The best thing about The Challenge is getting to see the characters continually come back and develop.

Sometimes you get to see them grow for over a decade — like CT — and sometimes they’re a shooting star never to be heard from again — like the immortal Brandon Swift.

These rankings reflect who, of all 52 competitors who appeared on Dirty XXX, Vendettas and/or Final Reckoning is most deserving to return.

Cast spoilers for season 33 included.

SEE YOU NEVER

52. Eddie Williams (Vendettas)- Arguably the oddest “appearance” in the history of The Challenge, it’s still somewhat unclear what happened with Eddie on Vendettas because the show chose to totally ignore him while he was there, despite him competing in two challenges. After an altercation with his ex Alicia, he was either asked to leave because Alicia felt unsafe or he removed himself. Either way, it’s safe to say we won’t be seeing Eddie again, not that we actually ever saw him to begin with.

51. Briana LaCuesta (Dirty XXX)- Possibly the least memorable castmember to ever appear on multiple seasons, Briana was awkwardly brought in to Dirty XXX after Ashley M quit. She lasted in the game for all of five seconds, losing to Britni in the first elimination and she was unable to make it out of the first Redemption House challenge.

50. Alicia Wright (Vendettas)- Polidicking was a major strategy throughout the trilogy, but nobody picked a worse person to attach themselves with than Alicia to Cory. After Cory was eliminated first on Vendettas, Alicia was an easy target and was sent in by the Bananas-led troika, where she lost to Melissa.

49. LaToya Jackson (Dirty XXX)- It was three Challenge seasons too many for LaToya. Although she pulled an upset on Free Agents taking out Jemmye in the first elimination, LaToya had unmemorable and brief stints on Invasion and Dirty XXX.

48. Shane Raines (Dirty XXX)- There were high hopes by many for Shane’s potential as a character, but after having to go home on Bloodlines because of Tony’s spleen injury, he returned on Dirty XXX and was immediately sent to the Redemption House. Things took a dark turn when Shane got into an unaired altercation with Simone and was kicked out, likely ending his Challenge career.

47. Simone Kelly (Dirty XXX)- The fourth AYTO castmember in the bottom six, Simone’s most memorable moment on The Challenge came on Rivals III when she repeatedly screamed “Don’t lie on me” in Tony’s face after he told everyone she wanted to hook up with him. But her Challenge career likely ended with her fight with Shane.

46. Victor Arroyo (Vendettas)- Although he was considered a comp beast on Big Brother, Victor was just another dude on The Challenge. Victor seems like a genuinely nice guy, which is why this show probably isn’t for him.

45. Derrick Henry (Dirty XXX, Final Reckoning)- Just looking at Derrick, you would think he was going to be the second coming of Alton. It turned out he was the second coming of Tyrie.

After losing the first elimination on Dirty XXX, Derrick continued to take Ls when Tori cheated on him with Jordan. He returned on Final Reckoning with Tori and on paper they looked like a strong team, but Derrick’s comical incompetence dragged the team down and they lost the second elimination.

The only reason to bring Derrick back is to get some more laughs from his terrible performance in challenges.

44. Chuck Mowery (Final Reckoning)- No one has ever been fucked over as much in their first season than Chuck. He and his ex Britni were sent to the Redemption House after the opening grave digging purge, and Chuck was only allowed to lay in the grave and give directions. Then he was ousted when Paulie and Natalie pulled the double cross and chose to send his team home.

Based on fairness, I wouldn’t mind if Chuck got another shot. But with his low key personality, I wouldn’t expect him to ever become a mainstay.

43. Rogan O’Connor (Vendettas)- Rogan is one of the most jacked guys to ever be on the show, but he finished last in the Rock of Gibraltr challenge due to a back injury and was sent home first. Having never seen Rogan’s Ex on The Beach seasons, for all I know he could have been a potential star, but it’s hard for me to make a judgment on him returning based on the one episode of The Challenge he was on.

42. Veronica Portillo (Dirty XXX, Vendettas, Final Reckoning)- Veronica is a Challenge legend, so putting her in the scrub section is a tough pill to swallow. But Veronica’s return to the show after eight years has been, to put it nicely, lackluster.

While she had a solid run on Dirty XXX — eliminating Aneesa and pulling a power move to send in Leroy — Veronica has had nowhere near the political power she had in her prime and she’s one of the worst female competitors on the cast.

