History Main / AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent

* The intro of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' is narrated by Rin Tohsaka, one of the game's major characters and a potential love interest for the actual protagonist, Shirou, who narrates the rest of it.

** ''VideoGame/FatalFrameMaidenOfBlackWater'' switches between Yuuri Kozukata, Ren Houjo, and Miu Hinasaki as playable characters.

** The New War has [[spoiler:the Operator and their current Warframe knocked into the void. Cut to six months later, and you're playing as the Drifter]].

* Literature/VanasHeritage: In the middle of the book the perspective changes abruptly from Nirvy to Halvor. It turns out, Nirvy was abducted by the enemy and it is now on Halvor and his frends to rescue her.

* ''VideoGame/MissionImpossibleKonami'' has one level where you take control of two snipers to protect Ethan Hunt from assassins.

** Done three times in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'': in Cases 1 and 4, you do a flash-back to early cases of Phoenix's mentor, Mia Fey, and naturally play as her. In case 5 of the same game, Phoenix suffers a nasty accident and [[spoiler:convinces [[TheRival Miles Edgeworth]] to briefly [[AntiHeroSubstitute take his place]] as a defense attorney]]. In ''Justice For All'', you very briefly play as Maya as well.

** ''[[VisualNovel/ItLives It Lives in the Woods]]: The protagonist is Devon, but you get to play as his/her friends, four of whom are also love interests.

*** Later on in the same game, you switch to greedy fish-merchant Gobi after the heroes are stranded on a desert island; he's the only one who can venture underwater and pick up the MacGuffin needed to escape.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' game ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' follows the exploits of the Hyrulean forces dealing with the threat brought about by Cia for the majority of the story. Then, just as everything seems to have been cleared up, the game switches to following Ganondorf and his forces as he establishes himself as the actual antagonist of the game. Legends and Definitive Edition add other instances, like Linkle's sidequests at various points throughout the main story wherein she's cleaning up any mooks left behind after Link, Zelda and co. have moved on, and thinking she's the famed Hero of Time despite having No Sense of Direction.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Mission Impossible|Konami}}'' video game on the Nintendo 64 and Playstation has one level where you take control of two snipers to protect Ethan Hunt from assassins.

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed Star Wars: The Forced Unleashed]]'', the first level is played as Darth Vader, but afterwards the focus switches to his apprentice.

* ''VideoGame/DarkCloud2'' begins with Monica's first fight, within her castle, before confronting Gaspard and following him back in time. After that, you'll play as Max for the entire first dungeon, and meet Monica on the way to Sindain.

* ''VideoGame/TerminatorDawnOfFate'' has three playable characters that usually has a weapon or two unique to each.

!!Non-Video-Game Examples:

* ''VideoGame/CrescentPrism'': In the main scenario, the finalized party consists of Lunita, Maru, Amos, and Rain. After the credits, the game will shift to the Sundown Squad's perspective just after Amos left them.

-->-- ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II]]''

* In ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'', the first level is played as Darth Vader, but afterwards the focus switches to his apprentice.

* The ''VideoGame/MissionImpossible1997'' video game on the Nintendo 64 and Playstation has one level where you take control of two snipers to protect Ethan Hunt from assassins.
* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden Sigma'', the [=PS3=] UpdatedRerelease of the Xbox remake, has you switching between Ryu and Rachel at certain points in the game. The sequels, meanwhile, add [[VideoGame/DeadOrAlive Ayane and Kasumi]] in brief story related missions.
* Across all 3 ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'' games you will be switching out pilots on a regular basis. The first RS has you play as Luke Skywalker almost the entire game, with the exception of the Battle of Calamari, where you play as Wedge Antilles. Rogue Leader has the most pilot changes, with the first three missions playing as Luke, until a mid-mission switch to Wedge, who you play as for the rest of the regular missions. You do play as Luke in a couple of bonus missions, as well as Darth Vader in the alternate reality missions. You also get to play as Han Solo in one bonus mission, and if you use the Millennium Falcon in the "Strike at the Core" mission, you get to play as Lando Calrissian. Rebel Strike has an equal number of missions for Luke and Wedge, in addition to one mission as Arvel Crynyd ("Green Leader"), the pilot who crashed his A-Wing into the SSD Executor's bridge in Episode VI. Granted, all of the ships handle exactly the same regardless of who you're playing; it's just the knowledge of who's piloting your ship.

* Playing as the DamselInDistress Grace in ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2''.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' offers one playable villain per game: [[spoiler:The Joker]] (''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum Asylum]]''), Catwoman (''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity City]]''), Deathstroke [[spoiler:and the pre-Joker Red Hood]] (''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins Origins]]''), and Harley Quinn (''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight Arkham Knight]]'').

