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** During the Jaya and Skypiea arcs, we learned about Montblanc Noland, an adventurer from 400 years ago. It was briefly mentioned that, among his many adventures, he had visited an island populated by tiny people. [[spoiler: About a decade later, in the Dressrosa arc, Robin and Usopp are kidnapped by the Tontatta tribe, a race of tiny people. Usopp notices that they have a statue dedicated to their greatest hero, Noland, and gets out of imprisonment by pretending to be an ancestor of his.]]
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Deleted line(s) 89 (click to see context) :
** At the end of the Soul Society arc, Aizen leaves Seireitei via negaccion and the shinigami left behind observe that there's something in the garganta behind the gillians, the only sign of which is a giant eye. Hundreds of chapters later during the battle for Karakura Town, Wonderweiss appears with his giant pet, Fuura, a misshapen being with one giant eye and the ability to destroy Yamamoto's flames that are trapping Aizen. It's revealed Fuura was the creature that was hovering behind the garganta at the end of the Soul Society arc.
Changed line(s) 91 (click to see context) from:
** In manga chapter 27, which introduces Don Kanonji, a figure in the crowd on the page where Rukia starts doing Don Kanonji's signature BOHAHAHAHA laugh looks distinctly like Ishida (who will not "officially" appear until chapter 33) in hindsight. In chapter 29, a person is seen moving toward the roped off area where Don Kanonji's exorcism is turning a soul into a hollow, but they stop because Ichigo jumps over the rope first. The person's back is clearly visible (but his face is not) on the page where Ichigo jumps over the rope separating the audience from Don Kanonji, and the clothing and hair look like Ishida. WordOfGod later confirms that this is in fact Ishida. In the anime, Ishida also gets a brief early cameo in a classroom scene in episode 7...and sure enough he's doing embroidery.
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** In manga chapter 27, which introduces Don Kanonji, a figure in the crowd on the page where Rukia starts doing Don Kanonji's signature BOHAHAHAHA laugh looks distinctly like Ishida (who will not "officially" appear until chapter 33) in hindsight. In chapter 29, a person is seen moving toward the roped off area where Don Kanonji's exorcism is turning a soul into a hollow, but they stop because Ichigo jumps over the rope first. The As Ichigo goes past, the person's back is clearly visible (but his face is not) on the page where Ichigo jumps over the rope separating the audience from Don Kanonji, not), and the clothing and hair look like Ishida. WordOfGod later confirms confirmed that this is was in fact Ishida. Ishida, ready to intervene if Ichigo hadn't been on the ball. In the anime, Ishida also gets a brief early cameo in a shot of the classroom scene in episode 7...and sure enough he's doing embroidery.
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** At the end of the Soul Society arc, Aizen leaves Seireitei via negaccion and the shinigami left behind observe that there's something in the garganta behind the gillians, the only sign of which is a giant eye. Hundreds of chapters later during the battle for Karakura Town, Wonderweiss appears with his giant pet, Fuura, a misshapen being with one giant eye and the ability to destroy Yamamoto's flames that are trapping Aizen. It's revealed Fuura was the creature that was hovering behind the garganta at the end of the Soul Society arc.
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Changed line(s) 91 (click to see context) from:
** In manga chapter 27, which introduces Don Kanonji, a person who looks conspicuously like Ishida is seen in the crowd on the same page where Rukia starts doing Don Kanonji's signature BOHAHAHAHA laugh. Ishida does not "officially" appear in the manga until chapter 33. Also in chapter 29, another person is seen moving toward the roped off area where Don Kanonji's exorcism is turning a soul into a hollow, but stops because Ichigo jumps over the rope first. At first glance it might appear that this person, shown only with close-ups on his hands and feet is Ichigo, however Ichigo is wearing jeans (which are a light shade of gray in the manga) and a t-shirt with a black collar. The figure clearly has black pants and a white-collared shirt and dark hair. The back of this person is clearly visible (but his face is not) on the page where Ichigo jumps over the rope separating the audience from Don Kanonji. WordOfGod later confirms that this in fact Ishida.
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** In manga chapter 27, which introduces Don Kanonji, a person who looks conspicuously like Ishida is seen figure in the crowd on the same page where Rukia starts doing Don Kanonji's signature BOHAHAHAHA laugh. laugh looks distinctly like Ishida does (who will not "officially" appear in the manga until chapter 33. Also 33) in hindsight. In chapter 29, another a person is seen moving toward the roped off area where Don Kanonji's exorcism is turning a soul into a hollow, but stops they stop because Ichigo jumps over the rope first. At first glance it might appear that this person, shown only with close-ups on his hands and feet is Ichigo, however Ichigo is wearing jeans (which are a light shade of gray in the manga) and a t-shirt with a black collar. The figure clearly has black pants and a white-collared shirt and dark hair. The person's back of this person is clearly visible (but his face is not) on the page where Ichigo jumps over the rope separating the audience from Don Kanonji. Kanonji, and the clothing and hair look like Ishida. WordOfGod later confirms that this is in fact Ishida.Ishida. In the anime, Ishida also gets a brief early cameo in a classroom scene in episode 7...and sure enough he's doing embroidery.
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Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
* Mihoshi from ''{{Nichijou}}'' is initially presented as an unnamed, one-shot gag character, who is seemingly just an annoying kid riding in the same train car as Yūko. It isn't until the end of the sketch that we learn that she's the younger sister of Misato, one of the show's major characters, and from then oh, Mihosi becomes a fairly prominent supporting character. She's even added to the [[EvolvingCredits opening credits for the latter half of the series]].
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* Mihoshi from ''{{Nichijou}}'' is initially presented as an unnamed, one-shot gag character, who is seemingly just an annoying kid riding in the same train car as Yūko. It isn't until the end of the sketch that we learn that she's the younger sister of Misato, one of the show's major characters, and from then oh, on, Mihosi becomes a fairly prominent supporting character. She's even added to the [[EvolvingCredits opening credits for the latter half of the series]].
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* Mihoshi from ''{{Nichijou}}'' is initially presented as an unnamed, one-shot gag character, who is seemingly just an annoying kid riding in the same train car as Yūko. It isn't until the end of the sketch that we learn that she's the younger sister of Misato, one of the show's major characters, and from then oh, Mihosi becomes a fairly prominent supporting character. She's even added to the [[EvolvingCredits opening credits for the latter half of the series]].
Deleted line(s) 22 (click to see context) :
* Mihoshi from ''{{Nichijou}}'' is initially presented as an unnamed, one-shot gag character, who is seemingly just an annoying kid riding in the same train car as Yūko. It isn't until the end of the sketch that we learn that she's the younger sister of Misato, one of the show's major characters, and from then oh, Mihosi becomes a fairly prominent supporting character. She's even added to the [[EvolvingCredits opening credits for the latter half of the series]].
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* Mihoshi from ''{{Nichijou}}'' is initially presented as an unnamed, one-shot gag character, who is seemingly just an annoying kid riding in the same train car as Yūko. It isn't until the end of the sketch that we learn that she's the younger sister of Misato, one of the show's major characters, and from then oh, Mihosi becomes a fairly prominent supporting character. She's even added to the [[EvolvingCredits opening credits for the latter half of the series]].
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Changed line(s) 121 (click to see context) from:
* ''OniisamaE'': Years ago, there was a little girl who played in the rain and she once saw a pre-teen boy and she tried to talk to him, but he ran away. That young boy's name? [[spoiler:Takehiko Henmi, the tutor ''and'' stepbrother of the aforementioned girl, Nanako Misonoo.]]
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* ''OniisamaE'': ''Manga/OniisamaE'':
** Years ago, there was a little girl who played in the rain and she once saw a pre-teen boy and she tried to talk to him, but he ran away. That young boy's name? [[spoiler:Takehiko Henmi, the tutor ''and'' stepbrother of the aforementioned girl, Nanako Misonoo.]]
** There is a pretty maid who is given the job of cleaning [[spoiler: Fukiko's]] old room in her summer mansion. [[spoiler:That woman is Minako, who is the maid in said summer home.]]
** Years ago, there was a little girl who played in the rain and she once saw a pre-teen boy and she tried to talk to him, but he ran away. That young boy's name? [[spoiler:Takehiko Henmi, the tutor ''and'' stepbrother of the aforementioned girl, Nanako Misonoo.]]
** There is a pretty maid who is given the job of cleaning [[spoiler: Fukiko's]] old room in her summer mansion. [[spoiler:That woman is Minako, who is the maid in said summer home.]]
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** Also, all the members of Oracion Seis (except Brain) are visible as [spoiler:unnamed child slaves]] during Erza's flashbacks of her childhood.
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** Also, all the members of Oracion Seis (except Brain) are visible as [spoiler:unnamed [[spoiler:unnamed child slaves]] during Erza's flashbacks of her childhood.
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**Also, all the members of Oracion Seis (except Brain) are visible as [spoiler:unnamed child slaves]] during Erza's flashbacks of her childhood.
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** In the 4th episode of the anime and chapter 7 of the manga, Ichigo's dad Dr. Isshin Kurosaki is on the phone with the local hospital demanding they open up beds for patients he cannot treat in his tiny clinic. Isshin tells the clerk to tell his manager its a personal request from Kurosaki and that will free up the beds he needs. The hospital's chief administrator is [[spoiler:Ryuken Ishida, Uryuu's father, Quincy, and]] an old friend of Isshin's, [[spoiler:which isn't revealed until manga chapter 241 and anime episode 143. Even then, the significance of this is only explored in the final arc of the story.]]
** In manga chapter 27, which introduces Don Kanonji, a person who looks conspicuously like Ishida is seen in the crowd on the same page where Rukia starts doing Don Kanonji's signature BOHAHAHAHA laugh. Ishida does not "officially" appear in the manga until chapter 33. Also in chapter 29, another person is seen moving toward the roped off area where Don Kanonji's exorcism is turning a soul into a hollow, but stops because Ichigo jumps over the rope first. At first glance it might appear that this person, shown only with close-ups on his hands and feet is Ichigo, however Ichigo is wearing jeans (which are a light shade of gray in the manga) and a t-shirt with a black collar. The figure clearly has black pants and a white-collared shirt and dark hair. The back of this person is clearly visible (but his face is not) on the page where Ichigo jumps over the rope separating the audience from Don Kanonji. WordOfGod later confirms that this in fact Ishida. Credit to pointing this out (before Tite acknowledged it in an interview) goes to the now-defunct webpage "Kubo Tite is your GOD."
** Chapter 56 sees Byakuya tell Rukia he understands her desire to protect Ichigo because of Ichigo's resemblence to "him". Although this is an obvious portent of Kaien's backstory entering the manga 77 chapters later, this chapter also sets up the introduction of Hisana 123 chapters later as proof that Byakuya told the truth: he really does understand the desire to protect someone who resembles a loved one. Not only that, but the chapter's cover page is, on first reading, viewed as a snapshot of a dead or unconscious Rukia with an oddly shaggier version of her normal hairstyle. Hisana's introduction into the story reveals she resembles Rukia with a shaggier version of Rukia's normal hairstyle. Cue a reinterpretation of the picture in Chapter 56 as being Hisana not Rukia.
** In manga chapter 27, which introduces Don Kanonji, a person who looks conspicuously like Ishida is seen in the crowd on the same page where Rukia starts doing Don Kanonji's signature BOHAHAHAHA laugh. Ishida does not "officially" appear in the manga until chapter 33. Also in chapter 29, another person is seen moving toward the roped off area where Don Kanonji's exorcism is turning a soul into a hollow, but stops because Ichigo jumps over the rope first. At first glance it might appear that this person, shown only with close-ups on his hands and feet is Ichigo, however Ichigo is wearing jeans (which are a light shade of gray in the manga) and a t-shirt with a black collar. The figure clearly has black pants and a white-collared shirt and dark hair. The back of this person is clearly visible (but his face is not) on the page where Ichigo jumps over the rope separating the audience from Don Kanonji. WordOfGod later confirms that this in fact Ishida. Credit to pointing this out (before Tite acknowledged it in an interview) goes to the now-defunct webpage "Kubo Tite is your GOD."
** Chapter 56 sees Byakuya tell Rukia he understands her desire to protect Ichigo because of Ichigo's resemblence to "him". Although this is an obvious portent of Kaien's backstory entering the manga 77 chapters later, this chapter also sets up the introduction of Hisana 123 chapters later as proof that Byakuya told the truth: he really does understand the desire to protect someone who resembles a loved one. Not only that, but the chapter's cover page is, on first reading, viewed as a snapshot of a dead or unconscious Rukia with an oddly shaggier version of her normal hairstyle. Hisana's introduction into the story reveals she resembles Rukia with a shaggier version of Rukia's normal hairstyle. Cue a reinterpretation of the picture in Chapter 56 as being Hisana not Rukia.
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** In the 4th episode of the anime and chapter 7 of the manga, Ichigo's dad Dr. Isshin Kurosaki is on the phone with the local hospital demanding they open up beds for patients he cannot treat in his tiny clinic. Isshin tells the clerk to tell his manager its it's a personal request from Kurosaki and that will free up the beds he needs. The hospital's chief administrator is [[spoiler:Ryuken Dr. Ryuuken Ishida, Uryuu's father, Quincy, and]] and a Quincy who is an old friend of Isshin's, [[spoiler:which Isshin's. This isn't revealed until manga chapter 241 and anime episode 143. Even then, the significance of this is only explored in the final arc of the story.]]
story.
** In manga chapter 27, which introduces Don Kanonji, a person who looks conspicuously like Ishida is seen in the crowd on the same page where Rukia starts doing Don Kanonji's signature BOHAHAHAHA laugh. Ishida does not "officially" appear in the manga until chapter 33. Also in chapter 29, another person is seen moving toward the roped off area where Don Kanonji's exorcism is turning a soul into a hollow, but stops because Ichigo jumps over the rope first. At first glance it might appear that this person, shown only with close-ups on his hands and feet is Ichigo, however Ichigo is wearing jeans (which are a light shade of gray in the manga) and a t-shirt with a black collar. The figure clearly has black pants and a white-collared shirt and dark hair. The back of this person is clearly visible (but his face is not) on the page where Ichigo jumps over the rope separating the audience from Don Kanonji. WordOfGod later confirms that this in fact Ishida. Credit to pointing this out (before Tite acknowledged it in an interview) goes to the now-defunct webpage "Kubo Tite is your GOD."\n
** Chapter 56 sees Byakuya tell Rukia he understands her desire to protect Ichigo because of Ichigo's resemblence to "him". Although this is an obvious portent of Kaien's backstory entering the manga 77 chapters later, this chapter also sets up the introduction of Hisana 123 chapters later as proof that Byakuya told the truth: he really does understand the desire to protect someone who resembles a loved one. Not only that, but the chapter's cover page is, on first reading, viewed as a snapshot of a dead or unconscious Rukia with an oddly shaggier version of her normal hairstyle. Hisana's introduction into the story reveals she resembles Rukiawith but possesses a shaggier version of Rukia's normal hairstyle. Cue a reinterpretation of the picture in Chapter 56 as being Hisana not Rukia.
