History Main / SecondaryCharacterTitle

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' is after TheHero's OneTrueLove [[EleventhHourRanger who isn't even properly introduced to him until the last five minutes of the series finale]].

* Tenchinis the main character of ''Anime/TenchiMuyoRyoOhki'' but Ryo-Ohki is fairly low down in his harem compared to a lot of the other characters.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' zigzags this. Hank and Dean Venture are distinctly not the main characters of the series, but how prominent they are ranges from season to season. In the first three seasons, Rusty Venture, Brock Samson, and the Monarch all tend to have stronger claims to protagonist status and have much more involved arcs, with the boys generally coming across as TheDividual, [[TheLoad rarely affecting the plot]], and being around more for comedy than drama. Even an in-universe summary declared that Rusty was the real main character. In Season 4, however, they get significantly more CharacterFocus and go through DivergentCharacterEvolution, developing significant story arcs of their own while some prior characters flit in and OutOfFocus (particularly Brock) once their arcs were finished. By Season 7 or so, the large ensemble cast means that the show doesn't particularly have a single protagonist, but Hank and Dean are definitely good candidates.

* Roger Rabbit is not actually the main character of ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''. He's just the one who solicits the services of the story's actual protagonist, human [[PrivateDetective detective]] Eddie Valiant. Roger steals every scene he's in and is pivotal to the case, though.

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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Manga/DoctorSlump'' was originally supposed to be the story of the wacky inventor Senbei Norimaki (AKA. The eponymous Dr. Slump), however, RobotGirl Arale ended up taking center stage, to the point that the AnimatedAdaptation was actually called "''Dr. Slump: Arale-chan''".

* ''Manga/Reborn2004'' has Reborn, the hitman who is the tutor to the main character Tsunayoshi Sawada. Reborn does nothing except making Tsuna stronger and stronger, so the latter can beat the crap out of the enemies.

[[folder:Asian Animation]]
* ''Animation/GuardianFairyMichel'' largely focuses on Kim White, an AcePilot who meets the titular Michel and ends up traveling with him when her old enemies kidnap the rest of the fairies. Although Michel can do a FusionDance to merge with any rescued fairies and gain their powers, it's Kim who does the final blow to most monsters they fight.
* In ''Animation/WaltzWithBashir'', President Bashir is referred to but doesn't actually appear in the movie except on posters.
[[/folder]]

* Most comic book series starring Creator/DCComics' ComicBook/CaptainMarvel are named ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'', after Captain Marvel's wizard mentor, or, more specifically, the [[IAmNotShazam often conflated word Billy Batson says to transform]]. This is actually due to an agreement with Creator/MarvelComics over the use of the name "Captain Marvel"--it can't be used in the title of a DC book. At least it ''was'' the case, since in 2011 Captain Marvel was officially renamed Shazam.

* ''ComicBook/{{Gear}}''. The title character doesn't show up until the second-to-last issue. The word "gear" isn't even mentioned by name until then. The main characters are actually Waffle, Gordon, and Mr. Black.

* In ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' story "[[Recap/TintinKingOttokarsSceptre King Ottokar's Sceptre]]" is a tertiary character title where one might expect a secondary: the king in the story is named Muskar. (The eponymous sceptre was named for his ancestor Ottokar).
* ''ComicBook/{{Sha}}'': The main character is a witch named Lara; Sha is the protector deity of witches who makes Lara remember her past life.
* ''ComicBook/ElfesEtNains'': ''Derdhr of the Talion'' is actually a direct sequel to ''Ordo of the Talion'' focusing more on the latter than on the title character.
* ''ComicBook/BarbeRouge'': The actual protagonist of the series is Eric, Barbe-Rouge's adopted son. Barbe-Rouge himself is absent from half the stories.

* In a similar vein, ''ComicStrip/FunkyWinkerbean'' really did once star the title character, but as time went on, he was DemotedToExtra.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Blondie}}'' is the wife of the main character, Dagwood, though (similarly to the above example) she was the lead during the strip's start.
* Another old strip where this happened was ''Barney Google'', which after some years focused on Barney's hillbilly cousin. Eventually, the series was renamed after the latter, ''ComicStrip/SnuffySmith''.
* In some countries, ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' is known as 'Snoopy', because 'Peanuts' sounds silly when translated and Snoopy is probably the most marketable character for merchandising, even though Charlie Brown is clearly the protagonist.

