Signature Scene

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• Marjan: The 2023 ad is mostly remembered for featuring a giant serpent that wouldn't look out of place in a high fantasy movie despite coming from a syrup advertisement.

• Pucca: The scene when Pucca sits on a bench next to Garu, smudges his cheek with ice cream and cleans it off by kissing him has become so iconic that it has been recreated numerous times throught the franchise's run.

• Academy Awards
  • 1973: Sacheen Littlefeather declining the Best Actor award on behalf of Marlon Brando in protest of Hollywood's history of negative portrayal of Indigenous people. The response from the crowd has been a source of controversy for the Academy for decades.
  • 1997: James Cameron taking Best Picture award and quoting his own movie saying, "I'm the king of the world!" While a bit arrogant, it was an arrogance well earned after his Historical Blockbuster Romance won 11 Academy Awards and forever cemented itself in pop culture and awards history.
  • 2016: Leonardo DiCaprio winning his first Oscar for Best Actor after years of online memes about how he could never get one despite his list of famous roles.
  • 2017: La La Land being erroneously announced as Best Picture when in actuality Moonlight (2016) won. The fact that this occurred not long after Steve Harvey made a similar mistake at the Miss Universe competition made it even more memorable.
  • 2021: Anthony Hopkins's upset win for Best Actor after the entire event was set up to make it seem like the late Chadwick Boseman would recieve it (to the point of making it the final award of the night).
  • 2022: Will Smith slapping Chris Rock for making an insensitive joke about his wife's alopecia and yelling "Keep my wife's name out of your fucking mouth!" This was the first time in the show's history that such an act of violence occurred on stage, let alone on live television. The incident would lead to a backlash against Smith, who resigned from AMPAS as a result.
• Daytime Emmy Awards 1999: Susan Lucci finally winning the statue for "Best Leading Actress" after 19 nominations, and the ensuing two minute roaring standing ovation that accompanied it.

  Shemar Moore: And the outstanding diva is...(opens the envelope) THE STREAK IS OVER! SUSAN LUCCI!!!

• The Game Awards
  • 2015: Geoff Keighley announcing that Konami had legally barred Hideo Kojima from attending the show. With the cancellation of P.T still fresh in people's minds, this incident only served to sour the studio's reputation further.
  • 2018: The announcement of Joker as the first Challenger Pack DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Not only did this catch the audience and viewers by complete surprise, but this is the first time a new character was announced at the event, as well as post-launch DLC content being confirmed mere hours before the game even released.
  • 2022: The infamous "Reformed Orthodox Rabbi Bill Clinton" incident where then 15-year old Matan Even take advantage of the moment to blend in with the Fromsoft's rep team up to the stage and later 'thanking' the aforementioned Bill Clinton ^note  Which is even more bizarre than it seems. Reformed and Orthodox Judaism are polar opposites, and Clinton's a Baptist Christian has become one of the memorable moments that ever happened in the Game Awards, with some viewers citing that he's the only reason why people ever remembered TGA 2022 in the first place. Matan himself was apprehended by the organizers shortly after and is banned from attending any future Game Awards events, with Geoff promising tighter security across the venue from now on.
  • 2023: New Blood Interactive CEO Dave Oshry posting a picture of a teleprompter displaying the message "Please Wrap It Up" during an acceptance speech. This decision to rush through every speech, likely a result of Christopher Judge's lengthy acceptance speech the year prior, was widely criticized in the immediate aftermath, and continued being mocked into the following year's show.
• Grammy Awards 1990: Milli Vanilli winning Best New Artist. Only made memorable once the two were exposed for lip-synching all of their music and having them subsequently stripped.
• MTV Video Music Awards
  • 2001: Britney Spears exotic performance of "Slave 4 U", particularly the moment of her dancing with a Boa Constrictor around her neck. Often ranked and voted the sexiest and most iconic moment from the heyday of the awards.
  • 2009: Taylor Swift winning the award for Best Female Video, only to be interrupted by Kanye West. While already seen by much of America in a negative light, this act only made that reputation worse. Even Barack Obama famously called him a Jackass.
  • 2013: Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's performance of "We Can't Stop" and "Blurred Lines", where various sex acts were imitated. It was a complete shock to everyone who remembered Miley as a family-friendly pop star, and kickstarted her brief period of branching off to more risqué content.

DC Comics

• Animal Man turning back and looking directly at the reader, with horriffied expression, screaming "I can see you!" from Grant Morrison run - the moment in which the series fully begins exploring the concept of the Fourth Wall and all Fridge Horror that comes with it..
• Batman jumping through the rain in The Dark Knight Returns. The first true visual of Batman in the comic book, the image was so well put together, it was made the cover of the trade.
• Bane breaking Batman's back in Knightfall. One of the most iconic comic book panels of all time, a major point in Batman's publication history, and Bane's defining moment, to the point that the feat is repeated in The Dark Knight Rises.
• Countdown To Infinite Crisis: The dramatic last moments of Ted Kord. When offered a chance to join Maxwell Lord in controlling the world, his defiant last words are to tell him to "Rot in Hell!"
• Final Crisis: The entire universe under the control of Darkseid. With his Anti-Life equation finally found and propagated throughout the known universe, Darkseid makes his proclamation as The New God and how all will "DIE. DIE FOR DARKSEID!"
• Green Arrow: From the Hard Travelin' Heroes arc, Ollie finding out his sidekick Speedy has become addicted to Heroin. Another kick in the teeth of the Comics Code on DC's side, and a defining moment for Roy Harper and Ollie's relationship as they would never quite be the same after the tension created from this moment.
• Hellblazer: From the end of Dangerous Habits arc - John Constantine tricking First of the Fallen and his two biggest rivals in Hell to all lay claim to his soul, forcing them to cure his lung cancer to avoid having to go to war over it when he dies, then flipping them off as he walks away. This is the moment that defined John as a Guile Hero, and some version of it eventually finds a way into most adaptations.
• Supergirl:
  • Supergirl flying out of her space rocket in the cover of The Supergirl From Krypton (1959) has been paid tribute to, referenced and parodied countless times.
  • The cover of Supergirl (1982) #19 in which Supergirl fights Supergirl has been referenced several times.
  • Superman holding Supergirl in his arms in the cover of Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 has been frequently referenced and/or parodied and has sold tons of merchandising.
• Superman:
  • Superman comforting/saving a suicidal teenager in All-Star Superman. Not just for that one comic, but considered by many to be a perfect encapsulation of everything that makes Superman awesome.
  • Superman's closing speech to Manchester Black about why he lives the way he does in "What's so funny about Truth, Justice and the American Way". After defeating Manchester and his team of Anti-Hero pastiches of The Authority, Manchester that Superman's a fool, and that if he thinks it's over, he's "Living in a bloody dream world." Superman's response is the encapsulation of why his way matters. "Good. Dreams save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us into something better. And on my soul, I swear until my dream of a world where Truth, Honor, and Dignity are the reality we all share, I'll never stop fighting. Ever.”
• Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, with all the Titans captured by Deathstroke and Terra's hands. A devastating low for the New Teen Titans run, but also a sign of the heights Marv Wolfman was willing to take the comic to. The arc would become the most famous Titans story ever.

Marvel Comics

• Civil War (2006):
  • The infamous tie in issue where Sally Floyd accuses Steve Rogers of being out of touch with modern American values. The issue was disliked by many readers, who felt it was Dramatically Missing the Point about how idealism should be let go of in the face of changing times. In a way, a symptom of the problems with turning this event into the end all be all of Marvel for a year.
  • The image of Iron Man firing repulsor blasts against Captain America holding his shield blocking it. An iconic image from near the end of the story showing how far things had fallen between heroes. Something that would be borrowed in the movie.
• Iron Man: Tony Stark staring at a glass of liquor while wearing his Iron Man suit. As part of the growing Bronze Age of comics, the writer of Iron Man decided to add a decidedly human flaw to this playboy millionaire hero: alcoholism. Something which would define the character thereafter with his struggles and triumphs over his drinking problem through the modern era.
• Secret Wars (1984):
  • The scene and the cover of Secret Wars #4 showing Hulk holding atop a mountain barely above his shoulders and protecting the other heroes from being crushed. This scene is so iconic that it was paid homage in Avengers: Endgame.
  • Spider-Man getting the Alien Costume, and of course the legendary cover of Secret Wars #8 which is much homaged and parodied and widely considered the image of the series.
• Spider-Man:
  • The death of Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #121, notable for the much-debated SNAP! sound effect and the final panels with Spider-Man holding Gwen's body. This moment in general is one of the signature scenes in all of comics as there had never been a death as big as Gwen's, the Hero's Principle Love Interest, in any Comic Storyline up to that point and was a significant change in the landscape of the medium, as many stated it singlehandedly ushered in the end of the Silver-Age of Comics.
  • The infamous One More Day, that featured Peter and Mary Jane selling their marriage to Mephisto to save Aunt May's life. Still to this day it's considered the worst and most nonsensical moment in all of Spider-Man canon.
• Ultimate Marvel:
  • The "Freaky Friday" Flip crossover between Spider-Man and Wolverine, for not only cementing how Ultimate Spider-Man differs from the rest of the Ultimate Universe in being less of a jerk but for his memetic comment about how the Ultimate X-Men are disliked not for being mutants but for being jerks.
  • The scene in Ultimatum where the Blob bites a chunk out of the Wasp's ribcage while commenting that it tastes like chicken, is the proverbial image for the entire universe's tendency for Gorn and gratuitous Character Death.
  • The climactic fight between the Ultimates and the Liberators, specifically for showcasing almost every hero in Ultimate Marvel up to that point. It's even used as the page image for Ultimate Marvel itself.
• X-Men: "Days of Future Past" has both the moment where the future X-Men are massacred by the Sentinels and the cover◊ of "Uncanny X-Men" #141 which depicts an aged Wolverine protecting an adult Kitty Pryde as a poster of various captured and killed X-Men lies plastered on a wall behind them. It's one of the most homaged shots in comic history.

Other Comics

• Blake and Mortimer: Blake and Mortimer on the cover of The Yellow "M" has become so iconic that it inspired many parodies and homages.
• Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW)
  • Sinister Silhouettes of various beloved characters - from series originals, Tangle and Jewel, through fan-favorites like Big, Charmy, Vector or Vanilla, to even Shadow himself - now turned into Zombots, from the end of issue #25. Not only has this image become the symbol of the book's scarier moments (even sitting atop the series Nightmare Fuel page), but it also perfectly captures why the Metal Virus is considered one of darkest, if not the darkest story in the whole Sonic franchise.
  • "You've played yourself'' in issue #50 - where it seems like Doctor Starline has defeated Eggman and cemented the takeover of his empire, Eggman emerges unscratched, and, with a sadistic grin, explains how he Out-Gambitted Starline and crushes him and his plans in just few pages, reminding everyone why he's Sonic Arch-Enemy. The scene gained popularity even outside of comic fandom, as one of best Eggman moments in the whole franchise.
• SpongeBob Comics:
  • "The Consumer is Always Right" from Annual Super-Giant Swimtacular No. 3 is quite popular on social media, due to the inherent strangeness of SpongeBob doing a Whole-Plot Reference to Nineteen Eighty-Four. It helps that it's a pretty good pastiche in its own right.
  • One of the most popular scenes from the comic is "Not-So Great Expectations" from Issue 44, for the heartwarming ending, and is commonly posted online. SpongeBob invites Squidward to a theme park called Blockville, and Squidward only agrees to go so he can secretly relish SpongeBob's disappointment. It is indeed an awful theme park. The staff are rude, all the rides are closed except for one that breaks, and they're all out of confectionary. But SpongeBob has the time of his life and at the end, he explains why: because he gets to spend the day with his friend. Squidward is so touched by this that he's moved to tears.
• Transformers
  • The Transformers (IDW) has two, back to back - the confrontation between Optimus and Megatron in issue #22, in which Megatron lays out his ruthless philosophy of "peace through tyranny", and Optimus' speech to the Senate, in which he reclaims and redefines the title of Autobot, an issue later. Not only both of these scenes became influential to the rest of IDW's Transformers going forward, but they're also considered some of the most iconic moments for each respective character in all of Transformers media.
  • The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye:
    • Season 1: "Senator Shockwave" from issue #11, where we see mysterious Senator, who served as The Mentor to Orion Pax, is revealed to have been Canon Character All Along, just as we get a splash page of him being subjected to horrifical procedures that will turn him into the monstrous villain we already knew him as. Not only was this an extremely shocking moment to the fans, but it gave Shockwave an extra layer of depth, that helped pave the way to him becoming argurably most important character of this entire continuity.
    • Season 2: Megatron and Ravage's conversation from issue #32, which reveals the former's Heel Realization and, for the first time made readers question whenever he could find redemption, which became defining trait of this version of Megatron and influenced many others going forward.
  • Transformers (2023): Optimus Prime steps out to admire the beauty of earth, only to accidentally step on a deer, sending him immediately into mourning for the creature. Some readers found it a kind of unintentional Dark Humor, but the scene itself is a pivotal moment for this version of Optimus. As he comes to truly realize how fragile organic life is compared to cybertronians. This gives him the motivation to "be strong enough to be gentle", which would forever color his actions in the series to come.

