| 1 | ---- |
| 2 | !!Games/franchises with their own subpages: |
| 3 | [[index]] |
| 4 | * ''UnexpectedCharacter/AzurLane'' |
| 5 | * ''UnexpectedCharacter/CapcomVs'' |
| 6 | * ''UnexpectedCharacter/FateGrandOrder'' |
| 7 | * ''UnexpectedCharacter/FireEmblemHeroes'' |
| 8 | * ''UnexpectedCharacter/JumpForce'' |
| 9 | * ''UnexpectedCharacter/NickelodeonAllStarBrawl'' |
| 10 | * ''UnexpectedCharacter/SuperMarioBros'' |
| 11 | * ''UnexpectedCharacter/SuperRobotWars'' |
| 12 | * ''UnexpectedCharacter/SuperSmashBros'' |
| 13 | * ''UnexpectedCharacter/TotalWarWarhammer'' |
| 14 | * ''UnexpectedCharacter/WWEVideoGames'' |
| 15 | [[/index]] |
| 16 | |
| 17 | !!Individual examples: |
| 18 | |
| 19 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | !!!'''In general:''' |
| 22 | [[folder:In general]] |
| 23 | * Pretty much any musician appearing in a non-music game counts as this. Was anybody really expecting the ''Film/FightClub'' video game to have Fred Durst from Music/LimpBizkit as a playable character? |
| 24 | ** Allegedly, Durst made it part of Limp Bizkit's licensing deal that he would be playable in any game that used their songs. |
| 25 | [[/folder]] |
| 26 | |
| 27 | !!!'''By franchise:''' |
| 28 | [[folder:''Kingdom Hearts'']] |
| 29 | ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' is an expert at this. It's a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover of ''all things'' Creator/SquareEnix and Creator/{{Disney}}, which naturally makes it full of surprises. |
| 30 | ---- |
| 31 | * ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'': |
| 32 | ** Since nearly every Disney character you meet is from the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon or the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts, ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' characters serve as something of a shock — especially since it technically wasn't even considered a Disney film at the time (it was since re-released under the Disney banner). |
| 33 | ** [[WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}} Chernabog]]. You've spent an entire adventure defeating well-known yet cartoony Disney villains, and just when you're about done fighting through [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon The End of the World]], ''[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Night on Bald Mountain]]'' fires up and the Fantasian monstrosity rises before you, with no warning and [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere no explanation]]. |
| 34 | ** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud Strife]]; though numerous ''Final Fantasy'' characters had appeared, they all seemed to inhabit OriginalGeneration worlds. Cloud, however, was encountered in [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} Olympus Coliseum]]. If Cloud wasn't unexpected, the OptionalBoss most certainly was: after meeting only ''Final Fantasy'' heroes, having BigBad Sephiroth suddenly assault you (accompanied, like Chernabog, by his theme music) is a nasty sucker punch. |
| 35 | * ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'': |
| 36 | ** Creator/TetsuyaNomura had previously stated that he'd only feature ''Final Fantasy'' characters who he himself had designed; clearly, someone talked him out of it, because early in the game we encounter [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Setzer]] and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX Vivi]]. |
| 37 | ** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX Auron]]. As in THE Auron from FFX. Auron and Hades hate each other and Sora in the midst of it finds a trinket which has actual lines from FFX vocalized. Before then, the FF characters were implied to be AU versions. |
| 38 | ** WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle appearing as a Summon character; his movie [[EarlyBirdCameo hadn't even been released in Japan]] when the game came out. |
| 39 | ** ''KHII'' debuted characters from ''live-action'' Disney films: [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl first]] ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', and then as if to top themselves, ''Film/{{Tron}}''. TRON especially stands out due to his [[SmallRoleBigImpact surprisingly noteworthy role]], with his world actually being located inside of Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden's security system, instead of just being another world entirely (though [[Film/TronLegacy The Grid itself]] would make an appearance [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance sometime later]]). |
| 40 | ** [[WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}} Yen Sid]]. A fairly obscure character (the sorcerer from ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice''), this game openly used his name and gave him [[SuddenlyVoiced a voice]] for the first time in Disney history. Since then, he's pulled the trope even further by becoming the BigGood and gaining prominence in the series to rival Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. |
| 41 | * ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' features [[Franchise/LiloAndStitch Experiment 221 (also known as Sparky)]] from one of the direct-to-video ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' [[WesternAnimation/StitchTheMovie sequels]] (and its affiliated [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries TV series]]) as a boss that Terra fights. Granted, ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII's'' version of [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} Agrabah]] was based on [[WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar another sequel]], so it's not ''entirely'' unprecedented. It is, however, unexpected due to its AdaptationalEarlyAppearance, appearing in what's essentially the opening act of the first movie, instead of any of the sequels. |
| 42 | * ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'': |
| 43 | ** The cast of ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', who practically got their own world in the form of OriginalGeneration HubWorld Traverse Town. |
| 44 | ** One of the new worlds, Country of the Musketeers, is based on ''WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers''. While not the first time the medium was represented[[note]]Agrabah's plot in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' took elements from ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'', whereas ''Birth by Sleep'' featured Experiment 221 (Sparky) as a boss[[/note]], the fact that a world would be based entirely on a direct-to-video film took many by surprise. |
| 45 | ** This game's SuperBoss is [[spoiler:Julius, the villain of the obscure seven-minute short film ''WesternAnimation/RunawayBrain'']]. |
| 46 | ** The final bosses of the game? [[spoiler: A younger version of [[BigBad Xehanort]] who's revealed to have been manipulating events since the start, and Sora wearing [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Ventus]]'s armour]]. |
| 47 | * After been AdaptedOut for so long, the appearance of Gaston from ''Beauty and the Beast'' in ''Kingdom Hearts X[chi]'' threw some people. The medals used as this game's ability mechanic also feature characters from Disney and Final Fantasy who have never appeared in the series before like the protagonists of ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' and characters from ''VideoGame/WorldOfFinalFantasy''. |
| 48 | * ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'': |
| 49 | ** The game features the first time in the series that Creator/{{Pixar}} films have been included in the roster, with ''Franchise/ToyStory'' and ''Franchise/MonstersInc'' getting their own worlds (and the latter taking place ''after'' the first movie, with Boo and Randall coming back for good measure) and Remy from ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' making an appearance. |
| 50 | ** The ranks of the new Organization XIII turn out to include Marluxia and Larxene, the traitorous members of the original Organization, and Vanitas, a major antagonist in ''Birth By Sleep'' who was thought to be a one-shot character. |
| 51 | ** While many expected Marshmallow, the giant snow monster from ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' to appear as a boss, which he does, he's also quite unexpectedly the GuestStarPartyMember for that world. |
| 52 | ** Considering that the team behind ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'' worked on the game's Gummi ship segments, the Endymion's appearance as a Gummi Ship blueprint was somewhat expected. The [[spoiler:[[ClimaxBoss Schwarzgeist]] as an OptionalBoss]] on the other hand was a huge surprise. |
| 53 | ** Many naturally expected the ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'' characters to make a comeback appearance in the game. Practically '''no one''' anticipated [[WesternAnimation/PoohsHeffalumpMovie Lumpy]] to make his first appearance in almost a decade, especially since the direct-to-video movies seemed highly unlikely after the shutting down of Creator/DisneytoonStudios. This was also the first appearance of Gopher in any medium since ''Kingdom Hearts II'' 13 years earlier, and thus the first time Lumpy and Gopher ever interacted. |
| 54 | [[/folder]] |
| 55 | |
| 56 | [[folder:''LEGO'' Adaptation Games]] |
| 57 | Creator/TravellersTales' VideoGame/{{LEGO Adaptation Game}}s love to spring surprise characters on the players. |
| 58 | ---- |
| 59 | * ''VideoGame/LegoStarWars'': |
| 60 | ** ''The Complete Saga'' has Franchise/IndianaJones as an unlockable character, even though his game, ''VideoGame/LegoIndianaJones: The Original Adventures'', hadn't even been announced at the time. He's the only non-''Star Wars'' character to appear in the game, period. ''The Original Adventures'' itself returns the favor by featuring Han Solo as a secret character (as a bonus, both characters are played by Creator/HarrisonFord). |
| 61 | ** Among the huge roster of characters in ''LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars'' is Galen Marek, also known as [[VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed Starkiller]]. While there ''was'' a set made to promote ''The Force Unleashed'' (the Rogue Shadow set), few could've guessed that Vader's Apprentice would actually be in a ''LEGO game''. |
| 62 | * In ''VideoGame/LegoBatman 3'', your guide through the various Lantern Corps home worlds is the Green Loontern from the episode of ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers'' where WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck got Hal Jordan's outfit after a mix up at the cleaners. |
| 63 | * In ''VideoGame/LegoMarvelSuperHeroes'', ComicBook/HowardTheDuck of all characters shows up in a side mission alongside [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Vulture]]. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] with their BossSubtitles: "Vulture and... Howard the Duck?" There was also ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan (a character who debuted the same year the game came out) and [[ComicBook/TheInvadersMarvelComics Union Jack]]. |
| 64 | * In ''VideoGame/LegoMarvelSuperHeroes2'', the first boss fight is against [[ComicBook/TheEternals the Celestial Eson the Searcher]]. He only appeared outside of the comics in the ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}'' movie, and even then that was only a [[TheCameo cameo]]. |
| 65 | * Most of the franchises represented in ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'' already had Lego tie-in sets released or announced, but it's safe to assume that very few people expected ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', ''Series/DoctorWho'', and ''VideoGame/Portal2'' to be represented in the game alongside them. |
| 66 | ** Even though he's not playable, [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey HAL 9000]] makes a small cameo. |
| 67 | ** The newest wave of characters includes the likes of [[Film/TheGoonies Sloth]], [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime Finn and Jake]], WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls, [[Film/ETTheExtraterrestrial E.T.]], [[Film/{{Gremlins}} Gizmo]], Series/TheATeam, and even ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'', many of whom come from media that have never even had LEGO sets before. |
| 68 | ** The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' level pack features multiple surprises of its own: |
| 69 | *** The most significant is Big the Cat appearing as a major NPC, considering he had been all but abandoned by Sega due to his [[TheScrappy reputation amongst the fanbase]]. |
| 70 | *** The Mecha Sonics from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' and ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'' return as mini-bosses, both of them having only appeared in one game each beforehand. |
| 71 | *** Two nonspecific E-100 Series robots with the same body shape and design as [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure Gamma]] appear as part of a puzzle in the Metropolis Zone area, the first appearance of this robot design since ''VideoGame/SonicBattle''. |
| 72 | * While not ''entirely'' unprecedented, among the secret characters in ''VideoGame/LegoTheIncredibles'' are one character from ''every'' other existing Pixar movie/franchise up to ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'', specifically [[Franchise/ToyStory Woody]], [[WesternAnimation/ABugsLife Flik]], [[Franchise/MonstersInc Sulley]], [[WesternAnimation/FindingNemo Dory]], [[Franchise/{{Cars}} Lightning McQueen]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}} Linguini]], WesternAnimation/WallE, [[WesternAnimation/{{Up}} Russell]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Brave}} Merida]], [[WesternAnimation/InsideOut Bing Bong]], [[WesternAnimation/TheGoodDinosaur Spot]], and [[WesternAnimation/{{Coco}} Miguel]], as well as none other than Pixar's mascot itself, Luxo Jr. |
| 73 | [[/folder]] |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[folder:''Project X Zone'']] |
| 76 | ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'' is a series that brings together some of the most well-known video game characters [[Creator/{{Capcom}} from]] [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment three]] [[Creator/{{Sega}} companies]]. Not that it's completely free from this trope. |
| 77 | ---- |
| 78 | * ''VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom'' is rather imfamous for this. |
| 79 | ** On the Namco side, many of the characters are from old UsefulNotes/{{Arcade Game}}s, the most recognizable being Taizo Hori, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/DigDug'' (complete with [[AdaptationalBadass Badass Makeover]]). |
| 80 | ** Meanwhile, the Capcom side is just strange: |
| 81 | *** One of the playable characters is Sylphie, the shopkeeper from the little-known game, ''VideoGame/ForgottenWorlds''. While she never became playable again, she did reappear in ''Project X Zone 2'', refilling her role as shopkeeper whenever [[OriginalGeneration Chizuru Urashima]] or Miyuki Chan (from ''Ordyne'') are unavailable. The same also applies to the protagonists of her game, the two Unknown Soldiers. |
| 82 | *** ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' is represented by Bruce [=McGivern=] and Fong Ling from ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilGunSurvivor Resident Evil: Dead Aim]]'', characters that not even fans of the franchise are too familiar with. |
| 83 | *** ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'' is the only ''Franchise/MegaMan'' series to have representation in the game, featuring Mega Man Volnutt, Roll Caskett, Tron Bonne, and her Servbots as playable units. This was surprising since this was before the sub-series became a CultClassic and even then it's still not the first thing people think of when they hear ''Mega Man''. |
| 84 | *** Oddly, ''VideoGame/RivalSchools'' is represented not by its protagonists, Batsu and his team, but by relatively minor characters, Hideo Shimazu and Kyoko Minazuki. |
| 85 | * ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'' 1 |
| 86 | ** Bruno Delinger from ''VideoGame/DynamiteCop'' was not on a lot of people's radars, due to his game being a DolledUpInstallment of ''[[Film/DieHard Die Hard Arcade]]'', a video game adaptation based on the film series. |
| 87 | ** While [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration Sanger Zonvolt]] is very popular among fans of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', this was the first game where he fights without his Mecha. |
| 88 | ** [[VideoGame/SpaceChannel5 Ulala]]. She's one of Sega's most popular characters. That didn't stop her inclusion surprising many people. This is due to her games being {{Rhythm Game}}s, which isn't usually the first thing people would expect for a StrategyRPG like ''Project X Zone''. |
| 89 | ** ''VideoGame/ZombieRevenge'' isn't the first game most people think of when they hear ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead''. And yet, Rikiya Busujima, one of the playable characters from that game, shows up as a Solo Unit. |
| 90 | ** [[Anime/{{Yumeria}} Neneko]]. Her home game [[NoExportForYou didn't get a release in the US]], and [[TheAnimeOfTheGame what did get released]] probably got the few who saw it asking "What's an Anime character doing here?". |
| 91 | * ''Project X Zone 2'': |
| 92 | ** Due to him being a character exclusive to commercials, not many people were expecting ''Advertising/SegataSanshiro'' himself to appear as a solo unit. Didn't stop fans from squeeing for joy when he was announced. |
