Some Great One-Off Characters

Most TV-shows, whether live-action or animated, tend to rely on a recurring cast of characters that the viewer gets to know intimately during the course of the series. However, every once in a while, a character appears that manage to make a lasting impression, despite only playing a (usually) major role in one episode. Below are a few of these "one-offs" that have remained in my memory over the years. I should point out that all the characters on this list are from shows that features a recurring cast, hence why there are no examples from The Twilight Zone or Decalogue to be found on it.

Hank Scorpio (The Simpsons)

Its been a long time since I lost any interest in The Simpsons, but that does not prevent me from looking back with a certain fondness at some of the older episodes. One of my favorite episodes of the show is You Only Move Twice, in which the family moves to another city, when Homer gets offered a job at Globex Corporation, headed by Hank Scorpio.

What makes Scorpio such a memorable character is his dual-nature. On one hand, he's a megalomaniacal super-villain with dreams of World Conquest, but he's also a genuinely friendly guy who cares about his employees, making him a far better person to work for than, say, Monty Burns. The fact that he gets a Shirley Bassey-esque theme song, worthy of any Bond villain, is also a point in his favor.

Hugo DeVries (Inspector Morse)

Based on the novels by Colin Dexter, Inspector Morse is one of the finest detective-series to come out of Britain. My personal favorite episode is one that's actually not based on a novel; namely, Masonic Mysteries. In this episode, Morse finds himself the target of a ghost from his past: Hugo DeVries, a con-man he sent to jail decades earlier and who is now out for revenge.

Vicious and intelligent, if there ever was a criminal in this series that qualified as Morse's own Professor Moriarty its DeVries. Played to chilling perfection by Ian McDiarmid, DeVries does not actually appear all that much in the episode, but his presence is felt throughout it. The scene in which he and Morse finally meet each other face to face is one of my favorite scenes of its type, in any show.

Lt. Joe Bookman (Seinfeld)

Appearing in the season 3 episode The Library (plus a cameo in the series finale), Lt. Joe Bookman is a library cop with an extreme dedication towards his job. His deadpan personality, rapid-fire way of speaking and the fact that he acts like a regular cop on the hunt for dangerous criminals, rather than library delinquents, combine to make Bookman one of the most memorable and funniest minor characters in this seminal sit-com.

Andy Von de Oniyate (Cowboy Bebop)

I was going to write something about Andy and how well he works as a reflection of the show's lead character Spike Spiegel. However, try as I might I was unable to come up with any argument for what makes Andy a great character that this post didn't make years ago and better. So go and read it and see you, Space Cowboy.

Krombopulos Michael (Rick & Morty)

Rick & Morty is not quite among my favorite cartoons, but there are some episodes of it that I really like (the one with the parasites, for example) and its not lacking in memorable one-off characters. My personal favorite is Krombopulos Michael, an alien assassin who we first see buying weapons from Rick and afterwards ends up getting killed by Morty, while trying to assassinate the telepathic gaseous life-form, which later calls itself Fart. Despite being only in two brief scenes in an episode, Krombopulos Michael's affable demeanor and his cheerful enthusiasm towards his work ("Oh, boy! Here I go killing again") makes him one of the funniest and most likable characters in the show.