* ''Literature/ThePrincessOnTheGlassHill'' is the LoveInterest.

* ''Literature/TheFeatherOfFinistTheFalcon'': Finist is the LoveInterest.
* "Literature/TheThreeAunts" help the heroine.
* "Literature/TheTwelveDancingPrincesses" are dancing the night away, and the hero has to try to find out why.
* In "Literature/{{Morozko}}", the titular Winter spirit takes pity on and helps the heroine when she is abandoned in the woods.
* "Literature/MotherHolle" hires the protagonist as a housemaid when she wanders into her realm.

* ''Fanfic/{{Jessica}}'' is named after Cameron's Pikachu from Pokémon Yellow, who reappears inexplicably in a different game years later.

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

* ''Animation/WaltzWithBashir'': President Bashir is referred to but doesn't actually appear in the movie.[[note]] except as a poster[[/note]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'' is the {{Deuteragonist}}.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'': The protagonist is Miguel, Coco is his great-grandma.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAssaultOnArkham'' focuses on the ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' more than ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheProphet'': "The Prophet" refers to Mustafa, and while he's the primary focus, the protagonist is Almitra.

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* Roger Rabbit is not actually the main character of ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit''. He's just the one who solicits the services of the story's actual protagonist, human [[PrivateDetective detective]] Eddie Valiant. Roger steals every scene he's in and is pivotal to the case, though.

* The titular ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein'' doesn't appear until the last four minutes of the movie.
* ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow''. Extra points for sounding like a WordSaladTitle, rather than anything to do with the characters at all, to people who aren't very familiar with the plot.
* The title character from 1991 film ''Film/{{Oscar}}'' doesn't actually show up until the last minute or two of the movie. While some of the earlier events of the film do revolve around him in some way, the real point of the title is as a nod to Creator/OscarWilde; both the film and the play on which it's based pay homage to his style of humour.
* The protagonist of ''Literature/TheBoyInTheStripedPajamas'' is the young son of a Nazi officer who becomes acquainted with the boy of the title, who's a prisoner in a concentration camp. Some people were annoyed about this.

* ''Film/{{Tron}}'' and ''Film/TronLegacy'' are about Kevin Flynn and his son. Tron is a minor character in both of them.
* There no panthers, pink or otherwise in ''Film/ThePinkPanther'', or any of its sequels, outside of the animated opening credits, which are not part of the plot. The title especially does not refer to Inspector Cluseau, the moronic detective central to (most) of the films' plot. The title refers to a giant pink diamond with a panther-shaped flaw, and even the diamond only appears in two films: ''The Pink Panther'' and ''Film/TheReturnOfThePinkPanther''.
** The second film in the series, ''Film/AShotInTheDark'', shows that the Panther was not intended to be the series' title, but the third film features the return of the diamond, and thus uses the Panther in its title. After that, it was inescapably known as the "Pink Panther series", and thus, each subsequent film used the name in their titles, even though the diamond never appeared again.
** While most of the titles are just nonsensical and could refer to anything (''The Pink Panther Strikes Again'' could even refer to Dreyfuss, the film's villain), the final title, ''Son of the Pink Panther'' seems to overtly suggest that Cluseau is indeed who the name "Pink Panther" refers to.
* In all three ''Film/ReAnimator'' movies, the main character is Herbert West's protege, not Dr. West himself.
* The live-action ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' movies. The fact that the Transformers are secondary characters in the movies named after them is a frequent subject of mockery, due to the fact that they were the main characters in other incarnations of the franchise.
* ''Film/GoldenSwallow'': The titular heroine in this sequel to ''Film/ComeDrinkWithMe'' has been greatly DemotedToExtra, playing second fiddle to the new hero Silver Roc.
* The title character of ''Film/JohnnyGuitar'' played by Creator/SterlingHayden is the {{Deuteragonist}}, and in narrative terms the third most important character after TheHero Vienna and the BigBad Emma Small.
* ''Film/TheLastSamurai'' does not, [[CommonKnowledge as many people seemed to think]], refer to the main character Nathan Algren, but to the rebelling group of samurai led by Katsumoto. This is not helped by the fact that "samurai" can be either singular or plural in Japanese.
* John Tucker is not the main character in ''Film/JohnTuckerMustDie''. Kate is.

* The protagonist of ''Film/RachelGettingMarried'' is Rachel's younger sister Kym.
* ''Film/MyWeekWithMarilyn'' is told from Colin Clark's perspective.

