History Main / OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent

* Shibuya Yuuri, in the manga ''{{Kyou Kara Maou}}'' is an average high schooler, while he's suddenly [[spoiler:summoned through a toilet seat to another world]] where he [[spoiler:is the ruler of the whole thing.]] Again, average.

* Played with in''Literature/StrengthAndJustice'': the story starts with Jeremy Itsubishi's role as a law enforcement cadet with ImprobableAimingSkills as his superpower. It's only after that we find out he's a high school student as well. Then he's pulled into the main conflict, playing the trope straight.

* There is a French amateur tabletop RPG called Lycéenne RPG (HighSchoolGirlsRPG), where you play [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin high school girls]]. MagicalGirlWarrior optional.

They're revealed to be reincarnated ancient heroes or alien princesses RaisedByHumans. They suddenly find a use for the [[ChekhovsSkill obscure skill or art]] they've been practicing since they could walk, or they discover their entire life has been a SecretTestOfCharacter to prepare them for [[WithGreatPower a great responsibility]]. They find out their SecretLegacy as heirs to a BadassFamily of demon hunters, wizards, or {{Yakuza}}. They find an ancient mystical McGuffin in their attic, buy one for a few coins from a junk dealer, or are given one by a mysterious stranger on their DangerousSixteenthBirthday. They suddenly gain a TricksterMentor or a MagicalGirlfriend. They establish secret identities as a HenshinHero or a MagicalGirlWarrior, find a way to channel KiAttacks, summon a powerful GuardianEntity or [[FallingIntoTheCockpit fall into the cockpit]] of a HumongousMecha.

They're revealed to be reincarnated ancient heroes or alien princesses RaisedByHumans. They suddenly find an use for the [[ChekhovsSkill obscure skill or art]] they've been practicing since they could walk, or they discover their entire life has been a SecretTestOfCharacter to prepare them for [[WithGreatPower a great responsibility]]. They find out their SecretLegacy as heirs to a BadassFamily of demon hunters, wizards, or {{Yakuza}}. They find an ancient mystical McGuffin in their attic, buy one for a few coins from a junk dealer, or are given one by a mysterious stranger on their DangerousSixteenthBirthday. They suddenly gain a TricksterMentor or a MagicalGirlfriend. They establish secret identities as a HenshinHero or a MagicalGirlWarrior, find a way to channel KiAttacks, summon a powerful GuardianEntity or [[FallingIntoTheCockpit fall into the cockpit]] of a HumongousMecha.

* The film and book of Stephen King's ''{{Carrie}}'', and the film sequel, ''Film/TheRageCarrie2''.

* [[BrotherSisterTeam Carmen and Juni Cortez]] in ''SpyKids''.
* If you think about it, the eponymous ''MysteryTeam'' isn't that much different from a group of outcasts with an unusual hobby at any high school.

* ''{{Roswell}}'' had this as the main hook for the series (and helped pioneer the genre). Max in particular strives to as "average" as possible

* ''Series/{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}}''. True of the Scoobies, but not so much Buffy herself; she knows at the start of the series that she's the Slayer.
* Nickelodeon's ''TheTroop'' plays this straight and hard with Jake.
* ''JoanOfArcadia'' talks to and does missions for {{God}}.
* The premise of every DisneyChannel show, ever. "S/he's a just a normal high schooler; except that s/he's really ([[ThatsSoRaven a psychic]], [[HannahMontana a teen popstar]], [[WizardsOfWaverlyPlace a wizard]], an alien, [[TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody twins living in a hotel]], a man/woman, etc)!"

* ''VeronicaMars'' - a normal high school student...and a private eye.
* Alex from TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack. She even says "I was just another average kid until an accident changed my life" in the opening credits. It's also worth noting that she wore a similar outfit to the one described above on the day she was soaked with the chemicals that gave her superpowers.
* ''{{Spellbinder}}'' - the main character, Paul, gets trapped in a parallel world during a school field trip, and his arrival is a catalyst that causes political upheaval in the otherwordly society. His friends Alex and Katrina have to juggle school as they work to bring him back.
* Pete, Linda and Bronson in ''RoundTheTwist'' turn out to be {{Weirdness Magnet}}s - a lot of the supernatural shenanigans they attract happen at their local school.

