History EnsembleDarkHorse / VisualNovels

** Godot. Cool shades, snappy dresser, and [[spoiler:one of the most [[SympatheticMurderer sympathetic and conflicted killers]] of the entire series.]]

** As for [[VisualNovel/SuperDanganRonpa2 the second game]], some of the most popular students include Sonia due to her being SophisticatedAsHell as well as her love for serial killers, Ibuki for her design and personality, and Gundham for being a [[LargeHam hammy]] {{Cloudcuckoolander}} that presents him as an EvilOverlord.

** As for the students themselves, [[VisualNovel/DanganRonpa the first game]] has popular characters such as Kiyotaka for his earnest attempts to uphold the group dynamic and keep people working together towards a common goal, Chihiro for being a {{Moe}} character and being [[spoiler: one of the most important characters within the franchise despite dying in the second chapter]], Hina due to her personality, her love for donuts, and [[spoiler: being one of the nicest surviving characters in the game]] along with Makoto, and Sakura due to her [[spoiler: HeroicSacrifice which counts as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome]].

* Crossing over with OneSceneWonder: up until [[Anime/DanganRonpa3 the anime]] gave him more focus, Izuru Kamukura from the ''Franchise/DanganRonpa'' franchise had maybe five minutes of screentime total, yet became wildly popular among the fanbase. This is largely thanks to his [[RedEyesTakeWarning cool]] [[BadassInANiceSuit design]], [[AmbiguouslyEvil him having]] [[TragicVillain a compelling]] [[BrokenAce personality]] [[AmbiguouslyHuman and backstory]], and his reputation as TheDreaded. The scene of him [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome punching through Shirokuma and Kurokuma's skulls]], made of ''solid steel'', with his ''bare hands'', netted him the MemeticBadass label and increased his popularity further.

** Before Adrian Andrews, there was Phoenix's [[TheRival rival]], Miles Edgeworth. He even got his own game!
*** ''Games.'' You know you've succeeded when your new series puts out a sequel before the old series can even get a new game into the development stages.

** Don't forget Gumshoe, pal!
** Also, Maya Fey. Trucy was criticised simply for not being her.

** ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Rena may be the most iconic character, the most commonly related to the series, and her popularity may dwarf the true protagonists', but she's truly relevant in only two chapters. Still, the creator seems to have taken this in stride; see WolverinePublicity.
*** To be honest, she's a pretty crucial role in almost all the arcs/chapters. She's also the mascot of the series.
*** Not to mention that the arc where she is the central character is the turning point of the series.
*** If you're talking about Rika as the main character than Rika is pretty damn popular too. If you're talking about Keiichi then its to be expected, he's not a female character after all.
*** Tomitake is one as well.
** ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'': Genji is slowly, ''slowly'' becoming one.

Examples:
-----

** Adrian Andrews, a central character to the final case of ''Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All'' and had a minor appearance in the 2nd case of the 3rd game, ''Trials and Tribulations'', is far more popular in the fandom than any other side character. This partly has to do with her having the central role in a fan-favorite case, but more importantly, there's the implied LesYay between her and the WhipItGood {{Tsundere}} Prosecutor Franziska von Karma. This might also be because fairly early in the case, [[spoiler:she turned from being a hard-edged talent agent into a soft-hearted puppy, because [[TheWoobie she was the real victim all along]]]]. Some of that may also be explained by [[spoiler: players feeling guilty for having to re-accuse her of a crime they know she's innocent of [[WeNeedADistraction to bide time]], and later [[SadisticChoice being forced to choose between her life or Maya's]].]] It's quite a feat to have the player feel personally involved like that.

** The release of Unlimited Blade Works, however, may also put Lancer in this position. Sfter the release, a lot of message boards (those who played UBW) were saying "Lancer is more GAR than Archer!" [[spoiler:And yes, he's never alive by the end of any scenarios like Archer.]]

** Detective [[FanNickname '''Badd'''ass]] in ''Investigations''. You know you're popular when you're the Ace Attorney [[MemeticBadass equivalent]] to Chuck Norris.

* VisualNovel/{{Happiness}}: [[WholesomeCrossdresser Jun]].
* VisualNovel/PrincessLover: [[LadyOfWar Sylvie]].
* KatawaShoujo: The Paranoid,Misogynistic,Conspiracy Theorist, Kenji Setou.

* VisualNovel/SchoolDays:

* VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}!: Asa's mom Ama can be viewed as one.
* VideoGame/{{Utawarerumono}}:

** VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry: Rena may be the most iconic character, the most commonly related to the series, and her popularity may dwarf the true protagonists', but she's truly relevant in only two chapters. Still, the creator seems to have taken this in stride; see WolverinePublicity.

** VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry: Genji is slowly, ''slowly'' becoming one.

* Adrian Andrews, a central character to the final case of ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorney Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]: Justice for All'' and had a minor appearance in the 2nd case of the 3rd game, ''Trials and Tribulations'', is far more popular in the fandom than any other side character. This partly has to do with her having the central role in a fan-favorite case, but more importantly, there's the implied LesYay between her and the WhipItGood {{Tsundere}} Prosecutor Franziska von Karma. This might also be because fairly early in the case, [[spoiler:she turned from being a hard-edged talent agent into a soft-hearted puppy, because [[TheWoobie she was the real victim all along]]]]. Some of that may also be explained by [[spoiler: players feeling guilty for having to re-accuse her of a crime they know she's innocent of [[WeNeedADistraction to bide time]], and later [[SadisticChoice being forced to choose between her life or Maya's]].]] It's quite a feat to have the player feel personally involved like that.

