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The Cameo

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"What are you doing here?" "A very brief cameo." "...me too."

"Thank you for the obligatory cameo."
— Board James, Kickassia

A one-off appearance by someone, such as a character or a real person, who otherwise isn't part of the work. Such appearances may include references to another work; in the case of a character, it could be the work they came from, and in the case of a real person, it could be another work they worked on.

The term originated with producer Mike Todd, when he was describing the literally hundreds of Hollywood and foreign movie stars who made brief appearances in the original 1956 film version of ''Around The World In 80 Days.''

May be a One-Scene Wonder and/or a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment. See also Special Guest, Stunt Casting, and Tuckerization. Contrast Crossover and Transplant, for when the appearance is a major part of the work instead of a one-off thing.

Sub-tropes:

  • Cameo Cluster: A segment or episode of a work with a high number of cameos.
  • Celebrity Cameo: A cameo from a celebrity who otherwise isn't part of the work.
  • Company Cameo: Rather than a single person, the reference is to a company that had a hand in getting the work to you.
  • Continuity Cameo: A character from a previous installment or incarnation of a work of fiction appears in the later part of the work or franchise as a Mythology Gag or Continuity Nod.
  • Creator Cameo: A character in a work of fiction is played by or represents the person who created the work of fiction or one of the people involved in making it.
  • Crossover Cameo: A cameo by a character from an otherwise unrelated work or franchise.
  • Death by Cameo: The character's cameo appearance involves them getting killed or being seen as a corpse.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: A character makes an appearance before being properly introduced later in the work/series or before being given their own series.
  • Insert Cameo: A creator using their own body part for a close-up shot.
  • Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: A copyrighted character makes an appearance that follows copyright laws enough to avoid a lawsuit, yet dancing around enough of those laws that savvy viewers will recognize who the character is intended to be.
  • Muppet Cameo: A work features a cameo by one of The Muppets.
  • Newscaster Cameo: A work features a cameo by a real-life newscaster.
  • Previous Player-Character Cameo: A sequel work features a cameo of a Player Character from a previous installment.
  • Real-Person Cameo: A work with a character based on a real person has a cameo by that person.
  • Remake Cameo: A remake or a Continuity Reboot features a cameo by an actor who had a role in the original version.
  • Sir Cameos-a-Lot: A character appears in more cameos than otherwise.
  • Voice-Only Cameo: A person cameos through a character that is only heard on screen and not seen.

Examples:

Examples by creator:
    open/close all folders 

    Alternate Reality Games 
  • Omega Mart: Country musician Willie Nelson makes a guest appearance in a couple of web ads. While his inclusion is meant to be a commentary on how untrustworthy deepfakes are, Meow Wolf was still able to get him to record original lines for the adverts.

    Anime & Manga 

    Audio Plays 

    Card Games 

    Comic Books 

    Comic Strips 

    Fan Works 
Animorphs
  • Dæmorphing: Elizabeth from Sporadic Phantoms appears in chapter 2 of The Presence of Justice. Just like in her source material, she's a voluntary Controller who even other voluntaries find weird and off-putting.

Crossover

The DCU

  • The Darker Knight is made of this trope, cameo characters often appearing out of nowhere and doing absolutely nothing to advance the plot.

Creator/Disney & Disney Animated Canon

Godzilla / King Kong / MonsterVerse

Kingdom Hearts

The Legend of Zelda

Mega Man

Miraculous Ladybug

  • In A Small but Stubborn Fire,
    • Master Wang Fu makes an appearance in a Flashback greeting a pregnant Sabine while Tom and Gina are moving furniture into their new home.
    • The racist ticket inspector shows up on the route that Sabine and Marinette take for their spar day and his presence makes Marinette uncomfortable. Sabine is sure to stare the man down to make it clear not to mess with them.

Naruto

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Ouran High School Host Club

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

  • In book 2 of the Broken Bow series, Christopher Walken makes an appearance after Lya kidnaps him in order to give him as a present to Armani.

Professor Layton

Project Arrhythmia

  • The Black Heart custom level series has cameos from King Crazy and Irqus, two characters from custom levels outside of it and by different creators. King Crazy shows up at the beginning of a level his creator helped with, and Irqus appears petrified alongside Jestar Heart's assassins.
  • The Peer Gyntening has Ophelia from the Heartstrings custom level series show up in the level geer pint, which was made by its creator. Doubles as a Mythology Gag as she dies in a similar manner to her original death in Heartstrings.

RWBY

  • Roman appears in for a single in Ruby and Nora to reveal that he’s dead.

Star Trek

Super Mario Bros.

Total Drama

  • Total Drama All-Stars Rewrite:
    • Ron the Rent-a-Cop from 6teen appears in My Big Fat Total Drama All-Stars Wedding in a flashback. Turns out he was the security guard who banned Ella from the mall.
    • While she doesn't participate in the competition, Izzy pops up pretty regularly throughout the season. Geoff and Bridgette explain on the Aftermath that after her cameo on Revenge of the Island, she chose to stay on Camp Wawanakwa and has made herself at home.
    • While he spends most of the season at the Aftermath studio, Harold does make two cameos during the competition. First on a TV screen placed by Chris specifically to annoy Duncan in "Singin' in the Pain", and then with Leshawna in "Zeke and Ye Shall Find" to pick up the feral Ezekiel and take him to the Aftermath studio.
    • Celebrity Manhunt co-host Josh appears in the original episode "Singin' in the Pain" as a guest judge for the music competition.
    • Eva is brought out of the Aftermath studio to participate in "Suckers Punched" as Noah's opponent in the challenge.

Undertale

Xenoblade Chronicles

  • Where We Don't Belong: Mio dreams of her sister Glimmer just long enough to note the resemblance to Pyra, but there's no sign she'll show up for real.

Young Justice (2010)

  • In Risk It All, Renee Montoya, the future Question, and Harvey Bullock, a long-time critic and ally of Batman's, show up at the hospital to question Ren about the assassin that came after him.

