Instant Fan Club

"Ahh, fan clubs. Sweet, innocent, restraining-order-inducing fan clubs."

— Strong Bad, Strong Bad Email #188 "fan club"

A character is considered so awesome that not only do they have notable admirers, but their fans become so organized that they are also the character's personal assistants, chauffeurs, and army. They will follow their idol 24/7, always available whenever there is need, but otherwise politely remaining just off-screen.

If the character is sufficiently cool this may happen practically overnight (i.e., within a few episodes of them being introduced), although the subject of admiration typically has mixed feelings about the entire affair.

If an ojou or an Alpha Bitch has one, these are typically her minions (and may form a Girl Posse). This points out a major feature of the fan club; they don't necessarily have to be close friends, and the idol may not even like them.

Note that this is in fact an aspect of Japanese culture — fan clubs of this type can and do form spontaneously around particularly popular and/or successful students in Japanese high schools. Contrast The Paid-For Harem.

Not to be confused with producing a Paper Fan of Doom from Hammerspace, or the actual fan club of the same name started by They Might Be Giants.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• High school sports start Aizawa Suguru in Area no Kishi is nearly always hounded by throngs of squealing fan-girls whenever he's at school.
• Sakaki acquires one at the beginning of her second year in Azumanga Daioh, but they don't really figure into the plot beyond a quick scene. On the other hand, Kaorin might constitute a "Sakaki fan club" all by herself.
• Each of the nine prince/ princesses in Castle Town Dandelion has this. Episode 4B/ Chapter 6 deals with Akane's.
• In Cells NOT at Work!, 328 has a fan club for Macrophages; among its members are a Red Blood Cell (DW7310), a Neutrophil (2310), and an unnamed Erythroblast.

• Fuuko's fanboys in CLANNAD, whom she gains when Tomoya and Nagisa teach her how to make friends. Hilariously, she then uses them as a defense mechanism by summoning them (by whistling) to carry off Sunohara when he's annoying her. "PROTECT FUUKO-CHAN!!!!"
• Motoko Minagawa's "Prince Yuki" Club in Fruits Basket. The club started almost as soon as Yuki entered his first year of high school, and it's stated that over half of the school's female population are members.
• Haruto Sakuraba from Eyeshield 21 is frequently harassed by mobs of girls who are members of his fan club. After he gives up being a teen idol to focus on football (and, in the process, abandons his clean-cut pretty-boy look by growing a beard and getting a buzzcut), most of them drop out.
• In the first episode of Haruka Nogizaka's Secret, we're treated with one for the titular character, who proceed to clobber the male protagonist for chasing her, even though it's just to clear up some misunderstanding.

• Hime-chan's Ribbon:
  • Daichi and Kouichi get one. Daichi's club causing direct trouble for Hime-chan when the rumours of them dating start spreading around. At least the main leaders of said group have badges with his face on it.
  • Sei gets a fan club the very same day he transfers to the school, with members from the other clubs instantly switching to his.
• While not prominent, both Arima and Miyazaki develop them early on in His and Her Circumstances. One arc deals with what happens when Yukino's turns against her.
• Kaguya from Kaguya-sama: Love Is War has an unofficial fanclub consisting of Karen and Erika (they admit that it's not a real club, it's just something that they like to call themselves), though she is unaware of their existance for the most part. Hayasaka ends up getting roped in to joining when they mistakenly believe that she's a fellow Kaguya fan.
• Kamen no Maid Guy has an even more specific variation. Naeka has a fan club for her breasts. Not her, her breasts.

• In Kamisama Kiss both Kurama and Tomoe get one the minute they start attending Nanami's school.
• About half of the school instantly becomes Nagi's fanclub/bodyguards in Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens. Nagi even has her own webpage and a good balance of male and female fans. Her good looks and comical personality wouldn't be enough to explain this ordinarily, but it may be a Justified Trope if you add in the speculation that a Physical Goddess would naturally draw followers.
• Kitsune no Yomeiri:
  • After revealing that she and Ousake are married Kyouka gets a fanclub, the Kyouka Groupies, who are dedicated to splitting them up.
  • When she transfers in Kanon's plan was to create a bigger fan club than Kyouka's but decided to go a different route after her true personality came out.

