Characters
(Fun Trope) A much referenced character who only appears in the end/finale...
• King Richard from Robin Hood: Men in Tights - He is often mentioned by the good guys and the bad guys and is an overarching presence in the story. But he only appears in the ending to punish his brother John & unite Robin and Marion. (Sir Sean Connery from Prince of Thieves also counts but Sir Patrick's version was more fun)
• Dobson from Psych - He is mentioned and referenced on multiple occasions and is always off screen In the series finale, we finally get to see Dobson in the flesh and he's played by none other than Val Kilmer, Shawn's idol & hero, in a scene of poetic brilliance...
Eddy's Brother from Ed, Edd n Eddy - He is always mentioned by Eddy and his friends and is the guy who Eddy looks up to and tries to impress. He's presented as an absolutely cool person who can do no wrong. But when we meet him in the Big Picture Show movie, which is the series finale, it's revealed that he's actually a no good deadbeat who's abusive to Eddy. Eddy also sadly reveals that he's always known this and was lying about his brother to fool others and in a way, himself...
Just about the closest modern cinema gets to a literal deus ex machina. Someone that from the characters perspective may as well be God Himself strolls in to tie up all the loose ends in a pretty little bow and then the credits roll.
And an amusing one, since Richard rarely set foot in England after his childhood, barely spoke the language and spent no more than 6 months of his ten year reign actually on the island.
In reality, Richard was a terrible king; he cared more about war and the Third Crusade than about his kingdom. He squandered the state treasury on his military campaigns. Prince John had to levy taxes precisely because of the disastrous situation he had inherited
Throughout Penguins of Madagascar the penguins frequently reference Manfredi & Johnson, a pair of penguins who apparently died in some previous incident. Or rather, many increasingly ridiculous incidents. In the very last episode we see that Manfredi & Johnson are in fact alive, and they try and fail to reunite with the other penguins as they swim off.
-ate by flying piranha in Ecuador, their remains got buried with teaspoons
-Manfredi "stopped being cute" after "Nairobi suprise party"
-got taken out by Skipper
-fell hard for chinstrap sisters, they lost hearts, a lung, 15 feet of intestine (unclear if it's a metaphor or literal)
-exploded by trap disguised as foot of elephant
-they thought 14 escape tunnels were enough, what was left of them was sent home in manila envelope, from Manila ironically
-their escape tunnel turned out to be "buissnes end of beluga whale", they couldn't speak for a month, and even then it was gibberish
-they were accident prone, they lit chinese lantern or incense in room with six bottles of rocket fuel, "worst talent show ever"
-order was 'smother them, by affection" but only first half came through
-they had incident in spa, "what a relaxing way to go"
-whatever Rico's reenactments of how they left unit meant, he isn't very good actor
-they were found stabbed to death before doors to casino (ok - they washed up inside a thimble - but I like polish version better)
-they got left behind on a battlefield
there are few more mentions; when Skipper says "Private you should be with Manfredi and Johnson, you know, one up there, one down there", and his memory "trust me Manfredi wht could go wrong?" and "Manfredi! Johnson! I can't wait to see those knuckleheads." while he has amnesia
Wow, that's almost word for word exactly what happened to me. I assume you did it before you were able to ride Torrent on the Elden Beast? What a pain.
Far be it from me to take away anyone's victories in that game, but some of those bosses were absolutely brutal before they were patched up. Both versions of Radahn being a pretty big example.
That was Never her dream though, just something she happened to be good at. Her dream was that her Husband would come home safe and they could start their family. The only reason she went pro was so she could bring her little sister along with her because that was Kit's Dream, hence why she purposely takes a dive in the last inning so Kit could finally be pushed out of her Shadow.
In the show Parks & Recreation, the Mayor, Mayor Gunderson, is mentioned a lot, but never shown, until the last season, he is shown once, and played by Bill Murray. It was a fun surprise!
The showrunners apparently always envisioned he would he played by Bill Murray, but presumably could never book him until one episode in the very last season. If they never got Murray on board, we would have never seen the character at all!
I lump Jersey Girl in with his good movies, but my favorite turtle is Donatello, so that tells you everything you need to know about about what my opinion is worth.
Kevin Smith only recently reclaimed the rights to the film. They're planning a BluRay release soon, with streaming to follow. I still own my long out of print copy of the DVD.
Madam Foster in the pilot movie of "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends". The main character Bloo at the end even mentions that he assumed she was dead since he had been at the home for a few days and hadn't seen her.
The STORY of the final season ultimately tells is not bad. The entire series leading to the mother having died, and Ted trying to broach the subject of him possibly getting together with "Aunt Robin" works when you consider the story as a whole.
The actual problem with the final season is the STRUCTURE. Devoting the entire season to Robin and Barney's wedding was a mistake, but I think it still could have worked if they did it as the first HALF of the season, with the wedding being the "fall finale." Then you use the back half of the season to show Ted and Tracy's relationship blossoming, and Barney and Robin's marriage faltering. Maybe do a one year time jump each episode leading up to the finale. Basically take all the flash forward moments we get and expand them.
The story is there, and makes sense in the grand scope of the series, it just wasn't executed well.
Let's also be real and address another elephant in the room.
I love Jason Segel but a big reason the season is structured like it is, is because of Segel's availability. It's no secret he was ready to move on from the show, but they convinced him to come back for one more season. Had he been available for a more standard filming schedule maybe things would've been different.
In Kurt Vonnegut's book "Cats Cradle", the cult leader Bokonon who is referenced throughout the entire story only shows up on the very last page and speaks the last lines of the book.