** [[spoiler: Byrne Faraday]] of ''Investigations'' has also become very popular, despite the fact that we see exactly one screenshot of him before finding his corpse. Probably has something to do with being [[spoiler: a good father to Kay, a master thief, and one of the very few prosecutors who isn't an AmoralAttorney.]]

* Adrian Andrews, a central character to the final case of ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorney Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]: Justice for All'' and had a minor appearance in the 2nd case of the 3rd game, ''Trials and Tribulations'', is far more popular in the fandom than any other side character. This partly has to do with her having the central role in a fan-favorite case, but more importantly, there's the implied LesYay between her and the WhipItGood {{Tsundere}} Prosecutor Franziska von Karma. This might also be because fairly early in the case, [[spoiler:she turned from being a hard-edged talent agent into a soft-hearted puppy, because [[TheWoobie she was the real victim all along]]]]. Some of that may also be explained by [[spoiler: players feeling guilty for having to re-accuse her of a crime they know she's innocent of [[WeNeedADistraction to bide time]], and later [[TheSadisticChoice being forced to choose between her life or Maya's]].]] It's quite a feat to have the player feel personally involved like that.

** ''Investigations 2'' [[NoExportForYou might not be out]] yet in America but Yumihiko Ichiyanagi already has a ''huge'' fanbase once the game came out. Given his [[NoriakiSugiyama voice actor]] is a fan favorite of another famous male {{tsundere}} from a [[Manga/AxisPowersHetalia certain series]] and the personalities are near identical to the point that he's technically a {{moe}}blob to his fanbase (and an [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Ineffectual Sympathetic Prosecutor]]), it really stands out.

** VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry:Rena may be the most iconic character, the most commonly related to the series, and her popularity may dwarf the true protagonists', but she's truly relevant in only two chapters. Still, the creator seems to have taken this in stride; see WolverinePublicity.

** VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry:Genji is slowly, ''slowly'' becoming one.

* [[ColdSniper Sola]] seems pretty popular with the VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}} fanbase, despite not having appeared in the game proper.

* For the fans of ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', Nrvnqsr "Nero" Chaos and Satsuki "Sacchin" Yumizuka seem to be well liked, with the former due to his badassness and the later for her cuteness and unfortunate fate both in-game and metawise.

** VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry:Rena may be the most iconic character, the most commonly related to the show, and her popularity may dwarf the true protagonists', but she's truly relevant in only two chapters. Still, the creator seems to have taken this in stride; see WolverinePublicity.

*** Kinzo is popular in America, probably because of his association with [[{{Leitmotif}} la divina tragedia]] / [[MemeticMutation OH DESIRE]] and, sometime in the fall of 2009, [[MemeticMutation an explosion of pictures, HUNDREDS of them, with his "troll face" / "rape face" photoshopped onto them, with the claim that "Everything's Better With Kinzo. No Exceptions".]] [[spoiler:Of course, his popularity with readers tends to go down once they find out what he did to Beatrice II.]]

* VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}!: Asa's HotMom Ama can be viewed as one.

*** [[spoiler: [[EvilCounterpart Black Battler]]; despite being an illusion created by Bernkastel, he's gotten popular enough to join the roster of the fighting games.]]

* VisualNovel/Katawa Shoujo: [[SchwarzHase]].
** Kenji Setou

Adrian Andrews, a central character to the final case of ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorney Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]: Justice for All'' and had a minor appearance in the 2nd case of the 3rd game, ''Trials and Tribulations'', is far more popular in the fandom than any other side character. This partly has to do with her having the central role in a fan-favorite case, but more importantly, there's the implied LesYay between her and the WhipItGood {{Tsundere}} Prosecutor Franziska von Karma. This might also be because fairly early in the case, [[spoiler:she turned from being a hard-edged talent agent into a soft-hearted puppy, because [[TheWoobie she was the real victim all along]]]]. Some of that may also be explained by [[spoiler: players feeling guilty for having to re-accuse her of a crime they know she's innocent of [[WeNeedADistraction to bide time]], and later [[TheSadisticChoice being forced to choose between her life or Maya's]].]] It's quite a feat to have the player feel personally involved like that.

* VisualNovel/AceAttorney
** Of the main characters, Miles Edgeworth, [[PopularityPower to the point that he got his own game]]. Of the side characters/witnesses, Adrian Andrews.
** Don't forget Gumshoe, pal!
*** And Larry Butz. Seriously, with how his role is in the games its as if the developers practically ''knew'' he would be popular.
*** That, or they like hearing a collective moan from time to time.
** EMA SKYE! Seriously, she could have easily been a ReplacementScrappy, but is instead one of the most loved characters of the series. Not only that, she replaced fan favourite Maya for a case and Gumshoe for an entire freakin' game, and was popular enough to be the original protagonist of what eventually became Investigations.
** How about Shelly [=deKiller=]?
** From AceAttorneyInvestigations the EnsembleDarkhorse is looking to be [[CreepyAwesome The Proto Badger.]]