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redirected from Main.ChekhovsGunman
alt title(s): Chekhovs Gunman 
Just passing through (Mount Everest)...
"Who are those four girls over there? Just watch, they'll end up getting more lines than we do, and that's gonna suck!"
A person who is conspicuously introduced to the viewer, but deemed unimportant at the time, will prove very important by the end of the episode, per The Law Of Conservation Of Detail. In other words, a human Chekhov's Gun.
Like the poolboy in the CSI mystery of the week who just happened to be at the scene of the crime just before the murder, but other leads overshadowed him until the last five minutes, when Grissom finds that one piece of evidence that links him to it. (Of course, if the poolboy is Mario Lopez, everyone and their mother will know it was him the minute he appeared on screen.)
Or, in an episode with Two Lines No Waiting, a character that seemed to be a bit player in the B plot suddenly becomes a large player in the A plot.
According to Roger Ebert, you can often figure out who the murderer is (in a badly-written murder mystery) because he's the only character who doesn't seem to have any other reason for being in the movie.
In video games, such characters are always obvious because they look conspicuously different from everyone else.
Examples
- As the page quote states, Sai, Kaede, Madoka and Arisu from Kidou Tenshi Angelic Layer. They don't have as big of a role as most examples, though, save Sai, although Kaede does make an appearance in Chobits (dead).
- Selim, son of King Bradley in Fullmetal Alchemist manga. Seems like a harmless kid, but revealed revealed to be the most dangrous homunculi from all seven homunculi, the Pride.
- Mishio in Makoto's arc of Kanon, and in the Kyoto Animation version, all the major girls.
- In Princess Tutu, the character Autor is always hanging around the library and later on in the background of scenes with Fakir. He later divulges an important plot point.
- In Magic Knight Rayearth, the girls are given a seemingly pointless "mascot", Mokona, to accompany them on their quest. In the second series, it is revealed that Mokona is literally God.
- In Shakugan No Shana, a distinctive, heavily-burdened meido is occasionally shown trudging through exotic locales without any explanation; she eventually appears in the main setting and is introduced as an important character. In the movie, which is a remake of the first arc, she walks past the camera (and turns to look at it) in two news reports in the span of a day—once in the Gobi Desert and once on Mount Everest.
- The Pokemon Special manga is full of them. Nearly every minor character introduced early on becomes important to the plot later. The biggest example would be the little girl Red saves randomly in one chapter of the first Arc who later turns out to be Yellow, the main character of the second arc
- Many, many people in Mahou Sensei Negima. A few of the more notable ones:
- The first time Evangeline is mentioned, it's in a note written by her picture in the class roster. Two volumes later, she appears again as the manga's first real antagonist. A few volumes after that she saves Negi's butt during the Kyoto arc. After that, Negi eventually begins training under her. She is one of the most powerful mages in existence, after all
- Takamichi is introduced as merely the teacher that Negi takes over for. Turns out he's an extremely famous mage, and exceptionally powerful combatant who knew Negi's father.
- Chao Lingshen Yes, merely saying the name is a spoiler. First seen hawking her restaurant's food in the first chapter of the manga, she goes on to be the Big Bad of the Mahora Festival arc. She's also Negi's descendant
- At least half a dozen of the other girls in Negi's class qualify, too.
- One Piece is chock full of these. People that were chilling in the background or just mentioned in passing will turn out to be vitally important to the plot. There are a lot of examples, but perhaps the best example is also the most recent. During a battle, Buggy the Clown relates his relationship to Shanks in the form of a flashback, and it opens with an argument between him and Shanks being broken up by the ship's first mate, who appears in two panels and is not mentioned again. Almost 500 chapters later, we learn that this man is Silvers Rayleigh, who is both the man that the straw hats need to alter their ship for undersea travel, and the former first mate... of Gold Roger!
- Almost equally sneaky is the Laboon arc. The Straw Hats end up meeting a depressed whale the size of an island, and Crocus, the old man who takes care of the whale. We find out that Laboon's depression comes from the fact that his old crewmates left him and never came back. It's assumed that they all died or fled the Grand Line. As we learn in the Thriller Bark Arc, the entire crew did die. However, one of them came back. Brooke's Devil Fruit revived him as an afro-sporting skeleton, whose only remaining purpose in life is to fulfill his promise to Laboon, which leads to him joining the Straw Hats. Oh, and Crocus was another member of Gold Roger's crew at some point, or knew him, or something. This major point is one of the big problems with 4kids' choice to cut the Laboon arc out of their dub of the anime.
