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    Examples A to F 
  • Two Hands: Supporting characters Deirdre (whose performer
won an Australian Film Institute award for best supporting actress), Wooza, and Craig are among the best-liked parts of the movie for their roles in the iconic scenes setting up and carrying out the Bank Robbery.
  • 2-Headed Shark Attack: Kirsten, Ethan, Liza, and Kristen are all at least six places from the top of the closing credits but get almost as much love as Final Girl Kate from some fans due to Kirsten being a Brainy Brunette and The Reliable One when it comes to thinking about how to survive the shark, Ethan having a good Hold the Line moment, Liza having some good Deadpan Snarker moments, and Kristen showing some Ambiguously Gay protectiveness of her friend Dana. All four of them being among the more photogenic cast members also helps.
  • The Three Musketeers (2011): King Louis and Queen Anne are probably the most consistently praised supporting characters in the movie. Louis has some hilarious moments but good Hidden Depths while Juno Temple does a convincing job of making her character a bold and witty embodiment of Good Is Not Dumb.
  • 49th Parallel:
  • A Wedding (1978)
    • Reedley is well-liked for being a sensible Manly Gay character.
    • Dino's ex-girlfriend Tracy only shows up about halfway through the movie, but is quite enjoyable in her role as a bitter ex-girlfriend and Upper-Class Equestrian played by future sitcom star Pam Dawber.
    • Muffin's brother Hughie, due to his close relationship with his family members and his actor's later appearance in Breaking Away with one of his co-stars from this film.
    • Jim the gardener and Muffin's Aunt Marge's budding romance isn't necessary for the plot, but several reviewers still find it interesting and endearing.
    • The four security guards (particularly their leader), due to their overzealous efforts to guard the wedding gifts.
  • Johnny from Airplane! and its sequel.
    Well, first the Earth cooled, and then the dinosaurs came, but they got too big and fat, and died and turned into oil, and then the Arabs came, and they all bought Mercedes Benzes, and then Prince Charles started wearing all of Lady Di's clothes. I couldn't believe it...
  • Vasquez, and Hudson or maybe the colonial marines in general from Aliens.
    • The original film has Jonesy the cat — partially because of Jonesy's Cute Kitten status, and partially because one of Ripley's main motivations is to save the station's cat. This got to the point where, when Ripley finally got her own action figure in 2015, it was even bigger news (to some) that she came with a Jonesy accessory.
  • American Graffiti: Ask any fan who their favorite characters besides the four heroes (and maybe the blonde in the T-bird) are, and they will likely answer Give Geeks a Chance Debbie (who got the film’s only acting Oscar nomination), John’s rival drag racer Bob Falfa (a young Harrison Ford), helpful DJ Wolfman Jack, Affably Evil Greaser Delinquents leader Joe, and Tag Along Kid Carol (all of whom, with the exception of Jack, were brought back for the sequel).
  • Jennifer Coolidge in American Pie became an instant pop-culture icon — to the point where the word "MILF" is now in the Oxford English Dictionary — despite having less than five minutes of screen time!
  • It seems the only character everyone likes in Annie (2014) is Grace Farrell. The fact that she's played by Rose Byrne has something to do with it.
  • Animal Factory:
    • Jan only appears in the first half of the film, but she's almost universally cited as a highlight both due to being a sympathetic and nuanced portrayal of a transgender woman and Mickey Rourke's excellent performance.
    • Buck, thanks to Tom Arnold's chilling and utterly against type performance.
  • "Bob the Goon" from Tim Burton's Batman (1989), aided in no small part by his hilarious death scene. Toy Biz may have predicted this with the toyline: the only characters to get figures were Batman, The Joker and Bob.
  • Beetlejuice: The Deetzes' dinner guests Grace and Beryl only appear during the possession scene but are decently popular for their yuppie outfits, Agent Mulder reactions to the ghosts, and having some character depth (Beryl seems to be suffering from depression and Grace is amused by how the Maitlands made her dance around while possessing her).
  • Jesus "The Jesus" Quintana from The Big Lebowski. Despite the fact that he's only in the movie for about five minutes, he's nearly as popular as the main characters themselves. "Nobody fucks with The Jesus!"
  • In The Book of Masters, Yangul only has about a dozen lines and ten minutes of screentime in a hundred-minute movie. He is the character everyone remembers. The fans adore his tentative attempts to express his love for Katya (as a Living Statue, he isn't used to having feelings) and his character development for her sake, going from "You will be mine" to I Want My Beloved to Be Happy. Many have stated Katya has better chemistry with him than with her official Love Interest.
  • Megan in Bridesmaids. Depicted in the trailers as being just The Lad-ette, she ends up being the most well-developed character in the film and her actress, Melissa McCarthy would get an Oscar nomination for the role.
  • Missy Pantone from the original Bring It On, thanks to her memorable audition scene and for acting as the film's Audience Surrogate to the world of cheerleading. Being played by Eliza Dushku also helps.
  • Bullet Train:
    • The conductor and the concession girl don't have much screentime, but they're well-liked for being two ordinary civilians who are unknowingly surrounded by killers. The concession girl in particular is very popular for being a sweet and bubbly Nice Girl who's played by Karen Fukuhara.
    • The Fiji water bottle, of all things, is popular for its repeated appearances, surprise importance to the plot, and for being a memorable Chekhov's Gun in a movie full of them, with several fans jokingly counting it as one of the many characters that make up the Ensemble Cast and declaring it to be their favorite character.
  • Can't Hardly Wait:
    • The yearbook girl played by Melissa Joan Hart isn't even in the credits, but is a well-remembered supporting character.
    • The Girl Posse trio are better-liked than several of the characters ahead of them in the credits. This is due to a mixture of humorous scenes, Fanservicey moments, and how they side with Amanda over her Big Jerk on Campus ex-boyfriend despite their general shallowness. One of them even smacks her boyfriend for laughing when Mike insults Amanda.
    • The good-natured drummer played by Donald Faison helps make his subplot quite fun.
  • Carry On Loving: Mr. Snooper's housekeeper with a crush, Miss Dempsey, is much loved by fans of the film as despite having little screentime, Patsy Rowlands' performance is considered one of the funniest parts of the film.
  • Yvette, the French girl who cries during the singing of "La Marseillaise" in Casablanca.
  • Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers had one of the most Unexpected Characters ever, the "Ugly Sonic" from the first trailer of Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) whose Unintentional Uncanny Valley design led to enough backlash for the studio to replace him pre-release. And Chip 'n Dale makes him a hilarious character heavy on the Self-Deprecation.
  • City Hall: Affably Evil show tunes-loving Corrupt Politician Frank Anselmo and the Mayor’s Good Is Not Dumb Chief of Staff Abe Goodman tend to be at least as well-remembered as the lead players.
