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{{trope}}
==Subpages==
{{subpages}}
==Other Examples==
* ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' has a fairly big history of this. Their first big star after Buddy and Beans The Cat was a minor character in a series of shorts about a group of grade school animals, but his role as the stuttering, somewhat unlucky [[Straight Man]] role proved popular with fans and [[Porky Pig]] soon became their premiere character. After a few years, a cartoon featured Porky going on a ducking hunting trip, running into all sorts of wacky mishaps, one of which was an off kilter duck that only appeared in two scenes (and the credits), put his loony, unconventional antics proved so popular that soon that [[Daffy Duck|"Daffy" Duck]] got his own cartoons and became their next star, until the process repeated itself yet again with their now premiere character, [[Bugs Bunny]].
** One of the strangest examples: the nameless drunk cat with the red nose, big lips, saggy jowls, dickie shirt with bow tie and bandage on his tail. He only appeared in the [[Bob Clampett]]-directed "Kitty Kornered" as a pet of Porky Pig who teamed up with Sylvester and two smaller cats, but he proved popular enough to appear in many of the spin off series of the 1980's and 90's including ''[[
** Marvin the Martian also fits this only having a handful of short in the Looney Toons canon but ended up becoming the primary antagonist in ''[[Duck Dodgers]]'' and even getting his own [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip1usqfHFOc music video]
** Another example would be Taz the Tasmanian Devil. Originally he was only going to appear in one cartoon but he was saved by fans requesting he make more appearances; he made 4 additional cartoons and a major role as a villain in the Christmas special, proving popular enough to get his own [[Taz
** To a far lesser extent, Penelope Pussycat, originally the unlucky nameless cat who would get chased by Pepe in his shorts has been gaining her fair share of popularity these days as well.
*** Also Pepe himself, although to [[Moral Guardians|certain other people]] he is seen as [[The Scrappy]].
** There's also [[One Froggy Evening Cartoon|Michigan J. Frog]]. He appeared in just one [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wdWUWzsm8M seven-minute short], but is one of the more popular and recognizable minor characters in the [[Looney Tunes]] universe.
** A certain certified genius coyote comes to mind...
* Speaking of ''[[Taz
* Numerous characters in ''[[
* Several characters in ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', but most notably [[The Question]]. How could you ''not'' love a character that [[Crazy Awesome|breaks into secret government organizations while singing off-key Britney Spears knock-off tunes]] by boy bands which he claims tie in with the Illuminati?/
** He struck a chord with more than the audience. After his debut in "Fearful Symmetry", the writers themselves were sorely tempted to drop everything and make ''The Question Show''.
*** The fact that he was voiced by the same actor who played the enigmatic Weyoun on ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' didn't hurt, either.
** [[The Flash]] was the Ensemble Darkhorse of the original series. In fact, his lack of presence in the first season of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' was one of the main reasons fans bashed it.
*** Depending on who you're talking to, Hawkgirl is either an [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] or a [[Creator's Pet]].
*** Lack of Flash is so noticeable that it was identified as the reason why the alternate universe Justice League turned into the tyrannical Justice Lords.
** Subverted with [[Captain Atom]], who appeared in the first episode along with other soon-to-be-popular characters, but never managed to achieve popularity. Still, he was able to fight [[Superman]] one-on-one and almost thrash the big man, in spite of being a supporting character.
* Chernabog and his sequence, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Ca_edg6RE Night on Bald Mountain]'', from ''[[
* [[
** Slappy Squirrel.
** [[Ms. Fanservice|Minerva Mink]].
* Robotnik from ''[[
* [[Older Than Television|A classic example]]: [[Donald Duck]] arguably fits the bill (if you'll mind the pun). After [[Mickey Mouse]] [[The Everyman|became much more relaxed and "boring"]] (an attempt to make him a better role model for the kids who liked him) a character was needed to [[Foil|embody the more negative qualities]] that made the cartoons fun. Donald's bad temper and [[Speech Impediment|amusing speech patterns]] made him a hit and he is usually at the center of most of the big laughs in the cartoons he is featured (or, as his popularity has grown, starring) in.
** [[Mr. Vice Guy|Scrooge McDuck]] started as a supporting character in Donald's comics, but eventually became popular enough to be spun off into his own series. Scrooge is much more popular than Donald [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|in Finland and France]], where the magazine devoted to Carl Bark's universe is called "Picsou Magazine". (Picsou being the French name for Scrooge). Oh, and let's not forget ''[[
*** Considering Scrooge started as nothing more than a caricature of thrift in a propaganda cartoon during [[World War II]], thats one heck of an escalation.