- Although it was this troper's understanding that Oda had introduced Brooke, a character whose sole motivation is to get back to Laboon, because he had heard of the cuts in the 4kids dub.
- Regarding Crocus, Luffy asked him to be their doctor soon after learning he'd been a ship's doctor once, and was turned down. Rayleigh reveals that Crocus journeyed with them for three years, with the goal of locating Brook's crew, to keep Roger's illness at bay
- Oda loves these so much that he might even be sleeping with them. A presumably bad Marine official that was introduced in Koby and Helmeppo's Chronicle of Toil, was many chapters later shown to not only be the person that captured Gol D Roger, but also as Luffy's grandfather. Then there was the mysterious Dragon that helped the Straw Hats in chapter 100; he was later revealed to be a famous revolutionary and (much later) Luffy's father. Because of gunmen like these, as of 11th December 2008, This Troper bets that Captain Lola's Mama Namizou (the owner of that one Bibli Card) turns out to be the fourth Yonkou.
- AIR Has a crow (raven?) that is introduced early on and inconspicuously follows the main characters around throughout the first 3/4ths of the show. After the show invokes Anachronic Order, the story starts over from the beginning focused around the crow, whose name is "Sora", and his instrumental contributions to the plot.
- A major antagonist in Katekyo Hitman Reborn largely responsible for the hunt on the hero's family (and the hero's death-in-the-future) is revealed to be Irie Shouichi, a seemingly random kid who appeared in one chapter to be traumatized by the wacky antics of the hero's family fourteen volumes ago.
- Kamemon in Digimon Savers. All he does is silently wander around DATS headquarters serving tea, until it turns out he's just shy, and is actually the Digimon partner of Yushima, local head of DATS and the Cool Old Guy who randomly shows up to give Masaru advice. Even after that, he's revealed as an agent sent by Yggdrasil to spy on humans. Doubles as Lets Get Dangerous when he gets to show off his later evolutions, Gawappamon and Shawujingmon.
- Kyouran Kazoku Nikki features an odd girl with pink hair dressed like a butterfly who can often be seen in the background for the fist 12 episodes. Then comes episode 13, where she is finally introduced: she is Hiratsuka Raichou, considered by Ouka's Supernatural Phenomenon Treatment Bureau to be their biggest mistake and "The Empire's biggest traitor". Despite this, she has somehow become the Head of the Bureau, and is therefore the person in charge of "Operation Cozy Family", with all signs pointing to her as a future Big Bad.
- Maruko "Marco" Reiji, quarterback of the Hakushuu Dinosaurs, is introduced at the beginning of the Kantou arc in Eyeshield21 as a smooth, though somewhat cowardly player. Later on, his team becomes the final and most challenging opponent the Devilbats face in the Kantou Tournament.
- Not to mention Musashi, the player who won the Christmas Bowl for the Devil Bats, who was originally introduced as the no-name carpenter working on the team's club house long before it was revealed that he was one of the founing members of the Deimon Devil Bats.
- In the 9th volume of the the manga Rave Master Lucia Raregroove appears in a flashback. He and his mother are promptly killed off as part of his father's Freudian Excuse for Jumping Off The Slippery Slope. However, in the very same volume King pulls a Heel Face Turn, leading to the obligatory Heroic Sacrifice, leaving the manga without a Big Bad, with the story less than 1/3 completed. A few chapters later, guess who shows up to take over the role of Big Bad for the rest of the story's run? Turns out, Lucia was Not Quite Dead, after all. His mom was Killed Off For Real, though, as far as anybody knows.
- The frequent Early Bird Cameos in The Spectacular Spider Man function this way for a viewer unfamiliar with the Spider-Man mythos, as ostensibly tertiary characters are developed into supporting cast and antagonists.
- Stan Lee loves this, he did it to great effect in Spiderman The Animated Series in the early 90's. Nearly ever character who later becomes important as a villain or another hero appears first as an acquaintance of Parker. Eddie Brock in particular appears often in the first few episodes, and becomes Venom later in the season.
