All The Tropes

Focal Character: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Focal Character (view source)

Revision as of 08:34, 8 April 2014

553 bytes removed ,  10 years ago
m
Mass update links
VisualWikitext
m (Mass update links)
m (Mass update links)
Line 7:
 
Also common in works where the "real" star is female, because having the female also be the PoV character is unmarketable or something.
A sister trope to [[A Day in Thethe Limelight]] (just part of the story doesn't center around the expected protagonist) and [[The Ishmael]] (the character is not the protagonist at all, but is the narrator of the story and [[Audience Surrogate]], justifying their perspective).
 
Compare [[Deuteragonist]] and [[Hero of Another Story]].
Line 16:
 
== Anime & Manga ==
* [[Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam]] pulls a bit of zigzagging with this trope. While Tobia Arronax is the POV character, it is [[The Ace|Kincaido Nau]] (alias [[Mobile Suit Gundam F 91 (Anime)F91|Seabook Arno]]) who is the main pilot of the titular [[Humongous Mecha]] and is responsible for most of the victories of the [[Space Pirate|Crossbone Vanguard]]. However, during the final parts of the story, Tobia comes into his own following a string of moments of [[Badass|badassery]], finally gets his own [[Super Prototype|Gundam]], and winds up saving the world; while Kincaido is put into the role of the [[Supporting Leader]]. In the end, Kincaido retires, [[Passing the Torch]] to Tobia, who goes on to become a fully-fledged main character in ''all'' of the sequels.
* Athrun Zala fills this role in ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'', being [[The Mentor]] to [[Decoy Protagonist]] Shinn, and following the midseason perspective switch, [[The Lancer]] to [[The Hero|Kira]]. The story's told from his point of view for most of the series--and even more so in the compilation movies--and its his interactions with the other two that define the show.
* Saji Crossroad, during the second season of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'', is either this or [[The Ishmael]]. The heroes are, of course, Celestial Being. {{spoiler|Saji also pilots the support machine for the eponymous mobile suit which acts as the catalyst.}}
* Two well-known [[Tsundere]] [[The Hero|heroines]] [[Pigeonholed Voice Actor|voiced by]] [[Rie Kugimiya]], namely ''[[Shakugan no Shana]]'''s Shana and ''[[Zero no Tsukaima (Light Novel)|Zero no Tsukaima]]'''s Louise.
* Simon from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', at least for the first arc. {{spoiler|Then Kamina dies.}}
* Eiji Shigure in ''[[Gravion]]''. Though the story is mostly told through his viewpoint, he's only the leg of the eponymous [[Combining Mecha]].
* A variation in ''[[Soul Eater]]''. Despite being the eponymous character, Soul is actually [[The Lancer]], and the story's protagonist role is taken up mostly by [[The Hero|Maka]], although [[Sarcastic Devotee|Soul]] is still consistently in-focus.
** And then we have Black Star, who merely ''thinks'' he's the Hero. He does in fact get to act the part out, as it were, such as his [[Warrior Therapist|textbook]] [[Defeat Means Friendship|shounen]] rescue of Kid from the Book of Eibon.
* The [[Power Trio]] of Arika, Nina and Erstin aren't the real protagonists of the ''[[Mai-Otome (Mangamanga)|Mai-Otome]]'' manga - it's Mashiro{{spoiler|'s twin brother}}.
* In ''[[Rainbow Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin (Manga)|Rainbow]]'', Mario is the main character despite Sakuragi being [[The Hero]] and [[Big Good]]. One could also say that Sakuragi is the main character at first {{spoiler|until he dies}}, and the role ''then'' goes to Mario.
* In ''[[Ergo Proxy]]'', Re-l Mayer is the protagonist for the first two episodes, after which the story will shift back and forth between her and Vincent Law, [[The Hero]] {{spoiler|and eponymous character}}.
* [[Word of God|Gen Urobuchi]] has outright stated that, while the series has her name in the title, [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica|Madoka]] is actually meant to be a supporting character, and the true protagonist is Sayaka. {{spoiler|This is [[Lying Creator|a lie]]. The true heroine is Homura.}}
* In ''[[Texhnolyze]]'', while the story is focused on Ichise, Onishi and Shinji have greater impact on the story.
