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But, sometimes, there are series where there’s a twist, and the protagonist is instead dropped into their story or game of choice as some other background character, Sometimes it’s a villain, other times it’s a completely new character, and it can even be some inconsequential mob character. So, let’s take a look at some of the best stories in which this exact thing happens.
7 My Next Life As A Villainess: All Routes Lead To Doom
Starting off with an anime that is by far the most popular version of this concept, it’s My Next Life as a Villainess. This part isekai, part comedy, and part romance wild ride is a great example of someone being transported to their game of choice, but not as the lead. Though, in this case, the MC isn’t some unremarkable side character, she’s the main villain.
Katarina Claes is the villainess of Fortune Lover, an otome game based all around a magical high school and the drama within. Now, as the main female lead, it’s not like Katarina starts off with any real advantage, she’s at a magic academy yet she’s awful at magic, for example. But her biggest hurdle is the fact that her character dies at almost ending of the game, it’s up to the “new” Katarina to stumble her way out of all these bad endings.
6 I’m The Villainess, So I’m Taming The Final Boss
Moving on to a rare case of two anime having almost the exact same story setup, here’s I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming The Final Boss. This concept is so incredibly similar to My Next Life As The Villainess in terms of structure they might as well be from the same author. Suddenly the main female villain of an otome game regains her memories of being a girl in Japan who was “isekai’d” into this game and now has to do everything in her power to avoid dying at the game’s ending.
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That said, outside of this nearly-identical foundational concept, the two anime are pretty different. For one, the story is centered on the tumultuous relationship between Demonkind and Humanity. Two, Aileen is a much more competent protagonist compared to Katarina. And three, there’s only one route to Aileen’s doom at the hands of Jeanne Claude Elmir so her goals are much more simplified.
5 Trapped In A Dating Sim: The World Of Otome Games Is Tough For Mobs
Yet another “trapped in a romance game” is next, but this one is a bit different. Instead of a female lead being trapped in a game with all the male romance-path characters, it’s the exact opposite.
Not only that, but in this the setting of this otome game, women are the absolute ruling class and men are treated similarly to trophies or objects. The concept itself is interesting enough if not a bit of an “on-the-nose” role reversal. But, it’s the protagonist’s absolutely masterful use of his game knowledge and overall intelligence that keeps the audience interested. It’s not a show that’s up there with some of the all-time isekai greats, but it’s still very entertaining.
4 The Crow’s Prince
The Crow’s Prince is next up, and it’s a decent example of both an isekai where the main character is reincarnated as something non-human (which is becoming quite the popular concept) and also one where they’re brought into a game as a completely new character. A young Korean zookeeper who adores predator animals is excitedly cleaning the cage of a panther one day when she’s attacked and killed. Suddenly, she’s awake again, but this time in the body of a crow in some fantasy land.
After some misadventures, the crow stumbles upon an injured prince named Karmeut who names her Reinelle. Not long after this, Reinelle remembers that this prince is a character in a romance mobile game she used to play, and he’s one of the romantic options for the main heroine. From here, Reinelle slowly but surely carves out a life for herself at Karmeut’s side, all the while worrying about what will happen to her when the main heroine does inevitably appear.
3 My Death Flags Show No Sign Of Ending
Next up is another story where the protagonist suddenly wakes up in the body of one of the villains, but this time the game of choice is an RPG rather than a romance game. Suddenly the MC finds himself in the body of Harold Stokes right during one of the most tragic early-game events where Harold orders the execution of one of his maids for a small mistake. Very quickly, this “reincarnated” Harold has to figure out what’s going on and how to save this maid from an undeserved death.
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The only problem is, everything he wants to say gets “translated” into the way Harold, the villain that he was designed to be, would phrase it. More often than not is, this means that he calls them names and insults their intelligence when all he wanted to do was say something completely normal. My Death Flags Show No Sign of Ending is quite a unique example of this type of story for many reasons, but this whole “filter through Harold’s verbiage” aspect of it is especially innovative.
2 The Novel’s Extra
The Novel’s Extra is another Korean webtoon example, and it’s probably the most faithful example of a story where the protagonist becomes a background character. Instead of becoming the main villain or even a random side character, the MC of this story is transported into his own novel as someone even less than a side character.
Kim Hajin wasn’t an actual character in the author’s novel, The Returned Hero, but is a whole new character created by this “second author” so that the transported protagonist can impact the events of this superhuman world full of heroes, monsters, and villains. Now, the author has to progress through his own story while it’s being modified in all types of ways by some outside force in the hopes of making it to the end of the story and getting himself back home.
1 The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated In Another World As An Aristocrat
There have been a lot of webtoon or manga examples on here, but luckily this next one has both a great manga and fantastic anime they can enjoy as well. The World’s Finest Assassin Reincarnated In Another World is yet another reincarnation isekai story, but one with quite a unique setup where the protagonist actually chooses to become some background character in a very Eminence in Shadow sort of way.
Basically, the world’s best assassin on Earth is finally killed when he retires, betrayed by his own organization. And, instead of going to some afterlife, this assassin is asked by the Goddess of another world to help save the world she governs. As it turns out, the Hero who fights the Demon King in her world then ends up destroying the world. So, the Goddess has brought the assassin here to offer him a deal, get reincarnated in a new world, and live all over again, with the only requirement being that he’ll have to assassinate the Hero once he turns 18.
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