| 93 | ** Due to no hints for Creator/{{Nintendo}} representation, many were caught by surprise when Fiora from ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' and Chrom and Lucina from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' were confirmed to be playable. |
| 94 | [[/folder]] |
| 95 | |
| 96 | [[folder:''Sonic the Hedgehog'']] |
| 97 | * [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure Tikal]] and [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Mephiles the Dark]] are unlockable characters in ''VideoGame/SonicRunners'', the former having not made a physical appearance since ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2's'' battle mode, and the latter having never reappeared since his debut game at all [[note]]Outside of a blink-and-you'll-miss it screenshot of him during the credits of ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations''[[/note]] due to being [[RetGone erased from existence]]. |
| 98 | * [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure Chaos, an orca whale, the Tornado 2,]] [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 King Boom Boo, a Chao walker,]] [[VideoGame/SonicHeroes a Gold Cameron,]] [[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Erazor Djinn, Shahra, Caliburn, Merlina, King Arthur's Ghost, the Dark Queen,]] [[VideoGame/SonicUnleashed Chip, some Gaia minions,]] and [[VideoGame/SonicColors the Mother Wisp]] are all "Buddy" characters in ''Sonic Runners'', each of them having made minimal appearances beforehand. |
| 99 | * [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure Chaos]] appears as a major villain in ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' in its "Chaos 0" form, the first time it did so since ''VideoGame/SonicBattle''...[[CutsceneBoss except this time you never actually get to fight it]]. |
| 100 | * ''VideoGame/SonicDash''[=/=]''VideoGame/SonicForcesSpeedBattle'': |
| 101 | ** ''Franchise/HelloKitty'' of all franchises was available as an unlockable character for a limited time in ''Dash''. |
| 102 | ** Likewise, VideoGame/PacMan and Red, Chuck and Bomb from ''Franchise/AngryBirds'' (in their ''VideoGame/AngryBirdsEpic'' iterations) also got unexpected limited time crossovers. The Angry Birds eventually gets another crossover by bringing the movie iteration of Red and Chuck to both ''Dash'' and ''Speed Battle''. |
| 103 | ** The above mentioned Tikal and Chaos are playable characters in ''Speed Battle''. |
| 104 | ** The [[VideoGame/SonicRiders Babylon Rogues]] are available individually as playable characters in ''Speed Battle'', the first time they've been playable in a non-Olympics game (or in the case of Storm, playable at all) since 2010. |
| 105 | ** There's also Longclaw from the [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 Sonic movie]], who was added in both games to promote its home media release. While the inclusion of both "Teen" and Baby Sonic was expected, the inclusion of their guardian was not given that [[spoiler:she had only little over a minute of screentime at the beginning of the movie before being killed off.]] |
| 106 | ** The most unexpected characters in both games, however, are definitely Tangle the Lemur, Whisper the Wolf and Surge the Tenrec from the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW IDW comic series]], considering that, barring nonplayable cameos from the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Archie]] cast in ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogSpinball Sonic Spinball]]'' all the way back in 1993, characters from the ''Sonic'' comics had never featured in a ''Sonic'' game before. |
| 107 | ** Excalibur Sonic and the Knights of the Round Table (Sir Lancelot, Sir Percival, Sir Gawain, and Sir Galahad) from ''[[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Sonic and the Black Knight]]'' in both ''Speed Battle'' and ''Dash'' was an unexpected addition on par with Tangle, Whisper, and Surge considering that Sega has barely brought up that game at all since it brought the brief Storybook Series to an end. |
| 108 | ** ''Dr. Eggman himself'', especially considering that both Speed Battle and [[VideoGame/SonicForces the game]] it gets its title from heavily involves fighting Eggman’s Badnik forces. |
| 109 | * ''[[VideoGame/SonicMania Sonic Mania Plus]]'' adds [[VideoGame/SegaSonicTheHedgehog Mighty and Ray]] as playable characters, neither of which have been seen outside of cameos in decades. |
| 110 | * ''VideoGame/TeamSonicRacing'' has several unexpected choices as a result of how small the initial roster is: |
| 111 | ** Very few expected a group of Chao to be the third member of Team Rose, especially in lieu of team mainstay Cream, who is [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome nowhere to be seen in the game]]. Even more unexpected is that Omochao, the series' resident AnnoyingVideoGameHelper, is part of the group in question as well as essentially the group's mouth; before this, he's usually been depicted as an announcer or referee instead of a full-on playable character. This also marks the first time that Omochao has been made playable in anything since [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure hia debut over 20 years prior]] (the Chao itself was playable in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' via the Chao Walker). |
| 112 | ** Zavok for Team Eggman. While Metal obviously makes sense, there is little justifiable reason as to why Zavok would be on Eggman's team; ''Lost World'' made it clear the two hate each other, and the Zavok seen in ''Forces'' is a mere clone made by Infinite. |
| 113 | ** Sand Road is a case of Unexpected Level: it's based on Sand Hill from ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', a short sandboarding sequence in Tails' story that's more of a minigame than a level, and was overshadowed by the snowboarding sequence in Ice Cap. Other than a passing (and likely accidental) mention in ''VideoGame/SonicForces'', this is its first appearance in a Sonic game since ''Sonic Adventure DX'' was released in ''2003''. |
| 114 | * Like with the ''Lego Dimensions'' example above, Big the Cat turns up in ''VideoGame/SonicFrontiers'', in a very rare non-joke role: he teaches Sonic how to fish and lets Sonic borrow his fishing rod. |
| 115 | [[/folder]] |
| 116 | |
| 117 | !!!'''By studio:''' |
| 118 | [[folder:[=NetherRealm=] Studios]] |
| 119 | * ''Franchise/MortalKombat'': |
| 120 | ** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon'' promised to bring back every character that ever appeared in a ''Mortal Kombat'' game as playable, it's doubtful that very many fans (assuming they even ''knew who he was'') would have expected Meat making it to the roster, given that in his appearance in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'' he wasn't so much a character as an alternate costume available for any character through a cheat code to make them look like a bloody skeleton. |
| 121 | ** In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy]] [[GuestFighter Krueger]] as a [[DownloadableContent DLC character]]. [[VideoGame/GodofWar Kratos]] as a [=PS3=] exclusive character was unexpected as well when he was initially revealed. Also, while not as out of left field as the guest characters, few expected [[spoiler:a cyberized Sub-Zero]] to show up. |
| 122 | ** In ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'', Creator/NetherrealmStudios managed to surprise players yet again by giving us [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]], Film/{{Predator}}, [[Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre Leatherface]], and a [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorph]]. |
| 123 | *** Perhaps as equally unexpected is Triborg. While it being an amalgamation of the cyber-ninjas [[VideoGame/MortalKombat3 Cyrax, Sektor, and Smoke]] is expected, no one was suspecting [[spoiler:a hidden ''fourth'' variation: [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 Cyber Sub-Zero]]]]. |
| 124 | ** In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', Creator/NetherrealmStudios managed to surprise players yet for the third time by giving us Film/TheTerminator, ComicBook/TheJoker, ComicBook/{{Spawn}}, Franchise/RoboCop and Franchise/{{Rambo}}. Also, while not as out of left field as the guest characters, few expected [[spoiler:a cyberized Frost]] to show up. |
| 125 | ** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' went insane with the unexpected returns, mostly thanks to the game being the franchises third ContinuityReboot, bringing back several first run era characters like Darrius, Ashrah, Havik, Li Mei, Shujinko and even ReplacementScrappy Mavado. Its not limited to returnees either; Rain in this timeline is [[spoiler:Zeffeero, a minor character from Deceptions Konquest mode]], the previously mentioned Havik is revealed by Reptile [[spoiler:to actually be Dairou]], and arguably the biggest unexpected character of the lot is [[spoiler:King Jerrod, formerly a PosthumousCharacter never seen in action, who in this timeline is one of the souls that make up Ermac and eventually takes over the gestalt in Story Mode]]. |
| 126 | *** On the DLC side of things, while people did expect Ermac and Quan Chi(themselves haven't shown face in [=MK11=]), nobody expected Takeda to join in, alongside guest fighters [[WesternAnimation/Invincible2021 Omni-Man]], [[Series/TheBoys2019 Homelander]] and [[Series/Peacemaker2022 Peacemaker]], On the [=NPC=] side, [[spoiler:Onaga the Dragon King also joins in on the returns, being the creature Shao wishes to tame]]. |
| 127 | * No one was expecting to see Bizarro, Mr. Freeze, Vixen, Grid, Swamp Thing, or the Scarecrow (though his inclusion can be justified by the fact he had been promoted to BigBad in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'') in ''VideoGame/Injustice2''. For that matter, no one was expecting [[spoiler:the playable Brainiac to be [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Brainiac 5]]]], Black Lightning to be a premiere skin for [[Franchise/MortalKombat Raiden]], or ComicBook/{{Hellboy}} and the Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles to be among the {{Guest Fighter}}s. |
| 128 | ** Perhaps the biggest instance was ComicBook/TheAtom, who many thought would not make it in as his SizeShifter powers would have been hard to make a moveset around. There is also the fact that it was Ryan Choi being used rather than Ray Palmer. |
| 129 | [[/folder]] |
| 130 | |
| 131 | [[folder:Other Studios]] |
| 132 | * Creator/NipponIchi games often have a number of characters from other games appear as [[TheCameo cameos]]. Some are of characters players probably weren’t expecting to see again. |
| 133 | ** Aramis from ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' appears for all of one chapter and isn't even playable in any version of the game. [[AscendedExtra He becomes]] a DownloadableContent OptionalPartyMember in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}''. |
| 134 | ** The strongest OptionalBoss in ''VideoGame/ZettaiHeroProject'' is Valvoga from ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom'', whose only other appearance outside those two games were as part of a ''spell animation'' in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2|CursedMemories}}''. |
| 135 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4|A Promise Unforgotten}}'' has announced [[VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness King]] [[DisappearedDad Krichevskoy]] as a DownloadableContent OptionalPartyMember. [[spoiler:However, it's technically Vyers/Mid-Boss, but with his power returned and the antennae grown back out. Still pretty awesome though.]] |
| 136 | * Defunct Japanese developer Creator/{{Psikyo}} had vast experience on this: |
| 137 | ** First of all, there was the game they developed for Creator/{{Capcom}}: ''VideoGame/CannonSpike'', a ShootEmUp with a roster worthy of a VideoGame/CapcomVs game: [[Franchise/StreetFighter Cammy, Charlie]], [[VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}} Baby Bonne Hood]], [[VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins Arthur]], VideoGame/{{Mega Man|Classic}} and 2 "new" characters that are [[{{Expy}} re-versions]] of existing Capcom characters: Simone (based on [[VideoGame/AlienVsPredator Linn Kurosawa]]) and Shiba Shintaro (based on [[VideoGame/ThreeWonders Siva]]), the latter became TheFace of the game, along with Cammy. |
| 138 | *** Also, one of the enemies is known as "[[VideoGame/StreetFighterII Fallen Balrog]]" (a redesign of Vega who looks like Music/MarilynManson.) |
| 139 | ** Also from Capcom, [[VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}} Morrigan Aensland]] appears as an unlockable character in the console versions of ''Gunbird 2'' due to Capcom distributing the ''Gunbird'' series. |
| 140 | ** Ayin, a HotBlooded {{Samurai}} with an EyepatchOfPower, is the most prominent UnexpectedCharacter of the company, appearing in various of their games, prominently in the 3 most famous ShootEmUp made by Psikyo: ''VideoGame/Strikers1945'' (as the only male character in the first game), ''VideoGame/SengokuAce'' (as one of the protagonists) and ''Gunbird'' (as a {{secret character}}.) |
| 141 | ** In one of the games of their {{Ecchi}} TabletopGame/{{Mahjong}} series ''Taisen Hot Gimmick'', there're 3 secret characters: Koyori from ''VideoGame/SengokuAce'', Marion from ''Gunbird''... and [[FanDisservice Ayin]]. |
| 142 | * Creator/{{SNK}} examples include the many Another Striker cameos in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters 2000'', to such characters as [[VideoGame/MetalSlug Mars People]], [[VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins Red Arremer]] and the title character of ''VideoGame/{{Athena}}'' in ''VideoGame/SNKVsCapcomSVCChaos'' (as opposed to the more iconic ''[[VideoGame/PsychoSoldier Athena Asamiya]]'' from ''KOF''). Nobody expected a ''VideoGame/KingOfTheMonsters'' character (Cyber Woo) in ''VideoGame/NeoGeoBattleColiseum'' (Shermie could also be one since, despite the pivotal role she played in ''The King of Fighters '97'', the team she represents, the Orochi Clan, are more known as a collective unit rather than by themselves). Then they have [[VideoGame/FatalFury Hwa Jai]] [[TheBusCameBack making his unexpected return]] in ''The King of Fighters XIII'', who has not been in a proper fighting game since 1991. And in regards of ''SVC Chaos'', Zero was a surprise to begin with, but an even bigger surprise was that he was based on his ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' incarnation rather than the more popular ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' incarnation. [[VideoGame/SamuraiShodown Earthquake]] hadn't appeared in a game in nearly a decade and wasn't particularly popular then, so seeing him return in ''SVC Chaos'' was quite an unexpected surprise as well. Choi Bounge (who makes his surprising solo appearance in ''SVC Chaos'') has been a fixture in ''The King of Fighters'', frequently appearing as a team member of Kim Kaphwan's Korea Team, but [[ThoseTwoGuys he's always seen with]] TheBigGuy, Chang Koehan (to the point that he was an AssistCharacter to Chang in ''VideoGame/CapcomVsSNK2MarkOfTheMillennium''). Kasumi Todoh in ''SVC Chaos'' could also be one as well (as she never really stood out in the cast of any game she's appeared in and her father, Ryuhaku Todoh, did show up in ''[=CvS2=]'', with the latter possibly being an even more shocking and unexpected character from within the game itself as Todoh was reduced to a DemotedToExtra ButtMonkey after his single appearance in the first ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' video game). |
| 143 | [[/folder]] |
| 144 | |
| 145 | !!!'''Other:''' |
| 146 | [[folder:A-G]] |
| 147 | * ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': |
| 148 | ** ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth Ace Attorney Investigations 2]]'' had a fairly ridiculous amount of returning characters from past games, but perhaps most unexpected was Frank Sahwit, the murderer of the first case of the first game who essentially serves as nothing more than a tutorial for the player. The developers admitted they added him mostly because it was the series' 10th anniversary. We also get [[spoiler:Penny Nichols, the trading card fangirl from the third case of the first game]], a character so obscure that (to the developers) knowing her name is enough to mark a true fan. Last, but not least, you have [[spoiler:Regina Berry from the much-maligned third case of ''Justice for All'']]. |
| 149 | ** ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'' is a title that stars Phoenix Wright's ancestor who lives in UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration-period Japan, so one would expect a purely Japanese cast created for the game. No one expected the developers getting PublicDomainCharacter Franchise/SherlockHolmes involved in the investigations. And once the game was announced for an overseas release, [[WritingAroundTrademarks the localizers got around from dealing with any legal issues with the Doyle Estate]] [[DubNameChange by renaming him as Herlock Sholmes]], after the CaptainErsatz version created by Maurice Leblanc so he could use him as a rival for Literature/ArseneLupin. Then it's revealed that only the first case takes place in Japan and the rest of the story is in VictorianLondon, making the appearance of Holmes/Sholmes less jarring, but considering everyone excepted the entire game to take place in Japan, having it take place in London was a surprise for everyone. |
