History Main / IconicSequelCharacter

* ''WebAnimation/AnimatorVsAnimation'': The Chosen One first appeared in ''II'', the Dark Lord in ''III'', and the Second Coming and Fighting Stick Figures in ''IV''. All of these characters have become staples of the series far more remembered than victim, the primary stick figure featured in the first video.

** While many characters debuted in the first season, other fan favorites like Duffman (season 9), Groundskeeper Willie (season 2), Fat Tony (season 3), Cletus (season 5), Comic Book Guy (season 2), Dr. Hibbert (season 2), Superintendent Chalmers (season 4), Gil Gunderson (season 9), Disco Stu (season 7), and Hans Moleman (season 2) as well as many others didn't appear until the second season on.

* Many regular characters in ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' films aren't introduced until after the original installment. Roman Pierce and Tej Parker are introduced in ''Film/TwoFastTwoFurious'' and don't reappear until ''Film/FastFive''. Han Lue doesn't show up until ''Film/TheFastAndTheFuriousTokyoDrift''. Gisele Yashar makes her debut in ''Film/FastAndFurious'', Luke Hobbs is absent until ''Film/FastFive'', and Ramsey first shows up in ''Film/FuriousSeven''.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Of the multitudes of Harry's recurring allies, barely any appear to begin with. Only Murphy, Bob, Susan, Marcone, Toot, and Morgan appear in the [[Literature/StormFront first book]]; his werewolf buddies the Alphas appear in the [[Literature/FoolMoon second]], Lea and the Carpenter family in the [[Literature/GravePeril third]] (with Molly only becoming a mainstay in the [[Literature/ProvenGuilty eighth]]), and the Fae courts and White Council appearing in the [[Literature/SummerKnight fourth]], and so on. And then try putting together a list of where the iconic ''villains'' debut...

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' would be unthinkable today without Warmaster Horus, the Primarchs, the Horus Heresy and the Chaos Marine legions fighting their Long War against the Imperium of Man. Yet these characters, this event, and the forces of Chaos in general, were nowhere in evidence in the original 1986 Rogue Trader book - being introduced a couple of years after its release in the Realm of Chaos supplements (1988 and 1990). Also, of all the iconic special characters that are synonymous with 40k today - Marneus Calgar, Abaddon, Kharn the Betrayer, Ahriman, Eldrad Ulthran, Mephiston and dozens more. - the only three that pre-date the 1993 2nd edition of the game are Commissar Yarrick and Ghazghkull Thraka (who were introduced very late in 1st edition, setting the stage for the explosion of characters in 2nd edition), and Pedro Kantor of the Crimson Fists - the only character from the original Rogue Trader book still in the game today (and who was [[SpellMyNameWithAnS named Pedro Cantor at the time]], after a playtester of the book, Pete Cantor).

* In ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'', the iconic and most recurring villain of the series and subject of the page quote Jason Voorhees is a unique example in that he is technically introduced in the first movie, but doesn't become the main antagonist until the second onwards, and even then his defining traits take several movies to firmly establish. In the first film, the killer is Pamela Voorhees. Jason doesn't appear until the next film,[[note]]Unless you count the scene near the end of the first film where Alice has a nightmare about being pulled into Crystal Lake by child Jason[[/note]] and he doesn't gain his iconic hockey mask until the film after ''that''. To top it all off, he's also famous for being an undead supernatural killer but he doesn't even become ''this'' until ''Part VI''! Furthermore, Jason's best known portrayer (and the only actor to portray him more than once), Creator/KaneHodder, doesn't start portraying him until ''Part VII''.
** Tommy Jarvis, the most recurring character after Jason himself, first appears in the fourth film, ''[[SeriesFauxnale The Final Chapter]]''. Tommy was not only responsible for Jason's first death, but he was also [[NiceJobBreakingItHero inadvertently]] responsible for bringing him back and turning him into a revenant, making him [[YouCantKillWhatsAlreadyDead even harder]] to kill than he [[MadeOfIron already was]].

* ''Film/JohnWick'': The Bowery King and Cassian don't appear until the first sequel, while Sofia shows up in the third film, and Caine and Mr. Nobody debut in the fourth movie.

* ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'': Kristen and Alice debut in the third and fourth films but are nearly as well known as the original FinalGirl, Nancy. Taryn and Kincaid (two of Kristen's RagtagBunchOfMisfits allies in the third movie) and TomboyWithAGirlyStreak Debbie from the fourth film aren't far behind Alice and Kristen in renown with the fanbase.

* John Connor, the closest thing that the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' series has to a protagonist and its most important and popular human character, is only mentioned in the first film, and does not appear until the sequel.

** While many characters debuted in the first season, other fan favorites like Duffman (season 9), Groundskeeper Willie (season 2), Fat Tony (season 3), Cletus (season 5), Comic Book Guy (season 2), Dr. Hibbert (season 2), Superintendent Chalmers (season 4), Gil Gunderson (season 9), and Disco Stu (season 7), as well as many others didn't appear until the second season on.

* ''Franchise/DanganRonpa'': The most marketed character aside from SeriesMascot Monokuma is Nagito Komaeda, TheRival from the second game. No mention of him is made during the entirety of the first game, but Nagito would go on to appear in instalments that even Makoto, the Hope's Peak Saga main character, wouldn't. He even gained his own OVA and a manga spin-off retelling the events of the second game from his point-of-view (which, incidentally, became the second of Danganronpa's many ''many'' manga series to be translated for publication outside of Japan).

* ''Franchise/DanganRonpa'': The most marketed character is Nagito Komaeda, TheRival for the second game. No mention of him is made during the entirety of the first game, but Nagito would go on to appear in installments that even Makoto, the Hope's Peak Saga main character, wouldn't and even gain his own OVA.

* Cinnamoroll is one of the most popular ''Creator/{{Sanrio}}'' characters, topping popularity polls year after year, but he didn't debut until 2001, nearly thirty years after the company first started creating mascot characters.

* Teresa Rivera is regarded as the best friend of Franchise/{{Barbie}}, but she didn't make her first appearance until 1988, 29 years after Barbie's debut.

** If one considers the entire Phase 1 as a single "season" in television terms, then [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]], [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, Bucky Barnes]], [[Film/{{Thor}} Thor, Loki]], Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, and Thanos were the only recurring characters introduced from the "starting arc", with Thanos only appearing in a PostCreditsScene cameo.

** The [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Green Goblin]], Spider-Man's ArchEnemy appeared in Issue #13 after the likes of Vulture, Mysterio, [[Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius Doctor Octopus]], and the rest. [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheKingpin The Kingpin]] comes more than 50 issues later, Characters/{{Black Cat|MarvelComics}} appears after more than 190 issues in 1979, and [[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote Venom]] didn't make his first real appearance until issue #299 in 1988, '''over 25 years''' of publication later.

** [[Characters/UltimateSpiderManMilesMorales Miles Morales]], Peter's successor in many continuities, didn't show up until 2011--a whopping 49 years after the first issue. Even within his original series - ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan - Miles doesn't show up for 11 years, debuting at the beginning of the 3rd series, 160 issues in.

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsStorm Storm]], ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, [[Characters/MarvelComicsNightcrawler Nightcrawler]], and [[Characters/XMen70sMembers Colossus]] are some of the most famous members of the team, yet they didn't join until the series relaunch 12 years after the first issue. Other iconic X-Men like [[Characters/MarvelComicsKittyPryde Kitty Pryde]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsRogue Rogue]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsPsylocke Psylocke]], [[Characters/XMen90sMembers Jubilee]], Characters/{{Emma Frost|WhiteQueen}}, [[Characters/MarvelComicsGambit Gambit]] and Bishop joined even later. Iconic villains [[Characters/MarvelComicsApocalypse Apocalypse]] and Mister Sinister did not appear until the [[TheEighties mid-1980]]s, over two decades after the X-Men made their debut. Heck, Apocalypse was introduced in the spin-off title ''ComicBook/XFactor'' and didn't appear in the main book until 1992.

** Few fans realize that [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]] was not a founding member of Comicbook/TheAvengers. He was found frozen in the Arctic and revived four issues after the comic had started. He's considered an honorary founder because he was found so soon after the team formed, and to fill the void [[Characters/IncredibleHulkBruceBanner the Incredible Hulk]] left.

