History Main / MemeticBystander

** [[https://wiki.puella-magi.net/Poorfag Poor-chan,]] a girl in the protagonists' class taking notes in a notebook. This was only picked up because everyone else in this particularly fancy school was using laptops. After many threads on Website/FourChan, she became an incredibly [[ThePollyanna optimistic young girl]] despite [[BreakTheCutie her horrendous living circumstances.]] She is somewhat [[TheDitz ditzy]] and takes [[ButtMonkey whatever the world throws at her]] with good grace.

* The first Pidget in Level 1-2 of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' was dubbed "Bill the Extra Guy" by ''Webcomic/NeglectedMarioCharacters'' and given his own bio and backstory. It seems to have caught on within some parts of the ''Mario'' fandom.

* ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' [[CastOfSnowflakes does not believe in]] FacelessMasses, and these background extras tend to reappear later with actual personalities. Floyd Fitznewski, Heywood J. Lookathat, Ms. Hatbrim, and Herb Gardner all first appeared as background extras in crowd shots. The strip's [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/characters character page]] even lists "Random Woman From Crowd Scene on Aug. 14, 2007: The only figure in that scene who has never reappeared."

[[folder:Film]]

* Several of the Outsiders in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'' have caught the eyes of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' fandom. They've been given {{Fan Nickname}}s like Spotty, Dotty, and Digger.

*** So much so that when [[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Choose Your Legends 5]] came around, he '''beat Marth''' by a whopping 25,000 votes.

*** The page image: in the first episode, a bluish grey, [[FishEyes cock-eyed]] pony can be seen for a few seconds on the background, and she immediately became a fan favorite, with an enormous amount of art and fanfic about her and a whole fan-crafted personality. Dubbed "Derpy Hooves", she reached AscendedMeme status with several cameos, a full speaking part, some official toys (including a large Comic Con-exclusive one and a standard brushable in a "Fan Favorites" set), and a prominent role in [[LowerDeckEpisode the 100th episode]], which is almost nothing but AscendedFanon.

** Aunt Wu's male assistant from the episode "The Fortuneteller", who never gets any lines but still managed to leave an impression due to his striking appearance.

*** A brown pony with hair resembling [[Series/DoctorWho the Tenth Doctor]] and an hourglass cutie mark was swiftly branded Doctor Whooves. Cue hundreds of crossovers. This intensified when other Earth stallion ponies appeared in the background with hourglass cutie marks, seemingly representing [[TheNthDoctor some of the previous incarnations of the Doctor]]. He also got canonized in a trading card, which includes a "{{timey|WimeyBall}}-wimey" reference. He also has appeared in licensed merchandise and as a small Hasbro-made figure, where he has a unique mold [[note]]which is ''very'' unusual, given that they rarely make new molds for the "blind bag" style figures, and if they do it's normally for more important characters or ones with unusual body types, ''and'' they already had another "Earth Pony stallion" mold by that point[[/note]] and is actually referred to as Doctor Whooves on the packaging. He also holds the distinction of having had a speaking role before the 100th episode, but with an American accent, which was ''officially retconned'' for the MilestoneCelebration, where he gets the correct English accent and a completely new characterization (though due to copyrights, he's a screwball inventor who believes in time travel a la [[Film/BackToTheFuture Doc Brown]], rather than a Time Lord).

All shows need to have extras. Whether they're the FacelessMasses or a CastOfSnowflakes, everything needs to have some way to show the main characters are not the only people existing in the world [[MinimalistCast (unless, of course,]] [[BeautifulVoid that's the point]]). But every now and then, someone will stand out... and all of a sudden they become incredibly popular for whatever reason. They may be endowed with a FanNickname, and a whole {{backstory}} and personality may be extrapolated... from just one character, with few or no lines and highly limited appearances.