| 150 | ** In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'', the initial prosecutor for the final trial, as well as the man Phoenix was speaking with on the phone at the start of the game, is none other than [[spoiler:Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth]]. |
| 151 | * The September 2022 update for ''VideoGame/AnimationThrowdownTheQuestForCards'' brought a completely new series to the game: ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'', with Archer himself as a playable hero and Archer, Lana and Krieger as character cards. Given that the game only had five series[[note]]''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'', ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill''[[/note]] for years since its launch, very few players saw a sixth series joining the roster. |
| 152 | * ''Arm Joe'', a fighting game based on the musical ''Literature/LesMiserables'', has every major characters playable...and then there's Ponpon. He's based on the stuffed animal Cosette carried around as a child. There's also an evil robot version of Jean Valjean called Robo Jean. |
| 153 | * The Platform/NintendoDS version of ''Band Hero'', a spin-off of ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' aimed at tween audiences, has a secret character who is unlocked by playing enough times as each one of the default characters. Who is this character, you ask? Maybe one of the classic ''Guitar Hero'' characters? Or a real-life rock star? How about [[spoiler:'''''Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}}''''']]? Because [[spoiler: a Great Old One]] is what every kid-friendly rhythm game needs. |
| 154 | * In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', the roster included such iconic Batman foes as Two-Face, Catwoman, and the Penguin. More of a surprise was Solomon Grundy; while he's [[ComicBook/TheLongHalloween had a few run-ins with the Dark Knight]], he was a foe of the original Franchise/GreenLantern, and more commonly takes on various DCU heavy hitters. |
| 155 | ** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' adds Professor Pyg and Deacon Blackfire as minor villains to the series. The former is a relatively recent villain who isn’t as well-known as some of Batman’s other foes (though no less terrifying), and the latter was the central villain of one short story arc in the 80s and hasn’t been seen since. |
| 156 | * ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCentralFiction'' contained a number of them in the form of Naoto Kurogane, Es and Mai Natsume, all characters from [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary material]] (the ''Bloodedge Experience'' light novel, ''VisualNovel/XBlaze'' and ''Manga/BlazblueRemixHeart'', respectively) who were never mentioned in the main series proper. |
| 157 | * ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCrossTagBattle'': |
| 158 | ** The inclusion of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' itself qualifies, seeing as ArcSys had never done anything with said franchise before. Thus, when Ruby Rose herself hijacked the announcement trailer at Evo 2017, it took everyone present by surprise. |
| 159 | ** The fourth character showcase had curveballs from the ''[=BlazBlue=]'' and ''Under Night'' sides. While Yukiko was expected to be next in line from the ''Persona 4 Arena'' cast (as the character reveals so far had followed the order in which the Yasogami High students joined [[Characters/Persona4TheInvestigationTeam the Investigation Team]]), almost nobody saw Azrael and Gordeau being announced much earlier than other characters from their respective series. |
| 160 | ** Es was already considered a case of this when she was revealed for ''Central Fiction'' for technically being a GuestFighter who [[CanonImmigrant made her way into the main series]] [[VisualNovel/XBlaze from a]] {{prequel}} VisualNovel, so seeing her revealed in the fifth character showcase caused some genuine surprise. Compounding this further is the fact that she's still relatively new and isn't as prominent compared to the other three revealed characters (Iron Tager, Makoto, and Nu-13). |
| 161 | ** The showcase for the first batch of DLC (Blake notwithstanding) kicked off with Platinum the Trinity as the next ''[=BlazBlue=]'' representative. While thematically appropriate in some ways ([[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift Platinum was originally introduced as a DLC character]]), this was a surprising choice for everyone given [[TheScrappy Platinum's popularity]] ([[AmericansHateTingle particularly among the Western fanbase]]), as more popular and requested characters from her series currently remain unaccounted for. |
| 162 | ** The seventh character trailer for the second DLC pack has two: Aegis, who--as a ''Persona 3'' character--completely breaks the order the previous trailers had been going by with the ''Persona 4'' side (where it was mainly the Investigation Team in order of joining/awakening their Personas), and Jubei, who was only released in ''Central Fiction''--after nearly a decade's worth of fan demand that he be PromotedToPlayable--less than a year before this game's release (in fact, his debut trailer even aired ''alongside'' this game's teaser trailer). |
| 163 | ** Several of the datamined characters count. To start things off, very few fans expected Izayoi (aka an alternate form for Tsubaki Yayoi) to be in the game instead of the original Tsubaki Yayoi herself. Mika can also come across as this given how she was not part of the original cast of ''Under Night In-Birth''. In addition, some fans didn't expect Labrys to be in the game since some fans thought ASW was only including characters from the mainline ''Persona'' games--though this is countered by Labrys making her formal debut in the original ''Persona 4 Arena''; many fans figured she had a shot at being included, just not a better one than various other members of the ''Persona 4'' and ''Persona 3'' casts. |
| 164 | ** From the beginning, the game was touted as a crossover between ''Franchise/BlazBlue'', ''VideoGame/UnderNightInBirth'', ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' and ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''. So Heart Aino from ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart'' as a GuestFighter was an out-of-nowhere addition. This also set the stage for more franchises to be represented in the future. |
| 165 | ** Akatsuki from ''VideoGame/AkatsukiBlitzkampf'' being revealed at EVO 2019 was kind of surprising, but not too much, since he already appeared as a GuestFighter in ''Under Night In-Birth'', so he had some connection to the game already. However, what was most definitely ''not'' expected was that he'd be accompanied by Blitztank, a literal tank that is not humanoid at all. Neo from ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' was also a big surprise, since the ''RWBY'' characters are the only one who need all-new spritework, so the addition of more beyond the initial 4 was uncertain, and her role in the show is relatively minor. |
| 166 | * Among the DLC characters introduced for ''Super VideoGame/{{Bomberman}} R'' are Bomberman versions of [[VideoGame/{{Castlevania}} Simon Belmont]], [[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} Vic Viper]], and even ''[[Franchise/SilentHill Pyramid Head and Bubble Head Nurse]]''. Later patches offered even more surprises, including Bomber versions of [[VideoGame/GanbareGoemon Goemon]], [[VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial Shiori Fujisaki]], [[VideoGame/PrincessTomatoInTheSaladKingdom Princess Tomato]], [[VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders Jehuty, Anubis]], [[VideoGame/MetalGear Solid Snake, Naked Snake]] (complete with [[RoleReprise new voice lines]] from Creator/DavidHayter!), [[VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance Raiden,]] [[VideoGame/PopNMusic Mimi, Nyami,]] [[VideoGame/{{Parodius}} Octopus,]] and most surprising of all, '''''Wrestling/XavierWoods'''''. |
| 167 | ** It gets sillier in Super Bomberman R Online: one of the first DLC characters just so happens to be [[VideoGame/FallGuysUltimateKnockout a Bean from Fall Guys.]] |
| 168 | * In ''VideoGame/BleachThe3rdPhantom'', the ability to recruit Shinji and Hiyori for the final few chapters comes right out of nowhere, given that they had only appeared in a few cutscenes up to that point. Even more unexpected, though, is the postgame unlockable [[Anime/BleachTheDiamondDustRebellion Sojiro Kusaka]], when no other anime- or movie-exclusive characters appear in this game. |
| 169 | * In ''VideoGame/BuffyTheVampireSlayerChaosBleeds'' the six main playable characters are [[ActionGirl Buffy]], [[HotWitch Willow]], [[BadassNormal Xander]], Spike, [[DarkActionGirl Faith]]... and Sid the Dummy. You know, from that one episode in the first season that you totally forgot about. And Creator/JossWhedon is an unlockable character. |
| 170 | * The MascotFighter ''VideoGame/CartoonNetworkPunchTimeExplosion'' includes the channel's usual stable of characters...and WesternAnimation/{{Captain Planet|and the Planeteers}}, who actually ''predated'' the channel by a few years. |
| 171 | * Yugao Uzuki from the ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' series, appearing in ''Clash of Ninja Revolution 2'', has to be one of the most unexpected characters on this list, appearing in the Manga for less then ''five panels'', showing none of her skills in these panels. She is so unknown that many assumed (and still do assume) she was a character created exclusively for ''Revolution 2'' along with Komachi and Towa, the other exclusive ANBU, despite appearing in the Anime and Manga as mentioned before. It doesn't help that she was unnamed in all English versions of the series up to that date (guidebooks referred to her as a generic female ANBU). Even when she received focus in a filler arc in Shippuden and was called by name for once, people think she was only created for that filler. |
| 172 | * ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert:'' As [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianDawn the previous game]] was made with the game's developers as actors, it's no real surprise to see a character portrayed by Kane's actor running around in the background. What ''is'' a surprise is the end of the Soviet campaign where it's revealed the character ''is'' Kane himself, helping to execute [[spoiler:Josef Stalin]] and then his co-conspirator to set his plans into motion. |
| 173 | * ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot On the Run!'' brought back Scorporilla, one of the [[VideoGame/CrashOfTheTitans Ti]][[VideoGame/CrashMindOverMutant tans]], as one of the Boss villains for Crash to fight. Not only is it surprising because it's the first Titan to make a return after the [[AudienceAlienatingEra infamous]] Radical Entertainment-Era games, but it was also part of ''the game's first soft-launch'', making it part of the base-release cast! For the sake of reference, the other two Boss villains in the soft-launch were series-staples Doctor N. Brio and Dingodile. |
| 174 | ** The first ever crossover event for the game was with none other than [[VideoGame/YoNoid Domino’s Pizza, by adding The Noid]], of all things, as one of the enemies. |
| 175 | ** One of the bosses was Mr. Crumb, a villain from a 99X mobile Crash game made in 1998, not even by Naughty Dog. |
| 176 | * Tendry Dimpalm appears in only one scene in ''VideoGame/DeadlyRoomsOfDeath: The City Beneath'', making him an unexpected choice for the protagonist of the following SpinOff. |
| 177 | * ''VideoGame/DaemonXMachina'', a game involving piloting mechas, featured their first collaboration with [[VideoGame/TheWitcher Geralt of Rivia and Siri]] as the pilots, in the flesh. Even if it was hinted they've been displaced to futuristic settings before, you wouldn't expect to actually see them in one. |
| 178 | * ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'': |
| 179 | ** Monokuma comes back once again, albeit [[TheOtherDarrin recast]]. This was a surprise for fans, since the previous voice actor for him was diagnosed with dementia before the game's production started. He even breaks the fourth wall to state "you can't have ''Danganronpa'' without Monokuma!" |
| 180 | ** The new main character, Kaede Akamatsu, was revealed in the second teaser of the game. It was a surprise not only due to her being the first female protagonist in the main ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' series, but also due to the first teaser not even hinting at her existence, and strongly implying that the robotic Naegi {{Expy}} would be the player character. [[spoiler:For added bonus points, Kaede turns out to be a DecoyProtagonist and dies at the end of the first chapter, leaving the protagonist spot to be filled by Shuichi Saihara, who was the {{Deuteragonist}} up to that point.]] |
| 181 | * ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'': |
| 182 | ** The game is no stranger to crossovers, having incorporated ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'', ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre1974'', ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'', and ''Film/{{Ringu}}'' among numerous others. But absolutely ''nobody'' was expecting Creator/NicolasCage ''AsHimself'' to be a playable Survivor. |
| 183 | ** For ''years'', fans begged Behvaiour to add Chucky of the ''Franchise/ChildsPlay'' franchise as a killer. But due to his small size not working with the games hitboxes and various other issues with his small stature, it was repeatedly stated it was not going to happen. Fast-forward to November 2023, when fans were greeted to a trailer revealing Chucky was indeed coming to the game at last. |
| 184 | * ''VideoGame/DigimonMasters'': |
| 185 | ** The game is based on ''Anime/DigimonDataSquad'', so no one expected all the elements from other shows. |
| 186 | ** Having Dorugoramon in the game was a bit of a surprise, seeing as most adaptations after ''Anime/DigimonXEvolution'', despite using Dorugamon's digivolution line, usually have Alphamon as Dorumon's Mega form instead. Having the Raptordramon line in the game, which never before appeared outside of the v-pets, even more so. |
| 187 | * ''Disney Epic Quest'' had Little Yama, a bit character who only had relevance at the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' before quickly being taken out by Hiro's Megabot, as one of the characters part of the launch roster, alongside bigger-name characters like Mickey Mouse, Stitch, Jack Sparrow, etc., etc. |
| 188 | * ''VideoGame/DisneySpeedstorm'' |
| 189 | ** In a release time example, [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} Hercules and Megara]] were this. While many fans expected that they would be added sometime down the line, few expected them to be included in the base roster. |
| 190 | ** The announcement of [[Ride/JourneyIntoImagination Figment]] was a huge surprise given that he's a character from the Ride/DisneyThemeParks instead of being from a Disney film or a TV series. His crew also includes the Dreamfinder, SMRT-1,[[note]]from Epcot's [=CommuniCore=][[/note]] Sonny Eclipse,[[note]]from the Magic Kingdom quick-service restaurant Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe[[/note]], the Dapper Dans,[[note]]who debuted at Ride/{{Disneyland}} in 1959[[/note]] the Orange Bird,[[note]]from Ride/WaltDisneyWorld[[/note]] and Ride/TheEnchantedTikiRoom birds. |
| 191 | ** Gilbert Goof, a ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse-based only nephew of WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}, getting a Crew slot over the more well-known [[WesternAnimation/GoofTroop Max Goof]] (though this does open an opportunity for Max to join as a racer later on). |
| 192 | ** [[WesternAnimation/SteamboatWillie Steamboat Mickey]] as a separate character from Mickey was a surprising inclusion, as fans assumed he would have been an alternate costume for WesternAnimation/{{Mickey|Mouse}} if he got in. Steamboat Pete was similarly surprising, as he got in before the modern version of WesternAnimation/{{Pete}}. |
| 193 | ** While having ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'' added down the line was expected, especially since Stitch is one of Disney's most popular characters, the small reveal that its season would have ''five'' characters from the franchise instead of the expected four (one for each of the four racer classes) got fans excited and lead to a whole bunch of guesses of who would get in. Two of the characters were especially surprising. |
| 194 | *** During the week of Season 3 character reveals beginning July 17, 2023, Gameloft teased through concept art shared on social media which characters from ''Lilo & Stitch'' will be added. The first two reveals (after Stitch, who was already revealed on Stitch Day; i.e. June 26), Lilo and Jumba, were widely expected additions, but players were stunned when Captain Gantu was announced as the fourth racer, as many players thought he would be too big to be added, à la [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Ridley]] for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' before ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]'' (Gantu's [[YourSizeMayVary size inconsistencies]] in ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' notwithstanding). |
