History Main / RecurringTraveller

* The Magimel brothers in ''ShadowHearts: Covenant''.

* ''NeverwinterNights: Hordes of the Underdark'' avoids the improbable traveling merchant version. Rather than placing merchants in improbable locations in the Underdark and Outer Planes, the game gives you a shopkeeping genie in a bottle that you can summon at will.
** ''NeverwinterNights2'' gave us Guyven of the Road, whom you can eventually convince to come and stay in your keep after meeting him three times in the wilderness.

* The merchant from ''FragileDreamsFarewellRuinsOfTheMoon''. "We have a special bond, you and I!"
* Not one, but ''three'' characters in ''ProfessorLayton''. We have Granny Riddle, who picks up lost puzzles for you, Pavel the guy who keeps getting lost, and Stachenscarfen. [[spoiler: Out of the three though, the first game revealed everyone as robots, and the second game revealed everyone as a ''hallucination'', so it's debatable about Granny Riddle and Stachenscarfen. Pavel has absolutely no excuse though.]]

* Naturally, this is played for laughs with the shopkeeper in ''PressStart''.

* Merchant Hag Melentia from ''VideoGame/DarkSouls2''. She's first seen in the Forest of Giants and later settles down in hub town Majula, but the changes in her item selection through the game suggests she goes around a lot. She seems to be following the player, in fact.

* The Merchant in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. In a logical extension of the idea, it's possible to kill him, whereupon he no longer pops up in the location in which he was killed. He will, however, still appear in other locations.
** They're actually InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals, as they're actually different people. Some of them are actually infected with Las Plagas, and in different stages of the infection too, if you look at their eyes.
** How identical they actually are is debatable, since we never get to see their actual faces, they DO sound exactly the same.
* The infamous portrait photographer in ''Videogame/{{Earthbound}}'' literally falls out of the sky to snap a picture of your party. Say fuzzy pickles!
** ''Mother 3'' has the Item Guy, who appears in locations that are so obviously inaccessible ([[spoiler: including the final area, which is thousands of feet underground with the only way to get to it being a one-way elevator controlled by the BigBad]]) it could practically be considered a LampshadeHanging in its own right, even though it's played more or less straight.
* The Wonder Chef in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' disguised himself as a random object in every town (even though they were in two different worlds almost no one knows about or can travel to). He even had a dark counterpart.

* Taken to extremes in ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireDragonQuarter''. As you unseal ancient portals, traverse dusty pathways, and uncover secrets burried for aeons in search of the legendary 'Surface World', the same set of young merchants have gotten there before you, ready to sell you the items you need. Particularly grinding towards the end, as you open a huge, ancient, rusty vault-door, which clearly hasn't moved for centuries, and still find them waiting on the other side...
* Ooccoo from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' is a slightly more disturbing example, as she is a being that has the bald head of a human, but the size and body of a chicken. She is a rather interesting variation, as she can be used ''as an item'' in the various dungeons. Specifically, she can teleport you to the dungeon entrance if you need to get something from a shop, etc. Her usefulness and the fact that she's a genuinely nice lady more than make up for her odd appearance. She also is a part of the main plot, as the reason she shows up in every dungeon is [[spoiler:that she's trying to find a way to her home, which happens to be the location of the final piece of the Mirror of Twilight. Did I mention that it also happens to be a city in the sky?]]
** There's also a photographer in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening DX'' who shows up throughout the game.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', a map-maker named Tingle is hovering on his balloon in the air in every area in the VideoGame/{{Overworld}}. If you pop it, he'll drop down and sell you a map of the area (cheaply) and one of another area (expensively.) Just how he's never seen to move but always manages to be where you show up is a mystery.
** Old Man [=HoHo=] and Beedle from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''
* Similarly, an unnamed Travelling Salesman always shows up at each new city you need to go to in ''ValkyrieProfile 2'', including destroyed castles only accessible through deadly caverns full of monsters... even going so far as to show up in Asgard ahead of you. Though, admittedly, this turns out to be the dead spirit of the merchant's ancestor, he still carries the exact same inventory as the living version.