Unsorted

    Films — Animation 
  • All Pixar movies have cameos of characters and items from other Pixar movies, including ones whose movies have yet to be released.
    • All Pixar films also have a role with John Ratzenberger. While usually a credited supporting character, he has occasionally performed as an extra that is essentially just a cameo, such as the Underminer in The Incredibles and as a construction worker in Up.
    • In Toy Story 3, one of Bonnie's toys is a plush Totoro. Also, one of the students in the Butterfly Room at Sunnyside Daycare is a little girl resembling Boo from Monsters, Inc., who for some reason likes to play with a blue stuffed kitten to which she says, "Boo!"
    • There's a particularly awesome one in The Incredibles for anyone who is into animation history. Those two old men who praise the heroes after the climax ("That's the way to do it" - "No school like the old school") are Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston...Not ringing a bell? They were the last surviving two of Disney's Nine Old Men, legendary animators who had been in the business practically since the beginning. For example, they were both animators on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and were involved in practically every animated Disney project up to The Fox and the Hound. (Sadly, Thomas didn't live to see The Incredibles finished, and Johnston died in 2008.)
    • In Incredibles 2, Dash at one point watches Jonny Quest, while Usher, a self-proclaimed Frozone fan, plays the chauffeur who gushes over him.
  • Also in some of the Disney Animated Canon films. Remember that lion skin Hercules was wearing? That was actually Scar!
  • In The Book of Life, Manolo's operatic ancestor, Skeleton Jorge, was played by Real Life opera singer Placido Domingo.
    • Manny Rivera and Frida Suárez from another of Jorge R. Gutierrez's works, El Tigre, can be seen in a crowd scene towards the beginning of the film.
  • The main cast of Madagascar only shows up as a shadow behind a circus tent at the beginning of Penguins of Madagascar. Mort and King Julien show up during The Stinger, though.
  • The Sponge Bob Movie Sponge Out Of Water:
    • Supporting characters Mrs. Puff, Larry the Lobster, and Pearl make very brief appearances (Larry appearing at the Krusty Krab shot at the end, with Pearl appearing only during the end credits). One-shot characters like Bubble Bass and Flats the Flounder (who hasn't made an appearance since "The Bully") also show up at one point.
    • EpicLloyd and NicePeter from Epic Rap Battles of History show up as live-action surfers.
  • In Quest for Camelot, Tex Avery's Red Hot Riding Hood can be seen in the "If I Didn't Have You" musical number.
  • DC Animated Movie Universe:
    • Son of Batman sees the Joker and Two-Face among Arkham's inmates when Batman visits to see Killer Croc.
    • Justice League Dark: Apokolips War sees Toymaker, Giganta, Weather Wizard, Brick, and Zsasz among those watching Harley and Lois fight at the ruins of Stryker's Island.
  • In Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: Dunk for Future, the aliens from the Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf television show season The Intriguing Alien Guests are among the spectators at the goats' big baseball game with Team Tiger.
  • Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats: To get to the Vandergelt mansion, the gang hitches a ride on the back of a tourist bus that's showing people all the fancy houses and people of Beverly Hills. While passing through the neighborhood, Fred Flintstone, Wilma Flintstone, and Dino can be seen in one yard, and Barney and Betty Rubble are in the next yard over.
  • BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui features a montage summing up the entire Great Disk and Morbuzakh arc, with cameos of the Dweller in the Deep (the giant fish), the claw of the mutated Ussal crab and the Morbuzakh plant itself, none of which are named or explained. In the Matoran crowd at the end of the film, Hahli and Takua from the first movie make a short appearance alongside the more prominently shown Jaller.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • El Camino is set up immediately after Breaking Bad's series finale, so Walter White, Mike Ehrmantraut, Todd Alquist, and Jane Margolis are all dead at this point in the franchise. However, the film features flashbacks to the series' timeline displaying encounters with each of them we hadn't previously seen.
  • Souls for Sale, a 1923 silent film about an actress trying to make her way in Hollywood, has a bunch of cameos from actors and the directors of the day, including some directors on the sets of real movies. The heroine acts for Charlie Chaplin on the set of A Woman of Paris but can't get a part in Erich von Stroheim's Greed.
  • Eighties rock singer Huey Lewis, who sung the theme song "The Power of Love", shows up in the first Back to the Future movie as a prom band audition judge... to denounce his own song as being "just too darn loud".
  • Alfred Hitchcock movies are famous for this.
    • As a matter of fact, his habit of doing a cameo in each of his films became so well known that he began doing it as early in each film as possible so that the audience would focus on the plot and the actors instead of looking for him through the whole movie.
    • Slightly altered for Lifeboat. Since he obviously couldn't be actually present on the boat, his PICTURE is in the before/after pictures in the newspaper ad for "Reduco Obesity Slayer".
  • Several in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle:
    • Ryan Reynolds shows up as a nurse with a fetish for capable surgeons.
    • Christopher Meloni as tow-truck driver Freakshow.
    • Malin Ackerman as Freakshow's beautiful wife.
    • Anthony Anderson as the Burger Shack employee who... makes the special sauce extra special.
    • And of course, Neil Patrick Harris.
  • Judi Dench in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
  • Stephen King makes at least a token appearance in many of his movies. Some, by his own admission, are rather poorly played, while others maintain a sort of tongue-in-cheek level of amusement.
  • JFK by Oliver Stone is one of the best examples of this, regardless of what the viewer may think of the premise. Virtually every scene features a well-known actor making an unannounced appearance.
  • One of the first films to make use of The Cameo was the late silent era comedy Show People, a satire of Hollywood moviemaking, which featured cameos from film stars of the day, including huge stars such as Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin.
  • All of The Muppets movies were chock full of cameos. Listing them all would take the whole page, but a pair are in the picture above.note 
  • Stormy Weather has a plethora of famous entertainers of the 30s and 40s showing up: Cab Calloway, the Nicholas brothers, Fats Waller, and Ada Brown, just to name a few in a film that also stars Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Lena Horne.
  • A few cameos popped up in the original The Pink Panther film series, but the biggest one turns up at the end of Curse of the Pink Panther to write out Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau: Clouseau had Magic Plastic Surgery, and though he's as big a fool as ever, he now looks like/is played by Roger Moore!
  • The Thundering Herd sequence at the start of the Ranma ½ film Big Trouble In Nekonron, China and the crowd of guests for the Tendos' Christmas party in one of the OVAs are both liberally strewn with characters from throughout both the TV series and the manga.
  • Stan "The Man" Lee has so many he gets his own page!
  • Action and horror filmmaker Takashi Miike had a cameo in Eli Roth's action/horror film Hostel.
  • It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World has cameos from most of the comic actors of the time.
    • The Three Stooges appear for seconds as firefighters. And are hilarious. Without even doing anything.
  • Peter Jackson can be seen in in the opening scenes of Hot Fuzz as a knife-wielding Father Christmas.
    • Also, fellow Rings alumnus Cate Blanchett appears as Simon Pegg's ex-girlfriend... who is only seen with a mask covering her face.
    • Jackson also inserted himself into his LOTR films: in the first as a carrot munching drunk, in the second as a human at the Battle of Helm's Deep (above the entrance gate), and in the third as a pirate sailor. His kids also appear in three films.
    • Likewise, he inserts himself into The Hobbit films. In An Unexpected Journey, he's a dwarf fleeing Smaug in the prologue. In The Desolation of Smaug, he's a guy eating a carrot in Bree.
    • He also has a brief (but fairly noticeable) appearance in the film version of The Lovely Bones. He's making a home movie in the store that Jack goes to to get Susie's camera film developed.
    • Peter Jackson apparently loves to insert himself into his own movies for stretches of time lasting a few seconds: this habit of his goes back to Heavenly Creatures! (He's the homeless guy Juliet Hulme hugs as she and Pauline exit a movie theater towards the beginning of the film.)
    • He was the mortician's assistant in BrainDead.
    • And in one of the many homages in his remake of King Kong (2005), he's the pilot of the first biplane to be downed by Kong, just as the original's director piloted the only plane Kong destroyed in the original.
    • Also in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Stephen Colbert gets a cameo as one of the Master of Lake-Town's minions.
  • The children of the various directors of the Harry Potter films inevitably find themselves in Hogwarts crowd scenes. Chris Columbus's daughter Eleanor played Hannah Abbott (a non-speaking role) in the first two movies.
  • George Lucas' children also get a couple of cameos in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. And, in the third episode, so does George Lucas.
  • One crowd scene in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) features the original Marvin robot (from an earlier adaptation of the same series) as an extra. Another scene features Simon Jones, the actor who played Arthur Dent in the original radio drama and TV versions of the series, as a prerecorded Magrathean hologram. And the last image of the entire movie is Douglas Adams.
  • A more classical example is The Greatest Story Ever Told, which is packed with them, the nadir being John Wayne playing a Roman centurion: "Truly, this man wuz the son of gawd!" note 
  • Lou Ferrigno, who played the transformed Hulk in The Incredible Hulk (1977) had cameo appearances in Ang Lee's Hulk and Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk (2008). In both films, he played a security guard, while in the latter he also voiced the Hulk.
  • Spider-Man Trilogy:
    • In the first movie by Sam Raimi, several actors from the TV series he's produced get bit parts, including Lucy Lawless from Xena: Warrior Princess and Bruce Campbell from the Evil Dead series. He plays the ring announcer who introduces Peter as Spider-Man instead of "The Human Spider" as Peter originally wanted. The car that Uncle Ben was driving is also from Evil Dead.
    • Bruce Campbell returned in cameo roles for the next two films as well. In #2, he plays an usher at the theater who refuses to let Peter in because the doors have already been closed. Finally in #3, he is a French maître d' at a restaurant who gladly helps Peter with his plans to propose to Mary Jane (though it doesn't exactly work out).
    • In the licensed games based on the films, Bruce also serves as the Lemony Narrator who walks you through tutorials. Though he doesn't seem very interested in it; at one point, he leaves to grab a sandwich.
    • Raimi himself did a couple of cameos; as the outtakes from the second film point out, he plays the student whose backpack smacks Peter in the head during a Montage.
    • Macy Gray showed up as herself singing at the festival the Goblin attacked in the first movie, too.
    • Stan Lee. Stan Lee protects a little girl in the havoc created by the Green Goblin in the first film. In the second, he pulls a woman out of the way of falling debris while Spider-Man fights Doc Ock; "Look out!" is his only line. In the third, he has a much more substantial cameo as a man who talks to Peter on the street. "Y'know, I guess it's true what they say: one person really can make a difference. 'Nuff said."
    • Joel McHale showed up as the Bank Manager in Spider-Man 2, and made a whole sketch on his show about how the next movie was going to be about him.
  • The Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon went crazy with cameos, with the twist that some of them aren't by famous people but instead by those who had some connection to Andy's life. Some are actually depicted in the film by other actors.
    • Andy's granddaughter Brittany Colonna as Young Andy's little sister.
    • George Shapiro, Andy's agent, as the comedy club owner who fires Andy for having too odd an act. (Shapiro is played onscreen by Danny DeVito.)
    • Richard Belzer as an emcee for the first episode of Saturday Night Live. Belzer was a colleague of Kaufman's on the comedy club circuit, and partial inspiration for the latter's Tony Clifton persona.
    • Bob Zmuda, Andy's frequent co-conspirator, as Jack Burns, the producer of Fridays. (Paul Giamatti plays Zmuda.)
    • In that same sequence, Norm MacDonald and Caroline Rhea play Andy's co-stars in the sketch (substituting for Michael Richards and Melanie Chartoff, incidentally).
    • Lynne Marguiles, Andy's final girlfriend, appears as a mourner at the funeral. (Courtney Love plays her.)
    • Andy's father and siblings appear as extras.
    • Most of the cast of Taxi (aside from Tony Danza and Danny DeVito, the latter due to Celebrity Paradox), Andy's friend/collaborator Wendy Polland, Jerry Lawler, Lance Russell, Lorne Michaels, David Letterman, and Paul Shaffer appear as themselves.
      • Also, recognize the voice of that commentator during the scene where he first meets Jerry Lawler? It's Lawler's WWE commentary partner, Jim Ross.
  • "Hey Kids, it's Mark Hamill! [Applaud]."
    • Although the credits list it as just "???", Hamill has a sorta-cameo in the Wing Commander movie, as the voice of Merlin, the computer in human fighters.
    • An early episode of the show Space Cases had Bill Mumy and Mark Hamill in bad make-up using Liverpool accents.
  • Anthony Head makes a cameo in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This is part of a What Could Have Been, as Head was supposed to be one of the singing narrators before the sections were all cut.
  • Bruce Willis loves his cameos - Four Rooms, Loaded Weapon 1, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Nancy Drew (one of two Emma Roberts movies in which he turns up uncredited), Grand Champion (the other one), The Expendables and The Astronaut Farmer.
  • Annie Hall:
    • Alvy tears into a blowhard waiting in line to see The Sorrow and the Pity who claims to be an authority on Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan, telling a fed up Alvy that he teaches a course on McLuhan. Alvy's riposte? "Oh, do ya? Well, that's funny, because I happen to have Marshall McLuhan right here." Cue the actual Marshall McLuhan appearing from behind a pot plant to give the pretentious windbag a well-deserved dressing down.
    • As Alvy and Annie sit on a bench people-watching, Alvy says of one man, "Oh, there's the winner of the Truman Capote Look-Alike Contest!" The man is Capote himself.
    • Jeff Goldblum at Tony Lacey's Christmas party in Hollywood. "I forgot my mantra."
    • Sigourney Weaver has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo as Alvy's movie date in the final scene.
  • The Movie of Kamen Rider Kiva has cameos by several actors from its predecessor, Kamen Rider Den-O, most prominently the voice actors of the Taros. The film draws attention to said cameos by having three of the four utter their character's catchphrase; the fourth, who plays a teacher, finds his character's phrase written on the blackboard at the start of class.
  • In The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Heidi Klum appears as Ursula Andress in the scene regarding Casino Royale (1967).
  • The end of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein has The Voice of Vincent Price as The Invisible Man.
  • Fabio has a cameo in Dude, Where's My Car?. Kristy Swanson also has a role that, while not technically a cameo (she's fifth-billed in a cast of 56 actors credited), is little more than a fleshed-out Fanservice Extra.
  • Fabio was also in Zoolander receiving a slashie. The film was also filled with cameos (being about fashion/celebrity life). The best of which has to be David Bowie, who shows up to judge the "walk-off".
  • At the end of the TV-movie adaption of Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett appears as a Krullian.
    Krullian: So...does that mean the star turtle's female, then?
    Terry: Well, in my opinion...it's all a question of perspective.
    • And at the end of the other TV-movie adaption (Hogfather), as the owner of the toyshop that Death visits.
    • And at the end of the TV-movie adaptation of "Going Postal" he has a brief appearance as a postman.
  • John Landis likes putting other movie directors in various cameo roles in his movies. He did it to Steven Spielberg (uncredited as a tax clerk in The Blues Brothers) and Frank Oz (in several movies, usually as an authority figure), while Spies Like Us is full of such cameo roles (Sam Raimi, Costa-Gavras, the Coen brothers, Terry Gilliam, ...).
  • The Greatest Show on Earth, a melodrama bordering on the World of Ham, features an uncharacteristically funny pair of cameos. Dorothy Lamour is cast as a circus performer who sings about the South Seas in her act, during which Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are shown in the audience, presumably as a Shout-Out to all of the "Road" pictures the three of them starred in.
    • Crosby put cameos in several of Hope's starring vehicles; one of the more memorable is My Favorite Brunette, where he's a prison guard who is disgusted that Hope's execution via electric chair has been called off.
    • There's a "gotcha!" moment early in My Favorite Brunette, where you're carefully set up to expect Crosby as the "cool private eye" whose office is across the hall from Hope's photography studio. But when he turns around, it isn't Crosby, it's Alan Ladd.
    • Another classic example occurs at the end of The Princess and the Pirate, where Crosby turns up as the commoner who the eponymous heroine is really in love with. This of course provokes a sarcastic fourth-wall breaking rant from Hope.
  • Louis Armstrong in Hello, Dolly!! Also in High Society.
  • The Airplane! movies had quite a few.
  • In Apollo 13 the B-movie director Roger Corman has a brief cameo as an budget-minded American senator being shown round the Apollo assembly building.
    • Corman actually gets many small roles from directors who got their starts under him, such as the one from Apollo 13, Ron Howard. He shows up as a senator in The Godfather Part II, an FBI director in The Silence of the Lambs (where he's even listed in the opening credits!), and two by Joe Dante: in The Howling (along with Forrest J. Ackerman) he's a phone booth user who just has to check the coin return when he's done, and in Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Corman is directing a Batman movie.
  • Tom Petty appears in the 1997 film The Postman, as the mayor of Bridge City.
  • The Wayne's World movies are pretty thick with cameos. The second movie even lampshaded the Charlton Heston cameo, having him replace another actor at Wayne's request.
  • The end of Malcolm X features a cameo by Nelson Mandela as a teacher. There are several smaller cameos: Bobby Seale (one of the founders of the Black Panthers) and Al Sharpton play street preachers, Chicago Seven lawyer William Kunstler appears as a judge, and Ossie Davis narrating a eulogy for Malcolm X over one scene (the same one he gave at the real Malcolm X's funeral, in fact)...
  • Jon Hamm at the end of The A-Team. It came completely out of left field.
  • Political figures John McCain and James Carville have cameos in Wedding Crashers.
  • Superman Returns, in addition to featuring several Remake Cameos from cast members of previous Superman films and TV shows, has Richard Branson cameo as a space shuttle pilot.
  • In Sunset Boulevard, the other silent film stars Norma Desmond plays bridge with are Anna Q. Nilsson, Buster Keaton and H. B. Warner. The big party scene shows Paramount songwriters Jay Livingston and Ray Evans at the piano playing their hit "Buttons and Bows." Cecil B. DeMille appears As Himself directing the film Norma thinks is going to star her. At the end, gossip columnist Hedda Hopper briefly appears as herself.
  • Tapeheads was rife with musician cameos, the biggest names being "Weird Al" Yankovic as himself, Ted Nugent as an unnamed rock star, and Jello Biafra as an FBI agent (who of course has the line "Remember what we did to Jello Biafra?")
