Buffy The Vampire Slayer: 10 Best Characters Only In One Episode
Heroes, monsters and maniacs: here for a good time, not a long time.
Improbable from the off, Buffy the Vampire Slayer defied all expectations for six years and seven seasons, transforming a peppy blonde cheerleader with a fluffy name into the last word in supernatural-slaying badassery.
And where would our Slayer be without her supporting cast, the many-shaded Scoobies, the scenery-chewing Big Bads and the full slate of romantic disasters? Initially thriving on the monster of the week format, the show transitioned into grander plotlines in later series, trading snapshot stories for lengthier, season-wide and often more human-centric dramas.
But, while the long years have pulled their weight, and the expansive character arcs and overarching villains' schemes kept us glued to the screen week after week, it is often the smaller, understated episodes and characters who claim the largest chunk of real estate in our memories.
For such a long-running series, there are surprisingly few characters who only appear in one episode, but still more than enough to set the old Slayer senses tingling and have us craving more. And we have rounded up the best of the best. From robotic step-fathers to horndog dummies, the gang's all here, and ready to return for one final scare.
10. Ted
Ted Buchanan is the ultimate clean-cut fast mover with a steady job. He is a whizz in the kitchen, a hit with Buffy's mum and friends, and he also happens to be a robot.
Played by John Ritter (of Three's Company fame) and featuring in the eponymous 'Ted' (episode eleven of season two), Ted is a new romantic interest for Joyce Summers who swiftly assumes an overbearing father figure role in a more than reluctant Buffy's life.
But it wouldn't be Sunnydale if things didn't do the wacky, and Ted turns out to be a robotic copy of his creator, who has been cyclically collecting wives and absconding with them to his private bunker since the 1950s.
With a cupboard full of corpses and a penchant for violence, there is only one way it could ever end, and Ted is last seen facing off against the business end of a Buffy-wielded frying pan before he's added to the 'scrap heap of life'.
"Beg to differ, li'l lady."