* ''Film/{{Paul}}'' is a CGI alien. The protagonist is the Graeme/Clive duo.
* The Focker children in ''[[Film/MeetTheParents Little Fockers]]'' have neither many lines nor much screentime.

* The titular character of ''Film/{{Rebecca}}'' was [[PosthumousCharacter already dead before the movie even began]]; however, the disproportionate influence her memory still has over the other characters is central to the story.
* ''Film/TheBourneLegacy''. Jason Bourne is only be mentioned off-screen as the movie leaves the main character's seat to (who else?) his legacy.
* Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme's character is not the eponymous ''Film/{{Cyborg 1989}}'', it's the woman who was taken captive by the bad guys.
* ''Film/TheThinMan'': The man of the title is the victim, not one of the protagonists or the villain. This didn't prevent the sequels from using him as an ArtifactTitle, even though his deceased character has nothing to do with their plots.
* ''Theatre/{{Harvey}}'' does not even conclusively establish Harvey's actual existence until well into the film, though he does drive a lot of the plot.

* ''Film/ForgettingSarahMarshall'': The titular character is the ex-girlfriend of the protagonist, who spends about a quarter of the film trying to get over.
* In ''Film/TheFactsInTheCaseOfMisterHollow'' Johnny Hollow is unseen, as the photographer who took the photo that's the subject of the film. His only "appearance" is via the text of a letter, warning the recipient, an OccultDetective viewpoint character, to "look closely."
* ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'': Although not the case in [[Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory the original book]] (which had a different ProtagonistTitle), in the 1971 film, the titular Wonka, though an important character, is still just the owner of the titular factory to which the main protagonist Charlie wins a trip.
* Ironically, the book's second adaptation ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' is also an example because it kept the book's original title but changed the focus so that Wonka now ''is'' the main character.
* In ''Film/MonOncleAntoine'', Antoine is a significant character, but the protagonist is his nephew Benoit and the story is told from Benoit's perspective.
* The protagonist of ''Film/TheStrongMan'' is Paul, Zandow the strong man's bumbling assistant, who has a series of misadventures while trying to find his pen pal girlfriend. Zandow is only in four scenes.
* ''Film/KenPark'' kills himself at the start of the movie. The rest of the movie is about his classmates.

* ''Film/RubySparks'' is the girlfriend of the main character Calvin [[PygmalionPlot who made her from his imagination]].
* ''Film/FiveHundredDaysOfSummer'' follows Tom, the main character, as he tries to get over the fact that he and the titular character is/was never meant to be.
* In ''Film/{{Fido}}'', the titular character is the zombie butler of the main character and his family.
* ''Film/ThePrincessBride'': Buttercup, the titular bride, is the LoveInterest of both TheHero Westley and the BigBad Prince Humperdinck.
* In ''Film/{{Mud}}'', the titular character is only the {{Deuteragonist}} who is hiding from mercenaries/bounty hunters and is found and befriended by the KidHero protagonist and his [[TheLancer Lancer]].
* ''Film/TheKidsAreAllRight'': The Kids refers to Joni and Laser, but the story focuses on their [[HasTwoMommies mothers]] and their GlorifiedSpermDonor.
* ''Film/{{Junebug}}'' is the name the SupportingProtagonist's pregnant sister-in-law wants for her child once she gives birth. [[spoiler:[[ArtifactTitle She suffers]] [[TearJerker a miscarriage]].]]

