History Main / NewbieBoom

* Infamously, a large number of original series ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fans didn't watch it when it originally aired in the late 1960s. However, Creator/{{Paramount}} aired reruns of the series in syndication throughout the '70s, which is how a far larger number of people were exposed to it. This wasn't as much of a datable "boom" so much as steady growth across a decade. The success of the '80s-era ''Franchise/StarTrek'' movies exponentially increased the number of Trek fans and led not to a remake, but to a sequel series, ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. It, in turn, exponentially increased the Trek fanbase even further.
** Perhaps an even better example is ''Film/StarTrek2009'', which was popular even among non-''Trek'' fans.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' got an odd amount of this after [[EnsembleDarkhorse Castiel]] was introduced in Season 4, and some people heard so much about him that they decided to check out the show and got hooked. This being ''[[UnpleasableFanbase Supernatural]]'', there was wank from the fans who'd started watching earlier.
** Castiel also inspired another, much later resurgence of interest in the show with [[spoiler:his DyingDeclarationOfLove to Dean]] in the third-to-last episode of the final season, which caused such a rapid and huge fandom reaction that "[[PortmanteauCoupleName Destiel]]" was trending at #1 on Twitter ''in the middle of the 2020 U.S. presidential elections'' and caused both curious bystanders who'd never seen the show and former fans who had stopped watching the show long ago to check out the show and its fandom to see what all the hubbub was about.

* Despite it being off the air at the time, ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'' got this in 2018 due to both the documentary film ''Won't You Be My Neighbor?'' and its 50th anniversary that same year, which was mainly promoted through [[WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood its sister show]]. It even got to the point where several PBS stations re-added weekly airings of the show in wake of the sudden trend, and greenlit [[Series/DonkeyHodie another spin-off]] of ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''.
** ''Donkey Hodie'' itself caused another boom in the popularity of ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'', thanks to it using several {{mythology gag}}s referencing the show and using several of the show's songs. This, along with that show's ratings success, lead to ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' being added to the PBS Kids channel after last being aired during ''Family Night'' in 2018.

* While ''Series/SesameStreet'' has always been popular, it got three of these: one in the late 90's due to the popularity of the Tickle Me Elmo toys (which in turn led to Elmo being promoted to even more of a major character), once in the late-2000s when Abby Cadabby and the programming block format were introduced, and another in 2019 due to the [[MilestoneCelebration 50th anniversary of the series]], its boatload of promotional efforts, and the move to Creator/HBOMax.

** At some of the larger anime conventions (Otakon held in Baltimore, for example) the attendees don't dress exclusively as anime characters anymore and the Con is flavored by whatever's "hot" at the time regardless of its nation of origin. At the 2008 convention (right after ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' was released) "Why is everyone ComicBook/TheJoker ''at an anime convention?''"

->''"Nothing would make me happier than ... to find out that the sales of the original Creator/{{Toho}} [''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}''] movies went up triple or something [after ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'' comes out]. I feel like then I'd dust my hands and say, "My job is done." I think he's such an iconic character that he needs to be done justice."''

-->--'''Creator/GarethEdwards'''

* The ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' series saw a massive uptick in new players during late 2020 to early 2021, thanks to a few factors. While developers Creator/ArcSystemWorks have always been a respected name for fighting game players in the know, they received a ''massive'' ColbertBump when they developed ''VideoGame/DragonBallFighterz'' and made their mark on a wider audience who might not be as heavily invested in the overall fighting game genre. With this newfound interest on them, when they released an update to ''Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R'' giving the game rollback netcode[[note]]A version of peer-to-peer networking that greatly reduces the effects of lagspikes on gameplay, which is vital in genres that rely on quick decision making like fighting games[[/note]] as well as their next new entry in the series, ''Guilty Gear STRIVE''--which was greatly focused on making the series less intimidating to newcomers ''and'' includes the aforementioned rollback netcode--it paid dividends. ''Accent Core +R'' had its playerbase on Steam boosted from double digits to quintuple digits practically overnight, and ''STRIVE'' sold 500,000 copies within its first month, outselling the previous entry in the series in its whole lifespan almost three times over.\\

* After a flurry of early advertising publicity stills for the ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' movie were released in 2013 picturing ComicBook/RocketRaccoon, there was a sudden hubbub about how cool it was that a talking raccoon with a ray gun would be one of the stars of a science fiction story. Those people who'd been fans of the character since his first appearance in ''1975'' quietly rolled their eyes and continued waiting for the movie.

