History BreakoutCharacter / TheDCU

** Along with Harley Quinn, Renee Montoya was a new character created for the series who soon became firmly established into the main DC Comics universe.

** A minor example, but yes. Aloicious has gone on to reappear in several video games (usually as a co-boss alongside Ivy) comic books (cameos) & served as the basis for merchandise, such as the snapping flytrap weapon Poison Ivy's original Kenner toy possessed. Then, of course, there's the sheer amount of Ivy fan art featuring it.

* [[Characters/DCAUHarleyQuinn Harley Quinn]] of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. Joker's PerkyFemaleMinion who was [[MadLove madly in love with him]]. Despite her sidekick status, she became so popular that she was [[CanonImmigrant brought into the main comic continuity]], where her popularity continued to the point where she's now synonymous with the Joker. By her 20th anniversary, she's become one of the most popular characters in the DC roster, appearing in countless comics and other media as a main character, in everything from the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'', to ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'', to ''Series/BirdsOfPrey2002''. To say nothing of [[ComicBook/HarleyQuinn her own ongoing]] comic and [[WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019 animated series]].

* ''{{Franchise/Aquaman}}''
** ''{{ComicBook/Aquaman}}'': [[Characters/AquamanTheCharacter Aquaman (Arthur Curry)'s]] streamlined lore and strong amount of CharacterDevelopment made him a major fan favourite during the New 52 era, when previously he'd often struggled to stay in prominence compared to the other Justice League founders. Notably, the ''Aquaman'' lore was one of the few parts of the N52 to remain more or less untouched after the era officially ended in 2016.

%%Needs more context about his popularity.* Likewise, ''Comicbook/DoomPatrol'' is relatively obscure, but Garfield Logan (Beast Boy, Changeling, or Menagerie depending on the era) certainly got a boost in prominence after the first Patrol was destroyed.
%%Needs more context about his popularity.* Among [[LegacyCharacter the characters who've gone by]] Franchise/TheFlash, ComicBook/WallyWest probably stands out as this. Wally's time as the Flash greatly fleshed out the powers, mythos, and characterizations of the titular speedster and his enemies, saw one of the most organic character arcs in comics, and essentially redefined the titular hero in such a way that, that whenever an adaptation uses a different Flash, [[CompositeCharacter they tend to draw from Wally's personality and history rather than their own.]] Nowadays, whenever a superhero group features a character with SuperSpeed, chances are likely that they'll bear some resemblance to Wally West.

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample. Needs more context about how the characters' popularity influenced a change in their role sizes.* Chances are, if you wear the shield of Franchise/{{Superman}}, you're gonna be popular with the fans. Just look at ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, ComicBook/{{Superboy}}, ComicBook/{{Steel}} and [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman the Cyborg Superman]].

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':
** [[Characters/WonderWomanTheCharacter Wonder Woman]] herself. Originally the character was featured in [[ComicBook/AllStarComicsNumber8 the eighth issue of]] ''ComicBook/AllStarComics''. She proved popular enough to be awarded the lead feature in ''Sensation Comics''. Today, Comicbook/WonderWoman is not only the most famous female superhero of DC Comics, but the most famous female superhero in the world.

* ''The LEGO Movie'''s Franchise/{{Batman}} received [[WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie his own film]].

** While Mera (Aquawoman) hasn't risen to headliner status, it's pretty safe to say that Mera has gained additional prominence starting from her role in both ''Blackest Night'' and ''ComicBook/BrightestDay''.

%%Needs more context about her popularity.* ComicBook/{{Mera}}, significant other of ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, had been as on-again/off-again a presence for years, serving as a DamselInDistress, and later, point of angst for Aquaman, despite being his peer. That is, until Geoff Johns gave her a central role in both ComicBook/BlackestNight and ComicBook/BrightestDay, where she got some serious backstory expansion: she came from Xebel, a colony located in a PrisonDimension, and was [[TheMole sent to kill Arthur]], but fell {{in love with|TheMark}} him.[[note]]She was also responsible for stealing the future second Aqualad, Jackson Hyde, away from Black Manta, and giving him to foster parents in New Mexico to protect him, something for which she felt responsible for leading Manta to kill Aquababy, though this part was retconned with Flashpoint.[[/note]] She's been represented [[BattleCouple as an equal if not superior in combat]] ever since, saving Arthur just as often as the other way around, become [[TheHighQueen the queen of Atlantis]], assumed occasional double-duty alongside the Justice League, and also received a 6-issue mini series.

* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse:[[Characters/DCEUHarleyQuinn Harley Quinn]] experienced a massive surge in popularity following ''Film/{{Suicide Squad|2016}}''. Subsequently she was given a starring role in ''Film/{{Birds of Prey|2020}}'', which was eventually retitled ''Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)'' to capitalize on her fame, and was brought back for another main role in ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' as one of the few returning characters from the first movie.

* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse:
** Although [[Characters/DCEUWonderWoman Wonder Woman]] started out as a glorified extra in ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', [[Film/WonderWoman2017 her solo movie]] grossed over $821 million worldwide, received near unanimous praise from critics and audiences, and was hailed as a milestone in female representation. Subsequently, Creator/WarnerBros not only fast-tracked a sequel, but also extended the contract of star Creator/GalGadot and signed up ''Wonder Woman'''s director, Creator/PattyJenkins, for the [[Film/WonderWoman1984 sequel]] with a pay raise (which didn't quite pay off, but a third film is still scheduled).
** [[Characters/DCEUAquaman Aquaman]]. Prior to the DCEU, Warner Bros. never gave much thought to him given the character's reputation as a JokeCharacter. Following the character's appearance in ''Film/{{Justice|League 2017}} [[Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague League]]'', ''Film/{{Aquaman|2018}}'' became the first DCEU movie to gross over $1 billion worldwide, leading to the studio proceeding with a sequel and cementing Creator/JasonMomoa's star cred.
** [[Characters/DCEUHarleyQuinn Harley Quinn]] experienced a massive surge in popularity following ''Film/{{Suicide Squad|2016}}''. Subsequently no less than ''three'' SpinOff films focused on her were put into development, and one of them, ''Film/{{Birds of Prey|2020}}'', was eventually retitled ''Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)'' to capitalize on her fame.

BreakoutCharacter in this series.

** [[Characters/WonderWomanTheCharacter Wonder Woman]] herself. Originally the character was featured in [[ComicBook/AllStarComicsNumber8 the eighth issue of]] ''ComicBook/AllStarComics''. She proved popular enough to be awarded the lead feature in ''Sensation Comics''. Today, Comicbook/WonderWoman is the most famous female superhero of DC Comics and the most famous female superhero in the world.

