->''"If I were an agent repping a vfx company, here’s a one-side transcript of what the start of negotiations might sound like: “Look, my client’s work is the anchor of your worldwide marketing campaign. They’re the real star of the movie. They’re not? Who is? [[Film/ManOfSteel Henry Cavill]]? [[Film/PacificRim Charlie Hunnam]]? Nice TV actors, but they’re not opening your movie. The only thing opening your movie around the world is my client’s visual effects. We are making you millions. You need to pay accordingly."''
-->-- '''David S. Cohen''' of ''Variety'', "[[http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/guilds-nah-heres-who-the-vfx-biz-needs-1200332216/ Guilds? Nah. Here’s Who the VFX Biz Needs]]"

He's got style. He's got personality. He's got top billing in all the posters. He is undeniably the best character in the whole damn movie. He is... ''a [[SerkisFolk big budget]] [[RogerRabbitEffect special]] [[{{Muppet}} effect]]?''

That's right, folks: You don't need to be a human being or even technically ''alive'' to be the star. With a big enough budget, a little imagination and some talent to provide a memorable voice ([[Music/{{Vocaloid}} though this may not be the case for much longer]]), you can take a prop and turn it into a ''character''.

This trope is all about movies that not only employ such special effect characters, but ''put them in the spotlight'': if you can take the {{Muppet}}s, SerkisFolk or [[RogerRabbitEffect Toons]] out of a movie without affecting the plot line or core cast, then it's not this trope.

See also VirtualCelebrity.
----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' was touted as a huge step forward in computer animation, with a central premise that the near photo-realistic character models could be [[ReusedCharacterDesign reused in future films]] -- chiefly the main character Aki Ross, who got hyped up as the world's first [[VirtualCelebrity "CGI actress"]], intended to star in dozens of films. The underwhelming performance of the film nixed the idea.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* The vast majority of movies with effects made by the undisputed master of StopMotion, Creator/RayHarryhausen. He treated each monster as a character in and of itself, giving them operatic deaths when he could. Special mention goes to:
** ''Film/MightyJoeYoung'' - Joe is the star of the film, after all.
** ''Film/TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms'' - Although the human characters are reasonably interesting, too.
** ''Film/TwentyMillionMilesToEarth'' - A movie where to many audiences, the monster is the most likable character.
** ''Film/FirstMenInTheMoon''
** ''Film/OneMillionYearsBC'' -- Creator/{{Raquel|Welch}} [[MsFanservice Welch]] and her fur bikini are well remembered too for this one.
** ''Film/TheValleyOfGwangi''
** ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts''
** The ''Literature/SinbadTheSailor'' films (''[[Film/The7thVoyageOfSinbad The 7th Voyage]]'', ''Film/{{The Golden Voyage|Of Sinbad}}'' and ''[[Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger The Eye of the Tiger]]''). Some would say Creator/TomBaker and Creator/CarolineMunro's cleavage steal the show for ''The Golden Voyage''.
** ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'' - ''Also'' starring Creator/LaurenceOlivier, but [[MoneyDearBoy he didn't much care]]...
* ''Film/ShortCircuit'' features Johnny 5, an animatronic robot, as the lead character. Reportedly, the animatronics took up nearly all of the film's budget on their own, leading to somewhat simpler special effects being used for everything else.
* The infamous film version of ''Film/HowardTheDuck'' realized the title character with a performer in an animatronic suit, five puppeteers operating its functions, and a voiceover by actor Chip Zien, while the true form of the evil Dark Overlord that he confronts in the climax is a stop-motion creation. The Golden Raspberry Awards had this trope in mind when "The Six Guys and Gals in the Duck Suit" won the dishonor of Worst New Star for 1986.
* ''Film/{{Dragonheart}}'', where Creator/SeanConnery voices a CGI dragon.
* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''.
* The live-action ''Film/{{Transformers|FilmSeries}}'' movies are mainly a [[{{Pun}} vehicle]] to show off a whole set of special effects characters. Some critics actually claim they didn't do this ''[[Administrivia/TropesAreTools enough]]'': Who came here to see a bunch of humans we don't actually care about? [[JustHereForGodzilla Give us the robots]]!
* The live-action ''[[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' movies.
* The live-action ''Film/{{Garfield}}'' movies.
* ''Film/SpaceJam'' and ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'', which merge live action and animation in much the same way as ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''. The credits for both films ''actually use'' "Bugs Bunny" as part of the starring role.
* The live-action ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' movies.
* The live-action ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' movies
* The live-action ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkle'' movie
* The live-action ''Film/{{Casper}}'' movie, and its sequels. Creator/RogerEbert even described the first one in his review as "a movie that essentially stars computer programming".
* ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial''
* Andy Serkis has played three of the most famous examples:
** Gollum in Creator/PeterJackson's film version of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', particularly in ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers The Two Towers]]''.
** Film/KingKong in the [[Film/KingKong2005 2005 remake]].
** Caesar in ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes''. The trailer even said "From Weta Digital: the Visual Effects Company for ''Film/{{Avatar}}''." In the [[Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes two]] [[Film/WarForThePlanetOfTheApes sequels]] that followed, Serkis actually did get top billing.
* Pretty much any {{Kaiju}} movie qualifies as this.
** ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}''. Both the original Japanese version (who was played by a guy in a rubber suit... as well as an animatronic head used for close-ups in later films) and the CGI versions of the [[Film/Godzilla1998 1998]] and [[Film/Godzilla2014 2014]] American remakes.
** The titular stars (yes, there were two of 'em) of ''Film/{{Rodan}}'' were played both by guys in rubber suits and by large puppets.
** Film/{{Mothra}} herself is an animatronic puppet. Though, later films also use CGI for the flying scenes.
** Baby Irys was an animatronic puppet... and the main villain of the film ''Film/Gamera3AwakeningOfIrys''. Irys' adult form uses a mixture of "guy in rubber suit" and CGI for the flying scenes. Gamera himself is also this trope.
** ''Film/KingKong''. Possibly the originator of the trope, to the point where Fay Wray was initially told that she would be appearing with the "tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood".
** A borderline example in ''Film/TheHost2006'', where the human characters are given far more screentime and rich backstories. On the other hand, the director treated the monster like any actual actor, overseeing every motion it made and taking an active hand in developing its performance. Presumably, this monster-as-actor idea is part of why the effects team named the monster "Creator/SteveBuscemi".
** ''Film/PacificRim'' is well aware that you came for the giant robots fighting giant monsters, and while it will offer you a genuinely engaging plot, most of it works to get the actors from one huge robot fight to another.
* All the movies starring Franchise/TheMuppets. The policy of working with Muppets is that one has to treat them as legitimate people, to the point that many Muppeteers don't break character during the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y3wpYpURS4 outtakes]] of the production. Muppets even get their own promotional interviews with the media!
* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' was the first live-action movie with no human cast. Every character, however big or small, is a puppet. This adds to the viewer's immersion in Jim Henson and Brian Froud's WorldBuilding.
* Their SpiritualSuccessor ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' also qualifies as the vast bulk of the characters are realized with puppets, although the protagonist and principal antagonist are played by standard actors.
* The ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy has Jar-Jar Binks, Jabba The Hutt, and Yoda, along with many CGI supporting characters. (Yoda, of course, was always a special effect; he just didn't become a CGI special effect until the prequels.) In fact, there are points in which live actors are the ''exception'' rather than the norm.
** ''Film/RogueOne'' featured CGI versions of Grand Moff Tarkin and [[spoiler:Princess Leia]].
* Christopher Johnson in ''Film/District9''.
* While the ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' movies never lose focus on the humans, the dinosaurs are biggest draw - Spielberg acknowledged that the ''Tyrannosaurus'' is the star of [[Film/JurassicPark1993 the original]], and even rewrote the ending to bring in the ''T. rex'' in a BigDamnHeroes moment feeling audiences would be disappointed otherwise.
* ''Film/{{Avatar}}''
* ''Film/{{S1m0ne}}'' is an in-universe example.
* The makers of ''Film/GhostRiderSpiritOfVengeance'' seem to [[http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/16/idUS220754507020120216 describe ]] the movie as such while trying to downplay the role of the movie's actual star Nicolas Cage.
* Variation: The film ''Battle of the River Plate'' included acting credits for the ''warships'' involved in filming it.
* ''Film/{{Ted}}'' co-stars a living teddy bear (done in motion capture) voiced by Creator/SethMacFarlane.
* The trailer for the remake of [[Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill2008 The Day the Earth Stood Still]] made it clear that the special effects had the starring role, not Creator/KeanuReeves.
* The laid-back stop-motion monster in ''Film/FleshGordon'' is the best part of the picture -- even better than the sex.
* Rod Taylor and Guy Pearce are leading men who found themselves playing second-fiddle to their respective [[Film/TheTimeMachine1960 time]] [[Film/TheTimeMachine2002 machines]].
* Though ''Film/InspectorGadget1999'' and ''Film/InspectorGadget2'' were critically panned, the best thing about them is how they seamlessly blend CGI and practical props (courtesy Stan Winston Studios) and bring the Inspector's gadgets into real, three-dimensional life, showing how they might look in the real world.
