History AscendedExtra / TheDCU

* And let's not forget that ComicBook/JimmyOlsen was a random office boy who eventually graduated to a long-running book of his own as Franchise/{{Superman}}'s Pal.

* In the comic version of ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'' arc, ''ComicBook/PublicEnemies'', ComicBook/AmandaWaller only appeared in one scene, only to be mentioned as having been arrested in the end. In [[WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanPublicEnemies its animated adaptation]], she's appeared throughout and has undergone AdaptationalHeroism, being the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]] working for Luthor and ordering his arrest.

[[folder:Video Games]]
!!Video Games
* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', [[{{Shapeshifter}} Clayface]] appeared as a cameo shuffling between using three other characters' models, unimportant to the story, while Ra's al Ghul showed up as a tagged corpse. In [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity the sequel]], [[spoiler: Clayface is the FinalBoss]] while [[spoiler: Ra's al Ghul is one of three {{Big Bad}}s.]]
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''
** [[Characters/DCAUHarleyQuinn Harley Quinn]] was originally just a one-time moll character who made such an impression she became the Joker's pseudo-girlfriend/top henchwoman, then began developing relationships with other characters and got her own spotlight episodes, including a comic tie-in detailing her origins that got adapted into an episode. Then she became a CanonImmigrant into the comic universe and a BreakoutCharacter in general. So she's ascended twice from one-shot to supporting character, from cartoon to comics, in that order.
** ComicBook/{{Robin}} was featured infrequently in the first season, with the [[http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/btas/backstage/wbible/ series bible]] even stating that he was not intended to be Batman's full-time partner like in the comics. Thanks to some ExecutiveMeddling, the show was renamed ''The Adventures of Batman and Robin'' in its second season, and Robin appeared in nearly every episode.
** ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} also appeared relatively infrequently throughout the original series, but was promoted to lead character status when the show was [[ReTool retooled]] as ''The New Batman Adventures''. Creator/BruceTimm claims her increased prominence was requested by network executives, who felt adding a woman to the main cast would win over [[AffirmativeActionGirl female viewers]].
* A stated goal of ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' is to utilize obscure Batman villains who haven't been as heavily exploited as his A-list rogues. This means unknown (to the general public) villains like Magpie, Anarky, and Professor Pyg are getting their moment in the limelight, with Ra's al Ghul, Lady Shiva, Killer Croc, and Deathstroke as the only remotely-recognizable villains who appeared in the show (Harvey Dent also appeared, but was unable to fully become Two-Face before it was cancelled). ComicBook/{{Katana}} also gets promoted to Batman's principal sidekick.

** Recurring character Maura Lee Karupt is loosely based on Sergeant Washington, who in the source material was a minor character who appeared near the end of the Men from N.O.W.H.E.R.E. arc.

* ''Series/DoomPatrol2019'' gives Willoughby Kipling a larger role than in [[ComicBook/DoomPatrol the original comic book]]. Kipling in the comics barely appeared outside of the Cult of the Unwritten Book and Candlemaker arcs of Creator/GrantMorrison's run (and never resurfaced until the ''ComicBook/UnstoppableDoomPatrol'' series, which started publication during the show's final season), while the live-action television series has him show up to help out the Doom Patrol in appearances other than the series' adaptations of the relevant arcs, to the extent that Kipling's live-action show counterpart is featured in at least two episodes in every season.

* Series/{{Arrowverse}}:

** Sophie in ''Series/{{Batwoman}}'' is a main member of the supporting cast, both as the second-in-command of the Crows and as someone Kate still has feelings for. Her comics counterpart had the same role in Kate's ComingOutStory, and has otherwise made a single non-flashback appearance.

* Much of the human cast of ''ComicBook/TheSandman''. It's traditional to introduce a character in one story arc as a minor background character, only to have them reappear in a later arc as the protagonist.

** The "Phantom Lantern" arc of ''ComicBook/GreenLanterns'' has Volthoom select Frank Laminski as the bearer of the Phantom Ring, with Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz having to defeat Laminski so they can take the ring from him. Laminski originated from the "Secret Origin" arc of Geoff Johns' run, where he was a jerk pilot harassing Hal Jordan and his friend Thomas Kalmaku who appeared in no more than ''one page'' before promptly vanishing from the story.

** The "Phantom Ring" arc of ''ComicBook/GreenLanterns'' has Volthoom select Frank Laminski as the bearer of the titular ring, with Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz having to defeat Laminski so they can take the ring from him. Laminski originated from the "Secret Origin" arc of Geoff Johns' run, where he was a jerk pilot harassing Hal Jordan and his friend Thomas Kalmaku who appeared in no more than ''one page'' before promptly vanishing from the story.

** The "Phantom Ring" arc of ''ComicBook/GreenLanterns'' has Volthoom select Frank Laminski as the bearer of the titular ring, with Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz having to defeat Laminski so they can take the ring from him. Laminski originated from the "Secret Origin" arc of Geoff Johns' run, where he was a jerk pilot harassing Hal Jordan and his friend Thomas Kalmaku before promptly vanishing from the story.

* In the ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'', Mogo, [[GeniusLoci the sentient Green Lantern planet]], began as a clever gag in an Creator/AlanMoore story, but now he's a regular presence in stories about the Corps.

