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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"It's all about me, it's all about me,''
''It doesn't matter where I'm listed on IMDb''
''And if I had the screentime I deserved, you'd see--''
''It's all about me!"''
|"All About Me", ''[[Commentary! The Musical]]''}}
A '''One-Scene Wonder''' is a character that has [[One-Shot Character|limited screen time]], and usually
A
Also see [[Kent Brockman News]]. Compare [[Ham and Cheese]], [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]], and [[Small Role, Big Impact]]. Fanfic authors are prone to make characters like this into [[OC Stand
▲A [[One-Scene Wonder]] gone [[Gone Horribly Wrong|very, very wrong]] results in a [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment]].
▲Also see [[Kent Brockman News]]. Compare [[Ham and Cheese]], [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]], and [[Small Role, Big Impact]]. Fanfic authors are prone to make characters like this into [[OC Stand In|OC Stand Ins]]. If the character becomes so popular that the writers decide to come up with an excuse just so be able to use him again, he's an [[Ascended Extra]].
If the movie is particularly bad, the One Scene Wonder may be [[All There Is to Know About "The Crying Game"]]. When a minor character in a musical does this through the use of one fantastic song, it's [[Minor Character, Major Song]].▼
▲If
{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
* R.O.B. the Video Robot was hardly a "wonder" for the [[NES]] (more like a one-scene failure), but it did have a [[Moment of Awesome]] in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq9FhnRZdR4 this 1986 commercial] for Toys R Us.
== Anime and Manga ==
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** Oh yeah, and he's also voiced by [[Vic Mignogna]]. Keep in mind that this was years before Ouran.
* {{spoiler|Noriko and Kazumi's}} appearance at the end of ''[[Diebuster]]'' stole the climax of the show. They were only in it for about 30 seconds had no lines and ''weren't even seen'' yet they managed to turn a [[Bittersweet Ending]] into a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]].
* Gustav St. Germain from ''[[Baccano!]]!'' fits this trope like a glove. He's in the series for a grand total of ten minutes, barely makes an impact on the plot, and yet he's probably just as memorable as some as the biggest [[Badass
** It's also because he's essentially the narrator of the show's [[Framing Device]].
* Chiyo's Dad in ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'' has a [[Norio Wakamoto|speaking]] part in about five skits, but is one of the mascots of the series.
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** Then there's the random TV reporter, who shows up for about one minute to denounce Kira, giving his full name at the end and establishing himself as one of the most courageous characters in the entire series.
* Jinpei Matsuda of ''[[Detective Conan]]''. He appeared in exactly ''one'' [[Backstory]] arc of this [[Long Runner]] and its effects to the canon is arguably minor ([[That One Case|except for Inspector Sato]]), but he ''still'' listed as one of the main characters on the show's official website.
** The series' [[Detective Conan/Characters|character sheet]] has a whole section devoted to
* Sano the [[Hospital Hottie]] whom was only in the 22nd episode of the ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex]]'' series but lets just say some folks remember her for her... [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot|potential]]
* Burger-kun's five minutes of screentime in ''[[Darker than Black]]'' Season 2 somehow managed to net him an internet fandom, for God knows what reason.
** Most likely due to his nonchalant attitude and his complaining about having to eat burgers for his remuneration. And he doesn't have the [[Required Secondary Powers]] for his [[Super Speed]].
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* Inuyama, the "cowardly" samurai/firefly enthusiast/ {{spoiler|assassin}} from ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' only gets one episode and he {{spoiler|nearly beats Jin, stopping only when he discovers his employer's death and decides to walk away.}} And what's worse, {{spoiler|he promises that they'll meet again.}}
* ''[[Code Geass]]'' has Mao. He was only in a few episodes in a row towards the middle of the first season, but is remembered for being [[Crazy Awesome]], and at the very least foreshadowed {{spoiler|Lelouch's [[Power Incontinence]]}}.
== Comic Books ==
* Anytime [[Batman]] cameos in someone else's book, especially since, away from home, he gets to [[The Comically Serious|be hilarious.]]
** Joe Chill, the mugger who killed Batman's parents. While his motive for the murders vary by continuity, he is rarely depicted as anything but a common thug. Batman himself even realizes in one story that the loathing he feels towards Chill is misplaced:
{{quote|'''Batman:''' All he wanted was money. He was sick and guilty over what he did. I was naïve enough to think him the lowest sort of man.}}
* Nazi dinosaur [http://www.comicvine.com/tyrannosaurus-reich/29-70678/ Tyrannosaurus Reich]. Only appears in two issues of ''Major Bummer'' and his concept is as awesomely cool as it is utterly ridiculous.
* [[Neil Gaiman]] specifically mentions that he didn't have Death appear more often in ''[[The Sandman]]'' because he didn't want to water down the effect and specialness of her appearances. He still found a way for her to show up in all of the trade paperbacks, however, even if sometimes it's just in a silent cameo.
* ''[[Nextwave]]'' made a single-page appearance, complete with NW-style info box pointing it out as a superfluous cameo, in ''[[Marvel Zombies]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130710074641/http://www.cracked.com/funny-5066-snowflame/ SNOWFLAME,] [[A God Am I|god]] [[Ensemble Darkhorse|of Cocaine?]] Dude appeared in only one issue of the ''New Guardians'' comic, but boy did he steal it.
* Tif from ''[[Ironwood]]'' is a definite fan favourite, despite making only one appearance (and dying at the end of it). Bill Willingham has said that he has had more requests for sketches of Tif than any other character from the series,
* The Locksmith, a villain who appeared in the final issue of the original ''[[Spider-Woman]]'' comic. Fans seem to view him as the [[Trope Codifier]] of [[The Jailer]], but he only appeared in a story that ran ''half'' of the issue, which was not even the more important half. Even his accomplice - a mutant called Tick-Tock - has appeared in more issues. Still, given that the story was something of a [[Back for the Finale]] gathering of several of Jessica's old foes (along with an [[Enemy Mine]] with all of them) fans tend to remember it.
* ''[[Spider-Man]]'':
** Peter's uncle, Ben Parker. He only appeared in person in ''Amazing Fantasy #15'', spoke only two lines in the entire comic, and died the same issue. Despite his brief appearance, very few supporting characters in Spider-Man's life have had as much of an impact on him as a character, due to the tragic way that he became a hero - Peter's refusal to apprehend a criminal when he had the chance was what caused his uncle to be murdered. Uncle Ben has since appeared in many [[Flashback]] stories, often as a [[Posthumous Character]], and in non-canonical stories involving [[Another Dimension|alternate timelines]]. Also [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|contrary to popular belief]], the phrase "[[Comes Great Responsibility|With great power comes great responsibility]]" does not originate with Uncle Ben, though it is later attributed to him; the phrase first appeared as a narrative in the final panel of the comic.
** The same could be said for the nameless burglar who committed the crime. He did appear in a later story (where the motive for the burglary was revealed), but it didn't change the fact that he was nothing more than a common thug. Still, given the impact that this common thug had on Spider-Man's life, he could well be considered the greatest enemy the hero ever faced.
== Film ==
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** Likewise, his appearance as Clem the Janitor in the otherwise forgettable ''[[Joe Dirt]]'', where he threatens to stab [[Kid Rock]] in the face with a soldering iron.
** Although he might have had a bit too much screentime to count as one in ''[[The Rundown]]'' it still follows the same general pattern.
** Does a similar thing as the Headless Horseman in ''[[Sleepy Hollow (Film)|Sleepy Hollow]]'', this time even without dialogue.
** Again in [[Abel Ferrara]]'s philosophical vampire film ''The Addiction'', where he shows up just to deliver a five-minute monologue on Sartre and vampirism.
** An early example is his turn as Annie's disturbed brother in ''[[Annie Hall]]''.
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* [[Jean Reno]] as "the cleaner" has one scene in ''[[Nikita (film)|La femme Nikita]]'', but it is probably what viewers remember best about the whole movie. In fact the scene was so memorable that director Luc Besson decided to make a similar character the protagonist of his [[Léon: The Professional|next film]], with the role specifically written for Reno.
* [[Bill Bailey]] as the Whale in the film of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy (film)|The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy]]''.
* [[Sean Connery]] has a uncredited cameo appearance as King Richard at the end of ''[[Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves]]''. It's the best scene in the movie that doesn't involve [[Alan Rickman]] leaving [[Chewing the Scenery|teeth-marks]] [[Ham and Cheese|in the set]].
* [[Orson Welles]]'s role as Cardinal Wolsey in the 1966 film version of ''[[A Man for All Seasons]]''. He's in two scenes, and is probably the best thing about this very excellent film. In a later version of the film, John Gielgud did a pretty decent, though less remarkable, job in the role as well.
* Diedrich Bader in ''[[Napoleon Dynamite]] as Rex the patriotic martial arts instructor with the bodybuilder wife.
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* ''[[The Aviator]]'' has Jude Law star in one scene as [[Errol Flynn]]. He steals the scene completely.
* ''[[Singin' in the Rain|Singin in The Rain]]''
** Cyd Charisse
** The screaming fanboy who shows up at the movie premiere in the opening sequence is also surprisingly memorable.
** [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0849582/ Julius Tannen], who will forever be known as the "Talking Picture Man". Especially his ''feigned humility'' anticipating applause at the end.
* [[David Bowie]] has been this more than once:
** Vendice Partners in ''[[Absolute Beginners]]''. This character is one of several antagonists in on an evil scheme, and he convinces the idealistic photographer hero to join his advertising agency and become a sellout. He gets one big sequence, a brief appearance beforehand, and a wordless bit prior to the climax. But that's enough time for the spectacular [[Villain Recruitment Song]]
** Pontius Pilate in ''[[The Last Temptation of Christ]]''.
** Heavily [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[Zoolander]]'', where they give his brief appearance as the Walk-Off judge a ludicrous amount of
** And then there was also ''[[The Prestige]]''.
* ''[[The View Askewniverse|Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back]]'' does something similar to ''Zoolander'' for Mark Hamill's cameo, but ratcheted up the cheesiness. George Carlin's cameo as a hitchhiker is also very much an example, as is Chris Rock as the director of ''Bluntman and Chronic'', and Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as themselves on the set of ''[[Good Will Hunting]] 2: Hunting Season''. And Gus Van Sant as himself. And Tracy Morgan essentially playing a black version of Jay.
