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== Anime and Manga ==
 
* Most harem-leading males are pinball protagonists. The main characters of [[Ah! My Goddess (Manga)|Ah My Goddess]] (though this depends on the arc and the adaptation), [[To Love Ru]], [[Rosario to Vampire]], [[Sora no Otoshimono]], [[Steel Angel Kurumi]], [[Maburaho]], and [[Rozen Maiden]] all have main leads with no ambition, aside from trying to live normally under ridiculous circumstances. To be fair, most harem shows don't have much plot to begin with, though. [[Princess Resurrection]] (at least in the anime) [[Useless Protagonist|barely has the lead male do anything at all]].
** [[Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|Hayate]] falls into this category until the time comes for {{spoiler|Athena's reappearance}}, and he still has to be pushed into things even then, but he has drive.
* Until the climax of ''[[Osamu Tezukas Metropolis]]'', Kenichi and Tima spend most of their time wandering from one [[Scenery Porn]] locale to the next, occasionally getting shot at. Tima may also qualify as a walking [[MacGuffin]].
* Natsuru in ''[[Kämpfer (Light Novel)|Kämpfer]]'' gets dragged around by other people and he just goes along with them in the end anyway. Much worse in the anime than in the manga and light novels, although its still pretty bad in the latter two. The main difference is, in the latter, s/he at least ''tries'' to make a token effort to undermine the Kampfer War and learn the truth behind it, whereas in the anime, s/he just sorta stands there with a confused expression.
* Kyon of ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' spends a lot of time mostly just watching things happen and doing whatever people tell him. [[Deadpan Snarker|That isn't to say that he's boring or without personality, however,]] and his apathy is a source of frustration to other characters, which is amusing.
** He becomes a much more active protagonist after the fourth book.
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== Film ==
 
* Because of [[Disneyfication]], Mowgli in Disney's ''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Book]]'' spends all his time reacting to the other characters and doesn't instigate any plot events. This is totally ironic if you know the character from [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s original stories.
** While he doesn't initiate anything, he ''does'' resolve the plot by {{spoiler|frightening Shere Khan right out of the jungle, employing a tactic that King Louis (inadvertently) suggested to him earlier}}. In fact, that's pretty much the reason why he was so passive in the first place: he was a boy going to study with various teachers, and only after completing his "education" could he emerge as the hero.
* [[The Big Lebowski]]: The Dude just wants to bowl and smoke weed when his life is interrupted by a case of mistaken identity, resulting in the ruining of his rug. His attempt to obtain a new rug leads him down a twisted path of mystery and intrigue that he ultimately has no control over.
* [[The Beatles]] for much of ''[[Help]]'' This is partially Lampshaded: Ringo Starr is told he can remove his [[Clingy MacGuffin]] if he commits one courageous act--and when he does, ''much'' later, it's the end of the film.
* The protagonist from the 1966 B-movie ''[[The Wild World of Batwoman]]'' is a perfect example of this. The protagonist is pretty much like Charlie from ''[[CharliesCharlie's Angels]]''. She does show up from time to time, but she has her batgirls do all the work. An [[The Agony Booth (Website)|Agony Booth]] recap can be read [http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/The_Wild_World_of_Batwoman_1966.aspx here.]
* Slevin Kelevra from ''[[Lucky Number Slevin]]'' is apparently this during the beginning of the film, {{spoiler|before the Kansas City Shuffle and Slevin's true intentions are revealed}}
* Brad and Janet in ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]''. Though Janet does get up to do something halfway through the plot - that 'something' being Rocky.
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** Note that this is an ''improvement'' on the original book, in which Charlie does almost literally ''nothing'' upon arriving at the factory; his only act of any significance is at the end, when he informs Wonka that he is the only child left. Wonka then immediately announces that Charlie has won ''by default''.
** The second version improved on this, and Charlie regularly questions Wonka, triggering most of his flashbacks, and then outright defies him at the end forcing him to seek out his estranged father.
* Indiana Jones is this in ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark (Film)|Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' after Marian's abduction: he chases the villains, kills a few henchmen and gets captured, failing to affect the plot in any substantial fasion until God steps in and kills off the villains.
 
