Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Breakout Character / Live-Action TV

Go To

Breakout Character examples in Live-Action TV.

As this applies to the character, not the performer, Reality Show contestants are a special case. Many of these shows deliberately mix reality with fiction, creating a narrative and presenting contestants as characters. A contestant who gets a much larger role within the franchise for non-gameplay reasons may still qualify as a Breakout Character. A performer whose reality show appearance boosts their wider media career wouldn't qualify.

Example Subpages:

  • 24
    • Chloe is a unique example, as when she was originally introduced the fans initially hated her, finding her sarcastic streak that she used to put down her co-workers annoying. One season later and her personality was reworked a bit, making her much more sympathetic while also keeping her deadpan wit from before, but this time around having it focus on characters that deserved it. This new portrayal of her was much more well received, so much that she won enough popularity to return midway through the fourth season after initially being written out of it early on. Then the moment of truth came where she wound up getting attacked and fighting the attacker off with an M16, which quickly cemented her as a fan favorite. She quickly wound up becoming the second most important character on the show after Jack, so much that she was the first non-Jack character confirmed to return for the sequel mini-series.
    • While Tony was on the show from the very beginning he was originally just a recurring character. As the first season progressed and Tony went through some Character Development that made him go from being Jack's rival to friend, he quickly ended up becoming a hit with the audiences, so by the time the second season rolled he was quickly promoted to the main cast and ended up becoming the second "main" character after Jack. Attempts at trying to write him out of the series always ended up failing, to the point that when he was controversially killed off in the fifth season, the fan outcry was so high that his death was later undone. Even after he finally made a permanent exit at the end of the show's seventh season, the demand for his return led him to make a return appearance in a short feature on the home release of said sequel mini-series, which eventually lead to the later confirmation that Tony would be returning in the sequel/soft reboot show 24: Legacy to help link it to the original series that would otherwise feature a completely brand new cast.
  • 30 Rock gave us Kenneth "the Page" Ellen Parcell. Jack McBrayer was essentially an unknown actor and this role solidified his career. Kenneth even made a few crossover appearances during the show's run on both Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
  • All My Children: Erica Kane is practically the definition of this trope, played by Susan Lucci, Erica started out as little more than Pine Valley's teenage Lovable Alpha Bitch recurring antagonistic foil to the show's classic soap heroine Tara, but over time her character proved so successful and popular combined with her larger than life personality, she quickly became the show's leading lady and the overall central character, and the only one to last the entire 41 year run, as well as the most iconic and famous character in the history of daytime television.
  • Are You Being Served?: The original concept was originally to have Mr. Lucas and Miss Brahms as the leads, being the younger and more "normal" characters. However, the more flamboyant Mrs. Slocombe and Mr. Humphries stole the spotlight.
  • Emma Peel as played by Diana Rigg from the British Espionage Spy Fiction The Avengers, is so iconic and integral to the shows legacy and popularity, that people ofter forget that Steed had both a previous, Cathy Gale, and a later, Tara King, partner that most adaptations since then default to her as Steed's co-agent, given in many ways she's even more iconic than him.
  • Christine of Baskets. Originally focusing on failed French clown Chip, Louie Anderson's performance as Christine stole the show from the word go. Christine after Season 1 is basically the main character, with Chip in a more supporting role.
  • Battlestar Galactica (2003): After the producers were stunned by how amazingly well Tricia Helfernote  played the role of Number Six, "Head Six" was added to the cast as The Conscience for Gaius Baltar to let Helfer still have a presence on-set without needing the other Cylons to be around. Suffice to say, Head Six became easily the most iconic, popular, and memorable character in the entire series.
  • Beverly Hills, 90210:
    • Dylan Mckay doesn't even appear in the pilot and ends up being one of the most popular and iconic characters of the series, becoming the Trope Codifier for Troubled, but Cute and being involved in a love triangle with two of the female protagonists.
    • Kelly Taylor, to a lesser extent. She's probably more iconic than original female lead Brenda, she ends up stealing her Love Interest (fellow Breakout Character Dylan), and officially becomes the female lead after Brenda leaves the show. After Brandon leaves the show too, she's billed first in the opening.
  • Avon from Blake's 7. He was just initially supposed to be The Lancer to the titular Blake but Terry Nation (not to mention the audience) loved the spins that his actor Paul Darrow would put on his lines so much that by the second season Avon was a full-fledged Deuteragonist and when Gareth Thomas (Blake) left the series, it continued on for two more seasons with Avon as the protagonist.
  • Camille Saroyan in Bones was supposed to die in "The Man In The Cell" but she'd become so popular that they kept her around.
  • Breaking Bad franchise:
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    • Spike started out as an Ensemble Dark Horse, then his role got larger as the show went on and he became one of the major characters, which continued when he appeared in Angel. He even got his own miniseries in the After the Fall/Season 9 comics.
    • Jonathan. He was always shown as a generic Sunnydale student and later Ensemble Dark Horse in the earlier seasons. A later season has him return and turn out be a villain. But not really evil. In any case, more important than originally thought.
    • Anya. Originally a literal Monster of the Week, she was such an interesting character that she got a second episode outing, then was repurposed as Xander's rebound love interest. Joss Whedon did try to write her out on more than one occasion, but kept bringing her back. He waited until The Finale to kill her off.
