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SGU's Balding Asian Guy (BAG).

Constantin Stanislavski famously remarked that "there are no small parts, only small actors." While some may disagree with this (notably, almost the entire cast of Heroes, and perhaps genre cameo king, Wil Wheaton), there can be no doubt that, occasionally, an actor can turn a small -- or even non-existent -- role into a series luminary.

Often a vocal fandom will spawn a phenomenon such as this, as the recent excitement at Gateworld to “Save BAG” (Balding Asian Guy, played by Bill Y. W. Butt), of Stargate Universe fame, amply illustrates. Since the campaign began, BAG has since acquired a name -- Vince Kwan -- and potentially even a purpose out there in that distant galaxy. (What's in the bag, huh? What?) And he is only the latest in a long and venerable line of extras who have been brought out of the shadows of obscurity and into the main storyline, through fan interest, plot devicing, an actor’s inherent star quality or, it must be admitted, nepotism.

This isn’t a list of supporting or guest characters whose roles were expanded, the likes of Spike, Angel, or Chuck’s oft-shirtless Captain Awesome. This is a list of completely non-essential characters who became so much more.

So, in order of their resulting importance to their universes (whether Stargate or non), herewith is a list of genre’s leading nameless extras made good.

1. SENIOR CHIEF PETTY OFFICER MILES EDWARD O’BRIEN
AKA Battle Bridge Conn, Transporter Chief
Played by Colm Meaney
Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

FIRST APPEARANCE: TNG, “Encounter at Farpoint” (01.01/02)
FIRST NAMED: Surname in TNG “Unnatural Selection” (02.07); first and middle names in TNG “Family” (04.02); full rank in DS9 “Hippocratic Oath” (04.04)
FIRST SPOKEN LINE: “All decks acknowledging, sir.” (“Encounter at Farpoint, 01.01)
EPISODE APPEARANCES: 225 (52 on TNG; 173 on DS9)
LAST SEEN: In canon, O’Brien and family left Deep Space Nine in the finale, and now live in San Francisco, where O’Brien teaches at Starfleet Academy. In non-canon, O’Brien has most recently been seen living on Cardassia Prime and working with the Starfleet Corp of Engineers in the Worlds of Deep Space Nine novella Cardassia: The Lotus Flower (2004).

Q:	Don't I know you?
O'BRIEN:	O'Brien, from the Enterprise.
Q:	Enterprise, ah yes! Weren't you one of the little people?
	-- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "Q-Less" (01.07)

Captain Picard officiates at the O'Briens' space wedding.

First appearing on the battle bridge in the very first episode of The Next Generation, O’Brien went on to become the face of Transporter Room 3 and was always a reassuring presence at the console whenever atmospheric interference or a spatial anomaly wrought havoc with the matter stream. Though occasionally being addressed (as well as dressed) as a Lieutenant, it eventually transpired that O’Brien was a mere enlisted man, the only such member of Starfleet whom we really came to know, across all five series.

O'Brien and Bashir back in time during "Trials and Tibble-ations" (05.06).

O’Brien married botanist Keiko Ishikawa (Rosalind Chao) in TNG’s fourth season (“Data’s Day”, 04.11), became father to Molly in Season 5 (“Disaster”, 05.05) and, after his transfer to Deep Space Nine -- which also saw him join the show’s main credits -- to Kirayoshi (“The Begotten”, 05.12). On DS9, O’Brien was named Chief of Operations, and he also acted as Chief Engineer on the USS Defiant. He got himself a best friend in the shape of Dr. Julian Bashir (Siddig El Fadil/Alexander Siddig), an unsettling sexual tension with surrogate mother of his son, Major Kira (Nana Visitor) and a semi-annual “O’Brien Must Suffer” episode in which his status as the series’ Everyman was exploited to the very hilt. He even died a couple of times and was once replaced with his alternate universe counterpart -- truly the hallmark of a Trek character in good standing.

