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They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Difference between revisions
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The character is brilliant. They might be any role but no matter what trope they fall under, whether a single trope or many, they all have one thing in common. You love them, but the writer doesn't.
It's not their fault. They do the best they can. They just never seem to get the screentime that you think they deserve. That [[A Day in the Limelight|Day in the Limelight]] isn't forthcoming, the episode focusing on their mysterious past doesn't turn up, you never get to hear their snarky remarks on a situation that just calls for it and after five pages of teasing they get [[Put on a Bus]] to Nowhereville.
Often happens when a single- or few-episode character is introduced. They show great promise, with an interesting background or interaction with the main character(s), and could have led to a compelling plot or new dynamic if made a permanent fixture, or at ''least'' a recurring character -- but were underdeveloped and then discarded.
Occasionally this happens to someone whose backstory is [[All There in the Manual|revealed in supplementary materials]] or in a video game, are filled through sidequests. Players are [[Waste of Time Story|very likely to skip sidequests and ignore these things]], although it's especially annoying if [[No Export for You|these supplementary materials were never available in your country]].
Contrast [[Creator's Pet]], this trope's exact opposite, where a character ''isn't'' considered good by many viewers but keeps getting exposure anyway. A subtrope of [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot]], supertrope of [[Too Cool to Live]]. Nearly always an [[Ensemble Darkhorse]].
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* Very prevalent in ''[[Naruto]]''. Considering the [[Loads and Loads of Characters|number of characters,]] [[Out of Focus|their limited screen time]] and [[Broken Base|the fandom]], it's really not surprising. Special mention goes to the Jinchuuriki since all of them except Naruto, Killer Bee and Gaara were killed and captured off-screen. However, Utakata was given [[Adaptation Expansion|his own filler arc in the anime]].
** Some fans feel this way about various Akatsuki members who were killed off, {{spoiler|at least before those who were resurrected by Kabuto's Edo Tensei spell returned}}. Notable examples include Hidan and Kakuzu.
* This is all over the place in ''[[Bleach]]'', especially in more recent arcs. It's incredibly common for a new character with a unique and interesting power to show up, and then get killed in short order without actually using their unique and interesting powers for anything.
** Some subversions occurred in the anime, however. For example, Harribel was given a plausible backstory and explanation for why she didn't seem as powerful as she was reputed to be. Also, Loly gets some redemption rather than just staying a [[Flat Character]], actually defending Orihime from Yammy.
*** However, Harribel appeared to have been given some more screentime before [[Damsel in Distress|getting imprisoned by the Vandenreich]]. I mean, she [[Badass|not only survived the Fake Karakura town arc]], but [[Offscreen Moment of Awesome|became the ruler of Hueco Mundo while everyone was fighting Xcution]]
** A weird example is Rudobon (officially romanized as "Rudbornn Chelute"). He's a rather mysterious character who strangely has a fully intact mask unlike every other Arrancar, is the leader of the equally mysterious Exequias group of completely identical soldiers. He apparently kills off a few minor antagonists once they've [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|outlived their usefulness]]. He then sort of disappears for a little while. Toward the end of the Hueco Mundo arc, he has a brief fight with Rukia in the manga, a full-episode fight against Rukia, Renji, and Chad in the anime... Until he's smashed to pieces by Yammy before we find out anything really significant about him.
** The fullbringers earned some time in the arc, but in the large scheme of things, the arc seems to merely be treated as a canon filler, serving as little more than to have Ichigo get his powers back. While their arc avoids [[Arc Fatigue]], they seemed to have been quickly written off, possibly never to return. Especially as the hollows came back in the following arc.
* ''[[Code Geass]]'' is extremely guilty of this even in the first season, only for it to be even ''worse'' in the second.
** [[Smug Snake|Prince Clovis]], despite being a prejudicial sibling of Lelouch who killed him for his racist views on Elevens/Japanese, he [[Hidden Depths|actually cared for his sister, painted a portrait of Lelouch's mother and children and actually made some good contributions to Area 11]]. He was killed off to to show that Lelouch was ruthless and to show that even ZERO had guilt for his actions. He would've been a nice [[Recurring Boss]] that would eventually get [[Character Development]] to actually get over his bigot pride and do some good for the Japanese.
