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{{trope}}
[[File:narlopbal 9102.png|link=Fire Emblem Jugdral|
{{quote|'''[[Wolverine]]:''' Stay on topic, bub! This movie's about ''me''!
'''[[Watchmen (comics)|Rorschach]]:''' Weren't ''all'' the ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]'' movies about you?
|''[[I'm a Marvel... and I'm a DC]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}1n3VSw1XBOo Wolverine and Watchmen]''}}
In short, when the author gets so [[Character Focus|incredibly fixated on a single character, family or group]] that he or she forgets that they have [[Loads and Loads of Characters|an incredibly diverse and powerful cast]], many of whom are more interesting than the focus character (or at least that's what everyone will think when they're not getting screen-time). A handful of characters might have [[Story Arc]]s, while everyone else seems to lack any motivation whatsoever or is caught in an [[Offstage Waiting Room|infinite loop]].
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* Many people believed this to be the case with Toshiro Hitsugaya from ''[[Bleach]]'', who managed to achieve the rank as the most popular character of the series and later got to star in his own movie. On the other hand, maybe Kubo's just responding to his [[Ensemble Darkhorse|popularity with the fans]].
** Of course, The ''whole'' Gotei 13 qualify, as they've essentially stolen the spotlight from Ichigo's [[Nakama]], who are lucky to make an appearance in any of the fillers or movies.
** Special mentioning, and by far and large the best example within this series has to be given to [[The Man Behind the Man|Sosuke]] [[Xanatos Roulette|Aizen]]. Justified by a bit, since he's the [[Big Bad]], but he's been so interwoven into the plot, that he's allegedly {{spoiler|created the [[Eldritch Abomination|Hogyoku]] ''before'' ''[[Big Good|URAHARA]]'' as a prototype}}, arranged and orchestrated [[The Hero|Ichigo Kurosaki]]'s development (i.e. his biggest fights and the power-ups he needed to win said fights, and that he even became a Shinigami in the first place by {{spoiler|assigning [[The Lancer|Rukia]] to the real world}}) to work into his favor, and instigated practically every event within the series, aside from the [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Quincy]] [[Shoot the Dog|genocide]], as well as the one to blame for the problems and conditions nearly every other character has in the series, all the way up to indirectly killing off [[The Lancer|Rukia Kuchiki]]'s [[The Ace|mentor]] and [[Yamato Nadeshiko|idol]] by having them fight a Hollow he experimented on, screwing up and breaking apart [[Break the Cutie|Momo Hinamori]]'s mental state, assassinating the Soul Society's feudal government, perfecting the [[Elite Mook|Arrancar]] to serve as his army, personally enlisting several [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Espada]] to work for him through added charisma (i.e. [[Lonely
* Normally, when the plot thickens, [[Red Headed Heroine]] Lina gets the most focus, shifting away from Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia. However, when the third anime season rolled around (''[[Slayers]] Try''), [[Holier Than Thou|Filia]] becomes the [[Guest Star Party Member]], and because the plot revolves around the dragon race (which she and the [[Big Bad]] of the season are a part of), the four main characters are not given as much foucs.. The fifth episode is about Filia ranting and being subjugated to a trial, along with antics from [[Exclusively Evil|Xellos]]-given that she serves the gods and he serves the demons of that world, the sexual tension between them is the main [[Running Gag]].
* The [[Alternate Universe]] series, ''[[Tenchi Muyo!|Tenchi Universe]]'', is known for its emphasis on Ryoko, as evidenced in the opening credits, which starts with a silhouette of her and ends with a zoom-in on her face.
