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{{quote|"These two right now are just comic relief, but they play an important role later on. You'll see."
|'''D. R. McLeod'''
Any character who is innocuously and unimportantly introduced to the viewer, but who [[Law of Conservation of Detail|later proves to be important]] by the end of the episode.
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In other words, they're a human [[Chekhov's Gun]].
For example, consider a poolboy in the ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]'' mystery of the week who just happened to be at the scene of the crime just before the murder, where other leads overshadow that one until the last five minutes, when suddenly Grissom finds that one piece of evidence that conclusively proves it was him. (Of course, if the poolboy is played by [[George Clooney]], everyone and their mother [[Narrowed It Down to the Guy I Recognize|will know it was him the minute he appeared on screen]].)
Or, in an episode with [[Two Lines, No Waiting]], a character that seemed to be a [[Bit Character]] in the B plot suddenly becomes a large player in the A plot. On most Cop Dramas, this usually means the two teams are [[Working the Same Case]].
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{{examples}}
== Anime
* In the very first few minutes of ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', we not only see {{spoiler|a post-timeskip version of Simon}}, we also see {{spoiler|what appears to be Boota's human form.}} Inverted in that {{spoiler|when the plot actually reaches that point in time, the events are very different from those depicted in the prologue.}} Rumour has it that the writers were making it up as they went along.
* In the first episode of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', Shinji sees a vision of Rei in the city before she's even introduced.
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* There is a general rule about ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]'': If you can remember their name, they will probably be back.
* In ''[[Code Breaker]]'', Aoba. She is Sakura's best friend,and apart from tat, just an attractive female character. {{spoiler|She later is discovered to be Code:Revenger, one of the top agents of Eden. That makes her a major bad guy. Since she is supposed to be Sakura's friend, this could be viewed as a [[Face Heel Turn]]}}
* In the ''[[
==
* '' [[Scott Pilgrim]]'' volume 3 features a cameo of a mystery man who then turned out to be {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Gideon Gordon Graves]]}}.
* [[Hellblazer|John Constantine's]] official first appearance is in ''[[Swamp Thing]]'' #37. But in #25, there's a background character in a crowd scene who looks suspiciously similar to Constantine.
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* In ''Unconditional Love'', the killer turns out to be {{spoiler|the window washer, who'd been seen in the background earlier in the film}}.
* In ''[[UHF (film)|UHF]]'', there's a few apparent throwaway scenes of a bum going around asking for change. Said bum turns up at the very end and {{spoiler|manages to help the station at the very last second}}.
* In the immediately-after-the-opening scene of ''[[Top Gun: Maverick]]'', among Maverick's belongings is a pair of photos of Rooster, who doesn't get formally introduced to the viewer until later.
== Literature ==
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** Rufus Scrimgeour is offhandedly mentioned by Order of the Phoenix members in the fifth book before taking over as Minister for Magic in the sixth.
** The fans' attentiveness was so extreme that when a "Mark Evans" showed up in ''Order of the Phoenix'' as a kid Dudley beats up, [[One Steve Limit|fans assumed he would turn out to be a crucial character since his last name was Lily's maiden name.]] Turns out [[Subverted Trope|he was just a throwaway character]]. JK Rowling apologized for this in her [https://web.archive.org/web/20120208051500/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=49 FAQ]
{{quote|I've got nobody to blame but myself. [[
*** Though Fans Attentiveness payed off when {{spoiler|Harry gets the fake locket with a note By R.A.B. Fans were attentive to guess that R.A.B. was
**** Rowling's response on the theory was "that's a really good guess".
* [[C. S.
* In [[Sandy Mitchell]]'s first ''[[Ciaphas Cain]]'' short story, we are introduced to Cain's rather smelly and loyal [[Sidekick|aide]] Jurgen, who doesn't look like he'll have much relevance except for jokes on how he puts people off with his atrocious hygiene standards. {{spoiler|Later on, it turns out Jurgen is an ''extremely'' potent "blank," someone who negates psychic powers and harms daemons simply by being in proximity to them, and his becomes a constant and critical plot point throughout the rest of the novels.}} His absolute loyalty and obedience to Cain also play important roles.
* ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' is very prone to this - the main opponent of a book will almost definitely be someone who was introduced in an earlier book, quite possibly ''Grave Peril''.
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* ''[[American Gods]]'': {{spoiler|Shadow's old cellmate, Low Key Lyesmith}}. Keep in mind that Norse gods play a huge role in the book, and he is actually {{spoiler|Loki Lie-smith}}.
