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Ensemble Darkhorse
I'm the only reason people watch Yu-Gi-Oh. Me, Seto Kaiba! ... Nobody would be watching this movie right now if it weren't for me!
Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series

A side character, either a non-lead secondary character or a mere Flat Character, can sometimes become unexpectedly popular with the fandom (sometimes, even more than the lead characters) depending on who and where the fandom is.

The writers or producers may be tempted to Re Tool the show's premise to put them in the spotlight. Even though this has worked in the past, this is still usually a bad idea.

However, it's still good business to bring Darkhorse characters back, even if they were originally meant to be featured for only a short time. Thus, episodes which do not specifically require a certain character will be more likely to use the Ensemble Darkhorse.

In anime, these characters often receive elevated popularity by becoming the grain in the mill of strange Internet memes.

See also The Fonzie, Super Grape, Lower Deck Episode, A Day In The Limelight and Cardinal Wolsey. The polar opposite of this trope is The Wesley -- a character who becomes prominent despite the fans' wishes. A character who becomes popular, despite the author's intentions, is Draco In Leather Pants -- an example of Misaimed Fandom.
Examples:

Literature
  • R.A. Salvatore originally meant for his popular dark elf character Drizzt Do'Urden to be a side-character for Wulfgar, Drizzt's barbarian pupil, in the first novel they appeared in; he claims to have come up with him on the spot when his agent asked for a sidekick for Wulfgar. Naturally, at this point, they're collectively known as the Drizzt books.
  • Murtagh from Eragon, who to some arguably is cooler than the eponymous hero, and a lot less whiny about it.
  • Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape from Harry Potter. Oh so much. Luna Lovegood, too.
  • George RR Martin has stated that he is surprised by the popularity of Sandor Clegane in A Song Of Ice And Fire. Apparently George didn't get the memo that Badass antiheroes with cool scars and tragic pasts are in. Especially when his interaction with a pretty young POV character just oozes Bodyguard Crush and Beast And Beauty vibes.
    • Bronn experiences the same effect, though to a lesser extent.
    • Interestingly enough, GRRM has admitted that Darkstar was a deliberate attempt to create an Ensemble Darkhorse. The fan reaction to this character helps cement the rule that intentional Ensemble Darkhorses don't actually become Ensemble Darkhorses.
  • Raistlin in the Dragonlance books, which are very much a literal Tabletop RPG ensemble to begin with.

Anime
  • Her repeated highest ranking in popularity polls got Sailor Moon's Ami the only character-specific TV special in the series.
  • Likewise, Simoun's "ore-onna" Yun instantly became very popular with fans, much to the surprise of the producers, which may have taken a Red Shirt off of her. She later became very important, picking up a Story Arc meant for another character.
  • Makie the gymnast in Mahou Sensei Negima, who is usually not included in shots featuring the most plot-relevant girls. This was eventually poked fun at in the Negima?! Idiot Rangers segment, where Makie's introductions are always cut off by the ending of the show.
  • Schoolgirl Lesbian Shizuru Fujino from Mai-HiME was popular enough amongst fans (especially females) that it likely contributed to her upgrade into a major recurring ally and part of one of Mai-Otome's Official Couples.
    • Among Mai-Otome characters (at least those original to the series), Erstin Ho was merely a secondary recurring character who died a tragic death halfway through the anime, but her status as The Woobie has made her almost as popular as main characters Arika, Nina and Mashiro.
  • Despite appearing in only one episode, Kaworu in Neon Genesis Evangelion is extremely popular in that show's fandom, which merchandise reflects. However, the manga makes it clear he was probably intended to be much creepier. Then again, that was supposed to apply to Rei, too...
  • Wholesome Crossdresser Watarase Jun in Happiness! was so expectedly popular he not only got a path in the game, he was the star of the first OAV for the show.
  • In Bubblegum Crisis, Priss Asagiri was originally supposed to die and be replaced by the character Vision. However, popularity directed writers to have her survive, even though the same amount of damage that was originally supposed to kill her still occurred. This has led the fandom to joke about her being immortal.
  • Tsuruya from Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu practically embodies this trope, especially the megas internet meme point, nyoro~n! The more primary character Yuki is also more popular than one would expect, given the show has a self-declared "moe character", but also because Yuki's main development occurs in the not-yet-animated books.
    • To a lesser extent, Taniguchi (one of Those Two Guys) also applies, especially after his voice actor's success as an Ensemble Darkhorse on Lucky Star. In fact, Taniguchi and Minoru Shiraishi could be said to be one single, transcendental cross-series Ensemble Darkhorse. One word: "Wawawawasuremono."
