Breakout Character - Television Tropes & Idioms

A non-character example: the Duel Monsters card game from Yu-Gi-Oh, which was originally meant as just one of many games played throughout the series, but eventually became so popular that the series was given a Re Tool to make it the only game that mattered- even the few games played that weren't Duel Monsters were still about battling monsters. This carried over to the sequel series, where there's not even a hint of any other games.
- Or, for a character example, Kaiba, who was made to be a one use enemy for the Duel Monsters chapter and got to come back as a slightly largher villain due to popularity, then as one of the three most important characters after that.
Vivio of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. A Mysterious Waif introduced half-way into the third season, many of the mostly Girls Love loving fandom Squeed at the prospect of Nanoha and Fate having a daughter, while others Squeed at the possibility of Nanoha having a Magical Girl successor. Her popularity and the producers taking advantage of it becomes apparent when you realize that she's the only civilian to get a figure and that she joins the three Aces fielding questions in the third Megami Sound Stage. One and a half years later, the first Nanoha Spin Off was announced: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid, a manga starring Vivio.
- Fate Testarossa could also fall under this trope. Originally The Dragon of the first series, her interplay with Nanoha after they joined forces proved so popular, the two of them were made equal partners starting from season two, and she is essentially a co-protagonist from then on.
Hiei from Yuu Yuu Hakusho was originally meant to be a one-shot character (this is clear in his first appearance), but he proved so popular with fans that he was given another appearance - and continued to prove popular enough with fans to make him a main character, complete with his own plotlines and backstory.
Similarly to the Hiei example, Jeremiah Gottwald from Code Geass was supposed to die early in the series' run, but proved to be so popular that he was allowed to survive and become a more important character than originally planned.
Anti Hero Yoshiyuki Takagi from the manga Osu! Karate Bu was originally the mentor of the initial main character, Tadashi Matsushita, before the manga began focusing on him more as his character became more popular with readers.
In-universe example: in Macross Frontier, Ranka manages to pull this off in a movie adaptation of the events of Macross Zero, playing the role of Mao.
Martian Successor Nadesico had Ruri "Former Trope Namer for Little Miss Snarker" Hoshino, a Bridge Bunny whose popularity was such that it was even noted in the anime itself (Ruri figure doll by the in-universe otaku, anyone?). Once The Movie rolled around, guess which character had replaced Akito as the main character?
Mahou Sensei Negima has Ensemble Darkhorse Setsuna, who received overwhelming popularity upon her introduction and has had an expanded role in the story ever since; to the point of occasionally acting as The Lancer to Negi's hero. She also has a somewhat expanded role in most of the Negima adaptations.

Scrooge McDuck was first created by Carl Barks as a rich Long Lost Uncle Aesop character who invited his nephews to his cottage for Christmas. He was brought back because his greedy, misanthropic nature and personal wealth could drive stories by playing him as an antagonistic supporting character, but he slowly evolved more and more into a protagonist as he gained more character depth beyond "rich and greedy", eventually becoming the Trope Namer for the Mc Duck trope. Among many fans, he's more popular than Donald, spawning Scrooge-centric works such as The Life And Times Of Scrooge Mc Duck and Duck Tales.
Captain Haddock from The Adventures of Tintin started out as a one-shot character in "The Crab with the Golden Claws", but became so popular that he went on to play a leading role in rest of the series.
Back in the early to mid 1980's, The X-Men comics were known for their ensemble cast. Everyone was allowed their moments to shine. However, Wolverine eventually became popular, and over the next decade or so, he not only had his own solo comic, but also seemed required to be in every X-Men comic (and plenty of other ones) as well. It got to the point where one writer even lampshaded this by including one scene where Wolverine said he couldn't be in every X-Men subgroup.

