People Explain Which Side Characters Deserved More Of The Spotlight Than The Main Character

People Explain Which Side Characters Deserved More Of The Spotlight Than The Main Character
Image by Jan Vašek from Pixabay

Be it a novel, play, television show, or movie, it has a protagonist.

Because, frankly, it needs one. The main character provides the lens through which we watch the action, and their emotional journey through some conflict is what drives the whole plot.


But let's face it, the main plot isn't automatically the audience's favorite part of the story. Humans being humans, we love animated people full of relatable quirks and entertaining outbursts--true characters.

And sometimes, the creator of the story has far more freedom with side characters whose every experience won't chaotically veer the plot off into different directions every second.

Nonetheless, we often walk away most thrilled by those side characters above all else.

Necessary-Spinach 182 asked, "What side character deserved more spotlight than the main character?"

For some Redditors, they wanted more light shed on a side character's back story.

Given only a fascinating tidbit that offered a window into a whole unexplored world, they imagined entire other movies where the side character could be a star with a plot of their own.

A Cat With Plenty to Say 

"This is gonna sound weird but Salem from the original Sabrina the Teenage Witch. His character was just a goofy talking cat most of the time and the few times we saw his backstory it was really interesting."

"I just feel like he was underutilized but I haven't seen the new series so they might be paying more attention to him."

-- rubicks56

Best Voice, Best Story, Biggest Snub 

"Santana Lopez from Glee - she could do 'Don't Rain on my Parade' but Rachel Berry could never do 'Valerie' or 'Me against the Music'"

Also her story line was by far the most interesting, her arc was the most fully realised, and she had snark for days (RIP Naya Rivera)"

-- TieYourTubesIdiot

Throne Gaps 

"Tormund Giantsbane" -- Aykhancho

"He was my favorite character! And he really reminds me of my brother" -- natsugrayerza

"Agreed but Brianne of Tarth has to be there absolutely. that is a loose end that's going to haunt me for the rest of my days" -- iCantliveOnCrumbsOfD

Plenty of Katniss' Out There

"I wanted to know more background info about the other tributes in the Hunger Games. It was in Katniss' POV so it wasn't that prominent, but it would still be interesting." -- GiseleDamas

"Me too. I would have loved to see stuff from Cato's perspective in the first movie. And how the kids from the higher districts where forced to train for the games ever since they where children." -- JackSparrowscompass

"I thought I was gonna hate the prequel but I actually ended up loving it. Lucy Gray Baird is an incredibly interesting character. Snow is still a psychopath but that isn't exactly shocking" -- smol_lydia

Rewarding Loyalty 

"I'm not sure how many people watched Ben 10 before the reboot but I feel like Ben's cousin Gwen deserves some recognition."

"People who watched the show tend to focus more on Ben and his aliens since they are the main characters of the show, but Gwen deserves equal recognition because she's been a very loyal cousin who is willing to do everything she could to defend and fight along with his cousin at all times."

"She went through serious character development going from a kid who was jealous and liking to pick on her cousin and then grew up into this bada** who proved to be much useful whenever she's not around her cousin. Kevin and Grandpa Max deserve credit as well."

"Kevin and Ben pretty much had one of the best enemy-turned ally relationships in a show and Grandpa Max was pretty much a father and mentor to Ben who took what he learned from him in order to become a better hero."

"The thing I love most about this show is how tackles character development well and yes the side characters were very interesting and important in their own way."

The Namesake

"Zelda needs her own game about the missing years in OoT when Link is gone and she becomes Sheik and leads an insurgency with Impa as her Alfred." -- Wazula42

"I mean it is called Legend of Zelda. They should definitely make a game about her. It would be awesome!" -- Monkey6518

Probing the Depths Of Space and Time 

"Doc Brown from Back to the Future. He's had much more adventures off camera than Marty did on camera. The thirty years between 1955 and 1985."

"The unknown period he was adventuring in time and space off camera between when he disappeared from the Twin Lone Pine mall and his reappearance at Marty's house at the end of the first film."

