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Deuteragonist / Live-Action TV

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  • 13 Reasons Why: Clay Jenson is the protagonist of the show, with the deuteragonist role split between Hannah Baker and Justin Foley. Hannah's reasons for committing suicide drive all of the flashbacks throughout the first two seasons, while Justin's Trauma Conga Line of drugs and homelessness makes up a lot of the present day story. Once Hannah exits the narrative in Season 3, Tyler Down takes her place as he recovers from his rape at Monty's hands and begins to become more assertive and confident.
  • 24: Jack is consistently the protagonist. However, the roles between Deuteragonist, Tritagonist, and Tetragonist are always switched per arc.
    • Depending on who you ask, either David Palmer or Tony Almeida serves as the Deuteragonist in the first three seasons, with the other being the Tritagonist. However, there are still some variations:
      • In Season 1, Nina Meyers shares the role of Deuteragonist, Teri Bauer shares the role of Tritagonist, and Kim Bauer has the role of Tetragonist.
      • In Season 2, Kate Warner shares the Deuteragonist role and Michelle Dessler shares the Tritagonist role.
      • In Season 3, Michelle Dessler continues to share the Tritagonist role while Chase Edmunds is the Tetragonist.
    • Beginning with season four things get even more mixed up:
      • In Season 4, Audrey Raines is the Deuteragonist while Tony Almeida is the Tritagonist, and Curtis Manning and Edgar Stiles split the role of Tetragonist. Alternatively, Tony and Curtis share the Tritagonist role while Edgar is the Tetragonist.
      • In Seasons 5 and 6, the Deuteragonist is Chloe O'Brian, with Bill Buchanan as the Tritagonist. Audrey also shares the role of Tritagonist with Bill during Season 5, with Charles Logan serving in the role of Tetragonist the same season.
      • In Season 7, Renee Walker becomes the Deuteragonist. Either Tony and Allison Taylor share the role of the Tritagonist with Chloe as the Tetragonist, or Chloe and Tony share the role as the Tetragonist with Allison Taylor as the Tritagonist.
      • In Season 8, Chloe is back to being the Deuteragonist, with Allison Taylor as the Tritagonist and Cole Ortiz as the Tetragonist. Renee shares a role with either Cole or Taylor.
      • In Live Another Day, Kate Morgan is set up as the Deuteragonist, with Chloe and President James Heller sharing the role of Tritagonist.
  • 30 Rock: Jack Donaghy, with Tracy as the Tritagonist (with Jenna occasionally taking Tracy's role in the show's later seasons).
  • The 4400: Normally Diana Skouris takes the role of the Deuteragonist with Tom Baldwin as the Protagonist, and several different 4400s filling in the role of the Tritagonist. In season 2 Shawn Farrell is the Tritagonist. In season 3 its Isabelle Tyler with Shawn becoming the tetragonist. In season 4 Diana become the Tritagonist and the resurrected Jordan Collier becomes the Deuteragonist.
  • 9-1-1: While the show presents itself as an Ensemble Cast of first responders in Los Angeles, the leading representatives of the police, fire department, and 911 operators usually fall onto Sgt. Athena Grant, Cpt. Bobby Nash, and Abby Clark respectively. Nash's paramedic team, usually, play off him or the aforementioned sergeant and operator.
  • Alias occasionally has different characters filling the role, depending on the season. In season one, Will Tippin fills the role, having the most important story that is separate to Sydney Bristow's, complete with his own supporting cast. In the second half of season three, the show becomes just as much about double agent Lauren Reed as it is about Sydney. Finally, the first part of the show's last season has new character and potential replacement protagonist Rachel Gibson as deuteragonist, until the series' cancelation causes the writers to pull focus squarely back on Sydney.
  • American Horror Story: Murder House: Tate plays this to Ben and Vivien, who share the Protagonist slot (reflected by their credit switching order every episode). Violet comes in as a very close Tritagonist. Tate also overlaps with the role of antagonist (which is also shared with his mother), as he is the rubber-man, who killed several peers in a school shooting, Chad and Patrick and raped Vivien - kick-starting the chain of events leading to the birth of the Anti-Christ.
  • Angel: Cordelia Chase initially starts as this with Allen Francis Doyle initially starting out as the Tritagonist, and then Wesley Wyndam-Pryce taking his place not long after. Beginning with Season 3 Cordelia and Wesley begin alternating between the Deuteragonist role, with Wesley completely taking it over for Season 4. In Season 5, Spike appears and takes over as Deuteragonist, while Wesley resumes his role as the Tritagonist.
  • Arrowverse:
    • The Flash (2014):
      • Barry Allen is the main protagonist.
      • Iris West-Allen is the female lead, and her storylines either compliment or run parallel to the storylines of her husband Barry Allen.
      • Meanwhile, there is a strong argument of Caitlin Snow being the Tritagonist. While Barry and Iris are clearly the main leads, Caitlin's storyline regarding her family, her love interests, Killer Frost, her background, as well as the mystery of where her second personality comes from, has and continues to receive the most series wide development. Also, she is third only to Barry and Iris in episode count, have appeared in every episode barring three of the series thus far (Barry appeared in every episode; Iris has appeared in almost all but two), and the actress Danielle Panabaker has been the third billed actor after Grant Gustin and Candice Patton, since the show premiered.
