Snyder

Principal R. Snyder was the ultra-conservative, delusional and abusive Principal of Sunnydale High. He was portrayed by Armin Shimerman.

Background
After Robert Flutie was eaten alive by a pack of students possessed by the spirit of Hyenas, Snyder replaced him as the principal of Sunnydale High School. A strict disciplinarian with a dictator-like personality, he made no friends among the Scooby Gang, or any other student for that matter, with the sole exception being the Swim Team. Snyder strongly disliked Buffy and sought any excuse he could find to expel her.

Snyder, along with Police Chief Bob Munroe, turned out to be one of the many people Mayor Richard Wilkins had put in place to cover up supernatural activities in Sunnydale. Snyder was specifically chosen as principal because the authorities believed he was uniquely suited for the job's equally unique pressures, but precisely what in Snyder's past might have so qualified him was never discussed.

Snyder finally expelled Buffy when she was found beside Kendra's body in Becoming, Part Two. He refused to allow her to return even after Buffy was cleared of all charges, a refusal that gave him 'tingling' pleasure. However, the school board and some physical pressure from Rupert Giles forced him to allow Buffy to return. Since the school board later involved Snyder in Mayor Wilkins' sacrifice to the demon Lurconis, its members were also clearly aware of at least some of the supernatural events occurring in Sunnydale.

Snyder was finally killed during the Graduation ceremony when Mayor Wilkins Ascended; while yelling at the resulting giant snake that he would not tolerate this kind of behaviour, Wilkins ate Snyder.

Quotes

 * "A lot of educators tell students, 'Think of your principal as your pal'. I say 'Think of me as your judge, jury and executioner'." ("School Hard")


 * "Why couldn't you have been dealing drugs like normal people?" ("Choices")


 * "It's that kind of woolly-headed liberal thinking that leads to being eaten." ("The Puppet Show")


 * "I walked by your guidance counselor's office one time. A bunch of you were sitting there, waiting to be shepherded. I remember it smelled like dead flowers. Like decay. Then it hit me. The hope of our nation's future is a bunch of mulch." ("Restless")


 * "The first day back. It always gets me. I mean, it's incredible. One day the campus is completely bare. Empty. The next, there are children everywhere. Like locusts. Crawling around, mindlessly bent on feeding and mating. Destroying everything in sight in their relentless, pointless desire to exist." ("When She Was Bad")


 * "Congratulations to the class of 1999. You all proved more or less adequate.  This is a time of celebration, so sit still and be quiet... spit out that gum.  Please welcome our distinguished guest speaker: Richard Wilkins III.  I saw that gesture.  You see me after graduation." ("Graduation Day, Part Two")


 * "Whoa, Summers! You drive like a spaz!" ("Band Candy")

Trivia

 * Principal Snyder is named in honor of George Snyder, Joss Whedon's personal assistant at the time.


 * On several occasions in the series you can clearly see on the name-tag on his desk that the first letter of his first name is 'R', although his full name is never revealed in the series.


 * He was the longest running Principal on the show


 * Armin Shimerman was originally told that each principal would get killed after a handful of episodes as a running gag. But it turned out that the creators liked Snyder enough to keep him through the remainder of the high school episodes.


 * Armin Shimerman played Quark, a major character on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", at the same time he was performing Snyder on Buffy. He noted his dual roles made his accountant very happy. Line producers on "Star Trek" and "Buffy" would try to schedule his scenes so he could tape his Deep Space Nine scenes in the morning, then get out of makeup and drive across town to film his Buffy scenes in the afternoon. There were a couple of "Deep Space Nine" episodes where Quark was heavily featured and it wasn't possible for him to do the Buffy episode that week so Snyder's lines were rewritten as off-camera asides. Shimerman noted that he got fired from both jobs on the same day.

Season 1

 * The Puppet Show
 * Out of Mind, Out of Sight

Season 2

 * When She Was Bad
 * School Hard
 * Halloween
 * What's My Line, Part One
 * I Only Have Eyes for You
 * Go Fish
 * Becoming, Part One
 * Becoming, Part Two

Season 3

 * Dead Man's Party
 * Faith, Hope & Trick
 * Band Candy
 * Gingerbread
 * Doppelgängland
 * Choices
 * Graduation Day, Part One
 * Graduation Day, Part Two

Season 4

 * Restless (In Xander's dream)