• In the Moomin comics, the final panel of the "Moomin and the Martians" arc, where Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden hug, is considered one of the most iconic images in the Moomin franchise. This is thanks to the scene being printed on one of the collectible Moomin mugs, known as the "Love" mug, which then went on to become one of the best-selling pieces of Moomin merchandise thanks to the heartwarming imagery.

• Whenever readers thought of the Dark Fic of Digimon Adventure 02 Digimon Adventure 02: The Story We Never Told, it will always be the moment when Ken dies mostly due to the fact that almost no readers ever saw it coming.
• Dragon Ball Z Abridged: Future Trunks finding Gohan's corpse in Future of Trunks, thanks to being played completely straight.
• How I Became Yours:
  • The scene in which Katara bloodbends Mai to death in broad daylight, doing something that is not only fairly morally questionable, but seen as impossible^note Bloodbending is an advanced form of waterbending that requires a powerful (and unscrupulous) waterbender performing it under ideal conditions- night and the full moon at least until Legend of Korra.
  • Earlier on, the scene in which Zuko confronts Mai about hiding the existence of his and Katara's child and divorces her. One reason it's memorable is because while Zuko is supposed to be right and Mai is supposed to be wrong, Mai makes arguments that the child's existence could lead to a scandal, while Zuko shoves Mai to the ground and divorces her, giving an indication of the comic's Protagonist-Centered Morality. The other reason it's memorable is Mai infamously insulting Zuko as a "chard monster," and Zuko getting uncharacteristically angry about his burn scar being mocked.
• Intercom
  • Riley draws the emotions to get an idea what they're like. Finally securing that the emotions aren't just a surprise for Riley's future. They're now going to become her friends.
  • Riley creating the first White memories. It was the first unique piece of worldbuilding built into the story. Having Riley do something in her mind that hadn't been done on screen yet, and showing the wonder and surprise of allowing her to Conscious Tamper.
  • The emotions talk about their perspective on the movie, and how much this hurt Riley. Described as the end of Act I of the story, this forever changed Riley's relationship with her emotions, and exposed a deeper truth: Riley blames herself for even trying to run away. Several reviewers talked about crying reading this scene, making it highly memorable.
• Kingdom Hearts: The Antipode:
  • The ending of Act 1, where Riku decides to leave the Door to Darkness open in favour of searching for Sora. This is the moment where the story diverges completely from The Stations of the Canon and takes off in its own unique direction.
  • The Final Battle of Fragmented Truths. Riku has an emotional confrontation with Riku Replica within Castle Oblivion in the culmination of the latter's struggles throughout the story. As they fight, the scenery around them morphs into different locations from their memories and as the castle crumbles around them, the area turns into an Amazing Technicolor Battlefield. Meanwhile, Roxas reluctantly fights Kairi, Donald and Goofy to prevent them from interfering. Kairi even summons her Keyblade in an awesome moment.
  • The Climax Boss of The Year Between, which serves as the conclusion to Riku Replica's arc. After several chapters worth of buildup, Xigbar and Demyx launch an attack on Disney Town during the Dream Festival to strongarm the heroes into rebrandishing their Keyblades. In this battle is where the Replica finally overcomes his identity crisis and adopts the name "Xiruk".
  • The Reveal in All That's Left, where it becomes apparent that Xemnas is actually Terra's Nobody, left a broken shell of a man after breaking free from Xehanort's control.
• When people hear of the infamous Harry Potter fanfic My Immortal, chances are they think of Dumbledor catching Ebony and Draco having sex and him yelling “What the hell are you doing here, you motherfuckers!”
• Sword Art Online Abridged:
  • Episode 4's version of the Mugging the Monster moment from the original show, in which Kirito goes Laughing Mad and gives an A God Am I speech, is cited by Something Witty Entertainment as "the scene" that sold viewers on their take on Kirito.
  • Episode 8 has the often-quoted "No More Holding Back" Speech that displays Abridged Kirito's Character Development. "Ya know something? I really. Hate. People..."
  • Episode 11 has Kirito's duel with Heathcliff, set to the season's title theme, "This is War." Or as viewers have commented, "they out-anime'd the original anime."
  • Episode 17 has two moments that epitomize the Fix Fic elements of Season Two. First, the notorious scene in which Asuna is molested by tentacle monsters becomes the culmination of her Adaptational Badass moments throughout the season, edited so that her captors are the ones panicking from being forced into a confrontation with someone who repeatedly escapes from her cell and brutalizes them, and Asuna is able to intimidate one of her recurring victims to the point that he tries to let her go. Second has the Internal Reveal of Leafa/Suguha's identity to Kirito/Kazuto and her subsequent teary breakdown - played sincerely by her voice actress - not over her canonical Big Brother Attraction, but over the Freudian Excuse hinted at over the previous episodes that turns out to have defined the siblings' relationship, Suguha's characterization, and even how Kazuto behaves online.
• Ellsee dancing out her frustrations is the most viewed Vast Error clip with 1.7 million views on YouTube. It's liked for its catchy song, fun animation, and that it can be enjoyed without context or knowing about the plot.
• The final boss of The Halloween Hack, where Dr. Andonuts starts swearing up a storm as "Megalovania" kicks in.

