There was a 1st or 2nd ed module (I forget which). As a random encounter a dwarf with plate mail and a Dwarven Thrower hammer would just burrow from out of the ground, he would check the sun, check the wind and ask which way was east. He could not be bothered with introductions because he was in such a hurry. Then he would jump back into his hole like a Bugs Bunny cartoon never to be seen again. I ran the encounter exactly like that and the players were mildly amused and a bit confused.
Several sessions later they were in deep trouble. Several PCs were down and dying. The ones left standing were about to go down too. I had a thought. The ground burst open and out comes this dwarf in plate mail and a hammer. He looks at the enemy and says, "Please attack me all at once, it will save me time and I'm in a great hurry." The enemy was distracted by the dwarf and eventually the battle was won. The players loved that and thought I had been planning that encounter for a long time.
I did it a third time, but by then it got old, and the players started asking when is "I forgot his name gonna show?"
We all split up and went off to college soon after. I did not see any of them for five or six years. One holiday season we all got together again and played for nostalgia and old times sake. By this time D&D 3.0 had come out and we played by the new rules. They played the sons and daughters of their favorite old characters and the adventure began.
Somewhere around the 3rd or 4th encounter the ground started rumbling and a small dwarf, too young to grow a beard, wearing ill-fitting armor and holding a heavy hammer, came up out of the ground. He threw the hammer, killing the enemy, and then he called back into the hole "Got 'im Dad!" Then drops back into the hole.
It took the room 10 minutes to stop laughing.
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