History ChekhovsGunman / AnimeAndManga

* The main character of ''Anime/MaiHime'', Mai, is conspicuously absent for most of ''Anime/MaiOtome'', 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]]. Subverted with Tate (Mai's [[BelligerentSexualTension love interest]] in ''Mai-[=HiME=]''): he 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.

* ''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:[[BigGood 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 [[BackFromTheDead came back, courtesy of the Yomi Yomi no Mi (Revive-Revive Fruit)]]. This Devil Fruit revived Brook, the one who was closest to Laboon out of the whole crew, 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]].
*** Crocus also has some hidden depths that are revealed a bit later; he stated that he was a ship's doctor in the past, and his last line as he watches the Straw Hats sail away heavily implies that he knew Gold Roger. Putting two and two together is quite simple here, but to go into more detail, [[spoiler:Rayleigh]] reveals that Crocus journeyed with them for three years, with the goal of locating Brook's crew, [[spoiler: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, Jimbei, 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. Finally, in 2011, he's [[spoiler:fighting alongside the Straw Hats in the Fish-Man Island arc, and as of the end of that arc, it's pretty much guaranteed that at some point in the future, he's going to be joining the Straw Hat Pirates]].
** 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 Bark, the Risky Brothers tells the crew how mermaids' beauty on Fishmen Island even made the Pirate Empress Hancock jealous. Mermaids and Hancock are both introduced in the following few arcs.
*** 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]].
** Buggy the Clown tends to drop in once in a while just as the audience has forgotten about him. He's one of the early [[BigBad Big Bads]], giving Luffy an actual challenge due to his countless knives and Devil Fruit powers. At the end of the first saga, he comes back for an attempt to take revenge on Luffy, only prevented from decapitating him when he is struck by lightning. He follows Luffy to the Grand Line, appearing now and then. In the Impel Down arc, he's forced into an EnemyMine with Luffy.
** 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 a descendant of his]].
** While still in the 'Paradise' half of the Grand Line, Luffy and crew meet a woman named Lola, whose joke is that she keeps proposing marriage to random people, only to be rejected constantly because she's a {{Gonk}} and comes on too strong. She says that she wants to MarryForLove and that her mother is a powerful pirate, and gives Nami her mom's Vivre Card. [[spoiler: Charlotte Lola is not lying. Her mother is Charlotte Linlin, a.k.a Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors. Lola once ran away from an arranged marriage because of her desire to MarryForLove, resulting in a potential alliance with the giants of Elbaf falling through, which her mother still hates her for. Nami holding Big Mom's Vivre Card also allows her to exercise some control over Big Mom's [[AnimateInanimateObject Homies]].]]
** During the Dressrosa Arc, [[spoiler:Sabo]] makes a reappearance. The significance here is very dominant: this person appears ''after the [[WordOfDante databooks]] had confirmed he was dead!''
** In the Fishman Island flashback, Fisher Tiger rescues Koala, a little slave girl, and takes her home. But not before spending time with the Sun Pirates. After she arrives home, her parents try to tell her that "Fishmen are bad" and all that. Cut 12 years later (in-universe time) to Dressrosa, where we see Koala is not only a member of the Revolutionary Army, but a master of Fishman Karate.
** A very well hidden one is found on the cover of Chapter 691, which is dedicated to ''Anime/OnePieceFilmZ''. Among the dozens of young Marines on the cover is one in particular, hidden behind Nami's Clima-Tact. Waaay later, in the Dressrosa arc, [[spoiler:said Marine makes an actual appearance; it's Corazon, Law's care-taker and dear friend]].
** This even applies for entire ''groups'' of characters. In Sabody, we're introduced to the concept of "Supernovas", recently established pirates who have managed to get bounties of over a 100 million, with nine others debuting alongside the pre-established Luffy and Zoro. None of them have very important roles in their introduction arc, only for Trafgalar Law to [[spoiler: appear suddenly at the end of Marineford and rescue Luffy]]. After the TimeSkip, they begin getting ''much'' more sizable roles, with [[BreakoutCharacter Law]] practically becoming a main character for several arcs and an HonoraryTrueCompanion to the Straw Hats. Especially notable is that Oda admitted he created all nine of them on the fly on the suggestion of his editor, meaning they qualify as a meta example as well.

* Sai, Kaede, Madoka and Arisu from ''Anime/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)]].

** Ymir is introduced along with all the other supporting cast, but her name is not given until Chapter 37. [[spoiler:She's an independent Titan Shifter, and over 70 years old]].

** Bertolt spends much of the series as [[TheQuietOne the quiet half]] of ThoseTwoGuys, hanging around in the background of panels. He's easily overlooked, right up until [[spoiler:he's revealed to be the [[TheHeavy Colossal]] [[TheMole Titan]]]].

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

** Ymir is introduced along with all the other supporting cast, but her name is not given until Ch. 37. [[spoiler:She's an independent Titan Shifter, and over 70 years old]].