  • The Djinn from the 2010 Clash of the Titans. They save Perseus & Co. from the giant scorpions, not by defeating them, but by taming them. One of them (credited as "Sheikh Suleiman") joins the quest to slay Medusa. As it turns out, since he is not a being of flesh, he is immune to her stare. Wrapped in her coils, he uses his magic to self-destruct, providing Perseus the opening needed to decapitate her.
  • Jean Reno's Victor 'The Cleaner' managed to become the most memorable character of the French (original) version of Nikita with just a few minutes of screen time. His popularity led Luc Besson to make him the main character of his next movie, Leon (The Professional).
  • Cool World isn't a particularly well-liked movie, but even those that dislike it have dubbed Nails the Spider the best character. Professor Whiskers also has a few fans.
  • The Cotton Club: Frenchy is probably the best-liked supporting character due to his moving and humorous Villainous Friendship with his boss. It helps that Fred Gwynne plays him.
  • Dark City:
  • "CIA" from The Dark Knight Rises, due to the scene he appears in being considerably memetic. Barsad "The Masketta Man"/"The Mosquito Man" and "Brother" (the man who stays behind on the plane when it crashes after Bane tells him to) also have attracted popularity for similar reasons, but none quite as much as CIA.
  • Day of the Dead (1985):
    • Unbalanced and disheveled yet well-spoken and (somewhat) compassionate Mad Scientist Dr. Logan and his domesticated zombie Bub are sixth and seventh in the credits, but pretty much everyone views them as providing the best parts of the movie by far.
    • Private Johnson has little dialogue or prominence but gets some respect for being the least antagonistic of the soldiers besides the far more prominent Miguel.
  • Daylight's End:
  • The Deep (1977): Kevin has little dialogue and only about ten minutes of screen-time, but he's quite popular due to the scene where he fearlessly fights a thug who tries to kill him by using an outboard motor like a chainsaw.
  • LL Cool J's character in Deep Blue Sea spends most of the movie alone, separated from the main cast, who never even seem to remember he's there. This makes one wonder if he was even originally intended to be in the movie, but eventually he turns out to be a lot more intelligent and probably more likable than the other characters. Apparently he was popular enough that the movie was rewritten to have him survive at the end.
  • The Devil Wears Prada: Serena is quite popular in the fandom despite not having much plot relevance beyond being Emily's friend. This is especially true in the shipping community. Where she and Emily make up the second most popular ship after Miranda/Andy.
  • The most popular character in Doomsday is undoubtedly the Dark Action Girl Viper, who has about maybe seven minutes of screentime and just one line. Trailers made it look like this sexy tattooed badass was going to be a major character, causing some disappointment when she's rather casually dispatched early in the film.
  • Downfall:
    • Hermann Fegelein, while he's not really any more personally likeable than his Nazi comrades, consistently shows more situational awareness and is clearly only in it for the sake of his career, rather than fanaticism. This, combined with the scene of Hitler screaming his name out, made him popular among fans, so much so that he's routinely a major character in all the Hitler parodies the film spawned, usually playing the part of The Prankster. It also helps that he's played by Thomas Kretschmann.
    • Felix Steiner never appears in the film, but he's frequently mentioned by Hitler and the bunker staff as the general that will turn the tide of the war with a counterattack that will save Berlin from the Red Army. This delusional Hope Spot leads to Hitler's iconic Villainous Breakdown scene when he's informed that Steiner did not attack due to a shortage of troops. Because Steiner is frequently mentioned in many scenes parodied by Hitler Rants videos, he is designated in the videos as Hitler's errand boy constantly failing his tasks, leading to Hitler ranting mad. The parodies, along with the original film itself, gave Steiner the ignominious reputation among fans and historian buffs as the man who could have won World War II for Hitler, making him both a Memetic Loser and Memetic Badass depending on who you ask.
  • The Elder Vampire has quite the fan following despite only appearing in a few scenes in Dracula Untold, courtesy of Charles Dance's charismatic performance.
  • El Gringo: Among the secondary cast, shifty but impressively canny Scarily Competent Tracker Lieutenant West (played by Christian Slater), the dog that keeps watching fights rather than helping its new friend, and Flaca (for her Running Gag theft attempts and a few Even Evil Has Standards and Ms. Fanservice moments) all have decent fanbases.
  • Spider from Elysium, whose fast talking antics and his determination as a badass make him very charismatic.
  • Emperor (2020):
    • The mute, resourceful slave in the swamp who gives Shields information on the Underground Railroad is a fan favorite despite only being in one scene.
    • Rufus, the Young Gun Lovable Rogue bank robber who forms an Enemy Mine situation with Shields and is the only non-abolitionist white character in the movie to treat him like an equal is extremely well-liked, and some fans mourn how he only has about ten minutes of screen-time.
  • Kit in Failure to Launch. She's the roommate of one of the leads, but is often considered the funniest and most likable character in the film. Being played by Zooey Deschanel certainly doesn't hurt any.
  • Han of the The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, who proved to be such a popular character they basically rearranged the entire timeline of the franchise so he could appear in three more movies afterward.
  • The Fastest Gun Alive: Swope, the villain's menacing yet pragmatic sidekick, is a highlight of the film. The scene where he and his boss have a brief Mexican Standoff over a bag of money when Swope decides, Screw This, I'm Outta Here, is one of the film's most popular scenes.
  • Fear Street:
    • Across the trilogy, Kate is beloved for Julia Rehwald's fun snarky performance, her budding relationship with Deena's little brother Josh, and proving herself to be a Badass Normal when she fights the Shadyside killers. Her memorable death scene, in which her head gets put through a bread slicer, cemented her popularity.
    • Alice from 1978 is introduced as seemingly a generic mean stoner, widely expected to be killed off quickly. Then her Hidden Depths are revealed as she's trapped underground with Cindy, she provides vital plot information and lasts way longer than expected. The Les Yay between her and Cindy makes them a popular target for shipping.
    • Among the Shadyside killers, Ruby Lane is extremely popular for her Enthralling Siren persona and the tragic backstory surrounding how she became a killer.
    • Another Shadyside killer, Billy Barker, who only has cameos in 1978 and 1666 and doesn't even get a backstory, is quite popular for fan interpretation - given that he was a child who became a serial killer for unknown reasons. Fans have clamoured to know more about his history.
  • Flashdance: Alex's coworker Tina. She only has two or three notable scenes in the movie, but her dancing scene at the club is considered one of the best, if not the best, in the film. The Running Gag of her waiting for her boyfriend to call and her performer (future Dirty Dancing star Cynthia Rhodes) add to her popularity.
  • The documentary Fyre has Andy King, the PR guy who earnestly believed in the festival and is willing to go above and beyond the call of duty. He's been memed and will get his own reality show.
  • Full Metal Jacket.

    Examples G to J 
  • Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai:
    • Secondary characters Louise (for being a polite but enigmatic and troubled Mafia Princess who gets some Smarter Than They Look and Beware the Quiet Ones hints) and Raymond (for being the biggest Nice Guy in the movie and having some funny moments due to the Language Barrier between him and his friend Ghost Dog) are two of the most popular characters for most fans.
