The Unexpected: Difference between revisions

Welcome to [['''The Unexpected]]''', where a character that seems so strange, or not that well known will make an appearance in an installment, that it was not to be expected by anyone. Even the most diehard fans didn't expect these guys.

* Bio Hunter Silva, a villain introduced late into ''[[Choudenshi Bioman]]'', completely faded into obscurity after the series ended its run. However, around 30 years later, he has recently been added to the roster of a [[Super Sentai]] [[Legion of Doom]] during ''[[Kamen Rider Xx Super Sentai: SuperThe HeroGreat TaisenSuperhero (Film)War|Kamen Rider X Super Sentai Super Hero Taisen]]'', and, as the trailers imply, he's going to have a major role as well.

* Lots of unexpected characters pop up in the ''[[Warrior Cats (Literature)|Warrior Cats]]'' novel ''The Last Hope'', such as Redtail, Raggedstar and Mosskit. But almost nobody was expecting Brambleberry's cameo appearance at the beginning where she is one of the first cats to ever successfully give Jayfeather a lecture.

* In a media crossover-example, [[Rhythm GamesGame]]s probably get this sort of reaction when they announce the new setlist for their next title, such as with [[Rock Band]] 3 ("[[The Doors]], [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]], [[Elton John]] and... Phoenix?"<ref>The band's logo was used on the back of the case alongside names like [[Queen]], [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[The Who]] and the [[Ramones]]</ref>).

* ''[[Street Fighter X Tekken (Video Game)|Street Fighter X Tekken]]'' has [[In FamousInfamous (Videovideo Gamegame series)|Cole Macgrath]] as part of its roster (naturally, only on the [[Play StationPlayStation]] versions).

** ...Which is completely true, everybody knew that Shredder, April, Casey, and the title characters would appear, but not an unnamed [[Mook|Foot Soldier]] or an alien in a battle suit that was a one-shot character from [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 (Animation)|the 2003 show]] (as an [[Expy]] for Krang from the 80s show). And for established characters, there's the Fugitoid and [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Filmfilm)|Night Watcher]] (who has a completely different gameplay from regular Raphael).

** And ''[[Raving Rabbids (Video Game)|Raving Rabbids]]''. Don't forget them.

* This isn't the first time a Ninja turtles has had really obscure characters. Excluding the Turtles and Shredder, almost the SNES entire cast of "[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters (Video Game)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters]]" was really obscure. The two biggest examples are Aska(an original character) and War(a very minor bad guy in the Archie comic book series).

* [[EarthboundEarthBound|Ness's]] appearance in the original ''[[Super Smash Bros (Video Game)|Super Smash Bros.]]''. Captain Falcon to a certain extent as well, as he is from [[F-Zero|a racing series]], not a platformer.

** The [[Ice Climbers]] appearing in ''[[Super Smash Bros (Video Game)|Super Smash Bros.]] Melee'' would qualify, since they previously only ever existed in a single arcade/NES title, and were only added to the roster for their gameplay potential. Mr. Game & Watch in the same game and R.O.B. in ''Brawl'' could also qualify, though they're quite a bit more significant to Nintendo's history as well. However, none of these can compare to when [[Metal Gear Solid|Solid Snake]] was confirmed as the series' first third-party character...and later, [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] as the other.

** Roy made his ''[[Early -Bird Cameo|character debut]]'' in ''Melee''. [[Fire Emblem Elibe|Fire Emblem Sealed Sword]] came out a few months later. Even the Japanese were surprised.

** The [[Pokémon]] Trainer, as well. While the idea of having a playable Trainer was a somewhat popular choice, many wrote it off as very unlikely to happen. And even within the Trainer's moveset, while [[Making a Splash|Squi]][[Turtle Power|rtle]] and [[Playing Withwith Fire|Chari]][[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons|zard]] were popular choices, nobody expected [[Green Thumb|Ivysaur]], even if it was the most logical counterpart to the other two.

** Also, in the original Smash Bros' 1P mode, you fight classic Nintendo characters, the [[Super Mario Bros. (Videovideo Gamegame)|Mario Bros.]], [[Giant Mook]] [[Donkey Kong]], [[Metroid|Samus]], then "[[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere|Fighting Poly]][[Multi Mook Melee|gon Team!]]" Wait, what?