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* As a result of being [[Merchandise-Driven]], ''[[Transformers]]'' suffers from this quite a bit. Whenever new toys are released, their characters are going to push older characters into the background. In particular, the end of series 2 of [[The Original Series]] featured very few characters who weren't Combiners, and after [[The Movie]], the Combiners themselves were relegated to playing second fiddle to Rodimus' [[Five-Man Band]] and the reformatted Decepticons. Later on, they themselves were driven out to allow the Headmasters to take centre stage; unfortunately, all the other characters became mush less competent soon after the Headmasters were introduced. ''[[Transformers Super God Masterforce]]'' at least had the sense to introduce the Pretenders in a [[Continuity Reboot]].
* Kamina from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' was something of a spoof of this—from the start he was given a lion's share of the attention, culminating in a scene [[Mood Whiplash|designed to punch you in the gut...]]
** Lampshaded in an [[Omake]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20120419021237/http://manga.bleachexile.com/tengen-toppa-gurren-lagann-chapter-4-page-35.html in the manga.]
* Sakaki gets a disproportionate amount of focus in ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'' compared to the other characters, but that's probably because her [[Shrinking Violet]]-ness means she's either the focus or gets ignored.
* In ''[[Berserk]]'', [[Big Bad]] [[Bishonen]] Griffith and co. have taken up about two volumes worth of material. About two volumes coe out yearlt.
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* ''[[Medaka Box]]'': Kumagawa Misogi has been consistently tied to the plot since his debut, and at some points even overshadows Medaka and Zenkichi.
* Slight case in Vento Aureo, the fifth part of ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]''. Despite being this part's Jojo (well, Giogio), Giorno seems to be less primary protagonist than deuteragonist in the story in general, compared to the intended deuteragonist, Bruno Buccellatti.
* ''[[Mai-HiME (manga)|Mai-HiME]]'': A lot of people who've read the manga (mainly those who've watched the more popular, [[
== Comic Books ==
* [[
* In the old ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' comic, a core set of Joes eventually emerged from the literal dozens of team members. While this is to be expected, Snake Eyes takes the cake here. Not only is he a character that is utterly flat and lifeless when not part of an ensemble (so he's naturally on the cover of most issues and his backstory is the most expounded upon of any Joe), the ''freaking series was renamed "GI Joe, STARRING SNAKE EYES"'', for over an entire year.
* In more recent ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' comics, Emma Frost seems to be stealing much attention away from women who have been in the book much longer because they've been removed in different ways. Ex: Jean Grey and Storm (whose shoes she both now fills) had a [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|bridge dropped on her]] and got married off respectively. And Shadowcat was [[Put on a Bus]] (or trapped in a missile). Rogue was put in a coma. Psylocke was outside the reality with the Exiles. Regardless of the changing status off those characters, Emma is still make the most prominent. Smacks of [[Unfortunate Implications]] in that Emma is put in the spotlight for sex appeal, as though all those other women somehow aren't sexy enough.
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* Former ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' head writer Ken Penders has a tendency to shift the focus of the comic from the main Freedom Fighters to Knuckles and the other echidnas on the [[Floating Continent|Floating Island]].
** And on a more consistent basis, there is usually Princess Sally Acorn, leader of the Freedom Fighter and Sonic's best friend and on-off love interest.
* In 1994, [[Marvel Comics]], as part of their short-lived [[Disney]] line (which is [[Hilarious in Hindsight]] now that Disney owns them), published a comic book based on [[The Disney Afternoon]]. Its content proved to be more like ''[[Darkwing Duck (animation)|Darkwing Duck]] and a Few Other Disney Afternoon Shows''; in the entire ten-issue run of the comic, it only ran three ''[[Goof Troop]]'' stories, two ''[[Tale Spin]]'' stories, two ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'' stories, and barely anything for ''[[DuckTales (1987)]]'' and ''[[Bonkers]]''.
* Tyler Marlowe has become the [[Breakout Character]] of ''[[PS238]]''. Initially introduced in issue 3 as a sort of [[This Loser Is You]] character - the only unpowered kid in a school for superhuman "metaprodigies" - he has come to dominate the series to the extent that there are more issues with him as the main character than those in which he isn't. Meanwhile, many of the original major characters are hardly even mentioned, and at least one has been shipped off to another school; he hasn't been [[Put on a Bus]], because he still appears occasionally, but he's pretty much deteriorated into a non-stop [[Wangst]] source.