* The weird stalker who appears at the front of every Gym in the ''{{Pokemon}}'' series to give you advice, later, Scott in Emerald as well.
** In the anime, a character known only as "Magikarp Salesman" who pops up every now and again.
** Subverted with Officer Jennies and Nurse Joys. With the same personality, looks, and accent (with some exceptions) on each runaround, we soon realize that they are all a '''family''' of women who look strikingly similar.
** Prof. Oak's aide, in the early games at least. They ''could'' all be different people who simply dress the same but, come on, how many aides does one guy need? And why station them all over the country like that?
** Cameron in ''Pokémon [=HeartGold=] and [=SoulSilver=]'' would pop up at nearly any location in Kanto and Johto (determined by the day of the week) so he can take a picture of you. He will freely invade private properties and hang out in hard-to-reach areas. He even introduces himself as appearing when one least expects him.
* In ''RogueGalaxy'', the party often encounters a woman and her young daughter ([[spoiler:actually the wife and daughter of party member Simon]]) in such unlikely places as a sealed temple and a desert in the middle of a sandstorm. Neither of the two are armed or armored, and are usually encountered in a place crawling with enemies capable of easily killing your (heavily armed) party members.
** ''RogueGalaxy'' also contains a diminutive archaeologist named Burton who also shows up in all manner of bizarre places, and is also a total non-combatant. Unlike the previous example, though, this does come back to bite him in the ass: at one point, [[spoiler:his ''ghost'' shows up and informs the party that he got himself killed (and he's remarkably chipper about this, as it now means he can explore the galaxy without being constrained by mortal flesh)]]. Then, after [[spoiler:getting resurrected and going on his merry way again, another cutscene ends with the strong implication that he's crushed by a murderous robot]]. ([[spoiler:He [[DisneyDeath gets better]] that time, too.]])
* The merchant from ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' and his shop pops up nearly everywhere - on the desert, inside a prison, inside sultan's palace and even inside a ''genie's lamp''. However, considering that he's apparently a wizard, this might be somewhat justified.
** Considering that the original scrapped ending to the first movie was meant to reveal that the merchant WAS actually the Genie, his ability to appear anywhere Aladdin does makes perfect sense.
* Murray the Talking Skull from ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'' shows up in every chapter of the game save for the third and last chapters. One ''could'' theorize that he's simply following Guybrush around in hopes of getting his arm back, except he has no legs.
* In Videogame/SuperMarioRPG, you follow around a shmuck who's looking for the mythical Grate Guy Casino, while Toad follows ''you'' around.
* In ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', a trio of castle maids can be found in a couple of locations during the adventure.
** Similarly, the Traveling Sisters 3 from ''Videogame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' can be found in many major locations. To a slightly greater extent, Dupree often pops up in one or two more of the major locations (although you have to go back toward the entrance to the Boggly Woods before the end of Chapter 2 to see him there).
* ''NeverwinterNights: Hordes of the Underdark'' avoids the improbable traveling merchant version. Rather than placing merchants in improbable locations in the Underdark and Outer Planes, the game gives you a shopkeeping genie in a bottle that you can summon at will.
** ''NeverwinterNights2'' gave us Guyven of the Road, whom you can eventually convince to come and stay in your keep after meeting him three times in the wilderness.
* Big Joe is all over the place in ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}''.
* Shannon from ''VideoGame/{{Quest 64}}''. [[spoiler: It's no coincidence - she's ''following'' you.]]
* The G-man in ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' starts out this way, but eventually becomes part of the story.
* The old man from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyMysticQuest'', but this justified as [[spoiler: he is a thing, the Light Crystral.]]