* Capcom's 2D fighting game based on the third part of ''[[Jo JoJoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure]]'' has a couple. First up is Midler, the user of the stand High Priestess: since she is never seen clearly in the manga, the original author had to create her character design for the game from scratch! There's also the younger version of Joseph, based on his appearance in the second part of the manga.

* [[Dead Rising (Video Game)|Frank West]] in ''[[Tatsunokovs Capcom (Video Game)|Tatsunoko vs. Capcom]]: [[Updated Rerelease|Ultimate All-Stars]]'' had this reaction (of course, for many American gamers, nearly the entire Tatsunoko side counts, too). In the other crossover games, we've got [[Doctor Strange|Shuma-Gorath]] and [[X-Men|Marrow]] in the ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom]]'' series, [[Art of Fighting|Ryuhaku Todoh]], [[Final Fight|Maki]], and [[Last Blade|Hibiki Takane]] (among others) in ''[[SNSNK Kvsvs. Capcom|Capcom vs. SNK 2]]'', and four ''[[Red Earth]]'' characters in ''[[Capcom Fighting Evolution (Video Game)|Capcom Fighting Evolution]]'', none of whom were Tessa.<ref>who appeared in ''Pocket Fighter''</ref>

** In the first ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom Clash of the Superheroes (Video Game)|Marvel vs. Capcom]]'' game, there's also Jin Saotome from ''[[Cyberbots: Full (VideoMetal Game)Madness|Cyberbots]]'', which had Americans asking, "Who the hell is Jin?"

*** Few were expecting ''[[Strider (Video Game)Hiryu|Strider]]'' Hiryu and [[Captain Commando]] to make a reappearance after about a decade in the doldrums.

** M.O.D.O.K. in ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (Video Game)|Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]''. Also unexpected (and before M.O.D.O.K.'s reveal) were [[Devil May Cry|Trish]], [[Okami|Amaterasu]], and [[X-Men|X-23]]. Later, [[Final Fight|Mike Haggar]] joined the fray and the manliness levels of the game ''[[Rated "M" for Manly|skyrocketed]]''. And near the end, [[Taskmaster]]. 'Nuff said.

*** Now with the [[Updated Rerelease]] ''Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3'', we received [[Marvel Comics|Rocket Raccoon, Nova]], and [[Ghosts N'n Goblins (Video Game)|Firebrand]]. [[Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)|Phoenix Wright]] would also qualify if not for the fact that he was so highly requested.

* Before appearing in ''Brawl'' as mentioned above, R.O.B. also showed up as a secret character in ''[[Mario Kart (Video Game)|Mario Kart]] DS''. The Wii installment also has a few surprises, such as [[Donkey Kong Country|Funky Kong]] and Dry Bowser (from ''[[New Super Mario Bros (Video Game)|New Super Mario Bros.]].'').

** And in ''[[Mario Kart (Video Game)|Mario Kart]] 7'', we have a Lakitu, [[Super Mario 64 (Video Game)|Metal Mario]], a Wiggler and [[Super Mario Galaxy (Video Game)|Queen Bee]].

* [[SNK]] has gotten into the act as well, from the many Another Striker cameos in ''[[The King of Fighters]] 2000'' to such characters as [[Metal Slug|Mars People]], [[Ghosts N'n Goblins (Video Game)|Red Arremer]] and the title character of ''[[Athena (Videovideo Gamegame)|Athena]]'' in ''[[SNSNK Kvsvs. Capcom|SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos]]''. And nobody expected a ''[[King of the Monsters]]'' character<ref>Cyber Woo</ref> in ''[[Neo Geo Battle Coliseum (Video Game)|Neo Geo Battle Coliseum]]''.

** Prior to ''[[Super Robot Wars Judgment]]'', the term "robot" implied that only series featuring [[Humongous Mecha]] can only be included. When ''[[Tekkaman Blade (Anime)|Tekkaman Blade]]'' and the subsequent ''[[Detonator Orgun]]'' and ''[[Iczer One]]'' made their debut into the franchise, this was totally out of the blue, as these series were centered around [[Powered Armor]] mechanics, not robots. In a sense, this was developer Banpresto's way of letting loose with formula, but also their willingness to redefine what exactly encompasses the terms "robot" and "[[Mecha]]".

