History Main / ToylessToylineCharacter

* ''Anime/DigimonFusion'' posits a strange example: the series was always quite clearly MerchandiseDriven, with the main character's CombiningMecha forms clearly designed for the purposes of easily combining toys, and such toys accordingly ensued. Midway through the series came [[ChromeChampion OmegaShoutmon and ZekeGreymon]], two Digimon who combined into Shoutmon DX. All three {{mons}} were obviously designed in such a way that hypothetical toys of the former two could be easily combined into a Shoutmon DX figure, yet no such toys of the characters ever materialised despite all three characters being very important.

* ''Anime/DigimonXrosWars'' posits a strange example: the series was always quite clearly MerchandiseDriven, with the main character's CombiningMecha forms clearly designed for the purposes of easily combining toys, and such toys accordingly ensued. Midway through the series came [[ChromeChampion OmegaShoutmon and ZekeGreymon]], two Digimon who combined into Shoutmon DX. All three {{mons}} were obviously designed in such a way that hypothetical toys of the former two could be easily combined into a Shoutmon DX figure, yet no such toys of the characters ever materialised despite all three characters being very important.

* Artemis, Navi, and Star Upper from ''Anime/BeastWarsII'' and Rage from ''Anime/BeastWarsNeo.'' ''BWII'' and ''Neo'' actually invert this, being principally made up of characters [[PaletteSwap adapted]] from toys that had no representation in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' previously.
** Artemis [[WhatCouldHaveBeen almost got her figure]] as an accessory for the Masterpiece version of Lio Convoy, but was removed due to budget constraints to the final release.