* Jay and Silent Bob turn up in ''[[Scream (film)|Scream]] 3'' for all of ten seconds.
* The Mouth of Sauron in the movie version of ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film)|The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King]]'', played by Bruce Spence (not that you'll notice), who was cut in the theatrical release. He appears only briefly to negotiate on behalf of his master before Aragon [[Shoot the Messenger|cuts his head off]], but his unique character design and mannerisms makes him hard to forget.
* [[Dark Action Girl|Bambi and Thumper]] from ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (Film)|Diamonds Are Forever]]''. Presumably hench(wo)men of Blofeld, they only appear for a few minutes, but the scene where they ambush and nearly take 007 down is an iconic scene.
* In the movie ''[[Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles]]'' Mark Hamill was [[Advertised Extra|cast]] as [[A Father to His Men|Daryl Taylor]] {{spoiler|only to be killed off within about three lines.}} All of these previously-mentioned tropes are later subverted when, later on, {{spoiler|he provides the voice for one of the Haydonite villains}}.
* Cary Elwes gets one in ''The Chase'', as a smarmy newscaster who has to apologize to his viewers due to Charlie Sheen's flipping off the camera.
* ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'' has that very good scene with Billy Crystal and Carol Kane, but an even better example would be Peter Cook's role as the aptly titled Impressive Clergyman with the [[Acceptable Targets|speech impediment]].
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* [[Patrick Stewart]] has quite a few of these:
** His cameo in the final scene of ''[[Robin Hood: Men in Tights]]'', which he steals in classic [[Large Ham]] fashion. Appropriately enough, the same role (King Richard the Lionhearted) was played in ''Prince of Thieves'' by an uncredited [[Sean Connery]] who also stole that scene merely by showing up.
** His role as Mr. Perdue in ''[[L.A. Story
{{quote|'''Mr. Perdue:''' Your usual table, Mr. Christopher?
'''Carlo:''' ''(played by [[Chevy Chase]])'' No, I'd like a good one this time.
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'''Mr. Perdue:''' I'm afraid so. }}
** His cameo near the end of ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]] Origins: Wolverine'' elicited applause from some theater audiences.
** His role in ''[[Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy]]'' and its sequel ''
*** ''Smiley's People'' also features a memorable role from Michael Gough, better known as [[Batman (film)|Alfred Pennyworth]], who plays an Estonian refugee.
* [[Christopher Lee]]
** Essentially as himself, in ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]''. The twist is that he takes all of the [[Dracula]] and [[The Lord of the Rings|Saruman]] mannerisms and transposes them onto a ''dentist''. Just imagine Christopher Lee throwing his resonant ''basso'' into the word "Lollipops." (To be fair, it'd be very tricky for ''anyone'' to not consider Christopher Lee frightening, let alone as a dentist.)
** His portrayal of the Burgomaster in ''[[Sleepy Hollow (Film)|Sleepy Hollow]]''.
** And as the voice of the Jabberwocky in ''[[Alice in Wonderland (film)|Alice in Wonderland]]''. Apparently [[Tim Burton]] likes to put him in roles like these.
* Kathy Bates as Queen Victoria in the [[Jackie Chan]] flick ''[[Around the World in Eighty Days]]'' (Not to mention [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] in a very funny cameo!!!)
* [[Hannibal Lecter]] started out as one of these in ''[[Manhunter (film)|Manhunter]]'', back when he was Brian Cox. Three scenes, owns the movie. He doesn't even do much except sit there with his jaw hanging out, [[Hannibal Lecture|taunt the hero]], and talk on the telephone, and yet... and yet...
** Downplayed a little in ''[[Silence of the Lambs]]'', where he had a grand total of eighteen minutes of screen time, the least amount any (leading) actor has had in a movie that resulted in an Oscar win.
* Sir Alec Guiness often did this, and the smaller his role, the more memorable it often is. He managed to upstage both Peter O'Toole (in ''[[Lawrence of Arabia]]'') and Omar Sharif (''[[Dr. Zhivago]]'') playing roles which, while crucial to the films, had relatively little screen time. He has a memorable role as Pope Innocent in ''Brother Sun, Sister Moon''. He was so mesmerizing Jacob Marley in the musical ''Scrooge'' that he earned an additional scene, [[Not In The Book]], that appears in longer versions of the film.
* ''[[Spider-Man (film)|Spider-Man]]''
** All three Raimi films featured [[Bruce Campbell]] in a different [[Cameo]] role each time, but it wasn't until the third that he became a
** "Macho Man" Randy Savage's role in the first movie as "Bonesaw Mcgraw", a crazy wrestler who wouldn't look out of place on something like ECW.
** And Hal Sparks' hilariously awkward [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuKqQ6plZ_I elevator scene] in the second movie. Especially if you remember him from ''[[Queer as Folk]]''; you almost expect the next scene to start with them [[Ho Yay|making out]].
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* ''[[Grindhouse]]'' features several:
** Tarantino himself has a memorable cameo in ''Planet Terror'' as a soldier who attempts to rape the heroine as his zombified genitals decompose in front of her.
**
** The [[Fake Trailer]] for ''Hobo With A Shotgun'' is ''made'' of this trope.
* The CPR Kid/Wallet Guy from ''[[Back to The Future]] Part II'' only has a few seconds of screen time in the whole movie, but he's memorable for asking "what's CPR?" when Marty claims he [[CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable|knows it]], as well as repeating the line "I think he took his wallet!" after {{spoiler|Marty knocks Biff back out and steals the Almanac.}}
* It's hard to see a ''[[The Little Shop of Horrors]]'' poster that doesn't advertise [[Jack Nicholson]]'s appearance as "dentist patient number one". In fact, the whole dentist subplot became so memorable, in [[Little Shop of Horrors|the Broadway adaptation]], it was enlarged to make the dentist a [[Romantic False Lead]]. Bill Murray's played Nicholson's old part in [[Recursive Adaptation|the film adaptation of the musical.]]
* Viggo Mortensen has a small part playing [[Satan]] in ''[[The Prophecy (film)|The Prophecy]]''. He only has three scenes, two of which are fairly short, but they're the best part of the movie and and very, very chilling, particularly the first scene. Considering the main villain is Christopher Walken as an evil angel, that's a tall order.
* Mortensen has a memorable one scene as the wheelchair-bound Lalin in ''[[
* In ''[[Transformers Film Series|Transformers]]'',
** Bernie Mac plays a memorable used car salesman in only one scene.
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** In the third movie, we have (Ken Jeong as) Jerry Wang, a crazy [[Conspiracy Theorist]] who works at Sam's office. What did he do that made him so memorable? {{spoiler|Faced with immediate termination at the hands of Laserbeak, he decides to forego pleading for his life in favor of suddenly pulling out two ''very'' large pistols [[Gangsta Style|(which he holds gangsta-style)]] and pointing them right at Laserbeak's face.}}
{{quote|'''Jerry Wang:''' ''You messed with the wrong Wang, bitch!''}}
* John Houseman started acting in movies (rather than producing them) when he was over sixty years old, and so, his example of this trope in ''[[Seven Days in May]]'' as one of the military coup-plotters was in fact his first
* Crispin Glover again in David Lynch's ''[[Wild at Heart]]''. His role as Christmas-obsessed, sandwich-making cousin Dell, who enjoys putting cockroaches in his underpants and has a terrible fear of black gloves -
* The
** [[David Tennant]], while not the best thing about ''[[Harry Potter
** Jeff Rawle's tragic scene as Amos Diggory crying over Cedric's body.
** Julie Christie as Madame Rosmerta in ''[[Harry Potter]] and the Prisoner of Azkaban''.
** Emma Thompson, as Sybil Trelawny in ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' and ''Order of the Phoenix''.
** John Hurt as Ollivander in the first movie. If you'll pardon the pun, [[Incredibly Lame Pun|spellbinding]].
** Nick Moran made a short but impressive appearance as the leader of a gang of snatchers in ''Deathly Hallows
** Also in ''Hallows'', Bill Nighy ''is'' Rufus Scrimgeour, inexplicably Welsh Minister for Magic, symbol of strength, beacon of hope to the Wizarding World! Gets maybe two minutes.
* In ''[[Network]]'', [[Ned Beatty]] as ominous CEO Arthur Jensen. The guy's onscreen probably five minutes, but [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BVqIjKyJh0 his speech] is utterly fantastic. "You have ''meddled with the primal forces of nature'', Mr. Beale, and ''I WON'T HAVE IT! IS THAT CLEAR??''" And then there's Beatrice Straight in the same film, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for what was, at the time, the shortest amount of time an Oscar-winning role had been onscreen. Beatty was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
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** As a Russian gynecologist in ''Nine Months''. He only shows up twice, but you'll remember him (of course you will, he's [[Robin Williams]]).
** He has two brief scenes in Kenneth Branagh's ''[[Dead Again]]'' as a former psychiatrist that are quite memorable. It's officially [[The Cameo|a cameo]] too, as Williams didn't want to be credited or appear in promotional material [[Viewers are Morons|lest people assume the film a comedy]].
** As the King Of The Moon in ''[[The Adventures of Baron Munchausen]]'' (credited as [[Stage Names|Ray D.]] [[Meaningful Name|Tutto]].
* King Osric in ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' is exactly this: he's played by Max Von Sydow, appears in only one scene and does his monologue in an incredibly humane and intriguing way.
* [[Will Ferrell]]
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** Also his role as Big Earl in ''[[Starsky and Hutch (film)|Starsky and Hutch]]''.