    • The man building an ark on his rooftop, the kung fu expert, and the camouflage-wearing man who is implied to be another hitman/modern samurai all only appear for a few seconds but are widely praised for adding a lot of color to the film.
  • Just as in the comics, Snake-Eyes was the Ensemble Dark Horse for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. During test screenings, audiences were given cards to fill out, answering various questions about the film, including their favorite character. Despite the fact that he wasn't even listed as a choice (because he didn't have a speaking role), Snake consistently won as a write-in. All of the film's ads even featured him over the film's actual stars. G.I. Joe: Retaliation keeps Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and Zartan, but also adds Firefly as well.
  • Gleahan and the Knaves of Industry: Invoked. Slim was deliberately written so audiences would glom onto him and make their own fan theories.
  • Graveyard Shift has Tucker Cleveland, an Eccentric Exterminator and Vietnam veteran played to Hammy perfection by Brad Dourif.
  • Both Sinestro and Tomar-Re from Green Lantern (2011) are considered to be this by a good deal of people. It doesn't hurt that Sinestro already has an established fanbase carrying over from the comics, though Tomar-Re has developed a small following in other places.
  • Gus: Bumbling Henchman Duo Spinner and Crankcase take a while to show up, but are two of the best liked characters for having some hilarious Butt-Monkey moments while also managing the occasional crafty Not-So-Harmless Villain trick.
  • Given that the series is often referred to as the "Hannibal Lecter series" and the latter two books are named after him, it's easy to forget that Lecter was a supporting character in Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs. Anthony Hopkins' 16 minutes of screen time in The Film of the Book for Silence is the least of any Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar winner.
  • The Wizard in the Leaky Cauldron from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban only has roughly ten seconds of screen time. During those ten seconds, he's seen reading Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" (which covers things like the beginning of the universe, black holes, and thermodynamics) while stirring his tea with wandless magic. So not only is he a complete genius, he'd have to be one of the most skilled magic users in the world.
  • Ryan Evans of the High School Musical series. In the first film, he seems to just be Sharpay's dumber, less bitchy, and Ambiguously Gay twin. In the second film, however, he steps out of Sharpay's shadow, gets some much-needed Character Development, and is revealed to have mad baseball skillz in a hoyay-tastic duet with the lead's best friend. By the third film, he's the Wildcats' mascot and well-liked by everyone. When he's charged with the choreography of the "Senior Year" musical, he turns out to be so good at it that the scouts sent from Julliard offer him a scholarship on opening night. Please ignore how unlikely this would be in real life. Debates rage over among the fans whether Troy and Gabriella's relationship is genuinely sweet or sickening, whether Kelsi is adorable or annoying, whether Sharpay is grating or utterly fabulous — but no-one disagrees that Ryan is awesome.
  • Hook: Rufio, leader of the Lost Boys. Ru-fi-OOOO!!!
  • Hostage, from the book of the same name, has Marshall "Mars" Krupcheck.
  • The Hunger Games:
  • Most of the The Hunter follows Martin, alone on the hunt, but a couple of the characters he spends time with between hunts are particularly popular.
    • While some fans consider Martin's interactions with the Armstrong family to be clichéd Padding, there's rarely a bad word to be said about Wise Beyond Their Years Sass (whose performer got an AACTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress despite her youth) and her Cute Mute brother Bike.
    • Jack Mindy, due to the way that he's generally friendly but not entirely trustworthy, and how he's played by Sam Neill.
  • Inglourious Basterds
    • Sgt. Werner Rachtman has only one scene, in which his brains get bashed out with a baseball bat by Sgt. Donny Donowitz. Despite being a Nazi German soldier, his refusal to sell out his countrymen, even to save his own life, definitely made him a One-Scene Wonder. This is probably because he falls into My Country, Right or Wrong.
    • Donowitz himself, even though he doesn't survive to the end of the movie. Aside from his superb nickname ("The Bear Jew") and his muscles on top of muscles, Donny is just darkly comic enough to make the film bizarrely whimsical when it could have been an outright horror show. His in-universe performance as "Antonio Margheritti" also helps.
    • Though he has a larger role, Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz falls into this trope as well. He does little in the film's actual present timeframe, but he won people over by murdering thirteen Nazis officers in a flashback.
  • Iron Eagle:
    • The five Russians from the second movie (especially Yuri) are better liked than most of their American counterparts for being more professional and dignified while still having their own Not So Above It All Ragtag Bunch of Misfits traits.
    • Stockman from the third movie never gets any action scenes but is still a pretty popular supporting character for being a Benevolent Boss and Cool Old Guy whose actor plays his role convincingly.
  • The Italian Job (1969):
    • Arthur, the demolitions expert, barely has any focus outside of the scene where he uses too much dynamite during a practice robbery, but the Memetic Mutation status of that scene makes him quite popular.
    • The Upper-Class Twit Badadass Driver trio are also fan favorites, despite not being terribly fleshed out.
    • Altabani may be the Big Bad, but his menacing demeanor, his wary respect of the crew, and some hinted Even Evil Has Standards aspects to his personality make him more popular than most villains with as little screen time as him.
  • James Bond:
    • Desmond Llewelyn's Q in From Russia with Love. It's as if Bond producers knew very early on that the character was very popular and thus with Goldfinger they moved the gadget presentation scenes to his lab and increased his screentime. He's not only popular because he provides the cool gadgets that save Bond's life and save the day, but also because he became a Cool Old Guy with funny grumpiness towards 007 (who sends barbs back at him). His final scene in The World Is Not Enough thus is really moving knowing that you will never see him again (not played by this actor, anyway).
      "I've always tried to teach you two things. One, never let them see you bleed; second, always have an escape plan."
    • Ben Whishaw's Q is also very popular for being an Adorkable snarky genius who can still hold his own in a verbal sparring session with Bond. It helps that his version reimagines the character in a manner more suited to the Daniel Craig era's modern setting rather than being a Suspiciously Similar Substitute to Llewelyn's Q who would inevitably fail to live up to his iconic portrayal.
    • Although Bernard Lee was already an icon in the role of M, Judi Dench's performance in Goldeneye as an Iron Lady who can command Bond's respect turned her into a Breakout Character with a steadily increasing role in subsequent films. She even became the only actor to be kept on after the full Continuity Reboot in Casino Royale (2006).
    • Miss Moneypenny rarely appears for more than a few minutes in each film, but is beloved for her snark-tinged flirtatious banter with Bond, with Lois Maxwell being the most popular actress to have played the part.
    • Several henchmen have proven to be as or more popular than their respective film's Big Bad:
      • Red Grant, a terrifyingly capable and sadistic Evil Counterpart to Bond. Their brutal fight on the train is considered one of the most memorable fight scenes in the entire franchise.
      • Oddjob, a unstoppable silent powerhouse who No-Sells all of Bond's attacks and whose hat is one of the series' most iconic weapons.