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'' had several noticeable examples of characters who did not have any toys, such as Scrounge, Blaster's [[TheWoobie unfortunate little buddy]] from issue #17[[note]]who eventually received a ''Combiner Wars'' redeco of Cosmos as part of the Computron box set, about 30 years after his debut[[/note]] and Jhiaxus, a major villain from the ''ComicBook/TransformersGeneration2'' comics[[note]]who has received a couple of toys in more recent lines, but none quite resembling his G2 appearance[[/note]]. Emirate Xaaron, from the UK comics and the latter parts of the US Marvel issues, wasn't based on a toy, but is pretty easy to make as he is mostly a gold and orange Megatron without the gun bits. That said, he'd make a lousy toy - he hasn't transformed in so long he theorizes the shock from merely attempting it could kill him! (He would've made a perfect Action Master, though.)
** One such character, [[TheCaligula Straxus]], recently got a toy well over 20 years after his debut (though it's called Darkmount[[note]]the name of Straxus' fortress in the comics[[/note]] due to a case of WritingAroundTrademarks.) Scrounge later finally got his own figure as a retool of Cosmos in the ''Combiner Wars'' Computron box set, even though the character had not previously been associated with the Technobots.
** Impactor, the leader of the Autobot Wreckers introduced in the "Target 2006" storyline, wouldn't get a toy until 2013, another 20+ years wait, and that toy was a Con-exclusive recolor of another toy. It wouldn't be until 2019 that he got a figure that was released for general retail and was an original mold. Fellow comic book only Wrecker Rack'n'Ruin also suffered this fate, perhaps due to being a pair of ConjoinedTwins whose design made it hard to come up with a transformation. It would not be until 2020 (''34 years later'') for any iteration of the character(s) to receive a toy at all (as part of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersCyberverse'', but that is technically a separate iteration so the original G1 version still counts). Flame, the rogue Autobot scientist who was the main villain of the "City of Fear" arc, was another toyless character: The name has been used for Autobots in the toyline a couple of times (the first one was in 1991, although it was never released in the US) but neither of them bore any resemblance to the Flame from the comics.
** Basically, any human not named Spike Witwicky (who got a toy as a Headmaster partner to Fortress Maximus and Cerebros) and any [[HumanAlien Nebulan]] who was not binary-bonded to a Transformer would qualify. A few would get Kreons[[note]]minifigures from Creator/{{Hasbro}}'s second attempt to compete with Franchise/{{Lego}}, ''Kre-O'' (the first was ''Built to Rule'' a decade earlier)[[/note]] over 20 years after the original comic ended. Still no Circuit Breaker, though, since Marvel [[TheCameo snuck her into]] ''ComicBook/SecretWarsII'' to establish their ownership of that character.
** Creator/IDWPublishing has given us several new Cybertronians without toys, such as the Decepticon Justice Division or Aileron. Some characters like Drift, Minimus Ambus, and Rung started out like this, but eventually got toys in the ''Generations'' line. Others like Roller[[note]]the prewar police Autobot, not the drone[[/note]] and Nautica get toys, but only as PaletteSwaps of existing toys that may or may not be completely accurate (Rook and Blurr respectively, and the former fails to capture Roller's [[LargeAndInCharge massive size]] since it is a Deluxe class). Meanwhile, Tarn, the leader of the DJD, has gotten toys, but only non-transforming ones[[note]]which is a bit ironic when in the comics he has a T-Cog addiction and frequently burns his out[[/note]].
*** A good portion of original character designs in the IDW Comics never get made into toys. For instance, of the main cast of ''[[ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye More Than Meets The Eye]]'', only Ultra Magnus, Skids, and Rewind have received toys that represent their appearances in the comic[[note]]while Chromedome also has a design based off the comic, it is modeled after his prewar "Shadowplay" body rather than his current design[[/note]]. The rest either have to make do with semi-accurate transforming designs (the aforementioned Roller and Nautica as well as Getaway), official non-transforming (and heavily stylized) model kits from Flame Toys (the aforementioned Tarn, Rodimus, Megatron, and Star Saber, as well as Optimus Prime), or third-party designs.
** ''Franchise/TransformersTimelines'' liked to get around this by "repurposing" old toys as new characters--i.e. if they want to do a ''ComicBook/TransformersShatteredGlass'' version of Brawn, they just make him look exactly like an old PaletteSwap of ''Energon'' Strongarm released as a wave-filler for the '07 movie line, so if you want an ''SG'' Brawn, you can just pick up Strongarm. That's not to say they didn't create many of these for themselves, usually through characters clearly based on existing molds with a few parts changed (such as the ''ComicBook/BeastWarsUprising'' version of Grimlock, who is very clearly ''Generations'' Springer with a new head and different colors). Most of these seem to have been essentially pitches for possible new toys, though Fun Publications losing their license mean most of those pitches will remain as such forever. They do make for fairly easy custom jobs, though.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie'':
** Arcee, the AffirmativeActionGirl, who would stay for the rest of the cartoon's run and remained one of the primary main characters (in a show with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters) despite not having an equivalent toy. Though both ''Animated'' and ''Prime'' had namesake characters who ''did'' have their own toys.[[note]]There were in fact several times they ''started'' to make one but it never got past the drawing board. Also, a ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' Arcee was made as a BotCon exclusive and said to be the same character as G1 Arcee.[[/note]] 2014's Generations line did, however, produce an Arcee toy more faithful to her pink car G1 self.
** Wreck-Gar, the Junkion leader, was the only Junkion to be given a toy. The Quintessons did not have a toy for a long time until ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersWarForCybertronTrilogy War for Cybertron: Earthrise]]''. Technologies like the exo-suit and Megatron's laser sword were not represented in toys for years, until the Masterpiece line gave Megatron the laser sword as an accessory and also had Bumblebee coming with a figure of either Spike or Daniel[[note]]The figure's small human head is clearly molded to be Daniel, but both the Japanese and American releases mark the character as Spike on their respective box blurbs[[/note]] in his exo-suit.
** The BigBad of the film, Unicron, a giant robot that transforms into a planet-eating planet, had his toy trapped in DevelopmentHell. And perhaps luckily so, considering how little the prototype resembled the character. Despite this, he remained a recurring villain in the next season, and his head still orbited Cybertron as a ContinuityNod. Multiple toys of the big guy were attempted over the years, with the first successful one being the big-ticket item for ''Anime/TransformersArmada.'' However, a G1-accurate Unicron toy would not be made until 2021 as an exclusive HasLab item for the ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersWarForCybertronTrilogy War for Cybertron Trilogy]]''.

* ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'':
** Alice from ''[[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen Revenge of The Fallen]]''.
** In ''[[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon Dark of the Moon]]'', Mirage only has a die-cast, non-transforming car toy (because Creator/{{Mattel}} held the rights to Ferrari - said robot's alternate mode - toys at the time of the film's release, which was also the reason why he was called Dino in the film) and a miniature Cyberverse figure; sadly, the latter's only a repaint of Sideways from ''[[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen Revenge of The Fallen]]'' and looks nothing like Mirage in either mode. He later got an actual Deluxe class toy in the ''Age of Extinction'' toyline, but he was released only in Japan and was a retool of Sideways (similar to the Cyberverse figure mentioned above), but this time he kinda looked like Mirage in robot mode. It would take until 2021 (a full decade after the film's release) for him to finally get a proper Deluxe class toy that was meant to be him from the get go (and not a retool) as part of the [[Toys/TransformersStudioSeries Studio Series]] line. His Wiki/TFWikiDotNet [[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Mirage_(Movie)#Toys page]] lampshades this with each of the image captions for his toys starting with the phrase "Be thankul (that he got x)".
** It's strange to think how often this happens with the movie characters, seeing as when the first film came out, almost every vehicle that had appeared in it received an actual, transforming robot figure. And there were plenty of toys that weren't even based on anything that appeared in fiction at all. Yet many unimportant or background characters, such as the ancient Primes, the garbage truck Decepticon, and numerous other Decepticon soldiers never got any toys even in the expanded toy-lines.
** Several Decepticons in ''[[Film/TransformersTheLastKnight The Last Knight]]'' were omitted from the toyline, such as Mohawk and Onslaught (though the latter reuses Long Haul's body).