*** [[FridgeLogic And on top of a]] [[GangPlankGalleon Crow's nest]].
* ''ShiningForce'' contains a character named Boken who is apparently on a personal quest, which happens to take him to many of the same locations as you. He even has his own character sprite; oddly, though, he's never recruitable as a Force member, not even in the GBA remake.
* This is the case for all named, recruitable [=NPC=]s you meet in taverns in ''[[VideoGame/MountAndBlade Mount & Blade]]'', in addition to a handful of [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking human traffickers, slave traders, and booksellers]]. There are too many of these [=NPC=]s to keep up with, and so one of the dialogue options is, "What's your story again?"
* Raddle the Traveler and his sometime companion Rumina appear in the first three ''StarOcean'' games, always hopelessly lost, and in fact giving them correct directions will get you prizes of some sort.
* There's a traveler in ''VideoGame/SailorMoonAnotherStory'' that keeps turning up in random places--first outside of Usagi's house, then he somehow pops up in the place inside of the Silver Crystal, then he pops up in the Black Moon Kingdom's UFO, then he pops up again in Crystal Tokyo. He's apparently very very lost.
* There are several of these in ''{{Okami}}''. There's Waka, who follows you through the entire game [[spoiler: including your fight with the Big Bad]], and is the most reasonable, because he has magic powers. In the last chapter, you have Oki, who manages to follow you [[spoiler:through a magic gateway to 100 years into the past]]. And in the first chapter, you have Susano, the [[FakeUltimateHero inept, stupid, useless fool]] who, despite being completely incompetent, manages to get past the puzzles it takes you hours to solve in a few minutes. How the hell ''did'' he get into [[spoiler:the Moon Cave]], anyway? [[spoiler:[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Not that we're complaining, mind]].]]
* Little Timmy shows up several times in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII''. At one point he's even selling powerful magic items, ''after he's been killed''.
* in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' there is Hemet Nesingwary, a travelling [[GreatWhiteHunter big game hunter]] who is found all over Azeroth (and beyond) with his buddies, killing things.
* Elminster shows up many times throughout the BaldursGate series, though its not at all surprising given who he is.
** There's also an unexplained farmer called Lahl in the first game who keeps showing up (with the same dialogue) in different places from Nashkel to Beregost. He's even been spotted in two different copies in the same area, so apparently the game chooses to spawn him near you for some reason.

* ''VideoGame/WildArms3'' has both a traveling Merchant and a young girl that is part of a lengthy sidequest.
* Wentos the Travelling Salesman from ''SonicUnleashed''. Every once and a while you'll see him in a town (the places he visits are random) where he will sell you goods at randomly-generated prices. Sometimes you can buy a product from him at [[GameBreaker less than the selling price]]. So basically, you can buy something from him and then [[GoodBadBugs sell it back immediately for a profit]].
* Not one, but ''three'' characters in ''ProfessorLayton''. We have Granny Riddle, who picks up lost puzzles for you, Pavel the guy who keeps getting lost, and Stachenscarfen. [[spoiler: Out of the three though, the first game revealed everyone as robots, and the second game revealed everyone as a ''hallucination'', so it's debatable about Granny Riddle and Stachenscarfen. Pavel has absolutely no excuse though.]]
** In the third game, [[spoiler: Pavel's appearance is even a mark of {{Foreshadowing}} that you're not actually in the future.]]
* Dr. Edward in ''VideoGame/PokemonRanger: Guardian Signs'' is encountered several times throughout the game as he makes his rounds. [[spoiler:[[ChekhovsGunman He's actually]] TheManBehindTheMan.]]
* Martel from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon''.
* The merchant from ''FragileDreamsFarewellRuinsOfTheMoon''. "We have a special bond, you and I!"
* Merchant Hag Melentia from ''VideoGame/DarkSouls2''. She's first seen in the Forest of Giants and later settles down in hub town Majula, but the changes in her item selection through the game suggests she goes around a lot. She seems to be following the player, in fact.

** Chocolina in ''VideoGame/{{Final Fantasy XIII-2}}''. Which is especially odd, since the game has you hopping around time and space. Sazh's DLC episode confirms that Chocolina is [[spoiler: Dajh's chocobo chick, given a human form by Etro to help those in need, whatever era they may be in.]]

* In SuperMarioRPG, you follow around a shmuck who's looking for the mythical Grate Guy Casino, while Toad follows ''you'' around.

** Similarly, the Traveling Sisters 3 from ''PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' can be found in many major locations. To a slightly greater extent, Dupree often pops up in one or two more of the major locations (although you have to go back toward the entrance to the Boggly Woods before the end of Chapter 2 to see him there).

* The infamous portrait photographer in ''{{Earthbound}}'' literally falls out of the sky to snap a picture of your party. Say fuzzy pickles!

* Little Timmy shows up several times in ''{{Warcraft}} 3''. At one point he's even selling powerful magic items, ''after he's been killed''.
* in WorldOfWarcraft there is Hemet Nesingwary, a travelling [[GreatWhiteHunter big game hunter]] who is found all over Azeroth (and beyond) with his buddies, killing things.