• The males at the school in My Bride is a Mermaid are divided into two militant, warring fan clubs over San and Luna. Luna personally leads her club in efforts to take over the school. Mawari is left leading an equally-violent third club comprised of the girls, united under "restoring order" with the motto "All men are beasts."
• The all-male fan club that worships a pretty nurse on the Nautilus, in Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water.
• In Negima! Magister Negi Magi's Magic World arc, Negi and Kotaro enter a tournament and become celebrities, complete with legions of fangirls.
• The Zuka Club in Ouran High School Host Club, especially Benio Amakusa ("Benibara"), have their own legion of screaming fans, who are organized, drilled, and kept disciplined (with the threat of massive violence) by officers of the Benibara Society.
  • A less obvious but more prevalent example: the fans of the Host Club itself. Perhaps they were once a loosely-related group of fangirly teenagers, but they organized fast, especially once Renge took the lead. She even made Host Club doujinshi.
• The second episode of Paranoia Agent, "Golden Shoes," revolves around a sixth grade boy's Instant Fan Club and the pressure he feels to keep up appearances.
• Gary Oak in Pokémon: The Series had one in the form of a group of cheerleaders who followed him everywhere in the first season.
• Used straight and subverted in The Prince of Tennis. Subverted: Tomoka Osakada does her best to create and form a fanclub for Ryoma Echizen but in the end she and Sakuno are pretty much the only stable members. Played straight: Wakato's fangirls from the Jyousei Shounan arc and the Rikkaidai cheerleaders. And there's no forgetting Atobe's army of fangirls, who can become even violent towards the main girl of the Dating Sim Gakuensai no Oujisama if you have her befriending Atobe.
• Fakir and Mytho of Princess Tutu also have been mentioned to have their own fan clubs. Pique is part of Fakir's fanclub and Lilie is presumably part of Mytho's group.
• In Ranma ½, much to Akane Tendo's despair, she has a fanclub in the beginning of the series. After Tatewaki Kuno said that the Furinkan guys would have to beat her in combat to date her, many guys from the sport teams would wait for her every morning at the school gates to try beat her up, and she had to defeat every single one to go to class. They didn't give up until they learnt that Ranma not only was Akane's fiancé, but he had defeated Kuno in a fight.
• Revolutionary Girl Utena shows that Utena is extremely popular for her Bifauxnen qualities and all of the female students address her as "Utena-sama". To the point where photos of her acting feminine (due to a Body Swap with the extremely feminine Anthy) start selling like hot cakes.

• Rosario + Vampire's first season has Moka, Kurumu and Yukari having three "fanclubs" made up of lame fanboy stalkers who cause more harm than good. By the second season, they (and Mizore) have developed large, screaming mostly female fanclubs.
  • This is case is most particularly bizarre in Yukari's case as in Episode 3 (her debut), she is shown to be hated by the entire student body. Then the fanclub guys are introduced the very next episode. While just as abrupt in the manga, the greater emphasis on the pervasive nature of school bullying (most of the students don't dare express themselves) maybe makes it work better: she becomes more outgoing and publicly visible to the school as the people who would be breaking such a fan club up stop.
• SHUFFLE! parodies this rather sharply. The fanclubs have even carried over into real life, with all the seriousness of Ship-to-Ship Combat - their object of affection might be a psycho, but don't say this in front of members of Kitto Kitto Kaede!
• Rukawa's admirers in Slam Dunk, complete with bandannas with his name, and the propensity to transform into an instant cheerleading club when in actual games.
• There's one for Tsukasa in Strawberry 100%, who won't even allow her one-time-and-possibly-again-depending-on-how-the-plot-unfolds semi-boyfriend talk to her without him disguising as one of them and slipping through the crowd. It's a rather organized fanclub at that, complete with identification numbers and hierarchy.
• Urusei Yatsura:
  • The hot alien girl Lum has a group of fanboys called Lum's Stormtroopers.
  • The handsome rich boy Mendou has his own army of fangirls.
• Duke Devlin gets one in his first appearance in Yu-Gi-Oh!, and three of them become his cheerleading squad for the next few episodes. They disappear when Duke joins the True Companions.

Comic Books

• The Legend of Wonder Woman (2016): Superheroes are only just appearing in the world but Etta mentions that her little brother Mint is already a member of a JSA fanclub.
• Also pre-Crisis, Robin, whilst attending Hudson University as Dick Grayson, had his own on-campus fan-club, and occasionally attended meetings of the self named (at least one hopes so) Robin-Rooters, whose members were mostly female, but not exclusively so. They even designed new costumes for him, which they then had made up for him to wear, which he did.
• In the Silver Age, Jimmy Olsen had a club of bowtie-wearing dweebs who hung on his every word. As creepy as it sounds.
  • Besides the Jimmy Olsen Fan Club, there was also (in Bronze Age comics) the Clark Kent Fan Club, consisting of female fans of Clark (from his WGBS evening newscasts).

