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[[File:kamina thumb.jpg|link=Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|frame|Guess which of these two is the main character! <ref>It's the kid.</ref>]]
{{quote|''"Long time ago on a planet long forgotten by time, a young hero was born, a righteous Saiyan warrior who would bring peace to the galaxy. This...
|'''Narrator'''|''[[Team Four Star|Bardock: The Father of Goku Abridged]]''}}
So you've got your hero. He's practically has a giant neon sign over his head that says he's a hero. It might be subtle, but it's fairly obvious you've found the guy who'll save the day, get the girl, and live a long and hap—what the? Did he just get bitten in half by a mutant [[Tyrannosaurus Rex|T. Rex]]?
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'''s [[Secondary Character Title|main character isn't Madoka]]. It's {{spoiler|Homura}}.
* Taken [[Up to Eleven]] in ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]''. After Keiichi has been the main character for three arcs spanning the first 13 episodes, his spotlight is taken away for the rest of the season, with three arcs devoted to Akasaka, Shion, and Rena. Then the first episode of the second season focuses on Akasaka and Ooishi. Then we get an arc centered around Satoko. The eventual main character? {{spoiler|Furude Rika}}, a [[True Companions|True Companion]] who had received the least attention prior to the reveal. Keiichi still plays a critical role, though, as a source of inspiration and courage.
** And in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'', {{spoiler|Bernkastel}} actually attempts to {{spoiler|[[Hijacked by Ganon|hijack the whole setup]] through her game piece, [[Replacement Scrappy|Erika]]}}, effectively weaponizing this concept.
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* For the first dozen volumes of the manga and all of the anime, ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]s'' seems to be a typical shounen series about strength and determination, centering on typical shounen hero Syaoran with the other characters in supporting roles. However, that changed when Syaoran {{spoiler|[[Face Heel Turn|turned out to be a clone and puppet of the Big Bad,]] splitting off from the party and going to wreak evil havoc.}} At that point the focus of the series switched to former motivational love interest Sakura, at least until {{spoiler|SHE died}} several volumes later.
** {{spoiler|Clone Syaoran}} can still be considered to be the main protagonist for the first half.
* Despite featuring an [[Ensemble Cast]], [[Naoki Urasawa]]'s ''[[
* While we're on the subject of Naoki Urasawa, {{spoiler|Richard Braun}} is this for ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]''. Not an entirely straight example, because he isn't this way for the series as a whole, just for an arc that takes up volumes 5-9. Still for that arc, this trope definitely applies.
* And back to Urasawa, ''[[Pluto]]'' {{spoiler|tells the story mostly from Gesicht's point of view for the first six volumes - up until his murder. Epsilon and then Atom take on the mantle of the hero, though Gesicht's memories play a role in the final confrontation against Pluto.}}
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** Also, the Destiny TV Movies were narrated from Athrun's point of view.
* In the second "season" of ''Takemitsu Zamurai'', a bandit leader named "[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Glass-eyed]] Tetsuzo" is set up to be the new antagonist after landing in jail. Unfortunately he's {{spoiler|[[Too Dumb to Live]] and kicks previous antagonist [[Implacable Man|Kikuchi]] awake.}} The next morning, Tetsuzo is found {{spoiler|''with his head twisted off'' and Kikuchi}} is now the owner of a {{spoiler|pretty marble, which he eventually uses to burn the prison down}} and escape.
*
* {{spoiler|Gohan, Videl, and Goku}} in the 13th [[Dragonball Z]] movie, ''Wrath of the Dragon''. Not a death example, but after the first act, the focus switches from them to Trunks and Tapion and arguably stays there for the rest of the film.
* In ''[[Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou]]'' Yumiko has the focus in the First Episode until its shown that Koyomi is The Main Character
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* ''[[Puella Magi Oriko Magica]]'', had an odd case. For starters, the title character ''isn't even on the cover of the first volume''. In fact, {{spoiler|it's an [[Antagonist Title]]; Oriko is the villain.}} The real protagonists, at least in the first volume, are Kyouko and Yuma, the girl who actually was on the cover. Mami functions as a secondary protagonist. {{spoiler|And then in the second volume, [[Hijacked by Ganon|Homura]] [[Inverted Trope|becomes the protagonist]].}}
* Takashi of ''[[All Rounder Meguru]]'' is clearly the star of the prologue, and his storyline is the heaviest and most dramatic element of the series, but Meguru's the one with his name in the title.
