Demoted to Extra: Difference between revisions
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[[File:demoted-to-extra x-men11 5024.jpg|link=X-Men (film)|frame|Over the course of three films, Cyclops moves to the back (while [[Wolverine Publicity|Wolverine]] [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|moves to the front]]).]]
{{quote|''[[Lampshade Hanging|"Remember when we used to do stuff? You know, be out there with them and help?"]]''
|'''Bulma'''|''[[Dragon Ball Abridged]]''}}
We have a member of the supporting cast. They're important to the plot. Although, like any other minor character, they fall [[Out of Focus]] at times. Then comes the sequel, or the adaptation, or [[The Movie]], and... hey, where'd they go? They weren't completely written out, but they just weren't good enough to keep what importance they had in the original. The character's fanbase will complain, and everyone else may just accept it as the status quo. It's sad.
This always, always,
Opposite of the [[Ascended Extra]]; instead of a background or one-off character becoming a key member of the supporting cast, a key member of the supporting cast becomes a background or one-off character. Also contrast [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]]; there may not be anyone in particular that takes these characters' screentime, and the presence of a Spotlight Stealing Squad doesn't mean no one else is plot-important anymore. In works when [[Anyone Can Die]], characters fated to die frequently end up demoted to extra before their deaths.
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Berserk]]'', The Count and Rosine, in Manga they both have their own story arcs while in the first Anime they only show up in one episode.
* Caren, Coco and Noel in ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]''. The second arc of the manga shuffles them [[Out of Focus]], but they still maintain some importance and form a [[West Coast Team]] of [[Lovely Angels]]. The anime, though, shafts every single one of them. Noel doesn't even get [[A Day in the Limelight]] in the mountain of filler; Caren, a key figure in the first season, becomes completely useless in the second; and everything to do with Coco is cut from the plot. One episode actually reveals that Coco, Noel and Caren can't even fight off a member of the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] and are now comic relief.
* All of the original main characters from the ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'' manga were demoted to extras in the short-lived sequel, ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]] a la mode'', when [[Replacement Scrappy|manga-original]] [[Black Hole Sue|Shirayuki]] [[Creator's Pet|Berii]] was made the new main character. Although it is said this was due to [[Executive Meddling]], and the other Mew Mews were supposed to play a more important role, but Mia Ikumi was told not to include them very much, as she was restricted to two volumes.
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** The Amazoness Quartet are much more important characters in the manga than the anime. Not only were they the main secondary villains of their arc, but they're among the few villains in the manga to be redeemed—and since they were made from stolen and corrupted Senshi star seeds, they end up becoming the Asteroid Senshi who act as Chibiusa's bodyguards.
* ''[[Mai-Otome]]''
** Mai , though hinted at early in the anime series, doesn't appear in person ''at all'' until the very last arc. However, this is an [[Alternate Continuity]] to ''[[
** Her younger brother Takumi {{spoiler|and his bodyguard/girlfriend Akira}} are reduced to a two-episode arc in the middle of the series.
** Yuuichi, the male main character from ''[[
** Shizuru has a significantly reduced role in the ''[[Mai-HiME (manga)|Mai-HiME]]'' manga, as the subplot of her feelings for Natsuki is largely unexplored, and she isn't even a Hime. As a result, she does not {{spoiler|turn [[Psycho Lesbian]] and kill people}}. That was probably to make up for the anime forgetting about how [[Executive Meddling|that was supposed to be a SUBplot]].
* Poor Misawa Daichi in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]''. In the first season he was one of the main character's closest friends and rivals. In the second season he was slowly ignored, and was [[Put on a Bus]] half way through. In the third season he turned up again to provide [[Expospeak]], only to disappear again for a good part of the second arc, and appeared once to provide more [[Expospeak]], then to finally disappear for good. He wasn't even ''mentioned'' in the fourth season, and was one of the few characters from the very beginning to not get any sort of closure. Being Demoted To Extra is actually cited as the reason for his [[Face Heel Turn]] in season 2.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's]]''
** Jack Atlas was the main antagonist in the first season, once best friend and then arch rival of the protagonist, object of all his thoughts, a formidable opponent. Long story short: he was pretty badass. Neither did their conflict ever get solved, nor did he stay this important to the plot for long. He was taken off the beaten track via his new love interest Carly Nagisa, who occupied his sole attention throughout the whole second season. And in the third season, his only purpose seems to be used as a [[Plucky Comic Relief]] every now and then, together with and practically glued to the side of the main characters ''other'' BFF Crow, if he appears at all, holding no special importance to the plot whatsoever anymore, not to mention his former badassness.
** Aki in the first season was a formidable, destructive, and ominous [[
** Depending on how you look at it, most of the cast except Yusei could fall under this trope in the 3rd season.
* There's a character in ''[[Jubei-chan]]'' who not only gets this treatment in J2 but lampshades it. Everybody from ''[[Jubei-chan]]'' get this except the main character's father.
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* Those who start reading ''[[Akumetsu]]'' for the first time might think that Shinna is the main character. [[Decoy Protagonist|That only lasts for a couple chapters]] before the spotlight shifts to the title character.
