History SixthRanger / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' has two MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers who join the party in the game's second act, well after everyone else; Halsin the druid in good/neutral runs, Minthara the Drow paladin [[TokenEvilTeammate for evil]]. [[spoiler:Good-aligned players can also recruit [[LegendaryInTheSequel Jaheira and Minsc]] in Act III.]]

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' has two MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers who join the party in the game's second act, well after everyone else; Halsin the druid in good/neutral runs, Minthara the Drow paladin for evil.

** On the ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngelII'' trilogy, Princess Natsume Izayoi starts off as an enemy due to being manipulated by the three Marquis, but she later joins the Rune Angel Wing.

** ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' ratchets the party size up to four from the starting two over the course of the opening act, then adds a fifth member almost immediately after the prologue concludes and a sixth about a third of the way through the game who acts as the [[SupportingProtagonist functional main character]] due to being massively important to the entire rest of the plot. A seventh member gets added slightly past the three-quarters mark to provide the rest of the characters with a GlobalAirship, followed immediately by an eighth [[FlatCharacter who never says or contributes anything of note after her introduction]] and seemingly joins just so there will be two characters of each element.

* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' has Vhailor, TheBigGuy (with a serious case of BlackAndWhiteInsanity) who can only be recruited after making significant progress through the main questline. Recruiting him is a GuideDangIt because while convincing him to join you is simple enough, if you have a full party when you meet him, either him or one of your other companions will be left behind in an area you can't return to and LostForever.

* ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'': Chitose Karasuma is of the allied type, as she joins the Moon Angel Wing (already with five members) at the start of the second game, ''Moonlit Lovers''. On the ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngelII'' trilogy, Princess Natsume Izayoi starts off as an enemy due to being manipulated by the three Marquis, but she later joins the Rune Angel Wing.

%%* Chitose and Natsume in ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'', especially the games.

** ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce 3'': Ace is a mysterious, super-talented Wave Battler who frequently crosses paths with Geo's FiveManBand (while privately revealing that [[SecretKeeper he's privy to both Geo and Sonia's secret identities]]) in the early portions of the game. Surprisingly, he plays with the formula a little: Instead of being invited onto the protagonists' team, he invites the protagonists onto his – which happens to be the resident international peacekeeping organization.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' has this in Proto Man, who first appeared in ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' as a recurring miniboss. The end of the game reveals that he was the first of Dr. Light and Dr. Wily's Robot Master series and, consequently, Mega Man's older brother. From that point on Proto Man would become a mainstay in the ''Classic'' series, even being PromotedToPlayable in ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'' and ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan10 10]]''.
** Ace in ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce 3'' also qualifies. Mysterious, super-talented Wave Battler who frequently crosses paths with Geo's FiveManBand (while privately revealing that [[SecretKeeper he's privy to both Geo and Sonia's secret identities]]) in the early portions of the game? Check, check, and check. Surprisingly, he plays with the formula a little: Instead of being invited onto the protagonists' team, he invites the protagonists onto his – which happens to be the resident international peacekeeping organization.

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' gives you the option of finishing off [[DiscOneFinalBoss Magus]] shortly after you learn his backstory and reach the game's DarkestHour. Should you spare him, he joins the party, albeit [[RedemptionDemotion significantly less powerful]] than when you fought him before. Magus very much has an "odd man out" feel to him in other ways as well - he has no two-person {{Combination Attack}}s, and can only use Triple Techs by finding and equipping special items. [[ReformedButNotTamed And don't expect him to apologize for trying to kill you earlier.]]

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' has Chester, Cress' best friend, and he's an interesting example because he's not introduced as a sixth ranger, but he ends up as one. He starts the game as TheLancer to Cress, but [[PutOnABus you lose him early on]] because [[spoiler:he wasn't caught in the time travel spell]]. By the time he can finally rejoin, Cress already got a full party and they all got stronger from the adventure up to that point, while Chester is exactly the same as when you lost him (it's justified since [[spoiler:you time travel ''back'' to seconds after the moment you left him, in order to save him from Dhaos]]). But if the player makes him catch up to the party's level, [[MagikarpPower he gets as strong as the rest and is legitimately useful on his own merits]]. This is especially true in later versions of the game, which give him unique moves and add a few optional cutscenes where he does some LevelGrinding on his own to try closing the gap.
** Sheena, in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia''; her joining the party (formerly a FiveManBand) marks the point at which the plot begins to twist. The OptionalPartyMember added to the earlier PSX remake of ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' was ''Fujibayashi'' Sheena's [[{{Fanon}} possible descendant]], Fujibayashi Suzu.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', Asch fits this role perfectly: he's a powerful antihero with ambiguous motives who [[GuestStarPartyMember joins the party for a while]] (and is [[CrutchCharacter much more powerful]] than the person he replaces). Later you get a second chance to recruit him into the party, only this time he's way ''behind'' the power curve, due to being stuck with the same equipment he had twenty levels ago. This is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d with the Abyss Rangers costumes you can acquire: Asch becomes "Abyss Silver", a typical Sixth Ranger colour in ''Franchise/SuperSentai''.
* Sheena, in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia''; her joining the party (formerly a FiveManBand) marks the point at which the plot begins to twist. The Sixth Ranger added to the earlier PSX remake of ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' was ''Fujibayashi'' Sheena's [[{{Fanon}} possible descendant]], Fujibayashi Suzu.

** ''Videogame/Persona5'' has Goro Akechi, who like Naoto is a detective who is the final character to join the party. He only does so briefly [[spoiler:and leaves after the protagonist is arrested]]. In the game's UpdatedRerelease ''Persona 5 Royal'', he comes back during the third-term events provided the player has done the necessary steps to obtain the True Ending.
* Most veteran players in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' will have one 'mon in their six-slot party learn nothing but Hidden Machine moves, which are needed to get through various environmental obstacles. The reason why these moves are given to one Pokémon is because they cannot be replaced by newly learned moves, and typically range from mediocre to useless in battles. As a result, trainers will end up with a [[{{Pun}} Five Mon Band]] for matches and a utility knife who will never see the next level-up. In such cases, the player will usually pull out and raise a brand new replacement 'mon for the HM slave (usually a late-game catch, such as a plot Legendary or the Red Gyarados) so as to have a full team for the Elite Four and Champion. This is an interesting case, as it was the player, not the plot, that added the Sixth Ranger to the team.

** Many legendary trios have a Fourth Ranger; in addition to the above cases,[[note]]though Ho-oh is usually counted among the three beasts of ''Videogame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'',[[/note]] the Golem Trio has Regigigas from Gen IV and Regieleki and Regidrago from Gen VIII, the Creation Trio has Arceus, and the Forces of Nature have Enamorus from [[VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus Legends: Arceus]].

** Many legendary trios have a Fourth Ranger; in addition to the above cases,[[note]]though Ho-oh is usually counted among the three beasts of ''Videogame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'',[[/note]] the Golem Trio has Regigigas from Gen IV and Regieleki and Regidrago from Gen VIII, and the Creation Trio has Arceus.

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'': You'll recruit one Merchant late in the game because you will need them for one quest, but you won't want to use your own character for it.

* Sheena, in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia''; her joining the party (formerly a FiveManBand) marks the point at which the plot begins to twist. The Sixth Ranger added to the earlier PSX remake of ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' was ''Fujibayashi'' Sheena's [[{{Fanon}} possible descendant]], Fujibayashi Suzu.