BEYOND O’BRIEN: Kudos to the TNG brains trust for recognizing the talent in their midst in the shape of Irish character actor par excellance, Colm Meaney, and for making the most of him. Meaney is without a doubt the most successful and distinguished actor on this list, with starring roles in many UK and Ireland-made movies (The Commitments, Layer Cake, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain) as well as Hollywood blockbusters from Die Hard 2 to Under Seige to his turn as Russell Brand’s disreputable father in this year’s Get Him to the Greek. He made for a creepy leader of the Genii on Stargate Atlantis and has even provided a voice in The Simpsons. Which last probably says it all, really.

HONORABLE TNG MENTION: Nurse Alyssa Ogawa, AKA Nurse (Patty Yasutake)


2. CGB SPENDER (potentially an alias)
AKA The Cigarette Smoking Man, CSM or Cancer Man -- also, Raul Bloodworth (nom de plume)
Played by William B. Davis
The X-Files

FIRST APPEARANCE: “Pilot” (01.01)
FIRST NAMED: Initials and surname in “Two Fathers” (06.11)
FIRST SPOKEN LINE: “Of course I do.” (“Tooms” 01.21)
EPISODE APPEARANCES: 40, plus the feature film The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998)
LAST SEEN: He was -- we devoutly hope -- incinerated when the cave in which he was hiding was spectacularly destroyed in the series finale, “The Truth” (09.19 and 20).

MULDER:	[at a hospital] Please tell me you're here with severe chest pains.
	-- "Redux II" (05.03)

The CSM as a Nazi officer in "Triangle" (06.03).

Architect of much tiresome governmental conspiracy and an endless amount of trouble perpetrated on one Special Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and his long-suffering partner, Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), the Cigarette Smoking Man (often handily shortened to CSM) was long a byword for skullduggery, chicanery and all around nastiness in the conspiracy-laden world of The X-Files. He was the kind of inside man who knew where all the bodies are buried -- probably because he put them there. The man with the nicotine tan was a sinister yet vague presence for all of the first season and much of the second, but by Season 3 was the leading antagonist of the series, right up there with black oil and Chris Carter. In the episode “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man” (04.07), brilliantly written by the never-sufficiently-praised Glenn Morgan and James Wong, we were given some speculative insight into the CSM; he was revealed to be an orphan, a former black ops specialist, and a would-be science fiction author. (The not-so-subtle Hitler reference could hardly be lost on anyone.) Also, an unimaginative gift giver.

This action figure comes with a trench coat, a sniper rifle and tripod, a pack of Morleys and a lit cigarette.

In Season 6, we discovered that he had a son, the ineffectual and beleaguered Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens), and his creepy history with Mulder’s Mom led to the inference that the CSM was Mulder’s father, as well. (Which would not make a bit of difference, of course; the loving patriarch did, after all, order the death of Jeffrey and conduct painful experiments on his various family members.) His culpability and collusion in the alien plot to enslave mankind cannot be overstated, and his malevolent presence was felt across almost the entire series, despite his relative few appearances. Granted that much of his mystique had been shattered by the end of Season 9, it cannot be denied that the CSM -- originally cast as a random, suit-clad evil doer, not intended to be seen again -- became something of a pop culture icon. Hell, he even got a mention in Barenaked Ladies’ hit song “One Week”, in 1999: “Watching X-Files with no lights on/we’re dans le maison/I hope the Smoking Man’s in this one.”

Oh, yeah. And he killed Kennedy.

Davis as a Prior in Stargate SG-1.

BEYOND THE CSM: Nary a Canadian-made genre show has been produced in the past decade or so without an appearance from the stalwart William B. Davis. From SG-1 to Smallville to Supernatural and, most recently, Human Target, he’s done it all. He is also often to be seen in many a B-movie, having just finished filming the deliciously awful sounding sci-fi flick Behemoth. He is currently working on the horror/thriller The Tall Man, also starring… wait, Jessica Biel? Really?

HONORABLE THE X-FILES MENTION: Agent Pendrell, AKA Lab Mouse (Brendan Beiser).