      • Jaws, who was so popular that cinema audiences cheered when he kills the shark and ultimately survives the film. He even returns and makes a Heel–Face Turn in Moonraker.
      • Red Grant proved so popular that a number of other blonde henchmen were inspired by him, the most popular of which is Necros, a hulking KGB assassin who proves to be frighteningly competent. He launches a one-man commando raid on an MI6 safehouse at the start of the film, has a brutal fight with an MI6 Elite Mook called "Green Four," pulls off several successful assassinations, and eventually has a spectacular final fight against Bond while the two of them are hanging out the back of a plane.
      • "Green Four" himself eventually became an Ensemble Dark Horse. He's a skinny, unimposing, middle-aged agent who battles Necros nearly to a standstill. On top of that, Necros winds up knocking him out with a frying pan, meaning that "Green Four" is a rare Bond ally who actually survived.
    • CIA agent Paloma (Ana de Armas) in No Time to Die. Not only is she a Ms. Fanservice Nice Girl who spends her entire scene in a Sexy Backless Outfit, but she's also an Action Girl capable of Kicking Ass in All Her Finery as she easily mops the floor with Spectre agents, with great chemistry with Bond. Most people agree she was one of the best parts of the movie despite her limited screen time. Many are hoping she gets her own spinoff series, like was previously planned for Wai Lin and Jinx (though that's unlikely considering Barbara Broccoli's statement about doing only Bond movies and nothing else outside).
  • John Wick:
    • John Wick:
      • Winston and Charon are fairly secondary to the plot, but their impeccably polite yet enigmatic personalities made them fan favorites. Unsurprisingly, they appropriately became Breakout Characters and were given much larger roles in the sequels, with the latter in particular Taking a Level in Badass as he helps John defend the Confidential in Chapter 3.
      • Officer Jimmy. Onscreen for barely half a minute and saying less than twenty words, he nonetheless gets one of the funniest scenes in the movie. Unlike many of the other characters, he immediately knows to leave John alone, with many fans labelling him a standout Only Sane Man or the smartest person in the movie.
      • Addy, the genuinely Nice Girl bartender at the Continental who's practically bubbling with joy when she sees John again. Being played by Bridget Regan helps.
    • John Wick: Chapter 2:
      • The Bowery King, played by Laurence Fishburne. Despite his limited screen time, he's a pretty memorable character thanks to his hamminess and being one of the few people to not be intimidated by John, particularly since he's apparently homeless. Like Winston and Charon above, he was given a much larger role in the sequels.
      • The Sommelier played by Peter Serafinowicz, who is noticeably prim, posh, and proud of his job, which is to sell implements of murder. The amount of class and sophistication he oozes while recommending weaponry to John with all the detail and care of the finest of wines instantly made him a fan-favorite.
      • Gianna is almost literally a One-Scene Wonder, but she nonetheless makes a big impression on audiences; her character is a ruthless criminal mastermind but also sympathetic, charismatic, and with a nigh-unshakeable composure.
      • The random collection of assassins that go after John when he's trying to flee. Some of them are just mooks that John kills in passing and don't serve much of a narrative purpose unlike Cassian and Ares, but there's also the memorable ones, such as the unbelievably tough sumo assassin, the Dark Action Girl violinist, and the pair in the bar that serve to demonstrate John's writing skills.
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
      • Sofia's two pet Belgian Malinois. They're adorable, loyal, great fighters and the concept of armored dogs taking down dangerous gunmen just works so well in the John Wick universe.
      • The two Shinobi who are Zero's apprentices. Their actors are The Raid alumni, and their fight with John is considered among the best in this film, which already had a high bar.
    • John Wick: Chapter 4:
      • Killa is the most minor of the film's antagonists, but he's well-liked amongst the fanbase for being a hilariously over-the-top Large Ham and putting up a surprisingly good fight against John in spite of being overweight and asthmatic. Being played by action movie favorite Scott Adkins also helps.
      • Akira Shimazu, portrayed by the popular Rina Sawayama in her debut film, is also extremely popular for being a badass Action Girl who's able to keep up with John Wick and make a stunning first impression despite the fact that she's only in the movie's first act and in The Stinger. Many fans have expressed hope to see a spin-off work featuring her in the future.
  • In Jumper, most audiences believe that Griffin played by Jamie Bell was the true hero of the film and should have been the protagonist, wanting wangsty David to quietly teleport out of his own movie.
    • Due to his popularity even the author of the original novel ended up writing a spin-off based around him. This troper wouldn't say 'due to his popularity', given that said spin-off novel was written and published almost six months before the film came out! So, unless someone has a time machine... (The real story is that the film company wanted a new book for a tie-in for the movie, but the author didn't want to write one featuring David, since the film made major changes from the original book. Thus, he decided to pick the secondary teleporter from the film, since that would center the tie-in book around a character who didn't exist in the previous Jumper books, making it clear to fans of the books that this was set in the 'movie universe' rather than that of the books.)
  • Jupiter Ascending:
    • The two bounty hunters who go after Jupiter; there were probably many watching who wished the film could have been about them instead.
    • Kalique has proven to be quite the darling on Tumblr, having gained a small but vocal fanbase.
    • Diomika Tsing, the no-nonsense Ageis ship captain who is also a reasonable authority figure.
    • Jupiter's mother Aleksa, particularly for fans of Maria Doyle Kennedy. Bonus points that she's the most tolerable of Jupiter's family and actually has a backstory.
  • Jurassic Park
    • Robert Muldoon and Roland Tembo are usually quite popular among the JP fandom. Justified, as both are the Only Sane Man and Great White Hunter in their respective novel/movie. Not to mention that both are the ones in charge of the security of a lot of people.
    • Before the first movie, practically no one who wasn't a palaeontologist knew what a Velociraptor was. After the film, however, they became THE go-to dinosaur, rivaling Tyrannosaurus rex in popularity.
    • Dilophosaurus, too. It only fully appears on-screen in the first movie and the original novel ( unless you count a hologram from Jurassic World), but you'd never know that looking at the larger franchise: it's in every toyline and almost every video game. Being able to spit poison and having that freaky-cool frill certainly helps cement it's reputation as one of the most unique dinosaurs in the franchise. This is almost certainly why they finally got a proper reappearance in Jurassic World Dominion.
    • Jurassic World gives us a load of examples, mainly dinosaur ones. To no one's surprise, audiences fell in love with Owen's raptor pack, but the standout is the Mosasaurus — it's speculated that this film will do what the original 1993 movie did for the Velociraptor and really put the species firmly in the public interest. On the human side, Zara, played by the beautiful Katie McGrath, has garnered a surprising amount of viewer love and sympathy for being the film's Butt-Monkey and for her truly horrific death at the hands of the Pteranadon. Also of note is the so-called "Margarita Man◊", an unnamed park visitor who is seen briefly running for cover during the flying dinosaur rampage with a margarita cocktail in each hand. To top it off, he's played by Jimmy Buffett.