• From Aardman Animations:
  • A Grand Day Out has the famous "Building the Rocket" scene, which introduced the world to Wallace & Gromit.
  • The Wrong Trousers has two:
    • The Rube Goldberg Machine that is Wallace's morning routine. A perfect Establishing Character Moment for the cheese-loving Bungling Inventor.
    • The Chase between Gromit and Feathers McGraw... taking place entirely on toy train tracks. Often cited as one of Aardman's finest pieces of animation, and indeed one of the most famous Stop Motion Animation sequences ever made by anybody.
  • Chicken Run:
    • The opening, setting up the film's nature as an Affectionate Parody of The Great Escape... with chickens.
    • The big Creation Sequence, in which the chickens work together to turn their coops into a pedal-powered plane on which they finally escape Tweedy's Farm, all set to the epic "Building The Crate".
• Allegro non Troppo: The Boléro segment, particularly the shot of the soda bottle. The segment was frequently shown stand-alone, and was featured on many covers for the film.
• Castle in the Sky: Pazu's first encounter with Sheeta, with Sheeta slowly floating down towards him while unconscious, is the most well-known scene in the film, enough to where artwork of it was used as the DVD and Blu-ray's cover more than once.
• Dot and the Kangaroo: The Bunyip Song. With its frightening visuals, downbeat instrumentation, and lyrics about how the Bunyip is "the most unpleasant monster that you have ever seen" and is "going to get you in the Bunyip moon", this sequence has terrified generations of Aussie children unlucky enough to see it. That being said, it is still generally regarded as being one of the most memorable parts of the movie.
• Disney Animated Canon:
  • Aladdin:
    • The "Friend Like Me" number contrasts to most of the other songs from the movie (and company!) with its Denser and Wackier tone, but it also fully establishes the Genie as the most fun and most unique character of the entire movie. As some have analyzed, this scene was much closer to a Looney Tunes short in terms of energy, but it also solidified the movie as a proto-DreamWorks movie, with many animated movies in the decades after Aladdin came out adopting a similar style.
    • "A Whole New World" is regarded as one of the most well-known Disney songs ever, and the Signature Song of the entire film. This is largely due to its breathtaking visuals, the Falling-in-Love Montage of Aladdin and Jasmine, and the captivating lyrics.
  • Bambi: The death of Bambi's mother, notable for being one of the studio's earliest big tearjerkers along with the Disney Death of Snow White, and being the first character in a major animated picture to die for real, and has been often parodied alot for reasons.
  • Beauty and the Beast: Belle and the Beast's dance in the ballroom to the eponymous song. A kind of culmination of them learning to love each other, along with a stunning mix of computer imagery and traditional animation, only heightened the experience. It also helped solidify "Beauty and the Beast" as the musical's Signature Song. In particular, there's the sweeping shot of the "camera" panning down from the ceiling to the floor to below Belle and the Beast; angles like this had never been seen in an animated film before.
  • The Black Cauldron features The Horned King awakening the terrifying Cauldron Born from the titular Black Cauldron. A sequence so trippy and shocking, it earned Disney its first PG rating.
  • Chicken Little (2005) has Runt and Abby singing a karaoke version of "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls, which sticks out in people's minds because it comes out of nowhere even by the film's standards. It's only not a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment because Chicken Little has to interrupt them to talk about the high-tech piece of the sky that fell into his room.
  • Cinderella (1950): The transformation of Cinderella's dress, which was Walt's favorite piece of animation in the history of the company under his tenure to the day he died.
  • Disney Fairies: In the first film, Tinker Bell's arrival scene where she receives her tinker-talent hammer and it glows blindingly bright in her hands. This is a sign that she will become exceptionally adept at tinkering, which is very important to her character throughout the film series.
  • Dumbo: Has two. One is the "Baby Mine" scene, where Dumbo's caged mother sings to comfort her lonely calf, for the sheer emotion on display. This is followed immediately by "Pink Elephants On Parade", where Dumbo drinks water laced with alcohol and bears witness to one of the most infamous Mushroom Samba sequences in the company's history, absolutely loaded with Deranged Animation.
  • Encanto: "We don't talk about Bruno". Mirabel's search for answers lead her to the black sheep of the family, and this song which talks all about him, even though "we don't talk about Bruno". Unexpectedly viral upon release, this song's clever composition, and its status as essentially the first full ensemble piece in the movie, it caught ears and eyes as one of the most memorable songs of the movie.
  • From Fantasia, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" sequence staring Mickey Mouse is the most recognized. Mickey’s outfit from the short has become iconic and has made many appearances since then. Likewise, Sorcerer Yen Sid has become a recurring character in Disney media in his own right, most notably in the Kingdom Hearts series.
    • While not quite as recognized, "Night on Bald Mountain" is considered one of the darkest and most memorable scenes in Disney history, featuring the Satanic Archetype Chernabog playing with the dead, corrupting beauty, and torturing souls with dramatic and horrific animation.
  • Fantasia 2000: "Pines of Rome": Among the new numbers, this surprisingly majestic number featured flying whales that made for one of the more unique experiences in the movie.
  • Frozen: "Let It Go", both for being backed by an iconic song and for its gorgeous CGI-rendered ice. It's actually the song that changed the entire plot of the movie, as Idina Menzel's vulnerable yet enthusiastic performance ended up turning her from the Big Bad into a tragic character meant to grow alongside her sister.
  • The Great Mouse Detective: The climactic battle in Big Ben, which used a computer-animation technique to render the gears in one of its earliest uses in an animated film.
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney): Frollo's Villain Song "Hellfire", really establishes why Frollo is such a terrifying Disney antagonist.
  • Hercules (1997): The battle with the Hydra. It's the midpoint of the movie, and it's the Super-Strength hero's first serious challenge. Its CGI was impressive at the time and still holds up today to some degree, and despite the panic and thrill of the atmosphere, it ends with a glorious musical sequence that signifies Herc's second big step towards becoming a true hero.
  • Lady and the Tramp has the scene where the dogs are eating spaghetti together and bite down on the same strand, resulting in an Accidental Kiss. The scene endeared itself to everyone so much that it tends to be the one that gets parodied whenever a work makes a shout-out to Lady and the Tramp, and it's a trope on this wiki.
  • The Lion King (1994):
    • The very first shot of the entire movie: a sunrise over the African savanna. Combined with the Oscar-nominated "Circle of Life" and breathtaking visuals, it's one of the most famous openings in all of Disney animation, and establishes the story's grandiose story and tone right from the start. Rafiki presenting the baby Simba to the animals of the Pride Lands as the music swells triumphantly is just as iconic. In fact, the entire "Circle of Life" sequence forms one of the movie's first trailers in its entirety.
    • Scar's Villain Song "Be Prepared" for the creepy visuals including Nazi Hyenas, and tearing the mask off of Scar to show his true character as a power hungry, but charismatic villain.
    • Mufasa's death for Disney's biggest Tear Jerker since Bambi's mom.
  • The Little Mermaid (1989):
    • The "Part of Your World" reprise sequence, where Ariel homages the "Little Mermaid" statue in Copenhagen as waves crash majestically behind her.
    • The storm sequence, a moment that had been in the Disney Archive since Walt's era, and which inspired the entire picture.
  • Peter Pan (1953): The "You Can Fly" sequence. It's the most famous song of the film, features some extremely advanced animation for the time, and sets the tone of wonder and excitement that pervades the rest of the movie. In particular the scene of Peter and the Darlings launching off the hands of Big Ben towards Neverland has remained a staple in montages depicting the charm and magic of Disney.
  • Pocahontas: The "Colors of the Wind" sequence. Like with The Lion King, the animators knew how pivotal this moment would be; one of the trailers was nothing but the song and animation in an abridged form.
  • The Princess and the Frog: The "Friends on the Other Side" sequence. Keith David's big Villain Song, it's a swinging, spooky, visually stunning number that makes the crucial plot step of creating the eponymous frog, and serves as Dr. Facilier's Establishing Character Moment.
  • Sleeping Beauty (1959):
    • Like Snow White before her, Aurora, the titular Sleeping Beauty, receiving True Love's Kiss from Phillip is just as romantic and famous.
    • Before that, however, when speaking of Disney Climaxes, you'll find few as iconic as Phillip's battle with Maleficent in her dragon form.
    • Likewise the long, wide shot of Aurora and Phillip dancing along the lakeside, and the pastels of the Tapestry inspired background is among the most famous moments, when speaking of Disney Princesses.
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is iconic in general as the first fully animated motion pictures ever made, but if one single moment is to be highlighted from the film, it's the sequence where the Prince comes and delivers True Love's Kiss to Snow White, reviving her and setting the standard of One True Love in cinema. Also well-known is the scene where the dwarfs mourn the apparent death of Snow White, proving right off the bat that animation could be use to evoke sadness as well as joy, laughter, and fear. Snow White's Disney Death is so iconic, it kickstarted the tradition of "fake deaths" in future animated media.
• DreamWorks Animation
  • Fans generally agree on the scene in How to Train Your Dragon (2010) where Hiccup flies Toothless for the first time being a highlight of the movie.
  • Kung Fu Panda 1: Po and Shifu's chopstick fight. Po needed to be trained to gain the confidence and skill to defeat Tai Lung, and after a dedicated Training Montage, this was a showcase of how far Po had come under Shifu's unconventional training tactics. But even more than that, it's a creative fight sequence that caused audiences to break out into cheers during the early screenings of the movie.
  • Shrek:
    • Many a meme has been made from the opening scene in the first film, showing Shrek emerging from an outhouse and going through his morning routine, all set to "All-Star" by Smash Mouth.
    • Shrek 2: The "I Need A Hero" cover serving as the dramatic final act set piece as Shrek and his allies try to get into the castle of Far Far Away. A great use of thematic contrast as the Fairy Godmother sings about needing a hero to sweep her off her feet and her skepticism in Shrek being worthy of a happy ever after. And yet, Shrek and team's heroic struggle truly proves that his love for Fiona is worth being a hero for. A highly memorable scene that is well remembered for its dramatic stakes and great musical accompaniment.
    • Puss in Boots: The Last Wish:
    • The Wolf's first appearance, and the following vicious Curb-Stomp Battle where he absolutely trashes Puss, makes him bleed, orders Puss to pick up his sword when he disarms him, and makes him run away in fear. The scene took viewers by surprise because it's a huge Mood Whiplash, both in the context of the movie and in the context of the Shrek saga, because of the Wolf's intimidating presence and the intense fight in which Puss actually bleeds from a small cut. The blood itself has become famous for being truly shocking for most viewers, who believed it to be gag involving jam until proven otherwise, and there's reports of audiences gasping when they realize it's actual blood.
    • In a movie full of memorable action sequences, the one scene everyone talks about is the relatively quiet one of Puss having an anxiety attack, due to how realistically it is portrayed.
• Spirited Away: The train ride is the most iconic scene in the movie as it's the most talked about scene; many praise it for its serenity and soundtrack.
• The animated film Felidae is largely known only for the very explicit, shocking, and disgusting sex scene between two minimally anthropomorphic cartoon cats. To a lesser extent, it's known for its most gory scenes, such as the one with the disemboweled pregnant cat or the dismembered head of another cat.
• The Iron Giant: The titular character's climactic Heroic Sacrifice. After seeing on screen how destructive the giant could be, he gives Hogarth a Meaningful Echo and flies up to the atmosphere to make sure no humans die for their stupidity, proclaiming that he's Superman and doing good rather than following his violent programming.
• Kim Possible: So the Drama: Kim and Ron's Dance of Romance at the end of the movie, in which they have their First Kiss and complete their Relationship Upgrade as an Official Couple. The entire show up to that point, not just the movie, was building up to that moment. It's so iconic that it was made part of the final season's opening.
• KPop Demon Hunters: The opening scene where HUNTR/X fights demons aboard their plane before descending to the concert stage, all while singing "How It's Done". The scene serves as an Establishing Character Moment for the Girl Group, showing how good they are at hunting demons and protecting their fans.
• My Neighbor Totoro: The scene with Satsuki meeting Totoro at the bus stop is popular enough to have resulted in several parodies specifically being shout-outs to that scene. It's also been used as the DVD cover at least once.
• The Nightmare Before Christmas: We have Jack during "Jack's Lament," singing atop the curled hill in the graveyard during a full moon. It's the image most often used for the cover of any home-release edition.
• Pixar:
  • Cars:
    • Cars 1:
    • The opening championship race has two scenes, the first being Lightning McQueen flying over the large wreckage of race cars, the second being the three-way tie between Lightning, Chick Hicks, and Strip Weathers. The latter scene started to gain traction after many compared to a Real Life finish at a 2024 NASCAR race at Atlanta.
    • Doc Hudson driving on Willy's Butte and executing the perfect drift, showing how much of a Retired Badass he is as well as showing the audience how much he misses racing.
    • Cars 2: The airport fight scene between Finn McMissile and the Lemons, which was first shown in the trailers. It helps tell the audience that this sequel will be more action-packed than the last film.
    • Cars 3: Lightning's crash at the start of the film, which helped set the scene on his struggle with trying to keep up with the next gen racers. The scene was also used in the film's teaser trailer and poster.
  • Coco
    • Miguel strumming the skull guitar and marigold petals surrounding him. The beginning of the journey for Miguel, and the first stunning visual of the movie connected to Miguel's personal journey as he "crosses over" into the land of the dead.
    • Miguel seeing the Land of the Dead for the first time. With over 100 layers of animated design for what was essentially a Freeze-Frame Bonus establishing shot of the new setting, it was incredibly beautiful and something animation nerds and audiences quickly remembered. Especially as it was used for the closing shot of the first trailer.
    • Miguel singing "Remember Me" to Mama Coco. The capstone for both the plot and the emotional journey Miguel went on, it came all the way back to the girl for whom all the songs and stories were really for. And capturing the quiet beauty of sharing a special song with someone you love. Particularly in how it jogs Coco's memories and secures Hector's life.
  • Finding Nemo: Marlin riding with sea turtles on the East Australian Current. After going through all kinds of turmoil and challenges, these kindly sea reptiles provide Marlin and Dory a true chance to just rest and enjoy the ride. Giving Marlin an alternate way to think about parenting, and beginning to spread his legend as not just a fish on a journey, but a heroic figure in his search for his son. The scene worked so well that Crush was put on the original DVD cover alongside the main duo rather than Nemo or any of the other characters.
  • Inside Out: Sadness works with Riley's memories after returning home. Though done through the lens of the end of a fantastical journey, the stark reality of the scene is just a girl confessing to her parents how sad she's really been, and the subsequent comfort given to her. A quiet and cathartic scene that emphasizes the Central Theme about what it means to feel all your emotions.
  • Inside Out 2:
    • The core emotions being taken aback by Anxiety's sudden arrival, which became the biggest meme in the series so far.
    • Above all else, Riley's anxiety attack in the climax due to Anxiety stirring up a whirlwind on the control panel is the scene that's discussed the most because of how accurately it depicts this.
  • Monsters, Inc.: The Door storage area. The big set piece of the movie, featuring plenty of fun animation transitions as Mike and Sulley run from Randall and try to reach Boo's door.
  • Monsters University: The Lake scene. In a fun, bombastic story about college through a monster's lens, this quiet scene between Mike and Sulley is a gut punch of devastating effect as Mike finally has to come to grips with the reality that he cannot become what he dreamed of. And at his lowest moment, Sulley in turn shares about how he feels no different from him despite seemingly having all the advantages he lacked. A Hard Truth Aesop spelled out, and in a movie that some thought was average, quickly became THE scene remembered from the story.
  • Ratatouille: Anton Ego eating Remy's Ratatouille and his subsequent flashback to his childhood, for being an emotional high point for the film and showing an excellent example of a previously cold character warming up almost instantly to the hero, to the point where it's one of the most iconic Pixar scenes, period.
  • Toy Story:
    • The first movie has Woody and Buzz triumphantly flying, or, as Buzz puts it, "falling with style", a scene that shows up a lot in animation-related montages, including many Disney advertisements.
    • Jessie's backstory in Toy Story 2, told through the song "When She Loved Me", is considered one of the more heartwrenching scenes in the series, and the first Pixar scene to have really left moviegoers crying their eyes out, and has stuck with more than a few people.
    • In Toy Story 3, there's a scene where the toys nearly get destroyed in an incinerator, and after that is Andy saying good-bye to Woody. Both are considered yet more scenes that demonstrate Pixar can leave more of an emotional impression on you than you'd expect from talking toys.
  • Turning Red: The scene where Mei shouts "AWOOGA!!" is iconic enough to have been incorporated into the official talking toy of Panda Mei.
  • The first ten minutes of Up chronicling Carl and Ellie's life together. Widely regarded as one of the biggest Tear Jerkers in any Pixar film, both it and its accompanying song were so acclaimed they almost overshadowed the rest of the movie.
  • Similarly, the first fifteen minutes of WALL•E. Where the only sounds used in the movie is the soundtrack to Hello, Dolly!, background score, and some sound effects for Wall-E and HAL. Many called it a coup for Pixar to basically do a kind of silent movie for the introduction of the main character through nothing but actions, establishing shots and visual storytelling. So much so that some even call what came afterwards almost a letdown once it brought in more speaking parts or a new setting.
• Pinocchio: A True Story: The scene where Cat just shoots Pinocchio is widely regarded as establishing just how insane the movie is.
• Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night: The scene where Pinocchio watches a puppet show, and is then lured and subsequentially turned back into a puppet against his will by the puppeteer, due to its surprising amount of Nightmare Fuel in comparison to the rest of the film.
• The Polar Express has the scene where Hero Boy discovers the Polar Express has arrived at his house, which has been recreated in numerous marketing campaigns.
• Rankin/Bass Productions Christmas specials:
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964): Rudolph finally earning his happy ending and leading Santa's team of reindeer. Earlier in the special, Rudolph's first encounter with Clarice during at the reindeer games and Clarice singing "There's Always Tommorow" to cheer up Rudolph.
  • The Little Drummer Boy: The climactic moment when Aaron plays his drum for the baby Jesus.
  • Frosty the Snowman: Frosty exclaiming "Happy birthday!" as he comes to life, and his later Disney Death, with Karen sobbing over his watery remains.
  • The Year Without a Santa Claus: Snow Miser and Heat Miser's "I Am" Songs.
  • Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey: The Heroic Sacrifice of Nestor's mother, who freezes to death as she shields her son from a blizzard with her body.
• Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure: The scene with the Greedy is often called the most memorable scene in the movie due to being so bizarrely terrifying and gorgeously animated.
• Sausage Party:
  • The kitchen massacre scene where Camille slaughters the food in its entirety, due to it being highlighted in the trailers and for being a Surprisingly Creepy Moment.
  • The orgy scene, infamous for marking the film, for better or for worse, as an Animated Shock Comedy of the highest calibur.
• Scooby-Doo:
  • Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase: Mystery Inc. meets themselves. While the movie in of itself was more of a light hearted pseudo globe trotting adventure to contrast with the movies that came before it, this scene came out of nowhere as an unexpected event where they'd get to do a 2-part team up for what was to come.
  • Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur: Shaggy utterly trashing a biker gang, as it single-handedly launched the "Ultra Instinct Shaggy" meme and led to the creation of MultiVersus.
  • Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!: The scene where Velma admits to Daphne that she's crushing on Coco, as it is the first time Velma is explicitly portrayed as lesbian.
  • Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island: Fred trying to unmask one of the zombies, stating all the current suspects it could be. The other gang members keep repudiating these claims, ending in Fred pulling the head off! And saying, "Well maybe it's... REAL???" Given that the formula for Scooby-Doo was usually to have an extra party that wasn't suspected at first, this is where the Plot Twist of the entire story was building to: real monsters and ghosts on the island. A surprise for sure when it came out, and tonally different from several of the other times this happened to the gang in other series. It's a thrilling scene that bent the third act in a totally different direction with the gang's threat being VERY real.
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: The iconic "Leap of Faith" scene, where Miles Morales fully embraces being Spider-Man and leaps off a building in his new costume as "What's Up Danger" plays. The movie's creators said it was one of the first animated scenes of the character, intended to showcase how he moved, before evolving into a showcase of his growth in the movie.
• The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie has two scenes many people remember from it: the scene where SpongeBob and Patrick ride across the ocean with help from David Hasselhoff, and a little later when SpongeBob uses the power of rock to break everyone's mind control bucket helmets and save the day.
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie:
  • Bowser playing piano and singing about Peach quickly became one of the most memorable sights in the film, with many people meming the stuffing out of it not long after the film debuted.
  • The Rainbow Road chase scene is also well remembered for taking a Mario Kart Mythology Gag and turning it into a tense Mad Max-esque chase sequence.
• The Tale of the Princess Kaguya: The scene where Kaguya flees from the palace is considered such; it shows how absolutely breathtaking and wild the animation can be, in addition to showing Kaguya's emotion.
• The Transformers: The Movie: The death of Optimus Prime after his last fight with Megatron, which has become a major Tear Jerker for fans of the original cartoon
• Transformers One: The final breaking of Orion and D-16's friendship. While there was a wide range of emotions and dread in how D-16 was growing more violent and angry, him accidentally shooting Orion who didn't want him to execute Sentinel vigilante style lead to him breaking his last bond of brotherhood with his eyes having now fully turned red. Declaring, "I'm done saving you." as he dropped him down into the core of Cybertron. This was the moment the entire film was building to where Orion and D would lose their friendship and become Optimus and Megatron. And it was handled with such gravitas and proper build up that viewers bought it and declared it the tragic heart of the story.

