Incoming Ham
Here he comes now, the big ham.
—Mrs Claus about Snow Miser, The Year Without a Santa Claus
A One-Liner that is powerful, portentous, and delivered by a character to announce his presence. As if we could possibly miss it. Often pronounced quite emphatically. Contractually required for a certain type of actor. Can almost always be replaced by, "Did someone order a Large Ham?"
Can be delivered as the character enters, or while he is still offstage as a portent. If the show engages in Lampshade Hanging about the largeness of the ham, this can evoke a response of "Oh no!" from those already in the scene. (See Catchphrase Interruptus).
When the line is uttered by proxy, that's Hammy Herald.
The most common form of dialog found in a World of Ham. Often the response to Inadvertent Entrance Cue. Usually a Catch Phrase, but not always. Compare In the Name of the Moon, Big Entrance. Sub-Trope of Establishing Character Moment. When followed by a heapin' helpin' of ass-whoopin', it's a Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner. Not to be confused with Food Fight.
General
- The first line of Satan, in any vaguely comedic work made from the The Seventies on, is practically obligated to be: "Please allow me to introduce myself - I'm a Man of Wealth and Taste." For any poor deprived souls who don't get the reference, it's The Rolling Stones's "Sympathy for the Devil."
- When used by V in V for Vendetta, it's a Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner. Also a Crowning Moment of Funny, as he says this to a priest while wearing cute little Devil horns. (In the comic, anyway)
Advertising
- The Kool-Aid man breaking through a wall and yelling "Oh yeah!"
- "HI, Billy Mays HERE!!!"
- "Hi! I'M BARRY SCOTT!"
Anime and Manga
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
- Kamina manages to turn a simple encouragement to Simon into an incoming ham, to say nothing of his actual introduction to a Ganmen later on in the episode.
- King Kittan is here!
- Half of the show is people delivering hams, and many turn into this. The other half are mechs blowing shit up. Even Nia pulls some at some point.
- Baccano!: Ladd Russo enters with the line "Thank you! fuck you! The star is here!"
- A Certain Magical Index: "KIIIIIIHAARAAAAAA-KUUUUUN!"
- Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Graham Aker when transforming his mecha from plane to robot form in mid flight to do a bodyslam, "I call this, the Graham Special!!"
- Pokémon: The Team Rocket trio make rather a production of their entrances, going beyond a simple catch phrase to several catch sentences. More like a catch poem, really. It gets hammier and hammier with each season. They even did a Karaoke-style song once to introduce themselves. They do it so often that in To Master the Onixpected! Meowth even uses a remote to speed up the part of the episode where they perform their motto. James bites his tongue in the process from talking so fast. Meowth has a remote that can screw with reality... and he never uses it again!?!
- Pokémon Special has Black, whose first line was "I'M GOING TO BE THE CHAMPION OF THE POKÉMON LEAGUE!!!", which freaked out the other characters.
- Code Geass: In the first season finale, Jeremiah busts out of the ground, screaming "All hail Britannia!" See the epic hamminess for yourself.
- In The Slayers OAV series, Naga's appalling Noblewoman's Laugh usually precedes her.
- Renge in Ouran High School Host Club often does this via Noblewoman's Laugh before dramatically rising from under the floor.
- "Sakiyama Kaori!", the Unknown Rival of Maki in Airmaster, in damn near every introduction.
- Half the cast in Sengoku Basara's anime are introduced during the first episode in a food fight over who has the biggest Incoming Ham. The anime's first line is an Incoming Ham; the one belonging to Date Masamune.
Date Masamune: Are you ready, guys? Put ya guns on!
- For the record, Oda Nobunaga probably wins it:
Nobunaga: Bow before me. As penance for disobeying the lord of the clan of a hundred demons, die and repent in the afterlife. There are none before me, and none behind me. I am the Devil King of the Sixth Heaven, Oda Nobunaga!!
- Wakamoto adds to that with his magnificent voice as well as being able to roll his r's in Oda Nobunaga, an incredible feat considering how there is no R in Oda Nobunaga.
- So many One Piece characters.
- Umineko no Naku Koro ni. Battler. Second arc. "Oh, that looks good! Why don't you slice up your cow tits and make me a sandwich?" ...No, really. It still doesn't make sense in context, by the way. Umineko is very weird.
- Durarara!! "Iiiiiiiiiiiii-zaaaaaaaaaa-yaaaaaaaaaaaaa-kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!" Probably the most appropriate way to formally introduce Shizuo.
- Bleach:
"Goooooooooooooood mooooorniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing Ichigoooooooooooooooooooooo!"
"Hatte mothafucking Kudasaiiiiiiiiiii!"
- Naruto: "Dynamiiiiiic entryyyyyyyyyyyy!"
- Sailor Moon: "Hold it right there!" before describing what the bad guy is doing, why it is wrong, and giving an In the Name of the Moon speech.
- Soul Eater:
"Yahooooo ore-sama no Black*star da!"
"Bakame!"
- "I am here to take your life! My name is Wizard, Rotton the Wizard! I don't have anything against you but--" *BAM!* Talking is not a free action in Black Lagoon. Shockingly, he lives to tell. He is the only one who had the sense to come in a bulletproof vest.
- Ahem. Major Armstrong. That is all.
Isaac the Freezer: I know that voice! Is that you, Armstrong?!