** In ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', during the evacuation of Cloud City, you can see a guy in an orange jumpsuit carrying what looks like an ice cream maker. Since then, he's been dubbed "Ice Cream Maker Guy" and has attracted a huge fanbase, to the point where, when the ExpandedUniverse stated that he was actually carrying a computer memory core, people cried TheyChangedItNowItSucks. He even got an official action figure and the name Willrow Hood, and the official [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Celebration Star Wars Celebration events]] have regularly held "Running of the Hoods," in which dozens of people dress up as him and run around the convention center in a group, all carrying ice cream makers.
*** ''Series/TheMandalorian'' prominently featured a container of the same design, referred to as a "camtono."

[[folder:Live Action Television]]

* Several from ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': the "MY LEG!" (or, if you're going by TheMovie, "MY EYES!") guy from several episodes, the "he kept us waiting for a bubble!?" guy from "Bubble Buddy", and the [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/deuueaugh "DEUUEAUGH"]] fish from "Something Smells". All three have gained significant popularity, mostly through WebAnimation/YouTubePoop.

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' is full of giant humanoid monstrosities from UncannyValley. One of these giant humanoid monstrosities had [[http://i.imgur.com/cfXLLFbl.jpg giant, shimmering schoolgirl eyes.]] Finding this to be [[UglyCute bizarrely adorable]], the internet anime community has dubbed it Kawaii Titan (or Moe Titan) and treated it as a supporting character whose life was [[AnyoneCanDie tragically cut short]] in episode 8. [[AllThereInTheManual The guidebook gives it the official name of the Peering Titan]]. [[spoiler: And a flashback eventually shows its human self. He was an [[LaResistance Eldian Restorationist]] who was turned into a Titan by Marley and set loose on Paradis, and [[MorphicResonance bears a serious resemblance to his Titan self, down to having the exact same eyes]].]]

* The blonde delinquent girl from season 2 episode 4 of ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'' is something of a bizarre example since [[TheCameo she's actually Houka Kazetomo]], a supporting character from ''Metsuko ni Yoroshiku''. But since ''Metsuko'' ended almost seven years before the episode aired and was never officially translated into English, most viewers would have no way of knowing who she was ahead of time.

* The music in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' is credited in-universe to several fictional bands, most of which don't even appear in game. Nonetheless, the vocalist of the band Chirpy Chips ([[https://splatoonwiki.org/wiki/File:S_Band_Chirpy_Chips.jpg seen here, second from the right]]) became very popular with the community, inspiring quite a lot of fan art and being given the temporary FanNickname Glenna Nalira. Possibly owing in part to her popularity, Chirpy Chips was one of the few bands from the first game to return in ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', and promotional material eventually gave her the name Paruko in Japanese. She would later appear as a full-on AscendedExtra in ''VideoGame/Splatoon3'' as the shopkeeper at the in-game store Hotlantis, and finally be given an official English name -- Harmony.

* The music in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' is credited in-universe to several fictional bands, most of which don't even appear in game. Nonetheless, the vocalist of the band Chirpy Chips ([[https://splatoonwiki.org/wiki/File:S_Band_Chirpy_Chips.jpg seen here, second from the right]]) became very popular with the community, inspiring quite a lot of fan art and being given the temporary FanNickname Glenna Nalira. Possibly owing in part to her popularity, Chirpy Chips was one of the few bands from the first game to return in ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', and promotional material eventually gave her the semi-official name Paruko. She [[AscendedExtra appears as an in-game shopkeeper]] in ''VideoGame/Splatoon3'' as Harmony.

* The music in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' is credited in-universe to several fictional bands, most of which don't even appear in game. Nonetheless, the vocalist of the band Chirpy Chips ([[https://splatoonwiki.org/wiki/File:S_Band_Chirpy_Chips.jpg seen here, second from the right]]) became very popular with the community, inspiring quite a lot of fan art and being given the temporary FanNickname Glenna Nalira. Possibly owing in part to her popularity, Chirpy Chips was one of the few bands from the first game to return in ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', and promotional material eventually gave her the official name Paruko.