* In the ''[[X 1999]]'' movie, Shiyu Kusanagi not only had his [[Gentle Giant]] and [[Friend to All Living Things]] persona stripped away to make him an explicit villain, but his relationship with Yuzuriha was left out, despite being probably ''the key'' aspect of his character, and to top it off, he was [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|killed in a very mean-spirited manner]] by ''[[Et Tu, Brute?|his own ally]]'' after only a few minutes of screen time. It could be justified as being necessary for the short length of the movie, but for fans of the character it was just ''painful''.
* Poor Yuuno. Once the partner to the title character of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', his status rapidly degrades with each passing season thanks to the growing [[Fundamentally Female Cast]]. It's telling that he's completely absent from the opening of the [[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
** Chrono suffers a similar fate thanks to his Y chromosone, but manages to stave off irrelevance until ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS|StrikerS]]'' due to playing a pretty major role in ''A's''.
** Really, even the female characters aren't immune to this, as a natural consequence of [[Loads and Loads of Characters]], and the series shifting in tone from a [[Seinen]] [[Magical Girl]] Show to a Space Military Show (with Magical Girls)
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** In ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'', Bianca is one of the main character's friendly rivals and makes frequent appearances. In the anime, she does show up fairly often but never really rises above the level of supporting cast. She's at least luckier than Cheren, who doesn't appear at all.
* Nozomi from ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' was a main character [[Title Drop|and the reason that the show's called Elfen Lied.]] However, she was written out of the anime. Towards the end of the manga, she becomes a [[Cute Mute]] due to injury, further pushing her out of the plot and turning her into background filler when she even appears at all. Arguably a good candidate for [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]].
* The ''[[Pretty Cure]]'' franchise loves [[Sixth Ranger]]s... unless they're Michiru and Kaoru, the [[Dark Magical Girl]] twins from ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star]]'', who share the dubious title of [[Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Trailer|Dame Not Appearing In This Trailer]]. If having no merchandise whatsoever despite being on a [[Merchandise-Driven]] show wasn't enough, they didn't even get to fight in the ''[[Pretty Cure All Stars]] DX'' movie and only showed up for a few seconds without any lines. It wasn't a voice actor issue, as Moop and Fuup, played by the same two people, appeared and got lines. No, Michiru and Kaoru just didn't get their spotlight for no good reason, even though every other Cure and support character in the history of the [[
** While not as bad as the above example, Honoka/Cure White also suffers from this. Supposedly co-stars with Nagisa/Cure Black. Actually appears half as much as her and has less episodes and scenes focused on her, plus she has no lover (Well, there's Kiriya, but he only appears a bit in the first season and [[Everything Fades|vanishes into light]] at the end. Fuji P. is around ALL the time both seasons), has almost no friends, and her family rarely appears. The exact opposite happens for Nagisa. The second season only made things worse, for [[Sixth Ranger|Hikari]] stole most of Honoka's screentime while Nagisa held a firm grip on most of hers, leaving poor Honoka with even less importance. And yet she's the more popular of the two. Go figure.
** In the first [[Non-Serial Movie]], Nagisa ''[[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|does everything]]'': She befriends the prince who oddly looks like [[Love Interest|Fuji P]]., he gives her the [[Chekhov's Gun|trinket that saves the day later]], she has a scene where she risks her life to save one of the [[Ridiculously Cute Critter]]s, and, worst of all, SHE and SHE alone gives the [[Filler Villain]] the [[Patrick Stewart Speech|lecture about love and whatnot]], when on the series proper they're always delivered by both girls trading lines. Honoka gets... two scenes where she warms up the [[Aloof Ally]]. That's it. Even ''Hikari'' has more memorable scenes, and she spends half the movie injured in bed! (In fact, she's there ''because'' of such awesome scenes!) At least the second movie was fairer to poor Honoka... by giving ''Hikari'' the shaft instead. As long as Nagisa has plenty of screentime...
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* In the second half of ''[[Death Note]]'', Misa loses much of her importance when, in order to fool the investigation team when they move to put her and Light under surveillance, she gives up her Death Note and her memories of it a second time. The SPK and Mello sometimes investigate her, but she shows up less often and does nothing of importance. Light's mother and sister faded from the plot after {{spoiler|Soichiro's death}}, and so did Ryuk, although he showed up at the end to {{spoiler|write Light's name in the Death Note}}.
** Sayu actually appears one final and brief time in the manga, in chapter 97 or so. She's shown in a panel at a coming-of-age ceremony, no longer {{spoiler|confined to a wheelchair from trauma}} but still slowly recovering, per [[Word of God]]. The anime cut that bit out when it came time to adapt that chapter.
* The ''[[Clannad (visual novel)|Clannad]]'' porn video, ''[[Parallel Porn Titles|Clonnad]]'' doesn't have Fuuko at all, despite being one of Clannad's five main heroines and the other 4 being there. Before you argue how she's similar to a loli and thus it's to be expected: Other movies by TMA had lolis when they were main characters ([[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni|Rika and Satoko]], [[Fate/stay night|Ilya]], [[Code Geass|Nunnally]] and so on. Nunnally even had a porn scene. She wasn't crippled, don't worry.) so this isn't a issue, at least for TMA. Second, these movies are 90% a crappy live-action version of the original anime and 10% porn so she could have appeared only on said 90%. And third, Kotomi and Tomoyo are also main heroines but didn't have porn scenes despite appearing (And [[All There in the Manual|they're actually the bustiest heroines, even]]!), making Fuuko's non-appearance even more bizarre and strange. And yes, that means only Nagisa and Kyou got porn scenes. And they're [[Character Focus|the heroines with the most screentime on the anime]] (With good reason, mind). [[There Are No Coincidences|Surely this isn't a coincidence]]...