    • Oz was the one originally intended to be killed by Angelus, but due to his popularity, he was spared, and Jenny Calendar was killed in his place.
    • Faith was originally supposed to last one season and commit suicide out of guilt of committing murder. Instead she underwent a dramatic redemption arc and proved so popular that there were plans to give her a spin-off, though she did headline a comic series with Angel.
    • Angel was added so late in development that he didn't appear in the original unaired pilot. He became one of the most important characters in the series and got his own show.
    • When Armin Shimerman was hired to play Principal Snyder, he was told that each principal would get killed after a handful of episodes as a Running Gag. But it turned out that the creators liked Snyder enough to keep him through the remainder of the high school episodes.
  • Jill Monroe in Charlie's Angels. Despite the fact that she only starred in the first season, she is considered by many fans to be the most popular (for reasons not unconnected with her being played by Farrah Fawcett-Majors).
  • Phoebe in Charmed. She was really just there in the first two seasons as a background character but fans loved her and in Season 3 she was given the main plot arc while Prue was shunted aside and eventually killed off when the actress left the series.
  • Cheers: Dr. Frasier Crane was originally created for a one-season arc as Diane's love interest, but due to his popularity was brought back for all subsequent seasons as a regular character. He would later go on to have his own spin-off that would last as long as Cheers (for a total of 11 seasons) and launch Kelsey Grammer's career with significant star power behind it, rivaled only by The Fonz. To clarify, that is 9 seasons in Cheers and 11 on Frasier. He was introduced in Cheers in 1984, and Frasier ended in 2004. Twenty years, for a single, originally one-season character. And then twenty years later, he's back again.
  • The Closer has Captain Sharon Raydor. Who's awesome enough to make an Internal Affairs cop popular enough to headline the spinoff series? Mary McDonnell, that's who.
  • Lt. Columbo began life as a throwaway character from an episode of a short-lived anthology series called The Chevy Mystery Show. Here he was played by Bert Freed. That particular episode, "Enough Rope", was later remade as a Made-for-TV Movie titled Prescription: Murder, which marked Peter Falk's debut as the character. Even then, the murderer, played by Gene Barry, was envisioned as a Villain Protagonist with Columbo intended as a supporting character. Instead, Gene Barry's character became simply the first of many murderers to be outwitted by Lt. Columbo.
  • Community: The Dean and Chang started off as supporting characters, but as their popularity grew (and main cast members dropped out), they were promoted to the main cast.
  • Dallas: J.R. Ewing was only supposed to be a supporting cast member, with the thrust of the storyline revolving around the feuding families. The iconic J.R. quickly stole the focus and the producers admitted he had become the breakout character of his series.
  • Degrassi: Christine "Spike" Nelson began as an extra with no lines in the first eight to eleven episodes of Degrassi Junior High, but after becoming an Ascended Extra with a Teen Pregnancy, she became one of the most popular and discussed characters of the show. Later, The Next Generation was centered around her daughter, and she is the second longest-running character in the franchise, only leaving because the original Next Generation characters were phased out by The New '10s. And it's probably worth noting that despite being an Advertised Extra and a legacy character on TNG, she appeared in more episodes of that than the show of which she was a major focus.
  • Arnold Jackson from Diff'rent Strokes. While he was always one of the main characters, he became so popular that he turned into the show's Spotlight-Stealing Squad; in later seasons, he got so much focus that his brother Willis was practically Demoted to Extra.
  • Doctor Who:
    • Believe it not, the Doctor himself qualifies. True, he's the title character and his actor got top billing, but the producers had always intended for the show's protagonist to be Ian Chesterton, the dashing science teacher and man of action who served as one of the Doctor's first companions. The Doctor was envisioned as part mentor figure and guide and part instigator whose curiosity and alien interests caused trouble the others would have to resolve. Thanks to William Hartnell's authoritative performance, however, the Doctor quickly took over the show, and stories began to revolve around him starting with the second season. It helped of course that all of the original cast members except for the Doctor left in the second season, leaving the Doctor as more of a familiar audience identification figure compared to all of the newer cast that came in.
    • Jago and Litefoot from "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" were so popular a TV spin-off was considered. This didn't happen but they got their own audio series, Jago & Litefoot.
    • Captain Jack Harkness was so popular that a spinoff series followed not too long after.
    • The Daleks were only intended to appear in the second story and nearly didn't appear at all, but changed the direction of the show from educational to alien and monster sci-fi and became the most popular characters. There were even plans for them to have a spin-off.
    • The Weeping Angels dethroned the Daleks as the fan-voted "scariest monster" after their debut in "Blink", and became one of the most popular of the Doctor's rogues' gallery in the revived series. They went on to be the antagonists in two Eleventh Doctor stories ("The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone" in Series 5 and "The Angels Take Manhattan" in Series 7), despite not having a major role in his particular Story Arc ( with the exception of the Cracks in Time). On the other hand, they only had cameo appearances between the Manhattan adventure and Series 13 (nine years/six seasons later), resulting in the Twelfth Doctor going his entire tenure without confronting them. This could, of course, be due to the Hype Backlash fans experienced after three different Weeping Angel stories within a relatively short series of intervals; it's not uncommon to hear fans complain that the Weeping Angels lost more and more of their scariness each time they reappeared.
