Characters that are not the only main characters but that are still massively more popular than the rest on their series

[Oscarzx n]

Is there a character that you can think of that despite not being the only main character (like Bayonetta or Samus are for example) still leavese other characters in the dust when it comes to popularity or attention.
A case I have noticed is Fio, one of the 4 main characters of Metal Slug, because when seeing Fan Arts, cosplays or whatever of the series she gets most of the attention, and sure part of it is probably because she is an attractive woman, but even Eri who can also be seen as a "waifu" and often appears in the same games as Fio, doesn't get nearly as much attention at all.

 

[Sign My Guestbook!]

Sans? Unless you mean specifically the playable lineup

 

[klauskpm]

Charizard

Edit: it is a joke post, but also not. They are not a "main character", but they kinda are, as you can both arguee that Pokémon are the main/co-main characters of the game, as well as Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur are the "main" ones for Red, Blue and Green.

 

[fwpx]

Sylvanis, for some reason.

 

[Richiek]

Zero in the Mega Man X series

 

[Jean-Luc Ponty]

Auron from Final Fantasy 10.
He gained enough popularity to earn a cameo in Kingdom Hearts 2.

 

[YellowBara]

Sho Minamimoto from (NEO)TWEWY seems more popular than either Neku OR Rindo whenever the series comes up.

 

[giapel]

Lady Dimitrescu and she's not even playable (yet)

 

[KillstealWolf]

Ask a person to name a Dragon Quest character and the first thing that comes to mind is probably the Slime.

 

[ala1995ginobiko]

Does Terra from FFVI count? She's borderline "main" main character I'd say, if you consider her as part of the cast she's obviously the most popular.
Also Aqua from the Kingdom Hearts BBS trio.

 

[Aaronrules380]

Reminds me of how Yuri from Tales of Vesperia got banned from official tales popularity polls because he always won lol

 

[PlanetSmasher]

You could pretty convincingly make the case that Goro Majima is the breakout character of the Yakuza series.

 

[Chun]

Ezio.
I love him and he IS my favorite but between Edward and Kassandra the series has pumped out other great Assassins.

 

[doops.]

Kiryu. The man has astronomical meme potential.

 

[Tsumami]

Pyra Mythra and Nia dwarf every other playable character in XBC2 in terms of popularity

 

[Melody]

You could pretty convincingly make the case that Goro Majima is the breakout character of the Yakuza series.

Click to shrink...

Hm, can't really see it. Literally no idea who this is but I know the MC from that one meme song.

 

[Protoman200X]

The cast of Final Fantasy XII is an interesting case study, as Ashe is the main protagonist that's making crucial decisions that will move the party and plot onward, Balthier is the breakout character/show-stealer, white-slice Vaan is our POV character of the story, and like him or not, he is the doofus who helps us learn about the world of St. Ivalice during this specific time period the story takes place in. Then you have Penelo, Basch, and Fran that are supporting to those other three, respectively.

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

You could pretty convincingly make the case that Goro Majima is the breakout character of the Yakuza series.

Click to shrink...

O easily lol

 

[Stall_19]

Morrigan from Darkstalkers.

 

[Leo-Tyrant]

 

[BloodRayne]

I guess Bridget, Zappa and ABA from Guilty Gear?

 

[Stall_19]

Also if you consider visual novels to be games then Saber from Fate/Stay Night.

 

[dancingphlower]

This is kinda anecdotal but I've seen a warmer reception to Ichiban Kasuga over previous iconic series protagonists. Like I think Easy Allies and MinnMax voted him as the best character of 2020 despite games like Last of Us 2 and Hades releasing that year.

 

[RedAhmed]

Ike is the most popular character in the Fire Emblem series despite his games being among the worse selling entries.
Roy is also very popular and from a non-popular entry. And yes, it's thanks to Smash. Though Ike was already popular beforehand.
And there is Lyn who is also among the most popular characters and her game also isn't a big seller.

 

[MinerArcaniner]

Morrigan from Darkstalkers.

Click to shrink...

She basically IS Darkstalkers at this point.

 

[Naijaboy]

For Borderlands, Handsome Jack and Mad Moxxi.

 

[Jimnymebob]

I guess Bridget, Zappa and ABA from Guilty Gear?

Click to shrink...

I feel like Baiken and Dizzy are the two that are hugely popular. I guess Bridget has the same "everyone loves the character but no one plays the character" energy that Baiken has, but at least Baiken has remained relevant in the series and in crossover things over the years.

 

[PLASTICA-MAN]

Every 5 star character in Genshin Impact cus Hoyo made the MC so powerless that you are forced to invest infinite money in a roulette to get a decent playable one. XD

 

[Mesoian]

I guess Bridget, Zappa and ABA from Guilty Gear?

