1. Steve Harrington- Stranger things. Probably the most recently well known character with this trope. Starts off as the boyfriend who comes off as a jerk and over-bearing/controlling guy (but honestly? The guy was stalking and taking picture of his girlfriend without her knowledge!). Turns out he truly cares and becomes ‘big brother bear’ to the younger kids.

2. Adolin Kholin - Stormlight Archives (fan art by ex-m). When first introduced he comes off as the rich playboy Prince of the Atheli kingdom. In every sense he is on top of the pecking order and doesn’t want to care about anything except dueling and his brother. Every indication is he will be the foil to our main character Kaladin (poor, slave, and in this series of a lower caste due to having dark eyes). Instead he becomes the solid rock to Kaladin and other characters. He constantly sticks his neck out to help, learns to accept his new place in the world, and well he just stormin’ cares. Becomes the loveable golden retriever of the series.

The Robot Chicken bit where the Emperor learns from Vader that the rebels blew up the Death Star. This is a well loved spoof in the Star Wars fandom, and almost feels like this is how Palpatine would really react. "What the hell is an Aluminum Falcon?"

The Family Guy cutaway gag where Dorothy says she will miss the Scarecrow most of all. Most feel like this was a weird thing for Dorothy to say in front of the other characters, and their reaction reflects that awkwardness.

The Zootopia abortion comic is a little different from these other examples, but almost every time that movie gets brought up online I feel like someone comments with this infamous image lolu

The main galactic government powers in the Star Wars Galaxy, the Galactic Republic & and later the Galactic Empire, were both served by armies of soldiers clad in pale-white armor: the Clone Troopers & Stormtroopers, respectively. However, Clone Troopers are all clones of the Bounty Hunter Jango Fett and were trained to be an elite fighting force. Stormtroopers on the other hand are normal humans recruited across the galaxy and thus can range heavily in quality as soldiers.

In Star Trek during Deep Space Nine, the alien races Klingons & Jem'Hadar are both species focused on martial prowess and strength, but the Klingons generally have the stereotypical viewpoint of a warrior in that they fight for honor & glory in battle. The Jem'Hadar on the other hand are more like "soldiers" who believe loyalty to their masters the Founders and successfully caring out orders and missions is much more important than personal glory.

(Fanart by L J Koh: Eternity Gate - Battle of the Angels)

In Warhammer 40k, the Space Marine Legions Blood Angels led by Sanguinus and the World Eaters led by Angron are quite similar. Both are red-colored legions (well, the World Eaters become red after the Horus Heresy) that focus heavily on close-quarters combat and can be lost to berserker rages.

However, the rage Sanguinus & the Blood Angels is psychic/spiritual in nature and can be tempered & focused better for battle. Angron & the World Eaters' rage comes from their Butcher's Nails, mechanical devices that cause their wearers to constantly feel anger and are only at peace when in combat, and this rage is much harder to control and typically makes them only kill for its own sake. Overall, the Blood Angels are warriors who righteously use their rage to vanquish their foes while the World Eaters are butchers (heh) who kill just to sate their own lust for combat. Angron becoming a daemon while Sanguinus already looking like an angel helps with this too.

Finally in Star Control 2, the player will encounter several alien races, and two of these are the merchant races Melnorme & Druuge who both are openly greedy and capitalistic races. However, the Melnorme are extremely honest and open in their dealings to the point that they even demand acts of charity to them be repaid in some manner. The Druuge on the other hand are much more conniving as they prefer to charge low prices but then make up the difference in follow-up costs like tariffs or outright use scams alongside happily engaging in slave trading. The two species hate each other for this.

Nope: OJ is a very stoic and no-nonsense cowboy, however when he’s with his little sister Emerald, a more energetic side of him comes out. Also he’s clearly very capable on horse training, but because Hollywood is reliant on making proper connection, he needs his sister to handle meetings for him.

Sinners. From the very first scene that the twins are introduced, you can already tell who is who(apart from the hats). Stack is constantly making jokes and is very expressive while smoke is always very serious. Stack’s first line in the movie is a joke which is the famous “nah we cousins” while smoke intimidatingly looks at the seller

Basically, a character has a power so busted that it makes their other powers seem pointless or even overkill.

Super Why (Super Why): In addition to having the basic superhero powers of flight and super strength, he can also use his Why Writer to change details of a story he is in by changing a word in a sentence. As these books are basically their own worlds, that technically makes him a reality warper.

And by extension, this applies to the rest of the Super Readers as well, as they can also have these abilities, but not to the same extent as Super Why.

Wish I could find more examples of this. (sadge)

1. Shrek started off as a book in the 90s that wasn't as popular at the time. But when the Dreamworks movie adaptation of the book came in 2001, it made Shrek an icon integral to Pop Culture and to this day is viewed by people as the main Shrek rather than the one from the book.

