10 Movie Characters Who Debuted Much Earlier Than You Think

3. Machete (Grindhouse) - Spy Kids

Machete Danny Trejo Spy Kids
Dimension Films & Fox

The Character

And now for another Robert Rodriguez creation - the no-nonsense former-Mexican federale, Machete (Danny Trejo), who swears bloody vengeance on the drug lord who killed his family (Steven Seagal) in Rodriguez's 2010 movie.

Though this film represented Machete's mainstreaming coming-out party, many were first introduced to him via the hysterical fake trailer Rodriguez shot and included in Grindhouse a few years earlier. But even that wasn't the beginning...

Their REAL Debut

Rodriguez may be best known for his ultra-violent, gloriously insane action thrillers, but he's also responsible for directing all four movies in the hit Spy Kids franchise and, bizarrely enough, including Machete as a minor character in these family-friendly movies.

Machete is referred to as "Uncle Machete" in the original 2001 film and typically shows up for a cameo in each subsequent movie to help the heroes out. Trejo's inherent presence is so strange and disarming in the films that it actually...works.

As far as franchise cross-overs go, though, this surely has to be one of the oddest ever.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.