->''"Nothing would make me happier than ... to find out that the sales of the original Creator/{{Toho}} [''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}''] movies went up triple or something [after ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'' comes out]. I feel like then I'd dust my hands and say, 'My job is done.' I think he's such an iconic character that he needs to be done justice."''
-->-- '''Creator/GarethEdwards'''

The moment in the lifetime of a community, usually a fandom, when the number of newcomers [[EarthShatteringKaboom explodes]]. This is often the result of a [[TheRemake remake]], an adaptation, an English translation, a ColbertBump or any other development that introduces something formerly obscure to a whole lot of new folks. These inevitably rush to find out as much as they can about this new big thing. [[FanDumb Bad things]] can happen when they meet the [[ItsPopularNowItSucks original community]]. Throw in a little [[OlderThanTheyThink ignorance of the source material]] atop that, and [[BrokenBase a most beautiful chaos is sure to quickly erupt]].

There are no examples of it being used as a weapon of retaliation, as [[http://xkcd.com/591 shown here.]] Yet.

Compare and contrast TheRedStapler, ColbertBump, SongAssociation. UsefulNotes/EternalSeptember was Platform/{{Usenet}}'s great Newbie Boom in 1993. See also RevivalByCommercialization and GatewaySeries for those shows, movies, video games, etc. which triggered the boom in the first place, and FandomLifeCycle which is relevant to this trope.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* [[FanConvention Anime conventions]] in the early 1990s: 90% of attendees consisting of college age males/nerdy high-school guys discussing giant robots, starships, and their interest in Japanese culture. Then suddenly in 1996, after ''Anime/SailorMoon'' hit, and especially after the manga bubble brought shoujo manga such as ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' to the spotlight in the early 2000s, "Where did all these 13-year old girls come from?"
** Later on, [[Franchise/DragonBall "What's with all these teenagers wearing orange gis?"]], [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries "Why is everyone holding red and white balls?"]], [[Anime/DigimonAdventure "What are these furries doing at our anime convention?"]], [[Franchise/YuGiOh "Why does everyone have a deck of cards with them?"]], [[Anime/{{Hamtaro}} "Why is everybody bringing in their pet hamsters?]]", "[[Manga/{{Inuyasha}} Why are some of the guys wearing red robes and holding oversized swords?"]], [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist "Why are there a bunch of guys in metal armor?"]], [[Manga/OnePiece "What's with the people dressed as pirates?"]], [[Manga/TokyoMewMew "Why are all the girls wearing cat ear headbands?"]], [[Manga/AzumangaDaioh "What's with the girls dressed in Japanese schoolgirl uniforms?"]], [[Manga/{{Naruto}} "Why are they wearing metallic headbands?"]], [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica "Why are those girls dressed in frilly outfits and talking about selling their soul for a wish?"]], [[Manga/DeathNote "Why are people bringing in black notebooks?"]], [[Manga/LuckyStar "Why are the girls wearing Japanese schoolgirl outfits again?"]], [[Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya "Why are some of the girls dressed in schoolgirl outfits yet again and talking about having reality-warping powers and supernatural stuff?"]], [[Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub "Why are all these people wearing blue blazers?"]], [[Webcomic/OnePunchMan "Why are there so many bald guys with capes?"]], [[Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba "Why are all these people wearing bamboo as gags?"]], [[Anime/KillLaKill "Why are all those girls dressed in skimpy outfits and wielding giant scissor blades?"]], [[Manga/AttackOnTitan "Why are those guys wearing uniforms and saluting their hearts?"]], [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure "Why are those guys dressed so flamboyantly and making references to classic rock songs?"]] (You get the point.)
** At some of the larger anime conventions (Most notably Otakon) the attendees don't dress exclusively as anime characters anymore and the Con is flavored by whatever's "hot" at the time regardless of its nation of origin. At the 2008 convention (right after ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' was released) "Why is everyone ComicBook/TheJoker ''at an anime convention?''"
** Following the above, despite that - this still ''is'' a good way to gauge what the current "big thing" in anime is at that time. Observing it can help a cosplayer pick something that won't get lost in the flood but is still recognizable so as to get enough attention to get photographed, or to go with the flow but find some way to make it pop (usually by making it better in overall quality and likeness and doing one's best to be in character). This tends to spill over into any cosplay events that a Con will hold; to continue with the Otakon example - the current popular Anime choice for cosplay will often get the lion's share of skits and performances during its Masquerade event. Naturally, this is starting to change - but the effect is still strong enough to be noticeable.
* The ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' light novel fandom got a doubling or tripling in size as soon as the anime came out. It would only increase after the dub of the series was announced.
* Most mangas get this once they are turned into anime; ''Manga/SoulEater'', for instance. After said anime are dubbed, this happens again, as in the ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' example above.
* ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}'' experienced one due to its Netflix remake.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' after every major re-release. The English dub VHS tapes were released from 1996-1997, and bootlegs were available since it began in 1995. Popularity tapered off a bit in the early 2000's. The first big Newbie Boom was centered on the DVD releases, of the as-yet unreleased finale movie ''The End of Evangelion'' in 2002, and then in 2004 the release of the box set of the Director's Cut episodes. Just as the first Newbie Boom from 2002-2004 was wearing off, the series was aired on Creator/AdultSwim from 2005 to 2007, sparking another larger boom because it was airing on basic cable TV. Then another, huge boom came after the ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' films started coming out, starting in late 2007 in Japan. Delayed somewhat due to bidding wars over the license, the real boom hit when the English region DVD was released in late 2009. Another boom happened when the series dropped on Netflix in 2019.
* Consequently, ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' introduced the SuperRobotGenre to many fans. Conflict with the old fanbase tends to arise from the new fans not realising that most of the shows content was OlderThanTheyThink.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Happened in-universe when Gold Roger was executed and said his treasure would be for the one who found it in the Grand Line. This was know as the start of The Golden Age of Piracy for all the new pirates who embarked in finding it; more senior pirates like Whitebeard, however, saw it as a very negative thing as the seas will be plagued by non romance-driven pirates who ignored the old values shared by pirates prior to the Golden Age.
** Another one occurred [[spoiler:after the Whitebeard War, thanks in part to Whitebeard himself. The main goal of the Marines in this war was to snuff out the Golden Age of Piracy. However, Whitebeard, with his dying breath, proclaimed that One Piece does exist, reigniting the idea once again and starting a new era of piracy, as a final middle finger to the World Government and the Marines for the death of Ace, having essentially made the entire war and all the sacrifices the Marines made absolutely meaningless with those last words.]]
** Happened out the universe as well with the Marineford War trending on Twitter, as new viewers wanted to see what the fuss was all about.
** When the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic took effect, ''One Piece'' saw a massive influx of new readers thanks to the lockdown, helped by [[Creator/VizMedia Viz Media's]] affordable access to the entire series.
* ''Anime/PrettyCure'':
** Pre-''[[Anime/HeartCatchPrettyCure Heartcatch]]'': a small, happy fandom struggling to get subs and shake off the "yuri fanboy" label. Post-''Heartcatch'': WHERE DID ALL THESE PEOPLE COME FROM. The reason for the boom is twofold: ''Heartcatch'' was the second series of a new era of ''Precure'' seasons after ''Anime/FreshPrettyCure'' changed many of the Classic''/''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pre-Fresh]] era's conventions, and ''Heartcatch'' also attracted a bigger, more prolific fansub group, bringing the English-speaking fandom same-week or even same-day fansubs for the first time. It also helps that ''Heartcatch'' premiered around the same time that [[Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure the original series]] was airing a dub in Canada and the UK, which may have led some curious viewers to learn about the other installments in the franchise.
** Another boom happened during ''Anime/HugttoPrettyCure'' due to it being the series' [[MilestoneCelebration 15th anniversary]] and due to many news sites covering episode 19's take on gender roles with the character Henri [[spoiler: and his Pretty Cure transformation months later]].
** And then another boom occurred when Netflix started airing ''Anime/SmilePreCure'' and ''Anime/DokiDokiPrecure'', though a bit downplayed due to them being [[EditedForSyndication watered-down dubs]] running under the name ''Glitter Force'', but then played straight once Crunchyroll announced that ''Anime/HealinGoodPrettyCure'' would be getting a subbed simulcast release, marking the first time a ''Pretty Cure'' series debuted in the west in its pure, uncut form.
* MagicalGirl fandom in general. Before ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': "[[{{Iyashikei}} Man, things sure are nice and simple. Those girls are good-natured and things go so well for them.]]" After ''Madoka Magica'': "[[TrueArtIsAngsty Why do some loudmouths keep insisting that horrible things happening to the girls is the new hot stuff?!]]"
** Even prior to that, ''Manga/SailorMoon'', ''Anime/PrettyCure'', and ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' introduced many people to the genre who previously weren't interested.
* The ''Manga/WanderingSon'' was considered a CultClassic manga for a while with a pretty small fandom. After the anime came out it didn't increase ''too'' much but it still gained a lot more notability within anime communities.
* The manga of ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' was a modest success by the later part of 2016, its debut year in Japan, growing to sell around 130 thousand copies per volume in a month by late 2017, early 2018, a certified stable series by normal metrics. Then the anime premiered in 2019... and the series ''exploded'' to an insane degree in Japan by the time broadcast reached Episode 19 of Season 1, generating tidal waves that resonated all the way to the west. ''Demon Slayer'' went from selling close to 130k per volume in a month to selling ''1 million a half copies per week'' in 2020 at the height of its anime generated hype and this sales insanity lasted for ''more than a year'' without end, propelling the series to break all sorts of sales records with the humongous numbers of new fans that sparked in Japan and the world. In just 4 years of publication and at mere 23 volumes in length, the manga sold 150 million copies, an outrageous milestone that no other manga in history has ever accomplished before in that exact timeframe. And the movie ''Mugen Train'' drew newbies to the series by itself: during 2020, when the world was in the heat of the [=COVID-19=] Pandemic, it is responsible for basically ''single-handedly'' saving the cinema industry from going under after mandated closures due to the pandemic, edging out even Hayao Miyazaki's ''Spirited Away'', and is the highest grossing film ''worldwide'' in 2020 (and the first non-Hollywood film to do this) as well as the highest grossing Japanese film of all time.
* Expect a fandom to get a sudden increase in fans when it's either dubbed by a company or it airs on Creator/{{Toonami}}.
** Toonami ''itself'' got an influx of newer generation of anime fans with its reboot since 2012 in addition to their now teenage/adult older Toonami fans. In fact, it's been argued that the Toonami fanbase has become more diverse than the past despite the block's DarkerAndEdgier approach and being geared towards a more teenage and adult audience.
* Also, in TheNewTens, legal streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu have started a similar trend to Toonami when an anime becomes available on them, bringing an influx of fans who don't use dedicated streaming services such as Crunchyroll [[GatewaySeries and may never have watched anime before]].
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' anime had a major increase in new viewership around ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl''.
** Somewhere around the mid 2000s to the ''Diamond and Pearl'' days, ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' went from being a rather obscure adaptation of ''Pokémon'' to being well-known amongst fans. It's pretty much the second adaptation besides the anime, never mind that there are many other manga out there (one is [[Manga/PocketMonsters even more long-running]]). And thanks to Europe starting to release the manga in the 2010s, sales ''exploded'', making it cross 10 million sales by the 2010s.
* With the release of the 2012 anime, ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' got an influx of newbies after over two decades of relative obscurity in English speaking territories (it was always popular in Japan and Europe, but had a difficult time catching on in North America due to the many music and band references causing [[ScrewedByTheLawyers a mess of legal issues]]).
* Whether or not you're a fan of ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' can be a contentious thing in the ''Anime/YuGiOh'' fandom. Many people found the source material through ''The Abridged Series'', with the abridger's characters even claiming at one point that most of the modern interest in ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' came from his show. He's not entirely wrong, but there are those who continually mix manga canon, anime canon, and Abridged canon (or confuse Abridged characterization with canon characterization)--despite the original fans, for the most part, believing Abridged to be a different show altogether.
* For years ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' was a considered a CultClassic amongst mainstream shonen series. It was occasionally mentioned when referring to the "Big 3" (''Naruto'', ''Bleach'', and ''One Piece'') but never had the popularity of even ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'' or [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist its manga]]. Circa 2011 to 2014 it boomed in popularity thanks to the 2011 adaptation, along with fans of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' and ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' getting into it as a substitute after their series began ending. Even more so once it wound up on Toonami, and now it is not uncommon to go to an anime convention and find a good number of cosplayers of ''Hunter x Hunter'' characters.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' has an interesting history with its popularity. Season 1 of the anime was a modest hit, [[OvershadowedByAwesome but it had]] [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable some]] [[Webcomic/MobPsycho100 pretty]] [[Anime/YuriOnIce stiff]] [[Literature/ReZero competition]] the year it aired. By the time season 2 aired, it had an unexpected surge in popularity, helped by a few factors: 1. The ending of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}: Shippuden'' and the [[ContestedSequel divisiveness]] of ''Manga/{{Boruto}}.'' 2. The long anticipated second season of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' only getting [[ItsShortSoItSucks 12 episodes]] ([[AwesomenessWithdrawal after a four year wait, no less]]), while ''Hero Academia's'' second season got 24. Both of those helped fill a void.
* On a global scale, ''Anime/DragonBallZ'''s 1996 dub in the US, and the Latin Spanish dub of ''Manga/DragonBall'' in the previous year, started an explosion of interest in ''Dragon Ball'' overseas after it was starting to wind down in Japan with ''Anime/DragonBallGT''. The introduction of ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'', and especially ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', have done this in a more traditional sense.
* The Creator/StudioGhibli fandom had two of these. The first happened in 2003 after ''Anime/SpiritedAway'' won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, and the second happened in 2009, when the first wide-release American Ghibli film, ''Anime/{{Ponyo}}'', was released in theaters. [[note]] Prior to this, Ghibli films only got a limited release in American cinemas, with the widest beforehand being ''Spirited Away'' playing in 714 cinemas across the country.[[/note]]
* Many older fans, now in their 30s, 40s and even 50s, are attempting in a small way to re-present older classic anime to the now much larger, younger fandom, in hopes of kickstarting one of these.
* ''Manga/CaseClosed'' got one in Japan after the monster popularity of the movie ''Zero The Enforcer'', [[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/07/national/media-national/women-japan-fall-amuro-isnt-j-pop-star/ especially among young adult women who fell in love with Tooru Amuro]], who ended up becoming a BreakoutCharacter despite first appearing very late in the series' run.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'': The first episode made a completely gigantic splash and experienced a heavy influx of newcomers, even outside Japan where Gundam is no powerhouse. The show has garnered social media attention like no previous Gundam series before it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* With the announcement of the ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' film, the fan community swelled to massive size as people swarmed to read the original [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} graphic novel]] which swelled the fanbase. That was until some realized what type of story Creator/AlanMoore was telling. Theater attendance even took a hit when some people found out the thing that looks like a cool superhero story was mostly deconstructing the medium.
