Stuck in Their Shadow: Difference between revisions

 

Distinct from [[Lesser Star]], where equal credit is given for unequal work. In this trope, equal work results in unequal credit. Compare with [[Breakup Breakout]]: Two characters team up, then eventually split up. One makes it big, and the other is all but forgotten.

 

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== [[Film]] ==

* ''[[Wayne's World]]'' is named after Wayne, however, Garth is no less important in the scheme of things, gets about equal screen time, and provides just as many memorable lines.

* An in-movie example occurs as a running gag in ''[[Monsters, Inc.]]''. Whenever Mike appears in the media he is always covered up by something, like the barcode of a magazine or the company logo in a commercial. (Meanwhile, Sullivan is always front and center.) Whenever this happens, Mike initially appears shocked but then talks excitedly about being in print/on TV, never even noticing the unfortunate circumstances.

 

== [[Music]] ==

* John McVie, the bassist for [[Fleetwood Mac]], is probably the least known member of the group in spite of being half of its namesake and one of only two members who have been in the band since it started, especially compared to singer-songwriters Lindsay Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie, original bandleader Peter Green and [[All Drummers Are Animals|co-group namer Mick Fleetwood]].

* John Paul Jones, the bassist ([[Nobody Loves the Bassist|noticing a theme]]?) of [[Led Zeppelin]] ([[Your Mileage May Vary|arguably]]).

** This is also a general philosophy of many bass players, that you should play in such a way that it provides a framework for the guitarist, singer, and keyboardist to do their stuff without distracting the audience. Essentially if you're doing your job well no one knows you're there, until you flub, disconnect from the mix, what have you, and then your absence is immediately noted. See [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OMGgqXCLVw this video] of [[Franz Ferdinand]].

* Of "The Jackson Five", [[Michael Jackson]] was obviously the most famous. Ask who the other four members are, and most could get Jermaine, Tito, and Marlon. Poor Jackie Jackson.

* Guitarist Andy Summers and bassist Stewart Copeland of [[The Police]] were largely overshadowed by bassist/singer/songwriter Sting. Oddly enough, whilst they didn't receive the same individual credit, the band as a whole was far more popular than Sting's solo career.

* Operatic librettists. Traditionally, operas were written in two stages: a librettist would write the libretto (Italian: little book) containing the script and lyrics, and then basically hawk it out to a composer, who would set the whole thing to music. Also traditionally, the composer would be listed as the creator of the work, with the librettist listed as a secondary figure, and usually known only to opera buffs. There are only two well-known exceptions to this: [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] (W.S. Gilbert being the librettist) and [[Richard Wagner]], who wrote his own librettos.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* ''[[Banjo-Kazooie]]'' is a little weird about this. Ask anyone who the star is, and most will say it's Banjo, even though the titles of three out of five games also include his partner Kazooie. The second game, ''Banjo Tooie'', opts for a silly title pun instead of recognizing the second lead's name (it's even lampshaded by Kazooie herself at the end of the first game), and ''Banjo Kazooie Grunty's Revenge'' mentions her name although she isn't in it for the first few worlds. Indeed, in the first two games, Kazooie's the one doing the majority of attacking and acrobatics when the two are teamed up, with Banjo mostly just doing the walking around and (in the first game) the Claw Swipe and Roll (the second game replaced the Claw Swipe with another attack by Kazooie and had Kazooie assist with the Roll).

* Being stuck in the shadow of his father [[Magnificent Bastard|Cao Cao]] has been Cao Pi's story path since his debut in ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' 5; he doesn't get a break even in the [[Warriors Orochi|crossover game]], as the warriors of Wei are still more loyal to Cao Cao (who is outright ''presumed dead'' until near the end of the plot) than to him in the first game, and he has to share an uneasy spotlight with his father in the sequel (though in the final battle Cao Cao does officially hand the baton over).

* Thanks to ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'', [[Final Fantasy III|Xande]] has become this in favor of Cloud of Darkness. This is despite Xande was the [[Big Bad]] for most of the game, while Cloud of Darkness was a [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]] that didn't appear to have much involvement until the very end.

 

* In both the book and film versions of ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'', the story focuses more on the human detective, Eddie Valiant. In the book, he was Eddie's shifty client, and although he was pivotal to the story, the focus was clearly on Eddie and his investigations. In the movie, Roger gets the plot rolling, but after that his job consists mostly of hanging around with Eddie and acting goofy.

** Even in his cartoons in-universe, Roger gets second billing behind Baby Herman, even though (like Wile E.) he gets the lion's share of the laughs.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:YMMV Trope]]

[[Category:Stuck in Their Shadow]]