History Main / SpotlightStealingCrossover

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' is a CrossoverCosmology [[RealTimeStrategy RTS]] which features Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology. (The [[UpdatedRerelease Definitive Edition]], which was made by another developer, also added Chinese mythology to the mix.) However, because Myth/ClassicalMythology is the most well-known in the western world (the developers and target player audience both are of American or European origin), the Greek civilization and characters get most of the focus in the campaign's plot. While the game still is positively received in spite of this, the story continued in the first {{expansion|pack}} made [[{{Atlantis}} the Atlantean civilization]] playable. In-game, the Atlanteans continued the trend by being depicted as [[AncientGrome a mixture of ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine mythology/culture]] -- they even worship the Greek Titans while many of their myth units are more obscure Greek creatures. Though there have been many different proposed theories and literary interpretations regarding the location and nature of this "lost" civilization, ''[=AoM=]'''s take on Atlantis could be chalked up to [[{{Mythopoeia}} its origins]] in the works of the Greek philosopher Creator/{{Plato}} such as ''Timaeus'' and ''Critias''. (''Atlantìs nêsos'', as the island is referred to in these works, is Greek for "island of Atlas" -- as in the Greek Titan.) The developers at least made the Atlanteans slightly more visually unique by giving them [[{{Mayincatec}} adorable llama caravans and Mesoamerican-inspired architecture]].

** The series with the second-highest representation is ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', with ten characters as of ''Ultimate'', only barely edging out ''Mario''. [[note]]Technically eight, as Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard are all grouped under a single character slot represented by their Pokémon Trainer, but regardless they have their own fighter numbers and are meant to be seen separately, with Charizard even getting a standalone playable appearance in ''[=3DS/Wii U=]''.[[/note]] The franchise also has the unique distinction of being the only series to receive at least one new fighter in each installment, with nearly every generation of the games having a playable representative. (As of ''Ultimate'', ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Ruby and Sapphire]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Black and White]]'' lack playable representation out of the seven generations up to that point. The same is true of ''[[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Sword and Shield]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet Scarlet and Violet]]'', but those games at least have the excuse of releasing well after ''Smash''.) And that's to say nothing of the Poké Ball and Master Ball items that, by ''Ultimate'', can randomly summon one of over ''fifty'' of the creatures to {{assist|Character}} the player in battle. Its modest number of stages is the main reason why it clearly falls short of ''Mario'', and even so, one must consider that ''Pokémon'' isn't even fully owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}} -- something that holds its representation back somewhat.

** ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' may not be over-represented character-wise, with only three fighters, but it still steals quite a bit of spotlight whenever the games have any sort of Story Mode. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]''[='s=] "The Subspace Emissary" features the Halberd prominently, Kirby kicks a surprising amount of ass (even more than Mario), and King Dedede is the only reason the [[CurbStompBattle effortless defeat]] of all of the characters by [[spoiler:Tabuu]] was only a minor setback. The trend continued in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]''[='s=] "World of Light", where Kirby is the ''[[SoleSurvivor only]]'' being to survive Galeem's attack -- not just of the playable characters, but in the entire ''universe!'' [[note]]Sakurai somewhat justified this by saying that, realistically speaking, only Kirby, Palutena, and Bayonetta would be able to survive Galeem's attack, but the other two wouldn't make good starting characters.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' is a CrossoverCosmology [[RealTimeStrategy RTS]] which features Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology. (The [[UpdatedRerelease Definitive Edition]], which was made by another developer, also added Chinese mythology to the mix.) However, because Myth/ClassicalMythology is the most well-known in the western world (the developers and target player audience both are of American or European origin), the Greek civilization and characters get most of the focus in the campaign's plot. While the game still is positively received in spite of, the story continued in the first {{expansion|pack}} made [[{{Atlantis}} the Atlantean civilization]] playable. In-game, the Atlanteans continued the trend by being depicted as [[AncientGrome a mixture of ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine mythology/culture]] -- they even worship the Greek Titans while many of their myth units are more obscure Greek creatures. Though there have been many different proposed theories and literary interpretations regarding the location and nature of this "lost" civilization, ''[=AoM=]'''s take on Atlantis could be chalked up to [[{{Mythopoeia}} its origins]] in the works of the Greek philosopher Creator/{{Plato}} such as ''Timaeus'' and ''Critias''. (''Atlantìs nêsos'', as the island is referred to in these works, is Greek for "island of Atlas" -- as in the Greek Titan.) The developers at least made the Atlanteans slightly more visually unique by giving them [[{{Mayincatec}} adorable llama caravans and Mesoamerican-inspired architecture]].