  • The character of Mimi on The Drew Carey Show was originally only supposed to appear in the pilot. Both the producers and the audience ended up loving her actress' performance so much that she was made into a main cast member.
  • ER:
    • Doug Ross was originally intended as The Lancer and Bromantic Foil to (original) lead character Mark Greene, but he became so popular with fans that he received a significant amount of focus, which later grew when he and fellow Breakout Character Carol Hathaway became the show's Super Couple. Oh, and playing Doug was George Clooney's Star-Making Role.
    • One could argue that several others from the first season rose in prominence, as well. Carol Hathaway is a prime example, as she was originally scripted to die from her suicide attempt in the pilot. However the test audience (and executive producer Steven Spielberg) enjoyed her so much that she was given a Promotion to Opening Titles in the second episode, became part of the show's supercouple (with Doug Ross, as it turns out), and won Julianna Margulies an Emmy in 1995 (the only one from the entire main cast to earn such an honor). She also earned more nominations than any of the other cast members (at six total, starting out as a supporting female before being upgraded to Lead Actress).
    • John Carter also received greater exposure as time went on, starting out as fourth-billed in the pilot's opening credits before becoming the central protagonist in the ninth season. However, this may have more to do with the fact that Noah Wyle was simply the only member of the original cast to remain up through then. Even so, Wyle received more Emmy nominations for his work than any cast member besides Margulies, and it's a testament to his character that the closing arc of the series was centered on his return to Chicago, especially as this was 4 years after Wyle departed from the show. "Set the tone", indeed.
  • Steve Urkel on Family Matters. He was originally supposed to be a one-shot character in the episode "Laura's First Date". By the end of the first season, Urkel was appearing in every episode, and when the first episode of Season 2 aired in September 1990, Jaleel White was given billing alongside the rest of the cast. The degree to which Urkel, the Stereotypical Nerd, took over the show is hard to exaggerate. It's not uncommon to hear people refer to it as The Urkel Show. In addition, the fact that Family Matters started out as a spin-off of Perfect Strangers meant to spotlight Carl and Harriette Winslow makes this feel pretty absurd. Urkel was such an instant hit that he was retroactively inserted into the openings of several Season 1 episodes for syndication to give the illusion that he was always a recurring character. One of the original unaltered scenes is now lost as a result. The first season DVD also shows him front and center with the others in the background as if it was straight up his show from the start, even though, again, he isn't even a main character, let alone the main character, at the time.
  • Family Ties was supposed to focus on the parents. The kids, especially Alex, quickly stole the spotlight.
  • Farscape: Scorpius was originally intended as a one-shot villain for the first season finale, but proved such a hit with fans that he was promoted to Big Bad for the next two seasons and eventually became one of the protagonists in Season 4.
  • Frasier. Bulldog started off as a guest star, but fans liked him enough that he became a part of the main cast. However, the producers eventually dropped him and he appeared in fewer episodes. He continued to appear occasionally.
  • King Richard of Galavant. A lovable, hapless doofus, the fans ate him up. When the show got a largely unexpected second season, Richard basically became the main character. With more narrative focus than even the title character. Down to being The Chosen One.
  • Game of Thrones: Bronn, who in the book is Satellite Character for Tyrion Lannister. Loved for being a Deadpan Snarker, badass character who get bigger on-screen action than in the book.
  • Glee
    • Kurt became a fan and critic favorite even though he started off a supporting character before joining the main cast.
    • Sue Sylvester, who wasn't even in the first script drafts until some fairly subtle Executive Meddling and even then wasn't intended as a major character. Importantly, Sue does appear in the very first scene of the first episode, but only as a one-joke character. Her character was a hit and ended up returning regularly throughout the show.
    • Santana is a clear example of a breakout character since she was supposed to be just Quinn's sidekick in the beginning and was mostly there to fill the requirement of 12 glee club members. Fast forward to Season 3, when she has her own Coming-Out Story and then to Seasons 4 and 5 when she's a main character and living in New York with Kurt and Rachel.
    • Blaine. Darren Criss was only originally signed on for a few episodes of Season 2 to act as a mentor and potential love interest to Kurt. He became such a fan favorite that he was added to the main cast for Season 3, and by Season 5 he was a main character.
  • Sophia Petrillo of The Golden Girls was originally intended to be an occasional Drop-In Character, but test audiences loved her so much that she was made an equal to the other three.
  • Zack Morris started off as a supporting character for Good Morning, Ms. Bliss with the title character, a teacher, being the actual main character. The series got retooled into being the super popular Kid Com, Saved by the Bell, with Zack being promoted to the starring role, and the rest was history.
  • J.J. Evans quickly proved to be the most popular character from Good Times, and the show's producers made sure to give him plenty of exposure as a result. This was made even worse when two of the main characters were either killed off or temporarily gone, making J.J. even more of the focus of the show. The original star, Esther Rolle, actually left the show over it and only came back on the condition that they clean up his character.
  • Gossip Girl:
    • Chuck Bass. The show originally gave him a similar role in the book as a date raping villain while also having him as Nate's sidekick. However his astounding popularity has led to him taking center stage to the point where Nate (who is the main male character of the books) seems to have mostly been shoved into the background while Chuck Bass is developed into a more likable character through his relationship with Blair and redemption plotline.