* Nanoha from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' is one of these, when you think about it. All four of the seasons so far have been focused on the characters she's affecting herself - Fate in [[Nanoha Original|the first season]], the Wolkenritter/Hayate in ''[[Nanoha As|A's]]'', the Forwards and Vivio in ''[[StrikerMagical SGirl Lyrical Nanoha (Anime)StrikerS|Striker S]]'' and Tohma and Lili in ''[[Nanoha Force|Force]]'' - leaving her development somewhat more subdued. And ''[[ViMagical VidGirl Lyrical Nanoha (Manga)ViVid|Vi Vid]]'' has her almost exclusively in the mentor role.
* Tsukune Aono from ''[[Rosario to Vampire]]'' is the viewpoint character and male lead, but as a [[Non-actionAction Guy]] early on he generally relied on his friends for protection, especially [[The Ace|Inner Moka]]. Even after he [[Took a Level In Badass]], he remained a [[Technical Pacifist]], though he's become much more of a [[Hero Protagonist]] in recent chapters.
* Sakuragi from [[Slam Dunk]]. He is definitely the main character of the story, with his development becoming more and more important to the plot. However, Rukawa and Akagi fit the hero mold better, as the Team Ace and Captain respectively. They are often the ones who carry the team.
* While Keiichi is undeniably [[The Hero]] of ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Nini]]'', {{spoiler|Rika is the person who experiences the [[Groundhog Day Loop]], and the person trying to figure out why she is always killed in the end of every arc.}} Keiichi's just the one who is actively trying to do so, and is unaware of the actual protagonist's plight. Usually.
* Jun from ''[[Rozen Maiden]]'' is this to Shinku; he's the master of Shinku (though she treats him like a servant), Hinaichigo (indirectly) and Suiseiseki {{spoiler|and in the manga, eventually Souseiseki as well}}, but he himself is a [[Non-Action Guy]] most of the time, though he can provide useful support from the sidelines. Justified, since he's a human child and an unathletic [[Hikikomori]], and both the heroes and the antagonists are superpowered dolls.
* [[Spice and Wolf]] is a story about Holo as experienced by Lawrence. She provides the [[Deadpan Snarker|comedy]] and [[Please Don't Leave Me|drama]], and Lawrence provides the [[I Watch It for The Economics|economics]] and [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|hugs.]]
* Koyomi Araragi from ''[[Bakemonogatari (Light Novel)|Bakemonogatari]]'' is the main character and plays a key role in the arcs, but it's often the girls themselves who are the focus and have to solve the problems themselves in the end.
* ''[[Code Geass (Anime)|Code Geass]]'' tends to follow this trope more often than not. Lelouch, who the show focuses on, is really more of a [[Utopia Justifies the Means|well-]][[Visionary Villain|meaning]] [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Anti]][[Anti-Hero|-Hero]] at his best and a [[Villain Protagonist]] at his absolute worst. However, the character you would have expected to be the "[[The Hero|standard hero]]" was Suzaku, the [[Supporting Protagonist]]. ''However'', this is played with thanks to the [[Grey and Gray Morality]] of the setting (Lelouch can appear either very heroic or outright villainous on occasion, while Suzaku supports the oppressive and outright villainous empire, and [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|takes a running leap off the slippery slope]] more than once). In the ''[[Code Geass]]'' [[Anime First|manga]], Lelouch is still the protagonist, while ''Suzaku of the Counterattack'' features Suzaku in his turn as the main character. ''[[Nightmare of Nunnally]]'', meanwhile, gives the mantle to [[Ill Girl|Nunn]][[Magical Girl|ally]], while still spending a lot of time focusing on... Lelouch and Suzaku.
** More importantly, the story is narrated by C.C..
* Zenkichi from ''[[Medaka Box]]''. He's the primary viewpoint character and male lead, but it's Medaka who acts as [[The Hero]], and converts previous antagonists to allies. He becomes more and more important to the plot, and is also her [[Morality Chain]].