  • coughVegetacoughcoughBrollycough
  • Minoru in Lucky Star is one of the most popular characters, at least in-show, despite being one of the few male characters. In Lucky Channel, he explains this as a odd tendancy of fans to attach to characters who barely appear in a show.
  • Hoshino Ruri of Martian Successor Nadesico, who was eventually made the star of the series' movie.
  • Toshiro Hitsugaya of Bleach (a White Haired Pretty Boy) and Zaraki Kenpachi (a Heroic Sociopath) stand out from the numerous characters introduced in Bleach's Soul Society arc. Hitsugaya was named the series' most popular character in the 2008 poll and is extremely popular in Japan, while Kenpachi is popular elsewhere and has had quite a few Crowning Moments of Awesome. Of course, in both cases popularity has produced a backlash and a variety of Flame Wars. Hitsugaya even got a movie focusing on him.
    • The amount of cheering and squealing that this troper heard whenever either character appeared onscreen at a showing of the Bleach movie seems to confirm their status.
    • Hitsugaya even appeared as a playable character in the game Jump! Ultimate Stars along with Ichigo, Rukia and Renji, despite not being a main character.
  • Perhaps the only reason people know about Rozen Maiden is through the Memetic Mutation of Suiseiseki, desu~
  • Hinagiku Katsura from Hayate The Combat Butler. Despite being the one with probably the least screen time of the recurring side characters, she edges out even the leads on popularity polls by a comfortable amount. The producers seem to have caught on to this, seeing how the vast majority of the series' Relax O Vision fanservice shots are of her and how she received her very own Ship Tease episode with the title character.
  • Iruka Umino of Naruto appears rather infrequently, and in fact went without an appearance in the manga for over four years. Yet he has consistently placed within the top five characters in popularity polls.
    • Another example in Naruto is Shikamaru. He placed as high as fourth and fifth overall in popularity polls despite appearing no more than any other side character. Perhaps due to this popularity, he is one of the few non main characters to get significant character development and regularly appear post timeskip.
    • Naruto also features a character that may well be the ultimate Ensemble Darkhorse: Hayate Gekko, the Jonin with the Incurable Cough Of Death. He placed eighth overall in a popularity poll despite his only actions being overseeing the third round of the Chuunin exams, stumbling onto the Sand and Sound villages' plan to invade, being found out, and dying instantly.
    • Anko is also really popular, despite only appearing in the Chuunin Exam arc and never being seen in the manga again. This is probably why she had several brief appearances and a filler arc in the anime.
    • Similarly, Hinata is rather popular, despite only making a significant appearance in the Chuunin Exam arc. Most likely because of her Fan Of Underdog nature and being part of the Fan Preferred Couple. That and the amount of filler in which she plays a prominent role.
  • Even though he was only created for the anime, Escargoon from Kirby probably counts -- at the very least, he fared better among the fandom than Fumu and Bun did.
  • Atobe Keigo and his Hyoutei Gakuen team from The Prince Of Tennis.
  • Probably due to his relative nonchalance in the face of intense characters like Light, Near, and Mello, the character Matt in Death Note has become a fan favorite, despite only appearing for about 14 panels in the manga and four minutes of screentime in the anime. His role borders on Spear Carrier, as basically the only important thing he did was help Mello kidnap Kiyome and then he died.
    • The popularity of the "second" generation (Mello, Near, and Matt) as a whole is probably in large part thanks to a generous helping of Ho Yay. Mello and Near have a rivalry that many can interpret as Foe Yay, and Matt's actions suggest (at least to fans) that he's a great friend of Mello's.
  • Yu Gi Oh: Seto Kaiba, Seto Kaiba, Seto Kaiba. SETO KAIBA. This occurs to such a degree that one could argue liking Yugi, the main character is rarer.
  • Arguably Lum in Urusei Yatsura, to the point where Rumiko Takahashi was forced to retool the Official Couple from Ataru and Shinobu to Ataru and Lum. This is probably the reason for Takahashi's backlash against unintended fanon pairings in later series, as a safeguard against this kind of situation happening again.
  • Takasugi Shinsuke in Gintama. He's only appeared in a few manga chapters and episodes, he's the only one in the series not to have some sort of hilarious appeal -- and he still managed to place high in the popularity polls.
    • Similarly, Shinsengumi member and badminton fanatic Yamazaki Sagaru ranked high among fans, but creator Sorachi Hideaki has stated he will never be featured on the cover of any of the manga volumes. One can only hope he'll change his mind.
  • Tomoyo Sakagami from Clannad. She is one of the main heroines that doesn't have a dedicated arc for her in the anime (unlike Fuko and Kotomi). And the result? A special episode set in an alternate universe where Tomoya ends up with her instead of Nagisa. And then there's the sequel to her Visual Novel route, Tomoyo After...