* Sabrina from ''SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' was just a normal high school girl until her sixteenth birthday, when her witch half manifested itself.

* The ''PowerRangers'' are [[RecruitTeenagersWithAttitude teenagers with attitude]] by definition, although some seasons such as ''PowerRangersTimeForce'' have them as full-time heroes who only have to maintain a civilian identity for the purpose of blending in.

* This is one of the [[ClassAndLevelSystem character classes]] in d20 ''BigEyesSmallMouth''.

* Sam Witwicky was just an Ordinary High School Student until he bought his first car. [[TransformersFilmSeries Turns out it was an alien robot.]] [[WeKnewIt Who knew?]] His special quality is just being the great-grandkid of the man who found Megatron. Sari Sumdac from ''TransformersAnimated'' actually ''asks'' the Allspark why it chose her. It had an answer too, albeit a vague and ambiguous one.

* This happens so often in {{Creepypasta}} stories it's actually a bit of a cliche.
* [insert character here] was just an ordinary kid/guy/whatever with a relatively ordinary life. Nothing unusual, no-sirree. Skeletons in the closet? Nah. [[spoiler:Then a [[NoodlePeople strange]] [[HumanoidAbomination man]] begins to [[BeingWatched stalk them..]] There ''are'' [[RealAfterAll skeletons in the closet..]] [[TheSlenderManMythos tall, faceless ones.]]]] Needless to say, this happens a lot nowadays with [[TheSlenderManMythos the Slender Man Mythos.]]

* [insert character here] was just an ordinary kid/guy/whatever with a relatively ordinary life. Nothing unusual, no-sirree. Skeletons in the closet? Nah. [[Spoiler:Then a [[NoodlePeople strange]] [[HumanoidAbomination man]] begins to [[BeingWatched stalk them..]] There ''are'' [[RealAfterAll skeletons in the closet..]] [[TheSlenderManMythos tall, faceless ones.]]]] Needless to say, this happens a lot nowadays with [[TheSlenderManMythos the Slender Man Mythos.]]

* ''{{Darkbolt}}'': The lead three characters (Naoko, Mariko, and Yun) start out as this before being force-bonded to demons trapped in small little orbs.

* Kira Yamato of ''Anime/GundamSeed'' averts this trope -- he's actually a genetically-enhanced superhuman who [[IJustWantToBeNormal wants to be a normal high school/college student.]]
** Being genetically-enhanced is actually not at all uncommon in his world. But it's later revealed that he was designed to not just be genetically improved but [[EvolutionaryLevels genetically "perfect"]].

* Maria, Kelsey, Clyde and Rani from ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures''. Clyde and Rani do have distinct talents, however- Clyde's a splendid sketch artist and Rani has great journalism skills. Maria is more the average, [[DesignatedProtagonistSyndrome designated protagonist]] until actor Yasmin Paige's own [[RealLifeWritesThePlot academic life]] persuaded her to leave the show. Kelsey was just a pilot-only character who got a SecondEpisodeSubstitute in the form of Clyde because there were too many females in the cast... and she was a bit bratty, too. Luke and [[spoiler:Sky]] don't fit this trope as they were created to be extraordinary. In fact, Luke ends up going right into college because of his high intelligence.

* Maria, Kelsey, Clyde and Rani from ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures''. Clyde and Rani do have distinct talents, however- Clyde's a splendid sketch artist and Rani has great journalism skills. Maria is more the average, [[DesignatedProtagonistSyndrome designated protagonist]] until actor Yasmin Paige's own [[RealLifeWritesThePlot academic life]] persuaded her to leave the show. Luke and [[spoiler:Sky]] don't fit this trope as they were created to be extraordinary. In fact, Luke ends up going right into college because of his high intelligence.

* Maria, Kelsey, Clyde and Rani from ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures''. Luke and [[spoiler:Sky]] don't fit this trope as they were created to be extraordinary.

** Give it time, they'll kill his parents off too.
*** They decided to kill off his comic, instead.

* Makoto Naegi of ''VisualNovel/DanganRonpa'' considered himself one, since he was picked to go to elite academy Hope's Peak by winning a lottery. His only outstanding trait is that he tends to be more optimistic than others. [[spoiler: not so ordinary anymore when that same optimism helps defeat the Mastermind, Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Despair.]]