  • ''Just Before Dawn:
    • Megan may be one of the less prominent campers, but she has a lot more fans than the average obligatory Slasher Fanservice provider for her Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak characterization and platonic relationship with her boyfriend's brother.
    • Roy is absent for much of the action but is constantly praised for his high level of competence and compelling sense of loneliness.
  • Just One of the Guys:

    Examples K to R 
  • Knightriders
    • Lipstick Lesbian Action Girl Dame Rocky and Bunny-Ears Lawyer camp doctor Merlin may not have their own subplots, but are two of the film's best-liked characters.
    • The mysterious Native American challenger turned troupe member takes a while to show up and has no name or dialogue, but is still a very popular character.
    • Bagman The Stoner may mostly get overshadowed by other members of the troupe for much of the film, but when he does get a couple of powerful Rousing Speeches, they make him stand a lot higher in the eyes of the fans.
    • Friar Tuck may not be much more than the Plucky Comic Relief, but few people have anything bad to say about how well he handles that role.
  • M. Night Shyamalan put a film critic in Lady in the Water mainly so he could bash film critics for not liking The Village (2004). A great many viewers felt this critic was the only likeable character in the film.
  • Land of the Lost: Grumpy the t-rex and Big Alice the allosaurus are two of the most praised things about the movie, due to being more faithful recreations of characters from the show than any of the human characters, but with CGI that makes them look realistic and frightening. Grumpy's It Can Think grudge against Rick is highly praised and fans mourn how Big Alice dies in her first scene.
  • Late Phases:
    • The gunsmith Ambrose hires to make his silver bullets and the mail carrier whom Ambrose enlists to help follow the blood trail after the first werewolf attack are both only on screen for a minute or two but make strong impressions with their helpfulness and the nuances they give their characters.
    • Father Roger is a secondary character but feels like he could have carried the movie himself whenever he has a touching conversation with Ambrose that also teases him as a werewolf suspect.
    • Clarissa isn't the most prominent of the three Mauve Shirt welcoming committee ladies but is easily the most popular of them due to getting some nuanced, compassionate moments and being played by Tina Louise of Gilligan's Island.
    • Heroic Dog Shadow doesn't survive the first act, but effortlessly melts fans' hearts.
  • Jet Li in Lethal Weapon 4 was just so cool that he stole the movie. It ended up becoming his breakout role to American audiences.
    "He took your gun apart with just ONE DEFT MOVEMENT... how did he DO THAT?"
  • Lincoln is about Daniel Day-Lewis as the titular Lincoln, and Lewis turns in an Academy Award-winning performance. This does not stop Tommy Lee Jones from absolutely stealing the show as Thaddeus Stevens.
  • Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
    • Big Chris is more of a secondary character, but his popularity made the character a Star-Making Role for Vinnie Jones. Put it down to being a tough Anti-Villain with some humorous Not in Front of the Kid moments.
    • Winston, the leader of the weed growers, only has about half-a-dozen scenes but is decently well-liked for his beleaguered nature and spirited defense of the weed stash despite how outgunned he and his gang are.
  • Red from The Lone Ranger, mainly for her ivory leg with a gun in it.
  • Bret Mackenzie's character from The Lord of the Rings gained a very, very devoted following of fans. He first appeared as a silent background extra in The Fellowship of the Ring at the Council of Elrond scene, where fans noted his expression and named him Figwit, which stands for "Frodo is great... who is that?" Peter Jackson himself became aware of the "Figwit" phenomena, so he asked McKenzie back for The Return of the King, where he got a little more prominent scene, with two lines and even a close-up. He even got some official merchandise as "Figwit" at that point. Then, when filming The Hobbit ten years later, they asked him to come back again, and even gave his character an on-screen name by retconning him as Lindir, a minor Elf in the Book of The Fellowship of the Ring. This time around, he appeared in four different scenes, had several lines and plenty of screentime.
    • Arwen — the film slightly expands on her role, combining it with the most badass elements of Glorfindel, and bringing in most elements of the love story which Tolkien left to the appendices.
  • In The Hobbit Trilogy...
    • Radagast the Brown, mostly thanks to his Crazy Is Cool badassery, dealing with the giant spiders, the Nazgûl and the orcs with ease. (And among older fans, for being the Seventh Doctor in addition to the above.)
    • Within the group of Dwarves, there is Bofur, in part because of his greater character development, and his Heartwarming Moment with Bilbo. It may also have something to do with him being played by the always charming James Nesbitt. He also has some of the best facial hair in the film, which is saying something in a film full of bearded men.
    • Kíli and Fíli as well, enjoying a case of Adaptational Attractiveness and a lot of screentime.
    • Ori, for those that don't despise him. He's just adorable.
    • Bifur, despite having a smaller role than any of the above characters, is quite popular on Tumblr (mainly because of his head injury).
    • Thranduil. Good grief, Thranduil. He even has a Fan Nickname: "Dwarf Racist Party Dad".
      • The moose Thranduil rides unexpectedly became popular with the Russian fandom straight away... despite about 6 seconds of screen time in the first movie. They gave him an affectionate nickname, too.
    • Bard's children are generally well-liked as well for being adorable, helping expand Bard's character and mostly because they surprisingly avert being The Load.
    • From The Battle of the Five Armies comes Dáin Ironfoot, for being Crazy Is Cool and the way he devours the scenery. Not to mention riding a huge boar to battle, headbutting everyone to death, and his magnificent Screw You, Elves! speech. Oh, and he's played by Billy Connolly.
  • Mad Max: Fury Road
    • Nux. Mostly for Nicholas Hoult giving us a funny and hamtastic — "OH WHAT A DAY! WHAT A LOVELY DAY!" — performance, his driving skills, his lack of a shirt and his Heel–Face Turn and Heroic Sacrifice.
    • The Coma Doof Warrior. Battle rages around him, cars blow sky high, adrenaline-pumped warriors fight to the death on his stage, and what does he do? He keeps on a-shreddin' his kick-ass flamethrower-guitar, that's what he does!
    • That one polecat assassin known only as "Black Mask". He is totally silent, wears a creepy baby doll head on the back of his mask, and shows unusual toughness and deadliness for a mook. He manages to shoot Max with an arrow which only fails to pierce his skull due to a lucky hallucination that made him raise his hand; when Furiosa stabs him and he gets thrown off the rig by the Vuvalini, he clings to the vehicle, climbs back and near fatally stabs Furiosa with the blade she drove into his shoulder.
  • In Maleficent there was this one guy who was captain of the watch (or the soldiers). He tries to talk some sense into the crazy king, who then yells at him. The favourable contrast to the crazy king earned him some fans, who ship him with Diaval.
