One-Scene Wonder: Difference between revisions

[[File:walken_5532.jpg|link=Christopher Walken|frame|In the role of a [[Typecasting|lifetime]].]]

 

''It's all about me!"''|"All About Me", ''[[Commentary the Musical|Commentary! The Musical]]''}}

 

** 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|L.A. Story.]]''. "You think with a financial statement like this you can have the ''duck''?"

'''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.

** Jetfire is one of the most beloved characters in the movie, even though he only appears twice: the first to teleport the main characters and leave, the second to die. Being a [[Cool Old Guy]] who is also an [[Cool Plane|SR-71]] probably does it.

** 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.}}

* 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 appearence on screen. And then twenty years later, he did the same with his last role, as the hilariously unflappable driving instructor in ''[[The Naked Gun]]''.

* 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 - in lasts for about three minutes and is probably the weirdest damn thing he's ever done, which is saying a lot.

* In the classic, star-studded movie version of [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''[[Murder on the Orient Express]]'' from 1974, Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar for her role as the half-crazy Swedish missionary Greta Ohlsson, who is practically only seen onscreen during a 7 minute near-monologue. Bergman herself, however, [http://www.youtube.com/user/oscars?blend=1&ob=4#p/search/2/ky5sW4no_cg said] that Valentina Cortese should've won. This trope applies to nearly everyone in the film; With the exception of Hercule Poirot and the director of the train, who interrogate each passenger, no one has more than three scenes; Just the same, every actor gives a full movie's performance in their 7 minutes on-screen.

* Dame [[Judi Dench]] as Queen Elizabeth I needed only nine minutes of screen time to run away with ''[[Shakespeare in Love]]'' and an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

* ''[[Airplane!]]''

** Barbara Billingsley, even though she's only in one scene, has one of the greatest comedic moments in movie history:

** There's also [[Cloudcuckoolander|Johnny]], and Ethel Merman as the soldier who thinks he's Ethel Merman.

* Sammy Davis, Jr, in ''[[Sweet Charity]]''. He shows up, blows the rest of the cast right off the screen with a stunning rendition of the movie's best song ("Rhythm of Life"), then vanishes, his hipster-preacher character and the sequence in which he appears having absolutely nothing to do with the storyline. Classic Wonder.

* In ''[[When Harry Met Sally]]'', Estelle Reiner brings down the house with her one and only line, which is the most memorable line in the film: "I'll have what she's having!" (She's director Rob Reiner's mother.)

* Justin Long as a matter-of-fact gay porn star in ''[[Zack and Miri Make a Porno]]'', and Brandon Routh as his boyfriend.

* Christopher Plummer showed up at Nic Cage's grandfather at the beginning of ''[[National Treasure]]'' (one of his earlier roles in his 21st-century comeback, and it was pretty awesome).

* 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 [[One-Scene Wonder|One Scene Wonders]] (Ice-T playing... Ice-T the urban revolutionary, and [[Henry Rollins]] playing... Henry Rollins the cyborg medic).

* ''[[Star Wars]]''

** Darth Maul. Speaks about fifteen words over the course of maybe a half dozen scenes, but is arguably the single coolest thing in the entire prequel trilogy.

* [[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).

* ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]''

** A young [[Robert Duvall]] as the reclusive Arthur "Boo" Radley, his first movie role. He doesn't even so much as speak, but his appearance stays with you.

* [[Significant Anagram|Navckid Keyd]] as Elder Mr. Dawes in ''[[Mary Poppins]]'', once you realise who he is.

* [[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:

* [[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. (at least, until the sequel)

* 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.

'''Vegan Police:''' "[[This Is for Emphasis, Bitch|Milk and eggs, bitch.]]" }}

* [[John Turturro]] in ''[[The Big Lebowski]]''. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1SfzV67Bqw Nobody fucks with the Jesus].

* 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]]''.

