Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Difference between revisions

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[[File:~~narlopbal_9102~~.png|link=Fire Emblem Jugdral|right]]

[[File:narlopbal 9102.png|link=Fire Emblem Jugdral|right]]

{{quote|'''[[Wolverine]]:''' Stay on topic, bub! This movie's about ''me''!

'''[[Watchmen|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~~|Story Arcs~~]], while everyone else seems to lack any motivation whatsoever or is caught in an [[Offstage Waiting Room|infinite loop]].

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]].

If left unchecked, expect fans to complain how [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot]], let [[Overshadowed by Awesome|the less fantastic characters]] [[Can't Catch Up|fall behind]], never did anything with [[Hufflepuff House]], [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and]] [[Jossed]] everyone's [[Shipping|ships]].

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This trope is closely related to the [[Creator's Pet]] and the [[Replacement Scrappy]]. The main difference is that the SSS is not necessarily hated (at least, not at first), in fact, they may be one of the most popular characters, but they get too much attention, and eventually fans get tired of the overexposure. Compare [[Wolverine Publicity]], and contrast [[Out of Focus]]. If the fanbase agrees (or the marketing team does, at any rate), may lead to a [[Spotlight-Stealing Title]].

In [[Fan Fiction]] circles, [[Mary Sue~~|Mary Sues~~]] often steal the spotlight out of nowhere. May become a [[Breakout Character]] if they are adored by the audience. See also [[Adored by the Network]], for spotlight-stealing ''shows''.

In [[Fan Fiction]] circles, [[Mary Sue]]s often steal the spotlight out of nowhere. May become a [[Breakout Character]] if they are adored by the audience. See also [[Adored by the Network]], for spotlight-stealing ''shows''.

A friendly reminder that [[Tropes Are Not Bad]] - there are times where the viewers actually ''like'' the spotlight hog!

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** It became obvious after a while that Ash's Grotle-Torterra became the [[Jobber|fall guy]] for his team to make Infernape seem even more impressive. This gets ''especially'' jarring when we reach Volkner, the Electric-type Gym Leader. [[Dishing Out Dirt|Gliscor]] at least [[Put on a Bus|had an excuse for being absent]] (training), but Torterra not defeating a single Pokémon in a Gym where he has a type advantage (he's both part [[Green Thumb|Grass]] ''and'' part [[Dishing Out Dirt|Ground]]) is [[Sincerity Mode|just sad]]. As nice and impressive as Infernape's [[Character Arc]] was, it really should've been ''Pikachu'', not Torterra, who was hit with [[The Worf Effect]] in that Gym Battle...

** Ash's Oshawott. He appears in almost every episode, and has had heaps of development, to the point where Ash's other Pokémon get almost none. It doesn't help that he looks a bit like Piplup.

** Pikachu is a weird case altogether. Originally, the ''main'' Pokémon was going to be Clefairy. In [[Pocket Monsters (manga)|one manga]], the protagonist has both Clefairy and Pikachu. In [[Pokémon Special|another manga]], the protagonist's ''main'' Pokémon was a Poliwhirl. But then Red (the trainer) caught a [[Badass]] [[Anti-Hero]] Pikachu, who quickly turned into the series' [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]. A few chapters later, Red had ([[Badass Decay|a now nicely-behaved]]) Pikachu [[Breakout Character|as his most used Pokémon who would later have his own saga]]; let's not forget his own game and place for over 10 years in the anime. In few words, Pikachu is a [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]].

** Pikachu is a weird case altogether. Originally, the ''main'' Pokémon was going to be Clefairy. In [[Pocket Monsters (manga)|one manga]], the protagonist has both Clefairy and Pikachu. In [[Pokémon Special|another manga]], the protagonist's ''main'' Pokémon was a Poliwhirl. But then Red (the trainer) caught a [[Badass]] [[Anti-Hero]] Pikachu, who quickly turned into the series' [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]. A few chapters later, Red had ([[Badass Decay|a now nicely-behaved]]) Pikachu [[Breakout Character|as his most used Pokémon who would later have his own saga]]; let's not forget his own game and place for over 10 years in the anime. In few words, Pikachu is a Spotlight-Stealing Squad.

*** Pikachus are almost certain to appear in every manga. In ''[[Pokémon Golden Boys]]'' a Pikachu comes in from the sky and helps Gold beat Falkner's ''Articuno''; he catches said Pikachu and it's a commonly used Pokemon of his. Satoshi in ''[[Pokémon Zensho]]'' has a Pikachu who eventually evolves into a Raichu. There's a Pikachu main character in ''[[Magical Pokémon Journey]]''. A chapter of ''[[How I Became a Pokémon Card]]'' involves a boy getting a Pikachu for his birthday, complaining about how it was "cute" instead of "cool", before he learned that such things don't matter. ''Get Da Ze'' involves a Pikachu protagonist.

** Ash's Charizard is an interesting case, as he ''was'' something at least ''close to'' a [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]] in the Silver Conference despite not being a Johto Pokémon, but actually ''wasn't'' one during much of his run as a regular (mostly due to disobedience). But at the time he ''was'' the powerhouse of Ash's team, and at least the series lampshaded how much of an advantage he had over most other Pokémon in general. He actually was a S.S.S. as Charmander, being the only Mon besides Pikachu who was ''really'' allowed to be competent during battles (especially Gym Battles), but since that actually tied into his [[Character Arc]] the only major criticism he gets for this is the overexposure. Being [[Put on a Bus]] did wonders afterwards.