* Back in the day, ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' rulebooks had stats for units or special characters that didn't have their own official model yet, leading hobbyists to convert their own [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Ork]] [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier Battlewagons]] or heroes like [[AirJousting Nuadhu "Fireheart"]] of the [[SpaceElves Eldar]] in the meantime. But then other miniatures manufacturers started selling models for such units, prompting GW to take legal action - and unexpectedly lose. The company's controversial response was to drop any model-less units from the rulebooks altogether, which infamously {{Nerf}}ed the Tyranids for almost a year by taking away their ability to field ({{Organic|Technology}}) {{Drop Pod}}s[[note]]The cut happened in January 2014, but towards the end of that year a replacement with similar rules called the Tyrannocite was released[[/note]] and axing over half of the Dark Eldar special characters.

[[folder: Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/TransformersKreO'' includes several background characters based on Transformers who haven't been released as Kreons. Two cases frequent enough to qualify for this trope are [[Anime/TransformersArmada Sideways]] and [[WesternAnimation/BeastMachines Thrust]][[WesternAnimation/BeastWars inator]][[note]]though there is a Waspinator Kreon that was released as a blind bag figure[[/note]].
[[/folder]]

* The original ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' cartoon had a bunch of characters who'd fit the bill:
** Arcee was created for the 1986 movie and was a prominent character in the series after that. Hasbro wouldn't make an action figure that was based on her G1 appearance until 2014 (her first action figure was a repaint of Beast Wars Blackarachnia in 2001, and her ''Energon'', movie, and ''Prime'' incarnations also had toys).
** "The Search For Alpha Trion" was a second season episode that introduced Optimus Prime's mentor, Alpha Trion, and girlfriend, Elita One, both recurring characters without toys. Also worth mention from this episode are Firestar, Moonracer and Chromia, all three ''named'' fembots that take the spotlight for at least part of the episode.
*** Alpha Trion, Elita One, Chromia, Moonracer and Firestar actually ended up getting exclusive [=BotCon=] toys eventually (though Moonracer and Chromia have to share). Chromia later received a mass-released toy in the ''Thrilling 30'' toyline in 2014, Alpha Trion in the ''Titans Return'' line in 2016, and Elita One, Moonracer and Firestar (the latter is a retool of Moonracer and is renamed "Novastar" for trademark reasons) got all figures in the ''Power of the Primes'' toyline in 2018. None of Elita One's toys are accurate to her original appearance however.
** Fan favorite Nightbird, a female ninja robot introduced in "Enter the Nightbird." Though she's never seen again after this episode [[EnsembleDarkhorse she's not likely to be forgotten any time soon]]. She was finally given a toy in 2015, which was a redeco and retool of the Arcee action figure that had been released the year before.
** Devcon, from "The Gambler" is also pretty popular, and got a [=BotCon=] exclusive figure in 2014.
** Deceptitran, the primary antagonist in "Sea Change".
** "Forever Is a Long Time Coming" gave us Beta.
** Carly, Daniel, and Sparkplug, of course, as well as Spike's younger self.
*** Spike's eventual toy was the head of Cerebros, the head of Fortress Maximus. Younger Spike eventually was released with the redesigned MP-10 version of Masterpiece Optimus Prime, while the MP-22 Ultra Magnus figure came with figures of adult Spike and Daniel, MP-20 Bumblebee came with an Exosuit figure that can be either Spike or Daniel, MP-39 Sunstreaker came with a figure of the wheelchair-bound genius Chip Chase and MP-44 Optimus Prime came with a new version of Spike with better articulation than the one included with the last version (which was also released alongside MP-45 Bumblebee) plus Sparkplug and Carly.
** Third-party companies have attempted to fill in some of the gaps, though as they aren't licensed by Hasbro or Takara, they're not "official" releases. They also tend to have limited production runs and are sold for premium prices.
* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'':
** Transmutate didn't get a toy until the 10th Anniversary line, when you had to combine bonus parts packaged with other toys. She also got another toy for ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersWarForCybertronTrilogy War for Cybertron: Kingdom]]'', but that one is merely a headswap of Paleotrex and is not as show accurate.
** Tigerhawk was forced to be KilledOffForReal after two episodes because they ''weren't sure'' they were making the toy (as in, weren't sure they ''weren't'', either... and eventually did.)
** Blackarachnia was one of the first exceptions to the 'no girls' rule, but her toy was Tarantulas's painted purple. (Guess what color Blackarachnia isn't? At all? [[note]]She's actually yellow and black. ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' Blackarachnia is purple, but of course has her own toy.[[/note]]) She got a proper cartoon-accurate rendition in 2015, retooled from her ''Animated'' nameself.
*** It was a ''long'' road for Transformers for the first female toy character to come along. First, again, in 1986 there was Arcee, who was a main character in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie'' and season three, and would have been in season four. No toy of her was ever made, though a prototype was. The first actual female Transformer, Freezon (from the Tyco slot car set), wasn't established as female until 2014, and the first Transformer who was explicitly female, Minerva, was a Japanese-exclusive (though her toy was a redeco of Nightbeat, the latter deco made available in Japan via mail order). In ''1996'' there's Beast Wars, and we get Airazor - whose toy was made first. The decision to make her a "her" came later. She gets an upgraded, obviously-female toy, the first Transformers toy intended as female from the start, but the character never takes on that form in the show. And again, Blackarachnia's original form ''effectively'' doesn't get one at all. Finally, in 1999, Blackarachnia gets an upgrade, and that form has a toy. That's ''13 years'' between the first female main character and the first instance of a female character having a toy in her likeness ''intentionally.''
** The Vok, the mysterious aliens that were the focus of one of the main story arcs. Of course, as floating glowing skull thingies, there's not much about them that demands one.