* The ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' anime hasn't quite ended yet, but a lot of fans are wondering if Poland is ''ever'' going to get more than a three-second cameo, especially considering that his partner Lithuania has actually gotten a fair amount of screen time and arguably more minor characters like Belarus and Liechtenstein have received sizeable roles in at least two episodes so far. Spain and Sweden also suffer from this to some extent, with the characters they're seen the most frequently within the webcomic (Romano and Finland, respectively) being somewhat luckier than them.
** Ah, but our prayers have been answered! Poland practically gets his own episode later, removing him from the abandonment list. [[Valley Girl|Like, that's so hot!]]
** Unfortunately, Korea gets Demoted to Extra as well as been hinted to be erased from the manga altogether. It doesn't make his fans happy.
* In the ''[[To
** Mikan even lampshades this ''[[To Love Ru Darkness]]'', stating that she feels that she is becoming less important because Momo is taking away most of the things she used to do. However, she does get fairly good screentime so it's not a "true" example. A better example would be ''Lala'', the main heroine of the series, that has yet to get an episode truly about herself in ''Darkness'', the closest being one she shared with her sisters, but her sisters already get far more screentime anyway!
* All the main characters from ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'', except Takeru and Hikari, were demoted in ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]''. Taichi's giving his signature googles to Daisuke was almost symbolic of that transition. From there, the older kids became the younger ones' mentors and had occasional supporting roles. But their influence on the story was limited; in fact, they were hardly able to travel to the Digital World without the new Chosen Kids' help.
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* Loads of characters get demoted to extras in the ''[[Future GPX Cyber Formula]]'' series, starting from Johji Otomo, who can rarely be seen or heard after Hayato gets his Super Asurada 01 until the last four episodes, and eventually he [[Put on a Bus|retires from the Cyber GPX for good.]] The ''SIN'' OVA have many characters get demoted, especially [[The Ace|Randoll]], thanks to Hayato and Kaga's [[Super Mode]]s, with them [[Curb Stomp Battle|curbstomping]] their opponents left, right and center.
** This also happens in-series during the second half of the TV series when [[Tall, Dark and Snarky|Naoki Shinjyo]] is demoted after his boss [[Rich Bitch|Kyoko]] made a secondary team of Aoi Formula, Aoi ZIP Formula and made Bleed Kaga as the new team's driver. Kyoko herself gets demoted to vice president when Aoi Formula and Aoi ZIP Formula are merged into one team and the team chooses [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Kyoshiro Nagumo]] as the new president and Shinjyo was subsequently fired from the team. Needless to say, both of them are less than happy about the news.
* ''[[
** She actually gets more screen time than any other character besides Touma, she just doesn't get any action scene so many people fail to notice since that is all they pay attention to. May be part of the reason why [[Action Girl]] Mikoto is so popular.
** Index ''does'' get quite a few action scenes, just not big fights. And Mikoto doesn't get that much action anyway (In her spin-off, maybe, but in the parent series she rarely goes beyond beating [[mook]]s, and often offscreen at that).
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* This happens in ''[[Sin City]]'', mostly because different stories have different protagonists. For instance, Marv was the main character in the first story and a supporting character in the second. Aside from two one-shots, he was never the main character for any stories after that. Later stories have him showing up as an extra in the background (often if the scene takes place at Kadie's Bar) with one or two lines. [[Word of God]] states that he will be the focal point in future tales.
* In the later years of the feature, Toni Turner, best friend to ''[[Millie the Model]]'', seldom appeared, her role largely supplanted by "Millie's Redheaded Rival," the nastier and more colorful Chili Storm.
* [[Legacy Character|The third]] [[The Flash|Flash]], Wally West, was hit with this pretty hard. He started out as the original Kid Flash, before replacing Barry Allen as the Flash (And becoming the [[Trope Codifier]] for [[Sidekick Graduations Stick]]) following ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]''; even being used as the Flash over Barry in ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]''. After that, Wally remained the main character in the Flash series until ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'', when Bart Allen briefly took over the role for a year before Wally returned, at which point Wally took the series over again. Until ''[[Final Crisis]]'' brought Barry Allen [[Back
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* ''[[Star Wars]]'':
** Jar Jar Binks. Clearly set up as a Chewbacca for the prequels. Given only a cursory nod in the sequel and silently allowed to attend his dear friend's funeral in ''Episode III''. No doubt resulting from [[The Scrappy|the extreme distaste much of the audience had for him]].
** In the original cut of ''[[A New Hope]]'', Biggs Darklighter ([https://web.archive.org/web/20120725120851/http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/2/20/Biggs.jpg this] X-wing pilot) had a much more prominent role. He's actually Luke's best friend from Tatooine who left to join the Imperial Navy, but the scenes where we learn this were deleted. In one scene, Luke meets him while on shore leave and he confesses that he's defecting to the Rebellion. In another, he and Luke get an emotional reunion before the attack on the Death Star, which makes his death in the battle a lot more tragic. The special edition restored his reunion scene with Luke, but left out the early scenes where we learn who he is.