Line 49:
== Comic Books ==
* ''Tag and Bink are Dead'' and ''Tag and Bink Live'', short comics that follow the adventures of two bumbling rebels during the events of ''[[Star Wars|A New Hope]]'' and ''[[Star Wars|The Empire Strikes Back]]''. They also turn out to be Jedi Padawans during the events of the prequels.
* Jed from the ''[[Star Raiders (Comic Bookcomics)|Star Raiders]]'' graphic novel. He starts off as one of the three main characters, but halfway through the story he's sidelined into irrelevancy.
* Art Spiegelman (or at least his [[Author Avatar]]) in ''[[Maus]]'' as the story follows him and his attempt to record his father's experience throughout [[World War II|the Holocaust]]. However, the story is clearly about his father Vladek and his Holocaust experience.
 
Line 62:
* [[The Shawshank Redemption]]: Andy's story drives the action, but it's Red's evolution as a person that turns out to be the point of it all, making him the "main" character.
* ''[[Cars]] 2'' has Lightning McQueen, protagonist of the first, falling into this as his buddy Mater becomes the center of a espionage plot and thus the focus of the movie.
* While Holly Golightly is definitely the main character of ''[[Breakfast Atat Tiffany's]]'', her love interest Paul Varjak is the protagonist.
 
 
== Literature ==
* The eponymous [[The 13 th13th Warrior|13th Warrior]].
* ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]'''s: Watson may be the most famous case of this in history.
** Although it's averted in a few stories where Holmes himself narrates when Watson is unavailable.
** Parker in ''[[Solar Pons]]''. Being a pastiche of Watson, this is all too natural.
* [[The Voiceless|Chief Bromden]] from [[One Flew Over the CuckoosCuckoo's Nest]].
* By the end of the ''[[Midnighters]]'' trilogy, the protagonist role has shifted largely to Dess, the [[Five-Man Band]]'s resident [[The Smart Guy|Smart Guy]]. Since the one with [[The Hero]] power is Jessica, Dess could also be [[The Ishmael]].
* ''[[The Trail of Cthulhu]]'' is a novel that is made up of 5 interlocking stories. Each story has its own protagonist, but Professor Shrewsbury is the hero of the main narrative.
Line 76:
* Beth from the children's book ''The Best Christmas Pageant Ever'' and its sequels
* Scout from ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]''. Most people agree that the true hero of the story is her father, Atticus.
* Bryan starts out as one of these in the teen series [[Drama Series (Literature)|DRAMA!]], but by the third book he's become the focus of the story. This is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] repeatedly.
* The protagonist of ''[[Aimee]]'' by Mary Beth Miller is not the eponymous Aimee, in fact the protagonist is not given a name until the last few pages {{spoiler|It's Zoe}}. She is the girl who was accused of killing Aimee (when in fact Aimee killed herself). The book is all about the protagonist trying to detach herself from the shadow of Aimee's death.
* [[Action Girl|Vin]] from ''[[Mistborn]]''- she's the main POV character, but the story itself centers more on her mentor [[Rebel Leader|Kelsier]]. {{spoiler|Subverted when Kelsier is killed near the end of the first book, after which Vin shoulders the role of both protagonist and [[The Hero|heroine]] for the remainder of the trilogy}}.
* At the end of ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Monstrous Regiment|Monstrous Regiment]]'', Polly realises that {{spoiler|Joan-of-Arc-equivalent Wazzer}} is the one everyone will really remember.
** Sam Vimes is an interesting example. He ''became'' [[The Hero]] of the Watch novels, but when [[Terry Pratchett]] wrote ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Guards Guards|Guards Guards]]'' he thought Carrot was [[The Hero]], and Vimes was a handy pair of eyes to see him through.
* The Dickens novel ''[[Our Mutual Friend (Literature)|Our Mutual Friend]]'' is presented partly through the viewpoint of Mortimer Lightwood. As the family's lawyer Lightwood has a linking position between the hero and heroine, and is also connected to Eugene Wrayburn, but he has little direct impact on the action until fairly late in the story. In the 1990s BBC adaptation, he also functioned as the narrator.