** The House of Kyoto, the heads of the major industries in Japan, who later assist the Black Knights by supplying them with technology after one of them, Kirihara, recognizes Zero as Lelouch who he met as a child. It would've been nice if all the members not just [[Token Mini-Moe|Kaguya]] were elaborated in character and Kirhara's relationship with Lelouch was explored more rather than executing them for being the Black Knights' supporters.
** Ohgi, Diethart, Euphemia, Toudou, the Four Holy Swords, Tamaki, Rolo, V.V, Mao and oh God, {{spoiler|Shirley.}}
** The {{spoiler|Knights Of Round}} who should've been an elite [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]], but are cannon fodder to show how skilled Suzaku and Kallen are.
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*** And of course, Team Rocket themselves haven't prominently appeared since the Kanto saga, and even then we were mostly limited to the bumbling trio. This looks to be subverted - mercifully - with [[Took a Level In Badass|greater plot and story development]] in the new ''Best Wishes'' series, however.
* Ogawa of ''[[Bakuman｡]]''. He's incredibly knowledgeable about manga, from his prediction that {{spoiler|Detective Trap wouldn't last long in Jump}} to knowing how to set up an office and manage assistants. Despite his talent, he doesn't try to become an mangaka, not even trying to pair up with a writer to offset his weaknesses as a storyteller, and is never seen again after {{spoiler|Trap gets canceled}}. Even having him as an assistant might have been a good way to contrast him with assistants driven to get a series, such as Nakai and Takahama.
* [[Black Butler]]: Despite an [[Loads and Loads of Characters|impressive cast]], most characters who aren't Sebastian or Ciel become dead weight pretty quickly. Not to say that many aren't [[Flat Character|Flat]], but many others showed serious promise before being unceremoniously [[Killed Off for Real|killed]] or [[Put on a Bus|forgotten]]. {{spoiler|It's especially problematic when two such characters ''are the season's [[Big Bad|Big Bads]]''.}}
* ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'' had numerous examples of wasted plots, but two infamous ones were the aborted Dagomon arc and later the Daemon Corps. Both characters could also count as wasted.
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* Ares from [[Marvel Comics]] was portrayed as a [[Badass]] [[Papa Wolf]], [[Heel Face Turn|once villain]] of the [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avengers]] who was recruited onto the Mighty Avengers team. However, the team itself was short lived as after only two short arcs the team was disbanded and he became a Dark Avenger instead. This led to him being [[The Worf Effect|tossed around by every other villain the team faced]] and the book focused on other characters instead. He scored a few [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|crowning moments of awesome]] while being neglected but it seems increasingly likely that he won't feature too prominently anymore seeing as {{spoiler|The Void tore him in half in an embarrassingly short [[Curb Stomp Battle]] during Siege.}}
* [[wikipedia:Shamrock (comics)#Fictional character biography|Shamrock]], Marvel's [[Captain Ethnic|Captain Irish]] heroine. She's possessed by the spirits of dead Irish soldiers who have unfinished business. When they possess her they give her the speed, strength and martial skill of a thousand dead warriors... oh sorry, they actually made her ''really, really lucky''. But wait, [[It Got Worse|it gets better]]; she retired from superhero-ing to become... ''[[Stay in the Kitchen|a hairdresser]]''.
** And ''no one cared!''
* [[Cute Mute]] and [[Body Surf|Body Surfer]] Jericho of the ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]''. After being stuck on a floppy as a [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] ghost for a couple years he was finally revived and restored to his old self and with a new body... only to be shoved into limbo about ten issues later where he would turn up a in couple years [[Heel Face Revolving Door|evil again due to multiple evil personalities from his power of possession (and also possibly from being 'dead')]] and {{spoiler|ultimately suffer [[Eye Scream]]}}. What makes this even more of a waste was that during Jericho’s short time as a newly revived hero, he had hardly any interaction with any of his old friends (especially best friend/almost love interest Raven who resurrected him but insteas their relationship seemed [[Derailing Love Interests|forgotten]]) or a decent reunion with his father Deathstroke the Terminator, or really anything about the character was explored besides "mute son of Deathstroke". Now, the mute part has been taken away, thus [[DC Comics]] having one less hero with a physical disability. Besides some sweet bonding moments with his half-sister Ravager, Jericho was mostly stuck in the background and underused until he was thrown in to the mediocre and forgettable stories DCU: Decisions and the Titans/Teen Titans/Vigilante crossover Deathtrap. However, as of Blackest Night {{spoiler|Jericho seemed to have recovered from both insanity and [[Eye Scream]]... for now.}}
* In general, both Marvel and DC Comics have countless characters who may have had intriguing concepts or personalities, but after their first appearances or the cancellation of their series, they're rarely seen again. When they do appear, they're usually killed as throwaway [[C-List Fodder]] or serve as second-rate [[Mooks]], in the case of many supervillains. Sadly, these characters might have had a lot of creative potential, but more often than not fans and writers alike ignore them in favour of long-established characters and [[Expy|Expys]] of these long-standing characters.