    • Blair is an even more prominent example. Early on Serena was the main character but Blair quickly passed her for that title. It helped that Blair and Chuck's relationship became the show's Super Couple.
  • The Great British Bake Off: Season 6 Winner Nadiya. People quickly fell in love with her exaggerated faces and sweet personality, and since winning has become a media personality, TV host (Including two cookery shows and Junior Bake Off) and author, as well as maintaining a baking career, even baking a birthday cake for The Queen.
  • Rico was so well-received from his few appearances in Season 1 of Hannah Montana that he became a main character from Season 2 onwards.
  • Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli from Happy Days is the Trope Codifier to such a degree that many new or casual viewers (removed from the context of the show's run) won't realize he's an example at all; however, The Fonz is pretty much the yardstick by which this entire trope is measured, he's the main trope image for a reason, and by the same token, the trope itself was originally codified as "The Fonzie" for a reason. Happy Days was originally written to focus on Ron Howard's Richie Cunningham character with Anson Williams' Potsie as his co-lead. The "Fonz" character was only supposed to be an incidental, recurring background gag character, but his popularity grew so dramatically that, eventually, the network even tried to change the title to Fonzie's Happy Days until Henry Winkler himself (along with the rest of the cast and the director) protested it. Most of the plots did begin to revolve around The Fonz character regardless and the Animated Adaptation ended up being called The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang.
  • Heroes:
    • Sylar's popularity conflicted with the fact that Season 1 was about killing him, so he was made into the main villain of the whole series.
    • In the original publicity for the series, Niki is much more prominent than Claire (see the show's page image). Claire turned out to be one of the show's most popular characters; Niki... not so much.
    • Claire's stepdad Noah, a.k.a. HRG, was originally intended to be a supporting character, but he became the show's most popular non-superpowered human and appeared in more episodes than anyone else except for the small blonde indestructible one. And then with the reboot, not even her. Other characters from the original series also appear, but Noah is easily the most prominent member of the original cast in Reborn.
  • Homicide: Life on the Street initially set up Detective Tim Bayliss as the main character, but his partner Frank Pembleton quickly became an audience favorite and the face of the show thanks to being a complex and therefore far more interesting character. Pembleton gradually took over as the main protagonist and was almost always the focus of the show's more dramatic story arcs.
  • Archie Kennedy in Horatio Hornblower. He started as a Composite Character in the first episode, built up from himself, the similarly-flippant Bracegirdle (who gets promoted to Pellew's Number One by the writers), and a short-lived ordinary seaman who's lost in a boat that goes adrift. Fan response to the character was so enthusiastic that he was written into the third and fourth episodes as Horatio's best friend. This was a problem in the second series, when the Forester estate required that he be written out because he drastically changed Hornblower's character and dynamic with Bush, his best friend from the novels. The series writers gave him a Heroic Sacrifice that caused a huge outcry on A&E's discussion boards.
  • Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother. He's often seen as the main character, even though it's supposed to be Ted. This actually ends up working in the sense that Barney's prominence does interfere with Future Ted's story about meeting his future children's mother... but it's completely realistic that Ted's life isn't conveniently tailored to somehow be completely thematically compliant with the story of the mother, and Ted can't cut out important parts of his life just because he wasn't the most important figure in those events.
    • The landmark 150th episode replaced the opening with a gag opening called "How I Met Barney" to parody this trope, where Barney is in almost all pictures while Robin and Ted look annoyed at him.
    • Lampshaded in an mid-run outtake where Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Segel joke that the pose they just did (making "oh, you" faces at each other) was a TV Guide cover. Segel, still laughing, gestures that the picture would be cut in half and says, "Yeah, except it would be just you."
  • Orenthal “Gibby” Gibson on iCarly. He was originally just a Recurring Extra who had a Running Gag of taking off his shirt and yelling his name. The fanbase loved him, so he started appearing more often. As of the fourth season, he was Promoted to Opening Titles, and he even starred in one of two pilots for a potential spinoff (the one that didn't become a series, mind).
  • If the secondary, tertiary or even extra Rider in a Kamen Rider series is popular enough, they're likely to get their own spin-off movie when the series is done.
    • Zack from Kamen Rider Gaim is a particularly notable example. He was originally intended to just be a supporting character, but after spawning a meme he got to be popular with fans to the point where he was given a Kamen Rider form, and eventually his own spin-off movie.
    • Kuroto Dan/Kamen Rider Genm from Kamen Rider Ex-Aid was incredibly popular with fans for how over-the-top and hammy he was. This led to him becoming the Big Bad of all three post-series spin-off films, as well as appearing in a crossover with Kamen Rider Zero-One (despite it supposedly taking place in a separate universe from the other Kamen Rider shows).
    • Reika Shindai/Kamen Rider Sabela from Kamen Rider Saber is this to the female Riders in the franchise for her rigid personality and graceful fighting style, after her introduction as an Enigmatic Minion for Master Logos. This led to her being one of the first female Riders to be revealed in the Girls Remix mini-series alongside Is from Kamen Rider Zero-One, and more recently she and her brother Ryoga become the main characters in their own eponymous TTFC Special.
