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{{trope}}
[[File:Clipboard01.jpg|link=Welcome Back, Kotter|frame|See the blonde in the back? She's a living prop.]]
 
 
{{quote|'''Dog Poo:''' I think I deserve to [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute|take Kenny's place]] the most, because, I've been hanging around these guys for like five years and I never get to say or do anything.
'''Eric Cartman:''' ...Yeah, I've only seen that kid in class, but he never does anything. He's more like a prop.|''[[South Park]]'', "Professor Chaos"}}
|''[[South Park]]'', "Professor Chaos"}}
 
{{quote|'''Walter Harriman (The Chevron Guy):''' Chevron One, encoded. Chevron Two, encoded. Chevron Three encoded. Chevron Four Encoded. Chevron Five Encoded. Chevron Six Encoded. Chevron Seven Locked.|Walter Harriman (The Chevron Guy)|''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', "Heroes pt1", former trope namer.}}
 
There's the [[Recurring Character]], appearing more or less often beside the main cast. There's the poor [[Red Shirt]], who is usually introduced only to get killed off in the very same episode, and the [[Mauve Shirt]], who survives longer or at least gets a token amount of characterization before dying. There are [[Colonel Makepeace]] and the [[Bridge Bunnies]], who get to actually run the place from time to time while our heroes boldly go where no man has gone before.
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Then there are those kinds of recurring characters who don't actually have any involvement with the plot except as [[Padding]], and whose only purpose is to create a certain sense of stability (after all, you wouldn't expect the bartender to be a different person every single time you visit the same bar, unless they all happen to have [[George Jetson Job Security]]) or to fill seats that would reasonably always be occupied by the same people (your classmates will remain the same throughout the school year.)
 
They have very few spoken lines, if any at all—itall — it's usually along the lines of "Hot or iced?" or "All systems ready, Captain," If this is noticeable or stretching realism they are [[Ghost Extras]]. Most of the time they just stand there in the background, as if they are a permanent part of the scenery that might as well be a living prop. Sometimes, however, they will be subject to [[Lampshade Hanging]] about their dedication to their one job, and if this trend continues, they may even transform into a proper [[Recurring Character]], sometimes with their own subplot. Compare and contrast [[Unknown Character]], for a character with plot relevence who was never shown.
 
They might also have been a [[Chekhov's Gunman]] the entire time. Or even [[The Dog Was the Mastermind|something more]].
 
{{examples}}
 
== Anime and Manga ==
* The reporter from ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'' actually got into the character popularity poll for the manga, despite having no character and only showing up in a few panels to cover the [[Magical Girl]]s' exploits on the news.
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* Ethan, in the 2007 ''[[I Am Legend]]'' movie. He is not a speaking role (or an ''emoting'' role), but he's there for the second half of the movie, always in the background or foreground. He doesn't do anything, he needs rescued a couple times, and his only real reason for being in the movie is so he can watch Shrek shortly after appearing on-screen. No, really.
* ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy]]'': Wes Mantooth's Channel 9 Evening News Team cohorts. They stand around behind Wes, but contribute nothing to the verbal argument in the park. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] at the end.
{{quote|--'''Wes Mantooth''': What, you guys can't say one thing? Even the guy that can't think said something. You guys just stand there? Come on!}}
* ''W'': In the autobiographical film of [[George W. Bush]], There is a scene where Bush is berating U.S Army commander Tommy Franks for not finding WMD'sWMDs. Sitting next to Franks is a British officer (Presumablypresumably representing Air Marshal Brian Burridge, head of UK Forces) who shifts awkwardly in his chair and looks as if he is going to speak a few times. But he says nothing.
 
 
== Live-Action TV ==
* The cashier in the coffee shop in ''[[Seinfeld]]''.
* Walter Harriman in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. Originally [[Fan Nickname|nicknamed]] "Chevron Guy" because his only role in the series was to announce [[the "Engaging Chevrons [[padding]], he got a proper name and some involvement in the plot in later seasons.
** And once Walter started becoming a real person, they introduced Sylvester Siler to be the Prop guy in the background. And then Siler got a name and lines and [[Butt Monkey|characterization.]]
{{quote|'''Siler:''' [[Lampshade Hanging|Oh no, not again!]]}}
** For other examples of former Living Props later going on to play a bigger role, see Jonathan in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''...
** ...and Miles O'Brien in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', who went from being an unimportant transporter operator to a recurring secondary character and then on to be a major character in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]''.
** AlsoAslo fromin ''DS9Deep Space Nine'': Morn, the silent, morose-looking alien extra perpetually stationed at the far end of Quark's bar, who seemed so profoundly dedicated to doing nothing at all that he actually became the centre of fan attention.▼
* For ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' Ricky's band members shown during night club scenes.▼
** A literal example - the baby chicks.▼
* Buffy did this a few times actually. [[Seth Green]] was just scenery for quite a while before his character Oz was given a name and a bigger role.▼
▲* Also from ''DS9'': Morn, the silent, morose-looking alien extra perpetually stationed at the far end of Quark's bar, who seemed so profoundly dedicated to doing nothing at all that he actually became the centre of fan attention.
** Morn even got his own episode ("Who Mourns For Morn?") and was ''still'' an uncredited extra with no lines!
*** The [[Running Gag]], of course, being that when Morn is ''not'' on camera, he's the life of the party. The viewers [[Informed Attribute|just never get to experience it]].
▲* For ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' Ricky's band members shown during night club scenes.
* ''[[Voyager]]'' has Lt. Ayala, a regular extra who appeared in all seven seasons. Formerly one of Chakotay's Maquis crew, he can often be seen filling in for Tuvok or Harry. We know a fair bit about him, but not from his mouth—in 115 episodes, he had only four lines.▼
▲** A literal example - the baby chicks.
▲* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' did this a few times actually. [[Seth Green]] was just scenery for quite a while before his character Oz was given a name and a bigger role.
▲* ''[[Voyager]]'' has Lt. Ayala, a regular extra who appeared in all seven seasons. Formerly one of Chakotay's Maquis crew, he can often be seen filling in for Tuvok or Harry. We know a fair bit about him, but not from his mouth—inmouth — in 115 episodes, he had only four lines.
* The silver-haired detective in ''[[The Shield]]''. Never got a line, but he was acknowledged when he got a round of applause for being the first person to use the newly-fixed men's toilets in season four (they broke just before the first ever episode of season one).
* ''[[The Bill]]'' calls such characters "Totally Reliable Extra Veterans" (TREVs).
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* The regular customers at ''[[Cheers]]'' whose names are not Norm, Frasier or Cliff. Some of them (such as Paul) were eventually promoted to [[Recurring Character]]s. In fact, Cliff was one of these for the first few episodes.
** One character was referred to in scripts as "The Man Who Said 'Sinatra'" because in his first speaking role...[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|his line was just the response "Sinatra!"]]
* Most of the deck crew in ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' started out this way, though several were promoted.
** The tattooed pilot was a particular fan favourite.
* ''[[Scrubs]]'' has a collection of doctors that regularly appear on screen but (mostly) do not talk. For example, Colonel Doctor (called that because he looks like the Colonel Sanders), Dr. Beardface ([[It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY"|It's Be-ARD-fa-SAY!]]), Dr. Mickhead, and Snoop Dogg Intern.
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