  • Mean Girls had a couple:
    • Karen Smith, the Dumb Blonde of the Plastics. She doesn't have much to offer for the movie besides being there for comic relief. However, she is greatly well-liked by a lot of fans because of her delivery of humor, and for surprisingly being the kindest of the aforementioned Plastics, as her acts for the group weren't done out of her own malicious intention, but rather her own naivety.
    • Damien Leigh, Janis and Cady's best friend. He's mostly there in the movie being with Janis, and like Karen, provide some comic relief. Nonetheless, he has a huge following among fans for being charming, and for delivering some of the most memorable quotes from the movie itself, such as the heavily quotable "You go, Glen Coco!" line.
    • Speaking of Glen Coco, that guy is BARELY in the movie. However, thanks to Damien's mention of him, he surprisingly became a fan favorite.
  • Miracle at Midnight:
    • Brave young student resistance fighter and Sacrificial Lion Jorgen is a big favorite despite his secondary role.
    • Georg Duckwitz, The Mole undermining the plans to deport the Jews, may not appear too often, but provides some of the most powerful scenes in the movie.
  • The Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of the most memorable characters in the entire movie, despite being a One-Scene Wonder. Ditto for the Knights Who Say Ni and the French Taunter.
  • The Mummy Trilogy:
    • Beni Gabor, despite his Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, still has many of the first film's best lines.
    • Oded Fehr, as Ardeth Bay, steals every single scene he's in. According to many fangirls/guys, this is no small part due to his stunning looks.
  • While showing movies that would have faded into obscurity on their own, the hosts of Mystery Science Theater 3000 will sometimes find a favorite character in a generally-subpar film. Often, the fans agree.
  • The Naked Gun: The unflappable driving instructor, played by John Houseman in his last film role.
  • Despite Neighbors (2014) being pitched as Rogen vs. Efron, most critical reviews — even the negative ones — heaped the most praise on Rose Byrne's Kelly, who doesn't get stuck with a Women Are Wiser role and gets a lot of laughs going from button-downed house-wife to scheming partner-in-crime with Mac. Plus, she does a hilarious Keet impression of Anne Hathaway.
  • * The Nice Guys: Amelia only gets four or five scenes with dialogue and is never the smartest or most likable person in the room. Nonetheless, she is considered a compelling and integral part of the movie for her status as a mysterious Action Survivor who wears a striking yellow dress and ultimately turns out to be hilariously kooky and self-righteous (albeit still making valid points).
  • The Night Of The Demons 2: Crazy Is Cool Mama Bear Sister Gloria and Terri (a Beta Bitch who is played by Christine Taylor and has some good Plucky Comic Relief and Everyone Has Standards moments) are both quite popular despite their arguably secondary roles.
  • The Night of the Grizzly:
  • October Sky: Ike Bykovsky, the machine shop worker who is the first person to help the Rocket Boys, and Valentine, the Nice Girl with a crush on Homer. Between them, they probably have less than twenty minutes of screentime, but they got the top two spots on a Ranker poll at one point.
  • Pacific Rim:
    • Cherno Alpha, the Russian Jaeger, despite it and its pilots not getting a lot of focus in the film and getting killed off, has become a fan favorite across the fandom. Could be its unique head and that it apparently has Tesla-infused fists. Or because the Russian-designed Jaegers operate under the simple rule that either the Kaiju goes down or they do, preferably whilst taking the Kaiju down with them. As such, they don't come equipped with escape hatches. Cherno's pilots Aleksis and Sasha Kaidanovsky have been the subject of much fanart. And it seems like del Toro himself agrees with the Cherno love.
    • Among the human characters is Tendo Choi, the Adorkable Mission Control engineer behind the Shatterdome operation who looks like the secret love child of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Buckaroo Banzai and The Eleventh Doctor. Oldschool mecha anime fans like Tendo because he looks like a Go Nagai character.
    • And of course there's Hannibal Chau...
    • In Archive of Our Own, the most-featured character in the fandom is not The Protagonist Raleigh Becket, nor The Deuteragonist Mako Mori, or even The Rival Chuck Hansen. No, the top spot is held by the K-Science duo, Newton Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb.
  • Pain & Gain:
    • Ed DuBois, the only heroic character in the movie and is much more likable in the movie than Lugo himself.
    • Paul Doyle, for being a tragic Anti-Villain that didn't want any part and gets redeemed by the end after all his troubles. Dwayne Johnson portrays that quite well in the movie.
  • Phantasm: Tim and Rocky from Phantasm III are well liked amongst Phantasm fans despite only appearing in one movie. It helps in that Rocky is a badass Action Girl who successfully rejects Reggie’s advances towards her and for being the only female character in the whole series that doesn’t die at the hands of the Tall Man and reappear during the post credit sequence in Ravager, and Tim is often liked for being an aversion of the standard kids in horror films cliché in that he’s resourceful and helpful in the situations he’s in.
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: Everyone. No really. Almost every character from the first movie was brought back in the sequels with expanded roles. Marty, Cotton, Anamaria, Pintel and Ragetti and their good counterparts Murtogg and Mullroy, Gillette, Groves, even the two women who slap Jack became surprisingly popular that they were brought back for two sequels.
  • Mac from Predator is arguably the third most memorable character in the movie after Ahnold and the Predator himself.
    • Blaine makes a fair case for himself as well. That portable minigun certainly helps.
  • Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride. This statement says it all:
    —Hello!, My Name Is Inigo Montoya. You Killed My Father, Prepare to Die.
  • The nameless chubby guy always sipping from a hip flask in Troma's Redneck Zombies is popular with fans of the film, despite never doing anything really relevant or even speaking. Even his actor ("Bill Johnson" according to the DVD commentary) went uncredited. And yet fans love the "Always Drinking Guy."
  • Repo! The Genetic Opera
    • Grave-Robber's actually a fairly minor character, but fans adore him. Him being played by the incredible Terrance Zdunich doesn't exactly hurt matters.
    • Pavi Largo could also be considered an example of this; he should be funny-but-creepy-as-hell, but he's played by Ogre, who makes the whole thing just too cute for words.
  • The Tarman zombie from The Return of the Living Dead seems to be rather popular amongst zombie movie fans. He has had a figurine made and people also like to make Tarman costumes.
  • While Rim of the World is considered a mediocre movie, Gabriel is a character that even detractors tend to like. From his first appearance, he is shown to be a genuine Nice Guy by having Big Brother Instinct towards Alex and repeatedly calls out Dariush for his jerkass behavior, but he became a fan favorite once his status as a The Woobie is revealed due his Dyscalculia and Parental Abandonment. It's also not bad that Gabriel is the only Pretty Boy in the cast, being played by the handsome Italian actor, Alessio Scalzotto.
  • Rio Lobo: Jack Elam doesn't make his first appearance as ornery Plucky Comic Relief Papa Wolf Old Man Phillips until around the movie's halfway point, but his performance is often singled out as a highlight of the movie.
  • The Rocky Horror Picture Show has Columbia, the Big Bad's groupie. Fans usually see her as the most sympathetic character in the film, much moreso than nominal heroes Brad ("ASSHOLE!") and Janet ("SLUT!").