** The WesternAnimation/BeastWars version of Ravage had a toy, but it was never released in America. All we get are two black repaints of [[KidAppealCharacter Cheetor]] that don't bear even a tiny passing resemblence to Ravage. (Worse, ''part'' of Ravage's new design is actually based on one of Cheetor's three forms. The American Ravage toys are based ''only on the other two forms.'')
*** It's worse than that; Creator/{{Hasbro}} was planning on bringing the Japanese Ravage toy (the one based on Cheetor's second Transmetal form) to the states as part of the new 10th anniversary line for the series, but it fell through because ''they lost the mold''. As a final kick to the balls, however, this was ''after they used it to make a Botcon-exclusive Transmetals Tigatron figure''. At least one of the Ravages we did get wound up being its own character in the comic books (the Transmetal 2 design of Ravage was used as his resurrected form in both ''[[ComicBook/BeastWarsTheGathering The Gathering]]'' and ''[[ComicBook/BeastWarsTheAscending The Ascending]]''). It would not be until 2021 (third example already after G1 Unicron and ''Dark of the Moon'' Mirage) that Hasbro would finally release a show-accurate Transmetal Ravage as a Pulse Con exclusive for the ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersWarForCybertronTrilogy War for Cybertron Trilogy]]''.
** In general, though, ''Beast Wars'' inverted this; the vast majority of the toys lacked any representation on the show. Besides Ravage and Transmutate, the only non-main characters with toys to appear on the show are the Tripredacus Council, who looked ''nothing'' like their toys in their sole appearance.
*** That was because they couldn't get the models finished before the episodes they appeared in were released; as a result, they were allowed to keep the characters' collective names, but were barred from using their individual names when referring to them. Also, in a bit of WhatCouldHaveBeen, the toy-only character Wolfang could've been represented in the cartoon in Tigatron's place, but Lazy Animator Syndrome kicked in. CGI models ain't cheap (which is why BW had such a small cast and [[AnyoneCanDie high body count]].) so Tigatron, who is largely based on Cheetor, was given the role originally written for Wolfang.
* ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'':
** Megatron's form at the end of the series. Like Ravage, Slipstream, and Emirate Xaaron, it would have been very easy to make one - it was [[spoiler: based on Optimal Optimus, meaning that toy would only have needed a recolor and a new head. There is currently a smaller Optimal Optimus toy without a beast mode - even ''better'' for a Megatron makeover, as Megatron had gone anti-organic in WesternAnimation/BeastMachines and would have left out the beast mode.]]
** Botanica is one of ''very'' few main cast members in a Transformers series who was created without the intention for a toy to be made.
** Diagnostic Drone.
* From ''Anime/TransformersEnergon'' there was Padlock. Of course, he existed just long enough to get shot in the back by Shockwave, thus spurring Wing Saber to seek revenge. Debatably, there was also Wing Dagger, but he was quickly reformatted into Wing Saber, who did get a toy.
** Though for once the human companion [[CreatorsPet Kicker]] ''did'' get a toy, as did non-Transformer villain Alpha Q.
* ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' has an incredibly infamous one in Signal Lancer, a character who appeared in, was named in, and even had a TransformationSequence in the final episode. Even though he had an official Transformation (and was actually designed as a retool of Mudflap, a different character in the toyline), he has no toy, despite how cool he is (he's a traffic light).
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'':
** ''Omega Supreme'' -- very male, very badass, very important, with plenty of screentime, hasn't gotten a toy despite ''much'' fan begging. Especially astonishing given the Tigerhawk situation: The toy company has ''infinitely'' more control than the writers with every incarnation of TF, and saying "Screw the arc you had planned, ''vaporize'' your important character because we're only ''pretty'' sure we're making a toy" is in fact ''not'' the worst thing they've inflicted on a series or comic. A toyless character being allowed as much screentime as Omega got (for [[AffirmativeActionGirl non-social reasons]]) is perhaps unprecedented.
** The Constructicons (Mixmaster, Scrapper, and later Dirt Boss). They were actually ''cut out'' of the cartoon in Japan, based on the reasoning that the show shouldn't spend time on losers who don't have toys.
** While most of the Starscream clones received toys eventually (see below concerning Slipstream), Thrust did not, as he was only appears in ''The [=AllSpark Almanac=] II'', in a scene made so his partner Dirge would no longer be a ToylineExclusiveCharacter.
** [[OppositeSexClone Slipstream]] is a complicated subversion. She would have required a slightly different mold than the other Starcream(s clone)s, so she wasn't part of the ''Animated'' toyline. However, the ''Transformers Legends'' toyline includes a Slipstream and the related comics potray her as the same individual displaced into another dimension.
** Sari, [[spoiler:despite being a Transformer]], never received a toy.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' managed to dodge this for the most part, releasing figures for most of the robots and even a few of the human characters. The only named Transformers who never got a toy are Makeshift and Alpha Trion (the former spent most of his time disguised as Wheeljack (who did get released as a toy) and the latter is a frequent example of this trope in most iterations of the franchise). However, some, most infamously Breakdown and Hardshell, only saw release as smaller "Cyberverse" figures.
** A Voyager-sized Breakdown does exist......exclusive to the Japanese toyline. The mold couldn't be brought over to the states for cost reasons, leaving the only option for those who wanted a "proper" Breakdown to import the figure. In 2020 (to commemorate the 10th anniversary of ''Prime''), Hasbro finally released the Voyager Breakdown (alongside his fellow exclusive the Jet Vehicon) on Hasbro Pulse.
** Ditto for [[GreaterScopeVillain Unicron]], who only received a toy in the Japanese Toyline (Presumably not brought over for cost reasons as with Breakdown), which also included a interesting feature where the toy could Transform into a "Gaia Armor" to be used by the toys of Optimus and Megatron.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise2015'' gets hit with this very hard: out of all the MonsterOfTheWeek Decepticons seen in the show, only one third of them got figures, with tons of characters getting either no toy or being represented only as non-transforming blindbag minifigures.