*** He didn't. He started out as a Dickensian miser in a christmas story in 1947. However, most of Donald's relatives and other Disney characters fit this trope. His nephews: started in a Sunday page in 1937 and a cartoon in 1938. Both end with them leaving their uncle. Goofy: started out as a theatre-goer with a goofy laugh called Dippy Dawg in 1932. Gladstone Gander: Donald's (not yet lucky) cousin coming in winter 1947/1948. Gyro Gearloose: started his career with a half-page cameo in a story. And so the list goes on.
** Panchito Pistoles and José Carioca, Donald's fellow [[The Three Caballeros
* [[Woody Woodpecker]] originally debuted as the villain of the Andy Panda cartoon short ''Knock Knock'' in an attempt to deliberately invoke this trope-[[Walter Lantz]] and his cartoon studio were hitting hard times after the series [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]] ran out of gas, and Andy Panda wasn't the new hit star they needed badly to rejuvenate the ailing studio. Unsurprisingly, [[Breakout Character|Woody became an instant hit upon debut]] and went on to immediately star in his own smash hit series of short subjects.
* Despite appearing in only five episodes, Cheese from ''[[
* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' has Tak. Despite appearing in one two-part episode and having a vocal cameo in another, the amount of [[Fan Art]] depicting her can easily confuse new fans into thinking she's part of the main cast. She had one planned reappearance before the cancellation of the series, but it's certain her popularity would have resulted in many more. Given that she was the first competent Irken we had ever seen, and made a great female foil for Zim, it's easy to see why.
** THE MOOSE! Seriously. The Moose has it's own fanbase just for being so damn impressive.
*** And speaking of moose, Minimoose, who only appeared in one episode before the show got cancelled, makes regular appearances in fanart and fanfic, usually as the [[Peanuts|Woodstock to GIR's Snoopy]]. He's just so darn cute...
* Another one-shot character with a large fanart following would be Foxglove the bat of ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (
** Tammy, from the same show. In fact, her mom, who is never even named, has gained a tiny fan following as well.
* Schnitzel of ''[[Chowder]]''. Almost all of the commercials for the show primarily feature Schnitzel as opposed to the titular character.
** To a lesser extent, [[The Rival|Gorgonzola]] has become somewhat popular on the internet, but this hasn't really had much impact on the series.
* A lot of tertiary ''[[
** Damien wouldn't be ''nearly'' as popular if [[Yaoi Fangirl|slash fans]] hadn't noticed his interaction with Pip, another example of this trope, in the one episode he was in. If you look closely at those fanfiction.net pages, you'll see that nearly all of them are Damien/Pip fanfics. Which is even more baffling, considering that Damien ''set Pip on fire'' to earn the respect of the other boys.
** The popularity of the Goth Kids might be because fangirls like to use them as an outlet for their own angst---which is ironic, because ''[[Misaimed Fandom|that's the kind of attitude the Goth kids are supposed to be a parody of]],'' with them doing it pretty much just to stand out and look down on others. Especially awkward since only one of them has a canonical name, though on Fanfiction.net at least "Dylan" for the red-tinged Goth and "Ethan" for the tall one seem to be [[Fanon]].
** For a guy who is almost certainly gay and has only appeared in one episode and whose only relationship appears to be with Butters (meaning there shouldn't be much for fanfic writers to actually do with him) Bradley from "Cartman Sucks" has quite a few stories about him getting with Butters.
** Ever since Nicole Daniels' first appearance, she has gotten a large amount of fans, who also wish for her to get more starring roles.
* Brooklyn, Goliath's rawboned, beak-faced, [[Wangst|Wangsty]] young [[The Lancer|second-in-command]] on ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]''.▼
** Other female examples are Karen McCormick, Heidi Turner and (while not really female and just Butters) Marjorine.
* Jinx has a pretty big fan-following in ''[[Teen Titans (Animation)|Teen Titans]]'' despite only appearing in 5 out the show's 65 episodes.▼
▲* Brooklyn, Goliath's rawboned, beak-faced, [[Wangst
▲* Jinx has a pretty big fan-following in ''[[Teen Titans (
** Red X appeared in ''two'' episodes where he wasn't just Robin's disguise but has a big fan following, largely for being a mysterious, [[Badass]] [[Chaotic Neutral]] [[Anti-Villain]].