    • Kamen Rider Revice: Hiromi Kadota managed to be this before the series even started filming. He was initially intended to be a minor character, but the audition the actor gave impressed the head writer and led him to get an expanded role. Sure enough, after the very first episode, Hiromi quickly gained popularity and even got his own two-part spin-off special. He also got to headline his own movie alongside Daiji
    • Kamen Rider Geats: Win Hareruya/Kamen Rider PunkJack proved quite popular shortly after appearing, even though in his debut he was The Faceless and never spoke. His popularity expanded after he was made a player in the DGP proper and got to show off much more personality, leading him to get brought back as a supporting character after disappearing for a while and even being given a special to further flesh out his backstory.
  • Invoked and parodied in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. During the COVID-19 pandemic, John shot the show in a featurless white room he refers to as "The Void". When a similar white room showed up in Mortal Kombat (2021), John was stunned that the Void became so popular that it's showing up in other HBO projects.
  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit:
    • When the show began, it was quite clear that despite the largish cast, Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler were the central characters. Then fans started noticing Fin Tutuola. While the original pair stayed the main focus, Ice-T's Fin had several episodes and even a significant Story Arc and Arch-Enemy, sometimes to the point that the main pair barely made an appearance.
    • In Season 14, Raúl Esparza came along for what was supposed to be a series of four guest-star episodes. His character, Rafael Barba, became so popular that it became a recurring role and then he was finally promoted to regular for Season 15. He wound up staying until midway through Season 19, making him the second-longest-running A.D.A. in the show's history (behind only Diane Neal as Casey Novak) and one of its three most beloved (alongside Neal and also Stephanie March as Alexandra Cabot).
    • In Season 16, Carisi was supposed to be a short-lived character who would come in just to shake things up but ended up becoming a regular. Unusually for this trope, Carisi was not initially a fan favorite, though he became much more popular as the series progressed and the character gained some depth.
  • Lost:
    • Ben. He was originally meant to be a minor Other who would appear in only three episodes. Extremely positive reception made this extend to eight; then it went to being a series regular (the original leader of the Others was rewritten to be Ben) and one of the show's most important characters.
    • The same applies to Desmond: originally meant to only be in the first three episodes of season two, his popularity made them bring back Desmond, focus the two hour season finale on him, and make him a series regular the next year.
  • Zachary Smith from Lost in Space became so popular that the show's producer, Irwin Allen, created an Expy of Smith in his later series Land of the Giants.
  • The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: An example of a successful Retool which made a minor character into a Breakout Character: The original premise had Napoleon Solo working alone, with Illya Kuryakin intended to be only a minor recurring character. Kuryakin struck such a chord with the show's fans, however, that he was raised to one of the leads.
  • Klinger in M*A*S*H originally had a bit part in some Season 1 episodes, as a guy who tried doing anything he could to get out of the war (most notably, dressing like a woman every chance he got). The audience really liked his presence, so he was eventually made into a main character; he even takes Radar's job after the latter gets discharged.
  • Because of the episodic nature of Merlin, guest stars are seldom seen again after the episode in which they appear, however Queen Annis, Princess Mithian and the Dochraid (all introduced in Series 4) were popular enough to ensure a reappearance in Series 5.
  • Money Heist: From it's Ensemble Cast, Berlin was one of the most popular characters. He was in fact so popular among fans, that he appeared from season 3 onwards as a Posthumous Character featured in flashbacks connected to the main storyline despite being Killed Off for Real at the end of season 2. He also got his own Prequel series, simply called Berlin, in 2023.
  • Many of the character of The Muppets are this:
    • Kermit started off as a supporting character on the show Sam and Friends, back before he was even identified as a frog. As the years progressed, he would begin making appearances as a proper frog in Sesame Street and other assorted puppet projects, before eventually becoming the host of The Muppet Show. Since then, Kermit has been established as The Leader of the Muppets, and their main mascot.
    • Among the Electric Mayhem, Animal was originally just another band member, usually only appearing with the other bandmates. However, his popularity with audiences led to him getting more appearances on his own, including in the movies and in Muppet Babies (1984), and eventually, he became the most well-known member of the Electric Mayhem, even more than the band's actual frontman, Dr. Teeth.
    • When The Muppet Show's second season began, Muppet Labs introduced a partner for host Bunsen in the form of an assistant/guinea pig named Beaker. Beaker proved to be exactly what Muppet Labs was missing during the first season, as the segment began to pop up much more frequently, and it became very rare that Bunsen would be seen without Beaker. Later episodes also gave Beaker a secondary role in the series as a stagehand, allowing him to appear outside of Muppet Labs, and he even got a few solo sketches, usually involving him attempting to sing something. Come the 2000s, Beaker gained even more traction as a solo act, between performing alongside Demi Lovato during a Disney Channel special and going viral online via an acapella performance of "Ode to Joy", which netted him a Webby Award.
  • Polkaroo became this when The Polka Dot Door ended. In early years, he only appeared on Imagination Day. When the character became popular with fans, he started to make appearances outside of Imagination Day. After the show ended, he became the main protagonist of Polka Dot Shorts, as well as a few short-form spin-offs, and eventually becoming TVO's mascot
  • Power Rangers has had a few:
  • Exidor on Mork & Mindy was meant to be a one-shot character, but proved so popular that he was made into a recurring character.