• The titular character's suicide in Anna Karenina is the most characteristic part of the book.
• The Magic Theatre sequence in Steppenwolf is so far the best known part of the novel for its mysteriousness, inspiring several musicians, such as Todd Rundgren.
• A Song of Ice and Fire:
  • A Game of Thrones: The execution of Eddard Stark. While the story had been all over the place with different Point of View characters, Ned was a part of the first chapter, and one of the few characters with power over and power to (see the analysis on this). While normally this would make him the main character in a fantasy series, his execution instead cemented that G.R.R Martin was interested in telling a different kind of fantasy series where The Good Guys Always Win won't be in effect.
  • A Clash of Kings: Tyrion using Wildfire to blow up Stannis's fleet. A brilliant naval defensive scheme thought up by the acting Hand of the King, the descriptions and aftermath of the scene were played for both shock and horror. And while it couldn't win Tyrion the fight, it bought him enough time to save King's Landing and keep The Lannisters in nominal power of the capital. It helped to cement Tyrion as a fan favorite, and took the war in a direction that meant that the rightful heir of the throne was forced on the defensive after a crushing loss.
  • A Storm of Swords: The Red Wedding. Everyone was tense following Robb Stark's faction after the mess his war for Northern Independence had taken. But this was the final kicker and THE scene of the book: a massacre of his army and generals at what should've been a peace offering to the Freys. A betrayal of the norms in Westeros, and the death of the 2nd major "king" of the War of the Five Kings. It was horrifical, dishonorable, and in the short term it WORKED for all involved. It was also such a brutal chapter that the author himself had to write everything except it first because writing the deaths of so many characters was emotionally draining for GRRM.
• The Dancing Girl of Izu: The hero discovers the titular dancing girl naked in the bath and subsequently finds out she's underage. This revelation is well-known for completely changing the hero's attitude moving forward and casting previous parts of the book in a different light.
• The Golden Demon: Kan'ichi kicking his girlfriend Omiya to the ground. Seeing how loving the former had been to the latter before this break-up scene, it serves to illustrate how deep he's hurt by the latter's betrayal. This scene is so iconic that it serves as the face of the novel, being put on the cover of several editions and the primary result when you type the novel's name in image search engines, and having a statue built out of it as a tourist attraction.
• American Gods: An early vignette features a goddess named Bilquis consuming a man by absorbing him into her vagina during sex. Author Neil Gaiman put it in as a kind of content gate, saying if people got past that scene they'd be prepared for the further bizarre events to follow.
• The Canterville Ghost: The Otis Brothers pranking Sir Simon's ghost with a fake ghost of their own is a quirky and colorful moment that's been adapted in some way in almost every adaptation since.
• Cradle Series:
  • The scene where Suriel saves Lindon in the first book. It completely changes the dynamic of the series, expanding Lindon's worldview and forcing him to advance far past what he thought he knew.
  • The first time that Dross provides Lindon with a combat simulation in Ghostwater is often cited as one of the most exciting in the entire series.
• "East of the Sun and West of the Moon": The young bride riding her bear-husband through the woods. It's iconic of the story and frequently the illustration used on book covers.
• Early on in Empress Theresa, Theresa, the eponymous protagonist, gets kidnapped by the U.S. military and told she will be executed by atom bomb. For no apparent reason, she gathers eleven bottles of coke and takes them with her, intending to use them as a flotation device despite not knowing much about what sort of execution awaits her, and no one questions her decision. Her plan actually works, and she manages to jump out of a plane tens of thousands of feet in the air and survive landing in the water, possibly being helped by the thermal underwear an airman gave her so she wouldn't get cold. This scene really sets the tone for how little sense the book makes.
• Gulliver's Travels: Lemuel Gulliver being tied down by the Lilliputians is very commonly featured in the cover art of some editions.
• The Hank Zipzer book The Curtain Went Up, My Pants Fell Down has the part where Hank's pants are pulled down in front of everyone while he's in a play. The scene is right there in the title and is featured on the cover, so everyone will remember it. Some readers like it for the Comedic Underwear Exposure, while other young readers like the cover because they see it as Fanservice (even though that wasn't the intent).
• Little Women: The March sisters gathering around their mother's chair as she reads them their absent father's letter on Christmas Eve. Virtually every adaptation includes this scene and the image serves as the cover illustration for several editions of the book.
• Maria Watches Over Us: Sachiko adjusting the scarf on Yumi's Sailor Fuku when they first meet is easily the most well-known scene in the series, to the point that it's been referenced and parodied numerous times in other works (particularly when spoofing the Yuri Genre).
• The Han Solo Adventures: The march of the War Robots of Xim in Han Solo and the Lost Legacy, given how they are the first droid army to appear in the Star Wars franchise, are a lot more competent than the Clone Wars-era droid army and have a series of gripping Mutual Kill moments while fighting some surprisingly tough Punch Clock Villains.
• Sherlock Holmes' death, which didn't last long because of his popularity. It's become an inside joke of the franchise ever since.
• Warrior Cats:
  • The chapter in Long Shadows where Ashfur unveils his grudge against Squirrelflight by trying to burn her children alive in front of her and Squirrelflight reveals her children are actually adopted. It is the most well-known moment in Warrior Cats, depicted in countless fanart and fan animations, due to the massive consequences it has on multiple characters. It's so iconic that even though there have been at least three other forest fires, people will instantly know you mean this one if you say "the fire scene".
  • The end of chapter 18 of A Light in the Mist is the subject of many Fan Animations because it's considered one of the most heart-breaking and shocking moments in the franchise. Bristlefrost tackles Ashfur into the Dark Forest's black water, and has a Dying Dream where she lives a happy life with Rootspring as she drowns and fades away.
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Tom having to whitewash Aunt Polly's picket fence only for him to con the other kids in the neighborhood to do it for him by making them believe that he's having fun doing so. The scene is often the referenced in mentions of the book, and depicted in book covers.
• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: The ship becomes becalmed after the mariner kills the albatross, and the crew hangs the albatross around his neck as a mark of shame. The metaphor of having an albatross around one's neck referring to this event is well-recognized, and the poem's Signature Line ("Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink") also comes from this part of the story.
• American Girls: Addy: Addy's series is famous for being one of the darkest series in the American Girls Collection, due to Addy being a young Black girl during The American Civil War who was Born into Slavery. In the first book, Addy, already devastated by her brother and father having been sold off to another plantation, misses several tobacco worms while out in the fields—so the overseer forces her to eat them. The rest of the series follows Addy's escape and new life as a free citizen, and does depict other instances of racism she and her family face, and has scenes that are genuinely scary, especially for a young audience. Nonetheless, the scene with the worms is the thing a lot of people remember, due to how shockingly brutal it is for a kids' book, especially since the protagonist is nine.

• The Beatles:
  • The band in their uniforms on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, eventually leading to many Sgt. Pepper's Shout-Out scenes.
  • The band crossing Abbey Road, also leading to Abbey Road Crossing imitations.
• David Bowie: His Ziggy Stardust image became so thoroughly established as a hallmark of British rock that, when Bowie announced the first remastering campaign of his catalog at the turn of The '90s, the press talk featured an elaborate set recreating the cover photo for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, complete with a cutout of Ziggy.
  • Bowie's performance of "Starman" on Top of the Pops has been cited as a pivotal influence by many a musician coming after.
• Speaking of Top of the Pops, The Smiths performing "This Charming Man" with singer Morrissey lampooning the show's policy of lip syncing with just waving a bouquet of flowers in his hand instead of singing to a microphone was also an iconic moment, that was even referenced by other artists playing on the show later, including Nirvana.
• Pete Townshend of The Who smashing his guitar on stage in 1964 (an act inspired by an earlier Performance Art piece he had seen) became a legendary moment in rock music, imitated and parodied an infinite number of times by artists over the years, although the response by Jimi Hendrix of setting his guitar on fire on stage, on camera at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival became equally iconic.

• Michael Jackson: Jackson transforming into a werecat and later a zombie in the music video for "Thriller", which leads to the thriller dance that has often been parodied.
• Miserable has two or three signature scenes:
  • The Giant Woman Pam/Val lying on her stomach in a bikini with the members of Lit standing on her butt. While the band does play on other parts of her body, when people bring up the video you can guarantee they'll bring up this scene. The scene was even used on the promotional posters for the video.
  • Pam/Val's high heel shoe poised in the air with the guys perched on top of it. Then she shakes her foot, causing them to almost fall off.
  • Arguably equally, if not possibly more, iconic than them playing on top her butt, is the Cruel Twist Ending where Pam/Val starts devouring the guys one after the other, with each band member getting A Death in the Limelight as she singles him out and eats him.
  • Branching off from the above, in that scene, the two stand-out moments are when she eats the Popoff brothers, Jeremy getting slurped up by her while he's trying to hide, followed by her spitting out his signature shoe, and when she picks up A. Jay, gives him a smile, then tosses him into the air and catches him in her mouth. The latter was even used as the ending for the "What We Like About Pam" music video in the Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson.
• Queen: The opening shot of the video for "Bohemian Rhapsody", where the band members are seen as four heads together. This has become so iconic that is has been imitated and parodied often.
• Talking Heads: David Byrne's incredibly weird dancing in the video for "Once in a Lifetime", which has become widely parodied in pop culture and helped make it one of the most memorable music videos of The '80s.