Major Armstrong: *smashes through wall* INDEED! NONE OTHER!
Witness the ham. Not dubbed or subbed, and neither is necessary.
- In the manga Armstrong is introduced during the battle with Scar. Scar has just said he will kill everyone there; this is followed by "I'd like to see you TRY!" and Armstrong's fist smashing the ground milimetres from him. And then there's Basque Grand's entry in Ishbal: "I am the Ironblood Alchemist, Basque Grand! Iron & blood, might & manpower! If I do not lead the charge, than who will!?"
- The Princess of the Crystal's "SURVIVAL STRATEGY!" in Mawaru Penguindrum, even before taking into account the minute-long summoning sequence that follows.
- Iskander from Fate/Zero decides to make his public entrance into the fourth holy grail war by crashing his flying thunder chariot directly in-between a dueling Saber and Lancer, leaving skid marks in the concrete, before throwing up his arms, loudly and openly declaring his true name, and then inviting both combatants to join his army and help him Take Over the World.
Card Games
- In the "Molten Core" raid deck for the World of Warcraft trading card game, whoever's playing the raid deck is encouraged to do this when the final boss appears. "Behold Ragnaros -- The Firelord! He who was ancient when this world was young! Bow before him, mortals! Bow before your ending!"
- In Magic: The Gathering, the joke set Unhinged has a card called "Carnivorous Death Parrot" that requires the player to read its flavor text at the start of every turn to keep the creature in play... the text "Save a kill spell to deal with this guy." (It makes sense when you see the picture.) There's also Infernal Spawn of Evil: "It's coming!" as well as "Ach! Hans, run!"
- "Save a kill spell to deal with this guy" is a drawback—five cards in the same set have the ability "whenever an opponent says [either of the words in this card's name], you may say 'Gotcha!' and return this from your graveyard to your hand". The death-parrot triggers all five. It triggers six if your rules-meister considers 'to' to be a homophone of 'two'...
Comics -- Books
- "The Fantastic Four!! Hah! Little do they dream they are naught but pawns in the hands of Doctor Doom!"
- This line was delivered while holding Fantastic Four-shaped chess pieces with a vulture perched next to him, surrounded by books entitled "DEMONS" and "SCIENCE AND SORCERY", and sitting in a throne in the underground lab of his old world castle. So, a relatively restrained moment.
- Indeed, DOOM speaks in all caps. This is Canon, as Captain America (comics) asked him how he manages to do it.
- Marvel Adventures demonstrates that his idea of a casual entrance involves blowing up walls. When Spidey complains that most people would use the door, he dismisses the idea as being for peasants.
- "On your knees for the master! The hour has come! He has come! Who is beyond good and evil? Who is the prophet of Anti-Life? Who is the rock and the chain and the lightning? All powerful! All unforgiving! All conquering! Who is your New God now and forever?"
Darkseid: Darkseid is.
- Admittedly, Darkseid has an announcer for most of that.
- The Mighty Thor: "Ultron! We would have words with thee!". If Thor and/or The Incredible Hercules is on a team of Avengers, you can count on these kinds of moments frequently.
Fan Works
- My Immortal: "What the hell are you doing you motherfukers!"
- Bender: "DID SOMEBODY CALL FOR A SAVIOR??????"
- Nobody Dies: "Boom for the boom god!"
- A Very Potter Musical
- "Did somebody say DRACO MALFOY?" is probably the best example from the show, though Snape has one in every scene he appears. ("WHAT THE DEVIL IS GOING ON HEEARRR?!")
- In the sequel, Goyle has a triple Incoming Ham moment which references three different Incoming Ham in a row: "WHO DARES DISTURB MY SLUMBER? GET OVER HERE! IT'S CLOBBERING TIME!"
- Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series: "ATTENTION DUELISTS! My hair is making an entrance!"
- Power Rangers GPX: "HELLO, RRRANGERS!!!"
- Turnabout Storm: "HAHAHAHAHA! We Meet Again, Twilight Sparkle!"
Films -- Animation
- The Brave Little Toaster: "Good morning, good morning, gooooood morning!"
- Megamind's entrance into the climax defines this trope, embraces it, and asks for extra pinapple slices. Megamind has set it up so the following exchange happens amid a laser-light show, smoke effects, and hundreds of Brain In a Jar minions forming the illusion of Megamind's face (From which Megamind emerges on the tongue of), and all to the already-pretty-epic beginning of Guns N' Roses "Welcome to the Jungle".
Megamind: You dare challenge Megamind?
Tighten: This town isn't big enough for two Supervillains!
Megamind: Oh, you're a Villain alright. Just not a Super one
Tighten: Yeah? What's the difference?
Megamind: PRESENTATION!
- Pretty common in Disney characters, especially the villains.
- Mulan: "I LIIIIIIIIIIVE! So tell me what mortal needs my protection, great ancestor, you just SAY the WORD and I'm there." Eddie Murphy is so many shades of awesome. So much he gets another: "DID I HEAR SOMEONE ASK FOR A MIRACLE?!"
- Scar, from The Lion King: "Life's not fair is it... you see, I shall never be king, and you... shall never see the light of another day! Adieu..."
- The Genie in Aladdin: "Oi! TEN-THOUSAND YEARS WILL GIVE YOU SUCH A CRICK IN THE NECK!"
- Jafar in "The Return Of Jafar:" "I'M FREE! FREE TO EXACT REVENGE ON HE WHO HAS IMPRISONED ME!"