- In the original Spider-man comics, Norman Osborn was originally introduced as a nameless member of Mr. Jameson's club, and got upgraded to nameless friend of Jameson a while later. While he got a good deal of mostly non-speaking background appearances, he was barely noticed until he was revealed to be Harry Osborn's father about 2 years after his first appearance. 2 issues later he was revealed as the Green Goblin, who had been an active villain in the series for years.
- Throughout the movie Office Space, Milton's storyline is seemingly unconnected to the main plot, as inconvenience after inconvenience roll his way and he occasionally mutters a threat to burn down the building. In the end, he makes good on his threat, destroying the evidence of the main cast's embezzlement (while also stealing the money himself) and setting up for a happy ending.
- In The Dark Knight, the camera pays a certain amount of attention to Jim Gordon's fellow policewoman Ramirez. Near the end, cue The Reveal that Ramirez was the corrupt cop who drove Rachel to the place where she would die.
- In Yellow Submarine, Jeremy Hillary Boob Ph.D is introduced very conspicuously, complete with a character-introduction song. He then plays no role except light comic relief, and is kidnapped shortly after his introduction. In the end, he defeats the Blue Meanies once and for all, causing their leader to pull a Heel Face Turn by... making flowers grow all over his body.
- City of God features this type of character in Knockout Ned's story. The character Otto is seen briefly when Knockout Ned murders his father at the bank. In this case, the gunman is literally a gunman.
- In the film The Hunt For Red October the submarine's cook suspiciously lingering in the background when the political officer's body is bagged is at last revealed to be the saboteur.
- Played by the same actor who is finally revealed to be the hitman in The Bodyguard!
- NCIS is a bit of a repeat offender on this one. If someone gets a line but doesn't seem to be contributing to the main plot otherwise, they did it. (If the writers try to hide their non-involvement by stuffing them into a romantic subplot with a main character, they definitely did it.)
- Subverted in a recent episode, where the villain of the romantic subplot had not done it, even though he was suspected by a majority of the cast.
- Ethan Rom in Lost. In fact, Lost has a lot of these.
- Frasier Crane's first appearance on Cheers (Season 3, Episode 1: "Rebound, Part 1") was as a nameless bar patron, until Diane sprung it on Sam that her shrink happened to be at the bar, observing them the whole time! Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) eventually stayed on long after Diane (Shelley Long) left the show, and eventually got his own spin-off.
- In the Stargate Atlantis pilot "Rising", O'Neill's pilot (pun not intended) initially seems like a throwaway character... until he waltzes into the Antarctic outpost and it turns out that he possesses the Ancient gene, and is immediately recruited into the Atlantis Expedition. Turns out the pilot, Major Sheppard, is The Hero of the new series.
- Lampshaded in an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus where intergalactic blancmanges attempt to win Wimbledon. Two characters are introduced as "not the kind of people to be the centre of one of the most astounding incidents in the history of mankind... So let's forget about them and follow instead the destiny of this man". The couple then prove to be key to the resolution of the plot, and complain to the camera at the end of the sketch: "We tried to tell you at the beginning of the film but you just panned off us."
- Subverted by the "Man in Members Only Jacket" in the last episode of The Sopranos.
- Maybe not, considering how many people think he actually shot Tony.
- In the first episode of Firefly we see advertisements for the Blue Sun Corporation. A little bit later on, we see the characters using various products from them. It turns out that Blue Sun is one of the Big Bads that are peppered throughout the show, and their agents are a serious threat to our favorite crew.
- Eagle-eyed viewers of the classic Degrassi Junior High will spot numerous "extras" milling around the school that would later go on to play a major role in the series. One of whom was Spike, who wasn't even named for some time despite evolving into the crux of the drama at the end of the first season and turning into one of the franchise's longest running characters. You can see her at the school dance in the second episode as a throwaway character...making out with the guy who would later be the father of her child.
- In Role Playing Games, most RPGA tournament events followed this trope in that if someone was introduced passively, but by name, then that person would return by the end of the event either with the Super Weapon or as the Big Bad. One player was heard saying at Gen Con: "Of course I knew he was the bad guy. He was the first NPC we met who was an ass to us."
