10 Fangames Where Neglected Side Characters Became Main Protagonists

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Introduction

Video game companies taking a side character from one of their beloved franchise and making them the star of their own game is certainly no new phenomenon; in fact, we've already compiled a lengthy list of the most prominent examples.

However, some characters never officially get their chance in the spotlight, even when fans clearly want them to, forcing them to pick up the companies' slack themselves, either through mods that swap the playable character's model, or, more impressively, completely original fan-made games that turn these side characters into stars. The latter are exactly the kinds of projects we at EarlyGame aim to highlight in this list. | © Nintendo

Psycho Waluigi (2011)

Likely the first character that comes to mind when talking about neglected side characters, Waluigi has always felt like Nintendo's unloved add-on to the iconic trio of Mario, Luigi and Wario. This 2011 classic, created in the Multimedia Fusion 2 engine, finally sees him going on his own adventure through "Unconcia", where players can experience a twist on the classic Mario platforming formular: A strange entity has granted Waluigi psychic abilities, allowing him to grab, rotate and levitate any enemies and objects in his way. | © Nintendo, Thunder Dragon

The Looker (2022)

We've only recently talked about how the story and characters of Pokémon X & Y may have needed another game feel fully fleshed out, but as it turns, The Looker already provided exactly that by building on the post-game missions of X & Y, starring Emma venturing through Lumiose City. This Gen-2-styled RPG Maker XP title shows her discovering the mystery behind a strange mirror dimension, encountering both new and familiar faces on a journey that feels long overdue for the character. | © The Pokémon Company, Tomix9tomix

Big's Big World (2021)

As one of the most infamous parts of Sonic Adventure, one wouldn't think that Big the Cat's hybrid fishing platforming gameplay would lend itself particularly well to a full-scale open world adventure made in Unreal Engine 4 – yet it does. Players explore a vast, freely explorable landscape to determine Froggy's randomized position, along with the hidden seven Chaos Emeralds, each granting new powers like wall-walking and high jumps. Like Big himself, the game has a lot of heart, but shouldn't be taken too seriously. | © Sega, Spacepig22

Shy Guy Surfing (2024)

After a Shy Guy, one of Mario's most common enemies, steals a magic carpet, players set off on a high-speed surfing adventure, dodging obstacles, battling foes, and mastering waves across multiple modes. They layouts of the beautiful levels are randomly generated and are traversed via simple jump-and-float controls and collecting power-ups for new abilities. Several costumes, based on even more Mario mainstays, are unlockable as well, making this Unity game way more fleshed out than one may expect. | © Nintendo, Lucaspucas

Ring Man in the Castle (2019)

Out of all the robot masters Mega Man has had to face throughout his series, Ring Man from Mega Man 4 stands out for... nothing, really. Yet one fan decided that he really needed to see the ring-boomerang-wielding boss going on his own quest, taking to the Megamix Engine to make it himself. Throughout four levels featuring brand-new bosses and gimmicks, players venture through one of Dr. Wily's old castles to retrieve a mysterious energy source, making best use of all of Ring Man's powers on the way. | © Capcom, Spade_Magnes

Waddle Knight (2024)

Both King Dedede and Meta Knight have been the star of their own side campaigns in the Kirby games, but what about eternal player 4 Bandana Waddle Dee? It would take until Waddle Knight, an action-platformer inspired by Hollow Knight and created in Clickteam Fusion 2.5, when it was his turn to rescue Kirby from a dark creature, making use of evolving abilities to defeat the challenging bosses in his way. A more refined sequel – Waddle Knight 2: Pantheon – is currently in development as well. | © Nintendo, WaddleDev

Blinky's Revenge (2022)

This homebrew title developed for the Game Boy Color via GB-Studio 2.0 poses the question: "Have you had enough of the Pac-Man always winning?" Effectively transforming the classic arcade game into a series of puzzles, this title tasks players with navigating Blinky – one of the four ghosts – through 12 new maze layouts to defeat Pac-Man without being eaten by the yellow pizza-shaped protagonist. A similar title, this time featuring Orson from Pac-Man World, was developed by another fan afterwards. | © Bandai Namco, László Rajcsányi - Wilds

Pokémon: A Farfetch'd Story (2022)

While some Pokémon have received a starring role in some official spin-offs, the relatively obscure Farfetch'd – let alone the Galarian regional variant – is unlikely to get own any time soon. But in this 3-hour Pokémon fangame, you actually play as one, teaming up with various newfound friends to solve puzzles and battle bosses on your way to uncover the mystery behind the strange weather phenomenons of the Alto region. Created in RPG Maker XP, the title stands out in the best way possible. | © The Pokémon Company, KennyCatches

Abobo's Big Adventure (2012)

This fan-made parody action game made in Flash features Abobo, a minor boss enemy from Double Dragon, rampaging through levels themed after classic NES titles to rescue his kidnapped son, using the same beat 'em up gameplay utilized by his home games, but exaggerating it with early internet humor which – although maybe a bit hard to stomach nowadays – definitely makes this one of the most memorable fan games of all time, even if it took 10 years of development to get there. | © Arc System Works, Team Bobo

Undertale Yellow (2023)

While Undertale saw players in control of Frisk/Chara with their red soul, the journeys of the fallen humans before them go largely unexplored. In come the fans, taking the yellow soul, of which we only knew that the owner had a gun and a cowboy hat, and creating an unofficial prequel around it. Said prequel, taking place in a different part of the Underground with brand-new monsters and characters, would go on to become one of the most compelling best-received fangames of all time. | © Toby Fox, Team Undertale Yellow