    • Supergirl:
      • Alex Danvers has either the A-plot or the B-plot in most episodes, and her storylines usually cover the length of the season and even tend to be more character-focused than Kara's (such as her becoming director of the D.E.O in season four). Kara is the protagonist and J'onn is the tritagonist. This is even alluded to in the last scene of "It's A Super Life."
      • Lena Luthor supplants Alex as the deuteragonist for season 5, with her character arc of dealing with learning about Kara being Supergirl driving a significant amount of the season's events alongside Leviathan and her brother's machinations in the Post-Crisis world.
    • Legends of Tomorrow: As an Ensemble Cast with Revolving Door Casting in every season to date, there are several deuteragonists in the series:
      • Season 1: Sara Lance is the deuteragonist to Rip Hunter's protagonist, with Leonard Snart and Ray Palmer sharing the role of the tritagonist.
      • Season 2: With Sara becoming the de-facto protagonist from this point forward, Mick Rory becomes the deuteragonist with the loss of his partner Snart driving him to join his past self as part of the Legion of Doom to change their destinies. Newcomer Nate Heywood is the tritagonist, as his knowledge of historical events greatly aid the Legends in trying to fix history.
      • Season 3: Amaya Jiwe becomes the deuteragonist, her relationship with her granddaughter from the future leads her to going back in time to prevent her village from being destroyed and her Spirit Totem is one of the keys to defeating the demon Mallus. Martin Stein and Jefferson Jackson are the tritagonists in the first half before their departure, at which point it goes to Time Bureau agent (later director) Ava Sharpe who initially antagonizes the Legends but later develops a relationship with Sara and the two become the series' Official Couple.
      • Season 4: John Constantine is the deuteragonist, whose role in sending Big Bad Neron to hell (as well as the villain's plan to use the magical Fugitives to spread fear amongst the human populace) serves as the focal point of the season. Nate and Zari Tomaz share the tritagonist role, with the former's strained relationship with his father and the latter's struggle to change her future for the better without heavily damaging the timeline both being major plot points; bonus points go to the two of them becoming a couple later on.
      • Season 5: Charlie is the deuteragonist, with her true identity as the Fate known as Clotho, her sisters being the villains of the season, and helping the Legends restore the Loom of Fate to fix what's been broken playing a key role in the season. The tritagonist in the first half is Ray again, who then leaves to settle down with his new wife Nora Darhk, with the second half's being Astra Logue, who initially antagonizes the Legends, but Constantine's promise to bring her mother back to life (thus saving Astra from being sent to hell from his botched resurrection ritual) convinces her to ally herself with them.
  • Atlanta: Alfred is this to Earn's protagonist. The show is as much about Earn trying to get by as it is about Alfred dealing with his newfound fame. This becomes even more apparent in the 2nd season, as Earn is barely present in most episodes from the middle of the season, with Al having two spotlight episodes solely focused on him.
  • Austin & Ally: Ally is the central character of the tv show, but much of the plot revolves around the Austin character becoming a famous musician with her help, making him the deuteragonist to her protagonist.
  • Babylon 5: Londo. Word of God has even said the story is almost as much about Londo as about Sheridan. This effectively makes G'Kar the Tritagonist, as he's Londo's foil throughout the series.
  • Best Friends Whenever: Cyd is typically considered the deuteragonist to Shelby's protagonist.
  • Better Call Saul:
    • Jimmy is the protagonist.
    • Mike Ehrmantraut is the deuteragonist. While the series is generally about the title character's rise to the Amoral Attorney we know and love in Breaking Bad, almost just as important is Mike's rise to The Ace drug enforcer.
    • Kim Wexler, a fellow lawyer and Jimmy's girlfriend is the tritagonist. She has always been an important character but was often in the background of Jimmy's relationship with his brother Chuck and his Amoral Attorney antics. She has her own breakdown and agency, constantly moving the goalposts of what morality means to her, and she survives the series.
    • Ignacio "Nacho" Varga is the tetragonist. Starting out as more of a minor antagonist, Nacho quickly became the fourth most prominent POV character with his own running subplot that gradually became more intertwined with the main plot. It usually is his actions that lead to a major shift in the storylines involving the other main characters. Like Kim, he is one of the few main characters not Saved by Canon, which makes his increasingly dire storylines all the more tense.
  • The Big Bang Theory: In the early episodes, Sheldon was the deuteragonist to Leonard's protagonist. Eventually Sheldon ends up being the spotlight stealer and the main focus character, so Leonard himself becomes the deuteragonist. In either case, Penny is always the tritagonist.
  • Boardwalk Empire:
    • Jimmy Darmody to Nucky Thompson's protagonist with Margaret as the tritagonist in the first two seasons.
    • Season 3 has Gyp Rosetti and Margaret as either the deuteragonist or tritagonist respectively.