** Hajime Hinata and Nagito Komaeda of the [[VisualNovel/SuperDanganRonpa2 sequel game]] can also qualify, [[spiler: at least at first. Despite Komaeda's title being the same as Naegi's and the fact that he got into Hope's Peak under the ''exact'' same circumstances (lottery), he's stated to have ''legitimate, extreme fluctuations between good luck and bad luck.'' Hinata, however, is revealed to have ''no'' outstanding talent, and is ''actually'' an Ordinary High School Student from one of the reserve groups. At least, bfore his [[TheAce transformation...]]]]

* Tohno Shiki in ''[[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Shingetsutan Tsukihime]]'', who even went so far to claim he was an ordinary high school student, when, naturally, he was anything but. Arcueid even comments on it as in the quote above. The best thing about Arcueid; she's being completely earnest without a trace of irony.

* Shinji Ikari from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is an ordinary student.
** [[IncrediblyLamePun He is.]] [[CollectiveGroan Just like everyone else in that series.]]

* ''Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' -- not the show, the movie which preceded it.

* ''LightNovel/ToAruMajutsuNoIndex'': Touma's [[AntiMagic passive negation power]] certainly makes him look like an ordinary student compared to people like his lightning-wielding UnknownRival Mikoto under most circumstances. In their first onscreen confrontation, Touma protests to a sparking Mikoto that he's "just a Level 0" esper. Mikoto makes a compelling rebuttal in the form of a giant blast of (ineffectual) electricity. He's "Level 0" only because his power is impossible to quantify.

** Touma has been proven to be a subversion of this trope.
* The title character of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' was an ordinary elementary school student, which shocked her students [[TimeSkip in the third season]] when they visited her [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet home planet]] [[AllThereInTheManual during the first Sound Stage]] and discovered that the legendary mage Nanoha had a completely unlegendary past and civilian life.
** Well, an unlegendary past before 9 years old.

* ''Manga/SailorMoon''.:

** In particular, Tomeo Hotaru a.k.a. ''Sailor Saturn'', who when introduced is a small sickly girl who made friends with Chibi-Usa, only for us to discover that not only is she the host for the Big Bad of the season, Mistress 9, but is also the as-of-yet unawakened Sailor Saturn, the senshi of destruction and rebirth that Rei had been having visions of destroying the world. In the manga she then is aged back to a baby and adopted by Sailors Pluto, Uranus and Neptune only to age at an incredible rate when their presence is later needed by Sailor Moon.

* Kagome Higurashi in ''Manga/InuYasha''. In fact, this trend was specifically mentioned in the Anime. "It's been a while now since this ''every day average school girl'' has been crossing back and forth between the warring states era and modern times!" Unlike many anime where this is eventually eliminated, Kagome retains most of her School Girl-ness, to the point of always wearing her school fuku in the warring states period of Japan, and never measuring up to Kikyo - her previous incarnation who was a Miko and is now half-alive and devours souls to stay that way. Like ''SailorMoon'''s Usagi, her gifts are related to a jewel or crystal, and her greatest strengths personality-wise are her kindness, love for others, and ability to make friends. This can bite her in the butt with such characters as ''Kyoga'' the wolf prince who just doesn't take the hint, and Hojo, who like-wise can't take a hint.

-->--''KenichiTheMightiestDisciple''

* Takashi Komura, the main character of the anime/manga ''{{Highschool of the Dead}}'', is a pretty ordinary average high school student, prone to skipping classes and accused by his childhood sweetheart of being lazy...that is, until [[spoiler: the school's professors, then students, start being turned into zombies, and the aforementioned childhood sweetheart's current boyfriend starts turning into one. Takashi bashes his head in with a baseball bat]].

* Tenchi Masaki in any of the incarnations of ''TenchiMuyo''. Turns out he's an alien prince, and his family never bothered to tell him. Then there's Sasami, who tries to ''become'' one of these in the manga volumes. Being that she is an alien princess (and unlike Tenchi, knew all along), it doesn't quite work out. She should be glad that the goddess she's symbiotically fused with didn't decide to show up.

