History Main / DemotedToExtra

* [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch Lilo Pelekai]] in any material outside the ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'' movies and ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries''. Stitch is the regular moneymaker, while Lilo hardly, barely, or never gets a mention. Even ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' omitted her from their movie-themed level (though to be fair, that was a prequel), she only gets a cameo in the ''Anime/{{Stitch}}'' anime showing that she now has a similar-looking daughter of her own, and is only shown in flashbacks in the Chinese animated series ''Animation/StitchAndAi''. Even worse, the men behind ''Lilo & Stitch: The Series'' do not wish for the franchise to continue with Lilo because "[her] story is done",[[note]]They did give her [[WesternAnimation/LeroyAndStitch a finale]], and they want to keep it that way.[[/note]] that they do not want to "ruin" fans' memories of the now-adult Creator/DaveighChase as the voice of Lilo, and that they find the idea of a series set in the older life of a once-young character (akin to shows like ''Series/FullerHouse'', ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'', and ''Series/RavensHome'') to be "cliché". Nevertheless, Lilo was finally brought back as a lead in the children's book series ''Agent Stitch', which began in 2022, although her presence in contemporary marketing remains woefully limited.

* [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch Lilo Pelekai]] in any material outside the ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'' movies and ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries''. Stitch is the regular moneymaker, while Lilo hardly, barely or never gets a mention. Even ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' omitted her from their movie-themed level (though to be fair, that was a prequel), she only gets a cameo in the ''Anime/{{Stitch}}'' anime showing that she now has a similar-looking daughter of her own, and is only shown in flashbacks in the Chinese animated series ''Animation/StitchAndAi''. Even worse, the men behind ''Lilo & Stitch: The Series'' do not wish for the franchise to continue with Lilo because "[her] story is done",[[note]]They did give her [[WesternAnimation/LeroyAndStitch a finale]], and they want to keep it that way.[[/note]] that they do not want to "ruin" fans' memories of the now-adult Creator/DaveighChase as the voice of Lilo, and that they find the idea of a series set in the older life of a once-young character (akin to shows like ''Series/FullerHouse'', ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'', and ''Series/RavensHome'') to be "cliché".

** Several ''[[Franchise/TheLionKing Lion King]]'' spin-offs have Simba, the protagonist of the first movie, undergoing this, in favour of Timon and Pumbaa, such as in [[WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa the animated series]], in which Simba only appeared a couple of times, and [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf the third Lion King movie]] which is all about Timon and Pumbaa stealing scenes from the first movie. This was eventually lampshaded in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'', when Timon and Pumbaa are introduced by Mickey Mouse, Simba moans "[[SpotlightStealingSquad Those guys always get all the attention!]]"

** The little mermaid's sisters in original ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'' story appear several times and even help her. In the Disney film, they only briefly appear (though they're given more screentime in the prequel film, cartoon series, books, and comics).

** Also your ex-girlfriends/boyfriends/husbands/wives/friends. Even if you remain on friendly terms, chances are you won't see them nearly as often after the break-up. There are a few cases where former lovers become best friends, but they are rare.

* Good luck finding a decent Shiori figure from ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}''. At least Creator/KyotoAnimation did her arc justice, and her falling out of the public eye might be because she doesn't have a "seven years ago" connection and is just a normal IllGirl. In the 2002 anime, she, Makoto and Mai all fell victim to this, having their arcs squished into one episode each [[CompressedAdaptation with key portions removed]].

* In ''LetsPlay/TwitchPlaysPokemonPlatinum'', Togepi, the hatchling given by Cynthia, was sent to the daycare to learn some attacking moves, but she was sent to the [=PC=] and forgotten. Subverted due to fan-art portraying this as [[TwoLinesNoWaiting her life going through school while Napoleon is in his adventure]].

* Wiki/TVTropes started out as a ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fan forum. The show still gets significant attention, but has become far from the focus of the site.