The Pink Panther was originally meant to be about the jewel thief, with Clouseau a minor supporting character. Then a last-minute casting change put Peter Sellers in the Clouseau role, and the rest is history.
- One could also count the Pink Panther that appeared in the opening credits to the movies as an example of this.
- Let's face it, the whole thing ended up turned around. The thief, the antihero, the glamour romance interest and the plot all end up being forgotten in favour of Clouseau, the Panther who is Positively Pink, and Henry Mancini's big band title theme. And, of course, this was reflected in the films that followed, a clear case of creators responding to their audience.
- A lot of people forget that Clouseu was actually the antagonist in the first movie. His bumbling was meant to be to a contrast to David Niven's suave jewel thief, but Sellers played him so wonderfully over the top that he stole not only the film, but the entire franchise.
Han Solo. George Lucas wanted Luke Skywalker to be the hero and everyone else just support but the public just went for Han.
Slimer from Ghostbusters didn't even have a name in the original film, yet he wound up the mascot of the cartoon series and franchise.
Captain Jack Sparrow, of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The original intention was for the series to focus on the adventures of up-and-coming pirate Will Turner. Jack was meant to be a freewheeling, accidental mentor, with a large role only in the first film. But Johnny Depp ended up re-imaging Jack in such a fascinating way that he dominates the first movie. The creators then wrote the sequels with Jack as the star, reducing Will to more of a sidekick role.

Slappy, the Demonic Dummy of Goosebumps fame was a minor character in the first Night of the Living Dummy book, but in the sequels was brought back as the primary villain.
Samuel Vimes was originally intended to be a minor character in City Watch sub-series of Discworld, with Carrot being the major character. Suffice it to say, Samuel Vimes is likely only beaten by Death and the Librarian for the number of books he's in.
Rupert Psmith was a supporting character in PG Wodehouse's school-story Mike, but quickly eclipsed the stolid protagonist to become the star of the novel. In later books he is the central character. As Evelyn Waugh wrote: "One can date exactly the first moment when Wodehouse was touched by the sacred flame. It occurs halfway through Mike ... Psmith appears and the light is kindled which has burned with growing brilliancy for half a century.
The novels Relic and Reliquary have Batman-like, super-competent FBI Agent Pendergast as the tertiary main character (who didn't even manage to appear in the film of the book). The authors subsequently made him the main character of their next several books.

