There are plenty of things that made Community a special comedy series from the wacky school antics to the special episodes but it was always about the characters first. While the audience got to know the study group, Dean Pelton, and Chang, a few one-off characters stole the show.
Some of these people managed to be even more memorable than the recurring characters like Magnitude and Leonard. Many of them were also played by some of the best character actors and guest stars that the show had the pleasure of casting, adding to their appeal. Community fans wish they got more of these characters.
Agent Vohlers
Although romance was never really something he was interested in, Abed had great chemistry with several ladies. One of the first was Agent Robin Vohlers (Eliza Coupe) who made her single appearance in season 2's "Into to Political Science."
She was there to scope out possible threats at Greendale when the Vice President was supposed to visit but she hit it off with Abed. They had a sweet back and forth, with Abed finding a way to get her to come back throughout the episode. The end stinger that showed then on an untraditional date was also welcome.
Professor Cligoris
It could be argued that season 3 of Community was its best and a major reason for that would be the impressive slate of guest stars. Among them was Martin Starr, who showed up in "Geography of Global Conflict."
Cligoris doesn't have any key relationship with any character but he does head up the Model UN battle between Annie Edison and Annie Kim. Starr brought his classic sense of humor to the role while never upstaging any of the main cast members, which is a difficult line to toe.
Russell Borchert
It's next to impossible to mention major single episode characters and not bring up the founder of Greendale Community College. Rusell Borchert (Chris Elliott) was technically first seen in "Basic Story" but that was only in a portrait.
His only physical appearance came an episode later in "Basic Sandwich," the season 5 finale. He had spent years living in a hidden lab where he fell in love with his computer. It's exactly the kind of ridiculous premise that Community often made work and it made Borchert memorable.
Coach Bogner
One of the guest stars to show up in season 1, Herbert Bogner (Blake Clark) isn't your average coach. He's not the guy leading the Greendale Human Beings in football or basketball but instead heads up a billiards class.
Appearing in "Physical Education," Bogner was annoyed by Jeff who clearly took the course as a blow-off class but refused to wear the required uniform since it didn't look cool. Their issues culminated in a pool game involving both men stripping, which fans will never forget.
Buddy Austin
Another season 1 guest star, Buddy Austin (Jack Black) showed up in hilarious fashion. After the study group returned from a break, Buddy was just randomly in the background of their group hug and then sat with them.
Everyone was surprised and he threw off their rhythm completely. Black's expert comedic timing made Buddy into a hilarious character as he desperately tried to fit in with the study group. The twist at the end where he went with a different, unknown study group led by Owen Wilson was the cherry on top.
June Bauer
If a TV show got to utilize the talents of Betty White, then they should consider themselves lucky and Community used her expertly. She appeared in the season 2 premiere, "Anthropology 101," as June Bauer, the anthropology professor.
Her scenes built up to something special as she was shown to be unhinged, using a weapon on Jeff and drinking her own urine in front of the class. The real kicker came in the stinger when she sang a rap about anthropology with Troy and Abed.
Cory Radison
It's difficult to pick out the best episode in the history of this show but one that is certainly in the conversation is "Regional Holiday Music." This installment worked as a parody of Glee, which was fresh off of a hot run as one of TV's top shows.
Cory Radison (Taran Killam) was the music director of Greendale's Glee Club and his over-the-top excitement made him stand out. However, the episode took on something of a horror vibe as Cory got the study group to buy into Glee Club and revealed that he had killed the previous year's team.
Jeremy Simmons
So many TV shows throughout history have had great antagonists who only lasted one episode. For Community, a great one was Jeremy Simmons (Aaron Himelstein) from City College, Greendale's top rival.
He appeared in season 1's "Debate 109" as an arrogant foe of Annie's. He even went as far as to launch himself out of his wheelchair in an attempt to have Jeff catch him to prove that "man is good." While he was entertaining in his own right, he also helped trigger the first Jeff/Annie kiss, which sparked plenty of ships going forward.
The Black Rider
Speaking of single-episode villains, it's hard to top The Black Rider (Josh Holloway). He was a mysterious participant in the schoolwide paintball game in the first part of the season 2 finale, "A Fistful of Paintballs."
The episode paid homage to spaghetti westerns with The Black Rider as the outlaw who was a threat to the main characters. He was a hired gun who formed an interesting relationship with Annie and made Jeff jealous in just a handful of scenes. On top of that, he also threw out several nicknames in a nod to his Lost character, Swayer.
Mr. Stone
Mr. Stone (Walton Goggins) is another mysterious character. He appeared in season 5's "Cooperative Polygraphy" as the man reading the will of Pierce Hawthorne following his death. At first, Mr. Stone came off as emotionless.
He read off everything with a deadpan expression even while he was pitting the study group members against each other. It was hilarious from start to finish, only to show him go out with the group and finally let loose, vehemently expressing his excitement at what happened.