** ComicBook/HarleyQuinn was originally just a one-time moll character who made such an impression she became the Joker's pseudo-girlfriend/top henchwoman, then began developing relationships with other characters and got her own spotlight episodes, including a comic tie-in detailing her origins that got adapted into an episode. Then she became a CanonImmigrant into the comic universe and a BreakoutCharacter in general. So she's ascended twice from one-shot to supporting character, from cartoon to comics, in that order.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} villains:
** [[ComicBook/TwoFace Two-Face]] appeared perhaps three times in the GoldenAge, and was unused for roughly ''twenty years'' before his Bronze Age revival. This is, however, a somewhat downplayed example; the character's ''visual'' was popular enough that there were several stories with "impostor" Two-Faces [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2009/08/27/comic-book-legends-revealed-222/ published]] over the '40s and '50s, and the character's Golden Age debut was delivered to future generations in several reprint issues.
** The Riddler and The Penguin made more frequent appearances, but were still, at best, recurrent characters. Today, they are ''regular cast members''. The Penguin is now an unshakable Gotham crime boss; Two-Face, the Riddler, and ''Man-Bat'' have all Ascended and [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor regularly bounce back and forth between "villain" and "dubious ally" status]].
** ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} is now firmly an ''AntiHero'', and rather less "anti" than many of her peers in that group.
** ComicBook/HarleyQuinn was a one-shot Joker minion from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' who was drawn only because they wanted a girl-coming-out-of-the-cake gag. Joker minions have an average lifespan of less than a single episode, but Harley became big enough to not only jump to the comics, but get her own self-titled series as well.'
** Probably the biggest one would be Doctor Hurt. Originally, he was an unnamed psychologist involved in a one-off Silver Age story, ''Robin Dies at Dawn''. When Creator/GrantMorrison made that story a pivotal part of [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman his run]], Doctor Hurt received a name for the first time in 45 years and became the BigBad of the MythArc, the head of the Black Glove, and [[LouisCypher very possibly Satan]], with his experiments in the original story all being part of a long-term plan to destroy Batman.
** The tie-in comic for ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', ''The Batman Strikes'', used Rupert Thorne and Solomon Grundy far more than the show it's based on did, the former (barring some cameos in Season 4) only appeared at the start of the first episode as the last major crime boss Batman puts away before the RoguesGallery appear and while the latter's episode ended with the implication he was {{real after all}}, "Grundy" in his only episode was really mostly [[ScoobyDooHoax Clayface impersonating Grundy]].
** Though not a Villain, [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} Stephanie]] [[ComicBook/{{Robin}} Brown]], a.k.a the Spoiler, was created to be a plot device by Chuck Dixon for a story that was intended to revamp her father, [[HarmlessVillain the Cluemaster, z-list fodder at best]], but ended up being so popular that she became [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]]'s on-again, off-again LoveInterest, his temporary succesor as Robin IV (though this was as much a marketing scheme as anything else), and Batgirl III with her own Fan-favourite Solo Series. Not bad for a character who began as a plot device, huh?
** As a sidenote, due to his relationship to his daughter making him positively brimming with potential for drama, Cluemaster himself steadily made more appearences in the comics with his competence, if not his [[FashionVictimVillain questionable taste in costumes]], rising as he did so, cumulating in the 75th Anniversary Weekly Series, ComicBook/BatmanEternal, [[spoiler: where he was revealed to have [[BigBad Masterminded the entire story]], almost burnt Gotham to ground, destroyed Batman Incorperated, discovered Batman's true identity, and came closer to killing Batman than anyone else ever had before, barring Bane. [[NotSoHarmlessVillain Bear in mind that Cluemaster was still considered to be a Riddler knock-off.]] [[HijackedByGanon Too bad for him, he got backstabbed by his financial backer, Lincoln March of the Court of Owls.]]]]

* Sophie in ''Series/{{Batwoman}}'' is a main member of the supporting cast, both as the second-in-command of the Crows and as someone Kate still has feelings for. Her comics counterpart had the same role in Kate's ComingOutStory, and has otherwise made a single non-flashback appearance.

** Though not a Villain, [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} Stephanie]] [[ComicBook/{{Robin}} Brown]], a.k.a the Spoiler, was created to be a plot device by Chuck Dixon for a story that was intended to revamp her father, [[HarmlessVillain the Cluemaster, z-list fodder at best]], but ended up being so popular that she became [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake's]] on-again, off-again LoveInterest, his temporary succesor as Robin IV (though this was as much a marketing scheme as anything else), and Batgirl III with her own Fan-favourite Solo Series. Not bad for a character who began as a plot device, huh?

** ''ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth'': Clio, usually an obscure Amazon scribe from the George Perez run, get's a spotlight role in the Young Diana story as Diana's history tutor and the one who charges her with seeking out the missing scrolls of Themyscira' history.

*** In Beast Boys case, he started from a character of the day in Season 1, became a supporting character in season 2 as a member of the Team, made recurring appearances and a DayInTheLimeLight in the first half of season 3, and finally becomes one of the major characters in the second half.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'':

!!Franchise/TheDCU

** ''ComicBook/WonderWomanTempestTossed'': Hestia has been one of the five mother goddesses of Themyscira before, but she's always been the least seen of them. Here she's the leader of the founding of the hidden isle, and their most prominent deity.

** ''ComicBook/WonderWomanTheTrueAmazon'' has Poseidon, one of the lesser-seen deities in regular Wonder Woman stories. Here he's responsible for the Amazons escaping Heracles and also helps Hippolyta's song reach the other gods and goddesses, imbuing Diana with life.