** Argent. Despite only appearing for a short amount in two episodes, and subsequently being a very little developed character, there's a large amount of fanart for her, and several fanart groups on [[Deviant ART]].
** There's also Kid Flash, who also only appeared in two episodes. Probably helps that he and Jinx became an [[Official Couple]].
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
** Jack O'Lantern is quite popular, despite appearing in only ''one'' movie.
** Hoss Delgado. Nuff' said.
* "MORBO OF ''[[Futurama
** "All glory to the hypno-toad!"
** Zapp Brannigan, who often has the best lines in the show.
** [[My Friends and Zoidberg|Also Zoidberg]]!
** Calculon and his [[Punctuated!
* A few characters from ''[[Daria]]'' could stake claims to this, though Stacy Rowe is possibly the best example, as her popularity with the fandom was likely the reason why she got an actual, honest-to-goodness recurring subplot in season five, which, for any Lawndale High character not named Daria, Jane, or Quinn, was really quite a feat.
** Daria's [[Cool Uncle|Cool Aunt]] Amy, despite only showing up in three episodes (one of which was basically a cameo). Daria herself was originally just a background character on ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]''.
* Odlaw from the ''[[Where's Waldo]]'' cartoon series seems more well-liked than Waldo himself. To a lesser extent, Woof could qualify as this.
* Tom the fish from ''[[
** ''Squilliam Fancyson.''
** ''Old Man Jenkins''.
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* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' featured a one-shot set of villains in season one - the Rowdyruff Boys. They were flat, somewhat uncreative male counterparts to the three main characters. What's more, [[Girls Have Cooties|they were defeated by getting kissed]]. Mere days after the episode first aired, the internet was swamped with dozens of fanfics and fanart pieces devoted to them. Entire websites - exhaustive websites, full of art, episode transcripts and bustling forums - were created in their honor. The fans were almost unanimous in the desire to see the boys come back. After four years of demand, they finally returned in season five - given hints of personalities and [[Your Mileage May Vary|very strange new hairdos]].
** Bunny only appeared in one episode, yet is a popular character.
* ''[[The Simpsons (
** Also Milhouse, even before his [[Memetic Mutation|memehood was disputed]].
** A popular one-time character is Linguo, Lisa's [[Grammar Nazi]] robot from "Trilogy of Error."
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** Both Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz - voiced by the late Phil Hartman - deserve a mention as well, especially the former - before Hartman's death, there were talks about a potential live action film featuring the character. It can't be ''just'' a coincidence that the retirement of both characters coincides with the point in the show's history when it developed a [[Broken Base]].
** Bleeding Gums Murphy only had a major role in two episodes and a number of background appearances in-between these before his character's death, but his role as a kindred spirit and mentor to Lisa is fondly remembered by older fans of the show (especially those who watched the first season). His death was one of the show's truest [[Tear Jerker]] episodes.
** Professor Frink was introduced as a wacky [[Mad Scientist]] character who wanted funding for his death
** Disco Stu was originally just a one-shot character meant as a joke. Homer was selling a custom-made rhinestone jacket at a yard sale that said "Disco Stu" on the back. When Marge asked who it was, Homer replies "Well, it was supposed to say 'Disco Stud' but I ran out of space." He's since made several appearances.
** The same goes for Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel and the baby with one eyebrow.
** The late Frank Grimes appeared in only one episode and yet is one of the most memorable Simpsons characters ever.
* [[
** [[The Music Meister]], despite only being the main villain of a single episode. Though, the fact he's voiced by [[Neil Patrick Harris]] probably helps. After the episode was out there was tons of fanart, and demands that he be incorporated into the DCU within minutes. The demand for the soundtrack was so high that they announced plans to release a soundtrack about two or three days after the episode leaked onto the internet, and said that if the show had a third season he would be back. (Unfortunately, he wasn't.)
* Two-Tone from ''[[101 Dalmatians
** Rebecca, from the episode, "De Village Elder", is also a character who gained a lot of popularity among the fans.
* Angel from ''[[Lilo
* Charity Bazaar from ''[[Histeria
** In fact, in the ''Histeria!'' fandom, the whole Kid Chorus seems to be more popular than the hosts (with the exception of [[Hello, Nurse!|Miss Information]]).
* Foamy Mouthed Fanboy (otherwise known as Frothers, though most just call him Foamy.) from ''[[
** Also [[Memetic Sex God|Ty Lee.]] In the show, she really isn't as important or developed as her friends Azula and Mai. Yet her fanbase is ''huge''. Of course, being cute helps.
