History Main / SecondaryCharacterTitle

* The protagonist and narrator of ''TheGreatGatsby'' is actually Nick Carraway, Jay Gatby's neighbor. Gatsby himself does not get a proper introduction until chapter three.

* LookingForAlaska. Whilst Alaska is a main character, the focus is more on Pudge.

** Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask don't even feature her (besides a flashback in the latter).
** Subverted with Twilight Princess. Not quite obvious in the beginning, but as the plot starts to unravel, this becomes increasingly clear. [[spoiler:The game's main character actually ''is'' the titular Twilight Princess, aka Midna, with Link only serving as TheIshmael to her]].

* ''{{Blonde}}'' is the wife of the main character, Dagwood, though (similarly to the above example) she was the lead during the strip's start.

* ''SchlockMercenary'': The main character is arguably Tagon, or possibly Kevyn for a few arcs. Schlock is disproportionately important for his lower rank, but he still has little influence on the plot or the decision-making of the company.

[[WaitingForGodot http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6a00f48cf30e43000300f48cf302a90002-500pi.gif]]
[[caption-width:310:Man, you should see all the stuff [[TheGhost Godot]] does in this thing.]]

* {{Beetlejuice}} has less screentime in his own movie than any of the other characters. This is not the case in the [[AnimatedSeries animated series]] that followed, though, where he is undoubtedly the star.

* ''Othello'', a.k.a. 'Iago'. Despite ostensibly being the main character Othello has less than half the lines and stage-time of his [[ToxicFriendInfluence 'friend']] and subordinate.

* ''TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'' is actually a very minor character in the book of the same name.

* ''TheWizardOfOz'' is actually a very minor character in the book of the same name.

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* Roger Rabbit is not actually the main character of ''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, so it's justified.
** And he appears in just about all of them.

* ''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.

* ''SchlockMercenary'': The main character is arguably Tagon, or possibly Kevyn. Schlock is disproportionately important for his lower rank, but he still has little influence on the plot or the decision-making of the company.

* In ''ToAruMajutsuNoIndex'' only the first arc revolves around Index and even then she is not the main character - Touma is.
** That's a gross exageration. Index is relevant in several arcs in some way or another and is the second most important character overall. Still fits here, though.

* The titular character from 1991 film ''Oscar'' doesn't actually show up until the last minute or two of the movie.

* Disney's Disney/SleepingBeauty focuses on the titular princess's three {{Fairy Companion}}s, [[TheFairFolk evil fairy]] nemesis and, to a lesser extent, RebelPrince rescuer. Aurora herself literally does nothing but fall asleep, wake up and get married.

* Several Shakespearean examples: ''{{Cymbeline}}'' (the main character is Imogen), ''HenryIV'' parts 1 and 2 (the main characters are Prince Hal and Falstaff), ''JuliusCaesar'' (Caesar dies less than halfway through; the main character is Brutus) and ''TheMerchantOfVenice'' (who is the protagonist here, Bassanio? Portia? Shylock? - in any case, it probably isn't the titular merchant, Antonio.)

* ''PrincessMononoke'' is an extreme example. For one thing the character is referred to by this name only once, while the rest of the time everyone only calls her by her name 'San'. And in addition she is only a secondary character in the movie with only minor relevance to the plot, compared with Eboshi and Moro.

* The protagonist (and narrator) of ''Lorna Doone'' is her love interest John Ridd.

* ''{{Metroid}}'' is named after [[PrivateSpaceInvader the species]] the villains are using as biological weapons.

* ''Gypsy'' refers to Gypsy Rose Lee, the stage name Louise acquires halfway through the second act. Her mother is the principal character.

* ''PrincessMononoke'' is an extreme example. For one thing the character is reffered to by this name only once, while the rest of the time everyone only calls her by her name 'San'. And in addition she is only a secondary character in the movie with only minor relevance to the plot, compared with Eboshi and Moro.