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[I]n every masterpiece there are supporting characters who outshine the protagonist.

The term "Dark Horse" has its origin in horse racing. A relatively unknown horse would be risky to place bets on, compared to a horse with a known track record, because the gamblers would be "in the dark," so when an unknown horse won a race it was called a "Dark Horse Victory." The term is also used in politics to describe a lesser known candidate who does better than expected in an election.

Generally, it's used to describe a side character making up part of the Ensemble, either a non-lead secondary character or a mere Flat Character, who can sometimes become unexpectedly popular with the fandom (sometimes, even more than the lead characters) depending on who and where the Fandom is, as well as what the other characters are like in comparison (for example, the hero is not as popular because s/he is too much The Everyman).

The writers or producers may be tempted to Retool the show's premise to put them in the spotlight. Sometimes this works, but usually it's a bad idea for two reasons, both relating to what happens when you take a supporting character and move him or her into The Protagonist's position. The first is that writers often "adjust" the character so that s/he can fit into a conventionally heroic role—in the process destroying the unconventional traits that made the character an Ensemble Darkhorse in the first place. The second is that if the writers don't do this, traits that were entertaining in a secondary character may become grating and unpleasant in The Protagonist.

However, it's still good business to bring Darkhorse characters back, even if they were originally meant to be featured for only a short time. Thus, episodes which do not specifically require a certain character will be more likely to use the Ensemble Darkhorse.

Occasionally, if an antagonist becomes a Darkhorse, the writer may decide to have him perform a Heel Face Turn in situations where the only other option is being killed by the protagonists. However, if the series doesn't have an end planned, it's more likely that he'll just escape.

If the Ensemble Darkhorse becomes an important character, they're now a Breakout Character. See also Adaptational Badass, Ascended Extra, Memetic Bystander, Lower Deck Episode, A Day in the Limelight, and One-Scene Wonder. Creator's Pet is the polar opposite, a character who the writer grows fond of but the fans do not. An antagonist who becomes popular despite the author's intentions is Draco in Leather Pants—an example of Misaimed Fandom. The natural extension of this is the Spotlight-Stealing Squad.

Examples of Ensemble Darkhorse are listed on these subpages:

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+{{trope}}
-{{trope}}{{cleanup|Some of this page's examples have been moved to subpages already. for consistency, the rest should follow suit.}}
-{{quote|in<!-- Do not capitalize "in". It isn't the first word of that quote--> every masterpiece there are supporting characters who outshine the [[protagonist]].|Neito Monoma|[[My Hero Academia]]}}
+{{quote|''[I]n every masterpiece there are supporting characters who outshine the [[protagonist]].''|Neito Monoma|[[My Hero Academia]]}}
 The term "Dark Horse" has its origin in horse racing. A relatively unknown horse would be risky to place bets on, compared to a horse with a known track record, because the gamblers would be "in the dark," so when an unknown horse won a race it was called a "[[Dark Horse Victory]]." The term is also used in politics to describe a lesser known candidate who does better than expected in an election.
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 Generally, it's used to describe a side character making up part of the Ensemble, either a non-lead secondary character or a mere [[Flat Character]], who can sometimes become [[Popularity Power|unexpectedly popular]] with the fandom (sometimes, even more than the lead characters) depending on [[Periphery Demographic|who]] and [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|where]] the [[Fandom]] is, as well as what the other characters are like in comparison (for example, [[Designated Protagonist Syndrome|the hero is not as popular because s/he is too much The Everyman]]).
-The writers or producers may be tempted to [[Retool]] the show's premise to [[Breakout Character|put them]] [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|in the spotlight.]] Sometimes this works, but usually it's a bad idea for two reasons, both relating to what happens when you take a supporting character and move him or her into [[The Protagonist|the protagonist's]] position. The first is that writers often "adjust" the character so that s/he can fit into a conventionally heroic role—in the process [[Badass Decay|destroying the unconventional traits]] that made the character an '''Ensemble Darkhorse''' in the first place. The second is that if the writers ''don't'' do this, traits that were entertaining in a secondary character may become grating and unpleasant in [[The Protagonist]].