Fanfiction

• In Fluffy Hero Izuku, Izuku recalls the time a fan club of his had formed because his efforts at cleaning Dagobah Beach had inspired many people. Izuku, however, found the fan club to be less than helpful due to the fact that cleaning up the beach was part of his training, and receiving help would have negated that.
• The Ranma ½ fanfic Girl Days has fun with this. When Ranma starts attending Furinkan High as a girl as part of the Girl Days training, a bunch of fan clubs almost immediately break out. One, the Ranma-chan club, is a group of girls devoted to Ranma remaining a girl; another, the Ranma-kun club, are girls who want their male Ranma back, no matter the cost. A third, a group of guys, have deluded themselves into thinking Ranma will go out on a date with them. Ranma and her friends simply call this club 'The Idiots'. And once Shampoo starts attend school as well, she gets her own fan club.
• In The home-trip., after Peter's parentage becomes public knowledge, a group of boys crowd around him asking if he wanted to see a movie with them. Peter sees right through it and pretends they aren't there.
• Pony POV Series: After Princess Gaia's rule, Fluttershy results in getting a sizable following due to how much it healed many ponies. Her popularity as a fashion model not withstanding.

Films — Animated

• In The Princess and the Frog, Prince Naveen takes all of three seconds to acquire a(n all-female) fan club upon stepping off the boat in New Orleans.

• In Turning Red, Mei's giant red panda form instantly makes her popular with all of her schoolmates and people are willing to pay to take pictures with her, and buy red panda merch from her.

Films — Live-Action

• Deconstructed in The Magnificent Seven — the mob of kids who follow Bernardo O'Reilly around everywhere end up getting him killed as they wander out into a gunfight and he tries to get them into cover.
• In the 2011 film Warrior: Tommy gets one on the second day of the tournament.

Literature

• During Dinoverse, Alpha Bitch Candacye Chambers is put into the body of a small dinosaur called a Leptoceratops, much to her dismay. Other, real Leptoceratops take a great interest in her and follow her wherever she goes, trying to feed and groom her. Reminded of when guys would flock around her human body she assumes it's this trope and nicknames them the Leptomaniacs. While this is a factor, it's largely because they are concerned about the company she's keeping and would like her to be safe.
• The Empirium Trilogy: Soon after Ludivine's dramatic entrance during Rielle's anointing, a group calling themselves the House of the Second Sun formed. They're obsessed with Rielle and how she (apparently) brought Ludivine back from the dead. Group activities include reenactments of Ludivine's death, resurrection, and reappearance.
• In Kämpfer, there is the "Mistress Shizuku, Please Violate Me" club, which is briefly mentioned but never shown.
• In Mayo Chiki!, Subaru has an all-female fanclub. It undergoes a schism as some members don't object to Jiro's (alleged) relationship with Subaru, while others do.

Live Action TV

• A one-episode character of The 4400 gets an extreme version of a fan club, who actually worship him, as part of being the Monster of the Week.

• Doctor Who combines this with several other tropes but the cult of Saxon is dedicated to resurrect their former prime-minister through human sacrifices.
  • A lighter example is the "London Investigations 'N Detective Agency" a.k.a "LINDA" who make it their business to track down the Doctor... mostly because they are huge fans of his adventures, so wind up being more of a fan club. The Doctor is aware of them and even though they established themselves mostly by looking for his Tenth Incarnation he's been aware of them since at least his Fifth. He mostly finds them annoying.
• In Kamen Rider Decade, in one of the worlds the group visits, Tsukasa is scouted while walking down the street and becomes a male model, gaining a following of fangirls with screen-printed clothing and signs. While this sort of thing isn't unusual for a handsome celebrity, it's implied that this took place in a day or two.
  • Even worse, since this is the Nega World, all the fangirls are actually monsters in human form, which makes the cold and jealous way they glare at Natsumi when Tsukasa says he knows her all the more scary.

Tabletop Games

• In Exalted, this is represented with the Followers merit. And if you're someone from the Underworld, your fan club can consists of ghosts.