    • Season 4 sees Margaret Demoted to Extra and thus having Chalky as the deuteragonist and Eli as the tritagonist.
    • Season 5 has Luciano as the deuteragonist with Margaret and Eli sharing the tritagonist role. Some could use the finale to argue a case for the Darmody family- Gillian, Jimmy and Tommy in particular- being the deuteragonists of the entire series.
  • Bones: Booth is the deuteragonist, with the title character as the protagonist. He's also the Love Interest.
  • The Boys (2019):
    • Hughie Campbell is the protagonist, with the plot being seen most of the time from his point of view.
    • Billy Butcher is the deuteragonist. He has the same screentime that the protagonist Hughie has, with his plot involving his revenge against Homelander and the tragic past involving his wife.
    • Starlight is the tritagonist. Their stories are initially unrelated to each other and advance in parallel with each having their own reasons to oppose the Seven, comparable screen-time that is mostly spent apart by both and a more-or-less equal role in the climax. Prior to the climax each character resolves their own conflicts with little involvement apart from moral support from the other.
  • Boy Meets World:
    • Shawn Hunter is the deuteragonist. Starting late in the second season. Shawn's Mother left and his father chased after him. Following this, Shawn got a large amount of focus as a character.
    • Eric Mathews developed into the Tritagonist later in the series starting in about season 3 with him interning at a TV new station in order to beef up is college resume. This is followed by him not getting into college then trying to figure out what to do. This is followed by him seeking help from Mr. Feeny. This is less in play from season 5 onward after he gets into college. By season 7, his flanderization has turned him into the comic relief of the series and is mainly there to provide laughs.
  • Breaking Bad: Jesse Pinkman is the deuteragonist to Walter White's protagonist, and his character arc, which runs parallel and acts as a Foil to Walter's, eventually becomes important as well.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
    • Willow has the most character development throughout the series after Buffy herself. Though the show gives Nicholas Brendon (Xander) second-billing, it quickly becomes clear, especially by the fourth season, that Buffy and Willow are the primary friendship in the series. Willow's prominence is highlighted when Alyson Hannigan is given the And Starring treatment in the show's opening credits following Giles' departure.
    • Angel for its first three seasons, before he spun off to his own show.
    • After Angel left, it's possible Spike takes on the role, at least in the final few seasons, due to him becoming more of a confidant to Buffy after her revival (as well as a love interest). In Season 7, following the reclaiming of his soul and increased spotlight stealing, this fully cements itself.
  • Cheers has Sam Malone's love interest Diane Chambers as the deuteragonist for the first five seasons, with Sam himself as the protagonist. After Season 5, she is replaced by Rebecca Howe.
  • Chuck: Sarah Walker is the Deuteragonist to Chuck's Protagonist, which is unsurprising since she's also the love interest. John Casey, initially the only other main character to know about the Intersect being in Chuck's head rounds out the original Power Trio with Chuck and Sarah and serves as the Tritagonist. Morgan, Chuck's best friend, serves as the Tetragonist, particularly after he learns the truth about Chuck halfway through the series and begins directly helping him, Sarah, and Casey more.
  • Damages: Ellen Parsons to Patty Hewes.
  • Dawson's Creek: While the show started out revolving around Dawson Leery, Girl Next Door Joey Potter gradually took over. The female lead and original Love Interest to Dawson, she was the only character to appear in every single episode of the show's six-season run, and the only character to get an entire episode to herself. Pacey, whose Love Triangle with Dawson and Joey formed the show's most consistent plot thread, is the tritagonist.
  • Dexter: Debra Morgan tends to have the second most important plot line, often solving a crime that relates to Dexter's victim.
  • Doctor Who: The Doctor's companion (when there's only one of them, anyway) fulfills this role.
    • When there's two companions the second will always serve as the tritagonist, such as Harry Sullivan to the Fourth Doctor (protagonist) and Sarah Jane Smith (deuteragonist) in season 12 of the original series, Mickey Smith to the Ninth/Tenth Doctors (protagonist) and Rose Tyler (deuteragonist) in series 1-2 of the revival; Rory Williams to the Eleventh Doctor (protagonist) and Amy Pond (deuteragonist) in series 5-7 of the revival.
    • Though she's only a recurring Companion, River Song serves as the deuteragonist of Series 6, to the Eleventh Doctor's protagonist. The overarching plot line of that series has just as much to do with the mystery behind River's origins as it does with the Doctor's continuing adventures. The finale of Series 6 is even titled "The Wedding of River Song".
  • Family Matters:
    • From season 2 onwards, after Steve Urkel becomes the Breakout Character and the protagonist, Carl (the original protagonist along with Harriette) becomes the deuteragonist, since he still gets B-Plots even when Steve is not involved. Laura is the tritagonist and Steve's love interest. Laura's brother Eddie is the tetragonist. Harriette becomes the pentagonist once Steve takes over as the protagonist.