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** In ''[[
** In ''[[
** There's generally about one a book, it's {{spoiler|Simon}} in ''[[
** ''[[
* In [[Tad Williams]]' ''[[Otherland]]'' series, the side plot involving Olga Pirovsky is treated with a great deal of significance even though it's not initially apparent how her mysterious headaches have anything to do with the main story. Even when she's tasked by [[The Chessmaster|Sellars]] to [[Dressing as the Enemy|infiltrate]] the headquarters of J Corp, it seems like her role is fairly straightforward. Then comes [[The Reveal]], and she turns out to get the biggest [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] in the whole series.
* Ezra Jennings from [[Wilkie Collins]]' ''[[The Moonstone]]'' is the ''assistant'' to Dr. Candy, himself a side character. {{spoiler|Both of them, but especially Jennings, are more important to the plot than the reader might first think.}}
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*** Oh, [[The Prime Suspect Never Did It]]. (Unless the prime suspect changes before the final ad break, in which case it was definitely the original suspect what done it.)
** This can also be used in reverse... if there ARE no outstanding single line characters, the villain MUST be one of the major characters for the week. This is easily seen in a first season episode where the villain turned out to be {{spoiler|David Keith, the sympathetic father and husband of the kidnapping victims and the very target of the plot!}}
* This is the easy way to spot the murderer in ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]''. In the first 10 minutes or so there will be a completely unimportant background character, often who has one unimportant line. They add nothing to the plot, and would not be missed. Example: in one episode the owner of a diner is being questioned in her own establishment. Halfway through the chat she turned to tell the "short order chef" to get on with his work. I turned to my wife and said "It's the cook." It was.
** The Miniature Killer, anyone? She appeared for about three seconds at the end of an episode, cleaning the floor in the lab, and later went on to be revealed as the killer.
* ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' loves this trope so much they pulled it ''twice''. ''In the same episode''. The villain in Mayhem {{spoiler|is actually two villains: the young teenage citizen who calls 911 to help Hotch, and the paramedic who comes to save them, violating the FBI's direct orders not to interfere.}}
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* Meanwhile on ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', the Ancient that becomes known to SG-1 as Merlin (Moros) slips in a cameo appearance nearly ''three years'' before he's even alluded to on ''SG-1''.
** In the ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' pilot "Rising", O'Neill's pilot (pun not intended) initially seems like a throwaway character... until he waltzes into the Antarctic outpost and it turns out that he possesses the Ancient gene, and is immediately recruited into the Atlantis Expedition. Turns out the pilot, Major Sheppard, is [[The Hero]] of the new series.
* In later seasons of ''[[Battlestar Galactica
** Another example from this show is the character Helo, who was meant to be a one-shot character in the pilot movie. He was well-received by fans, and there were enough inquiries about the fate of the character that they decided to keep him alive. He ultimately became an important character in the overall mythology of the series.
** This might be evidence of a complete lack of planning, or just a willingness to change course based on feedback or spontaneous ideas that crop up later, while keeping other previously planned details intact. [[Word of God]] was generally quite open about explaining in the podcast when something was spontaneous rather than planned, even down to changing the script based on actor improvisation.
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*** Apparently, Steve Perry only let the show use "Don't Stop Believing" {{spoiler|if no one died}} so in a way, Word of God says {{spoiler|Tony survived.}}
** Played straight by Tony's cousin, Tony Blundetto, whose actions in the fifth season are arguably the main catalyst for the New York-New Jersey War in the last season.
* In the first episode of ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'' we see advertisements for the Blue Sun Corporation. A little bit later on, we see the characters using various products from them. It turns out that Blue Sun is one of the [[Big Bad]]s that are peppered throughout the show, and their agents are a serious threat to our favorite crew.
** Blue Sun was one of the results of Executive Meddling. Fox wanted a [[Big Bad]], Fox got a big bad. They put the Blue Sun logo on the cargo containers in the pilot post-production.
* Eagle-eyed viewers of the classic ''[[Degrassi Junior High]]'' will spot numerous "extras" milling around the school that would later go on to play a major role in the series. One of whom was Spike, who wasn't even named for some time despite evolving into the crux of the drama at the end of the first season and turning into one of the franchise's longest running characters. You can see her at the school dance in the ''second episode'' as a throwaway character... making out with the guy who would later be the father of her child.
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== Web Comics ==
* Mike from ''[[Bob and George]]'' made a brief appearance [http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/index.php?date=010717 at the very end of Mynd's introductionary storyline]. In a [http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/index.php?date=010728 later animated strip], he and Chadling make an appearance as potential characters Proto Man could be teaming up (who turned out to be Roll). Both characters are [http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/index.php?date=010904 properly introduced] in the second storyline featuring Mynd.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130806180407/http://ozyandmillie.org/1998/04/29/ozy-and-millie-2/ The very first strip] of ''[[Ozy and Millie]]'' features background characters who would become important later.