* Natsuki in the manga HoukagoXPonytail seems pretty normal, but she's a hardcore {{Shoujo}}-manga {{otaku}}, and got black belt in both karate and taekwondo.
* Ayato Kamina in ''{{RahXephon}}''.

* ''SailorMoon''.:

* Kei Kurono and Masaru Katou (and in fact all high school-aged characters) in ''{{Gantz}}'' are bona-fide Ordinary High School Students until they get hit by a train and resurrected to play the Gantz Game. They're ''still'' technically Ordinary High School Students after that, they just have superpowered combat suits and deadly weapons -- and Kei is ''extremely good'' at using them.
* Miaka Yuuki, Yui Hongou, Suzuno Oosugi, Takiko Okuda and [[spoiler:Mayo Sakaki]] of ''FushigiYuugi'' all started out as examples of this trope.
* Aya Mikage in ''AyashiNoCeres''.

* Kurusugawa Himeko in ''KannazukiNoMiko''.

* Yusuke Urameshi and Kazuma Kuwabara in ''YuYuHakusho''

* Not exactly a high school student, but Urashima Keitaro from ''LoveHina'' falls under this trope.

* Nanami Lucia in ''MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', although she already had a SecretIdentity -- she just didn't know half her own secret.

** If you stop and think of it, there were only ''four'' [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Ordinary High School Students]] (Nodoka, Haruna, Misa, and Madoka) to start with, although exactly how involved they were varied greatly. Yue, for example, didn't know anything about magic but knew that Mana, Kaede and Ku Fei were some type of mercenaries who would be able to help fight monsters.

* Amu Hinamori from ''ShugoChara'', though in elementary school, is a good example. After she obtains her guardian characters, she ends up with a couple of friends and a somewhat reluctant membership of the Seiyo Elementary Guardians.

* Sakai Yuuji of ''ShakuganNoShana''. All extraordinary traits he has he owe to an [[{{MacGuffin}} artifact]] he received out of luck. Unusually, we never learn how long he's had it.

* Emiya Shirou from ''FateStayNight''. Or so he likes to think.

* Mikan Sakura from ''GakuenAlice'' who suddenly discovers she has a special ability called an [[AppliedPhlebotinum alice]] and is admitted to the Alice Academy. Though she is younger than a high-school student at the time.

* ''ToAruMajutsuNoIndex'': Touma's [[AntiMagic passive negation power]] certainly makes him look like an ordinary student compared to people like his lightning-wielding UnknownRival Mikoto under most circumstances. In their first onscreen confrontation, Touma protests to a sparking Mikoto that he's "just a Level 0" esper. Mikoto makes a compelling rebuttal in the form of a giant blast of (ineffectual) electricity. He's "Level 0" only because his power is impossible to quantify.

* The title character of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' was an ordinary elementary school student, which shocked her students [[TimeSkip in the third season]] when they visited her [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet home planet]] [[AllThereInTheManual during the first Sound Stage]] and discovered that the legendary mage Nanoha had a completely unlegendary past and civilian life.

* Almost all of the [=HiME=] from ''{{Mai-HiME}}'' start out at this stage (although a few of them are [[IJustWantToBeNormal dead set on staying that way]]). Those that aren't ([[spoiler:Midori and Sister Yukariko]]) were Ordinary High School Teachers.
* Saya from ''[[BloodPlus Blood+]]'' is an ordinary high school girl on the surface, but thanks to almost a lifetime's worth of [[LaserGuidedAmnesia amnesia]], she has no idea of her vampiric abilities... until a Chiropteran shows up at her school and starts messing things up, and she's forced to kill it.
* Rin Tsuchimi from ''{{Shuffle}}'', who just [[ContrivedCoincidence happens]] to be [[UnwantedHarem liked by five beautiful girls all at the same time]].

* Kanzaki Hitomi from ''{{Vision of Escaflowne}}''.

* Kira Yamato of ''GundamSeed'' averts this trope -- he's actually a genetically-enhanced superhuman who [[IJustWantToBeNormal wants to be a normal high school/college student.]]