** Ash's Charizard is an interesting case, as he ''was'' something at least ''close to'' a Spotlight-Stealing Squad in the Silver Conference despite not being a Johto Pokémon, but actually ''wasn't'' one during much of his run as a regular (mostly due to disobedience). But at the time he ''was'' the powerhouse of Ash's team, and at least the series lampshaded how much of an advantage he had over most other Pokémon in general. He actually was a S.S.S. as Charmander, being the only Mon besides Pikachu who was ''really'' allowed to be competent during battles (especially Gym Battles), but since that actually tied into his [[Character Arc]] the only major criticism he gets for this is the overexposure. Being [[Put on a Bus]] did wonders afterwards.

* At certain points, ''[[Guyver]]'' becomes "Aptom featuring those Guyver people". It's really annoying that ''he'' is the one {{spoiler|that takes out the Hyper-Zoanoid Five (except for Zxtole), considering that they were amongst the few enemies that could actually give Sho a good fight.}}

* 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...]]

* 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]] [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.

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** And the same goes for Saki from ''[[Pretty Cure Splash Star]]'', being an [[Expy]] of Nagisa even on ''this''. She's not as bad as the original, but it's clear the writers favored her more than Honoka [[Expy]] Mai.

** Thankfully, for the time they did ''[[Heartcatch Precure]]'', another series with just two girls, they learned the lesson and [[Averted Trope|didn't do this]]. Well, Tsubomi ''did'' get more [[Character Focus]] than Erika, but to such a small degree it didn't matter.

** Only to do this ''again'' with Hibiki in ''[[Suite Precure]]'', to the point that, on a Kanade-centric episode, ''Hibiki'' gets an [[Mid-Season Upgrade|Early-Season Upgrade]] while Kanade gets '''nothing at all'''. Kanade finally gets said upgrade ''three'' episodes after. And that's just the beginning: After Ellen [[Heel Face Turn|joins]], Hibiki starts getting far, far more screentime and lines, with Kanade and Ellen, and Ako once she joins, mostly tagging along. It even manages to get worse: By the time the last quarter of the show rolls by, Hibiki is the one coming with all the smart plans despite being an [[Idiot Hero~~|Idiot Heroine~~]] surrounded by [[Teen Genius~~|Teen Geniuses~~]] and a [[Child Prodigy]], is pretty much the only one allowed to get reaction shots or give any sort of speech, and in one [[Egregious]] instance, when the girls are told to think of their beloved ones they want to protect, only Hibiki thinks of them, and not only she thinks of her family and friends, ''she thinks of Kanade's family and friends too''! Simply put, Kanade, Ellen and Ako end [[Demoted to Extra]] and only exist to nod and agree with Hibiki and use combination attacks with her. Ako's case is the worst, as {{spoiler|her mom is the [[Big Good]] hold [[Hostage for Macguffin]] and her dad is the former [[Big Bad]] and does a G-Rated [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}, but they barely give this any focus compared to Hibiki [[Talking the Monster to Death]] or something.

** Only to do this ''again'' with Hibiki in ''[[Suite Precure]]'', to the point that, on a Kanade-centric episode, ''Hibiki'' gets an [[Mid-Season Upgrade|Early-Season Upgrade]] while Kanade gets '''nothing at all'''. Kanade finally gets said upgrade ''three'' episodes after. And that's just the beginning: After Ellen [[Heel Face Turn|joins]], Hibiki starts getting far, far more screentime and lines, with Kanade and Ellen, and Ako once she joins, mostly tagging along. It even manages to get worse: By the time the last quarter of the show rolls by, Hibiki is the one coming with all the smart plans despite being an [[Idiot Hero]]ine surrounded by [[Teen Genius]]es and a [[Child Prodigy]], is pretty much the only one allowed to get reaction shots or give any sort of speech, and in one [[Egregious]] instance, when the girls are told to think of their beloved ones they want to protect, only Hibiki thinks of them, and not only she thinks of her family and friends, ''she thinks of Kanade's family and friends too''! Simply put, Kanade, Ellen and Ako end [[Demoted to Extra]] and only exist to nod and agree with Hibiki and use combination attacks with her. Ako's case is the worst, as {{spoiler|her mom is the [[Big Good]] hold [[Hostage for Macguffin]] and her dad is the former [[Big Bad]] and does a G-Rated [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}, but they barely give this any focus compared to Hibiki [[Talking the Monster to Death]] or something.

** Note it's always the tomboy of the [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]] duo, and that ''Hearcatch'' was the only one to not do that kind of pair, both girls were rather girly. Hmm.

* At the time Sasaki Kojiro's first story arc was finished it compromised more than 1/3rd of the entirety of ''[[Vagabond]]'' releases.

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* 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.

* 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]]'' 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, Everyone Dies|Decks Fall Everyone Dies]]'', Tristan is overshadowed by Bakura, Duke, and all three Kaiba brothers, even though he was supposed to be the main character.