  • Jeremiah "Orange-kun" Gottwald from Code Geass may well be one of the posterboys for the Ensemble Darkhorse. Initially little more than a racist minor villain, the soul-crushingly humiliating way in which Lelouch bests him turned him into both The Woobie and an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain - with a fan-following big enough that the producers rewrote his entire storyline, sparing him from an ignoble early death and having him eventually turn into an major antagonist for Lelouch who ties into the Geass mystery plotline. His first full appearance in the second season even seems to include a tip of the hat to the fans, as his last line of dialog seems to be directed more at the viewers than the person to whom he is speaking.
    • The English dubbing studio apparently read this and successfully hired fan favorite voice actor Crispin Freeman to do his voice. It did nothing save boosting his popularity even further.
    • And to make his Darkhorse-ness more damn obvious, by the second season, he Took A Level In Badass.
    • And to make it even more more obvious, He undergoes a Heel Face Turn in episode 13.
  • For reasons that can't really be explained to outsiders (in part because we don't even quite know), the Akira fandom has a good-sized faction of obsessive Kai fans. Despite the fact that he gets about five lines in the film, never becomes more than a minor character in the manga, and most of the more casual fans don't even seem to notice him at all.
  • Creepy Stalker Mizore Shirayuki is the overwhelming favorite for most Westerners in Rosario To Vampire, and the main reason many (this one included) even bothered to watch the otherwise mediocre show. The anti-social yet earnest and sincere girl struck close to home for many of the more... socially awkward anime fans.
  • In Ikki Tousen, Kan'u Unchou/Guan Yu has a lot of backings and popularity despite not being the main character, being admitted as the sexiest between the bunch (never mind that everyone else was just as sexy, with all those Fanservice galore) and her story and of course her power. Even in though the third season her character is in danger of being completely destroyed with Flanderization, her fandom still remained as strong as ever.

Live Action TV
  • Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert in A Different World.
  • Steve Urkel in Family Matters started out this way; the series moved from being about a middle-class black family with a Wacky Neighbor to the Mad Science adventures of Urkel and his attempts to win Laura's heart.
    • Even becoming a Wacky Neighbor was due to his Darkhorse nature. He started out as a one-shot character, set up as a blind prom date for Laura by her father, the single most harmless, nonthreatening guy he could possibly find. The studio audience fell in love with the character; by the end of the episode, they were chanting "URKEL! URKEL! URKEL!" at his entrances. In the next episode, Urkel was retconned into being the Winslows' next-door neighbor, and Family Matters shot up in the ratings to become ABC's flagship show.
  • Buffy The Vampire Slayer had several, and two of special note: Spike, who went from single-season (originally intended to live three episodes) villain to main cast member, and Anya, who went from a single-episode villain to main cast member. Reportedly, both Tara and Joyce (Buffy's mom) were supposed to die well before they did, but the writers kept putting it off because they were liked by the fans.
  • Perhaps the living definition of this trope is Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli, who went from a minor sub-character (he has only a few lines in the pilot of Happy Days), to a major part of most episodes, then to a co-headliner, and finally to the main star of the show once Ron Howard left the series.
  • To a much, much lesser extent of the trope, "Pick Boy" of U-Pick Live, one of Nickelodeon's afternoon in-between-shows programs. Pick Boy is a egotistical yet naive "Super Hero", whose main job is to "pick" people from the studio audience to participate in games. Pick Boy became a prominent character, and target of many polls at nick.com, such as "What kind of hairstyle should Pick Boy have?" Despite his popularity, Pick Boy was kicked-off the show when he was voted the most in a poll asking "Who should be kicked off from the show forever?", but was brought back next season. Even after U-pick Live ended over two years ago, his character is constantly used, and has made many appearances in ads, in the 2006 and 2007 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, and even the show that succeeded U-pick Live, Me TV.
  • An example of a successful Re Tool which made an Ensemble Darkhorse into a lead 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.
  • Smallville has Chloe Sullivan, who, while not taking over the show, has been revealed as one of the "meteor freaks" and thus taken on greater significance in the series' plot. DC Comics announced that she would become a Canon Immigrant to the comics, but later shelved the idea.
  • The characters of Kimber and Gina on Nip/Tuck were both originally intended as one-offs, but were promoted to main-character status due to unusually strong performances by their respective actors and resonance with the fandom.
  • Something similar to the above occurred to Badass Normal HRG (Mr. Noah Bennet) of Heroes, complete with Back Story A Day In The Limelight episode. Other Ensemble Darkhorses are Hiro (especially when paired with his "hetero life-mate" Ando), Peter, Sylar, and Claude.