== Fanfiction ==
* Most writers for [[Camp Rock]] fanfiction completely waste all potential of Caitlyn and Tess (arguably played best by the two best actors in the teen cast) by pairing them with the [[The Jonas Brothers]] [[Expy|Expies]] (who seem to suck at [[As Himself|playing themselves]])
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* ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]''
** Alice, in spades. Reasons range from her being the [[Badass Adorable]] [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] to some people just enjoying the [[Les Yay]] between her and Bella and fans finding that [[Die for Our Ship|this Edward fellow just keeps getting in the way]].
** Carlisle is also a favorite among people who find the books otherwise horrific, mainly due to the way he actually makes good use of his condition. He's not used so much in the plot.
** Seth and Leah of the Quileute Tribe/Werewolf Pack, and Jacob (generally before ''Eclipse'' and/or ''[[Base Breaker|Breaking Dawn]]'').
** Rosalie Hale, [[Rich Bitch]] vampire with a distaste for Bella that many readers can sympathize with.
** A lot of the supporting characters seem to be this. It helps that most of them have much more interesting backstories and personalities than the [[Mary Sue|main]] [[Jerk Sue|characters]].
** Some people believe that the side characters became just as [[Flat Character|flat]] and/or boring as the main characters ''after'' they got fleshed out more, so sometimes wasting characters might be for the best.
* In ''[[The Riftwar Cycle]]'' the author devotes a book to novelising the plot of the insanely successful RPG ''[[Betrayal at Krondor]]'' written by Neal Hallford and set in his world. One of the characters, Owyn Beleforte, ends up as a very powerful 19-year-old magician who has become [[Fire-Forged Friends|friends]] with one of the allegedly [[
* [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] fans will never agree on it, but it seems that the decision to kill Anakin Solo just as they'd launched three major plot arcs around him (romance, check; special abilities, check; unique connection with enemy culture, check) was a bit of a dead end. Oddly, the writers of the post-''[[New Jedi Order]]'' era seem to agree, as they keep making everyone relive his death. Oddly, Anakin bordered on [[Creator's Pet]] in the Corellian Trilogy. According to the writers, they were going to make Anakin the hero of the [[New Jedi Order]] books, but [[George Lucas]] vetoed it because he was afraid people would mix up Anakin Skywalker and Anakin Solo.
** Jaina Solo as well, since the writers turned her into a [[Flat Character]].
** Also, Anakin's girlfriend, Tahiri Veila, gets this; while she was important for much of the ''[[New Jedi Order]]'', she got [[Demoted to Extra]] in the last book and then hovered around in the background for a while, as if the writers were unsure what to do with her - and then brought her back into the spotlight only to have a lot of her [[Character Development]] undone so she could be derailed into a villain.
* Brian Jacques is guilty of this quite often in the ''[[Redwall]]'' series, introducing a charismatic, kickass new character and then killing them off within two chapters. Has overlap with [[Too Cool to Live]].
* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' does such a good job of creating fascinating characters, even ones that play very small roles, [[Anyone Can Die|that it's inevitable to be upset at the horrible fates of at least one.]]
* Did anyone else plod through ''[[The Inheritance Cycle|Brisingr]]'' just hoping that [[God Mode Sue|Eragon]] and [[Supporting Leader|Roran]] will go away so we can have more [[Badass Normal|Nas]][[Lady of War|ua]][[Rebel Leader|da]] chapters? It's amazing how awesome and realistic she becomes, probably because Paolini makes her problems ''practical'' concerns rather than the philosophical, "deep" issues he tries to have the others grapple with.
* The sardonic, tragic, cheerful Lenox from [[Agatha Christie|Agatha Christie's]] ''Mystery of the Blue Train''. Admittedly, it wasn't her best novel anyway, but Lenox was infinitely preferable to the rather prissy Katherine.
