Talk:Breakout character

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[edit] Claire Bennet/Boba Fett

I added these two characters to the list. Are they good additions?

Boba Fett seems like a good addition to me, but I think Hiro Nakamura is far more of a breakout character for Heroes, and you just glossed over him. Hayden Panatierre may be on the covers of magazines (she is a photogenic young lady), but almost every article I have read regarding Heroes has mentioned Masi Oka, and a fair number of them have been about him exclusively. That said, I am not sure that either of them are true breakout characters. While the Petrelli storyline is central to the story, both characters have had a great deal of screentime from the very beginning, and I don't think they were ever intended as minor roles.

[edit] Horrible Article

Please get an impartial mod to fix this article. So many of the entries are fanboy nonsense it's ridiculous.

[edit] More potential additions to the list

  1. Mimi Bobeck in The Drew Carey Show.
  2. Thing from Fantastic Four you'll need to cite this
  3. Seth Cohen from The O.C. you'll need to cite this
  4. Fire Marshall Bill from In Living Color you'll need to cite this
These last two use the same cite. Daniel Case 04:21, 29 July 2006 (UTC)
  1. Stiffler in American Wedding you'll need to cite this
  2. Eddie in Barbershop 2 you'll need to cite this
  3. Joy in My Name Is Earl you'll need to cite this
  4. Baby Sinclair in Dinosaurs you'll need to cite this
  5. Ralph Cifaretto in The Sopranos you'll need to cite this
  6. Mr. Spock in Star Trek
  7. The Punisher in Amazing Spider-Man
  8. Opus in Bloom County
  9. Luke Spencer on General Hospital
  10. Frasier Crane on Cheers
  11. Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King
  12. Sasami from Tenchi Muyo! (if anime is also considered)
  13. New York from Flavor of Love (if reality is also considered)
  14. Venom from Spider-Man
  15. Thunderstrike in Thor. Thunderstrike was outselling Thor by two or three times.
  16. Miles O'Brien from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Like Worf, the character went from a bit part to having episodes focused around him.


"Not the Mama!", haha, totally agree on Baby Sinclair. I also reckon Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama is a contender. Gemfyre (talk) 13:57, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

Let's not forget Tommy Oliver. Mack-the-random 01:34, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
What about Elle Bishop from season 2 of Heroes. She was probably the break out character of the show. I mean she went from only going to be in 8 episodes to being bumped to 13 episodes(ofcourse she didn't even get to do her orginal 8 episodes). You could also maybe include Adam Monroe from season 2 also. But Elle was the bigger of the two new characters. Plus many people have said that Elle became there favorite character.

What about Samantha from Sex and the City? Sure, she was one of the original four, but she definitely stole Carries thunder on several occasions. And it's obvious that she (or rather her sexual adventures) became synonomous with the "sex" part of SATC. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Helenem81 (talk • contribs) 18:45, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Do you have sources on that? What's obvious to you may not be obvious to other people. And "stealing Carrie's thunder on several occasions" isn't the same as "stealing the series" as Urkel did. Daniel Case (talk) 02:11, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Historical breakout character

Could Falstaff be considered a breakout character? The article says little about it, but if memory serves he became so popular that Shakespeare pretty much wrote The Merry Wives of Windsor around him because the public demanded a Falstaff vehicle, even though the character was already officially dead? Daniel Case 16:45, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Must the term be used in a cite?

Do we have to limit ourselves only to references in which the actual term "breakout character" is used, or can we go with one where it says "X was intended to be the main character of the show, but Y took over it after audiences clamored for more of the character."? Daniel Case 04:24, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Recent additions

I found a source characterizing Spike as a breakout character, and Klinger I'll keep since it refers to his being added as a regular and is consistent with similar (unsourced, I know) info in the main Klinger article (and I'm not really sure how you cite that). But Miss Piggy I have tagged as it is sourced neither here nor in the main article. It sounds like it would have to refer to some interviews with the show's producers, and I can't find it online.