+The writers or producers may be tempted to [[Retool]] the show's premise to [[Breakout Character|put them]] [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|in the spotlight.]] Sometimes this works, but usually it's a bad idea for two reasons, both relating to what happens when you take a supporting character and move him or her into [[The Protagonist]]'s position. The first is that writers often "adjust" the character so that s/he can fit into a conventionally heroic role—in the process [[Badass Decay|destroying the unconventional traits]] that made the character an '''Ensemble Darkhorse''' in the first place. The second is that if the writers ''don't'' do this, traits that were entertaining in a secondary character may become grating and unpleasant in [[The Protagonist]].
 However, it's still good business to bring Darkhorse characters back, even if they were originally meant to be featured for only a short time. Thus, episodes which do not specifically require a certain character will be more likely to use the Ensemble Darkhorse.
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 {{examples on subpages}}
-{{examples}}
-==  Mythology  ==
-* [[Egyptian Mythology|Anubis]] in more modern times. He wasn't that central to the original canon, but he's so much more interesting than the chief gods like Ra or Osiris. Also, it's hard to find [[Dark Is Not Evil|a death god who's an okay guy.]] Also, he appeals more to [[Furry Fandom|Furries]].
-* The same could be said for [[Greek Mythology|Hades]] (minus the furry part), who is another example of a god associated with death who was actually an okay guy. The Ancient Greeks were rather wary of him, naturally, but in modern times he gets a lot more appreciation... [[Sadly Mythtaken|that is, if you are not]] [[Everybody Hates Hades|Disney or Hollywood]]. This could be because he is a classic case of [[Dark Is Not Evil]] mixed with [[The Woobie]], and/or because he was one of the only gods in the Pantheon who wasn't a complete jerk.
-** Disney tried to make Hades [[Hercules (1997 film)||unlikeable]]. Thankfully, they [[Affably Evil|fa]][[Laughably Evil|il]][[Love to Hate|ed]], and the movie was that much better for this "failure."
-** Hephaestus has become this nowadays. His main flaw (his hideous looks) makes him seem to be more of a [[Woobie]] than back in Ancient Greece, when he would have been viewed as repulsive, plus, as with Hades, he's downright saintly next to his uncles, aunts, and cousins.
-*** It doesn't hurt that his purview includes 'technology'.
-* [[Greek Mythology|Ares/Mars]] was a very unpopular god for the Greeks, but the Romans claimed to be his descendants. It is worth noting that despite widespread [[Did Not Do the Research|modern misinterpretations]], the Roman gods were not [[Expy|exact]] analogues of the Greek gods. Ares/Mars is a particularly notable case, as the Greeks saw Ares as the god of brutal warfare, while the Romans saw Mars as the god of warfare for the defense and spread of civilization. He even had an agricultural aspect leftover from an earlier Etruscan god and the fact that early Roman soldiers were basically drafted farmers. Some modern adaptations of Greek mythology also feature Ares in a much more positive light.
-** So long as you're not counting ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]]'' as a "modern adaptation"... which it isn't.
-* Both [[Journey to the West|Sun Wukong]] and [[Ramayana|Hanuman]] got a disproportionate amount of attention, so much so that the former is now considered the main character of his story. The relationship between the two is interesting, but it's no surprise that they fill this role as they both get their fair share of[[Badass]] moments.
-** As for Hanuman, his Ensemble Darkhorse status has made him the most popular deity (alongside Lord Ram) in the [[Guyana|Guyanese]] and [[Trinidad and Tobago|Trinidadian]] regional variant of Hinduism.