** In manga chapter 27, which introduces Don Kanonji, a person who looks conspicuously like Ishida is seen in the crowd on the same page where Rukia starts doing Don Kanonji's signature BOHAHAHAHA laugh. Ishida does not "officially" appear in the manga until chapter 33. Also in chapter 29, another person is seen moving toward the roped off area where Don Kanonji's exorcism is turning a soul into a hollow, but stops because Ichigo jumps over the rope first. At first glance it might appear that this person, shown only with close-ups on his hands and feet is Ichigo, however Ichigo is wearing jeans (which are a light shade of gray in the manga) and a t-shirt with a black collar. The figure clearly has black pants and a white-collared shirt and dark hair. The back of this person is clearly visible (but his face is not) on the page where Ichigo jumps over the rope separating the audience from Don Kanonji. WordOfGod later confirms that this in fact Ishida.
** Chapter 56 sees Byakuya tell Rukia he understands her desire to protect Ichigo because of Ichigo's resemblence to "him". Although this is an obvious portent of Kaien's backstory entering the manga 77 chapters later, this chapter also sets up the introduction of Hisana 123 chapters later as proof that Byakuya told the truth: he really does understand the desire to protect someone who resembles a loved one. Not only that, but the chapter's cover page is, on first reading, viewed as a snapshot of a dead or unconscious Rukia with an oddly shaggier version of her normal hairstyle. Hisana's introduction into the story reveals she resembles Rukia
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* In ''PrincessTutu'', the character Autor is always hanging around the library and later on in the background of scenes with Fakir. He later not only divulges an important plot point, but [[spoiler: saves Fakir from a cult with a ''book'']].
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* In ''PrincessTutu'', ''Anime/PrincessTutu'', the character Autor is always hanging around the library and later on in the background of scenes with Fakir. He later not only divulges an important plot point, but [[spoiler: saves Fakir from a cult with a ''book'']].
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Several of these were not gunmen, and one or two were foreshadowing, but not gunmen.
Changed line(s) 85,88 (click to see context) from:
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': At the end of the Soul Society arc, Aizen leaves Seireitei via negaccion and the shinigami left behind observe that there's something in the garganta behind the gillians, the only sign of which is a giant eye. Hundreds of chapters later during the battle for Karakura Town, Wonderweiss appears with his giant pet, Fuura, a misshapen being with one giant eye and the ability to destroy Yamamoto's flames that are trapping Aizen. It's revealed Fuura was the creature that was hovering behind the garganta at the end of the Soul Society arc.
** And who could forget that in the first chapter of ''Bleach'', on the colourpage, one can find Shinji Hirako... who doesn't get introduced until nearly 200 chapters later.
** [[spoiler:Aizen]] himself counts. He's introduced early in the Soul Society Arc as one of the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters who are brought in, and promptly gets murdered. [[spoiler:He turns out to be the BigBad.]]
** In the 4th episode of the anime and chapter 7 of the manga, Ichigo's dad Dr. Isshin Kurosaki is on the phone with the local hospital demanding they open up beds for patients he cannot treat in his tiny clinic. Isshin tells the clerk to tell his manager its a personal request from Kurosaki and that will free up the beds he needs. The hospital's chief administrator is [[spoiler:Ryuken Ishida, Uryuu's father, Quincy, and]] an old friend of Isshin's, [[spoiler:which isn't revealed until manga chapter 241 and anime episode 143!!]]
** And who could forget that in the first chapter of ''Bleach'', on the colourpage, one can find Shinji Hirako... who doesn't get introduced until nearly 200 chapters later.
** [[spoiler:Aizen]] himself counts. He's introduced early in the Soul Society Arc as one of the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters who are brought in, and promptly gets murdered. [[spoiler:He turns out to be the BigBad.]]
** In the 4th episode of the anime and chapter 7 of the manga, Ichigo's dad Dr. Isshin Kurosaki is on the phone with the local hospital demanding they open up beds for patients he cannot treat in his tiny clinic. Isshin tells the clerk to tell his manager its a personal request from Kurosaki and that will free up the beds he needs. The hospital's chief administrator is [[spoiler:Ryuken Ishida, Uryuu's father, Quincy, and]] an old friend of Isshin's, [[spoiler:which isn't revealed until manga chapter 241 and anime episode 143!!]]
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* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** Chapter 1 of the manga shows several people in the background. Almost all of them are Ichigo's classmates and most have only a minor role in the manga. Among the group, however, is one other character: Shinji Hirako, a major character who is only introduced almost 200 chapters later.
** At the end of the Soul Society arc, Aizen leaves Seireitei via negaccion and the shinigami left behind observe that there's something in the garganta behind the gillians, the only sign of which is a giant eye. Hundreds of chapters later during the battle for Karakura Town, Wonderweiss appears with his giant pet, Fuura, a misshapen being with one giant eye and the ability to destroy Yamamoto's flames that are trapping Aizen. It's revealed Fuura was the creature that was hovering behind the garganta at the end of the Soul Society arc.
** And who could forget that in the first chapter of ''Bleach'', on the colourpage, one can find Shinji Hirako... who doesn't get introduced until nearly 200 chapters later.
** [[spoiler:Aizen]] himself counts. He's introduced early in the Soul Society Arc as one of the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters who are brought in, and promptly gets murdered. [[spoiler:He turns out to be the BigBad.]]
** In the 4th episode of the anime and chapter 7 of the manga, Ichigo's dad Dr. Isshin Kurosaki is on the phone with the local hospital demanding they open up beds for patients he cannot treat in his tiny clinic. Isshin tells the clerk to tell his manager its a personal request from Kurosaki and that will free up the beds he needs. The hospital's chief administrator is [[spoiler:Ryuken Ishida, Uryuu's father, Quincy, and]] an old friend of Isshin's, [[spoiler:which isn't revealed until manga chapter 241 and anime episode 143!!]]143. Even then, the significance of this is only explored in the final arc of the story.]]
** Chapter 1 of the manga shows several people in the background. Almost all of them are Ichigo's classmates and most have only a minor role in the manga. Among the group, however, is one other character: Shinji Hirako, a major character who is only introduced almost 200 chapters later.
** At the end of the Soul Society arc, Aizen leaves Seireitei via negaccion and the shinigami left behind observe that there's something in the garganta behind the gillians, the only sign of which is a giant eye. Hundreds of chapters later during the battle for Karakura Town, Wonderweiss appears with his giant pet, Fuura, a misshapen being with one giant eye and the ability to destroy Yamamoto's flames that are trapping Aizen. It's revealed Fuura was the creature that was hovering behind the garganta at the end of the Soul Society arc.
** [[spoiler:Aizen]] himself counts. He's introduced early in the Soul Society Arc as one of the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters who are brought in, and promptly gets murdered. [[spoiler:He turns out to be the BigBad.]]
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*** Kanonji himself might be an example as well. He's introduced as a one-shot character, but he shows up a few times in filler. (Normally filler doesn't count, but this filler is based on Omake segments done by Kubo, so it's debatable) He does show up later though, when [[spoiler: Aizen and Gin invade Karakura Town, he steps in to protect Tatsuki and Keigo. Aizen planed on killing them just to infuriate Ichigo, so that his rage would increase his power.]]
** Iceringer and D-Roy, believe it or not. Their first appearance is after Grand Fisher is beaten by Ichigo, with the former healing him and the latter yelling at him for failing. This also gives proof to Aizen's claim that he's been pulling Ichigo's strings since before he ever entered Soul Society.
** Iceringer and D-Roy, believe it or not. Their first appearance is after Grand Fisher is beaten by Ichigo, with the former healing him and the latter yelling at him for failing. This also gives proof to Aizen's claim that he's been pulling Ichigo's strings since before he ever entered Soul Society.
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** Among the captains [[spoiler: Kenpachi is the only captain to have never learned his sword's name, nor been able to use shikai or bankai. Hello Chapter 527, where his sword has awakened.]]
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** Among the captains [[spoiler: Kenpachi is the only captain to have never learned his sword's name, nor been able to use shikai or bankai. Hello Chapter 527, where his sword has awakened.]]
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Changed line(s) 78 (click to see context) from:
* If you thought that [[spoiler:Michelo Chariot]] and [[spoiler: Sir Gentle Chapman]] were one-time rivals for [[GGundam Domon Kasshu]]... boy, were you ''wrong''. [[spoiler: Michelo joins the Devil Gundam group and later Gentle Chapman [[CameBackWrong is revived as a DG zombie]] by them]]
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* If you thought that [[spoiler:Michelo Chariot]] and [[spoiler: Sir Gentle Chapman]] were one-time rivals for [[GGundam [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Domon Kasshu]]... boy, were you ''wrong''. [[spoiler: Michelo joins the Devil Gundam group and later Gentle Chapman [[CameBackWrong is revived as a DG zombie]] by them]]
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* There is a general rule about ''The Prince of Tennis'': If you can remember their name, they will probably be back.
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* There is a general rule about ''The Prince of Tennis'': ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'': If you can remember their name, they will probably be back.
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** The Sandile with sunglasses from the third episode of ''Best Wishes'' appears again in episodes 12 and 20 (in the latter, it evolves into Krokorok).
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** The Sandile with sunglasses from the third episode of ''Best Wishes'' appears appeared again in episodes 12 and 12, 20 (in the latter, (where it evolves into Krokorok).Krokorok), and finally 64 when it's caught by Ash.
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** In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', Darkness takes a page from the spirit's book--introduced in the first season as the SuperpoweredEvilSide of Fubuki, he's defeated and forgotten partway through Season One, save for a single episode where he came back in Season Two and was defeated again. Then in Season Four, it's revealed Darkness is actually an EldritchAbomination that was just using Darkness as a host, and he becomes the final BigBad of the series. His host Fubuki is also a ChekhovMIA.
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** In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', Darkness takes a page from the spirit's book--introduced in the first season as the SuperpoweredEvilSide of Fubuki, he's defeated and forgotten partway through Season One, save for a single episode where he came back in Season Two and was defeated again. Then in Season Four, it's revealed Darkness is actually an EldritchAbomination that was just using Darkness Fubuki as a host, and he becomes the final BigBad of the series. His host Fubuki is also a ChekhovMIA.
Changed line(s) 105 (click to see context) from:
** ChiChi's an even better example. She first appeared as a minor character who had a crush on Goku, and in the manga after her first appearance she was never seen nor mentioned again until the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai ''twelve volumes later'' where she's reunited with Goku and they wind up getting engaged. The anime screwed this up however by having her appear every now and then in a couple filler episodes.
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** ChiChi's Chichi's an even better example. She first appeared as a minor character who had a crush on Goku, and in the manga after her first appearance she was never seen nor mentioned again until the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai ''twelve volumes later'' where she's reunited with Goku and they wind up getting engaged. The anime screwed this up however by having her appear every now and then in a couple filler episodes.
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* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'''s Kagura makes a few experiences before her introduction, the greatest of which is in the first sports fest.
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* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'''s Kagura makes a few experiences appearances before her introduction, the greatest most notable of which is in the first sports fest.
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* In CodeBreaker, Aoba. She is Sakura's best friend, and apart from that, just an attractive female character. [[spoiler: She later is discovered to be Code:Revenger, one of the top agents of Eden.]]
* In HaouAiren, a kid named [[spoiler: Kaafai]] gets [[ForcedToWatch an unwilling first row view]] of [[spoiler: Hakuron raping his own girlfriend Kurumi, whom the poor kid had befriended.]] Guess who, in the last volume of the manga, [[spoiler: ends up '''shooting Hakuron dead''']]?
* In HaouAiren, a kid named [[spoiler: Kaafai]] gets [[ForcedToWatch an unwilling first row view]] of [[spoiler: Hakuron raping his own girlfriend Kurumi, whom the poor kid had befriended.]] Guess who, in the last volume of the manga, [[spoiler: ends up '''shooting Hakuron dead''']]?
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* In CodeBreaker, ''CodeBreaker'', Aoba. She is Sakura's best friend, and apart from that, just an attractive female character. [[spoiler: She later is discovered to be Code:Revenger, one of the top agents of Eden.]]
* InHaouAiren, ''HaouAiren'', a kid named [[spoiler: Kaafai]] gets [[ForcedToWatch an unwilling first row view]] of [[spoiler: Hakuron raping his own girlfriend Kurumi, whom the poor kid had befriended.]] Guess who, in the last volume of the manga, [[spoiler: ends up '''shooting Hakuron dead''']]?
* In
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* Akasaka from {{Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni}} is introduced as a minor character in the first season, only interacting with Rika, who discusses with him [[spoiler: his wife's death and how to save her]]. In the second season, he plays a much bigger role, [[spoiler: saving Rika from the Yamainu and Takano multiple times]].
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* Akasaka from {{Higurashi ''{{Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni}} Ni}}'' is introduced as a minor character in the first season, only interacting with Rika, who discusses with him [[spoiler: his wife's death and how to save her]]. In the second season, he plays a much bigger role, [[spoiler: saving Rika from the Yamainu and Takano multiple times]].
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** And then there's [[spoiler:Ribbons Allmark. He spends season one as Alejandro's quiet minion, then backstabs him in episode 25 and takes over his role as the BigBad for the rest of the series. Yup, [[Memes/Gundam FUCKING RIBBONS]], indeed...]]
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** And then there's [[spoiler:Ribbons Allmark. He spends season one as Alejandro's quiet minion, then backstabs him in episode 25 and takes over his role as the BigBad for the rest of the series. Yup, [[Memes/Gundam FUCKING RIBBONS]], RIBBONS indeed...]]
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** And then there's [[spoiler:Ribbons Almark. He spends season one as Alejandro's quiet minion, then backstabs him in episode 25 and takes over his role as the BigBad for the rest of the series. Yup, [[Memes/Gundam FUCKING RIBBONS]], indeed...]]