* [[Alfred Molina]] as strung-out drug kingpin Rahad Jackson in ''[[Boogie Nights]]''. You will never be able to listen to "Jessie's Girl" or "Sister Christian" the same way again.
* In ''[[Prince of Persia: The
* Ben Stein in, of course, ''[[Ferris Bueller's
* Ben Stein gets a scene in ''[[The Mask (film)|The Mask]]'' when [[Jim Carrey|Stanley Ipkiss]] tries to make sense of his zany newfound artifact, and the beginning of ''[[Son of the Mask]]'', where his face gets separated from his head and put on display by Loki.
* Marissa Jaret Winokur's sullen fast-food server, Janine ("You are ''so busted!''"), in ''[[American Beauty]]''. At a screening of the film, the character's smug little smirk at [[Annette Bening]] not only elicited laughs from the audience, but actual ''applause''.
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{{quote|"Have her then, but you're a lordly fool. She's been plucked since I saw her last, and not by you... it takes a woman to know it."}}
* ''[[Airplane!]]''
** [[Leave It to Beaver|Barbara Billingsley]], even though she's only in one scene, has one of the greatest comedic moments in movie history:
{{quote|"Pardon me, stewardess, I speak jive."}}
** There's also [[Cloudcuckoolander|Johnny]], and Ethel Merman as the soldier who thinks he's Ethel Merman.
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* Justin Long as a matter-of-fact gay porn star in ''[[Zack and Miri Make a Porno]]'', and Brandon Routh as his boyfriend.
{{quote|"I will be your sherpa up the mountain of gayness."}}
* Christopher Plummer showed up
* The Street Preacher, [[Dolph Lundgren]]'s Jesus-obsessed cyborg hitman, is easily the best part of ''[[Johnny Mnemonic]]''. Admittedly, that's not saying much, but he easily outshines the film's other attempts at
{{quote|'''Street Preacher:''' Do you want him brought to Jesus, or to you?}}
* ''[[Star Wars]]''
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** Also from the original trilogy,the reaction from the owner of The Rancor after Luke is forced to kill it.
** Similar to the Boba Fett example, Greedo only gets one scene where he gets shot by Han Solo. He's since become so popular and well known (most likely due to the whole "Han shot first" thing) that a number of comics and cartoons have been written exploring upon him as a character. The most notable example would be the ''Underworld'' comic which reveals why Greedo took the job to kill Han (he was trying to become a well-known bounty hunter but was failing miserably) and why he wanted to kill Han (he was majorly jealous of Solo, not to mention that Han was kind of a dick to him).
** [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Aurra_Sing Aurra Sing] (or "Babe-A Fett" as she was called at the time), a bounty hunter who would later [[Ascended Extra| have quite an illustrious career]] in the [[Expanded Universe]] had a brief (about 5 seconds) cameo during the Pod Race Scene, something a lot of fans noticed.
* Chris Sarandon's outstanding turn as [[Al Pacino]]'s pre-op transgendered girlfriend in the classic ''[[Dog Day Afternoon]]'' garnered him an Oscar nomination and made his career, despite his appearing in only two scenes.
* [[Neil Patrick Harris]]' much-loved cameo in ''[[Harold
* John Vernon in ''Killer Klowns from Outer Space''. "Killer clowns, from outer space. Holy shit!"
* Super-obscure example: Danny Glover in ''Out'' (aka ''[[Lousy Alternate Titles|Deadly Drifter]]''). Granted, he made it before rising to stardom with ''[[Lethal Weapon]]'', but if he hadn't, nobody would ever have had a reason to give two farts about it, anyway.
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* In ''[[Midnight Cowboy]]'', Sylvia Miles' Cass has less than five minutes of screen time, but it was enough for Miles to win an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. John McGiver (Mr. O'Daniel) and Bernard Hughes (Towny) arguably fit this as well.
* [[Cedric The Entertainer]] does an excellent job of this in the first ''[[Barbershop]]'' movie.
* [[Meat Loaf]] and [[Ronnie James Dio]], and Dave Grohl in ''[[Tenacious D
* The Wienie King in ''[[The Palm Beach Story]]''. "[[Crowning Moment of Funny|Cold are the hands of time that creep along relentlessly, destroying slowly but without pity that which yesterday was young... That's hard to say with false teeth]]!"
* The movie ''The Loved One'' is basically a whole string of these, including scenes with James Coburn, Roddy McDowell, Milton
* If '30s actress Mae Clarke is remembered today at all, it's for that one scene in ''The Public Enemy'' where [[James Cagney]] smashes the grapefruit in her face.
* Silent Bob's speech in ''[[Chasing Amy]]'' is so memorable, it's easy to forget that he and his hetero life mate Jay are only in one scene.
* Richard Harris as English Bob in ''[[Unforgiven]]'', who just "shoots some pheasants, defends monarchy, gets beaten by Gene Hackman, gets arrested and then goes away" in across maybe 10 minutes of screentime. But it's a remarkable performance enough for "The <s>Duke</s> Duck of Death" to be in the poster.
* Viola Davis in ''[[Doubt (theatre)|Doubt]]''. A single scene, about ten minutes of screen time, and while she's onscreen she overshadows ''[[Meryl Streep]]''. It got her nominated for an Oscar, and many believed she should have won it.
* ''[[It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World]]'' has a few busloads of well-known comic actors all loudly turned
* ''[[In the Loop]]'' is not short of great performances or funny material. Steve Coogan is in the movie for what must be a grand total of five minutes all up, and interacts with few of the main characters and none of the main plot. However, in those five minutes he easily manages to steal the movie as Paul, the easily frustrated constituent who just wants the U.K. Minister for International Development to do something about the wall of his constituency office (which is collapsing into Paul's mum's back garden) whilst said Minister is self-importantly but foolishly involving himself in grand matters of geo-political diplomacy.
* Pyramid Head in the ''[[Silent Hill (film)|Silent Hill]]'' movie. Two scenes, each lasting approximately thirty seconds, not a single line, and he's still one of the best parts.
* [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] examples:
* ''[[You Only Live Twice]]'' features [[Donald Pleasence]] as Ernst Stavro Blofeld. He's got a white cat, a bald head, and a scar. He's also one of the most memorable [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] villains, parodied and referenced ad nauseam. Total screen time: Approximately ten minutes.▼
** ''[[Goldfinger]]'' had Jill Masterson, who only appeared a couple of minutes before being killed, with her death becoming one of the most iconic in the franchise. Also, [[Never Mess with Granny|the old lady]] who whips out an MP 40 and shoots at Bond's Aston Martin.
* ''[[Wholly Moses]]'' has a few of these, but the one that really stands out is John Ritter's one and half minute appearance as Satan.▼
▲** ''[[You Only Live Twice]]'' features [[Donald Pleasence]] as Ernst Stavro Blofeld. He's got a white cat, a bald head, and a scar. He's also one of the most memorable
** [[Madonna]] as a fencing instructor in ''[[Die Another Day]]''. She also sang the theme to the movie.
▲* ''[[Wholly Moses]]'' has a few of these, but the one that really stands out is John Ritter's one
* [[Jack Palance]] had a film career of 50 years and over 70 movies, but when he died in 2006, one film role consistently stood out in all the obituaries and tributes dedicated to him: the role of the taunting, [[Slasher Smile|smiling]] [[The Dragon|hired gun]] Jack Wilson in ''[[Shane]]''. Palance's Wilson is widely regarded as '''the''' definitive [[The Western|Western]] bad guy. Total screen time: eight minutes. Total words spoken by Wilson: less than fifty, but he makes the most out of two of them: "Prove it."
* Holly Palance (Jack's daughter) had one memorable scene in the original ''[[The Omen]]'' as Damien's first nanny who is compelled by Satan to hang herself at Damien's birthday party. "Look at me, Damien! I'm doing it all for you!"
* Matthew Atherton, A.K.A Feedback, of ''[[Who Wants to Be a Superhero?]]'', with a total of two memorable minutes in the utterly forgettable monster movie ''Mega-Snake''.
* Figwit, short for "Frodo is grea... who is ''that?''" in ''[[The Lord of the Rings|The Fellowship of the Ring]]''. ''Three seconds'' of screen time, but [[Flight of the Conchords|Bret McKenzie]] had such a large cult following that they even gave his character lines in ''Return of the King.''
* In ''[[American Pie]]'', then-unknown John Cho's one-scene appearance as the MILF guy. Not only did this scene popularize the term "MILF," Cho arguably went on to have the best career out of all the young actors in the film. It resulted in a movie roll being written just for him - the part of Harold in ''Harold
* ''[[Judgement At Nuremberg]]'' features [[Spencer Tracy]], [[Burt Lancaster]], [[Richard Widmark]], [[Marlene Dietrich]], [[Judy Garland]], and [[William Shatner]]. Every single one of them is at the top of their game... and then [[Montgomery Clift]] blows them all out of the water with a seven and a half minute performance that got him a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
* The Thor-Axine team (a trio of Viking themed drivers) during the first half of the Casa Cristo rally in ''[[Speed Racer]]''. They fire a beehive out of a catapault. ''From a speeding racecar''.
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* [[Eddie Izzard]] as Mr. Kite in ''[[Across the Universe (film)|Across the Universe]]''. His [[Large Ham]] performance is definitely memorable, and provides some of the funniest lines in the movie ("Have you seen it? It's great. They've got stuff.")
* The nameless cigar-smoking mobster from ''[[Ninja Assassin]]''. When your response to getting stabbed in the neck is to hold it with one and do a ''spinning close-fisted backhand'' to your would-be killer with the other, well, you will be memorable. The rest is just icing on the cake.
* [[Christopher Eccleston]] as a truth-spouting tramp in ''[[24 Hour Party People]]''.
