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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Have you ever met someone you don't know, again? Like, you don't actually know them, but they keep popping up, like [[God]] is running out of extras for the movie of your life."''
|'''[[Louis CK]]'''}}
Character(s) with no relation to the main story who keep popping up when the important cast is doing something in the vicinity, usually to their inconvenience or discomfort. They usually have nothing to do with the plot whatsoever, and the cast does not even notice them. For obvious reasons this can become a [[Running Gag|running joke]], although their appearances often culminate in a formal introduction into the cast.
A level or two below [[Those Two Guys]] and the [[Recurring Traveller]]. Also see [[Memetic Bystander]] for when the fans take a shine to these characters. May overlap with [[Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Menko ("Miss Noodle") and Shiruo ("Mr. Soup") in ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]'', a terminally shy couple who are always just about to declare their love for one another at the moment another [[Thundering Herd]] runs over them.
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* The Belgian comic ''[[De Kiekeboes]]'' has a fat woman in a red sweater who is always being run over by the main character. To be more exact; she has appeared in EVERY De Kiekeboes comic that was written. With her appearance in every of the 127 comic books, equalling the four main characters and doing better than every other character.
* The various helicopter pilots, particularly the French one and his extended family, who encounter main character Shautieh Ley's [[Rushmore Refacement]] everywhere they go in ''[[Bowling King]]''.
* The alien inhabiting the Negative Zone in ''[[Twisted Toyfare Theater]]'', whose life is constantly screwed up by the antics of a rowdy Thing.▼
* The woodcutter couple in ''[[Usagi Yojimbo]]''. They appear in the background of every other issue or so, sometimes interacting with the main cast (unwittingly helping Usagi foil the Neko Ninja's plans, even more unwittingly helping him feed and clothe Princess Kinuko, and very nearly getting killed by Inazuma...) and often telling one another that samurai are crazy.
* In ''[[Watchmen]]'', the Bernards appear repeatedly yet have nothing to do with the plot, save to sell other characters newspapers and be a [[Framing Device]] for the ''Black Freighter'' story arc. The lesbian couple who get into a fight just before {{spoiler|the squid-alien appears}} have even less connection to the main characters. Subverted with {{spoiler|the "End Is Nigh" sign-carrier}}, who looks innocuous until {{spoiler|it turns out he's Rorschach}}.
▲== [[Fan Fiction]] ==
* In ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'' there's an unnamed underclassman of Kyon who has run him when [[Good Cop, Bad Cop|interrogating a member of an illegal photography ring]] and talking how him breaking a yakuza thug's hand was the most impressive display of that fight, between other moments.
== [[Film]] ==
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* The late actor [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0669653/ Ed Peck] played five different characters in all five seasons of ''[[That Girl]]'' and three different characters in three different seasons of ''[[The Odd Couple]]''.
* The ''[[Law & Order]]'' franchise frequently reuses actors who play characters outside the main cast, leading to the nickname "repeat offenders", some of whom have made their way into the main cast with a lampshade hanging. Special mention to retired ESU officer Ed Bogdanowicz who was regularly cast in the original and ''[[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit]]'' when the plot [[Spear Carrier|required an ESU officer speak]]. Unlike most recurring background actors, Bogdanowicz always played a single position and remained nameless, leaving open the possibility he was playing the same character.
== Newspaper Comics ==
▲* The alien inhabiting the Negative Zone in ''[[Twisted
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
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* In ''[[8-Bit Theater]]'', the Onion Kid character suffers repeatedly as a side effect of Black Mage's actions, even as they travel to different cities and continents. His family and two foster families are killed by Black Mage, he is put on trial for one of those murders, and he is kicked out of an orphanage for being bad luck when a delivery is destroyed. Eventually this was subverted by the revelation that the Onion Kid is actually {{spoiler|[[Jerkass God|Sarda's]] past self.}}
** Another example are the Real Light Warriors, which [[Missed the Call]] that hired Black Mage & Co., and now always one step behind the Light Warriors (or being screwed by them).
* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' has a pair of Flumphs, floating, white, tentacled creatures, who wander around and get landed on by (and save the lives of) falling main characters in almost every appearance.
** Lampshaded with a towering side of spoilers [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0444.html here.]
* ''[[Keychain of Creation]]'' has a young man with yellow eyes and brown hair who reappears numerous times in various roles. {{spoiler|He turns out to be a Sidereal [[Exalted]] who knows Ten Winds. Probably a Chosen of Journeys, given his yellow color scheme.}}
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** The chick with red hair and glasses... and possibly braces. (She does actually get a role as one of the transformed geeks when the trio goes to the San Diego Comic Con. At least, it's the same character design.)
** The black chick with the tall black hair and green sweater.
* ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' features a nondescript bald man in black that has constantly appeared in the background or in random moments throughout the series. The fans have noticed him so much that he's gained [http://worldsfinestonline.com/WF/beyond/bios/mrlucky/ his own bio page on World's Finest.] He has been alternately referred to as "Mr. Lucky" or the intentionally-mispelled "The Blad Man". It is possible, but as of yet unconfirmed, as to whether the character was designed after longtime [[DCAU]] director [https://web.archive.org/web/20120511002740/http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/dcanimated/images/thumb/c/ca/Danriba.jpg/300px-Danriba.jpg Dan Riba.]
* ''[[Futurama]]'':
** Number 9 Man appeared in the background throughout the cartoon series before getting an [[Ascended Extra|important role]] in the fourth film ''Into the Wild Green Yonder''.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Cast Filler Tropes]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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