History Main / ThreePlusTwo

* Some shows in the ''SuperSentai'' / ''PowerRangers'' franchise have started with three rangers instead of [[FiveManBand the usual team of five]]. The starting trio (usually composed of Red, Blue and Yellow) is joined mid-series by at least two [[SixthRanger extra rangers]] of varying colors. [[OlderThanTheyThink This was done once before Power Rangers]] in the 1988 Super Sentai show, ''ChoujuuSentaiLiveman'', where the original trio of Red Falcon, Yellow Lion and Blue Dolphin were joined by Black Bison and Green Sai in Episode 30, but it didn't became a common practice until later installments during the [=2000s=] era.

* Some shows in the ''SuperSentai'' / ''PowerRangers'' franchise have started with three rangers instead of [[FiveManBand the usual team of five]]. The starting trio (usually composed of Red, Blue and Yellow) is joined mid-series by at least two [[SixthRanger extra rangers]] of varying colors. [[OlderThanTheyThink This was done once before Power Rangers]] in the 1988 Super Sentai show, ''ChoujuuSentaiLiveman'', where the original trio of Red Falcon, Yellow Lion and Blue Dolphin were joined by Black Bison and Green Sai in Episode 30, but it didn't became a common practice until later installments during the [=2000s=].

** ''[[EngineSentaiGoonger Go-onger]]''/''[[PowerRangersRPM RPM]]'': The original trio were joined by two pairs of extra rangers, Black & Green and then Gold & Silver.

* Common in recent seasons of ''SuperSentai'' / ''PowerRangers'':
** ''[[PowerRangersNinjaStorm Ninja Storm]]'': The three Wind Ninjas form the core trio, with the Thunder Ninjas (brothers from a rival academy) joining later as [[SixthRanger fourth and fifth]]. An additional SixthRanger (the son of the Wind Academy sensei) was added later.
** ''[[PowerRangersDinoThunder Dino Thunder]]'': Conner, Ethan, and Kira form the core trio, with Dr. O joining later as the OlderAndWiser (relatively) OldMaster, and eventually Trent after his HeelFaceTurn joins in a SixthRanger role, despite technically being fifth.
** ''[[PowerRangersJungleFury Jungle Fury]]'': The core trio is three Pai Zhua students, one of whom is the NaiveNewcomer. The fourth and fifth rangers are two older Pai Zhua practitioners, a young master and one of his contemporaries.
** ''[[PowerRangersRPM RPM]]'': Scott, Summer, and Flynn were joined by Dillon and then Ziggy. In something of a subversion, the newer Rangers received more focus than the originals. Dillon appears to be both TheLancer and TheBigGuy. They later get {{Sixth Ranger}}s in the form of Gold and Silver rangers Gem and Gemma.
* [[OlderThanTheyThink And even before those]] ''[[OlderThanTheyThink Power Rangers]]'' [[OlderThanTheyThink shows]], 1988's ''SuperSentai'' called ''ChoujuuSentaiLiveman'' has this trope -- Yusuke the Red Falcon, Jou the Yellow Lion and Megumi the Blue Dolphin were the first members. They are then joined by Tetsuya the Black Bison and Junichi the Green Rhino. Although it should be noted that the extra members are the younger siblings of two fallen friends to the original members.

Common subtype of the FiveManBand composed by starting with a PowerTrio and adding some form of duo or a pair of [[SixthRanger Sixth Rangers]]. While the five characters [[CastCalculus will generally still fit]] into some variation on the FiveManBand archetypes, three of the characters will get decidedly more play.

* ''[=~Avatar: The Last Airbender~=]'' starts with [[TheHero Aang]], [[TheSmartGuy Sokka]] and [[TheChick Katara]], and later picks up [[TheBigGuy Toph]] and [[TheLancer Zuko]] to complete the band. Suki joins the main cast as a full member near the end.

* OlderThanDirt: The Pandavas in the ''Mahabaratha'' were the three sons of Kunti (Yudhisthira, Arjuna and Bhima) plus the twin sons of Madri (Nakula and Sahadeva).

* The Fellowship from [[TheLordoftheRings The Lord of the Rings]] comes across as a five plus two, with Merry and Pippin more or less along for the ride.

