American Horror Story: 10 Best Minor Characters

1. Pepper

Shelley American Horror Story Asylum
FX

A real fan favourite and one of the most recognisable faces outside of the main ensemble cast thanks to her appearances in Asylum and Freakshow, Pepper is a microcephalic woman with so much more to her than what meets the eye.

Though she's given limited screentime over the course of her appearances, Pepper's presence (be it at Elsa Mars' Freakshow or confined to the halls of Briacliffe Manor) is always a powerful personification of the tones and themes of the story she appears in. Her character practically introduced the idea of the show's anthology actually being a connected universe, and her story being explained as a prequel to Asylum has unlocked so many more creative trees for the writers going forward.

Pepper is the absolute definition of purity, innocence, unconditional love and the desperate pursuit of family and belonging somewhere, a theme that every single season of the show has layered into it. This purity and innocence just serves to make the neverending tragedies that follow her all the more harrowing to watch.

To see someone who only ever wants to love and belong be constantly thrown away and held in contempt is a serious tear-jerker, but it is still undeniably one of the most powerful moments in the show's history.

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Contributor

Horror fan, gamer, all round subpar content creator. Strongly believes that Toad is the real hero of the Mario universe, and that we've probably had enough Batman origin stories.