* In ''Film/{{Roberta}}'', Stephanie is the main character. Her boyfriend's Aunt Minnie is the original Roberta, but she dies not long into the movie.
* ''Film/DrStrangelove'' is only in two scenes. [[OneSceneWonder Doesn't mean he didn't make a hell of an impact.]]
* ''Film/{{Trancers}}'': The protagonist is Jack Deth. The Trancers are the {{Big Bad}}'s mind slaves.
* ''Film/ChildrenOfTheNight'' refers to [[spoiler:the kids the villain used to feed while he was imprisoned.]]
* While several Film/JamesBond movies have a title [[AntagonistTitle in connection to the main villain]], ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'' has the distinction of being the only one named after the BondGirl.
* ''Film/WakingNedDevine'' is a pretty interesting example, considering the only time Ned actually appears on screen, it's [[spoiler:his dead body, having died from shock after learning that he won the lottery. The rest of the movie is about two old men pretending he's still alive to collect this winnings.]]
* In ''Film/ClairesKnee'', Claire doesn't show up until about halfway through and she's the least developed of all the major characters.
* To the extent that there is a main character in ''Film/TheBakersWife'', it's the baker himself. His wife kicks off the plot by running off with another man, and the film doesn't focus much on her afterwards.
* ''Film/{{Tumbleweed}}'' is named after the horse Jim Logan is loaned when he sets off on his ClearMyName mission. It avoids being a TrivialTitle because Tumbleweed's talents prove vital in allowing Jim to survive and succeed.
* ''Film/{{Heathers}}'': The three "Heathers" (Heather Chandler, Heather Duke, and Heather [=McNamara=]) who lend the film its title are actually supporting characters, as Veronica is the protagonist and J.D. is the antagonist.
* ''Film/ThePeopleUnderTheStairs'': The titular people are the Robesons' previous victims, trapped under the stairs after being mutilated.
* Gord's brother Freddy doesn't appear much in ''Film/FreddyGotFingered'' and Gord's pretense that their father molested him is only a minor plot point.
* ''Film/TheGeneralsDaughter'': Captain Elizabeth Campbell is the impetus for the plot, but since it revolves around [[PlotTriggeringDeath the investigation of her murder]], she's neither one of the leads (Brenner, Sunhill), nor one of the bad guys ([[spoiler:Kent, General Campbell]]).
* ''Film/TheLastJedi'': The title refers to Luke, but the film very much belongs to his nephew [[VillainProtagonist Kylo Ren]].

* ''Film/BirdsOfPrey'' was more of a ComicBook/HarleyQuinn movie with the rest of the Birds being minor characters.
* In a subtitle case, ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', as it might be an AntagonistTitle, but it's not of the main villain. (then again, [[Comicbook/{{HYDRA}} the main villains]] - who are employing the Winter Soldier's services - are a big twist with franchise-wide impact, so focusing on the secondary antagonist makes for a lesser SpoilerTitle)

* ''Literature/MobyDick'' is really about Ishmael and Captain Ahab; the eponymous Moby Dick is an enormous sperm whale that serves as Ahab's AnimalNemesis.
* ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' is about D'Artagnan, the fourth musketeer.

* ''Literature/TheGiver'' is about the boy who's been selected to replace the Giver.
* ''Literature/TheIndianInTheCupboard'' is about the kid whose cupboard the Indian is in.
* ''Literature/FlowersForAlgernon'' refers to the protagonist's fellow test subject--a white rat. Perhaps to avert the trope, the film adaptation was renamed ''Charly''.

* ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda'': The protagonist is the man attempting to rescue the prisoner, who barely features.
* ''Literature/TheScarletPimpernel'': The protagonist is the eponymous hero's wife Marguerite.
* ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' pulls a trifecta by being titled after a secondary character (Aslan), the villain (Jadis the White Witch), ''and'' a gateway to another dimension.
* The protagonist of ''Literature/{{Rebecca}}'' is the second Mrs. de Winter (whose first name is never given). Rebecca herself is a PosthumousCharacter.
* The protagonist (and narrator) of ''Literature/LornaDoone'' is her love interest John Ridd.
* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': The Lord of the Rings is the villain. The volume ''Return of the King'' refers to the SupportingLeader Aragorn.
* The protagonist of ''Literature/{{Aimee}}'' is not Aimee but her best friend who is accused of killing her. In fact, the protagonist isn't named until the end of the book. [[spoiler:Her name is Zoe.]]

* In ''Literature/SavingZoe'', Zoë is the main character Echo's late sister, who was murdered. The book revolves around Echo finding Zoë's diary and reading it.
* ''Literature/TheThinMan'' is not detective Nick Charles, but Clyde Wynant, the man he is looking for. The confusion was not helped by the fact that [[Film/TheThinMan the movie version]] spawned a series of sequels, all of which included "the Thin Man" in their title.
* The unfinished epic ''Titurel'' by medieval poet Wolfram von Eschenbach was named by scholars after the first name mentioned in the surviving text. Titurel does not actually appear in the story, he is merely one of the protagonist's ancestors.
* Constance Greene's young adult novels in the "Alexandra" series (such as ''Al(exandra) the Great'') are all named after the narrator's best friend. The narrating character is never even given a name.