  • Ron Moore and crew famously intended to leave Helo stranded on post-nuke Caprica after the Battlestar Galactica miniseries, but were besieged by viewers wanting to know how he was going to survive: ironically, his rescue has led to several major plot points. The show also features a strong and relatively unchanging core cast, many minor members of which have become unaccountably popular in fandom.
  • The cross-dressing Corporal Max Klinger on M*A*S*H was meant to be a one-time joke, but eventually became a regular.
  • Barclay in Star Trek The Next Generation started as a minor character in a Day In The Limelight episode, but then became something of a Darkhorse as the series progressed.
  • Speaking of Star Trek, there's Garak, perhaps the Darkhorse of Star Trek Deep Space Nine, who started out as a minor character with a mysterious past and became a crucial part of the later seasons' intrigues.
    • Morn is in even better example. He began as an extra who could be seen doing nothing at Quark's Bar. He never even talked. But he became so popular that not only did the character get mentioned constantly (usually said to be a huge talker) and even got an entire episode dedicated to him, Who Morns for Morn?
  • A case can also be made for the holographic Doctor in Voyager
    • Also Seven of Nine. Which is impressive, since at first glance, she looks like Ms Fanservice incarnate -- but she can act.
  • Dr. Frasier Crane, rivaled only by The Fonz. He was originally created for a one-season arc in Cheers as Diane's love interest, but due to his popularity was brought back for all subsequent seasons as a regular character. He would later go on to have his own spin-off that would last only one year less than Cheers (for a total of 11 seasons) and launch Kelsey Grammar's career with significant star power behind it.
  • Bulk and Skull from Power Rangers. While present in numerous episodes as the comedy relief, on rare occasions they showed a noble side. Most notably and successfully, they led the entire town of Angel Grove in an I Am Spartacus, presenting themselves as Power Rangers.
    • Don't forget about Tommy Oliver, Jeebus himself. Power Rangers wasn't cool until he showed up, he was made into the star, and they brought him back for both the tenth anniversary Reunion Show and an entire encore season. He might be the franchise's original Spotlight Stealing Squad.
  • Hooch is Scrubs' most popular side-character. At first, he was just a background surgeon used to punctuate a joke about J.D. assuming "Hooch" was the name of a black guy in "Turner & Hooch" (for the record, it's the name of the dog in the Tom Hanks movie Turner and Hooch). Towards the end of that episode, as he got more annoyed at people calling him "Hooch", he started displaying a charmingly Ax Crazy personality as he yelled at them to stop, prompting characters to say the sort-of Catch Phrase "Hooch is crazy!" Thanks to this, he became loved by many fans, especially for his many quotables, despite being in only four season four episodes. Because of this positive response, creator Bill Lawrence made sure to fit him into the season seven premiere. Unlike other shows, Scrubs is pretty good at making sure they don't overuse an Ensemble Darkhorse.
  • Stephen Colbert from The Daily Show, which eventually led to him getting his own show.
  • Chloe O'Brien from 24. Especially interesting as she was hated by the fandom until she started becoming awesome halfway through season three.
  • The Daleks of Doctor Who definitely qualify. In 1963, nothing even remotely resembling them had ever been seen before, and their stellar popularity caused them to be upgraded from one-time Monsters Of The Week to return appearances in season two and season three. They were Killed Off For Real in season four, but by that time, Joker Immunity had firmly set in.
    • Captain Jack Harkness, one of the Doctor's companions, travelled with the Doctor for exactly five episodes. He became such a fan favourite (once being voted by readers in a sci-fi magazine as the best companion of all time) that he was eventually given his own show (and still appears occasionally on Doctor Who).
      • Speaking of Jack's own show, Ianto Jones was originally slated to die around the fourth episode, but due to huge and surprising popularity (mostly because of the canon slash between him and Jack) is one of the few characters to survive to the end of the second series.
  • The womanizing Barney from How I Met Your Mother is one of the most popular characters on the show.
  • David Hodges from CSI.
  • From Mystery Science Theater 3000's worst movie came its most enduring guest character -- Torgo, the stammering, swollen-kneed, scruffy-bearded, ratty-clothed, thoroughly creepy yet ineffectual henchman to The Master. Not only does he make numerous appearances and cameos in the host segments over the next couple seasons, he's even given an epic fate as he becomes Torgo the White.
  • Old Greg from The Mighty Boosh is one of their best known characters, and one of the most often imitated. He only has probably about a page's worth of dialogue, but more than a few fans of the show could recite the entirety of it.