* Rito from ''ToLoveRu'' wishes he was still an unremarkable Ordinary High School Student instead of the center of a complicated LoveTriangle with at least half a dozen points on it, including three or possibly four [[MagicalGirlfriend Alien Princesses]] -- [[spoiler:Lala, Run, Lala's little sister Momo, and maybe Momo's twin Nana]].
* Toki from ''{{Amatsuki}}'' wouldn't even have ''become'' the hero if his school hadn't sent him to the museum for [[BookDumb failing history class]]. And just when he finally gets a fresh new start in life after being [[TimeTravel dragged into the past]] against his will, he's given [[IAmWho phenomenal cosmic powers]] that [[BlessedWithSuck ruin his life]]! His friend and fellow victim Kon could also qualify, however there is evidence to suggest he's [[ObfuscatingStupidity not all he seems]].
* Taken to extremes in ''CodeGeass''. Lelouch is an ordinary high school student...who is an outcast prince, genius military strategist [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]], and all around MagnificentBastard (with [[CompellingVoice freaky mind-control powers]]) biding his time to jump at a chance to destroy [[TheEmpire Britannia]]. Kallen and Suzaku are inversions, being ace mecha pilots (with inexplicably superhuman physical abilities, especially Suzaku) for their respective sides who in the first few episodes come back to high school.

* Nagasumi of ''SetoNoHanayome''. Then, through a series of incidents, he was rescued and engaged to a mermaid [[MafiaPrincess Yakuza princess]], whose family promptly takes over his school. HilarityEnsues.

* Mikado, Masaomi, and Anri in ''{{Durarara}}''. [[spoiler:[[ImageBoard Well]], [[GangOfHats not]] [[HiveMind really]].]]

* Taken to its logical conclusion in ''StarDriver'', where evidently ''every'' student of the ElaborateUniversityHigh is an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent that's anything but ordinary. The new guy? He's TheChosenOne. That girl he befriended on the first day? The MacguffinGirl. The resident adviser for the dorms? She's one of the villains. Same goes for the [[ReallyGetsAround school bicycle]] , the head of the boxing club, and the ClassRepresentative. As for the Drama Club, it turns out they're all in LaResistance...

* Subverted with Ayumu from ''KoreWaZombieDesuKa'' for he's already a zombie.

* Tsutomu Senkawa is an Ordinary High School Student -- until [[FairCop Birdy]] [[SpacePolice Cephon]] [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Altirra/Altera]] accidentally fatally injures him, [[GenderBender starting]] [[TwoBeingsOneBody off]] [[SharingABody the]] [[FusionDance premise]] [[TheyFightCrime of]] ''BirdyTheMighty''.

* The original pilot of ''FistOfTheNorthStar'' had Kenshiro as an ordinary high school student... Who could kill a bull with brute force and could cause [[YourHeadAsplode head explosions]] with a [[FingerPokeOfDoom single touch]].
* Ataru Moroboshi of ''UruseiYatsura'' started the series as one. Then he arrived at home and discovered he had to [[ItMakesSenseInContext foil an alien invasion by chasing down and touching the horns of the cute daughter of the leader of the invasion force]], and normality went down to the drain.

** An anime episode brought the trope UpToEleven by adding ''[[FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro Kasumi]]'' to the class rooster!
* ''OuranHighSchoolHostClub''s Haruhi, who is the subject of a reverse harem situation, for reasons she doesn't understand. The normal(-esque)commoner put in a school of rich kids with trope personalities. She just wants to study. Lampshaded by the fact that she is only revealed as a girl at the end of the first episode.
* Youko from ''TheTwelveKingdoms'' objects that she's just an ordinary high school student word-for-word during TheReveal.

* Most of the cast of ''FruitsBasket''.

* Shuji in ''{{Saikano}}''. (One of the few examples on this page that doesn't have powers, and ultimately, is powerless to change ''anything.'')

* Lain in ''SerialExperimentsLain''. She gets progressively less ordinary (along with the show.)

* Kenichi Shirahama in ''{{Historys Strongest Disciple Kenichi}}'' is even stated in the manga/anime to be completely ordinary and without talent for martial arts. His only talent is being a hard worker. Eventually they're able to beat skill into him.