*** She was popular during her intro for two obvious reasons [[Bare Your Midriff|as well as other things,]] [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090326225033/avatar/images/7/75/Charming_Ty_Lee.png but appearing in a bikini] during "[[Beach Episode|The Beach]]" practically skyrocketed her into this trope. [[Captain Obvious|It's pretty obvious]] [[Absolute Cleavage|why this wardrobe choice]] [[Ms. Fanservice|was able to make her so popular.]]
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** Although it's not exactly as much "popular" as "well-remembered", Koh. He barely had any plot-importance even the two times you see him (one was a flashback), but he's was just ''so damn creepy'' that he's become a frequenter [[Fan Fic Magnet|of fanworks]] and [[Epileptic Trees]] all the way up to the end of the show.
** The Cabbage Merchant!
{{quote|
** '''The Boulder'''.
* The [[Clock King]] from ''[[Batman: The Animated Series
** Harley Quinn was introduced as a goofy bit-player, but hit it off so well with both the writers and the audience that she became a regular and a [[Canon Immigrant]].
** The series was also responsible for the rise in the the popularity of villains like the Mad Hatter, Clayface, and Mr. Freeze, who until then were practically obscure to people who weren't into the comics. Special mention to Mr. Freeze's case, as his [[Backstory]] in the animated show was so well-written that was adapted into the comic book series and turned him in another memorable villain of Batman.
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* In ''[[Animals of Farthing Wood]]'' the most popular character is Bold, Fox and Vixen's oldest son. After a reckless attempt on Scarface, he leaves White Deer Park to live his own life. He learns the hard way how to provide for himself, gaining a partially blind eye and a bullet in the leg. He struggles to earn the love of a vixen (Whisper), who only becomes his mate after finding out his father is a figure of local legend. He swallows his pride and takes her back to White Deer Park so she can have their cubs in safety. The injury in his leg ultimately kills him, but not before he knows his father is proud of him. And he only appeared in ''eight'' episodes of a three season series.
* Ask anybody who's seen ''[[Gravedale High]]'' who their favorite character was. 9 times out of 10, you'll get [[Friendly Neighborhood Vampire|Vinnie Stoker]] as the answer.
* Roger from ''[[
* [[Evil Counterpart|Dark Danny]] from ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' gets this despite only appearing in an hour-long movie. There's a variety of fanfics [[Draco in Leather Pants|where fangirls sympathize him]] despite his [[Complete Monster]] status.
** Ghost Writer is another one-episode-only character that gets ''tons'' of fanart.
** Clockwork, who only appeared in two episodes.
** Ember McLain. Of course, she ''is'' a teen heavy metal star who's, well, [[Incredibly Lame Pun|really hot]]. In-universe, she's even ''powered'' by popularity.
* ''[[The Fairly
** Also Remy Buxaplenty to some degree - he appeared in one episode to challenge and lose to Timmy in a duel, and pretty much disappeared after that. All the same he had a fairly significant following and a tendency to be shipped with [[Rich Bitch|Trixie Tang]] - who wasn't even in the episode he was in - and years later was brought back for a small handful of new episodes.
** And quite possibly Dark Laser. Initially, he was a one off villain. Then he made an appearance in the fifth season as a continuity nod, but by the sixth season, he'd become a semi-regular, even having a major part in the season finale.
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** King Ramses' is quite popular despite the fact that many find his episode to be the scariest. In fact, the reason as to why most people assume he is scary is possibly an excuse to make him seem more popular.
** Kitty and Bunny. And they're only [[One-Scene Wonder|One Scene Wonders]]!
* Star from ''[[
* Wolfie from ''[[Casper Scare School]]''.
** Also [[Everyone Loves Blondes|Poil]] from ''Casper the Animated Series''. Despite only appearing in a few episodes, she probably has more fans than Casper and the Ghostly Trio combined.
* Smokey from ''[[The
** Who ever thought that an animated series would feature a crack addict (and a lovable one at that)?
* Dukey from ''[[Johnny Test]]'' but then again many sidekicks turn out to be more popular than the main hero.
* From ''[[
** Likewise, Cody's popularity in season one is why he was [[Ascended Extra|given a major role]] in ''World Tour'', even managing to {{spoiler|reach the final three}}.
** Ezekiel, arguably the most minor contestant of all, also has a surprisingly large fanbase, [[Base Breaker|although his hatedom might be just as large]].
** Also from ''Total Drama: Revenge of the Island'', [[Granola Girl|Dawn]]. Seriously, after the first trailer for the series aired, she had more fan art on deviantart than any of the other cast and was the first to have her own fan group there. Even now that the show has aired, she's still quite popular.