  • This might be the only reason why Supernatural hasn't killed off Bobby yet. Then again, fans loved Hendricksen, and look what happened to him.
    • Arguably, Dean himself. The writers have said that he was originally meant to be the wacky sidekick, but they found out that they could rely on Jensen Ackles for pretty much anything, and now some fans say that they've given Dean too much of the characterization and Sam not enough.
  • While River Tam appears in every episode of Firefly, she usually plays a fairly small role, but is still considered one of the main characters by many of the shows' fans. It is partially helped by the fact that she gets three of the fourteen episodes of the series focusing on her, plays a major role in two more, and is one of the two main characters in the Big Damn Movie.
  • So great is the popularity of Badass Longcoat Omar Little in The Wire, it can come as a shock to remember that he didn't even get a credit in the opening sequence until the third season.
    • Of great credit to the show's writers is that they didn't attempt to retool the show around him, and in fact treat him as simply a gangster like any other
  • The DenLiner Imagin - Momotaros, Urataros, Kintaros, and Ryutaros - and Deneb from Kamen Rider Den-O were just the Non Human Sidekicks to the show's main heroes, but by the end of the year, their popularity had overtaken the show itself. Mostly the Taros'. This prompted several musical releases, a spinoff anime starring them, and two additional movies for the series.
  • April Tuna, of Popular. The sexually aggressive nerd was the weirdest and often best part of the show.
  • Alex Keaton of Family Ties. The Dom Com was designed as a star vehicle for Meredith Baxter-Birney, formerly one of the daughters on the drama series Family. However, Michael J. Fox's performance, as the over-the-top Republican foil to his former hippie parents, won over the audience such that most of the plots soon centered around him.
  • Methos of Highlander. He was originally supposed to die at the end of the third season, but he stayed alive for the whole series and the two movies that came afterwards because he was a terribly popular character. So popular, in fact, that some fans regularly remind others that Duncan Mc Leod is supposed to be the hero of the series (people tend to forget that).
  • Both Ben and Desmond on Lost. Each was intended to have only a short arc, with the door left open to become a regular. Both proved popular and became important characters.
  • Summer Roberts and Julie Cooper were not originally supposed to be main character in The OC, and their actors were listed as guest stars - even though Rachel Bilson (Summer) was in every episode of the first season, and Melinda Clarke (Julie) was only absent a couple of times. Taylor Townsend might be an even more striking example as she was introduced as a mere minor villain, but ended up not only surving her arc (and quickly switching over to the side of good) but becoming a main character at the beginning of the following season, and then romantic interest to the main character.

Western Animation
  • Chew Toy Waspinator in Transformers: Beast Wars is a pretty good example, despite not taking over the show. He was slated to be killed off at the start of the second season, but due to the unlucky Predacon's popularity among fans, he was spared, and continued as a supporting character, played for increasingly painful and humiliating comic relief, and his personality continued to develop. He also became just the third character outside of G1 to get an alternate version in another continuity (Wasp in Animated)
  • Kim Possible was initially promoted as "ferociously talented cheerleader's adventures as a Part Time Hero and super spy" but was actually "Unlucky Everydude Ron Stoppable's adventures as sidekick to a Magical Girlfriend". Ron even saved the day (and his girlfriend) in the Grand Finale (the real one) instead of Kim.
  • Numerous characters in Family Guy. As far as major characters go, Stewie, Brian, and Glen Quagmire are probably the big breakouts. Popular minor recurrers include Herbert the pedophile, Ernie the Giant Chicken, Greased-Up Deaf Guy and Ollie Williams.
    • And let's not forget "The Evil Monkey".
  • Several characters in Justice League Unlimited, but most notably the Question. How could you not love a character that breaks into secret government organizations while singing off-key Britney Spears knock-off tunes?
  • Pinky And The Brain from Animaniacs, which led to a spin-off starring them.
  • A classic example: Donald Duck arguably fits the bill (if you'll mind the pun). After Mickey Mouse became much more relaxed and "boring" (an attempt to make him a better role model for the kids who liked him) a character was needed to embody the more negative qualities that made the cartoons fun. Donald's bad temper and amusing speech patterns made him a hit and he is usually at the center of most of the big laughs in the cartoons he is featured (or, as his popularity has grown, starring) in.
  • Despite appearing in only five episodes, Cheese from Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends is one of the most well-liked characters, dominating most of the merchandise of the show. This is likely because the target audience is young, and Cheese is a Ralph Wiggum.
    • Cheese does mostly what was the most fun/wacky when we were five years old... unlike Ralph who only display pure idiocy but not high-octane playfulness. Which is why Cheese is the ensemble darkhorse - he gives a shout out to it here, and it's extra cheesy (the main characters seem to be jealous)!
