19 TV Shows That Basically Started Treating A Side Character Like The New Protagonist

    "On The O.C., Seth pulled the show's focus from Ryan, and I think for good reason. Seth was funny and charming, and he also had that dramatic storyline with Summer. Seth was a lot more fun to watch than Ryan's sad story."

    Kristen Harris
    by Kristen Harris

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community which side characters they think overshadowed the protagonist, basically becoming the main character themselves.

    Here are 19 of their top answers:

    1. Steve Harrington from Stranger Things

    closeup of steve
    Netflix / Via youtube.com

    "Despite at first being the typical, douchebag high school boyfriend, he definitely made a place for himself in Stranger Things and became one of the best characters in the entire series!"

    —alysaurus688

    2. Cassie Howard from Euphoria

    closeup of cassie crying in the bathroom
    HBO Max / Via youtube.com

    "She kind of became the villainous protagonist of the series since Season 2."

    —tanyam44ab2253d

    3. Pacey Witter and Joey Potter on Dawson's Creek

    closeup of pacey standing behind joey
    The WB / Via youtube.com

    "Yes, they had focus on other characters in the first couple of seasons, but it was still clearly mostly about Dawson and his POV. But from Season 3 on, it became more about Pacey and Joey and their story, which was honestly for the best."

    —fiendishkitty

    4. Grogu (Baby Yoda) from The Mandalorian

    closeup of grogu
    Lucasfilm/Disney+ / Via youtube.com

    "Everyone fell in love with this little green baby. You couldn't get away from him when the show first came out. It seemed like no one cared about the actual Mandalorian himself or anything pertaining to his people/planet, etc. 

    Grogu completely took over and he can't even frickin' talk!"

    —morgan_le_slay

    5. Santana Lopez, Kurt Hummel, and Blaine Anderson from Glee

    Fox / Via youtube.com, Fox / Via youtube.com

    "Thankfully, the writers saw that Rachel Berry got on people's nerves, and the audience was more interested in literally anyone else!"

    —anner2991


    6. Regina Mills from Once Upon a Time

    closeup of regina
    ABC / Via youtube.com

    "Honestly, as much as I hate to say it, Regina was kind of a main character, but the actual main character is Emma Swan. We got a full on redemption arc for Regina, and it’s fantastic."

    —ameliachastain17

    7. Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother

    closeup of barney at the bar
    CBS / Via youtube.com

    "Barney overtook Ted."

    —neekayyy

    "Thankfully! They had to keep adding negatives to Ted Mosby until he became a caricature of himself. I loved well-rounded Barney!"

    —okthankyou

    8. Mon-El from Supergirl

    closeup of mon-el
    The CW / Via youtube.com

    "Supergirl started as a show about the relationship between Kara and Alex, but once Mon-El joined, a lot of focus was pulled from the sisters in favor of him."

    —duct_tape_heart

    9. Ben Stone on Manifest

    closeup of ben
    NBC / Netflix / Via youtube.com

    "The original central character was Michaela, but over time, Ben — and by extension, his wife and kids — became the central character.

    The writers didn't think it through. Michaela's love interest had to cheat on his wife, who was Michaela's ex-best friend, to show persistent love to her. Mick's own side distraction in the show, Zeke, was a fan favorite because he's cute, and like many side characters, was too perfectly good. Then, it's suddenly revealed that Ben's son is the Holy Grail, and the rest of the family are good actors. 

    The show was doomed from the start."

    —okthankyou

    10. Iris West from The Flash

    closeup of iris in a superhero costume and eye mask
    The CW / Via youtube.com

    "The Flash can, at times, feel like it should be called Iris, given the prominence given to her storylines at the expense of the Scarlet Speedster himself." 

    —jbmasta

    11. Troy Barnes and Abed Nadir from Community

    troy and abed holding up mugs with their faces
    NBC / Via youtube.com

    "Community was very Jeff-focused in the beginning, but it became more of an ensemble show, with Troy and Abed ending up as the focal point of a lot of episodes."

    —cougar33

    12. Michelle Tanner on Full House

    closeup of the toddler
    ABC / Via youtube.com

    "It pretty much became The Michelle Show."

    —brilynmit

    "She was my least favorite character, so I definitely wasn’t a fan of the show in the last few seasons."

    —katemaries2

    13. Seth Cohen from The O.C.

    closeup of shocked seth
    Fox / Via youtube.com

    "Seth pulled the show's focus from Ryan, and I think for good reason. Seth was funny and charming, and he also had that dramatic storyline with Summer. Seth was a lot more fun to watch than Ryan's sad story."

    —hollybruneau

    14. Darlene Alderson and Dominique Dipierro from Mr. Robot

    USA Network / Via youtube.com

    "I am not one of their shippers, but while I was focused on Elliot and his arc, my feed was filled with a lot of 'Domlene' tweets and fan stuff. It was almost like they were made into the main characters of the series."

    —tanyam44ab2253d

    15. Felicity Smoak from Arrow

    felicity sitting at a computer
    The CW / Via youtube.com

    "For a time, Arrow tried to make Felicity just as important as Oliver, to the detriment of the character."

    —jbmasta

    16. Kramer from Seinfeld

    closeup of kramer
    NBC / Via youtube.com

    "Seinfeld originally started as very Jerry and George-centric, but it incorporated Elaine and Kramer as larger focal points as the series went on. Kramer, specifically, went from a side character to one who was frequently the lead in a particular storyline."

    —robert_dunder

    17. Ichabod Crane (and his family) from Sleepy Hollow

    closeup of ichabod
    Fox / Via youtube.com

    "Abbie and Crane were clearly designed to be a platonic duo, but the showrunner and writers believed the audience was more interested in Crane, his estranged wife, and their petulant adult son. 

    They revolved the series around this triangle, which effectively sidelined Abbie. It got to be so much that she once got to speak only one line in an entire episode: 'Anyone want coffee?'"

    —superkay

    18. Hawkeye from M*A*S*H

    hawkeye
    CBS / Via youtube.com

    "Trapper (Wayne Rogers) and Hawkeye (Alan Alda) were billed as equal characters in M*A*S*H, but Hawkeye outshone Trapper. He started getting more and better dialogue, and they even made Hawk a thoracic surgeon, which differed from the book and movie where Trapper was the only thoracic surgeon. That which made Wayne Rogers feel like he was stripped of his title."

    —emilypost

    19. And finally, Elmo from Sesame Street

    closeup of elmo
    HBO Max / Via youtube.com

    "I have preschool-age kids, and it seems like Elmo fully took over Sesame Street sometime between when I was watching in the late '80s/early '90s and now. We watched Muppet Family Christmas (from 1987) back in December, and my kids kept asking why Elmo wasn't doing anything. It was before he made it big, kids!"

    —katieeighty

    Did we miss any side characters that took over your favorite TV shows? Share your own examples in the comments!

    Some responses have been edited for length/clarity.