- The Emperors New Groove: "What's his name? KUZCOOOOOO!"
- Sleeping Beauty: Enter the villain, unleasing a torrent of green netherworldly fire. That's how to make an entrance.
- Alice in Wonderland: WHO'S BEEN PAINTING MY ROSES RED?!"
- The bacteria in Osmosis Jones: "Careful... I'm contagious!" And only a couple seconds later: "Think I'll turn up the heat in here." (Evil Laugh and Unflinching Walk.)
- Syndrome in The Incredibles: "Iiiit's bigger. Iiiits better. Iiiits TOO MUCH FOR MR. INCREDIBLE!"
Films -- Live-Action
- Pulp Fiction: Before Bad Motherfucker asked Brett to "SAY WHAT AGAIN!" he "DON'T REMEMBER ASKING YOU A GOD DAMN THING!". Cue the introduction to the general public one of the biggest hams in the history of film.
- The Fifth Element "KORBENNNNNNNNNNNN DALLLLLLLLLLLLLLASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!" - or for that matter, any time Ruby Rhod enters a scene. Any time the camera cuts away from and back to him counts.
- Richard Henry Lee's first (spoken) line in 1776: "You sent for me, Benjamin". It's less of what he says and more of how he says it. Ron Holgate (Lee in the original Broadway production and the film) was American musical theater's version of Brian Blessed.
- Creedence Leonore Gielgud of Troll 2: This is MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY house!.
- Transformers
- "I... Am... MEGATRON!!!"
- "Behold the eternal glory of... Jetfire!" His actual introduction line, "What kind of hideous mausoleum is this?", also counts.
- Dogma: "Behold the Metatron, herald of the Almighty, and the voice of the one true God!"
- Beowulf "I'm here to kill your monster." Grendel does some of the same, only he says things like "Auaghghh! Auughaghhhh"
- RoboCop when he busts the drug factory. The door first starts rattling, all of the bolts fall out, and it lands with an incredible WHAM as he's framed in Holy Backlight.
RoboCop: Come quietly... or there will be... TROUBLE.
- The Spirit: "I'm gonna kill you all kinds of dead!"
- Inglourious Basterds: "NEIN, NEIN, NEIN!"
- Braveheart, quite a lot
- Blade: "FROOOOOOOOOOOOOOST!!!!!!"
- See the English dub of 1994 martial arts frolic Fist of Legend for the single most overstated instance of the word Bullshit! in the history of film.
- CROKER!!! in Evil Alien Conquerors stomps into a restaurant and starts screaming at the diners. Why? Because he's CROKER!!!
- Hellraiser: "The box. You opened it. We came."
- The local radio DJ in Groundhog Day "Okay, campers, rise and shine! And don't forget your booties 'cause it's coooooold out there today!..."
- Given that every day of his Groundhog Day Loop begins with a clip of Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" and this spiel, Phil soon grows to hate his voice with a passion.
- Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny: Satan in the finale.
Satan: I AM COMPLETE!
JB & KG: Fuuuuuuuuuck...
- Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie: Ivan Ooze manages to steal the spotlight from Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. No mean feat, considering they were pretty massive hams to begin with.
Ooze: LAAAAAAAAAADIES AND GENTELEMEN. The OOZE. IS. BACK!
- Star Trek VI: "I can see you, Kirk. Can you see me?"
- Good Morning Vietnam: Robin Williams plays a radio host. What else would you expect from him?
"GOOOOOOOOD MORNING VIETNAAAAAAAAAM!"
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
- "MIIIIISTER PIL-GRIM!"
- Also "Guess who's drunk!"
- "You punched me in the boob! Prepare to die, obviously!"
- "Now you listen close and you listen hard, bucko. The next click you hear is me hanging up. The one after that... is me pulling the trigger."
- The Guardian, the bad guy in Highlander the Source, introduces himself to Duncan by zipping up to him and screaming, "THIS IS THE END OF TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!" Duncan's reaction face is priceless.
- John Malkovich in Eragon. "I suffer without my stone. DO NOT PROLONG MY SUFFERING!" In his defense, with a line like that, ham is probably the only way to attempt salvaging it.
- This list just isn't complete without Kelly LeBrock's smoky "So....what would you little maniacs like to do first?" in Weird Science.
- Kevin Spacey in Se7en: "Detective. Detective. DETECTIIIIIIVE! You're looking for me."
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki introduces himself to a crowd of terrified Germans in The Avengers: "Kneel before me. I said... KNEEL!!!"
Jokes
- There is a joke, which not only requires much Ham to be properly told, but as well is almost literal example:
"It's COMING!"
"What?"
"IT!"
"What 'it'?"
"The WIENER SCHNITZ--" (vomit)
Literature
- Esmé in A Series of Unfortunate Events gave her full name, usually to people who already knew it.
- The Bartimaeus Trilogy
- Bartimaeus has a bad habit of doing this. The first time he arises from the pentacle in a whirl of malicious special effects and spouts off a three-line list of titles, it's rather impressive. Thereafter it becomes progressively hammier as new achievements of dubious accuracy get added to the list, especially since we only see him do it with the one guy who's heard the spiel already.
- At one point he says that djinn in general like to constantly top themselves when it comes to entrances, both for fun and because a flashy entrance can startle an unprepared magician enough for them to mess up the summoning, allowing the summoned creature to get their vengeance.