  • Invader Zim has Tak. Despite appearing in precisely one episode, the amount of Fan Art depicting her can easily confuse new fans into thinking she's part of the main cast. She had one planned reappearance before the cancellation of the series, but it's certain her popularity would have resulted in many more.
  • Another one-shot character with a large fanart following would be Foxglove the bat of Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers.
  • Schnitzel of Chowder. Almost all of the commercials for the show primarily feature Schnitzel as opposed to the titular character.
  • The original Ensemble Darkhorse of South Park was the Jerkass Cartman, but he was followed by the disabled kid Timmy and the Butt Monkey Butters. Kenny also has a sizeable fandom, even getting him brought Back From The Dead.

Film
  • Film example: Boba Fett was an ancillary character in the original Star Wars series, with four lines of dialogue in The Empire Strikes Back and a non-speaking role in Return of the Jedi, in which he fell into the mouth of the Sarlaac and presumably died. The character became so popular among fans (owing in part to the rarity of his action figure in the early '80s) that he eventually became a major character in the Expanded Universe, his death was written out of the canon (he used a thermal detonator on the Sarlacc if you want to know), and the character was written into the movie prequels. Wedge Antilles can also be seen this way; his appearances in the original trilogy are short, but has evolved into a General and commander of the New Republic's armed forces in the Expanded Universe. This may have something to do with being the only character to survive both Death Star runs.
  • After, of course, Jack Sparrow, the most popular character in Pirates Of The Caribbean may indeed be Davy Jones. Although he is a villain, he's not quite Draco In Leather Pants, because he was actually intended to be sympathetic. And, you know, he's kind of a squid person.
  • The original Pink Panther film was designed as a star vehicle for David Niven as a charming gentleman thief. Unluckily for Niven, a little-known British actor named Peter Sellers was cast as the thief's nemesis, the bumbling Inspector Clousseau, and ended up completely stealing the film, leaving everyone who saw it thinking of him as the main character. Several other movies were made featuring Clousseau, and when the thief character returned, he was played by Christopher Plummer.
  • In The Lord of the Rings, a silent background elf at Elrond's Council, played by Bret Mc Kenzie, gained a very, very devoted following of fans. They referred to him as Figwit (short for "Frodo is great... who is that?"). Figwit's popularity grew so enormously that the asked Mc Kenzie to come back in the third movie, and even gave him a line. He is referred to as "Figwit" even on official merchandise.
    • Same for Legolas, who gets introduced half into the movie, only gets a couple of lines and manages to get a huge horde of fangirls. He does get a Crowning Moment of Awesome at the end of the third movie, though, when he defeats a huge oliphant and every warrior on it all by himself with only a bow and a couple of knives.
  • M. Night Shyamalan put a film critic in Lady in the Water mainly so he could bash film critics for not liking The Village. A great many viewers felt this critic was the only likeable character in the film.

Video Games
  • Zero from the Mega Man X series was originally intended to be just in the first game, hence his death; however, he turned out to be so popular that he was revived in the second game. He even got his own critically acclaimed series of games later on.
    • The creator of the Mega Man series, Keiji Inafune, wanted Zero to be the star of the Mega Man X series from the start. It was only Executive Meddling that caused him to create X, because he'd be more familiar to people who had played previous Mega Man games.
    • Later, Zero was going to be written out of the Mega Man X series (and possibly even end the series) by putting him in a pod for 100 years to come out in Mega Man Zero. However, they wanted to use him in the X timeline again, so this scene (Zero's ending in X6) was declared to be a "bonus ending" taking place after the rest of the series.
    • Harpuia became a huge Ensemble Darkhorse during the run of the Zero series, and Girouette was almost one for the ZX series until it turned out he was a Sacrificial Lamb. Come to think of it, he might be one anyway. The Zero series spawned a few minor/temporary ones, like Chilldre Inarabitta.
  • The Half Life's generic security guards are a peculiar example: The face texture for the guard bore a strong resemblance to Barney Fife from The Andy Griffith Show, and after one of them (named Barney Calhoun) gained his own Expansion Pack, he became a main character in the sequel.
    • In fact, pretty near all the generic character models were turned into main characters for the sequel. Mostly due to the fact the original Half Life has an Excuse Plot, and the sequel has an actual plot.
  • Shadow the Hedgehog fit this trope before becoming The Wesley.
    • The Sonic series seems to have rotating Ensemble Darkhorse privileges. Knuckles was the original (eventually given his own standalone game), to be replaced with little-used recurrer Fang the Sniper. Fang was displaced by Shadow, but with the black hedgehog indisposed due to his own Wangst and the collapse of the games around him, he's been replaced in the fandom by...Mighty the Armadillo, a character seen in two 2-D era games and never heard from again (except in the comic books).