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' is a CrossoverCosmology {{RTS}} which features Greek, Egyptian and Norse mythology (the [[UpdatedRerelease Definitive Edition]] also adds the Chinese, however those are made by another developer). However because Myth/ClassicalMythology is the most well-known in the western world (the developers and target player audience both are of American or European origin), the Greek civilization and characters get most of the focus in the campaign's plot. While the game still is positively received, the story continued in the first expansion made the Atlantean civilization playable. The problem is that ingame the Atlanteans are a mixture of [[AncientGrome ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine mythology/culture]] (even worshipping the Greek Titans and many of their myth units are more obscure Greek creatures), although the developers at least made them slightly more visually unique by giving them [[{{Mayincatec}} adorable llama caravans and Mesoamerican-inspired architecture]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}} and VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' is almost entirely centered around the ''Battletoads'' half of it, as all but one of the levels are based around the former game, and nearly all of the levels take place on a ship seen in the franchise. And in terms of the villains, the Dark Queen and her lackeys take center stage- the antagonist for the ''Double Dragon'' half of the roster, the Shadow Boss, was an substitute for minor bosses, Burnov, from ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonII'', created entirely for this game, and of his two lackeys, the only one who is a boss in ''Double Dragon'' is Abobo, with Roper being a [[AdaptationNameChange misnamed version]] of BigBad Willy with the name of a generic enemy. According to the developers at ''Creator/{{Rare}}'', this was due to lack of information about the ''Double Dragon'' franchise, being provided to them by the publisher, Tradewest.

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCrossTagBattle'' is pretty upfront about this. It says it's a ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' game and delivers: Despite being a crossover between seven properties, ''[=BlazBlue=]'' makes up half the playable starting roster. With all launch window and season 2 DLC characters included, ''[=BlazBlue=]'' has 19 representatives, ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' has 13, ''VideoGame/UnderNightInBirth'' has 12, and ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' has five. [[note]]Due to this being their first FightingGame appearance, meaning they needed to have all-new sprites made while the rest of the cast could just have theirs ported from their home game.[[/note]] Even Story Mode is pretty blatant about this; Episode [=BlazBlue=] has four possible endings, one of which is the GoldenEnding, while the other three series only have one apiece. Episode Persona has a gag ending, Episode Under Night has a HereWeGoAgain ending, and Episode RWBY wraps things up in a way that doesn't account for anyone besides Team RWBY.

* The vast majority of the playable characters in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors'' are from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' (Six Characters and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' (9 characters), the 3DS titles responsible for a tremendous NewbieBoom in the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' fandom. The storyline of the campaign is almost entirely based around ''Awakening'' in particular. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' [[FirstInstallmentWins the title that started it all]] and is held in high regard in Japan), which was advertised as an equal part of the crossover, got only three characters, no stage representation and a minimal role in the game's campaign. Outside of the two [[OriginalGeneration original characters]] and [[LegacyCharacter Anna]] (whom is based off the ''Fates'' incarnation of the Anna character), the only characters not from these three games are [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Lyn]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Celica]]. This means 7 of the 12 games in the mainline series up to that point ([[VideoGameRemake remakes]] notwithstanding) got ''zero'' representation and that the non ''Awakening''/''Fates'' game crossover elements were mostly an AdvertisedExtra, which became a major point of contention for many fans and reviewers.

** ''VideoGame/Injustice2'' continued the trend, even keeping the Joker playable despite his Injustice 'verse self being long dead. That on top of keeping almost the entire Bat-cast from the first game around (except Batgirl, and in the case of Nightwing Damian Wayne had moved back into being Robin), the game ''added'' even more to the roster, namely Scarecrow, ComicBook/PoisonIvy, ComicBook/{{Deadshot}}, and Red Hood, with Mr. Freeze appearing as a premier skin for Captain Cold.

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' plays with this, since it focuses on the OriginalGeneration more than the Disney and ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' worlds. To a lesser extent, the ''Final Fantasy'' worlds play this straight, due to being a franchise (granted, one where the games are [[NonLinearSequel Non-Linear Sequels]] to Disney's various non-associated movies). Though they appear in fewer worlds than the Disney characters, a couple of them are among Sora's group of friends and as a result, slightly impact the plot more than the characters founds in the Disney worlds [[note]]This does not include Mickey, Donald, Goofy, or Jiminy Cricket. These characters are also Sora's friends and they have a much bigger role (except maybe in Jiminy's case)[[/note]] and at least one the worlds that they ''do'' appear in (Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden, Twilight Town and Traverse Town) shows up in each game. Out of the ''Final Fantasy'' games, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' gets the most representation with 7 characters. [[note]]Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, Cid, Sephiroth and Zack. Cloud and Sephiroth even have their own subplot.[[/note]] However, the ''Final Fantasy'' characters [[DemotedToExtra receive significantly less focus]] after ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII II]]'' and by ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII III]]'' [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome are completely absent]] save the Moogles. The Re:Mind DLC expansion for ''III'' [[AuthorsSavingThrow rectifies]] this somewhat by bringing back several of the ''FF'' representatives stationed at Radiant Garden. In general, this can be explained by the fact that the first game was always intended to be a vehicle for exploring Disney worlds first and foremost, and the use of ''Final Fantasy'' characters was only a logistical decision since they didn't want to make entirely new characters for bit roles that mostly serve for exposition.