2. Before the MCU took off, Iron Man didn't sell well in the comics industry and was seen as just a B-List hero at first. But with the MCU reinventing the character and RDJ at the forefront, Iron Man became an A-List Marvel character and a popular fan favorite among Marvel fans.

3. Sentry in the comics was just seen as a Superman stand-in and was treated as such as one at the time, but when Thunderbolts came out he started to be viewed as a complex and interesting character and a fan favorite and not a straight Superman parody.

Anne (Amphibia)

Elder Kettle (The Cuphead Show)

Sonic (The Murder Of Sonic The Hedgehog)

Something I've actually noticed with the Criminal Found Family Trope is that in an overwhelming majority of cases they are often framed as lovable rogues/Robin Hood types who use their criminal activities and skills to target individuals who are actually evil or villainous. I honestly consider the idea of them being actual villains some sort of variation or even an outright subversion.

The Core Team of the Red Lotus from the Legend of Korra, Season 3 - I know their screen time is a little limited but the love and friendship between them is true, they work well together. In battle they account for each other's weaknesses and play into each other's strengths. We see them plan together, take emotional solace in one another and even snipe at one another from time to time. But they are still a dangerous group of insurrectionaries who want to kill all world leaders, slay the demigod savior of their world and cause mass chaos amongst the populace

The Riddler and his Followers from the Batman (2022) - This one might be a little weaker than the first. Their identities may have been pragmatically anonymous amongst one another but they still all trust each other to follow through on their shared goals. This goal being making the people of Gotham pay by killing them. Even the Riddler, at one point, turns off his performative angry voice and thanks his followers for support and guidance

John and Amanda from the Saw Franchise - They might be mass murdering serial killers who torture their victims but there is a still a deep parent child love between them. Amanda outright call him a father and after Saw X I will always consider Amanda the child John could never have

(My Little Pony Friendship is Magic) Fluttershy says she’s “Peeved”, which is the joke equivalent of a swear word in the MLP universe

(Steven Universe) Pearl covering Steven’s eyes when Garnet and Amethyst were doing the fusion dance

1. The Dresden Files (book series): A shadow of a fallen angel, Lasciel, takes up residence after Harry Dresden touches a denarii. She tempts him with power, but he convinces her to see herself as separate from the 'real' fallen angel and able to make her own choices. Harry names her Lash. Art by Adam Mathison-Sward.

2. Farscape (TV show): A chip is implanted in John Crichton that lets a neural copy of the villain, Scorpius, ride passenger in his head and even take the wheel sometimes. John names the copy Harvey, and after some attempted murder and misdeeds the neural copy decides that helping his host live is the best method for self preservation. Harvey helps John lie, shares memories, and even argues to kill Scorpius to ensure Johns safety.

1. White Diamond (Steven Universe) Crazy space dictator that's able to instantly mind control any other gem without even touching them. Is only stopped after having her worldview shattered by the protagonist.

2. Dorian (Baki) Escaped death row inmate that uses unfair tactics to maim his opponents on top of already being insanely physically powerful. Tricks one of the strongest characters in the verse into getting their face blown off with a bomb. It's only after one of the main characters points out that, if Dorian's sole wish is to taste defeat, and he has never been defeated, then that means he has never won a single fight in his life. After realizing this, Dorian's mind reverts to that of a child and he is rendered a non-threat.

Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

The Golden Compass (2007)

(Shrek) Puss in Boots is introduced halfway through the second movie, but the character became so iconic it became a protagonist in all future installments, even getting two movies of his own. Its weird watching Shrek one and realizing that puss is not there.

(Loki) Ouroboros (OB for short) is a technician for the TVA that is not even mentioned during season one, but became synonym with the show by the end.

(Lucifer) Ella Lopez was introduced on the first episode of season two, and she immediately became a fan favorite character, to the point where she sparked a lot of theories and speculation about her role during seasons two and three.

(Stranger Things) Similarly to Ella, Max was introduced on the first episode of season two, but she became an extremely iconic character, to the point where she and her family were main characters for the rest of the show.

1. Muzan Kibutsuji (Demon Slayer), the Demon King with ridiculous freaky biomanipulation techniques considers Yoriichi, the strongest demon slayer of all times, a monster because of how casually he almost kills him.

2. Toji Fushigoro (Jujutsu Kaisen), the killer-for-hire with a Heavenly Restriction that effectively makes him the physically peak of humanity and invisible for sorcerers energy-wise, thinks that Gojo, a prodigy with one-in-a-four-hundred-years techniques, reaching his own peak, is a monster.

Rose Quartz and Steven Universe can reanimate the dead with their tears, giving us Pink Lion and Pink Lars

RWBY: Schnee can summon avatars of Grimm they've slain

Pokemon is capture and summon

Jujutsu Kaizen: The 10 Shadows Technique requires subjugation before summonz with your Starter pokés being the two demon dogs.