== Literature ==
 
* ''[[InkheartThe (Literature)Inkworld Trilogy|Inkheart]]'' by Cornelia Funke (Meggie spends a lot of her time just reacting to things the adults do. On the rare occasions she tries to affect things her plans are thwarted, stalled, or rendered useless.)
** But in the end, {{spoiler|she saves the day by reading out loud a modification to the original story that turned the [[Big Bad]]'s Dragon good.}}
*** Even so, her father could have done it just as easily.
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* The entirety of ''The Crying of Lot 49'' is like this, although that is because it is about a person just exploring a secret organisation, being told to go to another part of the organisation, and then going there - she only begins to take initiative right at the end, with the eponymous auction of the title.
* Fanny from the [[Jane Austen]] novel ''[[Mansfield Park]]'', due to the emotional abuse she's suffered for eight years living with her rich aunts and uncle, basically feels she has no right to her own opinion or happiness and thus lets her aunts and cousins push her around for most of the novel. Naturally, this makes the two times she stands up for herself all the more impressive and the other characters all the more shocked.
* This accusation is often thrown against those three classic young heroines of literature: [[Alice in Wonderland|Alice]], [[Peter Pan|Wendy]] and [[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Literature)|Dorothy]]. [[Discworld|Susan Sto Helit]] is described as an aversion of this... [[Chickification|and then came]] ''Thief of Time''. Dorothy gradually averts this trope in later Oz books, and all three strongly avert it when featured in the webcomic [[Cheshire Crossing]]
* Jurgis in ''The Jungle.'' [[Deus Angst Machina|To the point where nobody cared]] except about the meat stuff.
* In ''[[HGH. G. Wells|The Island of Doctor Moreau]],'' Richard Prendick does nothing but get thrown overboard, land on an island and watch more interesting people do experiments.
** Heck, ''all'' of H. G. Wells's protagonists follow the "touchstone for the reader to explore a strange new world" mould. The vast majority don't even have names.
* Terisa Morgan of Stephen R. Donaldson's ''Mordant's Need'' novels ([[The Mirror of Her Dreams]], A Man Rides Through) acts this way through most of both books. (This is deliberate. She has a cripplingly low level of self-confidence thanks to an oppressive father and passive mother; the narration makes an analogy to a princess imprisoned by a curse.)
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* In ''[[Hitchhikers Guide]]'' [[Unfazed Everyman|Arthur Dent]] started out as this. It's made explicitly clear that he's the main character early on, yet it takes awhile for him to take an active role and not just react to events around him.
* Augusten Burroughs in ''[[Running With Scissors]]''. Particularly the movie version. It's an autobiography, but still...
* Both [[Twilight (Literaturenovel)|Bella]] and [[The Host (Literaturenovel)|Wanderer]] tend to fall into this during periods of action (which admittedly are in the minority in the slow, conversation-heavy books.) They're both [[Extreme Doormat|Extreme Doormats]], so it makes sense from an in-story standpoint, but it's one of the reasons Stephanie Meyer's works are so polarizing.
* Beverly King in L.M. Montgomery's ''The Story Girl'' is there purely to observe the more interesting characters around him. Then again, they ''are'' very interesting characters.
* Cosette in ''[[Les Misérables]].'' Yet Victor Hugo [[Informed Ability|assures us that she has the soul of a gypsy.]]
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** He does organise that meeting between Daisy and Gatsby, but that's about it.
* [[David Copperfield]] is a prime example from classical literature.
* ''[[The Stand]]'' may or may not have this trope, depending on what you see the main plot of the book as being. In terms of rebuilding society in the wake of an apocalyptic event, the [[Main Characters]] actually do quite a bit. In terms of fighting Randall Flagg, the [[Big Bad]] of the story, though, they accomplish virtually nothing; at best their role is to serve as witnesses to {{spoiler|his defeat by [[Deus Ex Machina|the Hand of God]]}} (with a little help from the [[Spanner in Thethe Works|Trashcan Man]]). To be fair, [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|A sacrifice was needed]].
* Tyrone Slothrop of ''[[Gravity's Rainbow]]'', who never solves the mystery he's after, spends his time on various sidequests instead, avoids death only by accident and eventually simply goes mad, gives up and disappears from the story.
* The ''[[Doc Savage]]'' novels pulled in involved bystanders to their plots to act as first person narrator protagonists assisted by the titular [[Heroic Archetype|Man of Bronze]].
* [[Lampshaded]] in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Guards Guards|Guards Guards]]''. Although Sam Vimes and company play little part in the successful resolution of the novel {{spoiler|as the dragon is defeated by Errol the Swamp Dragon}}, the Patrician specifically states that people need to see there are heroes and so rewards Sam Vimes and the Night Watch accordingly. It is also implied that the Night Watch are heroic, merely because they actually did something to stand up to the dragon, even if unsuccessfully. {{spoiler|Vimes did also stop Wonse from killing the Patrician. While it's not the stuff of legends, saving the only competent ruler the city has had for decades is pretty important.}}
** Vimes and the Night Watch did do something very important to the plot, it just [[Chekhov's Gun|took a fair bit for the importance to be made clear]]: {{spoiler|adopt and take care of Errol}}.
* Pretty much the whole human race and indeed nearly the entire biosphere in every adaptation of the ''[[War of the Worlds]]''.
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== Live Action TV ==
 