* Misery is far and away ''the'' most popular character on the [[Perky Goth|cheerfully-gothic]] Canadian cartoon ''[[Ruby Gloom]]''. Her only conceivable rival is the title character, at which point it's kind of hard to draw a comparison.
* Gene Khan in ''[[Iron Man: Armored Adventures]]''. Yes, even after the season one finale and what he did during it. He is ''the'' [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] of the fandom. Two of the longest [[Fan Fics]] in the IMAA fandom focus on him. Fans like pairing him up with Tony and Pepper. The fan forums' [[Epileptic Trees]] tend to center around him quite often. His mother also gets discussed/written about quite a bit given that we only see her in a single flashback once.
* Freddy from ''[[Back
* Cad Bane of ''[[Star Wars:
** As does Admiral Trench, the [[The Chessmaster|Chessmaster spider]] who turned up, much to the surprise of Admiral Wullf who [[Faking the Dead|thought he was dead]], made Anakin run behind the moon for cover, then bombed the planet to draw them out and deduced who was flying the retaliating stealth ship. When he [[Faking the Dead|died]] the first time it was at the hands of a special task force just for him and led by Jedi.
** Embo, the bounty hunter. After appearing in only one episode. This [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sZOvzd2CSM video] demonstrates why.
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* ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'' has the Cheese. He ''is'' the best character on this show, after all.
** [[Memetic Mutation|He]] ''[[Memetic Mutation|is]]'' [[Memetic Mutation|better than the Salami and Balony combined]], after all.
** Also, Dr Hutchison who was only a one time character that had so much appeal, that she married Filburt who was one of the main characters.
** Filbert himself is an example of this trope. He started out in the series as a minor, nameless character that would appear every now and then, but eventually became one of the main characters.
** Peaches, the ruler of Heck, who appears in two episodes.
* ''[[
** Lumpy Space Princess. "Bunch of smooth poseurs."
** ''Adventure Time with Fionna and Cake'' caused a massive influx of Marshall Lee and Lumpy Space Prince fans, even though they only appeared for about four seconds and didn't even have any lines.
*** [[Gender Flip|"Fionna and Cake"]] in general. The episode got ''3.3 million'' views, while most other episodes get 2 million something views. If your search "Adventure Time" on [[Deviant ART]], you'll get nearly as much fan art of the gender-flipped characters as the regular ones, and fans have even made some of their own gender-flipped versions of characters that didn't have one in the episode. There's probably even quite a bit of [[Screw Yourself|FinnxFionna]] shippers out there. And these characters were just {{spoiler|part of Ice King's fan fiction.}}
*** The weirdest thing about it is that if you do a deviantART search on ''Adventure Time'', ''the'' most popular piece of art that comes up is gender-swapped.
** The Earl of Lemongrab is apparently turning out to be this. He only had about a minute and a half of screen time (so far,) but he managed to gain [[Fan of Underdog|a small yet]] [[Vocal Minority|EXCEEDINGLY LOUD]] fanbase.
* On ''[[Phineas and Ferb]],'' Gretchen (the [[Scout Out|Fireside Girl]] with glasses) gets this sometimes, mostly because she was the first girl the boys' age to get a name other than Isabella, and thus became Ferb's [[Ships That Pass in
** In the episode ''It's About Time!'' there's a kid who helps Candace sneak back into the museum after being thrown out for yelling. He only appeared in that one episode, and he probably doesn't even have a name, but he was such an interesting character that some fans want him brought back. Also, he [[Delinquents|stole]] a complete fossilized pterodactyl skeleton from the museum.
* [[Mean Brit|Kyle]] from ''[[Fanboy and Chum Chum]]'', to the extent that several fans cite him as the only reason they watch the show at all.
** [[White-Haired Pretty Boy|Sigmund]] as well, even before he made his debut!
* An example of a team of Ensemble Darkhorses are the Brotherhood of Mutants from ''[[X-Men: Evolution]]''. Particularly [[White-Haired Pretty Boy|Pietro]] [[Jerkass|'Quicksilver']] [[Draco in Leather Pants|Maximoff]], and [[Butt Monkey|Todd]] [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|'Toad']] [[Anti-Villain|Tolensky]]. While they as a whole get it for their status as [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]], the [[Fan Dumb]] tend to be ''very'' touchy on this. While undoubtedly entertaining and easily popular, they have a habit of being latched onto by the crazier fans. Especially Avalanche and Pietro.