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== Film ==

* The third ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' [[X-Men (film)|movie]] was more of a [[Wolverine]] movie guest-starring the X-~~Men -- a~~ heck of a sucker punch, since the comic story being adapted called for Cyclops [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|(apparently killed very early on)]] and Jean Grey (silently standing next to [[Magneto]] for the bulk of the film) to take the spotlight, and the promotional material [[Advertised Extra|heavily featured Angel (in only three scenes)]]. (The quick removal of Cyclops is usually attributed to [[James Marsden]] starring in ''[[Superman Returns]]'', but see the discussion page if you like conspiracy theories.) The first two movies also focused primarily on Wolverine, and then he got his own prequel.

* The third ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' [[X-Men (film)|movie]] was more of a [[Wolverine]] movie guest-starring the X-Men—a heck of a sucker punch, since the comic story being adapted called for Cyclops [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|(apparently killed very early on)]] and Jean Grey (silently standing next to [[Magneto]] for the bulk of the film) to take the spotlight, and the promotional material [[Advertised Extra|heavily featured Angel (in only three scenes)]]. (The quick removal of Cyclops is usually attributed to [[James Marsden]] starring in ''[[Superman Returns]]'', but see the discussion page if you like conspiracy theories.) The first two movies also focused primarily on Wolverine, and then he got his own prequel.

** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Magneto in the second movie:

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** As of Season 3, the show has become less about the group (and [[Out of Focus|Will]]) and more about [[Official Couple|Finn/Rachel]] and [[Beta Couple|Kurt/Blaine.]]

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' - Spike, most obviously in the seventh season.

* In general, ''[[Power Rangers]]'' tends to have [[The Hero|Red Rangers]] and [[Sixth Ranger~~|Sixth Rangers~~]] get more attention than the other four guys on the team.

* In general, ''[[Power Rangers]]'' tends to have [[The Hero|Red Rangers]] and [[Sixth Ranger]]s get more attention than the other four guys on the team.

** ''[[Power Rangers Mystic Force]]'' is referred to as 'Power Rangers Mys-Nick Force,' or simply The Nick Show. He's [[The Hero]] [[Because Destiny Says So]], and the others are just along for the ride. By the final arc, the scenes at the beginning of some episodes with one of the mentor types training the team were now scenes of Nick alone being taught something as he's reminded how uber-important he is so he's gotta stay sharp, and the others not even being around to watch. The mentors apparently don't bother with the others anymore. You knew you hit rock bottom when the last episode has Nick handily beating up a bad guy general while the others watch, and finally saying "Do you guys want in on this?" Yes, it's made ''explicit'' that he can do it all on his own but graciously lets the others pretend to matter out of charity.

** Tommy Oliver, known to many as the Green Ranger, deserves special mention. This guy practically defines spotlight stealing. Originally, ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' was about five teens "with attitudes" who were thrust into a battle against an evil witch that they weren't prepared for. Later on, cue the appearance of the evil Green Ranger and his badass Dragonzord. Tommy became so popular that even when they ran out of Sentai footage for the Green Ranger, the producers simply had to bring him back later on because of how so many kids wanted it. After a long run as the Green Ranger, Tommy came back as the White Ranger, with Zordon ''immediately'' declaring him the new leader of the team (with Jason just smiling away in the background)<ref>Although this was more likely the result of [[Real Life Writes the Plot]].</ref> and Tommy subsequently going into full-blow Sue mode. For all intents and purposes, the show turned into "Tommy Oliver and his Amazing Friends" from Mighty Morphin' to [[Power Rangers Zeo|Zeo]] and some of [[Power Rangers Turbo|Turbo]].

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* Sam manages to do this in a show with a [[Power Trio]] and only two other major characters. ''[[iCarly]]'' has been accused of going from a show about 3 young teens making a webshow and having fun, to a show about how much of a [[Jerkass]] can Sam be and get away with it this week.

* Big One from ''[[JAKQ Dengekitai]]''. He comes right the fuck out of nowhere, becomes the leader of the team, shoves them all (leader included) to the side, and is the focus of everything and absolutely perfect... and then becomes one of the series' mascot once JAKQ is included in the [[Super Sentai]]. [[Tropes Are Not Bad|This was, however, intentional and welcomed by the fans]] since before Big One appeared, the series was suffering in ratings, and his arrival did let the show run for some more episodes.

* ''[[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.

* ''[[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: Voyager|Star Trek Voyager]]'' was ''The Seven of Nine Show''. In theory, she had just been introduced and needed her character established in a hurry. Others suspect [[Fan Service|something]] [[Gag Boobs|else]] was behind all her screen time.

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* [[The Bangles]] started off having three lead singers (Susanna and the Petterson sisters) and the first albums are relatively balanced in that department. However, as Sue started to gain media coverage, most of the singles (i.e. videos, i.e. hits, i.e. opening/closing live numbers and encores) had her on lead. For their reunion album, she sings more than the others.

* [[The Eagles]] began as a quartet where lead vocals were relatively split (although Glenn Frey had a bit more input). Slowly, as Don Henley became the main lyricist and a fan favourite, he became, statistically, the band's most frequent lead singer.

* During [[The Eighties]], [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] morphed into [[Face of the Band|The Phil Collins Band]], to the point where radio DJs would introduce Genesis songs as "another one from [[Phil Collins]]". A one-man [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]] for sure.

