Canon One-Shot Characters

Tropes and genres
Synonym(s)	Minor Character, One Off
Related tropes/genres	Supporting Character
See also	Mary Sue, fanon
Related articles on Fanlore.

Canon is filled with one-shot characters who make an appearance and then disappear, often for fairly minor and forgettable reasons. The nature of the original source text, specifically those in a regular series, seems to require that a character have a life-changing moment, only to appear the next week with no mention of the previous incident.

But every fandom has a paddock of characters that, for some reason, strike a fannish chord and go on to make a reappearance in many, many fanworks giving a fan the opportunity to explore the what if and possible motivations.

What Do These Characters Provide?

• missing pieces from a main character's past
• bringing back a bad guy/gal to inflict more stress and mayhem
• characters that make a main character reveal parts of him/herself, either not previously seen or given more exposure
• exploring other parts or timeframes of the canon universe

Some Examples

Television

• Carnell, Deva and Anna Grant from Blake's 7
• Fleur de Brabant, Aristotle, Sydney, Divia (two episodes), and Alma from Forever Knight
• Lee Brackett, Incacha, and Eli Stoddard from The Sentinel
• Miko and Parrish from Stargate Atlantis
• Gary Mitchell and Edith Keeler from Star Trek: The Original Series
• Terry Roberts, Vanessa Hutchinson, and Gillian Ingram from Starsky and Hutch
• Carter in Robin Hood (BBC 2006)
• Terry Roberts, Vanessa Hutchinson, and Diana Harmon from Starsky & Hutch

Film

• "Figwit" in The Lord of the Rings films
• Gaila from Star Trek Reboot

Books

• Imrahil, Finduilas, Elrohir, Elladan, Haldir and many others in The Lord of the Rings
• Anne de Bourgh in Pride and Prejudice
• Irene Adler and arguably James Moriarty (appeared in only one canon story, but was mentioned in several others) from the Sherlock Holmes canon.