Your favorite character introductions

[DRW50]

Over the years of your soap viewing, which character introductions stood out for you in a good way?

I don't necessarily mean those which were well executed, because even if we can admire something, we may not care.

I mean introductions which, for whatever reason, you really enjoyed, and stayed with you.

For me, it would be Siobhan on Ryan's Hope. Stumbling in the door, laughing, on crutches, with a huge Irish wolfhound at her side. Mary's scowl said it all. The kooky, somewhat frustrating, but basically good-hearted child/woman that you couldn't help loving.

[Cheap21]

OLTL's Luna Moody who literally fell from the sky and onto the show. She was skydiving and the wind blew her off course and landed her dead smack in the middle of a country club party

[Paul Raven]

I remember Cassandra's introduction on Y&R.

Paul purchased a painting and the woman in the picture would come to life and silently twirl around.That was the audience's introduction to the beautiful Cassandra/Nina Areveson.

We knew Paul would meet this mystery woman at some point.

[DRW50]

That's amazing. It's like a more updated Dark Shadows.

I always liked Cassandra. She deserved a better exit

I liked Luna too, especially when she wasn't around Max.

[SFK]

Ha, you know, Siobhan's entrance is one of the few pieces of RH I actually have on tape from SoapNet. I agree that it was a good one. Geesh, that Mary was all types of wrong.

I remember them praising the entrance/re-entrance of Wendy Moniz's Dinah in SOD, saying that she was a fresh new spin on the character yet she completely pulled off the character's sense of familiarity with the characters/family she had known, and the actors Moniz had never worked with in her first scene at the airport.

I think Tyler Baker's entrance as Nikolas in the nursery looking over Lesley Lu on GH was pretty effective, there was something dark and disturbing about him from day one imo, like a strange person you make eye contact with at the mall and you go, "Eek, what's HIS story?"

But divas always get the best intros, like "Enter Alexis" on Dynasty, or Dominique. I think I'm more taken by reintros though, like when Holly and her lhasa apso came back in the early '90s on GH, same with Tracy, or Strasser's Dorian at the ski lodge on OLTL. Or even Abby in those final eps of Knots.

[DRW50]

I used to like in the early seasons of KL when JR would show up. There was a sense of grandeur as well as dread and revulsion.

And of course, Quentin's arrival on Dark Shadows. David and Amy have been talking about ghosts, and what Beth and Quentin want them to do, and then, all the sudden, you see this gorgeous man with such intense eyes, staring right through David.

Barnabas's arrival - or should I say the arrival of his hand around poor Willie's throat - was also unforgettable.

[SFK]

Not sure if first episodes count here, but I thought Santa Barbara did a slick job of introducing many of its characters, like C.C. and Augusta. I really liked how they showed Santana in a maid's uniform serving hors d'œuvre in '79, then flash-forwarding to '84 and she's in the same house at yet another party, this time in an OTT cocktail dress. Instant interest in what went on there. I especially loved Minx's little intro: vintage chauffeured Rolls rounding the bend, acting legend Dame Judith Anderson wielding a riding crop, and this funky cello arrangement playing underneath.

[R Sinclair]

All My Children:

Hayley Vaughn's 1990 Thanksgiving Day arrival, scarfing down Myrtle's buffet -- black wig and all.

Leo du Pres' 1999 introduction. I enjoyed Palmer thinking Vanessa was cheating on him with a much younger man.

[DRW50]

I love those AMC intros. I have to admit my first thought with Leo was it was nice to see a guy who could fill out leather pants.

I also liked Liza's return, when Tad (?) went to confront the new WRWC boss, the chair turned, and...there she was, grinning in triumph.

SFK, debut soap intros definitely count.

One I still remember is Emmerdale, when Jack Sugden, family pariah, returned to town after his father's death, but couldn't bring himself to go to the funeral. Instead, he walked the empty farm, remembering what used to be. It was very haunting. 36 years later, when Jack died, his estranged son Robert returned for the same sequence.

[jfung79]

Ooh, I liked Nikolas's intro on GH too. I don't remember thinking he was dark and disturbing, but I was instantly curious. Stefan's intro on GH was also good. I think Laura is out on the docks, sees him, and says "Stavros"? I could be sooo off in my memory though. That summer of '96 is still the best soap I've ever seen.

I have an AMC one too -- Frankie's. Erica hit her with a car. "Are you for real?" Frankie asks, as Erica accuses her of throwing herself in front of the car (which later turned out to be probably true). Then Frankie is at the hospital, and Bianca sees her for the first time. Frankie calls her "Bianca-la" and puts a hand to her mouth, then takes it to Bianca's mouth. Bianca freaks out.