** To fans who started with the "Student Handbook," ''the entire student population''. The first volume seemed like the comic would the story of a group of former super-heroes with shadowed pasts trying to maintain and administrate a school where all the students have superpowers. Then, it turned out to be a series about child superheroes running amok, with occasional lip service to the idea the faculty actually did anything.
== Fan
* In ''[[Bart the General]]'', which, despite the title, appears to be mainly about how Omarn deals with Marge having an affair, Barton dominates the second part of the last episode and the third episode, which is longer than episodes 1, 2 and 4 combined.
* In ''[[Fuck the Jesus Beam]]'', O.B.A.M.A. takes over the plot from his debut in the third chapter as the [[Big Bad]], despite Lordguckles having been set up as the main antagonist in the second chapter, and proceeds to have two chapters devoted almost exclusively to him (Including the now-deleted "CHAPTER RAGE"). Kaminic {{spoiler|gets [[Brainwashed]]}} and hardly does anything until {{spoiler|releasing himself from O.B.A.M.A.'s control}} in "CHAPTER NEO JESUS".
* ''[[Total Drama Comeback Series]]'' lampshades the tendency of Duncan and Owen to approach this in canon, while simultaneously making [[Author Avatar|Ezekiel,]] [[Author Appeal|Bridgette, and Izzy]] this within the actual fic.
* Aziraphale and Crowley are this for the ''[[Good Omens]]'' fandom. While they ''are'' in a substantial portion of the book, they are there mostly to initiate the birth mixup and then provide commentary on whatever the humans are actually out there doing. There are many more characters with more relevancy to the plot (after the birth setup), and there are also many memorable teams of characters—Madame Tracy and Shadwell, Newt and Anathema, the Them, and the Horsepersons of the Apocalypse. Despite this, roughly 95% of ''Good Omens'' fanfic will feature Crowley and Aziraphale prominently, with between 80 and 85% of the fics placing them in a romantic relationship. The reasons for this should be [[Foe Yay|fairly]] [[Ho Yay|obvious]]. It should also be remembered that [[Tropes Are Not Bad]] and the ''Good Omens'' [[Good Omens/Fanfic Recs|fanfic recommendation page]] is rather large, so draw what conclusions you will.
* ''[[A Hero (fan work)|A Hero]]'' is supposed to be a ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]''/''[[Doctor Who]]'' crossover. Reading it, however, one can't help but notice how prominent the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' side of the story has become in comparison to the PMMM side. ''Especially'' in the case of Dalek Sec, who the author has admitted steals every scene he's in.
* In ''[[Decks Fall,
* Tends to happen in any facfic, as the author will often put their favorite character(s) to the forefront, at times leaving the main character in the background or not even in the story at all.
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* Tasslehoff becomes rather close to becoming one in the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' Trilogies of the War of the Lance and The Twins.
* In some books of Robert Jordan's ''[[Wheel of Time]]'', unimportant characters like Galina can get more page time than the [[Chosen One|hero]], Rand; due to the [[Loads and Loads of Characters|large cast]] and the [[Long Running Book Series|length of the series]], every main character has books in which they barely appear.
* [[Terry Pratchett]] has stated this as an explicit problem of writing the [[Discworld]] at times - it's difficult to write a story set in Ankh-Morpork without the Guard getting involved, at which point it is inevitably a Guard story, regardless of the former plot outline. In fact, this trope was the primary reason for the creation of the protagonist character Moist von Lipwig (of ''[[
** ''[[
* Season 3 of ''[[Stationery Voyagers]]'' very nearly turns into The Liquidon and Cindy Show. And as for the painful breakup when Cindy {{spoiler|becomes a Glowmatti to save everyone}} near the beginning of season 4? Only Rhodney has a more painful separation from his lover. Of course, that's before {{spoiler|The Mystery Wanderer}} decides "screw this" and nearly hijacks the entire plot.