* During [[The Eighties]], [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] morphed into [[Face of the Band|The Phil Collins Band]], to the point where radio DJs would introduce Genesis songs as "another one from [[Phil Collins]]". A one-man Spotlight-Stealing Squad for sure.

** Contrast this with the earlier, progressive rock era, where [[Peter Gabriel]] and his [[Impossibly Cool Clothes|flamboyant costumes, masks and makeup]] were the focal point of their image and marketing, to the point where his leaving the band led to early death knells in the press. It didn't help that the other members were media-shy and that Gabriel was the mouthpiece for the band until 1975. Gabriel's legend loomed large until Collins became an unexpected solo success in 1981.

* Did you know that [[Marilyn Manson]] is the name of an entire band? Their name was originally Marylin Manson and the Spooky Kids, but over time the lead singer stole more and more of the spotlight and became the only face of the band, to the point that they shortened the band's name to just his stage name.

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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 [[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.<br /><br />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]].

* 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 [[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]].

* [[WCW]]'s [[New World Order]]; they became so overpushed in 1996-1999 (thanks to the creative control wielded by [[Hulk Hogan]], [[Kevin Nash]] and [[Scott Hall]], as well as the overindulgence of Eric Bischoff) that it drove the entire storyline into the ground. The main problem was that, despite being the bad guys, they ''[[Generic Doomsday Villain|never, ever lost]]''.

* In the really old school, see: [[Hulk Hogan]] in the WWF and WCW, and Dusty Rhodes in Jim Crockett Promotions/NWA. Ironically, Pro Wrestling NOAH could use more of this instead of the booker-wrestler ''de''valuing himself to get over a young guy... who then fails to get over due to weak early title defenses, drops the belt to an "old guard" guy and promptly drops back to midcard hell~~.<br /><br />And [[Hulk Hogan]]'s now doing it again to [[TNA]] -- again~~.

* In the really old school, see: [[Hulk Hogan]] in the WWF and WCW, and Dusty Rhodes in Jim Crockett Promotions/NWA. Ironically, Pro Wrestling NOAH could use more of this instead of the booker-wrestler ''de''valuing himself to get over a young guy... who then fails to get over due to weak early title defenses, drops the belt to an "old guard" guy and promptly drops back to midcard hell.

And [[Hulk Hogan]]'s now doing it again to [[TNA]]—again.

* [[Defied Trope]]: [[Vince McMahon]] came out to take credit for the actions of [[Wade Barrett]] and [[The Nexus]], much like how his daughter [[Stephanie McMahon]] had arisen as the mastermind behind the ECW revival in 2001. Barrett and his men proceeded to ''beat Vince senseless'' in response. (We guess that'll teach him not to ride other heels' coattails, especially since he's retired from wrestling now.)

* For a long stretch between 2007 and 2009, almost every main event at every PPV was some combination of [[Randy Orton]], [[Triple H]], and [[John Cena]]. Since [[Triple H]] was injured, and Cena was busy with the Nexus, it became Orton and [[Sheamus]] more often than not.

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* Brett Favre. He's undoubtedly one of the best quarterbacks to play the game, but the amount of media attention he receives in what is ostensibly a team sport borders on the insane. In 2009, he returned to Green Bay (his old team) to play as the QB of the Minnesota Vikings (their hated rival). Fox dedicated a camera to watch him for the entire game and fans could watch a webcast of that view exclusively. Even though he wasn't on the field for half the game!

** During one of Favre's retirements, ESPN interrupted Sportcenter for ''live coverage'' of him getting off a plane en route to a press conference.

* After Favre's (final) retirement, the media fixated on Tim Tebow in the same way. Before his first snap as a pro, the coverage was all about his future with the Denver Broncos. It got to the point where, during the 2011 season, pre-season starting QB Kyle Orton was eventually released by the Denver Broncos to allow Tebow to take over at ~~quarterback -- not~~ necessarily because Tebow was better, but ''because the fans stole Orton's spotlight for Tebow''.

* After Favre's (final) retirement, the media fixated on Tim Tebow in the same way. Before his first snap as a pro, the coverage was all about his future with the Denver Broncos. It got to the point where, during the 2011 season, pre-season starting QB Kyle Orton was eventually released by the Denver Broncos to allow Tebow to take over at quarterback—not necessarily because Tebow was better, but ''because the fans stole Orton's spotlight for Tebow''.

* Mention to someone not from the UK that you're from anywhere in the vicinity of Manchester and you'll get something along the lines of 'Oh, so you're a Manchester United fan?'. Tell them you're a Manchester City fan, who play in the same league and locally have almost the same level of support (different areas of the city), and they used look at you blankly. That's changed a bit in the 2010s, after the Abu Dhabi oil barons replaced the sacked former Thai prime minister as owner at Man City.

** Made all the more ironic by the fact that Manchester is pretty much evenly divided between the two, while a great deal of United's fanbase is made up of out-of-town bandwagon-jumpers.

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== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' ''is'' this trope, with the [[Space Marine~~|Space Marines~~]] being its most pure example...if you ask many [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] players, anyway. The latest Marine release saw a White Dwarf giving them coverage equivalent to a Catholic newspaper during a papal visit. It's not that ''Warhammer'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' players mind Games Workshop focusing on 40K because [[Money, Dear Boy|that's where the money is]], but being treated as ablative shielding?

* ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' ''is'' this trope, with the [[Space Marine]]s being its most pure example...if you ask many [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] players, anyway. The latest Marine release saw a White Dwarf giving them coverage equivalent to a Catholic newspaper during a papal visit. It's not that ''Warhammer'' and ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' players mind Games Workshop focusing on 40K because [[Money, Dear Boy|that's where the money is]], but being treated as ablative shielding?

** 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.

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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 From the Dead]], Frost taking him on as a mentor in the later games, and Scorpion relentlessly pursuing him (at least until one of the later games' [[Big Bad~~|Big Bads~~]] was revealed to be the one who murdered Scorpion's family).

** 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 From the Dead]], Frost taking him on as a mentor in the later games, and Scorpion relentlessly pursuing him (at least until one of the later games' [[Big Bad]]s was revealed to be the one who murdered Scorpion's family).

** 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.

* While the Subspace Emissary mode of ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]. Brawl'' makes an effort to balance the screen time between most of the non-unlockable characters, it becomes apparent that the biggest movers of the action are Kirby, Meta Knight, and Dedede. All are characters from the ''[[Kirby]]'' series, which was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who designed ''SSBB''. <ref> Interestingly, this is an attempt to make up for the lack of attention Sakurai gave to his own franchise in ''Melee'' (only Kirby made it in, compared to five ''Mario'' characters and four ''Pokemon'' ones, and Dedede was the first out of the roster when it exceeded the maximum number of characters.) Some might say he went a little overboard.</ref>

* While the Subspace Emissary mode of ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]. Brawl'' makes an effort to balance the screen time between most of the non-unlockable characters, it becomes apparent that the biggest movers of the action are Kirby, Meta Knight, and Dedede. All are characters from the ''[[Kirby]]'' series, which was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who designed ''SSBB''.<ref>Interestingly, this is an attempt to make up for the lack of attention Sakurai gave to his own franchise in ''Melee'' (only Kirby made it in, compared to five ''Mario'' characters and four ''Pokemon'' ones, and Dedede was the first out of the roster when it exceeded the maximum number of characters.) Some might say he went a little overboard.</ref>

* ''[[Tales of Destiny]] 2''. The focus was so fixed on Kyle and Reala that there's no special arc to develop other characters like Loni, Nanaly, Harold and Judas (even though he was {{spoiler|Leon Magnus, the prequel's [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]}}), making them, especially Loni and Nanaly, look almost like [[Flat Character~~|Flat Characters~~]].

* ''[[Tales of Destiny]] 2''. The focus was so fixed on Kyle and Reala that there's no special arc to develop other characters like Loni, Nanaly, Harold and Judas (even though he was {{spoiler|Leon Magnus, the prequel's [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]}}), making them, especially Loni and Nanaly, look almost like [[Flat Character]]s.

** Ironically, ''Tales of Eternia'', which was called ''Tales of Destiny II'' in North America also suffers from this, since Chat and Max play little more than support characters and are in fact borderline optional since their abilities come from sidequests.

*** Also in Tales of Eternia, Rassius appears to be important {{spoiler|and important enough for everyone to mourn his death and treat it as a major plot point.}} despite that the story put so much emphasis on him and Farah when he was in the party.

* Karol in ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' can be seen as a spotlight stealing character since he gets quite a bit of scenes showing him change from a cowardly little boy who got kicked out of every guild he tried to join to a strong hearted warrior.

** Especially since {{spoiler|Raven secretly being Schwann}} was treated as relatively minor story twist.

* Dan Smith, one of the ''seven'' multiple personalities of the ''[[Killer7]]'' gets an entire chapter devoted to his character's backstory and is more often than not the selected persona during the animated [[Cutscene~~|Cutscenes~~]]. Mask de Smith also gets a disproportional amount of screentime compared to the others, as does Garcian Smith (justifiably so in Garcian's case). It should be noted that Suda51 admitted that he didn't have time to do everything he wanted in this game, which may explain why we never find out much about Kaede, Coyote, Con, or Kevin.

* Dan Smith, one of the ''seven'' multiple personalities of the ''[[Killer7]]'' gets an entire chapter devoted to his character's backstory and is more often than not the selected persona during the animated [[Cutscene]]s. Mask de Smith also gets a disproportional amount of screentime compared to the others, as does Garcian Smith (justifiably so in Garcian's case). It should be noted that Suda51 admitted that he didn't have time to do everything he wanted in this game, which may explain why we never find out much about Kaede, Coyote, Con, or Kevin.

* ''[[Namco X Capcom]]'' was originally conceived with just the [[Namco Bandai]] characters; [[Capcom]] was brought into the picture later, and it shows. They did a good job integrating the Capcom characters into the plot, but most of the important plot points are still from the Namco side of things; the Capcom characters are just sort of... there.

* ''[[Silhouette Mirage]]'' revolves around a war between the [[Red Oni, Blue Oni|strength-based Silhouettes and the intelligence-based Mirages]]. In practice, though, the Silhouettes are pretty much background flavor in the plot. There are [[Mooks]] of both attributes, along with neutral-attribute [[Humongous Mecha]]... piloted by Mirages. There are Mirage bosses, and there are Silhouette bosses... who mostly work ''for'' the Mirages, if they aren't just [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere|random]]. And the dual-attribute Guardian Angel bosses who menace you throughout the game? Yep, they're Mirage creations.