| 195 | *** The final character was revealed to be Angel, a character who wasn't even in [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch the original film]], but rather the aforementioned ''Lilo & Stitch: The Series'' (as well as the ''Anime/{{Stitch}}'' anime on which she appeared more often). While she is a massive BreakoutCharacter who had appeared in several crossover games beforehand, including Gameloft's own ''VideoGame/DisneyMagicKingdoms'' and ''Disney Getaway Blast!'', her inclusion still came out of left field for those who were either unaware of (or [[FirstInstallmentWins don't like or support]]) the sequel and spin-off material or didn't think ''Speedstorm'' would acknowledge it (or ''any'' Creator/DisneyTelevisionAnimation character,[[note]]outside of ''[[Franchise/MickeyMouse Mickey and Friends]]''-related shows like ''Franchise/DuckTales''[[/note]] for that matter). |
| 196 | *** Even the ''Lilo & Stitch'' Crew Members have a couple surprises. One of the Common Crew Members is Luki, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shave_ice shave ice]] vendor who appears only very briefly in the original film without any spoken lines, and while he also appears in a small speaking role several times in ''The Series'' with a different design for that show, ''Speedstorm'' uses his original film appearance instead. Meanwhile, Reuben (Experiment 625) appears as an Epic Crew Member, which itself was not a surprise; what ''is'' somewhat surprising was that he was made ''Angel's'' Epic Crew Member instead of Gantu's, who was given the Grand Councilwoman as his Epic Crew Member, despite some fans believing that she would be a Rare Crew Member instead. Similarly, Stitch's Epic Crew Members are (of all things) the swan family from his ''Literature/TheUglyDuckling'' book, who don't even physically exist within the movie's universe. |
| 197 | * ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'': |
| 198 | ** People assumed early on Seymour would be in as the villain of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', but instead Tidus' father Jecht, who was more an {{Antihero}}[=/=]{{Antivillain}} than a real antagonist, got in over Seymour. Square actually [[WordOfGod decided to explain this one]]--Seymour had more of a rivalry/connection with Yuna, so having him in the game as the representative villain would have meant there was little going on between Tidus and Seymour story-wise, whereas Jecht provided a deeper father-son[=/=]rivalry dynamic.[[note]]Though, in a strange case of an character playing the role of ''his own {{expy}}'', FFII's Emperor Palamecia, to whom Seymour bears a very strong resemblance, was placed in the role of Yuna's main opponent in ''Duodecim''.[[/note]] |
| 199 | ** In the prequel ''Dissidia 012'', who did we get new from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''? Not [[TheRival Seifer]], or [[TheHeart Rinoa]], or even [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Edea]]. No, we get [[BadassNormal Laguna Loire]]. |
| 200 | * ''VideoGame/DoctorWhoLegacy'': |
| 201 | ** Inverted with the Humble Bundle deal on the game, which came with a code unlocking all of the Doctors except for three. You'd expect the Twelfth (who had only done his regeneration {{Cliffhanger}} at that point) to be absent, but the other missing Doctors were 1) CreatorsFavorite the Fifth Doctor and 2) overwhelming popularist-favourite the Fourth Doctor. And, to make it worse, while you could buy the Fifth Doctor virtually immediately from the in-game store, you can't buy the Fourth... |
| 202 | ** Many of the "companions" are obvious in-show companions (Rory Williams, Rose Tyler, Sarah Jane Smith) or non-travelling recurring allies generally considered 'companions' by fans (the Brigadier, the Paternosters, Craig) or helpful major characters in the story they're in (Porridge, Tricey). Then we go digging up very, very niche expanded universe companions like Benny, Molly, and Frobisher, as well as bewilderingly obscure minor characters who say a couple of lines in their serial and die (Punishment Medic) and the occasional inanimate object (Bessie). |
| 203 | * ''VideoGame/{{Do|nPachi}}DonPachi II: Bee Storm'' features series-traditional TrueFinalBoss Hibachi...in a [[WarmUpBoss heavily-depowered form]] as the game's ''first'' boss. |
| 204 | * While it was predicted that ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'' would have crossover events, no one expected one with the ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' series that was announced in the 1-year anniversary celebration. |
| 205 | * The ''Franchise/DragonBall'' games: |
| 206 | ** The ''Budokai Tenkaichi'' games have, among others, ''Grandpa Gohan'', [[Manga/DoctorSlump Arale Norimaki]], General Blue, [[{{Mooks}} A generic Frieza soldier, Appule]],[[note]]his appearance was used for a quick joke in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' in which he's playing the game as himself, beating up Bardock[[/note]] Spopovich, [[SquishyWizard Babidi]], and Nail. The [[EnsembleDarkhorse more popular characters]] are usually expected or asked for, but some of these are just unexpected. |
| 207 | ** The original Budokai trilogy had this, especially Budokai 2 which featured [[FusionDance Gok]][[ImagineSpot ule]] as an unlockable fusion, and even WhatIf characters, specifically Tiencha (Tien and Yamcha after doing the Fusion Dance) and 4 different forms for Super Buu after absorbing Tien and Yamcha, Vegeta, Frieza and Cell. |
| 208 | ** The arcade game ''Dragon Ball Heroes'' includes a ton of characters first appearing in games (Kid Krillin, Pirate Robot, [[Anime/DragonBallZBioBroly Bio-Broly]], Paragus, Kid Vegeta, Young Nappa, Lord Chilled, GT Satan, GT Goten, Beerus, Whis, Hell Fighter 17, Oceanus Shenron, etc.) as well as new transformations. (Super Saiyan God Goku, [=SSJ3=] Trunks, [=SSJ3=] Future Gohan, GT Gotenks, Super 17 Cell Absorbed, Baby Janemba, etc.). |
| 209 | ** ''Super Dragon Ball Z'' takes the cake, featuring Chichi as a playable character. |
| 210 | ** ''Xenoverse'' gives us Raspberry, a minor mook who first appeared in episode 59 of the original Z anime, where he got defeated by a GiantEnemyCrab. DLC also gives us Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, who is the star of a minor manga Akira Toriyama made in recent years. On top of being playable, Jaco is also a master who can train you. |
| 211 | ** Be honest, how many people expected the likes of Super Kaioken Goku, Candy Vegito, ,Kid Vegeta, [=SSJ3=] Bardock or any of the ''VideoGame/DragonBallFusions'' or ''VideoGame/DragonballHeroes'' characters to appear in ''VideoGame/DragonballZDokkanBattle''? |
| 212 | * ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': |
| 213 | ** A game of swords, sorcery, dragons, and... the Space Core from ''VideoGame/Portal2'', as an official PC-only add-on. |
| 214 | ** Due to the actions of the Akaviri Dragonslayers and their descendant Order, the Blades, Dragons have been rendered nearly completely extinct in Tamriel, with the few survivors not being sighted in thousands of years, leading most to consider them mythical creatures at best. As a result, Dragons have rarely been seen within the Elder Scrolls series... that is until [[BigBad Alduin]] returns and begins resurrecting the fallen Dragons en-masse. |
| 215 | %%* Harold the ghoul in ''VideoGame/Fallout3''. He was the only character that appeared in the three first main ''Fallout'' games. |
| 216 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2''[='=]s first North American DLC features a battle with Lightning, and everyone was expecting that. What they weren't expecting was for [[OneSceneWonder Sergeant Amodar]] to appear... and be a Commando-role ''monster''. On top of that, TheUnfought of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', [[TheBaroness Jihl Nabaat]], followed a few months later. |
| 217 | * ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'': |
| 218 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' has Jaffar as a recruitable character. He acted as TheBrute to TheBigBad, attacking a main character's father, and killing another character's girlfriend. Though Jaffar was given [[LoveRedeems a redemption story]], it's still surprising to have him join the army over [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]] Lloyd and Linus. |
| 219 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'': [[spoiler: The Black Knight]] comes to Micaiah's rescue in Part 1. He's supposed to have perished [[spoiler: after Ike defeated him and ''an entire castle'' fell on him]]. Later on in Part 4, [[spoiler:Oliver]] of all people turns out to be NotQuiteDead and can actually join the party, flabbergasting everyone involved. |
| 220 | * ''VideoGame/FusionFall'' had a few examples: |
| 221 | ** The inclusion of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' in the original caught many by surprise, seeing as the show is owned by Creator/WarnerBros, not Creator/CartoonNetwork, not to mention the show had many haters at the time, so most people didn't think the developers would even ''consider'' bringing him in. Fans were even more surprised when ''[[FanRemake Legacy]]'' not only brought him back, but included even more characters from the show. |
| 222 | ** [[FanworkBan Though the developers eventually had to change their plans]], the announcement of [[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Chris McLean]] as an NPC for ''Legacy'' caught many off guard, because the show he's from isn't even owned by a Time Warner company. |
| 223 | * For its first {{Crossover}} event, ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'' brought in Aloy from ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn''. What makes this especially surprising is that ''Genshin Impact'' is made by the China-based Creator/MiHoYo, while ''Horizon Zero Dawn'' was made by the Amsterdam-based Creator/GuerrillaGames. |
| 224 | * For ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear Xrd -SIGN-'', no-one expected a new character in the form of a young boy permanently affixed to a bed MiniMecha named [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Bedman]]. While the home console port brought back ''[=GG2=]'''s [[IdiotHero Sin]], it also had an unexpected curve in [[GirlyBruiser Elphelt]], an utter cutie-pie with a love for heavy artillery. |
| 225 | * The ''VideoGame/GundamVsSeries'' had stuck to animated machines and characters. ''Extreme Vs'' blew that out of the water when [[Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam the Crossbones]] showed up in it, alongside the [[Manga/MobileSuitGundamSeedAstray Astray Red and Blue Frames]]. Later DLC added the Blue Destiny Unit 01 (only appeared in a video game), Hi-Nu Gundam (a variation of Nu Gundam that only appeared in a novel), and the [[Literature/MobileSuitGundamHathawaysFlash Xi Gundam]] (another novel-exclusive). |
| 226 | ** ''Extreme Vs Full Boost'' continued the trend, adding the [[Manga/GundamSentinel Ex-S Gundam]], EnsembleDarkhorse [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Patrick Colasour]], and, of all things, the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Zeta Zaku]]. |
| 227 | ** Then ''Extreme Vs Maxi Boost'' brought in the [[Literature/MobileSuitGundamHathawaysFlash Penelope]] (the rival MS of the Xi Gundam) and the [[Anime/GundamBuildFighters Build Strike Gundam]] (Which in-universe is only a kitbashed ''model'' of a mobile suit), as well as variation mobile suits like the Avalanche Exia that have never appeared in ''anything'' outside of the MSV books (basically "what-if" mobile suits based on canon ones). |
| 228 | ** ''Extreme Vs. 2'' added in a Real-Grade version of [[Anime/SDGundamGaiden Knight Gundam]]. No, not based off of the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriorsGundam'' version, but based off of the METAL ROBOT SPIRITS figure based off of that version. |
| 229 | ** In order to give a Boss representative for ''Anime/GundamBuildFighters'', ''Extreme Vs. 2 [=XBoost=]'' brought in the Psycho GM, the [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Psycho Gundam]]-themed GM Gunpla from the Epilogue OVA ''GM's Counterattack'' piloted by Mikio Mashita, who's the boss of the Gunpla Mafia. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Yes, this is all real.]] |
| 230 | * ''VideoGame/GundamBattleGunplaWarfare'': |
| 231 | ** The game caught players off-guard with the inclusion of a SuperDeformed [[Anime/SDGundamGaiden Knight Gundam]], making him the first ''Franchise/SDGundam'' Gunpla to be made playable in the ''VideoGame/GundamBreaker'' series. And just to reiterate, this is the original SuperDeformed version of the guy, not the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriorsGundam'' version of him with a more Fullscale design (That already appeared in previous installments). |
| 232 | ** A surprise came when characters from ''Gundam Breaker 3'' started showing up in the story. This was especially notable as it was never established that any of the ''Gundam Breaker'' games had a SharedUniverse up until that point. |
| 233 | [[/folder]] |
| 234 | |
| 235 | [[folder:H-L]] |
| 236 | * ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' features a plethora of [[Creator/BlizzardEntertainment Blizzard's]] most popular characters to date, but some are less expected than others. |
| 237 | ** Back when the game was a custom map for ''Starcraft II'', Thrall was in the game as a healer. They quickly decided that didn't fit his character, so they gave the kit to a new hero - Rehgar. Rehgar was a very obscure character from the ''World of Warcraft'' comics that hadn't even debuted in the games, taking everyone by surprise when he was the first playable orc. |
| 238 | ** VideoGame/TheLostVikings are a throwback to Blizzard's ''very'' early days (So early, they weren't even called Blizzard yet) who were surprisingly added to the roster. |
| 239 | ** Probius isn't even an actual character in his [[VideoGame/{{Starcraft}} home franchise]], but an expendable WorkerUnit. He's actually an AscendedMeme from the ''Legacy of the Void'' cinematic, where a 'hero probe' warps in a pylon then disappears off screen. It turns out, the probe got sucked into the Nexus. |
| 240 | ** Whitemane was mostly known as a MsFanservice mid-level dungeon boss from vanilla [=WoW=], and wasn't on very many players' radars. To everyone's surprise, she ended up being the first Priest in the game (although she was followed by the much more well-known Anduin a year later). |
| 241 | ** Taken up another notch by introducing [[LittleMissBadass Orphea]], a CanonForeigner OriginalGeneration hero from one of the realms of the Nexus itself. The same goes for Qhira, another CanonForeigner who doesn't even come from one of the established maps (although, fan reactions were more divided on her). |
| 242 | ** And then there's [[DragonsAreDemonic Deathwing]]. Despite being the most requested hero for years, many people thought he'd never be added (or be added as a [[NonPlayerCharacter map objective]]) because he's too big. Yet, they found a way to make him work while keeping him as a full-sized dragon permanently. |
| 243 | * ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'': |
| 244 | ** [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Midna and Agitha]]. The former wasn't as unexpected because of her large role and due to being very popular, but still surprised many people who expected her to be a one-shot character. Agitha, however, came completely out of left field for most players, as she only played a role in a sidequest, and didn't even show any combat abilities whatsoever. |
| 245 | ** No one was really expecting Darunia and Ruto to be playable since, despite having prominent roles in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', they were still just NPC characters who hadn't appeared in another game since their debuts. |
| 246 | ** ''[[UpdatedRerelease Hyrule Warriors Legends]]'' threw fans for an even bigger loop when ''The King of Hyrule'' from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' was announced as a playable character. |
| 247 | ** There's also Linkle, a DistaffCounterpart of Link who was first seen in concept art of the first game and who the developers had originally thought about including but [[DummiedOut ultimately scrapped]]. She would go on to be playable in the new game. |
| 248 | ** Marin from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' was fairly popular, but not exactly a character fans were expecting to ever see again for multiple reasons, among them the game being AllJustADream (and in the game's GoldenEnding [[spoiler:she is implicitly turned into a seagull]]) and having a more prominent {{expy}} in the form of Malon, so it surprised many people when she was announced as a DLC character for ''Hyrule Warriors Legends''. |
| 249 | * ''VideoGame/{{Infected}}'' allows you to play as the members of Music/{{Slipknot}} along with... the vocalist from Music/{{Chimaira}} (who says musicians need to get their own ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' title to be put in a game?) |
| 250 | * In ''VideoGame/IndiePogo'', there is [[VideoGame/GettingOverItWithBennettFoddy Diogenes]]. Not only is he one of the 'last' people you'd expect to see in a PlatformFighter, at the time of his reveal, there were already several confirmed DLC characters, so having a new character that recieved little foreshadowing was quite the suprise. |