* Take a look at the ''[[Honor Harrington]]''s Crowning Moment Of Awesome listing, and you'd be forgiven for thinking the series was entirely about Victor Cachat rather than, you know, Honor Harrington.
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== Live
* So prevalent on ''[[Glee]]'', it's actually becoming a recurring plot point (along with repeated lampshadings). Series 1 had the focus remain almost solely on [[Official Couple|Rachel and Finn]]. They were designated female and male lead both in the Glee club (despite the fact that Cory Monteith is arguably one of the weakest singers and dancers in the cast) and on the show itself, with almost every important plotline revolving around them in some way and even getting major subplots in the rest of the cast's [[A Day in the Limelight]] episodes. Season 2 reduced Rachel and Finn's screentime and spread more focus to other characters, like Brittany and Santana (who got promoted to regulars) and Mike (who had more lines in six episodes of S2 than in the whole S1), but then turned the spotlight on [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Kurt]] and his much-discussed homophobic bullying storyline, and, later, Blaine. In fact, it's Kurt lampshading this in Original Song which leads to the couple's [[Relationship Upgrade]].
** Actually, Kurt's a pretty odd example, in that he never really got ''that'' much screentime, even in Season 2 - in his entire ten episode stint at Dalton Academy, he sung ''one song'' solo and was lucky to get two or three scenes an episode - but that which he did get was particularly memorable, thanks to his monopoly on the [[Alliteration|season's serious storylines.]] Let's face it, if you have an episode which consists of 42 minutes of good natured Glee club hijinks, but ends on one 2 minute scene of a gay teenager having his life threatened and [[Wall Slump|sinking to the ground, crying]], what's going to stick in your mind more?
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* ''[[Kamen Rider Den-O]]'' the series itself is a SSS in relation to its fellow ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' series. While most ''KR'' shows simply get one season and one movie, ''Den-O'' has a grand total of either five or seven movies depending on how you count it.<ref>The fifth and most recent was a trilogy of three short movies, each focusing on a different hero</ref> Furthermore, three of those movies have been crossovers with other ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' shows, but the other shows' characters get token cameos at best. On top of that, Den-O also gets a starring role in the [[Milestone Celebration|franchise 40th anniversary movie]], over everyone else except the [[Kamen Rider (TV series)|original]] and [[Kamen Rider OOO|current]] Riders.
** ''Den-O'' contains an example of this trope itself with the Taros, especially Momotaros. As time goes on, original protagonist Ryotaro gets shoved further and further into the background while the zany antics of the Taros get more and more focus. To some extent, this might be because Takeru Satoh (Ryotaro) left the franchise after the supposed [[Grand Finale]], meaning the character received an [[The Other Darrin|Other Darrin]] who lacks Satoh's acting talent and charisma.
* The entire fourth season of ''[[Star Trek:
** ''[[Star Trek]]'' falls into this a lot, most frequently with the "Nonhuman who gradually learns to be human" type of character. Specifics:
*** First, of course, would be Spock and the rest of the [[Power Trio]]. When you have a whole movie called ''[[Star Trek III: The Search For Spock|The Search for Spock]]'', it's a clear sign this trope is in effect.
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**** [[Creator's Pet|Wesley]] also had this from time to time.
*** [[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]] is split between The Doctor and Seven, especially as a pair. They approach the same "Learn to be human" angle from different sides, and their interactions together inevitably stole the episode because of it.
** And the first half of the seventh season of ''[[Star Trek:
*** To say nothing of [[Wolverine Publicity|Worf]] in season 4.
* [[Word of God]] says it that Ben became this in ''[[Lost]]''.