  • Popular Mexican-American singer Selena did a background cameo in 1994's Don Juan DeMarco, performing in a hotel lounge. Tragically, this was her first and last movie cameo; she was murdered by a deranged fan in 1995 (which could qualify as Harsher in Hindsight, since the movie deals with mental illness.)
  • Though he technically didn't appear in Serenity Joss Whedon did cameo in the R.Tam Sessions, a short film that served as promotional material that depicted River Tam at the Academy undergoing interviews by a faceless "counselor" played by Whedon. She eventually stabs him in the throat, leading to some jokes that River finally got revenge for all the other characters Joss has killed or tortured over the years.
  • In one scene of The King of Comedy, a group of punk rockers (credited as "street scum") start mocking Masha: among them are Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, and Paul Simonon of The Clash, as well as Ellen Foley.
  • Joan Rivers shows up at Odile's promotional party in The Smurfs.
  • Harvey Keitel and Penny Marshall take part in the film being made at the end of Get Shorty.
  • The original script for Gettysburg did not include the bit where General Hancock's aide tries to get Hancock to take cover. Historical advisor Ken Burns insisted that the exchange had to be included. The director told Ken to get over to wardrobe, and the part of "Hancock's Aide" was played by Ken Burns. Ted Turner, who backed said film, has a cameo as Col. Walter Patton, and gets shot and killed within minutes.
  • Chester Bennington from Linkin Park has small roles in the movies Crank, Crank: High Voltage, and Saw 3D.
  • Robert Shaye, founder and CEO of New Line Cinema, which distributed the original A Nightmare on Elm Street films, has made cameos in five of said eight films (one As Himself). He even made a brief appearance in an episode of Freddy's Nightmares.
  • Audrey Hepburn has an extended cameo in Steven Spielberg's film Always. She is credited as "special appearance by..." and it would become her last film role.
  • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Mr. Kyle, the Transporter Chief from TOS, is the Communications Officer on the Reliant - making him the only Red Shirt known to have survived the five-year mission. (He even got tossed aside by Khan in the transporter room in the original episode.)
  • G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: Brendan Fraser (of The Mummy Trilogy) plays Sgt. Stone in a brief scene involving a spar between Duke and Snake-Eyes.
  • In the first The Terminator, the infiltrator terminator in Kyle's flashback of the future is played by Franco Columbu, Schwarzenegger's bodybuilding partner and longtime friend.
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • Iron Man:
    • The Incredible Hulk (2008): Martial artist Rickson Gracie appears to teach Banner breathing exercises.
    • Iron Man 2:
      • Bill O'Reilly comments on Iron Man. Iron Man 3 has both him and Joan Rivers' Fashion Police commenting on the Iron Patriot.
      • DJ AM is performing at Tony's mansion while he has a drunk tirade.
      • Larry Ellison and Seth Green make blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameos when Tony is leaving the Stark Expo early on.
      • Elon Musk, pitching Tony on an idea for electric jetsnote .
      Stark: Elon, how's it going? Those Merlin engines are fantastic.
      Elon: Thank you. I've got an idea for an electric jet.
      Stark: You do?
      Elon: Yeah.
      Stark: Then we'll make it work.
    • Captain America: The Winter Soldier:
      • Senator Stern from Iron Man 2 shows up again, this time revealed as a member of Hydra. During his conversation with Agent Sitwell, he even compliments the pin on the latter's lapel, reminding us of something he's forced to do at the end of that film.
      • Peggy Carter shows up in three scenes, once in the present, once in stock footage, once as a portrait displayed in the first S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker.
      • We see pictures and stock footage of the Howling Commandos, Howard Stark, and General Phillips from the first film.
      • Arnim Zola and a picture of Red Skull (before and after he took the serum) appear in a scene.
      • Danny Pudi of Community fame plays a S.H.I.E.L.D. technician in a brief scene wherein he is held at gunpoint by Sam and Maria.
      • When Hydra begins Project Insight, one of the crosshairs their satellites focus on is Stark Tower.
      • Gary Sinise does the voiceover at Cap's Smithsonian exhibit.
      • Baron von Strucker, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver all appeared in The Stinger.
      • Joss Whedon has a cameo as a visitor at the Smithsonian.
      • Steven Culp appears as a government official interrogating Black Widow.
    • Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) has Lloyd Kaufman (mentor of the film's director, James Gunn) appear as an inmate in the Kyln.
    • In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Peggy Carter and Heimdall appear in Cap and Thor's "dreams" created by Scarlet Witch. There's also Julie Delpy as the head of the Black Widows in Natasha's "dream".
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Gregg Henry appears driving a minivan to escape Ego's assimilation wave.
  • Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime in Star Trek Into Darkness.
  • Men in Black II: Michael Jackson makes a brief cameo telling the agency, "I could be 'Agent M.'"
  • Always Sunset on Third Street 2 is a movie involving politics, the economy of Japan, and a normal Japanese family. With that in mind, would you really expect the movie to open up with, of all the possible ways it could, a cameo performance by Godzilla?
  • Mulholland Dr. has singer Rebekah del Rio appear as herself, performing at a mysterious nightclub.
  • Dave features brief appearances by numerous politicians, newscasters, and other public figures playing themselves.
  • X-Men Film Series
    • X-Men Origins: Wolverine:
      • A younger version of Cyclops, as one of the mutants targeted by Stryker. His power is copied and put into Weapon X. Ironically, it also ends up destroying most of Three Mile Island as well.
      • An uncredited and digitally rejuvenated Patrick Stewart as Professor X.
      • Several characters from the comic book can also be seen in the Weapon X scenes: Quicksilver, Banshee, and Toad, specifically. Others are harder to distinguish on sight.
    • X-Men: First Class:
      • Wolverine, and given that PG-13 movies have only one "fuck" to use, the writers definitely chose the perfect scene to take advantage of it.
      • Also Rebecca Romijn, the original Mystique, who briefly appears when Raven takes on a more mature appearance in order to try and seduce Magento.
      • A blink-and-you'll-miss-it case: one of the mutants shown during the first test run of Cerebro appears to be a very young Storm, and another looks like Cyclops.
    • The Wolverine: A repowered Magneto and a resurrected Professor X greet Logan—much to the latter's astonishment—during the post-credits scene.
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past:
      • Alex Summers can be seen as one of the mutants Mystique rescues from Saigon. A younger Toad is also featured there, even appearing in a later scene watching Magneto on TV to allude how he will join the Brotherhood.
      • The film ends with appearances from Anna Paquin as Rogue, James Marsden as Cyclops, Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, and Kelsey Grammer as the older version of Beast, all of whom were restored to life after the heroes stopped Mystique from killing Trask.
      • A young version of En Sabah Nur, aka Apocalypse, appears in The Stinger.
      • Ink gets three: one in the Bad Future as a concentration camp inmate, one in Vietnam as a soldier, and one near the end, watching Magneto's New Era Speech.
      • While Scarlet Witch as a Mutant is absent in the film in spite of her relationship with Quicksilver, a girl with red hair is later seen with him. Interestingly, she is only credited as "Peter's Little Sister," making her identity ambiguous (some think she's Peter's half-sister Polaris), though it definitely counts as a Mythology Gag. A deleted scene in the Re-Cut shows the little girl being told to "go bug your sister", which is probably Wanda.
    • X-Men: Apocalypse: Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, who appears (initially Brainwashed and Crazy) as a prisoner in Stryker's underground facility at Alkali Lake. He shows just long enough to massacre most of Stryker's troops (and have the mechanical apparatus strapped to him removed by Jean) before he escapes into the forest.
    • Deadpool 2:
      • Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), Peter Maximoff (Evan Peters), Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan) and Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) are briefly seen giving a lesson while Deadpool is at the X-Mansion and ranting about how he never sees any of the big name X-Men around. The door is quickly shut by Hank before Deadpool sees them.
      • After being set up to not be shown at all, the Vanisher becomes visible for his dying moments… and it's Brad Pitt.
  • In Last Vegas, Redfoo and 50 Cent cameo As Themselves.
  • The Scribbler: Sasha Grey shows up briefly as a bunny-eared mental patient.
  • Annie (2014):
  • Matt Lucas as the London cabbie in Paddington (2014).
  • Big Sean, Don Lemon, and (briefly) Janelle Monáe in Beyond the Lights.
  • Maps to the Stars has two: Carrie Fisher (As Herself), and screenwriter Bruce Wagner as a limo driver.
  • Predator: Bodybuilder Sven-Ole Thorsen appears as a Russian officer.
    • The helicopter pilot who rescues Anna and Dutch is Kevin Peter Hall, who plays the Predator.
  • Happy Madison Productions films always find a way to get cameos for Adam Sandler's friends. Or celebrities, with Anger Management getting many baseball players, tennis player John McEnroe (whose appearance in temperament therapy is certainly Adam Westing for his hot-headed reputation) and former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani.
  • In Pixels:
    • Serena Williams shows up briefly on a party, and then in the White House, as herself.
    • Martha Stewart is seen in the White House, also as herself.
    • While Pac-Man's creator Toru Iwatani is played by another actor, the man himself appears briefly as a mechanic.
    • Dan Aykroyd shows up as an MC for 1982 World Arcade Games Championships.
  • The Kid & I includes cameos from Shaquille O'Neal, Whoopi Goldberg, Pat O'Brien, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
  • See if you can spot the real life Margaret Keane in Big Eyes. Hint, she's an old lady sitting on a park bench.
  • Paper Towns:
    • Ansel Elgort appears as the gas station clerk.
    • John Green as the voice of Jase's father.
  • In the movie within the movie in Mr. Holmes, Nicholas Rowe can be seen playing Sherlock Holmes. He played the title role in Young Sherlock Holmes.
  • In Warcraft (2016), a Dread Lord makes a cameo as Medivh's demonic form.
  • Jurassic World has the guy who tries to save his margaritas during the Terror-dactyl attack: none other than Mr. Margaritaville himself, Jimmy Buffett.
  • Stroker Ace, due to being a movie following a NASCAR driver, features a number of actual stockcar drivers and commentators in the background. The most prominent of the drivers is Harry Gant, who is the unfortunate victim of Aubrey James' one-sided rivalry with Stroker twice.
  • Vampirella: John Landis appears as an astronaut.
  • Les Misérables (2012): Colm Wilkinson, who originated the role of Jean Valjean on the West End and Broadway, plays the Bishop in the prologue.
  • MMA fighters Max Holloway, Oleg Taktarov, and Michael Bisping all have bit parts in Den of Thieves.
  • Several of note in The Ten Commandments (1956), but one of particular note is film bad guy Ian Keith who appears at the very beginning as Pharoah Rameses I, whose decree to kill all Hebrew male babies (in order to prevent the one from growing up to deliver his people from bondage) starts off the film.
  • Teen Idol Adam Faith (implicitly playing himself) appears at the very end of What a Carve Up! as Linda's boyfriend.
  • Mario Van Peebles makes a cameo in Gang of Roses as his character Jesse Lee from Posse.
  • In Boar, Steve Bisley appears as a character called Bob, who is on screen for about 12 seconds.
  • The Loved One has a whole string of them, including Ed McMahon, James Coburn, Roddy McDowall and, very memorably, Liberace.
  • In Killer Diller (2004), blues musician Taj Mahal appears briefly as Wesley's dead mentor.
  • American actor and comedian Joe E. Brown makes his last film appearance in The Comedy of Terrors as the Cemetery Groundskeeper.
  • Jennifer's Body: Lance Henriksen plays the man who picks Needy up in his car near the end.
  • In Sheitan, Monica Bellucci appears briefly as a vampire in the Film Within a Film the pumpman is watching at the garage.
  • Adrianne Curry appears As Herself in "The Night Billy Raised Hell" segment in Tales of Halloween, with Billy and Mr. Abaddon stealing her car.
  • As discovered by The Cinema Snob, Colonel Sanders appears in a few movies such as Hell's Bloody Devils and Blast-Off Girls to give Product Placement for Kentucky Fried Chicken.
  • Blazing Saddles: Jazz musician Count Basie shows up leading the orchestra in the desert.
  • Zombi 2: Diver and shark trainer Ramon Bravo shows up as a zombie fighting a shark.
  • Godzilla:
    • Godzilla (1954): Stuntman Haruo Nakajima appears as a reporter in a newspaper office.
    • Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019): Quite a lot.
      • The head of Femuto, a member of the antagonistic kaiju species of the previous film, is being held at Castle Bravo, Monarch's Godzilla monitoring station. A very much alive grey female with more exaggerated head crests (somewhere between the black female and the Muto Prime) is one of the Titans awoken by Ghidorah and later bows to Godzilla once he is recognized as the Alpha.
      • Word of God confirms that what looks in the finished film like normal-sized birds flying amid the freshly-blasted ruins of Boston at the film's end are actually the Leafwings from Kong: Skull Island.
      • Kong also makes a cameo in video footage.
      • Director Mike Dougherty confirmed via Twitter, that the remains of an Anguirus were inside the temple that housed Godzilla, teasing a future appearance.
    • Godzilla vs. Kong: An adaptational one for Alan Jonah from King of the Monsters. He's entirely absent from the 'film with no explanation given of how Ghidorah's skull made its way from his possession to Apex Cybernetics, but in the novelization; a prologue scene set two years before the main time frame depicts a man who's heavily implied to be Jonah meeting with Walter Simmons after having contacted him on the dark web, offering Simmons the skull of San/Kevin's severed head plus a second Ghidorah skull of unknown origin in exchange for a lot of money.
  • The Departed: Massachusetts State Police Major Thomas B. Duffy, most well-known for being involved in the Whitey Bulgar case, appears as a the Governor of Massachusetts, swearing in a group of police academy graduates.
  • Bride of the Monster: William Benedict, of child actor group the Bowery Boys, appears as a newspaper seller.
  • Kingsman: The Secret Service: Bremont Watch Company founder Nick English appears as a Kingsman agent.
  • Darkman:
  • I'm Gonna Git You Sucka:
    • Fishbone standing near a door Flyguy comes out of.
    • Rap group Boogie Down Productions appear in a fourth-wall-breaking cameo playing Jack Spade's theme music.
  • Pulp Fiction: Steve Buscemi appears as a waiter dressed as Buddy Holly.
  • Monty Python's Life of Brian: The Pythons ran into Spike Milligan (who had been visiting some of the places he had fought with the British Army in WWII) and gave him a brief role as a prophet.
  • The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Photographer Koo Stark appears as a bridesmaid.
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark:
    • Special effects artist Dennis Muren is a Nazi reading an issue of Life magazine.
    • Frank Welker voices the monkeys in the opening scene.
  • Nineteen Eighty-Four: Eurythmics frontwoman Annie Lennox appears in the 1984 adaptation as a woman at a rally.
  • Misery: J. T. Walsh appears as the Colorado Police Chief in the film.
  • Mars Attacks!: Cliff Curtis appears as a resident of Easter Island.
  • Escape from New York: Gerald Ford's son Steven appears as a Secret Service agent.
  • The Adventures of Robin Hood: Character actor Sam Jaffe appears as a serf.
  • Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe: James Belushi (as Principal Rick Latimer) makes a quick appearancenote .
  • Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Actress Connie Booth, John Cleese's wife, appears as the woman accused of witchcraft.
  • Spotlight: Richard Jenkins is the voice of a priest-turned-psychiatrist.
  • Collateral Damage: Arnold's buddy Sven-Ole Thorsen appears briefly as a man smoking a cigarette right before the fateful explosion happens.
  • Demolition Man: Actor Dan Cortese appears as both a pianist in Taco Bell and a cryo-prison guard.
  • Idiocracy: Sara Rue appears as the Attorney General of the United States.
  • BrainDead: Science fiction magazine editor Forrest J. Ackerman appears as a tourist at the zoo.
  • Kindergarten Cop: Angela Bassett appears as a stewardess.
  • Idle Hands: Dexter Holland, lead singer of The Offspring, as the singer of the band at the dance. Tom Delonge of blink-182 and Angels & Airwaves fame was a drive-thru employee.
  • Scary Movie: James Van Der Beek appears, apparently in-character as Dawson Leery, climbing into Cindy's window before realizing he's in the wrong house.
  • Leprechaun: Special effects artist Gabriel Bartalos appears as a diner patron.
  • Winter Kills: Elizabeth Taylor appears in flashback as a Washington D.C. madam implicated in President Kegan's assassination. The role in question is completely silent, with her only line being a silently-mouthed declaration of "piece of shit".
  • Spawn (1997): The policemen arresting Wynn are supporting characters Sam and Twitch, who got their own spinoff book. In the party scene, eagle-eyed viewers can also spot Angela (in her iconic green dress and spawn earrings) as one of the party guests.
  • Batman Begins:
    • Tim Booth from James has a small non-speaking role as lesser known Batman villain, Victor Zsaz.
    • Character actor John Nolan, the director's uncle, appears at Bruce Wayne's birthday party.
    • Actress Lucy Russell appears as a guest as a restaurant.
    • Actor Jeremy Theobald appears as a water board technician.
  • Wolfen: Tom Waits appears as a bar owner.
  • Total Recall (1990): Kenny Rogers bandmate Mickey Jones appears as a train passenger.
  • Constantine:
    • Bounty hunter Domino Harvey appears as an angel at Papa Midnight's bar.
    • Michelle Monaghan appears in a hospital, screaming "Holy water!"
  • End of Days: Bodybuilder Sven-Ole Thorsen appears as a thug breaking into Jericho's apartment.
  • The Demolitionist: Bruce Campbell appears as a gang member.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Actress Ricki Lake appears as a waitress.
  • In Blood Drips Heavily on Newsies Square, other Newsies cast members like Christian Bale and Bill Pullman make short appearances, as does Lucy Boryer, who was appearing on Doogie Howser, M.D. alongside Max.
  • Elvira, Mistress of the Dark: Pee-wee's Playhouse alumnus John Paragon appears as a gas station attendant.
  • From Dusk Till Dawn:
    • John Saxon as a cop interviewed on a TV.
    • Special effects artist Greg Nicotero appears as a patron getting his beer stolen by Sex Machine.
  • Dark Shadows:
  • Metal Lords has during a scene where protagonist is about to do something questionable, who appears as The Conscience? Rob Halford, Tom Morello, Scott Ian, and Kirk Hammett.
  • Porn star Ron Jeremy has brief cameo as Glen the hobo in Death Factory.
  • Crackerjack:
    • Tony Martin, Mick Molloy's partner on the Martin/Molloy radio show, plays the announcer at the finals of the bowls tournament.
    • Pete Smith, veteran TV announcer and the announcer on Martin/Molloy, appears as the pedestrian who tells Jack to "Fuck off!" when he tries to sell him a raffle ticket.
  • Class of Nuke 'Em High Part II: Subhumanoid Meltdown: At one point in the movie, when the students are assaulting people, Toxie shows up and starts beating up the assaulters. He's then ordered to stop and leave the set by the director.
  • In Smosh: The Movie, Harley Morenstein (of Epic Meal Time fame) plays the disgruntled mailman.
  • Housewarming is a 2005 French comedy. The new neighbor of the protagonist at the end happens to be played by Hugh Grant.
  • Carry On... Series:
    • Carry On Matron: Before becoming a star of the later Carry On films, Jack Douglas has one scene in this film as a twitching father in the style of his usual "Alf Ippititimus" type of character.
    • Carry On Emmannuelle: Eric Barker, who had appeared in three of the black and white Carry On films, returns to the series in the bit role of Field Marshal Hune.