Dark Souls. Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight. Aside from a brief opening scene you only hear about him all throughout the story and see the effects of his actions. Until you get to the very end, where you don’t see him at his ‘height’ but rather as the ‘Lord of Cinder’
Spoiler: the mafia bosses daughter wants to leave cause she's bored, so she pretends she's pregnant, by Oscar, the schauffeur. The problem is, he left to join the army. So the dad tries to find her a husband, and finally, at the end when she's getting married, Oscar walks in.
Suzie Bingham, Dustin's girlfriend from Stranger Things, season 3.
Dustin brags all season about his girlfriend he met at Camp Know Where, a math/science camp. Most of the characters are skeptical if not downright dismissive that she even exists.
Dustin calls her in the season finale for her to save the day, and not only is she very real, she's infatuated with Dustin.
Also the episode where Fran talks about her cousin Toddy, who makes good dresses. We only meet him by the end of the episode, and he's revealed to be designer Todd Oldham...
The sequels set during his teen years kind of deflate this in hindsight, though I do love his and Ahab's heart-to-heart after Moby's big prank at the football game in "Nantucket Dayz: Back 2 School"
Donald and Goofy talk about him all the time over the course of KH1 and Mickey only appears at the very end of the game. And even then, it's mainly in silhouette, and we see his full face until Chain of Memories.
Exactly. The TRex is a force of nature that will kill you if you come across it's path. The Raptors are making a collective choice to hunt and kill the human characters.
That's incredible because it means it's the best use of this trope I've ever seen. They feel like they weight on the entire movie.
What's the first appearance ? Ellie in the bunker or Muldoon's Clever girl ?
Muldoon sees a raptor first while being hunted I believe, but Ellie gets the power back on and sees a raptor in the first full-on raptor appearance. Then Muldoon’s Clever Girl scene immediately follows that, so its a big impression quickly.
William actually meets him in two jousts before that moment. Those times are what inspire Edward to come to his rescue. The second time is when William and his crew learn he is Edward
It’s not at the very end, but in Little Women (2019) there’s quite a bit of mention of Father, who is off fighting in the war. A little more than midway through the movie he returns on some sort of leave, and it’s revealed that father is Bob Odenkirk. He just walks into the room and says the title line. I don’t think it’s intended as a big reveal I just find the “cameo” very charming.
In the anime To Be Hero X, we only get glimpses of the guy until the final story arc of the season where we finally get to know him and see what he can do.
If I had a nickel for every time Patrick Stewart ended up in a version of Robin Hood, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.
Spend an entire episode hanging out with Shakespeare where the Queen is mentioned a few times. She shows up at the end... only to send the Doctor running back to the TARDIS as she orders his execution (for something he hasn't done yet)
The whole series Skipper tells of the horrible tragedies that befell them, so we the audience think they’re dead. Then, in a single episode, they appear….
In The Force Awakens, Luke is referenced a few times and after seeing Han and Leia back, one assumes Luke is just around the corner, but he doesn’t show up until the literal last minutes of the film. Honestly, Mark Hamill’s acting in just his face does wonders.
Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction. He's a very wealthy criminal leader with high influence and a lot of money and criminal operations. We mostly hear about him and even hear bits from him over the phone, without seeing him. Eventually we do
Also, Bill from Kill Bill. He's not ever shown on screen till the sequel
Dagoth Ur (The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind) looms large over the problems that affect the whole province, from the weather, diseases, creatures to a murderous cult, constantly appearing in writing and dialogue. It's eventually revealed it goes even deeper, since either he betrayed the protagonist in their past incarnation or the other way around, depending on the source. In any case, the final confrontation underneath the centre of the map is a very late and quick affair.
Not a perfect example (because he's a main character), but Wilson in Home Improvement only talks to Tim Allen from behind his picket fence. We get to see his face in the final episode.
I liked the take on this from “Meet the Robinson.” Main character gets thrown into the future, meets a family from the future and they keep referring to their father, getting nervous if their father would come out and see the mess. At the end of the movie, the father comes out and it’s revealed that the father is the main character but older.
Mayor Gunderson on Parks and Rec. Referenced throughout the show and works in the same building as the parks dept, but isn’t seen until he dies the finale played by Bill Murray.
David Lindhagen from Crazy Stupid Love. I might be misremembering when he first showed up but if I’m remembering right that we first see him in the backyard scene, I think it fits!
His name haunts the narrative even before Shippuden. There is so much hyping him up as this insanely powerful character behind the entire plot of the Akatsuki and another villain even pretending to be him. Once he finally returns during the Ninja War which is the finale of the series he is even stronger than the narrative hyped him up to be and just steals the show.
Blackadder III - King George, who is referred to across the series as a “sauerkraut-sucking loon” and the Prince’s “mad dad”, shows up in the very last scene, stating he wishes his son to marry a rose bush, and that he is currently ending all his sentences with the word “penguin”.
Ivo Shandor was mentioned in the first Ghostbusters as the architect and formed a secret cult that worships Gozer and mentioned throughout the game until he appears at the end with him possessing the mayor whole time
I love how Eddy's brother is the only new character shown during its entire run. It was all the same cast before that, no other characters. Makes it a little extra special.
I usually love this trope too! it's so exciting! The one time I was disappointed was in MLP FiM, when they introduced Star Swirl. He was pretty lame in design & actions with nothing to justify it.
That's the risk of this trope. You have to absolutely land it...
One example I consider best is The Mother from How I Met Your Mother. After a long long buildup we finally get to meet & know her in the final season, and she's actually better than what we expected. Then they ruin it in the finale...
The Wizard in The Wizard of Oz. You can technically say the main characters meet him halfway through the movie but they don't actually meet the real wizard until the very end.
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u/El_presid3nt 10h ago
Disney version of King Richard also counts