* There was a long period when virtually everyone on ''[[Lost (TV)|Lost]]'' was like this. They'd have little fits of trying to do something, only to be completely stymied, and then they'd go "Oh... no..." and sink back into frustrating helplessness. Early on, the show was mostly about introducing the various... erm... pinballs and the Island and there were many pinballs in play. Later on, the show began to conform to this trope less and less.
* While he is generally a major player in most stories, this has been known to happen with The Doctor from ''[[Doctor Who]]'' on occasion.
* In the ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]'' episode "[[Torchwood (TV)/Recap/S1 E5 Small Worlds|Small Worlds]]", the [[The Fair Folk|antagonists]] have supernatural powers which Torchwood have no ability to counter. As a result, throughout the episode Torchwood can do little more than rush to the site of the latest manifestation and helplessly watch events unfold.
 
== Sports ==
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== Theatre ==
 
* ''[[Oliver! (Theatre)|Oliver]]'': Oliver's an orphan, gets passed from orphanage, to a funeral home, then gets kicked out and gets picked up by the thieves guild, then is taken in by a rich old man. It's a musical, and the characters mostly sing around him as well.
** [[Oliver Twist|The book version]] is no more proactive.
* Raoul from ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'', to the point where he has a sizable [[Hatedom]] and many wish that [[Fan-Preferred Couple|Christine and the Phantom would end up together]]. What does he do? Well...he gets captured by the Phantom. He has nice hair. And that's about it.... He is prepared to risk his own life several times to try and save the woman he loves from a known killer, but goes about it in a largely ineffectual manner.
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* Pick an [[FPS]]. ''Any'' FPS. The main character is just there obeying orders with no personal entanglement with the plot. Provided there is a plot beyond "go shoot some designated baddies", that is. The FPS mentioned below are subversion, aversion, or deconstruction.
* Many story-heavy games with scripted events and [[Heroic Mime|heroic mimes]].
** Jack from ''[[Bio ShockBioshock]]'' is an excellent example -- not only does he rarely speak, he also plays a nearly negligible role in the story for most of the game. It turns out to be a deconstruction, however. {{spoiler|Jack is literally mind-controlled. And he ends up killing not only Andrew Ryan, but Fontaine as well. And saves the little sisters, or damns them! Pretty good, and the last one is up to the players which.}}
** For many players, games with excessive amounts of [[Follow the Plotted Line]], [[Railroading]], [[Evil Plan]], [[Mission Control]] and [[Stop Helping Me!]] can rob them of all [[Suspension of Disbelief]] about their and their [[Player Character]]'s creativity and initiative, causing them to feel like a complete nonentity even if "their" successful execution of goals make a huge difference in the events of the plot.
** Most however just accept it as a simple narrative convention and focus on the gameplay.
* Likewise, many games set during wars with a modern military influence, particularly combat simulators like [[Mechwarrior]] and [[Free Space]]. Even if you have a character with a personality, you're still one small speck of a very big situation, and the important decisions just aren't up to you.
** Averted to at least some extent in the ''[[Wing Commander (Videovideo Gamegame)|Wing Commander]]'' series, as the overall progress of the war depends on your performance in certain key missions; later games in the series give you the opportunity to make decisions and influence the story with dialogue options.
* Vaan of ''[[Final Fantasy XII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XII]]''. Originally the viewpoint character was going to be someone else but Japanese focus groups preferred a [[Bishonen]] protagonist.
** He even at one point admits, out loud, that he's not the important one of the group and that he's just tagging along on everyone else's quests.
* The protagonists in [[AIR (Visual Novel)|Studio Key]]'s [[Kanon (Visual Novel)|visual]] [[Clannad (Visual Novel)|novels]] are justified in their general pin-ball status in the games, because that's the whole point of the genre. But as these games have recently been turned into [[Anime]] series en masse by Kyoto animation, the fact that the boys simply bounce from girl to girl helping them [[Dysfunction Junction|resolve]] [[There Are No Therapists|issues]] can be bothersome.
* Arguably, Kage was like this in ''[[Zone of the Enders]] Fist of Mars'', until character development and plot events forced him to stop playing [[Naive Newcomer]] and actually do something constructive.
* Snake, and more infamously Raiden of ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' are deliberately tragic examples.
* In ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (Videovideo Gamegame)|Sonic 2006]]''... Sonic himself is this. He has an entire "storyline" to himself being the main character and all, but he doesn't actually affect anything. Some of the side characters (Knuckles and Tails mainly) are even worse so.
* Allegretto from ''[[Eternal Sonata]]'' is a [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]] with little connection to the main plot, yet acts as the player's avatar for most of the game.
