History Main / RecurringExtra

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' has Ranjit, the... [[RunningGag various vehicles]] driver; his only line was 'where to' or 'Hello'. Laster he became an AscendedExtra when he started to get more lines and received actual focus.

* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', there is Anthea, the wisecracking hospital emergency room receptionist, who has had frequent dealings with the gang, especially Howard, when an allergy flares or a robotic arm grips tightly but will not let go. One of the goth girls Howard and Raj date in the third season reappeared in the eighth as their guide to a problem-solving dungeon. Then there are Lonely Larry and Captain Sweatpants who first appeared in the comic book store and later as Wil Wheaton's friends.

** [[http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Mamie_Muggins_(Earth-616) Mamie Muggins]], [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Peter Parker]]'s landlady from his moving out of Harry's apartment until his own wedding.

** One of SNL's behind-the-scenes crew, production designer Akira Yoshimura, has protrayed Hikaru Sulu in ''Franchise/StarTrek'' skits dating back to the very first season. The unfortunate reason for this is that SNL had zero Asian cast members until Creator/BowenYang came on in 2019.

* Buck Henry, a 10-time host on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', played the same customer, Mr. Dantley, in seven different Creator/JohnBelushi "Samurai" sketches.

* Big the Cat from the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series, although he used to play important roles on occasion.

* In the WidgetSeries (well, movie), ''Film/BattlefieldBaseball'', a group of people, including a girl in old-fashioned school uniform, a guy wearing just a fig leaf, and someone with a broken arm, appear out of nowhere to create a crowd several times during the movie. There's also a drunk and his dog who are seen multiple times, including the end, where it's implied that the dog is the narrator of the movie. Yeah.

* ''Literature/TheScholomance'': A few students like Ibrahim’s friend Yaakov and New York enclaver Jermaine show up briefly to be commented on, have a meal near the main cast or something without ever interacting with them for long periods of time. Nkoyo’s friends Cora and Jowani start out out this way in the first book but have a slightly bigger presence in the second book.

** Jason Portman, a nerdy TechBro and former CEO of Quantum Leap can be found in ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'' getting some facial reconstruction surgery to look like a male model. While initially only serving as a ShoutOut to [[Film/{{Thunderball}} Angelo Palazzi]], he reappears in ''VideoGame/Hitman2'' as a member of the Ark Society on the Isle of Sgail, and being the subject of tech scandals in HAVEN Islands' mission "The Last Resort", in which he is constantl;y being badgered by one of the targets to sell his company to a former colleague (and another one on your targets) Steven Bradley, with whom he doesn't get along with.

** Jason Portman, a nerdy TechBro and former CEO of Quantum Leap can be found in ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'' getting some facial reconstruction surgery to look like a male model. While initially only serving as a ShoutOut to [[Film/Thunderball Angelo Palazzi]], he reappears in ''VideoGame/Hitman2'' as a member of the Ark Society on the Isle of Sgail, and being the subject of tech scandals in HAVEN Islands' mission "The Last Resort", in which he is constantl;y being badgered by one of the targets to sell his company to a former colleague (and another one on your targets) Steven Bradley, with whom he doesn't get along with.
** Pam Kingsley initially debut's in the mission "A Gilded Cage" in ''2016'', but later makes re-appearances in ''2'' as a news reporter on various televisions in the levels, before finally appearing in-person again in ''VideoGame/Hitman3'' in Mendoza's "The Farewell" mission.

* Agent Smith in the ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'' series is a fellow ICA agent who 47 often finds [[DistressedDude captured]] during one of his undercover missions, usually stripped down to his all-American boxers.

* ''Film/Scream1996'': Two guests (a girl in a gold varsity sweatshirt and blue skirt who is dancing when Sidney and Tatum arrive and a girl in a black shirt with flower tassels and a pink skirt who sits next to Randy during the movie) are present in most of the scenes throughout the long party sequence but don't have any audible dialogue and aren't credited.

** Vinnie Grigori (whose voice mimics Vinnie Barbarino (Creator/JohnTravolta) from ''Series/WelcomeBackKotter''). This guy loses at least two jobs and a motorcycle to the Gargoyles' actions. In the LowerDeckEpisode ClipShow centered on him, he spends most of the show narrating his past troubles to a custom-built weapon [[ParentalBonus called "Mr. Carter," which his accent renders indistinguishable from "Mr. Kotter"]], before finally shooting Goliath in the face just after the climax of a big battle that had Goliath's attention all night. Fortunately, "Mr. Carter" only shoots cream pies, and Vinnie walked away very satisfied with himself, leaving a confused Goliath to wonder at his identity. In the first episode of ''The Goliath Chronicles'' he actually has a major role, and saves Goliath and Elisa's lives before [[PutOnABus putting himself on a bus]] to take a job in Japan. [[spoiler: Too bad for him there are Gargoyles ''there'' too... He is next seen being observed by Yama, one of the Japanese Gargoyles in the ''ComicBook/BadGuys'' mini series.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Granter of three Wild Cards' desires![[labelnote:From top to bottom]]''VideoGame/Persona3'', ''VideoGame/Persona4'', ''VideoGame/Persona5''[[/labelnote]]]]

* Pretty much every single ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' game has had Anna show up, who usually either provides tutorials or mans the {{Secret Shop}}s. A full ''thirteen games'' into the series she [[AscendedExtra ascends to the role of full-fledged playable unit]] in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''.

