History Main / ThreePlusTwo

* ''{{Charmed}}'' was like this in the middle of its run, with the main power trio functioning as TheHero, TheLancer, and TheChick, going in birth order, while Leo and Cole were TheSmartGuy and TheBigGuy respectively.

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When the core trio works for HeroesRUs, the setup will often involve the trio's higher-ups assigning two new members to a long-standing team because they have somehow overlooked the fac*t that this would cause serious friction. The band may alternatively be formed by the core trio absorbing another group, either rivals with a common goal or enemies making a HeelFaceTurn.

%%** The main trio in ''TokumeiSentaiGobusters'' are scheduled to be joined by Beet Buster and Stag Buster in the future, a pair of beetle-themed extra warriors much like the Gouraigers from ''Hurricaneger''. Stag Buster is actually Beet Buster's robotic partner, who carries Beet's armor over his own when Beet is untransformed.

** TokumeiSentaiGobusters three person team will later be joined by Beetbuster and his buddyroid who will transform into Stagbuster.

* ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' 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.
* In ''{{Beast Wars}}'' Optimus, Rattrap and Rhinox are the core trio, the leader and his two lieutenants (acting as the Kirk, The [=McCoy=] and the Spock, respectively). The three of them are in on all the secrets and will be trusted with things the others aren't. When Optimus is gone, leadership will generally be handled jointly by the two of them. Cheetor and Dinobot are the other two, Cheetor is trusted but because of his youth and inexperience he's still on the outside and is not involved in any decisions. Dinobot can't always be trusted because of his Predacon heritage and tendency to do some decidedly un-Maximal things and is thus also kept at a distance. There's a revolving door of "outsider" Maximals, but the three "insiders" remain Optimus, Rattrap and Rhinox for the whole run.

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

* DragonAge starts you out with [[BlackMagicianGirl Morrigan]] (TheSmartGuy and TheLancer, and the Superego), Alistair (TheLancer and TheChick, and the Id), and the [[PlayerCharacter Warden]] (TheHero and the Ego); then adds [[JeanneDArchetype Leliana]] (much more of TheChick) and Sten (TheBigGuy) in the first town. You get even more characters later, but Alistair, Morrigan and the Warden are always the most important party members to the story, [[spoiler:at least until you can recruit Loghain]].

When the core trio works for HeroesRUs, the setup will often involve the trio's higher-ups assigning two new members to a long-standing team because they have somehow overlooked the fact that this would cause serious friction. The band may alternatively be formed by the core trio absorbing another group, either rivals with a common goal or enemies making a HeelFaceTurn.

* DragonAge starts you out with [[BlackMagicianGirl Morrigan]] (TheSmartGuy and TheLancer, and the Superego), Alistair (TheLancer and TheChick, and the Id), and the [[PlayerCharacter Warden]] (TheHero and the Ego); then adds [[JeanneDArchetype Leliana]] (much more of TheChick) and Sten (TheBigGuy) in the first town. You do get more characters later, though.

* ''A Posteriori'', we can view ''{{Torchwood}}'' as fitting this trope.

** Although ''[[TaiyouSentaiSunVulcan Sun Vulcan]]'' was the first Sentai show to start with three members, unlike ''Liveman'' (or the earlier ''[[JAKQDengekitai J.A.K.Q.]]'' for that matter), there were no additional members that added up to five members; the team remained a trio throughout the show's entire run.

* ''KyoKaraMaoh'' 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.

** Although [[TaiyouSentaiSunVulcan Sun Vulcan]]'' was the first Sentai show to start with three members, unlike ''Liveman'' (or the earlier ''[[JAKQDengekitai J.A.K.Q.]]'' for that matter), there were no additional members that added up to five members; the team remained a trio throughout the show's entire run.

* 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.

* For the first half of ''Remote Man'', the main characters are Ned, his cousin Kate and his best friend Rocky. Their investigation leads them to make two further contacts, Cleverton from Jamaica and Yvette from France, thus cementing the FiveManBand. Worth noting that, Ned and Rocky excepted, person-to-person contact between them is minimal - Ned spends a few weeks with Kate in Wakwak at the beginning, and she joins him and Rocky in Concord at the climax, but otherwise most of their communication is via chatrooms.