Fonzie/'The Fonz' from Happy Days.
- Heck, the network even tried to change the title to Fonzie's Happy Days until Henry Winkler himself (along with the rest of the cast and the director) protested it.
The Doctor from Doctor Who did receive top billing as early as the very first episode. However, only from the second season onwards did the series really start to revolve around him.
The character of Mimi on The Drew Carey Show was originally only supposed to appear in the pilot.
Steve Urkel on Family Matters.
Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show.
Paul and Jamie's respective families on Mad About You.
Arnold Jackson from Diff'rent Strokes.
Arthur Daley from the United Kingdom comedy-drama Minder.
Barnabas Collins from Dark Shadows.
Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld.
Tommy Oliver, originally the Sixth Ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, eventually took leadership throughout Seasons 2-3, completely ignoring the Red Ranger's position and making him The Lancer. He eventually became Red Ranger himself in Power Rangers Zeo and Power Rangers Turbo, restoring the Status Quo.
J.J. Evans from Good Times. This was made even worse when two of the main characters were either killed off or temporarily gone, making J.J. even more of the focus of the show.
- The original star, Ester Rolle, actually left the show over it and only came back on the condition that they clean up the J.J. character.
Miss Piggy on The Muppet Show.
- Also Gonzo, whose role has expanded over time, especially in the movies, where he is one of Those Two Guys or the Lemony Narrator, but later had a film regarding his origins/species, in which he was co-protagonist. He also had an expanded role in Muppet Babies as a Dogged Nice Guy toward Miss Piggy.
The Emergency Medical Hologram ("the Doctor") on Star Trek: Voyager.
- Neelix was supposed to be. It... ah... didn't quite work that way.
- Seven Of Nine ended up being another one after she joined the show partway through, and for totally different reasons than what the producers intended.
Dennis Finch (David Spade) in Just Shoot Me.
Spike, from Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
- And the entire ex-Sunnydale cast of Angel. They got their own show.
Anya from Buffy. Originally a literal Monster Of The Week, she was such an interesting character that she got a second episode outing, then was repurposed as Xander's rebound love interest. Joss Whedon did try to write her out on more than one occasion, but kept bringing her back.
Sipowicz on NYPD Blue. Originally the show was about David Caruso's Det. Kelly; when he decided to leave after the first season the show was retooled as an ensemble piece, eventually focusing on Dennis Franz's character.
- The only person thoroughly convinced the show was about Detective Kelly was David Caruso, who thought the show would collapse without him. Good luck with that, bad show lab cop guy.
  - The show was, indeed, structured around Kelly; every other character in the first season was defined by their relationship to him (his partner, his ex, his boss, etc.). What Caruso's arrogance didn't allow him to see was that the show was so strong it could easily survive even the departure of the main character.
Elmo from Sesame Street was a minor (originally unnamed) background Muppet in the show's early years before becoming the focus of the show and its Wesley.
Both Marcia Cross (Kimberly) and Heather Locklear (Amanda) on Melrose Place, with Kimberly stealing the crown in particular with her antics on the show...
Some fans feel Ben has become Lost's Breakout Character, taking up increasing importance in the series since season 3. The writers have admitted they enjoy writing him most of all the characters.
- Ben is the show's breakout character. He was originally meant to be a minor Other who would appear in only three episodes. Extremely positive reception made this extend to eight; then it went to being a series regular (the original leader of the Others was rewritten to be Ben) and one of the show's most important characters. The same applies to Desmond: originally meant to only be in the first three episodes, his popularity made them bring back Desmond, focus the two hour finale on him, and make him a series regular next year.
J.R. Ewing was only supposed to be a supporting cast member on Dallas, with the thrust of the storyline revolving around the feuding families. J.R. quickly stole the focus and the producers admitted he had become the breakout character of his series.
It can be argued that The Janitor from Scrubs became a Breakout Character. He was intended to be a background character to torment J.D. (there were even talks in the first season that he was just a figment of J.D.'s imagination), but the creators quickly (and thankfully) realized how awesome he was and included him in the main cast.
"Hi. I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl."
Family Ties was supposed to focus on the parents. The kids, especially Alex, quickly stole the spotlight.
Heroes' Hiro Nakamura.
- Sylar's popularity conflicted with the fact that season 1 was about killing him, so bringing him back sort of made everything from that season seem pointless and makes his presence increasingly unneeded...
An example of a successful Re Tool which made a minor character into an Ensemble Darkhorse, and then into a Breakout Character: The original premise for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. had Napoleon Solo working alone, with Illya Kuryakin intended to be only a minor recurring character. Kuryakin struck such a chord with the show's fans, however, that he was raised to one of the leads.
President Bartlet on The West Wing was only supposed to be a recurring character, with the show focusing on the White House Senior Staff. But when Martin Sheen's performance wowed the production team, the show was retooled to make Bartlet a part of the ensemble.
Bernardo and Cañizares from the spanish Camera Cafe, though they don't appear that much lately.
Chuck Bass in Gossip Girl. The show originally gave him a similar role in the book as a date raping villain while also having him as Nate's sidekick. However his astounding popularity has led to him taking center stage to the point where Nate (who is the main male character of the books) seems to have mostly been shoved into the background while Chuck Bass is developed into a more likable character through his relationship with Blair and redemption plotline.
Sophia Petrilo of The Golden Girls was originaly intended to be an occasional Drop In Character, but test audiences loved her so much that she was made an equal to the other three.
Eric Northman on "True Blood". This vampire is more popular and desired than the main male protagonist, Vampire Bill, by viewers. He's been voted GQ's "Man Who Saved HBO". Enough said.
In Season 4 of Supernatural, Castiel was only supposed to appear in a few episodes and then another character was to take his place as Dean's angel guide. However, general consensus decided he'd become the Ensemble Darkhorse. Even though he'd only gotten less than 40 minutes of screen-time at that point, the episode "On the Head of a Pin" (4.16) featured him heavily and 4.20 ("Rapture") centered on his vessel, Jimmy. In Season 5, Misha Collins (Castiel's actor) was promoted to regular status - thus becoming the only person to ever hold the title of regular cast member since the show started aside from the two leads (Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki).
Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother.