    • In the first season, which is Early-Installment Weirdness, Carl is the protagonist (the head of the family with the most plots about him), Harriette is the deuteragonist (the central character along with Carl), Eddie is the tritagonist (gets a bit more focus than Laura in season 1, and even the season finale is about him), Laura is the tetragonist (a major character, but not as prominent as she will become later thanks to Steve), and aunt Rachel is the pentagonist (she also gets some plots about her).
  • Firefly: River, as a substantial number of episodes in the series' short run centered around her. It became much more clear that River was the second protagonist during Serenity.
  • Forever: Henry is clearly the protagonist, but Jo Martinez is his equal in the policing that makes up the majority of the series.
  • Frasier: Niles Crane, especially after the early seasons.
  • The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: Carlton is the deuteragonist to Will's protagonist. Especially from season 2 onwards, he gets more A Day in the Limelight episodes than everyone besides Will. Uncle Phil is the tritagonist.
  • Friends: While the show has an Ensemble Cast, Rachel is probably the protagonist, since the show is about her Character Development from a spoiled Naïve Newcomer to a career woman and most season finales focus on her. Monica and Ross alternate between deuteragonist and tritagonist, the latter thanks to the Ross/Rachel story focus.
  • Fringe: Peter Bishop and Walter Bishop respectively acting as the deuteragonist and the tritagonist to protagonist Olivia Dunham.
  • Game of Thrones: This show has such a sprawling plot, massive geographic scope and enormous Ensemble Cast that pinning down these distinctions is difficult. Like its source material, A Song of Ice and Fire, it has Three Lines, Some Waiting, each corresponding (roughly) to one of the titular nouns:
  • Gilmore Girls: Lorelai and Rory Gilmore are mother and daughter, but also Heterosexual Life-Partners. Which one's the deuteragonist? Depends on which one you think is the protagonist. The answer is probably Lorelai, because the tritagonist is Lorelai's own mother, Emily, with whom she has an adversarial relationship.
  • Girl Meets World: Maya Hart, Riley's best friend, is the deuteragonist, with Lucas or Farkle as the tritagonist, and Cory as the Big Good.
  • The Good Doctor: Dr. Claire Browne was this in the first four seasons. She was the only character besides the protagonist Dr. Shaun Murphy who appeared in all the episodes of the show until the finale of Season 4, has a lot of screentime and was one of the few main characters who had A Day in the Limelight episode exclusively focused on her and in which Shaun clearly played a secondary role. Claire ended up losing that position at the end of Season 4, with the departure of her actress Antonia Thomas from the regular cast.
  • Good Luck Charlie: Teddy Duncan is the main protagonist who makes video diaries, while Charlie herself starts out as a Plot Device as the subject of said diaries. Once she grows into a toddler, Charlie becomes the deuteragonist and receives even more character focus than previously starting from Season 3 onward.
  • Gotham: Detective Jim Gordon is the protagonist, with Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin, and Bruce Wayne alternating roles as deuteragonist and tritagonist depending on the story arc. Gordon's crusade against corruption takes up the show's primary focus, with Penguin's rises and falls in Gotham's underworld frequently being tied in to said crusade; Bruce's search for his parent's killer is often unconnected from either story line, but still gets a great deal of focus. Ultimately, all three plots are part of the story of Gotham evolving from a mundane Wretched Hive to the Super Villain ridden City of Adventure we know it will become.
  • Grimm: Captain Sean Renard.
  • Hannibal: Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter arguably share the top spot and Jack Crawford is the tritagonist
  • Happy Days: In the first two seasons, Richie was the protagonist, Potsie was the deuteragonist, Ralph was the tritagonist and Fonzie was the tetragonist. From Season 3-Season 7, Fonzie is promoted to the deuteragonist, while Potsie and Ralph become the tritagonist and tetragonist, respectively. After Season 7, Fonzie is promoted to the protagonist, while Joanie and Chachi are the deuteragonist and tritagonist, respectively.
  • Homeland: Carrie Mathison and Nicolas Brody switched roles between protagonist and deuteragonist depending on the episode with Saul Berenson being the steady tritagonist. In season 2, this began to change as Nicolas Brody slowly descended into a tritagonist, while Saul Berenson began to upgrade into a deuteragonist. By the end of season 3, Nicolas Brody is mostly Out of Focus and ends up being a Decoy Protagonist after he's Killed Off for Real, and Saul Berenson's role as the dueteragonist is set in stone.
  • House of Cards (US): In the first Season, Zoe Barnes serves as the deuteragonist to Frank Underwood's protagonist, with Peter Russo as the tritagonist. In Season 2, after Frank murders Zoe and Peter in his quest for power, Lucas Goodwin briefly steps into the deuteragonist role, with Rachel Posner serving as the tritagonist.
  • House of the Dragon has a smaller pool of characters, and they are not dispersed on multiple kingdoms or even continents like in Game of Thrones, therefore is easier to establish who are the protagonists. Rhaenyra Targeryen is the Protagonist of the show, but the writers established that the story revolves mainly around her and Alicent Hightower, making the latter the Deuteragonist. Daemon Targaryen is the Tritagonist and Rhaenyra's Lancel.