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** And then there's [[spoiler:Ribbons Almark.Allmark. He spends season one as Alejandro's quiet minion, then backstabs him in episode 25 and takes over his role as the BigBad for the rest of the series. Yup, [[Memes/Gundam FUCKING RIBBONS]], indeed...]]
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** And then there's [[spoiler:Ribbons Almark. He spends season one as Alejandro's quiet minion, then backstabs him in episode 25 and takes over his role as the BigBad for the rest of the series. Yup, [[Memes/Gundam FUCKING RIBBONS]], indeed...]]
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* ''{{Gundam 00}}'': [[spoiler:Ribbons Almark. He spends season one as Alejandro's quiet minion, then backstabs him in episode 25 and takes over his role as the BigBad.]]
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*** At the end of part I, Sasuke explains to Naruto during their battle that the Final Valley was created when the First Hokage fought his best friend who betrayed him, such is the explanation as to why there are statues of them there. Way late into part 2, we find out that said best friend was Madara Uchiha; [[spoiler:while he is ''not'' Tobi, he ''is'' one the main villains, being the person who was responsible for corrupting Obito and coming up with his EvilPlan to begin with.]]
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*** At the end of part I, Sasuke explains to Naruto during their battle that the Final Valley was created when the First Hokage fought his best friend who betrayed him, such is the explanation as to why there are statues of them there. Way late into part 2, we find out that said best friend was Madara Uchiha; [[spoiler:while he is ''not'' Tobi, he ''is'' one of the main villains, being the person who was responsible for corrupting Obito and coming up with his EvilPlan to begin with.]]
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*** Tobi initially was simply a goofy member of the Akatsuki. Later, we find out that he is its true leader, and is also Madara Uchiha, [[spoiler:though as mentioned above, he's actually ''Obito'' Uchiha.]]
** At the end of part I, Sasuke explains to Naruto during their battle that the Final Valley was created when the First Hokage fought his best friend who betrayed him, such is the explanation as to why there are statues of them there. Way late into part 2, we find out that said best friend was Madara Uchiha; [[spoiler:while he is ''not'' Tobi, he ''is'' one the main villains, being the person who was responsible for corrupting Obito and coming up with his EvilPlan to begin with.]]
** At the end of part I, Sasuke explains to Naruto during their battle that the Final Valley was created when the First Hokage fought his best friend who betrayed him, such is the explanation as to why there are statues of them there. Way late into part 2, we find out that said best friend was Madara Uchiha; [[spoiler:while he is ''not'' Tobi, he ''is'' one the main villains, being the person who was responsible for corrupting Obito and coming up with his EvilPlan to begin with.]]
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** Later on it's revealed that [[after his eye was stolen by Danzo, he gave his other eye (a ''Mangekyo'' Sharingan) to Itachi Uchiha after using genjutsu to make it appear as if he had destroyed it, then he died in order to allow Itachi to awaken his own Mangekyo Sharingan.]]
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** Later on it's revealed that [[after [[spoiler:after his eye was stolen by Danzo, he gave his other eye (a ''Mangekyo'' Sharingan) to Itachi Uchiha after using genjutsu to make it appear as if he had destroyed it, then he died in order to allow Itachi to awaken his own Mangekyo Sharingan.]]
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* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has [[spoiler: Shisui Uchiha]], who's only purpose is initially to [[spoiler:be the person Itachi killed off-screen in order to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan.]] ''Over 200 chapters later'', we learn that [[spoiler:Danzo stole his Sharingan eye.]]
** Later on it's revealed that [[spoiler:he had a Mangekyo Sharingan and the [[ChekhovsGun crow]] Itachi gave Naruto turned out to be his jutsu.]]
*** It is then revealed that [[spoiler: After his eye was stolen by Danzo he gave his other eye to Itachi Uchiha after using Genjuitsu to make it appear he had destroyed the other eye, then he died in order to allow Itachi to awaken his own sharingan.]]
** Both Obito and Rin certainly qualified. They first appeared in the title page of Chapter 16 of the manga, which shows Kakashi in bed with two picture frames. One of his current team and one of the team he was in as a kid. We don't see this team in action until chapters 239-244 of the manga and episodes 119-120 of ''Naruto Shippuden''. Obito only have some kind of importance due to him being the childhood friend of Kakashi, and imparting Kakashi's current behavior, idea, and his Sharingan eye, while Rin seems to be there just to fill the chick role of the trio and show the balance of Team 7. [[spoiler:Flashing forward, Rin was ''killed '' by Kakashi, which actually turned Obito into TOBI, the BigBad of the second half and the entire series - and in fact, it was actually her death that caused the events that went on in the series.]] ChekhovsGunman Squad if there was one.
*** As Tobi, [[spoiler:Obito]] was also introduced as such, who initially was simply a goofy member of the Akatsuki. Later, we find out that he is the true leader of Akatsuki, and is also Madara Uchiha, [[spoiler: and while we can't even be sure of the second one, since Madara has been brought back from the dead by Kabuto's jutso and we were back to not knowing who Tobi is. Until Chapter 599 where it was revealed that Tobi, is in fact, OBITO UCHIHA]]
** At the end of part I, Sasuke explains to Naruto during their battle that the Final Valley was created when the First Hokage fought his best friend who betrayed him, such is the explanation as to why there are statues of them there. Way late into part 2, we find out that said best friend was [[spoiler:Madara Uchiha.]]
** Later on it's revealed that [[spoiler:he had a Mangekyo Sharingan and the [[ChekhovsGun crow]] Itachi gave Naruto turned out to be his jutsu.]]
*** It is then revealed that [[spoiler: After his eye was stolen by Danzo he gave his other eye to Itachi Uchiha after using Genjuitsu to make it appear he had destroyed the other eye, then he died in order to allow Itachi to awaken his own sharingan.]]
** Both Obito and Rin certainly qualified. They first appeared in the title page of Chapter 16 of the manga, which shows Kakashi in bed with two picture frames. One of his current team and one of the team he was in as a kid. We don't see this team in action until chapters 239-244 of the manga and episodes 119-120 of ''Naruto Shippuden''. Obito only have some kind of importance due to him being the childhood friend of Kakashi, and imparting Kakashi's current behavior, idea, and his Sharingan eye, while Rin seems to be there just to fill the chick role of the trio and show the balance of Team 7. [[spoiler:Flashing forward, Rin was ''killed '' by Kakashi, which actually turned Obito into TOBI, the BigBad of the second half and the entire series - and in fact, it was actually her death that caused the events that went on in the series.]] ChekhovsGunman Squad if there was one.
*** As Tobi, [[spoiler:Obito]] was also introduced as such, who initially was simply a goofy member of the Akatsuki. Later, we find out that he is the true leader of Akatsuki, and is also Madara Uchiha, [[spoiler: and while we can't even be sure of the second one, since Madara has been brought back from the dead by Kabuto's jutso and we were back to not knowing who Tobi is. Until Chapter 599 where it was revealed that Tobi, is in fact, OBITO UCHIHA]]
** At the end of part I, Sasuke explains to Naruto during their battle that the Final Valley was created when the First Hokage fought his best friend who betrayed him, such is the explanation as to why there are statues of them there. Way late into part 2, we find out that said best friend was [[spoiler:Madara Uchiha.]]
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* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has [[spoiler: Shisui Uchiha]], who's whose only initial purpose is initially to [[spoiler:be the person Itachi killed off-screen in order to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan.]] ''Over 200 chapters later'', we learn that [[spoiler:Danzo stole his Sharingan eye.]]
** Later on it's revealed that[[spoiler:he [[after his eye was stolen by Danzo, he gave his other eye (a ''Mangekyo'' Sharingan) to Itachi Uchiha after using genjutsu to make it appear as if he had a destroyed it, then he died in order to allow Itachi to awaken his own Mangekyo Sharingan and the [[ChekhovsGun crow]] Itachi gave Naruto turned out to be his jutsu.Sharingan.]]
*** It is then revealed that [[spoiler: After his eye was stolen by Danzo he gave his other eye to Itachi Uchiha after using Genjuitsu to make it appear he had destroyed the other eye, then he died in order to allow Itachi to awaken his own sharingan.]]
** Both Obito and Rin certainly qualified. qualify. They first appeared in the title page of Chapter 16 of the manga, which shows Kakashi in bed with two picture frames. One frames, one of his current team and one of the team he was in as a kid. We don't see this team the latter in action until chapters 239-244 of the manga and episodes 119-120 of ''Naruto Shippuden''. Obito only have some kind of Obito's main importance due to him being was that Kakashi inherited both the childhood friend of Kakashi, and imparting Kakashi's current behavior, idea, and his Sharingan eye, and his present-day behavior and ideals from him, while Rin seems seemed to be there just to fill the chick role of the trio and show further the balance of GenerationXerox comparisons with Team 7. [[spoiler:Flashing forward, we find out that Rin was ''killed '' by Kakashi, which actually turned was what caused Obito to turn into TOBI, Tobi, the BigBad of not only the second half and of ''Naruto'', but arguably the entire series - and in fact, it was actually her death that caused is pretty much the events that went on catalyst for almost every major event in the series.story.]] ChekhovsGunman Squad if there was one.
***As Tobi, [[spoiler:Obito]] was also introduced as such, who Tobi initially was simply a goofy member of the Akatsuki. Later, we find out that he is the its true leader of Akatsuki, leader, and is also Madara Uchiha, [[spoiler: and while we can't even be sure of the second one, since Madara has been brought back from the dead by Kabuto's jutso and we were back to not knowing who Tobi is. Until Chapter 599 where it was revealed that Tobi, is in fact, OBITO UCHIHA]]
[[spoiler:though as mentioned above, he's actually ''Obito'' Uchiha.]]
** At the end of part I, Sasuke explains to Naruto during their battle that the Final Valley was created when the First Hokage fought his best friend who betrayed him, such is the explanation as to why there are statues of them there. Way late into part 2, we find out that said best friend was[[spoiler:Madara Uchiha.Madara Uchiha; [[spoiler:while he is ''not'' Tobi, he ''is'' one the main villains, being the person who was responsible for corrupting Obito and coming up with his EvilPlan to begin with.]]
** Later on it's revealed that
***
** At the end of part I, Sasuke explains to Naruto during their battle that the Final Valley was created when the First Hokage fought his best friend who betrayed him, such is the explanation as to why there are statues of them there. Way late into part 2, we find out that said best friend was
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Dead Little Sister was renamed. Check to see if the example actually fits before readding.
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* The first shot in the first episode of ''DarkerThanBlack'' shows a girl in a white dress standing at the edge of a lake and looking at the stars. This isn't given any explanation, and as the scene immediately cuts to a BatmanColdOpen, viewers are likely to ignore it... until episode 11, when [[spoiler:Hei starts panicking when he sees an illusion of her in the Gate.]] Turns out she's [[spoiler:his DeadLittleSister: a PersonOfMassDestruction, the reason for the Heaven's Gate explosion, and the reason for both her brother's powers and [[TheStoic his personality]].]]
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* The first shot in the first episode of ''DarkerThanBlack'' shows a girl in a white dress standing at the edge of a lake and looking at the stars. This isn't given any explanation, and as the scene immediately cuts to a BatmanColdOpen, viewers are likely to ignore it... until episode 11, when [[spoiler:Hei starts panicking when he sees an illusion of her in the Gate.]] Turns out she's [[spoiler:his DeadLittleSister: dead little sister: a PersonOfMassDestruction, the reason for the Heaven's Gate explosion, and the reason for both her brother's powers and [[TheStoic his personality]].]]
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*** Even better, it's later revealed that the Mermaid Princess has a special power that can [[PersonOfMassDestruction potentially destroy the world]]. It turns out that one of the ancient WeaponsOfMassDestruction: Poseidon [[spoiler:was actually the previous Mermaid Princess, making the current one the reborn Poseidon]].
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* ''ParanoiaAgent'' has Lil' Slugger's victims (at least from the first few episodes) appear in the opening. At one point, they appear in order.
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* ''ParanoiaAgent'' ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' has Lil' Slugger's victims (at least from the first few episodes) appear in the opening. At one point, they appear in order.
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* A major antagonist in ''KatekyoHitmanReborn'' largely responsible for the hunt on the hero's [[TheMafia family]] (and [[spoiler: the hero's death-in-the-future]]) is revealed to be [[spoiler:Irie Shouichi, a seemingly random kid who appeared in one chapter to be traumatized by the wacky antics of the hero's [[TheMafia family]] ''fourteen'' volumes ago.]]
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* A major antagonist in ''KatekyoHitmanReborn'' ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'' largely responsible for the hunt on the hero's [[TheMafia family]] (and [[spoiler: the hero's death-in-the-future]]) is revealed to be [[spoiler:Irie Shouichi, a seemingly random kid who appeared in one chapter to be traumatized by the wacky antics of the hero's [[TheMafia family]] ''fourteen'' volumes ago.]]
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* In episode 22 of ''TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' a kindly beastman prevents a jaded young woman from eating a snail. Who are these two? [[spoiler: The beastman is Jajuka, Dilandau's only surviving soldier under his command who protected him until he died saving his life, and the girl is Celena Schezar, Allen's sister, his charge, and...Dilandau.]]
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* In episode 22 of ''TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' a kindly beastman prevents a jaded young woman from eating a snail. Who are these two? [[spoiler: The beastman is Jajuka, Dilandau's only surviving soldier under his command who protected him until he died saving his life, and the girl is Celena Schezar, Allen's sister, his charge, and...Dilandau.sister who went missing...until it's revealed that Zaibach's sorcerers subjected her to fate alteration experiments and as a result of them, she turned into Dilandau Albatou.]]
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* In the sixth episode of Anime/BloodPlus, the heroes go to the enemy's laboratory to save [[ParentalSubstitute George]]. While there, David checks a computer and remarks that there is no information on it about "Diva", who is referenced several more times before it is revealed that she [[spoiler:is Saya's EvilTwin and the BigBad]].
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* In the sixth episode of Anime/BloodPlus, the heroes go to the enemy's laboratory to save [[ParentalSubstitute George]]. While there, David checks a computer and remarks that there is no information on it about "Diva", who is referenced several more times before it is revealed that she [[spoiler:is Saya's EvilTwin and the BigBad]].BigBad]].
* In episode 22 of ''TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' a kindly beastman prevents a jaded young woman from eating a snail. Who are these two? [[spoiler: The beastman is Jajuka, Dilandau's only surviving soldier under his command who protected him until he died saving his life, and the girl is Celena Schezar, Allen's sister, his charge, and...Dilandau.]]