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** ''Samoa'' might as well have been called "The Russell Hantz Show" given how much they worked his ramblings into ''every single episode'' and the viewers can probably think "... who're these guys in the purple? And who's that 'Mick' person they keep dragging along...?". This isn't just a complaint about somebody who doesn't like him complaining that he's being shown so much - they literally showed almost ''nothing'' of Galu pre-merge, and post-merge, kept all of them except whoever was going to be eliminated next and Shambo almost perpetually [[Out of Focus]]. Brett and Kelly got this the worst; there were several people wondering why Russell wanted Kelly gone so bad because she was [[Informed Ability|supposedly a big threat]] despite having less time than ''Brett'' did. (And Brett admittedly had gotten so far by keeping his mouth shut.)
*** His reign of terror continued into ''Heroes vs. Villains'', where people jokingly said "Whoa, they actually had ''AMANDA'' on the show?" or "I didn't know Jerri was back, too!". However they at ''least'' let us get to ''see'' the other tribe in ''Heroes Vs. Villains''.
** Russell was easily the worst, but other spotlight stealers were Richard of ''Borneo'', Rupert of ''Pearl Islands'', Stephenie of ''Palau'' and ''Guatemala'', Boston Rob in ''Marquesas'', ''All Stars'', ''Heroes vs. Villains'', and ''Redemption Island'' and Coach of ''Tocantins'', but he was [[Rescued
** Two of Survivor's most famous Weslies returned in ''Redemption Island'', beginning to resume their reign of terror over the other poor 16 other contestants... however thankfully we didn't get Russell Hantz shoved down our throats ''for the third time'' since he was eliminated second overall - meaning that production was actually ''forced'' to show the other people on Zapatera! However Ometepe wasn't so lucky as they didn't turn on Rob at all - the result? You'll probably be wondering who this "Grant" person who single-handedly won several challenges is and who these "Natalie", "Ashley", and "Andrea" girls are unless Phillip (The other producer's pet of the tribe) is talking to them. Rob is even finding himself nominated for just about ''every single'' "Player of the Week" award, even when it was clear he's just kicked back and is relaxing until the merge. As much of a relief as it is to actually get to know these other players voted out pre-merge thanks to seeing them compete in a Redemption Island Duel, do you think we'll get to see the rest of Ometepe at all? As long as Rob's around... probably not. (If they're smart they'll either drag him to the final five and then evict him when there's no chance he can play the idol...)
*** As it turns out, Rob managed to win because the other cast members were [[Too Dumb to Live]]. And were essentially just extras on the Rob show - however, Rob didn't get all the screentime. Approximately 98% of the screentime this season was given to either Rob, Matt, or Phillip. About 80% of that screentime was divided between Rob and Phillip, with most of it going to Rob. The fandom wasn't rejoicing because he finally won - the fandom was rejoicing because maybe he'll '''''FINALLY GO AWAY'''''.
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== Professional Wrestling ==
* This tends to happen in [[Professional Wrestling]] pretty much any time a wrestler gains any degree of power over the writing of the show. For example, in [[WCW]] from 1998 to 1999, the show centered so heavily on [[Kevin Nash]] that he gained the [[Fan Nickname]] "[[Shoo Out the New Guy|Big Poochie]]" after the character from ''[[The Simpsons]]'' [[Show Within a Show]], ''Itchy And Scratchy'' (specifically from a bit where Homer suggests that, when Poochie's not around, all of the other characters should say things like, "Where's Poochie?"). See also [[Triple H]] on [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]'s ''Raw'' brand from 2002 to 2005, [[Jeff Jarrett]] in [[TNA]] from its founding in 2002 to the end of 2006, and recently, [[Kurt Angle]] and his then-wife, Karen, also in TNA since 2006. If the latter three are any indication, they eventually do get it out of their system.
As a group, the Main Event Mafia in particular, [[Kurt Angle]] specifically. Worst of all, it's basically a rehash of the nWo storyline from [[WCW]], complete with [[Shoo Out the New Guy|Big Poochie]].