* The [[
* [[Chevy Chase]] as the [[Almighty Janitor|jacuzzi repairman]] in ''[[Hot Tub Time Machine]]''. Appears four or five times throughout the movie, but never for more than a couple minutes [[Stealth Hi Bye|before disappearing as suddenly as he came]], and is easily one of the best parts.
* By all accounts, Emily Hampshire's role as the chatty, eccentric Vivienne at the beginning of ''[[Snow Cake]]'' is one of these moments.
* [[Eminem]] and [[Ray Romano]] (how about that for unlikely team-ups) completely steal the one scene of ''[[Funny People]]'' that they're in together.
* ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'': ''[[Harvey Keitel]]'' has a small amount of screen-time, but a particularly memorable speech (the "'Please' would be nice" rant).
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* Carla Perez's thirty-second cameo as Rita Repulsa in ''[[Power Rangers Turbo|Turbo]]: A [[Power Rangers]] [[The Movie|Movie]]'', with all the [[Large Ham|ham]] her presence implies, may be the best thing about it.
* Mathieu Amalric appears in the first and last scenes of ''Les Aventures Extraordinaires D'Adèle Blanc-Sec'' as the titular heroine's revolting arch-nemesis Dieuleveult, dressed entirely in a black trenchcoat, hat and sunglasses like a Gestapo officer, completely unrecognizable under a thick layer of makeup with rotten-looking false teeth and speaking with a wheezy voice, all in all resembling Toht from ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]''. After stealing the scene with a wonderfully [[Large Ham|over-the-top]] creepy performance, his character is mummified alive and only seen at the end of the movie, observing Adèle embarking on the {{spoiler|Titanic}} and ominously wishing her "bon voyage". This is made even more infuriating due to the fact that Dieuleveult is, as previously indicated, her arch-nemesis in the comics and yet has no other role in the plot other than failing to prevent her from stealing a mummy she hopes will bring her sister back to life. Needless to stay, the fans of the original comic were not pleased.
* ''[[American Gangster]]'' has [[Ruby Dee]] in an Academy Award nominated role as Frank Lucas' mother. She had less than 10 minutes of screen time.
* [[Jackie Earle Haley]] in ''[[Shutter Island]]''. His one scene lasts maybe five minutes and he owns every second of it.
* [[Jackie Earle Haley]] as the "particularly dirty hippie" Dukes in ''Semi-Pro''.
* [[Marlon Brando]] as Jor-El in ''[[Superman (film)|Superman]]'' .
* [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] appeared in ''[[The Rundown]]'' for about five seconds of screentime, enough to say exactly two words. His appearance is mentioned in just about every professional review of the movie listed on [[IMDb]].
* In ''[[Toy Story 3]]'', Mr. Pricklepants fits this trope perfectly. He doesn't really have much bearing on the plot and has very limited screen time, but regardless he sticks out as one of the best characters in the film. You can add all of Bonnie's toys, Buttercup, Trixie, Dolly, '''Chuckles'''! Chatter Telephone, if only for the fact he's a ''toy telephone'' [[Mysterious Informant]] with a [[Film Noir]] voice.
* Mr. Shark from ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]''. "Look, I'm Woody! Howdy howdy howdy!"
* Bruce McGill in ''[[The Insider]]'', as the lawyer who deposes Russell Crowe. "WIPE THAT SMIRK OFF YOUR FACE!"
* [[Peter Stormare]]. So. Many. Times. ''[[Constantine]]'' and ''[[Armageddon]]'' stand out, though in the latter case, he's a
* [[Johnny Depp]] has two [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wuMt_3Asqg very brief scenes] in the French film ''Ils se marient et eurent beaucoup des enfants'' (also known as ''Happily Ever After''), one of which contains no dialogue (only some cute eye-flirting to the sounds of "Creep"), and then another scene at the end in which
* [[Klaus Kinski]] as the shackled forced labor prisoner in the train car in ''[[Doctor Zhivago]]''.
* ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]''.
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* [[Jon Lovitz]] has exactly one scene in ''[[The Wedding Singer]]'' as a rival wedding singer to the main character, but thanks to a single line of dialogue and a facial expression, it's a scene you'll remember:
{{quote|He's losing his mind... ''and I'm reaping all the benefits''!}}
* [[Bruce Willis]] and [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] in ''[[The Expendables]]''. They're in the movie for all of a few minutes, yet their presence is mentioned constantly in the advertising campaign - for good reason, as those two and [[Sylvester Stallone]] haven't worked together in movies before, and likely never will again. (
* The Vegan Police, played by Thomas Jane and Clifton Collins Jr., in ''[[Scott Pilgrim vs. the World]]''. They have some truly hilarious lines, and make their exit with a slow-motion leaping high five.
{{quote|'''Todd:''' "Gelato isn't vegan?"
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** As Kaptah in ''The Egyptian''
* Gary Busey tends to do this in any film he isn't headlining.
** As a crazy psycho [[Vietnam War]] vet in ''[[Black Sheep]]'' opposite [[Chris Farley]] and [[David Spade]] (although it's two and not just one), and his 'stint' as a Heavy-like demon hunter in ''Succubus: Hell Bent'', in which he gives quite possibly the least rousing morale boosting speech ever submitted to celluloid (he basically tells the kid he has no hope of winning and he should just let the succubus do what she wants because he'll only manage to piss her off worse), dumps a load of weird junk that actually seems to work on the hero, and then drives off to leave him to his fate.
** There's also his cameo as a very lonely highway patrolman in ''[[Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas]]''.
* {{spoiler|Jon Hamm's}} appearance in ''[[The A-Team (film)|The
* [[Meat Loaf]] turns up for a single song, arguably one of the best, in ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'', sings it, and then {{spoiler|gets brutally hacked to death off-screen by Tim bloody Curry}}.
* The alien opera diva with the ''[[Crowning Music of Awesome|insane]]'' musical number in ''[[The Fifth Element]]''.
* The Pale Man in ''Pan's Labyrinth'' is probably ''the'' most talked about part of the film.
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* ''[[Tron: Legacy]]''
** Michael Sheen as Castor/Zuse
** Same scene, [[Daft Punk]] (who wrote the soundtrack) as <s>
* Michael Sheen steals his scenes in ''[[Twilight (novel)|New Moon]]'', due to extensive use of [[Ham and Cheese]].
* Grandpa Chapman in ''[[Silent Night, Deadly Night]]''.
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** Pete, the elevator operator who Barton asks if he's read the Bible. "Holy Bible? Yeah I think so. Anyway I've heard about it."
* Also from the Coen brothers' oeuvre, Shaloub's turn as Billy Bob Thornton's existentialist lawyer is arguably the single most memorable scene in ''[[The Man Who Wasn't There]]''.
* Roscoe Lee Browne's enigmatic appearance as the cyborg Box in sci-fi thriller ''[[Logan's Run]]'' deserves mention here even though it might be more of a [[
* Scorsese's under-appreciated mid-80s gem ''[[After Hours]]'' is rife with one off appearances and small recurring ones, but none more lustrous (or self contained) than Teri Garr and Verna Bloom.
* The psychotic neo-Nazi from ''[[Falling Down]]'' has one scene, and if it's not the best one in the movie, it's the one that caused the most laughter. Every line he spouts is caustic and vitriolic, and usually loaded with at least [[Politically-Incorrect Villain|one slur]], and five [[Cluster F-Bomb|curses]]. The role could have been played spooky and subtle, but the actor instead decided that [[Chewing the Scenery|no scenery would go unchewed]] in his performance. If anyone quotes the movie, chances are good it'll be from that scene.
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* [[Liam Neeson]] as the writer who instructs Russel Crowe on prison escapes in ''[[The Next Three Days]]''. So much they had to put him on the trailer.
* Mrs. Jumbo from ''[[Dumbo]]''. Like her son, she actually remains silent throughout the entire film, with her only dialogue being when she says Dumbo's real name after he's been delivered to her by a stork.
* In ''[[500 Days of Summer|Five Hundred Days of Summer]]'', [[
* ''[[Braindead]]'': The priest who has had only a few unremarkable appearances shows up in the graveyard once the zombies start appearing and goes to town on the zombies in the most epic scene of the movie, ripping/kicking off limbs, throwing and beating up zombies with lines like "This calls for divine intervention" and "I kick ass for The Lord!"
* [[James Cagney]] reprising his role as George M. Cohan (which won him the Best Actor Oscar for ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'') for the [[Bob Hope]] vehicle ''The Seven Little Foys''. Cagney and Hope trade hilarious barbs for a couple minutes, then do an epic tap dance number together.
* Jim Jarmusch's ''[[
* [[Kenneth Branagh]]'s ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' movie, despite having a genuinely good, if rather [[Large Ham|hammy]], cast (even Keanu Reeves is passable) is clearly dominated by Michael Keaton's Constable Dogberry.
* If you want a film that's utterly ''loaded'' with these, just watch Branagh's full-length version of ''[[Hamlet]]''. The supporting cast (and roles) include Billy Crystal (Gravedigger), [[Robin Williams]] (Osric), Gerard Depardieu (Reynaldo), Charlton Heston (Player King), Rufus Sewell (Fortinbras), Richard Attenborough (English Ambassador) and [[Brian Blessed]] (King Hamlet's Ghost) all in absolutely perfect roles! There's also a cameo by John Gielgud and Judi Dench, and [[Derek Jacobi]] reprising his role as [[I, Claudius|Clau-Clau-Claudius]]. Though he does get a rather prominent billing.
* The punk on the bus with the ghetto blaster in ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home]]''.
* The 1933 film ''Dinner at Eight'' alludes to this trope in-universe. One of the characters is a washed-up, alcoholic actor who learns he's been demoted from the lead in an upcoming play to a minor one-scene role. His agent persuades him to accept the smaller part on the grounds that he can make a bigger impression on the audience with his single scene.
* [[Pee Wee Herman]] in ''[[Back to the Beach]]''. He appears in the middle of a beach party, performs an amazing idiosyncratic version of "Surfin' Bird", and then literally ''flies away'' on a surfboard.
