History Main / WatchedItForTheRepresentation

* ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' gained a surplus in Black fans largely due to Marina Ida, one of the major characters in [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the second game]], being a black Octoling. This continued when the character returned in ''VideoGame/Splatoon3: Side Order'', with the added bonus of the franchise's existing LGBTFanbase being delighted by both the character's greatly increased ShipTease with Pearl (all but confirming them as an interracial lesbian couple) and the ([[AscendedExtra proper]]) introduction of Acht (aka DJ [=Dedf1sh=]), an Octoling who uses they/them pronouns and is implied to be non-binary.

* ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' gained a surplus in Black fans largely due to Marina Ida, one of the major characters in [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 the second game]], being a black Octoling. This continued when the character returned in ''VideoGame/Splatoon3: Side Order'', with the added bonus of the franchise's LGBTFanbase being delighted by both the character's greatly increased ShipTease with Pearl (all but confirming them as an interracial lesbian couple) and the ([[AscendedExtra proper]]) introduction of Acht (aka DJ Dedf1sh), an Octoling who uses they/them pronouns and is implied to be non-binary.

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' gained a surplus in Black audiences largely due to one of its major characters, Marina Ida, being black, along with being some of the few instances a Black character in a video game, much less a female one, gained [[FountainOfMemes mass popularity]] amongst the gaming community.

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' gained a surplus in Black audiences largely due to one of its major characters, Marina Ida, being black, along with being some of the few instances a Black character in a video game gained mass popularity amongst the gaming community.

* "Series/EverythingsGonnaBeOkay": This was the first show where an openly autistic actress played an autistic lead character. Autistic people streamed this and recommended it in droves as it was the very first time many of them had seen any sort of accurate, positive representation whatsoever! And the character in question was an autistic woman, who are less visible in the stereotypical depiction of autism.

* ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' already had a large LGBTFanbase around Shiro thanks to his good looks, likeable personality, and [[PlatonicWritingRomanticReading what many saw as]] romantic subtext with Keith, but once it was revealed that he was canonically gay in later seasons, his popularity exploded. Unfortunately, that same LGBT fanbase vanished as the show neared its end, due to backlash against his character arc which, among many other unpopular decisions, saw him DemotedToExtra immediately after the reveal. The show culminating in him marrying a random background extra, rather than anyone he actually knew or had chemistry with, was also heavily criticized by gay fans.
** The show also had a sizeable share of ace and aro fans and fan-content creators who read Pidge, and sometimes Keith, as asexual, aromantic, or both. Helped by the fact that Pidge's voice actor [[ApprovalOfGod supported the headcanon]] of Pidge being aroace, and that neither Pidge nor Keith were given any love interest or romantic arc throughout the show's eight-season run.

* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' surged in popularity within asexual communities once main character Todd was revealed to be asexual and went through his ComingOutStory; for the majority of viewers, this was the very first time they had ever seen a canonically asexual character in the media.

* ''Series/ColdCase'': Not necessarily the show itself, but several individual episodes. Most notably ''[=WASP=]" and "Factory Girls", which have a lot of fans due to their portrayal of women in historically accurate UsefulNotes/WorldWarII support roles.

** ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'': Besides the fact it was a female-lead team book and, ostensibly, the main character was ComicBook/BlackCanary, but deuteragonist Barbara Gordon, the former ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} and then-current ComicBook/{{Oracle}}, was a huge draw in large part because she was a rare example of wheelchair-using characters in comic books who actually got character focus and development.

** ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' got a lot of attention for featuring the franchise's first homosexual characters Paul Stamets and Hugh Culber, played by real-life gay actors Creator/AnthonyRapp and Creator/WilsonCruz, although unfortunately this got them in some hot water when Culber was temporarily killed, and the huge backlash forced them to spoil that he'd be coming back and the story wasn't just BuryYourGays. Jett Reno, a lesbian mechanic, was introduced in a supporting role as well. In Season 3, this increased with the introduction of non-binary Adira Tal, played by actual NB actor Blu del Bario, complete with a storyline of becoming comfortable enough to come out to the rest of the crew. Further, their deceased [[spoiler:(initially)]] partner Gray Tal was a trans man. All were also played by actors [[QueerCharacterQueerActor of the same gender or orientation]].

* ''Film/LoveSimon'' became a major movie for those of the LGBT community because of having a closeted, gay teen in main character role without stereotyping him and giving the protagonist a love interest.

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' gained a surplus in Black female audiences largely because one of the main characters, Marina Ida, was a Black female, along with being some of the few unambiguously Black female characters to ever gain mass popularity in many video game circles, much less be featured as a major character in a popular game franchise like this.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes''[='=] focus on a Hispanic family that was first fully established in the main show, but was hardly used as a whole aside from specific members, made the franchise in general gain a following from the Hispanic community. CJ's status as a person with Down Syndrome also dragged in some members of the disabled community.

** Many people picked up the 2012-onward ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'' runs because they co-headlined Clint Barton (which emphasized Hawkeye's deafness) and his LegacyCharacter protege, Kate Bishop, with the 2016 run particularly focusing entirely on Kate).

** ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Howard and Harold [=McBride=], the fathers of Lincoln Loud's best friend Clyde, were the first LGBT couple on a Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} show since the ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' (on top of being an interracial one), which made the show gain a decent number of viewers from the LGBT community. The biggest representation-based jump the show had, however, was the establishment of Lincoln's sister Luna being LGBT in "L is for Love", to the point that her crush in the episode, Sam Sharp, was the one among the multiple crushes who got the most subsequent development, both individually and as a full-fledged couple with Luna, with Luna and Sam becoming one of the most popular couples among both fans of the show and Nick in general for a good while.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Howard and Harold [=McBride=], the parents of Lincoln Loud's best friend Clyde, were the first LGBT couple on a Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} show since the ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' (on top of being an interracial one), which made the show gain a decent number of viewers from the LGBT community. The biggest representation-based jump the show had, however, was the establishment of Luna being LGBT in "L is for Love", to the point that her crush in the episode, Sam Sharp, was the one among the multiple crushes who got the most subsequent development, both individually and as a full-fledged couple with Luna, with Luna and Sam becoming one of the most popular couples among both fans of the show and Nick in general for a good while.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': With a cast of mostly female leads, it was no surprise one of them (Luna) eventually got a canon girlfriend. Clyde, Lincoln's Black friend, is also the adopted son of an interracial gay male couple. Both have been well-received by their communities.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'' gained a following from the Hispanic community and also the disabled community for one of the family members having Down Syndrome.

A SubTrope of JustHereForGodzilla, which covers any peripheral element of a work that many people come in to see. Non-main minority characters whose portrayals are praised might also be {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s. Compare LGBTFanbase, the PeripheryDemographic of fans who consume something regardless of any LGBT content, and GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff for cases where a foreign country likes a work (perhaps because it portrays ''their'' country well). Compare and contrast MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales, where a culture likes a caricature of them against all odds. Contrast MinorityShowGhetto, GirlShowGhetto, and QueerShowGhetto, the notion that minorities/women/LGBT characters will only be popular among those demographics.

A SubTrope of JustHereForGodzilla, which covers any peripheral element of a work that people come in to see. Non-main minority characters whose portrayals are praised might also be {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s. Compare LGBTFanbase, the PeripheryDemographic of fans who consume something regardless of any LGBT content, and GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff for cases where a foreign country likes a work (perhaps because it portrays ''their'' country well). Compare and contrast MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales, where a culture likes a caricature of them against all odds. Contrast MinorityShowGhetto, GirlShowGhetto, and QueerShowGhetto, the notion that minorities/women/LGBT characters will only be popular among those demographics.

Subtrope of JustHereForGodzilla, which covers any peripheral element of a work that fans come in to see. Non-main minority characters whose portrayals are praised might also be {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s. Compare LGBTFanbase, the PeripheryDemographic of fans who consume something regardless of any LGBT content, and GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff for cases where a foreign country likes a work (perhaps because it portrays ''their'' country well). Compare and contrast MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales, where a culture likes a caricature of them against all odds. Contrast MinorityShowGhetto, GirlShowGhetto, and QueerShowGhetto, the notion that minorities/women/LGBT characters will only be popular among those demographics.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': With a cast of mostly female leads, it was no surprise one of them (Luna) eventually got a canon girlfriend. Clyde, Lincoln's Black friend, was also the adopted son of an interracial gay male couple. Both have been well-received by their communities.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'' gained a following from the Hispanic community and also the disabled community for one of the family members having Down Syndrome.

Representation undoubtedly drives viewership and these works are proof of this -- fans turned out to see these works in part ''because'' of the representation (of women, racial or religious minorities, a disability, or gender or sexual orientations) they provided.

Subtrope of JustHereForGodzilla, which covers any peripheral element of a work that fans come in to see. Non-main minority characters whose portrayals are praised might also be {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s. Compare LGBTFanbase, the PeripheryDemographic of fans who consume something regardless of any LGBT content, and GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff for cases where a foreign country likes a work (perhaps because it portrays ''their'' country well). Compare and contrast MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales, where a culture likes a caricature of them against all odds. Contrast MinorityShowGhetto, GirlShowGhetto, and QueerShowGhetto, the notion that minorities/women/LGBT characters will only be popular among those demographics.

* ''Film/Ghostbusters2016'' attracted a large female audience, including those new to the franchise, who were interested in seeing an [[GenderFlip all-female Ghostbusters team]].

* ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'' had the draw of being one of the first major female-led superhero films in over a decade, the first in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, and the first major film about ComicBook/WonderWoman, who had long been positioned as a feminist icon. Women responded positively -- over [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/wonder-woman-box-office-ranks-superhero-pantheon-1010063/ half of the viewing audience in the United States was female]][[note]]the average superhero movie's audience is around 60% male[[/note]].

* ''Film/TheGodfather''. While it was instantly recognized as a classic by most, for Italian-Americans it was an especially pivotal film. Creator/{{Paramount}} went out of its way to hire Creator/FrancisFordCoppola to direct and co-write the film and a great many actors of Italian descent to play the Italian characters, knowing the long history that gangster movies had of relying on [[SpaghettiAndGondolas ethnic stereotypes]] in depictions of TheMafia. While the film was initially met with protests from Italian-American civil rights groups due to its subject matter, most of the community embraced the film for how it bucked lingering stereotypes of Italians as dimwitted thugs and instead portrayed its VillainProtagonist Michael Corleone as a ManOfWealthAndTaste, and in the long run, it heralded a sea change not just in how Italians were depicted in Hollywood cinema but also in the integration of the Italian-American community.

* ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' had the draw of being one of the first major female-led superhero films in over a decade, the first in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, and the first major film about ComicBook/WonderWoman, who had long been positioned as a feminist icon. Women responded positively -- over [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/wonder-woman-box-office-ranks-superhero-pantheon-1010063/ half of the viewing audience in the United States was female]][[note]]the average superhero movie's audience is around 60% male[[/note]].

*** Like the comic, the show has been praised by Muslims and Pakistani-Americans for portraying Kamala Khan's faith, family, and community in a mundane manner rather than villainizing or exoticizing them. We see Kamala's home life and how both of her parents are Pakistani immigrants whose families were affected by the Partition, as well as her brother Aamir's wedding, her friend Nakia's decision to wear hijab, and even mosque politics when Nakia runs for the mosque board to address issues with the women's side (poor maintanance, shoes going missing, etc.).