Popeye the Sailor started out as a minor character in Thimble Theatre, which had been running for ten full years before he was introduced. Hard to believe at first, but he originally showed up as a generic sailor who was hired by Harold Hamgravy (at the time the strip's protagonist) for a treasure hunting voyage. He was intended as a minor character who wouldn't show up again after the end of that story arc; instead, he ended up becoming so popular that the strip was eventually renamed after him. Poor Hamgravy was demoted to minor supporting character status, and to add insult to injury, Popeye even STOLE HIS GIRLFRIEND, Olive Oyl.
The very aptly named Opus of Bloom County and its follow-up comic strips was originally a fairly flat gag character, not intended to ever be seen again after his week-long plot was resolved, but fan reaction quickly led the author to make him the main character of the strip.
- Years later, Breathed mused in one of his books about the nature of the breakout character: "You can't design an Opus; they're the sort of characters who come knocking at your door in the pouring rain at 3 in the morning. [The author's] job is to figure out which ones should be let in and allowed to stay."
Snuffy Smith. He started out as a one-shot character in Barney Google, and in short order took over the strip completely.
First, it was Robotman. Then, it was Robotman...and Monty. Then Robotman got put on an intergalactic bus, and now it's just Monty.
In the early Peanuts stripts, Snoopy acted like an ordinary dog, and certainly wasn't the most important character.
- Whether he was he "most important character" even later on was arguable, but toward the end of the strip's run he was, at worst, number 2.
Nancy was originally called Fritzi Ritz and about a flapper.
British newspaper strip Flook (1949-84) featured Flook (a creature) and Rufus (a boy) as main characters. But there was a short period back at the start (before Rufus found and named Flook) when the strip was called Rufus.
Dick Cavalli's Morty Meekle was eventually taken over by (and renamed after) what was originally a minor character, Winthrop.

Douglas Adams originally intended Marvin the Paranoid Android to be a one-off character in the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series; he supposed that there were only so many jokes you could get out of a robot with Eeyore-like depression.

The popularity of Sir John Falstaff in Henry IV, parts I and II inspired Shakespeare to write a play around the character, The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Highlord Mograine, AKA The Ashbringer, from World Of Warcraft got so popular among fans that now he has his own comic series.
In Final Fantasy XI, Shantotto started off as just a rather random NPC with a series of somewhat humourous quests and being involved in the black mage quests. Then she made a cameo towards the end of the Windurst missions and some of the Chains of Promathia missions. Then she was a major character in Treasures of Aht Urhgan and appeared in some minor events (such as being the main enemy in a fight against some of the female characters). Then she represented the game in Dissidia. A whole add-on scenario (read: series of missions) centered around her is going to be added.
Axel was an important villain in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and was intended to carry over to Kingdom Hearts II as the tutorial boss. However, both fans and the staff liked him too much, and his role was extended into Kingdom Hearts II's main scenario. Now 358/2 Days has been released, which features Axel as a primary protagonist...and as of now, there's a possibility he might return as his "original self" Lea.
Touhou often has Ensemble Darkhorse characters that return to become playable characters with enough Popularity Power. Often, the Battle Butler of the previous game returns as a playable character, while Phantasmagoria of Flower View featured the return of Yuka, and popular demand for her to appear in the eleventh game (Subterrainian Animism) apparently pushed ZUN to put Sanae in as a heroine of the twelth game, Undefined Fantastic Object. Subterrainian Animism even featured a selectable partner for the heroines just to get fan favorites like Suika, Patchouli, and Nitori in the game, when they would otherwise be forced out.
Some say Zero, Ensemble Darkhorse of Mega Man X is this, seeing as he was a supporting character in his first appearance, and promoted to main character status as the series progressed, especially getting his own series that further showed his awesomeness. There's a twist, though: Zero is supposed to be the main character (in other words, Mega Man X himself), but was "demoted" just because Capcom said no.
Aigis from Persona 3 is given the spotlight plenty of times throughout the course of the game, but no more often than anyone else in the main cast. But she was such a hit with fans that she was made the main character of the game's direct sequel, The Answer.
The Rabbids from the Rayman series. Most people don't know about Rayman, while the Rabbids have their own games.
Half-Life's 'Barney' Security guards, not only did they get an expansion pack (Blue Shift) where the player takes the role of one, but they are personified in the next game by one of the support cast (Barney, arguably only second to Alyx as a player companion).
In Super Robot Wars Original Generation, the canon route is obviously Ryusei Date's. But Kyosuke Nanbu proved to be way too popular that he and his girlfriend Excellen Browning are promoted into main characters by the second game.