** The chapter 1 title page shows several people in the background. Almost all of them are introduced shortly afterward as Ichigo's classmates and most have only a minor role in the manga. However, one character in the group remains anonymous for nearly 200 chapters: Shinji Hirako, who becomes a major character but only in the ''third'' story arc.
** In chapter 7, 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, which he says the director of Karakura General will do as a personal favor. That director is Dr. Ryuuken Ishida, Uryuu's father, a Quincy, and Isshin's longtime friend. All of this occurs long before Uryuu (a far more important character) enters the story. The OddFriendship between Isshin and Ryuuken isn't revealed until chapter 241, and even then, its significance is only explored in the final arc of the story, more than 500 chapters after Ryuuken is first introduced. [[spoiler:And Ryuuken's relevance is in direct proportion to the earliness of his introduction: a small miscalculation on his part sets up the main plot by throwing Masaki and Isshin together]].
** In chapter 27, the beginning of the Don Kanonji story, a figure in the crowd [[note]]on the page where Rukia starts doing Don Kanonji's signature BOHAHAHAHA laugh[[/note]] looks distinctly like Uryuu, who will not be introduced until the beginning of the next story in chapter 33. 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. As Ichigo goes past, the person's back is clearly visible (but their face is not), and the clothing and hair look like Uryuu. WordOfGod later confirmed that Uryuu was ready to intervene if Ichigo hadn't been on the ball. In the anime, Uryuu also gets a brief cameo in a general classroom shot in episode 7...and sure enough he's doing embroidery.
** In chapter 56, Byakuya tells Rukia he understands her desire to protect Ichigo because of Ichigo's resemblance to "him". Although this is an obvious reference to Kaien (introduced 77 chapters later), it also sets up Hisana's story (''123 chapters'' later) which proves 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 image initially appears to be a dead or unconscious Rukia with oddly shaggy hair. Hisana is almost identical to Rukia but with a longer, rougher hairstyle and her introduction cues a reinterpretation of the picture in Chapter 56 as Hisana, not Rukia.

** After Grand Fisher's defeat, he's seen talking to two other Hollows in chapter 25. One of these is Di Roy Rinker, who next appears in chapter 199 as one of Grimmjow's Fracción. The other is Aisslinger Wernarr, whose next appearance is chapter 241 in the first fight in Hueco Mundo.

* The teacher in chapter one of ''Manga/DarwinsGame'' is [[spoiler: Banda-kun]].

** 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 Bad's]].
* Episode 39 of ''Anime/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.

** 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, '''fucking ribbons''' indeed...]].

** Shirogane briefly mentions his little sister Kei in the first chapter. Barring two small cameos in chapters 19 and 25, she wouldn't become a member of the cast until chapter 39.
** Kaguya and Shirogane both discuss how Ishigami's habit of coming and going as he pleases in chapter 8 and he has an EarlyBirdCameo on the cover of chapter 11, though he wouldn't be properly introduced until chapter 24.
** Hayasaka shows up twice in the background of chapters 3 and 12 when Kaguya has members of her house's staff help her with schemes against Shirogane. It wouldn't be until chapter 19 that she would be revealed to be Kaguya's {{Childhood Friend|s}} and {{Heterosexual Life Partner|s}}.
** Chapter 4 shows that only one person in all of Japan had scored higher than Shirogane on the last mock exams, a boy by the name of Mikado Shijo. They wouldn't be properly introduced until chapter 161, long after their twin sister [[AscendedExtra Maki]] had become a major supporting character.

** 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]].

* In ''Manga/MobPsycho100'', Takenaka Momozou briefly makes appearance in chapter 3, as the student that quit the telepathy club. Later on, in chapter 98, [[spoiler: it’s revealed that he is actually a telepath himself]].

** The entire Team Minato, but especially Obito and Rin. The team 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 Team Minato, which he was in as a kid. While it was known that Fourth Hokage, his sensei, sealed Kyubi into Naruto, we don't see Team Minato team in action until chapters 239-244 of the manga and episodes 119-120 of ''Naruto Shippuden''. Obito's main importance was that Kakashi inherited both the Sharingan and his present-day behavior and ideals from him, while Rin seemed to be there just to fill the chick role of the trio and further the GenerationXerox comparisons with Team 7. [[spoiler:Flashing forward, we find out that Minato is actually Naruto's father, that Rin was ''killed '' by Kakashi, which actually was what caused Obito to turn into Tobi, the BigBad of not only the second half of ''Naruto'', but arguably the entire series - in fact, her death is pretty much the catalyst for almost every major event in the story]]. ChekhovsGunman Squad if there was one.

** 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]].

** In the beginning of the Arlong Arc, Jinbe, 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. Finally, in 2011, he's [[spoiler:fighting alongside the Straw Hats in the Fishman Island arc, and as of the end of that arc, it's pretty much guaranteed that at some point in the future, he's going to be joining the Straw Hat Pirates]].