* After a flurry of early advertising publicity stills for the ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}'' movie were released in 2013 picturing ComicBook/RocketRaccoon, there was a sudden hubbub about how cool it was that a talking raccoon with a ray gun would be one of the stars of a science fiction story. Those people who'd been fans of the character since his first appearance in ''1975'' quietly rolled their eyes and continued waiting for the movie.
* ComicBook/WonderWoman is in no way an obscure character but she's always been in the shadow of characters like ComicBook/{{Batman}}, ComicBook/{{Superman}}, and sometimes even ComicBook/GreenLantern. She's always the [[TheSmurfettePrinciple main female]] amongst mainstream comic book characters, especially DC. In TheSeventies she was quite popular, ''[[Series/WonderWoman1975 even having a very popular show]]'', but for over a decade afterwards she wasn't really doing anything for people outside the comic book fandom. The DCAU in general, especially ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', really made people care about Diana again and created a lot of fans for her. ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' ''really'' helped her as well.
* CW's ''Series/TheFlash2014'' introduced a whole new generation of fans to ''ComicBook/TheFlash''. ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' did this years earlier however for [[Characters/TheFlashWallyWest Wally West]] instead of [[Characters/TheFlashBarryAllen Barry Allen]].
* ''Series/Supergirl2015'' introduced [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara Zor-El]] to many people who previously knew nothing about her but quickly became a new generation of fans.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', and later ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' created many ComicBook/BlackCanary fans.
* For years ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' was seen as the type of clean, safe comic people buy for their family members. It was the most casual of the casual and rarely discussed amongst the comic book fandom as a whole. In the early 2010s, this changed with comics like the {{genderswap}} comic, ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie'', ''ComicBook/ChillingAdventuresOfSabrina'', ''ComicBook/ArchieVSPredator'', and ''ComicBook/ArchieComics2015''.
* The 2015 IDW ''ComicBook/JemAndTheHologramsIDW'' comics revived peoples interest in [[WesternAnimation/{{Jem}} a cartoon]] that ended before many fans were even born.
* ComicBook/HarleyQuinn has always been a fan favorite but her mainstream popularity surged in the wake of ''Film/SuicideSquad2016''.
* ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'s popularity among casual audiences surged to greater heights in the wake of the [[Film/Aquaman2018 2018 film]]. Before this, his appearances on ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' and ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' also attracted casual fans to the character.
* The ''ComicBook/XMen'' were put on the backburner at Marvel for several years due to the deal surrounding the [[Film/XMenFilmSeries film series]] keeping the adaptation rights of all mutants and associated characters in Fox's hands rather than their own. A majority of the cast was either killed off or BroughtDownToNormal, remaining members were dispersed among other teams that didn't have much to do with mutants, characters often fought each other or other heroes instead of villains, and when the company moved to establish ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'' as a replacement for X-Men and mutants the brand was only pushed down further. But then the 2019 SoftReboot ''[[ComicBook/HouseAndPowersOfX House of X and Powers of X]]'' led by Creator/JonanthanHickman established an all-new status quo for mutantkind that resurrected and repowered many characters and burst onto the scene with a multitude of books - most of which were hugely successful because the new stories provided an optimal starting point for new readers. Not only are the current lines seeing critical praise, but fans are using them to dig into past stories as well.
* According to [[https://bleedingcool.com/comics/marvels-moon-girl-devils-dinosaur-collections-sell-out/ Bleeding Cool]], after the premiere of the ''WesternAnimation/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur2023'', existing collections of the [[ComicBook/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur original comic run]] began to sell out on Amazon. This is alongside value hikes on Ebay.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* {{Fanfiction}} first became big with the opening of Platform/FanfictionDotNet in the late 1990s, despite having been in existence since the 1800s.
* Platform/ArchiveOfOurOwn gained a huge influx of new users when Fanfiction.net cracked down on sexually explicit fanfics in 2012.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* The fandom for ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'' grew significantly after its release on Creator/DisneyPlus, ''especially'' on Platform/{{TikTok}}.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* A rare WordOfGod example: Creator/DanAykroyd has said that ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' will always last because young children will always come to find it at the stage when they start to become fascinated by the idea of the afterlife, and what happens after we die. Apparently he thinks people should tell children that when they die, if they step out of line, they spend it in a shoe box.
* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'':
** ''Film/{{Gojira}}'' was a fairly well-received film in its home country of Japan, but it was the Americanized edit, ''[[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1956 Godzilla: King of the Monsters!]]'', that helped turn Godzilla into a household name across the world.
** ''Film/KingKongVsGodzilla'' became the highest-grossing ''Godzilla'' movie for decades thanks to the inclusion of the then more famous Film/KingKong as his opponent. The success of the film is also what convinced Creator/{{Toho}} to turn ''Godzilla'' into a franchise of almost yearly films.
** ''Film/GodzillaVsMegalon'' massively grew Godzilla's fanbase in the West due a wide theatrical release with a huge marketing push, and repeated showings on prime time television (despite being a bomb in Japan). If baby boomers had knowledge of ''any'' Godzilla media, it was probably this movie. However, this also proved to be an AudienceColoringAdaptation, because ''Godzilla vs. Megalon'' is often considered one of the worst of the franchise, giving the impression that ''all'' kaiju movies were low-budget shlock with laughable production quality and effects, an impression which overshadowed the genre outside of Japan for decades afterwards.
** Although it was unpopular among fans familiar with the older films for being InNameOnly, ''Film/{{Godzilla 1998}}'' made the name familiar to moviegoers in countries that [[NoExportForYou never got the other films]] by virtue of being a widely-distributed Hollywood blockbuster. In fact, many people in those countries are surprised to hear that Creator/RolandEmmerich was [[OlderThanTheyThink not the original creator of Godzilla]]. To promote the film, Creator/CartoonNetwork also aired ''WesternAnimation/TheGodzillaPowerHour'', which likewise reached a wider viewership thanks to the channel's availability.
** The very effective trailers for ''Film/Godzilla2014'' managed to bring many more people into the ''Godzilla'' fandom before the movie itself even came out. Creator/GarethEdwards has frequently noted that it has also brought people ''back'' into the fandom from having previously been "closet fans" before; he has been pleasantly surprised by all the unexpected people hearing about what project he is doing and telling him something along the lines of "I like Godzilla. Don't fuck it up."
** Godzilla 2014 and ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' also kicked off the Reiwa Era, which has seen the kaiju genre return to heights not seen since the 60s, and therefore lead to a massive newbie boom for the genre in general.
* The LiveActionAdaptation [[Film/JemAndTheHolograms2015 of]] ''WesternAnimation/JemAndTheHolograms'' did this for all the wrong reasons. The [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks overwhelming backlash]] from the trailers and the film revived people's interest in the cartoon series and boosted attention for the newer comics (see Comic Books above). Like with the comics, many of the new fans attracted by the reaction to the film weren't even born yet when the cartoon was originally broadcast.
* Rare creator example happened with ''Film/TheHouseThatJackBuilt'' and its director Creator/LarsVonTrier. Trier certainly isn't an obscure director due to his controversy he garners with his films (and himself), but ''Jack'' wound up being an introduction for a lot of recent cinephiles due to how much [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity press it was getting]] between its violent content + premise (a SerialKiller recounting his past murders) and its rarity of screenings for the Director's Cut version, which has all of the gruesome content in tact. To wit, go on Website/{{Letterboxd}} and take a shot every time you come across a post saying that this was their first von Trier film.
* The negative reaction to ''Film/{{Cats}}'' and its trailers revived interest in [[Theatre/{{Cats}} the musical]] and Creator/TSEliot's work. Hell, many of the new fans weren't even born yet during the musical's heyday in the 80s/90s.
* ''Film/Transformers2007'' obliterated initial expectations and revitalized the Franchise/{{Transformers}} franchise to levels not seen since the original 80's show. [[MerchandiseDriven The toyline]] was initially based on projections from the most recent animated show of the time (''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' on Creator/CartoonNetwork) and store shelves were nearly empty for weeks before they could get them stocked again. This in turn helped form the direction for the rest of the franchise for decades to come, taking cues from the story and character designs of the films.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* After ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' movies premiered, the Middle-Earth fandom swelled up. This is actually the second time this happened; the books didn’t get popular until the counterculture movement of TheSixties. The books were first published in 1954 and were rather obscure for their first decade of existence.
** And now, with [[Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower a new TV show being out]], ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' got a new flux of young readers interested in the books.
* When ''Series/GameOfThrones'' started airing, there was a definite rise in the amount of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' books sold.
** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'' also attracted an increased interest for ''Literature/FireAndBlood''.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fans that read ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone The Philosopher's/Sorceror's Stone]]'' '''before''' the release of ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Chamber of Secrets]]'' are hard to find. The real Newbie Boom occurred between the release of ''Chamber of Secrets'' and ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' and then another between that and ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]''. By ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' (by that point, [[Film/HarryPotter the first two movies]] were out) most people were on board.
* Hannibal Lecter didn't become an icon until the film of ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' came out nearly a decade after Thomas Harris first created the character.
* Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheDarkTower'' series was famously unpopular among his fandom early on. It wasn't at all uncommon for committed King fans to have only a passing familiarity with the series. It was also a matter of debate whether ''The Dark Tower'' was the name of the series and ''The Gunslinger'' was the first book in that series or the other way around. There was also debate as to whether the author would live to finish the tale--King himself didn't seem to think he would, and he almost didn't.
** Given that The Dark Tower was considered probably the most marketable literary franchise that hadn't yet been adapted as a film or television series, it certainly encountered this again once it escaped from DevelopmentHell.
* Creator/DenisVilleneuve's [[Film/Dune2021 film]] [[Film/DunePartTwo adaptation]] of ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' brought a lot of newcomers who became interested in the books.
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames''. Many people noted that, in the run-up to [[Film/TheHungerGames the film's]] release, sales of the book were surging as people raced to see what all the hype was about.
* The first ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'' book was published in 2005. The initial series were bestsellers but it wasn't until the movie was made a few years later that it became a cultural phenomenon.
* The 2010s did this to ''Literature/WarriorCats'' thanks to the large FanAnimation and fan-artist community the series has received. Many come across an animation on [=YouTube=] and become interested in reading about the series about dramatic, talking cats.
* The ''Literature/GoodOmens'' fandom got a massive influx of new fans in mid-2019 when the book's [[Series/GoodOmens2019 TV adaptation]] came out. According to the [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/25671457/chapters/62327902#workskin AO3 Ship Stats for 2020]], the number of Aziraphale/Crowley fics on Archive of Our Own skyrocketed by over ''twenty thousand'' between August 2019 and August 2020.
* ''Literature/TheMoomins'' saw an influx of new fans in the late [=2010s=], thanks largely to the crowdfunding campaign around the ''WesternAnimation/{{Moominvalley}}'' animated series.
* ''Literature/TheSongOfAchilles'': The book was released in 2011 to good sales and critical acclaim, however it experienced a massive ressurgence in the new 20s, shooting it back into the ''New York Times''' Best Seller list 10 years after its release. Reasons for this includes it becoming a [=TikTok=] reading recommendation darling and the release of the 2020 game ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', which featured Achilles and Patroclus in a romantic relationship as well and creating a massive case of FriendlyFandoms.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Infamously, a large number of original series fans didn't watch it when it originally aired in the late 1960s. However, Creator/{{Paramount}} aired reruns of the series in syndication throughout the '70s, which is how a far larger number of people were exposed to it. This wasn't as much of a datable "boom" so much as steady growth across a decade. The success of the '80s-era ''Franchise/StarTrek'' movies exponentially increased the number of Trek fans and led not to a remake, but to a sequel series, ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. It, in turn, exponentially increased the Trek fanbase even further.
** ''Film/StarTrek2009'', for its time, was popular even among non-''Trek'' fans.
** It happened again in the 2010s when the existing shows at the time were added to Netflix. ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' in particular gained a whole new influx of fans, becoming the most-streamed series of the franchise.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' got this in 2005, with the launch of the new series.
** And although the show has had a cult profile in the US since the 1970s, since about 2008 the show's profile in the US has been on an upward curve. The fact it's one of the few explicitly SF series airing on American TV in 2010-2011 that's actually surviving and not being [[ScrewedByTheNetwork cancelled after a dozen episodes (or in danger of cancellation)]], and with there being no ''Franchise/StarTrek''-like alternative, has also attracted increased US attention.
** The comment above regarding newbies being drawn in by the revival only to find the older series not to their liking is also holding true with new ''Doctor Who'' fans, some of whom are finding the 1963-89 series is an acquired taste. This has led to a few schisms between aspects of fandom, such as those who declare Creator/ChristopherEccleston, Creator/DavidTennant or Creator/MattSmith the best Doctor ever, without having ever seen a Creator/TomBaker or Creator/JonPertwee story in order to develop an informed opinion. Also look at any entry for ''Doctor Who'' on this very wiki which only look at the show from the revival's perspective with no knowledge of the first three decades of the show whatsoever. Let's just say it does result in a DoubleTake from an old series fan to see the Doctor touted as an example on romance and sex tropes as if that had ''always'' been the case.
* Any song covered on ''Series/{{Glee}}'', with the exception of the ones it ripped from the Top 100.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' got an odd amount of this after [[EnsembleDarkhorse Castiel]] was introduced in Season 4, and some people heard so much about him that they decided to check out the show and got hooked. This being ''[[UnpleasableFanbase Supernatural]]'', there was wank from the fans who'd started watching earlier. Castiel also inspired another, much later resurgence of interest in the show with [[spoiler:his DyingDeclarationOfLove to Dean]] in the third-to-last episode of the final season, which caused such a rapid and huge fandom reaction that "[[PortmanteauCoupleName Destiel]]" was trending at #1 on Twitter ''in the middle of the 2020 U.S. presidential elections'' and caused both curious bystanders who'd never seen the show and former fans who had stopped watching the show long ago to check out the show and its fandom to see what all the hubbub was about.
* ''BandOfBrothers'' had a bit of this after Creator/JamesMcAvoy, Creator/TomHardy and Creator/MichaelFassbender got popular (all three of them had small roles in it early in their careers), but the majority of the fandom doesn't seem to mind.
