History Main / OneSceneWonder

* [[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] started out as one of these in ''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, [[HannibalLecture taunt the hero]], and talk on the telephone, and yet... and yet... (In fact, he only has eighteen minutes of screen time in ''Film/SilenceOfTheLambs'', less than ''any'' other character that an actor has won an Oscar for portraying in a movie.)

* In ''Film/{{Network}}'', NedBeatty 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.

* ClaudeRains as the slightly creepy, elderly millionaire Frederick Lannington in the 1950 film noir thriller ''WhereDangerLives''. He can't be on screen for any more than five or ten minutes, but you'll remember him. He receives top billing alongside Robert Mitchum and Faith Domergue.

** Daphne Greengrass. Female Slytherin mentioned once. Pop on FF.NEt

* Iain Glen as Uncle Ralph in ''Film/{{Kick-Ass2}}''.

** Any time [[FanNickname the Gaang]] (a.k.a [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender the original Team Avatar]])show up in flashbacks, or whenever we see an elderly Katara. There's also [[spoiler: adult Aang's appearance as a spirit]] in the first season finale.

* His appearance in ''Film/LAStory'' as a British gravedigger, an homage to ''Hamlet''.

** Similarly, Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, a troupe pulled from the dance floors of Harlem, would show up in movies like ''Film/{{Hellzapoppin}}'' or ''Film/ADayAtTheRaces'', go through some jaw-dropping gravity-defying moves, and exit.

* The CPR Kid/Wallet Guy from ''Film/BackToTheFuture 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 [[CPRCleanPrettyReliable 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.]]

** Parodied by ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', which has Sir PatrickStewart turn up as King Richard to similarly steal the show.

* ''Film/TrueRomance'' is filled with Wonders (though a few manage to split their appearances in two scenes), including Gary Oldman as the menacing pimp, Christopher Walken as the formidable gangster, Dennis Hopper as the sacrificial father, Brad Pitt as the clueless stoner, James Gandolfini as a hitman who suffers a RasputinianDeath, SaulRubinek as a coked-out movie producer, and Val Kilmer as the ghost of Elvis.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' has given us [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPlAagCXYeI a fish who only appears for not even ten seconds and spawns a meme.]]
*** Isn't that guy just making a face like the one from "The Scream"?

->''"ItsAllAboutMe, it's all about me,''
->''It doesn't matter where I'm listed on Website/{{IMDb}}''
->''And if I had the screentime I deserved, you'd see--''
->''It's all about me!"''

* ''Film/ThePrincessBride'' Billy Crystal and Carol Kane as Miracle Max and his wife Valerie, a bickering old couple. There's also Peter Cook's role as the aptly titled Impressive Clergyman with the ridiculous speech impediment.

* ''Film/PulpFiction'': ''HarveyKeitel'' has a small amount of screen-time, but a particularly memorable speech (the "'Please' would be nice" rant).

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

** Also, Creator/MalcolmMcDowell's performance as President Eden is brief but brilliant, and it wouldn't be ''Fallout'' without RonPerlman's intro: "War. War never changes."

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has the {{meme}}-inspiring [[StepThreeProfit underpants gnomes]] and the sexual harassment panda.

* ''Film/PacificRim'': Onibaba is rather popular even though it only appears once and its fight is off-screen, mostly remembered for its non-alien/dinosaur design.

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=467pmIX-oZo Marauder Shields]] in 'Mass Effect 3''. He's just a normal Marauder who pops up at the very end of the game, tries to shoot you, and dies. He has no lines, but has attained ridiculous popularity in the fandom for his "HeroicSacrifice" in trying to stop Shepard from reaching [[GainaxEnding the ending]].

* Lord Raptor in the ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' OVA, his depiction is often considered to be incredibly awesome (and is also one of ScottMcNeil's coolest performances). Only problem? He was only in the 1st episode for about 10 minutes...

* ''SonsOfAnarchy'' had this in episode 2x12: despite featuring major advancement on most of the season's main storylines and one character's CrowningMomentOfAwesome, most of the online chatter about the episode centered around former ''TheShield'' 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.