  • The Room (2003)
    • "Doggie" — the pug that is lovingly referred to as such by Johnny at the flower shop.
    • The Football and Chris-R seem to be considered the only good actors in the film, but that is not really saying much. Chris-R is notable mostly for his No Indoor Voice style of acting.
    • Peter, the psychologist, is this in several circles, giving some solid (and sadly ignored) advice partway through the film, and then disappearing during the finale because of his actor leaving the film after the filming of the "football in tuxes" scene. His character's last line? "That's it, I'm done." Some people even make him into a bit of an Audience Surrogate.

    Examples S to Y 
  • Bernard in the first two movies in The Santa Clause trilogy, for being a funny sarcastic elf. His disappearance in the third movie certainly didn't help its reception.
  • The Saw fanbase is very character-focused, and pretty much everyone in it loves Adam; despite only being in two out of nine movies (alive, that is — he's mercy killed by Amanda in his second appearance and then his corpse is in the bathroom at the end of the second and seventh films) and only speaking in one of them, he is a clear fan favorite. One of the fanbase's running jokes/theories is that he's not actually dead, which goes to show just how cherished he is, and the much of the fanfiction includes if not centers around him. Speaking of fanfiction, a lot of it is Fix Fic for him in which he gets out of the bathroom with Lawrence.
  • The School for Good and Evil (2022): Professor Emma Anemone is only in a handful of scenes and doesn't have much plot relevance. However, she has proven to be incredibly popular among fans and even those who didn't care for the film. It helps that she is played by Michelle Yeoh and gets some of the funniest lines in the film.
  • Scream:
    • Scream (1996):
      • Test audiences for the first film liked Dewey so much that Wes Craven put in a scene that had him survive, and he survived for all films until the fifth.
      • Casey Becker (the blond girl murdered by Ghostface in the beginning of the first film) is very popular thanks to Drew Barrymore's acting and because the scene itself is a Signature Scene.
      • Randy Meeks for being a lovable Genre Savvy Meta Guy. In fact, he gained such a following that a sizable portion of the fanbase was furious when he was killed off in Scream 2, so much so that Scream 3 explicitly lampshaded it.
      • Stu is often considered one of the best Ghostfaces, mainly due to Matthew Lillard's Large Ham performance and memorable lines.
      • Tatum Riley from Scream is often ranked as one of the franchise's top characters, and one of the greatest best friend characters in a horror movie, for her sense of style, attractiveness, talented actress, loyalty to Sidney, and the fight she puts up.
    • Scream 2:
      • Cici Cooper for being a Nice Girl who has some fun interactions with Randy and Mickey and an excellent chase/death scene. Being played by the beloved Sarah Michelle Gellar certainly helps, and it's not hard to find people who wish she'd been around for more than two scenes.
      • Joel is well-liked for having a boatload of funny lines and being smart enough to get the hell out of dodge when things start to get real serious.
    • Scream 3:
      • Jennifer Jolie is easily the most popular new character from the movie, and considered by some to more entertaining than any of the returning characters. This is mostly thanks to Parker Posey's glorious Large Ham performance and great comedic chemistry with Dewey and Gale.
      • Tyson Fox for being the Token Good Teammate of the Stab 3 cast, being fairly Genre Savvy, and having a few hilarious one-liners.
      • Detective Wallace is considered a highlight for his Deadpan Snarker attitude, especially in the scene where he and Kincaid arrest Roman.
    • Scream 4: Despite being considered the least successful film of the series by far, just about everyone who's seen it declared Kirby Reed the real Final Girl. Easily the most popular new character for her spunky, snarky, movie buff personality and Hayden Panettiere's strong performance, a number of fans would have been fine with her becoming a new protagonist for any future movies. In addition, they felt that Kirby's Not Quite Dead and is Shes Just Hiding. It turns out they were proven correct: much to the excitement of fans, Scream VI brought Kirby back. In addition to being an Action Girl and Fair Cop, she's revealed to be the only character introduced in Scream 4 to still be alive. And she kills one of the Ghostfaces as well - she definitely Took a Level in Badass.
    • Scream VI:
      • Anika, in tradition with Scream's past post-opening victims such as Cici or Wes. She's quickly become beloved for being a sweet and caring girlfriend towards Mindy and a good friend to Tara, putting up a brief fight against the killer, and dying a tragic and gruesome death in one of the film's most tense set-pieces.
      • Laura Crane. She's only on-screen for about five minutes, but is well-liked for being a film studies professor who comes off as a kindhearted woman and dies a completely undeserved death at the hands of one of her own students. Being played by scream queen royalty Samara Weaving helps, too.
    • Despite only appearing in one scene, the bodega clerk who helps Sam and Tara is surprisingly popular for being a Badass Bystander who wields a shotgun against the killer.
  • An almost absurd case in Scrooge (1951). At the end of the film Scrooge goes to dinner at his nephew's house. The maid that takes his coat and sweetly urges him to go inside to the party. She has no lines and that's her only scene — and yet has a huge amount of fans. There was even a lengthy discussion on IMDB about the identity of the actress (even with theories that it was a young Audrey Hepburn). She was eventually identified as Teresa Derrington.
  • The Shadow:
    • Burbank, who relays messages to the Shadow from his agents, only appears in a couple of short scenes, and gets no major personality traits but is well-liked for the interesting Worldbuilding behind the technology he uses and the way he fits into the Shadow’s operations.
    • The sentient dagger Phurba has a pretty small role, but is quite popular for having some good Creepy Awesome (and Creepy Good for the most part) coolness.
  • Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love. Eight minutes of screen time for Dame Judi Dench, and it wins her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar!
  • Shall We Dance (2004): Link, the Camp Straight dancer played by Stanley Tucci and Bunny-Ears Lawyer private detectives Devine and Scotty all make the most of their supporting roles and get some of the most complimentary comments from fans.
  • Shoot to Kill:
    • Of the fishermen, Norm is pretty well liked for his bumbling City Mouse nature and friendship with Sarah. His death about halfway through the film is a notable Gut Punch.
    • Hsu only appears in the last twenty minutes of the movie, but is fairly well-liked for his Reasonable Authority Figure moments and interactions with Stantin and Knox.
  • Agent Stone from Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) has proven quite popular for how completely unphased he is by Dr. Robotnik's complete and utter batshit insanity, his loyalty and genuine concern for the doctor, and for just how hilariously normal he is when put up against the Mad Scientist's scenery chewing.
  • Snatch.:
    • Bullet-Tooth Tony doesn't appear until at least a third of the way through the film, but is extremely popular due to being a suave, Made of Iron Genius Bruiser who spouts a Fountain of Memes.
    • Tyrone, the bumbling plus size getaway driver who has a couple moments of surprising competence. Some fans like him slightly better than his companions Sol and Vinny, even though he has a much smaller role than they do.