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', and later ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' created many ComicBook/BlackCanary fans.

** The ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' fandom got a sudden surge of new members when the game ''[[KeepCirculatingTheTapes finally]]'' got rereleased on the UsefulNotes/WiiU. At one point it was ''the'' most downloaded UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole game on the console, which resulted in many newcomers to the series, with some being people who had never heard of the game at that point. This notably caused some friction between [[OldGuardVersusNewBlood those who were in the cult fandom before it gained a wider audience]], as not only are the newer fans more willing to point out ''[=EarthBound=]''[='s=] flaws, they've even started to criticize ''VideoGame/Mother3''[='s=] flaws upon finding out about it, which had been considered a SacredCow.

* While ''Series/SesameStreet'' has always been popular, it got three of these: one in the late 90's due to the popularity of the Tickle Me Elmo toys (which in turn led to Elmo being promoted to even more of a major character), once in the late-2000s when Abby Cadabby was introduced, and another in 2019 due to the [[MilestoneCelebration 50th anniversary of the series]] and its boatload of promotional efforts.

** In fact, multiple of these eventually led to an OldGuardVersusNewBlood schism within the community, as more and more newcomers who looked down on the site's roots in Website/FourChan began gaining positions of authority. This resulted in classic entries like "[[SuccubiAndIncubi Teenage Succubus]]" being rewritten by MoralGuardians and a perceived downgrade in overall writing quality, with the last straw to the old guard being [[UsefulNotes/PrideParade the site's logo changed to a pride flag during LGBT History Month]]. Rather than it being due to homophobia, it was felt to be tone-deaf and immersion-breaking to have an [[PragmaticHero organization with blatant disregard for human rights]] that's deliberately intended to invoke a sense of ValuesDissonance caring about societal issues. As a result, the SpiritualSuccessor ''Wiki/RPCAuthority'' was created with longtime entries like "[[SinisterSentientSun Hateful Star]]" [[CanonImmigrant migrating there]].

** The reveal of ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' at UsefulNotes/{{E3}} 2021 attracted a lot of attention from people wondering why the word "Dread" had [[{{Vaporware}} the fandom completely]] [[SavedFromDevelopmentHell lose their minds]], with the statement that it would be closing a story arc that diehard fans weren't even ''aware'' was a thing attracting even more intrigue. ''[[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission Zero Mission]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns Samus Returns]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MetroidFusion Fusion]]'', and even ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' would jump to the top of Wii U and UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS sales charts in the weeks following; the only reason ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' didn't follow suit was because it which was available as part of Nintendo Switch Online. As for ''Metroid Dread'' itself, it became the most pre-ordered game following E3 2021 on sites like Amazon and [=GameStop=], beating out even ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl]]''.

* The ''Barney'' franchise suffered from this once Creator/{{PBS}} began airing ''Series/BarneyAndFriends''. The overnight popularity of this series turned an obscure children's DirectToVideo series into a household name among families.

* The ''Franchise/XMen'' were put on the backburner at Marvel for several years due to the deal the [[Film/XMenFilmSeries film series]] keeping the adaptation rights of all mutants and associated characters in Fox's hands rather than their own. A majority of the cast was either killed off or BroughtDownToNormal, remaining members were dispersed among other teams that didn't have much to do with mutants, characters often fought each other or other heroes instead of villains, and when the company moved to establish ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'' as a replacement for X-Men and mutants the brand was only pushed down further. But then the 2019 SoftReboot ''[[ComicBook/HouseAndPowersOfX House of X and Powers of X]]'' led by Creator/JonanthanHickman established an all-new status quo for mutantkind that resurrected and repowered many characters and burst onto the scene with a multitude of books - most of which were hugely successful because the new stories provided an optimal starting point for new readers. Not only are the current lines seeing critical praise, but fans are using them to dig into past stories as well.

* For years ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' was a considered a CultClassic amongst mainstream shonen series. It was occasionally mentioned when referring to the "Big 3" (''Naruto'', ''Bleach'', and ''One Piece'') but never had the popularity of even ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' or [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist its manga]]. Circa 2011 to 2014 it boomed in popularity thanks to the 2011 adaptation, along with fans of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' and ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' getting into it as a substitute after their series began ending. Even more so once it wound up on Toonami, and now it is not uncommon to go to an anime convention and find a good number of cosplayers of ''Hunter X Hunter'' characters.