** Few people expected [[Super Robot Wars Z]] 2 would add [[Dai -Guard]] to the roster.

* The ''[[DragonballDragon Ball]]'' games do this a lot. The ''Budokai Tenkaichi'' games have, among others, ''Grandpa Gohan'', [[Doctor Slump|Arale Norimaki]], [[StraightInvisible Gayto Gaydar|General]] [[Putting Onon the Reich|Blue]], [[Mooks|Frieza Soldier]] (No, seriously, that ''is'' a character), [[Mooks|Appule]],<ref>his appearance was used for a quick joke in [[Dragon Ball Abridged]] in which he's playing the game as himself, beating up Bardock</ref>, Spopovich, [[Squishy Wizard|Babidi]], [[Fusion Dance|Gok]][[Imagine Spot|ule]], and possibly Nail. The [[Ensemble Darkhorse|more popular characters]] are usually expected or asked for, but some of these are just unexpected.

* While both [[Star Wars|Yoda and Darth Vader]] were constantly advertised as playable characters in ''[[Soul Series|Soulcalibur IV]]'', having Vader's apprentice from ''[[The Force Unleashed]]'' was not expected by many, particularly since [[Early -Bird Cameo|his game had yet to be released at the time]].

* In ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy (Video Game)|Dissidia: Final Fantasy]]'' people assumed early on Seymour would be in as the villain of ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'', but instead Tidus' father Jecht, who was more an [[Anti-Hero]]/[[Anti-Villain]] than a real antagonist, got in over Seymour. [[Memetic Badass|Not]] [[Memetic Sex God|that]] [[Difficult but Awesome|people]] [[Rated "M" for Manly|mind]]... Square actually [[Word of God|decided to explain this one]]--Seymour—Seymour had more of a rivalry/connection with Yuna, so having him in the game as the representative villain would have meant there was little going on between Tidus and Seymour story-wise, whereas Jecht provided a deeper father-son/rivalry dynamic.<ref>Though, in a strange case of an character playing the role of ''his own [[Expy]]'', [[Final Fantasy II (Video Game)|Emperor Palamecia]], to whom Seymour bears a very strong resemblance, was placed in the role of Yuna's main opponent in ''Duodecim''.</ref>

** Then in the prequel ''Dissidia 012'', who did we get new from ''[[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VIII]]''? Not [[The Rival|Seifer]], or [[The Chick|Rinoa]], or even [[Brainwashed and Crazy|Edea]]. No, we get [[Badass Normal|Lag]][[The Gunslinger|una]] [[Cloudcuckoolander|Loire]].

* [[Nippon Ichi]] games often have a number of characters from other games appear as [[The Cameo|cameos]], which may fall under this trope. For example, the character Aramis from ''[[Disgaea: Hour of Darkness]]'' appears for all of one chapter and isn't even playable in any version of the game. [[Ascended Extra|He becomes]] a [[Downloadable Content]] [[Optional Party Member]] in [[Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice]]. Another example is in ''[[Zettai Hero Kaizou Keikaku|Zettai Hero Project]]'', whose strongest [[Bonus Boss]] is actually Valvoga from ''[[Makai Kingdom]]''. His only other appearance outside those two games were as part of a ''spell animation'' in [[Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories]].

** ''[[Disgaea 4: a Promise Unforgotten (Video Game)|Disgaea 4 aA Promise Unforgotten]]'' has announced [[Disgaea: Hour of Darkness|King]] [[Disappeared Dad|Krichevskoy]] as a [[Downloadable Content|DLC]] [[Optional Party Member]]. {{spoiler|However, it's technically Vyers/Mid-Boss, but with his power returned and the antennae grown back out. Still pretty awesome though.}}

* Harold the ghoul in ''[[Fallout 3 (Video Game)|Fallout 3]]''. He's now the only character that appears in all 3 main Fallout games.

* The [[Mascot Fighter]] ''[[Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion]]'' includes the channel's usual stable of characters... and [[Captain Planet]], who actually ''predated'' the channel by a few years.

** And then the demo revealed that {{spoiler|Yuyuko is the Stage 1 boss.}} It was possibly more unexpected than {{spoiler|Kogasa returning as the Stage 3 mid-boss, mostly because some fans [[I Knew It!|did expect her]] to return in a future game this way.}}

* The appearance of Sonic's Classic self in the teaser trailer for ''[[Sonic Generations (Video Game)|Sonic Generations]]''.