-* [[wikipedia:Budai|Budai]] a figure in Chinese folklore, often revered as a deity in buddhism, is probably THE most popular buddhist deities in western countries. While he is sometimes considered a bodhisattva, people with little to no knowledge of Buddhism often mistake him for THE [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|Buddha]]. Chances are if you see a statue or other representation of a Buddha in fiction, it will be this plump bald man with a big smile.
-* [[The Trickster|Loki]] of [[Norse Mythology]] has acquired far more popularity than he originally possessed, due to his traits of [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]] and (often deadly) practical jokes being more appealing to more modern audiences (generally the favourite was originally Thor, his policy of "[[When All You Have Is a Hammer|hit it with a hammer first]] ask questions never" being, interestingly, ''less'' appealing to modern audiences).
-** Arguably, Loki was "originally" not as unpopular as he became when the Christians got hold of Norse mythology and associated him with Satan. The only extant versions of the Norse myths are the Eddas, which were written well ''after'' the Christianization of the mythos.
-== New Media ==
-* [[Formally-Named Pet|Mr. Mooshi]] from ''[[Conquering the Horizon]]'' was supposed to just be the first thing Evelyn ate. Instead the players decided to get on top of him and try to use pheromones to tame him. After that the QM did a good job making Mr. Mooshi a fun character (which was often actually Evelyn being a fun character and have 'dialogue' with Mr. Mooshi). There's more to Mr. Mooshi than that though, like the time he vomited up grass for Evelyn to eat at one of her low points.
-==  Newspaper Comics  ==
-* Common in long-running comics: [[Popeye]] was once a minor character in ''Thimble Theater.''
-* Much the same happened with ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith'' where the original hero (Barney Google) was displaced by a later, initially minor, character (Snuffy Smith).
-* ''Nancy'' was originally a strip called ''Fritzie Ritz'' until Fritzie's niece Nancy became more popular than the title character (a typical 1920s-30s-era flapper).
-** And given the popularity of [[Ms. Fanservice|"Aunt Fritzi"]] on [[The Comics Curmudgeon]], it looks like we're coming full circle.
-* ''[[Blondie (comic strip)|Blondie]]'' was originally about the adventures of single flapper Blondie Boopadoop, but eventually her suitor Dagwood Bumstead won her hand and became the central character.
-* Snoopy of ''[[Peanuts]]'' started out as a minor character and a more ordinary dog.
-** [[The Pig Pen|Pig-Pen]] was a massively popular character in the strip despite being hated as a one-off joke by Schulz. Schulz was eventually forced to include him occasionally throughout the 60's and 70's.
-* ''[[Mutts]]'' began with only Earl the dog and his owner Ozzie. Mooch the cat was supposed to appear for just one arc. Now he has at least as much importance and face time as Earl. As the cartoonist puts it, "You know how cats have a way of taking over the place."
-* ''[[Dilbert]]'' has at least two cases in which one-shot characters joined the main cast by popular demand: Ratbert and Catbert. Scott Adams hadn't even named the latter when he got deluged with emails for "more Catbert."
-** Dogbert once summed up this trope while discussing [[No Indoor Voice|LOUD HOWARD]]:
-{{quote|'''Dogbert''': ''A disturbing number of you have requested the return of Loud Howard. [[Flat Character|Loud Howard is one-dimensional]]. There is nothing clever or insightful about him. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|He is simply loud]]. It is a mystery why anyone would want more of this guy.''
-'''Loud Howard''': ''THEY LOVE ME!'' }}
-* Opus, the main character of ''[[Bloom County]]'' and two other comic strips by Berke Breathed, was originally intended to appear for one week-long arc, but after an enormous amount of fanmail, the author promoted him to a recurring character. Finally, after a huge fan response to [https://web.archive.org/web/20131230131915/http://philogynist.64k.ca/Images/November%202006/fav_strip1_full.jpg one particular] Sunday strip featuring Opus, he became the main character of the comic.
-** Bill the Cat started as a one-shot spoof on Garfield and Garfield merchandising. Ironic considering Bill's later merchandise empire.