- In David Eddings' Sparhawk series, the Child-Goddess Aphrael definitely enjoys her drama, but she only steps into this territory when one of the knights complain about her tendency to teleport in right next to them/behind them, and nearly scare them out of their full-plate armor. Her next appearance is prefaced by a divine symphony of trumpet fanfares. Just to let them know she's coming.
- Spiro's HOY! in My Family and Other Animals.
Live-Action TV
- Pictured above: Douglas from The IT Crowd. Nothing says Large Ham like arriving to your dad's funeral, opening the parish doors boldly, taking off your sunglasses and, right before spectacularly running up the isle, knocking down the casket and getting into a slap fight with the vicar, screaming atop of your lungs: "FFFAAAAAAAAAAATHEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!"
- The Mighty Boosh: Not a one liner, but Bob Fossil's entry in the Stage Show fits this trope nonetheless. It's over the top, it's noisy, it announces the presence of a Large Ham... the only difference is that it goes on for longer.
- Mystery Science Theater 3000
- Doctor Forrester's first appearance in any episode is usually announced with some variation on "Hello, booby," or another insulting nickname for Joel or Mike.
- Then when Pearl took over as the major Big Bad, she would often greet Mike while making fun of his name, such as: "Oh hi Nike Smelson."
- Gene Hunt (of Life On Mars and Ashes to Ashes) gets a lot of these. (The phrase "armed bastards", while well known, has only actually featured twice.)
- Squiggy's nasal "Hallooooo!" every time he and Lenny would drop in on Laverne and Shirley.
- Will and Grace: "Hey, friends, lovers, mothers and other strangers, you are not going to believe what happened to me..."
- In Doctor Who, particularly the new series, the first appearance of a Dalek in a story is always accompanied by the all-purpose Catch Phrase "EXTERMINATE!"
- Variations include "HALT! STAY WHERE YOU ARE! YOU ARE A PRISONER OF THE DALEKS!", and so forth.
- In Journey's End, some Daleks in Germany use the battle cry of "EXTERMINIEREN!".
- In all his appearances, The Master tends to announce himself with "I am the Master, and you will obey me."
- The Captain's introduction in The Pirate Planet: "MR. FIBULI! MR. FIBULI! BY ALL THE X-RAY STORMS OF VIGA, WHERE IS THAT NINCOMPOOP?!"
- Timothy Dalton with Gallifrey RISES! whilst spitting all over the camera.
- Captain Jack's return to the show: "DOOOOOOOOOOOCTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!"
- Subverted on Scrubs. Dr. Kevin Casey, played by Michael J. Fox, walks in dramatically and looks like he's about to give a one-liner... then stops, turns around, and comes back again. Then he stops, turns around, and comes back again, and J.D. reflects on his obsessive-compulsive disorder. Once he's made his entrance to his satisfaction, in lieu of a proper one-liner, he makes some comment about the crazy-strict rules he gave himself about entering the hospital.
- Star Trek
- Q would sometimes deliver a portent just before materializing. "Au contraire, mon capitan! 'Eee's BAAAACK!"
- The Borg always state their mantra of assimilation before proceeding to tear things apart.
- Star Trek: Voyager: HALT IN THE NAME OF CHAOTICA!!"
- The West Wing: President Bartlet's first appearance on the show is preceeded by his proclamation (in the full authoritative voice of the President), "I am the Lord your God! Thou shalt have no other gods before me." It Makes Sense in Context, but wow.
- Seinfeld: Kramer always entered Jerry's apartment with a dramatic slide - but it was postal employee Newman who had a recurring Ham whenever he entered a scene.
"Hello, Jerry."
- "This looks like a job for Superman!"
- Momotaros/Sword Form in Kamen Rider Den-O has his Catch Phrase "Ore...Sanjou!" ("I have arrived!"), which he simply can't appear without saying. In All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker, he even pushed a Mook out of the way just to make sure he got his catchphrase in. And God have mercy on you if you interrupt it!
- The League of Gentlemen:
- "Hello, hello? What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here!"
- "Hello, Daaaaaaaave?"
- "Okey-cokey, pig-in-a-pokey! Good morning, job seekers!"
- Janice from Friends: "Oh! My! God!"
- WKRP in Cincinnati subverts this brilliantly in one episode, where Les Nessman introduces a new opening theme to the news that's such of an Incoming Ham you expect it to be directed by Cecil B. Demille and voiced by James Earl Jones. He then begins the news in his normal squeak of a voice.
- Lord Flashheart from Blackadder is such a Large Ham he does this twice; first he rappels into the corridor and declares "Iiiit's ME!" Then he enters the room and announces "Flash by name - Flash by nature! Hurrah!", a sentiment shared by all the cast except Edmund. He also has the brilliant "Enter, a man who has no underwear."
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita Repulsa was given one in the opening, cementing her status as a Large Ham before the show even began.
Rita Repulsa: AH!! After ten-thousand years, I'm free! It's time to conquer Earth!
- Sometimes, Jeremy Clarkson in Top Gear:
Jeremy Clarkson: (from across the studio) That is DISGUSTING!
Richard Hammond: Oh, dear! I fear Jeremy may be heading this way with an opinion!
- Chef "HELLOO, RRROSBEEF!"
- DOOOOMOOOOO, HAADO GAY DEEESUUU~!