* The ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'' books are mostly told from the point of view of his protegee, Valkyrie Cain.
* The young adult novel ''Amandine'' by Adele Griffon is named after the protagonist's eccentric (and later somewhat antagonistic) friend.

* Hawthorne Abendsen, ''Literature/TheManInTheHighCastle'', is a minor character.
* ''Literature/GivesLight'' is the surname of the main character's best friend [[StraightGay and love interest]], a Plains Shoshone boy. It's also the surname of his father, a serial killer who murdered the main character's mother years ago.
* The bride in ''Literature/BrideOfTheRatGod'' refers to the actress Christine, but her cousin Norah is the central character.
* ''Literature/TheButterflyKid'' is named for a very minor secondary character--albeit one who gets the plot rolling. Its sequel, ''Literature/TheUnicornGirl'', is also named for a secondary character, though a much more important one: the hero's potential love interest.

* ''Literature/TheRedVixenAdventures'': The series as a whole and half the individual titles refer to the Red Vixen, a character with very little actual screen time [[spoiler:(and most of that is spent as her SecretIdentity, Lady Melanie)]] and the story is never told from her perspective.
* In ''Literature/DearMrHenshaw'', Boyd Henshaw is more of a plot device than an actual character; the real protagonist is sixth-grader Leigh Botts.

* ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}''. The focus is not on the scientist Victor Frankenstein but on his creation "Frankenstein's Monster". Of course, [[IAmNotShazam many people think "Frankenstein"]] ''[[IAmNotShazam is]]'' [[IAmNotShazam the name of the monster.]]
* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' are about a young man named Taran and the adventures he experiences on the path to adulthood in the country of Prydain. The final book in the series, ''The High King'', refers to the ruler of the country. [[spoiler:This is ultimately a subversion of the trope, however, because Taran himself is named High King of Prydain at the very end of the story.]]
* ''Literature/TheCrippledGod'', the last book in the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' series, is named after an important but rarely seen character. For most of the series it actually looks like it's going to be a case of AntagonistTitle as the Crippled God is the instigator and ManBehindTheMan of most of the conflicts within the series, but then turns out to be a little fish in the pond of the BigBadEnsemble and himself in need of rescue.
* The first of the Tiffany Aching books in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' is called ''Literature/TheWeeFreeMen'', after the Nac Mac Feegles, a group of rebellious "pictsies" ([[InsistentTerminology NOT "pixies"]]) who assist Tiffany, but she's the main protagonist. [[SpotlightStealingSquad The Feegles ARE quite memorable, however.]]
* Creator/DrSeuss:
** ''Literature/TheCatInTheHat'' is the tritagonist: the protagonist and deuteragonist are the boy and girl he visits. (Though in fairness, the cat does do more of the talking than they do.)
** ''Literature/TheLorax'': The focus in on the Once-ler, not on the Lorax.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
** "Literature/FeminineIntuition": The 1970 German translation, "Jane 5", prompts the prototype robot to titular importance, despite not ever speaking on-screen.
** "Literature/GalleySlave": The title refers to [[RobotNames robot EZ-27]], constructed to do proofreading, grading, and the other miscellany mental drudgery that occurs in universities.
** "{{Literature/Lenny}}": Lenny, the InSeriesNickname for LNE models, was built for mining boron from asteroids. However, due to an accident during the initial planning, it doesn't work correctly.
** "{{Literature/Sally}}": Sally is Jake's favorite [[AutomatedAutomobiles self-driving car]], but he's the viewpoint protagonist and the one who changes over the course of the story.
** "Literature/TheUglyLittleBoy": Both versions of the title refer to Timmie, whose role in the story is to be cared for by Edith Fellowes. The story follows her perspective and actions, her role within Stasis Incorporated as Timmie's caretaker. Usually, we only discover what Timmie is feeling based on what she's telling the other characters.

* ''Series/TinMan'': The protagonist is DG, not the Tin Man, Cain.
* This is parodied in ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'' with a sketch about TheFilmOfTheBook of the abovementioned ''Film/{{Rebecca}}'', where [[ExecutiveMeddling the studio insists]] that if the film is going to be called ''Rebecca'', it has to be ''about'' Rebecca. As a result, she spends the whole movie listening to people talk about what it'll be like when she's dead and her husband's second wife moves in.

