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Decoy Protagonist: Difference between revisions
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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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* 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 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 ''[[Discworld/Guards! Guards!|Guards! Guards!]]'' quite a few pages are spent making it look like Carrot is going to be the main character of the story, having all the traits of the classical hero, before Sam Vimes takes over as protagonist, not just of the book, but of the City Watch series.
** 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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* ''[[Re Boot]]'' could be subversion, with [[The Hero|Bob]] went MIA during the ''Web World Wars'' and focused on [[Bratty Half-Pint|Enzo]] [[I Got Bigger|growing up]] [[Plot-Relevant Age-Up|with]] [[Action Girl|AndrAIa]]. Until Bob returns and [[Fusion Dance|forms with Glitch.]]
* [[Mickey Mouse]] in ''[[Plutos Judgement Day]]''. Despite the short claiming that Mickey is the main character, it's actually [[Pluto the Pup|his dog Pluto]] that is the main focus of this short. Mickey actually punishes Pluto for chasing a cat around his house, and as a result the dog starts to have a nightmare about him going to Hell.
* 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
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[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Dead Herring]]
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