** [[Canon Immigrant]] [[X-23]] was so popular that she was brought into the comics after only two real appearances and a cameo in the finale, with a million fanfics dealing with her life - some very depressing, some comic, some just to be paired off with characters she never even interacted with, and most of the time she just becomes a [[Mary Sue]]. {{spoiler|She is also a playable character in ''[[
** The show has a notable exception among the franchise, [[Wolverine]] ''isn't'' the most popular character on the heroes side. There actually isn't just ''one'' in particular. The show was so well written than almost anyone could function as the [[Ensemble Darkhorse]], and if you look at the fandom that's pretty much what happened, but special mention on the good guys side should go to Nightcrawler. This is about as close and any adaptation got to his orignal playful, charming, character from the comics.
** Nightcrawler is easily the most popular male of the main cast, the most popular character in the show is Rogue, though, like the Brotherhood, for the wrong reasons, see [[Possession Sue]].
* Robert Mandell,creator of ''[[
* ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' has Marie, the blue-haired Kanker. She has a much larger fanbase than any other girl in the show and is often considered to be the most attractive one, despite not being intentionally designed as such.
** But what about Plank? Fans who have made stories focusing on that piece of wood make him out to be secretly an evil genius due to apparently being sentient and being only able to "talk" to [[Cloudcuckoolander|Jonny]]. Also, [http://home.comcast.net/~biohazardgraphics/ebay/plank.jpg there's a plushie of him].
* ''[[Generator Rex]]'' has [[Cute and Psycho|Breach]], who gained a bunch of fans due to a combination of some [[Foe Yay]] with the main character, and being attractive while being [[Creepy Awesome|delightfully creepy]] at the same time. It got to the point where the fandom had a collective freakout when she seemed to be killed off, then rejoiced when it turned out she was fine.
* 21 and 24 (but especially 21 now) from ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' They started off as nameless henchmen (numberless, too in the first episodes) to have more air time than the Monarch himself. In the latest season, 21, after he [[Took a Level
* An interesting case occurred during productions of Disney's ''[[Sleeping Beauty (Disney film)|Sleeping Beauty]]''. The three fairies were originally intended to be minor supporting characters, with no names and no differences between them other than the colors of their clothes. The filmmakers became such fans of the characters as they developed that they wound up taking over the film.
** And of course, the ''evil'' fairy, Maleficent, the ''villain'' of the movie, is also the most popular, well remembered character.
* Despite the frequently horrifying content, the Peadofinder General in ''[[Monkey Dust]]'' is particularly popular. Something about the big hat and green skin...
* On the villainous side of ''[[
** Ultron first appeared in episode 5 as an innocent prison guard. As the first season progressed, he gradually enterted the foreground while obtaining the knowledge that would turn him into the [[Killer Robot]] Marvel fans know and love. He finally turned against the Avengers in episodes 22 and 23, performing such feats as possessing Iron Man's armor, seemingly killing {{spoiler|Thor}}, and using stolen nuclear missile codes to try and wipe out all "flawed" life on Earth. Even though the Avengers defeated him in only two episodes, an unofficial [http://www.medinnus.com/AEMH/poll.html poll] deemed him the most popular villain by a longshot.
** Doctor Doom won fans over even ''before'' his first episode premiered. His actual feats didn't disappoint either; he overcame six Avengers and the entire Fantastic Four in a battle, and found a Skrull among them even before ''they'' could. The end of the episode creates the impression that he'll come back, though not when or how frequently.
** As Iron Fist and Luke Cage beat up thugs, cracked dry wit, and helped track down the thief of Hank Pym's Ant-Man suit, the viewers wished they could watch these Heroes For Hire kick even more ass in their own show.
* ''[[Storm Hawks]]'': Stork. Good freaking God, ''Stork.''
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'': [[Word of God]] is that Dr. Drakken and Shego were originally just supposed to be a part of the show's rotating cast of villains, but became so popular with the fans that they were used more and more often.
** Electronique was rather popular with fans, more than you'd expect from her single appearance. But then, she was a [[The Baroness|Baroness]] and [[Gadgeteer Genius]] with [[Psycho Electro|electrical powers, a short temper]] and a [[Large Ham|hammy]] accent from somevhere in zer centre of Europe, so she was a memorably entertaining character, and as a villain in Shego's hometown she had a connection to the fandom's favourite character.
* ''[[Freakazoid
* ''[[Blinky Bill]]'' had adorable little [[Woobie]] Shifty Dingo and [[Furry Fandom]] [[Fetish Fuel Station Attendant]] Daisy Dingo.