** Due to complicated licensing issues, very little ComicBook/SpiderMan merchandise was released for ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''. There was also absolutely nothing for Helmut Zemo, the movie's BigBad.

* A frequent criticism of Hasbro's Marvel Legends line (as well as the previous 6" movie figures in the same style and scale) is that movie villains tend to get ignored. Examples include Whiplash from ''Film/IronMan2'', Comicbook/RedSkull from ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', Comicbook/{{Loki}} from ''Film/{{Thor}}'' (though realizing [[EnsembleDarkhorse this grave error]], Loki was subsequently included in the 6" lines for ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' and ''Film/ThorRagnarok''), Ronan and Nebula from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' (though Nebula later received a 6" figure in [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 the sequel]]), Yellowjacket from ''Film/AntMan1'' and Kaecilius from ''Film/DoctorStrange2016''. Interestingly, the Mandarin from ''Film/IronMan3'' ''was'' going to get a Marvel Legends figure, but it was scrapped for unknown reasons. These omissions proved significant enough that Creator/{{Hasbro}} later launched a special 10th anniversary line for the MCU, which finally included characters like the aforementioned Ronan, Yellowjacket and the Mandarin.
* Korg from ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' was left out of most of the film's merchandise, despite being one of its {{Breakout Character}}s.
* Aversion with ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}''. Klaue and M'Baku were initially absent from most of the film's merchandising, but after the movie became an Earth-shattering hit, Hasbro and other companies (such as Funko and Hot Toys) quickly started pumping out new figures featuring the characters that had previously been passed over.
* Karg from ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'' never had an action figure made of him, although his fellow movie characters Blade and Saurod did.

Indeed, there were multiple obvious design similarities between the mutated Nidhiki and Toa Iruini and Turaga Dume and Toa Norik that were "written off as mere coincidences" -- and in the case of Norik's mask, it was explained that it got reshaped to ''look like'' the type of mask worn by Dume [[note]]This actually cause a bit of ire in fans because Iruini's mask was stated to be different from that of Nidhiki's, while another mask that looked nothing like him was said to be the one Nidhiki wore. Similarly, The mask worn by Norik was made in honor of a past hero, but this hero was explicitly NOT Dume, just someone who happened to wear the same mask. On top of that, Norik's mask had a power that wasn't assigned to another mask, ever, so since each mask held a unique power, the only official depiction of ''that'' mask is a copy of not-Dume's mask. Go figure[[/note]]. However, Greg Farshtey later confirmed that the idea of Toa Iruni being the set of Toa Nidhiki was discussed "for all of 35 seconds", that he didn't think a Toa Dume set was ever discussed, and if the set had ended up being Nidhiki, it's entirely possible the mask could have ended up being redesigned.