    Literature 

    Live-Action TV 

In General:

  • This happens a lot in Canada. Royal Canadian Air Farce, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Corner Gas, and almost every other comedic (and sometimes not-comedic) show produced by CBC, and often CTV too, often has cameos of one sort or another. You haven't lived until you've seen Peter Mansbridge (a well-known Canadian news anchor) affect a Newfoundland accent and sing a shanty.
    • Or former Prime Minister Kim Campbell singing "Raise a Little Hell".

By Series:

  • Dennis Rodman appeared briefly as himself on 3rd Rock from the Sun as an old friend of the aliens from their home planet. They all mention how surprising it is that no one has figured out he's not from Earth, and he then reveals some shocking facts, such as that Michael Jordan is a robot and Madonna... is actually human. When he heads home, he takes with him a gift for the Big Giant Head: a big, giant nosering.
    • While he didn't appear in the movie, his alien status was mentioned in Men in Black. Elle didn't think he had a very good disguise.
  • Well-known Senator and former presidential contender John McCain (R-AZ) once made a cameo appearance in 24 and appears onscreen for a few seconds in Wedding Crashers as well.
  • The Amazing Spider-Man (1978) episode "Wolfpack" features an appearance by a scientist with a nametag reading "Stillwell", alluding to Dr. Farley Stillwell, who in the comics was responsible for the creation of the villain Scorpion.
  • Barry:
    • Jon Hamm appears As Himself in "Commit...to YOU", when Barry is having an Imagine Spot about being a big star.
    • Joe Mantegna appears As Himself in season 3, having filed a restraining order against Gene.
    • Fred Armisen appears in "you're charming" as an assassin disguised as an FBI agent.
    • Bill Burr makes a vocal cameo in "the wizard" as the host of a fundamentalist Christian podcast who goes off on a tangent about how murder is justified.
  • The 1960's live action Batman TV show was notorious for random celebrity appearances as Batman climbed up buildings. Including Colonel Klink. Holy time-space distortion!
    • Most memorable was, as Batman & Robin were scaling a building... The Green Hornet and Kato were climbing up from the opposite side!
  • John Hodgman in the Battlestar Galactica episode "No Exit". And Ron Moore in the final scene of the series.
  • Better Things: David Duchovny, Danny Pudi, Joe Walsh and Constance Zimmer among other celebrities all appear briefly as themselves, since Sam is an actress.
  • The Big Bang Theory:
    • In one episode, Raj is excited about appearing on People Magazine and brags about it to a random guy seated with his back to him at a bar. But the random guy turns out to be Charlie Sheen. He says: "Call me when you get the cover."
    • In "The Toast Derivation", Sheldon boasts that LeVar Burton will be at a party he's throwing because he sent him a tweet asking him to come. In the episode's stinger, he actually shows up, but is freaked out by the other guests (one of whom is wearing only a towel) Karaoke-ing "I'm Walking On Sunshine" and leaves before anyone notices him.
    • In "The Excelsior Acquisition", the gang (minus Sheldon) go to a comics book signing by Stan Lee. He appears at the very end with a different attitude than normal.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: One of The Swell makes a small appearance in a Hack/Slash story written by season 8 writer and editor Scott Allie.
  • Castle: Tom Bergeron of America's Funniest Home Videos made an appearance as the Body of the Week, a late-night TV show host poisoned for having to fire his best friend due to Executive Meddling.
  • An entire episode of the Colgate Comedy Hour was spent building up to a 30-second bit by Jack Benny.
  • In Community episode "Investigative Journalism", Owen Wilson shows up in the last scene.
  • Corner Gas has a lot of cameos.. various Canadian TV personalities, sports stars, and as noted above, two sitting Prime Ministers (Paul Martin and Stephen Harper). Lampshaded and parodied more than once, such as the time when the characters talk about how Colin Mochrie cameos on every Canadian TV show just before a minor character played by Colin Mochrie makes an appearance.
  • The Cry of Mann: Pan Pizza was one of the callers on the show; he was the one who kept saying "no" to Courtney in episode 3 and was was subsequently deemed a "giggly machine".
  • CSI: MythBusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman can be seen watching Nick through a window in "The Theory of Everything", an episode involving a man being set on fire via a taser He'd been sprayed with butane pepper spray, green blood, ground squirrels and cyanide.
    • The October 27, 2011 episode of Jeopardy! had "MythBusters" as a category. Adam and Jamie appeared in pre-recorded clips to give each answer.
  • Dick Clark on Dharma & Greg. Once, Greg hangs out with Jane's weird friends and when they ask him if he'd like to play a game he says that he'll just watch. They all gasp in shock as no one has ever volunteered to be The Watcher before. As they all line up to lick The Watcher, Greg tries to escape through the nearest door only to find Dick Clark behind it who instantly knows that Greg is The Watcher and also wants to lick him. He appears another time in Edward's flashback but Kitty corrects him that it wasn't Dick Clark he was thinking of but Rick York. Another time he shows up only only for us to discover it's actually just someone disguised as Dick.
  • Doctor Who:
    • "City of Death": John Cleese and Eleanor Bron appear in its final episode as art gallery visitors who mistake the TARDIS for a work of art. They were filming separate projects in the same studio on the same day, and when writer Douglas Adams found out about this, he convinced them to do a quick cameo appearance. They agreed on the condition that their presence would not be publicized in any way prior to broadcast (in fact, they wanted to be credited with the pseudonyms "Kim Bread" and "Helen Swanetsky", but the BBC declined in favour of crediting them under their real names).
    • "The Sound of Drums": Sharon Osborne, Anne Widdecombe and McFly all appear endorsing Harold Saxon in a video on his website.
    • "The Stolen Earth":
      • Richard Dawkins appears on an in-universe TV broadcast as himself. This also causes a Celebrity Paradox since he was married at the time to Lalla Ward, the actress who played Romana II.
      • Paul O'Grady also appears on his chat show making light of the situation.
    • "The Eleventh Hour": Patrick Moore is among the experts participating in the emergency conference call. He's also apparently a Dirty Old Man.
    • "The Day of the Doctor": Tom Baker appears as a museum curator, and Peter Capaldi makes his very first appearance as the Twelfth Doctor in the climactic scene.
    • "Deep Breath": Matt Smith makes a surprising reprise as a dying Eleventh Doctor, giving a tearful farewell to Clara and convincing her to trust the Twelfth Doctor.
  • When it was announced that Nurse Carol Hathaway was leaving ER at the end of the show's sixth season, George Clooney insisted that he would not reprise his role as Dr. Doug Ross (Carol's on-again off-again love interest) as a cameo in the season finale. And he didn't. He appeared in the episode before the season finale, which was Carol's final regular episode on the show, and the episode ended with Doug and Carol together again (in a guest appearance in the final season they were Happily Married). George Clooney accepted standard union scale pay for his cameo, which he did mainly as a favor to actress Julianna Margulies.
  • When the cast of Friends went to London, Richard Branson sold a hat to Joey, who later shows off a video of him meeting Sarah Ferguson.
  • The Beach Boys appeared as themselves in an episode of Full House, when DJ won tickets to their concert and the whole family was fighting over who would get to go with her.
  • Game of Thrones:
    • Jason Momoa reprises his role in "Valar Morghulis", exactly one season after his character was killed off.
    • In "Walk of Punishment", Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol leads Locke's squad in singing "The Bear and the Maiden Fair".
    • In the seventh season premier, Ed Sheeran appears with a group of Lannister soldiers who befriend Arya.
  • The Golden Girls had a number of cameos, including Burt Reynolds, Sonny Bono, and perhaps most memorably, Bob Hope - whom Rose was convinced was her biological father.
  • In Good Eats, Alton Brown has ensured that all of his crew make at least one-time appearances as characters on the show.
  • Two actors from Grease appeared in the live TV version in 2016: Didi Conn, who played Frenchie in the film, plays Vi, the waitress at the Frosty Palace who gives Frenchie (here played by Carly Rae Jepsen) advice, and Barry Pearl, who played Doody in the film, is the producer of the National Bandstand.
  • Happy Days: In "Joanie's Weird Boyfriend", Carmine Ragusa (from Laverne & Shirley, played by Eddie Mekka) appears to assist Fonzie in dealing with a gang of bullies who threaten Richie and Joanie.
  • Hart to Hart: Natalie Wood (Robert Wagner's then-wife) briefly appears in the pilot as an unnamed actress on a day off who wears a Gorgeous Period Dress.
    • Before that, she also appeared in two episodes of the (also Robert Wagner-starring) series Switch, "The Cruise Ship Murders" (1975) as a cruise ship passenger and "The Cage" (1978) as the girl in the bubble bath.
  • In the Hawaii Five-O episide "Savage Sunday", pro wrestling great Nick Bockwinkel plays a picket line organizer in his brief cameo.
  • Homicide: Life on the Street:
    • John Waters made cameos in two different episodes as a bartender and a convict respectively.
    • Howie Mandel appeared briefly as an interior decorator.
    • Tim Russert and Jay Leno appeared in two separate episodes As Himself.
  • The How I Met Your Mother episode "Subway Wars" parodies this by having Robin mention seeing Maury Povich, only for him to appear as a background character in almost every other scene.
  • iCarly: Daniella Monet was at Nora's party in "iPsycho".
  • Irma Vep: Kristen Stewart in the last episode shows up to play Mira's friend Lianna briefly (they don't interact).
  • While the marvels of modern effects and stock footage allowed for cameos by real-world politicians in JAG and its spinoff NCIS, one famous real-world figure, Oliver North, appeared on the former series as himself.
    • JAG also had a few other real-world figures making cameos like Jay Leno, Bill O'Reilly and Johnnie Cochran.
    • And in a strange inversion, an actor playing a Donald Rumsfeld stand-in features in one episode of NCIS, but the scene is shot to make it look like crappy stock footage of the real Rumsfeld.
      • Even more weird, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus in late 2009 made an appearance on NCIS while not playing himself.
  • Then-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani made an appearance on the premier of Law & Order's eleventh season, to introduce the new D.A (Nora Lewin, played by Diane Wiest).
  • Billy Dee Williams appeared as himself, acting on a "show within a show" on Lost.
    • Rob McElhenney from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has a one scene cameo as a Other who gets outsmarted by Sawyer and Kate in "Not in Portland" because Damon Lindelof (Lost's co-creator and showrunner) is a fan of Sunny. The character later returned in season 6 and got shot by Claire.
  • Dick Clark also made a cameo on Mad About You, in an episode where Paul Buchman is trying to shoot a documentary about the dropping of the famous lighted crystal ball in Times Square during New York City's New Years' celebrations. Toward the very end of the episode, it shows Clark, who decided to take that year off from covering the festivities for ABC (something that was odd to the point of being bizarre back then) and was thus watching the countdown at home, nearly freaking out over the ball's refusing to drop (due to a series of mishaps that happened while Paul and his small crew were trying to film the crystal ball on its perch).
  • The Mandalorian features a major cameo from Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in the Season 2 finale.
  • Johnny Carson would also appear in a final-season episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show as a guest at one of Mary's infamous parties. The party took place during a power failure, so for his entire time on camera he was not actually visible.
  • The Mission: Impossible episode "The Catafalque" has Hall of Fame baseball player Johnny Bench in a cameo as a guard.
  • Liberace on The Monkees in one episode, smashing a piano to pieces with a sledgehammer as a performance piece.
  • Mike Myers and Eddie Izzard appear in bit parts during the Monty Python's Flying Circus farewell special, Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go.
  • Newhart currently holds the title of Best Celebrity Cameo Ever. Larry (of Larry, Darryl, and Darryl) mentions off hand that Johnny Carson pays their gas bill. Dick is skeptical of the weird trio's claim until the last minute of the episode. Johnny visits the Inn and tells Dick off because he does pay their gas bill. How dare Dick not believe the words of those fine upstanding lads.
  • Nightly Business Report: Occasionally, former anchors will return to fill in for the regulars. Among such former anchors are Susie Gharib and Tyler Mathison.
  • Stan Lee shows up in the 2010 Nikita as a bystander named Hank Excelsior.
  • Noah's Arc: Raz B from B 2 K as a patient in one episode.
  • NUMB3RS: Marin Mazzie, a well known Broadway actress, appeared in Dark Matter in a small role as a suspect's mother.
  • Our Miss Brooks: Desi Arnaz makes a brief appearance in "King and Brooks".
  • Pawn Stars had George Stephanopoulos buy a first-edition of "For Whom The Bell Tolls" from Rick—who slips in a new offer ($675) while he had George shaking on the last one ($625).
  • Player has several cameos from well-known South Korean actors.
    • Yoo Seung-ho plays one of the security guards in episode one.
    • Jo Jae-yun plays Reporter Shin in episode eight.
  • Reservation Dogs: Amber Midthunder plays MissM8tri@rch, a Native American activist in "Decolonativization" with a well-meaning though rather ditzy and romanticized worldview.
  • Root into Europe: In the episode set in Italy porn actress La Cicciolina has a cameo.
  • Scrubs loved its cameos, ranging from Billy Dee Williams as the godfather of JD's Girl of the Week to Gary Busey as a doctor who looks like Gary Busey.
  • Squid Game:
    • Gong Yoo has a small but important cameo as the Salesman in the first and last episodes.
    • Lee Byung-hun as the Front Man is an interesting case; he plays a major character, but his face is only shown once and he wears a mask in all his other appearances.
  • Star Trek has a number of cameos throughout its run.
  • Star Trek: Voyager:
    • Another politician cameo: King Abdullah of Jordan made a cameo appearance back when he was merely the Crown Prince.
    • Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, who happens to be a big Trek fan, also had a cameo appearance on Voyager.
  • The last episode of Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye had the real Sue Thomas (who was portraying an actress, no less).
  • In the Tales from the Crypt episode "The Switch" Arnold Schwarzenegger (who also directed the episode) appears in a few cameos first as the Cryptkeeper's personal trainer who introduces the story and as a body builder in the beach scene.
  • In the German series Tatort Köln, composer/jazz musician Klaus Doldinger appears as a Street Musician, playing the series' theme (which he composed) with his sax.
  • Brad Garrett, better known as Robert Barone carried a series called 'Til Death, in which in one episode he's trying to apologize to his wife in an Italian restaurant, causing Ray Romano to turn around from his table and go "C'Mon lady, what more do you want!?". His wife asks "Who was that?" "Looks like someone I used to work with."
  • Victorious: Jerry Trainor showed up at a stage play performed by Trina. However, this may be foreshadowing a planned crossover event between the 2 shows.
  • Wagon Train: No less than John Wayne showed up in "The Colter Craven Story" (seen only in silhouette and credited as "Michael Morris"). John Ford directed the episode; the two of them showed up to do their old friend Ward Bond (the show's star) a favor.
  • We Are Who We Are: Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer, the stars of Luca Guadagnino's most well-known film Call Me by Your Name, appear at different points as extras in the series.
  • Weeds had Snoop Dogg appearing As Himself in the episode "Weed Money", wherein he gives Nancy and Conrad's "MILF Weed" his seal of approval and sings its praises in an original rap written for the show. In the following season, the episode "The Brick Dance" had Carrie Fisher appearing in a one-off cameo as Celia's unnamed lawyer.