• Triple H's squash match with Ultimate Warrior which he considers one of the low points of his career. He and Shawn Michaels poked fun at this in their European Championship match.
• "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania XIII, an instant classic of a match and ending with arguably the best Face/Heel Double-Turn of all time. It ended with Hart locking Austin in the Sharpshooter, with Austin refusing to submit until he passed out in a pool of his own blood. Hart refused to let up on the move even after the match finished, cementing him as a Heel, while Austin looked like an absolute Determinator and saw a meteoric rise of popularity, one that would catapult him into the main event a year later and kickstart the Attitude Era.
• The Undertaker vs. Mankind in a Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring 1998, for being the match that changed Mick Foley's career. It started off with two outrageous bumps: the first being Mankind thrown off the top of the cage and onto the Spanish Announcers' Table, which prompted Jim Ross to make one of the most iconic calls of all time ^note "Good God Almighty! Good God Almighty! That killed him! As God is my witness, he is broken in half!" and the sheer disbelief of the announcers and audiences as Mankind got back up and climbed the cage again, and the second being a chokeslam through the cage as it gave way under both men's weight ^note This spot was unplanned and left Foley with a concussion. It's also remembered for the finale, which involved Mankind dumping thumb tacks into the ring, only to be the one driven into them by his opponent. And despite all of the inhuman punishment he took, Mankind managed to walk out of the ring under his own power after losing the match. It singlehandedly established Mankind as a Determinator and a fan favorite, and would ultimately lead to a push that would propel him into the main event scene.
• CM Punk vs. John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011, culminating in Punk defeating Cena and running off with the WWE Championship in the middle of his hometown of Chicago less than two hours before his contract expired. On top of being the main roster's first five-star match since 1997^note the last one being Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker in the first ever Hell in a Cell match , it was the defining moment of Punk's career which saw him etched into history as a wrestling icon. It's also widely regarded as a major turning point in WWE; after Punk and Cena's feud, the company saw a gradual rise in prominence of major indy stars such as Punk and Daniel Bryan in addition to an increase in the average workrate of the main roster. In short, everything WWE (and arguably all of professional wrestling) would end up becoming in the next decade and beyond can be traced back to this match.
  • Arguably even more iconic than the match is the promo that preceded it a few weeks before and kicked off the whole storyline: The Pipe Bomb. It was one of the most shocking moments in WWE history and essentially made Punk's career, to the point that's impossible to talk about him without mentioning it. Multiple wrestlers have attempted to emulate it since then, but none have ever been able to recaptures its magic. Tellingly, it was included and explicitly highlighted in the video package that kicked off WWE Raw's Netflix premiere, fourteen years later.
• Sheamus defeating Daniel Bryan in an 18-second match at WrestleMania 28, which damaged the former's babyface momentum and helped kickstart the already-liked Bryan's insane Popularity Power.
• Jon Moxley making his AEW debut at the end of its inaugural PPV, Double or Nothing by attacking Chris Jericho and brawling with Kenny Omega. It made him a Game Changer for the up-and-coming promotion and made it clear that, one month after leaving the WWE, he wasn't going back there anytime soon.
• Will Ospreay getting hurricanrana'd off the top rope by Kota Ibushi at Road to Tokyo Dome 2018, but somersaulting out of it and landing on his feet—followed by Ibushi slowly turning around to see Ospreay standing right behind him. Widely considered to be one of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's most iconic moments.