* The ''[[Star Trek]]'' films. Saavik, who was a major character in ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|The Wrath of Khan]]'' and ''[[Star Trek III: The Search For Spock|The Search for Spock]]'', made a brief appearance in only one scene in ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home|The Voyage Home]]'', and then was never seen again.
* In ''[[Serenity]]'' the characters of Book and Inara are set up as not living on the ship anymore. Shepherd Book is an odd example as he's only in two scenes in the entire movie ({{spoiler|the second of which [[Killed Off for Real|kills him off]]}}), less than any of the other main characters from the series. However, they're both [[One-Scene Wonder|really good scenes]] that play a major part in shaping [[The Hero|Mal's]] own story arc as well as shedding some light on the film's villain, so despite his limited screentime he ends up being one of the more important characters.
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* ''[[The Last Airbender]]'' naturally has this by virtue of trying to condense twenty episodes into two hours. However, it's especially noticeable with Momo, who, while admittedly a comic relief lemur, shows up just long enough to be introduced then does absolutely nothing but appear in the background of scenes for the rest of the movie. You seriously will forget he was in it at all. There's also Avatar Roku, who was a major player in the Avatar's quest in the show. In the movie, with the exception of a brief mention, he's completely removed and his mentor role to Aang is handled by a dragon...for some reason.
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' live action trilogy, perhaps the biggest casualty of this was Éomer, who was built up to be almost a [[Sixth Ranger]] to the trio of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli in the book of ''The Two Towers''. He was offscreen for much of ''The Two Towers'' movie as his role was merged with a minor commander who leads [[The Cavalry]] rescue at the fortress of Helm's Deep. Conversely, his sister Éowyn takes the almost-Sixth Ranger role since she also goes to Helm's Deep instead of leading civilians to another fortress. Their uncle King Théoden also takes his memorable lines and moments in ''The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''.
* In the Rankin/Bass animated version of ''[[The Lord of the Rings|The Return of the King]]'', Legolas and Gimli are reduced to background characters who have a few non speaking cameos, while Saruman doesn't appear at all.
* ''[[Harry Potter]]''
** Percy Weasley. He wasn't all that big a player in the books, usually being involved in the side-plots, but his estrangement from his family was a poignant reminder of what Dumbledore always said about Voldemort's gift for dividing loyalties.
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== Literature ==
* ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'':
** In the books and movies, Ginny Weasley in ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (novel)|Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' and ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (novel)|Goblet of Fire]]''. Gradually reverted in the later books, though.
** Colin Creevey had a moderate supporting role in the fourth and fifth books and then vanished entirely until ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (novel)|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'', when in only one or two lines it is explained that he {{spoiler|was killed by Death Eaters when Hogwarts was attacked. As a muggle-born (much less a sixth year), he wasn't even supposed to be there, but the author [[Hand Wave|Handwaved]] this by saying that he broke into the school to fight.}}
* Happened to most of the characters from the first series of ''[[Warrior Cats]]''. Characters like Sandstorm, Mistyfoot, Cloudtail and Graystripe (who was also [[Put on a Bus]] for ''three books'') don't make many appearances from the second series onward. Firestar still has a noteworthy presence as Clan leader, but he still isn't as important as the main characters. The second series characters were a bit better about this (except for Tawnypelt, whose purpose in the plot seems to be one of the few cats in ShadowClan who isn't a jerk, and to give birth to relatively important characters, and Stormfur, who has been [[Put on a Bus]] ''twice''), especially with Leafpool, who is still an important character after the end of the second series.
* In ''[[Avalon: Web of Magic]]'', [[The One Guy]] Zach appeared as a major character in the third book, at the end of which he seemed to be an important addition to the team. In books four to eleven, he's lucky if he gets a scene or two, or even a few lines of dialogue. However, the author says that he'll have a bigger role in the sequel trilogy, ''Shadow Warrior'', so he may just be [[Out of Focus]].
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** Frank Lapidus was also Demoted To Extra. He was a pretty major character during Season 4 and most of 5, but when Season 6 came around he seemed to have gotten lost in the shuffle and became an extra body and frequent cheesy [[One-Liner]]. Pretty ironic considering Jeff Fahey wasn't promoted to the main cast until Season 6.
** Made worse by the fact that we never really knew who Lapidus really was or where he came from, as he was one of the few main characters to never get his own flashback episode. The one flashback he did get was in an episode that he shared with several others, and all it did was explain how he got onto the freighter that came to the island.
* Steven Hill was originally the main star of ''[[Mission: Impossible]]'', but partway through the first season (after his returning to his roots of Orthodox Judaism meant that he refused to work after sundown on Fridays) he was downgraded to only appearing in a couple scenes per episode.
* During the final season of ''[[The Bob Newhart Show]]'', there are several episodes where Newhart himself has only one scene, which is not shared with any other characters (allowing him to perform one of his trademark one-sided telephone conversations).
* Done by necessity with some characters from ''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]'' due to the actors' age catching up with them.