If it is not sourced in a week, I'm parking it here. Daniel Case 02:16, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

I am not sure how to reference it correctly, but the history of Miss Piggy can be seen in the Season 1 DVD set of The Muppet Show. The text commentary points out her appearence (as just another female pig) and points out where her first karate chop was, etc. ColinBlair 21:42, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I see what you mean. I've had things from DVD commentary that I've thought of adding, too.
Someone should look and see if any of the major citation styles (MLA, APA, Harvard) have developed a way of citing DVD commentary. If not, we'll have to find one ourselves. Daniel Case 13:28, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Some seem stretches

I love The Simpsons and The West Wing (and woe be unto the executive who decided the last season of the latter needed to compete with the former), but Homer and Donna? Dan (Homer's voice) is the first person credited. If anything, it would be correct to say that Bart was the breakout character that eventually settled into his current role as non-breakout. And Donna, while originally a minor role, was never dominant in or identified with the series. Again, there's a much stronger case to be made for President Bartlet, who was originally supposed to be an occasional character, but eventually became the best-known character in the show. However, perhaps it would be best to just leave the two Barts out of the article and focus on obvious breakouts like Urkel and The Fonz. Calbaer 21:24, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

I have tagged that as needing a source, though on the whole I agree with the interpretation. In the Ullman Show shorts and the first episodes, Homer was a much more genuinely paternal character and Castellanata (who comes first in the credits only because they're in alphabetical order) even used a deeper voice. He was originally supposed to be the classic sitcom dad and more of a supporting character. The idea of turning him into a scheming boob/drunken fool came later. Daniel Case 23:28, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
The first short, "Good Night" would seem to undermine this assertion. There he is dumb and he is the most-seen character. As I said, calling him a "break-out" is a stretch; Homer was no Urkel or Fonz. And, if I'm not mistaken, the credits are not alphabetical, but in order of characters' age (for the four Simpsons voices), then alphabetical (for the two remaining main voices). Cartwright (Bart, who you argue as being the main character) and Azaria are both credited after Castellaneta (Homer). If Homer was supposed to be a supporting character, there's no way Castellaneta would have first credit. Calbaer 23:56, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
I didn't directly claim Bart was the main character, although I shouldn't have used "supporting character" (Of course, our own article says "He is, alongside his son, Bart, arguably the show's biggest star and most well known character"). What I recall was that early episodes were built around, or intended to be built around, the Simpson family as a group. No one character was intended to stand out.
Of course, Bart did first and dominated the show for a few seasons, then Homer started getting in on the act (to the point that fans began to complain). So he may be sort of a secondary breakout character. Daniel Case 05:33, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] To 172.133.195.101

Not that some of those changes might not be valid, but they were sweeping enough that I think they should be discussed here.

  • However you feel about the use of the term "jumping the shark", I don't feel that's sufficient grounds to pull it from the article, not least when that is frequently cited as a reason TV shows jump the shark.
  • Klinger isn't a breakout character? It's true he wasn't in the movie. But my understanding of the show's history is that he was supposed to be a one-note drag joke but he became a fully fleshed-out character.
  • You may have removed that Snoopy reference because it was to a blog comment. Fine. But it was the only one I could find that described Snoopy as a breakout character. I am trying to keep everything in this article sourced (not perfectly, I admit) so it doesn't get crufty. I would really prefer to have the source even for such "everybody knows this" things as Snoopy. Daniel Case 22:32, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Strong Bad

No doubt Strong Bad is a breakout character, but I would not say that he is the main character. I mean, it's still HomestarRunner.com. Although SBemail is the most frequently updated part of the site, Homestar is still the main guy. --Savethemooses 06:31, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] MJ as breakout

"Mary Jane Watson was introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man as a flighty rival of Gwen Stacy for the affections of Peter Parker. However, Mary Jane's energetic and confident personality drew considerably more reader interest than expected and she evolved into one of the central supporting characters of Spider-Man." I don't believe MJ is a breakout character. There are SO many "others" that have not been noted - why MJ? Only thing I can think of is a Todd fan. Not being a troll. Just don't think she is not a breakout character. She was never featured in her "own" comic. I remember a couple Spider-Man comics which she was featured in but I don't think her name was selling the comic. She is NOT synonymous with Spider-Man. I love her, too. But she's not a breakout character. Not sure about this tilde stuff but i'll try Dathanandstuff 04:43, 9 February 2007 (UTC) dathan

While she's not a breakout character in the strictest sense, her role was expanded because her popularity with the fans. And she has become an important character in the Spider-man Mythos, so for that, I would leave her on the list. 4.235.156.82 17:08, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

She is now featured in her own comics (Mary Jane mini-series 1 and 2 and Spider-Man loves Mary Jane) as well as two novels by Judith o'Brien. She was also the first love interest in the movies and Ultimate Spider-Man (and the cartoons?) even though she was not in the original comic. Having displaced all other love interests and become the wife in a series where girlfriends used to abound is a breakout. --Leocomix 18:04, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Worf???