3. JONATHAN LEVINSON
AKA Nerdy Kid
Played by Danny Strong
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

FIRST APPEARANCE: Officially "Inca Mummy Girl" (02.04), but he was actually in the original unaired Buffy pilot (episode 0, if you will).
FIRST NAMED: First name in "Reptile Boy" (02.05); surname in the Jonathan-specific "Superstar" (04.17), though it had previously been revealed in an official companion book to the show, The Sunnydale High Yearbook.
FIRST SPOKEN LINE: Officially, "Your hands feel kind of... rough" ("Inca Mummy Girl", 02.04). Unofficially, from the original pilot, asking Buffy: "Are you the new girl?"
EPISODE APPEARANCES: 28 (29, including the unaired pilot).
LAST SEEN: As an actual person, "Conversations with Dead People" (07.07) where he is killed off! (NOOOOO!!!!) But he appears as the First Evil in a few later episodes, and his final appearance is in "Storyteller" (07.16), where he appears via flashback/dream.

WILLOW:	Sometimes the fantasy isn't enough, is it Jonathan? Sometimes we have to make it so people don't ignore us. Make them pay attention. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?
	-- Foreshadowing in "Earshot" (03.18)

"We’re proud to say that the Class of ‘99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history."

Ah, Jonathan. Having started out as a generic "student" before being... er... upgraded to generic "student-in-peril", the Powers That Be behind Buffy realized how awesome he really was, giving him a chance to shine a bit in the controversial episode "Earshot" (03.18) as a student ready to commit suicide with a high-powered rifle from a high lookout, and he also gives a stirring speech when handing Buffy her Class Protector Award at the Prom. Then he really got a chance to shine in the fourth season episode "Superstar" (04.17), where we discover how he had invented in the internet, starred in The Matrix, and is an all around absolutely fantastic human being and a better slayer than the Slayer (all coming as a result of dark magicks, obviously).

Jonathan with his fellow villains of the Trio, Warren (Adam Busch) and Andrew (Tom Lenk).

Things take a turn for the dark when Jonathan becomes one of the three members of the dastardly Trio -- arguably the Big Bads from Season 6, the pros/cons of which can be read here -- before he was eventually killed (NOOOOO!!!!!!!) in the final season of Buffy, where his blood is intended to open a gateway to Hell. But to really showcase how awesome he was, Jonathan even had his own one-shot comic during the initial series of BtVS comics from Dark Horse, based on "Superstar" and penned by episode writer Jane Espenson.

BEYOND JONATHAN: While Jonathan is Danny Strong's best known role, he also had a recurring role in Gilmore Girls as Paris Geller's boyfriend Doyle as well as a variety of guest roles -- most recently on Mad Men. Strong was also nominated for an Emmy for writing the HBO movie Recount (about the 2000 US Presidential election).

  -- K. Burtt


4. LEOPOLD “BUTTERS” STOTCH
AKA Puff Puff, Poof-Poof and Swanson, plus “wuss”, “gaywad” and a bunch of other, even less savory, terms.
Played by Matt Stone
South Park

FIRST APPEARANCE: “Cartman Gets an Anal Probe” (01.01)
FIRST NAMED: “Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub” (03.08)
FIRST SPOKEN LINE: “Pass this up.” (“Clubhouses”, 02.12)
EPISODE APPEARANCES: 177, and counting, plus South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.
LAST SEEN: Silently in line for Stan’s father’s dubious take on school cafeteria cuisine in “Crème Fraiche” (14.14), the season finale of South Park which aired November 17, 2010. South Park will be back next season.

STAN:	Think about this. Right now, everyone thinks Butters is way cooler than any of you.
CARTMAN:	That's a low blow, Stan.
	-- “Elementary School Musical” (12.13)

Cartman causes Butters to be sent away to Gay Camp in "Cartman Sucks" (11.02)

Originally just another silent Third Grader at South Park Elementary, Butters was properly introduced in the third season, and was provided with backstory at the very end of Season 5. In Season 6 of the show -- after they killed Kenny (those bastards!) and it actually stuck for a while -- Butters became the official fourth friend to Kyle, Stan and Cartman, a position from which he was soon dismissed for being “too lame”. Butters’ temperament is mostly one of sweet submissiveness; he is sincere, gullible and rarely swears, something of an oddity among his potty-mouthed contemporaries.

