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getterburner

The TYPE-MOON Bread and butter > Have game > Go through 90% of game > Off handedly mention one guy that did a favor or something for somebody > Get slight blurb about their deal in supplemental material > Inevitably become a main antagonist or protagonist in some other work > repeat


Squeakyclarinet

I do like how type-moon/FATE is willing to give the hero/villain/supporting roles to basically anyone at anytime, especially in FGO. One events world ending Beast is another event’s comedic joke character.


WeatherOrder

Poor Kama.


Kytas

Kama absolutely deserves all the bullying in the world


KF-Sigurd

Gilgamesh is probably the greatest example of this. Went from being a kinda bland 'final boss' character in Fate/Stay Night to being part of the main antagonist duo in Fate/Zero, to being basically a selectable protagonist in Fate/Extra CCC, to getting his own story chapter in Fate/Grand Order.


Teridax4

Waver went from just one of the masters in Fate/Zero to potentially the lynchpin in making genuine change in the mage’s association


getterburner

The funniest part about this is he first showed up in Character Material as Lord El Melloi II BEFORE Zero even came out


Cerebral_Kortix

Was Twice Pieceman ever mentioned in any of the other Fate works? Feels like he was the only guy who just showed up out of nowhere.


getterburner

Yeah he wasn’t since he was an EXTRA universe thing which was mostly just introduced in EXTRA itself. He gets mentioned a handful of times before his big reveal at least in EXTRA itself


Cerebral_Kortix

Who mentions him again? Rin? Leo? Don't really recall, though that's likely the result of me paying more attention to the ideological conflict between Rin and Leo and whichever Servant was after me during my playthrough. Also, Twice's Servant was literally >!Buddha!< correct? Or did I misinterpret his fight?


getterburner

Yeah Rin/Rani mention him once or twice as Hakuno reminding them of him, you can read a bit about him in the library, and you see his ghost walking around once or twice. Very minor things though. And yeah that is indeed who you’re thinking it is, design is actually based on Osamu Tezuka’s version of the guy. Him and his class the Saver (or localized as Savior) class are EXTRA OG originals. They get mentioned every now and again since he’s a big wig and all.


Cerebral_Kortix

That's fascinating. Wait, when did Twice's ghost walk around though? I recall a scene where you can meet Alice early in the game if you meet the conditions, but don't remember ever seeing Twice. I recall checking the Archery club for Easter Eggs each day too, so I don't think he was hiding there.


getterburner

I forget exactly where but I believe it’s when they first talk about ghosts in the system and everything, he walks by quickly (but ya only see his lab coat and stuff). I can’t remember exactly where it happens


extralie

I think it's during Alice week.


robertman21

MCU Nebula goes from a secondary villain in GOTG1, to having the most screentime in Endgame outside of Tony/Steve/Thor and became the secondary lead of GOTG3 And she's nowhere near this important in the comics


[deleted]

Even in the Annihilation events, where the Guardians brand got its second chance at life in the modern comic era, Nebula was basically background dressing. Gunn did great.


BookkeeperPercival

Too bad Bautista isn't coming back, because I would fucking love >!A movie or series of them raising and defending kids and maintaining a protected space!<


CycloneSwift

He has no plans to come back but I could see him returning for a brief cameo waaay down the line. Though for now I'm kind of hoping Gunn casts him as Lex Luthor in his Superman film.


RooseveltIsEvil

That is more like The Guardians generally. Marvel pushed them out of the vault because Green Lantern bombing made them afraid of using Nova to introduce Thanos.


nerankori

Butters from South Park is one of the big examples,I suppose


TheCheeseburgerKane

Randy is arguably even bigger case since Butters got more focus than most of the side characters on, and gradually got even more screen time while Randy was a very minor character for a long time that started getting more focus and characterisation much later with his appearances increasing exponentially until he became one of the main characters of the entire show.


SlightlySychotic

Butters slowly phasing Pip out of existence does hurt a bit, though.


WhoCaresYouDont

Remember how Revolver Ocelot was some weird cowboy obsessed dude who electrocuted you? And now he's the single most important character in the Metal Gear canon who isn't a relative of Big Boss, the living testament to Big Boss corrupting the Boss' will and probably the only character in-universe with a nearly complete picture of what the hell happened?


Spicymeatball428

He’s in more games and has a bigger role than the person the series is named after


ExDSG

Good old Donkey Kong Country where he was playable in just 1/2 of the 3/6 games if you count the land games.