- OOOKAAAYYYY!!!
- HOOOOOOO!!!
- Sumitani was a walking Incoming Ham, as he was always... happening upon unsuspecting people with lines like these.
- In the last scene of episode 3 of Game of Thrones, we're introduced to swordfighting instructor Syrio Forel, who's essentially played as a Spanish fop and says every single line as dramatically as possible. "JUST SO!"
- On Boy Meets World, Eric enters the first episode of season 7 by jumping on the student center pool table and yelling "EVERYBODY LOOK AT MY HEAD!" (because he got an Important Haircut). This sets the tone for his every more over the top Cloudcuckoolander personality that season.
- On Arrested Development GOB and Buster are impressed by rival magician "Tony Wonder" (Played by Ben Stiller) who only appears when someone uses the word "Wonder" at which point he tosses a smoke bomb, jumps out from hiding, and proclaims, "Did somebody say WONDER?!"
Music
- "Alright, [insert city/venue here]! Yoooou wanted the best... You got the best! The hottest band in the world... Kiss!"
Pro Wrestling
- "IF YOU SMELLLLLLLLLL... WHAT THE ROCK! IS COOKIN'!"
- FINE-LY... THE ROCK. HAS COME BACK TO (insert current location)
- WWOOOOOOOO!!
- *guitar riff* TIME TO PLAY THE GAME!!
- Just in case you've forgotten, let me tell you just who the hell I am! I. AM. THE GAME!!
- AAAAAWWWWWESOOOOOOOOOOOOOME
- 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1. *Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bumbumbumBUMBUMBUM.* *Silence.* *BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!* Break the walls DOOOOOWN! This was the original WWF entrance of Chris Jericho. He would go on to use a lesser - but still very hammy - version of this entrance throughout his time in the company.
- THE TRUTH HAS SET ME FREE!!
- WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLL IT'S THE BIG SHOW!!!!
- IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!
Stand-Up Comedy
- In his later performances, Sam Kinison would often walk on stage screaming, one time even chained like a wild animal.
Theater
- In the modern re-interpretation of The Imaginary Invalid, Beralde is introduced when he marches on stage and announces to the other characters, "I WRESTLED A BEAR TODAY."
Toinette: Your shirt is all tattered!
Beralde: That's what happens when you GRAB LIFE BY THE BALLS.
- In the farce Murder in the Magnolias, Hollywood actress Lotta Kargo makes her first entrance proclaiming "In two days, tomorrow will be yesterday!"
- Miles Gloriosus makes his grand entrance in A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to the Forum with several fanfares and this line: "Stand aside everyone! I take LARGE STEPS!"
- 1776 has Richard Henry Lee: "YOU SENT FOR ME, BENJAMIN?... HELLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOO JOHNNY!!!"
- Rent has Maureen delivering this little gem when she arrives for her performance:
Maureen: *dramatically* JOANNE! Which way to the stage?!
Video Games
- Super Robot Wars: Sanger Zombolt takes the cake.
Sanger: SHUT UP AND LISTEN! I AM SANGER... SANGER ZOMBOLT! THE SWORD THAT SMITES EVIL!
- Cave Story demonstrates this with the loveable bar of soap, Balrog.
Balrog: (in the original language) HEEEEEEEYYYY!
Balrog: (in the fan-translation) HUZZAH!
Balrog: (in the Wii-version) OH YEAH!
- Cosmic Break: The Game Masters always do this in each and every VS. Chaos event.
GM: FEEL THE POWER OF MY CRUISE CONTROOOOOOL
"MY KEYBOARD ISN'T READY FOR THIS"
- City of Villains
- In a mission where you are sent to stop the Circle of Thorns from summoning Baphomet, Bat'Zul's arrival is preceded by four waves of herald demons who announce his impending arrival. Talk about ego.
- For that matter, almost every Archvillain or Elite Boss or allies, and many boss-level enemies have a few lines to introduce themselves. Most of them aren't too pretentious, although Lord Nemesis! is behind everything.
- Tales of the Abyss: "Enter the Amazing Guy!"
- Command & Conquer
- "And he cried in a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth!' And Lazarus did arise from the grave...."
- "Kane Lives in death! Kane Lives in death!" "KANE... LIIIVEEEEEEESSSS!!!!!!!"
- All hero units (and some late game units) in the games announce their presence on the battlefield with this trope, especially the original Commando and Tanya.
- Kingdom Hearts
- Ansem/Xehanort's Heartless introduces himself: "It is I, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness."
- Maleficent gets one as well, when she goes into her One-Winged Angel dragon form: "THE TRU-U-UE DA-A-ARKNESS!"
- Makai Kingdom
- Zetta's first line, being an impressive Evil Laugh along with a declaration that "Nothing Can Stop Me Now!", qualifies for this trope in flying colours. Zetta then goes on to ham up the next two scenes something fierce until he mellows down after destroys his own netherworld by being stupid.
- Zetta is later out-hammed by King Drake the Third, with his introduction of "I am the king of the universe! The galactic hero; the creator of all things, decently sized! Say my name if you know it! I am... * dramatic explosion*... KING DRAKE THE THIRD!" The fact that King Drake III is voiced by Norio Wakamoto in the Japanese track (who is practically the Patron Saint of Hammy Seiyuu) helps.