* When a character-named trope [[Administrivia/RenamedTropes has its name changed]] here on [[Wiki/TVTropes This Very Wiki]], it can end up demoting that character from star to being just another example. For instance, Spike is now just one more instance of BadassDecay instead of being the defining instance of "Spikeification". Also Wesley Crusher, former Trope Namer for CreatorsPet.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory: The Musical'', R.C. Car, who played an important role, even later in the film, only makes an appearance in one scene, unlike the film. Of course, before Woody can use R.C., Buzz notices the remote control to R.C. that Woody has, and then, Woody accidentally makes the lamp fall, which causes Buzz to fall out of the window. After this scene, R.C. is not seen again, thus causing a plot change later on, where [[spoiler: instead of Woody going back to get R.C. and Woody failing to use the match, but directs the sun's light to the fuse of the rocket that Buzz is attached to, Buzz tells Woody to grab onto him and prepare for liftoff, while one of the mutant toys uses the match to light the fuse, and both Woody and Buzz sing "To infinity and beyond!" and then fly off into the sky]].

** After [[VideoGame/{{Splatoon}} Meggy]] [[BreakoutCharacter took the spot]] of the main female character in the main cast, Princess Peach become less and less prominent.

* Music/TheRollingStones:

** UsefulNotes/BillClinton is probably the prime example of this trope. After leaving office with high ratings and a booming economy for the new millennium, Bill would stay in the spotlight as a humanitarian and kingmaker in the Democratic Party, with standouts including his Hurricane Katrina relief effort and his acclaimed 50-minute speech at the 2012 DNC to campaign for UsefulNotes/BarackObama. However, his credibility as a political operator was damaged after his wife Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 presidential election.[[note]]Ironically, the 2017 book ''Shattered'' claims that Bill correctly diagnosed the problems that doomed Hillary's campaign but was dismissed by staffers including campaign manager Robby Mook.[[/note]] Then the [=#MeToo=] movement lead to a resurfacing of his sexual scandals like the Lewinsky affair and his friendship with sex offender and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Subsequently, Bill didn't make a single appearance during the 2018 midterm elections, as many Democrats conceded that he's too controversial to be used in public campaigns anymore. By 2020, he was barely featured in that year's election and his diminishment was crystallized by the 2020 DNC where he spoke for only 5 minutes before fading away while other politicians like Obama and UsefulNotes/BernieSanders had the limelight to give longer speeches.

** UsefulNotes/BillClinton is probably the prime example of this trope. After leaving office with high ratings and a booming economy for the new millennium, Bill would stay in the spotlight as a humanitarian and kingmaker in the Democratic Party, with standouts including his Hurricane Katrina relief and his acclaimed 50-minute speech at the 2012 DNC to campaign for UsefulNotes/BarackObama. However, things took a turn after his wife Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 presidential election, damaging Bill's credibility as a political operator in the process.[[note]]Ironically, the 2017 book ''Shattered'' claims that Bill correctly diagnosed the problems that doomed Hillary's campaign but was dismissed by staffers including campaign manager Robby Mook.[[/note]] Then the [=#MeToo=] movement lead to a resurfacing of his sexual scandals like the Lewinsky affair and his friendship with sex offender and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Subsequently, Bill didn't make a single appearance during the 2018 midterm elections, as many Democrats conceded that he's too controversial to be used in public campaigns anymore. By 2020, he was barely featured in that year's election and his diminishment was crystallized by the 2020 DNC where he spoke for only 5 minutes before fading away while other politicians like Obama and UsefulNotes/BernieSanders had the limelight to give longer speeches.

* After taking a new job with TMZ, previous co-host Ben Mankiewicz lost a lot of his old prominence on ''Radio/TheYoungTurks''. He's been relegated to guest host and Power Panel member.

** UsefulNotes/BillClinton is probably the prime example of this trope. After leaving office with high ratings and a booming economy for the new millennium, Bill would stay in the spotlight as a humanitarian and kingmaker in the Democratic Party, with standouts including his Hurricane Katrina relief and his acclaimed 50-minute speech at the 2012 DNC to campaign for UsefulNotes/BarackObama. However, things took a turn after his wife Hillary Clinton unsuccessfully ran for president in 2016 and whose loss damaged Bill's credibility as a political operator.[[note]]Ironically, the 2017 book ''Shattered'' claims that Bill correctly diagnosed the problems that doomed Hillary's campaign but was dismissed by staffers including campaign manager Robby Mook[[/note]] Bill's public image took another hit as the [=#MeToo=] movement lead to a resurfacing of his sexual scandals like the Lewinsky affair and his friendship with sex offender and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Subsequently, Bill didn't make a single appearance during the 2018 midterm elections, as many Democrats conceded that he's too controversial to be used in public campaigns anymore. By 2020, he was barely featured in that year's election and his diminishment was crystallized by the 2020 DNC where he spoke for only 5 minutes before fading away while other politicians like Obama and UsefulNotes/BernieSanders had the limelight to give longer speeches.