* [[Characters/TeenTitansNewTeenTitans Cyborg, Raven]], [[Characters/TeenTitansStarfire Starfire]], and Beast Boy are some of the most iconic members of the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'', but didn't join until its third incarnation in 1980, nor were they, with the sole exception of Beast Boy, even introduced until the 80s series began.

** Daredevil's other greatest enemy, [[Characters/DaredevilCentralRoguesGallery Bullseye]], plays this far straighter, not appearing at all until the mid-70s in ''Daredevil #131'', well over a decade since Daredevil's debut. Likewise, Matt's ex-girlfriend-turned-assassin [[Characters/DaredevilSupportingCharacters Elektra]] was absent until 1981.

* ''Comicbook/{{PS238}}:'' [[MuggleBornOfMages Tyler]] is only introduced in issue #3, but has since become the de facto protagonist. [[FlyingBrick Julie]] appears even later, in issue #19, but quickly became the next most likely character to get her own arcs.

** Yelena Belova, Kamala Khan, and Cosmo were introduced in Phase 4. Yelena returned in ''Series/{{Hawkeye|2021}}'' and will re-appear in ''Thunderbolts''. Kamala Khan will be the Deuteragonist in ''Film/{{The Marvels|2023}}'', sequel to ''Film/CaptainMarvel''. Cosmo debuted in ''Film/TheGuardiansOfTheGalaxyHolidaySpecial'' - where she was already a member of the Guardians - and ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3'' showed that she was there to stay.

* Azmuth despite being one of most important character in ''Franchise/Ben10'', doesn't appear until ''WesternAnimation/Ben10SecretOfTheOmnitrix'' which is chronologically the GrandFinale of the Original Series. Kevin Levin's role as Ben's close friend and ally would only be introduced in the sequel series ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce''. In addition number of major characters from the original show show up after the first season of AF, including [[BigGood Azmuth]] and recuring villain Dr. Animo in season 2 while Ben's {{Archenemy}} Vilgax and Chamcaster return in Season 3.

** Yelena Belova, Kamala Khan, and Cosmo were introduced in Phase 4. Yelena returned in ''Hawkeye'' and will re-appear in ''Thunderbolts''. Kamala Khan will be the Deuteragonist in ''Film/{{The Marvels|2023}}'', sequel to ''Film/CaptainMarvel''. Cosmo debuted in ''Film/TheGuardiansOfTheGalaxyHolidaySpecial'' - where she was already a member of the Guardians - and ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3'' showed that she was there to stay.

* IconicSequelCharacter: Kristen and Alice debut in the third and fourth films but are nearly as well known as the original FinalGirl, Nancy. Taryn and Kincaid (two of Kristen's RagtagBunchOfMisfits allies in the third movie) and TomboyWithAGirlyStreak Debbie from the fourth film aren't far behind Alice and Kristen in renown with the fanbase.

* IconicSequelCharacter:

** The [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Green Goblin]], Spider-Man's ArchEnemy appeared in Issue #13 after the likes of Vulture, Mysterio, [[Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius Doctor Octopus]], and the rest. [[Characters/MarvelComicsKingpin The Kingpin]] comes more than 50 issues later, [[Characters/{{Black Cat|MarvelComics}} appears after more than 190 issues in 1979, and [[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote Venom]] didn't make his first real appearance until issue #299 in 1988, '''over 25 years''' of publication later.

** Yelena Belova, Kamala Khan, and Cosmo were introduced in Phase 4. Yelena returned in ''Hawkeye'' and will re-appear in ''Thunderbolts''. Kamala Khan will be the Deuteragonist in ''Film/TheMarvels'', sequel to ''Film/CaptainMarvel''. Cosmo debuted in ''Film/TheGuardiansOfTheGalaxyHolidaySpecial'' - where she was already a member of the Guardians - and ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3'' showed that she was there to stay.

* ''Fanfic/TheVictorsProject'' is technically both a prequel and sequel to the earlier written and several particularly notable [=OC=] Victors from ''TVP'' (such as Abram, Orchus, Granyte, Cotton, Gates, Luxe, Luster, Honorious, Justus, Bovina, and Boudicca) are never even mentioned in ''The Lumberjack and the Tree-Elf''.[[/folder]]

''Literature/PleaseDontTellMyParentsImASupervillain'':