  • Murray, the Mighty Demonic Skull from The Curse of Monkey Island. Originally a one-shot character scheduled to appear only during the opening sequence, feedback on the demo -- which featured the full conversation with a maniacal, animated, Card Carrying Villain skull with an over-the-top Evil Laugh and plans for world domination -- convinced the creators to turn him into a Recurring Character who even got a spot in the follow-up, Escape From Monkey Island.
  • Tachibana Ukyo from Samurai Shodown, a badass swordsman afflicted with tuberculosis, was intended for death early on in the series. However, due to popularity among fans, he was not killed off and has appeared throughout the series.
  • Cammy from the Street Fighter series. Originally the only other "chick" in the roster, she became popular enough to appear in several of the game's crossovers. Sakura, who debuted in Street Fighter Alpha 2, also became popular enough to have her own comic book, which spawned the Canon Immigrant character Karin, who appeared as her rival in Alpha 3.
    • Karin also has a small but dedicated fanbase despite only appearing in three games (Alpha 3, Capcom Fighting Evolution, and Namco X Capcom, where she is teamed with Sakura).
    • Dan Hibiki, the quintessential Joke Character, has also become unusually popular because of his status as such.
  • While Mario's characterisation was deliberately kept flat, showing kindheartedness and determination and little else, his brother Luigi developed a far more comical, cowardly personality, with repeated hints that he also harbours a dark side and terrible hidden secrets. He also has a huge complex about being second fiddle to his older brother. The addition of his extremely weird Final Smash in Brawl (said to be "symbolic of the darkness he's found in his brother's shadow") helped cement him as the fan favourite.
    • And while the joke in the Mario RPG games (the ones he appears in, anyway) tend to be based around "Who is Luigi?" there IS a scene in Superstar Saga where, after assuming Luigi is simply the head of Mario's fanclub, he is recognized as the equally legendary (albeit ignored) Luigi! A great moment for this troper, a big fan of the Eternal Understudy.
  • Kazuya Mishima in Tekken. His immense popularity even after his death in Tekken 2 (which still went strong after the non-canon game Tekken Tag Tournament) caused the producers to bring him back to the canon story in Tekken 4.
    • Also from the same game, Nina Williams. A staple character in the series, and the first one to get a spinoff game (which unfortunately bombed).
  • Adrian Andrews, a central character to the final case of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All and had a minor appearance in the 2nd case of the 3rd game, Trials and Tribulations, is far more popular in the fandom than any other side character. This partly has to do with her having the central role in a fan-favorite case, but more importantly, there's the implied Les Yay between her and the Whip It Good Prosecutor Franziska von Karma. This might also be because fairly early in the case, she turned from being a hard-edged talent agent into a soft-hearted puppy, because she was the real victim all along.
    • Before Adrian Andrews, there was Phoenix's rival, Miles Edgeworth. Recently, Capcom announced a Gaiden Game, Perfect Prosecutor, starring him and the resident Butt Monkey Dick Gumshoe. According to rumors, Adrian will also be making an appearance there.
  • Kyosuke Nanbu and Excellen Browning are probably the Ensemble Darkhorses of the whole Super Robot Wars franchise, starting from their appearance in SRW Compact 2. Their game was remade into the high-profile SRW Impact (with an overhauled engine, unlike Super Robot Wars 4 's graphical upgrade), and both were added to the Original Generation series, with Kyosuke as one of the selectable protagonists. In OG 2, Kyosuke and Excellen's story was the main focus, pulling in the protagonists of SRW Advance. Kyosuke was probably the biggest secondary character in OG Gaiden. And both Haken & Kaguya and Namco X Capcom's Reiji Arisu & Xiaomu seem to be Expies of Kyosuke & Excellen.
    • SRW Advance 's protagonists Axel Almer and Lamia Loveless are slowly moving into this too. Despite his Flanderization in the GBA version of OG 2, Axel's personality got rectified in the remake, and he came Back From The Dead with a Heel Face Turn in OG Gaiden. Lamia was focused on in the OVA, and in OG Gaiden, she has an even bigger role than Kyosuke and Excellen. As well, along with the rest of the Shadow Mirrors, they're starring in a Mugen no Frontier drama CD. Lamia also has an official Expy in form of Aschen Brodel, a more arguable one in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha's Signum, and another in Soulgain of Mugen no Frontier: Arkgain. Furthermore, the Drama CD included in Mugen no Frontier also adds up a small fact that Axel fared better against Beowulf, though he lost the fight, he still won his overall war against Beowulf.