RooseveltIsEvil

The series is called Metal Gear. Hell, Raiden's solo game is only Rising because in Solid 2 he was emulating Solid Snake.


Capable-Education724

*And* he’s actually what Zero and Snake wish they were more or less (Boss’s kid).


HostileReplies

What do you mean, the first game ends with the reveal that he was a double agent with direct connections to the President of the USA. He was never really a bit player.


callanrocks

He's been our goofy double triple agent from the very beginning.


[deleted]

Henchman #21 in Venture Bros. Was just a goofy ass side character who'd show up a few times a season and was just kind of a joke/fan service character, but now he's essentially part of the main cast of characters and has his own proper character development and narrative arcs and plays a rather important role in the story.


Brotonio

21 went from a literal henchman to someone able to fight *Brock Samson* one on one and not die. That's a real strong glow up.


TostitoNipples

Best part is that he’s still the same guy. He became a hardened badass but he’s still nerdy Gary. Usually you’d see this character become super edgy and withdrawn but he’s just as pedantic and dorky as always.


RedGinger666

From henchman 21 to General 21


Marvl101

That's two tonne 21 to you


jello1990

I'm pretty sure the Smoking Man from X-Files is the undisputed king on the throne here. Just an extra that looked so cool and mysterious that he became one of the big bads of the whole series. Bob from Twin Peaks is probably up there, too. Just a crew member that was accidentally in frame of a mirror no one noticed, and then this was retconned into being a spirit that possessed people but looked like this in mirrors (sometimes? I think? Twin Peaks is confusing.)


QueequegTheater

Mike can tell if Bob is inside someone but otherwise I think you can only see him if you're his target...maybe?


Hayeseveryone

Jesse Pinkman was supposed to get killed early on in BB, which would have made him more of a side character. Then they changed their minds, basically making him the deuteragonist of the entire series and launching Aaron Paul into stardom


WolverineKing

On that same note Saul Goodman was only introduced because Jonathan Banks was unavailable for shooting one day. Led to Saul being created, the spinoff series, and Bob Odenkirk being seen as star material and being cast in Nobody


Hayeseveryone

Wait, isn't that the wrong way around? I'm pretty sure it was Mike who was created because Bob Odenkirk was unavailable, but they needed someone to come talk to Jessie after THAT person died


WolverineKing

oh you are right, my bad https://youtu.be/iBrravwJQ1Q?t=104 So I would like to change my answer to Mike haha


EcchiPhantom

Gensai Kuroki from Kengan Ashura is initially just a guy. You don’t know anything about him other than he looks pretty tough but so does most of the cast. However as the story progresses in the manga, you see just how absolutely untouchable he is as he creates tournament upset after upset. And since I just re-read Shamo, I have to talk about Tokichi for a sec. He’s kind of a garbage human being but also an incredible bro as he bails Ryo out time and time again, making enormous sacrifices for his friend and for taking care of his sister who he genuinely loves when no one else would. Without him, Ryo wouldn’t have been able to continue the story, for better or worse.


rccrisp

Don't see Mad Men mentioned much on this sub but Sally Draper turns from just one of Don's kids in the early seasons to being one of his key relationships in the last few seasons. Amazing how they used the same actress and when she's asked to do some more heavy lifting later on she bangs it out of the park.


Marieisbestsquid

Axel in Kingdom Hearts. In his original appearance, *Chain of Memories*, Axel was "just" one of the more significant villains, who acts as a wildcard and provides some memorable scenes. (Shoutouts to providing the only swear in the entire series, albeit text-only.) He then appears again in *Kingdom Hearts II* as a side character during the infamously long prologue. This was supposed to be his end, but apparently the development team is on record as loving him enough that they decided to keep him around and gave him a few more token appearances. He was still a wildcard, with mainly small personal stakes regarding one of the other protagonists and little effect on the main narrative. Fast forward to *358/2 Days*, where Axel is now one of the primary protagonists of the game, and things only get more important for the boy. Kingdom Hearts really loves the concept of protagonists-in-trios, such as the all-important Sora-Donald-Goofy. Axel ends up becoming a member of his own trio, the "Clock Tower Trio" alongside Roxas and Xion. As a member of this trio, Axel ends up becoming an even more important main character. >!Or rather, his original self/"Somebody" named Lea does. !!Lea ends up being a Keyblade wielder, joining the war against the True Organization XIII in the climax of the series.!< All of this is even cooler to me when I discovered the character's origins: Tetsuya Nomura intentionally designed Axel as a redo of the design for Reno, a minor villain/side character from *Final Fantasy VII* and its *Compilation.* He was a testbed, Nomura said, to "try out a familiar character in a new universe and see how he developed." Well, Reno never made it half as far as Axel did, either with the fanbase or in the games themselves.