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** Poor Potsie is the ultimate. Initially one of the major characters as Richie's pal, he stuck around when Richie & Ralph left the series. Some weak storylines had him as a "pledge" to Howard's Men's Club, but he ultimately vanished by the last season. He's one of the only cast members not to be there for the finale!
** Also poor Lori-Beth, who is a minor recurring character who later becomes Richie's steady girl. When Richie left, she stuck around, getting married to him over the phone, and giving birth to Richie's son when he was away. Eventually, she just stopped appearing entirely unless it was a special occasion, having little way to play off the others.
* Leoben, in the last half season of ''[[Battlestar Galactica
** He does get a larger role in ''The Plan,'' the feature length episode produced after the main series had finished. It was, however, set before the end of season 2, so quite what happened to Leoben (and the other Twos) is never addressed.
* Once Yutaka Ishinabe, Roksaburo Michiba, and Koumei Nakamura retired from their positions as [[Iron Chef]]s, they were demoted to extras, only appearing for specials.
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== Puppet Shows ==
* After the untimely deaths of [[Jim Henson]] and Richard Hunt, most of the [[Muppets]] they once played were handed down to new performers, starting with ''[[A Muppet Christmas Carol]]''. However, Henson's Rowlf and Dr. Teeth and Hunt's Janice and Scooter, all formerly major characters with sizable roles in previous Muppet productions, would be reduced to non-speaking background appearances or [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome|not appear at all]].
== Theatre ==
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** Luckily he got back in the spotlight in ''Rayman Origins''.
* Several characters in the ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' series, including Earthquake, Wan-Fu, Genan, Sieger, Jubei and Cham Cham (although a few of them returned as playable characters in later games, and Jubei was included in certain ports of ''Samurai Shodown III'').
* This happens ''mid-game'' for everybody but the main protagonist of ''[[Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume]]''. Characters are given compelling, interesting motivations and backstories, but the minute they decide to join the party as anything other than guest characters, the only time they say a word or even show up outside of battles is [[Explosive Overclocking|when you decide to sacrifice them to your Plume]].
* About half the cast of playable characters in ''[[Star Ocean]]: [[Star Ocean 3|Till The End of Time]]'' falls into this. Nel, Albel, and Mirage are fairly important characters in disk 1, then in disk 2 fade into obscurity. Adray, Peppita and Roger do this as well, though they never had a particularly major hand in the plot to begin with (Roger being the only 100% optional character). Since you are only allowed to bring along two characters out of Nel, Albel, Roger, and Peppita, the game has to fit their dialogue in rather awkwardly, and the other characters rarely if ever acknowledge their presence. Mirage is perhaps the most painful example, however - she doesn't even get this courtesy, since she was added in a version after the original released in Japan, and as such essentially gets no dialogue at all after she joins the party!
* This fate eventually befalls most of the secondary playable characters in ''[[Xenogears]]'', but a notable example involves the NPC Hammer. During the Kislev story arc, Hammer is almost omni-present. His network of black-market goods, information, and mechanical skill are vital in eventually helping the main character escape imprisonment. After the escape, Hammer virtually disappears for twenty-odd game hours, only re-appearing near the end of the Solaris arc. [[Genre Savvy|He understands]] that he has been Demoted to Extra, and the knowledge drives him to cross the [[Moral Event Horizon]] at a certain point.
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* Isn't it sad, [[Guilty Gear|Justice]]? After the first game, sure its understandable you're dead, but you barely had any lasting impact beyond {{spoiler|possibly being Dizzy's mother}}. Even this wiki has forgotten it was YOU who was the first to use the Gamma Ray move in a ''GG'' game. Also, Kliff Undersn, who after ''GG1'', story-wise, dies offscreen with barely any mention why or how. When they do appear they're probably only added due to fan demand and are usually removed due to balance issues.
* Victor Sullivan in ''[[Uncharted]] 2: Among Thieves'', who was a major character in the first game but only accompanies you for two chapters of the second before deciding he wants out. In "Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception," Sullivan becomes a main character once again, only for the main female leads of 2, Elena and Chloe, to be demoted to extras.
* Ogres suffered this in the ''[[Warcraft]]'' series. In ''Warcraft II'' they were the most important part of the Horde next to orcs and the only non-orcs who led orc clans and there were several important ogre-mage characters. In ''Warcraft III'' they were no longer part of the Horde, and now had the small role of neutral mercenaries and hostile creeps. They were also inexplicably weaker compared to the [[Elite Mooks|powerful units]] they were in ''Warcraft II'' and resorted to using clubs rather than [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]. In the expansion pack a [[Nonhuman Humanoid Hybrid|half ogre]] was introduced, and an ogre/goblin [[Hero Unit]] was introduced. Most importantly they rejoined the Horde in the story hinting at a greater role in future games. But then, in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' the ogres' home is destroyed by [[
** Happened to the Blood Elf race - except for Kael'thas - in the ''Frozen Throne'' expansion of Warcraft 3. The "human" campaign largely on the plight of Kael'thas and his Blood Elf remnants... for about two and a half missions. Then they grew [[Out of Focus]] as the story importance shifted to Illidan and his Naga (the fact that the Blood Elf forces were completely irrelevant compared to the much stronger Naga didn't help). By the middle of the Undead campaign, the Blood Elves were out-and-out [[Mook]]s with the exception of [[The Dragon|Kael'thas]] himself.