* In ''[[The Exorcist]]'', this is true of ''the title character''. [[Badass Preacher|Father Damien Karras]] does not appear until near the end of the movie, and the part involving him is surprisingly short, but ''damn'' does he make full use of every second.
* Most of the monsters in ''[[The Cabin in the Woods]]'' get less than a minute of screen time apiece, but ''damn'' they make good use of every second.
* [[Robert Duvall]]'s first role ever was Boo Radley in the film adaptation of ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]''. Less than a minute of screen time and no spoken lines, he didn't need more than that for the movie's iconic finale.
* [[Stan Lee]], the author of many a different Marvel comics, makes a [[Cameo]] in just about every single live-action movie adaption of his heroes, whether it be a plain old man, a few speaking lines, or sometimes even [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall]] by playing himself.▼
* [[Drew Carey]] gets a brief scene when his cab ride gets delayed in ''[[Coneheads]]'', addressing himself as a decorated star to make sure all know this snafu is [[Serious Business]].▼
== Literature ==
* Steven Erikson's ''[[Malazan Book of the Fallen]]'' has several underused-and-awesome characters. One of the more notable examples is Hood, the god of death.
* There is usually at least one scene in every ''[[Discworld]]'' book featuring [[The Grim Reaper|Death]] (''The Wee Free Men'' is one of the few books where he doesn't appear). Except in the book where he stars, these definitely count.
* Voldemort in ''[[Harry Potter
** Also Aunt Marge at the beginning of the third book.
* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''
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** In ''Changes'' there's Donnar Vadderung, otherwise known as ''Odin''. he gets a single chapter with dialogue {{spoiler|and briefly appears at the end}} but he effectively comes off as [[Gargoyles|a divine David Xanatos]].
** [[Our Dragons Are Different|Ferrovax]], thus far.
▲* [[Stan Lee]], the author of many a different Marvel comics, makes a [[Cameo]] in just about every single live-action movie adaption of his heroes, whether it be a plain old man, a few speaking lines, or sometimes even [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall]] by playing himself.
▲* [[Drew Carey]] gets a brief scene when his cab ride gets delayed in ''[[Coneheads]]'', addressing himself as a decorated star to make sure all know this snafu is [[Serious Business]].
== Live
* [[The Ace|Lord Flashheart]] in ''[[Blackadder]]'', especially in the second series where he appears out of nowhere, goes through his monologue, and disappears again in less than two minutes of screen time, and totally runs away with the episode.{{spoiler|And the girl}}. {{spoiler|"Woof!"}}
** [[Word of God|In an interview]] [[Rik Mayall]] said he only agreed to play Flashheart if he got more laughs than the main character in that episode.
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*** [[Stephen Fry]] too, in ''Blackadder the Third'' as Wellington.
{{quote|"The men had a whip-round and got you this... well, what I mean is that I had the men roundly whipped until they got you this. It's a cigarillo case engraved with the regimental crest of two crossed dead Frenchmen, emblazoned on a mound-of-dead-Frenchmen motif."}}
* When ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' had [[The Power of Rock|a guitar solo challenge]] between [[Stephen Colbert]] and Chris Funk of [[The Decemberists]], there were guest stars galore. However none of them could compare to the brief appearance via satellite by none other than Dr. Henry Kissinger.
{{quote|'''Stephen Colbert''': Dr. Kissinger, what time is it?
'''Henry Kissinger''': Stephen, [[Rock Me, Asmodeus|it is time to rock]]. }}
* In [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|the new ''
** Racetrack has a bit of a following too, despite never having actually had her own storyline, she's probably survived more raptor mishaps than Athena and Boomer put together, especially in later seasons.
* [[Crazy Awesome|Jubal Early]] in ''[[Firefly]]'', who only appeared in the last episode yet was perhaps the greatest part of an already great series.
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{{quote|"You mean nothing will happen to me?"
"Nothing at all. Ever." }}
** The episode "[[Doctor Who/Recap/
** [[John Cleese]]'s magnificent minute-long cameo toward the end of fan-favorite "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S17/E02 City of Death|City of Death]]". [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mmal0PMkmI Exquisite.]
* President Bartlett was originally supposed to be a
** Specifically the show was meant to focus on the staff, with the distance to the president emphasized by having him appear perhaps once a month, so four or five times per season. If they didn't intend for him to overwhelm this restriction, they probably shouldn't have made his first line be "I am the Lord your God, and you shall have no other gods before Me. ...Boy, those were the days."
*** ...or cast [[Large Ham|Martin Sheen]] as the President.
** Roger Rees as Lord John Marbury isn't quite a
* 'Sebastian' on ''[[Babylon 5]]''
** To an extent, Bester as well. His first appearance was the standard "corrupt Earth official who comes to make Sinclair's life hell" that typified many Season 1 episode villains but Walter Koenig infused the role with so much fun energy and serious emotion you looked forward to those times he came back to plague the main cast. Notably, he was one of the few series villains who could regularly show up, have a hostile face-to-face dialogue with the protagonists, accomplish his goals and walk away scot-free at the end of the episode.
** Morden in his early appearances. He just oozes intrigue and menace, and he's only on screen for about five minutes.
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* Seth Green and Breckin Meyer in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', as a pair of comic book store employees who have the "best day ever" when they briefly get to help one of their favorite characters.
** ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' also has John Glover as {{spoiler|Samson Gray, Sylar's real father}}.
** [[Christopher Eccleston]]'s memorable turn as Claude Rains began as an [[Ensemble Darkhorse]], but since he hasn't returned and was only in 5-ish out of nearly 60 episodes, he has evolved into a much-loved
* Brother Mouzone in ''[[The Wire]]'' only appeared in six episodes, most of them for just a few minutes, or seconds in the case of his introduction. An erudite, soft spoken, Harpers magazine reading, suit and bow tie wearing gentleman... who also happens to be one of the most feared and respected hitmen on the east coast, and whose popularity rivals some regulars.
* Comedy actor Guillermo Francella ([[Dyeing
* In the season one finale of ''[[Fringe]]'' the fact that Olivia was in a parallel universe where the Twin Towers are still standing was heavily overshadowed by the fact that she'd just met the mysterious William Bell, played by [[Leonard Nimoy]].
** Nimoy as William Bell deserves some sort of minimalist record for this. He had two lines in the Season 1 finale, then showed up for less than a minute in a fragmented flashback to the same scene four episodes later, and then had another one-line cameo in the mid-season cliffhanger. Then, the character was conspicuously absent in the [[Whole-Episode Flashback]] "Peter", with a lame excuse about being away on business, and then Nimoy retired from acting after filming one more appearance for season 2.
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* David Rees Snell, who played [[Ascended Extra]] Ronnie Gardocki on ''[[The Shield]]'', played season four [[Big Bad]] Leon Drake, an evil [[G.I. Joe|Cobra Commander]]-type terrorist who was the [[Big Bad]] for the fourth and final season of ''[[The Unit]]''. Despite appearing in only seven episode (with most of those episodes featuring him in one or two scenes, barking orders to his army of minions from his secret lair), David Snell's role is largely the only notable thing about the show in the eyes of fans of Shawn Ryan's other, more famous show ''[[The Shield]]''.
* ''[[Sons of Anarchy]]'' had this in episode 2x12: despite featuring major advancement on most of the season's main storylines and one character's [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]], most of the online chatter about the episode centered around former ''[[The Shield]]'' star Kenny Johnson's surprise cameo as an out-of-town member of the Sons of Anarchy biker gang summoned to help participate in a planned rumble with a rival Aryan gang.
* Several examples in ''[[Star Trek:
* A few examples in ''[[Star Trek:
* The Klingon chef in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', who owned a restaurant on DS9, and also played Klingon folk songs to customers on the accordion. Actually appeared in two episodes, "Melora" and "Playing God"; novels claim his name is Kaga, possibly meant as Homage to Chairman Kaga from ''[[Iron Chef]]'', which debuted the same month as "Melora"
* [[Violent Glaswegian|Jamie MacDonald]] is only in a handful of scenes in ''[[The Thick of It]]'' (he doesn't even get his last name until [[The Movie]]) but manages to be one of the most memorable characters in a show full of memorable characters.
* Mr. Flibble from ''[[Red Dwarf]]''. A ''penguin hand-puppet'', visibly played and voiced by one of the regular cast during the last scenes of a single episode, never to be seen or even mentioned in the show again... but he's one of the most popular supporting characters, almost to the point that you could consider him the show's mascot, and he's got [http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/features/interviews/mr-flibble/ his own section] on the show's official website, where he acts as an interview host.
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* ''[[Supernatural]]'' has {{spoiler|the fourth Horseman, Death}}, played by Julian Richings, who manages to exude pure awesome simply by being there, despite roughly six minutes of screen time.
* The ''[[Castle]]'' episode "Overkill" somehow manages to have ''two'' One Scene Wonders within ten minutes of each other, in the form of Stephen Full as Benny, a charmingly sleazy and hungover motel clerk, and Jennifer Hall as Rebecca, a weepy lab technician who's 'cry-talk' Beckett has to decipher.
** Drug dealer Vulcan Simmons appears in a three-minute scene in episode 3-13 "Knockdown" and isn't even guilty of the crime they believe he committed. He still manages to establish himself as a monster just by talking.
* Whenever Charles Widmore is in an episode of ''[[Lost]]'', he usually only has one scene, but that scene is always a killer.
** "The fact that she never received your sentiments is good for her, because as far as she's concerned you've forsaken her. And that's the way it's going to stay."
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*** Her reunion with Des in the fourth season finale (her only scene in that two hour episode making it a literal example) is a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|is a ray of hope and happiness]] in an otherwise [[Crapsack World|grim episode.]]
* A minor controversy erupted when the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences served up an extreme version of this in 2006, nominating Ellen Burstyn for an Emmy for her 14-second, 38-word cameo in the TV movie ''[[Mrs Harris]]''.