* ''VideoGame/{{SMITE}}'' like ''Age of Mythology'' above is a CrossoverCosmology {{MOBA}} which boasts 16 different mythological pantheons battling each other. However the game has 130 playable characters as of 2024, and 35 of those are from Myth/ClassicalMythology (the ingame Greek pantheon has 24 gods while the Roman pantheon has 11). There are 7 pantheons with 4 or less gods in them, however most of the community instead asks for more Greco-Roman gods to be added because that is the mythology which people in the western world are most familiar with. Granted the 130th (and last) character that got released is the heavily-requested Nut (Egyptian goddess of the sky), but it's obvious that ''SMITE'' has a bias towards the Greek and Roman pantheons. While a sequel was announced in 2024 (which shall be made in a new and better MediaNotes/GameEngine) that will eventually port all the characters from the original ''SMITE'' game in HD; yet infuriatingly the same problem continues given that the first announced new character for the upcoming sequel is Hecate- ''another'' Greek goddess.

* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTournamentFighters'' has elements from all the major incarnations of the ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' at that point. That said, the majority of the ten character roster, outside of mainstays to the entire franchise like the Turtles and Shredder, were from ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesAdventures'' like Wingnut, War, and Armaggon. The ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 cartoon of the time]]'' was represented by Chrome Dome and [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage the Mirage Studios series]] had Karai as its represenative. [[note]]This was released around the time of Karai's first appearance in the Mirage Studios series and thus long before she became a recurring cast member in the franchise.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/{{SMITE}}'' like ''Age of Mythology'' above is a CrossoverCosmology {{MOBA}} which boasts 16 different mythological pantheons battling each other. However the game has 130 playable characters as of 2024, and 35 of those are from Myth/ClassicalMythology (the ingame Greek pantheon has 24 gods while the Roman pantheon has 11). There are 7 pantheons with 4 or less gods in them, however most of the community instead asks for more Greco-Roman gods to be added because that is the mythology which people in the western world are most familiar with. Granted the 130th (and last) character that got released is the heavily-requested Nut (Egyptian goddess of the sky), but it's obvious that ''SMITE'' has a bias towards the Greek and Roman pantheons. While a sequel was announced in 2024 (which shall be made in a new and better UsefulNotes/GameEngine) that will eventually port all the characters from the original ''SMITE'' game in HD; yet infuriatingly the same problem continues given that the first announced new character for the upcoming sequel is Hecate- ''another'' Greek goddess.
* A weird case with ''VideoGame/StarlinkBattleForAtlas'', specifically the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch version: the Switch version of the game shipped with an Arwing and Fox [=McCloud=] from ''Franchise/StarFox'', complete with their own side campaign and integration into the main story. While the game's proper campaign kept the split pretty even, the lackluster reception of the game's other ports meant that the lion's share of DLC produced for the game was exclusive for the Switch version... and focused on the Star Fox team, thus making the Switch version this retroactively.

* In any given CrisisCrossover in the Franchise/DCUniverse, Franchise/{{Batman}} and Co. will likely be featured prominently despite being as street-level as superheroes get.
* Happened quite a bit with the Silver Age ''World's Finest'' comics--they were run by the ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' editorial office, so tended to feature Superman's villains and themes far more than Batman's. (And sometimes when they did use Batman characters, failed to check for updates on their status.)

* There are tons of cameos in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'', from [[Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium Gandalf]] and [[Franchise/HarryPotter Dumbledore]] to Franchise/{{Superman}} and [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Michelangelo]]. But of all these characters, Franchise/{{Batman}} is the only character from another franchise to be important to the plot.

*** Partially due to the game reusing characters from previous games, ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' has more than half of its cast coming from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' or ''Franchise/XMen''. ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} goes the extra mile by having ''two'' separate versions playable, one with adamantium claws representing his ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes'' moveset and another with bone claws representing how he played in ''VideoGame/XMenVsStreetFighter''.

** ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' had a significant portion of its cast coming from [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham]] even though ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} and ComicBook/{{Bane}} barely play any role in the story. Batman is also the only remaining superhero and the only character to have two chapters in Story Mode: one as the main universe one and the other as his Injustice verse counterpart. He even has a bonus MirrorMatch fight between Franchise/WonderWoman and Franchise/{{Superman}}'s chapters.