* The general public only now became aware Creator/{{Syfy}} makes C-movies with ridiculous titles after comments about 2013's ''Film/{{Sharknado}}'' suddenly exploded on Twitter.
* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' has always been a popular series but [[Series/{{Sherlock}} the BBC version]] really made the fandom boom.
* ''Series/BreakingBad'' has gained a lot more fans since its arrival on Netflix and the buzz over its final seasons than it had beforehand.
* Very few people have heard of the memoir ''Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison'' before the TV series adaptation ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'' premiered on Creator/{{Netflix}}.
* While ''Series/SesameStreet'' has always been popular, there have been three instances where the show's long-lasting popularity skyrocketed: one in the late 90s thanks to the popularity of the Tickle Me Elmo toys (which in turn led to Elmo being promoted to [[BreakoutCharacter even more of a major character]]), once in the late 2000s when Abby Cadabby and the programming block format were introduced, and another in 2019 due to the [[MilestoneCelebration 50th anniversary of the series]], its boatload of promotional efforts, and the move to Creator/HBOMax.
* Despite it being off the air at the time, ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'' got this in 2018 due to both the documentary film ''Won't You Be My Neighbor?'' and its 50th anniversary that same year, which was mainly promoted through [[WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood its sister show]]. It even got to the point where several PBS stations re-added weekly airings of the show in wake of the sudden trend, and greenlit another spin-off of ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''.
* ''Series/DonkeyHodie'' caused a boom in the popularity of ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'', thanks to it using several {{mythology gag}}s referencing the show and using several of the show's songs. This, along with that show's ratings success, lead to ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' being added to the PBS Kids channel after last being aired during ''Family Night'' in 2018.
* Obscure Creator/PBSKids series ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' got this after a fan who knew the creator posted daily uploads of each episode on his [=YouTube=] channel, to the point where many uploads got at least 1,000 views within three days of being uploaded. It peaked after "Jack Frost Is Coming To Town", the episode guest-starring Creator/GilbertGottfried, was uploaded because of pre-existing fans recommending the episode to others. In fact, said episode is one of the first results that shows up as a suggestion if one were to Google ''The Noddy Shop''!
* In 2015, the ''Series/{{LazyTown}}'' fandom was all but dormant, with Chloe Lang's run as Stephanie having mixed reception amongst the fandom. Come 2016, and Stefan Karl Stefansson was revealed to have cancer and a [=GoFundMe=] was set up to pay for his living costs, causing people to make memes out of "We Are Number One" to encourage donations and the fandom to grow significantly. Next thing you know, the old guard were saying "Where did all these meme lovers come from?"
* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' experienced a ''massive'' Newbie Boom during Season 42 after their spoofs of American politicians such as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton gained attention on both sides of the aisle. Many of the old guard were wondering "Where did all these people come from?" as the show began gaining renewed attention after years of suffering an on-and-off reputation of "[[SeasonalRot a show that has run for way too long]]".
* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' saw a huge Newbie Boom in early 2021 when all but two episodes arrived on Creator/DisneyPlus.[[note]]One of the missing episodes (Creator/BrookeShields) is due to music rights, the other for unbelievably horrible things the guest star (Chris Langham) did in his personal life decades later.[[/note]]
* Similar to ''The Muppet Show'', ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' saw a huge Newbie Boom from October to November of 2022 when Disney+ made the entire series (barring a handful of [[MissingEpisode missing episodes]]) available for streaming. Even Disney Junior's official accounts took notice and started posting about the series again, such as uploading full episides onto [=YouTube=] and including the characters in their social media posts alongside newer shows like ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/SuperKitties''.
* In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} and Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wartime leadership, ''Series/ServantOfThePeople'' received a notable boost in popularity worldwide, with Broadcasting rights being requested by various foreign companies. On March 16, 2022, Netflix announced that the series would be available to US streamers again due to popular demand.
* The ''Barney'' franchise experienced this once Creator/{{PBS}} began airing ''Series/BarneyAndFriends''. The overnight popularity of this series turned an obscure children's DirectToVideo series into a household name among families.
* ''Series/FraggleRock'' experienced a growth in fans after the release of ''Series/FraggleRockBackToTheRock''.
* The Creator/BobRoss series ''Series/TheJoyOfPainting'' saw a major resurgence in popularity after the smash success of its Platform/{{Twitch}} marathon in 2015, which prompted a newfound following among viewers who weren't even born yet during the show's original run.
* In 2023, the Muppet fandom grew after the release of ''Series/TheMuppetsMayhem'' on Creator/DisneyPlus.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Meta]]
* [[Website/TVTropes This wiki]] gets a Newbie Boom each time an outside community links in. ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' linked here once and killed the server for part of a day.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/{{Aerosmith}} experienced this in the mid-to-late '80s with the one-two punch of the collaboration with Music/RunDMC on the latter's cover of "Walk This Way" and the multiplatinum 1987 album ''Permanent Vacation''. Fans of their '70s output cried foul over the glossy production that veered too much to [[HairMetal the pop metal]] that was then popular in contrast to the bluesy hard rock that ironically influenced many of the same bands. Not necessarily a bad thing, as many of their old staples are well-known across generations and their classic compilations remained amongst their biggest sellers, plus their pop metal output produced some eventual fan favorites (such as "Rag Doll" and "Cryin'").
* People who became fans of Music/MarilynManson when the cover of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" got heavy rotation on Creator/{{MTV}} were a great irritation to fans who had been following the group for several years before that song/video was released. They were known to old-school fans as "Sweet Dreamers", and Manson himself would often follow up live performances of the song with "All you kids can go home now."
* The Swedish group Music/TheCardigans had the same problem after their song "Lovefool" was featured on the soundtrack to ''[[Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet Romeo + Juliet]]''. It brought them a lot of new fans, but since "Lovefool" was fairly [[BlackSheepHit atypical of their normal sound]], many of those new fans ended up confused or disappointed.
* Music/{{Muse}} and Music/{{Paramore}} both gained a lot of new fans when their songs were featured in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''. Many long-time fans of both bands believe that ItsPopularNowItSucks.
* The Music/RedHotChiliPeppers seem to gain a whole new set of fans with every album, which often leads to them joining forums and annoying everyone with stupid comments. ''I'm with You'' actually lost fans who only liked them for John Frusciante, which made the fandom somewhat happy.
* Music/XJapan has had ''several'' booms:
** The first was around 1998 (when hide's funeral hitting major worldwide media outlets brought a little interest) to around 2000ish, when [=MP3=] trading first brought them to the awareness of a wide amount of people who weren't Japanese or devoted fans of Japanese metal. This was also the first major Chinese and Thai newbie boom, as this was around when Chinese and Thai underground [=DJs=] began to play them.
** The second (and first major ''Western'') boom, on the other hand, came around 2005-07, with the debut of Platform/{{YouTube}} and the title song for ''Film/SawIV'', "IV". Their PerformanceVideo and lives were some of the first jrock uploaded to [=YouTube=], and ''many'' Western fans first arrived either with seeing them or hide solo then them on [=YouTube=], and the new song and promised reunion inspired some interest from existing Visual Kei/jrock fans.
** The third, smaller one came in 2010 with their playing Lollapalooza, which actually drew Western metal fans and, had the band not petered out for the most part after 2011 with not much activity and constant delays and rumors of breakup (which don't do much to sustain active fandom), might have been their major comeback.
** And now, possibly the fourth and biggest has began with international release of the documentary film ''We Are X''. Quite a few who've never heard the band before (and some influential Western music and media people among them) now count themselves at least casual fans.
* The polarizing practice of {{sampling}} tends to result in this. Like with ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'', it's not a bad thing if gives the newbies exposure to classic songs they otherwise would probably never hear. If said newbies disrespect the original stuff in front of its dedicated fans, however, they're liable to ''lose a kidney''.
* Music/TheGratefulDead experienced a surge in fans after their {{New Wave|Music}}-influenced single "Touch of Grey" became a Top 10 hit in the United States in 1987. The Deadhead community disparagingly call those who became fans of the band in the late '80s and early '90s as "Touch Heads". The Touch Heads had a reputation (and not an unearned one) for being a bunch of college frat boys who had heard about the scene outside of Dead shows and the ease of acquiring drugs therein, and were coming to concerts to party, not for the music. This resulted in several ugly or violent incidents outside of the shows that were not at all common before the song became a hit, and were thus blamed on the new fans. That strain of Touch Heads wasn't representative of the whole of the band's new and younger fanbase, but they did make it difficult for some newer fans in the late 1980s and early 1990s to admit that they had fallen in love with the Dead and become Deadheads after first being exposed to them through "Touch of Grey".
* Music/{{Genesis|Band}} experienced a newbie boom after the release of their albums ''Duke'' and ''Abacab'' in the early 1980s, along with Music/PhilCollins' budding solo career. While their pop success saved the band from falling into oblivion, and they never completely abandoned ProgressiveRock, it displeased the older fans who still mourned the departure of Music/PeterGabriel and their steady GenreShift [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks from prog to pop music]].
** The same can be said for Music/{{Yes}}, following 1983's very successful ''90125'', with a (slightly) changed lineup and more [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]]-influenced and pop-friendly songs like "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" topping the charts. Fans of the more progressive Yes call themselves "Troopers" (after "Starship Trooper") and the newbies "Generators" (after ''90125'''s followup, ''Big Generator''.)
** Peter Gabriel himself already had something of a following by the mid-'80s, but 1986's ''Music/{{So}}'' introduced a lot of people to his music; not only were the hits from the album played heavily on radio, but the songs' music videos (''especially'' the video for "Sledgehammer") were put into frequent rotation on MTV.
* Music/{{Queensryche}} experienced this after the release of the hit single "Silent Lucidity" off the album ''Empire'' in 1990. It became a "crossover" hit, so to speak, into the pop-music genre. When the band toured, they realized during at least one show in New York State, that many of the attendees were there solely for that one song, and had no idea about the concept of the rest of the album- or the band's music otherwise. They stopped the concert long enough to explain who the characters were and the basic plot.
* Any film or TV show that plays a song that catches on with the masses usually has [[RevivalByCommercialization said masses searching all over the internet for the song itself.]]
* Music/DavidBowie had a huge one after he released the mainstream pop-rock album ''Let's Dance'' in 1983, but this led into an AudienceAlienatingEra when he tried to appeal more to the newbies than to himself with his next two albums. Fans and critics who'd followed him in TheSeventies weren't too happy with him for "selling out", and he became frustrated that newbies didn't understand his not-so-mainstream tendencies, which almost resulted in ArtistDisillusionment after the 1987 Glass Spider Tour.
** And he got another one in 2016… [[DeadArtistsAreBetter after his death]], which happened just after he released his last album ''Music/BlackstarAlbum''. It led to so many tributes in the media and the musical world that many people who didn't really care about him beforehand got interested in ''Blackstar'' (which was basically Bowie turning his own death into a work of art) and his discography in general.
* Two songs used in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' became hugely popular after people first heard them in the game. Cage The Elephant's ''Ain't No Rest for the Wicked'' and DJ Champion's ''No Heaven'' were searched heavily on Platform/YouTube after ''Borderlands'' was released and there were lots of posted comments stating they searched for the songs because they heard it in the game.
* Industrial metal band Combichrist got a bit of a newbie boom when their music was one half of the main soundtrack to the ([[BrokenBase controversial]]) 2013 ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' reboot, ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry'' (consisting of both already existing tracks like "Never Surrender," and new tracks made for the game like "No Redemption"). It probably helps that the soundtrack was one of the very few areas that even people who complained TheyChangedItNowItSucks didn't have many complaints about (since past games also featured heavy metal soundtracks).
* Most of Music/OneDirection's American fan base never hopped on until early 2012, shortly before their first album was released there. The next wave of Directioners jumped on between their Today Show appearance in March and their SNL performance in April. By the time of the Summer Olympics in 2012, most of their American fans were on board. Most of the fans they've gained since then were either just hitting puberty or converting from Beliebers.
* Music/TheBeatles' American fans came on board in January and February 1964. The British fans were around for about a year before that.
** Subsequent generations have been turned on to the Fabs by the release of the greatest hits compilation ''1'', the release of the ''Music/TheBeatlesAnthology'' book/show/albums, the film ''Film/AcrossTheUniverse2007'', and ''The Beatles VideoGame/RockBand''.
* Music/DaftPunk's American fans are often ones who were gained in 2013 when "Get Lucky" stormed the American charts.
* Music/FiveSecondsOfSummer had a small but dedicated fanbase in Australia for their first year of existence, but had very few American fans until they toured with One Direction in 2013.
* Music/{{Lorde}} already had a somewhat large cult following in her native New Zealand and the neighboring Australia, but the rest of the world didn't hop on board until "Royals" became a massive worldwide hit (after an agent discovered her singing it at a school talent show), and this is even true for her fans in the aforementioned countries, as even there "Royals" was her first hit.
* Music/EllieGoulding was already a big name in her native UK and the rest of Europe after her BreakthroughHit "Starry Eyed" made her into a household name in 2010. However, North America didn't join in until 2012 when "Lights" became hit over a year after its release.
* Music/ImogenHeap gained much of her fanbase after "Hide And Seek" became [[MemeticMutation a meme]] due to "Dear Sister". Later she gained some more fans when Music/{{Pentatonix}} covered "Aha!"
* Music/{{Sia}} has been making music since the 1990s however she didn't start becoming mainstream until "Titanium", "Wild Ones" and "Chandelier" in the 2010s.
* Music/{{Starset}} suddenly boomed in popularity circa 2014. Many fans think it was due to radio airplay and {{fanvid}}s of "My Demons" and "Carnivore".
* Music/EdSheeran was very popular in his native UK since 2011 and had some minor success in the US with his first album ''+'', but only ascended superstardom in the states upon the release of ''x'' in 2014.
* Music/PinkFloyd had been a cult ProgressiveRock band (for its first few years associated with PsychedelicRock) since 1965, existing with the classic post-Music/SydBarrett four-piece lineup since Syd's departure in 1968. The success of their 1973 ConceptAlbum ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'', and in particular the single taken from the album, "Money", brought a new, mainstream audience to the band, one that, like the "Touch Heads", was often rowdier and more eager to hear the hit than their previous fans. As the band graduated to playing arenas and stadiums by the [[TheSeventies mid-1970s]], the band, particularly Music/RogerWaters, became more frustrated with the unruly crowds and the corporate big business of ArenaRock sponsoring the shows, feeling a metaphorical barrier was forming between performer and audience; Waters would pen ''Music/TheWall'' based on this frustration. The band got another Newbie Boom around the same time the Grateful Dead did when 1987's ''Music/AMomentaryLapseOfReason'' and its hit single "Learning to Fly", as well as the 1994 follow-up ''Music/TheDivisionBell'', introduced the band to the MTV Generation. Because the band kept its sound consistent with its classic years and the new fans liked the band's older material, there was never much of a divide between the "old" and the "new" fanbases as with the Dead and Yes.