** Mata Nui's original Great Spirit Robot form has no toy representation, despite being probably the most important character in the story. Given his design, though, he was probably never intended to have one, a fact which hasn't kept it from being ''heavily'' featured in the later media.[[note]][[http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Eman477/TitanMataNui/headchange.jpg Though the aforementioned Mata Nui set might be based off of it...]][[/note]]

* ''Webcomic/TransformersKreO'' includes several background characters based on Transformers who haven't been released as Kreons. A case frequent enough to qualify for this trope is Sideways.

*** Alpha Trion, Elita-One, Chromia, Moonracer and Firestar actually ended up getting exclusive [=BotCon=] toys eventually (though Moonracer and Chromia have to share). Chromia later received a mass-released toy in the ''Thrilling 30'' toyline in 2014, Alpha Trion in the ''Titans Return'' line in 2016, and Elita-One, Moonracer and Firestar (the latter is a retool of Moonracer and is renamed "Novastar" for trademark reasons) got all figures in the ''Power of the Primes'' toyline in 2018.

** Impactor, the leader of the Autobot Wreckers introduced in the "Target 2006" storyline, wouldn't get a toy until 2013, another 20+ years wait, and that toy was a Con-exclusive recolor of another toy. It wouldn't be until 2019 that he got a figure that was released for general retail and was an original mold. Flame, the rogue Autobot scientist who was the main villain of the "City of Fear" arc, was another toyless character: The name has been used for Autobots in the toyline a couple of times (the first one was in 1991, although it was never released in the US) but neither of them bore any resemblance to the Flame from the comics.

** Creator/IDWPublishing has given us several new Cybertronians without toys, such as the Decepticon Justice Divison, or Aileron. Some characters like Drift, Minimus Ambus, and Rung started out like this, but eventually got toys in the ''Generations'' line. Others like Roller[[note]]the prewar police Autobot, not the drone[[/note]] and Nautica get toys, but only as PaletteSwaps of existing toys that may or may not be completely accurate (Rook and Blurr respectively, and the former fails to capture Roller's [[LargeAndInCharge massive size]] since it is a Deluxe class). Meanwhile, Tarn, the leader of the DJD, has gotten toys, but only non-transforming ones[[note]]which is a bit ironic when in the comics he has a T-Cog addiction and frequently burns his out[[/note]].
*** A good portion of original character designs in the IDW Comics never get made into toys. For instance, of the main cast of ''[[ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye More Than Meets The Eye]]'', only Ultra Magnus, Skids, and Rewind have received toys that represent their appearances in the comic[[note]]while Chromedome also has a design based off the comic, it is modeled after his prewar "Shadowplay" body rather than his current design[[/note]]. The rest either have to make do with semi-accurate designs like the aforementioned Nautica, official non-transforming model kits (from Flame Toys), or third-party designs.

** Transmutate didn't get a toy until the 10th Anniversary line, when you had to combine bonus parts packaged with other toys.

*** It's worse than that; Creator/{{Hasbro}} was planning on bringing the Japanese Ravage toy (the one based on Cheetor's second Transmetal form) to the states as part of the new 10th anniversary line for the series, but it fell through because ''they lost the mold''. As a final kick to the balls, however, this was ''after they used it to make a Botcon-exclusive Transmetals Tigatron figure''. At least one of the Ravages we did get wound up being its own character in the comic books. It would not be until 2021 (third example already) that Hasbro would finally release a show-accurate Transmetal Ravage as a Pulse Con exclusive for the ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersWarForCybertronTrilogy War for Cybertron Trilogy]]''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' managed to dodge this for the most part, releasing figures for most of the robots and even a few of the human characters. The only named Transformers who never got a toy are Makeshift and Alpha Trion, and the former spent most of his time disguised as Wheeljack (who did get released as a toy) anyways. However, some, most infamously Breakdown, only saw release as smaller "Cyberverse" figures.
** A Voyager-sized Breakdown does exist......exclusive to the Japanese toyline. The mold couldn't be brought over to the states for cost reasons, leaving the only option for those who wanted a "proper" Breakdown to import the figure.

** Creator/IDWPublishing has given us several new Cybertronians without toys, such as the Decepticon Justice Divison, or Aileron. Some characters like Drift or Minimus Ambus started out like this, but eventually got toys in the ''Generations'' line.

** Wreck-Gar, the Junkion leader, was the only Junkion to be given a toy. The Quintessons did not have a toy. Technologies like the exo-suit and Megatron's laser sword were not represented in toys for years, until the Masterpiece line gave Megatron the laser sword as an accessory and also had Bumblebee coming with a figure of either Spike or Daniel[[note]]The figure's small human head is clearly molded to be Daniel, but both the Japanese and American releases mark the character as Spike on their respective box blurbs[[/note]] in his exo-suit.
** The BigBad of the film, Unicron, a giant robot that transforms into a planet-eating planet, had his toy trapped in DevelopmentHell. And perhaps luckily so, considering how little the prototype resembled the character. Despite this, he remained a recurring villain in the next season, and his head still orbited Cybertron as a ContinuityNod. Multiple toys of the big guy were attempted over the years, with the first successful one being the big-ticket item for ''Anime/TransformersArmada.''