    Music 
  • Janice Dickinson appears in the music video for Darren Hayes' "On the Verge of Something Wonderful" because she happened to be at the hotel where the video was filmed.
  • The male scientist in the video for Korn's "Make Me Bad"' is played by Udo Kier. While his name isn't immediately familiar for many, gamers of a certain age will certainly pick up on how his voice sounds eerily reminiscent of a certain psychic overlord he played...
  • What is James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, doing popping up for a few seconds in the middle of the video for "Shingo Mama no Oha Rock", a Japanese novelty song performed by "Shingo Mama" (a character played by a cross-dressing Shingo Katori, member of the boy band SMAP)? We have no idea.
  • During the video for "Move Along" by The All-American Rejects, there is a balding, bearded man seen over the shoulder of singer Tyson Ritter. That's genre character actor Tony Amendola, better recognized for his long-running roles as Master Bra'tac in Stargate SG-1 and Gepetto in Once Upon a Time, doing an uncredited cameo. Amendola just happened to be walking past the shooting location when they needed someone to stand behind the singer and act angry, and agreed to the cameo on a whim.
  • Flea appears as a bartender in Butthole Surfers' "Who Was In My Room Last Night?".
  • There are a lot of these in Mori Calliope's music video for "The Grim Reaper Is A Live-Streamer" from hololive. From obvious ones like her fellow genmates, Gawr Gura, Ninomae Ina'nis, Amelia Watson, and Takanashi Kiara, notably represented in their DM Easter Eggs and logos, to subtle ones such as Kureiji Ollie's hand rising out of the ground, Suisei holding an axe, and an ad for "Uber Sheep", a running joke relating to Tsunomaki Watame, all of whom she's collaborated with in the past, in music or otherwise.
  • The music video of Peterpan's "Ku Katakan Dengan Indah" has short appearances of fellow Indonesian musicians Desta, Pepeng, and Candil.
  • Eminem:
    • The music video for "Just Lose It" briefly unites the cast of 8 Mile for the section where the beat changes to a parody of "the Lose Yourself".
    • "Berzerk" features multiple cameos to hit Eminem's Waxing Lyrical and puns - Royce da 5'9" shows up in a Slaughterhouse pig head logo tshirt to underscore a pun on "pigment", Kendrick Lamar turns up to push Eminem out of frame (going with the subtext that the song is about Eminem being obsoleted by Kendrick), and Kid Rock turns up for a bar where Eminem references "Bawitdaba".
  • The intro to This May Be The Reason Why The Men That Will Not Be Blamed for Nothing Cannot Be Harmed By Conventional Weapons is Sylvester McCoy, who supposedly was talked into it by the band cornering him after a performance and threatening to cry if he said no.
  • Lemmy Kilminster makes an unlikely appearance in the music video for new wave One-Hit Wonder "I Wanna Be A Cowboy" by Boys Don't Cry, playing a "Lee Van Cleef bad boy" (as Boys Don't Cry frontman Nick Richards once put it).
  • In the video for Maggie Rogers's "That's Where I Am", Rogers is walking down the street singing when David Byrne rides by on his bike.
  • The music video for "Faster Than Light" by Lead Into Gold features a few shots of Trent Reznor miming a guitar part. Trent did not actually play guitar on the recording and has no other direct involvement with the group - rumor has it he was approached because he happened to be shooting Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like A Hole" video on a nearby sound stage.
  • Swedish actor Peter Stormare appears in the video for Sabaton's "Uprising" as the unnamed officer who commands the German forces during their crackdown on the Warsaw Uprising. According to bassist Pär Sundström, he found the role in a pile of offers from his agent and thought it sounded awesome. One of the Resistance leaders in the same video is played by General Waldemar Skrzypczak, former commander of the Polish Land Forces.
  • The late, great Dave Brockie makes a memorable cameo on Strapping Young Lad's song "Far Beyond Metal," off of their final album The New Black:
    "DOWN IN THE HALLS OF THE NECRO-LORD!
    FLASH OF FEAR WHEN HE SEES MY SWORD!
    RAPED HIS WOMEN, SMOKED HIS BONE!
    LEAVE A BOOGER UNDERNEATH HIS THROOOOONE!"
  • Mudhoney's "Suck You Dry" Performance Video includes a shot of Krist Novoselic among the audience - but as part of the video's Self-Deprecation theme, he's sitting at the bar while looking bored, and doesn't seem to be paying attention to the band.

    Pinballs 

    Podcasts 

    Pro Wrestling 
  • The Royal Rumble tends to have former WWE legends and other superstars. At one time DREW CAREY entered the rumble (after being egged on by Edge & Christian).
  • While working for Jerry Lawler's USWA in Memphis, Miss Texas appeared uncredited in vignettes promoting "Double-J" Jeff Jarrett's debut, which aired on the November 21 (taped October 19), 1993 WWF Wrestling Challenge and the November 20 (taped October 20), 1993 WWF Superstars, some 4 1/2 years before making her official debut.
  • The Sheik seconded Sabu for against Mr. JL at WCW Halloween Havoc 95, October 29, 1995, which was held near his home in Detroit. After the match, the Sheik hit Mr. JL with a fireball.
  • The January 10, 2000 episode of WCW Monday Nitro saw Commissioner Terry Funk and the Old Age Outlaws (Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko and Paul Orndorff) announce that they were going to be bringing some friends in to deal with NWO member and WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett. George Steele was revealed as the first opponent, in a "Bunkhouse Match". Steele hit Jarrett with weapons, but got sidetracked, of course, by eating a turnbuckle. Jarrett nailed Steele with his guitar, but Arn hit him with a spinebuster. Special referee Chris Benoit dragged Steele over on top of Jarrett and counted the pin.
  • Matt Sydal as a hooded audience member on SHIMMER volume one to support Daizee Haze. Generation Next stablemate Roderick Strong at volume 14. All American Wrestling's officials have also made cameos since they share the same building.
  • "Chris K", defeated Raven at TNA Turning Point 2005, as Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko's specially chosen opponent for Raven, who was feuding with Zbyszko at the time.
  • James Mitchell led Mikey and Yoshihiro Tajiri to the ring for the Three-Way-Dance between Tajiri, Little Guido Maritato and Super Crazy and Beulah McGillicutty returned for one last cat fight at ECW One Night Stand 2005, against Francine during the Tommy Dreamer/Sandman-Dudleys main event.
  • He wasn't big at the time, but during John Cena's gangster entrance at WrestleMania 22, one of the gangsters there would, years later, become The Best In The World, CM Punk.
  • While still in Puerto Rico but not contracted to WWC, Black Rose could still sometimes be seen in the crowd cheering for El Bronco #1. This is because she started as an audience member Rico Suave had dared to try wrestling.
  • Kamala went to a double-DQ with Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Champion Bryan Danielson at a Liberty States Wrestling (which became NWA On Fire) show in Bridgeport, CT on September 30, 2006.
  • During Austin Aries's first TNA run, he continued to appear at Ring of Honor events "as a fan". When word got out that TNA had fired him, he signed an ROH contract then and there.
  • Tito Santana appeared at the 2012 Chikara King Of Trios after his name was pulled out of a hat by Spectral Envoy(UltraMantis Black/Hallowicked/Frightmare) along with The Mysterious and Handsome Stranger and Osaka Pro Wrestler Kazuaki Mihara.
  • Matt Hardy cheering on girlfriend Reby Sky at SHINE wrestling events (and throwing in the towel during a match with Jessicka Havok)
  • After a five year absence, Dr. Wagner Jr made a one off CMLL appearance in 2013 promising revenge against Atlantis and Ultimo Guerrero, a promise he would not even attempt to make good on until 2015. In 2014, Wagner's partner in crime L.A. Par-k would also appear, to promote the independent "Liga Elite" promotion but also would not make regular CMLL appearances again until 2015.
  • Machete has appeared in the audience at Lucha Underground shows.
  • Jim Ross has never physically appeared at a TNA event but his image has alongside comments he has made about the show, such as when Dixie Carter was put through a table.
  • At FOWnote  Shoots & Ladders on April 29, 2000, The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) teamed with Bobby Rogers in a loss to Larry Lane and Suicidal Tendencies (Dennis Allen and Sean Allen).