"His time in the 1880s before and after Marty's arrival and departure. His subsequent building of a new time travel machine in a locomotive and his adventures after the series finale."

"There's a lot of untold stories of Doc Brown that I'd love to see on the silver screen."

-- II_Confused

Clear Frontrunner

"Spencer from iCarly" -- Agroskater

"He was definitely the best character in the whole show. I'd probably watch a series with him and Freddie in it if they did one. The fencing episode with them was one of my favourites :)" -- ArtemisFowlbooks_07

A Small Business Spinoff

"I binged True Blood recently so it's in front of my brain: Eric Northman and Pam. Sookie got annoying. Bill was an a**hole."

"One of the plot points of the show was that they ran afoul of the vampire authority and were sentenced to run a video rental store in the 1980s and 90s. I would 100% watch Eric and Pam run a video rental store."

-- ConnieLingus24

Others highlighted the characters who always managed to steal the hearts and laughs of viewers every time they appeared on screen.

These characters were simply so entertaining that audiences always could have used some more.

Line After Line 

'Falstaff from Henry IV."

"Dude was putting out banger lines every scene. So interesting they had to kill him between plays because everyone was like 'IDGAF about anyone not named Falstaff.'"

"Shoutout to all the Shakespeare and literary nerds out there."

-- Onepopcornman

Prime Shenanigans

"Andy from Parks and Rec, his shenanigans could have easily been a spin-off series with April." -- misslemom9

"If you're going to do a Parks and Rec spinoff, and you can get Crisp Rat back for it, you have to go for the Agent Macklin: FBI feature film. Anything else is a waste." -- WhatVengeanceMeans

A Significant Late Addition 

"Niles Crane. I don't know if the show would work with him as the main character without significant modifications, but he's consistently my favorite part of nearly every episode." -- merupu8352

"It's amazing to think that they had no plans for Frasier to have a brother when they were developing the show."

"It's only because someone in casting saw David Hyde Pierce's headshot and said 'hey, this guy looks like he could be Frasier's brother' and they gave him a screentest on a whim that they realised what a goldmine of a concept that was."

"I honestly doubt Frasier would have lasted more than a season if Niles wasn't a character." -- jetsam_honking

And finally, some characters only appeared for a single moment or two, but really turned heads during the brief snippet.

Sometimes it only takes one amazing joke or a heartfelt moment to leave the whole crowd wondering what could have been.

We've All Quoted It 

"frozone from the incredibles" -- thatswhat_shesaid1

"Where he can find his motherfu**ing super suit" -- derthert123

"Absolutely agree with this. He had their back in both movies, a great friend to the family. They just didn't give him enough." -- makeme84

One of Many Pursuers

"James Norrington" -- myhamsterisajerk

"For anyone wondering, this is the admiral that is persuing Captain Jack Sparrow in the original movie, who is the other side of this iconic exchange" -- boopboopadoopity

"Norrington seriously had so much potential. Then he met Bootstrap Bill. We all know how that ended. I kinda wish we saw more of him when he was temporarily a pirate." -- StarWarsCrazy1

"COMMODORE Norrington, as he is now known." -- hazzzaa85

Jockeying For Position

"Sarah Lynn in Bojack Horseman."

"Plus the criminally underrated Officer Meow Meow Fuzzyface."

-- ViperKira

The Promise of a Song 

"I would have LOVED if Mulan 1998 focused more on the friendship between Mulan, Ling, Yao, and Chien-po. I really liked how they seemed to bond after Mulan got the arrow and the three started including her in things, like joking around each other during A Girl Worth Fighting For."

"And how they immediately followed Mulan when they said she had an idea. I wish there was more screentime for the four of them. Their dynamics are so fun."

-- Minimum-Cauliflower2

Think back to your favorite movies and shows. Can you recall a character that really stole the show for you? For me, it's without a doubt Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

His relentless anxious fidgeting is the closest I have to a spirit animal.

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

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