Guillermo del Toro has slowly built up the reputation of a Hollywood legend over the past few decades. While while his meteoric trajectory began with 2004's Hellboy, he made his biggest critical splash with 2017's art-house monster movie The Shape of Water.
Throughout his career, however, he's had cameos and small roles in a number of media projects, several of which have been directed and written by him, although with others his only involvement is the cameo. So, according to IMDb users, which are his best appearances?
The Simpsons: "101 Mitigations" - 6.4
If there's one thing The Simpsons' numerous celebrity guest stars over the decades have shown, it's that the best can be unforgettable, while the worst are also, but for completely different reasons.
Having previously directed a Treehouse of Horror couch gag for The Simpsons, del Toro guest-stars as himself in the episode "101 Mitigations." He is the director of a video which depicts Mr. Burns in a sympathetic light, made to help Burns get off of a criminal charge. It's a minor part of the episode, but a fan appearance.
Extraordinary Tales - 6.4
Edgar Allan Poe has inspired many horror movies and TV shows with his macabre tales, and his own troubled life has also proved fascinating. It's no surprise, then, that as a famed horror director Guillermo del Toro would be involved in a project that adapted works by Poe.
Extraordinary Tales is a 2013 animated anthology movie adapting five stories by Poe. Del Toro serves as the narrator for the segment "The Pit and the Pendulum," based on the Poe tale of the same name. Among five famous narrators, del Toro manages to stand out; he's clearly in his element.
Puss in Boots - 6.6
The character of Puss in Boots originated in Shrek 2, and would not only star in the following two sequels, but received his own self-titled spinoff film in 2011 and a follow-up show from Netflix in 2015. Del Toro's short appearance is in the spinoff film, however.
As Puss in Boots is voiced by Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, this version is steeped in Spanish culture, and that translates to the rest of the film's cast. Del Toro portrays Comandante, also known as Mustache Man, a human dispatched to hunt Puss in Boots after he robbed a bank in his hometown of San Ricardo.
Cronos - 6.7
Cronos is a 1993 independent film which marked not only Guillermo del Toro's directorial debut, but also the first of five del Toro characters played by Ron Perlman. The film is about an immortality mechanism created in 1535 resurfacing in the 20th century, and the horrific consequences that causes.
While Perlman plays the second-most-important role in the film, del Toro appears as a man walking his dog, although he was not officially credited for this cameo. It was no doubt done for the sake of saving money, but it marks del Toro's first acting appearance in a feature film.
Hellboy - 6.8
Of course, the classic del Toro-Perlman collaboration has to be 2004's Hellboy and its 2008 sequel, which saw Perlman brilliantly star as the titular Hellboy. Based on the Mike Mignola comic book series, del Toro's fans have been clamoring for Hellboy III for years, even after the disappointing 2019 reboot was released.
Whereas del Toro only helped with creature vocals in Hellboy II, in the first film he has a brief on-screen role as a man dressed as a dragon, although like with Cronos, his role went officially uncredited.
The Book of Life - 7.2
The 2014 animated film The Book of Life is inspired by the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead, following a bullfighter on his adventures in the afterlife. When Coco released in 2017, it drew comparisons with this film... as if two Day of the Dead animated films couldn't be made without one being a ripoff.
In any case, once again, del Toro makes a vocal cameo in the movie, although it definitely goes against type: he voices the wife of the Land of the Remembered Captain. The film is on Disney+, so if you watch it, keep an eye– or, um... ear out for this cameo.
3Below: Tales of Arcadia - 7.3
Tales of Arcadia was the brainchild of del Toro himself, and was pitched as a trilogy of series, all bearing the Tales of Arcadia name, set in a sci-fi fantasy setting, a town called Arcadia Oaks. 3Below is the second of the three shows, following Trollhunters and being followed by Wizards.
Del Toro reprises his role of dentist Señor Muelas in two episodes of the show, although now the character is credited as "Dr. Muelas." The combined IMDb score for the two episodes is below the series average rating of 7.7, but this is unsurprising since 3Below overall is rated lower than Trollhunters.
Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia - 8.2
The first series in the Tales of Arcadia series, Trollhunters debuted in 2016 and had Anton Yelchin as the voice of main character Jim, with the actor having recorded many episodes before his untimely death in 2016. Emile Hirsch took over for the remainder of Trollhunters, and for Tales of Arcadia appearances after it.
Once again, del Toro plays Señor Muelas, this time across five episodes of the show, collectively garnering these appearances an impressive 8.2 average rating. Del Toro's passion for the show is what it helped it, and the trilogy overall, succeed, and his role is just icing on the cake in this case.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - 8.7
The long-running TV series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia can boast about many things, but among them has to be Guillermo del Toro's two appearances on the show as Pappy McPoyle, eccentric head of the McPoyle family.
In the 2012 episode "The Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre," Pappy is introduced ranting at Maureen's wedding. In the 2016 episode "McPoyle vs. Ponderosa: The Trial of the Century" Pappy acts as a witness in a lawsuit, where his eccentricities pop up once more. It's hilarious and off-the-wall.
Death Stranding - 8.8
There are plenty of celebrity cameos in Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima's 2019 post-apocalyptic video game. However, Guillermo del Toro's role is quite unique. Death Stranding's the Deadman is modeled on his appearance, but is actually voiced by Jesse Corti.
So, even though del Toro's appearance is one of the most frequently-seen in the game, del Toro as a performer is only in the game on a surface level. Is it a cameo, or is it a regular performance? Well, del Toro received an "additional crew" credit, so it seems even the studio wasn't fully sure.