  • How I Met Your Mother: Barney Stinson eventually becomes Deuteragonist as more focus is put on his growth from a womanizer to someone willing to settle down, especially since it's at Barney's wedding that the titular event takes place.
    • Arguably Barney shares the role with Robin seeing as the entire series is Ted’s way of getting his kid’s permission to date her again after the death of the titular mother
  • The Inspector Lynley Mysteries has Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, in a rare example of an Inspector's partner being this. Unlike most non-protagonist detective sergeants in British mystery fiction, Havers' storyline gets almost as much focus as the titular protagonist's right from the get-go. In addition, though she frequently acts as The Watson to her partner, it isn't uncommon for him to act as The Watson to her (for instance, the majority of "Natural Causes", or the caravan site in "One Guilty Deed"). This very trope has been cited as one of the things that sets this series apart from other Detective Dramas of its kind, and as one of the best aspects of the show.
  • iCarly: Sam is the deuteragonist, Freddie is the tritagonist, and Spencer is the tetragonist. After Gibby becomes an Ascended Extra, he becomes the show's pentagonist.
  • Juken Sentai Gekiranger: The villains Rio and Mele are just as important to the story as the main heroes.
  • Justified: Local gang boss Boyd Crowder is the deuteragonist to U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens' protagonist.
  • Kamen Rider: This really is a staple of later series, all of them have a secondary protagonist who provide as much if not more importance to the storyline as the titular character from their respective series. These second protagonists aren't necessarily the Second Riders that are another staple of the franchise and many aren't even Riders in the first place.
    • Kamen Rider Kuuga: Kaoru Ichijo
    • Kamen Rider Agito: Agito is a bit difficult since it technically has two secondary protagonists, neither of whom is really that much more relevant than the other; Makoto Hikawa/Kamen Rider G3 and Ryou Ashihara/Kamen Rider Gills.
    • Kamen Rider Ryuki: Ren Akiyama/Kamen Rider Knight. Arguably, the Trope Codifier of the franchise. While Kaoru, Makoto and Ryou had their fair share of screen-time, Ren is the first deuteragonist in the franchise to really be presented as equal to the protagonist in terms of narrative importance. Case in point, he outlives Shinji in the finale, and remains to date the only secondary Rider to face the season's Final Boss instead of the protagonist.
    • Kamen Rider 555: Yuuji Kiba/Horse Orphnoch/Kamen Rider Orga. Notably, he receives more attention in the first episode of the series than the protagonist himself. He also remains to date the only supporting character in the entire franchise to exclusively take on the role of the primary Rider for four entire episodes.
    • Kamen Rider Blade: Hajime Aikawa/Kamen Rider Chalice/Joker Undead. It's enough that despite officially being the third Rider to appear in the series (with Kamen Rider Garren being the official secondary Rider), various media has treated him as the "actual" secondary Rider, and his battle with Kenzaki is ultimately what concludes the series.
    • Kamen Rider Hibiki: Asumu Adachi. More precisely, it is Asumu who is the protagonist, and Hibiki who is the deuteragonist. This is because the show is largely more concerned with Asumu's experience with the Oni rather than Hibiki's battle with the Makamou.
    • Kamen Rider Kabuto: Arata Kagami/Kamen Rider Gatack. Similarly to Asumu, he is the viewpoint character for the majority of the show, starting off as The Watson to Tendo before eventually becoming The Rival to Tendo once he becomes Kamen Rider Gatack.
    • Kamen Rider Den-O: While the Imagin arguably serve as this collectively for the series, Momotaros being the first Imagin to bond with Ryotaro puts him far above the others. In further continuations of the Den-O story, it is almost always Momotaros, not Ryotaro, who transforms into Den-O and he has more or less become the face of the Den-O franchise as a result.
    • Kamen Rider Kiva: Otoya Kurenai/Kamen Rider IXA/ Kamen Rider Dark Kiva. Being a show split between events occurring in 2008 and 1986, Otoya plays the lead role in the latter time zone.
    • Kamen Rider Decade: Natsumi Hikari/Kamen Rider Kivala. While never becoming a Kamen Rider in the show itself, she's the character the story follows the most after Tsukasa. That the fact she becomes the Kamen Rider that strikes down Decade and restores all of the worlds in the movie only solidifies her status as this.
    • Kamen Rider Double: While both are technically the protagonists, Shotaro Hidari primarily serves as the viewpoint character which makes Philip the Deuteragonist by default.
    • Kamen Rider OOO: Ankh. He gets a character arc that runs throughout the whole series, making it just as predominant as Eiji's own. In fact, his role is so important to the story that the form used to fight in the Final Battle is the one that uses his Core Medals, the Tajadol Combo, instead of the title character's Super Mode.
    • Kamen Rider Fourze: Kengo Utahoshi aka the Core Child.
    • Kamen Rider Wizard: Koyomi Fueki.