She’s far from the Queen V days of the past and it’s almost sad seeing her still compete on the show, like seeing a college graduate going to high school parties. Time to hang up the Under Armour, Veronica.

41. Dario Medrano (Dirty XXX)- Dario is one of my favorite AYTO males to ever be on the show, and his career looked to be promising after campaigning hard against Bananas on Bloodlines and finishing fourth on Rivals III. But he chose to float without alliances on both Invasion and Dirty XXX, and it especially hurt him on Dirty XXX. He slept his way through the season, and probably won’t return because of it.

40. Nicole Ramos (Dirty XXX, Vendettas)- The many-faced goddess continued to flabbergast the audience by looking different every episode, but she continued to be a non-factor both in competition and in house drama. Nicole lost her elimination on Dirty XXX to Britni, then was the first one out on Vendettas. Fortunately we should be getting the better member of her family on season 33, as Nany is expected to return while Nicole dwells in the minor leagues of Ex on the Beach.

WOULDN’T MISS YOU

39. Faith Stowers (Final Reckoning)- Faith found herself the fourth wheel in the Kyle-Cara-Paulie love triangle, as she began the season hooking up with the pirate man. Shockingly the romance didn’t last, as it took Kyle all of five seconds to get over her elimination before banging Ashley.

Despite being a part of one of the biggest storylines of Final Reckoning, Faith’s role in the affair was mostly ignored. Faith and Angela proved themselves to be a solid team, but were narrowly taken out by Hunter and Ashley, as Faith gassed out in the end of the elimination. I think Faith showed that she can compete on Final Reckoning, I’m just not sure if her character is interesting enough to make it as a mainstay.

38. Kayleigh Morris (Vendettas, Final Reckoning)- Kayleigh lasted long on both of her first two seasons, but it’s still unclear to me what she brings to the table besides her looks. With three elimination wins, she was a much improved competitor on Final Reckoning after a dismal performance on Vendettas, but she’s still likely never going to be anything other than mediocre.

If she gets another shot, it will be because of the drama that often revolves around her. Whether it was the suitcase incident on Vendettas, her feud on and off the show with Natalie or her relationship with Nelson, Kayleigh was a fairly major character in her two seasons. But I don’t see many worthwhile qualities in Kayleigh, both as a character and as a person, and would not be upset if she didn’t return.

37. Jozea Flores (Final Reckoning)- After an embarrassing performance on Champs vs. Stars, Jozea could only improve on Final Reckoning. And he did, as he and Da’Vonne beat Paulie/Natalie twice to get out of the Redemption House. Still, Jozea is one of the worst male competitors on the show, and his only drama has come from arguments with Shane.

36. Ammo Hall (Dirty XXX)- No one was expecting much from Ammo, formerly known as Chris on Real World: Go Big or Go Home. Despite being underestimated, Ammo was able to take out Tony and give Jordan a run for his money in elimination on Dirty XXX.

On a show that has too many people acting fake, Ammo is nothing but himself, so I wouldn’t mind a personality like him being back in the house even though he can probably never compete with most of the guys on the show.

35. Sylvia Elsrode (Vendettas, Final Reckoning)- As a competitor, Sylvia continued to make people who underestimated her pay. She reached her first final and went 3–0 in eliminations during the trilogy, pushing her career elimination record to an impressive 5–1.

On Vendettas, Sylvia won an absolute dogfight against Melissa before having to go home due to illness. She followed that up by beating Derrick/Tori and Bananas/Tony with Joss on Final Reckoning and reaching her first final, narrowly missing out on the win. But other than her fights with Tony and Nicole on Invasion and with Marie on FR, the Ringo Starr of the Lavender Ladies has mostly been wallpaper throughout her Challenge career.

34. Marie Roda (Dirty XXX, Vendettas, Final Reckoning)- Saying Marie’s popularity throughout the trilogy was up and down would be an understatement. After a relatively quiet campaign on Dirty XXX in which she lost to Tori, Marie returned on Vendettas focused on causing drama. She got into the infamous pizza fight with Brad, and constantly beat the “Cara is entitled” drum.

But her transformation on Final Reckoning from being Cara Maria’s biggest critic to her biggest supporter helped bring the fan base on her side, as well as her willingness to call out the Lavender Ladies.

Improbably, Marie made her first career final on Final Reckoning, as she wasn’t a complete albatross as a competitor. Despite Final Reckoning being her most likable season (at least since Battle of the Seasons), I don’t see much reason for Marie to return.