* It has become an ongoing point of criticism of the toy industry that female characters are often omitted from toy lines. Or, if they appear at all, it's in limited-edition release or very expensive prestige editions. A (very short) list of examples include the Creator/GalGadot version of Franchise/WonderWoman, who was omitted from most toy releases related to ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Rey from ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' (toys featuring her didn't start to turn up until well after the film was released, ''even though she's TheHero''), the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse version of ComicBook/BlackWidow, Alice from the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' films, etc.

** In ''[[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon Dark of the Moon]]'', Mirage only has a die-cast, non-transforming car toy (because Creator/{{Mattel}} held the rights to Ferrari - said robot's alternate mode - toys at the time of the film's release, which was also the reason why he was called Dino in the film) and a miniature Cyberverse figure; sadly, the latter's only a repaint of Sideways from ''[[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen Revenge of The Fallen]]'' and looks nothing like Mirage in either mode. He later got an actual Deluxe class toy in the ''Age of Extinction'' toyline, but he was released only in Japan and was a retool of Sideways (similar to the Cyberverse figure mentioned above), but this time he kinda looked like Mirage in robot mode. It would take until 2021 (a full decade after the film's release) for him to finally get a proper Deluxe class toy that was meant to be him from the get go (and not a retool) as part of the [[Toys/TransformersStudioSeries Studio Series]] line. His Wiki/TFWikiDotNet [[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Mirage_(Movie)#Toys page]] lampshades this with each of the image captions for his toys starting with the phrase "Be grateful".

*** It's worse than that; Creator/{{Hasbro}} was planning on bringing the Japanese Ravage toy (the one based on Cheetor's second Transmetal form) to the states as part of the new 10th anniversary line for the series, but it fell through because ''they lost the mold''. As a final kick to the balls, however, this was ''after they used it to make a Botcon-exclusive Transmetals Tigatron figure''. At least one of the Ravages we did get wound up being its own character in the comic books...

** The ''Franchise/PrettyCure'' franchise is hit with this with the ''S.H. Figuarts'' line. Currently, ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'' and ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' lack Figuarts, and ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar'' took ''ages'' to get any. While ''Splash Star'' and ''Happiness Charge'' make sense, as they both were very unpopular when they came out, the original ''Yes! Pretty Cure 5'' don't seem to have a reason.

** This has started to fade for some ''Franchise/PrettyCure'' villains, even occasionally ones who aren't cute girls, although their merchandise is usually exclusive to the Toei Shop or Precure Pretty Store. However, it was definitely the case when ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar'' was airing. Michiru and Kaoru, that season's {{Dark Magical Girl}}s, were made with very plain, non-toyetic designs because they were never expected to receive merchandise, so though they were very popular with fans, this plus the general poor ratings of the season meant it took a very long time for them to get anything.

Most of the time for a MerchandiseDriven franchise the toys are either (a) designed first and the show/comic makers make a story around the characters, or (b) the toy makers and show makers work together, so everyone else is likely to be a FlatCharacter, or even NoNameGiven. Often there are actual limits set to how much attention can be given to these characters; a non-toy character that's not just a TagAlongKid being allowed to be prominent is next to unheard of.

In a boys' show, generally the TagAlongKid, the armies of {{mooks}}, and in older series, the TokenGirl will need to be created for the show, and in a girls' show it's the same for the villains in general.

* Attack of the Killer Tomatoes series has the main humans,FT, Zoltan and his gang, and some of the episodic characters get toys but not the titular Killer Tomato minions, Johnny Tomato and other members of the Tomato Task force.
* Bobby's World has only Bobby getting various toys. No one else.

* WesternAnimation/SpiritRidingFree:
The PALMS, BUDS and their horses & Snips and Senor Carrots but Turo does not but his horse Juniper does.
*
''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' only had figures for the ''Ghost'' crew, Agent Kallus, the Grand Inquisitor, Vizago, Wullffwarro, Ahsoka, Darth Vader, Seventh Sister, Fifth Brother, Captain Rex, Fenn Rau, and Darth Maul.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' only had figures for the ''Ghost'' crew, Agent Kallus, the Grand Inquisitor, Vizago, Wullffwarro, Ahsoka, Darth Vader, Seventh Sister, Fifth Brother, Captain Rex, Fenn Rau, and Darth Maul.

** ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'' is the biggest offender of this by far; almost half of the franchises represented in the game [[note]]''VideoGame/{{Portal2}}'', ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', [[Creator/MidwayGames Midway Arcade]], ''Franchise/MissionImpossible'', ''Series/TheATeam'', ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'', ''Film/{{Gremlins}}'', ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'', ''Series/KnightRider'', ''Film/TheGoonies'', ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'', and ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}''[[/note]] don't have ''any'' sets based on them outside of the packs required to unlock them in-game, and even then, the vehicles that come with the packs will occasionally be bigger in-game than their actual physical model is.

* ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'' is an extreme example of this trope, as ''no'' toys were ever produced for the show. The toys were pitched, but no stores wanted them, because they were still trying to get rid of toys from the Creator/RyanReynolds ''Film/GreenLantern'' movie, which flopped horribly. The fact that the expensive [=CGI=] animated show had no toy line to support it financially is rumored to be a major reason the show was canceled.

* Daisy the Diesel Railcar from ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' oddly lacks a Trackmaster/Plarail toy. She also hasn't had any merchandise since 2009, which is odd considering [[AscendedExtra she appears much more in the newer CGI era than the model era]].

[[folder: Film - Animation]]

[[folder: Film - Live Action]]

** In general, a lot of the characters from the live-action TV shows don't get figures, usually due to the shows being aimed at more adult audiences, or the characters [[NotWearingTights eschewing toyetic costumes in favor of street clothes]]. For instance, as of 2017, [[Comicbook/AllNewGhostRider Ghost Rider]] is the only character from ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' to actually have their own action figure (not counting the figures Coulson got for ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'').

** Due to complicated licensing issues, very little Comicbook/SpiderMan merchandise was released for ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''. There was also absolutely nothing for Helmut Zemo, the movie's BigBad.

[[folder:Literature]]

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

[[folder: Web Comics]]
* ''WebComic/TransformersKreO'' includes several background characters based on Transformers who haven't been released as Kreons. A case frequent enough to qualify for this trope is Sideways.

*** It gets even stranger when you realize that there are over 50 [[GodCreatedCanonForeigner characters who have toys but don't appear in the show]] (mostly {{Palette Swap}}s of toy characters who do appear in the show).

** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyPonyLife'': Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer and Princess Luna only appear in the toyline.

** WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyPonyLife: Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer and Princess Luna only appear in the toyline.

* Practically all the official action figures and model kits for ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' revolve around Raiden. This is likely due to the game's development having been outsourced to Creator/{{PlatinumGames}}, resulting in all of the game's original elements being co-owned by them. Since Raiden was an established character from previous ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' games, the rights to his character are fully owned by Creator/{{Konami}}, making him exempt from any co-ownership. Want a Raiden figure? You have your choice of Play Arts, Revoltech Yamaguchi, Hot Toys, and Gecco (with some of these being available in [[PaletteSwap recolors]] as well). On the other hand, if you want a Bladewolf to accompany your Raiden, then tough luck. Want a Jetstream Sam or any of the Winds of Destruction for your Raiden to face? Too bad. The only non-Raiden merchandise based on ''MGR'' was a pair of Dwarf Gekko figures sold by Sentinel Toys, which were enemy mechs previously introduced in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4''.[[/folder]]

** The Peculiar Purple Pieman Of Porcupine Peak in the second generation line; though he seems not to fit, being a villain, back in the 1980s, he ''was'' represented. He's not even mentioned in the third generation. First-generation characters that appeared in the animated specials but not the toyline include T.N. Honey (''Big Apple City'') and four of the Berrykins (''Meets the Berrykins'' introduces ten of them, but only six became toys).

*** Nidhiki was mutated from a Toa into an insectoid creature sometime before the saga, so his toy was that of his mutant self, but he is largely featured in stories before his mutation. Turaga Dume is another important character, although his Toa-state hasn't actually had any importance. A year after their debut, two Toa sets came out that looked suspiciously like them, but these were the Toa forms of two separate, likewise mutated characters instead: Iruini and Norik respectively, from the then-released smaller Rahaga set-line -- meaning that the other four Rahaga's Toa forms also ended up being toyless.\\\

* While most of the characters from ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' got plenty of toys, Kimi only got two Burger King toys and a doll of her in a wedding dress. This even extended to the product line for ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'', where only Angelica and Suzie got dolls.

* The onee-sans in ''Series/InaiInaiBaa'' used to get a lot of merchandise back in the day (specifically during eras from the Kana-chan to Koto-chan eras), but once the merchandise decided to just focus on Wanwan and U-tan, they barely got any merchandise, only appearing as images printed on the bonus gifts that come with the magazines and in coloring books. The only onee-san to get merch once Koto-chan left was Yuki-chan, who got an Air Friends doll.

* The onee-sans in ''Series/InaiInaiBaa'' used to get a lot of merchandise back in the day (specifically during the Kana-chan and Rina-chan era), but once the merchandise decided to just focus on Wanwan and U-tan, they barely got any merchandise, only appearing as images printed on the bonus gifts that come with the magazines and in coloring books. The only two onee-sans to get merch once Rina left were Fuuka-chan, who got a figurine, and Yuki-chan, who got an Air Friends doll.