- The World Ends With You: Lots of Reapers demonstrate various levels of hamminess. Sho Minamimoto manages to beat them all out.
Minamimoto: Sooo Zetta Slow! How long does it take you to crack a Z-Class code! You factoring Hectopascals!
- Waka, from Okami.
"Hark! The call of the heavens, the earth, the sea... They summon me forth to defeat evil! Waka, the gods' gift to man, is here! Bonjour!"
- Warcraft
- Warcraft II: "I'm aliiiiiiiiive!"
- Warcraft III: "Mortaaar combaaat!" "At last, we shall have revenge."
- All mere insects before Archimonde: "Tremble mortals, and despair! DOOM has come to this world!"
- Mass EffeAssuming direct control.
- Sinistar: "BEWARE! I LIVE!"
- World of Warcraft: Every. Single. Raid. Boss. Ever. The top two are probably Kael and Malygos. Kael gives a hammy speech that lasts several minutes every time you engage him, and later returns to inform you that He knows what you're thinking. But Tempest Keep was merely a setback! Malygos? WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH HERE? TO EMPLOY MAGIC? AGAINST ME? Bwahahahahahahaha!
- TOO SOON! YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME TOO SOON, EXECUTUS!
- Also, the Headless Horseman. EACH OF YOU SHALL PAY THE FINAL SUM! CRRRRRY FOR MERCY! THE RECKONING HAS COME!!
- YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!
- Lord Marrowgar. THIS IS THE BEGINNING, AND THE END MORTALS! NONE MAY ENTER THE MASTER'S SANCTUM!
- Sindragosa. YOU WERE FOOLS TO HAVE COME TO THIS PLACE!
- Deathwing, in Cataclysm's intro cinematic. The opening note of music, silence, then: "PAAAAAAAAAAIN! AAAAGONYYYYYYY! My hatred BUUUUURNS through the CAVERNOUS DEEP!"
- An interesting twist is in the Frost Lord Ahune encounter. When he is summoned, the player is the one delivering the lines - one of the rare instances in which the game makes a player character talk. Also done in the Headless Horseman encounter, actually. "Horseman rise/ Your time is nigh/ You felt death once/ Now, know demise!" There is never any other indication in the game that your character is the poetic sort.
- More recently, Ultraxion. I am the beginning of the end! The shadow which bolts out the sun! The bell which tolls your doom! For this moment ALONE was I made! Look upon your death, mortals...and despair! Most of the dragons do this.
- Any time in a Sonic the Hedgehog game when Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik introduces himself. Sonic and Shadow do this too, to a lesser extent.
- Grahf does a bit of this in Xenogears whenever he shows up to ruin your day. Saying things like "Doth thou desire the power?" and "Blossom o fallen seed and grant unto thee the power of the glorious Mother of Destruction!" His kicking tune doesn't hurt either.
- Magneto, in the X-Men arcade game: "X-Men! Welcome... TO YOUR DOOM!"
- Baldur's Gate
- The first game has the following line from Minsc when you first click on him: "Stand and deliver, that my hamster may have a better look at you!"
- And Xzar has: "Montaron! You are so AGGRAVATING! 'Tis disturbing to my DEMEANOUR!"
- In the sequel, if you weren't expecting Minsc to be hammy after his proclamation that the bars "BEND AND TWIST WITH [HIS] BERSERKER STRENGTH!!", there is very little that can be done to help you.
- Ace Attorney
- It doesn't really belong here--"OBJECTION!"
- Luke Atmey: "Zvarri!"
- Furio Tigre: "Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa(several screens later)ar!"
- The Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid series. Pick your game:
Snake: LIQUIIID!
Liquid: SNAAAKE!
- The Fury, who makes his entrance by blasting his flamethrower, stomping in his jetpack-suit and shouting "I CAME BACK FROM SPACE!".
- "BRRRRRRRROOOTHEEER!"'
- "Welcome to my country... AND MY UNIT!"
- Also Snake's "Kept you waiting, huh?" in Super Smash Bros..
- Dead Rising: "THIS IS MY STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!"
- Vice President Richard Hawk from Metal Wolf Chaos: "Hello hello hello, hello, Michael! How's life treating you?" He also has a habit of using Evil Laughter for the same purpose. His first line in the game is evil laughter, and sets the tone for his performance.
- HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW???!?!?!?!?!?
- Everyone in Team Fortress 2 has their hammy moments, some more than others, so many of their "battle cry" lines—uttered at the beginning of every round—count as this. Especially the Heavy and Demoman. Also, the Heavy's Übercharge lines, given the context. "IS GOOD TIME TO RUN, COWARDS!"
- This line says it all and this says the rest.
- The Heavy had a literal example as he made his grand entrance in "Meet the Spy".
- In Final Fantasy V (Advance translation), your first proper battle with Gilgamesh is proceeded by:
HA HA! Guess who's been hiding behind this door the whole time? Yes, it's me!
Took you long enough, too... I was just getting worried you might have gotten lost!
Anyway! It's go time!
- What is probably his most infamous line in the entire franchise:
"Enough expository banter! Now we fight like men! And ladies! And ladies who dress like men! For Gilgamesh...IT IS MORPHING TIME!"
- Any time Gilgamesh shows up, you can be guaranteed that there will be enough ham to feed a city block for a week.