* In the game ''VideoGame/BunnyMustDie'' you play as Bunny, fight five of seven devils, and then fight the Elf Princess Chelsea as the last boss, though Chelsea calls herself the "[[BreakingTheFourthWall true protagonist]]". If you've [[GottaCatchThemAll found enough time upgrades]] as Bunny, you [[ResetButton unlock the game]] ''Chelsea and the Seven Devils'' where you play as [[AnotherSideAnotherStory Chelsea]], fight all seven of the devils, and then fight -- Bunny as the last boss? No, you fight the demon Dechronos who is [[DemonicPossession possessing Bunny]]. But then you defeat the true final boss as a fully-powered Bunny in Chelsea's game.

** In ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar3'' the character each player controls changes depending on who is along for this part of the story with about 8 total playable. Player 1 is always series Protagonist Marcus Fenix with the exception of part of Chapter 1 where they control Augustus Cole.

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* ''LetsPlay/{{Dream}}'' (the Minecrafter): His video "Speedrunner VS Full Diamond Juggernaut" with Sapnap and "Speedrunner VS Slayer" with [=BadBoyHalo=] are the only two Manhunt videos[[note]]not counting the [=MrBeast=] video, which was a unique one-off [[/note]] without George (the usual hunter) in them.

* Every game in the ''[[VideoGame/SaGaRPG SaGa]]'' series after the UsefulNotes/GameBoy ''Final Fantasy Legend'' games. Special mention goes to ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier2'' which is the '''king''' of this trope: not only do you have characters who are playable for only one dungeon, one character is actually "playable" only for one cutscene, meaning you never get to do anything with him, and he doesn't even count as having ever been in your party unless you go to the trade city immediately afterwards. At least skills learned are learned for every character in the game, and with no stages after the one you are currently on, there is no reason you'd even want to grind to begin with. This is also a game that will jump years and even generations into the future without warning, and inconsistently at that, since you're following two families separately. Makes your brain hurt, and one can only imagine how far the time gap between them can be pushed.

** Played straight in ''[=MGS3=]'''s now-defunct multiplayer component for the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 PS2]], ''Metal Gear Online''. Depending on the team, if allowed, and who is leading/falling, you can take control as either Ocelot (who has superior CQC abilities and can start with the SAA), Raikov (who has a unique CQC move and is somewhat faster), or Sokolov (who is weaker but starts with active camo). In Sneaking mission, the one player can control Snake who has superior health, CQC, and overall abilities.
** Continued in the also now-defunct ''Metal Gear Online'' on [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 PS3]]. Sneaking Mission gives you Old Snake, who is considerably weaker compared to Snake from ''MGO'' on [=PS2=], but has the same stealth abilities he had in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' and performs better than regular soldiers, with a partner (if there are 11 players in the room) taking control as Otacon who can distract or stun soldiers, and deliver dog tags to Snake. DLC included the ability to play as Meryl (can start with a scoped D.Eagle), Johnny ([=XM8=] Compact/Anti-Tank rifle, no nano machines), Mei Ling (can call air strikes and can use a sonar device), Liquid Ocelot (manipulate nanomachines, superior CQC and can use the Thor), Raiden (use the sword and is fast), and Vamp (can respawn on the spot and is great with knives), with Snake being allowed to be used in regular matches.

** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' where you control Ashley briefly. The UsefulNotes/GameCube version includes a glitch that lets you suplex the Ganados chasing her.

* All three games of the ''VideoGame/{{Siren}}'' series, have you hop from one character to the next constantly, also hopping backwards or forwards in the game's timeline. Unfortunately, when you return to the same character you'll often find that no matter how what weapons or ammo you finished their earlier level with, they start off the next level with less.

** Continued in the also now-defunct ''Metal Gear Online'' on [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 PS3]]. Sneaking Mission gives you Old Snake, who is considerably weaker compared to Snake from ''MGO'' on [=PS2=], but has the same stealth abilities he had in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' and performs better than regular soldiers, with a partner (if there are 11 players in the room) taking control as Otacon who can distract or stun soldiers, and deliver dog tags to Snake. DLC included the ability to play as Meryl (can start with a scoped D.Eagle), Johnny ([=XM8=] Compact/Anti-Tank rifle, no nano machines), Mei Ling (can call air strikes and can use a sonar device), Liquid Ocelot (manipulate nanomachines, superior CQC and can use the Thor), Raiden (use the sword and is fast), and Vamp (can respawn on the spot and is great with knives), with Snake being allowed to be used in regular matches.