Despite being the title character, Homestar Runner gets less screen time than Strong Bad these days.
- The recent year long hiatus of Strong Bad Email is meant to partially correct this, giving other characters than Strong Bad the chance to shine. Still, Strong Bad remains the character with the most material on the site, as well as the only one to have his series of games on the WII/PC.
- All this said, Strong Bad was never exactly a minor character; he was meant to be the cartoon's rival/villain, and was definitely a strong recurring character, only behind Homestar and maybe Pom Pom (Pom Pom's significance didn't last.)
- Also Homsar, who started off as a One Shot Character that's purely there to help make fun of a misspelling of Homestar's name in the second Strong Bad Email, but has since became one of the core characters of the series.

Ray and Roast Beef from Achewood. Originally two of a trio of cats (along with Pat) who fancied themselves "the dirtiest dudes in town" and basically existed to be a bad influence on Phillipe. So interchangeable were they in the early years that Beef was billed simply as "the other cat," notable only for being "not Ray, and not Pat." But soon the three of them began to develop their own personalities, the trio became a duo (with Pat evolving into a sanctimonious vegan) and the strip began to revolve around the friendship between laid-back Ray and eternally depressed Beef.
Although he never becomes part of the main cast, the unexpected popularity of King Steve in 8-Bit Theater induced Brian Clevinger to keep him in the comic despite the fact that he no longer had any importance to the plot.
The little blue thing in Something Positive was simply a one-off joke for Life With Rippy until...well...fans started liking the bastard. He'd eventually become Kharisma's imaginary "NEW FRIEND!" What the hell were the fans thinking?
- Probably the same thing they were thinking with Rippy himself...who was a one-shot one-panel gag in S*P, and he'd eventually get his own gag series.
Walky from It's Walky! The series was originally called Roomies and was about a bunch of college students.
- Not quite. It was actually Joyce who stole the spotlight in Roomies, with most storylines centering around her. Willis tried to write her out by having her inducted into SEMME, but it backfired. Once SEMME was in the picture, Willis found it more interesting than the college life premise, and It's Walky! was the result. She then stole the spotlight again in It's Walky!, as the strip mutated from being primarily about Walky to being primarily about Walky and Joyce's relationship.
Fox and Collin from Friendly Hostility were originally minor characters on the author's previous webcomic, Boy Meets Boy. Now that Friendly Hostility is over, the writer's started Other People's Business which has Leon, a minor character from Friendly Hostility as a major character, and Collin reduced to the background.

