All the time, really. It's hard to single out many specific examples at the moment, but take Zack over the weekend-- I played out that thread with Angeal WITH MYSELF, and even I didn't predict him leaving the sword in the woods and walking away.

Sparkle surprises me a lot when he really steps up and actually has a situation under control, these days, too. He's a few years out from the end of his canon, so it makes some measure of sense, but the fact that he's grown up SO MUCH is still a little shocking to me.