== Comic Books ==
* Like a lot of comics, [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[Black Orchid]]'' lampshades [[Bond Villain Stupidity]]. Unlike most, the [[Mook]] really ''[[Defied Trope|does]]'' shoot the main character in the head. He doesn't know that [[Good Thing You Can Heal|she can regenerate]], but he [[Kill It with Fire|sets her on fire]] to be absolutely certain she's [[Deader Than Dead]]. Given this is on the second page of the first issue, it's a good thing [[Me's a Crowd]].
* Similarly, Gaiman's ''[[The Sandman]]'' gave us a Decoy Antagonist with Roderick Burgess, the warlock who imprisons Dream in the first issue. He seems to be set up as the [[Big Bad]], or at least as a major antagonist. Then it turns out that the first issue spans ''70 freakin' years''. By the end of issue #1, Burgess has died of old age, and his son Alex is a harmless, senile old man. After Dream escapes, he leaves him in a permanent nightmare and never sees him again.
* ''Shakara'' from [[2000 AD]]
* Used to great effect in ''Origin'', in which it turns out that the kid who looks like a young Wolverine and is nicknamed "Dog" isn't the one who grows up to be [[Wolverine]], and in fact disappears after the origin story ends.
* ''[[The Mask (comics)|The Mask]]'' comics is a very good example of this. Stanley may be the first person to wear the [[Artifact of Doom]] but he is not the main character. It is debatable after the 2nd series of books whether the wearer of the mask is the main character or if it is Kellaway (the [[Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist]]). And Big Head is just [[The Big Bad]].
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==
* One no-one saw coming in ''[[Fairly English Story]]''. Amazingly for a fanfiction, it was both unexpected, foreplanned, and incredibly well done.
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** Played with in the fourth film. [[Emma Roberts|Jill]] is set up as an [[Expy]] of her cousin Sidney, her actions mirroring those of Sidney in the first film, and everything seems to be on the way for her to become the [[Final Girl]]. {{spoiler|Turns out she's the killer.}}
* ''A Perfect Getaway''. The seeming main characters are {{spoiler|not only ''not'' the protagonists, they turn out to be the ''villains''. The actual protagonists}} only show up twenty to thirty minutes into the film.
* ''The Spectre
* Most people assume that Aurora is the protagonist of Disney's ''[[Sleeping Beauty (Disney film)|Sleeping Beauty]]'' and get annoyed that she is so underdeveloped. It was planned for her to be a protagonist, but the final film has the three fairies as the protagonists and basically do most of the stuff for both Aurora and Phillip.
* Ilios from Lucio Fulci's ''Conquest'' is [[The Chosen One]], possesses one of the few bows in the film's world, and is on [[The Quest]]. He tends to screw up and gets rescued by his sidekick, Maxz. And then {{spoiler|the minions of the [[Big Bad]] kill him and Maxz takes up his bow, completing the quest}}.
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* Unless you had seen the poster or trailer for the first ''[[Bring It On]]'' movie, the opening sequence would lead you to believe that {{spoiler|Big Red}} is the main character. Then, mid-song, the focus shifts to {{spoiler|Torrance}}. Granted, {{spoiler|Torrance}} is there in the first part of the song too, but she's off to the side or in the background. No one dies, but it otherwise fits this trope.
* {{spoiler|Aziz}} in ''[[An American Carol]]''. {{spoiler|He doesn't die, but it is Michael}} who is the actual hero. Interestingly, {{spoiler|Aziz is portrayed as a [[Villain Protagonist]]. Michael effectively replaces him, but is portrayed as a well-meaning, dim-witted [[Action Survivor]]}}.
* ''[[
* ''[[Limitless]]'' has variation: a Decoy ''Secondary'' Protagonist. The first time we see Bradley Cooper (the protagonist) is him being dumped by his girlfriend (played by Abbie Cornish) which provokes a flashback to his ex-wife (played by Anna Friel) who dumped him years earlier. Since the very next character he meets his his ex-wife's ''brother'' and since Friel is a bigger name than Cornish the audience naturally assumes the ex-wife is going to be an important character. {{spoiler|Friel gets one five minute scene hallway through the film and is never referenced again while Cornish ends up hooking back up with Cooper and playing an important, if supporting role.}}
* At the end of ''[[Sucker Punch]]'', the protagonist Baby Doll has a revelation that {{spoiler|the movie isn't actually her story at all, but actually Sweet Pea's. She sacrifices her own freedom for Sweet Pea once she realizes she was only ever meant to be the catalyst for Sweet Pea's escape from the mental asylum}}.