    • Kamen Rider Gaim: Kaito Kumon/Kamen Rider Baron. The focus on Kaito's narrative journey and importance to the story is only second to Kouta's as it showcases how he goes from The Rival to the Big Bad the show's protagonist must defeat in the climactic final battle. The role of the tritagonist belongs to Mitsuzane "Micchy" Kureshima/Kamen Rider Ryugen, who without a doubt, as he easily receives the most Character Development out of the main cast, and the show's epilogue concludes with both him and Kouta fighting side by side after resolving every issue between them. The position of the tetragonist is given to Takatora Kureshima/Kamen Rider Zangetsu, who is Micchy's older brother and is given significant spotlight as he tries to contain the dangers and mysteries of the Helheim Forest, the place that grants the Kamen Riders their powers.
    • Kamen Rider Ex-Aid: Poppy Pipopapo. Ex-Aid may largely be ensemble with how it handles its characters, but Poppy is Emu's companion from the very start and is pivotal to many of the developments that occur later on, such as getting Kuroto to work with CR and stopping Kamen Rider Chronicle.
    • Kamen Rider Build: Banjou Ryuga/Kamen Rider Cross-Z. A key point of the show is how his friendship with Sento helps build each other up to ever greater heights. He also tends to steal the spotlight from Sento to the point where one could mistake him for the main hero at times.
    • Kamen Rider Zi-O: Geiz Myokoin/Kamen Rider Geiz's relationship with Sougo as well as the question of who will become the King or the Savior is the main conflict in the first half of the series. Even once they resolve their conflict, Geiz and Sougo's relationship continues to be a prominent point of the series, with Geiz's Heroic Sacrifice in the end being what pushes Sougo to become Oma Zi-O.
    • Kamen Rider Zero-One: The deuteragonist is Is, a Robot Girl who learns how to truly feel and wholeheartedly go after her dreams and whose death kicks off the series' endgame. In The Movie, she even ends up being revived and transforming into Kamen Rider Zero-Two. Isamu Fuwa/Kamen Rider Vulcan is the tritagonist as alot of the show focuses on him growing out of his Fantastic Racism, to the point of him receiving more Character Development than even Aruto.
    • Kamen Rider Revice: Daiji Igarashi/Kamen Rider Live and his inner demon, Kagero/Kamen Rider Evil, serve as this. Sakura Igarashi/Kamen Rider Jeanne and her inner demon, Lovekov, play the role of series tritagonist.
  • Kickin' It: Jerry, Milton, and Kim rotated in the deuteragonist role.
  • Kirby Buckets': His sister Dawn tends to be the deuteragonist when she's not her brother's antagonist. Fish and Eli mostly serve as Kirby’s sidekicks, but occasionally fill the deuteragonist role. Belinda is Dawn’s best friend and generally has the least character focus of the main quintet.
  • Lab Rats: Depending on if you view Leo or the trio as the protagonist(s), the other(s) will be the deuteragonist(s). Donald is the Big Good and tritagonist, with Douglas becoming tetragonist after his Heel–Face Turn, and Perry as the pentagonist and Token Evil Teammate.
  • Life with Derek: Despite being the title character, Derek is actually the deuteragonist, with his half-sister Casey being the protagonist. This is because the title is describing Casey's rivalry, and living with Derek.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power:
    • Galadriel is the main protagonist. The story follows more her story in one of the most tumultuous eras of Middle-earth.
    • Elrond is the deuteragonist. He has his own subplot with the Dwarves.
    • Nori is arguably the tritagonist. She is completely isolated from the main plot.
  • Malcolm in the Middle: Malcolm is the protagonist of the series, with Francis as arguably the Deuteragonist, as almost every episode features him having his own adventures separate from the rest of the family.
  • The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: Although originally planned as an occasional Sidekick character, Ensemble Dark Horse Illya Kuryakin quickly rose to become the Deuteragonist.
  • Married... with Children has Al Bundy as the protagonist, with his wife Peggy Bundy as the deuteragonist.
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • Agent Carter: Edwin Jarvis, Howard Stark's Butler helps Peggy search for him and in the second series joins because he'll be bored without the adrenaline of adventure.
    • Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Skye, aka Daisy Johnson. While Phil Coulson is the face of the team and its leader, it's often Skye who has the most personal connection to events, and her character development is given the most focus out of all the leads.
    • Daredevil (2015):
      • Karen Page, Matt Murdock's primary love interest and secretary for Nelson & Murdock, is the deuteragonist. Karen's headstrong, investigative nature has her moving the plot forward as much as, if not more than, Matt himself. Foggy Nelson ends up serving as a tritagonist. Wilson Fisk is the tetragonist and the main villain of the show.
      • Frank Castle and Elektra serve as tetragonists of season 2.
      • In season 3, showrunner Erik Oleseon adapted a writing approach of "deep character POV" wherein scenes are shown primarily from the perspective of six main characters. Each character is treated as the main character of their story. Alongside, Matt, Karen, Foggy and Fisk, a new deuteragonist is added in the form of Ray Nadeem, who has as much screentime as Matt, and the show gives him lots of focus as he goes from a straight arrow cop to someone trapped in Fisk's clutches. Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter functions as a tritagonist, with him getting lots of focus as Fisk slowly manipulates him from a borderline stable FBI Agent into a deadly assassin.