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Warhammer
** White Dwarf does that with ''every'' new release. The Stompa, a single ''model'', got 1 1/2 issues devoted to it.
*** White Dwarf has an annoying tendency to overhype every single new release, but nowadays it seems like the entire magazine is either about Dark Eldar, Blood Angels, or Skaven.
** TSOALR reports this has been [https://web.archive.org/web/20130718234113/http://tsoalr.com/?p=1120 recently reversed.]
** Several ''armies'' have some sub-factions that qualify for this trope. Especially the Ultramarines for the Space Marines. Just look at the latest Space Marine codex, in which the majority of chapters get one named special unit each, specifically in the HQ slot. The Ultramarines get about six. And that's only scratching the surface of the codex, since it has several sections devoted to ''only'' the Ultramarines, 90% of the artwork in the codex is of the ultramarines, and as if that is not enough, there are just as many Ultramarines miniatures on displayed in the codex as all the other chapters ''combined'', if not more. Indeed, many fans did not like this at all due to the fact that their favorite chapters being pushed aside in favor of a chapter only some people are fans of. Matt Ward, the writer of the codex, even admitted himself that he was a die-hard fan for the Ultramarines, and sincerely apologised for this. At least one should be thankful that several other chapters have their own separate codixes, so they don't get pushed aside in favor of another chapter, but ''geez''!
*** [[It Got Worse]]. He has taken to writing every Space Marine codex since then and small notes have been taken. Such as the Grey Knights being cut down from 3,000 to 1,000 marines making up their chapter and suddenly becoming codex adherent. Making this statement in an interview didn't help cheer up many Blood Angels players either: "Indeed, it was Guilliman who would have the greatest lasting effect upon the now leaderless Blood Angels. Through the Codex Astartes - that great treatise on the restructuring and ordering of the Space Marines - Guilliman's legacy would reshape the Blood Angels Legion into the Chapters that defend the Imperium to this day."
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** ''''94.''' The ''big'' story for that one was the dream matchup between Fatal Fury Team (Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Joe Higahsi) and Art of Fighting Team (Ryo Sakazaki, Robert Garcia, Takuma Sakazaki), made very clear by title sequence and every victory comment each member delivers to the other team. Today, not only do most ''KOF'' players probably not even know what games they're from, Takuma has completely vanished, Andy has been reduced to an occasional bit player, and Joe and Robert are tenuously clinging to trusty sidekick status.
* The ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' franchise spends a great deal of the storyline focus on rivals Scorpion and Sub-Zero. But, as they're the headliners for the games, they're the ones who got the most attention; many of the characters seemed to be designed solely as one-off characters (like Stryker), or that the others underwent ridiculous plot changes to try and make them viable again (Raiden becoming evil, Liu Kang dying, etc.).
** Sub-Zero and the Lin Kuei in general are a Spotlight Stealing Squad all their own, what with the Lin Kuei trying to kill Sub-Zero in MK 3 with three killer cyborg ninjas (one of whom was once his old friend Smoke), Noob Saibot turning out to be the elder (evil) Sub-Zero [[Back
** Sub-Zero got a platformer named ''[[Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero]]'', in which Scorpion appears as an antagonist and most of the other characters were those that debuted in MK4.
* Zero of ''[[Mega Man X]]'' started stealing the spotlight in ''X4'' then completely took over the plot in ''X5'' and ''X6''. Keiji Inafune, the creator of the series, actually wanted to end the main series at X5 primarily so he could get to work on the new [[Mega Man Zero]] series. ([[Executive Meddling]] prevailed, with [[Franchise Zombie|questionable results.]]) Once Inafune moved on, [[The Scrappy|Axl]] actually stole the spotlight from the other two characters in X7, and to a lesser degree in X8.
