History Main / UnluckyExtra

He's a minor character, sometimes not even receiving a name. But he always shows up in the thick of things. Whether a bank robbery or a terrorist attack, expect this poor guy to be caught in the middle. He may be the HeroOfAnotherStory or eventually become an AscendedExtra, but for right now, he's just that guy that seems to have horrible luck. Other characters may note his repeated appearance at the wrong place at the wrong time. A RunningGag may be associated with him.

Subtrope of RecurringExtra. Compare to ButtMonkey, for someone who is a more regular part of the cast. A non-recurring version of this character is the InnocentBystander. Heroes should be careful to be nice to this guy. Someday, the [[TheDogBitesBack dog may bite back]].

* ''ComicBook/Superboy1994'': The Cadmus guard Lodge really likes leather jackets. Unfortunately for him so do a number of escaping Cadmus clones and he's had his jacket stolen out of his locker several times.

* ''Film/{{Speed}}'': "Black guy with a sports car", whose car gets {{Flashed Badge Hijack}}ed and wrecked by Jack shows up again in ''Film/Speed2CruiseControl'', where his boat gets hijacked, this time by Alex.

* ''Literature/AgentPendergast'': Larry Enderby, a small character who works as a technician at the museum, ends up in the middle of things in several books. In ''Literature/BookOfTheDead'', Captain Hayward recognizes him from the previous book and notes that Larry seems to have really bad luck.

* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': Agrajag is an unfortunate soul that happens to reincarnate into incidental creatures that Arthur Dent accidentally kills (a pot of flowers, a fly, etc.). Agrajag eventually becomes aware of his past lives and becomes more and more spiteful toward Arthur until his dislike actually materializes into the "Cathedral of Hate", to which he eventually abducts Arthur with the intention of killing him. After Agrajag rants about all the different ways Arthur Dent has inadvertently killed him, however, Arthur Dent points out that ''one'' of the events Agrajag mentioned hadn't happened yet (indeed, it wouldn't happen to him for another two books), making him realize he's attempted his revenge too soon and killing Arthur Dent would cause a time paradox. This doesn't stop him from trying, of course - nor from accidentally getting killed ''yet again.''

* This was Danny Strong's role on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' for three years. At first his character didn't even have a name. The writers just kept bringing him back to be victim of the week.
* On ''Series/NightCourt'', Bob and June Wheeler just have misfortune following them everywhere.
-->'''Dan''': Got a surprise for you, sir. Some old friends making a return visit.
-->'''Harry''': Do I get a hint?
-->'''Mac''': Well, let's see. The squad car that brought them in was struck by a bolt of lightning...?
-->'''Harry''': You mean...
-->'''Bob Wheeler''': Hello. It's us.

* The unnamed Boat Captain in ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' seems to exist purely to suffer at the hands of [[VillainProtagonist Kratos]] - in the first game, Kratos cruelly drops him to his death in the Hydra's stomach despite having the chance to easily save him, and later encounters his soul dangling over the pit of Hades, only so stab him and throw him into the river Styx. In the second game the barbarian king Alrik summons undead warriors to fight Kratos, and somehow manages to conjure the Captain's hapless spirit, who Kratos is [[CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption obliged]] to kill again to continue. He doesn't appear in the third game, but a note from him is found in the Underworld cursing Kratos's name.
** This is subject to a CerebusCallBack from ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'' onwards - while his misfortunes were previously played for dark comedy, it's revealed that the OlderAndWiser Kratos is full of shame and regret for his actions, and considers his first murder of the Captain an integral part of his StartOfDarkness.
---> '''Kratos''': He was just a man, afraid for his life- attacked and swallowed by a monster he had no hope of defeating. But the Hydra was just an animal. I showed him what a true monster looked like.
* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'': A RunningGag in every time period is Watanabe and his father. Each time, Watanabe has the misfortune of seeing his father either injured or (more often) killed in front of him. While this is played for humor the first few times (chronologically), the Near-Future chapter plays it for drama (Watanabe is one of the kids in the orphanage, and his father [[spoiler:is liquefied and used to power one of the chapter's bosses]]) and the Distant Future plays it for ''horror'' (the spaceship's communication system is the Watanabe antenna array, which is destroyed as the chapter starts to get ''really'' dark).

* In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' there's the "Onion Kid", who is shown early in the series and then gets later cameos, all of which show him witnessing something horrific or undergoing some terrible misfortune that is the direct resort of the so-called heroes' bumbling. For instance he was orphaned and witnessed the brutal murder. ''Twice''. [[spoiler:Later subverted when we find out the Onion Kid is actually Sarda as a child, and the entire plot was his way of [[TheDogBitesBack screwing with the Light Warriors for ruining his life]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'': Brett, the unfortunate Isis employee that has been shot eight times over the course of the series, mostly by ricocheting friendly fire. He's also been beaten half to death three or four times. This is frequently lampshaded and all of the characters (except for Brett, who is an extra) either don't care or find it hilarious. [[RunningGagged The gag finally ends when poor Brett catches one to the head]] in the season 5 premiere:
-->'''Archer:''' "He died doing what he loved: Getting shot."
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': The 'Cabbage Merchant" who shows up several times in the series. Basically all of his appearances involve him minding his own business before seeing his produce destroyed and yelling, "Not my cabbages!" (or just "My cabbages!") in anguish. In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' his descendant gets in on the action when evidence is planted at one of his factories, causing him to scream "Not my Cabbage Corp!"

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}'': Jitters. While he was a secondary character in the ''WesternAnimation/RawToonage'' shorts, he was DemotedToExtra on the series proper, appearing only to be caught in the crossfire between Bonkers and the VillainOfTheWeek.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': Nearly every time there is a disaster of some sort, the same fish[[note]]later named Fred[[/note]] can be heard [[StockScream shouting]] [[OwMyBodyPart "My leg!"]]
* A balding man with glasses is often a victim of gangsters and criminals and thus saved by the heroes in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' and ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited''.

* The unnamed Boat Captain in ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' seems to exist purely to suffer at the hands of [[VillainProtagonist Kratos]] - in the first game, Kratos cruelly drops him to his death in the Hydra's stomach despite having the chance to easily save him, and later encounters his soul dangling over the pit of Hades, only so stab him and throw him into the river Styx. In the second game the barbarian king Alrik summons undead warriors to fight Kratos, and somehow manages to conjure the Captain's hapeless spirit, who Kratos is [[CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption obliged]] to kill again to continue. He doesn't appear in the third game, but a note from him is found in the Underworld cursing Kratos's name.

--> '''Kratos''': He was just a man, afraid for his life- attacked and swallowed by a monster he had no hope of defeating. But the Hydra was just an animal. I showed him what a true monster looked like.

** This is subject to a CerberusRetcon from ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'' onwards - while his misfortunes were previously played for dark comedy, it's revealed that the OlderAndWiser Kratos is full of shame and regret for his actions, and considers his first murder of the Captain an integral part of his StartOfDarkness.

* ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf'': A man in a pineapple shirt is witness/present at catastrophes across multiple universes. His bad luck spans the ''multiverse''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney'' features a man in StockPunishment who gets free only to land in a metal cage. When he gets free of ''that''...he trips and falls into Mon Sewer.