Have you ever started watching a show about halfway through, fallen in love with one of the characters, gone back to see how it all began for them, and then realized that they weren’t around for the first season? Well, it’s happened to us… more than we care to count. Here are 32 great TV characters that were added after Season 1. From It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia mainstays to one of The West Wing’s best additions, let’s take a look…
Frank Reynolds (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia)
It’s hard to imagine It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia without Frank Reynolds, but that was the case for the FX comedy series’ first season. Danny DeVito’s vulgar and hilarious character wasn’t brought on until the sophomore season and has been giving fans crazy Frank moments ever since.
Brienne Of Tarth (Game of Thrones)
One of the best Game of Thrones characters, Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) was a major part of the majority of the HBO fantasy series, but she wasn’t around before Ned Stark lost his head. The fierce and loyal warrior joined the series in its second season and never looked back.
Saul Goodman (Breaking Bad)
Jimmy McGill, aka, Saul Goodman, was a major focus of Breaking Bad, and even got his own spinoff – Better Call Saul – after the AMC crime drama’s conclusion. However, Bob Odenkirk’s greasy and morally ambiguous attorney didn’t introduce himself to Walter White until the halfway point of Season 2.
Matt Santos (The West Wing)
Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing was one of the most watched and decorated shows of the late 20th century and early 21st century, and featured some of the best characters the medium ever saw. One of those iconic Washington, D.C. power players was Jimmy Smits’ Matt Santos, who was the President of the United States by the time the series ended in 2006. But Santos’ time on the show was brief, as the character didn’t arrive on the scene until the sixth and second-to-last season.
Maggie Greene (The Walking Dead)
The Walking Dead cast included its fair share of characters that felt like they were around for the whole ride. While that is true for a small number of survivors, Maggie Greene, played by Lauren Cohan, didn’t appear until Rick and his group made their way to the farm in the show’s second season.
Max Mayfield (Stranger Things)
Sadie Sink’s Max Mayfield was a Stranger Things Season 4 all-star, but the standout character, who has been one of the most interesting residents of Hawkins, was a late arrival to the series when she set the high score on Dragon’s Lair in Season 2.
Frasier Crane (Cheers)
Though Kelsey Grammer’s Frasier Crane will forever be known as one of the most beloved Cheers characters, he wasn’t around nearly as long as Sam, Cliff, or Norm. In fact, the psychiatrist and future radio host didn’t plant himself at the bar where everybody knows your name until the show’s Season 3 premiere.
Marlo Stanfield (The Wire)
In the ranking of most terrifying characters on The Wire, Marlon Stanfield (Jamie Hector) is at the top of the list. The most ruthless name in the Baltimore crime world, which still sends a shiver down our spines years later, didn’t arrive on the scene and start taking over corners until the HBO classic’s third season.
Amy Farrah Fowler (The Big Bang Theory)
Adding Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) was a great move for The Big Bang Theory as it added another great factor to the character dynamics of the popular CBS sitcom. Fowler, who would later go on to marry Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) in the Season 11 finale, didn’t debut on the show until its third season.
Ben Wyatt (Parks & Recreation)
Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) was one of the funniest Parks & Recreation characters, but Leslie Knope’s (Amy Poehler) future husband and “Pawnee Man of the Year” didn’t arrive on the scene until the very end of the show’s second season. He was around for a lot of the show’s best moments, just none in the first set of episodes.
Christopher Keller (Oz)
There were a lot of unforgettable characters on Oz, with one of the big standouts being Chris Keller (Christopher Meloni). Involved in some of the HBO prison drama’s most violent moments (his kill count is in the double digits), Keller made an impact almost as soon as he joined the “Emerald City” population in Season 2.
Arthur Mitchell (Dexter)
Arthur Mitchell, aka, “The Trinity Killer,” was the most sinister Dexter villain by a mile, and then some. John Lithgow’s unsettling serial killer impacted Michael C. Hall’s titular character greatly after being introduced in the show’s fourth season.
Jack McCoy (Law & Order)
At any given time on any given day, there’s an old Law & Order rerun playing on a TV set somewhere in America. And chances are, most of those episodes will feature Sam Waterson’s Jack McCoy. Well, unless we’re talking about anything from the show’s first four seasons, as the assistant district attorney didn’t arrive until Season 5.
Leon Black (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
J.B. Smoove’s Leon Black has given fans of Curb Your Enthusiasm countless great moments over the years, but Larry David’s friend and roommate wasn’t always around. The character, which has since become a fan-favorite, wasn’t introduced until the show’s sixth season back in 2007, more than a half-decade after the comedy premiered.
Newman (Seinfeld)
Newman, portrayed by Wayne Knight, gave Seinfeld fans one hilarious encounter after another with Jerry Seinfeld’s titular character throughout their years-long feud. But like a lot of the show’s best characters, the overzealous mailman wasn’t introduced until the second season.
Spike (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)
James Marsters’ Spike is one of the characters people think of the most whenever talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and rightfully so. While he was front-and-center for a lot of the teen horror drama’s biggest moments and is one of the vampires most associated with the series, the blonde villain-turned-anti-hero-turned-love-interest didn’t debut until the third episode of its second season.