* For some, Peter Pettigew in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books. He's a central figure in ''[[Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban]]'', but we never really learn anything more about him - not his motivations in betraying the Potters, not his family or personal history, and not much about what he was up to in books five to seven. Despite setting up a [[Chekhov's Gun]] in the third book about how he owes Harry a life debt, this comes to a {{spoiler|rather lackluster conclusion in which he spares Harry's life (and this seems to be less his own choice as it is the "magical rules" that surround the life debt) and is promptly strangled by the silver hand Voldemort gave him - which doesn't make much sense anyway considering all the Death Eaters were under strict instructions ''not'' to kill Harry}}.
** It's mentioned a few times that Peter Pettigrew was the type of person who was concerned for keeping his own skin safe. His spying and betraying was because he wanted Voldemort's protection by being on his side, rather than running risk of being killed. The part about his {{spoiler|magical hand choking him to death}} stems from Voldemort's warning to not let his ''loyalty'' waver. And he hesitated a tiny moment, where he probably questioned his actions, that caused his death.
** Rowling's writing is ''made'' of this, unfortunately - with [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] and a very protagonist-centralised focus, it stands to reason that at least a ''number'' of characters would feel like they were wasted in the long run. Some people have similar feelings about ones such as Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Luna Lovegood, Mad-Eye Moody, the Hogwarts professors besides Dumbledore & Snape (not to mention the trope namer for [[Hufflepuff House]], and Ravenclaw doesn't get much more exposure)... if we all thought up a character whose development we might consider to be short-changed and compiled them in one place, we'd probably have enough guests to hire out an entire restaurant for.
*** Rowling has lamented this - she had a lot more that she wanted to include in the books that she couldn't due to [[Executive Meddling]].
* With the exception of Spink, all of Nevare's academy classmates completely disappear from the story after the first book of ''[[The Soldier Son]]''. Especially Gord and his troubled relation to Trist seemed to have loads of potential, but they are never seen again.
* Shannon Killbourne, to a lot of ''[[Babysitters Club]]'' readers.
* Mary Watson, ''née'' Morstan, in ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]''. Despite playing a major role in ''The Sign of Four'', having quite a bit of genuine detective skill herself, and ending up married to Dr. Watson, she's never used again except in cameos, and during the [[Time Skip]] between "The Final Problem" and "The Empty House", {{spoiler|[[Bus Crash|she's killed off]]}}.
* A few of the characters from [[The Hunger Games]] don't have much light shed on their motives, histories, etc..
** A good example is Cinna. It is established immediately that he chose to style the District 12 tributes this time, despite them being so unpopular, but we never find out why. Or why he doesn't have a Capitol accent, or why his fashion isn't as extravaggant, or... anything about him really.
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*** This is a case of [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]. He was supposed to stick around but the producers were getting increasingly worried about his drug problems.
* A lot of early boots on Reality TV shows, game shows or otherwise come off as this way. See also [[Shocking Elimination]]; some people who seem genuinely good at the game or are actually good in talent shows wind up eliminated early, sometimes for the wrong reasons, sometimes for being the low-man on the totem pole.
** Brian and Annie in the American version of ''Big Brother''. Season 12 (where Annie was from) is probably one of the smartest players in a season full of already-educated and genre savvy players. (Even if some players were [[Genre Blind]]; they ''were'' pretty booksmart.) Brian meanwhile was actually considered a legit threat; there's a ''reason'' Julie Chen spoke to him more than she did the ''other'' early boots. Alex and Parker from season 9, too, were booted mostly for the wrong reasons.
** From ''[[Survivor]]'', we had Dolly from Vanuatu, Marisa and Betsy from Samoa (Russell actually voted them out because he said that those two could have beaten him), then Sugar, Stephanie, Tom, and Cirie in ''Heroes Vs. Villains''.
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'': Linea, the genocidal maniac who could effortlessly hack computers, cure the blind, and make diseases that destroy planets, who had a complete understanding of how the Stargate worked, and was an old lady, seemed like such a cool villain for SG-1 to face. It was their fault she was loose in the first place, which adds drama. On top of that, she is obviously smarter than them, and how often do you see a quiet old lady as a villain anyway? Instead, she came back a year later; younger, mindwiped, and redeemed so Daniel could have a rebound girl, and then was completely forgotten about all over again.