* From ''[[The X-
** And of course, she has to [[The Woobie|put up with a lot]] in the show, including her husband {{spoiler|dying of a heart attack}}, her daughter {{spoiler|being abducted by aliens and presumed dead}}, her ''other'' daughter {{spoiler|being shot dead}}, and her son being a total douche.
** Similarly, Cassandra Spencer, played memorably by [[Veronica Cartwright]], is so central to the show's mythos, it's hard to believe she's only in 4 episodes.
** Also, Peter Boyle as the one-off character Clyde Bruckman, in the episode
* Brian Cox as Vesper Abaddon in ''[[Kings]]''. A deposed tyrant, he has two scenes where he tries to make his captor, Silas, as vile as he is, and another where he speaks to [[The Hero]], David, before he is to be executed. Scary as hell, incredibly complex, and has only a few minutes screentime.
* ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' had the [[Fisher King]], an ageless old king who has waited years for Merlin to arrive and release him from his eternal life. The actor infuses the character with so much gravitas and poignancy that he turns a single scene into a bona-fide [[Tear Jerker]]. The lighting and music only adds to the epic nature of the scene.
* ''[[Robin of Sherwood]]'': Every fan talks about John Rhys-Davies' performance as King Richard. He was in exactly one episode: "The King's Fool".
== Music ==
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** [[Eminem]] on Jay-Z's "Renagade" track from ''The Blueprint''. Nas mentions this on "Ether"' ("Eminem murdered you on your own shit")
** Eminem on Lil' Wayne's "Drop the World". It's the only redeeming part of ''Rebirth''.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140106174157/http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/editorials/id.1374/title.murdered-on-your-own-shit This] article explores the phenomenon in more detail.
* [[Mariah Carey]] doing back up vocals for Babyface on a track called "Every time I Close My Eyes"
* Jamie Foxx's video for "Blame It" has scores of celeb appearances. Ashley Scott from [[Jericho]], Ron Howard, Forest Whitaker, Jake Gyllenhaal, Samuel L. Jackson, Quincy Jones, Cedric the Entertainer, Morris Chestnut, Clifton Powell, Alex Thomas, [[De Ray]] Davis, Joe (R&B singer), Mos Def, Tatyana Ali, Jalen Rose, Bill Bellamy, Electrik Red, Dawn Richard, Keshia Knight Pulliam and [[Le Toya]].
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{{quote|'''[[Large Ham|HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JOHNNY!]]'''}}
* Brian "Le Petit" Dewhurst, of [[Cirque Du Soleil]]'s ''Mystere'', has only two setpieces in the show, plus a short blackout skit in between. As one of those is the preshow/opening announcements, this [[Non-Ironic Clown]] has only one setpiece within the show itself, near the end. (Usually in Cirque a clown gets at least two in-show setpieces and often the preshow as well; Brian's role is smaller because one of the lead characters overlaps with a clown act.) His character is a [[Screwy Squirrel]] who isn't "actually" part of the story and rarely appears in advertisements for it. He is also a [[Cool Old Guy]] (in both the show and [[Real Life]]) who just about steals the show by being so distinctively funny.
* In ''M. Butterfly'', there is a two-scene sequence when one of the main characters picks up a debutante at an embassy party. In the second
* There are a number of instances of this in musical theatre: characters who come on for one quick scene which either contains or consists entirely of one big show-stopping number, and then never appear outside of the ensemble for the rest of the show.
** The unnamed girl in ''[[West Side Story]]'' who appears in the middle of the [[Dream Ballet]] to sing "Somewhere."
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** Don Attilio in the "Il Muto" scene from ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'' basically exists just for the atmosphere, yet he often nets [[Crowning Moment of Funny|one of the biggest laughs in the show]] by holding a very long, ''very'' low note at the end of one of his recitatives. (Note that the actor in this role usually doubles on one or two other minor parts as well.)
*** And then in the movie, they have the nerve to change it to Piangi playing the part. And Piangi being a tenor, kiss that low note goodbye.
*** The Phantom himself to an extent. Despite being the most complex and interesting character in the musical by a ''huge''
** Pharaoh in ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat''. One scene, one song, a solo spot in the curtain call with usually the most applause of anyone in the cast.
*** Usually the role is doubled with Potiphar (who only appears in act one). Of course to do this, an actor has to do an English Music Hall Song, and then do Elvis (that's pretty awesome).
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** Mama from ''Memphis'' may qualify for her showstopping "Change Don't Come Easy" song. Though she is a frequent character and sings more than once, "Change Don't Come Easy" particularly stands out.
* Herbert in ''[[Tanz der Vampire]]''. He has ''one line'' in the first act, appears wordlessly (except for some singing over a backing chorus) in the second scene of the second act, proceeds to have a showcase song/scene full of [[Ho Yay]] with the hero that is generally regarded as one of the funniest (or sexiest, [[Yaoi Fangirl|if you like that sort of thing]]) parts of the whole show a few scenes later, and then is demoted to harmonizing on two lines with his father at the ball and with Magda in the finale, and yet he is probably at least the second- if not THE- most popular character in the show, with one reviewer commenting that it's hard not to squee when he shows up, ''even if you don't like the actor playing him''. The actor doesn't even double in the ensemble scenes before Herbert's entrance.
** Vindication: [
* Harvey Johnson, the nerdy kid from the opening number of ''Bye Bye Birdie'', is easily the most memorable character from the whole play, despite having about three lines.
* ''[[The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee]]'' has the moment where {{spoiler|JESUS himself}} comes down to give advice to one of the children in their time of need.
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* [[Drill Sergeant Nasty|Sergeant Dornan]] in ''[[Fallout 2]]'', one of the most memorable NPC's despite being little more than an extra. Despite his relative insignifance to the plot (you can rather easily bypass him at camp Navarro), the Sarge's got a "talking head" and voice acting which [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cut-ZRbbbY must be heard to be believed.]
* The Kuribo's Shoe from ''[[Super Mario Bros.]] 3'' only appears in ONE level from ONE game of the entire [[Long Runner|Mario franchise]]!! It might be more popular than Luigi!! Goodness sake.
* From ''[[Mass Effect]]'':
*
{{quote|'''Sovereign''': '''YOU EXIST BECAUSE WE ALLOW IT. AND YOU WILL END BECAUSE WE DEMAND IT.'''}}
:*
{{quote|'''"I AM SOVEREIGN. {{spoiler|AND THIS STATION IS MINE.}}"'''}}
:*
{{quote|''"I saw a krogan drink a liquified turian on a dare six or seven centuries back. Nobody came out of that one looking pretty."''}}
{{quote|'''Announcer:''' The Council thought that Blasto, the first hanar Spectre, would play by the rules.
'''Blasto:''' This one's heat sink is over capacity. It wonders whether the criminal scum considers itself fortunate.
'''Announcer:''' They were ''wrong''.
'''Blasto:''' This one has no time for your solid waste excretions. }}
▲** How can we forget Khalisah al-Juliani? The paparazzi reporter that Renegade!Shepard has a running gag of punching out?
▲** {{spoiler|Harbinger}} in Mass Effect 3. Though mentioned occasionally, he shows up ''only once'' in the entire game {{spoiler|at the very end. He has no lines. [[Curb Stomp Battle|Only]] [[Beam Spam]].}}
* Lancer in ''[[Fate/stay night]]''. He is the first enemy encountered in the game's introduction and does little but fight with Archer and all but kill Shirou, after which he spends most of the time in the background . He only gets a bit of spotlight {{spoiler|in Unlimited Blade Works when he helps Rin and Shirou by defeating Archer, rescues Rin and kills Kotomine and scares off Shinji all while ''missing his heart''. Oh, and inadvertently saving Shirou post-humously by making Gilgamesh sooty}}. Outside of that he's basically the poster boy for [[The Worf Effect]], {{spoiler|being killed off by the [[The Dragon]] in the other two routes.}} Yet he's almost as [[Badass|GAR]] as Archer for the fandom.
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' there are a very few high-ranking NPCs that get an occasional memorable scripted scene.
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* The bug-like sentry turrets in ''[[Doom|Doom 3]]'' are only seen in action at one small portion of the game, but their presence gives the player an immense relief. They sport a bright headlight and a machine gun, and will quickly locate and kill any hidden enemies while spouting a series of agitated beeps and clicks. Arguably, they could be the only characters in the game the player may feel an emotional connection to.
** It also begs the question that if the station had access to such effective weaponry then how did the demons ever successfully invade in the first place?
* The Green Biker Dude from the ''[[Mega Man X|Megaman X2
* ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' has so, so many; minor bosses who are only in one stage tend to be among the most beloved in the fanbase. This includes the likes of [[Warmup Boss|Batta the Beast]], [[Small Name, Big Ego|Glass]], [[Broken Record|Denning]], [[Memetic Molester|Gheb]], and [[Memetic Sex God|Oliver]], the last of which was popular enough that he returned in the next game {{spoiler|as a recruitable unit}}. There's also the 3-13 Archer, a nameless allied NPC from ''Radiant Dawn'', who is often considered one of the greatest units in the game. However, one of the most major examples is Dheginsea, the Black Dragon King, who is one of the world's most powerful beings and plays an essential role in the backstory of the Tellius games... he appears ''three times between the two games''.
** To be fair, the third time was {{spoiler|as the third-to-last boss. And probably harder than the final two to boot.}}
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* Riordan, in ''[[Dragon Age Origins|Dragon Age: Origins]]'' is something of one. His debut? He snaps the neck of the man keeping watch over him, whom you have distracted for about two seconds, and then introduces himself with a bow, seeming quite pleased to meet you, with a warm-yet-badass voice. He also reveals he knew Duncan, your [[The Obi-Wan|Obi-Wan]]. Later, he gives you information and allows you to get some powerful items for free. [[The Strategist|After that, he shows he's not just another BadAss in a game full of badasses, but also knows how to keep his eye on the ball]]. The next time he appears, he makes [[The Reveal]] of why the Grey Wardens aren't just useful, but necessary. And then he gets possibly [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|the most amazing send-off of any character, minor or major, in any video game ever]].