* ''KyouKaraMaoh'' has [[FreudianTrio Yuri, Wolfram and Conrad]], who have a much closer bond and spend more time together than with the other members of the FiveManBand. When the FiveManBand breaks up, the most often configuration is the trio going off on a mini-adventure, while Gwendal and Gunter man the castle.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Centurions}}'' , the core trio of Max Ray, Jake Rockwell and Ace [=McCloud=] is joined by {{Sixth Ranger}}s Rex Charger and John Thunder in later episodes. However, this MerchandiseDriven variation of the trope has less to do with character dynamics than the toy company's desire to add new heroes to the action figure line.

* In ''TheCenturions'', the core trio of Max Ray, Jake Rockwell and Ace [=McCloud=] is joined by Rex Charger and John Thunder in later episodes. However, this MerchandiseDriven variation of the trope has less to do with character dynamics than the toy company's desire to add new heroes to the action figure line.

* ''{{Disgaea}}'': In the latter half of the game, with a case of Three Plus ''Three'', as the Defenders of Earth show up and join the party.

** But Ein came before Faye
** True, but Ein isn't nearly as important a character, being a TeamPet who rarely affects the plot.

* ''FreshPrettyCure!'' is currently a Three Plus One show, and, thanks to this, fan theories have spread like wildfire as to whether there will be a fifth.
** [[spoiler: It now becomes Four Plus Two, because of Westar and Soular's HeelFaceTurn.]]

* ''[=~Avatar: The Last Airbender~=]'' starts with [[TheHero Aang]], [[TheSmartGuy Sokka]] and [[TheChick Katara]], and eventually picked up [[TheBigGuy Toph]] and [[TheLancer Zuko]] to complete the band.
** Don't forget Suki near the end!

* ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds}}'' follows three plus two, then added a third to the main cast. In the beginning it was Yuusei, Jack and Aki, with the two being the twins Rua and Ruka. Later on, after Crow was introduced, it became Yuusei-Jack-Crow, with Rua-Ruka-Aki serving as their own trio.

* ''{{Disgaea}}'' does this twice. It initially does this with EliteMooks [[DefeatMeansFriendship Hoggmeiser and Maderas]], but most players quickly realize that neither of them get ''[[BrotherChuck any dialogue or involvement in the story at all]]'' after they're recruited into the party. It finally happens proper in the latter half of the game, with a case of Three Plus ''Three'', as the Defenders of Earth show up and join the party.

* Common in recent seasons of ''PowerRangers'':

* Common in recent seasons of ''PowerRangers''. Since its introduction, only two seasons (''[[PowerRangersMysticForce Mystic Force]]'' and ''[[PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Operation Overdrive]]'') have used the traditional setup:
** ''[[PowerRangersNinjaStorm Ninja Storm]]'': The three Wind Ninjas form the core trio, with the Thunder Ninjas joining later as [[SixthRanger fourth and fifth]]. An additional SixthRanger was added later.

** ''[[PowerRangersSPD SPD]]'': Sky, Syd, and Bridge, the three B-squad cadets, are joined by a pair of petty criminals their boss took a shine to for reasons that only become clear later in the series. Since this meant Sky got passed over for the lead role, he spends most of the series resentful. They later get a myriad of [[SixthRanger additional rangers]] added to this core team+2, such as Shadow ranger Doggy Kruger, Omega Ranger, and the [[GuestStarPartyMember guest star rangers]] Kat and [[spoiler: Nova]].

** ''[[PowerRangersRPM RPM]]'': Scott, Summer, and Flynn were joined by Dillon and then Ziggy. In something of a subversion, the newer Rangers received more focus than the originals. Dillon appears to be both TheLancer and TheBigGuy. They later get {{Sixth Ranger}}s in the form of Gold and Silver rangers Gen and Gemma.

* Seasons 5 through 7 of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' could be argued as an example of this, with Buffy as TheHero, Xander as TheChick, Willow as TheLancer, Giles as TheSmartGuy, and Spike as TheBigGuy... but it's a stretch, and it doesn't extend to the earlier seasons. Buffy just isn't a good fit for the FiveManBand; it's better described as "Three Plus Some Other Characters."

* ''{{Firefly}}'s'' Mal (TheHero), Zoe (TheLancer), and Jayne (TheBigGuy) are the action leads while Wash and Kaylee man the ship.

** ''[[PowerRangersRPM RPM]]'': Scott, Summer, and Flynn were joined by Dillon and then Ziggy. In something of a subversion, the newer Rangers have received more focus than the originals thus far. Dillon appears to be both TheLancer and TheBigGuy. They later get SixthRangers in the form of Gold and Silver rangers Gen and Gemma.