History Main / SpearCarrier

In mid-20th century domestic dramas, this was often the role of household servant characters, who would be neither seen nor heard at most times, but occasionally would be called on to deliver some tidbit of dialogue that none of the main characters could credibly utter.

-->-- '''Thomas Pynchon''', ''Literature/GravitysRainbow'' [[note]]Of course, this means one of the {{mooks}} in the choir from Götterdämmerung. Not Wotan, who also carries a spear, but is the protagonist of two of the four operas of the cycle.[[/note]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'', Giuseppe appears in two scenes; one where he praises Mario and Luigi about their accents, and later, cheering for the Mario Bros. alongside the townsfolk of Brooklyn after the brothers defeat Bowser.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'', Giuseppe appears in two scenes; one where he praises Mario and Luigi about the accents, and later, cheering for the Mario Bros. alongside the townsfolk of Brooklyn after the brothers defeat Bowser.

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'': The couple at the dance at the end of the film, who are amazed that George [=McFly=] stood up to Biff.

Compare TheCameo and PursuedProtagonist. Not to be confused with the native assistant of the GreatWhiteHunter, or with TheLancer, or with literal wielders of [[BladeOnAStick spears]]. Can sometimes result in a OneSceneWonder. Or a RedShirt. For just a generally dull character, see TheGenericGuy (or [[TheGenericGirl Girl]]). If an already established character plays this role at some point, see MandatoryLine.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ItsChristmastimeAgainCharlieBrown'', Sally performs in a stage play in which she plays an angel who walks onstage, "Hark!," and departs as part of a scene transition. She rehearses this one word relentlessly during the few days leading up to the play, but because Charlie Brown was frequently carrying hockey equipment during this time (due to him participating in hockey practice), Sally [[FreudianSlip accidentally blurts out "Hockey Stick!" instead.]]

The term comes from Greek theater, specifically tragedy: While the plot of a given play focused on members of important nobility, the theater still needed actors to fill the role of their military entourage - you know, the kind of soldiers whose only job on the stage is to stand at attention and give a salute whenever a noble walks by them. It has also become the standard term for an operatic supernumerary, one of several silent extras (of either sex) who may carry anything from a flagon to a kidnap victim. [[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1997/11/23/PK74779.DTL See here.]]

In mid-20th century domestic dramas, this was often the role of household servant characters, who would be neither seen nor heard at most times but occasionally would be called on to deliver some tidbit of dialogue that none of the main characters could credibly utter.

* ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'': Basically all the dragons to free. After freeing them, they say a few words and disappear. Most of them don't appear again and dialogue with them never lasts longer than half-a-minute.

-->'''[[TheChick Isabella]]:''' Extras.

* Giuseppe Verdi's opera ''Theatre/{{Aida|Verdi}}'' has a messenger who is possibly the smallest credited role. He only appears in the middle of the first act to bear mews of the Ethiopians'
invasion, and has like three lines.

* Giuseppe Verdi's opera ''Theatre/{{Aida|Verdi}}'' has a messenger who is possibly the smallest credited role. He has like three lines.

* In the first act of ''Critic's Choice'' by Creator/IraLevin, Parker Ballantine caustically ruminates on amateur-written plays "all beginning with the maid answering the telephone and subtly delivering information." The second act begins with the Ballantines' hitherto unseen maid, Essie, doing precisely that for a caller who hangs up before identifying herself. Essie then walks out the door and thereby leaves the play: as the stage direction notes, "that's the last we see of Essie until the {{curtain call}}s."

* Similar to the ''Jimmy Neutron'' example, in ''[[Franchise/{{Peanuts}} It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown]]'', Sally performs in a stage play in which she plays an angel who walks onstage, "Hark!," and departs as part of a scene transition. She rehearses this one word relentlessly during the few days leading up to the play, but because Charlie Brown was frequently carrying hockey equipment during this time (due to him participating in hockey practice), Sally [[FreudianSlip accidentally blurts out "Hockey Stick!" instead.]]

In mid-20th century domestic dramas, this was often the role of domestic servant characters, who would be neither seen nor heard at most times but occasionally would be called on to deliver some tidbit of dialogue that none of the main characters could credibly utter.

* That [[OneSceneWonder squeaky rubber shark]] in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'', who takes Woody's hat and does a terrible impression of him:

** The pilot episode "Rollercoaster" has quite a few generic kids as passengers on Phineas and Ferb's ride [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in lieu of the more developed cast that would emerge later]] (Isabella is the only kid in their age group who's established in the episode). This leads to a NoFourthWall gag in "[[Sandbox/BackToThePilot Rollercoaster: The Musical]]," when significant secondary character Buford van Stomm cuts them off as they're about to [[TheStationsOfTheCanon tear down the flier Candace is getting ready to show her mom in hopes of scoring a free ride]]:

* In the first act of ''Critic's Choice'' by Creator/IraLevin, Parker Ballantine caustically ruminates on amatur-written plays "all beginning with the maid answering the telephone and subtly delivering information." The second act begins with the Ballantines' hitherto unseen maid, Essie, doing precisely that for a caller who hangs up before identifying herself. Essie then walks out the door and the play: as the stage direction notes, "that's the last we see of Essie until the {{curtain call}}s."

* In the first act of ''Caustic Critic'' Parker Ballantine caustically ruminates on amatur-written plays "all beginning with the maid answering the telephone and subtly delivering information." The second act begins with the Ballantines' hitherto unseen maid, Essie, doing precisely that for a caller who hangs up before identifying herself. Essie then walks out the door and the play: as the stage direction notes, "that's the last we see of Essie until the {{curtain call}}s."

** Half Life: Barney the guard pops up to deliver a message or herald Gordon a few times. Sometimes you can recruit him to do something, and once he manages to become the AlmostDeadGuy just before Gordon is ambushed too.
** Half Life 2: A woman is in a culvert as Freeman goes by, she says she's going to stay there to keep the underground railroad open a while longer, and tells him to keep going.
** Half-Life: Alyx: Olga[[note]]Only named in the credits[[/note]] is there at the start of the game to inform Alyx that the combine are reacting more strongly against Eli's theft than they normally would. On a meta level, the developers put Olga there to ensure that players understood that they were playing as Alyx, as well as reinforce that Alyx will be responding verbally to her surroundings, unlike Gordon.