History Main / NonProtagonistResolver

* ''Fanfic/PartyCrusher'': Kim, by [[spoiler:getting critical information to the others about Hawk Moth and Party Crasher, allows Bunnyx to resolve the akuma problem by time travel. Pegasus unknowingly saves Emilie as well, by clearing the party to avoid a panic and getting Markov unplugged]].

--> '''Adam Blake''': I'm not complaining about what you did, Paul. But you left, and Vega had to forge ahead without you. And this is what happened. That peace you thought you were trying to broker? I did that four months ago.

* ''Manga/BlastOfTempest'' has The Mage of Exodus [[spoiler: [[ClassicalAntiHero Megumu Hanemura]]]]-- who didn't have any trace of involvement in the first half of the story, which was about [[HeroProtagonist Mahiro]]'s quest to avenge his dead younger sister with his good friend [[SupportingProtagonist Yoshino]], which happens to involve SavingTheWorld from the eponymous "Civilization Blaster" (which was revealed to literally be ''the'' source of ''all'' {{Conflict}}s in the story) as well-- ending up being the one SavingTheWorld and "getting ''his'' girl" ([[TheGhost who herself]] was never even ''named'').

* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'': The Ghost Inn Arc's climatic battle against ArcVillain Oiwa involved Gintoki using the power of her friends' spirits-- er, Stands in part of a [[Manga/JoJosBizzareAdventure Stand]] battle against her and her husband's Stand. When Oiwa counters it by sending Stands into Gintoki to push out his friends out of his body, he resorted into using the only Stand left in his body to defeat her. The Stand being none other than [[spoiler:the Christian missionary to Japan Xavier, who simply shoots her with his rifle and leaves the scene quietly like he did previously as part of a BrickJoke.]] Shinpachi lampshades the absurdity that was PlayedForLaughs.

** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' has this in its climax twice. After [[spoiler: Kira activates [[GroundhogDayLoop Bites the Dust]], [[SnoopingLittleKid Hayato]] alone is left with the ability to stop him. By planning his actions and summoning [[TheHero Josuke]], he is able to initiate a one on one battle.]] Then, [[spoiler: When Kira is once again about to activate Bites The Dust when he is about to lose, it is [[TimeStandsStill Jotaro]] who manages to reach the former's position in time and give him a [[RapidFireFisticuffs huge beating.]] Finally, neither Josuke nor Jotaro actually kill Kira; [[DroppedABridgeOnHim he gets run over by an ambulance.]] And even then, the ''actual'' final time we see him is as a ghost, where he's DraggedOffToHell by the ghost of his first victim.]]

* In ''Manga/{{Parasyte}},'' Shinichi is trying to kill [[spoiler:the Parasite who killed/took over his mom]], but freezes up at the critical moment, with his opponent looking like she'll get the final blow instead. At this point, Mamoru Uda and Jaw (the only other human/Parasite pair known in the series) jumps in and takes care of her instead, with the former saying that he doesn't think [[StakingTheLovedOne Shinichi should be the one to have to kill her]].

*** Also applies to nearly every League. You’d think, being the protagonist, Ash would handily win, right? ''Wrong''. Ash is usually knocked out of the tournament after doing better than he did last time, usually by a rival who had been just introduced during the League. It’s ultimately in Alola, where all the potential opponents he could face are all established characters, nearly all of them from the games, that he actually wins.
** In the [=B2W2=] arc of ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', the protagonist Whitley has a chip that could disable the Colress Machine that's used to control Kyurem. [[spoiler: Hugh and Rood of the Seven Sages are the ones to secure the chip and disable the Colress Machine, freeing Kyurem from Team Plasma and foiling their plan of freezing Unova.]]

* ''Fanfic/DearDiary'' (a story adaptation of a [[SelfImposedChallenge Nuzlocke run]] of ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Pokémon Black]]''): It ultimately ends up being [[spoiler:Lillil]] who [[spoiler:defeats Ghetsis]] and [[spoiler:Caitlyn]] who [[spoiler:stops Reshiram and Zekrom]], thanks to [[spoiler:Prima and Opal being (at least sort of in Opal's case) dead by the climax.]]
* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': [[spoiler:In chapter 7 of the sequel ''Diplomat at Large'', Twilight, Pharynx and Tempest Shadow handle most of the job of defeating the Storm King. It's Bon-Bon, however, who actually kills him without realizing it when he gets knocked out a window and lands on the battlefield behind her.]]