Marie has never been a good competitor and she got a reputation for herself as a quitter throughout the trilogy, not competing in the Redemption eating challenge on Dirty XXX and throwing her elimination to Kailah on Vendettas. I just don’t see how Marie ever has a more likable season that she had on Final Reckoning, so it’s probably best to end on a high note.

33. Jemmye Carroll (Dirty XXX, Vendettas, Final Reckoning)- I’ve loved Jemmye since Real World: New Orleans, but there’s no one who’s done less in seven seasons on The Challenge than her (for reference, the other castmembers with seven seasons are Zach, Shane, Rachel, Evelyn and Beth).

Jemmye provides some of the best commentary out of anyone, but that’s about all she’s good for. Although she has a solid political game, she’s a weak competitor and usually gets far because she’s not a threat.

At this point, we’ve seen everything Jemmye has to offer. I wish they would just let her watch after the season airs just to get her hilarious confessionals, but other than that I don’t know why she would get brought back.

32. Joss Mooney (Vendettas, Final Reckoning)- On paper, Joss should be perfect for The Challenge. He’s a beast of a competitor, he delivers funny one-liners in confessionals and he is beautiful enough to make a straight man question his sexuality. But whether it’s the editing or just Joss, he has been a boring character on his two seasons.

He has been rumored to have gotten in several unaired altercations, which is bizarre that they haven’t been shown. At the same time, he couldn’t mine drama in his showmance with Amanda, which seems utterly impossible.

Production values drama over competition, so even though he’s had some flashes of brilliance-most notably his elimination with Derrick on Vendettas and finishing second on Final Reckoning, there’s a decent chance we never see Joss again.

31. Britni Thornton (Dirty XXX, Vendettas, Final Reckoning)- After a deep but relatively quiet run in her rookie season on Dirty XXX, Britni met Brad on Vendettas and spent most of the season sans clothes. She spent her time on Final Reckoning in the Redemption House fighting with her ex Chuck, never getting the chance to compete after the opening purge.

Britni is about as average as a competitor as you can get. Although her only elimination losses have been to Camila and Laurel, she hasn’t shown anything particularly impressive yet (besides her twerking ability). She has a knack for flying under the radar, as she was able to do on both Dirty XXX and Vendettas, but it’s hard to imagine Britni ever really becoming a great competitor or a major character on the show.

I’m not opposed to her coming back, especially on an Exes season now that her and Brad have broken up, but I won’t miss her if she doesn’t return.

COULD GO EITHER WAY

30. Natalie Negrotti (Vendettas, Final Reckoning)- Natalie had a strong showing in her rookie season, making the troika three times — most out of any girl on the season. But her elimination loss to Kam on Vendettas set off a ridiculous cold streak, as she lost three eliminations on Final Reckoning before finally getting back in the house with her and Paulie’s upset win over Brad/Kyle, and then reaching the finals.

While I think she’s gotten a bad rap as a competitor, I’m still not a fan of Natalie as a character. Her fake showmance with Bananas, her overreaction to him hooking up with Kayleigh early in the season and just the sound of her voice in general irked me in her first two seasons. She clearly won some sympathy points when her sexuality was needlessly outed on Twitter by Kayleigh, but it’s hard to see Natalie ever really becoming a fan favorite.

29. Hunter Barfield (Dirty XXX, Final Reckoning)- If you watch this show purely for competition, you would probably rank Hunter higher on this list.

But over three seasons, Hunter hasn’t proven himself to be anything other than a meathead moron.

He is no doubt an excellent competitor. He had his back against the wall for the entire season on Dirty XXX, winning eliminations against Cory and Leroy and fighting his way out of the Redemption House. A brutal wrist injury derailed his chances of winning that season, but he got his redemption on Final Reckoning.

Although they were constantly at each other’s throats, Hunter got fortunate to have Ashley as his partner. Having both a Lavender Lady and a Young Buck together helped protect them from seeing an elimination, and despite their constant bickering they were able to win the final challenge.

Ashley stealing Hunter’s money earns him a ton of sympathy points, as they both needed each other to get the win. Still, it’s a dirty game and I don’t blame Ashley for doing what she did.

While he’s a great competitor, Hunter is about as one-note of a character as it gets. He can’t deliver an interesting confessional to save his life, and most of the drama he gets in is him screaming about how awesome he is and how nobody can beat him. I would rather see more interesting people get a chance than Hunter, but he will be back for season 33.