* Most of Music/TheWeeknd's mainstream popularity began in 2015 with ''Beauty Behind the Madness'', although he's been a cult name for a few years beforehand.
* Although Music/TheChainsmokers had a viral hit in 2014 with "#SELFIE", they never really had a sizable fanbase until "Roses" came out in late 2015.
* Music/{{Halsey}}’s popularity skyrocketed after she appeared on Music/TheChainsmokers’ #1 hit “Closer”.
* Music/{{ABBA}} have had a few Newbie Booms over the years.
** After initially struggling to shake off the [[Series/EurovisionSongContest Eurovision]] tag, they became hugely successful in the second half of the 1970s and the early 1980s.
** In 1992, a new generation was introduced to ABBA via [[Music/{{Erasure}} Erasure's]] "[=ABBAesque=] EP", as well as the release of "ABBA Gold", a compilation of the group's Greatest Hits.
** In 1999, the cover band Abba Teens gained a certain popularity with their Abba covers that appeared in popular music shows. (After a while, they changed names to A*Teens and started performing their own songs.)
** Further surges of interest occurred when the jukebox musical ''Theatre/MammaMia'' was launched and again when the show was adapted for the big screen.
* Music/TheB52s enjoyed popularity with their first single "Rock Lobster", then became a cult band. However they had three swells of popularity. The first in Brazil in 1984 when after the commercial failure of ''Whammy!'', a TV show happened to pick the song "Legal Tender" as its theme tune, giving the group a hit there and an invitation to Rock In Rio the next year. The second was the release of "Love Shack" in 1989, which appeared after a hiatus the group had taken due to the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson. It is still their most popular song and the reason they still tour today. The third was the release of the more electro-oriented ''Funplex'' in 2008, which came 16 years after their previous LP ''Good Stuff''.
* Music/BobMarley, whilst always popular, reached a much larger audience with the posthumous compilation ''Legend'' released three years after his death. The reason for its success was that the record consisted primarily of feelgood tunes that suited the atmosphere at any party.
* While Music/HypnosisMic had a relatively good start, the rap battle between Fling Posse and Matenrou, the two most popular divisions in the franchise thus far, attracted a lot of fans while it was going on.
* Even if Music/{{Queen}} has proven itself as popular through generations, the biopic ''Film/BohemianRhapsody'' certainly guaranteed new fans as TheNewTens waned. The band also got another wave of fans when "Bohemian Rhapsody" was used in ''Film/WaynesWorld''.
* Music/{{Phish}} gained new fans in 1995 after the death of Music/GratefulDead leader Music/JerryGarcia left generations of Deadheads without a band to follow around the country. Those who were interested in checking out Phish over other jam band options like Widespread Panic or Blues Traveler couldn't have picked a better time: fall 1995 is considered to be one of Phish's very best tours, with several of their most acclaimed concerts happening in that span of time. While some Deadheads were turned off by Phish's different mix of styles and jamming techniques, and did not stick around for long as a result, many others continued to follow them due to the quality of their concerts. The larger fanbase cemented Phish's status as the "heirs" to the Dead's status as the top group in the jam band scene.
* Music/{{Metallica}} has four big moments: the music video for "One", as it let the MTV audience know them; ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Metallica]]'', aka The Black Album, which hit #1 on the charts for making their music more accessible and having hits such as "Enter Sandman" and "Sad But True"; ''Videogame/GuitarHero'', which even had a whole game centered around Metallica; and the inclusion of "Music/{{Master of Puppets}}" in the season 4 finale of ''Series/StrangerThings'', which not only exposed the band's music to younger audiences but also [[RevivalByCommercialization allowed the song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100]] ''[[RevivalByCommercialization thirty-six years]]'' [[RevivalByCommercialization after the album was originally released]].
* Music/KateBush gained a significant amount of exposure to a new generation of fans for the use of "[[Music/HoundsOfLove Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)]]" in season 4 of ''Series/StrangerThings'', ''thirty-seven'' years after its original release. This newfound attention allowed the song to chart much higher than its peak at #30 in 1985, topping the charts in multiple countries and its music video became one of the top trending music videos on [=YouTube=].
* Music/GunsNRoses experienced a boom in the mid-2000s. It started with the {{supergroup}} Velvet Revolver putting Music/{{Slash|Musician}}, Duff, and Matt back in the spotlight, the release of the ''Greatest Hits'' album (which has spent 500 weeks on the ''Billboard 200''), and the prominent use of "Welcome to the Jungle" in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' (which also featured Axl Rose as a radio DJ), all of which combined to make GNR's music and musicians more accessible to new listeners than they had been in years. A few years later, Slash starred in ''[[VideoGame/GuitarHero Guitar Hero III]]'', which made him the ''de facto'' rock guitar god in the eyes of a generation, especially among people who do not listen to a lot of rock music and are not familiar with very many guitarists. They experienced another boom in the 2010s with the ''Not in This Lifetime... Tour'', wherein half the classic lineup returned.
* Music/{{BTS}} had been doubling their fanbase every year for 7 years, but the release of Dynamite brought in a massive wave of new fans who hadn't given them a chance before. In October 2022, they held a crossover with ''VideoGame/CookieRunKingdom'' for promotion for their Busan "Yet to Come" concert where they would be playable characters, causing an influx of ''Cookie Run Kingdom'' fans to get into the band. Funnily enough, "Dynamite" was the song that was used to represent the seven as a whole.
* Indie [[ElectronicMusic electronic]]/{{shoegazing}} duo Music/SweetTrip was always appreciated by critics, but they never received their big break during their heyday of the mid-2000's, remaining a quiet underground act until disbanding in 2013. However, the late 2010's saw a boom of attention among indie music circles -- most prominently on /mu/ and rateyourmusic.com -- elevating their 2003 album ''velocity : design : comfort.'' and 2009 album ''You Will Never Know Why'' as [[CultClassic underappreciated gems]] who were [[VindicatedByHistory simply too ahead of their time]]. The explosion of attention didn't go unnoticed by the duo, [[HesBack who decided it was time to return]], releasing their first album in over a decade, ''A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals'', in 2021.
* Music/TaylorSwift with her 2020 duology of ''Music/{{folklore|2020}}'' and ''Music/{{evermore|2020}}'', as well as her [[TheNotRemix rerecordings]] of her earlier albums in the early 2020s. While 2019's ''Music/{{Lover}}'' had pulled her out of the AudienceAlienatingEra she'd fallen into in the latter half of the 2010s, that album, with its OlderAndWiser lyrics and tone, was propelled mostly by her now-adult fans from her initial rise in the late '00s and early '10s. ''folklore'' and ''evermore'', however, had the fortune of coming out just months after the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic started, and her pivot to FolkMusic, AlternativeIndie, and BaroquePop wound up perfectly in tune with the musical zeitgeist of the period, especially the rise of BedroomPop. Meanwhile, not only did "Taylor's Versions" of her older albums bring those songs back to mainstream attention, but the [[ScrewedByTheLawyers circumstances]] of why she recorded them allowed her to [[{{Pun}} shake off]] her image as a pop culture villain and frame herself as a defender of artists' intellectual property rights against major corporations. As such, she quickly gained a new generation of teenage fans.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* The entire field of women's professional wrestling (most noticeably in America, especially with regards to Wrestling/{{WWE}}) went from being hugely important in The80s, to virtually gone in The90s, to perfunctory in TurnOfTheMillennium and the first half of TheNewTens, to becoming huge and important again by the second half thanks to the Wrestling/WWEWomensEvolution. To summarize the history, [[Wrestling/WWEGoldenAgeEra wrestling as a whole had a golden age in the 80s]] of colorful personalities and camp, where women's wrestling was pushed as just as a big a deal as men's wrestling, but this faded out by the decade's end following a plateau of hype and new talent. Along with a gradual ToneShift catering specifically to adult male audiences with the aggressive and macho Wrestling/AttitudeEra and the {{fanservice}}-y shlock of the Wrestling/WWEDivaSearch, this reduced a majority of their women's divisions to consist primarily of {{Faux Action Girl}}s prioritizing sex appeal and social climbing over actual wrestling acumen, whose matches could be completely ignored. However, following the widely acclaimed ''[[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT TakeOver]]'' PPV events starting from 2014, audiences were introduced to new female wrestlers who took wrestling ''very seriously'' -- names including Wrestling/{{Paige}}, Wrestling/CharlotteFlair, Wrestling/SashaBanks, Wrestling/{{Bayley}}, and Wrestling/BeckyLynch -- and were backed by a show which also took them very seriously. Audiences picked up on this massive quality boom, thus opening the floodgates for even more new and exciting female talent (Wrestling/AlexaBliss, [[Wrestling/KanakoUrai Asuka]], Wrestling/BiancaBelair, Wrestling/RondaRousey, just to name a few), and treating their various stories and championship runs as big deals, with ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 35'''s main event by a title match between Lynch, Rousey, and Flair, the first-ever women's main event match in the show's history. In TheNewTwenties, women's wrestling remains a big deal, and modern, up-to-date wrestling fans who don't give it any attention compared to men's wrestling are themselves becoming more of a minority.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* A low-budget, MinimalistCast Creator/{{BBC}} Radio 4 sitcom about a tiny charter airline, ''Radio/CabinPressure'' had the kind of small, primarily British fandom you'd expect. Then ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' transformed cast member Creator/BenedictCumberbatch overnight into an international celebrity and certified EstrogenBrigade Bait, and his fandom swelled that of the show into an international cult following with its own annual convention.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Thanks to ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', a lot of people have started to join in on the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' fandom, and possibly the entire TabletopRPG community in general. Unfortunately, this has caused what has been dubbed the [[HypeBacklash Matt Mercer Effect]]; wherein {{Game Master}}s have different styles and people are shocked that they're ''not'' all like Creator/MatthewMercer.
* With flagging sales [[MorePopularSpinoff and an inability to get out from under the shadow of its sister series]], the original incarnation of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' was discontinued in 2015 to lead into the launch of ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar''. The following year saw the release of ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer'', the first installment of a trilogy adapting the older setting. It swiftly attracted a slew of new blood to the fandom, and is often credited with helping the original wargame receive a SoftReboot a few years later.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
** This tends to happen when an army gets a new Codex after a long wait, leading to some frustration as people who suffered through years of losing with unplayable armies are accused of being munchkins who jumped on the bandwagon of the latest army right when their force finally becomes competitive.
** The release of ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'', which was well-received by both game critics and the 40K fanbase, also gave the tabletop scene an injection of popularity.
* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'', as of 2021, got a boost of fans from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' who wanted to find a new game in protest of GW's FanWorkBan from the same year.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Chess}}'' had a boom phase in 2020 as a result of the very popular ''Series/TheQueensGambit'' Netflix series combining with the general boom for online streamers during the COVID pandemic.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games -- Nintendo]]
* In general, many Platform/WiiU titles saw [[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2017-more-switch-wii-u-ports-bring-them-on massive surges of popularity]] when they were [[UpdatedReRelease rereleased]] on the Platform/NintendoSwitch, with the bigger examples including ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'', ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', and ''VideoGame/Pikmin3''. While the Wii U was a sales dud that left Nintendo a distant third in the MediaNotes/ConsoleWars, causing even its best games to go ignored by wider audiences, the Switch was a blockbuster success whose much greater install base meant that porting these celebrated last-gen games was virtually guaranteed to make them the hits that they weren't before.
* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'':
** ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingWildWorld'' was a BreakthroughHit for the franchise as a result of being released on a much more popular system than [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing2001 the previous Nintendo GameCube entry]] and the game overall having a much more active marketing campaign. ''Wild World'' was one of the best selling Nintendo DS games, and thus helped sparked interest in the series.
** ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewLeaf'' was an even bigger KillerApp than ''Wild World''. While the series couldn't be considered "niche" at all at the time, the popularity of ''New Leaf'' caused it to attract many newcomers to the series and put the ''Animal Crossing'' IP at the same level as ''Super Mario Bros'' and ''The Legend of Zelda''.
** ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons'' caused a huge boom ''worldwide''. As of early 2021, it's the second best selling Nintendo Switch game of all time. The release of the game overlapped with the [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic COVID-19 Pandemic]], which had increased the demand of video games and helped to boost the game's popularity, with it having a big prominence in the media. The game also received praise from long-time ''Animal Crossing'' players, critics and even celebrities, which helped to spark interest among people completely unfamiliar with the series. The popularity of the game has also helped boost up the sales of the Nintendo Switch, a console which was already doing very well.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. While ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' was what scored international interest in the ''Fire Emblem'' series, with ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' being the first entry to leave Japanese shores, the series would remain quite niche. All games after ''The Blazing Blade'' would sell rather poorly, to the point where the developers thought they'd have to shelf the franchise entirely after one last game. That one last game? ''Awakening'', which not only became the first entry in the series to sell more than a million copies, but also completely revitalized the franchise and ''finally'' made the titles popular overseas, which is where the bulk of those newfound sales originated from. You can see why all three of the game's main protagonists got into ''Smash'' (though the main character, Chrom, had to wait until ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' to be added to the roster).
** After ''Awakening'' came ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', which pretty quickly eclipsed the former game as the best selling in the series, and solidified the franchise's mainstream appeal to the point of coming away with two nods at The Game Awards 2019 for Best Strategy Game and People's Voice.
* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'':
** While it didn't exactly turn it into a CashCowFranchise, quite a few ''Kirby'' fans will admit that [[Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa the anime]] is what introduced them to the series. Even after its Western run ended in 2006, the show still maintains a noticeable following to this day. Enough to warrant several of its episodes being included with ''Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition'' in 2012.
** While it was released late into the lifespan of its console, ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' was responsible for another influx of ''Kirby'' fans in TheNewTens. Thanks to it building on the multi-move ability concept that was first done in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' and having the popular King Dedede and Meta Knight as playable characters, the game proved popular enough that its framework would later be used by two well-received 3DS followups (''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' and ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'').
** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'' caused another influx of new fans. Due to being the first mainline 3D ''Kirby'' game it recieved much more attention than any ''Kirby'' game before it resulting in a lot of curious people, including several [=YouTubers=] to try out ''Kirby'' for the first time.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** This happened to ''The Legend of Zelda'' after ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' was released. It got so bad that a sizable portion of the younger fans kept referring to ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' as "[[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink Zelda 2]]," apparently not realizing that there were ''four'' games in the series before ''[=OoT=].''[[note]]Unless, of course, you count the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames the CDi releases]], anyway...[[/note]]
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' triggered another one thanks to being a simultaneous early title for the Wii and swan song for the [=GameCube=], and also for returning the series to an aesthetic and structure similar to that of the aforementioned ''Ocarina of Time'' when the franchise was still reeling from backlash towards ''Majora's Mask'' and ''The Wind Waker''[='s=] attempts to move away from aspects of the formula.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' had yet another one for the exact opposite reason from ''Twilight Princess''; namely for changing the formula when backlash towards the series' formulaic nature was coming to a head. The game's open-ended nature, higher difficulty than previous installments, and robust physics systems won over not only many new fans, but [[WinBackTheCrowd older fans disgruntled with its immediate predecessors]] as well.
* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' is one of Nintendo's more modest series, but it saw a huge popularity bump with its third installment. ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'' would sell twice the amount of its previous two entries (plus a remake) ''combined'' within its first year, solidifying Luigi as a hero (albeit [[CowardlyLion a cowardly one]]) in the eyes of countless new players who were eager to enjoy a Nintendo-style take on ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}''. It also solidified Creator/NextLevelGames' worth to Nintendo, for in a very rare move, the company would purchase NLG in early 2021 to make the Canadian developers a wholly-owned studio.
* ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'':
** Mario first became a household name with ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', making what had been a series of moderately popular arcade and NES games into a worldwide sensation. While the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' and ''VideoGame/MarioBros'' still enjoyed a healthy level of notoriety, ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' is somewhat more obscure, while ''Donkey Kong 3'' and ''VideoGame/WreckingCrew'' are practically unknown even among Nintendo fans.
** And in the ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' series, ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'', with its easy-to-use online play, allowed the franchise to explode into the top seller it is now. Previously, ''Mario Kart'' fandoms were mostly restricted to competing with each other over long distances via Time Trials (setting the best 1- and 3-lap records) and, with ''VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash'', LAN events. This influx of newcomers from ''Mario Kart DS'' and onward got so intense that these veteran communities dissolved and eventually disappeared. Some DID cry "ItsPopularNowItSucks," but for the most part, the new fans and old fans found common ground in online racing. ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'' took this up a notch, by nature of being on a ''very'' popular and accessible console, and likewise again with ''VideoGame/MarioKart8 Deluxe'' on the Switch.
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'', which was the first game in the series after an eight-year hiatus. In fact, thanks to that hiatus, a fair number of newcomers came to believe that this 2002 Platform/NintendoGameCube game was actually the first installment in the series (and meant to be [[FollowTheLeader Nintendo's answer to]] ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved''), despite ''Metroid'' originating on the NES sixteen years prior. It got to the point where many referred to ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' as simply ''[[VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus Metroid 2]]'', and the misconception that the 3D ''Prime'' games [[SequelDisplacement are the mainline series rather than the 2D sidescrollers]] is still common to this day.
** ''Metroid'' went through a minor boom when ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' went on sale for $0.30 on the Platform/WiiU Platform/VirtualConsole. It became one of the best-selling downloadable games on the console, and newbies being a huge portion of the buyers is evidenced by the infamous plethora of Website/{{Miiverse}} posts by people unable to figure out how to use the Morph Ball.
---> ''[[MemeticMutation "y cant metroid crawl?"]]''[[note]]This one was a troll, though.[[/note]]
** The reveal of ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' at UsefulNotes/{{E3}} 2021 attracted a lot of attention from people wondering why the word "Dread" had [[{{Vaporware}} the fandom completely]] [[SavedFromDevelopmentHell lose their minds]], with the statement that it would be closing a story arc that diehard fans weren't even ''aware'' was a thing attracting even more intrigue. ''[[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission Zero Mission]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns Samus Returns]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MetroidFusion Fusion]]'', and even ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' would jump to the top of Wii U and Platform/Nintendo3DS sales charts in the weeks following; the only reason ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' didn't follow suit was because it which was available as part of Nintendo Switch Online. As for ''Metroid Dread'' itself, it became the most pre-ordered game following E3 2021 on sites like Amazon and [=GameStop=], beating out even ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl]]'', and went on to become the best-selling game in the series within its first few months.
* ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'':
** The ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'' fandom got a sudden surge of new members when the game ''[[KeepCirculatingTheTapes finally]]'' got rereleased on the Platform/WiiU. At one point it was ''the'' most downloaded Platform/VirtualConsole game on the console, which resulted in many newcomers to the series, with some being people who had never heard of the game at that point. This notably caused some friction between [[OldGuardVersusNewBlood those who were in the cult fandom before it gained a wider audience]], as not only are the newer fans more willing to point out ''[=EarthBound=]''[='s=] flaws, they've even started to criticize ''VideoGame/Mother3''[='s=] flaws upon finding out about it, which had been considered a SacredCow.
** When the previously shelved English translation of ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' came out on Wii U Virtual Console, fans that either [[SequelDisplacement hadn't heard of the game]] or [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil didn't want to deal with the legal grayness of downloading a ROM]] of a NoExportForYou game were able to play it. Unlike ''[=EarthBound=]'', due to its [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness differences from later games in the series]], it's considered a target for criticism, allowing fans both old and new to get along online and on Website/{{Miiverse}}. For a time, there were even people walking others fresh off of ''[=EarthBound=]'' [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments through the game every step of the way]].
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** ''Pokémon'' went through this in Generation IV with ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', which helped introduce lots of new fans into the series. This is mostly attributed to them being the first ''Pokémon'' games to be online-capable, allowing you to trade and battle with people from all over the world, thus making the community aspect of the games a bit more accessible. In general, the DS installments (''Diamond/Pearl/Platinum'', ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver HeartGold/SoulSilver]]'', ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Black/White]]'', and [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 their sequels]]) are seen as the "second wave" of the fandom.
** The competitive sub-fandom faced a Newbie Boom with ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', due to Creator/GameFreak making the myriad of systems required to enter it (IV-breeding, hidden abilities, and EV training) easier to understand, access, and perform.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' caused a huge boom akin to the first wave of Pokémania in the '90s. Complete with news coverage from all over the world, both good and bad, and even making its way to sources that don't even touch video games or anything "geeky". It released the same year as Pokémon's 20th Anniversary, thus introducing a number of ''Pokémon GO'' players to later generations, and greatly benefited to the success of ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' a few months later.
* ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' is a popular [=NES=] title, however it's mostly seen as just that. There were games before it and afterwards, but they never clicked with fans the same way the NES iteration did. The 2009 reboot brought in a lot of new fans thanks to modernizing the game's look while primarily staying true to the NES game, as did Mac being a newcomer in the fourth ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' game.
* ''VideoGame/Splatoon1'' was a SleeperHit, but it had the misfortune on being released on a console that was a financial failure. ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', on the other hand, was released early in the lifespan of a ''far'' more successful system and, just like its predecessor, became a KillerApp. The sequel introduced many, many, ''many'' more new fans who had heard about the series but didn't try it out during the Wii U days, or became aware of the franchise through the characters appearing in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8 Deluxe'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''. The game was so successful that the development crew ended up extending the releases of new stages and weapons, as well as the Splatfest schedule, and it's one of the best-selling Platform/NintendoSwitch games at over ten million units sold, firmly establishing the fledgling IP as one of Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s most profitable.
* There are die-hard ''Franchise/StarFox'' fans who still don't realize ''VideoGame/StarFox64'' wasn't the first game in the series. This isn't helped by its ToughActToFollow status within the fandom, as subsequent entries have Nintendo heavily experiment with the property by attaching other genres and mechanics on top of the core RailShooter gameplay ([[BrokenBase to mixed results]]).
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'' was very successful in sales, but it wasn't until the ''Melee'' incarnation that the series really got popular. Many people that started with ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' were [[SequelDisplacement surprised to see there was a game before it]]. ''Melee'' is also said to be the gateway series that introduced many new players to the greater MediaNotes/FightingGameCommunity.
** Thanks to being a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, the ''Smash'' series itself tends to give other franchises a ColbertBump. The most notable examples over the years are ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}''[[note]](A {{JRPG}} series that sold poorly in North America because of [[OurProductSucks an awkward marketing campaign]], and may have become forgotten in the West if it wasn't for Ness being one of the original fighters in ''Smash 64''. All three games in the series are now considered {{Cult Classic}}s.)[[/note]], ''Franchise/FireEmblem''[[note]](The {{trope namer}} for MarthDebutedInSmashBros, the popularity of Marth and Roy led to the series finally getting localized from the seventh game onward, giving the games a foothold in the West until its own, self-created Newbie Boom grew the fanbase and cemented its popularity a decade later.)[[/note]], and ''VideoGame/KidIcarus''.[[note]](The newfound attention got [[VideoGame/KidIcarusOfMythsAndMonsters the North America-only sequel]] to see release on the Japanese Platform/VirtualConsole, followed by [[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising an entirely new game]] produced by ''Smash Bros.'' creator Creator/MasahiroSakurai himself.)[[/note]] Fighters added as DLC especially get this treatment, thanks to receiving much greater focus in dedicated WebVideo/NintendoDirect videos where their franchise history is explained in detail.
* ''VideoGame/WarioWareGold'' was not only an acclaimed SurprisinglyImprovedSequel that took the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series [[WinBackTheCrowd back to its roots]], but it helped bring the series into the mainstream and also re-introduced and endeared the ''[=WarioWare=]'' crew to new audiences who didn't bother with the series beforehand. The top-notch presentation and hilarious story being a clinching point. ''Gold'' also had the novelty of being the first entry in the series that was [[SuddenlyVoiced fully voice-acted]], something rarely seen in a Nintendo game, which was another major hook that won over new fans (and the dubs were done in multiple languages, for all of which they were acclaimed for their exceptional quality).
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'':
** The [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1 first game]] got newcomers invested partially because of protagonist Shulk's inclusion in the [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU fourth installment]] of the ever-popular ''Super Smash Bros.'' series (and especially the "I'm really feeling it" meme), partially because of LetsPlay/{{Chuggaaconroy}} playing it, and partially because it got a [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes much-needed]] re-release on the New Nintendo 3DS. Most fans welcomed them with open arms, though some carry a joking "[[{{Hipster}} liking Xenoblade before it was cool]]" attitude. The release of the ''Definitive Edition'' on Platform/NintendoSwitch brought with it another boom.
** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' quickly became not only the most financially successful entry in the ''Xenoblade'' series, but the entire ''Xeno'' metaseries as a whole. Newcomers starting with this game would not only go on to seek out both the first and ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'' (dusting off their Wii U's in the process), but the inclusion of KOS-MOS and T-ELOS as Rare Blades had a fair number go back even further to experience the ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' games as well. ''Xenoblade Chronicles 2'' would later see a boom of its own with the inclusion of Pyra and Mythra as a DLC fighter for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games -- Other]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBirdsMovie'' did this to a lot of children. It benefited a lot of ''Franchise/AngryBirds'' games, but the one that benefited the most was ''VideoGame/AngryBirds2'', which saw a huge increase in downloads compared to its first year.
* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' did this for ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'''s faithful fanbase.
* Each ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' game has caused one of these starting with ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]''. In the mid-to-late 90s, the series was another drop in the staggering bucket of WesternRPG games available for the PC, sustained by a [[CultClassic small but devoted fanbase]]. Then ''Morrowind'' was released on both PC and Xbox. In addition to being a critical hit, this MultiPlatform release allowed it to get into the hands of a wider audience, making it the BreakthroughHit for {{Creator/Bethesda}}. After the runaway successes of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', the series' status as one of the pillars of western role playing games was cemented.
* As late as 2011, English-speaking VisualNovel fandom was a tiny ghetto. There were some noteworthy visual novels available at the time, but they were buried under poorly regarded official localizations of porn-without-plot titles, as well as zero-budget freeware written in English (the only notable exception being the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' fandom, which leans more towards being an AdventureGame than a straight VisualNovel anyways). The newbie boom began with ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'' in January 2012. It brought in fans who didn't already enjoy slice of life stories or {{Seinen}} demographic romance. Many new fans gushed about how they expected a harem story with forgettable characters, and how surprised they were to enjoy its realistic drama.
* There were a few attempts to create a FanTranslation of ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' for the Super Famicom in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but they were never finished. In 2007, Konami created a thematically similar game in English called VideoGame/BrooktownHigh, but it received mixed reviews, and got only a small fan following. The English speaking fandom seemed to be dying in the late 2000s. The newbie boom for the Tokimeki Memorial franchise began with a 2010 fan translation of the Platform/NintendoDS version of ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorialGirlsSide''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' is affected every time a ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' game or a Creator/{{Bungie}} game is released. It still receives popularity from ''Halo'' players because ''Halo'' was a spiritual successor to ''Marathon''.
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' got this every two months or so during the time it was a paid game. Each time a new class pack hit, there'd usually be a ''[=TF2=]'' free weekend, so you'd see a lot of newbies on the weekend and more people in the weeks afterwards who bought the game because of the free weekend. Even when there were no free weekends, the people who came back to ''[=TF2=]'' just to test out the new weapons swelled server populations immensely.
** This predictably pales in comparison to what happened when it went FreeToPlay. All the usual elements, be it fanbase multiplication, server collapses and withering scorn for the newbies who never paid for it, all got taken even further than usual, and the bitter divide caused by the angry veterans who felt the [=f2p=] newbies ruined their game forever, the other veterans who don't feel like it's a huge deal, and the aforementioned newbies that keep coming as the rest get more experience is still felt to this day. Fortunately, the anger has become much less severe over the years, perhaps because even free to play players could have years of experience by now, perhaps because those players now greatly outnumber those who paid for the game. While using [=f2p=] as an insult is not uncommon, it's now generally only used in jest.
** Similar case for ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', which had a similar free weekend a few times. Many players who had the game for a while complained about the wave of new players flooding in and ruining their fun. They also complained about the same thing whenever Valve announced they would sell the game for at least half-off the original price for a weekend.