    • Jessica Jones (2015): The show is as much about Trish Walker as it is about Jessica. This is moreso in season 2 where the show is as much about Trish's drive to get powers as it is about Jessica learning the truth about her time at IGH. Malcolm functions as a tritagonist while Jeri Hogarth functions as a tetragonist.
    • Luke Cage (2016): Misty Knight. The show is as much about Luke as it is about Misty. On the antagonists' side, Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes plays deuteragonist until he's killed midway through the first season, at which point he's replaced by Diamondback.
      • In season 2, Luke is still the main character, and Misty is still the deuteragonist. But now the tritagonist role is split between Mariah Dillard and Hernan "Shades" Alvarez, and the tetragonist role has gone to Bushmaster.
  • Merlin:
  • Mighty Med: Kaz and Oliver as equal protagonists with Skylar as the deuteragonist, with Alan the Token Evil Teammate tritagonist, Horace the Big Good tetragonist, and Gus the Plucky Comic Relief sidekick.
  • Monk: Sharona Flemming serves as the deuteragonist to the title character for the first two and half seasons, with Natalie Teeger serving in the role for the remainder of the show. Leland Stottlemeyer is the tritagonist and Randy Disher is the tetragonist.
  • My Babysitter's a Vampire: Sarah. She's also the love interest of the protagonist. In the prequel movie, however, Sarah was the main character while Ethan and Benny acted as the Supporting Protagonists
  • My So-Called Life: Angela's parents .
  • Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide:
    • Moze is the deuteragonist. Most of the episodes that don't focus on Ned will focus on her, and she has far more solo B-Plots than Cookie does.
    • Cookie is the tritagonist. He's the most out of focus of the main trio, and is usually paired up with Ned or Gordy.
    • Gordy, sometimes considered a fourth member of the main group, is the tetragonist.
  • Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn: While all four kids can be considered as having the protagonist role, Dawn is often seen as the protagonist and the boys are equally deuteragonistic.
  • Nikita: Although she's third-billed in the cast and an original addition to the Nikita story, Alex is the overall deuteragonist of the series, with a story that is connected to, but distinct from, Nikita's.
  • One Tree Hill:
    • From Season's 1 to 6, Lucas is the main protagonist, Nathan is the deuteragonist and Peyton and Haley share the role of tritagonists.
    • From Season's 7 to 9, Nathan is the protagonist, Haley is the deuteragonist and Brooke is the tritagonist.
  • Orange Is the New Black: Piper Chapman is the consistent protagonist, but each season thus far has had a different character stepping into the Deuteragonist role. In Season 1, it's Alex Vause, Piper's sometime Love Interest whose testimony got her sent to Litchfield in the first place. In Season 2, after Alex is released after testifying against Kubra Balik, it's Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson, who has the closest personal connection to the season's Big Bad Yvonne "Vee" Parker. In Season 3, it's Joe Caputo, as a major arc in that season involves Caputo taking over as the new warden. Caputo is still the deuteragonist in season 4.
  • Oz: Ryan O'Reily is the deuteragonist to Tobias Beecher's protagonist and Miguel Alvarez's tritagonist.
  • Riverdale: In Season 1, Archie is the protagonist and Betty (also the second billed character) is the deuteragonist, with Jughead as the tritagonist. Despite Veronica being billed third, ahead of Jughead's fourth billing, Veronica is the ostensible tetartagonist, although her father Hiram arguably shares or overtakes that role. Cheryl is the pentagonist.
    • From Season 2 onwards, however, Betty becomes the protagonist, with her love interest for seasons 2-4, Jughead, as the deuteragonist, while Archie is relegated two spots to tritagonist. This despite the billing remaining unchanged.
    • From the Season 5 time jump, it is readjusted somewhat as Archie gains a spot to become the deuteragonist to Betty's protagonist.
  • Roseanne: Dan Conner is the deuteragonist to the title character's protagonist.
  • Russian Doll: Nadia and Alan are the main characters of the series, but Alan doesn't show up until the third episode, and the series largely remains more focused on Nadia.
  • Saved by the Bell: Zack Morris is the protagonist, with the deuteragonist role shared between A.C. Slater and Kelly Kapowski. Screech Powers is the tritagonist. The tetragonists are Jessie Spano and Lisa Turtle. Principal Richard Belding is the pentagonist.
  • Seinfeld: Jerry as the protagonist with George as the deuteragonist (given that he was an Expy or Author Avatar of series co-creator Larry David) with Elaine as the Tritagonist and Kramer as a Tetragonist.
  • The Shadow Line: Joseph Bede. His drug deal gets a lot of focus over the entire series, despite only rarely intersecting with protagonist Jonah Gabriel's investigation into Harvey Wratten's death. In addition, Gatehouse is a tritagonist.
  • Sherlock:
  • Sons of Anarchy:
    • In the first six seasons Clay and Gemma share the deuteragonist role with Tara as the tritagonist to Jax's protagonist.
    • In the final season taking place after the deaths of Clay and Tara in season 6's last episodes Gemma is solidly in the deuteragonist role.