28. Cory Wharton (Dirty XXX, Vendettas, Final Reckoning)- Arguably nobody had a bigger fall from grace over the course of the trilogy than Cory.

After making two finals in his first three seasons, Cory came into Dirty XXX like he was shot out of a cannon. He immediately sent Darrell to the Redemption House and declared his hit list against the vets, with Bananas on the top of it.

His blunt strategy failed miserably, as he was sent into elimination early twice and was taken out by his friend Hunter.

The lingering effects carried over to Vendettas, as he was immediately targeted by Bananas and was sent home first by Nelson.

Entering the game as a mercenary on Final Reckoning, Cory and Devin got into the house by beating Zach/Amanda and Jozea/Da’Vonne. But his time in the house was once again short-lived, as he pulled a cheap shot on Tony and was kicked off.

In three seasons, Cory went from being one of the show’s biggest potential young stars to it being questionable whether he will ever be on the show again. Maybe Teen Mom is a show better suited for him.

27. Derrick Kosinski (Dirty XXX)- Another OG, Derrick proved on Dirty XXX and in his mercenary appearance on Vendettas that he is still one of the fiercest competitors on The Challenge. On Dirty XXX he took out Bananas in elimination, won the final mission to send Tony and Hunter home and finished second in the final.

On Vendettas, Derrick tried to top his famous elimination with Wes on The Duel, going toe-to-toe with Joss for endless rounds before he finally stole the win.

But as production has shown time and time again, they value characters and drama over competition. Derrick is an absolute legend, but he doesn’t bring anything to the show outside of the challenges. He flies under the radar politically and doesn’t get mixed up in the house drama (his fight with Nelson on Dirty XXX was basically unprovoked).

I feel bad for Derrick because I know how bad he wants to be on the show, and he’s given so much to it over the years. But unless it’s something like an Old School vs. New School season or again as a mercenary, I don’t see Derrick coming back.

26. Jenna Compono (Dirty XXX, Final Reckoning)- Jenna was involved in one of the most interesting political battles on Dirty XXX, as the house was constantly trying to break up her and Kailah.

After she was thrown into elimination against her best friend by Jemmye and lost, she made her way out of the Redemption House. Jailah formed an alliance with Camila, Cara Maria and Tori, but the alliance was blown up when Kailah sent Cara to The Redemption House and the girls began constantly targeting Camila.

Jenna was one of the more dubious choices to be labeled as a dirty player, however she did betray some allies on Dirty XXX. But she fell just short of making the finals, losing the final purge to Camila.

After an injury on Champs vs. Stars season two kept her from competing on Vendettas, she returned for a lackluster appearance on season 32.

She spent Final Reckoning sipping drinks by the pool and reacting to the Chuck/Britni drama, never getting to compete after the first purge.

I think Jenna is in the Leroy category in that she’s an above average competitor who’s probably never going to win.

Her relationship with Zach has never been entertaining, and she doesn’t even make as many moronic comments as she used to. She’s one of the nicest people on the show, but I just don’t know what else she has to offer.

25. Aneesa Ferreira (Dirty XXX)- Poor Aneesa. Unless the calls stop coming, the girl will probably keep coming on this show until she’s 90.

Aneesa’s never gonna win one of these things. She’s just not.

While she’s still never an easy out in an elimination, Aneesa’s pretty much just living off her past these days. She’s lost her last five eliminations, and after CT destroyed her knee on Champs vs. Stars season three, she’ll probably come back even worse.

With the casting pool widely expanded, it’s harder for an old schooler to get on. But I think Aneesa will be back, at least for another Champs vs. Stars season.

24. Leroy Garrett- It hurts me to say this about one of my all-time favorite castmembers, but Leroy’s career has to be deemed a disappointment.

Although he’s made three finals, including on Vendettas, Leroy hasn’t proven to be much of anything other than an above-average competitor and a loyal lapdog for Bananas.

People always complain that Cara Maria is entitled, but Leroy might be the most entitled player on the show. He had bitch fits on Dirty XXX and Vendettas for getting sent in.

It was somewhat understandable why he’d be upset at friends like Tony and Cara Maria for throwing him in on Vendettas, but on Dirty XXX he freaked out on Veronica, who owed him absolutely nothing.

I think the biggest reason Leroy will be back on season 33 is that the house has turned on Bananas, and they want him with as many allies as he can get. I hope Leroy can get a win some day, but I don’t see it happening.

Check back later this week for part two.