* Joan McCracken, who performs the show-stopping number ("Pass That Peace Pipe") in the [[Golden Age of Hollywood|Golden Age]] musical ''Good News'', and has basically no other role in the rest of the movie. McCracken, who was a terrific dancer but only a moderately good singer, and who was quite plain-looking, [[Hollywood Homely|especially by Hollywood standards]], specialized in these kinds of roles.

* [[Gary Sinise]] as the reporter in ''[[The Green Mile]]''. The scene is a powerful one in the book, illustrating perfectly why John Coffey was convicted, even through doubts that he actually did the crime, and Sinise certainly put his stamp on it. Despite being in that one scene, his obvious connections with [[Tom Hanks]] gave him a spot in the movie's trailer.

*** Peter Cook as Richard III in the first ever episode of ''[[Blackadder]]''.

*** [[Stephen Fry]] too, in ''Blackadder the Third'' as Wellington.

*** [[Tom Baker]] as Captain Rum. ''Arr...' (Although in the last two cases it's more of a One Episode Wonder.)

*** Denis Lill as Sir Talbot Buxomley in ''Blackadder III'' episode "Dish and Dishonesty". He appears for about two minutes and dies at the end of his scene. But he is absolutely unforgettable.

* 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.

'''Henry Kissinger''': Stephen, [[Rock Me, Asmodeus|it is time to rock]]. }}

** Colbert said in an interview that they also wanted to [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade]] the absurdity of having gotten Henry Kissinger to oversee a guitar-playing contest by having him say, "Where are my pancakes? I was promised pancakes." But he wouldn't, and according to Colbert, somewhere there exist several minutes of footage of him begging Kissinger to say the pancake line.

* [[Jim Henson]] showing up in anything done with [[The Muppets]] is always special.

* Cyril Luckham (The White Guardian) of the "Key to Time" storyline in original ''[[Doctor Who]]''. He does nothing but sit in a chair and set up the plot for the season in the first five minutes of the first episode, but eerily sticks in your mind.

"Nothing at all. Ever." }}

** The episode "[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S3 E13 Last of the Time Lords|Utopia]]" in the new series gets ''three'' of these. First is [[Derek Jacobi]]'s wonderful performance as Professor Yana, surpassed by Derek Jacobi again in his two-minute-long appearance as the Master, which is surpassed ''again'' by [[John Simm]]'s even briefer role as the Master (though the last one may not qualify, as Simm spends the subsequent two episodes being a legendary [[Magnificent Bastard]]).

* The ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode ''Conversations With Dead People'' features a very entertaining [[Warrior Therapist]] vampire who died at the very end of the episode. According to the [[DVD Commentary]] for the episode, Jonathan M. Woodward's performance as said vampire was such a scene stealer that he subsequently landed larger roles on ''[[Angel]]'' and ''[[Firefly]]''.

** Then there's producer David Fury's 15-second appearance in the musical episode "Once More With Feeling", singing about the dry cleaner.

* 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.

* The First Servant from ''[[King Lear]]'' appeared in only one scene just long enough to defend Gloucester and get killed, but has been called one of Shakespeare's most noble characters, and even has [http://shakespeare.wikia.com/wiki/First_Servant_in_King_Lear a poem] written about him.

* Richard Henry Lee's biggest contribution to American independence was proposing it to the continental congress, before he had to leave. This means the character based on him in ''[[1776]]'' had a small role. Nonetheless, his character and song "The Lees of Old Virginia" were memorable enough to win a Tony for actor Ron Holgate.

* 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 scene -- which takes place the "morning after" their tryst -- the debutante casually tells him "you have a nice weenie." When she sees he's uncomfortable with that particular pet name for a penis, she launches into a COMPLETELY HYSTERICAL monologue which distills the entire history of Western Civilization down into a dick-measuring contest, and then she walks offstage and is never seen again.

* 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.

* In ''[[Mass Effect]]'', Peter Jessup voices [[Killer Robot|Sovereign]] for ''one'' scene, yet manages to freak out the entire fan community with a single, all-encompassing [[Badass Boast]] on behalf of the [[Eldritch Abomination|Reapers]];

** Two scenes.

*** In one the second scene he fights off the Coucil and Alliance fleets, and nearly annihilates both of them before finally being destroyed himself showing just how powerful one Reaper is. It wasn't even trying to fight back until the end.