** [[Characters/WonderWomanTheCharacter Wonder Woman]] herself. Originally the character was featured in [[ComicBook/AllStarComicsNumberEight the eighth issue of]] ''ComicBook/AllStarComics''. She proved popular enough to be awarded the lead feature in ''Sensation Comics''. Today, Comicbook/WonderWoman is the most famous female superhero of DC Comics and the most famous female superhero in the world.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} franchise:
** ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' himself. Originally [[Characters/BatmanTheCharacter Batman (Bruce Thomas Wayne)]] was just one of many characters being published in the anthology series ''Detective Comics''. He then became the most prominent character in the book as well as the most popular, and now, he's probably the second most well known superhero, right after Superman.
** ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} ([[Characters/NightwingDickGrayson Dick Grayson]]), the first Robin, and formerly Batman. He started off as a kid sidekick in the 1940's, finally officially becoming his own hero in the 1980's in the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' comics. From there, he got his own series which ran for ''over one hundred issues'', but it was cancelled... because he was getting multiple ongoings once he became ''Batman''. Creator/GeoffJohns and Creator/DanDiDio went on to later describe him as [[TheHeart "The Heart and Soul"]] of the entire DC Universe. There were plans to kill him off (permanently), but the idea was scrapped because of the above reason and because he was just too popular. Most fans don't consider Azrael to be a true successor to Batman, and in fact, hated the very idea of him being Batman. The same fans didn't complain when Dick became Batman, and plenty of fans were disappointed when it was announced that he would return to his Nightwing persona in the ComicBook/{{New 52}}. Once he took up the identity of Agent 37 of Spyral after faking his death, his popularity increased further, with ''Dick'' being the main character in the weekly ''Batman and Robin Eternal'' series, not the actual Batman at the time, Jim Gordon.
** Alfred Pennyworth was originally intended to be a comedic foil to Batman and Robin, but eventually got more serious. The Post-Crisis version had him as an out and out BattleButler, and surrogate father figure to the entire Bat-Clan.
** [[Characters/BatmanJasonTodd Jason Todd]] was KilledOffForReal in the late eighties and stayed that way for about twenty years in real-time. Post-Ressurection, he's enjoyed ''quite'' the popularity boost, headlining a series for almost a decade and appearing in many Bat Books as a semi-regular guest.
** Of the team of three which [[Characters/BatmanLadyShiva Lady Shiva]] debuted in, she's massively surpassed Richard Dragon and Ben Turner in popularity. The trio are ''meant'' to be the top-three greatest fighters in DC, but because of the latter two's relative obscurity, she's gained infamy as the best fighter in the DCU, with a wide margin between her and the rest of the competition[[note]]when writers ''remember'' Richard and Turner exist, though, they ''do'' tend to be placed as second and third after her, so it's less that they're seen as inferior so much as they're ''forgotten about entirely''[[/note]].
** While [[Characters/RobinDamianWayne Damian Wayne]] was a main character in the books from the moment he was introduced, Grant Morrison saw him from the start as an extension of the CanonWelding in their run and always intended to eventually kill Damian off. However, a combination of his backstory, CharacterDevelopment (both in Morrison and Peter J. Tomasi's runs) and the novel concept of Robin being Bruce's biological son caused Damian to catch on. Consequently, not only was Damian's death undone, he was introduced into the WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies with ''WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman'' (getting the second-most amount of appearances aside from Bruce), is usually the go-to Robin for outside media if Dick Grayson is filling the Nightwing role, and arguably inspiring the creation of [[Characters/SupermanJonathanSamuelKent Jon Kent]]. Polarizing as he may be with fans, it's hard to deny that Damian's position and impact in the DCU has far exceeded what his creator could've predicted.
** Stephanie Brown was created to be a one arc character in Detective Comics. However, Creator/ChuckDixon liked her so he wrote her into the [[ComicBook/Robin1993 Robin ongoing]] and she's been popular ever since. Having become Robin and ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}, the latter even getting her a solo series, ''ComicBook/Batgirl2009''.
** ''ComicBook/{{Anarky}}''
*** Only used sparingly by a single author for the first few years of his existence, Anarky was suddenly launched into the big leagues when he was given his own limited series in 1997, and followed it up with a trade paperback and ongoing series in 1999.
*** When Fabian Nicieza was given a mandate to write the concluding storyline for the Robin series, months before it was to be cancelled, he decided to revisit old Robin foes from the comic book's early years. Deciding to give cameos for lesser known Robin foes who Nicieza believed could become breakout characters in their own right, and Anarky in particular. Due to this appearance, Anarky was brought back into publication for the first time in years, and went on to become a recurring character in other stories for Tim Drake written by Nicieza.
*** Anarky's popularity increased in 2013, as he was selected to be one of the main villains of ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' and got his own sidequest in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins''.
** ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint|DCComics}}'' Batman. A version of Thomas Wayne who became Batman after his son Bruce was killed, he was created for the ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' event. DC likely expected him to be at least a little popular, since he had a miniseries tie-in and was a prominent supporting character in the core miniseries. However, he was ''incredibly'' popular, so much so that when the event ended and he was rebooted from existence, the series ''ComicBook/Earth2'' created an Expy of him in the form of their second Batman, who was also a DarkerAndEdgier take on Thomas Wayne, and had a costume heavily inspired by Flashpoint Batman's. Then, during ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'', Flashpoint Batman was brought back to be a supporting character and delivered Jon Kent. After ''that'', Thomas ''and his entire universe'' were briefly brought back in "ComicBook/TheButton" where he was allowed to interact with his adult son. ''Then'', after the universe was destroyed and Thomas seemingly died... he was brought back ''again'', this time migrating over to the main DCU proper to serve as the primary villain of Tom King's Batman run. After that, it was revealed that he had survived Bane breaking his back and A-Day, and wound up joining the multiversal Justice League, Justice Incarnate, as a main character -- despite Justice Incarnate already having a Batman.
** This also applies to his EvilCounterpart, [[Characters/DarkNightsMetalTheBatmanWhoLaughs The Batman Who Laughs]], a Jokerized version of Batman who murdered his entire universe and is the secondary antagonist of the comic storyline ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal''. His characterization as a ''truly'' nightmarish, efficient supervillain and horrifying, but awesome appearance have made him incredibly popular with fans and readers in general; as such, he was the only Nightmare Batman to survive the event, and he subsequently made appearances in other series, including one where ''[[DragonAscendant he]]'' [[DragonAscendant is the primary antagonist]].