| 251 | * Capcom's 2D fighting game based on the third part of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has a couple. First up is Midler, the user of the Stand named High Priestess: since she is never seen clearly in the manga, author Creator/HirohikoAraki had to create her character design for the game from scratch! There's also the younger version of Joseph, based on his appearance in the second part of the manga. For downplayed examples, Alessi's Stand has the power to physically regress opponents for a short time, but characters other than the main heroes usually become one-shot extras from the manga. |
| 252 | * ''VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureAllStarBattle'': |
| 253 | ** Shigechi as DLC came right out of nowhere and added yet another Part 4 character to the roster. To further add to the surprise factor, it had previously been made known that a guidebook for the game covered "32 characters + 2 DLC", when 33 of those characters were already known. Needless to say, people were expecting someone a bit more momentous for the final, single character reveal. |
| 254 | ** The same somewhat goes for Fugo. Not only did the man only have one real fight, and thus, not a whole lot to use for a playable appearance, but he pretty much bowed out right at the end of the first half of Part V. |
| 255 | ** BAOH who's from another manga altogether, but one still made by Araki, that came ''before'' [=JoJo=]. This has split the fans between those who don't want their [=JoJo=] game to include characters from other works, and those who don't really mind. |
| 256 | ** In the ''All-Star Battle R'' UpdatedRerelease, Prosciutto isn't too much of a left-field pick, but the fact the roster managed to squeeze in Pesci by having him team up with him is surprising. Also surprising is the addition of Pet Shop, but not so much because the character is unexpected, but because of his history as an utter GameBreaker in the last ''Jojo'' fighting game. |
| 257 | * When ''VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureEyesOfHeaven'' was announced, many fans were already expecting Part 7's Diego Brando, and Part 2's Rudol von Stroheim was a pleasant surprise, but no one could've expected Part 1's '''Robert E.O. Speedwagon''', a popular character who was nonetheless a non-combatant in most of his appearances in the series. |
| 258 | * From ''VideoGame/JStarsVictoryVs'' we have [[Manga/OnePiece Boa Hancock]] who was added alongside Luffy when Zoro or Sanji would've been anticipated, Luckyman from Tottemo!! Luckyman (who was a support character in the previous crossover), and Taro Yamada from Chinyuki Taro To Yukaina Nakama Tachi. There has never been alot of people outside of Japan who has ever heard of him. |
| 259 | * ''Series/KamenRider: Memory of Heroez'' has members of the Foundation X organization as the antagonists, which is pretty surprising since it was largely left on the wayside after ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' finished airing and had only previously reappeared in the ''[[Series/KamenRiderExAid Kamen Rider Brave]]'' spin-off special. |
| 260 | * ''VideoGame/KanColle'' was initially expected to have only ship girls from the IJN, the Kriegsmarine, and the Regia Marina. Until 2016 came and Kadokawa introduced more foreign ships [[spoiler:from the United States Navy, the Royal Navy, and the Marine Nationale, respectively, for every quarterly event from Spring of the same year.]] |
| 261 | * ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct Season 3'' features a guest character from the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series. In a heartbeat, most would guess it would be the Master Chief because he's the mascot of the franchise, or perhaps Locke since he was promoted as the star of the [[VideoGame/Halo5Guardians newest game prior to the announcement]]. It was actually the Arbiter, who hasn't been playable in the main series since ''VideoGame/Halo3'' (where he was [[DemotedToExtra demoted to being the 2nd player co-op character]]). It also features [[VideoGame/{{Battletoads}} Rash]], which was unexpected as well. |
| 262 | * ''VideoGame/KinectDisneylandAdventures'' features several expected Creator/{{Disney}} and Creator/{{Pixar}} properties from its release period of 2011, along with all the big names of the park itself (minus licensed properties such as Ride/StarTours and Ride/IndianaJonesAdventure)... and then there's Ride/SplashMountain. Maybe not so unexpected on its own, but it brought its animated stars from ''Film/SongOfTheSouth'' with it, in ''speaking'' roles. And they ''remained'' in the 2017 remaster. |
| 263 | * ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact]]'' featured Seth and Rock Howard, the former who was a minor character who only appeared in the NESTS Chronicles StoryArc and never became a franchise staple (being DemotedToExtra from within the later games), and the latter who was from ''[[VideoGame/FatalFury Garou: Mark of the Wolves]]'' and had never appeared in a main ''King of Fighters'' game beforehand. The sequel gave us alternate versions of Kyo (his classic look from the Rugal saga), Ryo (with the Mr. Karate gimmick), Terry (his ''Mark of the Wolves'' look, which was his alt in the first game), and Ralf (a high-powered armor version of him). The original character roster ups the ante even more, as it includes Richard Meyer (a forgotten character from the original ''Fatal Fury''), Fio (a lesser-known ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' character), Hanzo (a ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' character who never really stood out), Lilly Kane (Billy's younger sister who was only an NPC beforehand), and Hyena (Duke's mook who announced your opponents in the first game's story mode). On the opposite end of the trope, ''Maximum Impact 2'' did bring in two of the original game's most glaring omissions: Kim Kaphwan and Geese Howard. |
| 264 | * ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXIV'' features the "Another World Team", a trio of time-displaced characters. Aside from [[VideoGame/SamuraiShodown Nakoruru]] (easily the least unexpected of the three), the team also consists of two characters from Japanese-only pachinko and pachislot games, Mui Mui and Love Heart. |
| 265 | * ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXV'' added a new character named Krohnen, where looking at his moveset instantly gives it away that he's a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to K9999 from ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2001 KoF 2001]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2002 KoF 2002]]''. As a [[CaptainErsatz blatant ripoff]] of Tetsuo from ''Anime/{{Akira}}'', K9999 was ExiledFromContinuity by SNK, even going as far as [[BuryYourArt being edited out of promotion art, it being alleged company policy that referring to him by name was forbidden and has been officially stated as "gone for good"]]. His immediate substitute, Nameless, didn't make any future appearances in the series, either. So seeing SNK bringing back a character who they won't even mention by name in another way is a pretty big surprise. [[spoiler:In a shocking twist, it's not only revealed [[CanonCharacterAllAlong Krohnen is K9999 in disguise]], ''[[TrollingCreator SNK was the one who made up the rumors about K9999 being blacklisted for legal reasons]]''.]] |
| 266 | * ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'': |
| 267 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'' has [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Master Hand]] of all characters making an appearance as a mid-boss, and in combination with Crazy Hand as the boss of Candy Constellation. |
| 268 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'''s subgames have an almost ridiculous amount of cameos from obscure characters: |
| 269 | *** Performing an "Awesome" attacks in ''Kirby Quest'' will make one of your Kirbies, among other things, roll by in a non-yarn [[VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn Tankbot]], ride a [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Moto-Shotzo]] while being chased by a boss from ''Trax''[[note]]Another HAL-developed game whose protagonist resembles Moto-Shotzo[[/note]], or turn into [[Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa Kabuki Kirby]] and fire a massive energy beam. |
| 270 | *** Among the enemies you fight in ''Kirby Quest'' are Max Flexer and Chef Shiitake, two [[MonsterOfTheWeek monsters of the week]] from ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa''. Escargoon and the sword-wielding Waddle Doo also appear in one of Dedede's attack animations. |
| 271 | *** The end boss of ''Kirby Quest'''s second chapter is the then-unnamed Dedede robot from a trailer for a cancelled Kirby title for the Gamecube. It would make ''another'' surprise appearance a few months later as a boss in ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' under the name "HR-D3". |
| 272 | *** ''Kirby Quest'''s final boss is Dark Matter, both in its swordsman and true forms, its first physical appearance since ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'' and ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'', respectively. |
| 273 | *** Every other enemy in ''Kirby Quest'' is either a character from the main game or a character from ''Super Star Ultra'', with one exception: Sweet Stuff, a boss from ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2''. |
| 274 | *** If you lose ''Kirby Quest'', [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2 Rick, Coo, and Kine]] appear in a recreation of the game over screen from their debut game. |
| 275 | *** [[Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa The N.M.E. Sales Guy]] makes a surprise appearance as the GameOverMan for ''Strato Patrol [=EOS=]''. |
| 276 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' has two surprise bosses! Who are they? [[spoiler: Masked Dedede and Dark Meta Knight of all people!]] |
| 277 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' one-ups ''Triple Deluxe'' with three surprise bosses: [[spoiler:(clones of) [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2 Dark Matter]], [[VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe Queen Sectonia]], and '''[[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Galacta Knight]]''' (who is actually the real deal)]]. |
| 278 | ** The spinoff game ''VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale'' features abilities from past games as playable characters, two of which were voted for by fans. The first was the ever-popular Mirror ability, and the second was...'''''[[JokeCharacter Sleep?!]]''''' |
| 279 | ** ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' has quite a few surprises: |
| 280 | *** [[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards Plugg]], a minor enemy that only had one appearance beforehand, inexplicably replaces Plasma Wisp as the helper for the Plasma ability. Plasma itself was unexpected given it was combined with Spark starting from ''Return to Dream Land''. |
| 281 | *** Broom Hatter has never left the series as an enemy, but becoming a helper and bringing back the Cleaning ability for the first time since ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'' is fairly surprising. More surprising? Having a moveset that brings back [=ChuChu=], Nago and Pitch, who hadn't made any appearances since their debut in that game. |
| 282 | *** [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Chef Kawasaki]] making his first miniboss appearance since ''Super Star'' is already surprising, but nobody was expecting him to actually be a helper this time, especially since he yields a one-use ability when inhaled. |
| 283 | *** Marx, the final boss of the same game, is one of the playable characters as a dream friend. |
| 284 | *** [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3 Pon and Con]] make a surprise return as midgame bosses, their first appearance since their debut. |
| 285 | *** While it's only a small cameo, Gryll and Brobo (from ''Kirby's Super Star Stacker'' and ''Kirby's Block Ball'', respectively) getting a Stone form dedicated to them definitely deserves mention. |
| 286 | *** Thought a playable Marx was unexpected enough? Try having [[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror Dark]] [[VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe Meta Knight]] and [[VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad Daroach]] as Dream Friends! |
| 287 | *** A lot of people were eagerly anticipating that [[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards Adeleine]] would become added as a playable dream friend, but nobody expected that Ribbon would join her as a two-in-one dream friend as well. |
| 288 | *** Adeleine's [[AssistCharacter summoning moves]] came with some surprises as well, specifically [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2 Waiu]] and [[Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa Octacon]]. The former only had one appearance two years before Adeleine's debut, and the latter was a MonsterOfTheWeek exclusive to ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'' (which Adeleine never appeared in). |
| 289 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' features an appearance by both the Koroks and the Rito. Their only other appearance before this game was ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' (and its remake), fourteen years earlier. Even more unexpected for the Rito as they show up alongside the Zoras; the race Ritos are said to have evolved from in ''Wind Waker''. |
| 290 | [[/folder]] |
| 291 | |
| 292 | [[folder:M-R]] |
| 293 | * Several in ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable: The Gears of Destiny''. The first was the announcement of [[EvilTwin the Materials]], [[SavedByTheFans who were killed in the first game]]. Then they announced [[BadassBookworm Yuuno]] and Alph who fans had assumed the people behind ''Nanoha'' had forgotten about around those years. Then the Lieze Twins were announced, who appeared even less than Yuuno and Arf, and [[TheScrappy aren't exactly high in the popularity lists]]. The biggest surprise though would have to be the announcement [[ParentalSubstitute Rynith]], since not only was she a PosthumousCharacter, but she had also never been shown fighting before ''Gears of Destiny''. |
| 294 | * In the [[FanRemake fan-made]] ''VideoGame/MegaManADayInTheLimelight'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb4kS1drE7E who is it]] that poor Snake Man finds himself pitted against? [[spoiler:Airman!]] |
| 295 | * ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'', a fighting game based on ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', had Miyako Arima, a character barely mentioned to have existed, and even then not by name. Not to mention Neko-Arc, Mecha-Hisui, and Neko-Arc-Chaos. |
| 296 | * ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' changed most of its promos to hide the appearance of player character Raiden who unexpectedly replaces Solid Snake. Even the antagonists have no idea who he is during the first half. Due to negative reaction, the character changed for ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' and his reveal happened at the end of the trailer. ''Guns of the Patriots'' itself managed to keep another few characters completely hidden: [[spoiler:Big Boss]] (who did not appear until the start of the credits as the game's final twist), [[spoiler: EVA]] (who is introduced under the alias [[spoiler: "Big Mama"]] to throw off players), and [[spoiler: Major Zero]] (who only appears in the final scene alongside [[spoiler: Big Boss]]). |
| 297 | * The two ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' games made by Creator/MercurySteam offered a few cases. ''Videogame/MetroidSamusReturns'' has Ridley even if [[Videogame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus the original game]] was one of the few where the space dragon didn't appear. ''Videogame/MetroidDread'' has some Chozo still alive, when all the previous games indicated the birdmen were extinct, and Kraid, who hadn't shown up since the remake ''Videogame/MetroidZeroMission''. |
| 298 | * ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'': Many were surprised by the announcement of [[Franchise/FinalFantasy Behemoth]] as a huntable monster. Unlike the other monsters added post-release, Behemoth wasn't in a popular leak that included the other added monsters up until then, and until the announcement of the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' collaboration at E3 2018, no idea that it was possible to include a character from another franchise in a main-series game. [[note]]''Monster Hunter Stories'' has [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Epona]] as part of a collaboration.[[/note]] |
| 299 | ** It happened again during the crossover with ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'' - after getting over the shock from Behemoth, most people were expecting a monster from the ''Witcher'' universe to show up, such as a griffin or a fiend. Cue surprised reactions when it turned out the monster in question was Leshen, a [[HumanoidAbomination human shaped nature spirit]]. This was especially surprising because ''Monster Hunter'' hasn't had humanoid opponents since the King Shakalaka from the second generation. |