Seven Of Nine (Star Trek: Voyager)
Seven of Nine, played by Jeri Ryan, is a character known by even those who didn’t grow up watching Stark Trek: Voyager, but she wasn’t one of the original members of the crew of the Federation starship. The now iconic heroine didn’t make her mark on the series until the very end of Season 3.
B.J. Hunnicutt (M*A*S*H)
M*A*S*H, one of the best TV comedies not set in NYC or LA, introduced audiences to characters like Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, and Father John Patrick Francis Mulchy, and Maxwell Q. Klinger. And while those iconic medics and chaplains were around from the beginning to the end, B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell) didn’t arrive in Korea until the show’s fourth season.
Groundskeeper Willie (The Simpsons)
A classic example of a beloved character not on the first season of The Simpsons, Groundskeeper Willie quickly became one of Springfield’s most colorful residents after joining the animated series in the Season 2 episode “Principal Charming.”
The Priest (Fleabag)
Andrew Scott’s character known as the Priest stole the show during the second and final season of Fleabag thanks to his relationship with Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s fourth-wall-breaking protagonist. Though the character is most well-known from the comedy series, he was nowhere to be found in the first season back in 2016.
Butters Stotch (South Park)
South Park has introduced us to some truly unforgettable characters over the past few decades, and one of the best is Butters Stotch, the manic and scene-stealing classmate of the animated comedy’s core group. Though spotted as a background character in the show’s pilot episode, Butters wouldn’t get his first proper introduction and speaking part until the second season.
Frank Castle/Punisher (Daredevil)
Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle, aka, the Punisher, was one of the most violent Marvel characters introduced yet when he showed up in Daredevil Season 2. No one is going to hold it against you if you don’t remember that Castle popped up in the sophomore season to clean up Hell’s Kitchen through any means necessary. He was, however, in The Punisher Season 1 when the spinoff debuted in 2017.
Jefferson D'Arcy (Married... With Children)
Ted McGinley, the antagonist from Revenge of the Nerds, is well known for playing characters added late in the run of various shows. This includes Happy Days, Dynasty, The Love Boat, and most notably, Married… with Children, on which he played Al Bundy’s neighbor Jefferson D’Arcy. The white-collar-criminal-turned-trophy-husband first appeared in the show’s fifth season.
Chloe O'Brian (24)
Mary Lynn Rajskub’s Chloe O’Brian proved time and time again that she was not only one of Jack Bauer’s most trusted allies but also a great friend on 24. The dedicated and highly intelligent analyst came through for her colleague and country when it mattered most, but not until she was introduced in 24 Season 3, which makes you wonder how Kiefer Sutherland’s character made it through everything that transpired in the first two chapters.
Castiel (Supernatural)
Castiel (Misha Collins) was at the center of Supernatural’s most devastating loss during the show’s final season. The angel, who helped out the Winchester brothers more times than anyone can count, was a permanent fixture of The CW show after making his debut during the Season 4 premiere.
Andy Bernard (The Office)
Andy Bernard is considered to be one of the best characters from The Office, but he can’t say he was one of the Dunder Mifflin employees who was there from the beginning. Ed Helms’ abrasive Regional Director of Sales was introduced in the Season 3 premiere as one of the Stamford branch employees who weren’t too pleased when Jim was transferred to the Connecticut branch.
Desmond Hume (Lost)
Desmond Hume, played by Henry Ian Cusick, is one of the main Lost characters on the mysterious island not around during the first season. Hume, who had all types of strange encounters throughout his time on the show, first arrived in the Season 2 premiere, “Man of Science, Man of Faith.”
Alfie Solomons (Peaky Blinders)
Though one of the most well-known actors in the Peaky Blinders cast, Tom Hardy didn’t start playing the Jewish gang leader known as Alfie Solomons until the second season. Solomons, however, was around for the remainder of the series, appearing in nearly two dozen episodes before everything was said and done.
Fin Tutuola (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
This one is hard to believe, but Fin Tutuola, Ice-T’s no-nonsense yet lovable detective from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, didn’t join the team of NYPD investigators until the second season of Dick Wolf’s classic spinoff. Over the past few decades, the character has popped up on everything from other shows set in the Law & Order universe to 30 Rock.
Tony Blundetto (The Sopranos)
Steve Buscemi’s Tony Blundetto is a character from The Sopranos we’re always seeing pop up in compilations of the show’s best moments and mobsters, but you can’t include him on a list of iconic figures who were there from the show’s beginning. In fact, Blundetto didn’t make his first appearance until the Season 5 opener, “Two Tonys.” His run, though memorable, was short-lived and the character was killed off before the season wrapped.
Unique Adams (Glee)
Unique Adams, the transgender teen played by Alex Newell on Glee, gave audiences some incredibly inspirational moments and wonderful musical numbers over the years. If you want to see where their story first began, you don’t have to back to the beginning, as Unique’s run on the popular and long-running musical dramedy series didn’t start until the show’s third season.
Klaus Mikaelson (The Vampire Diaries)
Klaus Mikaelson (Joseph Morgan), was a crucial part of The Vampire Diaries and even went on to appear in the spinoff series, The Originals, which he led in the main role. After joining The Vampire Diaries in its second season, Klaus would go on to become one of the most utilized characters for the majority of the show’s seven-season run.
Though these great TV characters weren’t part of their respective shows from the very beginning, they all made an impact of some kind of impact on those who watched them on TV week in and week out for a season, two seasons, or dozens of seasons.