-* Several Characters from ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]'', including Zebra, Guard Duck, the Vikings...
-** ...THE CROCODILES.
-* Rosalyn the babysitter from ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' was first created for a single brief story arc, but Bill Watterson surprised himself with her unique ability to completely intimidate Calvin, so several more babysitting stories (and one swimming class story) followed. In her final appearance she even got to literally beat Calvin at [[Calvin Ball|his own game]] and get him to go to bed without any hassle.
-* April from [[For Better or For Worse]] became this for the fandom, often seen as the [[Only Sane Man]]... which is odd because the creater didn't like her. At all.
-* A certain strip used to be called ''Robotman.'' Then it was ''Robotman and Monty.'' Now Robotman's retired and it's just ''Monty'', but there is quite a large cast and entire story arcs are based on other characters.
-* Mac Manc Mcmanx/M3/M&M&M from [[Get Fuzzy]]. Come on, he constantly speaks in confusing British lingo, squats in Rob's house and gets detained at an airport for having a friend named Al Kayda. He's just awesome. Also, there's Chubby Huggs.
-* Kevin, the "Lost Bunny of the Apocalypse," has practically usurped the position of main character in ''Prickly City,'' especially since his 2010 election to the Senate and 2012 Presidential campaign.
-==  Tabletop Games  ==
-* Hans appeared [https://web.archive.org/web/20140703234258/http://sales.starcitygames.com/cardsearch.php?singlesearch=Lhurgoyf exactly once] on a single card in ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', and never anywhere else, but the flavor text was popular enough that he [https://web.archive.org/web/20121102091852/http://sales.starcitygames.com/carddisplay.php?product=34962 got] [https://web.archive.org/web/20160806045815/http://sales.starcitygames.com//carddisplay.php?product=9228 multiple] [https://web.archive.org/web/20120219164747/http://sales.starcitygames.com/carddisplay.php?product=42675 references] later on including a short story in the anthology Monsters of Magic (called "Ach! Hans, Run!"). Arguably, Norin the Wary similarly qualifies, having been elevated from the voice of cowardice on a handful of cards' flavor text to eventually receiving his own (also cowardly) creature card.
-** There's also Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician and, more famously, Jaya Ballard, Task Mage. Jaya Ballard's card has been known to win "best flavour text" votes on fan sites despite the card not actually having any flavour text (she supplies a solid number of fan favourite flavour text quotes on other cards).
-* In the ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'' CCG, Toku was originally an unaligned, free card with no abilities and no use other than being fed to demons. Fans enjoyed the idea of Toku so much that they started the "Toku for Emperor" movement, attempting to influence the game's interactive storyline. As a result, Toku became a major player in the game's storyline, going from a peasant who stole a dead samurai's sword to a real samurai, friend of the Emperor, Captain of the Imperial Guard, founder of a Clan, and (posthumously) a minor deity.
-* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has a few examples. Inspired greatly by the example of [[Defector From Decadence|Drizzt]] above, [[Our Elves Are Better|drow]] are a perennial favorite as [[Player Characters]] despite the race originally being [[Exclusively Evil]]. Future splatbooks expanded greatly on drow culture and options for drow players. They're even included as a PC race in the Fourth Edition ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' setting.
-** This is lampooned in the webcomic ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'', where Nale's "Linear Guild" includes a Drow whose presence prompts the heroes to question, "Aren't Dark Elves evil?" Nale "explains" that that was before they were a player-character race; "The race now consists of nothing but Chaotic Good rebels struggling to throw off the reputation of their Evil brethren." "I thought you said they were all Chaotic Good?" "Details."
-** Another surprisingly popular race is ''kobolds'', of all things. Despite their status as first-level [[Cannon Fodder]] (though their affinity for traps can make them [[Not So Harmless|more dangerous than you'd think]]), they've gotten a great deal of expansion in various splatbooks, including the 3.5 Edition ''Races Of The Dragon''. One of the more infamous [[Game Breaker]] builds for the edition, "Pun-Pun", is a kobold.
