History ChekhovsGunman / AnimeAndManga

** Yomikawa, a LateSpoilerArrival variant, started off as a comical character serving as a dimwitted high school repeat and the member of the Hole-Digging Club in Shijima and Majime's school. [[spoiler:However, Yomikawa later [[WhamLine throws]] a significant reveal during Chapter 44 regarding their world being within a RecursiveReality simulation in what looked like a fusiform-shaped computer]].

* ''Manga/ShimejiSimulation'' has the Gardener, who is shown to act as a random passerby in the street, wearing what looked like a white long dress, where she is often seen wielding a metal rod. [[spoiler:Turns out that she is a deity and the member of the Gardeners, serving as TheWatcher and TheMaker of West Yomogi, being completely responsible for the ''zero'' accidents that happened within the town.]]

* 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...

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', 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, ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun''. Uiharu does appear in ''Index'' later though. In the ''second season'', two years later.

* ''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]].

* ''LightNovel/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]].

* In ''LightNovel/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''.

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'':

* ''Manga/ShimejiSimulation'' has the Gardener, who is shown to act as a random child in the street, wearing what looked like a white long dress, where she is often seen wielding a metal rod. [[spoiler:Turns out that she is a deity and the member of the Gardeners, serving as TheWatcher and TheMaker of West Yomogi, being completely responsible for the ''zero'' accidents that happened within the town.]]

** 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.

* In ''Manga/FoodWars'', 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''.]]

* In Arakawa's anime/manga of ''Anime/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'':

* Sai, Kaede, Madoka and Arisu from ''Manga/AngelicLayer''. 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 season 2. [[spoiler:She's an independent Titan Shifter, and over 70 years old]].

** 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.

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': Some of the third game capture targets are introduced like this, several volumes before that Story Arc begins. They’re: [[spoiler: Julius’ roguish little brother Marie tells Leon about, and the delinquent formerly male commoner named Aaron (who is one of the third game's capture targets)]].

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': Some of the third game capture targets are introduced like this, several volumes before that Story Arc begins. They’re: [[spoiler: Julius’ roguish little brother Marie tells Leon about, and the delinquent formerly male commoner named Aaron]].

* In ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'', Nano and Shizuka make brief cameos in the first chapter before officially becoming Rentarou's girlfriends.
** Once Hahari joins the harem, Mei hangs around as a LivingProp for a few chapters, until her DayInTheLimelight where Rentarou tricks her into opening her forever-closed eyes, and they both feel the soulmate shock.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'':
** In the "Distinguished Family's Consecutive Accidental Death Case", Conan sees a familiar man in the Osaka Police, but he didn't recognize him at first. [[spoiler: He is Heizo Hattori, and he's an old friend of the Chairman in the case and almost immediately afterwards, Heiji shows up, revealing that he is his father]].
** In another case, Conan takes care of a toddler while his widowed mother goes to find Kogoro after she's being followed around by a mysterious figure. [[spoiler: That little boy is Santa Ishikawa, and he turns out to be the key to solving the case]].

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' plays this card quite a few times:

* 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 ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'', Nano and Shizuka make brief cameos in the first chapter before offically becomes Rentarou's girlfriends.

** 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.

* 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...

* Zigzagged in ''{{Manga/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 used 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]].

* 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]].

* ''[[Anime/ShinkonGattaiGodannar Godannar]]'' has ''three'' examples that span the entire series:

* 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.

* The main character of ''Anime/MyHime'', 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/{{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.

* ''Anime/ShinkonGattaiGodannar'' has ''three'' examples that span the entire series:

* A major antagonist in ''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]].
** 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''.
* In ''Manga/{{King Of Thorn}}'', the BigBad, [[spoiler:Zeus]], names an brief unnamed appearance in Volume 2 of the manga [[spoiler:as a security administrator]].

* Many, ''many'' people in ''Manga/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 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 princess. Not long after, in Mahora, Zazie starts talking]].