Video Games

• Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica provides something just a touch more realistic. It takes time for Reine to build the Cloche fan club but otherwise they fit perfectly. They tell people how great Cloche is, protect her in battle, and provide the energy for Replakia.
• Doodle World: Portia makes one for Quincy in order to replace the lack of attention from his father.
• Final Fantasy:
  • Final Fantasy VIII featured this with Quistis Trepe, the youngest instructor in the history of the school. In the American translation they are called "Trepies."
  • In Final Fantasy VII Remake, a Cloud Strife Fan Club emerges after he and Aerith start winning at the Colosseum. (Led by Akila, the enka singer in the Wall Market drinking pit.) Aerith starts getting gifts of flowers from an unseen florist named Watanabe.
• Vanilla in Galaxy Angel gains a fanclub among the Elsior's crew, which has about 50 members. In her route in the second game, Tact sees himself at odds with the president of the club who tries to interfere with his attempts to get close to her.
• Delsin Rowe in inFAMOUS: Second Son gains a (mostly) female fan club shortly after starting his campaign against the D.U.P. in Seattle. They call themselves the "Rowe-mantics"

• Persona 3 has two senpais in the main cast. Akihiko, the male senpai, is shown early on to attract squealing hordes of fangirls with minimal effort (or desire). Mitsuru Kirijo's otaku are a lot more subtle, but the player can find any number of NPCs that all fantasize about attracting her attention, especially one that just plain fantasizes about anything Mitsuru does or could potentially do to her.
• The Pokémon games will give you your own personal fan club after meeting certain requirements like beating the Elite Four and catching all Pokémon.
• Miyabi from Senran Kagura has this due to her Bifauxnen looks (despite the fact she is very well endowed in a World of Buxom), who call themselves the "I ❤ Miyabi Militia" and is the circle of fangirls that Miyabi has to constantly deal with.
• Twisted Wonderland: Vil Schoenheit has been a world-famous actor, model and influencer since a young age, and so in his first year of high school, he earned himself an admiring crowd of other students.

Webcomics

• The Adventures of Wiglaf and Mordred: Wiglaf gains one of these pretty much whenever he goes out in public.
• Everyday Heroes: Goldie had a good-sized following during her senior year. The following year, Jane followed in her footsteps before dropping out of school.
• The Mayor in Homestuck (VW, Warweary Villein, Wandering Vagabond.) Many unlikely allies have taken up arms for him, and even the kids and trolls traveling with him agree that he's awesome, even though they don't know him or anything he's done.
• MegaTokyo's Kimiko suddenly acquires an enormous horde of fanboys when she mouths off on public radio in their defense. Erika also has a fanclub so obsessed that they stay loyal to her even after she disappears from the public eye for years. The series goes deeper into exploring the phenomenon than just using it for comedy, portraying the fanboys as everything from sympathetic losers (Piro) to immoral, pathetic perverts (Kuro).

Web Original

• In Noob there is a guild called Gaea Admirers that formed for the sole purpose of helping out Gaea, whom they believe to be a Double Agent loyal to the Coalition, while Gaea herself in the Empire. The recurring character among them, Meuhmeuh, tends to appear out of nowhere if he considers Gaea needs his help. They give Gaea a place to go when she does an opportunistic Face Heel Turn.
• In Survival of the Fittest V4, Reiko Ishida got one of these due to her success in ice skating, often referred to as her "entourage". Bit of a subversion, though, as, unlike most characters that have found themselves in this trope, she's actually quite close friends with them.
• In the Whateley Universe, teenager Fey is horrified to find out that she has a fan club of girls her own age. Her teammates on her super-team tease her about it now and then.

Western Animation

• Avatar: The Last Airbender:
  • Speaking of sexy princes, Prince Zuko gets a sudden audience of blushing girls (complete with floating hearts!) when he takes off his shirt in the Beach Episode.
  • Aang gets one when he visits Kyoshi village for the first time. In fact, Aang gets a share of fans in every place he goes to. This becomes a plot point in the after-series comics, where he decides that, rather than wasting their devotion on nothing, he would teach his fans all he knows about Air Nomad culture. By the time The Legend of Korra rolls around, the fan club has transformed into the Air Acolytes, a group of non-bender people who live by the ways of the Air Nomads, making them just as much a part of the nation as Aang's airbender son and grandchildren are.
• The Three Js (Joey, Jeffy and Jamie) who hung on Quinn Morgendorfer's every word in Daria.
• The Fairly OddParents!: In the episode "Dadbra-Cadabra", after Mr. Turner's magic act is a huge success, he is instantly a huge hit and has many fans. As a one-off joke, he is followed home by a huge mob of screaming fangirls who try to barge into the Turners' house by breaking into a window. Luckily, Mrs. Turner is able to stop them by boarding them up.
• Supergirl attracts one of these during a trip to Japan in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Chaos at the Earth's Core", which makes Stargirl extremely jealous.
• In Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, Beast Boy gains a literally instant fan club when the Titans go to Japan after he wows a horde of Japanese school girls at a local arcade. The one he's after, however, turns out to be an evil catgirl ink monster.

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