-*** It's kind of helped that the kobolds have been the setting's [[Butt Monkey]]s for so long that they've pretty much run all the way around on the opposite end of the sympathy scale to become [[The Woobie|woobies]] in their own right. Plus, nothing feels more satisfying than bringing down the BBEG with a small, scrawny lizard normally considered a CR of 1/6.
-*** There is also a sort of [[Ugly Cute]] factor playing.
-*** Which leads to then becoming utter badass [http://commissarkinyaf.deviantart.com/art/Kobold-Kommando-2-77994119 Commandos].
-*** Possibly based on this [http://groups.google.nl/group/rec.games.frp.dnd/msg/86f9780c6a3adbb8 utterly brilliant session report].
-** The ''Tome of Magic'' Binder class is surprisingly popular considering the other 2/3s of ''Tome of Magic'' are the mechanically unplayable Truenamer and the mechanically odd Shadowcaster.
-*** In a similar vein, "Complete Psionic" is [[Internet Backdraft|widely panned]] as [[Fanon Discontinuity|the worst of the "Completes"]] line released for 3.5. However, one class in the book (the Ardent) is acclaimed for its balanced play, appealing flavor and unique approach to psionics. The Ardent would eventually be adapted to 4th Edition as a psionic class.
-** ''[[Eberron]]'' gave D&D one of the more popular new races - The Warforged. Basically, they're [[Magitek]] [[Mechanical Lifeforms]], and they've been generally well received by the D&D community. Even on [[Image Boards|/tg/]], Warforged are generally quite popular. It's probably because, well, [[Rule of Cool|robots are just plain]] [http://1d4chan.org/images/c/c7/Warforged_Bard.png cool]. As a matter of fact, [[Wizards of the Coast]] recently put up a [https://web.archive.org/web/20130606222302/http://wizards.com/dnd/files/dragon/364/364_Warforged.pdf free supplement] for 4E Warforged, making them [[Canon Immigrant]]s.
-*** The [[Little Bit Beastly|Shifters]] were popular enough to make it into the fourth edition, as well; there is some [[Internet Backdraft]] among [[Furry Fandom|furry]] [[Hatedom|bashers, though]].
-* If it's possible for a single game in a gameline to be an Ensemble Darkhorse, ''[[Changeling: The Lost]]'' from the [[New World of Darkness]] probably grabs the title.
-** To elaborate, Changeling was one of the limited series NWOD games [[White Wolf]] release, only meant to have the main source book and five supplements. From the get go the game was at a disadvantage; not only was it contending with [[Vampire: The Requiem]], which was undisputedly the most popular NWOD game at the time, but it also was the revamped version of [[Changeling: The Dreaming]], one of the least fondly remembered games of the [[Old World of Darkness|OWOD]]. Combine that with the fact its subject matter (Fairies) lacked the universal appeal that, say, vampires and werewolves had, and it didn't bode well. However, when it came out sales peaked and the internet was filled with adoration and acclaim for the game and its setting. Sooon the Changeling fanbase was one of the biggest in the community and rivaled Vampire on fans and players. This huge influx of interest got the series three extra books and several more PDFs added to the line, making it one of the stand out titles of the NWOD.
-* In a similarly unusual turn of events, a ''piece of prose'' from the core rulebook of the [[New World of Darkness]], "Voice of the Angel," has merited a stunning number of references throughout the line, up to and including the finale of a sample story in ''[[Promethean: The Created|Saturnine Night]]'' and a new [[Splat|covenant]] in ''[[Vampire: The Requiem|Danse Macabre]]''.