| 300 | * ''Videogame/MortalKombat9'' introduced crossover characters to the franchise, to much surprise: the [=PS3=] version had [[Videogame/GodOfWar Kratos]], and the final DLC character was [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]. The next games offered bonus heaps with sci-fi (Franchise/{{Predator}}, Franchise/{{Alien}} - a hybrid with one of MK's species, no less - Franchise/RoboCop and Franchise/{{Terminator}}), horror ([[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason]], [[Franchise/TheTexasChainsawMassacre Leatherface]]) and comic book characters (ComicBook/{{Spawn}}, ComicBook/TheJoker)...[[MyFriendsAndZoidberg plus]] Franchise/{{Rambo}}. |
| 301 | * ''VideoGame/{{Multiversus}}'' is a FightingGame centered around Creator/WarnerBrosDiscovery owned characters; the usual suspects -- Creator/DCComics characters like ComicBook/{{Superman}} and ComicBook/{{Batman}}, Creator/CartoonNetwork personalities like WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse, and classic animation figures including WesternAnimation/BugsBunny and WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry -- are present and somewhat expected (especially since many of said characters have appeared in other fighting games, including the aforementioned ''Mortal Kombat''). Aside from the [[OriginalGeneration newly-created character Reindog]], there are two major outliers. The first is [[Series/GameOfThrones Arya Stark]], whose home series is [[DemographicDissonantCrossover very much not in line with the general tone of the other properties]] (to put it mildly), and also originated from Creator/{{HBO}} (as opposed to Creator/WarnerBros, Cartoon Network or DC); the other is [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo Shaggy Rogers]]...but not just normal Shaggy. ''It's [[Anime/DragonBallSuper Ultra Instinct]] [[AscendedMeme Shaggy]]'', here having gotten powers from ingesting a magical crystal (he thought it was candy). |
| 302 | ** There's also the main antagonist of the game -- The Nothing from ''Film/TheNeverendingStory'', which has now grown powerful enough to not only endanger Fantasia, but ''the entire multiverse''. |
| 303 | ** There's also UsefulNotes/LeBronJames himself. Sure, he's technically a ''Film/SpaceJamANewLegacy'' representative, but he's still based on a real person. |
| 304 | * ''VideoGame/NBAJam'' has some insane secret characters you'd never expect to see on a basketball court, including Prince Charles, Usefulnotes/{{Bill|Clinton}} and Usefulnotes/HillaryClinton, Music/GeorgeClinton (no relation), Music/TheBeastieBoys, Music/DJJazzyJeffAndTheFreshPrince, [[VideoGame/MortalKombat1992 Scorpion and Sub-Zero]]. It might as well have been called ''Unexpected Character: The Game''. |
| 305 | * ''Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars'' is a {{Crossover}} that brings together both ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'' and ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}''. However, it also has a GuestFighter in Goh from the ''VideoGame/{{Shinobido}}'' series, now [[GenderBender gender-swapped into a woman]]. For the sake of reference, his series isn't even all that popular, and the last game it had (''Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen'') released back in 2012, 9 years prior to ''Ninja Wars''. |
| 306 | * ''VideoGame/NewgroundsRumble'' features [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/311761 Samurai Asshole]]. He only appeared in one game back in 1999 that, even by those standards, was laggy and cluttered. His fighting style in the game reflects this, being a MightyGlacier in the game. |
| 307 | * ''VideoGame/NickelodeonKartRacers'': |
| 308 | ** While Tommy and Angelica were obvious choices for playable ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' representation, not many expected Reptar to make the cut as well, and over more prominent characters like Chuckie (who wouldn't be added until the second game), Phil, Lil, or Kimi to boot. |
| 309 | ** ''Grand Prix'': |
| 310 | *** No one expected [=JoJo=] Siwa to be a playable character since she's not even a {{Franchise/Nicktoon|s}}, but a real life celebrity, especially over more prominent Nickelodeon characters such as [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius Jimmy Neutron]], [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Timmy Turner]], or [[WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot Jenny Wakeman]] (especially since the former two were playable in ''Winner's Cup Racing'' and ''Nitro''). |
| 311 | *** While Lincoln and Lucy were obvious choices for ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' representatives, Clyde came out of left field considering his lesser prominence compared to the Louds themselves and his [[BaseBreakingCharacter divisive status]] within the fanbase. |
| 312 | *** Some were surprised that WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy are in the game, especially in light of the sexual abuse allegations against Creator/JohnKricfalusi that resulted in Nickelodeon temporarily pulling reruns and merchandise of the show. Both characters appearing in the original ''VideoGame/NicktoonsRacing'' does mitigate this quite a bit, though not by a whole lot considering the game was released back in 2000, ''well'' before the allegations came to light. |
| 313 | *** Due to ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' already having a whopping four characters in the original game, not many saw a fifth representative in Shredder joining the roster as well. In addition, even if a fifth ''was'' to be expected, an ally of the turtles such as [[TheMentor Master Splinter]] or [[ActionGirl April O'Neil]] would have made slightly more sense; Shredder, by contrast, is a NoNonsenseNemesis and one of the ''[[OutOfCharacterMoment last]]'' characters you'd expect in a racing game, [[GoKartingWithBowser especially alongside the turtles whom he's always trying to kill]]. |
| 314 | ** ''Slime Speedway'': |
| 315 | *** Exclusive to the [[LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition Turbo Edition]] alongside [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Zuko]] is Eastman and Laird Raphael. Don't know what that version of Raphael is? It's based on [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage the original Mirage incarnation of the Ninja Turtles]]. |
| 316 | *** Squidina and the kid versions of [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick were a huge surprise for fans, given that content from ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow'' and ''WesternAnimation/KampKoral'' were previously not featured in any Nicktoons games, let alone ''[=SpongeBob=]'' ones. |
| 317 | *** Continuing ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesShreddersRevenge''[='=]s reappraisal of underused ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' characters earlier in the year, one of the new crew members is the "Red Sky" seasons' BigBad Lord Dregg - a character who has never made an appearance in a mainline ''TMNT'' console video game to this day and never reppeared in any subsequent '87 Turtles media until this game. |
| 318 | * ''VideoGame/NicktoonsMLB'' has five ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' characters ([[CashCowFranchise natch]]). Three of them make sense, being [=SpongeBob=], Patrick, and Sandy, but the other two are Larry the Lobster and the Flying Dutchman. We also get [[WesternAnimation/InvaderZim Gaz]], [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius Ultra Lord]], [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Powdered Toast Man and a Yak]]. The 3DS version adds Hiro Mightypaw. |
| 319 | * In ''VideoGame/NiNoKuniCrossWorlds'', [[spoiler:Drippy]] from the original ''VideoGame/NiNoKuni'' returns as the Elder Fairy. It's not stated directly that it's him, but it's immediately obvious to anyone who's played the original, albeit his accent is different. |
| 320 | * Kuina and Zeff from ''Manga/OnePiece'' appeared in ''One Piece: Grand Adventure'', the American made sequel to ''One Piece: Grand Battle''. |
| 321 | * ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'' adding Franchise/{{Rambo}} ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sfZQgVWqKY as a skin for Viktor]]) as part of a promotion for Twitch Prime caught most fans off-guard. People wondered how or why Hi-Rez got the rights to the character when past behavior (such as dropping support for [=eSports=]) implied they were gradually losing interest in the game. |
| 322 | * The PC version of ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' has had several characters show up unexpectedly. The first was Franchise/JohnWick, and from there [[VideoGame/HotlineMiami Jacket]], [[Film/PointBreak Bodhi]], [[Film/HardcoreHenry Jimmy]] and even Film/{{Scarface|1983}} have been added as playable characters. Special mention goes to Jimmy, as unlike the other listed examples, Jimmy is portrayed in ''Payday 2'' by [[Creator/SharltoCopley the same actor]] that portrays him in the movie. |
| 323 | ** Rust could count to a lesser extent, too. Not so much for the character, but more for [[Creator/RonPerlman who they got]] [[Series/SonsOfAnarchy to portray him]]. |
| 324 | ** On April 1, 2017, Overkill posted an [[http://steamcommunity.com/games/218620/announcements/detail/525074292217280386 announcement]] that Ethan Klein from h3h3 Productions was added as a playable character. Considering [[AprilFoolsDay the day]] the announcement was posted on, everyone thought it was a joke... [[http://steamcommunity.com/games/218620/announcements/detail/525074292217280386 except they actually did that]] a few months later. Unfortunately, the concept of having two [=YouTubers=] playing as themselves be bank robbers and the less than stellar quality of the pack's content created a [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools lukewarm reception at best]]. |
| 325 | * ''VideoGame/Persona4'': |
| 326 | ** The game got a sequel, not in the form of the much-desired ''Persona 5'' (that came a year later), but in an arcade-style fighting game ''[[VideoGame/Persona4Arena Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena]]''... with [[PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo Aigis]], Akihiko, and Mitsuru from ''VideoGame/Persona3''. Then there's Labrys, who was seemingly a new character created from the game... until Americans learned she had actually debuted in a ''Persona 3'' [[AllThereInTheManual Drama CD released only in Japan]]. |
| 327 | ** The fighting game itself got a sequel/update called ''Persona 4 Ultimax: The Ultimate Ultra Suplex Hold'' (shortened to just ''Persona 4 Arena Ultimax'' in other regions), which featured the rest of the ''Persona 3'' cast except for Shinjiro and the main character [[spoiler:since they're both dead]]. Those were expected. What ''wasn't'' expected was a couple of the new characters on the ''Persona 4'' side: Rise Kujikawa, your team's MissionControl and designated non-combatant in every other game, and [[spoiler:Tohru Adachi, one of the main antagonists of the original game.]] The DLC went further with the additions of Marie and Margaret, the Velvet Room assistants. |
| 328 | * ''VideoGame/Persona5'': |
| 329 | ** One of the Personas you can use is Bugs/Bugbear, a minor enemy from ''VideoGame/SoulHackers'', released 19 years earlier. Similarly, the last Persona is [[spoiler:Satanael, a boss from from the same game, who never even got a fully original design before this point due to only being fought through a host via Demonic Possession]]. |
| 330 | ** Morgana's Ultimate Persona is Mercurius. While under a totally different design, Mercurius's only other appearance in the franchise was as an early-game ZeroEffortBoss in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII''. |
| 331 | ** While the infamous [[GagPenis Mara]] was expected by all, what wasn't expected was his slime form from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' to appear as an earlygame miniboss and endgame enemy. |
| 332 | * ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 5 Royal]]'': |
| 333 | ** To say the appearance of Biyarky in Kasumi's character trailer surprised people is an understatement, as its last appearance in the entire ''Megami Tensei'' franchise also happened to be its debut appearance as one of Nyarlathotep's minions in ''[[VideoGame/Persona2 Persona 2: Eternal Punishment]]'', released over a decade before the trailer. This was followed by Hastur, a Persona who also happened to last appear in ''Eternal Punishment'', making an appearance a few trailers later. |
| 334 | ** The reveal of Kasumi's Persona as [[Literature/{{Cinderella}} Cendrillon]] likewise also caught a lot of people off guard, as Cendrillon isn't a thief like the rest of the Phantom Thieves initial Personas. Likewise, Cendrillon's ultimate form not being a mythological trickster and instead being [[Myth/NorseMythology Vanadis]] (aka Freya) also came as a surprise. |
| 335 | ** For a non-Persona example, the announcement of the protagonists from the previous two games ([[VideoGame/Persona3 Makoto Yuuki]] and [[VideoGame/Persona4 Yu Narukami]]) as DLC bosses, as the main characters from previous entries rarely if ever appear in-person beyond their own entries in the mainline games. This applies especially to [[spoiler:Makoto due to his PlotlineDeath at the end of ''Persona 3'', although his appearance in ''Royal'' is justified as the player isn't fighting the real Makoto and Yu and is instead fighting cognitions of them created in the Velvet Room.]] |
| 336 | * Very few people expected the Female Protagonist from ''VideoGame/Persona3'' to come back in ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'' due to her being a non-canon character, and not appearing in ''VideoGame/Persona3DancingInMoonlight'' making it seem like Atlus didn't want anything to do with her. |
| 337 | * ''VideoGame/PlayStationAllStarsBattleRoyale'': |
| 338 | ** Nobody expected [[VideoGame/BioShock Big Daddy]] to be among the characters, never mind to be the first announced. Big Daddy has the appearance of a Bouncer model, [[CompositeCharacter but can also use Plasmids, like Subject Delta from]] ''VideoGame/BioShock2''. |
| 339 | ** VideoGame/ParappaTheRapper being revealed in the initial announcement was a pleasant surprise. |
| 340 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Starhawk}}''[='=]s Emmett Graves and ''Franchise/DeadSpace''[='=] Isaac Clarke as DLC characters also came as a surprise. |
| 341 | ** The final boss, Polygon Man, is undoubtedly the most obscure of all. His only appearance ''ever'' was in pre-launch advertisements for the original [=PlayStation=], [[AbandonedMascot after which he was replaced]] by characters from popular games exclusive to the system. |
| 342 | ** Sir Dan Fortesque from ''VideoGame/MediEvil'', a series that ended on the original Playstation. |
| 343 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': |
| 344 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'': |
| 345 | *** Previously [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Rotom]] had been just your standard average Pokémon that just so happened to possess electronics, but now it possesses the Alola Pokedex, making Rotom ''[[FairyCompanion your Pokedex]]''. |
| 346 | *** A few characters namely, Red and Blue from uh...[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Red and Blue]] were a nice addition, given the games being released in the 20th year of the series. However, a few others are extremely unexpected; [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Grimsley]] of the Unova Elite Four, who pops in to give you a Ride Pokémon, and [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 Colress]], who abruptly shows up to give you a TM and, later, the Genesect Drives. |
| 347 | *** Possibly one of the oddest has to be Professor Burnet from the ''Pokémon Dream Radar'' AR app (she's married to Professor Kukui, no less!), but the one who takes the cake is [[spoiler: Salon Maiden Anabel from ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Pokémon Emerald]]'', who becomes Looker's boss and heads the investigation into the Ultra Beasts. Even her presence in game is put into question]]. |
| 348 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon'' added new Ultra Beasts to the game. What makes them notable is that they weren't in the original ''Sun/Moon'' -- they weren't even DummiedOut, they didn't exist in any form! This marks the first time ''brand new Pokémon'' were added to the Pokédex in the middle of a generation, as opposed to being saved for the next generation. |
| 349 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' go to great lengths to keep everything contained to Kanto and Kanto-related things. At least, that's what you're led to believe, until you encounter Mina in Vermilion City--the same Mina who lives in [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Alola]] and supervises the Fairy-type trial there. Though there are [=NPCs=] encountered earlier who will trade you Alolan Pokémon for their Kantonian counterparts, they only refer to themselves as having come from elsewhere. Mina is the first character you meet who directly name-drops the region. Another surprise appearance is Green, the DistaffCounterpart of Red from the Platform/GameBoyAdvance remakes of ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' as a trainer you can battle. Even better is that, much like Red and Blue, she shows up in her [[WhatCouldHaveBeen planned Gen 1 outfit]]. |
| 350 | ** Nobody was really expecting DLC for ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', let alone for it to include new Galarian form Pokémon - but even with the announcement Direct people were still stunned to see Galarian forms of ''all three legendary birds from the first generation''. |