  • Charlie Brooker created Philomena Cunk to be a thick-as-a-brick 'posh TV historian' talking head for his Newswipe and TV criticism shows. Partly because of the actress Diane Morgan's amazing performance, she ended up being popular enough to star in her own Moments of Wonder segments on his shows, and then appear in hour-long TV specials Cunk on Shakespeare and Cunk on Christmas.
  • Brooke Davis on One Tree Hill. She goes from being comic relief character to stir the pot (who doesn't even appear in the pilot) to being billed third in the credits by Season 7.
  • Orange Is the New Black inmate Crazy Eyes was hugely popular with audiences in the first season, and became one of the characters who received a lot more emphasis and development when the show returned.
  • Orphan Black:
    • Helena started off as an antagonist to her clone sisters, but her nuanced and complexity as well as her dorky knack for Black Comedy endeared her among fans. It could even be argued that she's the co-Series Mascot with main protagonist, Sarah Manning.
    • Krystal Goderitch is originally supposed to be a Red Shirt. But the show creators changed their minds after seeing her potential as a Plucky Comic Relief character, which in turn allowed them to use her as a Chekhov's Boomerang character.
  • Patito Feo is an Argentine teen comedy freely based on The Ugly Duckling tale. "Patito" is Patricia Castro, an ugly girl, constantly insulted by the Alpha Bitch Antonella. But the aesop broke, and Antonella became far more popular than Patito, and the second season began fully focused on her.
  • Chito Manaloto (Jhake Vargas) in Filipino sitcom Pepito Manaloto. Much like Ricky Nelson became a bigger star than his titular parents in The Ozzie and Harriet Show, the same appears to be happening to Vargas, the good-looking teenage son in the series, as most of the main storylines center on him and not his dad Pepito (Michael V).
  • Janel Parrish's portrayal of Mona Vanderwaal in Pretty Little Liars was so well-received and loved by the audience that the producers decided to not to kill her off in the Season 2 finale. Mona had already gained a bigger role in the second season after the fans received her well in the first one.
    • Same for Sasha Pieterse's Alison, where the writers decided to redeem her rather than make her evil like she was in the books.
  • Prison Break:
    • Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell, originally intended to appear in two episodes only. The character was so popular in those two episodes that he was promoted to main character and appeared in all four seasons, and even got to appear in a crossover episode of Breakout Kings after Prison Break ended.
    • Sara. To the extend that, when it was rumored that she may not be around for Season 3, fans signed a petition to ask for her to continue being a part of the series.
    • Mahone had become so popular by the end of Season 2 that the writers decided not to kill him off like they originally intended to, and keep him alive and locked in Sona.
  • Nasir, the Saracen in Robin of Sherwood. Originally The Dragon for the Big Bad in the pilot, actor Mark Ryan's Worthy Opponent portrayal was so full of win that the series creator wisely gave him a Heel–Face Turn so that he joined the Merry Men. Kevin Costner's Robin Hood later borrowed Nasir and altered his name after a crewman pointed out possible copyright infringement.
  • In Scrubs, Dr. Cox's ex-wife Jordan Sullivan was originally introduced in Season 1 as a one-off patient who happens to be a member of Sacred Heart's board of directors, and ends up seducing J.D. when he's assigned to treat her; that fact that she's Dr. Cox's ex-wife is a surprise reveal that doesn't come out until the end of the episode. She made two more brief appearances in Season 1, effectively making her a recurring character. But thanks to positive fan response to the character, she became a far more prominent supporting character in Season 2, with Dr. Cox rekindling his romance with her and even having a baby with her (it probably didn't hurt that she was played by creator Bill Lawrence's wife Christa Miller, making her easy to get). By midway through the series, she had effectively become part of the main cast, appearing in nearly every episode—justified by her getting a permanent job at Sacred Heart at the end of Season 4.
  • Kramer from Seinfeld: Seinfeld was originally supposed to have two main characters, Jerry and George. Kramer was going to be the wacky next door neighbor that pops in every now and then. After the first episode, the network wanted a main female character, and Elaine was brought in. So the show had three main characters, and was like that for the earlier episodes. As time went on, Kramer became more and more popular, and as a result appeared in the show more often as it went on. Eventually he became one of the main four, due entirely to fans wanting to see him.
  • Sesame Street has a few examples:
    • Elmo was a minor (originally unnamed) background Muppet in the show's early years. When he became an actual character, he quickly proved to be the most popular character on the show, becoming one of the main focuses of the show and eventually, its de facto mascot.
    • Baby Bear was initially a one-off character when he debuted in 1991. Like Elmo, however, he quickly proved to be popular among the show's target audience. He remained a major character throughout the the latter half of the 1990s and early 2000s before his puppeteer David Rudman took over Cookie Monster, often being paired with Zoe, Telly, and/or Elmo and even having received a segment of his own.
    • Grover was a minor villain in an Ed Sullivan Christmas sketch and Cookie Monster was originally a mascot for a defunct snack brand; both were popular enough with the audience that they became main characters on the show. This especially holds true when Eric Jacobson and David Rudman took on the roles after Frank Oz left, being in more street stories and segments, even getting their own specials.