    Radio 
  • Riders Radio Theater - the week's musical guest usually gets a small speaking part in the episode as well.
  • The June 8, 1936 Lux Radio Theatre production of The Thin Man featured a random interview with silent screen star Theda Bara, who just happened to be in the audience. It is the only surviving recording of Bara's voice.

    Theme Parks 

    Toys 
  • LEGO has an incredibly large fondness for littering their licensed franchises with cameos in their on-line animations and in video games, usually Star Wars and Indiana Jones (mostly because they both have characters played by Harrison Ford, see). It's basically a Running Gag now.

    Video Games 
  • Used quite frequently in video games; the longer the series, the more likely you are to have cameos in later games from older characters. Mario, in particular, has had so many cameos (even in games that aren't made by Nintendo) that they outstrip his appearances in games where he's playable.
  • Two bosses from Gunstar Heroes appear in Alien Soldier.
  • At the beginning of Alleyway, an old Breakout clone for the Game Boy, Mario runs across the screen and hops into the pilot seat of the paddle.
  • Every stage in The Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures has a certain Internet personality hanging out in a hidden area, usually filled with lots of power-ups. They include Brentalfloss, Egoraptor, Wiz and Boomstick, and the dev team.
  • ANNO: Mutationem: At The Sicilian Jar and The Nest bars, both Jill and Dana from VA-11 HALL-A have cameo appearances when they're visiting to be guest bartenders.
  • Amaterasu makes an appearance in Asura's Wrath in one of the episode recaps. Considering both games are published by Capcom, and are based on Asian Mythology, it makes a lot of sense.
  • In Atlantis no Nazo, the old master whom you rescue at the end is the hero from Sunsoft's earlier game Ikki.
  • In Atomic Robo-Kid Special, the 1-Up dolls are Ninja-kun from the game of the same name and Mutron-kun from Mutant Night.
  • One of Bendy and the Ink Machine's tape recordings, made by a Mr. "Shawn Flynn," was voiced by Jacksepticeye.
  • The BlazBlue Radio show, BuruRaji, features none other than SOL BADGUY!!
  • BoxxyQuest: The Gathering Storm:
  • Breath of Fire series:
    • In Breath of Fire I, an easter egg shows Chun-Li practicing her Lightning Kick.
    • In Breath of Fire II, Nina must fight a boss who turns out to be the Nina from I, the sorceress Bleu/Deis is a hidden Optional Party Member, and Bo and Karn appear on the optional Giant's Island.
    • In Breath of Fire III, Bleu/Deis appears again, this time playing a small role in the plot and acting as a Master. Several generic characters also look like Ox and Mogu from I, and Sten from II.
    • In Breath of Fire IV, Momo from III is a Master, and in the End Game Plus, Rei and Teepo appear to sell you a unique item.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog appears in the Sega game Bug, twice. The first is a bonus level where Bug was able to race him (Sonic's route was a lot longer and uneven, so it balanced out), and the second one was a secret area where Sonic would appear and leave a bunch of powerups on a platform.
  • Chicory: A Colorful Tale:
  • Spyro the Dragon made a brief appearance in Crash Twinsanity.
  • The Curse of Monkey Island features The Flying Welshman who looks almost identical to Bobbin Threadbare from Loom. The only difference is he's wearing a lifejacket and has a different voice (Loom had a talkie version, rare at the time)). As Loom had no sequels, LucasArts clearly put this in for people wondering what Bobbin was up to.
    • In reference to the Loom advertisement in the first game, The Curse of Monkey Island advertises Grim Fandango in a similar way, with Guybrush encountering the advertiser in a restaurant. The only difference is that the character who does so is the lead character from that game, Manny Cavalera...who doesn't speak to Guybrush on account of being dead.
  • Dave the Diver features a cameo of characters from the free to play game Master Of Eternity (going under its release name of Stra Stella which is treated as an in-universe anime), and resident gunsmith Duff is a huge fan of Leahs in particular.
  • The Demi-fiend makes an appearance in Digital Devil Saga as the Anthropomorphic Personification of Dr. Kevorkian's wet dreams.
  • While the series' recurring Kremling antagonists have yet to appear in person in Retro Studios' run on the Donkey Kong Country series, K. Rool, the Big Bad of the first three games, appears in rock formation form in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (complete with a bunch of 10 bananas where his crown would be).
  • In Doom II, if you turn on the clipping cheat and go inside the Icon of Sin's head, you discover that The Man Behind the Curtain is John Romero's head on a stake. Also, the "satanic" speech that is heard before its attack commences is actually the following, played backwards through a modulator: "To win the game you must kill me, John Romero." There are also two entire levels taken from Wolfenstein 3-D, complete with the iconic blue-suited gestapos. The second level finishes up with Commander Keen of all people making an appearance.
  • In Dragalia Lost, several Rage of Bahamut characters appear in wyrmprints like Forte in "Lord of the Skies" and Cerberus (with Coco and Mimi) in "Fireside Gathering". The Jeanne d'Arc dragon also takes some obvious cues from the Jeannes in Rage and Granblue Fantasy, including being voiced by Megumi Han in Japanese.
  • Dragon Quest:
    • The trio of heroes from Dragon Quest II appear as summonable helpers in the arcade game Dragon Quest Monster Battle Road Victory, both supporting the player and their monsters with defensive buffs and finishing their enemies off with Kazapple, also known as Alldain or Thordain — a spell that didn't exist until Dragon Quest IV. The Cousins also pop up in Fortune Street spinoffs.
    • Dragon Quest VIII: Torneko and Ragnar from Dragon Quest IV are the first two opponents in the Monster Arena's S Rank battles.
    • In Dragon Quest X, the hero/heroine is implied to have fought evil in the history of Dragon Quest IX and left behind the White Star Sword (a white version of the Hypernova Sword).
    • In the Golden Ending of Dragon Quest XI, as the Yggdragon speaks to the Luminary, she alludes to a time in the future when "(her) power may be turned against the world"note  that someone would arise just as the Luminary did. Cut to the Hero of Dragon Quest standing on a high precipice overlooking Castle Charlock with the Sword of Erdrick at his side, psyching up for the final battle.
    • Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and The Blight Below: Rodrigo Briscoletti, Nera's father from Dragon Quest V, appears for the duration of one quest.
  • In the bonus modes of Duel Savior Destiny a couple of characters from early games the company made are playable characters.
  • In a secret room in Duke Nukem 3D there's a certain iconic marine in green armor impaled on a pyre. Duke even comments "Hmm, that's one Doomed space marine!"
    • Similarly, in the first level of the first episode there's an arcade cabinet of Duke Nukem 2. Pressing use on it earns the one-liner "Hmm, don't have time to play with myself." Attentive players would notice that doing this also opens a door next to the machine containing a holo-duke, bringing the joke full circle.
    • Blood hit back by including a partially dismembered Duke Nukem hanging from a chain. On finding him, Caleb quips "I've got time to play with you"; pressing use on it makes it swing in place, to which Caleb says "Ooh, shake it baby." Check it out.
  • It's a slightly more substantial part than a cameo, but there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference suggesting that Daedric Prince Sheogorath in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is actually the player character from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (the Shivering Isles expansion for the latter explains how this happened).
  • NCHProductions' mascot, Meow Meow, has cameoed thrice in the Epic Battle Fantasy series. He first appeared as a summon for Natalie in Epic Battle Fantasy 2, before appearing as a questgiver and skill in Epic Battle Fantasy 3. After his absence in Epic Battle Fantasy 4, he would cameo in Epic Battle Fantasy 5 as the Meow Meow Badge.
  • Dr. Robert Hoffman of Trauma Center fame makes an appearance in Etrian Odyssey as the main town's apothecary.
  • In Extracurricular Activities, Waffle from I.D.E.K.A., the previous visual novel the creators made, appears as a school librarian.
  • EXTRAPOWER is fond of sneaking cameo appearances from other games in the series and from Happy Challenger Yamada:
    • EXTRAPOWER: Star Resistance: Maintaining a high kill count in Stage 1 and halfway through Stage 2 and Yamada himself from Happy Challenger Yamada drives up on his delivery motorcycle to throw the player a pizza.
    • EXTRAPOWER: Giant Fist: Nimon, Shiira and Juno from Attack of Darkforce appear at the end of the Mille City, Industrial Zone stage before the stage boss. Keep an eye on the water between shark and men in black attacks and you can see them launch out of the water and then wade for the remainder of the screen. In the first Mille City stage, the Pizza Happy mascot from Happy Challenger Yamada can appear as an Easter Egg.
  • At least one cameo has been the inspiration for an entire series: Ryo Sakazaki's playable cameo in Fatal Fury Special inspired the creation of The King of Fighters series, while Akuma's cameo in X-Men: Children of the Atom lead to the creation of the Marvel vs. Capcom series.
  • Lampshaded by Balthier (who else?) in the rerelease of Final Fantasy Tactics. Ramza tells him that the path they're on is dangerous, and Balthier responds that a leading man doesn't balk in the face of danger... but this does feel more like a cameo role.
  • Flight: Several other flash game characters appear after transforming, including the Turtle and the Hedgehog.
  • Friday Night Funkin': Week 5 has a whole treasure trove of famous Newgrounds characters, alongside several other internet icons, that cameo in the background. In total, there's Darnell and Pico himself from the Pico series, ZONE-tan, the Nightmare Cops, Kenstar from Egoraptor's Girl-chan in Paradise, evilsk8r's mascot Buggy, @cooldudetm's mascot, Blockhead, Meat Boy, OneyNG, Psychicpebbles, characters from the GENTLES Newgrounds short, Sublo and Tangy Mustard, Henry Stickmin, xXsquidwardXx's parody rapper from their FNF parody, Monster, and Hatsune Miku.
  • This actually happened with classic video games. The Galaxian flagship has had cameo appearances in Pac-Man, Rally-X, and Dig Dug among others, and even the newer Tekken.
  • In Goat Simulator, you can find Deadmau5 putting on a show on top of a skyscraper. You can even don his signature helmet, with the ability to make people around you spontaneously dance.
  • In Granblue Fantasy, several characters who did not receive a summer version make an appearance in other summer characters' artwork. Other examples include characters from other franchises who appear in some Fate Episodes.
    • Heles' second artwork depicts Seruel rubbing sunscreen on her.
    • Lancelot and Vane are in the background of Percival's second artwork, playing volleyball.
    • Bridgitte and Baotarda steer a sailboat for Charlotta.
    • Kaisar Lidfard from Rage of Bahamut: Genesis appears in Amira's Fate Episodes.
    • Eris from Shadowverse appears in "Duelist of Eternity", still watching over the Morning Star.
  • Claude of Grand Theft Auto III has a pretty prominent cameo in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
  • In Hitman: Absolution, Kane & Lynch have cameos in the first stages of Act II. Kane is seen in a bar while Lynch is at a shooting range in a gun store.
  • Hyperdimension Neptunia makes plenty of shout-outs and references to other video games, often by using silhouettes of the characters and avoiding using their actual names. One side quest, however, basically has you chasing after (and then fighting) Macaroon, the merchant girl from Trinity Universe, another of Idea Factory's dungeon exploring RPGs.
  • Toaster, Lampy, Radio, Kirby, and AC cameo in indie Idle Game Idle Mastermind.
  • The iDOLM@STER 2 - So far Hatsune Miku and 876's idols Ai Hidaka and Eri Mizutani are available in DLC as in story rivals for the 765 Pro idols.
  • While playing through a level in Jedi Knight, there's one small home with a finnicky automatic door; it'll only open when Katarn is a certain distance away. Move quickly enough, and you can get inside to find Max, holding a blaster very much like the one you start out with. Lead him out and he'll start blasting your enemies for you. Happen to attack him, and he'll come after you!
  • Tons of them in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle. Comes with being a game based on a Long Runner franchise:
    • The menus have, among others, Robert E.O. Speedwagon, Wang Chan, Cyborg Rudolf von Stroheim, Oingo and Boingo, Ringo Roadagain...
    • Nukesaku as a stage hazard of the Dio's Mansion stage.
    • Wilson Phillips as part of the stage hazard in the Cairo Streets stage.
    • Yoshihiro Kira as a stage hazard of the Kira Estate stage.
    • Reimi Sugimoto as part of the Morioh stage's Situation Finish.
    • Pesci and Prosciutto, as both the stage hazard and Situation Finish of the Naples' Train Station stage.
    • Secco as the stage hazard of the Rome Streets stage.
    • Green Baby is part of Pucci's stand Whitesnake's evolution to C-Moon.
    • Weather Report as the stage hazard of the Green Dolphin Street Prison stage.
    • Emporio Alnino as part of the stage hazard of the Kennedy Space Station stage.
    • Lucy Steel and Stephen Steel as the stage "hazard" of the Atlantic Coast stage.
    • Yasuho Hirose and Joushuu Higashikata as both the stage hazard and Situation Finish of the Wall Eyes stage.
  • Kirby:
    • Samus Aran makes a cameo appearance in Kirby's Dream Land 3 where you have to freeze some Metroids for her. Goku and Chao appear and R.O.B and his creator appear too. Chao also appears in Dream Land 2, though only in the Japanese version.
    • Kirbys Return To Dreamland includes some from stone statues of Rick, Coo and Kine from Dreamland 2 and 3 and Marx from Super Star. Mass Attack has Max Flexer, Chef Shiitake, and the Holy Nightmare Co.'s Salesman from the anime. And finally, Super Star has Mario while Ultra has him with Peach, Luigi and Wario.
  • All over the place in Hideo Kojima's games.
    • Snake makes a cameo in Boktai, although he's dressed in a different outfit and calling himself "a man with no name" (since the game is spaghetti Western-themed). When you save him, he'll start an Item shop and sell you Boxes.
  • In Kokoro No Doki Doki Senpai, Vegeta is the officiant at a wedding.
  • The Legend of Zelda:
    • The Legend of Zelda: According to the Japanese instruction booklet, Digdogger and Manhandla are respectively a Unira from Clu Clu Land and a Piranha Plant from Super Mario Bros. (incidentally, Rupees use Ingot sprites from the former). This is removed from localized manuals. The Bubble enemy may also be an allusion to the latter game's [Lava] Bubbles (then known as Podoboos).
    • The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: A pair of Chain Chomps appear in Turtle Rock. There's also a portrait of Mario in a hanging in a house.
    • Many enemies of the Super Mario Bros. series have crossed over into Zelda to bother Link instead. Bob-Ombs, Goombas, Lakitus, Piranha Plants, Thwomps, Cheep-Cheeps, Bloopers and Boos amongst several others have appeared in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.
    • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time:
      • A flying Mario's picture can be seen in the Hyrule Castle.
      • If you hack into the game's files you can find an Arwing enemy. Apparently it was coded in to test a flight pattern for dungeon boss Volvagia.
  • Played for laughs in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, where instead of saving a generic face during the levels like previous Lego games, the player (if the person chooses to) can save Stan Lee during the story missions, different locations on the world map, and even the special Deadpool comic missions. Lampshaded by Stan Lee, himself, who constantly gives statements about making cameo appearances throughout the game after you rescued him. The whole point is to poke fun at how Stan Lee often makes cameo appearances in both his live action movies and animated projects. Deadpool himself also makes a brief cameo in every one of the main story levels. You’ll have to keep your eyes peeled for where he’ll show up!
  • The 2023 rerelease of Like a Dragon: Ishin! features many prominent celebrities and internet personalities as Trooper Cards that bestow the play with special abilities, including professional wrestler Kenny Omega, actor Rahul Kohli, cosplayer Vampy Bitme, composer Alex Moukala, twitch streamer Cohh Carnage, and VTuber Nyatasha Nyanners.
  • In the Lonely Wolf Treat series, various characters from NomnomNami's other works make minor appearances in the series.
    • The main characters of Syrup and the Ultimate Sweet make minor appearances in Clever Fox Moxie and Wandering Wolf Trick. They are also part of an optional sidequest in Dreaming Treat.
    • Time and Space from her tears were my light do not appear in person, but are represented by two cosplaying witches named Thyme and Spice.
    • Strudel from First Kiss at a Spooky Soiree can be found on the beach in Dreaming Treat.
  • In The Stinger of Mass Effect 3, the Stargazer is voiced by Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon (unless you picked the Refusal ending in the Extended Cut, in which case the Stargazer is an alien woman).
  • The later Mega Man Battle Network games feature a number of cameos from Konami's Boktai series, including series creator Hideo Kojima (due to the latter three Battle Network games each having link functionality with one of the Boktai games...at least in Japan.
  • The first batch of McPixel's DLC had stages for YouTube Lets Players who supported the game, such as Jesse Cox & PewDiePie.
  • Michael Jackson cameo'd in Space Channel 5 as well as Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2, in which he voiced himself and was motion-captured.
  • In Parasite Eve, Cloud Strife makes a cameo. As a piece of anti-virus software. Attached to a computer magazine called 'Aeris'.
  • Persona 5: Rise and Kanami appear in individual advertisements at subway stations. You can also hear characters from Persona 2, Persona 3 and Persona 4 being interviewed on tv at various points throughout the year. Tanaka from Persona 3 also shows up as the administrator of the "Dark Net" you can buy illicit goods off.
  • Playstation All Stars Battle Royale. A crossover fighting game, so it's a no-brainer. Each stage involves elements from some other game interfering with that one, you can get chibi versions of certain characters to cheer you on in fights, story modes involve characters from the same franchise as that character, etc. Also, some finishing moves include cameos from other characters of that franchise too. (Sly's Lvl. 1 finishing move has Murray come out and attack, PaRappa's Lvl. 3 finishing move has him put on a concert with characters such as Lammy and Katy Kat watching, etc.)
  • In the files of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, you can find an updated sprite of the Sumo enemy from Mendel Palace.
  • Miles Edgeworth makes a cameo at the end of Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, after the first credits sequence.
  • Quake III: Arena has the Player Characters from Doom and Quake 1, and a number of playable characters from Quake 2 were brushed up for the new engine and included. Doom's death animation is even a faithful fully 3D reproduction of his iconic throat-grab from the original game. TankJr is explicitly stated to be a Strogg, although nothing exactly like him appears in Quake 2. And that's just the characters included on the disc.... Bullfrog made an official add-on model for Quake 3 of Dungeon Keeper 2's Great Horny.
  • Oliver and Hardy as French Foreign Legionnaires cameo'd in Quest for Glory III.
  • The Special Flag from Rally-X is a recurring item in Namco games.
  • In Resident Evil: During the Storm, Kevin encounters Jill Valentine at Bar Jack shortly before the Zombie Apocalypse begins. Jill tries to convince Kevin to quit the R.P.D. and skip town due to Chief Irons' corruption and Umbrella's machinations, and even asks him to help her with her investigations, but Kevin just dismisses it as a crazy conspiracy theory. This prompts her to leave in frustration, where she'll eventually become the protagonist of her own game.
  • Characters from the Rhythm Heaven series (such as the masked wrestler, the Wandering Samurai, and the Chorus Kids) make guest appearances in Game & Wario. Returning the favor, Rhythm Heaven Megamix has a special mode where characters from WarioWare appear in various rhythm games.
  • After the series mostly died out after the 16-bit era, Sparkster of the Rocket Knight Adventures series became Konami's cameo specialist, appearing in numerous games of this publisher:
  • Sakura Wars:
  • Saturn Bomberman eschews having just multi-colored Bombermen for battle mode: instead, you get the White and Black Bombers, then Master Higgins, Milon, Bonk, and several Tengai Makyou characters to choose from.
  • DayNine voices himself in the tutorial of SC2VN.
  • Seeing as how the Sega Superstars series involves crossovers, other characters cameoing in the courts and tracks is inevitable. (Chao as spectators on Sonic tracks, Yoyo, Rhyth, Professor K, and others on Jet Set Radio tracks, the Burning Rangers flying around the track based on the game named after them, and so on).
    • In All-Stars Racing, Ristar makes his first appearance in 16 years hidden on the Death Egg Zone track.
    • In All-Stars Racing Transformed, Segata Sanshiro appears in the Race of Ages, still riding the rocket he saved Sega HQ from in his final commercial.
  • Shadow Warrior (1997) has Lara Croft appear in a secret room, Bound and Gagged.
  • The Sierra adventure games King's Quest and Space Quest were known for including famous figures from fairy tales/mythology and science fiction, respectively.
  • People who donated $1000 for Skullgirls's Indie Gogo campaign could have a background character they designed appeare in the background. Besides the many Original Characters, in the River King Casino, there's Matt and Woolie from Two Best Friends Play and Yuzuriha from Under Night In-Birth. The Glass Canopy stage has Shady ''from CC & SH'', Sanshee-Tan, the mascot of the online website 'Sanshee', and Zone-Tan, the mascot of the extremely NSFW 'Zone-Archive.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog series
    • In Blue Sphere, after completing a stage, the difficulty of that stage is displayed. If the difficulty rating is high enough, sprites of Mecha Sonic, Eggrobo, and the animal buddies can appear.
    • Sonic Generations is filled to the brim with cameos. Most notable is NiGHTS in the 3DS version, making them the only non-Sonic character to appear in the game.
  • Yoda and Darth Vader get cameos in Soulcalibur IV, depending on the console you play on. Both versions have The Apprentice, making his first appearance (The Force Unleashed was released a few months later than Soul Calibur IV).
    • Soul Calibur II also had console-specific cameo characters: Xbox got Spawn, PS2 got Heihachi, and Gamecube got Link.
  • In Street Fighter Alpha 2, Ken's home stage features cameos by Morrigan, Felicia, Hsien-Ko, Mei-Ling and Lord Raptor from Darkstalkers, Biff Slamkovich and Jumbo Flapjack from Saturday Night Slam Masters, Captain Commando and Ginzu the Ninja from Captain Commando, the two Unknown Soldiers from Forgotten Worlds, Pure the Magician from Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2, Michelle Heart from Legendary Wings, Strider Hiryu from Strider, Linn Kurosawa from Alien vs. Predator (Capcom) and Capcom's CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto as a butler, all as guests attending Eliza's birthday party.
  • Super Mario RPG has Link appear in the Rose Town inn after the Bowyer incident ends. Examining him with "A" triggers the Zelda "secret discovered" sound effect. Also, at one point, Samus appears in the guest room of Peach's Castle. Talk to her and she'll tell you she's resting up for Mother Brain. Why she chose to go all the way to the Mushroom Kingdom instead of just resting in her ship or something and saving time is a mystery. There's also a Samus doll in Booster's Tower, and models of a Star Fox Arwing and the Blue Falcon and the Fire Stingray in Hinopio's mart. Finally, although he doesn't make an appearance, Bruce Lee is referenced by Mallow when Mario is about to rush in and engage Bowyer.
  • One intermission scene◊ in Super Robot Wars BX features the respective Original Generation from W, Super Robot Wars K and Super Robot Wars L in the background.
  • While the incantation of Mega Man used in Super Smash Bros. is the Mega Man (Classic) incantation of Mega Man, Mega Man's Final Smash has cameos of Mega Man's incantations from Mega Man X, Mega Man Legends, Mega Man Battle Network and Mega Man Star Force.
  • Sort of in Terminator: Resistance. Going through the Skynet nightmare hospital, you crawl out of a vent into a room and find the dead body of a Resistance soldier strapped down to an operating table with all his organs removed. The guy looks like Robert Patrick. And then a familiar Drone of Dread plays...
  • If you play Level 9 in Mode B of the NES Tetris and successfully complete it, various Nintendo characters will appear to congratulate you. The higher you have the "High" setting set (which fills the play area with random blocks at the start), the more characters will show.
  • Lenneth Valkyrie makes cameo appearances as an Optional Boss in various tri-Ace games.
  • Vyse, Aika, and Fina of Skies of Arcadia fame make cameo appearances eight years later in Valkyria Chronicles; Vyse and Aika as playable soldiers and Fina (who's apparently one of a set of identical triplets) as the medic that rescues downed soldiers.
  • Bean from Sonic the Fighters has a cameo in the football game Virtua Striker 2. This however was considered to be an Urban Legend of Zelda for over a decade because it seemed so weird and no one could figure out how to view him in any incarnation of the game. The only official note of this was an article in Official Sega Saturn Magazine, with everything else being a few subpar screencaps shot by fans online. Eventually fans figure out he could be seen when a certain team won fifty times against the CPU. Bean's cameo is not as random as it seems as his official character bio from Sonic the Fighters says he is a soccer player.
    • Virtua Striker 3 has a hidden unlockable team in "FC Sonic", consisting of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Eggman, and a handful of Chao.
  • Wario Land 4 has a really, really obscure one. The professor from the bonus rooms is actually Dr. Arewo Stein from the Japanese game For the Frog the Bell Tolls. On that note, Mr Game and Watch (from both Super Smash Bros. and the Game & Watch handheld games) appears, although he turns out to be a magically disguised ghost princess/cat being.
  • Webbed has a cameo by the main character of the game SkateBIRD as the NPC who runs the skateboard minigame.
  • Lucca makes a brief appearance in the first town of Xenogears to explain how save points work. Given what happens next, it's fairly likely that we've got a Death by Cameo here.
  • In X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse, obscure '80s X-Men ally Gateway appears as the end level marker, and his powers provide the transport from one level to the next.
  • You Are Not The Hero: Shantae appears at one point and taught Petula how to dance.