** UsefulNotes/BillClinton is probably the prime example of this trope. After leaving office with high ratings and a booming economy for the new millennium, Bill would stay in the spotlight as a philanthropist and kingmaker in the Democratic Party, with standouts including his humanitarian work during Hurricane Katrina and his acclaimed 50-minute speech at the 2012 DNC to campaign for UsefulNotes/BarackObama. However, things took a turn when after his wife Hillary Clinton ran an unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign that damaged Bill's credibility as a political operator (ironically, some claimed that Bill [[CassandraTruth correctly diagnosed the problems that doomed Hillary's campaign but was dismissed by staffers]]). His public image took another hit as the [=#MeToo=] movement lead to a resurfacing of his sexual scandals like the Lewinsky affair and his friendship with sex offender and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Subsequently, Bill didn't make a single appearance during the 2018 midterm elections, as many Democrats conceded that he's too controversial to be used in public campaigns anymore. By 2020, he was barely featured in that year's election and his diminishment was crystallized by the 2020 DNC where he spoke for only 5 minutes before fading away while other politicians like Obama and UsefulNotes/BernieSanders had the limelight to give longer speeches.

* ''Almost'' every US President ever after their term. In office, they're the most well known person in America but once their term is up, they sink to the background except for a few public appearances here and there. The biggest exception was UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft, who after leaving office was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, an extremely powerful position in its own right. UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter never had another major government post, but he did do a lot of humanitarian work which is often considered to be more important and beneficial for the world than his mediocre presidency; he even won a Nobel Peace Prize for it. UsefulNotes/BarackObama also seems to be avoiding this route, as he's active on social media and has started producing various media for Netflix, including a well received nature documentary.
** UsefulNotes/BillClinton is probably the prime example of this trope. Despite leaving the office with high ratings and a booming economy for the new millennium, his public image soured as the years went on. He was still well respected, especially for his humanitarian work during Hurricane Katrina and his acclaimed 50-minute speech at the 2012 DNC to campaign for UsefulNotes/BarackObama. However, things took a toll in 2016 when his wife Hillary Clinton ran a widely criticized and unsuccessful presidential campaign that resulted in Bill's past record of infidelity and allegations of sexual assault being brought into a new light, with derision from both conservatives and liberals about his actions. This didn't get any better in 2017 when it was revealed that a majority of his advice given to campaign managers ended up being ignored, even though [[CassandraTruth a lot of his warnings ended up being correct]]. In 2018 and 2019, his public image took a massive hit with the MeToo movement as well as an expose of sex offender and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a figure Clinton was known to be good friends with. By 2020, he was barely featured in that years election, with more popular politicians like Obama and Bernie Sanders given the limelight. Another reason for this is because of his centrist policies, which clash with the modern party's more liberal movies. However, the most simple reason is that most voters and new voters know him mainly as Hillary Clinton's husband and that Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the more recent Democratic presidents.

* One notorious example is Ms. Brisby in ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH2TimmyToTheRescue''. While Brisby was the main protagonist of [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH the first film]], not only does the sequel avoid giving any mention of what she accomplished, let any role in the plot, she is on-screen for a grand total of 25 seconds, and only has two or three lines of dialogue.

* ''Almost'' every US President ever after their term. In office, they're the most well known person in America but once their term is up, they sink to the background except for a few public appearances here and there. The biggest exception was UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft, who after leaving office was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, an extremely powerful position in its own right. UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter never had another major government post, but he did do a lot of humanitarian work which is often considered to be more important and beneficial for the world than his mediocre presidency; he even won a Nobel Peace Prize for it.

* While not big players in the opening arc of ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'' ''Public Enemies'', ComicBook/LoisLane, ComicBook/{{Starfire}}, and ComicBook/{{Katana}} did have lines. In [[WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanPublicEnemies its animated adaptation]], they do appear, but don't speak, with Lois Lane only appearing in the end. It's especially notable in Katana's case since in the comic, she was allied with Superman, Batman, and ComicBook/PowerGirl.