** A minor Carta thug in Orzammar has a performance so [[Large Ham|over the top]] when you beat him, you'll want to bring him along for the rest of the game.
** The pirate queen Isabela's only major scene happens when you visit Denerim's brothel for the first time, and she'll teach the Duelist specialization for Rogues if you beat her at a rigged game of cards...or if you have sex with her, which can become a three- or ''four''some depending on your companions. Her character was so popular (mostly due to players wondering how to get the foursome, or have an [[Les Yay|all-girl threesome]]), that she was brought back in ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' as a full party member and possible love interest - as promiscuous, morally suspect, and far more pirate-y than ever, and a bottomless well of [[Double Entendre
* {{spoiler|[[David Hasselhoff]]}} as the American Vice President in ''[[Command & Conquer: Red Alert|Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3]]''
* Poseidon in ''[[God of War]] 3''. All of the other gods have at least one other appearance in the game, but Poseidon only shows up during Kratos and the Titans' siege of Mount Olympus {{spoiler|due to being killed during it}}. But boy, is his role in that part [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|memorable]].
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'':
** ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link]]'': "I AM ERROR." A short appearance and [[
** Canon-wise, Zelda only assumes her Sheik identity in one game, ''[[Ocarina of Time]]'', but has become high-octane [[Fanfic Fuel]] as a result.
** In [[The Legend of Zelda CDI Games]] several minor characters are immensely popular like Morshu who only has two scenes.▼
{{quote|'''Morshu''': Mmmmmm...Richer.}}▼
* ''[[Golden Sun]]'' fandom is largely convinced that Rief's sister Nowell from ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn|Dark Dawn]]'' will return as a player character in the next game. All we know about her presently is that she doesn't like her little brother getting into danger, and that she ''does'' like Captain Piers enough to [[Put on a Bus|go for an unplanned joyride with him]].
** An even better example from the same game would be [[Shrine Maiden|Himi]], who is ''barely'' a player
▲* In [[The Legend of Zelda CDI Games]] several minor characters are immensely popular like Morshu who only has two scenes.
▲{{quote|'''Morshu''': Mmmmmm...Richer.}}
* Inverted in ''[[No More Heroes]] 2: Desperate Struggle''. The game's [[Big Bad]], Jasper Batt Jr. doesn't appear until the very end of the game, but despite that has become a Scrappy character infamous even amongst people that haven't played the game due many planners finding him annoying, pretending to kill most of the cast, and the boss fight with him not being especially cool or fun, and for being [[That One Boss]].
* [[Big Bad|Father Balder]] in ''Bayonetta'' is heard in voice, but doesn't appear on screen till the end of the game, but easily steals the show when he does due to his Badassery and crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]].
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* There's exactly one playable Pandaren in the whole Warcraft series (so far), he's an optional character in a campaign that you don't even need to play in a regular playtrough, he became so popular that Blizzard have been teasing [[WoW]] players with making Pandaren a playable race since the early stages, they will finally get their own expansion (they included the race's name in the title of the expansion). Oh, and the character wasn't even planed to be included in the game, one of the designers made a concept artwork as an april's fool joke.
* [[Kingdom Hearts 3D]] has one that seemed to exist solely for the trailers, and lasted for all but ''two seconds''. Oh, hi there, {{spoiler|Vanitas.}} Oh, bye, {{spoiler|Vanitas}}!
* The very first zombie Jill (and by extension, the player) encounters in the very first ''[[Resident Evil (video game)|Resident Evil]]'' game is a [[Jump Scare]] and [[Gut Punch]] that few fans of the series ever forget. In fact, he may be even creepier in the original version than in the remake. Sure, he's technically just a mook, but that face slowly turning to look at Jill as she approaches what she thinks is an injured victim... [[Simple Yet Awesome]] way to start the nightmare that is ''[[Resident Evil]]''.
== Web Original ==
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== Western Animation ==
* Miss Kitty from Disney's ''[[The Great Mouse Detective]]''. She's in the show for only one song, but... well, it's [http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=e2IctxaCPqw a very memorable] one, and judging by the amount of [http://blackrozepetal.deviantart.com/art/Let-me-be-good-to-you-91337723 fan] [http://tabbykat.deviantart.com/art/Let-me-Be-Good-To-You-80676729 material] about her, [[Everybody Remembers the Stripper|quite a few people remembered]] as the most exciting part of the movie. Also, she has the ever-sexy voice of Melissa Manchester.
* Chernabog from ''[[Fantasia]]''; the star of a sequence that lasts all of 11 minutes with no dialogue, he is nonetheless, unforgettable. It's hard to find a critic who does not count him among Disney's greatest villains.
* Peggy Lee as Peg the dog in ''[[Lady and the Tramp]]''. Peg has just the one song, ''He's a Tramp''. But what a song! As Lee co-wrote all the songs and also voiced the Siamese Cats and Darling (Lady's owner) - and they get songs too despite little screen time - it's like several Wonders for the price of one.
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrl844rONx0 A-THIIIIIIIS IS THE NIIIIIGHT! IT'S A BEAUUUUUUUUTIFUL A-NIIIIIIIIGHT!]
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* ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'' has plenty of one-episode wonders. Foxglove, the bat from "Good Times, Bat Times", appeared in only this one episode, but she seems to be part of a [[Fanfic]] cast more often than not, she might have more fans than Monterey Jack, and she has even got a website dedicated to her. Tammy, the squirrelmaid from "Adventures in Squirrelsitting", comes in second. There are several more, including the lab rat Sparky from "Does Pavlov Ring a Bell", Gadget's [[Evil Twin]] Lahwhinie from "Gadget Goes Hawaiian", and Geegaw Hackwrench (who never even appeared on-screen, apart from a portrait in "To the Rescue" part 3). Unlike the others, Foxglove has gone on to make regular appearances in [[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (Comic Book)|the 2010 CDRR comic series]] produced by [[Boom Studios]].
** Speaking of Chip and Dale, there was one short named "Two Chips and a Miss", in which a character named Clarice fills in the role of Chip and Dale's girlfriend. This was her only appearance, and yet she has a HUGE popularity (even appearing in Disney Parks for some reason), [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|especially in Japan]]. Who knew that a one appearance character would cause THIS much popularity?
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'':
** Hank Scorpio only appeared in one episode
** Such was his popularity that he was initially considered to be the main villain for [[The Movie]]. The plan was canned as the writers didn't want to use a villain from an episode over a decade old. His voice actor (The ever awesome Al Brooks) was kept to voice the final villain, who still shares many quirks worthy of Scorpio.
** Frank Grimes was only in one episode
** The shotgun wielding nurse in the Flying Hellfish episode;
{{quote|'''THE RESIDENTS'''-''BANG''-'''ARE TRYING'''-''BANG''-'''TO NAP!'''-''BANG''}}
:* The Very Tall Man, the only original character introduced in "22 Short Films About Springfield", (a [[Creator Cameo|caricature of writer Ian Maxtone-Graham]], who is also rather tall), who left a rather big impact on it by punishing Nelson for mocking him. His only other appearances have been cameos.
:* Dr. Colossus, the boastful - but easily humbled - [[Mad Scientist]] from the second part of "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" His two rather brief scenes were so impressive, he is the Trope Namer for [[Cartoonish Supervillainy]]. Unfortunately, those scenes were cut for syndication, making them hard to see these days.
* The inhabitants of the [[True Neutral|Neutral Planet]] appear in only one episode of ''[[Futurama]]'', but their "neutral humor" was a particular favorite of the fans and producer David X. Cohen.
{{quote|'''Neutral President''': If I don't survive, tell my wife "hello."}}
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** ''Back Alley Oproar'' is quite funny with Sylvester keeping Elmer up with his singing, then [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ncgc78RIV0 this guy] comes along and steals the show.
* In ''[[Chicken Little]]'' one of the most popular characters is Morkubine Porcupine he only has five minutes of screen time and he only says three words.
* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'':
**
*** But there are 2 very good reasons to their appeal, shallowness aside: 1) They can be paired with the Girls in a series with little or no romance, making the "One of them decides to turn good" plot popular. 2)They are the only enemies in the series to beat the girls AND keep the powers they used to beat them/almost beat them (Both Mojo and the
** Dick Hardly, a one-shot villain who made
** Bunny - poor, poor Bunny. Created via a botched experiment, her attempts to fit in and [[Heroic Sacrifice]] at the end was one of the biggest [[Tear Jerker]]s of the whole franchise, obviously the reason "Twisted Sister" is the episode that actually won an Emmy.
** The Broccoloids; of all the [[Crazy Awesome]] plots involving an [[Alien Invasion]], this was one of the craziest and most awesome.
** The Boogie Man - ''really'' cool character with a badass VA, and a [[Shout Out]] to ''[[Star Wars]]'' on top of it! “Blame it on the Boogie!“
* In the three seasons of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', we see Koh the Face-Stealer ''twice''. One episode, wayyy back in the first season, when Aang first travels to the Spirit World. Why do we remember him? ''Because he's a gigantic centipede trickster spirit who will steal your face and wear it like a mask if you show the slightest twitch of expression.'' And technically, he's not even a ''bad guy''. Few monsters have ever been so imaginatively, effortlessly terrifying - it's no wonder fans clamoured for more.
** His second appearance was in a flashback during the finale, which reveals a previous avatar's experience with him.
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** "Mine? Mine? Minemineminemine?"
* Scrat from ''[[Ice Age]]'', particularly in the first movie. provides more than one [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] despite having no lines and about five minutes of screentime. He got spin-offs.