  • Jaime Summers, The Bionic Woman, was meant to be a one time character in a two-part episode of The Six Million Dollar Man, to the point where she died at the end. However, the character's popularity caused the writers to retcon her death and give her a spinoff.
  • Gannicus in the Spartacus series was written and included in the show prematurely as a result of Real Life Writes the Plot note . Nonetheless, his cocky but good-intentioned "rock star" personality, coupled with his daredevil fighting style won him fans. By the final season, he has become the Tritagonist.
  • Stargate Atlantis's Dr. Carson Beckett was originally just billed as a supporting character but ended up in almost every episode of the first season, leading to the producers upgrading him to lead status for the second and third. They then tried to kill him off but fan attachment was strong enough that, in Daniel Jackson-esque fashion, he was brought back as a recurring character.
  • Star Trek: The Original Series: Spock's popularity threatened to overshadow Kirk; in an attempt to avert this, the Trio of Kirk/Spock/McCoy was emphasised.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Garak was initially intended as a one-shot character, but fans liked him so much that he became a recurring character with increasing importance to the larger story arcs in the series, and by the final season was racking up more screen time than some of the regulars.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation:
    • In general, Worf, Data and Geordi essentially became a Trio of Breakout Characters in Next Generation, as their rising popularity led to them getting the highest number of Days in the Limelight between the three of them (largely eclipsing characters like Crusher, Riker and Yar, who got the spotlight much more frequently in early seasons). As secondary crewmen, the three characters' personalities contrasted each other well enough that each of them got to shine in their own ways: Worf, as the emotionally conflicted alien warrior from a foreign culture; Geordi, as the brilliant-but-awkward human engineer dealing with a physical disability; Data, as the stoic-but-optimistic android officer yearning to become human.
      • Worf in particular. Watching the first season it's clear he doesn't really have a whole lot to do other than being a Klingon hanging around the bridge and glowering at people to indicate the series was in The Future! compared to Star Trek: The Original Series. By later in the run entire main story arcs were devoted to the character, changes in the setting of the Star Trek universe (such as the Klingon Civil War) revolved around him, and that carried over to Deep Space Nine, which made him one of only two characters to be a regular in more than one Star Trek series.
      • Data was basically Spock 2.0. In spite of his social awkwardness and limited emotional range, his earnest sweetness and inquisitive personality caught on with fans thanks to Brent Spiner's performance, Many of the show's most acclaimed episodes would revolve around his exploration of human nature, and he got entire subplots in two of the movies (Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Nemesis) devoted to him. Data's similarities to Spock apparently weren't lost on the producers: in Nemesis, they even gave him a Heroic Sacrifice that suspiciously resembled Spock's death in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
    • Introduced in "Hollow Pursuits", Lt. Reg Barclay was written as a one-shot character, but was so well-received that the writers brought him back throughout TNG and all the way to Star Trek: Voyager. He even got a memorable cameo in one of the TNG movies.
    • Like Barclay and Garak, John de Lancie's Q was also written a one off character in TNG’s pilot episode. But he became quite popular with the writers and audience and was brought back for more episodes. Also Q is the only one to have appeared in all three of the contemporaneous Star Trek series in a major role in the episode.
  • Stranger Things: Steve Harrington starts as a typical popular 80's Jerk Jock in Season 1, even bullying one of the lead characters. However, the charismatic portrayal of his character and Heel–Face Turn in the season finale earned him a leading role in the following seasons while downplaying his jerkish qualities and giving him a more comedic, caring big brother persona, turning him into one of the most popular characters in the series.
  • The Sunny Side Up Show: Chica became a hit once she debuted, with "Sproutlets" making noises imitating her and plush toys selling like hotcakes. This led to the debut of The Chica Show.
  • Supernatural:
    • In Season 4, Castiel was only supposed to appear in a few episodes and then another character was to take his place as Dean's angel guide. However, general consensus decided he'd become the Ensemble Dark Horse. Even though he'd only gotten less than 40 minutes of screen-time at that point, the episode "On the Head of a Pin" (4.16) featured him heavily and 4.20 ("Rapture") centered on his vessel, Jimmy. In Season 5, Misha Collins (Castiel's actor) was promoted to regular status.
    • Bobby Singer was originally slated to be in only one episode, but circumstances led to him being given more appearances. Luckily the fans loved him. Fastforward to Season 7 and Bobby was one of the most frequently recurring characters on the show and Sam and Dean both admit to seeing him as the father John never was. Even after Bobby was killed off the writers have worked in ways to still get him to show up at least once per season, giving him the honor of being the only other character aside from Sam and Dean to appear in every season of the series.
    • Crowley was originally introduced as a minor villain who joined forces with Sam and Dean during the fifth season back when it was scheduled to be the final. He only appeared three times (once in the middle of the season and twice near its end) but quickly won over the audiences due to how cool, calm, manipulative, and cunning he was and the fact that he was played by Mark Sheppard didn't hurt either. When the series wound up continuing beyond the fifth, he was brought back as a recurring nemesis for the brothers. His popularity increased so much that as seasons went on his role was greatly expanded on even beyond that, and while several recurring characters were either written out or killed off he notably remained, and by Seasons 8 and 9 he became the fourth most important character on the show after the brothers and Castiel, becoming an out and out Villain Protagonist opposing them. When the show reached its tenth season Mark Sheppard was promoted to a series regular, permanently cementing his breakout status.