** This happens with a lot of games sold over {{Platform/Steam}}, for that matter, between both free weekends and almost everything on the catalog going on sale for 50% to 75% off or more for various holiday sales.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** Apparently, a lot of people think that the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series started with ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII VII]]'', because for many people, it was the first ''Final Fantasy'' game, if not the first RPG, they ever played. This is due in part to the series not being released in Europe until this point and in part to the fact that only three games were released in the United States until this point (and they weren't that well-known). There's several main generations in the ''VII'' fandom - the old generation that played the original game when it came out in 1997, the generation that played the original game when they received a hand-me-down console in the early 00s, the generation that got into the series with the ''Compilation'' titles in the late 2000s (particularly ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', which has a strong fandom of its own), the generation that started with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' in 2015 and decided to check out the fan-favorite earlier entry (before the ''Remake'' came out), and a generation of fans who either played the original game when it came out on the Platform/NintendoSwitch at the end of the 2010s or ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' a year later. As ''Final Fantasy'' is aimed at young teenagers, many of the new fans are this age, meaning that twenty years of aging technology hasn't softened the game's ability to relate to kids.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' was also something of a starting point for many fans due it originally releasing on the Platform/PlayStation2 and becoming a KillerApp for the system, which ended up becoming the best-selling console of all time.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' launched very poorly, but with the ''A Realm Reborn'' reboot, good publicity brought in a surge of new players. Further, disaffected ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' players (so-called "[=WoW=] refugees") sometimes turn to XIV to see what the fuss is about. This came to a head in summer 2021: back-to-back controversial expansions, the bungled ''Warcraft III: Reforged'' release, the Blitzchung controversy, severe content drought and a high profile lawsuit against Blizzard's extremely toxic workplace culture provoked intense anti-Blizzard sentiment, leading several high-profile ''World of Warcraft'' streamers to [[ColbertBump begin playing]] ''Final Fantasy XIV'' instead. This, plus the generous free trial, created XIV's biggest Newbie Boom yet. For context, during an expected ''lull'' in subscribers over a month after the final major patch of ''Shadowbringers'', XIV ''digital'' copies went temporarily "out of stock"; the store couldn't keep up with the spike in demand for pre-generated codes and paused sales to create more. This happened again with the ''Endwalker'' expansion's release, which brought in so many new and returning players that they had to temporarily ''stop selling the game'', digitally or otherwise.
* On Website/GameFAQs, this happens during the Christmas season or near it when a big game is released and all the new players flood the boards asking things that many of the new experienced players already know about and expect everyone else to.
* Such a boom happened in the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' fanbase during the early 2000's. During the early-to-mid nineties Sonic had been an icon, and probably more recognizable among children than Mickey Mouse. But by the late nineties, Sonic had sort of fallen out of style (mostly thanks to the lack of a Sonic title to serve as the KillerApp for the Platform/SegaSaturn; ''VideoGame/SonicXTreme'' had an infamously-troubled development and was eventually cancelled). Then along came ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', ''Sonic Mega Collection'' and ''Anime/SonicX'', all of which helped draw in huge amounts of new fans. The Newbie Boom of Sonic in the early 2000s can largely be attributed to the series going multiplatform after Sega retired from the hardware industry. With Sega porting ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure 1'' and ''2'' to the Platform/NintendoGameCube, it allowed Nintendo fans to check out what put their once-rival on the map in the first place. This, in addition to the fact that every Sonic game from ''Sonic Heroes'' onward was available for every major console, allowed the franchise to reach a wider audience. These days, it's not uncommon for many younger Sonic fans to have started with the [=GameCube=] ports of the ''Sonic Adventure'' titles, as opposed to the Genesis originals. Unfortunately, due to all the gameplay changes the franchise has gone through over the years, this has led to the most BrokenBase of any gaming fandom.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' vs. [[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} the original RTS series]]. While the original wasn't exactly obscure among gamers, it was nowhere near the WOW phenomenon - a recurring joke among the WOW fandom is to assume references to ''Warcraft III'' mean a third WOW and joke that they haven't even heard of a second WOW.
** Blizzard themselves made a joke about this for 2013's AprilFoolsDay, claiming that they were making a prequel to ''World of Warcraft'' that was TBA for 2014, followed by screenshots of ''Warcraft III''.
* Any song covered in ''VideoGame/GuitarHero''. ''Any. Song.'' Special mention must be made of "[[Music/DragonForce Through The Fire and Flames]]", because the song was mostly obscure prior to the game's release.
* With the release of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' a wave of new users swarmed the SRK site's forum. Pages of posts containing simple questions and naive arguments started with veterans of the series created a big split between spiteful older members and new posters. "09er" was a unkind term born out of the join date immediately visible on every member's post. It became a pretty hostile environment and seemed difficult to discuss the game as a new player. 'Newbie questions' were limited to a couple threads on the main [=SF4=] discussion forum which did little to stop the problem because the character forums were far more popular. As a result, the updated forum has a clearly visible section for discussion of the basics of the game and the join date of members is in their profile rather than displayed on every post.
* The success of MediaNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames (Xbox 360, [=PS3=] and Wii) led to many an ignorant newbie who hadn't heard of anything beyond ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'', ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'', ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' or whatever was being parodied on TV at the moment. This is mainly due to the success of the Wii, which was actually designed to invoke this trope.
* While the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' had a small fanbase in the West for many years thanks to the Platform/PlayStation games and distribution of the fan-translated ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'', it wasn't until the release of breakout hit ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' that its popularity exploded. Naturally, this created a [[BrokenBase sometimes-bitter divide]] between fans the old-school ''Tales'' games (''Phantasia'', ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Destiny]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfEternia Eternia]]'') and the new-school games (''Symphonia'', ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia Legendia]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss Abyss]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Vesperia]]'').
* The ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' community had to batten down the hatches in anticipation of one of these when its creators were interviewed by the New York Times. Another boom occurred when ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' discussed it in TheRant. Third boom happened when the game got officially released on Steam with much more friendly user interface.
* Similar to the Website/GameFAQs example above, fans of nearly any multiplayer game that is released from September to November complain or rejoice in the "Christmas Noob Rush," where a huge volume of new players flood the game for easy kills.
* The ''VideoGame/DayZ'' mod for ''VideoGame/{{ARMA}} II'' was given [[ColbertBump coverage]] by Creator/RoosterTeeth, resulting in what was once a semi-popular mod among the existing ''ARMA'' fanbase becoming a phenomenon loaded with clueless newbies who have no clue just what they're getting into with a realistic zombie survival simulator, to the point where more than one person bought the game just for the mod - even the {{Platform/Steam}} pages for ''ARMA II'' and the ''Operation Arrowhead'' expansion specifically mention that both are required for ''[=DayZ=]''.
* With the release of some info on the then-upcoming ''VideoGame/PostalIII'' around 2009, the previous game in the series, for a time, went from "incredibly obscure" to just "slightly obscure".
** The same effect happened again after ''Postal 3'' actually came out and turned out to be an ExecutiveMeddling-induced trainwreck - Running With Scissors managed to get the original games released over {{Platform/Steam}}'s Greenlight service to distance themselves from "Russian Postal", meaning all the aforementioned non-playing fans of the series now had the chance to actually play it.
* ''VideoGame/MechWarrior Online'' is doing this for the ''TabletopGame/BattleTech[=/=]VideoGame/MechWarrior'' fandoms, especially in the Classic [=BattleTech=] era, which is when MWO takes place. What used to be a relatively small, otherwise generally unified community has, [[LifeImitatesArt ironically enough]], blossomed into a fractious, contentious collection of groups all backing one faction or ideal against others.
* ''VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist'' had a significant rise in the player base when Overkill released the No Mercy DLC, which was a map that took place in same No Mercy hospital from Valve's ''VideoGame/Left4Dead''.
** ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' has had two of these in the form of official community events designed to attract new players. The first of these, titled "Crimefest", saw current players convincing people to join the official {{Platform/Steam}} group, with free content being unlocked when the group reached a certain size. The second, titled "Hype Train", was rather similar, only with the new goal of purchasing enough games and DLC to build up enough 'hype fuel' to reach the final destination. Both events featured free weekends, massive sales for both the game and all [=DLCs=], resulting in a relatively large player boom. The Hype Train in particular saw crossovers with both ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber'' and ''VideoGame/{{Speedrunners}}'', drawing attention from those fanbases as well.
* Several games that appeared in ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' had swarms of fans flocking to said games after discovering them. Games include ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', ''Franchise/MegaMan,'' ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', ''[[VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins Ghouls n' Ghosts]]'', etc.
* Creator/BioWare, best known among PC gamers for the ''Franchise/BaldursGate'' franchise, broke out amongst console gamers with ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' and ''Franchise/MassEffect''.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' was popular, but ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' became even more popular and was the first game for many newcomers to play. When ''The Passing'' DLC was released, people who never played the first ''Left 4 Dead'' wondered who the other survivors were (Zoey, Francis, and Louis), until an update ported all of the first game's campaigns to the second.
* ''VideoGame/{{OFF}}'' used to have an infinitesmal fanbase, merely a fraction of an already tiny RPG-Maker fandom. Cue [[Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} a work]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic or]] [[Franchise/{{Danganronpa}} three]] going on hiatus/season break, leaving a huge chunk of Platform/{{Tumblr}} with nothing to do...
* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' gets this every once and a while. In the early 2000s to well into the seventh gaming generation most fans came into the series with ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife'', ''[[VideoGame/HarvestMoonBackToNature Friends of Mineral Town]]'', or their DistaffCounterpart games. A few years later, many entered the fandom through ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonTreeOfTranquility'', ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAnimalParade'', or ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonANewBeginning'' thanks to the CastFullOfPrettyBoys. There's a bit of a [[BrokenBase drift]] between older fans and newer fans.
* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'':
** In its alpha days, before becoming the household name it is today, ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' experienced a huge boom when it was the focus of several ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' strips, a bit before the time of the Nether update. The influx of new people was enough to knock Mojang's web servers off their metaphorical feet, and for a while the ''Minecraft'' homepage was a blank white page with a few lines of text.
** ''Minecraft'' had another massive boom of new players when it had its first console release on the [=XBox 360=].
* ''VideoGame/TroubleInTerroristTown'' had this from the ColbertBump of LetsPlay/{{Seananners}} and others playing the game. Since most of the players introduced in the game in this fashion play it badly (such as killing people as an innocent for no reason), this is not a good thing for the game's community.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' hit the series with an onslaught of new gamers impressed by the completely retooled game play, and ''lost'' a portion of old fans because TheyChangedItNowItSucks. Many of the new fans didn't even realize the OpeningNarration was actually [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2 one of the games]], and instead just thought it was an ExpoDump.
* ''VideoGame/AnarchyReigns'' had a minor bump on the Platform/Xbox360 side when there was a SEGA sale on the Xbox Live Market. The community had been practically dead for a while, but after the sale many more newbies joined, and full 16-player battle royales were held for the first time in months.
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' was a dud in the west back in 2008 until a price drop months after launch, and inevitably the series became another unfortunate example of NoExportForYou by the time ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesIII'' came out - However in 2014 a [[UpdatedRerelease PC port of the game]] released on {{Platform/Steam}} almost out of the blue, which quickly made its way up the Top Sellers chart at launch and once again during the 2014 Winter Sale. Because of this success, when ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles4'' was first announced, it was immediately confirmed for a worldwide release.
* ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncientsAllStars'' is a very popular custom map among the Warcraft 3 players and eventually pioneered a new genre. Although it was the "original" MOBA, a large portion of players were introduced to the genre from stand-alone [=MOBAs=] such as ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends''. [=DotA=] itself got its own newbie boom when ''VideoGame/Dota2'' was released, finally giving the game its own ground to stand on, not to mention it caught the interest of people completely unfamiliar with the genre simply because it was developed by Valve.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' gained a lot of its current fans when the [[VideoGame/Bayonetta2 second game]] was announced as a Platform/WiiU exclusive. People began talking about her a lot either due to her being a rare M-rated game on the console or the backlash a lot of her fans created because the sequel wasn't multi-platform. The series then got another boost when the eponymous character was announced as the final downloadable character in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWIIU''.
* ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' did this to the ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' series. For years it was a somewhat obscure platformer series that was all but considered dead due to the [[MorePopularSpinoff more popular]] ''VideoGame/RavingRabbids'' spinoffs. With the popularity of the series revival Rayman suddenly boomed into the mainstream, many people even wanting him in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''.
* Before 2000, ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' was fairly popular in its home country, but rather niche everywhere else. When ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline'' was released, it got a bump in newcomers thanks to being the only MMO on the consoles it appeared on (Dreamcast, [=GameCube=] and Xbox). Then the series' first free to play venture, ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' was released, and the popularity spiked ''dramatically'', to the point where it rivals the more well-known ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' as one of the most popular [=MMOs=] in Japan. It even got overseas players playing the game via FanTranslation, long before the game was officially localized ''[[LateExportForYou 8 years]]'' after it was first released.
* ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' introduced a lot of people to the works of Creator/YokoTaro thanks to a combination of good marketing from Square Enix, good-to-great critical reception (especially in comparison [[VideoGame/{{Drakengard}} to]] [[VideoGame/Drakengard2 the]] [[VideoGame/NieR previous]] [[VideoGame/Drakengard3 titles]]), and the involvement of Creator/PlatinumGames who have a very well regarded reputation. Unfortunately as a result it means a lot of the newcomers end up missing out on the connections ''Automata'' has to the previous titles, and the archaic gameplay of the older games makes it hard for people who love the fluidity of ''Automata'' to go back and enjoy them. ”Nier Replicant”, a 2021 remaster of the original ''Nier'', helped to mitigate this issue considerably.
* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' brought in a lot of new people, since the game allowed one to play as a pirate. This created a bit of a gap between those who liked the game and wished the future games to be similar to it, and those who think that someone who hates the series and ''only'' likes the InNameOnly game that [[ArtifactTitle focuses less on ''Assassins'' and more on pirates]], is technically not an ''Assassin's Creed'' fan. When sailing was removed from the series, some felt that it was a good thing, since the devs could now focus on creating large historical cities like in the original games instead of an empty sea with small locations scattered around, and those who felt sailing was too good to be removed.
* The release of ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' has brought new fans to the series because the game is a prequel that people won't be spoiled or [[ContinuityLockout confused]] by. In response to the demand, Sega reprinted all the games (including the [=PS2=] titles) as online-only purchase. The ''Yakuza'' series went from being almost dead in the west to being one of Sega's biggest international franchise, and the series started receiving English dubs again.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'' was this for the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' series. The series is a [[CashCowFranchise smash hit]] in Japan, but [[AmericansHateTingle less so overseas]] due to its high difficulty curve, many unexplained yet vital mechanics, and limited platforms (mostly handhelds), among other factors. ''World'' was designed specifically to bring new players into the franchise, mainly through a significant number of quality-of-life improvements and being released on two of the three major consoles and PC. It worked, as ''World'' quickly became one of Capcom's top-selling games within just a few months. Its success was a motivator for the long-awaited localization of ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterGenerations Ultimate''.
* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
** The series managed this with ''VideoGame/Persona4'', and took it up another notch nearly a decade later, ''VideoGame/Persona5'', which quickly became the best-selling title in the series and won many new fans for its unique visual flair and interesting premise of a group of vigilante-thieves using their abilities to [[HeelFaceBrainwashing essentially brainwash]] corrupt powerful figures. The boom only got bigger after Joker got included in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''. ''Persona 5'''s Newbie Boom was so large that it not only started a boom for the EasternRPG genre as a whole, it also drew in a lot of [[FanDumb infamy]] because of it, and the [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/major-persona-vibes disparaging memes]] about new fans comparing everything to ''Persona 5'' exists because [[https://i.redd.it/vidgb8zmeyt51.png some people really are like that]].
** ''Persona 4 Golden'''s release on [=PC=] did a smaller version of this among the ''Platform/{{Steam}}'' users.
** For its father series, ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', this would happen with the release of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne'', especially in the West where the franchise as a whole was unheard of outside the poor localizations of the first ''VideoGame/{{Persona|1}}'' and the confusing mess that was skipping ''VideoGame/Persona2: Innocent Sin'' in favor of ''Eternal Punishment''. ''Nocturne''[='s=] popularity convinced Creator/{{Atlus}} that more loyal localizations of their games could be profitable outside of Japan, and the franchise as a whole grew in popularity over time, culminating in ''Persona 5'' above.
* The ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' fandom in the West was, for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, small and fragmented at best. The only game in the series that had any notoriety during that time was ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'', which was in due part to a promotional campaign by Nintendo Power. Then there was the release of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'', the first title in the series to see a release in Europe, introducing a lot of new players to the series and established the modern Dragon Quest community in the West. Years later, the series would see another explosion in the Western fandom with ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'', and not long after, an even bigger one following the reveal of the Dragon Quest Hero in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''. This was helped along by Creator/SquareEnix's other flagship series, ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'', growing increasingly experimental and abandoning most of its EasternRPG tropes throughout its later entries; hardline JRPG fans found ''Dragon Quest'', with its more traditional gameplay and world design philosophy, a welcome substitute.
* The first two ''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce'' were successful in their native Japan, but their European release were very low budget translations [[InvisibleAdvertising with no marketing]] and the games were [[NoExportForYou denied certification]] by Sony's American branch. As a result, it was decided that the next game would be made a Platform/Xbox360 exclusive to increase the series popularity in the west, a gamble that paid off: while ''Earth Defense Force 2017'''s saw a slight decline in Japan due to the unpopularity of the system, good word of mouth made it a SleeperHit in the west and cemented ''EDF'' as Sandlot's and D3 Publisher's CashCowFranchise.
* The ''VideoGame/DivineDivinity'' series was a relatively obscure game line by an unknown [[Creator/LarianStudios European dev]] until ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSin'' took to UsefulNotes/{{Kickstarter}} in 2013, carried by the rising tide of the WesternRPG [[MediaNotes/WesternRPG renaissance]]. It was the game's quality upon release and extensive word of mouth that introduced worldwide audiences to the quirky world of Rivellon, and ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII''[='=]s massive success on Kickstarter just two years later was largely a result of the newbie boom the previous game caused (''[=D:OS2=]'' then went on to spark an even bigger influx of newcomers to the series).
* Creator/{{Sega}} has pulled this off with the ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' series at least ''three'' times:
** The first ''Fever'' reinvigorated the series in Japan.
** ''Puyo Puyo Quest'' was not only a hit in Japan, but it also unexpectedly attracted a number of international fans with its cute character designs.
** By far the most notable example is ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris'', benefiting from the perfect storm of internet buzz, the critically-panned ''[[VideoGame/{{Tetris}} Tetris Ultimate]]'', and a young Platform/NintendoSwitch. It was a breakout hit, creating countless new ''Puyo'' fans while kickstarting FanTranslation efforts for the other ''Puyo Puyo'' games as well as for the more obscure ''Madou Monogatari'' series from which they spun off.
* ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' was an overlooked action game from Nintendo & [=PlatinumGames=] that suffered from a myriad of circumstances when it released (no marketing, same week as ''Grand Theft Auto V'', reviewers that didn't understand it or thought it was too hard, and it was on the Wii U), resulting in the game underperforming. It did build a solid cult fanbase. 7 years after its release, Nintendo let Platinum self-publish the title not just on Switch but also on PC and [=PS4=] as a sign of their good relationship, which allowed all sorts of people who initially didn't bother with the game to check it out. According to director Hideki Kamiya, it seems to be doing a lot better.
* The ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' series saw a massive uptick in new players during late 2020 to early 2021, thanks to a few factors. While developers Creator/ArcSystemWorks have always been a respected name for fighting game players in the know, they received a ''massive'' ColbertBump when they developed ''VideoGame/DragonBallFighterz'' and made their mark on a wider audience who might not be as heavily invested in the overall fighting game genre. With this newfound interest on them, when they released an update to ''Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R'' giving the game rollback netcode[[note]]A version of peer-to-peer networking that greatly reduces the effects of lagspikes on gameplay, which is vital in genres that rely on quick decision making like fighting games[[/note]] as well as their next new entry in the series, ''Guilty Gear STRIVE''--which revamped the series to be more appealing to a casual audience ''and'' includes the aforementioned rollback netcode--it paid dividends. ''Accent Core +R'' had its playerbase on Steam boosted from double digits to quintuple digits practically overnight, and ''STRIVE'' sold 500,000 copies within its first month, outselling the previous entry in the series in its whole lifespan almost three times over.\\
\\
It also probably helped that ''STRIVE'' was the first major fighting game released since the beginning of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic--the subpar online of many fighting games at the time meant the genre was greatly hurt by said pandemic killing offline events and forcing many tournaments to go online only. ''STRIVE'' releasing with superior netplay to many of its contemporaries led to many players of other fighting games who normally hadn't played a ''Guilty Gear'' game before to give it a shot, both at a casual level and at a competitive level. The series also saw another massive boom mid 2022. This time predominantly from the LGBTQ+ community, with the inclusion of series veteran Bridget, who was changed from being a boy who was simply dressed in feminine clothing to a full on transgender woman.
* ''Franchise/DanganRonpa'' has had a few instances of this in terms of franchise growth. The intitial western fandom came to be due to a very popular Something Awful Lets Play of a fan tanslation, causing the fandom to get its start. The first true boom of new fans began with the original airing of the ''Danganronpa'' anime adaptation, which alongside the popularity of the original game's fan translation, was enough to get the Vita ports of both ''VisualNovel/DanganRonpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' and ''VisualNovel/DanganRonpa2GoodbyeDespair'', to get official localizations outside of Japan. Then, the announcement of another anime that would conclude the original plot points made throughout the first two games, as well as a [[VisualNovel/DanganRonpaV3KillingHarmony brand new game]] divorced from the events of the first two brought in even more new fans, alongside the official PC and [=PS4=] release of the first 2 games and the spinoff action game ''VideoGame/DanganRonpaAnotherEpisodeUltraDespairGirls''. Finally the announcement of the Switch port collection of ''Danganronpa Decadence ''has brought new interest in the series, especially with the Nintendo Switch's popularity.
* ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' has experienced this several times during the series run. The first occurred in 2004 with the release of ''VideoGame/RomeTotalWar'', which with its 3-D graphics on both the campaign and battle maps was a stand-out strategy title for the time. It was also used for a couple of TV shows, ''Series/TimeCommanders'' on the BBC and ''Series/DecisiveBattles'' on the History Channel, which helped its exposure.
** The second occurred with the release of ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer'', which introduced the franchise to the legions of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' fans, who now got a fully realised map of the Old World to play in and were champing at the bit to do so. The ''Warhammer'' titles have each become the most-played ''Total War'' game to date upon release.
** The third occurred with the release of ''VideoGame/TotalWarThreeKingdoms''. While smaller than the Boom from ''Warhammer'', this was the title that introduced ''Total War'' to the massive Chinese market, with a game focused on Chinese history. It also combined the historical gameplay styles of pre-''Warhammer'' titles with some of the fantastical elements of ''Warhammer'', enabling crossover between what had up to that point largely been two separate fandoms.
* ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}} 2'': Specific to Australia, a year after the game was released Pizza Hut ran a promotional campaign where in addition to 2 pizzas, a drink and a garlic bread you could also choose one of games Need For Speed Most Wanted, The Sims 2 or Battlefield 2, a first person shooter that was more complicated than most of the competition shooters of the time. A massive amount of people purchased the deal and picked Battlefield 2, leading to a huge uptick in the player count with "Pizza Hut noobs" who had no idea how to play the game. This caused chaos for months until the players picked up the game or those who didn't get it dropped away.
* Despite it being a LongRunner and one of the progenitors of the ActionRPG genre, the ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' franchise never really got out of its niche status. ''VideoGame/YsVIIILacrimosaOfDana'' was the first in the series to truly break into the mainstream by appealing to a more WideOpenSandbox-style of exploration and play. Many newcomers who had heard of, but never tried ''Ys'', would do so via this game, to which more than half a million copies would be sold across all available platforms two years after its initial Platform/PlayStationVita release, the most out of any ''Ys'' installment.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' has been one of the most popular StylishAction games for a long time, but suddenly in 2022, the game permeated itself across many facets of [[MemeticMutation the memescape]], and its sheer presence created one of the biggest examples of WatchItForTheMeme. At its peak, the number of peak concurrent players jumped up as much as ''10 times'' its usual on Steam.
* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' had an infamously disasterous launch, yet despite this, ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' got people to return to the game and bring in some new ones, and while the game itself hadn't completely fixed its initial problems, the efforts taken to get the game fixed up since those 2 years got players to see it more favorably.
** A second, larger one would occur following the release of ''Cyberpunk's'' [[AuthorsSavingThrow 2.0 update]] and ''[[VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077PhantomLiberty Phantom Liberty]]'' Expansion. Between the positive word of mouth and significant gameplay overhauls, public opinion had largely turned around, and lead to the game's Steam player count rising to more than double its ''Edgerunners'' peak.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Following the release of its animated pilot to a mainstream audience in 2023, ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'' gained a significant bump in viewership to check out the backstories of characters unspoken for in the short.
* ''Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures'' started having a massive increase in readership from around the end of ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'' to the first two act of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. The introduction of ''Homestuck'''s trolls, a boon for shippers and roleplayers of all kinds, caused an influx of readers [[JustHereForGodzilla who were interested mostly in that one part of the comic]] (much to the chagrin of many older fans).
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' experienced a surge in readership after Creator/NeilGaiman praised it on his blog.
* For better or for worse, ''Webcomic/{{Sonichu}}'' quickly became notorious once errant users of Website/SomethingAwful and Website/FourChan began discussing its creator Chris Chandler, with an Encyclopedia Dramatica article about Chandler being written shortly afterwards. Needless to say, the webcomic as well as Chandler's life would never be the same afterwards.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation gave The Escapist a huge boom in members.
* Website/FourChan:
** Some users think this happened after the Scientology protests, the general mindset being ItsPopularNowItSucks. This wasn't the first time this had happened to 4chan; in 2006, 4chan got e-famous for spam raids of Habbo Hotel, Ebaumsworld and other sites which led to a massive influx of new users. Guess what the response of the users who had been there since 2003-2005 was?[[note]]To give yourself an idea: post-2005 users are called "THE CANCER THAT IS KILLING /b/" (in all caps).[[/note]] Encyclopedia Dramatica may be to blame here.
** Every summer, /b/ sees a bit of extra traffic due to school being out. This is referred to by the /b/tards as "Newfag Summer". Naturally, "summerfags" are hardly welcomed.
** In 2012 and 2013, /v/ was flooded with {{Troll}}s and newbies, leading to a negative opinion on ''any game'' being followed by bait images and people calling you a "shitposter".
** In 2016 and following years, /pol/ got popular attention for its association with the alt-right and in turn UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump. This got a lot of people who otherwise would have no interest in 4chan to use it thanks to the attention it got during the election. "Election tourist" is a common term for such people -- [[OverlyLongGag guess how 4chan users felt about election tourists]].
* The creation of the TV Tropes page for ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', followed by an attempt to get it to JustForFun/TropeOverdosed, caused a flood of new members to join the site from TV Tropes. While this was initially met with [[ItsPopularNowItSucks some displeasure]], it could be argued that the newbie flood saved it from dying out, as the site had begun to flag in the middle of version three.
* The Web itself drew a lot of people to the Internet, much to the annoyance of people who were regulars on Usenet, IRC, and Gopher. See also UsefulNotes/EternalSeptember, Usenet's first overwhelming Newbie Boom.
* This happened to {{Website/Reddit}} when flocks of diggers who were [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks angry with the release]] of {{Digg}} v4 [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere fled]], making Digg a no-man's-land. The Newbie Boom also happens all the time on various subreddits, when a compelling topic makes the main Reddit page, drawing new subscribers in large numbers to the subreddit.
* The community of the Website/SCPFoundation has learned to dread updates to VideoGame/SCPContainmentBreach or the beginning of a new LetsPlay on a popular channel; it invariably brings a new crop of enthusiastic aspiring writers posting "yet another thing what killz you" with mangled formatting and "creative spelling" after failing to read any of the site's rules or guides, bewildered by the concept of an online writing community with high standards and zero tolerance for crappypasta. According to site historians, the first such bump occured when the Foundation received a page on Website/ThisVeryWiki. It eventually reached the point that the first entry, SCP-173, had to have its famous image removed due to the franchise's popularity [[ScrewedByTheLawyers resulting in the image's creator having his art being exploited by third parties for profit]].
** In fact, multiple of these eventually led to an OldGuardVersusNewBlood schism within the community, as more and more newcomers who looked down on the site's roots in Website/FourChan began gaining positions of authority. This resulted in classic entries like "[[SuccubiAndIncubi Teenage Succubus]]" being rewritten by MoralGuardians and a perceived downgrade in overall writing quality, with the last straw to the old guard being [[UsefulNotes/PrideParade the site's logo changed to a pride flag during LGBT History Month]]. Rather than it being due to homophobia, it was felt to be tone-deaf and immersion-breaking to have an [[PragmaticHero organization with blatant disregard for human rights]] that's deliberately intended to invoke a sense of ValuesDissonance caring about societal issues. As a result, the SpiritualSuccessor ''Website/RPCAuthority'' was created with longtime entries like "[[SinisterSentientSun Hateful Star]]" [[CanonImmigrant migrating there]].