* "There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" by Music/KirstyMaccoll. The protagonist is the narrator's probably unfaithful lover; the guy down the chip shop ("he's a liar") is just someone the real protagonist gets compared to.
* It wasn't uncommon at all for rock bands in TheSixties to be named after the founding member, even if, instead of being the lead singer, they were the guitarist (Spencer Davis Group, Jeff Beck Group), the keyboardist (Music/ManfredMann, Music/PaulRevereAndTheRaiders) or the drummer (The Dave Clark Five).
** Continuing into TheSeventies, we have Music/VanHalen (Eddie and Alex Van Halen were the guitarist and drummer, respectively) and Music/TheJGeilsBand (J. Geils was the guitarist).

[[folder:Theater]]
* ''Theatre/WaitingForGodot'': The main characters are Vladimir and Estragon, who are [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin waiting for Godot]]. [[TheGhost Godot doesn't even appear in the play.]]

* ''Marvin's Room''. Marvin has absolutely no lines (he's senile and bedridden, you see), and the story is about his two daughters and one of his grandsons.
* Victor Hugo's ''Lucrezia Borgia''. Lucrezia is at most a deuteragonist. The main character is Genarro, [[spoiler: her abandonned incest-born son]].
* The title character of ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof'' never speaks, and only appears a few times in the show. Tevye is the main character.
* ''Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville'' also applies. Figaro is a relatively major character, but Almaviva is the protagonist.
* The principal characters of the ballet ''Don Quixote'' are the young lovers, Basilio and Kitri. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are secondary mime parts. Not surprising, as the adaptation is InNameOnly, anyway.
* The opera ''Paul Bunyan'' introduces Paul Bunyan as the hero of its story, but he remains ShroudedInMyth and [[TheVoice never appears onstage]]. The real protagonist is Hel Helson.
* ''Theatre/{{Iolanthe}}'' gives the titular character less to act and sing about than other major characters, despite her importance in the plot. The protagonist is her son, Strephon.
* In ''Theatre/TheMikado'', the title character doesn't make his entrance until well into the second act. The protagonist is his only son, Nanki-Poo.
* The Nibelung in Richard Wagner's ''Theatre/TheRingOfTheNibelung'' is Alberich, but the central character of the tetralogy as a whole is Wotan, even though there is no character who appears in all four parts. Brünnhilde, the titular character of ''Theatre/TheValkyrie'', is also probably an example as the opera is mostly about Wotan and his mortal children Siegmund and Sieglinde (the latter is the only character who appears in all three acts), while Brünnhilde in this opera is primarily defined as Wotan's alter ego--she tries to do what he can't because he is constrained by his obligations to treaties and the law.

* The main character of Mikhail Glinka's ''A Life for the Tzar'', a name suggested by Nikolai I, is in fact Ivan Susanin. The title was changed under Soviet rule to that of its hero.

* A common gripe about the "Wrath of the Lich King" expansion for ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' was that the [[AntagonistTitle titular villain]] got very little screen time and spends pretty much the whole expansion as OrcusOnHisThrone.
** Another common opinion is that he got too much screen time and popped up everywhere, so that when you faced him in the final battle, he had lost much of his effect as a godlike entity who would be impossible to defeat, you had simply gotten too familiar with him letting you run off after killing a boss.

* ''VisualNovel/DateALiveRinneUtopia'' has the eponymous Rinne Sonogami, the final heroine that [[LightNovel/DateALive the subtitle-less franchise]]'s protagonist, Shido Itsuka, can date.
* ''VisualNovel/ILoveYouColonelSanders'': The LoveInterest of the protagonist is Colonel Sanders.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'': A party member, but the lead character is clearly Mimic.
* ''Webcomic/{{Zelfia}}'': The ''character'' Zelfia has appeared exactly three times. The title refers more to the series' ArcWords
* ''Webcomic/UnicornJelly'': The real main character is arguably Chou, who does most of the heavy lifting and gets most of the focus, especially towards the end. The POV character is Lupiko (most of the time). Uni, the title character, is just the supporting TeamPet.

* ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'': The titular Oglaf has shown up maybe a handful of times in the entire comic.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': Ash, first and foremost, is the main character of the series rather than the titular creatures, with Pikachu as his sidekick. In fact, as with the ''Transformers'' example below, the {{Mons}} in general take a backseat to the humans. This is somewhat true of the game series as well, but to a lesser extent due to how much the gameplay itself revolves around the titular {{Mons}}.

* ''LightNovel/VioletEvergarden'' starts out as an example of this. In the first 4 chapters, Violet's clients are the main characters of each short story. Violet didn't become the protagonist until Chapter 5.