* ''Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022'': The original Rangers sans Chip and Dale themselves don't have much screentime. Monty is a SmallRoleBigImpact whose [[spoiler:kidnapping]] kicks off the main plot, while Gadget and Zipper only appear in the beginning and near the end when they help Dale [[spoiler:rescue Chip from Sweet Pete]].

* ''Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022'': The original Rangers sans Chip and Dale themselves don't have much screentime. Monty is a SmallRoleBigImpact whose [[spoiler:kidnapping]] kicks off the main plot, while Gadget and Zipper only appear in the beginning and near the end when they help Dale [[spoiler:rescue Chip from Sweet Pete]].

%%Needs more context about why this was a demotion.* Given the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters huge cast]] of ''WesternAnimation/WakkosWish'', it's not unreasonable. A notable example is Minerva Mink; other than some solo lines at the beginning, she isn't exactly a featured member of the cast, even though she pops up here and there during the musical numbers. (Then again, it's not as if she was a big part of the original show to begin with due to ExecutiveMeddling, but still.)

* Thanks to having LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, this happens frequently in the ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' world. Inexplicably, Pom Pom (one of the original main characters) did not appear in the season finale of Strong Bad's game, despite Pom Pom being in every other episode up to that point. In fact, Pom Pom used to be one of the three main characters along with Homestar and Strong Bad, although now, his appearances are rare, and the annual Christmas/Halloween cartoons are the only times he'll be seen consistently.

* Like ''Apocalypse World'', ''TabletopGame/BladesInTheDark'' and most other UsefulNotes/ForgedInTheDark [=RPGs=] allow players to retire their charaters to [=NPCs=] with PlotArmor, as well as forcing them into retirement if they accumulate [[SanityMeter too much trauma]].

* ''Script/TheCreepyTeenYears'':
** Randomideaguy. Former writer, main character, and editor in season 1, quite a bit less important in season 2. Isnt it sad RIG? ;_; Randomideaguy even disappeared for the first half of season three, before showing up out of nowhere with out an explanation, both instory and [=IRL=]. [=NothingNow=] even had trouble remembering when he had last appeared. So, is accidental ChuckCunninghamSyndrome a thing?
** Evilprodigy, Catboy, and Lord_Roem have less focus on them in seasons 3 and 4.

** Most of the early Matoran completely vanished after the original 2001-03 Mata Nui arc, with the exception of the six who would go on to become the Toa Inika and then Toa Mahri team in 2006-07. Onepu was probably the worst sufferer, because it's pretty clear looking at early intent that he was supposed to be the "main" Onu-Matoran -- he shares his Toa's mask, he's one of the original "[=McToran=]" (promo toys sold at American UsefulNotes/{{McDonalds}}), and he is the most highly-ranked. Unfortunately for him, Nuparu ended up being the actual BreakoutCharacter of the Onu's. There were pragmatic reasons for Onepu's fade into obscurity too. His distinguishing color was purple, a shade that ''Toys/{{LEGO}}'' famously had trouble getting right for years.
** Kapura likewise, if the scrapped ''Legend of Mata Nui'' video game tie-in is anything to go by, which featured him as its "main" recurring Matoran character who showed up in most levels. As this game was not released, Kapura's only shining role was in online content from 2001, after which he barely ever appeared as [[SpotlightStealingSquad he got overshadowed by the newly invented Takua]], who also inherited Kapura's wandering tendencies. Unlike Takua, Kapura was never released as a toy.
** Macku, similar to Onepu, was among the franchise's first releases and had important roles in early side-media like a promo comic and online content. After the introduction of her sport teammate Hahli in 2002, Macku got one more chance as a toy and a story side character, then was all but forgotten after 2003, only getting an odd not here and there. Macku's original player partner Kotu had it worse, as she was seemingly set up to be a potential recurring character and her village's highest-ranking citizen, only for her role to be given to Hahli. In fact, Kotu's first significant appearance was her being told to shut up and let Hahli speak, and it was downhill from there.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin'', Omar Ben Salaad — a drug-running strongman from ''The Crab with the Golden Claws'' — is reduced to a mere plot-advancer, as proprietor of the third ''Unicorn'' model.