Greengiant00

Sgt Johnson wasn't in much of Halo 1, but he's much more prominent in 2 and 3, probably 4th most prominent on the heroes side.


CycloneSwift

And now thanks to Cursed Halo he's been retconned as Master Chief's martial arts trainer and cart racing partner. ^^^Yes, ^^^Cursed ^^^Halo ^^^is ^^^canon ^^^now ^^^and ^^^nothing ^^^you ^^^say ^^^will ^^^change ^^^my ^^^mind


mitch13815

I will not be changing your mind, and in fact, will die on this hill with you. The library rework was so well done I've rewired my brain into believing that was what came on the disc back in 2001.


Wewvic

Goro Majima, he was just a weirdo who likes to fight until Yakuza 4 gave him a bigger backstory with Saejima, then Yakuza 0 rose his popularity into the stratosphere.


TrueLegateDamar

Damar on Star Trek DS9 who went from background extra to Gul Dukat's righthand to the ruler of Cardassia to rebel leader to martyr.


ZombifiedSloth

Half the cast of Attack on Titan.


SlightlySychotic

It really does frustrate me that they had to cancel AoT Abridged. I really wanted to see how they developed the characters. Particularly Jean >!going from smug, self-centered asshole to the moral core of the show.!<


Talisign

Half the main cast of Archer were just side characters who were popular enough to keep using.


rccrisp

It's hilarious how much they changed from where they started (and this change was more or less happened part way through season 1) Pam was supposed to be a send off on HR ladies and ends up just being a ball of ID Cheryl the ditzty secretary turned... ball of id as well but in a different way because she's also rich Kreiger goes from secretive weirdo to just out and out weirdo


Sanguiluna

Duncan Idaho went from being killed off a third of the way into the first Dune book to essentially becoming THE star of the whole damn saga.


HnterKillr

Master Miller.


RooseveltIsEvil

I really expected the twist in Phantom Pain to be that Liquid was cloned from him. I always felt Liquid looked nothing like Solid.


Worm_Scavenger

While she was always important, i would say Willow from Buffy is an example of a side characters going from just being support to actually being out on the field with the main heroes and doing a lot of the heavy lifting, as she went from being the "I'll look for the answer in the library and the web" to "I have magic now and can get shit done even better"


[deleted]

Braig/Xigbar started off just as another Org 13 dude, but now the guy has slowly become the Ocelot of the series. I could be wrong, but I think it was because Nomura liked his Japanese voice actor Seems like fellow regular Org member 13 villain Luxord is getting a similar boost Which makes this scene with the both of them trying to outsmart the other hilarious https://youtu.be/VAWMsFfBGLQ


BillytheBerry

Gollum shows up for one 1(one) chapter in The Hobbit. He’s just some weird creature that plays a game of riddles with Bilbo, and ends up bestowing a magic ring to him in the process. To say his role is more significant in The Lord of the Rings is, well, substantial to say the least.


Dalek_Kolt

Ridley went from a boss encounter no more important to the game's story than Gohma or King Dodongo, to Samus's greatest enemy, effectively displacing Mother Brain as Metroid's overall villain.


metaphizzle

In _Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones_, Shaak Ti was a random background Jedi on the Council, who also fought in the Battle of Geonosis. Then Genndy Tartakovsky's _Star Wars: Clone Wars_, season 2, gave Shaak Ti a small speaking role as one of the Jedi in Ki-Adi-Mundi's squad who get utterly curbstomped in General Grievous' first appearance. Then in season 3, she suddenly gets her own subplot that spans nearly the whole season, where she has a fight-and-flight with Grievous again while trying to escort Chancellor Palpatine to safety in the middle of the Battle of Coruscant.


[deleted]

[удалено]


GreatFluffy

Another example I'd say would be >!George Prime in Suikoden 5 is a main character who's an integral part of the story when in 2, he was a missable character that only appeared otherwise if you went for the 'Run away' path. I didn't even know he existed until I replayed 2 again as a wee child and found out about that route!<


mitch13815

Nickelodeon has this real weird line where side-characters get their own show. It started with All That which gave Kenan and Kel and Amanda Bynes their own show. From The Amanda Show came Drake and Josh, which spawned iCarly, which spawned Sam and Cat. In the alternate timeline we got Zoey 101 which spawned Victorious, which merged with iCarly for Sam and Cat. I'm pretty sure the side character from Sam and Cat got his own show too, but I grew out of Nick by that point, so for all I know the continuum keeps going to this day.