* In episode 22 of ''TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' a kindly beastman prevents a jaded young woman from eating a snail. Who are these two? [[spoiler: The beastman is Jajuka, Dilandau's only surviving soldier under his command who protected him until he died saving his life, and the girl is Celena Schezar, Allen's sister, his charge, and...Dilandau.]]
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continuing a split.
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* In the very first few minutes of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', we not only see [[spoiler:a post-timeskip version of Simon]], we also see [[spoiler:what appears to be Boota's human form.]] Inverted in that [[spoiler:when the plot actually reaches that point in time, the events are very different from those depicted in the prologue.]] Rumour has it that the writers were making it up as they went along.
* In the first episode of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Shinji sees a vision of Rei in the city before she's even introduced.
** Kaoru Nagisa appears in the OP of every single episode, but goes unintroduced until episode 24.
** From the anime's very first run in 1995, Toji's sister was TheGhost that was mentioned a grand total of two times. Then came ''Rebuild 2.0'' in 2010 where she appeared for the first time on-screen for a few moments, upped by ''3.0'' two years later where she gets a name ([[spoiler:Sakura]]) and becomes a secondary cast member. That's a total of ''seventeen years'' between first mention and first appearance.
* In ''ToAruMajutsuNoIndex'', Saten and Uiharu appear in the opening credits of the first season. Neither appear in the actual show, and only debut in the spin off, ''Railgun''. Uiharu does appear in ''Index'' later though. In the ''second season'', two years later.
** Kuroko also makes an early appearance in episode 2, while she only makes her official debut in episode 10.
* The two new tenants of the [[HidamariSketch Hidamari Apartments]], Nori and Nazuna, were de-FacelessMasses-ized among other admission exam takers in the second season OVA. They were actually introduced in the second episode of the third season.
* Episode 39 of ''FutariWaPrettyCure'' features [[ContinuityCameo reappearances]] by all the minor classmate characters up until then... along with Yui, whose debut episode was number 43. Episode 44 then gave a brief cameo by Chiaki, just before her starring role in episode 45.
* In the ''Manga/FairyTail'' manga, before they are officially shown in the manga during the Oracion Seis arc, the Stellar Spirit twins Gemi and Mini are visible on two chapter cover arts. Given that it's done by Hiro Mashima it's possible that he drew them at random and decided to make them Gemini later.
** Ur also counts [[spoiler: as she was said to be alive at the end of the Galuna Island as a part of the ocean. Arcs later, Ultear falls into the sea and into her mother's memories, which is what convinced her to HeelFaceTurn.]]
* The manhwa ''FaeriesLanding'' has quite a few characters that do this and later become important
* ''ParanoiaAgent'' has Lil' Slugger's victims (at least from the first few episodes) appear in the opening. At one point, they appear in order.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has [[spoiler: Shisui Uchiha]], who's only purpose is initially to [[spoiler:be the person Itachi killed off-screen in order to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan.]] ''Over 200 chapters later'', we learn that [[spoiler:Danzo stole his Sharingan eye.]]
** Later on it's revealed that [[spoiler:he had a Mangekyo Sharingan and the [[ChekhovsGun crow]] Itachi gave Naruto turned out to be his jutsu.]]
*** It is then revealed that [[spoiler: After his eye was stolen by Danzo he gave his other eye to Itachi Uchiha after using Genjuitsu to make it appear he had destroyed the other eye, then he died in order to allow Itachi to awaken his own sharingan.]]
** Both Obito and Rin certainly qualified. They first appeared in the title page of Chapter 16 of the manga, which shows Kakashi in bed with two picture frames. One of his current team and one of the team he was in as a kid. We don't see this team in action until chapters 239-244 of the manga and episodes 119-120 of ''Naruto Shippuden''. Obito only have some kind of importance due to him being the childhood friend of Kakashi, and imparting Kakashi's current behavior, idea, and his Sharingan eye, while Rin seems to be there just to fill the chick role of the trio and show the balance of Team 7. [[spoiler:Flashing forward, Rin was ''killed '' by Kakashi, which actually turned Obito into TOBI, the BigBad of the second half and the entire series - and in fact, it was actually her death that caused the events that went on in the series.]] ChekhovsGunman Squad if there was one.
*** As Tobi, [[spoiler:Obito]] was also introduced as such, who initially was simply a goofy member of the Akatsuki. Later, we find out that he is the true leader of Akatsuki, and is also Madara Uchiha, [[spoiler: and while we can't even be sure of the second one, since Madara has been brought back from the dead by Kabuto's jutso and we were back to not knowing who Tobi is. Until Chapter 599 where it was revealed that Tobi, is in fact, OBITO UCHIHA]]
** At the end of part I, Sasuke explains to Naruto during their battle that the Final Valley was created when the First Hokage fought his best friend who betrayed him, such is the explanation as to why there are statues of them there. Way late into part 2, we find out that said best friend was [[spoiler:Madara Uchiha.]]
* As the page quote states, Sai, Kaede, Madoka and Arisu from ''KidouTenshiAngelicLayer''. They don't have as big of a role as most examples, though, save Sai, although Kaede does make an appearance in ''Manga/{{Chobits}}'' [[spoiler:(dead)]].
* In the ''DNAngel'' anime, Krad is shown in the very first scene (even giving the first spoken line!), but doesn't get a proper introduction until a few episodes later. (And in the manga, his introduction was delayed even more.)
* Selim, son of King Bradley in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Seems like a harmless kid, but later [[spoiler:revealed to be the most dangerous Homunculus of all seven, Pride]].
** In a more minor example, with more immediate payoff, Roy Mustang is initially introduced in Chapter 4 of the manga as seemingly nothing more than an extra to set the scene for the current story, before being revealed as a major character at the end.
** In the chapter with Winry arriving at a train station, Izumi and her husband can be seen in the bottom right of a panel perusing the timetable. When they both arrive later, the author even puts a little footnote that encourages the reader to check back in the earlier volume.
** Probably the most extreme example would be the Gold-Toothed Doctor, an unnamed alchemist that shows up very irregularly.
** Kimblee shows up for a short aside really early, but isn't seen until something like three years later (in real life time). A lot of people don't realize how long a gap there is, because he escaped from prison and was much more active much earlier on in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime]]. That, and he showed up in the flashback volume of the manga, before he was released from prison. Arakawa was clearly itching to get to him.
** The [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime version]] is fond of this trope, bringing back characters from the beginning of the series who seemed like {{Filler Villain}}s as important characters towards the end.
** Selim is this in the 2003 anime too; the difference is he ends up being directly responsible for [[spoiler: Mustang beating Bradley]].
** And let's not forget the even more minor Lyra, who appears in episode 4 of the first anime as Yoki's assistant and later [[spoiler: has her body stolen and becomes host to the biggest of the Big Bads.]]
* In an early story arc of ''BladeOfTheImmortal'' a character is introduced, but disappears at the end of the arc with their story apparently self-contained and complete. Many, ''many'' volumes later, guess who shows up at the side of [[spoiler:Shira]]? [[spoiler:Kawakami Araya's son Renzo.]]
* Mishio in Makoto's arc of ''{{Kanon}}'', and in the Kyoto Animation version, all the major girls.
* In ''PrincessTutu'', the character Autor is always hanging around the library and later on in the background of scenes with Fakir. He later not only divulges an important plot point, but [[spoiler: saves Fakir from a cult with a ''book'']].
* In ''MagicKnightRayearth'', the girls are given a seemingly pointless "mascot", Mokona, to accompany them on their quest. [[spoiler: In the second series, it is revealed that Mokona is literally {{God}}.]]
** Pointless? How many other mascots are both a BagOfHolding and a camper, all in one?
* In ''ShakuganNoShana'', 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''.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' plays this card quite a few times: Nando seems like your run-of-the-mill character of the day, but he ends up as a recurring rival for Ash and Dawn -- competing in both the Grand Festival ''and'' the Sinnoh League.
** The Sandile with sunglasses from the third episode of ''Best Wishes'' appears again in episodes 12 and 20 (in the latter, it evolves into Krokorok).
** Look closely at the matchup screen showing the competitors at the start of the Sinnoh League -- Tobias is on there.
** An earlier example would be the fact that one episode occurring near the end of the Kanto arc involved Gary Oak fighting Mewtwo. The episode that followed has a scene with Mewtwo escaping from the Team Rocket headquarters, therefore setting the scene for ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie''.
** The earliest example would be from the very first episode: the Spearow that Ash threw a rock at comes back to terrorize local Pidgey and Pidgeotto in the season finale, having [[TookALevelInBadass evolved into a Fearow]] (he can tell from the scar the rock left on it's face when it hit it). Also, Ash's Pidgeotto (the second Pokemon he catches) finally evolves, having spent exactly 78 episodes not doing so, and [[PutOnABus leaves his team to protect it's brethren from the Fearow]]. Doubles as BookEnds for the first arc.
* The spirit of the Millennium Ring in ''Anime/YuGiOh'' is introduced as a recurring but ineffectual villain, usually defeated within a single episode in his appearances in the first two seasons, and he was apparently killed off for good at the end of Season Two. Some foreshadowing at the end of Season Three implies [[UnexplainedRecovery he got better]], but otherwise he's never mentioned after Season Two. Then Season Five came -- turns out he's the BigBad of the entire series and was just waiting for his chance to strike.
** In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', Darkness takes a page from the spirit's book--introduced in the first season as the SuperpoweredEvilSide of Fubuki, he's defeated and forgotten partway through Season One, save for a single episode where he came back in Season Two and was defeated again. Then in Season Four, it's revealed Darkness is actually an EldritchAbomination that was just using Darkness as a host, and he becomes the final BigBad of the series. His host Fubuki is also a ChekhovMIA.
* The ''PokemonSpecial'' manga is full of them. Nearly every minor character introduced early on becomes important to the plot later. The biggest example would be [[spoiler: the little girl Red saves randomly in one chapter of the first Arc]] who later turns out to be [[spoiler: Yellow, the main character of the second arc.]]
** Similarly the ''Gold''/''Silver'' arc ends with [[spoiler: Professor Oak confronting an offscreen child who wants to be a Pokémon trainer, in what is seemingly a throwaway homage to his opening monologues from the first Pokémon games. However, a few hundred chapters later in the Emerald arc, it's revealed that the nameless child was actually Emerald and that confrontation was part of his long journey towards becoming a Pokémon trainer.]]
* In ''Manga/SailorMoon'', the episode that introduced Sailor Venus had her appear (in civilian form) in the background of a scene earlier in the episode. The camera also did a long pan on her and Artemis to make sure you didn't miss her. So it wasn't much of a surprise when she showed up later saving the Sailor Senshi. Of course it ''was'' more of a surprise in the English dub, because they cut the long pan entirely and only the most eagle eyed of viewers could have spotted her before she got covered by a CGI screen transition.
** A shot of her as Sailor V actually appeared in the first episode (cut from the dub sadly) while Usagi and Naru are talking about her latest heroic deeds. She's referenced every so often from then on until she appears many episodes later in person briefly as a civilian and then Sailor Venus (wearing the Sailor V mask) as mentioned above
** Much later, Setsuna/Sailor Pluto is introduced in a very similar manner to Minako. True, in her case Sailor Pluto had been introduced in the previous season, but her appearance on Earth was a surprise -- unless you spotted her in the background.
** On the Manga side, throughout ''CodenameSailorV'' the other Sailor Senshi appear with minor background speaking roles, though not directly interacting with Minako. The Live action has a similar prequel known as Act Zero: Birth of Sailor V where they have minor background roles (Except Usagi who is saved by Sailor V)
* Many, ''many'' people in ''MahouSenseiNegima''. 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 [[spoiler:she [[BigDamnHeroes 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. [[spoiler: Turns out he's an extremely famous mage, and exceptionally powerful combatant who knew Negi's father.]] There's also [[spoiler:a few panels of him transporting into Mundus Magicus. This isn't mentioned again until 70+ chapters later.]]
** [[spoiler:Chao Lingshen.]] Yes, merely saying the name is a spoiler. [[spoiler:First seen hawking her restaurant's food in the first chapter of the manga, she goes on to be the BigBad of the Mahora Festival arc. She's also Negi's descendant.]]
** A picture of Ala Rubra appears as early as chapter 53. In it, of course, are Jack Rakan, Albireo and Zect. Plus Takamichi's mentor Gatou. We still don't know what's up with that guy, only that he [[spoiler:taught Takamichi and Asuna [[YinYangBomb kanka]] and erased Asuna's memory. Right before dying, which is his exclusive domain in this series, even in flashbacks.]]
** [[spoiler:Zazie]] in one of the earliest artworks is dead center with claws for hands. Cue the least development of any character and all of ten lines in the series until almost 300 chapters later she [[spoiler:appears in the middle of the Magical World]]. Bricks were shat; {{lampshade|Hanging}}s rained from the skies. And [[spoiler:it was actually her identical sister who's also a demon queen. Not long after, in Mahora, Zazie starts talking.]]
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' is chock-full of these, given that [[TheProducerThinksOfEverything Oda planned the whole story from the start and had all characters ready in place]] since he planned ''One Piece'' to last only five years, only to find himself enjoying it too much and having far more support than he imagined. People that were chilling in the background or just mentioned in passing will turn out to be vitally important to the plot. 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 [[spoiler: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. [[spoiler:However, one of them came back. Brook'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.]] And later with Crocus, Luffy asked him to be their doctor soon after learning he'd been a ship's doctor once, and was turned down. [[spoiler: 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]]. These major points are just a few of the big problems with 4Kids' choice to cut the Laboon arc out of their dub of the anime.
** Oda loves these so much that he might [[Series/{{Scrubs}} 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 cornered Gold Roger several times, but also [[spoiler: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) [[spoiler:Luffy's father]].
** Coby and Helmeppo themselves qualify. They were introduced in the very first arc, and came back almost 450 chapters later after they TookALevelInBadass.
** In the beginning of the Arlong Arc, Jinbei, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea was mentioned. This was in 1999. He made his first appearance in the Impel Down arc. In 2009. And now, in 2011, he's [[spoiler:fighting alongside the Straw Hats in the currently-ongoing Fishman Island arc. Plus there are several [[WildMassGuessing fan theories]] that he'll be the next new Straw Hat member, with a huge body of supporting evidence for the idea]].