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': The main focus of the Red Lotus Trio/Quarto is to stop the Apex from their killing spree and then later save them from a murderous cult. Ultimately, it's Grace Monroe, the leader of the very cult that they're off to stop, ends up dismantling the Apex after seeing how much damage her little lie caused.

* ''Fanfic/PartyCrusher'': Kim, by [[spoiler:getting critical information to the others about Hawk Moth and Party Crasher, allows Bunnyx to resolve the akuma problem by time travel. Pegasus unknowingly saves Emilie as well, by clearing the party to avoid a panic and getting Markov unplugged.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'', [[spoiler: Lightning [=McQueen=] does not finish the Florida 500, but his former trainer Cruz Ramirez does under his number. Because of this, they are both considered winners of the race, meaning Lightning gets to keep his job and has won the bet against Sterling.]]

* ''Film/TheGhostShip:'' Finn is a mute crewman who narrates a few scenes but has a small enough role that he isn't listed in the opening credits. In the end, he, rather than Mr. Merriam, is the one who gets the crew to realize that their captain is a murderous nut job. He later walks in on the captain about to murder a helplesss Merriam [[spoiler:and kills him after a fight]].

* Creator/DenisVilleneuve likes this trope. Mary, Adam's girlfriend, accidentally getting herself and Anthony killed allowing Adam to take his identity in ''Film/{{Enemy}}'', and Alejandro killing BigBad Alarcon while Kate is sidelined in ''Film/{{Sicario}}''.

** In ''[[spoiler:The Heckler]]'', an unnamed beat cop foils the villains' getaway by approaching a fake ice cream truck to make an order, then noticing a discrepancy in the crooks' story and making inquiries that cause them to try and shoot their way out, only for him to wound both men and capture one of them.
** In ''[[spoiler:Ghosts]]'', right after a scene that discusses how Carella and Hawes both see themselves as the hero and the other man as the {{Sidekick}}, the killer is arrested by a beat cop who mistakenly thinks the killer just robbed a pawnshop (really, he's fleeing the pawnshop because the owner realized he was trying to sell stolen property). Said beat cop gets promoted to protagonist as a result of the case, being promoted to detective and working with the leads in a few of the remaining books, but he's never seen or mentioned before arresting the killer.

* ''Literature/GhostInTheNoondaySun:'' Oliver is the narrator, but Jack o' Lantern is the one [[spoiler:who figures out a way to trick Captain Scratch into thinking he's died and turned into a ghost so he won't resist being marooned.]] He also saves Oliver's life when the pirate ship sinks soon afterward.

-->'''Ben:''' She could've killed me.\\
'''Giles:''' No, she couldn't. Never. And sooner or later Glory will re-emerge, and... make Buffy pay for that mercy. And the world with her. Buffy even knows that... and still she couldn't take a human life. She's a hero, you see. [[ImNotAHeroIm She's not like us.]]\\

''[Giles calmly smothers Ben to death]''

* ''{{Series/Jeremiah}}'': Jeremiah (whose name is the title), Kurdy, and eventually Mr. Smith are the wandering heroes the show focuses on and Markus is the BigGood, but none of them are primarily responsible for defeating either major villainous force.

* In ''Series/TheWalkingDead'', Carol is set up as the one who will ultimately [[spoiler: kill Alpha]]. [[spoiler: Negan does it instead]]. That said, Carol freed Negan from jail, meaning she still played an important role in [[spoiler: Alpha's demise.]]

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' when [[spoiler: Ryu is the one to finish off M. Bison, even though their conflict has never been as personal compared to other characters against the latter such as Chun-Li, Guile, or Charlie/Nash (who does help Ryu through his HeroicSacrifice).]]