Click to shrink...

I see what you did there

 

[Grudy]

Feels like most of these answers are wrong so far. The OP is specifically asking for side characters that are massively more popular than the main characters.

I would say Solaire from Dark Souls since the Chosen Undead is the main character.

 

[jtmmachine]

Are we talking games where there are multiple player characters on and one of them skyrockets in popularity over the others?

Haven't played much Final Fight, but Mike Haggar seems to be very popular compared to Guy and, to a lesser extent, Cody. Haggar was the one I always saw requested to join Marvel VS Capcom back before 3 released, altho that might've been because unlike Guy + Cody, he hadn't made the jump to Street Fighter or any 2-D fighter

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I feel like Baiken and Dizzy are the two that are hugely popular. I guess Bridget has the same "everyone loves the character but no one plays the character" energy that Baiken has, but at least Baiken has remained relevant in the series and in crossover things over the years.

Click to shrink...

Agreed. Bridget is really popular with one specific subset of the community but he hasn't been in a game in damn near an eternity and is never front-facing when Guilty Gear crosses over with other IP.

 

[Spacejaws]

Hmm does this only count for fandom or developers too?
For Resident Evil I would have said Jill was the standout with fans but due to Capcoms actions they've kinda made it all about Chris and Jill is just a footnote.

 

[Oscarzx n]

Feels like most of these answers are wrong so far. The OP is specifically asking for side characters that are massively more popular than the main characters.

I would say Solaire from Dark Souls since the Chosen Undead is the main character.

Click to shrink...

Eh kinda, the example I guess was 1 out of 4 main characters that is way more popular than the other 3. Most of the examples I have seen are fine.

 

[DeadeyeNull]

I'm surprised nobody said Chun li yet. She's not the main character but definitely as much the face of the franchise as Ryu and Ken. Capcom at one point said they will never make a street fighter without Ryu and Chun li again so she might have been promoted to main character

 

[Stencil]

Solaire or Onion Knight/Knights of Catarina

 

[KillstealWolf]

Hmm does this only count for fandom or developers too?
For Resident Evil I would have said Jill was the standout with fans but due to Capcoms actions they've kinda made it all about Chris and Jill is just a footnote.

Click to shrink...

Really? Because I do feel you hear people talk more about Leon and Wesker with regards to Resident Evil.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Feels like most of these answers are wrong so far. The OP is specifically asking for side characters that are massively more popular than the main characters.

I would say Solaire from Dark Souls since the Chosen Undead is the main character.

Click to shrink...

Oh, I thought OP meant who was the standout character in a game with multiple playable characters.

 

[Ralemont]

I guess technically Dante, since Nero is also a "main" character.

 

[Ocirus]

The correct answer is Ezio.

 

[Richiek]

Kiryu. The man has astronomical meme potential.

Click to shrink...

But isn't Kiryu the main protagonist of Yakuza??

 

[TheDinoman]

Here's a good example:

Now obviously Geno isn't more popular than the mainline Mario cast, but speaking purely in the context of Square's Mario RPG originals, he's certainly the stand out favorite. To the point where he weirdly became a hugely requested Smash Bros. candidate.

 

[Genesius]

Jill and Leon are the most popular RE characters but Capcom keeps jamming non-Jill characters into RE for some reason.

 

[Spacejaws]

Really? Because I do feel you hear people talk more about Leon and Wesker with regards to Resident Evil.

Click to shrink...

Sorry I mean in regards to Resident Evil 1, I do think Leon was the more popular character in 2 and the series overall.

 

[Great Martinez Jr.]

Zero in the Mega Man X series

Click to shrink...

Was also the first thing that came to mind, especially as he effectively became the central character of both MMX4 and X5, and then got the lead role for Mega Man Zero.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

 

[Chopchop]

Phoenix Wright in the Ace Attorney series.

 

[Great Martinez Jr.]

Talking about characters that haven't been mentioned yet: Sub-Zero and Scorpion are effectively the faces of Mortal Kombat nowadays.

Both are better known than any other character from the roster and far more popular than Liu Kang, who was originally intended as the hero of the story.

 

[The Dragon Mask]

Captain Falcon stand out as a character who's pretty popular even though his series is dead dead dead.

He's been of an icon for Smash for longer than for his own series I think.

 

[BasilZero]

Hm, can't really see it. Literally no idea who this is but I know the MC from that one meme song.

Click to shrink...

My sarcasm meter might be broken but that dude is on the cover of yakuza 0 along with the MC lol