** On [[WretchedHive Jaya Island]], three men appear causing trouble around a town. Not only are they [[spoiler: part of the [[PsychoRangers Blackbeard Pirates]], an incredibly powerful pirate crew]], the random bar patron that Luffy almost got in a brawl with is [[spoiler:''[[strike:one of]] the series' BigBad'']].
** Nami is seen in the first episode of the series, but isn't introduced until the Buggy the Clown arc. She's also in the very first color spread in the manga, before either she or Zoro appear in the story.
** When fighting Zoro, Hatchan mentions that he's the second-best swordsman on Fishman Island. Five hundred chapters or so later, we meet the best Fishman swordsman at Fishman Island, [[spoiler: [[PsychoForHire who's been hired]] by the BigBad.]]
** After Thriller Park, the Risky Brothers tells the crew how mermaids' beauty on Fishmen Island even made the Pirate Empress Hancock jealous. We would meet mermaids on Fishmen Island and the Pirate Empress later on.
** Buggy the Clown tends to drop in once in a while just as the audience has forgotten about him.
* ''VisualNovel/{{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. [[spoiler:After the show invokes AnachronicOrder, the story starts over from the beginning focused around the crow, a reincarnation of Yukito named "Sora", and his instrumental contributions to the plot.]]
* A major antagonist in ''KatekyoHitmanReborn'' largely responsible for the hunt on the hero's [[TheMafia family]] (and [[spoiler: the hero's death-in-the-future]]) is revealed to be [[spoiler:Irie Shouichi, a seemingly random kid who appeared in one chapter to be traumatized by the wacky antics of the hero's [[TheMafia family]] ''fourteen'' volumes ago.]]
** Subverted now, since [[spoiler: it was all a very, very complicated BatmanGambit, co-produced by the allegedly deceased hero himself.]]
** But now you have the even more inconspicuous [[spoiler: Kawahira-ojisan]] who was only mentioned in passing by I-pin ''OVER 20 VOLUMES AGO'' as a man she DELIVERED RAMEN TO!
* Kamemon in ''Anime/DigimonSavers''. All he does is silently wander around DATS headquarters serving tea, until [[spoiler:it turns out he's just shy, and is actually the Digimon partner of Yushima, local head of DATS and the CoolOldGuy who randomly shows up to give Masaru advice. Even after ''that,'' he and Kudamon are revealed as agents sent by Yggdrasil to spy on humans. Doubles as LetsGetDangerous when he gets to show off his [[EvolutionaryLevels later evolutions]], Gawappamon and Shawujingmon.]]
* ''KyouranKazokuNikki'' features an odd girl with pink hair dressed like a butterfly who can often be seen in the background for the first 12 episodes. Then comes episode 13, where she is finally introduced: she is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raicho_Hiratsuka Hiratsuka Raichou]], [[spoiler:considered by Ouka's Supernatural Phenomenon Treatment Bureau to be their biggest mistake and "TheEmpire'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 BigBad.]]
* 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, [[spoiler: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 founding members of the Deimon Devil Bats.
** The Ha-Ha Brothers, as well, were originally the nameless bullies tormenting Sena in the first chapter before disappearing for some time and eventually being pressured into joining the Devil Bats as offensive linemen during the game against Zokugaku.
* In the 9th volume of the manga ''RaveMaster'' [[spoiler: Lucia Raregroove appears in a flashback. He and his mother are promptly killed off as part of his father's FreudianExcuse for JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope.]] However, in the very same volume [[spoiler: King pulls a HeelFaceTurn, leading to the [[RedemptionEqualsDeath obligatory]] HeroicSacrifice]], leaving the manga without a BigBad, with the story less than 1/3 completed. A few chapters later, guess who shows up to take over the role of BigBad for the rest of the story's run? Turns out, [[spoiler: Lucia was NotQuiteDead, after all. His mom was KilledOffForReal, though, as far as anybody knows.]]
** Also Resha, who gets mentioned by Deerhound a little while before her '''massive''' significance to the story is revealed, and Saga Pendragon, who comes up as the one who made the prophecy about the 'two winds meeting' and later turns out to be [[spoiler: the reason Resha faked her death to be able to aid the future]].
* That young, redheaded train conductor from ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}!'' doesn't seem remotely important at first. He's just a RedShirt whose only distinction is being the first to be killed on the train, right? Er, not quite. [[spoiler: In episode nine we learn that neither of the corpses that Jacuzzi found were his -- they were his ''victims'''. Conductor guy turns out to be the Rail Tracer that has been picking off the Lemures and White Suits throughout the series.]] And that's not even half of it...
** And then the man in the trenchcoat in the scene where Isaac's ear gets crushed is is [[spoiler: the Martillo Family's Ronnie Suchiart, aka the devil from the Advenna Avis.]] He plays a larger role in the light novels.
** And [[spoiler:Fermet, the man that tortured Czeslaw into nigh-sociopathic paranoia]]? Turns out he's [[spoiler:the series's BigBad]].
* If you thought that [[spoiler:Michelo Chariot]] and [[spoiler: Sir Gentle Chapman]] were one-time rivals for [[GGundam Domon Kasshu]]... boy, were you ''wrong''. [[spoiler: Michelo joins the Devil Gundam group and later Gentle Chapman [[CameBackWrong is revived as a DG zombie]] by them]]
* In the first chapter of ''GetBackers'', there's this snotty brat who shows up when Ban and Ginji are ten yen short of the fee to get back their recently-towed car. He says he'll give them ten yen if they retrieve his Final Fantasy game, and they end up getting beat up and never think about it again... until volume 14, when the ''exact'' same thing happens, and [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Ten Yen-kun]] turns out to be a missing kid that our heroes will be hired to "get back" later that day.
* In ''Anime/{{Monster}}'', [[BigBad Johann]] and Anna Liebert are briefly shown on Tenma's TV as the children of a foreign trade adviser who successfully managed to flee East Germany.
* ''{{Godannar}}'' has ''three'' examples that span the entire series:
** The first is Tetsuya Kouji, whose mech gets blown to smithereens in episode 1, leaving him [[PutOnABus in the hospital]] for most of the series. [[spoiler: He shows up as a [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Hero]] in the last arc.]]
** The second is Anna's [[ChekhovMIA missing father]], who is mentioned in an early episode and then [[spoiler: pretty much does the same thing as Tetsuya is the final arc.]] And the kicker? [[spoiler: This is a ''double'' example, since he was also the priest performing the main heroes' wedding in the first episode.]]
** Thirdly, the [[WrenchWench mecha technician]] Hayashi, who has a DistressedDamsel moment in episode 2, and thereafter serves no purpose other than a [[SickeninglySweethearts comically perfect]] relationship with fellow tech Morimoto. Turns out in the DistantFinale that [[spoiler: she is the ''key to the human race's survival'', precisely ''because'' she had that DistressedDamsel moment at the start.]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': At the end of the Soul Society arc, Aizen leaves Seireitei via negaccion and the shinigami left behind observe that there's something in the garganta behind the gillians, the only sign of which is a giant eye. Hundreds of chapters later during the battle for Karakura Town, Wonderweiss appears with his giant pet, Fuura, a misshapen being with one giant eye and the ability to destroy Yamamoto's flames that are trapping Aizen. It's revealed Fuura was the creature that was hovering behind the garganta at the end of the Soul Society arc.
** And who could forget that in the first chapter of ''Bleach'', on the colourpage, one can find Shinji Hirako... who doesn't get introduced until nearly 200 chapters later.
** [[spoiler:Aizen]] himself counts. He's introduced early in the Soul Society Arc as one of the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters who are brought in, and promptly gets murdered. [[spoiler:He turns out to be the BigBad.]]
** In the 4th episode of the anime and chapter 7 of the manga, Ichigo's dad Dr. Isshin Kurosaki is on the phone with the local hospital demanding they open up beds for patients he cannot treat in his tiny clinic. Isshin tells the clerk to tell his manager its a personal request from Kurosaki and that will free up the beds he needs. The hospital's chief administrator is [[spoiler:Ryuken Ishida, Uryuu's father, Quincy, and]] an old friend of Isshin's, [[spoiler:which isn't revealed until manga chapter 241 and anime episode 143!!]]
** In manga chapter 27, which introduces Don Kanonji, a person who looks conspicuously like Ishida is seen in the crowd on the same page where Rukia starts doing Don Kanonji's signature BOHAHAHAHA laugh. Ishida does not "officially" appear in the manga until chapter 33. Also in chapter 29, another person is seen moving toward the roped off area where Don Kanonji's exorcism is turning a soul into a hollow, but stops because Ichigo jumps over the rope first. At first glance it might appear that this person, shown only with close-ups on his hands and feet is Ichigo, however Ichigo is wearing jeans (which are a light shade of gray in the manga) and a t-shirt with a black collar. The figure clearly has black pants and a white-collared shirt and dark hair. The back of this person is clearly visible (but his face is not) on the page where Ichigo jumps over the rope separating the audience from Don Kanonji. WordOfGod later confirms that this in fact Ishida. Credit to pointing this out (before Tite acknowledged it in an interview) goes to the now-defunct webpage "Kubo Tite is your GOD."
*** Kanonji himself might be an example as well. He's introduced as a one-shot character, but he shows up a few times in filler. (Normally filler doesn't count, but this filler is based on Omake segments done by Kubo, so it's debatable) He does show up later though, when [[spoiler: Aizen and Gin invade Karakura Town, he steps in to protect Tatsuki and Keigo. Aizen planed on killing them just to infuriate Ichigo, so that his rage would increase his power.]]
** Iceringer and D-Roy, believe it or not. Their first appearance is after Grand Fisher is beaten by Ichigo, with the former healing him and the latter yelling at him for failing. This also gives proof to Aizen's claim that he's been pulling Ichigo's strings since before he ever entered Soul Society.
** Chapter 56 sees Byakuya tell Rukia he understands her desire to protect Ichigo because of Ichigo's resemblence to "him". Although this is an obvious portent of Kaien's backstory entering the manga 77 chapters later, this chapter also sets up the introduction of Hisana 123 chapters later as proof that Byakuya told the truth: he really does understand the desire to protect someone who resembles a loved one. Not only that, but the chapter's cover page is, on first reading, viewed as a snapshot of a dead or unconscious Rukia with an oddly shaggier version of her normal hairstyle. Hisana's introduction into the story reveals she resembles Rukia with a shaggier version of Rukia's normal hairstyle. Cue a reinterpretation of the picture in Chapter 56 as being Hisana not Rukia.
* Ange Ushiromiya is very conspicuously name-dropped in the first arc of the ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi VN'', but is not seen in that arc at all. She only starts to play a role in the [[spoiler:third]] arc, and is in fact [[spoiler:[[MyGreatestFailure one of the most important characters]] (excluding Battler and Beatrice themselves) in the fourth arc]].
** Ange isn't the only one. In fact, Episode 1 contains references to every other Episode so far. Other notable character namedrops include [[spoiler:Gaap]] and [[spoiler:Goldsmith]], which actually are pretty inconspicuous at the time.
** The TIPS for Eiserne Jungfrau in Episode 5 mention the "SSVD" and its leader, "Wizard-Hunting Wright" or "Twenty Wedges". [[spoiler:Guess who shows up in Episode 7, armed with S.S. Van Dine's 20 commandments?]]
* The main character of ''Anime/{{Mai-HiME}}'', Mai, is conspicuously absent for most of ''Anime/{{Mai-Otome}}'', which features almost all of the characters from the former. She only shows up a couple of times: once on a poster in the background of a shot, and as a silhouette during a narration of her [[spoiler:untrue]] tragic backstory. [[spoiler:She shows up in one of the last episodes and becomes a key character in the final battle.]] Subversion: Tate (Mai's love interest in ''Mai-[=HiME=]'') also appears as a silhouette during said backstory, but [[spoiler:the story isn't true after all]] and he never actually shows up or becomes important.
* In an early chapter of the ''Manga/SoulEater'' Baba Yaga arc, Kid and Maka notice the presence of two people following them. One of whom is a ''monkey'', which both find funny. All we're told is that, though Shinigami told Medusa otherwise, the Shibusen group is being followed by Death Scythes and their meisters, although it ''appears'' to just be Azusa with her long-range communication/sniping skills. Chapter 59 sees Maka being saved from Medusa by the appearance of a monkey and a man in a bear suit, who turn out to be the South American Death Scythe Tezcatlipoca and his meister Enrique (the monkey).
** Excalibur turns out to be this in the manga. At first he appears to just be a weird recurring joke--a weapon that [[RuleOfFunny for no apparent reason]] has a non-weapon form of a lizard-like creature instead of a human, which is powerful but has a terrible personality so no one can stand to work with him. [[spoiler:Turns out he's one of the "Old Ones" that both the BigBad ''and'' BigGood belong to, as well as the SuperPrototype all the human weapons are based on.]]
* The woman whose skirt keeps getting flipped in ''GateKeepers''. [[spoiler: [[BigDamnHeroes She saves the Commander and his secretary in the final episode]]]].
* The first shot in the first episode of ''DarkerThanBlack'' shows a girl in a white dress standing at the edge of a lake and looking at the stars. This isn't given any explanation, and as the scene immediately cuts to a BatmanColdOpen, viewers are likely to ignore it... until episode 11, when [[spoiler:Hei starts panicking when he sees an illusion of her in the Gate.]] Turns out she's [[spoiler:his DeadLittleSister: a PersonOfMassDestruction, the reason for the Heaven's Gate explosion, and the reason for both her brother's powers and [[TheStoic his personality]].]]
* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', Light goes through a period of dating other girls much to Misa's chagrin. We get a good look at one of them, Kiyomi Takada, who shows up again near the end of the series and [[spoiler: proves pivotal to Light's defeat.]]
** You know those [[IKnowYourTrueName nameless]] [[GondorCallsForAid extras]] standing around in the background of Episode 23? Turns out that a good portion of the plot hinges on their presence.
** In the pilot, Miura is first shown being questioned by the police. Much later, when main character Taro Kagami gives up the notebook, [[spoiler:more people get killed, including the detectives, and Miura is the second Death Note user]].
* In ''Manga/DragonBall'', Kame Sen'nin's first appearance doesn't amount to much. He happened to have a Dragonball and he gives Goku the Kintou'un. His next appearance he's revealed to be the Muten Roushi and the trainer of both Gyuu Maou and Grandpa Gohan. After that he plays a major role training Goku and Kuririn. Sadly, he was DemotedToExtra by the Majunior saga and it was just downhill from there.