** ''[[Mass Effect]]'' is packed with these, many of them turians. There's Lii, the mechanic on Noveria with the awesome Jersey accent, the drunken and bombastic General Septimus, and the smooth and cultured office politician Lorik Q'uinn.

** ''Mass Effect 2'' gives the other council races time to shine. Matriarch Aethyta for example only affects one short sidequest and the conversation options with her never change. But as those conversation options show, she's seen it all in her thousand year life, and she's has no qualms about sharing it. The [[Cool Old Lady|cool old ladies]] don't get much cooler, or older.

*** [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Niftu Cal]]. "I am a biotic god! I think things and they happen! Fear me, lesser creatures, for I am biotics made flesh!"

*** One of them ''doesn't even get screentime''. He's only in two commericals on Illium:

'''Blasto:''' This one has no time for your solid waste excretions. }}

** A slightly more traditional example from [[Mass Effect 2]] is [[Adam Baldwin]]'s brief appearance as [[Memetic Badass|Kal'Reegar]], a quarian ''commando'' with a ''rocket launcher''. Despite only appearing in two places, he's gained a huge fan following. (and spawned a lot of Kal/Tali shippers...)

** [[Large Ham]] or not, the ex-Death Knight, Thassarian, easily steals the spotlight of any questline in which he is involved.

** Grand Apothecary Putress. He sends low-level players out on some really shady quests and then you don't hear from him for 40 levels. At level 75, though, he re-emerges at Wrathgate - crashing a war between Horde/Alliance and the Scourge - [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|with a fucking vengeance.]]

** And then did that sterling dead man own seventy shades of bejeezus out of the Horde, the Alliance ''and'' the Scourge - ''Including Bolvar [[Fan Nickname|'Dragon Puncher']] Fordragon, Saurfang Jr. and the eponymous Lich King, fucking Arthas himself.'' Many players - particularly Undead players - would have sworn allegiance to that man on the spot.

* Although technically a One Level Wonder, [[Badass Preacher|Father Grigori]] in ''[[Half Life]] 2'', who like most examples achieves this with his first line. "You have already met my, hehe, 'congregation'."

** An even better example from the same game would be [[Shrine Maiden|Himi]], who is ''barely'' a player character-- she [[Eleventh-Hour Ranger|joins the party at the last possible second]] and as a result has ''[[Flat Character|literally NO character development whatsoever]]'' (even by Golden Sun's notoriously low standards), but easily rivals [[Estrogen Brigade Bait|Amiti]] and [[Badass Adorable|Sveta]] in sheer popularity with the fandom.

* In [[The Legend of Zelda CDI Games]] several minor characters are immensely popular like Morshu who only has two scenes.

* 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]].

** Frank Grimes was only in one episode too -- he died. He's mentioned in many others, with a [[Running Gag]] where Homer forgets that he's dead, and his son (Frank Grimes, Jr.) is a villain in another episode.

** The shotgun wielding nurse in the Flying Hellfish episode;

* 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.

** "That Guy" (The 80s Guy) only appears in the episode "Future Stock", but is still revered for his 80s style.

'''That Guy:''' Gutsy question. You're a shark. Sharks are winners, and they don't look back because they have no necks. Necks are for sheep. }}

* The Greedy, a sentient giant lake of taffy and candies who keeps eating himself, in ''[[Raggedy Ann and Andy A Musical Adventure]]''.

** They also made their appearance in the 1987 series episode, "Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter".

* The old ''[[The Tick]]'' 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.

** TEMBWBAT got a later one-scene appearance trying to get into the villain awards but being rejected by the bouncer.

* After Remy Buxaplenty's lone appearance on ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'' ("Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary") many fans clamored for another appearance from him and his fairy, and the clamors grew especially after a Halloween episode which had an appearance by Remy's father (but not Remy himself). He eventually got a couple more episodes a few seasons later.

* 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.