** Aside from [[Magnificent Bastard|Baal]], Yu was by far the most interesting of the System Lords. He was the only one that was openly against Anubis from the beginning, was nice enough that his worshipers seemed to genuinely respect him instead of following out of fear, like Baal he recognised the value of not obliterating Earth, and was so old even by [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|Goa'uld standards]] he was actually ''going senile''. And yet with the exception of during a brief [[Enemy Mine]] situation none of this was really explored, and he went the way of all the other System Lords after the Replicators arrived.
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** Richard, the mysterious immortal agent of Jacob, gained a lot of [[Memetic Badass]] points with fans due to his mysterious immortalness, as well as his actor Nestor Carbonell's incredibly badass eyelashes. A lot of people wanted to see more of him doing many badass things, however the timing of the unveiling of the background and the fact that mysterious characters don't stay mysterious for that long if you spend too much time on them, meant that he only got the one focus episode and some side character action in the final season.
** Frank Lapidus. Brief dialogue painted him as something of a conspiracy theorist (on a mysterious island with time travel and reality-bending numbers and polar bears! Imagine the possibilities!), yet he was never given his own flashback episode (yeah, he shared one with the other freighter people, but that hardly counts). His upgrade to full-time status in season 6 was also wasted, as he didn't really have anything to do until the very end: {{spoiler|''somebody'' needed to fly that plane off the island}}.
* Victor of ''[[Burn Notice]]'' started out as a cool recurring villain. He was an excellent [[Shadow Archetype]] to Michael, he and Michael shared loads of [[Ho Yay]], he was an awesome [[Deadpan Snarker]], and he was played by [[Stargate SG-1|Michael Shanks]]. Naturally, when Victor and Michael teamed up, {{spoiler|he died.}}
** Tricia Helfer's fantastic villain Carla - another one who is offed way too soon.
* Gillina on ''[[Farscape]]'' - a fan favorite who appeared in four episodes {{spoiler|then fell victim to [[Death of the Hypotenuse]].}}
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* [[Heroes]] had Elle played by [[Kristen Bell]]. The 7th episode of Season 3 set her up for a [[Heel Face Turn]], only to abort it and the last minute. Then she starts a relationship with Sylar which seemed to be going well until he suddenly kills her.
** An even better example is Scott the super soldier from Season 3. He's given significant screen time in ''Our Father'', up to and including an explanation of his motives for participating in the program, which is a novelty in a show where characters do things for unexplained and inexplicable reasons. He is the first recipient of the perfected formula, neatly subverts [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]], and is all set up to be a big player in the finale. {{spoiler|Then the finale comes and minor villain Knox unceremoniously snaps his neck.}}
* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'' you could actually argue this applies to ''the Doctor'' a couple of times. For all the mixed feelings that fans have about [[Doctor Who/Recap/TVM the TV Movie
** Then there was the 6th Doctor, who was supposed to start out as an abrasive, egotistical blowhard before softening considerably as his tenure went on. [[Executive Meddling]] cut his time short, so he never really got past being an abrasive, egotistical blowhard. Like the above example, there is [[Expanded Universe]] material that helps rectify this.
* ''[[Supernatural]]'' features at least one of these a season: there's Meg's brother Tom in Season 1, most of the psychic kids in Season 2, Bela Talbot from Season 3, and so on.
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* [[Code Name|Dark Hunter Ancient]] of ''[[Bionicle]]''. [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot/Toys|See here]] as to why. Other Dark Hunters might also count, such as Guardian, who only ever appeared in ''one scene'' before being killed by the [[Big Bad]] [[For the Evulz]], even though they had an [[All There in the Manual|in-depth backstory written for him]]. [[Toyless Toyline Character|Toyless Toyline Characters]] are prone to this.
** Some might think they wasted Tren Krom too. Sure, he had a great impact on the story already, and was a very interestingly developed character (some sort of a benevolent but still mean-spirited [[Eldritch Abomination]] who's terrified to see what the world he was once appointed to rule had come to), but he was bound to his island prison, which limited his use greatly. Then, he became free, and when we next see him... [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|his pieces are all over the scenery]]. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in that killing off powerful characters was the ''point'' of this story, but still. There was great potential in the guy.