* ''[[Doug]]'': Roger Klotz and his gang, the chief antagonists. Also, Doug's older sister Judy Funnie.
* Maximus IQ from ''[[Atomic Betty]]'' : Despite him being a villain, people see him as a main character as well.
* Appearing ''once'' in a series with [[Quarter Hour Short]] episodes, [[Distaff Counterpart|Ultraprison's Mistress]] is surprisingly popular among the ''[[
* Although ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force
** Albedo, a Galvan who turned into a [[Palette Swap]] of Ben, is popular among the fandom, despite lack of appearances.
* ''[[Megas XLR]]''. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37lf4n6lxX0 The REGIS Mark V is the ultimate fighting machine! Unstoppable! Merciless! Glorious! No one is safe from the REGIS!]
* Fifi LaFume from ''[[
** Lampshaded in ''Night Ghoulery".
{{quote|
** Also, to a much lesser extent, Julie Bruin, who only appeared in one episode but is quite popular.
* The Mayor from the ''[[Action League
* King Bob on ''[[Recess]]'', for his [[Large Ham|hammyness]] and "[[Mundane Made Awesome]]" attitude.
** Hustler Kid, escpecially with the female fanbase
** Cornchip Girl, Butch, and Lawson also have sizeable fanbases.
** Miss Grotke, for being a [[Moe]] [[Hippie Teacher]] with hints of [[Sensei
* ''[[Fillmore!]]'' had a red-herring character in one episode named TQ in one episode; a [[The Stoic|stoic]], [[Deadpan Snarker]] Zen student. Apparently, he really caught on with fangirls.
* Carl from ''[[
* ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' parodied this when Rick Berman (producer of ''[[Star Trek:
* Out of all the many characters that were introduced when the ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' series started, the big fan-favorite was definitely Mozenrath, the young, snarky [[Magnificent Bastard]] with a [[Power At a Price|tragic]] [[The Reveal|secret]], in a world otherwise full of [[Laughably Evil]], [[Smug Snake]] and one-shot [[Eldritch Abomination]] villains.
* Wacky Weasel, a one-shot villain from ''[[
* Morph from ''[[X-Men (
* From ''[[Jem]]'' we have Stormer in the Misfits. Her popularity is fueled by her being the [[Token Good Teammate]] of the Misfits, albeit she is capable of having a nasty attitude from time to time. She's the overall creative force behind her band but she never gets credit for it, and usually winds up helping (secretly) the Holograms when she absolutely feels she needs to. Stormer has also been the only Misfit to be offered a place in the Holograms, but she turned it down because she felt the Misfits needed her more. [[Word of God]] has it Stormer's first loyalty is always going to be the Misfits regardless, which really only makes her more likeable; she sticks by her friends.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* In ''[[Sym
** Tashy 497, a lovable squishy space squid who showed up in a single episode with the same name. Apparently, he was so adorable the fandom kept him, and now he has his own fanart, almost as much as anyone else, including the main cast. He often will make a cameo in other artworks, but never in series, {{spoiler|because it ended and he died before the episode was over. Worst. [[Mood Whiplash]]. Ever.}} 20 minutes screentime.
** [[Memetic Rapist]] Xeexi. 2 minutes screen time.
** Barb. She walks into their house on random, and has reached a [[Stalker
** Jason. First came as an object of hate, and created the meme "LET'S GO BOMB JASON'S HOUSE!", after he was established as Ilana's love interest during the shows short run. Even though we have no idea how long that relationship would have lasted, and it had been established in [[Word of God]] that Lance wasn't going to fall in love with Ilana, [[Die for Our Ship|fans still hated him for ruining their ship.]] Now he's depicted in various works as the timid guy Lance beats up on, even though he only showed up for a cumulative 5 minutes.
** Mirabel. Mentioned because....there really is no reason why. She's just commonly mentioned. Went to the prom with Lance, then he left so she spent that time with Jason. Her popularity may have stemmed from people settling that Ilana was free again because Jason and Mirabel hit it off, even though that was never confirmed. minute and a half of screentime.
