The Simpsons: 10 Greatest One-Time Characters

The Episode: "Homer's Enemy" (Season 8, Episode 23)

The Voice Actor: Hank Azaria

The invention of Frank Grimes stemmed from the question: "What if a real person came to Springfield, and was forced to work alongside Homer Simpson?"

This seemingly simple query resulted in one of the finest (and darkest) episodes of the show, not to mention one of its best ever one-time characters. Grimes, as voiced by Hank Azaria, has spent his entire life following the rules and trying to better himself, but comes unstuck when he realises that - somehow - he's still in a worse position than Homer Simpson, a man he sees as a buffoon, a huge joke.

Grimes comes to resent Homer in all the ways it's possible to resent a man, and as a result he begins to descend into madness. What's most interesting about Grimes' appearance is the way it forces us to consider Homer's life in ways we might never had done before: he does, after all, have a really good job, a nice house, a loving family, things that we - the viewer - have probably taken for granted.

In the end, of course, it's all too much for Frank Grimes, who - in a bid to impersonate Homer - winds up fatally electrocuting himself. It's a tour-de-force performance from Azaria; we understand Grimes' pain, but ultimately we accept that he has to go.