-* Kharn the Betrayer of ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' has been embraced by the fandom, [[Memetic Mutation|declaring him to be]] a pretty fun guy to be around and focusing on him to the exclusion of all other Chaos characters. It helps that he has a [[Memetic Mutation|highly exploitable]] battle cry: "{{smallcaps| Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!}}"
-** A [[Downplayed]] version is the [[Blood Knight|Khornate]] [[Eldritch Abomination|Daemon]] [[Ascended to A Higher Plane of Existence|Prince]] named [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Doombreed]]. He has a surprising number of references in the background of the game (approximately four, compared to the number of one-shot characters given a single paragraph), and he has become something of a [[Mauve Shirt]] in the background and on [[The Imageboard That Must Not Be Named|/tg/]]. It's speculated that he was [[Genghis Khan]] before, and that everything from his daemonic mount to his [[Beard of Evil|fu manchu mustache]] is ''[[Incendiary Exponent|on fire]]''.
-==  Toys ==
-* Takua in ''[[Bionicle]]'' started out as the [[Featureless Protagonist]] of a little-known Game Boy Advance game. After he was again the main character in a very successful online game (moving from Featureless Protagonist to having his own identity only at the very end), his popularity exploded. In 2003, he was the star of his own [[Direct to Video]] movie where he became Toa Takanuva and was released as a toy set ''twice'' (once as Takua and once as Takanuva). Then he and the other 2002-2003 characters returned in 2008 (complete with new toy figures), with Takanuva being the star of the first Level 3 Readers book and having an online blog that narrated the events of the final (regular) book. And his was the largest figure. He was released again as a ''Stars'' set in 2010.
-** Also of note are the Toa Inika. When the story moved to a brand new location (Voya Nui) in 2006, [[LEGO]] decided that, rather than create six new Toa characters, they would just take probably ''the'' six most popular Matoran characters and turn them into Toa, via [[Lightning Can Do Anything|space lightning]].
-** A very minor on-line game character, called Tiribomba, developed a small following, despite having done absolutely nothing to contribute to the plot. The reason for his popularity lies in his ''wicked awesome'' name.
-* The Alley Viper figure from the original ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' line has a huge cult following amongst GI Joe fans, to such an extent that it was quickly re-released within two years of its initial run in circulation.
-** Same with the Crimson Guard figures; this was most notable during the ''GI Joe Vs Cobra/Valor Vs Venom'' years, when Hasbro built a new Crimson Guard mold and opted to not release as part of the regular series, opting to make the figure a Toys 'R Us exclusive. To ease fan anger, the figure was largely released in a series of army builder sets, meaning fans buying the figure could build their own units without having to buy multiple figures.
-* Mimic, a garish green unicorn from the 1980s ''[[My Little Pony]]'' line, reportedly did poorly in sales in its initial run. On today's second-hand market, prices soar.
-*** It's been speculated, though, that Mimic's poor initial sales are what made her so hard to come by, and are the ''reason'' for her value today.
-** Firefly may be the queen of this trope. From the moment she was introduced, she was arguably the most popular of all the ponies. Even though she wasn't in much of the series, she was depicted on a ton of merchandise. When ''Rescue from Midnight Castle'' was rereleased on video in the 1990s, it was renamed ''Firefly's Adventure'', [[Wolverine Publicity|even though Megan is really the main character]]. Lauren Faust even based Rainbow Dash's personality on her. (She would actually ''be'' Firefly [[Writing Around Trademarks|if not for copyright issues]]).
-==  Other ==
-* Good, old [[Poor Predictable Rock|rock]], ain't nothing that can beat that.
-* Pluto, the former planet. The outrage when it was downgraded to planetoid was unprecedented.
-** Too bad the astronomers played paper.
-* [[Voice Actors]] are quite possibly the biggest example of an Ensemble Darkhorse when it comes to actors. The Animation fanbase online quite often love various Voice Actors for all the work they do in Animation (and to a lesser extent Video games) and are often guests in various conventions. Unfortunately often enough they are generally the only audience that these people truly have. Which the fact that often enough they get little pay and companies often seem to see them as nothing more than cheap disposable labor is considered all the more disheartening. But sadly if you talk about Voice actors to normal people chances are they most likely will have no idea what you're talking about. (The only exceptions are generally folks who either used to be/[[Celebrity Voice Actor|still are]] well known for screen acting.)