  • "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski on Taxi, played by Christopher Lloyd. The character first appeared in a one-shot role in the first season, being hired to officiate Latka's green card "wedding," but he was so well-received that the producers brought him back early in Season 2 and made him a regular just a few weeks in.
  • Teen Wolf: Stiles was originally just Scott's Muggle Best Friend and Plucky Comic Relief compared to the more prominent, dramatic characters like Allison, Derek, and even Jackson, who had their own arcs and powers. However thanks to the audience's enthusiastic response and the (entirely inexperienced) Dylan O'Brien's acting talent, Stiles virtually ended up co-lead alongside Scott, their friendship became the cornerstone of the show and his background with his deceased mother and widowed father has been expanded. Season 3b even had him getting a whole arc dedicated to him being possessed by a thousand year old kitsune spirit and becoming the season's Big Bad. For reference check out the difference between the Season 1 DVD art where Stiles isn't even on the front cover: [1]◊, to Season 2 where he's closest to Scott: [2]◊ and then Season 3b where he's front and centre: [3]◊
  • Kelso on That '70s Show. He began as one of the lower-tier main characters, but he became the most popular one and later surpassed Topher Grace as the star. Seasons 6 and 7 even focused more on his character development than Eric's as he dealt with the trials of fatherhood.
  • Sevengar in Ultraman Z had all of his figures sold out in Japan back in the first week of the series airing. In fact, he ended up so popular that he got to star in own Manga and Live-Action Miniseries (Respectively Fight! Sevengar and Sevengar Fight).
  • Bubbles on Trailer Park Boys. Though being best friends with Ricky and Julian, he was meant to be one of many side characters and thus made only a few appearances in the first season. However, he became a fan favorite and somehow the show's mascot, so the creators decided to elevate him to the role equal to his friends in the following seasons.
  • Tiffany (Nikki Cox), the sexy daughter on Unhappily Ever After, became so popular that starting in Season 3, almost all the episodes were about her.
  • Cat from Victorious, considering that a) whenever Ariana Grande posts a video of her singing on YouTube, half the comments are about how she should be the show's star instead of Victoria Justice, and b) Cat got her own Spin-Off, Sam & Cat (shared with another Nickelodeon show's Breakout Character).
  • The Walking Dead has at least two of note:
    • Lone wolf survivalist and Badass Biker Daryl Dixon is the first. Despite not being in the comic that the show was based on, Daryl quickly grew popular enough to receive an action figure and be made a series regular for Season 2. He then became the second highest-billed character and The Lancer for Rick Grimes, and replaced Rick himself as The Hero when the latter got Put on a Bus early in Season 9. He received his own spinoff after the conclusion of the parent series.
    • Another character who fits the Breakout mold is the television iteration of Carol Peletier. In the comics, she was a supporting character who died via a sad, bloody suicide. In the show, she gradually grew from a Shrinking Violet who was the victim of Domestic Abuse into what could best be described as a One-Woman Army whose cool resolve and pragmatic behaviours in the pursuit of protecting her loved ones earned her as many fans as the above mentioned Daryl. Reflecting her meteoric rise in popularity (as well as the friendships between both Daryl and Carol as well as their actors), the Daryl spin-off was supposed to have her in it as well until her actress had to back out (albeit with the caveat that she'd be welcome to join later on) due to real life conflicts.
  • Warehouse 13:
    • Claudia was something of a Tag Along Kid and Gadgeteer Genius who could have easily became The Scrappy of the show, but the writing managed to make her endearing enough for her to get into the opening titles. She then became the destined next in line to become Caretaker, a full field agent, and become a core point of several of the show's biggest storyarcs.
    • HG Wells to a lesser extent; originally intended to be the Big Bad of the second season, she was brought back in the third as The Atoner due to the fandom's love for her character, leading to her then becoming something of a freelance agent of sorts. She did get Put on the Bus in Season 4, but the finale brought her back one last time in flashbacks.
  • The West Wing:
    • President Bartlet was only supposed to be in four episodes a season, with the show focusing on the White House Senior Staff. But when Martin Sheen's performance wowed the production team, the show was retooled to make Bartlet a main character.
    • Donna Moss was intended to be a minor character, on level with the other assistants on the show. Bradley Whitford (who plays Josh, her boss) pointed out their fantastic onscreen chemistry to the producers. This led to Donna being upgraded to a main character with her own storylines, and replacing the character Mandy as Josh's main love interest.
  • Why Don't You (Switch Off Your Television Set and Do Something Less Boring Instead?) was a children's magazine programme with a rotating cast of kids. During Russell T Davies's tenure as head writer, it developed more in the way of storylines and a sci-fi plot. Increasingly prominent in this was Ben Slade, a member of the Cardiff Gang who was developed into a Mad Scientist character, and was so popular he was also added to the Newcastle and Liverpool Gangs. In contrast to the usual Revolving Door Casting Ben was retained long after he was technically too old to be a Why Don't You? presenter, eventually playing a computer based on his own mind called B.E.N. to make the age difference less obvious.
  • Xena: Warrior Princess: Xena originally started out as a villainous warlord in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. The fanbase loved her so much that she got her own show, which in time eclipsed the old show in popularity.

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top