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* In [[Bram Stoker's Dracula]], Jonathan Harker appears to be the heroic protagonist for the first quarter until the focus shifts to his fiancee Mina for the rest of the film and Jonathan fades into the background as a supporting character. {{spoiler|Mina is even the one who vanquishes Dracula in the end.}}
* ''[[Pitch Black]]'' had {{spoiler|Carolyn who dies at the end and its Riddick who ends up starring in his own movie}}.
== Literature ==
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* In the first ''[[Marcus Didius Falco]]'' novel, the young female character who encounters Falco seems to be the second protagonist and then she's {{spoiler|murdered}} and her aunt ends up as {{spoiler|Falco's love interest and the second major character}} throughout the series.
** ''The Course Of Honour'' appears to be Caenis' story, but in reality, it's the story of the rise of Vespasian, seen through Caenis' eyes.
* Highly pronounced in Susanna Clarke's ''[[Jonathan Strange
* Though he doesn't die, in ''[[
** This was how it was intended to be, before [[Terry Pratchett]] realised Vimes had more character and switched protagonists.
* ''The Zero Game'': The apparent protagonist [[Revealing Coverup|is murdered]] four chapters in, with the narration switching to his friend.
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== Video Games ==
* In ''[[
** {{spoiler|One of the rare occurances where the decoy protagonist is playable most of the game. However, the story is really how Cole's drive as a marine and a detective spurred Kelso to do the right thing and that Jack had a lot to learn from his rival, who was neither his friend nor his enemy.}}
* [[Unwitting Pawn|Harry Mason]] seems to be the protagonist of ''[[Silent Hill 1]]'' at first, but as the game goes on it becomes clear that the main focus is on Alessa Gillespie. Harry actually has very little importance to the plot, until he {{spoiler|kills Alessa. In two of the endings, at least}}.
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== Webcomics ==
* In [http://mitadakesaga.webcomic.ws The Mitadake Saga]{{Dead link}}, we're initially led to believe that {{spoiler|Zaraki Yagami is the protagonist. He's the first character we focus on and the first chapter is about him getting a weapon to defend himself with. Then, just as he's done so, he suddenly drops dead of a heart attack, showing the real protagonist, Zero Nanaya}}, the true weight of the situation.
* Invoked in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=971019 here]
{{quote|''"What is this? A sci-fi thriller or a goofy buddy movie?"''}}
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* Subverted in the ''[[King of the Hill]]'' episode, ''Aisle 8A''. Bobby is the main character for the first act, then the focus shifts to Hank for the second act, and finally back to Bobby in the third act.
* [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WYfblufc8eM/TNXA8DOLYVI/AAAAAAAAAaU/tJoOJMj-Ahc/s1600/Transformers_Prime_Poster__scaled_800.jpg Promotional artwork] for [[Transformers Prime]] showed a team of six Autobots. One of them, Cliffjumper, was the star of the comic released before the show debuted, and was also announced to be voiced by fan-favourite [[Dwayne Johnson]]. The first five minutes of the show follow Cliffjumper as he finds the Decepticons have arrived on Earth...and then he gets [[Killed Off for Real|stabbed through the chest by Starscream]]. The other bots end up being a traditional [[Five-Man Band]].
* ''[[
* [[Mickey Mouse]] in ''[[
* From episode 1, ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]'' sets up [[The Chosen One|Omi]] as [[The Hero]]. For awhile, this is undoubtedly the case; he is [[The Ace|the most skilled]], gets [[Adorably Precocious Child|the most attention]], and gets the most opportunities to [[Big Damn Heroes|save his teammates]]. As the series goes on, he still gets the most attention (including [[We Can Rule Together|special training]] from Season 2's [[Big Bad]]), plus the [[Arrogant Kung Fu Guy|ego to show for it]] and the most [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]] moments, so that by the start of Season 3 he's the [[Badass in Distress|one being saved]], and {{spoiler|[[The Atoner|Rai]][[Took a Level
* Played in a similar manner for Rufus in ''[[The Dreamstone]]'' with the pilot episodes establishing his role as assistant to the [[Big Good|Dream Maker]] and having [[Took a Level
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Dead Herring]]
▲[[Category:Decoy Protagonist]]
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