* There's a traveler in ''SailorMoonAnotherStory'' that keeps turning up in random places--first outside of Usagi's house, then he somehow pops up in the place inside of the Silver Crystal, then he pops up in the Black Moon Kingdom's UFO, then he pops up again in Crystal Tokyo. He's apparently very very lost.

*** [[FridgeLogic And on top of a]] [[GangPlankGalleon Crow's nest]]. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer How does he tunnel there?!]]

** In ''{{Makai Toshi SaGa}}'', also known as ''The Final Fantasy Legend'', a dapper gentleman in a black suit and hat pops up throughout the game to give your party tidbits of advice as they climb the World Tower. At the end of the game it turns out he's The Creator, who set up the entire plot as a game.

* The mole {{Mentor}} Bottles in ''{{Banjo-Kazooie}}'' shows up everywhere--though to be fair, he can tunnel just about anywhere. In ''Banjo-Tooie'', [[DrillSergeantNasty Jamjars]] will even let you use his tunnels to [[WarpWhistle get around the island]].

*** [[FridgeLogic And on top of a]] [[GangPlankGalleon Crow's nest]] [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer . How does he tunnel there?!]]

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', a map-maker named Tingle is hovering on his balloon in the air in every area in the {{Overworld}}. If you pop it, he'll drop down and sell you a map of the area (cheaply) and one of another area (expensively.) Just how he's never seen to move but always manages to be where you show up is a mystery.

* This seems to happen a lot in ''FinalFantasy'' games:

** Stiltzkin the travelling Moogle in ''FinalFantasyIX''. He even turns up in the alternate dimension Terra!

* Murray the Talking Skull from ''The Curse of MonkeyIsland'' shows up in every chapter of the game save for the third and last chapters. One ''could'' theorize that he's simply following Guybrush around in hopes of getting his arm back, except he has no legs.

* The G-man in ''HalfLife'' starts out this way, but eventually becomes part of the story.

** How identical they actually are is debatable, since we never get to see their actual faces, they DO sound exactly the same tough.

* Martel from ''LegendOfDragoon''.

!!Non-Video Games Examples

** Old Man [=HoHo=] from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''

*** The ''DissidiaFinalFantasy'' games finally confirmed that Gilgamesh is, in fact, the same man in every game - ever since falling into the Void in FFV, he's traveled from universe to universe, collecting (what he believes to be) rare and powerful swords, always hoping for another chance to battle Bartz.
** Chocolina in ''{{Final Fantasy XIII-2}}''. Which is especially odd, since the game has you hopping around time and space. Sazh's DLC episode confirms that Chocolina is [[spoiler: Dajh's chocobo chick, given a human form by Etro to help those in need, whatever era they may be in.]]
** In ''SaGa1'', also known as ''FinalFantasyLegend'', a daper gentleman in a black suit and hat pops up throughout the game to give your party tidbits of advice as they climb the World Tower. At the end of the game it turns out he's The Creator, who set up the entire plot as a game.

* The Creator/CirqueDuSoleil WidgetSeries ''Solstrom'' had a well-dressed matron appear somewhere in each of the first 12 episodes, even though each story took place in a different city (and several different countries in all). At the ''very'' end of the 13th and final episode, [[spoiler:she's revealed as the mother of Fogus Punch, the astronomer tracking the events of each story]]; while the end credits of each episode actually refer to her as ([[spoiler: Madame Punch]]), a viewer would have to be paying careful attention to the fast-moving credit scroll to notice that and begin to put two and two together.

** ''Mother 3'' has the Item Guy, who appears in locations that are so obviously inaccessible ([[spoiler: including the final area, which is thousands of feet underground with the only way to get to it being a one-way elevator controlled by the BigBad]])it could practically be considered a LampshadeHanging in its own right, even though it's played more or less straight.

[[folder: Other ]]

* The CirqueDuSoleil limited series ''Solstrom'' had a well-dressed matron appear somewhere in each of the first 12 episodes, even though each story took place in a different city (and several different countries in all). At the end of the 13th and final episode, [[spoiler:it is revealed she is the mother of the astronomer who was tracking the sun creatures all along and narrating what he saw]].

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A character who keeps turning up in a video game.

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