* Freakazette of ''[[Freakazoid!]]'', at least according to [[Familiar Faces|CR]] of [[YouTube]] and [[That Guy With The Glasses]] (as seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGhYS599xZw here]). She only appears in about four seconds of an introductory song, but never in the show. CR rags on the creators for never doing anything with the character after putting her ''in a spotlight on top of giant letters spelling her name.'' Yeah, [[Viewers are Morons]] for thinking that she'd actually be in the show, right?
** [[Candle Jack]] starred in one episode and appeared briefly in only two others, yet somehow he became popular and memetic enough to get his own page on this ver
* In the [[DCAU]], there is a show called ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|The New Batman Adventures]]''. In that show, there is an episode titled "Beware the Creeper". And in that episode, [http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=7T8y3Af3dH0 there is a scene where the Creeper, in all his yellow-skinned, manic glory, gleefully barges into a clothing store in search of a new costume]. Everyone in the store runs away screaming... except for [[Super Stoic Shopkeeper|a clerk who remains completely, utterly stoic]] (making [[Deadpan Snarker|deadpan comments]] the whole way) as she helps him pick an outfit and passes him through. And she was called: "[[Fan Nickname|Thriftie]]".
* In ''[[Turtles Forever]]'', Tohka and Razar, the duo of [[Ensemble Darkhorse
** They also made their appearance in the 1987 series episode, "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter".
* The old ''[[The Tick (animation)]]'' animated series featured, in its run, precisely one episode with a would-be villain calling himself 'The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight' (yeah, baby!). This character was [[Talkative Loon|so blisteringly off-the-wall]] - even by ''The Tick'''s standards - that he is easily one of the most memorable characters in the entire series.
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** TEMBWBAT got a later one-scene appearance trying to get into the villain awards but being rejected by the bouncer.
{{quote|"One of these days, baby! MILKSHAKE! BOOM!"}}
* After Remy Buxaplenty's lone appearance on ''[[The Fairly
* Originally, the ''[[Metalocalypse]]'' character Dr. Rockzo the Rock n Roll Clown (he does cocaine) was a minor character at Murderface's birthday party who only got 50 seconds of screen time. However, the fans and creators liked him so much, he was added as a recurring guest star in 5 more episodes.
** In that first 50 seconds, he says he does cocaine three and a half times.
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* Madame Mim in Disney's ''[[The Sword in the Stone]]'' appears just long enough to engage in a [[Shapeshifter Showdown|wizard's duel]] with Merlin. Also the female squirrel [[Tear Jerker|who falls for]] [[Attractive Bent Species|a transformed Arthur.]]
* ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'' has a ton of these due to [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] [[Merchandise-Driven|needing to be sold]] and not loads and loads of time. Some characters make very memorable appearances that are sadly rare and brief. Sixshot, for example, is introduced by Galvatron as a 'one-robot army,' proves it by taking out '''the entire Aerialbot team singlehandedly,''' earning his name by using each of his then-unprecedented six transformations to do it, and is then not seen again.
** Can also go for accessories. At one point in the three-part premiere, Optimus and Megatron are fighting on top of a dam. Optimus transforms his arm into a [[An Axe to Grind|glowing energy ax]]. Megatron transforms his into a [[Epic Flail|glowing energy morningstar]]. They battle for a minute or two, before Megatron leaves by spinning his morningstar in the air and flying off as if it's a helicopter propellor. These weapons are never seen again. You'd think it'd be a [[
* On ''[[Total Drama]],'' the blond [[The Intern|intern]] was originally this. He was pretty much just a character in the background of the TDA Aftermaths, but fans latched onto him, [[Fan Nickname|named him Billy]] (which has since been [[Sure Why Not|used by]] [[Word of God]]) and got him [[Ascended Extra|made into a recurring character]] on the game proper.
** "[[
* Fred from ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]''. Despite only appearing in one episode (apart from a brief cameo at the end of "Ball Of Revenge") he has become one of the series' most recognizable and frightening villains.
** There's also the blue... [[Eldritch Abomination|whatever you want to call it]] from "Perfect." The thing is one of the scariest and most notorious creatures in a scary series, and it gets less than 10 seconds of screen-time.
*** Kitty and Bunny from the episode "The Mask".
** Di Lung is another rather extreme example of one of these, being the absolute worst character in the entire series and pretty much existing as an [[Ethnic Scrappy|incredibly-stereotypically]] [[Asian Rudeness|Asian]] [[Catch Phrase|catchphrase]] dispenser and absolutely nothing else (even when he ''does'' [[A Day in the Limelight|get actually significant roles in episodes]], in fact)...but also having quite-easily ''the'' best (and, of course, funniest) catchphrase in the entire franchise.
{{quote|'''Di Lung ([[Hypocritical Humor|after/while blatantly forgetting to watch where he is going]]):''' WATCH WHERE YOU'RE ''GOING'', [[You Fool!|YA ''FOOL!'']]}}
* Occasionally on ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]'', a girl named Daria sees the titular duo in the middle of something stupid. [[Dull Surprise|She barely reacts]] to the [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight]], [[Deadpan Snarker|makes a snide remark]] about [[Too Dumb to Live|the boys' stupidity]], then disappears for pretty much the rest of the episode. As hilarious as Beavis and Butthead can be, [[Daria|I can definitely see how this character would end up getting her own series.]]
* ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'': Argent. Oh so much. A [[Pettanko]] dressed in the whole [[Elegant Gothic Lolita|gothic dress thing]] and has an [[Everything Sounds Sexier in French|Australian accent?]] And her big action during the scene was...getting a communicator from Starfire. Yeah. Her minimal time on screen didn't stop her from becoming a fan art favorite.
** A relationship example: Kid Flash and Jinx appeared in two and five episodes, respectively. Their relationship had an episode mostly devoted to it, and then a couple of lines a few episodes later. It's the fourth most written for ''Teen Titans'' couple on fanfiction.net.
** Let's not forget Red X who has become on of the most popular characters in the show despite only appearing twice.
* ''[[South Park]]'' has the [[
* ''[[The Modifyers]]'' has Baron Vain, whose psychopathy and ridiculousness won the hearts of those who actually saw it.
* Hondo from ''[[The Clone Wars]]''. Why? Because he single-handedly outwitted Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Count Dooku... 3 times! All in the course of one two-parter episode. Also, he was charming and friendly during the whole thing.
** Plus, he's voiced by [[Jim Cummings]]! You just know he's going to be [[Crazy Awesome]].
* ''[[Tale Spin]]'' has many one-shot guest star characters who are popular with the fans.
* In episode 14 of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', titled "Suited For Success", a white unicorn with a blue-and-turquoise mane appears on screen for about 6 seconds. Judging from the turntable in front of her, fans decided that she is a DJ. She got a name (Vinyl Scratch), a stage name (DJ P0N-3), and a few [http://www.equestriadaily.com/search/label/Vinyl%20Scratch fanfics] and quite a bit of fanart, and shout outs in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTPqjKk_xCo commercials] and an [https://web.archive.org/web/20111209121353/http://www.welovefine.com/product.php?id_product=486 official t-shirt]. And now she's [http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=381668998517210 toy].
** Said DJ pony makes a return in the Season 2 finale for yet another
** The [http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Derpy wall-eyed pony] was an animation mistake in part one of the Friendship Is Magic pilot. Derpy Hooves became a near-instant [[Ascended Extra]], just add insane, never-say-die fandom.
*** Her appearance in "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S2/E14 The Last Roundup|The Last Roundup]]" has lead it to become known as as ''"The Episode Where [[Ascended Fanon|Derpy Became Canon]]"''
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* Firefly, Medley, Twilight, Applejack, Bowtie, Scorpan, and Tirek are some of the most popular ''[[My Little Pony]]'' characters but in American canon only appeared in the first of the two ''[[My Little Pony TV Specials]]''.
* The ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' [[Grand Finale]] [[The Movie|Movie]] introduces us to Eddy's long-unseen older brother. He only gets five minutes of screen time...'''AND''' '''[[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|WHAT]]''' '''[[Fridge Horror|A]]''' '''[[Tear Jerker|FIVE]]''' '''[[The Reveal|MINUTES]]''' '''[[Broken Pedestal|THOSE]]''' '''[[Complete Monster|WERE]]'''.
* ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' had Julie Bruin. In one very short toon, yet memorable for [[Gainaxing|perhaps unwholesome]] reasons, as well as being a spoof of her voice actor, comedienne/actress/singer [[w:Julie Brown|Julie Brown].
* In ''[[Gargoyles]]'', there was [[Cute Monster Girl| Elisa, as a gargoyle.]] This only occurred in one episode ("The Mirror") for one brief scene, as Puck was doing it to troll Demona, but try telling ''that'' [[Fanfic Fuel| to fanfiction writers]].
* On ''[[The Flintstones]]'', Fred and Wilma have a pet cat (well, a sabre-tooth tiger) who is notable for one scene, during the end credits where it throws Fred out of the house. It rarely appears in the show itself, being little more than a [[Living Prop]] when it does.
* Similar to the one with Elisa as a Gargoyle was April O'Neil as a [[Cat Girl]]. This wasn't the only time she was a victim of [[Baleful Polymorph]] in that version of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 series)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', but it is the one most fans remember, even though she was only the Cat Girl in one episode ("The Cat Woman of Channel 6"). [https://turtlepedia.fandom.com/wiki/Mutatin%27_April_(1993_action_figure) They even made an action figure!]
* [https://samuraijack.fandom.com/wiki/Narc Narc] from ''[[Samurai Jack]]''. In the second episode this [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|three-eyed space babe]] was both a dancer and a waitress at the [[Bad Guy Bar]] where Jack ends up shortly after arriving into the future via Aku's time portal. Secretly, she is an informant for a Aku who informs the villain that Jack is here, her bizarre appearance serving as a [[Gut Punch]] to Jack about how different the world has become. She only appeared briefly in one other episode, “Jack and the Swamp Wizard”, but she has become incredibly popular in fan works, particularly fan art, often of the [[Rule 34]] type.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Characters and Casting]]
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