** While trolls in general seem to be the go-to race for evil mooks, troll heroes tend to either vanish into obscurity or be [[Driven to Villainy]]. And the playable Darkspear tribe—a late (and somewhat rushed) addition to the baseline game to begin with—have been largely sidelined.
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* Many playable characters from the first [[Baldur's Gate]] game make cameo appearances as NPCs in the sequel.
* Luis from [[Resident Evil 4]] isn't playable in mercenary mode, despite the fact that he showed himself to be capable of using a gun in story mode and a total [[Badass Spaniard]], yet Hunk, who has no bearing in the main story, appears.
* [[
* The [[Super Mario Bros.]] series and spinoffs has a few. Look at [[Mario & Luigi|Fawful,]] who went from [[The Dragon]] to minor NPC... right back to [[Big Bad]] by the next game. Or [[Super Mario Land|Tatanga,]] who went from [[Big Bad]], to boss, to vanishing off the face of the planet. King Boo went from [[Big Bad]] to standard boss after [[Luigi's Mansion|Luigis Mansion]], the Koopalings ended up in fairly mediocre roles after Yoshi's Safari up [[New Super Mario Bros. Wii]] and Professor E Gadd went from important character, to minor NPC, to [[Put on a Bus]].
** And [[Super Mario Galaxy|Rosalina.]] Despite helping Mario save both Peach and the entire Mushroom Galaxy from Bowser in ''Super Mario Galaxy'', as well as being a playable character in the ''[[Mario Kart]]'' games, in ''[[Super Mario Galaxy 2]]'', she actually does not appear until ''after'' Bowser is defeated at the end of the game.
* Tawna, the title character's original girlfriend from the ''[[Crash Bandicoot]]'' series, only made a few returns appearances following her role as [[Damsel in Distress|damsel-in-distress]] in the first game. The game designers decide to explain away her absence in the second game by stating in the ([[Missing Episode|now-defunct]]) official website that Tawna left Crash for Pinstripe Potoroo.
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== Visual Novels ==
* Satsuki Yumizuka a.k.a. "Sacchin" from ''[[Tsukihime]]''. She quickly disappears on each route of the game despite being set up as another possible heroine, and in some branches {{spoiler|she is quickly and cruelly dispatched by Shiki Tohno after becoming a vampire and declaring her admiration for him in a truly [[Tear Jerker]] moment}}. The anime lets her {{spoiler|survive unvampirized in the [[Muggle]] sidelines}}, but other than that it didn't treat her much better; the manga, more of the same. In ''[[Melty Blood]]'' she re-appears, but {{spoiler|as an enemy, in her vampire form. She is quite real (and dangerous) in the game, but in its manga adaptation she is the form that Tatari took after discovering Shiki's guilt for having had to kill her, and then he has to dispatches her ''again''}}. In truth, she is more famous for how she ''doesn't'' appear that much on the other semi-official media, and the unreleased "Satsuki route" (which was supposedly planned and partially written but cut out, and is allegedly the one where the events of ''[[Melty Blood]]'' happen) is one of the running jokes of the franchise and the fandom, a thing not helped by the fact that the remake of the game, which allegedly would contain her route, has been stuck in [[Vaporware]] for
* Assassin, Shinji and Zouken in ''[[Fate/hollow ataraxia]]'' get much smaller roles than they did in ''[[Fate/stay night]].'' Well, Assassin had a small role anyway. The latter two probably get smaller roles because the game as a whole is lighter in tone and they were two of the darkest characters.
**In the long term, they have been this for the ''Fate/'' franchise. At least Assasin got it better when he became an unlockable playable character in ''Fate/Grand Order'', but by then he has but fallen off the road (and his ''F/GO'' incarnation is basically cannon fodder). Shinji, on the other side, has been promoted to the franchise [[Butt Monkey]], as seen by his role in ''[[Fate Extra|Fate/Extra]]''.
* Good luck finding a decent Shiori figure from ''[[Kanon]]''. At least [[Kyoto Animation]] did her arc justice, and her falling out of the public eye might be because she doesn't have a "seven years ago" connection and is just a normal [[Ill Girl]]. In the 2002 anime, she, Makoto and Mai all fell victim to this, having their arcs squished into one episode each [[All There in the Manual|with key portions removed]].
* Similarly, Kano and Minagi in ''[[AIR]]''. Everything from merchandise to posters to, well, the backstory of the game makes it clear that this is Misuzu's story. Therefore, their routes are just there so the game can't be accused of having no variety—and [[Fridge Logic|when you think about it]], if either of them wins, then the incarnations of Kanna will live and die in loneliness and pain for all eternity (especially with Kano's "good" ending). They were completely removed from the movie adaptation, and their arcs were shrunk to three episodes each in the [[Kyoto Animation]] version. They do each have one good figure, though. One.
* From the original ''[[Clannad (visual novel)|Clannad]]'' game we have Yukine, who, much like poor Sacchin, was originally planned to be one of the main heroines.
