1. The Gentlemen
Episode: Hush (Season 4, Episode 10) A truly creepy group of villains in a fantastic, genuinely eerie, horror-esque episode, the Gentleman were - by far - the most memorable single episode villains from
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The concept of the Gentlemen was so good that it could quite easily hold its own as a horror franchise unto itself. The Gentlemen were pale, bald humanoids with metallic teeth, who travelled from town to town with their demonic henchmen (who wore straight-jackets, nonetheless) and their magical box. The box stole the voices of everyone in the town they were in, which enabled them to go about their dastardly business without the worry of hearing a human voice - which would kill them - while also giving them the added luxury of their victims not being able to call for help or scream. The Gentlemen needed seven human hearts to stay alive, so they would take a scalpel from their satchels and cut out their victims hearts while they were still alive and attempting to scream in vain. They moved by hovering, which added an extra layer of creepiness to an already terrifying concept. Their appearance made for a truly unique and excellent episode, which stemmed from
Buffy creator Joss Whedon hearing somebody say that his show would be nothing without the snappy dialogue. Whedon saw this as a challenge and opted to produce an episode that lacked that snappy dialogue, creating the Gentlemen as a tool to make that possible. The episode was a huge success, proving that Whedon's show had more depth than some people were led to believe. Buffy and Riley Finn ultimately defeated the Gentlemen during a final encounter with them, when Buffy instructed Riley to smash their box. He does so and Buffy proceeds to let out a massive scream, which causes their heads to explode and green slime to splash everywhere.
Of course, this list is merely my opinion, so I'm interested to find out which one-shot villains were your favourites. Do you, in fact, agree with this list? Or were your favourites not mentioned? Give your opinions below!