    • Doug the Head's twin daughters are only in a couple of scenes, but make a good impression by being Hypercompetent Sidekicks and Deadpan Snarkers.
  • Spider-Man Trilogy
    • J. K. Simmons absolutely stole every scene he was in as J. Jonah Jameson while hamming it up like no other. He became the very first character to reprise his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
    • Though minor, Bruce Campbell's cameos were always memorable in each film. It's also worth noting that Campbell loves to credit himself for naming Spider-Man in the first film.
    • Ursula, Peter's cute Russian neighbor with a fairly transparent crush on him. Despite being a character original to the films and never formally dating Peter, some fans actually prefer her as a love interest to Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane, mainly due to Spider-Man 2 where Mary Jane showed Peter No Sympathy to his plights whereas Ursula did.
  • Max's Hypercompetent Sidekick Jerry Schue from Straight Time is widely cited as one of the biggest highlights of the film in spite of only appearing in the second half.
  • Stuck on You: Secondary character April Mercedes, the twins' bubbly neighbor, is a big fan favorite for being played by Eva Mendes at her loveliest and being the first person to help and befriend the twins (including with some Smarter Than They Look advice) after their move.
  • Summer School: Those Two Guys and budding moviemakers Chainsaw and Dave are sixth and seventh in the credits, but might be the most iconic characters.
  • DeeJay & Zangief of Street Fighter both have a lot of fans. QUICK! CHANGE THE CHANNEL!
  • In The Thing (2011), Lars became a fan-favorite character for his badassery, being one of the more memorable characters in the otherwise underutilized Thule Station team, his no-nonsense approach to fighting the Thing, and his status as a walking reference to the original film — at the end, he's revealed to be the Norwegian who the American team encounters trying to kill the Dog-Thing. When the fan site Outpost 31 ran a poll on favorite characters from the movie, Lars received more than half the votes, beating out the actual main characters by a considerable margin. Even some people who disliked the movie cited him as one of its bright spots.
  • Some supporting players in The Three Stooges shorts have sizable fan bases, especially Vernon Dent, Christine McIntyre, and Emil Sitka.
  • Tigerland:
    • Private Cantwell (Tom Guiry) gets a much-needed hardship discharge less than a third of the way through the film, but is very memorable due to being the first platoon member to support Bozz, suffering for it, and getting some Hidden Depths as he talks about watching the moon and describes his family.
    • Sergeant Cota (Cole Hauser) doesn't show up until the last third of the movie, but is well-liked for being the one only one of the instructors who's more of a Cool Teacher than a Drill Sergeant Nasty and getting some good, pensive dialogue about his own experiences in Vietnam. His actor was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male in an independent movie.
  • Titanic (1997): Charles Joughin, the drunk baker who survives the sinking by drinking so much alcohol, that he barely felt the freezing water. This is Truth in Television, as Charles Joughin really existed and did exactly what he did in the movie in real life.
  • Doc Holiday, from Tombstone. A man dying of TB, he decides to gamble and get into gunfights, since he won't be living for much longer anyway.
  • Top Gun: Maverick: Out of the all the TOPGUN graduates, Phoenix and Bob have emerged as two of the most popular ones. Phoenix is popular for her snarky and confident personality, being the most prominent female character, and her close Like Brother and Sister friendship with Rooster, while Bob is popular for his unique callsign, nerdy-looking appearance, and for being a competent and reliable pilot despite his Adorkable personality.
  • Toy Soldiers:
    • Yogurt doesn't become an honorary member of Billy's gang until about halfway through the film and has a supporting role after that, but the subtle range of his character and his useful remote control skills make him very well-liked.
    • The headmaster doesn't get much focus, but is fondly remembered for how much he cares about his students and his Actually Pretty Funny reaction to a prank.
    • Joey's mafioso father (played by Jerry Orbach) isn't even credited, but is a fan favorite for his chilling, Papa Wolf menace and Parents as People lament about loving his son despite his lifestyle giving Joey a good reason to hate him.
    • General Kramer takes a while to show up and doesn't get much characterization beyond being a Reasonable Authority Figure, but he's interesting in that capacity, and being played by R. Lee Ermey helps.
  • Transformers: Maggie and Glen, the systems analyst and the hacker who end uncovering the secrets behind the Transformers. Some fans felt they deserved their own movie.
  • In the original Tremors Burt Gummer just plays a supporting role as a Comically Serious Comic Relief character. However the famous Wall Of Guns scene soon made him a fan-favorite, which was only cemented with his "I am completely out of ammo" rant from the second movie and has been the protagonist since the third movie.
  • TRON
  • Yuri Boyka from Undisputed II: Last Man Standing
    • Gaga, the gangster who is Boyka's patron, also is quite adept at stealing the scenes he's in. Also, quite a few people think Andriago Silva, a Capoeira fighter played by Lateef Crowder in Undisputed III: Redemption, should have had a much more prominent role than he did.
  • Bruno Ganz as Jurgen in Unknown (2011) steals the movie and swallows it whole for breakfast. With tea.
  • Dora Bryan's Auntie Cora is considered by many of Up the Front's haters to be the best part of the film, despite only having two scenes.
  • Given his tendency to show up as a One-Scene Wonder Christopher Walken ends up in this role frequently, and many of his longer performances qualify as well.
  • Vamps: Neurotic but competent and ultimately reasonable Papa Wolf Vampire Hunter Agent Van Helsing and Retired Badass, Historical Domain Character and Mentor Archetype Vlad Tepish only have about twenty minutes of screen time between them, but are probably the most popular characters in the film (with the possible exception of Stacy the Deuteragonist). Being played by Wallace Shawn and Malcolm Mcdowell, respectively, helps.
  • War (2007):
  • Waterworld:
    • The atoll council’s enforcer doesn’t even get a name and is in less than half of the movie, but he gets a lot of love for being the film’s sole Reasonable Authority Figure and being a brave and competent fighter.
    • The smoker in charge of monitoring their remaining oil reserves is only in a few short scenes, but is pretty popular for being decently funny and the only non-malicious member of his faction.
    • The seaplane pilot and gunner, both for their Villainous Friendship and for how their attack on the main characters is sometimes seen as the last really good action sequence of the movie.
  • Went the Day Well?: Ivy and Peggy are eighth and ninth in the credits and don't get any really memorable scenes until more than half way through the film. However, they're major highlights of the movie for being likable yet formidable Action Girls.
  • We're No Angels: Adolphe is a Team Pet who is never even seen outside of his cage, but is still a very popular character.
  • In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Toon Patrol fanbase makes up an astonishingly high amount of fans, right after Jessica Rabbit then Roger Rabbit. They don't even get named on screen. They don't even survive the movie and they still get the Draco in Leather Pants treatment in fairly equal quantities.
  • Both Justin Long and Fred Willard's characters in Youth in Revolt as well as just about any of the reputable character actors with smaller supporting roles.

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