** A very well hidden one is found on the cover of chapter 691, which is dedicated to ''Anime/OnePieceFilmZ''. Among the dozens of young Marines on the cover is one in particular, hidden behind Nami's Clima-Tact. Waaay later, in the Dressrosa arc, [[spoiler:said Marine makes an actual appearance; it's Corazon, Law's care-taker and dear friend]].
** This even applies for entire ''groups'' of characters. In Sabody, we're introduced to the concept of "Supernovas", recently established pirates who have managed to get bounties of over a 100 million, with nine others debuting alongside the pre-established Luffy and Zoro. None of them have very important roles in their introduction arc, only for Trafgalar Law to [[spoiler: appear suddenly at the end of Marineford and rescue Luffy]]. After the TimeSkip, they begin getting ''much'' more sizable roles, with [[BreakoutCharacter Law]] practically becoming a main character for several arcs. Especially notable is that Oda admitted he created all nine of them on the fly on the suggestion of his editor, meaning they qualify as a meta example as well.

* 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 (Nightshroud in the dub) takes a page from the spirit's book--introduced in the first season as the SuperpoweredEvilSide of Fubuki (Atticus in the dub), 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 Fubuki as a host, and he becomes the final BigBad of the series. His host Fubuki is also a ChekhovMIA.

* ''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]].

** Chapter 4 shows that only one person in all of Japan had scored higher than Shirogane on the last mock exams, a boy by the name of Mikado Shijo. They wouldn't be properly introduced until chapte 161, long after their twin sister [[AscendedExtra Maki]] had become a major supporting character.

* In ''Manga/ShokugekiNoSoma'', Mimasaka Subaru returns to help Soma run a booth at the school festival. [[ChekhovsSkill It turns out that being able to replicate any dish perfectly and having extremely high technical skills may not win contests against creative geniuses, but it ''does'' make one a damn fine ''sous-chef''.]]

** While still in the 'Paradise' half of the Grand Line, Luffy and crew meet a woman named Lola, whose joke is that she keeps proposing marriage to random people, only to be rejected constantly because she's a {{Gonk}} and comes on too strong. She says that she wants to MarryForLove and that her mother is a powerful pirate, and gives Nami her mom's Vivre Card. [[spoiler: Charlotte Lola is not lying. Her mother is Charlotte Linlin, a.k.a Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors. Lola once ran away from an arranged marriage because of her desire to MarryForLove, resulting in a potential alliance with the giants of Elbaf falling through, which her mother still hates her for. Nami holding Big Mom's Vivre Card also allows her to exercise some control over Big Mom's [[AnimateInanimateObject Homies]].

* ''Anime/JojosBizarreAdventure'' plays with this by having two Stand users targeting Jotaro's group mug an "unimportant, annoying faced man". At the end of the episode, the man has a bunch of hired thugs beat them up and hospitalize them before Jotaro's group even realizes they were under attack.

** In part 4, Hazamada uses his stand to mug a couple of bystanders. They later show up to beat the crap out of him, having been healed by Josuke and [[GondorCallsForAid directed towards where the guy would be]] [[BatmanGambit so they could get payback]].

* In ''Anime/ShokugekiNoSoma'', Mimasaka Subaru returns to help Soma run a booth at the school festival. [[ChekhovsSkill It turns out that being able to replicate any dish perfectly and having extremely high technical skills may not win contests against creative geniuses, but it ''does'' make one a damn fine ''sous-chef''.]]

** Hayasaka shows up twice in the background of chapters 3 and 19 when Kaguya has members of her house's staff help her with schemes against Shirogane. It wouldn't be until chapter 19 that she would be revealed to be Kaguya's {{Childhood Friend|s}} and {{Heterosexual Life Partner|s}}.

* 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.

* The teacher in chapter one of ''DarwinsGame'' is [[spoiler: Banda-kun]].

* In ''Manga/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?

* The main character of ''Anime/MaiHime'', Mai, is conspicuously absent for most of ''Anime/MaiOtome'', 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.

* The woman whose skirt keeps getting flipped in ''VideoGame/GateKeepers''. [[spoiler: [[BigDamnHeroes She saves the Commander and his secretary in the final episode]]]].

** 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''!

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': ** During the Culture Festival Arc, Gentle mentions about a past, famous villain named Destro who created a terrorist group with the intention of end the regulation over quirks. Destro is mentioned again in the Pro Hero Arc, when a one-time hoodlum mentions being inspired by reading his book to try to take revenge on the company that fired him. Two arcs later, it's revealed that Destro actually had a few children who are now back and intend to recreate his terrorist group and continue his work, making him a posthumous GreaterScopeVillain.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': During the Culture Festival Arc, Gentle mentions about a past, famous villain named Destro who created a terrorist group with the intention of end the regulation over quirks. Destro is mentioned again in the Pro Hero Arc, when a one-time hoodlum mentions being inspired by reading his book to try to take revenge on the company that fired him. Two arcs later, it's revealed that Destro actually had a few children who now are back and intend to recreate his terrorist group and continue his work, making him a posthumous GreaterScopeVillain.

** Kaoru Nagisa appears in the OP of every single episode, but goes unintroduced until episode 24.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has [[spoiler: Shisui Uchiha]], whose only initial purpose is 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: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]].

*** 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]].