Worf certainly got more screen-time than he was initially supposed to, but he was certainly not any of the following: "most popular, talked about, and imitated." Makgraf 06:37, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Not a problem (I really have to sit down and do some cleanup on this). Daniel Case 17:22, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Jack Sparrow

There's already a lot of examples on the list (almost too many), but one that I think should probably be on there is Jack Sparrow. He was just a character in the first movie, but since so much of the success of it hinged around him, the next two made him the star character (with one of the taglines for PotC2 being "Jack is Back"). Does anyone think it'd be a good idea to add him? ShadowMan1od 22:31, 25 February 2007 (UTC)


MORE GLOBAL EXAMPLES - not just american please

[edit] Dick Grayson

I've been battling with myself whether or not to add Dick Grayson. He evolved from just Batman's sidekick, to one of the most popular heroes in the DC Comics. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 4.235.171.231 (talk) 16:08, 21 March 2007 (UTC).

I say "do it." D4S 00:44, 13 April 2007 (UTC)
Yes you can add he became part of the Teen Titans, who were the best-selling DC title in the early 80s. (part of the definition for me is that a breakout character becomes more popular than the original feature or takes on a far greater role than originally conceived) --Leocomix 18:18, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Second Bananas

It seems like now, more than ever, people are starting to add more and more secondary characters. Ralph Biggum is certainly not a breakout character. Neither is Fred Fred Burger.

Lionheart08 23:24, 10 April 2007 (UTC)


Probably a good sign that I should do another purge and pull everything uncited off the page. Daniel Case 01:28, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

OK, I just did this. I pulled everything that doesn't at least claim "X was originally intended to be a side thing" and liberally slapped {{fact}} on much that didn't. In a couple of weeks I'll pull the uncited stuff if there are no citations forthcoming. Daniel Case 04:31, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New York from Flavor of Love

She's a very obvious candidate. Should there be a "Reality" section added?

[edit] Don Patch

Should we add Don Patch from Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo? He is more popular among the fans. Or at my request, you can list any character from said show as a breakout character. Just as long as they are a breakout character. 68.205.128.200 20:54, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Breakout characters aren't necessarily the most popular. It's more about if their role increased from said popularity or if they receive their own spinoffs. D4S 07:12, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, but is Don Patch a breakout character? 68.205.128.200 22:22, 24 April 2007 (UTC)


[edit] John Locke (Lost)

Possible entry? while Jack was originally considered the lead character of the show, i think the series is focusing more on Locke these days as the latter part of Series 3 has shown, he's certainly being featured more than Jack. Amongst the shows fans he's certainly the most popular as well while Jack divides opinion sharply.

Locke has always been one of the main characters, and I don't think he gets much more screen time than anyone else. I'd say Ben Linus is more of a breakout character, as he was originally only going to be in a few episodes and not the leader of The Others. - LeonWhite 01:45, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Why Eric Cartman is not a breakout character, at least not now

Three times in the last couple of weeks people have added Cartman as a breakout character. I have not seen a source referencing this, and some edits don't even try, so I keep taking it out.

The Cartman article itself says:

As the anti-hero of the four leads, Cartman was never intended to be the focal point of the series.[citation needed] After the show premiered, however, his outrageous and shocking behavior made him instantly popular with viewers.

I have added a {{fact}} tag to the first sentence ... if a reliable source is found and cited there, it can be included here. I do recall that Cartman became very popular very quickly ten years ago when the show was new. But I seem to also recall that Parker and Stone had actually spent a lot of time trying to figure the character out before the show, and I doubt they were surprised by his success. Nor does the writing seem to have shifted to him at the expense of the other characters.

Kenny was also as popular as Cartman in the early days, too, since he died so humorously in every episode.