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel II'', [[spoiler:while Class VII do manage to save Crown Prince Cedric, they're not the ones who can stop the CivilWar. That's all on Osborne and Rufus who reveals himself to be the MoleInCharge of the Noble Alliance and ends up arresting [[BigBadWannabe Duke Cayenne]]. [[LukeIAmYourFather Osborne]] then pins the accomplishment of ending the CivilWar on Rean so that he ends up becoming [[FakeUltimateHero Erebonia's national hero]], "[[RedBaron the Ashen Chevalier]]". Rean definitely isn't happy about this arrangement but because he's in possession of a [[HumongousMecha Divine Knight]], it serves as a deterrent against Calvard when Erebonia occupies Crossbell as depicted above at ''Ao's'' entry.]]
* A core gameplay mechanic in ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRogue''. Whenever you have a neutralize or destroy mission it doesn't matter who or what does the neutralizing and destroying, and [[ImmersiveSim there are a lot of common scenarios where NPCs will start murdering each other without needing you to instigate it first.]] It's not uncommon to start a level and almost immediately be told that you've completed one or more of your missions. While rarer this can even extend to [[FinalBoss The Mayor]], where if someone else kills them first you'll just need to go pick the hat up off the ground [[spoiler: or if they happened to knock it into a pit then it will immediately trigger the final cutscene with zero input from the player.]]
* The GoldenEnding of ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'' has the protagonists stop the BigBad and his meddling with the flow of time, but the overarching desertification problem is beyond their capacity to solve. Instead, two scientists they helped during a sidequest are hinted to eventually make a breakthrough and stop the problem. The ''Perfect Chronology'' UpdatedRerelease defies the trope as the heroes confront the monster at the source of the desertification and kill it, ending the problem on their own.
* In ''VideoGame/UltimaVIIPartII'', you're supposed to resolve the Fawn storyline by investigating the Oracle during the trial recess, finding that the villains have co-opted it for their benefit, and resetting it so your companion is acquitted. You can instead completely ignore this and return to the trial, whereupon your companion is found guilty and sentenced to death... and then a group of rebel [=NPCs=] barge in, reveal that the trial is corrupt, and make the Oracle give a true verdict instead, resulting in the acquittal. It's hardly heroic, but you [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing don't have to do anything at all.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/BladesOfLightAndShadow'', unlike in Book 1 where Raine personally finishes off the BigBad, in Book 2 the one who does so is [[spoiler:[[TheDragon Valax]], who [[HeelFaceTurn comes to realize the error of her creator's evil ways]].]]

--->'''Shinpachi''': A completely unrelated character took her out!
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has some examples:

-->"'Shinpachi''': A completely unrelated character took her out!

* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}: The Ghost Inn Arc's climatic battle against ArcVillain Oiwa involved Gintoki using the power of her friends' spirits-- er, Stands in part of a [[Manga/JoJosBizzareAdventure Stand]] battle against her and her husband's Stand. When Oiwa counters it by sending Stands into Gintoki to push out his friends out of his body, he resorted into using the only Stand left in his body to defeat her. The Stand being none other than [[spoiler:the Christian missionary to Japan Xavier, who simply shoots her with his rifle and leaves the scene quietly like he did previously as part of a BrickJoke.]] Shinpachi lampshades the absurdity that was PlayedForLaughs.

** In the "Treehouse Of Horror X" segment "Desperately Xeeking Xena", Bart and Lisa gain superpowers and adopt the identities Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl and start fighting crime. However, they fail to save Creator/LucyLawless from the Collector (Comic Book Guy). She escapes on her own and rescues them.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokémon}}'':

* Franchise/{{Pokemon}}:

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' has done this often.
** The biggest offender is the two-part "Red Gyarados" arc. First Ash, Misty, and Brock end up getting captured by Team Rocket, meaning Lance had to save them. Then, Lance was the one to defeat the Team Rocket Trio and destroy the base where the evolution experiment was being conducted. Then, ''Lance'' was the one to defeat and capture the lead grunt, and finally, '''''Lance''''' was the one to capture the red Gyarados after Ash and his friends failed to stop it. [[TheMeddlingKidsAreUseless Why were Ash and the others there again?]]
** The Mega Evolution Specials setup Alain with being the one in the employ of Team Flare and Lysandre [[spoiler: then is outraged at their role in getting Mairin's Chespin ill from the Zygarde core]], implying he will turn against them in the main story. [[spoiler: Instead, it's [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Steven Stone]] who does the rescue of Chespy from Lysandre Labs while Alain is fighting in Lumiose City; despite having appeared far less than him.]]
** Also applies to nearly every League. You’d think, being the protagonist, Ash would handily win, right? ''Wrong''. Ash is usually knocked out of the tournament after doing better than he did last time, usually by a rival who had been just introduced during the League. It’s ultimately in Alola, where all the potential opponents he could face are all established characters, nearly all of them from the games, that he actually wins.
* In the [=B2W2=] arc of ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', the protagonist Whitley has a chip that could disable the Colress Machine that's used to control Kyurem. [[spoiler: Hugh and Rood of the Seven Sages are the ones to secure the chip and disable the Colress Machine, freeing Kyurem from Team Plasma and foiling their plan of freezing Unova.]]