* ''Film/DarbyOGillAndTheLittlePeople'': Disney's publicity department was advised to treat the character of King Brian not as an actor enhanced by special effects, but by a "real" leprechaun. Walt Disney even went as far as to make an episode of [[Series/WaltDisneyPresents his television show]] in which he went to Ireland to convince Brian to appear in the film.
* While the titular character [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] this, being a mix of Creator/RyanReynolds' physical performance and CGI, ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'' [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the trope in the opening credits, with "A CGI Character" listed among the cast (this refers to Colossus, who was SerkisFolk'd into the movie).
* Robby the Robot was a breakout character in ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet''. Robby's subsequent career spanned decades and included appearances in many movies and T.V. shows, including ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' and ''Series/{{Columbo}}''.
* Like the above-mentioned ''Dark Crystal'', ''Film/MeetTheFeebles'' is a movie with an all-puppet cast.
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: Some of the most popular characters are CGI creations:
** Rocket Raccoon and Groot were {{Breakout Character}}s in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' and ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2''.
** Thanos is the protagonist of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''.
* ''Film/TheMask'': Jim Carrey and the special effects share joint billing and work together to startling effect.
* ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'' with not only its eponymous character, but a large number of other Pokémon species in secondary or supporting roles.
* Downplayed with ''Film/TheFly1986''. For the bulk of the film, the DoomedProtagonist Seth Brundle is played by Creator/JeffGoldblum via a makeup-based SlowTransformation that incorporates PeopleInRubberSuits in the later stages. But in the film's final minutes, crucial {{Vomit Indiscretion Shot}}s and Seth's OneWingedAngel form of "Brundlefly" -- a completely inhuman-looking, voiceless monster -- are realized via animatronic puppets, and the transitions between techniques are so smoothly handled that the audience just sees one single tragic character all along. The special effects company that realized both the makeup and the puppetry is listed first in the end credits to acknowledge its importance, and went on to win the Oscar for Best Makeup. The 1989 BTeamSequel ''Film/TheFlyII'', directed by the head of the previous film's effects team, plays this straighter by having the SpinOffspring protagonist Martin mature into "Martinfly" at the top of the third act, meaning that about a fourth of the film's runtime is following an even more elaborate special effects creation.
* ''Film/TheCallOfTheWild2020'' might have Creator/HarrisonFord as the top-billed actor and narrator, but the central character is Buck, a BigFriendlyDog created through CG.
* ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'' has Sonic, of course. [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022 The sequel]] expands to the PowerTrio of the games: [[SpeedSmartsAndStrength Sonic, Tails and Knuckles]].
* The live-action ''Film/PeterRabbit'' film prominently features the eponymous rabbit and his friends animated in CGI.
* The ''Film/ChildsPlay'' films aren't just a VillainBasedFranchise, they're one in which the killer is a PerversePuppet brought to life through animatronics and the voice of Creator/BradDourif.
* The eponymous character of ''Film/CJ7'' is a CGI alien dog... thing that interacts with live-action actors.
* ''Film/{{Virus}}'' is known for having outstanding practical animatronic effects that really bring the robots and creatures to life...and not much else.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{Alf}}'': By all accounts, the puppet was treated better than the human actors.
* ''Series/MaxHeadroom''. The title character was played by Creator/MattFrewer with lots of prosthetic makeup, bluescreen and editing.
* The majority of ''Series/LazyTown's'' main cast are puppets.
* ''Series/SesameStreet'' and ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' would be nothing without their Muppet casts.
* The Jim Henson Company puppets of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', two of which were in the main cast, went a long way in giving the show its distinct visual style and set it apart in a genre mostly populated by RubberForeheadAliens.
* ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues'' and ''WesternAnimation/BluesCluesAndYou'': The only real character is a single guy standing in front of a greenscreen talking to himself and the other occasional human guests. Everything else is animated except the Thinking Chair, the letter, and the notebook.
* ''Series/SeaQuestDSV'' had Darwin, an animatronic "talking" dolphin so realistic viewers couldn't tell the difference.
* ''Series/CousinSkeeter'': The main character, Skeeter, was a puppet, but treated as a real person by the rest of the human cast.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* In the stage version of ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'', the car takes the final bow. One wonders what the actual actors think of this.
* ''CarTalkTheMusical,'' with its mammoth talking car prop.
* ''Theatre/WarHorse'', though the story and other performances are perfectly good, is most famous for the magnificent horse puppets, and Joey the horse is ''at least'' a deuteragonist, if not quite the full protagonist of the story.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theme Parks]]
* The Ride/DisneyThemeParks are famous for having several shows that feature a cast comprised entirely of audio-animatronics, including ''Ride/TheEnchantedTikiRoom'', ''Ride/CountryBearJamboree'', and ''Ride/CarouselOfProgress''.
[[/folder]]
----