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* In ''[[Twinbee]]'', the spotlight spends more time on Pastel.

* In the ''[[Super Robot Wars Original Generation]]'' sub-series of ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'', [[Super Robot Wars Compact 2|Kyosuke Nanbu]], and to a lesser extent, his girlfriend Excellen Browning. The first Original Generation game's almost considered ''[[Super Robot Wars Alpha]]'', with extra originals and no other series characters, but other than those who appeared in Alpha ([[Super Robot Wars 2|Masaki Andoh]] included), Kyosuke's included and he becomes one of the main protagonists. He certainly isn't meant to be the main character of the first game (since the second half of his story enters [[Canon Discontinuity]]), but the sequel promotes him to full-blown protagonist in a more ridiculous manner, by having his and Excellen's ''[[Super Robot Wars Compact 2]]''/''[[Video Game Remake|Impact]]'' story taking center stage, while conceiving [[Evil Twin]] [[Super Robot Wars Original Generation|Beowulf]], with links him to the ''[[Super Robot Wars Advance]]'' plot ''indirectly'', as it makes Kyo [[The Rival]] to [[Super Robot Wars Advance|Axel Almer]], even though Axel's appropriate rival is supposedly [[Super Robot Wars Advance|Lamia Loveless]] (did we mention Compact 2/Impact plot's the only plot thus far that makes his relationship with Excellen very vital to the story?) Not spotlight stealing enough?

** 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~~|Gaiden Games~~]]) will have either Kyosuke, his [[Expy]] or any variant of his [[Humongous Mecha]] Alt Eisen displayed on the game cover.

** 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 From the Dead]] as Lea in ''Dream Drop Distance''.

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** [[Capcom]] probably doesn't have any qualms about this, inasmuch as ''Darkstalkers'' never took off (essentially three games and a truckload of [[Capcom Sequel Stagnation]]), so there isn't any spotlight ''to'' steal. Given that [[Sex Sells]], it's probably no surprise that Morrigan became de-facto face of ''Darkstalkers''. It ''also'' doesn't help that if a game has more than one character from ''Darkstalkers'', the second is usually [[Catgirl|Fe]][[Naughty Nuns|li]][[Vapor Wear|cia]], who has a [[Fan Service]] quotient on the level of Morrigan herself but less popular.

*** 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.

*** 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.

* Who doesn't do this to their [[The Sims|Sim]] families. All of the sudden, you remember there's a whole freakin' neighborhood. It's rather... odd.

* The ''[[.hack]]'' games are notorious about this. The first four games had about two dozen of characters, but only about 6 were any important. And of those 6, most lost importance as soon as their roles in the main plot were done - most notably, Balmung. As soon as he joins the main party, he becomes nothing but a tool.

** And ''G.U.'' isn't all that better. While most of the characters do contribute for the plot somewhat, by the end of ''Redemption'' most of them are, again, mere tools. This applies even for Atoli, who was a major character in the previous two games (heck, ''Reminisce'' is pretty much all about her) only to get a single plot-relevant moment... at the ending.

* ''[[SaGa]]'' does this quite a bit, especially when you pick your cast. (It is a rather underappreciated hybrid of western and eastern [[RPG~~|RPGs~~]] with [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] after all)

* ''[[SaGa]]'' does this quite a bit, especially when you pick your cast. (It is a rather underappreciated hybrid of western and eastern [[RPG]]s with [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] after all)

* The pros in ''[[Backyard Sports]]''. The advertising REVOLVES around them rather than the neighborhood kids. From their first appearance onwards, they are easily the best players in the game, leaving the kids, who have much worse stats, unnecessary to beat the game. Well, except [[Memetic Badass]] Pablo, but that's a tradition.

** In fact, ''Backyard Skateboarding'' is written from the perspective of Andy McDonald (the only pro player in the game), despite the fact that there are ''eleven'' other playable characters, six of whom are available from the start just like McDonald.

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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~~|Gaiden Games~~]]). Then, he and Silver took over ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (video game)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2006]]'', to the extent that you only play as the title character for about a third of the game, and he has far less plot connection to the [[Big Bad]] of the game than Shadow and Silver do. The series starting with ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'' have thankfully stopped focusing on him so much.

* 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 (video game)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2006]]'', to the extent that you only play as the title character for about a third of the game, and he has far less plot connection to the [[Big Bad]] of the game than Shadow and Silver do. The series starting with ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'' have thankfully stopped focusing on him so much.

* 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.

* Much of the [[The Scrappy|flak]] directed towards the Soda Poppers in Telltale's ''[[The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police|Sam and Max Freelance Police]]'' games was because they were overly focused upon throughout the first season, at the expense of other side characters. As a result, the second season was filled with anti-Poppers [[Fan Service]], leading them to get [[Killed Off for Real]].