* In ''SkyClan's Destiny'', one of the novels in [[Warrior Cats]], Leafstar is the perspective character, however Stick is the main character and the story centers around his struggles with the [[Offscreen Villainy|evil]] Dodge.
* While ''[[The Tigers Wife]]'' is framed as a story about a doctor delivering medicine to an orphanage at the same time as she's trying to find out some facts about her grandfather's death, the grandfather is really the central figure of the novel.
Line 107:
== Video Games ==
* In [[Dragon Quest]] V, unlike in IV and VI, the protagonist cannot equip the Zenithian Equipment; it's actually {{spoiler|his son}}.
* Monkey in ''[[Enslaved: OdysseytotheOdyssey to the West]]''. The narrative actually revolves around Trip as Monkey supports Trip on her journey home and her quest for revenge of the one responsible for the annihilation of her village. {{spoiler|It's Trip that kills the main antagonist, Pyramid}}.
** Enslaved is loosely based on the Chinese novel [[Journey to Thethe West]], in which this still holds true; ostensibly, it's about a priest named Tripitaka who is transporting religious writings [[Captain Obvious|westward]]. In practice, it's about Sun Wukong the Monkey King and all the awesome shit he does while he's forced to help Tripitaka on his journey.
* Locke for most of the World of Balance in ''[[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VI]]'', while the story revolves around Terra, Locke is in the hero role. This changes when Celes becomes the acting protagonist in the World of Ruin. She is less of a Supporting Protagonist however until the ending.
* Allegretto of [[Eternal Sonata]], in the same vein as Vaan of ''[[Final Fantasy XII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XII]]'', is most definitely this to not one, but two possible protagonists - Polka, a girl from a remote village who is actually the {{spoiler|[[Messianic Archetype]] catalyst for the [[Groundhog Day Loop]] that the world is trapped in}}, and Chopin, who claims that everything and everyone around him is merely one of his dreams. The latter's appearance in their world {{spoiler|is actually destined to end the loop of Polka repeatedly dying/reliving the same seven years over and over}}. Other than being the player avatar (and even then, that role is switched between him, Polka, and Beat) and acting as Polka's love interest, Allegretto doesn't even do much in the main story itself.
* Tidus in ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'' is an interesting case. The whole point of the game, initially, is that the characters are playing supporting roles in Yuna's quest. They, including Tidus, are merely her guardians to protect her, while ''she'' is destined to actually defeat the [[Big Bad]]. However, Tidus is the game's narrator, and often points out how, "This is my story." Indeed, the very first line of the game is, "Listen to my story." We eventually learn that {{spoiler|Yuna defeating the [[Big Bad]] would get her killed while it would just come back later, and it's Tidus's destiny to truly kill the thing}}. Thus, Tidus and Yuna ''swap'' being [[The Hero]] and [[Supporting Protagonist]] multiple times throughout the game: starting with Tidus as the hero, then switching to Yuna, then back to Tidus, and finally ending with Yuna.
** In [[Final Fantasy X 2|the sequel]], Yuna gets full control of the protagonist role. Even when other characters look like they're going to usurp her role as [[The Hero]], Yuna slaps them back down and says "No. [[Meaningful Echo|This is my story]]."
* ''[[Final Fantasy XI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XI]]'' has the player character often playing second fiddle to a (usually female) hero NPC in most of its storylines, doing the heavy lifting while the heroines magically appear wherever you go and have most of the interactions with other characters that the player character would have in most single player games.
* Vaan of ''[[Final Fantasy XII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XII]]'' is just [[The Ishmael]], it's Ashe that the story centers around. This is due to the [[Creative Differences]] of the game that lead to it being stuck in [[Development Hell]]--Ashe's bodyguard Basch was intended to be [[The Hero]], but ''[[Vagrant Story]]'', which starred a similarly older and burly hero, didn't sell well. So the game was retooled with Ashe as the story's focus and Vaan was moved to the spotlight because it was decided a more typical [[Bishonen]] hero would go over better.