** And in ''After Story'', anyone whose last name isn't Okazaki or Furukawa gets shafted in terms of the spotlight halfway.
** Also Kappei. He was a pretty important character in the original visual novel, but never appears in the anime, EVER.
==
* Dr. Lorna hasn't had more than the (very) occasional reference in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' for years, despite being {{spoiler|Riff's mom}} and still living in the same town by all accounts. She's essentially been [[Put on a Bus]], having {{spoiler|disowned Riff}} and fired Gwynn and Zoe, leaving her with no connections to the cast (and satirizing Dr. Laura no longer being in style).
* Stephan used to be a much bigger part of ''[[Ozy and Millie]]''. The cartoonist explains that he was created to represent the overly confident geeks of the dotcom era; when the dotcom bubble burst, there simply wasn't as much of a place for Stephan.
* Happens to several characters in ''[[Something
* It's happened a few times in ''[[Real Life Comics]]''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131127133109/http://www.reallifecomics.com/characters/ Officially], this list includes Danny, Crystal, and the first Liz. However, anyone but Pal and Alan Extra under the Supporting Characters section get precious little panel exposure. In fact, it doesn't appear that Debbie or Cliff have appeared in the comic for years.
** This is actually lampshaded in [http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/100604.html this strip] where it's questioned if anyone remembers Ben at all
* Mr. Birdbeak from ''[[Tragic Deaths]]''. In the first three comics that that Petalklunk made, he was the main focus, but now he's only made one appearance after it switched focus to the war between Petalklunk and Mr. Bignose.
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* In ''[[Least I Could Do]]'', Rayne's best friend John was given a rather strong demotion as writers switched over, being replaced with a long lost best friend. He began to see a resurgence in later times, though. Supposedly, this is because he was based on the writer's real best friend, who he had a falling out with.
* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', this happens to several characters after they get killed. They then recognize that this is happening, and one makes it their mission to become relevant again (dragging a friend along for the ride whether he wants to get back into the spotlight or not).
== Web Original ==
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* Luanne on ''[[King of the Hill]]'' was in nearly all the episodes for the first three seasons. When she moved into her own house midway through the fourth season she was quietly changed to a recurring character, often not appearing for weeks unless the episode was specifically focused on her. Later on in the series she was upgraded again and became a semi-regular, appearing in about half the episodes.
* [[Disney]] related material
** Mickey Mouse, amazingly enough. While still Disney's mascot, he rarely appears in cartoons nowadays other than holiday and anniversary one-shot specials, his only important role being in the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' franchise.
** Several [[The Lion King|Lion King]] spin-offs have Simba suffering from this, in favour of Timon and Pumbaa, such as in the aminated series, in which Simba only appeared a couple of times, and the third Lion King movie which is all about Timon and Pumbaa stealing scenes from the first movie. This was eventually lampshaded in an episode of ''[[House of Mouse]]'', when Timon and Pumbaa are introduced by Mickey Mouse, Simba moans "[[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|Those guys always get all the attention!]]"▼
** Also happened to Donald in ''[[DuckTales (1987)|DuckTales]]'', the series focusing on Scrooge McDuck, Hewey, Dewey, and Louie, with Donald joining the Navy and only appearing as a [[Recurring Character]]. He does, however, appear far more often in [[DuckTales (2017)|the relaunch.]]
▲** Several [[The Lion King|Lion King]] spin-offs have Simba suffering from this, in favour of Timon and Pumbaa, such as in the
** The entire cast of ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', including the titular character, suffered this fate as the later merchandise based on the film now focus on [[Disney Princess|Jasmine.]] Considering that The Disney Princess line of merchandising is quite profitable and has become in an odd way, it's OWN spinoff from the various Disney films that each princess comes from, this may not be the case with Jasmine—or perhaps, the fate of any character associated with a Disney Princess.
** And Flounder from [[The Little Mermaid|''The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea'']], where he is also now portrayed as a father to several baby fish.
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** Chef was showing up less and less (after being more or less the fourth most important character on the show) before he was killed off.
** Pip, one of the most vocal and visible of the kids at South Park Elementary at the show's start, and got a whole episode to himself, got pushed away into the background as the show progressed, and has now vanished completely. Then he [[Back for the Dead|returned]] to [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|have a mecha's foot dropped on him.]]
** Cartman's mom was the parent that was seen the most often. Due to her serving Eric's every whim and being a total whore, [[
** Kyle's parents have gradually dropped out of sight, as well. Sheila was a major antagonist/WellIntentionedExtremist in the early years, including the movie, and she's all but disappeared in the later seasons.
** Stan's sister Shelley was extablished to be a sociopath who beat up her brother in often over-the-top ways, but now she's become a generic sister character, with her original personality showing once in a blue moon (see "Over Logging"). Later in "Broadway Bro Down", Shelley was given a subplot that attempted to show a softer side to her.
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** Larry the Lobster got some decent roles early on, but seems to have been forgotten as a character in later seasons.
** A lot of recurring characters from the show seem to have been abandoned most of the time due to the unhealthy amount of focus with [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|Mr. Krabs and Plankton]]. Such as Sandy, Gary, Mrs. Puff, Pearl, Larry, The Flying Dutchman, Karen, and Patchy the Pirate.