** ''Series/TheDailyShow'' had a recent CrowningMomentOfAwesome involving [[http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-november-19-2009/gaywatch---peter-vadala---william-phillips Mick Foley]] defending a kid who supports gay rights.

** Creator/ChristopherEccleston's memorable turn as Claude Rains began as an EnsembleDarkHorse, but since he hasn't returned and was only in 5-ish out of nearly 60 episodes, he has evolved into a much-loved OneSceneWonder.

* Occasionally on ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'', a girl named Daria sees the titular duo in the middle of something stupid. [[DullSurprise She barely reacts]] to the UnusuallyUninterestingSight, [[DeadpanSnarker makes a snide remark]] about [[TooDumbToLive the boys' stupidity]], then disappears for pretty much the rest of the episode. As hilarious as Beavis and Butthead can be, [[WesternAnimation/{{Daria}} I can definitely see how this character would end up getting her own series.]]

** He has a single scene in ''PulpFiction'' in which he tells an inappropriately graphic story to young Butch about the [[AssShove journey of his father's watch.]]

* Al Pacino in ''{{Gigli}}''.

** Parodied by ''RobinHoodMenInTights'', which has Sir PatrickStewart turn up as King Richard to similarly steal the show.

* Alec Baldwin is in ''GlengarryGlenRoss'' for exactly one scene, in which he delivers a monologue that establishes the atmosphere of menace that overhangs the rest of the film. It's one of the more famous monologues of cinema. Interestingly, the character and his speech were created exclusively for the film, [[ExecutiveMeddling due to studio executives]] feeling that the original play lacked the necessary exposition needed to establish the premise.

* His appearance in ''LAStory'' as a British gravedigger, an homage to ''Hamlet''.

** Pontius Pilate in ''TheLastTemptationOfChrist''
** Heavily {{lampshaded}} in ''{{Zoolander}}'', where they give his brief appearance as the Walk-Off judge a ludicrous amount of fanfare -- to the point of plastering his name on the screen and starting up the song, "Let's Dance."

* ''FourWeddingsAndAFuneral'' has Rowan Atkinson in a minor role as Gerald, the priest who keeps screwing up his lines in Wedding Number Two. He gets the names of both parties wrong, mentions the Holy Goat and the Holy Spigot, and utters the classic line "awful wedded wife". He gets [[AndStarring the coveted ''and'']].

* John Hurt as Jellon Lamb, the BountyHunter who believes in neither God nor evolution, but ''is'' a big racist, in ''TheProposition''. Only in two scenes, but completely owns both of them, and is billed as one of the film's stars. In the Making Of featurette on the DVD, he mentions that many of the other actors had originally wanted his role, even though it would mean less screen time than some of them actually got.
* William Hurt, in ''AHistoryOfViolence'', has a single scene as Joey Cusack's brother. It's about five to ten minutes long. He was nominated for an Oscar.

** His role as Mr. Perdue in ''LAStory.''. "You think with a financial statement like this you can have the ''duck''?"

* 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 ''LawrenceOfArabia'') and Omar Sharif (''DrZhivago'') 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 as Jacob Marley in the musical ''Scrooge'' that he earned [[AdaptationExpansion an additional scene]] that appears in longer versions of the film.

** Similarly, Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, a troupe pulled from the dance floors of Harlem, would show up in movies like ''Hellzapoppin'' or ''ADayAtTheRaces'', go through some jaw-dropping gravity-defying moves, and exit.

** The episode "Hurricane Fluttershy" gave fans quite a couple OneSceneWonder pegasi: A pair of grayish [[WhiteHairedPrettyGirl white maned]] pegasi with unique hairstyles named Flitter and Cloudchaser (the latter of which can also be seen in a season 3 trailer), a darkened stallion named Thunderlane, a white-coated pegasus with a green and pink mane named Blossomforth, and a beefed up muscular pony who notably screams '''YEAH!''' a handful of times in the episode. Each appears only briefly and have a handful of lines at most, but true to form they've each developed some pretty big fan followings.