** Vaan did get promoted to clear protagonist in the sequel, ''Revenant Wings''.
* ''[[Starcraft]]'' is basically about Arcturus Mengsk, Jim Raynor, Sarah Kerrigan, Tassadar, and Zeratul, whereas the PC is just some [[Non-Entity General|generic, nameless "magistrate", "cerebrate", or Protoss "executor"]]. [[Word of God]] has retconned that the Executor of Episode III was Artanis, and presumably the Executor of Ep IV was him or his student Selendis (who is Executor in ''[[Starcraft II]]''). The other player characters get fleeting references in the expanded universe to confirm that in the current canon they still exist, but their roles are downplayed because, well, they were always little more than viewpoints for the player to see the characters.
Line 123:
* ''[[Call of Duty]] 4: [[Modern Warfare]]'' is not about Soap or Jackson, but much rather [[Authority Equals Asskicking|Cpt. Price]], [[The Ace|Gaz]], [[Big Guy|Sgt. Griggs]], and strangely enough, [[Big Bad|Zakhaev]].
** It happens a lot when the player is a [[Heroic Mime]] with a strong supporting cast, no matter the genre.
** For the same reason, GLaDOS is the star of ''[[Portal (Video Gameseries)|Portal]]'', though Chell is the protagonist. You could go the whole game - perhaps even both games - without ever learning her name, or [[Protagonist Without a Past|any other reliable fact about her]].
* ''[[Mega Man X]]'' himself. Zero's the one with the most drawn-out, and important, storylines in the series, [[Writer Revolt|which is what Keiji Inafune, his creator, originally intended the series to be]].
** The one exception is ''Maverick Hunter X''; unlike the majority of fan adaptations, it does not expand Zero's role and does in fact develop X's character.
*** [[Word of God|Keiji Inafune]] planned for ''Maverick Hunter X'' to be a [[Continuity Reboot]] of the series. So, naturally, said [[Video Game Remake]] ''is'' an exception.
* Laura's scenario in ''[[Unlimited Saga|Unlimited SaGa]]'' is told through the eyes of Henri, a displaced Prince who meets her while running from assassins.
* Subverted with Lloyd in ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]''. Similar to ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'', it seems the story is more focused on the young girl on a pilgrimage and whom Lloyd is just friends with. [[Wham! Episode|Then comes]] [[Player Punch|the Tower of Salvation]].
* ''[[Tales of Legendia (Video Game)|Tales of Legendia]]'' has character quest chapters, which [[Character Focus|switch focuses on every characters in the party.]] Long story short, Senel is demoted to this between the main quest and the very late portion of the game.
* Subverted in ''[[Shadow Hearts]]: From The New World''. Shania appears to be the more important character, with Johnny Garland just tagging along... then it becomes clear who, exactly, Lady is, and [[It's Personal]].
* The protagonists in the ''[[Ar Tonelico]]'' series are generally secondary to the Reyvateils, especially Croix in ''[[Ar Tonelico 2 (Video Game)]].'' So much so that he didn't even appear in the Japanese cover art for ''2''!
* Nintendo-owned developer Intelligent Systems did this in some of the few games they made with western players in mind.
** In the original ''[[Battle Clash]]'', the player controls the gunner of a giant robot known as a "[[A Mech Byby Any Other Name|Standing Tank]]". The actual protagonist is the robot's pilot, who talks to the player directly before each battle. In the sequel, ''Metal Combat'', there's a cheat code that allows the player to have the pilot [[Hello, Insert Name Here|address them by name]].
** In the original ''[[Advance Wars]]'', the player takes control of an unseen military strategist who is assisted by a Commanding Officer (C.O.) in each battle. This was dropped in the sequels.
** In ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Rekka no Ken'' (a.k.a. the first game in the series to get an overseas release), the player takes control of a faceless tactician who assist the real protagonists, giving the protagonists an excuse to address the player in second-person. This is the only ''Fire Emblem'' game that does this.
* Solid Snake in ''[[Metal Gear|Metal Gear Solid 2]]'' is still considered the main protagonist, even though the player controls Raiden for the majority of the game.
* Interestingly, the character you make in ''[[White Knight Chronicles]]'' is almost a non-entity: although you can use any weapon, armor and magic, unlike any other character in the game, your character is entirely incidental to the plot and can, in fact, be left out ''entirely''. The real hero of the story is Leonard.