| 351 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', being a spinoff with a more experimental style of gameplay, surprised a lot of people by introducing not just new regional forms, but new regional evolutions--including ones for Stantler and Basculin, two forgettable mons [[LowTierLetdown useful for Pokédex completion and little else]], and which had been largely neglected ever since their debut generations. The game also shows other characters having been pulled into the past, one of whom is Ingo from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite''. Not only was this in a period in the series where character cameos from other games are otherwise nonexistent, Ingo comes from a game one generation after the one ''Pokémon Legends: Arceus'' was derived from. |
| 352 | ** For the August 8, 2023 Pokémon Presents, more news on ''The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero'' was revealed. What people didn't expect was that both Applin and Duraludon would be receiving new evolutions in DLC in the forms of Dipplin and Archaludon. When Part 1, ''The Teal Mask'' was released, people then noticed Dipplin is compatible with the Eviolite, an item that works only on Pokémon that haven't fully evolved yet, hinting that, unlike Applin's two other evolutions, Flapple and Appletun, Dipplin can still evolve--and Part 2, ''The Indigo Disk'', confirms that by introducing Dipplin's evolution, Hydrapple. |
| 353 | * ''VideoGame/PokkenTournament'': |
| 354 | ** Sure, people were expecting that there would be playable Legendary Franchise/{{Pokemon}}, but a lot of people were surprised when the first one confirmed was the quadrupedal [[VideoGame/PokemonCrystal Suicune]]. True, it's a version Legendary, but it didn't stop some people from going: "Wait, what?" |
| 355 | ** A survey asking for more additions to the roster resulted in [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Chandelure]]. That is, you can now play as a chandelier in a fighting game. |
| 356 | ** Another character that caught people off-guard was Pikachu Libre, who is Pikachu in a different clothing. |
| 357 | ** Introduced in the Arcade version and Nintendo Switch enhanced port is Croagunk, who already appeared in the vanilla game as a Support Pokémon. |
| 358 | * ''VideoGame/PrehistoricKingdom'': When the trailer for Update 9 dropped, fans were caught off guard by the surprise appearance of ''Spinosaurus'', as prior to the trailer, it hasn't even been ''announced'', so seeing it fully modeled was quite a shock. |
| 359 | * ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' (Wii) features a large number of returning characters from past games in the series. Then there's [[spoiler:Franchise/DonkeyKong]] of all characters showing up as a [[WalkingSpoiler big surprise]] for those who manage to [[EndlessGame survive]] long enough in Mac's Last Stand. [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Princess Peach]] was also planned to appear as an opponent, but was DummiedOut. |
| 360 | * ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'': |
| 361 | ** In ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris'', one of the alternate Puyo appearances you can unlock is the Morolian set, based on the race of TV-loving aliens from ''VideoGame/SpaceChannel5''. Bear in mind that the Puyo Puyo games rarely, if ever, cross over with anything else (and it's a big deal they did it with Tetris for this one), and Creator/{{Sega}} has not made a ''Space Channel 5'' game in well over a decade, relegating almost every character to obscurity. A later update adds a set of Tetrominoes based on Sega's flagship series, ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'', although given the two franchises' [[VideoGame/DrRobotniksMeanBeanMachine history with each other]], it's not quite as surprising. |
| 362 | ** ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris2'' goes even further beyond, though- the first post-release update included four new playable characters. Three of them were fairly obvious, those being Lidelle, Ms. Accord and the Ocean Prince, who are all series mainstays. The fourth, though? None other than ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' himself! Even when ''Puyo Puyo'' games DID cross over with other games, it has only been through small references, and never before has it been a [[GuestFighter full-blown player character]] like the Blue Blur (Outside of the spin-off ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoQuest'', that is). Even if one were to actually predict a ''Sonic'' character, one would've probably expected Eggman instead due to ''VideoGame/DoctorRobotniksMeanBeanMachine'', a game that Sonic didn't actually appear in. |
| 363 | ** ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoPuzzlePop'': Given that the promotional material didn't acknowledge her, many were surprised to find Ally was in the game, even if she is currently not playable. She gives you a tutorial on how to play Puyo when you open the game for the first time. |
| 364 | * ''VideoGame/PuzzleAndDragons'' has had plenty of collaboration events in the past, and still gets them to this day. One of these was for the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' series, which featured all of the usual suspects from both ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 4]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry5 5]]'' ([[MemeticMutation Yes, including Dante]])...however, it also had Lucia and Matier, both characters from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'', which the franchise has constantly shafted before after it got negative reception. |
| 365 | * ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}} Mini'' featured one big whammy for its [[https://twitter.com/RaymanGame/status/1356282412745965572 new mode on the February 1st, 2021 update]]: the return of [[VideoGame/Rayman1 Mr. Dark]], who hadn't shown up in ''25 years''[[note]](the Game Boy Color version of the first game notwithstanding)[[/note]] and missed out on ''[[VideoGame/RaymanOrigins Origins]]'' before that point. |
| 366 | * The much-delayed PC version of ''VideoGame/RenegadeOps'' features...Gordon Freeman of ''VideoGame/HalfLife''? |
| 367 | * ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake'' has the return of Lickers, an enemy type from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' that didn't appear in the original ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'', despite the two games taking place in the same area in an overlapping time period. |
| 368 | * ''VideoGame/RiverCityGirls'' has a good number of characters from the ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' series. [[spoiler:Including ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonNeon''[='s=] BigBad, Skullmageddon. ''AS A SHOPKEEPER.'']] |
| 369 | ** It also features Martha, Trash and Bullova, two boss characters and a playable character respectively from the obscure Technos Beat-'em-up ''VideoGame/TheCombatribes''. |
| 370 | * One of the reasons ''Series/RobotWars: Metal Mayhem'' was [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames so poorly received by fans]] was because of its bizarre roster choices. It was based on Series 3, but runner-up Hypno-Disc, fellow grand finalist Steg-O-Saw-Rus, and fan favourites Razer were all overlooked. Instead, of the game's 16 playable robots, no less than ''five'' had been knocked out in their very first battles, including Crasha Gnasha and Terminal Ferocity, who'd been defeated in [[CurbStompBattle ten seconds flat]].[[note]]Fans have noted that the entire roster comes from only five of the series' sixteen heats, so some believe the developers didn't research the series properly, only watched those five heats, and just [[AuthorAvatar picked their favourites]].[[/note]] |
| 371 | * People weren't really expecting ''[[VideoGame/RockBand Rock Band 4]]'' to introduce [[WesternAnimation/{{Archer}} Sterling Archer]] as a free DLC character. |
| 372 | * ''VideoGame/{{Rosenkreuzstilette}}'': |
| 373 | ** You get a code that lets you play as Grolla in [[AnotherSideAnotherStory her own side-game]], ''Rosenkreuzstilette Grollschwert''. And what happens when you get to the end of her own stage as her? [[spoiler:You meet the original player character, Spiritia, as the boss.]] |
| 374 | ** Similarly, in ''Weißsilber'', the side-game to ''Freudenstachel'', playing as Pamela in her own stage introduces you to another unexpected face... [[spoiler:It's Karl Palesch, Liebea's older brother who was only mentioned a few times in the first game.]] |
| 375 | [[/folder]] |
| 376 | |
| 377 | [[folder:S-Y]] |
| 378 | * Given Sumire Kanzaki has been absent since ''VideoGame/SakuraWars4FallInLoveMaidens'' and her titular OVA announcing her retirement, her role as commander of the Flower Division in ''VideoGame/SakuraWars2019'' is fairly surprising. |
| 379 | * ''VideoGame/SegaSuperstars'': |
| 380 | ** [[VideoGame/GoldenAxe Gilius Thunderhead]] and [[VideoGame/AlexKidd Alex Kidd]] in ''Sega Superstars Tennis''. |
| 381 | ** [[VideoGame/FantasyZone Opa-Opa]], [[VideoGame/BonanzaBros the Bonanza Bros]], and [[VideoGame/{{Shenmue}} Ryo Hazuki]] in ''Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing''. |
| 382 | ** NASCAR driver Danica Patrick in ''Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed'', as a cross promotional stunt for the game; the car she's driving in the game is planned to be driven by her in future NASCAR races. |
| 383 | ** Also appearing in ''All Stars Racing Transformed'' is AGES, who changes between a Platform/{{Dreamcast}} controller, a [[VideoGame/DaytonaUSA Hornet]], and an [[VideoGame/AfterBurner F-14 Tomcat]], as well as WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph. |
| 384 | ** ''All Stars Racing Transformed'' also features racetracks from ''VideoGame/PanzerDragoon'' and ''VideoGame/BurningRangers'', the latter of which wasn't included on Wikipedia's list of Sega franchises before this game's release. |
| 385 | ** The ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' characters and VideoGame/FootballManager in the Platform/{{Steam}} release of the game. |
| 386 | ** ''VideoGame/SegaHeroes'' features characters from the first two VideoGame/PhantasyStar games as well as [[VideoGame/JetSetRadio DJ Professor K]], whose only other playable appearance was in Jet Set Radio's Platform/GameBoyAdvance port. |
| 387 | * ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'': |
| 388 | ** While the series ''has'' had crossover promotional content in the past, ''Estival Versus'' managed to shock fans by featuring guest characters for the first time in the history of the series. Such characters include Ayane from VideoGame/DeadOrAlive, and Sonsaku Hakufu, Kan'u Unchou, and Ryofu Housen from Manga/IkkiTousen. |
| 389 | ** Ayame, the shopkeeper from ''Shinovi Versus'', as well as one of the New Hanzo students in ''New Wave'', actually became playable in ''Estival Versus''. Both eastern and western fans didn't see this coming. |
| 390 | * ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'': While a few people predicted one or two of them, no one predicted the return of [[spoiler:the original Hero, Aleph, and the Demi-fiend from the pre-''IV'' numbered games]] all at once through DLC. In addition, DLC adds an extra boss to the main game's bonus dungeon: [[spoiler:En no Ozuno, a one-off ally from the first game and minor character from the second]]. |
| 391 | * ''VideoGame/SNKHeroinesTagTeamFrenzy'', as a SpiritualSuccessor to the all-female ''VideoGame/SNKGalsFighters'', threw fans for a loop when it suddenly started introducing [[GenderBender female]] versions of male characters as well, including Terry Bogard, Skullomania from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterEX'' and ''VideoGame/FightingEXLayer'', and Miss X, [[WholesomeCrossdresser Iori's disguise]] from the original ''SNK Gals' Fighters''. The original version of Miss X that is just regular Iori in disguise is playable as well. |
| 392 | * VideoGame/SoulSeries: |
| 393 | ** While both [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda and Darth Vader]] were constantly advertised as playable characters in ''Soulcalibur IV'', having Vader's apprentice from ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' was not expected by many, particularly since [[EarlyBirdCameo his game had yet to be released at the time]]. |
| 394 | ** And [[Manga/SgtFrog Angol Moa]]- sorry, [[{{Expy}} Angol Fear]] as a bonus character? Even more unexpected... |
| 395 | ** ''Soul Calibur II'' kicked off the tradition with a unique and wildly out-of-left-field guest fighter for all three major console versions. The [=PS2=] got [[Franchise/{{Tekken}} Heihachi Mishima]], the Xbox got ComicBook/{{Spawn}}, and the Platform/NintendoGameCube got [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]]. |
| 396 | ** ''VideoGame/SoulCaliburVI'' continues the trend with [[VideoGame/TheWitcher Geralt]] and [[VideoGame/NierAutomata 2B]]. ''Especially'' 2B, as at least Geralt is a fantasy character and not particularly out of place in the setting (if anything, his design is ''too'' period appropriate compared to the more stylized ''Soul Calibur'' characters,) as opposed to the futuristic combat android and her floating robot pod. |
| 397 | * Endless Mode of ''VideoGame/SpookysJumpScareMansion'' has a more interesting case. The monsters in it are all blatantly an {{Expy}} of a horror character or trope, therefore nobody was expecting a [[GuestFighter guest specimen]] in the name of White Face from ''VideoGame/{{Imscared}}''. |
| 398 | * ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' did this with its "Delta Rising" Expansion. Since it was centered in the Delta Quadrant, everyone knew characters from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' would be involved. However, they thought it would just be Tim Russ reprising his role as Tuvok and Garrett Wang returning as Harry Kim. No one expected Robert Picardo, Jeri Ryan, and Ethan Philips to reprise their roles as The Doctor, Seven of Nine, and Neelix, though! Then it was done on a faction-scale with the next expansion, ''Agents of Yesterday'' -- while the individual characters showing up weren't too unexpected (given the time travel elements of the game, some of them already ''had'' shown up), that the fourth playable faction would be the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]]'' Starfleet (if given a temporal agent spin) was not. |
| 399 | * ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'': The first look at gameplay for ''[[VideoGame/StarWarsJediFallenOrder Jedi: Fallen Order]]'' surprised people with notorious rebel extremist [[Film/RogueOne Saw Gerrera]]. |
| 400 | * ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' not only has [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Revan]]]] show up, but as a ''villain'', for double "unexpected" points. Twice over in the leadup to [[spoiler:the second expansion, ''Shadow of Revan''. The players are told that the villains of the lead-in material, the "Forged Alliances" arc, belong to a cult called the Revanites, who Imperial players had met way back on Dromund Kaas and dismissed as basically a BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats (strike one). They're led to believe that the two are using the cult to their own ends so they can [[TakeOverTheWorld conquer the galaxy]] using an army of cybernetic super-soldiers, as villains are wont to do. But in the last scene of the arc, after the two are dead, their boss — Revan himself — arrives in style to announce that HesBack.]] |
| 401 | * ''Franchise/StreetFighter''[='s=] Ryu and Akuma appearing as DLC bosses in ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'', a game that isn't even a FightingGame to begin with; fighting them changes the gameplay into a 2D fighter for the first half of each fight, meters and life gauges and all ala ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'', though Asura's bottom gauges are different and more like his own game. |
| 402 | ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'': |
| 403 | ** An extended gameplay trailer showed that Charlie, considered dead in-universe since ''Alpha 3'', would return to the series. [[note]] An official Character Relationship chart revealed he was alive shortly after the release of IV, but since it was in Japanese, it was less then common knownledge.[[/note]] |
| 404 | ** One of the last characters added to the roster was Akira Kazama, from the long-neglected Capcom franchise ''VideoGame/RivalSchools''. |
| 405 | * The defunct ''VideoGame/StreetFighterOnlineMouseGeneration'' took the cake for this, with so many unexpected {{Guest Fighter}}s (like several characters from a series of {{Wuxia}} novels, the title character of ''Series/SpaceSheriffGavan'', Krauser II from ''Manga/DetroitMetalCity'') that you'd have sworn the developers just grabbed whatever character rights they could snatch up in about ten minutes. ''Barack Obama'' was made as an alt costume and different head for Ryu. |