* In ''[[Guild Wars]] Factions'' the story was pretty much centered on Mhenlo and Togo, rather overshadowing the players. During cutscenes, all the players could hope for was to stand in the background and cheer while one of these was doing the talking. And more than one mission was an [[Escort Mission]] where you needed to get one or both of these to the end of the level so they could do the important stuff. Nightfall and to a lesser extend Eye of the North solved that problem by centering the cutscenes on the players and their (much more useful) NPC helpers. Unfortunately, the announcements of [[Guild Wars]] 2's story give a worrying amount of attention to an NPC group of heroes called Destiny's Edge, which the player will need to put back together to fight the [[Big Bad]]. We can only hope the players won't be reduced to cheerleading squad again.

* The second half of ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]]'' might as well be called "[[More Hero Than Thou|Sveta Upstages Everybody]]". However, ''[[Golden Sun]]'' games are notorious for [[Flat Character~~|Flat Characters~~]], and the extra screentime gives Sveta more [[Character Development]], so it actually works out in her favor, and the fans love her. [[Tropes Are Not Bad]]!

* The second half of ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]]'' might as well be called "[[More Hero Than Thou|Sveta Upstages Everybody]]". However, ''[[Golden Sun]]'' games are notorious for [[Flat Character]]s, and the extra screentime gives Sveta more [[Character Development]], so it actually works out in her favor, and the fans love her. [[Tropes Are Not Bad]]!

* [[Cowboy Cop|Garrus Vakarian]] and [[Wrench Wench|Tali'Zorah]] of ''[[Mass Effect]]'' could count as this from a fandom perspective, as they seem to be the only two supporting characters everyone seems to remember and/or know (mostly for their devoted fanbases) from the series. However, this is also a case of [[Tropes Are Not Bad]], as the two didn't get much development or story involvement in the first game outside of their introductions (and were essentially walking codexes for C-Sec and the quarian race respectively afterward) and their SSS traits within the fandom helped make them full party members in the sequel (as opposed to the cameos of the Virmire Survivor, Wrex and Liara).

** They ''definitely'' are ~~[[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|~~SSS]] material if you look at romances. Yeah, you can also love [[Hitman with a Heart|Thane]], [[Nice Guy|Jacob]], [[Dark Action Girl|Jack]] or [[Defrosting Ice Queen|Miranda]]. You can, but you won't, like 99% of the players. Heck, romancing Garrus or Tali is almost [[Fanon]]. Somewhat [[Justified Trope|justified]] because fans were ''asking'' for this development. It should be noted that [[Crazy Awesome|Mordin]] is able to rival their fame, but is (sadly?) [[Asexual|not romanceable.]]

** They ''definitely'' are SSS material if you look at romances. Yeah, you can also love [[Hitman with a Heart|Thane]], [[Nice Guy|Jacob]], [[Dark Action Girl|Jack]] or [[Defrosting Ice Queen|Miranda]]. You can, but you won't, like 99% of the players. Heck, romancing Garrus or Tali is almost [[Fanon]]. Somewhat [[Justified Trope|justified]] because fans were ''asking'' for this development. It should be noted that [[Crazy Awesome|Mordin]] is able to rival their fame, but is (sadly?) [[Asexual|not romanceable.]]

* ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Vincent and Zack, are by far the faces of the game due to their prominence in its expanded universe. The other party members of the original game aside are reduced to cameos, if they appear at all. Zack is a particularly interesting case as he was a minor side-chararacter in ''VII'', but got [[Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII|his own spin-off game]] and appeared in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]''.

* Princess Ashelia "Ashe" B'nargin Dalmasca from ''[[Final Fantasy XII]].'' Granted, the narrator tells you outright this is ''her'' story, but the titular [[The Hero|Vaan]] is demoted to [[Comic Relief]].

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* ''[[Achewood]]'' used to focus on Teodor, Philipp, Cornelius and Lyle living in the Onstad house, with a fairly large and diverse supporting cast. Now the strip focuses mostly on Roast Beef and to a lesser extent Ray.

* ''[[Cheer]]'' may have a four-girl main cast, but Alex and Lita have been focused on so much that the other two (Jo and Sam) [[Out of Focus|fall by the wayside]].

* ''[[Concession]]'' has managed to shift the focus more towards characters who had little to do with the movie theatre and more with about Joel's ambitions and college life rather than stupid customers and the stuff at the concession stand...admittedly Immelmann knew of this, and has actually put an arc that takes place at the concession stand back in, while still putting emphasis on Joel's revenge scheme as well. He also admits that most characters won't get arcs, and even made fun of it a few time. (It even says so in the "About" section to show you how aware of the [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]] [[Plot Tumor]])

* ''[[Concession]]'' has managed to shift the focus more towards characters who had little to do with the movie theatre and more with about Joel's ambitions and college life rather than stupid customers and the stuff at the concession stand...admittedly Immelmann knew of this, and has actually put an arc that takes place at the concession stand back in, while still putting emphasis on Joel's revenge scheme as well. He also admits that most characters won't get arcs, and even made fun of it a few time. (It even says so in the "About" section to show you how aware of the Spotlight-Stealing Squad [[Plot Tumor]])

* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', Vriska Serket is an intentional example. She's not one of the initial trolls introduced, but she quickly gains more panel time than all the others and becomes the most important to the plot. It's actually part of her personality to force herself into the story; she even thinks she's the one who is going to kill the [[Big Bad]].