** Averted when the series became ''Justice League Unlimited'' by way of ExecutiveMeddling. Because [[WesternAnimation/TheBatman another Batman-focused series]] was running at the same time, the only ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' characters available were the Dark Knight himself, Huntress, Deadshot, Professor Milo, and the characters from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''. Hugo Strange also made a silent cameo during one episode before ''The Batman'' prevented him from making further appearances in ''JLU''.
** Played straight, however, in relation to the ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' characters, where most of the arc villains are from Superman's RoguesGallery. ''Justice League'' can be considered to essentially be a successor to ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', at least more so than to ''WesternAnimation/{{Batman|TheAnimatedSeries}}''.

* ''VideoGame/{{SMITE}}'' like ''Age of Mythology'' above is a CrossoverCosmology {{MOBA}} which boasts 16 different mythological pantheons battling each other. However the game has 130 playable characters as of 2024, and 35 of those are from Myth/ClassicalMythology (the ingame Greek pantheon has 24 gods while the Roman pantheon has 11). There are 7 pantheons with 4 or less gods in them, however most of the community instead asks for more Greeco-Roman gods to be added because that is the mythology which people in the western world are most familiar with. Granted the 130th (and last) character that got released is the heavily-requested Nut (Egyptian goddess of the sky), but it's obvious that ''SMITE'' has a bias towards the Greek and Roman pantheons. While a sequel was announced in 2024 (which shall be made in a new and better UsefulNotes/GameEngine) that will eventually port all the characters from the original ''SMITE'' game in HD; yet infuriatingly the same problem continues given that the first announced new character for the upcoming sequel is Hecate- ''another'' Greek goddess.

** A large number of ''Super Robot Wars'' games rely heavily on Universal Century Gundam (the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' and its canon sequels) to provide much of the backbone of their respective settings. While it makes sense for the earliest entries, as many of the other series in those games were of MonsterOfTheWeek SuperRobot fare, it became increasingly blatant as series with better-developed settings and narratives joined the franchise and yet the [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Titans]] and/or some incarnation of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Neo]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Zeon]] remained major enemies. It took [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment fifteen years]] for Banpresto to release a non-OriginalGeneration-based ''Super Robot Wars'' without Universal Century Gundam... only for them to replace it with the equally plot-consuming ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED''.

** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV'' is basically ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato2199'' with a very long pit-stop. The first and final arcs of the game are almost entirely about the Yamato's voyage, and the series gets one of the game's three alternate dimensions almost entirely to itself.
** Likewise, ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsX'' has ''Anime/{{Mashin Hero Wataru|Series}}'' as the primary focus of the story, with many of the game's series being secondary to Wataru's journey. Two of the three other series debuting in this game, ''Anime/GundamReconguistaInG'' and ''Anime/BuddyComplex'', effectively make up the game's B Plot and often find their stories buried in [[LetsSplitUpGang route splits]] that separate the ''Gundam'' franchise and ''Buddy Complex'' from every other series in the game. That being said, ''G-Reco'' is also this trope but for a different reason, having a huge number of playable pilots when unlockables are accounted for.

* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTournamentFighters'' has elements from all the major incarnations of the ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' at that point. That said, the majority of the ten character roster, outside of mainstays to the entire franchise like the Turtles and Shredder, were from ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesAdventures'' like Wingnut, War and Armaggon. The ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 cartoon of the time]]'' was represented by Chrome Dome and [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage the Mirage Studios series]] had Karai as its represenative. [[note]]This was released around the time of Karai's first appearance in the Mirage Studios series and thus long before she became a recurring cast member in the franchise.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTournamentFighters'' has elements from all the major incarnations of the ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' at that point. That said, the majority of the ten character roster, outside of mainstays to the entire franchise like the Turtles and Shredder, were from ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesAdventures'' like Wingnut, War and Armaggon. The ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 cartoon of the time]]'' was represented by Chrome Dome and ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage had Karai as its represenative. [[note]]This was released around the time of Karai's first appearance in the Mirage comics and thus long before she became a recurring cast member in the franchise.[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' is a Creator/{{Disney}} series in which characters from the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon up to ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' all hang out and party at a club. However, the movie that is referenced more than others is ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'', with over 30 characters and at least one reference per episode. ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', and most of the Franchise/DisneyPrincess movies also tend to appear a lot, with Timon and Pumbaa and Hades getting episodes to themselves.

** Played straight, however, in relation to the ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' characters, where most of the arc villains are from Superman's RoguesGallery. ''Justice League'' can be considered to essentially be a successor to ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', at least more so than to ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Batman]]''.