History Main / ChekhovsArmy

* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' is very good at this.

** The Sabaody Arc introduces The Worst Generation, nine new characters (and eight different crews) who are rivals to Luffy. Luffy only briefly meets Law and Kid, with most of the others not becoming plot-relevant until after the TimeSkip.

** The Sabaody Arc introduces The Worst Generation, nine new characters (and eight different crews) who are rivals to Luffy. Luffy only briefly meets Law and Kid, with most of the others don't become plot-relevant until after the TimeSkip.

ChekhovsArmy is to ChekhovsGunman as ChekhovsArmoury is to ChekhovsGun.

* ''So'' many in ''Manga/OnePiece'', and some of them take a ''long'' time to come into play.

** The Earthen Ring. Originally, they were [[RecycledInSpace Cenarion Circle but with Shamans]]. Later on, they become one of the main driving forces for good in ''Cataclysm'', after having several pre-expansion storylines dedicated to them.

* In ''[[VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen Ys I]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/YsIIAncientYsVanishedTheFinalChapter II]]'', several minor NPC's that you meet over the course of the two games are revealed in the finale to be descendants of the six priests of Ys, and the first game's {{Distressed Damsel}}s are really the twin goddesses.

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' probably has the most extensive one ever, including [[ChekhovsGunman gunmen]] drafted from far earlier stories. Some notable examples:

** [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist The 2003 anime version]]: Every single named character who doesn't die in their first appearance shows up later in the series.

* The first ''Film/MissionImpossible'' movie, where every random extra in the background in the opening scene [[spoiler:shows up as a secret agent in the last scene?]]

* In ''[[VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen Ys I]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/YsIIAncientYsVanishedTheFinalChapterII]]'', several minor NPC's that you meet over the course of the two games are revealed in the finale to be descendants of the six priests of Ys, and the first game's {{Distressed Damsel}}s are really the twin goddesses.

* ''Film/TheGame'' - This 1997 Michael Douglas film fits this trope to a T when every last extra whose face was shown during the course of the movie, as well as several incredibly minor, even unnamed characters [[spoiler:were all revealed to be a part of the Game as shown in the cafeteria scene.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited''. The Ultimen, the Question, ComicBook/LexLuthor, Brainiac, Amanda Waller, Huntress, Galatea, and ComicBook/CaptainAtom [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters (among others)]] all have larger roles in the Season 2 myth arc and the four-part finale than their initial appearances would suggest.

!!'''Examples''':

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Ys}} I and II'', several minor NPC's that you meet over the course of the two games are revealed in the finale to be descendants of the six priests of Ys, and the first game's {{Distressed Damsel}}s are really the twin goddesses.

* In ''VideoGame/ClockTower'', Anne can save a flock of birds early in the game and they fly off. Much, ''much'' later, [[spoiler:when Mary is about to throw Anne into the gears of the clock tower, the birds fly over and attack Mary, causing her to back up too much and fall to her death]]

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': With an actual army! The Briggs soldiers help out Mustang during [[spoiler:the central riot/coup d'etat.]]

** The Twilight's Hammer. Minor antagonists very early on in Classic, show up much ''much'' later in Classic at Silithus, and then become TheOrganization in ''Cataclysm''.

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', roughly half of class 3A (all of which are presented in the first chapter) eventually turn out to be [[FantasyKitchenSink a Vampire or a Ninja or a Half-demon Samurai or a Time-traveller or a Robot or a Ghost or a Nun/Wizardress or a Mercenary marksman]] [[spoiler:(who turns out to be a half demon)]] or [[spoiler:an amnesiac princess.]] All this is without counting all the side characters which inevitably become very important to the plot.
* ''Anime/MaiHiME'': Every ''single'' [=HiME=] that didn't show up in the first episode, Nao and [[spoiler:Shizuru]] being the most egregious examples.
** In ''Anime/MaiOtome'', several heads of state and their Otomes attend Mashiro's coronation. The final battle is between TheAlliance of nations trying to liberate Garderobe, and Nagi's minions and allies.
* ''Anime/{{Monster}}'' is very good at this.

** [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist The 2003 anime version]]: Every single named character who doesn't die in his first appearance shows up later in the series.

* Argentinean film "Nueve Reinas" is a perfect example of this trope. [[spoiler:every character appearing in the film plays a part at the ruse]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited''. The Ultimen, the Question, ComicBook/LexLuthor, Brainiac, Amanda Waller, Huntress, Galatea, and ComicBook/CaptainAtom [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters (among others)]] all have larger roles in the Season 2 myth arc and the four-part finale than their initial appearances would suggest.