- BlazBlue':' "I am the man of love and justice, Bang Shishigami!" And while we're at it: "I am the white void. I am the cold steel. I am the just sword. With blade in hand shall I reap the sins of this world and cleanse it in the fires of destruction. I am Hakumen. The end has come!"
- Dawn of War
- The opening cutscenes for the games let you know just how dramatic the game is going to be (true to its source, Warhammer 40,000), so they're the games' Incoming Ham line in a sense.
- There are also these two lines in the Dawn of War II's opening cutscene:
Eldar Farseer: You lost this war before you even started, fool.
Space Marine Captain: (in the absolute loudest scream possible) TAKE COVEEEEEEEEERRRRRRR!
- The Assault Marines in the first Dawn of War were rather fond of shouting "DEATH FROM ABOOOOOOVE!!" while activating their jump packs, followed by crashing down onto whoever was unlucky enough and unleashing the full force of Warhammer 40,000's extra-strong brand of Chainsaw Good.
- In addition, in Dawn of War II every single boss creature except Tyranid beasts gleefully indulges in this.
- From Shadow Hearts: Covenant: CHAMPION OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE... GRAND PAPILLON!!!. This coming from a gay vampire wrestler who thinks he's a superhero.
- Punch-Out!!: Super Macho Man gives a truly hamtastic line when you first fight him;
"Are you READY?! 'Cause I'm gonna put on a SHOW!"
- "You forget what it means to be 'human', Pius!"—Alexander Roivas, Eternal Darkness
- BioShock (series):
- "I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask a question: Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?
- "I'M SANDER FUCKING COHEN!"
- Crash Bandicoot: "Mwahahahahahah... free, at LASSST!"
- Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: "Did someone page the King of Awesome?"
- Killzone 2: Colonel Radec arrives to say "Haven't I killed ALL of you yet?"
- Fallout 3: Meet the Humongous Mecha! LIBERTY PRIME IS ONLINE. ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL. WEAPONS: HOT. MISSION: THE DESTRUCTION OF ANY AND ALL CHINESE COMMUNISTS.
- God of War
- "ZEUS!!! YOUR SON HAS RETURNED!!! I BRING THE DESTRUCTION OF OLYMPUS!!!"
- "You challenge me, mortal? A GOD OF OLYMPUS?!"
- Zeus' opening Rousing Speech in III definitely qualifies.
- "Behold the GLORY of HELIOS!!"
- The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks: Hey Malladus, ever wonder why the train always seems to offend Jewish people?
Malladus: RELEAAAASE MEEEEEE!!!
- Disgaea is rife with this, but special mention goes to Captain Gordon, DEFENDER OF EARTH!!!
- Elite Beat Agents: WE-ARE-THE-RHOMBULANS. YOUR-PATHETIC-PLANET-IS-NOW-OURS.
- Setting the tone for the entire damn game: AGENTS ARE... GO!!!!
- Every unit says one of these lines upon being produced in StarCraft.
- The Overmind, when it gives you a briefing at the beginning of Zerg campaign.
- Continued into StarCraft II.
- LittleBigPlanet: I... AM AVALON CENTRIFUGE!
- Pokemon Myster Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky: "I HAVE FOUND YOU AT LAST! THE DEFILERS WHO ARE CAUSING... THE DISTORTION OF SPACE!"
- While damn near all capital ships in Sins of a Solar Empire are hammy special mention goes to the Vulkuras Desolater... because... well... just listen to this... thats just what he says when he spawns...
- The Beast of Homeworld: Cataclysm:
Web Animation
Web Comics
- Gunnerkrigg Court: Dr. Disaster announces his presence by smashing open the door and shouting "Spacemonauts! The Earth is in peril!"
- Girl Genius features "Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer!!!!"
- Ishihara Shingi makes his debout this way in The FAN
- Homestuck:
<span style=" color:
- 004183;">AG: Joooooooo
<span style=" color:
- 004183;">AG: oooooooo
<span style=" color:
- 004183;">AG: oooooooo
<span style=" color:
- 004183;">AG: oooooooo
<span style=" color:
- 004183;">AG: oooooooo
<span style=" color:
- 004183;">AG: oooooooo
<span style=" color:
- 004183;">AG: oooooooo
<span style=" color:
- 004183;">AG: oooooooohn!
- And promptly Lampshaded:
<span style=" color:
- 004183;">AG: It is 8 rows of 8.
<span style=" color:
- 004183;">AG: I specifically counted them.
<span style=" color:
- 004183;">AG: It is the sort of thing I do.
- Also:
<span style=" color:
- 626262;">CG: ATTENTION WORTHLESS HUMAN.
<span style=" color:
- 626262;">CG: THIS IS YOUR GOD SPEAKING.
Web Original
- Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog introduces the egotastical Captain Hammer with a scene-stealing hero song atop a moving van, complete with Milking the Giant Cow.
"Stand back, everyone, nothing here to see!
Just imminent danger, in the middle of it me!
Yes, Captain Hammer's here, hair blowing in the breeze!
The day needs my saving expertise! *CRUNCH*
- A Very Potter Musical: "WHAT THE DEVIL IS GOING ON HEEEEEEEERE?!" This immortal line was uttered by Snape. In fact, Joe Moses in general, if Starship is anything to go on, too.
- DID SOMEONE SAY DRACO MALFOY?
- True Capitalist radio's host has this:
"Well folks, I think it's time for everyone's favorite part of the broadcast, AND AH'M TALKIN' ABOUT RADIO GRAFFITTIIIIII! HAHAHAHAAAA!"