- Early on in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (the Broadway version, at least, this troper hasn't seen the original film...), Chief of Police Andre warns Lawrence, a master conman, that there is an infamous con artist even more skilled than him in town, known as the Jackal. This is promptly forgotten about for most of the show until "The Reckoning," at the climax of the story: after Ms. Colgate, Lawrence and Freddy's con target whom both men had fallen in love with, leaves the scene, having supposedly been swindled out of $50,000 by Freddy, Lawrence and Freddy find that they are the ones swindled out of $50,000, with the lone suitcase they have remaining to them merely containing Freddy's clothes and a note from Ms. Colgate that says "Goodbye, boys; it was fun! Love, The Jackal." A resounding standing ovation went throughout the theater at this revelation when this troper saw the show.
- The movie has the same plot twist, but afterwards The Jackal comes back with another mark, and quickly convinces Lawrence and Freddy to join her in conning the new mark; they respond by quickly getting into character.
- Zack in Final Fantasy VII is only mentioned off-handedly by Aerith, and an old couple early in the game, but of course he holds the key to figuring out Cloud's past. He's now considered important enough to warrant starring in a short anime and his own game, he even gets a last name (Fair). Even though anyone who's played FFVII knows how it will end...
- In Final Fantasy X a creepy and random child would appear every now and then, mainly forming in the main character Tidus' dreams. Eventually, he is revealed to be the Bahamut Fayth.
- In Mega Man Battle Network 2, every so often, a gray haired kid who doesn't speak when you talk to him pops up in random places. Sure enough, he's the Big Bad.
- Same thing happens with a certain Russian scientist in Battle Network 3...
- Also, a possible subversion... In the Mega Man Star Force anime, as the FM-ians are outside the TV station ready to gate-crash Libra's show, Hope Stelar/Akane Hoshikawa (Geo's/Subaru's mum) is seen walking nearby behind them (And with an arrow pointing her out in a style similar to how every Chekhov's Gun in Ouran High School Host Club is pointed out). Amusingly enough, she DOES end up as a contestant in Libra's show and beats Cancer at it, but she ends up losing all importance afterwards.
- The first meeting with Shandra Jerro in Neverwinter Nights 2 seems to serve no purpose and feels like filler. Then her grandfather becomes important to the plot. She's held Hostage For Mc Guffin, is rescued, joins the party...
- When players first meet Tabatha in Tales Of Symphonia, they are quick to write her off as a background NPC, or if they are savvy enough a failed vessel for Martel. By the end of the game she fulfils her original purpose; hosting the soul of Martel and becoming the guardian spirit of the new Tree of Mana.
- Valant Gramarye in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney.
- Ditto Daryan Crescend.
- Honestly, there's always at least one witness that turns out like this, if not the killer himself.
- In Wild ARMs 3, you'll occasionally notice a purple-haired little girl. She might just walk by for a second as you enter a town or dungeon, or show up standing near a plot-important character as he begins conspicuously talking to himself. She is, of course, the Manipulative Bastard Big Bad.
- Of course, THE example in video gaming would be the G-Man in Half Life who's seen in almost every level from the very beginning of the game in quick and silent appearances. Of course he turns out to be the most important character in the game.
- Secundo, the Ambiguously Gay and Ambiguously Spanish AI from Beyond Good And Evil. He appears briefly in the first half-hour, then slinks back into the shadows, mostly just spewing pre-set lines... Of course, in the end, he's able to hack into the broadcast satellite on the moon and project the evidence of the Alpha Section's atrocities to all of Hillys.
- Melchior in Chrono Trigger manages to pull it off twice. He's first introduced as a sympathetic merchant living near Medina, but turns out to be the only blacksmith capable of repairing the Masamune. Then it later turns out that he is one of the displaced gurus from 12,000 B.C.
- No One Lives Forever features a middle-age drunk civilian who appears in almost every level of the game. In the After The Credits reveal, he's shown to be the Big Bad Director of H.A.R.M., and serves as the main villain in the sequel.
- In the sandbox-style open-world First Person Shooter Boiling Point: Road to Hell, a patron in the bar at the beginning of the game turns out to be The game's Big Bad. Because most of the people in the game are Signpost NPCs with identical dialogue, it's very likely you'll ignore him and miss out on talking to him entirely, and thus have no idea who the character is supposed to be when he suddenly becomes relevant to the main plot towards the end of the game.
- The first few days in Persona 3 have over half the future Social Links making quick appearances.