Timmy in South Park was initially intended as a one-shot character, but proved so popular that he was brought back again and again, and even made it onto the titles in series six, after the departure of Kenny. However, after his brief moment in the sun, he quickly receded into the background again. These days, he is hardly used at all anymore.
- TIMMY!
- Jimmy ultimately proved to be the more popular differently-abled character, likely because he can say more than just his name and a few other catchphrases.
South Park has even better examples: First and foremost, there's Butters, who went from background to minor to the fourth most prominent character on the show. Then there's Randy Marsh, who went from a geologist simply named "Randy" to "Stan's dad" (thus giving him a recurring role) to arguably being right behind Butters in terms of prominence.
While Animaniacs was always intended to be a series of shorts with many different characters, the incredible popularity of the Pinky And The Brain shorts led to them appearing in significantly more episodes than the other skits. They were also the only ones to spin-off into their own show.
The Simpsons ruthlessly parodied this concept in an episode where Bart accidentally becomes a cast member and breakout star of the Krusty the Clown show.
- The Simpsons is actually an inverse of this Trope. Bart Simpson was the focus of the series early, but then his role become more and more supporting as Homer Simpson became more of a central character.
  - Wouldn't that make Homer the Breakout Character, ascended all the way to main?
  - Wouldn't The Simpsons be Breakout Characters from The Tracy Ullman Show?
Iago from Aladdin. His popularity has grown to the point that he's arguably more iconic than Aladdin himself, and he even has a Heel Face Turn.
- Similarly, Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King. They got their own TV show, a POV Sequel, and have tons of fanart dedicated to them, far more than Simba, Nala or Mufasa get.
Xiaolin Showdown. Raimundo pretty much stole the show from Omi, being the character with the most development, and if anyone still wasn't sure of his status as the new main character...The finale proved them wrong.
Shego from Kim Possible started out as a flat sidekick to Dr. Drakken, got a personality while being inserted into the pilot after the creators heard her Voice Actor Nicole Sullivan, and was so popular that she and Drakken became the most featured villains in the series.
Stewie Griffin and, to a certain extent, Brian from Family Guy.
The main breakout character in Futurama seems to be Bender. It says something when two of the four spinoff films of the show feature his name in their titles.
Charles Foster Ofdensen wasn't even in the first episode of Metalocalypse and remained a relatively minor character for the first few episodes of the show, but slowly became not only a great straight-man foil for the band but became an incredibly popular character in his own right as well as a genuine member of the main cast, leading up to several spotlight moments in Season 2 and culminating in his Heroic Sacrifice at the very end of the S2 finale.
Believe it or not, Bob from Re Boot is one of these. The writers originally expected Enzo to be more popular with the kids because they would relate to someone their own age more. In all fairness though, the fact that Bob was the hero and even the narrator for the credits, no-one could really blame you for thinking he was the lead. Eventually he was Put On A Bus for most of season three, during which time, Enzo took the spotlight properly. Once Bob came back, focus shifted back to him for season four.
Darkwing Duck character Morgana Macawber ("Macabre") and her weird undead family were introduced as a set of villains who disappeared (for many years, within the context of the episode) when their house vanished at sunrise at the end of the episode. Morgana's family was never seen again, but she herself returned without explanation to play both a villain and later a hero, developing into a series semi-regular and Darkwing's Love Interest. Similarly, villain Negaduck was originally an Evil Twin of Darkwing's who was accidentally created from his own body and was re-absorbed back into him at the end of the episode. Series creator Tad Stones liked the character so much that he was brought back to be Darkwing's Arch Enemy and was eventually established as being another Darkwing from a parallel reality called "the Negaverse". When the writers asked how they should explain Negaduck's return following his "death" in his debut episode, Stones replied, "What do you mean, 'how'? He's back. We did it."
Avatar The Last Airbender have both Sokka and Iroh. Both roles were supposed to be smaller but since both the voiceactors and writers did such a good job to bring the to life they got bigger roles that first intended.
In The Fairly Oddparents, Dark Laser started out as a one shot villain, only existing so the writers could do a Homage to Star Wars. Then he showed up as a Continuity Nod the next season. Then, suddenly, in season six he was elevated to a full time villain, and a regular part of Timmy's Rogues Gallery.

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