** And now Telluris. A crazed and evil [[Gadgeteer Genius]] who does have a good side, but this is usually overshadowed by his mighty mechanical scorpion-war machine, the Skopio XV-1. The Skopio only ever appeared in [[One-Scene Wonder|one scene]] (not counting its animation model appearing in ''The Legend Reborn''), in a difficult-to-get side story, and got trashed. Thus, the most defining aspect of Telluris' character was gone. Telluris also received an in-depth history, and even seemed like an actual likable character, only to be killed off later for no reason whatsoever, before he could do anything that had an impact on the plot.
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* Darth Nihilus in the second ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' game is a mysterious [[Humanoid Abomination]] who communicates exclusively in [[The Unintelligible|the untranslated language]] used by Atris' Sith Holocrons, can destroy planets using the power of the Force and was featured very prominently on the cover of the game. Judging from cut content {{spoiler|he is also substantially more powerful than undead [[Implacable Man]] Darth Sion}}. However, when you confront him he's easily beaten and turns out to have been a pawn of {{spoiler|Kreia/Darth Traya}} all along and he isn't even named in the game. He gives the impression of being [[Too Powerful to Live]] more than anything.
** The real problem with Nihilus was more tied to [[Executive Meddling|the cut content of the game]] and because much of his character is fleshed out through two characters it is entirely possible to kill instead of conversing with. He isn't really that easy to kill either-again, the player has to interrogate characters and read between the lines to see that {{spoiler|[[Only I Can Kill Him|the Jedi Exile was the only one Nihilus couldn't devour.]]}}
* ''[[Psychonauts]]'' develops even the random NPCs with their own back stories and personalities, so you could say this for just about any of them. [[Mad Scientist|Dr. Loboto]] may be the best example, though---a [[Depraved Dentist]], [[Crazy Awesome|one of the funniest characters]] and set up as the [[Big Bad]] (or at least [[The Dragon]] to him), he turns out to be an [[Anticlimax Boss]] you don't even really fight.
* Cheria in ''[[Tales of Graces]]'' had much ''much'' more room to develop. Heck, this is a ''[[Tales (series)]]'' game! They have all ''sorts'' of nice character development in there yet Cheria seems almost put in there just to be the Token Love Interest. Unfortunately; she turns out to be a stereotypical [[Damsel in Distress]], and violates many beliefs that [[Real Women Never Wear Dresses]]. Kind of sad though; she's kind of a Woobie, too.
** [[Namco Bandai]] does seem to have realized this, as Cheria becomes more developed in ''Tales of Graces f''. Still not nearly as much as she should be though.
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** In the same game, [[Does Not Like Men|Florina]] and [[Chivalrous Pervert|Sain]] ''do'' interact once or twice throughout the game<ref>by virtue of both appearing in the tutorial and remaining with Lyn at its end, as no characters under the player's control die when defeated until the [[Time Skip]]</ref> but generally not for anything more than a gag. What's particularly wasteful about it is that you have a perfect relationship to base Support Conversations on (where the meat of the game's characterisations occur with non-Lord units), and yet it doesn't ever happen.
* ''[[Dead to Rights]]'' has several characters die after appearing in just a few chapters (if they're lucky), but the clearest example of this trope is Patch, a suave assassin who is introduced in a cutscene getting the drop on Jack Slate, killing the villain he was chasing for most of the chapter, and framing Jack for his murder, leading to the [[Prison Episode|prison level]]. Making the scene memorable is that he has a distinct design from the other villains (dyed hair, the eponymous [[Eyepatch of Power|eyepatch]], and a [[Bling Bling Bang|gold Luger]]), speaks with a subtle accent (unlike some other characters), and treats his hits as if he were an artist, complete with discussing his hit on the phone as if negotiating an art commission. He does not get ''a single line'' for the rest of the game, and does not appear again until four chapters later, where he dies anticlimactically in a [[Car Chase]] boss fight.
* Sarah from ''[[Lost Odyssey]]'' seems to be the one party member who has little to no character development in the game. Her purpose seems to be to look after the kids and give Kaim an opportunity to show his softer side. She's also the only immortal who doesn't have an entry in the 1000 Years Of Dreams.
* Adam from the first ''[[Shining Force]]'' is the token robot in a mostly fantasy setting. He is introduced alongside Chaos, who was his ally until Darksol reprogrammed him. The main problem with Adam: he's dangerously underleveled for how late in the game he joins (within the last seven battles). Even with a Power Ring, he's lucky to even scratch the softer enemies for more than one hit point of damage, and God forbid the enemy AI ever targets him in his currently fragile state. [[Magikarp Power|While he can be one of the best tanks with enough training,]] even people who like him find him to be a waste of time to bother training.