• From The World Cup:
  • Diego Maradona's "Hand Of God" goal in 1986, in which he "allegedly" punches the ball into the goal, which would make the goal illegal, but given the shadow from above, the referees were unable to prove he did so.
  • Followed almost immediately with the "Goal of the Century" in which Maradona was able to the travel all across the pitch, dodging multiple English players securing the win 2-0 in Argentina's favor.
  • 2006: Zinedine Zidane head butting Marco Materazzi after allegedly Materazzi insulted Zidane's sister, immediately red-carding him and the iconic moment in which Zidane had to physically pass the actually World Cup when leaving the arena.
• From Major League Baseball:
  • 1939: Lou Gehrig's farewell to Baseball speech. In a decade that saw Babe Ruth declining, Lou was the next big star of Baseball, until it was discovered he had an incurable disease that affected his ability to play. As such, he gave one more speech to the Yankees to say goodbye. A shock at the time, it was retroactively viewed as a gracious way to face a tragic end of a career, and one of the best sports speeches in history.
  • 1974: Hank Aaron hitting home run #715 in Atlanta and passing Babe Ruth to become the new home run king. The sight of him running around the bases, being joined by two fans who entered the field amid security, and the legendary call by Vin Scully, has forever been etched in history. The moment would even be memorialized in a special tribute presentation during the 2025 MLB All Star Game, which took place in Atlanta.
  • 1988 World Series: Kirk Gibson's home run to end Game 1, in his only at-bat of the series. With injuries to both legs, Gibson worked up to a full count and hit Dennis Eckersley's 3-2 pitch over the right field fence, with Gibson pumping his fist as he limped the bases. The game is notable for having two iconic calls: Vin Scully's "High fly ball into right field, she is... GONE!" on television, and Jack Buck's "I don't believe what I just saw!!" on national radio.
  • 1993 World Series: Joe Carter hits a game winning, world series ending 3 run home run to end the series. As dramatic an ending for the biggest game in baseball one could ask for. Along with the iconic broadcast call "Touch em all Joe. You'll never have a bigger hit in your career!"
  • 1995 ALDS: The Double. The Seattle Mariners had experienced only a smattering of winning seasons, and no playoffs. Going into the 1995 season their stadium had a roof issue that meant that management and the city government were at each others throats, meaning the franchise could've left in a few years if they didn't get a stadium agreement. After a miracle season where they squeezed into the playoffs off a sudden death game, they then clawed back from being down 2 games to the legendary Yankees. Making it to game five, they went into extra innings, and Edgar Martinez hit a 2 run double sending their superstar Ken Griffey Jr. in to score the winning run against a team Griffey hated for disrespecting his family in the past. This hit was not only Seattle's first dramatic playoff moment, but after the thrill of this moment, a fan phone and letter campaign to politicians finally settled the stadium talk, keeping the M's in Seattle to this day.
  • 2001 World Series: The Yankees were trying to win one for New York after 9/11. The Dimondbacks were trying to become the quickest organization to go from beginning to winning it all. In a seven game slog, it ended with a dramatic single by star Luis Gonzalez into center field, driving home a winning run and giving Arizona its first title.
  • Two incidents within the 2004 ALCS:
    • Game 4: With the game tied in the bottom of the 12th inning, David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox hits a home run to right field to extend the series. With the game extending past midnight, Joe Buck stated "We'll see you later tonight!"
    • Game 6: Curt Schilling winning the game despite a torn tendon sheath in his right ankle, most notably evidenced as a bloody sock. Knowing that television cameras would focus on his injury, Schilling would write "K ALS" (translating as "strikeout amyotrophic lateral sclerosis", colloquially known as "Lou Gehrig's disease") on his cleats. With the win, the Red Sox would become the first team to force a game 7 after going down 3-0, which they eventually won and would later win their first World Series in 86 years.
  • 2013 ALCS. The Red Sox down by four, bottom of the eighth inning in game 2, David Ortiz hits a grand slam, culminating into a walk-off run in the ninth. The image in every New England newspaper the next day was of a BPD officer in the bullpen with his arms raised in excitement as Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter went tumbling into the bullpen trying to catch the ball (though his excitement was more over the home run than Hunter doing a flip over the wall).
  • 2016 World Series: The Ultimate Curse Breaker World Series. As both the AL and NL teams with the longest droughts in franchise history met for a chance to end their "curses". At the end of Game 7, it went into the 10th inning. And with a throw from 3rd base to 1st Base for the final out, the Chicago Cubs ended a 106 year championship drought. Along with the dramatic call, "The Cubs...WIN THE WORLD SERIES!"
  • 2024 World Series: In a more epic version of History Repeats, Freddie Freeman was brought up in the bottom of the 10th inning in game 1. He had a hurt foot, it was 2 outs, and the bases were loaded. The Dodgers were down by a run, so they needed something to stay in the game. Instead of just getting a safe single to drive in a tying run, Freeman hit the first pitch thrown straight into the stands for the first ever World Series walk off GRAND SLAM home run. The kind of hit any child would dream of getting professionally, along with the passionate broadcast call calling back to the last time this happened to the dodgers in near identical circumstances. "Gibby, meet Freddy! Game 1 of the World Series!" It set the tone for the rest of the series as the Dodgers proceeded to win in 5 games.
• From NASCAR:
  • 1979: The finish of that year's Daytona 500, which saw Cale Yarborough and the Allison brothers fight each other after Cale and Donnie Allison crashed on the final lap of the race, leading to Richard Petty winning the race. This being the first nationally-televised NASCAR race at the time, the fight left an impression on everyone who watched and helped put stock car racing on the sports map.
  • 1998: Dale Earnhardt finally winning the Daytona 500 after 20 years. The iconic call from Mike Joy ("20 years of trying, 20 years of frustration"), along sight of him being congratulated everybody on pit road before doing donuts in the infield grass, has forever been etched in NASCAR history
  • 2001: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip celebrating on top of their cars after respectively finishing 1-2 in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona. Serving as NASCAR's first time back at the track following the death of Junior's dad Dale Earnhardt, who died on the final lap of that year's Daytona 500, seeing Junior win the race became a huge step in healing for both the drivers, the fans, and the sport as a whole.
• From the National Basketball Association:
  • An injured Willis Reed walking out onto the court right before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals causing the MSG crowd to blow the roof off the place and subsequently hitting two uncontested jumpers at the beginning of the game, leading to a blowout Knicks victory. Cited to be one of the greatest moments in Finals history, Reed coming out to the court after taking pain injections sent the crowd into an uproar. Willis would only score 4 points, but his presence inspired the team to play hard and win the Knicks their first championship.
  • Jerry West sending Game 3 of the 1970 Finals to overtime with a 60 foot shot that unfortunately only counted for 2 points back then. West’s shot remains one of the most clutch Finals shots, and is especially huge because of how long he worked to perfect such a shot.
  • Garfield Heard's famous "Shot Heard Round the World" turnaround jumper that sent Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals to overtime. To this day, it remains the defining moment in the Finals game with the most overtimes, and is a huge reason why said game is widely considered as the greatest game ever played.
  • Larry Bird stealing Isiah Thomas's inbound pass and passing the ball to a cutting Dennis Johnson for the win in Game 5 of the 1987 East Finals. This play has gone down as one of, if not the greatest clutch steal in the history of the NBA, as it allowed Bird to clinch his fourth straight trip to the Finals.
  • Wilt Chamberlain scoring an NBA record 100 points in a regular season game against the Knicks in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a record that is likely never to be broken. To this day, 60 years later, no player has even tied this record. Even with the addition of the three point line, the closest anyone’s ever come is Kobe Bryant, who scored 81 points against the Raptors.
  • Magic Johnson playing all 5 positions as a rookie in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals and notching 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists for the victory when league MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was injured. Often cited as one of the greatest Finals performances of all time, the game was a huge step in shaping the player that Magic would become and showed the basketball world exactly what he could do as a player.
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar breaking Wilt Chamberlain's scoring record in 1984 with his iconic skyhook. To this day, Wilt’s records are notorious for the sheer insanity of some of them. Seeing a player like Kareem not only break one, but break arguably the most sought after record, was a huge moment. To this day, Kareem’s record remains the top score.^NoteThe record has since been surpassed by the aforementioned LeBron James.
  • Magic Johnson winning Game 4 of the 1987 Finals with a Junior Skyhook. Acknowledged as another one of the most clutch shots in Finals history, this shot contributed to the Lakers besting their hated rivals once again and showcased how clutch a player like Magic could be.
  • Magic Johnson coming back for the 1992 All-Star Game and winning the MVP as his farewell to the sport over having to retire due to contracting HIV. Acknowledged as a Bittersweet Ending to a career like Magic’s, but most will argue that it was a hell of a way to go out.
  • Reggie Miller scoring 8 points in 11 seconds to steal a crucial playoff victory against the Knicks in 1995. The play is cited as one of the most clutch plays in NBA history, and cemented Miller’s status as one of the greatest shooters ever.
  • Michael Jordan Signature Scenes:
    • Hitting "The Shot" over Craig Ehlo to eliminate the Cavs in Game 5 of the 1989 East First Round. The image of Jordan jumping into the air and fist pumping is iconic, and the moment is most credited as the defining factor in Michael’s rise to stardom.
    • Michael Jordan breaking the playoff record for most points in 1 game with 63 points in an overtime loss to the Celtics. Especially famous for Larry Bird's "It's just God disguised as Michael Jordan" quote afterwards. To this day, Jordan’s 63 remains the most points scored by a player in a playoff game, and is cited as one of the biggest signs of Michael Jordan’s eventual rise to glory.
    • Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals when Michael Jordan played fantastically, despite having the Flu. Him hitting the game winning 3, and the iconic image of him collapsed in Scottie Pippen's arms after hitting that shot, is just as iconic. It showed just how competitive Jordan was that he would play through anything and still play elite.
    • The iconic "Last Shot" over Bryon Russell to clinch his 6th and final championship in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. The shot is well-remembered as the last shot Jordan ever took in his Bulls career, and most will claim that there’s no better way the game’s potential greatest player could’ve ended such an illustrious career than capping off another three-peat after coming back from retirement.
  • Kobe Bryant jumping into the arms of Shaquille O'Neal as the Lakers defeated the Pacers to win the 2000 NBA Finals. After all the rivalry and "work beef" built up between the big man and shooting guard superstars, finally the two of them could let all that drama go in the celebration of being NBA champions together.
  • Allen Iverson crossing over Tyronn Lue to hit the dagger jumper to win Game 1 of the 2001 Finals, and then stepping over Lue as he lied on the ground. Iconic, as it truly showed the type of player Iverson was. It wasn't enough to make that shot over Lue , he wanted to embarrass him.
  • Derek Fisher's miracle 0.4 seconds shot to win Game 5 of the 2004 West Semis, hitting a fadeaway 18-footer in less than half a second to give the Lakers a crucial victory. Iconic, due to the sheer unbelievable factor that he was able to do so.
  • LeBron James scoring 29 of Cleveland's last 30 points in Game 5 of the 2007 East Finals, including the game winning layup. This is widely looked at as the moment that LeBron began to really ascend and be looked at as the best of his generation.
  • Ray Allen's miracle 3 pointer that sent Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals to overtime. Argued by many as not only the most clutch shot in Finals history, but the greatest shot in NBA history, this shot saved the Heat’s season and allowed them to win Game 6 and the following Game 7, clinching the Heat back-to-back titles and giving the aforementioned LeBron his second championship and Finals MVP. It’s not uncommon to hear someone claim Allen’s shot saved James’s legacy.
  • The end of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, in which the Cleveland Cavaliers won the city their first major sporting championship in half a century. In addition, the Cavs had become the first(and so far only) team to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals, beating the heavily-favored 73-9 Golden State Warriors, who had broken the record for most wins in an NBA season. This victory is cited by many to be the pinnacle of LeBron James’s career, and the series itself is highly regarded as the greatest Finals series of all time
    • The most iconic play of the game was LeBron James’ Chase down block on Andre Iguodala's layup that would have given the Warriors the lead. Seen by a lot as the single most famous play of LeBron's career and the play that gave Cleveland the win. It is also looked at as perhaps the most famous defensive play ever.
  • Russell Westbrook's three-pointer to seal his record-setting game against the Denver Nuggets with a win. The actual moment he set the record was very understated, with a pass to Semaj Christon in the corner, who sank a 3-pointer to seal Westbrook's 42nd triple-double, surpassing Oscar Robertson. However, at the end of the game, with the Thunder down 103-105 to the Nuggets and Westbrook sitting at 47 points, Westbrook hits a buzzer-beater 3 point shot to notch a 50-point game and the win, with the commentator exclaiming "WHAT A PERFECT ENDING TO A HISTORIC DAY!"
  • J.R. Smith running off with the ball with 4 seconds left, costing the Cavaliers the win in the first game in the 2018 NBA Finals. LeBron’s reaction to J.R.’s mistake quickly underwent Memetic Mutation. Smith himself became the subject of relentless mockery by fans, due to him seemingly wasting a huge performance by James in which he scored 51 points in a loss to the Golden State Warriors. To this day, this play remains the defining moment of J.R. Smith’s career for many, and has largely overshadowed any bright spots he may’ve had beforehand.
  • Kawhi Leonard's game winner and buzzer beater to win Game 7 of the 2019 East Semis. Iconic for the fact that the ball bounced on the rim 5 times before going in, and the crowd's sheer quietness before it went in.
• From the National Football League:
  • The Ice Bowl of 1967: "The Block". What many consider the TRUE pinnacle of coach Vince Lombardi's career. With him trying to lead the Green Bay Packers to an unheard of 3 straight championship wins, the game was played back and forth in the coldest recorded conditions in NFL history. The Signature Scene of the game was when the Packers needed to score one final time to secure their victory. And with QB Bart Starr calling a wedge play to finish off GB's last chance to score, he ran the ball into the end zone himself, essentially securing their 21-17 victory, and the only time an NFL team won 3 consecutive championships in the playoff format.
  • The Three Finger Salute at the end of Super Bowl III. The Jets Quarterback Joe Namath had made "The Guarantee" before the game that despite being from the younger AFL, the NY Jets would win. And after a dramatic, low scoring game with the Colts, he proceeded to do just that. Walking up holding his fingers like a W or a 3 in celebration for proving his words and showing that the AFL could be competitive with NFL once the merger went down.
  • The Catch from the 1981 NFC Championship Game. The San Francisco 49ers, led by legendary quarterback Joe Montana, were driving against the Dallas Cowboys, facing a 3rd and 3 at the Cowboys' 6-yard line with 58 seconds left in the game. The play that the 49ers had drawn up had wide receiver Freddie Solomon as Montana's intended target, but Solomon slipped and allowed the Cowboys to cover him. Even worse, the Cowboys defense overpowered the 49ers offensive line with three Cowboys pursuing Montana has he rolled to his right. Just before he was chased out of bounds, Montana threw the ball high and deep into the end zone, where Dwight Clark caught the ball with the tips of his fingers to give the 49ers the lead. This would signal the beginning of the 49ers dynasty of the 1980's, along with their outstanding wide receiver corps that would help carry them.
  • Desmond Howard's run. In Super Bowl 31, The Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots were playing for glory. The Patriots had just returned things to competitiveness by scoring near the end of the 3rd quarter, bringing it to a score of 27-21. However, on the very next kickoff, the Kick Returner Desmond Howard ran all the way from the 1 yard line into the opposing endzone for the only return touchdown of his career. This broke the record for the longest super bowl play ever at the time. And earned Howard Super Bowl MVP. The first time a special teams player ever earned such an honor.
  • The end of Super Bowl 36. After a minor Cinderella run, the New England Patriots met the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl, and played The Greatest Show on Turf to a near tie. However, uncertain about the Rams getting their groove on in Overtime, head coach Bill Belichick instructed his young quarterback Tom Brady to play for a field goal before the end. Working their way down the field, kicker Adam Vinatieri hit a 48 yard field goal as time expired. It was the first time that the last play scored points that won the game, as well as the completion of a great upset for the underdog Patriots. But more than even that, this win in hindsight would serve as the beginning for the Belichick/Brady dynasty. As the Patriots would then appear in 8 other Super Bowls, winning 5, and becoming known as THE great "modern" football team through the 2000s and 2010s.
  • The Helmet Catch, from Super Bowl XLII in 2008. The New England Patriots were seeking their first undefeated season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, with the New York Giants driving in the last two minutes of the game. Facing a 3rd and 5 from their own 44, Giants quarterback Eli Manning took the snap and immediately faced pressure from three Patriots defenders, one of whom grabbed his jersey and attempted to pull Manning down for a sack. Manning stayed on his feet and threw the ball to David Tyree, who leaped to catch the ball. Patriots safety Rodney Harrison also leaped to attempt to swat the ball down, but Tyree pinned the ball against Harrison's helmet, and went down with the ball still pinned to the helmet. The play, considered to be among the best in Super Bowl and NFL history, kept the Giants' drive alive, moved them into Patriots' territory, and would set up the Giants' game-winning touchdown and one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history.
  • "Shoulda Run The Ball". Super Bowl XLIX in 2015, the Seattle Seahawks are on the 1-yard-line, it's 2nd and Goal with about 20 seconds left, the score is 28-24, and the Seahawks have Marshawn Lynch who has been nigh-unstoppable all game in short-yardage situations. Instead, they pass the ball out wide in a pick play, which is read and intercepted by Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, sealing the game for New England and kickstarting the Patriots' second dynasty. After the play, even Cris Collinsworth and Al Michaels expressed disbelief with the call, and the phrase "Seattle shoulda run the ball" became a common phrase on the internet.
  • The Minneapolis Miracle of 2017. The Vikings Organization is infamous for great regular seasons, but repeated, shocking disappointment in the playoffs. In a rematch with the New Orleans Saints from a dramatic NFC championship 8 years before (Brett Farve's last good season), the game was a back and forth matchup where the lead changed 3 times in the final 3 minutes of the game. It all came down to an incredible final play where Vikings WR Steffon Diggs jumped up, managed to miss being tackled by the Saints defender, and then ran in the game winning touchdown with 0 seconds remaining. It was the first time the Vikings ever had such a dramatic finish in the playoffs actually work out in their favor, and became so defining that even getting blown out the next weekend at the NFC championship couldn't diminish how cathartic this win was for them.
  • The Philly Special of Super Bowl LII. 4th and Goal at the 2 yard line, 38 seconds left in the 2nd quarter, Philadelphia Eagles up 15-12 over the defending champion New England Patriots with backup quarterback Nick Foles in. Foles appears to call an audible and line up as a receiver, resulting in a direct snap to Lagarrette Blount, who tosses it to Trey Burton on a reverse sweep, who tosses a lob to a wide open Nick Foles in the end zone. Ironically, the Patriots had tried a similar play earlier only for Tom Brady to drop the pass. Philly would go on to win the game and their first Super Bowl.
• From the National Hockey League:
  • 1970: Bobby Orr's flying goal in the Stanley Cup Final, which won the Boston Bruins the Stanley Cup. Less than one minute into overtime, Orr scored on the St. Louis Blues with an assist from Derek Sanderson. Orr was tripped by a Blues defenseman immediately after scoring, and while flying in the air, stretched his arms out in victory. Ray Lussier's image of Orr in the air◊ remains the most recognizable image in hockey history.
  • 1999: Brett Hull's overtime winning goal in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final is iconic as it is controversial, due to his skate being in the crease when he made the shot, which wasn't allowed at the time. The goal remains a sore spot for Buffalo Sabres fans, who's team has not made it back to the Final since then, while their opponents the Dallas Stars would appear two more times in 2000 and 2020, losing both times.
  • 2003: Paul Kariya returning to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the New Jersey Devils after getting concussed earlier in the game and immediately scoring a goal for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. While the Devils would ultimately win the Cup, the goal remains the top highlight of the series. On a sad note, Kariya doesn't have any memory or recollection of said goal, due to the concussion.