Western Animation
- On the show Adventure Time, Lemongrab makes his grand entrance by walking into the castle on a camel, and declaring, in a shrill, cracking scream:
"This Castle Is... In... UNACCEPTABLE CONDITION! UNACCEPTABLLLEEE!!! THIRTY DAYS IN THE DUNGEON!!!"
- "I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the (Noun) that (Verb)s your (Noun)! I am Darkwing Duck!" ...More often than not, tripping or otherwise spoiling the drama on the word "Duck".
- "By All Your Powers Combined, I am Captain Planet!"
- Transformers
- In Transformers: Beast Wars, Megatron does like to make an entrance, yessss...
- On the original series, Sky Lynx does this constantly, to the point that Springer nicknames him "Commander Modesty".
- "Decepticons, I have returned!"
- 'Mighty Mouse was unable to enter a scene without bellowing, "Here I come to save the day!"
- The Spectacular Spider-Man: "We... will have VENGEANCE... ON SPIDER-MAAAAN!! RAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Why couldn't Venom have been this awesome in Spider-Man 3? Oh, yeah.
- In an episode of Megas XLR, Coop acquires a videogame that is in reality a prison for giant monster criminals. As he "selects" the Monster of the Week:
Grrkek: You will rue the day you met Grrkek the Planet Killer!
Coop: Oh, rue the day. Who talks like that? I'm gonna beat you down just for talkin' all weird!
- In the first episode of Freakazoid!, when we see Dexter Douglas transform for the first time, Freakazoid promptly jumps at the camera and declares, "HELLO! I'M HERE IN THE SHOW!"
- Metalocalypse
- "Ooh! Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka co-ka-ka-ka-YEAH! I'm Doctor Rockzo! The Rock and Roll Clown! I DO COCAAAAAAIIINE!! I hear it's somebody's biiiirrrrthdaaaaaay. I DO COCAINE!!"
"Seriously, dude, a lot of cocaine."
- Pickles brings one in Season 3 when he gets drunk and obtains Popeye-like strength after having gone through rehabilitiation.
"I AM BACK MOTHER F(guitar riff)ERS!"
- Futurama
- Every time Lrrr enters a scene, he needs to announce that he is RULER OF THE PLANET OMICRON PERSEI 8!, even if he's trying to be anonymous
- Professor Farnsworth typically first proclaims, "GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE!"
- Morbo always refers to himself in the third person! 90% of his lines are about how inferior humans are.
- "There's no need to fear, Underdog is here!"
- Batman Beyond's Mad Stan's (voiced by Henry Rollins) philosophy in life, Catch Phrase and first line in the series are all the same four words: "BLOW IT ALL UP!"
- In a Static Shock episode, where Richie was kidnapped by Ebon, Static burst into the hideout with a loud "DID SOMEBODY SAY MY NAME?!"
- Invader Zim has several of these. Ironically, Zim, who is in an almost constant state of Chewing the Scenery, does not.
- "I am THROBULATOR! Being of pure headache!"
- "Not now son. I'm making TOAST!"
- Tak subverts the trope... for about ten seconds, until just after she's introduced herself. Then:
Tak: My father's the head of the DEEEEE-licious Weenie Corporation, SO I BROUGHT VALENTINE'S WEENIES FOR EVERYONE! (commence tide of weenies)
- While it's not his first line in the series (by far), GIR's "GUESS WHO MADE WAFFLES?!" in Zim Eats Waffles qualifies.
- Almost everybody in Batman the Brave And The Bold has hammy first lines, but the Music Meister raises the bar exceedingly high by introducing himself with a musical number.
- Samurai Jack: "Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the Shapeshifting Master of Darkness, unleashed an UNSPEAKABLE EVIL! BUT, a foolish samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I TWOAH open a portal in time, and flung him into The Future, where my evil is LAW! Now the fool seeks to return to the past, and undo the future that is AH-KU."
- The Venture Bros
- "Grand Galactic Inquisitor" is 12 feet tall and shines what amounts to floodlights from his Eye. His voice is so powerful, his voice can be felt "in [your] chonies". However, his incoming line is "IGNORE ME!!!!!"
- The Monarch and Dr. Orpheus also have been known to make grand entrances. Most of Orpheus's early dialogue was underscored with trumpet fanfare.
- "WHO WANTS PIZZA ROOOOLLLSSSS?"
- Mark Hamill's first appearance as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series set the tone for his whole hammy run as the character by opening with his operatic rendition of "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells."
- In My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, Discord announces his presence via a silkily taunting, teasing disembodied voice, but doesn't actually appear, so it's not an example. When he shows himself in person with evil laughter and lightning in the background after disappearing all the main cast's horns and wings, then he gets hammy.
Discord: You should see the looks on your faces! PRICELESS!
- From much earlier, Nightmare Moon's entrance in "The Mare in the Moon".
- Princess Luna's entrance from "Luna Eclipsed".
- "Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Grrreat and Powerful TRRRIXIE!" Bonus points for making her first appearance in a puff of smoke and sparks while her signature fanfare plays in the background.
- Ren and Stimpy has "POWDERED TOAST MAAAAAAANNN!!"
Real Life
- Salvador Dali had his moments:
"The difference between the insane man and me is that I am sane"
"I am drugs!"