I have a possibly heretical idea.
How about we merge Breakout Character and Ensemble Dark Horse? The reason is that the main symptom of being an Ensemble Dark Horse is... becoming a Breakout Character. That's because the companies and creators usually listen to their audience, and if a character becomes unexpectedly popular, they usually try to cash in on that. So why not just merge the two? Thoughts?
edited 5th Aug '15 4:31:06 AM by Rjinswand
That page lists way too many alternate versions of the same idea.
I think Ensemble Dark Horse should be kept seperate, since it's a fan reaction trope that won't necessarily be mirrored by the story's creators, but it does feel like there must be a way to streamline all of this.
I feel that we have Ascended Extra ("background character gets bigger role over time") and we have Ensemble Dark Horse ("background character gets more love from fans than can be expected") — and then we have Breakout Character which is essentially "Ensemble Dark Horse becomes Ascended Extra". I'm not sure if it counts as a duplicate trope or not, though.
edited 7th Aug '15 6:30:39 AM by Rjinswand
That is a good point. If the fans' love for them translates into more focus from the creators, then they're no longer an Ensemble Dark Horse.
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Hmmm, "Ensemble Dark Horse becomes Ascended Extra" actually sounds like a really good way to sum this thing up to me. It makes it sound a bit redundant, but it also gives it a space to sit in.
edited 7th Aug '15 10:50:27 PM by Jokubas

Many examples on this page seem to be popular main characters that started out as main characters. That is not this trope, this trope is for a minor character whose popularity gave him or her a bigger role. The worst section has to be the Animated Films section. Especially the Kung Fu Panda example, which uses the character's prominence in FANWORK to justify their entry here.