    • Juice picks up the tritagonist role both because it is his and Gemma's lie to cover up Tara's murder that drives the season and he spends much of his storyline is isolated from the other characters.
    • Chibs becomes the tetragonist as unlike most other characters he receives his own independent storyline and arguably the season is partially about his journey to becoming president of the club after Jax's death.

  • The Sopranos: Christopher Moltisanti is the deuteragonist to Tony Sopranos protagonist, respectfully!

  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: This series and Star Trek: Voyager both introduced their deuteragonist in the fourth season: Worf and Seven of Nine, respectively. In both cases, this resulted in the previous deuteragonist (Kira and the Doctor, respectively) being demoted to tritagonist. Both Kira and the Doctor had personal problems and problems operating within the crew early on which were resolved, allowing them to slip naturally into the ensemble while the new characters took over these roles. The character of Tom Paris was created as a deuteragonist as per one of the creators Michael Pilar.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation: Though Riker seemed the deuteragonist at first (Kirk-ish personality, expy of would-be Star Trek: Phase II deuteragonist Willard Decker, and Jonathan Frakes having star billing alongside Patrick Stewart), he was quickly usurped by Data.note  This was readily apparent in the movies, which amounted to Picard and Data having grand adventures among talking set-pieces.
  • Star Trek: The Original Series: Spock emerges as the deuteragonist fairly early on; David Gerrold has said that the show was originally supposed to be about "Kirk and X", where character "X" would alternate every week, but Spock was repeatedly placed in that position, and it stuck. This trend was amplified in the movies, and especially in the reboot. (In fact, in the reboot, Spock can be said to be the deuteragonist and the tritagonist). McCoy, on the other hand, despite being the third member of the Power Trio, is defined largely by his interactions with Kirk and Spock.
  • The Suite Life of Zack & Cody has the title characters as the protagonists, with London and Maddie as the deuteragonists, and Carey and Mr. Moseby as the tritagonists.
  • Supernatural:
    • Dean Winchester is the deuteragonist to Sam, who's the focal character and the protagonist, especially from seasons one to six.
    • John (Sam and Dean's father) was seen as the tritagonist in seasons one to two;
    • Bobby was the tritagonist in the later seasons (seasons five to seven);
    • Castiel becomes the tetragonist in season five, and later the tritagonist in the seasons after Bobby's death (seasons seven to nine);
    • Beginning in season 8, Crowley becomes the tetragonist of the series.
  • Teen Wolf: Allison Argent is the main female character and serves as the love interest of the hero and protagonist of the series, Scott. Stiles is the tritagonist.
  • Three's Company: Janet Wood is the deuteragonist to Jack Tripper's protagonist. Chrissy Snow was originally the tritagonist, but that role was later given to her cousin Cindy Snow, then to Terri Alden. Landlords Stanley and Helen Roper were originally the tetragonists, but that spot was later given to their replacement, Ralph Furley. Jack's neighbor and best friend Larry Dallas is the pentagonist.
  • The Thundermans: Max, despite being a Token Evil Teammate, is the deuteragonist to Phoebe's protagonist.
  • Torchwood: Gwen Cooper.
  • True Blood: Sam. In the third, fourth, and half of the fifth season, his storylines didn't intersect with Sookie's at all.
  • Twin Peaks: The local sheriff serving the small, fictional town of Twin Peaks, Harry S. Truman, assumes this role next to his protagonist counterpart, FBI Agent Dale Cooper.
  • Ultra Series: It has examples of this before even Kamen Rider.
  • The Vampire Diaries: Stefan Salvatore is more of a deuteragonist to Elena, who is the protagonist of the series. Damon can be seen as the tritagonist (as well as the anti-hero) of the show. After Elena is put into a mystically induced coma by Kai Parker at the end of Season 6 Damon and Stefen take over as the protagonist and deuteragonist of the last two seasons.
  • The Walking Dead: For the first two seasons Shane is the Deuteragonist. After he becomes the antagonist Andrea is the deuteragonist until Season 3. Carl becomes it in Season 4. When Carl is [[Out Of Focus]] during Season 5, Daryl becomes deuteragonist and never leaves the role.
  • The White Queen: As confirmed in this featurette, Margaret Beaufort is the Deuteragonist because she serves as The Antagonist to Elizabeth Woodville's The Protagonist, whereas Anne Neville is the Tritagonist.
  • The X-Files:
    • Depending on who you ask, for the first 7 seasons either Mulder was this to Scully or the other way around with Skinner eventually developing into a tritagonist.
    • In season 8, Scully is the protagonist with John Doggett as a deuteragonist with Mulder sharing or plain overtaking that slot on occasion with Skinner still as a tritagonist.
    • Season 9 is hard to classify because it was a weird transitional period where they were minimizing Scully and giving Doggett a new partner but before anybody could settle into their new roles, they found out the show was cancelled and all that had to be thrown out the window for the Grand Finale which more or less reverted back to the structure of seasons 1-7.
  • Zeke and Luther: The title characters are, respectively, the protagonist and deuteragonist of their show.

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