10 Movie Characters They Wanted You To Forget

10. Sgt. Dignam - The Departed

Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) certainly makes quite the impression in the first two acts of Martin Scorsese's The Departed - a stern yet quick-witted, wise-cracking cop who doesn't suffer fools lightly.

And though Mark Wahlberg's terrific performance netted him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, his character disappears quite abruptly ahead of the film's climax.

Following the murder of his superior, Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen), an enraged Dignam lashes out at Sgt. Sullivan (Matt Damon) and is placed on suspension for two weeks.

The rest of the movie plays out with undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) facing off against mob rat Sullivan, while it's assumed that Dignam won't be coming back.

But in the film's very final scene, some 30 minutes after we last saw him, Dignam makes a surprise re-appearance, hiding out in Sullivan's apartment to shoot him dead in revenge for killing Costigan.

It's all the more unexpected given that this never happens in the Hong Kong film upon which The Departed is based, Infernal Affairs.

Between this and keeping Dignam out of the audience's mind for so long, it ensured his last-minute return was a genuine crowd-pleasing shock.