- In Persona 4, the gas station attendant, who is the third character you meet at the very beginning of the game in a seemingly throwaway appearance punctuated by controller vibration turns out to be the one directly responsible for everything that happens. You don't find this out unless you're on the road to the True Ending.
- Captain Wesker in Resident Evil fits this quite well. He poofs off at the start of the fsking game and then turns out to be the Big Bad of the entire series. Thank god he's not a boss fight, is all I'm saying.
- When you beat Garland as the first boss of Final Fantasy 1, before the adventure properly begins, did you really think you'd ever see him again? And as the last boss, no less?
- It's pretty much standard that at least one character questioned for five seconds in an episode of Scooby Doo will invariably turn out to be the one perpetrating the Ghost Hoax of the Week. (And if two characters are questioned, always pick the one that's more helpful.)
- Lampshaded in a Foxtrot strip, when Jason and Marcus are trying to clear their names as suspects in the abduction of Eileen Jacobsen's diary. Early in the arc, Eileen's friend introduces her brother. At the end, he predictably turns out to be the culprit, prompting Jason and Marcus to cry:
Jason: Of course! The innocuous secondary character!
Marcus: Introduced, and then forgotten!
Phoebe: Scooby snacks are on me.
- It always seems to be the very first person whose full name is given, especially if it seems irrelevant at the time.
- Mildly subverted in Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law, with Bill Ken Sebben, Phil's twin brother. His introduction is so brief that it is even accompained by the voice-over, "...and his twin brother Bill, who was not worth mentioning up until this point." However, many episodes later he is mistaken for Phil, who died in the previous episode.
- Avatar The Last Airbender: Azula, who is first seen in a crowd during a flashback and by next season has replaced Zuko as the main antagonist.
- In WITCH, Elyon, who would eventually become the focus of a major part of the series is first introduced as a classmate of the main group, and is even introduces herself with another character that would remain a background character.
- During the second season finale we're introduced to a man that is a major part of the next story in the comics, but as the series didn't get another season, it's technically a Continuity Cameo.
- In Disney's Gargoyles, a lot of characters would be introduced like this. For example, before he was officially introduced, Matt Bluestone can be seen driving the police chief Maria Chavez around in one episode. The Archmage at first seems like a one-time villain to use in a flashback, until he returns with a vengeance. The uber example of this, however, has to be Vinnie, who is occasionally seen in the background having bad things happen to him thanks to the gargoyles, until he is focused on in an episode where decides to get revenge by shoving a pie into Goliath's face. He later joins the Quarrymen and ends up being a focal point of the first story of the comic and Goliath Chronicles (the latter of which is rendered not canon), where he decides to forget his vendetta; and according to Word Of God, his story still isn't over.
- Titania was first introduced as Fox's Mother several episodes before she appeared on screen, where she comments that Goliath earned her favor due to previous services renderd. Similarly, in his debue episode, Puck mentions that he works for humans, one in particular ("the human" in Demona's words), because they are fun. Nearly 40 episodes later he is revealed to be Owen Burnette, who had been a minor character since episode two. Word Of God insists that many of these developed around mid-season 2, mostly after the writing staff realized how much stuff said off hand came together with the newer stories.
- Kim Possible has a few of these. When Ron Stoppable had a speech Dr. Vivian Porter was briefly scene in the audience, in the next episode she got a main supporting role. Also in that episode Justine Flanner was scene in another set of an audience, and she got a main supporting role several episodes later.
- In Code Lyoko, William was introduced as the token "bad boy", played to be a romantic rival for Ulrich and not much else. However, in the third season finale, he's inducted into the Lyoko Warriors, gets possessed by XANA, and ends up being the enemy for the next season.
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm has a mobster that appears in the back of an old photo and is seen when Andrea and Bruce are about to talk to Andrea's father about the engagement. Turns out that's the man that would later become the Joker.
- Many, many people in Whateley Universe works. Given that the stories center around the 600 or so students at the Whateley Academy and their connections (plus the fact that the number of novels, novel chapters, short stories, novelettes, and vignettes now numbers over a hundred) it is sort of inevitable that characters seen in passing can become major players in later stories. Examples: Beltane (Kendall Forbes) gives the protagonists the campus tour on day one.. and much later gets her own leading role in "For Whom the Belle Tolls", as well as other appearances. The Headmistress gives a speech on the first day of classes.. and then turns out to also be the greatest superheroine around (in her spare time).
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