* In ''[[Hey Arnold!]]''s [[The Movie|movie]], Phoebe Hyerdahl only gets one line, and the only memorable thing she does in it is run into some newsguy's camera. (For that matter, none of the minor recurring characters, except [[Stalker with a Crush|Brainy]], get any credit.) The movie that Craig ''didn't'' get to make supposedly would have re-dressed the balance. According to [https://web.archive.org/web/20130620190040/http://heyarnold.wikia.com/wiki/The_Jungle_Movie this Wikia article], the [[Out of Focus|much-ignored]] Nadine would have finally gotten some screentime in it.
* Pongo and Perdita, the main characters of the ''[[One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]'' movie, are secondary characters in the TV series. The episode "The Making Of..." [[
* Lots of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' characters, especially those from the show's first two seasons. For instance, in Season 1, Lewis was regularly seen with Bart and Milhouse, and was explicitly said to be Bart's 2nd best friend. He was quickly demoted to background character, and even those appearances are getting rarer.
** [[Lampshade Hanging]] in the episode "Das Bus":
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'''Bart:''' Well, whatever. Just tell Wendell I said bye. }}
** And another was hung in "Homer to the Max";
{{quote|'''Homer:''' I don't understand what happened. Why did they change [[Name's the Same|Homer Simpson]]'s character from cool to stupid?
'''Lisa:''' The first episode was just a [[Pilot]], Dad. [[Executive Meddling|Producers fiddle with shows all the time!]] They change characters, [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome|drop others]], and push some into the background.
(Mr. Largo and the Capital City Goofball walk by in the Simpsons' background window as Lisa says this.) }}
** Perhaps the most notable is Phil Hartman's characters, Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz; [[The Character Died with Him|after he was murdered, these characters were retired out of respect]], and although they sometimes appear in scene backgrounds, no longer have lines.
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* Hayley from ''[[American Dad]]'', particularly from Season 3 on. Compare her screen time with Francine's, Steve's, or Roger's. Arguably because the show switched from politics driven to character/story emphasis, and her personality wasn't much developed other than as the [[Strawman Political|strawman liberal]].
** Also, some say Klaus has had very little screentime or lines in later years, but he still appears about the same, and has about the same number of lines he always has had (albeit both have always been very brief). One could argue he was, and always has been an extra.
* ''[[The Fairly
** Timmy Turner's best friends, Chester and A.J. In the beginning, both of the boys were major characters; including early episodes that centered on Timmy's friendship with these two, but they now appear very sporadically, often in non speaking roles. A.J. seems to have suffered the worst from this trope.
** It's most evident with Veronica, Trixie's "best friend", after season five.
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== Real Life ==
* After the [[Virtual Boy]] flopped, Gunpei Yokoi (though it wasn't actually his fault; the suits at Nintendo rushed it out a year before production was to be completed) was given what amounted to a desk job and had no real power. He would later leave Nintendo entirely.
* After a company merger with AOL, Ted Turner was [[Kicked Upstairs|given a figurehead desk job]] with no real power in the company's decision making.
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*** [[The Roman Empire]], not so much. [[The Holy Roman Empire]] still wields a disproportionate amount of power, however.
** Iran is regarded as the first world empire. Throughout the history, it conquered most of the known world. It kept its power even after the Arab conquest, and up until the 18th century, it played an important role in world affairs. But now? Just a third-world theocratic despot.
** Ottoman Empire, it
* Most of the world's remaining monarchies are now constitutional monarchies within a parliamentary system. In such cases, the real power resides in the Parliament (and in the person of the Prime Minister.) The monarch's position becomes largely, and often entirely, ceremonial. Even in cases where the constitutional monarch has considerable residual or theoretical power (e.g., [[The House of Windsor|Great Britain]]), the power is seldom ''exercised''.
* Happened to dinosaurs: for a hundred millions years, they were the dominant animals on land. Now that mammals and humans in particular have taken over, what remains of them? Birds...
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** Although to a certain extent, this might just be cultural. There are many cultures where even after the child grows up and gets married, his or her parents remain very much a big part of their lives (and are culturally expected to remain so), ''especially'' when they live close by.
* The 25 models on ''[[Deal or No Deal]]'' were the main attraction of the game show, but when the show became syndicated and the prize money was reduced, all but 2 of the models were replaced with contestants hoping their number would be picked so they can play the game, and if not, the contestants would open the cases during the game. The two models used in this version were for only spinning the wheel to see who can play and removing cases that were picked.
== Meta ==
* When a character-named trope has its name changed here or on [[TV Tropes]], it can end up demoting that character from star to being just another example. For instance, Spike<ref>No, not [[Cowboy Bebop|that Spike]]. Or [[Going Postal (Discworld)|that Spike]]. Or [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|that Spike]], either.</ref> is now just one more instance of [[Badass Decay]] instead of being the defining instance of "Spikeification".
* Satsuki from [[Tsukihime]] is the center of [[Memetic Mutation|the meme]] "Isn't it Sad, Sacchin". What makes Satsuki's lucklessness worth a section here, is that it even extends
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Real Life Writes the Plot]]
[[Category:Cast Filler Tropes]]
[[Category:Characters and Casting]]
▲[[Category:Demoted to Extra]]
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