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** Additionally, Kyosuke owes much of the spotlight to [[Wolverine Publicity]]: excluding ''[[Super Robot Wars Gaiden|Masou Kishin]]''-centric titles, any Original Generation-based game (including its [[Gaiden Game]]s) will have either Kyosuke, his [[Expy]] or any variant of his [[Humongous Mecha]] Alt Eisen displayed on the game cover.
* In the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' series, the original characters are this in comparasion to the Disney/Final Fantasy ones. The original intention of the franchise was a crossover between Disney and Square, but now any cameo appearances from existing properties are completely overshadowed by the likes of the Organization or Keyblade Masters.
** Most noteworthy is [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] Axel, whose popularity led to [[Breakout Character|his role increasing]], his [[Saved by the Fans|death postponed]] till toward the end of ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' instead of in the prologue as originally planned, and even coming [[Back
** Roxas is a big one too, first appearing in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' as the star of the [[Prolonged Prologue]], then becoming the star of his own [[Gaiden Game]] ''358/2 Days'', the [[Final Boss]] of ''Coded'', and [[Expy|completely cloned]] as one of the three main characters of ''Birth By Sleep'', Ventus.
* ''[[Darkstalkers]]''. Was at first about Demitri Maximoff; after the first game, Morrigan Aensland clearly becomes the focus even when you add in an anti-Christ in the last game. It's so bad that most people know who Morrigan is, but [[Every One Remembers the Stripper|have no freakin' clue on what game she's really from]].
** [[Capcom]] probably doesn't have any qualms about this,
*** Quite telling in ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]''. The three ''Darkstalkers'' characters in that game are [[Horny Devils|Morrigan]], [[Catgirl|Felicia]], and [[Cute Ghost Girl|Hsien-Ko]].
*** This is even [[Lampshade Hanging|mocked]] ([[Medium Awareness|to nearly Fourth Wall-breaking proportions]]) in ''[[Cross Edge]]'' (where Morrigan, Felicia, Demitri, Lilith, and Jedah make an appearance). [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJN8q6ydIuQ In one particular part of the postgame segments], after defeating {{spoiler|a revived Jedah and teaming up with him}}, the Darkstalkers engage in a lengthy discussion of how Demitri originally ''was'' the main character, until [[Breakout Character|Morrigan's popularity usurped his title of protagonist]]. Lilith expresses surprise at this, believing that Morrigan was ''always'' the heroine of the story, but in the end, she doesn't quite care, as she--[[Split At Birth|being a part of Morrigan herself]]—is almost always guaranteed at least a cameo whenever Morrigan shows up.
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* Etna, [[The Lancer]] from ''[[Disgaea]]'', has gotten more and more focus over the years, being made into a main character in Disgaea 2, featured predominantly in spinoff titles such as ''[[Cross Edge]]'', [[Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?]] and it's sequel, and [[Trinity Universe (video game)|Trinity Universe]], and Etna Mode (which is essentially a "What if [[Demoted to Extra|Laharl had never reawakened]]") in the updated rerelease of the first Disgaea. However, with Disgaea 3's Raspberyl Mode and Disgaea 4, it appears that Etna has been ditched in favor of Flonne, {{spoiler|especially considering that's she's an Archangel now.}} And as for Laharl?. The only subsequent game to give him an important role is [[Disgaea Infinite]].
** Some of the games [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] this by having Laharl complain about it, with frequent references to things like [[Medium Awareness|"main character"]].
* Shadow from the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' series, who has had the most plot focus of any character for a while. He managed to star in [[Shadow the Hedgehog|his own game]] in the main series (wheras Tails' [[A Day in the Limelight]] games, like ''[[Tails Adventure]]'', were handheld-only [[Gaiden Game]]s). Then, he and Silver took over ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006
* In ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star FOX]]'', Krystal became this for a while.