* While ''[[Mortal Kombat Armageddon (Video Game)|Mortal Kombat Armageddon]]'' promised to bring back every character that ever appeared in a ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' game as playable, it's doubtful that very many fans (assuming they even ''knew who he was'') would have expected Meat making it to the roster, given that in his appearance in ''[[Mortal Kombat 4 (Video Game)|Mortal Kombat 4]]'' he wasn't so much a character as an alternate costume available for any character through a cheat code to make them look like a bloody skeleton.

** In [[Mortal Kombat 9 (Video Game)|Mortal Kombat 9]], [[A Nightmare Onon Elm Street|Freddy]] [[Guest Fighter|Krueger]] as a [[Downloadable Content|DLC character]]. [[God of War (Video Gameseries)|Kratos]] as a [[PSPlay Station 3]] exclusive character was unexpected as well when he was initially revealed.

* Among the [[Loads and Loads of Characters|huge roster of characters]] in ''[[Lego Adaptation Game (Video Game)|LEGO Star Wars]] 3'' is Galen Marek, also known as [[The Force Unleashed|Starkiller]]. While there ''was'' a set made to promote ''The Force Unleashed'' (the Rogue Shadow set), few could've guessed that Vader's Apprentice would actually be in a ''LEGO game''.

* In ''[[Batman: Arkham City]]'', the roster included such iconic Batman foes as Two-Face, Catwoman, and the Penguin. More of a surprise was Solomon Grundy; while he's [[The Long Halloween|had a few run-ins with the Dark Knight]], he was a foe of the original Green Lantern, and more commonly takes on various DCU heavy hitters.

* ''[[Capcom vs. SNK 2 Mark of the Millennium (Video Game)|Capcom vs. SNK 2]]'' with Eagle, a fighter from the first iteration of ''[[Street Fighter (Videovideo Gamegame)|Street Fighter]]'' otherwise not seen in years. There's also [[Rival Schools (Video Game)|Kyosuke Kagami]] and [[The Last Blade|Hibiki Takane]] (though they're both still fan-favorites in their own series).

* ''[[Kingdom Hearts 3D]]'', an early article on the game had the name blocked out, but it mentioned the reviewer was really surprised by some of the new characters he saw. Turns out that ''no one'' could have predicted who he meant -- [[The World Ends With You (Video Game)|Neku and his friends]]! All bets are off on whoever else might be getting in, in this or future games now.

** Here's another surprise: ''3D'' has the first Disney [[Bonus Boss]] since the Ice Titan in ''Final Mix''. Who could it be? [[The Princess and Thethe Frog|The Friends on the Other Side?]] [[The Black Cauldron|The Horned King?]] [[Fantasia|Chernabog, back for another round?]] {{spoiler|The answer is [[Runaway Brain|Julius,]] the main antagonist of a fairly obscure seven-minute short.}}

* ''[[Persona 4 (Video Game)|Persona 4]]'' got a sequel, not in the form of the much-desired ''Persona 5,'' but in an arcade-style fighting game ''[[Persona 4 Arena (Video Game)|Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena]]''... with [[Previous Player Character Cameo|Aigis]], Akihiko, and Mitsuru from ''[[Persona 3 (Video Game)|Persona 3]]''. Then there's Labrys, who was seemingly a new character created from the game...until Americans learned she had actually debuted in a ''Persona 3'' [[All There in the Manual|Drama CD released only in Japan]].

* [[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]: A game of swords, sorcery, dragons, and... [[Portal 2 (Video Game)|the Space Core]], as of a recent official PC-only add-on.

* [[Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XIII-2]]'s first North American DLC features a battle with Lightning, and everyone was expecting that. What they weren't expecting was for [[One-Scene Wonder|Sergeant Amodar]] to appear... and be a Commando-role ''monster''. Also, [[The Unfought|Jhil Nabaat]] is following in March.

* Probably one of the most insane examples is [[Street Fighter|Ryu]] appearing a DLC boss in ''[[Asura's Wrath]]''', a game that isn't even a [[Fighting Game]] to begin with. What makes it even crazier, is that fighting him Changes the gameplay completely into a 2D fighter, Meters and life gauges and all ala ''[[Street Fighter IV (Video Game)|Street Fighter IV]]'', though Asura's bottom Gauges are different and more like his own game, of course.

[[Category{{DEFAULTSORT:The Unexpected]], The}}