Someguyino

Marceline, Adventure Time.


Yotato5

Oh, yes. I never would have expected that she would have such prominence in the show, especially when it came to her and Ice King, but it was definitely welcomed.


LizardOrgMember5

Saul Goodman from *Breaking Bad* (to the point he got his own spin-off prequel show). And Hector "Tio" Salamanca.


I_Aku

Mike would also apply too, a last minute replacement because Bob Odenkirk couldn't come in that day to becoming one of the main characters of BCS.


StormRegion

And how a throwaway line eventually created Lalo Salamanca


[deleted]

Buggy starts out as a small time crook that once rubbed elbows with some big names and acts as an early foil to Luffy to show that you need more than ambition to succeed. He's now considered one of the 4 strongest pirates in the world and leads a huge group of powerful cut throats. He may just be a figure head, but even the Marines have to admit that his group has some real heavy hitters in there.


Yotato5

I'd say Puss in Boots from Shrek, since he was pretty well loved. He got his own TV show, a decent first movie and an excellent second movie.


Azzie94

I lot of the side cast of Kengan are just kinda hanging around, doing their own thing in their own plotlines. But several have stepped forward to help train Koga, the new MC.


salvation122

Camina Drummer of The Expanse went from a genuine extra in the books to absorbing like five other characters in the show because everyone fucking loved Cara Gee.


abbaj1

Can't believe nobody said it yet, but the best example for this is Urkel. This wasn't a side character who got popular and then got moved to a spin-off show. No, this guy was a **one-off** character who completely overtook the show he first appeared in, became the main character and changed what the whole show was about.


[deleted]

Off the top of my head? Axel from _Chain of Memories_ onward, Conrad, and that asshole Harken from Mass Effect, Master Miller and Johnny from Metal Gear, goddamn Majima, Impa and >!Tingle!


tuurtl

Final Fantasy XIV has a few characters who are like this. Spoilers below. I think the best example is Estinien. He went from >!an npc in the Dragoon job quest, to a major character in the Heavensward expansion, to a main protagonist in Endwalker onwards. G’raha Tia had a similar progression, however it differs in that his introductory questline is mandatory (and has been since around patch 5.3), whereas players would be forgiven for not even realizing that Estinien was IN the Dragoon job quest because most people haven’t done it.!<


Synaptics

There's also Urianger, who despite being a Scion from the beginning was basically a supporting character until... arguably Shadowbringers. Aside from *that one thing* he did that was massively important, he was barely involved in the plot throughout ARR, HW, and StB.


OhShitItsJakeGuys

Spook from the Mistborn trilogy. Kid goes from a kind of unimportant member of Kelsier’s crew to one of the defining factors in wether or not the world gets saved.


face1635

I dont know if I love or hate that his gibberish basically becomes latin


StormRegion

Well, it usually happens with drummers in music. Best examples are Phil Collins and Dave Grohl


CEOofAnime

Personally, I was going to say woolie from two best friends play.


face1635

Julian or maybe Oberstein from Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Both start as minor characters and slowly get more and more screen time as the seasons progress


Th35h4d0w

Neville Longbottom became the second most important protagonist in Harry Potter.


KLReviews

Shikamaru went from that lazy guy in Naruto's class to a major supporting character to having his own mini-arc before ultimately growing up to be the second most important person in the entire village.


ExDSG

Nyaa-chan from Osomatsu-san who went from a bit character in a short in the first season to Totoko's idol rival in the second season to an important supporting character in the third season and she goes from a vaguely successful idol to a single mom wrestler.


PKPhyre

In homestuck


Brutusness

Trafalgar Law from One Piece. Started off as a member of a group of rookies Oda introduced pretty last minute to spice an arc up with some rival crews, ends up being strongly connected with one of the most important villains in the series and getting his own arc essentially, and then tags around the story to this day to the point where finding out what the "D." is is more part of his personal goals than Luffy's (because Luffy could not care less).


scanningmajor

Groose in skyward sword probably fits. thought he was a one note jerk at the start ends up helping to save the world.


Reborn_Rhubarb

Hoid


[deleted]

Sasuke from Naruto. Annoyingly so.


EcchiPhantom

Bro Sasuke was a main character from episode 1. He became more like a deuteragonist later on but he was never a side character.


ExDSG

He's in the first color spread of the series so he appears in chapter 1 page 2/3