Of all the South Park kids, Butters suffers the most brutality and casual cruelty, which comes not only from Cartman (for whom he is a favorite victim) and the other boys, but also his power-mad parents, A Child Called It-style. Although they eventually come to see the error of their ways, they later sell him to Paris Hilton for $250 million in “Stupid Spoiled Whore

Professor Chaos and General Disarray.

Video Playset” (08.12), and he still gets grounded for very minor infractions, so it’s possible the lesson didn’t really take. In other news, we know that Butters’ father, Stephen, is bisexual, and Butters himself has confessed to being “bike-curious.”

Imaginative and artistic, his alter-ego Professor Chaos gives Butters an outlet for his suppressed rage, as he and sidekick General Disarray attempt various nefarious schemes -- most of which are also the plot of The Simpsons episodes. In addition to Second Grader, Dougie, the General’s secret identity, Butters is friendly with the resurrected Kenny, Token Black and the Oliver Twist-esque Pip, but considers Cartman his best friend… a sure sign of his abuse-fueled masochism.

BEYOND BUTTERS: Matt Stone is, of course, one of the irreverent creators of South Park, and also voices series mainstays Kyle, Kenny, Tweek and Pip, as well as Terrance (of Terrance and Philip fame), Big Gay Al, Saddam Hussein and Jesus.

HONORABLE SOUTH PARK MENTION: Token Black, AKA Token Williams (Adrien Beard).


5. SENIOR MASTER CHIEF WALTER HARRIMAN
AKA Technician, Chevron Guy, and -- annoyingly -- Norman Davis
Played by Gary Jones
Stargate SG-1

FIRST APPEARANCE: “Children of the Gods” (01.01/02)
FIRST NAMED: Davis, seen on uniform in “The Other Side”, 04.02; Norman Davis, seen on uniform in “Meridian”, 05.21; Walter in “2010” (04.16); Harriman in “Zero Hour” (08.04).
FIRST SPOKEN LINE: “Chevron Four, encoded." (“Children of the Gods”, 01.01/02)
EPISODE APPEARANCES: 121 (108 in SG-1; 12 in SGA; 1 in SGU), plus he was in the SG-1 movies Ark of Truth (2008) and Continuum (2008)
LAST SEEN: Stargate Universe, “Air, Part 1” (01.01), working for O’Neill at Homeworld Security.

O'NEILL:	Walter!
	-- Stargate SG-1, “Zero Hour” (08.04)

Walter stares at the dialing computer in confusion.

Initially just a random airman in front of Stargate Command’s dialing computer, informing us unnecessarily as the red lights lit up and painstakingly connected the wormhole from Earth to parts unknown, Chevron Guy slowly built himself a dedicated following among Stargate SG-1’s viewership. The mystery of his name seemed solved when his uniform patch clearly read “Norman Davis” in Season 5, but we should have known that things with our Chevron Guy were more complicated than that: O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) haltingly dubbed him “Walter” in a future timeline, and he was dignified with the surname Harriman as of the eighth season. (The Stargate Wiki folks would have it that all names are correct, making him Norman Walter Davis Harriman, but this seems like stretching the concept of retcon to its absolute limit). Proving himself adept at deadpan comedy, Walter once explained his role at the SGC -- to documentary maker Emmett Bregman (Warehouse 13’s Saul Rubinek) -- thus: “Basically, when the ’Gate is dialing, I say ‘Chevron One, encoded; Chevron Two, encoded’ and so on, incrementally, until the seventh Chevron, which is a little different because that’s when the wormhole connects. When that happens, I like to change things up a little bit and just say ‘Chevron Seven, locked.’” ("Heroes, Part 1", 07.17.)

