, a MauveShirt dwarf cleric who eventually gets killed by a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy dominated]] Hilgya during a battle with vampires. Except she then proceeds to show up in the afterlife with Durkon after the latter's vampirized body is staked, comes along with him for an ExpositionDump about the nature of the setting from Thor, and is eventually resurrected soon after him by her own request. She winds up joining the party outright to accompany them into the final arc.
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Web Original]]
124	* The French webnovel ''Les Aventures de Morgoth'' has a secondary character named Tiberius Kenny Redshirt, who not only survives but becomes quite a badass.
125	* ''WebAnimation/MetaRunner'': In "Firewall", Masa has an [[{{NosyNeighbor}} annoying neighbor]] who barges in twice into his low-tier apartment, once asking Masa about some money he owes, and again asking to borrow something while Masa is in the middle of stating his distrust towards Tari and Theo following the revelations he learned in "Shutdown". [[spoiler: In the [[{{TheStinger}} stinger]] for "Fatal Error", it is revealed that said neighbor is none other than Dr. James Sheridan, who is also revealed to be alive while orchestrating events which climaxed in hacking Masa's arm to force him to shoot Lucks.]]
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder:Web Videos]]
129	* This trope is almost universally played straight in [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man stories]]. Notable instances include Tim from ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'', who is secretly Masky, Brian from the same series who is secretly the Hooded Man, and also ''totheark'', and much more surprisingly Kevin from ''WebVideo/TribeTwelve'', who turns out to be none other then the Observer.
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Western Animation]]
133	* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' episode "War"; each time one kills a DecoyProtagonist and becomes a DecoyProtagonist him/herself.
134	* During Book 3 of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Kuvira appeared in the background of many scenes as a common soldier in Zaofu, before she is introduced during the season finale. In Book 4, she is revealed as a [[VillainWithGoodPublicity charismatic tyrant]] who is determined to conquer the whole Earth Kingdom and eventually the world.
135	* In many ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' and ''WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons'', a silly character keeps appearing out of nowhere as a RunningGag. At the end, the villain gets fed up and demands the character tells him who he is. He responds, "Don't you know? I'm the hero", then dispatches the villain with a HyperspaceMallet.
136	* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars'' Shaak Ti appears as a member of [[CListFodder the squad of Jedi that Grievous soundly defeats]]. She survives, and goes on to play a major part in the Battle of Coruscant, protecting Chancellor Palpatine. Not only that, she survives for another ''17 years'' after Order 66, when the vast majority of the Jedi (including ''all'' Jedi except Shaak Ti who were present in the Jedi Temple at the time) were killed. This is especially notable, as one of the deleted scenes from ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' would have shown her being killed by Grievous before Order 66 was ever executed, while another one showed her being killed by Darth Vader during the attack on the Temple.
137	[[/folder]]

Context Main / RedHerringShirt