* While the plot of ''[[Super Paper Mario (Video Game)|Super Paper Mario]]'' certainly incorporates Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Luigi, the main story focuses on the romance of Blumiere and Timpani {{spoiler|and in the end they're the ones who save the [[Multiverse]].}}
** In [[Mario and Luigi Bowsers Inside Story (Video Game)|Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]], the game is really about Bowser forced to become a hero and saving the Mushroom Kingdom while Mario and Luigi secretly help him on the (in)side and saving him due to Bowser being both [[The Chew Toy]] and [[Too Dumb to Live]].
** A non-RPG ''Mario'' example would be in ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'', where Mario is just there to fly through space as an attempt to save Peach again from Bowser, who wants to take over the galaxy, but this is actually just a subplot. The game is really about a young woman's [[Tear Jerker]] tale of her constant wandering through the cosmos with several little star-people as her only friends while lamenting about the loss of her family since her departure.
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online (Video Game)|The Lord of the Rings Online]]'' has its central epic quest line, in which you follow along with the characters in the story and run errands for them. So far, every epic "Book" ends with your watching NPCs finish the fight.
* Done rather annoyingly in ''[[World of Warcraft]]: Cataclysm.'' {{spoiler|Most of the [[Indiana Jones and Thethe Temple of Doom]] [[Expy]] chain in uldum involves the character grabbing hold of a major [[Idiot Ball]], and getting saved by Harrison over and over again, while he does the impressive feats, you're either cowering in fear or doing his grunt work}}
** This is actually quite common in ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. While the player character does his fair share of heroics, most of the major story arcs have another character with a more important role in the story (probably due to the issues having a faceless character who could be of any race from either faction as a major character would cause). For example, Tirion Fordring is the true protagonist of ''Wrath of the Lich King''. The player character is his [[The Lancer|Lancer]].
* In ''[[Disgaea 2 Cursed Memories]]'', Adell is clearly the protagonist, but Rozalin is the one who gets all the character development and plot twists, and {{spoiler|she is ultimately the one who vanquishes Zenon}}.
** Also, in [[Disgaea 3 Absence of Justice]]'', Almaz may play this role for the actual protagonist, Mao. Although, unlike Disgaea 2, where it's obvious, Almaz and Mao's roles may largely depend on interpretation.
* The Rookie in ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'' only begins to affect the story in the last two levels: the rest of the game is spent reliving the experiences of the rest of the squad in the six hours the Rookie was unconscious.
* Lars in ''[[Tekken]]'' 6. He may command an entire army, fight waves of soldiers bare-handed and [[Cutscene Power to Thethe Max|deflect missiles with his wrists]], but the Mishima family are the ones doing all the important stuff while Lars runs around punching folks.
* The [[Faceless Protagonist]] of ''[[The PK Girl]]'' is a [[Supporting Protagonist]] to Laurie in the main plot. Laurie is the focal character, as the [[Living MacGuffin]] and the target of the antagonist, and her attempts to get free of ROSA's clutches drive the plot; the PC's just the guy who does the fighting, heavy lifting and rescue work, and otherwise he's along for the ride. If he's chasing any girl besides Laurie (who is romanced through the main plot), he becomes the protagonist of his own [[Romance Sidequest]], but only one [[Romance Sidequest]] ties back into the main story in any way after it starts off {{spoiler|(Katryn's)}}.
* Ryu of the ''[[Street Fighter]]'' series. While he is the main character, aside from the original and the ''Street Fighter Alpha'' series, his role to the [[All in The Manual|story]] tends to be minimal as he is often a [[Living MacGuffin]] at most. [[All-American Face|Guile]] was the focus of ''[[Street Fighter II (Video Game)|Street Fighter II]]'' due to his motives against Bison, while [[Gentle Giant|Abel]]'s mysterious origins serve to be the focal point of ''[[Street Fighter IV (Video Game)|Street Fighter IV]]''. ''[[Street Fighter III (Video Game)|Street Fighter III]]'' even takes Ryu out of the protagonist role entirely replacing him with [[Wrestler in All of Us|Alex]]. Even within the series as a whole, most of the heroics come from [[Supporting Leader|Chun-Li]] while Ryu is [[To Be a Master|focused on finding strong opponents]].