So, I will keep reverting this until someone provides a source and writes it properly. Daniel Case 03:00, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Citation NEEDED!? Lol

The whole page says citation needed even though that will never happen. I love this site. Citation needed indeed. Utils 06:02, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, every once in a while I just clear that stuff off. And look at the citations we already have. Never say never. Daniel Case 12:24, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
Good boy. Utils 04:29, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
I've seen a page basicly full of those. [citation needed] Mack-the-random 00:48, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tagged

About five of those are notable. It was bad enough that I actually got to the article through a bizarre statement that Stewie was a breakout character on Family guy, but breakout characters in Heroes? After one season, which was written prior to being aired? This needs severely trimmed to only include truly appropriate examples. Chris Cunningham 12:14, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Which five? Could you elaborate?
Actually, Stewie is one of the ones that's adequately sourced. I'll probably have to do another purging, then remove the tag. Daniel Case 13:58, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How to create a breakout character

Are there any links how to create a breakout character in any way or something that character needs to become such a breakout character? If so, place them at the external links section. --Bryan Seecrets 13:07, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

Mmm ... well ... I'm not sure if you really can create a breakout character; the whole point of the concept is that a character becomes a much bigger part of the show than anyone ever expected. But something like that should really go in wikibooks, if someone ever decides to write a guide to television writing there. Daniel Case 21:04, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
I mean, creating breakout characters in films. But there is one simple way of doing this, just create a well-rounded and well-detailed character other than the main ones. That does sound right? --Bryan Seecrets 17:28, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Original Research

How could this list not be considered original research? Isn't any such list bound to be subjective anyway? --  timc  talk   16:03, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

It was created originally as a way to resolve the bitter deletion battle over "Fonzie syndrome". "Breakout character" was determined to be a more accurate and less fan-ish term in wide use among television writers and critics, and the phenomenon of characters becoming more popular than originally intended or expected on television series is certainly well-known enough to be encyclopedic. While a number of current entries (ones that won't survive a forthcoming purge) are indeed subjective, there are more than enough that can be and have been sourced to maintain a respectable list. Daniel Case 17:03, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] characteristic traits of a breakout character?

"A breakout character is said to have many characteristic traits."

Like what? This really needs examples. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.61.82.210 (talk) 03:20, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Daleks from Doctor Who

The Daleks turned out to be pretty big. I remember they were introduced really early in the series. Then, a whole bunch of books came out about them (independent of the Doctor Who stories). And still with the new series, everyone associates Daleks with Doctor Who. If someone else agrees that they're significantly "Fonzie" enough to add to that (already pretty long) list in the article, please do! 123.51.3.24 11:46, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Nope, Not the darleks, not the Autons, the Cybermen, the Sontarans, the Zygons, the Sea Devils, the Silurians, the Ice Warriors, the Wirrn, the Yeti, the Master. None of these are above and beyond what they were when they were first written. The Darkels pretty much are the ones that made the doctor the only one of his species and are big..I doubt they will be bigger or have the show revolve around them. And that is why they are not 'breakout' characters. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Puppy Zwolle (talk • contribs) 10:34, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Rewriten beginning

I have rewritten the beginning of this article that (as noted before) is horrible. It started with a specific example (tv-related) and went on in that same area. In the listing also comic characters and other characters were mentioned. I stated the more general 'definition'and left the rest almost 'as is' because...well what can one man do?--Puppy Zwolle (Puppy) 10:30, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Goldberg as a breakout character

I would like to object to the claim that Bill Goldberg was a "breakout character" in WCW and/or the world of professional wrestling. More often than not, wrestlers become breakout stars when not many would have ever considered them main eventers. Other than Goldberg, a great example of this is Stone Cold Steve Austin. He lingered in WCW for many years only garnering a United States Championship (a second-tier title in the federation), before signing with the WWF and absolutely exploding in popularity. There are many wrestlers over the years that have gone on to great popularity after only being given minimal consideration by either the managements of professional wrestling companies or by the fans themselves. Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Mick Foley, Triple H, and Eddie Guerrero, amongst others, weren't considered top-tier talents in the first few years of their professional careers, and have since gone on to be some of the biggest stars in wrestling history; some are Hall of Famers. While Goldberg and Austin are arguably the only ones that have really transcended the business, I don't think one can simply consider Goldberg to be THE breakout character of WCW, when it's obvious that he was one of many.

[edit] Slimer Added

Just checking in to say that I think Slimer deserves a spot on this list, I tried to make his entry impartial, although it may need an edit or two. I think he fits well with the break out character type, primarily due to the television series being renamed so he got top billing, he's also recieved more merchandise and more air time than any single Ghostbuster. —Preceding unsigned comment added by LSWSjr (talk • contribs) 03:43, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Fonzie.jpg

Image:Fonzie.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 06:14, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] South Park - Butters

While he didn't become the focus of the show, Butters has gone from a very minor character to the fifth main character (actually, he's more present than Kenny is these days) - should he be on the list? Tredanse (talk) 11:00, 12 June 2008 (UTC)