* Music/DavidBowie had a huge one after he released the mainstream pop-rock album ''Let's Dance'' in 1983, but this led into a DorkAge when he tried to appeal more to the newbies than to himself with his next two albums. Fans and critics who'd followed him in TheSeventies weren't too happy with him for "selling out", and he became frustrated that newbies didn't understand his not-so-mainstream tendencies, which almost resulted in ArtistDisillusionment after the 1987 Glass Spider Tour.

* Similar to ''The Muppet Show'', ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' saw a huge Newbie Boom in October to November of 2022 when Disney+ made the entire series (barring a handful of [[MissingEpisode missing episodes]]) available for streaming.

* Similar to ''The Muppet Show'', ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' saw a huge Newbie Boom in October 2022 when Disney+ made the entire series (barring a handful of [[MissingEpisode missing episodes]]) available for streaming.

* Similar to ''The Muppet Show'', ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' saw a huge Newbie Boom in October 2022 when Disney+ made the entire series (barring a handful of missing episodes) available for streaming.

* Similar to ''The Muppet Show'', ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' saw a huge Newbie Boom in October 2022 when Disney Plus made the entire series (barring a handful of missing episodes) available for streaming.

* After the ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' movies premiered, the Middle-Earth fandom swelled up. This is actually the second time this happened; the books didn’t get popular until the counterculture movement of TheSixties. The books were first published in 1954 and were rather obscure for their first decade of existence.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Cocomelon}}'' got one when it was added to Creator/{{Netflix}}, to the point where it beat several shows for adults in rankings for the service. Keep in mind that despite it already being one of the most watched and subscribed to Creator/{{YouTube}} channels beforehand, the sudden arrival on the streamer only boosted it further.

* With the announcement of the ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' film, the fan community swelled to massive size as people swarmed to read the original [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} graphic novel]] which swelled the fanbase. That was until some realized what type of story Alan Moore was telling. Theater attendance even took a hit when some people found out the thing that looks like a cool superhero story was mostly deconstructing the medium.

* ''Literature/TheSongOfAchilles'': The book was released in 2011 to good sales and critical acclaim, however it experienced a massive ressurgence in the new 20s, shooting it back into the New Yorker's Best Seller list 10 years after its release. Reasons for this includes it becoming a [=TikTok=] reading recommendation darling and the release of the 2020 game ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', which featured Achilles and Patroclus in a romantic relationship as well and creating a massive case of FriendlyFandoms.

** The comment above regarding newbies being drawn in by the revival only to find the older series not to their liking is also holding true with new ''Doctor Who'' fans, some of whom are finding the 1963-89 series is an acquired taste. This has led to a few schisms between aspects of fandom, such as those who declare Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant or Matt Smith the best Doctor ever, without having ever seen a Tom Baker or Jon Pertwee story in order to develop an informed opinion. Also look at any entry for ''Doctor Who'' on this very wiki which only look at the show from the revival's perspective with no knowledge of the first three decades of the show whatsoever. Let's just say it does result in a DoubleTake from an old series fan to see the Doctor touted as an example on romance and sex tropes as if that had ''always'' been the case.

* Very few people have heard of the memoir ''Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison'' before the ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'' TV show premiered.

* Despite it being off the air at the time, ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'' got this in 2018 due to both the documentary film ''Film/WontYouBeMyNeighbor?'' and its 50th anniversary that same year, which was mainly promoted through [[WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood its sister show]]. It even got to the point where several PBS stations re-added weekly airings of the show in wake of the sudden trend, and greenlit [[Series/DonkeyHodie another spin-off]] of ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''.

* The LiveActionAdaptation of ''Film/JemAndTheHolograms2015'' did this for all the wrong reasons. The [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks overwhelming backlash]] from the trailers and the film revived people's interest in the cartoon series and boosted attention for the newer comics (see Comic Books above). Like with the comics, many of the new fans attracted by the reaction to the film weren't even born yet when the cartoon was originally broadcast. It's arguable that the negative reaction to the film prevented the ''Jem'' fandom from dying out.
* Rare creator example happened with ''Film/TheHouseThatJackBuilt'' and its director Creator/LarsVonTrier. Trier certainly isn't an obscure director due to his controversy he garners with his films (and himself), but ''Jack'' wound up being an introduction for a lot of recent cinephiles due to how much [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity press it was getting]] between its violent content + premise (a SerialKiller recounting his past murders) and its rarity of screenings for the Director's Cut version, which has all of the gruesome content in tact. To wit, go on Letterboxd and take a shot every time you come across a post saying that this was their first von Trier film.