  • Leon Magnus of Tales Of Destiny consistently tops the Tales character popularity lists (Kratos Aurion did top him out during the Symphonia boom, but once the Tales Of Destiny remake came out, Leon got back to the top). He was a Draco In Leather Pants in the original game, was brought back as Judas in the sequel, and got his own game mode in the Directors Cut remake. He also made appears in Namco X Capcom as Judas.
  • Fire Emblem 4 has Ayra the sword mistress, probably due to the fact that she's one of the most powerful units early in the game due to her Meteor Sword skill. Her looks and attitude (cold, tough, ass-kicking on the outside, but quite a sweety on the inside) also help out. In fact, you can be assured if there's some fans wishing that Fire Emblem 4 gets represented in other games, if it's not Sigurd, or Celice, it's her.
    • Nino from 7 also qualifies, takeing first place in a Nintendo of Japan popularity poll (ahead of the main characters); many people assume this is for unwholesome reasons, the same poll also show Matthew might be an example, placeing ahead of Lyn.
    • In the same vein as Ayra, Mia (Wayu) from the 9th and 10th games has an equal fandom without actual importance. The Myrmidon/Swordmaster/Trueblade classes always have some ammount of fandom especially when said character is a Hot Chick with a cool sword.
    • 8 has Joshua, the game's first Myrmidon. There was a certain degree of lot of Nice Hat involved, with a side of Bishonen.
  • One of the most bizarre Ensemble Darkhorse characters ever is the Weighted Companion Cube from Portal. It's literally just an inanimate box.
  • Admiral ZEX from Star Control II has a surprising amount of appeal outside the main fan site, but he's no Draco In Leather Pants; female fans simply tend to find him attractive for his canon personality, as this troper refuses to let anyone forget.
  • Sasha Nein, the almost-emotionless German secret agent from Psychonauts, has an almost absurdly huge fanbase. This is probably because he has an angsty backstory, and we all know how much fangirls love that. Alternatively, it could be that they just find his deep, smooth, German accent sexy.
    • Psychonauts also has D'Artagnan, the original protagonist, who was cut for being hard to render. Nonetheless, he does get a quick cameo reference in the end, and fans seem to have latched on to him as well.
  • Highlord Mograine, AKA The Ashbringer, from World Of Warcraft.
  • The Captain, a wannabe-character who only serves as someone Arthas can talk to in the human campaign of Warcraft III has attained many fans among the community.
  • The Rabbids from the Rayman games have overshadowed the titular character.
  • The Metal Gear Solid series has Psycho Mantis, ever-popular for his No Fourth Wall Mind Screw boss fight, Sniper Wolf, who still suceeds in making gamers cry, the AI simulation Colonel and his memetically-delicious "I need scissors! 61!", and the perplexing example of Raikov, who exists solely to be knocked unconscious and impersonated (and provide some Ho Yay with the game's Big Bad, but surely that's irrelevant). The best example, however, has to be The Box (tm).
  • Although they only appeared in two games, the Dynamic Duo of Suikoden, 'Blue Lightning' Flik and The Toblerone Viktor, remain as fan favorites and fans have been wishing that if the chronological setting is correct, they would reappear again. Too bad Konami never thought of that since their last appearance (though, they did get some mention in the third game)
  • Sergeant-Major Avery Johnson from the Halo series of videogames started out as an expendable, randomly spawned Marine. In Halo 2, he is promoted two grades at once, from Staff Sergeant to Sergeant-Major, hailed as the only survivor besides the Master Chief of the events pf the first Halo game(despite the presence throughout the game of Gunnery Sergeant Stacker and PFC Chips Dubbo, two other Marine survivors). In Halo 3, Johnson heroically sacrifices himself so Chief can destroy the Flood.
  • The World Ends With You has Sho Minamimoto, by virtue of being the quirkiest of the game's Quirky Miniboss Squad... and possessing a freakin' sweet hat, which you can equip yourself for a big ability boost before the Final Boss battle.
  • HK-47 from Knights Of The Old Republic. Due to his witty lines and Heroic Sociopath status, he is arguably as popular as Revan within the fandom. Due to his popularity, Obsidian had him make a return in the sequel as an optional party member.
  • Organization XIII from Kingdom Hearts. See also Draco In Leather Pants.
  • It is practically a given that in Fate Stay Night fandom, Archer has more fans than Shirou. They could have let him live in at least one ending... No, I'm not bitter.
    • The release of Unlimited Blade Works, however, may also put Lancer in this position. This troper swears that after the release, a lot of message boards (those who played UBW) were saying "Lancer is more GAR than Archer!" And yes, he's never alive by the end of any scenarios like Archer.