* The Red Army from Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld/InterestingTimes''.

* Every single named character who showed up at any time in the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' would be back later to play a larger part in the story. Except the cat burglar.

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': With an actual army! The Briggs soldiers help out Mustang during [[spoiler: the central riot/coup d'etat.]]

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', roughly half of class 3A (all of which are presented in the first chapter) eventually turn out to be [[FantasyKitchenSink a Vampire or a Ninja or a Half-demon Samurai or a Time-traveller or a Robot or a Ghost or a Nun/Wizardress or a Mercenary marksman]] [[spoiler:(who turns out to be a half demon)]] or [[spoiler: an amnesiac princess.]] All this is without counting all the side characters which inevitably become very important to the plot.
* ''Anime/MaiHiME'': Every ''single'' [=HiME=] that didn't show up in the first episode, Nao and [[spoiler: Shizuru]] being the most egregious examples.

** There is a lesbian character, Judy, killed via MoralEventHorizon in ''Preludes And Nocturnes''. Before she is killed, she tries to contact her girlfriend Donna, and one of the people she calls is her "token straight friend" Rose. Donna returns in ''A Game of You'', ''The High Cost of Living'', and ''The Time Of Your Life'' (the latter two outside ''Sandman'' proper). Rose appears as a main character in ''The Doll's House'', where we learn that she is the granddaughter of one of the victims of "sleeping sickness" back in issue one (and also the granddaughter of [[spoiler: Desire]]), and the sister of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jed_Walker Jed Walker]] of pre-Gaiman ''Sandman'' comics in the 1970s. Rose loses her heart in the climax of the arc, but then [[ChekhovsBoomerang boomerangs]] back many years later to tie up that specific loose end and a few others besides. (She also shows up at ''The Wake'', but then ''everyone'' is there. You're there too.) Oh, and in ''The Doll's House'' Rose also befriends the dream denizen Fiddler's Green, who later... It just goes on and on.

* In the 2009 movie ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', there is a moment where [[spoiler: almost every single alien species that appears in the first part of the movie returns to beat the ever-loving crap out of the human military. Chekhov's Zoo, anyone?]]

* ''Film/TheGame'' - This 1997 Michael Douglas film fits this trope to a T when every last extra whose face was shown during the course of the movie, as well as several incredibly minor, even unnamed characters [[spoiler: were all revealed to be a part of the Game as shown in the cafeteria scene.]]

* Argentinean film "Nueve Reinas" is a perfect example of this trope. [[spoiler: every character appearing in the film plays a part at the ruse]]
* Taken literally with ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. In the 'extended version', in which 23 originally cut seconds were restored, one of the characters breaks the fourth wall and starts talking about if her scene should have been cut out. This triggers a chat between her and some past characters. After that, some '''future''' characters start yelling at her to get on with the scene, including an actual medieval army. Guess what? [[spoiler: The army conveniently appears at the end of the film, when Arthur needs them to attack an enemy castle.]]

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' loves this sort of thing; in particular, ''Grave Peril'' has quite a few characters show up at Bianca's party who turn out to be ''very'' important later.

* Literature/HarryPotter. Sirius Black, [[spoiler: Regulus Black, Kreacher,]] Mrs. Figg, and Cornelius Fudge are just a few examples of characters whose first appearances were rather innocuous, if not downright unimportant, but who would become much more relevant later on. Rowling's penchant for this sort of thing led to her publicly apologizing when a throwaway character had the same last name as Harry's mother; though he really was just a random character, the fandom had grown so used to innocuous characters becoming important, especially those with noteworthy names, that there was major speculation about what role he would play in the future books.

%%* [[spoiler: The Aggron, Arbok, Magcargo, Magmortar, Mismagius, and Rhyperior]] seen during the BadFuture sequence from ''[[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky]]''.
* In ''VideoGame/ClockTower'', Anne can save a flock of birds early in the game and they fly off. Much, ''much'' later, [[spoiler: when Mary is about to throw Anne into the gears of the clock tower, the birds fly over and attack Mary, causing her to back up too much and fall to her death]]

* Chances are, if you have a name and appear in ''Manga/PokemonSpecial'', you're going to be plot-important later on. If you happen to be nameless, however, you will ''still'' appear some chapters later as either an ally or a throwaway gag.