Buffy the Vampire Slayer has no shortage of dangerous demons and volatile vampires who present a real threat to the Slayer and her Scooby Gang across the show's seven seasons. The same goes for its spinoff, Angel. On the other hand, given the fact that these two series combine to make up 254 episodes of television, there are a number of villains-of-the-week who were defeated far more easily than they really should have been.
Often, one of the Scoobies or Angel Investigations' enemies presented real potential, or struck a cord with fans, but they nonetheless proved to be a one-and-done wonder who never turned up again. That's despite the show doing such a good job of depicting the villain as someone who means business and can keep our demon-hunting heroes on their toes. While the Buffyverse's Big Bads had time to face the Slayer and friends again and again, these single-appearance antagonists were wiped off the board way too quickly.
When it comes to Buffyverse guest stars who went on to become world-famous, Pedro Pascal's minor role in Buffy Season 4 is often discussed by fans. However, most seem to forget that future Avenger Jeremy Renner similarly appears in Angel Season 1 as a fascinating character who deserved to last a lot longer than his single episode appearance.
Renner plays Penn, Angelus's former protégé. Whereas Angel regained his soul in 1898, however, Penn continued on his evil path, using all the tricks his mentor taught him to undertake various serial killing sprees in different US cities across the 20th century. By the early 2000s, he had reappeared in Los Angeles and started killing again, earning himself the nickname "The Pope" from the press, due to his habit of carving the sign of the cross into his victim's cheeks.
Penn could have been a brilliant recurring antagonist for Angel as an enemy of his own creation and a reminder of his past sins. Considering that Angelus taught Penn everything he knew, the character really should have been smart and capable enough to evade Angel for more than one episode. As it is, Season 1's "Somnambulist" remains his only Buffyverse appearance. At least Renner himself went on to make a bigger impact on pop culture.
Although he only appeared in a single episode of Buffy, Der Kinderstod is one of the most frightening demons the Slayer ever faced. A monstrous figure in a dark suit and hat who stalks the halls of hospitals, Der Kinderstod feeds on the life-force of sick children, who are also the only people who can see him. Buffy herself witnessed him kill her cousin, Celia, when they were sick with the flu as a child.
Exactly how long-lived Der Kinderstod is remains unclear, but given that his name translates to "the child death," there is the suggestion that he is an age-old entity who has been preying on sick children for centuries. The fact that he remains unseen to adults and his victims simply appear to have died from their illnesses means he has wandered the Earth unchallenged all this time. Until he encountered Buffy, of course.
Season 2's "Killed By Death" sees Der Kinderstod killed pretty abruptly. Buffy's plan to give herself the flu so that she can see him is ingenious, but their ensuing confrontation is over swifter than expected when Buffy snaps his neck. For a villain with such a chilling concept and potentially ancient origins, he really should've proven to be a tougher opponent for a sick Slayer.
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