* Jones from ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]''. [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=161 Her first mention in the comic] was so subtle that no one noticed it at the time. Then she was introduced standing next to the Headmaster at the parlay, watching the proceedings silently. As it turns out, she's responsible for training the future Medium, and she's a valuable source of information.
* In ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'', there is a small story where Linneaus, a Raccoonan pastor learns that the Alligator people in the swamp were looking for information about God and he volunteers to go to them as a missionary. While that story seems like a postscript story to the strip's first major continuity, there is a later story where a wizard tells of a boy with a powerful talent for magic who goes half-crazed in horror of his power and the people who tried to exploit him and he was last seen running into the swamp, never to be seen again. These stories may be unrelated, but given the religious allegory nature of the strip, it would seem that the boy is inadvertently heading for the one Raccoonan who can help him.
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** Renn'tekk, who first appears as a random, nameless tekk wrecking havoc in a tikedi village, but becomes an important character after the first perspective-flipped chapter.
** Shan'rekk too doesn't get a proper introduction when he first appears, although in his case it's plainly visible that he's important, or at least [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much|a very unique tekk]].
* Like the ''[[FoxTrot]]'' example, in a ''[[
* In ''[[Spacetrawler]]'', the apex speaker (and apparent [[Big Bad]]) Kuu-Drahc is accompanied by an unnamed personal assistant when he heads a meeting of the GOB. Later, the protagonists learn that Kuu-Drahc is ''not'' the big bad, but takes orders from a [[Man Behind the Man]] named Qwahntoo. Then they find out that Kuu-Drahc's "personal assistant" from earlier was actually Qwahntoo.
* ''[[The Other Grey Meat]]'' has a character named Chekov, who happens to be one of the few survivors of a failed raid on the [[Big Bad]].
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** When Twilight first arrives in Ponyville, a pink mare gasps and bolts. Turns out she's bolted to organize a welcome-wagon party.
** Time will tell if the Prince and Princess from ''Hearts and Hooves Day'' are this; there has been considerable [[Wild Mass Guessing]] on the subject.
* Sideshow Bob from ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'', who started out as simply being Krusty's assistant during Season 1 of the show, until a certain episode later in that season ("Krusty Gets Busted" {{spoiler|Which featured Bob framing Krusty for robbing the Kwik-E-Mart in order to supplant the clown from his own show.}}) introduced the now-familiar mad criminal genius angle that's been Bob's forte from that point on.
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** It may have happened anyway, Franz Ferdinand was just an excuse. Austria was going to invade the Balkans anyway.
* Way, way back in [[The Roaring Twenties]], there was an unimportant art student which had been rejected from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He served in the German Army during WWI, and reached the unimportant rank of Lance Corporal. He joined a small, two-bit political party that was deemed dangerous by the police (he was originally a police spy, before the party won him over), but otherwise not even a blip on the political radar. This man's name? [[Adolf Hitler]].
** Made even creepier when you have a look at [https://web.archive.org/web/20110514215944/http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blhitler14.htm this photograph] taken in the Munich Odeonsplatz when the First World War was declared. [[Adolf Hitler|Yes, he's back.]]
* Following the Russian Revolution and the establishment of the Soviet Union, there was a low level enforcer in the Bolshevik Party with the almost unpronounceable name of Iosef Besarionis dze Jughashvili. He managed to quickly rise through the ranks and changed his name to the much easier to pronounce, [[Joseph Stalin]].
* A librarian at the University of Peking spent most of his free time reading and discovered some books by a guy named Karl Marx. This avid reader was named [[Mao Zedong]].
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** Sterling Knight appeared in [[Hannah Montana]] before starring in [[Sonny With a Chance]].
* USA has done this too. Jeffery Donavan (Michael Weston) from [[Burn Notice]] and Frederick Weller (Marshall Mann) from [[In Plain Sight]] both had an appearance on [[Monk]] before starring in their own series'.
* [[Summer Glau]] had a guest spot in the Joss Whedon's ''[[Angel]]'' before starring in ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]''.{{context}}
* In 1919, 45 years before US involvement in [[The Vietnam War]], Ho Chi Minh wrote a letter to the [[World War I|Paris Peace Conference]] asking for French colonial domination of Vietnam to end. He was completely ignored, [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|which is believed only by some people to be a contributing factor
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:This Index Will Be Important Later]]▼
▲[[Category:Laws and Formulas]]
[[Category:Chekhov's Gun]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Not-So-Small Role]]
[[Category:One-Shot Character]]
▲[[Category:This Index Will Be Important Later]]
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