* Tact Mayers of ''[[Galaxy Angel (Videovideo Gamegame)|Galaxy Angel]]''. Although he's the captain of the Elsior which is a capital ship all the work is done by the angels.
* Leo from ''[[Zone of the Enders]]'' has a personal journey, but the focus moves more towards the larger conflict and he's ultimately an insect to the villain. He gets the focus on his journey but the true hero is already dead at game start and his journey is just a small part of the much larger story he was sucked into.
* One can get this impression from [[The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks]]. While other titles in the series focus on Link-- who, of course, plays the hero-- Spirit Tracks seems to focus more on the character development of Princess Zelda. Appropriate since, [[Canon Dis Continuity|barring that]] [[The Unholy Triforce|that one time]], this is the first time that {{spoiler|she's playable.}}.
* The various [[AFGNCAAP]] player characters of ''[[Ace Combat]]'' have been this ever since the series steered away from [[Excuse Plot|Excuse Plots]] (around the time of ''[[Ace Combat 3 Electrosphere]]''). Nowhere is this more obvious than in ''[[Ace Combat Zero]]'', where the entire game is told from the perspective of the enemy aces you shot down and your ex-[[Wing Man]] {{spoiler|whom you also shoot down}}. [[The Narrator]] even admits in the end that despite telling the whole story, he still has no idea just what kind of person the Demon Lord of the Round Table was.
** The only exception to the above thus far is ''[[Ace Combat Assault Horizon]]'', which at least attempts to give the player character (who actually has a personality this time) some [[Character Development]].
Line 158:
 
== Visual Novels ==
* Most romantic [[Visual Novel|visual novels]] are more about the romanceable characters (and one 'true path' character in particular) than they are about the player character. In the Bishoujo setup, the male lead is often either a nonentity, a [[This Loser Is You|loser]], or a jerk, and one of the female leads is the real hero. This tends to carry over into their anime adaptations. ''[[Fate/stay Stay Nightnight]]'' is both a literal and figurative example: in the Fate route, Shirou is no match for Saber in combat, and instead supports her with projection and, later, mana. Emotionally, it's his job to break through her stoic exterior and make her happy. Either way, Saber ends up the primary focus, and the driving force of that route.
* ''[[Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors]]'': {{spoiler|The point of view that the player takes is actually June/Akane of 9 years ago, seeing things through Junpei's eyes. This is a very important plot device and technically makes her the protagonist. Junpei still fills the conventional role of the hero though and once their connection is split at the very end, the perspective of the remaining story alternates between the both of them.}}
* In ''[[Loren the Amazon Princess]]'', Soren or Eleanor (whichever character you pick) fills this role. The titular Princess is [[The Chosen One]] and the game is about ''her'' quest, while [[The Hero]] is along as Loren's personal slave and sidekick.
 
 
== Webcomics ==
* The webcomic ''[[Hanna Is Not a Boys Name|Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name]]'' is ostensibly about the unnamed zombie narrator, but the real hero figure is Hanna.
* The Exiles of ''[[Homestuck]]'' have this going for them in their [[Five-Man Band]]. WV, the first Exile seen, is the protagonist of the Exiles and gets the most screentime, but in terms of role in the story, he is surpassed by PM, the one who did more things that were directly relevant to the story.
 
 
== Western Animation ==
* Jackknife from ''[[Superjail (Animation)|Superjail]]'' definitely qualifies-he's one of 4 inmates that are seen from one episode to the next. (the other 2 being the gay couple and Gary and Bird).
* The original premise for ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' had Sokka playing this role towards Aang. This did not make the final cut though.
* Carmen Sandiego from ''[[Where Onon Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' may be the [[Villain Protagonist]], but we see the series through Ivy and her brother.
* Kai from ''[[Ninjago]]'' is the main character yet he is not [[The Hero]] nor is he {{spoiler|[[The Chosen One|The Green Ninja]]}}.
 
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/888409"