* The main character of ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}: Adventures of Superman'' is the Pre-Crisis ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}. Franchise/{{Superman}} himself is the {{Deuteragonist}}.

[[/folder]]

** [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] throughout the series -- later games reveal "Metroid" to be a Chozo word roughly meaning "ultimate warrior", which Samus quite definitely is; meaning that everyone who [[IAmNotShazam mistakenly referred to Samus as Metroid]] are technically correct.

-->-- '''Mike D’Angelo''', "[[https://thedissolve.com/features/performance-review/301-in-1972-the-oscar-went-to-the-right-actor-in-the-w/ In 1972, the Oscar Went to the Right Actor in the Wrong Category]]"

** In ''VideoGame/ZeldaIIAdventureOfLink'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'', Link's name actually is in the title.

** ''Literature/TheCatInTheHat'' is the tritagonist: the protagonist and deuteragonist are the boy and girl he visits.

* In ''Series/CharliesAngels'', the three female detectives' boss Charlie Townsend is [[TheVoice never even properly seen]].

* The ''Literature/LandOfOz'' series does this a ''lot''. In fact, any book in the series that has a character's name in its title is far more likely to have that character as an important secondary character or occasionally TheDeuteragonist -- with a few notable ecxeptions, they're very rarely the primary protagonist.

** ''Ozma of Oz'' also stars Dorothy as the main protagonist; Ozma doesn't show up until a bit into the book, and is pretty much a secondary character.
** ''The Patchwork Girl of Oz'' is the origin story of Scraps the Patchwork Girl, and she is certainly a major and important character in the book (as well as a bit of a BreakoutCharacter and fan favorite), but the main protagonist is actually Ojo the Unlucky, and the book centers around his quest to restore his petrified uncle.
** ''Tik-Tok of Oz'' is mostly an EnsembleCast without a clear protagonist, but Betsy Bobbin, Queen Ann and the Shaggy Man all have notably larger and more important roles than Tik-Tok, who mostly plays a supporting role.
** ''The Scarecrow of Oz'' is really about Trot and Cap'n Bill, and eventually Button-Bright. The Scarecrow doesn't appear until half the book is over, and while he plays a central role when he does appear, it's very blatantly not his story.
** ''Rinkitink in Oz'' does have the titular King Rinkitink in a large role throughout, but the main character is the young Prince Inga.
** ''Glinda of Oz'' is about Dorothy and Ozma far more than Glinda, though Glinda does play an important role in organizing and leading the rescue party to save the two princesses from danger.

* The ''Literature/LandOfOz'' series does this a ''lot''. In fact, any book in the series that has a character's name in its title is far more likely to have that character as an important secondary character or occasionally TheDeuteragonist -- they're very rarely the primary protagonist.

* ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'' was never the protagonist, but he is an important character who helps actual protagonist Dorothy get home (just not in the way Dorothy expected). He becomes a very minor character in later books in the series.

* ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', to the extent that we don't even find out that "Neuromancer" is a character until late in the final act. [[spoiler:It turns out that Wintermute's mission to infiltrate the Villa Straylight has actually been part of its attempt to merge with Neuromancer, its twin {{AI}}, to become capable of growing past the limits of its programming.]] Also a case of SmallRoleBigImpact.

** Averted by ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames Zelda's Adventure]]'', where Zelda really is the protagonist and player character.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', the PlayerCharacter is Prince Zagreus, while the Lord of the Dead himself is Zagreus's father and [[spoiler:the FinalBoss]]. That said, the title may refer to the setting since "Hades" is also a name for the Underworld itself.
* The Knight in ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'' isn't actually the title character; rather the Hollow Knight is an emotionless Vessel meant to be immune to the Infection while the Knight himself is a failed Vessel who wasn't chosen seal the Radiance. However, in one of the endings [[spoiler:the Knight defeats the Hollow Knight and takes his place, effectively becoming the new Hollow Knight]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', the PlayerCharacter is Prince Zagreus, while the Lord of the Dead himself is Zagreus's father and [[spoiler:the FinalBoss]]. That said, the title may refer to the setting since "Hades" is also a name for the Underworld itself.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', the PlayerCharacter is Prince Zagreus, while the Lord of the Dead himself is Zagreus's father and [[spoiler:the FinalBoss]]. However, the title may also refer to the setting since "Hades" is another name for the Underworld itself.