** ChiChi's an even better example. She first appeared as a minor character who had a crush on Goku, and in the manga after her first appearance she was never seen nor mentioned again until the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai ''twelve volumes later'' where she's reunited with Goku and they wind up getting engaged. The anime screwed this up however by having her appear every now and then in a couple filler episodes.
* Dana Sterling, the teen protagonist of ''{{Robotech}}'''s "The Masters" cycle, is one of these, as she first appears as a baby during the "Macross Saga" cycle.
* Schrödinger in ''{{Hellsing}}'' appears relatively early on in the manga and OVA series, and has the interesting but passingly mentioned ability to be "everywhere and nowhere". [[spoiler: His ability comes into full effect in the final volume of the manga, where he commits suicide and allows his body to fall into the river of blood Alucard is absorbing. The Major explains that Schrödinger's ability depends on his ability to perceive himself as an individual; if he becomes one of the many millions of souls within Alucard, however, he is unable to distinguish himself and is thus unable to truly exist. This quandary, in turn, causes Alucard to cease existing in the real world, which was the Major's EvilPlan all along.]]
* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'''s Kagura makes a few experiences before her introduction, the greatest of which is in the first sports fest.
** Kagura gets a little weird here. She appeared in the manga a few times before joining the main cast too, but the anime expanded on how often she made appearances a good deal.
** That's because the anime mixed up the order of a few events, like the pool episode, so that they came earlier.
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' had Schneizel make an appearance at Clovis's funeral at least a dozen episodes before he actually enters the story.
** Also had Mao appear early in both episode 12 and 13, even though he's not officially introduced until episode 14. In hindsight, though the first cameo becomes pretty damn significant as it explains how the hell Mao [[spoiler: knew Lelouch was Zero, knew C.C. was with him, knew Shirley liked him, and knew her father was killed by Zero, all of which become important parts of his BatmanGambit.]]
* An early episode of ''{{Gundam 00}}'' featured Neil Dylandy's [[SeparatedAtBirth estranged twin brother of sorts]], Lyle visiting their family's grave while the former hides behind a tree to glimpse on his brother. [[spoiler:Lyle became Neil's BackupTwin in the second season.]]
* In ''{{K-ON}}'', Yui can be seen running past Ritsu, Mio, and Mugi on her way to school in the first episode before they all are introduced later.
* In ''DogsBulletsAndCarnage'', during the first story that introduces Mihai, there's a panel showing a red haired guy with an eye patch trying to get past him and get out the door. Guess who's introduced as the subject of the next story?
* An arc of ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' consist of the protagonist looking for the remaining Chekhov's Gunmen, i.e. [[spoiler:the girls that remember their capture.]]
* In the first chapter of UntilDeathDoUsPart, a woman is pictured in [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/until_death_do_us_part/v01/c001/17.html one panel]], with no explanation given for her. Five years of real-world time later, in a [[WholeEpisodeFlashback flashback arc]] about the main character's past, she is revealed to be, among other things, [[spoiler:the last thing the main character saw with his actual eyes; her violent death, and the circumstances of it, were major factors in making him how he is now. Along with, y'know, blindness.]] See [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/until_death_do_us_part/v13/c107/21.html here]].
* In ''HajimeNoIppo'' we're introduced to Yamada Naomichi, a weighty, timid young man who admires Ippo. Yamada trained in Ippo's gym for several months, and became a pro boxer before moving away, and we sort of forget about him after that. [[spoiler: Two years later, he returns as 'Hammer Nao', Ippo's opponent for his second title defense, with a shaved head, scary demeanor, and lost enough weight to end up in Ippo's weight class, and everyone lampshades this drastic change.]]
* Zigzagged in ''{{Berserk}}''. Since the manga starts off as an InMediasRes, [[spoiler: Puck is introduced as a primary character in the Black Swordsman arc. After the Black Swordsman arc is over and the story switches to the Golden Age Arc - which is a flashback - Puck has not been introduced. However, after Guts and Casca are rescued from an ambush by the Blue Whale Knights of Tudor, Judeau gives Casca a bag of elf dust, saying that an elf he use to know while traveling with a band of performers gave it to him as a gift. The elf in question is indeed Puck, but he is not referred to again until the events of the Eclipse, in which Rickert, who was left behind during the Griffith rescue operation, was traveling with the same band of performers that Judeau accompanied in the past, with Puck still in their presence. After the two year time skip at the beginning of the Conviction Arc (which the Black Swordsman Arc overlapped chronologically) Puck is presented as a larger character.]]
* ''{{Gundam 00}}'': [[spoiler:Ribbons Almark. He spends season one as Alejandro's quiet minion, then backstabs him in episode 25 and takes over his role as the BigBad.]]
* In ''TigerAndBunny'', Kotetsu T. Kaburagi has a young daughter named Kaede. She doesn't see much screentime, as he unfortunately has to live away from her. Then the second half of the show rolls along and [[spoiler:a certain little girl [[SuperpowerfulGenetics starts developing superpowers just like her father...]]]]
* ''OniisamaE'': Years ago, there was a little girl who played in the rain and she once saw a pre-teen boy and she tried to talk to him, but he ran away. That young boy's name? [[spoiler:Takehiko Henmi, the tutor ''and'' stepbrother of the aforementioned girl, Nanako Misonoo.]]
* ''LightNovel/{{Inukami}}'': There's this kappa that hangs out in the background for a few episodes. In the climax [[spoiler:he saves Keita's life.]]
* ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'': Kongo Agon, one of the most memorable antagonists in the series makes his debut appearance watching the Devil-Bat's second ever match. Later on, while trying to find and recruit Musashi as a kicker, the Devil-Bat's run into Kotaro, who becomes their last opponent in the Tokyo Tournament. Than during the opening of the Kantou Regionals, [[TheHero Sena]] is approached by Reiji Marco who plays quarterback for the Hakushuu Dinosaurs, and wants to know if Sena would like to trade opponents (upon finding out Sena will be facing Agon he backs off); he seems like something of an afterthought compared to some of the other players there, but he and his team end up being the {{Climax Boss}}es of the arc.
* There is a general rule about ''The Prince of Tennis'': If you can remember their name, they will probably be back.
* In CodeBreaker, Aoba. She is Sakura's best friend, and apart from that, just an attractive female character. [[spoiler: She later is discovered to be Code:Revenger, one of the top agents of Eden.]]
* In HaouAiren, a kid named [[spoiler: Kaafai]] gets [[ForcedToWatch an unwilling first row view]] of [[spoiler: Hakuron raping his own girlfriend Kurumi, whom the poor kid had befriended.]] Guess who, in the last volume of the manga, [[spoiler: ends up '''shooting Hakuron dead''']]?
* ''In MuhyoAndRoji'', a girl is briefly shown asking Enchu, who is busy studying, to play with her, Muhyo and Yoichi. The girl appears again in a later arc and turns out to be Yu "Biko" Abiko, one of Muhyo's old friends and a major ally.
* Chapter 14 of ''Manga/GakuenBabysitters'' mentions by name the strict high school chemistry teacher, Hebihara, who's known for being strict and overworking. [[spoiler:11 chapters later, he's revealed to be the father of Kamitani, one of the supporting characters.]]
* Akasaka from {{Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni}} is introduced as a minor character in the first season, only interacting with Rika, who discusses with him [[spoiler: his wife's death and how to save her]]. In the second season, he plays a much bigger role, [[spoiler: saving Rika from the Yamainu and Takano multiple times]].
* In the sixth episode of Anime/BloodPlus, the heroes go to the enemy's laboratory to save [[ParentalSubstitute George]]. While there, David checks a computer and remarks that there is no information on it about "Diva", who is referenced several more times before it is revealed that she [[spoiler:is Saya's EvilTwin and the BigBad]].
* In the first episode of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Shinji sees a vision of Rei in the city before she's even introduced.
** Kaoru Nagisa appears in the OP of every single episode, but goes unintroduced until episode 24.
** From the anime's very first run in 1995, Toji's sister was TheGhost that was mentioned a grand total of two times. Then came ''Rebuild 2.0'' in 2010 where she appeared for the first time on-screen for a few moments, upped by ''3.0'' two years later where she gets a name ([[spoiler:Sakura]]) and becomes a secondary cast member. That's a total of ''seventeen years'' between first mention and first appearance.
* In ''ToAruMajutsuNoIndex'', Saten and Uiharu appear in the opening credits of the first season. Neither appear in the actual show, and only debut in the spin off, ''Railgun''. Uiharu does appear in ''Index'' later though. In the ''second season'', two years later.
** Kuroko also makes an early appearance in episode 2, while she only makes her official debut in episode 10.
* The two new tenants of the [[HidamariSketch Hidamari Apartments]], Nori and Nazuna, were de-FacelessMasses-ized among other admission exam takers in the second season OVA. They were actually introduced in the second episode of the third season.
* Episode 39 of ''FutariWaPrettyCure'' features [[ContinuityCameo reappearances]] by all the minor classmate characters up until then... along with Yui, whose debut episode was number 43. Episode 44 then gave a brief cameo by Chiaki, just before her starring role in episode 45.
* In the ''Manga/FairyTail'' manga, before they are officially shown in the manga during the Oracion Seis arc, the Stellar Spirit twins Gemi and Mini are visible on two chapter cover arts. Given that it's done by Hiro Mashima it's possible that he drew them at random and decided to make them Gemini later.
** Ur also counts [[spoiler: as she was said to be alive at the end of the Galuna Island as a part of the ocean. Arcs later, Ultear falls into the sea and into her mother's memories, which is what convinced her to HeelFaceTurn.]]
* The manhwa ''FaeriesLanding'' has quite a few characters that do this and later become important
* ''ParanoiaAgent'' has Lil' Slugger's victims (at least from the first few episodes) appear in the opening. At one point, they appear in order.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has [[spoiler: Shisui Uchiha]], who's only purpose is initially to [[spoiler:be the person Itachi killed off-screen in order to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan.]] ''Over 200 chapters later'', we learn that [[spoiler:Danzo stole his Sharingan eye.]]
** Later on it's revealed that [[spoiler:he had a Mangekyo Sharingan and the [[ChekhovsGun crow]] Itachi gave Naruto turned out to be his jutsu.]]
*** It is then revealed that [[spoiler: After his eye was stolen by Danzo he gave his other eye to Itachi Uchiha after using Genjuitsu to make it appear he had destroyed the other eye, then he died in order to allow Itachi to awaken his own sharingan.]]
** Both Obito and Rin certainly qualified. They first appeared in the title page of Chapter 16 of the manga, which shows Kakashi in bed with two picture frames. One of his current team and one of the team he was in as a kid. We don't see this team in action until chapters 239-244 of the manga and episodes 119-120 of ''Naruto Shippuden''. Obito only have some kind of importance due to him being the childhood friend of Kakashi, and imparting Kakashi's current behavior, idea, and his Sharingan eye, while Rin seems to be there just to fill the chick role of the trio and show the balance of Team 7. [[spoiler:Flashing forward, Rin was ''killed '' by Kakashi, which actually turned Obito into TOBI, the BigBad of the second half and the entire series - and in fact, it was actually her death that caused the events that went on in the series.]] ChekhovsGunman Squad if there was one.
*** As Tobi, [[spoiler:Obito]] was also introduced as such, who initially was simply a goofy member of the Akatsuki. Later, we find out that he is the true leader of Akatsuki, and is also Madara Uchiha, [[spoiler: and while we can't even be sure of the second one, since Madara has been brought back from the dead by Kabuto's jutso and we were back to not knowing who Tobi is. Until Chapter 599 where it was revealed that Tobi, is in fact, OBITO UCHIHA]]
** At the end of part I, Sasuke explains to Naruto during their battle that the Final Valley was created when the First Hokage fought his best friend who betrayed him, such is the explanation as to why there are statues of them there. Way late into part 2, we find out that said best friend was [[spoiler:Madara Uchiha.]]
* As the page quote states, Sai, Kaede, Madoka and Arisu from ''KidouTenshiAngelicLayer''. They don't have as big of a role as most examples, though, save Sai, although Kaede does make an appearance in ''Manga/{{Chobits}}'' [[spoiler:(dead)]].
* In the ''DNAngel'' anime, Krad is shown in the very first scene (even giving the first spoken line!), but doesn't get a proper introduction until a few episodes later. (And in the manga, his introduction was delayed even more.)
* Selim, son of King Bradley in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Seems like a harmless kid, but later [[spoiler:revealed to be the most dangerous Homunculus of all seven, Pride]].
** In a more minor example, with more immediate payoff, Roy Mustang is initially introduced in Chapter 4 of the manga as seemingly nothing more than an extra to set the scene for the current story, before being revealed as a major character at the end.
** In the chapter with Winry arriving at a train station, Izumi and her husband can be seen in the bottom right of a panel perusing the timetable. When they both arrive later, the author even puts a little footnote that encourages the reader to check back in the earlier volume.
** Probably the most extreme example would be the Gold-Toothed Doctor, an unnamed alchemist that shows up very irregularly.
** Kimblee shows up for a short aside really early, but isn't seen until something like three years later (in real life time). A lot of people don't realize how long a gap there is, because he escaped from prison and was much more active much earlier on in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime]]. That, and he showed up in the flashback volume of the manga, before he was released from prison. Arakawa was clearly itching to get to him.
** The [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime version]] is fond of this trope, bringing back characters from the beginning of the series who seemed like {{Filler Villain}}s as important characters towards the end.
** Selim is this in the 2003 anime too; the difference is he ends up being directly responsible for [[spoiler: Mustang beating Bradley]].
** And let's not forget the even more minor Lyra, who appears in episode 4 of the first anime as Yoki's assistant and later [[spoiler: has her body stolen and becomes host to the biggest of the Big Bads.]]
* In an early story arc of ''BladeOfTheImmortal'' a character is introduced, but disappears at the end of the arc with their story apparently self-contained and complete. Many, ''many'' volumes later, guess who shows up at the side of [[spoiler:Shira]]? [[spoiler:Kawakami Araya's son Renzo.]]
* Mishio in Makoto's arc of ''{{Kanon}}'', and in the Kyoto Animation version, all the major girls.
* In ''PrincessTutu'', the character Autor is always hanging around the library and later on in the background of scenes with Fakir. He later not only divulges an important plot point, but [[spoiler: saves Fakir from a cult with a ''book'']].
* In ''MagicKnightRayearth'', the girls are given a seemingly pointless "mascot", Mokona, to accompany them on their quest. [[spoiler: In the second series, it is revealed that Mokona is literally {{God}}.]]
