If you had to mention first episodes for each character in a series...

This is metaphorical, it doesn't even have to be a series that exists.

If had to write down the first episode that each character appears in, and only the first episode (as opposed to a list of every episode he or she appears in) how does it go for episodes that aren't reall appearances?

What I mean is, what if a character first appears in the show during, say a flashback scene for example, and is then joins the show as a character in the present several episodes later (could even be several seasons later). Would you state that the character's debut episode is the one he or she actually appears in the present of the show, or would you say it was the flashback episode?

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Okay... any non-criptic answers please?

I say if it is the same season, the episode they first were shown. Different season, the first episode they actually become part of the story.

The debut episode is when the character becomes a member of the cast, either starring or regularly recurring.

I would think the character's "first episode" would generally be the first episode the character appeared in, regardless of the story's chronology. I'm not sure why this is even a question.

As with Raistlin, it seems necessarily true that the episode in which they first appeared is the first episode they appeared in.