** Kristin, the goth girl introduced in Ballad of the Scary Mary and asked out by Lance is Under the Three Moons. Because her potential was never completely reached, and because of her cool attitude, she became someone the fans noticed. Also rocketed in fandom for the same reason Jason is: She ruined the Lance/Ilana ship. Depicted in fanworks as a snarky, kickbutt, female Lance. Also popular because of an episode of [[
** The Eye Eye Eye's episode of Dexter actually made another character popular; Brandon. "Kristin" rand of with a brown haired boy with shining eyes, and he looks like a younger version of Brandon. And so the ship "Krandon" was born. His popularity also comes from his jerkish behavior towards Kimmy as his Ex. 45 seconds screentime.
*** It should be noted that both Titan and Dexter were created by [[Genndy Tartakovsky]], justifying this assumption.
** [[Ambiguously Gay|Todd]] has become popular due to a stellar performance by an avid
** [[Draco in Leather Pants|Baron]] (arguably the biggest example of this on Titan's listings) from the episode Shadows of Youth has become popular enough to be shipped with Ilana, have his own fanfics, and many wanted him to show up again. In fanon, he grew up to be a sexy, yet confused, bastard who loves to torture Lance in his every day life, part of that being flirting with Ilana. He's actually blown up so much that him saying "I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A PLOT DEVICE" has become a [[
** Mike Chan in "Roar of The White Dragon". Often depicted as the self centered, jerky, somehow sexy, Asian. Paired with Lance at times, even though Lance already outwardly expressed that he was in love with Mike's Car, but hated Mike. Might be popular because it was alluded that he would come back, but the show ended before he could. 12 minutes
*** His girlfriend, dubbed June by the forementioned RP'ers (There is an official RP that does show cases on CN's facebook page with a well written out script, that is why they are so acknowledged and important in this fandom)even though she never said anything. And that is what she is known for. Not saying anything. 5 seconds screen time.
** Meat. Popular because he was voiced by the same guy as [[
** The other cheerleaders. Monica (the black one) is known for only talking about how hot Lance is, Amber is known as Kimmy's closest BFF who's not all that bright (likely brought about on her from the fandom because she's blond) and obsessed with her weight. Justified due to her freaking out and thinking an airway would break because she had eaten a single fry at lunch, and Tiffany, who is best known for not being known. At one point, people only noticed Amber and Monica, but when people started scratching their heads to remember the other one, when she was remembered, they remembered hard. Various amounts of screentime, but no more than 10 minutes.
* Zordrak and the Urpneys of ''[[The Dreamstone]]'' seem to hold a fairly dominant helping of the show's fanbase ([[Villain Protagonist|though that may have been deliberate]]), however [[Mad Scientist|Urpgor]] in particular takes the cake. They may have caught on in later seasons, where [[Breakout Character|he gets larger roles]].
* ''[[Skippy Adventures in Bushtown]]'' gives up Pos, the adorable possum cameraman.
* As ''[[
* From ''[[Kids Next Door]]'', Sector Z! After five minutes of screentime in the movie they won the hearts of a sizeable portion of the fanbase with their badassery. It probably helps that they {{spoiler|were the Delightful Children from Down the Lane before they were [[Brainwashed and Crazy]].}}
* ''[[Ben 10]]'' is a specific case in that the main character himself is technically an ''army'' of [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]. Indeed, Ben Tennyson being a [[Shape Shifter]] who can assume various alien forms, across the series he gets a lot of forms that are heavily popular amongst the fans even when not playing an especially major point in the plot or even having limited appearance:
** The original series had [[Super Speed|XLR8]], [[Creepy Awesome|Ghostfreak and the other horror-themed aliens (Benwolf, Benvicktor and Benmummy)]], amonsgt other; To an extent, almost every alien in the original serie has his share of fans.
** Though the new aliens started being contested by fans (and [[Contested Sequel|and not just the aliens]]) in '[[Ben 10: Alien Force
** While ''[[Ben 10: Ultimate Alien]]'' has been criticized for adding many [[Replacement Scrappy|Replacement Scrappies]] of old aliens, the five Andromeda aliens dubbed as "Team Awesome" by the fans are usually recognized as good aliens. The fact they were scanned from actual characters with each one their own stories probably help.
** Aside from the aliens forms, several minor characters and villains in both series have become Ensemble Darkhorses. Those include Charmcaster, Lucky Girl (though this is actually Gwen is disguise), Kevin (who later was upgraded into a main villain and then a hero), Albedo, Darkstar... and let's not forget Paradox, who is probably as popular as Rath himself.
* ''[[The Sword in
* ''[[
* Stuffy the blue dragon from [[Doc McStuffins]]. ----
* Might be the reason the Hex Girls have appeared in several [[Scooby Doo]] related media, despite pretty much no other characters, even relatives of the main cast, having that honor.
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