By one-off character, I mean just that. A character who made a single appearance on a show with a continuing cast, who is nevertheless extremely memorable because of the way they interact with one or more members of the regular cast.
Characters who appear two or more times on the same show do not count. No Callisto, no Harcourt Fenton Mudd, no Agent Farnell.
Likewise, characters from anthology shows like The Twilight Zone are also not eligible, as those shows do not have continuing casts by definition. And no, Rod Serling does not count as a continuing cast; he’s not a character in the stories and never interacts with the people shown therein.
Lastly, only fictional series count. It doesn’t matter how awesome it was for Elizabeth Smart to deliver a subtle smackdown to Nancy Grace: Smart is a person, not a fictional character, and the Nancy Grace is not a fictional series.
Hmm. You know, you’re right, and I’m willng to make this concession: characters who appear only once before being brought back for the grand finale count as one-offs, as do characters who appear in both parts of a two-part episode. Also, subsequent appearances as the same character in a different series, or in a different medium (say spin-off movie) do not disqualify the character as being a one-off.
Having said that, I’ll nominate the character of Patti Miller, portrayed by the glorious and beautiful Stephanie D’Abruzzo, in the Scrubs episode “My Musical.”
OK, during the two-part Borg episode from Next Generation (where Picard was Borgified), Brian Denahey’s daughter Elizabeth played Riker’s temporary second-in-command, Commander Shelby. When Picard resumed command of the Enterprise, she disappeared, never to be seen again.
However, she was, as far as I know, the first truly command-level female officer seen in the series.
I’ve not seen that episode since Hector was a pup. Was that one of those mind-melds in which Spock seemed briefly possessed by the consciousness of the person he was melding with–as in, I think the Nomad incident? Because, as I recall it, he simply relatee what he had learned from the Horta. If the latter, I wouldn’t call her a character (though I clearly think she was a, well, she).
With her I haven’t the slightest quibble. She rocked. A pity she was probably executed when she went home.
(And yes, I know what Marsha Culbreath & Diane Duane would say about that.)
I was going to suggest David Cross playing Elliot’s brother Donnie in Just Shoot Me. But apparently they brought him back for two more appearances after his first one.
Would Robin Williams’ appearance as Mork on Happy Days count? He only appeared once on that show but then they based a series around his character.
Yes. He has a weird little sing-song voice when he’s channelling the Horta. And she’s definitely a she, being the mother of all those bajillion eggs.
To answer the actual topic of the thread, several of the Doctor’s one-off Companions from the new series’ specials are fairly memorable - Astrid and Lady Christina, particularly come to mind, though the end of Waters of Mars certainly ensures Abigail will be remembered. Actually, Astrid’s mainly memorable for her end, too.
Oh, duh, and she also communicates directly with them after the first Mind Meld attempt (he can’t because of her pain, though it’s not clear if his ‘PAIN! PAIN!’ is her speaking through him, or him saying he’s feeling her pain) - she burns ‘NO KILL’ into the rock. :smack:
We are obviously thinking of different episodes. The Captain in question was male, and blew up his ship immediately after the quote above; that was his “one more duty”. According to the Memory Alpha entry here, my memory got the quote a little wrong:
I’m on my iPad, so I can’t go through the effort of checking this early in the morning, but I think you’re mixing up your Romulan officers. Der is talking about the one portrayed by Mark Leonard during the sub chase, not the sultry crab-apple that was distracted by visions of Spock-Wang while Kirk walked in and boosted her cloaking device.
You’re right; I wasn’t paying close attention. The female Romulan commander was in “The Enterprise Incident,” notable for being the episode in which the bad guys won.