** The trolls in general. The series is about four kids playing a game. Then a few trolls pop up and start having conversations with the kids in Act 4. The first half of Act 5 is solely about the troll's group and the narrative keeps going back to them even after that.

* ''N Fans The Series'', a comic that actually played the [[Self Insert]] cast rather well was rather ''notorious'' for having a [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]], consisting mostly of Webster Swenson and Pchan (Both the main author and the best friend OF said main author respectively). This wasn't as apparent in the comic's early days (Even when the cast consisted only of about 6 people), but when the cast expanded to have [[Loads and Loads of Characters]], it became highly evident that at least half of the cast was going to be just shown as being in a crowd or fall almost completely to the wayside in favour of Webster Swenson and Pchan.

* ''N Fans The Series'', a comic that actually played the [[Self Insert]] cast rather well was rather ''notorious'' for having a Spotlight-Stealing Squad, consisting mostly of Webster Swenson and Pchan (Both the main author and the best friend OF said main author respectively). This wasn't as apparent in the comic's early days (Even when the cast consisted only of about 6 people), but when the cast expanded to have [[Loads and Loads of Characters]], it became highly evident that at least half of the cast was going to be just shown as being in a crowd or fall almost completely to the wayside in favour of Webster Swenson and Pchan.

** Team Lalala was literally standing ''in the exact same place'' for about a ''year'', while the plot fixated on Webster Swenson and Pchan, with occasional sidestories about tech support or the other teams. At least half the cast was [[Put on a Bus]].

* Ellen and Nanase of ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' can veer here pretty often. They get most of the more eventful plots, and while other characters [[Demoted to Extra|tend to slide to the background]] during given storylines the two of them have played a major role in every multi-chapter story to date, arguably the central role in everything but the original Sister. Even then, its climax and falling act revolved around the two of them. The most [[Egregious]] case is Painted Black, which centered around Elliot being kidnapped and Grace's backstory coming out and they ''still'' likely got over half the screen time.

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* ''[[Looking for Group]]''. Richard tends to steal the show whenever he is on panel, even if it's just one small line. The authors have claimed they could rename the comic "Richard Kills Stuff" and double the readerbase.

* Intentionally averted with Hannelore and Marigold in ''[[Questionable Content]]''. Jeph once noted that he has to work very hard to not turn the comic into "Bad Things Happen to Hanners and Marigold Daily".

* Trike Girl from [[Sinfest]] starting around September of 2011 (either her or the effects of her actions) has quickly taken over the strip.

* Trike Girl from [[Sinfest]] starting around September 2011 (either her or the effects of her actions) has quickly taken over the strip.

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*** 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 ''[[Ka Blam!]]''.

* 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~~|Ensemble Darkhorses~~]] initially, [[Tropes Are Not Bad|this decision hasn't fared quite as badly as other examples]].

* 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.

* Randy Marsh of ''[[South Park]]'' became this as time went on. Cartman is as well, although that has been so since day one (the first episode was entitled "Cartman Gets An Anal Probe".)

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* 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 On Two Earths]] and [[Superman/Batman: Apocalypse]]

** 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~~|Villain Protagonists~~]] for most of the series. Even their boss [[Big Bad|Zordrak]] usually only appears in "bookend" appearances for each episode.

* ''[[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.

* ''[[My Little Pony]] N Friends'' episodes switched protagonists every few episodes, but it still had a few members who appeared often. Among them were Fizzy, Lickety Split, Surprise, Gusty, and Wind Whistler. In a [[Merchandise-Driven]] series with 100+ characters this is reasonably apparent.

** Rarity has been getting a fair share of episodes in ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]''.

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* Comedian [[Jeff Dunham]] allows Achmed the Dead Terrorist to be the focus of almost all of his shows. The Christmas Special may as well have been called the "Achmed the Dead Terrorist show, guest starring Jeff Dunham & Other personalities".

** His most recent special expands Achmed's role [[Up to Eleven|even further]] (both solo and with his half-dead long-lost son.) He takes up roughly 60% of the show, forcing Peanut and Jose Jalapeno-on-a-stick to be introduced ''at the same time'' to make room. To be fair, however, he had did this before Achmed managed to suck up most of the show - partly because their interactions earned enough laughs, and because Jose Jalapeno-on-a-stick is ''very'' easy to operate anyways, same with Peanut. IF anything, the puppets like Melvin and Sweet Daddy D managed to suffer this the most; even Bubba because in a 2010 performance, the ''audience'' knew his routine better than ''Jeff'' did.

* Even in death, [[Michael Jackson]] managed to be a one-man [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]]. If you saw the news ''at all'' during the summer months of 2009, chances are, it was about Michael Jackson. In comparison, very little attention was given to other celebrity deaths during the same month such as Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett (who passed just before Michael), [[Billy Mays]], and David Carradine.

* Even in death, [[Michael Jackson]] managed to be a one-man Spotlight-Stealing Squad. If you saw the news ''at all'' during the summer months of 2009, chances are, it was about Michael Jackson. In comparison, very little attention was given to other celebrity deaths during the same month such as Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett (who passed just before Michael), [[Billy Mays]], and David Carradine.

** Bonus points for being the top story overshadowing the military coup in Honduras

** Hell, he was an SSS to the ''Iranian election protests''.