* The fandom for ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'' grew significantly after its release on Creator/DisneyPlus, ''especially'' on [=TikTok=].

* Infamously, a large number of original series ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fans didn't watch it when it originally aired in the late 1960s. However, Paramount aired reruns of the series in syndication throughout the '70s, which is how a far larger number of people were exposed to it. This wasn't as much of a datable "boom" so much as steady growth across a decade. The success of the '80s-era ''Franchise/StarTrek'' movies exponentially increased the number of Trek fans and led not to a remake, but to a sequel series, ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. It, in turn, exponentially increased the Trek fanbase even further.
** Perhaps an even better example is ''Film/StarTrek2009'', which was popular even among non Trek fans.

* The general public only now became aware Syfy Channel makes C-movies with ridiculous titles after comments about 2013's ''Film/{{Sharknado}}'' suddenly exploded on Twitter.

* While ''Series/SesameStreet'' has always been popular, it got three of these: one in the late 90's due to the popularity of the Tickle Me Elmo toys (which in turn led to Elmo being promoted to even more of a major character), once in the mid-2000s when Abby Cadabby was introduced, and another in 2019 due to the [[MilestoneCelebration 50th anniversary of the series]] and its boatload of promotional efforts.
* Despite it being off the air at the time, ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'' got this in 2018 due to both the documentary film ''Won't You Be My Neighbor?'' and its 50th anniversary that same year, which was mainly promoted through [[WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood its sister show]]. It even got to the point where several PBS stations re-added weekly airings of the show in wake of the sudden trend, and greenlit [[Series/DonkeyHodie another spin-off]] of ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''.

* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' saw a huge Newbie Boom in early 2021 when all but two episodes arrived on Creator/DisneyPlus.[[note]]One of the missing episodes (Brooke Shields) is due to music rights, the other for unbelievably horrible things the guest star (Chris Langham) did in his personal life decades later.[[/note]]

* People who became fans of Music/MarilynManson when the cover of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" got heavy rotation on Creator/{{MTV}} were a great irritation to fans who had been following the group for several years before that song/video was released. They were known to old-school fans as "Sweet Dreamers," and Manson himself would often follow up live performances of the song with "All you kids can go home now."
* The Swedish group Music/TheCardigans had the same problem after their song "Lovefool" was featured on the soundtrack to ''[[Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet Romeo + Juliet]]''. It brought them a lot of new fans, but since "Lovefool" was fairly [[BlackSheepHit atypical of their normal sound,]] many of those new fans ended up confused or disappointed.

* Music/RedHotChiliPeppers seem to gain a whole new set of fans with every album, which often leads to them joining forums and annoying everyone with stupid comments. ''I'm With You'' actually lost fans who only liked them for John Frusciante, which made the fandom somewhat happy.

** The second (and first major ''Western'') boom, on the other hand, came around 2005-07, with the debut of Website/YouTube and the title song for ''Film/SawIV'', "IV". Their PerformanceVideo and lives were some of the first jrock uploaded to [=YouTube=], and ''many'' Western fans first arrived either with seeing them or hide solo then them on [=YouTube=], and the new song and promised reunion inspired some interest from existing Visual Kei/jrock fans.

** And now, possibly the fourth and biggest has began with international release of the documentary film ''We Are X.'' Quite a few who've never heard the band before (and some influential Western music and media people among them) now count themselves at least casual fans.

** When show creator Stephen Hillenberg died in 2018, the show, which had been declining in popularity due to ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' becoming a hit, and the skyrocketing popularity of streaming services and Creator/{{YouTube}}, saw a surge in popularity among children. It was also perfectly timed as the kids who originally grew up with the show in the late 90's and early 2000's now had kids of their own to share the show with.

* The fandom for ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' had been pretty active throughout the 2010s, starting with reruns of the show airing on [[Creator/DiscoveryFamily The Hub]] from 2012 to 2014, but it would officially boom in November 2020, the month [[WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020 the reboot]] was released in.

* The ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' community had to batten down the hatches in anticipation of one of these when its creators were interviewed by the New York Times. Another boom occurred when ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' discussed it in TheRant.

* The fandom for ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' had been pretty active throughout the 2010s, starting with reruns of the show airing on [[Creator/DiscoveryFamily The Hub]], but it would officially boom in November 2020, the month [[WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020 the reboot]] was released in.