* ''Fanfic/TheEndOfTheWorld'':

* * ''Fanfic/JohannaMasonTheyWillNeverSeeMeCry'':: Several non-Quell tribute victors (one-eyed Drake from District 4, Gate and Agnes from District 3, and Baler and Flora from District 11) appear multiple times throughout the story but rarely talk, do anything related to the rebellion, or have significant interactions with Johanna. This is somewhat justified since victors are cast into each other's proximity by necessity, but past traumas and important duties keep some of them from getting to know others very well.

* ''LightNovel/SisterPrincess'' has several people about the island -- including a salesgirl, a fellow dressed like a stereotypical Frenchman and a short dumpy guy in coveralls -- who are constantly seen in the background (and once in a while in the foreground). In a twist, they gather together during the climax of the series to see if there's anything they can do to help the hero or his sisters.
* ''LightNovel/SoICantPlayH'': Meshiyori is a silver-haired girl, who's notable for having heterochromia and an unusually high [[PowerLevels spirit level]][[note]]of almost [[spoiler: 1 million]][[/note]]. Despite this, she's a minor character who only appears in episode 3, briefly again near the end of 4, and isn't seen again 'til the OVA special.

[[caption-width-right:350:Granter of [[VideoGame/Persona3 three]] [[VideoGame/Persona4 Wild]] [[VideoGame/Persona5 Cards]]' desires!]]

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}''

** The first volume of ''Wish You Were Here'' has lots of people in the survivor colony (Viceroy, Edith, Christine, Chanice, Maria, Jackie, Boy, Sofia, Jamie, and Tabitha) who spend a lot of time loitering around group meetings, doing chores, joining firing lines against the Crossed and such but take a long time to get proper introductions and (with a [[AscendedExtra couple notable exceptions]]) often suffer a DeathInTheLimelight or remain fairly unimportant even after they do get named and/or directly interact with Shaky.

** [[http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Mamie_Muggins_(Earth-616) Mamie Muggins]], [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter Parker]]'s landlady from his moving out of Harry's apartment until his own wedding.
** ComicBook/NormanOsborn, the alter-ego of Spidey's arch enemy the Green Goblin, started off this way: he appeared in numerous issues as a member of J. Jonah Jameson's men's club and was often seen talking to Jonah. After about 15 issues since his first sighting, he [[AscendedExtra got a supporting role in one story]], and not long after came TheReveal that he was the Goblin's true identity.

* In-universe example in ''Film/TheTrumanShow'', noticing the same extras popping up again and again is one of Truman's important clues in figuring out he's actually living in a TV studio.

** The current record for this is a reporter by the name of Helen who has appeared in 22 different episodes spread accross 10 years.

** C-Ko's parents first appear in the 2nd game, especially the 72nd and the 89th situations. [[spoiler:C-Ko's father also appears in the 100th situation of the third game]].

** Vinnie Grigori (whose voice mimics Vinnie Barbarino (Creator/JohnTravolta) from ''Series/WelcomeBackKotter''). This guy loses at least two jobs and a motorcycle to the Gargoyles' actions. In the LowerDeckEpisode ClipShow centered on him, he spends most of the show narrating his past troubles to a custom-built weapon [[ParentalBonus called "Mr. Carter," which his accent renders indistinguishable from "Mr. Kotter"]], before finally shooting Goliath in the face just after the climax of a big battle that had Goliath's attention all night. Fortunately, "Mr. Carter" only shoots cream pies, and Vinnie walked away very satisfied with himself, leaving a confused Goliath to wonder at his identity. In the first episode of ''The Goliath Chronicles'' he actually has a major role, and saves Goliath and Elisa's lives before [[PutOnABus putting himself on a bus]] to take a job in Japan. [[spoiler: Too bad for him there are Gargoyles ''there'' too... He is next seen being observed by Yama, one of the Japanese Gargoyles in the ''ComicBook/BadGuys'' mini series]].

** Raphael, AKA Wiseguy, AKA Sarcastic Man, who is a taxi driver, store clerk, plumber, etc depending of what the plot needs.

* Silkie, from the second season of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' onward, was basically Kuroneko as played by an oversized grub.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)]]'' had a pair of cops -- based on ''Turtles'' creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird -- who would appear whenever the scene required policemen.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' has a ton, to the point that Bikini Bottom has about twenty or so unique residents. A few of particular note are:
** Phil AKA the green fish that frequently yells "my leg!" in various episodes.
** During large scenes of commotion, an unseen character who often yells "Boo, you stink!" (later revealed to be Squidward's mother!)
** A blue fish somewhat resembling a shark who [[OohMeAccentsSlipping switches his accent partway through the series]] and has a hatred for big meaty claws. He was later named 'Harold'.

** Many others extras have been given names [[https://spongebob.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Background_characters as shown here]] though most were only said once. Sometimes their colors aren't even consistent. There's at least ''three'' different characters that have been called Old Man Jenkins.