    Web Animation 

    Webcomics 
  • Quite common in webcomics, especially in the case where the artists are personal friends. The Webcomic Crossover & Cameo Archive is a comprehensive and very extensive index of webcomic cameos.
  • Liberal Art appropriately sees many liberal politicians visiting campus.
  • The Nostalgia Critic makes one in 'Waste of Time'.
  • The characters of Sluggy Freelance show up as miscellaneous extras all over the Internet.
  • In Sluggy Freelance, there's a one-panel, no-line cameo of the Digimon Season 3 (Tamers) main characters.
  • An earlier El Goonish Shive comic gave Silent Bob a quick cameo.
  • The KAMics has lots of cameos of other webcomic characters. Then again the author is a self-confessed Cameowhore.
  • The Cartoon Chronicles of Conroy Cat takes place in a world where all cartoon characters live, and cameos occur often.
  • The Cyantian Chronicles: Various fan made characters have gotten cameos as part of a donation drive.
  • The Crossoverlord, being a webcomic superhero crossover series set in a multiverse, tends to cameo various heroic characters rather frequently. However, it really went over the top with this page.
  • Sprite comics have a large tendency to rely upon cameos due to the easy nature in which an author can use another person's 'sprite sheets' in order to quickly and easily represent different characters.
  • RPG World's Hero and Dianne make an appearance in TwoKinds.
  • Although Brawl in the Family is a comic about Nintendo characters, Teddie makes a brief appearance in one of the strips.
  • Questionable Content has referenced XKCD a few times (once on a characters' shirt), and in this strip portrayed an webcomic artist wearing an "I<3MATH" shirt, with a sketch of a stick figure wearing a black hat in front of him. He wasn't explicitly named, but the allusion was obvious.
  • Bittersweet Candy Bowl:
    • Many fancharacters given to the author have either become regular cast or served as background filler.
    • Liam, a fan-made character, even had an entire intermission chapter dedicated to his relationship with Lucy.
  • One strip of Fite! contains Tamino the Cat, the main character of another comic by the same author, as a passerby.
  • In The Whiteboard Doc tends to invite a couple dozen characters from other webcomics to his Halloween Parties.
  • In the International Comic Continuity, you'll often see characters from one member's series appearing in another member's.
  • Ozy and his father, Llewellyn, from the furry webcomic Ozy and Millie make an appearance in a couple of strips of Stubble Trouble.
  • The time travel Story Arc of The Packrat features cameos of real-life persons from the history of synthesizers as Lovelace-style animals, including Bob Moog, Don Buchla, Howard Jones, Stevie Wonder, Thomas Dolby and Herbie Hancock. He also meets Dr. Emmett L. Brown.
  • Itachi made a cameo in comic #48 of Yu Gi Oh Card Game Gusto Fancomic. Probably because he shares a similar pupil shape with the Gusto Archetype.
  • Sister Claire has loads of these in the background, ranging from the Powerpuff Girls to Panty and Stocking.
  • Matchu has dozens of cameos, with Osaka showing up the most, either as a background character, a piece of merchandise, or something more well hidden, ala Hidden Mickeys.
  • The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob! has had guest appearances (with their respective creators' permission) by the casts of Melonpool, Zortic, Sketch Comedy, and Zeera The Space Pirate.
  • We Are The Wyrecats has a brief appearance from the cast of the creator's previous comic, Ruby Nation, as well as the return of one of the supporting characters.
  • Li'l Gotham: One panel of issue #17 is a street scene where all the passers-by are characters from Supernatural, including Sam, Dean and Castiel standing by the Impala in the background.
  • In Rascals, Miles and Rachael from Las Lindas walkind down a street and Rule63 of Alej, Mora, Taffy, Rachael, Sarah, and Minos from Las Lindas in an all exclusive female restaurant Los Lindos.
  • Some real-world celebrities make a one-off appearance in Heroine Chic — Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and Anna Wintour are among a few famous faces that can be seen in the front row of the fashion show in Chapter 16. (Later fashion shows in the series feature fictional guests like Edna Mode and Cable.)
  • Poison Ivy Gulch: Mr. Peanut, mascot for Planters Peanuts, can be seen in the saloon in one strip.
  • Beyond the End: Parad and Graphite from Kamen Rider Ex-Aid appear as amphiteres alongside one based on Kuroto, later revealled to be named Kuro. Kuro, however, ends up a Recurring Extra.

    Web Videos 

    Western Animation 
  • Happens at least twice to Marceline the Vampire Queen from Adventure Time.
  • Characters from Tiny Toon Adventures would occasionally appear in Animaniacs:
    • In the Newsreel of the Stars from the very first episode, Hamton J Pig appears as a drawing on Tex Avery's sketchboard.
    • Fifi La Fume appears as the owner of a perfume shop.
    • Baby Plucky made cameos from time to time. The fact that he shares the same voice actor as Skippy Squirrel helps.
    • Heck, even Buster and Babs Bunny made a cameo in the episode "Noah's Lark" as the bunnies that board Noah's ark.
  • Arcane has Imagine Dragons (who did the show's season one theme song "Enemy") cameo in the episode "Everybody Wants To Be My Enemy", with them performing in the background while said track is being used as an Insert Song.
  • The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes features multiple clear shots of Wolverine as one of the soldiers helping Captain America infiltrate the Red Skull's castle.
  • On the subject of Batman, sitting US Senator Patrick Leahy has cameoed three times in Batman stories: once in Batman: The Animated Series, once in Batman & Robin, and once in The Dark Knight. In the last one, he stood up to The Joker.
  • Popeye co-star Swee' Pea appears in The Beatles episode "Tell Me What You See."
    • Popeye himself is seen on a wall frame in a Greenwich Village coffee house in "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party."
    • Private Gripweed, John Lennon's character in the 1967 movie How I Won The War, appears very briefly in "Strawberry Fields."
  • At the end of the Christmas Episode of Ben 10, one of the "elves" they rescue from the time-warped Santa's Village theme park shows up as an old man with his grandchildren, who look suspiciously like Konohamaru and his ninja squad. Thinking about it, the old man did look a lot like the Hokage at the time...
  • The Oz Kids has a cameo from The Brave Little Toaster, having Toaster, Blanky, Radio, Kirby, and Lampy appearing in the Christmas episode “Christmas in Oz”.
  • Daffy Duck cameos in two Bugs Bunny cartoons, "Sahara Hare" and "Apes Of Wrath." Foghorn Leghorn cameos at the end of "False Hare."
  • Chowder frequently has cameos from cartoons and other media, with The Powerpuff Girls having three so far. The first was Mrs. Bellum apparently being The Sarge's blind date in The Hot Date, the second being Bubbles' head in The Heist, and the third being Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup in the form of a bird, a cat, and a pig respectively in Wayne Tootin.
  • Dexter's Laboratory: Fred Flintstone and George Jetson make a brief appearance in "Beard to be Feared". There are also the scenes in "Dad is Disturbed" which feature Betty and Barney Rubble, who are apparently friends of Mom and Dad.
  • Family Guy is absolutely filled with cameo appearances, especially in the Cutaway Gags. Characters from other Seth MacFarlane animations also pop up here, including Steve Smith's fat friend, Barry in fat camp from the episode "Killer Queen".
  • The Flintstones take a trip to Jellyrock Park in the episode Swedish Visitors. They get a surprise visit from Yogi Bear and Boo Boo, who in typical fashion steal the Flintstones' picnic basket.
  • Futurama has had many over the years, but one impressive one is Jonathan Frakes doing a one-line cameo in "Where No Fan Has Gone Before."
    "Yes! Front row!"
    • In the episode Leela and the Genestalk the crew find Jake and Finn trapped in Mom's floating Genetics lab.
    Jake: What time is it?
    Bender: Time for you to shut up!
  • Glitch Techs: Matt "McMuscles" Kowalewski and Pat Boivin, the founding duo of Two Best Friends Play, show up as background characters.
  • Professor Utonium appeared at the end of the The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy episode "My Fair Mandy" as part of the temporal disruption caused after Mandy smiles (she, Billy and Grim became the Powerpuffs).
  • The Head: In the first episode, Butt-Head gives Smithee and Marshall a tape recording of a eyewitness news report involving Roy's attack from earlier in the episode, then he gets kicked out.
  • Jellystone!:
    • Atom Ant appears under a rock Doggie Daddy flips over looking for Auggie in "Gorilla in Our Midst."
    • Fred Flintstone appears as a graphic on a bow-tie in "A Coconut to Remember". He's later depicted with Wilma on the cover of the romance novel Cindy was supposed to read for her book club in "Must Be Jelly".
    • The Clue Club appear briefly in cutaways in "A Coconut to Remember."
    • The Biskitts make a brief cameo, apparently now the namesake of the Biskitt Farms brand of products which includes BBQ sauce and orange juice.
    • "Jelly Wrestle Rumble" has Mighty Mightor as the Funky Phantom's final pre-retirement opponent, as well as Gravity Girl from The Galaxy Trio taking the Phantom away after snapping and almost killing Mightor. In the same episode, Igoo can be seen in a match poster in Huck's wrestling shrine.
    • In the first episode, The Hair Bear Bunch are among the things Yogi devours in his eating binge.
    • Yankee Doodle Pigeon makes brief appearances in a couple of episodes.
  • Justice League Unlimited had Static in the two-part "The Once and Future Thing" alongside Terry, an older Bruce Wayne, and Static, as well as Hal Jordan (as the show used John Stewart as Green Lantern).
  • Molly of Denali: Henry, the tribal chief of Nenana introduced in "Welcome Home Balto," attends the ski meet and cheers for Molly in "Stand Back Up."
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • Little Audrey cameos on the Popeye cartoon "Olive Oyl For President."
    • Betty Boop character Whiffle Piffle appears in the street brawl from "Brotherly Love".
  • The Powerpuff Girls: Dexter made near constant cameos in to the point where it was practically a Running Gag. The fact that the (earlier) art of both shows was done by Craig McCracken, and the two shows are part of a Shared Universe helps.
    • He also made a cameo in the series finale of Time Squad 'Orphan Substitute'.
  • Augie Doggie, Doggie Daddy and Speed Buggy have all had cameos on The Powerpuff Girls. Mac, Bloo and Frankie from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends show up in the 10th anniversary episode "The Powerpuff Girls Rule!"
  • Bugs Bunny, a Warner Bros. character, cameos in the Puppetoons serial "Jasper Goes Hunting" (released by Paramount). In his own Warners universe, Bugs cameos in at least three cartoons with other animated stars.
  • Both Pluto the Pup and Owl have made cameo appearances on Recess, though Pluto only appeared in a dream sequence.
  • Yogi Bear, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm and Suzie Chan show up in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.
  • Skull Island (2023): A Skullcrawler from the MonsterVerse movie Kong: Skull Island cameos at the start of Episode 7.
  • Star Wars:
  • Static Shock had a quite few of them:
    • Both DCAU Batmen (Bruce Wayne and Terry McGinnis) appeared in "Future Shock" (while Batman had a few episodes as well).
    • Superman appeared in "Toyz In the Hood".
    • The rest of the Justice League appeared with Batman and Braniac in the two-part "A League of Their Own".
    • The Joker was in "The Big Leagues," while Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy were in "Hard as Nails."
    • Lil Romeo, Shaquille O'Neal and Karl Malone each was an Ink-Suit Actor in their episodes ("Romeo In The Mix", "Static Shaq" and "Hoop Squad").
      • The other "Hoop Squad" members (Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, and Steve Nash) are voiced by others though.
  • Total Drama:
    • When the series' fourth season, Revenge of the Island, introduced a new batch of contestants, cameos were given to the old contestants, with all 24 appearing together at the start of the season and then Owen, Izzy, Bridgette, Lindsay, Feral Ezekiel, Gwen, Duncan, Heather, and DJ all getting their own extended cameos in the episodes afterwards. Additionally, Season 5, All-Stars, gave some more cameos to Izzy, Feral Ezekiel, and Owen.
    • In the spinoff Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race, the final episode has cameos from Anne Maria, Chris McLean, and Blaineley all in New York (although the latter two have their faces obscured, with Blaineley wearing pink instead of her usual red).
    • The Spinoff Babies series Total DramaRama has done several cameos as well. Ridonculous Race host Don appears as a scientist; Celebrity Man-Hunt co-host Josh cameos as a news reporter as well; Nikki Wong from 6teen appears in a flashback; and kid versions of Trent, Geoff, DJ, and Katie have all made cameos.
  • Turtles Forever, as a special commemorating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' 25th birthday, has a lot of oneshot appearances from characters throughout the franchise's history. One scene alone has Irma, the human forms of Bebop and Rocksteady, and a memorable battle briefly shows Tokka and Rahzar; that's just a few of them. The end of the film even manages to have a Creator Cameo in the form of a "flashback", showing Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird just as they are finishing the very first issue of the TMNT hoping it would sell, literally bringing the series full-circle.
  • Baseball slugger Mike Piazza and the NHL's Brett Hull have appeared in cartoon form as cameos on What's New, Scooby-Doo?
  • Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum:
    • Helen Keller made one in "I Am Alexander Graham Bell", as she is a student in his class.
    • George Washington made one in "I Am Alexander Hamilton."

 
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The Human

During her animal kingdom presentation, Kiff brings up the most unusual and shocking creature known to Table Town - the human.

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Matt Murdock

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The Human

During her animal kingdom presentation, Kiff brings up the most unusual and shocking creature known to Table Town - the human.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (9 votes)

Example of:

Main / HumansAreCthulhu

Media sources:

Report

The Human

Wallace the Win...

Fox Pledge Drive

Sal and Harv

Fred's Dad

The Grimm Attac...

John Ford's Rul...

"Stone Cold" St...

A CDO is three-...

Cure Heart

Pikachu

Cockney-Rhyming...

The Pirate

Choose your nei...

Aloy

Korone in Yokai...

Essence of Conq...

Alan Wake

Hatsune Miku's ...

Matt Murdock

The Eds

"Where have you...

The Perfect Crime

Sonic in Wreck-...

Travis Gets Backup

Bigfoot vs Shrek

Freakazoid, Yak...

Kooslagoopgoop ...

Galactic Counci...

Slender Man in ...

Rebecca Sugar i...

Wile E. Coyote ...

The Mane 6

Bill Cipher in ...

A Captain Meets...

Dexter in Time ...

PPG in Chowder

Rick and Morty

Sonic Reboud [C...

Hank tags in

JVN in Arlo the...

Tiger Electroni...

Rex

Ninja Brian

Peter Falk

James Rolfe [To...

Board James [Ki...

James Rolfe [Su...

P&F - Shaun of ...

JonTron [Of Mur...