| 406 | * ''VideoGame/SuperMonkeyBall: Banana Mania'' features a host of unusual character choices, both in the base game and as DLC. [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic, Tails]], and [[VideoGame/JetSetRadio Beat]] have crossed over with ''Super Monkey Ball'' before, and Sonic was already in the HD version of ''Banana Blitz''. [[VideoGame/Persona5 Morgana]] is a little more out there, but he is from a popular Sega-owned game and at least fits aesthetically. [[VideoGame/LikeADragon Kiryu]], though, was a shock to everybody, hailing from a dark, mature series that clashes heavily with ''Monkey Ball''[='s=] lighthearted tone. Then there's the AnimateInanimateObject versions of Sega consoles. And Franchise/HelloKitty. And (perhaps the biggest surprise of all) a Suezo from ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher'', which is not only entirely unconnected to Sega but hadn't seen a new game in almost a full decade at the time of its reveal. |
| 407 | * At the end of ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands'' if you've been saving your money you can hire an "Experienced Vault Hunter" [[spoiler: to help take down the Traveler]]. The character selection screen shows the silhouettes of [[VideoGame/Borderlands1 Lilith]], [[VideoGame/Borderlands2 Krieg]], and [[VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel Nisha]]. If you choose this option the "Experienced Vault Hunter" turns out to be [[spoiler: Claptrap]]. |
| 408 | * ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'': |
| 409 | ** ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesSmashUp'' has characters described as "Characters you know in addition to ones you wouldn't expect." True, everybody knew that Shredder, April, Casey, and the titular characters would appear, but not an unnamed [[{{Mook}} Foot Soldier]] or an alien in a battle suit named the Utrominator that was a one-shot character from [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 the 2003 show]] (as an {{Expy}} for Krang from the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 80's show]]). And as for established characters, there's the Fugitoid and [[WesternAnimation/{{TMNT}} Night Watcher]] (who has a completely different gameplay from regular Raphael). Finally, we have VideoGame/RavingRabbids as [[GuestFighter Guest Fighters]]. |
| 410 | ** Excluding the Turtles and Shredder, almost the entire cast of the SNES ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTournamentFighters'' is really obscure. War is a very minor bad guy in the Archie comic book series, while Aska is an OriginalGeneration character. The Genesis version had OriginalGeneration Sisyphus, an anthropomorphic beetle with no real backstory, and Ray Fillet, who was unknown to most outside of being an action figure and appearing in ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesAdventures''. Both 16-bit versions of the game had Karai as the final boss, a character who was still pretty new to the Mirage Comics and still languished in obscurity until 2003 when she finally showed up in an animated adaption. |
| 411 | ** TMNT fighting games have this as "par for the course". ''TMNT Mutant Melee'' had a teenage Hun (seen only in flashbacks), Summer and Winter outfits for Casey Jones and April (they were only costumes, but they had their own character slots), Gold Shredder (meant to be a OneWingedAngel for Shredder), Sleeg (an alien that the Turtles met in the Triceraton prison that barely had any screentime at all), and Monster. Don't remember the Turtles palling around with or fighting a character like this? That's because they didn't. He showed up as the BigBad of a horror movie Michelangelo was watching. Yes, his only appearance prior was in a ShowWithinAShow, appearing only for a few seconds in one episode. |
| 412 | ** The mobile game ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Madness'' naturally includes many characters from the 80's show (as well as a few from the original Mirage Comics like Karai, Renet and Savanti Romero) for its turn-based clan gameplay, regardless of relevance or public knowledge, so seeing lesser-known villains like Lord Dregg, Skaarg and Dementor was quite a surprise. Then there's season 7's bounty hunter hero being none other then Dirk Savage, who ever only showed up in a single episode. |
| 413 | * ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'': |
| 414 | ** ''Tekken 4'' brought back Marshall Law after a one-game absence -- even though most people were expecting Forest to have permanently replaced his father in the franchise. And while bringing back Kazuya Mishima wasn't much of a surprise, certainly nobody expected to see ''Lee Chaolan'' come back. |
| 415 | ** ''Tekken 5'' may be the king here, as it reintroduced so many characters few fans ever thought would see the light of day (outside of ''Tag'' games) again, like Baek Doo San, Bruce Irvin, Roger (well, actually his wife and son), Wang Jinrei, Ganryu, and Armor King (in Dark Resurrection). |
| 416 | ** ''Tekken 7'' features ''[[Franchise/StreetFighter Akuma]]'' as a playable character. This is especially surprising since unlike its [[VideoGame/SoulSeries sister series]] ''Tekken'' isn't known for having {{Guest Fighter}}s (the only one being Manga/{{Gon}} from ''Tekken 3'', a character so obscure that many players assumed he was created for the series), he ''missed'' the initial roster of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'', and unlike Gon and the ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur]]'' guest fighters who are usually non-canon; he actually plays a role in the story, serving as TheDragon to BigBad Kazumi Mishima. ''7'' also features the return of Eliza, who was assumed to be a one-off character from ''Tekken Revolution'', a (now cancelled) free-to-play game, to the shock of many fans, as well as a second GuestFighter in the form of SNKBoss extraordinaire [[VideoGame/FatalFury Geese]] [[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters Howard]]. An even more surprising and unexpected GuestFighter from within the game itself is Noctis from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', whose sudden and shocking appearance was completely out of left field. Considering the fact that he utilizes weapons, TeleportSpam, SummonToHand, and all kinds of ElementalPowers, there were quite a few comments saying that Noctis would fit in more with ''Soul Calibur'' rather than with ''Tekken'' itself.[[note]]According to WordOfGod, despite Soul Calibur VI being announced not too long after the reveal, it was a little too early when arrangements were made for Noctis to be added as a guest character.[[/note]] |
| 417 | ** Season 2 of ''Tekken 7''[='s=] DLC is headlined by the addition of ''Series/TheWalkingDead''[='s=] Negan. At least you could say Akuma, Geese, and Noctis come from ''video games''. |
| 418 | * Few ''Franchise/TombRaider'' fans were expecting the return of [[spoiler:Natla]] in ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderUnderworld Underworld]]''. |
| 419 | * The ''VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater'' series is well known for featuring bizarre secret skaters as unlockables, such as ComicBook/SpiderMan in ''Pro Skater 2''; [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Maul]] and ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} in ''Pro Skater 3'', [[Music/IronMaiden Eddie the Head]] and [[Franchise/StarWars Jango Fett]] in ''Pro Skater 4''; ComicBook/IronMan and [[Music/{{KISS}} Gene Simmons]] in ''Underground'', Franchise/{{Shrek}} in ''Underground 2''; Music/LilJon and [[Music/GreenDay Billie Joe Armstrong]] in ''American Wasteland'', and the Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles, Music/TylerTheCreator and Music/LilWayne in ''Pro Skater 5''. |
| 420 | * ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': |
| 421 | ** ''VideoGame/TouhouKaeidzukaPhantasmagoriaOfFlowerView'' includes several main and minor characters, three newly introduced ones... and Yuuka Kazami, who hadn't been seen since ''VideoGame/TouhouKaikidanMysticSquare'', released seven years earlier. |
| 422 | ** Of the three characters to get a story route in ''VideoGame/TouhouHisoutensokuChoudokyuuGinyoruNoNazoOOe'', Sanae was a main character at that point and Cirno is a major EnsembleDarkhorse, but no-one was expecting Hong Meiling of all people, who had last appeared as a late addition to ''VideoGame/TouhouSuimusouImmaterialAndMissingPower'' with no story route. |
| 423 | ** ''VideoGame/TouhouShinreibyouTenDesires'' had some unusual casting choices: Youmu returned as playable after being ignored for the last three games, the final boss from six games previous returns... as the ''first'' boss, Kogasa reappeared as a midboss... it was to the point that people weren't really surprised when Nue showed up as the EX midboss. |
| 424 | ** ''VideoGame/TouhouShinkirouHopelessMasquerade'', the fighting game set during a religious squabble. The Buddhist representatives are the head monk and... Ichirin, [[TheGenericGuy The Generic Girl]], rather, say, Shou, the next most important member of the Buddhist group. Meanwhile, the character from ''VideoGame/TouhouFuujinrokuMountainOfFaith'' isn't from the Moriya shrine or even Aya, but ''Nitori'', a fairly minor character unrelated to the religious conflict. And the representative of ''VideoGame/TouhouChireidenSubterraneanAnimism'' is Koishi, who's entire schtick is [[EmptyShell not caring about things]] or [[PerceptionFilter being cared about]]. |
| 425 | ** ''VideoGame/DanmakuAmanojakuImpossibleSpellCard'' has Seija Kijin, the BigBad of the previous game, ''VideoGame/TouhouKishinjouDoubleDealingCharacter''. Even though she had already become a fan favorite, very few really expected her to become a playable character, least of all so soon after her introduction, and even less so in a GaidenGame with her as the main character. |
| 426 | ** ''VideoGame/TouhouShinpirokuUrbanLegendInLimbo'' has the first playable appearance of Kasen Ibaraki, the star of ''[[Manga/TouhouIbarakasenWildAndHornedHermit Wild and Horned Hermit]]'' and the first character in ''Touhou'' history to debut in an official print work then become playable, as well as well as Fujiwara no Mokou, a fairly minor character in a long-finished plot arc from a game released eleven years earlier. |
| 427 | ** The fangame ''VideoGame/MysticalPowerPlant'' (the sequel to ''VideoGame/TheLastComer'') managed to pull this off with one particular character, despite having a cast of entirely original characters apart from the player's shot types. The bosses throughout the main story are based on Japanese mythology and/or history, and just fitting in with the FantasyKitchenSink feel of ''Touhou'' in general, and all of them seem generally plausible. [[spoiler:And then we get to the extra stage, where the boss is '''a Music/{{Vocaloid}}'''. With a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNX5UKhvqhc theme]] to match.]] |
| 428 | ** ''VideoGame/TouhouGouyokuIbunSunkenFossilWorld'' gives us another one, arguably less expected than all the rest, in the form of none other than '''Flandre Scarlet''', who hasn't shown up much at all. Heck, her last game appearance where she had plot relevancy was all the way back in ''VideoGame/TouhouKoumakyouTheEmbodimentOfScarletDevil'', her debut, which was ''19 years ago,'' with the game serving not only as her second game appearance with plot relevancy, but also her playable debut. |
| 429 | * ''VideoGame/TwistedWonderland'': |
| 430 | ** For a game based on the Disney villains, ''no one'' was expecting [[spoiler:Mickey Mouse, face of Disney himself, to make an appearance]]. If Chapter 4's any indication, it's heavily implied that [[spoiler:Mickey will be a plot-relevant character instead of being a one-off cameo]]. |
| 431 | ** A variant with Najma, who is technically her own character, but is spun-off from an obscure character who appeared in a spin-off video game from 2001--more specifically, Jafar's sister Nasira, from ''Disney's Aladdin in Nasira's Revenge''. |
| 432 | ** Due to Yuu being a self-insert FeaturelessProtagonist in the main game, and their having been AdaptedOut of the official anthologies, no one expected Yuu to not only make a physical appearance in the official manga, but to also be male considering the games primary demographic. However, this example is downplayed as this Yuu (or Enma Yuuken) is actually a separate entity from the Yuu present in the game, therefore the game's Yuu has yet to make a real appearence and potentially never will. |
| 433 | * ''VideoGame/UltimateCustomNight'', designed as a SerialEscilation of the "Custom Night" modes of the ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' franchise, has no less than ''fifty'' animatronics available. The ([[TrollingCreator seemingly]]) [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/freddy-fazbears-pizzeria-simulator/images/4/4b/Cnfinal.jpg final roster]] shows every character you'd expect...and Old Man Consequences, a character who only appeared in one of the [[BadEnding Bad Endings]] for ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysWorld'' and, even then, never showed any hostility towards the player. Making this more surprising is that ''FNAF World'' is an OldShame for Scott. Many people were also surprised that ''Phone Guy'' made it in, as he hadn't been referenced since the third game and until UCN was a benign character. [[spoiler: Technically still is.]] Even more surprising was that Dee Dee, also of FNAF World, was added and could add unselectable characters to the night. By far the most surprising addition though was that [[spoiler:Fredbear]], previously TheUnfought, finally made his debut. |
| 434 | * The ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi'' series started out as a crossover between ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' and ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors''. Then, we started to see all-new characters that had nothing to do with the time periods of either game, such as [[VideoGame/BladestormTheHundredYearsWar Jeanne D'Arc]]. [[spoiler:Then [[VideoGame/DeadOrAlive the ninjas]] [[VideoGame/NinjaGaiden started to arrive]]...and then [[VideoGame/SoulSeries Sophitia Alexandra]], and...[[VideoGame/AtelierRoronaTheAlchemistOfArland Sterkenberg Cranach?!]]]] |
| 435 | * ''VideoGame/WheresMyWater'' has more of an Unexpected Crossover. The ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'' version of the game probably came as a surprise to a lot of people, as that series is virtually unknown outside of its native China and doesn't have any particularly widespread American releases. |
| 436 | * ''[[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft World of Warcraft: Legion]]'' had numerous characters reappear completely unexpectedly, many because they were thought to be permanently dead or PutOnABus. Besides former raid bosses like Jaraxxus, Brutallus and the Eredar Twins, Bolvar Fordragon returned as the Lich King, Turalyon is both alive and fighting the Burning Legion, and Magni has returned. Particularly noteworthy is the priest champion Calia Menethil, Arthas' sister who had so little lore that most fans didn't even know she existed. |
| 437 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarships'' has Poland introduced with the ''Błyskawica''. Poland's Navy was minuscule at the start of WWII, so no one expected them to be introduced before Italy and France. However, as ''Błyskawica'' demonstrates, what few ships it did have were the best in the world for their time period. |
| 438 | * ''VideoGame/Yakuza5'' has a five-chapter story that involves a different character, which include two men associated with the yakuza, a loan shark, a former baseball star, and Haruka Sawamura: Kazuma Kiryu's dear niece and an up-and-coming IdolSinger, whose chapter involves [[UnexpectedGameplayChange no street brawls whatsoever]]. |
| 439 | * ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' fans were in for a surprise when it was announced that [=McKraken=], the FinalBoss of the first game and a recurring boss in the sequels, would finally be able to join your party in ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch4''. |
| 440 | * In ''VideoGame/YuGiOhReshefOfDestruction'', unless you read the manual, it's hard to predict Bandit Keith being the leader of the Neo Ghouls. |
| 441 | * ''VideoGame/YuGiOhTagForceSeries'': In ''Arc-V Tag Force Special'', almost no one expected Ishizu of all characters to be the 5th tag partner for the DM cast. |
| 442 | * With Yugi and Yami Marik being the only characters in the initial ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDuelLinks'' roster that nobody had, many were surprised to see the Paradox Brothers added to the game before their potential events. |
| 443 | ** The existence of an entire area for ''Dark Side of Dimensions'' was surprising enough, but ''nobody'' was expecting [[TheBully Scud]] to be playable, given that he appears for about five minutes in the film and his role is to be vaporized by Aigami. |
| 444 | ** The "D.D. Siege" event surprised many people by including Axel Brodie, a minor character from the third season of ''GX'', as an unlockable character. While a number of players had wanted Viper's trio in the game, and he had appeared in a "wandering duelist" event previously (usually a strong sign that the character will soon be playable), most had expected Jim or Adrian to show up first. |
| 445 | * ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist'' saw [[FillerVillain Dartz and his henchmen from the Seal of Orichalcos arc]] make their video game debut as DLC. They were unexpected as ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' games usually feature characters from the Duelist Kingdom or Battle City arcs, and prior to this, any content from filler arcs was limited to occasional appearances of characters from the Virtual World. |
| 446 | [[/folder]] |
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