** To elaborate, Krystal became the sole focus in Star Fox Command with a suprising amount of the story revolving around her feelings towards Fox. She manages to be the focus of 5 out of the 9 endings, more than any other character in the game. Many people tend to forget the main plot involves saving the Lylat System from the Angulars.
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* Raiden stole the spotlight in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'', you played as him for 3/4ths of the game, and Snake was his assistant throughout the whole mission. And now he's getting his own hack-and-slash spin-off title focused entirely on him, ''[[Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance]]''.
* Most of ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'''s plot focused on Rosalina than on Mario, Peach, and Bowser. Although this is largely both justified and not really a bad thing, since it was her debut game and the development she got made her quite popular. In fact, her near-exclusion from [[Super Mario Galaxy 2|the sequel]] was one of the few problems that was really commonly held about it.
== Web Animation ==
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** In addition to that, almost every episode that didn't have him as the main character had him in a subplot, two of the movies had his name in the title (''Bender's Big Score'' had more to do with Fry and Leela), and the two that didn't had very long subplots involving him.
*** Amy and Hermes are easily the most underused characters in the series. Season 6 tries to correct this by having one Hermes episode and two (!) Amy episodes. The catch? Both the Hermes and one of Amy's eps are centered on Bender.
* June would do this in ''[[
* The Disney adaption of ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]'' places heavy spotlight on Tigger, and later Roo (both only minor characters in the original novels) with [[Out of Focus|Pooh occasionally acting as a mere side character]], both characters have even gained their own starring full length features. Granted since both characters were [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]s initially, [[Tropes Are Not Bad|this decision hasn't fared quite as badly as other examples]].
* In ''[[Sonic Sat AM]]'', Princess Sally leaned more and more into centre stage to the point only she and Sonic seemed to have involvement in the majority of missions. Antoine was also prominent comic relief, even gaining four half-sized episodes devoted to his slapstick role.
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** The latest episode (21) was entirely devoted to Bulkhead/Miko.
* Plucky, Hamton, and [[The Scrappy|Elmyra]] from ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]''. They got tons of episodes and screentime, but much more popular characters like [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Fifi LaFume]] got barely any.
* Batman has the tendency to do this in the [[DC Universe Original Animated Movies]] in which he is a supporting character. The worst offenders would probably be [[Justice League: Crisis
** He steals the line itself. His name is in 5. He's also in all the Justice League movies, bringing the Bat up to eight movies.
* ''[[The Dreamstone]]'' was initially designed with Rufus as the main protagonist, with early concept work using the Urpneys as more minor comic relief. In the pilot episode, the Urpneys are upgraded greatly and given individual personalities and spotlight, however Rufus is still played as the main hero and gets the majority of genuine [[Character Development]]. Following this he is diluted into a [[Hero Antagonist]] and the Urpneys act as the [[Villain Protagonist]]s for most of the series. Even their boss [[Big Bad|Zordrak]] usually only appears in "bookend" appearances for each episode.
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** The Cutie Mark Crusaders are a more fitting example(s), so far getting more episodes than the Mane Six in Season 2 while getting supporting roles & the occasional cameo in others.
** The Apple family are getting more focus since Season 2 with at least one episode focusing on each of the four, as well as one for all four of them.
* The second season of ''[[DuckTales (1987)]]'' introduced Fenton Crackshell/Gizmoduck, a clear [[Expy]] for the absent [[Donald Duck]], who would go on to either star or co-star in almost every episode of the second season, causing many other previously prominent characters such as Launchpad McQuack and even to some extent Huey, Dewey and Louie to be moved [[Out of Focus]]. Only Scrooge himself remained as prominent as ever.
** Unlike many examples of this trope, though, Fenton is fairly popular with the fanbase, possibly thanks to his dual status as [[Butt Monkey]] and [[Superhero]].
* ''[[The Lion King]]'' movies have Timon & Pumbaa add the comic relief to them and are considered the most popular characters in the series. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Simba on ''[[House of Mouse]]''
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