== Web Original ==
* Presumably; this was what the producer of ''Sims Big Brother'' thought about Kristen and Roscoe. Before he canceled the original ''Sims Big Brother 7'', the two were brought back as the guest star players. Both were evicted second and didn't have a chance to develop (That and SRN admits that he had almost ''no'' creativity while working on ''Sims Big Brother 4'' anyways; and [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny|it shows]].) However when the viewers chose the cast of ''All stars'', Roscoe sadly didn't make the cut (He ''did'' have several amusing moments; though, more than can be said for Kristen) but Kristen was one of two people from season 4 that made it in - the other was Johnny. Kristen wasn't even a ''producer's choice''!
** Unfortunately; the same could be said about a lot of the big brother 4 cast. CJ seemed almost a background prop despite being popular enough to win (Viewers voted on the winner) Brian and Sam seemed to be in control of the game, heck, Sam is the only player who was ''never nominated''.
** The viewers also thought this about Dana, too. Dana was another early boot from Big Brother season 2 but was voted in as well.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[King of the Hill]]'' featured one episode with a cross dressing character known as Carolyn/Jamie. In the episode she became close friends with Peggy, and her male persona Jamie even got along well with Hank and the rest of the gang. After she taught Peggy about how it's okay to be different she was never seen again to the dismay of many fans.
* ''[[Winx Club]]'': Chimera. Her introduction showed quite some promise, but then she got saddled with a [[Guess Who I'm Marrying]] plot, which went in a completely predictable direction... that is, except for a couple things that viewers totally expected to happen: the plot taking a trip to her school, Stella having to make a truce with her, and Stella having a decent final battle with her.
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* The majority of the villains in ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' never get used for more than three episodes before getting dropped for no apparent reason.
** ''Blight'' is the biggest offender. He was the [[Big Bad]] of the first season and set up as the [[Big Bad]] of the series ''period''....but nope, he never returned after the first season's finale.
*** The character did reappear in the comics, however - to elaborate, his body survived, but he doesn't seem to remember anything about his past life outside of hatred and a desire for vengeance for Batman and Paxton Powers, and was eventually made into a target for the Stalker, and was eventually {{spoiler|killed by being caught in a blast furnace.}}
* Bane in ''[[The Batman]]''. He gets used for one episode, and the next time Batman has to face a huge muscular villain capable of breaking his back, it ends up being Joker using Bane's venom. Seriously? He then showed up in a few other episodes...with no lines, and being now able to be [[Villain Decay|brought down easily.]]
** Also, while not really ''badly'' used, Poison Ivy showed alot more potential that was realized in the spin-off comic series ''far'' more than it ever was in the show. "The Batman/Superman Story" two-parter is the biggest example of the show's wasting of her.
* Bunnie Rabbot of ''[[Sonic Sat AM]]'' made interesting use of the show's robotocization concept and had kickass cyborg powers to boot. However she had a supporting role in the majority of the first season and was [[Demoted to Extra]] in the second, arguably getting the least amount of development time out of the rest of the Freedom Fighters (keeping in mind Rotor and Tails were also heavily [[Out of Focus]] for most of the show's later run). The comics adapted from the show utilize her a bit more, but still play her as one of the more minor leads.
* General Immortus from the fifth season of ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]''. He's one of the core members of the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] and he's a military genius with ''milennia'' of experience, but at the end of the day he appears in only a handful of episodes, in only one of which he has lines, and does little but boss the [[Mooks]] around. In the [[Final Battle]], he gets an ignominious curbstomp where his three companions all go down fighting hard (or at least [[Brain In a Jar|the Brain]] has a [[The Dragon|Dragon]] fight hard and leaves a booby-trap himself).
* Koh the Face-Stealer from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', a fascinatingly creepy spirit who looks like a giant centipede and can steal the faces of victims to wear as his own. With tantalizing hints that he has dealt with the Avatar in the past and will do so again in the future, he never reappeared in the show. Hopefully he'll turn up in [[Sequel Series]] ''[[The Legend of Korra]]''.
* Of all the complaints frequently lobbied by ''[[My Life Me]]'''s immense hatedom, one of the most common is "Why is this show about an annoying weeaboo bitch and ''not'' [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Mr. Towes?]]"
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