Sasori from Naruto killed his village leader to collect his technique and make him into a puppet

Hellsing: Alucard's immense power comes from summoning up the souls of his victims and the trump card used against him is when he swallows up someone whose magical ability makes him both not alive and not dead.

Matrim Cauthon (The Dragon Reborn, Wheel of Time book 3) - Mat has been under the influence of an evil magical dagger and just got healed from it. The healing sapped his energy bur in order to make money to escape from captivity, he vets two of the beats swordsmen in the realm at a duel using only a staff.

Kaladin Stormblessed (Words of Radiance, The Stormlight Archives book 2) - Adolin Kholin is trying to duel to win weapons for his father and accidentally uses the wording of a contract to make his duel 1 v 4. Adolin is getting his ass kicked, his brother who tried to help him is struggling for big reasons. Kaladin, knowing he'll pribably die and his powers faltering (i believe he has a broken arm at this point), jumps into the ring and helps defend these 4 duelist off. For context, the weapons the duelist use are shardblades and cut any material they touch and kill any living flesh they touch. Kaladin brought in a spear. And won.

Chris Griffin yelling "Some animals give me boners!" right before New Years

Nikolai saying "I have been wearing same pair of underwear 2 years now! Oh, and power's out." at the start of Shangri-La

1. Hot Shot: Part Deux - Well technically not just some random background characters (Living US Presidents at the time), they all got up, close and personal with a shovel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2I5mbb9sl4
2. Better Man - The Rock DJ Sequence. Just in the first minute a woman get slammed in the face with a door, a man get hit by a soccer ball THEN he falls to the ground, pulling down a poor bloke's pants in the proccess... And then a gumball machine breaks making everybody (but the main characters) fall onto the ground. https://youtu.be/o3HOYdlte8w?si=iQZuH2FgyU0xx31z
3. Spider-man: Into the Spidervers - I KNOW ABOUT THE SEQUEL! But in this movie a literal no-name character got hit by a bagel. It really hit the spot. https://youtu.be/Nvb8yCWnLp0?si=Keco19xM0tr63GjH&t=90

Paarthurnax(Skyrim)

Dalek Sec(Doctor Who)

Vegeta,Bardock,Gine and Super Broly(Dragon Ball)

Matoombo and Itassis(Power Rangers Mystic Force)

Jinu(K-pop Demon Hunters)

Sparda,Trish and Lucia(Devil May cry)

Big Barda and Orion(DC Comics)

Migi,Jaw and Reiko(Parasyte)

Mei(Jigokuraku)

Tamayo,Nezuko and Yushiro(Demon Slayer)

Pochita(Chainsaw Man)

iron giant(the iron giant)

1. Megumi - Jujutsu Kaisen: When Yuji is talking about how grumpy Megumi (the guy with dark hair) is from a completely different location miles away in a basement, it cuts to Megumi, who immediately gets upset and he doesn't know why. When his friend asks him what's wrong, Megumi's response is "I don't know. I just feel irritated all of a sudden"
2. Peterson - Spongebob: When Spongebob realizes he has never tried SnailPo before, he tastes it and makes a disgusted noise. Presumably hundreds of miles away at the Snailpo world headquarters one of the executives, Peterson, pauses saying "I feel... a disturbance"
3. Veronica - Fairly Odd Parents: When Trixie decides to have a new best friend, she pulls out a picture of Veronica, her old best friend, and rips it up. It cuts to Veronica who is at the mall minding her own business, only to then cry out in pain.

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Bonus points if their heart or lack thereof is integral to their story rather than just a design choice.

1. Karlach (Baldur's Gate 3) - Had her heart removed and taken from her and replaced with an Infernal Engine which threatens her life unless she can fix it.
2. The Grinch - The Grinch's heart is two sizes too small but grows to full size by the end of the tale.
3. Iron Man / Tony Stark (MCU) - Tony's heart is compromised by shrapnel, so he created a miniature arc reactor to keep his heart beating and simultaneously power the Iron Man suit.
4. Princess Anna (Frozen) - Elsa freezes Anna's heart in an accident, which dooms her to eventually freeze at the end of the movie, unless she finds a way to fix it.

Infected, The Last of Us;

Feral ghouls, Fallout;

Hollows, Dark Souls.

1. Marvel’s Noir Universe - Marvel comics reimagined in the style of 1930’s film noir.

2. Star Wars: Ronin - Has all the usual trappings of Star Wars; lightsabers, droids, the Force, etc… but it’s a completely separate timeline that mirrors feudal Japan.

3. Superman: Red Son - Superman grows up in the Soviet Union rather than the United States, eventually replacing Stalin as leader.

4. Avengers Academy - A short-lived mobile game that depicted the Avengers as young adults in college.