** Pointless? How many other mascots are both a BagOfHolding and a camper, all in one?
* In ''ShakuganNoShana'', 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''.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' plays this card quite a few times: Nando seems like your run-of-the-mill character of the day, but he ends up as a recurring rival for Ash and Dawn -- competing in both the Grand Festival ''and'' the Sinnoh League.
** The Sandile with sunglasses from the third episode of ''Best Wishes'' appears again in episodes 12 and 20 (in the latter, it evolves into Krokorok).
** Look closely at the matchup screen showing the competitors at the start of the Sinnoh League -- Tobias is on there.
** An earlier example would be the fact that one episode occurring near the end of the Kanto arc involved Gary Oak fighting Mewtwo. The episode that followed has a scene with Mewtwo escaping from the Team Rocket headquarters, therefore setting the scene for ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie''.
** The earliest example would be from the very first episode: the Spearow that Ash threw a rock at comes back to terrorize local Pidgey and Pidgeotto in the season finale, having [[TookALevelInBadass evolved into a Fearow]] (he can tell from the scar the rock left on it's face when it hit it). Also, Ash's Pidgeotto (the second Pokemon he catches) finally evolves, having spent exactly 78 episodes not doing so, and [[PutOnABus leaves his team to protect it's brethren from the Fearow]]. Doubles as BookEnds for the first arc.
* The spirit of the Millennium Ring in ''Anime/YuGiOh'' is introduced as a recurring but ineffectual villain, usually defeated within a single episode in his appearances in the first two seasons, and he was apparently killed off for good at the end of Season Two. Some foreshadowing at the end of Season Three implies [[UnexplainedRecovery he got better]], but otherwise he's never mentioned after Season Two. Then Season Five came -- turns out he's the BigBad of the entire series and was just waiting for his chance to strike.
** In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', Darkness takes a page from the spirit's book--introduced in the first season as the SuperpoweredEvilSide of Fubuki, he's defeated and forgotten partway through Season One, save for a single episode where he came back in Season Two and was defeated again. Then in Season Four, it's revealed Darkness is actually an EldritchAbomination that was just using Darkness as a host, and he becomes the final BigBad of the series. His host Fubuki is also a ChekhovMIA.
* The ''PokemonSpecial'' manga is full of them. Nearly every minor character introduced early on becomes important to the plot later. The biggest example would be [[spoiler: the little girl Red saves randomly in one chapter of the first Arc]] who later turns out to be [[spoiler: Yellow, the main character of the second arc.]]
** Similarly the ''Gold''/''Silver'' arc ends with [[spoiler: Professor Oak confronting an offscreen child who wants to be a Pokémon trainer, in what is seemingly a throwaway homage to his opening monologues from the first Pokémon games. However, a few hundred chapters later in the Emerald arc, it's revealed that the nameless child was actually Emerald and that confrontation was part of his long journey towards becoming a Pokémon trainer.]]
* In ''Manga/SailorMoon'', the episode that introduced Sailor Venus had her appear (in civilian form) in the background of a scene earlier in the episode. The camera also did a long pan on her and Artemis to make sure you didn't miss her. So it wasn't much of a surprise when she showed up later saving the Sailor Senshi. Of course it ''was'' more of a surprise in the English dub, because they cut the long pan entirely and only the most eagle eyed of viewers could have spotted her before she got covered by a CGI screen transition.
** A shot of her as Sailor V actually appeared in the first episode (cut from the dub sadly) while Usagi and Naru are talking about her latest heroic deeds. She's referenced every so often from then on until she appears many episodes later in person briefly as a civilian and then Sailor Venus (wearing the Sailor V mask) as mentioned above
** Much later, Setsuna/Sailor Pluto is introduced in a very similar manner to Minako. True, in her case Sailor Pluto had been introduced in the previous season, but her appearance on Earth was a surprise -- unless you spotted her in the background.
** On the Manga side, throughout ''CodenameSailorV'' the other Sailor Senshi appear with minor background speaking roles, though not directly interacting with Minako. The Live action has a similar prequel known as Act Zero: Birth of Sailor V where they have minor background roles (Except Usagi who is saved by Sailor V)
* Many, ''many'' people in ''MahouSenseiNegima''. 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 [[spoiler:she [[BigDamnHeroes 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. [[spoiler: Turns out he's an extremely famous mage, and exceptionally powerful combatant who knew Negi's father.]] There's also [[spoiler:a few panels of him transporting into Mundus Magicus. This isn't mentioned again until 70+ chapters later.]]
** [[spoiler:Chao Lingshen.]] Yes, merely saying the name is a spoiler. [[spoiler:First seen hawking her restaurant's food in the first chapter of the manga, she goes on to be the BigBad of the Mahora Festival arc. She's also Negi's descendant.]]
** A picture of Ala Rubra appears as early as chapter 53. In it, of course, are Jack Rakan, Albireo and Zect. Plus Takamichi's mentor Gatou. We still don't know what's up with that guy, only that he [[spoiler:taught Takamichi and Asuna [[YinYangBomb kanka]] and erased Asuna's memory. Right before dying, which is his exclusive domain in this series, even in flashbacks.]]
** [[spoiler:Zazie]] in one of the earliest artworks is dead center with claws for hands. Cue the least development of any character and all of ten lines in the series until almost 300 chapters later she [[spoiler:appears in the middle of the Magical World]]. Bricks were shat; {{lampshade|Hanging}}s rained from the skies. And [[spoiler:it was actually her identical sister who's also a demon queen. Not long after, in Mahora, Zazie starts talking.]]
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' is chock-full of these, given that [[TheProducerThinksOfEverything Oda planned the whole story from the start and had all characters ready in place]] since he planned ''One Piece'' to last only five years, only to find himself enjoying it too much and having far more support than he imagined. People that were chilling in the background or just mentioned in passing will turn out to be vitally important to the plot. 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 [[spoiler: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. [[spoiler:However, one of them came back. Brook'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.]] And later with Crocus, Luffy asked him to be their doctor soon after learning he'd been a ship's doctor once, and was turned down. [[spoiler: 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]]. These major points are just a few of the big problems with 4Kids' choice to cut the Laboon arc out of their dub of the anime.
** Oda loves these so much that he might [[Series/{{Scrubs}} 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 cornered Gold Roger several times, but also [[spoiler: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) [[spoiler:Luffy's father]].
** Coby and Helmeppo themselves qualify. They were introduced in the very first arc, and came back almost 450 chapters later after they TookALevelInBadass.
** In the beginning of the Arlong Arc, Jinbei, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea was mentioned. This was in 1999. He made his first appearance in the Impel Down arc. In 2009. And now, in 2011, he's [[spoiler:fighting alongside the Straw Hats in the currently-ongoing Fishman Island arc. Plus there are several [[WildMassGuessing fan theories]] that he'll be the next new Straw Hat member, with a huge body of supporting evidence for the idea]].
** On [[WretchedHive Jaya Island]], three men appear causing trouble around a town. Not only are they [[spoiler: part of the [[PsychoRangers Blackbeard Pirates]], an incredibly powerful pirate crew]], the random bar patron that Luffy almost got in a brawl with is [[spoiler:''[[strike:one of]] the series' BigBad'']].
** Nami is seen in the first episode of the series, but isn't introduced until the Buggy the Clown arc. She's also in the very first color spread in the manga, before either she or Zoro appear in the story.
** When fighting Zoro, Hatchan mentions that he's the second-best swordsman on Fishman Island. Five hundred chapters or so later, we meet the best Fishman swordsman at Fishman Island, [[spoiler: [[PsychoForHire who's been hired]] by the BigBad.]]
** After Thriller Park, the Risky Brothers tells the crew how mermaids' beauty on Fishmen Island even made the Pirate Empress Hancock jealous. We would meet mermaids on Fishmen Island and the Pirate Empress later on.
** Buggy the Clown tends to drop in once in a while just as the audience has forgotten about him.
* ''VisualNovel/{{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. [[spoiler:After the show invokes AnachronicOrder, the story starts over from the beginning focused around the crow, a reincarnation of Yukito named "Sora", and his instrumental contributions to the plot.]]
* A major antagonist in ''KatekyoHitmanReborn'' largely responsible for the hunt on the hero's [[TheMafia family]] (and [[spoiler: the hero's death-in-the-future]]) is revealed to be [[spoiler:Irie Shouichi, a seemingly random kid who appeared in one chapter to be traumatized by the wacky antics of the hero's [[TheMafia family]] ''fourteen'' volumes ago.]]
** Subverted now, since [[spoiler: it was all a very, very complicated BatmanGambit, co-produced by the allegedly deceased hero himself.]]
** But now you have the even more inconspicuous [[spoiler: Kawahira-ojisan]] who was only mentioned in passing by I-pin ''OVER 20 VOLUMES AGO'' as a man she DELIVERED RAMEN TO!
* Kamemon in ''Anime/DigimonSavers''. All he does is silently wander around DATS headquarters serving tea, until [[spoiler:it turns out he's just shy, and is actually the Digimon partner of Yushima, local head of DATS and the CoolOldGuy who randomly shows up to give Masaru advice. Even after ''that,'' he and Kudamon are revealed as agents sent by Yggdrasil to spy on humans. Doubles as LetsGetDangerous when he gets to show off his [[EvolutionaryLevels later evolutions]], Gawappamon and Shawujingmon.]]
* ''KyouranKazokuNikki'' features an odd girl with pink hair dressed like a butterfly who can often be seen in the background for the first 12 episodes. Then comes episode 13, where she is finally introduced: she is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raicho_Hiratsuka Hiratsuka Raichou]], [[spoiler:considered by Ouka's Supernatural Phenomenon Treatment Bureau to be their biggest mistake and "TheEmpire'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 BigBad.]]
* 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, [[spoiler: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 founding members of the Deimon Devil Bats.
** The Ha-Ha Brothers, as well, were originally the nameless bullies tormenting Sena in the first chapter before disappearing for some time and eventually being pressured into joining the Devil Bats as offensive linemen during the game against Zokugaku.
* In the 9th volume of the manga ''RaveMaster'' [[spoiler: Lucia Raregroove appears in a flashback. He and his mother are promptly killed off as part of his father's FreudianExcuse for JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope.]] However, in the very same volume [[spoiler: King pulls a HeelFaceTurn, leading to the [[RedemptionEqualsDeath obligatory]] HeroicSacrifice]], leaving the manga without a BigBad, with the story less than 1/3 completed. A few chapters later, guess who shows up to take over the role of BigBad for the rest of the story's run? Turns out, [[spoiler: Lucia was NotQuiteDead, after all. His mom was KilledOffForReal, though, as far as anybody knows.]]
** Also Resha, who gets mentioned by Deerhound a little while before her '''massive''' significance to the story is revealed, and Saga Pendragon, who comes up as the one who made the prophecy about the 'two winds meeting' and later turns out to be [[spoiler: the reason Resha faked her death to be able to aid the future]].
* That young, redheaded train conductor from ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}!'' doesn't seem remotely important at first. He's just a RedShirt whose only distinction is being the first to be killed on the train, right? Er, not quite. [[spoiler: In episode nine we learn that neither of the corpses that Jacuzzi found were his -- they were his ''victims'''. Conductor guy turns out to be the Rail Tracer that has been picking off the Lemures and White Suits throughout the series.]] And that's not even half of it...
** And then the man in the trenchcoat in the scene where Isaac's ear gets crushed is is [[spoiler: the Martillo Family's Ronnie Suchiart, aka the devil from the Advenna Avis.]] He plays a larger role in the light novels.
** And [[spoiler:Fermet, the man that tortured Czeslaw into nigh-sociopathic paranoia]]? Turns out he's [[spoiler:the series's BigBad]].
* If you thought that [[spoiler:Michelo Chariot]] and [[spoiler: Sir Gentle Chapman]] were one-time rivals for [[GGundam Domon Kasshu]]... boy, were you ''wrong''. [[spoiler: Michelo joins the Devil Gundam group and later Gentle Chapman [[CameBackWrong is revived as a DG zombie]] by them]]
* In the first chapter of ''GetBackers'', there's this snotty brat who shows up when Ban and Ginji are ten yen short of the fee to get back their recently-towed car. He says he'll give them ten yen if they retrieve his Final Fantasy game, and they end up getting beat up and never think about it again... until volume 14, when the ''exact'' same thing happens, and [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Ten Yen-kun]] turns out to be a missing kid that our heroes will be hired to "get back" later that day.
* In ''Anime/{{Monster}}'', [[BigBad Johann]] and Anna Liebert are briefly shown on Tenma's TV as the children of a foreign trade adviser who successfully managed to flee East Germany.
* ''{{Godannar}}'' has ''three'' examples that span the entire series:
** The first is Tetsuya Kouji, whose mech gets blown to smithereens in episode 1, leaving him [[PutOnABus in the hospital]] for most of the series. [[spoiler: He shows up as a [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Hero]] in the last arc.]]
** The second is Anna's [[ChekhovMIA missing father]], who is mentioned in an early episode and then [[spoiler: pretty much does the same thing as Tetsuya is the final arc.]] And the kicker? [[spoiler: This is a ''double'' example, since he was also the priest performing the main heroes' wedding in the first episode.]]
** Thirdly, the [[WrenchWench mecha technician]] Hayashi, who has a DistressedDamsel moment in episode 2, and thereafter serves no purpose other than a [[SickeninglySweethearts comically perfect]] relationship with fellow tech Morimoto. Turns out in the DistantFinale that [[spoiler: she is the ''key to the human race's survival'', precisely ''because'' she had that DistressedDamsel moment at the start.]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': At the end of the Soul Society arc, Aizen leaves Seireitei via negaccion and the shinigami left behind observe that there's something in the garganta behind the gillians, the only sign of which is a giant eye. Hundreds of chapters later during the battle for Karakura Town, Wonderweiss appears with his giant pet, Fuura, a misshapen being with one giant eye and the ability to destroy Yamamoto's flames that are trapping Aizen. It's revealed Fuura was the creature that was hovering behind the garganta at the end of the Soul Society arc.
** And who could forget that in the first chapter of ''Bleach'', on the colourpage, one can find Shinji Hirako... who doesn't get introduced until nearly 200 chapters later.
** [[spoiler:Aizen]] himself counts. He's introduced early in the Soul Society Arc as one of the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters who are brought in, and promptly gets murdered. [[spoiler:He turns out to be the BigBad.]]