* Alex from ''[[Street Fighter|Street Fighter III]]'' coined the Japanese counterpart of the trope, "[[Fan Nickname|main character (lol)]]." He was meant to be the next hero of the series representing a new generation of fighters. But with no projectile and two command throws, he fit the grappler image better. Which would have been fine except combined with his all-rounder stats, nothing about him really stood out. Worse, Ryu was still where the Player 1 cursor started and Alex's ending had him losing horribly to said previous protagonist. Not fitting the main character mold was one thing but becoming completely overshadowed as well sealed it.
* [[Apollo Justice]] skirts this trope because of Phoenix Wright doing most of the leg-work during the pivotal first and fourth cases, and him often needing help from the prosecutor Klavier Gavin. However, Apollo does do most of the work in the other two cases, and Phoenix wouldn't have been able to solve the cases without his help due to his special power and the fact the Phoenix is disbarred.
** Phoenix can fall into this pattern himself, [[Cutscene Power to Thethe Max|while you're controlling him]]. Cases tend to just fall into his lap, he often needs direct help from [[Spirit Advisor|his mentor, Mia Fey,]] and he's often being pushed by circumstances beyond his control, both in and out of court. I blame it on the combination of first-person gameplay with a [[Visual Novel]] format.
*** The first game has Mia essentially solving the first two cases before you and giving out clues. After that, Phoenix gets less and less help from her, and generally averts this trope. He comes close to playing it straight again in the third game, to the point that the end of the final case is Godot's challenge to Phoenix to figure out the killer's identity ''without help''.
* Fairly much after the first point of no return in [[Golden Sun Dark Dawn]], the protagonist party is Rail Roaded by the villains, and know that they're being used. It's pretty much brought up at every point that the antagonists show up. {{spoiler|This is because the antagonists don't have the power to solve the puzzles of the game, needing the main party's full range of psynergies.}} After the final point of no return, the protagonists acknowledge that they've been railroaded for their entire journey and resolve to fix their mistakes. {{spoiler|But, of course, [[Manipulative Bastard|they ''still'' end up doing exactly what the villains want them to do.]]}}
** It's [[The Chessmaster|Alex]]! What do you expect!?
* The playable duo from [[Resident Evil Zero0]], Rebecca and Billy don't do a whole lot over the course of the game. The only character interaction that isn't between them or other S.T.A.R.S. members is running into the [[Big Bad Wannabe|final boss]] of the game. Any plot developments happen in cutscenes, involve Wesker and Birkin, and are completely separate from what the protagonists are doing.
* [[Dragon Age II]]: Hawke is the main character, but for most of the story is just reacting to the events that occur around him, with Isabella and Anders being the main driving forces in the plot. Many fans felt this was a step back from the first game, where the player could make some pretty massive changes in the would depending on the choices they made.
** Arguably though, ''that was the point''. The game's framing device is [[Unreliable Narrator|Varric]] rebuking [[Conspiracy Theorist|Cassandra's]] assertions that Hawke was the [[Big Bad]] and the events of the game were [[Wrong Genre Savvy|all part of some grand evil plot]] to bring all of Thedas into chaos and war; {{spoiler|by the end of the story, Varric has made it obvious that Hawke ''isn't'' some larger-than-life figure that changed the world through his/her actions, just an [[One-Man Army|exceptionally powerful person]] [[Right Man in Thethe Wrong Place|caught in the middle]] of a descent into madness that was caused by [[Inherent in Thethe System|various societal tensions]] that had been building for a thousand years.}}
* Samus becomes one during the course of ''[[Metroid: Other M]]''. The events on the Bottle Ship would have played out pretty much the same way if she hadn't been involved.
** Your Mileage may vary there - without samus, The marines would never have been able to get into the ship and start disrupting MB's plans, and if Samus hadn't defeated {{spoiler|both Ridley and the Metroid Queen}} then the chances of the marines stopping the [[Colony Drop]] would have been all but impossible. She also went there with a dedicated purpose, and stuck with it throughout the whole game; it's just the game was closer to being the story of MB/Adam, making Samus more of a [[Supporting Protagonist]].
 
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* Omar of ''[[Rock and Rule]]'' just sits back and look petulant while his sidekicks take the initiative to find Angel.
** Of course he also genuinely believes that Angel abandoned them to run off with the famous rock star (and it's not a conclusion that's all that hard to believe). Once he realizes what kind of danger she's in he turns around and actually comes off as quite heroic.
* The narrator of ''[[Waltz Withwith Bashir]]'' is a decidedly tragic example. When his [[Field Promotion|commanding officer is killed]] he doesn't rise to the occasion and completely fails to get any of his squad mates out alive. Afterward bitterly releasing that there was a lot more he could have done but was just a [[Survivors Guilt|confused kid who got in over his head]].
 
{{reflist}}
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