** Before ''Power Rangers'', [[OlderThanTheyThink this was done once]] in the 1988 ''Super Sentai'' installment ''[[ChoujuuSentaiLiveman Liveman]]'', where the original heroes of Red Falcon, Yellow Lion and Blue Dolphin were joined by Black Bison and Green Sai in Episode 30. This practice wouldn't be repeated until later shows during the [=2000s=].

** ''[[EngineSentaiGoonger Go-onger]]''/''[[PowerRangersRPM RPM]]'': The original trio were joined by not one, but two pairs of extra rangers: Black & Green and Gold & Silver.

* Some shows in the ''SuperSentai'' / ''PowerRangers'' franchise have started with three rangers instead of [[FiveManBand the usual team of five]], usually a trio composed of Red, Blue and Yellow, who are then joined mid-series by at least two [[SixthRanger extra rangers]] (whose colors vary between shows). Before ''Power Rangers'', [[OlderThanTheyThink this was done only once]] in the 1988 ''Super Sentai'' installment ''ChoujuuSentaiLiveman'', where the original heroes of Red Falcon, Yellow Lion and Blue Dolphin were joined by Black Bison and Green Sai in Episode 30. This practice would later become a trend in nearly half of the [=2000s=] installments.

* Some shows in the ''SuperSentai'' / ''PowerRangers'' franchise have started with three rangers instead of [[FiveManBand the usual team of five]], usually a trio composed of Red, Blue and Yellow, who are then joined mid-series by at least two [[SixthRanger extra rangers]] (whose colors vary between shows). Before ''Power Rangers'', [[OlderThanTheyThink this was done first]] in the 1988 ''Super Sentai'' installment ''ChoujuuSentaiLiveman'', where the original heroes of Red Falcon, Yellow Lion and Blue Dolphin were joined by Black Bison and Green Sai in Episode 30. However, this practice wasn't repeated again until it became a trend in nearly half of the [=2000s=] installments.

** ''[[NinpuuSentaiHurricaneger Hurricaneger]]''/''[[PowerRangersNinjaStorm Ninja Storm]]'': The Hurricanegers/Wind Ninjas form the main trio, with the Gouraigers/Thunder Ninjas (two brothers from a rival academy) joining later to form a team of five. An actual sixth ranger was later introduced in the form of Shurikenger/Samurai Star Ranger.

* Some shows in the ''SuperSentai'' / ''PowerRangers'' franchise have started with three rangers instead of [[FiveManBand the usual team of five]] (usually a trio composed of Red, Blue and Yellow), who are then joined mid-series by at least two [[SixthRanger extra rangers]] (whose colors vary between shows). Before ''Power Rangers'', [[OlderThanTheyThink this was done first]] in the 1988 ''Super Sentai'' installment ''ChoujuuSentaiLiveman'', where the original heroes of Red Falcon, Yellow Lion and Blue Dolphin were joined by Black Bison and Green Sai in Episode 30. However, this practice wasn't repeated again until it became a trend in nearly half of the [=2000s=] installments.

* Some shows in the ''SuperSentai'' / ''PowerRangers'' franchise have started with three rangers instead of [[FiveManBand the usual team of five]] (usually composed of Red, Blue and Yellow), who are then joined mid-series by at least two [[SixthRanger extra rangers]] (whose colors vary between shows). [[OlderThanTheyThink This was done once before Power Rangers]] in the 1988 Super Sentai installment ''ChoujuuSentaiLiveman'', where the original heroes of Red Falcon, Yellow Lion and Blue Dolphin were joined by Black Bison and Green Sai in Episode 30. However, the practice wasn't repeated again until later installments during the [=2000s=] era.

** ''[[JuukenSentaiGekiranger Gekiranger]]''/''[[PowerRangersJungleFury Jungle Fury]]'': The core trio, who are martial arts students, are joined by two masters named Geki Violent/Wolf Ranger and Geki Chopper/Rhino Ranger.

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