In Season 8 of SG-1, however, that role expanded greatly, with Walter becoming a Radar O’Reilly-like aide to the newly anointed Brigadier General O’Neill, a position he continued to fill in the subsequent two year reign of General Landry (Beau Bridges). He’s been through the ’Gate; has traveled on an Earth-made spaceship, and blown up a couple of alien ones; he is one of only a handful of characters to have appeared in all three Stargate series (take that, Teal’c!); and he has even starred in his very own audio drama from Big Finish, Lines of Communication. Indeed, Walter has become an essential part of the Stargate landscape. Chevron Guy, locked!

Jones in Sanctuary.

BEYOND WALTER: Gary Jones is a regular on the convention circuit, has appeared in various TV movies, and most recently showed up in the most recent season of Sanctuary, with fellow Stargate alum Amanda Tapping.

HONORABLE SG-1 MENTION: The accident-prone Master Sergeant Sylvester “Sly” Siler, AKA Sergeant (stuntman Dan Shea).
DISHONORABLE SG-1 MENTION: The Furlings.


6. MIKE CHANG
AKA Other Asian and Changster
(both courtesy of Sue Sylvester)
Played by Harry Shum Jr. (AKA Jyve)
Glee

FIRST APPEARANCE: “Preggers” (01.04)
FIRST NAMED: At the end of the episode.
FIRST SPOKEN LINE: “I can pop-and-lock.” (“Throwdown”, 01.07) However, he sang (or at least mimed) plenty of lines before that.
EPISODE APPEARANCES: 25 and counting.
LAST SEEN: He is currently romancing Tina, AKA “Goth Asian” (the two hooked up over the Summer at Asian Camp), is still on the football team in some unknown capacity, and his smooth moves continue to rock the schoolyard, auditorium and rehearsal studio. (His Donald O'Connor impersonation in Glee's Gwyneth Paltrow episode, "The Substitute" [01.07], was spot-on.)

SUE:	Changster, I wanna see some of those pop-and-lock moves you’re so famous for.
	-- "Throwdown” (01.07)

Mike Chang fakes it.

A football player and closet dance fiend who initially pretended to have no rhythm at all, Mike joined McKinley High’s Glee Club following the example of team quarterback Finn (Cory Monteith), and with a face every bit as mobile as his supernaturally flexible body, Mike Chang soon grinned, grimaced and grooved his way into Gleek hearts everywhere. Though strangely silent throughout most of his first year in New Directions, with a total of four lines to his credit -- unless unheard las, oohs and shoop shoops count -- Mike’s undoubted skill on the dance floor nevertheless propelled him to prominence within this ragtag bunch of kids who just want to sing, dammit.

No explanation necessary.

Unlike his even more silent-but-dancey first season cohort, the ruthlessly purged Matt Rutherford (Dijon Talton), Mike managed to stick around for another year of show choir, and even got to display his comedic and vocal talents in the mostly spoken word duet “Sing” (“Duets”, 02.04). He was the impetus for wheelchair-bound Artie to join the football team, is dating complicated Goth queen Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz), and we have recently learned that he has a very close, traditional and somewhat strict family, who -- quite sensibly! – weren’t too pleased about his participation in the musical Rocky Horror. But for all that, Mike is now really best known for one thing: his abs!

Shum Jr. in Step Up 3D.

BEYOND MIKE CHANG: In addition to Glee, Shum has been seen popping and locking it up in everything from Raven and Mariah film clips to the Step Up franchise. He once worked as a backup dancer for Beyoncé (which makes his feigned awkwardness when learning the steps to “Single Ladies” even more adorable), and was even one of the silhouettes in those early iPod commercials we all got so excited about. At 28, his time as a teen dance machine may be coming to an end… but then, his fellow Glee-er Olivia Newton-John was 29 when she played Sandy in Grease, so maybe he’s still got another year or two of high school left in him.

Ahead... Comic Book Guy, Sceve, Afro Guy and more...