-** Unfortunately it doesn't help that often enough many [[Vocal Minority|vocal]] fans of Voice actors are young adults [[Periphery Demographic|who are often not the Target Demographic of the shows they watch.]]
-*** [[Mel Blanc]] came from the Golden Age of American Radio, where it was possible to become famous based solely on voice work. He also got a lot of his fame in front of the camera playing comedic characters and guest starring on variety shows. [[Lucille Ball]], Orson Welles, and Jimmy Stuart also first became famous in radio. Even voice actors who weren't able to make the leap to the camera had fans with the older generations who remember the radio era. With that last group, it's less about being an Ensemble Darkhorse, and more about being a fading star as time marches on.
-** [[Names to Know in Anime|Japanese-wise]], the darkhorse seiyuu would be [[Norio Wakamoto]]. When seiyuu these days about the younger people, especially those catering to the more [[Moe]] archetypes, there's this old school [[Cool Old Guy]] seiyuu who stockpiles about classic and awesome villain roles. Thanks to his epic hammy performance, he's still viewed as one of the greatest seiyuu in business despite being not really the norm of this age's seiyuu (a man and old), and a [[Memetic Badass]] (and Real Life [[Badass]] too).
-* If you remember the old commercials for Cinnamon Toast Crunch, you'd remember three bakers...but if you saw any now you'd see only one. Guess who was the most popular and soon became the [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]]?
-** Some people speculate that Bob and Quienno aren't around anymore because Wendell ''killed them''.
-* Linus the Lionhearted was a [[Merchandise-Driven|kids' cartoon/cereal commercial]] in the 1960s featuring the then-current Post Cereal mascots. All of the characters are forgotten, except one: [[Everything's Worse with Bears|Sugar Bear]].
-* From [[Disney Theme Parks]], Figment is undoubtably the most popular character at EPCOT, and the Hitchhiking Ghosts have become the unofficial mascots of ''[[The Haunted Mansion]]'', despite only showing up near the end.
-* [[Tommy|Uncle Ernie]], of all people, has this in spades. Yes, the [[Evil Uncle|mean]], [[Creepy Uncle|creepy]] guy who actually ends up [[Shotacon|molesting the titular character]] (and [[Fridge Horror|possibly even others youngsters]] in "Tommy's Holiday Camp") is the most fan-loved character right after Tommy himself. One could argue that he's popular because [[The Movie]] version is played by [[The Who|the band's drummer, Keith Moon]], and whoever's playing him usually [[Ham and Cheese|hams it up for all it's worth]], but still...Not bad for a [[Complete Monster|gay, incestuous pedophile with arguable drinking problems]] who only gets two short musical numbers.
-** Not too far behind Ernie is Tommy's other abusive relative, [[Kids Are Cruel|Cousin]] [[Card-Carrying Villain|Kevin]].
-** The Acid Queen and the Local Lad/the Champ ([[I Am Not Shazam|no, he's not the Pinball Wizard]]...[[I Am Not Leonard Nimoy|he's not Elton John, either]]) have their share of fans, too, despite being [[One-Scene Wonder|one scene/song wonders]] and the latter having little to no effect on the titular character or the plot. Again, this could be partially because their movie counterparts are played by Tina Turner and [[Elton John]], respectfully, both of whom were quite popular at the time.
-*** Oddly enough, it should also be noted that, for some reason, the Local Lad/the Champ (especially Elton's version) is considered to be [[The Scrappy]] by some of the fandom. Why that is seems to depend on who you ask.
-* Pluto in ''[[Milky Way and The Galaxy Girls]]'', having quite a following compared to the other characters.
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-[[Category:Index]]