• Bye Bye Birdie's signature moment is probably the "Telephone Hour" song; nothing else in the show is quite as iconic as a massive choral number where several dozen teenagers call each other to gossip, though Hugo decking Conrad on the Ed Sullivan show is close.
• Fiddler on the Roof:
  • "Tradition", a grand, bombastic anthem celebrating the day to day life of the jewish society of Anatevka. Often times ranked the greatest opening number in the history of musical theatre.
  • Likewise Jerome Robbin's "The Bottle Dance", in which men perform a slow, heavily calculated dance while perilously balancing bottles on their heads, lauded as one of the most difficult pieces of choreography ever put to stage.
• Hello, Dolly!: Dolly making her grand entrance to Harmonia Gardens dressed to the 9s and singing the chart topping titular number. A moment that always gets rapturous applause from the audience.
• Rebecca: Mrs. Danvers lighting the staircase on fire, a spectacular moment in the original Austrian/German production, but set in to motion a series of events that led to the biggest scandal in Broadway history, leading to multiple people arrested for fraud.
• Swan Lake: Odile the Black Swan's astonishing pas de deux coda at Prince Seigfried's ball, one of the most notoriously challenging variations in all of ballet.
• The Nutcracker: Clara dancing with her Nutcracker doll, the Nutcracker's battle with the Mouse King, or the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
• Some examples from opera:
  • Carmen: Carmen's final confrontation with Don José outside the bullring, which ends with Don José murdering her.
  • Lucia di Lammermoor: Lucia's Mad Scene.
  • Don Giovanni: The climactic confrontation between Don Giovanni and the Commendatore's Living Statue, ending with the Don's descent to hell.
  • La Bohème:
    • Rodolfo and Mimì's first meeting, with the blown-out candle, the lost key, their hands meeting in the dark, and their back-to-back arias and love duet.
    • Mimì's death.
  • Tosca:
    • Tosca's murder of Scarpia, and her ironic Due to the Dead as she places candles beside his body and a crucifix on his chest.
    • Tosca's suicide by leaping from the Castel Sant'Angelo parapet.
  • Madame Butterfly: The title character's suicide by Seppuku.
  • Salome: Salome's Dance of the Seven Veils and her singing romantically to Jokanaan's severed head. (This also applies to Oscar Wilde's play.)
  • La Traviata:
    • The Brindisi in which Violetta and Alfredo lead the party guests in a toast.
    • The "money scene" where Alfredo publicly insults Violetta.
    • Violetta's death.
• From the plays of William Shakespeare:
  • Hamlet: Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy, and his "Alas, poor Yorick!" speech in which he contemplates a skull. (Which are sometimes wrongly assumed to be the same speech.) Ophelia' mad scene and her drowning, as described by Gertrude, are particularly famous too.
  • King Lear: The mad Lear wandering the storm-swept heath accompanied by the Fool; Lear carrying Cordelia's dead body in his arms in the final scene.
  • The Merchant of Venice: Shylock's intensely moving monologue that's had people empathizing with this criminal for centuries — "If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?"
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream: The fairy queen Titania and the donkey-headed Nick Bottom lounging in each other's arms, Bottom having been transformed by Puck and Titania having been enchanted to love him. Likewise the ending in which Robin gives the iconic address to the audience, assuring them that if they were offending by the evening's proceedings, then to think of it as nothing more than "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
  • Julius Caesar: Mark Antony's "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech at Caesar's funeral, in which he manipulates the crowd into a frenzy against Caesar's murderers.
  • Othello: Othello's murder of Desdemona in her bed and his subsequent suicide after he learns the truth of her innocence.
  • Romeo and Juliet: The "balcony scene" where Romeo and Juliet affirm their love for each other, and the climactic scene in the Capulets' tomb, where the lovers commit suicide.
  • Twelfth Night: Countess Olivia's uptight servant Malvolio appearing before her in yellow stockings and cross-garters, having been tricked into thinking he should to confirm his reciprocation of her (non-existent) love.
• "March of the Wooden Soldiers," particularly the climactic "falling down" trick, is the most iconic scene in the annual Radio City Christmas Spectacular. The scene has remained unchanged since its 1933 debut, the soldiers are the most common characters seen in the marketing, and ushers are specifically instructed not to seat patrons during the "falling down" scene as not to ruin the effect.

• There's one in Indiana Jones Adventure after the initial Chamber of Destiny. You've just avoided being sucked into the Gates of Doom by Indiana Jones, and now you're looking for a way out of the cave. Your jeep veers down a nearby passage, rounds a bend, and suddenly you find yourself in Mara's Temple, a massive cavern with pools of lava, erupting pillars of fire, and a giant stone face shooting green death beams everywhere.
• At Star Trek: The Experience, the transporter effect in "Klingon Encounter" is the definitive example of this trope. You're ushered into a nondescript grey room, standing in front of a set of doors while waiting for a Star Tours-style Simulator Ride to begin. With nothing else to do, you watch the silly little safety video, then the room goes black...
  
  ...there's a loud WHOOSH...
  
  ...and suddenly you're on the USS Enterprise. The entire sequence takes about five seconds, and if you weren't spoiled about it beforehand, it's a nerdgasmic jaw-dropping moment of awesome.

• If the Emperor Had a Text-to-Speech Device: The "Heresy Scene" from Episode 19, consisting of a succession of people executing one another for heresy, before one Inquisitor notices all the killing going on and gets so fed up he decides to call an Exterminatus on the planet. What makes this particularly significant is that the series' creator eventually released the scene as its own video after getting fed up with other people posting the scene on its own without giving proper credit.
• Ratboy Genius: "Potato Knishes", due to how unintentionally frightening it is out of context... Or even in context, really. This may be the reason why it became Little King John's leitmotif in The Flood.
• Red vs. Blue: Season 8 produced two outstanding scenes that became well-known beyond the borders of the Rooster Teeth fandom for different reasons.
  • In Episode 3, Agent Washington holds Sarge at gunpoint, only for the Warthog to crash through a wall in slow-motion. The animation quality of the fight sequence was such high quality by the standards of the show that it became regarded as the signature scene of its lead animator, Monty Oum, and remains one of the primary examples of his animation work.
  • In Episode 10, Tex curb stomps all the Reds and Blues in a single fight. The quality of the fight, the clever use of portals, and the Running Gag of Grif getting hit in the groin sent this scene viral so that even people who never heard of the show ended up seeing it. It continued to circulate as a quality animation fight for years after the episode aired.
• RWBY: The show's alpha and beta teams coming together in Volume 1, Chapter 8 to take on an enormous Death Stalker and Giant Nevermore. This fight was the defining moment of Volume 1, and remains the scene people recommend for anyone who doesn't know if they want to watch the show.
• Showvember: The scene in "Into the 'Vemberverse" where Popcorn makes the challenge to stop her from committing suicide is easily the most famous moment in the show. It's often taken out of context, and even spread outside of the object show community.
• SMG4: The scene of Mario and SMG4 getting chased by a Chain Chomp accompanied by "Who Let the Dogs Out" in the background from 2014's Who Let the Chomp Out? is one of the most enduring scenes from the show.

• Ctrl+Alt+Del, usually a silly and lighthearted Two Gamers on a Couch webcomic, suddenly had the character Lilah undergo a miscarriage. The resulting Mood Whiplash and Narm caused the installment of the comic that depicted the immediate aftermath of the miscarriage, the page titled "Loss", to become infamous, particularly the final panel where Ethan finds Lilah crying in a hospital bed. "Loss" has since been mocked and parodied several times, both by other webcomics and on several forums, particularly Imageboards, to the point where it became a meme, which developed into ever more abstract forms.

• DashieGames accidentally discovering the bird mimicking feature on the title screen in his 25th Super Mario Maker episode is easily one of the most well known moments on his channel, as it not only inadvertently started the tradition of Dashie talking to "Satan" at the start of every subsequent video on the game (except for episode 29 and 30), but it also spawned a very popular meme.
• From Game Changer, Brennan's Rage Breaking Point rant at the end of the "Yes or No" episode is the most shared and quoted moment in the series' history, to the point that the Dropout store even sold a mug with the entire monologue on it for a period of time.
• Game Grumps:
  • During the Jon era, Knuckles getting stuck in a stalactite during the notorious Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) playthrough, due to Arin's over-the-top reaction, and Jon hamming up with him.
  • Super Mario Bros. 2's Mayor Luigi, cited by the Grumps themselves as a Win Back the Crowd moment following Jon's departure.
• Minecraft Manhunt:
  • The ending of "Minecraft Speedrunner VS 2 Hunters", where Sapnap and GeorgeNotFound seemingly has DreamWasTaken dead to rights by knocking him into the void in The End... but thanks to an Epic Fail on George's part, Dream is able to snatch Sapnap's Ender Pearls and escape before winning the game. This was the moment many people realized that in the large sea of Minecraft YouTube content, Manhunt was something special.
  • The ending of "Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters GRAND FINALE" somehow topped the 2 Hunters ending, with Dream getting his way around the Hunters' seemingly unbeatable trap of camping at the End's spawn point by Dropping a metric ton of TNT through the end portal, clearing the way for him to beat the Ender Dragon. Twitter was in an absolute frenzy after it dropped, leading the video to become Dream's most viewed on his channel.
• Party Crashers:
  • Nick betraying Brent on Honeycomb Havoc despite promising not to in "Don't EVER betray me in Mario Party", cementing Nick's status as the most toxic member of the group:
    Nick: The Kingdom of Skill fucking hates me. Ever since I did Brent dirty in that one Honeycomb Havoc, they have never forgiven me.
  • Vernias' dominating performance on Paddle Battle while repeatedly shouting "Perfect Rotation" in "The WORST Board in Mario Party 1..." has gone down as one of the most iconic moments in any of their Mario Party videos, to the point where a fan made a trap song remix of the moment, which has since become an Ascended Meme, being used by the Party Crashers themselves in subsequent videos with the original creator's permission.
  • Sophist casting Thunder Spell on an innocent child in "I Made A Game Designed To Be Bad" has become the most iconic moment from any of the group's collabs with Magic the Noah. Sophist's subsequent defense of it being an "optimal play" would cement his status as the group's Token Evil Teammate.
• VanossGaming & Company:
  • For better or worse, the "Pablo" skit from "Gmod Zombies - Escaping the Apocalypse!" is the most famous sequence from their Garry's Mod videos, due to a combination of the scene going so ridiculously far over the line that it hurts, as well as how poorly the joke ended up aging with the controversy surrounding Mini Ladd.
  • WILDCAT's Rage Breaking Point moment after suffering a particularly bad streak of luck that ended Nogla accidentally killing him is perhaps the most famous moment of the group's Grand Theft Auto V videos.

• Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake: The scene where Fionna takes off her pants in front of Queenie in the first episode and showing the two finger salute after that quickly gained notoriety on the internet, not only to show the spin-off was going to be very different than the original series, but also for obvious reasons.
• Animaniacs: Dot rallying all the cartoons to earn the right to vote through song from the 2020 reboot. Heck, it won an Emmy for "Best Original Song"!
  • The Nations of the World segment in the original. While the pilot of the show was certainly fun, this song was where Animaniacs fully established its identity. As a mixture of both fun and a pinch of edutainment to make it all the more relevant for the future.
• Arcane having two seasons, each with three 3 episodes long acts, manages to have one at least once per act.
  • Season 1:
    • Act I: Powder being flung into the air, amazed by her first successful bomb explosion, unaware the same explosion just killed her adopted father and brothers. Not only is the scene gorgeous, but it marks her Start of Darkness into becoming League of Legends Breakout Character, Jinx.
    • Act II: Vi suddenly telling Caitlyn "You're hot, cupcake" and doing Wall Pin of Love on her. The scene marks the moment the show's LGBT Fanbase blew out and is even known outside the fandom.
    • Act III: Jinx and Ekko's fight on the Bridge of Progress, not only being a visual spectacle, but also dripping with characterization and without words presenting tragedy of two childhood friends growing into bitter enemies, it is widely considered one of the best fight scenes in the series as a whole and became go to example of how to write fight scenes.
  • Season 2:
    • Act I: Mel's mother Ambessa successfully manipulating Piltover into declaring martial law and appointing a dictator, sweeping everyone into cheering for person she nominates - Caitlyn, who cements her Face–Heel Turn by accepting. An utterly sinister moment that effectively establishes Ambessa as the new Big Bad.
    • Act II: Jinx finding in the darkness Vi hugging Warwick, having successfully awaken memories of Vander within him, and Vi reaching to her with tears in her eyes, asking "What are you waiting for? he's your dad too.", after which Jinx and Isha join the hug. The song What Have they Done To Us by Mako & Grey underlines the tragedy of this family, while they take a chance to rebuild.
    • Act III arguably has one per episode.
    • Ekko and Powder's date in episode 7, a beautiful moment that allowed Ekko to find some happiness, redefining his character for the rest of the series. It's accompanying song Ma Meilleure Ennemie by Stromae & Pomne, became the world's most popular song in French language within 24 hours.
    • Vi and Cait finally making up, embracing their love and passionately consummating their relationship in a jail cell in episode 8, becoming first explicit lesbian sex scene shown on screen in western animation's history.
    • And from the Grand Finale, Ekko's Big Damn Heroes moment using his time reversal device against Viktor's androids, only to overload the machine and hurl it at Viktor, landing a Critical Hit and allowing Jayce to reach him. Arguably the crowning Moment of Awesome for the series, cementing "The Boy Wonder" as the show's biggest Memetic Badass.
• Arthur: There are a ton of examples that could qualify, but the ones that are arguably the most memorable are the "Library Card" musical number in "Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival" and Arthur punching D.W. in "Arthur's Big Hit."
• Batman: The Animated Series: Batman confronting his fear of disgracing the family legacy for a second time thanks to Scarecrow's fear gas in "Nothing to Fear". The response he gives to snap himself out became legendary and VERY easily parodied and referenced across media.
  Batman: No. You are not my father. I am not a disgrace. I am vengeance. I am the night! I! Am! BATMAN!
• Batman: The Brave and the Bold: The episode Chill of the Night, one of the darkest episodes in this otherwise-Lighter and Softer series, has Bruce confronting his parents' killer, Joe Chill.
• Dinobot's death and funeral in Beast Wars; not only widely considered the single best episode/scene of the series, but also served as the moment the show's beard completed its growth.
• DuckTales (1987): Scrooge diving into his money bin in the opening, a thing that many 80s kids wanted to do their whole lives.
• DuckTales (2017): Della Duck coming home. After a season and a half building the mystique around the triplets mother, and then getting a glimpse at her personality, this was the moment the entire fanbase had been waiting for. Della finally reuniting with her family, and hugging her kids after missing so much of their lives.
• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Terrance creating and eating a pizza imaginary friend in "Seeing Red" for being a prime example of the pure Fridge Horror of the series’ premise come to life.
• Gargoyles: The end of "Her Brother's Keeper", in which it's revealed that Xanatos deliberately turned Elisa's brother into Talon. Not only did it cement how much of a scumbag Xanatos really was, but it was the first episode with a completely bitter ending.
  • Goliath reawakening after hundreds of years. Roaring into the rain as he and his clan finally live again. Such a dramatic shot that they kept reusing it for the opening credits.
• God, the Devil and Bob - the episode Bob's Father is possibly most foundly remembered and talked about episode of the series, due to its nuanced take on parental abuse, that acknowledges there is a reason why Bob's father was a horrible person, while also saying Bob is justified to resent him. The scene towards the end, where Bob calls God out for forgiving his father, and God's explanation why.
• Invincible (2021):
  • The end of the first episode where it subverts its Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic by having Omni-Man viciously murdering the Guardians of the Globe in an absolutely gory display. One helluva Establishing Series Moment.
  • The climax of Invincible and Omni-Man's fight where the former is able to give a simple, yet devastating Armor-Piercing Response to the latter's Motive Rant, causing Nolan to abandon his mission of colonizing earth. Fans quickly commended it as the most emotionally stirring scene of the series, while Nolan's proceeding Villainous Breakdown became a highly exploitable Fountain of Memes.
  • The end of the third season has the long awaited brawl between Invincible and Conquest, the gleefully Ax-Crazy enforcer of the Viltrum Empire. It quickly went viral as it showed how much Mark's skills have improved, but also for the noticeable Animation Bump used and Jeffrey Dean Morgan's pitch perfect and instantly quotable performance.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • Pinkie Pie having a full-on psychotic breakdown and hosting a "party" with inanimate objects in Season 1's "Party of One", which stood out for being shockingly dark for the show's target audience and being eerily similar to a famous Dark Fic of the time. It also forever cemented the character as a Memetic Psychopath in the fandom.
  • Season 2's "The Last Roundup" begins with Rainbow Dash conversing with the fish-eyed Memetic Bystander the fandom had nicknamed "Derpy Hooves"... and actually CALLING her "Derpy", the first indicator of the show paying attention to the Periphery Demographic. The scene went through Bowdlerization soon after due to her resemblance to stereotypes of mental handicaps. Both the initial scene and its resulting controversy became the one memorable thing in an otherwise So Okay, It's Average episode.
  • Twilight Sparkle gaining wings and being crowned an alicorn princess in the Season 3 finale, "Magical Mystery Cure". On top of sparking controversy, it also marked a drastic shift in the show's status quo.
  • Twilight's Dragon Ball Z-esque battle sequence with Tirek in "Twilight's Kingdom", the Season 4 finale, a level of action rarely seen before, or since, in the show and one of its most visually stunning sequences.
• Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: The scene in "Kai-Lan's Big Surprise" after a wind blows the decorations everywhere and ruins her surprise party for Ye-Ye. It sticks out to viewers because it's the first and only time in the series that Kai-Lan, who is normally an optimistic Team Mom for her animal buddies, breaks down crying. The animals ask the viewers what went wrong that would make Kai-Lan cry when it's normally Kai-Lan herself who asks the viewers why one of her friends ruined the moment, then they help cheer her up.
• Ninjago: Zane's Robotic Reveal in "Tick Tock" is remembered for when the show started to reveal that it can pull off emotional scenes well.
• The Owl House:
  • Eda and Lilith's fight in "Covention" for it's shocking uptick in animation quality.
  • Judging by the sheer amount of fan art for it, it's clear that the first scene people think of when it comes to this show is Luz and Amity's dance fight with Grom in "Enchanting Grom Fight".
  • Luz and Amity's Big Damn Kiss in "Clouds On The Horizon", both for being incredibly well animated and being such a landmark moment for Disney Channel and queer representation.
• Phineas and Ferb: "GET ON THE TRIKE!!" is easily the most remembered part of "Summer Belongs to You", because it is one of the few times where Phineas shows any negative emotion at all.
• The Real Ghostbusters: The show has a few moments with a near-legendary status among the fandom and may even be known by the odd person without much familiarity with the series, or even the franchise.
  • The pumpkin-headed Halloween deity Samhain summons all of the ghosts in the city in "When Halloween Was Forever."
  • The Heroic Sacrifice of the eponymous character in "Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin."
  • Egon's showdown with his childhood tormentor the Boogieman in "The Boogieman Cometh," especially the moment when the monster's reflection is showing in Egon's glasses.
  • The scene where Slimer saves the Ghostbusters from an attack by their ectoplasmic Psycho Rangers opponents in "Citizen Ghost."
  • The first time Doomsday Door (a talking demonic head on a metal door) announces its ominous mantra when a pair of workers stumble across it in "Knock, Knock."
  • The Fur Against Fang Mêlée à Trois at the end of "No One Comes to Lupusville."
• Rocko's Modern Life: Rocko briefly working at a sex hotline is generally considered to be the standout example regarding how much Demographically Inappropriate Humour the show got away with.
• Scooby-Doo:
  • Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur: Shaggy wiping the floor with a bar full of bikers after being hypnotized into acting "brave." This scene singlehandedly created the "Ultra-Instinct Shaggy" meme, elevating the character into a Memetic Badass on par with Chuck Norris, and even inspired the game MultiVersus.
  • Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The scene in Bedlam in the Big Top where Daphne gets hypnotized is considered to be one of the more memorable scenes of the show.
• For Simba: è nato un re, when people are searching for its name online, 80% chance it's "the show where a snake is Blinded by the Sun". It helps that the scene is close to the beginning of the series, but the heavy What Do You Mean, It's for Kids? tone certainly leaves a mark.
• The Simpsons:
  • Homer's failed attempt to skateboard across Springfield Gorge in "Bart the Daredevil" is considered to be one of the most iconic scenes in television history. The scene itself is symbolic of the show Growing the Beard and embracing the more wacky tone it became known for. It's also frequently referenced in later episodes, including the climax of The Simpsons Movie.
  • Homer sitting alone on the roof of his car, looking up to the night sky after saying goodbye to his mother before she forced back into hiding for her communist ties (don't ask) in "Mother Simpson". Showing that the series can pull on the heartstrings just as well as it can tickle the funny bone, with the closing image also being etched into pop culture. It's the image used for the series' Tearjerker page for a reason!
• Static Shock: The climax of "Jimmy", where after being pushed to his breaking point, the titular character steals his father's gun and is about to shoot his personal bully only to accidentally shoot Richie, which cements the episode as one of the darkest episodes.
• Sonic Boom gives us this scene not only because of how surprisingly funny it is but also how it tells the way feminism should be:
  Amy: It all comes down to this one penalty kick. Can the young woman break the glass ceiling and prove once and for all that a female can be just as good as an athlete than a male?
  Knuckles: You know, Amy, anytime someone calls attention to the breaking of gender roles, it ultimately undermines the concept of gender equality by implying that this is an exception and not the status quo. (Sonic, Amy, Sticks and Tails are stunned silent) What? Just because I'm a meathead doesn't mean I'm not a feminist.
  • Then from Just A Guy, a scene often referenced for showing off Roger Craig's acting ability as Sonic:
    Sonic: You know what I think is compassionate? Saving the village from Eggman! Like, every week! But do I get any props for that?! No! Everyone just goes around gasping at me for calling a guy "a guy," or people "people!" I quit hero-ing! And I quit this stupid group!
• Spider-Man: The Animated Series:
  • Spider-Man finds himself hanging upside-down in front of a skyscraper window, seeing his reflection with the never-before-seen black costume. The original comic didn't have it, but every version since has had it. Even Spider-Girl has Mayday swinging past a building, red suit in real life and black suit in the reflection.
  • The infamous “SHOCKERRRRRR” scene, where Spider-Man chases after Shocker in the black suit while also putting on an incredibly Large Ham performance. It’s regarded as the narmiest moment not just for the show, but quite possibly all of Spider-Man media, considering how dramatic and serious Spidey acts while chasing down a C-list villain at most. To say this is one of the character’s most memetic scenes would be an understatement.
• Star Trek: The Animated Series: Spock having to put down his pet sehlat, considered to be one of the biggest tearjerkers in the entire franchise.
• Star vs. the Forces of Evil: If the amount of fanarts is to be believed, Star and Marco dancing under the Blood Moon is arguably the most memorable scene in the entire series.
• Steven Universe:
  • Garnet battling Jasper while singing "Stronger Than You" in "Jailbreak", the season 1 finale. This signature-ness of this scene can be ascribed to the show receiving a huge boost in popularity after the airing of this episode.
  • Ruby and Sapphire's wedding in "Reunited"; a landmark moment in queer representation in children's media.
  • Steven re-fusing with his gem half in "Change Your Mind". Especially memorable for having the most fluid animation in the entire show.
• Superman Theatrical Cartoons: Superman demonstrates just how insanely powerful he is by punching a laserbeam with his bare hands. The comics at the time showed him lifting cars and throwing grown men over the horizon, but this moment was what fully cemented his image as a force beyond humanity.
• Total Drama: The scene of Heather's top getting ripped off is what most people immediately think of when asked about Total Drama Island, mainly for it being a rare case of presenting female nudity in children's media. It's also recognized as the biggest example of the show's more mature tones in the first season.
• Thomas & Friends: The shot of Thomas saying "What? Really? you're not that old!" to Edward in the Season 2 episode "Saved from Scrap" has become a very iconic visual for the show, appearing in tons of promotional material in its early years.
• Teen Titans: Slade’s breaking speech to Robin near the end of “Haunted”. The scene is notorious for just how unnerving and disturbing it is, and helped show many viewers how dark the show was willing to get in spite of it being a kids show. To the point where it’s essentially the defining example of the boundaries the show pushed at the time.
• WinxVerse: Flora blowing some magic powder. The scene was used in every merchandise commercial up to season 3, often with whatever the commercial was for edited on Flora's hands, giving the impression she's magically delivering it to some little girl.
• X-Men '97
  • The X-Men making their grand re-introduction against a group of Sentinels "To Me, My X-Men", culminating in Gambit supercharging Wolverine's claws to cut down the Master Mold.
  • The Wild Sentinels completely leveling Genosha, racking up thousands of mutant casualties, ending with Gambit getting Killed Off for Real via taking the Master Mold with him in "Remember It", showcasing how much Darker and Edgier the series is willing to get.