History Main / LastEpisodeNewCharacter

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'''s finale features AmbushBug as the [[LimelightSeries guest hero]], despite him never having appeared in the show before.

* The final episode of ''{{Ultraman}}'' introduced Zoffy, Ultraman's superior officer from Nebula M78. Zoffy goes on to become a key recurring character in subsequent [[UltraSeries Ultra shows and movies]].

* The final issue of ''ComicBook/Flashpoint'' introduces Pandora who eventually gets her own title nearly two years later.

* Ryan on ''Series/JoanOfArcadia'', who would have played a big role in the third season, had there been one.

* ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' adds ''four'' new major characters in Bane, {{Catwoman}}, John Blake and Miranda Tate along with a slew of minor characters we haven't met before. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] considering that in universe 8 years have passed since the last movie.

* Although calling it the last "episode" is not quite accurate, in ''SuperSmashBros. Brawl: The Subspace Emissary,'' [[spoiler: [[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] makes his first appearance at the last possible second, showing up in the cutscene immediately preceding the final boss]].

* Ryan on ''JoanOfArcadia'', who would have played a big role in the third season, had there been one.

* During the final episode of the ''MetalHeroes'' series ''SpaceSheriffGavan'', the baddies are ganging up on Gavan and are about to win when a new Sheriff suddenly pops up to even the score. He turns out to be Sharivan the new hero of the upcoming sequel show Space Sheriff Sharivan which would start airing the next week. Also surprisingly he would turn out to be a character that had been featured before. A previous victim of the day who had been sent to the Sheriff planet for treatment several eps before and forgotten about.
* On ''{{Lost}}'', Ana Lucia had a flashback cameo in the first season finale before returning in the second episode of the second season as a regular.

* In the last episode of the anime version of ''GiantKilling'' there are lots of group shots. A couple of players who've never been seen before are in the crowd, acting like they've always been there. And logically they should have been seen, when the whole team was shown training. Of course, the original manga was months ahead with the story, by the time that last episode was made.

* In the seventh FireEmblem game, the final character available doesn't appear untill the final chapter.
* In RadiantDawn you get the GameBreaker Laguz Royals for the last part of the game and if you fulfil the requirements, you can get [[spoiler: Sephiran]] for the final battle.

* In ''MassEffect3'', [[spoiler: The Catalyst]] plays this role, much to the irritation of the fanbase.

* Sherwood Montague on ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'' shows up in the last episode of season nine and is intended to be a regular character. The series was canceled, but he does appear in the three post-series TV movies.

* ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' adds ''four'' new major characters in Bane, {Catwoman}, John Blake and Miranda Tate along with a slew of minor characters we haven't met before. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] considering that in universe 8 years have passed since the last movie.

* Although the character is shown throughout the movie, it's not until the last act of ''TheDarkKnight'' that [[spoiler:Harvey Dent becomes Two Face.]]

* Ryan on ''JoanOfArcadia'', who would have played a big role in the third season, [[TooGoodToLast had there been one.]]

** [[JustifiedTrope Makes sense]], as [[spoiler: he was a last-second addition to the game, and thus he had to be shoehorned into Subspace Emissary somehow.]]
* While he's briefly mentioned early on, King Mickey Mouse never actually turns up until the ending sequence of the first ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts''.
** While we're on the topic, Roxas's first appearances were in {{The Stinger}}s for ''Kingdom Hearts'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories''. A similar thing happened with many of the new ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' characters, first appearing in TheStinger for ''KingdomHeartsII''.

** In RadiantDawn you get the GameBreaker Laguz Royals for the last part of the game and if you fulfil the requirements, you can get [[spoiler: Sephiran]] for the final battle.

* ''{{Series/Smallville}}'': With its constant rumours of being cancelled, it has a lot of these. ''Covenant'', last episode of season three, had Kara Zor-El [[spoiler:who turned out to be a fake]]. ''Commencement'' (season 4) had [[spoiler:Brainiac]] in the form of a black ship. ''Vessel'' (season 5) had [[spoiler:General Zod]]. ''Phantom'' (season 6) had [[spoiler:Bizarro]]. ''Doomsday'' (season 8) had [[spoiler:Major Zod]] (long story). ''Prophecy'' (second to last episode of entire series) had several evil extras who do absolutely nothing just like ''Film/
SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'': Solomon Grundy, Captain Cold, Black Manta.* Nova Ranger shows up halfway through the final episode of ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'', apparently because they remembered at the last minute that they had a spare costume left over from ''[[SuperSentai Dekaranger]]''.

* ''{{Series/Smallville}}'': With its constant rumours of being cancelled, it has a lot of these. ''Covenant'', last episode of season three, had Kara Zor-El [[spoiler:who turned out to be a fake]]. ''Commencement'' (season 4) had Brainiac in the form of a black ship. ''Vessel'' (season 5) had General Zod. ''Phantom'' (season 6) had Bizarro. ''Doomsday'' (season 8) had Major Zod (long story). ''Prophecy'' (second to last episode of entire series) had several evil extras who do absolutely nothing just like ''SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'': Solomon Grundy, Captain Cold, Black Manta.
* Nova Ranger shows up halfway through the final episode of ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'', apparently because they remembered at the last minute that they had a spare costume left over from ''[[SuperSentai Dekaranger]]''.

** All this possibly being a reference to ''MazingerZ''.

* Pan, Uub and Bra in ''DragonBallZ'', though Pan becomes a regular character in the anime-only sequel ''DragonBallGT''. Uub goes from "Goku's hand-picked student" to "OvershadowedByAwesome" entirely off-screen, and Bra is basically a LivingProp who only really exists to affirm that Bulma and Vegeta (her parents) are still together, whose CrowningMomentOfAwesome was making Daddy Vegeta lose that awful mustache.

* In the horrible sequel to ''{{Dangaioh}}, GreatDangaioh'', in the last five or so minutes of the final episode, an entirely new hero in an entirely new robot shows up to save the day, while telling the current heroes that they aren't needed any more. While he did appear very briefly in earlier episodes, he only had one, maybe two lines (of no more than ten words total) and was always wearing a [[BadassLongcoat long coat]] and sunglasses before he made his true appearance.

* Pan, Oob and Bra in ''{{Dragonball}} Z'', though Pan becomes a regular character in the anime-only sequel ''DragonBallGT''. Oob goes from "Goku's hand-picked student" to "OvershadowedByAwesome" entirely off-screen, and Bra is basically a LivingProp whose CrowningMomentOfAwesome was making Daddy Vegeta lose that awful mustache.