** In the 4th episode of the anime and chapter 7 of the manga, Ichigo's dad Dr. Isshin Kurosaki is on the phone with the local hospital demanding they open up beds for patients he cannot treat in his tiny clinic. Isshin tells the clerk to tell his manager its a personal request from Kurosaki and that will free up the beds he needs. The hospital's chief administrator is [[spoiler:Ryuken Ishida, Uryuu's father, Quincy, and]] an old friend of Isshin's, [[spoiler:which isn't revealed until manga chapter 241 and anime episode 143!!]]
** In manga chapter 27, which introduces Don Kanonji, a person who looks conspicuously like Ishida is seen in the crowd on the same page where Rukia starts doing Don Kanonji's signature BOHAHAHAHA laugh. Ishida does not "officially" appear in the manga until chapter 33. Also in chapter 29, another person is seen moving toward the roped off area where Don Kanonji's exorcism is turning a soul into a hollow, but stops because Ichigo jumps over the rope first. At first glance it might appear that this person, shown only with close-ups on his hands and feet is Ichigo, however Ichigo is wearing jeans (which are a light shade of gray in the manga) and a t-shirt with a black collar. The figure clearly has black pants and a white-collared shirt and dark hair. The back of this person is clearly visible (but his face is not) on the page where Ichigo jumps over the rope separating the audience from Don Kanonji. WordOfGod later confirms that this in fact Ishida. Credit to pointing this out (before Tite acknowledged it in an interview) goes to the now-defunct webpage "Kubo Tite is your GOD."
*** Kanonji himself might be an example as well. He's introduced as a one-shot character, but he shows up a few times in filler. (Normally filler doesn't count, but this filler is based on Omake segments done by Kubo, so it's debatable) He does show up later though, when [[spoiler: Aizen and Gin invade Karakura Town, he steps in to protect Tatsuki and Keigo. Aizen planed on killing them just to infuriate Ichigo, so that his rage would increase his power.]]
** Iceringer and D-Roy, believe it or not. Their first appearance is after Grand Fisher is beaten by Ichigo, with the former healing him and the latter yelling at him for failing. This also gives proof to Aizen's claim that he's been pulling Ichigo's strings since before he ever entered Soul Society.
** Chapter 56 sees Byakuya tell Rukia he understands her desire to protect Ichigo because of Ichigo's resemblence to "him". Although this is an obvious portent of Kaien's backstory entering the manga 77 chapters later, this chapter also sets up the introduction of Hisana 123 chapters later as proof that Byakuya told the truth: he really does understand the desire to protect someone who resembles a loved one. Not only that, but the chapter's cover page is, on first reading, viewed as a snapshot of a dead or unconscious Rukia with an oddly shaggier version of her normal hairstyle. Hisana's introduction into the story reveals she resembles Rukia with a shaggier version of Rukia's normal hairstyle. Cue a reinterpretation of the picture in Chapter 56 as being Hisana not Rukia.
* Ange Ushiromiya is very conspicuously name-dropped in the first arc of the ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi VN'', but is not seen in that arc at all. She only starts to play a role in the [[spoiler:third]] arc, and is in fact [[spoiler:[[MyGreatestFailure one of the most important characters]] (excluding Battler and Beatrice themselves) in the fourth arc]].
** Ange isn't the only one. In fact, Episode 1 contains references to every other Episode so far. Other notable character namedrops include [[spoiler:Gaap]] and [[spoiler:Goldsmith]], which actually are pretty inconspicuous at the time.
** The TIPS for Eiserne Jungfrau in Episode 5 mention the "SSVD" and its leader, "Wizard-Hunting Wright" or "Twenty Wedges". [[spoiler:Guess who shows up in Episode 7, armed with S.S. Van Dine's 20 commandments?]]
* The main character of ''Anime/{{Mai-HiME}}'', Mai, is conspicuously absent for most of ''Anime/{{Mai-Otome}}'', which features almost all of the characters from the former. She only shows up a couple of times: once on a poster in the background of a shot, and as a silhouette during a narration of her [[spoiler:untrue]] tragic backstory. [[spoiler:She shows up in one of the last episodes and becomes a key character in the final battle.]] Subversion: Tate (Mai's love interest in ''Mai-[=HiME=]'') also appears as a silhouette during said backstory, but [[spoiler:the story isn't true after all]] and he never actually shows up or becomes important.
* In an early chapter of the ''Manga/SoulEater'' Baba Yaga arc, Kid and Maka notice the presence of two people following them. One of whom is a ''monkey'', which both find funny. All we're told is that, though Shinigami told Medusa otherwise, the Shibusen group is being followed by Death Scythes and their meisters, although it ''appears'' to just be Azusa with her long-range communication/sniping skills. Chapter 59 sees Maka being saved from Medusa by the appearance of a monkey and a man in a bear suit, who turn out to be the South American Death Scythe Tezcatlipoca and his meister Enrique (the monkey).
** Excalibur turns out to be this in the manga. At first he appears to just be a weird recurring joke--a weapon that [[RuleOfFunny for no apparent reason]] has a non-weapon form of a lizard-like creature instead of a human, which is powerful but has a terrible personality so no one can stand to work with him. [[spoiler:Turns out he's one of the "Old Ones" that both the BigBad ''and'' BigGood belong to, as well as the SuperPrototype all the human weapons are based on.]]
* The woman whose skirt keeps getting flipped in ''GateKeepers''. [[spoiler: [[BigDamnHeroes She saves the Commander and his secretary in the final episode]]]].
* The first shot in the first episode of ''DarkerThanBlack'' shows a girl in a white dress standing at the edge of a lake and looking at the stars. This isn't given any explanation, and as the scene immediately cuts to a BatmanColdOpen, viewers are likely to ignore it... until episode 11, when [[spoiler:Hei starts panicking when he sees an illusion of her in the Gate.]] Turns out she's [[spoiler:his DeadLittleSister: a PersonOfMassDestruction, the reason for the Heaven's Gate explosion, and the reason for both her brother's powers and [[TheStoic his personality]].]]
* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', Light goes through a period of dating other girls much to Misa's chagrin. We get a good look at one of them, Kiyomi Takada, who shows up again near the end of the series and [[spoiler: proves pivotal to Light's defeat.]]
** You know those [[IKnowYourTrueName nameless]] [[GondorCallsForAid extras]] standing around in the background of Episode 23? Turns out that a good portion of the plot hinges on their presence.
** In the pilot, Miura is first shown being questioned by the police. Much later, when main character Taro Kagami gives up the notebook, [[spoiler:more people get killed, including the detectives, and Miura is the second Death Note user]].
* In ''Manga/DragonBall'', Kame Sen'nin's first appearance doesn't amount to much. He happened to have a Dragonball and he gives Goku the Kintou'un. His next appearance he's revealed to be the Muten Roushi and the trainer of both Gyuu Maou and Grandpa Gohan. After that he plays a major role training Goku and Kuririn. Sadly, he was DemotedToExtra by the Majunior saga and it was just downhill from there.
** ChiChi's an even better example. She first appeared as a minor character who had a crush on Goku, and in the manga after her first appearance she was never seen nor mentioned again until the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai ''twelve volumes later'' where she's reunited with Goku and they wind up getting engaged. The anime screwed this up however by having her appear every now and then in a couple filler episodes.
* Dana Sterling, the teen protagonist of ''{{Robotech}}'''s "The Masters" cycle, is one of these, as she first appears as a baby during the "Macross Saga" cycle.
* Schrödinger in ''{{Hellsing}}'' appears relatively early on in the manga and OVA series, and has the interesting but passingly mentioned ability to be "everywhere and nowhere". [[spoiler: His ability comes into full effect in the final volume of the manga, where he commits suicide and allows his body to fall into the river of blood Alucard is absorbing. The Major explains that Schrödinger's ability depends on his ability to perceive himself as an individual; if he becomes one of the many millions of souls within Alucard, however, he is unable to distinguish himself and is thus unable to truly exist. This quandary, in turn, causes Alucard to cease existing in the real world, which was the Major's EvilPlan all along.]]
* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'''s Kagura makes a few experiences before her introduction, the greatest of which is in the first sports fest.
** Kagura gets a little weird here. She appeared in the manga a few times before joining the main cast too, but the anime expanded on how often she made appearances a good deal.
** That's because the anime mixed up the order of a few events, like the pool episode, so that they came earlier.
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' had Schneizel make an appearance at Clovis's funeral at least a dozen episodes before he actually enters the story.
** Also had Mao appear early in both episode 12 and 13, even though he's not officially introduced until episode 14. In hindsight, though the first cameo becomes pretty damn significant as it explains how the hell Mao [[spoiler: knew Lelouch was Zero, knew C.C. was with him, knew Shirley liked him, and knew her father was killed by Zero, all of which become important parts of his BatmanGambit.]]
* An early episode of ''{{Gundam 00}}'' featured Neil Dylandy's [[SeparatedAtBirth estranged twin brother of sorts]], Lyle visiting their family's grave while the former hides behind a tree to glimpse on his brother. [[spoiler:Lyle became Neil's BackupTwin in the second season.]]
* In ''{{K-ON}}'', Yui can be seen running past Ritsu, Mio, and Mugi on her way to school in the first episode before they all are introduced later.
* In ''DogsBulletsAndCarnage'', during the first story that introduces Mihai, there's a panel showing a red haired guy with an eye patch trying to get past him and get out the door. Guess who's introduced as the subject of the next story?
* An arc of ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' consist of the protagonist looking for the remaining Chekhov's Gunmen, i.e. [[spoiler:the girls that remember their capture.]]
* In the first chapter of UntilDeathDoUsPart, a woman is pictured in [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/until_death_do_us_part/v01/c001/17.html one panel]], with no explanation given for her. Five years of real-world time later, in a [[WholeEpisodeFlashback flashback arc]] about the main character's past, she is revealed to be, among other things, [[spoiler:the last thing the main character saw with his actual eyes; her violent death, and the circumstances of it, were major factors in making him how he is now. Along with, y'know, blindness.]] See [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/until_death_do_us_part/v13/c107/21.html here]].
* In ''HajimeNoIppo'' we're introduced to Yamada Naomichi, a weighty, timid young man who admires Ippo. Yamada trained in Ippo's gym for several months, and became a pro boxer before moving away, and we sort of forget about him after that. [[spoiler: Two years later, he returns as 'Hammer Nao', Ippo's opponent for his second title defense, with a shaved head, scary demeanor, and lost enough weight to end up in Ippo's weight class, and everyone lampshades this drastic change.]]
* Zigzagged in ''{{Berserk}}''. Since the manga starts off as an InMediasRes, [[spoiler: Puck is introduced as a primary character in the Black Swordsman arc. After the Black Swordsman arc is over and the story switches to the Golden Age Arc - which is a flashback - Puck has not been introduced. However, after Guts and Casca are rescued from an ambush by the Blue Whale Knights of Tudor, Judeau gives Casca a bag of elf dust, saying that an elf he use to know while traveling with a band of performers gave it to him as a gift. The elf in question is indeed Puck, but he is not referred to again until the events of the Eclipse, in which Rickert, who was left behind during the Griffith rescue operation, was traveling with the same band of performers that Judeau accompanied in the past, with Puck still in their presence. After the two year time skip at the beginning of the Conviction Arc (which the Black Swordsman Arc overlapped chronologically) Puck is presented as a larger character.]]
* ''{{Gundam 00}}'': [[spoiler:Ribbons Almark. He spends season one as Alejandro's quiet minion, then backstabs him in episode 25 and takes over his role as the BigBad.]]
* In ''TigerAndBunny'', Kotetsu T. Kaburagi has a young daughter named Kaede. She doesn't see much screentime, as he unfortunately has to live away from her. Then the second half of the show rolls along and [[spoiler:a certain little girl [[SuperpowerfulGenetics starts developing superpowers just like her father...]]]]
* ''OniisamaE'': Years ago, there was a little girl who played in the rain and she once saw a pre-teen boy and she tried to talk to him, but he ran away. That young boy's name? [[spoiler:Takehiko Henmi, the tutor ''and'' stepbrother of the aforementioned girl, Nanako Misonoo.]]
* ''LightNovel/{{Inukami}}'': There's this kappa that hangs out in the background for a few episodes. In the climax [[spoiler:he saves Keita's life.]]
* ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'': Kongo Agon, one of the most memorable antagonists in the series makes his debut appearance watching the Devil-Bat's second ever match. Later on, while trying to find and recruit Musashi as a kicker, the Devil-Bat's run into Kotaro, who becomes their last opponent in the Tokyo Tournament. Than during the opening of the Kantou Regionals, [[TheHero Sena]] is approached by Reiji Marco who plays quarterback for the Hakushuu Dinosaurs, and wants to know if Sena would like to trade opponents (upon finding out Sena will be facing Agon he backs off); he seems like something of an afterthought compared to some of the other players there, but he and his team end up being the {{Climax Boss}}es of the arc.
* There is a general rule about ''The Prince of Tennis'': If you can remember their name, they will probably be back.
* In CodeBreaker, Aoba. She is Sakura's best friend, and apart from that, just an attractive female character. [[spoiler: She later is discovered to be Code:Revenger, one of the top agents of Eden.]]
* In HaouAiren, a kid named [[spoiler: Kaafai]] gets [[ForcedToWatch an unwilling first row view]] of [[spoiler: Hakuron raping his own girlfriend Kurumi, whom the poor kid had befriended.]] Guess who, in the last volume of the manga, [[spoiler: ends up '''shooting Hakuron dead''']]?
* ''In MuhyoAndRoji'', a girl is briefly shown asking Enchu, who is busy studying, to play with her, Muhyo and Yoichi. The girl appears again in a later arc and turns out to be Yu "Biko" Abiko, one of Muhyo's old friends and a major ally.
* Chapter 14 of ''Manga/GakuenBabysitters'' mentions by name the strict high school chemistry teacher, Hebihara, who's known for being strict and overworking. [[spoiler:11 chapters later, he's revealed to be the father of Kamitani, one of the supporting characters.]]
* Akasaka from {{Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni}} is introduced as a minor character in the first season, only interacting with Rika, who discusses with him [[spoiler: his wife's death and how to save her]]. In the second season, he plays a much bigger role, [[spoiler: saving Rika from the Yamainu and Takano multiple times]].
* In the sixth episode of Anime/BloodPlus, the heroes go to the enemy's laboratory to save [[ParentalSubstitute George]]. While there, David checks a computer and remarks that there is no information on it about "Diva", who is referenced several more times before it is revealed that she [[spoiler:is Saya's EvilTwin and the BigBad]].
