History Main / RedHerringShirt

* Megan from ''Series/MadMen''. For over half the season, she's just a secretary/receptionist at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, albeit one who was more stylish than the others. By the end of the season, she's Don Draper's fiancée.

* This trope is what makes the Imperial Guard campaign of ''[[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Dawn of War II: Retribution]]'' so satisfying. The faction universally considered the weakest and the biggest joke in the entire setting, usually existing only to be [[RedShirtArmy utterly crushed to display how awesome the opposing group is,]] can go on to single-handedly defeat fallen Space Marines, escape a planet undergoing [[EarthShatteringKaboom Exterminatus,]] survive a [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Space Hulk,]] and finally wind up defeating a [[BigBad demon]].

* In the second chapter/movie of ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'', a seemingly random student at Shiki's school makes a cryptic statement to her in the hallway. Kokutou soon mentions he was at a party for a student named Lio Shirazumi, who was dropping out of school. Neither the name nor the person are ever mentioned again. You later realize that the random student was Shirazumi and that he is actually the murderer behind the events of both the second and seventh chapters. Somewhat less of a surprise in the movie, because Shirazumi is voiced by Creator/SoichiroHoshi, so you figure he's going to show up again and be important later.

* Angela from ''Manga/BlackButler'' appears as the [[{{Meido}} maid]] to the BigBad of Episode 7. She's "beautiful" ([[GenericCuteness which is standard fare]]) and a domestic servant -- that was pretty much it. TheStinger, however, is ominous enough and subsequent episodes make it obvious that she's the BigBad of the season.

* This was a somewhat popular technique in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, and was usually PlayedForLaughs. In one of the earliest Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica stories, for example, the heroes take down a nationwide crime syndicate whose leader turns out to be an {{Expy}} of NewspaperComic character Casper Milquetoast who had popped up as a bystander in each prior chapter of the story.

* Happens in ''Film/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure'', when the two robed executioners turn out to be So-crates and Mr. The Kid in disguise, and they rescue Bill and Ted.
* In ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1993'', when D'Artagnan is led to the chopping block, two of the execution personnel turn out to be Porthos and Aramis in disguise, and they're there to rescue him with help from Athos (who takes care of the escape transportation by appropriating the Cardinal's carriage).

* The "two weeks" scene in the original ''Film/TotalRecall1990''. Averted in the [[Film/TotalRecall2012 2012 remake]]. The "two weeks" lady is normal. She repeats the phrase but only because she was thinking of something else when asked, then corrects herself. The guy after her, though...

* In ''Film/FullMetalJacket'', Private Rafterman's insistance to follow Joker when the latter is sent to the field, and Joker's failure to convince Rafterman to not go with him, seem to foreshadow that Rafterman will die before the end of the movie. He's one of the named characters who survive the whole movie.[[note]]He dies in the original novel[[/note]]
* One of the party guests in the wedding at the beginning of ''Film/TheGodfather'' looks an awful lot like Frankie Pentangeli, a major character from ''The Godfather Part II''. It's unconfirmed whether it's the same actor, and if so, this was still probably unplanned.

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': "[[Recap/AndorS1E10OneWayOut One Way Out]]" reveals that the Resistance has a deep cover mole within the Imperial Security Bureau. The mole is a character who has often been seen in the background or in crowd scenes in earlier scenes set at the ISB, but never drawn attention to himself while the story focussed on different ISB characters.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil runs: Mitsuo, a creepy kid who shows up once on your first day of school and appears in the shopping district every now and again, Namatame, a character mentioned in the throwaway news reports near the beginning of the game and sometimes shows up around town, Adachi, Dojima's bumbling PluckyComicRelief of a partner, and Izanami, the gas station attendant who greeted you at the beginning of the game.

* The ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' remakes has Zinnia who had cameo appearances as a Team Magma/Aqua grunt before becoming important in the post-game Delta Episode.
* On rare occasions, an orc captain in ''[[VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor Shadow of Mordor]]'' or ''[[VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar Shadow of War]]'' will show up already scarred and swear vengeance upon Talion, implying that he was one of the many rank-and-file grunts who was thought to be slaughtered by the undead ranger. Of course, [[SubvertedTrope he might just turn out to still be cannon fodder]] if he doesn't put up enough of a fight.
** This can also happen with more minor captains with easily exploitable weaknesses who come BackFromTheDead after you kill them. That random captain who got {{One Hit Kill}}ed by a stealth attack? He's back with a new scar, an immunity to his previous AchillesHeel, and a massive level boost. Of course, just like the above example, [[NegatedMomentOfAwesome it's also possible he still has crippling weaknesses that let you dispose of him just as easily the second time.]]

* Played with in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', where two soldiers [[YouShallNotPass holding off bad guys for the heroes]] turn into supporting characters as soon as we [[NominalImportance learn their names]]. In fact, one of them has been mortally wounded just as he is about to introduce himself, and as he lay dying, he happens to mention his first name, then immediately realizes it was OnlyAFleshWound. He decides to save revealing his last name for an emergency. Also, [[MemeticBadass O-Chul]].

* This trope is almost universally played straight in [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man stories.]] Notable instances include Tim from ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'', who is secretly Masky, Brian from the same series who is secretly the Hooded Man, and also ''totheark'', and much more surprisingly Kevin from ''WebVideo/TribeTwelve'', who turns out to be none other then the Observer.

* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/AeonFlux'' episode "War"; each time one kills a DecoyProtagonist and becomes a DecoyProtagonist him/herself.
* During Book 3 of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Kuvira appeared in the background of many scenes as a common soldier in Zaofu, before she is introduced during the season finale. In Book 4, she is revealed as a [[VillainWithGoodPublicity charismatic tyrant]] who is determined to conquer the whole Earth Kingdom and eventually the world.

* Taken to the extreme in the first chapter of ''Manhwa/ShinAngyoOnshi''. The main character of the series appears only as some henchman of the unknown evil lord of the city. In chapter 2, after it turns out that the supposed hero from chapter 1 was the evil lord all along, the true main character reveals his identity and kicks some ass!

* Happens in ''[[Film/BillAndTed Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure]]'', when the two robed executioners turn out to be So-crates and Mr. The Kid in disguise, and they rescue Bill and Ted.

* Floch Forster in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. His first apperance is at the end of the "Uprising" Arc where he is stated to be former comrades with the main cast during the training years, thus showing how the main cast has grown and developed though the course of the story, and how they are experienced compared to their naive peers. He is later shown as a CannonFodder during the Battle of Shiganshina where he breaks down in TearsOfFear and participates in Erwin's suicide charge against the Beast Titan, only to end up the SoleSurvivor (and one of the very few in the Survey Corps besides Hange, Levi and the 104th), where he drags Erwin's body and argues for him to be titanized and ressurected, and is seen later in the medal ceremony scolding the rest of the cast. Come the TimeSkip and he is the secondary villain, as he forms a RenegadeSplinterFaction (the "Yeagerists") in the military, assassinates General Zackly, organizes a coup d'etat against the military junta and becomes TheDragon for Eren Yeagar.

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': [[Recap/AndorS1E10OneWayOut S1E10 One Way Out]] reveals that the Resistance has a deep cover mole within the Imperial Security Bureau. The mole is a character who has often been seen in the background or in crowd scenes in earlier scenes set at the ISB, but never drawn attention to himself while the story focussed on different ISB characters.