* Platform/ArchiveOfOurOwn had a huge influx of newcomers in June 2012; many of them had left [[Platform/FanfictionDotNet Fanfiction.net]] in protest at the latter site's crackdown on M-rated stories during that time. A decade earlier than that, in 2002, Adult-Fanfiction.org (previously using a .net web address) received its biggest surge in users, back when Fanfiction.net officially removed the NC-17 rating from its stories (back when that site was using the MPAA's movie ratings before switching to its own system some years later).
* ''WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}}'' had a decent following on The Escapist and after Jim Sterling ran the show independently. Jim's popularity exploded after several media outlets reported that they were being sued by Digital Homicide for over ''$10 million'' due to them criticizing their games harshly. Many people who had no idea who Jim Sterling was or what they do got to know about it after hearing about the lawsuit and they also gained a lot new supporters as a result.
* ''WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool'' gained an influx of new fans in August 2017 thanks to the "Pregnant" Meme.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' received a large amount of fans after Volume 3 ended, be it because of the sudden dark tone of the series or because they saw shipping material between Blake and Yang.
* ''WebAnimation/{{Eddsworld}}'' began in 2003 but its fandom peaked in the mid-2010s.
* When Platform/{{Tumblr}} issued a complete ban on all {{NSFW}} content in late 2018, a cadre of adult artists being driven off found a new home at Platform/{{Newgrounds}}. The influx of new users hit such highs, the servers full on crashed trying to keep up. Then in 2021, their servers became absolutely flooded with the number of people coming to the website to play ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin''.
* Tumblr itself started going through one in 2021-2022; thanks to a combination of [[Platform/TwitterX Twitter]] users getting fed up with the more toxic aspects of the website, Elon Musk buying out Twitter and implementing a series of unpopular changes along with a fear of far-right activity and misinformation brought by his laissez-faire "free speech" policy, and most other social media platforms falling victim to FollowTheLeader attempts in the name of remaining relevant and popular, people have been migrating to Tumblr because of its stability (in a comparative sense anyways) and the fact that its layout and features have generally remained the same since its inception. This hit a peak on November 17th, 2022. When a huge employee walkout brought so many returning users that the servers crashed. [[HistoryRepeats Much like when people originally left Tumblr for elsewhere.]]
* Discussed in the ''Podcast/EightiesAllOver'' AlternateDVDCommentary for ''Film/TheDeadZone''. The hosts ponder how every few years prolific, eccentric character actors like Creator/ChristopherWalken and Creator/WillemDafoe get this via younger moviegoers who see their latest work and find them interesting enough to dip into their older stuff, and note that a then-recent (2018) example of the trope in action was ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' sparking this for Creator/JeffGoldblum.
* ''WebAnimation/{{Cocomelon}}'' got one when it was added to Creator/{{Netflix}}, to the point where it beat several shows for adults in rankings for the service. Keep in mind that despite it already being one of the most watched and subscribed to Platform/{{YouTube}} channels beforehand, the sudden arrival on the streamer only boosted it further.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* This happened to the ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' fandom when ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' started to air. Previously, the fandom was mostly a haven for women (not that [[PeripheryDemographic male fans]] didn't exist though) who loved the toys and fondly remembered the G1 cartoons. Then when ''Friendship is Magic'' was introduced, the previous fandom was swamped by a huge influx of new, mostly male fans (dubbed [[FanCommunityNicknames "bronies"]]). Similarly, the brony fandom ''itself'' experienced a boom around Season 2, when the initial [[DoubleStandard shock of "boys liking]] [[GirlShowGhetto girl things"]] wore off for the most part and people began to check it out for the sake of the show itself. Another boom occurred after the show ended in the 2020s, when the target audience who watched the show when it was new a decade ago grew up and rediscovered it out of nostalgia.
* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'' was a 2001 Cartoon Network show about time police that had a decent fan following and was nominated for five Annie Awards. In the summer of 2012, the Tumblr tag for the show exploded, with dozens of fans coming out of the woodwork and a sizable amount of fanart and fanfiction resulting.
* In a roundabout way it was Creator/CartoonNetwork that did this for Creator/HannaBarbera. As taking a look at social media for fanart and DVD requests to Warner Brothers, a good chunk of the people one can find are too young to have been alive during the heyday, but are the right age to have been exposed the content during their youth via the cable channel.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' had a song by The Trashmen called "Surfin' Bird" repeatedly play out in the episode "I Dream of Jesus" where Peter gets obsessed over the song. This caused fans of the show who had never heard of the song before to go on [=YouTube=] to find the song and comment they wanted to find it because of Family Guy. ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' managed the same in a smaller scale: the episode "In Country... Club" had one scene backed by the Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival song "Fortunate Son" - and now comments on videos of the song on [=YouTube=] aren't ''entirely'' dominated by people having discovered it through ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps''. But that song wasn't nearly as forgotten prior to its resurrection as "Surfin' Bird" was.
* [[ComicBook/TeenTitans The New Teen Titans]] was quite well-known in TheEighties amongst comic book fans but was very much unknown outside the community, apart from Batman's sidekick Robin. With the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' cartoon, many of its characters saw increased popularity, with some of them going on to gain prominent roles in other Creator/DCComics-based series and movies.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' ran from 1997 just into 2002, but didn't get a DVD release until 2010 because of licensing issues. Many of the buyers were people who had been a bit too young for the show when it first aired, adding many teenagers and 20-somethings to the fandom.
* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' has always been a well loved geek property, but in the West, it went into decline around the end of the '80s. ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' was a major ReTool in the '90s that revitalized the brand, and following another dip in popularity near the end of the decade, ''Anime/TransformersArmada'' (a series that was met with an at best lukewarm reception from older fans) proved to be an even bigger moneymaker that helped stabilize the brand and brought vehicle-based Transformers back into fame. ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRescueBots'' also helped bring in new fans at a really young age, as many parents who may not have let their kids watch the more "mature", war-themed ''TF'' shows gave their approval to this child-friendly installment.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' was already a popular Nicktoon among [[PeripheryDemographic older audiences]], but when the show was available to stream on {{Creator/Netflix}} in the United States in 2020, it received a large amount of new fans, to the point of setting a record for being on Netflix's Top 10 list the longest, at 60 days (number 2, ''Series/{{Ozark}}'', was on the list for 57 days). The fact it came around during the COVID-19 pandemic where people are stuck at home also helped. [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra The sequel series]] also released on Netflix a few months later with a similar boom.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' received a huge influx of fans at the end of its first season, thanks to a marathon of episodes that built-up to the season finale. The creators noted later on that while the entire crew had a feeling that the episode ("[[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E49JailBreak Jailbreak]]") and its SignatureSong "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OWq38TikzU Stronger Than You]]" would be a watershed moment for the series, they didn't expect such an increase in popularity.
* While ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' started with plenty of fans, it wasn't until "The Curse Of Princess Ivy", a significantly darker episode, that the show received a huge boost in fans.
* Circa 2011-2012 the ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' fandom received a huge boost after a fan-artist on Tumblr began drawing Kevin/Edd fan-art. Until that point, most of the fandom had moved onto newer shows and the main forums were either dead or dying. A few years later, MemeticMutation of the show's MickeyMousing soundtrack also led to a spike in its popularity.
* After [[WesternAnimation/VoltronTheThirdDimension several failed]] [[WesternAnimation/VoltronForce revival attempts]], the ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' franchise got a huge boost in fans in 2016, following the debut of the ContinuityReboot ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender''.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
** The show experienced a major ratings boom after its [[MilestoneCelebration 10th anniversary]] from 2009-2013. It got to the point where the ratings of reruns actually beat many prime-time shows, as well as other children's programs, of the era. The fact that it occurred at the height of cable television's popularity definitely helped.
** When show creator Stephen Hillenburg died in 2018, the show, which had been declining in popularity due to ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' becoming a hit, and the skyrocketing popularity of streaming services and Platform/{{YouTube}}, saw a surge in popularity among children. It was also perfectly timed as the kids who originally grew up with the show in the late 90's and early 2000's now had kids of their own to share the show with.
* The ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' fandom grew massively in the time between the end of Season 2 and the start of Season 3. It exploded after an AprilFoolsDay prank by Adult Swim where the first Season 3 episode played all evening introduced viewers of Creator/{{Toonami}} to the show as well. For the fans who loved the show before the "Szechuan Sauce" and "Pickle Rick" memes bled into real life, this was not a good thing.
* Many new viewers were introduced to the controversial ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' in the second season due to an extensive marketing campaign.
* ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'' experienced one after the premiere of ''[[WesternAnimation/PAWPatrolMightyPups Mighty Pups]]'' because of extensive marketing for the special at Wal-Mart.
* ''WesternAnimation/SanjayAndCraig'' got this after the episode themed around ''[[Series/DoubleDare1986 Double Dare]]'' aired, which happened around the time the show got good word of mouth for actually being good.
* The fandom for ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' had been pretty active for the majority of the 2010s, largely beginning with reruns of the show airing on [[Creator/DiscoveryFamily The Hub]] from 2012 to 2014, but it would eventually reach its peak in November 2020, the month [[WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020 the reboot]] was released in.
* The ''Masters of the Universe'' fandom (mainly the ''She-Ra'' half of it) grew massively in the mid-2010s when Creator/{{Netflix}} released the ''She-Ra'' ContinuityReboot ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower''. It made sense, since the fans who grew up with the 80s' ''He-Man'' and ''She-Ra'' cartoons now had kids of their own to share the franchise with. Still, most of the new fans were either [[LGBTFanbase LGBTQ+ people looking for a cartoon to identify with]] or had converted from another fandom.
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
** While the Looney Tunes has already been engrained in pop culture since the 1940s, TheNineties saw a new generation of children discover the series and the general public's interest in it restored thanks to a confluence of factors: the success of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' in 1990 and ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' in 1993, the classic cartoons being rerun on Creator/CartoonNetwork starting in 1992, and Creator/MelBlanc's passing in 1989 leading to a number of retrospectives of his career. As a result, Creator/WarnerBrosAnimation begun making newer animated Looney Tunes projects for television throughout the mid-'90s and early '00s, most notably ''WesternAnimation/TheSylvesterAndTweetyMysteries'', ''WesternAnimation/BabyLooneyTunes'', and ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers'', as well as the [[RogerRabbitEffect live-action/animation mix]] ''Film/SpaceJam'' in 1996.
** The release of ''Film/SpaceJamANewLegacy'' led to another boom in the fandom for ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''.
* The release and eventual popularity of ''WesternAnimation/{{Jellystone}}'' led to a resurgence of interest in Creator/HannaBarbera cartoons, the fans of the show having had their curiosities turned towards discovering the older works the characters were based on.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' was already popular, but "Enchanting Grom Fright" caused the fandom to explode in size due to its LGBT themes.
* ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'' was already a massive hit with its target audience. It spent several years as one of [[Creator/DisneyChannel Disney Junior's]] highest rated, and highly profitable series. Overtime though, it was canceled and replaced with [[WesternAnimation/MickeyAndTheRoadsterRacers new]] [[WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseFunhouse series]] starring Disney's beloved mascot. Once Creator/DisneyPlus became a must have streaming service for families with children, its popularity increased drastically. ''Clubhouse'' now often sits side by side with Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse series and ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' on their trending menu.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins'' was not as popular as its sister series ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'', and thus only had 6 episodes released. Then in 2006, the Creator/{{qubo}} block on Creator/{{NBC}} picked up the rights to Big Idea's shows and paired ''3-2-1 Penguins'' with ''WesternAnimation/LarryBoyTheCartoonAdventures'' as part of the anthology series, ''3-2-1 Penguins! and [=LarryBoy=] Stories''. Surprisingly, the episodes of this anthology series featuring ''3-2-1 Penguins!'' did better than ''[=VeggieTales=]'' in the ratings and became qubo's top-rated program among children, many of whom had never seen the show before. As a result of this boom in popularity, 21 new episodes were commissioned.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' renewed interest in the ''Winnie the Pooh'' franchise and lead to it becoming one of Disney's biggest cash cows of the 90's. In fact, said show was so successful that ABC ran it in reruns until 2002.
* ''WesternAnimation/PeppaPig'' saw one in the United States in 2012 after Creator/NickJr added it to their regular lineup.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* During the 18th century, many new agricultural practices were invented and spread from Britain throughout the rest of Europe. Leading to a population boom, and after the new people came of age, to great changes in society - cottage industries in Britain, preparing the Industrial Revolution, and the French Revolution on the continent.
* Every school, from kindergarten to postgraduate, sees this once a year. Not coincidentally, this is when any and all internet communities see a spate of new names piping in, and sometimes settling in.
* CB Radio in the US. In 1970 there were around 800,000 licensed users. Thanks to the 1973 oil crisis, the 55 MPH speed limit, and the rise of the HollywoodCB trope, by 1977 the number had ballooned to 14 ''million'', with a few million unlicensed operators joining in. As you might expect, the tight-knit community of older CB enthusiasts weren't thrilled at the massive influx of newbies who ignored the established protocols (very much a preview of UsefulNotes/EternalSeptember). It was a short-lived boom, though. By 1983 even the FCC considered CB past its prime and dropped the license requirement.
* In 2000, the Clay Institute of Mathematics proposed 7 "Millennium Problems" (classical unsolved mathematical problems) with a reward of US$1,000,000 for the first correct solution to each problem. Naturally, this led to tens of thousands of [[DunningKrugerEffect inexperienced people]] providing incorrect solutions.
* A much more sinister variant occurred in Germany in the final years of the UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic, when the electoral success of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP, or UsefulNotes/{{Nazi|Germany}}s) led to a huge influx of new members, even before the party formally took power. This really happened in two waves; the first in 1930 after the Nazis came second in the elections to the ''Reichstag'' (up from ''ninth'' in the elction of just two years previously), and the second in 1933 after UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler was appointed Chancellor. The extent of this was such that the Party itself created tiers of membership based on when one had joined, with those who had been members before 1930 - with the implication that these members were the truly devoted core of fanatics - being given the title of ''Alter Kämpfer'', or "Old Fighter", to distinguish them from the ''Septemberlinge'' - the "Septemberlings", those who had only joined when the Party had enjoyed some success. The first 100,000 Party members were given the Golden Party Badge for their long service, while the Blood Order was awarded only to those who had taken part in the UsefulNotes/{{Munich}} Putsch of 1923, to mark them out from those whom even some of the Nazi leadership disparaged as jumping on the bandwagon.
* Ortega y Gasset claimed this was happening in Europe in his work ''Literautre/TheRevoltOfTheMasses''. Until ~1800, Europe's population grew slowly to 180 million people; from 1800 to 1914, to a whopping 460 million. Being a cultural pessimist, he blamed cultural decay.
[[/folder]]
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